Disclaimer: The characters of Voyager are incarnations of the writers, actors, and
producers of Star Trek and Paramount, please don't sue.
Authors Note: Sorry it took so long to get this little part out, it leads into a longer and
more complex story that I am working on. Enjoy!
"Can you believe that? I didn't know there was anyone capable of doing
something that… cruel," B'Elanna said to Tom and Harry as she finished telling them the
story about Finnegan's ill-fated evening.
"Not exactly a perfect date," he said.
Tom snorted out a laugh, " Let's face it, perfect dates don't seem to be Seven's
specialty."
B'Elanna continued, " Grant it, Seven's arrogance can be irritating, I'll be the first
one to admit that she isn't easy to get along with, but going to all that trouble for spite.
Seven doesn't deserve that. Poor Dempsey, he was pretty upset," she stopped and smiled
deviously.
"What?" Tom asked, knowing perfectly well what that look meant.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking oh how much happier he will be when he finds
out that Ensign Brooks is going to be scrubbing the plasma manifolds for the next three
weeks," she laughed.
Tom smiled, " It's nice to see you be so defensive of your friends."
B'Elanna gave him a confused look, " I guess I am a little protective of Dempsey.
He's only been here 4 months and he already helped to scrape 5 years off out trip. Now
the crew is targeting him with random acts of cruelty."
Tom smile grew even wider, " So you're not looking out for Seven at all?"
B'Elanna finally realized where he was going, she smirked, and "Maybe I am
being slightly protective of Seven. After all, if she's upset she isn't going to be much help
with the warp core diagnostic tomorrow. It needs to be done before we get to the nebula."
"Sure," Tom said unbelievingly.
"That's the only reason, whatever," teased Harry.
B'Elanna's opinion of Seven was no secret when she first joined the crew. Yet
over time, the surly chief engineer had grown to appreciate Seven's skill and to respect
her as a crewmate. She also had begun to realize that they had a lot more in common then
she previously believed.
"I am just a little worried about her," she said quietly and looked up at the now
opening mess hall doors, her face brightened, " Or maybe not."
Tom and Harry, as well as the rest of the people in the mess hall, turned and
watched as Dempsey and Seven walked into the room, arm in arm. Fortunately for the
couple, the mess hall was almost empty. The walked over to a small table and Finnegan
pulled out Seven's chair for her. Harry couldn't help but chuckle as Dempsey pushed the
chair in for her. She was still awkward with the notion of sitting down.
Before Harry, or anyone else at his table could comment on the last 10 seconds,
Neelix was rushing over to the newly occupied table to get their orders.
"Hmm. I guess I'll just have some of that Andorian Lasagna, if there is any left,"
Finnegan said to a smiling Neelix, who was looking eager to please.
"Good choice Mr. Finnegan," Neelix said, " And what would you like Seven?"
"I shall have the same," she replied.
"Two Andorian lasagnas coming right up," he said as he scampered away to the
kitchen.
Finnegan glanced over at Seven," No nutritional supplement?"
Seven returned the glance, " Tonight I am … trying something new," she said
almost coyly.
At that, Finnegan raised an eyebrow, " Well it's a delicious dish, I don't think
you'll be disappointed."
"Nor do I," she replied.
He grinned, "I'm going to go the replicator and grab a drink, can I get you
something?"
"A glass of water would be acceptable," she said.
He nodded and bounded over to the replicator. He passed B'Elanna, Tom, and
Harry and shot the chief engineer a grin, which she returned.
" Well I guess everything worked out for the best," Tom said as Finnegan passed
them on his way back to his table.
"It would seem so," responded Harry.
B'Elanna rose, " Ok boys, I think that I am going to call it a night."
Tom rose as well, " I'll walk back with you," he said.
Harry frowned, " You guys sure you don't want to help me with my report on this
nebula we are approaching?"
"As much fun as that does sound, I think we'll have more fun in our quarters,"
Tom joked as he pushed in his chair.
"Thanks a lot," Harry said, but Tom was already out the door.
"Why are you so happy?" Tom said to B'Elanna as they stood in the turbolift on
its way to deck 8.
"I'm not happy, what makes you think that I'm happy?" she responded.
