Disclaimer: I own nothing of Star Trek or its subsidiaries. I do not own any of its characters, and only have control over the story itself. Any similarities to people living or dead is so almost impossible to calculate (I making this story up) that I take no responsibility. Apart from that, enjoy!
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Seven awoke with a start. She was sat up in bed, a data padd by her side with the warp schematics she had been asked to look over by Starfleet Command still evident on its shining, black backed screen, with a pillow propped up behind her. She could feel the sweat all over her body, sticking her blue nightdress to her skin. As she looked around the room, she began to feel calmer as her senses returned to normal. Beside her lay her lover, who still breathed heavily in his sleep and for this Seven was thankful, she really didn't want to have to explain her dream to him again. She paused briefly thinking. It was the same dream she had been having almost every night for the past eight months.
Since Voyager had returned to Earth from the Delta quadrant she had felt at peace with herself and her past to an extent that she would never have thought possible. Not at first of course, those first tumultuous weeks had been anything but peaceful. Continuous briefings with Starfleet Command, not to mention the endless medical examinations Starfleet Medical had forced upon her. They had said that it was so that they could 'understand her physiology better for future examinations'. It was all a façade really, she was human after all; they just wanted to know how the Borg implants that still operated within her body continued to function without a link to the Collective, especially since the reports from Voyager's crew had said that the Borg had been completely destroyed through the destruction of the Queen and the Borg central hub. She felt herself begin to perspire again as she thought back to those examinations. Though none of them were painful, they were not at all gratifying or enjoyable, but at least she had had her friends, and her newly reintroduced family, around her.
Again she looked towards the sleeping form lying to her right and allowed herself a small smile. Slowly, and with hardly making the soft mattress beneath her move, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up, placing the padd onto the small bedside table next to her. She was glad that she had finally been talked into sleeping in a normal bed rather than having to regenerate alone in her 'alcove', especially as she could share the time with Chakotay and explore her 'human nature', as the Doctor had so eloquently put it. Almost silently, so as not to wake him, she slipped around the edge of the bed to the door, which quietly 'hissed' open as she approached. Stepping through it she moved into the main living room of the apartment which, through three large windows almost the same height as the room itself, showed a brilliant view of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. She checked the time; it was still only 0600 in the morning and the rays of the slowly rising sun reflected beautifully off of the Bridges finish, whilst the first early morning 'commuters' began to shuttle into Starfleet Command. She sighed and moved towards a small desk at the far side of the room by the replicator, which was surrounded by a small, two-seater couch and two easy chairs. She slowly lowered herself into one of the chairs, she still wasn't entirely used to the softness of the cushions beneath her but had been told that in time she would find it relaxing and, pressing a button on the console built into the desk, activated a monitor which rose out from it. After a few quick, typed commands she waited for the screen to show the image of the individual she wanted to speak to. Within a few seconds the screen became bright as an image appeared before her.
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," said a cheery voice through the speakers. Looking at the monitor Seven couldn't help but smile at the visage of Voyagers former Chief Medical Officer who was sat wearing what appeared to be a long blue and white striped robe and a long blue hat with a white bobble on the end.
"Please tell me you didn't dress up just to talk to me," she said, unable to hide the slight smile at the corner of her lips.
"Seven, how wonderful to talk to you" beamed the Doctor. "Glad to see that you're still working on that sense of humour of yours. Now, what seems to be the trouble or are you just wanting to talk to someone with stirring conversation to start your day?" Seven looked at the Doctors jovial face and wondered whether she should be telling him what she was about to say, but then he had told her to keep him informed, something she hadn't done for a while. Her features hardened slightly before she began, her voice slightly stilted.
"Do you remember the dreams I spoke to you about a few weeks ago?"
"The ones where you started having naughty thoughts about Commander Chakotay and…"
"No" she snapped. The Doctor looked into her eyes, as best he could through the monitor screen.
"No. I didn't really think it would be" he sighed. His face changed from that of just an interested friend to a much more professional demeanour, which was sadly lost due to his bobble hat which continued to dangle down the left side of his head. "Are these dreams causing you much trouble? Any physical pain?"
"No" she answered again. The Doctor continued to look up at her concerned.
"Was this dream any different from those which you previously talked to me about?" he asked.
