Chapter Ten

Drawing in a sharp breath, Seven rolled over. Almost immediately, confusion washed over her. She wasn't sure what was wrong, but something felt off. After a few seconds, it dawned on her: while she had been asleep, Tom had crumpled up his outer tunic and put it under her head as a makeshift pillow. It was a sweet, yet unnecessary gesture. Given their current situation, her comfort was irrelevant. She rolled onto her side. A few feet away, Tom was curled up in his t-shirt with his long sleeved shirt underneath his head as a pillow. As of right now, Seven felt fine, or as fine as could be expected. Her headache was minimal, along with the pain in her leg. She got to her feet. There was definite discomfort, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Perhaps it was a sign that her body was starting to adjust to not regenerating, and she could move forward and not be constantly tethered to her alcove.

In an attempt to make it up to Tom for taking care of her the day before, Seven went to retrieve water in their canteen on her own; it was the least she could do. Mindful of her leg, which only ached a little bit, she walked to the water and back again. As she walked, the pain progressively got worse. Rest undoubtedly made the pain and discomfort better, but that wasn't a luxury she had. They had wasted yesterday sitting around camp while Chakotay and Harry searched for a way to find them, today they couldn't repeat that. It would be inefficient to waste another day sitting around camp. They would have to continue searching for a way out on their own or else she felt they would be stuck down here indefinitely. She would have to adapt to the pain and keep pushing forward.

Cool air swirled around Tom. At first, it was a minor inconvenience that gently pulled him from his sleep. Still mostly asleep, he tried groping for a blanket, but there was nothing for him to grab and ward off the uncomfortable sensation. Eventually, the cold was too much to handle, and he was wide awake. When he rolled over and saw that Seven was gone, his heart skipped a beat as he immediately scrambled to his feet. When he'd gone to sleep last night, she was fast asleep right across from him. Now, she was gone. If he lost her, Chakotay would definitely kill him, there was no doubt about it.

"Seven?" he called as he rushed down the length of the cave. There were only so many places she could go. He thought she could barely walk, or at least that's the impression he got yesterday. Given her physical situation yesterday, he couldn't figure out how she'd gotten so far. "Seven?" he repeated. With a confused look on her face, Seven appeared out of the darkness.

"There is no need to shout," she assured. The minute he saw her, Tom visibly relaxed.

"Shit, Seven, you scared the hell out of me."

"Expletives are hardly necessary. I awoke, you were still asleep, so I went to get water for the day." Without breaking stride, she began to walk back towards camp. Tom fell into step behind her and eyed her suspiciously. Her gait was a definite improvement after resting yesterday, but his trained eyes told him that she was still favoring her bad leg. It was a faint limp, but it was still there, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

"Yeah, well, next time let me know or something." He trailed after her. She seemed unbothered by his complaints as she continued to walk back to camp.

"You were asleep. It is my understanding that people do not like to be woken up when they are asleep." Tom rolled his eyes.

"Tell that to my daughter," he muttered under his breath. "But seriously, Seven, yesterday you could barely move, and now you're up and acting like everything is fine."

"I over exerted myself the past few days. It was irresponsible. Now I am back to my optimal functioning and am adequately prepared to continue our task today."

"If you're fine, why are you trying to hide your limp?" Tom asked smugly. Seven stopped mid-stride and spun around to glare at him angrily. Feeling victorious, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I am undamaged," she insisted. "We need to prepare to rendezvous with Commander Chakotay and Ensign Kim." She turned around and kept walking again. When she realized that Tom wasn't following her, she stopped and turned around once again. "Are you coming?" Sighing, Tom started walking again. He'd been so sure he'd backed Seven into a corner; he was still trying to figure out what exactly had just happened. How in the world had she managed to weasel her way into acting like everything was fine?

Tom used to think that B'Elanna was stubborn, but she was nothing compared to Seven. When it came to B'Elanna, she was just angry and quick tempered. If things didn't go her way, she was quick to snap and slow to apologize. It made for some tenuous moments in their marriage, but Tom had learned to adapt. In all honesty, he was more afraid about the years to come when Miral hit her teens. If she had her mother's Klingon temperament, then they were definitely in for some rough years ahead, especially given the close quarters in which they lived. Seven, on the other hand, was cool and collected at all times, which made it difficult to tell what she was planning. She used mental tricks to manipulate a person and get her way, and if that didn't work, she simply changed the subject and did what she wanted anyway. Tom was starting to pick up on that, although he wasn't entirely sure how to overcome that. She always seemed to be just half a step ahead of him. He'd heard the Captain and Chakotay talk about it several times, but he'd never really experienced it himself until now.

