A mother's Comfort
My very very first fan-fic so please be nice...
This is a story about Janeway's motherly love for seven of nine. I guess it sort of takes place as if endgame never happened... always felt kinda sad that Janeway never really openly expressed how fiercely she loved Seven.. I don't own the characters or the set...that right belongs to...who ever does actually own it. But not me, I own naught.
Seven of nine kidnapped.
"Ugh... Computer, what time is it?"
"The time is oh-300 hours.
"Lovely. My shift doesn't start for another two hours." Knowing she would not be able to get back to sleep, Captain Janeway stretched and rolled out of bed. 'Might as well see how the gama shift is doing' she thought. "Computer. Coffee, black."
"Captain Janeway. May I please have a moment of your time?" Janeway smiled at the tall dark Vulcan chief of security as he walked down the hall towards her, but frowned as she realized that he seemed troubled. "Something wrong, Tuvok?"
"Yes, Captain. Approximately thirteen minutes ago, one of my security teams reported having to break up an altercation in engineering. They reported that B'Elana Torres attempted to attack Seven Of Nine, after Seven Of Nine disagreed with a proposal for a new warp modification."
Janeway regarded Tuvok with barely concealed horror. The idea of her chief engineer and her astrometrics officer conflicting was not an unusual occurrence, but the altercations had never before escalated to such a degree.
"Are they all right?" She asked, with an impressively calm façade.
"Yes, the physical altercation swiftly de-escalated into a one-sided shouting match. Lieutenant Torres attributed Seven's reluctance to attempt the idea to her Borg upbringing, illustrating her frustration with several insults in both Klingon and the common tongue. She then stormed out of engineering, and Seven returned to her console" 'Hold it together Katherine. Seven is all right,' thought Janeway. But even so, she couldn't help but worry for her socially awkward foster daughter. "Mr. Tuvok, have a word with Chakotay. Tell him to re-arrange the duty rosters so Seven and Torres don't have any more shifts together. I'll deal with Torres later, I'll speak to seven now."
"Aye captain."
'I have to see for myself she's OK...Seven may have Borg physical strength but she's such a sensitive woman...if only everyone else could see it...
Captain Janeway walked into engineering, her easy going demeanour masking the worry she was feeling. She spotted Seven Of Nine working at a console. " Seven, I heard what happened are you okay?"
"Lieutenant Torres lacks the physical strength required to damage me" Seven replied matter of factly. Captain Janeway regarded Seven closely before responding "That's not what I mean seven, and you know it. Tuvok told me what she said to you..."
"I am undamaged." The catch in the ex-drones voice revealed she was not. Janeway's heart broke, she could not bear to see her daughter in such pain. Placing a comforting hand on the small of Seven's back, Janeway asked "Seven, would you care to join me for dinner" Seven Of Nine looked up from the engineering console, and regarded her captain briefly before replying "of course. What time?" Janeway smiled at the Borg's direct, unquestioning nature. "Shall we say...1900 hours in my quarters?" Seven nodded, focused on the task at hand, but looking slightly less distraught. Janeway smiled, and strode out of engineering, looking back once to cast one last loving glance at the Borg
Seven Of Nine entered the captains quarters only to be greeted by the smell of burnt pot roast. Walking further into the room she spotted her captain's lower half sticking out from beneath the replicator. "Are you having difficulty, Captain?"
"You know it, Seven. Damn thing always does this!" The Captain muttered at the stubborn replicator, while seven looked on in amusement.
"I suppose it is a very good thing that I took the liberty of replicating welsh rabbit. I know it's your favourite" Seven added more quietly. Janeway halted, crawled our from beneath the replicator, stood, and gave the woman before her a warm hug.
"Seven, that's very sweet of you, and it looks delicious!" Seven blushed with pride, though she had been praised on many an occasion for her culinary skills, hearing it from the captain made it all the more rewarding.
"Shall we begin?"
"Of course! Let's." The two began to eat, but as the meal wore on Captain Janeway realised her companion was not her usual self. "Is something wrong, Seven?" Janeway asked with concern,
"Yes Captain. I...I wish to discuss my... My feelings towards the altercation with lieutenant Torres this morning" Janeway regarded Seven with more than just a little surprise. Seven's usual confident exterior, her superior manner, and collected demeanour wore away with each word. Sensing how much distress she was in, Katherine put down her fork and moved closer to her friend.
"I'm here, Seven," she said gently, wrapping her arms around the saddened ex-drone she had come to love, "You're safe now, what did you want to talk about?" Seven took a deep breath, and looked searchingly into the eyes of her closest friend. Finding only compassion, she continued:
"Captain, I, I wish to know...I understand...its..." Seven, now flustered took a deep breath and said "Lieutenant
Torres insinuated that spending time in my company and making conversation with me is three times more painful than being Assimilated" Janeway stared at her astrometrics officer, shocked that her Chief engineer would say something so hurtful. She would be having some very strong words later on with said engineer, but for now, her concern was solely on comforting her distraught friend.
"Seven, I assure you that not everyone shares Lieut. Torres' sentiments. I for one thoroughly enjoy your company" Seven regarded her captain somewhat suspiciously.
"Are you being facetious, Captain?"
"Not at all, Seven!" The ex-drone raised her ocular implant, clearly very unconvinced. "I appreciate your attempts to comfort me, Captain." Janeway sighed, knowing that if Seven was now doubting even this, Torres' words had struck deep. Tightening her hold on the nearly weeping young woman, Katherine thought of how best to explain how much she truly cared for the young woman.
"Seven," Janeway began," As a Captain, I make many decisions, in my life I've done some stupid things, but one thing I have never, and will never regret is taking you from the collective. Both times," she added, when the Borg seemed about to protest. "You have enriched my life in more ways than I can count. You taught me to be patient, you taught me to see the whole story, you showed me that it is not all black and white, that everything has a grey area. You have made me a better captain, and a better woman, and I love you, you are a daughter to me" At the last statement of affection Seven began to cry. Clutching her mother's body she wept, her body shaking with sobs. "Easy Seven, its all right. Everything's all right..."
After about fifteen minutes, Seven was able to calm down and regain her usual composure, almost.
"Thank you captain." She whispered thickly, wiping her eyes on her bio-suit,
"Any time, Seven. You know you can always talk to me about anything, right? I may be your Captain but I'm also your friend."
"I know Captain, thank you." The Borg hesitated for a moment, then turned towards the captain and wrapped her arms around her in a tentative embrace. Captain Janeway was surprised, but overjoyed at this rare display of affection and gladly wrapped her arms around the young woman. Feeling Seven tremble slightly, the Captain tightened her hold, and gently stroked Seven's back. Seven shifted and buried her face in the crook of the Captain's shoulder. Janeway let one arm rest gently on her daughter, the other caressing her hair and forehead. "Seven," Janeway started, "Is there anything else you need to talk about?"
"Negative, Captain. I am otherwise undamaged"
"Well then," the captain began mischievously, "I think it's time you went to regenerate. The Four of us are going on an away mission tomorrow, and I can't have you feeling to exhausted to function."
"The 'four' of us?"
"Me, You, Mr. Tuvok, and Mr. Kim. We are running a little low on dilithium, and scans show some just a couple light years away. We'll be gone for a few days, but it should be fairly uneventful. I thought a few days among friends might help you see how loved you are. " She added softly.
"Thank you Captain. I believe you are correct. At what time do we depart?"
" At Oh six hundred."
"I shall be prepared. Goodnight, Captain" The ex-drone stood and strode towards the doorway, but paused in the doorway. "Captain?"
"Yes, Seven?"
"I love you too. Goodnight" and with that she strode out the door