Tom grinned. He found it amusing when B'Elanna tried to lie to him, " I don't
know, maybe it's the ear to ear smile you've been wearing since we left the mess hall. Is
Harry really that bad of company?"
"No," B'Elanna chuckled. " I guess I'm just happy to see that things worked out
with Dempsey and Seven.
Tom paused for a second, slightly confused, " I didn't realize that you were such a
romantic, must be all those Klingon romance novels."
B'Elanna playfully punched his arm;" It's just nice to see a couple in the early
stages. You know, when everything is new and exciting."
Tom's brow furrowed, "Are you implying that I don't give you enough
excitement?"
B'Elanna grinned and slowly pulled Tom closer to her, " Never."
Tom put his arms around her and pulled them even closer, gently kissing her
mouth. Before their little foray could go any further, the turbolift halted and its doors
opened to their deck. They both stepped out of each other's arms and proceeded to their
quarters.
"It's also nice to see a pair of people just as mismatched as you and I work things
out, and see how worth while it is," she said outside of their door.
"Amen to that," Tom replied as they walked inside.
" So, Mrs. Paris, I guess with all the days excitement, tonight is going to have to
be pretty impressive to top it. I hope your boring old man can manage."
B'Elanna gave him one of her more provocative smirks, " I guess he'll just have
to try his best."
The time passed by quickly, which surprised Seven. She had heard many of the
humans on the crew say 'Time flies when you're having fun', but never truly put much
thought into the comment until she now noticed it. In the past two hours Finnegan and
her had exchanged a large amount of relevant information about their pasts and interests.
Seven has told him several stories about her brief childhood, stories that she had
told few people. She told vague tales of her time in the Collective. Most of her stories
were of her experiences on Voyager.
"So you completely disregarded the Captains wishes and beamed the 8472 and the
Hirogen hunter back to the Hirogen ship?" he asked after she retold of one of her earlier
adventures on the ship.
"Yes," she stated.
Finnegan shook his head in amazement, "She must have been furious."
"She was less then pleased," Seven responded with a mastery of understatement.
She paused for a moment and looked at Dempsey, " Mr. Finnegan, I have told you a great
deal about myself, yet I have yet to hear any stories about your past."
Finnegan sat back, " Me, oh, I don't really have anything to tell," he lied, he was
far more interested in what Seven had to say.
Seven simply raised her eyebrow.
Finnegan smiled and his resolve crumbled, he just couldn't resist that look, " All
right, but only if you stop calling me Mr. Finnegan, at least why we are off duty."
Seven let slip a slight smile, people we always so insistent that you called them by
their first name as a sign of closeness, just another strange custom she had to get used to,
"Very well, proceed."
Finnegan nodded and went into thought for a moment of what tail he would
recount. His life had been far from boring, he had to admit, but he couldn't think of a
place to begin.
"Where should I start?" he asked.
Seven cocked her head in thought, " I commenced with the beginning; it is a
logical place to start."
"Ok then," he took a deep breath. The story of his past was one he didn't want to
tell. It was a series of periods of security ending with the abrupt removal of that security.
Yet Seven had been rather forthcoming with her past, and he felt that he had to be as
well.
"I guess my story gets interesting when I got into Starfleet Academy," he said.
"Had you always wanted to go there?" she asked.
"When I was 5, after the modifications, I was about a thousand times more
curious. I would always look up at the stars, at all the darkness that was up there, and
wonder what was in that darkness. I know, it's a Starfleet cliché, but it's the truth. I just
always wanted to Captain a starship. I wanted to be Archer or Kirk."
"Starfleet was also the home of the best and the brightest. It was one thing to
excel at my school, but to excel at Starfleet, that really meant something," he said.
"What was your experience at the Academy? It is an experience that most of this
crew shares and I am curious about it," she said.
"The Academy was great. Classes were interesting, and given my advantage I was
able to have quite an active social life. It was an enormous growth experience. Everything
was great until I got discovered," he said.
"How did that happen?"
"I was getting a health exam for my new position. I was to be Chief Science
officer aboard an Akira class ship. The ships doctor noticed something strange in my base
pair structures. I didn't believe it myself till I saw it with my own eyes."
Seven gazed at him sympathetically, "You do not have to continue with this part
of the story. Tell me about your experiences in the Delta quadrant. What species have
you encountered, what anomalies have you seen?"
