The BLTS Archive- The First Smile
by Riss (usc_mam@yahoo.com)

---

Thanks to my beta readers Bridget & Sasscat!

Disclaimers: Paramount owns Star Trek.  This is fanfiction.  Nuf said.

Feedback and critiques warmly welcomed.

---

"You're late."

"Sorry, Seven,"  Tom said as he strolled through the Cargo Bay doors.
"A conduit blew in Engineering.  Joe and Sue had some minor burns that
Doc wanted me to stay and treat."

"You could have let me know," Seven said as she stepped down from her
alcove.

A huge smile appeared on Tom's face as she came into view.  Once again
she had replicated a new dress.  This time it was a late 20th century
design.  After racking his memory he finally decided it was called a
sun dress.  The front dipped a little lower than the blue one she had
worn to his quarters, and he was pretty sure the design would call for
the back to go even lower.  The flowers which decorated the dress were
a startling blue, setting off her eyes, the ivory background made her
skin glow.  While Seven could carry off the cat-suit, it was amazing
how much more beautiful and appealing she looked in a dress, sandals
and her hair down.

"You look wonderful!"  Seven's gaze dropped to the floor as he
continued the compliment.  "Your taste in clothes is outstanding."
Finally Tom's mind returned to the question she had asked earlier.
"Harry's still recovering from the Travien Flu he picked up last week.
He's isolated in Sickbay until tomorrow.  I didn't see the need to
create a scene," Tom said as his grin faded to a small, sad smile.

"Create a scene?" asked a perplexed Seven.

"To create a scene," Tom explained patiently, enjoying the chance to
teach her more slang, "refers to something similar to last week in the
Mess Hall."

"So Ensign Kim's screaming at you during breakfast and futile attempt
to beat you up can be referred to as creating a scene."

"I wasn't quite so confident in my fighting skills.  Harry was mad
when you ignored him and joined me for breakfast."

"It was a futile attempt due to Lieutenant Commander Tuvok's presence
and his ability to swiftly terminate the altercation."

"You're doing a great job at assimilating humor," Tom managed to get
out in between gasps of laughter.  While Seven didn't join him in
laughing, her lips turned up into what Tom was certain was a smile.
The sight of it sobered him.

Only a few feet separated them and Tom closed the distance in seconds.
Hesitantly he reached out his hand and caressed her cheek next to the
smile which was lighting up her face.

For a moment she didn't even breathe.  Tom was afraid he'd done
something wrong, but she was so beautiful.  Finally Seven caught Tom's
eyes.  He could see the confusion being overwhelmed by desire. The
confusion which had briefly appeared on her face quickly disappeared
as the smile returned.  His own expression lit up as he marveled at
how much he liked seeing that expression.

As he looked into her eyes Tom realized just how much his feelings had
changed in the last week.  One week ago he had another case of
insomnia, sitting in the Mess Hall bemoaning how he liked B'Elanna and
she wouldn't even talk to him anymore.  When Seven had come in, it
took a moment for him to even extend the offer to join him.  As he
lost himself in the blue depths of her eyes he realized just how close
he'd come to missing out on this moment.  Only the look in her eyes
that resembled his own first days on Voyager reminded him of his offer
of friendship.

Finally Tom lowered his hand and captured hers within it.  "Ready to
go?" he said as he started to gently lead her towards the doors. Tom
reflected on the need to move slowly combating with his desire to draw
her into his arms and never let her go.  The thought which had put the
brakes on him a few moments ago had been the idea that the longer he
could wait, the more likely she would be able to understand and return
his feelings.

"The blue shirt you are wearing complements the color of your eyes."

"Thanks, Seven," Tom said with some surprise.

"The database indicated that giving complements creates a pleasurable
feeling in the recipient."  Seven paused for a moment as she tried to
decipher the feelings flowing through her at his appreciative smile.
As they stepped onto the turbolift the confusion left her face.  "Deck
4."

