Summary:Seven of Nine is critically injured in a Jeffries tub explosion. Though physically healed, her nanoprobes have gone completely inert. Annika has no memories beyond being aboard the Raven with her parents. When it's clear she does not remember being assimilated, being severed, or anything else since then, it's "Caring Captain Kathryn Janeway" to the rescue. Slow build J/7 romance with some Hirogen, too.

Author's Note: I originally intended this to be a one-shot fulfilling a Trektober 2021 prompt for "amnesia." It didn't stay contained (and didn't get finished in October). I followed the idea all the way through to the end though, so now it's a Christmas present to the J7 fandom. ~ LZ

Thanks: to Rhapsody for beta reading.

Timeline: Set somewhere in mid-season 6.

Amnesia

"She's healed, physically." A balding man in a blue uniform spoke to an auburn-haired woman in a cranberry-red uniform. Although they weren't the same they reminded her of Starfleet. Daddy wasn't a fan of Starfleet, Annika recalled. Nor was Mommy.

The two Starfleet people seemed to be discussing something very intensely, standing across the room, and Annika rolled over on her side to focus. Abruptly their voices lowered. Clearly they didn't want her to overhear. What they didn't know was Annika could read lips; her parents' secretive behavior–often skirting something Starfleet had told them not to do–had taught her that skill at a young age.

The auburn-haired woman spoke again. "Then what's the issue, doctor?"

"She has stated her name is Annika."

The auburn-haired woman's reaction to that was to cover her mouth. Why would her name be a surprise to the woman? The woman apparently asked something else from behind her hand because the doctor spoke again. "She thought this was the Raven, her parents' ship."

At the mention of her parents, Annika looked around, but did not see them in the sickbay. Perhaps her parents' absence and her injuries were due to their research vessel the Raven being damaged and they'd been rescued by these Starfleet. Momma and Daddy wouldn't be happy about that.

Annika heard footsteps and refocused to see the doctor and the auburn-haired woman walking toward her.

"I see you're awake," the doctor said brightly.

"You knew I was, that's why you lowered your voice to talk about me." She blinked at hearing her own voice. It was deeper, raspier. She frowned and cupped her hand over her throat, but felt no bandages.

"You've suffered quite an injury," the doctor said.

Annika sat up. For the first time she realized how big she was, now looking slightly down at the two adults. "What happened to me?" She winced but forced herself to not react otherwise to her own unfamiliar voice.

"You were hurt during an attack on the ship," the auburn-haired woman said.

"Who are you?" Annika asked.

The woman blinked. There was a lot of surprise going around, Annika thought. But then the older woman smiled. It seemed a bit forced, but it did funny things to Annika's stomach. She wanted to smile back.

"I–I'm Kathryn Janeway, captain of USS Voyager."

"This is a Starfleet vessel. Are you interrogating my parents?"

"Um, no, but–" At a shake of the doctor's head, Captain Janeway cut herself off. "They're trusting us to take care of you."

"The doctor said I am healed."

"Yes." Annika felt herself compelled to meet the woman's blue eyes, finding the gray swirls in them captivating.

"I would like to see my parents."Janeway's eyes reflected pain and Annika wondered why.

Before she could ask, however, the doctor interjected, "Perhaps we should just get you settled in first." His voice sounded strangely too bright.

Annika turned and studied the doctor. "On the Raven?"

"I'm sorry, but your family's ship was destroyed," the captain said. Annika felt her hand resting in her lap being covered. She looked down to see the captain's hand laying on top of hers.

Looking up from their hands, she was caught by the blue gaze again. The touch was very familiar and this woman's smile made her feel safe, but she had no idea...

Frowning, she closed her fingers underneath the captain's, withdrawing. She put the other to her throbbing forehead. "I have memory loss," she concluded. With the statement, she accepted she was a grown up, and no longer six years old.

"Yes." She thought wryly that the doctor's voice finally held some of the gravity due the situation.


