Thirds and Sixths
Summary: After Shaw is downed by a phaser blast, Seven sends his body to Sickbay and a stasis bed. But not even that is going to pull him back. He needs Seven, her Borg implants, and a crazy plan.
Which is what he gets because she is not letting him die without a fight.
Two
Seven wakes to the soft bleep of medical machines, and a distinct pressure in her head. It's not painful or particularly uncomfortable. Just there when it wasn't before. She mentally prods at it and a flash of irritation that isn't hers lights her nerves.
~One fucking order~
Oh, damn, she hadn't thought she'd actually be able to hear him. She wrinkles her nose.
~Yes, because you thought it'd be like downloading onto a data drive and you could leave me on your desk~
"If only." She rubs her forehead. "How are you?"
~Annoyed but not surprised that you couldn't follow my orders. It's like the turbolift all over again ~ There's an odd sensation, like a breeze through her mind, and Seven realises he's mentally sighed. ~Did you consider the consequences?~
"Of not letting you die?" she snaps, voice sarcastic. "You're welcome, by the way."
~Where's my body, Hansen?~ His tone is tart. ~Your mad scheme hasn't worked yet~
She sighs, because he's right. Again. She sits up slowly, not quite trusting that his presence in her head won't unbalance her. He tuts and the press at the temple eases. She blinks, surprised that he can make himself smaller. That he would do for her sake. Then she wonders if he heard that thought. If he knows how tied together they are - she isn't sure she wants to explain how she can feel him.
Seven swings her legs off the bed and gets up gingerly. They hold. She feels... fine, actually. The monitor agrees – her stats are fine. But it's not hers that she's concerned about. She goes over to the statis bed and stares down at Shaw. His stats are still not optimal but they're better than they were.
"Seven." Ohk's tone is scolding and she hurries over. "You should have waited for me to check you over before getting up. How are you feeling? Is he... there?
~Oh, of course she helped. God damn it.~
"I am fine," Seven replies. "He's testy. Ungrateful dick."
Laughter bursts through her mind. ~Sorry~
"I think it went wrong." Seven gives Ohk a wry smile. "He just apologised."
"Damn." Ohk frowns at her. "Wait, you can hear him? Communicate with him? I thought you were just storing his consciousness."
Seven stares down at the body ~Weird~ and then looks back to the doctor. There are shadows under her eyes and she seems drained. But the aura of worry she had when Seven barrelled into Sickbay is gone.
"That's what I thought, but I've never done it with a person before." ~Wait, you’re a virgin?~ "Just data streams. Turns out hosting another mind is somewhat different."
~You don't say~
"Shut up." At Ohk's surprised expression, Seven explains, "Sorry, talking to him."
"That's... weird," the doctor says, and Seven agrees.
She nods at the bed. "How is his body doing?"
"There's already less stress on his organs, but I'm still concerned about brain damage."
"How would we tell?" Seven gripes.
~Nice, Hansen~
"Maybe we wouldn't," Ohk says with a chuckle. Then she shakes her head with a sigh. "It's still going to be days, Seven. Longer, perhaps. His entire chest cavity needs rebuilding."
Seven braces, but Shaw is oddly silent. It has to be sobering, seeing himself unconscious and utterly reliant on the machines. Knowing that, had she not taken a drastic step, he might be dead. She wonders whether to try comforting him, then opts for leaving him alone. She still doesn't know if he's aware of her thoughts. He's a quiet man, despite the attitude. It must be a lot to contend with.
"Well, he's safe in here." She taps her temple. "I can cope until you've stabilised his body."
"If you're going back on duty, you might want to explain why you appear to be talking to yourself."
"There's not much duty to be had. All we're doing is limping to the nearest Starbase. Then I suppose I'll end up in endless meetings as Starfleet tries to put things back together." She looks around Sickbay. "Dare I even ask?"
"We lost less than I would have thought. The crew is traumatised, though. We need another counsellor. Maybe two. And a really long break."
Seven puts her hand on Ohk's shoulder and squeezes gently. "Thank you for everything. Please ensure you're taking time for yourself."
"I will. Thank you, Captain Seven."
o O o
Seven checks in on the bridge and then goes to Observation. She briefs Raffi and Mura on the situation, relying on them to spread the word. She lets them go and closes the door. That won't be a regular thing - shutting the crew out - but she wants to see the tallies. To find out how many ships were lost. How many people.
~Captain Seven has a nice ring to it~
She gazes at the display of the ship. There's an awful lot of red. "Acting captain," she murmurs, then bites the inside of her cheek. "I'm really sorry."
Shaw shifts in her head. ~Eh, forget it. Bigger things and all that. You saved our crew. That counts for a lot, Seven~
"Maybe." She sinks onto a chair, overwhelmed. "What do I do? Starfleet is gutted, Shaw. Our ships fired on one another. Crew killed crew. Crew became Borg."
The lump in her throat chokes her and she squeezes her eyes shut against the threat of tears.
~Wolf 359 saw eleven thousand dead. Thirty-nine ships lost. We wondered the same thing afterwards - how you go on after such losses. Such pain. But you do, Seven; you push on because that is the fucking Federation. You put one goddamn foot in front of the other~
She smiles with her tears. He's always been so strong. Well, until Picard boarded, and look where they ended up. She's glad that she can hear him. She needs that voice right now.
"All right," she says and dashes her cheeks dry. "Thank you."
~Buck up, Hansen. We've got a way to go~
"So, that is how it's going to be, huh? You're going to alternate between the two names?"
~I'll use what name works in the moment~
She can't help it - she laughs. It puts her back a few weeks, before Picard and Changelings, to the days where he would make her laugh regularly, though not always appropriately. She remembers the nacelle control and other times that were less fraught with danger where they worked together side-by-side. Seamlessly. Harmoniously.
She suddenly really misses those days.
~Yeah, they were good~
So he can hear her thoughts. Fuck. She sighs.
"They were."
~Okay, that's enough moping. Get off your ass, Hansen, and get my ship to safely~
She laughs again, but she gets up. "Aye, sir."