At Long Last

Things between Tom and B'Elanna played out how I had hoped, and things even seemed to continue after we eventually made it back to the ship. The Sakari never reappeared, so we never helped them disguise their gallicite, but I was not worried about them since I knew their invaders were the Borg, so if they left the planet behind, it was doubtful that they would come back. When Katye and I did recover enough to free them, and after they were done with their business, we headed back up to the surface just in time to run into a second away team of Chakotay, Echo, and Raven. While we never found the Borg corpse because of that, it was not long before evidence of them appeared.

Without intending to, the next episode was missed more or less. Chakotay and Echo had gone out on a scouting mission to hopefully find a quicker way through the Nekrit Expanse, which meant that they never got lost and found the planet with the freed Borg. Voyager did, however, find the deactivated Borg cube. Janeway sent me, Tuvok, B'Elanna, and Raven to explore the ship, and while it was a bit creepy with everything dark and offline, things played out quietly. We found a Borg corpse that was perfectly preserved, just as they had in the show, and brought it back to the ship.

Unfortunately, what I feared most about the Borg was not the danger that they posed to us, but rather the predictable reaction of my favorite mechanic. An entire race of cybernetic beings, able to convert people to their will with a simple injection of nanoprobes; it was right up her alley of interest. While I had told her about them before, this was Raven's first time being able to see one in person and, just like I had guessed, she was incredibly interested in their technology, so I lost her to it for the next three weeks. It probably would have been longer, but a unique situation popped up which caused me a headache until we delivered the aliens to their home world, which I used as an excuse to drag her out of her workshop.

As usual for many problems that they found along their journey, Voyager responded to a distress call and found a ship on the verge of destruction. There were fifteen life signs, several were in danger, so Janeway beamed over the survivors, some to Sick Bay and the rest to Cargo Bay Two with a security team to supervise them. I headed to Sick Bay to assist the Doctor, and that was when my problems started.

Eight men and women were scattered across the room with the most injured on the bio-beds. The Doctor, Danara, Kes, and Filigree were already working on the wounded people, but Katye froze when she heard the door, and it was easy to guess why. The aliens that we had saved were covered in a thick layer of scales and their brows were crowned with small horns, but the instinctual growl coming from my throat confirmed one thing; they had Dragon-blood, and it was far thicker than L'Naan's. Without any hesitation, Katye blasted me out of the room with a gust of wind, but I was not upset, since it snapped me out of my daze before I could attack anyone.

With a sigh, I retrieved my illusion ring and slid it on before walking back into Sick Bay. I gave her a grateful look as I passed her and asked the Doctor how I could help. While he was momentarily surprised by my appearance, the needs of his patients overrode his curiosity, and we got to work since two of the aliens needed my help. I excused myself after they were stabilized, and paged Janeway on my way back to my ship, though it took her some time before she came by.

::Captain Janeway is approaching the ship.::

"Thanks, Fae. Let her in," I said, pouring myself a drink.

It took her a few minutes to make it upstairs, so I settled on one of the couches and started sipping on my drink. I had already researched about the alien race and found out that they were classified as Draklings due to the mid-grade bloodline. While they would not be able to use most forms of magic, they did have a natural affinity with Fire which would allow them to wield it with practice as well as the enhanced strength and endurance that came with Dragon-blood.

"Good afternoon," Janeway greeted.

"That's a matter of opinion," I grumbled.

"I did notice that the Nagavi shared some similarities with your Dusa form," she chuckled, sitting down across from me.

"I guess that means you have met with them."

"I have, and it seems that we've managed to rescue a prince and his personal guard."

"And did he mention who attacked him?" I asked.

"A race known as the Macan, who they have been at war with for the past two centuries," she replied. "It will take us a week and a half to reach their home world, and Kono has offered us a reward for his safe return as well as to spend time on their home world for shore leave."

"Sounds like fun," I said dryly after finishing my drink with a gulp.

Janeway chuckled again, "One of the rewards that we discussed was the right to mine gallicite and vorilium in the asteroid belt surrounding their system. I'm hoping that you would be willing to lead an away team to gather what we need while the rest of the crew enjoys their shore leave. I would also like to ask for the Fae Dragon to remain with Voyager as Kono warned that the Macans will occasionally attempt to raid their colonies and scare off outsiders from visiting their world."

