Adaptations: A Sequel to Sustenance

Act IV

"Round Three goes to Chakotay," the holographic Boothby announced.

The First Officer relaxed his guard and sprinted over to his corner, sweat pouring from his tired body.

"What's wrong with you, boy?" Boothby asked.

"What do you mean? I'm winning," Chakotay protested.

"No, son. You're not here to box. You're fighting some demon. And by the look of things, it's a pretty big demon," he said as he gave the First Officer's arms a quick rubdown. "I think you wrenched your left shoulder on that last knockdown." He squeezed the shoulder for emphasis, and Chakotay recoiled painfully from the contact. "Come on, son, spill it," Boothby pressed. "You look like you've lost your best friend."

Chakotay smiled bitterly. "You've got it all figured out already, Boothby. There's really nothing more to say."

The bell rang indicating the start of Round Four, but as Chakotay stood to move to the center of the ring, Boothby threw the First Officer's towel in ahead of him.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Chakotay protested. "I was winning!"

"This sounds like one you're not gonna win, son. And I think you're going to have to get used to it. You'd better get over to Sickbay and have the Doc look at that shoulder."

Chakotay fumed, but he knew better than to argue with Boothby. Instead, he snapped his gloves together angrily and stormed out of the holodeck.

"Deck 5!" he yelled at the turbolift computer.

Within moments, he was crossing the doorway into Sickbay.

The Doctor came out of his office immediately. "Commander," he greeted. "Have you injured yourself?"

"It's my shoulder, Doctor. Boothby insisted I come and let you take a look at it."

"I see," the Doctor said, and he did. Chakotay had communicated more than he realized with his comment.

As the holodoc passed his medical scanner over the shoulder and then began administering treatment to mend the torn ligament, he engaged the First Officer in seemingly idle conversation.

"That's a nasty tear. I take it you were losing."

"No, actually I was winning."

"Hmm. Putting your all into it, then."

Chakotay sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the Doctor inquired after a moment.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Isn't it obvious why I'm upset? Aren't you upset? After all, you're feelings for Seven were no secret!"

The Doctor visibly flinched at that one.

Chakotay took another breath. "I apologize, Doctor. I was out of line."

The Doctor looked at him and responded sincerely. "Commander, I'm going to miss both of my friends. As are you."

"That's just it, though. It doesn't make any sense for Kathryn to sacrifice both of them. I've volunteered, I think Tuvok was about to, but she won't listen to either of us."

He took another breath. "Doctor, I've been giving this a lot of thought. Look," he began, shifting uncomfortably, "you and I both know that the captain went through a lot down on that planet. She was starving, physically and mentally exhausted from lack of food, and distraught, maybe even slightly crazed with worry, over us and over what was going to happen to her and Seven."

"The 'slightly crazed' part may be a bit exaggerated, Commander, but there's no question about any of the rest of that," the Doctor agreed warily, concerned about where the First Officer was headed.

Chakotay gave a short nod. "So don't you think the captain's decisionmaking was impaired? I mean, anyone would snap going through what she went through....."

"Commander," the Doctor began warningly.

"Hear me out," Chakotay interrupted with a raised hand. "I think the captain is trying to recreate what she and Seven had on the planet, where it was just the two of them. And it isn't right for those of us who are thinking straight to let her sacrifice herself....and Seven," he added as an afterthought, "just to recapture something that never should have happened in the first place. I understand that they care about each other, but I think her attachment to Seven is almost obsessive....."

"It's called love, Commander."

"No, Doctor. It's different.....and I understand it. Seven saved Kathryn's life in such a personal way." He lowered his voice. "She breast-fed the captain, for goodness sake! How could they not develop a bond doing something like that?! But for the captain to turn her back on her responsibilities to Voyager just so she can run off with Seven again? That's not like her."

"That's not what the captain is doing, Chakotay!" the Doctor protested.

"It amounts to the same thing! She has other viable options -- letting me stay, for instance -- that would permit her to remain on Voyager and see this ship and crew safely home. She's shirking that responsibility, Doctor. And it's not right!" the commander replied angrily. He took another breath. "I want you to declare the captain mentally incompetent."