Finnegan smiled, glad at Seven's discretion, "Hmm. I've meet the Rublatons, the
Benzoates, the Vidians…"
Seven interrupted, " The Vidians? Voyager ran into them several times before I
came aboard. From what I understand they caused a great deal of trouble for the crew."
"I can believe it, they caused me quite a deal of trouble as well. I had to hide in
the creator of a moon for 3 weeks to avoid their detection. Thoroughly unpleasant, but I
figure it's better them having them harvest my organs," he joked.
"Any other taxing encounters you would like to share?" she queried.
"To many to get into at this late an hour," he replied, yawning slightly.
"I failed to realize what time it was," she said, acknowledging her internal
chronometer's reading of 03:10:47, "Perhaps now I will take you up on your offer to
escort me to Cargo Bay 2."
Finnegan stood up, "My pleasure."
Since it was 3 in the morning the hallways were mostly empty, and Seven felt a
great deal more relaxed and at ease with the lack of observation from her colleagues. In
fact, she hadn't felt a bit of anxiety or tension until she reached the door to Cargo Bay 2.
An intense awkwardness pervaded the hallway as the two crewmen stood next to
each other in front of the entrance for a few silent seconds.
"Goodnight Seven, I'm sorry the night didn't turn out the way you might have
hoped," Finnegan said, somewhat sheepishly.
Seven turned her head to the side slightly, as a pleasant realization dawned, "On
the contrary. Tonight I learned a great deal. It was encouraging to know that you respect
me, and I gained knowledge about you… a subject that I seem to have an increasing
interest in," she smiled.
Finnegan smiled back. They made eye contact, and inch-by-inch they drew their
heads closer to each other. He gently cradled her face. They were inches apart,
centimeters now, Seven could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips.
RED ALERT! RED ALERT! ALL HANDS, BATTLESTATIONS! Janeway's
voice echoed through the hallway, causing Finnegan and Seven to freeze where they
stood. Janeway sounded grumpy, clearly a woman ripped out a good sleep.
"We'd better get going," Finnegan said.
Seven nodded, somewhat annoyed that she had yet again been interrupted at a most
inopportune time.
producers of Star Trek and Paramount, please don't sue.
Authors Note: Sorry it took so long to get this little part out, it leads into a longer and
more complex story that I am working on. Enjoy!
"Can you believe that? I didn't know there was anyone capable of doing
something that… cruel," B'Elanna said to Tom and Harry as she finished telling them the
story about Finnegan's ill-fated evening.
"Not exactly a perfect date," he said.
Tom snorted out a laugh, " Let's face it, perfect dates don't seem to be Seven's
specialty."
B'Elanna continued, " Grant it, Seven's arrogance can be irritating, I'll be the first
one to admit that she isn't easy to get along with, but going to all that trouble for spite.
Seven doesn't deserve that. Poor Dempsey, he was pretty upset," she stopped and smiled
deviously.
"What?" Tom asked, knowing perfectly well what that look meant.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking oh how much happier he will be when he finds
out that Ensign Brooks is going to be scrubbing the plasma manifolds for the next three
weeks," she laughed.
Tom smiled, " It's nice to see you be so defensive of your friends."
B'Elanna gave him a confused look, " I guess I am a little protective of Dempsey.
He's only been here 4 months and he already helped to scrape 5 years off out trip. Now
the crew is targeting him with random acts of cruelty."
Tom smile grew even wider, " So you're not looking out for Seven at all?"
B'Elanna finally realized where he was going, she smirked, and "Maybe I am
being slightly protective of Seven. After all, if she's upset she isn't going to be much help
with the warp core diagnostic tomorrow. It needs to be done before we get to the nebula."
"Sure," Tom said unbelievingly.
"That's the only reason, whatever," teased Harry.
B'Elanna's opinion of Seven was no secret when she first joined the crew. Yet
over time, the surly chief engineer had grown to appreciate Seven's skill and to respect
her as a crewmate. She also had begun to realize that they had a lot more in common then
she previously believed.
"I am just a little worried about her," she said quietly and looked up at the now
opening mess hall doors, her face brightened, " Or maybe not."
