Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 10

She moved away from Ops as Harry arrived, moving to her own seat as the bridge crew began returning to their posts. Thankfully, with the holodecks forcefully shut down they were back in their uniforms.

"Sensors are detecting a surge of unknown energy, heading three seven mark five two nine. It's not moving in any direction but is expanding slightly. Distance….two hundred kilometres," Harry read off his display.

"We have phasers but photon torpedoes are offline," Tuvok reported. "Shields are at seventy percent."

"Seven to the bridge," She ordered. She would only call on Sora in an utter emergency, he desperately needed rest after having to spend so long in hiding. Seven at least had been able to eat better and rest while in the Holoprograms.

It didn't take very long for her to join them, though not quite looking her normal perfect self. She saw the image and went to work at her usual console when on the bridge. "The energy is unlike anything I have encountered," she admitted after a few minutes. "The sensors keep losing it."

There was a flash of light from the location and then… "Increase magnification," Kathryn ordered.

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Sora stumbled from his Regeneration alcove, a hand pressed to his chest. Riku? The alarm was beeping and he turned it off, he knew he hadn't completed the cycle. The lights were still flashing, still at Yellow Alert. He left the Cargo Bay, heading for the bridge, one hand on the wall.

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"Sensors?"

"One life form," Tuvok answered. "Readings are not clear enough to determine species, or even the type of craft."

It looked like a metal humanoid standing on some sort of glider, also metallic.

"Mr Paris, cut engines, bring us about. Can you hail them?" She asked.

"No ma'am, I'm not picking up anything like comm signals," Harry answered.

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Black lines spread further over the glass, filling in one section which soon filled with colour, forming the image of a young man with shaggy longish hair inside a circle, the rest still all broken up.

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Harry looked up as the doors opened, Sora staggering out and onto the bridge. Wasn't he meant to be Regenerating? "Sora?" he asked as the younger man moved passed his station.

Sora didn't answer, attention locked on the image. He walked down the slight slop and stopped next to the conn, Tom looking up at him in concern.

"Sora?" he friend asked the teen.

"Riku?" Sora finally spoke, wavering on his feet, and Tom got to his feet, wrapping an arm around his waist. He guided Sora down into his own chair before grabbing the medical tricorder he'd stashed at his station for emergencies.

Harry had to look down at his own station then. "Whoever it is, they aren't moving, just watching us."

"Mr Paris, get Sora back to his alcove or Sickbay, whichever's best," the Captain ordered.

"Yes Captain," Tom answered, slinging Sora's arm over his shoulders. "Come on kid."

"Riku," he mumbled, slumping against Tom, which had them all looking in concern. The whole crew knew what Sora had done for them while the Hirogen had been aboard not to mention everything he did every day to try and help, no one wanted to see him hurt or sick. Tom got him to the turbolift, nodding at Harry on the way past.

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Kathryn stared at the image on the screen. "Mr Tuvok, can you get measurements or anything from that figure? Could it be Riku?" she asked.

"It is possible," he answered after a moment.

She had to consider the good of her ship, Tuvok did not seem to think this Riku was a threat and for everything Sora had done to save them…They were in no condition for a battle. The figure had made no threatening moves, was simply watching. "Open shuttlebay 2 and turn on the running lights, guide him in."

"Yes Captain."

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Riku burst back into the World, riding the glider his Keyblade had become and wearing the armour Aqua, Terra, and Ventus had crafted for him. It was mostly silver but with dark blue highlights, a crown etched over his heart, the same shape as the necklace he had given Sora so long ago. He looked around and then followed the pull of his heart, seeing a ship unlike anything he had ever seen before but he didn't care, that was where Sora was.

He approached slowly but the ship came to a stop, it felt rather like a staring competition for several minutes, and then he saw lights begin to flash over the hull…all heading in one direction. He glided closer, looking the ship over, but then followed the lights to an opening with an energy field over it, able to see people within. He moved toward the field and lifted a hand, finding it passed through easily so he slipped through, landing on a clear space, stepping off his glider which reverted to Braveheart and then vanished.

He studied the people in front of him, dressed in some kind of uniform although with sections of different colour, rank or something else? He kept his armour on though, seeing some were armed.

"I am Kathryn Janeway, Captain of the Federation Starship Voyager. Are you Riku?" She asked, face stern, but he felt no hostility.

