Chapter Text
“Well, I guess we are now officially back home.” Kathryn said as she put away the last things from their duffel bag.
Seven said nothing as she could see her own disappointment mirrored in Kathryn’s eyes. They had had a glorious weekend away together on the Holodeck but now they were back in the Captain’s quarters. A place that used to feel like home to Seven, a beautiful place where she could be alone with Kathryn. But now it had lost some of it’s shine and Seven longed to get back to their cabin in the woods.
However, one couldn’t live in a fantasy and she could definitely not keep the Captain to herself in the Holodeck for the remainder of their voyage back to Earth.
So instead, Seven walked over to Kathryn and took her hands in her own. Placing a kiss on them first, she then kissed her on the lips.
Kathryn leaned into the kiss, reminding herself that even though their vacation was over, Seven was still here and they were still together. There was no real reason to be disappointed.
“Do you want to stay here tonight?” Kathryn asked her softly while smiling up at her girlfriend.
Seven bit her lower lip, considering the question. She wanted nothing more than to stay here and sleep next to Kathryn like they had done for the past few nights. However, she needed to regenerate. The weekend had been quite adventurous and she could feel the strain of it on her implants, nanoprobes and especially her skin.
“I really do want to stay here.” Seven assured her girlfriend. “But I think I need to regenerate after all the water fun we had.”
Kathryn smiled at her, lost in her memories for a second. “I understand.”
Still, Seven looked troubled. As if she wasn’t sure she had made the right decision.
“Really it’s alright. You should go regenerate.” Kathryn pressed her. “We will both need some rest before we return to duty tomorrow morning.”
“I thought this whole vacation was about getting some rest.” Seven teased her.
“It was but I think I will need a different kind of rest before I can get back in the Captain’s chair. Rest without distraction.” Kathryn winked at her. “Besides it is Halloween tomorrow.”
Before going away for the weekend, the Captain had agreed to the proposal of some crewmembers to celebrate the old Earth custom of Halloween. To her, it seemed a little silly but a crew stuck in the Delta Quadrant needed all the distraction they could get. So for the first time ever, there would be a Halloween party in the Mess Hall of Voyager. Neelix had studied the holiday with care and had prepared a big program for the evening, including a costume parade for all the crewmembers who wanted to participate.
Kathryn had quickly decided that she wouldn’t. Not only could wearing a costume hurt her authority as a Captain, she never really enjoyed Halloween herself. She was looking forward to watching the parade though. With Seven.
Seven had asked her a lot of questions about the holiday. She couldn’t help but think that it was a ridiculous human custom that had no place on a starship. However, Kathryn had explained to her how valuable these traditions could be for the morale of the crew. Seven had then withdrawn her objections to attending the party but, like Kathryn, refused to participate in the parade.
“At the party… would I still refer to you as the Captain or as Kathryn?” Seven suddenly asked.
“Oh… I’ll leave that up to you.” Kathryn hadn’t really thought about how they should interact with each other off duty but in public. “Whatever feels more comfortable. We will be off duty after all.”
Seven nodded but there was still a frown on her face. Kathryn quickly reached out and stroked her fingers over Seven’s forehead, trying to smooth it out. “Don’t worry about it too much. We’ll just have some fun and we don’t have to stay too long.”
Seven took a deep breath and then put on a brave smile. It was useless to worry about such silly things but social gatherings still frightened her a little. She had to remind herself that this time it would be different, this time she would be there with Kathryn.
“You are right and we really should get some rest to prepare.” She said. “Shall we have breakfast together here before our shifts start?”
“That sounds great.” Kathryn returned her smile and then reached up to drawn Seven back in for a goodbye kiss.
The kiss was long and deep. Seven was the one to break it, knowing that if she didn’t leave now she would never be able to. She moved her fingers through Kathryn’s hair one more time and then stepped back. “Sweet dreams, Kathryn.”
“Goodnight, Seven.” Kathryn sighed as she watched her girlfriend walk out of the door and then she was alone for the first time in days.