Tom and Harry, as well as the rest of the people in the mess hall, turned and
watched as Dempsey and Seven walked into the room, arm in arm. Fortunately for the
couple, the mess hall was almost empty. The walked over to a small table and Finnegan
pulled out Seven's chair for her. Harry couldn't help but chuckle as Dempsey pushed the
chair in for her. She was still awkward with the notion of sitting down.
Before Harry, or anyone else at his table could comment on the last 10 seconds,
Neelix was rushing over to the newly occupied table to get their orders.
"Hmm. I guess I'll just have some of that Andorian Lasagna, if there is any left,"
Finnegan said to a smiling Neelix, who was looking eager to please.
"Good choice Mr. Finnegan," Neelix said, " And what would you like Seven?"
"I shall have the same," she replied.
"Two Andorian lasagnas coming right up," he said as he scampered away to the
kitchen.
Finnegan glanced over at Seven," No nutritional supplement?"
Seven returned the glance, " Tonight I am … trying something new," she said
almost coyly.
At that, Finnegan raised an eyebrow, " Well it's a delicious dish, I don't think
you'll be disappointed."
"Nor do I," she replied.
He grinned, "I'm going to go the replicator and grab a drink, can I get you
something?"
"A glass of water would be acceptable," she said.
He nodded and bounded over to the replicator. He passed B'Elanna, Tom, and
Harry and shot the chief engineer a grin, which she returned.
" Well I guess everything worked out for the best," Tom said as Finnegan passed
them on his way back to his table.
"It would seem so," responded Harry.
B'Elanna rose, " Ok boys, I think that I am going to call it a night."
Tom rose as well, " I'll walk back with you," he said.
Harry frowned, " You guys sure you don't want to help me with my report on this
nebula we are approaching?"
"As much fun as that does sound, I think we'll have more fun in our quarters,"
Tom joked as he pushed in his chair.
"Thanks a lot," Harry said, but Tom was already out the door.
"Why are you so happy?" Tom said to B'Elanna as they stood in the turbolift on
its way to deck 8.
"I'm not happy, what makes you think that I'm happy?" she responded.
Tom grinned. He found it amusing when B'Elanna tried to lie to him, " I don't
know, maybe it's the ear to ear smile you've been wearing since we left the mess hall. Is
Harry really that bad of company?"
"No," B'Elanna chuckled. " I guess I'm just happy to see that things worked out
with Dempsey and Seven.
Tom paused for a second, slightly confused, " I didn't realize that you were such a
romantic, must be all those Klingon romance novels."
B'Elanna playfully punched his arm;" It's just nice to see a couple in the early
stages. You know, when everything is new and exciting."
Tom's brow furrowed, "Are you implying that I don't give you enough
excitement?"
B'Elanna grinned and slowly pulled Tom closer to her, " Never."
Tom put his arms around her and pulled them even closer, gently kissing her
mouth. Before their little foray could go any further, the turbolift halted and its doors
opened to their deck. They both stepped out of each other's arms and proceeded to their
quarters.
"It's also nice to see a pair of people just as mismatched as you and I work things
out, and see how worth while it is," she said outside of their door.
"Amen to that," Tom replied as they walked inside.
" So, Mrs. Paris, I guess with all the days excitement, tonight is going to have to
be pretty impressive to top it. I hope your boring old man can manage."
B'Elanna gave him one of her more provocative smirks, " I guess he'll just have
to try his best."
The time passed by quickly, which surprised Seven. She had heard many of the
humans on the crew say 'Time flies when you're having fun', but never truly put much
thought into the comment until she now noticed it. In the past two hours Finnegan and
her had exchanged a large amount of relevant information about their pasts and interests.
Seven has told him several stories about her brief childhood, stories that she had
told few people. She told vague tales of her time in the Collective. Most of her stories
were of her experiences on Voyager.
"So you completely disregarded the Captains wishes and beamed the 8472 and the
Hirogen hunter back to the Hirogen ship?" he asked after she retold of one of her earlier
adventures on the ship.
"Yes," she stated.
Finnegan shook his head in amazement, "She must have been furious."
"She was less then pleased," Seven responded with a mastery of understatement.
She paused for a moment and looked at Dempsey, " Mr. Finnegan, I have told you a great
deal about myself, yet I have yet to hear any stories about your past."
