Title: Memory Loss Blues 4/4
Author: quew
Please see part one for disclaimers, rating etc.
#
They reached B’Elanna’s quarters before either of them felt the need to speak, and it was Seven who broke the silence, breaking down and starting to sob.
‘I thought I was ready…but all those people…’ She managed through her tears.
B’Elanna felt totally and utterly out of her league as she watched the blonde woman hug herself, wrapping long arms around her belly and occasionally covering her face as the tears continued to flow.
‘Look, I’m…I’m sorry,’ she said, moving a hesitant step closer. ‘I should have stepped in earlier, or stayed with you.’
Seven looked up, self-consciously wiping away the tears that ran from her puffy eyes. She shook her head. ‘You were wonderful.’ She said quietly.
B’Elanna looked down at the floor, overwhelmed by the changed woman. Then she let out a barked laugh and glanced at the ex-drone. ‘You know, it’s ironic.’
‘It is?’
‘Yeah,’ B’Elanna said. ‘I…we…really didn’t get on before. And I ended up…’
‘Coming to my rescue,’ Seven said, smiling slightly.
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ B’Elanna said slowly, shrugging slightly.
‘I would,’ Seven disagreed quietly. ‘You were the only one there who really seemed to be a friend. My friend.’
For a moment, B’Elanna simply couldn’t think of anything to say, and then she felt the blush beginning to creep up out of her collar,. She turned away and practically ran to the replicator, punching in a random code to give her time to compose herself.
Her thoughts were broken by someone laughing – Seven. It was a light, happy laugh, one that would never have been associated with ex-drone before her memory loss. B’Elanna looked at her questioningly and saw that the woman was laughing so hard she couldn’t say why, but had to point instead. B’Elanna followed her finger to the replicator and stared down in horror at what she had replicated.
‘I hope that’s not for me!’ Seven managed before degenerating into peals of laughter once again.
‘I…I…I…’ B’Elanna managed, picking up the replicated item like it was time bomb and feeling the blush crawl inexorably up onto her face. ‘I…’
The expression was enough to break Seven’s hastily gathered composure once again, and the ex-drone ended up grabbing the back of the sofa for support, pressing her other hand to her aching belly as she struggled for breath.
Finally, the absurdity of it all got to B’Elanna as well, and she looked at the luridly coloured object in her hands and felt laughter encroach on her voice box, taking it over and she pressed her other hand to her mouth as first one, then another and another burst of laughter erupted from her mouth.
After what seemed like an eternity, B’Elanna and Seven managed to reign in their laughter, and they sat facing each other in B’Elanna’s lounge, exhausted from the prolonged laughing.
‘Thank you, Lieutenant,’ Seven said. ‘I think I needed that.’
‘So did I,’ B’Elanna agreed, nodding, ‘So did I.’
For a while, they sat in silence, occasionally stealing glances at each other. Then, B’Elanna’s eyes widened as a yawn took her by surprise, forcing her to lift her hand quickly and cover her mouth.
Seven chuckled. ‘Perhaps you should go to bed, Lieutenant,’ she said.
‘No, I’m fine,’ B’Elanna disagreed, not liking showing weakness, no matter how small.
‘You need sleep. You have an early shift, remember?’ They shared a smile, and then B’Elanna shrugged.
‘Alright, alright, I guess you’re right,’ she admitted, stretching and yawning once again. ‘It has been kind of an eventful night.’ She stood, and then paused as a thought struck her. ‘What about you? Where are you staying?’
Seven paused, looking uncomfortable. ‘Sickbay,’ She said, heading for the door.
B’Elanna hurried across the room and blocked the woman’s way out. ‘You can’t stay there, not after tonight. You’d have no privacy.’ She grimaced as thoughts of Seven in Cargo Bay Two flitted through her mind, and she tried not to think of the double standards that she was applying to the two versions of this woman. She admitted to herself in that moment that she had wronged the other Seven, and she was determined to right the mistakes she had made, even if she was the only one that remembered them. Especially because she was the only one that remembered them. ‘You can stay here.’ She said finally, and then added, ‘Is sleeping ok with you?’
It took a moment for Seven to figure out what she meant, and then she nodded. ‘Yes. I’ve been sleeping in sickbay, and I only need to ‘regenerate’ once a week.’
‘Then you can sleep here, and in the morning we’ll see about getting you some quarters. I’ll work on a portable regeneration unit so that you won’t have to regenerate in Cargo Bay Two.’
All the fight went out of Seven and she allowed her tiredness to show, slumping slightly. B’Elanna took her elbow and gently led her to her bed.
‘Thank you,’ the blonde whispered. ‘You are…a friend.’
‘You just get ready for bed, and I’ll see you in the morning,’ B’Elanna replied, uncomfortable with the emotion apparent in Seven’s voice as she sat down on the engineers’ bed.
She moved to go and make up the couch for herself in the other room, but when she tried to move she discovered Seven’s hand gripping her wrist. ‘Please,’ Seven said softly. ‘Stay.’
