A Borg's Dream

Seven awoke from her regeneration cycle and stepped off the alcove. She looked to see Kathryn Janeway standing opposite her, leaning against the console, wearing nothing more than a smile. 7 grinned back and walked over to where the older woman stood. "Good morning 7." Kathryn said.

"Good morning Kathryn." 7 said, leaning down slightly to kiss her upturned mouth.

"Good morning my darling, did you regenerate well?" The Captain asked.

7 slid her hands around Kathryn's waist, relishing the feeling of skin beneath her fingers. "Yes I did, and how did you sleep?" She asked, kissing Janeway's mouth before she could reply.

They stood entwined, enjoying the feeling of their bodies for a few more moments. "Captain, perhaps you should put something on?" 7 said, not really wanting the other woman to cover her wonderful body, but fearful that someone might walk in on them

"Yes, perhaps I should, but I wanted to surprise you." The Captain said seductively.

"Well you certainly did that." 7 replied, planting one more kiss on her lover's upturned mouth.

"Hmmmm, I wonder how long it would be before someone misses us." Kathryn said, running her hands up 7's back,

"Not long enough." 7 said regretfully.

"You are being far too sensible my dear, I think it is time that I reminded you what you are supposed to do when a naked woman walks into your arms." Kathryn said, pulling 7 towards a pile of boxes that had been pulled together to make a bed.

"Are you going to punish me?" 7 asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Well I might just have to." Kathryn said, sitting down and pulling 7 down beside her.

They kissed again as the older woman pushed 7 back onto the makeshift bed. "You need to get out of this suit first though." She said, pulling at the fastener that ran the length of the back of 7's body suit.

"Icheb to 7 of 9." A voice called over the con and 7 sat up.

"7 here." She said, pulling the fastener back up.

Kathryn reached up and tried to pull it down again and 7 smacked her hand away with a smile. "You are 2 minutes late for your shift." Icheb said and 7 closed her eyes.

"I will be right there. Computer end program." She said, standing up as the scene around her, including the naked woman who had been gently teasing her, disappeared.

7 walked along the corridor towards astrometrics. She really would have to keep a better eye on the time. In the past week she had been caught in the holodeck three times when she was supposed to be at her post. She had tried to resolve the feelings that she was experiencing on a previous occasion, unsuccessfully. She realized that trying to banish her thoughts of the Captain using Chakotay as a distraction had been pointless, because she couldn't get the older woman out of her mind. She strode into the astrometrics lab, and Icheb turned to face her. "Are you ok?" He asked, as she took her station.

"Yes I am fine. You may go." She said, looking up at the view screen in front of her.

Icheb left the room and 7 relaxed slightly. The door swooshed open and the Captain walked in. "7, I wanted to ask you something." She said, as the door closed behind her.

Then before 7 could reply. "Computer lock the door to astrometrics, authorization Janeway pi alpha pi one." She said, crossing the room to where 7 stood.

"Now then, where were we?" She asked, as she reached out to touch 7's cheek.

7 put her arms around Janeway's small body, and pulled her in close. "I think I was about to kiss you." She growled, plundering Kathryn's willing lips with her own.

As their tongues battled for space, their hands were roaming over each other's body, pulling at the uniforms that prevented skin to skin contact.

7's console bleeped and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. She pressed a few buttons on the console, frowned, and then tapped her communication badge. "7 of 9 to Captain Janeway." She said.

Seconds later the Captain replied. "Janeway here."

"Captain, I am picking up a strange reading on long range sensors." She said, her concentration returning to the computer read out in front of her.

"I am on my way." Janeway said, and ended the communication.

7's fingers flew over the controls of her Borg enhanced sensor array. She made several adjustments, and eventually managed to pull up a read out which made sense. She transferred the information to the large view screen, pressed a few more buttons, and overlaid a schematic of the star charts for that region. Moments later the door swooshed open and Captain Janeway walked in. "What is it?" She asked, crossing to where 7 stood.

She rested her left hand on the console, and rested her right foot on top of her left foot in a pose that 7 had seen many times before. 7 inhaled sharply and turned her concentration to the view screen. "There." She stated.

The Captain was standing far to close for 7's comfort. She cleared her throat. "Are you ok?" Kathryn asked, looking concerned.

"Yes thank you Captain I am fine." 7 replied, blushing slightly.

