By Autopilot
Disclaimer: Paramount owns everything...but they don't make us happy, do they?!
Rated PG-13
Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of Unimatrix One had a plan. It had taken her over four years to perfect this plan, but she was near to her goal. Seven’s plan could be summed up in one word—revenge. Seven hated Captain Kathryn Janeway, and that hatred consumed every moment of her existence.
She still thought of her objectives in simplistic…efficient terms. She would make Captain Janeway atone for her actions. Atonement…an economical term, and wholly applicable. Janeway would pay for severing her from the Collective. She would pay for separating Seven—perhaps forever—from Unimatrix Zero and from her lover. She would pay for tearing Seven away from perfection and plunging her into the chaos of humanity.
Every day Seven had forced her way further into the Voyager crew’s trust—even making Janeway into her mentor. Tuvok had told Seven an old Earth saying once and Seven had found it useful. Hold your friends close to you, but hold your enemies closer. How better to study your enemy? Assimilation was more efficient, but it would not extract a high enough price. Janeway would pay with pain. Misery. Failure. Seven would see that Janeway was destroyed completely.
Seven had painstakingly monitored the rumors and innuendoes. She had spied on crew members and she had even endangered her life and her position on the ship in order to achieve her goal. Janeway would pay.
Seven had not understood the nature of gossip during her first year aboard Voyager, and had often had to change her strategy to compensate. The crew’s speculation about the Captain’s private life continued to be extensive and exaggerated. Although she had successfully monitored the Captain she had been unable to substantiate the rumors. Seven had finally deemed it an ineffective strategic target. After all, it was only sexual intercourse—of little importance.
She had slowly over the years undermined the Captain’s reputation as a keen scientist. The crew now actually believed that Janeway couldn’t even repair a replicator on her own. In addition to humiliating Janeway, it meant that more scientific data was entrusted to Seven, which she could then interpret for her own purposes. Seven had adjusted the sensors in Astrometrics to detect wormholes and other subspace conduits. If Janeway wanted above all else, to return the ship and crew to the Alpha Quadrant, then Seven would make it her top priority to deny her that success. By manipulating the data on those spatial regions to appear either dangerous or useless, Seven had been able to guide Voyager’s journey. Effectively, she would block their journey home until she had extracted her price. No one—even Commander Tuvok—suspected a thing. Janeway would pay.
During the course of their journey, Seven had discovered that the crew believed that the Captain was obsessed with taking Voyager home. By emphasizing Janeway’s ‘obsession’, Seven subtly reinforced the Captain’s separation from the rest of the crew. While her crew started new relationships, built lives for themselves and made a home onboard Voyager, Janeway remained remote. Solitary. Vulnerable. Janeway would live with the torment of being cut off, just as Seven had when she was ripped away from the Collective.
It wasn’t until this last year, that Seven realized she’d been in error in her initial analysis. Human emotions, especially the romantic attachment called love, were a vulnerability to be exploited. With Janeway isolated from most of her crew…her weakness…her loneliness grew.
Janeway had initiated a relationship with an alien during the time that the majority of the crew had been reprogrammed by an alien species. Seven had seen the flaw in Janeway’s armor. Underneath that command façade, buried so deep that Janeway couldn’t even admit it to herself consciously, the Captain needed more than friendship. The Captain needed love. The pathetic fool.
Chakotay had risked his life to rescue the crew and to save her. The Captain had, under the influence of the alien indoctrination, distrusted him. Seven had finally discovered her tool for the Captain’s destruction.
Janeway’s emotions had been ripped open and left raw from the experience. She had been torn away from another home and another lover. But even more unforgivably, she had betrayed Chakotay because of that alien lover. Chakotay had been injured, interrogated and even slated for encoding. Seven knew of the guilt Janeway felt for that act from hacking into Janeway’s. The Captain flagellated herself continuously for that betrayal…and had finally broken down and admitted her feelings for her first officer. Such a flaw. Janeway had betrayed herself now…she was defenseless…she was in love.
Seven had shrewdly strengthened the Captain’s belief that she was at fault for her actions by seemingly offhand observations. Seven was surprised by the mild flash of pleasure she received from seeing Janeway blanch in pain and from her desire to experience more. The Captain believed so strongly in her guilt that she became more isolated…now even from her first officer…her best friend…the man she loved. Janeway looked at Chakotay as if he was perfection—desirable and inaccessible. Seven had her perfect weapon. She would take Chakotay.
