Part 23
Seven returned to her cell after a long day of work on the fusion reactor; Mara wasn’t back yet. Seven sat on the edge of the bed, hands folded, waiting. Time passed slowly, but she could think of nothing else but what might be happening to Mara. After an hour, the door finally opened, and Mara stumbled in and fell to the floor. Seven rushed over to her. "Mara?" she asked with worry. "Are you damaged?"
Mara looked up into her face, and Seven could see her fighting. "I’ll be fine, Seven... I'll be..." The first sob slipped out, and once that came the rest followed without stopping. They must have tickled her non-stop the entire time, Seven thought as she picked Mara up like a little girl and carried her back to the bed. Mara was an emotional rock, but everyone has their limits, even her. She clung to Seven, weeping without words, and Seven tried to offer comfort despite her inexperience. Soon exhaustion got the better of her and Mara fell asleep, but Seven still held her. She could go two or three days without sleep if necessary, so she stood guard over Mara in case anything tried to harm her again. She kissed the sleeping woman on the forehead and quietly promised that it would be all right.
Morning eventually came and Mara awoke, and looked up at Seven. "Watching over me like a mother hen," she said. "Boy, was I pathetic or what?"
"I'm so sorry, Mara-"
"It wasn't your fault," Mara said. "I'm just embarrassed that, that you saw me like that. I don't know what came over me."
"I do," Seven said. "At least I believe so. You do not fear me. Thus, you are willing to appear weak in front of me."
Mara chuckled a little. "And you think you don't know human behavior?" She hugged Seven tight. "Thanks for being there for me last night. I’ve never had anyone that would do anything like that for me, make me feel so safe." She kissed her. "I don't know how I lived before I found you here."
The door opened, and Ms. Danoob and her guards came in the same as before. "Good morning," she said in the usual neutral tone. "The reactor still isn't finished."
Seven glared at her. If looks could kill, Seven was a Bubonic Plague on legs. "You are not taking her again."
"Seven-"
Seven got to her feet. "You are not taking her again, not now. She is too weak for another ordeal."
"I assure you, we monitor her medical state very carefully-"
"Insufficient," Seven said. "She requires rest after her ordeal."
"I don't agree," Ms. Danoob said.
"Seven-" Mara began.
"No, Mara," Seven said. "I must draw the line somewhere. She stays or the work stops right now."
"Are we going to have this discussion every day?" Ms. Danoob asked wearily. She gestured and two guards came forward to take Mara. Seven watched, and as they approached, the line was crossed. Seven had her limits too, and inside that Borg brain of hers, normally all frost and gears operating on perfect logic and rationality, stress caused one tiny part to go "snap." And so Seven hit the first guard very, very hard with the largest blunt object within reach. As it happened, that was the second guard. The two skidded across the floor accompanied by the sound of breaking bones. Seven looked up at Ms. Danoob, and began heading towards her. The guards raised their guns, and Seven felt someone jump on her back, she reached up to pull them off, but recognized the voice before she did anything rash.
"Please, Seven," Mara pleaded. "Don't be stupid! They'll kill you!"
"I will take that chance," Seven growled, glaring at Ms. Danoob with pure hatred.
"Seven," Mara said pitiably, "don't leave me here all alone."
Seven stopped dead in her tracks, then eventually the momentary strain passed, and she relented. She turned and squeezed Mara tight, feeling her tremble with worry. Ms. Danoob kept the guards away, letting the situation diffuse itself. Finally, Seven turned back to her. "You will take me."
Ms. Danoob shook her head. "I need you working-"
"You will take me!" Seven shouted, and it was clear she was just as much on the emotional edge as Mara was.
Ms. Danoob stared at her, and realized the mistake. She believed people were like watches, you had to keep them properly wound up; the problem was that she’d gone a little too far this time. She should have acquiesced, but it was too late now; you couldn’t show any weakness in front of these four ladies or it was an invitation for it to all fall apart. "Very well," she said. "And since I'm not as heartless as you might think, I will ensure that today is the last time, provided you give me tangible results tomorrow."
Seven nodded. "Agreed, provided Mara is allowed to rest undisturbed."
"Of course," Ms. Danoob said. She turned to the guards. "Stay with the injured; have a medical team sent down for them. Seven, come with me - I trust you won’t try anything foolish." Seven nodded. "Good, let's go." And she and Seven walked out; Seven didn't cause any further trouble, they had Mara and she'd already made her point.
