“Beautiful isn’t she Doctor?.....D-O-C-T-O-R!

The universe folded back, straightening itself and reality once again materialized around his holomatrix.

“Pardon?”

“Beautiful, my daughters friend, you’re looking at her ......Zimmerman!”

“Sorry Admiral,” the Doctor looked away, embarrassed and angry with himself, “was I staring.”

“Yes, you and every other man in the room.” Admiral Bates allowed himself a smug smile, “Of course not me, she’s too young and being my daughters friend and all, well she’s just a child, just a child.”

“No,” despite himself, the Doctor turned and looked over again at the object of his sudden ‘malfunction.’ “She’s not a child.” 
He scanned her slowly, processing every detail: White shoes, sim leather, high heels (possibly 30mm.) Silk leg coverings, pale amber with a distinct golden sheen, these covered a set of semi-muscular legs. Her dress was short and white, possibly cotton, or a none-terran fabric such as cy-ron. It barely covered a slim, muscular, well-proportioned body. It was sleeveless with a low cut neck. Across her shoulders and set at upward angles was a delicate set of feather wings. She had a long neck, pale almost white skin, leading to a perfect face, perhaps her lips were a little too full and her features hardened, but her eyes were beautiful, pale blue with a slight touch of green and her hair was gold.

 “An Angel eh Doc?”

“Yes and quite stunning... is she alone?”

“No, came with Kelly.”

“Kelly?....oh, your daughter.”

“The same, she’s over there, dressed as Pandora, the one with the box.”

“The Angel has a husband?”

“She’s single...divorced I think, interested eh? Want an introduction?”

“No...no, this one’s way out of my league.”

“Nonsense, that’s not what I hear eh, you’ve a reputation Zimmerman.”

“Admiral, I have no idea what you’re referring to.”

“The ‘Love Doc.’ Your Captain warned me all about your dating habits with female medical staff aboard the Excalibur.

The Doctor’s expression changed and he suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Rolly shouldn’t be telling stories.”

Admiral Bates laughed, “ only between friends, I do have a daughter to protect. She’s a field nurse you know,” he winked his eye and chuckled.

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, “I’m sure Kelly’s far too good for me.”

The Admiral gave him a serious look, “I don’t know,” he patted the Doctor on the shoulder as he moved off, “but Kelly needn’t worry, however I think her friend should.”

The Doctor watched him leave; he had sensed a distinct touch of disapproval in the last part of the conversation. Admiral Bates was like most human males, scared that a mere hologram would dare to attempt anything close to a relationship with a ‘real person.’ Perhaps Bates was right, he had messed up so badly in relationships over the past year that it had seemed he was deliberately moving away from each commitment. He had gotten himself a reputation, should he blame Captain Rollings for warning his friends. Still, his nickname of ‘the Love Doc’ was becoming a millstone. He allowed his gaze to return once more to the ‘Angel.’
 
She hadn’t moved, she stood alone, head held high, looking out of the window, as if contemplating an escape. She was totally oblivious of the interest she was provoking, the Admiral had been right; most of the men (and females) gathered at the party were looking occasionally in her direction. He placed his glass down upon the nearest table and smiled sadly. It would be best if he left now, before he was tempted to walk over and make a nuisance of himself, he moved quickly to find the door.  
 The party was in ‘full swing’ so he guessed that one guest wouldn’t be missed. It had been a mistake to come, he hated costume parties, ever since that time when he’d attended one as Mozart and then been accused of ‘over-doing it’ by Seven, (it had been embarrassing.) That had even put him off dressing for the Holodeck. This time he hadn’t bothered getting an outfit. Normally, he would have just said no to Admiral Bates invitation, but it had been the only interesting thing in his post that week. He had been tired and bored, eager to socialize with anything. The Excalibur had been docked a month now for repairs and his sickbay was organized and empty...as was his life.
  He weaved his way towards the exit, hoping to grab his coat, but his escape was suddenly blocked. A large, pink, Betazoid snail stood looking down upon him.

“Doctor Zimmerman?”

“Err-Yes.”

A male humanoid head appeared from inside the costume, it too was Betazoid. 