At the rendezvous point, relief washed over Chakotay as soon as he saw Seven appear beneath him. After not seeing her for a while, he wanted to make sure she was okay. Something just hadn't felt right, but she looked fine to him. The tension in his shoulders seemed to melt away, at least temporarily, as soon as he saw her. He hadn't even realized how stressed he was about not seeing her until he could finally relax. At first, he couldn't figure out why he had been so stressed, then it dawned on him: he hadn't seen Seven in roughly forty-eight hours. Normally, that would hardly be a reason to be stressed, but given the current circumstances, forty-eight hours could seem like a lifetime.

By the time they got to the hole, it took everything in Seven's power not to limp. It was obvious to her that she had pushed herself too much this morning, and she still had a long day ahead of her. She focused all the energy she had on walking tall and as if she didn't have any problems. She knew that if Chakotay saw her limping or even sensed that something wasn't right, it would cause him to worry unnecessarily. To cause him to worry would be inefficient, as the lead officer on this away mission, he needed to focus on finding whoever sent out the distress call and getting them out of the cave. Her well-being was hardly important in the grand scheme of things. She would find a way to adapt until they got back to Voyager, she always did. Although, this time she was finding adapting a bit of a challenge. It was her burden to bear though, and she would find a way through this, somehow.

Tom and Seven stood just underneath the hole and looked up into the blinding light that streamed in from the outside. He was starting to miss the sunlight and even the heat that Harry and Chakotay had to endure day in and day out. It was much better than this damn cave. He missed feeling the heat of the sun of his skin and the fresh air. The air in this cave was always cool and damp.

"Any news?" he asked.

"Nothing," Harry replied. "Shuttle's still damaged, you're still stuck in a cave, and we still can't find any signs of whoever sent out that distress call."

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine," Tom teased. "You're starting to sound like Tuvok. There has to be some good news."

"It feels a little cooler out here than yesterday," Chakotay said. It was the best they were going to get. Despite the fact that they had had far worse away missions, this one was clearly a disaster as well. All four of them wanted nothing more to get back to Voyager and forget that this mission ever happened while putting as many lightyears as possible between them and this awful place.

"Well, it's constantly cool in here," Tom retorted.

"Poor baby," Harry teased with a roll of his eyes. If Tom was looking for sympathy, he definitely wasn't going to get it from Harry or Chakotay. While Tom and Seven were enjoying the nice, cool air in the caves, they had to suffer through the unyielding heat on the surface. It was enough to drive anyone mad.

"What's your plan for today?" Chakotay asked in an attempt to shift the conversation back to more important matters. Tom and Harry could give each other a hard time as much as they wanted when they got back to Voyager, right now they needed to get their days started. With any luck, this would be their last rendezvous like this.

Tom opened his mouth to respond, but Seven beat him to it, "We are going to continue searching for a way out of the caves. We have already searched the caves extensively, but they appear to double back on each other. It is simply a matter of finding the right combination of turns to get out of here." Tom glanced at her. He didn't like her plan. She could barely walk, how did she expect to search the caves for a way out of here? They were sure to get lost or stranded without supplies somewhere deep in the bowels of this labyrinth if they went too far.

"We'll do the same," Chakotay added. "With any luck, we'll run into each other somewhere in the middle and get you guys out of there." He sounded falsely optimistic. The two groups somehow finding each other amongst the caves while aimlessly wandering around would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Even so, it was the only plan they had that could actually work. Besides, they'd beaten worse odds in the past.

Tom kept his doubts about Chakotay's plan to himself. He knew Seven would barely be able to walk, therefore it would be nearly impossible for them to meet somewhere in the middle of the caves today. They would be lucky if they could travel a few kilometers before turning back. Whatever was wrong with Seven was getting worse, and he didn't want to risk her health. Right then and there, he made the decision that they weren't leaving camp again today, but he kept that to himself for the time being. Bringing it up would only cause a plethora of questions from Chakotay that he didn't want to answer. Supplies were exchanged, along with the usual directions to rendezvous either at the camp or at the hole, depending on their situation at the end of the day. Tom knew they wouldn't be meeting at the camp, but he made sure to give off the impression that that was a possibility.

