Seven grew a little bewildered at the doctors steering her from group to group. "I would like to talk to B'Elanna Torres, Doctor." "I will accompany you. Be warned, the lieutenant can be a little unstable" she felt a restraining pressure on her arm. "We have become less antagonistic recently. I am almost certain that violence will not ensue" "On the whole I don't think its wise for you to converse with B'Elanna. Mr Paris is a bad influence on her." the EMH was the very model of concern. "I came to this gathering to socialise. May I please talk to my friends" "I did not know Naomi was here" the Doctor peered around as if looking for the small half Ktarian. "I have other friends, Doctor" Seven said patiently. "Of course. I see Tuvok over there, let's join him" Seven gave in to his pressure. What harm could it do? Lieutenant Torres would not care that she had not spoken to her although Seven would have liked to reassure herself that her prank had not damaged anything. "Are you nervous then, Seven" smiled the captain. "This will be your first official command." "I am a little apprehensive, but I have studied the procedures thoroughly. I" "Seven is always a little apprehensive away from me" interrupted the Doctor. "but I am certain that she will cope admirably" Seven retreated into her smile. the Captain looked on, knowing how awkward Seven could still be in social situations. "Engineering to EMH" The Doctor's comm badge sounded. "Yes? I am at a party" He said with a hint of reproach. "Carey has fallen down a vertical access tube. We think his leg is broken. We're beaming him to sickbay" "Acknowledged. I will meet you there in a few moments." He turned to Seven "Duty calls my dear. I will walk you back to our quarters, it is on the way" "I am able to navigate there myself" she protested but only slightly. "Come, come, you have a long day tomorrow. You should get some rest" "I have work to do, in that case" "We'll see, sweetie. Say goodnight" The Doctor made a slight bow to the Captain and Chakotay, to whom they were currently speaking. Seven made her gauche goodbyes and certain of the guests smiled fondly at her "I never thought she'd be so shy" said Chakotay "Or rely on anyone so much" he turned back to the captain, "Anyway, are you dancing Kathryn?" "Why not" she drawled and forgot all about the matter. Seven and the Doctor had always been close. Seven arrived back at her quarters with an admonition to get some sleep. She took off her shoes; her feet ached in the silly things, she was more used to her boots, they at least offered some support for her feet. She made an effort to clean her face, scrubbing until all trace of the makeup was gone. Then she ran down her list of things to do, until finally her clothing and personal effects were packed, her schedule drawn up, copies of the test specs and tools were ready. The only thing left to complete was the data analysis. That was needed to compare the efficiency of the systems onboard the shuttle with the ones on voyager. That peculiarity had caused some delays, as had this evenings outing. She recalled the Doctor's ire at her kissing Tom. B'Elanna hadn't minded. She picked up her Padd and headed for astrometrics. The doors slid open to reveal dim illumination. "Who is here?" she queried crisply "Report" A low noise from the front of a console caught her ear, and upon approaching she located one unconscious, snoring ensign, surrounded by Padds, and propped up against a station in front of the big screen. She knelt down by him and looked curiously at the relaxed expression on his face. Strands of straight black hair, dishevelled and longer than she had thought, blocked her view. She moved to brush it out of the way, and a hand grabbed hers and held it for a moment. Dark eyes flicked open, widening in surprise. "What?" he said sleepily. "It is customary to sleep in a bed" she chided him gently. He stood up in an almost fluid movement, spoiled only by the discovery that one of his feet had gone numb. He hopped awkwardly for a moment. "Ow. Remind me not to fall asleep in here again" He then yawned. When he looked back at Seven he noticed something was different. He could not for the life of him figure it out. "What are you doing in here?" He finally asked her. "I came to finish the data I needed for our away mission. I see you have already made some progress" "You couldn't sleep either, then?" "No. I was..." she was unable to choose a word to convey her feeling. He turned back to the station and entered some commands. "If it's not going to get you into trouble, we can both try. Two heads are better than one" "A Borg-like sentiment" she said with a smile. "Do you mind if I put some music on?" "If it is not operatic, I have no objections" "Computer, play selection Harry six" Unusual sounds flooded the room, and he returned to work humming cheerfully. Seven looked startled "Is this classified as music?" She pondered for a moment. "I can discern a melodic line, but the instruments are unfamiliar" "It's twentieth century music, Seven. Late, late twentieth century." "What is it?" "Apollo 440. It's a little tune called 'Lost in space'" "Are you attempting to be humorous?" "I think it's appropriate" he said with a grin. "Perhaps." she agreed, not quite as argumentative. They continued trying to define the composition and source of the irritatingly peculiar system. It would appear to be absent and then perhaps there, but when they re-ran a set of diagnostics it had once again vanished. They applied filters and refined bandwidths, deselected types of sensor and