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True Q

Episode Synopsis
Q returns with some shocking news to share.

Please Note
With the Reboot being cancelled due to injury, this will permanently be the first original episode you will come to. This episode was written in mostly 2001, the final scene in early 2002. I have made minor edits while formatting this to ease the transition (fortunately the last few reboots, barring Resurrection, haven't changed all that much, which IMO helps too), but the majority is the same as it was 18 years ago.

There are a few reboots I did far in advance (Bittersweet and The Games Matrix Saga, which consists of five episodes). They might be jarring next to their originals. Just in case there will be reminders posted on the episodes before and after these two.

Written
20th October 2001
5th January 2002

Episode Based In
September 2377

 

Danny's Quarters:
Jessie and Danny walked through the main door. They both collapsed on the sofa.

"I've never seen you with the kids, do you ever look after them?" Jessie asked.

"Of course I do. There's a reasonable explanation," Danny replied.

"Well?" Jessie said questioningly.

"Do you want the realistic explanation, or the Fifth Voyager explanation?" Danny asked.

"Both," Jessie replied.

Danny sighed. "The realistic one is, Ian looks after the kids during my day shift. He does the night shift. The Fifth Voyager explanation is, the writer can't be bothered to find any actors to play the kids."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally Danny broke the silence.

"So, er, have you slept with James yet?" Danny blurted out.

Jessie glared at her, but she immediately started blushing without realising it.

"Danny! You have a disgusting mind! Is that all you ever think about?" Jessie snapped.

"Well no, not exactly. I need to think about the work I'm doing once in a while," Danny replied.

Jessie just shook her head in disgust.

"You didn't answer my question," Danny said.

"No, and don't ever ask me again! It's none of your business," Jessie muttered.

"There's no point in asking anyway. You always tell me when you do. You told me about the ceremony incident. And you told me about the Love Spell incident a month after it happened," Danny said.

She thought quietly for a few seconds. "I wonder what other kind of bizarre situation will get you two in bed again," Danny said, she burst out laughing. Jessie pouted.

"I've got a bizarre one for ya, Dan," Ian's voice said.

The two girls jumped when they heard him.

"What?" Danny said questioningly.

"They actually decide to do it like normal people do," Ian said.

Danny started laughing again. "Good one," she managed to say.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," Jessie growled, yet she continued to pout.

"I don't remember the ceremony one though Dan," Ian said as he came over to the sofa.

"No, don't tell him. He'll tell everybody," Jessie said.

"No I won't. I haven't told a soul about the Love Spell incident," Ian said.

Jessie shot an icy glare towards Danny, she visibly cringed.

"Jess, he's my fiancée, I have to tell him everything," Danny muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, and I bet you two had a good laugh over it to," Jessie said.

"No, of course not Jessie. It'll only be funny if you two sleep together at your own free will," Danny said. She and Ian laughed again.

"Hey, just leave it. At least I'm not a big slut unlike somebody," Jessie said and she stood up.

"That's not very nice," Danny muttered.

"It wasn't meant to be nice," Jessie said, and she headed towards the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Danny asked.

"To my quarters, obviously. You may as well tell Ian about the ceremony incident, then you can have another good laugh," Jessie replied, and she walked out.

"She can be very sensitive sometimes," Danny muttered.

"What ceremony?" Ian asked.

"Oh yeah, it all happened five years ago..." Danny replied.

The Bridge, the next day:
The usual people were on the Bridge. Kathryn and Chakotay were sitting on their command chairs. Tom and Harry were talking at the Opps station. James, Jessie and Morgan were at the Engineering station, talking. Tuvok was at his station working. Kiara at the console behind the command chairs, talking to Kathryn.

"And you've been putting up with this girl for... how long?" Morgan asked.

"Since we were about ten," Jessie replied.

"Well I can't say anything. I've put up with Tani since I was a toddler," Morgan said.

"Yeah, but I bet Tani didn't have a disgusting mind at age ten," Jessie said.

"Not that I remember," Morgan muttered.

"I have a feeling that girl knew how children came to be when she was three," Jessie said.

"Nice, really," Morgan muttered.

"Yeah, well lets just not go there again," Jessie said.

"Good idea," Morgan said.

Everyone saw a brief flash of light in front of the viewscreen. As soon as the light cleared almost everyone groaned and or rolled their eyes.

"Hello everybody! Group hug!" Q yelled, with his arms outstretched.

"Sick bag alert," Morgan muttered.

Kathryn and Chakotay stood up from their chairs.

"Q, what are you doing here?" Kathryn asked.

"Don't worry my dear Kathy, I'm just here to take care of one little thing then I'm off again," Q replied.

"And what would that be? You'd better not be dropping off anymore Q kids," Chakotay asked.

"Well not exactly, Chuckles," Q replied.

"Stop calling me that," Chakotay said.

"What do you mean by not exactly?" Kathryn asked.

"Ohno, that kid better not be back," Morgan muttered.

"Well, it would be better if we could have a family meeting in private," Q said.

"Family, none us are..." Kathryn said but she was interrupted.

She, Chakotay, Morgan and Q appeared in the Conference Room.

"Are part of your family," Kathryn finished.

"Well I have to be here, or I won't be able to tell you anything," Q said.

"If this is a family meeting, where's Kiara?" Morgan asked.

"It would be better if I told her later," Q replied.

"What's this all about, Q?" Kathryn asked.

"This will take some explaining so I'll start by saying it the quick way. Kiara is not who you think she is," Q replied.

"Oh great, an alien imposter?" Morgan asked.

"No, unless you're an alien too," Q replied.

"The last time I looked I wasn't," Morgan muttered.

"Anyway. You all know that her mother was pregnant for unknown reasons, but I know how she came to be," Q said.

"Finally, we've been left hanging for one and a half seasons," Kathryn said.

"Well put it simply. Kiara isn't your daughter, but Morgan is," Q said.

"That doesn't make any sense. Morgan is Kiara," Chakotay said.

