All I Can Taste 03
 

00:24 hours

Captain Kathryn Janeway was still sitting in her ready room staring straight ahead at the picture in front of her.  It was Seven's photograph, the one included in her personnel file.  She did not have an official Starfleet picture and she was curious who took this picture of her.  It was a profile shot of her and she looked astoundingly beautiful, so beautiful in fact Kathryn couldn't take her eyes off it. There was a chime.  Tuvok entered her ready room.
    

"Captain, are you aware of the time? This is rather late for you." Tuvok had command on the night shift and had probably begun his shift hours ago.  She was surprised he hadn't come in earlier.
 

"I know, Tuvok.  I was just thinking."
 

"You are concerned for Seven's well being."
 

"I don't like seeing her suffer like this."
 

"Nor do I.  I visited her earlier this evening to give her some instruction on Vulcan meditation techniques.  It seems to be helping some."

"You saw her earlier?  How'd she look?"
 

"She appeared flushed and was having difficulty concentrating.  She did not...look well.  I would venture to say that she was also in an altered state of consciousness."
 

"Altered state?"
 

"The combination of her fever and the pain she is in has caused her to move beyond herself to a certain extent.  After learning of the situation I concluded that would occur, that is why I gave her the meditation instructions, so she could move outside of herself with some control."
     

She gave him a bittersweet smile and rose from her seat.
 

"That was very considerate of you."
 

"She is a valuable member of this crew."
   

"Yes."  She reached behind her to pick up the pad she had been looking at earlier, the picture of Seven still frozen on it.     

"I'm  going to get out of here.  Have a good night."  In the turbolift on the way to her quarters she continued to look at the picture.  They had almost lost Seven several times this last year, why was this so different?      "Because I've fallen deeper in love with her," she stated out loud.  The lift doors opened and she walked to her cabin.

 When she entered her quarters she came nose to nose with the emergency medical hologram.

"I need Seven to regenerate,her body's using all it's energy up to fight this thing."               

"Okay. And?"
 

"She will not listen to me at all, she refuses to get out of bed, I need you to talk to her."

"I'll try."
 

"I see you're looking at some of my handiwork,"he commented with a smile.

"Excuse me?"
 

That picture of Seven you're looking at, I took that."
 

A bit of a blush crept into her cheeks.  She hadn't known that it was visible what she was looking at.     "Yes, it's very nice.  I'll take it from here, thank you."
 

Seven was huddled under the sheets, breathing heavily.   "Seven?"  She touched the bundle gently.
 

"I cannot go regenerate, I can't move, it's too painful.  I can't
stand."     The former drone wasn't prone to exaggeration, if she couldn't stand then that's all there was to it.  A solution would have to be found.    After a few moments Kathryn figured out a solution.  She had the environment in cargo bay 2 reduced to zero gravity and had herself and Seven transported there directly.  In the zero gravity environment there was very little physical exertion and Kathryn maneuvered her easily into her regeneration chamber, which locked her physically into place.
   

Seven went into unconsciousness immediately and Janeway pushed herself back to look at her. Seven's hair was loose, no longer done up in it's usual flawless manner.  She was dressed in grey Starfleet issue hospital pajamas.  She looked a far cry from the way she usually did.    Kathryn programmed the regeneration cycle and then gave her one last look.   

"Sleep well, Annika."
  

Once she was back in her quarters she curled up on the bed Seven had been sleeping in only moments before and fell into a deep slumber.

Seven of Nine was beginning to have difficulty distinguishing the real world from the dream world she had been drifting in.    She had been having a dream where she had been floating in cargo bay 2, Janeway touching her, pushing her towards her regeneration chamber.  She was even more surprised to come out of that dream to find herself in a zero gravity environment and secured in her alcove.    "Unable to complete regeneration cycle," the female computer voice stated.

"She's sort of like a battery that won't take a charge.  She can only complete half of a regeneration cycle before it cuts her off."

"Why's it shutting off?" a visibly irritated Captain Janeway asked the EMH.
 

"It's saying that she's too damaged to complete a cycle, that her implants are seen as having a defect."
 

"Okay, I'll tell her.  You're dismissed."  She was being sharp with him and she knew it.  She was not happy with the situation and he was the one she was taking it out on.  She knew it was wrong but she couldn't help it.  He was the last person she wanted to see right now. He left her quarters.  She looked over her shoulder at the bedroom where Seven was now.
 

When she entered the room she was surprised to find Seven standing, looking out the window into the infinty of space.  She was leaning heavily against the frame, her forehead resting against the cool surface in front of her.       

"Are you feeling better?"
 