She looked around at her belongings and furniture but somehow it all looked different. She quickly shook her head, took one more deep breath and then got ready for bed.
As she climbed in her own bed again she tried to ignore how cold the sheets felt against her skin. She shut her eyes and tried not to think about the empty feeling in her arms but just remember the good times she and Seven had shared together.
It didn’t work. After tossing and turning for hours she finally got out of bed, grabbed an extra pillow and hugged it close as she laid back down. Then she finally fell into a restless sleep.
Two hours before Seven was going to come over for breakfast, Kathryn gave up on sleep. She would just have to make it through the day with the few hours of restless sleep she had gotten. Taking a long sonic shower, she tried to prepare herself for going back to duty. As she took her first cup of coffee of the day, she went through the reports of that weekend.
Then her door chime sounded and she quickly stood up to answer it. Seven was early and Kathryn felt her exhaustion slide off of her as she greeted her girlfriend with a smile. She eagerly pulled her back in but before she could ask Seven how her regeneration had gone, Seven’s lips were back on her own.
“How did you sleep?” Seven asked her, beating her to it.
“Terrible.” Kathryn admitted with a smile. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” Seven said while ducking down for another kiss.
She had stared at her regeneration alcoves for a long time before she could even move in closer. She could not repress the deep revulsion and a desperate fear that coursed through her when she saw the Borg technology. The warmth and light of the cabin seemed ages ago somehow.
She had tried to restart her regeneration cycle multiple times because every time she had stepped out of her alcove again, feeling cold shivers go up and down her spine because of her nightmares. She had considered going back to the Captain’s quarters but she did not want to disturb Kathryn in the middle of the night. Nor did she want to worry her.
“Did you complete a cycle?” Kathryn asked her anyway while she moved to her table which she had already set for breakfast.
“No.” Seven’s reply was very short and she did not offer any further explanation. Kathryn studied her for a bit but decided not to press her. She had not slept well herself so it wasn’t all that surprising that Seven had been unable to complete a regeneration cycle.
As they ate they discussed their coming day. Seven would go to Engineering to help Lieutenant Torres with some adaptations to their warp core. The Chief Engineer was still trying to apply the techniques they had picked up from the Darursai and could really use the extra hands and especially Seven’s sharp mind. Kathryn would return to the Bridge, something she was rather looking forward to after reading the reports.
As they left the Captain’s quarters they were both feeling better and ready to take on the day. Kathryn gave Seven’s hand one more squeeze and then let her go, to walk to a different turbolift that would take her to Engineering.
As she stood in the lift that would take her to the Bridge, Kathryn went over her uniform one more time. Straightening her combadge and counting her captain’s pips. Walking on the Bridge, she saw that most of the crew was already there.
“Good morning, Captain.” Tuvok was the first to greet her and then Chakotay quickly followed his example.
“How was your vacation?” He asked her with a twinkle in his eyes.
“It was perfect.” Kathryn smiled at him and then quickly sat down in her chair. It felt good to be back after all and Kathryn effortlessly eased back into her role as Captain while her First Officer filled her in on their status.
When Seven entered Engineering her eyes couldn’t find Lieutenant Torres so she walked over to a free console to get started on the work by herself. She briefly nodded at the crewmembers who were there but stopped as she saw the outfit of Ensign Ashmore. He wore a long black cape over a black version of the Starfleet uniform and appeared to have fangs protruding over his lips.
Seven stared at him and he quickly noticed. Turning around with a flourish of his cape, he smiled at her baring his fangs which up close turned out to be protheses which obstructed his speech. “Happy Halloween, Ssseven.”
“Happy Halloween, Ensign.” Seven blinked at his appearance for a few more moments but then moved on, not sure what to make of this holiday.
After several minutes the doors opened again and B’Elanna Torres stormed in, still running her fingers through her hair as if she had hurried getting ready.
“Good morning.” She said to no one in particular and then spotted Seven. She had almost reached her when she stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around to stare at Vampire Ashmore.