"Great," Tom interjected with a grin, "I'm the recipient of another
database lesson."

"Additionally the color incites an illogical yet pleasant hormonal
response which increased my heart rate and respiration."

Once again Tom reached out his hand to touch her face, but this time
instead of a simple caress he drew her face towards his for a kiss.
It was a gentle, almost chaste kiss except for the feelings that both
parties poured into pressure applied to the partner's lips.

"So that's why Ensign Kim threw a fit in the Mess Hall and ended up
spending a day in the brig last week," broke in Captain Janeway's
voice.

Tom and Seven slowly separated from the kiss.  "Sorry, Captain," Tom
answered without ever taking his eyes from where they were locked in
Seven's own piercing stare.  "I know, private quarters not public
spaces."

As they moved past Janeway and towards the holodeck, Tom once again
captured Seven's hand in his.  As she watched them walk past,
Janeway's attention was caught by the contrast between his human hand
and her Borg enhanced one laced together.  The metal curling around
his fingers served to remind her of Seven's unique situation on
Voyager and just how much of her humanity she had yet to rediscover.

"Lieutenant, may I speak with you for a moment?"

"Certainly," Tom said as he turned to face her.

"In private," she said as she walked past them towards the holodeck.
With a raised brow that Seven must have assimilated from Tuvok, she
released his hand.  A small, apologetic smile crossed Tom's features
as he followed Janeway into the unoccupied holodeck.

Rather than say anything after the doors closed on the bare holodeck,
Janeway began to pace.  After a moment of watching her circle the
room, Tom grew restless.  "Is something wrong, Captain?"

"I am concerned about your behavior," she answered without looking at
him.  "Seven of Nine has only just begun to discover her humanity. She
has only lived five years of her life outside the collective.  She
needs to rediscover her humanity..."

"I understand that."

"She does not," Janeway continued without pausing to acknowledge the
interruption, "need to jump over years of development.  She does not
need you taking advantage of her," she finished, finally meeting his
glaze.

"I'm not," Tom returned evenly.

"What was just going on?"  Janeway held up her hand to stop him before
he could even try to interrupt.  "Sleeping with her is not acceptable
behavior!"

Tom finally began to lose his cool as he answered her.  "Contrary to
popular belief, I do not sleep with every member of the female
persuasion, nor the rest of the ship either if some of the rumors are
actually believed.  As a matter of fact, I've turned Seven down
because I realize she's not ready.  I'm her friend.  Maybe, one day it
will be more.  I'm beginning to like the idea of that, but I'm just
here as a friend, something that she needs right now."

Janeway's shoulders relaxed slightly with his admission that they
hadn't had sex, however she wasn't completely calm yet.  "Then what
did I just witness in the turbolift?"

"A week ago Seven come to me and we started discussing various things,
from Earth to human interactions."

"Why did she come to you?  I've been trying to help her to understand
her humanity."

"Why me?  Because I made her an offer of friendship when no one else
on this ship will see her as anything else besides a former Borg. Why
not you?  I think you intimidate Seven..."

"Captain, you treat me as a child while Lieutenant Paris interacts
with me as a colleague and a friend," Seven said from the doorway.

"Remind me to explain discretion to you later, Seven," Tom said as he
tossed a smile at her.

"Our holodeck time has already begun," Seven said by way of
explanation.  "Not using the hologrid is an inefficient expenditure of
time."

For a moment Janeway observed the silent interaction between the two.
She was amazed at the range of emotions which passed across Seven's
face as she walked over to Tom.  The small smile that appeared on her
face along with the emotions reflected in her eyes illustrated the
wonderful job Tom had been doing with her.  She clearly felt much more
than friendship, which seemed to be reflected in Tom's eyes as well.

As Janeway discreetly left them alone on the holodeck her thoughts
turned to a related subject.  Exactly how was she going to keep her
chief engineer from killing her helmsman when she realized that he was
in love with someone else.

---

The End