Disclaimer: ST: VOY isn't mine.
Author's Note: All right, so I played the "hostage" during a training exercise. I now have a sprained leg and this story...
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by mistress amethyst une
"Seven, slow down!" pleaded Ensign Harry Kim as he was dragged through deck three by the silver cat-suited blur.
She bluntly stated something about inefficiency and continued at her breakneck pace, making him feel like his arm would soon come off. Still, his arm was not to be the casualty of today's training exercise. No, it was going to be another limb...he tripped over nothing in particular, pitched forward, and twisted his ankle.
"And that's how it happened, Captain," the limping ensign explained. He'd taken it upon himself to validate his team's victory before proceeding to Sickbay. "Seven, despite her unorthodox methods, got me to safety. Even if I was injured, I'm still alive. Didn't you say yourself that all that mattered was getting the hostage out alive? I'm alive. Not exactly kicking, but alive. Our team wins, ma'am."
The captain quirked an eyebrow at him, trying desperately not to laugh as she recalled Seven carrying Harry and claiming the win on the bridge. She'd also somehow managed to keep a straight face when...
Seven entered the bridge with an obviously injured and embarrassed Harry in her arms. Unceremoniously, she dropped the ensign and the thunk he made wasn't half as disturbing to hear as his moans of pain.
Unperturbed, Seven announced her group's victory in the training exercise since she'd been the first to conduct a successful rescue.
"Congratulations, Commander," whispered Janeway to her XO who'd buried his face in his hands. "Your team brought back a dead hostage."
"She belonged on your team and you know it," he hissed.
Janeway only offered Chakotay a smirk before calling Seven and Harry to her ready room.
"Captain, he was damaged in the rescue but he is intact," reasoned Seven. "The victory stands."
"He's dead, Seven. He wasn't only damaged; he died in the rescue. Turn around, Ensign."
Sure enough, Harry had a giant red stain on the back of his uniform, proof that he'd been shot at. Harry recalled feeling something hit his back when he fell. The injured ankle had distracted him from his death. Quite a way to go...
"Didn't see that, did you?" asked Janeway.
"No, ma'am," remarked Kim sheepishly.
"Everyone on the bridge did. I'm sorry to say but your team loses."
Harry was about to open his mouth to apologize, but Seven interjected.
"Death is irrelevant," reasoned Seven. "If he was deceased, his body could be used for spare parts."
It was the captain's turn to bury her face in her hands. She quickly regained her composure and replied as best she could. Seven was still adapting to life outside the collective after all...
"Ensign Kim is not a drone, Seven. We can't turn him into a scrap heap. If he's dead, he's of no use to anyone."
"A human flaw. Easily remedied."
Seven turned to Harry and, pointblank, asked him, "would you like me to fit you with some technological improvements so you may serve this crew despite being deceased?"
"Don't answer that, Harry," cautioned Janeway as the ensign opened his mouth and quickly snapped it shut. They had a long way to go before Seven understood being human again. Hopefully, she could at least get the ex-drone to stop offering to assimilate her crew.
So yeah, where did this come from? My team won. I was the first hostage to be rescued. But yeah, I tripped on a tree root and twisted my ankle because my rescuer was overzealous. Still, my squadron, amusingly enough the fourth squadron known as Delta, won the whole caboodle! :)