Title: Stronger 4/4

Author: quew

Please see part one for disclaimers etc.

Notes:

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'Urrgghhh,' B'Elanna said, coming back to consciousness slowly and unwillingly. Her face ached and her ribs felt sore, and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out as she opened her eyes and tried to sit up.

She was in sickbay, dressed only in a medical gown and a perplexed expression. She looked to her right and jumped as the Doc's disapproving face floated into focus.

'You do realize what you did?' He asked severely, and for a moment B'Elanna panicked�Had she seriously injured Seven of Nine?

'You behaved like a child!' The Doc continued, and B'Elanna relaxed before her brain caught up with her ears.

'What? I didn't start the fight, Doc!' B'Elanna protested, feeling her rage seep into her voice once again.

He snorted. 'Miss Torres�do you expect me to believe that Seven of Nine, known for her rather�monotone emotional state, started this free-for-all?'

'Yes!' B'Elanna snarled. 'Where the hell is she? I'll break her scrawny-'

'Exactly,' The Doc said smugly. 'You're not famous for your reasonable approach to arguments, B'Elanna, and for good reason.'

B'Elanna sat back and steamed slowly, her teeth gritted and her throat tight with anger. She started to rub her injured side and then stopped. 'Doc, why am I still so bust up?'

'The Captain ordered all non-lethal injuries to remain, as a lesson to you both. I'm afraid that neither of you are your usually picturesque selves.' As he spoke, B'Elanna caught movement in the corner of her eye, and she turned to find Seven of Nine sitting on the edge the bio-bed by sickbays' doors.

The ex-drone looked awful, her hair loose and tangled and her lower lip swollen, while a purple bruise had blossomed on her left cheek. B'Elanna realized that she must look very similar, if her aches and pains were anything to go by.

The Doc, having been surly and argumentative with the engineer, was nothing but sweetness and light toward Seven.

'Can you believe it, Seven?' He asked, a smile on his face. 'B'Elanna says /you/ started the fight!' And he laughed smugly.

The blonde gave him a long, slow look. 'I did.' She said curtly. 'It was under extreme provocation, but she is telling the truth. I did start the physical altercation.'

'Oh,' He said, and he looked like someone had just kicked his puppy. 'Seven.'

B'Elanna couldn't help it - she started to laugh. She watched his expression fall as his angel fell from grace, and she giggled. Strangely, it took something of the bitter taste out of her mouth, realizing that the 'machine' could be just as fallible, just as easily provoked, as anyone else. She wasn't perfect, and it seemed that B'Elanna had been the only one to openly acknowledge that fact before. She liked watching the Doc realize it as she had.

Seven shot her a look and allowed a small smile to cross her features. 'Lieutenant Torres,' she called. 'You find me irritating, aggravating and now�humorous?'

'Sure Seven!' B'Elanna called expansively, 'you're a regular comedienne!'

The ex-drones' smile grew. 'I also feel some humour toward the situation. Why is that?'

B'Elanna eyed her, obviously deciding whether or not to carry a civil conversation with the blonde. 'Well�' she said at last, hopping carefully from her bio-bed and making her way slowly over. She pushed the Doc out of her way without preamble and he looked from one to the other and then disappeared into his office. 'In the last twelve hours, we've had to leap from a moving turbo-lift, climb around in a turbo-shaft, nearly get flattened by the next 'lift, and even if it was all holographic, our bodies still respond with adrenalin. Then we confronted the Captain and lost our respective tempers, and so basically we were exhausted.'

'And why is there humour to be derived from what has happened to us?' Seven persisted.

B'Elanna shrugged. 'I guess there isn't. But if you don't laugh, what can you do?' She grinned and raised a hand as Seven moved to speak. 'It was a rhetorical question.'

'Oh. So what happens now?'

'I suggest we�' B'Elanna paused. 'I don't know. Sleep sounds pretty good.'

'Regeneration would aid my recovery from these injuries,' Seven concurred, and the pair stood. Ignoring the Doc's objections, they left sickbay. They walked together silently, each unsure of what she should say. Finally, Seven broke the silence.

'You do not like me.' It was softly said but undisputable.

'You're right,' B'Elanna said finally, wondering why she had an almost painfully dry mouth, instead of the bitter taste she associated with Seven.