Before he could greet her in a similar way as he had Seven, Torres cut him off. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Uh…” The Ensign hesitated, looking around for support from his fellow crewmembers but they had all quickly looked away after hearing Torres’ tone. “It’s Halloween?”
B’Elanna gave a short laugh and then slowly walked over until her face was only inches away from his. “Let me make something very clear to you. You will go back to your quarters, change into your uniform and take out those disgusting fangs or so help me I will personally make sure you get that stupid cape caught in the warp coil!”
Her voice had started out as a low growl but by the end it had reached quite an impressive volume. Seven watched the exchange with some amusement.
While Ashmore scrambled to get out of Engineering as quickly as he could, Lieutenant Torres turned around to address the others in the room. “While we are on duty I don’t want to see any of this Halloween nonsense! This is the Engineering Department not some comedy club.”
Seven barely dared to breath as the Chief Engineer huffed over to her and joined her at her console. Looking back at the crew Seven could see that Torres’ speech had made quite an impression as they all feverishly continued their work in silence.
“Quite impressive, Lieutenant.” Seven congratulated her, genuinely impressed with the way B’Elanna ran her department.
“Thanks Seven.” B’Elanna grumbled as she opened up her own work. “I just hate this stupid holiday.”
Seven hesitated. Her natural response would be to ask several follow-up questions, mostly because she wanted to know as much as possible about the Earth custom before she went to the party in the Mess Hall tonight. However, she did not want to get into a fight with Lieutenant Torres as she really wanted to work on this project with her.
B’Elanna looked up and noticed Seven had frozen in indecision. With a sigh she started to explain. “When I was a child, we used to celebrate Halloween every year. I loved it at first, the scary stories and all the candy. But then one year… a boy from my class told me I didn’t need to wear a costume because I already looked like a Klingon monster.”
Seven did not know what to say as a surge of pity went through her. However, B’Elanna wasn’t done. “So I decided not to go to the school’s Halloween party and instead I stayed home, to watch some scary movies with my dad. However… those kids, they showed up at our house, trick or treating. They were all dressed as Klingons.”
“I’m really sorry, B’Elanna.” Seven said after a few moments of silence in which she carefully figured out the right thing to say. “That is horrible.”
“Yes… well kids can be quite mean.” B’Elanna said as she walked over to the warp core to check her readings. “I never enjoyed Halloween after that and I won’t have any silly costumes in here. It’s bad enough that my husband is such a fan, I don’t want to hear about it while I work.”
“You won’t hear anything about it from me.” Seven quickly assured her and this earned her a smile from B’Elanna.
Ensign Ashmore came back in. Dressed in his uniform, he quietly shuffled towards a console in the corner as if he wanted to avoid the Chief Engineer at all cost. B’Elanna did not pay him any attention and Seven was relieved to see her immerse herself in her work, something she clearly enjoyed.
After a rather fiery discussion about how best to adjust the Darusai’s techniques to their own Federation technology, B’Elanna was fully relaxed again and suddenly asked Seven how her weekend away had gone.
“It was… very nice.” Seven stuttered. She had not expected the question and was unsure what she should tell the Lieutenant.
“Just nice or…” B’Elanna’s voice trailed off suggestively.
Seven blushed and quickly looked back at their work which earned her a laugh from the Chief Engineer.
“It was perfect actually.” Seven confided in her and B’Elanna’s laugh quickly turned into a smile.
“Glad to hear it.” She said. “You both could use a break after Revaik. Besides, belief me when I say it’s a good idea to take time to get away together when you start a new relationship.”
Seven was just about to ask her to elaborate when the ship wide communication channel turned on. All they could hear was a loud interference and everyone looked up from their work.
“What the hell is that?” B’Elanna shouted as she walked towards another console to check on the communication system. Before she could do anything though, the sound suddenly stopped and was replaced by a voice. A voice straight from Seven’s nightmares.
“We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”