Greetings from The Lady Mage! Welcome to Chapter One of Happenstance! I was watching Natural Law again the other day for a DIFFERENT idea I haven't typed up yet, and I wondered what would have or could have happened if Chakotay and Seven HADN'T gone together to Ledos- but to somewhere else completely? Well, here's one idea, anyway! Thanks so much to Scifiromance for letting me tell her a story and being an awesome sounding board! You make all the difference, chica! XOXO

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing!

~LM

Obligatory Legalities: I do not own the characters or the ship names, but this plot is mine.

XXX

Happenstance: noun: 1. A chance happening or event. 2. Coincidence.

XXX

Cold.

Wet.

Dark.

Consciousness was slow to return to her, teasing her with the temptation of awareness. Something was cold and wet down her back, soaking into her biosuit and seemingly into her skin beneath it. Whether it was dark or light she wasn't sure- were her eyes even open? Somewhere to her side was a quiet trickling sound, like a faucet left dripping. The sound and the cold and the wet finally came together in her mind enough to slowly begin rousing her. She lifted a wet hand up and rubbed it down her face, feeling along her ocular implant and then her starburst, for a disorienting second or two expecting to feel an eyepiece and the auditory transceiver that used to cover her ear.

Blinking her eyes open did little for her. Wherever she was, light wasn't. There wasn't one stray lumin anywhere to help her cybernetic eye make out shapes in the complete dark. Reaching her hands out in front of her to get her bearings, they quickly came in contact with something cold and smooth above her. With a frown, she felt out to either side of her. Similarly, something metallic and cold flanked her. Her heart rate began to speed up. She lifted her cybernetic leg and kicked out below her. More metal. A raised arm over her head also hit a barrier. She was completely boxed in. Old anxieties, pushed to the far corners of her mind, began to bleed back to the forefront. She was alone- totally alone, secluded, isolated, left...lost.

And it was dark.

A rush of panic bloomed across her head, colder than the liquid pooled beneath her, washing icy black rivers down her spine, flowing into cold-numbed fingertips and toes, coming back together to coil into a ball of writhing nausea in her belly, and choking her breath off in her throat. She swung her arms out, beating against the walls on either side of her, pulling her legs up to kick at the ceiling above her, rolling over and feeling along the walls for any sign of defect- any viable means of escape. Hyperventilating and choking on the meager contents left in her stomach that were trying to flee the snake of anxiety inside her, she heard the wall to her right groan. She turned on her side and drew her knees up to her chest, then pushed against the wall with all her might.

'Out! Out! Let me out!'

With a sharp bark of noise, the screech of metal rubbing against metal, and the loud crash of whatever it was boxing her in toppling over, light poured over her. The glow shining from the emergency lights was meager, but she drank it in like she was dying of thirst for it, scrambling out of the hole she'd been buried in. She was in the back of the shuttle, half submerged and flooded, now perched on the edge of the row of footlockers that had trapped her beneath the long bench she must have been flung under in the crash. Ragged, croaking breaths shook her frame as much as the cold as she struggled to control her breathing and quell the slithering serpent trying to empty her insides.

'What.. happened..?' With an audible gulp, she turned to take in the destruction around her. Part of the hull was ripped open, a jagged scar big enough to stick her arm through that ran across the top of the shuttle from one side to the other, let in a little light from whatever moon circled the planet at night, though no stars could be seen. The lockers that had been attached to the walls had been ripped free, spilling their contents across the compartment, half of which were now floating in the two feet of water on the starboard side. She let out one last sigh, her breath puffing out in a cloud of steam in the cold air. Wherever they were, at least the air was breathable.

A strangled groan sounded from the open, broken door to the cockpit, startling her so deeply that she jerked around to focus her attention on the pitch black of the room ahead of her. 'Chakotay.' her mind filled in for her, urging her to move. 'Not alone..' She scrambled from the edge of the lockers up to the cockpit doors. Her eyes strained to pull in enough illumination to show her the contents of the room, but there just wasn't enough. With a groan of impatience, she turned back to the wreckage behind her and began to shove the footlockers over to give her access to their doors.

