Sunrise, Sunset

by Bratling

Disclaimer: If you think these characters belong to me, you're sadly mistaken. I borrowed them, hugged them, squeezed them, called them George, and then gave them back like a good girl. Star Trek and all it's permutations belong to the estate of Gene Roddenberry, Paramount, and CBS.

Author's Note: I know, I know. Picture Prose was months ago, and this remained on my computer unposted while my other one, Future Imperfect, went up. In my defense, Future Imperfect is a lot shorter than Sunrise, Sunset! But now that my last sewing spree is over and I have a couple weeks before I have to start Halloween costumes and new Sunday clothes for the Primary Program at church, I have a bit of time to post!

I swore I wouldn't write this. I had a dozen good reasons why I should give this away, and I actually tried to do just that. But plot bunnies can be rabid, vicious, pernicious little things and this one has been gnawing at my ankles. So my other stories are back burnered until I get this out. For the record, I hate C/7. It makes absolutely no sense that Chakotay would flip flop from barely tolerating her to dating her so fast. Especially since he trusts the Borg about as far as he can throw them. He only trusts them to try and either kill his people or assimilate them.

But in this post-Endgame story, C/7 is required, at least at the beginning. It will be J/C at the end, and I suppose this could be considered a baby fic if you squint because Kathryn is insistent that she's moving on with her life. In an era where medical science has advanced to the point where the average life expectancy is 120, it's not unreasonable to think that women can have children well into their fifties if not longer. Even now, it's not unheard of for women to have babies in their late forties.

Small mentions of events occurring in Nemesis and I've snatched a few little things from the post-Endgame books.

My thanks to MiaCooper, Wendy, Sarah, and TnJAGAz for betaing.

Rating: PG-13 for language

"I'm not a very good gardener (my husband, Ed, was the one who enjoyed that part of our home), and I recently noticed that a carelessly placed brick had squashed a pansy flat. But part of the pansy was still peeking out from under the edge of the brick; and over the next few weeks, that pansy put its energies into creeping sideways around the edge of the brick, pushing its short shoots into the air and sunlight, and blossoming in its friendly purple and gold. When I moved the brick, the pansy's stem was crooked; but, oh, its flower was as glorious as those next to it. This pansy chose life. It experienced adversity, but it chose life. It experienced crippling, but it chose life. It could not have been blamed or faulted for giving up under the brick, but it chose life."

-Chieko N. Okazaki

Chapter 1:

Beginning of Peace

"It is a curious sensation: the sort of pain that goes mercifully beyond our powers of feeling. When your heart is broken, your boats are burned: nothing matters any more.
It is the end of happiness and the beginning of peace."
-George Bernard Shaw, The Heartbreak House

Debriefings were over. The Ex-Maquis, including Tom, had been freed, commended for their service, and offered the chance to continue their Starfleet careers. Seven had been offered a commission under her legal name contingent upon her completion of further training. Icheb had settled nicely into his second year at the Academy and been taken in by the Parises.

Things hadn't turned out so well for the Equinox survivors. All of them had been court martialed for their part in the genocide of the Ankari. They were currently serving what was left of a ten year sentence at hard labor in New Fort Leavenworth Military Prison in Kansas, with their two years on Voyager counted as time served. All of them had lost their commissions, benefits, and pay as well. It was only Kathryn's reports that kept them from receiving life without parole. A lot had happened in the ten months since they'd been home.

Kathryn sighed, fiddled with her coffee cup, and turned to look out the window. Things hadn't worked out as she had hoped with Chakotay, but she'd made friends with his sister. In all honesty, she was simply building on the relationship Sekaya had developed with Phoebe and her mother while they'd been gone. Even with that solid friendship, part of her wanted to run. She was supposed to be meeting with Sekaya for lunch today, and Kathryn just knew she'd want to discuss Chakotay's upcoming nuptials with Seven. It was a nice family-friendly restaurant and she'd selected a quiet corner booth. It was close enough to Starfleet headquarters for her to walk there.

