A/N: Please read Chapter 10 again before you read 11 as they are truly the same scene and should have been one chapter. Thanks! I hope you are enjoying this so far. I think there will probably only be one more chapter after this one but we'll see. That Kathryn Janeway is a tricky lady… ;)

Chapter 11

"Kathryn?"

"Mmm," was the response; it was a hum of pleasure at the body she was resting on. She feels so good beneath me. I can't believe how amazing that felt. She hardly even touched me, I was so ready for her.

"Kathryn," Seven said again, louder.

"Seven, I'm right here, there's no need to shout. Oh, my God, I can hear you!"

"Yes, I have realized that. Should we bring the lights up?"

"Not yet, Seven, not yet. Let's just lay down a moment," Kathryn was shocked. She wanted desperately to see the other woman, to look in her eyes and be sure this was what she wanted but she was afraid. She could face down the Borg Queen without a tremor of fear but facing the woman laying naked in her bed was a different story entirely. What if she doesn't like what she sees? What if this wasn't good enough? I should have waited. I shouldn't have rushed into bed with her after a few kisses. What was I thinking?

"I can feel your brain spinning, Kathryn, what are you thinking?" Seven asked quietly. She, too, was afraid but she was also confident that they could work anything out between them. How many arguments had they had and still they were friends? Each disagreement had only brought them closer. Seven wanted to be sure that nothing could tear them apart now. After all, they loved one another.

"So many things," Kathryn answered as they reclined on the bed.

"Kathryn Janeway," Seven said.

"Yes?"

"You did hear me a few moments ago when I said I love you, correct?"

Kathryn's heart beat a little faster. She was propped up on her left side, facing Seven and she reached her hand out, finding the other woman's hip. "Yes, I did. And did you hear me when I said I love you, too?"

"I did. There is nothing to fear in turning on the lights, Kathryn. I will still be here whether you can see me or not."

"I'm just not ready. What if you don't like what you see?" Kathryn asked in a small, uncharacteristically timid voice.

"I won't like what I see, Kathryn," Seven paused, "I will love it. I will see you." Seven punctuated her statement by pulling Kathryn's body against her own and sliding her left, borg-enhanced hand down Kathryn's body from her neck to her thigh and back up. "It is you who may not like what you see. I am not fully organic. I have many Borg implants left that mar my skin," Seven's voice, too, sounded nervous.

"I know you do, darling, I can feel them. What does it feel like when I touch these?" Kathryn traced the implants bracketing Seven's abdomen.

"Exciting," Seven breathed just before she claimed Kathryn's lips in a fiery kiss.

They battled for dominance, like they had so many times before. Kathryn fit her small hand between their bodies, following one implant toward the center of Seven's torso. When she felt the woman's soft skin there, she slid her hand slowly down. As she reached the moist heat she was seeking she felt Seven pull her right leg over Seven's hips and metal-tipped fingers caressed her leg up from her knee to her own center.

They mimicked each other's touches, kissing gentler and gentler. Finally, when they crested one after the other they were simply breathing with one another, foreheads pressed together, eyes closed, hearts pounding. They kept their hands still on each other's bodies, unable and unwilling to move them.

When she could finally speak, Kathryn quietly ordered, "Computer, make viewports in my quarters transparent."

Eyes closed, Kathryn heard the computer beep its acknowledgment and sensed the light coming in.

"Kathryn, I love you, whether you can see me or not. Please open your eyes," Seven whispered.

And she did.

She looked right into the cerulean blue eyes looking back at her. Kathryn couldn't stop the tears that immediately filled her own eyes. She wrapped her arms tightly around Seven's shoulders burying her face in the other woman's long neck once again as she cried.

"You're really here. Oh, Seven," Kathryn finally spoke.

Smiling, Seven pulled Kathryn away from her far enough to look into her eyes once again, "Kathryn Janeway, I love you. Thank you for taking me from the Borg, saving me from the Borg. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for arguing with me and understanding me. Thank you for loving me."

"And I do love you, Seven of Nine, Annika Hansen. I love who you are. Thank you for arguing with me and keeping me down to earth and honest. You truly are breathtaking but do you feel okay? Your skin looks a little irritated around your optical implant."

"I have been feeling a little weak, my nanoprobes have not been functioning at peak performance for approximately eight days. Do you think perhaps the Srivani left a tag on me as well?"

