Though I Walked Through the Valley...
Part I
 

"Lights! DaH," Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, chief engineer of the Federation Starship Voyager, a woman conceived of a Klingon mother and a human father thirty-three and a half years ago, Federation Standard Time, shouted as she sat up straight in her windowless, darkened quarters on Deck Ten. Sweat soaked, but not due to the greater temperature of her cabin compared to the rest of the intrepid class starship that was her home, she ran her fingers through her dark brown, wavy mane that she had started to let grow out more now that she was embracing her Klingon heritage, rather than doing everything in her power to stifle it as she had done for practically her whole existence before she had a vision of her mother on the Barge of the Dead. After that ordeal, and after taking her first real steps toward her Klingon ancestry rather than retreat from it, her slow forward progress took a giant leap ahead when she began falling in love with her commanding officer, Captain Kathryn Janeway, and then shortly thereafter the ship's resisdent Borg, Seven of Nine, and subsequently vowed, secretly, that since the gods had bestowed the gift of such honorable women's love on her, even when she figured they could live happily ever after by themselves, she would repay them by proving that she was worthy. Grabbing her pillow, B'Elanna spat as she heaved it across her room where it impacted squarely with her closet door and fell harmlessly to the floor, "Fuck!"

Bounding out of her bed, kicking one of her uniform boots across the floor in her frustration and weakness for continuing to be too scared after a nightmare to leave the lights off in her quarters, Torres stomped over to her replicator and was about to demand a glass of ice water when she remembered the Klingon maxim that stated that drinking fake ale was better than drinking water, since water was considered weak, B'Elanna sighed and growled, "Coffee with cream!" After taking a healthy gulp, trying to ignore the stinging sensation on her tongue and throat, figuring if Janeway could drink hot coffee right away, so could she, she winced, then pulled the mug from her lips, coughing slightly and then had to laugh and mumble, "Red, I really hate you sometimes," smiling slightly as she thought about her tough, little, redheaded lover who Torres was certain made a much better warrior than she did sometimes.

B'Elanna was perfectly aware of the reason for the nightmare and her recent foul-mood, but she was a Klingon and she would never admit to such a weakness out loud, or even to her personal logs, especially since they had been broken into once by her then boyfriend, Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris, or Parisite as she was secretly fond of referring to the fair-haired helmsman and medical assistant. She no longer hated the man and wanted to tear him limb from limb for not only dishonoring her by ending their almost three year 'relationship' through a letter, but for speaking poorly of the captain, and then snooping through her personal business, but unless they were on-duty and she was forced to interact with him, which she was able to do civilly now, she avoided him at all costs for fear he would say or do something that would result in him being put back together in Sickbay while she awaited punishment in the Brig. Since the time her 'Janeway logs' had been compromised, and her secret desire for the dynamic female had been discovered, Torres didn't record personal logs much at all, and she never dictated any information in them that she didn't figure anyone didn't already know or couldn't guess, and even though she knew it would probably do her good to get what was eating at her off her chest, even if she was only speaking to herself, she couldn't bring herself to do it or risk that chance that someone would find out that she was rather apprehensive about the Day of Honor that was now staring her down as it approached quickly.

Taking a seat at her square, glass table, she pushed a few PADDs and the empty plate she had left from her solitary dinner last night away to make room for her elbows and finally her head as her slightly ridged forehead impacted squarely with the thick, hard surface while she calmed and cursed herself at the same time. She had ordered a chicken dinner from the replicator instead of eating in the Mess Hall with her best friend, Lieutenant Nicole Fowler, or in the captain's quarters with her lovers. The chief might be an astounding engineer, but when it came to programming a replicator, she was hardly 'acceptable,' as Seven would say, but thankfully, there were several menu items preprogrammed into the replicator database for the crew. Seven of Nine had also recently added a few of Torres' favorite meals to her personal database, ones that the tall, shapely blonde had created herself, so the Klingon would have more of a selection for the rare times when she was alone, either by happenstance or because she wanted to be, and didn't feel like socializing in the Officer's Mess.

Surprisingly, those times were few and far between for Torres who, at least in the past, tended to get very cranky when she didn't have a sufficient amount of private time. She wasn't sure what it was, but she did know that her life was as good right now as it ever had been, by far, and not only did she have two wonderful, not to mention beautiful, woman that she loved, and loved her back, but she also had a terrific friend, and somewhat of an big sister, in Nicole Fowler, who B'Elanna freely admitted to thinking was the coolest thing since warp technology. However, this past week had been somewhat of another story, and she knew it was because she was preparing herself for the most sacred of Klingon holidays, and the point of no return.

There were several things about the Day of Honor that were making her anxious. One of them being that the last time she decided to participate in the ritual, that day indeed had been one of the worst days of her life. Not only had she not followed through with the holoprogram to simulate the rituals a warrior was to go through once the painstiks where introduced, but shortly thereafter she had had to eject the warp core, which was never easy news to inform a captain when you were the chief engineer. On top of that, she and Tom Paris had taken a shuttle to retrieve the core and almost died of suffocation as they hung in space in only environmental suits. Not only had she confessed her fear of dying without honor on that day, but she had let that fear cloud her judgement and throw herself at the first thing she could, which was Tom Paris. She really hated that she had told him that she loved him since now she realized that at that time, she had no idea what true love was about. The chief knew, as she knew her name was B'Elanna Torres, that she hadn't had the foggiest idea what love was about until Kathryn Janeway had come to her quarters one evening three and a half months ago and asked, on her knees and naked no less, which Torres thought was about as "ass backwards" as something could get, that B'Elanna be the first person on this vessel to take her to bed. That moment had been a defining moment in the Klingon's life, and for that reason, as well as several others, she knew she couldn't back away from the Day of Honor this time.

Although, she couldn't ignore the anxiousness about making such a commitment to live as a honored warrior since in all truth, she wasn't completely Klingon, and she wasn't driven by all the instincts that Klingon's were. After much cogitation during the last week and several long discussions with Fowler, who continually gave Torres good advice, in B'Elanna's opinion, she had decided that she would go through the full, traditional Rite of Ascension, using the Day of Honor, instead of her birthday to complete the task, but knew that she would never be able to live completely as a Klingon considering she was a Starfleet officer now, and one of her lovers was her captain, and both of them were human, although Seven was still partially Borg, and would always be so. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but promised herself that after the Day of Honor, she would take the next day to not only recover but to create her own rules of honor and then vow to live according to them, which she hoped would honor her ancestors since that was more than she had ever done. Since she knew that there was one fully Klingon Starfleet officer, Lieutenant-Commander Worf, that managed somehow to balance his duty as a Klingon and as a Starfleet officer, she was certain she could be successful as well. She wasn't sure how her mother would feel about it, but she hoped she would respect her for not only honoring her heritage, but also her father's and her mates'.

That notwithstanding, making such a commitment was scary since until very recently, she'd never been able to follow through or handle anything that dictated to her how she should live her life. There was also the fact that her mother's adherence to the Klingon culture had driven her father away from them both, or at least that's what she used to think, which was one of the reasons she'd hated her Klingon side with a passion and blamed it for everything wrong in her life, but after the Barge of the Dead, after accepting death to lift her mother's dishonor and release her to Sto-Vo-Kor, she had been reexamining the situation, even if the whole incident had just been a strange sort of Vision Quest, as Chakotay explained it to her, and now that she was in love, she could no longer place the blame solely on her mother, and was fairly certain she never wanted see her father for fear she'd have to belt him for being such a coward and abandoning her mother and herself just because life wasn't easy.

Finishing as much of her coffee as she wanted, rubbing the tension in the back of her neck and her powerful and sensitive muscles, she sighed, "Computer, state the time."

After a single beep to acknowledge the query, the monotone, computerized, female voice of all Federation starships stated, "The time is 0428 hours."

Sighing again while she stood and deposited her cup into the replicator, then picked up the other dishes from the table, repeating the process of recycling the contents back into the ship's systems so that the matter could again be used to produce any number of things, she decided to not attempt to go back to sleep, even though she was tired since she figured she'd never manage to fall asleep at all before she was required to wake and report for duty, and she was feeling too distracted to work on her detective holonovel. All of the easy work was completed on it, which left the tedious, but necessary programming and testing to make it really great, which she wanted it to be, and she knew in her current state, such concentrated work would just put her in a horrid mood…quickly.

Under different circumstances, she would have just bitten the bullet and tooled off to the captain's quarters for the rest of the night since whenever she was firmly planted between Janeway and Seven, she always slept like a baby, but she couldn't do that tonight. The captain was working her monthly third shift rotation and she knew that whenever Janeway wasn't at home in bed with her, Seven of Nine usually returned to Cargo Bay Two and utilized her alcove since the Borg admitted that she found it difficult to sleep 'efficiently' when Kathryn was not with her. Sometimes Seven invited the ship's only child over for a sleepover as well, and B'Elanna didn't want to intrude on them if that were the case. Since she too found it difficult to sleep alone sometimes, B'Elanna certainly couldn't blame the Borg. She also couldn't go 'goof around' with Fowler since the tall, amazon like pilot was undoubtedly stretched out on her extra long bed fast asleep, and even though she knew Nick wouldn't mind if B'Elanna woke her up and asked if she could talk, she also knew that Nicole was a night owl, like herself, and still had a hard enough time feeling rested for her eight o'clock shift. There was also the fact that it was possible Nicole wasn't alone in her bed tonight, and Torres certainly didn't want to screw that up for her best friend since she'd finally decided to seek the company of a 'ladyfriend.'

That only left her with one other option normally, which was Commander Chakotay. Torres also knew, from experience, that Chakotay was more than willing to let B'Elanna come over in the middle of the night to talk or attempt to get back to sleep in the comfort of her dear friend's bed, but that too was impossible since he was currently on Voyager's sister vessel, the Alaxiat, for the next two months, serving as First Regal Devin's second until she had adequate time to prepare one of her guardians to replace him. Even though she had spent a week on the vessel herself, two weeks ago, and felt fairly comfortable with it, she couldn't ask to be transported over there to visit Chakotay since they still had a little over a week before they were far enough away from Burnhouse and any major threats from the Fynth and Venkat's bounty hunters, so both ship's were still constantly traveling at Warp Six, which was as fast as Devin's vessel could go without draining their already limited power resources.

So, with that, Torres took off for her small bathroom, figuring she would just shower, don her uniform, and pay a quick visit to both her partners before she got a jump on the day. She wasn't certain yet what she would do, but thankfully, for her at this moment, Voyager's long, solitary tenure in the Delta Quadrant always kept her hopping as chief engineer and she was confident she could find one, two, or ten things to do before the Alpha rotation began and she was required to attend an early morning staff meeting before the captain went off duty for a few hours to rest.

Now showered, donning a freshly recycled uniform since her other one had been too wrinkled to wear with dignity, and her slightly damp, just past her shoulder length hair pulled into a loose pony-tail at the base of her neck since it was long enough now that Starfleet protocol required that she pull it back, B'Elanna slipped off the thick, silver, thumb ring Kathryn had given her on their away mission to Burnhouse, and tucked it into the inside pocket of her tool jacket with a few of the other tools she consistently took to and from work since she didn't trust them in the hands of anyone else, especially the new ones she had also received from the captain on the same mission.

Stepping into Engineering first, B'Elanna raised her hand fairly unenthused as Ensign Dawson announced her unexpected presence with a somewhat crisp, "Chief on deck," and said, moving toward her office to drop off her tool kit and the extra ones in her jacket before she went on her visits, "Hey, Syd…I'm not really here yet." Then noticing that other than the Starfleet ensign who was in charge of Engineering on the third rotation and Crewman Alter, the deck was empty, Torres stopped at the doorway to her office and asked, "Where the hell is everyone?"

Used to often irascible woman's brusque demeanor, knowing from her easy tone that she wasn't angry, Sydney replied, "Marco and Scott are with the Maintenance team expanding the commander's office and Fileta and Brian are in the Shuttle Bay. It's pretty quiet down here tonight, so I thought we could get some extra work done on the new shuttle while we had the time, but I'll bring them back if you want?"

"No…it's cool," Torres said quickly, happy with that and making a mental note to inform Fowler, who was doing most of the personnel work with Chakotay's absence, that Dawson was doing a great job, the young woman recently being promoted from crewman to ensign and still new to her post as third lead engineer, holding things together while she was in charge, especially since Engineering was one of the hardest hit areas as far as staff went when the Alaxiat joined their family and some of Voyager's crew was needed to work on the smaller, older vessel on a weekly basis. After going to her desk, she quickly set down her tool kit, and the few others she had in her pocket on the black surface, then started for the turbolift entrance in the back of the engine room, saying, "I'll be back in a while," then added as the taller, but skinny, dark-skinned woman looked over at her and nodded, "and keep your grubby hands off my tools," smirking and producing a fist, as she entered the carriage, "or I'll break your knuckles."

As Dawson and Alter laughed softly, everyone who worked under Torres, and quite a few others, knowing how particular the engineer was with her precious tools, and she replied, "Aye, Chief," the turbolift closed and B'Elanna requested, "Deck Twelve." After the five second ride, B'Elanna stepped out onto the empty section of the deck and walked fairly slowly toward Cargo Bay Two under the slightly dimmed lights of the corridor that helped simulate night. Since there was no distinction between day and night in space, the small environmental changes did wonders for the beings on board that otherwise, as proven by intense study, would start to become lethargic, detached, and sometimes crazy after long periods of space travel. Of course those things were still possible, but the changes minimized the occurrences, and so did the training the majority of this crew went through in the Academy. Not all of Chakotay's crew had been in the Academy during their past, as B'Elanna had, but all of them had grown up around starships and had proven that they could handle the effects space life had on the body long before they ever became members of Kathryn Janeway's crew.

As the large, thick, and highly durable doors of Cargo Bay Two disengaged and slid open evenly as she approached them, the sensors set to detect the presence of lifeforms moving toward them so they would part without command, Torres smiled softly as she stepped into the depths of the fairly dark room, that was currently only lit by the neon green electric circle of Seven of Nine's alcove, which the ex-drone was currently utilizing, as B'Elanna had assumed.

She walked silently up to the controls so her movement wasn't detected by the drone, since now that Seven was no longer fully Borg, she was more aware of her surroundings during regeneration, that being one of the ways her body naturally adapted to the lose of the Collective's constant song in her mind, although, the person had to make a good deal of noise for it to be detected and not deemed irrelevant and ignored completely. She further knew that Seven usually processed the data, often able to detect just who it was in the vicinity by either their footfalls, respiration pattern, or voice if they were talking, and if that data peaked her curiosity, she would end the cycle prematurely to investigate and offer her assistance if she believed it was required. The concept was somewhat difficult for Torres to grasp since she had never regenerated before, but Seven had explained that all of this occurred almost without her knowledge. She was aware that something was occurring, but it was an automatic function of her cybernetic systems, just as breathing was an involuntary function of organic beings, and she had no control over the detection process, but was able to decided whether or not she wished to end her cycle once she became fully aware that something of interest was going on. The Borg further admitted to her that she was no longer comfortable knowing people were moving about while she regenerated, most of the time, and consistently 'woke up,' but that whenever she was able to detect the captain's presence, which wasn't often at all since she explained that the captain seemed to be rather good a stealth, she did not wake up, and allowed Kathryn to observe her since she now knew it was habit for the older of the three women to do so, and because she also knew that if Janeway needed to speak with her, she would end the regeneration cycle herself.

Torres did a quick check on the controls, familiar enough now with Borg technology that she was able to read the strange language and tell how long Seven had left before her cycle ended. Not surprised to find that Seven had set a full cycle, and wouldn't wake until 0700 hours, which was her normal time to rise, unless it was her fitness routine morning, Torres decided not to wake her since she was certain the tall blonde, whose long, buttery mane, that she had decided to keep at its greater length now that she knew B'Elanna liked it, was pulled into a loose ponytail and secured with the Borgified clip Harry Kim had given her for her birthday and currently dressed in her brownish biosuit, would start to ask her questions as to why she was not currently 'regenerating' herself. It wasn't that she felt completely uncomfortable talking to Seven and Janeway about the Day of Honor, but she knew that if she showed any fear about it, they would be tied-up in knots the entire day, more than she knew they would already be, especially Kathryn who had come to talk to her directly after Chakotay had informed the captain that Torres was requesting two consecutive days off for the holiday. Janeway had tried to hide her concerns for the grueling ritual behind her position and only questioned her as to if there was anything B'Elanna needed to make certain she was able to indulge in the cultural ritual how she required, but Torres hadn't been fooled in the least and saw right through Kathryn's attempt, and furthermore saw the fear in her level blue-grey eyes.

She did however step up onto the dais, having a small, silent chuckle due to the crayon drawn picture Naomi Wildman had given Seven for her birthday which was now set into the base of the platform and was covered with a thin panel of transparent aluminum so that it would not be damaged. B'Elanna didn't attempt to touch Seven, even though she wished she could kiss her softly, since she knew that, albeit she couldn't see it, there were dangerous amounts of electricity passing through the woman's body at the moment. Not enough to kill her, but certainly enough to knock her back and set her hair on end and possibly burn the point of contact. After a few moments of gazing at Seven of Nine's angelic and youthful face, shaking her head softly at the memory of how she and the Borg used to square off and insult the other for practically the entire first year of Seven's new life aboard this vessel, and how it wasn't until a little over six months ago that they even started treating each other as anything other than a co-worker, and the knowledge that now did she not only love her, but really truly liked and depended on her, the chief took a deep breath as another memory...another defining moment surged to the forefront of her mind...

"Kahless and Jesus Christ," Torres sighed, sweat soaked and feeling more than a little beaten down as she entered her cabin with her girlfriend and fellow Elite Force initiate, "I've never been so glad to see this dump in all my life."

"I believe I concur," Seven of Nine sighed in unison, not quite as exhausted, but pretty darn close.

As she slumped face first onto her bed and the tall blonde took a seat as well and actually reclined next to her instead of remaining standing, as everyone knew was her preference, B'Elanna groaned as she turned over onto her back and said, "I think Tuvok's trying to kill us so he can take over the ship...that's what I think." Smiling and chuckling as Seven of Nine cocked her eyebrow and expelled the air from her lungs just slightly, which Torres knew was the stoic blonde's form of laughter and finding it more and more endearing as each day passed in their fairly newfound closeness, the chief continued, snapping her fingers, "That's it! Think about it...if we're out of the picture, then it's easier to take out Red." Crawling over to Seven, Torres pressed herself up and braced herself somewhat over the Borg, and said, grinning, "Too bad someone forgot to tell him that I'm a Klingon and you're a Borg...and that means we don't surrender." Leaning down, Torres kissed Seven's full lips, intending to do it smartly, but when she felt their sweet softness, she couldn't help but linger for a few blissful moments before she relented and said, "Let's shower...and then we can figure out how to get him back for putting us through hell this week."

As the Klingon pushed off of her and held out her hand, Seven took it, even though she didn't require assistance sitting up and stated, "I was not aware that we were required to seek revenge, however," standing and smirking, "I am not disagreeable to doing so."

"Revenge!" Torres cheered as she tore off her sports bra and left it on the floor while she continued to make her way to the bathroom off to the side near the entrance to her fairly small cabin. Stepping into the shower, she set the controls, remembering to turn down the heat since the Borg didn't like really hot showers like she and Kathryn did because it forced her nanoprobes to work overtime to compensate, and since she didn't have her abdominal implant anymore, any unnecessary exertion on her cybernetic systems wasn't good for her, and even though most people didn't know this, B'Elanna Torres was mighty protective of Seven of Nine. It was in a different way than the protection she had for Kathryn though. Torres knew Seven was not only the coolest of customers and could seriously put the hurt on just about anyone in an instant, so she didn't worry about her in a fight as she worried for their smaller, frailer, human lover, but she did worry about her pushing her cybernetic systems too far since it was well known that if Seven ever was seriously injured, treating her was sometimes very tricky because she was so unique. However, what Torres worried about more than anything was the person inside the shell of her inhumanly strong body. The person underneath all that could be as fragile as glass at times due to her innocence and unknowing to so many things, and that's what Torres felt her job was to protect first and foremost. She didn't really believe in keeping information from Seven as much as Janeway tried to do consistently, but she did try to be the bridge between the event and the knowledge for Seven. B'Elanna knew she'd never be as smart as Seven, or probably Kathryn in academia, but no one could outmatch her street smarts, as far as the Klingon, former wild child, was concerned, and because of that, she felt it was her job to make certain she was always at Seven's side whenever they were in a situation where someone could try to take advantage of the Borg's lack of adequate data on evil or deceit. And if anyone ever did try to take advantage of Seven, B'Elanna wouldn't think twice of bringing down her own version of hurt upon them faster than most people could ever imagine.

Coming back out of the shower, B'Elanna said to Seven as the blonde snatched up the towels from the floor, folded them neatly and placed them on the towel rod, a structure B'Elanna didn't see the need for since the towels dried just fine on the floor, "You know, even though this week's been hell...it's been kind of nice to have you around every night all to myself," then pointing in a warning manner, she joked as if it was a secret they were involved, which was a private joke between them, "although, don't you tell anyone I said that or I'll kill you."

After picking up the towels, Seven of Nine replied as she reached behind her and unzipped her black, sleeveless, workout jumper, "I will not." When Torres came behind her and offered her assistance, Seven did not protest even though she was, again, capable of doing it herself, and went on, "Now that I am fully recovered from my procedure, and Kathryn and I have had sufficient time to get 'used to' living together, I too have enjoyed spending this week with you...despite your inefficiencies," she joked, while Torres growled playfully and pulled her skintight attire down her lengthy and curvaceous form, kissing her shoulder lightly a few times as she did so. "The timing has worked out well since Kathryn is required to work more than she typically does to prepare to make her decision regarding the status of Lieutenant Fowler." Turning around as B'Elanna backed away and pulled off her shorts and her underwear, Seven asked as Torres grabbed her hand and pulled her into the shower, "Do you believe she will promote Lieutenant Fowler to a senior officer?"

Stepping under the water and putting her head back to wet her brown hair, B'Elanna replied, "I think she's seriously thinking about it...in fact, I know she is. Why else would they have moved the Elite Force preliminaries up a whole week? I think Red's thinking that if she's good enough to be in the Elite Force, then she's good enough to be a senior officer...and even though she hasn't really been tested, from what I hear, she did pretty good with the whole A.I. thing," she growled the word at her disgust for the intelligence that had not only attacked their ship unprovoked, but killed Seven, even if she hadn't really been dead, and made her, and worse, the captain think she was.

Stepping out of the water and letting Seven take her turn, Torres grabbed her shampoo and went on, "Plus, I think she and Red are hitting it off pretty good, on a Starfleet level...I think this is Red's way of testing her since nothing other than that ion storm we observed as happened to allow for a real-life test." Washing her hair, B'Elanna chuckled and added, "And considering Nick's doing the best out of all of us...I'd bet my QIS (ceremonial knife) that she gets the nod."

As they switched spots again, Seven of Nine replied, sighing, "I concur."

While she rinsed out her hair, Torres asked, even though she already knew the answer, but was hoping Seven would explain the situation better than she understood it, "You still don't like her...do you?"

Placing her hands behind her back, completely unable to help herself, Seven stated, "It is not a matter of 'like' versus 'dislike'...I merely do not trust her, and I am surprised," cocking her eyebrow, "that you do."

Torres stepped out of the water and said as she grabbed the soap and started lathering her body, "I guess I'm kind of surprised too, but she's been really cool to me. Like that whole thing when she warned me about getting hung up on Red...she didn't know the situation, but she was doing that for my benefit...and I appreciate that. I don't know...I just like her. I think she tells it to you straight...no bullshit."

Stepping under the water again so it could run down her back, B'Elanna pulled Seven toward her as the Borg continued to look unconvinced, urged her around and went on as she started to wash the Borg's now perfect back, "You know, that's one of the reasons I like you too, dollface...because you're honest." Putting the bar of soap down, Torres slipped her arms around Seven's waist and said as she pressed her chest to the blonde's back and affectionately rubbed her stomach, "I know it's hard for you right now thanks to Parisite, and no one's going to push you to trust her," kissing her shoulder as Seven placed her human hand on Torres' while she looked over her shoulder as much as she could, "but just remember...like Red said, everyone deserves a chance. I'm not telling you to out and out trust her...just do it like a Klingon...trust, but look for doors...trust, but verify."

Seven thought about that for a minute, and then asked as B'Elanna grabbed the soap again and started washing her stomach for her from behind, "You are telling me to trust her, but if I am suspicious as to her motives, then I should investigate them...correct?"

"Sort of," Torres explained, turning Seven around again so she could rinse off the soap before she continued. "More like trust, but be careful...less investigating because that's not really trusting. You have to use your instincts...and I know that's tough for you, but you're smart...remember what people say, how they act...if they do something the same way all the time, then they're probably doing it because it's who they really are."

Lathering up her hands again, she started on Seven's upper-chest and breasts, but didn't focus on the womanly swells for too long because she and the Borg hadn't consummated their relationship yet, and she was determined not to rush Seven because she knew that out of all the relationships in the new found threesome, except for the whole group dynamic, hers and Seven's was the newest, simply because she and Janeway had been growing closer for almost a year, and the captain and Seven had been fairly inseparable since the Borg came onto the scene three years ago, and she didn't want to push anything because of that. She wanted them to find their own niche, their own special way of loving each other when they were alone because no matter what happened, Kathryn Janeway always threw a totally different dynamic into the scene when she was involved in it, and B'Elanna wasn't certain why that was yet, not certain she'd ever know, but she felt it had something to do with the fact that at the end of the day, she was the captain, and as much as Torres and Seven were starting to learn that their biggest strength was when they stuck close together and hit their problems or obstacles head on as a unit, the redhead, at least for now, was the someone they depended on to center and focus them. Janeway kept them on the straight and narrow, which Torres knew she definitely needed assistance with, and also knew that it would probably be a cold day in hell before Seven stopped depending on Kathryn to teach her about her humanity. That knowledge between them was completely out in the open, without it really ever having to be said, and because of that, Torres doubted there would ever be any resentment, but still, that notwithstanding, her feelings for Seven of Nine grew deeper and deeper everyday as they shared a majority of their life together as partners, and she wanted them to have their own special, secret, and intimate memories that they could share together, just like she knew she and Seven had with Kathryn. After that, she hoped they'd figure out how to function completely as a group, rather than separate parts, but B'Elanna never really worried about that since all of this was still so new and she surmised that once everyone figured out the other one, there would be no stopping them. As far as Torres was concerned, she had all the time in the world to learn how to really love, not just lust after Seven, Kathryn, and then them both at the same time...and she was honestly looking forward to the whole experience, and furthermore, she planned to see this through to the death and never, ever abandon them...never. This time, she wasn't going to run away even if it wasn't perfect from its inception.

As Seven smiled at her while she kindly cleaned her bosom, but was clearly paying very close attention to what B'Elanna was saying, Torres stepped up closer for a moment, pulled her into a warm hug as she urged them back under the water, kissed her chin and finished, "If someone has acted honorably as far as you know, then you should respect them as being honorable. If you don't, you'll never make new friends...get it?"

"That is correct," Seven nodded as she made for the soap. "Kathryn has given me similar, advice although she prefers to use Starfleet principles instead of Klingon locutions." Turning Torres around and washing her back for her as the chief snickered at the blonde's word use, Seven informed, "I will contemplate this and attempt to heed your words...especially since you and Kathryn both are trusting of her." Setting the soap down and not wanting to speak on Nicole Fowler any longer, or really anything for that matter except for B'Elanna, Seven began to massage Torres' shoulders with both hands, carefully with her left since even though Torres' skin was 'tougher' than Kathryn's, she could still easily lacerate it if she was not mindful, then informed as she slipped one hand down to the valley between B'Elanna breasts, rubbing her dense sternum languidly but with a definite attempt to arouse, and dipped her head so she was speaking into her ear, "B'Elanna Torres, I believe I hate you."

Snorting in humor, Torres leaned her head back on Seven's shoulder and replied as she reached back with one of her hands and pulled Seven's body closer to hers, grasping her by her fanny, which the Klingon had to admit was something of a work of art, as was the rest of her blonde girlfriend, "Hate is good...mmm...I like hate...a lot! You just go right on hating me, dollface...I don't mind."

Seven smirked at that and remarked with intense seduction, albeit Borgified, as she reached both hands down and cup Torres' breasts, "Perhaps I wish to show you how much I hate you tonight with a physical display?" Delighting in the globular, firm and symmetrical masses as she lifted them just slightly, then began rasping her thumbs over the fat, brown tips that were much bigger than Kathryn's, although not as large as her own, but definitely denser, which elicited a low growl from the brunette, she squeezed the masses in her hand again, pushing them together, and said, "I wish to make passionate hate with you tonight, bang pong," then lightly bit her cheek.

And suddenly, B'Elanna Torres--a woman who thought of herself as something of a smooth operator when it came to the bedroom considering she hadn't had any complaints so far, at least not from any of the women she'd been with, and she certainly had had her fair share of trips around the block--didn't know what to do next. Swallowing, Torres just stilled her body while she screamed in her mind, "Fucking great! Now...now I lose my nerve?" but remained frozen outside as she tried to silently fight through her moment of uncertainty since she'd always assumed she'd be the one to initiate such an act.

When Seven felt Torres' body tense unnaturally, she immediately moved her hands to B'Elanna's hips, figuring they were more neutral territory, worried that she had made a grave error in judgement; although, if you asked her, she'd say that before that instant she was certain she'd utilized Kathryn's advice on how to get to know someone and grow closer before sex was brought into the mix, effectively, and that this was the next logical step, and had to ask, "Do you not wish to copulate?" As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she wanted to snatch them out of the air before they fell upon her girlfriend's ears because she knew they sounded more harsh and Borg-like than she would prefer at such a moment, but whenever she was uncertain, especially when it came to her humanity, she consistently feel back on what she knew was accurate...precise definitions and logic.

"No," Torres replied, turning around quickly as Seven's tone and even more so that thought behind them snapped her out of her helpless state. "No...I mean...yes! Yes...I wanna be with you." Sighing, B'Elanna placed her head on Seven's shoulder and said, "God, I'm sorry, dollface...I didn't want it to be like this." Shaking her head, mad as hell at herself for being such a "stupid, idiot!" she informed, "I'm just...we'll, I'm kind of," she couldn't believe these words were coming out of her mouth, "nervous."

Seven was indeed surprised as well since she knew that Kathryn and B'Elanna had been intimate on several occasions, all but one of them prior to Seven's counter-part's visit, when right after that B'Elanna insisted that the captain and Seven take a whole week to themselves for 'alone time,' since the incident had clearly affected Kathryn deeply, and the last time Torres and Janeway made love was at the beginning of this week, so Seven couldn't really figure out why she was nervous, but then thinking about it more, she had to ask, although there was no hurt in her voice, only concern for her girlfriend, "Are you 'worried' that I will damage you?"

"NO!" Torres came back adamantly again, with even more vigor though, then forced herself to relax and ease down, sometimes hating how quickly she could snap. Placing her arms around Seven's neck, B'Elanna informed, pulling them close and hugging her affectionately, "No, babe...I'm not worried about that at all. I'm just nervous because..." swallowing and blinking as she gazed up into Seven's large, blue eyes that seemed now desperate for answers, "well, because I'm kind of in love with you." Sighing and looking down, Torres crossed her arms over her chest and said, "I know we've never said that before...and...well, I just didn't want to rush you at all because I know we've had a rocky start, and," looking up, and then having to look right back down again as she saw the grandest smile she'd ever seen on the Borg's face staring back at her, "I just didn't want to screw this up like I tend to do everything else." Feeling like the biggest fool that had ever existed, and wondering just what the hell it was about Seven that constantly turned her into a mushy heap of insecurities, she mumbled, still looking down, and twisting one of her feet against the tile out of nervousness, "Aren't you nervous?"

"Now that I know you are not concerned with damage," Seven started, bringing one hand to Torres' cheek, "I am experiencing a great deal of anticipation with little anxiety because I wish you to know now that I am 'kind of' in love you as well." Then pulling Torres closer and hovering over her like a goddess, bending her neck back and taking a dominant position as she had with the brunette when they first kissed on the planet's surface, Seven of Nine stated with determination on her face, before she kissed her, "Since that is the case, you will allow me to make love to you first...and only when you feel comfortable, will you demonstrate your skills which I am aware that Kathryn finds 'impressive.'"

Going weak in the knees as Seven looked at her as she'd never done, then kissed her passionate and demandingly with lips and tongue, somehow managing to turn off the water while doing so, B'Elanna latched onto her for dear life when she felt the Borg's hand cup her bottom and then lift her up. Wrapping her leg's around the blonde's small waist as she moaned and was literally swept off her feet, Torres was so lost in the feeling of Seven's full lips and her tongue touching and tasting hers that she barely made note of the fact that Seven was not only carrying her while she kissed her, but walking through her quarters without faltering a step. When Seven set them down on the bed, gently, and deepened the kiss still, B'Elanna moaned again, then asked after a few moments when her lover let up on her lips and moved her kisses to her neck while she brought her human hand back to her breast, again kneading her flesh with a good deal of pressure, which Torres appreciated, "Jesus, dollface...did Red teach you to kiss like that?"

Cocking her eyebrow and her cheek, feeling confident and sure of herself after spending an entire week alone with Kathryn and getting to known the in's and out's, if you'll pardon the expression, of 'non-reproductive, recreational copulation,' Seven of Nine answered rather seductively, also learning about other ways to stimulate by studying the captain when the redhead was on the 'prowl,' "I have had an efficient mentor, however," pressing her body into the brunette's and moving her lips to the other side of her neck while she continued to squeeze and knead B'Elanna's breast, "she has informed me that I am inherently 'gifted' at this task."

"Mmm, I like talent...talent is good," Torres came back as she started to run her hands down the length of Seven's long, luxurious, almost lioness back. Turning her head so she could kiss Seven's shoulder, B'Elanna mumbled, "Kahless, you feel so good, dollface...mmm, you're body is amazing." When Seven moved her 'amazing body' or 'exquisite body,' as Kathryn often referred to her heavenly form, slightly to the side and pressed her thigh to the juncture of Torres' leg, the Klingon inhaled deeply again, and growled, "Yessss, thatsgood."

As her body began to burn and boil with want for the pale flesh pressed against her own darker skin, and it seemed the same was true for Seven since she was now wantonly kissing her neck while she began undulating against B'Elanna, and continued to manipulate her bosom, completely keeping the engineer serviced from practically head to toe, the chief started kissing Seven's neck with more fervor as the passion began to rise exponentially, and when Seven moaned very softly, then rose up and began attacking her mouth as she pressed her thigh into her body firmer and upped the tempo a tad, Torres got caught up in the moment for several minutes until a strange realization washed over her, and she said in her mind, "Holy shit, I'm doing it with Seven of Nine!"

And suddenly this was all too serious for B'Elanna...but it wasn't her relationship that was too serious, it was this act itself. This was Seven. This was a woman she'd come to call her friend, and then her girlfriend and thought of as somewhat of a partner since in the last three weeks they'd really learned not only to work together, and well, but to have fun while doing so. And that was what was wrong with this moment...it wasn't enough fun. She wanted to share this experience with Seven with the fun, competitive spirit that they brought to everything they did...and she wanted to experience it together...at the same time.

Gently easing away from Seven's lips, B'Elanna brought one hand to the blonde's face as they both heaved for a moment, flushed and gasping, then asked as the blonde halted her movement that had still been slow, but was gaining momentum, "Dollface, you and me...we're kind of like a team...right?"

Thinking the question was peculiar considering during all of the times she'd been intimate with Kathryn in the last three weeks, and there had been several occurrences, at this point Janeway wouldn't attempt to have a discussion--there only being that one instance in the shower when the good captain was doing her best to control herself so they didn't unduly tax Seven's fragile systems--however, Seven was not adverse to such an event, so she answered, determined to assimilate this new data on sexual interaction, "I have come to think of us in similar terms." Then furrowing her brow some, she queried, curious, "What has prompted this question?"

Torres smiled somewhat impishly and replied, now it being her turn to be seductive, "Because I want to have fun with you right now." Moving one of her hands between their bodies, B'Elanna pulled the Borg up farther while she slid down somewhat and planted her face between Seven's breasts. While she took one of the fat, light pink nipples into her mouth and pulled on it gently between her teeth, the Klingon snarled and then in a show of her own fortitude, flipped them over. Straddling Seven's legs, Torres' smiled widened when Seven quirked her eyebrow, a look she knew meant that the blonde understood what she was trying to do, so when the blonde made for her bosom again as Torres sat up straight, B'Elanna quickly grasped onto her wrists and pushed Seven's arms down next to her head, knowing the Borg was obviously letting her do so since there wasn't a single person on the ship stronger than Seven of Nine. Quickly, B'Elanna pressed her own chest against Seven's again and explained more as she delighted in the feel of her girlfriend's larger, softer breasts caressing her own, "That was all getting too serious...and I like to have fun with you." Hovering over Seven's face again, staring at her full lips and licking her own, making it known she wanted to kiss her again but drawing the moment out, B'Elanna asked, just centimeters away from her mouth, "Do you find that acceptable?"

Seven smirked, then turned the tables just as quickly again and rolled them back over before she replied, "That is correct," keeping her lips in close proximity to B'Elanna's in the same manner. Then completely pinning Torres just with her weight alone, Seven asked, her voice fairly deep and alluring, "How do you wish to have 'fun' with me?"

Growling, Torres brought up one hand to Seven's neck, forcing her head down so she could kiss her, while she again slipped her other arm between their bodies, making certain to take plenty of time to appreciate all of the Borg's 'assets.' Then quickly moving her oral appreciation to Seven's cheek, where she bit her gently, then continued onto her ear, B'Elanna pressed her palm to Seven's damp, sensitive flesh and said when the blonde twitched then quirked her mouth in surprise, intrigue, and appreciation, "Mmm...that's nice, dollface." Chewing kindly on her earlobe, she added, "I want us to do this together like we do everything else." Pulling Seven up just a tad and kissing her neck hotly, she said in a raspy whisper, "I want you to come with me...let's do it together this time."

Positioning her body appropriately since she and Kathryn had utilized this technique once when their time had been limited since they had invited Chakotay over for dinner, but suddenly found themselves lost in each other's arms when they returned home, Seven slid her Borg hand underneath Torres' neck, pulling her body close as she dropped her human hand that was at B'Elanna's chest to where her thigh was pressed, and whispered, somewhat breathless, since Torres was indeed having fun now and doing a very good job to stimulate the Borg, "I find thisss...accepta..ble...as wwell"

When Seven mimicked the movement of her hand, then slowly starting rocking her body against her to assist with the sensation, Torres snarled into Seven's neck and informed as the blonde's long fingers dipped past the pliable folds of her center and pressed against it demandingly, affecting her in the same manner as her kisses, "God, you're so good...you feel so good to me."

