Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager belongs to Paramount, not me, no infringement intended.

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The Doctor had already checked several stasis units when Seven entered.

"Where shall I start?" she asked.

"I would say with the back row, and we can meet in the middle."

She gave him one of her slight nods and began, efficient as always. The Doctor continued down his row, making sure heart rates were normal and body temperatures were holding steady. He made comments to each of his patients. "Captain, you're looking well today. Probably because you've had no coffee for the past four days. Ah, taking my advice at last! I knew the day would come"... "Mr. Paris, I might have to come back and check you later, seeing you're a little tied up at the moment"... "Poor Lieutenant Torres, with a snarl on your face. Klingons can't even sleep peacefully...not that I would really know about that, since I don't sleep"... "Hello, Mister Neelix. And how are we feeling today?"

He glanced over his shoulder at Seven, and saw she was giving him a look somewhere between annoyance and amusement. "I hope you don't expect an answer, Doctor." He smiled and chuckled. She continued, "Talking to persons in stasis is unproductive."

"Not if I amuse myself in the process, Seven."

"Amusing yourself is probably irrelevant."

"Would you rather amuse me instead?"

"If you want me to talk to the crew, then no."

He grinned and moved to the next unit. "Perhaps we could sing, then. A nice aria, or maybe just something simple, like the scales...give you a chance to practice your do-re-mi's. Oh, I need to make a slight adjustment to Naomi, the needs of children are different, even in stasis. Anyway, what would you like to sing, Seven? ...Seven?" He turned around.

She was gone.

He looked wildly around the room, feeling a small sensation of panic. "Computer, locate Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine is in turbolift one."

The Doctor quickly finished making the adjustments to Naomi Wildman's stasis unit bolted out of the room and down a corridor, asking the computer for Seven's location every few moments. He tracked her until it became apparent that she was headed for the bridge. He realized her anti-hallucinogenic had most likely worn off, and that he should have given her another dose before coming to Deck 14. Why didn't he think to bring a hypospray with him? He ought to have had one nearby, just in case. And I'm *programmed* to do these things! This is what she does to me, she's able to make me forget even what I'm programmed to do, he thought, exasperated.

"Seven? Seven!" he called. No response. But he heard her voice as he approached the bridge.

He burst into the room and looked around frantically, and found her staring at the blank viewscreen.

"No! I will resist!" she shouted at nothing, voice cracking but still under a measure of control.

"Seven! You're hallucinating!"

She ignored him, and began physically fighting with the figments of her imagination. The images certainly must be very real to her, the Doctor thought. It was rather fascinating to watch her fight to the death with thin air, but he shrugged off his momentary hesitation and yelled, "Seven, listen to me!" as he went forward to grab her.

But she retreated from her invisible enemies before the Doctor could get a hold on her, and ran to a console. Following her, the Doctor saw her punching in new coordinates.

"Seven, no! Stop! You'll send the ship off course!" He made it to her this time and, grabbing her arms, pulled her away from the console. This was something new and frightening; before, she had always been aware of his presence and able to hear him speak to her. Now she was totally oblivious to everything but the monsters in her head.

He had to reenter the correct coordinates before dealing with her, and as he did she looked away at something else not there, eyes wild. "Get off this ship," she said in a simple and ice-deadly tone.

The Doctor continued trying to talk to her as he reset the computer. "Seven, you need to go to Sickbay, now, definitely Doctor's orders!"

She turned to face another direction, saying in a carefully contrite tone, "I apologize...I am sorry...I have learned compassion...it is part of being human..." her voice dropped to a whisper and her hand went to her head. Her face contorted, lips curled. "It - will - never- go- away -" The words were slow, pained. Then, as if another personality had taken over, but one that was still Seven, her head snapped in another direction and her face filled with horror. "Doctor, you are destabilizing!" Her voice was tightly controlled panic.

Having corrected the coordinates, the Doctor could turn in surprise. He glanced down at himself to make sure she wasn't right, and breathed a simulated sigh of relief when he saw she wasn't. He approached her carefully. "Seven, it's alright! I'm right here! You just need to come with me to Sickbay..." he tried to gently lead her to the door, but she jerked away from him, and started in the opposite direction.

"Don't leave me! Please!" she pleaded. "I cannot be alone!" Arbitrarily, she ordered, "Red alert!" and the bridge was darkened with red light. The Doctor wanted to roll his eyes toward the now-reddened ceiling in exasperation, but didn't have time. Seven ran to another console and her eyes darted over it as her fingers flew over the controls; she seemed to be trying to stabilize the Doctor's matrix.

He lunged toward her and seized her arms again from behind, dreadfully afraid she would damage his program in her manic state. "Seven, stop! It's not real, it's not real!"

For a moment he thought he'd gotten through to her. She stopped struggling and her face was her usual mask of calm. He tried to move to face her, and she slowly turned towards him at the same moment.

He stood still, shocked . Her face, covered in the crimson light, was void of emotion, except for a single tear that ran slowly down her face. She did not even blink, but stared at him unnervingly, eyes purple in the evil glow, blank, cold, old.

How could someone look so calm and so tortured at the same time? he wondered, frozen. He, and no one else, had never, ever seen Seven cry, had never thought it possible. Of course the Doctor knew it was physically possible for her to cry, but what could move her to it, could shake her composure enough? Yet here it was. Under other circumstances, it would have been a milestone, a further sign of her returning humanity, a celebratory deepening of her surfacing emotions...but now it was unnatural, accompanied by no sound, set in a Borg face, out of a nightmare. The Doctor shuddered.

With no warning, the moment shattered and something tore from Seven's throat that was a cross between a noooo, a scream, and a wail. The Doctor jumped back, startled. Seven fell to the floor, hysterical.

"I believe a need has arisen for heroism," he muttered, and taking matters literally in his hands, he scooped Seven up and transported them both directly to Sickbay.

To be continued...