DRONE pt 1

Star Trek Voyager fanfic. A remake of the episode "Drone", on the premises that B'Elanna was the first person to enter the science lab instead of Mulchaey and thus becoming the other parent of One.
(Seven/B'Elanna) Divided into four parts due to size.

Read DRONE pt 1

Disclaimer: Seven, B’Elanna and all things Star Trek as everyone knows do not belong to me, but they certainly are inspiring at times. This story in particular comes from watching the episode with the same name, “Drone”, and asking myself what would have happened if B’Elanna had listened to the doctor’s nagging and therefore been the first to enter the science lab instead of Mulchaey. The story has bits of actual dialogue from the episode in it, arranged to suit my story, just in case you feel you recognise something.

A small warning: this story has some NC-17 type parts... just so no-one reads this unprepared.



DRONE pt 1 of 4
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson



B’Elanna’s day did not start off on a good note. First there had been absolutely nothing for her to do when she got to Engineering but listen to the complaints of a few of her crew, and she had gotten more and more antsy by the minute. Then a week of increasingly strained relations with her on and off boyfriend had ended up in a big fight that had them both saying very hurtful things, and had her telling him in no uncertain terms where he could shove himself for the remaining trip back to the Alpha Quadrant.

Finally an assignment had come along in the form of a survey trip to a nearby protonebula, and B’Elanna had assigned herself to it just to have something to do. To her chagrin the people that would join her on the trip was the doctor and the bane of her existence Seven of Nine. When Janeway assigned Tom Paris to be the designated pilot on their little excursion B’Elanna just had to put her foot down – bad enough to be in a closed off area with Seven, she simply refused to have her extremely annoying ex join in for the ride. At least with Seven she could count on them to keep a civil and professional silence if need be, but with Tom? One word out of his mouth and she would spend the rest of their journey home in the brig, because she would have murdered the idiot.

Besides, B’Elanna was perhaps not as fancy as Tom Paris but she was no slouch at piloting herself. She barely managed to convince Janeway that she could handle the shuttle, and only when she grudgingly admitted the situation between the two of them did the Captain relent, but in the end B’Elanna found herself curiously relieved to be in a small shuttlecraft working alongside Seven of Nine, both of them trying to ignore the doctor’s bubbling enthusiasm.

A casual reply from Seven to a muttered complaint from B’Elanna regarding the size of the standard Starfleet shuttles had B’Elanna’s mind awhirl with the possibilities in designing a custom shuttlecraft for Voyager. Slightly distracted by the idea B’Elanna nevertheless kept a vigilant eye on the readings, and so noticed the spike in the nebula’s growth just as it occurred.

“We’re backing off!” She shouted and did so, but the shuttle was not fast enough. Caught in the gravimetric shear of the nebula, the shuttle was already lost. Their only salvation would be Voyager and that whoever was on transporter duty could overcome the interference of the radiation to get them all back onboard.



As it turned out, Ensign Mulchaey got them all onboard but not without difficulties. B’Elanna materialised in the transporter room with a sense of relief, immediately turning her head slightly to affirm with her own eyes that Seven was standing beside her, intact as ever. Covering the act, in fact barely acknowledging it to herself in the first place, B’Elanna briskly got down from the platform speaking to Mulchaey. Seven followed and when the doctor tried to do the same the problem became evident.

B’Elanna raced to the console to send his program back to Sickbay as the malfunctioning mobile emitter had the doctor flickering alarmingly. She barely managed to finish her command before the doctor vanished completely, leaving the damaged emitter to fall to the floor with a tiny clatter.



It was not a good day indeed, B’Elanna reflected as she went to bed. What remained of the day had been spent with the nagging sound of the doctor’s whining whenever she went, and she had wound up finally promising to deal with his mobile emitter personally, first thing in the morning. That had finally appeased the annoying voice, and B’Elanna had stumbled to her quarters, every bone in her body crying out for some sleep, infinitely grateful for the opportunity to sleep in the following morning, something that was a rarity for Voyager’s Chief of Engineering.

Unfortunately, the doctor had not been informed of this.