"You don't sound well, and you look flushed." Janeway said, reaching out to feel 7's forehead.

7 backed away. "I am fine Captain, thank you." She said, covering her retreat by crossing to another console and playing with the controls.

"Hmm, perhaps you should go to sick bay, you are definitely looking flushed."

"I am fine, thank you Captain. I have no need to go to sickbay."

"All the same, just for a check up?" Janeway said, her concern was evident in her expression.

"If it will make you feel better I will go to sick bay when my shift ends." 7 said, deliberately not looking at the Captain.

Janeway nodded her approval. "Ok. Now then what was it that you called me down here for?" She asked, focusing her attention back to the view screen.

7 looked across at her. She took in the expression of concentration that always made Kathryn purse her lips slightly, and furrow her brow. 7 wanted to kiss away the furrows, and smooth her lips across the delicate skin of Janeway's cheek. Many times she had studied the patterns of Janeway's skin, the way that her eyebrows and lips reflected her mood more than any other part of her body. 7's gaze slid down to the perfectly shaped breasts that were concealed beneath the thick material of the Star Fleet uniform. She longed to reach out and feel the soft flesh yield beneath her inquisitive hands. She inhaled sharply as she realized that she had been holding her breath. The Captain looked across at her. "7?" She asked.

7 looked away quickly, her eyes darting around the room, trying to focus on something, anything, that would take her mind off the lascivious thoughts that she had been having. "7 I am really quite worried about you. There have been several times recently when you have lost concentration. Is there anything wrong with your alcove?" Janeway asked, crossing the room to where 7 stood.

"My alcove is functioning within normal parameters Captain." 7 said, backing away from the woman who commanded so many of her thoughts.

"7, you don't look well. I must insist you go to sickbay. I will come with you if you are worried."

"No!" 7 said, far too quickly.

"No, that is ok thank you Captain, I will be fine. I think you are right, I should go to see the Doctor." She said, and rushed from the room.

Janeway stood in astrometrics wondering what was wrong with the former Borg drone. She had been jumpy and touchy for several weeks now, and Janeway was worried. She left the room, forgetting that 7 hadn't told her why she had summoned her to the lab in the first place.

7 stood in the corridor outside sickbay, she was debating not going in, but she knew that the Captain would follow up on her order, and expect to hear from the Doctor that 7 was ok. She finally went into the dimly lit room. "Doctor?" She called.

There was a rustling sound, and she looked around the corner of the room to where the biobeds were, and inhaled sharply. "Hi, you took your time." Kathryn said.

She was sitting on one of the biobeds, wrapped in only a heat retaining bio-blanket. She flicked her hair out behind her head, and winked, then licked her lips. "Come on over darling, let me give you a full physical." She whispered, her voice was low and seductive, and the blanket slipped revealing one breast, the rosy pink nipple jutting out inviting 7's lips to kiss it.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency. Oh 7." The EMH Doctor said as his program was activated.

"Doctor." 7 said, stepping back slightly and bumping into the medical diagnosis console.

"Careful 7, are you ok?" The Doctor asked, reaching out to steady her as she stumbled.

"Yes I am fine."

"You don't look fine. Here hop up on the bed." The Doctor said, indicating the biobed where moments before the Captain had been sprawled.

"I have been experiencing some hallucinations." 7 stammered.

The Doctor looked worried as he quickly scanned her with his handheld medical tricorder. "Well you seem to be fine. Your ocular implant is functioning normally, I can't see anything obvious. Oh. Hmmm." The Doctor said, frowning as he looked at his tricorder readout.

"What is it Doctor?" 7 asked.

"You seem to have an unusually high level of circulating endorphins." The Doctor said, putting his scanner down and grabbing a hypospray.

"Endorphins?" 7 said, not sure she understood.

"Yes, they are hormones that are usually associated with pleasure. And as a Borg you are programmed to shut down in response to endorphins. If you recall that unfortunate incident a few months ago when you passed out on the holodeck? Your cortical node was designed to detect endorphin levels, and shut down when your emotions got too high." The Doctor said, injecting 7 quickly.

"There that should help." He said, smiling at her.

"I see. Will my cortical node shut down again?"

"Yes, I am afraid that it will." The Doctor said, turning away from her.

7 stared at him as he walked away, "You must do something." She urged.

