At her command, the doors slid open to reveal Voyager's
resident Borg, Seven of Nine.
Kathryn smiled. "Seven," she greeted warmly. "What can I do for you?"
Seven raised her Borg brow slightly, wondering if Kathryn knew why she was
there. She dismissed the thought immediately. The captain always asked what
she could do for her. Seven took a breath. Walking up close to the captain,
she placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder. Surprised eyes met hers,
not that Seven could blame her. The young woman rarely, if ever, initiated
physical contact. But Seven had decided that this was to be a night of firsts.
"Seven?" Kathryn asked, slightly breathless from the close proximity to the
woman she had fantasized about for years.
"Touch me," Seven murmured, leaning down closer to Kathryn to nuzzle her hair.
"Let me touch you."
Kathryn pulled away slightly. "Seven… we can't."
Seven pulled Kathryn back, closer than she was before. "You know we have to,"
her voice was low and seductive, making Kathryn's head spin, and, had she been
more coherent, would have made her wonder just how Seven got so good at
seduction. "You know we need to." Seven's hand slipped from Kathryn's arm to
brush against her breast, drawing a moan from the smaller woman. "I know you
want to," she whispered, almost inaudible.
"God," Kathryn whimpered, pushing deeper into Seven's arms and the caress,
even as her mind screamed at her not to do it. 'Hell with it,' Kathryn thought.
'I've been a captain too long… I need to be a woman again.' Kathryn wrapped
her arms around Seven's neck, pulling her head down even as she leaned up to
meet Seven's lips in a passionate kiss. When they finally separated, both
gasping for breath, Kathryn groaned, "Yes…"
The Doctor paced Sickbay, muttering to himself. He should
have never told Seven that he was in love with her, even if he thought his
program was about to be lost. He sighed.
"Computer, time."
The mechanical tones of the ship's computer promptly answered. "The time is 23
hours, 34 minutes."
The Doctor hesitated. Seven *should* be regenerating, but… sometimes she did
put it off. "Location of Seven of Nine."
"Seven of Nine is in the Captain's quarters."
Frowning, the Doctor muttered to himself, "She's probably asking the Captain
about my slip…"
"Oh, GOD!!!" Kathryn screamed as her orgasm washed over
her, like waves staking their claim on the beach. When her shudders finally
slowed and softened to slight trembles, Kathryn reached for Seven's hand to
coax her back up from her position between Kathryn's splayed thighs.
Seven smiled slightly at the look of contentment on her lover's face.
Kathryn peeled her eyes open, and smiled at her lover. "That was amazing,
Seven," she sighed.
Blushing slightly, Seven dipped her head. "I require more practice," she
murmured bashfully.
Kathryn grinned mischievously. "Is that a request?"
Seven's head shot up, and she stared at Kathryn with wide eyes. "Again?" she
squeaked.
"Why not?" Kathryn asked with a small shrug.
"You can?"
Kathryn's eyes narrowed. "Is that a comment about my age?" she asked with
mock-suspicion.
Seven shook her head vehemently. "I just meant that you do not have
Borg-enhanced endurance. I do. I am worried that I might…" she trailed off.
"Might what? Wear me out?" At Seven's nod, Kathryn chuckled. "Seven, there's a
good way to be worn out, and a bad way." She wrapped her arms around the
younger woman and rolled them over so that she was on top, her mouth near
Seven's ear. "And this is definitely a good way," she finished in a growl,
nipping on Seven's earlobe.
The Doctor sighed. "Computer, time?" he asked, mildly
annoyed.
"The time is 02 hours, 28 minutes."
"And the location of Seven of Nine?"
"Seven of Nine is in the Captain's quarters."
The Doctor frowned, feeling an irrational urge to hit something. Too bad Mr.
Paris wasn't around. "Did my confession confuse her that much? Is she in that
bad of shape?"
Seven's body went completely still in her orgasm, before
she collapsed into a puddle of flesh and metallic implants, wet with sweat and
various other bodily fluids.
Kathryn's knee slid against the younger woman's swollen folds, wrenching a
groan from deep within her.
Opening her eyes slowly, Seven tried to focus fuzzy eyes on the woman above
her. "I can't," she muttered.
"Is it impossible?" Kathryn asked lowly.
Seven nodded. "Yes," she proclaimed, nearly desperate for rest after four
hours of love making. Perhaps, she thought, she was in over her head.
Kathryn bent down to speak directly into Seven's ear. "Impossible is a word
humans use too often," she quoted, tweaking Seven's nipple on the last word.
Seven groaned again, but couldn't deny her body's reaction to the stimulation.
Were all humans this eager for sex?
"Computer! Time!" The Doctor ordered, having given up
pacing Sickbay when he had noticed a few stray photons escaping as he walked.
"The time is 04 hours, 16 minutes."
"Where's Seven?!"
"Please restate the question."
"Location of Seven of Nine!" He yelled harshly, having long lost all patience.
"Seven of Nine is in the Captain's quarters." The Doctor spoke the words with
the computer.
"Dammit!" The Doctor exclaimed, slamming his fist down on his desk with such
force that half a dozen more photos scattered on impact. "I've ruined the
woman I love!" he wailed plaintively.
