Part 41 - 42

BLONDE/REDHEAD

Light flashed. Janeway's head spun, and her arms stretched out automatically to keep her balance. Possessing superior equilibrium, Seven reached for Kathryn and held her steady. Kathryn's arms tightened around her waist as the two women were hurled backward and forward and then backward again.

Suddenly they materialized, swaying together in the aft section of the Delta Flyer. At the shuttle's helm, Lt. Paris whirled around in his seat.

"Am I glad to see you two!" His boyish face creased in a smile. "Hey, nice hat, Seven."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

"Where are we?" Janeway asked, letting her arms drop to her side as she stepped away from Seven.

Her question caused an expression of concern to flit across the Borg's face. Did the captain not remember the trip to the 21st century?

"Section 563 as you ordered, Captain," Paris replied.

"Voyager to Delta Flyer, do you have them, Lieutenant?" Chakotay's voice crackled.

"We're aboard, Commander," Janeway answered, steady and calm, the captain back in full command mode.

"It's good to hear your voice, Captain. Stand by to beam back to Voyager."

"Understood." She glanced over at her companion. "Seven?"

The blonde adjusted the straps of the backpack as she stepped closer to the captain. In another instant the transporter beam hummed and they were whisked away from the Delta Flyer to materialize onto the transporter pads on Voyager.

"Welcome back, captain," the crewman at the controls greeted Janeway.

"Thank you, Ensign." Kathryn stepped off the transporter pad. "You'd better get to sickbay, Seven. I'm going to the bridge."

"Is it not standard procedure after an away mission to report to sickbay?" Seven asked, following the captain out into the corridor of Deck Four.

"Yes, that's why you're going there," Janeway said, nodding to the crew she passed.

Seven was about to protest when the ship suddenly shuddered. Once again the captain was in danger of falling and the blonde quickly braced the much smaller body before Kathryn slammed into the bulkhead.

Kathryn slapped her comm badge. "Janeway to the bridge. Report."

"It's the Folkir, Captain," Chakotay answered. "They claim this sector and warned us off it a few days ago. We had to return to retrieve you and Seven."

"Set a course out of their space. That should reassure them."

"The Delta Flyer is not back yet."

**Damn**. "How long until it reaches our shuttle bay?"

"Ten minutes."

"Try hailing the Folkir. I'm on my way to the bridge."

She took off at a brisk pace for the turbolift with Seven at her side, her mind already busy with yet another alien species to be coaxed into cooperating with them.

"Bridge," she said in the lift. "And Deck Five."

Seven bristled silently. Sickbay was on Deck Five. Surely Kathryn did not expect her to go there now. It was unacceptable.

"I will report to my duty station, Captain."

"We won't need astrometrics right now. Report to sickbay."

"You may need my expertise on the bridge," Seven said, stubbornly.

"Proceed to Deck Five, Seven. That's an order." The lash of command underscored the captain's quietly uttered words.

"Understood, Captain." The blonde ducked her head and stared directly in front of her, conscious that the redhead was no longer the Kathryn she had been back in the 21st century. Did the captain even remember falling in love with her. She had expected some time alone with Kathryn before they came aboard Voyager again. She had not expected Mr. Paris to be on the Delta Flyer. So many expectations.

**I am Borg. I shall adapt.**

Soft fingers gently touched hers. "I hate pulling rank, Annika. I just worry about you and want to make sure you're all right."

Seven looked down into the warm blue eyes, not daring to believe what her ears had heard. Her fingertips tingled.

"You do not need to worry, Kathryn."

"The sooner you start your regeneration cycle the sooner we can be together again, darling."

Seven's heart filled with love. She was still Kathryn's darling. "I will comply."

The crooked grin Seven loved so much spread on the redhead's face. "I thought you would. Now I'm going to see if I can clear up this Folkir business. Contact me before you start your regeneration cycle."

"Yes, Captain."

Janeway placed her hand on the small of Seven's back for a moment. The Borg reveled in the warmth of her touch. Then the turbolift doors opened and Kathryn stepped out onto the bridge.

"Captain on the bridge," Chakotay announced.

Janeway walked to the captain's chair, nodding to Ensign Kim at Ops and Commander Tuvok at Tactical.

"Report."

"The Folkir are not responding to our hails," her First Officer replied.

"Have they fired on us before?"

"Yes. Minimal damage was sustained," Tuvok answered.

"They don't seem to respond to my brand of diplomacy," Chakotay said, rubbing the tattoo on his forehead.

