(Seven/B'Elanna) Divided into three parts due to size.
Read Genesis pt 3
Disclaimer: See part 1.
GENESIS pt 3 of 3
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson
Little over a week later, Janeway was sitting in her Ready Room contemplating recent events. Moving Seven and B’Elanna to B’Elanna’s quarters had worked quite well, and eventually both women had been returned to partial duty. It was not meant to be anywhere near normal shifts for either of them, much less the gruelling level of work both women had been known to put in before, but the usual series of crises and disastrous events had tested both women’s mettle, and it was as true as ever. Still Janeway and the doctor agreed partial duty would have to do for now.
She had spoken to Tom Paris at length, certainly reprimanding the young man about his behaviour, but for most part offering him a sympathetic ear in his pain and confusion. Then she had taken some time to explain to him how B’Elanna had yet to even mention him, or show any sign of remembering his existence at all. It was not a conversation she had enjoyed having, the helmsman had been completely distraught, so much so that Janeway was unsure if her subtle way of informing him of B’Elanna and Seven reached through to him at all, but made her reluctant to press the issue at that time. In the end Tom Paris had proven himself a man of better calibre than most gave him credit for and agreed, however reluctantly, to avoid crossing B’Elanna’s path for the time being out of concern for her welfare. Janeway had felt a sense of pride for him because of it, but still asked Tuvok to keep a discreet eye on the helmsman and report anything out of the ordinary to her.
Janeway had also received reports from several different sources that Seven and B’Elanna seemed to communicate spectacularly well without words. It was something she had shrugged off at first, but when the reports had increased in number she asked the doctor and Tuvok to examine the two yet again.
The doctor later explained that the reason he had missed it was that neither Seven nor B’Elanna possessed any kind of telepathic ability, so whatever it was that made them able to communicate with each other by thought alone, it must originate from something else that the planet had changed in them. Tuvok had entered a mind meld with B’Elanna to ascertain if this two-way telepathy was a temporary thing or not. His answer had been decisive – it was permanent.
While she wasn’t sure what that would mean for Seven and B’Elanna in the long run, Janeway nonetheless were happy for them. They seemed the most at peace and genuinely happy together, and as she had been beleaguered by requests for increased sound isolation from those living in the quarters nearest B’Elanna and Seven, she was getting more used to the idea of her little girls all grown up and in a relationship... with each other. Not that it was something anyone that spent time around the two could avoid to realize. In fact, that was the reason she was sitting there waiting for B’Elanna to join her.
Janeway sighed.
Seven and B’Elanna... touched, constantly. They held hands, held one another, leaned against one another, shared small caresses and kisses from time to time. And as much as she and most of the other senior staff, minus the absent Tom Paris, found it all quite endearing and were willing to overlook most of it, even they found it distracting when B’Elanna reported something at a staff meeting while sitting in Seven’s lap. God only knew how the junior officers and crewmen were reacting to their behaviour.
Janeway sighed again.
She didn’t want to have to tell either of them that they needed to restrain themselves in certain situations, but she felt she had no choice but to do so. Preferably before the entire senior staff was treated to a make-out session on the conference table while Seven used one-handed sign language to give her Astrometrics report.
So with that in mind, Janeway had summoned B’Elanna first, to have the conversation with her in private before asking Seven to join them and explain things to her as well.
It proved to be not the best decision she could have made.
“...so I hope you understand why you and Seven will need to restrain yourselves, be a little more, more uh, apart, during...” Janeway had noticed how B’Elanna paled slightly at the beginning of her somewhat long-winded speech, and also how the engineer’s unblinking gaze locked on the tabletop and never wavered from that spot, but if she had been more observant she would have also noticed that B’Elanna was clenching her fists so hard in her lap that the knuckles were white, or that she was trembling.
Janeway could have noticed these things, and not pressed the issue further. She could have. She didn’t.
She did however notice when she was cut off mid-sentence by an angry roar, and also when the one that emitted that roar grabbed her Captain and maternal figure and slammed her into the wall, hard.