It wasn't until she managed to rip open the third door that she found a small emergency lantern. She yanked the small silver item out of the broken footlocker door, catching her hand on a particularly jagged bit of metal. Her sigh of relief became a hiss of pain as blood began to dribble down the back of her hand, coating her fingers and running across the lantern they held. An old, mumbled curse- its language of origin or species of origin either long forgotten or simply deemed irrelevant- slipped past her lips as she examined the long cut.

Another pained sound came from the cockpit. Clapping her uninjured hand over the cut to stem the flow of blood, she hurried back into the cockpit to inspect the damage. Flipping the switch on the lantern with her thumb of her injured hand revealed as much wreckage as in the aft. Whatever was attached to the walls had either come open or flown off completely. In the middle of the mess lay Chakotay, his right leg and arm laying at odd angles.

Seven knelt at his side, reaching out and gently turning his face up for inspection. He had a cut across his forehead that extended down across the bridge of his nose before curling back like a fish hook and ending at the peak of his cupid's bow. The wound was shallow, superficial, and already scabbing over. His arm and leg, though, were obviously broken. She hoped that nothing else was.

Chakotay's brow furrowed, his head turning back the way it had been as his eyes blinked open. With a grunt of pain, he tried to lean up.

"Don't move." Seven said, her voice a hoarse whisper, as she gently held him down.

"Seven?" he groaned, turning his head to blink up at her, his eyes not totally focused. "We.."

"We crashed.. Somewhere.." she said. She coughed to clear her throat before continuing. "The shuttle is.. a lost cause. We are stranded."

"I managed.." he grunted, bringing his good arm up to place his hand over her's on his chest. "..to launch a.. beacon. Are we.. in the.. singularity?" His eyes finally focused in the dark, zeroing in on her face.

"I do not know." Seven whispered, looking out the windscreen. It was too dark to make out anything of significance- water ahead, a forest across, maybe?

"Are you okay? You're.. crying."

She yanked her hands back from him, rubbing them down her wet cheeks, erasing the last evidence of her panic attack. "We are in water. It must have splashed on my face when I was retrieving this lantern."

He decided to let that one slide. "You didn't happen to find a med kit.. while you were looking.." His whole body tensed as he tried to move his injured arm, eyes squeezing shut as he let out a grunt of pain through clenched teeth. "Yep- that's broken."

"Quite." she agreed, turning back to the aft. "I'll find a med kit." She stalked back down to the footlockers, trying to keep from shivering in the cold, and began to rummage.

"Do you know where we are?" Chakotay called after her, another hiss of pain just audible as he shifted. "Or where we landed?"

"No." she answered simply, fishing her hand down into the black depths of the last locker, and coming back empty-handed. With an annoyed sigh, she moved forward to slosh through the cold water to the line of compartments shoved up against the closed hatch. "I've only been conscious for about twenty minutes."

She heard him let out an irritated sigh. "Lovely. At least we are alive."

XXX

"It's a four day conference." Seven could feel the muscle tightening in her jaw as the Doctor walked a circle around her. "The subject of which is Warp Field Dynamics."

The Doctor stopped in front of her, an incredulous look on his face. "And you would rather go on an away mission to take readings on a nebula than attend? Seven, you'd be the star of the conference! Think of how much more knowledge of the subject material you would have over-"

"I would be required to perform a presentation on the specifics of Voyager's warp core. I felt it would be more appropriate for Lieutenant Torres to attend as she is the Chief Engineer."

"Oh, Seven," said the Doctor, crossing his arms and bringing one hand up to cup his chin. "We both know that you are just as familiar with all the ins and outs of Voyager's systems than she is." He blew out a holographic breath. "Something is bothering you, isn't it."

Seven scowled, not quite meeting his eyes. "Of course not. If I did not go on this mission, then Lieutenant Paris would be going in my stead, and he would be away from his pregnant wife for a week. It would be more prudent that he accompany her than to be away from her for so long in her condition."