Captain Kathryn Janeway hesitated at the control panel to the guest quarters on Deck 2 next to her own. She and the Doctor had agreed that Sev—Annika would be disturbed by a return to her 'normal' quarters in Cargo Bay 2. Though that would have to happen if the Borg nanoprobes within the young woman's body 'awoke'. So far they had resisted the Doctor's efforts to reactivate them and he had resorted to conventional medical healing. For now, Sev—Annika was like any other human woman and needed sleep to recuperate.

Kathryn rubbed her head as the headache bloomed around her conflict about the former Borg drone's name. She'd worked in the beginning to get Seven to accept her birth name. In the two years since that fight though, she had become accustomed to referring to the former Borg using her chosen designation. Because Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix 01 was quite a mouthful for humans, the former Borg had agreed to shorten it to Seven.

The Doctor had agreed that Annika would need actual quarters. However, on Voyager there weren't many unclaimed. She tapped a few commands at the panel and entered the new occupant's name in the ship manifest: Annika Hansen.

While Annika seemed to only remember a life prior to her assimilation, she was currently behaving and talking like an adult, so Janeway planned to treat her as one while also trying to help her regain her memories.

Janeway recalled their decision to tell Annika her parents were not somewhere else on Voyager, but rather that the Raven had been destroyed and her parents were dead. The young woman had taken the report of her parents' deaths only to mean that she had lost them in the same event that injured her and caused her memory loss. Janeway was debating how to clarify when Annika had begun grieving her parents.

Standing now in Annika's new quarters, Janeway hugged herself, as she remembered holding the crying young woman earlier in sickbay. She stared at the ceiling and exhaled, tears tracking down her own cheeks once again. She'd felt so helpless. When she held the crying, raging young woman first severed from the Borg two years ago it hadn't felt anything like this.

When at last Annika had quieted, she had said her parents would want their bodies committed to space, in honor of the explorers that they were. Quickly, Janeway had agreed to arrange it. If a ceremony over a pair of empty caskets settled the young woman then she would wholeheartedly do it and ask at least the command crew to do the same. She had texted Tuvok a comm message to begin the process, explaining briefly the circumstances. He'd agreed to arrange it by that evening.

After fluffing a pillow on the utilitarian single bed, Kathryn left the newly assigned quarters to see Annika stepping out of the turbolift beside the Doctor. Used to the practical French twist her Astrometrics officer had customarily worn, Kathryn was struck silent by the beauty that was Annika with her hair down and pinned back only on one side. Her usually ice blue eyes were luminous and soft, and she wore a red jumper over a gray blouse, not her usual biosuit.

When she spotted Janeway, Annika smiled at her. Kathryn found her throat suddenly clogged and swallowed, then coughed to clear it. "Welcome to deck 2."

"This deck is usually reserved for officers quarters?"

"And VIP guests," Kathryn replied. "Though out here we don't have many."

"Your ship is researching the Delta quadrant, too?"

"It wasn't our original mission," Kathryn explained honestly, "but yes, we're exploring the quadrant."

"As the doctor and I walked, we discussed what I could contribute."

Kathryn glanced at the Doctor then returned her gaze to Annika. Biting her lip, she asked only, "What did you decide?"

"While I do not have any memory of how I was educated, I do seem to have a great deal of knowledge about astronomy and the physics of stars and other stellar phenomena."

And obviously the Doctor didn't show her any data files from Voyager. Got it.

"We do have an Astrometrics department," Kathryn replied. "But let's get you settled first. More rest may help your memory return."

"Thank you, doctor," Annika said, turning to smile at him.

The Doctor began to protest. "Captain–"

"I'll contact you if you're needed," Kathryn said. "I'll take things from here." She held out her hand and gestured for Annika to step into the quarters. The Doctor simply dematerialized to return to sickbay.

Annika blinked at the spot where he had stood. "Why would you use intraship transport?"

"The Doctor is a holographic projection," Kathryn replied. "Our original doctor was killed when we first arrived in the Delta quadrant."

"And Starfleet didn't make you turn back?"

"It's a little more complicated than that." Kathryn shook her head. "Come on, let's get you settled."