"How much longer before the Delta Flyer reaches the shuttle bay?"

"Five minutes."

"Open a channel."

"Channel is open," Kim replied.

"Folkir vessel, this is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation ship Voyager. We have intruded on your space only to retrieve members of this crew. We require only five minutes more and then our last crew member will be safely aboard. We will vacate your sector immediately."

The viewscreen came on. The large armored Folkir stared back at them.

"Captain Kathryn Janeway, your vessel has been warned before. Vacate immediately."

"I will not abandon a member of my crew," Janeway said, crossing her arms on her chest. "You are a captain. You understand that."

For a moment the two captains locked eyes. Neither giving an inch. Then the Folkir captain nodded.

"Very well. Five minutes. No longer." His tone held a grudging respect.

"Understood. Janeway out."

"Folkir ships are powering down, Captain," Tuvok said.

"Your brand of diplomacy seems to work better than mine," Chakotay complimented.

"Just to be on the safe side, stay on yellow alert until Tom is safely aboard."

"Aye, Captain. It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back. I'll be in my ready room, replicating myself a fresh uniform." Time she looked the part of being a starship captain.

In sickbay the EMH was running his medical tricorder over Seven, sitting on the biobed. "Well, it seems that the captain has talked some sense into those pesky Folkir," he said.

"The captain excels at diplomacy."

"Hmmph. Maybe she will excel at getting herself down here to sickbay." He frowned as he checked the scans. "The nanoprobes kept you at normal efficiency?"

"Yes."

"Odd. I am picking up some increase in estrogen, adrenaline and other hormonal levels. Oh well, nothing that regeneration won't fix." His frown deepened as he caught sight of Seven's neck. "What's this contusion?"

"I fell," Seven said, not wanting to explain the love mark to him. "The damage is slight."

"The dermal regenerator will take care of it." He reached for the instrument.

"No. Leave it. It does not trouble me. Are you finished your examination?" she asked impatiently.

"Yes, you are actually in better shape than I expected."

"I was fortunate to have the assistance of another medical doctor. An ER doctor," Seven said, thinking of Kerry.

"Emergency robotical doctor?" The EMH guessed.

"Emergency room doctor, I believe."

"How convenient. Did he take care of the captain as well?"

"She was female. The captain was assisted by a psychiatrist."

"How fitting. You know **I** have psychiatric subroutines but the captain never wants me to assist her in that area."

"The assistance given was not of a psychiatric capacity."

"Of course not," he said blandly.

"If you are finished I will leave now." Seven got off the biobed.

"As you wish. I do need to realign your ocular implant. It is slightly off variance. But that can wait until you've regenerated."

"You must do it now. When I am finished regenerating there will be more important things for me to do than spend my time in sickbay." She wished to be with Kathryn again.

"Very well." While he hunted for a stylus on the instrument tray, the sickbay doors opened and B'Elanna Torres marched in.

"It's true then. You and the captain are really back," the half-Klingon, half-human chief engineer said by way of greeting.

"Yes, we are back," Seven replied.

The Doctor flipped open Seven's implant and began to make the adjustments. Torres leaned her elbows on the biobed, picking up the blue baseball cap the Borg had taken off earlier.

"I'm glad to see you, Seven. You know why?"

The Borg considered the question with her usual precision. "Are there some tasks in engineering that require my assistance?"

"No!" Torres looked offended for a moment. "Well, actually there are a few." The chief engineer gave a disgusted growl. "But that's not the reason. I was driving Paris nuts without you around. I couldn't let off steam."

"Steam? Why would you wish to emit hot water vapor? Is it a Klingon tradition?"

The Doctor laughed. "She needs someone to fight with, Seven. To take the edge off her notoriously bad temper. With you around, she could do that. But without you she just saved it all up for Mr. Paris. He **is** my assistant," he explained before B'Elanna could ask how he knew about her private life.

"I did not realize my presence was important to your continued relationship with Lt. Paris," Seven said to Torres.

The former Maquis rubbed her forehead ridges with her hand. "Neither did we, til now." She bent her head closer. "So, did you and the captain have fun in the 21st century?"

Seven smiled slightly as she remembered the picnic, the dinner and dancing with Kathryn.

"What did you do together?" Torres nudged her in the ribs. Seven didn't usually have that dreamy-eyed look, especially when the Doctor was working on her ocular implant.

"We were attempting to find our way back here."

"Really?"

