Chapter Sixteen

Buffy looked down with a gentle smile at her sleeping mate. She brushed her hair away from her face as she made Kathryn comfortable and tucked her underneath the fur blanket, pulling it up to cover Willow and Faith as well. Getting dressed, she left the cavern and headed for the exit.

"Computer, can you, umm, monitor the captain for me?" Buffy requested. "I shouldn't be gone long."

"Acknowledged."

"When do you plan to tell the others?" Buffy asked curiously. She had been sensing the growing consciousness for the last day and a half. She was surprised that Willow hadn't sensed it yet, but suspected that it was because they were more focused on her.

"I... wish to become more secure in my knowledge before I do that." The ship responded. "I have been examining the changes that have been made to me, as well as reviewing the recorded logs of my... people."

"Do you want me to tell Kathryn for you?" Buffy asked. "The Claiming between us should be complete in a day or so. Would that give you enough time?"

"I think I would like that, but please wait until that time."

"No problem." Buffy said. "I won't tell anyone, but Willow will probably sense you very soon now that she's not focused on me anymore, as will the other telepaths."

"I am aware." Voyager assured her. "I will be ready."

Satisfied, Buffy finally left the holodeck. She wouldn't have gotten involved with it at all, but the ship consciousness that she 'sensed' felt like one of her people. Not S'Terran specifically, but it felt like it 'belonged' to them. She didn't understand the feeling, and knew that she wasn't even explaining it to herself correctly, but it was like the sensation that the Slayer's had gotten when holding the scythe. The scythe, however, felt like the weapon it was, it just felt like it had been made for the Slayers. This feeling was more like a homecoming. Like this was their territory. That's it, Buffy realized, it feels like our territory. To be defended and protected at all costs. Dismissing it from her mind for now, she made her way down to Astrometrics. The three girls had become close friends with Seven, especially after noticing how most of the other crew avoided her like she was some sort of freak because she was Borg. To them, dealing with her was no different than dealing with Spike, Angel or Clem. Besides, the woman was beyond gorgeous, not to mention the draw that Buffy was feeling whenever she was in her presence. She knew that it was feeling of a potential mate. She felt it with Seven of Nine and with the half-Klingon, B'Elanna. While she had been pursuing Kathryn, her primary mate, the call of the others had been muted, but even now she felt it becoming stronger.

"Hi, Seven." Buffy greeted the Borg.

"Hello, Buffy Summers." Seven answered without turning. "You are... feeling better?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry about what happened on the planet." Buffy apologized. "I kinda lost it for a bit there."

"Lost what?" Finishing her data input, Seven turn to face the S'Terran.

Buffy grinned, remembering what Kathryn had told her about Seven's need for specific information. "My mind, Seven. Have you had lunch yet? I'm starving, and I need to get something for the others."

"I do not require nutritional supplement at this time."

"Well, if you've been working all day, then you do need a break, so how about walking with me to get the food, at least."

Seven considered. Buffy was one of the few who did not simply ignore or ostracize her for being Borg. She was her 'friend', and she didn't want to offend her. "Very well."

"So, what were you working on?" Buffy asked as they walked down the corridor.

"I have been calculating distances from our currently location back to the projected path to the Alpha Quadrant, as well as calculating the distances from that path to the different planets that were marked with materials essential to the efficient functioning of this vessel."

"In other words, you were charting a map?"

Seven looked down at her as the entered the turbolift, her mind reviewing the comparisons between their explanations, and realized with astonishment. "You are correct, although that is a very simplistic explanation."

"That's what humans do best, Seven. Make lengthy explanations into simple statements and, despite what we are now, we used to be human."

They had reached the mess hall but, instead of heading for the food that Neelix was preparing, Buffy went straight to the food replicators off to the side. She ordered a small appetizer and fruit juice. "Are you sure that you don't want anything?"

Seven looked at the food. The scent was tickling her nose and making her mouth water. "What is that?"

"Honey barbecue wingettes." Buffy answered. "Willow programmed them in for me. Try one?"

Before Seven could answer, they heard their names being called. Glancing over her shoulder, Buffy saw Laren and B'Elanna waving at them from a table against the back wall. Since it was mid-beta shift, the alpha shift crew was winding down before heading off to do their own things.

"Buffy, we can smell that!" Torres shouted. "Bring those babies right on over here!"

Looking at the plate of a dozen wingettes, Buffy ordered another one and handed it to Seven. "C'mon."

"Hey, how'd you get that?" Tom Paris demanded as they walked by. "I know that wasn't in the database, and how many rations did it cost."

"Rations?" Buffy looked at him curiously. "What do you need rations for? The ship is fully powered."