Once they were out of sight of Harry and Chakotay, Seven began to limp again. Tom immediately materialized at her side and grabbed her arm to stabilize her. She opened her mouth to protest but quickly closed it again. She knew he was only trying to help her, and she could barely walk on her own right now. Already, she felt drained from trying to act like she was alright in front of Chakotay. Logically, she could not venture far into the cave, it would only wear her out even more.

"Let's get you back to camp," Tom said as gently as possible as he steered her in the direction of camp when she tried to turn to walk deeper into the caves.

"I am undamaged enough to walk for a little while," Seven argued as she attempted to pull away and walk in the opposite direction. Tom took her by the shoulders and began to push her in the direction of the camp.

"Oh no you don't," he insisted. "The last thing I need is for you to collapse while we're walking, then I'll have to carry you back to camp." Under normal circumstances, he was certain he would be able to carry Seven, but these weren't normal circumstances. He was exhausted and fairly sure starting to become malnourished. It wasn't anything critical, but he wasn't fully functional and wouldn't be able to take care of Seven properly if something drastic were to happen to him.

"I can assure you, that will not happen."

"You better believe it's not going to happen, because I'm not going to let it. We're going back to camp, and I'm going to take a look at you. You told me that a day of resting was exactly what you needed to be on the mend, but you're not getting better, you're getting worse." Seven pursed her lips in frustration and protest. She was going crazy with all of Tom's hovering. She was more than capable of taking care of herself. She also knew that as field medic and assistant to the Doctor, it was his job to look after members of the away team, and since he couldn't get to Chakotay and Harry, that meant that all his attention was focused on her, whether she liked it or not.

When they got back to camp, Tom braced his arm behind Seven and carefully lowered her to the ground with surprising skill and grace. She felt foolish for not even being able to sit on the ground on her own, but she was also grateful for the help, leaving her feeling very conflicted. Letting out a sigh, she leaned against the wall of the cave and closed her eyes. In the time it took them to get back to camp, her headache had been getting progresively worse, to the point where she almost couldn't stand it. It felt as if her brain was twice its normal size and was trying to escape from its confinement. The slightest movement or jostle was enough to cause her extreme pain. It was no wonder no Borg ever allowed itself to go so long without regenerating, not only was it inefficient, but it felt like torture. Between her leg and her head, Seven was sure she'd never felt such pain in her life.

As soon as he was sure that Seven was comfortable, Tom pulled out his tricorder in an attempt to figure out what was wrong. Knowing that it wouldn't take very long for the device to tell him what was wrong with her, she immediately pushed his hand away.

"Put it away," she protested. "I just need to rest." He immediately pulled off his outer tunic and bunched it up in a ball once again.

"Lay down," he urged gently as he carefully helped her lay on the cave floor. Completely drained of all energy for the time being, Seven didn't protest. The second her head hit the makeshift pillow, she was out like a light.

Tom sat next to Seven's head and watch her sleep. She looked peaceful and calm, a stark difference to her usual serious demeanor. Whatever was going on with her had to be serious for her to be acting this way. He wondered if he'd made the right choice not to tell Chakotay what was going on here. Clearly this was far more serious than not feeling well. She was Borg, she didn't get sick. In fact, Tom couldn't remember a single time that she was sick or at all felt under the weather, with the exception of the times her implants had malfunctioned. Every time something was wrong with her, it was directly related to her Borg components, but this appeared to be a human illness to him. Perhaps her human physiology was finally asserting itself much more, and she was dealing with her first human illness. While it was unfortunate, it also meant that she was one step closer to being completely human. The timing was unfortunate, but he was confident that she would be fine with a little rest. While he watched her sleep, Tom tried to think of what else could cause her to feel this way. Seeing as she was fine before she got to the planet, he concluded that it could be something environmental as well. Of course, then it would have affected all of the away team, not just her. Perhaps it was a virus or food poisoning that she acquired from some fruit she ate. It was the only thing that could explain the sudden onset of symptoms. If that were the case, then they would need the medical supplies on Voyager to treat her. If they didn't get off this planet soon, there was no telling what would happen because of this mysterious virus. His only prayer was that more members of the away team didn't come down with it as well.