worked through every standard procedure and then invented some more. "This is futile" She complained "And the technical inaccuracy of this singer is evident. I thought that you sought musical perfection, ensign." "Most people can be taught to play or sing to a technically perfect standard. Fewer people can express their music in such a way as to make the listener feel it" "Explain" She said. "Well." He said slowly "For example, you have a beautiful voice. Technically there is no fault with it, but-" "But what? My singing is perfect" "Too perfect" he said ruefully and shrugged. Seven looked irritated. "I strive for perfection" she said angrily. "I know. Look, it doesn't matter what I think about it. Do you want to run the next series?" "Demonstrate why my singing is less than perfect in your opinion" she stood her ground. "Because you haven't quite got the hang of expressing some emotions yet, and it comes across in your singing." he turned towards her. "It isn't a fault, there's nothing wrong with your voice, Sev. It's just a matter of preference" "Humans are too accepting of imperfection." Her lip curled in a sneer. "You are flaw-" "Don't criticise what you don't understand, Seven." He retorted. She stepped back and he realised that she had no shoes on. She was shorter than he was, barefoot. The look of incomprehension on her face reminded him that she really didn't understand. She resorted to borgisms when she couldn't comprehend what was going on. Goosebumps were evident on her arms and she shivered, seemingly oblivious to the cause. He pulled off his sweater and offered it to her. She looked at him without saying a word. "Next time you design an astrometrics lab, connect it to the climate control" he remarked. "Are you cold?" She nodded. "Arms" he said. She stuck them out trustingly. He pulled the garment over her head and threaded her arms into the sleeves, having to locate her hands inside them and roll up the cuffs. It fell mid thigh and didn't even strain around her chest. "Better?" she nodded. "Okay. I wasn't expecting to give a lecture on musical appreciation at" he checked the time "Six o-three in the morning." He thought for a moment. "What sort of music do you like to sing?" "I do not like to sing. I merely have a beautiful voice" she threw his words back at him. "Do you like the songs you sing?" He tried again. "No." Short and snappy. "Why?" "I cannot project what I do not understand, if your implications are correct. The songs that I have sung are about joy and peace and love" she spat, turning from him, stamping her bare foot on the cold metal floor. Was that a tantrum? "Computer, access music files for Kim, Harry. Play, "Burn, Paranoid, It can't rain all the time, Open the gate" Seven still had her back to him. He didn't touch her, just said "Listen. Don't analyse. I'll expect a report." "But-" "Shh!." He turned back to his station. When the selection of music ended, Seven approached him. Her hands behind her back, she stated clearly. "I was able to discern Sadness, fear, loss, anger, hope, amongst others." she reported. "Is there more in this file?" "You liked it?" He said, surprised. He had merely been trying to make a point. "I can identify with it" she cocked her head to one side again. "I believe I am starting to understand." She paused "May I play this music." "Huh? yeah, you're welcome to play anything in my music files. It's not locked up" "Thank you. Let us continue with this analysis. We have tried most of the possible combinations. what shall we do now?" "Start from the beginning without anything. Pure visual only?" he suggested. "Just look at it?" She made the appropriate commands. The view that filled the screen caused some surprise. Apparently a dead world, ringed with metallic debris. Closer magnification revealed movement and lights, possible signs of habitation. This level of clarity had been unavailable on any other scan. "Check for communications traffic" "Nothing, except on radio bandwidths, it could be static but I doubt it" said Seven. "Run a primary scan, can we still detect life?" "Nothing, I cannot see anything but a dead world, no movement, no lights. All signals appear to be random fluctuations" "This place is practically invisible to any sort of technological scope. No wonder the Borg didn't see it. I wonder if they're containing their transmission in the same way" Neither heard the door slide open behind them. The music was still playing, and the Doctor had to raise his voice quite loudly to be heard. "Seven, what are you doing?" "We've just discovered an entirely-" "I asked Seven, not you, Mr Kim. why don't you run along home now, Sweetie?" He said, his voice modulating from disapproval to encouragement. Seven looked guilty. "I was merely finishing my tasks before" her voice trailed off like an errant child at the Doctor's glare. "I said to go home, Seven. Have you been in here all night?" He threw his hands up in despair and took her by the arm. "You don't have to obey his every command you know?" Said Harry in exasperation. She shook her head at him, picked up a Padd and prepared to leave. "Thank you for your assistance, Ensign" The door remained open behind her. "I thought I told you to stay away from my girlfriend" snarled the Doctor, obviously not yet finished. Tom and B'Elanna were on their way for an early breakfast when they came across Seven dishevelled and looking lost in the corridor outside their quarters. "Seven, where are you going?" "My quarters. I may have become disoriented." She looked around. "I am on the wrong floor." She