Torres wasn't surprised that Seven wasn't saying anything more because somehow she'd just known that the ex-drone wouldn't be the vocal type, which was very far removed from herself, and especially Kathryn who spoke more than anyone B'Elanna had been with, although it wasn't like she minded that at all since Kathryn's voice in everyday conversation was enough to turn her on, and when she was in the throws of passion, it was downright criminal. Although, she was slightly surprised when Seven reared up, quickening the pace as her pale face began to flush, then said softly, and only, "B'Elanna..." since that was the first time the precision oriented woman had ever not used her full name.

As Seven moved her head back to her cheek and then her neck and started kissing and nipping her flesh with a fever she'd never witnessed out of the Borg, Torres inhaled deeply again, and said, "Jesus, dollface," as the steady rocking of their bodies grew more intensified. When her lover made a soft moaning sound and started to move faster and more erratic, seeming as though not only was she enjoying herself but quickly getting to the point where she was operating almost solely on instinct and the need to feel more, which B'Elanna fully admitted to thinking was one of the best things in the universe to experience with another person, Torres urged, focusing now more on Seven's pleasure than her own, not purposefully changing her mind about sharing the experience together since that was still occurring, but honestly wanting to watch the blonde's pleasure unfold just as she had done with Kathryn Janeway a few weeks ago, "Mmm, yes, babydoll...that's good...do it, Seven....show me how you work."

Whispering B'Elanna's name again, not understanding why she couldn't manage to call her B'Elanna Torres like she preferred but deciding it was irrelevant, Seven started swirling her hand quickly between Torres' legs, hoping this lover liked that as much as Kathryn since she could feel the building rising quickly in her body as the instinctive force started to take over her ability to completely control her actions and she very much wanted to grant the engineer's release at the same time hers was. When Torres shuddered at the change in movement and cried out her appreciation with a crisp, "Yes, dollface!" Seven focused what part of her mind she could to continue on as the rest of her body started to let go and act without her ability to settle it, barely having time to remember to slide her Borg hand under the pillow to keep it far away from Torres' flesh since she certainly never wanted to damaged Torres, but especially on the first time they'd made love. Such an action was completely unacceptable to the Borg.

Grinning with feral desire and joy for the thrill of the moment as Seven started convulsively grinding against her, Torres watched in utter awe, completely losing herself in the vision before her, and even though her body was letting go as well and starting to writhe and buck chaotically, she was transfixed by the pale blonde's pleasure. When Seven gasped loudly, closing her eyes and leaving her mouth open, then arched as her slightly longer than shoulder length, wet hair snapped backward some due to the abrupt movement of her head, and jerked several times forcefully against her hand as she grunted, Torres couldn't hold out to finish watching all of Seven's climax, as much as she really wanted to, since the sight was more than enough stimulation on its own to ignite her crackling nerve endings and send a rushing wave of godlike euphoria across and up her body, which caused her to clutch the side of the bed with her free hand, and roar in her throat, an instant before she tensed to extremes, "Kahless...yes!"...

Blinking her eyes, realizing that she was standing on Seven's alcove day-dreaming, Torres shook her head at herself, chuckling lightly then whispered, "I love you, bang pong...and I don't care who knows it," then sighed, frustrated that she couldn't kiss Seven but letting it go because she didn't want to disturb her and there was the fact that there was someone else that she could kiss...someone else that she also loved, who she loved with all the fury of the blazing suns that heated the planet that started this whole crazy adventure for her, and she didn't care who knew that either. So, as quietly as she was able, Torres stepped down from the dais and exited the dark room the same way she entered.

Starting to feel somewhat better by the moment just at the thought of seeing Kathryn, Torres picked up her step until she was moving at a steady jog, which was her preference, even if she knew Kathryn frowned upon her officers running in the hallways when it wasn't required or not part of some fitness routine since on this small, scout ship, the corridors were as close to a track as was available. The holodeck could be used, but no one had enough rations, or could utilize the few hours of open holodeck time consistently enough to make a productive routine. Janeway never said anything to that effect, but B'Elanna was able to tell she didn't like it since every time she was caught, Janeway pursed her lips slightly and raised her eyebrows just a touch. Once she was inside the turbolift again, B'Elanna requested the Bridge, and during the quick ride up, she tried to think of what she would say to the captain so that she could have a few minutes alone with her, and not be obvious that it was a personal request, if she wasn't in her Ready Room when she arrived.

When the doors parted for her, Torres immediately stepped out, walking fairly purposefully, and stuffed down her sigh when Kathryn's short, auburn kissed mane turned around quickly from her command chair at the sound of the pneumatic doors, obviously slightly surprised that someone was entering the Bridge considering this was the third shift and all command personnel that worked the Gamma rotation were currently on that deck.

Raising her eyebrows, the captain became concerned immediately that something was happening for her chief engineer to be up and about, in uniform, at this hour, and that came out, just slightly in her greeting, "Chief…it's late…something wrong?"

B'Elanna continued to play it cool and replied as she walked down the steps, moving toward the captain, "No, Captain…do you have a minute, though?"

Kathryn was about to offer her a seat in Chakotay's command chair that offset hers when she caught Torres' quick eye movement that gestured toward her office, so she changed gears easily, now even more concerned since she had a feeling this was personal and B'Elanna had never come to her in the middle of the night while she was on duty, and said, standing, "Sure…I could use come coffee anyway. Mister Rodham, if Lieutenant Byers drops off his report, tell him to just leave it on my chair…unless he needs to speak with me please."

Once the captain got done giving her orders, Torres followed her down the small series of steps that led to her fairly sizeable and cozy office. Not surprised when Janeway didn't turn around and started for her replicator, asking if B'Elanna wanted some coffee as well, Torres replied, quickening her step now that the doors were closed behind them, "No thanks," until she was right on Kathryn's heels. Placing her hand on Janeway's shoulder as the compact woman stopped in front of her replicator, keeping her from ordering her preferred beverage, for the moment, Torres urged her to turn around, and when Janeway raised her eyebrows in a mixture of question, concern, and curiosity, B'Elanna smirked as she slipped her hand behind Kathryn's neck and pulled her in for a kiss.

As Janeway made a small sound of surprise in the back of her throat since Torres had never made such a bold move in the captain's office while they were on duty without asking first, B'Elanna pulled her in closer while she dipped her back, just slightly and intensified the kiss. Relaxing some when Janeway submitted to it fairly quickly and she felt and heard Kathryn moan softly, the engineer flicked her tongue against her lover's lips, requesting that she open them, and when Janeway did as asked, placing one arm hand behind B'Elanna's neck as well, silently informing her that this was acceptable to her and she didn't want to stop immediately, Torres deepened the kiss, tasting the sweet remnants of a nutritional supplement, which she knew the captain actually preferred while on duty since they were portable and didn't take long to consume. When Kathryn's eager tongue grazed against her own and the redhead began massaging the muscles at the base of her neck as she whimpered slightly, B'Elanna growled deep in her throat as she began to devour Janeway's mouth, pulling her tight against her body which caused the captain to whimper again and latch onto her tighter.

That involuntary sound escaping Kathryn's mouth never ceased to pebble the Klingon's skin and instantly aroused her to extremes. It was the same sound she made just as she was penetrated and just before she climaxed during a particularly submissive, for her, encounter, and even though Torres always thought it was strange, it was a somehow fitting sound for such an authoritative woman to make because it meant that not only was she feeling pleasure, but she was allowing someone to have control over her and trusting that they would treat her with kindness, as, of course, B'Elanna Torres always did, even when they were engaging in excited and enthusiastic sex. Understanding right now that such a sound meant that Kathryn was not only submitting to the passionate kiss, despite the fact that she was on duty, but that she was becoming aroused, Torres slowed down the kiss before Kathryn emitted another such sound that would cause B'Elanna to pick her up and carry her off to the couch, or to her desk, or to the bathroom and make love to her right then and there. That certainly hadn't been B'Elanna's intention when she came into the captain's office, although she had planned to kiss her since she had seen her less than Seven of Nine in the last three days, which hadn't been all that much at all, but as they both could attest, whenever they found themselves in the same room together alone, several less than chaste thoughts went through their minds, which always made Torres smile her famous 'crazy grin,' as Janeway called it.

B'Elanna wasn't quite certain what it was about the starship captain that set her hormones into overdrive consistently, but she did know it had something to do with that fact that she was completely obsessed with the woman when she was in her uniform, especially how it fit her narrow, impossibly trim hips perfectly, and she was furthermore incurably addicted to the sound of her unique, smoky tones, as well as her seemingly all-knowing crystalline stare. Truth be known, there wasn't one single part about Kathryn physically that she didn't appreciate a great deal, but beyond that, what really changed her feelings for Janeway from lust to love was her unstoppable determination and how she cared and knew so much about just about everything in the universe. The captain's intelligence and ability to mesh that with her common sense and astounding communication skills never ceased to amaze the engineer and always left her scratching her head and smiling her grin in wonder.

Pulling away from Kathyn's lips completely, standing her straight up again, but resting her forehead against Janeway's as the redhead purred like a kitten, blissfully, B'Elanna whispered with her eyes still closed, "I love you, cowgirl…I won't keep you long. I just wanted to come see you for a minute and tell you that."

Kathryn murmured against her lips, after she kissed her supremely soft, saying, "Mmm…oh, I love you too...and thank you, darling…that was a very nice kiss." Then moving her head back so she could look at Torres, she asked quiet, running her knuckles across B'Elanna's somewhat sharp cheekbones, "Why are you awake…can't you sleep?"

Snatching up the captain's hand and kissing her knuckles quickly, B'Elanna answered, "I'm just wound up…so I thought I'd get a jump on the day." Then pulling Janeway to her chest as she turned her around, she kissed her neck once as the captain titled her head and chuckled softly, then said, "Coffee…black." As Kathryn gave her thanks, another thing B'Elanna loved about her, thinking it was cute that unless the situation was extreme, Janeway never forgot her etiquette, and snatched up the mug, bringing it to her lips immediately, Torres had to shake her head once at the memory of her trying to do that earlier and failing miserably at being able to tolerate the heat. When Janeway asked what was so funny, Torres replied, "Private joke," knowing Kathryn would accept that without further question, yet another thing she loved about her. B'Elanna Torres might be the biggest rumor hound on the ship, but she was very big on personal privacy, and never violated that once she was aware that further inquiries weren't wanted, and liked very much that Kathryn was also very respectful of that, even more than her position required…more of her politeness, B'Elanna figured and agreed that the captain was much better at understanding that immediately than she was.

As B'Elanna continued to hold her close and rest her head on her shoulder while they faced the replicator, Janeway pulled the cup from her lips and questioned as she held the mug to her torso with both hands since she was wrapped up snuggly, "Wanna to talk about it?" knowing there was more to her partner's problems sleeping than just being wound up because not only had she'd barely seen her in the last three days, but Fowler had also come to her just yesterday, privately, to inform her that although she had taken care of it and that there wasn't a problem, someone had complained to her about the engineer's foul mood. Fowler had approached her completely on a personal level since she had talked to the ensign who, Fowler admitted was being over-sensitive and had turned in a poorly composed report, but that she had also spoken with Torres privately and fairly personally as well and told her that although she was within her rights to crack on her staff when they weren't holding their own, yelling at them in Klingon wasn't always the best way to go about things, especially during times of stress, which they were all currently under until they cleared this territory and were able to find a place to go into orbit and work out the personnel situation and the upgrade of the Alaxiat's warp capabilities. Janeway had sensed that Nicole knew more than she was letting on, but she hadn't pried since she knew the pilot was B'Elanna's biggest confidant these days, but she had informed the captain in a round about way that she was a little concerned for Torres, and that maybe this was a job for Janeway since she always seemed to know the best things to say despite the situation.

"I'm fine, baby," Torres replied easily, kissing Janeway's cheek and rubbing her now completely flat stomach, secretly missing the slightly rounded softness of the captain's abdomen of the past, but never saying anything about Kathryn's even trimmer figure since she certainly didn't find it unappealing, but she also knew it was a result of her and Seven's diligent exercise routine and not because her partner wasn't taking care of herself. Quite the opposite was true, actually, and even though her 'preference' was a softer body to embrace since there was something inherently feminine about it, she had to admit that she probably would have never had the pleasure of seeing Janeway prance around in a bikini during Seven's recent birthday party if Kathryn's body wasn't as completely toned as it was now. Not that Janeway was ever out of shape by any stretch of the imagination, but considering she had seen her in a bathing suit on several occasions in the last seven years, but that was the first time she'd seen her in a two piece, she figured it was because her commanding officer was in better shape and more muscled, although still lightly so, than she'd ever been since Torres had known her. "I've just been kind of out of whack since spending that week on the Alaxiat, but it's nothing that won't work itself out. I guess I didn't realize how much of a routine I had until it changed…it's been hard to get back into it comfortably." Kissing her neck again, she added, "I did miss you though…thanks for giving me a few minutes with you."

Janeway was fairly certain Torres wasn't being entirely honest with her, but she was also certain that part of B'Elanna's unease as of late was because her routine had been interrupted for a full week. Kathryn didn't have much of a routine other than her exercises with Seven—even those hadn't been regular occurances since Seven had been so busy lately, although Janeway had kept up with them alone—since she was captain and was required to take care of any number of things at a moment's notice, and often, but she was aware that routine was very important to B'Elanna and it was one of the mechanisms she used to keep her colliding and contradictory emotions in check. Due to her genetic make-up, the brunette could swing from one pole to the next in mere seconds. Considering that, she didn't ask her directly if the reason she hadn't seen her in the last three days except here and there while on duty was because B'Elanna was avoiding her because she was feeling anxious about the Day of Honor, and said instead, turning around and looking at Torres directly in the eye, "Well, if you say you're fine, then I won't push, but," stepping up to her and placing one hand on her chest, she continued in hushed tones, "if there is more going on, I hope you know you can talk to me…whatever the time of day. I'm also you're captain, B'Elanna…and I care for you as a member of my crew as well, and that is completely separate from my love for you as a person."

Smiling brightly, Torres shook her head as she placed her hands on her own hips and asked, "How the hell do you do that?"

"Do what?" Kathryn asked coy, knowing what B'Elanna was getting at very well, but hoping it would start a conversation as to what was bothering her engineer, as she brought the coffee to her lips to hide her smirk.

Torres pointed at Janeway and said, "You know what I'm talking about. How do you always know just the right thing to say…all the goddamn time?"

Snatching Torres' finger, she entwined her hand with hers and smiled, shaking her head, "Just lucky, I guess?" Then squeezing B'Elanna's hand, she asked again, softer, "Do you want to talk about it?"

B'Elanna grabbed Kathryn's coffee, took a sip, then scrunched her face, which was somewhat of a tradition between them. Torres hated black coffee, especially the blend programmed into the replicators Kathryn used consistently, but she always took a drink and then teased the redhead by asking, "Kahless sakes…how do you drink that stuff?" and Janeway always answered, "My own personal recipe, coffee laced with adrenaline, remember?" making reference to the fact that Torres, and others, believed the good captain was completely unbreakable and something of a superhero, which to this day, Torres still believed whole-heartedly, even if Janeway had gone a little off the edge when she believed Seven of Nine had been killed by the A.I. and scratched the hell out of her back during her fairly quick breakdown. When Janeway answered appropriately, but didn't let up on her intense stare that she always managed to hold, no matter what was occurring, the chief sighed, kissed her smartly and said, handing the coffee back to its owner, "Red, don't look at me like that…you know I can't take it." When Kathryn looked down for a minute, but then returned to her eyes again, Torres said, "Don't worry, I'm not planning a mutiny or anything like that," shrugging, she went on quickly, "I just have to work it out on my own…and I promise, it has nothing to do with you or Seven."

Pulling Janeway over to the couch with her, wanting to spend a little more time with her before she left, she added once they sat down and she put her arm around Kathryn, pulling her into the crook of her shoulder, "I don't want you to think I don't want to talk to you about it because of anything bad…it's just something I have to do myself…can you understand that?"

Kathryn leaned forward, setting her cup down, then responded as the leaned back, turned slightly and absently placed her palm on Torres' abdomen, slipping her hand underneath her tool jacket so she could feel the firmness of her stomach through her shirts, "Yes, darling…I understand." Shaking her head as she cuddled with Torres and rested her head on B'Elanna's shoulder while she rubbed her thumb across the muscles against her palm languidly, "I don't mean to be nosey…I just worry about you. I can't help myself." Sighing as B'Elanna kissed the top of her head, she went on quiet, "I know how difficult it is for you sometimes, Lanna…and I just want to make sure you're okay and not suffering alone because you feel you can't come to me." Lifting her head and kissing her lover's chin, she whispered, "I love you...I'll always be here for you."

Lowering her head, Torres kissed the captain again for several seconds and then said when Janeway returned her head back to her shoulder while she moved her hand higher and stoked her hard sternum between her breasts, "Not to change the subject, but I'm going to because I'm tired of talking about me," when Janeway chuckled, she went on, "how have you been?" Looking down, she asked, "You hangin' in there tonight?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Janeway said easily, although this time it wasn't a half-truth since she was indeed feeling better than she had prior to the last month, but with the success of their first Elite Force covert operation, her own success at gaining information, her growing friendship with Fowler because of that, and the fact that her personal life, despite her position, was as fulfilling as it had ever been, she had managed to regain her confidence as captain that had been waning for many months and really went down hill after the incident with the A.I. There was also the fact that with each day that passed she was not only growing closer to her partners, but her crew as well because of it, and for once, that wasn't scaring the hell out of her. She rather liked feeling part of the group and even though she spoke openly and personally with more of her crew than she ever had before, and joined in group activities with more emphasis than before as well, their hadn't been any negative consequences as far as them not following her orders or respecting her as their leader, and she had to admit that considering the slight personnel crisis they were having at the moment, and that they had still yet to have a full shore leave in so long she couldn't remember, productivity and moral seemed to be hitting all-time highs. "You came at a good time…I just caught my second wind. I'll sleep for a while after the staff meeting though…there's much too much to do today for me try to make it through the whole day." Groaning slightly, then chuckling, she announced, "It's departmental and personnel report day," looking up, smiling crookedly, "or otherwise know as 'Hell day.'" Holding up her finger, she informed, "Which, our dear friend Miss Fowler will be subjected to for the first time…so maybe that will help with the comic relief. Keep your fingers crossed."

Crossing her fingers, B'Elanna laughed and then offered, "Well, mine are all done…so at least you'll have those on time." Then kissing her quickly, she asked, "If you're interested, I wouldn't mind having you all to myself tonight…do you wanna come over?"

Janeway smiled and responded somewhat seductively as she cupped one of Torres' breasts and grazed her thumb across the tip until the nipple responded to her ministrations, "I'd like that." Raising up some, she said while she rubbed her nose against B'Elanna's, "We haven't had a night together since," thinking, she pulled away, looked down and then recalled, "since before the away mission." Then shaking her head, she continued, "Anyway, I've missed you," squeezing her breast gently, she whispered before she kissed Torres, "hmm…but now you've ensured this day is going to be just dreadful."

After Kathryn kissed her, B'Elanna queried, "How's that?" laughing somewhat since she thought she'd ensured that it would at least end well.

Leaning forward, Janeway whispered hotly into her ear as she kneaded her breast with more purpose, "It makes it very hard to concentrate on departmental reports when all I want is to feel your hands on my skin." When B'Elanna pulled her closer and growled low and rattling in her throat, that sound always sending Kathryn's nerves humming for at least an hour unless there was an emergency that got her mind off of it, Janeway, not able to help herself, simultaneously squeezed the mass in her hand as she pressed her own, much more modest chest into B'Elanna's side and informed after she flicked her tongue against Torres' earlobe, "Mmm…just the thought of you makes me tremble."

Inhaling as Janeway reported that, then kissed and finally bit her neck while she continued to fondle her chest, Torres snarled, "Jesus, Kathryn." When she felt the captain chuckle against she chest and then lick her neck where she had bitten her softly, Torres waited until Janeway tended to her so there wouldn't be a mark, or at least not much of one, and then said, pulling away, grabbing Janeway's hand from under her shirt and kissing her knuckles, "Okay, yea…I gotta go." As Janeway cackled and let her stand up, Torres turned, leaned down and kissed Janeway sweetly, trying her best not to linger at the lips, although the captain's frisky mood wasn't helping, and finally pulling away, she sighed and said as she spun and marched toward the door, jumping down the small steps easily, "Red, you're the devil…I mean it this time…"

"Hey," Torres greeted as the tall, sizeable form of Lieutenant Nicole Fowler, who stepped into the doorway of her office, while her friend knocked on the wall inside, "what's up?"

"I went by your place to see if you wanted to grab some grub before the meeting," Fowler replied, crossing her arms over her flat, muscled chest and leaning against the wall, "but you weren't there. Did you already eat?"

Standing, Torres set down the malfunctioning sensor node she'd removed earlier from one of Biometrics' sensor consoles, replacing it with a new one, so she could try to figure out just what went wrong with it, on her desk and replied, "No, I've been too busy, but I can take a break." Moving toward the turbolift, she said to Dawson, "Syd, I'm going to have breakfast…remind Carey when he gets in that I've got a meeting this morning, so I don't know when I'll be back and to get to work on the shuttle right away." Then once they were inside and Fowler requested the appropriate deck, Torres smirked, elbowing her and asked, "So, did you get some last night?"

Fowler rolled her eyes, smacking B'Elanna upside the head fairly soundly and said, "Real nice, Torres."

Ignoring the attempt that the lieutenant was trying to make to say she didn't approve of such talk, which B'Elanna knew was completely a lie if she ever heard one since Fowler could be just as crass as she could, well, almost, Torres elbowed her again, harder this time and replied before the lift stopped, "Fuck off…so, how'd it go?"

Nicole laughed once, shaking her head and said as the lift doors opened, depositing them on Deck Two, which at this time of the day was always very busy since not only was it close to shift change, but almost half of the ship was making their way to and from the Mess Hall, and mumbled, "Let's wait 'til we're settled."

Happy with that, knowing Nicole wouldn't keep her in the dark since there were very little secrets between them, even if they were relatively new friends, but Torres didn't think much of it with Fowler since they had clicked from the get go and the chief knew for a fact that the newest senior officer was highly trustworthy, B'Elanna nodded and fell into step with the higher ranked officer, always finding it funny how people automatically parted for them whenever they walked together, sometimes as much as they parted for the captain. She wasn't sure what that was about, but she had a feeling it was due to the fact that not only was B'Elanna's temper well documented, but now that Nicole was a senior officer and second in command of the Elite Force, she had become something of a force to be reckoned with, which the Klingon admired a great deal. As they approached the Mess Hall, Torres secretly wondered if Fowler was about to have something of a small confrontation with Neelix, the ship's resident Talaxian over the affections of Samantha Wildman. Fowler had expressed some concern over the situation to B'Elanna one evening last week when the pilot finally got up the nerve to ask Samantha over for dinner, which had occurred last night. It was all speculation, of course, but it was a long standing rumor that there was more to the man's interest in the Wildmans other than the pretty scientist's adorable little girl. When she saw the tall pilot hesitate at the door, take a deep breath and then proceed in, Torres followed right behind her, prepared to stand up for her handsome friend since she certainly hadn't been wrong in asking the shapely blonde on a date.

After Seven's birthday party where Samantha had been caught by the chief more than once admiring Fowler in her swimwear and especially while she entertained them all with her highly skilled guitar playing, she had since then been spending an awful lot of time conversing with Seven of Nine, which the Borg would not divulge the content of, so it was clear that Wildman was at least attracted to Fowler. B'Elanna didn't really like the idea of having to tell Neelix where to go if he got his whiskers in a bunch, but her loyalties were to Nicole, first and foremost, in this matter, so she knew if he threw too much attitude Nick's way, she'd have to step in and have a private conversation that consisted of, "Hey, Sam's into Nick, not you. Sorry, but that's life. So, deal with it…or else."

Steeling herself inwardly, but remaining easy and lax, as was her way, Fowler stepped into the crowded Mess Hall and said to B'Elanna as they approached the kitchen counter where Neelix was busy dishing up food, and to her dismay and pleasure, Samantha Wildman was also helping out this morning, "Why don't you grab us a table…I'll get the food." When Torres nodded and said, "Right…" then left them alone, Nicole wondered if Sam was helping out this morning, since she usually only helped out with lunch, to 'make it up' to the Talaxian somehow. Even though Fowler couldn't really blame her if that was the case since Neelix really was a very nice man, but that didn't mean it sat all that well with her. But considering she wasn't in a serious relationship with the woman, it wasn't her place to express an opinion, she thought.

Sticking to a professional greeting since, even though none of them were technically on duty yet, except for Neelix who was required to rise very early to prepare to feed the crew, but only because he liked to do it, not because the captain, or anyone made him, there was a full house this morning, she stepped up in line and said once they turned their attention to her, grateful that no one was in line behind her at the moment, "Neelix, Ensign…mornin'." When Samantha smiled shyly, but her eyes twinkled in delight, Fowler couldn't help but smile softly and scratch the back of her neck; although, the attractive woman's reaction didn't really surprise her since they had had a very nice evening together. What did surprise her was Neelix's reaction. The man was practically ecstatic and falling all over himself in excitement, something he usually only did around the captain, or 'Mister Vulcan,' also known as Lieutenant-Commander Tuvok.

"Nick!" Neelix exclaimed, smiling brightly, which caused a few people to turn around and watch for a moment, but since her 'romance' with the scientist wasn't part of the rumor mill yet, no one paid the furry man much attention. "Good morning. The captain tells me today is a big day for you, so she informed me early this morning to make sure you have plenty to eat…since," he smiled, "we all know how cranky you get when you don't get enough."

Scratching the back of her neck again, not sure what was happening, she caught Samantha's quick wink at her, which she took to mean that everything was fine, and replied, nodding, "Yea…yea, it's departmental and personnel report day. Uh…what's on the menu?" Looking around, she reported, "Must be popular…I haven't seen it this crowded in here in a while."

"Sam and I have been planning today for days," Neelix reported gamely. "We thought it might be nice to one a month serve a traditional country breakfast with all the trimmings…to really go all out for the crew." As Samantha piled food on one plate while he prepared the other, he went on, "I don't really see what's so special about this food, but since everyone seems to like it so much, I certainly don't mind making it." Handing over one dish to her, he finished, "Seems awfully blah to me though…don't you want some spices to zest it up?"

Smiling, Fowler replied, "I'll have some chili pepper, if you've got any handy…if not, I'll just take it plain…thanks though."

"I've got some in the back…I'll go get it," Neelix responded, then turned and started away, saying, "I'm not sure were it is though…it might take me a while."

Chuckling, Samantha handed the other plate to Fowler, who accepted it kindly as the pilot placed it on her overflowing tray and said softly, "That's his way of telling me to talk to you."

"Oh, right," Fowler came back, nodding while she poured two mugs of coffee. Then very quietly, she asked as Neelix was heard humming away in the background, mumbling to himself and asking out loud where 'Mister chili spice' went to, "I guess that means that it's...alright?"

"Mmmhmm," Samantha nodded softly. "We talked this morning while making breakfast and he told me that he was glad I was finally getting out and that not to worry about Naomi because he would be happy to watch her whenever." Crossing her arms over her chest, she whispered, "He said that he understood my concerns for his feelings, but that he had come to think of me as a little sister and even though he'd like to continue to take care of us, he doesn't want anything more than to be sort of an uncle."

Fowler smiled and returned, "That's real nice of him. I'm glad things worked out for you three…I mean it." Then clearing her throat, she added, even quieter, "You look real nice."

Samantha rolled her eyes and said, smirking and flirting, "Real nice…you're such hick, Nick Fowler…don't you say anything else?"

Nicole laughed and smiled, clearly not insulted by the term since she was rather fond of her southern roots and even though she kept more of an even, general and nondescript way to her speech patterns and demeanor when she was on duty, she allowed her own cultural backbone to come out more when off, especially around women she liked since her southern charm had always served her well in that arena, answering, being goofy and speaking with more of an accent than she actually had, "I just ca'int help maself, Miss Sam…was the way I's brung up."

Snorting in laughter, Samantha shook her head as Neelix finally came out of the back with the spice and Torres yelled at her across the room, shouting, "Kahless on a crutch, Nick! Hurry the hell up already…I'm starving here," and replied, "Well, thanks…you look real nice too."

"Here you are," Neelix said, handing over the small container that contained the ruddy substance he always kept handy, just for Nicole since she requested it often, informing him that were she was from everything goes with chili pepper. "Sorry it took so long, but I just couldn't seem to find it."

Smiling, Fowler patted the much shorter and stout alien on the back and said, "Thanks, Neelix…you're alright." Then looking up at Samantha, she nodded, pouring on the charm again, "Thank you, Ma'am…on behalf of me and my loud mouth friend, we're much obliged."

When Fowler finally brought over the food and coffee and sat down, Torres, leaving the chair open that faced the kitchen area so Nick could admire the view while they ate, thinking it would be fun for once to turn the tables on the pilot who always teased her about her 'puppy dog' eyes whenever Janeway came into a room, but was doing something else other than talk to her, said fairly quiet, "If my eggs are cold you're dead." As Nicole chuckled and passed the Klingon her food and coffee, Torres snatched it up and asked, speaking even softer now and leaning forward just a bit, "Okay, so…what was all that about? Neelix looks pretty cool with it, huh?"

Fowler nodded as she put her napkin in her lap, then snatched up her fork and replied as she stabbed a hunk of sausage, after sprinkling some of the pepper on her eggs, "Yea, looks that way. Sam said that he approached her and said he was happy for her…and that he's not interested in being a daddy…just an uncle."

Raising her eyebrows in admiration for that, not realizing Neelix had the gumption to strike up that kind of conversation since that was admitting that he knew Samantha wasn't attracted to him and furthermore that she knew that she thought he was possibly looking for more, B'Elanna said, "Wow…well, hey," she smiled, "that's good. So," she said, snatching up her coffee and talking against the rim, looking around the room to see if anyone was trying to listen in on their conversation, although knowing it would be difficult since the Mess Hall was packed to the gills today and rather loud because of it, everyone seeming to be in good spirits, "I'm assuming it went good last night then?"

Fowler looked up from the food she was devouring since they didn't have whole lot of time to eat and talk and answered as she glanced over at Samantha who was talking to Samuel Wang since he'd just entered, "You can say that again." When Torres smirked and asked for details, Fowler cleared her throat and informed, "Let's just say you were right about the look on her face at the party."

"See, I told you…I know about these things," B'Elanna smirked back, putting her coffee down and getting to her breakfast before it did get cold. "So, does that mean what I think it means?"

"No," Fowler replied, chuckling and shaking her head. "We just had dinner and then talked for a while on the couch," swallowing and washing down her food, she continued before she took another bite, "Like I said before, I needed to make sure she wasn't looking for a daddy…so to speak." When Torres continued to listen and shake her head, informing her that she knew there was more and that she wouldn't let up until Fowler told her the whole story since the tall pilot was just as nosey as B'Elanna was with her, that being one of the ways they looked out for each other, Fowler went on, "And she told me that she doesn't want anything serious. She's not just looking for a roll in the hay either, but just a steady friend to spend time with alone."

Knowing from conversations with the her friend that such a thing was exactly what Fowler was looking for since not only was she terribly busy these days, but she was protective of Samantha's interests considering she had a small child and also because Nicole Fowler was still somewhat desperately in love with Francis Sheldon, or more so her memory, since Nick hadn't seen the woman in twelve years, Torres smiled again and offered, "Excellent…way to pick'em." Torres hadn't told Fowler because she felt it wasn't the right time, and because she didn't know Francis, only Nick's stories about her, but she often wondered if Nicole's inability to let go of the past and move on with her life was due to the way they broke up. Torres knew Fowler still felt dreadful about how she had handled her fiancé's sexual assault, and even though Fowler had really turned her life around since then and taken steps to help other people that found themselves in similar situations, she wondered it is was Nicole's own way of punishing herself for reacting the way she did. B'Elanna had to admit, she certainly couldn't blame her friend for becoming enraged and wanting to tear every man she saw apart because she was certain if someone she loved, if Kathryn or Seven, were to ever be mistreated in such a way, she would go on a personal quest to not only make whoever hurt them suffer before she killed them totally, but she wasn't sure she would be able to ever let them out of her sight again, which she knew neither of them would react well to. Picking up her coffee mug again, she asked as she noticed Fowler watching Samantha over her shoulder and smiling some, "So, did anything happen last night?"

"We spent a spell on the couch," Fowler mumbled, picking up her coffee too and taking a sip before she started blushing. Then clearing her throat, she moved her long braid from her shoulder and announced, still quiet, "It was nice."

Torres smiled her crazy grin and queried, "So, give me a number…first, second, third…home? I can figure out the rest." She knew she was presuming a lot, but she and Fowler were very similar in many parts of their life, and she figured that when Fowler was with a woman she preferred to be the aggressor the majority of the time, and had a feeling Nicole got as much pleasure out of that as she did. It was just a sense, but Torres' sense for things like that was mighty keen, she knew, which was one reason she was almost always in the know as far as ship's gossip went.

Normally Nicole Fowler was not the kind of person to kiss and tell, and really, she knew that neither was Torres, but again, between them there were few secrets and since she knew that Torres wouldn't blab to anyone, probably not even her girlfriends, she whispered, looking down at her food, "A little past second."

"Smooth, Nick…real smooth," B'Elanna complemented, then reached over and patted her shoulder for upholding her reputation for being smooth with the ladies and very well knowing that Fowler was probably a perfect 'gentleman' the entire time, since not being such went completely against everything Fowler stood for. "So, what's the set up…or are you just winging it?"

Shaking her head, Fowler got over her slight embarrassment, having a small laugh at herself since she was perfectly aware that she had been with her fair share of women in her younger days, knowing it was coming from the fact that she hadn't been with a real woman in seven years. She had utilized the holodeck, just as any single person did aboard the ship, to deal with her natural sexual frustration from time to time, but other than that, this was the first 'relationship' she had pursued on the starship since accepting the post. Finishing chewing her food, she informed, "No…we're both too busy to try to just play it by ear. I sent her my schedule this morning and we talked about it last night and decided that we'd try to pick one night a week to spend together." Then shrugging, she added, "But, around this place…who knows?" As Torres nodded her agreement and continued to eat, the older brunette said, "So, enough about me…something going on in Engineering today? Why were you there so early?"

Not wanting to take the chance of bringing Nicole's good mood down since she knew, well assumed, what kind of day she would have locked up with the captain all day reciting status report after status report, and then having to go over each and every crew member's ration allotments, the status of their work and rank, and so on, B'Elanna said, not lying but not getting into it, "I just woke up kind of early, and instead of going back to sleep, I thought I'd get a head start on the day…you know how it is."

Nodding and letting it go, figuring there was probably more to it since she knew Torres was anxious about the Day of Honor, and also knew she probably hadn't talk to anyone else about it, but also knowing if B'Elanna wanted to talk to her, she would, Fowler replied, "Sure do. Hey," she added, thinking it over, "wanna come over and jam at my place tonight? I think I could use to unwind after today. Of course, I'm guessing, but from what the captain says…it's not going to be a fun."

Torres chuckled and then informed, "Sorry, Nick…got plans with the boss," raising her eyebrows, "you know how it is?"

Fowler laughed and said, "Sure do," letting go of her disappointment that she wouldn't be able to goof around with Torres tonight because she was happy to see B'Elanna wasn't shutting herself away for another night in succession.

"Come in," said Captain Janeway from her Ready Room desk as the sensor on her officer door rang out informing her that someone was requesting entrance. By the time, she had a pretty good idea who it was since that 'individual' would have finished regenerating approximately five minutes ago. When the tall, sleek, and heavenly form of her Astrometrics officer appeared in the doorway, her long blonde hair brought to a rest over her shoulder where it cascaded down to her bosom, and promptly stepped inside, her face and posture the epitome of human laced Borg efficiency, despite the fact that she was a vision of divine beauty in the good captain's eyes, Kathryn smiled brightly and asked once the doors closed, while she stood, "Well, hello again. How are you?"

"Greetings…again," Seven of Nine returned as she came to a halt in front of Janeway's desk while the smaller woman skirted the slightly rounded edge and started for her. "I am functioning efficiently."

Knowing such an answer meant that Seven was feeling happy and well rested, Janeway stopped next to her, sure of what would occur next, and anticipating it eagerly, when she requested, tapping her lips once with her index finger, "I'm glad, darling…kiss me."

Smiling, Seven reached down as Janeway slipped her arms around her neck at the same moment and lifted her by her bottom easily. As she planted her lips against Kathryn's, and the redhead purred and clasped her legs around her waist at the same moment, the lady Borg held her slight weight up easily as they showed their affection sweetly. When Janeway pulled away after a few blissful moments and hugged her tightly, Seven asked, "How has your duty shift been?"

Yawning a little, Kathryn chuckled and replied, lazily, "Uneventful," using terms the ex-drone often did to tease and show her love at the same time. Then kissing her neck softly, she whispered, "Mmm…thank you for coming by…you're so good to me. I love you."

Seven of Nine smiled, pinched Kathryn's bottom slightly with her mesh encased hand which caused Janeway to laugh and nip her neck as she replied, "I do this for my own benefit. Perhaps you have forgotten, but I am in love with you."

Sighing blissfully again, Janeway pulled her head back so her could look directly into the face of her greatest love of all-time and said as she stroked her thumb across Seven's ocular implant that encased her left eyebrow, letting Seven support her full weight with her arms, knowing she was more than capable, especially after regeneration when her strength was at its peak, "Oh, I haven't forgotten." Then kissing her softly, she said against her lips, "Although, I don't think I'll ever get tired of you reminding me."

Whispering back, Seven said, "Then I will continue to do so, my beautiful Kathryn."

"Mmm…Seven of Mine," Janeway purred again before she put her hand behind Seven's neck and kissed her rather passionately, still feeling the effects of B'Elanna Torres' visit and always happy to be paid a visit by her lovely Astrometrics officer. When Seven kissed her right back, but turned and walked toward the upper level of her office, Kathryn continued to kiss her properly, knowing from experience Seven was perfectly capable of not only kissing her until she saw stars and was breathing rather heavily, but carrying her around and walking about the room, with her eyes closed, without a problem.

