DISCLAIMER: It's Paramount's galaxy.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: C/7. Behind the scenes of the Season 6 episode "Muse". Seven and Chakotay reflect on B'Elanna's away mission report.

This is perhaps my favorite Voyager episode, although Seven and Chakotay play very insignificant parts. In fact, Seven only appears in one scene (not counting her representation as the Borg Queen by the actress Layna in Kelis the Poet's play). Anyway, my goal was to create a C/7 behind the scenes vignette in an unlikely episode. Let me know what you think.

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CAST

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Seven entered the mess hall and moved towards the replicators. After fifteen days of uncertainty, Lieutenant Torres and Ensign Kim had finally been found and returned unharmed. They had just completed the extraction of the wreckage of the Delta Flyer and escape pod as to not further contaminate the pre-warp civilization of the L-class planet and Voyager was again at warp and heading towards the alpha quadrant. The crew, who had all been on edge for most of this time, were finally getting back to a normal routine, if there was such a thing. For Seven, she felt the relief as everyone else did, but now the analyses in Astrometrics that had been neglected for two weeks were in need of serious attention. Since she didn't need to regenerate as long as others needed to sleep, she decided to make a dent into those analyses tonight. It was late and the room was nearly empty, although Seven noted Commander Chakotay seated near one of the windows with a cup in one hand and a PADD in the other. The warp-streaked stars passed by silently.

"Green tea with lemon and jasmine," Seven stated. The beverage appeared before her and she picked it up and turned to face the Commander. Curious. She had expected to exchange a simple greeting with the First Officer before turning to exit the mess hall and return to Astrometrics, and yet he didn't look up from staring at the PADD in front of him. Over the past twenty-two months during her time on Voyager, she had observed that Commander Chakotay always paused in his activities to acknowledge the entrance of someone into a room. Did he not hear her come in? And why should it matter and be annoying to her now? She stepped up tentatively towards his table, and yet he remained oblivious to her presence. Perhaps this was an ideal opportunity to practice her skills at social interactions. "Does my latest report from Astrometrics have you so engrossed?" she stated.

Chakotay looked up with a start and then smiled as Seven's comment finally registered. "Not quite," he replied. "I'm reading B'Elanna's away mission report." He then motioned with one of his arms. "Shining Voyager, far from home."

Seven nodded. She had read the report earlier. "Lieutenant Torres was uncharacteristically descriptive and verbose in this particular log," she observed.

"Harry's was rather dry by comparison."

"On the contrary, I found his observations of the flora and fauna during his two hundred kilometer trek to the Delta Flyer's crash site meticulous and fascinating," Seven replied.

Chakotay shrugged. "They both completed their reports in record time, but I must say B'Elanna's account is more of a page-turner." He paused for a moment and then tilted his head. "Almost on par with your daily Astrometrics reports," he added with a wink.

Was Commander Chakotay teasing her? Seven appreciated the easy rapport she had developed with him. Even after all this time, there were some on the crew where interactions were still strained and difficult. She paused to recall one of the passages from B'Elanna's report. "I, Seven of Nine, have no intention of finding B'Elanna Torres. I, Seven of Nine, am Queen of the Borg. Surprised? No one will be more surprised than Janeway when I take my revenge on Voyager. Say nothing or you, too, will be assimilated."

Chakotay put down both the PADD and his cup and clapped lightly, a wide grin on his face. "Bravo Seven," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I think you may have a future in the theater." He then gestured for her to take the seat across from him.

Seven hesitated for a brief moment, she hadn't intended to stay after all, but then slipped into the seat. This particular social interaction seemed to be going well enough and deserved further exploration. "I believe Lieutenant Torres took some pleasure in writing the details of the two plays produced by the alien she befriended on the planet," she commented. "I thought it very… interesting that I was cast as the antagonist."

Chakotay gestured to the PADD and shook his head. "You had a significant part. Look how I was cast," he replied with a note of disgust. "I was simply the Captain's love interest and didn't have many lines at all."