“You...” B’Elanna’s eyes were wild and her entire appearance tormented. “..._can’t_ part us.” She trembled violently as she leaned in to stare into Janeway’s eyes at close range. “You... won’t. We can’t exist without one another... you can’t take her away from me... I won’t let you.” She raised a white-knuckled fist. “Never.”
“I”
Hit.
“WON’T”
Hit.
“LET”
Hit.
“YOU!”
Her painful words became a scream of anguish and both fists rained down blow upon blow until they were both dark red with blood.
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Seven of Nine nearly bowled Harry Kim over as she barrelled out of the turbolift heading for the Ready Room. She had heard the painful cry begin as she stepped off the lift, but she had felt her lover’s pain and anguish for much longer, and it was what pulled her to B’Elanna’s side now as surely as had she been pulled by invisible cords.
The door didn’t open fast enough for Seven, so she gave it an added push with her enhanced hand, causing the door to be pushed into the wall too far and causing a small pyrotechnic display as the machinery operating the door was crushed. She never noticed.
Seven’s entire focus was on the figure that while bowed over was holding Captain Janeway against the wall just by keeping her hands resting against the wall on either side of the older woman’s head. B’Elanna was making sounds like a distressed animal, and Seven wasted no time in reaching her.
The table and a few chair were in her way, and in a sweeping motion they were thrown aside despite the fact that the table was welded and bolted to the floor. The noise was deafening, and if the door’s fiery end had not alerted those on the Bridge that something was amiss, the loud boom of the table being thrown over would have done so several times over.
B’Elanna threw herself into Seven’s arms, weeping uncontrollably.
Seven wrapped her arms tightly around her lover, instinctively trying to soothe her pain, while her eyes went to Janeway for answers. What she saw made those eyes grow wide in horror.
Janeway was pale as a ghost, staring at B’Elanna in mute shock, and on either side of her head were large, dark stains of blood. B’Elanna’s blood.
Seven pushed B’Elanna back slightly, so that she could reach down and catch both of the smaller woman’s hands and hold them up for inspection. The mangled and bloody mass that met her made her flinch in sympathetic pain, and she cradled the hands gently, placing a soft kiss on the palm of each hand, before giving B’Elanna a look of infinite love and devotion.
“Won’t... let her.” B’Elanna sobbed but managed to speak somewhat distortedly anyway. “Won’t let... take you... away... from me.”
“Never!” Seven swore breathlessly and pulled B’Elanna back into her chest. “Nothing will take me away from you!” The stark look that Seven directed her way cut Janeway deeply. “I swear.”
She kissed the top of B’Elanna’s head as the smaller woman’s sobs began to fade. “Anyone that tries, will fail. And if we are not allowed to be together on Voyager, then they will have to beam us down on the nearest M-class planet they can find that would support us.” Seven’s voice carried absolute conviction.
“But...” B’Elanna sniffled a little, and Seven gently wiped her tears away. “You need to regenerate, how will we...”
“The Borg technology that came aboard this ship with me is mine, my personal belongings, and while I would not ask to take it all with me, I could create a portable unit that is fuelled by alternate sources out of the material in the alcoves and bring with us. It would not be as good, but it would allow me to... live.” B’Elanna looked at Seven for a long moment, then nodded slightly and leaned her head against Seven’s shoulder.
“Come, let us go see the doctor about your hands, bangwI'.” Seven told B’Elanna softly, urging the smaller woman to walk with her.
As they started to move, the paralysis that had temporarily overtaken Janeway shattered.
“Hold it!” She barked, causing both young women to stop and turn slightly to look at her apprehensively. “Good lord... unstable doesn’t even begin to describe it.” She muttered to herself, then signed to security officers that were now standing in the doorway with their phasers drawn to back out and leave them. She walked up to Seven and B’Elanna.
“First of all, I am NOT trying to separate you two! Am I making myself clear on this? I, and the officers under my command in any official capacity, are none of us trying to part you!” She stepped closer and snapped at them angrily. “There will be no more talk about leaving this ship and... and, and eloping! Is that understood?”