He hesitated but then dismissed the armour in a flash of light, leaving him in his normal magical clothing. "I'm Riku," he told her. "Where's Sora?"

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Sora sat in the pitch black, knees curled to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, staring out at the distant stars. He remembered, he remembered Riku, maybe not everything but enough. How could he face him?

He could never go home again, he wouldn't survive, his body was too dependent on the Borg technology that remained within. He could remember sitting in a house with Riku…the technology was nowhere near what he needed. What would Riku think of him now? He'd done such horrible things…he'd help assimilate so many people, he'd help steal everything from them. How was he any better than the one that had possessed Riku? He knew he should know the name but he couldn't remember it.

He knew Tom was outside, for now respecting his need to be alone, but how long would that last? He could simply override the door controls, Sora knew Tom could use the medical override since he was also a field medic. His own security codes had the lowest rating onboard and he'd been working hard to show that he was one of them, that he could be trusted.

He liked his life on Voyager but he missed Riku too. Could Riku stay?

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Kathryn stared at the metallic figure who stepped of some kind of…glider? Then to her shock the glider changed into some kind of strange…large key? A blade? Before vanishing. The figure was obviously looking them over and she stepped forward, gaining his attention.

"I am Kathryn Janeway, Captain of the Federation Starship Voyager. Are you Riku?" She asked, firmly.

His head tilted slightly but then there was another flash of light and the armour was gone, revealing a humanoid male, around the same physical age as Sora. "I'm Riku," he told her. "Where's Sora?"

It wasn't a demand but he struck her as someone used to command, which was odd considering his apparent age. He stood tall and straight, eyes calm yet serious, definite officer material. His hair colour was nothing like she'd seen naturally on a human, even his eye colour was slightly different, brighter perhaps.

"Is he alright? The last contact I had with him, he was a mess. He said he hadn't slept or eaten in days," Riku asked, looking extremely concerned

"He has been taken to rest," Tuvok answered, moving into view, and she saw the recognition in the silver haired youths expression.

"Good. He…he really doesn't remember?" the young man glanced between them.

"I'm afraid not, although he does remember more than he did when we first found him. If you will come with me to Sickbay, it is standard protocol to ensure there is no risk of spread of disease and we can speak more there."

Riku nodded and followed her out of the shuttlebay. She caught him glancing around curiously as they made their way through the corridors until they reached Sickbay.

"Captain," the Doctor greeted. "Ah, a guest?"

"Doctor this is Riku," she introduced.

"I see, well then, if you'll just sit on the edge of the bed I can run a quick scan to ensure you aren't carrying anything that may be infectious the crew and vice versa."

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Riku stared at the bed, glancing around to see a handful of others, technology unlike any he'd ever seen. He sat on the edge and watched as some kind of device was waved around his body. The technology was so foreign to anything in other Worlds….and he had to wonder just how far from home he'd come to find Sora. The Grid in the Sleeping Worlds had been all technology, but it had been different to how this felt.

The Doctor put the machine down, looking at something, before looking up at him. "Good news, you are in excellent health for a human male. However, there is the matter of what appears to be an old injury to your wrist. If you wish, I can fix that for you."

Riku stared in shock. "You can? I was told nothing could be done, too much time had passed since it was injured."

"Perhaps for the methods where you are from. It would be a simple surgical procedure, no more than an hour. It will require an artificial replacement but the bone will be far stronger and you would have immediate use of the arm."

Riku just stared in shock. "Artificial?"

"Perhaps Doctor, now would be a good time to explain what has happened to Sora," the Captain spoke up.

"So this is that Riku then, of course," the Doctor agreed. "You have heard of the Borg?"

"The what?" Riku had never heard that word before.

"If I may ask, what is your home world? Not Earth if you haven't heard of the Borg. Then again, I doubt any human colony world hasn't," the Captain pointed out.

"We're from the Destiny Islands," Riku said, that was safe enough, good luck finding their home from that. "So what is this…Borg?"

"The Borg are a pseudo-species of cybernetic humanoids. They form a hive mind, the Borg Collective. Each drone is linked into the Collective, all individuality and identity erased. The Hive connects all of them and allows information from every drone who has been brought into the collective to be shared. Their ultimate goal is the attainment of 'perfection' through the forcible assimilation of diverse sentient species, technologies, and knowledge which is then added and absorbed into the hive mind. As a result, the Borg are among the most powerful and feared entities in the galaxy, without really being a true species at all," the Doctor explained even as he brought up images on a screen.

