=/\=

Despite her stated desire to do her job, regenerate, and then do her job again without outside interference, ad infinitum, she often was interrupted in her duties by events beyond her control, or the captain's for that matter. At first, she became quite hostile whenever her anticipated schedule was disrupted in any way. Over time, she came to realize that life as an individual couldn't be as controlled as a Borg drone's. Life could be messy. The crew were individuals who squabbled, loved, made bad decisions sometimes and altruistic ones at others, offered friendship and then withdrew it. All of them were far from their biological relatives. Loneliness was virtually a given. While the advent of regular contact with the Alpha Quadrant via Project Pathfinder had eventually brought a degree of relief, the crew generally dealt with their longing for home by the simple expediency of forming themselves into what Captain Janeway called the Voyager family. Seven preferred another term: the Voyager Collective.

And when a group of neonatal drones required rescue, it was Seven of Nine who saved the premature infant drone by sending her to the Doctor to be treated for breathing difficulties. She convinced four of the older five to find sanctuary on Voyager. Only the oldest, designated First, was so intent on waiting for the Borg Queen to retrieve them - even after Seven showed him the communication that proved she would never come - that he accepted death on the destabilizing Borg vessel rather than accept what life on Voyager could offer him.

Seven told the survivors that they weren't necessarily "losing their Collective." They'd exchanged their imperfect Children's Collective for another, one which had the knowledge and willingness to nurture them until a real family could be found to take them in and care for them.

Although Seven did not recognize how important this would turn out to be at the time, the rescue of the children would turn out to be a key event in her life. The captain assigned the care of the older four survivors, who were ambulatory and verbal, to Seven. At first, she regarded this responsibility as an imposition, since it reduced the amount of time she had to continue her work in Astrometrics or Engineering. Over time, however, she embraced her position as "head of the family" when they became a subunit of the "Voyager Collective."

Icheb, the oldest of the surviving neonatal drones, or, as the crew first called them, "Borglets," became Seven of Nine's savior when her cortical node began to fail. After the Doctor gave Seven this diagnosis, she expected her life as an independent being to end. She'd seen it happen before, to the first Three of Nine in her Unimatrix, when her cortical node failed during a mission. Icheb insisted he could survive without his. He forced her to accept it by disconnecting it from his cortical array. If she had not taken it then, both of them might have died. As he'd predicted, Icheb survived the surgery and could function without a cortical node.

When Icheb asked Seven to adopt him so their relationship would continue after they reached the Alpha Quadrant, she agreed, primarily out of gratitude for his selfless act. At first, she thought of him as a "little brother." Eventually, they became mother and son in all the ways which are important. Their connection became vital to her state of well-being when her foray into romance with her former nemesis Chakotay became less than idyllic, despite a promising beginning.

There may have been other factors, unrecognized at the time, influencing her decision to adopt Icheb. Since both had been children whose parents' actions had condemned them to assimilation, she felt a kinship with him. Their connection also comforted her after Azan and Rebi left Voyager to live with their relatives on Wysanti - and Mezoti, who had been much closer to Seven and Icheb than the twins - chose to go with them. And the new bond with Icheb helped alleviate the pain of another loss Seven had just suffered, shortly before the children departed.

Seven had retrieved memories of a significant part of her history when she was summoned back to a place she'd forgotten, after someone she'd once known there asked her for a favor - rekindling emotions she'd never suspected she'd experienced - when she was Borg.

=/\=

"Is that the same Axum you knew in Unimatrix Zero, Seven?"

"I would appreciate the opportunity to actually enter Astrometrics before answering your question, Icheb," Seven said severely to her son. He was standing in the doorway, hindering her ability to pass into the lab. "I take it you were monitoring the bridge again."

"I follow that protocol whenever I'm on duty here by myself," he replied.

"You appear to be discounting the presence of Cadet Verit. I see her right behind you."

Icheb was nonplussed for only a moment. "I should have utilized the words 'in command' rather than 'on duty by myself.' Are you trying to distract me so that you can avoid answering my question? Is this the same Axum?"

"Apparently."

"Apparently?"

"I believe he is, but I will need to confirm his identity before I can be certain."

"He's coming to Voyager?"

"Since he's one of the representatives of the Borg Resistance forces, yes, he's coming to the meeting."

"You're finally going to meet him! In the 'real world,' not in virtual reality!"

"Apparently." Seven glanced over at Verit, Icheb's suitemate at the Academy. The Vulcan cadet had turned her attention back to the console controlling the main Astrometrics screen, monitoring the ships of Species 8472 and the Borg Resistance which had just emerged from the Rift. Seven had no doubt, however, that Verit was listening to every word and memorizing each nuance of Seven's conversation with her adopted son.

Icheb noticed the way Seven's eyes had flicked towards Verit. He immediately comprehended that continuing this conversation, concerning a person with whom his mother had once been involved in a romantic relationship, was not a fit subject to be discussed in front of the other cadet. He nodded slightly to Seven, his superior officer in Astrometrics, and turned back to the console he habitually utilized. While Seven fully expected Icheb would share the entire story with his suitemate once Seven was no longer in their presence - if he had not already done so, which she suspected he had - she was relieved that the rest of their conversation would be deferred until a measure of privacy existed.

She was curious to hear Icheb's reaction to Axum. He'd been on Voyager during the Unimatrix Zero action, but he, as well as the younger children, had been sequestered as much as possible, in hopes that knowledge of the prospect of reassimilation could be kept away from them. The effort had not been particularly successful. Everyone on Voyager had been extremely anxious during that time, and they'd been unable to prevent the children from learning the truth.

While Seven returned to her duties in Astrometics and tried to concentrate on her tasks rather than think about seeing Axum again, she found it very hard to do. He was here, in the Alpha Quadrant! She'd been so sure she would never see him again.

Would everything be the same between them as it was there? How could it be? So much had happened since their last parting. Chakotay. Voyager's return to this quadrant. Her adoption of Icheb. Her regret over letting Mezoti leave Voyager, which was growing ever worse over time. Perhaps Axum had found someone to love since the last time they were in Unimatrix Zero together, when they'd fought the Borg Queen over its very existence - and lost. From the image she'd seen on the viewscreen, Seven thought he was very handsome in the 'real,' although he bore visible scars on his head, vestiges of his Borg identity.

Five of Twelve and Seven of Nine had known each other in Unimatrix Zero for eighteen years. For six of those years, they'd been much more than friends.

She shook her head. It wouldn't be the same. How could it be? But her heart was pounding in a way it never had when she was involved with Chakotay.

And she'd never guessed his voice would sound that way. So Borg.

=/\=