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"Alright everyone, dismissed." Janeway said to the room of senior staff. There was a vague grumble of 'yes ma'ams' thrown at her as the flurry of black, yellow and red uniforms left the conference room. She watched as B'Elanna held her arm out to let Seven go first, making her smile internally. They've come a long way, those two, Janeway thought.
"Hey, Seven. Wait up!" B'Elanna called to the ex Borg, seemingly out of nowhere, and Kathryn narrowed her eyes as she wondered what the engineer could possibly want to discuss with the other woman.
"Yes, lieutenant." Seven replied in her usual, even tone, turning to face her with both hands behind her back.
"Hold on a second." Now it was Seven's turn to frown as B'Elanna waited for Harry to scoot past them before she seemed willing to voice whatever it was she'd kept them both back for.
"Lieutenant, is everything alright?" Kathryn asked, moving closer to the half Klingon.
"Everything's fine Captain." She replied just as the doors to the bridge wafted shut, "I just didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention."
"To what?" The blonde asked, metallic eyebrow cocked.
"Seven, you're bleeding." B'Elanna informed her, nodding to the small patch of blood on the seat she'd just vacated. As Seven turned to examine the chair in question, Kathryn could see a dark purple stain setting into the blue fabric at the crotch of her bio-suit.
"Ah." Janeway nodded, following B'Elanna's train of thought. "I understand your desire for discretion now."
As Seven turned back round, both Kathryn and B'Elanna were startled to see a look of panic on her face. "What is happening?"
"It's alright, don't panic." Janeway reassured her, stepping forward and putting her arm around the taller woman. "This is all perfectly normal."
"How can this be normal? I am bleeding."
Kathryn glanced at B'Elanna as if to say 'yeah, tell me about it'.
"Has the Doctor explained to you about menstruation?" She asked, indicating for Seven to retake her seat. "It's alright, we can clean it." She prompted at the uncomfortable look on the ex Borg's face.
"He has not." Seven replied as Kathryn squatted down next to her.
"Typical." B'Elanna retorted as she brought up a chair on the other side of her. "He may be a hologram, but he's still a man."
"Yes, perhaps we aught to look into that." Kathryn thought aloud "This is rather an oversight."
"I do not comprehend. Why would the Doctor fail to inform me of such physiological changes?"
"Perhaps he was going to and just hasn't got round to it yet." Offered Torres, "Has he told you anything at all about reproduction?"
Seven shifted uncomfortably, "The Doctor explained the basic mechanics of copulation, he did not go into much detail despite my many questions. He certainly did not explain how vaginal bleeding had anything to do with it."
Janeway shook her head and made a mental note to thoroughly berate the Doctor about this at a later date. "Perhaps I could find you some information on it in the data files. I'm sure you'd prefer to read about it than have us explain the process verbally to you." She offered, hauling herself up and heading to the display panel. B'Elanna got the sense she'd just dodged a bullet there as Seven nodded her agreement to the Captain's proposal. "Here we are, I've got just the thing." Kathryn announced after a few seconds of scrolling through the files. "I've sent it to your PADD."
Seven glanced at the material and frowned, "This is a children's book."
"It does the job." Kathryn reasoned, "It's what I read when I started my period."
"Period?"
B'Elanna glanced at Janeway, they really had their work cut out here.
"It's how we refer to this time of bleeding. You may have heard some of the female members of the crew talk about it before."
Seven cast her mind back, now she thought of it, the word did seem familiar. Previously she'd just assumed it was another one of those 'in references' that no one ever bothered to explain to her. Usually such things didn't bother her, but now she couldn't help but feel betrayed that someone hadn't told her about this sooner. "And how long should I expect this 'period' to last?"
"Five days, give or take."
"Five days?! How am I supposed to function at optimal efficiency whilst I am losing blood?"
"Please, the bleeding's the easy part." B'Elanna retorted, "Just wait until the cramps set in. They hurt like a bitch... Er, if you excuse my language, Captain." She added, sheepishly.
"Don't apologise," Janeway said, "cramps do hurt like a bitch."
"How can I prevent them?"
"Heat packs and ungodly quantities of chocolate." B'Elanna replied without missing a beat.
Not taking the suggestion seriously, Seven turned to her superior officer, "Captain?"
"Sorry Seven, but I concur. It's just one of those things."
"You mean I have to live with this, forever?"
"If it helps, it will only happen once every month for the next thirty-five years or so." Torres interjected.
Seven squirmed in her seat. Now that she was aware of it, the wet sensation at her crotch made her feel sticky and uncomfortable. "I wish to get out of these clothes."
"Come through to the ready room." Janeway said, patting Seven on the back and encouraging her to stand. "I'll replicate you a new bio-suit and some sanitary products to try out."
"Sanitary products?"
"To contain the bleeding." B'Elanna supplied. "If that's all, Captain, I'd better get back to work."
"Of course." Kathryn nodded curtly and made a mental note to commend B'Elanna on her tactical handling of the situation the next time she saw her. "Dismissed."
"Thank you lieutenant." Seven said before the dark haired woman could leave.
"Any time." B'Elanna replied before making her way out onto the bridge.
"Come on." Kathryn nudged her and they moved through to the ready room. "Tell me Seven, have you ever heard of a sanitary pad?"
"Are they anything like the ones we use to compile data?"
"No." Janeway couldn't hep but chuckle, "Not quite."
At the helm, Tom Paris twirled in his seat. "What was all that about?" He asked B'Elanna before she'd barely managed to get to her post.
"None of your damn business, Starfleet." She snapped back, but when Tom looked at her face, he found a flirtatious grin there.