Riku felt utterly sick. It was a person but not… "How…" It looked so much like Sora in the Nightmare.

"Cybernetic implants are either surgically attached to the body or grown internally by the nanoprobes injected into the bloodstream in the first stage of assimilation. The nature of these implants vary from drone to drone depending on the drone's intended function, but basic nodes of interlink for communications with the Collective and a myo-neural cortical array to control movements are implemented in every drone. In most cases, an eye is replaced with an eyepiece that improves vision and an arm is also amputated altogether to make room for a functional prosthetic," the Doctor paused to make sure he was still listening, and Riku was, even as the dread was building.

"The implants of a fully assimilated drone can allow it to function for extended periods without shelter, food, water, or air, the can even survive in the vacuum of space. A drone's only requirement for survival is a supply of energy to maintain the implants that in turn maintained its biological functions. This energy is supplied during regeneration cycles within a Borg alcove. Upon receiving damage, a drone simply returns to the alcove for assessment of the damage. Severely damaged drones are generally disassembled and scavenged for reusable parts."

He felt….faint. Regeneration…that was what Sora had said... the images…"Sora….are you saying that he.."

"Breath," the Doctor commanded.

"When we found Sora, he was a fully functioning Borg drone," the Captain informed him, tone gentle but firm, as Riku forced himself to breath. "He was the sole survivor onboard his ship after it was heavily damaged and crashed into an inhospitable planet. He was attempting to repair the ship, alone, when our away team approached him. He did something we have not recorded happening before…he asked for help. Not for the Collective, and he did not order them to help, which would have been normal behaviour. No…he asked for the team to help using the word 'me' despite the fact that he should have had no concept of the word."

Riku closed his eyes, almost managing a smile. "That's Sora, always doing the impossible." He ran a hand through his hair. "That's why he didn't recognise me in the Dream world, isn't it?"

"Actually, his condition is rather fascinating. Borg Drones have been freed in the past, in fact there was one with the away team who found him. None of them have lost their memory. Apparently Sora was found near death on a planet with no human population and so they assimilated him only to find he had no memory at all," the Doctor explained. "We have been giving what help we can to Sora to help, Commander Tuvok has performed several mind melds which have given the most progress. In fact, I believe you met during one of them. In time, he may regain all or at least most of his old memories."

"Please, I need to see him."

"Mr Riku, do you understand that he is not the person you once knew, he may never be again. His physical appearance has been altered too, there are remaining pieces of Borg technology that are visible."

"He may be different physically, but his heart is the same otherwise the link never would have reformed."

"You are telepathic?" The Captain asked, and Riku frowned.

"What?"

"You can read minds?"

"People can do that?" Would the universe never stop coming up with new things to shock him? Right, he was a Keyblade Master, he could remain calm and collected. "No, I can't," he shook his head. "I can feel Sora's emotions because we share a link. Sora was…attacked when we were younger. I knew something was wrong but not what and instinctively tried to protect him. I ended up in his dreams and became his Dream Eater, the only human one ever known of. Right now he's scared, please."

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"Janeway to Paris," she called over the comm. If Sora was truly scared and Riku could sense it, then perhaps seeing Riku in the flesh was what was needed. When she hadn't seen him in Sickbay she had assumed he was Regenerating but perhaps that wasn't the case?

"Paris here Captain."

"Are you with Sora and what is your location?"

"He's locked himself in his quarters Captain. He's not answering me but the computer reports he isn't in further distress, so I didn't feel right overriding the controls."

"Understood. I'm on my way with a visitor for him. Janeway out," she ended the communication. "Shall we?"

"I shall make the preparations for the procedure, just return or have Sora inform me of when you wish to have it done," the Doctor didn't even ask for permission to treat a non-crewmember but under the circumstances she agreed.

She'd seen the young man looking around, seen the curiosity and wonder. If not for the way he arrived she would have assumed he was from a pre-warp society. Perhaps their technology was kept less noticeable? Some advanced societies preferred the illusion of less. It was possible they were advanced but did not have the ability to replace bones. She was curious to learn more about where they came from but would leave it be for now.