"Well, as Chief Medical Officer, I certainly have the wherewithal to do that. And there's no question that I would do that....if I felt Captain Janeway was incompetent. But in my medical opinion, she isn't."

"Doctor, you're not a psychologist --," Chakotay began.

"And neither are you, Commander," the hologram responded testily. "The truth is that there's no one on this ship qualified enough to make that kind of call. But as CMO, I'm the closest. And I'm telling you, as both the captain's doctor and her friend: nothing that happened on that planet is responsible for the captain's decision to take this mission."

The Doctor softened. "Commander, you and I both know that it is justlike Kathryn Janeway to martyr herself for her crew, especially for something as serious as shortening our trip home. She was prepared to make a similar sacrifice when we were going through the Void, remember? And that was before she became involved with Seven. The only thing that's different about her decision this time is that she's willing to let Seven stay with her. And frankly, I think that's the healthiest thing she could do."

Head hung low, Chakotay considered the Doctor's words, saddened by his growing awareness that the hologram was right.

"Leaving Kathryn behind is going to tear this crew apart," he said plaintively.

"I know," the Doctor agreed. "That's why it's going to take a very special captain to pick up the pieces and get this ship and crew home. But I know the commander who's up for the position, and I have every faith in him," he added gently.

Chakotay drew unexpected strength from those words. He seemed about to say something more but was interrupted by the Sickbay doors, which swooshed open to admit Tom Paris.

"Ensign Paris reporting for medical duty, Doctor," he said in his typically light and subtly ironic tone. "Hi, Chakotay," he greeted, turning to the First Officer. "Did you sprain something?"

Chakotay sighed. "Nothing that won't heal, Paris. Thanks for mending the shoulder, Doctor," he concluded hopping off the bio-bed. He didn't await a response.

The Doctor continued staring at the Sickbay doors even after they closed behind Chakotay.

"Anything wrong?" Paris asked.

The Doctor frowned and then turned his full attention to the sandy-haired pilot who also doubled as his medical assistant. "Tom," he began, "things are actually pretty quiet here today, and well, I've been thinking I should hone my skills in other areas now that I'm regularly asked to participate in Away missions. I wonder....how would you like to help me brush up on my piloting skills?"