"It was an intriguing away mission. I now see the attraction everyone on board feels for the Alpha Quadrant."

"That's why we call it home sweet home, Seven."

Be it ever so humble, Kathryn Janeway thought, she was back home where she belonged. Marooned in the Delta Quadrant. She shook her head in self-reproach as she stood in her ready room, smoothing the red Starfleet tunic. Gingerly she attached the four pips to her collar, which hid the love bite Seven had planted on her. How the hell was she going to explain that to the Doctor?

24th century technology could replicate her a new uniform but a decent cup of coffee was something else. She had been spoiled by the 21st century Starbucks. She picked up her lucky cup and tried another mouthful of replicated coffee. She shuddered. Definitely take some getting used to again.

"Doctor to Captain Janeway."

"Janeway here."

"Will I be seeing you for your checkup, Captain?"

"I'm taking care of ship's business. How's Seven?"

"Nothing a little regeneration won't fix."

"Has she started the cycle?"

"Not yet, Captain," Seven's clear tones came onto the comm channel. Kathryn felt a warm glow suffuse her. One that had nothing to do with the terrible coffee and everything to do with the woman she was talking to.

"There is a task I must attend to," Seven continued, "then I will go to Cargo Bay Two."

"I'll meet you there."

Thinking of Seven brought to mind her request for privacy in the cargo bay. Leaving the ready room, Kathryn headed for Tuvok's position at Tactical.

"Place Cargo Bay Two off limits for the next forty-eight hours. Seven will be regenerating."

"The crew will need access to the cargo bay."

"Not in the section where she regenerates. She needs privacy. It is difficult for her to regenerate when anyone can blunder into the cargo bay, looking for things."

"I will see to it, Captain," the Vulcan said.

"Good."

"Will this be a permanent arrangement?"

"No. It will just be temporary until I can speak to Lt. Torres about placing Seven's alcove in my quarters."

And if that doesn't give the bridge crew a clue, nothing would, Kathryn thought getting into the turbolift, chuckling to herself. Her First Officer had looked rather close to biting his tongue in two.

In Cargo Bay Two Seven waited by the alcove.

"Annika. I thought I would be waiting for you. You did have a task to attend to, didn't you say?" Janeway asked.

"I have completed it."

"Were you saying hello to Naomi, darling?" Seven was very fond of Ensign Wildman's daughter.

"No. I was accessing the Federation databases, trying to determine if our trip to the 21st century had changed history."

Janeway glanced up at the taller woman, her interest quickening. "Wouldn't the databases themselves have been subject to the time changes?"

"Yes, however I retain the previous databases in my eidetic memory and can check them against each other to see if any notable changes occurred."

Kathryn digested this fact for a moment. "What did you find?"

"I have found no changes."

"None?"

"None that have been recorded in the historical databanks," Seven amended.

Kathryn blew out a breath. Thank God. So their trip had not contaminated the timeline after all. Was that because Kim and Kerry had gone on their separate paths? Part of her continued to feel sorry about that.

"You do not appear happy with this news, Kathryn."

"I am, darling." Since there was only the two of them in the cargo bay and Tuvok had placed a seal on the cargo bay doors that only the captain and he could override, Kathryn took Seven's hand in hers. "It's just...Do you know what this means?"

"The past was not altered by our visit."

"It also means that Kim and Kerry's separation restored the timeline."

"Actually, Kathryn, it means the reverse."

The smug expression on the Borg's face gave Janeway pause. "What do you mean?"

Seven darted an appraising look at the captain. Kathryn might be angry with what she had done even if history had validated her decision.

"When I said good-bye to Kim I inquired about her reaction to a visit from Kerry. She indicated that she would see Kerry if such a visit became a reality. I relayed this information to Kerry and extracted a promise from her to go to San Francisco in two months."

"Annika!"

"She had originally planned such a trip," Seven said quickly. "I had accessed Kerry's computer earlier and seen her calendar for the year. I merely reminded her of this trip she had planned. Judging by the databases, she must've done what she had always intended."

"Annika, that is no indication that they reconciled. Chances are they did not. They were quarreling so hard about the baby."

"You may interpret it your way if you wish, Kathryn. I prefer my interpretation."

Janeway slipped her arm around Seven's waist and rubbed her cheek against the blonde's shoulder. "I prefer yours too, darling. I guess we'll never know for sure."

"There is another piece of evidence."

"What evidence?" Kathryn leaned back in Seven's embrace.

"Time travel information has been downloaded into Voyager's databases."