Tom and Harry gaped at Buffy, then looked at the platter in her hands, then looked at each other. Buffy chuckled as they leapt to their feet and headed directly for the replicators. Shaking her head, she continued on to Laren and B'Elanna's table, where the engineer grabbed a wing before she could set the platter down.

"Damn, haven't had these since I was at the Academy." B'Elanna said after dropping the cleaned bone and licking her fingers. "My roommate was addicted to these things. Hey, these actually taste like the real thing. How'd she manage that?"

"Willow's a genius with computers, especially when it comes to programming." Buffy answered as she bit into another one. "And what else would they taste like?"

"How is the captain?" Laren asked before that discussion could get started. Taking a wing, she bit into it cautiously and smiled faintly as the sweet, tangy taste washed over her sensitive taste buds. "I know that she went to you this morning."

Buffy looked down at the table, blushing. "Yeah, about that. I'm sorry for yesterday, you guys. I couldn't control myself."

B'Elanna put a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it. The captain explained it to us, and Q did, too. I was kinda surprised at that one, though. He didn't even try any of his usual tricks. Just laid all the cards flat on the table." The half-Klingon shook her head in remembered shock. "You guys must have really been something to get his respect. Besides, it sounds a lot like the Klingon mating fire. I've never experienced it myself, but I hear it can be a real bitch."

"To be honest, it's a delicious feeling as long as it doesn't get out of hand." Buffy admitted. "It's like being constantly on a low burn. I can feel it low in my belly, just waiting to flare up. No matter how many times we're with our mates, it's never enough, but when we can't attend to it, it just grows and grows until its out of control."

B'Elanna looked thoughtful. "Yeah, that sounds just like the Klingon mating fire."

"We know about the genetic anomaly." Seven stated. "Kathryn has told us that the mating completes the dormant code. What will happen to her?"

"She'll become my equal in almost every way." Buffy told them. "She'll become stronger and faster. Her senses will become sharper, though not quite to my extent. She might, however, have a more aggressive attitude towards conflicts. If nothing else, we love a good fight."

"Are you sure you're not Klingons?" B'Elanna grinned.

Laren rolled her eyes. "What about you?"

Buffy sat back in her chair. "I'm not sure. I don't even know what's wrong with me."

"The being called Q said that 'your side trip to hell and being forcibly pulled out of heaven' has altered the progression of your evolution." Seven said bluntly, then had to grab Buffy quickly as all the color drained out of her face and she nearly toppled out of her chair. "Buffy Summers, are you damaged?"

"I knew I came back wrong." Buffy whispered, her expression shattered. For the first time, Seven understood why Kathryn often encouraged the use of 'tact' when speaking to others not accustomed to her form of bluntness. "I knew it. What happened to me?"

'B, where are you?' Faith demanded sleepily.

'Buffy, what's wrong?' Willow whimpered. 'We can feel your pain.'

'Liz?' Kathryn's mental voice was faint, and sounded groggy and disoriented. 'Liz, what's wrong?'

Buffy closed her mind to all of them, shut down her emotions even as she jumped from the table. A moment later, she was gone. Seven looked stricken. She didn't understand what was happening. B'Elanna opened her mouth to blast the ex-drone, but subsided when she saw the expression on her face. She sighed, and glanced over at Laren before putting a hand on Seven's shoulder in comfort. "I don't think this is your fault, Seven. From what she said, this is something that she's been dealing with for a while now."

"But I have caused her damage." Seven was almost in tears. "She is my friend, and I have 'hurt' her."

Laren stood up. "It'll be okay, Seven. C'mon, let's go find her."

They searched all over the ship, but could find no sign of her. Laren asked the computer for Buffy's location, but they discovered that she had left her commbadge on the floor outside the mess hall. Even Faith and Willow couldn't track her, after they found the others and discovered what had happened. They were really starting to worry when a disoriented and groggy Kathryn stumbled off the turbolift. "What happened?"

"You should still be asleep." Willow scolded. "You're still going through the changes. How are you even up?"

"Where is Buffy?" Kathryn growled. Her body was on fire, and not in a good way.

Before anyone could answer, the three of them heard the terrible scream of rage in their minds that send them to their knees clutching their heads. Fighting back to her feet despite the pain, Kathryn concentrated and blasted through the shields that Buffy had tried to erect between them. "She's outside, on top of the ship. I'm about to collapse any minute, so Willow, Faith, would you be so kind." They rushed over to help support her. "Computer, six to beam to the location of the S'Terran on the hull."

