Detox

A Star Trek: Voyager fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation et al are the property of CBS Television, Paramount and the creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.

Written with Fanboyimus Prime.


It was Seven's turn to babysit the Borg Baby, and was gently rocking her in Cargo Bay 2. Harry was sitting nearby, doing some repair work on the main power systems and fixing some errors in the software. It also let him watch Seven being maternal, which was... Strangely beautiful, attractive...

He coughed a bit, already imagining his mother giving him the "grandchild" lecture... Still, he couldn't help but think about the future. Especially now that he had a clear mind, a promotion, a hot, intelligent girlfriend...

"How is the program coming?" Seven asked, rocking the Borg baby gently.

"Just fine," Harry said. "It'll take a bit of time to compile." He frowned. "You'd think the baby would have grown some in the last year...?"

"Without the Borg Maturation tank, her normal growth rate has been suppressed," Seven explained. "The Doctor believes the application of a new treatment will allow Zero to resume normal growth."

The baby cooed as Kim blinked.

"You're calling her... Zero?" He asked. Seven raised an eyebrow.

"She did not have a name before her assimilation," Seven explained. "I decided on 'Zero'. It is an admirable number, a vital part of higher mathematics. You need a zero for basic programming in binary, and a one... And..." The blonde Borg seemed a bit unsure of herself. When it came to the Borg, science, astrometrics, efficiency, Seven was absolutely confident and in control. Here though...

Harry smiled. "Well... We could call her Rei," he suggested. "It means the same thing... Raises fewer questions."

Seven considered it. "Is 'Zero' too... Borg?" She asked.

Harry stood up and walked over to Seven. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and smiled down on the snoozing baby.

"No... I just kind of like 'Rei'. It means the same thing."

"It can mean other things though," Seven stated stubbornly. Harry sighed.

"We could call her both?" He suggested.

"That would just be confusing," she replied. Harry smiled.

"There aren't any other Reis onboard... Or Zeros," he said. "Rei Zero?"

"It is redundant," Seven said with a frown. Harry sighed.

"They mean the same thing!"

"Hence the redundancy," Seven said flatly, eyeing him. "You will comply. Resistance is futile."

"I blew up a Borg cube," Harry challenged. "Clearly, it isn't."

"... Irrelevant," Seven said at last.

"Hey, it could be worse," Harry argued. "Tom suggested BeeBee."

"No. We are not calling her BeeBee," Seven replied. "The name is stupid."

"Well Zero isn't that..." Harry trailed off.

"Seven is my chosen designation," Seven said flatly.

"But Ann-" Harry stopped himself, but it was too late. Seven pulled away, glaring at him.

"Annika Hansen was my name," Seven said coldly.

The baby sighed and stirred gently. They both looked down.

"Oh, Seven," he murmured. "I'm sorry..." He squeezed her in a hug. "I was stupid... I guess I just thought that..."

Seven stared at him quizzically. "Explain."

Harry looked up and smiled. His confidence waned slightly, but he maintained his resolve.

"That... Well... When I see you and the baby, I guess... I think about us and... Having children. A family... Together. Maybe I assumed too mu-"

Seven kissed him gently. Harry stopped, and stared at his girlfriend as she pulled back. She allowed herself a small smile.

"You did not," she said. "The same thoughts... Have occurred to me. Not now... Not yet, but," Seven looked back down at the baby. She stirred, and looked up with wide eyes and a little smile. Harry smiled back, and squeezed her in a hug.

"Yeah," Harry said. "But I think you'll be a good mother."

The baby spat up all over Seven's jumpsuit, and then giggled. Seven made a look of distaste. She glared at Harry.

"Smile... And you will regret it. Forever."

"It never even occurred to me," Harry said, keeping his face straight with considerable effort. "Still think Rei is a good name."

"Very well," Seven said. "We will... Compromise. I will call her Zero as a nickname."

"Works for me," Harry said with a nod.


