Chapter 18: Flashbacks

Ensign Kim was sat in the Surgical Bay having his final scan from the Doctor. He felt fine and he was sure the Doctor's scans would reveal that – he just couldn't understand what had happened to him, to them. It was clear neither him nor Seven could explain the gap in their memory. Just what had happened last night?

It wasn't long before the young Ensign became aware of the Captain entering Sickbay.

"Doctor?" she made her presence known.

The EHM looked up from his tricorder and turned, throwing her a soft smile as she made her way over to them. He wasn't surprised she'd made her way down given the circumstances.

"Everything looks fine." he reported, "Apart from his earlier confusion, he's fine."

The Captain nodded. "And how was Seven?" she asked as she turned to Harry.

Harry sighed softly. "She said she was fine, but it seemed like she was in a bit of discomfort."

"Discomfort?" enquired the Captain.

Harry nodded. "She said it was because she needed to regenerate."

The Doctor frowned slightly to himself. Seven had never experienced any discomfort before simply because she needed to regenerate. He decided there and then he'd do a complete physical work up on her when she was next available, preferably sooner rather than later.

The Captain shuffled briefly on the spot, something the Doctor took note of.

"Do you have any idea what happened to you, Mr Kim?" she asked, "Any idea where you were?"

From what she had been informed from Lt. Paris and Commander Tuvok, the pair had been unable to explain their whereabouts of the previous night and that morning. They both had a clear gap in their memories.

Ensign Kim shook his head somewhat regretfully. "I'm sorry, Captain. No." he rubbed his forehead tiredly, "I remember being on the beach and then feeling some sort of pain in my lower back."

The Captain met the Doctor's eye momentarily. It was clear they both were concerned.

"I know I blacked out." Harry continued, "Then nothing after that. Not until Tom and Tuvok found us."

The Captain sighed. The idea of two members of her crew being completely unaware of a long period of their day bothered her deeply.

"I'm going to speak to Seven." she told the young man, "Then, if you're both up to it, I want you to work with Tuvok. He's beginning an investigation. I want to know what's happened to you both."

Harry simply nodded. "Understood."

She flashed him a soft smile as the Doctor and allowed him to leave Sickbay. For now, all the young Ensign was in need of was some rest. There was nowhere better to get that than in his quarters.

Only after Harry left the room did the Doctor turn to face the Captain.

"I'll continue to look over his scans, see if I can shed some light on the problems with his memory."

She nodded softly. "Understood. Thank you, Doctor."

Hiding her slight yawn with the back of her hand, the Captain began to leave.

"And how are you, Captain?" the Doctor asked softly before she managed to escape.

She stopped and turned, a light frown engraved on her face. He could clearly see she was tired.

"Me? I'm fine." she brushed off his question lightly.

The Doctor's eyebrow raised pointedly. "I couldn't help but notice that your putting more weight on your left side when you walk."

The Captain felt her eyes roll, something she did her best to disguise. Why did he have to pry?

"It's nothing." she insisted quietly, afraid she'd snap if he pushed her. She just wanted to get back to work. She'd found that had been the best way for her to simply ignore it.

"Captain." the Doctor was genuinely sincere with his tone as he stepped closer to her, "If you're in discomfort, I can help you with it."

She sighed harshly. "I'll live." she pointed out flatly.

The Doctor shook his head. "Let me have a look." he led her over to a biobed.

She protested, trying to pull away from him. "Doctor really, I'm okay."

He was no fool, he knew she wasn't. She was just far too stubborn to admit there was a problem.

"Let me be the judge of that."

The Captain gave in with a huff and slowly climbed up onto the bed. She winced as she did so. The reason for her discomfort was that she had an intense burning feeling down the back of her leg and the moment of climbing onto the biobed only aggravated it further.

"Captain?"

She didn't speak, didn't acknowledge the sudden sensation, so she could focus on her composure as it eased. It was this silence with led to the Doctor grabbing the nearest medical tricorder.

The readings from the scan made perfect sense, although he couldn't believe the intensity of the pain she was obviously in. She must have been feeling it for days.

"The position of the baby is putting slight pressure sciatic nerve." he told her, "And the untamed energy within the baby is heating the nerve."

"Brilliant." the Captain muttered. At least that explained the burning sensation.

The Doctor shut the tricorder and met her eye. "I can desensitise the nerve."

The Captain shook her head, attempting to jump down off the bed. She had no time for a surgical procedure. There were things that needed to be done.

The Doctor held her lightly in place. "It'll take no more than five minutes." he told her.

With a rough sigh, she allowed her head to fall back slightly. She couldn't deny it to herself, the pain was more than enough to make even the task of sitting difficult. Five minutes with the Doctor and it would all be over. How could she refuse that?

"Alright, Doctor." she lowered her head to meet his eye, "You win."

=/\=

Once Seven's regeneration cycle was complete, she made her way down to Engineering. Her intention was to assist Lt. Torres and her team with the shield grid modifications. She had hoped that regenerating would remove the pain in her abdomen and lower back. It usually did. However, this time it hadn't. All it had done had desensitised the areas but she was sure it wouldn't last long.