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Starbuck and Lara were once again escorted into the room. Seven was waiting, stretched out on a rack and gagged. "Hm, looks like your friend is here to play this time," Starbuck said, looking the blond up and down.
“Indeed,” Lara said, looking Seven's helpless form over. She remembered the confrontation quite well, and how hard the Borg had tried to break her. Let's see how well she could hold up now that the roles were being reversed. "I assume things are the same as yesterday," Lara asked the ceiling.
"Yes. Leave her unharmed, but otherwise, you may tickle her to your heart's content."
Lara twisted her head until her neck cracked. "Wonderful," she said.
"Dibs on the chest," Starbuck said, but as she started to move Lara grabbed her and pulled her back.
"No," she said. "Those are mine."
Starbuck must have caught her expression, because she quickly capitulated. "I suppose there's plenty of this girl to go around." She circled around Seven and hung her face over hers. "Hi, I'm Kara, and I'll be your torturer for the evening." And with that, she dropped her hands into Seven's armpits and went at it. Immediately Seven began squealing and squirming, but Starbuck knew she wasn't going anywhere, so she ignored that and just kept it up. "This is so much more fun than the rest of our time here," she said to Lara, but as usual her partner ignored her.
Seven, of course, couldn't ignore anything. She'd accepted the fact that she was horribly ticklish, but after all the time with Mara she'd come to look at it as a wonderful bit of her humanity. It had been some time since she'd been subjected to this alone and away from her, and she'd forgotten how easily it could overwhelm her. Starbuck's fingers scratched over her skin, and she couldn't budge an inch. Why there? she thought in despair. Of all the places, why start where I'm so vulnerable?! Of course, she reasoned, Starbuck probably knew her weak spot for the same reason she'd known Lara's, because of the interrogations they'd witnessed. She knew Seven had very sensitive armpits, and she tickled up and down them until Seven was certain she'd go out of her mind. And how long did they do this to Mara? she wondered. Am I going to be any better than she was? Even as she laughed into the gag, tears running down her face, she thought, Yes, I am Borg. And I am doing this to protect what is mine. With that, her resolve grew, and despite the tickling she was able to endure.
However, things were about to change. Lara pulled herself up onto the rack and sat astride Seven's body. "Kara," she said, "stop a moment, will you?" Starbuck dutifully complied, and Seven looked up at Lara, gasping, red-faced already. "You think you can go toe-to-toe with me, little girl?" Lara asked. "You think you can try to play mind games with me?" She shook her head. "You've no idea what I am capable of." She startled wriggling her index fingers back and forth in a horizontal manner, slowly lowering over Seven's breasts. Seven was breathing heavy, so that her full chest was rising and falling even as Lara slowly approached. Finally she began grazing Seven's nipples, and deep chuckling began. After a short while Seven was shaking her head firmly, still laughing into the gag. Lara kept it up while Starbuck watched; she obviously could see that this was something personal for Lara, and so she'd give her time. It wasn't as if they wouldn't have a chance to have their fill of the blond anyway.
Lara watched carefully, clinically, as she delicately flicked back and forth over the tips while Seven chuckled, eyes screwed shut as she tried to resist. "Seven," Lara said sharply, stopping just as fast. Instinctively, Seven's eyes opened and she looked at Lara. "You're mine," Lara said, and her hands flashed out and grabbed her breasts. Immediately Seven began roaring as Lara squeezed and pinched all over in much the same manner she had previously when the tables had been turned. Her hands went deep, and Seven shrieked and shook under the ticklish attack.
Lara watched her still, looking for signs of her will crumbling. Seven was certainly as ticklish on her breasts as Lara herself was. She was already nearly flush from the tickling. But being ticklish didn't mean anything. Lara was ticklish, and she had a will of iron. So even while Seven squealed and trembled Lara watched for signs that this was more than just reaction, that this was her giving in.
Lara paused for a moment, and Seven panted. She opened her eyes and saw Lara staring at her; Seven stared back just as hard. She was Borg; let this woman try to break her. It would be futile.