As Annika walked past her to enter the quarters, Kathryn wondered if the young woman would be devastated or relieved to regain the memories of her own time as well as Voyager's here in the Delta quadrant. Seven had suffered a bad reaction to a data overload from some Borg nodes and constructed several contradictory conspiracy theories trying to adapt. Her conclusions had put in her a shuttlecraft hurtling toward a pulsar to destroy herself, which had caused Kathryn to plead with her to trust her and come home. They'd made it out of the situation intact, but Kathryn had felt the barriers between captain and crewmate shatter as she looked up from the shuttle deck into Seven's frightened eyes.

Annika now, however, seemed to be having no adaptation issues. As far as she knew, she had never suffered assimilation by the Borg forcibly stripping away her individuality.

How incomplete were Annika's memories? She had to know who the Borg are; her parents had been studying them when The Raven was destroyed. "Have you remembered anything about your parents' work?"

"We headed into the Delta quadrant so they could study the Borg," Annika said, sitting down.

That answered that. Entranced to see Annika frown, Kathryn sat next to her.

"Were they the cause of the Raven's destruction?" Annika shook her head following her own words. "No, that is unlikely. I remember men in armor. Daddy called them drones. But…" She trailed off. "They were not aggressive. And Daddy was always very careful."

Annika's hand went to her forehead again, coming away quickly after touching her remaining implant over her left brow.

"It's...a brace." Though the Doctor had suggested it, Kathryn felt uncomfortable with the lie. "It's for healing."

Annika frowned as she now studied her left hand. "The Doctor said my hand also required this bracing."

Kathryn licked her lips, tasting sour on her tongue with the continued lie. "I know."

"Why do my memories stop at childhood?" Kathryn found herself struggling to form words as Annika's gaze captured hers. "I am clearly an adult."

Kathryn inhaled, resisting the impulse to openly move her gaze over Annika from head to toe. "Yes, you are." Resolutely she kept her gaze meeting Annika's.

Movement however drew her gaze down. Annika's left hand became a fist in her lap. Kathryn reached out and squeezed it, to offer reassurances. "Don't struggle to remember now," she suggested kindly.

"Are there Borg here?"

Had Annika recalled something about the attack on the Raven? In any case, Kathryn could answer confidently, "No. Rest here. I'll come back in a few hours and escort you to the mess hall for dinner."

"Don't go." Annika didn't release Kathryn's hand when she went to stand from the bed where they'd both sat.

The bed? Kathryn felt her cheeks heat. This was terribly inappropriate. "I sh—You should sleep."

"You know more about what happened to me," Annika said flatly. "I am not a child."

"I know. I know you're not. But you were injured."

Holding out her left hand with the Borg mesh, Annika said, "These are not from my recent injury."

Kathryn swallowed and sat back down. She took Annika's fingers and cupped them in her palm. "Did...do you remember getting these?"

Annika closed her eyes. After a moment, she winced and shook her head. "I do not." She opened her eyes. "Tell me truthfully." Kathryn swallowed. "How long have my parents been dead?"

Biting her lip and then the inside of her cheek, Kathryn debated. Annika's blue eyes, pleading with her, made her decision. "Twenty years."

Annika's eyes went wide and Kathryn was surprised to see her lower lip tremble, eyes gathering tears. "Have I been aboard Voyager for all that time?"

Kathryn shook her head. "You came…" She trailed off and tried again. "We met two years ago."
"Why did you agree to a burial service if you knew my parents were not here."

Kathryn felt her heart swell with affection. "Because if you wanted to mourn, I would absolutely give that to you."

Annika's expression was hard to read, wide-eyed still but curious and considering, but after a moment she dipped her head. "In twenty years certainly I have already done so?"

Kathryn bit her lip. How much to say?

She started to simply shake her head when Annika looked around and said, "These are not the quarters I was given before."

"No. The Doctor and I thought it better that you have these surroundings." She gestured around the space. "While you…" She trailed off.

"Until my memory returns?"

Kathryn nodded.

"What if it doesn't? What will I do?"

"You said yourself that you still know astrophysics, so you'll continue in Astrometrics. When you're healed."

"Why can I not stay in my original quarters?"

