Chapter II (day two, post Night/pre Drone)
 

The doors to Engineering opened easily with their usual whisper allowing Seven of Nine access.  She quickly spotted her intended target and made a beeline despite the fluttering in her stomach.  Her quarry turned as she stepped down onto the main floor shooting her an exasperated sneer and roll of the eyes.  Something in Seven’s stomach flopped sending a foreboding sense of defeat to her brain.  She almost turned and walked out, but she wasn’t one to admit defeat before giving anything one shot.  As she reached the dark haired Klingon, her determination had returned.

“B’Elanna Torres, I wish to speak with you,” she paused, hesitating only with a brief intake of breath, “on a personal level.”  The bothered expression on the shorter woman’s face turned into shock.  “Are you busy?”

“Excuse me?”

Seven resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  “May we utilize your office for privacy?”  She added after a moment, “Please.”  The decision to add the plea helped throwing B’Elanna off.

“Okay,” B’Elanna shook her head and motioned for her office.  “What’s this about, Seven?”

Not responding until the doors had firmly closed behind them, Seven turned to the Klingon and exhaled shortly, “I would like to request that you accompany me tonight at 2100 hours, Holodeck One.”  B’Elanna glared at her questioningly from the corners of her eyes.  “The meeting is not ship related.”

“You want to spend time with me off duty?”  The idea perplexed the half-Klingon.  “Why?”

Seven sighed easily.  She hadn’t planned to have to explain herself.  “Perhaps I should ask someone else to join me.”  She turned to walk out leaving B’Elanna none the wiser, but the Klingon grabbed her arm forcing her back around.

“Wait a minute!”  When she had Seven facing her again, she asked, “What is this about, Seven?  Hoverball?  Velocity?  New program you’ve made?  What?”

Again, she sighed.  B’Elanna released her arm.  “Will you accompany me?”

“Are you going tell me what we’re supposed to be doing?”

She thought for a moment, “It is not a program I developed; however, I would like you to join me in experiencing it.”

“That’s a no.”  B’Elanna sucked in her breath sharply, “Why won’t you tell me?  What’ve you got up your sleeve?”

The frustration building from enduring the Klingon’s questions finally caved her resolve in.  “I simply would like it if you had dinner with me, B’Elanna.”  The statement floored the smaller woman standing before her.

B’Elanna’s mouth hung partly open as her eyes bulged slightly out of their sockets.  “Seven,” she gulped, “are you asking me out on a date or is this just a, um, friendly kind of thing?”  She was hoping it to be the latter; though, with the way Seven was acting she couldn’t be sure it wasn’t the former.

Seven saw the look of distress in the Klingon’s eyes and knew she’d asked the wrong person to explore with.  “I apologize, Lieutenant Torres.”  With nothing more to say, Seven turned on her heels and exited the office, stalking through Engineering and into the corridor.  She turned toward the nearest turbo lift, entered it and shakily ordered it to Astrometrics where she could work to get her mind off what had transpired.

She barely waited for the doors to open before stepping impatiently through the entryway and directly to the main console.  Seven’s fingers flew furiously over the workstation, her mind focusing on the task at hand.

As Seven worked, a severely confused and worried crewmember stood on the side watching, unnoticed.  With a padd in her hand and jaw dropped only a smidgen, Tal Celes had never seen Seven of Nine so troubled before.  It stopped her in the middle of a level-two sensor analysis when the Borg rushed in.  The Bajoran took two steps forward to see if Seven would notice her.  Celes wasn’t surprised when Seven continued her work.  Two paces away, the tall blonde still hadn’t turned her head or made any indication that Celes was there.

With a frustrated sigh, Celes put the padd down and spoke up, “Seven, are you all right?”  Still, she received no response.  Now, she was wondering if Seven was just ignoring her.  “Seven,” she placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder to catch her attention and shook her a little.  The compliant beeps from the computer stopped instantly as Seven’s head shot around, her pastel blue eyes shimmering.  The worry built up in Celes’s expression once more.  “Seven, what’s wrong?”

