Laugh With Me pt2

STAR TREK VOYAGER-fanfic. A little trip to Sickbay and some revelations thanks to Chakotay.
(Seven/B'Elanna)


For those that might find this confusing, in this story B'Elanna's hearing is better than human, and the privacy shield in the doctor's office is set to standard human. So yes, B'Elanna can hear, although not nearly as well as Seven.

Read Laugh With Me pt2

Disclaimers in pt1.




Laugh With Me pt2
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson




Early the following morning, after far too little sleep and with cricks in places cricks had no business being, B’Elanna awoke to a subtle shuffling sound. It took her a moment to get her bearings and to identify the sound.

“Lieutenant? You are awake?” Came an uncharacteristically quiet and hesitant voice from the direction of B’Elanna’s bedroom.

“Seven?” B’Elanna asked a bit groggily, sitting up as a first step to go see what the all but whispering woman wanted. That was when Seven gingerly stepped into the room.

Eyes wide and jaw threatening to fall into her own lap, B’Elanna felt all vestiges of sleep leave her mind at warp speed.

Although slightly hunched over and bleary-eyed, with one hand to her forehead and the other steadying herself on the doorframe, Seven was still a sight to see. As naked as the night before, with her blonde hair falling in slightly bed-mussed waves down to her shoulders and softening familiar features in an unexpected way, it was a sight B’Elanna caught herself wishing she could wake up to every morning.

Embarrassment gave B’Elanna a burst of extra speed as she shot up from the couch and turned Seven around, guiding her back inside to sit on the bed while B’Elanna rummaged through her drawers. “Sit here for a bit Seven, I’ll get you something to... aha!”

She yanked out a worn but large old sleep T-shirt and a pair of shorts to go with it, and awkwardly helped Seven into them. Only once she had accomplished that and Seven was at least partially covered did she dare look Seven in the eye.

“Oh wow...” B’Elanna winced in sympathy. “You’re clearly not feeling well today.” Miserable blue eyes met hers in silent agreement. “Hey, wait a minute... I’d have thought your nanoprobes would have kept you from having a hangover?”

“Synthenol or alcohol made for ingestion cause my nanoprobes to malfunction.” Was the very quiet reply as Seven closed her eyes and put both hands unsteadily to her head. “Until the contaminant has been cleared out of my system, I will have to endure this... discomfort.”

“No you won’t.” Alarmed at the idea that Seven’s nanoprobes might be malfunctioning but trying not to show it, B’Elanna quickly grabbed her commbadge and slapped it. “Torres to the Doctor!”

“What can I do for you this morning, B’E-“ Came the Doctor’s voice over the ship’s speakers, a bit less jovially than usual. B’Elanna cut him off.

“Doc, Seven says her nanoprobes are malfunctioning! I think she needs medical care.”

“After last night, I imagine she does.” The Doctor agreed. “Feel free to come on over then, Lieutenant, as I assume you will be bringing our errant partygoer?”

“I will be fine, Lieutenant. I just need to wait it out.” Seven objected mildly, putting a hand on B’Elanna’s arm. B’Elanna immediately covered it with her own.

“No Seven, we’ll have the Doc check you out, give you something for the pain.” She patted the hand reassuringly. “Then we’ll come right back, get some food into you, and you’ll go back into bed.”

Before Seven could answer, B’Elanna put an arm supportively around her and called out to the computer. “Computer, two to beam directly to Sickbay.”

The Doctor blinked a bit surprised as they materialized in Sickbay.

“Well, well... I rather thought you would walk here.” He admitted with a little grin. “But no matter, the faster you’re here the faster I can treat you.”

“Of course Seven’s not up to waltzing around the ship!” B’Elanna snarled and helped the other woman to a biobed. “You think we would be here if she was?”

“Oh, of course.” The Doctor said contritely, approaching Seven. “I did not mean to make light of what happens with your nanoprobes in situations like this. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“I know, Doctor.” Seven said quietly. “Good morning, Captain.”

As the woman in question groaned at Seven in reply, B’Elanna noticed that she, Seven and the Doctor were in fact not the only ones in Sickbay. Captain Janeway sat on a biobed nearby, looking if possible even more miserable than Seven, and clearly terribly embarrassed. Chakotay was there as well, looking as if he had been heading for the Doctor’s office when B’Elanna and Seven had transported in.

“You can wait with Commander Chakotay in my office if you’d like.” The Doctor offered helpfully as he prepared his medical tricorder. “If not I’m afraid you would have to leave, it is a privacy issue as I’m sure you understand.”