"I'm getting to that," Q said.

Another voice started speaking from nowhere. "Oh come on Q, get to the point." Suddenly another flash of light brought another Q into the room. Kathryn and Chakotay groaned when they saw him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kathryn asked.

"I'm here to see my girlfriend of course," Q2 replied, he turned towards Morgan.

"Er... I've never seen you before," Morgan muttered.

Q2 turned around again to face Q. "What did you do with this girl's mind?" he asked.

"Don't blame me, you were the one who caused all the havoc in the first place," Q replied.

"Hang on a second. Can somebody tell me what's going on here?" Kathryn said.

"Listen, it's very simple. You see Kiara..." Q2 said but he was interrupted.

"That story won't make much sense. Just watch this vision," Q said.

We see Morgan in her very own quarters. She looks about thirteen though. Anyway she's talking to a young lad, who looks about fifteen.

"I just wish that damn Q would leave me alone," Morgan said.

"He'll get bored eventually Lena, just give it time," the lad said.

"But Robbie, he's been following me around for weeks, what makes you think he's going to give up now," Morgan said.

"Erm, what's going on?" Morgan asked.

"It's very simple. In the original timeline, you were born in 2375. The lad you're talking to is erm, the son of two people you know. Anyway this Q has been following you around for a couple of weeks," Q replied.

"What the hell for?" Morgan asked.

"He erm, fancied you," Q replied.

"Eeew," Morgan moaned. A large banging noise is heard.

"Ouch," Q2 muttered.

"He will, believe me," Robbie said.

"You'd better be right," Morgan said.

In: "Stuart to Robbie, the Doc wants to see you now."

"But, what did I do to deserve that?" Robbie moaned.

"Hey, is that James on the commlink?" Morgan asked.

"Er... no," Q muttered. Another banging noise is heard. "All right then, yes it is."

In: "I was thinking that myself, anyway you'd better see the Doc he's pretty mad."

"What's new. I'm on my way dad," Robbie said.

"Oh god, is that another version of Duncan or something?" Morgan asked.

"Fine, I'll give you the brief. Maybe the two can tell you the rest. Robbie is the son that actually died in this timeline. Duncan is still in this timeline," Q said.

"Ok, now I'm confused," Morgan muttered.

"Hey, good luck," Morgan said. Robbie nodded slightly, and he walked out.

"Right, that's all you're going to see," Q said.

The Conference Room:
"But, that didn't tell us anything," Kathryn said.

"It did, in another reality I'm friends with James' son," Morgan said.

"You have a bad taste in friends," Chakotay muttered.

"Well, we thought we'd try to keep this a PG. Anyway, this Q came into the room a few minutes later. He attacked you," Q said.

"Little son of a b**ch," Morgan said angrily.

"Wait a minute. Your Slayer strength protected you, so he had to use his powers," Q said.

"Hang on a second, why did he attack her if he fancied her?" Chakotay asked.

"I'm getting to that. Do you remember the last time he visited Voyager?" Q asked.

"A little too well," Kathryn replied.

"Oh for god's sake, this episode sure likes its flashbacks," Morgan muttered.

July 2372:
Kathryn was sitting in her Ready Room, drinking coffee. The door chimed.

"Come in," Kathryn said.

Jessie stormed into the room. There is something different about her, but nobody can put their finger on it.

"Captain, can I kill that damn Q?" Jessie asked angrily.

"Which Q?" Kathryn asked.

"Well the one that's been stalking me for two days," Jessie replied.

"Oh I see, I'm having similar problems with another Q. I know how you feel," Kathryn said.

"Really? Has that Q been following you around every second of the day?" Jessie asked.

"Not every second," Kathryn replied.

"And, has he picked at least two fights with your closest male friend?" Jessie asked.

"He did have a brief run in with Chakotay yesterday," Kathryn replied.

"Did it include punch ups?" Jessie asked.

"No. But if you think about it, Chakotay is just a friend of mine, I'm not pregnant with his child. Maybe that Q who's following you thinks that he's co.." Kathryn replied. At this point, nearly every reader gets confused.

"Stop reminding me about that!" Jessie yelled.

"Calm down, yelling at me isn't going to get you anywhere. Maybe if you ignore that Q, he'll leave you alone," Kathryn said calmly.

"Try telling that to James," Jessie muttered.

Kathryn groaned. "What's he doing this time?" she asked.

"Well everytime Q follows me into our quarters, when he's there, Q always picks a fight with him," Jessie replied.

"I see. I tell you what, I'll talk to the other Q for you. He might be able to persuade him to leave you alone," Kathryn said.

"He'd better, or I'll punch him a few more times myself," Jessie said, and she walked out.

Present:
"What was the point in that?" Kathryn asked.

"Hang on a sec, was Jess pregnant in that scene?" Morgan asked.

Kathryn and Chakotay glanced nervously at each other. "Yes," Kathryn replied.

"Why does that confuse me?" Morgan asked.

"Doesn't matter, you can ask her later," Chakotay replied.

"After this I'm going to need some pain killers for my head," Morgan muttered.

"Anyway, my point was that Q was obsessed with Jessie, just like he was with you, but with the Jessie incident the Continuum was prepared for it. As punishment the Continuum had took away most of his powers," Q said.

"Q, you're slow. When are you going to get to the point?" Q2 asked.

"I have to explain it, or people won't get why that boy was in the first vision," Q replied.

"They probably still don't," Morgan muttered.

"Q just get on with it," Kathryn said.

"Fine. You were wondering why Q attacked Morgan, I'll tell you. It was an attempted rape," Q said.

Morgan glared at the other Q. "You're dead meat, pervert," she growled.

"Morgan, leave it till later," Chakotay said.

"Like I said, it was only attempted. Instead he just used his powers to get what he wanted," Q said.

"Why do I feel sick?" Morgan muttered.

"That's not exactly what I meant. You forced him away with you Slayer strength, before he got anywhere. He clicked his fingers, and he left. You were taken to Sickbay so that Doctor could examine you," Q said.