"Sure thing, Doc."

~~~~~~~

"Good afternoon, Ensign Kim. I am here to relieve you."

The young man crawled carefully across the overhead shuttle catwalk, nursing a sore knuckle, and then peered down through the hatchway, a look of surprise evident on his face.

"Seven! How did you know I was up here?"

"I heard you mutter an oath. I believe the word was 'Fuck'," she replied in her typical deadpan.

The ensign's ears shaded crimson. "Um, well, I banged my finger with the spanner," he explained.

"Perhaps you should have the Doctor take a look."

"Yeah. Thanks."

He climbed down from the shuttle crawlspace where he had been working on the connections to Seven's alcove and let the young woman take over for him, quickly briefing her on where he had let off.

"Understood," Seven confirmed when he was done. Then without further delay, she climbed up and began her work.

Kim smirked at Seven's lack of social graces. "See you later, I guess," he mumbled under his breath.

"'See you later'," Seven echoed back, the timbre hollow and distant as it reverberated through the human-size tube she was now in.

The ensign smiled and then exited the shuttle. As he left the docking bay, he nodded a farewell to Torres and her engineering team, who had just come in. Torres nodded back distractedly.

Neelix was there, too, still trying to expand his functions by putting in a few duty shifts in other parts of the ship. He smiled and mouthed a silent "bye-bye" at the ensign as he waved his fingers at him.

"Neelix," B'Elanna called, getting the Talaxian's attention, "you and Golot are with me. We need to check all the power couplers," she ordered over her shoulder as she entered the shuttle with her two assistants trailing. "We've got to make sure all the circuits are working perfectly. Can't risk the captain losing power after she's initiated the graviton stream."

"What about auxiliary power couplers?" Golot asked.

Seven had heard the question from where she was working on the alcove installation, and she was about to answer in the affirmative when she heard Lt. Torres's response.

"Those, too. They may need to throw everything they've got into maintaining the stream."

Seven nodded to herself, satisfied with the chief engineer's response.

As Golot began removing the port bulkhead panels to expose the circuits she needed to test, she couldn't help balking at B'Elanna's choice of words. "'They'? I thought Seven was just going along for the ride."

Quirking her lips, the chief engineer couldn't resist the invitation to poke fun at the too efficient Borg. "Now, Golot," she said in mock disapproval, "you know Seven of Nine isn't the idle type....In fact," B'Elanna added with an irritated sigh, "she's the busy-bee type...busy and nosy."

Golot smiled back, appreciating the lieutenant's willingness to relax protocol, particularly where the Borg was concerned.

Seven, for her part, raised her brow quizzically, realizing now that they didn't know she was there and wondering if she should inform them. But when Neelix guilelessly joined in the conversation, the young woman felt compelled to listen in.

"Well," the Talaxian began, "it certainly is true that Seven likes to involve herself in several areas of the ship to make sure they're running 'efficiently'." His mutton chops bounced a bit in amusement.

The statement was true enough, and certainly nothing that Seven would normally take offense to, but the tone was oddly uncharitable for the typically diplomatic Delta Quadrant native. Neelix, however, was struggling to negotiate his place in engineering, and that meant trying to curry favor with the territorial and hot-headed half-Klingon chief engineer, a daunting task for the cloying and flamboyant Talaxian. To his relief, his efforts occasionally paid off.

B'Elanna chuckled approvingly at the innuendo. "I'm surprised she isn't here now, telling us which isolinear chip goes where."

"Pretty soon she'll be trying to teach me a better way to roast a leg of Kelaran wildebeest or instructing the Doctor on how best to heal one of his patients."

"No, wait," Golot called. "The Borg don't fix 'damaged' drones, remember? And since killing two birds with one stone is more efficient, Seven would recommend roasting the patient!"

Seven winced from where she lay, unintentionally eavesdropping on the conversation and now wishing she was anywhere but there.

"How ever will we manage without her?!" Golot pressed on amid the cruel snickering.

When the laughter died down, Neelix filled the lull with a depressing counterpoint. "I just wish we didn't have to manage without the captain."

The comment sobered the trio, and made Seven of Nine hold her breath.

"That one's going to be tough," B'Elanna noted.

"I guess it wouldn't be like Captain Janeway to let anybody else stay behind like that," Neelix sighed. "But it just doesn't seem right that she should leave us! A captain's place is with her ship!"

"She should have let that Borg do the job," Golot spat.

"She'd never do that. In fact, I'm surprised she even considered separating from Seven when she announced she would be staying behind alone," B'Elanna countered.

"Yes," Neelix mused, "they seem to have developed a very strong bond."

"Doesn't it make you wonder what went on between them all the while they were stuck on that planet?" Golot asked. "Maybe Seven did something to the captain."

"Like what?" the chief engineer asked skeptically.

"I don't know....but didn't the captain seem different to you after she got back?"

"She certainly didn't seem all that glad to see us," Neelix complained. "The way she just hid in her quarters."

"Or in the cargo bay with the Borg," Golot added critically.

B'Elanna thought back to her conversation with Chakotay and realized there was something he had been trying to hide to protect the captain. And as both Klingon and officer, she implicitly shared his need to respect Kathryn Janeway's privacy.

"Captain's privilege," the chief engineer observed commandingly. "That's enough gossip. We have work to do," she added, trying to put the breaks on their casual speculations.

"Yes, Lieutenant," Neelix acknowledged. "I meant no disrespect to the captain....it just doesn't feel right to be losing her."

"I know, Neelix," B'Elanna said softly. "But once the captain makes up her mind, you know there's no changing it."

"Seven could have changed it," he countered bitterly. "She's the only one who has any influence over the captain. She should have tried harder! She should have convinced Captain Janeway to stay on Voyager!" He shook his head sadly. "Now the captain will never get home. She'll never get to see her family again."

"You don't know that, Neelix. I, for one, don't plan to give up trying to get the slip-stream engine to work. Maybe with Starfleet to help when we get back, we'll be able to figure it out and then return here to get the captain."

"She'll probably be dead by then," Golot observed a little too casually. "Or else assimilated," she added.

B'Elanna stiffened but did not respond.

The trio fell into an uncomfortable silence, which let that last statement bore its way painfully into their thoughts.

From inside the maintenance crawlspace, Seven hugged herself against the horrible notion that was finally beginning to form in her mind. For all their planning and packing and preparations, it was probably a conceit to think that she and Kathryn would enjoy a long, idyllic future together. More likely, Kathryn would soon succumb to some disease or alien force or some other danger out here, without Voyager to protect her. And the worst part, the part that Seven was starting fully to appreciate only now -- at Neelix's accidental prompting -- was that she could have done something to prevent all this...but didn't.

She was the one who had been weak. She could have fought Kathryn on this decision, but she had given up.....too easily.....and all because the only thing she really cared about was being alone with Kathryn. Her motives had been selfish, and she would wind up paying a price that was too dear -- Kathryn's life. Anticipating that loss now, Seven laid her head down in misery and let her tears slide silently to the floor.