Setting Janeway down on the couch, Seven hovered over her for a few more seconds as they slowed the kiss down, and then finally pulling away, Seven turned and said as she made her way to the replicator, "B'Elanna Torres came into the Cargo Bay shortly before 0500 hours this morning." As she replicated two nutritional supplements and a fresh cup of coffee for the captain, she went on, "I was able to detect her presence once she climbed onto the dais. However," taking the glasses, she walked back to the captain's position where the redhead had kicked her feet up onto the coffee table and didn't attempt to fight Seven's doting on her since she knew the Borg preferred to do these small things for the captain which did wonders for the older woman's ability to keep going hour after grueling hour, sometimes on very little sleep, which was the case currently since Janeway had worked from the middle of the Alpha rotation up until now, "she did not attempt to 'wake me,' so I did not end my regeneration cycle." Sitting down next to Kathryn, she set the coffee on the table and handed one of the creamy substances to her, clinked her glass against hers and asked, "Her stay was brief…have you heard from her?"

After taking a sip of the supplement, she set the glass down on the table, snatched up her coffee, not really feeling all the hungry since her body was working on overdrive now and that typically meant her appetite was gone until she had a chance to sleep, and answered as she sipped the warm, rich java, "Mmmhmm." Then pulling the mug away and setting it in her lap, she elaborated, "She came by here too…probably right before or after seeing you." After taking another sip, she held up her finger as she remembered, "Mmmnt…that reminds me…I have a favor to ask of you." When Seven raised her eyebrow as she drank her own supplement, informing Kathryn that she should continue, Janeway explained, "She asked me to stay with her tonight, and I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind, if I could have the place to myself tonight?" Smiling softly, she went on, "That will give us more room to relax…and I think she could use it."

Seven of Nine furrowed her brow slightly in her own intrigue and confusion and remarked, dubiously, "I find it peculiar how events unfold in the manner in which they often do which make such a request easy to comply with." When Kathryn furrowed her brow as well and asked, "Huh?" Seven explained, "Naomi Wildman contacted me yesterday and asked if I was agreeable to sleeping over in her quarters this evening since I have yet to engage in this ritual in her dwelling." When Janeway caught on and nodded, Seven added, "I informed her I was not disagreeable, but that I wished to speak with you first since I am aware that today is 'Hell day,' and considering your demeanor after last month's 'Hell day,' I did not wish to leave you alone for the evening. Considering B'Elanna Torres has been withdrawn as of late, I was concerned she would not wish to stay with you." Smiling, Seven of Nine stated, "I am pleased she has come to you, and further pleased that I can engage in this ritual with Naomi Wildman. I also look forward to conversing with Sam Wildman regarding her 'date' with Nick Fowler."

Raising her eyebrows, Kathryn asked, "Samantha and Nick had a date?" not surprised since she now knew Samantha was no longer married and that knowledge had come about when B'Elanna had made a comment to her about how smooth Nicole was when it was rather obvious Samantha was hanging on her every move during Seven's birthday part, but surprised since Nicole, B'Elanna, or Seven hadn't said anything to her about it.

Seven turned to Janeway and was about to reply when she realized what she had just said. Frowning deeply, the blonde sighed and stated, looking away, somewhat forlorn, "I was not at liberty to divulge that information. I assume I did so because I am not accustomed to hiding things from you regarding our friends."

"Hey," Janeway came back quickly, turning Seven around by clasping onto her chin. When the blonde didn't fight it, but was clearly dismayed, Janeway smiled, winked and said, "Don't worry about it…it happens to the best of us, and I won't say a word, I promise." Crossing her finger over her chest, she added, "Cross my heart."

Seven didn't know what 'Cross my heart' meant, but she assumed it was something akin to 'On my honor,' so she let it go without asking for an explanation and came back, nodding, "Very well. Then I will not let this incident 'depress' me because I trust you." Then sighing, she went on, "As I was saying, I look forward to conversing with Sam Wildman regarding…recent events." Seven got over her moment fairly quickly since the captain had informed her not to worry, but reminded herself to confess to Samantha that she had let that slip and that perhaps she was not as efficient of a confidant as she hoped since she found it difficult to keep anything from Janeway. In fact, she didn't keep anything from her, except for her Slipstream project work, and even sometimes, she found that difficult to not 'talk' about that since she had recently made several breakthroughs and was feeling 'excited' about her proposal which she knew was not very far off now; however, since keeping the information from the captain was in Kathryn's best interest, at the moment, that made it easier since maintaining Kathryn's 'happiness' was usually her primary objective. Then smiling, she announced, "I am enjoying my 'girlfriendship' with Sam Wildman a great deal. She is peculiar at times and often reminds me of Naomi Wildman when she speaks of personal aspects of her life...however, she is intelligent and I also enjoy conversing with her about various scientific endeavors. Although, our conversations as of late have centered around her 'love life,' or lack there of, as she puts it. It is curious to speak with her about those things because she and I differ significantly on what we require out of such an endeavor, but I feel as though I am learning a great deal about human behavior, even it I do not wish to engage in it myself." When she looked over at Kathryn, who was chuckling slightly as she rested her head on her hand and gazed at the Borg while she smiled brightly, Seven cocked an eyebrow after she took a large sip of her supplement, and stated, rather than questioned, "You are finding me 'cute' at this moment. This is typical behavior." When Janeway laughed openly, Seven went on, "I find you 'cute' when you find me 'cute.'"

Chuckling again, Janeway scouted over to Seven after setting her glass down and asked once she was resting into the crook of her arm, "Darling, what did I ever do to deserve you?"

Seven of Nine looked down and stated plainly, "You were born, my beautiful Kathryn. You are my path."

Not able to help herself, Janeway crawled into Seven's lap, straddling her and whispered as she hugged her tightly, "Oh, I love you…I love you so much, Seven of Nine, Annika Hansen." Sniffling slightly, she pulled away, kissed her sweetly, then murmured as she rubbed her nose against Seven's, "And you're the sweetest talker in the known universe, I'm sure of it."

Seven smirked and informed, "I find this designation acceptable." Urging Janeway to sit back slightly so she could see her face, Seven brought her human hand to Kathryn's cheek and said, "I am pleased that your smile has returned with vigor. As I explained before, it is the most powerful weapon you have and it causes me to lose the ability to function efficiently for a short time when I witness it, but this is an acceptable risk." When Janeway looked down, obviously feeling emotional and placed her palms on Seven's upper chest, then looked back up at her with misty eyes, she went on, knowing Kathryn would probably cry, but understanding that these tears were not 'sad' tears, in the least, "It is 'good' to see you continue to be 'happy' for days at a time. I know it is often difficult for you to reconcile the desire to be 'happy' with the feeling that you are unworthy until you return this crew, but I wish you to know that you are worthy, my Kathryn." When Janeway nodded and whispered, looking down again, saying that Seven was right and that it was hard, Seven added, "You must trust me. You are worthy and nothing is required to change for you to maintain your happiness except how you view this situation." As the captain looked up at her, while her eyes began to pool, which was the norm whenever Seven expressed herself in such a way with the redhead, Kathryn completely unable to stop the occurrence, Seven said with supreme confidence that was she was speaking was gospel, "I have a great deal of data on the perfection that is Captain Kathryn Janeway and her Collective. This Collective continues to prosper and be affected positively by your influence and wisdom." Cocking her eyebrow, she reminded, "I am 'living proof' of that statement." Seven reached up, wiped a tear from Kathryn's cheek and finished, "Do me a 'favor' and ponder my words. Attempt to look upon this Collective through different eyes…through my eyes, as you did with my beauty experiment. I believe you will see what I have said is true and I 'hope' you will believe me when I say you are worthy of being 'happy' as you believed me when I informed you that you are beautiful." Smiling, Seven added quickly, "I believe that you now believe you are beautiful, so I am confident you can accomplish this task as well. I have 'faith' in you."

Sighing, Janeway sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand and asked, "Did Devin send you to talk to me?" Before Seven could answer, she said, "Because she's been hounding me lately about the very same thing." Looking up and rolling her eyes, she informed, "I think she's in league with 'the merchant' because apparently she thinks I'm going straight to the devil too."

"These words that I have spoken are words I have pondered a great deal as of late," Seven of Nine answered truthfully. "However, the first regal did approach me about this subject at my birthday party and offered her insight." Forcing Janeway to look at her, she continued, "Do not be dismayed by this. We all have our 'demons,' Kathryn. You assist me with mine every day and it is my 'job' to assist you with yours. B'Elanna Torres also has 'demons,' which is the reason for her unease as of late. However, in order to achieve perfection we are required to 'exorcise' them and resist allowing them to continue to have influence over our behavior. You constantly do this for others and I believe you should give yourself the same consideration." Smiling, Seven pulled Janeway close, kissed her softly and whispered, "You are making significant progress and I do not want you to be 'hard' on yourself. I am not 'depressed' by this and do not wish you to be either. This is a positive endeavor and we should see it as such. I believe that 'outlook' is required. You also require time to adapt. I am aware of this and agree, and I will always be here to assist you as 'best' I can."

Hugging Seven tight, Janeway whispered into her neck, "As long as I have you, sweetheart, I don't think there's anything that I can't do." Kissing her skin softly, she added, "Thank you, darling…and I promise to try to not be so stubborn with this." Then chuckling, she sighed, "But I can't give you a guarantee…but I'll try…I promise to try."

"I have 'faith' in you, my beautiful Kathryn," Seven returned, holding her close and rubbing her back. "You are resilient and more than worthy of assimilation…however, that shall never occur." When Janeway chuckled against her chest, she asked, purposefully changing the subject since she did not wish to 'beat a dead horse,' and knew from Janeway's reaction that she would indeed do what she said she would, since if Kathryn didn't agree, she would have argued with her adamantly, "Has B'Elanna Torres informed you as to what troubles her?"

Settling into the embrace, knowing Seven would inform her when they were required to attend the staff meeting, Janeway relaxed against the blonde's comforting chest, resting her head on her shoulder and replied as she planted delicate non-kisses to her neck, "Not really. She said she's having a hard time getting back into her routine, but I don't think that's really it." Knowing that Seven, at least with her, could usually read her like a book and tell the captain what was troubling her sometimes before Janeway figured it out for herself, she asked, "Do you know what's going on?"

"I am merely speculating," Seven started the sentence in a manner she had been doing quite a lot lately, especially in her personal logs which she was almost ritualistic about writing, now that she felt comfortable with the task and found it helpful to her emotional side instead of her analytical side which merely collected, processed, and cross-referenced data but often did not comprehend the meaning or significance of a great many things, "but I believe she is experiencing apprehension about the Day of Honor." When Janeway nodded and said that's what she thought too, Seven went on, "I am not certain, but I do not believe B'Elanna Torres is anxious about the ritual itself since she is one of the 'bravest' individuals I have ever encountered. There is probably some apprehension regarding the physically taxing rituals, but I believe it is nothing significant enough to cause the behavior she has been exhibiting as of late." When Janeway asked her what she thought it was then, Seven explained, "From data I have collected about B'Elanna Torres' 'past' from conversations with her, I am aware that she often rebels when she feels as though someone or something is attempting to dictate how she is to behave." Rubbing Janeway's back slightly and absently, Seven went on, "This was the 'biggest' reason she left Starfleet Academy and also a reason why she resisted acknowledging her Klingon heritage for as long as she did. There are other reasons why she resisted her Klingon side as well. As you know, her emotions are often in contradiction and for her to complete the Day of Honor and become a warrior requires that for her to maintain her honor, she is required to abide by the rules of a warrior. This holiday is not typically utilized in this function, but from what she has spoken of her plans, this is what she attempts to do. The Age of Ascension ceremony when a Klingon becomes a warrior is typically held on that individual's birthday, however, it is not disallowed to utilize the Day of Honor for such purposes. Such an action contradicts the culture. When an individual believes they are ready to become a warrior, they can demand that a ritual be initiated immediately." Then sighing, realizing she was getting off the topic, Seven went on, "I apologize…I have strayed from my objective. Regarding the rules of a warrior…some of these she abides by already, but, many of them she does not and I do not believe feels comfortable with for several reasons." As Janeway sat up straight, then grabbed her coffee, her concern now clearly focused on their brunette partner, Seven continued, "When she informed me that she was planning to go through the Day of Honor ritual, I began researching data on the culture so that I could better understand and assist her if she so required it." Raising her eyebrows, she informed, "Many of their ideals are in contradiction with Starfleet protocol."

Nodding, Janeway said softly, "I know, but she wouldn't be the first Klingon to serve in Starfleet."

"That is correct," Seven jumped in, unable to help herself since she found discovering the reason as to why humans and other individuals behaved the way they did highly intriguing. "Lieutenant-Commander Worf served for seven years on the Enterprise before he took a commission on Deep Space Nine. He has worked diligently with Starfleet to compile data on how to maintain his honor as a Klingon and his duty as a Starfleet officer in the event and the 'hope' that more Klingons would wish to enter the Academy. Not all of his Collective believes he had been successful in remaining a Klingon, however, I do not agree with that opinion from the data I have assimilated. He is highly regarded by his peers and commanding officers and was successful in defending his honor when accusations regarding his father's behavior were made by the House of Duras."

Kathryn nodded again, listening intently for she was certain Seven of Nine knew that whole story, the part that was documented at least, and said, "Yes, I've met him twice. Once a long time ago during a Security conference Tuvok and I attended and then again on Deep Space Nine before we disembarked." Smiling, she said, "Of course I would never tell him this, but he's a very nice man, actually…and you're right, he's highly respected in Starfleet." Smiling, she informed, "Commander Riker, who is a very dear friend of mine from way back, admired him a lot and considered him a good friend." Curious, she asked, "So, how did he manage the two?"

Seven raised her eyebrows quickly, not having known Janeway was acquainted with Commander Riker and filing that information away to memory and reminding herself to research data on the man so that when they returned home she would be able to converse with him appropriately as Kathryn's peer, before she spoke and explained, "He was required to adapt to a less aggressive approach...however, he was also given leave of absence when a situation arose that he could not, because of his honor, ignore or 'put off.' One Klingon 'proverb' says that Klingons do not procrastinate, meaning that if their honor is challenged, they should defend it immediately despite what is occurring around them, or face being considered a coward and being further dishonored."

The captain nodded again, remembering back to when Tom had dishonored her by breaking up with her via a letter, and how Torres had been two seconds from marching out of their habitat and killing the pilot. Then sighing as she remembered how she had begged B'Elanna not to do it, she knew that if Torres went through this, that wasn't something she could rightfully do anymore…not as her captain, and certainly not as her lover because that would just be dishonoring her again. Looking up at Seven, she said, "Not that I don't want to hear what you know, but if you don't mind, I'd like to do a little more studying on my own…it seems 'dishonorable' not to." When Seven nodded in understanding, Janeway asked, "But, I won't have time to do that before tonight…so can I ask you a question, and I need you to keep this just between you and me…it's professional."

Happy with that, glad Kathryn wasn't asking her to keep something personal from B'Elanna, Seven replied, "You may."

"From the information you've gathered, if someone on this ship were to dishonor her…or challenge her honor, and she defended it and killed or seriously hurt someone, what's the protocol there…what's the precedent?"

Understanding Kathryn's concerns since she had them herself, Seven reported, "Unfortunately, there is no precedent. Commander Worf defended his honor as a Klingon while he was not 'on duty' or aboard a Starfleet vessel. He was given leave from his commission in order to do so. However," she added when Janeway sighed, obviously not liking that at all since it put her in between a rock and a hard place, although knowing if that ever occurred, she could not be involved, at all, since it was as big of a conflict of interest as there ever was, "protocol dictates that, if that were to occur, she would be confined to her quarters until the trial. She would have the option to plead 'not guilty' because she was defending her honor and the burden of proof would reside with the prosecution. They would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that B'Elanna Torres was not dishonored by citing various cultural rules that would show she acted inappropriately. These are fairly subjective, of course, so they would also have to use past behavior and tolerance exhibited by B'Elanna Torres to show that since she had been dishonored before in such a manner but did not harm that individual then, and she was wrong to do so this time." When Janeway sighed again and nodded, signaling that she has suspected as much, Seven included to ease her concerns, "However, since she has never been through the Day of Honor and is technically not a warrior as of yet, nothing from the time prior to the day she receives her honor can be brought into evidence…only her actions from that day forward." Reaching out to Janeway and rubbing her neck slightly, she said, "I do not believe she will be dishonored by a member of this or the first's crew, however. Such an action would be considered unwise since I believe it is well known that I find such behavior unacceptable and am not afraid to inform any individual of that." Smiling as Janeway sighed, not feeling any better at all by that, "There is also the fact that such behavior would undoubtedly anger you as well, and if there is one individual aboard this vessel that is feared more than me it is you, Kathryn. I do not believe you will have to deal with this."

Clearing her throat, Janeway remarked, ignoring Seven's opinion, feeling it wasn't appropriate for her to agree or disagree, and left it alone, "Well, I don't really think anyone would do that either, but don't forget about our honor. Something tells me she'd react just, if not more harshly if someone dishonored you or me." Shaking her head, she informed, "Personally, if that were to happen while I was off duty and not acting as the captain of this vessel, I wouldn't…couldn't fight it because I love her and I want her to be honored and content with herself, but," she sighed again, "I'm not sure yet how to handle that if I'm acting as the captain. This makes it different because I'm also obligated to not only uphold Starfleet protocol, but also allow her to express her culture…it seems awfully contradictory."

Seven nodded quickly and stated, "This is one realm in which she will have to adapt to maintain harmony. Protocol dictates that she act as a Starfleet officer. However, she is a senior officer and a member of the Elite Force, that's primary function is Security, especially yours and the first's, so if you were threatened, she is within her 'rights' to protect you. Granted, she knows that lethal force is to be used only when there is no other option or when she is ordered to use it, however, I believe she can consider acting in this capacity as defending your honor while on duty." Seven rubbed Janeway's neck again and said, "If you wish, I will speak with her as a colleague on this matter. I believe I have sufficient data on the subject and the practices of Commander Worf to complete this task."

Janeway smiled and said, "Thank you, Seven…that's very kind of you, but I think this is definitely something that falls on my plate alone…well, at least while Chakotay's away, and frankly I prefer to take on these kind of sensitive personnel matters myself." Then leaning forward, she kissed Seven smartly and informed, "But, after I speak with her, I'll tell her that you have detailed data," she grinned crookedly, "on the subject and can offer insight if she feels she needs it." Then thinking about that for a moment, she asked seriously, "One more question, how do you go about asking a Klingon to adapt without dishonoring them?"

Seven smirked and reminded, pleased that Kathryn was obviously taking this matter seriously and attempting to adapt her own straight-forward approach as well, "B'Elanna Torres is a reasonable individual and as you know, she is not driven by all of the same instincts as a fully Klingon individual is. I do not believe she would take offense to your questions or show of concern for her and your crew if you explained the situation in a logical manner." Nodding, Seven added, "I believe she is pondering this situation currently and her lack of certainty is causing her unrest. I believe once she stops resisting the urge to discuss the situation, she will be grateful for any assistance. However," Seven added with emphasis, "I believe she has been resistant to discussing the matter with us because she 'worries' that we are fearful for her well being with regards to the ritual. I do not suggest that you mention any fears that you may have for her safety. She would undoubtedly attempt to reassure you and then change the subject. She is exhibiting protective behavior in this matter and being affected by her human emotions. This is merely speculation, but I feel it is accurate."

Nodding, Janeway responded, "Oh, I don't doubt you. I've been thinking the same thing too. And yes, I am worried about her in that regard, but I'll take your advice to heart. If you feel this is best, I'll trust you."

The former Borg drone who had once told Janeway she'd betray her, and had done several things in the past to break the captain's trust, smiled and informed, "Kathryn, I cannot adequately describe how it makes me feel to hear you say such words." Pulling her close again and hugging her, she said, "Thank you for trusting me in this matter. I know this has significant impact on your personal and professional life and for you to trust me is…" sighing, "I do not know what to say."

Kathryn hugged Seven back and then chuckled, "Hmm…she's finally speechless…let's celebrate." Pulling away, she smirked, "Kiss me, Seven of Nine," moving closer, she added seductively, "kiss me like you mean it."

"I will comply," the Borg replied, cocking her eyebrow and holding Janeway at bay with her hand for a moment, "but afterward, you are required to consume at least half of your nutritional supplement before the staff meeting."

"Seven," Janeway smirked.

"Yes, Kathryn?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

"Yes, Captain."

"Other than that," finished Ensign Harry Kim, the starship's youngest senior officer, "everything is good, Captain…and I'll get to work right away on the power output fluctuations. I'm not sure what's going on yet, but I don't think it's anything more than a problem conduit and maybe some sensor nodes."

Not quite sure she agreed, even though the problem had just cropped up today and was only causing very minor problems, Captain Janeway glanced over in the direction of her chief engineer, who had been abnormally quiet during Ensign Kim's Operations report, to get her opinion and asked, "Any opinion, Miss Torres?" When the brunette continued to stare pensively down at her hands that were folded in her lap and didn't acknowledge her query, the captain cleared her throat and said softer, forcing a smile to hide her concern, since B'Elanna wasn't the type to be distracted during a staff meeting unless she was working out some technical problem in her mind, and at those times she usually chewed her nails and mumbled slightly to herself before she jumped up and announced she'd figured it out, "Chief…are you still with us?" using Torres' preferred professional designation to hopefully gain her attention. Janeway wasn't sure if it was her hail that had gotten B'Elanna's attention or the small move she caught Seven of Nine, who regularly sat next to Torres now, made to touch her leg and jar her out of her own little world, but she was glad the moment went without too much embarrassment since she had a pretty good notion that for B'Elanna to feel embarrassment at this time would probably not evoke a pleasant reaction out of the half Klingon.

Snapping her head up, B'Elanna allowed, "Huh?" Then realizing what had happened, she sighed and said as Janeway continued to smile at her, "Sorry, Captain," shaking her head and rubbing the back of her neck, she sat forward, put her elbow on the table and had to ask, "what did you say again?"

Kathryn leaned forward on her elbows as well as repeated pleasantly, "Mister Kim thinks the problems we've had with the power output and the sensor relays is probably nothing more than a faulty conduit and possibly a few sensor nodes…and I was wondering it you had any thoughts about that."

B'Elanna nodded, still seeming distant and distracted and said as she sat back, "Right…yes, that's what I'm thinking too. I pulled one out of Biometrics this morning and just replaced it completely. I'll get back to analyzing it after we're done here and get back to you…but I don't think it's anything to worry about."

The captain nodded at her, then said looking back to Kim, "Harry, work with B'Elanna today…we're short staffed down there enough as it is." Once Kim nodded and smiled slightly, the captain stifled her chuckle since she always thought it was rather cute how much Harry Kim liked B'Elanna Torres considering he was as Starfleet and placid as they came and Torres, well, the same wasn't true for the ex-Maquis, the captain turned her attention back to the engineer who looked to be still fairly attentive and decided to ask for her status report before she slipped away from her again, "Chief, how's the new shuttle coming?"

"Good…good," Torres replied somewhat unenthused, picking at her nails, "Um, Syd made sure work was done on it through the night. They weren't back when I left, so I'm not sure what the status is, but they got several hours worth in tonight…so," she titled her head slightly, "unless they had problems, I'm guessing, but the infrastructure on the command level should be almost complete…if it's not already."

"Any idea on a time frame for completion?" asked Janeway.

"Well," Torres started, crossing her arms across her chest so she wouldn't continue to fidget, not at all feeling up to reciting specific information at the time since there wasn't a lot to give, and she had to admit to herself that she'd slacked a little in the last week with keeping up to date on things, and letting her staff handle composing the reports, then just forwarding that information to the captain without looking at it in detail, "I'm guessing again, Captain…but if we push it, I think we can shoot for finishing the shuttle when we finish upgrading the Alaxiat. The power distribution center's going to take the longest time, but that's similar work to what we'll have to do on the Alaxiat…so I'm hoping that will speed things up."

When B'Elanna didn't look as though she was going to say anything else, Tom Paris jumped in, offering his assistance since he knew Torres well enough that he could tell something personal was bothering her, and because he knew the Day of Honor was only two days away, he had a pretty good idea it had something to do with that, "I was just down there this morning, Captain." When Janeway and Torres turned to him, he went on easily, remaining calm and trying not to make it seem as though he was trying to do the chief's job for her, "I agree with B'Elanna…it's going to take some doing, but I think we can get it done at the same time…although," he added, sighing a little, "it's getting pretty tight down there. Once Maintenance starts their work once the nuts and bolts are in place…I think we should think about sending the Sri Lanka over to the Alaxiat or we'll be spending a lot of time just lugging stuff to and from Ship's Stores."

Kathryn kept her sadness out of her voice as best she could when she informed, "Actually, that will be happening today. Ensign Baker will be piloting the shuttle and taking it over to the Alaxiat…permanently, and she won't be alone."

"We're giving them the Sri Lanka?" Tom Paris asked surprised, but there was no disapproval to his tone.

Shaking her head, the captain clarified, "No, it will still be technically ours, but it will stay over there for a while until the work on the new shuttle is done, and then it will become something of a commuter shuttle to take crews back and forth since I'd rather not have to use the transporters that often or have to have someone manning those stations consistently. However," she added, "Miss Baker and four others will be staying on the Alaxiat permanently and officially, starting today, be under the first's command."

"They're leaving…like…leaving?" asked Harry Kim, obviously surprised by that and more than a little dismayed.

"Well," Janeway smirked, "they'll just be across the way, but yes, they will no longer be members of this crew. But they'll still be Starfleet officers and since Voyager is still the lead ship, they are still under my command when a situation arises when we are required to work in tandem, but they'll be staying on the Alaxiat and working as members of the first's crew from here on out." With that said, she moved the conversation along quickly before someone asked her why and she got irritated, and said to Paris, "Mister Paris, anything from the Doctor?"

Shifting a little in his chair, Paris answered, "He had an appointment this morning, but he wanted me to tell you that he'll update you personally when he's done." Holding up his hands as Janeway sighed, obviously starting to feel like this day was quickly becoming more than a ordinary 'Hell day' with all of the extra tasks being thrown in her face, he offered, "Sorry, Captain…that's all he would say."

"Thank you, Tom," Janeway replied. Then looking over to Seven of Nine, she asked, "Seven…anything?"

The tall blonde cocked her eyebrow and stated rather flat since she didn't like not being able to give specific information, "I have discovered three M-Class planets beyond the point at which we have deemed 'safe.' From the data I have collected thus far, each of them is acceptable for our needs and will only take us, at most, six days off our present course. I cannot give you a more detailed analysis of them until we come into closer proximity, which should occur, if 'all goes as planned' in ten days. At that time, I will be able to inform you which planet is the 'best' option."

"Keep your fingers crossed," Janeway came back and when Seven answered, "I will comply," Kathryn smiled and chuckled, saying, "Okay, thank you, Seven…keep me informed." Then looking around the room, she sat back and said, "Well, I guess that's it then…oh, Tom," she said before she dismissed them, "did the Doctor say when his appointment was supposed to be over with?"

"Should be any time now, Captain."

Nodding her thanks, she said, "Alright, thank you all…dismissed," then said softer, "Chief…a word please."

Stopping at the door, B'Elanna patted Fowler on the arm and whispered, "Good luck today," then turned around and said once the doors were closed, "I'm sorry for spacing out, Captain…it won't happen again."

Janeway stood and responded as she rounded the edge of the conference table and made her way over toward Torres, finally perching on the edge near her as she finished, "Don't worry about it…we're all tired and running on reserves right now. No one thinks poorly of you." When Torres nodded and sighed, Kathryn asked, smiling softly, and speaking equally quiet, "Permission to take a time out?"

Exhaling once in humor, B'Elanna finally cracked a smiled and replied, "Granted."

Chuckling as well, Janeway said, "I talked to Seven, and she's going to go over to Naomi's place tonight for a sleepover," she chuckled again, shaking her head in endearment at how funny she thought that idea was considering Seven of Nine was very much an adult in so many ways, and could also be a child in others, "so, unless you had other plans, I thought it might be kind of nice if you came home with me tonight." Reaching out and pulling Torres closer to her, she sat on the edge of the desk, spread her legs so she could move B'Elanna farther toward her and continued, holding the Klingon's hands in her as she looked slightly up at her, "I don't know when I'll be done…something tells me it won't be until 1900 hours, at least…so, why don't you just go home when you're done and relax? But," she whispered, placing her hand on B'Elanna's upper chest, "don't take a bath until I get home please." Smiling as Torres grinned back at her, she said, "I thought it'd be nice to take a long bath and just spend the evening relaxing…I think we both deserve it."

"Hey, you're the boss," Torres came back, thinking the captain's idea sounded perfect, "I just work here." Then cupping the captain's face with both hands, rubbing her cheeks with her slightly rough thumbs while she pressed her other fingers into the base of her skulls and massaged her neck slowly, she titled her head back just a touch and said, hovering over her, "You know how I said you were the devil before…well, I lied…because that sounds like heaven to me." As Kathryn smiled as she closed her eyes and hummed softly her thanks for the treatment to her constantly tense neck and shoulder region, B'Elanna said, "I have a request of my own though."

"Mmm…what's that?"

"No matter how bad today gets, don't bite your nails off." When Janeway opened her eyes and smirked in curiosity for the somewhat dubious but also erotic statement since she knew from previous experiences that B'Elanna liked it when Kathryn dug her nails into her back as she climaxed during an intense sexual encounter, B'Elanna laughed once as said, "Do all Starfleet captains have such a dirty mind…or is only limited to the cute ones?"

Replying as she had on a few occasions when she demonstrated that her wit could shade toward the naughty side of things just as easily as anyone else's could, "Let me get back to you…it's been a while since I've talked to any."

"Anyway," Torres said chuckling, "since we're going to be doing all this relaxing, I thought maybe you wouldn't mind massaging my back for once?"

"Mmm…not at all…but why do I need nails for that?"

Smiling, Torres informed, "I like back scratches too."

The captain moved forward on the desk so she could wrap her arms around Torres and said as she lightly scratched her back, "I didn't know that…well, you know what I mean."

B'Elanna laughed throatily and said, "I guess we haven't had much time to relax together." Sighing, "That's kind of the way it goes around this joint…you have to get it while you can."

Kathryn pretended to be aghast and huffed, swatting B'Elanna's fanny, "Oh really…so is that all I'm good for?"

"It's certainly one of many things, Kathryn," Torres replied after snickering and hovering over Janeway again. Manipulating the captain's neck more, which caused the redhead to close her eyes and purr again, B'Elanna whispered, "I love you…I'll always love you." Not able to help herself, Torres threw her arms around Kathryn's neck and vowed, "I'll never abandon you…I'll never do that…I promise…on my honor, Red…I'll never do that."

Not sure what was bringing this on, whether it was the fact that B'Elanna knew Janeway was sad about her crew leaving, or something deeper, Kathryn hugged her tightly and returned, "Lanna, I'm not worried…I love you…I'm not worried." After a few moments of rubbing B'Elanna's back and calming her down, she said, "B'Elanna look at me."

Sighing, Torres pulled away, wrapping her arms around her chest, but kept her head down, not able to look Janeway in the eye as she frowned, and said, "I'm sorry…"

Kathryn Janeway stopped the engineer from saying anything further by pressing her index finger to her lips as she said, sliding off the edge of the conference table completely, "Please don't do that…don't say you're sorry." When B'Elanna sighed and nodded, still looking down though, the older woman dipped her head slightly, then gently used her hand to lift the brunette's chin until she was able to look into her deep, chestnut eyes and went on, "I won't pretend to know everything that's going on in the wonderful head of yours," smiling a little, "but I don't want you to worry about it right now." Bringing both hands to Torres' neck and rubbing the tense muscles there, repaying the favor, Kathryn said, "I know it's hard, but try to let it go for right now…we'll have all the time you need tonight to talk." Going on before B'Elanna could say anything to the effect that she needed to work it out alone, she added, "And I think that's what we should do, Lanna…I think you should talk and I'll listen…just you and me." Pulling her in tighter and hugging her, rubbing her back, glad when Torres returned the intensity, clinging to her in the manner she'd done when she awoke from her 'experience' on the Barge of the Dead a little over a year ago, the captain added, "No rules…no nothing…we'll take a bath and talk and I promise to leave the captain out of it if that's what you need." Kissing her shoulder, she whispered, "Whatever you need, Lanna…I don't care."

Sighing, shaking her head, surprised at herself for being surprised that yet again Kathryn Janeway was saying exactly the right thing, B'Elanna sniffled and asked, needing to laugh before she broke down and cried, then marched out of the room and punched the first person she saw in the nose, "Even if it means drinking a bottle of whiskey?"

Chuckling, and squeezing Torres tight, she whispered, "Yes, even if it means drinking a bottle of whiskey…whatever you need to do, and I promise to keep my big mouth shut and listen."

"Even if I have a potty mouth?"

Kathryn pulled away and whispered somewhat raspy as she ran her knuckles over Torres' ridges before she kissed her softly, "pe'vIl mu'qaDmey tIbach (Curse well!)."

Smiling her crazy grin, B'Elanna offered, "You never cease to amaze me, cowgirl."

The captain kissed her once smartly, then said putting her business face back on, "Well, thank you, darling…I try." When Torres laughed and shook her head, taking a deep breath to settle herself, Janeway went on, "I've got to go and Harry's probably chomping at the bit to get to Engineering with you for a day…so if I don't see you before, I'll see you when I get home." Then turning, she let her fingertips graze across B'Elanna's thigh as she passed and said before she left out of the door to the Conference Room which would deposit her on the Bridge, "By the way, B'Elanna Torres…you're doing a very good job at making me the happiest woman ever," stopping as the doors open, she said over her shoulder, "just in case you didn't know."

Stepping into her vessel's medical facility on Deck Five, Janeway stopped just inside of the doorway when she saw the Emergency Medical Hologram, who was simply known as the Doctor, Ensign Trisha Elliot-Caster, and her husband of now a month a half, Ensign Larry Caster standing in the center of the room talking quietly. When the two ensigns snapped to attention, the move slightly catching Janeway off-guard, the captain smiled at the handsome couple who was the very first couple she'd ever had the privilege of marrying in all her years as a captain and said, holding up her hand slightly, "At ease, Ensigns." When the Doctor turned and looked at her inquisitively since the captain visited Sickbay without prompting, except during her evening rounds, about as often as she visited the Airponics Bay, since going in that room always reminded her too much of Kes, and the captain still missed the sweet Ocampa enough that just the memory of how she loved the flora filled room caused a definite ache in her heart, Janeway said, "Tom said you wanted to speak with me…but if this is a bad time, I can come back?"

Looking over at the anxious ensigns, the Doctor asked quietly, "Would you like to tell her yourselves?"

The thirty-something, raven haired ensign looked over and up to her tall, thin, also black haired husband, but he was a great deal more naturally fair skinned than she was, grabbed his hand and whispered as the captain, who was slightly concerned something terrible was happening since the Doctor and the two were communicating so she couldn't hear them, "I'd like to tell her…it seems right."

When the male ensign nodded and said that he agreed, Janeway looked over to the Doctor and asked blunt, "Doctor, what's going on…is something wrong?" When the hologram only smiled and nodded to the two newly weds, Janeway turned to them as was about to ask the same question when she spied the mixture of joy and fear in the woman's eyes as she squeezed his hand tightly. Softening instantly, completely unable to help herself, the captain stated, rather than asked as she stepped up to her and placed her arm on her shoulder, squeezing slightly, "You're pregnant." Once the woman finally sighed, expelling the breath she was holding, the good captain took it upon herself to set their fears at ease, knowing they were worried that she would be dismayed since having children aboard her ship to look after just made her job that much more difficult, Kathryn smiled warmly and bright and said, "Oh, that's wonderful…congratulations, Trisha." Putting her arm around the shorter woman, she patted her back, and said as she looked up at her husband who looked like he'd just been hit over the head with a baseball bat, "Congratulations, Mister Caster," extending her hand and shaking it firmly as a silent 'job well done.' Retracting her hand, she focused back on the mother, placed her hand on the shoulder closest to her and she continued to hold her close with her other arm around her shoulder and asked, "So, when's the newest member of my crew due?"

"Eight and half months," answered the mother to be.

Patting her on the back one final time, Janeway whispered softly, "Well, if there's anything you need at all, my door's always open."

"Thank you, Captain."

Janeway nodded once to her then once to her husband, and finally turned to the Doctor and asked, "Was there anything else, Doctor…or was this why you needed to talk to me privately?"

"Nothing else to report, Captain," the balding photonic projection answered smiling happily and proud in the way he always did which made it look like he was somewhat responsible for the event, which he was not. "Everything else is business as usual."

"Glad to hear it," Janeway came back. "Well," she smiled, feeling somewhat awkward since she almost felt like she was intruding, even if this was information that couldn't be kept from her, and not just because of the obvious, physical changes that would occur in her zoologist, "I better get back…congratulations again." Then just before she walked out the door, the captain turned around and said, "Oh, and if you happen to have a girl," smiling crookedly, "the name Kathryn always had a nice ring to it to me." Chuckling, as all of them laughed and nodded, Janeway shook her head, waving her arm, signaling she was only being humorous and said as she walked away, "Keep me informed, Doctor."

Once she was out of the door, the captain couldn't help but sigh heavily and hang her head somewhat as she started down the hall as the guilt that always followed her around like a shadow rolled like a thunderhead over the immediate area around her, came to a halt and started churning like the acid in her stomach which was already oversensitive since she'd been up for so many hours, and knew now that there was little chance of catching a few hours rest before she finished her 'Hell day.' As she approached the turbolift and felt the tension in her muscles building exponentially by the minute a strange, self-realization came over her, which caused her to stop dead in her tracks, while in her mind, she said, "I'm doing it again." Understanding now that this reaction was exactly what Seven of Nine and Devin had been talking about, how instead of seeing all of the good in such a situation, all she could focus on was how she was causing yet another child to be brought into a dangerous world where there were no children, no playgrounds, no schools, no parks, no sunlight and certainly not much in the way of fun. Even though she wasn't certain how to not focus on those things, she did know of someone who could always manage to make a very convincing argument to the contrary. Taking a deep breath, the captain looked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being observed, cursed audibly, "Damn," that always being her favorite profanity, and not able to bring herself to actually spit, except the very first time, during these moments as Devin had urged her to do, finding it too crude, then turned on her heels and headed straight for Astrometrics…headed straight toward the light in which this demon couldn't dwell, moving as fast as her lithe legs and powerful stride would carry her without running.

"Captain," Seven of Nine said as Janeway marched into Astrometrics, turning around immediately since she could tell from the stomp to the slight redhead's footfalls something was amiss, deciding to address her as her rank due to this data, "what has occurred?"

"Computer, seal the Astrometrics lab, authorization Janeway, bravo, seven, nine, red," Janeway said immediately as she started for the steps that led up to the large viewing dais. Sitting down on them and looking up at Seven, who even though she was concerned, was clearly smirking, Kathryn sighed and remarked, "Makes it easy to remember," speaking of the fact that she had recently changed her command authorization, figuring after so many years, "Janeway, pi, one, one, zero," had lost its zeal.

Stopping in front of the captain, Seven placed her arms behind her back and questioned, uncertain, "Have I done something to upset you?"