Seven’s heart was racing.  She hadn’t heard Celes enter Astrometrics.  If she was there beforehand, she hadn’t noticed that either.  “Nothing.  Resume your work.”  She attempted to return to the workstation, but Celes kept inquiring.  The constant questions made the tears pool in her eyes, threatening to trickle down her cheeks.

“I don’t know you that well, Seven, but I know there’s something wrong.”  Celes’s voice held warm compassion.  Seven tried to turn away again.  This time, she grabbed the Borg’s hands before she could start tapping controls.  “All right, you win.  I can’t make you talk about it, but you can’t expect whatever’s wrong to go away without dealing with it.”  Seven wasn’t looking at her.  She knew her superior was fighting the tears and figured she didn’t want to let go in front of anyone.  “If you want to talk about it sometime, come and find me, okay?”  A minuscule smile formed on Seven’s lips.  “You promise?”

Reaching up, Seven wiped the threatening tears from her eyes.  “I promise.”

“Okay, then.”  Celes dropped Seven’s hands and smiled.  “I’m almost finished with this,” she grabbed the padd again and waved it around.  “Is there anything you need to me to do before I leave?”

Seven thought for a moment, “The sensor analysis will be sufficient.  Thank you,” she added a little late causing Celes to double take the nicety.  Seven arched her eyebrow at the smile that popped up on the Bajoran’s lips.

~*~

Seven walked through the archway into the mess hall, her entrance catching the attention of certain people.  Looking around as the doors hissed shut behind her, Tom, Harry and B’Elanna had their eyes directed at her.  As if Seven had planned it, she turned on her heels and exited the busy room returning to the lift.

“Computer, locate Captain Janeway.”

“Captain Janeway is in the Ready Room.”

The sigh echoed her disappointment.  She posed another inquiry, “Computer, locate Crewman Tal Celes.”

“Crewman Tal Celes is in her quarters.”

The lift jumped to attention as she ordered it down to Celes’s deck.  The Borg had managed to avoid the Klingon for the day until just then and realized even just seeing her again brought back the memory of their last conversation.  It was something she didn’t want to relive each time she met with B’Elanna.  Seven wasn’t in the mood to meet with Kathryn again, either.  Celes had offered earlier to make time to talk if she needed to.  Now was as good a time as any.

She nodded as she passed two crewmembers waiting for the lift as she exited.  A small smirk of amusement turned up the corner of her mouth at their nervousness in seeing her.  Squaring, Seven pressed a control that would alert Celes to her presence.  In a few moments, the door slid open.  The Bajoran seemed relatively surprised to see her standing there.  Oddly enough, Seven felt the need to squirm under Celes’s scrutiny and lack of words.

“May I come in?”

Celes nodded, still shocked, and moved aside to allow Seven through the door.  “Of course.”  As Seven moved passed her, she pulled her robe up closer to her chin.  “Did you need my help in Astrometrics or something?”

“No,” Seven looked around the small quarters then turned to the petite woman.  “I wish to talk.”  Celes dipped her head encouraging her to explain more.  “Concerning my behavior in Astrometrics earlier today.”  Acknowledging, Celes nodded and smiled.  “Are you busy?”

“No!  No, I’m just surprised that you actually came.  Do you want to go to a holodeck or somewhere to talk?  My roommate will be back soon and I don’t think you want her listening in.”

“That would be sufficient.”

“Just give me a sec to change and then we can go.”  She grabbed a set of casual clothes from a drawer and disappeared into the washroom.

Seven took the opportunity to glance around the tiny room again taking in the personal touches here and there.  The picture frames and mementos scattered around caused her to wonder if she’d ever live in similar space.  The entrance doors slid open admitting who she guessed to be Celes’s roommate.

“Celes, I swear if you…” the woman looked up and saw that Celes was nowhere in sight.  She halted on the spot.  There was only Seven of Nine.  “What did you do with Celes?”

Seven arched her eyebrow and cocked her head.  On sight, she didn’t like the girl.  “Would you believe me if I said I did not assimilate her, Crewman?”  The woman’s eyes glazed over lightly with fear before Celes exited the washroom.  As soon as she saw Celes unharmed, her eyes widened in thanks.  Seven turned her head back to the Bajoran, “The holodeck?”