'Would you tell me why if I inquired?'

'Why would you want to know?' B'Elanna asked, folding her arms as they walked.

Seven sighed almost imperceptibly. 'You are�one of the few people on Voyager who does not seem afraid of my past. Resentful, but not afraid.' B'Elanna kept her eyes on their feet. 'Also, you are a brilliant engineer, and I feel that you could teach me much about my humanity.'

B'Elanna looked up in shock. 'Are you serious? Me teach you? What on Earth do I know?'

'That is just it, Lieutenant; you do not pretend that you know what you do not, and you are honest to a fault. You would not mislead me.'

Feeling an unaccountable surge of anger encompass her, B'Elanna loosened her self-control and let the words tumble from her mouth. 'Would you really like to know why I don't like you Seven? You want to know why?' The ex-drone, taken aback by B'Elannas' intensity, merely nodded. 'Because why should you swan aboard and get everything you want! Why should you get things that I had to work for without even asking! You're the officers pet and the ships sweetheart!'

'Is that truly what you think?' Seven said, her eyes hard. 'You have no idea what my existence is like!' It was B'Elanna's turn to be taken-aback as Seven advanced a step. 'It is true that I have had some privileges, but they have not come without a cost. At least you are not hated�at least you are not feared!'

The last was said painfully, and the half-Klingon, surprising herself more than anyone else, gently touched Seven's arm. 'Okay.'

''Okay'?' Seven parroted, looking confused.

'I'll help you out. For a price.'

Seven looked suspicious, her bruised face plainly showing her trepidation. 'What kind of 'price'?'

'I'll help you, you help me,' B'Elanna said, motioning that they should start walking again. 'Simple.'

'You mean much like the events this morning?' Seven asked. When B'Elanna looked at her quizzically, Seven clarified, 'I pulled you from the turbo-lift, you pulled me from the turbo-shaft.'

'Yes, yes, like that,' B'Elanna nodded. 'You help me in engineering, I'll help you socially.'

'Accep- Okay,' Seven said, practicing her new phrase.

B'Elanna smiled. 'Okay.'

They walked in silence for a while, then Seven said, 'Lieutenant Torres, are you aware that our physical appearence is causing quite a stir among the crew?'

B'Elanna nodded, watching another crewmember walk past with his eyebrows in his hairline. 'Yup. In my defence, you do look pretty bad.'

'I look 'pretty bad'?' Seven said, raising her implanted brow. 'At least I do not look like I have had a painful encounter with a shuttle.'

B'Elanna chuckled slightly. 'Point taken. Look Seven�I realize that perhaps I was a little hard on you. I was never frightened of you - I thought you were a pain in the ass, but I was never frightened of you for what you had done. I was just�jealous.'

'You said thought,' Seven said softly, as afraid to broach the subject so openly. 'Does this mean you no longer think the same way?'

'For the most part,' B'Elanna said, smiling slightly.

They had reached Cargo bay Two, and they halted reluctantly. 'Do you think that Captain Janeway will punish us for our altercation in the brig?' Seven asked.

'Probably. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.'

'Very well.'

There was a moment of awkward silence before B'Elanna stopped shuffling her feet and grinned slightly. 'You know Seven, perhaps we shouldn't be so hard on Janeway�Her holo-programme did work, just not the way she expected.'

'I believe you are correct,' Seven said, nodding. She paused, and then added, 'It was a strange experience to feel anger for the first time.'

At that, B'Elanna grinned fully. 'Ah, you'll get used to it. It's all part of being human.'

'Human? You mean you think I am ready to dance the tango with a rose between my teeth?' Seven asked. B'Elanna went pale and her mouth worked soundlessly, until she managed to say,

'I'm sorry, Seven - if you heard that, you heard what else I said. I�apologise.' It felt so strange sincerely apologizing to someone she had thought she hated for so long, but B'Elanna managed it admirably.

'It is�'Okay', B'Elanna,' Seven said, smiling softly and opening the Cargo Bay doors. They watched each other for a long moment, eyes roaming over injuries and expressions. 'I look forward to my first dancing lesson,' she concluded, holding B'Elanna's gaze until the doors closed.

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The End.

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