Since she had been rubbing her forehead and trying to figure out how to have this conversation, since she'd never had one before, Janeway snapped her head up, and said a little harsher than she intended, but only because she wanted to be clear, "No." When Seven raised her eyebrows at the clipped words, Kathryn sighed and said, "I'm sorry…will you come sit next to me please?" Pursing her lips some, she finished, "I need to talk," smirking now, "Counselor."

Seven of Nine immediately sat next to Kathryn, refrained from putting her arm around her since it seemed the this should remain, at least for now, a professional discussion, and said as she sat perfectly up right, "How can I be of assistance?"

Sighing and shaking her head, finding this completely ridiculous that she would suddenly be going to Seven of Nine, of all the people, for personal, psychological advice, Janeway placed her hand on Seven's thigh and stated, knowing Seven would figure the rest out, "Trisha Elliot is pregnant."

And of course, the Borg was able to extrapolate immediately the situation. Remaining completely even and fairly emotionless, even though she was smiling inside, ecstatic that not only was there going to be another child aboard the ship, but that Naomi Wildman would no longer be the ship's only child and in a few years, if they did not return to the Alpha Quadrant, as she was currently planning on making happen, her small friend could become something of a big sister, Seven of Nine stated, "You are feeling guilt over this situation because you believe that this child will be 'disadvantaged' by being reared aboard this vessel."

Nodding, Janeway sighed and said, "I can't help it, Seven…what's there for a child out in the middle of the Delta Quadrant other than danger?" Standing up, the captain marched up onto the dais and went on, "Look at poor Naomi. She's almost seven years old…what if we don't get back early…what if it takes us forty more years? What's she going to do?" Holding up her finger to signal she didn't want to be interrupted, Janeway said, "Oh, I'm sure she'll make a capable officer, if that's what she continues to want to do…but what about friends, Seven," sighing, she whispered, shaking her head, "what about love? There's nothing like that for her…or let's say five, six…ten more children are born aboard Voyager, that's still not much to choose from. What if she doesn't like any of them?" Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, turning around and looking at Seven, "What if she never knows how it feels to really, truly love someone like I know?"

Spinning around and pacing again with her hands on her hips, the captain went on, "And that's only one thing…that child is almost seven years old and she's been a real planet only one time. She's only felt the sun on her skin once…children need that, Seven. They need wide open spaces…they need grass and trees…and pets, dammit!" the captain barked, furious and emotion-filled, speaking now more of herself and how she acutely missed the company of her canine companion. As Seven of Nine continued to let her talk, Kathryn spun again and went on, "And I can't stop them…I can't tell them they can't have children…and I want them to be happy, I do." Walking toward Seven again, Janeway squatted next to her and said, "I want them have happiness like I have with you and B'Elanna…that's all I want," sighing, she stood up again, but crossed her arms over her chest, and looked down at her shinny boots, "but how can those babies be happy? Their parents might be happy, but how can their children be happy…happy like I was when I was a child?"

When the captain didn't go on from a few moments, Seven began to execute her argument with precision by asking, "Were Ensigns Elliot and Caster displeased by this event? Was it unexpected?"

Looking up from her shoes, Janeway answered, "I don't think so. Birth-control is readily available and considering they just got married, but have been involved for…well, almost six years, I assume they planned it."

Expecting such an answer, the ex-drone asked, "Do you feel it is your duty to dictate how your crew conduct themselves on their 'personal-time' as long as their behavior does not go against Starfleet protocols?" When Janeway shook her head and said, "Of course not, Seven…it's not of my business, just how my private life is none of theirs," Seven of Nine stood and began, "Then it is not your place to question how their off-spring with be raised, Captain." Placing her hands behind her back, she went on quickly, "You are not this child's parent and you have no 'say so' as to how they wish to raise him or her. As you stated, Ensigns Elliot and Caster have been involved in an intimate, monogamous relationship almost as long as this Collective has been in the Delta Quadrant. You can extrapolate from that data that they are 'happy' together and that their recent commitment ceremony was in preparation for their attempt to procreate and begin a 'family.' I am not well acquainted with either of them, however, I am certain that they are intelligent enough to know the consequences of their actions. If they wish to raise a child on this vessel, despite the circumstances, that is not your burden to bare."

Shaking her head, Janeway reminded, "Seven, I'm the one who stranded them out here…if that didn't happen, then their baby could have a real home."

Seven of Nine raised her eyebrows, also expecting that and glad to know that Janeway was acting typically since it made her task that much simpler and reminded herself, "Ensign Caster lived on Mars prior to this mission and Ensign Elliot resided on Earth. Since they did not become involved until a year after you stranded them here, that dictates that in all probability, they would have never become acquainted since Ensign Caster is an engineer and I know from the data I have assimilated on this Collective he had accepted this particular posting since it was to be a 'short' mission and had plans to join the crew of a larger starship." When Janeway sighed and turned around, Seven obviously starting to do damage to her argument, she added, "Therefore, Captain, if you had not stranded this crew, they would more than likely had never fallen in love. I am merely speculating, but they seem more than content and are often referred to as, 'the happy couple' whenever they enter the Mess Hall."

As Janeway crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, Seven walked up behind her, placed her hands on her shoulders and continued, "As for this child…although you are correct that some aspects of his or her life will be more difficult to accomplish aboard this vessel if we do not return the Alpha Quadrant in the near future, some aspects will not. He or she will have the advantage of 'growing up' in a highly 'close-knit' community. You, yourself, have dictated the advantages you believe you experienced by being raised in similar community. His or her parents will also be able to continue to pursue their 'career' paths while keeping their child close to them at all times. 'Happy' and fulfilled parents are also important to a child's existence and this often is more difficult unless both parents are able to gain positions aboard a galaxy class starship or a space station." Wrapping her arms around Janeway, she added, "He or she will also have the great advantage of being taught the values of humanity by an admirable captain whom is not adverse to mentoring those in need. She is warm, compassionate, nurturing, honorable…a matriarch, and he or she will 'grow up' knowing that he or she is cherished as an individual and as a member of her Collective always. With this 'backbone' there is little that cannot be overcome, Captain…I am also 'living proof' of that…and I will assist you in whatever capacity you require. I have researched child-rearing for several reasons, and even though I have not discussed the situation with you, I believe there are several 'things' we can do to not only ensure the children's safety but give them some of the aspects to life that would be readily available to them aboard a larger vessel or on a planet." When Janeway turned around, furrowing her brow in silent questioning, Seven said, "However, this is not the time to discuss that."

Using her human hand, Seven brushed Kathryn's hair behind one of her ears and went on, "It is fortunate that this has occurred today and I am pleased you have come to me with this. Such an event will make it 'easy' for us to conduct our experiment. Do you wish to know how to proceed in adapting?"

The captain sighed and said softly, "Go ahead."

"Very well," Seven nodded. "When you and Nick Fowler are examining the personnel reports, take a moment to ponder each of your crew's status. Converse with her about them and attempt to see how they are prospering as individuals rather than only how their rations usage is affecting our reserves, and 'so on.' If you do this, I believe you will see that this Collective is flourishing as you wish for them." Raising her eyebrow, she added, "Furthermore, let us use Nick Fowler as an example. Converse with her as well, inform her she is required to be 'frank,' and I believe you will see that she is fulfilled and prospering, perhaps more than you are aware? I do not know, but this is only an experiment. Once you have done that, inform her that you require a few moments to see to something, allow her to continue unsupervised, and go visit Naomi Wildman. She has no lessons today and is undoubtedly preparing for our 'sleepover,' or assisting Mister Neelix in the Mess Hall. Speak with her regarding her status, inform her that she is required to be honest, and then return to me when you have completed your tasks for a brief moment and inform me if I am functioning as an acceptable advisor to you in this endeavor. If your view has not changed for the 'better,' in the least, I will not take offense and we can begin to seek other outlets for you to continue to 'exorcise' your 'demons.'" Seven smiled just a little, only the corners of her mouth turning up when she asked, "I assume this is what you wish to do by coming to see me?"

Kathryn couldn't help but smirk as she shook her head and laughed, somewhat nervously while she said, "Yes…that's why I came here." Then taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, rested her pale cheek on Seven's right shoulder and informed, "You're the only one on this ship that I can talk to like this…and thank you, Seven…I mean it." Taking a step back before she spent anymore time with her partners on a day where she normally had very little time to do much of anything except reports, she informed, "And…I'll take what you said to heart and try to make time," shaking her head, "but I can't make any promises. I can't work too late tonight if that's at all possible."

Understanding that Janeway was putting off her own needs to assist others, B'Elanna Torres in this case, which was typical behavior, Seven nodded, folding her hands at the small of her back so that she would not continue to embrace the captain, Seven always finding it difficult when they were alone to not, and said, "Very well, but inform me if you require any assistance on this day. There is nothing vital that I am working on at the moment. I had contemplated going to Engineering to offer my assistance, however, I was uncertain if that was wise on this day considering B'Elanna Torres' unease. I do not wish her to believe that I am 'hovering.'"

Kathryn nodded in understanding, but said, "Well, just make sure you don't hover. I think she could probably use your help today…they've got a lot to do and not many hands."

"I will comply."

Taking another breath, Janeway started down the steps, informing the computer to unseal the door, then said as they walked out and started down the turbolift, "On top of all of this," shaking her head, "I've got to say goodbye to five people today." Looking up at Seven, she asked, clearly being sarcastic, "Any advise, oh wise one?"

As they stepped into the turbolift, Seven of Nine said, knowing now Janeway was just making conversation and not really seeking advise because this arena was somewhat out of the Borg's territory and she had her own reasons for not wishing to comment much since she was rather angry at the five individuals that were abandoning her captain, "Think 'positively,' Captain." Once the doors closed, she stated plainly, "Next month, you will have five less personnel reports to complete and those five individuals will be starting a new path…one which they have chosen for themselves. Perhaps they will find their 'place' with the first regal?"

Holding up her hand and crossing her fingers, the captain added quickly before the turbolift stopped on the Bridge, "Keep your fingers crossed, because if Devin is as tough as I think she is, I wouldn't be surprised if one or two coming running home to mama." When Seven laughed slightly, Janeway barked in laughter as well, releasing more tension and having to admit that even though she wasn't certain she'd be able to let this go, she definitely felt better, shaking her head and offered as the doors opened, patting Seven on the arm, "Thank you again, Seven…I'll see you soon."

B'Elanna Torres glanced over her shoulder when Ensign Harry Kim looked up as the large, main doors to the ship's heart parted, to find out what he was smiling about. When Seven of Nine, sleek and cool in her skin-tight, brown biosuit which left little to the imagination as far as her curves went, although Torres was very aware that once out of the attire, Seven was even more amazing, walked with purpose toward the two who were tucked away somewhat in a corner utilizing a sensor board, B'Elanna fought not to roll her eyes at Kim's reaction. She certainly wasn't jealous since she knew that although Seven didn't dislike the youngest senior officer, she certainly was not interested in him, whatsoever, especially romantically or sexually, but sometimes she really wanted to whack Kim upside the head and tell him to get over it already, but she would never do that considering she had carried a mighty big torch for Kathryn, although was never as obvious as him, for almost a year before she showed her the slightest bit of affection that went beyond friendship and gratitude. Getting over that quickly, she started to wonder what Seven was doing in Engineering at this time of the day since it wasn't time to have lunch and if the Borg needed her help with something, she usually saved those requests until the later part of the day when she knew more people would be available to assist her and she had more time to work on other things. Lifting her chin slightly in greeting and question, she asked as the blonde stopped in front of them and placed her hands behind her back, "Hey, Seven…need something?"

"I am here to offer my assistance," Seven of Nine explained, toneless. "Nothing of importance is occurring in Astrometrics at this time, so I thought I could assist you. The captain concurred and informed me to report here."

B'Elanna eyed Seven closely for a moment, trying to see if there was more to it since her talk with Janeway which had made it perfectly clear that Torres was fairly tore up inside about something and having a rough day. She knew that Seven wasn't in the habit of lying, but she also knew she wasn't incapable of omitting details when her 'primary objective' deemed it prudent to do so. The Klingon was perfectly comfortable with the fact that the lady Borg's primary objective was often Kathryn Janeway's well being and not her own. Of course Seven cared about her deeply and always looked after her, but it wasn't to the same, detailed extent, which rather flattered the brunette since she figured that meant that Seven felt B'Elanna was capable to taking care of herself just fine. Torres believed that without questioning since she knew Seven would not choose between them, ever, so for her to focus on the redhead most of the time, simply meant she thought Janeway needed more assistance.

Not only did Torres like that idea, for the captain's sake, and agreed with it because she knew that every senior officer, and a few others, would answer if asked, who on this ship neglected themselves most often, they would answer without hesitation, "The captain," but she had never been fond of being anyone's primary objective since she grew into her late teens and took full control over her life and how she saw fit to live it. B'Elanna Torres didn't operate like an ex-drone, but she'd be lying if she said taking care of the captain wasn't high on her list of priorities every day, most of the time, since Janeway constantly took care of them at the expense of herself, and that was one of the aspects that had pushed these two women together and continued to allow them to bond as a couple, within the group. It certainly wasn't the only reason, but it was a large factor and somehow, figuring out what was best for Kathryn, and the captain, and seeing to her happiness, which was often quite difficult to negotiate since nothing with Kathryn Janeway was easy, made them the strong allies that they were now. Not many people knew how good they worked together now, but those that did would be hard pressed to find something the two couldn't conquer when they teamed up and devised their 'plan of action.'

The chief didn't see anything in the Borg's azure eyes that told her she was there to keep an eye on her, and since she could definitely use the help, B'Elanna nodded and replied, "Great…I'll take all the help I can get." Then lifting her finger, she warned, teasing, but her tone gave nothing away, "Just don't try to turn this place into a Borg circus again…or I'll be 'displeased.'"

The Borg cocked her eyebrow, smirked and then droned, "I will comply." Unwinding the hands for her back, she asked, "How can I be of assistance?"

Speaking up finally, Harry Kim explained, "We're trying to track down the cause of the sensor relay problems. We think that there's a bottle-neck somewhere, which is causing the power spikes, but we haven't had much luck tracking it down, other than to say Deck Seven seems to be the only deck affected right now. Biometrics, Maintenance and Stores are the only departments that have reported any problems."

Adding to the ensign's explanation, Torres informed, "The holodecks are fine, so I think we're looking at a faulty conduit, or series of them, on the starboard side. The delays come and go and they're nothing more than a second, so that's going to make it tough." As Seven nodded and came around the console to look at the data, B'Elanna said, "I'm gonna go take a look at the sensor node we pulled from Biometrics…maybe it will tell us something. Seven," she said looking fairly far up to the Borg since she was slouching against the console, "our diagnostics haven't given us much of anything to go on, so see if you can figure out a way to make it more sensitive…if we get something, then we'll set up a sniffer on the relay system and track a data pulse." When the blonde nodded, turned to a console to her left and began working it swiftly, she said to the dark-haired ensign, "Harry, keep a watch on the distribution center on that deck…it's unlikely, but possible that's where the problem is." Sighing, she said walking away, whispering so only the two of them could hear her, "Pray to Kahless that it's not…'cause those things are a bitch and half to take apart."

Half an hour later, Torres marched out of her office and announced, "Well, one's thing's for certain…this puppy's officially toast." Tossing it underhanded to the blonde, saying, "Think fast," who looked up at her, then caught the somewhat spherical device with her enhanced hand easily, and started examining it, she went on, "And it doesn't tell us anything other than enough juice was either forced through, or looped back somehow to cook it. Both of the channels are fused, so I can't say which one it was for certain, but considering no other nodes beyond that one, and the sensor grid for the console wasn't damaged, I'd say it looped backwards…which," she sighed, leaning back on the console looking over at Kim, "could have caused the other problems between that node," pointing to the device the ex-drone continued to examine closely with her enhanced vision, obviously hoping to detect something that Torres couldn't, which is why the chief handed the device over to her, "and the distribution center." Leaning now on both elbows, she continued, "That makes sense…all of our problems areas exist on the same circuit."

Setting the device aside, Seven of Nine jumped in, "We have found nothing that conflicts with that hypothesis, and the only other malfunctions we have experienced have been on this circuit, but not beyond Biometrics' relay system."

"So then you think this loop back pulse was enough to damage the entire circuit, and that's why we're having the problems we're having now?" Ensign Kim asked, to clarify. When the chief engineer nodded a few times as she continued to lean forward and chew on the problem, Harry asked, "Okay, so what do we do now…replace the major components…or the whole relay system?"

"First," Torres smirked slightly, "we get to make a mess." When Seven of Nine cocked her eyebrow and Kim frowned, not certain he liked that idea since 'making a mess' usually equated to fairly drastic measures, and those usually made the captain fairly agitated, especially on a day like today, Torres smiled, tapped her communicator and said, "All hands, this is the chief…we're having some trouble with the data relay system on Deck Seven on the starboard side from sections one through sixteen. If you're currently working in that area, stop what you're doing and go talk a walk…we're shutting you down in one minute. Torres out." As Seven of Nine raised her eyebrow even higher and continued to smirk, then said, "Efficient," B'Elanna ordered, "Seven, shut 'em down when their minute is up…Harry, configure the power distribution center to reroute all requests onto another circuit." Then tapping her comm-badge a second time, she said, "Engineering to Bridge."

"Tuvok here," replied the security chief since the captain was currently holed up in her Ready Room alone and Fowler was making her final rounds to gather up reports that hadn't been submitted yet. Tuvok was technically higher ranked than Fowler, but with Chakotay's absence and that fact that she was in Command and his post was in Security, when both of them were on the Bridge, without any higher ranked officers, and Paris or another officer was piloting, Fowler functioned as first officer, which was just fine with Tuvok since he preferred to see to his Security and Tactical tasks.

"Commander, just thought I'd let you know that we think we've figured out the problem, but it's going to take a while to be sure. Doesn't look like anything terribly serious, but we're being cautious. I'll keep you informed. Torres out." Patting Ensign Kim on the shoulder, she said smiling crookedly, deciding this little problem wasn't such a bad thing since not only was it keeping her sufficiently distracted, but she got to work with two of her favorite people, and piss a whole lot of other people off just by doing her job, "See, Starfleet…Engineering is were the real action is."

"Indeed," Seven of Nine allowed, smiling just slightly since it was obvious Torres was feeling in her element, which was not only just as invigorating to watch as when the captain was in hers, but considering the chief hadn't been quite herself lately, it was an even more welcomed occurrence. Then reported, "The circuit is closed."

"Good," Torres nodded, then turned around and said as she jogged over toward her office, "Arm yourselves," raising her fist slightly, "Qapla'."

When Harry Kim scrunched his face in confusion, Seven of Nine grabbed the tricorder sitting on the console, handed it to Kim, who then said, "Oh, right," and then quickly traveled to a small compartment on the wall next to where Lieutenant Carey was working quietly and grabbed a tricorder for herself. Realizing that if all three of them left, that would leave Lieutenant Carey alone for the moment since Jacobs was working on the new shuttle and Nicoletti and Cohen were on the Alaxiat for the week, she asked, "Lieutenant Carey, would it be helpful to you if I sent two individuals from Maintenance to assist you while we conduct our analysis and any needed repairs?"

Fairly surprised by the offer, Carey said, somewhat tentatively, "Uh…yea…thanks, Seven."

"No problemo," Seven of Nine replied, then turned and left him staring rather wide-eyed, moving quickly toward the exit where Torres and Kim where also headed. Once she had joined them, Seven smirked and said, "I believe we are preparing to 'kick ass first and take names later,' correct?"

Smiling and laughing along with Harry Kim, Torres slapped Seven on the back and said, "Now you're catching on." Then feeling mischevious, and figuring the captain, Fowler, or Tuvok were no where around, she elbowed the blonde and said, "Last one to the turbolift's has to crawl through the Jefferies tube," and took off down the hall.

When Seven of Nine didn't pause for but a split second and bolted into action as B'Elanna yelled, not having to look back, "Come on, Starfleet…live a little!" Harry smiled and thrust his body into motion, knowing he very well would never catch up to them in time, but deciding he might as well have fun trying. Sprinting as fast as he was able, which was fairly quick considering he was in good shape and in his mid-twenties, Kim took the corner fairly wide, not wanting to plow into anyone for fear they would complain to the captain and she would find out that three of her senior officers were racing through her ship for no good reason other than to have fun, and came to a grinding halt as quickly as possible as their commanding officer stood in front of B'Elanna Torres and Seven of Nine, with her hands crossed over her chest and a rather unreadable look on her face, which was typically a very bad sign. When she glanced over at him as he rounded the corner and then skidded to a halt, all of the color from his already pale face draining quickly while he swallowed and snapped to attention.

Before Janeway had a chance to say anything, B'Elanna offered, "Captain, this is my fault and I take full responsibility."

Motioning for Harry Kim to come up next to Seven and stand in line so he too could be reprimanded, Kathryn asked, "Would you like to explain to me just what you were doing, Miss Torres?"

"We were racing to see who would have to crawl through the Jefferies Tubes, Ma'am," Torres answered honestly and crisply.

Looking over at Kim and coming to a halt in front of him as she nodded and said, "I see," she asked, "Mister Kim, why were you so far behind?"

Harry blinked once and then answered quickly, "I…uh, I wasn't ready when Lieutenant Torres and then Seven started running, so I fell behind, Captain."

Walking back over to B'Elanna after stopping for a beat in front of Seven and looking at her squarely in the eye, the captain went on, "Lieutenant, seems to me that springing a race on Mister Kim wasn't really all that fair considering he would have to crawl through the Jefferies Tubes simply because he didn't know the chief engineer would use such tactics to delegate responsibility. Do you agree?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Continuing her pacing, Janeway went on, knowing the real reason behind this behavior was because Torres was trying to relieve the tension that she, and really the whole ship, was feeling at the moment, and said, walking behind them, "Good. Then you won't mind if I even the odds up a little then." Tapping her communicator, she announced, "All hands, this is the captain. Clear the hallway from the forward turbolift to the aft on the starboard side of Deck Ten immediately until I inform you it is safe to return. Janeway out." Coming around in front of them again, Torres and Kim having rather fearful looks on their faces, and even though Seven had remained completely even and stoic, her fairly used to being reprimanded by the captain, Janeway could tell by the glint in her eye she was intrigued, the captain announced, "For acting in a manner unbecoming of a senior officer and potentially injuring an unknowing member of this crew as you sprinted through the halls under normal conditions and without alerting anyone of your actions, the three of you are required to race me to the aft turbolift. If one of you beats me, there will be no punishment…if I beat you, each of you will be required to make a ship-wide announcement that you lost a footrace to the captain, who has worked a double shift, and for every second that I beat you by, you'll, Lieutenant, lose ten rations for the week for being the ring leader." Stopping in front of Seven, she smirked at the Borg, "Seven, I'm sure you can keep track." Holding up her finger, she added, "And, sticking to Miss Torres' rules, whoever is last between the three of you has the Jefferies Tube Duty. Any questions?"

"No, Captain," they all said in unison, completely bewildered but understanding by her tone that this was not the time to question her and perhaps suggest that the good captain should go have some coffee and then go to sleep since she had clearly lost her mind.

"Alright, you have one minute to get ready…Seven, keep track," Janeway said as she unzipped her tunic and tossed it rather unceremoniously to the floor while Seven remained standing where she was, after putting down her tricorder, never having to do much of anything to 'get ready.' Harry and B'Elanna turned and looked at each other at the same time while Janeway bent down and stretched her hamstrings and then quickly tore off their tunics, set down their tools and triocorders and did their best to prepare themselves.

Torres and Seven of Nine were perfectly aware that this was probably going to be the race of a lifetime, but under other conditions, Harry Kim wouldn't be so concerned about the compact captain, since he had no idea how fast she was and she certainly didn't look like much of a sprinter, but considering she made it pretty obvious by her punishment guidelines that she was fairly certain she could out sprint them all, the ensign had a feeling he might end up dead last again.

As Janeway twisted her torso and rolled her neck back, Seven of Nine walked up to B'Elanna Torres while she kept track of the seconds ticking down and whispered, "B'Elanna Torres, I am not certain I can 'beat' Kathryn while wearing my biosuit. This footwear is not as conducive to running as is my fitness routine attire."

Sighing, B'Elanna returned, "Well, she's not wearing her running shoes either…as she has been up all night…so maybe," Torres smirked slightly, "we've got a chance." Nodding she said, "I feel good…come one, we can do this…we can take her." Slapping her shoulder again, she said loudly, "You're Borg…I'm Klingon…Qapla'!"

Coming to the hallway where the captain and Harry Kim where standing, using the wall as a guide, for if extended, it would come across the floor at their feet as the starting line, Seven of Nine announced as she stepped up next to Harry Kim, not wanting to stand next to the captain for fear she would use her famous Velocity tactics and elbow or shove her out of the way when she felt to would falter without using more aggressive moves, "It has been one minute, Captain."

As B'Elanna sighed, obviously not wanting to run next to the captain either, but stepped up next to her since there was no other place, Kathryn smirked and asked, looking over at B'Elanna, "Everyone ready?" When Kim and Torres took a deep breath and set themselves, Janeway nodded and ordered, "Seven, since you're the time keeper…you do the count off."

Familiar with the phrase thanks to Naomi Wildman, Seven of Nine got into her own ready stance and said, "On your 'mark', 'get set', go!"

Digging into the carpet for all she worth, B'Elanna Torres leaped into action as soon as she heard Seven's start and fought through the sensation to run as hard as possible immediately while she still was full of energy because even though this wasn't a terribly long sprint, it was a little more than a hundred meters and since she hadn't had much rest herself and was more of an endurance type of runner, she knew she'd putter out at the end if she pushed it. Not surprised at all when Kathryn didn't push it either and kept pace with all three of them since B'Elanna was well aware that the little redhead had a deceptive kick as part of her arsenal and could zip ahead without warning and leave them all, except Seven of Nine, in the dust, Torres tried quickly to work out her strategy since not only did she not want to lose rations, but she certainly didn't want to have to make an announcement to the entire crew that she had lost a race to a tired, older captain, but also her girlfriend, but it seemed that there simply wasn't any other strategy to work out except to run like the wind and hope that for once, Kathryn Janeway didn't live up to her superhero ways.

When the corridor they were tearing through began to curve back inward just slightly, Janeway knew that soon the finish line would be in their sights, and since she not only wanted to beat them, but beat them cleanly, not because she really wanted to punish them, even though she knew she had to in some way and she really didn't feel like yelling, so ration deduction was always the next best thing, but because she honestly wanted to hopefully send them a silent message that said she understood what it was like to want to have fun, and she felt for them, she changed her movement just slightly until her weight was now on the balls of her feet. As the far wall came into view far ahead, Kathryn snapped into action, knowing this was the moment of truth, and increased the pace, quickly moving up to almost full throttle and pumping her arms, not surprised in the least when the brownish form of Seven of Nine appeared right next to her. Knowing that wasn't going to be good enough since the blonde's reach was longer than hers and she honestly didn't want to have to crash into the wall to beat them, the captain dug deep within herself, now really just willing her body to move faster as the zoomed ahead of B'Elanna and Kim, who now where trying to decided if they wanted to try to race each other, or just watch the show ahead of them.

Letting Harry move on ahead, Torres slowed, deciding she deserved taking the Jefferies Tube duty anyway for getting them into this situation, and felt that the image in front of her was simply too funny, heartwarming, and absolutely priceless to miss by continuing to try and race, and yelled, "Go, dollface…run! You can take her!" As Janeway amazingly pulled ahead again by a whole body length even though it was clear that Seven of Nine was running as fast as she was able in her current attire and not doing a terrible job at all since it seemed the captain was simply too stubborn and too fast to ever let anyone beat her, even a Borg, B'Elanna reduced her speed again until she was at a happy trot while Harry Kim slowed as well, clearly outmatched by Seven and Janeway, who were flying toward the finish line, but kept looking back over his shoulder trying to decided if Torres was trying to trick him somehow, and hollered, trying not to laugh, "Seven, run dammit! You can take her! Run!"

As the finish line grew within ten meters of the captain's reach and she was still at full throttle, not able to see Seven of Nine next to her anymore, but clearly able to hear her steady pounding practically on top of her heels, the captain felt her tired, now scorching muscles starting to fade due to her exhausting schedule and sudden exertion, but when she heard Torres proclaim that Seven had the captain, Kathryn clenched her jaw as Seven started to come back into view to her left and used every last ounce of her sometimes unstoppable determination to again increase the speed of her straining legs until she was certain she was moving as fast now as she'd moved in twenty years. When the unforgiving wall was now only a few strides away, Kathryn also realized that she and Seven were somewhat playing chicken to see who would back down first to keep themselves from having to brace a definite impact with the wall. Janeway wasn't sure, but she was fairly certain Seven of Nine wasn't concerned with the wall since her Borg enhanced strength could easily compensate for her inertia and all she would have to do was put out both of her hands and she would stop before the rest of her body plowed into the surface. The same was not true for the captain and she knew if she didn't slow immediately, she'd probably crash into the wall fairly soundly and possibly injure herself, however, she also knew that if she didn't keep going, Seven would very likely not and proclaim herself as the winner, even if it was on a technicality and state that the captain hadn't said she wasn't allowed to use her Borg 'attributes' to assist her.

Thankfully for the captain, she didn't have to accept defeat over the fact that the finish line was a solid wall that she couldn't simply bounce off of because just at the second she was about to hit the breaks, Janeway let out a definite yelp when Seven, operating now in a function to protect her, burst ahead just enough to come into contact with the slight female, and in an amazing show of deftness, wrapped an arm her waist and swept her right off her feet, bringing them both to a grinding halt just in front of the wall.

Holding the captain in her arms as the redhead stared at her in amazement while she tried to catch her breath, Seven of Nine, breathing fairly heavily herself stated while Torres cursed saying, "What the hell are you doing?" but the amusement in her tone gave her disappointment away, "Captain, damaging yourself in this manner is not an acceptable risk. You would have been the victor by zero point five six seconds."

Before Harry and B'Elanna got too close as they slowly trotted after them, Kathryn replied, smiling, sucking wind, "Thank you…darling….I think you should put me…down though."

"As you wish," Seven of Nine returned and then released the captain. Then turning around, she informed proud of Janeway, even if she had done her very best to beat her, "The captain would have been the victor by zero point five six seconds."

Forcing herself not to show the fact that she was now officially pooped, Janeway placed one hand on the wall, while the other rested on her hip and continued to breathe deeply, but steadily as she said, "Miss Torres, Mister Kim…good of you to join us…having fun?"

"Absolutely not," Torres lied, smirking just slightly, trying to very, very best not to smile brightly, proud of Kathryn as well, "Captain."

"Mmmhmm," Janeway came back, standing upright and brushing her hair back. Then clearing her throat, she said crisply, "Alright, let's hear it," pointing to B'Elanna, "you first, ring leader….and make sure you tell them how pleased you are."

Sighing, B'Elanna Torres grabbed the communicator off of Seven's biosuit, cleared her throat and announced after she pressed her thumb to the device, "All hands, this is the chief. In a footrace that just took place, I'm pleased," she said through clenched teeth, "to announce that I was defeated by Captain Janeway who has already worked a double shift and is still on duty. Torres out!"

When the captain nodded at him, Kim glared at B'Elanna as he accepted the comm-badge, activated it and said, "All hands, this is Ensign Kim. In the same footrace, I am pleased to announce that I too was defeated by Captain Janeway…who has already worked a double shift and is still on duty. Kim out."

After Janeway bobbed her head once to Harry as he handed the device over to the Borg, then looked at her and smirked, Seven cocked her eyebrow, shooting the look right back at the captain and said once she tapped the communicator, "All hands, this is Seven of Nine. In the same footrace, I am pleased to report that I was defeated by Captain Janeway by zero point five six seconds. Furthermore, Captain Janeway is merely a human that has worked a double shift and is still on duty. Seven out."

Snatching the communicator from Seven of Nine and narrowing her eyes at the blonde's additions, which she knew was Seven's own little way of being 'cute', Janeway tapped the communicator and said, wanting to rub it in but knowing that wasn't a very captain-like thing to do, she kept it purely business, "All hands, this the captain. You are now free to repopulate Deck Ten. Thank you for your cooperation. Janeway out." Then handing the device back to her defiant Astrometrics officer, she added, looking at B'Elanna, "I'll have Lieutenant Fowler deduct six rations…rounding up…from your allotment immediately." Then walking away, knowing Torres would turn around to watch her, she purposefully brushed off her backside and said, not turning around, "Miss Torres, I think I hear a Jefferies Tube calling out to you…carry on…quickly."

"Aye, Captain," Torres smiled her crazy grin as Janeway walked away, and didn't take her eyes off of her until she disappeared around the curve of the hallway and mumbled under her breath, "You are some piece of work, Kathryn Janeway."

"Indeed," Seven of Nine smiled proudly as Harry Kim shook his head, not sure what to make of what just occurred and the turbolift doors opened depositing several crewmembers, all of whom immediately laughed at the group but then quickly went on their way when Torres growled at them.

Patting Harry on the shoulder, Torres said, "Come on, Starfleet…let's see what other trouble we can get into" As the three off them walked back down the hall to go gather up their tools and tunics, B'Elanna said to the tall blonde, "Too bad you're wearing one of your biosuits…I think you could have taken her if you didn't have heels on."

"Perhaps," was all Seven said.

Then sighing, B'Elanna spat, "What the hell was she doing down here anyway?"

"Probably coming to see why you were evacuating one half of a deck without talking to her first," Harry Kim reminded, in a raspy, agitated whisper.

"I thought she was supposed to be in bed…why isn't she sleeping?" Torres asked, looking to Seven, figuring she knew if anyone did.

"I am not at liberty to divulge that information," Seven replied evenly as they stopped at where their things where waiting for them.

Reaching down and snatching up her tunic, B'Elanna huffed, "Figures." Then thinking about that, she turned around and asked quietly as Harry put himself back together, "Everything cool?" hoping Seven would understand she was inquiring about the captain.

Not able to elaborate much, Seven of Nine merely said, "I believe the situation has the potential for a positive outcome."

"Right…" B'Elanna nodded, understanding that was all Seven felt comfortable saying, "alright…let's go kick some butt."

Sighing, Harry came back as they stepped into the turbolift, "I think I've had enough butt kicking for one day."

"Trust me, Starfleet…there's always room for more...right, Seven?"

"That is correct."

Before the doors on the turbolift parted for her, Kathryn Janeway took another deep breath, feeling as though if she didn't sit down immediately, she was going to fall down. Then stepping from the carriage onto the Bridge where everyone turned around, more than likely hoping it was indeed the winner of the race so they could find out the information that had lead to such a strange event being broadcast over the entire ship, the captain gave absolutely nothing away as she started down the stairs easily, walking with her usual graceful confidence but not gloating by any means and said, "Miss Fowler, you're with me," as she glanced quickly over to Tuvok who was working his board but with a noticeable upturn to his eyebrow, which she knew meant, 'You've surprised me again, Captain.'"

When she saw the tall pilot get up from her command chair, Tom Paris currently manning the helm, Janeway continued without missing a step into her office and unzipped her tunic, feeling warm and knowing she was going to be stuck in this room for the next few hours, so she didn't see a problem trying to make herself a little more comfortable. She was certain no one would dare question her, especially on this day and after what had just occurred, not that she would believe anyone would question her on any other day, for that matter. Climbing the steps to the upper deck, she slipped off her jacket, tossed it on the sofa and reached down for her coffee pot. When she turned around and Fowler held out her hands, saying she would take care of it, Janeway handed it over easily and said, "Thank you."

Flopping down on the sofa, Janeway felt comfortable enough with Nicole to not hide that fact that she was beyond tired and groaned, "I'm getting too old for this shit."

Fowler snickered just slightly as she ordered the replicator to fill up the coffee pot and figured the captain was indeed feeling spent if she was cursing to that extent since Nicole had never heard her use that word and offered, "Well, considering you've been up all night and beat blondie," Fowler's term of somewhat endearment for the Borg, whom she knew first hand was not only quick but tough as they came, "I'd say you're doing mighty good, Captain…at any age." Taking the pot out of the energy grid and remembering to snatch up the captain's workstation from her desk since she figured Janeway wasn't bringing her into her office for a social visit and wanted to get to work right away on the reports, Fowler asked, climbing the stairs as Janeway started taking off her shoes, "Can I get you anything else…something to eat maybe?"

As she unzipped her other boot, Janeway said, "Well, if you're hungry…help yourself…I'm not all that hungry, though."

"Captain," Fowler chuckled as she set the coffee pot down, "the only time I'm not hungry is right after I eat…so, how about some cheese and crackers?"

Kathryn chuckled as well and nodded, replying, "That's fine…thank you." As Fowler programmed the replicator again, Janeway poured them both a cup of coffee, then after taking a few small sips, she kicked her stockinged feet up on the coffee table and rested her head back on the top of the sofa. When she heard the brunette set the tray down on the coffee table and then felt the cushion next to her sink down some as Nicole sat down, Janeway said with her eyes still closed, "Will you deduct six rations from B'Elanna's allotment for this week please?"

The commander in training knew such a request wasn't really a question, and even if it was, she certainly wouldn't say no, so she replied as she picked up Janeway's workstation and set it in her lap, logging on as herself which gave her access to all personnel databases, "Aye, Captain," not asking why, having more than a good feeling it had to do with whatever prompted the footrace and knowing that if Janeway wished to tell her, she would, and also knowing B'Elanna more than likely would inform her without any prompting. After she had done that, she said to the captain who had yet to open her eyes, "You know, Kate," using her real name, or at least the abbreviated version, and not Miss Kate, which she would hopefully understand was her way of being personally professional, "if you need to take a nap, I don't mind. I looked over last month's reports and I think I know what kind of information you're looking for. I think I can handle this on my own."

Janeway was awfully tempted to take Nick up on that and at least let Fowler worry about everyone but the senior staff, but since that would mean she couldn't follow through with Seven's 'experiment,' Kathryn turned up one corner of her cheek and replied, "Thank you, Nick…and don't think I don't trust you…but I've got to do this." Opening her eyes and lifting her head, she smirked, and said gravelly, her voice course and fairly harsh already due to her long stretch of duty and exertion just minutes ago, "I have my own reasons." Sipping her coffee a few more times, she set it down, eyed the cheese and cracker platter, napped a cube of muenster, and said, "Let's try something new this time and start with the personnel reports." After chewing, she said, "I'd like to stay for those, and then I have some things to do, so I'll leave the departmental ones to you."

Nodding, Fowler grabbed a handful of crackers and a few cubes of American cheese and asked prior to plopping one of the creamy pieces into her mouth, "A to Z?"

