Finite Regret
 

She steps heavily into her quarters, tired beyond reason from her duty shift. The ship is in hiding, poised at the Trojan point of a gas giant and a moon the size of Mars, letting magnetic fields and space debris shield them from prying sensors while the crew finishes repairs. No-one's looking for them, that they know of, but it's safer not to take a risk. They're in no position to meet unfriendly aliens.

She hadn't needed to stay up so long. B'Elanna has the repairs in hand. Is running them better than she could, even on a good day. She's good at her job. But she feels protective of this ship, and didn't want to go to bed while Voyager hurt.

Stupid. Insane. B'Elanna feels every malfunction like the ship were an extension of her own body. It's only an excuse for Kathryn to want to watch every part of the repairs. She knows this. B'Elanna knows this, and seems to have something preying on her mind anyway - she'd thrown a lot of herself and Voyager's resources into destroying the vinculum, and there's something more there than normal crew loyalty to the captain's decisions. Kathryn isn't sure she wants to know what.

She's not alone.

"Seven."

"Captain." Silence. "I have finished the recalibrations you ordered."

"Uh. Good." Cargo bay. Seven. Wanting to thank the crew. She's almost too tired to remember brushing it off.

Emerging from shadow, Seven's more than she's sure she can even look at. Too tall, too graceful, too beautiful, stalking towards her like an animal or a goddess emerging from a long-abandoned temple. The lit crescent of the unnamed planet from her windows bathes Seven in reddish light, giving colour to her skin and transforming her eyes into shadowed wells of emotion Kathryn doesn't get to read in the dim, masking glow. The sharp glint of implants.

Closer now. Seven's near enough to touch, but Kathryn can't bring herself to move. Even in the depths of Seven's pain she couldn't bring herself to hold this woman. She's afraid if she goes that far, there'll be no turning back.

"Why?" is all Seven asks, now. Kathryn knows what she's really asking.

"You wouldn't understand," she answers. Sadly. Dishonestly. A frown; Seven's angry, now, and she has a right to be. Kathryn feels a touch of shame.

"I believe I already do." Seven moves a little closer. There's only a breath left between them, and Kathryn's heart is pounding harder than she's willing to admit. She can't believe how aroused she's getting from Seven's near proximity.

Seven bends from the waist, poised, elegant, leans closer to Kathryn and inhales deeply. Her eyes, opaque in shadow, slowly move from Kathryn's hairline to boots, measuring, lingering. Kathryn can't even breathe steadily now.

"Yes," Seven says softly. "I do understand."

And she walks past Kathryn and out of her quarters, leaving her to shake and wonder if she just lost something, and if so, how the hell she could get it back.