Chapter Text
Bustling with crew members moving from station to station, Main Engineering felt quiet. The usually beautiful moving blue warp drives in their inert state gathered shadows to the center of the room. An acrid stench of stale smoke lingered and the air pressed humidly around them. Without the engines running properly, the ship's usual ability to ventilate extra moisture lagged. They all had bigger priorities.
B'Elanna stalked purposefully from Assistant Chief Carey to the warp core consoles. Face drawn, the Lieutenant's jaw was set.
"Hello, Lieutenant."
Irritated at being interrupted and with a tight voice, the lieutenant replied, "I'm really busy right now." B'Elanna held a PADD and took readings from the console, clearly not bothering to look up at the Astrometrics officer. She continued, clearly annoyed "You know - with repairs from the last Borg attack?"
"I came to offer my assistance."
"Oh?" B'Elanna turned and immediately noticed Seven's calm demeanor and perfect hair, and in that moment, wanted nothing more than to see it disheveled, to pull it out of its flawless twist. How nice to be able to have time to perfect one's hair. B'Elanna sneered to herself because it helped block out her sense of smell - with the introduction of a new scent, she realized she'd gone nose-blind to the ever-present acrid stench of post-battle warp drive failure.
"I said that I have come to offer assistance, Lieute-"
"I know what you said. I'm just-" B'Elanna cut herself short, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she exhaled slowly. Is that bergamot? Trying to shut out Seven's scent was so maddening, sometimes. She redirected her thoughts to the engines, knowing the engines needed all the extra help they could get. She couldn't afford to be picky with who worked on them.
"Alright. You can help." Pressing her fingertips over her eyes, B'Elanna tried to maintain calm when her blood was singing for a fight. When the ship was under attack or going through repairs, she typically felt this way. Channeling the urge to fight into her work was one of the reasons she had been able to lead the engine room effectively. Not everyone had the urge to be in the middle of the action where working on the fly was necessary. B'Elanna thrived on it, blood chanting her through frustrations and to solutions, but she didn't thrive with annoying people around her. Taking another breath, refocusing her energy toward ship business, B'Elanna reviewed her mental to-do list. Seven's help would greatly boost 'efficiency'. This could work to the ship's benefit.
"I am working on the repair diagnostics of the warp core, currently" B'Elanna began. "I want you to go see Carey and make yourself available to whatever repairs he needs. I will be putting together a task list and assigning teams ASAP."
Seven nodded, turning to report to the Assistant Chief.
"One last thing, Seven." B'Elanna did her best to keep her face blank.
Seven turned with her practiced stoic mask.
"Thank you." A smile so brief flashed before B'Elanna turned back to her console.
"You're welcome," Seven replied.
Over the next few weeks, B'Elanna begrudgingly accepted Seven's presence and contributions. She had even asked Seven for help on certain small projects.
After one such invitation to assist with warp drive upgrades, Seven approached. Studiously reading a PADD and typing in configurations on the warp core panel, B'Elanna glanced up, the slightest quirk to her lips before a concentrated frown at the console.
"Hello, Lieutenant. Would you like me to report to Assistant Chief Carey?" Gaunt, the Chief Engineer nodded in greeting. It was obvious that the chief put in long hours, but her gaunt expression was more than the usual tiredness.
"No." B'Elanna continued reading the PADD, entering configurations with a serious expression.
"No?" Routine upturned, Seven waited and watched the lieutenant. The quiet surrounding the usual fiery woman was foreign, each enervated motion out of place when compared to a riled up B'Elanna Torres. Making a rapid visual assessment, she noted the engineer was thinner and paler since she last saw her a week previous.
B'Elanna turned, facing Seven and looking her directly in the eye. The dark irises narrowed and connected, penetrating through Seven's stoicism. For a moment, Seven felt a feather-light drag in her mind, as if her thoughts were being read by the smaller woman. An uncontrolled physiological sensation moved under her ribs. An illogical thought, she chided herself; B'Elanna Torres was human and Klingon - neither species known for significant telepathic abilities. She dismissed the illogical reaction, straightened her posture and lifted her chin, awaiting a response from the volatile engineer.
B'Elanna's eyebrow twitched up, her eyes softening into an amused expression. "No, Seven. I want your help with finishing up the final repairs and running diagnostics."
Seven nodded. "Indeed, Lieutenant. I am at your disposal."
"Good, follow me," B'Elanna replied shortly before shoving the PADD toward Seven and briskly walking to her office. Reading and listening, Seven followed closely as B'Elanna continued without pause, "Both Carey and I have reviewed the repairs and are looking to implement some new enhancements in the event there is another attack like this last time. I'm interested in fresh eyes on the designs. Specifically, your eyes."
B'Elanna pulled another two PADDs from her desk, read one, put it back down, scanned the next and held it out to Seven. She turned and ordered another raktajino despite the half-empty cup on the corner of the desk.
In the close quarters, Seven noted B'Elanna's sweat; the lieutenant must have been running throughout main engineering for the better part of the last twelve hours. Heavy and sharp, the scent indicated higher levels of stress. Taking note of this, Seven appreciated B'Elanna wanted her input. Reaching for the proffered PADD, she noticed B'Elanna's hands, rough and scratched, unlike the softer hands of Kathryn Janeway or Samantha Wildman. Hand on the PADD, Seven calculated the risk of offense and looked into to B'Elanna's drawn face.
"Lieutenant, you seem tired."
Had B'Elanna had the energy, she would have spent it being offended by Seven's blunt words. It was testamant to the officer's mental taxation, that she seemed to stop and consider. Shrugging behind the cup as if to agree, B'Elanna remained silent. A human behavior Seven had not quite mastered, shrugs seemed to have situational meaning where context and emotion were mostly understood without explanation. Shrugs were not a logical form of communication, but at times conveyed something a word or phrase could not.
After a drawn silence, B'Elanna responded "That's because I am tired. But right now, that's 'irrelevant'." The dark eyes softened as her lips molded around the rim of the cup. "We've got to get these repairs finished."
Seven knew they were close to getting the engines operational, but it all depended on how well the new schematic implementations worked. When one considered the bigger picture and how B'Elanna maintained engineering, it was obvious how much energy and "heart" B'Elanna put into her engines and work. In her own way, B'Elanna prioritized her collective. Seven raised her chin after reading the schematic. Another given was that while B'Elanna might be hotheaded, her mind worked in impressive ways.