Please point out any glaring errors in this part.
I have not seen the finale and this is just my interpretation of what
happens now that Voyager has reached Earth.
Fleab

Disclaimers: see Part One...

***************************
The Doctor looked up to the mirror above the bar and sadly shook his
head. So he had heard then. He was to become another holograghic joke
for Mr Paris' collection.

"Please," he said softly bending his head over his hands, "Can you
leave me alone."

******************************

The space dock loomed large in the mess hall's window. Lights strobed
along the scaffolding, illuminating the battered hull of the Starship
Voyager.

He could see the ship's reflection shimmering in the dock's numerous
portholes, mirrored in the watery surface of the metal walls and as
the sun was eclipsed by the moon, he could see beyond the construct,
the rising swirled orb of Earth.

Home, sweet home… for some.

For the last hour and a half the Doctor had stood politely by the
large window appearing to be intimately involved in the Voyager's
homecoming celebration. He was not, he had not been, and the tight
smile he had on his face remained fixed as he turned to look darkly
outside.

He could hear her laughter from over the other side of the room. It
drew his attention and ran icy fingers up his spine leaving a burning
ache behind. She was stunning of course, what else could she be?
Blonde tresses loose about her face, dressed in a form fitting red
dress, beautiful, happy, eyes sparkling… in love. His eyes slid over
to Chakotay and he felt a sudden hatred for the man. The Commander
looked handsome, content and relaxed, having forsaken his Star Fleet
uniform; Chakotay had resumed his Maquis dress and with it the
civilian lifestyle. All in all he was remarkably sedate for a man who
had to stand before the Federation Council tomorrow and explain how
and why he had performed acts of terror, the Doctor thought
acerbically. Look at him. Casually dressed in a black suit, handsome,
that macho tattoo above a sardonic brow… the woman of his dreams by
his side.

Chakotay shifted closer to Seven and the Doctor jerked his gaze away,
as if afraid they were aware of his stare, seeing the Commander smugly
drape his arm about Seven's slim waist in an act of possession,
claiming her as his made him wish for the vacuum of space. He caught
his face reflected in the view screen and saw the jealous glower. If
he had any real teeth they would be ground down by now! Unnerved he
pretended to sip the wine he held in his hands in an attempt to loosen
the lock he had of his jaw. It worked… until Seven's laugh filled the
air again and set his hackles rising.

He was only here as a favour to the Captain. She had asked all the
remaining senior officers to attend. The other ranks, the Maquis, the
criminal Betazoid had disembarked days ago when the quarantine had
been lifted and the ship declared safe… Those left behind had been
essential to the ship's systems… and if there was one thing that the
Doctor knew now, that was it… He was just a ship's system.

He could have left Voyager, he supposed? Perhaps it would have made a
fuss? But the truth was he had nowhere to go and he no longer cared.
He was stuck until Star Fleet decided what to do with him.

Bitterly he assessed his reflection, he couldn't even escape the
uniform! He was wearing formal dress with no rank pips on its collar,
a half empty glass of wine in his hand and the holoemitter on his
shoulder. He looked as stiff and pompous as a cardboard cut out! What
a parody of a man. And a joke of a Star Fleet officer.

Again Seven's tinkling laugh pierced the air and Commander Chakotay's
rumbled up with hers. A group of Maquis and Star fleet crew surrounded
the lovers in amiable conversation. Seven was quite the hit… A
stunning curiosity everyone wanted to know… The Borg reclaimed by her
humanity… the ghost that had taken over the machine. A changeling new
found and bought back into the fold… so unlike him, so new and
strange… She was Ariel and he was Caliban.

The doctor quickly glanced down at his hands as they grasped the
glass, once they had been considered state of the art, the finest
surgeons hands in the known galaxy. They were skilled… skilled enough
to remove Borg technology… He should never have removed that implant
he thought indignantly and he should never have to be subjected to
this! One hour of polite brush-offs, one hour of blank stares, one
hour of being reminded how defunct he was. Only Tuvok had spoken to
him, introducing his mate and thanking him for preserving his sanity.
Everyone else was too involved with friends, family or petty Star
Fleet officials to speak to him.

Another unsuspecting Star Fleet officer aimed at him and he rolled his
eyes in disgust.

"Hi-" She began.

"I'm the holographic doctor." He told her bluntly, tired of pretending
to be civil. He did not want to prolong the agony, almost gratified he
saw the now familiar glaze come over the woman's pretty face as she
blinked, looked away and found something more interesting over on the
other side of the room.

They really did not know what to do with him! He shook his head, his
mouth suddenly cruel. Some stammered out a few more words before
realised they were having a conversation with an outmoded computer
projection and embarrassed walked away. Others were less civil,
dismissing him as easily as an insect under foot. Only Reg Barclay had
spoken in any great depth to him and his conversation was telling.

"Boy!" The engineer had said, his excitement vibrating through his
body, "I would love to get inside your system and really see what
makes you tick!"

"Really?" The Doctor replied, trying to be pleasant, his gaze darting
about the room.

"Yes! Down to the binary level, see how all your additional experience
translated into programming! Dissect you-"

"Dissect me?" The Doctor repeated blandly.