~~~~~~~

After composing herself, Seven had returned to her task, remaining quiet while Torres and her team completed the maintenance on the power couplings. She was grateful when they finally left. It was then that she had let go her anger and frustration, pulling up on heavy panels with her bare hands and banging away at bolts and fastenings that seemed reluctant to turn but really weren't.

When she was done, she cleaned up in the lavatory off the docking port. She was due to meet Kathryn in the messhall for dinner but dreaded the idea of facing any more crew members. She wished she could just talk Kathryn into having dinner in the privacy of her quarters. More selfish thoughts.

The truth was that the captain was committed to spending what little time she had left with the crew.....her way of softening the blow of her departure and of, in effect, saying goodbye. Seven knew she couldn't interfere with that. She would simply have to grit her teeth and bear the crew's reproaches, which were beginning to feel well deserved.

Ultimately, it would all be irrelevant. In little more than a day, ship and crew would be long gone and out of their lives, possibly forever.

She winced against the suddenly bitter taste of that thought. Feeling even worse, now, she inhaled deeply and made her way to the messhall, trying hard to control the whirl of emotions that vexed her.

"Deck 2," she squeaked when she reached the turbolift. She cleared her throat, trying to rid herself of the lump she suddenly felt there.

After a moment, the turbolift reached Deck 2, and she took another careful breath before entering the corridor and making her way to the Officers' Mess.

Upon entering, she made a quick circuit of the room. Most of the Alpha-shift bridge crew was present, but no Kathryn. She considered retreating again and then saw Tuvok eating by himself at one of the tables along the far wall. Next to Kathryn and the Doctor, the second-in-command had been a close mentor and friend and had even rescued Seven once from a kind of mental oblivion when she had been contaminated with the Borg vinculum virus. She realized that she would miss the reticent Vulcan.

"Commander," she greeted.

"Seven," he returned.

"I am meeting the captain for dinner," she explained. "May I join you while I await her arrival."

"Of course," he said, motioning to the chair across from him. "I anticipate this will be the last time we'll have this opportunity to converse."

"Indeed," she said, feeling that lump again.

"I regret," Tuvok declared honestly, "that the captain has decided that both you and she should remain behind."

There was nothing implied in the tone since Tuvok was the type who spoke plainly, except, of course, when he allowed his sarcastic sense of humor to surface. At the moment, however, he was deadly serious and meant nothing other than sincere regret that he would be separated from two close friends.

Coming as it did on the heels of B'Elanna's and Neelix's comments, however -- not to mention Ensign Golot's -- Seven seized on the "both" in Tuvok's statement and made more of it than she should have.

"Would you rather only one of us had stayed behind?" she asked frostily.

Momentarily distracted by an offending spice in the stew Neelix had prepared, Tuvok missed the change in Seven's mood and answered the question as it was asked.