A not quite so convinced twinkle appeared in the Doctor's brown eyes. "So it was your human compassion that brought you to this course of action... and not a little bit of stage fright at having to make a speech in front of all those people...?"

Her emotionless mask wavered for a second. "While I admit that I do not.. relish.. the idea of speaking in front of so many people, I do find this particular nebula interesting.. and worthy of inspection.." Her eyes flicked to his, then back to the glass separating sickbay from the office.

"I see." he said, cutting her a break and letting it go. He turned back to his tray of instruments to begin her physical, lifting the medical tricorder into one holographic hand. "And who will you be accompanying on this mission?"

"..Commander Chakotay." The Doctor fumbled the tricorder, bouncing it off his knee but missing it with his other hand. Seven's enhanced arm shot out, plucking the medical instrument from the air and holding it out to him. "Doctor?"

Voyager's trusty EMH turned back to face her, gently taking his tricorder from her hand with a slight frown. "I'm sorry, Seven, but I cannot clear you for this mission."

The blonde ex-drone caught her jaw before it could pop open. "Why?" she asked, a million scenarios going through her head. Was it her coritcal node again? Did he see something wrong with her that she didn't? Lieutenant Torres would be so upset with her that Tom would have to leave, and the animosity that had relaxed away from their interactions as of late would be back in full force now. Tom would be irritated to lose on his shore leave with his wife- would that hang over their heads every time she must work with him on navigational issues? The Captain would be ecstatic that Seven could represent them at the conference- whether Seven wanted to go or not. The conference! She would have to make a long speech in front of an excess of seven thousand people from Ledos all the way back to Gerilus Prime! Her jaw clenched.

"Seven, we both know what happened the last time," The Doctor began quietly, his eyes softening with worry as he watched the scant emotions flit over Seven's face at his refusal. "-that you were alone with Chakotay- even a holographic Chakotay. Your cortical node couldn't handle another relapse, and-"

Seven nearly stamped her foot, instantly irritated. "You think that I am going on this away mission to be alone with-"

"No! No!" the Doctor cut her off, "But you will be in close quarters with him, and we don't know if that will affect your failsafe or not." He shook his head. "If it triggers, and you aren't on Voyager where I can help you-"

"Irrelevant! I am in complete control of-"

"No, you're not." The Doctor turned back to the tray and set the tricorder on it. He wouldn't need to carry out an away mission physical today. "I'm afraid that if you don't allow me to remove the failsafe device then I will have to report to the Captain that you are unfit to make this away mission, and you will have to be reassigned to Ledos."

"Doctor-"

"That's the deal, Seven." he glanced at her over his shoulder. There was no missing the touch of worry in her eyes. He turned back, taking her forearms in his hands in a reassuring gesture. "I've been studying the programming in your failsafe in more detail lately, hoping you would eventually come to a change of heart. I believe I can totally reconfigure the micro-circuitry in a single procedure that would only last an hour. Your recovery would be just as fast- you'd wake up after an hour refreshed and ready to go."

"But burdened with human emotions!" argued the blonde, a scowl drawing her brows down.

"Yes, the full range- everything from a hearty belly laugh to a good cry- but I'd hardly call it a burden." he said with a reassuring smile. "We aren't changing your personality, Seven. You will still be you- in fact, you will be the you that you would have been if Icheb had never had to donate his node."

Seven sighed, relaxing somewhat. "You are.. sure?"

"I am certain." affirmed the Doctor. "Trust me- your personality is too strong for a little bit of circuitry to tamp down."

Which was the lesser of two evils? Seven's frown temporarily deepened. "When would you be able to perform the surgery?"

"Today, if you like. You don't leave until tomorrow afternoon, so that gives you ample time to recover and regenerate." He smiled. "Is that a yes?"

Another heavy sigh blew out her nose as she gave him one nod. "Yes."

