A/N: Thank you very much for the feedback. I'd appreciate knowing if there's anything that doesn't make sense or seems contrary to prior chapters or STV canon and I'd really like to know what folks think about the two central characters. I'm thinking it'll be two, possibly three more chapters.
A/N2: Yeah, well, many 12-15. Depends. I've moved to shorter chapters in general and the Janeway/Seven plot wants to meander.
Time Enough Chapter 4
"I know it's not fair but I can't seem to make myself stop feeling betrayed."
The Doctor nodded. "It's perfectly normal, Ensign Sato. Your reality is not the same as Ensign Cavanaugh's reality. Our struggle will be to help you understand each other's realities so you can come to a mutual understanding or joint reality, if you will."
"I completely understand Mio's anger," Janice said. "I think I'd feel the same way in her place. I can't change the past, though. I don't know what to do except apologize."
"Why do you feel you should apologize?" The Doctor asked. How convenient of her to bring that up.
"Well, for cheating on her. For giving up on her."
"How can you cheat on someone who's dead? Ensign Cavanaugh, you are trying to impose Ensign Sato's reality onto your actions. I submit that this is as illogical as Ensign Sato viewing her experiences through your circumstances. You did nothing to wrong Ensign Sato and she in turn did not abandon you."
"I know she didn't abandon me," Janice said with a scowl.
Mio raised an eyebrow. "Really? Just like I know you didn't cheat on me? That's working great for me, by the way," she snarked. "Although I think you might be more into being a martyr."
"The hell?!" Janice stood up. "All I did was try to move on. I sucked at it but I tried. Yeah, I feel guilty about it but I know I shouldn't. All I can think about is that I've moved too far for you to catch up and I can't go backwards to meet you." She fell back onto the couch-like chair. "I can't move and you won't."
Finally! The Doctor leaned back. "Ladies, it seems we have come to the crux of the matter. Let's discuss in more detail why you feel Ensign Sato is unable to 'catch up' to you, Ensign Cavanaugh, and why she feels you are reveling in the role of martyr."
Neither woman seemed particularly enthusiastic.
Janice walked into their quarters to find Mio packing a bag.
"Jan, you're back," Mio said with relief. "I got assigned to an away mission. They've found a planet that might have edible flora and I get to run the on-site analyses."
"Congratulations!" She hugged Mio. "I know you'll do great. When do you have to leave?"
"Pretty much now," Mio sighed. "I was afraid I wouldn't get to say goodbye. If the tests pan out, we'll be spending at least a couple of days on the planet."
"I'll miss you," Janice said. "Be careful and don't spend all your time looking for new kinds of smelly flowers," she said with a chuckle. "Love you."
"Love you too," Mio said and kissed Jan tenderly. "Can't wait to get back. Water the plants!"
Mio grabbed her bag, took a moment for one more kiss, and rushed off to the shuttle bay.
"It was your idea."
"I seem to recall you agreeing to it," Mio countered. She sighed. "That was excruciating. What were we thinking?"
"Apparently that I'm a cheating martyr and you're inflexible and bitter," Janice replied. "Quite a pair we are." She sipped her tea.
Mio smiled ruefully. "Maybe we should try to get The Doctor to use sock puppets tomorrow. You know, for role-playing."
Janice laughed. "I like it." She held her hands up and in a silly voice while opening and closing the fingers of her right hand, "You're bitter! Stop being bitter!" She moved her left hand and replied, "Am not! You're just a cheating cheater who cheats!"
"You're a nut," Mio laughed. The two of them giggled and made a few more puppet jokes.
Eventually Janice sobered. "I've really missed you. It's been years but now that you're back, it's like you never left."
Mio flashed a lopsided smile. "Feels the same to me." She got up and asked, "Walk me back to my quarters?" She waved at Neelix. "The coffee was great. Have a good night." They dropped off their mugs and headed off.
Neelix smiled. They were laughing together. Surely that was a good sign. The crew had been so excited to find the five of them but seeing them struggling with the ruin of their former lives had been, as Mr. Paris might say, a bummer.
"Want to come in for a minute?" Mio asked as they reached the door to her quarters.
"Sure," Janice agreed. She hadn't yet been inside Mio's new quarters. She noticed there was nothing personal in the room. She'd offered Mio the things she'd kept after the shuttle's crew had been declared dead. Mio had put off taking anything, giving Janice hope. Or perhaps Mio simply hadn't wanted to take all hope away.
