DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything or anyone but Alexa, unfortunately, they all belong to Paramount who didn't know wth to do with them but confuse them and write them… badly. Anyhow… please don't sue the poor Academy student. Wait til' I make Major at least… then you might get something.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: if you're finding these characters way OOC, it's completely my fault. I've written them as such so that this answer to the challenge also sort of ties into my main fic.
CHALLENGE: Written as part of the 1001 Nights Challenge - sibling rivalry.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Need For Speed
By The Other Liz
Naomi arched an eyebrow high on her forehead.
"A race… with vehicles… from the 21st century?"
"Yeah!" Alexa was simmering with delight.
"And how are you going to put you and your siblings in that much danger and get Seven and Lt. Torres to agree?"
Alexa shuffled her feet a little before answering.
"Well… it's not like our parents have to know and all the safeties will be on anyway…"
Naomi shook her head and laughed.
"You're going to get me so busted… again."
"But you love me anyway." Alexa giggled and ran off.
Alexa turned a few feet away to call back to Naomi,
"Don't forget! 19:30!"
"Alright, alright." Naomi laughed before resuming her activities in Astrometrics.
"That girl is crazy." The young Ktarian thought. "But it should prove to be interesting."
Alexa finished putting the ending touches on the holoprogram she'd created for herself and her siblings. She'd based the whole thing on a video game she'd played while on Earth.
"Easy peasy." She said aloud.
She checked her chronometer and then looked up to see all her siblings stride through the doors in full racing gear.
"You guys are early for your ass kicking." She grinned.
"You are overly confident." Mezoti stated. "You will all lose to my superior driving abilities."
"Perhaps it is you that is overconfident." Icheb said wryly.
"Indeed." Echoed Azan and Rebi.
"We have been practicing all week." Rebi smirked.
Alexa checked her chronometer again.
"Naomi said she was coming to wave the flag but I'm not sure where she's at." Alexa sighed. "Well, I'll load the program anyway, I want to look over my car once more anyway."
Naomi chose that moment to walk through the Holodeck doors.
"Sorry I'm late!" Naomi said. "Your mom was acting extra weird today."
"Clarify." Icheb said.
"I don't know, she was just… well… it seemed like she was trying to keep me there."
"You don't think she knows?" Alexa asked, chewing her lip.
"I don't know how she would." Naomi giggled. "But then again, your parents know everything before it happens."
"Kah'less… well lets get started before they do come and forbid it." Alexa smirked. "Computer, initiate Alexa's Need for Speed one."
The Holodeck shimmered around them into a scaled replica of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the young adults found themselves standing just outside the garage.
"Holy… do you think you got it big enough Alexa?!" Naomi asked.
"This is the Indianapolis Speedway…" Alexa said, as if that was enough to explain.
"Where are the vehicles?" Mezoti asked.
"All the cars are in here," Alexa smiled and opened the door. "With your flag."
Naomi giggled again.
"I can't believe you talked me into this."
"Hey, it wasn't that hard." Alexa laughed. "You're pretty easy… when it comes to me."
Naomi blushed, took her flag from Alexa and headed for her platform. The group was just finishing the once over on their cars when Naomi came back into the garage wide eyed.
"Alexa."
"Yeah?" the hybrid answered from underneath her car.
"I think we have a minor problem."
Alexa rolled herself from underneath the '68 Mustang.
"What're you talking about?"
"Well… there's about 45 members of the crew out there wondering where they're supposed to sit because you didn't include the seating when you recreated the track."
Alexa's naturally light tan complexion turned nearly white.
"What?!" Alexa shrieked, jumping up off her creeper and peeking out the window.
Alexa whipped around to her siblings.
"You guys didn't…"
"We didn't say anything to anyone." Icheb said.
"Neither did I." Mezoti assured her sister.
Alexa turned and looked back out the window.
"Well… I don't see So's or Mama, so maybe we're alright."
"Indeed." Mezoti said, "I'm not missing a prime opportunity to put each of you in your place."
Alexa smiled at her sister.
"You wish."
It didn't take long for the siblings to finish with their vehicles and have the computer alight them outside on the starting line. They'd had the computer randomly choose their starting order so that it would be fair.
"Computer, arch." Alexa called once they were outside.
She quickly keyed in some parameters for seating and dismissed the arch. With Naomi on her platform, the five siblings clambered into their respective vehicles. Icheb had chosen Lotus Exige 240R in all black, Rebi and Azan had gone with an Aston Martin V8 Vantage in yellow and an orange BMW M6, respectively. Mezoti had chosen a Ferrari FXX in bright red. Alexa knew that her Mustang against these exotics was going to be a tough race. In all fairness they had all done their separate research on their own cars, Alexa was just hoping that none of them had put nitrous on their cars. She only had four canisters of NOS strapped to her ride, she prayed that it was enough.
Each sibling had their reasons for this race. Alexa because she was tired of being the baby of every situation Voyager ever came across, Mezoti was out to prove that she was the smartest of the five "Sochlings", Rebi and Azan seemed to have their own friendly challenge going between the two of them while Icheb seemed to be there to, as usual, look out for his younger siblings, but, if he won, he'd have no problem with that.
"Fool. You say you care for your 'children' yet you do not provide to them any logic or consequences to their actions." The Queen hissed.
"They are individuals, as I am," Seven stated coolly. "They make their own decisions, and if or when they fail, we are there to assist and comfort them."
"Show me more."
They were only three laps into the race, with Rebi in front, followed closely by Alexa, Mezoti, Icheb and Azan. Alexa couldn't believe that Mezoti wasn't handing all of them their hearts on platters with the car she'd chosen. Then again, if she hadn't studied how to handle it…
Alexa shifted again as they approached the first turn for the fourth time, she easily glided through the turn and tried to catch her brother. She laughed as he pulled away from her headed for the second turn.
