I do not own the characters. No profit made off this ritzy biosuit.

Rated T to M

POV Janeway

Misplaced Three

Cloak and Dagger

I'm the first to enter the Senior staff conference room. Seven follows close on my heels, her warm breath tickling the back of my neck. If anyone other than Seven walked right on my heels, I'd turn around and elbow them in the stomach. But I like Seven at my back. Her presence puts my jumping nerves to ease.

Immediately I go to the replicator for a fresh coffee, I have a feeling this is going to be a long meeting. Lifting the generic silver mug to my lips, I breath in the steam and sigh. My eyes flutter shut to relish the peace for just a moment longer. I've been out here, trapped on Voyager for so long, I've almost forgotten what real coffee smells like. Even replicated coffee smells good to me nowadays.

Seven stands beside the table in her pose of arrogance and authority.

My eyes find hers across the empty conference room. The normally Ice blue color of her eyes is dark and her pupils are dilated. Either she's feeling frightened by this whole situation or she's feeling something else entirely. I only wonder what could be flying through that super enhanced brain of hers. And for some nagging reason, I want to know her every thought and feeling.

Swallowing the coffee, I move over to take my seat at the head of the table. I use my free hand and point to the chairs, gesturing for Seven to take a seat. She nods and instead of taking her normal spot at the back of the table, usually as far away from me as possible, she takes the seat right beside me.

Out of the corner of my, I see her staring at me with an odd expression on her face. Over the course of our friendship, I have been able to identify most of her expressions and the confusing emotions she is feeling at the time. But this expression, I have no frame of reference for. I'd almost say, she was gravelly upset over something, but Seven doesn't get upset; she often gets angry and physically violent.

"Seven," I softly say to get her attention, "what are you thinking?" Those blue eyes lock onto mine in challenge.

"I am confused," she mumbles, pauses to catch her breath, "I do not understand why the Queen would want something of such a useless nature." Her beautiful lips tip down into a frown. "What will she gain by taking such an inanimate object."

"I wonder that too. Do you really think she might be setting a trap for us?" Taking a drink of coffee, I think for a minute then say, "she's probably still mad over that taking you thing."

"Yes Captain. You did 'take' me. But Borg are not vengeful nor deceitful," she says, blatantly pointing out the difference between Borg and Human.

I laugh. "I seem to recall you getting pretty mad at me your first night aboard Voyager. In fact, you threatened to kill me. Remember?"

"I remember everything," she responds mysteriously, but then turns her pretty eyes away from me to stare at the door to the conference room with that funny expression once again on her face. Even after all the time we've spent together, she is still a puzzle to me. One day, I'm going to figure her out.

Thudding footsteps echo outside the conference room door. I look over and away from Seven, and watch as the Senior staff enter the room and I've lost my opportunity to probe further into what might be bothering Seven. For some reason, I want to ease her discomfort. I always want to make her comfortable, even when she pushes me away. With a shake of my head, I focus on the staff members, putting Seven out of my mind for the moment.

"Please take your seats and we'll get started," I say loudly, and focus on the moving bodies as they take their seats.

I look to my Operations officer, Harry Kim and ask, "I need to know how she got in here. Give me a full transporter report for the time period during the unauthorized transport."

He looks at Chakotay then to me. An uneasy feeling settles in the pit of my stomach. "Just spit it out," I bark, feeling a sudden headache coming on. Maybe caffeine will stop it. I take a big swallow of my coffee and stare at Harry over the top of my mug. He squirms in his seat then says, "well Captain, the records seem to be missing."

I sputter and choke. "Missing? How can the records be missing?" I scream around coughs. I look around the table and each member is staring intently at the table. "So we really are having a cloak and dagger situation," I mutter and take another swallow to ease my dry throat.

"We're looking into it," Chakotay booms out, probably hoping to take my focus off my Operations officer. Chakotay is the superior, and essentially responsible for any mishaps that might occur with the records. "It appears there was a complete transporter copy taken from the computer."

I look to him and meet his dark eyes. "Why would she take a complete record?" I raise my eyebrow and say, "well?"

Tuvok answers, "it would be my understanding Captain, that she is fishing for a record of our activities the past few weeks since the transporter keeps a cache on a thirty-two day cycle."

"Captain, I recommend we stop our course toward the Borg ship until we have a better understanding of what her motives are. I will run assessments and get a better idea." His eyes dart over to Seven. She is still gazing around with that confused expression on her face. Poor Seven. "Seven, I'm going to need your assistance on this."

I watch as she looks up at him, her puzzled expression fading to one of stern aloofness. "You have it Commander," she says in a flat tone. The Borg is back and the woman is gone in the blink of an eye.

Looking over to the other end of the table, I see Torres watching Seven also and want to divert her attention from Seven so I say, "Lieutenant Torres… Status on the Warp Core? If we're going near the Borg, I want assurance we won't have an engine stall mid-way?"

"Running smoothly Captain. I was about to do maintenance, but I should put that off because it.. Stalls the engines as you say, and we're dead in the water until the cycle completes."

"Mmmh, yes. Let's wait for that maintenance until we know a bit more on what the Queen wants."

"Well let's figure this out. I want to meet her at O'Eight hundred. Dismissed," I bark.

The staff jumps up and starts to flee out of the conference room. Seven hasn't moved. Maybe she's sick? My hand stretches out and clasps her wrist. Her skin is colder than normal and her normally pale face is paler if that's possible.

"Seven, are you feeling alright? When was the last time you regenerated?"

"I do not need to regenerate yet Captain. My nanoprobes keep me well," she immediately answers in her 'brook no arguments' voice. Her eyes avoid meeting mine. She is so stubborn.

I squeeze my fingers to get her attention. "Whether you need to or not, I would like you to. It's going to be a long next few days, and I need you at optimum performance." I smile at her to take any bite out of my words. Then I throw in the gauntlet. "I need you for this Seven."

"I find that unlikely Captain. You need no one." She lifts her eyebrow. "Is this mug so important to you, that you would risk your crew?" she asks, her blue eyes dark and on fire. "Because she will take everything of importance to you. Do not forget that Captain." The anger in her tone makes me draw my hand back from her arm, and instead I fold it together with my own, binding my fingers together. I want to touch her and soothe away the pain so evident in her voice, but I've overstepped my bounds.

"I've already told you that it's important to me. To me, it is irreplaceable. But more importantly Seven, we need to know what the Queen is playing at. I need to know if she is after you again, and is using this as a trap to draw us in." I gaze at her and bite my lips. "We could be in a lot of trouble here."

She is silent for so long, I start to think she might not have heard me. "And am I, also irreplaceable? If the Queen is after me and takes me again, would you come after me or leave me to the collective?" Her voice is timid and quiet, not at all like the arrogant Borg of just a few moments ago.

Is that what's bothering her?

"Oh Seven." My hand reaches out, needing to touch her. She jerks away from my hand then stands up. Her blue eyes stormy and mysterious, the surface shimmering in the soft light of the conference room. It looks like she might be about to cry.

I blink in surprise.

"I have work Captain. I trust you to figure it out." She stares down into my eyes, then she marches away from me without another word.

The doors swoosh shut as she leaves me. "Dammit," I curse, but there is no one here to listen.

My stomach growls as I stare out the window, watching the stars streak by. I can't be bothered right now with mere bodily functions. I ignore the growling and continue to sit in my chair at the head of the table. The place of honor. I sigh as I realize that I should get up and go get some rest, but my mind is whirling with too many troubling thoughts. I stay seated.

I need to check on Seven, is my last thought before darkness takes me.

A/N: Really short update. More to come… :+)