Roommates

by LZClotho

Janeway and Seven of Nine become roommates during the Klingons sojourn on Voyager during the episode "Prophecy." J7, first-time, romance

Notes: This is fanfiction of Star Trek: Voyager, which is the property of Paramount Pictures Television, not me. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a story written for fun, not profit. This story is for mature readers, and contains scenes of intimacy between two women. If that bothers you, you should go find something else to read.

Roommates

by LZClotho

(c) 2002

Prologue

The doors to cargo bay two slid obediently aside when Captain Kathryn Janeway stepped into the sensors. She paused at the threshold, looking inside. The computer had reported this as the location ofVoyager's astrometrics officer, Seven of Nine, on a rare off-shift. The cavernous storage bay had served as her quarters since Janeway's order severing her from the Borg collective four years ago. Janeway looked along the row of regeneration alcoves, finding all dark except for one. However she did not immediately see her officer so stepped further inside.

With the unexpected arrival of 200 Klingons from a disabled ship, Neelix, a Delta-quadrant native Talaxian serving as ship's cook-cum-ambassador, had suggested that the Voyagercrew share quarters to allow the Klingons space other than shuttle bays in which to live.

Janeway could never ask the crew to do something she would not, so began the process of locating a roommate. Between keeping odd hours, having a high-strung personality and not being particularly fastidious, no junior officer would ever volunteer to be her roommate. Finally however, she came upon a rather logical solution that turned out to be a choice that she could say pleased her personally.

She only wondered what Seven would have to say.

At last, Janeway spied her quarry bent determinedly over a ship's interface console. The lean, long-bodied woman input data with rapid-fire keystrokes. As she studied the bent head, and the blonde hair customarily tucked up in an attractive French twist, Janeway felt her fingers tingle unexpectedly. Closing them in careful fists she stepped forward, letting her bootheels click briefly on the decking.

Seven's head swiveled, but no surprise filled the ice blue depths. "Captain."

Janeway was pleased she had not startled Seven. Taking a deep breath the captain began her campaign. "Seven, I have something to ask you."

"Yes, Captain?" Her hands stilled on the console as she apparently waited to see if the captain's visit would require her to alter her routine. Ice blue eyes bored into her as Kathryn took another step forward. "Is there something you require?"

Unexplainably nervous despite having worked out all the reasons why this was clearly the best idea, Janeway found it difficult to speak. She looked away from Seven and explained, "We're um... going to need the cargo bay to put up several families... you'll... um... we'll have to find other quarters for you."

Seven didn't even pause. "Understandable."

Pensively, Janeway studied Seven, aware of the clean soft, open expression that shaped the planes of the blonde woman's face. "I... know you'd rather be close to here, but there isn't much space with any of the crew in the nearest decks... I... um, actually... up on deck 3, there are some... roomier cabins."

Seven took a step back from her console and set herself into her typical listening stance, hands tucked behind her lower back and head cocked slightly to the side. "Is there still space in one of them?"

Janeway presented her offer carefully. "You do have a choice..." She paused. "I... Would you rather bunk with Tuvok or... me?"

After a pause that almost had Janeway recanting, Seven commented evenly, "Commander Chakotay is also on that deck."

The flurry of butterflies in Janeway's stomach took flight. She fought them down, disturbed and confused by her reaction. "I... didn't think..." With dismay she realized that perhaps Seven already had someone else in mind herself. She began to falter, considering how to respond then remembered. She said brightly, "Chakotay's already given up his quarters to a Klingon elder's family. He's bunking with Ensign Kim and Icheb."

There was a long silence as Seven assessed the situation. "My choice is... your cabin." She nodded her head a little at the close of her statement, apparently agreeing with her own reasoning.

Unaware she had been holding her breath, Janeway inhaled and her body sagged a little in relief. Then she straightened and tugged her uniform into line. She had to be certain. "I wouldn't want to... make you... uncomfortable. I'm certain Tuvok would enjoy your company."

Seven shook her head. "Sharing quarters with Tuvok would be... illogical."

Knowing Seven's affinity for the Vulcan, Janeway was surprised. "Why?" she asked.

Janeway found herself scrutinized gently, as if Seven were trying to divine her thoughts. But then, though her voice was soft, Seven's words were as forthright as Janeway had come to expect from the blonde. "Because I would prefer... your company instead."

Silence reigned as each woman took the other's measure. Janeway's surprise kept her tongue still. She felt a tight knot beginning to unravel in her stomach and could feel warmth spreading through her chest at Seven's continued regard.

Seven broke the silence. "I will 'pack' a few things and report immediately."

Finding her tongue proved troublesome her mouth suddenly gone dry, but Janeway managed, "I... I'll go make up... make some dinner." She suddenly didn't know what to do, surprising herself with a sudden urge to hug Seven. So she clasped them tightly before her and nodded once.

As she turned to go, Seven's voice drew her eyes back. "This will be a new experience... for both of us."

The former Borg's eyes were surprisingly warm, causing the flutters to return to the captain's stomach. Forcing herself calm, Janeway turned away and left the cargo bay with fast strides.

Chapter 1

Back in her quarters a few minutes later, Janeway looked around at her personal space, surprised at the state of disarray. PADDs of notes lay scattered over the desk near the replicator and the blanket she used to curl up with when she was reading, a gift from her mother sewn with Voyager's call letters, lay untidily across her father's recliner. A book she had been trying to read lay facedown on the seat cushion.

She neglected to recall the many times Seven had been in her quarters in the middle of the night due to some discussion or another that just could not wait until morning. This simply would not do if Seven were to remain for any length of time. Instinctively she knew Seven would be uncomfortable around such disorganization, so Janeway set about quickly setting the quarters to rights.

The blanket was folded and laid over the recliner's back. The book moved to the small table beside the chair. Downloading the various PADD contents to her workstation, she slipped the now blank units into the drawer of the desk.

Satisfied, she now headed for the bedroom to fetch blankets and pillows to make up the sofa and frowned anew. Her duty shift beginning suddenly with the announcement of the approaching Klingon ship, she had left the bedroom in more of a state of disturbance. Her pale blue sheets and navy blue comforter were crumpled at the foot of the bed and her nightgown lay across the floor, as she had bolted for the shower. She sighed and swept the whole mess into the recycler, returning with folded sheets with which she quickly made up the queen-size bed. Requesting another set of sheets and a non-allergenic stuffing pillow, she returned to the living room.

Only mildly surprised at the chime, Janeway looked around quickly, determining this was as good as it was going to get, and briskly walked to the doorway. "Come in," she said, finding the Borg, with a small satchel over her left shoulder, standing in the corridor.

She watched Seven turn quietly in the middle of the room, silent. "Where should I... bunk?" Seven looked toward the bedroom and then around once more. "This is... not... I thought you indicated we could both sleep here?"

Janeway smiled, the flutters in her stomach back with a vengeance. "We can. I'm going to take the sofa."

"No," Seven replied, abruptly. "I should not displace you. These are your quarters." The Borg's expression took on a decided frown. "Perhaps this will not be a good idea. I should go."

A shiver, which she recognized surprisingly as fright made Janeway quickly step forward, raising her hands. "I invited you here, remember. Please... have a seat. I would... like you to stay."

Seven's head tilted to the right but she set the satchel down at her feet, then settled primly on the sofa. "Are you certain?" she asked, still clearly baffled by the situation.

Janeway's smile came easier. She was on more familiar ground as she explained the nuances of an invitation. "Yes. As a matter of course, a person offering an invitation does not feel 'put out' by a guest's arrival. Quite the contrary. I'm very pleased you accepted."

Seven's quandary made her blunt. "Why?"

"Because I want to be a good example to the crew. I know that the request that we all share our living spaces to make room for the Klingon refugees was sudden. I didn't want any hurt feelings."

"Why would sharing one's quarters cause hurt feelings?"

"That's not what I meant. I didn't want people to say that the captain didn't have to... I didn't want animosity."

"They would not." Seven sounded very certain.

"They wouldn't say anything," Janeway laughed wryly. "But I'd know."

"Certainly there are others who would share your quarters," Seven said.

"Being captain doesn't make me very good roommate material."

"Why not?"

"Most people are below you in the chain of command, and that makes things... uncomfortable."

"For you, or for them?"

Janeway's laugh was fuller this time. "Both I guess."

"Then why ask me?"

With a relieved smile, Janeway said easily, "Seven... because you're the only person who doesn't care."

"About your rank?"

The captain nodded.

"And this makes me a suitable 'roommate'?"

"Eminently suitable," Janeway said. "But only if you believe you will be comfortable here," she added with caution. "Will... Do you think you can be?"

"Comfort is irrelevant. You require a roommate. I will be whatever... you require."

Letting out her breath slowly, Janeway stood. "Please don't look at this as a duty. I'd much rather we... enjoy ourselves."

Seven leaned forward a little and Janeway found herself mirroring the gesture, anxious to hear the young Borg woman's response. "This is important to you."

"Yes, Seven. In my quarters is the only place I can shed my rank. I'd like to... keep it that way."

Seven puzzled over that for a long moment and then, to Janeway's enormous relief, she said, "I will comply."

The captain's breath whooshed out of her and she dropped her face briefly onto her hand, brushing her hair with her fingers before looking back up. "Thank you, Seven."

"You're... welcome, captain."

"Call me Kathryn. We're off duty," Janeway said quietly rising to her feet. "Are you ready for some dinner?"

She almost expected a rote, "I do not require nutrients at this time," but Seven did not respond for a long moment. Finally though, the blonde looked up, her face full of curiosity, as she continued apparently to assimilate the ongoing evening. "I... Dinner would be nice," she said.

"What would you like?" Kathryn stepped over to the replicator and pondered it for a long moment.

"I am not very hungry. Only a little."

"Do you like salad?" Janeway asked. "It's vegetables in their natural state, tossed together into one dish with a dressing poured over it."

"I have never had salad," Seven considered. "I will try it."

Janeway smiled. "All right. And a light soup, like chicken should round it off."

"Acceptable," Seven said. She remained sitting excruciatingly straight on the sofa.

Janeway suddenly realized it hurt her own back just to look at the rigid position. "Why don't you relax? Would you like a drink? A wine perhaps?"

"Alcohol impairs my cortical function."

"A light juice then?" Seven nodded.

"I've got just the thing," Janeway said. She ordered a pair of glasses of kisset, a Torean apple-like fruit juice, that was thick and dark brown, with a mild sweetness. She crossed the space and delivered one of the glasses to Seven. "It's kisset. Tell me what you think."

Janeway watched Seven's throat ripple as she lifted the glass and drank carefully. An expression of pleasure, with Seven's eyes lighting up and a soft curl coming to her lips, preceded another fuller sip from the glass. "It is quite good," Seven responded, realizing her reaction

should be voiced.

Sipping from her own glass to cover the distracting lump in her throat, Janeway nodded, finally finding her voice behind the safety of the rim. "I'm glad."

For a long moment they sipped in silence together then the captain rose once more, returning to the replicator. "We'll eat at the table," she suggested, carrying the tray of salads and soups to the small square table tucked against the nearby forward wall. There was only one chair tucked underneath and she put down the tray quickly. "I'll be right back. Why don't you have a seat?"

The captain disappeared into her bedroom. Seven stood and, carrying her drink, walked over to examine the table and chair. The captain returned quickly with a small chair that matched the first.

"Go ahead, Seven." Janeway's hand went to the back of the chair and tugged it out.

Seven gradually sank to the chair, and looked over her shoulder up at the captain. "Thank you," she said, in a voice that reflected the tutelage of Voyager's EMH.

"You're welcome," Janeway answered, pleased to find her voice steady though her hand and arm were decidedly warmed by the Borg's closeness. She quickly slipped into the other chair, setting it at a corner from Seven, tugging her salad off the tray and into the space of table in front of her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Janeway watched Seven mimic her. Delight filled her that Seven had agreed to stay. After watching the Seven sip cautiously from a spoonful of soup, she spoke. "Thank you."

The spoon froze midway between mouth and bowl. "For what?"

"Agreeing to be my roommate," she explained.

Seven's husky reply sent a shiver up Kathryn's spine impacting at the base of her skull. "My pleasure," she said before returning to her soup with a quiet slurp.

Chapter 2

Dinner over, Seven helped the captain clear the table, putting the tray of dishes into the recycler and turning back to find the compact woman leaning toward her console, pressing a few commands. She was disarmed by the mildly abashed look on Janeway's face when the captain turned around and caught her looking curious. "I just thought we could enjoy a little music." She gestured toward the ceiling as a subtle operatic piece quietly piped into the background.

Seven tilted her head in her customary listening pose and found appreciation in the mathematical progressions. "Do you enjoy music?" she asked the captain, finding her curiosity stronger than the unsettling feeling in her stomach that she got every time she met the shadowed blue

eyes.

"It helps me relax," Janeway said, gesturing Seven to the sofa as she settled into the recliner. "I also read for leisure." Seven watched Janeway retrieve a book that had rested on the table.

"I 'enjoy' music as well," Seven said settling to the sofa. "It... surprises me that we have that in common."

"It shouldn't," Janeway said, and Seven found herself silently waiting for the captain to continue her explanation. Seven found herself expectantly awaiting more conversation. A tingling she identified as delight filled her because the captain was sharing her time. They had not had many opportunities of late to engage in off-duty activities together and she had begun to sense that the captain might not wish to continue their association. An association that Seven recognized now as

one of her earliest, if most difficult, to adapt.

Janeway did not continue, falling silent though for a moment it had looked as though she wanted to speak. The captain's reticence puzzled Seven, but the silence was not unpleasant so she allowed it to continue.

inally Janeway's gaze returned to her, and the book was set aside. "Would you like something to read?" she asked.

What are you reading?" Seven asked. Janeway passed it over, and Seven found a very unfamiliar object in her hands. "It is a book," she said, not quite able to hide her surprise. "It is not a PADD."

"I don't have many," Janeway said, her voice's slower cadence drawing Seven's gaze to her. "There is something more... enjoyable reading from a book than reading the same from a PADD. I don't know if I can explain it," she concluded, and Seven detected a faltering tone.

She opened the book, sliding her fingertips over the thick dry pressed wooden pulp extract tracing the words. With compulsion she read aloud uncertainly as she absorbed the words as well as worked her mouth around the cadence of the poetry:

What is born within us then comes to lead a life of its own. Here we have that same peculiarly instinctive human urge for oneness, for unity, or rather purposeful harmony. The harmonious unity of form and content rises in sunlit glory on art's horizon. Throughout all my brief life I sought harmony in the physical world. In the chaos of disintegrations and interactions, in the stars of annihilation and transmutational paradoxes I conceived visions of complete, well-patterned forms of a theory that could explain everything.

Seven paused, a surprising ache of comprehension filling her chest. She turned over the book in her hands and read the title. "It is called, 'Everything But Love'," she said quietly. "It is... interesting."

"Would you like to finish that story?" Janeway asked.

"Wouldn't you rather?" She started to pass the book back.

"Why don't we read it together?" Seven recognized a spurt of pleasure in her chest at the suggestion and nodded. Janeway moved over to the sofa, and Seven found herself leaning back, watching the captain's profile as she opened the book, continuing to read.

The story was sufficient, Seven decided. However it was the captain's voice captivated Seven's attention. Her command voice was gone, in its place was a soothing husk against the backdrop of music. Seven leaned back, her muscles going slack in the cushions of the sofa, and she

blinked in the sudden silence when the captain's voice stopped.

"You're tired," Janeway said, putting the book aside. "We can finish another time."

"My apologies, captain," Seven said, sitting up slowly.

"No need, Seven. Let's get you into bed." The captain's sudden bodily pause raised Seven's curiosity and she looked at the smaller woman curiously. Janeway shook her head, blinked and brushed at the sofa cushions as she straightened at the waist. "This is an auspicious occasion," the captain said. "It's your first chance to try sleeping, isn't it?"

"Other than fitful recoveries in sickbay, yes," Seven supplied.

"Well, you'll be just fine," Janeway said, patting Seven's shoulder just as Seven started to rise. "Come on."

Seven followed Janeway into the anteroom that served as the captain's bedroom. She studied the horizontal surface and shifted uneasily.

Janeway patted her arm and left her side for a moment. Seven heard her voice at the replicator a moment later, requesting 'pajamas' for her.

When the captain returned, Seven accepted a small folded stack of red silk.

"It's shorts and a top," Janeway explained while Seven unfolded the garments and studied them. "I thought you might find it comfortable."

"This is customary nightwear?"

"For some people," came the response.

"What do you sleep in?" Janeway's blush raised the Borg's curiosity. Unaccountably Seven did not wish to see that expression continue and shook her head. "Nevermind. This is sufficient. Thank you."

Janeway's chin lifted and the blush left her cheeks as she met Seven's eyes. "I'll step outside while you change."

Seven watched the captain's back until she was gone from view. With ease of practice, she discarded her unitard, setting it carefully folded on a convenient surface. At the foot of the dresser she set her shoes and then, standing again, she retrieved the silk pajamas and examined them to see how they were worn. Nodding, she pulled on the shorts first, surprised at the loose unfamiliar fit.

She was examining the top when Janeway stepped back in. Turning she pressed the fabric to her breasts and witnessed the captain's blush just as she stammered, "Sorry," and turned away.

Quickly she tugged on the top and secured the few buttons down the front, smoothing it over her stomach. "I am done," she said brightly, rewarded with the captain turning back around.

Janeway shook her head and gestured toward the bed. "All right. Well, here's how it's done." She walked to her near side and turned down the covers. "Slide your body beneath the covers, and recline on your back," she said.

Seven walked to her side of the bed and pulled back the covers. With precise movements she slid knees-first onto the mattress and finally worked her way under the covers, not moving them significantly out of place as she did so.

It was the most awkward getting into bed Janeway had ever witnessed. When she was finally on her back, looking straight up at the ceiling, she suppressed a chuckle and asked, "Are you comfortable?"

"I... It is an unusual sensation," Seven admitted. "Like I am lying on the floor."

"But the mattress is considerably better than a floor," Janeway answered.

"I am to close my eyes?" Seven clarified.

"Yes," Janeway said watching as Seven did so. "Just like when you regenerate," she added.

"I believe I understand," Seven said. "Thank you."

"Will you be all right if I go back to the sofa?" Janeway asked.

"I will be fine." Seven's response was full of all self-assurance that typified the former Borg. Janeway nodded and stepped away from the bed.

"Computer, lights out." In the darkness, Seven heard Janeway's quiet, "Good night, Seven."

"Good night... Kathryn." The sound of Janeway's name unaccountably brought tears pricking to her eyes and she closed them tightly hoping the captain could not seen the reaction.