"A to Z…"

"Okay," Torres started loudly from where she sat inside the Jefferies Tube so that Seven of Nine and Harry Kim, who were out in the corridor monitoring the data stream detection machine, or the 'sniffer' as Torres was fond of calling it, which pinpointed, when used correctly, exactly where a small group of data was moving through the relay system, at what speed it was moving and if it was in anyway compromised, corrupted, or experienced difficulty in the passageway, "that should do it…what's it look like?"

After monitoring the data stream and analyzing the pulse's readout, Seven of Nine returned the hand held device, which was about the side of two tricorders, to Kim and reported once she was peering into the tunnel, not liking to shout unless it was necessary, "The test has passed as well. There were no malfunctions."

Sighing heavily, Torres wiped her forehead with the back of her hand while she held her spanner in her fist and said, "This is crazy…it could take three weeks to track this down at this rate." Dropping her hands, she looked over at Seven and asked, "Do you have any ideas…short of replacing the whole circuit?"

"Not as of yet," Seven of Nine informed honestly, "but I am 'working on it.'"

As he heard Torres curse at the sensor node she was manipulating, and then tell Seven she wanted to try one more thing before they ripped apart Biometrics' main console and went over it millimeter by millimeter, something strange caught Kim's eye, and he reported, anxious and crisp, so he could be heard, "B'Elanna…the data's looping back to the node!"

When Torres said, "What!" Seven of Nine yelled, as several scenarios raced through her mind just as speedy as the data stream zipped through the starship's information system, "Move now!" while she threw herself into the tunnel, completely uncaring that she had cracked her hip rather hard against the unforgiving surface of the shaft, knowing she couldn't possibly get to Torres in time, but having to try out of instinct and also so if her lover was injured, she could tend to her quickly.

Hearing the slight whining sound of building energy as Kim, and then Seven exclaimed to her, Torres didn't need a neural processor to assist her to know the node was about to overload. Throwing herself to the floor as her eyes grew wide in shock and then closed tight of their own accord as her body's natural urge to protect itself took over, she covered her head while the device's processor could no longer handle the photonic packet bombardment and exploded into a series of sparks as it was blown completely out of its housing and ricocheted off the side wall of the tube, coming to a pathetic rest near the legs of the engineer. When several searing hot pieces of various elements landed on her back and Torres almost immediately felt the burning sensation since she wasn't wearing her tunic or tool jacket and only had two thin shirts to protect her, B'Elanna rolled onto her side and tried to brush the burning pieces off as they started to char and melt the fabric as well as her skin underneath.

Crawling as fast as she could toward Torres, witnessing her fling her body to the ground, then roll to her side as shards of the sensor node landed on her back and began burning her, Seven of Nine was able to detect the singed smell as Torres hissed in pain, then growled and tried to wipe them off. Reaching her almost at the same time, Seven grabbed Torres by her tense shoulders and ordered with the utmost authority, that was fraught with the sound of the purest confidence, "Be still," as she used her Borg enhanced hand to pick up the molten pieces with astounding speed and toss them aside. Approximately three seconds later, the engineer was free from further harm and she asked while Harry came into view at the hatch's opening, panicked, speaking the same words in unison with the blonde, "Are you alright?"

"HIja'" Torres snarled as she pushed herself up onto her knees and brushed a few fleeting strands of her chocolate, wavy hair that had fallen free from her loose ponytail, out of her face as she huffed in irritation for a problem that was quickly taking up a good portion of her day. Then looking over her shoulder at the small burn holes littered across her back, she sighed and offered, "Thanks, dollface."

"No problemo," Seven replied, hoping to do what she could to keep the Klingon from going into a rage after such an incident and not only putting her fist through what was left of the small data center, possibly damaging herself further, but storming out of the tunnel and ripping every console apart until she discovered the problem, or destroyed all possible causes, and was forced to replace the enter circuit, which was no easy undertaking. "Do you require medical attention?"

Shaking her head, B'Elanna came back, "I'll be fine." Then looking down the tunnel, she asked, "Harry, what the fuck was that?"

"Unknown," Kim sighed out of relief that B'Elanna wasn't injured beyond a few, very minor burns to her skin which he knew she preferred to allow to heal the natural way, "but I think we can safely say we have a problem…and that it's on this section of the circuit."

"No shit," the chief came back, sighing and rubbing the back of her hand over her forehead again, then snatched up her spanner and giving it a once over to make certain it hadn't been damaged. "That's all I need right now," she thought acidly. "Well, we sure as hell can't have anyone working in Biometrics until we get this taken care of. Harry, go tell Nathan that we're going to have to keep them out for a while…so if they need anything from in there, they should get it quick." Then after taking a few more deep breaths, she tapped her communicator while Kim nodded and took off for the turbolift, saying, "Torres to Janeway."

After a few second delay while the captain grabbed her communicator from her tunic that was tossed on the other side of the couch, she came back, "Janeway here."

"Captain," Torres exhaled heavily, "I know this is a bad time, but I thought you should know that we're going to have to close Biometrics for a while…until we get this fixed." When the captain sighed in turn and then asked what happened, B'Elanna reported, "Well, we put a sniffer on the relay system of the faulty circuit, and for some reason that we haven't figured out yet, that test packet looped back to the sensor node, causing some kind of power surge and then tried to take my head off." Before Janeway could start asking if she was injured, Torres went on, "It's too dangerous, Captain…there's no warning unless you're monitoring the specific data stream…and then you have about two seconds."

"Understood," Janeway came back quickly, "do whatever you think is best, Chief…are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Captain," B'Elanna said quickly without elaborating, not want to cause any more worry than she knew she already had, "nothing we couldn't handle. Harry's talking to Ensign Keilman and we'll give them a few minutes to get anything they need out of there, but as of right now, I don't have an estimate to give you…it could take five minutes, it could take five days…I don't know."

"Alright," Kathryn sighed audibly over the communications channel, "do you need some help, or more bodies in Engineering while you three work on this?"

"We're okay right now," Torres replied. "Some people from Maintenance are helping out Carey, but if we have any more problems today, we'll have to pull the staff working on the shuttle."

"That's fine," Janeway started easily. "Whatever you think you need…let's get this taken care of." When Torres acknowledged that, the captain lightened her tone and said, "And the three of you be careful…it's not worth taking any risks, B'Elanna."

Torres nodded out of habit even though her captain couldn't see her affirmation and then said, "We will, Captain. I'll let you know when have something definitive. Torres out."

As B'Elanna ended the communication, Captain Janeway held back another sigh, stifling it effectively by bringing her fairly fresh mug of black coffee to her lips as Fowler, who had now migrated to the floor, using the coffee table as a desk and so the quickly disappearing tray of munchables was at the ready, as well as the captain's workstation, turned slightly toward Janeway and looked up at her where she sat properly into the back of her sofa, where it curved around. Pulling the mug from her lips, Kathryn allowed, "You ever feel like you're a character in some crazy person's story?"

Smiling softly, Fowler nodded and replied, "All the time…the last time I felt that way was when you brought me into your office after Paris'…incident."

Chuckling, Kathryn nodded as she turned slightly to the side so she could rest her head into her palm while she took a moment to gaze out her bay windows at the starfield that was slightly blurred by the ship's warp bubble. After sipping her coffee again, she set the mug gently on the sofa, holding it still and said, "Oh, I'm sure you did…I think we all felt a lot of that then." Then looking over at her, she asked softly, "How are you doing?" Before Fowler could answer with an automatic, "I'm fine, Captain," Janeway set her mug up on the shelf near the picture of her mother, her sister, and herself that was taken shortly before she took command of Voyager, and informed, "I'd really like to know…please be frank."

Nicole automatically sensed that something she wasn't privy to was going on with the captain, making the connection back to how the woman had said they needed to go through the personnel reports for her own reasons, and asked in a round about way to clarify, "I'm guessing…but you don't want to know about my job…right?"

"No," Kathryn affirmed softly, staring out the window. "I already know that Lieutenant Fowler is happy with her job." Glancing over at her, she asked, "But what I don't know is how the woman is," looking and her hands and then up into the window again, she finished, "Is Nicole happy?"

Now Fowler was certain something serious was going on because the only time Janeway had ever used her full name, after the brunette had told her she didn't really like it, was when the pilot had busted them out of the Burnhouse blockade with her own brand of fancy flying, and the evening they had spent together a few weeks ago and Fowler had finally opened up to her captain and told her the horrible story of how she lost the love of her life. Giving her full attention to the conversation and turning her body so she was facing the captain almost completely, Nicole rested her head on her hand and said honestly, never having a problem being frank in her life, "I'm happier now than I've ever been…except for the year Francis and I were together…before…but that time was like a dream…like magic or something," shrugging, "too good to be true kind of feeling." Chuckling softly, she informed, "We didn't do a whole lot of anything productive except play music and be in love whenever we found the time to get together." When Janeway looked over at her and smiled warm and knowingly, Fowler laughed softly, scratching the back of her head and said, "I was twenty-five going on sixteen…but I never worked so hard in my life to make sure I had time for that lady…nothing else mattered…well, except Jess, but I'm sure I could have been thrown right out of Starfleet and not given a damn then." Sighing, she looked down and said, "It was a pretty fool-headed time…but the most fun I've ever had…and I don't regret that part."

Snatching up her coffee after clearing her throat, Fowler took a sip and went on, "But anyway, other than that…my life's never been better." Slouching further and becoming more and more comfortable in this kind of personal environment with her commanding officer each time it occurred, much thanks in part to her close friendship with B'Elanna Torres which allowed her to interact with the female on a personal level, regularly, who Fowler now officially believed was the best all-around captain she'd ever served under, and one of the most complex women she'd ever come across, and Fowler had known several, she went on softly, "That's feels like it should be a terrible thing to say out loud, all things considering, but it's true…for me, my life." Setting down her coffee when Kathryn looked at her unconvinced, Nicole smiled a little crookedly and remarked, "You think I'm lying to make you feel better…"

Clearing her throat again and speaking less soft and more forceful, almost sounding angry, but not quite there when Janeway nodded just slightly, Fowler said, "Kate, I like you…and I don't bullshit people I like…or people I hate…and I think it's pretty damn obvious that I don't anywhere near hate you." Holding up her hands slightly, she went on, "Look at what I have. I've got health, more than a roof over my head, some of the finest people I've ever met all around me…every day…there's nothing I don't have, except a planet to walk around on and call home…and that's just geography." Crossing her hands over her chest, she nodded and said, "Yes, yes…I miss my sister…I worry about what's become of her, who she has to go to when she's down and out, but there's nothing I can do to change the past except accept it and hope she's okay. Frankly, Kate," Fowler said completely blunt, "I don't like giving people that much control over my personal life as to let myself believe that you've ruined my life." Nodding again, she added, "Yes, yes…I did that…I did that shit for way too long, and it didn't get me anywhere but miserable…but I stopped doing that," and pointing toward Kathryn once, she informed, "and that wasn't the first time I let someone have that kind of control over me. I did the same thing when my folks died, did the same thing when Francis was attacked and did it all over again when she finally left me because of it." Fowler sighed again and said, "I know you're not a religious person, and I'm not real big on it myself, but sometimes I feel like things just happen for a reason…like I was meant to be here to finally learn that lesson before it swallowed me up…this is just probably my dad talking, but it feels like a second chance for me…me, just me…not me the girl who had to take care of her kid sister when she could barely take care of herself…just me." Laughing slightly, she continued, "And now…now I help take care of a ship full of people and it means something to me, it's not just my duty…it's not obligation, it doesn't feel like that…it feels good." Quietly, she admitted, "I'd never say this to Jess, but for a long time I…well, I was angry, damned angry I had to put everything on hold for her. It wasn't her fault, of course, but I was young and well…it was just a tough situation. Anyway," Nick cleared her throat and scratched the back of her neck again, "it's not so hard now. I feel like I have more family now than I ever had…and Torres," she smiled, "well, she's kind of my little sister now…and that feels good and we have a great time just being ourselves or talkin' trash and pretending to be tougher than we really are." Fowler shrugged and finished, "Honest truth…I feel like my life's just begun, and that other stuff…that was just the prologue…preamble…whatever…it matters, but it doesn't make or break the whole story. This is peace…not complacence…and you're a pretty big part of that, whether you know it or not, and not just because you're the boss, because you're my friend, and I look up to you…and I'm not afraid to say that anymore…so thanks."

While Fowler had been talking Janeway had picked up her drink, then sat back on the shelf of her couch after a few sips, and was now glad she'd done so since all of the sudden, the whole situation was so backwards, it was hysterical to the captain who had just moments ago been sitting rather pensively listening and forcing herself to not argue with Fowler in her mind. Throwing one hand over her mouth as the first bubble of laughter burst from her lips, Kathryn closed their pale, thin masses tight and tried to hold it back, not wanting to offend or have an embarrassing moment, but fearing if she didn't laugh, she'd end up crying in front of her officer, which she'd never done before, except for the few tears of joy she wept at Seven's birthday party; she'd barely made it out of Fowler's quarters when she learned of Francis' horrible attack before she had to escape to the turbolift, halted it and then wept for several minutes due to her anger and sadness. Not able to hold it back, she pulled her hand away, covered her eyes with both palms and let out a echoing cackle before she broke her father's rule about not letting her officers see her cry…again.

As Janeway laughed boisterously, Fowler was nonplussed for a moment, but when the redhead slumped to her side, holding her ribs as she continued to giggle uncontrollably, Nicole couldn't help but join in just because she'd never seen the captain laugh in such a manner and found it definitely humorous to witness. For a few more moments Janeway continued to laugh, and when it started to subside, Fowler was about to ask what on Earth was so funny when Janeway busted out into hysterics again and continued to laugh, then try to catch her breath until she was finally laying flat on her back, still giggling every few seconds as she wiped the tears from her eyes while Fowler followed suit, but remained seated on the floor.

"Heavens," Janeway managed as she attempted to catch her breath, "I'm sorry, Nick…I'm not laughing at you." Then giggling again, she took a few deep breaths, then rolled over on her side and said, "I don't know…it just seems ridiculous…but there you are…you of all the people on this ship are sitting on the floor of my office trying to convince me that you're happy." Sighing and relaxing, resting her head on her cushion, she chuckled, "Who the hell am I to tell any of you that you can't possibly be happy here just because I can't figure out why you are?" After a few moments, Janeway smiled softly and said, still lying down and suddenly feeling like she was five minutes away from falling asleep, "Thank you for being honest, again…and I'm very glad that you feel like you're going somewhere. Take my word for it…you'll go far…as far as you want," smirking, "I can't imagine stopping you."

Fowler barked once in laughter and said, "Well, coming from you…I, well," clearing her throat, "that's a mighty big compliment. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Janeway returned, pushing herself back up and grabbing her coffee. "Okay, who's next?" she asked on the next beat, needing to get back to work before she zonked out right where she was, which she was certain was considered very unbecoming of a commanding officer, more so than she figured she had been already on several occasions on this day…'Hell day' indeed?

Sighing a little, Fowler grabbed her coffee and reported, pushing the workstation over toward the captain, "The Wildmans…um, you can take that one, Captain," a little shy, she cleared her throat again that was starting to feel tired due to the amount of talking they'd done in the last several hours, "probably for the best for now."

Janeway smirked, then picked up the workstation and said, "Oh, alright…so…how is my assistant's mother?"

As Janeway smiled but didn't look at her while she worked, scanning through their information before she began the log and made any adjustments to their ration and holodeck allotments, Fowler blinked, then sighed and said, "I didn't know you knew about that…"

The captain smirked devilishly and reported, "I didn't until just now."

"Shit…" Fowler sighed under her breath at her own underestimation, then chuckled, "Well…um…she's fine, Captain."

After glancing over at the tall, slightly tanned pilot, Janeway remarked, looking back to her screen, "Since that's the first time I've ever seen you blush, I'd say she's more than fine…or at least you are."

Laughing, Fowler said reaching for the coffee pot and pouring them both a full, fresh cup, "You know something?"

"What's that?" Then looking at her full cup, she added, "Thank you."

"Torres has nothing on you in the sleuth department…nothing."

Chuckling, Janeway sipped her coffee and then whispered, "I have my moments, I guess…by the way," she added warmly, "I think Miss Sam's a lovely young woman…and I hope everything works out…however you both want it to work out, that is."

"And they say I'm smooth…" Fowler shook her head, "like I said…nothing…not even close."

"There!" Torres shouted even though Kim and Seven were standing right next to her looking at the same readout, "Right there! What is the hell is that?"

Using her enhanced skills, Seven of Nine quickly manipulated the sensor board and halted the data stream between two sensor nodes, trapping it on a single relay path. Then as the photonic packet began to duplicate itself over an over again until a serious buildup was occurring, Seven pushed them away from the console, let the replicating data pass through one of the sensor nodes and then quickly jumped back as a high pitched whining sounded for a second and then a loud pop, and finally a thud was heard. When a small amount of smoke began seeping out from the console where yet another overloaded sensor node had bit the dust, Seven of Nine reported, "Something is causing the data streams to replicate themselves. The sensor nodes, relay systems, and power conduits on this vessel are unable to compensate, which is causing the various malfunctions we have seen."

"Replicate?" Kim jumped in as Torres ran over to the console and started pulling on the bottom partition that sealed the critical hardware and sensitive inner workings to keep them from outside damage. "How does information replicate without a command?" Continuing on before Seven of Nine or Torres could say anything, he asked as B'Elanna tore off the black covering then coughed just lightly as metallic scented smoke billowed out, "You don't think this is some strange side-effect of bio-neural technology…do you?"

"No," Seven of Nine came back fairly quickly. "I believe if that were the case, this vessel would have incurred this problem previous to this incident and other systems would be affected." Walking up to B'Elanna, who was sitting on the floor, scanning the disaster area where the sensor node used to sit peacefully, routing data to and from various relays, with a tricorder, the blonde said, "I am merely speculating, but I do not believe this is simply occurring on its own. Logically, there must be some device on this particular circuit that is giving specific instructions for the data to replicate itself. We should attempt to dissemble one of these data streams, once it had duplicated itself. However, I am uncertain how to contain the data for such an inspection."

Snapping the tricorder closed, the device not telling her anything she couldn't already see with her eyes, B'Elanna said, standing up, "The sniffer would have told us if the data was compromised." Rubbing her neck, she went on, pacing slightly back and forth, "Although, it's possible that this is something no one's ever seen before, so maybe it's not programmed to handle that kind of corruption…or whatever the hell that is." Stopping her slow movement, she turned to Kim and asked, "Harry, if I can figure out a way to bolster the two nodes and trap the data for a few seconds…do you think you and Seven could figure out a way to take a piece of it, and put it into another relay channel…without having route it through a sensor node?"

"Well," Harry started, going over to a wall console, activating a few sensors until they were looking a detailed schematic of this section's relay network, "we'd have to trap it near an intersection…or no, I can't do that, but then we run into the problem of it just crashing through those sensor nodes. What are you trying to do?"

"I want to find out if it's this specific relay channel that this occurs on…or if it doesn't matter which channel it's in," Torres reported. "We've got to find out if we have the potential for ship-wide problems first and foremost." Kicking at one of many damaged nodes that was sitting on the floor, sending it skidding into the side of another sensor board in the somewhat S shaped room, she said, "We could have consoles blowing up in people's faces all over the place if whatever is causing this spreads to another circuit."

As Harry thought it over while he looked at the schematic, trying to pinpoint the best place to run their test without damaging too many pieces of equipment in their testing, Seven of Nine said, "I believe once the corrupted data is in another relay, at that point, it will not matter which channel it is in. It will continue to replicate. Once I trapped it between the two nodes, it was not receiving any further commands, yet it continued to replicate. This suggests the data had been changed and the command to do so was within the data itself."

Sighing, Harry said, "She's right…it's like a virus…it gets a command, infects the data, the data becomes the carrier." Kim shook his head and said, "I don't think we should try to move it from this relay…I think we've got it contained…it's too risky."

Torres nodded her head and couple of times, and allowed, "Right…right, you're right. Okay, so back to Seven's idea…we've got to figure out a way to harness the data." Looking down at the nodes, she picked one up and said, "I'm pretty sure we can beef a few of these babies up…but we'll probably only have a minute, maybe less before they go too. At the rate that replication was taking place…even if they hold up, the photons could blow right through relay channel." Looking down into the large networking system of Biometrics's main console, she said, "I'd rather not have to replace this whole system, if necessary…we're already running low on parts with the shuttle construction and the Alaxiat upgrades."

"What if," Kim started quickly, snapping his fingers, "we created a containment device and attached it to that relay channel…if this stuff acts appropriately, it would continue to replicate until some of it entered the containment device?"

"Okay, but how do we keep it from continuing to replicate once it's in the device?" Torres asked, standing upright again, leaning on the edge of the console and folding her arms over her chest, not for the first time wishing the captain wasn't so darned busy that she couldn't come down here and work with them since she always managed to think of the craziest ideas, and they always managed to work.

"I could interface with the containment device and give the data another 'virus' which would instruct it to cease its replication. It would be 'easy' to separate my commands from the others upon further analysis…I do not believe it would hinder the experiment," Seven of Nine replied.

"What do you mean by interface?" Torres asked tentatively, then added quickly, figuring it out, "If you mean use your assimilation tubes…then the answer is no." Shaking her head, she said hurriedly before the Borg cut her off and began to argue, which she was fairly certain would happen, "That's too risky, Seven…we don't know enough about this stuff…what if you became infected and if overloaded your cortical node?"

"My nanaprobes are capable of compe…"

"No, Seven...that way too dangerous," Torres interrupted, stepping up to her. "The answer is no…you heard the captain…no risks." Then turning around to Harry, she said, "Okay, I like this idea…come on…what else can we do?"

"Going on Seven's idea," Harry came back, "we could give it further instructions…I don't see why we can't funnel that data into a stand alone system that's not connected to anything else. If it goes haywire and doesn't work, then we're only out a small processing unit."

Raising her eyebrow, Seven of Nine continued the thought process, "Although it is not as efficient," she started, just to be herself, "we could 'funnel' the data through one containment device, into a processing unit to give it further instructions, and then allow the 'clean' data to pass into a separate containment device. If our efforts are successful, we could harness a sufficient amount of data before the processor overloaded and the first containment field failed due to the continued replication." Placing her hands behind her back, she continued, "To be 'safe,' we should allow this to occur inside a forcefield. The sensor nodes, the first containment field and the processing unit will undoubtedly incur similar malfunctions as we witnessed."

"Now you're talking," Torres smiled, patting her on the shoulder. "Okay, you and Harry get to work on the containment devices and the stand alone computer…I'll update the captain and then see what I can do about improving the durability of these nodes."

After Harry and Seven nodded, then proceeded out the far exit, headed toward Maintenance to utilize the replicators there since they were the only others on the ship that could produce such complex equipment, and Ship's Stores was right next door which contained a plethora of various computer components, B'Elanna decided that before she barged in on the captain, she should find out if it was a good time, but just as she tapped her communicator that was firmly affixed to her tool jacket, now wearing that to not only hide her marred uniform underneath, but to keep more burns from happening, just in case she found herself in a similar situation, Janeway walked through the main entrance to Biometrics. Tapping her communicator a second time to end the channel, she said, "I was just about to call you."

"Must be my lucky day," Kathryn said rather pleasantly. Then looking around, not seeing anyone, she stepped up to Torres, stole a quick kiss, feeling like she deserved it for continuing to not only work really too many hours in a row, but remained focused on her own personal job to see Seven of Nine's experiment through to completion, she asked, afterward, "Report."

Caught a little off guard by the kiss since if the captain expressed her affection while on duty and not on a break, or 'time out', it usually only occurred in her Ready Room, the engineer's office, and every once in a while in the turbolift or the Conference Room, oh, and there was that one time in the Jefferies Tube while they were fighting off the Fynth, but recovering quickly, deciding that maybe she should stop being shocked, now that she thought about how often the captain in fact did do such a thing, B'Elanna shook her head, and said, "Well, Captain," chuckling, then clearing her throat, "we've got a doozy, but don't worry," she added fast, "we've got it contained…I'm almost a hundred percent certain."

Nodding, Janeway walked to the console, looking around at the floor, not missing the mess and charred, shattered components littering the immediate vicinity, perched on the edge since it wasn't doing anything but beckoning her to rest as much as possible upon its solid construction, and asked, "What's happening?"

Torres came up next to her, resting in the same position and said, "We think we've got some kind of 'virus,'" Torres reported. "I'm not sure that's what we should call it…but that's what we're calling it for now." As the captain frowned visibly, the chief went on, pointing to the console's open hatch below them, "Something in this relay channel is causing data to replicate itself. It's not happening consistently every time, so it's taken us a while to get that much, but as it duplicates, it causes a bottleneck, then finally overloads the sensor node, and well," pointing to the pathetic remains of the devices, "you can see what happens. It's pretty chaotic and sometimes the data bounces back and blows out the node it just past through because it can't get through…but it doesn't stop until it trashes something and becomes nothing but harmless matter. The data is totally corrupted once it gets stuck in the node and it blows its top, so we haven't been able to analyze a string yet to see if we can find out what's giving it this command to replicate."

Kathryn shook her head as she rubbed her forehead and allowed, "You weren't exaggerating." Dropping her hand, she had to say, "Replicating data? Any idea what on Earth could cause that? I've never heard of anything like it."

"None of us have," Torres came back shrugging, "but Seven and Harry came up with a way to trap it from analysis. They're in Maintenance right now putting together the device…and," she smirked, "I promise…no risks. We'll take all the precautions necessary, but that's all I have right now." After the captain nodded, B'Elanna pushed away, and said, "I've got to get to Engineering…wanna walk with me?"

"Like I said," Janeway smirked, "must be my lucky day…Deck Ten was my next stop."

As they left the room, turned right and started down the hallway toward the turbolift closest to them, the chief asked, "So, has Nick lost her voice yet?"

Chuckling, Janeway shook her head and replied, "Not quiet, but I wouldn't be surprised if she switches to herbal tea soon."

Torres didn't say anything more until they were in the carriage of the turbolift, and after Janeway requested Engineering, B'Elanna had to ask, "So, are you ever going to call it a day?"

Yawning slightly, Janeway said, "Computer, halt turbolift," as he leaned against the back wall, knowing if she didn't stop the lift, they'd be at their destination in a matter of seconds, then answered, "Actually, if you must know," she smirked as B'Elanna turned around to face her, "I'm done…well, I'll be around until shift change, but I've left the rest of the reports to Nick. I have a few things to see to before I meet Baker and the others in the Shuttle Bay."

Holding back her curse for the crewmembers that were abandoning the captain, having enough issues with abandonment in her life to know that she absolutely should not comment for fear she'd just make matters worse by cursing their existence and not only put the captain in a bad position, but feel the need to stand up for them, since she was pretty certain the captain would stand behind her crew, even if they were leaving her, Torres said instead, "Well," then sighed, "I don't know how long this is going to take." Stepping up close to her, she looked at her right in the eye and said, "I'm not trying to get out of tonight, I swear it, but don't wait up for me…okay?"

"I won't," the captain whispered, grabbing one of B'Elanna's hands and squeezing it as she entwined her fingers. "Will you still come home though?"

"Oh, I'll be there, Red," Torres smiled weakly, tired herself, "fuzzy slippers and all."

Chuckling, Kathryn looked up instinctively and said, "Computer, resume," then whispered as the lift descended, then stopped almost immediately as she let go of her hand, "I love you…thank you."

Torres stepped back from the captain before the doors opened so as to not give anyone anything to gossip about and said in a normal tone as Janeway stepped out into the main deck of the engine room first, "Don't thank me yet, Captain…it could get messy."

Remaining even as she glanced around out of habit while everyone automatically straightened their shoulders at the presence of the commanding officer, increased their efficiency, and quieted their conversations, some of them more than likely hoping to overhear something spoken between the two lovers, which still boggled some people's minds of how that came about, which would make for interesting conversation in the Mess Hall, Janeway replied, "Oh, I'm sure it will be, Chief…but as you once said, if I'm not mistaken," looking over her shoulder, "messy is what you do best." When Torres chuckled soundlessly, wondering if anyone had any idea that they were speaking in code, Kathryn added as she started for the exit, "Just don't forget about the clean up, and I'll be a very happy captain. Keep me informed of your status…I'll be around if you need me."

"Aye, Captain," B'Elanna replied in a completely business tone as she started for her tiny office tucked off to the side, planning to order a very large cup of coffee and then have the same device produce two sensor nodes that she could hopefully tweak enough to do her bidding, so she could leave the data analysis to the professionals and enjoy the 'clean up' with Kathryn, thinking taking a long, hot bath with the redhead had to be just about as good as it got, except for being able to take one with Seven as well, but unless the captain had her tub expanded, that was simply impossible, very unfortunately so. The chief engineer was definitely aware that if she did manage to get home to Kathryn in time for a bath, it was highly unlikely that there would be time for any in-depth, private discussions since she could be called at any time by Seven and Harry, informing her that they had discovered the source of the problem, and even though that was rather depressing since she had finally made the decision to stop running away for once and really open up, she knew that there was always tomorrow night to have such a talk, she wouldn't have the energy to keep from just crying like a baby and then falling asleep without getting anything remotely comprehensible out of her mouth that wasn't either garbled with her tears or laced with as many vulgarities as her highly articulate tongue, especially in that aspect of communication, could manage.

"Who is it?" asked Voyager's only child from within the confines of her and her mother's quarters on Deck Ten, which signaled to the captain that Naomi Wildman was alone.

Glad to know that the child was following her mother's rules about asking first, even though she despised the need, for fear that if she didn't require that the child do so, one day an intruder could come aboard and possibly harm her or take her as hostage easily if the small carrot top was allowed to simply open the door, as everyone wished that she could, Janeway replied, as habit, "Someone looking for her assistant."

"Hi, Captain!" Naomi said gamely, jumping up and opening the door as quick as she could, by slapping her tiny palm against the sensor instead of just saying, "Come in," which Kathryn found utterly adorable.

"Hello, Miss Wildman," Janeway started professionally, although knowing that wouldn't last long considering the subject matter of the impending discussion. "I know you're busy planning for tonight's sleepover, but I was hoping I could talk to you for a few minutes…can I come in?"

"Sure!" Naomi said, holding out her hand for the captain to take it. When Janeway didn't hesitate and stepped into the quarters she'd only been in a few spare times and never proceeded farther than just beyond the doorway, the little girl said excitedly, "You can see my room if you want, Captain…it's real cool," the child reported, using her newest favorite adjective instead of the previous 'neat,' Torres and Fowler's linguistics clearly having an influence. Pulling the captain along, Naomi said, "Mommy already made me clean it earlier…so I'm making a list of cool stuff Seven and I can do tonight." As they entered her domain, Naomi asked, "Are you and B'Elanna Torres having a sleepover too?"

Chuckling, Kathryn nodded, again seeing more language influence, this one courtesy of Seven of Nine, and said, "Something like that." Looking around at the child's brightly lit and colorful room that was decorated in bold, classic colors of red, blue, yellow and green, Janeway smiled and announced, "Well, this is a very nice room you have, Naomi. You must be very proud."

"Oh, I am, Captain," Naomi replied, taking a seat on her bed and then continued, "I love my room…it's so neat…I mean cool….you can sit down too, Captain…I don't mind." Far too excited about her impending sleepover and the captain's presence in her room, which really was just the 'coolest' thing ever, Naomi grabbed the large piece of paper she'd been practicing her writing on, that contained the list of 'cool stuff' she and Seven were 'required' to do this evening, she handed it to the captain and informed, forgetting that the captain had come to talk with her, "See, that's the list…that's called paper, and this, " she held up a fat, royal blue crayon, "is called a crayon…you use this to write and color too, if you want. Mommy says I'm 'required' to practice my writing so that I know how to do it. Can you write, Captain?"

It took everything the captain had not to fall off the bed and laugh her head off, thinking the child's innocent way about so many non-technical things was insanely cute since she automatically assumed it was a brand new idea to the universe and that no one but her mother knew anything about it. Chuckling just slightly, Kathryn nodded and reported, "I've done it a few times." Then glancing at the paper, she reported, "You have very good penmanship, Naomi…Seven will be impressed, I'm sure." Smiling more as she read on, she couldn't help but feel as though her 'conversation' was completely unnecessary since not only was Naomi clearly a pleasant, well-adjusted child, but she also had a very good friend to engage in the following, who would undoubtedly correct the girl's grammar and spelling mistakes, as well:

As Janeway chuckled soundlessly while she finished the note and told her that sounded 'fun,' Naomi nodded, thrilled the captain agreed and then asked, "How come you came here today, Captain? Do you need my help!"

"Actually, yes," Janeway started, setting the note back on the bed behind her. Crossing her legs, she looked down at the child and explained, "Once a month, you'll have to do this too when you're a captain, I have to do a personnel report for every member of my crew. Since you're a very special member of my crew, being that you're my assistant, I thought before," she fibbed slightly, knowing if she said it this way it would make more sense to the child, "I finish my report on you, I would come by and see how you're doing personally." Holding up her finger, she informed, "Now, this is very important that we get this right, so you have to be completely honest with me and not just tell me you're fine because you think that will make me happy, understood?"

Naomi nodded seriously and said, "Aye, Captain, " certainly not wanting to mess up the captain's reports by giving her false information.

Kathryn bobbed her head once, gestured to her assistant with her hand and said, "Okay…go ahead…how are you?"

"I'm fine, Captain."

Expecting that, Janeway sat further on back on the bed, unwound her legs and motioned for the child to sit in her lap. When Naomi, familiar with this procedure now, did so and grew silent since the only time the captain, usually, asked her to sit in her lap was when they were having a 'serious' discussion, usually about something Naomi had a question about that the captain felt needed a more personal touch to the explanation, or once when she had overheard some people in the Mess Hall talking about how Seven had died at the hands of the A.I. which lead to the captain composing a very clipped and irritated, laced with disappointment, message to the entire ship ordering them to be more mindful of their big, fat mouths around the impressionable child, Kathryn ran her fingers through her long hair that was pulled into a ponytail as she asked directly, "Are you happy here on Voyager?"

Almost sighing with relief, not sure if she was about to get reprimanded for doing something she wasn't supposed to, even if she didn't know what that was, but having somewhat of a guilty conscious by nature, Naomi nodded and replied, "Oh yes, Captain…I love Voyager…it's so cool! I can't wait 'til I'm old enough to work in the Science Lab and help out Mommy and Ensign Wang," the adding quickly, "but I'll still help you too, Captain…I can do both." When the captain nodded softly, then sighed and hugged her lightly as she rested her head against the child's, Naomi asked, "Captain, when I'm old enough to work in the Science Lab, will I be able to read your other books then?"

Kathryn couldn't help but laugh once at that, and then replied, rubbing her arm, "Well, probably, but you'll still have to ask your mother first."

"Captain?"

"Hmm?"

"How come you're sad?"

Janeway forced herself not to sigh before she responded, not completely untruthful, "I'm not sad, sweetheart…I just want to make sure that you're not sad." Holding her tighter, she whispered, "You're very, very important to me, Naomi…and not just because you're my assistant or Seven's friend." Pulling her back some and tilting the child's face up, she said, "You're also my friend…and I love you very much, you know?"

"I know, Captain," Naomi replied quiet as well. "I love you too." Then sighing, she hugged Janeway tighter and reported, "I'm not sad about Seven being taken away by the um…the A.I. anymore, Captain…not since you told me that it came to help her with her implant. I'm not sad…I promise…honest." Racking her brain, trying to figure out how to make the captain happy, doing over her list of things her mother and Neelix did with her whenever Naomi was 'sad,' which really wasn't that often, the youngest Wildman said, pulling away again, "Do you want to play Kadis Kot, Captain?" Sliding off her lab, she scurried over to her the cupboard underneath the seat that displayed her stuff animal collection, she said, "It's not hard…I can show you how to play. Mommy always plays Kadis Kot with me whenever I'm sad 'cause I had a bad dream or couldn't stay and play with Flotter any more." Pulling out the game, she ran it over to the small size table and chairs in her room and added, "I don't mind playing more than once, Captain…I can play again with Seven tonight."

Standing, Janeway nodded and said, "Alright, I'll play, but you have to promise me something first." When Naomi nodded, smiling, she pulled out the fairly small chair, knowing she wasn't big enough to break it, but having a small, inward chuckle at picturing her tall lover seated in it, who still massed a great deal, even without her abdominal implant, she finished as she sat, "That if you are ever sad, or upset, or lonely and want someone to talk to, that you won't hesitate to come to me immediately." As the child sat down, Janeway finished, "And I don't care what time it is…as long as we're not at red alert, or your mother says you can't, I want you to come see me alright?"

"I will, Captain," Naomi bobbed her head adamantly.

"Okay." Then forcing a smile, although having a feeling it wouldn't take long for it to become genuine, the captain asked, "How do we play?"

"P'taQ!" Torres cursed at the sensor node in her hand where she sat on the floor of Biometrics while Seven of Nine configured and programmed the stand alone computer while Kim continued to work on the specialized containment device that would hold the critical data they would hopefully give them the answers they sought.

Sighing as yet again another insult was directed at the inanimate object, Seven of Nine stepped away from the Science station and suggested, "Perhaps it is time to take a 'break?'" When Torres snapped her head toward her and narrowed her eyes, the Klingon's ability to suppress her temper and irritation completely gone as the hours continued to wear on and she realized, yet again, plans that she had made and were looking forward to were going to be ruined because of 'circumstances beyond her control,' and most concepts beyond B'Elanna's control tended to set her off quickly, Seven added with speed, "I have not ingested a nutritional supplement since 0700 hours this morning, and I am required to do so again immediately. With the loss of my abdominal implant and lack of consistent regeneration, I cannot function efficiently without proper nourishment." Hitting her point home, hoping to deflect B'Elanna's anger and send her into her protective mode, she finished, "I have difficulty remaining focused and errors in my calculations could occur. For our safety, I am requesting a 'time out.'"

B'Elanna rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand, then nodded and said, "You're right, Seven…we can't afford to get sloppy." Standing, she brushed off her bottom out of habit rather than need and offered, "Why don't you two go get some food and take a breather…I'll stay here and look after things, and then grab something when I get this finished."

Thinking quickly, partly expecting that answer, Seven spun and stated, "That is not necessary…these replicators are capable of producing a nutritional supplement for us. We can 'eat' and work."

Torres scrunched her face and said, "No meals in a cup…that sh…stuff turns my stomach."

"How can it upset your stomach?" asked, Harry Kim who had tried the thick, milky substance on several occasions when the tall Borg had first come aboard out of curiosity and out of hopes to show that he was sensitive to her situation and found them not half bad, although a little bland. "They're supposedly the perfect food." Walking up to the Borg, he finished, "I'll have one, Seven…I don't feel like going to the Mess Hall anyway," looking over his shoulder at Torres, who was rolling her eyes at him, "at least not for a couple of days."