"Indeed, I would. Losing both of you for a mission where one would suffice is illogical, as I have already mentioned to Captain Janeway."

The comment stung. "And what did the captain respond?" Seven continued.

"She suggested that leaving you behind would be too difficult for her."

Seven had, of course, volunteered for the mission, but the sudden revelation that Kathryn had actually entertained the idea made her stomach clinch painfully.

"But you disagree with her decision," she spat.

"Not entirely," Tuvok responded evenly. "As concerns her emotional state, I believe the captain is correct in her assessment. Clearly, you and she have developed a bond as a result of being stranded together several weeks back. However, as concerns Voyager, the decision is an emotional one that will deprive the ship and crew of not one, but two good officers."

"You believe I should have used my influence to convince the captain to stay," she asked and stated all at once.

"Indeed, insofar as you seem to be the only one with influence over the captain at the moment, perhaps you could have convinced her to accept a volunteer for this mission."

Since she wasn't aware that both Chakotay and Tuvok had volunteered for the mission, Seven assumed he meant that she should have convinced Kathryn to let her stay behind when she had volunteered at the staff meeting. Seven hadn't expected Tuvok to be so blunt in his desire that Seven should be the one who left Voyager, and she found herself feeling deeply hurt by that frank suggestion.

She stood up abruptly. "Perhaps I will yet convince the captain to let me stay behind alone," she declared, her pain punctuating each syllable. "Particularly since no one on Voyager cares whether I stay or go."

"On the contrary, Seven -- " Tuvok began, finally understanding that the young woman was misinterpreting his comments.