Celes nodded, unsure of what had transpired between Seven and her terrified roommate, “Yep.”  As she passed her roommate, she patted her shoulder, “I’ll be back later.”  She had to jog to catch up to Seven, who was halfway to the lift as she exited her quarters.  “Any programs in mind?”

“No.”  Seven knew Da Vinci’s studio was off the list.  She used that program with Kathryn.  Beyond that, she knew of no others.  “Do you have any suggestions?”

She took a moment to think as they stepped into the lift.  Seven ordered it to deck six before she spoke up.  “What kind of program do you want to run?  Something quiet, noisy, seasonal, regional?”  Seven gave her a sharp look.  “Well, I don’t get much holodeck time, but when I do get a hold of one I usually run a garden program.”  The lift let them off on deck six.  Celes jumped out to make sure she got to the holodeck doors before Seven did.  Fortunately, the holodeck was unoccupied and she keyed in the sequence for the program as Seven stepped up beside her.  “If you don’t like it, we can change it to another.”

Taking one step forward, the holodeck doors slid open in front of Seven to reveal a lush viridian city made of plants and flowers from all over the galaxy.  She heard the distant trickle of water, most likely from a small waterfall, and followed the noise to its location.  Seven passed flora the colors of the rainbow and beyond pacing down the cobblestone walkway.  Celes was on her heels.

Glancing upward, there was a thatched canopy of leaves of green and blue, the sky behind black with a star or two twinkling through.  Those stars, a moon, she figured, and oil lamps at the sides of the path were the only light to go by.  She offered a short look of approval to Celes, smiling, as she rounded the corner discovering the origin of the trickling water.

A large tree dominated the circular clearing.  Just above its base, clear water dribbled down into a small moss covered stone basin, which then fed a stream leading to the right back into the jungle of vegetation.  Seven wandered around the tree to where a wraparound bench hugged the wide trunk.  She noticed three pathways leading away from the stone glade: two on either side and the one from which they came.

Seven gasped feeling Celes hands pushing her down to the wooden planks of the bench then looked at her when she sat.  “Did you create this program?”

Celes shook her head no.  “I’m not sure who created it.  It was just here.  When things get too overwhelming, which is pretty often, I come out here and sit.  Or, I head out to the meadow and watch the sky.  Helps me think.”  She curled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them.  “So,” Celes’s words sounded awkward,  “what brought you down to see me tonight?”  Seven moved her body seemingly not wanting to speak anymore.  “Whatever it is, I promise I won’t say anything to anyone else and I won’t poke fun at you either.”  That brought Seven back to her senses.

She felt a muscle in her jaw flexing every few seconds and tried to control it before saying what she wanted to say.  “When we were still in the Void, the captain hid away in her quarters feeling the guilt of command.  Despite the captain not wanting to see anyone, I needed to speak with her concerning herself and I, so I intruded on her silence to speak with her.  Captain Janeway cried on my chest,” Seven’s voice was soft, speaking as if a spiritual revelation had just come to her.

“Later on, during the conflict with the Malon and the Void aliens, I…” Seven dropped her head low and spoke just the same, “I…  I brought her hand to my face in Astrometrics.”  Though her head was still lowered, Seven gave more volume and confidence to her voice, “As inappropriate as I knew it to be, I couldn’t not do it.  I followed what I wished to do not what I knew was correct.  She ran out a moment later, declaring the situation could wait.”

Pausing, Seven gathered her self up, lifting her head and looking to the dimly lit lanterns surrounding the glade.  “I followed her from the bridge later on back to her quarters and we spoke clearing things up between us.  Now,” the word was almost a sigh, “what relationship I had with Lieutenant Torres has been diminished.”

Celes’s face bunched into confusion hearing Seven’s last statement.  “What does Lieutenant Torres have to do with your feeling’s for Captain Janeway?”  Finally, Seven upturned her face.  Moonlight gave her pastel eyes luminescence.

“The Cap-,” Seven corrected herself feeling her secrets wouldn’t go beyond Celes’s lips or the holodeck walls, “Kathryn told me she could not be what I wanted her to be…”  Celes completed the sentence for her.

“So, you went to Lieutenant Torres instead because you’re closer to her than anyone else on board?”  Seven nodded.  “I take it she wasn’t too receptive was she?”