"I'll have one, Seven," she grumbled under her breath at the young man, not surprised he was talking her side…again. Then catching his last comment about not wanting to go to the Mess Hall, she remembered, having forgotten with all that had happened, that she'd not only lost in a footrace with the captain, which wasn't a surprise to her, but she had announced the defeat to the entire ship, B'Elanna marched over to the replicator and growled, "Fine! Gimme the baby food."

Seven contained her smirk, handed one of the large drinks to B'Elanna, saying, "Your 'baby food.'" After snatching up her glass, she touched her cup to Kim's then to B'Elanna's and said, "Cheers," then took a healthy sip.

Torres, although she'd tasted the substance once before, brought the glass to her nose, staring into the cup and sniffed it slightly, her Klingon olfactory system making her sense of smell a good deal more keen than the average human. When nothing foul wafted from the offering, she scrunched her face again, and mumbled, "Well, at least it's not water," before she took a tentative sip. Swallowing it down hurriedly before she spat it right back out, although, truth be known, she didn't find them that repulsive, she just felt like there was something inherently wrong with an adult, especially a Klingon, drinking something that was akin to breast milk, B'Elanna shook her head and muttered, "Blahh…I don't how you and Red drink these all the time without puking…"

"I assure you, 'puking' a nutritional supplement is a more pleasant experience than 'puking' birthday cake," Seven of Nine reported, referring to the two times she'd ever vomited. The first series of occurrences due to her body adapting to the impending loss of her abdominal implant, and the second had occurred the morning after her recent birthday party where she had decided to have the rest of her birthday cake for breakfast while she observed Lucy and composed a personal log. Seven of Nine still had a rather large sweet tooth, but she had learned that morning that too much of a good thing was a possibility, so she'd cut back on her sweets intake a great deal since then and moderated her portions whenever she did indulge in desert since she regarded 'puking' as not only highly unacceptable, but completely foul.

Snickering, Torres forgot for a moment about what she was drinking and turned her attention to teasing Seven, so why she guzzled away at the drink, her hunger starting to take over and demand attention, pronto, she slapped Kim on the shoulder as he happily drank his drink and looked like he was just about to ask when she got sick on her birthday cake, since he didn't remember that ever happening at the party, but he, Paris and the Delaney sisters had left shortly after the live entertainment portion was over, and said, "Oh, yea…you didn't hear about that one, I bet." When Kim shook his head, and Seven frowned somewhat at her, B'Elanna grinned and reported, "Seven thought it would be 'efficient' to eat half of a cake for breakfast and spent most of the morning with her head in the can." Shaking her head, she added, embellishing on purpose, "I tried to tell her it wasn't a good idea…but she just said she was Borg…"

"B'Elanna Torres," Seven of Nine jumped in, knowing the engineer well enough to know she wasn't really lying, but trying to tease her, "you are demonstrating your inability to be precise when reciting facts…again. Perhaps you should seek guidance from Naomi Wildman with regards to your inefficiencies as I suggested before?" Cocking her eyebrow as Kim almost had the creamy substance bubble out his nose at his surprise for the Borg's ability to be deftly insulting, Seven added, "Your 'condition' seems to be worsening."

Laughing heartily on the inside, always appreciative and respectful of someone who knew how to insult another person 'efficiently,' Torres came back, "Seven…"

"B'Elanna Torres…"

Holding up her middle finger, the chief rallied, "Sit and spin, babe," which caused Kim to actually spit out the contents of his mouth into his cup, then spin away as he turned several shades of crimson all at the same time. "Sorry, Starfleet…couldn't resist," Torres allowed as Seven lifted her eyebrow at the comment, then expelled a small amount of air as Harry's embarrassment got the better of him, the females' romantic relationship clearly shading his view of the profane gesture.

Shaking his head and coughing slightly, Harry Kim silently wondered to himself how the hell Captain Janeway was involved with those two…especially Torres, since he was certain she wouldn't find anything funny about what had just occurred. He understood the Seven of Nine attraction, although feeling it was heavily shaded toward a maternal bond, even though he had seen them kiss at Seven's birthday party, and he had witnessed the event when 'Seven,' from the future, appeared through a temporal rift, and saw a side of the blonde he'd never seen before and was easily able to tell that Seven was indeed in love with the captain, but honestly, he still couldn't believe that Janeway was in love with Seven. He thought she was simply too captain-like…too much older…and too motherly for that kind of relationship with someone like Seven. Of course he'd never tell the captain that, but he felt it was pretty clear that her maternal instincts were pushing them together, and even though he'd never want them to be hurt, he believed it would end up pulling them apart when Seven 'grew-up.' He wasn't sure he understood the Torres/Seven relationship either, but to him, they seemed like a better match, sexually speaking. He didn't really believe they would last all that long either and that they'd oneday push the other too far and then only god could know the outcome, but he saw Torres as a much better partner for Seven than the captain. Harry admitted to himself that he didn't understand the threesome relationship at all, and certainly never thought Janeway, of all the people, would be involved in one, and even though he could kind of see the appeal, sometimes, the idea of Captain Janeway being in love with someone like B'Elanna Torres completely boggled his mind, and secretly, he assumed they merely had a sexual relationship, especially after what he knew, which wasn't a lot, of why Paris had been kicked off the Bridge for a whole month, and that the captain was going along with it because she was lonely and for Seven of Nine's benefit because it was clear to Harry that the Borg liked each of her girlfriends a great deal. Janeway and Torres were too different, completely removed from the other, and he had seen them argue enough times to know they rarely agreed on how things should be done.

Definitely feeling better, Torres downed the rest of her drink, set it into the replicator to be recycled and said, "Well, it's not gagh, but I feel a little better…"

Seven rolled her eyes slightly, knowing that B'Elanna Torres did not like gagh, even though it was widely 'known' that everyone, meaning Klingons, supposedly loved the sizable, serpent worm delicacy, and remarked, "They are acceptable in a 'pinch.'" Finishing hers as Harry meandered back over to her after recovering from the coughing fit B'Elanna's comment had caused, Seven recycled her mirky glass and announced, having kept track of the time and knowing that Janeway would be going to see her five 'former' crewmembers off in a minute. Deciding to make certain she was available to 'talk' once the captain left the Shuttle Bay, she informed, "I am required to depart for a short time, but I will return."

As Seven turned to go, B'Elanna furrowed her brow slightly and was about to ask her where she had to be that was more important than this, then thinking about that and the time frame, Torres had a pretty good idea what was more important to the Borg, especially since she was being vague, which the precision driven woman usually was not unless she felt it was needed, usually for Kathryn's or her privacy. Loosening up immediately, glad that someone would at least be there for Janeway, and knowing Seven was the best choice for several reasons, a big one right now being that B'Elanna still had to figure out how to strengthen the sensor nodes and the ex-drone's work on the computer was almost complete, Torres nodded and said, "Enjoy your walk." Then looking over at Kim, who was equally perplexed, she lied through her teeth, "She's probably going to check up on Astrometrics to make sure no one's messing with her stuff."

"Sounds like your paranoia is rubbing off on her," Kim added, planning to keep right on giving the chief a hard time as often as possible for getting him involved in the earlier incident which got him reprimanded by the captain, something that had only happened a hand-full of times of all his years serving under Janeway.

B'Elanna shook her head at Kim, knowing exactly what was causing his attitude, then huffed, "Kahless, would you lighten up already? Christ, she's not going to kick you off the Bridge for running in the halls, alright…she doesn't give two shits about that…can't you just let it go?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Kim asked, "So, if she doesn't care about that, then why did we get into trouble?"

"Trouble! Ha!" Torres rallied, laughing and slapping her knee once. "Starfleet, you have no idea what it's like to get into trouble with the captain, if you think that's trouble…trust me on this one," pointing at her chest, "I know what it's like…and it ain't pretty." When Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, B'Elanna softened some, never understanding why she had such a warm spot for the young Starfleet ensign, but always seeing him as, other than a nice guy, someone who could easily be hurt and taken advantage of, and since she liked him, she was protective, and said, patting his shoulder, "Harry," now almost whispering, "that was just her way of telling us she understands what it's like, and even though she doesn't approve, because she can't, she knows that sometimes we just need to have some fun. Rule number one with Janeway…if you're going to break her rules, make sure you're prepared to follow through, and have a damned good reason to do so…in this case, having fun and relieving stress was the reason…and that's something she knows a hell of a lot about…trust me."

Sighing, Kim asked, not entirely convinced, "Oh, so you're an expert on the captain now?"

Not sure if she liked Harry's attitude, thinking that was something Tom Paris would say, and hoping he wasn't implying what she thought he was implying, since if he was, she was pretty sure she wanted to punch him in the face, Torres paused for a beat, then decided to let it go and replied, "Not even close, Starfleet…but you can trust me on this one." When Kim sighed and then nodded, B'Elanna was grateful she hadn't let her short-fuse get the best of her since it was now obvious that Harry wasn't trying to insult their relationship, and said as she patted his back, "Just don't worry about it…come on, let's get back to work…I'd really like to get this done today if possible."

As Crewman Talkin shook the captain's hand rather weakly, then turned around and started for the Sri Lanka, Janeway stepped up next to a tall, thin Bajoran who had been part of Chakotay's crew, and the only ex-Maquis of the five officers that were leaving Voyager. Garen, from what Janeway knew, had had a rather rough life before coming to the Delta Quadrant, and even though he had shown promise toward the end of their first year, he never really found his way and was able to reconcile his history with his current circumstances. Dolby, another Maquis who seemed to have a strong influence on the boy, had died during one of the starship's many encounters with the Vidiians during their second year, and after that, the young man had pretty much closed himself off to anyone…not even Chakotay could get through to him anymore and help him see that he was wasting away an opportunity to make a better life for himself, considering where he had come from. Kathryn truly felt for the man, and even though she wanted to grab him and tell him to please stay because there were so many people here that cared for him, she knew it really wasn't her place and that if the commander couldn't get through to him, it was very unlikely that she, the Starfleet captain that trapped him here, would hear a word she said. Sticking to her natural version of compassionate business, Janeway looked up at the man as he stood at attention and said, "Garen, it's been an honor serving with you." Extending her hand, she said as he took it and shook it firmly once, not letting him let go just yet and squeezing gently, "Please take care of yourself…I'll know you'll do a fine job on the Alaxiat."

"I will, Captain," Garen replied, a little uneasily and was grateful when Janeway released his hand.

"Dismissed," Janeway bobbed her head once as she stood straight in front of him. When he turned around and made a hasty retreat to the shuttle, she called out before he slipped inside away from her, "And Garen, do me a favor," when he turned around and raised his eyebrows, she smiled and said, "give the commander a little hell for me…since I can't right now, huh?"

Unable to stop himself, Garen smiled just slightly back and said, "Aye, Captain."

Now only left with Ensign Roxanne Baker, this one definitely being the hardest for her since she knew the young woman wasn't leaving because she disliked Voyager, or her captain, but because she wanted to do more with her life and there was unfortunately very little room for promotion in the Delta Quadrant, Kathryn walked over to the shorter brunette, standing sideways in front of her while she looked down at her feet and said, "At ease, Ensign."

Relaxing her shoulders and placing her hands behind her back, opening her stance just a touch before the captain turned toward her, Baker made a request she'd never made before, "Permission to speak freely, Captain?"

Janeway expelled the breath from her lungs fairly silently and said as she turned to face Baker, "Granted."

"Captain," Baker started, quiet and humble, as she always tended to be, "I know I don't say a whole lot even," she smiled slightly, "when you've tried to get me to, but," she sighed, "I can't let this time go by …even if I don't know what to say."

When Baker looked away and whispered, "I'm sorry, Captain…I'm no good at goodbyes," Janeway reached out to her, holding her by her arms and whispered back, "Then don't say goodbye…just promise me you'll look after yourself." Once the young woman nodded as she finally looked back up into the captain's face, Kathryn said seriously, "I'm sorry to see you go, Miss Baker, but," she said proudly, "you're a fine pilot, and an even finer officer and I know you'll serve the first with the same steadfast determination," smirking as her eyes misted on their own, but her voice grew stronger, "however quiet, that you've given me throughout this journey." Rubbing one of her arms, Kathryn patted them both and whispered again, "If you ever need anything, I want you to call me directly…you might not be my pilot anymore, but I'll always think of you as my crewman, and that's not going to change."

"I will, Captain," Baker nodded as Janeway gave her arms one final squeeze then released her. As Janeway stood straighter, Baker did the same and said with determination, trying to get over her fear of speaking her mind, "It's been an honor to serve with you, Ma'am…and I'll do my very best to not only serve the first regal, but continue to serve you by remaining true to Starfleet…I promise."

Janeway nodded twice quickly, blinked back her tears and fought the urge to hug the woman as she said, "There's not a single doubt in my mind, Ensign." As they both took a final deep breath and looked at each other, Janeway smiled as she said, "Dismissed." When Roxanne turned on her heel and started away, Janeway stood and watched her go, and when the young woman turned and looked back to her, Kathryn smiled again, pointing at her and said loudly, "Take care of my shuttle, Miss Baker…it might not be much to look at, but it's the only one like that I have left."

After Baker gave her a thumb's up, entered the craft and the door quickly closed behind her, Janeway sighed heavily and swallowed down her emotion as the outer doors to the Shuttle Bay opened while she could faintly see Baker and Garen seated in the front two seats of the craft through the fairly tinted windows. There was no fear that she'd be sucked out into space since a forcefield lay beyond the exterior hatch that the shuttle could easily pass through, so Janeway didn't move until the shuttle lifted off from the ground, spun slowly until it was facing the opening and then gently glided through it. Once they were out of sight and the doors began to close, Janeway whispered, "Go find your voice, Roxanne."

When the large, inner doors to the Shuttle Bay slid open after merely a beat, Kathryn said with her back to them as she crossed her arms over her chest, knowing exactly who it was without having to look back, "You're prompt as usual, Seven."

Seven of Nine cocked her eyebrow as she came up next to the captain, looking out onto the Shuttle Bay tarmac at the Delta Flyer and the new shuttle that was only partially constructed that had yet to be named, and questioned as she placed her hands behind her back, "How did you know?"

Not looking at Seven, Kathryn answered, continuing to look at the now closed hatch, "Just got lucky, I guess?" Dropping her hands to her sides, she reached over to her right and clasped onto Seven's Borg hand. Carefully entwining her fingers with the blondes', giving her a little squeeze to silently tell her to stop worrying about damage, she whispered, her voice dissipating just as it sprung free from her lips, "Thank you for coming."

"You're welcome, Captain," Seven came back, both of them still looking ahead only.

Blinking, Janeway turned to Seven, nonplussed and asked, "Did you just say…you're welcome?"

Smirking, Seven replied, purposefully robotic, "That is correct." When Janeway continue to stare at her rather wide-eyed, Seven softened visibly, and informed, "I'm attempting to adapt. Do you not approve?"

Kathryn smiled brightly, her whole face lighting up as her previously somewhat stormy eyes swirled then twinkled with mirth as she shook her head, stepping up closer to Seven and said, "I'm not sure what to make of it, honestly," smirking, "Why the sudden switch?"

"Since you're attempting to adapt, I thought I would join you in this endeavor by attempting to do so as well," Seven of Nine reported. "Perhaps we can assist each other with our 'stubborn demon' once again?" Smiling just slightly, she added, "Unless you're adverse to continuing to do so?"

The captain stepped up even closer to Seven, her own chest just lightly grazing her Astrometrics officer's, as she whispered at the intimate contact, still holding her hand firmly, "I'm not adverse."

"Then we'll continue on this path," Seven replied, whispering as well, pushing forward just a enough to bring her bosom into full contact with the redhead, happy when Janeway didn't back away and pressed forward slightly herself, "together."

Janeway snatched up Seven's other hand, molding her digits between her partners as she smiled and affirmed, pulling the younger female closer still until their faces were only centimeters apart and their bodies were firmly connected, "Together."

"Oh, you bitch," Torres whispered under her breath, her patience for this ultra tedious and experimental process just about completely gone since it was now 1800 hours, and she wasn't all that close to being able to turn this project over to Seven and Harry, or a Beta shift engineer, or even Lieutenant Carey for that matter, as she slid over to the console on the side, manipulating the once again malfunctioning board, trying to test her modifications to the sensor node before they conducted the experiment to harness the corrupted data, "don't even think about starting that shit with me now." Her sure and steady hands moved quickly to compensate for the lack of accuracy her 'tweaks' had caused, canceling commands that weren't understood or routed incorrectly and then repeating the process until the data was understood by the node and sent to the appropriate relay network, and after three minutes when she had finally been able to process the last of her instructions, she growled happily, pounding her fist on top of the sensor board that wasn't in use and currently offline, "Now that's what I'm talking about, fucker! Qapla'!"

Kim glanced over to Seven of Nine, who had lifted her head enough from where she was peering into the opening of the console they were utilizing to test their device to looked at B'Elanna and was visibly smirking, and whispered, "I guess that means it's going better?"

"I believe so," Seven replied, turning her attention back to her task. After several more minutes, she stood up the reported, "My calculations are complete. The computer is ready."

Spinning around, feeling energized and confident now that things were starting to move along in their favor, the chief said, "Alright…the nodes are ready too. Starfleet, what's the word?"

As B'Elanna jogged over to his position and Seven of Nine came around the console, Kim held a containment device in his hands and reported as he used one of B'Elanna nifty, new, highly sensitive alien tools to scan for the slightest imperfection in the seal that could allow the photons to escape once trapped inside, no one being able to pronounce it, except Seven, so B'Elanna, talented in the art of properly naming something, had designated it Rudolph since the tip was a pinkish red, "Almost done." After a few beats while B'Elanna impatiently waited, chewing on what was left of her shabby finger nails, thanks to the last week's personal and professional stresses, "Done…it's good."

Grabbing the other containment device that had already been scanned and configured earlier by the ensign, Torres said while Seven picked up the small, stand alone computer that's only function was to process the data, give it a new set of instructions to cease its duplication and then pass it through the relay channel embedded within, depositing it into the second containment device, "Seven," gesturing for the blonde to give her the computer, "Harry and I can mount this…I need you to set up the forcefields, and then start passing data through the circuit." As the Borg handed over the device without question and started on her task, she added while walking with Harry over to the console where her enhanced sensor nodes where installed, "Hopefully, we won't have to wait all friggin' night for this glitch to happen again…I'm supposed to have a date tonight."

Frowning, Seven of Nine realized that she had actually forgotten something, even though the information was readily available to her and she had just discussed the event with the captain three point two seven hours ago. Then before she knew what she was doing, she allowed, "Shit!" as she worked the console, practically unaware that she had just said anything, she was so frustrated at herself for forgetting.

Torres and Kim both spun around at that and asked, wide-eyed, thinking for Seven of Nine to curse in such a manner, since neither one of them had ever heard her do it before, something unthinkably bad must be happening. Thrusting the contents of her hands over to Harry, who quickly juggled their masses before he dropped one, B'Elanna ran over to the Astrometrics officer asking, "What…what's wrong? Is another circuit down?" When Seven looked at her puzzled and hesitated, Torres took a glance at the board, but not seeing anything out of the ordinary, and asked instead, "Are you okay?" noticing the slightly flushing cheeks of the Borg.

Sighing, Seven of Nine replied, "No, I am not," far too agitated and distracted to attempt to use a contraction since she always had to purposefully think to use them, as was the case with any new term, until it became habit, which sometimes took much longer than normal for she was so set in her precision oriented thought processes after being a member of the Collective for eighteen years. "Naomi Wildman and I were supposed to engage in a sleepover this evening in her quarters, and I…forgot, until you made mention of your 'date' with Kathryn." Sighing heavily, she turned toward B'Elanna, who was looking at her with compassion, for she completely understood, and informed, "I am supposed to arrive at her quarters at 1830 hours for dinner." Forlorn, Seven said weak, "She will be disappointed…undoubtedly."

The chief wished with everything she had that she could just let Seven go have fun with the child, but she knew, and she knew Seven understood it as well, the ex-drone was the best person for this job since her neural processor could decode and interpret a data stream faster than anyone, and since they were dealing with some unknown 'virus' they couldn't risk putting it into the ship's systems for processing. They had to do this the hard way by uploading the cleaned data to a hand held PADD and analyzing it visually, and no one could outmatch Seven's enhanced neural functions in that department…not even come close, honestly. Torres would have gladly given up her evening with Kathryn to allow Seven to leave, but there was no other way, so sighing, B'Elanna placed her hand on Seven's arm, squeezed lightly and said, "I'm sorry, dollface, but I'm sure the kid will understand. She knows what you do is important…there's always tomorrow night."

Seven of Nine nodded and then requested, "B'Elanna Torres, will you allow me to tell her personally? I do not wish to do it over a communications channel."

B'Elanna winked at her and said, "Sure…go on ahead, and I'll call Red and tell her I can't make it either." When Seven started to protest, Torres held up her fist and smirked, "No arguments…we'll do this together…even if it takes us all night."

Seven wasn't happy that Torres was sacrificing herself for her benefit, but she was also grateful and appreciative for the gesture and the company since the blonde found Harry Kim to be rather boring most of the time, and often deemed many of his comments irrelevant, so she accepted the offering and replied, "I will comply." Then smirking, she turned and stated, feeling better now, as she walked away, "I'll return shortly and then we can begin to 'kick ass.'"

Shaking her head quickly, Torres asked, bewildered, "Am I hearing things…or did she just say I'll return?"

Kim laughed a little nervously, not certain if the sudden changes in Seven meant that she was adapting, or trouble was brewing, and reminded, "She also said shit."

B'Elanna rubbed her forehead as she walked back over to him and asked, her tone making it seem as though she didn't know, "I wonder where she got that from?"

"You're joking…right?"

Sitting at the small table in her room, looking at the note she'd made for tonight's sleepover that was just another fantasy she wasn't sure would ever come true, with a definite frown on her angelic, slightly freckled face, Naomi Wildman turned around slowly when she heard her mother come into her room and ask if she was okay. Part of Naomi knew that she shouldn't be too upset since one, she'd had sleepovers with Seven before, just never in her room before, and two, Seven had said she would come over tomorrow night, as long as the problem was fixed, to 'make-up' for missing tonight's ritual, but the part of her that had been so excited and filled with building anticipation all day, and had worked so hard to make everything just perfect, even cleaning her room until it was spotless to show Seven that she could be just as efficient, was having a tough time coming back up from the let down. As her mother kneeled in front of her and tried to console her, then asked if she wanted to play Kadis Kot, the youngest Wildman sighed and said, "No, I don't want to play again…I already played once with the captain today."

Surprised, Samantha asked, but pretty certain her daughter hadn't suddenly developed a dishonest streak, "You played Kadis Kot with the captain…today?" When Naomi nodded solemn, she asked, "When?"

Perking up just a little, since talking about the captain, especially whenever the commanding officer needed her help with something very important, was one of her favorite things to do, Naomi reported, "She came by earlier 'cause she needed my help with her crew reports. She said she wanted to know how I was before she did mine." Smiling a little, she went on, "She said it was real important…so I told her I was fine…and then she looked sad, so we played Kadis Kot to make her feel better." Proud, she finished, "I won too…but it was a close one…she's real good like you and Seven, Mommy."

Samantha shook her head in wonder, and not for the first time at her captain's willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty for her child, and asked, "Well that was very nice of her, and you for trying to cheer her up, sweetheart…do you know why she was sad? Was it because some of the crew was leaving?"

Naomi shook her head and answered, "She said she wasn't sad, but that she wanted to make sure I wasn't sad…but she looked sad." Resting her elbows on her table, Naomi looked down and said with grief, "She was supposed to have a sleepover with B'Elanna Torres too…I bet she's sad too." Then snapping her head up, realizing she wasn't following orders, Naomi said, "Mommy, I have to go talk to the captain right now!" When her mother started to shake her head and say that she shouldn't bother her, Naomi informed, "But Mommy, I'm under orders…she made me promise that whenever I'm sad I'm supposed to tell her right away…unless there's a red alert. Mommy, pleaaaaassee, please can I go see the captain…I promise I won't bother her…pleeeeaaaase, I won't be sad anymore if you do."

Before Samantha had a chance to say anything, her door call sounded, so she sighed and said, "Naomi, we'll talk about this in a minute…and if the captain's in her quarters, I'll let you call her, but don't do it until I come back."

Happy with that, Naomi nodded and said, "I won't."

Standing up and walking quickly into the fairly small living room, Samantha said when she was halfway to the door, "Come in." When the doors parted to reveal none other than the captain herself, Wildman stopped dead in her tracks, instantly nervous since she knew the state her child was in and worried Naomi would get her hopes up that the captain would stay for dinner or something like that, Samantha said, "Captain…uh, please…come in."

"Thank you, Samantha," Janeway said, using her personal name on purpose, hoping to show that she wasn't there for business. Once she was inside, the captain placed her hands behind her back out of awkwardness since she knew the request she was about to make was very uncaptain-like, and managed, "Is Naomi here?" before her mirror image came barreling out of her room toward her, yelling in glee, "Captain! Captain…I was just going to call you!"

As Samantha sighed audibly as the girl ran over to the her and grabbed her hand, Janeway laughed and said, "You were…well, this really must be my lucky day then."

"How come you're here, Captain? Naomi asked gamely, "Did you come to play Kadis Kot again?"

"Well," Janeway started as she knelt down to the ground, "I came to ask your mother something and see how you're doing since Seven can't come over tonight." Before the child could say anything, she went on, "So, why don't you do me a favor and give us a few minutes to talk privately, and then I'll come play alright?"

Ecstatic and completely over her disappointment now, the child bobbed her head adamantly as she said, "Aye, Captain," then turned around and scurried into her room as she reported, "I'll get everything set up for us!"

Once the child was in her room, the scientist walked over to her daughter's door to close it while she swallowed down her nervousness, having no idea what the captain would possibly need to ask her, and said once the door was sealed as she turned around, "Thank you, Captain, but please don't feel like you have to stay and play with her…Neelix will be happy…"

Holding up her hand, not in the habit of interrupting and always finding it rude, but feeling the need, Janeway said when the blonde fell silent, "It's not a bother, Miss Wildman. Actually," she started a tad bit tentative, "I was wondering if…well, if you would let me invite her over to my cabin for the night?"

Trying to keep her mouth from falling open, Samantha responded, "Captain…uh," then certain Janeway was just feeling some unnecessary obligation, she went on, "that's very kind of you, but she's really not that upset…you certainly don't have to have her over because of this."

Chuckling, Janeway replied, "I know I don't have to, but I'd like to…but only if you're comfortable with that." Holding up her hand again, Kathryn said sincerely, "If you'd rather not…I completely understand, and I can just spend some time with her here…if that makes you more comfortable."

Samantha blinked a few times, trying to decide if she was dreaming or possibly the person standing in front of her really wasn't her captain, although, she fully admitted that the woman consistently surprised the hell out of her with regards to her daughter and finally forced herself to say before she offended, "No, that's fine, Captain…I'm not uncomfortable with that…she just adores you. Are you sure you want to?"

Kathryn had to laugh out loud at the look on Samantha's face before she said, "Yes, I'm sure." Then walking up to her, she whispered, "Just do me a favor and don't tell anyone I'm not mean as hell, alright?"

Relaxing, Samantha replied, "My lips are sealed." Then actually grabbing Janeway's hand before she lost her nerve, she said with feeling, "Thank you, Captain…you've been so very wonderful with her…I don't know how to thank you."

Janeway squeezed Wildman's hand back and said, "Please don't thank me, Samantha…just let me spoil her a little from time to time, and that's all the thanks I'll ever need." Clearing her throat of emotion as the scientist looked away for a moment, Kathryn let go of her hand and asked, before she forgot, "Oh, um," laughing slightly at her nervousness again, "I noticed on her list of things to do that she wrote 'take a shower'…does that mean you're comfortable with her bathing with adults…or do she and Seven not shower together?"

Once again feeling like she was struck dumb with shock, certainly never thinking the captain would allow Naomi to bathe with her, Wildman forced her mouth for a second time to stay closed until she found her voice and replied, "No…no, that's fine…we shower all the time together…but don't feel obligated, Captain…she can just shower in the morning."

The captain made herself not laugh at the blonde's shock and nervousness since she understood the chain of command better than anyone aboard the ship and knew she was crossing into a grey area just asking the child to stay with her since she believed, well before the Delta Quadrant, that the captain had to remain distant, aloof, and business-like always, even when joking with officers. However, anymore it seemed that her command was just one big, huge grey area, with little black and white anymore, and since she'd managed to embark on a personal relationship with two of her senior officers without her vessel falling apart at the seams, she was pretty certain having a sleepover with the ship's only child, who was also her assistant, would most likely go unnoticed by the universe. So, with that she said openly, "Well, I was thinking a bath actually…I've been looking forward to one all day, and I thought she'd probably like that."

Smiling as she pictured the captain and Naomi in the bathtub, wishing, and not for the first time, to be a fly on the wall during her daughter's private moments with the captain since the child always came back from them not only happy as a lark but filled with a handful of vocabulary words and twice that many stories to tell about what they did that was so 'neat," Sam nodded and said, "She'd love that, I'm sure…she loves the water."

"Girl after my own heart," Janeway replied, smiling. Then asked, "Is there anything else I should know? Anything special she needs or can't eat?"

"No," Samantha said, leaving it at that, certain that just by Janeway's thoughtfulness to always speak with her privately that her daughter would be in perfectly capable hands, and equally knowing that at least with this one person, there would be no arguments about anything since the scientist was certain her daughter followed the captain's orders better than a majority of the crew did. "I'll just go pack her an overnight bag."

"Oh," Janeway added, "one more thing…" When Samantha turned around, she explained, "Just so you know, I'll tell B'Elanna and Seven if they finish up tonight, to go to B'Elanna's place…"

Thinking it over for a minute, focusing more on her situation with Nick Fowler and how to expose her child to the idea of people sleeping in the same bed together when they loved each other, or at least liked each other, visually seeing it since she knew that Naomi was aware the threesome often shared the same bed, but had never actually seen it, Samantha said, without trepidation, "You don't have to do that, Captain…if you'd be more comfortable, that's fine, but I'm not worried. Naomi knows you three love each other…I don't see anything wrong with it."

Humbled, Janeway nodded and said, "Well, alright…although," she chuckled a little anxious, "I'm not sure my bed's big enough for all of us." When Samantha laughed and then started toward the bedroom, Kathryn laughed as well, shaking her head at herself and said to Naomi once they were in the room and the child jumped up from her chair while her mother went to her closet, "Well, Miss Wildman, after talking with your mother, she's agreed to letting you come to my quarters tonight for a sleepover. Is that something you'd like to do?"

Wide-eyed and stunned for a split second, Naomi stood still and stared at the captain until she erupted into a ball of unstoppable joy and jumped where she stood and she squealed, "Oh yes, Captain Janeway!" Turning around and running over to her mother, she yelled, unable to help herself, "Mommy! That's so cool! Did you really say I could go…did you, Mommy?"

"Shhh, Naomi, I'm right here," Samantha laughed softly. Then petting her daughter's head, she replied, "Yes, sweetheart, you can go have a sleepover with the captain." After pulling down her child's bag and grabbing her nightgown and some clean underwear for her, as well as her clothes for tomorrow, Wildman said, "Now Naomi, the captain's been busy all day, and you know how busy she is, so you need to be on your best behavior and don't try to keep her awake."

"I won't, Mommy," Naomi nodded seriously. "The captain is required to regenerate so she can keep being the captain…Seven says so." Then turning to the captain, who was looking down and smiling as she crossed her arms over her chest, she promised, "I won't keep you up, Captain…on my honor…I'll be good."

While Samantha packed up her things, and went into the bathroom to get her toiletries, Kathryn bobbed her head while returning, "I'm sure you will, Miss Wildman." Then pointing to the list on the table, she said, "Don't forget your list…and anything else we'll need."

Grabbing her list, Naomi folded it up and stuffed it into the pocket of her jumper-dress, then looked around and said, "We can leave Kadis Kot here, Captain…I always lose pieces when I take it anywhere." Then spinning around, looking at her things, she snapped her fingers while she ran over to her bed and inform as she dropped to her knees and looked underneath, "My book's under here…so we can read together…I'm almost done." Then standing up, she informed, "I keep it under my bed so it doesn't get damaged by anyone." Looking around again as her mother came back into the room and handed the bag to the captain who was gesturing for it, Naomi said, "I can't think of anything else…can you, Captain?"

"Well," she started looking around, the said, "I can't either…but we can always watch the television too." Smiling, she said, "I haven't been able to watch Lucy for a few days…and I rather miss her."

Naomi ran up to the captain, grabbed her hand and said, "Well, we can watch Lucy if you want, Captain…I don't mind."

Chuckling along with Samantha, Janeway replied, "Okay," gesturing toward the scientist, "now why don't you say goodnight to your mother and thank her for letting me take you home."

"Oh, thank you, Mommy," Naomi said as she threw her arms around her parent's legs, "you're the best mommy ever!"

"Kahless and Jesus Christ!" Torres huffed, pounding her fist into her other palm, not for the first time making a similar proclamation in the last hour, as yet another stream of data was passed through the relay they were working on without replicating itself or doing anything other than what it was supposed to. "This is completely ridiculous!"

Sighing, Seven of Nine had to agree whole-heartedly. Pushing away from the console while Kim sank to the floor and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand in frustration and exhaustion, the partially cybernetic woman placed her hands on her hips as she turned away and began pacing slowly while she continued to process and cross-reference various bytes of data to try to come up with a way to force the process, although, that was illogical since if they could force it to happen, that would preclude them not knowing what was causing it. That, notwithstanding, Seven continued to work through the scenario, until she sighed and stated, "There is no other alternative except to continue to on our present course of action."

"Why don't we just replace the circuit?" Kim offered. "At this rate…it might take us longer to try an catch this…and that doesn't even guarantee that our idea will work, or that we'll be able to figure it out, or that we'll be able to stop it without replacing it anyway."

Shaking her head, Torres said adamantly, "No, no…we have to at least try to find the cause of this or we'll never know if it could happen again." Placing her hands on her hips, she pointed at Kim and said, "I'm not an expert on the captain, but I know she won't like that answer."

"She would not," Seven added in a foreboding tone, leaving no doubt that what she was speaking was the truth.

"Well, maybe it's time to call her then?" Kim came back, standing up. "Maybe she can help…certainly can't hurt."

"No!" Torres barked again, this time louder. "She worked almost a triple shift…and this isn't an emergency. If we can't figure it out by the morning, I'll bring her in here, but not until then."

Glad Torres replied in such a way so she didn't have to, Seven walked up to the console again and said, "Very well, we will proceed…again." Holding up her human hand as her mesh encased one worked the sensor board, she said, "Cross your fingers."

Crossing everything she possibly could except her eyes so she could continue to see, B'Elanna got back into position as Kim did as well, and said once the lone male was perched next to their purifying, containment device, just far enough away not to disturb the invisible forcefield that was surrounding the immediately area, "Okay, Seven…do it."

Watching carefully from behind the forcefield, Seven of Nine, the only person within it since she was capable of adjusting her cortical node to the frequency and moving through it unharmed, which she would do immediately if they actually happened to catch a data stream the became corrupted, the Borg programming the stand alone computer processor to take care of the rest unassisted until it too was overload, but by that time, theoretically, they'd have trapped some cleaned data in the second containment device, Torres crossed her fingers, arms, and legs while Seven created a packet of data, and commanded it to pass through the relay channel…again. B'Elanna had lost count of how many times they had done this today, but she was certain it was approaching the triple digits, if it hadn't surpassed it already, so when Seven of Nine stepped away from the console and walked quickly through the forcefield, it took Torres a second to realize that she wasn't just giving up in frustration, but that they'd actually gotten lucky.

Rushing over to Kim, who was catching on and had changed positions, his now much more attentive as Seven came up beside him and stated, "The data is duplicating," Torres slid onto the floor next to them, completely uncaring and unable to feel the slightly burning sensation the move made in her shins and knees as the thick fabric of her pants chaffed quickly against her skin due to the friction, and asked, "Can you tell if it's working?"

"Not yet," Kim reported quickly, "the data hasn't….woah, there it goes!" he shouted, excited and anxious at the same time as the first containment device was set aglow with intense white light, which was the photons that carried the ship's data from one section of the ship to the other at the speed of 'light.'

All of them watched in wonder as the data continued to replicate in the first containment field, was passed through the computer processor relay network which was working so fast the small, green indicator light that informed them it was working was completely solid, instead of usually blinking on an off, which told them their processing speed was at maximum velocity. When the second containment field began to be filled with photons steadily as they all clearly heard the now loud whining of the sensor nodes B'Elanna had enhanced, which would have been blown to bits by now if she hadn't tweaked them, Torres asked, "Can we tell if it's still replicating?"

"Unknown," Kim said hurried and louder, "we'll just have to wait 'til…" but he was cut off when the sensor nodes finally gave out in an almost deafening loud pop, which caused Seven of Nine to squint slightly due to her ultra sensitive hearing.

Duly glad they had taken all the proper precautions when both of the nodes blew forth from their housing, their outer hull shattering into a hundred tiny, white hot shards that careened off the forcefield and came to a safe rest on the ground where they began to cool, Torres' eyes widened and they all took an instinctive step back as another whining sound could be detected coming from the stand alone computer while smoke continued to puff out of the bottom of the Biometrics console. B'Elanna flinched just slightly when the processor overloaded into a series of sparks, popped once as well, although not nearly as loud, and then began smoking while at the same time, the first containment field could no longer stand the stress of the data replication happening within it and blew apart, releasing the data and exposing it to the air which destroyed it completely, and turned it into harmless matter. For several seconds they continued to watch the second containment field, all holding their breath, as they waited for it to either blow apart as well, or just sit there. After a least ten seconds, Torres turned to them and said, hesitant, "I think it would have gone by now…don't you?"

Seven of Nine counted off the time in her head and said after two point one seconds, "Critical mass would have been reached by now. The data is no longer replicating."

Jumping up, Torres pointed to the device as Seven of Nine walked back through the forcefield and brought it down, yelling, "Aha! That's right you little bastard…we've got you now." Slapping Kim on the back soundly, sending him forward just a tad, she added, "Ain't that right, Starfleet?"

"Qapla'!" Kim answered with enthusiasm, feeling rather recharged himself.

Nodding once with vigor, Torres took a deep breath, patted Kim on the back as he began carefully removing the containment device from the burnt out processor, then met Seven as the Borg walked back toward them carrying the PADD they would use to analyze the data once it was uploaded, and said, "Great work, Seven…I mean it."

"No problemo," Seven smirked, cocking her eyebrow. Then quickly getting back to business, hoping to get what was left of the work, and the cleanup Torres had to do, done as efficiently as possible so she could retire for the evening, the Borg said, "We should upload the data as soon as possible before it degrades from being in stasis to ensure our analysis is accurate."

