Deanna Troi's job as a counsellor has never been easy, but what she experienced on Stargazer blew even her mind. First, she had to worry for the Borg Commander and her little girl, then the birth of the new Borg got on her nerves, but Peter Beckett dealt her the final blow. The young, charming doctor did not want to accept his old bride since she became the Borg. He didn't even visit the girl in the sickbay, he just told her through her mother that he was leaving her. Well, a breakup isn't easy anyway, but because of her condition, Amelia Janeway was more affected by her fiancé's abandonment than an average woman.

Beverly asked Deanna to try to do something about the new chimera. And Deanna had to agree with the old doctor: Amelia was in critical condition. She refused food and drink, although she had no medical reason not to eat. She was past her rage phase and just sat quietly in the corner treating everyone as an enemy. The burning fury of pain was still visible in her eyes, mixed with fear to Deanna's greatest surprise. Deanna also had a hard time communicating with her when she visited her early in the morning. She didn't respond to the Counsellor's kindness, and she didn't care that Deanna, overcoming all her aversion to the Borg, approached her in a friendly way.

"Kill those two if you want to help so much! They took so much from me, they deserve it! But they can walk around freely, while I was stuck behind a force field!" she snarled angrily at the Counselor, then sank back into a kind of apathy, from what Deanna couldn't pull her out of, no matter how much she talked to her. Finally, the Counselor stood up and left the introverted Borg.

"This whole assimilation thing must really hurt her," she told Beverly after visiting her in her office.

"Her implants do not cause her pain. They fully harmonize with her body structure. The nanoprobes aligned her cells and implants perfectly."

"I thought in a spiritual sense." the counselor smiled indulgently.

"And I was thinking about her physical condition" the old doctor smiled back.

"Can't you get rid of the Borg implants?"

Beverly Crusher shook her head.

"Unfortunately not."

"None of them? At least a few..."

"Strange, but not. When she was brought in, the individual implants had not yet connected. I could have taken some out of it then, but I wanted to wait until the growth of the digital implants in her subsided. Since then the assimilation has been completed. The artificial tissues in individual places are connected into a network. One cannot be touched without another part reacting badly to it. I removed two of them, but since then the remaining ones have regrown them, increasing the number of connections even more. Plus, they're built into vital systems that I can't remove again without damaging her body."

"Can't even the Commander help?" asked the counselor desperately, although she already knew the answer.

"No. She doesn't even care about the existence of the other Borg."

"I would try."

"It might be worth a try," Beverly shrugged resignedly, then pointed towards one of the biobeds. "Wake her up if you think so. The effect of the sedative has already worn off, and now she sleeps naturally. You could wake her up."

Deanna stormed over and walked decisively over to the wide biobed. She found it odd that the slim Commander needed so much space to sleep, and there wasn't even a force field draped over the bed. She understood why it had been widened at once, when she saw the two women. The Commander and the young doctor were sleeping peacefully, hugging each other and clinging to each other. According to the biobed's control panel, quite deep. Their hearts beat to the same rhythm, their coordinated wheezing made their chests rise and fall at the same time. It must have been a peaceful dream, because both of their facial features were relaxed, and their postures did not reveal the slightest tension. As they rested there, Deanna felt like it would almost be a crime to pull the two of them out of their dream and embracing arms. Commander Seven had gotten herself enough trouble, grief, and even being denied a good night's sleep so far…it was more than the Counselor could handle.

So she didn't wake neither of them up. She had to choose another solution to help on the Admiral's daughter. And for this, she needed her husband's help. She hurried out of the sickbay. However, she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Amelia Janeway's hopeful look as she leaned over the biobed, or the light in her eyes when she left.

Deanna had to negotiate with two men that day. Her own husband was the easier case. Will listened to her and quickly understood what his life partner wanted. It is true that her strategy needed to be polished a bit, but the two of them have always worked well together, and it was no different in this case.

The harder part was Peter Beckett. The young doctor had no choice, he had to listen to the Counselor, but he no longer wanted to listen to her advice. Deanna had to directly threaten him to go to the sickbay.

But it was a mistake.

A huge one.

Deanna felt it the moment Peter Beckett and Amelia Janeway finally met. There were no loving hugs, no kisses, and he didn't even act like a lover. It is true that there was a force field between the broken-up engaged person, but the Counselor has seen separated lovers under such circumstances. They didn't act like that. Absolutely not. She didn't even felt the slightest hint of love on the man's side.

Peter just stared at his exbride in silence while she got up and walked over to him on the other side of the force field. They were both silent and looking at each other. Amelia was in love and full of hope, while Peter stared nervously and disgusted at the visible implants grown on the Borg's body. His anger also showed on his face, which Amelia noticed as well, and she clenched her fists desperately.

"You've changed," she finally moaned.

"You too" the man nodded.

"But inside, she is still the same Amelia you loved!" the Counselor tried.

"No" Peter shook his head. "It's a Borg. It's not human, and it's not Amelia Janeway."

"But I..." she began, but Peter shook his head in denial.

"Look at yourself! You are disgusting! Who did you think would need you? Even your species doesn't need you, but don't worry. We'll exterminate you soon anyway, so that not a single seed of yours remains!"

"Dr. Beckett!" Deanna gasped.

The man's negative emotions hit her so hard that she almost fell. There was so much hatred in what he said, that even Amelia couldn't ignore it.

"Why? What do you think, who needs you?" the young woman spat back.

"None of your business!" Peter growled at her.

"But I know! You want Zimt! I know! I see it in your dirty eyes!"

"If I want her, you have nothing to do with it!" the young man regained his composure. After all, this was nothing but a simple breakup, and he had a lot of practice at it. "Live as long as you can! I will live my life as I like too."

"Well, you won't get her anyway!" Amelia laughed hysterically. "At least I can have this much joy in life! You won't get who you want!"

"Come on!" the young man grinned confidently. "It might take a while, but the girl will be mine! Because she's smart, not just have great curves. She has enough brain in her head to see what a fine career I'm going to have. There is no foolish woman who is not attracted to it!"

Amelia smiled. However, there was no beautyness in her smile: there was only mockery, contempt, and pity in it.

"You may have softened her, but someone else took advantage of her softness!" she spat at Peter, showing him melon-sized breasts. "And you're right, she does have a mind, but how good mind she has! That's why you'll never get her! Because you're wrong! Deadly wrong! It is not you, she really needs! Because Zimt is a lesbian and is currently dating the Commander of this ship!"