Kathryn had not, busy as she was covering up her own reaction. The sharp sting of tears swelled behind her eyes. She brought her hands up to rub at her face briskly before she retreated from the room.

This is inefficient, Seven thought, opening her eyes once more in the consuming darkness of the captain's bedroom.

She could hear nothing from the outer room, where the captain had said she was planning to sleep. She wanted to get out of the bed. Perhaps the captain and she could engage in conversation about the millions of thoughts running through her mind that would not stop.

Seven sat up, mostly still tucked under the sheets. Flipping the sheets aside, she swiveled her legs off the bed and felt for the bedroom's plush carpet under her feet before standing.

The sensation of the shag against her feet distracted her for a moment and she pushed her toes through it. She wondered suddenly what had ever possessed humans to wear shoes. The feeling, a light tickle along her soles, was wonderful.

She indulged in the activity a moment more. Then she stepped away from beside the bed and unerringly aided by her implant's nightvision, she made her way to the bedroom doorway, pausing with a hand on the wall as she studied the living room beyond.

In the shadows Seven could clearly see the captain's form on the sofa, her face turned against the dark surface of a pillow. The starlight outside the ship's transparencies that dominated the outside wall of the quarters painted the woman's face in subtle grays and whites and highlighted the dark hair in faint reds.

Though she knew disturbing the captain's sleep would be wrong, Seven could not help stepping forward, crossing the room to stand at the captain's side, looking down at the pale face, studying it.

The somewhat queasy sensations were back, bothering her stomach, Seven realized as she stood, practically rooted to the spot. What is it I am feeling? she finally asked herself.

She looked at Janeway as if the sleeping figure could tell her but found herself holding her breath, silent. In repose with her lean fingers laid over a book pressed to her chest, Kathryn Janeway bore only a passing resemblance to the formidable captain of Voyager that Seven had worked with and, ruefully she added, fought with, for the last four years. It surprised Seven that in the several times she had accosted the captain in her quarters for late-night discussion, she had never once encountered the captain sleeping.

She wondered if the woman found it as inefficient as Seven herself did, having so far acquired little appreciation for the state in which humans spent nearly one-third of their lives. That thought brought her back to her reason for having come out to the living space.Did she dare awaken the captain?

Tentatively, she bent at the waist and studied Janeway's features for a longer moment before reaching her hand toward her shoulder.

Aided by an unaccountably racing heart rate, Seven's breath brushed over the captain's skin and the woman's facial features twitched in disturbance.

Startled, the Borg straightened and backed up. The backs of her shins impacted the low table set just away from the sofa. The force was enough to set the table rocking, and something... several somethings, crashed to the opposite floor from its surface.

Seven had turned away from watching the captain's face to investigate the noise. When she turned back, she found a pair of almost colorless eyes blinking open. The captain's hands moved as she sat up and the book on her chest slid to the floor with an audible thump.

She bent over to retrieve it.

Though immobilized at first by the piercing sleepy gaze, Seven also bent to retrieve the book, as a prelude to apologizing to the captain for awakening her.

The sensation of their skulls cracking together shocked tears into the former Borg's eyes. She backed up quickly sitting on the table surface, rubbing at the tender spot. Her gaze came up to find the captain mirroring the action.

Blood rushed to her face and she stammered. "I- apologize."

"I'm fine, Seven." Janeway's voice was husky, moreso than usual, and Seven's stomach twisted at the sound.

Janeway more fully sat up in the ensuing silence. In the low light Seven studied the rest of the captain's form as she moved.

The captain's uniform tunic had been discarded and the gray material of her t-shirt outlined a slender figure, impressing Seven with a sense of delicacy that the on-duty captain had never displayed. Her mouth went unexpectedly dry with the unfamiliar scenario.

The captain's hands moved into her hair, lightly rearranging it between her fingers. Seven's eyes followed the motion even as she squelched a desire to assist in the captain's repair.

She was so occupied cataloging her responses to the captain's awakening that she almost missed the captain addressing her.

"Wha... Was there something you needed?"

The darkness of the room made it difficult to see Seven's face and Janeway almost called for lights when suddenly she caught Seven's eyes, wide and shimmering. She reached across the space and squeezed Seven's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"I cannot sleep." Janeway detected the frustration in her companion's voice. She was formulating a response when Seven prompted uncertainly, "How do you do it?"

"I... Well, I've done it all my life," Janeway said with a wry laugh. "I know." She brushed the woman's arm without thought and drew back at the soft feel of skin, instead of the woman's usual synthetic biosuit's covering. "I know that doesn't help you."

She rubbed her eyes and then looked back up at Seven, putting her thoughts in order. "Did you try any other positions?"

Her eyes must be adjusting to the low light, Janeway thought, because she could now see the young Borg's head tilt with her customary curiosity. "What other positions?"

"On your side, or stomach, for example," she said, reaching out and slipping her hand down Seven's arm until she found a hand... the left mesh-covered Borg one, she realized and pressed a careful fist around the palm.

"Come on, I'll help." They rose together and walked shoulder-to-shoulder back to the bedroom. Once there, Janeway called for half lighting. Kneeling on the mattress she gestured Seven to the other side. Uneasily Seven did so, though she watched Janeway with interest.

"Lie back," she suggested.

"That did not work before," Seven replied in her customary factual tone.

"I know. Just... trust me." The words worked their magic as Seven laid back, blue eyes tracking the captain cautiously.

"Both feet on the bed," she added with a pat on the Borg's near thigh. Seven's other leg came up and Janeway suggested. "Now roll onto your right side," she said, "Toward me."

Seven did so. As a natural by product of the motion, her knees bent slightly drawing her right leg higher than her left and her shins slipped together. Janeway's eyes traveled up the long slim legs, finally across Seven's arms. The Borg's right arm was tucked under her chest and her left arm lay across the space of mattress that lay between them.

"How's that?" Janeway asked. Seven's chest moved, compressed between her arms, before she spoke. She looked up at the woman's face, feeling her cheeks heat.

"It is somewhat of an improvement," Seven admitted.

"Perhaps you'd prefer your left side," Janeway suggested.

"I shall try it." Seven rolled onto her back and then started onto her left side, only to stop. "I cannot. I will fall off the bed."

"Slide into the middle, toward me," Kathryn suggested. Before she could think Seven was almost on top of her, the Borg's weight just about to settle over her own bent thighs. The wave of body heat washed over her. "Hold on."

She put a hand on Seven's lower back to prevent being squashed, but knew from the power she could sense underneath that should Seven not have stopped, she could be easily pinned. However, at her touch, Seven froze.

Janeway slipped backward off the bed and watched with her hands lightly pressed against her hips.

Her gaze remained fixed on Janeway even as she finally slipped onto her left side which gave the end result a very uncomfortable look. Seven's words confirmed that.

"This is insufficient," she said, clearly distressed.

Janeway mercifully moved over to the other side of the bed, touched beyond measure at Seven's constant appraisal. When she arrived on the other side of the bed, she saw Seven's expression change minutely reflecting relief as her head now rested on her bent left arm. "Better?"

Janeway asked.

"Considerably."

Kathryn shook her head in amusement and smiled. "Now, do you think you can sleep?"

"I will try."

Kathryn smiled. "I'll be right outside if you need anything," she offered. "Computer," she commanded softly, looking away from Seven. "Lights out."

Chapter 3

Returning to her quarter's main room, Kathryn picked up her book where it had been left on the floor and placed it on the table Seven had almost knocked over. Quietly she recovered the objects that had fallen to the floor on the other side. One had been a PADD containing a letter to her sister. She had been writing it to include in the next datastream being sent to the Alpha quadrant.

She scanned the words near the end and looked toward her bedroom with a soft sigh.

There are times when I wonder why we were stuck out here. Logic dictates that the course of events was random, and Voyager was just whisked away on the Caretaker's whim. But sometimes I remember the myths of Ancient Earth civilizations that attributed such chance events instead to an ephemeral Fate. And I wonder... Why am I here? I've met so many beings, Phoeb. Was I meant to? Kes, bless her, is gone. Her transformation left me changed somehow, I know. And the friendships I've gained over the years. Were those all just chance too?

Then I think of Seven of Nine. Her adjustments have been so hard. And we've nearly lost her several times on this journey. She told me once that she wouldn't change the fact that I took her from the Borg. A success, one of few among so many mistakes, Phoeb. Sometimes I wonder would anyone else have severed her from the Borg if it had been any other ship than mine that was flung to this far space?

She had paused at that point earlier, uncertain what to say further. Now she entered: "I'm glad it was Voyager." She closed simply with "Love always, K."

Shaking her head, Kathryn transferred the PADD's contents to the main console, attaching it to the packet of other letters and log entries being bundled together for the next transmission.

She sat back on the sofa and removed her boots, setting them carefully under the table before removing her socks and pants and recycling them.

Adjusting her pillow and the blanket over herself, she rolled into the sofa cushions facing outward, tucking her hands under her cheek and closing her eyes.

The next morning a warm weight pinned the captain to the sofa. Opening her eyes, Janeway looked down to find Seven seated on the floor. Her head and bare arms lay across the blanket covering Janeway's stomach. When the captain shifted, the Borg's head lifted.

Sleepy eyes that caused heat to curl through Kathryn's stomach, met her gaze. "Still not comfortable?" she asked. Seven's youthfulness was enhanced by the disheveled locks of hair falling around her features. Her color deepened gradually, and finally there was a ghost of a smile on the full lips. Kathryn's heart caught its breath.

"I did not wish to wake you a second time," Seven explained quietly.

"Well, at least we both rested for a little while." She felt Seven stretch across her and almost lost her train of thought. "Will you need some time in the cargo bay to regenerate during the day?"

"I will have to check with the Doctor," Seven said uncertainly."Though I feel capable of performing my duties."

"Well that's something," Janeway said with a smile. "Computer, what is the time?"

The computer replied immediately. "The time is 0h-5-30 hours."

Janeway smiled. "Well we've got some time. Would you like breakfast?"

"Thank you."

You're welcome." She started to pull off the blanket only to find Seven's right arm still draped her lap. Kathryn had not even noted it as they talked.

The gesture was incredibly intimate. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, shedding the urge to push the young Borg away. It would be too involved to explain her discomfort and then she realized that she wasn't uncomfortable. She tried not to think about the fact that she was mostly nude beneath the blanket. Instead she tugged on the blanket. "Seven?"

Immediately aware of the captain's predicament, Seven removed her arm. She uncoiled to a standing position with enviable ease.

Janeway tilted her head back to watch Seven rise above her and then blinked when she found a hand presented at head level. Taking it, she merely put her bare feet on the floor, keeping the blanket over her legs.

"Are you cold?" Seven asked.

"Not particularly."

Seven puzzled over that for a moment and then nodded as she noted the neatly folded pants at the end of the sofa. "You require privacy to dress. Excuse me." She disappeared into the bedroom, leaving Kathryn alone to dress.

A few moments later, with her uniform pants back on, Janeway stripped off her top and replicated a new one, the sleeveless undershirt. Pulling it down over her head, she looked up, tossing her hair to smooth it, and found Seven standing in her bedroom doorway still in the short pajamas.

"Aren't you going to dress?" she asked, ignoring the part of her that wondered how long Seven had stood there, watching.

"My biosuit pattern is not available from your replicator," Seven said pensively.

"I can fix that." Being that it was Janeway's replicator, she had command override to have the replicator do anything she required. Within reason. Certainly a biometric suit was within reason, she thought. "Go get the one you were wearing yesterday."

Seven recovered the garment and presented it to the captain, who set it in the replicator opening. With a series of quick scans she had the garment's measurements and materials makeup. With a smile to Seven, she withdrew the plum suit and asked, "What color would you like?"

"Aurora Blue," Seven said.

Amused at the very specific color request, Janeway smiled and told the replicator, "One pattern 7-G biometric suit, color Aurora Blue." The suit materialized neatly folded and Janeway lifted it shaking it out for Seven's view. "Suitable?"

"Suitable."

"All right. Then go shower and get dressed. I'll order up some breakfast."

Seven took the garment and Janeway watched her reenter the bedroom, from which she could enter the ensuite. While the subsonic hum of the shower's sonic setting vibrated, Janeway called up a coffee, a small carafe of apple juice, two small glasses and two plates of scrambled eggs. The tray of stasis-covered plates and glasses appeared just as Seven emerged from the bedroom, concluding the up-pinning of her hair.

Janeway said nothing, passing the tray to Seven who brought it over to the table where they sat across from one another consuming their breakfast in companionable quiet.

Until Seven pondered aloud, "Do you believe that Lt. Torres' child is as the Klingons claim?"

Pausing with her fork tines in her eggs, Janeway looked from Seven then back to her meal. "I don't know. The Kova Mok is not a legend I'm familiar with," she said. "There are many groups that have stories of saviors and legends of mystical god-sent beings."

"Like the Bajorans and their Prophets. And believing the commander of DS9 to be their Emissary. I read about him in the ship's database."

Kathryn considered it. "Similar, yes."

"Do you believe in something like that?"

"I've... never held much... faith in things like that," Janeway admitted. Then she thought about her letter to her sister and shrugged.

Across the table, Seven's fork stopped moving. Instinctively, the captain looked up, meeting the taller woman's eyes across the table, watching her mouth as she spoke, "I believe... sometimes," she said, and Kathryn sensed something unspoken directed at her in particular.

She didn't respond for a moment, taking a sip from her coffee instead. Then when her mouth was clear, Janeway acknowledged quietly, "Me too."

Seven's look in response suddenly made everything seem brighter, and Janeway ducked her head back to her breakfast.

Chapter 4

"Mr. Neelix's quick thinking did diffuse the situation," Tuvok said, pointedly ignoring the now-beaming Talaxian sitting to his immediate left. "When the security detail arrived it was only a matter of removing the one belligerent."

"He's now in the brig?" Janeway asked. Tuvok nodded. "I should probably have a talk with Koval. I know Klingons are more... active than most types of crew, but I'd rather not continue with either violence or locking them up. We have to put together a reasonable medium."

"And could you ask him to keep his people out of Engineering, captain?" B'Elanna Torres,Voyager's chief engineer, prompted anxiously. "They're getting in the way of my people's work." A half-Klingon, the caramel-skinned woman was in her second month of a pregnancy which was the focus of these ultra-religious Klingons.

Janeway smiled gently at her officer and patted the tabletop. "I'll see what I can do." Looking around at her crew, she said, "Anything else?"

Tom Paris, Voyager's helmsman spoke up. "I'd like security for B'Elanna. Even if we can keep them out of Engineering, they're following her everywhere."

The captain looked toward Tuvok, the question clear in her features. The dark-skinned Vulcan security chief inched an eyebrow upward. "I could assign two guards on 12-hour rotations."

B'Elanna snorted. "That would be worse than the fawning Klingons. How am I supposed to do my work? I need my engineers around me, not security."

"But B'Elanna," Tom argued.

"No!"

Before the two could truly get an argument underway, Seven of Nine spoke quietly. "I could work with Lt. Torres," she said, drawing all eyes to her.

Janeway saw the discomfort cross the blonde's features, but no one else seemed to notice as Tuvok requested Seven to explain herself.

"She must have someone to work with her, but also provide protection as Mr. Paris requests. I only offer because she and I have worked together before. My presence will be least bothersome."

Torres shot back, "Bothersome is definitely relative."

Janeway noted Seven's expression stiffen, obviously trying not to show her reaction to the engineer's verbal cut. She wondered if Seven knew how she reacted to Torres. The relationship was obviously strained at best, but Seven gamely kept trying.

"Do you believe you can protect her from a zealous Klingon?" Tuvok asked pointedly.

"My hand-to-hand rating is only second to yours, Commander," Seven pointed out in reply. "It is logical."

After looking from Seven to Torres and back again, Tuvok nodded but said nothing. Janeway raised an objection. "Why... what about your work in Astrometrics?"

Seven was calm, her pale blue eyes meeting the captain's easily."Ensign Tehedja can substitute in my rotation."

Janeway wanted to raise other objections but with Tom smiling, B'Elanna looking askance at Seven as if she'd never seen the Borg before, Tuvok stoically regarding her and Chakotay already noting the personnel change in his PADD, she could not think of an argument that would change the situation. So she pushed back from the table."Well, that's settled. If there isn't anything more...?" She scanned the faces, finally letting her gaze stop on Seven of Nine."All right, then. Dismissed."

"Koval, this isn't a Klingon ship," Janeway said again, wishing the leader would listen. "I can't have my people endangered by your group."

"We only wish to see the mother of the Kova Mok, and assure that she remains in good health."

"We're doing that," she said, pacing the space of the conference room.

Lunch had passed without word from Tuvok or Seven of any more incidents limiting B'Elanna's movements, but she wasn't holding out that the state of safety would last very much longer unless she convinced Koval to talk to his people about the necessity for restraint. "She's our chief engineer, Koval. Voyagerneeds her to be at her best."

"And my people interfere with that." She sensed his understanding in the

simple statement.

"Yes," she sighed.

Koval was silent for a long moment, pacing the other side of the conference room. Finally he stopped and looked up. His ridged forehead flexed anxiously then he spoke. "I will have a talk with them."

Chapter 5

"Computer, Janeway music selection 47-Beta."

Voyager's captain closed her eyes as she heard the doors swish shut behind her, sealing her into the sanctuary of her quarters.

The music selection, filled with the soft intertwined melodies of violin and clarinet accompanied her to her bed. With a sigh, she sank into the sheets inhaling deeply, finding her mind gradually quieting, leaving command behind... for now.

When her muscles began to twinge she rolled onto her back and studied the ceiling, fingers intertwined over her stomach, remembering Seven laying here the night before. Warmth spread through her stomach at the thought and she wondered when her Astrometrics officer would call it a day.

The sense of embarrassment she had suffered through that morning suggested that she ought to take care of her shower now, rather than later.

She rose from the bed and entered the ensuite. The heat of the water flowed over Janeway's neck, shoulders and back, sluicing down her breasts and between her thighs. The weariness of the day flowed away with the water, down the reclamation drain and she heard her own sigh as if from a distance.

Stepping from the shower, she reached for her towel. She patted her skin dry and tucked the absorbent terrycloth around her body. Quietly contemplative about her day, Kathryn studied her face as she combed out her hair in front of the steam-fogged mirror. She was anxious to see how Seven had fared.

The music selection was concluding as she stepped from the ensuite, walking toward the replicator for a change of clothes, when the chime to her quarters sounded. Busy debating with herself whether to don a t-shirt or a blouse, she ignored the sound for the moment. She was stepping into a loose pair of crimson pants when she heard steps crossing through her outer room. Checking her appearance she left her bedroom finding Seven of Nine standing near the entryway, having let herself in.