"Almost got it," Kim informed as he gently twisted the device free from the computer after disengaging the seal, "there…it's all yours."

Taking the device, Seven walked back over to the flat lab table and set it down, while Torres and Kim flanked her while they watched. Then placing the PADD next to it, she aligned the optical sensors, next worked the small sensor panel on the containment device which commanded the data transfer to begin, and watched as line after line of encoded information was uploaded to the tiny screen of the PADD at an amazing velocity. When the data stream stopped, she reported, "This device had reached it memory capacity. It should be sufficient. The initial packet I created was less than one thousand strings of data, and this device can hold approximately one trillion."

Looking down at the containment device that was still aglow with light, but noticed it was fading slowly, Torres said, "There's still data left to be downloaded too…no wonder the sensor nodes where blowing their tops," looking over at Seven, "That's a hell of a lot of data to process at one time…through one single node." Shaking her head and letting it go, hoping Seven of Nine would figure out the cause soon enough, B'Elanna turned and looked around at the disaster area they'd created and said, "Well, it certainly was messy." As Kim sighed and looked around while Seven picked up the PADD, grew completely silent and began analyzing the code, line by line, the chief said, "Come on, Starfleet…let's clean up the captain's ship before she comes in here and walks right back out, shaking her head." When Kim actually laughed at that, B'Elanna pointed at him and said, "You think I'm kidding…trust me, kid…I'm not…as long as it works, she doesn't want to know how messy it got." Smirking, she finished, "And yes…that I know for sure too."

After eating chicken salad sandwiches while watching two episodes of I Love Lucy, and then reading the final three chapters of The Fallen Spaceman, which was the final book in the captain's small, but classic collection of 'childrens' books, although Janeway had been known herself to pick one up from time to time and reread her favorite parts whenever she felt the need to go back to her childhood, Kathryn and Naomi settled into the floor next to her coffee table while they munched on a few chocolate chip cookies, and drank their preferred beverages, Janeway having coffee now purely to stay awake as she approached almost being awake a day an a half while they discussed the book, and Kathryn made certain Naomi wasn't feeling down because it was sort of a sad, but wonderful tale.

Once the captain was certain her guest wasn't dwelling on the book and enjoying herself, Janeway asked as the girl finished her cookie and then her milk, "So, what's next on the list…I forget?"

Pulling the list from her pocket to consult it, Noami said giggling, "Well, we didn't braid each other's hairs, but…yours isn't long enough for that, Captain. You can braid mine though…I don't mind."

Taking the list and squinting just slightly, having to adjust her tired eyes, Kathryn said, "Alright, although," she smiled, "I don't think I'll be nearly as proficient as your mother. I've never been very good at fixing hair." As Naomi told her that was fine and that she wasn't very good at it either yet, but she was getting better, Janeway stood up, forced herself not to groan at the agony in her joints and said, "I think it's time we treated ourselves to a bath for all our hard work today…what do you think?"

Standing up, Naomi asked gleefully, "Can we take a real bath…in your bath tub?"

"Oh, you have to take a real bath when you treat yourself," the captain reported. "it's tradition…well, my tradition anyway."

Nodding, now understanding what a tradition was thanks to Seven of Nine, the child scooped up the glasses and walked them carefully over to the replicator as Janeway followed behind her with the plate, "I've never taken a real bath before, Captain…what's it like?"

After placing the contents of her hands into the energy grid and picking up Naomi, who was staring to become too heavy for Janeway to lift in such a manner, especially when she was tired as she was, so she could press the sensor and activate the device, Kathryn took her hand and said as they walked toward the bedroom, "It's heaven…I love a bath, it's my favorite way to relax."

As the captain snatched up Naomi's hairbrush from her overnight bag that was sitting on the lounger, the carrot top asked while they went into the ensuite, "What do you do in the bath?"

"Well," Janeway replied as she pulled down two fresh towels for them, a wash cloth, and set them on the toilet seat, then put the brush on top, "sometimes I don't do anything lay but back with my eyes closed and listen to music in the background," sitting on the edge of the tub, gesturing for Naomi to follow suit so she could show her how to work the controls, she went on, "sometimes I light candles too, but most of the time I just read."

After the captain informed her which sensor did what and that the water who fill on its own and stay warm due to the automatic draining and refilling feature, and she was allowed to push the button after Kathryn set the temperature to something much cooler than she normally utilized, but knew it would still feel wonderful on her tired body, Naomi asked as water began coming out of two openings toward the bottom of the tub near the foot, "You can read in the bath…don't your books get wet?"

Chuckling, Janeway said, "Well, you have to be very careful not to get them wet." Snatching up her bubble bath, deciding to just stick to that instead of any of her oils for fear Naomi's skin wouldn't react well to them, the captain explained, "This is bubble bath…you just pour a cap full in over where the water's coming out and…see…bubbles. They'll get you clean, just like soap and water." Sticking her hand into the water to test the temperature as is continued to fill up, deciding that was fine, she asked, "Do you need help getting undressed, or can you do it yourself?"

Feeling a little shy around the captain, Naomi giggled and then said, "I can do it, Captain…only my overalls I can't do without help."

"Okay," Janeway smiled, then winked at Naomi. Standing up, being the fearless leader and showing the girl that even though she was the captain, she was also a regular person just like her mother, Janeway unzipped her uniform pants and pulled them off.

Looking funny at the captain as she fiddled with the button on her jumper strap, Naomi asked, "What are those things you're wearing, Captain?"

As she pulled down her panty hose, the captain realized yet again that she was more of a Traditionalist than she thought sometimes since most people didn't wear stocking consistently anymore, and answered, slipping them off, "They're called stockings. I wear them instead of socks and so my uniform doesn't bother the skin on my legs. They also keep me warm."

"Oh," Naomi allowed, then finally gave up, and asked as Janeway pulled off her overshirt and picked off her pips, setting them aside before one fell off and she didn't realize it until one of her officers made a gesture to her collar, "Captain, can you unbutton this please?" After Janeway had assisted her and helped her step out of the jumper, then folded the garment and set it up on the towel shelf, Naomi pulled off her shirt and gave that to the captain as well, and as Kathryn did the same, the child took a moment to look at her, noticing the differences between the captain and her mother and Seven, especially the fact that she was so much smaller; everything about Kathryn was smaller: her torso, her breasts, her hips...everything, so she asked out of curiosity since it seemed strange for the captain to be small, "Captain, how come you're so little?"

Janeway chuckled as she slipped off her underwear, then came over to the tub, sat on the edge while the water stopped filling and said as she helped Naomi pull off her panties and step out of them, "I'm just not a very big person…I can't help it."

"Oh," Naomi allowed, then added, "I'm little too…but Mommy says she thinks I'm going to be tall like my daddy 'cause he was tall."

Stepping into the water and sitting down, Janeway said as she held Naomi's hand and helped her crawl over the edge, telling her to step carefully so she didn't slip. Then once she was standing, she turned her around and eased her down until she was sitting on her lap since the bath was deep enough the water would probably come close to her chin, and Janeway didn't want to have to worry about drying all her hair. Now that they were settled, Kathryn asked as she took Naomi's hair down from the ponytail it was currently it, "Well, do you like this?"

"I think it's so cool, Captain," Naomi replied, picking up a handful of bubbles them smashing them in her palm. "Are you going to braid my hair?"

"I thought I'd brush it for a while and see where we go from there," the captain reported. Once her hair was down, she reached over and grabbed the brush and asked as she gently pulled it through Naomi's strawberry blonde hair, "So, you're mother thinks you're going to be tall, huh?"

"Yea, but I won't be as tall as Nick," she reported, then turned her head just slightly for a second and said, "She's really tall and she has big muscles like Commander Chakotay, but she's taller than he is." Relaxing as the captain brushed her hair, Naomi splash a little in the water, playing with the bubbles and remarked, "I like Nick…she's really cool…do you think Nick's cool, Captain?"

"Yes, Nick's very cool," she chuckled.

"My mommy likes Nick too," Naomi reported easily. "She had dinner with her last night, and I got to finger-paint with Miss Resse. She's my favorite teacher…she knows a lot about art…she paints like your sister sometimes, but she likes to make things out of clay the best." As Janeway set down the brush and then secured Naomi's hair in a loose bun, telling her she didn't want it to get wet anymore, the girl went on, "You should come to the holodeck one time during my class, Captain…Miss Resse won't mind…she has really neat…I mean cool stuff that we use."

Grabbing the wash cloth, Kathryn put a dash of liquid soap on it after wetting it thoroughly and said as she started washing one of the child's arms, "Why don't you send me a message before your next class, and I'll see if I can drop by for a little while…alright?"

"Captain…"

"Hmm?"

"Are you, Seven and B'Elanna going to get married?"

"Well," Janeway began, now washing her back, "I don't know, Naomi…we've never talked about it. Why do you ask?" she finished, hoping to steer the conversation off herself since she didn't really have any answers for her regarding that and she didn't want to confuse her, as she used her free hand to wash off the soap, then moved to her other arm.

"My mommy and daddy aren't married anymore," Naomi reported while the captain tended to her, not used to this treatment from the captain, although, she certainly had never been mistreated by the woman, and finding it comforting, like with her mother, although slightly different, and special somehow, but there was no tone of sadness to her voice whatsoever; she was just stating facts. "Why do people get married and then stop being married?"

"Well," the older woman started again, leaning back and little and urging Naomi to do the same until they were slightly reclined, and went on as she dipped the wash cloth in the water and ran it gently across the girl's torso and chest, "sometimes things happen that take people away from each other…like us getting stranded out here so far away from home." As Naomi stilled against her chest, resting the back of her head on her shoulder, Janeway stopped her washing and just held her close as she went on, "Sometimes people just change due to things that happen in their lives and they decide that it's best to not be married anymore." Kissing her temple softly, she added, "Sometimes people make mistakes, sweetheart…but that doesn't mean that they're bad people…everyone makes mistakes…it's part of being a person."

"Do you make mistakes, Captain?"

Exhaling softly, Janeway whispered, "All the time…but don't tell anyone, alright?"

"I won't, Captain." After a short pause, she asked, "Have you ever been married, Captain?"

"Never," she answered, deciding not to elaborate that she'd been engaged twice and lost both of those people due to choices she made, and putting that melancholy aside and instead focusing on how funny she found it that the child ended almost every sentence she spoke to her with captain, thinking some of her officers could learn a thing or two about the chain of command from this one little girl.

"Do you want to get married, Captain?"

"Someday I do," Janeway replied honestly, "but it's hard to be married when you're a captain. Marriage takes a lot of responsibility and commitment…you have to be very dedicated to your spouse or spouses…and when you're the captain…well, you're kind of married to your ship and your crew already. They have to come first…always…do you understand?"

"Yes," Naomi replied easily, nodding softly as she took the washcloth from Janeway's hands, then carefully turned around. Picking up one of Kathryn's arms while the older woman looked at her in awe and amazement, Naomi went on as she started washing Janeway's thin arms, "that's why you're so busy 'cause you have to take care of everyone…and that's a lot of work 'cause there's a lot of people on Voyager. I don't even know all their names, there are so many."

Janeway bobbed her head once as Naomi let go of her arm, dipped the wash cloth in the water and moved to the next as if this was something she not only did every day, but was an expert at, "That's right…I do."

Once she was finished with her arm, Naomi looked around, then spotted the soap slightly behind Janeway's head, and remarked as she grabbed it, added a little more to the wash cloth, set it back where she put it, remembering to be on her best behavior and make the captain's home a mess by being lazy, and started washing the captain's chest lightly, smiling, "You have freckles on your chest too, Captain…that's so cool…my mommy doesn't have any freckles at all, but her mommy…my grandma does…Seven doesn't have any freckles either...does B'Elanna have freckles?"

"No freckles…only you and me."

After washing Janeway's torso, having a small giggle when she got to her stomach and the captain twitched slightly, then pinched her nose lightly and told her to stop trying to tickle her, Naomi rang out the wash cloth, brushed the captain's hair behind her ears and asked as she lightly ran the folded up cloth over the captain's forehead and cheeks, studying her face and the differences she saw, especially the forehead since she didn't have any spikes, "If a captain has to take care of everyone…who takes care of her?"

Smiling softly as Naomi continued to run part of the cloth over her forehead, cheeks, chin and neck, Janeway responded, "Well, generally the captain takes care of herself with the help of her superiors at Starfleet Command…and on some starships there is a counselor that a captain can talk to when she needs advise or to just talk about things, but I'm a very lucky captain and I have extra special help since we're so far away from home and we don't have a counselor." When the child asked her who, honestly unknowing, Kathryn replied, "Well, Chakotay, Tuvok, Nick, B'Elanna, Seven," taking the wash cloth back when the child finished and just sat in her lap, listening, "you," poking her stomach again, "Neelix, even the first regal sometimes…you all take care of me."

Uncertainty clear in her tone, Naomi queried, "I take care of you, Captain?"

"Yes, sweetheart, you do," Janeway said, sitting up slightly to rub and kiss her cheek, then reclined, gesturing for Naomi to follow suit, who happily came to a rest against the captain's chest, keeping her face turned toward Kathryn's, but was mindful to not get too close due to her sharp little points, while Janeway stroked her back softly, holding her close, as the water began to fill again while the cooler water was drained out, "you take very good care of me."

"Seven," Lieutenant Torres said fairly softly to the blonde Borg, who was still standing toward the corner of the Biometrics lab reading the PADD intently, not having said two words in the last two hours, "I think it's time we called it a night." When Seven looked up from the device and started to open her mouth, Torres expected her to argue, so she added, "This place is shutdown, no one else has reported any problems whatsoever, and we have the data we need to look at…it's 0130 hours…and it's time to take a break."

Since B'Elanna had already sent Ensign Kim off to bed an hour ago because the only cleanup left to do was to install replacement sensor nodes and various other components that had been damaged by their testing, and the chief engineer worked better alone when doing that kind of fairly routine work, Seven said openly, "You should go home to Kathryn. You have been awake since at least 0500 hours, but I have completed a full regeneration cycle and am capable of working through the night on this task without negative side effects."

Torres frowned and was about to sigh since she really didn't feel like fighting with Seven, but she couldn't justify to herself leaving Seven to finish up the work while she napped even if she knew Seven was being logical and not exaggerating, when she realized what the blonde and said, and asked instead, "How did you know I woke up early?" wondering if that meant Kathryn and Seven had been talking about her well being, which sort of set her teeth on edge right now since she was exhausted, tense, and automatically defensive. It was simply a matter of years worth of conditioning and she knew it was going to take some time to break that habit, if she ever could.

"I detected your presence in the Cargo Bay when she stepped onto the dais of my alcove," replied Seven of Nine plainly.

"Oh," B'Elanna allowed, relieved, somewhat, "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to bother you."

"You did not 'bother' me."

Shaking her head, Torres sighed and went on, "Anyway, that doesn't matter right now. You need your rest too…this isn't an emergency situation, so I don't want you staying up all night…and," snatching the PADD out of Seven's hand, "since you're working for me right now, that's an order."

It was a fairly well-known fact that the only orders Seven of Nine followed consistently without question were the captain's, and even then she argued a good twenty percent of the time, so grabbing the PADD back, Seven replied, "I wish to continue on this task anyway." When B'Elanna took a deep breath, Seven placed the PADD behind her back with her other hand and added, "However, I am willing to compromise to maintain harmony. I will retire with you to the captain's quarters, and I will go to bed, but I wish to continue to analyze this data as I relax. If I become fatigued, I will sleep."

"Fine," Torres nodded, figuring she got off fairly easily since she'd seen some of the toe to toe, heaving bosom to heaving bosom, verbal wars Kathryn and Seven had engaged in before, where all Seven ever said was, 'irrelevant,' 'unacceptable,' 'insufficient,' and everyone's favorite, 'I will not comply,' and had to always admire Seven's gumption for standing up to Janeway in such a manner, who Torres freely admitted scared the hell out of her when she came in close, locked her eyes onto her and pinned her with her death ray stare before she berated her in such a manner B'Elanna sometimes never knew if she was being praised or scolded. Snatching up her tool kit, leaving the rest of the equipment which only consisted of a few tricorders and some general maintenance tools which weren't her own property, Torres reached into her tool jacket inner pocket as she tucked Rudolph and her spanner into it, then took out her ring and slipped it on her thumb as they headed out the door. Sighing, glad to be leaving work behind for a while, B'Elanna snatched up Seven's enhanced hand and said, "Thanks for your help today, babe…I don't think we could have done it without you."

"You're welcome," Seven came back, ignoring the PADD for the time being, falling easily back into their personal relationship as well. "I'm pleased I was able to assist you today. It was good to work with you again for several hours." Looking down at her as they approached the turbolift, Seven smirked and reported, "You are impressive…for a Klingon."

Laughing softly, too tired to do much of anything else, Torres returned, entering the lift, "You're not so bad yourself, Borg…there's something to be said for being able to walk through a forcefield…I'll give you that much."

"Deck Three," Seven ordered, then softened and asked, "Was your back damaged in the Jefferies Tube?"

B'Elanna shook her head, squeezing Seven's hand and said, "Nothing to worry about…just a few little singes." Smirking, she said as the turbolift stopped, "Tougher skin…remember?"

Stepping out with Torres, Seven nodded and stated, "I recall you making a similar statement during our 'vacation.'" Leaving it at that and not inquiring as to why her companion didn't or wouldn't attempt to seek medical attention since she understood that it was part of Klingon beliefs that they not take 'medicine' unless the situation was extreme, she went on as they turned the corner, "Even though I continue to function efficiently, it will be 'good' to recline now that I am accustomed to the position. Although I still find sleeping somewhat disorienting, I'm beginning to understand the appeal as you and Kathryn said I would."

"Sleep is good," Torres yawned, then let go of Seven's hand as they stepped in front of the doorway to her lovers' dwelling. When the door opened to expose the darkened, silent quarters, B'Elanna let Seven of Nine go in first, as she breathed a sigh of relief that Janeway hadn't tried to waited up for her and fallen asleep on the couch watching the television or reading, as she was known to do from time to time. Walking over to Seven's desk and hanging her tunic on the chair as she kicked off her boots, Torres whispered, "Do you think I'll wake her if I take a quick shower?"

Waiting for B'Elanna since she wanted to shower as well, finding the process of cleansing her body under the water 'relaxing,' Seven answered, equally quiet, "Most likely. I will wake her and inform her we have returned and then join you…unless you require privacy?"

Torres grinned crookedly as she stepped up to Seven, winked then said, "Well, if you're gonna twist my arm…I guess I can handle that." When Seven smirked at her, Torres smirked back and growled very low in her throat as she slip one arm behind Seven's back and quickly trailed her hand down to her girlfriend's firm, shapely bottom, letting her fingertips skid across the natural crease. Torres whispered, "I can always handle that," before she kissed Seven and dropped her hand lower, teasing Seven's senses through her biosuit as she deliberately fondled her through the spongy material. When Seven dropped the PADD to the floor, grabbed her and bent her over backwards as she took control of the kiss, holding her up at her neck with her enhanced hand while she made for her bosom with her human one, B'Elanna felt her knees goes slightly week, which always seemed to happen to her whenever Seven demonstrated such dominance, as she had been known to do from time to time with the brunette. After Seven let up on her and eased her back up into an upright position, Torres asked, breathless, still holding onto Seven, "Have I mentioned how much I hate your guts…I mean really, really loathe them?"

Smiling, Seven whispered, "If 'lately' includes three days ago, then you have."

"Three days?" Torres smiled wickedly. "I must be slacking…I'll have to work on hating you more."

"I find this acceptable."

As Seven bent down and retrieved the PADD, Torres made her way over to the bedroom door and mumbled, "I wonder why she closed the door?" and then allowed as she opened it, stepped inside and saw the reason, "Oh," then had to smile at the sight before her.

Kathryn and Naomi were sleeping.

The small captain was curled up around the child, who was facing away from her so her cranial horns didn't scratch the fully human female, and was also tucked down farther so the top of her head came to Janeway's chin, which was pressed against it. Their bodies from the shoulders down where covered under the bedding, but it was easy to tell from the single, slight rise in the material that they were directly next to each other, and the captain was holding her assistant firmly, but lovingly in place.

When Seven of Nine came up behind her and placed her hands on her shoulders, then wrapped one arm around her neck lightly, Torres reached up and made contact with the pale woman's skin, wanting to connect with her at this special moment. For several seconds they stood there and watched the two of them sleep soundlessly and peaceful, so still it was almost as if they weren't breathing, until the child twitched just slightly, but it was enough to stir the captain for long enough for her to readjust her head to kiss the top of Naomi's before she fell back into a quick sleep, not once opening her eyes and having no idea she was being watched.

Once she was certain Janeway was asleep again, Torres silently backed them out of the room, deciding to not shut the door which would inform the captain that they had been there. Once she picked up her boots and tunic and dragged Seven out of the cabin, hoping they were quiet enough not to wake her, and said after they were outside, B'Elanna not bothering to put on her shoes, "Let's just go to my place…I don't want to bother them."

"Very well," Seven squeaked as she tried to hold back her tears of unbidden joy and humility that were attempting to overwhelm her.

Stopping and turning around, Torres asked, grabbing Seven's hand, "Woah…what's wrong?" when she not only heard the labored sound of Seven's voice but looked up and saw her eyes filling with moisture while her bottom lip started to tremble. When Seven grabbed her, picked her up and then buried her face in her neck as she started to cry, and really cry, not just a few tears but real, chest shuddering weeping, and was doing so right in the middle of the hall on Deck Three, although it wasn't like there was anyone around on this section of the deck at this time of the night, Torres wrapped her legs and then her arms around the Borg so she didn't feel so awkward just hanging in midair and said, rubbing her back, not certain what was going on, "It's okay, dollface…it's okay."

When Seven took a few deep breaths and started to settle herself, B'Elanna asked, "What's wrong…why are you upset?"

The blonde pulled away, set Torres down, brushed her long hair off her shoulder, grabbed the woman's tool jacket and used it to wipe her cheeks as she informed, her emotion still modulating her normally pure tones, "I am not in distress…I am 'happy,' however, I do not understand this reaction…although, Kathryn often demonstrates this particular emotional response, but I have never done so to such a degree."

Handing the jacket back to Torres, feeling the need to be as logical and precise as possible to regain control, Seven added, "Thank you for the use of this garment." Taking a deep breath, Seven turned, B'Elanna still holding her hand again, and explained as they continued on their way, "I am 'happy' because this event means that Kathryn has not only truly trusted the 'advise' I have given her on how to 'exorcise' her 'demon,' but she is now taking the matter into her own 'hands' which is required for her to be successful in this endeavor."

When B'Elanna nodded, although it was somewhat of a nod that could be read, "Okay, I'm listening, but please say more because I'm lost," Seven went on after entering the carriage and requesting the engineer's deck, "Today she came to me for 'advise.' I cannot divulge the context of the discussion at this time because it affects other individuals." Once B'Elanna nodded at that easy, she said, "This advise I gave her was in regards on how to assist her with her 'guilt' over this crew's situation. She has followed through with our experiment, more so than I expected her to." Stepping out of the lift, she quieted her voice some, "We can extrapolate from the event that we just witnessed that after you informed her that we were still working on the relay problem, that she then went over to Naomi Wildman's dwelling and invited her over for a sleepover. I do not believe Naomi Wildman would attempt to ask the captain to engage in such an event…this was Kathryn's doing."

Entering her room and putting her stuff down, Torres went on, "Okay…I follow…so, what does this mean…do you know?"

Seven placed the PADD on the nightstand by the bed, as she answered, "I am not certain of all that it 'means,' but it does 'mean' that she is adapting. Kathryn has done this often as of late. I believe she examines a situation from all points of view, makes a decision, then adapts accordingly to maintain harmony, as she sees it. It is an intriguing process to detail, even if I am only aware of her actions and rarely her thought processes." Looking away for a moment, thinking, Seven turned back to B'Elanna, who was leaning against one of her table chairs with her hands crossed over her chest, listening closely, "I am certain part of Kathryn's motivation to have Naomi Wildman over is 'fueled' by her 'guilt' for her up-bringing, and I am not certain that attitude will ever change, and I am not certain that it should because it is a protective instinct and it ensures that Naomi Wildman's needs will be seen to...however…although I am merely speculating, I believe that…perhaps Kathryn is engaging in this ritual for her own benefit as well. Naomi Wildman is 'good' for Kathryn. She often restores Kathryn's sense of purpose and importance and since Noami Wildman idolizes her, she also reminds Kathryn of why it is important to her to remain true to herself and her beliefs, so that Naomi Wildman can know, through her, what it means to be a Starfleet commanding officer. Kathryn is very proud of her father's legacy and I believe she wishes to leave a similar one with Naomi Wildman."

Sighing, Seven sat down on the bed and smiled softly, looking down at her hands, "I am 'happy' because she is trusting me with this highly personal and sensitive matter, which definitely affects the functioning of this ship…she has never done so to this extent. She has come to me, listened, and did not flee when I attempted to help her through moments that I knew would be difficult for her to manage alone without withdrawing and becoming dismayed. And I am happy that she is trusting and believing in herself…or her heart, which she often ignores because it is in contradiction with her mind." Looking up, Seven smiled and said, "She is beginning to understand that only how she views the situation must change…nothing more." Seven looked down again and sighed, "A drone once told her she was unremarkable…that she was small, lacked harmony and greatness," looking up, Seven said, cocking her eyebrow and cheek, "It was clearly malfunctioning…severely. She is remarkable."

Chuckling, Torres came over and sat next to Seven and then said, "Forget what I said before about becoming a nudist when we get home," patting her leg, she finished, "you should become a shrink because," smirking, "if you can get Kathryn the Great to follow your psychological advise without having to assimilate her first…I don't think you'll have many tougher patients." Winking, she added, "Don't underestimate yourself, dollface…'this drone,'" she kissed her shoulder, "is as remarkable as they come…even if you are a pain in my ass."

Seven expelled a small amount of air, grabbed B'Elanna and pulled her across her lap, then said, "B'Elanna Torres, there is no bigger 'pain in my ass' than you…and that is how I wish it to be."

"Ditto, tootse," Torres smiled, "Kiss me…DaH!"

"Lights!" B'Elanna Torres shouted as she sat straight up in bed, panting and clenching her fists while perspiration beaded on her forehead and caused her exposed, tanned chest to glisten under the illumination.

Being jolted out of her heavy sleep, having decided after her shower with the Klingon and a few sweet moments between the sheets that she would rather wait to analyze the data in the morning since she was feeling rather peaceful and didn't want to unwind from her lover's firm and wonderfully warm body, Seven of Nine pushed herself up as well, instinctively holding the covers over her bare bosom as she asked, crisp, despite the fact that she continued to be a most heavy sleeper, "What has occurred?"

"Fuck!" Torres growled as she pounded the side of her fist against the wall that her bed was settled beside. Ignoring the pain the whallop caused in her arm, B'Elanna climbed to her feet, standing on her bed in only a pair of cotton, boxer like shorts and offered, clipped, as she jumped off the bed and made for the replicator, "Sorry, dollface…go back to sleep."

Forgetting herself, B'Elanna automatically barked at the device, "Water!" Then hearing the word come from her mouth, she growled as her body naturally coiled in displeasure when the glass appeared. Snatching it up, she threw the contents over her head, then turned and chucked the glass across the room where it smashed cleanly against the wall near the door to her bathroom, yelling, "Water's for cowards!"

Relaxing as Torres launched the glass across the room, then turned to the replicator and ordered another, following suit of dumping it over her head, then heaving the empty container at the same wall, Seven sat quietly, understanding exactly why Torres was taking her anger out on water. Once B'Elanna was done and stood with her hands braced against the wall, breathing heavily while the 'water' dripped from her hair and face, down her back, and onto the floor, the blonde stood from the bed and quickly traveled to Torres' side, but did not attempt to console her.

Speaking to the device, Seven of Nine demanded of it, "Two whiskeys…'straight up.'" When two shots of the amber synthetic libation appeared, and B'Elanna looked over at her, she thrust one towards the Klingon and said, "bIjatlh 'e' yImev. yItlhutlh (Stop talking! Drink!)." Then without consternation, she picked up the small glass, and downed it in one gulp. As she swallowed, Seven of Nine couldn't help but squish her face and then cough deeply at the burning sensation in her nasal passage and throat, but afterward as Torres continued to look at her like she was crazy, and possibly should seek psychological attention herself, she managed a shallow, "Qapla'."

Smiling as Seven continued to fight through the sensation of downing a shot of hard 'liquor,' which she'd never done before, Torres nodded, accepting the gesture and tossed back hers with much more ease than the blonde. Then picking up both glasses, not caring that she was going to have to spend some time picking up little pieces of glass before the start of the day, Torres chucked them both at the wall again in delight, then rallied, "Now that's how you drink, Seven!"

Flushed, Seven caught her breath, already starting to feel some of the effects of the synthehol and said, "That was…repulsive…but effective." Frowning, she added, "It is unfortunate I do not have a hypospray to utilize like before…the sensation is…unsettling."

Snickering, Torres pushed her damp hair from her forehead and said, coming up to Seven and rubbing her back, "This is nothing, dollface…just wait 'til we get really shit-faced." Then being serious, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"I am functioning," Seven replied nodding and shaking her head slightly. "Although, I suddenly feel warmer than before but am having difficulty adjusting my nanoprobes efficiently."

"And I thought Chakotay was a light weight," Torres added, endeared. Taking her hand, she said, "Come on…let's go back to bed…I'll pick up the glass in the morning." Making sure Seven was settled and not going to fall over, although she did look to be doing fine even though she was still scrunching her face every few seconds as she continued to taste the strong flavor, B'Elanna eased back into her bed, turned toward Seven and said as she curled up next to her and cuddled, "Thanks for not freaking out on me. I guess that seemed kind of weird…you probably should have." Then pushing herself up, she asked as Seven titled her head and looked down at her, "Why didn't you freak out?"

Familiar with the term 'freak out,' Seven of Nine answered easily, "I assumed that you had experienced a nightmare. Kathryn is prone to this phenomenon as well, and she often retrieves a glass of water to help settle herself. However, I am aware that Klingon's do not drink water, and find doing so unacceptable, and 'guessed' that since you are not accustomed to following all Klingon proverbs, as of yet, you were simply acting on the instincts of your former habits which are in contradiction with the new ones you are attempting to develop." Smirking a little as Torres shook her head and mumbled, "Why do I even ask," she informed, "It was not 'rocket science.'"

B'Elanna smiled crooked and replied, "You know, dollface…I'm not sure what to do with the new you. I'm having a hard time keeping up."

"Kathryn has made similar statements," Seven smiled, feeling the need to laugh out loud suddenly and not certain as to why. "However, I'm certain you two will adapt efficiently." Then pulling Torres on top of her and urging the Klingon to straddle her hips, Seven added, "Do you not approve?"

Sensing the change in Seven's behavior and demeanor, wondering if the affects of the synthehol were causing her sudden sexiness or if it was her trying to get B'Elanna's mind off of her nightmare and recent distress, Torres came back playfully, pressing her firm bosom into Seven's fuller, slightly softer swells, "I think I need more data before I can answer that." When she felt Seven's rosy, erect nipples skid across her warm skin as she pressed forward, B'Elanna snarled and smiled, "Grrrrr...definitely specific...technical data."

"Very well," Seven smirked, bringing her hands to Torres' hips and slipping them under her loose waistband until she was holding her bottom. "How can I assist you with gaining the necessary knowledge?"

Suddenly feeling highly aroused, knowing there were several things motivating her tired body at the moment, stress relief, not to mention the beautiful woman beneath her, being the biggest, Torres replied as she dipped her head and started kissing Seven's neck, who happily turned her face slightly away to make the task easier, "There's only one thing I can think of right now." When the blonde responded by dropping her human hand farther down and lightly grazing a few digits over B'Elanna's sex, that was already starting to respond to the stimulus, the chief kissed her way to Seven's cheek, then lightly bit her there, not leaving a mark, but still making it known she was initiating a mating ritual.

Rolling them over quickly until she we pinning the Klingon beneath her, Seven kissed Torres passionately and deeply while she removed the brunette's shorts, finding the taste of the whiskey on Torres' palate more pleasant than on hers, and then pressed her body farther into B'Elanna's since she was already without apparel. When Torres growled again in her throat as Seven pulled her lips away and the brunette responded by grabbing Seven's buttocks and pulling her in tighter, the ex-drone smirked when she understood that Torres wasn't going to attempt to show her affection first, as was the norm, but instead wanted Seven to take the lead.

Thinking about that, and what she knew of B'Elanna Torres, what she'd learned from Kathryn, and her other avenues of research, she asked a question she'd never asked anyone before, as she began attacking her neck with reckless abandon, suddenly experiencing a somewhat different drive to feel pleasure that she'd never experienced before, and wondered if it was the synthehol causing this reaction, while Torres continued to urge Seven to move her body against hers, "Do you want me to fuck you, bang?"

Torres inhaled deeply as she arched up as much as she could, then hissed, "Yeeessss!" finding something about hearing Seven of Nine say that, who was the last person on the ship she thought she'd ever hear use such a term, completely erotic and exciting. She wondered for a moment where Seven had picked that up, because even though that particular word was her all-time favorite profane word, thinking that no matter how often she said it, it still had umph to it, which she appreciated, she didn't remember ever using that term in that manner with the Borg, and only had done so with Kathryn…and that bit of imprecise recollection, although she wasn't Borg and couldn't possibly remember everything like Seven, suddenly turned her on even more to think that Kathryn had used that term with Seven, and she was definite sorry she'd missed that since she knew from experience whenever the redhead said that, Torres always wanted to sit up and yell, "Stand by with the resuscitation device!" just to hear Kathryn's cackle before she pounced on her.

From the reaction of the vocal stimulation she had just used, Seven continued to question--although this one sounded much more demanding--her as she moved her human hand down to one of Torres' breasts, but kept most of her weight firmly atop the brunette who she knew was solid enough to take it, "Tell me how you want me to fuck you." She indeed knew what Torres preferred when they made love as a couple, and as a group, and she knew from what the captain had told her what the redhead wanted when she used that term, but she didn't know what B'Elanna needed specifically at the moment.

"Inside," B'Elanna demanded with her jaw clenched as her body began to burn with a fever to be released of pent up energy. When Seven slid off of her onto her left side so she could use her human, right hand to grant her request, Torres said, "Wait," as the blonde trailed her hand down her torso, stopping just at her navel, then added quickly, as she leaned over and kissed the blonde fairly quickly, "let me turn over so I don't wake anyone up."

Seven understood the precaution she was taking as far as giving her something to bury her face into since it was a well known fact that B'Elanna Torres often became loud during copulation. Thanks to Seven's enhanced hearing, she had overheard one hushed conversation in the last three months, that's context was in regards to someone overhearing Torres and Janeway, who was also rather vocal, although didn't howl at the top of her lungs like B'Elanna, one particular evening when the captain had stayed with her engineer. Seven had never told either of them that they had been overheard since she noticed that not only were both of them glowing the next day, but after that incident, each of them had gained a greater respect of the officers that overheard them and forwarded the story along; Torres gained respect for getting Janeway to scream her name and say a few rather choice phrases in the process, and Janeway gained respect for getting wild with the Klingon, who had left Tom Paris achy more than a few times, and living through it, considering her less than fortuitous physical presence. Seven also never told them because she was certain Janeway would feel embarrassment, and probably not enjoy herself to that extent ever again unless they were in her quarters where extra sound-proofing measures had been taken after the shower incident, and the blonde never wanted that to happen because watching Torres and Janeway prance and bounce around when they were caught up in one of their many moments of almost adolescent-like, first love, bliss while they worked was just as intriguing to watch when all hell was breaking loose and Kathryn was saber-rattling on the Bridge, while Torres kept Engineering and the captain's ship healthy enough to be able to do whatever Janeway wanted it to. Seven of Nine was fairly sure when it really came down to it, she was involved with the two most important people on the ship, and the blonde was rather proud of that since she was absolutely positive only a Borg could handle those two.

As Torres rolled over onto her stomach, not flat and bending her right knee, bringing it up closer to her chest to open herself up, Seven took a quick minute to run her fingers over B'Elanna's finely muscled back. Seven of Nine kept her fingernails cut very short, finding long nails completely inefficient, although she did admit that she enjoyed the way they looked on Kathryn's intelligent hands, but she did do her best to scratch the Klingon's sensitive back as best she could, knowing B'Elanna liked it very much, but she stayed clear from the five small burn marks that were clearly visible on her tanned skinned, and wondered slightly if they would leave scars. Seven certainly didn't think the scars made her unattractive, but it was just a passing thought since Seven still had many scars from her stint with the Collective. Absently running her finger over the thin, long, fairly white scar on B'Elanna's left shoulder, she paid extra attention to it because she knew it was important to her lover. She had inquired about the scar two months ago, because she didn't remember seeing it on Torres' back when they were camping, and her shoulders had been exposed, so that meant it was new. B'Elanna had told her to not take offense, but that it was highly personal and all Seven needed to know was that it was a badge of honor she wore for Seven and Kathryn, so the blonde had left it at that, but took a moment each time they were together to pay her respects to the symbol.

Then worried her tribute was changing the mood from what Torres needed to their usual, softer love-making, Seven pressed her body against Torres' firmly, and bit her shoulder fairly smartly as she reached around and cupped one of her breasts. When B'Elanna growled again, pressing her lower body into Seven's as she arched her back and grabbed the Borg's hand, urging her to be more aggressive in her kneading, Seven complied, and didn't stop until the engineer was purring steadily, but the sound was nothing like Kathryn's soft hum; B'Elanna's was more like a large cat's, that continued to build in strength until she would roar her demand.

"DaH," Torres snarled, balling her fist and squeezing a handful of the bedding, "do it, now!"

As Seven took her hand away from her chest and started kissing and lightly biting her shoulder again, Torres tilted her pelvis just slightly, giving her lover better access to her aching center, and when the Borg grasped her firmly, B'Elanna growled deeply again, her lips pulling back slightly over her white teeth, until Seven pushed two fingers into her with little abbreviation. Gasping at the sensation, her body language changing instantly from feral, crackling desire into subdued submission, since the only time she wanted penetration was when she was in such a lather, thus her muscles were always tight and somewhat resistant, even if it was what she wanted, and the chief quaked as a her body was flooded with tingling pleasure. B'Elanna wasn't even certain what was happening until she realized her whole being was tensed and trembling since she'd never climaxed so fast in her life, although she had to admit that she thought she might have been able to get there just with the blonde's hand on her breast if she hadn't demanded Seven proceed, simply because Seven was so absolutely focused all of the time and seemed like she was studying, even when she was clearly loving. She would find a technique that either Kathryn or B'Elanna enjoyed and then repeat it until she had it mastered, and until her lovers were either a lump of boneless putty in her hands, or squirming and demanding that Seven continue. Then exhaling as she started to descend as fast as she had risen while Seven didn't move her digits in the least but continued to kiss her neck and her shoulder, the Klingon licked her suddenly dry lips and whispered, "That was different."