“That’s fine.” B’Elanna nodded quickly. “And I’m sorry for barging in, Captain.” She turned to Seven and touched her arm. “I’ll be just over there, okay?”

She didn’t wait for the confused-looking blonde to reply, and joined Chakotay in the small room. The glass wall immediately smoked over, obscuring whatever was going on inside Sickbay so that neither of them would see or, at least in theory, hear what was said and done.

There wasn’t quite enough room to pace with two people inside the Doctor’s office, so B’Elanna leaned against the wall, crossed her arms over her chest, and began to subtly bounce in place. Chakotay strode over to stand companionably next to her.

“Did Tom get what was coming to him?” She asked with a slight baring of teeth, trying to distract herself so that she did not listen in to the voices she could still hear in the room outside.

“For a start, maybe.” Chakotay smirked and flexed his hand. “The Captain will undoubtedly want to hand out the rest of his punishment herself, so we’re waiting until she feels better.”

B’Elanna snorted, a little amused despite herself. Captain Janeway would make Tom wish he’d never been born for this massive humiliation, and as B’Elanna was still a bit worried about malfunctioning nanoprobes and generally feeling incredibly protective in regards to a certain lovely ex-Drone, she felt it would be well deserved.

“Did they come up with what had caused it? I mean, I’m sure Tom spiked the punch, but the Captain should have noticed that long before she got anywhere near drunk.” Seven of course was another matter, if she’d had a cup that would have been plenty.

“It turned out there were three types of punch at the party yesterday, all of them spiked although the bright orange one was the most heavily alcoholic.” Chakotay explained. B’Elanna recalled the almost fluorescent colour with a shudder, little bits of purple and sickly green had been swimming around in it. Needless to say, she had not felt compelled to try it. “The real problem is the one Neelix made specially for the Captain.”

“Oh? Which one was that?”

“A brown one based on some nut-like thing, I forgot the name but anyway Neelix could only make a small amount of it. Apparently it tasted a bit like bitter chocolate, and Neelix kept it in a pitcher behind the counter.” Chakotay shrugged. “I didn’t see it personally. Either way, those nuts react with coffee, which the Captain had been drinking all day, and then with a splash of alcohol it apparently had the same effect as downing a hundred percent proof.”

B’Elanna gave a brief whistle, feeling sorry for her Captain but also glad that she herself had never located the brown goo. She practically lived off coffee regularly too.

“Yeah.” Chakotay agreed wryly. “Just imagine if the rest of us had gotten hold of it as well.”

“Scary.” They both nodded at that and stood there quietly for a moment.

“So, yeah, I might be a bit late for my shift today.” B’Elanna mentioned absently, more to say something than out of any particular need for the ship’s Commander to know her whereabouts. “There’s nothing pressing scheduled, and I’ll let Vorik know beforehand, so it should be alright.”

“Are you going to be taking care of Seven?” He turned to look at her with something like mild surprise in his eyes. “Wait, did she spend the night at your place? I was told a few people dropped by Cargo Bay Two and didn’t see her.”

B’Elanna narrowed her eyes at him. “Who exactly was ‘dropping by’, and why would they after the kind of evening she had?” A blank look was her answer. “Seven has absolutely no damn privacy. And I wasn’t about to just toss her into storage or something when she wasn’t feeling well. So yeah, of course she stayed with me.”

She glared at him defensively, but Chakotay merely smiled and held his hands up placatingly. “No, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you looked out for her. She couldn’t have been in better hands.” He couldn’t resist to add. “It just surprised me, since you don’t get along and all.”

“Aw, Chakotay, no...” She rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes, as if to ward away the weariness. “I like her, actually. But you know how I am, all a mess of complicated, confusing and contradictory feelings, and the worst imaginable temper to go along with it.”

“Don’t forget territorial.”

“And territorial, happy?” She sighed and dropped her voice to no more than a whisper, looking at the ceiling with an expression Chakotay couldn’t place. “The thing is, Chakotay... last night, the things she said... Kahless, if she meant even one of them...” B’Elanna turned round, dazed eyes on her old friend. “I think I’d have to marry that woman.”

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Unseen by B’Elanna Seven’s head had lifted at the beginning of a certain conversation, and at that last comment she snapped around to stare wide-eyed at the darkened glass of the Doctor’s office.

“Seven!” Both the Doctor and Janeway cried out in alarm, both at the sudden reaction and the slight dusting of pink that came along with it.