"I don't like where this is going," Kathryn said.

"To cut a long story shorter, Kiara is Morgan's daughter, not Kathy's," Q said.

Everyone except the Q's stared in shock.

"That's a load of bulls**t! It doesn't make any sense," Morgan screeched.

"To make it easier, watch this vision," Q said.

"This just isn't possible, how could he have done that?" Kathryn asked angrily.

"He is a Q. He must of just used his powers," the Doctor replied.

Both Q's appeared. Kathryn immediately stormed over to the pair.

"It's about time you arrived, I want her back to normal," Kathryn said angrily.

"What would be the point in that?" Q2 asked.

"I'm sorry Kathy, but this was suppose to happen," Q said.

"What do you mean?" Kathryn screeched.

"This timeline isn't suppose to be happening. I can now use the child to set things back to the way they should be," Q said.

"I don't understand, how did this timeline go wrong?" the Doctor asked.

"Lena isn't suppose to exist this way. It's very hard to explain," Q replied.

"What do you mean by she isn't suppose to exist this way?" Kathryn asked.

"She isn't suppose to exist at all," Q replied.

"That is stupid," Kathryn said.

"I'm sorry Kathy, but that's the way it is. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to set the timeline back to normal," Q said. He and the other Q disappeared.

Present:
"I still don't understand," Kathryn said.

"Kathy, I gave Kiara to you so you'd think that she was your daughter," Q said.

"What the hell for?" Kathryn asked.

"So Morgan wouldn't be born," Q replied.

"Excuse me, but what has the Continuum got against me?" Morgan asked angrily.

"So if the plan went so perfectly, how come Morgan is still here?" Chakotay asked.

"What the Continuum didn't realise was that Morgan, or rather Lena was assimilated two years after I took the child. It was the same sphere that you encountered years ago," Q replied.

"What was that ship doing in the year 2388?" Kathryn asked.

"That Erona ship had accidentally planted dozens of permanent temporal anomalies in that area. They appear as wormholes. The only thing that the Continuum could do was to alter all of the collective's memories of the 2388 time jump, and all of the sphere's drones' memories as well. We altered Lena's memories so she would think that she was assimilated as Kiara in 2375. Also we altered the bio scanners everytime you scanned Morgan so you would think that she is Kiara," Q said.

"Why was it so important that she had to think that she was Kiara?" Chakotay asked.

"So we wouldn't have to explain this to you," Q replied.

"But I remember being a kid on that sphere, are you saying those thirteen years on the sphere didn't happen?" Morgan asked.

"Exactly," Q replied.

"So if all this care was taken so you wouldn't have to explain all of this to us, why are you trying to explain it to us now?" Kathryn asked.

"We didn't take all the careful steps. We didn't know Species 8472 would interfere like they did. We thought that you would get suspicious. I mean Kiara grew to look about fifteen, she should look exactly like Morgan does, but she doesn't. Didn't you not realise that?" Q asked.

"Well no, we just thought it would cost a lot of money to have Morgan's actress play Kiara at the same time," Kathryn said.

"Ok, fine. Explain this then. How come Morgan is a natural born Slayer, and Kiara isn't," Q said.

"All right, we did have suspicions about that," Kathryn said.

"Hang on, did Kes know about this?" Morgan asked.

"Yes she did," Q replied.

"So why did she give me telepathy to make me seem different to Kiara?" Morgan asked.

"Well lets just say that wasn't our idea," Q said.

"So why did she say that you wanted her to do it?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know," Q replied.

"Because what you're saying is a load of crap. I'm outta here," Morgan said and she left the room.

"She believes me though," Q said.

"What makes you think that?" Kathryn asked.

"She stormed out of the room, they all do that," Q replied.

"So who's going to tell Kiara about this?" Chakotay asked Kathryn.

"I think both of us should," Kathryn replied.

The Mess Hall:
Morgan, James and Jessie were sitting at their usual table. As usual they were drinking Cherry Coke.

"Now I don't know what to believe," Morgan said.

"Seems pretty strange though, but in the end it does make sense of a few things," Jessie said.

"Like what?" Morgan asked.

"Well a few years ago, Kiara had a hallucination about Voyager crashing into white stuff. Harry and B'Elanna claim that Damien had them stuck in this holographic timeloop of Voyager smashing into an ice planet," Jessie replied.

"I suppose so. The only thing I don't understand is why did Kes lie about Q?" Morgan said.

"She obviously didn't agree with the Continuum's decision," Jessie said.

"Yeah, maybe. But what really gets me, is why on earth did you guys have a son that was two years older than me in the original timeline," Morgan said.

"When were you supposedly originally born?" James asked.

"2375," Morgan replied.

"Somehow he survived in that timeline, I don't know," James mumbled.

"That doesn't make any sense. And besides, weren't you two just friends back then?" Morgan said.

"We were. We were just chosen for this really screwy alien ritual," Jessie said.

"Well I don't know what surprises me more. The fact that very few people don't know about this, or you two actually agreed to a ritual like that," Morgan said.

"No offense, but if I knew how the ritual was suppose to end, I would've backed out of it," James said.

"None taken, I feel the same way," Jessie said.

Morgan tried not to laugh. "For a second there, I forgot that you two were a couple," she said.

"Hey, that ceremony was years ago," Jessie said.

Morgan burst out laughing. "It couldn't have been that bad," she managed to say.

"You're just as bad as Danny," Jessie said.

"What do you mean by that?" Morgan asked.

"She asked me the other day if I had actually slept with him yet," Jessie replied.

Morgan started laughing again. "Maybe she's just one of those shippers," Morgan said.

"A character can't be a shipper," James said.

"You never know," Morgan said.

In: "Anderson to Rex."

Jessie tapped her commbadge. "Yeah," she said.

In: "Could you give me a hand in Engineering?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Jessie replied. She stood up.

"Do me a favour Jess, don't tell Triah when you're there. She'll tell Craig," Morgan said.