"I don't remember giving you permission," she said with a light smile, not truly bothered. She perused Seven from her heels to her face, checking for any signs of injury. "How was your day with B'Elanna?" She walked to the replicator. "Something to drink?"

"I do not require liquid refreshment at this time. Lt. Torres and I recalibrated twelve aft sensor junctions, and six port shield generator sublevel boxes."

Janeway called up a whiskey and soda, and gestured the taller woman toward the sofa. Pausing just to study Seven for a moment, Janeway finally settled next to the Borg, who sat primly. "Did the Klingons leave you alone?"

"There were three incidents which I have already reported to Commander Tuvok. Do you require me to report them to you as well?" Seven's ocular implant raised in question.

"I'm just curious, as a friend. The Klingons are a handful. I don't want to see yo... B'Elanna hurt. If you don't want to discuss it that's all right."

"Do you doubt my ability to protect Lt. Torres?"

"It's not doubt in your abilities, Seven." Janeway frowned, and shook her head. "Besides, since when do you and Lt. Torres get along?"

Seven followed the captain's lengthy monologue with considerable interest. Finally she said, "If you had reservations about my serving in this capacity, why did you not say anything?"

The smaller woman seemed to falter, returning to silence sipping her drink as Seven awaited an answer. It was not much more than her foundling instinct, which she seldom trusted, that held Seven silent.

As it turned out however, the captain's ability to avoid answering a question was nearly as good as Seven's ability to wait. After a bit of awkward silence on the sofa, Janeway finished her drink and went to the replicator to recycle it. "Dinner?" she asked, over her shoulder.

"Acceptable."

"Do you have a preference?"

"No."

Janeway nodded and programmed in a light chicken dish with a garnish of vegetables, along with a pair of flutes of sparkling cider. The meal was set on the table and Seven wondered at the captain's mood. She sensed a hum of energy below the captain's appearing at ease and felt a disturbance she finally identified as Janeway expecting a confrontation.

"I am not angry with you," she offered briefly before beginning to consume her meal.

"I'm sorry." Janeway looked up as Seven looked down. "I don't know why I was concerned, Seven." She tried to shrug it off as inconsequential.

The blonde looked up and caught Janeway's gaze before she could look away. "Your... concern is touching, Kathryn." She acknowledged Janeway's shy smile and returned her attention to her meal.

Then the woman's husky voice touched her across the table. "So, will you tell me about your day?"

As Seven shared the details, Janeway found herself listening to the cadence more than the words. Her eating slowed to a stop as she just absorbed the sound of Seven speaking.

"Is your food unsatisfactory?" Seven's change in subject and tone startled Janeway from her reverie.

Caught not paying attention, Janeway deferred. "No. It's fine. I'm pleased that the few incidents were easy to handle."

"Klingons have a unique sense of honor," Seven said. "Often it was easy enough to bring that trait forward and they subsided in their intrusions on Lt. Torres."

"Brilliant." Janeway smiled and they finished their meal in companionable silence.

After dinner was cleared away, Seven requested a PADD then downloaded a series of notes remotely from her cargo bay workstation. Janeway curled up with her book in the recliner. Seven settled to the sofa, working diligently. The music selection in the background put Kathryn in mind of an Indiana winter evening around a fireplace.

Gradually though the earlier discussion with Seven about Torres came back to mind. She was disturbed that the situation had broken through the professionalism she preferred and become a personal disruption.

Seven had indicated she was not angry with Janeway's position, just puzzled by her reluctance to bring it up at the morning meeting. The captain's trouble was that she could not say for certain exactly what it was that held her tongue. Seven had the right to make her own choices. But it still alarmed her to think what an enraged Klingon might have done to Seven... and B'Elanna of course.

There. Kathryn sighed. It was that hesitation, a sort of secondary reminder to include others in her thoughts about Seven, that bothered Kathryn the most. She did not want to consider that somehow Seven's safety had become more important than the rest of the ship. Every time she went back over their association however, since Seven's earliest days, Kathryn recognized her penchant for diving in whenever something affected Seven.

Janeway studied her roommate, asking herself why. Why was she willing to forget everything, and think only of Seven?

Seven's fingers moved steadily over the PADD surface and Janeway involuntarily swallowed as an image of those fingers moving deliberately over skin assailed her. Quickly she dropped her gaze back to her book, trying hard to focus on the words.Oh my God. I can't be thinking these thoughts, she firmly told herself.

The story within the book's pages no longer interested her however. She forced herself to listen instead to the music. Her eyes drifted partially shut, only to remain open enough to slide toward watching Seven beneath her lowered lids. The blonde suddenly moved, slipping her feet free of her heels and tucking them beneath herself and leaning into the sofa's arm, resting the PADD across the faux leather. The gesture was so smoothly done bespeaking the natural grace of the long-bodied woman. A voice resounded in her head:

She's your guest, why are you ignoring her?

"Seven?"

The clearest, most uniformly blue eyes Kathryn had ever seen, lifted from their task and met her gaze across the space. "Yes?"

"What are you working on?"

The blonde head swiveled down to study her PADD for a moment then returned to meet with Kathryn once more. "It is readings from the last time Voyager tested a slipstream engine configuration."

"I thought we had decided it was going to cause too much stress on the hull. It's not like we can rebuild the ship."

"That may not be necessary," Seven said. "I am working on shield configurations to attract and adjust the muon flux, essentially creating a cushioning flow around the ship's contours while in the slipstream."

"Muon alignment? Like an atmospheric craft creates an airflow around them?"

"Similar, I believe. Right now I am examining the methods of attracting the muons in concentrations sufficient to create a cushion that will in effect strengthen the hull's resistance to the eddies within the slipstream corridor."

Janeway set her book aside. "What are you doing about the gluon counter current?" She leaned forward interestedly.

"Perhaps you would like to go over the equations with me?"

Kathryn sat straight for a moment, considering the invitation, as Seven shifted more to the side clearly indicating that she would accept it if Janeway sat next to her. Part of her was shaking, and she tried to keep that part from revealing itself in her eyes, so she dropped her head. The other part of her, dry-mouthed from the earlier image of Seven's hands, gripped the arms of the recliner ready to push free.Come on, Kathryn. Seven has no idea of your thoughts. She's inviting you as one scientist to another.

Her muscles wrestled with one another and finally she pushed the recliner back to an upright position, agreeing to join Seven by simply doing so.

"Here are the equations I have been developing." Seven presented her PADD, completely oblivious to the captain's inner struggle to cross the five meters.

Calling up her own scientific knowledge about spatial mechanics and space flight engineering and dusting off the somewhat rusty experience with the myriad theoreticals, Kathryn accepted the PADD. She backtracked to the beginning of Seven's derivations, rechecking the mathematics as well as refreshing the principles. She commented idly as she did so, "It's been a few years since I worked in the purely theoretical aspects."

"It will not remain theoretical for long," Seven said, surprising Kathryn by leaning over her right shoulder. "If we can prove the mathematics we can work at length on the equipment adjustments."

Turning her head slightly, Janeway met Seven's eyes. She's right, Kathryn, her inner voice prodded her. This could be Voyager's ticket home.

She returned her attention to the calculations and worked her way through them, forcing her consciousness into paths away from the warmth of the body only inches away. Finally things started to come into focus.

"What about this part?" she said noting what she suspected was an improper coefficient and constant. "Wouldn't the calculation require the whole particle weight not just the cooperative muons?"

Seven's head bent to the PADD when Janeway angled it toward her for confirmation. Janeway studied the blonde rather than the PADD readout.

"The calculation changes significantly with the replacement." Janeway's fingers holding the PADD twitched. Her other hand pressed itself into the cushion on her other side. Apparently her lack of steadiness was noted because Seven's right hand came up and steadied the PADD.

"Here," Janeway said. "I'll run the substitution." She brought her left hand up and input the correct coefficient. The change iterated through the calculations, and Seven scrolled to the concluding page.

"The number is more exact. We will only have to alter the shield angle another 6.5 degrees from tangential. And the bussard collector can be programmed to direct the muon flow... it's almost within tolerances. We will have to link the aft shields to the helm to be able to adjust them for the flow changes."

"Like ailerons and a rudder," Janeway said with a smile. She gave up the PADD to Seven's hands and sat back, watching the blonde work further.

The day's anxieties and full shift caught up to her. Tucking her hands in her lap Janeway dropped her head back against the sofa. With the quiet resuming she began drifting, and unconsciously curved toward the warmth next to her.

Seven of Nine considered the equations with determination. There was nothing else the captain had as a higher priority than to returnVoyager and her crew to the Alpha quadrant quickly and safely.

For the first time since Voyager's encounter with Arturis and the discovery of slipstream propulsion theories, Seven felt she had a real chance of accomplishing this goal. The thought drew her eyes toward the captain who had fallen quiet in the aftermath of their examination of the calculations.

The auburn head was in profile, pressed softly into the cushion, facing toward Seven's back. The stresses of the day were startling in their absence from the delicate face. The Borg felt an urge to gather up the small body. She set the PADD aside. "Captain?"

"Hmm."

Janeway rising from her doze set more flutters off in Seven's stomach. "Perhaps you should retire for the evening."

"I don't want to drive you off." Janeway rolled more upright then turned to her left side. Her voice was throaty when she said back over her shoulder, face pressed into the cushion, "Go ahead, keep working."

"I intend to," Seven said, touching Janeway's shoulder. "You should take the bed. I will continue to work out here." Seven was unable to interpret the emotion that shaped the captain's features then. It drew her brows together and caused a faint worried twist to her wine-shade lips.

"I know you are having trouble figuring out sleep, Seven, but giving up the bed isn't necessary." Shaking her head, Seven attempted to correct the captain's thought. "I will sleep here, on the sofa, as you did last night."

The captain's eyes blinked rapidly and to her own surprise she yawned. "I guess you're right." She stood and moved away, leaving behind a disturbing space of cool air next to Seven. "I suggest you get your shower in before too long, though."

"I will go now," Seven said."That way I will not disturb your sleep."

She went to the end of the sofa, where she had tucked her bag of personal items, as well as the pajamas that the captain had replicated the night before.

Taking them and the soft-bristled brush and her toothbrush, she stood and announced, "I am prepared."

Amusement played about the captain's lips but she said nothing, simply gesturing for them to enter the bedroom.

Janeway waited until Seven was tucked behind the closed door and then changed into nightwear and crawled under the covers at the far side of the bed, curled on her left side.

She fixed her gaze on the closed ensuite door and lay quietly thinking about the blonde. She intended to remain awake to say good night to Seven when she emerged from the ensuite. But good intentions faded in the half-light of her bedroom and the welcome touch of the mattress.

Familiarity stole over her muscles. She tucked her hands under her head turning partially onto her stomach, feeling the sheets warm under her. Relieved to be given permission to relax, her leg, back and shoulder muscles almost immediately throbbed to a steady rhythm unknotting themselves, granting her deep sleep.

The sonic waves of the shower didn't even faze her slumber.

Seven of Nine stepped from the shower and shook her hair around her face before retrieving her brush.

Studying her features in the mirror over the sink, She discovered she was making comparisons between her sharply angled features and the captain's softer rounder features.

She traced her ocular implant and sighed, returning to brushing her hair with determination. The locks took on a luster, shining a bit in the ensuite lighting.

She knew many found her pale golden looks attractive, but found herself with a definite preference for dark hair catching the passing starlight in red highlights. She determined the captain held a more pleasing appearance. Certainly easier to study, she thought, turning away from her own reflection.

Finished with her hair, Seven picked up the pajamas and remembered how she had felt when the captain presented them.

The gift had surprised her, having determined that she would sleep in her biosuit as she did when regenerating.

The loose fabric which she had learned was silk, caused very different sensations than anything she had worn before. Very pleasant. Now properly attired, she emerged from the ensuite, ordering the light out in a low voice.

It took only a moment's glance toward the bed to realize that the captain was already asleep. The smaller woman was well buried in her covers, only the smooth features and fall of auburn hair were visible across the crisp white of the pillow.

Stepping cautiously closer, Seven studied the woman's posture and compared it to her own the night before. Perhaps that had been her problem, she decided, realizing the captain sprawled. She wanted to accomplish sleeping; the concept was important to her development and Janeway had been considerably concerned when Seven could not find a suitable position in which to lie on the bed.

Perhaps if I arrange myself as the captain has, she thought. Without another consideration Seven moved the sheets aside and observed the captain's arrangement before lying down in the space next to her.

With caution, she pulled the covers back up over both of them, after assuring herself their positions were exactly mirrored.

The sensation of floating overtook her senses, a complete relinquishing of her muscles to the bed's support. A warmth spread through her stomach and lower bringing a delightful lethargy.

In the darkness, Seven slid her left hand over the captain's right which sprawled on the pillow between them. A silent thanks. Her last thought before succumbing to the rest her biological systems required was triumphant: I did it.

Chapter 6

She was home in Indiana. The fireplace was filled with the warm lick of flames, and a steady snowfall patted the windows. Kathryn snuggled deeper into the warmth of the blankets she had dropped with her pillows on the floor. The weave of the blanket slipped over her skin and she reached over to tug it back around her shoulders, still absorbed in the crackle of the flames and the faint breathing of the person beside her.

Neither of them spoke, and Kathryn appreciated that. It was simple, peaceful. The way things should be. She felt a strong sense of satisfaction and leaned into the near shoulder of her companion. A strong hand tightened in understanding on her back and she turned to nuzzle into the smooth line of throat.

Inhaling, she caught the scent of cinnamon and pulled away, turning around and opening her eyes...

Janeway almost swallowed her tongue. She was curled into the long lean body of Seven of Nine. The former Borg's left arm pinned her across the hips, sending a tingle through her legs and into her groin. With effort she bit off the sound of a groan that was trying to push itself past her lips. Regardless if it was a groan of pleasure or a groan of disappointment, she was not about to wake Seven and complicate matters further.

She tried to think. Then, apparently bereft of the warmth of blankets, Seven's arm moved up, her hand caressing Janeway's bare stomach, tugging the warmth back toward her. Still loathe awakening Seven, Janeway relented, letting her body be drawn back to the sheets. She turned onto her side carefully away from the young Borg. Her heart caught in her throat as Seven's body conformed against her back, soft knees drawing up under her thighs. The curve of her pelvis pressed against Janeway's buttocks. Seven's pajamas were not nearly enough protection for her against the heat of Seven's body seeping into her every pore.

Dear God, what am I going to do?

As she started to pull away, the smooth warmth of Seven's hand slid up her arm in a silent request that she return. She just couldn't so she remained absolutely still praying Seven would return to deeper sleep.

At long last she heard her companion's breathing even out once more. Risking a glance over her shoulder, Janeway checked Seven's somnolence visually. Then she extricated herself. Standing beside the bed, Janeway ran her fingers through her hair in conflict. The blonde curled deeper into the covers, and even Janeway noticed the shiver and discontented frown as she wrapped her arms around the thick pillow instead of a warm body.

Kathryn's body tingled with memory of those slimly muscular arms, and irrationally considered returning to the blonde's embrace. Eyes going wide, she patted her own cheeks and shook her head, clearing the images and sensations away.

I had better shower and get out of here, she decided, immediately sequestering herself in the ensuite. Within a minute she had buried her face under the spray of her hydro setting. Her heart racing and her skin hot, she dialed it ten degrees colder and hurried through her cleansing.

Dressed in a fresh uniform, having fluffed her hair dry and affixed her pips, Janeway opened the ensuite door cautiously looking toward the bed in the low light. She straightened when she realized Seven was no longer sleeping, but half-sitting up in the bed.

"Computer, lights." Seven's crisp intonation broke the silence, and Janeway blinked in the sudden brightness.

"I was... just heading out," Kathryn explained, stepping out of the ensuite. "Sorry I disturbed you."

"Your shower did not disturb me," she said curiously. "I... was uncomfortable. I awakened before the waterflow began."

"Oh." Janeway drew up watching Seven suddenly looking around the mussed sheets and pillows. "What's wrong?"

"I was... holding something," Seven considered. She blinked, running a hand experimentally over the pillow, but she shook her head, looking toward the captain. "It was you I was holding."

Janeway swallowed under the woman's regard, but finally nodded. "Yes." She stepped up to the bed. "We... didn't start out that way."

"No. I... emerged from my shower to find you had fallen asleep. It seemed... logical, to mimic your positioning. And then I succumbed to sleep."

Janeway nodded. "All right."

Seven's face took on a pleased glow. "Will you come back to bed?"

Startled at the invitation, Janeway managed to sidestep the question. "Seven... I... I have to be on duty shortly." She pointed out reasonably. "So do you."

Seven was instantly on her feet, presenting Kathryn with six feet of pajama-clad Borg, bare arms and legs displaying the remaining reminders of her assimilation. The effect was stunning rather than disturbing, Janeway thought. She tossed her head back to look up at Seven's face just as the blonde spoke, the thick voice rolling over Kathryn like warm fudge. "You are correct. My... internal chronometer appears to be... misaligned."

"You're sleepy, Seven. It's okay."

"I ... it is an unfamiliar sensation to be so disoriented. Is this a regular occurrence associated with sleep?"

Kathryn laughed softly. "Only the best kind of sleep, Seven." She gestured to the living area. "I'm going to have some breakfast." She felt awkward leaving now, so felt compelled to add, "I'll see you later, all right?"

Still clearly disturbed, Seven nevertheless nodded rotely. "Yes, Captain." Janeway winced at the formal tone.

A few minutes later, following a request for coffee from the living area replicator, Janeway departed.

Puzzling through the morning's events and conversation, Seven changed into her duty uniform, the blue biosuit, and left the captain's quarters. She instructed the turbolift at the end of the corridor, "Deck 6, Astrometrics." Until just passing deck 4 she remembered she was

expected to meet Lt. Torres. "Computer, cancel. Input new destination. Main engineering."Where was her mind this morning?

"Computer. Lights."

Startled, Commander Chakotay, Voyager's first officer, looked up from his rug spread on the floor of Ensign Harry Kim's quarters. At his knees lay his tribal keepsakes, and the device used as a meditative aid, which blinked placidly in the low light.

Ensign Kim was emerging from his sonic shower fully attired in his Operations mustard yellow uniform, single gold pip gleaming on his gray undershirt's collar. Despite his tidy appearance one look at the young Asian-descent young man showed the evidence of unfulfilling sleep.

"Have you been at that all night?" Kim frowned.

"Just the last few hours," Chakotay said with a smile, as he rolled to a standing position, collecting his belongings in the same motion. Turning away to put his bag with his satchel of belongings he had transferred with him to these temporary quarters, Chakotay missed the unusually dark frown Kim aimed at his back.

By the time he turned back around, Kim was headed toward his doors. "See you on the bridge, Harry," he called brightly. When Harry ignored him with only a flat wave, Chakotay's head dropped. "Well, at least I'll get a shot at the shower this morning."