To achieve this goal, Seven turned to the holodeck. She had programmed a holographic character of Chakotay to interact with to perfect her plan. Seven had pushed herself, even ignoring her duties, to the point where her Borg fail-safes had reasserted themselves, endangering her life. The Doctor had repaired the damage and even more fortunately he had protected her secret. The Doctor’s attraction to her had proven useful. Seven forced her hatred for Janeway into submission as she had to apologize for her inattention to her responsibilities. The Captain would pay soon, and Seven’s objective—her revenge—would be perfected.
Next, Seven had engineered for Commander Chakotay to accompany her to a scientific conference. Fortunately for her plan, the Commander’s prior experiences with flying a shuttlecraft had been reaffirmed. Chakotay had crashed the shuttlecraft, stranding them both on a planet. A shield protected the continent that Seven and Chakotay had been marooned upon. Though the shield was of course not a problem for Seven’s Borg technology, she had delayed opening the shield grid so the Commander would be forced to interact with her more. She had known he was ill at ease in her company because of the considerable distaste he felt towards the Collective, but Seven had also known the effect she had on human males. Human males often mistake physiological based attraction for a budding romantic or emotional attachment.
Seven had seen that Chakotay was intrigued by the primitive species that they found on the continent. His fascination had proven useful. She had curbed her annoyance as much as possible; feigning concern for the future of the species that had "impressed her." From her interaction with the holographic Chakotay, Seven had known he would respond favorably. Contrasting her concern for the species with Janeway’s overly cautious reliance on Starfleet’s Prime Directive had clouded the Commander’s feelings. Males of any species were easily manipulated.
From Janeway’s logs Seven learned that Janeway had noticed the crew’s speculation over Commander Chakotay’s interest in Seven of Nine. She had been in agony over the rumors. Janeway lived in dread that she would be lying in her cabin and would hear the man she loved having sex with another woman…with Seven. Seven would take away the last thing Janeway cared about, leaving the Captain all alone.
Seven had manipulated Chakotay based on her analysis of his cultural norms and on his desire for Janeway. Seven’s speculations—that displaying hesitancy, vulnerability, even pretending to be out of her depth would encourage the Commander to seek her out—were proven.
Seven took her plan one step further after she had achieved the level of "intimacy" required. She had the Doctor perform the surgery that would remove the last barrier from her exploring the depths of emotion—the Doctor thought it would open her to passion and desire, but Seven had known her hatred could now be savored.
A sudden shift from innocent conversation to passion had been all the more overwhelming for the Commander because of its unexpectedness. Her carefully planned seduction had been proceeding according to plan when the senior officers were called to the bridge.
An Admiral Janeway had come to Voyager from the future and she interfered in Seven’s plan.
Seven hadn’t been sure if Janeway had come to Voyager to stop her plan, but she had been reassured by the Commander’s continued attention. Seven had also learned from gossip that Chakotay had turned down lunch with the Captain because he had a date with her. Seven saw this as confirmation that her plan to seduce Chakotay was successful.
When the Admiral approached Seven in an effort to garner support for her plan for Voyager, Seven had learned why the elder Janeway hadn’t alerted the Captain. Seven understood that she had been killed and her plan had been only partly successful. The Admiral had never married, but she had gotten Voyager home safe.
Seven broke into the Captain’s logs once again. Janeway was in agony. The Admiral had told the Captain flat out that Seven would be killed on an away mission three years into the future, leaving Chakotay—her husband—heartbroken. The Captain had writhed in agony mentally, saying she had felt as if her heart was dying in her chest—how dramatic! Knowing that Chakotay would marry her and Janeway would spend the rest of her life alone…that had been gratifying. But knowing Janeway herself had delivered the deathblow to her own hope…well it’s almost poetic.
Revenge is surprisingly sweet.
Kathryn, the Admiral, sat down to have a cup of coffee with Kathryn, the Captain. It had been surprisingly easy—reaching an accord and making a plan.
The Captain knew that she would be sending this older version of herself to a likely death. The Admiral had been surprisingly sanguine about it…brushing it off with the words "Just get them all home and live our life well, Kathryn."
Kathryn was pacing in her ready room, waiting until it was time to start this impossible task that had to succeed. The door chime broke into her reverie. "Come."
Chakotay entered briskly, handing her a padd with updates on Voyager’s tactical status. Kathryn scanned them before signing off on them and handing him the padd back. When she glanced up she found an expectant look on his face.
"Yes, Commander? Is there something else?" She walked over to sit down on her couch.
"Well, Kathryn? You aren’t going to fill me in on the whole reason—the real reason—the Admiral broke the Temporal Prime Directive to come give us a shortcut home?" Chakotay’s voice was impatient and he remained standing.
