Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, except for Finnegan. He is my boy! So don't sue me please!!
The next couple of weeks were interesting to say the least. Finnegan's transition to the ship had gone smoothly. His ship was in docking bay 4. Most of his possessions had been transfer to his quarters, along with his dog Hercules. Socially, he was doing well for himself. He and Tom had both figured out that they had an interest in the 20th century and its music and could frequently be found listening to music as they drove a car through the USA circa 1978 in the holodeck. They also discovered that they enjoyed playing practical jokes on people. The combined team of Tom and Dempsey caused chaos in the lives of their targets. Poor Harry went to brush his teeth in his sink and found that his toothpaste had been replaced with blue dye. The doctor started to sing one day and discovered that his voice alga-rhythms had been replaced with those of barnyard animals.
Finnegan also found that he and B'Elanna had a lot in common. They found themselves getting in deep conversations about Klingon culture. It was strange, but B'Elanna felt like Finnegan might as well had been more Klingon then her. He had such an extensive knowledge of the culture and respect for it as well.
For three shifts each week, Finnegan would report to sickbay. Since he was highly trained in medical science, the Doctor was very appreciative of the additional help. While the Doctor was not the easiest person to get along with, Finnegan did a good job of gaining his approval and respect. Finnegan even convinced the Doctor to give him some further lessons in medical procedures so he could be an even larger assistance in sickbay.
Every other night, the Captain and Finnegan would meet for dessert in the mess hall, and discuss history. They would talk about their heroes and their childhood; they really would talk about anything at all. Janeway felt that she had found the brother she never had. Finnegan felt like he now had a sister.
While socially he was getting along with almost everyone on the crew, he was not getting along with the one person that he truly needed to get along with. Seven of Nine and him had hardly been able to stay in the same room with each other for more then two hours without getting into a large argument about something or another. The first day they worked together they got into an argument about the correlation of a nebula, the next day they fought about the route that they needed to take around the asteroid field the ship was approaching, these arguments got more and more petty as the days went on. It seemed like they were on a one-way track to killing each other. Until something almost killed them.
It was about a month after Finnegan had arrived on the ship. All had been going well on Voyager. Nothing disastrous had happened. There had been a few encounters with some alien vessels, but nothing bad had come from them.
Seven and Finnegan were in the Astrometrics lab, surveying the planets around there area for dylithium sources.
"So Seven, are you going to the diner tonight," Finnegan asked, simply trying to make small talk. Voyager had met up with a race known as the HonD'Kars. A strange race, with strange customs. Finnegan had heard of them only once when he was on Rublaton. He hadn't heard much of there customs, only that they could get quite wild when they celebrated things, otherwise they were a quite prosperous people.
"I am required to go, so I will be attending," she said, not looking up from her work.
He returned to his work. There was no point in trying to make a conversation with someone who clearly didn't want to talk, so he continued to survey the area, until he found something.
"Seven, what would be the signature of dylithium crystal in its purest and most complex form," he asked.
She walked over and rudely stepped in from of the computer station he was working on. Finnegan just rolled his eyes. He had gotten used to this behavior bye now. He watched her as she leaned over the computer. He looked at the back of her neck and found his eyes wandering down her back, to her hips, to her ...
He snapped himself out of it. It was strange. There was no one on the ship that he would say he hated, but if he had to choose, it would have been Seven. They really couldn't stand each other. Yet there was this strange attraction that he just couldn't help but feel, and sometimes he thought Seven felt the same way. Sometimes he would catch her staring at him. Not the typical glare that he had become used too, but a stare that she would give him when he thought he couldn't see her.
"This is amazing," Seven said facing him. She had a huge smile on her face. "Do you know what you have found? Do you know what this means?"
"Well, if it is what I think it is, then I just found our way home," he said. He really hadn't thought that he had found perfect dylithium, commonly known as the X-Crystal. He asked Seven because there was the slightest possibility that it was. He was right. He knew that if he and Seven both had the same idea, that it had to be right. They were going home.