"Yes, after you disappeared from the Flyer, I ordered Ensign Kim to study the matter."

"Included in the database were family journals of Professor Nielsen of the 24th century, the current time travel expert. They included letters from his predecessors."

"Predecessors? You mean Harry Nielsen? What did you find?"

"Some reminiscences of being a godfather to a child known as Benji. His more complete designation was Benjamin Weaver-Legaspi."

A radiant smile suffused the captain's face. Seven drew her close again, feeling just as pleased.

"They had the child, Annika? Kim and Kerry ended up together?"

"That would be the logical deduction. They were meant to be together. Just the way we are meant to be together."

Kathryn felt a tremendous weight lifted from her shoulders. "I always did hate temporal mechanics."

"As do I now."

"Now it's time to regenerate, but first..." The redhead pulled the blonde's head down and kissed her long and lingeringly on the lips.

"That does not make me want to regenerate," Seven protested.

"The sooner you do, the sooner we'll kiss again," Kathryn said huskily.

"In that case I will comply."

"I thought you would. And Annika, why don't you wear your momento while you regenerate."

She picked up the blue baseball cap from where it lay on a nearby barrel and placed it on Seven's blonde head.

"I will see you in forty-eight hours, Kathryn," Seven said, stepping into the alcove.

Kathryn set the controls. "I'll be counting the hours."
 

BLONDE/REDHEAD
Epilogue

Harry Nielsen emerged from the building with a trash bag slung over his shoulder. Kerry got out of her car and waved.

"So how did it go?" she asked, meeting the ruddy professor midway in the parking lot. Harry resembled a dazed Santa Claus

"They left," he said, knowing full well the two words were inadequate, to use one of Seven's favorite expressions. No one would ever believe what he had just witnessed in his office. No one except maybe Kerry.

"What happened?" The redhead shifted her weight on the crutch.

Harry scratched a patch of hair on his head. "The combination of devices generated a rift just as Seven hypothesized."

"A rift?"

"Yeah. The air seemed to vibrate and distort. There was a light, and Kathryn and Seven said goodbye to me and stepped into it. I waited and then the light and rift closed and that was it."

Kerry took a moment to absorb his words. There was such a finality to it. "So you think they made it back okay?" she asked.

What a question. Staring into the intense green eyes, Harry knew he couldn't confess his own bewilderment. "If anyone could it's those two women," he said firmly.

Kerry blinked and nodded. "You're right." She felt better, similar to the way she did after making a gutsy call in the ER. "So what's in the trash bag?"

"Kathryn ordered me to dismantle that polaric device they used. I was going to dump the parts some place."

"Good idea."

He began walking Kerry back to her car.

"What about their phaser and tricorder?"

"Those don't have any parts to dismantle. I think the power cell or whatever they used as an energy source burned out manufacturing the rift. Both instruments stopped functioning when the light dimmed."

"Must've been quite a sight."

"It was." Harry opened the car door for Kerry as she got back into the Saturn. "And I can't tell anyone what happened or I'd get locked up in a psychiatric ward."

"You're not crazy, Harry. Just remember that."

He closed the door for her. "I may need to call you up and have you tell me that periodically."

She grinned as she slid the seat belt around her waist. "That would be fine. You've been a real sport through all this."

"I have to pinch myself. It really happened, didn't it? Seven and Kathryn traveled back here from the 24th century?"

"Yeah. It really happened."

"Where's Kim?"

She didn't feel in the mood for an explanation. "It's a long story. I'll tell you sometime over a drink. I'm buying."

He grinned and patted her arm. "You're on."

"Bye, Harry."

"You stay in touch, Kerry."

It was nearing five o'clock when Kerry parked the Saturn across from her house. It had been a tiring day and she had a long shift in the ER ahead of her. She unlocked the front door and hung her purse on the coat rack, startling at the sound of the study door opening. Kim came out of the room.

"What are you doing here?" Kerry demanded.

"I know we were supposed to meet at Magoos but I got worried," the blonde replied.

"Come here, babe." Kerry stretched out her arms and Kim walked straight into them.

"Was it hard saying goodbye to them?"

"Oh yeah..." She pressed her cheek against Kim's shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair.

They walked arm in arm back to the study and squeezed into the LA-Z-Boy together. "They go off okay?" the blonde asked, pushing back so the foot rest popped up.

"Yeah. According to Harry that polaric thing caused a light to form and in a matter of minutes Seven and Kathryn disappeared into it. I hope they made it over to the other side."

