#like… what if seven bonded with Harry and B’Elanna over music instead of the Doctor?

[voyagerafod]

Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 3 of 4: Sweeter Than Heaven: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

    Although she’d been at several weddings in her life, Captain Janeway had never officiated over one before. She knew the routine fairly well, having heard the standard speech given by Captains before. She’d even heard Tom Paris’s father give the speech once, but now it was her time to do this, and she had to admit she was excited.

    There was also a fear that she would somehow mess it up, but it was a small fear, easily pushed aside until the ceremony was over and she could breathe a sigh of relief that nothing went wrong for Samantha Wildman and Seven of Nine.

    What she couldn’t help but find bizarre about the situation though was where the ceremony was to be held. She’d assumed it would take place in the mess hall, since that’s where such events were usually held on a starship, even if Voyager’s mess hall was actually a post-launch addition to the ship, converted by Neelix from what had been the Captain’s private dining room. Even getting married on the holodeck wasn’t unusual. But instead, the ceremony was to be held in front of the wall of Borg alcoves in cargo bay 2.

    “That is where my journey began,” Seven had said earlier that day when she and Samantha had come to her ready room to tell her their plans. “That’s the room I was in when I first realized I was no longer a drone, when I started to become human.”     When Janeway had suggested the mess hall, Samantha had chimed in with, “Hey, at least it’s not in the turbolift where we first met.”

    Another unexpected choice was to have Marla Gilmore as a guest. Janeway knew of course that Gilmore had been the one to help Seven of Nine and Joe Carey escape their confinement, but she had had also been partially responsible for their capture in the first place. Perhaps Seven felt she owed Gilmore, despite that.

    Janeway pushed those thoughts aside though once she reached cargo bay 2, making sure her dress uniform was as straight as possible as she stepped inside. Seven and Samantha were already there, both of them wearing their standard uniforms. Naomi was there, of course, talking to her mother. Marla Gilmore wore civilian clothing, as did Neelix who was standing guard over the cake Samantha had asked for as though he expected some armed men to come and try and take it. Harry Kim had his own dress uniform on and was talking to Gilmore and Seven.

    “I’m not late am I?” the Captain said, smiling. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face her.     “Not at all Captain,” Samantha said. “In fact, I think you’re early.”     “Good,” Janeway said. She’d actually known she wasn’t late, but didn’t feel like announcing her presence in any formal fashion. The dress uniform was formal enough for her as far as she was concerned.

    Samantha and Seven, wearing their uniforms instead of anything more formal or traditional, shared a look. The later smiled and nodded at the former.

    “Since everyone’s here,” Samantha said, “I suppose we could start early. Would that be alright Captain?”     “Of course,” Janeway said. Seven got to work letting everyone know that the ceremony was about to start, and soon everyone was standing at attention, except for Seven and Sam who held each other’s hands, and Janeway who stood in front of both of them.

The music of the couple’s choice, selections from a ballet called Coppelia, began playing while Janeway began the standard captain’s wedding speech.

    “Since the days of the first wooden sailing ships,” she said, “all captains have enjoyed the happy privilege of joining together two people in the bonds of matrimony.”     “There is actually considerable disagreement amongst historians about that,” Seven said. Samantha laughed, as everyone else in the room tried not to.     “Honey, let her finish,” she said, trying to stifle her giggling.     “Sorry,” Seven said, looking genuinely apologetic. “That just sort of slipped out.”     Janeway grinned and shook her head.     “It’s probably just nerves, Seven, don’t worry about it. Anyway, as I was saying, it is my honour to unite you, Annika Hansen, and you, Samantha Wildman, together in matrimony.”

The rest of the speech continued on without any further pedantic interruptions. When it came time for the vows, Samantha went with the standards, ones based on western religious traditions on Earth that had over the centuries become increasingly secular and common amongst people from all backgrounds, even amongst non-humans.     Seven, on the other hand, had prepared her own.

“Throughout the past few years, I have often had people comment on my bravery for one reason or another. But they are wrong, because when it came time to pursue the thing that would have the greatest effect on my life after leaving the Borg collective, I stayed silent. I had feelings for you, but out of fear of failure I kept it to myself. Even when others,” Seven glanced at Harry Kim, “could see it and told me to take the chance, I did nothing.

“I didn’t have the words for it at the time, but I thought you were too good for me. That you couldn't possibly love me, because you were human and I was Borg. In the end, you were the brave one. You always were, from the time you first saw me, still just a lost drone, my skin still pale, and still covered in Borg technology. You were among the first to be kind to me. And you were the first to come to me, to make me face my feelings, to get me to tell the truth, and that is a large part of why I love you so much, Sammy. You bring out the best in me.