Cursing his name... well, his designation, she supposed, feeling slightly amused that she had borrowed Seven’s expression, all the way to the Science lab where the mobile emitter was located, B’Elanna bemoaned the lost opportunity. Nature had not made her an early riser but work demanded it and she had adapted, in fact B’Elanna could go for days without sleep if she needed to. But still, the few mornings B’Elanna was allowed a precious few more moments of sleep was a treasured luxury and having lost one did not put her in a good mood. Granted she could quite understand the doctor’s concern so she wasn’t angry with him, really... slightly annoyed perhaps, but not angry.

She was shaken from her musings the moment she stepped into the lab and found the lights dimmed and, in the darkened room, the shape of the examination console slightly... off. Tricorder in hand B’Elanna quickly stepped up to it to find out what had happened, and, after a slight hesitation, she reached up to slap her combadge.

“B’Elanna to...” Her voice cut off as two slender Borg tubules shot out from what had been the doctor’s mobile emitter and embedded themselves in her neck, the computer never receiving the end location of B’Elanna’s call and therefore never registering her attempt to contact Security.



The moment Seven of Nine stepped out of her alcove, her regeneration cycle interrupted, she was aware of a Borg signature nearby. Despite being met by disbelief and being sent to Sickbay to check for malfunctions, Seven’s information nevertheless had the Bridge on alert, and once the signature registered on Voyager’s own sensors, Seven was swiftly called in to join Tuvok and his security team on their way to the Science labs.

As soon as the malfunctioning doors to the lab were pushed open, by use of Borg and Vulcan strength, the assembled team were met with the unmistakeable green glow of a Borg environment. A Borg force-field separated the centre of the room from the front, allowing the security team to carry B’Elanna’s still unconscious form out of there but appearing to prevent Tuvok and Seven from reaching the construct at the centre... a Borg maturation chamber, although one that was different from anything Seven had seen before.

After a moment of staring appraisingly at the construct, Seven stepped up to the barrier. “It will recognise me as Borg.” She stated quietly but with far more conviction than she truly felt in the circumstances. Tuvok did not try to interfere, and she stepped through the force-field as if it did not exist.

A moment later the force-field came down on Seven’s command, then a few more buttons pushed and the blast shield protecting the observation port on the maturation chamber slid open, revealing what was resting within.

A swiftly growing Borg foetus, it’s tiny, gentle Klingon ridges meeting the growing silver arch of its optical implant, the slightly twitching infant form already bearing an obvious resemblance to its parents.



The discovery was of course reported to Janeway whom, after having a look at the then slightly larger infant form for herself, decided that there would be no pulling of any kind of plug on this tiny drone. Rather the reverse, instead of thinking in terms of threat to the ship and to humanity at large once the superiority of the child-drone’s futuristic implants became obvious, Katherine Janeway was alight with enthusiasm at the prospect of turning yet another drone to the path of individuality.

Overruling Seven’s objections Janeway assigned Seven to work with the drone, effectively to be its mentor, guide and caretaker in one once it would step out of the maturation chamber. With a great deal of hidden trepidation Seven prepared for her new task despite her own doubts, and the ship around her – each in his or her own way – prepared as well.

Except for B’Elanna Torres. B’Elanna had been taken to Sickbay upon discovery inside the Science lab, and made such a fuss at being restricted to Sickbay for the rest of the day that the doctor quickly gave in and had B’Elanna restricted to her own quarters for bed rest instead. Already in a bad mood to begin with for the day, B’Elanna became even crankier upon hearing that she was supposed to be sleeping when there was work to do, but eventually she did give in and slept for a few hours. The sleep improved her mood if only slightly, but it also meant that B’Elanna was out of the loop completely to recent events and therefore knew nothing of the rapidly growing drone that bore her own Klingon ridges on its forehead.

When the restless workaholic sneaked back to Engineering to work despite the doctor’s orders, the rumour mill of the ship filled in some of the blanks but not all, leaving B’Elanna with the knowledge that there had been a Borg drone growing on the ship and once it was grown enough to exit the maturation chamber, Seven had been assigned its guardian by Janeway herself. B’Elanna remained unaware of her own involvement, but it did not take long for the half-Klingon genius to figure out Seven’s part in the creation of this new drone.

And so, without any clear understanding why herself, B’Elanna’s mood deteriorated further.