She took a few deep, calming breaths before continuing, glaring at the wide-eyed women that seemed ready to shrink back from her at any moment. “For your information, I was trying to address a few concerns I have and at the same time impress upon you both what is proper conduct for a senior officer aboard this vessel, but I can clearly see that I was worried about the wrong thing... catching you both in a compromising situation during a staff meeting isn’t nearly as serious as the fact that you have no emotional control at all. I can’t have you working even partial duty shifts if I have to worry that someone uttering the wrong word will result in a bloodbath, so you can consider yourselves off duty until further notice.”
“I didn’t hurt you.” B’Elanna said quietly, looking ashamed.
“You didn’t hurt me? You’re wrong.” Janeway said gently, stepping close enough to the couple to grasp one of B’Elanna’s ruined hands. “This hurt me.” She touched a tear-stained cheek lightly. “That hurt me. Hearing that neither of you have any faith at all in me, hurt me.”
She sighed again. “But that’s not even the point. The point is that what just happened here was very dangerous.” She levelled her most serious look at them both. “B’Elanna, you and Seven are quite possibly the two strongest people aboard this ship, not to mention well-versed in combat techniques. If you fly off the handle like that you can kill someone before you come back to your senses.”
“I didn’t mean to!” B’Elanna sobbed, hiding her face in Seven’s shoulder. “But I can’t... just the thought of anyone trying to take Seven away... I can’t...”
“I know, Lanna. Believe me, you have made that abundantly clear. As much as I love you both, for as long as there is a risk that you or Seven will lose control like this, be it for imaginary reasons like today, or for any actual opposition, I can’t let you have free reign of the ship. Do you understand?”
Seven nodded. “We pose a threat to the rest of the crew. Will we be incarcerated?” Her eyes were sad. “Imprisonment is... difficult for B’Elanna.”
“But not for you, Seven?” Janeway asked quietly before she thought better of it. “And no, I’m not throwing you in the Brig.”
“No. I am used to it.” Seven’s answer was as simple as it was honest. “What will you do with us then, Captain?”
Janeway sighed. “I’m not about to punish you for being... ill, if that’s what you mean. But I will minimize your contact with others until we find a solution to this problem, and you will no longer go anywhere without a security detail with you.” She rubbed her temples slightly. “I can’t have you back on your respective duties, but perhaps we can, eventually, let you two work together in a science lab for a few hours each day, or take a partial shift together in Astrometrics. Something to keep you from going stir-crazy while we figure this out, yet keeps you away from the rest of the crew for safety reasons. Because the bottom line is that this ship needs you both.”
“Regardless, I want you both in Sickbay right now, to have the doctor heal B’Elanna’s hands as well as doing whatever further exams he can think of. And mark my words, ladies, if he suggests it would be better for you both to remain in Sickbay, then that is where you’ll be staying, is that clear?”
At Seven and B’Elanna’s reluctant nods, Janeway cast a glance around the room. “God, what a mess... Seven, can you pull the table back to where it’s supposed to be? We’ll see about fastening it to the floor later... and I’ll have Harry come in here and clean up that wall, he won’t tell anyone about it if I ask him not to.”
“Well then, what are you waiting for? We’re getting you both to Sickbay.”
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In Sickbay it didn’t take long before the doctor summoned Tuvok to join them. A multitude of tests, many that had already been taken before, were taken on both women before they were asked to sit and wait while the doctor and Sam prepared a series of more complex tests. Seven and B’Elanna sat very quietly on a biobed together, both appearing to be lost in thought. Seven had her arm around B’Elanna’s shoulder and was cradling the now healed hands in her own.
Tuvok indicated that he wanted to speak with his Captain privately, and so Janeway followed him to the other end of the room.
“What is it, Tuvok?” Janeway asked in a low tone of voice, not realizing as Tuvok had that Seven and B’Elanna both would be quite able to hear her regardless, as long as she was still in the room. Tuvok had suggested they take their conversation to that side of the room to allow his commanding officer and old friend to relax slightly compared to if he had brought the subject up in front of the others, and also to avoid the doctor’s not always appreciated remarks and attempts at witticism.
“I have been informed of the altercation in your Ready Room, Captain. Is it your intention to press charges?” Tuvok was the consummate professional, and as such he asked the question even though he felt certain of the answer he would receive. “Do you wish a formal report of...”