Seven limply rolled her head toward Kathryn. "I---" her
voice broke and she cleared it twice, working up a meager spit at the same
time, swallowing, and trying again. "I think we need to go to Sickbay," she
managed, her voice nearly gone.
Kathryn groaned in reply and grabbed a blanket, pulling it haphazardly over
her body.
"Computer?" Seven worked up another spit and swallowed. "Two to transport to
Sickbay. Energize."
The Doctor turned around when he heard the transporter, and
was not at all prepared for the sight before him. Seven appeared, laying on
the floor, completely nude, covered in sweat, saliva and vaginal fluids, if
the Doctor's nose was telling him the truth. Right beside her, lay the Captain,
barely covered with a blanket, and liberally covered with the same combination
of fluids. Both looked like death warmed over.
Truthfully, until that moment, the Doctor hadn't understood that term, but if
any situation warranted it, this certainly was it.
"Seven?!" The Doctor gasped. "What happened?!"
Seven gazed up at the hologram, barely able to make out his form through thick
eyes. "Eight... hours..." she got out, before falling into unconsciousness.
The Doctor turned to Kathryn, about to ask her the same question, before
noticing that she, too, had lost consciousness.
He looked between the two, his mind slowly piecing together what had happened.
Truth be told, he had known right away, but simply refused to acknowledge it.
Taking the situation in stride, from a medical perspective, anyway, he quickly
called for Sickbay doors to be sealed, and began preparing hyposprays, after
sending a message to Chakotay that neither Seven nor the Captain would be
reporting for duty that day.
Kathryn couldn't help but blush slightly as she sat
half-reclined in the biobed. She didn't remember getting to Sickbay, but the
Doctor had assured her that she had been covered by a blanket when the
transporter deposited her and Seven on the floor.
And it was that one fact that kept her from erupting into flames of
embarrassment as the Doctor carried on a steady stream of castigation.
"... one for the medical texts! I can see it now! Title: 'What a Way to Go!'
Subtitle: 'Starfleet Captain and Ex-Borg - The Truth Behind the Orgasmic Death'
Do you have any idea how close…"
With a slight sigh, Kathryn tuned out the EMH's tirade, choosing to focus on
Seven instead. The young woman looked stunningly beautiful, with her hair down
around her shoulders and a loose Sickbay tunic covering her thin frame. She
also looked absolutely exhausted, for which Kathryn felt a twinge of guilt.
'It *was* her first time, Katie... you could have gone a little easy on her,
but noooo... You had to play catch-up all in one night!'
Kathryn shifted slightly. Despite eight hours of love-making, she already knew
that she wasn't nearly caught up for the six and a half years of forced
celibacy… interrupted once or twice, of course, but still not nearly enough to
count for anything.
The Doctor's words filtered through again. "… can't believe you'd do something
like this, Captain! What if there had been a red alert? What would the crew
have said if they knew that their 'fearless leader,'" the Doctor pantomimed
quotation marks with his fingers as he said the words. "was off taking
advantage of an innocent young crewmember?" Still on his roll, the Doctor
continued speaking, but Kathryn no longer heard him.
Taking advantage of? She glanced at Seven, who was frowning at the Doctor.
Kathryn's eyes widened. Seven didn't know… she was just doing what she had
seen others do…
Kathryn nearly slapped herself. Of course she didn't know, you miserable
excuse for a Starfleet captain! What, did you think she really loved you? Did
you think she really knew what she was doing? Hell, do you even know if she
was actually asking for sex?! She was just reaching out to you and in your
sex-deprived little brain, you thought that's what she meant!
Ooooo, Katie, m'dear, you are in *deep*.
Kathryn was looking everywhere but at the woman before her.
Admittedly, she had found the previous night spectacular - phenomenal -
wonderful - amazing - perfect - 'Okay, Kathryn,' she thought, slightly annoyed
at herself, 'you can shut up now. It was sex. Good sex, but still just sex.'
But now she had no idea what to do. Truthfully she knew exactly what to do,
she just wasn't looking forward to it.
"Seven…"
"Yes, Kathryn?"
Kathryn nearly groaned. Seven's voice was still raspy and hoarse from their
night together, and it stirred feelings in Kathryn that she wished wouldn't be
stirred right now. "Seven, about last night…" Kathryn paused to gather her
thoughts. "You know that can't happen again, right?"
Seven frowned. "Why not?"
'Oh, Seven, do you really not know?' Kathryn sighed. "Seven, it's not
appropriate. I can't fraternize with a member of my crew," she said, trying to
buy time. "And besides that, there's the issue of our feelings for each
other." 'Please let her understand and make this easier for me…'
Seven paused. "What about them?" she asked, genuinely confused.
'Damn.' Kathryn paused again, feeling almost sick to her stomach. "Seven, you
can't misinterpret a…" she took a deep breath. "a mother-daughter bond for
something more." Kathryn stared miserably at the floor. 'You see me as a
mother…'
Seven's face went deathly pale. "You see me as a daughter," she whispered.
It took a moment to sink in to Kathryn what Seven was saying, but when it did,
her head snapped up. Two seconds too late.