"No" she answered, a little to quickly. The Doctor just stared at her, waiting for her to add more. After about thirty seconds she sighed, and slowly added, "There was…it seemed more real"
"Anything else?" he pushed.
"There was an individual advancing toward me"
"Did you recognise them?"
"No," she paused, considering, "and yet, there was something…familiar about him"
"Seven" began the Doctor, his tone now one of the consummate professional. "Have you informed anyone at Starfleet Medical about these dreams, or perhaps any other doctor or counsellor who could…"
"No" she answered again. "And I would prefer it if you didn't either" she added, perhaps a little to forcefully.
"Of course not" replied the Doctor, sounding slightly wounded that she would even consider he would break her confidence. "But perhaps you would at least allow me to conduct a scan of your cortical node, to at least check that it isn't detecting anything unusual or otherwise hindering you" Seven sighed.
"Very well, but it will have to be after 1800 hours I'm…busy until then"
"Alright then, 1800 hours, my lab" the Doctor agreed. "Oh and Seven, say hello to your Aunt Irene for me" he smiled warmly before deactivating the comm unit. Seven sighed, it would have been foolish to think that the Doctor didn't know that she was going to see her family today and that was why she was busy, she had probably mentioned it to him without thinking last time they had talked, but though she was happy with her family, she still tried to keep family and friends as separate as she could. She sighed again, resigned to the fact that eventually both would meet for more than just a 'welcome home' party. She deactivated the console and stood up. With one last look out of the window she headed back toward the bedroom and the shower.
The Doctor examined the specimen in front of him. On a large desk, within a clear container, was what looked like a rather large ant standing on the rear two of its six legs, its antennae moving around the edge of the container searching for a way out. The Doctor inputted a few notes onto the padd he was holding, whilst continuing to hum to himself before a chime at the door interrupted him. Turning his head towards the door he said cheerfully,
"Come in" A moment later the doors slid open to reveal Seven in a dark grey V-neck top and light blue trousers, her long blonde hair falling around her shoulders. Chakotay obviously had something to do with the way she was dressed today, the Doctor thought to himself. "Ah Seven, right on time as usual. Please come in," the Doctor smiled, gesturing for her to come into the room and pointed towards a glass-encased office near the door. As she entered he turned back toward the specimen and hit a small control on the console within the desk, the light around the container going out and plunging the room into semi-darkness before he moved toward the office himself. "Sorry about the lack of illumination" he said apologetically, "but most of the test subjects don't react well to bright lights" Seven examined the room through the glass of the office wall and asked,
"What exactly are the 'subjects' here for?"
"I'm working on a way of repairing the synaptic pathways within the brain using a variation of the technique we used on Iko" he replied happily.
"And the insects?"
"They're 'specially bred with similar synaptic responses as humans," he answered, his face beaming with enthusiasm. "If I'm right we may be able to repair many degenerative brain conditions or even prevent them in the first place. If you're interested I'm sure I could get you a copy of my work for you to read over…"
"Perhaps another time" she interrupted.
"Yes, well, perhaps" he replied, sounding slightly dejected. "But any way, I'm forgetting my manners, please, sit-down" he said, motioning Seven towards a chair before moving himself behind his desk and settling himself down into a large swivel chair, placing his padd onto the desk in front of him. "Now, what was the problem again?" he asked kindly. Seven shuffled slightly uncomfortably.
"The dreams I've been having recently…"
"Ah yes" interrupted the Doctor. He quickly got up again and, picking up a tricorder from the edge of his desk, proceeded to scan Seven. "Hmmm" he muttered. "Someone hasn't taken this weeks injection yet have they?"
"The injection isn't required until tomorrow" she informed him.
"Still, as you're not having to use your alcove you have to take the injections in order to provide the nanoprobes with their required energy outputs in order to maintain your Borg implants" he said, moving toward a stack of shelves and removing a hypospray. "I don't think it'll hurt if we do this a day early" he continued as he inputted the dosage into the hypospray and pressed it against Seven's neck with a hiss. He then placed the hypo onto the desk and continued to scan her. "Your cortical stimulator seems to be unusually active" he inputted something into the tricorder then looked at the former Borg sat before him. "Have you been suffering any headaches? Are you under any form of heightened stress?"
