Interlude in the Void
 

"All the lights in the world, All the flowers,
all the colors, she extinguishes;
She steals the sheaves from the fields;
She takes everything that is lovely,
Steals the silver from the streams,
From the copper dome of the cathedral
She takes away its gold.
The spray of flowers stands plundered,
Draw closer, soul to soul;
Oh, I am afraid the night will steal
You, too, from me."
- 'Nacht' ('Night'), Richard Strauss

She stood behind the door, waiting. Her golden hair glittered down her shoulders, stark against the black of her tunic. She cocked her head to the side as she watched the closed door.

And it stayed closed.

Her eyebrow arched, and she frowned. "Computer, open door."

"Level two security clearance required to open door."

"Open door, authorization Seven-of-Nine-beta-four-theta-two."

The doors slid cleanly open.

The older woman's voice was rough as she stood in the shadows, far away from the woman with the golden hair. "I knew I shouldn't have given you Engineering security codes," she said humorlessly.

"You could have put a higher security clearance on the lock," the younger woman countered.

"I didn't expect anyone to break the lock on the Captain's quarters." She finally turned, crossing lean, muscular arms across her chest, looking up with dulled eyes. She didn't look towards her visitor, but out the window, staring into the blackness of the abyss.

"Captain, I apologize."

This elicited a sharp, dry laugh. "Seven, don't lie to me."

Seven raised an eyebrow, but did not press the point. "I've come to. . . see if you are well." She moved farther into the room, and darkness enveloped her, shrouded her. . . as it shrouded Janeway. The darkness protected them, from themselves and from each other.

"I'm fine, Seven," she shrugged. "You didn't have to come here."

"I. . . wished to see you. It has been days."

"I'm well aware of how long it's been, Seven," Janeway frowned.

"As am I, Captain."

Janeway nodded, the subdued light glistening dully off of her hair.

"They are worried about you - "

*I am worried about you,* her voice said.

"And they wonder if you'll return."

*I want you to come back,* her voice said.

"Can't I get any peace?" Janeway said sharply. "First Chakotay, and now you."

Seven stepped closer to her, but the few feet between them felt like a chasm miles wide. "Kathryn," she said softly. "Correct me if I'm wrong. . . but I believe I have a more personal claim in this matter than the Commander."

Janeway nodded slowly. "I'd say so," she answered, but did not turn.

"Will you not even speak to me? Has it been so long?"

Janeway let the silence stretch for a long moment. "I've never experienced total darkness before. Did you know that? Before we entered the Void. . . I didn't know what complete darkness felt like."

Seven nodded slightly. "I understand."

"Do you?"

"I believe so."

"I don't believe anyone could understand how I feel," Janeway said, shaking her head.

"We are trying."

Janeway's eyes met Seven's gaze for a split second before she turned her head back to the viewport. "You know," she said quietly, "Before we entered the Void, I could hold out hope that it was all a bad dream. That one of the millions of stars I saw was my own. That I'd get a message one day from Mark welcoming me home. . . or that I'd wake up. The Void opened my eyes to the reality."

"It was not a mistake."

"Wasn't it? How many years are we from home? More than seventy?" Janeway asked, knowing very well how far they had yet to travel.

"More than seventy," Seven admitted. "But it was not a mistake."

"How can you say that, Seven? Could you look me in the eye and tell me that I made the right choice by stranding my crew here?"

Seven traversed the distance between them in a few quick strides, and before Janeway knew what was happening, Seven's hand was gripping her chin and tilting her head upwards. Janeway was entranced by the liquid color of Seven's eyes.

"You made the right choice," Seven said roughly, voice thick.

Janeway's eyes swam with tears and pain. "We'll die before we get home."

"You will not die, Kathryn. Do not say things like that."

"We'll die. We'll never see our homes again," Janeway whispered, drowning in Seven's eyes.

"You will *not* die. I will not let you."

Janeway looked at her for a moment, then shrugged and pulled away. "You couldn't understand."

Seven watched the woman's retreating back. After a moment thick with silence, she said, "You saved me."

"Excuse me?"

"You saved me. . . in many ways."

Janeway turned to look at the young woman.

"Kathryn, I owe everything to you."

"You owe me nothing."

"I owe you *everything*. My life, my position, my future. . . I owe you myself. You saved me."

"What did I do but take you from all that you knew? Tore you from the only thing you'd ever known as a family; tried to change you and make you one of us. I was so damn sure of myself. That what I was doing was right."

"It was right, Kathryn. Voyager is my home now, and you are all my family."

"It wasn't fair."

"It does not matter if it was fair. It was the correct course of action."

"How was I to know that it would work out like this?"

"Kathryn! Please. . . stop."

Janeway lowered her gaze, examining her boots in the semi-darkness.

Seven acted. In a moment, her arms were wrapped around the Captain's slender body, encircling her fiercely.

"Kathryn," Seven said, and her voice was laced with emotion, "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I would be nothing if not for you."

Janeway nodded, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Kathryn, any suffering is worth it to be with you."

"Oh, Seven. . ."

"Do not let this Void destroy everything we have made, Kathryn. Do not let the darkness destroy us." There was an insistent sort of pain in the young woman's voice and in her touch.

"I don't know if I can change what's happening, Seven."

"Please," Seven pleaded. "Please."

But Janeway did not answer. She leaned her forehead against Seven's soft tunic as the young woman's hands stroked her back. A million words went unspoken as Janeway pressed her lips together tightly and sighed.

No more words.

A tight embrace in the darkness of nothing. . . and there were no more words.

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The End