"Yes," she said, staring at him, not with the harsh eyes she usually used when looking at him, but the kindest eyes he had ever seen glance back from that face. " We're going home! We are going home," she allowed a large smile to sweep across her face. She was beautiful.
Then it hit Finnegan as well. Home, he thought to himself, HOME!!!
He ran over to Seven and rapped his arms around her. He was so happy he didn't care how awkward it was, and apparently she didn't either because she was hugging him back. It wasn't awkward till he put her down and they came face to face with each other. The looked at each other for a moment and then sheepishly pulled away.
"We should contact the Captain, get her to come down here and check the data. We should get B'Elanna to check it as well," Seven said.
"Yeah," he said, still looking at her.
"Captain," Seven said, after pushing her comm. badge.
"Yes Seven," the Captain replied.
"Your presence is required in Astrometrics," she said.
" I really hope that you haven't killed Mr. Finnegan over and argument Seven, I'm not really in the mood for bad news," she said.
"I'm still here Captain," he said, still not taking his eyes off of Seven, who was now staring back at him, " and I don't think that you will be disappointed."
"Good to here, I'll be there in a couple minutes," she said.
Finnegan continued to look at Seven.
"Can I help you with something Mr. Finnegan," Seven said. It wasn't that Finnegan was creeping her out; his stare wasn't the kind that creeps someone out. It was more the type of stare that made someone melt. That was why she felt uncomfortable. She wasn't used to dealing with what she was feeling and didn't really want to.
"I'm sorry, I've made you uncomfortable. I was just thinking about something," he said, finally breaking his stare.
Seven wasn't as relived as she thought she would be when he stopped staring at her. "What were you thinking about?" she asked.
"I was thinking that you and I really don't make that bad of a team and if we actually tried to get along with each other, we might be able to get a lot done," he replied.
Seven thought on this for a second. She knew he was right. There was some kind of chemistry between them and if they used it positively instead of negatively, it could have great results.
"Seven, I was wondering, if, perhaps you would like to attend tonight's dinner ... uh ... with me?" he asked.
Seven was completely taken off guard. She didn't have time to think about her response before her mouth uttered the words, " Yes, I would like that."
"Great, I'll pick you up around 1900 hours," he said.
Before Seven could respond the Captain walked into the Astrometrics Lab.
"So what's going on?" she asked.
Seven couldn't speak. She was too preoccupied.
"Well Captain, we have some good news," Finnegan said, leading the Captain over to the computer where they had made their discovery, "Some very good news."
The Captain could barely hold back the tears of joy when she found out about the X-Dylithium. With its power the ship could maintain a speed of 9.99 light years for approximately 2 years. That could bring them 20000 light years in that amount of time. With that power, they would only be 10000 light years away from Earth. Janeway decided that she wasn't going to tell the crew, just in case the missions failed, or something happened to go wrong, as it often did. She didn't want to disappoint them. They have had far to many disappointments over the past years. Right now she was going to tell the senior officers in her crew, and that was all.
They reacted as she expected. They tried not to show their joy, but it was evident in their eyes and in their smiles. Even though they had experienced countless disappointments, they still had hope that they would find a way to get home. The Captain became even happier by this. She really did have the best crew in Starfleet.
As much she wanted to sit and rejoice with her crew, the Captain had a more pressing matter. One of the local planets wanted to negotiate a trade agreement and learn more about Starfleet. This was Janeway's first priority. She had to learn all she could about different cultures. It also helped that the X-Dylithium crystal was in an asteroid belt in there space. So the aliens were on their way to the ship for a diplomatic dinner, so to say. Janeway knew that this would be interesting. From what she was told the HonD'Kars were a lively people. They had a habit of drinking in excess, that is why Janeway decided to hold the little party in Cargo Bay 5 instead of the Dining Room. She had Neelix spruce it up for the guests.
"He really did a wonderful job," she thought to herself as she stood in the room, making a last minute check of everything.
"Captain," said Harry's voice over the comm., " Our guests are ready to beam aboard, please report to Transporter room 1."