“I will never take you for granted. You are the one that I want. I don't know if I'm worthy of you, even still. To me, you still seem better than I deserve when I spent eighteen years of my life causing so much pain, but I'm not going to let that bother me anymore. Because I can see it in your eyes when are together. When you say you love me, I know it’s true. I can hear it in your voice. Due to my own cowardice, I nearly lost that. It is through simple good fortune that I didn’t, and I won’t forget that.

“I love you, Samantha Wildman. I'm grateful you love me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Thank you for being brave, for both of us. Thank you for choosing me.”     Seven stopped. Janeway knew she was supposed to say something else now, but was distracted by her own tears. She noticed that everyone else in the cargo bay was crying as well. With the ceremony being shown on all shipboard channels she had to wonder if there was a non-Vulcan, non-hologram on Voyager that wasn’t.     “Captain?” Samantha said. “Are you okay?”     “Fine, sorry,” Janeway said. She searched her memory for the rest of what she needed to for the rest of the ceremony, and sped them as quickly as she could without stumbling over the words. She pronounced the couple as officially married under the power invested in her by Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Sam and Seven fell into each other’s arms, kissing passionately, while the small group around them applauded. Naomi ran up and threw her arms around both Sam and Seven.     Janeway casually walked up to Harry Kim, and leaned in to talk to him quietly.

“I’m curious,” she said. “How is it you knew those two would end up together before even they did?”     “Because it’s happened before,” Harry said. “And now it’s happening again.”     “The Year of Hell?” Janeway said. Harry nodded. “Hmm. Maybe it is fate after all. Though obviously, Seven seems to think it better that she not see it that way, and I see no reason to discourage that line of thinking. I always thought it was kismet with Mark, and look how that ended up.”

Harry shrugged. “If there were a right answer for love captain, everyone who wanted it would have it. We do the best we can, and if it ends badly, it ends badly.”     “That is oddly less cynical than it sounds, Harry,” Janeway said. “Anyway, I think it’s time to send the happy couple off on their honeymoon to the holodeck.”     “No M-class planets nearby?”     “None that aren’t populated by pre-warp cultures,” Janeway said.

---

    As they walked down the corridor towards their quarters, hand in hand, Seven of Nine and Samantha Wildman would nod politely at any crewmember they came across who congratulated them, but their focus was on each other. When she saw no one nearby, Samantha stopped walking for a moment.     “Annie,” she said, “I just want to thank you again, for what you said during the wedding. That was so beautiful.”     “Thank you,” Seven said. “I meant every word of it.”     “I know you did. I just feel both flattered and confused that you’d see me as the brave one of us. I don’t know if I could’ve faced some of things you have and come out the other side sane. Hell, that whole thing with the Equinox nearly broke me.”

    “There’s more to bravery than simply keeping a cool head in a crisis, Sam,” Seven said. “But enough about that. I’ve finally figured where we can go on our honeymoon.”     “Holodeck 1 or Holodeck 2?” Sam said with a wink.     “Ha ha,” Seven said in a deadpan tone of voice. “I mean I believe I have chosen a program you will find satisfactory. I was researching the origins of my surname given at birth out of curiosity some time ago, and traced it an area of Earth called Scandinavia.”     Samantha’s jaw dropped. “Oh that is perfect, we could go skiing! I haven’t been skiing since my academy days.”     “Saunas are also a distinct possibility,” Seven of Nine added with a smile.     “I love you,” Sam said.     “I know,” Seven said.

---

    “And with that, Lieutenant Torres,” the Doctor said, closing his medical tricorder, “you are finally clear for duty.”     “I can’t help but feel like you took as long as you did to clear me to punish me,” B’Elanna said.     “Punish you for what exactly? I mean besides the self-induced near death experience that both the captain and I warned you against of course?”

B’Elanna groaned. “Nobody likes a smart-ass Doc.”     “Well, then why am I dating you?” Tom Paris said, smiling.     B’Elanna just rolled her eyes and shook her head. My boyfriend the comedian, she thought.     “So,” the Doctor continued speaking after putting his medical instruments away. “did either of you happen to catch the broadcast of the ceremony this afternoon?”     “I slept through it, actually,” B’Elanna said.     “I heard it, and frankly I’m not amused,” Tom said.     “What do you mean?” the Doctor said.     “Good question,” B’Elanna added, crossing her arms.     “Seven’s speech,” Tom said. “Sets the bar pretty high for anyone else on this ship who might wanna get married before we get back to the Alpha Quadrant. I don’t know how anybody could top that.”     “It was certainly lovely,” the Doctor said, “but I honestly think you’re overstating things. What made what Seven said to Ensign Wildman so beautiful was its sincerity. As long as no one tries to go out of their way to just one up Seven of Nine, I’m sure anything said at any future Voyager weddings will be just as romantic and poignant.”     Well put, B’Elanna thought.     “Good point,” Tom said aloud.     “I suppose I’ll have to watch the recording of it after my shift,” B’Elanna said. “But for now, it’s back to engineering.”

    “I’ll be on the bridge,” Tom said. He put his arm around B’Elanna’s shoulder and the two left sickbay together.