Upon entering Engineering, Seven felt her body tense when she spotted Hudersona. Her fists clenching at her side to the point that made her arms ache. She didn't understand why but she was aware that her dislike of him had intensified.

"Seven." greeted B'Elanna Torres who seemed to pop out of nowhere, "Can you modify the shield generators to accept the foreign technology?"

Bringing herself to look away from Hudersona, she turned to Lt. Torres.

"Yes, Lieutenant."

She headed over to the console, her body trembling with anger when she found Hudersona in the exact place she needed to be. Of all the places on-board, he had to be there. With a silent sigh, Seven rolled her shoulders back and opted to work at the station to his left. She'd simply move to the console he was at when he was done.

The modification was relatively simple and Seven was sure she would have finished sooner if it weren't for the alien who kept popping his head over her shoulder. His proximity to her was making her abnormally uncomfortable. She really didn't like it. She especially didn't like the way he grabbed her hip at one point to pull her aside so he could see her work more closely.

"What are you doing?" he asked harshly.

"My job." she sneered before returning the favour and pushing him aside and continuing to work at the console.

It didn't take B'Elanna long to notice Seven and Hudersona interactions were far less than professional. It also didn't take long for her to notice Seven's discomfort with the alien in question. It was common knowledge on-board that she and Seven weren't close. However, even she could see that Seven's posture had become uncharacteristically different around Hudersona.

"You don't need to do that!" Hudersona shouted suddenly, "Get out of my way!"

Hudersona grabbed Seven's arm and was more than ready to yank her out of his way. As he did so, a series of disjointed images flooded through her mind. They made her tense considerably.

A screaming baby. Ensign Kim having a long needle extracted from his neck. A young Harrallian woman holding a damp cloth to her forehead.

Seven noticeably gasped, swiftly pulled her arm away from his tight grip and slamming her hand roughly into his face.

"Don't touch me!" she demanded.

B'Elanna's eyes suddenly widened. "Seven!"

She and Ashmore reacted instantly.

"Where is he?" Seven screamed, attempting to get to Hudersona but her arms having been restrained, "What have you done with him?!"

With Ashmore fighting to hold Seven back, B'Elanna managed to stand between her and the alien she'd just attacked in order to break her stare away from him. She looked vicious, her look murderous. It wasn't the same Seven of Nine the Chief Engineer was used to seeing.

"Seven!" she gipped the woman's shoulders, establishing eye contact with her, "Calm down."

Seven roughly pulled away from the Lieutenant's grasp and let out a rough sigh. It was the only thing she could do to stop herself from screaming. In barely a moment, she ended up squatting down in a futile attempt to stop herself from crying. She couldn't understand why but her emotions were all over the place.

Hudersona had been lucky to avoid being knocked to the floor when Seven had hit him. However, the pain in his upper lip was evident. If it hadn't split, it was definitely going to sport a nice bruise within a few hours.

His anger was seen by all the crew members with a front row seat to the show. However, none of them expected his reaction. After rubbing his tender lip and checking his fingertips for any sign of blood, the alien slowly stepped closer to his weeping attacker.

"You less-than-nothing, no good, Borg automaton!" he spat, "The only thing you're good for is being dissected for your nanoprobes. At least they're actually worth something!"

Torres could understand his anger. In his position, he'd share it, but that was a step too far.

"Excuse me, sir." she demanded, "That is more than enough."

Seven managed to lift her head and look up at the man towering above her. She'd never felt hate against anyone before. She'd never felt anything so strongly as she was in that moment. Every instinct in her body was telling her he'd done something unforgiveable, that he'd done something to warrant more than a smack in the face.

"Is that why you took him?" Seven had to know, "To DISSECT?!"

Lt. Ashmore had to suddenly grab onto her again as she stood up and lunge towards the alien, B'Elanna actually having to step up and help him restrain her.

Hudersona recoiled back, his eyes wide.

"Tell me where he is!" Seven demanded.

B'Elanna couldn't help but wonder who the 'he' was she was referring to as she struggled with the former drone. She had never realised just how strong she was.

"TELL ME!"

Lt. Torres sighed roughly. "Lieutenant, get him out of here. Take him to the Captain." she ordered, giving Ashmore a silent look as to assist her, "Come on. We're going to Sickbay."

The two Lieutenants fought their way towards the door.

"No!" Seven tried desperately to break free, "I want to know where he is! Tell me where he is!"

The last thing any of the Engineering staff saw was their Chief forcefully having to drag the ex-Borg out of the door.

=/\=

The Captain wanted to go to Sickbay to check on Seven after hearing B'Elanna's report. However, first she had to deal with a certain alien and his behaviour towards one of her crew members.

Hudersona stood before her in her ready room, holding his bruised lip and shaking his head.

"So, I'm the one hit by your crew member and I'm the one in trouble?" he almost laughed, "Top priorities, Captain. Top priorities."

Ignoring the sarcasm in his voice, the Captain shook her head.