Seven's eyes fluttered open. She was still curled up with Tom's shirt under her head as a pillow. She ran her hand over her face sleepily and propped herself up. Her hair stuck up all over the place, causing Tom to crack a small smile from where he sat a few meters away.

"I fail to see what is so humorous," she stated. She sounded like her usual self, which was a huge relief to him. Perhaps all she needed was some more rest.

"Your hair's a mess," he explained. Her hands immediately flew to her hair and removed the pin that held her hair in place with a flick of her wrist. The action immediately sent her cornsilk locks tumbling past her shoulders in delicate waves. Tom had to wonder why she never wore her hair down, it looked very flattering on her. With surprising expertise, Seven pulled her hair back into its usual hairstyle and firmly pinned it in place.

"Is that satisfactory?" she asked. Tom shrugged.

"I don't see what the big deal is, it's not like you have to impress anyone down here. I imagine that I look like a mess as well."

"Your appearance is adequate." He let out an overdramatic sigh of relief and pretended to wipe his brow.

"Whew, well that's a relief, because adequate was exactly what I was going for when I woke up this morning." The joke was lost on Seven, who attempted to get to her feet. "Whoa, where do you think you're going?" he asked as he gently pushed her back to a sitting position.

"I need to stretch. I am undamaged. There is no need for concern."

"Yeah, well, I want to try to figure out what's wrong with you before I let you run all over the place." He pulled out his tricorder and began to scan her. While he didn't have a medical tricorder with him, Tom hoped that his would be enough to figure out what was going on with her.

Seven sighed but didn't protest this time. Her head hurt too much to come up with a plausible reason for him to stop scanning her. She knew her condition was deteriorating, and it would only continue to do so at a much quicker speed over the next few days. She wouldn't be able to keep the real extent of her condition a secret for much longer. It would be illogical to keep this a secret for much longer. She may as well come clean and get it over with.

"That is unnecessary," she argued. "I know what is wrong with me." Tom froze and looked up from his tricorder. This was news to him. He'd just spent the past two hours trying to figure out what was wrong with her and what possible solutions there could be down here in a cave with no medical supplies. He raised his eyebrow in intrigue as a silent signal for her to continue. "I need to regenerate," Seven admitted. He put away the tricorder.

"Hell, Seven, why didn't you tell me sooner?" His voice came out terse and agitated. It hadn't been his intention, but it just came out that way. He couldn't believe she'd kept such a big secret from him, and especially from Chakotay. This put her very life in danger if she didn't regenerate and soon.

"It is inconsequential. My mobile regenerator was on the shuttle, therefore it is gone. I simply have to live with the consequences until Voyager returns to rescue us." Seven's tone caught him off guard. She appeared to have distanced herself from the severity of the situation. She spoke about it as if she were talking about what she had for dinner the night before.

"And what happens if you don't regenerate in time?" This was completely new territory to Tom. He was utterly unfamiliar with Borg technology and medical needs, usually the Doctor handled her medical issues personally. He knew Harry had some sort of basic understanding of the Borg, but Harry wasn't here right now. He would have to find a way to make this work.

"It would be inefficient for Borg not to regenerate. Not even the Collective knows what happens. We will continue to find out."

"No we won't," Tom insisted. "I'm going to do everything in my power to take care of you until Chakotay and Harry find us." He pulled out his tricorder and began to scan her once again. "What symptoms have you been having?"

"Nothing I cannot handle." He looked up from his tricorder and glared at her.

"What symptoms have you been having?" he repeated in an agitated tone.

"A splitting headache, difficulty controlling my hand, inability to walk and exhaustion." She rattled off the symptoms formally and almost nonchalantly. Tom made a mental note of them.

"You're also running a slight fever," he observed. "How long have you had these symptoms?"

"Since we got down in the cave." His head shot up in surprise.

"And when were you planning on telling me?"

"I wasn't." He snapped the tricorder shut with an agitated click and returned it to its holster on his hip.