Leave was currently on the table for her. The Romulan crisis was over and she'd been informed she could easily take leave for six months without repercussions. The promotion hadn't been that much of a surprise - with her experience, apparently, they needed her in the diplomatic corps more than they needed her on the bridge of a starship. She was tired - tired to the bone. She'd spent several months in therapy dealing with seven years as the captain of a stranded starship and in some ways she was just done. At least in the Alpha Quadrant, she had back-up, but the desk job was all she could handle at the moment. Besides, having an earth-bound post was better with her current plans.

Sekaya plopped down into the seat in front of her. "Hey," she smiled.

Kathryn dredged up a warm smile. "Hey, Sekaya."

"I've told you before that you can call me Kaya," she scolded gently. "Chakotay always hated any attempts to shorten his name, but I'm not him."

Kathryn snorted. "Don't I know it! Tom called him "Chak" once, and he shot him a glare that could've melted duranium." In a lot of ways though, Sekaya reminded her of Chakotay-at least the Chakotay of a few years ago with whom she could discuss anything and be understood. This new Chakotay, well, she wasn't sure she understood him at all.

Sekaya tossed her long, dark braid over her shoulder. "Well, my brother can be a moron sometimes. Like his marrying the Ice Princess. As if that's going to last," she finished with a snort.

Kathryn felt her lips curl into a tiny half-smile. It was nice to have even his sister on her side. "He's changed somehow, Kaya... and he had his chance."

"He's changed?" Sekaya gave her a wide-eyed look. "Since his first letter home, it was damned clear that he had a thing for you!"

"He did... once," she admitted. "We had an understanding that once we got home we'd try and make a deeper relationship work. Perhaps I took too long to get us home." She shook her head. "A few months before we got here, he started changing; he didn't want to spend time with me anymore."

Sekaya glared at her. "You got them home faster than anyone could expect! Why didn't you ask him earlier?"

"We couldn't while we were serving on the same ship," she answered with a sigh. "I knew that when we got home, any hint of impropriety on my part would compromise any attempts to help Chakotay and his former crew - and I was right. Command had more than enough to crucify me what with how I'd bent and twisted regs to get us home. What really fell under scrutiny, though, was my relationship with him. Since nothing actually happened, all they had to go on was scuttlebutt, but if there had been any evidence, my lobbying for the Maquis wouldn't have held any weight. As it is, all of them have a future now that includes more than the inside of a cell at Leavenworth or a place at a penal colony. And it was a near thing."

"I knew the regs can be strict-" Sekaya began.

"Technically, they were supposed to be my prisoners. If Chakotay and I had begun a relationship, they could have gotten me for fraternization, undue command influence, providing aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war... And with all the pressures out there, it wouldn't have lasted. We would have been torn apart, and I needed him more as my executive officer than as a lover." Kathryn picked up her mug and cradled it in her hands.

"And so that brings us to my brother being a moron." Sekaya signaled for menus and things were quiet for a few minutes while they ordered.

"I never promised him anything, Kaya," she said softly as she slowly shredded a paper napkin. "Our understanding was barely spoken of. I knew that chances were we could spend our lives out there, but I'd hoped to be home a lot sooner than that."

"But when you got home," Sekaya prodded.

"I told him I loved him and wanted to marry him and start a family. I was pretty damn blunt about it, too." Kathryn pinched the bridge of her nose.

Sekaya gave her an incredulous look. "He turned you down?"

She nodded. "Flat. Said it was too late. Six months before we got home, he barely tolerated Seven. By the time we got home, he'd gone on four dates with her." She sighed. "If it had been anyone else, I could have just been happy for them, but I mothered Seven. I treated her as if she were my daughter; and she repaid me by going after the man I've wanted for years but wasn't allowed to have. Damnit, the whole crew knew how I felt about him. There were betting pools on our relationship for years. And Chakotay's marrying my daughter is both wrong and weird. To make it even worse, he's never really trusted her because she was Borg. He's sworn for years that the only thing you can trust a Borg to do is maim, destroy, and assimilate."