"I'm trying, Jan. The Doctor has really helped me see things more clearly. Even if he's weird." She grinned and stepped in close to Jan. "Thank you for going to see him with me." She kissed Jan tenderly.
Jan wrapped her arms around Mio and pulled her close. She kissed her gently at first then with increasing passion. Janice felt Mio's hands sliding under her tunic.
"Ensign Sato," Mio's comm badge squawked. Mio disengaged awkwardly and answered. Janeway asked her to report to her office the next morning for another debriefing.
"Great," Mio muttered after signing off. She removed her badge and stepped over to set it in an alcove. "Can't wait."
"I wonder if it's about the new duty assignments," Janice speculated. She moved to stand behind Mio and embraced her loosely.
Mio leaned back and moaned appreciatively as Jan kissed her neck. She closed her eyes and let herself picture them in their former couple's quarters. She felt Jan's hands moving over her breasts and felt a small stab of confusion. The hands moved to her stomach and hips. She felt a hand press her breast and another on her upper thigh and suddenly she couldn't breathe.
Mio trudged dejectedly toward the storage compartment with a pack full of equipment. The planet had been a bust. One tiny enzyme made the flora poisonous. She felt something slam into her back and then her head hit the wall and everything went fuzzy. A hand clamped over her mouth and she was hustled into a storage compartment. She struggled against her attacker and was rewarded with a punch to the side of her head.
By the time she had recovered a gag had been tied around her mouth and her wrists bound. She knew it was Nels but it was still a shock when she saw his face.
"Look what you made me do," Nels growled. "If you hadn't been an uppity bitch, I wouldn't have had to hit you. It's your own fault." He pushed Mio's tunic and undershirt up to reveal her breasts. "They aren't very big," he complained. He spun her so she faced away from him and roughly squeezed her breasts, hard enough to make her eyes water.
"No!" Mio cried out, her voice hopelessly muffled by the gag. Nels pushed her down. He leaned on her torso while yanking her pants down to her knees. Mio's cries grew frantic as she felt Nels force his fingers inside of her.
"Shut up. You know you want it, bitch. I've heard about you. It's a damned shame you never had a real man. Made you sick in the head. This is like a doctor fixing a sick person." He got up on his knees and started undoing his pants.
Mio swung her legs around and kicked hard and fast against the wall. Nels slapped her. "I'll fill your mouth with something better than that rag," he threatened. He thrust his crotch toward her face.
Lieutenant Wilson heard the banging and forced open the locker door. He was momentarily stunned by the sight of Nels prying open Sato's legs. He snapped out of it and grabbed Nels. Wilson wasn't an especially strong man. He was mildly surprised when he lifted Nels up and slammed him face-first into the wall.
The rest of the crew came running. Thompson helped Wilson secure Nels while Hines untied Mio and got her dressed enough to get her to her bunk. Hines got a first aid kit and treated Mio's bruises and scrapes. She could see rising hysteria in Sato's eyes and administered a sedative. As if their position weren't dire enough. A part of her she didn't realize was there contemplated spacing Nels and extending their food supplies that much longer.
"Captain, I believe I have been sufficiently patient," Seven said as she burst in to Janeway's office. Uninvited, of course. "I require an answer. Do you find me sexually attractive?"
"Won't you come in and have a seat," Janeway said dryly. She gave Seven her best Captain Stare until the woman took a chair. "I'm curious why you would ask me that," Janeway replied.
"I have been considering the dynamics of same-sex attraction," Seven said. "You would be an acceptable partner in such a relationship." To Janeway's surprise, Seven looked uncomfortable. "I have been unable to find an acceptable opposite-sex partner and have begun to wonder if I was not searching the appropriate pool of candidates."
Janeway considered for a moment then said gently, "Seven, I assure you, you are sexually attractive. And I do find you attractive, in that way; however, I find you much more attractive as a friend. I would like for you to think about why you find me an 'acceptable partner.' It's not uncommon for people to confuse love for a friend with sexual love. Since I'm also responsible for liberating you from the Collective, is it possible that your feelings for me are... confused?"
Seven furrowed her brow. "I do not think so, but you raise valid points. I will consider and do more research." Seven stood. "I too value you as a friend and do not wish to damage that relationship. My goal would be to expand the parameters of that relationship."
Janeway smiled as Seven left. She felt a surge of pride. Seven had come so very far. Her smile faded. Research? Whatever had Seven meant by that? Janeway didn't even try to deny the jealousy surging through her.