Disclaimers in part one...
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The Doctor snorted and sadly shook his head. "Lana…" His exasperation
vanishing as a warm feeling welled up inside his chest. He carefully
brushed her hair from her face and confessed softly. "I missed you
too."
*******************************
The Doctor was in a near state of panic when Deanna Troi finally
materialised before him. "About time!" He flapped. "I've been trying
to contact you for the last hour and a half! This is an emergency!"
"Doctor? I was at the reunion." Deanna calmly blinked at him as he
bustled past. Sometimes she despaired of holograms, they could be so
histrionic. "I had just arrived when I received your call. I came as
quickly as..." her voice trailed off as she watched him go to the
sleeping form of a small child curled up on one of the front lecture
benches.
"She was here when I got home." The Doctor explained glancing quickly
up at Deanna, his hand trailing over the little girl's head. "She was
in the care of her paternal grandfather. I've run a check on him. Her
grandfather had a massive CVA today and from his medical records they
don't expect him to -"
Reg Barclay flickered into life before them, halfway through a
transport he was still stuttering, "I'll have you know that as C-Ch-
Chief Proj-Pup! I can- I can demand site to site transport anyti-ti-
tim-" He stopped in mid-sentence and after swaying for a moment, he
blinked then smiled rather nervously at the Doctor and Deanna.
"Ah, I s-see I-" The timorous engineer gulped as he came up to the
pair, fidgeting a hand over his face wondering if the Doctor was
going to rebuke him for something he had said at the Voyager party.
Instead he glimpsed Lana's small blond sleeping head and exclaimed,
rather more loudly than anyone anticipated. "Who is that?!"
"That." The Doctor replied in a deliberate whisper. "Is Lana, her
parents were ensconced here over the summer break. Doing some sort of
asteroid bacteria colonisation study. They're up in the asteroid belt
now and out of subspace radio contact."
Reg's eyes narrowed. "Probably stuck behind a huge iron meteorite."
He muttered. "With the size of some of those, I wouldn't be surprised
if the signal was either split or bounced halfway to-"
"Yes!" The Doctor seethed. "As you can see I have a problem." He
pointed to the child. "That is why I have asked you both to come
here!"
Reg looked at Deanna and she in turn looked at the nervous Engineer
and then to the child. "It's simple Doctor." Troi said after a long
thoughtful moment. "Lana will have to stay with you until Starfleet
can reach her parents."
"But-" The Doctor straightened up and forcefully lowered his voice to
whisper loudly. "I don't have the facilities here! This is a lecture
theatre! And I'm going to join Captain Janeway's crew tomorrow! How
can I look after a lost child?"
Deanna shrugged. "We can help. Get a bed for her and some toys… Reg
can do a search for any other relatives." She nodded at Barclay who
after a moment of confusion realised she wanted him to nod and agree
with her. So he nodded his head vigorously and smiled, until he saw
the dark glower of the Doctor's then he cleared his throat and looked
at his boots.
Deanna not willing to give up, steered the Doctor away from Reg and
murmured, "I can sense how much Lana trusts you, Doctor. I really
think that under the circumstances, if her grandfather is as really
as ill as you say it would be best for her to stay with a friend…
Don't you? Someone who could make it easier for her?"
The Doctor glanced between Reg and Deanna. "I always knew I would be
reduced to this." He groused, but by his tone and stance Deanna knew
he was resigned.
"To what?" Barclay asked, rising his eyebrows naively.
The Doctor sank down to the lecture plinth and put his head in his
hands. "To being an overqualified Flotter."
**********************************
Two months later…
Seven of Nine's quarters
Deep Space Nine.
'Regeneration cycle complete'
Seven of Nine stepped out of her Borg cubicle and blinked twice in an
effort to orientate herself. Her quarters on Deep Space Nine were as
sparse and as dimly lit as those she had utilised in the cargo bay on
Voyager, but there all other similarity ended.
She stretched her arms above her head and sighed, it was still
difficult for her to correlate the tired enjoyment of waking with the
residual Borg demand that she be ever vigilant and useful. As it was
she was already running through the list of her day's duties in an
effort to displace the guilt that time was being wasted and she
should attempt to reclaim it as quickly and efficiently as possible.
However, yet another human flaw held her back. She required a
nutritional supplement - or 'breakfast' as Chakotay called it.