"Was everything alright, B'Elanna?" Chakotay asked a bit more seriously.
"Everything's fine." She smiled back, genuinely. "Just something I wanted to run past Seven and the Captain."
At that moment, Seven emerged from the ready room and headed wordlessly to the turbolift. B'Elanna gave her a nod just before the doors closed and turned back to her station.
The bridge fell into a comfortable silence as the stars whooshed past the main screen with a vaguely hypnotising effect until curiosity got the better of Chakotay. Figuring B'Elanna wasn't going to disclose what had been said in the meeting room in front of everyone on the bridge, and deciding it would also be unethical for him to order her to tell him, the commander handed his chair over to Tuvok and rung the chime at the Captain's ready room.
"Come." Kathryn said and looked up in pleasant surprise when Chakotay entered. He stepped in and waited for the doors to close behind him before he spoke. "What can I do for you, Commander?"
Chakotay took a breath. "I was just wondering what the three of you ladies were discussing in the briefing room just now. B'Elanna wasn't very forthcoming."
Janeway quirked a smile at him, "And what makes you think you need to know that particular piece of information?"
Chakotay shook his head and shrugged one shoulder. "Nosiness, really." Kathryn couldn't help but snort at his bluntness.
"Oh really?" She replied, still laughing. "Well as it happens, B'Elanna was actually being nice to Seven... for once."
"That's probably why she didn't want to tell us; Gives her bad rep."
"Indeed." Kathryn concurred, shaking her head fondly, "God forbid anyone mistakes her for being a nice person." She got up and moved over to the replicator.
"No but really, what were you talking about?"
"A personal matter, Commander, drop it." She snapped, coming off more aggressive than she'd intended to. Kathryn raised a hand in apology at seeing the hurt look on his face which soon turned to a soft smile, letting her know she was forgiven. "If you must know," Kathryn began, dropping her voice an octave, "Seven got her first period today."
"Oh... I see."
"Indeed." Janeway tutted to herself, "Apparently the Doctor had omitted that particular piece of information when teaching Seven how to adapt to her human body. Instead she had to discover it by herself and let's just say she was not best pleased."
"I can imagine." Chakotay nodded, "I remember when my sister got her first bloods. Neither of us knew what it was, I thought she was dying." He gave a shy chuckle at the memory. "Probably could have handled it a bit better in hindsight."
"That experience isn't as unique as you think, Commander." Kathryn said, "The first time I saw blood in my underwear I thought I was going to die. And my mother was one of the ones who taught us to carry a spare pad with us from the ripe age of nine."
"You knew what was happening?"
"Yes, eventually. Once my brain kicked in I knew exactly what to do. That didn't stop me from nearly having a panic attack." She shook her head at the memory. "It's quite jarring, seeing a part of you that's never caused any issue before start to bleed. For anyone. Even the Borg."
"Apparently so."
Kathryn looked thoughtfully through the window. "I'm just glad she can menstruate. Her body has been through so much, it's good to know she still has the option to reproduce." Chakotay made a face. "What?"
"I can't really imagine Seven of Nine making a little Seven of Nine-Point-Five, can you?"
She chuckled, "Well, no, not really. But it's her choice and whether she decides to take it or not, it's still a choice I'm glad she has."
Chakotay watched as Kathryn began to absentmindedly touch her stomach. "You still have a choice, Kathryn." She looked up at him, startled, and Chakotay got the feeling he might have just read her mind.
"Oh, I'm not so sure." She replied, voice suddenly thick with emotion. "It's a little late for me I think."
"Nonsense. We'll be back to Earth in no time and you and Mark can have as many babies as you like. Just no more lizards, okay?"
Kathryn gave a wet laugh, not quite managing to blink back the tears forming in her eyes. "Thank you commander." She said, swatting at her tear ducts. "That'll be all."
Chakotay knew a dismissal when he heard one and gave her a smile before making his way back to the bridge. No sooner had the doors closed, Kathryn let out the sob she'd been holding and sunk down against the wall.
"Ridiculous woman." She berated herself, taking a few deep breaths and pulling it together a bit. She dabbed furiously at her eyes, trying desperately to contain her mascara. Satisfied she looked suitable enough to be on the bridge, Kathryn collected herself up off the floor and walked towards the double doors. She hadn't had dealing with an ex Borg drone's first period on her Delta Quadrant bingo cards today, she had to admit.
As Kathryn took back the command chair she noted herself lucky that she wouldn't have to be the one working with Seven down in astrometrics once the PMS kicked in. She thought about the list of things she needed to do as a result of Seven's unfortunate experience and mentally ticked them off in her head.
Number one, berate the Doctor for being so careless with his treatment of Seven's education on her own body. Two, pull lieutenant Torres aside and thank her for the tactfulness and discretion she displayed when helping with Seven. And lastly, if she was quick at the end of her shift, she could sneak down to Seven's alcove and leave a bar of chocolate for her when she got back. It's the sort of thing she wished someone would do for her once in a while...
That night, when she got back to her quarters, Janeway noticed she had a new message on her PADD.
'Thank you for the confectionary bar. The Doctor disapproved of my consumption of it, naturally, but I thought I would take your, and lieutenant Torres' advice and do so anyway given recent events. I will send you a report in the morning pending my evaluation of the effectiveness of high calorific content on menstrual cramps.
Signed, Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero.'
Kathryn laughed to herself as she got ready for bed. She sent a quick message back.
'I look forward to reading it.
Signed, Captain Kathryn Janeway of Starship Voyager.'