Not Every Episode is a Danger

Honesty is the best policy, a phrase from my old life. Back then, I tried to live by it, and no doubt that had a hand in why I had been painfully single. In this new life that Tori had granted me, lying had become second nature as it was how I had survived the beginning of my time in 'The 100', before I became strong enough to not rely on it. While I still had to lie and hide things, it was only about matters involving Tori and our backgrounds.

While this quality did not win me many favors with Janeway after my stunt, I had faith that she would understand with time, even if it was something that she would tell herself that she would not do. In the show, she literally murdered a person, Tuvix, so that Tuvok and Neelix could be separated and be returned to two different people instead of the unique whole that was Tuvix, which was one of the reasons why she was considered such a controversial captain by most people. When the Hirogen and Malon started popping up, she would realize that sometimes it was better to nip a problem in the bud before it could get any larger, especially if she still ends up giving the Hirogen the holo-deck technology.

Still, the important thing was that Janeway did not kick us off the ship, nor give us any form of disciplinary action. The news about Seska's escape and death, as well as Jonas's incarceration, made its way through the crew in a day. Since it was officially labelled as an accident, no one was upset with us, though Chakotay was a hard read on the matter.

The days kept passing and another episode popped up though the outcome was much different without any direct help from us. In the middle of the night, Ensign Lon Suder attacked L'Naan during their graveyard shift but, unlike Crewman Frank Darwin who he had murdered in the show, she broke his arm in three places while she only received a minor concussion before she called for security. Echo had been on a rare graveyard shift, so she had been the one to report for the call.

The Doctor treated both L'Naan and Suder before Suder was taken into custody. He did not fight the charges, but since he had only attacked her, not killed her, he was only stripped of his rank and confined to the Brig for thirty days then afterwards he would have a year restricted to his quarters when not on duty. Although he had redeemed himself on the show by helping them retake the Voyager, he had not undergone the mind meld with Tuvok which had been how he was finally able to tame the darkness within him, so only time would tell if he would attack someone again.

One good thing came out of it though, and that was that Echo and L'Naan had talked. She had been given three days off to rest, so Echo had insisted that she come by and have a meal with us. The night that she ended up choosing was also one that I had a graveyard shift on the Bridge, so I was only able to eat with them, but L'Naan seemed more relaxed around me than she had been the last time we had seen each other.

Another week passed and another episode popped up. I had been called to the Briefing Room along with the rest of the Senior Officers for B'Elanna to explain about a Cardassian missile, known as Dreadnought, that she had reprogrammed for the Maquis. They had sent it to attack the Cardassian fuel depot on Aschelan V, but it had disappeared in the Badlands, so it was easy to guess that it had been pulled to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker like the Voyager. Although Chakotay said that they launched the missile, in the show, B'Elanna had revealed that she had done it without asking for permission which was why she felt so responsible for the whole problem.

When B'Elanna explained her plan to shut down the missile with her command codes, I suggested that she also bring over Raven and L'Naan. If this computer was the most sophisticated computer system that she had ever seen and would keep on learning, then there were bound to be surprises that she might not expect I remarked through the discussion. While I was not Janeway's favorite person at the moment, I gave her a subtle look which she understood and agreed with my idea. She dismissed the rest of the officers after they finished coming up with a plan to track down the Dreadnought, but asked that I stay behind.

"Chiporofita?" Janeway asked.

"Yes, ma'am," I agreed with a nod. "B'Elanna would try to shut down the missile and seem to succeed, but once she returned to the Voyager, the Dreadnought would reactivate itself and continue on its mission, an M-class planet that is heavily populated which it has mistakenly identified. It would take B'Elanna more than a few attempts to finally get back onboard, but shutting it down from the inside is not an easy matter. The Voyager doesn't have the strength to destroy the missile, nor does the planet, so minutes before it hits the planet, you decide to use the Voyager to destroy it with a warp core breech. Luckily, B'Elanna manages to destroy the missile before you have to destroy the ship and only receives a few minor wounds, but I figured that we can skip the drama and try to tackle the issue without scaring an entire planet... I'll explain things to Raven and, while I'm going to forbid her from using her Soul-Construct, her other abilities will be a great asset for this mission, I believe."

She sighed and replied, "Thank you for your help with this matter then. You're dismissed."

I sighed internally and nodded my head as I stood up. She was still distant with me, but I knew that only time could fix things between us. I needed to prove that I was not a loose cannon and could follow her orders, which was easier said than done.

I left the room and made my way down to Engineering. B'Elanna and Tom were already working on reprogramming the sensors to detect the Dreadnought's warp trail, so I let them work and tracked down Raven, who was working at a console on the second floor. She noticed me walking up since she could sense my mana, so she gave me a surprised smile.

"Hey, what brings you here?" she asked.

I activated my Wind Domain to ensure that no one could overhear us and replied, "An episode. B'Elanna can fill you in on the details of the missile, but the important thing is that you need to ensure that the computer core is completely disabled, possibly even dismantle it. It's a very smart computer that would have tricked B'Elanna into believing that she had shut it down, so I don't think it would be wise to use your construct."

"It's going to be awhile before I feel comfortable using that again," she said with a sigh, looking down.

"Hey," I said gently, picking her chin up with a finger, "you're doing great. From what little the snippet of memory, that told me about what happened to you, also let me know, is that Soul-Constructs are a high-end Soul Power, more so than a Soul Beast even. I clearly still have problems controlling my power, so don't beat yourself up over it."

Raven gave me a soft smile, and I kissed her gently.

"You're still so sweet after all these years," she sighed happily.

"I need one redeeming quality," I chuckled.