She snapped at her crew, she glowered at anyone that dared enter her domain; she even mocked Neelix when he came by to install Borg data nodes for the drone. B’Elanna at last felt bad about that, Neelix was a supportive and undemanding friend when she needed one, and despite their obvious differences she both liked and respected the man in her own way. He certainly hadn’t deserved her snapping at him at it was something she so rarely did with Neelix that it showed her just how dark a mood she had allowed herself.

Resolving to do better B’Elanna managed to mentally go through one of Tuvok’s calming Vulcan techniques before resuming her work with a bit more clarity and a lot more accessible mood.

It almost was for naught as when B’Elanna stepped off her lift from the upper level of Engineering to continue her work, she was faced with Seven walking up to the warp core – B’Elanna’s warp core! – with the new drone in tow.

“This isn’t a classroom, Seven.” She all but hissed as she rounded them on the way to the warp core. Perhaps if she did not look at them directly she could hold on to her temper this time.

Seven spoke up in her usual aloof tone, but B’Elanna pretended not to listen as it was not directed to her. “Lieutenant B’Elanna Torres, chief engineer. Klingon-human hybrid.
She possesses extensive knowledge of this vessel’s systems... as well as a volatile temperament.”

Hearing the praise had both surprised and actually flattered B’Elanna a great deal. She knew that compliments from Seven was rare and that the other woman did not say anything she did not mean, and so she found herself standing just a little bit taller, a bit more straight while trying to keep an unaffected look in place. The last part of Seven’s description of her however, blew that right out of the water.

Turning around to glare at Seven while not being too obvious about the fact that she was gnashing her teeth, B’Elanna was just about to snarl something in her direction. Honestly she had forgotten anyone else around them as in her anger she only had eyes for Seven.

Another voice intercepted B’Elanna’s outburst, a voice as perfectly modulated as Seven’s own, yet somehow sounding gentle and innocent. “Volatile. English adjective, meaning readily vaporisable at low temperature. Easily aroused. Tending to violent eruption.”

Looking into Seven’s pale blue eyes while she heard herself be described as ‘easily aroused’ proved very embarrassing for B’Elanna, and she looked down and tried to control herself. “Very good, you get a gold star.” She mumbled in response, the reply sounding not even half as sarcastic as she had meant it to.

“Our presence here is authorized. The Captain asked me to familiarise the drone with Voyager.” Seven interjected smoothly, raising a silver eyebrow at B’Elanna’s behaviour.

“Well, how about familiarising her with the airponics bay?” This time B’Elanna managed something a bit more acidic though not entirely aggressive, as she quickly made her way to another console to continue her work. She refused to look directly at either of the Borg individuals in her engineering room.

“I have got one hour to predict the expansion rate of this protonebula or Janeway is going to pull the plug on the entire survey...” B’Elanna began in a distracted tone as her mind began working with problem solving again, in a to herself surprising attempt to explain herself to Seven.

“...do you _mind_?!” B’Elanna snapped finally, as the drone had stepped directly into B’Elanna’s personal space causing B’Elanna to bump into her as she turned to work.

The taller figure did not seem to notice the animosity. “If you apply a multispatial algorithm it will accurately predict the rate of expansion. I can demonstrate.”

B’Elanna hesitated, her mind following what had been suggested and realising it just might at that. She glanced up at Seven, eyes asking and, again surprising, trusting Seven to know if it was a good idea to let the drone go ahead.

Seven raised her implant in a small yet smug expression of approval, and B’Elanna was only dimly aware that she told the drone to go ahead as she caught the undeniable yet subtle expression of pride and affection in Seven’s eyes. It nearly floored B’Elanna.

Blinking herself back into focus with an almost Herculean effort B’Elanna got back to the matter at hand, watching carefully and listening to the drone’s explanation. A few moments of work later, and the algorithm had indeed predicted an accurate expansion rate, which B’Elanna swiftly sent on to Janeway with a sense of success. She did not forget to make sure that Janeway would know whom to credit for the good work, and, with the improvement of her mood still in place, B’Elanna turned to give some praise of her own to the person still standing by her side.

The words left her tongue unspoken and the grin tugging at her lips gave way for utter shock as she found herself face to face with her own features.

The drone was tall, of a height with Seven, and Borg-pale underneath the gleaming bright metal implants. But the features, the face, the one human eye looking back at B’Elanna... it was all B’Elanna, and no mistake about it. The ridges were a smoother replica of B’Elanna’s own, the nose, the shape and colour of the eye duplicates of B’Elanna’s. Only the jaw and general shape of the face of the young woman in front of her was upon closer look stronger than B’Elanna’s own.