"And one of those that I will be leading is undoubtedly L'Naan, am I wrong?" I sighed as I refilled my cup.

"If you're having difficulties, she likely will too, no?"

"She will," I sighed again. "Fine; I really can't complain since I don't want anything to do with them. Do you mind if I bring Raven as well? She spends every waking moment, when not on duty, studying the Borg tech that we recovered from the cube, so I want some way to force her to take a break from it."

"Of course," she agreed.

We talked for a bit longer before she excused herself and, eventually, Katye, Raven, and Echo returned to the ship. When I told them about Janeway's request, their reactions were mixed. Echo did not care much while Katye laughed at the fact that I was going to be trapped on a shuttlecraft with L'Naan for three days. Raven was disappointed that she would have to take a break from her research, but she also knew that she had been obsessing over the Borg, so she did not complain.

The next week and a half passed by exceedingly slow, from my point of view, but that was due to the constant reminders of Nagavi onboard. Not only did I have to wear my illusion ring any time that I stepped off the Fae Dragon, but it seemed that the Nagavi were drawn to Katye, Raven, and Echo more so than anyone else on Voyager. Every evening, all three would come back with traces of the Draklings' scent. L'Naan's bloodline was weak enough that it did not bother me much anymore, but theirs was significantly stronger, so every time I smelled it, I was ready to beat them all into submission for being so close to my women.

L'Naan had it worse than me, though. The Nagavi ignored me since my ring hid my bloodline, but she had gotten into two shouting matches with different Nagavi engineers, which would have come to blows if Raven had not been there to break up the argument. After that, she was confined to her quarters, though Janeway did give her permission to visit our ship, since she understood that it was not entirely her fault.

The fateful day of our away mission came, and the three of us boarded the shuttlecraft, leaving Voyager. Katye had made us meals for the next three days, since there was no replicator onboard, which were tucked away in Raven's storage ring along with mining equipment from Voyager, since the Nagavi had patrols that would pass by us every six hours. Janeway and I both agreed that we did not want them asking questions about my powers, so we would simply do things the old-fashioned way.

"We're finishing up our sweep of the asteroid field," Raven said, piloting the ship.

I opened my eyes, awakening from my meditation, then stood up and walked over. L'Naan tapped a couple of buttons and brought up a map of the star system on the center display.

"Most of the asteroids with M-class atmospheres within their tunnels have been picked clean, and those with some would likely compromise the environment inside. It looks like we'll have to use the exo-suits," L'Naan remarked.

"So, still happy that you joined us?" I chuckled.

"Better here than with the Nagavi, cocky petaQ," L'Naan spat.

"Tell me about it. It took all of my willpower to not beat the crap out of that prince with the way he would stare at Raven, Katye, and Echo during breakfast," I agreed.

"And nothing you did before we left might be the cause of it," Raven retorted.

I chuckled with a smirk and asked, changing the subject, "Anyways, have you found a region with a high concentration of the minerals?"

"Several; one of the larger ones is not too far away," Raven replied.

"Alright, then let's get to work. The sooner that we get this done, the less time we have to deal with the accommodations," I said.

It was a question that had always been in the back of my mind when I watched the show and the characters had spent a week in a shuttlecraft for a mission; how did they live inside that little ship? In the show, the inside of a shuttle only seemed to have two chairs at the main console which controlled the ship, and a bench lining both of the side walls between the two bulkheads. The bathroom, which was a stretch to even call it one, was a pop-out door and a toilet that closed off a small pocket between the back bulkhead, and the hatch doorframe. The two benches were softly padded, and had pillows and blankets stored in a cubby below, and could be curtained off with more things that were stowed away.

Raven's newest model of exo-suit could last a day in space without recharging, if the person was just floating. While Starfleet environmental suits could still last longer than hers, the additional perks outweighed the short time for a normal person, and the four of us could easily keep up with the drain as long as we were using low impulse sparingly and not using the shield. This meant that even L'Naan could help us mine, so we came up with a rotation that had at least one of us mining, and one person manning the Conn.

Mining an asteroid in space seems like an exciting activity, but laser drills and zero-g can only get you by so long before the reality of it would slap you across the face. It was boring to blast away the rock, hour after hour, under the guidance of the AI system in the headset. Thankfully, I had good company and it gave me time to catch up with Raven, even if most of what we talked about was her research on the Borg.