At the moment, she had a crewmember in desperate need of help and hopefully Riku could help with that.

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Riku followed the Captain through the halls and into whatever they called the elevators locally. They seemed to move in multiple directions, not just up and down which was interesting, then again the ship did have curves to its shape so maybe that was why. Eventually the came to a set of doors with a man waiting outside, his uniform had red on the shoulders like the Captains'.

"Lieutenant Tom Paris, this is Riku," she introduced them.

He ignored the way the older man looked him over, eyes locked on the doors keeping him from Sora. If he had to, he'd use his Keyblade to get in there.

"Computer, override the lock on crew quarter 83, authorisation Janeway-Pi-1-1-0," the Captain said.

"Acknowledged, lock overridden," a mechanical sounding female voice answered.

The Captain looked at him and then motioned to the door.

"Just take it slow. He seemed to know it was you out there but he was very disorientated. He should either be Regenerating or in Sickbay but wouldn't go anywhere but here," Tom warned him. "Also, don't let him get too worked up, the implants are designed to keep them from feeling extreme emotions, if he starts to then they could react."

Riku nodded, Sora without the ability to freely feel emotion? How would he handle that if, no when, he really did remember? He stepped forward and the door opened, allowing him inside. The only light came from a long window, showing the light of distant stars. It didn't bother him, he'd spent enough time in Darkness that his eyes could adapt and quickly. He glanced around and didn't see…no, there. Squished into the corner, curled up tight, and his heart lurched in his chest at seeing Sora like that.

"Sora?" he called softly.

Even half hidden by a chair, Riku could see Sora stiffen in reaction, obviously he hadn't expected him to be the one who had come in.

"It's me, Riku. Do…do you remember me?"

"Leave," his voice was so soft that Riku barely heard him, and he ignored the order, moving further into the room.

"No, I didn't come all this way to leave now. They told me what happened to you."

"Did they?" Sora's voice was wrong, flat and cold, lifeless. He hadn't sounded like that in the dream, but was that because of his own expectations and memories affecting things? "Sora is dead, all that is left is a mechanical monster."

"I don't believe you," he denied. "I know you, I can feel your heart. I know you're scared."

"Emotion is irrelevant."

"Sora…" he rounded the chair and stared at Sora, but he couldn't see much with how he was huddled. Had he done that purposely to hide whatever remained of what the...implants? He knelt down, trying to see, but Sora kept his head down. "A monster wouldn't hide," he pointed out. "Let me see you, please."

He'd seen the images of drones, had seen Sora in the same form, but he could see his hair, see tight cloth rather than strange armour. Whatever was left, he could handle it, he had to, he would not flinch from Sora. Sora had never flinched from him, even at his Darkest.

"You do not want to see," Sora answered in that same flat tone.

"Yes I do," Riku told him firmly.

Sora shifted slightly and Riku took the chance of reaching out, his fingers lightly touching Sora's shin. The fabric felt strange under his hand and he wished he'd taken his gloves off so he had more to work with than just his fingers. He felt Sora go rigid so he slowly flattened his hand out over his lower leg. He didn't think there was any metal under there.

"I'm not afraid of you, I could never be scared of you," he swore. He had been scared for Sora, not of him, in the Nightmare.

"Computer, lights," Sora finally spoke after several minutes of them just sitting there.

Riku winced as the room was flooded with light, half blinding him. He covered his eyes, briefly wishing for his old blindfold. He blinked to force his eyes to adjust quicker and then lowered his hand. "A warning would be nice next time." He stared at brown spikes, getting a better look at the dark coloured material covering Sora's body, matching boots on his feet. Was that an odd glove on one hand? "Well, I'm not sure what I think of the local fashion," he teased.

He felt lost, unsure how to reach Sora when Sora wasn't trying to reach back. For once their roles were reversed, Sora trying to be the noble self-sacrificing idiot like he had that year he had watched Sora from a distance.

"I still don't see a Monster," he pointed out.

Slowly, Sora lifted his head. He had changed, but that was expected, they'd still been kids the last time he saw him and now they were adults…no, Sora was almost two years younger than him now from what Sora had told him before, not that it mattered to him. His eyes were still a stunning shade of blue, but one had metal in the skin above it and as he straightened, Riku saw the metal in his neck as well.

TBC…