~t

Disclaimer: Voyager and crew are not mine

~~t~~

Tal Celes was very uncomfortable.

She was sitting on the floor in the dimly lit Astrometrics lab 20 minutes after her shift should have ended, but that wasn't why she was uncomfortable.

~~t~~

About a half an hour ago Voyager was ambushed by an alien ship whose territory they had apparently wandered into. They took considerable damage before the Captain determined negotiating to be futile and fired back. The ensuing fight was short but vicious, leaving both ships drifting and the crew of Voyager scrambling to get the engines online and make their getaway before the alien vessel repaired their own engines or weapons systems.

Usually Seven of Nine, the head of Astrometrics would have been on the bridge for the battle, but the first surprise volley had apparently damaged some vital systems and the doors to Astrometrics refused to open. The former Borg wasn't unduly concerned and simply continued working from Astrometrics, sending pertinent information to the bridge. That is, until the battle ended and Lieutenant Torres decided the top of the line Astrometrics screens were sucking up power that was needed elsewhere and rerouted sensors directly to the bridge.

An irritated Seven had hailed the Engineering Chief and been told in no uncertain terms to sit tight, shut up and stop calling till the engines were up and running. An inquiry to the computers had revealed transporters to be offline as well. Leaving Tal and Seven trapped in the dim Astrometrics lab with nothing to focus on but blank screens, grey walls and each other.

And Tal Celes was very uncomfortable, because Seven on Nine, former Borg, efficiency expert and obsessive workaholic who spent every waking hour doing something, had turned her formidable attention to focus entirely on Tal.

~~t~~

Tal twiddled her thumbs nervously, trying not to see Seven who stood ten feet away head cocked, hands behind her back, intently dissecting the Bajorian with her gaze. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore the former Borg spoke.

"Is your family name Celes or Tal?"

Tal jumped at the sudden interruption of the silence.

"B-beg pardon?" she stammered.

Of all the possible things Seven might have been contemplating, that was the last one Tal would have guessed, ever.

"In the crew manifest you are listed as Tal Celes, which in the Bajorian tradition would indicate Tal is your family name. However," Seven continued, "the crew address you as Crewman Celes, which contradicts the previous conclusion."

"Oh," Tal looked up to meet Seven's gave, smiling nervously, "Celes is my family name, I switched the order when I joined Starfleet. It was easier than having to explain it everytime I met someone who wasn't familiar with Bajorian customs."

Seven furrowed her brows in confusion.

"You changed your name to accommodate hypothetical people you had never met?"

Tal shrugged, "I guess so, but more to save myself the trouble of explaining."

Seven's brow smoothed and her implant quirked up slightly, "And now you must explain your name to someone because they are familiar with Bajorian naming customs."

Tal smiled, "I guess so."

There was another bout of silence, but this time Tal watched Seven study her.

"When I came aboard Voyager, Captain Janeway wanted me to revert to my human designation. I refused."

Tal was a little surprised; she hadn't really thought about the fact that Seven had a human name, Seven was just… Seven. She was still so intimidating and Borg, even after they removed all the armor and exoplating. Now that Seven had mentioned it though she was suddenly curious.

"What was it?" She asked shyly, "Your birth name, I mean."

Seven paused and for a moment Tal was sure she wasn't going to answer.

"Annika Hansen."

Tal blinked, "Annika."

She opened her mouth to say something more but she wasn't sure what and never found out because the engineering team outside chose that moment to get the doors open. Both women turned towards the distracting 'Swoosh' that broke the moment and propelled Seven into action. The former Borg was out the doors and off to the bridge or engineering or someplace equally important to offer assistance and be productive, leaving Tal sitting on the floor in Astrometrics.

"Annika…" She said again, as though tasting the word, "it's just so…"

Tal wasn't really sure what it was; soft, human… un-Borg.

"Huh."

~~t~~