"Yes. Really get inside you!"

"And if I decided to cut you open and examine your insides, Mr
Barclay? How would you feel?"

The engineer stopped and flapped his mouth like a landed fish. "I- I -
I wouldn't like it."

"How insightful." And their conversation terminated just as Admiral
Paris raised another toast to the crew of Voyager and Captain Janeway
took up the podium in polite scatter of applause to deliver her long
awaited speech.

**************************

"Hello?" A woman's voice broke him from his reverie and he half turned
his head to find a dark haired woman at his side.

Sighing in exasperation, he began. "I'm the holog-"

"Holographic Doctor. Yes, Reg Barclay told me." The woman smiled and
came fully into his line of vision. "I'm Deanna Troi, a friend of
Reg's." She offered him her hand and before he knew it he was shaking
it.

"You were ship's counsellor on the Enterprise under Picard?" He should
have guessed, initially he thought her human, but as he looked he
could see she by her eyes she was Betazoid.

"Yes." She smiled not at all surprised that he would know. "That's
right. I'm on sabbatical on Earth. I teach at the Academy." She added
with a warm and friendly smile, removing her hand with an easy
friendliness.

"It's nice to meet you Counsellor." He said, taking a sip his drink
and mildly panicked as to why this woman wanted to speak to him. It
quickly became apparent.

"Reg asked me to have a word with you." She whispered and his eyes
widened. "He was afraid he had offended you earlier."

"He did." Thinking, it was nothing compared to the rest of this crowd.
"That man suffers from Asperger's syndrome." He added succinctly.

"He just has difficulty with dealing with real people." Deanna
explained. "He gets nervous and says things… or stammers and doesn't
say anything! He is a very good engineer."

"Of that I have no doubt." The Doctor replied. "But you forget
Counsellor, I'm not a real person." His voice grew unintentionally
hard. "I'm a hologram. He doesn't have to worry about offending me.
After all I can simply be switched off and restarted afresh, no
memories, no emotions, no history… a clean slate!" His smile was
deadly.

Deanna tilted her head, not buying into his emoting and asked
directly. "Why are you so angry?"

The unexpected question made him pause and swallow down the lump in
his throat. "I- I'm not!" He lied, lifting his chin belligerently.
"I'm- I'm bored!"

The Counsellor shook her head, making him shift his gaze uncomfortably
under her scrutiny. He flicked a glance at her as she chose a
chocolate strawberry from a passing tray and popped it in her mouth,
then, just as quickly looked away.

"She's very beautiful." Deanna said through fingers over her mouth,
indicating Seven and simultaneously drawing his eye to the ex-Borg. "I
can see why you love her."

The air that he moved into the hollow cavities in his thorax stopped
flowing. He ducked his head and turned a frankly beseeching look on
Deanna, his voice dropping to a hush. "Who told you? Was it Tom
Paris?"

"Tom Paris, Admiral Paris' son? No…" Slightly taken aback, the woman
lightly touched his hands. "No one told me Doctor. I'm a trained
observer I couldn't miss it if I tried. Why? Are you afraid of being
found out?"

"No," he replied honestly. "I'm afraid of being humiliated..." She
smiled in understanding, as he muttered, "But, no doubt, it will
happen again."

"Why do you say that?" Deanna's eyes widened.

His dark brows puzzled together, a crease forming between them. "Have
you seen how every other Star Fleet official has treated me this
evening?" His eyes betrayed the angry fear he had fought so long to
hide. "They don't know what to do with me!" He watched as Barclay took
a glass of wine from a tray and promptly spilt it on the floor. "I'm
probably going to end up as some side show attraction at the Academy,"
he continued, "Or worse…" Barclay was now scrambling about on the
floor chasing an olive, "in your friend Barclay's lab being
unravelled like a ball of string!"

Deanna looked from Reg, who had regained his feet with a triumphant
grin, to the assembled crowd. Her expression darkened and she gave the
doctor a look of genuine sympathy. "It's hard for them to see you as
one thing, when-" She paused searching for the word, "your kind is
used as entirely another."

"My kind? I have no kind! I'm not a holographic beach bunny!" The
doctor hissed with a sudden vehemence that made Deanna reach out and
touch his trembling arm, the wine in his glass had spilt down his
fingers and onto his uniform, but he was not to be calmed so easily,
his frustration had reached boiling point. "Nor am I a miner! I'm a
doctor! I'm a photonic life form! I think! I feel! I can leave this
ship!" His voice had risen with his temper. "I have grown beyond the
limits of my programming! I know what is in my heart! I am an
individual! I deserve the same rights and privileges of any
cognoscente life form! I deserve-"

He did not know he was shouting until he felt the stillness in the air
about him. He turned to see every set of eyes in the room upon him.
Catching glimpses of faces: the Admiral's puzzled frown, the Captain's
open mouthed smile, Tuvok's raised eyebrow and Chakotay's dismissive
smirk. He closed his eyes and waited for three ticks of his internal
chronometer before he cleared his throat and lamely raised his glass.

"To Voyager!" He toasted the ship as the general hubbub rose about him
so that his final words were lost. "To being home!"

**********************************
to be contd…