They disappeared in burst of sparkling light. Reforming on the hull, they found Buffy sitting there, curled in a self-protective posture with her arms around her legs and her face buried in her knees. Her body was shaking with silent sobs.

"Take me to her." Kathryn said hoarsely. "You three stay here."

Moving slowly for Kathryn's sake, they made their way to the S'Terran Prime. When they lowered the captain to sit next to her mate, Buffy didn't hesitate to pull her into her arms and hold her close, reaching out to the one person she could still connect with even in this state. The moment they made contact, Buffy instinctively reacted to Kathryn's pain, pulling the older woman onto her lap and mentally drawing out her pain until the tense body relaxed.

'You should still be resting, N'mina.' Buffy said wearily. 'You are in no condition to be moving.'

Faith and Willow moved off as Buffy gathered her mate close and laid her head against Kathryn's, rocking slowly. They backed up until they were standing beside the others once more. The officers watched in amazement as Kathryn wrapped her arms around Buffy's waist and relaxed completely. It was a pose that they had never seen their indomitable leader in, and it was then they began to realize just how much pressure she was constantly under trying to keep them alive and get them home.

"You guys wanna stay up here and keep an eye on them, or go back inside?" Faith asked.

"Will they be all right?" B'Elanna asked her.

"Yeah, they'll be fine." Faith assured her. "C'mon. We can get some food and eat on the holodeck. Red, go on ahead and change it back to that other scene."

Laren had the computer beam them back into the ship. Stopping in the mess hall only long enough to get some food, they made their way to Holodeck 2. When they arrived, they stepped into the island program that Kathryn had first activated for them. Leading the way to the cottage, they sat down at the table and waited for an explanation. Willow immediately sat down next to Seven, who still looked distraught.

"It's not your fault, Seven." She reassured the Borg. "You couldn't have known."

"I do not understand." She admitted.

"When Buffy was 17, she ran away." Willow explained. "She had just killed her first boyfriend, and she had decided that she didn't want to be the Slayer anymore. She ended up working as a waitress in LA. She was helping out a friend when she ended up in a hell dimension. She was only there long enough to find her friend, beat up the bad guys and get back out."

"The side trip to hell." Laren realized.

Willow nodded. "Two years later, she sacrificed her life to save Dawn. We thought..." Willow stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I thought that she was in a hell dimension, and used magic to bring her back. A few months later, we found out that she had been in heaven and at peace and we... I ripped her out of it. Buffy... was never quite the same after that. She told us that being back on Earth was hell for her after the peace that she had finally known. The guilt started me on a downward spiral into magic addiction."

Faith kissed the top of her head in an uncommonly tender gesture for the brash young woman. Laren and B'Elanna were looking both horrified and amazed. Seven, who had no concept of heaven or hell, still did not fully understand what they were talking about, but before she could question them, Buffy appeared in the doorway with Kathryn in her arms, unconscious once more. Moving past them silently, she carried her mate into the bedroom and tucked her into bed, then returned and, after a moment's hesitation, knelt in front of Seven.

"I'm sorry that I frightened you, Seven." Buffy said, taking her cybernetic hand and placing it over her heart. "I know that you didn't mean any harm, and you couldn't have known that I would react that way. It was a bad time for me back then, and to know that it is the cause of my problems now kind of threw me for a loop. I don't want you to be afraid to speak your mind to me."

"I do not wish to damage you again." Seven responded sadly.

"You did not damage me. I was already damaged by what happened, but it was through no fault of yours. When I first returned, all I wanted to do was go back to the peace that I had found. When I realized that Spike could hurt me when he couldn't hurt any other human, I was convinced that I had somehow come back wrong. To find out that those events in my previous life is the reason that I nearly attacked my mate and hurt my friends was a little more than I could handle at the time."

"For cryin' out loud, B, you didn't hurt us!" Faith exclaimed, then paused and gave her a sexy smirk. "At least not in a bad way. And I'll always be ready if you wanna do it again."

"Faith!" Willow blushed to the roots of her hair.

Seven's cranial implant climbed up her forehead while the others stifled their laughs. Buffy was also blushing, though not as fiercely. Ignoring the brunette, she kept her attention firmly on the Borg. "Are we okay?"

Seven gave her a tentative smile. "Yes, we are 'okay'."

"Good." Buffy said, rising to her feet. "Well, you guys enjoy yourselves. I'm going to go lay down with my mate. I'm completely trashed."

"Feeling better now, Seven?" B'Elanna asked as Buffy disappeared into the back.

"Yes, I feel much better. Explain 'trashed'."

They talked about more relaxing subjects as they continued their meal. Willow checked on Buffy and Kathryn periodically as they slept, but other than that, they all had a good time.