“No!” Janeway said sharply, then lowered her voice again. “No, Tuvok, no charges and no report. What happened was not B’Elanna’s fault, and I was not injured. I won’t have her records tarnished by this... whatever it is that they are going through.”
Tuvok refrained from pointing out that because B’Elanna was Maquis, any perceived tarnish caused by recent events would be negligent at most. The Maquis were still, by definition, criminals, and another misdemeanour in her conduct as an officer would not mean much once they reached the Alpha Quadrant. Logically, his Captain should be aware of this as he was.
“I see.” He said instead. “I would however need to hear the details of what transpired from your point of view, Captain, and also any light you can shed on what prompted this behaviour.”
Janeway told him, with as much detail as she could remember, and Tuvok listened without comment, although his eyebrow occasionally rose at her account of the conversation. When she had told him all she could think of, Tuvok tilted his head slightly and appeared to gather his thoughts before speaking.
“Captain, I believe I must once again stress that you should not seek to interfere with a mated bond. Especially one that appears to have yet to be completed.” He wondered briefly why this fact had not been more apparent to him before then. “Interfering with such a bond is not only illogical and unwise, it is also dangerous. It can cause the individuals caught in the uncompleted bond to act destructively, and in the few occasions it has occurred, death is a likely result.”
“Death?” Janeway breathed. “What do you mean, death? Do you think they will kill someone?”
“On the contrary, Captain. I believe that both Seven of Nine and Commander Torres display an emotional control during the circumstances that would indicate that it would require an act of premeditated provocation to lead to them taking a life, although that risk exists. In the cases of an interrupted and uncompleted bond, it is more likely the ones to die are the ones bonded.” As usual Tuvok found it very distasteful to have to speak of Vulcan mating practices, but he recognized the need for the conversation.
“Allright.” Janeway absorbed the information. “Then tell me, if Seven and B’Elanna’s... bond, is uncompleted as you suspect, what does that mean and what can be done about it?”
“You can do nothing, Captain. To attempt to do anything is to interfere, and interference...” Tuvok was wondering if his Captain would begin to understand soon, or if he would be forced to continue to repeat himself.
“...is dangerous, got it.” Janeway said ruefully. “So trying to help them is as bad an idea as trying to keep them apart.”
“Indeed. They will either achieve awareness soon and complete the bond on their own, or not. If they do not, they are unlikely to survive the ordeal.” Tuvok considered. “Although they are not Vulcan, and with the aid of the doctor’s competence, that fact may be enough to save them.”
Janeway hesitated before asking somewhat delicately. “I was under the impression that their bond was... very much completed.”
“The Pon Far has been fulfilled, but that is not all that is involved in the Vulcan practice of taking a lifemate.” He looked at the women in question. “They must find the ritual to complete them on their own, or it will fail regardless.”
Both Tuvok and Janeway fell silent at that. After a moment the doctor approached them while Sam was assisting B’Elanna with something under Seven’s supervision. He was frowning.
Janeway felt vaguely defeated. “Allright, doctor... just try to give me the facts for now, with as little embellishments as possible. You’ll have to give me the full report on padd later, right now my head is full to bursting.”
The weariness in the Captain’s voice took any sting out of the request, and the doctor tried to keep things brief. “As you wish.” He took a deep breath, a curious habit he never quite seemed to break himself of, despite the fact that he didn’t actually breathe. “This is the short, preliminary conclusion, you’ll have it more in detail in the report later Captain, but... it would appear that they have formed some kind of symbiotic bond.”
Janeway blinked. “Symbiosis? What do you mean, doctor?”
“I mean that what we assumed was a peculiar and unimportant curiosity, their mental bond, is actually something far deeper. Seven and B’Elanna will need to stay in close contact both physically and mentally regularly, or their conditions will deteriorate in time. How long they can stay apart, or how far, or even just how serious a threat to their physical and emotional health being apart poses for them, well, that is all just speculation for now.”
“Being apart makes them ill...” Janeway scratched her head. “Emotionally as well?”
“Well, it would seem that being apart will have a negative effect on their mental state, make them increasingly irrational and... easily provoked.” The doctor looked apologetic. “Which is something I should have seen earlier.”