The Doctor turned to face her. "What would you like me to do?" He asked.

"I don't know, disable it. Find someway to prevent the node from detecting my endorphin levels." She said desperately.

The Doctor walked back to where she was sitting. "7 I had no idea this was bothering you so much. I thought we had talked about this the last time." He said, placing one hand on hers.

"Yes Doctor, it is not fair, I have fallen in love, and I can't love without shutting down. I can't even love without being loved in return. You have no idea how isolated that makes me feel." 7 said, her voice broke with emotion, and the Doctor was distressed to see that 7 was crying.

"I had no idea. I have done some research, well I did it after your last bought of problems. But then you seemed to have lost interest in emotions and developing them, so I left the research unfinished." He said, patting her hand in an attempt at comforting her.

"Please Doctor, you must help me." 7 said, wiping her eyes.

"There there, don't cry." The Doctor placated.

"Why is it that I can be sad, but I can't be happy?" 7 asked, looking up at the EMH Doctor.

He shook his head. "The hormones are different, that is all I can say."

"It is so unfair." She sounded like Naomi Wildman when she had been told that she had to go to bed.

The Doctor walked away from her. 7 stood up and was about to leave the room when the doors swooshed open and the Captain walked in. "So Doctor, is there anything wrong?" She asked, as 7 quickly turned her back.

The Doctor looked at 7 who was frantically trying to indicate with her eyes that he was to say nothing. "Umm, no she is fine." He said, but the Captain wasn't taken in by his tone.

"You don't sound very sure Doctor." She said, crossing the room.

7 was desperate to leave the sickbay, and she turned her back so that the Captain wouldn't see that she had been crying. "I had better get back." She stammered, and rushed from the room.

The Captain watched her leave, and then turned her inquisitive gaze on the Doctor. "Doctor patient confidentiality." He said, and turned away from her as well.

Janeway stood looking at his back for several moments. "I see. Well as long as you are keeping an eye on her." She said, and left the room.

7 opened the door to Cargo Bay 2 and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her, and went to her alcove. Moments later the doors opened again and the Captain walked into the room. "7 I must talk to you." She said.

7 turned to face her. "Yes Captain." She said.

"You can drop the formalities now darling, we are alone." Kathryn said softly, and she grasped 7's arms and pulled her into a kiss.

7 woke up to see Janeway looking down at her. "7 are you ok?" She asked softly.

7 looked around her. She was in sickbay on a biobed. "Captain?" She said cautiously.

"You are ok now, the Doctor is looking after you. Naomi found you collapsed on the floor near your alcove. B'Elanna is looking at it to make sure that it is functioning normally." Janeway said, brushing a stray strand of golden hair away from 7's eyes.

7 felt something explode inside her, and she fell back onto the bed. "7?" Janeway said as the former Borg passed out again.

When 7 awoke again it was several days later. The Doctor was humming an aria from The Magic Ring and adjusting the settings on one of his tricorders. "Doctor?" 7 said, as she struggled to sit up.

"Ah 7, welcome back." The holographic doctor said, crossing the room to stand beside her.

He scanned her quickly smiling as he did so. "You will be fine, just need a little more rest." He said, flicking his tricorder shut.

"What was wrong with me?" 7 asked, touching one hand to her forehead.

"Your cortical node shut down. But you will be fine." The Doctor said, patting her hand.

7 wished that he wouldn't pat her hand that way and she frowned. "So I am still unable to have emotions." She said bitterly.

"Well no, as it happens, Icheb had been doing some research of his own. It seems that he had made a holographic representation of a cortical node, and done some experiments to try to adapt it to accept higher levels of endorphins, and what he found was that the cortical node could be reprogrammed, so that you can indeed experience emotions. We have reprogrammed your cortical node to not recognize endorphins. So feel free to have emotions! But please don't go around crying, the crew couldn't cope with that." The Doctor said, and turned away from her as if he had just told her that they were still in the Delta Quadrant.

7 couldn't believe what she was hearing. She stared at him, her mouth hanging open. "Well run along. You will need to regenerate for 16 hours, but once you have completed that, you can feel free to experience some emotions." The Doctor said, without turning around.

7 stood up and smiled to herself. "Now, I happen to know that a certain First Officer is looking forward to the new emotional you." The Doctor said with a wink.