Seven interrupted. "It is just as well, Commander!" she cried, tears staining her face. "Because I no longer wish to be a part of this collective!" She ceremoniously tore the combadge from her chest and threw it to the deck as she stormed out, leaving a rather befuddled Vulcan and curious onlookers in her wake.

~~~~~~~

Moments later, Kathryn Janeway strolled into the messhall and casually looked around, clearly searching for Seven.

Tuvok approached. "Captain," he greeted.

"Tuvok," she responded with a nod. "Have you seen Seven?"

"She left a few minutes ago, Captain. I believe I upset her."

"What happened?" Janeway asked a little too loudly. Crew at nearby tables turned to observe the exchange.

"She asked me my thoughts regarding your pending departure and mistook my responses to mean that I wished her to stay behind without you."

Janeway translated. "You told her you thought it was 'illogical' for both of us to stay behind."

"Yes, Captain," Tuvok affirmed, a hint of regret lacing his usually even tone.

The captain took a breath, trying to control the combination of anger and sadness she felt rising in the pit of her stomach.

"Did she say where she was going?"

"No, she simply noted that she might still be able to convince you to let her stay behind alone and then she announced that she no longer wished to be a member of 'this collective'," Tuvok repeated.

Instantly perceiving the pain that would have led Seven to make those declarations, Janeway felt suddenly nervous about where the sensitive young woman might have run off to.

"Computer, locate Seven of Nine," she barked.

"Seven of Nine is in the Officer's Mess on Deck 2," the computer responded.

The auburn-haired woman searched the room again, looking more diminutive and confused than most of the crew were accustomed to seeing her.

"Uh, Captain," Harry Kim called, "here." He put a combadge in her hand. "I saw Seven take it off and throw it to the deck as she left."

Janeway felt a rising panic as she closed her suddenly pale fingers over the metallic triangle. And in the next breath, she yelped out orders as fast as she could. "Computer, emergency lock-down of all shuttle and transporter functions and report any unauthorized departures or transports within the last half hour."

"No unauthorized departures have occurred. No unauthorized transports detected."

Janeway heaved a small sigh of relief as, by now, everyone in the messhall looked on. She returned the gaze, scanning the room in a slow circuit as she considered her next move. Now that she had locked out shuttle and transporter controls, there was no real emergency other than her personal need to see if Seven was all right. For that, she could simply retreat to a nearby and more private computer terminal, where she could locate Seven by running a ship-wide scan for Borg bio-signatures. But the weeks of disapproving looks and subtle criticisms made her feel suddenly contrary. She didn't want to retreat.....she didn't want to hide anymore.

"Computer, activate a ship-wide comlink."

The electronic chortle of the computer indicated that the public-address channel was open.

"Janeway to Seven of Nine. Proceed to the nearest comm station and report your location."

The captain mentally counted to ten awaiting a response. There was silence.

"Janeway to Seven, acknowledge!" she ordered.

As the last call came in through the speakers in Engineering, Golot turned to B'Elanna. "I guess the captain lost something," she noted sarcastically.

B'Elanna did not grin back, distracted by the slightly desperate inflection in the captain's call.

By now, the entire crew was aware that Seven was missing, the captain's signal having reached all parts of the ship, including an almost forgotten Jeffries tube on Deck 15, near the ventral phaser array. It was an area of the ship seldom manned. In fact, the only crew member in that section at the moment was an unhappy young woman with metal-tipped fingers and a Borg-implanted brow.

Janeway had guessed correctly. Seven had been heading for the docking port when the captain began barking orders at the computer to lock down all the obvious means of leaving Voyager. And in her desperation, Seven even considered some of the less obvious means, such as launching herself into space in one of the emergency escape pods. Of course, she knew Janeway would have instantly put a tractor beam on the pod, which meant that her efforts would have resulted in nothing more than wasted resources, inefficiency, and embarrassment. So the dejected young woman had finally settled on tucking herself into a deserted Jeffries tube, wanting desperately to shut everyone and everything out.

But she couldn't shut out Kathryn's voice, which was now reverberating throughout the suddenly quiet ship. In every section, noisy work and idle conversations stopped as the crew listened in growing astonishment to the captain's broadcast, her voice becoming more sincere, more pleading, more intimate.

"Seven?" Captain Janeway called softly over the general comlink. "Seven, this is Kathryn. Please answer me, darling," she begged.

Many of the crew shifted uncomfortably, feeling suddenly as if they were eavesdropping on a private conversation. Seven shifted, too, knowing that Kathryn was letting down her command mask for her sake.

The only one who seemed not to be fidgeting nervously was Janeway herself. To her surprise, Kathryn felt a kind of calm settle inside as she gave herself over to her feelings. Professionalism and protocol seemed suddenly less important than getting Seven to talk to her. And maybe the only way the crew could finally come to terms with her decision was if they saw for themselves how much their captain and their Borg crewmate loved each other.

"Seven," Kathryn continued after a moment, "I know you're hurting. And I think I know the sorts of ideas that are running through your head right now, but, darling, you haven't let me down.....and no matter what anybody else says," Kathryn added, looking around challengingly, "you haven't let the crew down, either!"

Janeway took a deep breath, still looking into the faces of her crew. "Don't you people understand anything?" she asked, unguarded tears starting to well in her eyes. "I'm the one who let you down. I'm the one who got you stuck here six years ago. And I'm the one who needs to set things right again. My responsibility. My call. Not Chakotay's. Not Tuvok's. Not yours. And not even Seven's."