XXX

When Seven walked into the shuttle bay the next afternoon- her bag slung over one shoulder and her small case with her portable regeneration unit and power panel in one hand- she was in a good mood. In fact, she couldn't remember when she had felt this.. at ease before. To quote Lieutenant Paris, she had a definite spring in her step today. She had finished a twelve hour regeneration cycle that morning after her visit with the Doctor, changed into her favorite blue biosuit, and had thoroughly enjoyed the plate of chadrikab and egg substitute that Neelix had set before her in the mess hall. Crewman Celes had been awaiting her instructions for the astrometrics lab for the duration of her absence, and had been especially self-assured in her ability to perform them. Of course, the fact that Harry Kim had been in there to offer his assistance helped the young Bajoran. All the better, as far as Seven was concerned.

With her good mood, she quickly packed her things into the storage locker on the shuttle they would be taking to study the nebula, and began going over the pre-launch checks while she waited for the Commander to join her to begin their mission. Her fingers danced across the consoles as she flit from one to the other, doing to work of three people as she prepared the shuttle, all with a slight smile on her face. Maybe this away mission would be a good one.

When Chakotay walked into the shuttle bay the next afternoon- his hastily packed bag slung over his shoulder, and a small overnight bag in one hand- he was in a tense mood. In fact, he couldn't remember when he had felt this.. pensive before. To quote Lieutenant Paris, he was definitely on tenterhooks today. His morning hadn't been bad- in fact, he'd slept well, had time to quickly throw his bag together, and had enjoyed a cup of tea with a delicious plate of replicated eggs and waffles for breakfast. Lieutenant Tuvok had been his cordial Vulcan self when given the duty rosters for the week he would be gone, and had even wished him well. Of course, he had already made up the schedule himself- all Tuvok would have to do would be to see it implemented. All the better, as far as the commander was concerned.

Still a touch anxious, he quickly walked up towards the hatch to the tiny aft compartment of the shuttle. As he got closer, he paused, his ears picking up a new sound. The sound was soft, melodic, and he instantly recognized to tune as one of his favorites. With a curious smile, he rounded the open hatch and peered into the open shuttle.

Seven was sitting at the helm, her attention on the lit console before her as she ran the pre-launch checks. Her foot slowly tapped out a rhythm as she softly hummed her tune. Chakotay paused to watch her for a moment, taking in the relaxed posture as she sat, the soft smile playing at her lips as she continued the melody he had heard all his young life from the musical jewelry box his mother had coveted. He hadn't really meant to be silent as he walked up the ramp- merely to be quiet to hear her perfect-pitch humming. None the less, when he slid his bag down off his shoulder to tuck into the storage locker, Seven gasped and whipped around in her chair.

"You're in a good mood I see." Chakotay said, his smile widening on his face.

The blonde's face drew into a confused scowl, her nose scrunching. "Commander?"

The Commander's grin turned into a smirk as he chuckled. He really had snuck up on her. "You were humming. I like that tune. Schumann?"

Seven jolted, spinning back around to the console so that she no longer faced Chakotay, feeling the blush begin to draw up her neck to flame her cheeks. How could she not realize she was humming the song that the Commander's holographic double had asked her to play for him so many weeks ago? "I'm sorry, Commander, I didn't realize."

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" he chuckled again at her reaction. Was she embarrassed at having been caught humming? "It's one of my favorites. We can listen to it when we take off if you like." She made a soft strangled sound in her throat that he just barely caught. 'Curious.' A large portion of the tension he had felt about this mission had been in his partner for the trip. He wasn't sure why he had started trying to reach out to the ex-drone a few months ago- asking her to accompany him to Neelix's cooking class, an invitation to join him and the other bridge crew members to Sandrine's here and there, a turned down challenge at hoverball on the holodeck- but she had for a while been slowly responding to it. Once in a while he could pluck a half-smile from her lips, or catch a softening twinkle in her bright blue eyes.