"I won't, see you guys later," Jessie said and she headed towards the door. She passed Kiara on the way out.

Kiara looked around until she spotted Morgan's table. She headed over. She stopped beside Morgan.

"So, is it true?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," Morgan muttered.

"Well I should have been able to work this out earlier than I did. I mean, I look nothing like you, plus I'm not a freak," Kiara said.

"Freak? Why do you think I'm a freak?" Morgan asked, whilst trying to keep her cool.

"I always thought that Slayers were freaks. Normal people shouldn't be that strong," Kiara replied.

"Being stronger than you doesn't make me a freak, it means nothing," Morgan said.

"No, that means I'm normal. Besides mum or rather grandma, didn't tell me who the father was. So are you going to tell me?" Kiara asked.

"You don't need to know," Morgan replied.

"Well, freaks usually go for fellow freaks. So, is it James?" Kiara asked, just as both Morgan and James were taking a drink from their bottles. Morgan tried not to laugh, since she still had some of the pop in her mouth. James nearly choked on his.

They both managed to swallow. Morgan started laughing again.

"That's a good one," Morgan managed to say.

"Oh, so you think this is funny?" Kiara asked.

"Yeah. Just the mere thought of it makes me want to laugh," Morgan replied.

"With all those rumours going around it's probably true," Kiara said.

"Don't be stupid, Morgan and I are just friends," James said.

"That's what you said about you and Jessie, and then I start laughing about it because I remember Duncan," Kiara said.

"What about Duncan?" James said in a nervous voice.

"I know about it, mum or grandma told me," Kiara said.

"Hang on a sec. What did mum tell you?" Morgan asked.

"About what," Kiara said.

"Well obviously the original discussion," Morgan said.

"She told me that she couldn't really explain all of the temporal stuff about the story. So she just told me that you were my mother," Kiara said.

"Is that it?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, that's why I'm trying to work the rest of it out," Kiara replied.

"And you seem to think that James is your dad," Morgan said, and she laughed slightly.

"It's obvious now," Kiara said.

"It is?" James said.

"Because of the Duncan incident, I think that you're just a big pervert. First Jessie, now Morgan. Who's next?" Kiara said.

"Kiara, you've got this the wrong way. Firstly Duncan was an accident caused by that Love Spell a while back. Secondly, Jessie and I wouldn't let anybody do 'anything' to us. Thirdly James isn't a pervert," Morgan said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kiara muttered, and she walked away.

"Ok, that was strange," James said.

"Don't worry about it, she was just joking on," Morgan said.

The next day:
The Bridge:
Tom walked over to Harry's station, holding a PADD.

"Hey, Harry, it's poll day," Tom said.

"Tom, most of your rumours are just made up rubbish. I'm not going to take part this week," Harry said.

"Harry, Harry. None are made up. Any I've got a few new ones," Tom said.

"Lets have a look then," Harry muttered. He took the PADD off Tom. He started reading it.

"Well I heard about the Kiara and Morgan one, that's about it," Harry said.

"Well, what's your bet?" Tom asked.

"What is there to bet on? It's all fact," Harry replied.

"You haven't read the rest of it, have you? Kiara told me that bit of news herself," Tom said.

Harry rolled his eyes and he continued reading. His eyes widened in shock as he did so.

"You've got to be joking," Harry stuttered.

"Well she's got the general idea of it, she's a smart kid. I was wondering why those two seemed closer this season," Tom said. He took the PADD back off Harry.

"Erm, if you say so, but according to the Captain all of this took part in another timeline," Harry said.

"Yeah I know that, Harry. I have a feeling that they've both known for a while," Tom said.

"Hey, you know what this means?" Harry said questioningly.

"Er... no," Tom muttered.

"Well all those rumours about James and Jessie can't be true," Harry said.

"Oh crap, I didn't hear that, most of my popular polls will be affected," Tom said. He looked at Harry strangely. "Don't say you've still got that crush on Jessie," he said.

"Er, no. Forget I said anything," Harry muttered. Tom grinned and he fiddled with the PADD in his hand. "Hey, don't add that to your polls," Harry said.

"Too late," Tom said, and he smiled. Harry snatched the PADD back.

"So, what makes you think that Kiara was telling the truth," Harry asked.

"She looked serious, and upset. You know if it is true, I'll feel sorry for the kid," Tom replied.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"If James is really her dad, then, well, I know what I'd do in her position," Tom replied.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Kill myself," Tom replied.

"Erm, if you say so," Harry muttered.

"Wouldn't you?" Tom asked.

"I couldn't kill myself, I wouldn't be able to do it," Harry replied.

"But you'd want to," Tom said.

"Well no, it seems a little silly taking my own life just because I have a problem with my parents," Harry said.

"I suppose you're right there. It would have to be a lot worse for me to actually think about suicide," Tom said.

"Well change of subject, do you want me to help you this week with the polls?" Harry asked.

Tom laughed slightly. "Earlier you thought that all of the rumours were all made up, now you want to help me out," he said.

"Yeah I know, but I'm really curious about the Kiara one," Harry said.

"You're not the only one," Tom said.

A few days later:
Morgan walked into the Mess Hall. She noticed that a lot of the people there were looking at her, and laughing quietly. She headed over to the only clear table, which was on the other side of the room.

As she walked past the crewmembers on her way, she heard their voices buzzing through her head. She tried to ignore them and sat down at the available table. She looked around, and noticed that Craig was sitting on his own on a nearby table. She stood up, and headed over.

"Hi, Craig," she said quietly.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Don't tell me, you think that damn rumour is true as well," Morgan muttered and she sat down opposite him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Craig said.

Morgan stared at him for a couple of seconds. She nodded her head. "You do, but at least you're not thinking the same as everyone else."

"Actually I'm just hoping it's not true," Craig said.

"It isn't. Kiara just thinks it's true, and she's obviously told everyone," Morgan said.

"So who is Kiara's dad?" Craig muttered.