“Didn’t properly recognize you without the Starfleet uniform.....what are you?”

“I’m not in costume, this is what I wear off-duty.  I prefer not to dress in silly clothing,” he looked pointedly at the pink fluff. “And you are?”

“A snail.” a hand also popped out. 

“Yes I know,” he shook the hand, looking beyond the snail and out towards the door. 

“But I’m sorry, I don’t know you.”

“Never met, but I know you, seen your work with Borg nano-probs.. Brilliant stuff.”

The Doctor was about to thank him and push past, when another hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.

“Doctor, there you are, running out on us, you did well to stop him Professor Brandon.”

The snail smiled, “my pleasure Bates.”

 Suddenly trapped, the Doctor turned slowly.

“Come Zimmerman, don’t look so glum, couldn’t let you leave without introducing you to the two most lovely ladies here,” Bates winked at him. “I want you to meet my daughter Kelly and her friend Annika Hansen, girls this is the infamous Doctor Zimmerman.”
 
The party and its noise died away, everything became a blur, except those blue eyes. He had tried to avoid her, but failed. Bates obviously didn’t know ‘what’ he was running from. She was the one person in the whole Alfa quadrant that he had made a career in avoiding and here she was. When he’d first seen her, it had hit him and almost floored him, now he felt his programme freezing again. Why hadn’t he run while he had the chance, just flattened the snail-man against the wall and made a beeline for the door?
   
She seemed equally in shock. A practiced mask of disinterest slipped from her features, she paled and her mouth opened slightly.

Kelly Bates dropped her box, “Daddy! Annika and the Doctor know each other silly, they were both on the Voyager together.”

“Of course, I’m sorry,” Bates was mumbling, it was obvious from the pained expression in his daughters voice and the reaction of her friend, that he had made a social blunder.

The Doctor straightened himself, “It’s good to see you again Seven,” he held out his hand.

Seven ignored the hand.

“Annika!” Kelly nervously whispered, but her friend was oblivious to everyone, her eyes were locked onto the Doctors. 

She looked confused then smiled, covered that quickly, then seemed cross, finally a look of sadness settled on her features. Bates, Kelly and Brandon all seemed captivated by the play of expressions running across her face and they almost cheered when she finally took the Doctors hand, her eyes still locked to his. “Doctor.”

Her hand was cold, he felt metal against the smooth skin. Looking down he saw a new Borg implant totally encompassing her right index finger.... hadn’t he removed that six years ago?

“You haven’t changed Sev-” he stopped himself, “Annika.”

“I have.”

“I mean you still look....” he shook his head and smiled again, “as good as ever.”

She nodded and her eyes followed the smile moving across his face, then downwards.

“Always looked stunning eh?” Admiral Bates sounded nervous and tried to cover it by aiming another jovial pat on the Doctors shoulder, hitting it with enough force to knock the Doctor almost into Seven’s arms.

Seven caught him with her left hand, but then slowly moved it across his chest and arm. “You however have changed Doctor.”

He was suddenly embarrassed, she was right, he had changed. When he’d enlisted aboard the Excalibur, he had made some minor alterations to his external holomatrix; lost a few pounds, added some more muscle and a little more hair, they were only subtle changes. He’d reasoned that if he was to win the trust of his new colleges, he needed to start by looking very ‘healthy’ himself. He hoped she didn’t think the alterations had been through vanity.
 
 While they stood staring at each other, Kelly made a show of picking up her box and looking around. “We seem to be in the way Daddy,” she smiled shyly at the Doctor, “you’re blocking the door Doctor.”
 
He turned quickly, as though suddenly awake and stepped away from them. Professor Brandon had already walked off without excusing himself; his pink form could be seen waddling across the room. Betazoids were sensitive to emotions and perhaps Seven was giving him a headache, no, it couldn’t be her, Seven still felt nothing, couldn’t feel. It was probably Bates, he looked very emotional. It could not have been himself; he had once been reassured by Deanna Troi that she couldn’t read him. He dearly hoped that he wasn’t broadcasting his feelings at this moment in time to anyone but himself.