Tensing up, Kathryn had to agree that it was something she had worried about. Once all the information had come to light about the tag on Chakotay and the past Borg attacks, Janeway had begun worrying that they had left something that would harm Seven as well. The Srivani had probably not expected Voyager's crew to discover the Saravai on board. Who else might they have chosen? Did they think they could hurt Janeway more by taking away Seven and Chakotay? Perhaps they were not trying to cripple the ship, just cripple the Captain.

"Now that we can see your DNA, Keir and the doctor can check it for any tags. In the meantime, do you want to go regenerate? It might help your nanoprobes keep refreshing."

"No, Kathryn, I would rather stay here and sleep with you than regenerate in a cold cargo bay," Seven said as she leaned in for another kiss.

"What do you think happened, Seven? I thought we had to shock your system? How are you back?"

"Kathryn, you do understand the biological mechanics of what we just did. Twice. Do you not?"

"Yes, Seven, I understand the biological mechanics of making love."

"I was referring more specifically to orgasms. When my body experienced orgasm for the first time, my cortical node was overwhelmed by the muscular and emotional tension and release and it reset itself. When my cortical node shut down and restarted, it was essentially the same thing as shocking my system."

"So, making love cured you?" Kathryn sounded suspiciously innocent.

"You could say that, yes," Seven answered suspiciously.

"You know that's a very heady feeling, Seven, that our making love was so powerful that it cured you." Kathryn kissed Seven deeply. Not with the intent to excite but instead to connect, to share.

"If I weren't Borg, I would worry about an addiction." It was amazing how Seven's voice could go from cold and analytical to deep and sexy.

"What do you mean?" Kathryn laughed, curious.

"You. If I weren't Borg, I would worry about being addicted to kissing you. I have only just done it and all I can think about is when I will be able to do it again. There is nothing in the world like kissing Kathryn Janeway. Trust me, I have the knowledge of thousands of species at my disposal," Seven said imperiously.

Kathryn laughed harder, "I think I'm flattered. You're a Borg sweet-talker. Seducing a woman suffering from exhaustion with your kind words."

Seven simply sighed and rolled onto her back, pulling Kathryn against her and wrapping her right arm around the smaller woman. "We should sleep, Kathryn, you are correct. I will simply dream of kissing you instead."

Kathryn was not going to respond, she was too busy relishing in the body next to her own and the sweet words still replaying in her mind but she could not stop herself from telling the other woman, "I love you."

"I believe you do, Kathryn, and I love you, too."

And they slept.

"Torres to Captain Janeway."

The query came much too soon for either woman's liking.

"Torres to Captain Janeway."

"Dammit, where's my uniform? Computer, direct comm-link to Lieutenant Torres."

The computer beeped and replied, "Comm-link established."

"Torres, Janeway here, go ahead." Kathryn settled back into bed with Seven.

"The doctor and Keir finished with Chakotay. He is still sedated and the doctor is going to transport him directly to sickbay. They feel that he should remain unconscious for at least another twelve hours while the doctor monitors him for any bad reactions to the DNA manipulations."

"Manipulations?"

"I'm an engineer, not a doctor, I don't remember all the correct terminology. I just know they said he has to remain sedated because of all the stuff they just did."

"Thank you, Torres. What time is it?"

"Uh, almost 1600 hours, I think."

"Okay, please invite the Saravai to a gathering in our mess hall at 2000 hours. The senior staff will be expected to be in attendance so please make sure you take some downtime before then."

"Of course, Captain, but what about Seven? Aren't we going to meet and come up with a plan?"

Kathryn looked at Seven with her eyebrows up, giving her the opportunity to respond if she wished. Instead, Seven smirked and shook her head, an evil twinkle in her eye.

"Uh, we'll talk about it tonight. Seven has a theory. See you in the mess at 1945, Torres. Janeway out."

"I apologize for encouraging you to be deceptive, however I simply wished to see the look on Lieutenant Torres' face when she sees me. I believe she will be at a loss for words, which will be a nice change," Seven laughed.

"I like this feisty streak you're developing, Seven. It's very fun. And cute," Kathryn teased.

Seven raised an eyebrow. "Cute? Kathryn Janeway, the Borg are not cute. Intimidating, powerful, frightening, yes. Cute? No."

Kathryn was laughing uncontrollably, "You're even cuter when you pout!"

"I do not pout! Kathryn Janeway, stop laughing at me or I shall be forced to tickle you!"

By that point, Kathryn couldn't have stopped laughing if she wanted to. "No, no, I'm sorry," she barely got out, "I'll stop, I'm sorry," but she couldn't stop. There were tears streaming down her face. If she had been able to open her eyes she would have seen the most endearing smile on her lover's face.