Sekaya shook her head. "I'll torture him for you in the way only siblings can do," she offered. "He's an idiot. I'm guessing he hasn't figured out exactly how the land lies here. About some things, he can be as dumb as a brick."

"I've lost two fiances and Chakotay. Since marriage has never worked out for me, I'm going a different route," Kathryn declared. "Obviously, romantic love isn't in my future, but I still want a family. I don't need a husband for that. I'm going to a fertility clinic. There's one attached to Starfleet Medical I can use that has donor sperm in stasis. I'll have children before it's too late without him. I'm no longer willing to sacrifice both my present and future for something that can never be."

"What about adoption?" Sekaya asked as their meals were delivered.

Kathryn shook her head. "I've tried that in a way. Seven didn't work out, and Kes tried to kill all of us. While there aren't any guarantees, I 'm running out of time to have a biological child." They busied themselves with eating for a few minutes. and filled the rest of the meal with inconsequential chatter.

After the tab had been paid. Sekaya gave her a bright smile. "I'll get B'Elanna in on torturing our brother," she offered. "He's a moron, but he's our moron."

Kathryn stood and shook her head. "He's made his own choices," she stated quietly. "He knows how I feel and I won't do anything that could be construed as harassment."

Sekaya hugged her. "Don't give up on love yet, Kathryn. Promise me."

She sighed and hugged her back. "I suppose."

"It'll be all right," Sekaya promised.

Kathryn just shrugged. "Tell Joseph I said hi, and give the kids hugs for me."

"Taya wants to come up and spend the day with you, " Sekaya told her with a smile. "Something about an appointment to the Academy."

Kathryn beamed. That she could do and do happily. "She needs a recommendation from someone in Command who isn't related to her so that she can take the entrance exam; I'll be happy to do it." Sekaya hugged her again and they parted ways. Briskly she left the restaurant and headed back to headquarters. Perhaps she'd take some of that leave and go home for a week or two. Maybe buy a new house that would be good to raise a family in. And if the pressures of raising children as a single parent while juggling them with being an Admiral got too much, she could always reserve her commission for a few years until they started school.

She could do this. Yes, Chakotay's marrying Seven hurt like hell, but she'd survived heartbreak before and she'd survive now. She grimaced slightly. She, alone, was responsible for her own happiness and she was determined to make the most of her life. She could have a family still and wouldn't end up like the old Admiral - alone, bitter, and used up without a family to love.

Kathryn lay on the couch with her arm over her eyes listening to the pounding on the door. "Go away, Chakotay," she yelled again. "Don't make me call Security!"

"Not until we talk!"

She sighed and pushed herself up on the couch. She didn't want to see him, but if she didn't open the door, sooner or later, Security would show up. She was still living in officers' quarters-it was just easier while the media was still hounding her trail. "Computer disengage lock and open the door," and it slid open. "There's nothing to talk about, Chakotay," she insisted evenly as he stood silhouetted in the doorway.

"Yes, there is." He walked in and without waiting for an invitation sat down in her armchair.

"No, there isn't," she argued quietly. "You started pushing me away months before we got home and it's been almost a year. We've hardly spoken in that time. And if it's about your wedding, you've already received my response-repeatedly."

"I won't take no for an answer, Kathryn," he informed her with a scowl.

"You'll have to," was her response. "I'm not interested in your wedding. Don't ask me to come to it again, Chakotay. Don't ask me to officiate or stand up for you again either. I can't and I won't. If you really have to have me at your wedding to get married, you need to ask yourself why and maybe reconsider just whom you're marrying."

"But Kathryn - " he protested.

"But nothing. You made your bed; now you can lie in it. You're a big boy and you made it clear that you don't want me. We're barely friends these days. I'm building a new life without you in it."

He just sat and looked at her. "At least talk to Seven - "

"No," she said softly. "It would be inappropriate. I cut off contact for a reason. If I can manage it, I won't even be in the system when you're getting married. The rest of the crew understands; you two will just have to get over it."

"Can't we at least still be friends?" His voice was soft and pleading.

