A/n: Thanks everyone for all the support for "The Borg With Butterfly Wings", I really appreciate it. I hope you all like this chapter too. :)
Chakotay stumbled awkwardly out of Holodeck 1, grimacing as his strained, exhausted eyes made the hallway swim in front of him. Blinking as he tried to regain his bearings, he glanced back at the neighbouring door of Holodeck 2, his frown deepening as the wall console indicated it was activated and occupied; he didn't need to ask the Computer to know who by. "Damn it Seven…" He groaned under his breath before quickly reproaching himself for his resentful tone. It hadn't been Seven's choice to involve him in this, she didn't even know. That thought added more guilt to the volatile mix of confusing, contradictory emotions that were swirling around his brain. Sinking against the wall with a heavy sigh, he tried to resign himself to, and then accept, what he was experiencing, unconsciously grinding his teeth as he did so. It wasn't as if he could do anything, he reasoned, but that brought him scant comfort, in fact it made his stomach churn further. He ran a stressed hand through his dishevelled hair and over his face, which was by now rough with stubble. He doubted he looked very much like the exemplary First Officer he strived to be right now. Before he even tried to sort through his options about what he should do about Seven, if anything, he needed a cold shower, a shave and a couple of hours sleep…
"Chakotay? Are you okay?" B'Elanna Torres' familiar voice dragged him out of his muddled thoughts and he looked up to see that his old friend had stopped in the hallway to peer at him in concern.
He smiled at her apologetically, "I'm fine, just a little…tired." He told her quietly.
Doubt flashed through B'Elanna's perceptive dark eyes for a split second before she nodded. "I can believe that, this alien minefield has been giving us quite a run for our money."
Chakotay cast a worried glance over her ever growing baby bump and visibly swollen ankles. "How have you been coping with the repairs?" Fresh guilt prickled at him as he realised how much the Captain's fool errand had cut him out of the loop as to the ship's situation and he sighed again.
"We're holding up fine, as long as we're not hit again." B'Elanna replied with a rueful twitch of her lips. "I'm on my way to the Bridge to update the Captain right now."
"I'd like to hear that update if you don't mind." Chakotay suggested. B'Elanna nodded easily and they fell into step companionably. By the time they entered the turbolift B'Elanna had given him a condensed run through of the situation down in Engineering but his mind had already drifted to his central preoccupation, "Has Seven been assisting you?" he asked, awkwardly clearing his throat.
B'Elanna shot him a questioning look at his nervous tone and pensive expression as she shrugged nonchalantly, "Not really, she's been dealing with the detection of the alien defences more than anything." She chuckled wryly, "If she'd been interfering too much you'd have been the first to hear my objections."
Chakotay winced in disappointment despite his efforts to remain impassive. He'd hoped that Seven hadn't been spending as much time in the holodeck as he suspected, that his full day of watching the recordings had given him a distorted picture… He saw B'Elanna's raised eyebrows and forced out the laugh that was expected, "Yeah, I guess I would've heard if she'd been causing trouble."
B'Elanna's brows knitted as she heard a note of regret, even sadness in his words but she was still perplexed as to the source of his distraction. "Seven did do something a little odd yesterday though…" She mused thoughtfully.
Chakotay's gaze immediately fixated on hers. She'd gained his attention…somehow. "What did she do?"
Surprised up his sudden intensity, she stepped back slightly as she answered, "She came down to Engineering specificallyto apologise for bailing on my baby shower."
Chakotay's lips twitched upwards at her incredulous tone, as if he'd been let in on a secret she was unaware of, as he peered at her curiously, "And did you object to that?" he asked softly.
"Well…" B'Elanna swallowed, suddenly worried that she had been unfair to the ex-drone by expressing her shock, "Of course not, it's just pretty unlike Seven to apologise for anything, let alone missing a social event. Even Neelix is resigned to the fact that she avoids socialising."
Chakotay smiled, although B'Elanna could see more than a tinge of sadness in it. "Maybe she's coming around to the idea."
"Maybe." B'Elanna conceded doubtfully as the turbolift rapidly climbed towards the Bridge. "Even stranger than apologising, she asked me how I do my hair…"
"What did you say?" Chakotay asked as the turbolift drew to a halt.