"No" answered Seven bluntly, not looking up at the Doctor.
"Hmmm" the Doctor muttered, he didn't entirely believe that Seven was telling him everything. "Tell me more about these dreams"
"What would you like to know?" she replied, finally looking up at him as he returned to his seat.
"What exactly do you see? How do they make you feel? Anything that you haven't already told me that might help to explain these readings" he said, pointing towards the closed tricorder that now sat on the desk between them. Seven paused, thinking the Doctor assumed. Her face looked as stoic as ever, but there was just something in her responses that made him think that, maybe, she was hiding something. Before she was able to reply though a chirping sound came form the monitor behind him. Apologising he turned and activated the comm unit to show an image of a women, in a Starfleet uniform with a blue collar (medical the Doctor surmised), sat behind a large desk, a padd in hand.
"Doctor…" began the women, searching the padd for his name. The Doctor smiled, he had considered giving himself a name after he returned to Earth but decided that after almost eight years without one it was probably to late for his friends to stop calling him Doctor, not only that but he was quite used to it now.
"Just Doctor I'm afraid" he informed the woman, smiling.
"Of course" said the women. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but is Annika Hansen with you?" The Doctor tilted his head to one side and then answered,
"One moment" He turned to face Seven, a perplexed look on his face. "It's for you," he said motioning towards the monitor. Seven looked up at the Doctor, the same look of confusion in her eyes, then got up out of her chair and moved towards the monitor.
"Can I have a moment?" she asked.
"Yes, sorry" answered the Doctor and, picking up his padd from the desk, moved outside the confines of his office. Pretending to read the padd he tried to keep an eye on Seven, if only just to try and work out what the women on the monitor wanted. After a few minutes the screen went blank. Without looking at the Doctor, Seven turned and strode toward the exit. "Seven?" asked the Doctor, "what's wrong?" he pushed. Seven ignored him and marched passed as the doors slid open to allow her exit. "Seven, what's…" the Doctor started again, but the door closed before him. "Wrong?"
Chakotay sat in an armchair in his apartment. Before him he had a mug of Andorian ale, and he was happily enthralled in reading a novel about the 22nd century space pioneers. Most of it was fictional, but still, it was quite exciting. Unlike many people, he was able to relate quite well with the characters in the novel as his own experience in the Delta quadrant had introduced him to many new species for the first time without being able to rely on anyone else but his shipmates. It was also very rare that he got chance to just sit and read peacefully as he had been asked by Starfleet Academy to teach a class on Delta quadrant species. Why they had chosen him he wasn't quite sure, there must have been people better qualified to teach a class, but he had a feeling that Admiral Janeway had had a part to play in it. Well at least he had been able to keep his rank of Commander. He reached out to pick up his mug when he was interrupted by a chirping coming from the desk before him. Putting his novel down he pressed a button on the small console imbedded in the desk to accept the call, a small screen rising from it. Not recognising the woman sat before him he said,
"Hello?"
"Mr. Chakotay?" came the woman's response. As Chakotay looked at her he noticed she was wearing what looked to be a Starfleet sciences, or medical uniform.
"Yes" he answered.
"Sorry to bother you, but is Annika Hansen with you" Chakotay stared at the woman, a quizzical look in his eye.
"Not at the moment, she's visiting a friend. Can I take a message?" The woman on the screen sighed.
"I'm afraid not, it's very important I speak to her. Can you tell me her whereabouts?"
"She's visiting a friend, the Doctor, in the Experimental Research wing of Starfleet Medical. Can I ask what this is about?"
"I'm afraid this is a family matter. Thank you for your assistance" The woman finished curtly. The screen went blank as she cut the transmission. Chakotay paused for a minute thinking. The woman would no doubt be communicating with Seven at this moment, so it would be a waste of time trying to get through to her at this minute.
She had said it was a family matter, what could have happened? She had only left her Aunt about 2 hours ago, could something have happened to her in that time?
He checked the time. He had waited a few minutes, long enough. He reactivated the comm unit to get in touch with the Doctor; Seven wasn't carrying a communicator with her. A moment later the Doctor's face appeared on the screen, and Chakotay could see that he looked almost as confused as he was.
"Doctor, is Seven there?" he asked quickly, before the Doctor could say anything.