Seven began some deep laughs as Lara began stroking her nails along the sides of her breasts. She began some circles along the sides, then gradually began scratching on the undersides. Seven bounced around as if trying to get away, but Lara was all too experienced with that kind of thing, and easily kept up the attack. The light strokes were soon doing far more than the tickle-massage had been, and Seven was absolutely crimson. Lara ran her nails up, then began drawing circles around her areola, and Seven began banging the back of her head on the rack. Then in a quick shift Lara began tickle-massaging them again, and Seven's laughter became louder and deeper.
Starbuck watched for the better part of an hour, then she'd had enough standing around. She knew what this was about, but Lara had to accept that Seven here was just as stubborn as she was. Leave them to this all day, and Seven would still hold out just to spite Lara. And frankly, Starbuck was tired of feeling like the junior partner in this team. She went back at it, putting her nails at the bottom of Seven's pits and slowly drawing them all the way up to the bicep. Then she slowly slid back down again, feeling the satisfying struggling that came with it. She ran the nails back up again, enjoying the feel of the smooth skin under her fingers.
Starbuck looked up at Lara. That was the only thing that could make it more perfect. Lara's body looked so perfectly tickle-able; she longed to have her here on the bench instead. She could remember so vividly the image of her in ticklish torment while the charity belt rubbed away on her, or the time in the Blocks when she was able to have her way with all the tickle spots on Lara's upper body. The truth was that she was tickling Seven simply because if she watched this any longer she'd knock Lara off there and go after her right here and now. Of course, that wouldn't be a very good idea, so she just continued scratching those helpless underarms, pretending for a little while that they belonged to the brown-haired girl that straddled Seven. Actually, looking at her legs wrapped around her, Starbuck wouldn't have minded being Seven either. The memory of the Laras in her dream tickling away at her had still stuck with her, and it had been very potent. I may not be as busty as you two, Starbuck thought, but can't you give my boobs a little attention? I'm ticklish there too, you know.
Lara, of course, paid no attention to her colleague. She just remained locked in the contest with Seven, and as the hours came she thought she saw cracks emerge. But still, Seven hung on; if only to avenge Mara in some small way, she refused to give Lara the satisfaction. And at the end of the day, when Seven was dropped off into Mara's waiting arms, she felt wrung out and exhausted, but vindicated. And she and Mara made wonderful love that night to celebrate their mutual victory, since Seven knew she couldn't have done it alone.
Seven returned to her cell after a long day of work on the fusion reactor; Mara wasn’t back yet. Seven sat on the edge of the bed, hands folded, waiting. Time passed slowly, but she could think of nothing else but what might be happening to Mara. After an hour, the door finally opened, and Mara stumbled in and fell to the floor. Seven rushed over to her. "Mara?" she asked with worry. "Are you damaged?"
Mara looked up into her face, and Seven could see her fighting. "I’ll be fine, Seven... I'll be..." The first sob slipped out, and once that came the rest followed without stopping. They must have tickled her non-stop the entire time, Seven thought as she picked Mara up like a little girl and carried her back to the bed. Mara was an emotional rock, but everyone has their limits, even her. She clung to Seven, weeping without words, and Seven tried to offer comfort despite her inexperience. Soon exhaustion got the better of her and Mara fell asleep, but Seven still held her. She could go two or three days without sleep if necessary, so she stood guard over Mara in case anything tried to harm her again. She kissed the sleeping woman on the forehead and quietly promised that it would be all right.
Morning eventually came and Mara awoke, and looked up at Seven. "Watching over me like a mother hen," she said. "Boy, was I pathetic or what?"
"I'm so sorry, Mara-"
"It wasn't your fault," Mara said. "I'm just embarrassed that, that you saw me like that. I don't know what came over me."
"I do," Seven said. "At least I believe so. You do not fear me. Thus, you are willing to appear weak in front of me."
Mara chuckled a little. "And you think you don't know human behavior?" She hugged Seven tight. "Thanks for being there for me last night. I’ve never had anyone that would do anything like that for me, make me feel so safe." She kissed her. "I don't know how I lived before I found you here."
The door opened, and Ms. Danoob and her guards came in the same as before. "Good morning," she said in the usual neutral tone. "The reactor still isn't finished."
Seven glared at her. If looks could kill, Seven was a Bubonic Plague on legs. "You are not taking her again."
"Seven-"
Seven got to her feet. "You are not taking her again, not now. She is too weak for another ordeal."
"I assure you, we monitor her medical state very carefully-"
"Insufficient," Seven said. "She requires rest after her ordeal."