Recalling the word sent a pang of feeling through her.
Chakotay had introduced her to the pleasure of `breakfast' as they
lay together in a gossamer tent on Risa Six. "Breakfast Seven?" His
voice was as smooth a silk, cool, static-filled as it ran over her.
She nodded and smiled, watching him, tangled in the sheets of their
last night's passion, dipping a strawberry in cream before playfully
pressing it to her full red lips.
"Try it." His smile was infectious as it was wolfish. "You'll like
it."
He was right. She did like it. She could feel her heart leap to pound
in her throat as his thumb wiped away the cream... soon followed by
his warm and pleasant mouth. Oh, he was hypnotic and she was
mesmerised… She had grown to *like* so much Chakotay had to offer…
The replicator beeped loudly and Seven had to physically shake
herself away from the memory. Retrieving the metal mug of thick
liquid with numb fingers she held it carefully in her hands. She had
been so lost in her thoughts that she was not even aware she had
ordered it.
In the months since Chakotay had left her, Seven had deduced that the
failure in their relationship had been hers. She was in such a state
of sensory overload that she could hardly recall much of their time
together… It was a testament to his stamina that Chakotay stayed with
her at all! Clearly she had overwhelmed the man. He was not ready for
the depth of emotional commitment she required. In truth, she was not
ready for it herself- but he was so tantalizing and she was so ready!
In hindsight, it should have been slower, more tentative and far more
careful… but then… it would not have been Chakotay.
If only she had seen that he would grow tired of her and toss her
aside when the thrill had gone. If she had foreseen how her demands
for monogamy, understanding and love would suffocate him, she would
not be so troubled by remorse now. She should be the one pregnant and
happy, not some faceless woman from Risa Six! Unconsciously her
fingers indented the metal of the cup she was holding; only the
complaining squeak of plastic made her aware of her deed. Forcibly
she relaxed her grip and tried to dampen the feelings.
What hurt the most was in the end Chakotay had done nothing to hide
his adultery from her; he used it to show her how stupid it was to
commit emotionally to anyone person. The news of the woman's
pregnancy was the last slap in the face before he left. Yet, if he
had asked to stay-
Oh how she disliked the neediness within her! It ate at her like the
emotions that were once so well repressed. Some days she longed for
the click that would cut the emotions off before they overwhelmed
reason, but the Doctor had wiped away that possibility forever. The
Doctor…
Sipping the thick fluid Seven looked out her room's window and
glimpsed the flare of light that indicated the wormhole opening. The
Doctor had once been her friend and now she could barely think of him
without a surge of anger. He should have warned her about these
feelings! Somewhere deep inside she knew she was being an
unreasonable, like a petulant child who had not got their way, but
she could not help it. The Doctor for all his fine words should have
said something… He should have!
She knew they had not parted on the best of terms, the Doctor's
reticence over her relationship with the real Chakotay and her own
urgent bubbling feelings of infatuation for the man made their final
days together brusque and blurred, but still…
Were his words as empty as Chakotay's promises? He said he was her
mentor! He never taught her how to cope with the feelings. He should
have said something! The more she thought about it, the more irate
she grew. If she ever met the Doctor again she would not be held
responsible for her actions!
Placing the half empty cup back in the replicator Seven breathed out.
She glimpsed her reflection in the inbuilt mirror on the far wall and
ran a hand over her hair and down the front of her Bajoran uniform.
With a quirk of her head she nodded. It was sufficient. Quickly she
strode out of her quarters, the door closing silently behind and down
the corridor to enter into the hubbub of the promenade. She had
duties to perform and wallowing in the dark would not get them done.
Seven had found some comfort and distraction in the tedium of her
work… She strode along, hands behind her back, nodding at the regular
customers and shopkeepers she had come to know. Each and every day
she felt she was winning against the tide of emotion, as much as she
was against the ring of petty criminals who darkened the stations
recesses like voles…
Smugly she concluded, that she may not have been taught how to cope
with the cost of love, but she was finding her own way to work
through it. Her life was simple as it was drab and uncluttered. And
in this she took some pride. These were her thoughts as she scanned
the beings populating the promenade.
Simple and drab… That was until she turned a corner, caught sight of
someone cheating at Dabo in Quark's bar and walked straight into the
oncoming form of an EMH.
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TBC...