It wasn’t until a pale head came into view, eyes filled with concern although only a little was revealed in the even tones of her voice, that B’Elanna made the connection. “Are you damaged, Lieutenant? Shall I assist you to Sickbay?”

Seven. The jawline and build came from Seven, of course. Seven who now was looking at B’Elanna with such concern. Seven who was standing a lot closer than she should be.

“Oh Kahless...” B’Elanna breathed unsteadily. Seven.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Seven could easily hear the anguish and the confusion in the whisper. “Why didn’t anybody tell me?”

For a moment Seven was at a loss for what to say. “I... believed that someone had.”



It took B’Elanna quite a while to recover from the shock while Seven and the drone continued with their lessons. Eventually B’Elanna sought the two of them out and spent the rest of the evening in their company, tentatively getting to know her unexpected child. She also, although unintentionally, slowly came to know the woman with whom she had this strange child better than before.
Soon the interview with Janeway came, with B’Elanna impatiently waiting outside the Captain’s ready-room while the other two were inside.

“Greetings. Our designation...” The well-modulated voice hesitated for a second, then continued with a warm earnestness that was surprising. “My designation is One. How are you today?”

Janeway blinked and could not help but to smile. “I’m just fine, thank you.” She cast a mock-reproachful look at Seven. “_One_?”

Had B’Elanna seen Seven she would have seen the tiny twitch at the edge of Seven’s lips as a hidden grin, and known the brief movement of a Borg eyebrow to be Seven’s version of a shrug. “She decided upon the designation herself, despite other... suggestions.”

Janeway left it at that and turned back to the fully grown yet still so childlike figure of One. “And how are you today, One?”

“Well. Thank you Captain Janeway.” One was eager and polite, Janeway could not help but to marvel at the thought that Seven had been teaching her these things when Seven herself never quite mastered the art.

“Adapting to life on Voyager?”

“Yes. Today I’ve assimilated 47 billion teraquads of information on a vast variety of subjects including particle physics, comparative humanoid anatomy, warp field theory...” One trailed off, then continued with enthusiasm. “and the culinary delights of the Delta Quadrant.”

Janeway’s baffled look prompted Seven to clarify. “Mr. Neelix. They’ve been spending time together.”

If Janeway had not been focused on One she would have noticed the obvious affection in Seven’s eyes and voice when looking at her child.

“Is your assessment of me complete? Am I... sufficient?” One showed some anxiety at the thought of not being thought sufficient enough. Janeway hastened to reassure her.

“More than sufficient, in fact I’d say you’re making excellent progress. But this isn’t an assessment, One, I simply wanted to meet you.” She assured warmly, despite the fact that it had in truth been an assessment of sorts. There was no need to alarm the... child... especially since One had more than fulfilled whatever hopes Janeway might have had.

“With your permission I would like to be excused. I have promised to assist B’Elanna... she wishes us to work on increasing the efficiency of the Bussard collectors.” Reassured that she need not worry the childlike eagerness returned to One, and Janeway didn’t want to keep her. Also she was amused to hear that B’Elanna had apparently put the girl to good use.

“Permission granted.” Janeway said with as much seriousness as she could muster, although the smile played at the corners of her mouth.

Once One had left the room she turned to Seven with an expression of awe. “You’ve done a remarkable job. Not only has she absorbed an incredible amount of knowledge in the matter of days, but she seems to be fitting in with the crew and developing a distinct personality.”

Seven tilted her head slightly and replied rather humbly. “Thank you. Lieutenant Torres has been aiding me in teaching One.”

Janeway was surprised to hear that. “B’Elanna has? Really?” Catching herself she managed to drive the incredulity from her voice before speaking again. “You have both done a remarkable job then, and I’ll make sure to tell her that as well.”



A few hours into One’s second regeneration period ever, Seven was roused from her regeneration alcove by a grim-looking Janeway and a roomful of armed security officers. One had been transmitting a Borg proximity signal, she said, and her eyes were dark and unreadable. Seven was ordered to wake One and she complied, informing One on what was going on as she did so.