"When I meet with Chakotay and Harry this evening, I'll tell them. We may need to try blasting open this wall even if we risk the structural integrity of the rest of the cave. At least then we'll be able to get you out of here, and we can start searching for whoever took your mobile regenerator." Already, a plan was starting to form in Tom's head. It wasn't the best plan in the world, but it was all they had right now.

"Please don't," Seven begged as she grabbed Tom's arm in desperation. The action caught him completely off guard. She didn't look confident, unemotional, but instead torn and desperate. He even swore he saw the shine of a tear in her eye, but it was too dark for him to be certain. "Chakotay can't know. There is nothing he can do about it, and it would only cause him to become distracted and to act recklessly. He would not be as efficient if he knew, and he has to think about the away team as a whole, not to mention helping whoever sent the distress call."

"Seven, when you had me lying to Chakotay before, I thought you were just tired. But this is serious. You could die." She continued to clutch his arm.

"I'll be fine," she assured, although she didn't sound very confident. Even in the limited light, Tom could see the fear in her eyes. She had no idea what awaited her as she continued to need to regenerate. This was something they would need to figure out together, somehow.

"If they don't get to us in two days, I'm telling him," Tom compromised. It was a deal that left a bad taste in his mouth. He wasn't sure if coming out and telling Chakotay the truth would do more harm than good. This was uncharted territory for both of them. With any luck, Chakotay and Harry would appear at their camp by the end of the day and lead them out of here. Then they could focus on finding Seven's mobile regenerator and getting out of here. Seven didn't like the suggestion either, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She knew she was putting Tom in a difficult situation, and he was trying to make the best of it. She released his arm and sat back against the cave. If he was going to give her two days, then she was going to take it.

Given Seven's current condition, Tom knew it was impossible for them to go anywhere today. Now that he knew what was wrong with her, he instant regretted all the walking and exploring they did, it undoubtedly made her condition worse when she should have been conserving her energy. He thought about all the wasted time, although he knew that there wasn't a lot that they could do differently. They had a problem, and they'd worked to resolve it. Unfortunately, that resolution probably did more harm than good to Seven. A second day of just sitting around the camp was hardly exciting, but Tom knew that it was for the best. There was absolutely no way they could go anywhere, not when she could barely walk more than a few meters. If she was going to get better, all they could do was sit around camp and hope for the best. As they both sat around, Seven dozed off every once in awhile, but they mostly kept to their own thoughts about their current situation.

Uncomfortable silence was never one of Tom's favorite things, but, at the same time, he found that he was running out of things to say to Seven. Very rarely did they interact on Voyager for extended periods of time outside of their duties as Senior Officers. After several days stuck down here in the cave, he found that he no longer knew what to talk about to her. Besides, conversation with her felt like a challenge to him. It felt like torture. There had to be something they could talk about. She'd already inquired about Miral and B'Elanna, which was very kind of her, and he knew that talking about her romantic relationship with Chakotay was completely out of the question. There had to be something else they could talk about, something to pass the time, especially if they were just going to be stuck sitting around camp all day.

Just when Tom had given up on thinking of something to say to Seven to pass the time, an idea came to him. It was so simple, he had no idea why he hadn't thought of it sooner. Yes, it did in a way breach his promise to himself not to bring up her romantic relationship with Chakotay, but he was willing to bend the self-imposed rule just a little bit.

"What are you going to get Chakotay for his birthday?" he asked her out of the blue. Seven's eyes shot up in surprise.

"I beg your pardon?" She sounded confused and caught off guard by the question.

"Chakotay's birthday. It's coming up soon. What are you going to get him?"

"I was unaware of Commander Chakotay's impending birthday," Seven admitted. She sounded disappointed in herself. In her efforts to be perfect companion to Chakotay, she'd apparently failed in the simplest of ways by failing to remember his birthday, which she knew was of the utmost importance to humans. Tom raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really? I would have thought you committed everyone's birthdays to memory ages ago."

"The Borg do not celebrate birthdays, it is an inefficient use of time. I find the notion of celebrating the day of your birth year after year pointless."

"Oh come on, Seven, you're not Borg anymore, you're human, and humans celebrate birthdays whether you want to or not." Already, Seven's mind was spinning as she tried to think of what to do for Chakotay's birthday. She wasn't sure what was appropriate. This would require more research when she got back to Voyager. Right now, her headache was back with a vengence, which made it hard to think straight. It was getting worse. It felt like a giant weight was pressing down on the side of her skull at all times without any sign of relenting.