Though she claimed she wanted Kathryn to stop laughing, Seven truly didn't mind. She liked that Kathryn could let herself go when they were together. She knew the older woman needed the release after the stress of the last thirty-six hours. When Kathryn finally calmed down, she looked at Seven's smiling, happy face. "I love you, Seven."

The taller woman's smile only grew as she leaned in to share a kiss.

"You are very different than I thought you would be," Seven said quietly.

"Hmm, how so?" Kathryn reached out to trace Seven's optical implant once more.

"I thought, when I finally gained the courage to share my feelings with you, that you would push me away. I thought you would find reasons for us not to be together. I thought, most likely, that you would not feel the same way. I never thought, if somehow I managed to convince you to give me a chance to show you how much we should be with each other, that you would remind me so often that you, too, love me. I have never been so incredibly happy. Or so incredibly happy to be wrong," Seven finished with another kiss.

Kathryn was quiet, taking in everything that Seven had said. A part of her knew that Seven had been right. If Seven had come to her with these feelings, Janeway would have chased her away, citing some Starfleet ideal never intended for this situation or some old-fashioned personal preference for only men. She would have claimed Seven's feelings to be admiration or misplaced, maternal ideations. Kathryn knew it was only because she had been momentarily faced with the idea of never seeing Seven again that she became strong enough and terrified enough to be honest.

"Seven, you were right. I would have done those things. They would have been dishonest and sad but I would have done it and I would have thought they were the right thing to do. I know that you don't feel well right now and that what you have been through for the past day and a half has been incredibly hard but some part of me is so thankful for it. The thought that I might lose you spurred me to be honest about how I feel about you. I love you. There's no shame in that so why should I stop myself from saying it to you?"

They kissed again. It started slowly, as a connection of hearts but quickly grew to an inferno. Seven's long arms were pulling Kathryn's body on top of hers once again when Kathryn pulled back. "Wait, Seven, wait. You should regenerate. We have four hours before the party tonight, and we should either spend them having your DNA repaired or refreshing your nanoprobes."

Seven could clearly see the blush traveling across Kathryn's naked chest and up her neck. She knew her lover was aroused. She could detect the ragged breathing and erratic pulse. She could also detect the love in Kathryn's eyes and that touched her far deeper than another orgasm would.

"Thank you," Seven whispered, feeling her own eyes fill with tears. "I should regenerate. Let's wait until tomorrow to ask Keir'oir to repair my DNA. She should probably rest well tonight if she is pregnant. Tomorrow will be soon enough."

"If you wait a few minutes, I'll shower and walk you to your alcove," Kathryn smiled, "or, of course, you could shower with me. After all, a little water won't rust your implants."

"I will join you, but we should move quickly if my regeneration is to do me any good," Seven answered.

They climbed out of bed and Seven followed the smaller woman into the bathroom. Once in the shower, Seven gently washed Kathryn's body. It was soothing instead of arousing and the smaller woman found herself feeling comforted. She returned the favor and soon they were done and on their way to Cargo bay two. After, of course, regenerating a new biosuit and commbadge for Seven.

"I'm going to go speak to Neelix and the doctor while you regenerate. If you want to come see me when you're done, I'll probably be in my ready room."

Just as Seven started to respond, the cargo bay doors swooshed open and an ensign from engineering walked in. "Thank you, Captain that would be acceptable."

"Shall we just wait a moment then?" Kathryn said, tilting her head toward the other crewman who was quickly retrieving something from a storage container.

"That would be advisable," Seven smirked. She stepped onto the dais and heard her lover moving toward the input panel.

Finally, the young man finished and left and Kathryn spoke again, "We really must get you some more privacy. I'm sorry I've been so thoughtless."

"I have never required privacy before, Kathryn, it is not your fault."

"Hmm," Kathryn closed her lips tightly and nodded before speaking again, "I'm going to set your regeneration cycle to begin in one minute, Seven. See you in my ready room afterwards?"

"Yes, Kathryn," Seven stepped up to attach herself to the alcove.

Kathryn held Seven's waist gently as she pushed up onto her toes to kiss the younger woman. They stayed lip-locked until the regeneration cycle set in and Seven's muscles tightened into place.

"Sweet dreams, love," Kathryn whispered with a final brush of her fingers down the other woman's soft cheek.

Laughing quietly to herself on her way to the mess hall, Janeway said, "DNA tagging, peaceful yet cloaked aliens, and Borg invisibility? You just can't make this stuff up!"