"Yes, the pain has reduced some.  My thought processes are clearer." She leaned up from the window.  "My condition is worsening, my defetctive implant is now afftecting other systems.  I just vomited in the bathroom.  That was a first time experience I would have liked to have avoided."  She turned to look at Janeway, her features soft, vunerable.
 

"There's always a first time for everything.  If it's any consolation, I don't like vomiting either."    

Seven smirked at her comment.  "It's....not enjoyable."
   

"The Doctor's working 24 hours a day on this thing, we'll get it sorted out in no time."
     

Her attention seemed to drift.  "It's warm."
 

"It's your fever."
 

"I would like to take a shower, with cold water."
 

"I can arrange that."  Her heart was screaming, it seemed like Seven had just given up, crumbled right before her eyes.  She helped her to the bathroom, started the shower for her, and was taking her discarded pajamas over to the recycler when she found herself stopping and just holding them in her hands for a long while.

06:00 hours

On three hours of sleep Janeway found herself back on the bridge, attempting to help Tom Paris navigate a particularly tricky asteroid belt.    Chakotay was doing his best not to look concerned but he was failing miserably.  At the end of the shift she took everyone in her ready room from the bridge crew to explain what was going on.
 

"Seven says the pain is going away but apparently that's a bad sign because that means the implant in question is deterioriating and will eventually corrupt other systems.  The Doctor has had minimal success in treating her and at this point we dont see a solution close at hand.
 

"So, I guess I wouldn't be epecting any astrometrics telemetry from her in the near future."  She chuckled a little dryly, the tears welling in her eyes.
 

"But...I got some from her today," Tom stated.
 

"What?  She's working?"
 

"Looks like it."
 

She tensed visibly and set her jaw.  "Excuse me gentlemen, I have a sick Borg to yell at."  As soon as she left the bridge she slapped her communicator.
  

"Computer, locate Seven of Nine."
 

"Seven of Nine is in your quarters."
 

Well, at least she was where she was supposed to be at the moment. When she arrived at her quarters she found Seven sitting on the couch, blankets pulled up around her as she worked on a large pad with a viewscreen attached.
  

"What is that?"  Kathryn walked around to look at the portabe workstation.  The data pad was maybe a foot long with a long viewscreen that flipped up which at the time was displaying star charts.
 

"It is a 'portable astrometrics lab'.  B'Elanna designed it for me. She gave it to me ealier today."
   

B'Elanna?  as in B'Elanna Torres?  "I thought you two didn't get along so well."
  

"B'Elanna can be...decieving."
 

Maybe so.  Perhaps she was like those kids who punched the people they really liked.
 

"That was very nice of her.   Seven, you don't need to be working. You're ill, you should be resting.   Sometimes you need to put yourself first."
 

"You do not put yourself first," she said pointedly as she continued to work on her pad. "How can you request such a thing of me when you do not do it yourself?"
 

Whoa. What was this about? "I cannot always give into my personal desires, there's a certain responsibilty I have as a captain."
 

"Then do I not have the same responsibility as a memeber of this crew?"
 

"That's different."
 

"Working while I am ill is my choice.  I am capapble of making decisions for myself."
 

"I didn't mean to imply otherwise.  I just thought maybe you were putting this before yourself," she said gesturing at the pad.
  

"Captain, there is something we must discuss."  She closed the display on her pad and set it aside. "You have desired me for 7.25 months and have not acted on it. Explain."
 

A fog enveloped her mind.  Was she that obvious?
 

"Does this have to do with being a captain and not giving into personal deisres?"  Seven prompted.
 

She's got you, hook , line, and sinker, Janeway thought to herself. You walked right into it.
 

"That does have something to do with it, yes."
 

"There is a 95%  chance I will die soon if this defect is not repaired.  If I die any opportunity for you to act on your desires will have been lost. "
 

"I'm painfully aware of that."
 

"I have come to realize that our existence on this ship is at time dangerous and uncertain.  Opportunities could be lost and never regained."  A wave of pain hit her and she nearly doubled over from the force of it.  Kathryn grabbed her and held onto her tight.
   

"You're right, I know.  I should've said something earlier.  I don't want to lose you Seven."
   

"I don't want to lose me, either."
 

The pain made her focus all her attenion on the situation, and all she could taste was the moment, all she could feel were the arms around her.  Time came to a stop.
    

"If you knew, why didn't you ever say anything?"
 

"I'm not sure.  I was afraid.  I will not be afraid anymore."
 

"Bold statement."
 

"Fear is unproductive."  She took a breath and leaned up.  "I wish to explore this...opportunity with you."
   

Kathryn nodded.  "When you're better, Annika.  You will be getting better."
  

There was no arguement.  "Aye, Captain."

 

Part 4