DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters. The others belong to Paramount and the other PTB. No intent to infringe, insult or profit is intended. This is a title with a story attached to it basically. A title came to me and this was the result. Just a wee bit of fluffery.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Out on a Limb
By Karjens40
"Hold on Seven, I'll get help!" yelled the small Katarian child.
"Naomi Wildman, I would suggest that you hurry," called the cool voice that held just a hint of alarm.
Naomi looked at her friend for a moment later, and then ran from the scene of Seven's dilemma into the corridor. She wanted to use her comm badge, but Seven had forbid her. She had taken a few steps, headed toward the mess hall to fetch Neelix, when she barreled into a tall figure coming from the other direction.
"Hey there kiddo. Where's the fire?"
Naomi looked up at the fascinating figure of Voyager's Chief Engineer, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I just need to go get some help for…"she paused, recalling how Lieutenant Torres and her friend didn't always get along. Seven may not want the Klingon's assistance.
B'Elanna's smile faded as she took in the look of fear on the cute little girl's face. She knelt on one knee and took one of Naomi's hands in her own.
"What is it, Naomi? Are you okay? Is someone hurt?"
Naomi sighed. She didn't want to make Seven mad, but she wanted to help her. "It's Seven. She's…"
B'Elanna raised her eyes at that. The former drone needed help? That was new. "What's wrong with Seven?" She couldn't hide the inexplicable flicker of fear that filled her. "Is she hurt?"
"No. She's not hurt, but… can you help?"
"Of course." She stood and still holding Naomi's hand started walking. "But where are we going?"
"To the holodeck," she said quietly as they approached the doors from which Naomi just fled.
"Uh huh," B'Elanna muttered. Seven got in trouble on the holodeck? Her thoughts shifted again and she took in the colorful forest prominent in Naomi's "Flotter" program. Seven got in trouble in a child's holo-program? This just got better and better.
"Seven?" There was no answer, and B'Elanna's amusement turned into concern. "Seven of Nine. Are you alright?"
After what seemed like an hour, but was only a half second, a somewhat irritated voice responded.
"Naomi Wildman. Was it imperative that you bring Lieutenant Torres of all the people on this ship?"
"I'm sorry Seven, but…"
"You're welcome," B'Elanna replied getting angry. She had been needlessly rude to the small child who wanted only to help her, and then summarily dismissed B'Elanna. She opened her mouth to snap off an insult then looked up and realized where the voice had come from. Suddenly the insult was replaced by a burst of laughter.
"Lieutenant. I fail to see the humor in this situation." The voice was even frostier than usual.
"Of course you don't," B'Elanna replied between chuckles. "But I do.
"I'm happy for you," retorted the former Borg. "But as long as you're here, will you be able to assist me or not?"
"Well…" B'Elanna made a grand show of thinking about her options, while giving a conspiratorial wink to young Naomi who was now smiling. "I…" but before she could finish, or even move, a loud craaaak came from the location of Seven's disembodied voice
"Shit!"
B'Elanna didn't have time to blink, much less wonder at Seven's bizarre use of the profanity, before a long svelte body wrapped in her athletic outfit, came crashing down on top of her. It took nearly a minute for the two women to get their breath back, and to realize that Naomi was pacing beside them, torn between fear and laughter.
"Are you guys okay?"
"I'm fine kiddo," B'Elanna replied.
"I believe I am uninjured," Seven replied at almost the same time. "However I must point out that I am not a 'guy,"
"It's just an expression, Seven," Naomi rolled her eyes and giggled at Seven's literal tendencies.
Meanwhile, B'Elanna still lay under Seven's body. Nope. She is definitely not a guy. The unwelcome thought popped into her head as Seven shifted slightly.
"Do you care to tell me what you were doing in that tree?" B'Elanna asked. She knew she should be pushing the blonde woman off of her, but she decided she was comfortable, sort of, where she was.
"Naomi dared me to climb it," she replied simply. Seven also found herself reluctant to move from her position atop her soft cushion.
"Uh-huh. Since when do you know about dares?"
"I didn't, until a little while ago. Naomi explained, and then said it was…dishonorable to not comply."
"So, you climbed a tree."
"Yes.
B'Elanna swallowed when she noticed Seven lower her head minutely and seemed to breathe in her scent. The Lieutenant, returned the favor and was pleased by what her Klingon senses discovered.
"Well…" she cleared her throat of the frog that mysteriously appeared in it and tried again. "Well, why did you need help? Did you get tangled in a branch or something?"
"Not exactly. I…" Seven found herself unable to tell the formidable woman what happened.
B'Elanna was startled by the almost flustered countenance of the woman still lying on top of her.
'Naomi, would you excuse us?" She gently asked the little girl.
"Oh. Okay," her face fell in disappointment as her day out with Seven was apparently at an end.
"I will stop by your quarters later this evening, if that is acceptable to you and your mother," Seven soothed.
Naomi's smile brightened the colorful forest. "Great!" Without further ado, the little girl exited the holodeck, leaving the two women still laying entwined on the holographic forest floor.
"Now, tell me," B'Elanna ordered softly. Somehow her hand found its way up to a lock of hair that had fallen from Seven's arrangement. She pushed it back behind her ear and waited.
"I was unable to climb back down," Seven finally responded, unable to look at the other woman.
"I don't understand. You climbed up, but couldn't climb down?"
"Precisely."
"Why didn't you use your badge?" B'Elanna asked. "Or have the computer halt the program?"
"I did not bring my badge with me for this activity. It seems that whenever I have free time, either the Captain or the doctor is continuously contacting me about discussing humanity. Today I just felt like experiencing it. As for not halting the program….I just couldn't."
"Why on earth not?" B'Elanna was startled by the blush that crossed the light cheek.
Seven sighed in resignation. "Because. Once I reached the top of the tree, I looked down and found my heart rate had increased substantially, I was unable to take in oxygen, and
I was lightheaded. I discovered I was unable to move."
B'Elanna frowned, thinking Seven may have taken ill, then she realized what it was. "You were afraid," she said with a small amount of wonder in her voice.
"I am Borg," Seven protested strongly, but couldn't meet the Lieutenant's gaze.
"You were afraid," B'Elanna whispered again. "You've never climbed a tree before?"
"No. I didn't have any trees to climb as a child back on Earth, then once my parents and I left in the Raven I never had an opportunity to do so.
B'Elanna felt sad at the reminder of what little childhood Seven actually had.
"It's alright to be afraid, Seven. Fear itself is not a weakness. It's how you handle it."
Seven blushed uncomfortably at the comfort, but met dark brown eyes once more. This time she cocked her head as if noticing something.
"It wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience," Seven said quietly, letting her eyes roam over the body she still lay upon.
B'Elanna would have had to be a complete idiot not to understand, but she played dumb none the less. "How so?"
Seven smiled, and blue eyes turned to black. "I have quite enjoyed the position I ended up in."
"Oh really," B'Elanna, drawled, feeling a smile cross her face as she lifted a hand to caress a soft pale cheek.
"Yes. Shall I demonstrate?" And without waiting for a response, Seven dipped her head down to take the Lieutenant's lips with hers.
B'Elanna went still for a split second before she slid her arms around Seven's neck and took control of the kiss.
Neither woman knew how long they'd been kissing, but finally the fiery engineer pulled back slightly.
"Seven?" she croaked as the former Borg slid her lips across B'Elanna's jaw and down to her neck.
"Hm?" Seven responded, completely focused on her current occupation.
"Where did you learn the word "shit"?"
The End