A/N: I appreciate the feedback and would love to what you think about the story so far. I'm not sure just how many more chapters I'll need but it'll be at least two. Please be kind with regard to matters of ST:V canon. If there's anything in here that seems hard to understand or just plain weird, I'd appreciate knowing about it!

Time Enough Chapter 3

Mio started awake. She felt Jan beside her and relaxed. It had all been a bad dream. She noticed a picture of a nebula as she started to drift back off. It seemed vaguely wrong. Her eyes snapped back open. Not a dream. A damned nightmare.

Janice stirred. She mumbled something then opened her eyes. She stared at Mio for a moment with a confused expression then smiled. It was a dream come true.

Relief surged through Mio. "Good morning. At least, I think it's morning." Or what passed for it on a ship. "I'm glad I stayed."

Jan stroked Mio's face. Her smile faded. "Mio, I love you. I never stopped loving you." She paused long enough to take a dep breath. "It's just, well, I've changed. Her eyes were bright with tears. "I'm not the same person you fell in love with. I'm afraid that you won't love me anymore. I can't bear the thought of getting you back only to lose you again."

"I know who you are," Mio whispered. "And I love you." She propped herself up and leaned over to kiss Jan's cheek. "How about we go on a date? We can take things slow, not like our first date," she added with a grin.

Jan closed her eyes for a moment then said, "I'd like that. I need to tell you about the last two years and want to hear about your last two weeks." She saw Mio's reaction. "It must have been awful."

"Yes," Mio said flatly. "I'd rather not talk about it, but since we're having full disclosure, I'll tell you. Just not now, okay?" she pleaded. She wrapped her arms around Jan. She breathed in, immensely comforted by the familiar feel and scent. "I like your hair long," she murmured as she stroked it.

They lay each other's arms for a time before Mio reluctantly got up. "I need to get showered and into a fresh uniform. The Doctor wants to see me for a follow up. Can we have dinner together? We can talk about, well, things."

Seven of Nine heard the door slide open. She saw Ensign Cavanaugh's reflection in one of her screens. "You are dismissed, Ensign Roberts."

Roberts stepped around Janice. "About time," he muttered under his breath. Janice repressed a smirk. Seven's personality was an acquired taste.

"Ma'am," Janice said, "Reporting for duty." Seven nodded and Janice went to her station. They worked with a minimum of conversation for a while. Janice was grateful to be busy and not sitting in her quarters brooding over her future with Mio.

Seven was quite pleased. She had arranged the day's schedule to account for Ensign Roberts' lack of efficiency and now that Ensign Cavanaugh was there, the day's work was completed early. She considered continuing on and revising the schedules for the next few days but discarded the notion. "We have finished for the day, Ensign. You are dismissed." After a brief hesitation she said, "May I ask you some questions?"

"Of course, Ma'am." Janice was more than a little surprised but she figured Seven wanted to confirm her schedule since she was supposed to be off duty through tomorrow. She felt almost certain Seven wasn't annoyed that she had reported early.

"Your friend, Ensign Sato," Seven asked with uncharacteristic hesitation, "was your intimate companion?"

Janice's eyes went wide. She thought for a moment to just walk away. Surely this wasn't going to turn into the Traditionalist nonsense she'd endured from Chakotay. "Yes, Ma'am. Before the, uh, incident."

"The two of you are no longer intimate?" She seemed disappointed.

"No, I mean, there hasn't been time yet. It's, well, a lot has happened in the last two years"

Seven considered. "You and Ensign Sato engaged in a sexual relationship and are considering resuming that relationship, is that correct?" She took Janice's flinch as an affirmative. "I am somewhat familiar with the dynamics of sexual attraction between males and females and have assimilated information regarding the mechanics of sexual activity. I seek to compare and contrast my information on these interactions with your information on interactions between two females. Please," she added, determined to put The Doctor's lessons into practice.

Janice found herself wishing she were still asleep. As a dream this might be funny. "Wh- what specifically did you want to know, Ma'am?" she stammered. She immediately regretted the question since she felt certain whatever Seven wanted to know would be dreadfully inappropriate or embarrassing or both. Likely both.

"How do you determine which sex you will be attracted to? Or is it that you are attracted a specific person and their sex is irrelevant?"