"I don't agree," Ms. Danoob said.
"Seven-" Mara began.
"No, Mara," Seven said. "I must draw the line somewhere. She stays or the work stops right now."
"Are we going to have this discussion every day?" Ms. Danoob asked wearily. She gestured and two guards came forward to take Mara. Seven watched, and as they approached, the line was crossed. Seven had her limits too, and inside that Borg brain of hers, normally all frost and gears operating on perfect logic and rationality, stress caused one tiny part to go "snap." And so Seven hit the first guard very, very hard with the largest blunt object within reach. As it happened, that was the second guard. The two skidded across the floor accompanied by the sound of breaking bones. Seven looked up at Ms. Danoob, and began heading towards her. The guards raised their guns, and Seven felt someone jump on her back, she reached up to pull them off, but recognized the voice before she did anything rash.
"Please, Seven," Mara pleaded. "Don't be stupid! They'll kill you!"
"I will take that chance," Seven growled, glaring at Ms. Danoob with pure hatred.
"Seven," Mara said pitiably, "don't leave me here all alone."
Seven stopped dead in her tracks, then eventually the momentary strain passed, and she relented. She turned and squeezed Mara tight, feeling her tremble with worry. Ms. Danoob kept the guards away, letting the situation diffuse itself. Finally, Seven turned back to her. "You will take me."
Ms. Danoob shook her head. "I need you working-"
"You will take me!" Seven shouted, and it was clear she was just as much on the emotional edge as Mara was.
Ms. Danoob stared at her, and realized the mistake. She believed people were like watches, you had to keep them properly wound up; the problem was that she’d gone a little too far this time. She should have acquiesced, but it was too late now; you couldn’t show any weakness in front of these four ladies or it was an invitation for it to all fall apart. "Very well," she said. "And since I'm not as heartless as you might think, I will ensure that today is the last time, provided you give me tangible results tomorrow."
Seven nodded. "Agreed, provided Mara is allowed to rest undisturbed."
"Of course," Ms. Danoob said. She turned to the guards. "Stay with the injured; have a medical team sent down for them. Seven, come with me - I trust you won’t try anything foolish." Seven nodded. "Good, let's go." And she and Seven walked out; Seven didn't cause any further trouble, they had Mara and she'd already made her point.
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Starbuck and Lara were once again escorted into the room. Seven was waiting, stretched out on a rack and gagged. "Hm, looks like your friend is here to play this time," Starbuck said, looking the blond up and down.
“Indeed,” Lara said, looking Seven's helpless form over. She remembered the confrontation quite well, and how hard the Borg had tried to break her. Let's see how well she could hold up now that the roles were being reversed. "I assume things are the same as yesterday," Lara asked the ceiling.
"Yes. Leave her unharmed, but otherwise, you may tickle her to your heart's content."
Lara twisted her head until her neck cracked. "Wonderful," she said.
"Dibs on the chest," Starbuck said, but as she started to move Lara grabbed her and pulled her back.
"No," she said. "Those are mine."
Starbuck must have caught her expression, because she quickly capitulated. "I suppose there's plenty of this girl to go around." She circled around Seven and hung her face over hers. "Hi, I'm Kara, and I'll be your torturer for the evening." And with that, she dropped her hands into Seven's armpits and went at it. Immediately Seven began squealing and squirming, but Starbuck knew she wasn't going anywhere, so she ignored that and just kept it up. "This is so much more fun than the rest of our time here," she said to Lara, but as usual her partner ignored her.
Seven, of course, couldn't ignore anything. She'd accepted the fact that she was horribly ticklish, but after all the time with Mara she'd come to look at it as a wonderful bit of her humanity. It had been some time since she'd been subjected to this alone and away from her, and she'd forgotten how easily it could overwhelm her. Starbuck's fingers scratched over her skin, and she couldn't budge an inch. Why there? she thought in despair. Of all the places, why start where I'm so vulnerable?! Of course, she reasoned, Starbuck probably knew her weak spot for the same reason she'd known Lara's, because of the interrogations they'd witnessed. She knew Seven had very sensitive armpits, and she tickled up and down them until Seven was certain she'd go out of her mind. And how long did they do this to Mara? she wondered. Am I going to be any better than she was? Even as she laughed into the gag, tears running down her face, she thought, Yes, I am Borg. And I am doing this to protect what is mine. With that, her resolve grew, and despite the tickling she was able to endure.