With that one word, the engineer felt her body freeze. She found that she couldn’t move her legs no matter how much she was inwardly screaming at them, and her hearts seemed to be about to burst right out of her chest.
‘Seven,’ she said softly, staring at the floor. ‘I shouldn’t…you’ve had a long day. You need your rest.’
‘Please don’t speak to me like a child,’ the ex-drone said, not unkindly. ‘I lost my memory, not my wits.’
At that, B’Elanna laughed and the tension was broken. ‘I’m sorry…I thought…’
‘Thought what?’ Seven asked at B’Elanna’s hesitation. ‘I was asking you to…?’
‘Oh Kah’less…’ B’Elanna moaned; she doubted she had ever felt this embarrassed.
To her surprise, Seven chuckled, and the chuckle turned into laughter. ‘It’s okay,’ she said when she regained her breath. ‘No, I just…’ she paused, her tone losing its levity. ‘I just don’t want to be alone.’
B’Elanna was quiet for a moment, and then she nodded. ‘Ok. Which side of the bed would you like?’
‘Whichever,’ Seven replied, letting go of B’Elanna’s wrist and stifling a yawn of her own.
‘Is the right ok?’
‘Fine.’
‘Okay,’ B’Elanna left the room after replicating the woman some sleepwear, letting the ex-drone change, and changing herself, reappearing a few moments later clad in comfortable red pajamas. Seven was already in bed sitting upright, and she looked just as good in her ruffled blue pajamas with her hair down as she had in her dress, which B’Elanna noted was carefully folded on top of the dresser. Sparing a thought for her poor dress uniform crumpled on the back of the sofa, she slipped under the covers on the left hand side.
‘B’Elanna…’ Seven said as they settled down. ‘I’d like to thank you.’
‘There’s no need,’ The engineer said, turning over to face the other woman and trying not to think about the strangeness of the situation – Seven of Nine, ex-Borg drone, was lying in her bed, about to thank her for something. Her mind boggled at the sudden reversal of her consistent dislike of the woman facing her.
‘I think there is,’ Seven disagreed, looking down shyly. ‘You were the one looking out for me at the party, even though by your own admission you didn’t want to be there with me-’ B’Elanna opened her mouth to argue that point, but Seven continued, cutting off her protest. ‘And even though I think you feel differently now…thank you for being my friend even when you didn’t want to.’
B’Elanna’s brow knitted as she tried to think of something, anything to say to Seven, but all she could manage in the end was, ‘Um, thanks.’
‘No,’ Seven said, leaning forward and kissing the engineer chastely on the lips. ‘Thank you.’
B’Elanna blinked, but that didn’t seem to back up her belief that what just happened was a delusion, so she tried it again. No, it seemed that Seven of Nine really had just kissed her. As soon as she realized it was true, she practically fell backwards out of the bed in her haste to leave it. Not giving an explanation, she hurried out of the room, only to appear moments later watched by an extremely bemused Seven.
‘Here,’ Was all she said, almost thrusting the object she held toward Seven once she was back in bed.
Seven stared at it for a moment, and then started to laugh as she took the item that B’Elanna had accidentally replicated earlier.
‘Thank you, B’Elanna,’ she said, gripping it tightly to her as they settled down once again.
B’Elanna didn’t say anything for a moment, and when she did her voice was low and slightly strained as she shifted to lay on her back. ‘Look, Seven…I know you don’t remember how…how we were before, but I feel like I have to apologise to you. You’re not that person anymore, and I can see that how I used to treat you was wrong. I...I'm sorry.’
For a moment she thought she’s said something wrong until she felt Seven move and then she gasped as she felt the weight of Seven on her side, and the ex-drones’ face came into view above her. Unconsciously, her arms went around the blonde woman, pulling her close. Seven smiled at her, and then very softly said, ‘Thank you.’
B’Elanna searched the face she knew so well, and yet until that moment she realized she’d never really seen it – never really seen the emotions it could convey and subtlety of it’s movement.
‘You’re welcome,’ she whispered back. Then she leant upward, slowly catching Seven’s lips and kissing her softly.
When the kiss was over, Seven stared wide eyed at her for a long moment, and B’Elanna wondered if something was wrong. Then Seven smiled the most brilliant smile B’Elanna had ever seen, and the engineer realized that for the first time, everything was absolutely right.
She smiled as Seven snuggled down against her collarbone and kept smiling as she felt Seven’s arms reach up and wind their way around her shoulders, feeling the object still clutched in one of Seven’s hands. She let go of the other woman and pulled it out so she could look at it properly, chuckling as she did so.
‘Hey, give that back,’ Seven complained, a smile on her lips as she raised her head from the engineers’ body.
‘Sorry,’ B’Elanna laughed, handing it back and chuckling as Seven grabbed it immediately and pulled it between them.
‘Now, lets get some sleep…’ B’Elanna said, dropping a kiss on the top of Seven’s blonde hair.
She waited for a response, but when it didn’t come she looked down. Seven was already fast asleep, one hand clutching the red teddy bear to her chest as the other kept the engineer close to her.
B’Elanna smiled and closed her eyes.
#