The first officer, clad only in his boxer shorts, headed quickly for the shower. On the bed in the tiny alcove, he glanced over to see Icheb, the adolescent ex-drone who was also stuffed here in Harry's quarters, sleeping soundly sprawled on his stomach.

Harry had given the young man, unused to sleeping at all, the only bed, leaving the two Starfleet officers camping on the floor in replicated sleeping bags. Now grumbling, Chakotay stuck himself into the sonic waves and wished for his own quarter's hot water shower, to get the damn kinks out of his back.

Seven of Nine stood at a plasma flow regulator at the upper deck of Engineering, calmly, rotely reporting readouts from the monitor to the engineer lying on her back underneath.

"Flow rate at 67.8 percent. 69.23 percent. 70.43 percent..."

From below, B'Elanna Torres turned the nozzle. "So far so good. Tell me when it reaches 75 percent. We don't want it higher."

Seven's recitation had not paused. "71.45 percent. 71.98 percent. 73.12 percent. 74.22 percent. 76.38 percent."

Torres started to extricate herself, coming up from the floor. "All right."

Seven reported "78.20 percent."

"Shit, Seven." Torres reached past the taller woman and flipped the valve switch, locking it into place. "I said 75 percent."

Seven blinked when Torres's hand impacted her shoulder, shoving her aside. "We are finished?" she asked. The stocky engineer stared at her.

"What in the hell have you got on your mind?" the Klingon questioned sharply.

"I thought Klingons didn't believe in hell," Seven remarked, completely unresponsive to the engineer's aggravation. Why was the engineer angry? Seven asked herself.

"Seven, I... why don't we go down to my office? I've got to complete the weekly report to the captain..."

Seven blinked.The captain? She immediately pictured the compact woman standing in her ensuite doorway, backlit from the lighting. "I would appreciate a break myself, lieutenant," she offered, wondering if the captain would be coming to engineering to retrieve the report.

She started down the access ladder, completely missing Torres's baffled look as she fisted her hands on her hips and stared after the blonde. "Sleeping certainly isn't agreeing with you," Torres remarked under her breath, following once Seven was clear of the rungs.

Seven's acute auditory sense picked up the Klingon's mumbling, and she informed B'Elanna, "I have discovered that sleeping is a complex activity."

"How'd you go and make sleeping a complex activity, Seven?" The blonde followed Torres to the engineer's office. "It's just closing your eyes."

"Did you know that there are several possible positions for sleep?" Seven asked, as she watched Torres begin working at her desk. "I have discovered a preference for lying on my side."

Seven puzzled over B'Elanna's baffled expression. "I guess so," the engineer provided almost cautiously.

"How do you sleep, lieutenant?"

"My side too, I guess. Though sometimes I'll curl up with Tom."

"You and Lt. Paris share a bed?"

"Yes, of course, Seven. We're married."

Seven pondered that, remaining silent long enough for Torres to assume that the conversation was over. So the petite officer settled into her desk beginning to go over her notes, composing them into a coherent report.

"Hey, Seven."

Seven dragged her attention back to the Chief Engineer. "Yes?"

"Would you go see what he wants?"

The Borg turned in the direction indicated by B'Elanna's nod. Striding purposefully through the doors to engineering was a Klingon warrior, batleth slung over his shoulder. "I want to see the mother of the Kova Mok!" he bellowed. "Where is she?"

Seven stood, crossing to the doorway and studied him for a long moment. "The lieutenant is not taking visitors at the present time," she informed him primly.

Dark narrowing eyes settled on her face, and Seven felt an answering adrenaline rush through her systems. He had made no move, but she clearly considered him a threat. Instinct, she decided, was a curious sensation.

"You intend to stop me?" His question was clearly derisive.

Reasonably, Seven pointed out, "That depends on your next choice of actions."

In the next breath he had whipped off his batleth and charged her. Seven separated her feet, balancing easily, cocking her head inquisitively. Apparently he was not intent on being reasonable as others who had come seeking the half-Klingon engineer. His growl unleashed a foul stench in her face which she identified as alcohol, not synthehol. She wondered where he had obtained it, the replicators being programmed only to provide the synthetic.

In the next instant however she did not have time for further thoughts. She raised her left enhanced arm and deflected the batleth with a sharp shove across her body as she stepped backward. His boneplated cranium slammed into the clear wall of the Chief Engineer's office. Shaking it off, he turned back on her, as she circled around, keeping his attention away from B'Elanna.

He charged her again. With a sharp blow to the face, she slipped inside his defenses, then backed up again. The batleth arced out, and she felt one of the hooks of the sharpened blade sink briefly into her right shoulder before she could catch it in her left hand, protected from the edge by her mesh implant. She shoved him back, not daring to show the pain she felt as the blood seeped out onto her suit from her shoulder. Never show an enemy your weakness, she recalled from Tuvok's training sessions.

They parried for a few minutes more, but finally, relievedly as she felt her energy ebbing quickly, Seven of Nine stepped inside his defensive posture, ripped the batleth from his own hands and cold-cocked him in the face and throat with the flat of the blade.

He crumpled to the floor of the engine room. She was turning around, stepping away from him to contact Security when two came bursting through the door, their phasers training immediately on the downed Klingon's back. "The danger is over," she informed them. Seven turned again, caught B'Elanna's quizzical look and informed the engineer. "I must report to sickbay."

"Go on, Seven. I'm sure we can handle him now." B'Elanna, who was leaning out her open doorway looked from the unconscious Klingon to Seven once more. "Nice performance," she complimented. "Thanks."

Seven nodded. "You are welcome." In the next moment, she departed the engineering bay, walked the short distance to a turbolift, and ordered, "Sickbay."

She could already feel the effects of her blood loss ebbing as her nanoprobes slowed her circulatory functions and began to prod her body into a healing stasis. She leaned against the wall of the turbolift and took a deep breath before exiting on the deck containing sickbay.

She entered the medical area. Apparently the Doctor was in one of his rare off moments, she realized, not noticing him immediately. "Computer, activate EMH."

The Doctor coalesced before her and promptly issued his customary challenge. "Please state the nature of the medical...Oh, Seven. What can I do for you?"

"I require your assistance in repairing damage."

She indicated her right shoulder, the soft tissue clearly torn through the biosuit's fabric. "Well, have a seat." He led her over to a biobed and retrieved a medical tricorder from the drawer beneath the examining surface as she levered herself onto the thinly padded table.

"Minor muscle damage," he reported. "But a nasty tear. What did you do? Get into a fight with Lt. Torres?"

"No. One of our Klingon 'guests'."

"Wouldn't take no for an answer, hmm?"

"Correct." She endured the sensation of discomfort as the muscle layer was knitted back together, sitting up straighter when he began closing the skin with a dermal regenerator.

Noise at the doorway drew her attention immediately. Captain Kathryn Janeway strode briskly through the door, identified their location and rapidly closed the distance. Seven felt her stomach shift in her abdomen, suddenly feeling full when she was unaware she had been feeling empty. She studied the woman's face intently even as she realized she was being just as scrutinized in return.

The captain took a step forward, hand reaching out, but then seemed to recognize the Doctor. "Report," she ordered him.

"Seven's shoulder was damaged in a run-in with one of the Klingons."

"In engineering," Seven supplied promptly when the piercing blue eyes settled on her face abruptly. She puzzled over the amazing number of emotions that crossed the captain's features, all too briefly to be fully identified, until the last when she caught deep concern filling dark blue sad eyes with a tightness to the chin, just before the command mask replaced it. She felt the Doctor step away from her arm and flexed it. "Thank you, Doctor. I must return to duty," she concluded, starting to slide from the biobed.

Janeway's right hand was suddenly on Seven's left arm and the touch, though light, froze the former Borg to the spot. "No you don't."

"I am fine," Seven countered.

"Doctor?" Janeway immediately drew the medical officer's opinion.

"You might want to regenerate for a short period," he suggested.

"The cargo bay is currently occupied," Seven pointed out.

"Then you can sleep. Go back to my quarters," Janeway said sternly. "Consider yourself off-duty until further notice."

Seven's expression was hurt, Janeway could see, but she did not object further. "Yes, captain."

"Good. Now that's settled." Janeway took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She resisted the urge to help Seven off the biobed and instead clasped her hands together tightly, stepping backward to give the taller woman the space to maneuver.

After Seven was gone - to her quarters Janeway hoped the young woman would obey just once - the captain turned back around to bid her own farewell to the doctor. "Goodbye, Doctor."

"Goodbye, Captain." His look was quizzical, but he said nothing further.

Walking down the corridor toward the turbolift, Janeway forced herself to slow down. You don't want to catch up to her, Kathryn, her inner voice warned. Not right now. Her emotions were still in an uproar from the adrenaline rush of finding out about the fight, through the worry of what she would find in Sickbay to the almost euphoric wave of relief that swept her body when she realized Seven was all right.

God, I'm tired, she thought. "Computer, what's the time?"

"The time is 11 hundred 14 hours."

Janeway decided a rare visit to the mess hall was in order for lunch. She tapped her comm badge. "Janeway to Bridge."

"Bridge here," Chakotay answered briskly. "What's the word on the fight?"

Reaching the turbolift which didn't immediately open, she pressed the console, requesting a car. "Minor injuries, Commander. Take over for a while? I'm going to the mess hall for lunch."

"Aye, aye. Bridge out."

She stepped into the summoned turbolift and called, "Deck 3, Mess Hall," unable to stop thinking about Seven, the Klingons, and her double-bunked crew and wondering where it would all come out.

The mess hall was a busy hum of activity, surprising the captain who did not usually frequent Neelix's domain in the middle of Alpha shift. Beta shift early risers were collecting for their first meal, and a few Gamma shift crewmembers still awake were mingling. She smiled at several, who offered her unfamiliar greetings, then entered the line to be served.

"Welcome, Captain!" Neelix's recognition effectively doused the noise in the room. Boisterously loud it carried through the small hall, and everyone stopped and stared. She fidgeted, holding out her plate, but the Talaxian was not finished. "Hardly ever see you down here. Anything special I can get you?"

"No thank you, Neelix. Just the special of the day, if you don't mind." She felt her shoulders knot under the crew's scrutiny. She stood a little straighter, and when Neelix took her plate to fill it, she self-consciously tugged at her uniform.

"Things must be going pretty smoothly on the bridge," he commented, passing back her plate.

"Nothing to report," she said, finally smiling. "How are your supplies? Do we need to start looking for anything?"

"We're well stocked," he said, shaking his head. "The Klingons have been digging into the replicators though, mentioned that their gagh is a little salty. Might ask Engineering later to have a look at the circuits."

"Good enough, Neelix."

Then, as if on cue, several Klingons strode into the Mess Hall. Janeway spun and studied the group. She wondered if one of them had been the Klingon that tangled with Seven. She noted two females and three juveniles and a senior male in typical leather garments. He carried no weapons... that she could see, she realized quickly, remembering the

Klingons' ability to secret weapons in even the most unlikely places in her few encounters with them.

Neelix stepped out from behind his counter and greeted them. "Welcome, friends. What will you have today?"

"Meals." Despite the gruff tone, Janeway was surprised to see Neelix not even blink.

"Of course. Something on the menu, or replicated?"

"My sons require meat," the elder responded sharply. "Your vegetable pastes are unpalatable."

"All right then. Find yourselves seats and I'll be right over."

Janeway met Neelix at the replicator, and took a pair of trays as she talked to the Talaxian quietly. "Have they always been like that?"

"It's their way, captain. They don't cause trouble... most of the time."

"Glad to hear it." She fell silent as she followed Neelix who carried the other trays to the set of tables the Klingon group had acquired.

"Here you are, gentlemen, ladies." Neelix scattered the platters and stepped back.

At that moment one of the juveniles took actual note of the small woman standing beside their server. "You're the captain here, aren't you?" he said, and Janeway could not help note the challenge in his voice. "How can you lead when you are so small? I could snap you in my hands."

Janeway watched the juvenile stand, towering over her easily. "Nice to meet you too," she replied, forcing amiability into her tone. She felt her voice deepen though, and knew her temper was coming. "I was just leaving. I hope you and your family enjoy Voyager's hospitality." She cast her glance around the rest of the table, then back up at the juvenile.

"But, captain..." Neelix looked at her.

"It was good to see you, Neelix. But I've got to return to the bridge."

He started to walk with her toward the door, but a quick silent shake of her head and he veered off, returning to his kitchen.

Once back in the corridor, Janeway stopped, looking back over her shoulder. Sometimes, she thought, I really come up against some awkward moments as a female captain. The Federation, and Starfleet, by and large were gender-blind, but there seemed to be some natural order that generated far more patriarchal societies than matriarchal or neutral in her experience with first contact.

She followed the corridor around but had not reached the turbolift when her comm badge beeped. "Security to the Captain," Tuvok's voice came over the link.

"Go ahead, Tuvok."

"Lieutenants Torres and Paris have been accosted by a pair of the Klingon elders."

"Where?" she stood just inside the turbolift doors, holding them open.

"Deck 9. The Paris quarters."

"Understood. I'm on my way." She heaved a sigh, and stepped back, letting the lift doors close. "Computer. Deck 9, Section 15."

Seven of Nine, ordered to the captain's quarters for a rest period, instead had passed Naomi Wildman poised for a chance at a holodeck adventure with her favorite storybook character, Flotter. At Naomi's gleeful insistence, Voyager's astrometrics officer joined her young friend inside the simulation of Flotter and the Very Dark Night.

An hour later, at the conclusion of the simulation where Naomi's quick thinking had turned a scary moonless night into a campfire sing along, Seven stepped out into the corridor, and was surprised by the energized hug Naomi pressed on her. Crouched on the deck, she wrapped her own arms around the blonde half-K'tarian girl and listened to the giggles in her

ear. "I love you, Seven," Naomi offered, pressing her lips to Seven's cheek. "You're a lot of fun."

"I am pleased you enjoyed yourself, Naomi," she replied easily back, surprised at the fullness that kept her chest warm after the girl disengaged their contact. "It was very relaxing for me as well," she acknowledged with surprise.

"You probably have to get back to your post now?"

"No, the captain relieved me of duty for the rest of the day."

"Oh."

"Would you like to spend more time together, Naomi?" Seven watched the girl's expression light up. "I am aware that you take a nap in the afternoons. I have been learning about sleep, so perhaps I can aid you in falling asleep?"

Naomi laughed. "I don't need any help, just my buddy Flotter." Seven looked toward the just vacated holodeck, but Naomi explained. "No, I have a stuffed toy Neelix created to look like Flotter."

"And this helps you sleep?"

"Yep." Naomi took Seven's hand. "Come on, I'll show you."

Seven let herself into the captain's quarters contemplating many things as she settled on the captain's sofa. Her shoulder had begun aching on the walk from the Wildman quarters, where she had learned about the softness of a doll, as Naomi let her experimentally snuggle with the blue stuffed replica. The ticking was indeed soft to rub against her cheeks and the stuffed body was comfortable to hug to her chest, but she passed the toy back, and tucked Naomi under her covers instead.

"Thanks, Seven."

"You are welcome, Naomi."

"Kiss me good night?"

"What?"

"Neelix and Mom do."

"Oh. Well, if it will help you sleep..." Seven leaned over and pressed a kiss to Naomi's temple then brushed the hair out of the girl's eyes as she straightened once again. "Now, good night, Naomi."

"Thanks again, Seven." Naomi rolled over, cuddling with her toy, and closed her eyes.

Seven made her way out of the quarters at that point, knowing Neelix would likely want to check on the girl himself. "Seven of Nine to Neelix."

"Neelix here."

"I encountered Naomi Wildman at her Flotter holodeck program and have returned the girl to her mother's quarters."

"Thanks, Seven. I'll check on her myself in about an hour."

"You are welcome. Seven out."

Now, leaning back on the sofa in the captain's quarters, Seven looked toward the captain's bedroom. Perhaps she should attempt a nap similar to Naomi. The captain had ordered her to rest. Pushing to her feet, she stepped out of her shoes and set them at the end of the double bed before laying across the top of the covers attempting to put herself in

a similar position to the night before.

Chapter 7

Kathryn Janeway fumed all the way into her quarters. Of all the stubborn, pigheaded... She still could not believe that Tom Paris was going to participate in such an assinine... "I will train him myself," Koval had said.

Yeah, and who will pick up the little carved pieces of helmsman when this is all over?she had wanted to protest. But masculine shows of pride were running rampant through the small quarters and though B'Elanna protested, Tom Paris being her husband after all, Janeway knew she could say nothing.

Damn. She slammed herself down on the sofa, crossing her arms over her chest. Too angry after observing the beginning of Paris's training, Kathryn took herself off duty about half an hour early, knowing her edges were very frayed, and the ship did not deserve being subjected to it. She had left Tuvok, and B'Elanna on the observation platform. The one observing in almost academic concentration and the second fuming as much as the captain herself.

She could feel the muscles along her shoulders and upper back just writhing in the tension and unfolded her arms, taking a concentrated moment to stem the physical tide of her anger. Inhaling slow and deep, she let the breath out just as slowly, then again. She laid her head back on the sofa cushions and closed her eyes. Her eyes throbbed painfully and she recognized the beginnings of a headache snaking around her temples with sharp bites at her nerve endings.

A hot bath, she thought. Just a quick one before Seven comes back. She stood, rubbing firmly at the ache in her shoulders as she headed for the bedroom. She stopped in the doorway to see her bed in major disarray. God, what happened in here?

Still in her biosuit, Seven of Nine was on the bed, the sheets tangled around her long legs, one bare foot visible, and the rest of the covers were spread to the floor. A host of oddly shaped pillows and stuffed toys were spread around the lanky woman in the bed. Several had clearly replicated by Seven - Janeway certainly did not own one shaped like a... panda bear? The one she currently hugged, a large pillow about three quarters Seven's own height, had been mangled so much that Janeway noted the tear and the seeping stuffing. Seven's legs were squirming around it, clearly trying to get comfortable.

Seven rolled over then, jerking away from the pillow as she sat up. Consternation, frustration filled the narrow-eyed gaze as the blonde pitched the pillow from her.

"Whoa! Hold on there!" Janeway caught the pillow in mid-flight and moved to the end of the bed.

A bewildered gaze shot to her face. "Captain!"

"Hello." Janeway's lips twitched, but because of Seven's clearly distraught look, she could not bring herself to laugh. Setting aside the

pillow she settled on the edge of the mattress, tucking one knee up under her as she sat down. "Evidence suggests you've been trying to sleep?"

"Yes," Seven replied sourly. "I do not understand how humans can do this."

"What's with the pillows?" Janeway asked, moving closer to Seven and shifting the array of stuffed shapes off the bed.