That is, until about a month back when they had been stuck traversing that subspace munitions range. Tempers had flared all over the ship that week as they tried to navigate through all the warheads that were unknowingly being sent their way, and though he personally had not taken his out on Seven in any way, she had withdrawn from him. Where before he could have spoken to her in the astrometrics lab for a good twenty minutes when he went after the daily report, now she unofficially turned him out the door within five. Sometimes she looked stricken when she first saw him, like a wounded dog looks at the master that beat him. He didn't understand why, but hadn't done much lately to broach the chasm of space between them.

Seeing her smiling as she hummed to herself had lifted his spirits. Perhaps this wouldn't be an awkwardly silent trip where he struggled to reach her and she struggled to avoid him in quarters as small as a bedroom for seven days. Maybe this was just what he needed to bridge that gap.

Chakotay took a seat at tactical, looking over the statistics scrolling across the screen from Seven's previous work. He glanced over at the blonde in time to catch her glance back at him. She quickly swiveled back to the console beside her, though he could see from the words on his screen that she had already prepared it for flight. "So.." he began casually, watching her a little closer. "Where did you hear that tune?"

"..Commander?"

"Schumann. I thought you were more of a.. Listz fan."

Any hope she had of her blush going away was dashed as flashes of her time spent in the holodeck scrolled through her head- her sitting at the piano with the holographic version of Chakotay, preparing dinner with him chopping vegetables under her watchful eye. "I.." she began, clearing her throat so that her mortification didn't show in her voice. "I must have heard it in sickbay. The Doctor listens to more than just opera now and then."

"Oh, he does?" Chakotay gently prompted. "I've never heard him play this particular piece befo-"

"You're both here early?" Kathryn appeared at the hatch, arms crossed but with an amused smile on her face as she walked into the aft. "And already finishing up the pre-flights?" She pretended to be stern. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were just itching to get off my ship!"

B'Elanna was right behind her, looking down at the storage locker with a laugh. Seven's two cases were settled neatly in their cubby; Chakotay's two bags were squashed together and sideways, the strap to his overnight bag hanging out to dangle above the floor. "You packed light, I see." she said to Chakotay. "I bet one of those is full of PADDs."

The commander chuckled with a nod. "You know me too well. I've got the Doctor's holocamera, too. He begged me to take a couple of shots of the nebula for his next slideshow."

"We didn't interrupt anything, did we?" Kathryn asked with a smile.

"Oh, no, Captain." said Chakotay. "I was just asking Seven where she had heard a-"

Seven spun around her chair, shooting up to stand beside her pseudo-mother. "Captain, how are you?"

Kathryn was a little taken aback at the abruptness of her pupil, but also quite pleased. It looked like the Doctor's social lessons were paying off. She smiled at Seven, reaching out and patting her arm. "I'm just fine, Seven. Thank you for asking."

"You are welcome, Captain." said Seven. She turned her eyes to B'Elanna. "Lieutenant, I hope you are well."

B'Elanna cracked a half smile, coming up to stand behind Chakotay's chair across from where Seven stood. "Well, besides the fact that you stuck me with making a speech in front of seven thousand people at the conference you backed out of.."

The blonde blanched, stopping herself from backing up a step. She could not stop her human hand from coming up to clutch across her belly in the instant anxiety that washed over her like ice water. Recently, she had began enjoying the lessening tension that seemed to sit between herself and the half-Klingon- their interactions leaning more towards a mutual respect or maybe budding friendship over the last several months. "Lieutenant, that was not my intentio-"

The half-Klingon cracked a bigger smile, reaching out and putting her hand over Seven's pale forearm. "Calm down, Seven. I was only kidding." she said gently. "Actually, I'm great. Since you traded places with Tom, he and I get to spend four days together on Ledos. The speech is a small price to pay for that!" A happy chuckle left her lips. "I could just about kiss you for it.. but I think I'll just hug you instead." And with that, she tugged Seven closer to her, drawing her in for a brief friendly squeeze.