"You know that Q who looks a bit nuts..." Morgan said.

"Him, that's a lot worse than James," Craig said in disbelief.

"He used his powers to make me pregnant Craig, he didn't actually get anywhere. This was all in another timeline, so in retrospect it didn't actually happen," Morgan said.

"Your story makes more sense I suppose," Craig said.

"That's better. It's just a matter of getting these morons to believe the truth," Morgan said as she looked around the room.

"You haven't even talked to them, how do you know that they believe Kiara's idea?" Craig asked.

"When I came in, all I could hear was 'slut', 'there's the whore', you get the idea," Morgan replied.

"I didn't hear that," Craig said.

"Of course not, they were thinking it," Morgan said.

"Oh right. You've got to give them a break Morgan, they haven't been told the truth yet," Craig said.

"I can understand that, but I don't see why I'm a slut all of a sudden. I bet everyone in this room isn't even a virgin," Morgan said.

"That's not true Morgan," Craig muttered.

"Oh right, not including you I take it," Morgan said.

"No of course not, I'm not a virgin," Craig said nervously.

"Hey, I think it's better off that you're not at your age," Morgan said.

"I'm twenty two," Craig said.

"Your point being?" Morgan asked.

"Well, a twenty two year old virgin sounds stupid," Craig said.

Morgan shook her head. "That's stupid. There's nothing wrong with that," Morgan said.

"That's easy for you to say, you're only sixteen. I'm probably the only twenty two year old guy that's a virgin," Craig said.

"I bet that's not true. Take James for example. That love spell incident happened when he was about twenty seven," Morgan said.

Craig laughed slightly. "How do you know that it was the first time?"

He noticed that Morgan was looking towards a young woman on a neighbouring table. Suddenly she stood up and she headed straight over to the table.

"So I'm a slut, am I?" Morgan said angrily. The women looked up at her.

"I didn't say anything," she said.

"Well I am telepathic, so you'd better be more careful about what you think about in future," Morgan said.

"You have no right to listen to people's thoughts," the woman said.

"Most of the time it is accidental, anyway I do have a right if you're thinking about me," Morgan said.

"Look, I don't think that, so go away," the woman said.

"You don't mean it, you never learn do you," Morgan said.

Craig walked over to the table. "Morgan, just leave it," he said calmly.

"No, why should I?" Morgan asked angrily.

At this point, nearly the entire room was watching the scene.

"I know you all think the same about me, so you can cut it out right now!" Morgan yelled. She stormed out.

"Wow, she lost it easy," the woman said.

"A little too easy," Craig muttered, and he followed Morgan out. He was forced to run to catch up with her.

"Come to give me a lecture for losing my temper," she said.

"No, but you did lose your temper just a little too quickly," Craig said.

"That stupid woman kept looking over at me, and thinking slut at the same time. I had to tell her off," Morgan said.

"But why did you yell at everyone else?" Craig asked.

"Well obviously I was sick of them, what do you want from me?" Morgan replied and she walked faster to get away from him. Craig walked faster to catch up.

"If you react like that they'll think that Kiara's story is true," Craig said.

Morgan slowed her pace down. "You're right, but I can't help it."

"This'll blow over soon, as soon as your parents find out about this they'll probably sort it out," Craig said.

"How can you be sure of that?" Morgan asked.

"Luckily your parents already know the truth, they'll just dismiss it like an ordinary rumour," Craig said.

"I suppose the main problem would be trying to tell Kiara the truth when she thinks that her idea is correct. I've noticed that everyone is feeling sorry for her, and giving her lots of attention. It makes me sick," Morgan said.

"If it was true, I'd feel sorry for her too," Craig said. Morgan shot him an icy glare. "Well, you see, er, I didn't mean that I'd feel sorry for her because she knows that you're her mother," Craig stuttered.

"Sorry, I'm still a bit on edge. I thought you meant..." Morgan said.

"Why would I think that?" Craig asked.

"Like I said, I'm still a little on edge," Morgan replied.

In: "Janeway to Morgan, please report to the Ready Room."

"Why?" Morgan asked.

In: "I just want to talk to you."

"Fine, I'll not be long," Morgan muttered, and she tapped her commbadge.

"Was it just me, or that didn't sound good?" Craig asked.

"It didn't sound good, I'll see you later," Morgan replied, and she headed towards the turbolift.

James/Jessie's Quarters:
Jessie was wandering around the main part of the room, like she was waiting for something.

A brief flash of light lit up the room.

"Jessie dear, you called," Q2 said cheerfully.

"Cut it with the Jessie dear, I want you to tell me something," Jessie said.

"Anything," Q2 said.

"Right here goes. Morgan told me that the baby James and I were going to have, survived in the other timeline. Do you mind explaining why," Jessie said.

"I was hoping you'd never ask that," Q2 said.

"What a shame, just explain it to me," Jessie said.

"Well you know that I had a thing for you back then, and don't get me wrong, I still do," Q2 said.

"Whatever, continue," Jessie muttered.

"Well when I found out about that ceremony thing and the pregnancy, I was upset to say the least..." Q2 said.

"What's this got to do with anything?" Jessie asked.

"Well, erm, the original time round I didn't get involved with Voyager, so I didn't meet you until I laid my eyes on Morgan or Lena. That's why your kid lived," Q2 said.

"Now I understand. You were jealous, so you were the one who killed our child, am I right?" Jessie asked.

"That's right," Q2 replied.

Jessie punched him in the face. The force made him fall backwards to the ground.

"Hey, what was that for?" Q2 moaned.

"Why do you think?" Jessie screamed. Q2 seemed to realise something. "I broke up with James because of you!"

"How did I do that?" Q2 asked.

"The man that introduced us to the ceremony told me that the child was a gift. If one of the parents, in anyway, doesn't want it, it dies..." Jessie replied.

"Well you two did that to yourselves," Q2 muttered as he stood back up. Jessie punched him again, and he fell back to the ground.

"Right here's the deal. You give me the chance to go back in time to change what happened, and we'll make it even," Jessie said.