"I thought to replicate something as Naomi has." Seven was beginning to clearly break. Kathryn reached out and lifted up the lowered chin. "But I cannot be comfortable," she lamented. Without thinking and surprising Janeway, Seven wrapped her arms around the captain's body, and buried her face in her shoulder in a tight hug. Automatically Janeway's arms slipped around Seven's shoulders and in the firm grip of her captain, Seven's tears finally came.

"Sh, it's all right." Distracted from her own troubles by the more immediate problem, Kathryn Janeway rubbed Seven's back in steady circles, murmuring in her ear softly. "We'll figure this out. I promise."

It was late, and she was tired too, Kathryn realized as she found herself leaning back while soothing Seven. She arranged herself against the collection of pillows, Seven following her down as their bodies shifted to make room for each other. She felt the former Borg's body, some parts steel hard and others achingly soft, conform to her left side as Seven's head pressed harder into her shoulder. The Borg's tears wet Janeway's uniform collar, and the mesh-covered hand curled up into a fist against Kathryn's stomach. With her right hand, Janeway brushed the loose tendrils of hair off Seven's cheek, concluding with a light tracing of her fingertips over the ocular implant that arched around Seven's left eye. She looked down her chest to find Seven's eyes tightly shut. She felt Seven's convulsive breathing as she tried to regain her customary control, so Janeway squeezed her shoulder in support.

Her companion's breathing calmed shortly afterward. The captain's scent was soothing, and her voice, husky and soft against her brow was comforting in a way Seven could not have imagined. She tried to convey her pleasant discovery by putting her arms more securely around Janeway's back and across her stomach, squeezing tightly. The motion

brought her head more into the center of the captain's chest and she found herself nuzzling into Kathryn's breasts. She could feel herself drifting into a zone of comfort and her eyes closed more naturally.

Janeway's body stiffened, and Seven eased back to determine what was wrong. "I can't do this, Seven..." Janeway started to inch away from their mutual warmth.

"This? We were falling asleep."

"I know." Kathryn's whisper nearly shattered her, knowing what she was saying potentially could kill their returning friendship. "But I can't stay here."

"This is your bed. These are your quarters."

"I mean I can't stay here... with you."

"I have found a comfortable position in which to sleep," Seven said curiously. "Aren't you proud of me?"

Kathryn inhaled sharply. "Seven. This isn't... of course I'm proud of you." She exhaled slowly. "Don't... Don't you feel like something is wrong?"

"What is wrong? I am comfortable. I wish to continue sleeping. I enjoy having something to hold."

"I'm not a stuffed animal. I'll replicate you something."

"I do not want a stuffed toy like Naomi." The voice was sleepy, soft and husked breathily across her chest. Who would have thought a Starfleet uniform could be so thin, Janeway thought unhappily, feeling her nipples stiffen in reaction.

"This isn't appropriate," Kathryn tried one last time. Watching Seven's face, Janeway's mind was whirling at warp speed.

Kathryn acknowledged that her struggle to remain purely professional with Seven had been a lost cause almost from the beginning. She had hoped that the personal approach would help Seven adapt.

When she had bared her soul the time Seven was overcome with thoughts of conspiracies, Janeway had realized she had needed to back off, to regain some perspective. She had felt their growing distance acutely but suffered through it.

It was true that asking Seven to be her roommate was supposed to have brought them closer, bridging the seeming chasm between them. She could not remember the last time Seven had shared a new revelation about her humanity. Between their fights over the Borg children and Seven's troubles in Unimatrix Zero it had seemed their relationship was virtually, if not in reality, dead.

However, in just over two days, Kathryn's gamble had worked; the closeness had been returning in their conversations, and in the chance to simply spend time together without duties. The wall of her professional detachment, as it had been since the beginning, was in danger again. She sucked in a short breath when Seven shifted and she breathed hotly along the underside of Kathryn's chin. This can't be happening to me, she lamented, feeling tendrils of arousal course hotly through her veins.

She could feel their bodies, along every centimeter that touched, how well they fit together, and sighed. Seven could not know what Janeway was struggling with. Her inexperience could not understand what it was to be aroused.

"Kathryn?"

Janeway opened her eyes, which she had squeezed shut to block out as much of the enveloping presence as possible. "What?"

"You are very tense. Are you upset?"

"You wouldn't understand," she said cautiously. "I'm sorry, Seven, but I..." She pulled herself free, finally looking down at Seven's sprawled body across the covers and pillows. "I can't stay in the same bed with you."

"Is it because we are not married?"

Kathryn blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Is the reason that you will not share the bed with me because we are not married?"

Janeway felt as though she floundered in ocean surf, buffeted by waves. She turned away from Seven, and took a deep breath and several paces away from the bedside. "Seven, you're just trying to sleep. How'd we get on the topic of marriage?"

"I was discussing sleep with Lt. Torres. She remarked that she and Lt. Paris sleep together because they are married."

"Of course." Kathryn was drawn back to the bed, and kneeled on it, looking down into Seven's upturned face.

The Borg's expression was totally open, curious. "Everyone is aware that they slept together prior to their wedding. So why aren't we allowed to sleep together, you and I?"

Janeway pressed her hands to her temple only to realize that in her right she held Seven's left. When it contacted her skin she jumped, and the Borg's hand fell free, drifting over her cheek. Her own voice sounded foreign, stumbling out of her mouth. "It's just... not appropriate to be sharing a bed with someone unless you care deeply about them."

"I care deeply about you, Kathryn. Do you not care about me?" The words spilled out quickly, and Janeway could hear the quaver in Seven's voice.

"I do care for you, Seven."

"So why can we not sleep together?"

Janeway struggled to find words that would make sense, that would minimize the pain she could feel from them both. "It would be wrong."

Seven's gaze was incisive when it met hers. "What is wrong with it?" Janeway quailed at the challenge.

But she knew it would just be too painful. "Because it won't stop there."

"Where?"

Janeway sighed audibly. "At sleeping."

"Why not?"

"Because... I couldn't... I want more. It wouldn't... it wouldn't be fair to you." Kathryn swallowed, confused and hurt, and knowing she was hurting Seven as well, just by the way she wouldn't look at her. Janeway fell silent, unable to find the words.

Gradually she watched Seven straighten, the familiar analytical expression crossing the fair features. The direct look startled her, but compelled her to remain still. "What do you want to do more, Kathryn?"

Seven balanced her weight on her right palm as she studied Janeway's face. Feeling examined, Janeway swallowed and unreasonably wiped at her cheeks.

"Is it the 'more' I want to do with you?" Seven went on softly.

Janeway's cheeks went bloodless and she felt faint. "Wh - what do mean?"

"I have had the desire many times to hug you, as I was just doing – but also to kiss you."

Composing herself with difficulty Janeway could only ask, "Why?"

"Naomi kissed me and said she loved me. Is that not what people do?"

"You want to kiss me and say you love me?"

"I have given it much thought and I concluded that I am."

"What?"

"I am in love... with you."

The words stunned Kathryn. But she can't mean it. Working around the catch in her throat, Can she? Janeway did not hide her frank curiosity when she asked, "Seven, why did you accept my invitation to stay here?"

Apparently Seven had been pondering the question for some time on her own that her answer was quick, assured. "We have been apart much lately. I want us to be close again." Seven's ice blue gaze pierced Janeway. "Why did you ask me?"

Pinned, Janeway said honestly, "Because I missed spending time with you too."

"We had the same reason then." Janeway settled to the bed and nodded silently. Seven's hand slipped across the space between them and covered hers. "I have felt closer to you than anyone else on this ship since the beginning," Seven said quietly. "Your presence is comforting, even as it is at times frustrating."

Kathryn sighed, accepting that for the moment she also wanted to desperately hold Seven and be held in return. The big woman was intoxicatingly soft and the press of their bodies had been a difficult thing to pull away from. "Do you really understand what it is you want, Seven?"

Seven's voice was warm, trickling over them both in the silence like a warm bath. "I want you." The taller woman cleared a space on the covers, and then leaned on her own elbow simply watching and waiting.

"Nothing is going to happen," Kathryn said firmly as she accepted the invitation at last. "We're both tired, and I'd rather you be sure you really mean that." With an audible sigh of relief and wrapping Kathryn up in muscles both soft and strong, Seven pulled their bodies together.

"Thank you, Kathryn," Seven mumbled into her chest. "I needed this," she added as her voice faded out.

"I needed this too," Janeway acknowledged in a whisper, wrapping her arms around Seven's shoulders and nuzzling into her hair. As her body relaxed and the trials of the day faded away, Janeway thoughtYou have no idea how much.

Some time later, Kathryn woke to the most incredible sensations skimming across her skin. Wait a minute! Her eyes snapped open to find Seven of Nine's left hand under her open tunic and gray uniform shirt, stroking the muscles in her stomach. "Seven?"

"Yes, Kathryn?" Her breath skimmed Janeway's bared midriff.

Caught up in the sensation, Janeway filed her fingers through the blonde's hair then grasped Seven's fingers with her other hand in defense. "God, Seven, stop."

"Was that unpleasant?"

"Um, no. Just... why aren't you sleeping? It's not morning yet, I'm sure of it."

Seven's head came up and though she looked tousled and sleepy with half open eyes, her voice was typical when she responded, causing a smile to tug at Kathryn's mouth. "I did. However, I have discovered something that I find more pleasant at the moment." She lowered her head and Kathryn groaned when her mouth was covered by warm, full lips.

When they parted, Kathryn was breathless. "Did... did that satisfy your desire to kiss me?" She blinked. God I can't believe I said that.

"I... would..." Seven licked her lips completely focused on the captain's mouth. "Could we kiss again?"

"All right," Kathryn granted permission, hoping she was not making a terrible mistake. Seven closed her eyes as they came closer together.

She touched her lips to Seven's feeling the breath passing hesitantly, then cease as she gradually increased the contact pressure. When they parted, Seven blinked, refocusing. Janeway let her face tug into a generous smile. That was quite nice, she thought in amusement.

Seven was breathless. Kathryn could see her chest expand suddenly as she found words. "I feel... strange inside. Empty, like I am hungry. The smell of your skin... I never truly noted it before... My stomach is moving. What is this?" The tone was questioning, hesitant.

Janeway's smile broadened and she gave in to the desire to trace her fingers up Seven's arms, touching her throat. "You're aroused, Seven," she explained softly, awed when she felt the blonde's pulse start racing under her fingertips.

"Arousal is a prelude to copulation," Seven revealed.

"Yes, it is. But... you're not ready for that."

"Readiness is important?"

"Essential." Kathryn cupped her hands on Seven's cheeks. "I'm enjoying this actually, and I think we might ruin it moving too fast."

"Too fast?"

"Before you're ready. Or before I am, for that matter."

"Will we continue sleeping together until then?"

"As long as we both get some sleep," Janeway said with a soft laugh. "I don't see any reason to give this up." She wrapped her arms around Seven's lower back. "I like your hugs."

Just then her stomach growled. Seven's acute hearing immediately detected it, dropping her gaze to the captain's middle. "What was that?"

"I... um, didn't have any dinner yet," Kathryn admitted.

"You should eat."

"Have you had anything since you left sickbay?"

"No."

"Then I suggest we both need something to eat," Kathryn pointed out. "Come on."

"It is nearly 2100 hours."

"We'll keep it light. How about a fruit salad?" Kathryn slipped from the bed and held out a hand to Seven. "Come on."

The Borg took it, and followed Kathryn out into the living area. As they had on the first night, Kathryn requested their meal, and passed the tray to Seven who set it on the table, where they both took a seat.

Kathryn reached over and put her hand over Seven's. "I didn't expect this," she said quietly. "I only wanted to heal the breach in our friendship. And get a roommate."

"Does the difference in our relationship disturb you?"

"Only in how fast I seem to be falling here," Kathryn admitted. "You intrigued me from the beginning, Seven. I always knew that. As much as you felt comfort around me, I found fulfillment around you. Empty whenever you weren't. I even liked butting heads with you when we disagreed, just because it meant you were here."

"Every time we disagreed, I felt... damaged somehow," Seven admitted. "It... hurt."

Kathryn rubbed her fingers over the back of Seven's knuckles reassuringly. "I am sorry." The captain leaned over and kissed Seven's cheek, just beside her ocular implant. "You were right some of those times too, you know."

"I was?"

Janeway nodded. "I couldn't tell you so, but when Icheb's family sent him into that slipstream conduit, I knew I was wrong. Your instinct... I hadn't wanted to trust it. Now I know better."

"When you came into Unimatrix Zero with me to save the Borg... I didn't know what to say."

"It worked out in the end," Janeway replied uneasily. She still recalled the time during her semi-assimilation with a distinct case of the willies. "It was important to you."

"I never did thank you." Kathryn looked up in time to catch an intent glow in Seven's eyes as the taller woman bent her head close pressing a kiss to her lips.

When the spicy taste of Seven's mouth left hers, Kathryn caught her breath. "You're welcome," she breathed. "You can't tell me that you've been thinking to thank me with a kiss all this time?"

"Actually, I have." Kathryn blinked in surprise. "Ever since kissing Axum, I realized..."

"Axum?"

"My... friend... in the Collective."

"Making comparisons?" Janeway asked, withdrawing her hand from Seven's as she distinctly felt uneasy about the turn in conversation.

"There is none," Seven said coolly.

"I see." Kathryn looked down suddenly without appetite at the remains of her salad. Standing, she cleaned her plate into the recycler.

Still standing there, looking at the empty plate, she did not hear Seven come up behind her. "You are disturbed by his mention."

"Whatever happened between you is your memory. You have so few good memories of the Collective, I don't want to take anything..."

"It was not the same as I feel for you, Kathryn."

"It wasn't?"

"No." Seven's hand was on her lower back and Kathryn swallowed before turning around. "You have been involved before. Should I be concerned?"

Janeway looked up. "Why do I feel like this is the first time for me and not you?"

"Perhaps because I have fewer preconceptions about it?" Seven ventured.

"This day is certainly ending a lot better," Kathryn muttered, finding herself easily turning into Seven's embracing hug, her cheek pressing comfortably into a shoulder. Long fingered hands moved over the muscles in her back. "You do that wonderfully well," she pointed out when the lazy movements turned to a purposeful massage.

Seven's hands slipped under the back of her tunic and shirt.

"Um, Seven..."

"Yes, Kathryn?"

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"Yes, of course I do." Her fingers contacted the back of the other woman's bra strap.

"I think we'd better turn in for the night."

"That would be acceptable," Seven replied, removing her hands from inside the captain's top.

They reentered the bedroom, and Janeway passed Seven her pajamas before disappearing into the ensuite. Seven changed and waited for the captain to emerge, sitting on the edge of the bed, enjoying the anticipation that swelled through her stomach and lower.

Janeway appeared, attired for the first time in her regular sleeping gown which Seven had never had opportunity to see. "You..." Seven stood. "look..." She grabbed her stomach uneasily. "wonderful."

The captain blushed at the clear evidence of Seven's arousal, wide eyes, dark with large pupils almost blocking the pale blue. "Come on, let's get you comfortable enough for sleep again," she said, leading Seven onto the bed.

They curled up in the middle of the mattress. Kathryn felt peace settle over them both as Seven's head lowered to her shoulder, strong arms stole around her waist and a bare leg slipped over her own as she turned into Seven.

Gradual relaxation stole over Seven's limbs and body as her breathing evened out. "Good night, Seven," Kathryn whispered into the blonde hair, pressing a kiss against the silk locks.

"Good night, Kathryn."

Chapter 8

The sensations were almost more than Seven could process. She awakened to the feel of Kathryn's lips yielding and moist covering hers, their breath mingling and hot as it filled her own mouth. The intimate touches made her suddenly very aware of parts of herself she had not considered before.

She felt Kathryn's fingers slipping through her hair, massaging the base of her scalp. Nerve endings tingled, rocketing sensation down her back. Her legs shook with the effort to keep herself upright, kneeling on the bed when Kathryn's lips moved away from her own, only to drift lightly across her cheek and trace the implant at the base of her left ear. She could not help but gasp.

Her palms moved over flesh discovering the steel of stomach muscles overlaid with the soft velvet of skin. As Kathryn's muscles jumped under her touch she welcomed the growl of her name in her ear.

"Good morning, Seven."

Lean legs twined with hers and she felt the heat wherever their bodies met, Kathryn's abdomen cradled by her own pelvis.

Through it all, they kissed. In the way Seven had only recently begun to dream, tasting the sweet-salt flavor of skin. She moved from Kathryn's mouth, encouraging by touch for Janeway to lie back as she lifted the brief night gown and gazed for the first time on her captain's nude body.

She searched Kathryn's face for every reaction, to know how her touch affected her. Seven caressed the mounds of breast, traced softly down the midline of sternum, watching Janeway arch her head back, the tendons in her neck straining, as the woman reached for her. Twining her human hand's fingers with Kathryn's, Seven gently spread her length over the other woman, using her lips and tongue to explore Kathryn's throat before moving lower, toward the woman's breasts.

She had knowledge of the mechanics but the emotions released when she settled her mouth over a hardening nipple - those made her moan.

Seven gasped with the delight of Janeway's fingers opening her pajama top and she became equally aware of her own breasts as she felt Kathryn's palms moving over them, fingers mimicking the motions of her tongue and lips on Kathryn's own. The edges of her vision, filled with the creamy expanse of Kathryn's chest, went dim.

"Kathryn," she gasped out, pulling away and blinking rapidly as her arms and body shook with pleasure. The sensation was more powerful than she could have expected.

Suddenly Janeway's touches were more firm, less caressing, on her stomach and the smaller woman's arm slipped around Seven's back. She felt the cooling shock of sheets against her buttocks.

It was only dimly then that she heard, beyond Kathryn's whispers, the faint buzzing.

It was annoying, intruding on her peace with relentless intent.

Gradually she felt the blood recede from her ears and Kathryn's voice resolved to distinguishable words.

"I'm sorry," she said. Sorry? For what? Seven thought hazily. But she could not seem to make her tongue work in her dry mouth.

Kathryn kissed her at the edges of her lips and Seven opened her eyes blinking at the light. A command to her arms to shield her eyes went unobeyed. But then, Janeway was looming over her, blue eyes shaped with concern.

"Seven?" The captain's fingers cupped her cheek, and the gesture helped Seven focus. "Seven, we have to go to duty."

Working her mouth around the sounds, Seven repeated, "Duty." Something in the word, or its cadence, tripped her logic circuits back into action. She felt the shock ebb away.

"Oh boy," Kathryn said, and Seven's brow furrowed. "Are you out of it."

Seven wrestled her uncooperative body to a half-inclined position. Janeway wrapped herself briefly around Seven but too quickly moved away, to stand by the bed. Seven's body cried out in craving.

