Fallen Star
Disclaimers: Voyager and Xena belong to Paramount and Universal respectively. I'm not making money out of this - just having some fun with the characterss. This story contains love between women so if that offends you or it's illegal where you live, go read something else (or move). There's also angst and some violence.
Feedback: is welcome at [email protected]
SPOILER WARNING: You might want to skip this if you haven’t seen the Xena finale.
I’m dedicating this one to Jean for being the best beta reader – couldn’t have done this without you, thanks. :) I'd also like to thank Sonja for the ever so pretty graphic.
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Part 7
What a harrowing experience the last few days have been. It has been like a nightmare – and I am yet to awaken from it. B’Elanna was distraught when Seven collapsed, of course, and it was all we could do to keep her resting while Xena and I tended to Seven. Eventually she subsided though, knowing that there was nothing she could do for her Seven. Still, she did not fall asleep for a long time, and when she did the lines of worry did not leave her face.
Seven had not received many wounds from the battle, and what wounds she wore were superficial and largely irrelevant. I asked Xena what her affliction was – she looked fine, after all - it was as if she was in a peaceful sleep. My warrior explained that Seven needed to ‘regenerate’ and that without it, she would soon die – she was like a flower that needs sunlight to survive. Seven had been living on borrowed time over the last two weeks, and now the flower was wilting.
We kept vigil by Seven all through the long night, afraid that if we did not watch; her life would slip from our grasp. Once, she stopped breathing completely and it was only Xena’s skill as a healer that saved her. Towards morning, Seven’s condition improved – she even awoke, asking if B’Elanna was all right, before falling once again into a deep slumber.
While we looked after our two wards, Xena and I talked of the day’s events. I inquired about Dakkon – it seemed to me that he was more to Xena than just another warlord from her past.
“Who was Dakkon?” I asked, “He looked surprised to see you today.”
Xena sighed, “A mistake – something I regret intensely to this day...”
“Tell me about it.” I prompted, knowing that if Xena were to ever find redemption, she’d have to find peace within herself first.
She sat down, her back against the wall. She was reluctant to talk about it at first, but eventually began to open up. “The first time I saw him was when I raided his village. This was quite soon after Cortes sacked Amphipolis, after Lyceus was killed... and Dakkon, who was barely out of childhood at that time, reminded me of my brother. I remember the fear and awe in his eyes... it was an image that came back to me when I destroyed his village five years later. I’d returned from Chin, and was making my mark upon Greece as the Destroyer of Nations. Dakkon had married his sweetheart by then, and was just about to begin life as a young father.” Xena fell silent for a moment before continuing, “I killed his family... and seduced him into joining my army... Dakkon was torn between lust and hate for me... I ended up turning him into a warrior, a killer.” She paused, “He rose quickly in my ranks, and gained my trust – he was one of my most loyal men... but he turned on me along with the rest of them when Darfus made me run the gauntlet.” Xena smiled with a hint of bitterness, “I don’t blame him though, I don’t blame any of them – all I did was destroy his life.”
At this point, Xena looked over to B’Elanna who had awoken and was listening to Xena’s story quietly.
“What do you think of me now?” she asked, “Still think I’m some sort of hero?”
“Yes.” B’Elanna said without hesitation.
“You’re wrong. What I do now is nothing compared to what I did... I can’t atone for what I did.”
“Xena, you have to stop dwelling on the past.” The half Klingon insisted, “ Look at Dakkon, he’s moved on... he has his own life now, however messed up it is. The past is past – you need to move on too.”
“She has a point, you know.” I agreed with her, secretly hoping that Xena would take the advice to heart. It was exactly what I’d been trying to tell my warrior for months.
Xena didn’t reply but nodded her head, refusing to talk any more on the subject.
It was many hours later that Seven awoke again. She had been in a coma-like sleep for a day – it was like her body had shut down to save itself. It was a great relief to both Xena and I when our injured friend awoke. B’Elanna, who had refused to leave Seven’s side through the entire ordeal, was getting extremely irritable at being confined to the small cabin – it was... stressful, to say the least, to watch the half Klingon pace the room repeatedly, looking as if she would put a hole through the wall with a frustrated fist.
*******
B’Elanna rushed to the makeshift bed, seeing Seven stir for the first time in hours.
“Lanna?” A weak voice inquired uncertainly.
“I’m here, love.”
Seven closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. There had been a fight, and then Xena had appeared, saving them from the bounty hunters. She couldn’t remember much after that – her last memory had been watching Xena remove the arrow from B’Elanna’s shoulder. Then she’d felt terribly weak all of a sudden and Seven knew that she must have collapsed. She flexed her left hand experimentally and found that she could barely move it. This was not good – her body had begun to shut off her larger implants in an attempt to save energy for her cortical node. This meant that she didn’t have a lot of time left – the end was approaching faster than she’d anticipated.
“Lanna... I can’t move my hand.”
B’Elanna tried not to panic. She too, knew the stages – she knew that Seven would soon be lost to her. It was hard, but she knew she had to be strong for her beloved. “Are your other implants working?”
“Yes... I think so.” Fear had never been so evident in the borg’s voice, and at that moment, B’Elanna would have given anything to be able to reassure Seven, to be able to say ‘It’ll be okay.’