Seven slightly shook her head no.  “I saw her in the Mess Hall just before I came to your quarters.  I was embarrassed to see her again.”

Uncurling her legs, Celes sat facing Seven folding her left legs in a half cross, “Seven, it’s not your fault she said whatever she said to you.”

“Lieutenant Torres did not say much.  Her expression and tone explained that she held no interest.”

“Let me ask you something, Seven.”  Seven gave Celes her full attention.  “What exactly did you go to Lieutenant Torres for?”  A thoughtful crinkle formed in Seven’s forehead.  “Were you looking for the same thing you found with Captain Janeway?”

“I suppose I was.  Yes.  Wishful thinking on my part was perhaps the cause of both situations.”  Celes asked the inevitable question with her wide eyes.  “I’ve come to believe I am in love with Kathryn.”  Seeing an expression other than the shock she expected on the Bajoran’s face surprised her.

“It’s hard when they don’t feel the same way isn’t it?  Or don’t seem to notice when you try.”  Seven cocked her head to the side like a curious kitten making Celes smile.  “Before we got stuck out here I tried to get someone’s attention, but my efforts were pretty much lost on them.  Not to mention I was too busy for anything other than studying for classes anyway.”  She paused a moment allowing an easy silence to fall.  A holographic breeze picked up the leaves in a gentle caress as the moon hit its height in the sky.  “Do you think Captain Janeway will ever give you a chance?”

“Thinking of what she explained to me, I don’t believe I’d wish her to.”  Celes’s face contorted into confusion laced with a small smile of amusement.  “She explained that she did not wish to ruin our current relationship.  That she didn’t want to lose a good friend.  I have to agree with her that I would not want to lose her as a friend either.”  Thinking for a moment, Seven added, “There is one good thing I can say that came out of the last few day’s events.”  Celes took on the same contorted expression only to a lesser degree, her smile showing prominently.  “I have made a friend out of you.”  Her comment, she noticed, caused the neat woman to blush furiously.  “Would you show me the meadow?”

Celes was glad for the change in subject.  “Sure,” her voice squeaked.  “It’s down the path to the left.”

To her surprise, Celes stood quickly offering her a hand up from the bench.  “Thank you.”

The awkward silence was killing Celes since leaving the glade.  Seven was following close behind on the path, her heels making a dull sound.  “Hey, Seven?”

“Yes?”

The Borg sounded as if she’d woken from a dream.  “What was your name before you were assimilated by the Borg?”

Not missing a beat, Seven answered, “Annika Hansen.”  Celes stopped a few paces before her, Seven could see the tall grass in the meadow beyond, and faced her.

“Could I call you that instead of ‘Seven?’”  Her hazel eyes looked down the length of Seven’s body, putting her given name together with the image.  “It suits you better than ‘Seven’, I think.”

“Only if I may call you Celes.”  Seven’s lip turned in a small smirk paraphrasing Kathryn’s words from the previous night.

“That’s what friends do.”  Celes smiled, turning for the meadow.

Seven took two steps before hearing her Comm. badge chirp followed by a familiar voice.  “Yes, Captain?”

“I need your assistance in Astrometrics.”

“On my way, Captain.”  Seven tapped the badge, closing the channel and made her way to where Celes stopped.  She was facing away from her staring into the waves of grass in the meadow.  “Would you join me for breakfast tomorrow morning?”  Celes looked up at her from her side.  “Or lunch perhaps as you have the morning off?”

“Lunch would be okay.  Call me when you’re ready and I’ll meet you in the Mess Hall.”

“You were correct when you said that talking helps.  Thank you for helping.”  A genuine smile of gratitude formed on Seven’s lips, which in turn seemed to cause Celes to smile.  “Good night, Celes.”

“’Night, Seven.”  After hearing the holodeck doors seal signaling Seven’s departure, Celes continued deeper into the meadow.  The grass nearly met her knees until she found the mossy hill she usually camped out on.  She lay down crossing her arms behind her head to form a pillow and gazed up at the stars unknowing what system they were from.  Celes only knew that they were positively the second of the most beautiful sights she’d ever viewed in her life.