"What Seven did to you isn't the issue here." she pointed out, "What you said to her is." she leant forward in her chair, "I do not tolerate threats towards members of my crew, no matter what the circumstances."

Hudersona laughed coldly. "This is unbelievable! I didn't say anything that bad."

That time it was the Captain's turn to sound sarcastic.

"Oh really…" she trailed off, grabbing the report off her desk and reading a fragment aloud, "…You less-than-nothing, no good, Borg automaton. The only thing you're good for is being dissected for your nanoprobes. At least they're actually worth something."

Hudersona scoffed. "I was angry!" he argued, "She'd just him me!"

The Captain nodded. She accepted that.

"That's no excuse." she pointed out, "What you said was personal. If I'd just been hit by someone, I wouldn't threaten to dissect them."

The Captain allowed a moment of silence to fall over the room. Her eyes never left him as she fell back again the backrest of her chair.

"Who was the 'he' she was referring to?"

Hudersona's eyes widened momentarily. That alone said it all.

"I have no idea!" he cried.

The Captain felt her eyes tighten. "Well, you obviously do."

Again, silence fell over them and all the Captain could do was sigh and look towards Tuvok. He was stood by the door as part of the security detail.

"Mr. Tuvok, please escort our guest to the Transporter Room." she glanced back at him, her hand coming to rest upon her growing bump, "And get him off my ship."

Hudersona rolled his eyes. "But… Captain!" he cried, "What about our trade agreements? You're willing to lose it over one lunatic of a crew member?!"

"Yes." she answered easily, forcing herself to lean forward against her desk, "And if I find out you've done anything to her, our lack of trade agreements will be the least of your worries. I do not take kindly to anything that effects any member of my crew."

Again, she glanced back towards Tuvok. "Get him out of here."

=/\=

By the time the Captain had got down to Sickbay, Seven had calmed down considerably. She was no longer aggressive or emotional as B'Elanna had described in her report, she was simply sat on the bed in the Surgical Bay looking very tense and lost. It worried her immensely. It also made her wonder if it had anything to do with the missing few hours she and Ensign Kim shared. For the moment, it was as good a theory as any.

The Doctor was still examining Seven as the Captain took up a position in the Surgical Bay.

"This is strange." he muttered.

The Captain looked away from Seven and towards him. "What is?"

"There's an increase in nanoprobes in her memory centre." he reported.

Seven managed to bring herself to look around. Her mind may have been swimming but her ears were working perfectly.

"What does that indicate?" she asked uncertainly.

The EMH frowned softly. "It's consistent with memory restoration." he explained, moving over to the console and doing a more detailed analysis of the scans.

Seven followed him with her eyes. "You mean my memories have been altered?"

"No." the Doctor shook his head, briefly looking up from the monitor, "According to these readings, some of your memories were wiped but your nanoprobes are restoring them."

Seven was trying to understand. "Could that explain why I keep seeing incoherent images in my mind?" she asked almost timidly.

The Doctor frowned. It took him a moment to realise she meant some sort of flashbacks.

"It's possible." he answered, "Lie down and I'll run some more scans."

Slowly, Seven did as instructed as the Doctor came over. The activation the diagnostic bed resulted in more images, clearly images, popping up in her mind.

She was being restrained by the young woman. An incubator was being placed at the foot of her bed.

"How peculiar." voiced the Doctor.

The Captain again looked toward him. "What is it?"

"Her hemo-uterine levels are almost four times what they should be."

The Captain was lost. Her knowledge of basic physiology was as good as it got when it came to medical understanding.

"Meaning?" queried the Captain.

The Doctor turned to her. "It usually occurs when a woman had recently given birth."

Seven gasped as more new images flooded her mind, images that were becoming a lot clearer.

"One more time." the woman instructed demandingly in the softest possible way, "You can do it."

"Seven?"

The Doctor's voice brought her back to reality.

"What is it? What did you see?"

She shook her head ever so softly. "I-I was in a laboratory." she stuttered

It was then that Captain stepped closer, her hand coming to rest near to Seven's shoulder.

"Where?" she asked, "Where were you?"

Seven shook her head a little more. "I don't know…"

"I've got him!" exclaimed the young woman as a piercing cry filled the room.

"Good. Take him away." a familiar voice ordered.

She fought as best she could again her restraints. "No, leave him." she begged, "Please!"

Seven recoiled as the memory advanced and she was able to recall the man in charge.

"Seven?" asked the Captain.

She looked pained. "I didn't recall this before." she whispered.

The Captain shook her head softly. "What?" she had to know.

"Hudersona…" Seven whispered, feeling a stinging sensation shoot up the back of her throat.

"What about him?" the Captain asked.

Seven gulped. "He… he took him away." she barely managed to whisper.

"Who?" the Captain asked, "Took who away?"

Seven shook her head again. "My baby." she whispered, "He took my baby."

With wide eyes, the Captain looked up at the Doctor who appeared to be almost as shell-shocked as she was. Surely she hadn't heard that correctly.

Looking back down at Seven, she found she had to frown.

"Your baby?" she questioned, "What baby?"

Seven released a distorted breath. "I don't know…"