7 frowned. "Well he will be disappointed." She said, and left the room.

The Doctor watched her leave with a puzzled look on his face. He had been certain that fantasies about Chakotay were what had brought about 7's collapse.

7 walked away from Cargo Bay 2 feeling fully refreshed. She had spent 20 hours regenerating, so that she wouldn't be disturbed on the holodeck, she had a few things to catch up on, and she didn't want to feel faint halfway through. She walked quickly along the dimly lit corridor. It was 03.00 and she knew that there wouldn't be anyone on the holodeck at that time of night.

However when she reached the holodeck's she saw that the Captain had activated a skiing program that she had recently become fond of. 7 toyed with the idea of joining her, the idea of rolling around in the snow was an attractive one. However, she knew that her holo-Janeway was much more likely to reciprocate her feelings, and she turned to holosuite 2. "Compter, activate holoprogram Janeway 0007, with full security." She said quietly.

The holodeck door swooshed open and 7 stepped in. As the door closed behind her 7 knew that the door would be automatically locked and she would be safe for several hours. The scene before her was the Captain's Quarters. The lighting was dim, and there were candles scattered around the room, producing a very seductive atmosphere. Gentle music was playing quietly in the background, and 7 smiled to herself. This was one of her favorite holoprograms, and she was looking forward to being able to let herself go.

Kathryn appeared in the doorway that leads to the bathroom. She was dressed in her uniform, which surprised 7 somewhat. "Kathryn." 7 said, crossing the room quickly, a smile playing across her expressive lips.

Kathryn put her hands up to prevent 7 taking her in an embrace. "So quickly? Is there no seduction?" She asked.

7 looked confused. "Seduction?" She asked, wondering what was going on.

"Yes, is this it, you come to my quarters, and that is it? No seduction, no teasing, no game playing?" Kathryn asked, and 7 immediately knew that something was wrong.

"Computer end program." She said, and the scene dissolved around her.

Kathryn Janeway stood in front of her, her arms crossed over her chest covering her breasts. A look of amusement playing across her features. "Captain?" 7 stammered.

"I was intrigued 7. I noticed from the logs that you had been spending a lot of time in here recently, so I went through your programs. Well when I couldn't find anything unusual, I went through everyone else's programs. It was only when I came to go through my own programs that I found out why you have been behaving so strangely recently." Janeway said, her frown was teasing, and 7 was unsure whether she was annoyed, pleased, or quite what the Captain was feeling.

"Captain." She said, wishing she could think of something more constructive to say.

"7 It is fine to fantasize. It is fine to create holographic representations of people to make your fantasies more realistic. But you know there are rules. You are not supposed to use current crewmembers in your holoprograms. I thought had this discussion after your last, umm, infraction." Janeway said gently.

7 realized that she wasn't being scolded, but that the Captain was talking to her much like she would talk to a child who didn't quite understand what they were doing wrong. "I apologise Captain." She said, looking down.

"That is ok 7. Now. I am intrigued to know what the holographic captain was supposed to do next." Janeway said, grinning as 7 shifted uncomfortably.

"We would discuss things." 7 said.

"Dressed in a peach satin nightgown?" Janeway said, and 7 looked up startled.

"Oh." She said, unable to say anything else.

"7 if you want to really experience emotion, you need to deal with a real person. A flesh and blood person, one who is soft and warm to the touch, one who will respond to you, and one who will be just a little unpredictable." Kathryn said, stepping closer.

"I see." 7 said, unable to move, her heart pounding in her chest.

Kathryn stepped closer to 7. "Computer, activate Janeway holoprogram gamma alpha 3." She said quietly, mere inches from 7.

7 could feel the heat from the older woman's body, as the holodeck was transformed. They were standing on the edge of a sandy beach, under the shade of a large banana palm. "Want to go skinny dipping?" Kathryn asked, her voice was husky, and 7 looked down at her.

She longed to lean down and kiss Kathryn's upturned mouth, but she didn't have the courage. She shook her head in answer to the question. Kathryn smiled at her. Her eyes twinkled, and 7 felt herself falling more deeply in love. "Captain." She whispered.

"I know 7, I know." Kathryn whispered in reply, and raised herself on tiptoe so that her lips were almost touching 7's.

"The first kiss is always the most difficult." She said, closing her eyes and reaching up to kiss 7 lightly on the lips.