"I wish you to come back to bed," she said imperiously.

Janeway chuckled softly, but only brushed her palm against Seven's throat before stepping back again.

The Borg's eyes went directly to Kathryn's chest as the captain voiced a deep sigh. "I'm really sorry, Seven. But we've got duty."

Seven's face worked itself into a frown; she could feel the muscles pulling.

Janeway sat on the bed's edge and grasped Seven's reaching hands. "Oh, Seven. And here, I thought I was the one going to be unable to stop."

Seven was left bereft as Kathryn again left the bed. She remained still, trying to focus when she heard the shower in the ensuite.

All the clues came together then and Seven moved quickly from the bed. Duty, she thought dully as Kathryn reappeared a moment later brushing a towel briskly through her hair. The woman's nude slightly damp body was only partially hidden by another towel.

Seven glanced toward the bed with its rumpled sheets. She felt a sharp ache in her chest. Kathryn's voice drew her eyes back to the woman's face.

"We'll get back to this," Kathryn said. "I promise."

With only the briefest of kisses before Seven could even complete the motions of a hug, Janeway was ordering up her uniform, dressed and gone.

Janeway strode quickly down the deck 3 corridor. Rounding a corner, she walked through the flow of junior officers in and out of Neelix's mess hall, deciding to clear the fuzziness in her head with some coffee.

When the Talaxian spotted her at the entrance she inclined her head in silent request. The golden mottled face ducked in acknowledgment and then he disappeared into his kitchen. She continued toward the serving counter and was just propping her elbows up at the end when he reappeared with a broad smile and jovial tone.

"Good morning, captain!"

"Good morning, Neelix." She couldn't help the smile that touched her lips as she wistfully thought of Seven. When he cocked his head to the side in query, she quickly straightened and snapped up the thermos of coffee and tucked it under her arm. "Thanks."

"You're always welcome, Captain," he said with a curious look. "I take it things are looking up?"

"Absolutely," she said then turned around.

She watched several of her junior crew around a table, their voices slightly heated.

One was speaking harshly enough so that she drew up, at a distance, to listen. "I didn't realize living by yourself qualified you to decide to live like a targ... What a pigsty! Can't you pick up anything? Connors, find yourself another roommate."

She studied the man who had spoken, recognizing him as Noah Lessing, one of the unranked crewmembers brought over from the Equinox. He turned away and strode quickly past her, leaving consternation in his wake. Following after him a moment later, but not pursuing him, Janeway also exited the mess hall. Entering the turbolift, she ordered briskly,

"Bridge."

On the short trip, she considered the changes she had undergone. Seven of Nine was really a very intense experience, wrapping Kathryn up so much in a cocoon of easy rapport, not to mention sexual intensity.

She blushed. Waking in Seven's arms, ahead of the alarm had been a pleasant experience. The longer she had traced the fine lines of the young face with her eyes, the more waiting had seemed absurd. Surely they had time... for a little lesson in lovemaking?

The sound of her alarm going off had been a very rude awakening. Only a lifetime of command conditioning had prevented a call to the bridge to invoke Captain's privilege and declare both she and Seven were off-duty.

She winced at the remembered sadness in Seven's eyes when they had to cut their dalliance short. Her emotions were very close to the surface, probably due to the newness of the experience. Janeway had been hard pressed not to cry at Seven's demand that she return to the bed.

Her own nerves still hummed with the memory of their bodies' touch. Then her mind drifted to Lessing's trouble with his roommate. Her smile had faded by the time she reached the bridge. Swallowing her troubled thoughts, she stepped down into the command well and received a surprisingly tired look from Chakotay.

"Good morning, Commander," she said quietly. Her instincts determined he was not going to be very conversational. "I'll be in my ready room," she added, immediately passing across toward her Ready Room.

He never did reply.

Seven of Nine strode through the doors to the main engineering deck. She identified Lt. Torres speaking with Ensign Vorik off to the right by a set of plasma monitoring consoles and altered her path to bring herself into their conversation. "Lt. Torres. Ensign." She nodded briskly when both officers looked toward her. "I am reporting for duty."

She put her hands behind her back, tucking her fingers together as she awaited a response. She swallowed, the tall glass of water she had acquired from the captain's replicator before departing the quarters had only somewhat relieved the dryness in her throat. Just the stray related thought about the captain caused her skin to flush slightly.

"Thanks, Seven," Torres said. "I'm going to be working with the Klingon leader today. Some things he wants to go over," she supplied obliquely. "Would you mind working with Harry in Jeffries tube 19-B? There's a problem with the regulator at that junction."

"If you are certain you will not require my attendance at your meeting with Koval?"

"Nope. We've gotten some things straightened out, Koval and me. We've got a lot of work to do."

"I will report to Ensign Kim in the Jeffries tube," Seven complied, nodding briefly to each officer and then turning on her heel, to approach the entrance to the ship's inner corridors. She had not particularly been expecting the duty, but what the Collective required,

she would adapt.

Ensign Kim was already present at the troublesome junction withdrawing a spanner from the work kit he had opened on the floor of the tube. Seven stepped out of the hatch and tapped the controls to close it behind her. "Ensign Kim," she said, announcing herself from behind him.

The dark-haired ensign spun around and lost his balance briefly. "Oh, hey, Seven. So B'Elanna sent you up here to help me?"

"Affirmative."

Kim passed her a sonic circuit cutting tool and directed her to the other side of the opening. "Well then, let's get started."

Seven worked quietly, doing each task as directed, and making a few suggested alterations to the procedure as they went along.

She was surprised how long it took the ensign to commence his typical idle chatter. And noted that he seemed more on edge than usual.

Drawing on her social training she prompted, "How have you been, Mr. Kim?"

Surprising her he sighed, sounding distinctly unwell though when he spoke, she heard no evidence of his discomfort. "Oh same old, same old, y'know."

"No, I do not know," she said quietly."You are considerably more quiet than I am used to. I would like to understand why."

That seemed to cause the appropriate response. Kim turned and began wearily, "I know we all agreed to share quarters while the Klingons were here, but it's not easy, y'know?"

She did not, but prudently she simply nodded indicating for him to continue.

"It's just. I've been lucky enough to not have to share quarters. A perk of being a bridge officer, I guess, but..." he shrugged.

"You are not happy with your situation, Ensign?" She looked at him. "Why do you not find other roommates? Perhaps one more suited to your existence will serve."

Harry shook his head. "How do I throw him out of my quarters?"

"Him who?" Seven asked.

"Commander Chakotay. Icheb's okay, but Chakotay... the smells from his bag are about to drive me nuts!"

"Why do you not request that he desist from his spirit quests while staying with you?"

"Seven, I couldn't. He's... well, he's the commander."

"That should make no difference."

"Man, Seven. You sound like everything's perfect. Who'd you get to bunk with? Meticulous Melly from Biochemistry?"

"Who is Meticulous Melly? I am sleeping with the captain."

Kim's face went alarmingly pale. But he seemed to collect himself before he fainted. "What? She took a roommate? Really?"

"Yes. She requested my presence in her quarters two days ago. I have been there ever since."

"I can't believe it. And you say the two of you are getting along? The captain... and you? Really?"

"What is so unbelievable, Mr. Kim?"

"Well, it's just... dang... She's gotta be worse than the Commander. On second thought, Seven. I definitely have it easy."

Inclined to agree that the captain was not 'easy' after their frustrating early morning, Seven simply nodded. "Perhaps you are correct, Mr. Kim."

"Well, if you have any problems, you know where I am."

She looked askance at him. Protocol prompted her automatic response. "Thank you."

Still shaking his head and occasionally looking toward her with a clear expression of disbelief on his face, Ensign Kim returned his attention to their task.

"Janeway to Seven." The captain's voice came over Seven's comm badge, echoing slightly in the close confines.

She looked toward Kim who suddenly seemed uninterested, turning away from her and leaning into the open panel where they were working. This was the fourth junction box they had to check of eight on this deck. She was puzzled at his reaction, but then moved back a few paces and tapped her badge. "Seven here."

The Borg felt a spurt of pleasure when Janeway's voice came back. It was firm, but her stomach squeezed pleasantly with its huskiness. "Can you break away for a few minutes? There's something I need to discuss with you."

Harry looked at Seven sharply and cringed toward her, which Seven interpreted to mean he was concerned for her upcoming meeting. However, since the captain had not been very far from her thoughts all morning, Seven was pleased to comply with the unusual request. "Where should we meet,Captain?"

"Astrometrics."

"Yes, Captain. Seven out."She tapped her comm badge to close the channel. Getting to her feet, Seven was stopped by Ensign Kim.

He looked distinctly displeased. "Bet she wants her quarters back," he said. And she was under the impression that his displeasure was on her behalf. Kim was not given to exaggeration. She felt a shiver of alarm at his absolutely certain tone. If he was convinced that would be the topic of conversation... certainly he knew more about Janeway than she did, having served with the captain sinceVoyager's initial launch.

As she exited the nearest hatch, moving through the maze of Jeffries tubes toward Deck 6, Seven considered what she knew. The beginning of her interactions with Janeway had been anything but civil. Only recently... that morning in fact, had they become intimate. She considered how quickly Janeway had left her quarters that morning, and felt a strange pressure in her chest as she paused to catch her breath just outside the exit hatch to Deck 6.

Would that be the subject of this meeting? Why else, she thought, would the captain request a midday meeting?

Her heart rate sped up in fear as she emerged on deck. I am Borg, she thought, seizing on the familiar strengthening of her spine as a little certitude filled her. Her gaze locked on the far end of the corridor, on the door labeled "06/Astrometrics." Her steps grew heavier, slower.

Then she was at the doors, absorbed in her own hesitation. They parted to allow her entrance. Her breathing quickened as she identified the captain's compact slender figure at the command console.

She stepped across the threshold as she saw the auburn head start to turn. Seeing the back-lit silhouette of the smaller woman made Seven's chest hurt. She swallowed down the lump in her throat, determined not to let her professional demeanor falter.

"Seven of Nine, reporting as you ordered," she said, feeling her throat constrict. She tucked shaking hands behind her back and waited for the captain to speak.

On a whim Janeway had excused herself to Astrometrics, leaving Chakotay unexplainably disgruntled on the bridge. He had not chosen to confide in her regarding the brooding mood he appeared to be in, and distracted herself with thoughts of Seven, she left him to it.

Her arrival in Astrometrics found Seven's replacement not at his post, working instead from an auxiliary post in one of the science labs. But Janeway had not come to talk with the ubiquitous crewman. She had come to talk to Seven, only to remember that she was working with Torres these last several days.

At a loss about what to do, Janeway found herself noodling through the starcharts and astrometric calculations, studying the space in whichVoyager currently cruised at a comfortable warp 7.5.

Adjusting the perspective and originating point, she input a series of Cartesian coordinates, as familiar to her as her own heart beating in her chest. She stepped back after pressing enter and watched as the charts reassembled.

Janeway's breath caught in her throat and she covered her mouth with a shaking palm to hold in the gasp of reaction. The star field was now displaying a course, fromVoyager's present location, to sector 0,0,1... the Earth's solar system. Home. The distance was 28,000 light years and a large section in the middle of the path was blank, flashing a small notice "no data on file" around a chillingly straight representation of a flight path. Seven must not have yet had time to offer any insight to those sectors. However, the sectors that comprised the next thirty light years were filled with hundreds of points of light, stars and planets.

Between Starfleet's latest information via the datastreams on the most extended probes, and Seven's work on enhancing Voyager's long range sensors, the entirety of their trip appeared virtually known.

What was known was conquerable. It was achievable. In a shock to her own system she felt the hope she had been so diligently conveying to her lost crew finally seep its way into her own heart.

That was when she had called Seven. She wasn't certain what she was going to say, but she wanted to convey how much it all meant, and how glad she was that Voyagerhad been given Seven of Nine.

When the lab doors slid open, she was bracing on the console, steadying herself. She turned, knowing her expression was filled with wonder, and thanks, and all the other complicated emotions that came with knowing Seven of Nine. Her gaze drank in the fine highboned cheeks, the full red lips and swept the blue unitard that hugged curves she had only begun exploring that morning, and her need called out to her. Then Seven spoke.

"Seven of Nine, reporting as you ordered." Janeway saw the twitch of a cheek muscle, the uneasy shift of shoulders and examined Seven's face once more.

"What happened?" To Janeway's horror, the young Borg looked fragile, as she had only once before... looking to Janeway for reassurances from the cockpit of the Delta Flyer on her way to smash herself and the shuttle into an alien catapult. Prevented then by a forcefield from reaching Seven, she reached to touch her now.

Seven sidestepped the captain's gesture. "I do not wish to start something we cannot finish," she spoke in a brittle voice. "You will only run away again."

Kathryn stepped back, dropping her hands at her sides. "What?" she queried in utter confusion.

"I do not wish to make our rooming together unbearable for you. I will move my belongings elsewhere as soon as my duty shift is concluded."

Completely lost now, Janeway put her hands on her hips, having realized the brittle voice and the stiff way in which Seven was holding herself was to prevent being hurt by something.

She reached again for Seven's arm, to tug her hand into her own, but the Borg would not relinquish her behind-the-back stance, Kathryn realized the thing Seven feared being hurt by... was her.

Without touch, she only had words. Hoping to be as effective as she had in the Delta Flyer, Janeway softened her own posture then spoke.

"I don't want you to leave, Seven." When Seven did not turn to look at her, she tried a coaxing voice. "Will you tell me what happened?"

Seven turned only slightly, but dropped her head, not speaking, nor looking directly at Janeway.

"Where would you get the idea that I want you to leave?" Janeway stepped forward into Seven's immediate space and looked up into the down-turned face. Being very deliberate, she reached up and pressed lightly against the underside of Seven's chin, lifting her eyes until the Borg had no choice but to meet her gaze. Either that or close her eyes.

Which to Janeway's surprise was exactly what Seven did, even as she sipped in a startled breath at Kathryn's contact with her skin. "Tell me," she coaxed, rubbing her thumbpad lightly over the slight dimple in Seven's chin.

"Ensign Kim said you called me in order to inform me I will have to move out."

"Why would I do that?"

"You were... afraid this morning when we... when I... insisted we continue intimacy. That is why you ran out so quickly, and why you are going to tell me to move out now."

"You talked to Harry Kim about the fact that you were... that we were in bed together?"

"In discussing his own roommate problems, he asked me whom I had as a roommate and I indicated that I had been staying with you."

Janeway covered her mouth to stifle her horrified reaction. Not one to have her personal life bandied about, she could feel, though Seven was talking steadily, there was still an undercurrent of unsettled emotions running behind her words. "I see," she said carefully, though it was difficult to maintain her own rationale. "And you said?"

Seven tilted her head and repeated her words to Ensign Kim from eidetic memory: "Who is Meticulous Melly? I am sleeping with the captain."

Janeway hid her face in her cupped right hand. "I can't believe... you actually said that?" She shot Seven an intensely inquiring look.

Seven nodded, still not relaxing her posture, but the expression on her face had changed from tensely hidden upset to confusion.

"Well, now I know why Commander Chakotay wasn't smiling this morning," Janeway said suddenly. "He and Kim are having problems. At least now I think I understand what's going on."

"Perhaps you will explain it to me."

"Seven. I overheard a pair of crewmembers this morning having problems with their rooming arrangement. I didn't put much stock in it. Heaven knows, I've handled enough requests for quarter reassignments over the years to know that difficulties arise between even the tightest friends if they are suddenly quartered together."

"You believe Mr. Kim and Cmdr. Chakotay are experiencing similar difficulties?"

"I would bet on it." Janeway smiled as Seven looked at her curiously. "And Seven, there's a human saying, 'misery loves company'."

"Mr. Kim was projecting his difficulties onto the situation between you and I."

Kathryn's smile broadened and she ducked her head. "And I can tell you

with almost certainty their situation is nothing like ours." She watched

Seven inhale and exhale with relief. "Feeling better?"

"Except for one concern," Seven said quietly. "It has bothered me since this morning."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"This is the first opportunity I have seen you since that time."

"Well, go ahead. Ask away." Janeway leaned back against the console and looked up warmly at Seven.

"Why did you leave so quickly this morning?"

"We had duty, Seven."

"Is that all?" The ocular implant went up and Janeway was surprised that Seven did not believe her.

"Yes, of course that's all. I didn't want to go, Seven. I had to go."

Seven was silent for a long moment. Janeway considered things herself and made a quick decision.

"Would you like to spend some time together?"

Seven's inquisitive look caught Kathryn in the stomach with its sharp sensuality. "Very much."

Unexpectedly moved, Janeway blushed. "After our shifts... instead of going to my quarters, why don't I arrange some time in the holodeck? Would you like to play Velocity? We haven't in some time, you know."

Seven moved alongside Janeway, studying the console for a long moment before turning to address her. "You would not rather continue where we... stopped this morning?"

"I think maybe we need to give it all some perspective."

Seven pursed her lips but nodded. "Perhaps we have been... too suddenly quartered together," she said, evoking the captain's earlier statement.

Janeway touched Seven's arm, enjoying the play of muscles under the biosuit's fabric. "I wouldn't go that far," she chuckled, finding their faces leaning closer.

"Captain?" Seven's breath caressed her cheeks.

"Yes?"

"I would very much like to kiss you now."

"So would I, Seven, but we can't."

"Duty?" Seven said wryly.

Janeway nodded.

"A hug?"

Kathryn chuckled and looked toward the lab doors. "One won't hurt I think. I think we could both use it."

She slipped her arms around Seven's waist. Seven's hands settled against the small of her back. Kathryn pressed her cheek into Seven's left shoulder, feeling the taller woman's cheek press against her head. For a long time they simply remained wrapped together this way, inhaling each other's scent in silence.

She felt the tendrils of arousal slipping into her groin and knew if she was becoming aroused, Seven was likely in more dire straits, so she slowly pulled back. Her voice husky, she confirmed their date. "Velocity. Holodeck 2. 1600 hours."

Seven was indeed breathing more deeply than usual and her pupils were wide. "I will comply," the former Borg said, resorting to her familiar phrases as she tried to bring her physiological response under control.

Their hands dropped apart and Seven headed for the doorway. Janeway leaned hard against the console for support. God help me, she thought dizzily.

Chapter 9

Seven of Nine raised her phaser and fired at the blue-edged disc flying past Captain Janeway's head. The rebounding object changed color and altered course. The captain had to dodge before the red-edged disc slammed into her shoulder.

Janeway rolled over onto her back, acquired the sightline along the barrel while two-handing her phaser and depressed the firing button. The disc, blue once again, flipped over and over headed toward the ceiling.