"What do you mean?" Q2 asked, he stood back up again.

"Don't give me that. Remember years ago, you gave James the chance to change something in his past," Jessie replied.

"He told you about that, what an idiot," Q2 muttered. Jessie hit him again. This time he just stumbled backwards. "Would you stop doing that!" he screamed.

"Well, are you going to help me or what?" Jessie said.

"I can't stop myself in the past, I'll know so. What do you want changing?" Q2 asked.

"Fine. That stupid ceremony nearly ruined my life. I want to go back to before it. I'll try to stop us from going through with it in the first place," Jessie replied.

"Well, when I did this for James, he ended up wanting everything back to the way it was when he saw the result. So this time, I'll show you what the present will look like if I did this for you," Q2 said.

Meanwhile
The Ready Room:
Kathryn and Kiara were sitting on the sofa. Chakotay was standing nearby. Morgan let herself into the room. She went straight over to the sofa.

"Ok, what is this all about?" Morgan asked.

"We've been talking to Kiara about our current situation. Well I was wondering if you've ever thought about Kiara in all of this," Kathryn said.

"Look in my opinion, I'm the one who needs some consideration. In a way Kiara's got better than me. She's got grandparents, she still has parents.." Morgan said.

"She thought of you as a sister, now this has suddenly come up. For a girl her age, it can be very difficult," Chakotay said.

"What do you expect me to do?" Morgan asked.

"At least show some consideration for her feelings," Kathryn said.

"What about my feelings?" Morgan asked.

"Morgan, you're a tough girl, you can handle it. In a way Kiara is only four years old. She's clearly upset, can't you see that?" Chakotay said.

"Just because I'm tough, doesn't mean that I don't have feelings," Morgan said.

"Obviously, but our point is Kiara needs someone to care for her," Kathryn said.

"What about me? A few days ago I was a normal sixteen year old girl, who had a life. Now I'm a girl with a daughter who looks about two years younger than me, and also most of my life is just some made up memories implanted into my brain. If it wasn't for my temporal implant I wouldn't exist. Now didn't you think for a split second, how this would affect me?" Morgan said angrily.

"But you can't just think about yourself Morgan," Kathryn said.

"Well I know that already! I was talking about you! Ever since you found out, you've only cared about Kiara's feelings! If you cared, even a little bit, about me you wouldn't just be thinking about your precious granddaughter. If you love her so much, you can keep her!" Morgan screeched and she stormed out of the room.

"God, she doesn't care about me at all," Kiara muttered.

Meanwhile
James/Jessie's Quarters:
"What do you think then?" Q2 asked.

"Well, er, I don't know," Jessie muttered in response.

"Do you still want to change what happened?" Q2 asked.

"No, not really. Hard to say," Jessie replied.

"That's good, because I couldn't change it anyway," Q2 said.

"What!" Jessie snapped.

"If you had decided to change your past, I wouldn't have been able to do it," Q2 said.

"Why not?" Jessie asked.

"I thought you knew, the Continuum took away most of my powers," Q2 said.

"So what was the point of that then?" Jessie asked.

"Well it stopped you from wanting to change something that's happened, didn't it?" Q2 said questioningly.

"Yeah I suppose," Jessie said.

"There you go then," Q2 said.

"I suppose this explains why I'm able to punch and hurt you," Jessie said.

"Yes, unfortunately I am half mortal. I can get hurt, but I can't die," Q2 said.

"So if I punch you all day, it wouldn't give you brain damage," Jessie said.

"Yes basically," Q2 muttered. He quickly transported away before he got another punch in the face.

Sickbay:
The Doctor was in his office, working on his computer. He didn't notice that somebody had sneaked into Sickbay. He or she was at the medical tray, they picked up a few things.

The Bridge:
Kathryn, Chakotay and Kiara came out of the Ready Room. Kathryn and Chakotay sat straight onto their chairs. Kiara went over to the console behind the command chairs.

In: "Sickbay to Janeway."

"Go ahead," Kathryn said as she tapped her commbadge.

In: "Captain, it's Morgan. You'd better get here fast."

Kathryn looked Chakotay's way nervously.

"What's wrong?" Kathryn asked.

In: "Lets just say I haven't got time to tell you, Sickbay out."

Kathryn and Chakotay stood up from their chairs. Chakotay headed towards the turbolift. Kathryn turned towards Tuvok.

"Commander, you have the Bridge," she said.

"Aye Captain," Tuvok replied. Kathryn joined Chakotay in the turbolift.

Sickbay:
Kathryn and Chakotay rushed through the main door. They saw the Doctor treating Morgan, who was on the main biobed. They both rushed over to the biobed.

"What happened, Doctor?" Chakotay asked.

The Doctor sighed, he gently turned Morgan's wrist slightly. Kathryn and Chakotay gasped. Across her wrist was a very deep cut, it was barely seen due to the fact that blood was covering most of her arm.

"That's not all," the Doctor said. He walked over to the medical tray, and he brought it closer to the biobed. "Most of these hypospray's are empty, they were full when I left them earlier," the Doctor said, as he showed the pair a hypospray. He put it back on the tray. "I came into the main room, and I found her unconscious on the ground. One of the hypospray's was just lying next to her body," the Doctor said.

Kathryn turned to Chakotay. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked him.

"I'm afraid so," Chakotay replied.

"This was most definitely an attempted suicide," the Doctor said. "I've managed to flush all of the drugs out of her body, and her blood levels are stable again, but there is one more problem."

"What's that?" Kathryn asked.

"That's not going to stop her from trying something like this again," the Doctor replied.

"Chakotay, I didn't think she would take what we said so hard. What should we do?" Kathryn asked.

"I don't know," Chakotay replied.

"There's only one cure, she needs therapy," the Doctor said.

"Do I sense a but coming?" Chakotay asked.

"Yes, she won't be willing to listen to me. Maybe if somebody close to her tried, maybe she'll listen," the Doctor replied.