turned back to the turbo lift. "You're still wearing that dress from last night and is that Harry's sweater?" Said B'Elanna suspecting the worst. "I was completing the sensor log analysis that I require for tonight" she replied irrelevantly. "Will all senior officers please report to the briefing room for an update by 0700" said Chakotay's voice. "I guess I'll go and find Harry before the Doctor does" said Tom with a sigh, recalling in what direction his friend had been headed when he had left the party. He had told B'Elanna about the Doctors threat. She was less than happy about it. Surprisingly enough, she herded Seven off to her own quarters. "Lets replicate you some clean clothes. You can't turn up like this" Seven followed her with a puzzled expression on her face. Tom ran through the corridors wishing that the turbo lifts were faster. As he heard angry voices from astrometrics, he noted that he was too late. "Aren't you going to hit me back?" sneered the doctors voice "You wouldn't feel it. What's the point?" said Harry sarcastically. "Will you stop that and listen to what I'm telling you" "I'm busy, I have a staff meeting to attend in twenty minutes and so do you." "If you hadn't spent all night in here with my fiancee then you'd have had more time to get ready, where are you going now?" "Out of your sight?" "Don't walk away from me!" Harry appeared through the doors, definitely the worse for wear. His lower lip was puffy and bleeding, and his shirt was open, buttons missing. "Morning Tom. Sleep well?" He shifted the two Padds to his other hand and headed for the accommodation decks. "I've got a dermal regenerator in my quarters that would come in handy about now, you know" Tom kept pace with him. "What are you doing up here?" Harry said resignedly. "I thought I'd see what trouble you were in" Tom's manner was jocular. "Trouble?" "I know you. We ran into Seven" drawled Tom. "Why were you picking a fight with the Doc?" "I wasn't fighting" protested Harry, turning to face his friend. Tom snorted "Yeah?" "I just... didn't expect him to hit me" "You spend all night in astrometrics, swapping clothes with Seven and you didn't expect him to hit you?" Tom was almost amused. "It doesn't bother you, when I crawl around the Jeffries tubes alone with B'Elanna" "Yeah but you and B'Elanna have never been" Tom stopped, looking confused "You and B'Elanna haven't-?" "No, but neither have I and Seven." They were outside Tom's door now. "Get washed and I'll fix your face." Tom shoved him in the directiumbsf the bathroom, then rooted about for the regenerator. It wasn't where he'd left it. He pulled things out of drawers and closets, and finally stood looking around with an puzzled expression on his face. B'Elanna walked in. "Come on! We're going to be late!" Seven followed her, dressed in blue. She held Harry's sweater neatly folded with his communicator pin resting on top of it. "Have you seen the regenerator, babe?" Tom asked in confusion. "It's under the bed. Why? what have you done?" B'Elanna had just had to cajole a very docile Seven into some clothing. That attitude had startled B'Elanna. "I did not realise that a regenerator was a personal issue item" remarked Seven, B'Elana just grinned. Harry yelled from the bathroom, "Tom, can I borrow a shirt? I don't have time to go back and change" B'Elanna and Seven both raised an eyebrow. "Come here a minute, Harry" said the pilot. Harry walked into the room, his shirt open and obviously ripped, fresh blood just poised on the edge of his swollen lip. B'Elanna's face grew darker, she clenched her fists and Seven's eyes grew wide; She stood almost in front of him, still holding the dark parcel of his sweater. Her eyes flicked slowly down the smooth muscled lines of his exposed skin and back up to his face. She handed him the sweater to cover her restlessness, and as he took it, reached out and absently traced her finger down the stylised Chinese dragon that decorated the left side of his shirt, applying sufficient pressure to feel the gentle ripple of his muscles as he tensed at her touch. "I will repair this for you" she said, not removing her finger until he pulled the sweater over his head and her hand was about to be covered. "I didn't know you could sew" he remarked quietly. "My mother taught me when I was very small" she said sadly, retrieving her hands and placing them behind her back. "Much as I hate to interrupt this touching moment" Tom intervened with the small medical device and ran it over his friends lip. "We have six minutes to get to the meeting." B'Elanna announced wondering if anyone was listening to her. Entering the briefing room just before the others, Harry seated himself next to the Doctor, in the seat meant for Seven, if the glare was enough to judge by. The others seated themselves together at the other side of the table when they arrived a moment later. "Well, is everything ready for your mission, Seven?" Asked the captain with an indulgent smile on her face. She had spent far too long last night dancing. "Yes. All equipment is installed, the appropriate tools are onboard and the comparison data is completed and ready. It remains only to move personal items onboard." "Completed? You were able to resolve those difficulties" said Janeway. "A Midnight inspiration" announced Seven inaccurately, which caused the Vulcan chief of security to wear his 'and I thought nothing you humans could do would surprise me' expression. "Indeed?" he said gravely. Harry passed over the Padds containing the new information. The captain read through them