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“He called me Seven,” She squeezes her hand, gives a gentle tug on her arm, pulling her away from her fallen captain, “He’s never called me Seven.”
“Piece of shi- He’s lucky he’s already dead!”
“Raffi!"
“Sorry, unhealthy coping mechanism.” She looks around the dimly lit maintenance deck, plenty of places to hide, none that would stand up to the Borg though. “What now?”
Seven shakes her head, shock setting in. “I- I don’t- I don’t know.”
“Yes you do!” She grabs her shoulders, squeezing hard. “I’m the investigator, you’re the strategist. Right now, we need a strategy”
Their eyes lock; Seven’s eyes so full of fear, confusion, anger. “Take a shuttle and run. You need to get off this ship Raffi.”
‘You’, she thinks, Seven said ‘you’ not ‘we’. “No!” It comes out forcefully, like a reflex, her head shaking. “The only way I’m leaving is if you’re coming with me.”
“Raffi, please,” begs Seven. “I have to stay, have to help my crew.” She pauses, inhales shakily. “I can’t let the Borg take another family away from me.”
“Then I’m staying too. You don’t have to solve all of the universe’s problems alone anymore, remember?” She sees Seven tense, prepare to argue back, order her to go if she has to. “I mean it. I’m not leaving without you Seven.” A defeated nod, acknowledgement from Seven that once Raffi has made up her mind there is no changing it. “So, now we’re in agreement, what next?”
“We need to take back control of the ship, protect the remaining crew, contain the affected ones until we can find a way to undo whatever the Borg have done to them”
This is the Seven she knows, the one her crew needs right now. “Good.” She nods, “where do we start?”
“The Bridge. The turbolift behind me will take us straight there, after that,” She holds up her augmented hand, “I can interface with the ship. Remove the Borg code from the mainframe and that should give us back control.”
Raffi nods, “Let’s do this”
Time has stopped, that is the only possible explanation for how long the turbolift is taking to travel twelve decks. So far they have travelled two. An uncomfortable silence stretches between them, filled with the dread of what might await them when they eventually reach the bridge.
Seven breaks it first. “I never stopped loving you.”
She watches Seven’s fingers thrum on the grip of her phaser. “I know. Me neither.”
“Okay," a deep breath, "good.” two more deep breaths, “because we are probably about to be assimilated, blown up or both. And I don’t want the only thing I ever regret to be not telling you how I feel.”
The lift slows to a stop, Deck One, the Bridge. “You ready?” Seven nods. “Let’s go save your family.”