A quick scan confirmed that One’s cranial implants had regenerated and created a secondary transceiver to replace the one Seven had already deactivated, and the signal had been transmitted unconsciously while One was regenerating. A Borg sphere had intercepted the signal and was fast approaching by transwarp conduit, it would reach them within a few hours.

When One expressed her desire to meet the Borg, Janeway told Seven in no uncertain terms to “show our drone what the Borg are all about”. Seven, fearing the lure of perfection, of unification through the hive mind, would be too great for her child still had to acquiesce to her Captain’s orders.

Much as Seven feared, One was pulled towards the Collective, wanting to experience the hive mind and the billions of voices speaking as one. Janeway made certain that One would know the horrors of the Borg, telling the young drone that the Borg was the most destructive force she had ever known. One hesitated, equalling the Borg with Seven and not finding anything destructive or evil about her fair-haired parent, then finally asked Seven for advice the only way either of them could.

“Seven of Nine, do you wish to rejoin to the Collective?”

Seven hesitated, meeting Janeway’s eyes briefly. The words were difficult to say, even if it was the only choice she could make. “_Voyager_... is my Collective.”

Tears sprang to Janeway’s eyes, stinging them despite the graveness of the situation, but there was no time to feel awed gratitude or pride at this verbal confirmation that the child she herself had taken in had found her home at last. No, no time at all as the alert rang out that the Borg sphere was upon them.



The ensuing battle was brief by Voyager standards, but brutal and the victory came at a very high price... One.

One had stood on the bridge, improving what she could of Voyager’s system from there to save the ship from assimilation. She had, with Seven beside her, defied even the immensely strong pull of the hive mind as it called out to the two of them, but in the end One had decided there was no other alternative. Using her own internal transporter nodes, the young drone had transported aboard the Borg sphere and hurled it, with herself still in it, right into the nebula. Not even a Borg vessel could withstand the power of a nebula, and it had been destroyed.

From what little wreckage left of the sphere, One’s body was collected and transported to Sickbay, but it was no use. Although the Borg components were salvageable and would regenerate in time, the biological components of One’s body were beyond medical or Borg aid. Seven and B’Elanna were present at One’s side when life finally fled One’s body and the doctor stepped back, knowing there was nothing more to be done.

Caught in a state of severe shock B’Elanna could not move, not blink, not look away as Seven staggered here and there on her way out of Sickbay as if she had no idea where to go or what to do. B’Elanna’s paralysis did not let up until Seven reached the doorway and suddenly broke into an all out sprint.

Trembling B’Elanna reached out and gently closed one unseeing eye, then leaned down to kiss the ridged forehead goodbye. In a broken voice she asked the doctor to take care of One until she and Seven had decided what to do, then B’Elanna walked out of the room, heading towards Cargo Bay 2.



She found Seven in the Cargo Bay as she had thought, staring into the now shut-down alcove that had been altered to fit One. The pale blue eyes were wild, desperate and filled with such pain it tore at B’Elanna’s heart, and yet Seven still stumbled around the alcove dais, not knowing what to do.

B’Elanna did the only thing she could. She grabbed Seven to her and held her, hard when Seven tried to draw back, pulling Seven’s head down onto her own shoulder. With a ragged voice filled with her own pain B’Elanna told Seven to let it out, to cry, scream, rage, whatever she wanted to, as long as she let it out.

As if B’Elanna had just given her the key to unlock the door to this emotion that was threatening to devastate her, Seven froze for the briefest of moments. Then her legs gave out, and as the two of them fell to their knees on the metal floor the screams began. Torn out of Seven’s throat as if they came directly from her soul the wailing screams came, on and on while B’Elanna held her tight, on and on until Seven’s voice finally broke and the sobs took over.



Commander Chakotay was on his way back to the bridge, having left to supervise personnel assignments since there were repairs needing to be done while Voyager was speeding as far away from their last location as the ship could manage. His combadge chirped as he stepped onto the turbolift and he barely recognised the strained voice that spoke through it as B’Elanna’s.

“Chakotay, unless it is really, truly necessary that I’m personally present for the repairs, I’m leaving Vorik in charge of Engineering for tonight.”

Her voice was so haggard Chakotay didn’t have the heart to tell her that the night had passed and it was now early morning onboard the ship. “...allright. You get some rest, B’Elanna.”