Seven nodded slowly. "Fascinating that," she finally said and took a sip of her tea to hide the smile that threatened to form on her lips. Rumors of a clandestine relationship between the First Officer and the Captain were an ever present buzz amongst the crew and rampant enough throughout Voyager that even Seven was privy to them, although she had never detected a hint of such a romance herself.

Chakotay narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.

"Need I point out the incongruent and unnecessary scene between Lieutenant Paris and myself," Seven said deciding to change the subject.

"I believe that was an attempt by our friend, Kelis the Poet, to interject some romantic tension into the plot, since there was the underlying implication of a relationship between Voyager's pilot and the missing B'Elanna Torres," Chakotay observed with a hint of humor.

"No doubt," Seven replied, and took another sip of her tea.

"It is intriguing, don't you think, how Voyager's crew was depicted by an outside observer using only B'Elanna's log entries to piece together a story."

"In the second play, he apparently had plenty of help from Lieutenant Torres as well," Seven countered. "His 'collaborator from across the Eastern Sea'." She suspected the report was embellished a bit as a way of entertainment on the Chief Engineer's part.

Chakotay nodded. "Yes, yes. But just think of all the various possibilities for stories using us as the cast of characters. Our different backgrounds and the circumstances that have led us here. All sorts of alternatives present themselves."

"Different timelines, or alternative universes where a single action goes one way instead of another."

"Exactly."

"Perhaps in some of them, it is you and I who have a relationship?" Seven mused. It was out of her mouth before she could reflect on the implications of her suggestion. Very uncharacteristic of her. Would Chakotay take it as a suggestive advance on her part? Was she getting too relaxed when conversing with the First Officer?

Chakotay shrugged, but his smile remained. "And why not? For example, what might have transpired differently if you had chosen me instead of Lieutenant Chapman for your first date?"

Would she ever live that ill-fated date down and recover from the Doctor's social lessons? She had decided to delay indefinitely pursuing a second date with anyone as a waste of time because of it. Chakotay seemed non-pulsed by her original comment, and even was playing along, so she decided to continue. There was an unresolved gripe she had with the Commander. "What if we had become trapped inside the graviton ellipse you insisted we explore when we discovered the Ares spacecraft?" As it was, it had been a close thing. She had been none too pleased with the Commander at the time, but now even as she said it, she couldn't quite muster the annoyance she once felt about it.

"Why restrict ourselves to Voyager," Chakotay countered, "we could imagine a Borg cube crash landing on Dorvan Five soon after you were assimilated and before I left to join Starfleet."

Seven raised an eyebrow. She'd have to examine the dates more carefully to assess the feasibility of that scenario, accelerated growth in a Borg maturation chamber notwithstanding. Even though she wasn't fond of fiction in general, she found herself intrigued by this particular idea. "I imagine, as with any storyline or even history itself, there would be individuals who would conceive all possible outcomes and alternatives, including matching us up with every other member of Voyager's crew."

Chakotay frowned at the thought. "I think certain outcomes would be more believable and popular than others."

Seven nodded but then caught herself. What exactly was he insinuating with that last comment? Perhaps she should reconsider the Doctor's offer of additional social lessons for she felt she might be getting in over her head. She definitely needed more practice. Alternatively, it occurred to her she could use holodeck simulations to explore these interactions more fully on her own. She took another sip of her tea and stood. She had stayed long enough, her original intention to return directly to Astrometrics to complete an analysis of a cluster of protostars before regenerating still in the back of her mind. "I must return to my duties."

Was that a hint of disappointment in Chakotay's eyes? "It was fun talking to you," he replied with an easy smile and picked back up his cup and PADD.

Seven hesitated for a moment. "And Voyager will continue on her journey to the gleaming cities of Earth, where peace reigns and hatred has no home," she recited.

"What's that?" Chakotay asked.

Seven smiled slightly. "Forgive me Commander. I don't wish to spoil the ending of the play for you. Enjoy the rest of B'Elanna's log."

Chakotay lifted up the PADD and nodded.

"Good night Commander."

"Good night Seven."