When Seven laughed softly, then pressed her body into Torres', but withdrew her fingers with supreme care, although kept her hand firmly planted between her legs and treated her with extra kindness and attention, now pampering her since she felt Torres would be adverse now that her aggression had passed, B'Elanna purred again, although this time it wasn't as carnal and informed, "Jesus…you feel good right now…"

"It is you who feels good, bang," Seven whispered into her ear. Then going on, as she kissed the brunette's skin, she said, "Relax your body and allow me to treat you with kindness."

After several tender minutes of Seven slowly exploring her most intimate region with the softest touches while she kissed her shoulder and neck, and then finally easing her hand away once she was certain Torres was comfortable and relaxed, Seven pulled the covers back over their bodies, shrugged her long mane off of her shoulders, and returned to her position of lying against her back, partly on her side, with her arm draped over Torres' body. When she felt B'Elanna tense as though she was thinking about something unsettling, Seven asked softly, "What is 'wrong'?" Then to clarify as Torres said, "Hmm?" Seven informed, "Your body has tensed, yet you were relaxed. Kathryn often does this without being aware of her actions, and the typical reason for the occurrence is that she is unsettled or thinking of something unpleasant."

Sighing, B'Elanna said softly after almost a minute of cogitation, "Dollface, I need to tell you something…but you can't talk to anyone about it…it's," sighing again, "it's not something a Klingon should ever admit to."

"Then I will not…on my honor."

Torres took a deep breath and said, "I need to keep the lights on…because," clenching her teeth again, and tensing, "I'm afraid of the dark…sometimes," she growled, finishing. Going on before Seven said anything, needing to clarify, her words were somewhat clipped, showing her irritation and frustration at her own weaknesses, "It's one of the reasons I like to have my own place. It's not as bad as it used to be, but it's pretty dark in here because there are no windows…and sometimes when I'm really stressed, or have had a bad dream, like tonight, I like to keep the lights on." As Seven cuddled with her more and urged her to lay on her side so the Borg could hold her closer, Torres added, starting to ease away from her quick change in demeanor, "But like I said, it's not so bad anymore…although, I can't stand the pitch black…you know the kind where you can't see your hand in front of your fuckin' face…if there's no light at all…I get really freaked out." Sighing again, she curled up her legs some, forming a slight ball, "I can't do anything except…freak out," laughing slightly in her nervousness, "it's not pretty, babydoll."

"If I did not have enhanced hearing capabilities," Seven of Nine offered, speaking the truth but hoping to console her girlfriend at the same time, "I believe if I found myself in a situation where there was no ambient lighting, I would too be highly unsettled. The Borg rely on visual acuity first and foremost, and I depend on my ability to see everything clearing a great deal, so although I cannot say for certain, I believe I understand your reaction." Instead of going on and informing B'Elanna that such a phobia was not uncommon with humans, because she was certain that would just make Torres feel worse since it was clear that instead of rebelling against her Klingon side, which was typical until recently, she was now turning the tables and fighting with her 'weaker' half, Seven kissed her cheek, then had to ask to be certain, although she felt she already knew the answer, "Have you informed Kathryn of this?"

Shaking her head, Torres said, "No…she doesn't know. I got a little weirded out the first night we went camping while she was dragging me through the canyon looking for firewood, but I played it off like it was just the sound of wind and the unfamiliarity that was spooky…so I doubt she knows." Sighing, Torres informed, "I've never had a bad dream while she's been over…so, this never came up. It's not that I don't really want her to know, but I just don't want her to always worry like she does." B'Elanna grabbed Seven's hand, brought it to her lips and went on, "You're not really like that…like her like that…like with the heat in her cabin." Shaking her head, she said, frustration returning, even if she was constantly grateful for Kathryn's sacrifice in this area, "I know she gets damn hot in there some nights, but you know how stubborn she is…she won't turn it down…not even just a little…and insists she's fine, even if she wakes up soaking wet."

"Kathryn does this because she not only loves you, but she loves you as you are and because that is one mechanism she utilizes to reaffirm that," Seven explained softly. "She conducts herself in a similar manner with me with regards to my implants, especially my hand. She is aware that I prefer her not to hold my left hand because she has been slightly damaged by it before, but she often refuses to comply and holds it firmly despite the fact that she incurs minor lacerations, or 'paper cuts,' as she puts it, if she is not careful. There is also the fact that she feels it's easier for her to adapt than you, and feels also that you should not be required to adapt…and she is adapting, and often tells me that she, meaning her body, feels healthier in the greater temperature and that her skin has never looked 'better' aboard a starship."

"Well, that's true," Torres smiled, thinking about their redheaded 'little lady,' as Nick referred to Kathryn in Torres' presence when they are alone and wouldn't offend anyone. "She does look awfully nice these days, but I wasn't sure if it was just me thinking she was getting more gorgeous just because I'm allowed to stare at her now."

Seven smiled as well, and replied, not surprised that the conversation was turning to Kathryn since that was how it normally went with them, especially after copulation, and the same was often true with her and Kathryn, as far as speaking of B'Elanna, and even though she wasn't certain, she surmised that B'Elanna and Kathryn spoke of her sometimes after their rituals, "I believe some of her enhanced beauty as of late is because she knows that you do 'oogle' her, as she puts it. You're appreciation for her physical beauty, in particular, has assisted her with her view of herself as a woman. Mine has too as well, but since you're reactions to her are often more apparent, and sexual in nature, they have a greater impact and she can't as easily dismiss them."

Laughing at herself, Torres asked, "So, you're saying I should continue to be a walking disaster area every time she comes into my engine room…looking the way she does when she marches in on her high horse like she's got a serious weed up her butt…or worse," she sighed in humor, "when she prances in grinning from ear to ear like she doesn't have a care in the world? Kahless, that one does me in ever fuckin' time…just like how she looks at you when you come barging onto the Bridge demanding that she do something." Snickering, B'Elanna shook her head and said, "I'm surprised I haven't broken my neck by snapping my head around…or fallen down the ladder because I can't take my eyes of her long enough to watch where the hell it is I'm going." Turning over on her back, Torres asked honestly, figuring Seven of Nine would know the answer since she seemed to know a lot about more than people gave her credit for, "How the hell does she do that…do you know?"

Seven raised her eyebrows, not unhappy that the Klingon's language was beginning to be filled with profanity despite the fact that they were engaging in 'pillow talk', even though Seven didn't prefer to use it herself, because she knew such an occurrence meant that she was feeling better since she wasn't cursing at someone, just using the terms to express herself as she was accustomed, and replied, "I don't know. That quality is unique to Kathryn, so it's difficult to analyze it since there is no other example available. I believe it is part of what makes her attractive…because we do not understand, but are intrigued nonetheless."

Torres smiled crookedly, half at the meaning of the answer, and half at Seven's attempts to speak less precise which was clearly difficult for her to accomplish since she seemed to only remember to do so half of the time and at the beginning of her sentences before she got wrapped up in her explanation and reverted to her habit, and said, "Mystery…that's what it is…it makes her complicated and never, ever boring." Shaking her head, Torres laughed slightly and added, "Christ, I can't believe I actually thought she was boring…I honestly did when I first met her, although she changed that idea real quick…in true Captain Cowgirl fashion, of course." Taking Seven's hand as the blonde expelled a small amount of air in humor, and holding it to her chest, B'Elanna softened and informed, "Thanks, babe…I really do feel a lot better now." After kissing her softly, Torres teased, "Who the hell knew the Borg were so damned smart anyway…did you?"

Seven quirked her eyebrow and replied, "I was aware, B'Elanna Torres…however, I am not surprised that you were not." When B'Elanna smiled, then gave her fingers a soft love bite, Seven added, "But it is of no consequence…I will continue to assist you with your thought processes until I cease to function…that should be adequate time to make some progress…perhaps."

"Seven…"

"Yes."

"I really do love you, dollface…just don't tell anyone, alright…I have a reputation around this joint to maintain."

Lying down next to B'Elanna and pulling her into the crook of her arm, Seven of Nine replied, "I love you as well, 'babe'…and I won't inform another of your lack of hatred if you do not inform anyone of mine. I too have a reputation to maintain. I am Borg."

Cuddling and pulling the covers to her chin, Torres replied, yawning, "Deal…now shut the fuck up and go to sleep before I kill you, Borg."

"Your attempts to terminate me will result in failure, Klingon," Seven droned, purposefully robotic and mechanical despite the fact that she was wrapped up intimately and acting very much human, "however, I will comply...this time."

"The time is 0800 hours," announced the ship's computer as the lights in the sizable room came up to a quarter maximum.

Inhaling softly as the small half human, half Katarian female in her arms started to stir, Janeway blinked open her eyes a moment before her brilliant smile illuminated the rest of the room. Despite the fact that she had only slept lightly and been woken slightly every time the small girl moved a muscle, Janeway was hard-pressed to remember a morning after working a triple-shift and not sleeping like a log that she felt as refreshed as she currently did. The captain was aware that her body would probably still be moaning and groaning at her through a good part of the day, but her heart definitely felt renewed and thus, so did her soul…and the extra hour of sleep, and the knowledge that she didn't plan to go to the Bridge today unless there was an emergency was also helping. She was going to spend a while in Biometrics and discuss the situation, but then she planned to report to the Shuttle Bay and help out with the cause there, feeling the need to get her hands dirty in some real work, so to speak, and hoping her presence would raise the spirits of her precious engineer's who were really feeling the personnel crunch.

But before she did any of that, she planned to finish her sleepover with Naomi and then attend her morning Science class, and hopefully to do a little teaching of her own.

When Naomi yawned, and then opened her eyes as if just remembering where she was and who she was with, and tried to push herself up, Janeway, a little reluctantly, let go of her and said once the child turned toward her, sitting on her knees and greeted her enthusiastically, "Good morning, Miss Wildman…did you sleep well?"

"Yes, Captain," Naomi nodded, smiling. "I didn't wake up once." Then widening her eyes, she asked, "I didn't kick you, did I? Sometimes I kick Mommy when I sleep with her…"

Chuckling, Janeway shook her head and said, "Not that I remember, but if I find any mysterious bruises on my legs…I'll let you know." As the child giggled at that, Janeway pushed herself up and said, crawling out of the bed and moving toward her lounger, after stretching as best she was able without groaning and looking 'old,' to get her robe out of habit, even though her quarters were consistently warm enough now that she was perfectly comfortable in her sleeveless, almost backless nightgown, "If you need to use the bathroom…go on ahead…you don't have to ask."

When Naomi nodded and then toddled off to the ensuite, Janeway walked into the living room and straight to the replicator by rote. It wasn't until she brought a mug of coffee to her lips that she realized that she hadn't had to open the bedroom door, and she had purposefully closed it in case Seven and B'Elanna came home in foul moods, swearing and bickering, which had happened on one occasion when they had returned from one of their Elite Force training sessions. Thankfully for the captain, their 'argument' had been short lived and was simply caused by their exhaustion, and they had finally kissed and made up after a little more than fifteen minutes, then collapsed into the bed, huddled together while Janeway looked on in wonder, shaking her head and saying to herself, "Good to see you too," since they had paid her zero attention, which the captain didn't mind, all things considering, but it certainly was an anomaly because she had come to the understanding, and was at peace with it now, that she was the center figure in the relationship and often got the most attention, good and otherwise, because of it. She wasn't certain how long her 'status' would last, and wasn't disagreeable to the focus being turned on another, but she had a feeling that as long as they were on this ship, things probably wouldn't change much simply because she was the captain.

Figuring that meant that they had come home, but decided, as she figured they would and honestly hoped, since she wanted to spend time with Noami alone, but didn't want to tell them not to come over in case they felt the need to be close to her, and hoping that also meant that they had figured out the problem, Janeway looked up instinctively and said, "Computer, locate Seven of Nine and Lieutenant Torres."

"Seven of Nine and Lieutenant Torres are in Biometrics," reported the ship's computer.

Letting that go, just hoping that they had made some progress and hadn't worked the whole night through, although she didn't think they had since one or both of them had obviously stopped by, she asked as Naomi came into view from the bedroom, scurrying toward her, "What do you usually have for breakfast?"

"Mommy makes lots of different things," Noami started, stopping by the captain near the replicator, and brushing her hands on her white, cotton nightgown to dry them, "but Mommy says I'm not a picky eater…so I'll have whatever you're having, Captain…I like lots of stuff."

Smiling, she asked, "Do you have a favorite breakfast that's not too complicated?" She smirked, "I'm not much of a cook…Seven usually fixes most of our meals."

"I like the orange and cranberry muffins in the database, Captain…Mommy let's me order those when I have to wake up by myself."

Nodding, Janeway stepped aside and said, "Well, by all means then…"

Bouncing, excited that she was getting to make breakfast for the captain, especially now that she knew she took care of her and was determined to do the best job possible taking care of her captain so she could continue to take care of her whole ship, the child walked over to the table and explained as she pulled one of the lightweight, put sturdy chairs over to the device, "I have to stand on a chair 'cause I can't reach yet and Mommy says I'm getting too heavy for people to pick me up all the time, but Nick, B'Elanna and Seven still can though." After climbing on the chair, she stood in front of it and said, "Two cranberry orange muffins please and milk." Turning to the captain as the device produced her order, she asked, "Did you want some milk too, Captain?"

"No thank you," Janeway replied, picking up the plate and carrying it over to the table as Naomi grabbed the milk then dragged the chair back over with her free hand. Then retracing her steps back to the replicator as the child climbed up in the chair, Janeway ordered another plate, then two napkins and asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to see the look on her assistant's face as she returned to the table and took her seat adjacent to her, "Do you mind if I come to your Science class today and help out? I haven't been able to spend time in the Science lab in a long while…I sort of miss it."

Hardly able to keep herself from jumping up, hugging the captain then running all the way to Seven of Nine's location to inform her of the news, the youngest Wildman's eyes instead grew bigger at the implications, grandiose images of she and the captain conducting experiments and finding out all kinds of previously unknown knowledge about cellular structure, which was the theme for this quarter's Science class. Nodding her head, Naomi managed, "Yes, Captain…I mean…I don't mind." When Janeway winked at her then pointed at her food, informing her to eat, Wildman mimicked the captain, placed her napkin on her lap, then snatched up her milk and slowly sipped on it until Kathryn put down her mug and started picking at her muffin.

After a minute when Naomi hadn't said anything, which was strange, unless they were reading together, the captain became aware that she was being watched, and then it hit her that her actions were being imitated. Feeling slightly playful, and remembering the episode of I Love Lucy they had seen last night where the screwball woman had dressed up like someone named Harpo Marx and they had had a funny mirroring scene in the episode, Kathryn picked up her glass, pretending to not notice Naomi doing the same thing, wondering if the episode was prompting this behavior from her assistant. Then just as she was about to drink, she pulled it away from her lips and started to set it back down, forcing herself not to laugh when the child did so as well, but again, before she set it down, she brought it back up toward her face, still paying Naomi little attention.

After the third time through Janeway finally had to laugh as the child started to giggle and said, "Captain, you're being silly," and replied, setting her drink down all the way this time, "Well, I'm just following rule number five, Miss Wildman…and I don't think we have to worry about Tuvok coming in here right now." Then chuckling and bringing the mug back to her lips, she took a sip, completely ignored the subject that Naomi continued to mimic her and asked, "If I call B'Elanna this morning and see if it's safe, do you want to make a quick stop in Biometrics and see Seven?"

"Cool…I mean, yes, Captain," Naomi replied, forgetting her mimicking for a little while and eating more of her muffin since she was hungry and the captain had barely touched hers. "I've never been to Biometrics before…I'm not allowed to go there 'cause it's a real busy place and Mommy doesn't like me to go to busy places where people work unless she can watch me."

"Well, that's true," Janeway came back, it being her turn to imitate the child and eat quicker so that they would have plenty of time to make the stop, "but we're having some problems with the sensor relay system, so no one's in there right now except an Engineering crew." Then getting up from the table, she informed, "I'll go get my communicator and then we can ask her." Returning from her bedroom to retrieve her comm-badge, she tapped it on the way back to the table and said, "Janeway to Torres."

Without her usual slight sound of irritation in her reply, which the captain had learned not to let annoy her or take personally since that was just part of B'Elanna's personality and her anxious or eagerness came out often sounding like impatience, the chief replied, "Torres here."

"Chief," the captain started, doing her best to remember to use her lieutenant's preferred designation, finding it rather funny that she didn't know B'Elanna liked that term until about six months ago. Torres had never told her so, but one day in Engineering when she had come in on the upper level to observe the happenings without making herself seen since rarely did anyone but B'Elanna work up there consistently, she had made note that almost everyone was using the term to address her. After that, she tried it out for herself, and the subsequent smile it produced was enough to tell the captain that she should continue. She found herself slipping every now and then, and preferred to use the woman's rank when she was trying to make a strong point and felt the need to assert her authority, but whenever she was 'asking for permission,' so to speak, or requesting her opinion as her lead engineer, or trying to make the point that even though this was her vessel, she understood that Engineering was B'Elanna's domain and she deserved the respect that came with that, she tried to remember to use the term. "Unless you feel it's unsafe, I'd like to take a few moments to show my assistant the Biometrics lab this morning, a little before 0900 hours…will that be a problem?"

"Not at all, Captain," Torres replied rather cheerfully, doing her best not to chuckle at her lover. "We're still shutdown, and all the clean-up has been done…there won't be much for her to look at, though…except for the specimen containers…they run on their own power sources."

Deciding not to ask for a status report, figuring if something terrible was happening, B'Elanna would have told her, Janeway came back, "That's fine…thank you. We'll be along in a while. Janeway out." Setting down her communicator, and handing over a quarter of her muffin to the child who had finished hers and her milk, and looked like she was still slightly hungry, which wasn't a surprise since Naomi was definitely going through a growing spurt, Janeway said, "We better hurry then."

When the captain gave her some of her muffin, next ate only half of what was left of hers, then folded her napkin over her plate, the child asked as she ate her extra piece readily, "Aren't you hungry, Captain?"

Kathryn resisted the urge to sigh as she downed her coffee, since it seemed that anyone she ate with asked her that question when they saw how little she consumed, especially in the morning, and answered instead, "I'm full now…did you want the rest of mine?"

"No thanks, Captain," Naomi replied, finishing her piece, then placing her napkin on her plate too as she asked, "Captain, how come you put your napkin over your plate all the time?"

Chuckling, Janeway said, "It's just habit now…keeps me from picking at the food, even when I'm not hungry anymore." Standing up, she took their dishes to the replicator and explained, "I've never had much of an appetite aboard starships for some reason…so I usually finish my meals before anyone else." Turning around as Naomi got down off the chair, she went on, "My mother always told me it wasn't polite to pick at my food, so if I can't see it, I won't pick at it…see how that works?"

Still having difficulty seeing the captain as someone who had a mother that told her what to do, even if she saw pictures of the woman all the time, Naomi responded, taking up the captain's hand and walking with her back toward the bedroom, "Oh, well that's good, Captain…'cause you're always supposed to do what you're mommy tells you." Smiling, she announced, "That's rule number six about being a starship captain."

Stopping next to the bed, Janeway knelt down and responded, "That's right. Kiss me," she tapped her cheek. Once Naomi did so, Kathryn said, "Rule number seven about being a starship captain, unless there's an emergency, always make your bed before you leave for duty." When Naomi nodded at that one then sighed, obviously not liking that rule as much as the others, Kathryn chuckled and then whispered, "Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I forget that rule too…although, Seven's pretty strict…she doesn't let me get away with much."

After making the bed, the captain excused herself for a few moments to use the bathroom while Naomi dragged a chair into the bedroom and recycled her clothing and the captain's uniform at the clothing replicator. Once that was done and Janeway came out of the bathroom, they dressed, and Janeway let her assistant affix her precious pips to her collar. When Naomi had finished fumbling with the little circles and got then firmly attached, Janeway smiled from where she was sitting on the bed and said, "Thank you. Now," she started, looking forward to this moment all morning, "since you aren't required to wear a uniform, that presents us with somewhat of a problem because no one can tell automatically that you're the captain's personal assistant," holding up her finger, she added, "a highly respected position, you know. We could just give you a pip to wear too, but that doesn't really seem special enough…so I've been thinking," standing up and gesturing for her assistant to follow her, she went on as she entered her closet and knelt in front of her cedar chest, "about what you could wear while you're on duty that would let people know of the title you hold."

"What, Captain?" Naomi asked eager, kneeling down next to Janeway as she opened her trunk, which the child thought contained the coolest things in the known universe.

"Well, when the Elite Force and I went on our away mission, we met a man who was an extraordinarily gifted telepath…"

"Oh, you mean the merchant," the smallest redhead jumped in. "Seven told me about him when she showed me the Tomorrow Sphere."

"Yes, the merchant," Janeway continued, pulling out the black pouch that had once contained the crystal ball, which Seven had given to Janeway since she no longer required it. "He gave me something to give to you specifically, and I was going to wait for your birthday, but I think this will work better as your rank insignia." Handing her the black, silk pouch, Kathryn informed, "It's inside, but you can keep the pouch too."

Taking the bag somewhat tentatively, Naomi fell silent as she opened the top, almost as if she was scared, but she was not…she was just slightly overwhelmed with a sense of purpose that she'd never experienced before because now not only was she still the captain's assistant, and it was her job to take care of the most vital member of the crew, but she had something that told everyone how important she was. Turning the bag upside down, she stared for a few seconds as a small, silver necklace with what looked like a tiny person ornamenting it toppled into her hand.

When Naomi looked up at her smiling, but seemed to not quite understand, Janeway nodded, took the necklace from her hand and explained, "He was a very descriptive," she said politely, "fellow, and he used terms to describe those he saw by mixing their name, their physical appearance, and personality traits. Seven, he called angelia, I assume because she's beautiful, and angel-like because she's so fair skinned and blonde, and he called Nick, the mountain because she's so big, and me," she chuckled, "well, me he called many things…one of them being a witch, probably because of the color of my hair and because I have control over others because I'm the captain."

Familiar with the concept of a witch from the captain's Harry Potter books, and thinking they and their sorcery was fascinating and exciting, not to mention cool, Naomi merely nodded, informing Janeway that she understood the term. If she would have known the term was often used as an insult, she'd have told the captain she didn't take offense, but since she had no idea that witches were possibly bad, it didn't come up.

"Well, he called you my 'mirror,'" Janeway smiled softly, "probably because you have red hair like mine, and because you're my assistant and want to be a captain too…so," she opened the clasp on the necklace, and went on as she put it around her neck, "he gave me this tiny witch to give to you, since that's how he described you…which is a very big compliment from him." Fixing the necklace which she wasn't surprised fit the child perfectly, and centering the small figurine, Janeway finished professionally, "I, Kathryn Janeway, commanding officer of the Federation starship Voyager, do hereby officially grant the rank of captain's assistant to Naomi Marie Wildman, and all privileges and liberties that come with her official title." Holding out her hand and said, "Congratulations, Miss Wildman."

"Oh thank you, Captain Janeway!" Naomi shook her palm fiercely.

"Thank you," Janeway nodded, then stood, asking, "Do you want to see it?" When Naomi nodded, Kathryn pulled back the panel on the side of her closet to expose her full-length mirror. When the child stepped in front of it close and smiled at the offering, Kathryn asked, "Do you like it?"

"I love it, Captain…it's so cool…I think witches are so neat!" she reverted back to her former favorite description in her excitement. "It's just like Harry Potter!"

Smiling, Janeway nodded and recalled, pleased at that, "Yes, I guess it is. Now, you should wear that when you're on duty, but if you like it and your mother says it's okay, you can wear it any time. I analyzed the metal and it's pure sterling silver, so you don't have to worry about it getting damaged. Also," she knelt down, "I ran it through the replicator for you already, so if something happens and you can't find it, all you need to do it come see me and I can make you another one." Smiling, and winking, Janeway informed, "I lose my pips all the time, so I understand, and I have some jewelry cleaner I can give you so that it stays nice and shiny. All you have to do is put it in the solution for a few seconds and it will look good as new, which you should probably do once a week since it's important to always present yourself in the best possible manner when you're on duty, especially if you're the captain."

"Oh I will, Captain…I'll clean it everyday," Naomi vowed. Turning around, she threw her arms around Kathryn's neck and said, "Oh, thank you, Captain Janeway…I love you so much…you're the best captain ever!"

Sighing slightly as she felt her eyes misting over, Janeway hugged her back readily and whispered, "I love you too, honey…you're very, very welcome." Wiping her eyes, she finally pulled away, sniffled and said, "Come on, let's go make ourselves pretty and then go show everyone your necklace." When Naomi nodded, Janeway added, "Why don't you go into the bathroom and brush your hair, and I'll be in there in a minute to help you pull it back."

"Aye, Captain."

As the child toddled off, Janeway stood up, closed the panel on her mirror and then put her hand to the sensor on the door, needing a few moments alone to reflect and pull herself together. Bending down, she picked up the pouch from the top of the chest, and held it in her hand. Kneeling down, she opened up her trunk again and pulled out her favorite picture of her mother and sister that she didn't like to display for fear it would get damaged as many of her personal things had over the last seven years. After gazing at it for a few moments, she smiled and whispered, wiping a rebel tear from her cheek, "Oh, I miss you." Then chuckling, she shook her head and said with humor to her tone, "You're not even going to recognize me, you know," then growing serious again, speaking even more quiet, and directly to her mother, "but I think you'd be proud of me today…it think maybe even Daddy too…"

"Seven! Guess what! Seven, guess what!" Naomi hollered as she let go of the captain's hand when they walked through the main entrance to Biometrics and spotted the cool blonde where she stood off to the side, analyzing a PADD, and zipped over to her, completely forgetting that she'd never even been in this room and that she probably shouldn't run in such an important place. So excited a filled with just oodles of wondrous news, Naomi stopped next to the Borg, who set the PADD down for a moment and gave the child her undivided attention, knowing there was no getting away from it, and not wanting to since she too was curious as to what had occurred last evening, and rattled as fast as she could, "Oh Seven, the captain came to my room last night after you called and asked me over for a sleepover, and then we watched Lucy, and read the rest of my book, and then, Seven…are you listening?" she asked to make sure since the blonde had glanced over at Janewaym who was walking toward B'Elanna, smiling brightly and proud. When Seven nodded, she bounced and announced, "And then we took a bath! A real bath Seven…in the tub with bubbles!"

Raising her eyebrows at that, completely surprised, Seven had to again glance over at Janeway, who surprised her again and kissed B'Elanna smartly, wished her and then Kim a good morning, then asked for a report, while Harry Kim stood off to the side behind Torres and seemed like he was caught in some kind of beam that rendered him incapable of moving. When Naomi was tugging on her arm, asking her if she thought that was 'cool,' Seven turned back toward Naomi and replied, "Yes, that's 'cool.'"

"And!" Naomi exclaimed, lifting her chin and trying to display her necklace, "she gave me an official rank ins…um…she gave me this necklace to show everyone that I'm her assistant! It's a tiny witch, Seven…look." As Seven nodded then knelt down and took a closer look, she announced, "The merchant gave it to her…just for me…isn't that so neat, Seven…I wasn't even there and he knew I'd like it!"

Seven cocked her eyebrow again, then looked over to Janeway, who was now walking toward her smirking and informed, "I was not aware that the merchant had given you a gift as well. It is…'neat.'" When Janeway stepped up to her, leaned down and kissed her smartly on the lips as well, then wished her a good morning, Seven wasn't sure if she should furrow her brow in confusion for the woman's behavior or smile so wide, her normally impassive face cracked. Then deciding to just continue smirking, Seven replied, "Good morning, Kathryn," figuring if she just kissed her in front of Harry Kim, who still was looking rather lost, but starting to move again, she wouldn't mind.

And the captain didn't mind in the least. Of course, she wasn't going to go around kissing her girlfriends all the time in front of everyone because she really did think that was unprofessional, but today was a special day, she just felt it within her, and sometimes it was important to shake things up a little and keep people on their toes, and guessing as to what she would do next…this she knew for a fact, that being one of many lessons her father had taught her. And sometimes, she just wanted to take a break from being the dignified matriarch and have a little fun of her own, while she continued to do her duty, which she planned on doing all day long. This was still her ship after all, and her authority was all-powerful; sometimes it was good to be captain…sometimes.

As Seven stood up, Janeway said to Naomi, "Miss Wildman, why don't you go ask Ensign Kim to show you the specimen displays while I talk to Seven for a minute…I'll be right over and then we need to get you to the Science Lab." When Noami nodded and replied professionally, Janeway turned to Seven and asked, "Any luck with the analysis?"

"Not as of yet," Seven replied, becoming professional again, although not switching gears as easily as she normally did. "I have only had a few hours to examine the encoded data, but pending any further delays," she hoped Janeway didn't take offense, "my analysis should be complete by 1200 hours."

"Well good, and I'm glad you didn't stay up all night working on it," Janeway replied. Since Kim was on the other side of the S shaped room, holding Naomi up so she could look at the large containers of various biological specimens they had discovered during their tenure in the Delta Quadrant, that although were discovered dead or died before they could figure out how to adequately treat them, were being preserved for study in the lab, Janeway said openly, "I didn't even hear you two come home last night," squeezing her arm gently, "thank you for giving us some time alone. Did you have a nice evening?"

"It was enlightening," was all Seven of Nine said, but her voice was soft and pleasant.

"Then I'm sure you did," Janeway chuckled, glancing over to B'Elanna, who had stopped her tinkering with the main console and was now with Kim and Naomi, it being her turn to admire the child's 'rank' insignia. Chuckling as B'Elanna pulled out her ring from her pocket and showed off her present from the captain via the merchant as well, while Harry Kim listened in and seemed to be caught in another beam of shock, Janeway smiled up at Seven and said softly, "I want you to know that I've thought a lot about what you said to me yesterday and I've decided that you're absolutely right, as usual…and it's time for me to adapt and gain a new perspective." Crossing her arms over her chest, she whispered, "I'm not sure how well I'll do…I know how set in my ways I can be, but I'm going to give it my best shot." Before Seven could remark, she added, "I thought I'd start with Naomi, and hopefully that will influence the increasingly," smirking, "domesticated aspects of my life."

Fairly humbled, Seven of Nine looked down at Kathryn and replied, simply, "You will succeed."

Kathryn smiled and said softly, "You know…that's sounds so much better than 'You will fail.'" Then seriously, she finished, "Thank you, Seven of Nine…I couldn't do this without you…I wouldn't even know where to begin."

As Kim, Torres, and Naomi started back for them, Seven titled her head slightly and responded, "Ditto."

After discussing the business of the day, at least until Seven's analysis was complete, with her chief engineer for a few more minutes while Seven and Kim showed Naomi around the rest of the lab, explaining as to what various workstations were for if they had been operational, Janeway informed Torres that no matter what occurred, B'Elanna was under orders to be home by 2000 hours so that she could get adequate rest since the Day of Honor was tomorrow. Torres hadn't tired to argue since this certainly wasn't an emergency, and even if Seven didn't figure out what the problem was by then, that would mean replacing the whole circuit, which would take at least three days. Since this wasn't a mission critical section of the ship, although you couldn't tell the scientists that worked in here that, she knew if that was the case, Janeway was perfectly comfortable keeping everyone out until Torres could start the work. Certainly there were other engineers that could handle the job, but since it wasn't vital that it be fixed immediately as long as there was no danger, which there didn't seem to be with the circuit was offline, and there was already a personnel shortage, it was clear that both the captain and the engineer would prefer Torres tackle this one herself, with the help of Seven of Nine and probably Harry Kim as well. That would allow the rest of her staff to keep up with their general, and always critical maintenance and the construction of the new shuttle, which was a highly critical task, but mostly for moral purposes since it gave the dwindling group something 'fun' and exciting to work on, and that was always important during times of stress, and Janeway didn't want to take that away from her crew unless it was absolutely necessary.

Furthermore, Torres informed the captain before she left that she was really looking forward to talking with her privately, and that perhaps it was best that it worked out this way because now she got to wake up on the Day of Honor with Kathryn alone. She didn't elaborate, but that happenstance seemed like how it should be considering Janeway was her captain, often reminded the engineer of her Klingon mother as far as her dedication to her beliefs and called her Lanna as only her mother did, was with her when she took her first real steps into embracing her Klingon side in the Barge of the Dead incident, was the one she clung to when she awoke from that, even though Tom Paris was standing right there, and was the one that had given her a second chance by giving her the chief engineer position, even though, Torres had to admit, she hadn't done much before that to prove that she was anything except a problem and incapable of handling herself professionally, despite Chakotay's high praises for her abilities.

Once that conversation was done, Janeway and Naomi tooled off hand in hand. They stopped by the child's quarters first to drop off her things and gather up the large sized PADD she used for her classes, then quickly moved to the Science Lab on that deck that was just down from Engineering. Arriving a few minutes before her class began, Janeway smiled as they entered and everyone snapped to attention as Ensign Wang announced, "Captain on deck." Holding up her hand slightly, Janeway said, "As you were," then said to everyone as they continued to do not much of anything except wait for her to explain by her actions as to why she was present, "I thought I'd stay for my assistant's lessons and possibly help out…just pretend I'm not here."

Shaking his head, and relaxing, comfortable with the captain now through the work he'd done on the Elite Force, the slightly greying, passive scientist of Asian decent answered, "Aye, Captain…Sam should be back at any minute."

Still holding the captain's hand, Naomi pulled her along as she said, "Come on, Captain…you can sit over here with me…we always go in the back so we don't bother the other people while they work." When they got to the back workstation that consisted of a large lab table, a microtomograph, several containers of various slides that Naomi could look through by herself without assistance and a workstation that looked like it had been modified especially for the child's use since the screen didn't show typical screens of an officer's workstation, but was directly tapped into the ship's interactive database and had a small ear piece sitting next to it, which Kathryn assumed the child used to she could work alone and listen to the computer tell her the information she was inquiring about without disturbing the other scientists, Naomi said, "You can sit in my seat, Captain…I'll get another one." Then before the captain could protest, Naomi turned away, walked politely up to and asked the fairly tall male, "Ensign Hoffman, can I use your stool since you're not?"

"Sure," the scientist answered back easily, smiling. "Oh, your mom said to tell you to go ahead and start your lesson without her…she went down to the Cargo Bay, but she said she'll be back soon."

"Okay, thanks," Naomi nodded, starting to roll the stool away, then stopped, turned toward Hoffman who was the only scientist in this section of the lab, "Ensign Hoffman, will it bother you if I don't use my ear piece today…or the captain won't be able to hear what the computer is saying?" When he shook his head no, she smiled then continued back toward the captain, who was looking around at the various things that were set up for the child to explore science on her own, which the captain thought was a wonderful idea and a much better teaching approach considering the wealth of knowledge at her fingertips and the fact that her mother and best friend could answer any questions she had that the computer couldn't explain to her in a simple enough manner. Sliding the stool next to the captain, Naomi pressed her foot down on the switch that kept it from rolling around, climbed up on it and said, "Mommy's in the Cargo Bay, so she wants me to start without her." Picking up her ear piece, she said, "I usually use this so I don't bother anyone, but Ensign Hoffman said I don't have to use it today so you can hear too." Setting the device aside, Naomi smiled as Janeway took a seat next to her, moved the workstation in the middle so they could both use it and explained, "Mommy already has all my lessons programmed in here, and the computer tells me what I have to do…so if she's real busy, I can do my class by myself." Then pressing her hand to the sensor to activate the workstation and start the lesson, she added, "But we're supposed to use the microscope today to look at the nucleus of a cell, so I'll need her help with that."

Smiling slightly, Janeway remarked, "Well, I might be a little rusty, but I think I can help you out…why don't we get started and see if we can't figure it out together, huh?"

Excited, Naomi said, "Aye, Captain."

For the next hour, Janeway took over all of the teaching duties, only being interrupted right at the beginning when Samantha returned to the lab, but the captain had politely shooed her away. Since all of her Science staff was well aware that their captain was an accomplished scientist and often studied the work she'd done on the Al-Bantani when she worked under then Captain Paris, her rebellious pilot's father, no one was surprised when the woman took a slightly different approach to her assistant's lessons and not only got the child more enthused than they'd ever seen her, but had her singing small little songs to help her remember the names of the various parts of the cell and their functions. They were surprised however when Janeway took her down from the stool, and commandeered each of the science stations, one at a time and explained to the child what it was that each of her crew was working on and why, just by glancing at the data on the screen for a few seconds, some of it being highly abstract and specific to a single objective. It was obvious that Janeway wasn't so much trying to teach Naomi anything about Science at that point since the knowledge was way over her head, but expose her to the importance of having passion for something, which Kathryn expressed rather well, enough that her whole staff had practically stopped working, and ended up just listening to Janeway explain some things they already knew, some theories of her own which they didn't know, and basically show them all up. If Naomi didn't think of Janeway as a god before that hour, she most certainly did after it…and the child wasn't the only one, truth be known.

Helping Naomi clean up the various slides they had scattered about, Kathryn said, "I had fun today…I think maybe I should sit in once with all of your classes…I forgot how fun it was to go to school. Would you like that?"

"That's a great idea!"

"Okay, well, why don't you send me your class schedule each quarter, and I'll be sure to make time," Janeway started, picking Naomi up and setting her down on the ground, then kneeling in front of her, and poking her in the stomach, "and if I forget, you can always remind me when you're on duty." Once Naomi nodded and told her she would, the captain said, "Well, as much as I'm enjoying your company, I've got to go and see to the rest of my crew, but I'll see you tomorrow afternoon." Rubbing her arm affectionately, she said, "I had fun last night too…we'll do it again soon."

Throwing her arms around Janeway as her mother looked at her and then tensed since she'd never seen the captain hug Naomi, the child said, "I did too, Captain…I had the best time ever!" When Janeway hugged her back, chuckling and asked if she was sure she had the best time ever, Naomi nodded and said, "Oh, I'm sure, Captain."

Janeway chuckled as she pulled away and said modestly while the Wildman and Hoffman tried not to stare, but couldn't really help themselves, Wang having already learned from the Elite Force mission not to be surprised by his captain, "Well, I'm glad you had a good time, sweetheart. Kiss me," she pointed to her cheek, which caused Samantha Wildman's mouth to fall open slightly, not able to stop it this time. When Naomi did as requested, Janeway nodded once in her business-like manner, then stood, patted the child's head once, then said as she started away, not looking back and just before she exited, supremely confident and completely at ease with herself to show her crew that although she could be a normal person, she was still very much Captain Janeway, and rarely missed a beat, "You should probably close your mouths now, people…it's looks bad if you don't."

fin