"How did Commander Chakotay celebrate last year?" she inquired. Perhaps she could use his celebration last year to get some ideas for how to celebrate this year. As his girlfriend, she knew it would be expected of her to do something, no matter how challenging she found it.

"Don't you remember? The Captain threw a big party in the mess hall. The entire crew went. Most of the crew got drunk and all came to their stations the next day hungover." None of this sounded familiar to Seven. She very rarely drank, usually it was when she was with Chakotay, and she found the notion of the majority of the crew performing their duties hungover highly unprofessional and irresponsible.

"I do not participate in most social functions aboard Voyager. I find them tedious and an inefficient use of time, especially when it comes to intoxication."

"Oh come on, Seven, live a little," Tom prompted. "The Captain will probably want to throw another party, and you should help since you're doing...whatever it is you're doing with Chakotay." Tom knew he shouldn't have brought up the fact that Seven and Chakotay were dating. He remembered her reaction the other day and knew it was a bad idea. It just slipped out. It hadn't been how he intended the conversation to go.

"I will have to meet with the Captain to start the planning process as soon as we return to Voyager," she said stiffly. "I will also need to conduct more research on romantic relationships and their correlation to birthday celebrations."

"Research?" Tom scoffed. He had no idea why that surprised him, but it did. "You've been doing research about your relationship with Commander Chakotay?" He couldn't help but chuckle. He tried to imagine how things might have turned out if he had done research before starting to date B'Elanna. He probably would have realized that Klingons are crazy and went running for the hills.

"I have conducted extensive research to plan the perfect dates and romantic encounters. It seemed like the most efficient way to initiate a relationship we were both comfortable with," Seven replied haughtily. She shouldn't have said anything about her research to Tom. she knew him well enough to know that now he wasn't going to ever drop it.

"How long have you guys been dating?" he pressed.

"I told you before that that is none of your business."

"Yeah, and I'm asking again, and I'm going to keep asking until you answer me. You might as well just answer my question." Seven stopped to think. How long had they been dating now? At this point, it felt so natural to them, as if they had always been together.

"Approximately nine weeks," she replied. Tom's eyes nearly doubled in size.

"Nine weeks?" he exclaimed. "And nobody on Voyager's found out yet?" That was definitely impressive. They must be jumping through hoops to keep their secret. Next time he wanted to keep a secret on the starship, he would make sure to turn to Seven and Chakotay for some pointers. It was next to impossible to keep anything a secret onboard for one week, let alone nine.

"That would be correct." Tom scooted closer to Seven.

"At this point, you need to be more spontaneous in your relationship," he explained excitedly. If there was one thing he felt confident about, it was his experience with romantic relationships, no matter how fleeting some of them might have been over the years. At least he didn't have a penchant for picking the wrong women like Harry did. "Don't plan things, just see what happens. If things are serious between you and Chakotay, things will happen naturally between the two of you."

"So research is unnecessary?" Seven sounded skeptical. Not doing research or adequately preparing went against everything she believed in. On the other hand, her last date with Chakotay had been somewhat spontaneous, and she found that those unplanned moments were the most enjoyable.

"I mean, maybe a little bit of research to find out his favorite food, or what he wants for his birthday, but you don't need to conduct hours of research before every date. Just see what happens."

"That sounds most inefficient. What if the date is unsuccessful?" Tom shrugged.

"That's a part of the dating experience." A small smile crept across his face, which quickly turned into a laugh. Seven raised her eyebrow in confusion and curiosity.

"I fail to see what is so humorous."

"When B'Elanna and I first started dating, we took some leave while orbiting this planet. I don't even remember what planet it was, but we were so excited to get off Voyager, even for a few hours. I planned out this really elaborate picnic. It really my shot to show B'Elanna how romantic I could be."

"What happened?" Tom chuckled.