Seven awkwardly pat B'Elanna's back before the pregnant woman would release her, and then she made for the seat by the helm before anyone else could decide to follow the half-Klingon's example. The Doctor had explained that her emotions would come back to her slowly, and that she may bumble a little more than usual as she became used to how they affected her. In that moment, she thought him very wrong as pins and needles pricked the backs of her eyes. She blinked hard to ensure her lacrimal glands did not betray her. Why should B'Elanna giving her a hug make her cry? She had not injured her, nor had she said anything to hurt Seven's feelings. She supposed it was something she would have to figure out later- alone.

Before anyone else could speak, Tom decided to make an appearance, walking up the hatch to stand beside B'Elanna. "There you are." he said to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "You're not abandoning me for this nebula, are you?"

"Of course not." answered B'Elanna. "Just seeing Chakotay and Seven off."

"Oh, right." said Tom, turning his attention to the blonde ex-drone. "Hey, thanks for trading me places, Sister." He glanced at Chakotay. "Not that we wouldn't have had fun, too, Chief."

"Nah, go enjoy your babymoon." laughed the Commander. Kathryn chuckled behind her hand.

Seven raised one eyebrow. "Babymoon?"

"Think of it as a last hurrah before the baby is born." explained Kathryn. "Life changes quite a bit once you add children to it."

"Oh." was all Seven could manage, turning back to the console.

"Anyway," said the Captain. "We had better let you go. That nebula won't observe itself."

XXX

"We should be coming up on the nebula any second now." Chakotay said, dialing the last couple of commands into the helm to turn them so many degrees starboard. Suddenly, through the windscreen, the swirling purple, pink, and orange nebula began to come into view. "..Right there."

Seven's eyes widened from the opps, her lips parting slightly as she took in the mesmerizing sight. "It is.." she murmured quietly, "Beautiful."

A little surprised by the unusual comment, Chakotay glanced back at the blonde. Her whole body was rigid but relaxed, her facial expression a mixture of surprise and awe. Her eyes wide and bright, and the corners of her mouth had turned up in a pleased smile. "Si, Seven." he agreed, committing her expression to memory. Her azure orbs flicked from the nebula to his face, then down to her console shyly as a blush pinkened her cheeks. He smirked, turning back to his own console. "Readings?"

"Typical levels of both hydrogen and helium." she reported quietly. "It is most definitely a supernova remnant caused by a white dwarf." She glanced up out of the windscreen again. "There is another star on the other side of the nebula- that is likely the source of accretion. It should reach critical mass within another thousand years."

"Shockwave?"

"Gone." Seven pulled up another set of calculations. "Going by the rate of speed.. I would say that this nebula is roughly thirty-five thousand years old. The gas and residual debris are no longer moving outward. Save for a few sluggish chemical reactions in the cloud, it is mostly inert."

"Moving forward then." said Chakotay, tapping in another series of commands before flipping the shuttle onto autopilot. "Set your scanners to run continuously just in case, then let's get some lunch."

"Yes, Commander."

Chakotay rolled his eyes. "Chakotay." he corrected, his voice a touch sing-song. He'd corrected her at least a dozen times over the past two days, his success rate at having her drop rank still hit or miss. "It is only you and I on this shuttle." He caught her blush again and smiled as he walked to her station. "Do you think I'm so old that I will forget my own rank?"

Seven paled. "What? No! I-"

His hand shot out, his palm cupping over the metal-laced hand on the console, thumb brushing the back of her knuckles. "Seven, I'm only teasing." he said with a chuckle. "It's okay." Her face went from pale to pink as she blushed again, turning her head and body to flee, slipping into the aft. He was beginning to like a bit of pink to her cheeks, he thought to himself as he followed.

They had just been finishing up the mushroom soup and cheese sandwiches she had replicated for them, sitting together on the bench as they ate in comfortable silence, when the sensors began pinging. Seven lifted one eyebrow curiously, setting her plate and bowl to the side before hopping up into the cockpit. Chakotay followed her shortly after, placing their dishes in the recycler on his way back up front.

"What is it?" he asked, taking his place back at helm.

"There's.. some kind of radiation." Seven's fingers were nearly a blur across her console keys. "Something is happening inside the nebula."