Harry Kim looked at the motley crew he had gathered for this project. Icheb was checking over his tools, Tom looked relieved to get away from having to discuss what would be at his wedding reception, Lyndsay smirked back at him, Kes looked bemused, and the Doctor had his medical kit at the ready for this.

Neelix thankfully didn't invite himself along for this. Harry wasn't sure how good of an interior decorator the...actually Harry wasn't exactly what Neelix was for the crew now, but in any case he wasn't sure if he really wanted to see what the Talaxian considered stylish day in and day out.

"You know..." Tom mused with a slight grin. "I always did wonder where Seven took a shower."

"And if you and B'Elanna ever made out in it?" Kes commented with a slight grin.

Icheb and Harry shared a glance that spoke how they had friends with gutter minds. Harry coughed loudly.

"Thanks for coming to help," he said trying to keep this on track.

"Well I figured I might as well be on hand for any accidents," the Doctor remarked. "And try my hand at interior decorating."

"With the person least likely to be offended at whatever we do," Tom noted. "Now let's hope Beebee isn't disturbed by us."

"Her name is Rei," Harry told his best friend.

"Little Rei Kim," Lyndsay said with a wide grin. "Boy are your parents going to be surprised you already have a daughter."

"I just hope I can be as good of an Uncle to her as the one I got," Tom grinned.

"Didn't he marry a..." Ballard asked.

"Yeah," Tom nodded. "Aunt Jiterica is quite nice."

"As interesting as this talk on interspecies romance is," the Doctor interjected. "We don't have all the time in the world to stand around and talk."

The door to the cargo bay opened and the Doctor looked annoyed at seeing yet another stuffed Species...actually that made him wonder what they actually called themselves. It definitely wasn't the Borg number.

It was just rude to refer to them by the Borg's number. Not that after having a stuffed member of their race on every deck of the ship did that mean much to them the Doctor was sure.

Beside the macabe decoration, the cargo felt a bit packed with stuff. Things from before the Borg alliance still sat on the shelves, and Seven's clothes were neatly sorted by color on one of the shelving units.

Toys for Rei, and various clothes for her were scattered about the cargo bay. Including a pair of white and grey pajamas that looked like a lot like the Starfleet uniform circa 2273. Harry made a face as he remembered how much Rei hated wearing those. It seemed to be the one thing she was extremely fussy about wearing.

"Yeah I can see why you moved out of here," Tom remarked to Icheb.

"I still regenerate here," the Exborg noted as they saw Rei playing with a plushie tribble on the floor. "And be careful. She often spits. And smells too."

Harry picked up the little girl and held her in his arms. She then drifted off to sleep.

"Well she definitely loves her daddy," Lyndsay said with a wide smile.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Well looks like the first thing we're doing is making a crib. After all my daughter needs one."

The Doctor ran his medical tricorder over the baby.

"Well at least she got a name faster than our CMO," Tom noted. "Well unless he thinks he's a timelord."

"I have a much better fashion sense than they do," the Doctor remarked. "Especially Six."

"Yeah, but Twenty was really awful," Tom commented. "All those piercings, man..."

"That was the one that freelance peacekeeping agent tried to kill right?" Harry asked.

Tom grimaced. "Yeah. Death Something."

"I'm more a Kamen Rider or Super Sentai fan," Kes admitted. Harry looked over at Tom with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged.

"Don't look at me. She's had plenty of time to find all kinds of things to watch. At least it isn't watching us stoned for entertainment."

"Oh, that never got old," Kes said dryly. Tom huffed.

Icheb already was replicating parts for a crib. Tom smiled as he got an idea.

"Tom," Harry said as he saw that look. "What are you planning?"

"Just that your daughter should have a shuttle themed crib," Tom remarked.

"I'll think about," Harry stated. "Right now we need to build Rei a toybox."

"I have a feeling I'll be needed to help afterward," the Doctor muttered.


A bit out of order, but then the nature of this story makes being all over the place a natural part of the plot. And totally not because I put this in the wrong order. Of course not.