"No. She just left a moment ago. Do you know what's going on? She didn't look very happy"
"I'm not entirely sure. A woman called here saying that she needed to talk to Seven and that it was a family matter. Are you sure Seven didn't say anything to you?" he pushed, starting to feel quite agitated.
"Sadly not" the Doctor said, leaning forward in his chair and beginning to push buttons outside of the radius of the view screen. "I'm trying to trace where the call came from" he informed Chakotay. "Ah, here we go" Chakotay watched as the Doctors face fell. "If I were you I would leave immediately. The call came from the hospital wing of Starfleet Command. I don't know what kind of a family problem would require Seven to go there, but I would think that your support might be needed. I'll meet you there as soon as I can" As soon as the Doctor finished talking, the screen went dead. Chakotay jumped out of his seat and charged towards the door, his mug falling to the floor, spilling its contents.
Seven was lead down the corridor into a single room by a young nurse, who looked like she had only recently graduated from medical school. In the bed before her she could see her Aunt Irene lying on her back, monitoring devices attached to her temples. Above the bed a large screen was showing her Aunts vital signs, thankfully they seemed to be steady for the moment. She turned to the nurse.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"She collapsed whilst she was out in the main shopping district, and hit her head against a nearby post. As the nearest hospital equipped to deal properly with head trauma she was brought in here. She has been unconscious ever since. She seems to have suffered from some form of congenital defect within the brain, which led to a haemorrhage of some kind. Why it happened now and not been detected before, we don't know. Other than the fact that it's occurred, we don't know what's wrong" the nurse admitted, her blue eyes looking up at Seven with compassion. Seven stared at her Aunt, her own face showing no signs of emotion. She turned to the nurse and, trying to keep her voice steady said,
"Would you mind giving me some time alone with her?" motioning toward the bed. The nurse smiled kindly at Seven.
"Of course" she said, tuning to leave. "I'll be down the corridor if you need me" Seven watched as the young nurse walked out of the room, her short auburn hair swinging lightly behind her. Seven turned back to her Aunt, a mixture of emotions filling her. Only a few hours ago she had been with her and there had been no problems. Actually, her Aunt had seemed in great spirits. She was going to New Zealand in a week to spend time with some friends, who were as much like her family as Seven was. She stepped towards the bed and slowly placed her hand around her Aunts. The slow beating of the instruments the only sound she could hear as it relayed the sound of her Aunts heartbeat. She could feel tears welling up into her eyes, a feeling she hadn't felt very often. It was at times like these she wished she had never tried to allow her human emotions to surface again, wished she could stay aloof from her feelings. She looked down at her Aunts chest as it rose and fell slowly, listened to the beating of her heart and the sound of breathing. She stopped, the sound of breathing? It wasn't coming from her Aunt, whose breathing was extremely shallow, not life threateningly so, but so quiet she couldn't hear it. The breathing continued. It sounded almost like a mechanical lung was assisting whomever it was she could hear, its rhythmic sound extremely familiar. She looked up from her Aunt towards the windows that looked out over the grounds of Starfleet Command and her heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be. Before her she could see what she had only seen in her nightmares for the past eight months, but this was real, looking at her. She tried to scream as it raised its right arm, fitted with what looked to be a large syringe-like object at the end of it, a flickering silver light blinked at its tip, but no sound escaped her mouth. She tried to move away, but her Aunts hand seemed to now be holding her in a vice-like grip, rather than her holding her Aunt. The humanoid moved a step toward her, its mechanically assisted joints whirring as it stretched its muscles; its pale face stared at her with dead, surgically enhanced eyes. Then the voice, voices, from her nightmare rang out again.
"Seven of Nine"
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A/N: Ok, lets clarify some stuff. This story is based about 9 months after Voyager has returned home (yes I know it says 8 months at the top, but that's only how long she's been having the dream!) Seven is still called Seven by her friends from Voyager, but family etc refer to her as Annika as it is her name. If you don't like how human she seems, well unlucky for you. I figured she would be acting more human after almost a year on Earth (it would make more of a difference than just being on Voyager!) In case you haven't realised, I'm British hence trousers. If you don't know what trousers are, they're what Americans call pants (but that's something different again)
Hopefully you enjoyed this, there will be more, and please leave a review! Cheers!