"Radiation?" he glanced back at her face, but she was looking past him out of the windscreen, her eyes as large as dinner plates and skin gone ashen. He whipped back around in time to see a bright purple shockwave spreading out of the nebula, and heading right for them. "Shields!" The console beside him popped loudly, showering sparks across his body as the wave reached them. "Damnit! Sensors?!"

"I am attempting to-" Seven was thrown from her chair as the shuttle shook and shivered, cresting a wave of radiation that tossed them around like a toy sailboat at sea. The blonde sprawled across the floor, her momentum rolling her hard against the far bulkhead. A loud, pained grunt was pushed past her lips as her head impacted.

"Seven?!" the Commander left his console to check on the injured blonde, grabbing her arm and rolling her onto her back. The side of her face was bloody from a cut above her cybernetic eye. "Seven?" The ex-drone let out a soft groan; the commander gently pat her cheek to rouse her. "Seven, wake up!" Another soft pained sound came from the blonde's throat before her eyes fluttered open. "Come on."

"..Sensors.." Seven sat up, nearly climbing over him to get back to her station. "Radiation from the nebula is disrupting the sensors!" Her fingers flew across the console as Chakotay scrambled to her side, crouched on his knees beside her to see the readings she was studying on the screen. She pulled up another set of scans.

"Can we get out of here?"

"We have no warp drive, and no port nacelle. Thrusters are functional, but at a minimum."

"What the hell kind of radiation is that nebula throwing out at us?" asked Chakotay, looking up at the windscreen and the pulsing purple and pink gas cloud ahead and to the right of them.

"The radiation is not like any on record." reported Seven. Another wave of energy from the nebula hit their shuttle, forcing it to turn about, and rolling it to the side. Were it not for Chakotay grabbing her chair on either side of her waist, they both would have tumbled to the floor.

"Are you okay?" Chakotay asked when the shuttle stabilized. The blonde was definitely a shade or more paler than she had been a half hour ago. His own stomach was doing flip-flops in his belly. He hoped it was from the turbulence and not radiation poisoning, but he doubted he was that lucky. There was no doubt in his mind that the radiation hadn't just washed through the shuttle like water through a sieve.

"..I am mostly undamaged."

Between themselves and the nebula, a rift in space began to open, like a zipper being pulled. Light began to spill out, illuminating the dust and debris on the edge of the nebula's cloud as the rift began to churn and swirl like a vortex. Someone had pulled the plug on the universe ahead of them, and it was swirling down the drain like old bathwater. If it wasn't so totally terrifying, it would have been beautiful- the purple light shining out and the green and pink and orange swirling around the opening of the singularity separating regular space from whatever was inside. Hell, he wasn't even sure it was a singularity- he'd only seen a handful of them ever before, two of which had been created by the blonde sitting white knuckled beside him. His lungs began to burn, and he realized he had been holding his breath. With a gulp of air, he asked, "What is it?"

"It.." Seven's voice was shaky and weak- most likely from the effects of the radiation. "It is a.. gravimetric shear.. emitting a strong.. gravitational pull."

"A shear?" Chakotay shook his head. "That's not a shear."

"Tell that to the sensors, Chakotay." Seven deadpanned, gulping and swallowing before the bile rising up her esophagus decided to meet the console in front of her. "Planet inside.. M-Class." Despite her will, getting sick was inevitable. The blonde turned, dashing back to the aft compartment before she painted the cockpit.

Chakotay took over her station, looking down at the readings streaming across it. "..We can't escape the pull." he said more to himself than anything. He glanced back up at the anomaly drawing them in. They were far enough away that he could maybe send out a beacon. Quickly, he set to work, recording a short message for Voyager along with attaching their sensor data. Another wave of nausea crashed against him. If not for already being sitting, his legs would have given out on him. Finally finished, and feeling the world around him start to edge in black, he pushed the button. "..Sev.. Seven..?" A soft moan was all the answer he received. 'At least she was alive.' he thought, and the world went black.

XXX

They really should have went to Ledos...

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~LM