Kathryn tried to put her hand to her forehead only to find Annika still held them with her own. "We just don't know what harm that could do."

"Harm? From being in my personal space?"

"They are not...typical quarters."

"Perhaps being there will trigger my memories. More than this sterile space." Annika gestured around her.

Kathryn sighed. "They might be...uncomfortable," she suggested. "You need to rest," she tried again, this time successfully pulling her hands free from Annika's.

"And if I demand to see them?"

"I'll take you there. After dinner," she conceded. "Until then, stay here. Please. And rest."

Annika nodded.

Backing away from the young woman, Kathryn straightened her uniform, though she felt way more than rumpled. "I'll be back at 1800 hours."

Once back out in the corridor, with a heavy heart she sent a message to Tuvok to cancel the faux burial ceremony.


Annika looked around the quarters after the departure of Voyager's captain. She felt drained but also expectant, like something momentous was about to happen. She rubbed her forehead again, coming in contact with the metal on her face.

She knew without a doubt that staying here was not going to bring her memories back. Nothing was familiar. The captain had mentioned she had other quarters. "Computer, where was I located one ship's cycle ago?"

"Deck 6, Astrometrics."

Well, Annika thought, at least that much Captain Janeway had told her was true. But her workplace was not her quarters. Trying to think further back, she asked, "Computer, where was I...34 hours ago?"

"Deck 8, Cargo bay 2."

The ship's storage? "What was I doing there?" Annika muttered.

"Regeneration cycle initiated at 23:54 hours. ," the ship's computer replied.

"What does that mean?" Annika sat back, going through what memories she could salvage. Her father's voice slid through her mind…

"What are you doing awake, Annika?"

"Is he asleep, Daddy?"

"He's regenerating."

"What's regenerating?"

"Well"–he picked her up in his arms–"it's a lot like sleeping. The drones work hard for the Queen and when they need to rest or repair themselves, they regenerate."

Annika shook out of her memory and studied her hand again. Standing, she hurried into the en suite bathroom. She stared at her face, fingering the metal starburst in her cheek and the metal curved over her brow. Seeing herself in full like this, the clues slammed together, forcing her to gasp. "I...am Borg?"


The sector Voyager currently traversed was quiet. They cruised comfortably at warp 6. While it wasn't as fast as the ship could go, and they did want to get home sometime this millennium, traveling much faster for any sustained period of time would put too much wear and tear on the engines, and would quickly end their trip instead of speed it to its conclusion.

Kathryn Janeway thought about this and many other conundrums as she sat in her chair at the center of the bridge. Chakotay sat on her right and Tuvok stood at Tactical over her right shoulder. Harry worked diligently at the sensor station and Tom confidently handled the helm.

Looking over her shoulder though to the top of the horseshoe, she sighed. She missed Seven's presence at the auxiliary station.

"The Doctor says she's fine, except for the amnesia," Chakotay said.

Bringing her head down and around and lowering her chin, Kathryn narrowed her gaze at her first officer. "I'm aware."

"He still has no idea how the explosion disabled her nanoprobes, though."

"Thank you for that update, Commander."

"How did she settle into her new quarters?"

"She senses something is wrong. I had to promise I'd take her to her old 'quarters' after dinner."

"Maybe it will jar some memories loose." Chakotay sounded like he thought it was a good idea.

Trouble was, Janeway saw such a reintroduction only going very, very badly. The idea of causing Seven any trauma left her with a sour taste in her mouth. She's been through enough, Kathryn thought. There has to be a way to make it easier on her. "She really has no memory of her assimilation, Chakotay. She's aware she's an adult, but has no recollections past embarking to the Delta quadrant with her parents."

"Nothing at all?" He sounded skeptical.

"Not that she can put any context on, I think. I did have to tell her that her parents actually died 20 years ago. She had been under the impression they had just died in the same incident that injured her."

"What does she think happened the last 20 years?"

Kathryn shook her head. "I have no idea."

"So are you going to take her by the Cargo bay?"

She frowned, winced, then shrugged her shoulders. "What other choice do we have? She's struggling to put the pieces together on her own. I think that could end up–"

"Icheb to Captain Janeway."