"The next time that Janeway asks us to go on a mining mission, I want both the use of my powers and our ship, or no dice," I complained as I woke up and stretched after a short nap.

"You really never lived on the Ark, did you?" Raven chuckled, pouring two cups of Spirit Wine.

"Nope, the closest I got were the few weeks that I lived with you in Arcadia," I replied and sat down next to her at the front of the shuttle.

She passed me a glass and chuckled, "Spoiled."

"Perhaps," I retorted with a smirk before taking a sip of my drink.

Raven tapped a button on the console and said, "L'Naan, Becca is up. Are you ready for dinner?"

"Sure," L'Naan agreed.

"Alright, energizing!"

The classic blue lights of the transporter appeared behind us with a few more buttons pressed by Raven. L'Naan was wearing an exo-suit and was carrying a large crate along with a laser drill. She placed them on the floor then pulled off her helmet while Raven placed a hand on the crate and pulled it into her storage ring, which had been a game changer since we did not have to store the minerals inside the cabin. I poured L'Naan a cup though she walked away to the curtained off area to change out of her suit since she could not use the storage ring like we could. My eyes followed her which did not go unnoticed by my first companion in my new life.

{Finally willing to admit that you want her?} Raven asked with a mental chuckle.

{I never denied that I wanted her, I only said that it didn't seem appropriate.} I retorted silently while sipping on my drink.

Raven chuckled and leaned back in her chair with a teasing smile. {Still feel that way?}

I rolled my eyes, but my smile was enough for her to understand me. It had been over seven months since Katye told me that L'Naan and Echo were hooking up and, while Raven and Katye had not joined in, that was more due to my discomfort with the idea of adding her to our group. Since then, I would see her at least three times a week, often sparring with her and Echo, or drinking and relaxing together. Needless to say, we had grown closer to each other, and she was much more than 'Klingon B'Elanna' to me, though she still had the good heart of the original character, even if her temper was worse.

We had our dinner and a few drinks, but that was about it. Afterwards, I put on my suit and teleported myself out of the shuttle, before I flew to the asteroid where L'Naan had been working. Nothing like mindless, tedious tasks to empty the mind... not. My thoughts kept drifting back to Raven's teasing remarks which plucked the right cords for me to not be able to let it go, worse yet, I could easily tell that it was intentional. Every woman I was with had given me permission, or had beaten me to 'doing the deed', so why was I fighting it at this point?

I ended up working throughout the night and into the next morning with Raven joining me after L'Naan had slept. We finished up early so we returned to the Voyager, and I called rank on the two of them so that I could take a shower while they delivered the minerals to Engineering. I was always a creature of comfort, long before I awoke my Dragon side, and nothing satisfied me more than a hot shower after a long period of work, before or after.

Resting my forehead against the far wall, I let the water, infused with Yang energy so that it was warm to me, spray on my back. I heard the door open, but thought nothing of it, as the steam had dulled my sense of smell. I turned my head when the door to the shower opened, but was surprised when L'Naan was the one walking in.

"Raven said that I could take a shower here," L'Naan said matter-of-factly.

"I'm sure that she did," I chuckled, looking over her naked body with no shame.

She was muscular due to her race and personal training, but there were still soft curves to be seen. Her breasts were larger than mine, and my other girls, though not by too much, and her hips were just the right size to hold on to if I was to take her from behind. Watching the thin rivers of water run down her copper-colored skin, I could not help but swallow hard as I felt my desire growing then huffed. Raven had obviously sent her to me, so why did I need to resist when everyone was okay with it?

Without warning, I grabbed her by the neck and pressed her up against the side wall while I said with a low growl, "This can end now, I'll leave and never cross this line with you again... but if I stay, that means you are part of us and, when we reach the Alpha Quadrant, you will follow wherever we decide to go, as a Vazukuru and bound to the four of us for the rest of your life. It's your choice."

L'Naan's response was to bite my jaw which, for a Klingon, meant that she wanted me. I did not need any more of an invitation, so I took her right in the shower, before heading to the bedroom where I pulled in Raven. While I would not hold her to this hasty promise, I wanted her to know what I expected out of this. I did not want some one-night stand; I wanted her by my side just like Katye, Raven, and Echo. She was the type that would risk her life without hesitation for those that she cared for, just like the four of us, and her loyalty was one thing that she would never compromise. If she was not a worthy companion for the dangers ahead, who was?