"We ended up getting lost in the jungle and falling into this huge mud pit. We had to be transported directly to our quarters from the planet because the Captain didn't want mud all over her nice, shiny starship. We never even went on our picnic. It was a disaster, but we look back at that date all the time and laugh at how awful it was. Despite all the bickering while we were lost, we really enjoyed ourselves, and I realized that if we can put up with each other during such a terrible date, we can put up with each other through anything." Seven cracked a small smile. At first, Tom thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but when he looked closer, he realized that she was in fact smiling at the story. He'd seen her smile so few times that he wasn't sure how to react. He knew that pointing it out would be a mistake, it would only cause her to stop. For a moment, he felt like there was a close relationship forming between the two of them. This was something he didn't expect to happen, as Seven tended to keep to herself. For a moment, she didn't look sick or like a Borg but instead a normal young woman.

Seven carefully thought about the suggestion. She didn't like the thought of not having a date planned out, but there was no way she could possibly plan out every single one of their dates. At some point, she would have to give way to spontaneity, so she might as well get over her discomfort and plan for more spontaneity in her relationship with Chakotay when they got back to Voyager. Perhaps she could suggest an evening on the holodeck exploring various programs to find one they both enjoy. By doing so, there was some sort of planned activity, but they still had the freedom to explore their interests together. Her conversation with Tom definitely gave her something to think about.

Later that evening, Tom knew it was time to leave to meet Chakotay and Harry to get supplies to get them through the night. He glanced over at Seven, who had dozed off once again. He didn't have the heart to wake her; she obviously needed her rest. He had a feeling that her absence would be noticed by Chakotay, but that was something he would just have to deal with. Despite his promise to Seven, this may be the perfect opportunity to fill in the First Officer about the severity of their situation.

As he walked to the rendezvous point, Tom mentally debating telling Chakotay about Seven. It seemed wrong to lie to the First Officer, not to mention the fact that it could be considered a court martial offense. He outranked Seven, so he was free to ignore her pleas for secrecy and make her own decision. On the other hand, what good would it do to tell Chakotay? They would still be stuck in here with no hope of getting out. She was right, it would only cause him to worry unnecessarily. While Seven rested, he had carefully scanned the cave with his tricorder. Based on his observations, their phasers didn't have enough firepower to destroy the cave-in, and even if they did, they would undoubtedly just cause another one, which ruined their backup plan to get out of here. The only way out of here would be through the caves, which Seven couldn't manage right now, meaning they were essentially stuck here until further notice.

When Tom arrived at the hole, Chakotay and Harry were already waiting for him. He hadn't realized that he was running late. He'd been so caught up in his mental debate that time simply slipped past him, and he still didn't have a final decision. He would have to play it by ear and see how things went.

"Hey," he called up to the pair.

"Hey yourself," Harry shot back. "Where's your uniform? If we can wear them in this heat, you can wear them down there in the nice, cool cave."

"My uniform?" Tom looked down. He'd been so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't even realize that he was wearing just his grey undershirt and pants. "Oh, yeah, Seven's back at camp resting. I think the past few days have really worn her out. She's using my uniform as a pillow."

"Aww, isn't that sweet of you," Harry teased.

"Is Seven okay?" Chakotay demanded. Tom's heart skipped a beat. Now was the moment of truth. He could either come clean and tell Chakotay the truth or he could keep his promise to Seven. Neither solution seemed particularly appealing to him, but he knew he had to make a decision and fast.

"Yeah...she's fine. Just tired. I told her that I would meet up with you guys for the evening, and she'll come in the morning so I can sleep in a little bit. She's always up earlier than me anyway. It just seemed to make sense." From where he was standing, Tom was sure he saw Chakotay visibly relax. The First Officer bought his pathetic lie, at least for the time being.

"Good." Chakotay got to his feet. In all honesty, he had very little interest in sticking around if Seven wasn't there, he wanted to talk to her. "Harry, you take care of getting Tom supplies for the night, I'm going to go make camp for the night."

"Aye, Commander." Chakotay nodded at Tom before disappearing from sight. Harry kept his eyes locked on Chakotay until he was well out of earshot. "Okay, Tom, what's really wrong with Seven?" he demanded in a low voice, just in case Chakotay happened to overhear.
"Nothing!" Tom insisted incredulously.

"You've always been a shitty liar, now are you going to tell me what's wrong with her?"

