Chapter VII (day seven, post Drone/pre Extreme Risk)

Celes awoke alone and slightly chilled on the sofa of the V.I.P. quarters on deck two.  She sat upright not really realizing where she was or how she got there.  On the table in front of the sofa lay a padd next to a bowl with a puddle of melted ice cream at the bottom.  Despite the grogginess fogging her mind, she knew the padd hadn’t there the previous night.  Before picking it up, she looked around the room finding nothing else new.  With as much energy she could muster, Celes grabbed the mini computer and dropped it.  She rolled her eyes, bent to pick it up and stood heading for the door.

By the time she reached deck twelve, Celes’s energy level was up and she was light on her feet.  The door to her quarters opened smoothly before her only to welcome to her to small piece of personal hell.  “What have you done?”  Celes moved deeper into her quarters, or what was left of it, to get a better look at what Corey had done.  The room was set up in an entirely different way from when she left.  Both beds were on opposite sides of the room with a sheet between them acting as a wall.  A nightstand was next to each bed along with a dresser.  She didn’t want to think about what the bathroom looked like.  Corey looked up at her from ‘her’ side of the room for a few seconds then returned to the padd she’d been working on.

Sighing, Celes decided on her next course of action.  Her duty shift didn’t start until mid-day so she had time to complete the move and settle in.  The only concern she had, as she packed her belongings, was what Seven would say when she found out they were sort-of living together.  She ignored Corey’s heated questions.  Celes surprised herself with how quickly she shoved everything she owned into two overly large duffle bags, and how neatly she’d done it.  She felt Corey’s hands on her shoulders turning her around.  “I’m leaving, and to where is none of your business.”  Ignoring the girl’s shouted questions, she picked up her bags and fled the room.

~*~

The crowd in the Mess Hall increased in size every few minutes.  It was time for lunch and everyone seemed to be hungry for Neelix’s cooking.  B’Elanna looked up at Seven from the padd she held.  “You’re insane.”  The ex-drone eyed her curiously.  “You actually want to do this?”  Seven nodded taking a sip from the glass of nutritional supplement in her hand.  “And you said you’re using one of the V.I.P. quarters temporarily?  You were there last night, with Celes?”  Since the last time she’d met with the Bajoran, B’Elanna did her homework and found out the girls’ name.  “So, why the major construction in the cargo bay?”  She dropped the padd unceremoniously onto the table, the sound echoing in the sudden silence of the room.  “It’s not that difficult to move an alcove, and you know it.”  Seven delved into her nutritional supplement again.  “What the hell else is going on here, Seven?”  She noticed Seven wasn’t watching her or paying attention to her supplement any longer.  “Seven?”

“It is difficult enough.”  Seven gazed beyond the engineer watching Celes make her way over to the table.  In the note she’d left before leaving the V.I.P. quarters, Seven asked her to join her for lunch before going on to duty.  Something about the way the Bajoran looked made her uncomfortable.

B’Elanna turned around to see where and what exactly Seven was staring at.  When she saw Celes she rolled her eyes and returned to the specs for Seven’s new quarters.  “When do you want to start this?  Today, tomorrow, when?”  She added something under her breath that she hoped the Borg’s enhanced hearing wouldn’t pick up.  When Seven shot her warning glare a smug smile crossed her face.  “Well?”

“As soon as possible.”  Celes sat next to her at the table facing away from the view port.  “What’s wrong?”  She didn’t waste a moment in inquiring about the odd air about her…  What was she going to call Celes?  Girlfriend?  Lover?  She shrugged it off for the moment to get her answers.

Celes cringed under Seven’s scrutiny.  Was she that transparent when things were bothering her?  “It’s nothing major.  Hello, Lieutenant.”

B’Elanna nodded at the girl, “What kind of trouble did you get yourself into?  It’s too early for a cat fight in the captain’s ready room,” she laughed but her companions didn’t find her comment funny at all.  “What?  I know it’ll happen eventually.”  Seven glared at her again.  “Seven, learn to take a joke.”  She stood, taking the padd with her, “I’ll assign a team to this by tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.  And, by the way,” B’Elanna looked directly at Celes, “good luck.”

Seven shot daggers at B’Elanna as she exited the room.  The Klingon could never mind her own business, even if her life depended on it.

“Annika, I swear it’s nothing bad.”  Celes decided to speak up before Seven bombarded her with questions.  When she had her full attention, she continued.  “When I went back to my quarters this morning, Corey had shifted the entire room around so that she had half and I had half.  So, I left.”

“You left?”

“I packed up everything that was mine and moved it into the V.I.P. quarters.”

