Disclaimer: The author is not stealing from Paramount but merely 'borrowing' as described by the "Handbook of Playground Possession". A fictional document in which it states"If I was playing with it five minutes ago: it's mine. If you aren't holding it tight enough: it's mine. If it looks like mine: it's mine. If I like it: it's mine. If it's mine; it must never in any way appear to be YOURS." Therefore, seeing Paramount as the big bully who wrote this handbook I acknowledge that only the STORY and none of the characters or ships are mine. On the other hand I haven't got any milk money so don't beat me up for playing with your toys!
"When I Grow Up" lyrics owned by Garbage and whoever owns them. I only borrowed.
Code: T/7.
Rating: PG
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
When I Grow Up, Part 11
B'Elanna sat perched on the biobed, pushing back her unruly hair and kicking her feet nervously. She glanced at Seven, who smiled reassuringly, but she was too agitated to return it. She watched the EMH's every move as he set up the device in the surgical bay. Annika held her hand out to almost brush the forcefield separating them. Kathryn stood by, watching the doctor almost as closely as the Klingon girl.
"Why are they on the other side of a forcefield? Is this going to make me sick?" B'Elanna asked suddenly.
"It's to protect them from tachyon radiation," the EMH said. "But it's just a precaution and it isn't likely that you will be harmed." He looked at her worriedface and smiled gently. "Relax, we won't do this until you're ready." B'Elanna looked at the floor for a moment, then inched back on the bed and lay down.
"I'm ready." Annika walked over to her own biobed and lay down, preparing herself for rapid aging. The doctor stepped through the forcefield and walked up to the blonde girl. He picked up a hypospray, but she just stared at the ceiling, listening for the hiss that would let her know the sedative had been administered.
B'Elanna heard the faint sound of Seven's injection. She looked at the device above her and wondered how old she would be with this spurt. Annika had been slowing down, while she seemed to speed ahead and she wondered if perhaps it could be several spurts before her friend was even caught up, much less the age she wanted to be. B'Elanna looked over at the captain, who smiled at her and she finally returned the smile. A buzz announced that the hologram had stepped through the field again and B'Elanna turned her attention to him.
" 'Chaos rules when we're apart. Watch my temper, I go mental, I'll try to be gentle when I grow up...' " B'Elannasang quietlyto herself.
"Just relax, B'Elanna. When you wake up, this will all be over." B'Elanna mutely watched as he brought the hypo to her neck and she felt a pinch as the sedative was administered. The walls around her blurred and she was overcome with immediate exhaustion and sucked down into sleep.
"Mr. Paris, engage." Janeway said after tapping her commbadge.
"Aye, ma'am."
The doctor waited until he saw B'Elanna's bones begin to grow, waited until she had finished, then activated the phased tachyon stream. Within seconds, he could tell that something was wrong. B'Elanna finished growing into adulthood, certainly, but she didn't stop. Instead of ending the rapid aging, it sped it up. Within seconds, she had passed her original age and was quickly becoming an old woman. Her face thinned and her hair grayed.
The Doctor tried not to panic. 'Maybe if I just reverse the-" he fiddled with the controls until the beam paused, then resumed casting a yellow hue on B'Elanna. For a moment, it appeared that the aging was just going to stop, then even faster than she had aged, she regressed. The doctor turned off the device quickly, but B'Elanna kept regressing.
The doctor desperately reinitialized the beam, but she had already regressed to being only nineteen. But the ordeal was over and she had not been awake to know what had happened. The Doctor closed the biobed over her to run scans while he revived Seven. He quickly assessed that Annika had aged to approximately 21 years, which was the biggest leap she had taken so far.
Seven sat up groggily, the stimulant quickly running its course and looked around.
"Where is B'Elanna?" she asked in her straightforward manner, looking about worriedly.
"There was an accident during the procedure-" Annika jumped off the table and ran towards the surgical bay, stopping only to hit the forcefield control, then ran to B'Elanna's side. The EMH sighed and walked up to B'Elanna's monitors and checked the scans, pressing the button that slid the monitor back into the bed. Seven looked up at him from across the bed.
"Will she be alright, Doctor?" The doctor gave her a tight-lipped smile and pressed the hypo to B'Elanna's neck. B'Elanna opened her eyes and sat up, stretching.
"So... How old am I?" B'Elanna asked, grinning. One look at the EMH's grim face told her that she wasn't going to be happy with his answer. "It didn't work, did it?"
"Not exactly," the Doctor answered and then proceeded to explain what had happened while she was unconscious. She looked down at her feet as she swung them off the side of the bed.
"Do you think I'll grow again, the next time we age Annika?" The Doc looked at her and shook his head.
"I really can't answer that. You may now be nineteen years old until your next birthday. If, when we next accelerate Seven's growth, you do not age, then we can assume that you will grow as any normal girl your age and race would."
"How long before we can once again perform the aging process?" Seven asked. The Doctor smiled slightly.
"We can begin tomorrow at oh-ten-hundred hours, under the same conditions."
"Thank you, Doctor," Seven said quietly. The EMH nodded at the dismissal and left the three alone. B'Elanna looked up at Seven and gave her a half smile.
"Don't get a big head just because you're older now. And don't think you can boss me around, either." B'Elanna grinned toothily.
"It was not my intention to do so." Seven replied, a twinkle in her eye.
"How do you feel, B'Elanna?" Kathryn asked. B'Elanna shrugged.
"At least this time it didn't hurt," she said. "I don't really feel much different. I just kinda hope that I get a little older next time. I'd like to at least be old enough to work in Engineering again." Seven turned and left, lost in her own thoughts. B'Elanna hopped down off the table and started to follow her, but the captain stayed next to her.
"So you plan to be an Engineer?" B'Elanna was distracted from her goal and nodded, eager to talk about the plans that she had been forming.
"I love engineering, I guess it's just part of my personality; and I was hoping that I might some day become Chief of Engineering again. I mean, not tomorrow or something, but if I get as good as I used to be." Kathryn's face broke into a grin.
"I think that would be wonderful, B'Elanna. You've always shown an aptitude for all things mechanical, and your mind is just as sharp as I ever knew it to be. To be honest, I might have been a little disappointed if you had decided not to go back to what you were so good at." B'Elanna beamed at the approval.
Seven walked into the Wildman quarters and up to Samantha, who was reading on the couch, intent on making up for her recent behavior. Sam looked up when Annika walked in and smiled. Seven returned the smile for once then joined her adoptive mother on the couch.
"I am sorry that I have been cruel. I was angry and felt that you were unjust to deny me my past. I know now that you simply wished to give me a childhood, and a better past. I am no longer angry with you."
"I'm glad to hear that, Seven. I just wanted to be a good mother, I really enjoyed having you as a daughter and sister for Naomi."
"Please, call me Annika. I know that you prefer that designation."
"All right. May I hug you, Annika?" Sam looked at the young woman tentatively. Seven hugged Samantha, letting go of the angst that had filled her life the past few weeks, glad that her adolescence was finally over.
To be continued…