"I told you before we left Voyager that friendship wasn't enough anymore," she reminded him firmly. "You didn't want me then, and it is how it is. Leave, Chakotay. Before I really do call security. You don't want that on your record, Captain."

Without another word, he stood and left her apartment. Quickly she made her way to her secure comm unit. It didn't take long to place a call. She'd gone home early with a migraine, so her aide would still be in the office. "Cap - Admiral!" Petty Officer Tal's smiling face popped up on the screen.

"Celes, I need you to do something for me."

"Of course."

"All calls from Captain Chakotay are to be denied, and if he comes to the office, you're not to let him through," she ordered.

"Aye, Admiral. Permission to speak freely?"

She allowed a ghost of a smile to cross her face. "Go ahead."

"Is he being an ass again? On the lower decks, we knew he was seeing Seven before the Admiral came, but nobody thought it would go this far. I just figured he was feeling guilty about the mutiny and he was never the same after we were rescued from Quarra. I saw the way he looked at that Norvalian. I just figured he was jealous - not that he had anything to be jealous about, since Norvalians are a single-sex species."

"Why is it that you never studied psychology, Celes?" she asked, her smile deepening. "You'd be good at it and make a fine counselor."

"I couldn't do that, Admiral," she replied, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "I'd need to be smarter for that."

"Just because your strong suit isn't mathematics doesn't mean you're stupid. I'd hate to lose such a good aide, but you need to start looking into other avenues. Think about it, Celes. Play to your strengths. Perhaps you also need to check out the Crewman to Admiral program so you can do something about the way you look at Harry." Kathryn hid a grin at the startled look on Celes' face. She'd noticed the looks between them quite some time ago, but it was strictly against fraternization regs for officers to become romantically involved with enlisted personnel.

"I'll think about it," she promised.

"I'm going to be putting in for leave next week, but I'll let you where I can be reached in case something urgent comes up. And Petty Officer, I'm talking bulkheads blowing, red alert, we're-being-fired-upon emergency, understand?"

Celes nodded crisply. "Got it."

"Good. Janeway out." Kathryn sighed and slumped into her chair. She wasn't sure where she was going just yet, but Deanna had invited her to make use of a beach house on Betazed whenever she needed to get away. They'd been friends for years, but with so many of their contemporaries dead between Wolf 359 and the Dominion War, Deanna was one of the few female friends in the service she had left. The best part was that no one would look for her there and she needed some time to think.

"She won't talk to me, B'Elanna." Chakotay slumped into at armchair in the Parises living room, a sleeping Miral cuddled on his lap.

"I can't say that I blame her," B'Elanna said with some asperity. "I applaud her restraint. If it were me, I'd have ripped your arm off and beaten you with it. If you survived that, I'd show off the bat'leth skills I managed to acquire. You're a petaQ, Chakotay. Everyone knows it. Sekaya told me what you did."

He gave her a confused look. "What did I do?"

She picked up the baby and settled her on her shoulder. "You mean I have to spell it out for you?"

He just shrugged. He honestly didn't know what he'd done. Yes, he was marrying Seven, but he didn't know why that should matter at all. "C'mon, B'Ela. I really don't know."

She sighed. "Let's see... This ringing any bells? We got home, Kathryn called you into her ready room, told you she loved you, wanted to marry you and start a family and you told her it was too late."

"Yeah, so? I dangled after her for seven years. I have the right to have a life." He scowled at her.

"Nobody is disputing that. Hell, Chakotay, they teach first year cadets the fraternization regs. You spent over twenty years in Starfleet before you left for the Maquis! Those of us who knew educated everybody else. We all knew she wouldn't even consider a relationship with you as long as you were on the same ship. It's against regs! " She shifted the baby slightly and patted her back. "Her family's been 'Fleet as long as there was a 'Fleet and they were US Navy before that. You can't ask her to be anything but what she is; she never promised you anything until you both could be outside her chain of command. She fought damn hard for us and it's only on her word and good reputation that we're free right now. By the time we connected with HQ, it was general knowledge that any suggestion of impropriety and they'd crucify all of us! We erased any hint of rumor that the two of you were involved from the computers. The betting pools were purged. By the time we got home, there was no trace of anything that the brass could stick to her."