"Just a sonic shower and some engine grease." B'Elanna replied with a sheepish chuckle as she stepped out onto the Bridge.
She definitely didn't use the engine grease, Chakotay thought wryly as the image of Seven last night, with her hair hanging loose over that red dress, popped into his head, unbidden but vivid. The anecdote actually settled his nerves, he found that he was relieved, even a little proud, that Seven was trying out some of her social skills in real life as well as within her holographic comfort zone. It reassured him about telling the Captain that was fine and should be left alone.
He was jerked out of his thoughts by the Captain's strident voice as she turned away from B'Elanna to face him, "I'll see you in my Ready Room Commander." She glanced at him just long enough to catch his obedient but apprehensive nod as she swept past him and strode into her Ready Room.
His heavy sigh as he followed her in was loud enough for several members of the current Bridge shift to look at him questioningly before exchanging curious glances. Thankfully, they waited until he was safely behind the Ready Room's doors before they started speculating about what was wrong, or more precisely, what their First Officer had done.
Captain Janeway didn't beat around the bush, not even pausing to replicate her requisite cup of insomnia-inducing black coffee before confronting her second-in-command, "Well? Did you find out what Seven's doing sequestered in those holodecks?" Chakotay took a deep breath to steel himself for answering but the Captain didn't pause long enough to let him. Snatching a PADD up from her desk, she pressed it impatiently into his hands, "Look, it's getting worse, 49 hours of holodeck time in six days…"
Chakotay put a quietening hand on Janeway's arm as he put the PADD down without even pretending to read it, he knew what it would say. "Kathryn, she's fine. The holodeck isn't doing her any harm, not at all…"
Janeway's eyes narrowed at his placatory tone, her anger sparked. "You're not going to tell me what you saw her doing are you?" she asked incredulously.
"No." Chakotay answered honestly, meeting her eyes apologetically but otherwise unrepentant. "It's private, I'd be breeching more of Seven's trust than I already have. You need to trust me and Seven, I know she's fine and not doing anything wrong."
Janeway ran a frustrated hand through her auburn hair and began to pace, now glaring at Chakotay. "I do trust Seven, that's not what this is about, you know that." She snapped harshly, "Aren't I allowed to be concerned when she abandons her duties, her beloved routine, to lock herself away on the holodeck?"
Chakotay couldn't bite back his irritation as she refused to listen to him. All of the frustration and confusion he felt over this situation, the resentment he felt towards Janeway for putting him in this position, exploded from him. "She's not an android to be programmed Captain! She's a young woman who's allowed to make her own decisions, mistakes if that's the case." Thoughts that had subconsciously mulled over for years began spilling out from his mouth uncensored, "You have to remember that you're her Captain, not her mother…"
He stopped as he saw the Captain's face drain to white in anger, her offence obvious as her eyes blazed with hurt. "I have never treated Seven as anything less than a human individual." She stated stiffly, pausing as her hurt changed to spite, "I can't say the same for you Commander."
Chakotay inhaled sharply as her words hit a nerve made even rawer than usual by his recent experiences, his initial distrust, no, even hatred, of Seven of Nine had been a source of intense guilt for a long time. "No…" He conceded thickly, swallowing down the violent retort which had first sprang to his lips with difficulty. He had provoked her first after all. "Listen, you know Seven better than I do, so you know that even if she is…distracted right now she wouldn't neglect her duties, right?"
The Captain sighed thoughtfully before opening her mouth to reply but the ship's sudden and violent roll dragged a shocked gasp from her lips instead. Tom's voice immediately filled the Ready Room through the comm. system, "Sorry Captain, we had to move pretty quick to avoid that shot and I'm not getting any help from Astrometrics."
Janeway's eyebrows shot up in Chakotay's direction, "Do you still believe it isn't affecting her duties?" she muttered as rushed past him back to the Bridge.
A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D This was the most difficult chapter to write yet, I hope you still like it. It's also shorter than I intended because I need to get ready for going on holiday tomorrow until Friday. If anybody updates anything, I'll review when I come back. :)