Hermione's not turning into a Borg Queen... Yet! :-Þ

I understand many of you probably do not appreciate me taking so many liberties with this series, but hey, this is fanfiction! Enjoy.

Chapter 7

"They're here.", said Suder. He noticed Voyager tensed up. "You have nothing to be afraid of. The Captain will understand."

"Lon… Please get busy. Or go greet them. Whatever.", she restarted her work, and cursed, realizing she was at Vorik's station.

"Voyager. I am glad to see you alive.", she turned to face Torres. "We all hoped Tom had escaped, and when no-one said they had seen you, we believed the worst had..."

"Hello, B'Elanna.", she smiled nervously, interrupting the officer.

"You're looking a little bloody. And it's good to finally hear your voice.", Voyager looked at her armour, heavily streaked with blood.

"Thank you. I knew you were coming back. You're too stubborn to die.", the half-Klingon laughed. "Vorik?"

"He's in sickbay, treating a burn. Nothing too serious, don't worry.", she fidgeted. "Really."

"B'Elanna, I… I killed a lot of Kazon." The Lieutenant paused and then smiled.

"If it wasn't for you and Tom, we'd still be on Hanon IV.", she smiled. "And I'm sure if it wasn't them, lying on the floor right now, it would be you. Think about our lives, lives you saved."

"I know. Still, I..."

"Look, here comes Vorik.", she frowned at the human's pale countenance, now staring at the ground.

"What must he think of me?", she whispered.

"Miss Voyager. It is good to see you.", she nodded, tongue-tied. "It is unfortunate that our deck is in such a state, but that is indeed far preferable to Hanon IV's conditions. I thank you for your service.", she nodded again, licking her dry lips, her eyes filling with tears.

"You really mean that?", he was silent for a few seconds, after hearing her voice for the first time, his dark eyes quickly gleaming like a beam in the dark, and then he replied.

"Of course.", he frowned. "I do not lie."

"You look terrible. The Hanon IV' look doesn't agree with you.", he frowned some more, and she came closer to him, looking him in the eye. "I thought of you often. I was so worried. I am so glad to see you again, alive and in one piece. It's good to have you back. The Voyager is not the same without you." Had his nostrils flared, or was she imagining things?

"That was really sweet.", teased B'Elanna. "Maybe now we can go meet the Captain. Laktaw, Vorik. You two are in charge of Engineering."

"Vorik…", Hermione reached for her sheathed sword and held it horizontally. "Keep it for me, please."

"Of course.", he respectfully took the weapon.

Sooner than she had hoped, Voyager and Suder were in the ready room.

"Well. What can you tell me? Mr. Paris told me you brought him some food, Miss Voyager, and that you helped Mr. Suder in Engineering. But I'd like to know more."

"I woke up, I don't know how long after the explosion. I kept to the Jeffries tubes and met the Doctor in sickbay. I had hoped Ensign Vorik had escaped, but he was with you. Mr. Suder met us there as well. From there, I created several technical problems all over the ship, unrelated to Engineering, trying to keep the Kazon distracted and focused on menial tasks for as long as possible."

"That was a good idea."

"I tampered with the equipment and after that I went to Holodeck and started my program. I altered it, disabled security protocols and allowed safe access to me and Mr. Suder alone. From there he lured several Kazon in, and the program did the rest. That cut down the crew significantly. Mr. Paris contacted sickbay and we prepared for the attack. I asked Mr. Suder to seal Engineering with me and the Kazon in it and I… killed them, Captain.", she frowned, staring at the ground. "I… Mr. Suder didn't kill a single Kazon, it was me. I… I wanted the crew back."

The Captain stared at them for a while.

"I authorize your airponics laboratory, Mr. Suder. We will work out the details later.", he smiled and thanked the Captain. "I am going to promote you to …"

"No.", said Hermione.

"Miss Voyager… may I know why?"

"I will work and do whatever you want, just, no ranks. For now, at least."

"Well, if you ever change your mind. I would like to assign you solely to Engineering. While we were on Hanon IV, Lieutenant Torres and Ensign Vorik have spoken wonders of you and I can see they were right."

"Oh? Ensign Vorik?"

"Yes. Impressive technical skills, as he said.", the witch blushed slightly. "Now, you are dismissed. Mr. Suder goes to the Brig, until we can once more add security to his quarters. And you are to rest in yours."

"No, please, the Doctor must have his hands full and I promised I'd go back…"

"Then you are to go there for an exam. You will not help for more than an hour, if the Doctor allows such a thing."

"But."

"Non-negotiable, Miss Voyager."

"Very well, Captain.", all were dismissed, apart from Chakotay.

"I still can't quite believe we are back so soon.", he said.

"Hmm. There is more to this young lady than meets the eye. And to resist under such pressure with only Mr. Suder and the Doctor for company… I am also somewhat impressed with Mr. Suder. He had every chance to join the Kazon, yet he didn't. Did you know he created a new species of orchid? He's going to name it after Tuvok."

"I can say that he doesn't look the same. There's an edge there that… has been softened. I don't know how to explain it."

"I think we can expect good things from Miss Voyager, at least."