She grunted something at that, he couldn’t make out what. As an afterthought she added. “Seven is with me by the way, make sure no-one disturbs her either unless there’s really no other alternative.” A pause. “And I mean that, Chakotay.”

“No disturbing Seven, got it.” He hesitated, wondering if he dared to ask. “Uhm, B’Elanna? Where exactly is Seven with you?”

She sighed in a way that made him wince. “She’s with me, in my quarters, ok Chakotay? She’s... sleeping with me tonight.”

Chakotay could feel his eyebrows straining to climb his forehead tattoo like a ladder, but all he uttered was. “Aha.”

“I just... she shouldn’t be alone tonight.” Spoken very very quietly. “And I don’t want to be, either. Just... see to it.”

Chakotay nodded quickly even though she couldn’t see him. “I will, I promise.” She disconnected without another word, leaving him to be true to his word.



Seven had never achieved sleep before, but caught in her grief she never had time to consider her circumstances when she was brought to B’Elanna’s quarters, all but dressed by the smaller woman in one of B’Elanna’s nightgowns, then tucked into bed. The moment B’Elanna had gotten in behind her Seven had instinctively curled into the other woman’s arms, still having a few tears left to shed somehow, and the two of them had held onto one another even when they fell into an exhausted sleep.

The morning brought with it a multitude of new experiences. Seven of Nine had no memory to which to compare the sensation of slowly rising to consciousness in a cocoon of warm softness instead of merely opening her eyes and stepping down from her alcove. She experienced a curious reluctance to move, especially when her senses finally alerted her to the fact that she was resting half upon the form of B’Elanna Torres, head tucked into her shoulder and with the smaller woman’s strong arms still wrapped around her.

Seven took a moment to reflect upon her responses, as she had never been in a situation before where she had been in physical closeness with anyone while being able to merely enjoy the sensation. Physical closeness was rare for her, and usually restricted to medical exams, violence in some manner or form, or the rare and fleeting touch by Janeway in encouragement. Not even Janeway’s tendency to walk extremely close to her side while traversing the corridors of Voyager could really come close to this. B’Elanna was... soft, and warm. Very warm, in fact, and it soothed something deep inside that felt tired and alone.

The steady rhythm of B’Elanna’s heartbeat was a fascinating mystery that had Seven entranced, despite her being quite able to picture the hybrid’s multi-chambered organ and all its functions in her mind. The soft breathing was another mystery, as was the sensation of silk on skin, and she could not comprehend why these things held such an interest suddenly. Seven just knew that she did not want to get up.

B’Elanna made a small sigh and the hand that rested near Seven’s shoulder moved up to her neck, scratching gently as B’Elanna made a number of other little sounds that indicated that she was waking up. Seven barely kept the surprised moan from escaping her lips at the new sensation. She felt B’Elanna’s body stiffen momentarily and the heartbeat under her ear to pick up speed. Then B’Elanna cracked an eye open and peered at her.

“Seven?” B’Elanna’s voice was husky with sleep.

“Yes?” Seven’s own voice was quiet, and for a moment Seven dimly recalled screaming until her throat felt as if it had suffered multiple internal lacerations and her voice had broken. It was almost disconcerting that such a thing could happen, yet a short while later her body had restored her vocal ability to normal.

B’Elanna yawned and cleared her throat, unconsciously hugging Seven a little. “What time is it?”

Seven got the answer from her internal chronometer. “In four minutes thirty-seven seconds it will be nineteen hundred hours.”

B’Elanna blinked in surprise. “Nineteen hundred... we slept that late?” She stretched a little. “Ah well, I’m sure someone would have summoned us if the ship was coming apart without us.” Another yawn.

It was not until then that Seven realised that she had missed duty assignment for the day. It shocked her that she had shirked her duties in such a manner, especially since there was work to be done. She voiced her concerns to B’Elanna, who snorted softly.

“I know we’re both workaholics, Seven, so this is a pretty foreign thing to both of us, but the truth is we just can’t live for work alone. And in this case...” B’Elanna’s voice softened a little. “We lost our little girl, Seven. No-one could expect us to work today, and we shouldn’t try to. I’m pretty sure it could even be dangerous if we did.”

“Our... little girl?” Seven whispered hesitantly. Even though she knew who B’Elanna referred to it did not mean that she understood how the other woman meant it. Worse, the mere thought of One brought with it a raging torrent of emotion that threatened to consume her. Seven tried to lock the emotions in, to focus instead on the present.