Chakotay flushed, shame suddenly coursing through him. He'd known most of those things but had chosen to ignore them. "Still doesn't explain why she won't talk to me anymore."

B'Elanna muttered a few choice Klingon curse words under her breath. He only knew she was swearing by the tone of voice because he didn't speak Klingon. "I guess I do have to spell it out for you, then, petaQ. Kathryn Janeway loves you. You broke her heart and then asked her to perform your marriage ceremony to someone else. She refused, so you asked her to be your best man. When she refused that, too, you continued to rub more salt into the wound by trying to get her to agree to come to your wedding. You want to marry the Borg Bimbo? Fine. Just don't ask her to watch."

"She's not a bimbo," he insisted defensively. "She's an innocent! We haven't even..."

B'Elanna just shook her head and left the room. "You talk some sense into him, Tom," he heard her hiss.

Tom ambled into the room and plopped down on the couch. "Woman troubles?" he asked amiably.

"Best friend troubles," Chakotay grumbled.

"She's a woman, too," Tom pointed out. "I've known her for longer than anybody from Voyager, Tuvok included."

Surprise filled him. "You have?"

Tom stood and grabbed an album from a nearby shelf. "'Course. Our fathers were friends and she was Dad's protegee. Served under him a couple times when she was a junior officer, too. I was about five when I met her the first time. You know how it is, old man. Officers of similar rank socialize with each other. Mrs. Janeway and Mom are still friends." He flipped open the album to a specific page and dumped it in Chakotay's lap. "That's the summer before her plebe year."

Chakotay examined the picture. A very young, curly-headed, gap-toothed Tom Paris stood next to a teenage Kathryn Janeway. Freckles dusted her face, her auburn hair was longer than he'd ever seen it, and laughter danced in her eyes. It was an expression he hadn't seen often on her face over the past few years. "I never realized," he muttered.

"There's a reason why she lets me get away with more than most junior officers," Tom observed. "I'm practically her annoying kid brother. I certainly tagged along often enough back then." He grinned. "She was my first crush, too. I was about twelve and she was an ensign under my father's command."

Chakotay eyed him, but said nothing. For some strange reason, he felt... jealous. Of a twelve-year-old Tom Paris.

"I saw her after she and dad were rescued from the Cardassians," Tom continued quietly. "She withdrew then, and it took months of counseling for either one of them to be anything like normal. And after her dad and fiance were killed, nobody was sure if she'd ever come back." He paused for a few minutes. "When we did see her again, she was different - sorta like how she became in our last six months out there. And now..." he trailed off. "She's protecting herself, Chakotay. Protecting herself from you."

"She doesn't need to protect herself from me," he protested.

"Doesn't she?" Tom asked mildly. "Oh, and Chakotay? You're not getting what you think you are with Seven."

Chakotay gave him a puzzled frown. "What do you mean?"

"You and she haven't... right?" Tom leaned back into the cushions.

"Yeah. What of it?" Chakotay asked.

"My guess is that you haven't seen her naked yet."

Chakotay glared at him. "So?"

"What was my secondary position on Voyager?" Tom asked idly.

"Medic, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"It means that I've seen every member of the crew in various states of... undress at one time or another."

Chakotay scowled and made as if to stand up.

"I'm just saying that her remaining implants are a lot more extensive than you know and you might not like what you're getting." Tom gave him a lazy smile. "Just a friendly warning. About the Captain, though... now I'm gonna tell you what you told me when B'Elanna and me finally figured things out. I know what happened between the two of you. She's the closest thing to a sister I have left since mine were killed in the war. You hurt her again, and there won't be enough of you left to bury, understand?" His blue eyes bored into Chakotay, and there was no trace of the sometimes juvenile jokester he'd come to know on Voyager.

