Reunion

Disclaimer- I don't own Voyager, Naomi, Icheb, etc.! They belong to Paramount.

A/N- I changed a few things in the story, mainly that the amount of chapters is now synced with the chapter numbers I write- basically the prologue has become Chapter 1. This had been bugging me for a while. Also, I had overlooked the fact that Naomi, as a freshman Cadet, had her own quarters. So I introduced a roommate in previous chapters who was pretty much a ghost when it came to interaction. I will introduce her properly in this chapter, in which case you'll definitely know who she is. ALSO! (very important!) **My name will be soon changed to Kidda47, instead of Krystle171! Okay, that's it!** Thanks for reading, guys 3! Enjoy Chapter 13.

Chapter 13: Set in Motion

(Icheb's POV)

The Borg Queen stood tall, a smug look on her face. "We are proud of you, Icheb. Welcome home."

I kept a stern look on my face, looking her in the eye. "I will comply, but not with the pretense that we are now family."

She coldly glanced back at me. "We hope you know that she is not going to be released, in case you change your mind." I kept my expression, but mentally face-palmed myself. Of course she wouldn't just let her go. But the thought of Naomi being here oddly comforted me. Like I wasn't alone, even though I didn't want to share this situation with anyone.

"And in case you were wondering, no, we will not allow you to see her. She is only a prisoner." The Queen said, interrupting my thoughts.

"How will I know that she has not been assimilated?" I demanded. Her safety was by far most important to me at this moment.

"A feeble human promise is not good enough for you?" She taunted. "Well, you have full access to the search banks of all drones. Search for 'Naomi Wildman' and we're sure you won't find any."

I settled for this. I knew she wouldn't risk anything more. "So… what will I be doing here?" I quickly asked, trying not to appear in the littlest bit terrified of the answer.

"First, you need to prove your worth, before we tell you anything. A few tests will be in order." She answered, an evil smile running across her face briefly before returning to normal. I inwardly winced.

(Naomi's POV)

I woke up, excited more than I should have been. I grinned and shot out of bed, asking the Computer what time it was. It replied with '0600 hours'. I heard a snide comment from across the room.

"What is your deal? You have a major issue with mood swings, you know that?" I looked at her, shocked. She spoke. Her name was Lilac Whittier, and she was my ghostlike roommate. She caught me off guard, and my smile dissipated.

"What? What are you staring at? Just because I didn't want to talk to you doesn't mean I don't know how." She held something up. A padd. My padd.

"D-did you read that?" I asked, partly annoyed, partly scared, because some classified things were in there.

"What do you think?" She snapped, rolling her eyes. "Look, I don't care about all your drama, but this is- sorry, was- a stupid plan. In fact, it was pretty much the worst thing I've read. And considering your little Trill friend is assigned to me for extra help in Engineering, that's really bad. I fixed it. Consider that my gift to you, Wildman."

My mouth gaped open at her harsh words, but quickly closed it and instead narrowed my eyes at her. "You had no right-"

"Save it blondie. You might want to read it before you patronize me about what's right and wrong." She sighed, tossing the revised padd on my bed. She turned on her heel and walked out.

The first thing I did was pinch my skin. Nope, not dreaming. I looked towards the padd on the bed and considered reading it. It wouldn't hurt, would it? I mean, what if what she said was right? I picked it up, sitting down in my chair, and turned it on.

People involved- Kathryn Janeway, Seven of Nine, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres, Harry Kim, The Doctor.

Step 1- Get everyone together and discuss the plan. (Wildman, don't you think this would be important? I noticed how you left it out.)

Step 2- Steal a defiant-class ship (or borrow if Starfleet complies, which is pretty unlikely) and take it to the co-ordinates you specified. (Make sure you are in stealth mode, so that you can surprise the Borg, Wildman.)

Step 3- Find the Borg Queen's mothership (They aren't just going to pop out of nowhere waiting for you) and get Harry and Seven to hack though the shields (I'm sure they can do it with her knowledge and his expertise.)

Step 4- Seven and Janeway beam on board, with personal cloaking devices modified from the Defiant's system keeping them undetected. (Honestly, Wildman, do you think the Queen is going to throw a party for their arrival?)

Step 5- Find the Borg Queen and destroy her (they would know how to do this, I'm just a humble cadet) and take Professor Icheb with them back to the Defiant-class ship before the Borg ship explodes. (I don't think you understand how much of an integrated leader the Borg Queen is to the Collective. The ship would explode because everything would be in chaos.)

Step 6- Return to the Alpha Quadrant while the Doctor tends to any wounds.

Hopefully, you'll take this plan to Janeway, because she'd laugh at you if you went with your plan. By the way, I'm sure you've noticed that you're not included in this plan. That's because no one would want you to come along. Honestly, you'd probably just screw things up, after all, you were the one who created this mess. Good luck to your friends.

I glared daggers at the padd. Alright, it was a modest improvement from my plan, but so what? I'm sure Admiral Janeway would have been less condescending than her when it was time to make some changes. I was outraged, but also strangely relieved. Maybe this would work. Actually, this probably would work. It pained me to admit it, but she was pretty well informed. Wait a second! How did she know that it was my fault! My jaw dropped as I bolted up, and reached under my pillow. My diary, marked up with sarcastic comments throughout. That did it. I was going to kill her. Fuming, I got ready for classes. She would get a piece of my mind the next time I saw her.