That wasn't what she had expected. She took a deep breath and launched into a primer on human sexuality.

"Yes, but how does it feel when you are attracted to someone? How is being sexually attracted different from being attracted to someone in a non-sexual manner?" Now Seven looked a bit flustered. "I am not experienced with emotions. I have difficulty distinguishing between similar emotions."

Janice had a flash of understanding and a renewed desire to flee. Still, she knew Seven well enough to realize these were honest questions. "Have you asked whoever you might be, uh, sexually attracted to what their feelings are toward you?"

"No," Seven replied. "If I am mistaken in my feelings it could damage the relationship."

"If it's someone who knows you well then they'll understand," Janice said gently. "I think it's best to be honest and tell them you aren't sure of your own feelings."

"I will consider your advice," Seven said. "Thank you. Perhaps I will practice this on the holodeck so that I will be prepared for reciprocation or rejection. In the event I do find that I am sexually attracted to someone who is sexually attracted to me, I would like to speak with you about the mechanics of sex. I wish to be competent if called upon to utilize those skills."

Janice wanted very much to put her fingers in her ears and scream. She settled for a nod of assent then made a hasty retreat.

"Come on," Janice urged Mio. "Our time starts in just a few moments." They hurried to the holodeck. Once there, they changed into swimsuits and entered the chamber with Jan's program already running as scheduled. It was a pristine beach with a pair of lawn chairs and blankets. "Let the vacation begin," she said with a grin.

The women relaxed on their private beach. "So can we go swimming?" Mio asked. "And more importantly, are all the video feeds disabled?"

"It's part of the program," Janice assured her. "We have complete privacy. And the water's close enough to real." She brushed back her short hair. "Want to get wet?" she asked with a grin.

Mio laughed. "There already. Come on," she said, getting up and holding out a hand to Jan. They ran out into the surf and embraced in chest-deep water. After a few long, passionate kisses she said huskily, "Best one month of living together anniversary ever." She slipped a hand inside Jan's bikini bottom and kissed her deeply. "Let's hit the blankets," she whispered after she felt Jan go limp.

They shed their already skimpy suits and collapsed on the blankets. Janice noted happily that the sand was not sticking to their feet as she had designed. That would make things decidedly more comfortable. She rolled on top of Mio and kissed her. "Happy anniversary," she murmured then trailed kisses down her body.

They made love until the warning bell went off. "Last call," Janice sighed. She stroked Mio's hip. Reluctantly, they got up and put on robes. Janice grabbed the suits. She could imagine the teasing they'd get if the next users found them.

"Thank you, Jan. That was fantastic." She slipped her arm around Jan's waist. "Not that we need a holodeck for hot sex, but it sure was nice." She giggled and squeezed Jan's ass. They changed into their uniforms and terminated the program. Mio stole a quick kiss before the holodeck doors opened. "Love you."

"You too," Jan whispered. She double-checked the security on her program then released the system to the next users. "Let's get cleaned up and have dinner. I hear its taco night." She grinned at Mio's expression. "Come on, how bad can it be?"

"Really?" Mio replied with a dramatic sigh. "If I'm down with food poisoning tonight, it's your loss."

"Replicated chicken it is," Janice said with a laugh.

"Chicken," Mio said in relief as she sat down to dinner in Jan's quarters. "Neelix is wonderful, but his cooking..."

"He's gotten a lot better," Janice said. "I think it was something about his taste buds being just different enough from ours to make things challenging. He almost never makes anything inedible now. You liked his soup, after all. But I know you like the chicken so we'll just work up to Cafe Neelix." She grinned and poured two glasses of synth-wine. "How'd your checkup go?"

"Clean bill of health," Mio said. "He offered counseling for us. The Timers. Apparently that's what we're being called, Timers," she said with a shake of her head. "So how was your day?"

"Incredibly uncomfortable. I reported to my duty station," she explained, "and at the end of the shift, Seven tells me she wants to know about sexual attraction between two women. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or run. In the end, I ran," she said with a chuckle.

Mio narrowed her eyes. "Your female boss was asking you about being attracted to women?"

Janice was too amused by the events, amused now that she was no longer in the situation, to miss the tone of Mio's voice. "Yes, it was the damnedest thing. She asked if we were 'intimate' and wanted to talk about the 'mechanics of sex.'" Janice snickered. "You should have been there."