“The irrational and easily provoked behaviour is common to individuals in their position, as are certain physical effects as well.” Tuvok spoke up. “Once the ritual is completed, all these symptoms would have disappeared had they been Vulcans, which would suggest that the symptoms should at least lessen considerably for Seven of Nine and Commander Torres as well.”
“Oh?” The doctor looked at Tuvok. “And what condition would that be, exactly?”
Tuvok remained silent for a moment. “That is... private, doctor, and not something you should concern yourself with.”
“Not concern myself?” The doctor raised his voice indignantly. “I’m their doctor!”
“Precisely.” Tuvok agreed.
Janeway stepped in as the doctor was about to snap at the silent security officer. “That’s enough, gentlemen!” She looked at them both sternly. “I want reports from both of you, as soon as at all possible. Doctor, I take it that your exams are completed?”
“Yes...” The doctor still glared at Tuvok. “...for the moment. I would recommend they get something to eat and then rest, though I’m sure I don’t need to stress the need for constant surveillance?”
“Certainly not, doctor. I’ll let you get back to your work now, and I’ll meet up with you in my Ready Room as soon as I’ve had a few words with Seven and B’Elanna, Tuvok.” With that Janeway walked up to the women she saw as her daughters to speak to them about the recent discoveries.
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A few hours later, the somewhat tired and quiet Seven and B’Elanna entered the messhall together with their small security escort. They sat down at a table a bit out of the way, alone as their company settled for a nearby table, and within moments were joined by Neelix
The friendly little Talaxian picked up on their sombre mood, and fixed them both a helping of B’Elanna’s favourite food, which seemed to have rubbed off on Seven although she did still have rather limited experience with the various kinds of food. As he brought them their dinner, he also sat down and chatted with them for a while before more customers arrived and stole him away.
Although his cheerful mood had relieved some of their own gloominess, Seven and B’Elanna were still rather relieved to see him go. They had wanted some privacy while they were both plagued by thoughts that at this point were difficult even to share with one another. And they had not really had the chance to talk about what had happened, or the implications of the doctor’s discoveries.
They were sitting there, unconsciously mirroring the other as they pushed their food around on their plates distractedly, neither speaking nor looking up from their plate.
That was how Tom Paris found them when he entered the mess hall on his scheduled break.
Tom had adhered to the instructions Janeway had given him, worked the hours he had been told to in order not to be on duty while B’Elanna was, taken his lunch breaks when she was not expected to be there, and most importantly not gone looking for her. It had been hard on him, but he had resolved to do whatever was best for her, and if not seeing him was what was best right now, he would not be seen.
But who was to say not seeing him was best for B’Elanna? From what he could tell, no-one really knew much about how things worked with Seven and B’Elanna’s current conditions, and worse, they didn’t seem to be making the kind of progress he thought they should. Maybe meeting him would spark something, some memory in B’Elanna? Surely that would be a good thing? Tom Paris had struggled with this for some time, growing more and more inclined to break his promise to the Captain, but so far it hadn’t gone further than just thinking about it.
But now he had entered the messhall and found her just sitting right there. All thought of what he should or should not do flew right out the window, as did the realization that the woman sitting in front of B’Elanna was the same one that broke his jaw for coming to close to the half-Klingon once before.
“B’ELANNA!” He cried, and before anyone had the chance to intervene he had crossed the floor, pulled the startled B’Elanna out of her seat, and was hugging her to him hard, sobbing slightly into her hair.
B’Elanna Torres was too shocked to move, otherwise sheer reflex would have Tom Paris in need of medical care by now. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed she just remained very still as the teary man squeezed her far to intimately and babbled incoherently into her ear.
The other reason B’Elanna did not move or try to injure Tom was that he was familiar. Then the sense of familiar became memories seeping to the forefront of her mind, and she was no longer paying attention to anything other than understanding those memories.
Seven had risen, sharply, as B’Elanna had been yanked out of her chair, but she had stopped herself from reaching across and tearing the intruder away from her mate by sheer force of will. Then she recognised him. And with that recognition, Seven accessed her own memories regarding Tom Paris.