B’Elanna laid her head on Seven’s chest, listening to the soft but steady beat of her heart. It soothed her and she was able to calm down a little. “Apart from your implants, how are you feeling?”
“I am weak... but I feel fine.” Seven stroked B’Elanna’s hair gently with her human hand. “Do you believe Voyager will find us, Lanna?”
The question caught the half Klingon off guard; it had been a long time since they’d discussed Voyager. It was unlikely that the ship would find them now as they’d been missing for over 17 days already. But they both knew that Janeway was not one to give up easily, and deep down in their hearts, the women still carried a hope that Voyager would still come for them.
“Yes.” B’Elanna told her, “Kathryn wouldn’t give up on us.”
“Unless she thought we were dead.”
B’Elanna raised her head to look at Seven; “Do you think that’s possible?”
“Yes. The wormhole collapsed, we were in it at the time. She would not know that we survived.” Seven argued.
“Voyager will come for us, you just have to hold on until then.”
Seven sighed. “It is unlikely that they will find us.”
“NO! I will not give up hope. I can’t...” B’Elanna faltered, “I can’t live without the hope that you’ll survive... I can’t live without you.”
“You must live.” Seven stated firmly, “In the event of my death, you must continue living.”
“You can’t ask that of me.” B’Elanna whispered.
“I am asking you Lanna...” Seven stroked her cheek, “Promise me, you will keep functioning after I die.”
B’Elanna stared at her hands, which were clenched tightly into fists. She could feel her fingernails dig into her palm and she welcomed the pain – it was nothing compared to the pain that clutched at her hearts at that moment. “I promise,” she heard herself say, “But only if you promise me that you’ll keep fighting... and hold on for as long as you can.”
Seven nodded wearily, “Yes, I’ll hold on for you.” She wrapped her arms around B’Elanna, and shifted over in her bed to make space for her lover. B’Elanna crawled into the bed and snuggled into Seven’s side.
“Sleep now, your body needs to rest.”
“You will stay with me?”
“Always.”
They fell asleep clinging to each other tightly, never wanting to let go, wishing the night would go on forever – they knew that morning would bring nothing but darkness.
*******
Captain Kathryn Janeway had no idea what to make of the pudgy little man sitting opposite her. Apparently, their whole race was fairly plump and short – and their males tended to start balding around the age of 30. She was slightly unnerved by how human these aliens were. Upon switching off the universal translator, she found that even their language resembled human speech patterns. However, nothing was stranger than the way they bargained – they were almost Ferengi-like... in a human sort of way. Definitely disturbing.
“Add fifty more bars of gold and you have a deal.” Launssomi, the alien Captain stated.
Gold was easily produced, and wasn’t worth much to Voyager, but Janeway decided to humour the little man – he seemed to enjoy haggling. “Fifty??” she tried to sound outraged.
“I’ll go no lower. Take it or leave it.”
“Thirty is all I can afford... Besides, surely the information you have isn’t worth that much?” Janeway asked, amused, “I’m sure there are others around here who know about this wormhole... I could always ask around...”
“Forty, I’ll give you the information for forty.” He reluctantly offered, looking a little disconcerted.
The Captain pretended to mull over the offer, secretly enjoying their exchange – it was fun to alarm him, he was so easily flustered.
“Oh come on,” he whined, “You’re getting a bargain here. I have children to feed at home... we’ll all starve at this rate.”
“Deal.” Janeway said finally, after a long, dramatic pause.
He brightened visibly. “I require payment first.” Then added hastily, “It’s nothing personal, you have to understand... nobody’s trustworthy anymore though, you see – one can never be too cautious.”
Janeway resisted the urge to roll her eyes, then tapped her comm badge to order a perplexed Ensign to bring 40 bars of gold. The heavy box was carried in and placed in front of Launssomi, whose eyes practically glittered.
“So tell me about this wormhole. You claim that it’s there, how come we can’t see it?”
“Ah, well, that’s because it’s not there right now.”
Janeway said nothing, trying to quell her impatience and waited for him to continue.
“It’s like a gateway you see,” he explained, “It only opens once every five days... and it’s only there for about 30 minutes, before it disappears again.”
Her first feeling was one of profound relief – it explained where B’Elanna and Seven went, they could still be alive. It was quite probable that they were trapped on the other side, unable to return or contact Voyager. “So it should appear again in two more days, is that correct?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s right.” He paused, a troubled look on his face. “There’s one other thing you should know...”
“What?” Janeway asked, suddenly filled with apprehension.
“Time moves at a different pace on the other side... approximately five times faster.”
Janeway closed her eyes. Damn. “It’s been three and a half days since my crew members disappeared... you’re saying that more than two weeks have passed for them already?”
“Yes.”
Running fingers through her hair, the Captain sighed. This changed everything. She knew that Seven had to regenerate within a week and worried about how the young woman was coping. Was B’Elanna looking after her? The two women were known for their hostility towards one another, but she’d seen a gradual friendship build up between them over the months. Yes, B’Elanna would take care of Seven – and both of them were very capable women. Janeway felt slightly better, although not by much. It was so frustrating, not knowing what was happening to her lost crewmembers – not just crewmembers; they were like daughters to her. She hated not being able to do anything – what if they needed her this very moment... what if she was too late? She gritted her teeth in frustration that she could do nothing for them. Nothing but wait.