"Perhaps I should have."

Janice finally recognized the danger signs flashing all around her. "Oh, no, it's not like that. I told you Seven was a Borg, right? She doesn't understand things. For her, it was a legitimate question. Honestly, I'm flattered she asked me. You shouldn't worry. Whoever it is she likes, I'm completely sure it isn't me. And besides, I sure don't feel any attraction and all toward her."

"Hmph." Mio thought Jan was telling the truth, but maybe the two years had made her able to lie convincingly. Then again, she'd heard some gossip about the former Borg and Jan's story was not out of line with what she'd heard. "Well, I hope you'll be discreet."

"Discreet hell," Janice said. "I'm going to refer her to some romance novels. No way am I talking to her about my sex life."

"Speaking of which," Mio asked with a casualness she most certainly did not feel, "how has your sex life been?"

Janice flinched. "Oh, that. Well, it was a few days after the anniversary of your funeral." She looked down at her glass. "Holly was being really nice to me. She acted differently than when we were together before, sympathetic and thoughtful and I really needed to talk about you. I don't remember ever discussing it, but she kind of moved into my quarters. I guess I was lonely. Then one day, I came back from my shift and found her boxing up your things. We had a screaming fight and I realized that no one who truly loved me would ask me to remove all traces of you. I mean, we thought you were dead. You weren't a threat to her. She hadn't changed at all. She wanted to control everything. I kicked her out and we haven't really spoken since. I heard she was seeing some guy in Environmental."

Mio struggled to keep her emotions in check. "Is that all of it?" she asked with forced lightness.

"Not exactly, Janice said, looking miserable. "A month or so after I ended it with Holly, Carol was in my quarters upset about a fight she'd had with John. He was being an ass. We were drinking and things got out of hand. Carol blamed it all on me, saying I'd taken advantage of her. She told John and I don't know if it was her sleeping with me or something else, but they separated. I haven't really seen either since. I feel stupid for getting involved again with Holly but the thing with Carol, I'm ashamed of myself over that."

"I suppose that's why John seemed so cool toward me," Mio mused. "So, you got back with an ex for a while then had a drunken one night stand with a presumably straight friend who was there to talk about her husband. Anything else?"

"Geez, Mio. No, no one for almost a year now I'm not proud of any of it. All I can say is that you were gone and I was lonely. And I didn't rape Carol. She was just as much to blame as I am. I told John it was my fault. I hoped he wouldn't be so angry about it if he could blame it all on me. Didn't work, and I'm sorry about it and wish I had acted differently. I lost a good friend. Pretty much every friend." Janice rubbed her face. "So. Can we get past this?"

"Did you love either of them?" Jan shook her head. "I know you thought I was dead," Mio said slowly. "Intellectually, I know this. Emotionally, you cheated on me while I was gone for two weeks. I know it's not fair for me to feel this way."

"Of course it is. I would."

"I think we should take The Doctor up on his offer. I really do want to get past this, Jan. I want to be with you."

"Absolutely," Janice said, "I'll do anything to get us through this. I want to be with you, too."

"Captain," Seven of Nine said, "I would like to ask you a question."

Janeway held up a hand, programmed in the last of her agenda for the senior staff meeting then looked up. "What can I do for you, Seven?"

"Do you find me sexually attractive? I would appreciate an honest response."

Janeway considered and discarded several replies. A part of her was impressed by how patient Seven was being while she stood there gaping. "Seven, I-"

The door opened and Chakotay strode in. "I hope we have good news from those probes," he said then planted himself in his preferred chair. "Is there coffee?"

Janeway blinked a few times. This was surreal. "Seven, we'll discuss your question later," she said calmly. She hit the comm. "Neelix, can you send some coffee? Thank you."

"Question?" Chakotay asked, wishing he'd mentioned cookies too.

"Later! Uh, we have a full agenda. B'Elanna, good, you're here." She rambled a bit, but even babbling was better than Seven repeating her question in front of an audience. Maybe she could formulate some sort of coherent answer during the meeting. Or at least an excuse to postpone the conversation. Neelix arrived with coffee and, to Chakotay's delight, cookies. "Let's talk about supplies."