The disc arced off the beam and careened fast, level and smooth, right at her chest. Seven sidestepped and fired across the disc's top surface, driving it downward.

Her backstep brought her across Janeway, who was rolling onto her stomach aiming along the floor to fire on the disc before it actually made contact with the deck.

The tall Borg lost her balance, feet tangling in Janeway's limbs and with a breath-stealing thud she crashed on her back against the floor.

Fortunately, she realized as she dimly heard the computer speaking, her mishap caused the captain to miss her shot giving Seven of Nine the point.

"Deck impact, color red. Point Seven of Nine. Seven of Nine leads 4 rounds to 2."

Seven rolled onto her stomach to regain her footing but came face to face instead with a kneeling Kathryn Janeway. The smaller woman's cheeks flushed with color and Seven thought she had not looked more happy. When the woman spoke, Seven realized the truth of her assessment.

"God, this feels good," Janeway said, for the moment content to roll into a sitting position on the deck. Her posture encouraged Seven to remain near her, on the floor as well.

"It is refreshing," Seven agreed.

"I'm sorry that you tripped."

"I am undamaged."

"I know. I'm sorry just the same." Kathryn was looking at Seven with a hunger the Borg was beginning to recognize as desire.

She moved her phaser from her left to her right hand, so that her left was free to catch Janeway's right. The captain's fingers slipped between her mesh-wrapped ones and she was captured by a brilliant smile."I am having fun, Kathryn," Seven said.

"So am I." Janeway gained her footing as Seven did the same. "Ready for the next round?"

The captain's touch changed, now sending shivers up her arms. "What are you doing with your fingers?" she asked, suddenly realizing that Janeway's fingers were moving along the inside of her palm in disorganized circles.

"Just enjoying a chance to touch," Kathryn said abashedly. "Do you mind?"

"It is all right to do this now?" Seven asked, nevertheless allowing Janeway to continue the strokes, which were, after all, very pleasant.

"We're alone," Kathryn shrugged but her smile was inviting.

Seven followed immediately where the conversation was going and nodded. "Perhaps we should change the holodeck program to something more suitable."

"No." Janeway smiled. "This is fine. I need to work off a little energy." The grin was sensual, inviting, and hungry. Seven swallowed reflexively. "Computer," she instructed the holodeck."Commence next round."

At the moment the disc appeared, Janeway lunged at her. Surprise brought Seven's hands up in self-preservation, but shock skittered through her system when the auburn-haired woman's mouth suddenly pressed to her own.

Breathless, she stepped back in time to see Janeway, a triumphant smile on her face, turn on her heel and fire at the red-edged disc.

An hour later, the two combatants concluded their play, stepping out from the holodeck intoVoyager's corridors. The captain still chuckled from Seven's last point-winning maneuver. "You got a little too close that time, Seven," she said.

"The computer did not record a penalty contact," the ex-drone replied primly.

"It should have. You're not supposed to straddle your opponent's head!"

"You were already on your back on the deck," Seven countered with a rare smile.

"Because you had just pinched me!" Janeway shot back with feigned primness, lowering her voice as they rounded the bend in the corridor.

"You presented your posterior while I was taking aim. I was only prudently removing you from the phaser's line of fire."

"The holodeck safeties were on. Don't deny it. You were trying to distract me," Janeway replied.

"And your 'distractions' were more legal?" Seven replied, raising her implanted eyebrow with devastating effect. "Running up behind me and wrapping your arms around my back in order get into position?"

"You kept standing in the way," Janeway replied in an accusing tone, but her all-out grin belied any possible reality to the accusation.

"Besides," she said, as they entered the turbolift, alone, together. "You are the most huggable person I've met."

Seven stepped well within the captain's personal space and looked down into the upturned flushed and ruddy face. She put her arms around the captain's shoulders, slipping down across her muscular back and locking her fingers tightly under the woman's firm buttocks. "I concur." In the privacy of the turbolift, she captured a quick, hungry kiss, tasting the slight saltiness of Janeway's skin as she nibbled the woman's cheek.

"I'm thirsty," Janeway said, interrupting the moment wryly. "Want to go to the Mess Hall for a drink?"

"Will we be able to remain in close contact?" Seven asked, stepping back but keeping her arms loosely draped around the captain as Kathryn returned the gesture with her small hands moving slowly on Seven's hips. She sank easily into the blue-eyed gaze, contentedly waiting in silence.

"We can't," Janeway replied softly, but kissed Seven's chin just before she felt the turbolift come to a stop. "But know that I wish it was different."

They parted at the same moment as the doors, standing alongside one another and Captain Janeway led the way from the turbolift, entering the Mess Hall just a step ahead of Seven of Nine.

Eyes all over the mess hall tracked toward them when they entered. Janeway felt her spine straighten until she saw a few of the looks were distinctly consternated. She gestured Seven toward the service counter. "Neelix?"

The Talaxian looked up from his dinner preparations, his warthog shaped head surrounded by a wreath of steam, and smiled broadly. "Captain. And Seven!" He took in their appearance and asked, "How was the game?"

"The captain prevailed again," Seven reported.

"She's getting closer all the time," Janeway added with a sloe-eyed look toward her Astrometrics officer. "Can we have a couple of drinks, Neelix?" she asked, drawing her attention quickly back to Voyager's morale officer, hoping that he had not taken particular note of her expression.

"What would you like?"

"Two iced teas?"

"Coming right up. Just find a seat. I'll bring them over."

She smiled gratefully at him and reached across the counter, patting his shoulder. "Thanks."

The two women left Neelix collecting their drinks onto a tray "Here?" Janeway posed, gesturing at the two-seat table right next to the transparencies.

"Sufficient," Seven said, watching Janeway sit and then seating herself opposite.

Janeway studied Seven's face, recognizing the expression for the hunger it was. She kept her voice low as she spoke before Neelix arrived. "If you don't watch it, we're going to make a scene."

"I do not intend to do anything," Seven replied confused.

"I might," Janeway countered with a smirk. Seven's blush disappeared with difficulty as Neelix arrived with their drinks.

"Enjoy your drinks, ladies."

"We will." Janeway lifted her glass to her lips, but paused before drinking, eyeing Seven who quickly lifted her glass and sipped. Only Janeway could see the pulse jump in the Borg's smooth throat as Neelix turned and left.

Eyes locked, they sipped their drinks, finishing in tandem. Janeway led the way toward the exit. Seven noted the movement of three crewmembers storming through the doorway just before Janeway reached the threshold. She grasped the captain's shoulder and tugged the smaller woman out of the way.

"Captain!"

The leader of the trio of males, all in mustard shouldered uniforms pulled up short. "Captain! Just the person we all wanted to see, isn't it, fellas!" The men behind him tripped over him before stopping and looking curiously at the captain, then Seven. "We want to change quarters."

"Take it up with Commander Chakotay, gentlemen," Janeway said evenly though the men were suddenly surrounding her and Seven, making her spine stiffen angrily. She absolutely hated it when someone, or several someones, thought to use their height to intimidate her.

"He says if he has to suffer through Ensign Kim's music, we have to live with smells and messy roommates," the leader shot back. "What do you say,captain? Who's rooming with you? Joining us all in misery?" His tone clearly implied he did not think she had.

"I am," Seven provided, before Janeway could. "It is not the captain's fault that you are unwilling to accomodate change," she charged.

"Seven..." Janeway started warningly.

"So Torres's bodyguard has a new assignment, huh?" This, Janeway realized, came from one of the engineers who must have seen Seven shadowing B'Elanna two days ago.

Tuvok, to Janeway's relief, stepped into the mess hall behind her challengers. "Is there a problem, captain?" he asked pointedly looking from the crewmen to the captain, who was just tugging her uniform smooth.

"Nothing a bit of relaxation won't handle, Commander," she assured him.

Tuvok turned and the crewmen turned to look at him. Grumbling, they walked away, leaving her alone with Seven and Tuvok.

"Tempers seemed to be running high," the Security Chief commented.

"Apparently. Is it really that bad, Tuvok?"

"Do you have a roommate, captain?"

"Seven. Her cargo bay is being utilized by three families."

"It appears that I am the only one without a roommate," Tuvok said thoughtfully.

"So you've got a worse reputation than me, hmm?" She smiled impishly.

"It would appear so."

"Hopefully the Klingon situation will be solved soon. I understand B'Elanna and Tom are finally making some progress with Koval."

"Yes. Mr. Paris's training seems to have eased some of the tensions between himself and the Klingons."

"Astrometrics has been working to locate a suitable planet for their colony," Seven commented.

"That is an excellent idea. I will mention it to Lt. Torres to communicate to Koval," Tuvok said. He paused, tilting his head slightly. "My apologies, captain. I believe you were headed out."

"Yes. Thanks. Quiet evening, Tuvok."

"Good evening to you, captain." He stepped aside.

Janeway felt his dark eyes, and everyone else's, follow her and Seven out of the mess hall. Her self-flagellation started almost as soon as the doors closed.

Seven felt as though the captain beside her was about to spark like a misaligned plasma coil. The smaller woman was striding quickly away and it was only Seven's longer legs that kept her even. The rapid change from their light banter earlier to the fragile silence as Janeway admitted them to her quarters made Seven uneasy.

The captain did not offer Seven the proprieties of hospitality they had shared the last two evenings. Instead the compact woman strode to her replicator, barked an order for a whiskey and soda then disappeared into her bedroom.

Seven had been left in the living area feeling very lost. She looked toward the bedroom door and the conflict in her started her twice toward that threshold only to stop well before reaching it.

Uneasily she settled on the sofa, looking around for something to do, or read, and her eyes fell on a PADD laying on the low table. Thinking it their calculations of the previous evening, Seven retrieved it.

It was not.

She had found instead the closing portions of a letter signed by "K," whom Seven guessed was Kathryn.

Concern for Janeway prompted Seven to scan the letter. The header indicated it was to a "Phoebe Janeway." Recalling the captain's personnel file, Seven recognized the name as a family member. A sister. The delivery station was Kathryn's "home town" on Earth. Indiana.

Seven recalled only a few months ago, Janeway promising her she would take Seven there when they got home. There had been an easiness when she had made the offer. Perhaps drawing the captain into a discussion of home would brighten her spirits, which seemed to have been dashed by the mess hall encounter.

Standing carefully, Seven took the PADD with her to stand at the bedroom door. Janeway's fingers toyed with the empty glass as she sat on the bed, her back toward the doorway.

"Go away."

Seven did not move. Though she sensed the command tone lacing through the sharp low voice, she also heard uncertainty, and the conflict kept her firmly planted in the doorway. She wanted to go back several hours, and find the woman she had played Velocity with, who teased her only moments ago in the mess hall with making a scene in front of the crew. "Kathryn, I..."

"No." The usually vibrant blue eyes now a bleak gray settled on her. The sadness in them seemed to fill Janeway up, weighing her down and spilled out until the raw emotion even threatened to engulf Seven.

Fighting down her fear, she suggested uncertainly, "You... haven't had any dinner." She was feeling her way through this conversation as though it were a mined asteroid field.

I'm not hungry."

"Will you sit with me?"

Janeway turned her gaze away, and with uncharacteristic stiffness, stood up. Seven stepped aside at the doorway.

But Kathryn did not pass her. Stopping at Seven's side, she finally looked back up at Seven. Seeing pain turn the blue eyes slate gray, she lifted her right hand to the captain's shoulder, feeling the fineness of red hair brush the back of her knuckles. "Will you tell me what is happening?"

"I think... you should go, Seven." The words were spoken carefully but each one formed then died on a breath.

It was what Seven had feared earlier that day and she felt her stomach knot painfully. "I... What have I done? I will fix it."

"It ... won't work."

"What will not?"

"You... me. Here."Janeway sagged more on each word, finally leaning hard against the other side of the doorway.

"Kathryn. Please." Seven offered a plea. "Why?"

"The crew is miserable." Janeway paced away from her. "How can I allow this."

Seven frowned. "You can allow this because of how we feel about each other."

"I can't. I'm no captain if I put myself first."

Suddenly Seven understood. "You are upset because you were happy and they are not." After a pause she said sharply, "That is illogical."

Janeway spun on her, and Seven watched the glass fall to the carpeted rug, thankfully not shattering. Her eyes came back up in time, however, to see the captain break. "It has to be... " she said.

"Your happiness is not irrelevant," Seven challenged. "You are wrong."

Janeway's anger sparked at the defiant tone. Seven was as grateful to see the flashes in the blue eyes as she was saddened by what they were discussing. "Don't tell me.." Janeway sputtered. The woman's bowed shoulders straightened as she strode back to stand toe to toe with Seven.

The Borg rose to meet her. "I do not wish to fight with you, Kathryn," she said. She let her voice drop in volume. "I only wish to love you." The captain's gaze came up to hers, and looked as lost as Seven had felt earlier. She reached out to catch Janeway's shoulders and felt the solidness break, leaving Kathryn shaking and suddenly pressing tightly into her arms.

However the solace did not last long. Seven caressed Janeway's back, feeling the tension rippling through the firm muscles and nuzzled into the captain's hair. Abruptly the stiffness returned.

"I can't..." Janeway muttered. "God, don't do this to me..." She pushed Seven away, who could only fall back in surprise, and walked toward the quarters exit.

"Where are you going?" Seven asked.

"I'm going for a walk." Janeway stopped at the threshold not looking back. "Go to bed, Seven."

Seven started to follow her, only to stop as the doors closed, Janeway gone on the other side. Instinct told her that Janeway would only run farther should Seven pursue her. She only hoped that the captain's walk would eventually return her to the quarters.

Seven reached up brushing away the tears that formed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She went to the replicator and requested a liquid dietary supplement. Sipping it quietly, she located the other PADD, with the slipstream calculations, and threw herself into work. Her mind however was desperately preoccupied she realized when she had to redo four calculations in the space of about ten minutes. So she set the PADD aside and leaned back on the sofa, closing her eyes against a renewal of tears.

In the space of only a few hours, she had experienced happiness, playfulness, wariness, fear, anger, and now sadness. She wished desperately for the happiness and playfulness to return.

Preferably, in the form of a small auburn-haired captain.

Chapter 10

Janeway had walked aimlessly and now found herself looking up and wondering what had brought her here outside the quarters assigned toVoyager's Security Chief. It could be a security matter couldn't it?she considered, finding the reasoning flimsy but unable to consider much beyond the fact that Tuvok was someone she called friend, and had for many years. If she could not get this confusion settled, she might as well give up command. There had never been a healthy ship that survived a mad captain.

So with a resigned sigh, Kathryn reached for the chime.

There was a howl behind the door, and Janeway looked up in shock as the doors slid open. To her surprise, Neelix bounded forward almost colliding with her. "Captain?"

"Neelix?" she choked back on her surprise. "Where's the commander?"

"Good evening. Mr. Tuvok agreed to let me share his quarters." Neelix looked distracted, patting his hands together in tempered patience. "He is completing his security rounds, I believe."

She observed his behavior wryly, then a deep feminine voice rumbled from within the quarters. "Whoever you are... You're disturbing our meal. Come back later."

"Another roommate, Neelix?"

"It's one of the Klingons. She was... bothering Mr. Kim... I offered to... entertain her instead."

Incredible, Janeway thought, unable to prevent her half-worried smile. "Well, um... carry on... Ambassador." She awkwardly patted his shoulder and stepped back.

He smiled fatuously. "Is there a message you want me to give to Mr. Tuvok when he returns?"

"I'll just find him myself." She waved him back inside the quarters. "Um... Carry on."

"Good night, Captain."

"Good night."

Janeway remained in front of the doorway for a long moment after Neelix had left her alone, pondering the smooth duranium surface. Incredible. My morale officer has a decidedly adventurous streak, she thought, considering that she would never have picked him for enjoying the rough company of Klingons.

Then again, she had never considered she would fall for a stunning blonde ex-Borg who was uncertain at the best of times that regaining her humanity had been a good thing.

Kathryn sighed and paused in the corridor, leaning hard on a wall. She was back to what was really troubling her.

You're a fool, Kathryn, she told herself. Go back to your quarters

and make love to that beautiful woman.

Her smile came unbidden, and then faded as the visage of her crewmember taunting her superimposed itself on her mind's eye. You were selfish, she countered. Things have been hard enough on this voyage. You've strained their ability to adapt. They'll never accept that you were doing it as an example if you parade around.

But I'm not the type to parade, she told herself. Am I?

She thought about how she had told Seven they couldn't be close in public.

And then you went and showed her off, even teasing her, in public.

Janeway hid her face in shame. Thank God they had not yet done more than explore touches. She would never be able to hide their relationship once it crossed that last line. Her body already accepted that she was attracted to Seven of Nine. Her heart? She nodded. That too. How often had they just been standing close in a meeting and she turned toward Seven just to be a mere few inches closer, far closer than she got with anyone else.

Face it, you're stuck.

"But how can I command like this?" she muttered, leaning against the transparency that lined the corridor's outer wall, granting a view of the warped starfield beyond. She crossed her arms over her chest and gripped her upper arms in a hug.

She remembered Seven's hug a few moments ago... where she had nearly broken down. There was a large risk in giving up her control, but the brief moments over the last few days, with Seven, had been exceptionally comforting.

Is Seven right? Is my happiness really relevant?

Her father had never seemed to place much stake in his personal happiness, granting his commands, and his projects, his undivided attention much of the time. But a captain who got too close... Ransom flashed before her eyes. She shivered.

Which was the right way?

"Captain?"

Janeway turned at the sound of Tuvok's voice and she unclenched her arms, presenting him with a curious, blank look, showing none of her thoughts, or so she hoped, on her face. "Good evening, Tuvok."

"Good evening. May I inquire why you are out here?"

"Performing my own rounds, old friend," she replied forcing nonchalance.

"Do you do this regularly?" he asked, in a droll tone that suggested he knew she did not, but was inviting her to confide in him.

She pondered remaining silent, then took a quick breath. "Only when I have a hard decision to make," she replied. She took a deeper breath. Tuvok knew her. Maybe, she thought, I can sort them out with him as my sounding board? She thought about his quarters, n o doubt he wanted to retire, but then remembered Neelix and his guest. "Would you join me in the mess hall for a warm drink?"

Tuvok inclined his head briefly, accepting her invitation and they walked into the darkened mess hall. She requested a coffee with cream and sugar from the replicator, and Tuvok acquired a Vulcan tea. They called for partial light over the table near the transparencies where she settled, positioned to view the starfield.

"How is the rooming situation going?" she asked quietly.

"Commander Chakotay and I have fielded 15 requests to rearrange room assignments. And," he paused. "I have acquired a roommate."

She smiled holding in her knowing chuckle, but hid her smile behind her mug. "Oh? Who?"

"Mr. Neelix. He was unable to find anyone else with whom to 'bunk'."