"I'm on my way," she said.
The next couple of weeks were interesting to say the least. Finnegan's transition to the ship had gone smoothly. His ship was in docking bay 4. Most of his possessions had been transfer to his quarters, along with his dog Hercules. Socially, he was doing well for himself. He and Tom had both figured out that they had an interest in the 20th century and its music and could frequently be found listening to music as they drove a car through the USA circa 1978 in the holodeck. They also discovered that they enjoyed playing practical jokes on people. The combined team of Tom and Dempsey caused chaos in the lives of their targets. Poor Harry went to brush his teeth in his sink and found that his toothpaste had been replaced with blue dye. The doctor started to sing one day and discovered that his voice alga-rhythms had been replaced with those of barnyard animals.
Finnegan also found that he and B'Elanna had a lot in common. They found themselves getting in deep conversations about Klingon culture. It was strange, but B'Elanna felt like Finnegan might as well had been more Klingon then her. He had such an extensive knowledge of the culture and respect for it as well.
For three shifts each week, Finnegan would report to sickbay. Since he was highly trained in medical science, the Doctor was very appreciative of the additional help. While the Doctor was not the easiest person to get along with, Finnegan did a good job of gaining his approval and respect. Finnegan even convinced the Doctor to give him some further lessons in medical procedures so he could be an even larger assistance in sickbay.
Every other night, the Captain and Finnegan would meet for dessert in the mess hall, and discuss history. They would talk about their heroes and their childhood; they really would talk about anything at all. Janeway felt that she had found the brother she never had. Finnegan felt like he now had a sister.
While socially he was getting along with almost everyone on the crew, he was not getting along with the one person that he truly needed to get along with. Seven of Nine and him had hardly been able to stay in the same room with each other for more then two hours without getting into a large argument about something or another. The first day they worked together they got into an argument about the correlation of a nebula, the next day they fought about the route that they needed to take around the asteroid field the ship was approaching, these arguments got more and more petty as the days went on. It seemed like they were on a one-way track to killing each other. Until something almost killed them.
It was about a month after Finnegan had arrived on the ship. All had been going well on Voyager. Nothing disastrous had happened. There had been a few encounters with some alien vessels, but nothing bad had come from them.
Seven and Finnegan were in the Astrometrics lab, surveying the planets around there area for dylithium sources.
"So Seven, are you going to the diner tonight," Finnegan asked, simply trying to make small talk. Voyager had met up with a race known as the HonD'Kars. A strange race, with strange customs. Finnegan had heard of them only once when he was on Rublaton. He hadn't heard much of there customs, only that they could get quite wild when they celebrated things, otherwise they were a quite prosperous people.
"I am required to go, so I will be attending," she said, not looking up from her work.
He returned to his work. There was no point in trying to make a conversation with someone who clearly didn't want to talk, so he continued to survey the area, until he found something.
"Seven, what would be the signature of dylithium crystal in its purest and most complex form," he asked.
She walked over and rudely stepped in from of the computer station he was working on. Finnegan just rolled his eyes. He had gotten used to this behavior bye now. He watched her as she leaned over the computer. He looked at the back of her neck and found his eyes wandering down her back, to her hips, to her ...
He snapped himself out of it. It was strange. There was no one on the ship that he would say he hated, but if he had to choose, it would have been Seven. They really couldn't stand each other. Yet there was this strange attraction that he just couldn't help but feel, and sometimes he thought Seven felt the same way. Sometimes he would catch her staring at him. Not the typical glare that he had become used too, but a stare that she would give him when he thought he couldn't see her.
"This is amazing," Seven said facing him. She had a huge smile on her face. "Do you know what you have found? Do you know what this means?"
"Well, if it is what I think it is, then I just found our way home," he said. He really hadn't thought that he had found perfect dylithium, commonly known as the X-Crystal. He asked Seven because there was the slightest possibility that it was. He was right. He knew that if he and Seven both had the same idea, that it had to be right. They were going home.
