Hidden Agenda


She went back to change Seven's future. She went back to change Tuvok's future. She went back to change many things, but perhaps the very most of these was her own past.

She knew that what she was about to do was as selfish an act as she had ever considered, but the truth of the matter was she had spent a lifetime living her life based on standards set by others. And whom did it benefit in the long run anyway? No, too many had suffered.

The Temporal Prime Directive be damned. It was time now to do what was right for Kathryn Janeway, and part of that was to offer 24 additional souls the opportunity that she could not grant them the first time she brought Voyager home; an opportunity that, ironically, she had come to have no use for.

For 23 years, she alone bore the truth and its haunting memories and if she succeeded at this, she meant for both to die with her.

To that end, Admiral Janeway lied to her younger self about the details of Seven's death.

*******

"You want me to do WHAT?" Captain Kathryn Janeway couldn't believe what she was hearing as she sat cradling the broken body of her First Officer's wife.

In between her battle with breathing, the ex-Borg begged again. "Please, Captain….this….drone is…damaged…it has…. ceased to…function. AAAAAGH!…Please!"

All attempts to stem the profuse bleeding from the young woman's abdomen had failed and, as the shock from her injuries started to wear off, horrendous pain was all that was left. They were trying to ease it with hyposprays but their effectiveness was quickly waning.

Tuvok ran the medical tricorder over Seven of Nine again, confirming his original findings. He leaned toward his captain and quietly stated, "Kathryn, she is beyond our help."

Looking down at the woman in her arms, Kathryn's eyes bore witness to what her heart had refused to acknowledge, and she realized she couldn't deny the truth of what they were telling her. If she could barely contain her grief before, the Starship Captain's command mask completely crumbled now. She was sure her heart was just about being ripped right out of her chest.

"Oh my God," she muttered.

Seven was dying. And there was nothing they could do about it.

Even if they returned to Voyager within the 73 hours in which she might be revived after death, the doctor would be able to do nothing. The head wound had cracked her cortical node, her abdominal implant had been shattered and the blood-loss was unquestionably massive.

And the explosions were getting closer again.

"Captain!" her Chief of Security shouted, "We don't know how much longer it will take Voyager to get the transporters back online! We cannot stay here! It isn't safe!"

Knowing that moving Seven again was no longer an option, Janeway sighed. "All right, Tuvok, you go ahead," she directed, not taking her eyes off of the struggling woman. "We're right behind you."

"Captain, I can't leave you…" he started to protest.

"That's an ORDER, Commander," she barked, cutting him off as she managed to muster up the glare that her crew had come to name "The Leveler".

As sure as he was that separating from them was the wrong thing to do, her third in command knew he had no choice but to leave his Captain with her decision to remain with their Astrometrics Officer.

"Yes, Captain."

In a surprising, emotionally motivated gesture, the Vulcan touched his failing comrade's cheek. "I will locate a safer position from which to wait for Voyager." With that, another cascade of explosions forced him to make haste, advising the Captain emphatically to do the same as he got up and left.

However, choosing to obey his commanding officer didn't preclude him from staying close enough to pull her out of harms way if he needed to. He wouldn't go far until he knew she was safe.

Kathryn looked back down and brushed an errant lock of bloodied hair from the face of the woman she had silently adored for most of the 10 years since severing her from the Borg Collective. She leaned over to place a tender kiss on the other woman's lips. "I will never love another," she whispered

"Capt…" Seven started gasping.

"All right Seven, all right. Shhhh. Close your eyes and rest now. I'm right here." She gave Seven the last hypospray and began to stroke her forehead, including the ocular implant that reminded Janeway of how the ex-drone could use it to express a wide range of burgeoning emotions, just by raising the eyebrow it adorned.

Soon after the hypospray took effect, the Captain settled Seven as gently as possible so that she could get to her feet.

Standing, she mentally readjusted the weight of her command and with the hardest, most cursed breath she would ever draw, and tears streaming down her face, she stepped back, aimed her phaser, and honored Seven's heart-breaking request.

Fini