Finnegan sat back, " Me, oh, I don't really have anything to tell," he lied, he was
far more interested in what Seven had to say.
Seven simply raised her eyebrow.
Finnegan smiled and his resolve crumbled, he just couldn't resist that look, " All
right, but only if you stop calling me Mr. Finnegan, at least why we are off duty."
Seven let slip a slight smile, people we always so insistent that you called them by
their first name as a sign of closeness, just another strange custom she had to get used to,
"Very well, proceed."
Finnegan nodded and went into thought for a moment of what tail he would
recount. His life had been far from boring, he had to admit, but he couldn't think of a
place to begin.
"Where should I start?" he asked.
Seven cocked her head in thought, " I commenced with the beginning; it is a
logical place to start."
"Ok then," he took a deep breath. The story of his past was one he didn't want to
tell. It was a series of periods of security ending with the abrupt removal of that security.
Yet Seven had been rather forthcoming with her past, and he felt that he had to be as
well.
"I guess my story gets interesting when I got into Starfleet Academy," he said.
"Had you always wanted to go there?" she asked.
"When I was 5, after the modifications, I was about a thousand times more
curious. I would always look up at the stars, at all the darkness that was up there, and
wonder what was in that darkness. I know, it's a Starfleet cliché, but it's the truth. I just
always wanted to Captain a starship. I wanted to be Archer or Kirk."
"Starfleet was also the home of the best and the brightest. It was one thing to
excel at my school, but to excel at Starfleet, that really meant something," he said.
"What was your experience at the Academy? It is an experience that most of this
crew shares and I am curious about it," she said.
"The Academy was great. Classes were interesting, and given my advantage I was
able to have quite an active social life. It was an enormous growth experience. Everything
was great until I got discovered," he said.
"How did that happen?"
"I was getting a health exam for my new position. I was to be Chief Science
officer aboard an Akira class ship. The ships doctor noticed something strange in my base
pair structures. I didn't believe it myself till I saw it with my own eyes."
Seven gazed at him sympathetically, "You do not have to continue with this part
of the story. Tell me about your experiences in the Delta quadrant. What species have
you encountered, what anomalies have you seen?"
Finnegan smiled, glad at Seven's discretion, "Hmm. I've meet the Rublatons, the
Benzoates, the Vidians…"
Seven interrupted, " The Vidians? Voyager ran into them several times before I
came aboard. From what I understand they caused a great deal of trouble for the crew."
"I can believe it, they caused me quite a deal of trouble as well. I had to hide in
the creator of a moon for 3 weeks to avoid their detection. Thoroughly unpleasant, but I
figure it's better them having them harvest my organs," he joked.
"Any other taxing encounters you would like to share?" she queried.
"To many to get into at this late an hour," he replied, yawning slightly.
"I failed to realize what time it was," she said, acknowledging her internal
chronometer's reading of 03:10:47, "Perhaps now I will take you up on your offer to
escort me to Cargo Bay 2."
Finnegan stood up, "My pleasure."
Since it was 3 in the morning the hallways were mostly empty, and Seven felt a
great deal more relaxed and at ease with the lack of observation from her colleagues. In
fact, she hadn't felt a bit of anxiety or tension until she reached the door to Cargo Bay 2.
An intense awkwardness pervaded the hallway as the two crewmen stood next to
each other in front of the entrance for a few silent seconds.
"Goodnight Seven, I'm sorry the night didn't turn out the way you might have
hoped," Finnegan said, somewhat sheepishly.
Seven turned her head to the side slightly, as a pleasant realization dawned, "On
the contrary. Tonight I learned a great deal. It was encouraging to know that you respect
me, and I gained knowledge about you… a subject that I seem to have an increasing
interest in," she smiled.
Finnegan smiled back. They made eye contact, and inch-by-inch they drew their
heads closer to each other. He gently cradled her face. They were inches apart,
centimeters now, Seven could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips.
RED ALERT! RED ALERT! ALL HANDS, BATTLESTATIONS! Janeway's
voice echoed through the hallway, causing Finnegan and Seven to freeze where they
stood. Janeway sounded grumpy, clearly a woman ripped out a good sleep.
"We'd better get going," Finnegan said.
Seven nodded, somewhat annoyed that she had yet again been interrupted at a most
inopportune time.