"Jeez Rebi, what are you tryin…oh shiiiiit…" Alexa had began to tease her brother through their interlinked helmet microphones, she then noticed a tall blonde and a shorter brunette in the crowd where the handicapped seating was usually placed in the actual speedway. "Please tell me I'm hallucinating you guys."
"You are not." Mezoti said. "We are probably in for it."
Mezoti used her sister's temporary attention lapse to slide past her. Alexa snapped back to attention.
"Oh I don't think so." Alexa growled, catching up to her sister's bumper before faking her out. "Ha!"
"Lucky." Mezoti growled back.
"Yeah whatever, eat my dust." Alexa giggled as she engaged her nitrous in the straightaway stretch.
Alexa weaved around Rebi, then shifted down just in time to narrowly take the third and fourth turns before hitting her nitrous on the second straightaway.
"I'm so fucking awesome you guys." She gloated.
It was another lap before she realized that Icheb had suddenly became very close to her back bumper, followed by Azan on his.
"Where the hell did you come from?!" she asked, dumbfounded.
"I am the tortoise, you are the hare." Icheb said smoothly.
Alexa could hear the smile in his voice though and she knew, that he knew, that she was fresh out of nitrous.
"Well dammit." She muttered as Icheb and Azan weaved effortlessly around her in the second straight away to take first and second, leaving third for her, fourth for Rebi and Mezoti coming in last. The five of them pulled into pit road and leapt from their vehicles.
"How the hell do you come in last in a car like that?!" Alexa giggled at Mezoti.
Mezoti said nothing and continued glowering at the rest of them. Naomi had run from the platform as soon as Mezoti had cleared the finish line and caught up with them in the pits. She hugged Alexa and laughed.
"You guys are so in for it." Naomi smirked. "You know the Captain was in the stands?"
"Awwwcrap." Alexa breathed.
"I do not see how we are going to be 'in trouble'." Icheb said.
"Because they will not care that all the safeties were on." Azan stated.
"Nor that the holoprogram was programmed to cease if there were any collisions or dangers." Rebi continued.
"There's also that minor detail of not telling them anything about it." Alexa said.
"You are all correct." Seven said as she came up behind her devious children.
"You guys could've been seriously hurt." B'Elanna said as she went to each of her children and checked them over.
Alexa giggled when her So'S began moving her various limbs looking for injury.
"So'S it tickles, stoppit!" she giggled some more. "Stoooop, we didn't crash or anything so there's nothing to look for!"
B'Elanna finally satiated that none of them were injured.
"So do you want to tell us why you felt the need to put yourselves in danger?"
Alexa sought the ground with her eyes, but felt Naomi give her hand a reassuring squeeze. It was Icheb that spoke first.
"While I will assume that we were all here and agreed to the challenge for our separate reasons, I personally was here to make sure they were not harmed."
"Yes, I'm sure your flawless victory was unplanned completely." Mezoti said.
Icheb had the common courtesy to blush a little. Rebi and Azan spoke next.
"We are twins." Rebi said.
"But we are different people, " Azan said. "and nobody on this ship ever seems to notice that."
"Indeed." Rebi finished.
"I'm tired of being the baby of the ship," Alexa mumbled. "I thought if I could win, then everyone would stop walking on eggshells with me."
Mezoti sighed.
"Well?" B'Elanna asked, arms crossed and eyebrow arched at her oldest daughter.
Mezoti scowled as best she could.
"I wanted to show everybody that I could beat them because I was smarter than all of them, which clearly was untrue." Mezoti sighed. "I told everyone about the race because I thought I'd win."
The Captain chose that exact moment to appear at Seven's side.
"Well… that was entertaining." She said dryly. "I'll assume that everything is taken care of here."
"Yes Captain," Seven said. "Although I'm sure that the five of them have something to say to you."
Seven cast a look at them that only a mother could use. The five young adults gulped and came up with the exact same response.
"We're sorry, Captain."
"It won't happen again." Alexa provided.
"See that it doesn't." Janeway smirked and walked away muttering. "Sibling rivalry, no matter what the century."
"I think that the nacelles could use a thorough cleaning, don't you Seven?" B'Elanna asked.
The young adults groaned.
"Indeed." Seven said. "Computer end program."
"But I didn't …" Alexa began, then sighed at her Mama's raised eyebrow. "Nevermind."
B'Elanna and Seven gathered their children into a group so that they could all walk together. Both parents knowing that serious conversations about their children's individual hang-ups needed to be had with each of them, but that could wait for morning. For now, they would just be with their children and try to reassure them without words, but with actions.
"This… race served no purpose." The Queen spat. "You waste my time with frivolous memories."
"You are incorrect." Seven said. "Sibling rivalry will be and has always been a part of family life. It is the time that they spent in the nacelles cleaning them, not the time on the race track, that brought them closer together as a… team. Further the family time that resulted from their confessions also helped to build our family stronger."
Seven turned from her tormenter.
"I will regenerate." Seven said, her voice hushed and heart reaching out to her family.
"You shall." The Queen said and left Seven in the deafening silence of the Sphere.
Seven turned to step into the alcove, before doing so glancing up at it. Over the years, she had become separated from the alcoves on Voyager, finding it much easier just to eat and sleep like a regular human. She found it a mix of comforting and odd that the overbearing pile of metal now seemed like the inefficient way of reenergizing herself. With a deep sigh and heavy heart, she stepped back into the alcove and succumbed to the darkness.
The End