She tilted her head to the side. "Seems logical. Your quarters are on this deck. Keeps him close to here, even better than his own quarters on deck 4."

"Your... logic... is inescapable."

"But you're not pleased with it?"

"It is... inconvenient at times to have to consider a roommate's requirements."

"But you're married, Tuvok. Certainly that prepared you... somewhat."

"No one is ever prepared for Neelix, Captain."

She couldn't stifle it that time. Kathryn laughed.

"You are preoccupied with the incident earlier here."

The abrupt change in subject sobered her immediately. She nodded, studying the bottom of her mug. After sipping from it, and wrapping her fingers around its warm base, she nodded, then looked back up at him. "What's your opinion?"

"Not everyone is as compatible as you and Seven."

She looked at him hard. "What do you mean?"

"You and Seven are attracted to one another. Certainly that has made your adaptation to sharing quarters much easier."

"What makes you say that?"

"Captain, perhaps I am wrong, but I have known you a very long time. I have known Seven of Nine considerably less, however... it was quite clear earlier that the... nature... of your association has changed."

"Not entirely," she said wryly. "Not yet."

"What is preventing you from pursuing a relationship?"

Janeway blinked. She had not expected a direct query. Then again, she thought wryly, this was Tuvok. The Vulcan had bluntly reported every discrepancy between her first command's execution of security protocols and the actual requirements. Point-blank was his trademark. So she inhaled long and exhaled slowly before offering up a reply. "The crew."

"The crew will adapt. However, I do not believe that is your concern."

"The crew is always my concern, Tuvok."

"In this instance, the crew has no say."

"Don't they? What will they say about favoritism, or if I'm distracted from duty?"

"What would you say to... Tom Paris if he became distracted from duty?" He countered.

"Tom?" She shook her head. "I'm not Tom Paris."

"No, you are not. However, you allowed his relationship with Lt. Torres to move through many rough stages, each of which affected his duty in some way or another. Now they are married. Has that hurt or harmed his attention to duty?"

She pondered that. "How can I compare to a pair of lieutenants, Tuvok?"

"You are human."

"But I can't be distracted. God, Tuvok, we're less than 30,000 light years from home. We've got to finish this."

"We will traverse the distance successfully. Completing that task does not require you to be alone."

Suddenly she saw again the crewmember who had taunted her in the mess hall. She cringed and snapped angrily. "Everyone else is."

"Captain?"

"Did you know, Tuvok, when I was making up the manifest for Voyager there are two things I insisted on?"

"Competency was one of them, I'm certain. What was the other?"

"No spouses." She hung her head. "There was this one pair of officers. Ensigns 2nd Class, one was an engineer. Probably the sharpest I've ever seen on paper. The other was a medical officer. I had a very thin roster in sickbay at the time I came across those names. Both would have served Voyager perfectly well. But they were married. I couldn't have Mark with me. It would have been... too distracting." She bowed her head. "So I looked at them both, and said, 'I can only have one of you'."

"You chose the medical officer," he came to the conclusion.

She dropped her head to the tabletop and idly traced the top. "No. I broke my rule. She wouldn't come otherwise. A month later, Tuvok...one lousy lunar cycle and 48 of my crew were dead when the Caretaker's array grabbed us all. She was one of them. Her husband... was devastated. He worked himself to the edge. That's why I didn't give him the Chief Engineer's position."

She saw another flash of insight sparkle in Tuvok's eyes. "Lt. Joe Carey."

She confirmed it. "Lt. Carey." It had been Carey who taunted her with 'joining the rest of us in misery'. She stood up and paced to the very spot where she had been standing an hour earlier. Then turned to Tuvok. "His wife, Marla, had been Dr. Solivan's chief nurse."

"And you believe somehow that you are to blame for this."

"Aren't I?"

"Captain, you have accepted responsibility for many things. But the losses are not yours."

"Every last one of them is, Tuvok. How can I tell Carey, of all people, that I'm choosing something I wouldn't let him have?"

"You are human, captain. So is Carey. He will find another mate if he chooses."

Janeway rubbed her forehead with her hand and started to gesture with another point, only to open her mouth and close it. "It comes down to that, doesn't it?"

"It is a fairly simple question, captain. Do you want to be alone? Humans as a rule do not live well as hermits. It would be illogical to remain alone if there was someone willing to share herself with you."

"Seven called me illogical too," Kathryn replied wryly. "Just before I walked out on her. I just get so lost in her when we're together."

He shifted his shoulder diffidently apparently uncomfortable with the intimate revelation, but said quietly, "Seven of Nine is a very intelligent young woman," Tuvok answered, getting to his feet. "With a very large heart."

Janeway studied him silently as he stood. "A lot of things have changed over the years, Tuvok, haven't they?"

"Voyageris not the same ship that departed DS9," he confirmed, adding, "and neither is her captain."

"I can't be contemplating this."

He straightened his uniform while she returned to the table, deep in thought. Carey. Tom and B'Elanna. Did it, in the end, all balance out? Her silence went on too long.

"I must return to my rounds," he said. "I trust you have reached a resolution?"

She considered their conversation from all angles. "You'll tell me if I get... too distracted, Tuvok?"

"As Security Chief I could do no less."

"And as my friend?"

"I will inform you as discreetly as possible."

She nodded. He walked away from her and Janeway rose quickly, standing in the now empty mess hall, letting the anticipation fill her chest... and then she strode to the replicator.

"Computer, a cinnamon rose, please." The rust-red bloom materialized and she lifted it. The spicy sweet scent reminded her instantly of Seven as she inhaled.

"Lights out," she ordered, departing with a spring in her quick steps.

The first thing Janeway noticed when entering her quarters was that it was dark and very still. Then, in the starlight from the transparencies, she found Seven on the sofa. The lanky figure sprawled over the cushions and her head lolled on the arm. She had been still a very long time, Kathryn realized, for the lighting to activate its energy-saving setting.

An installation for forgetful crew, cabin lighting, unless specifically programmed otherwise, turned itself off if motion detectors did not record movement for more than two hours.

Have I really been gone that long?

She softly called up the lights to one-eighth, so she wouldn't bark her knees on the table as she approached the sofa and knelt on the floor, content for the moment to watch Seven sleep.

To think I almost gave this up, she thought, feeling her heart lurch. She had often watched Seven regenerating. She had as much a penchant for interceding on cargo bay 2 as Seven had for coming to visit her in the middle of the night. If Tuvok had not convinced her that her fears were not about the crew, but about herself and personal vulnerabilities, a conquerable fear, she knew she would have had to give up those visits to the cargo bay. The pain of seeing but never allowing herself to touch Seven would have slowly driven her mad.

Kathryn drank in the sight now, firm in her commitment to take their relationship to the next step. Her breath stilled for a reverent moment in her chest. The woman who stood in the alcove, lit by green-hued lights from various readouts, with her statue-like stillness, did not take her breath away nearly as much as the natural sleeping Seven she saw now.

She noted the wispy delicacy of Seven's lashes barely moving in REM sleep. She was drawn to the faintly parted full rose-hued lips and soft flair of nostrils as Seven inhaled and exhaled easily. The gray implants were almost silver in the starlight, and Janeway brushed her knuckles lightly over Seven's upturned cheek, feeling the skin and then the implant, really for the first time.

Seven's skin was so baby soft, she wondered thoughtfully, recognizing that much of it was cloned skin the Doctor had used when implants had left disfiguring marks despite their removal. The ocular implant that framed the casual or sardonic expressions Seven had learned to present was almost as warm. Kathryn passed her fingers across the slightly parted lips and felt a lump in her throat as the woman's warm breath caressed the tips. She moved up and braced herself with her left hand, keeping her right on Seven's cheek, and tenderly offered up a kiss to those inviting lips.

Seven stirred and Janeway took a deep breath, hovering, waiting for the pale blue eyes to blink open and find blue eye's pierced the darkness, pupils rapidly going smaller. "Kathryn?" Seven's voice was sleepy. Her hand drifted idly across the back of Janeway's on the sofa cushion.

Janeway smiled and pulled back, interceding the gift rose between them. "I'm here, love." She watched Seven finally focus and felt their fingers brush together as Seven moved the flower's stem, bringing the bud to her nose. She whispered, "Thank you."

Seven inhaled the rose's scent and her brow furrowed. "Why are you thanking me?"

"For your patience," she said warmly, then added wryly, "and for your stubbornness."

"And my love?" Seven asked, getting right to the heart of the matter, so to speak.

Janeway smiled and nudged her nose into Seven's hair. She whispered, "Especially that, Seven. Most especially that." Leaning back, she half-straddled the reclining woman and tenderly brushed her fingers lazily through the wisps of hair falling across Seven's temple. "You can't be terribly comfortable," she said softly. "Why don't you come to bed?"

"I was lonely," Seven admitted. "And worried."

"I know. I'm sorry." She stood, grasping Seven's hand. "I would like to apologize for directing my anger at you. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I needed time to think."

"Have you finished thinking?" Now, fully standing, Seven looked down into Kathryn's upturned face.

"Yes."

"What did you conclude?" Janeway was surprised to feel resistance in Seven's posture as she tried to lead the tall woman to the bedroom.

"You were right. Even Tuvok says the crew will adapt." Kathryn tried a kiss which Seven accepted.

However, Seven didn't budge. "Tuvok is a very wise individual."

"He admires you a lot too," Kathryn said, just on the edge of exasperation as Seven refused to move. "Now will you come to bed?"

Seven's eyes were twinkling and Janeway's pulse sped up. "I will comply," the former Borg said, and her smile took Kathryn's breath away.

Moments later, Kathryn was lowered onto the bedsheets and lithe Seven of Nine covered her, molding their curves together, holding her weight away from Janeway's smaller, lighter frame. But she did not want to hold back, so she tugged, a faint oof pushing from her lungs as Seven's weight settled in the cradle of her pelvis. Kissing the tendons in Seven's throat up to the junction with her ear, Kathryn wrapped her thighs around the slender hips and nipped at a soft lobe.

It mimicked a "hug" she had given Seven during their Velocity match, and she felt the instant the Borg recalled the memory. The blonde head rearing back and the piercing blue eyes filling her field of vision.

"You are distracting me," Seven charged throatily.

"Ah. Nope. Playing for keeps," Janeway said, accepting Seven's mouth hard down across her own. "Pay attention."

She pushed Seven over onto her back and with tantalizing strokes to every measure of exposed flesh, stripped off her biosuit. "Are we going to change clothes?" Seven asked.

"We're going to get out of our clothes, but..." Janeway concluded her statement with a searing trail of kisses down Seven's abdomen and over her hips to her inner thighs. She felt the groan startle its way up out of Seven, causing the Borg to throw her head back and pant. "We're not going to put any back on."

"Not... even... your nightgown?" Seven panted, lowering her chin and capturing Kathryn's gaze again just before dragging the woman over her for another deep kiss. "I am rather fond of it," the Borg said, finding the zipper to Kathryn's tunic.

Kathryn traced her fingers over Seven's collarbone and smiled. "I liked your pajamas too," she said. She felt her foot tangle in the sheets and groaned, rolling onto her back trying to free herself. Then she turned on her side as Seven did the same, facing her.

Their hands came together, fingertips exploring one another's hands, then arms, then shoulders, as they simply studied one another's faces.

"I do love you," Janeway said seriously, as she skillfully used her fingers to pinch Seven's left nipple, delighting in the new emotions, sharp and vivid, shaping the angular features in reaction. She moved, fitting her hips within Seven's, delighting in the sensation of being surrounded, as Seven's hands moved down her back, cupped her rear and rolled her back atop the bigger woman's well-cushioned curves.

Seven's hands worked insistently on her uniform pants and removing her tunic.

They sat up together, knees bent under their bodies, and now nude, they hugged. Seven's skin on her back was every bit as soft as her face, Kathryn realized, feeling Seven's hands at the same time moving over her own back, the touch so light and exploratory that she felt the shiver of a tickle course up and down her spine. Then the touch became firmer and she was lifted up. Her intimate center spread open as Seven positioned her over broad thighs.

The coolness of the air's touch revealed the heated moisture already gathering. She explored the contours, tastes and textures of Seven's mouth with her tongue. Her palm wandered over the steel bands of Seven's abdominal implant. She brushed her fingers into soft down, and pulled her head back, to watch, as she and Seven touched each other intimately for the first time.

The Borg's eyes drifted shut at her first foray, then opened in a resurgence of arousal when Kathryn located the bundle of nerves at the top of her crease. "I..." Seven shuddered. Kathryn kissed her tenderly, while moving her fingers through the folds.

Cautiously, since she was fairly certain this would be Seven's first time, Kathryn continued deeper. Seven stiffened, unfamiliar with the penetration and instantly Janeway changed her mind. Slipping off Seven's lap and lying on her own back, Kathryn guided the other woman over her with her hands.

She looked up along the smooth stomach over ample breasts to meet Seven's ice blue gaze looking down. The heat in them begged her for help in finding release, uncertain exactly what that meant. Soothingly, Kathryn rubbed Seven's stomach, easing the muscles as they jumped, then moved her mouth over the woman's center. Kathryn offered fulfillment to Seven with her lips and tongue. Despite the newness of the experience for herself, watching Seven was pure pleasure. The tall woman writhed and panted, and Janeway felt primal satisfaction as she gripped Seven's hands to offer her an anchor in the storm's surge.

The blonde shook, and Janeway accepted the mild-flavored essence onto her tongue, plying Seven deeply in search of more as she swirled her thumb over Seven's nerve center.

Shaking, Seven lowered herself to Kathryn's side, and curled her right arm around Janeway's shoulders, drawing the smaller woman tightly into her body. Kathryn kissed the swell of the near breast feeling Seven's heartbeat pounding, the pulse so rapid and hard, Seven's chest shook with the force of it.

"Kathryn," Seven murmured, brushing her lips vaguely through the top of Janeway's hair. "How do humans survive this to procreate?"

The chuckle was cleansing and Kathryn pushed herself over Seven's body, crossing her arms casually to support her chin against Seven's chest. "With strong hugs afterwards," she said with a light voice.

She was pulled into the firmest, most involving, tenderest hug then. Seven's scent filled the air as she inhaled deeply.

Before she could complete any thought, Kathryn felt Seven's hands moving with intent over her abdomen and lower. Her essence moistened Seven's fingers, and she noted Seven's analytical look just before the Borg's fingers sought out the central source of the moisture, curving up inside Kathryn. She couldn't hold back her gasp of delight, her muscle walls already shifting, welcoming the intrusion.

Seven breathed steadily into Janeway's shoulder as Kathryn moved rhythmically on her hand. The sensations Kathryn had shown her she sensed were now tossing the captain's small body about as they had done to her own moments ago. She cupped Kathryn's cheek in her left palm, watching the blue eyes shut tightly and feeling the squeezing below increase in unspoken urgency. She increased the pace of her penetration, but kept it shallow, and Kathryn's teeth sank into her shoulder as she groaned in frustration. So caught up was she in observing what she could of Kathryn's reactions, Seven did not notice the tiny hurt.

When Kathryn's fulfillment came, accompanied by a throaty low, steady groaning, it sent rigidity then lassitude to every one of the smaller woman's limbs. Seven's withdrew her fingers and she wrapped up the smaller woman in another hug, feeling the muscled arms wrap around her stomach and a tear-stained face press into her sternum.

She was vastly pleased she had considered loving this woman. She understood now the vulnerability that Kathryn had wanted to hold herself aloof from, that now shook the smaller frame with tears of joy.

"Kathryn," she whispered against Janeway's sweat-damp brow. "It's all right. Remember... you're not captain here."

Amazingly it must have been the right thing to say because the tears slowed, then finally stopped. Kathryn lifted her head, and didn't brush at the tracks of tears on her face, boldly sharing the loss of control with Seven. Seven felt incredibly gifted with that trust. She brushed at the captain's cheeks with the soft pads of her thumbs, capturing Kathryn's face between her palms, then capturing her mouth with restrained tenderness.

"I love you, Kathryn."

And to no one's surprise, Kathryn Janeway's tears flowed again though her laughter vibrated against Seven's chest. So Seven just held on for the ride.

Epilogue

Later, Seven lay back against the pillows, sated several times over. She felt relaxed, and sticky, and the musk of sweat and sex surrounded her. Kathryn was curled against her right side, her right hand idly tracing the mesh on Seven's left hand. Mesh that was now damp with Kathryn's essence.

"Thank heaven the Borg don't rust," Kathryn murmured, pulling herself briefly up to kiss Seven's mouth, where Seven tasted herself on her lover's lips.

"It would be... inefficient," she agreed tiredly. They had been engaged in this activity for nearly three hours she judged by her internal chronometer. "Are you interested in sleeping?" she asked, as Janeway moved down her body once again a prelude of touches skimming over her sensitized skin.

"Tired?" Janeway asked.

"I would like to sleep for just a little while," Seven countered. "You should as well. We have duty in just a few more hours."

Kathryn's face shifted into an adorable pout, and Seven wondered if the woman had any idea of it. She used her greater arm length to bring Kathryn back up along her body, laying her against the sheets and wrapping herself around the smaller woman. She felt kisses along the inside of her arm, and nuzzled Kathryn's ear. The silk of auburn tresses tickled her nose. "Go to sleep, Kathryn."

"All right," she replied reluctantly, but then yawned. Turning over, Kathryn fit her back to Seven's front. Seven brought her knees up, pressing her thighs up into the back of Kathryn's legs. She reached down and adjusted the sheet over them.

Content and comfortable now, Seven nuzzled into the nape of Kathryn's neck and found sleep easily, as her partner's breathing also evened out into deep sleep.

Morning found them still wrapped around one another. Kathryn stretched and felt Seven's palm reflexively move, cupping her breast more firmly. More content than she thought possible, Janeway rolled over and watched Seven's eyes blink open in the brighter light that was up signalling day watch.

She glanced up at the chronometer and sighed. They could not lounge as much as she might want to. However... "Would you like to go to the Mess Hall for breakfast?" she asked.

Seven lifted her head up, letting her hair fall around her arm as she braced her cheek on it. She contemplated Janeway for a long moment. "Will we be able to remain close?" she asked, giving no hint of her expectations.

Janeway did not turn away from the look, and licked her lips before moving between the space separating them. "Yes," she promised.

Seven's right hand slid over Janeway's hip, and Kathryn felt the trickle of returning arousal.

Cautiously she added, "Within reason."

Seven's smile was slow and sensual, as was the stroking on Kathryn's thigh as it dipped toward the other woman's center. "I do not intend to make a scene."

Kathryn's chuckle was throaty, low and brightly skittered through them both. "I might," she said just before claiming full lips in a hungry kiss.

THE END

Sequel is "Shore Leave"