She took another breath.

"Some of you have lost loved ones to the Borg -- friends, family, lovers. And you've directed your hurt and anger at Seven as if she were still a member of the Collective.....as if hating her was a way of respecting the memories of those you lost. But Seven isn't our enemy. She's a human being who was snatched up by the Borg as an innocent child!"

Kathryn paused for emphasis.

"What if....what if we could rescue your loved ones from the Borg, sever them from the Collective and return their individuality to them? Would you hate them, too? Would you hate them for what they did when they weren't in control of their own actions? Would you hate them for having become victims of the Borg?.....I would think you'd embrace them, comfort them, help them adapt to being individuals again. I would think you would rejoice at having your loved one returned to you...."

The captain's words reached Golot in Engineering and others throughout the ship, raising issues they hadn't considered and hopes they hadn't dared entertain.

"That's what Seven represents! She's our family, come back to us from Borg obscurity."

Kathryn's voice faltered as she pressed on.

"But Seven is special, too. Because she was taken so young, she will always be part Borg. And even if that makes her a little rough around the edges, the truth is that we'd all be dead ten times over if it weren't for her Borg enhancements.....I'd be dead now if Seven hadn't kept me alive when we were stranded......"

Seven was instantly alarmed by the direction Kathryn's comments had just taken. As she heard her pause for breath, she scrambled out of the Jeffries tube, hoping to reach the nearest comm panel before Kathryn said anything more. She nearly tripped in her haste when she heard her beginning to speak again.

"When we were stranded on that rock, we....that is to say, I -- "

"Kathryn!" Chakotay interrupted. "You don't have to do this!"

Kathryn held up her hand to silence him. "I do have to do this, Chakotay. They need to know that Seven saved my life, that she protected me, that she sustained me!" Kathryn said, her voice choking with emotion. "It's the only way they'll appreciate how truly wonderful she is!"

Just then, Seven's voice broke in over the general comlink. "Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway! I'm on my way! Please, Kathryn," she added quickly, "do not say anything more until I get there!"

Seven pulled away from the comm panel and sprinted into the turbolift, too late for Kathryn to stop her, but she could hear the captain continuing.

"Seven, wait!" Kathryn called. "I need to say this so they'll understand how human you are. I need to tell them because they weren't there to witness for themselves how much you cared for me."

Janeway looked again at her crew, willing them to understand. "I need to tell you....because you weren't there to see how worried Seven looked when I was starving....You don't know anything about the pain and anguish she felt when I rejected her solution!....You can't imagine the sublime joy she felt when I finally accepted her help!....You need to see her through my eyes to understand who she really is!.....You don't know!"

Just then, the messhall doors opened, admitting an uncharacteristically frightened ex-Borg. Seven froze as soon as she caught sight of the captain.

"They don't know," Kathryn said more quietly, addressing Seven directly this time.

Seven eyed the crew worriedly and then returned the captain's gaze. "They know all they need to know, Kathryn," she cried. "Please! Leave it at that."

Kathryn looked at Seven, considering her plea, and then carefully looked around the room at her crew, as if trying to determine how much they really understood of the bond between her and Seven. She felt to her core that it wasn't enough.

Seven must have sensed her wavering. She slowly approached the auburn-haired woman and held out her hand, hoping the contact would sweeten her entreaty. "Please, Kathryn," she repeated.

Kathryn took the offered hand and pulled it to her bosom, holding it to her heart with both her hands. "Then you tell them what they need to know, Seven. Please. Tell them what you feel for me."

Confusion and embarrassment ghosted over Seven's face at the thought of having to reveal something so personal as her feelings.

"I.....I do not know how to proceed," she said hesitantly.

"Just tell them why you're staying behind with me."

Seven took a breath as she looked around nervously. Then she reconnected with Kathryn's eyes and focused her attention there. She would speak her words of love to Kathryn....only to Kathryn. And imagining that, she felt a familiar calm wash over her.

"I could never leave you," she began softly. "I could no more do without your laughter and your passion than I could survive without oxygen. When you look at me, when you smile at me, when you touch me, I feel.....complete.....And I couldn't bear the thought of you struggling alone, without me to protect and comfort you.....I love you, Kathryn."

There they were -- passion and compassion. The two emotions that most define a human being as a human being.

Janeway carefully studied the crew's reactions. Several of the faces held a hint of embarrassment. Some were even moist with tears. Seven's words appeared to have touched a necessary chord....and it was a start. Satisfied, Kathryn returned her attention to Seven and smiled proudly at her ex-Borg.

"I love you, too, my darling," she said, "with all my heart."

They kissed then -- a long, penetrating kiss -- Kathryn encouraged by the need to demonstrate her feelings for the crew's sake, and Seven encouraged simply by the need to press her lips to Kathryn's.

When they finally parted, they smiled at each other for a moment more, engaging in one of those silent exchanges between lovers. Then they held each other by the hand and simply left.

Silence descended in the messhall and throughout the ship as Kathryn and Seven made their way to Deck 3. Moments later, as they entered the captain's quarters, they heard Chakotay's grave voice coming over the open comlink: "Computer, end ship-wide transmission."