quickly. "Fascinating. Well, if this race wants so badly to be left alone, then I think we'll leave them to it. Make sure that your flight plan avoids their sector of space. Check it with Tom." "Yes, Captain" Seven responded. "Has anyone else anything to report?" B'Elanna said nothing at Harry's pointed gaze. Janeway stood to dismiss her crew. "Captain, as chief medical officer I must advise you that-" Kathryn sat back down with a weary expression on her face and looked at her hologrammatic officer. "Yes?" "I believe that Ensign Kim is medically unfit for this mission." the Doctor rushed ahead without waiting "He has been displaying classic signs of depression and mental stress and as his doctor I must recommend a course of psychiatric evaluation" he finished triumphantly. Kim looked more amused than surprised. "His work doesn't show any signs of deterioration" remarked the captain, "Would you prefer to discuss this in private, doctor, Ensign?" Her eyes rested momentarily longer than necessary on Mr Kim. He was dressed neatly but informally to begin with, she was almost certain those were the clothes he had worn last night and his usually neat hair had been permitted to flop over his face. Harry shook his head. The Doctor looked at him with barely disguised irritation. "His social behaviour has been somewhat unusual lately, as I'm sure all here will agree. Mr Kim is still young enough to need the support that a family environment such as this crew, offers. Perhaps the recent aberrant behaviour will extend to his work and I'm uncertain that its wise to place him in a critical position, so isolated and far from his friends" "Unfortunately I don't have anyone with the skills to replace him at such short notice. Perhaps if you went along on this mission, doctor?" suggested the captain. Somehow Harry kept the amused smile on his face. He had been joyfully thinking of a whole week, doctor free. He had almost intended to comply with the orders about leaving Seven alone during off duty hours, but he didn't require personal supervision. The Doctor smiled "Yes, that would certainly be an acceptable course of action. Mr Paris could use the experience in sickbay, and if things got too bad you could always activate my backup" He nodded, supremely satisfied with this result. "Won't that be nice, Seven" Seven smiled glacially. "Mr Kim, I'm placing you under the doctors care for the time being. Seven you have an extra crew member to work into your schedules. Dismissed" Janeway was usually far more perceptive than this, but Harry 'read me like a book' Kim had managed to be a little less open than normal. B'Elanna grabbed him in the lift as they exited together. Tom was on bridge duty with several of the others and the Doc and Seven had vanished. "This is serious, Starfleet. He threatened you. He attacked you and you're just going to let him get away with ing "Coming from you, that's funny." She slapped the stop button in the lift, and rounded on him, bristling protectively. "There's a difference between nice guy and doormat, Harry" "I hadn't noticed." "Are you going to try and stay out of trouble" "I always try." he said with a grimace. "But I don't need you to look out for me B'Elanna, I can take care of myself" Her reply was a dismissive snort. The lift continued on its way, with neither talking to the other. Harry returned to his quarters and slept until two hours before takeoff. He then packed quietly, not hungry. He neatly folded uniforms and casual wear, added his clarinet case and some padds of music he'd been meaning to learn. Then bearing in mind that he was going to have to spend as much time as he could avoiding the Doc and Seven, not easy in a small craft, he threw in some pencil files of music and anime, and books to read. It still wasn't a lot of luggage. "Computer: record personal log for today." he paced backwards and forwards and finally flopped on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "I don't know what to do anymore" he began, feeling awkward voicing the thoughts that he had kept inside. He kept his log up to date, he dutifully informed it of everything that happened, as the starfleet procedure recommended, but not necessarily why. He knew that Seven had an annoying habit of hacking into anything she found interesting. Did she find him interesting? No, she found him predictable. Probably a compliment given her love of routine. He'd have preferred almost anything else, except 'nice'. Of course he was predictable. His parents had brought him up to be polite and courteous and Starfleet had told him what he should do in almost every situation. Ever since he had landed in this universe, every time he tried to step out of the mould that Harry Kim had created, it didn't work. "I don't know what to do anymore" he reiterated. "I'm going crazy trying to be someone I'm not, and no-one wants to let me be who I am." He wondered how many people knew who he was. The captain for sure, but he didn't really know who'd been there when Harry Kim had died permanently. B'Elanna had said something once, and then she'd tried to forget it. He couldn't do it anymore. And he wasn't going to try. If the Doctor had it in mind to prove him crazy, let him. What difference did it really make anyway? "Sorry, kid" he stood up. "Last night the Doc warned me off Seven. This morning he punched me for working in astrometrics with her all night. Tom and B'Elanna are behaving like it's the end of the world and Seven" he sighed "I wish she'd grow up. I wish he'd let her." He picked up his luggage and left his quarters.