"They made it." Kim entwined Kerry's leg with hers.

Kerry snuggled closer. "I hope so. It's just so odd to think about it."

"Maybe we shouldn't think of it logically. Just accept it for what it was. A visit from friends," Kim said. "They came and now they've gone back."

"You're probably right."

"At least I got a souvenir out of it. Kathryn's ugly rugby shirt. You want to wear it?"

Kerry laughed. "God, no."

Kim combed her fingers lightly through Kerry's bangs. "Did you give Seven the baseball cap?"

"Yeah. I tucked the caramel brownie recipe inside for her. She can make it for Kathryn sometime."

"That was nice of you, Ker."

"Yeah well, Kathryn's not that bad." She leaned back against Kim's shoulder. "This is nice. I'm glad you came here instead of at Magoos like we planned."

"I was going to wait at Magoos but I didn't wanna." Kim peered down at the redhead. "Hey, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing."

"Tell me."

Kerry tucked a blonde tendril behind Kim's ear. "It's that fake fight we had. It was pretty realistic."

"I know..." Kim's arm tightened around the smaller woman. "I got nervous you were going to throw me out for being here. Even if you did give me the spare key."

Kerry laughed. "I'm never throwing you out."

Lips met in a soft kiss.

"So you think Kathryn knew what we were up to?" Kim asked.

"Not a chance. And it was clever of you to figure out that she was freaking about that Prime Edict of hers."

"I believed it's called Prime Directive. Seven clued me in on it when I had that psych consult. And it wasn't hard to read Kathryn's face especially after I blurted out how they had got us back together."

"Fortunately that Fertility Clinic appointment gave us something to argue about," Kerry said, and a way of getting them alone in the bedroom where Kim had jotted down a quick note explaining the problem.

"Otherwise I might have had to get jealous over Carol."

"Carol?" Kim laughed out loud. "You don't have to worry about her or anyone else."

"Kim, about my getting pregnant..."

"If it's what you want, Kerry, it's what I want." The cornflower blue eyes were filled with love.

"Thank God...because you were acting so..."

"Unsupportive? Mean? Selfish?" Kim held her tight. "I'm surprised I'm still in one piece. Seven was ready to tear me apart with just one hand."

"Probably the Borg one."

"She was cute the way she kept insisting that if you ever visited San Francisco I must see you."

"She was just as insistent that I promise to visit you." Kerry smiled, thinking of the other blonde. "I wish we could have taken her into our confidence."

"We couldn't. Undoubtedly she would have told Kathryn somewhere down the line. Even in the 24th century I bet that woman would be tying herself into knots about whether Seven interfered with the bloody time line. Better to have them think that two months from now we'll meet the way we always were planning to."

"You think maybe we're screwing up the space time continuum by being here together so soon?" Kerry wondered.

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

"I love it when you do Clark Gable."

Kim twirled the edges of an imaginary mustache, making the redhead giggle.

"The only thing I care about is going with you to that appointment on Thursday."

"We could wait, if you wanted more time..."

"No. We'll go on Thursday..."

"Great." Kerry kissed her once and then again more deeply. She pulled away reluctantly. "I have to go to work. Luka absolutely won't cover any more of my shifts."

"I know...Just make sure you don't bring any more blondes home with you."

The ER chief grinned. "Won't need to. I have a tall blonde waiting for me here, don't I?"

"Damn right."

Kerry got to her feet and grabbed her crutch. "I just hope Seven and Kathryn are where they're supposed to be."

"I think wherever they are, they're together," Kim replied. "And that means they're okay."

"That reminds me Seven said she left a momento. You didn't see anything from her around here, did you?"

"No. But I didn't check the guest room."

Together they went up the stairs to the guest room. The bed had been stripped of its linens.

"I don't see anything," Kim said, walking around.

"Maybe it's in a bureau drawer." Kerry started opening the empty drawers. One wasn't empty. Seven had left behind the clothes Kerry had bought for her. Under the gauzy shirt and cow pajamas she found a small device.

"Found something?" Kim asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah, but what is it?" Kerry asked, turning it over in her hands. "It's not a dermal regenerator." She glanced over at Kim who took the instrument from her, an odd expression on her face.

**Oh Seven.** Kim swallowed the lump forming in her throat and thought of the other blonde two centuries away.

"You know what this is?" Kerry asked.

Kim lifted her eyes and gazed at her lover.

"It's a bone-knitter."

THE END