"You have a couple of other ones too," she retorted with a smirk.

"Thanks. I'm going to head back to the Aeroponics Bay, but let me know if you are going to leave. Don't forget to bring your exo-suit, and maybe something for B'Elanna and L'Naan too in case the crazy computer shuts off life support. You know how to signal me if something goes wrong and you lose communication with the Voyager."

"I'll be careful," she promised.

I rubbed her cheek with my thumb before I left with a simple goodbye. Nothing that I was doing in the Aeroponics Bay was too important, but Raven might have had something to do, and Starfleet regulations frowned upon public displays of affection, so it was better for me to go quickly before I did anything else. A few hours later, Raven messaged me that L'Naan and she were heading over to the Dreadnought. There was only another two hours left of my shift, so once it was over, I headed up to the Bridge.

"Rebecca, is there something that I can do for you?" Chakotay asked as I walked into the room.

The Bridge Crew had changed, and aside from him, the rest were crewmen that would often work the graveyard shift when I was in command.

"I was just hoping to check up on B'Elanna's progress before I retired for the evening," I replied.

"No problem. She checked in half an hour ago and reported that they should need another three hours to dismantle the computer core," he answered.

"Thanks for letting me know," I said with a nod of my head before I turned around and headed back to the turbo lift.

While I could have asked through the comm system, I was wasting time to ensure that Katye and Echo would be onboard Fae when I got there. I might have forgotten to mention that I rearranged for Raven to be sent out on an away mission that involved an episode, but I needed to mention it in the briefing which meant that I could not ask for their opinions in the moment. Katye would likely be fine with it and understand, but Echo was bound to give me the stink eye for the rest of the night.

"Well, well, the 'Captain' has returned," Katye teased with a smirk as I walked up the stairs to the second floor.

"I guess that means you two have heard," I sighed.

"The rest of the ship isn't as isolated as Aeroponics," she chuckled, chopping some vegetables. "Sit and explain, and then we'll pass judgement on you."

I chuckled since I knew she was just messing with me. Even Echo was not glaring at me, so it seemed that she would hear me out at least. I sat down next to Echo at the kitchen island, and she passed me a glass of Spirit Wine.

"Thanks," I said then took a sip. "Like you've probably guessed, it's an episode. B'Elanna would be able to handle it on her own, but we would be risking a planet if it needed more than just her. As long as the three of them can shut down the computer core safely, which I told Raven before she left, things should be fairly easy."

"Isn't that what you said about the robot?" Echo asked.

I gave a wry smile and finished the cup. "Technically, it was. They did minimal damage to the Voyager and the only reason why you would have a little difficulty with the bots was that they are probably resistant to Ice. We could have even avoided the whole situation by not letting the robot be reactivated, but we agreed that she could learn something, and we all learned a lesson from the event."

"To put it mildly," Katye sighed.

"I checked in with Chakotay before I came here. B'Elanna reported that they should finish dismantling the computer core in another two and a half hours, and Raven hasn't used the Naru Darc mark to alert me to any problems."

"Sounds like you've tried to think of everything," Katye replied.

"Best that I can anyways. So, why aren't you giving me the death glare?" I asked, leaning onto Echo's shoulder for a moment.

Echo sighed and refilled our glasses. "As Katye has pointed out several times recently, you know this universe better than anyone else, and if you really believed that there was danger, you'd send yourself before any of us."

"That's true," I chuckled and then kissed her cheek. "Thanks; it means a lot to me that you are trusting my decisions. I know Katye is usually the one making our plans, and that won't change for big things, but sometimes, I'll need to push certain matters."

"Now that you are using your head more, I'm willing to put a little more faith into your ideas," she taunted.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I asked with a sour expression.

"Azgeda; if I hadn't come up with the idea of us being lovers, you would have completely ruined all of our plans for before Praimfaya," she retorted.

I chuckled since I could not really argue. A simple nightmare had frightened me enough to put a lot of things in jeopardy when we were acting as double agents in a hostile kingdom. Everything had turned out fine, but if it had not, it was her people that would lose the most, so she had never quite forgiven me.

"Things turned out well enough, I'd say," I replied as I traced my fingers up her inner thigh.

Echo did not bother to stop my hand, and instead reached up, grabbing my neck. "We could have saved time if we had not just pretended back then."

"Hey, you know the rules, no fooling around in my kitchen. The couches are right over there, you horny dragon and vixen," Katye complained.

Echo let go of me and I pulled my hand away as I chuckled, "I'd rather have you and Raven as well, so I can wait until later."

"Too bad," she breathed in my ear.

I growled lightly as she sent chills through my body, but that only made her smirk, having achieved her goal of riling me up. Katye shot her a warning glare since we were still in the 'kitchen area', which was enough to stop her for now. We had a few more drinks while Katye cooked and then we ate, saving a plate for Raven when she finally made it back.

Thankfully, she returned shortly after the window that Chakotay had mentioned. The Dreadnought had been towed into the Shuttle Bay which was pushing the limits of what the giant room could hold since it held our ship, Neelix's, Pedira's, and two Starfleet shuttlecrafts. Unlike the rest, though, the missile would be disassembled and harvested for spare parts that were compatible with the Voyager, so the space would get freed up in a week or two if the process kept within B'Elanna's schedule.

It was a little surprising, in a good way, that we had managed to go through two episodes without being pulled into too much drama. We had nearly two months where none of our little group stood out from the rest of the crew, so it was almost as if we were really fitting in. So, I should have known that something was going to come by and throw a permanent wrench into that, and it all started with a strange, erratically moving comet that we found far away from any solar system...