Slapping her combadge, Janeway immediately answered, "Janeway here. What's going on, Icheb?"

"I found Sev...uh...Annika?" He sounded shaken. "She is in the cargo bay."

In the background, Kathryn heard the pneumatic doors moving. "Is she safe? Are you safe?" she demanded.

"She's..." The teenage boy's voice quavered uncharacteristically.

"Stay where you are. I'm on my way." Kathryn swallowed as she headed toward the rear turbolift. Her gaze caught Tuvok's. At his raised eyebrow, she nodded her head. After the security chief had logged off the station, he stepped into the turbolift beside her.

"Deck 8," Janeway ordered.. When the doors had closed, she looked at Tuvok. "Do you think she remembered something?" she asked.

"Or she went to find something to remember," Tuvok said. "Seven is a bright young woman and, given only partial information, she would undoubtedly desire to fill in the gaps by any means necessary."

Kathryn bit her lip and flexed her hands to release the tension building in her body. "She asked me point-blank why she wasn't in her usual quarters and I was evasive."

"The truth is always the wisest course of action." He didn't sound disapproving.

As the turbolift carried them toward Deck 8, Kathryn certainly hoped he was right.


Annika sat down on the step at the bottom of the alcove. She stared at her hands. What was she doing wrong? If she was Borg, she was supposed to stand in the alcove to regenerate, just like the drones her father had studied. That was the most efficient way to repair her injuries. And, she was certain, the process would repair her memories as well.

She had been surprised to find two operational alcoves. . The captain had said that there were no Borg on board, but she'd finally concluded it was some sort of "spare."

She stepped into each one, trying to engage the program. But the devices only responded with fweeps and doots, and an automated voice reported "no connection" repeatedly.

She sensed suddenly she was not alone. A young man entered the cargo bay. She'd thought, at first, that he was a Voyager crewmember entering to obtain ship's stores. But then he'd approached her. When she'd realized he had similar metal bits on his skin, she demanded he show her how to regenerate.

He'd pulled away from her and run out of the cargo bay.

Perhaps she shouldn't have grabbed him and dragged him toward the alcoves. But she felt desperate to understand what it was she could not remember.


Kathryn and Tuvok arrived outside Cargo Bay 2 and found Icheb pacing. "Are you all right?" she asked the young man again.

"Yes. I didn't know what else to do. She's not herself, Captain."

"We're aware."

Icheb looked at Tuvok. "What will you do?"

"I think we're just going to have to tell her the truth," Kathryn said. She cupped her hand around his upper arm and squeezed. "You should go back to Astrometrics."

"I believe Icheb should stay. His presence may be helpful," Tuvok said. "If we are going to be completely truthful with her. Knowing that there are others who have been separated from the Borg should be a source of comfort and information."

Icheb smiled; Janeway frowned but eventually she nodded. "All right," she dropped her hand. "Let's go."

Tuvok activated the doors and they entered the cargo bay.


Annika stumbled to her feet as the pneumatic doors opened. She felt fear and anger welling in her stomach as she identified Captain Kathryn Janeway standing in between the Borg boy who had entered earlier and a tall male. An unfamiliar voice in her head said, Vulcan, species 3259.

"No Borg? I am Borg!" She pounded her chest then stabbed her finger toward the boy. "He is Borg." She strode toward the captain.

Captain Janeway's eyes held hers, but she paused across the threshold and the Vulcan interposed himself between Annika and the captain.

Annika reached for him; he grasped her wrist and pushed it aside, but the action did not overset her. She sneered. "Vulcans are no match for Borg."

They wrestled; abruptly he had her in a tight hold, kneeling on the ground. "I am only attempting to stop you from doing something you will regret," he stated plainly, though Annika was pleased to hear he was winded.

"Annika." Kathryn's voice drew Annika's gaze up the dark black of the woman's uniform pants to the cranberry of her tunic and finally warm blue eyes were holding her. She felt her shoulders loosen. "You scared Icheb, and he asked me to help."

"Icheb?" she looked around.