The memories of screaming flickered in her mind’s eye for a moment.

B’Elanna sighed. When she spoke her voice was earnest and open, despite being tinged with sadness. “She was ours, Seven... yours and mine. No matter how she came to be, no matter why, she was created from parts of us and that made her ours. Our child.”

Seven digested that in silence, her head still resting on B’Elanna’s shoulder and with B’Elanna’s soothing touch in her hair. Finally she spoke up in a tiny whisper filled with pain. “I was not a good mother.”

B’Elanna swallowed the lump in her throat before answering. “Yes you were... I was there, I saw you, remember? You were a good mother Seven.”

“A mother is supposed to love her child!” Seven’s protest was rasping and painful, and louder than anything spoken since they had awakened.

B’Elanna sat up and pulled Seven to her chest. Shouting at the surprisingly frail blonde wouldn’t help either of them, but what could she say? How could she make Seven see what she knew for a certainty?

“A good mother is supposed to love her child.” B’Elanna began carefully, ignoring the twinge of old pain and the voice in her head that said it wasn’t that simple. “I’ve seen the way you reacted to One, the pride she made you feel, the concern and worry, the joy you took in her presence, the care you took with her in everything... I saw you when we fought to save her, and I saw you beg her not to leave us. I saw the pain, the grief, when she did.”

“That sure sounds like love to me.”

“I never... said.” The reply was quiet and muffled by B’Elanna’s neck.

“I never did either, but I would like to think she kinda knew it anyway. I... worked when I could have been with her instead.” B’Elanna spoke with quiet anguish. “I said mean things the first time I met her, and I never told her I was sorry for that.” Closing her eyes B’Elanna knew she was sorry for so many things, now.

“One did not have the experience to realise how your words were meant, at that time. And you were very kind after.” Seven offered when B’Elanna sniffled. Strangely her words seemed to have the opposite effect on the smaller woman.

“I’m sorry Seven... I’m so, so sorry!” B’Elanna cried, thinking not only of One but of all the other comments, all the other, much crueller, things she had said to the woman now in her arms.

They remained that way, holding one another, for a while longer before B’Elanna finally made to get up.

“Computer, lights.”

Neither expected the small hiss of pain and surprise that came from Seven when the lights in B’Elanna’s quarters came on at the standard setting. Seven bent over at the edge of the bed and grabbed her face with both hands, scaring B’Elanna as she did so.

“Computer, dim lights!” B’Elanna barked and kneeled in front of Seven. “Seven? What’s wrong? What is it?”

“My human eye...” The human eye Seven had not opened while held in B’Elanna’s arms, for the simple reason that the side of her face had been nestled close to B’Elanna. “...it was difficult to open and I am experiencing a... stinging sensation as well as heightened sensitivity to light.”

Pulling Seven’s hands away B’Elanna realised what it was. She was shocked to see that Seven’s human eye was swollen and bloodshot, the edges a bright pink even in the dim light. B’Elanna hissed in quiet sympathy.

“C’mon, I’ve got some things in the bathroom that we can clean it up with.” She grasped one of Seven’s hands and led the taller woman into the bathroom with her. The stronger light inside the bathroom made Seven wince and caused the swollen eye to tear up some more, and B’Elanna unconsciously made some small sounds of sympathy as she directed her to sit down.

“It happens sometimes.” B’Elanna explained quietly as she carefully swabbed at Seven’s eye and gave her a few eye-drops. “When people cry a lot, I mean. It’s not permanent, and in you it probably won’t last very long, but we can get the doc to give you something for the pain if you want.” She peered at the injured eye for a moment, and then, on impulse, did something that shocked them both.

B’Elanna leaned in and gave Seven a brief kiss on her forehead.

She realised what she was doing when the warmth of Seven’s skin was pressed against her lips, and immediately B’Elanna backed and turned away from Seven, trying to hide the heat rushing to her face. Trying hard not to sound as nervous as she suddenly felt, B’Elanna spoke towards the wall, deciding that if she pretended it was nothing out of the ordinary then Seven would as well. “Did you want to have the first go at the sonic shower, while I make the bed and fix us something to eat?”