"I - " he swallowed hard, his throat tight. "I'd better go." Chakotay stood and made his way to the door. "Tell B'Elanna I'll see her and the baby later." Without another word, he slipped outside and started walking towards the transport center. He didn't know what to think anymore. Perhaps he was an idiot. Sekaya certainly thought so. And none of his other friends had been shy in telling him what a moron he was. Hell, even Mike Ayala had had some choice words for him. Ayala and his wife and sons were living in Vermont. Word had it they'd be shipping out on the Enterprise after the repairs were completed. He was starting to feel as stupid as they'd all labeled him.

But he loved Seven... didn't he? His head hurt. Tiredly, he quickened his step. The sooner he got home, the sooner he could take an analgesic and lie down.

Wanting and having were different things. Seven was discovering that for herself. She had wanted Chakotay because he was handsome and kind. Because the Captain liked him and he was the most powerful male on the ship. She'd heard some of the other women talking about him, and she'd heard the rumors that he and the Captain more than liked each other. But she'd never really seen any signs of that. Then again, though she'd never admit it even to herself, Seven just wasn't good at reading body language. She was downright terrible at it, to be honest. True, she had enhanced senses, but she didn't always use them and was rather inclined to take what people said at face value.

She wasn't sure anymore about much of anything. She was marrying the most eligible bachelor on Voyager - shouldn't she be happy? But she wasn't. She was uncertain and nervous. Because of the reactions of others to her since their return, she had insisted they refrain from copulation until after the wedding. The reactions of fear and disgust people gave her when they saw her and especially her visible implants, had prompted the decision - there were many, many more under the suit. If he saw them, she was sure he would reject her; her hold on him only went so far.

She had wanted what she'd had with Axum in Unimatrix Zero. She had wanted that sense of connection and she'd been sure Chakotay could provide it. They'd touched minds in the beginning, and she'd ensured they would again. After the marriage, after he became hers, she could easily reinforce the connection. She had initiated it again once to make sure he would return her advances. Initial responses of the hologram had proven to her he would not if left to his own devices.

Over the past year, she had discovered how unpredictable emotions were. Only intervention from Starfleet Medical had kept her from expressing the anger and frustration that came so easily to her now in unacceptable ways. The counseling had been mandatory for every returning member of the crew, but for her it was much, much more extensive. Her pending Starfleet commission was, in part, contingent upon weekly counseling sessions. She had rebelled at first, but now saw it as continuing lessons in humanity.

Seven absently acknowledged her aunt's presence before returning to her thoughts. She had briefly considered having her emotional dampener turned back on, but it hadn't been possible. The Borg had never designed it to be flipped on and off with the flick of a switch. People were still mystifying to her. It was hard for her to remember that, as individuals, they had wants, needs, and interests completely separate from her own. It was easier to bulldoze through and assume their wants and needs were the same as her own. And it was also far easier to assume their interests and hers were the same. Conversations were easier that way, too.

"Annika?" Irene interrupted her thoughts again.

"Yes, Aunt?" Seven attempted to smile.

"I know that look-something is bothering you. You had that same look as a little girl when something was wrong." Irene sat down next to her and wrapped her arm around Seven's shoulders.

She did her best not to flinch away. Having grown up without touch, physical contact was still hard for her. "I am... uncertain if I should go through with the wedding," she admitted softly.

Irene sighed. "I thought this might happen," she admitted. "Chakotay is a fine man, but he's a great deal older than you are, Annie. The two of you don't seem to have much in common, either. And, well, there isn't much of a spark there."

Seven looked down and studied her fingers. "I may have... made him be interested in me," she confessed hesitantly.

Her aunt gave her a sharp look. "Why would you do that?" she demanded. "And how in the universe did you do that?"

She flushed. It was hard to admit and more than a little embarrassing. "I created a holographic version of him using his logs on Voyager and he didn't want anything to do with me until I reprogrammed him." She swallowed, hard, before continuing. "He has a neural transceiver in his head from a previous encounter with liberated Borg. I slipped some targeted nanoprobes into his tea that were programmed to make him notice me and ignore other women through the transceiver."