Kelly pulled at her fathers arm, steering him away, “Look Daddy, why don’t you take us for something to eat, I’m starving and Annika hasn’t eaten for ages.”

“Yes, good idea, buffet table...now where did I put it,” to the Doctor Admiral Bates seemed lost, and this was the man who currently ran Starfleet operations.

“I know the way,” Kelly was now pulling in earnest.

“Oh good, well err.... you don’t eat do you Zimmerman, shame, you’ll have to excuse us then. Annika,” he offered Seven his other arm.

Seven looked at the arm and returned her gaze to the Doctor. “No, I will stay with the Doctor. I do not require nutritional supplement at present.”
 
The Doctor fought back laughter, she had not changed. Over four years had passed since Voyager had returned, everything had changed, but she looked and sounded the same, and he was thankful for it. However, his feelings for her hadn’t changed either. His programme was now responding the way it always had when she had expressed an interest in socializing with him, like he had been offered a chance at something special, something wonderful, he felt privileged and scared at the same time. Years of conscientious forgetting had not altered him; he felt the same now as when she’d agreed to accompany him to that last costume party all those years ago.
  
Kelly had widened her eyes and was giving her friend a ‘pointed’ stare, but she was again ignored. Bates smiled and looked slightly relieved, “Of course Annika, well I’ll see you later Zimmerman,” it suddenly seemed as though Bates had remembered something unpleasant. “ Look take care of yourself,” his eyes where sad, “Rolly tells me Excalibur leaves port next week, you should all be getting new orders soon.” He patted the Doctor on the shoulder once more and turned to leave.
 
A tiny spark of worry crept into the Doctors thoughts, perhaps Bates knew something, he certainly knew about the new orders, he must know what those orders involved and where Excalibur was going. 
 The Admiral walked away with his daughter whispering animatedly into his ear, but he did turn to give the Doctor a last wink.

Seven also watched them, then turned to him suddenly, “the Admiral and Lieutenant Bates are useful people to know.”

“Oh, really S-Annika?”

“Yes, their current accommodation contains a library, it has extensive information on the history and development of Starfleet.”

She was being practical; it was still too much for her to admit that she had made ‘friends’. She felt there had to be an excuse for being a guest of the Bates family.

“So you’re still studying ‘humanity’ Annika.”

She looked away and towards the dance floor, leaving his question unanswered. The conversation stopped there and the silence became uncomfortable. Thinking of something useful to say had always been difficult with her, but then he was never quite sure wither she enjoyed saying nothing

“It’s really good to see you again Annika.”

She turned suddenly, “Why did you not answer my letters.” Her blue eyes were looking straight at him again.

“Your letters. You wrote?” To play ignorant was cowardly, he knew it, but to tell the truth was worse. However, she didn’t raise to the bait, instead she said nothing, waiting, “I-I must have been busy.”

“You were not, you chose not to reply.” She pushed her chin up and shoulders forward as though in defiance, but this caused one of her wings to drop. She turned awkwardly to see the damage, and then turned again.

The Doctor watched, letting out an almost audible sigh of relief for the distraction. “Here, let me help,” he quickly moved behind her to look at her costume. For a moment he stood still and closed his eyes, swallowing the emotion and not even noticing the wing, which had now come completely away from her left shoulder. 

“Is the damage repairable Doctor?”

He looked down with a sudden feeling of helplessness as he felt one set of emotions quickly overtaken by another. The dress, now without the wings, revealed most of her back and he couldn’t help himself staring at all of it. He almost grabbed at the loose wing, yanking the strap upwards to cover her again, but his hands brushed against her skin. The sudden contact with flesh caused subroutine Beta-5 to reactivate, he was glad she had her back to him.

“You still wish to ignore me?”

“No, I’m sorry Annika.” The wings were proving difficult and his hands unsteady, 
“the damage isn’t bad, I just need a moment to fix them.” His voice was muffled as his face was covered by her right wing, (he had moved his head downward and to the side to examine the fittings.) 

Seven, who had been standing patiently, tried to look behind her again.

“Keep still.”

She stiffened at that and her hands clenched. “Why did you not write?”