"She's tired, Harry. I mean, we're talking over 20 kilometers a day, and she's wearing those heels and tight fitting bodysuits. I'd be tired too if that's what I had to wear." Despite the severity of the situation, Harry couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny?"

"I'd give you a week's worth of my replicator rations if you put on one of Seven's bodysuits and heels." Tom's eyes narrowed. If Harry knew the severity of the situation, he wouldn't be making jokes like this. The teasing did help with his current stress level though.

"I'd give you two weeks if you did it," he retorted. Harry snorted.

"Yeah, and you'd be sleeping on the bridge because B'Elanna would kill you." Unfortunately, Tom knew that Harry was right. B'Elanna would probably skin him alive if he gave away that many replicator rations for something as frivolous as seeing Harry in drag. They had digressed, and Harry wanted to make sure everything was alright with Seven. "But seriously, Tom, keep an eye on Seven. Chakotay's already stressed out, and all this weird behavior is only making it worse."

"Don't worry, Harry. I've got this. Seven's fine." Harry didn't buy it for a second, but he couldn't pursue the issue further. He had to get back to camp, and he knew that Tom wasn't going to change his story. He also knew that there had to be a pretty good reason for his best friend to be lying to him, they had always had an open relationship.

When Harry returned to the camp, he found Chakotay staring into the fire in front of him. He sat on a rock next to the fire with his arms draped carelessly across his knees. Rather than interrupt the First Officer's thoughts, he began to gather together the fruit for dinner. It was then that he realized that they were out of ration bars. Until Voyager returned, it looked like they were only going to be eating that fruit they'd found. While it wasn't the most filling meal, at least they'd found something here that was edible. One thing was for sure, when they got back to the starship, they would definitely enjoy Chell's cooking. It was a strange thought that caused Harry to crack the faintest hint of a smile. Never before did he ever think that he would ever miss Chell's food.

Fully aware that Chakotay needed to eat, Harry put a handful of fruit next to him before disappearing into the cave to give him some privacy. It barely registered to Chakotay that the food was there. Instead, he continued to stare at the flames dancing in front of him. They were hypnotizing as he got lost in his own thoughts. Seven and Tom had been stuck in the cave for the past four days. Even after searching the caves extensively, they were still no closer to getting them out of there. It almost felt like they had to find the right combination of twists and turns that would magically lead them to pair. Letting out a dejected sigh, Chakotay's shoulders slouched. Just a few days ago, he'd been grateful for this away mission: they'd be here for a few days, render aid to whoever sent out the distress call and maybe even get to enjoy some time in the desert. Now, however, it was starting to fall apart. His only consolation was that it couldn't get any worse.

The following morning, Tom rolled over and sat up. Pain radiated through his neck, it was a side effect of sleeping on the cold, hard ground for yet another night. What he wouldn't give to have his old bed back. Hell, he'd even prefer sleeping on the uncomfortable, lumpy piece of furniture they claimed was a couch over this. Groaning, Tom tilted his head from one side to the other several times until his neck cracked loudly. He let out a sigh of relief as the pain slowly dissipated. His back still ached, but the worse pain was gone from his neck.

With the pain in his neck now gone, Tom got to his feet and started to get his morning started. Still half asleep, he nearly tripped over something on the ground. After several days camping here, he thought he knew every inch of the minimal camp, even in the limited light. There shouldn't be anything so close to him, he'd made sure to clear away all the large rocks when setting up the camp days ago.

"Fuck," he muttered. "What the hell?" Upon careful examination, he crouched down and discovered that it was Seven. Confusion flashed across his face. Normally she was awake at this point and getting the camp set up for the day. "Seven, wake up," he murmured as he gently shook her shoulder. Her head flopped to the side with a loose strand of hair tumbling across her forehead, but otherwise she didn't move. "Seven?" His confusion gave way to concern. "Seven!" When he brushed her hair back from her face, his hand recoiled in horror. Her skin felt like it was on fire. Tom immediately scrambled for his tricorder, blindly groping for it in his haste and desperation. He flipped it open and scanned Seven, although it told him what he already knew: her temperature was up to a hundred and three degrees.

Author's Note: Make sure to leave a review! I'm also super excited to announce that I've been working on a new Chakotay/Seven story that I think you guys will like. I'll probably start posting that one in a week or two, once I get a few things worked out. Keep an eye out.