"But with what's happened, she won't listen to us. Who will she listen to?" Kathryn asked.

Minutes later:
"Why us?" Jessie asked.

"You three are her friends, aren't you?" the Doctor asked.

"But how can we convince her not to do this again?" Craig asked.

"Well a love confession won't work, so you're out," James said.

"Confession, she already knows," Jessie said.

"You guys never leave me alone," Craig muttered.

"I hate to say this, but you lot are our only hope. She won't listen to us now, but maybe she'll listen to you, Kathryn said.

"What did you say to her exactly?" James asked.

"Yes, have you even tried?" Jessie asked.

"Erm, I can't think of a question," Craig said.

Chakotay rolled his eyes. Everyone else groaned.

"You know that her memories for the first fifteen years of her life were changed. So in her opinion she's only known nearly two years of her life," Chakotay said.

"She did say something about the temporal implant being the only thing that keeps her in existence," Kathryn said.

James sighed impatiently, "and you said something to push her over the edge. What?"

Kathryn's stare hardened. "What are you implying?"

"Seems obvious to me. 'She won't listen to us now'," Jessie answered. She glanced at James briefly. "Getting deja vu yet?"

"Yeah," James replied.

Everyone else looked at each other in a confused way.

"Did somebody you know try suicide for the same reasons, basically anyway?" the Doctor asked.

"Bingo," Jessie replied.

"Anyone we know?" Chakotay said questioningly.

"Does it matter?" Kathryn asked.

"Yeah, as a matter of a fact he's in the room with you right now," James replied.

Nearly everyone looked Craig's way. He looked confused.

"No, it wasn't me," he said.

"No, you idiots, it was James that did it," Jessie said.

Everyone stared at her and James in shock. "Him?" they all said in disbelief.

"Maybe this won't be as hard as we think," Kathryn said finally.

"What do you mean?" Chakotay asked.

"Usually it does help to talk to somebody who's tried suicide and lived to tell about it," Kathryn replied.

"What if he just survived because the doctors in the area kept reviving him, and he just gave up," Chakotay said.

"No, I talked him out of it," Jessie said.

"Fine, I know I'm going to regret this but, I want you two to talk to Morgan about this. Try and convince her that suicide isn't the option," Kathryn said.

 

Morgan was now awake, but she wasn't allowed to get off the biobed. The medical tray had been moved to the other side of the room. James, Jessie and Craig were standing around the biobed.

"I know why you guys are here, you're here to try and persuade me not to do anything like that again. Am I right?" Morgan said.

"Basically, yeah," James replied.

"Good luck, you'll need it," Morgan said.

"How should we start?" James asked Jessie quietly.

"Maybe you should start by telling her about that incident ten years ago," Jessie replied.

"Erm, ok then," James muttered.

"What incident?" Morgan asked.

"Well do you remember me telling you that my dad beat me, and that he hated me," James said.

"Well yeah," Morgan replied.

"My mum decided to tell me when I was seventeen that if they had both found out that she was pregnant with me a week earlier, they would've been able to abort," James said.

"Oh, charming," Craig muttered.

"Interesting, what's that got to do with me?" Morgan asked, with no sound of interest in her voice.

"I did overhear when I was three that my dad wanted me dead because he thought I was responsible for killing my sister," James said.

"Your what and did what?" Craig stuttered.

"Craig, would you just shut up," Jessie said. Craig pouted.

"My mum told me after that she was pregnant when I was about three. The reason why I didn't know about it was because they didn't want another screw up," James said.

Craig was about to say something, but the look on Jessie's face made him think again.

"I remember overhearing something about dad wanting the next kid. He said that maybe he or she would run away just like I did, and get me killed like what happened with Debbie," James said.

"Lovely, I thought my family was bad," Craig said. Jessie glared at him again. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"Is this story going anywhere?" Morgan said.

"Shhh listen," Jessie said.

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Make it quick, I'm thinking."

"I think it was the next night when I did what you did," James said.

"So if you committed suicide, why are you still here?" Morgan asked.

"Jessie convinced me that I was trying to take the easy way out, there were other ways," James replied.

"Is that it? I'm sure you can do better than that," Morgan muttered.

"Hey, it wasn't as simple as you think," Jessie said.

"It never is, is it. If that's the best you can do, see you in the next life. If there is one," Morgan said.

"Morgan, why are you doing this to yourself?" Jessie asked.

"Jessie, according to that Q, the Continuum knew that I wasn't meant to be. The only thing keeping me here is that damn temporal implant inside of me. If I'm not suppose to exist, why am I here?" Morgan replied.

"Can I interrupt?" Craig asked.

"Ok, but it better be good," Jessie said.

"Right. You're saying you shouldn't exist because the Continuum thinks that you shouldn't, right?" Craig asked.

"If you say so," Morgan replied.

"Well the Morgan I know wouldn't give a toss about what the Continuum thought. What's the real reason?" Craig asked.

"He's got a good point," James said.

"All right, but you asked for it. Number one, fifteen years of my life didn't happen, the only thing that's been real has been the last two years or so. Number two, everyone only cares about Kiara. No one cares about me, if they did they'd leave that brat to deal with her small problem, and at least try to understand my problems. Number three, the temporal implant thing again. Number four, the Continuum went to great lengths to try and get rid of me. No I don't give a toss about what they think, but maybe in this case they're right. Now do you still think that you can stop me?" Morgan said.

"Hang on a sec, a lot of people do care about you. If nobody cared about you, they would've just left you to die," Jessie said.

"If you say so. Let me ask you this, what would you do in my position?" Morgan muttered.

"Definitely not what you want to do," Jessie replied.

"What I'd like to know is why do you think everything's a mess?" James asked.

Morgan laughed slightly. "Weren't you listening?" she asked.

"Yeah I was, and you didn't let me finish," James replied.

"I didn't see the point since I know what you're doing is a waste of time," Morgan said.

"Why is it a waste of time?" Jessie asked.