And she froze, a look of horror and agony dawning in wide blue eyes.
“...baby, and I was so worried you... but we’ll be allright, it’ll all be allright now, we’ll be together, and we...” Tom rambled on, reassuring B’Elanna that all would be well, and telling her how much he loved her and had missed her. B’Elanna didn’t listen.
B’Elanna did feel the wave of emotion crashing in on her from Seven, and the hurt, the loss and the despair made her gasp out loud. She pushed Tom back and turned just in time to see Seven begin to move away.
“STOP!” B’Elanna cried out, her hand reaching out in Seven’s direction. “Don’t go!”
Seven stopped but did not turn around to face B’Elanna, her shoulders hunched together, fists clenched hard and her entire body trembling noticeably. Their security escort was belatedly getting to their feet, confused and unsure if they should interfere or not.
“Lanna, hon, we...” Tom grabbed B’Elanna again, smiling as he continued to assure her of his affection. He didn’t realize his mistake until she growled and glared at him as she pushed him away.
“Let GO of me!” She snapped at him, baring her teeth viciously, internally still focusing on Seven’s pain.
“But Lanna... don’t you know who I am? I’m Tom, your...” He pleaded, the pain in his voice apparent, and laid a hand on her arm.
“I said let GO! And don’t call me that!” B’Elanna yelled, then struggled to get herself under control. “I know who you are, Tom Paris. And I know that once, in my former life, we were lovers.”
Tom’s face lit up with hope and happiness, just as Seven’s shoulders tensed further and the trembling increased.
“I also know that we broke up some time before my... death. I owe you nothing.”
“But B’Elanna...” Tom pleaded, but she ignored him. Instead her focus was on the trembling woman that looked as if she was a heartbeat away from either breaking down in tears or destroying something.
“Seven?” B’Elanna walked around the edge of the table to lay a hand on the trembling arm. “Seven? Look at me.”
Slowly, Seven did, her pale blue eyes ravaged with pain and brimming with unshed tears.
“Don’t ever turn away from me, bangwI'.” B’Elanna was tearing up as well, their emotions shared as they always were since their rebirth. “Don’t you know you are my heart?”
She reached out and gently grasped Seven’s enhanced hand, holding it against her own chest, over her heart.
“Any distance is too much, I can’t bear it.” A single tear traced a silent path down Seven’s pale cheek as B’Elanna spoke. “I think my thoughts inside your mind, and you feel your emotions inside my chest. We are _one_.”
“Nothing and no-one can ever change that, ever challenge that.” Bronzed fingers caressed the tear away. “We are one, always. And I am yours.”
Blue eyes widened and filled with a strange light as Seven gasped at B’Elanna’s words, and more, the emotions that accompanied them. The words echoed in her mind, until there was nothing else to do.
Silently, Seven slipped to her knees in front of B’Elanna.
Long, slender hands that belied the strength they possessed, trembled as they gently grasped smaller bronzed ones and brought them close. Seven looked up at B’Elanna with wide, honest eyes.
“B’Elanna, I...” The messhall around them that had already gone silent when Tom grabbed B’Elanna now went even more so, as all the silent spectators held their breaths. But Seven’s voice trailed off, Seven instead opting to speak with her heart.
B’Elanna made a strange sound somewhere between a loud gasp and a sob, and tears began flowing down her cheeks. Seven brought both of B’Elanna’s hands to her face, and with greatest reverence placed a gentle kiss in each palm.
“Will you...” Seven’s unfinished sentence was followed by another little sound from B’Elanna.
“Yes!” B’Elanna sobbed. “Oh yes, Seven, I will! I love you.” She hurled herself into Seven’s arms, hugging the taller woman fiercely as she sobbed quietly into her neck. “I love you.” Finally the overcome half-Klingon got her tears under control and pulled Seven down for a long, searing kiss before parting just long enough to speak softly into their own private world. “I will marry you, love.”
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Less than half a day later, a still reeling Captain Janeway stood on the holodeck trying to make some sense out of the whirlwind events on a personal level, but ended up deciding it all defied such things, and that she should take the cue from her daughters and just be happy.