Kathryn shifted uncomfortably and waved Chakotay over to sit down beside her. "What makes you think there’s anything else to it, Chakotay?"
Chakotay looked exasperated. "Kathryn, it’s obvious that we did get home! There is obviously another more pressing reason…the question is are you going to share it with me?"
Kathryn sighed gathering her courage before she took his hand. "The Admiral came now to help us avoid the loss of twenty-two lives, Chakotay." She grasped his hand tighter. "One of those losses will Seven, and she will be your wife when she dies, Chakotay."
Chakotay was stunned and after a moment he pulled his hand away. "Seven? I will marry Seven? And then I lost her. You…she…I mean the Admiral came back in time to save those crewman?"
Kathryn grimaced. She was about to evade the whole painful subject by beating a swift retreat into command mode when she remembered the Admiral’s last request of her. Live our life well. Such a simple request that required such courage.
Kathryn took a deep breath and met his eyes squarely. "The Admiral did want to save all of those crewmen, Chakotay. But she didn’t lie, steal, and go to what will surely be her death because of those lost people. No, Chakotay, she did it for you. She said you would never be the same again after you lost your wife. She couldn’t live the rest of her life knowing that there could be a way to save you from that torment. She had to make an effort to try to change things for you."
Chakotay felt his throat tighten at the emotion in Kathryn, his Kathryn’s voice, as she spoke. When she finished, he looked down for a moment at his hands that were clenched into fists. Swallowing hard against the rising swell of his emotions, Chakotay shook his head and looked up at her again. Her face displayed a vulnerability that Kathryn hid too often. "Kathryn, she did this for me?"
Kathryn nodded.
Chakotay continued, "To spare me the loss of a wife I don’t even have yet? Why?" His voice grated out the last word hoarsely.
Kathryn gave him a sweet smile. "Quite simply because she loved you."
Chakotay’s eyes closed in shock.
Kathryn covered his clenched hands with hers, "Because I love you, Chakotay. I have for a long time." She gave a soft laugh, "And it looks as if I will continue to love you for a long time to come. She, the Admiral, never married because your heart died with your wife. She is sparing you that at least, though I won’t spare myself."
Chakotay’s eyes blazed with anger now as he surged to his feet. He grabbed Kathryn’s arms in a bruising grip, dragging her to her feet as he shook her roughly once. "Spare me? Spare me what, Kathryn? I’m not in love with Seven. I’m only dating her. I’m lonely, Kathryn, and I’m human enough to need to reach out for companionship, even if it’s nothing like what I feel for you. Damn it, Kathryn! I don’t know what would make me give up on my love for you. I’ve waited seven years to hear you tell me you love me and now you tell me on the eve of a battle we might not even survive. You tell me I love someone else, even marry her. You tell me we’ll never be together and that we’ll both die alone! Why the hell are you telling me this? Why now?"
Kathryn’s brilliant smile softened into her endearing lopsided grin. "I’m telling you I love you, Chakotay, because I’ll only be half alive myself if I live like this any longer. Why now? Well, when I finally realized that I’d die to spare you pain, that I’d break any rules, even twenty odd years from now, I understood finally that it’s not such a difficult thing to say after all. But mostly, I needed to tell you. Whether I die today or a quarter of a century from now is unimportant. What’s important is that I finally am able to risk it all. Just for the chance to say those words." Kathryn reached up to gently caress his tattoo…just as her counterpart, the Admiral, had caressed the tattoo marked upon his tombstone. "I love you, Chakotay. I always will."
Chakotay stared at her entranced. Finally, he smiled. "Well, Kathryn. I have to point out that you have lousy timing, but I still love you. I always will." He smoothed his hands up her shoulders until he was caressing her cheeks, threading his fingers into her hair. Kathryn closed her eyes sensuously for a moment, sighing deeply.
When she opened her eyes again to look at him, he pulled her close, his lips descending gently. Kathryn quickly deepened the kiss. Their first kiss.
They were so caught up in the other’s responses that neither of them heard the door chime.
Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of Unimatrix One walked into the Captain’s ready room to find that her revenge was short-lived. Though Chakotay and Janeway moved apart from their embrace, their hands maintained contact. Seven raised one eyebrow. "I see. If you will excuse me, Captain. Commander." Her voice broke on the last word. Let them believe she was upset over Chakotay’s defection…but the truth was she was upset over seeing the work of four years careful plotting upset in one day. Defeat suddenly made revenge into a bitter pill to swallow.
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