“This was worrying you?”  Celes meekly nodded.  Seven softened her appearance with a smile, “If that is the worst thing that happens today,” referring to B’Elanna, “I will be happy.”

~*~

“I am not ignoring you.”  Celes continued her work in Astrometrics as Billy interrogated her.  “I’ve just been a little busy lately, Billy.”  Seven was at the main console scanning a planet in a nearby system that promised an abundance of dilithium.  She turned her head toward her friend for a moment, “You can’t blame me for being busy.”

Billy sighed.  “Well, what are you doing for dinner?”

Her fingers stopped working the controls and Celes shut her eyes.  “Seven,” she called uneasily, “would it be all right if Billy joined us for dinner tonight?”  She didn’t want to see the look Billy was giving her.  He’d obviously be confused and shaken.

Seven overheard Celes’s conversation with Billy since the boy had come into Astrometrics ten minutes ago.  He argued well, but had no idea what was going on.  Knowing the two were good friends, she wondered why Celes hadn’t told him of their new relationship.  It also made her think if there was a relationship after all.  “Of course.”  She continued working the panel, scanning for the dilithium deposits.

“Be in the Mess Hall at around 1700 hours, ok?”  Celes finally opened her eyes and returned to her task.  She turned her head slightly as Billy stepped in closer to her ear.

“Since when do you have dinner with Seven of Nine?” he whispered.

Celes backed off a little and turned her head to face him fully.  “We can talk about it later, all right?”  The annoyance in her voice was gone now.  She just wanted her friend to let her be so she could think of a way to tell him about her and Seven.

“Can we talk about it now?  I know there’s something going on, and I’m worried sick about you.”

Celes rolled her eyes pointing out the pun he just made.  “Another thing to be sick over?  Billy, you have to stop that.  You’re not sick, you never were and you probably will never be.”  She smiled showing him she was joking with him.  Fortunately, he took it as such and laughed a little.  “Short version: Seven and I are,” she hesitated trying to come up with an easy way to put it, “more than friends now.”  Billy just stared at her.  She grimaced hoping his silence was a good thing.  “You understand what that means, right?”

Billy snapped out of reverie.  “I’m not an idiot, Celes.”  He saw the worry etch its way onto her face.  “Don’t worry, I’m fine with it.  Why would I mind?”

She felt the blood come back to her face.  “Thank you.”  To her surprise, Billy reached out and hugged her.  “What was that for,” she asked him after they’d parted.

He shrugged, “Nothing.”  Satisfied with the answer he got, Billy turned on his heels heading for the exit.  “See you tonight.”

Celes laughed at him as he left.  He seemed a lot happier than what he did when he arrived.  She turned back to the panel and punched in a few commands.  “You really don’t mind him joining us for dinner tonight?”

“Mr. Telfer is your friend.  I have no objections.”  Seven pondered a moment on when Billy’s presence would not be wanted and smiled devilishly.  “Though, later on, he may not wish to be around for certain events.”  She heard Celes laugh whole-heartedly behind her and toned down her smile.  At least she knew for sure Celes was serious about their relationship.  The smile turned soft and warm thinking about the times to come.

“He’s a bit of a hypochondriac.  That’s really his only problem.”  She continued working on the panel, going over Seven’s latest sensor readings.  She hated doing sensor analysis, couldn’t do them sometimes, but she tried and got the job done at least; though, with errors here and there.  Errors were not a good thing to hand in to Seven, and she was always looking over her shoulder to make sure she was doing things right.  Celes was secretly glad Seven double-checked her work.  It showed her the correct way to do the analysis in the future.  Still, there was a part of her that hated having to be hawked over.  “He’s a good guy none the less though.”

“You would not have befriended him otherwise.”

Silence ensued for a few minutes while both kept on with their work.  Celes was still worrying about moving into the V.I.P. quarters and wondered if the captain would have anything to say about it.  “Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay up there?”

Seven sighed.  They’d been over this at lunch.  “Any objections they may have are irrelevant.  It is none of their concern.”

“But, Annika, this is me we’re talking about.  Not you.  I’m not even an ensign and I’m staying on deck two in the V.I.P. quarters?”

“You are staying with me in the V.I.P. quarters.”

”Janeway to Seven.”

Seven replied to the interruption, almost glad for it, “Yes, Captain?”

”Would you join me in my ready room, please?”

“Of course.”  She tapped her Comm. badge to close the channel, entered a few commands into the console and turned.  Celes was eyeing her.  “Is there something wrong?”  Celes negatively shook her head.  “Do not let your concerns for others overwhelm you.”  She offered a smile before heading out the door.