Seven straightened, every inch of her screaming 'Borg'. "I apologize,
Captain," she said formally. "I was mistaken as to your feelings for me. It
will not happen again." With that, she turned and fled the room.
Only seconds behind her, Kathryn was nevertheless too late, as when she got to
the cargo bay, Seven was already firmly wrapped in her regeneration cycle.
For all of her calm appearance, Seven's mind raced. Her
body may be regenerating, but her mind was free. Free to look back over the
past day, or month, or year. Free to wonder *why* she had ever thought Kathryn
loved her like a lover. No. Not Kathryn, the Captain. Seven no longer had the
privilege of calling the beautiful auburn-haired woman by her given name.
The last time Seven had been in this room, she had been wondering privately
why the Doctor had declared his feelings for her when they were already
painfully obvious. It seemed… inefficient. But now she understood. She had
thought that Kathryn knew her feelings for her, and had reciprocated.
A quote she had stumbled across in the Federation database came to mind.
'That's why 'assume' starts with 'ass'.'
'Ass' indeed, Seven thought. She didn't fully understand all the nuances of
the word, but she understood enough to know that she had been one the night
before.
Resolving to put the matter behind her, Seven purposely cleared her mind and
spent the rest of her cycle in peaceful oblivion.
When Seven stepped out of her alcove, she noticed Kathryn
curled up against the workstation, sleeping. As quietly as was possible, Seven
left the room to go to Sickbay and have the Doctor clear her for duty. She
didn't notice Kathryn waking up as the doors slid shut behind her.
Seven was nearly to Sickbay when the transporter activated directly in front
of her, solidifying into the form of one very tired looking Captain Kathryn
Janeway.
"Captain," Seven greeted coolly.
Kathryn sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Seven, we need to talk."
Seven raised her chin. "I must meet with the Doctor. Perhaps later."
Grabbing the young woman's arm, Kathryn declared, "The Doctor can wait! We
*need* to *talk*."
Seven straightened further, pulling her arm away to the same time. "Very well.
Proceed."
"Here?"
"You wish to speak to me, here seems to be 'as good a place as any', as Lt.
Paris is apt to say."
Kathryn took a deep breath. "All right. Here it is." She paused. "Seven… what
I said in Sickbay yesterday. About a… mother-daughter bond?"
Seven's jaw tightened. "Yes," she bit out.
"I thought that you viewed me as a mother, Seven. That the night before last
was simply you reaching out to me, in a non-romantic way, in the only way you
could think of." She hesitated. "I didn't know that it was romantic," she
whispered.
"I am not as naïve as you seem to think, Captain. I am not a child."
Kathryn chuckled humorlessly. "I found that out that night, Seven."
Seven did not smile.
Sighing again, Kathryn continued. "What I'm trying to say is that… I love you,
Seven." She held her breath for a moment. "Can you forgive me?"
Seven pondered the words for a moment. It was true that what Kathryn said had
hurt her, but it seemed to have hurt Kathryn just as much. 'Assuming again,'
Seven idly thought. She met the smaller woman's eyes. "Yes, I forgive you. I
love you as well, Kathryn." Seven let the name roll off her lips, savoring the
taste and feel of it, as she had been sure she would never be able to say it
again.
Kathryn smiled brightly, pulling Seven into her arms, surprising the young
Borg. "I love you," she whispered again, gently placing a kiss on the soft
lips.
"I love you, too," Seven repeated, kissing Kathryn again.
The Doctor quietly slipped back around the corner, feeling
guilty for watching the tender moment. It wasn't truly his fault, he
justified. He was headed to Cargo bay 2 to see how Seven was doing, and when
he turned the corner, there they were, declaring their love for each other.
It's a public corridor, he shouldn't feel bad for witnessing their small
interlude…
Rationalization or not, the EMH felt horrible, and quickly passed off his
shift to Tom Paris, retreating to the holodeck for a little piano playing.
When he got there, Sandrine's was already running, and he entered, ignoring
the young crewmember at the bar, going straight for the piano, and playing the
soft melody of Someone to Watch Over Me.
As he played, the red-rimmed, bleary eyes of the woman at the bar turned his
direction. "You lose someone, too?" she asked, her slurred voice just loud
enough to be heard over the music.
The Doctor stopped playing. "Can you lose someone you never had?" he asked
rhetorically.
The woman shrugged. "Dunno. Pull up a stool. Have a drink." She motioned with
a grand gesture to the seat next to her.
Sitting down and ordering a coffee -- spiked with whiskey at the woman's
insistence -- the Doctor avidly studied the swirls in the wood grain of the
bar.
The woman sat with her elbow resting on the bar, her head in her hand. "So,
who is she?"
The Doctor glanced up. "Who?"
The woman shrugged. "Okay. Me, I lost my boyfriend. He dumped me. Decided he'd
rather have my shift supervisor. Sucks, huh? Anyway, I knew something was
wrong when…"
The woman continued speaking, the Doctor listening to her story. Eventually,
he shared his, and over holographic drinks in a holographic bar, the
holographic doctor started to let go of his very real pain.