DISCLAIMER: It's Paramount's galaxy.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: C/7. AU where Chakotay and Seven remain mentally linked during "Scorpion – Part II" despite the Doctor's best efforts to disconnect them. Someone else helps.
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DISCONNECT
Stardate 51004.9
Chakotay was lying in a biobed. He reached up and touched the back of his neck. There was a sharp pain where the neurotransmitter had been, but the Doctor must have already removed it. The last thing he remembered… what was it the Doctor had said to him? He turned and saw the Doctor tending to someone on the bed beside him. It was Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. Or Annika, as he now knew from their recent connection. It had been an attempt to distract her, to disconnect her from the Hive Mind, and their plan had been successful. Most all of her Borg armor and implants were still in place with only the ocular extension above her left eye removed. Her eyes suddenly opened and she turned to face Chakotay. The Doctor stumbled back.
"What do you want?" she asked out loud, but in his mind Chakotay also felt her anger and confusion. A growing sense of wanting to flee. He sat up quickly.
"Doctor, what's going on?" Chakotay asked.
The Doctor turned to face Chakotay. "Your status remains unchanged Commander. The mental link between you and the Borg drone remains active," he said.
"Clarify Doctor," Annika stated, also sitting up. Chakotay wanted answers, and it was almost as if Annika had spoken for him. The Doctor stepped back and then looked between the two of them. Suddenly Annika looked down. "What have you done? The others. I can't hear the others. The voices are gone." She turned to Chakotay and added, "Only your voice remains."
"With the power surge, your link to the Collective was severed," the Doctor said, directing his answer to Annika. "I also physically removed the transceiver node in your spine so the link can't be re-established."
"Then why are we still connected?" Chakotay asked.
"I can't explain why your minds remain tethered. There must be a biological component in play, but so far, I can't isolate the cause."
A growing fear was continuing to well up within Chakotay, although he was unclear of the source. Danger and isolation. A memory of hiding under a console. Fear. He had an awareness now of the need to escape.
"Get out of our mind!" Annika shouted. She swung her legs off the biobed, and as she did, the Doctor moved further back and shimmered briefly as he passed through a force field surrounding the biobeds. Two security guards stationed by the Sickbay entrance drew their weapons and approached the force field.
"Calm down Annika," Chakotay soothed. Memories of a forest flashed through their minds. Contentment. Belonging. He slid off his biobed and stood beside her. Evidently, he was behind the Sickbay force field as well. "It's okay." We're okay.
Annika brushed up against the force field. "We are not Annika. We are Borg," she stated. "It's not okay. We are prisoners here Chakotay. You will return this drone to the Borg."
We're safe here. We just need time to adjust.
Time is irrelevant. Suddenly Annika and Chakotay both winced in pain. Annika touched one of the implants on the side of her face while Chakotay touched his face in a similar spot, but of course he was simply feeling her pain.
The Doctor moved closer, again looking back and forth between Annika and Chakotay, but then settled again on Annika. "Your human cells are starting to regenerate. That implant is being rejected by the tissue underneath. It's going to have to be removed."
"You will suppress the human immune system," Annika demanded.
"It's too late for that," the Doctor replied. "You won't survive without medical care. I was beginning the procedure when you became conscious. Let me sedate you and complete the process. I can help."
"We need nothing from you," Annika said, ignoring the Doctor. "We are Borg." She again touched the force field, her eyes scanning the perimeter of the area. "Computer, deactivate Sickbay force fields and the Emergency Medical Hologram, authorization Chakotay-Omicron-Two-Three." The force field glinted and then came down at the same time the Doctor disappeared with a confused expression on his face. Annika immediately moved towards the Sickbay door.
Chakotay knew exactly where they were going and what they planned to do, for of course he could hear her thoughts just as she could hear his. But not only that, he could access her memories as if they were his own. Sometimes separated, but sometimes the distinction between the two a blur. It is how she had been able to use his command authorization code. We don't have to do this!
"We are Borg! We must rejoin the Collective," Annika said out loud.
The two security guards pointed their weapons at both Annika and Chakotay. One of them touched his comm badge. "This is O'Donnell in Sickbay. The Borg drone has breached the force field! Commander Chakotay is with her." The other guard fired his phaser on stun. It impacted Annika's Borg armor and she stepped back, but it did not render her unconscious. She stepped forward again. A second phaser shot was absorbed by a Borg force field that formed a few centimeters from the armor.
Annika wait! We don't have to do this. We're safe here.
Annika glared back at him, but for a moment hesitated. Safety? Is that possible? His presence did calm her. She wavered, unsure what to do. In the quiet, they became aware of another consciousness. Someone else was in their minds observing them. The sound of the Sickbay doors swishing open reached their ears, and they turned to see the two guards back out into the corridor. We must go. Although both were unsure now of where. Annika moved towards the exit and Chakotay caught up with her. The two of them stepped out into the corridor together and turned in the direction of the shuttle bay. Just arriving and barring their way were Captain Janeway, Commander Tuvok and another security team.
"She used Commander Chakotay's authorization code," O'Donnell said to Janeway and Tuvok. "The Doctor said they are still linked."
Chakotay put up his hands. "It's okay. We're just frightened." Annika started to move towards the group and Chakotay followed. The Voyager officers backed away keeping a gap between them.
Captain Janeway had a pained look on her face. "What's going on Commander?"
"We need to escape," Chakotay answered, but not quite what he had intended to say. It was more from Annika.
"Fear," Annika added.
"Take them down," Janeway ordered. Several phaser shots were fired towards Annika and Chakotay. Borg force fields materialized in front of both of them and absorbed the energy. Janeway's eyes opened wider and Annika and Chakotay quickened their pace. They entered a junction between corridors and after Janeway and the rest passed through, another force field shot up blocking their way. Annika brushed up against the field, as if testing it. Janeway looked one last time at Chakotay, then turned to Tuvok. "Do it." Tuvok pressed something that he had been holding in his hand. Suddenly there was a hissing of gas within the junction. Something was coming in from the overhead vents. A few seconds later, both Annika and Chakotay collapsed to the floor, overcome by the neurozine gas Tuvok had just released into the space enclosed by the force field. Once the two were unconscious, the gas was quickly cleared and the force field came down. Janeway frowned as she regarded the two figures crumpled on the floor. "Get them both to the Brig," she ordered. "Have the Doctor complete the removal of what Borg components he can and delete all of Commander Chakotay's command functions and access to Voyager systems."
Just then Kes came running up to the group and stopped next to Janeway. "Captain!" she said breathlessly, and then looked down at Chakotay and Annika on the floor. Her eyes widened as the realization of what must have just transpired sunk in. She nodded her head slowly. "So it's true," she whispered.
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Author's note: Didn't intend to write another C/7 AU, but I alluded to this one in the last AU story I completed ("Dimensions"), and couldn't resist. Just a teaser for now. Hope you enjoy and reviews are always welcome.