~*~

“Come in,” Kathryn sat back in her chair.  She watched Seven come through the door and settle before her, opposite the desk.

“Captain?”

“Your look troubled.  Did I interrupt something?”  Kathryn hoped she didn’t look and sound as cocky as she felt.

“Yes, but it’s nothing that can’t be discussed at a later time.  Do you require assistance, Captain?”

“No, I was hoping you would join me for dinner tonight.”

“I cannot.  I have plans.”  She baited Kathryn enough to make her believe she was going to decline any offer before she answered.  “Tomorrow evening would be adequate.  Celes and I will expect you at 1900 hours.”  An unreadable expression veiled Kathryn’s features.  “Is that acceptable?”

“Well, I was actually thinking just the two of us.”  Something clicked and her face contorted in confusion.  “Expect me where?”  Kathryn hoped it wasn’t what she was thinking.

“Due to difficulties with her cabin mate, Celes has joined me, temporarily, in the V.I.P. quarters until the cargo bay is sufficiently renovated.”

Kathryn wasn’t sure what to think.  She’d say something if she could, but her breath escaped her.  Forcibly, she blinked and gulped down the lump in her throat.  “Don’t you think things are moving just a bit too fast?”

For a moment, Seven was stunned.  “It was not my intention, Kathryn.  Celes made her decision before consulting me and while I find that disconcerting, the circumstances that caused her to act were intolerable.  I believe I would have made a similar action if I were in her situation.”

“And,” Kathryn stood up, placing her hands on the desk for support, “which situation is that?”

“If Celes wishes for you to know, she will inform you.”  Streaks of fire began to dance in Kathryn’s eyes.  “What about this is making you so upset?”

Kathryn took a moment to think before answering.  She was angry with herself for not taking a chance.  Despite the baseline of anger, jealousy consumed her.  Not of Celes, but of what she was missing.  What she was missing wasn’t necessarily what she wanted, but what she needed.

“Kathryn...”

She looked up, shaken from her thoughts, and saw that Seven was next to her.  “Just go,” she whispered, “please.”  Kathryn felt her chin twitch attempting to stop the onslaught of sobs threatening to run tremors through her body.

Seven felt a familiar feeling rise up seeing the tears streaming down Kathryn’s cheeks.  Her heart and her brain fought each other as she watched her captain fall to floor unceremoniously.  She bent and reached out, grabbing hold of the sobbing woman and attempted to pick her up.

“I said get out!”  Kathryn’s arms flailed out wildly.  Her hand came into contact somewhere on Seven’s body, but she didn’t care.  She wanted the Borg out of her ready room, off deck one and out of her mind.  Kathryn wanted to be alone.

Over Kathryn’s screaming, Seven heard the door open to admit someone.  The smack to her arm shocked her more than hurt her as she tried to gather the captain’s hands in her own.  By the time the caller made their way over, Kathryn was underneath the desk leaning up against the support with her head buried between her tucked knees.  Seven’s heart called out to her relentlessly, ‘Help her...  She needs you...  Don’t abandon her...  You know she loves you as you do her...’  A hand pulled at her shoulder.  She turned to meet Tuvok’s face, as worried as a Vulcan could look.  She shook her head knowing his unasked question and he backed off, leaving the room.

In a half kneeling position, Seven hopped closer to the desk.  “Kathryn, allow me to help you,” she hesitated, “again.”  Kathryn stopped suddenly.  Seven sat back slightly hoping for the best, but nothing more happened.  Kathryn was a living statue.  Her own defenses were coming down.  Seven could feel a sting behind her eyes.  “I do not enjoy seeing you in this state...  It hurts inside...  I do not un-...  Help me understand.”

“What does it matter?”  Kathryn cringed at the sound of her hoarse voice.  She hated how a simple dinner invitation developed into a disaster.  When had she let her life get out of control?  ‘When you allowed Seven to inch her way into your heart.’  She quickly told her little voice to shut up.  ‘Losing control can be a good thing, Katie.  Go with it...’  She kept her head buried between her knees, hoping maybe the things she was saying would go unheard.  “I messed up, Seven.  That’s all there is to it.  I missed my chance and I know that no matter what I do, I can never get you to want me again.  I’m sorry,” she added humbly.  “I don’t know what to do.  I can’t think straight anymore.”

Seven listened quietly to Kathryn’s confession.  A battle was forged in her heart and head.  Phasers fired, tarring enemy territory.  Torpedoes exploded destabilizing the stronghold she’d built.  She sucked in a large breath fortifying her defenses once more and stood.  With a heavy heart, Seven exited the room.  Neither side would win.