    “Was it really that good?” B’Elanna said. “Whatever it was Seven said to Sam at the wedding I mean?”

Tom looked around, as if make extra certain no other crewmembers were within earshot.     “Just between you, me, and the bulkhead? I cried.”     “Damn, sounds like it was good,” B’Elanna said, genuinely surprised at Tom’s admission.

---

    Marla Gilmore stared at herself in the mirror of the quarters she was forced to share with two of the other Equinox survivors. There were enough crew quarters for each of them to have their own of course, but a loss of that kind of privacy had been just one part of the punishment she and the others had been given by the Captain.

    She didn’t complain though. Noah and Angelo were almost never here at the same time she was, the former being trained to work in Voyager’s astrometrics lab, the latter having been assigned to security division under Lieutenant Ayala’s supervision.     As for her, she took one last look at her pip-less uniform, clean and pressed, in the mirror before heading to her shift in engineering, working under the Vulcan engineer, Ensign Vorik.     I just hope someday I feel like I deserve to be wearing it again, she thought.

    She headed to engineering, and when she got there she was once again struck by how quiet the place was at this time of ‘night.’ That could change at a moment’s notice if a crisis occurred, but as part of the night shift she wouldn’t have to carry much if any of the burden. As the old academy joke went, “night shift just means you watch the monitors for eight hours unless something comes up, then you go wake up Mom & Dad,” meaning the Captain and the First Officer.

    She didn’t mind though. The last time she had been in charge of engineering, she’d followed an order that had led to so much suffering she honestly didn’t care that she was so far down the chain of command that the operation officer would be called down here to run things before she’d ever have to be in charge again.

    “Miss Gilmore,” Vorik said in his usual formal tone.     “Hello Vorik,” she said. “What’s the schedule for tonight?”     “A routine cleaning of plasma injector ports,” he said.     “Sounds good to me,” Marla said.     Vorik raised an eyebrow, as he always did whenever Marla expressed enthusiasm for tasks that were normally considered boring by the rest of the engineering staff, but unlike the first time she’d done it over a week ago, he didn’t comment.

    Such tasks were boring of course, but necessary to keep a ship running smoothly. She also knew that she could actually take the time necessary to do them properly, a luxury she hadn’t had on the Equinox for years. When she could do repairs, they were always rushed. More than once she’d had to bypass procedures in a fashion that would make a Federation safety officer’s head explode.

---

    Brian Sofin, as well as Angelo Tassoni, being the sole surviving security officers of the Equinox, had been added to Voyager’s security team under the constant supervision of either Lieutenant Ayala or Lieutenant Anderson, depending on the day.

    Unlike the regular officers though, they were not allowed to have phasers just yet, and mainly only took part in drills.

    As far as Sofin was concerned, they were getting off light. It still amazed him that there were any people on Voyager at all who were polite to him. The majority were clearly uncomfortable, likely afraid of being betrayed again, but while no one had explicitly forgiven him, or anyone else from the Equinox as far as he knew, but others had expressed a degree of sympathy. He did not feel he deserved it.

When he entered the mess hall, dimly lit as per usual during a ship’s night cycle, the only sentient there was the Talaxian, Neelix, who was putting utensils away.     “Oh, hello,” Neelix said, and Sofin nodded back politely.     “Mister Neelix,” he said. “I apologize if I interrupted anything.”

“Not at all,” Neelix said. “Is there anything I can get you before I close up for the night?”   

“No,” Sofin said. “I just needed a quiet place to do my daily report for Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. I’m afraid that Noah snores.”     “I can recommend an old Talaxian remedy for that,” Neelix said. “Did wonders for me when I had that problem. At least according to Kes anyway, assuming she wasn’t just trying to spare my feelings.”

“Kes?” Sofin said.     “My ex-girlfriend,” Neelix said. “She came aboard Voyager with me six years ago.”     “What happened to her?”     “That’s a much more complicated story,” Neelix said. “But one I’d be happy to share with you when I’m not headed for bed.”     “I don’t get it,” Sofin said.     “What?” Neelix said.     “How you can be so kind to me after-”

“You were in a difficult situation and made some bad choices,” Neelix said. “I hate to break it to you, Mister, um, I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name when you came aboard.”

“Sofin. Brian Sofin.”

“Brian. Got it. Anyway, Brian, there’s hardly a sentient alive without some kind of regrets. You did something bad, sure. But punishment is not my purview, it’s the Captain’s. And my empathy was, last time I looked, not on the list of things the Equinox survivors are not allowed to have while they’re on Voyager.”

“I guess not,” Sofin said.

“So, as I said, if you’re free during the day tomorrow, swing by and I’ll tell you all about Kes and what she meant, not just to me, but to the rest of this crew. It’s a great story,” Neelix said, smiling.     Sofin, reluctantly, smiled back. “I bet it is.”