"Well, that original attempt at suicide wasn't supposed to work in the first place," Morgan replied.

"What do you mean?" Craig asked.

"Well I can tell you since there's nothing you can do. Before I slit my wrist, I lured the temporal implant in my blood to where I was going to use the knife on. I did just that, then I injected something into the implant. I knew that the Doc wouldn't be able to detect it," Morgan replied.

"What did you inject into it?" James asked.

"Well, if you must know. The virus I injected into it will disable the implant. I don't know how long it will take, but I'm sure it will go off soon," Morgan replied.

"Morgan, you can't do that!" Craig stuttered.

"And why not. You won't even realise I'm gone this way," Morgan said.

"I know this sounds impersonal but, you can't just go and delete yourself from the timeline," Jessie said.

"It's better than my original idea," Morgan said.

"If you do this, god knows what will happen to everyone. Don't you know that the smallest change can affect things in a big way. Imagine how this will affect everyone," James said.

"I have thought about that. I came to the conclusion that if nobody cared about me, why should I care about what happens to them," Morgan said.

"Do you realise that you're going to cause a temporal paradox because of this?" Jessie asked.

"No, don't be stupid," Morgan replied.

"Well think about it, if you don't exist then neither will Kiara. Then you will be born in 2375 just like you were originally. Time will not know what to do with itself," Jessie said.

"Come to think of it, she's right," James said.

Craig tapped his commbadge. "Anderson to the Doctor, you'd better come back to Sickbay."

In: "I'm on my way."

"He can't do anything, only I know how this damn implant works," Morgan said.

"You're going to have to fix it then, it may seem like a small thing now, but a paradox this bizarre could cause a lot of problems with time," Jessie said.

"Whatever," Morgan muttered.

"Don't you even care?" James asked.

"Nope, everything will be the same in my opinion. I don't," Morgan replied.

The Doctor rushed into Sickbay, and he headed straight over to the biobed.

"The Morgan I know isn't a quitter. I had it rough, just like you. No one wanted me, my father wished I never existed, and I decided to live on. You want to know why?" James said.

"I'm not a quitter, leave me alone," Morgan said angrily.

"Then prove it, tell the Doctor how to fix the implant. Keep living as a middle finger to the arseholes who didn't want you to. Don't let them win," Jessie said.

James nodded, "it shouldn't matter how you got here, you're here now and I, we'd like to keep it that way." Jessie smiled knowingly at him. "There's always a solution to every problem, you just gotta look."

Morgan sighed and she looked at the wrist that she slit. Then she looked back at the others. "All right" she said finally. Everyone but the Doctor sighed in relief.

"Which implant?" he asked.

 

The Doctor finished treating Morgan. He backed away from the bed.

"It's easy once you know how. Next time, you won't be able to pull this off," the Doctor said.

"Hopefully there won't be a next time," Craig said.

Morgan sat up, and she immediately got onto her feet. "There won't be," she said. Everyone sighed in relief again.

"I'll inform the Captain," the Doctor said, and he headed towards his office.

"Hey, thanks for that," Morgan said.

"Just promise you won't ever do it again," James said.

"That's what I said after I convinced you the last time," Jessie said.

"I kept my promise, didn't I," James said.

"You said there was a way out of every situation. So how am I suppose to get over this," Morgan said.

"You'll find it, there's hardly ever a quick fix," Jessie replied.

The Ready Room, the following morning:
Morgan was sitting opposite Kathryn. Chakotay was standing next to Kathryn. As usual Kathryn had her pint of coffee.

"I hate to speak of Kiara after what happened the last time we talked but I feel that I have to mention it eventually. Since Kiara's half Q, the original Q told me that she'll probably start developing powers soon. She's obviously mortal, and there's going to be a limit on her powers," Chakotay said.

"Great, that's another problem added to my list," Morgan muttered.

"For the record, we're not just going to hand all responsibilities over to you just because of this. We'll still take care of her, unless you want to do it," Kathryn said.

"No, I hate to say this but I don't want to even see her," Morgan said.

"Why, it's not her fault this happened," Chakotay asked.

"She only cared about herself. Plus she tried to snare all of the attention and sympathy away from me, when I should have at least had a fair share of it," Morgan replied.

"I suppose that's fair, but try to understand, she is still only four years old," Kathryn said.

"So I've heard already," Morgan groaned.

"I know this is all very hard for you, Morgan, so we'll help you anyway we can," Chakotay said.

"How?" Morgan asked.

"I've got a suggestion. A lot of people who attempted suicide and lived, usually end up making fresh starts with their lives. They try to make changes, try to improve their old lifestyles," Kathryn replied.

"Are you suggesting that I should?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, I am. It may help you," Kathryn replied.

"Hey, I know, can I change my name?" Morgan asked.

"What for?" Chakotay asked.

"You said make a fresh start. If I have the same name, it may remind me of the fake me," Morgan replied.

"Do what you want, if you think it will help. But don't go over the top," Kathryn said.

"Yeah yeah, ok," Morgan muttered.

"So what do you want to change your name too?" Kathryn asked.

"What about Taiya, it's the feminine form of Chakotay," Chakotay said.

"It is?" Morgan said questioningly.

"Well, that's what the writer thinks it is anyway," Chakotay said.

"Maybe that's a good middle name, because I was thinking of Lena," Morgan said.

"Lena?" Kathryn said. "Your original name."

"So can I?" Morgan asked.

"I like it, why not," Chakotay replied. Kathryn nodded in agreement.

"Great, thanks," Morgan said, and she rushed out of the room.

"Erm, are you sure this is a good idea?" Kathryn asked.

"No, but I'm sure it can't be that bad," Chakotay replied. They both looked at each other nervously.

"Now I'm not sure," Kathryn muttered.

"She is sixteen, maybe we should just let her choose what she wants to do," Chakotay said.

"And we'll just worry," Kathryn said.

"Yeah, basically," Chakotay said.

"Sounds ok to me," Kathryn said.

 

THE END

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