Help me Die.
Rating: T
Pairing: J/C are sort of mentioned
Summary: The holographic doctor has an epiphany, he is going to be forced to watch those he loves and cares about die, so he seeks out a friend.
=/\=
The man walked his umbrella close to his head, the journey was familiar to him but it had never been this gloomy. Ringing at the door, he wondered how he was going to ask this question but it had to be done.
She answered the door, she herself was pretty old, and led him through and smiled as he sat. If he wasn't a hologram she would offer him a beverage or food. In all these years and new developments scientists were still to come up with a way for Holopeople to eat or drink.
"Why are you here, Joe?" she asked, pouring herself a cup of tea
"I need your help, I know you are retired and probably would need to pull a lot of strings, so to speak but, I'm desperate." He began unsure how he was going to ask.
"Get to the point, I ain't getting any younger"
"I need you to plant a virus in my programme" he blurted out
"A…what? Why would I need to do that?"
"Miral, you are 150 years old. I have been active for nearly as long as that, probably more. My wife is dead…I came to the realisation that. I am going to outlive everyone I love and care about. Most of Voyager's crew is dead. Your mom always helped me with my programme and…"
"Why don't you do it yourself?" she asked, this man had delivered her and her children, grandchildren too and now he wanted her to help decompile himself.
"Because… it always goes wrong. I thought your mom would have told you about it. I want to die and I need your help."
"Why ask me and not Melonie or Ryn, they were close to dad, one of the greatest holo developers of our time, they know more about holopeople's programmes." Miral persisted she was not giving in easy.
"You know why I can't go to Melonie, she left for new earth last month, it was her time and now I feel it is my time, my wife is gone, my second eldest is expecting her fifth grandchild, my youngest his first and my eldest is dead. I can't go on watching those I love die and break so horribly. Please help me, Miral, please." He was so close to tears, thanks to his emotional subroutines that Tom Paris had developed.
"Alright, it's lucky for you that I have some holo tools in the back, you know I've been thinking of going to New Earth too. I mean my kids don't visit nor the grandkids and of course the great grandkids don't want to visit some senile old woman they barely know. Maybe it's my time too, doc" she struggled to reach the things on the floor so the doc helped.
=/\=
It had been a week since his visit to Miral's, she and him had decided to activate the virus when they reached New Earth, where some Voyager members chose to die, it would take 3 hours with the hyper drive. No one said goodbye, they just left and people understood and made efforts to grieve in private.
Reaching the sacred planet they truched to the shelter that had once, a very long time, belonged to Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay, Melonie Janeway was there in her mother's chair, the doc assumed she had died several weeks previous, they buried her in the Janeway graves. Miral injected her own concoction, which would kill her in a few hours, and then activated the doc's virus, which would cause him to decompile in a few days, leaving behind an automated message about he too had died here.
You see the Doctor was in every right a person, and through the many years since Voyager's return he had faced the battle to have that title, he hadn't changed his face, not once ever thought about it not even the hairline, he was proud to be Lewis Zimmerman's son, so to speak, but when he had married a beautiful women he could never have imagined becoming a father or grandfather but the worst he had never imagined was the pain he had to deal with although not physical it was real, he was going to watch his family and friends die around him and that was something the doctor, Joe could not live with.
It took nearly 10 years but sure enough Kathryn 'Ryn' Lanna Paris turned up old and decrepit. She listened to the doctor's message and smiled, she understood and hoped those who had panicked at his sudden disappearance would too, before taking her place she sent the message home, to earth, for his family to listen to and laugh just like she had done.
=/\=
Author's note: Okay so, I know that was sad and nobody likes people dying but I felt it had to be written so I have and hope I did it well. I don't have a beta so mistakes are my own and yes this story does link into 'Janeway family drabbles' universe so this is a little glimpse into their future however I thought it deserved to be its own story. Anyway please leave a review so I know how well I did.
Thank you
That-geek-in-a-hat