*Later*

I left class at the lunch bell quickly, wanting to find someone specific. Unfortunately not Lilac, since I didn't want to argue with her in front of the whole Mess Hall, but Trianna. I spotted her with someone, and smiled. Teero Pazrel, a Bajoran boy in her Engineering class who she'd been smitten with. I decided not to interrupt the moment and got food, waiting at a small table for her. I absentmindedly scanned the room, resting them on a group currently laughing. Lilac was there, and I raised my eyebrows. Couldn't really see her having friends, if the way she treated me indicated anything. Then again, they could be evil too, discussing how they could trap innocent kittens in tall trees. Or something like that. I looked away before she noticed, and saw Trianna grinned at me as she walked towards the table with a plate of food.

"Guess who has a date with Cadet Teero?" She asked, trying to be mysterious. I laughed at her batting her eyelashes.

"Hmmm… well I've heard he's been flirting with a Trill girl, seems you have a bit of competition." I teased, and she rolled her eyes. I couldn't help but glare at Lilac again, and Trianna followed my eyes and her own eyes widened.

"Stop looking at her! She'll come over and then… stop it!" She exclaimed, exasperated. "Don't you know who that is?"

"My roommate." I snarked.

"Y-your what?! My goodness, is she mean to you too?"

"I'll say this- she read the plan. I have no clue whether she overheard us talking about it, or if she's just that nosy. She even-" Trianna bit her lip and shrunk as I said this. "Did you-?"

"I didn't mean to!" She admitted. "It kind of slipped out. She was tutoring me, and I needed an excuse to get out of there before my self confidence dwindled to nothing."

I sighed. "It's okay, Trianna. I'm not mad at you."

She smiled a little, but it looked guilty. "So what did she think about it?" She asked quietly.

I rolled my eyes. "See for yourself." I said, pulling it out and passing it to her. Confusion emerged as she read.

"She completely changed it! Well… hmm… you know this isn't bad." Trianna contemplated it.

"Not that bad… hmph!" I scoffed.

"No, seriously, take this to Admiral Janeway. Well, minus the mockery, of course."

"Of course…" I mumbled, "You know what I've noticed?"

"That she isn't mean to anyone but us?" Trianna groaned. I stared at her.

"You sure you can't read minds?" I laughed. She sighed a little.

"I don't get why she hates us."

"Oh, goodness! Lunch is over already?" I complained, hearing the bell. I glanced longingly at my half-eaten plate of food and sighed.

"Let's go! Only two more hours until you get to see her!" Trianna exclaimed, taking my plate to the replicator to be recycled.

Admiral Janeway sat at her desk, sipping an ever-present cup of coffee, while mundanely reading various forms she was to sign off to. She had been reading the same sentence four times over when she finally put the mug down and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples. She couldn't keep this up, and wondered how anyone could go through this hell. She even wondered how this could be a step up from being a valiant Captain, courageously trekking the seas of space. She should have never taken the promotion, she thought. She loved the unexpected, and this was everything but. The short, repeated tasks that were required of her had become unappealing very fast, but she'd once considered it a welcome from the regular day of greeting a hostile alien species, almost being blown to bits, and scavenging for resources. The Captain in her head told her she was terribly wrong. She yearned for something exciting to happen. She had heard of the Borg's return, and hoped greatly that they would call her on for her expertise. She was wrong.

They had called on Seven, originally, but she was unable to go for personal reasons. Next, they had recruited Icheb- in her own opinion not knowledgeable enough to be qualified, (after all, all the time he had with the Borg was in a maturation chamber) still though, they had stuck with their decision. What had that decision reaped? His capture. She shook her head, disapprovingly, because what happened next was unbelievable. They had decided to brainstorm a plan, with no help whatsoever from someone who might know a little about Her. They had been at it for 12 days, and Kathryn was pretty sure they were close to giving up.

The doorbell chimed, aggravating her headache. "Come in" She said, slightly annoyed. She had no appointments today, so she wondered who it could be. She straightened in her seat, sipping the coffee once again.

Naomi Wildman stepped through the doorway, a padd in hand. "Admiral, I need to talk to you about an important matter." She looked tense, and nervous. Kathryn nodded at her and stood, walking over to a nearby couch, gesturing for her to sit down.

"I take it you don't need anything to drink?" She guessed. Naomi had made an impression that she wanted to get straight to business by the way she quickly sat.

"No thank you, I need to show you something that I've been working on for a few days." Naomi started, then shifted. "Er, it's changed quite a bit recently though." She added, satisfied.

The Admiral sat next to her, taking the offered padd from her and turned it on. "'The Plan'?" She wondered, and then scanned the document. A slight smile appeared as she read through. "A rescue attempt. I'm impressed." She noted.

"I had a little bit of help." Naomi mentioned, a bit uneasy. Kathryn looked her in the eyes.

"I think it's a good plan." She said, hesitating. "But Starfleet won't authorize it."

Naomi's eyes dropped to the floor. "Oh."

"Then again, they don't have a plan, so we might have to take things into our own hands."

Naomi's eyes darted back and there was a spark in them. She smirked at her former Captain and gave her a single nod. They were going to make this happen, no matter what the cost.

A/N- There you go, guys! A double-sized chapter! I won't leave you hanging long though…