However, things were about to change. Lara pulled herself up onto the rack and sat astride Seven's body. "Kara," she said, "stop a moment, will you?" Starbuck dutifully complied, and Seven looked up at Lara, gasping, red-faced already. "You think you can go toe-to-toe with me, little girl?" Lara asked. "You think you can try to play mind games with me?" She shook her head. "You've no idea what I am capable of." She startled wriggling her index fingers back and forth in a horizontal manner, slowly lowering over Seven's breasts. Seven was breathing heavy, so that her full chest was rising and falling even as Lara slowly approached. Finally she began grazing Seven's nipples, and deep chuckling began. After a short while Seven was shaking her head firmly, still laughing into the gag. Lara kept it up while Starbuck watched; she obviously could see that this was something personal for Lara, and so she'd give her time. It wasn't as if they wouldn't have a chance to have their fill of the blond anyway.
Lara watched carefully, clinically, as she delicately flicked back and forth over the tips while Seven chuckled, eyes screwed shut as she tried to resist. "Seven," Lara said sharply, stopping just as fast. Instinctively, Seven's eyes opened and she looked at Lara. "You're mine," Lara said, and her hands flashed out and grabbed her breasts. Immediately Seven began roaring as Lara squeezed and pinched all over in much the same manner she had previously when the tables had been turned. Her hands went deep, and Seven shrieked and shook under the ticklish attack.
Lara watched her still, looking for signs of her will crumbling. Seven was certainly as ticklish on her breasts as Lara herself was. She was already nearly flush from the tickling. But being ticklish didn't mean anything. Lara was ticklish, and she had a will of iron. So even while Seven squealed and trembled Lara watched for signs that this was more than just reaction, that this was her giving in.
Lara paused for a moment, and Seven panted. She opened her eyes and saw Lara staring at her; Seven stared back just as hard. She was Borg; let this woman try to break her. It would be futile.
Seven began some deep laughs as Lara began stroking her nails along the sides of her breasts. She began some circles along the sides, then gradually began scratching on the undersides. Seven bounced around as if trying to get away, but Lara was all too experienced with that kind of thing, and easily kept up the attack. The light strokes were soon doing far more than the tickle-massage had been, and Seven was absolutely crimson. Lara ran her nails up, then began drawing circles around her areola, and Seven began banging the back of her head on the rack. Then in a quick shift Lara began tickle-massaging them again, and Seven's laughter became louder and deeper.
Starbuck watched for the better part of an hour, then she'd had enough standing around. She knew what this was about, but Lara had to accept that Seven here was just as stubborn as she was. Leave them to this all day, and Seven would still hold out just to spite Lara. And frankly, Starbuck was tired of feeling like the junior partner in this team. She went back at it, putting her nails at the bottom of Seven's pits and slowly drawing them all the way up to the bicep. Then she slowly slid back down again, feeling the satisfying struggling that came with it. She ran the nails back up again, enjoying the feel of the smooth skin under her fingers.
Starbuck looked up at Lara. That was the only thing that could make it more perfect. Lara's body looked so perfectly tickle-able; she longed to have her here on the bench instead. She could remember so vividly the image of her in ticklish torment while the charity belt rubbed away on her, or the time in the Blocks when she was able to have her way with all the tickle spots on Lara's upper body. The truth was that she was tickling Seven simply because if she watched this any longer she'd knock Lara off there and go after her right here and now. Of course, that wouldn't be a very good idea, so she just continued scratching those helpless underarms, pretending for a little while that they belonged to the brown-haired girl that straddled Seven. Actually, looking at her legs wrapped around her, Starbuck wouldn't have minded being Seven either. The memory of the Laras in her dream tickling away at her had still stuck with her, and it had been very potent. I may not be as busty as you two, Starbuck thought, but can't you give my boobs a little attention? I'm ticklish there too, you know.
Lara, of course, paid no attention to her colleague. She just remained locked in the contest with Seven, and as the hours came she thought she saw cracks emerge. But still, Seven hung on; if only to avenge Mara in some small way, she refused to give Lara the satisfaction. And at the end of the day, when Seven was dropped off into Mara's waiting arms, she felt wrung out and exhausted, but vindicated. And she and Mara made wonderful love that night to celebrate their mutual victory, since Seven knew she couldn't have done it alone.