"The boy. He's your friend," Kathryn said.

Icheb stepped forward and Annika winced at the sight of his implants. A flash appeared in her mind, incongruous with the sad look on the boy's face, of dulled expressions, twisting, whirring technology reaching for her.

She shrunk back. Icheb stepped back as well.

"He is Borg!" Annika frowned. "I...am Borg." She felt suddenly betrayed by her father. "He lied to me. Daddy lied. The Borg are not our friends." She felt her lower lip trembling and bit it. "They did this to us."

The blue eyes she met as her words faded had filled with tears. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry."

Annika bent forward, pressing her head to the floor as the Vulcan continued to hold her arms behind her back. She cried, stumbling over her revelation, "I do not remember my life because they took it from me."

A gentle hand cupped her cheek. Blinking away some of her tears, Annika turned her head.

"I know," Kathryn said.

Annika inhaled and exhaled, realizing only after she had done so several times that she was copying Voyager's captain. The corners of the other woman's lips gradually lifted.

Her shoulders hurt; she tried to roll them. "Tuvok, I think you can let Annika off the deck now."

The Vulcan Tuvok let go of Annika's right arm, the one without noticeable implants, and pulled her to her feet using her left arm. He did not, however, let her go. Annika swallowed, looking from him back to Kathryn Janeway. "I apologize for my behavior, Captain Janeway."

Kathryn smiled and rubbed Annika's upper right arm. "No harm done." After a moment where there seemed to be only Annika staring at Kathryn and Kathryn staring back, the captain said, "Since you've already visited the cargo bay, perhaps it's time we simply went to dinner."

"I would like to understand why it is I have Borg technology, but the...alcoves"–Annika gestured to them–"do not allow me to regenerate."

"The Doctor is working on that, but it seems your recent injuries rendered your nanoprobes–which are part of being Borg–inactive. The alcoves were reacting to that. They can only connect with active Borg technology."

Annika frowned. "How did...how was I injured?"

"We're not exactly sure. You were repairing a ruptured plasma conduit when another four exploded nearby and blew you through two walls." Kathryn's voice hitched and she paused, dropping her gaze and covering her mouth briefly. After a moment of Annika patiently waiting, the woman continued, "We don't know what set it off, or the others. B'Elanna is still working on the problem."

B'Elanna was a new name. Annika filed it away with other information, pieces the details together. "So, I was assimilated 20 years ago – with my parents, I would assume." Annika accepted Kathryn's nod. "I do recognize that I am only part-Borg… You removed much of the technology when I came aboard two years ago?"

Again Kathryn nodded. "The Doctor removed as much as possible, but some of it is necessary for you to live."

"And Icheb? Was he also unassimilated three years ago?"

"No." Kathryn looked at the boy, gesturing him forward. He came toward Annika still looking uncertain. "Icheb joined Voyager just a year ago."

"I would like to understand more." She turned her gaze on Icheb, then Tuvok, and finally returned to Kathryn.

"It'll be a bit of heavy dinner conversation, but I supposed we'll make do, as always." Kathryn's lips twitched and she stepped aside, gesturing for Annika to move forward. "Come on, I hear Neelix has made a passable stew tonight."

Annika kept her steps measured along the Voyager captain; Icheb and Tuvok walked close behind them, through the corridors and, surprisingly, back up to Deck 2.


Kathryn was drained by the time dinner was finished. Annika had been quick at piecing together the bits they gave her–answering her direct questions. She and Tuvok tried not to elaborate too much for fear of setting off another episode like in the cargo bay.

But the woman had finally warmed up to Icheb, promising that she would see him in Astrometrics the next day to have him teach her about their duties. He left their table when two men, whom she learned were Harry and Tom, invited them all to the holodeck for an "old fashioned movie."

After Icheb accepted, Annika shook her head. "I'm tired." Tuvok had declined the entertainment as he was supervising night shift from the bridge. That left Kathryn to walk Annika back to the quarters on deck 2.

"Here we are."

"Captain, thank you. I do not know everything you have done for me, but it is clear that it has been a great deal."

"You're welcome."