For a moment Janeway felt a pang of sympathy for Tom Paris, whom had sent word through Harry Kim earlier that day that he requested to be moved entirely from the Alpha shift for a while. In confidence Harry had told her that Tom reasoned that his B’Elanna had truly died, and that the woman now carrying her name and her face was someone new entirely, and as such he wouldn’t interfere further with her. Instead Tom retreated to grieve the loss of someone that he, in his own way, had genuinely loved.
Harry told Janeway that he had seen no reason to tell Tom that he had thought B’Elanna had her eye on Seven for long before the events that took both their lives, or that it had surprised Harry that B’Elanna had held onto her relationship with Tom for as long as she had, when it was so obvious that her passions lay elsewhere. Janeway thanked Harry for keeping an eye on Tom, and mentally made a note not to underestimate the young man’s insight as he apparently had seen what she had not.
Janeway had been too pulled off her usual stride by the day so far when she had received the reports from security regarding the scene in the messhall. She had barely batted an eyelash when, mere moments later, a joint request came from Seven and B’Elanna that she perform a marriage ceremony for them. She had simply been far to stunned to think.
So now, less than twelve hours later, Janeway found herself on the holodeck together with Tuvok, the doctor, Sam and Naomi Wildman, and Neelix, preparing to hold a small ceremony.
The setting the two women had chosen was a holographic representation of the planet that had been their birthplace in this second life, the lake to one side, a forest to another, and on the far side of the grassy slope where they all stood was the cave and the outer edges of a rose forest. It filled Janeway with conflicting emotions to see that place, as for her it would always be connected to the pain of saying farewell to her children, but B’Elanna and Seven had mere moments ago walked around with joyous wonder in their eyes, taking in the familiar sights.
Tuvok had not said, but Janeway had caught what to her surprise looked as the faintest trace of a smile on his lips at the news, so she assumed that the wedding ceremony would complete the bond between Seven and B’Elanna. The fact that Tuvok attended the ceremony as if he was about to witness a Vulcan joining further confirmed her suspicions, but all the same Janeway would ask him in private, later.
The ceremony in itself was brief and simple, as Seven and B’Elanna had requested. The exchange of vows and her proclaiming them married had taken almost a mockingly short amount of time, but it was how they wanted it. Then those gathered expressed their well-wishes, and left the two newlyweds to their three day long honeymoon on the holodeck. That too would be brief, and the three days only possible because Neelix had immediately taken charge of bartering holodeck time for them from various other members of the crew, but Janeway had no doubt that the honeymoon in question would continue for long after the holodeck time had expired. Neither woman would be on duty for some time, and even after that it remained to be seen how much they would be able to handle.
Still, Janeway finally felt hope that things would, after a fashion, return to normal. Certainly, having her girls wed to one another was something new, as was the fact that Seven would now be permanently living with B’Elanna in her quarters, but it was a good change. It even had Janeway wonder with some amusement if she would come to see the day that she would be a grandmother... and that thought in turn made her make internal bets with herself on which of her girls would be the one that ended up carrying that child, if it came to that. A smile stole across Janeway’s lips.
“Captain?” The even tones of Seven’s well-modulated voice intruded into Janeway’s thoughts. “B’Elanna and I wish to thank you.”
Janeway smiled even more and shook her head. “No, don’t thank me.” She reached out to envelop Seven in a hug, and then moments after pulled B’Elanna in to join them. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you two, and this... this was a privilege.”
Janeway kissed them lightly on their cheeks, then stepped out of the embrace. “See you both at Neelix little celebration in a few days... and don’t you dare not to go!” She joked affectionately as she headed out through the doors, leaving the newlyweds on their own, engaging the lock on the doors behind her as agreed upon.
Seven and B’Elanna did not speak a word, simply took off their clothes, then walked hand in hand down the familiar slope with it’s high grass brushing against their legs as they walked.
Sitting on the grass near the water’s edge, metal-adorned fingers traced bronzed brow ridges and black curls, while dark hands moved across Borg implants and into long blonde tresses. The strong, complete and immeasurable love they shared filled them with wonder, and they smiled lovingly at one another.
2 comments:
cool :) nice and sweet ending^^
Spikesagitta,
^__^
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