NEW VOY: Who's Resisting? (K/7) PG (1/?) Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 23:17:58 -0400 From: "Christopher L. Estep" Title: Who's Resisting? Codes: VOY (Voyager), K/7 (Kim/Seven of Nine), PG Synopsis: Seven of Nine decides to once again pursue the affections of Ensign Kim, who decides to stop resisting; all the while observed by another couple aboard Voyager. Archival Permissions: ASC, Summer's SeventhHeaven, and BLTS. All others must request consent from the author. Dedication: To my lady-love, Lisa "Five Of Nine" Moreland: resistance to you was futile. So, who resisted? Disclaimer: Paramount/Viacom owns Voyager and the crew thereof. I merely write this particular piece of fan fiction to leap into the breach the writers created by failing to put Harry Kim and Seven of Nine where they belong: with each other. I'm not expecting to make as much as a penny from this, so suing me would be irrelevant. As I saw Ensign Harry Kim walk out of the Mess Hall, something told me that he was suffering from something I knew all too well from personal experience: heartache. I decided to see what I could do to help lessen his burden. "Harry, what's going on?" Harry turned and saw me in the corridor and was surprised to hear my voice. That's because I'm one of the "faceless many" that works in the lair of Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres, helping her keep the ship that is Voyager running despite the wear and tear placed on her by being lost in the Delta Quadrant several thousand light-years from anything remotely resembling a shipyard or decent repair facilities. Specifically, I'm Lieutenant (jg) Christopher L. Estep-Moreland, currently one of two assistants to Joe Carey, not to mention having the greater (at least to me) honor of being husband to Lieutenant Lissa (Lisa) Moreland, Voyager's Acting Science Officer. (Yes, I took my wife's last name. So sue me.) "What makes you sure something's going on, Chris?" "Walk with me, Harry. We need to get away from prying ears," I replied, seeing one of the Delaney sisters coming around the bend of the corridor. As we boarded the turbolift, I waited until the doors closed, then I stated, "Observation One." The lift dropped down one deck, then moved across to Observation One, the largest, and least used, of Voyager's lounges with a view outside the ship. "So, we're here, Chris. Why?" Harry asked. I asked bluntly, "Harry, how do you REALLY feel about Seven of Nine?" Harry looked surprised at my bluntness. "What do you mean?" I knocked on one of the duraplas "windows" built into Observation One's walls. "You're as transparent as this window, Harry. I'm not Tom, and I'm not B'Elanna, so don't try to blow smoke in my ears. I also recognize that look in your eyes from having seen it in my own before I got landed by Lissa. I could be wrong, but YOU tell me by your body language that you've got it bad for Seven of Nine. Still. Despite all your protestations to Tom and B'Elanna, not to mention to Seven, that you don't. Could you tell me, under verifier scan, that I'm wrong?" Harry tried to look me in the eye, and simply couldn't. That told me that I was right: he's still got it bad for Seven. "So tell me, Harry...why are you resisting her?" "Chris, she's a former Borg! She's not used to the way human emotions work!" "True, Harry. I'll give you that. However, since when has ANY Borg expressed interest in a particular non-Borg? Especially a romantic interest?" "Never, to my knowledge." "Except for one case, you'd be right, Harry. Remember Riley Frazier and Chakotay?" "Huh?" "Riley Frazier. The liaison with the Borg Cooperative? They actually blew up their CUBE to remain unlinked with the Collective." "Surely you don't mean...?" "SHE was the one who temporarily 'assimilated' Chakotay into the Cooperative! She gave him the knowledge necessary to blow up their cube! She did that, KNOWING that she'd never see him again! Why would a former Borg do that? Why would ANY being do that, Harry? Riddle me that." He chewed over that for a few minutes, while I looked at him, watching him put the pieces together. Finally, he spoke. "She loved him.." "Right on count one. And?" "She knew he loved someone else, and she was letting him go." "Right on count two. She loved him, AND she knew he loved someone else more. She enabled him to go to his other love. I leave the 'who' for you to chew on. However, with Seven, you've not let her go...with good reason. She hasn't expressed a romantic interest in anyone except you." "What about her 'date' with Ensign Chapman?" "That was simply a 'dry run' for what she REALLY wants: a date with a certain Ops officer of a Federation starship. Tom may not have realized it, but Chapman did. Do you really think that 'Casanova' Chapman would really be that clumsy on a date?" Harry digested this piece of information and finally said, "Seven wants me...still?" "Exactly," I replied. "And I can prove it. In a way that even Seven cannot deny." "How?" "Machines cannot lie unless programmed to. The Borg, including Seven of Nine, accept that as axiomatic." "So? How does that help your case?" I replied, "Among my least pleasant chores in tomorrow's duty shift is running a Level Three Diagnostic on the verifier scanner. My assistant tomorrow will be none other than the Borg of your wildest dreams, Seven of Nine. As part of the diagnostic, both of us will be subject to verifier scans to determine the scanner's accuracy, with each of us questioning the other. Both scans are required to be entered into the ship's records. Distribution is Commanding Officer, First Officer, Operations Manager, Security Officer, and Chief Engineer. In other words: Captain Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, B'Elanna, and YOU, Harry." "You mean...?" "You'll get your proof. Unfortunately, so will Captain Janeway, Chakotay and B'Elanna, since it will be part of official ship's records." "You couldn't 'lose' B'Elanna's copy, could you?" Harry pleaded. "And have B'Elanna KILL me? Not to mention what the Captain would do to whatever B'Elanna leaves of me for falsifying ship's records? Sorry, Harry; you'll just have to put up with B'Elanna not cutting you any slack," I replied. "Better that you suffer some teasing than I die, then get court-martialed and have my remains shot out a photon torpedo tube by the Captain; ALL of which I can GUARANTEE I would suffer if B'Elanna fails to get her copy of the Level Three." Part One is done; Part Two to follow.