"Yes," she said, staring at him, not with the harsh eyes she usually used when looking at him, but the kindest eyes he had ever seen glance back from that face. " We're going home! We are going home," she allowed a large smile to sweep across her face. She was beautiful.
Then it hit Finnegan as well. Home, he thought to himself, HOME!!!
He ran over to Seven and rapped his arms around her. He was so happy he didn't care how awkward it was, and apparently she didn't either because she was hugging him back. It wasn't awkward till he put her down and they came face to face with each other. The looked at each other for a moment and then sheepishly pulled away.
"We should contact the Captain, get her to come down here and check the data. We should get B'Elanna to check it as well," Seven said.
"Yeah," he said, still looking at her.
"Captain," Seven said, after pushing her comm. badge.
"Yes Seven," the Captain replied.
"Your presence is required in Astrometrics," she said.
" I really hope that you haven't killed Mr. Finnegan over and argument Seven, I'm not really in the mood for bad news," she said.
"I'm still here Captain," he said, still not taking his eyes off of Seven, who was now staring back at him, " and I don't think that you will be disappointed."
"Good to here, I'll be there in a couple minutes," she said.
Finnegan continued to look at Seven.
"Can I help you with something Mr. Finnegan," Seven said. It wasn't that Finnegan was creeping her out; his stare wasn't the kind that creeps someone out. It was more the type of stare that made someone melt. That was why she felt uncomfortable. She wasn't used to dealing with what she was feeling and didn't really want to.
"I'm sorry, I've made you uncomfortable. I was just thinking about something," he said, finally breaking his stare.
Seven wasn't as relived as she thought she would be when he stopped staring at her. "What were you thinking about?" she asked.
"I was thinking that you and I really don't make that bad of a team and if we actually tried to get along with each other, we might be able to get a lot done," he replied.
Seven thought on this for a second. She knew he was right. There was some kind of chemistry between them and if they used it positively instead of negatively, it could have great results.
"Seven, I was wondering, if, perhaps you would like to attend tonight's dinner ... uh ... with me?" he asked.
Seven was completely taken off guard. She didn't have time to think about her response before her mouth uttered the words, " Yes, I would like that."
"Great, I'll pick you up around 1900 hours," he said.
Before Seven could respond the Captain walked into the Astrometrics Lab.
"So what's going on?" she asked.
Seven couldn't speak. She was too preoccupied.
"Well Captain, we have some good news," Finnegan said, leading the Captain over to the computer where they had made their discovery, "Some very good news."
The Captain could barely hold back the tears of joy when she found out about the X-Dylithium. With its power the ship could maintain a speed of 9.99 light years for approximately 2 years. That could bring them 20000 light years in that amount of time. With that power, they would only be 10000 light years away from Earth. Janeway decided that she wasn't going to tell the crew, just in case the missions failed, or something happened to go wrong, as it often did. She didn't want to disappoint them. They have had far to many disappointments over the past years. Right now she was going to tell the senior officers in her crew, and that was all.
They reacted as she expected. They tried not to show their joy, but it was evident in their eyes and in their smiles. Even though they had experienced countless disappointments, they still had hope that they would find a way to get home. The Captain became even happier by this. She really did have the best crew in Starfleet.
As much she wanted to sit and rejoice with her crew, the Captain had a more pressing matter. One of the local planets wanted to negotiate a trade agreement and learn more about Starfleet. This was Janeway's first priority. She had to learn all she could about different cultures. It also helped that the X-Dylithium crystal was in an asteroid belt in there space. So the aliens were on their way to the ship for a diplomatic dinner, so to say. Janeway knew that this would be interesting. From what she was told the HonD'Kars were a lively people. They had a habit of drinking in excess, that is why Janeway decided to hold the little party in Cargo Bay 5 instead of the Dining Room. She had Neelix spruce it up for the guests.
"He really did a wonderful job," she thought to herself as she stood in the room, making a last minute check of everything.
"Captain," said Harry's voice over the comm., " Our guests are ready to beam aboard, please report to Transporter room 1."
"I'm on my way," she said.