Irene scowled at her. "That's illegal, immoral, and unethical, Annika. I was assured you were more than familiar with our laws and mores. Captain Janeway assured the committee that you had been given a copy of Starfleet regulations and the basics of Federation Law." She sighed. "It never occurred to anyone that you would go against both so easily... I suppose we should have remembered that any moral education would have stopped for you at six years old. Even then, you were a spoiled child accustomed to getting your own way. Your parents tried for years to have a child; you were their miracle and they gave in to you far too often. They were going to leave you with me, but you pitched such a fit they brought you along."

Seven had never quite gotten over her anger at her parents for bringing her along. "It was their fault I was assimilated," she muttered.

"It was bad luck," Irene corrected her. "If they're still alive, they're still drones-you're lucky Captain Janeway rescued you; most captains would have either phasered you or tossed you out an airlock. The common thought is that you're better off dead than assimilated." She stood and put her hands on her hips. "Back to the subject at hand. Annika Kirsten Hanson, what you have done is absolutely wrong. "

"I-" she tried to interrupt.

Her aunt stopped her with a glare. "It is illegal to use the image of a living person for a hologram without written permission from the person. Did you have sex with the hologram? And why did you think slipping nanoprobes into his tea, thereby drugging him, was a good idea?"

"It wasn't a drug," she insisted stubbornly.

"Same difference," Irene admonished, her scowl deepening. "Now, did you have sex with the hologram?"

Seven, herself was accustomed to bluntness. It was the easiest way to get her point across. Rarely, however, had she had the same bluntness aimed at her. "I slept with him, but no, we didn't have sex," she admitted softly. "I was not ready. And now-"

"Have you had sex with Captain Chakotay?" Irene demanded.

"No," she admitted again. "I insisted we wait until after the wedding; my control over him isn't absolute, and I've seen how people react to my visible implants."

Her aunt started to pace. "It's a damn good thing you haven't," she snapped.

It was impossible to miss the anger radiating from her, even for Seven. "Why?" she asked. "I did nothing wrong; I simply ensured he would notice me."

Irene let loose a string of invective that had at least nine different languages in it. Seven was vaguely impressed and wondered if she should take notes-and how had her aunt managed to learn how to curse in Romulan? "And yet you admit you have some control over him. Tell me, Annika how is it any different from what the Borg did to you?"

She paled, because she hadn't thought of it like that. "I-"

"It isn't! The Borg stole your free will and individuality, and you have done the same to Chakotay. Worse still, if you had slept with him in this condition, it would be rape. In some ways, what you've done isn't any better." Irene stopped pacing and glared at her. "Your wedding is in two weeks, Annika. You have two weeks to undo what you've done and tell him. After that, we're going to Security where you will give a full confession. Is that clear?"

"I do not wish to," she countered stiffly. She was afraid of being locked up, and she thought confessing would lead to just that.

"You made choices, Annika." Her voice was both soft and deadly. "Choices have consequences. It's something you would have learned years ago if you hadn't been assimilated. I'm not asking you; I'm telling you. You will do this. If you don't, I'll be talking to Captain Chakotay myself and taking him to Voyager's EMH to reverse what you did. I want you to learn from this so there isn't a repeat."

Seven swallowed, hard. "I will comply," she agreed unsteadily.

"Two weeks," Irene reminded her. "And no lies. You'll tell him exactly what you did and reverse it. And with any luck, you'll be sentenced to counseling and community service. Most likely, Starfleet won't want you, so you'll have to look for other work after you've paid your debt to society."

Seven sighed and studied her lap. For all the world, she felt like a young child who had just been spanked. With her artificial barriers gone, scoldings hurt more than they used to, and the last person she wanted to disappoint was her aunt. Aside from Captain Janeway, who had cut off all contact, Aunt Irene was the closest thing to a mother she had. Perhaps it would be better to comply sooner rather than later. She was to meet Chakotay that night for a date. It would certainly be more efficient than waiting.