He shook his head, she had never been the type to let a subject drop. “I’m sorry, I must have forgotten.”

“ ‘Forgotten’…I did not realise that our friendship was so expendable to you.”

“No!” He looked in frustration at a piece of plastic strapping that had come away in his hands. “It’s not that simple Seven, you think I would crawl back to you after what had been said...and don’t tell me you were sorry, because you never said so in any of your letters.” 

She spun around, forgetting the wing, “So you did read my letters.”

“Yes.”

“I am not sorry, I never told you anything that wasn’t the truth. You wanted to interfere in my life, you had no right. What I chose to do was of no concern to you, or my friends.”

“You think, as your doctor, I should have stood by and watched you start a relationship with someone when you’re not even physically capable of feeling deep emotions? It wasn’t fair to you or to him Seven. I told Janeway because I thought she might reason with you about having an operation to remove the blocking device. So you could feel again, NOT because I wanted to ‘gossip’ about you. It was unfair of you to accuse me of deliberately betraying a professional confidence.  Janeway may have forgiven you, but for me it was just the tip of an iceberg... and remember Seven, it was you who told me to ‘leave you alone’, so I did.” He placed the broken strap into her hands, “ and I am still not a doormat Seven, to welcome you and be trodden on.”

She looked downwards in frustration, “what is a ‘doormat’?”

He pushed a hand though his hair and shook his head again, “an antique device for removing dirt from boots, they sometimes had ‘welcome’ written across them.”

“I did not intend to treat you as such.”

“Seven....” How could he explain to her what the last months of their friendship had been like for him? She had always been blunt and a little rude with everyone, but she had been more so towards him. Indeed her attitude had changed so much that the rare moments of friendship they did share became precious, and he began to crave them like an addiction. It was then he realised how badly he had fallen for her. Then when she began to pursue a relationship with someone else he’d had to swallow his pride and jealousy. He even tried to give her advice and show concern for their future. Of course, it had all gone horribly wrong, Seven had refused any advice and was horrified that he had turned to Captain Janeway as an aide. After that, his only solution was not to communicate with her at all, and then she could no longer hurt him. It had been easy once they had returned. He started by transferring from Voyager to Jupiter Station, Lewis Zimmerman had arranged everything and only Janeway had objected. Seven had written to him, that had been a surprise. Her letters contained no reference to their argument, however they detailed the progress of her application to join Starfleet, her duties aboard Voyager and a monthly progress report on Icheb. He never returned the mail and the letters continued for eighteen months, then stopped. Since then he had made it his goal to forget her completely, and even fooled himself into thinking he had succeeded… until tonight. 
“…Seven, what can I say,?”

“The truth,” her voice sounded quiet, the anger had vanished.

“Our friendship was hurting me Seven, so I gave it up.”

That didn’t seem to satisfy her,“ I have never known you to give up with other peoples pain.”

“I’m sorry, but other people I can cure, you know how bad I was at curing myself,” he attempted a small smile, “ask B’Elanna, she even made me promise never to cure myself.”

She said nothing and he assumed this was her way of accepting his excuse. He watched as a small, white feather dropped from her broken wing, then he gradually lifted his head to look at the party and then at her. Putting his hands behind him, he straightened. “ I have missed you.”

She swallowed hard, then looked at him, “I have also felt unhappy with your absence.”

He bent down to pick up the feather, “Perhaps we can meet again sometime.”

“I am free tomorrow at six hundred hours.”

His head shot up, he hadn’t expected her to answer him, let alone arrange a meeting. 

“Where?”

She considered for a moment, “at the ‘Voyager Monument.’”

“As you wish.” From the corner of his eye, he could see Professor Brandon moving towards them, the pink costume slowing his approach, “I have to go. Tomorrow at 600,” he  gave her a formal nod and left.
 
Outside the sky was dark and full of stars, he blinked (a simulated reaction) at the change in light and wiped his eyes. In his hand was the small white feather, he lifted it towards the moons light and then placed it carefully away into his breast pocket. He looked at the sky, so many stars around this small planet, he had seen space with no stars at all, and yet he never felt the loneliness there like he did now.