No reply was forthcoming from the other woman, so after a moment B’Elanna got out a second towel and handed it to Seven without looking at her too closely. “Here, use this one, kick your clothes over there... I’ll take care of them later... and we’ll replicate you something when you’re done, allright?”

A silent nod was her answer, and B’Elanna raced out of the bathroom.

It took B’Elanna hardly any time at all to make the bed and put on a robe, deciding at the last minute not to put her blue satin nightgown in the dirty laundry since she didn’t want to be walking around naked underneath her robe when Seven got out of the bathroom. Breakfast she had already decided would be banana pancakes since not only was it her comfort food of choice, B’Elanna had what she needed to make them herself since indulging in a bit of cooking a few days earlier. She already knew from the doctor that Seven pretty much could eat anything these days, she just preferred not to due to an aversion to Neelix’ cooking.

What took time however was deciding on what to replicate for Seven to wear. The biosuit Seven had worn the day before was out of the question, and B’Elanna was reluctant to replicate a copy of it. Finally deciding on something and putting the command into the replicator B’Elanna wondered briefly if she was doing Seven a disservice. What if she only felt comfortable in her regular clothes?

Well, she’d have to wait and see what Seven thought of it. Placing the bundle near the bathroom door B’Elanna returned to her pancake batter, attacking it with bit more vigour than what was strictly necessary.

She had just finished mixing it when she heard Seven behind her and turned around. With a startled yelp B’Elanna’s hands involuntarily clenched, causing the mixing bowl to fly right out of her hand and up into the air.

Standing there wearing a puzzled expression and nothing else, was Seven of Nine. Naked as the day she was... possibly born... the taller woman was holding her clothes in both hands, not appearing to take any notice of her own unclad state. Even the shoulder length blonde hair was free from its usual bun, softening familiar features in a surprising way.

It said quite a bit about B’Elanna’s reflexes that she managed to lunge for the bowl, fumbling only slightly and spilling almost nothing of the contents, without tearing her eyes off Seven. The dollop that escaped hit B’Elanna square in the opening of her robe, and made a slow, cold descent downwards underneath her nightgown. Seven’s eyes glued to the spot and seemed to follow its journey even through the fabric of B’Elanna’s robe.

“Seven?” B’Elanna’s voice was very weak, and she was standing stock still. “Why are you naked?”

The strength of her own reaction was frightening B’Elanna a little and she did not want to let on. She had seen Seven naked the night before, as the bereft woman had been in no position to get undressed and ready for bed on her own, but B’Elanna had been too preoccupied with her own grief to notice things then. She had just gotten the two of them changed into her nightclothes, finding a nightgown that fit the taller woman, if just barely, and they had stumbled to bed.

The vision standing in front of her today was simply... breathtaking.

“I could not find my biosuit.” Seven said awkwardly. “Did you intend for me to use these garments?”

B’Elanna smiled. This was something she had anticipated, although she had not imagined that Seven would waltz out naked to voice her protests. “Yeah, I replicated those for you. I thought you might like to try something a little more...” The words seemed to fail for a moment. “...casual, for a change? You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, we’ll just replicate you a new biosuit instead.”

Seven eyed her new clothes with a slight frown. “Will they be... acceptable?”

“Huh? Acceptable to whom?” B’Elanna wanted to know, finally pulling her eyes off Seven’s lanky form and putting the bowl down on the table. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“The doctor assigned the biosuits to me and has been accommodating enough to allow for some changes upon my request, as well as a few colour variables of my choice.”

B’Elanna blinked. “Is that the reason you wear those... uhm... very, uh, tight outfits? Because the doctor has told you to?”

“Yes, of course.”

B’Elanna felt a headache building, not to mention cold pancake batter inching across her stomach. “Look, Seven, you don’t have to wear or do anything the doctor tells you to, trust me on that one. You certainly don’t have to wear anything you don’t want to; in fact unlike the majority of us, you don’t even technically need to wear a uniform at work, since you’ve not gotten a Starfleet assignment. I promise I’ll talk to Janeway about it later but for right now, would you please, as a favour to me, put something on? That or whatever else you would like, just please have pity on me and get dressed.”

Seven’s head tilted in question at the plea while B’Elanna passed her on the way to the bathroom. “Oh... if you can make pancakes the batter is over there. If not, I’ll be out in a little while.” B’Elanna threw over her shoulder before closing the door on a very naked ex-Borg behind.