Inside the office B’Elanna eeped, grabbed Chakotay with one hand and slapped the other one over her mouth.

Seven sat silent for a long moment, blinking rapidly and ignoring both the worried people next to her and the blush warming her cheeks. Finally she tilted her head slightly and asked in a subdued voice. “A marriage proposal, Lieutenant?”

B’Elanna turned deep red and felt as if she was about to faint. “I, I, I... er, I, um, that is... I’m sorry.”

Chakotay raised an eyebrow in mild interest and tried to be reassuring. “No, that’s fine, don’t worry... I won’t tell anyone. It’s a little surprising, but hey, she’s a lot better choice than Tom Paris.”

Janeway, having perked up considerably with a few hyposprays, shared a concerned look with the Doctor, and then grabbed a medical tricorder of her own. The two of them flanked Seven and waved the devices up and down, but she continued to ignore them.

Chakotay started laughing a little and slapped the mortified woman next to him on the shoulder. “Oh wow, it’s all pretty damn obvious in hindsight, isn’t it? The way you’ve always reacted to her and gotten right in her face, fighting over every little thing...”

B’Elanna shook her head frantically to get him to shut up, but Chakotay continued blithely. “That’s sexual frustration and Klingon flirting right there, right?”

Seven blushed a little further. “That is a... surprisingly astute observation. I had not considered that.”

Janeway grabbed the Doctor’s arm and hissed. “What is wrong with her?”

B’Elanna groaned and started banging her head against the office wall.

“Hey, it’s not that bad.” Chakotay was far too amused to be comforting. “If it is any consolation, I don’t think that she knows.”

“Well, I do now.” Seven said wryly, and then frowned. “Cease that activity, you will cause yourself harm.”

The Doctor, about to touch Seven’s eyepiece with a smaller medical instrument, froze. “Uh, okay Seven... if you say so.” Slowly he put the device down and showed her that he was no longer holding anything.

“Chakotay,” B’Elanna said in a sickly sweet voice and with a smile that showed far too many teeth to be friendly. “one day. No matter where, no matter when, when you least expect it... I will kill you.”

“Of what possible use could manslaughter be?” Seven asked with a raised Borg brow, and with a meep the Captain and the Doctor took a step back from her.

She considered for a moment, then added. “And for your information, Lieutenant, although my behaviour last night was...” A slightly disgusted expression. “deplorable and uncontrolled, my words were all true. I have no reason to prevaricate.”

“Oh! I see.” B’Elanna turned shy. “I, um, thank you. That’s... very sweet.”

Chakotay finally began to suspect that B’Elanna wasn’t in fact talking to him, and cast his eyes about suspiciously. Was there something there? “Uh, B’Elanna? Is this some kind of spiritual experience, or is there something in here that I can’t see?”

B’Elanna rolled her eyes at him. “Seven, can you ask the Captain if Chakotay and I can come out now? Chakotay seems to think I’m finding a new religion.”

“Captain?” Seven asked obediently. “May the Commander and Lieutenant Torres leave the Doctor’s office now?”

“Sure...” Janeway said slowly, eyeing Seven a bit suspiciously. “if you can promise me there will be no manslaughter.”

Seven did not need to answer as a red-faced B’Elanna entered followed by Chakotay who looked like the penny had just dropped.

“So Seven could hear us in there?” He whispered to B’Elanna, who sighed.

“Indeed Commander.” The woman in question answered dryly, startling him.

“Wait... you were talking to...” Janeway waved at B’Elanna and Chakotay, clearly relieved when she received a slight nod in reply. “Oh thank goodness.” She muttered under her breath. Seven thought it would be impolite to point out that if she could hear the conversation inside a sound protected room then she could certainly still hear her.

“Well then, I release both my patients to their quarters.” The Doctor declared, cheerfully now that the mystery of Seven hearing voices was solved. “Rest and plenty of fluids for both of you, try to eat something when you can, and Seven is on sick leave today.”

“And before you think up some way to circumvent that, remember...” The Doctor said when Seven looked as if she wanted to protest. “...I can make you rest here in Sickbay instead. All day.”

“That won’t be necessary, Doc. Seven will be staying with me.” Stepping up to lend a supporting hand to Seven’s elbow if needed, B’Elanna glanced up at Seven. “Right?”

The warm little smile sent her way had B’Elanna’s blush darken again and her heart do funny things. “Yes, Lieutenant.”

“It’s B’Elanna, please.” B’Elanna muttered awkwardly and called out to the computer to transport them both back to her quarters.


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