Author Note: Wellll...here we are, the final chapter :) Maybe. I'll probably have an epilogue, but for now, thanks for reading!

Chapter Ten: And They Lived...

Claire tried to pull herself up from the ground, but the pain in her shoulder told her that wasn't a good idea. Her blood began to pool around her, and she knew the wound had to be serious. She watched as her son walked onto the bridge, and things really couldn't have been worse. She groaned and shut her eyes. "Leo..." she whispered. Why did he have to go through this?

"...Mom?" He asked. His eyes were on Mirage, with his gun pointed at the twins. His eyes flickered to Claire, and carefully he began to circle the room. ""You said you were in trouble. Are you okay?"

Mirage gave a weak laugh. "Yes. I thought she was going to kill me, but it's okay now. She's going to die, and it's all over..."

Claire uselessly watched the scene. Mirage hurried forward and hugged Leo - her Leo - who carefully hugged her back. "How did you get on board? Where have you been?" He asked. His voice sounded sad, and Claire wasn't sure why. She wished she could answer, but she had to be careful with Mirage. They were still playing her game and still learning the rules; if she felt threatened, she would kill Leo.

"It was because of T'Pala. She brought us here, and when we arrived, Mirage knocked me out and brought me here. A lot of the crew are in cells."

"We should get them out, then," Leo replied, then glanced at Claire. "Let's bring her with us, so we can lock her up, and bring her to Starfleet."

Mirage turned and glared at her. "...We should leave her to die. She's been nothing but trouble, since the beginning."

"Mom, she can't hurt us anymore, right?" Leo asked, smiling hopefully at her. "It's over, like you said. I just want us to be done with it."

After a moment's hesitation, Mirage sighed. "Okay. Let's hurry, though, so the Captain can notify Starfleet."

With one person on each side, Claire was hauled to her feet. Mirage was at her injured shoulder, giving it a particularly hard tug as they walked. Claire bit her lip and kept silent as they shuffled onto the elevator. The three of them were silent, but Leo finally broke it as they neared the bottom. "I'm glad you're all right, Mom. I was scared...they'd killed you." He turned his head, and Claire couldn't help but glance at him. He was looking past her, but she had to believe the words were for her. She knew how smart he was, and prayed that he knew the truth. If he didn't, she would have to take matters into her own hands; even if that meant using them to end Mirage's life.

A few crew members had somehow managed safety, and dared stand in the halls as the trio walked past them. They offered help, but Mirage insisted that everything was fine. She announced that the Captain and the others were stuck in holding cells, uneasy news to many. If anyone knew, they hadn't been bold enough to make a stand.

Claire felt dizzy at this point. How much blood was she losing? Her feet began to trip over themselves, and her company was forced to drag her farther along. By the time they reached the holding cells, Claire all but collapsed to the ground in pain. Before her blurring vision sat numerous crew members, all looking at the outsiders with curiosity. Somewhere, she heard Kirk's voice. "Claire, Leo, are you all right?"

"Mirage is injured," Leo replied. Claire looked up, finding him not far. "We think she should go to Starfleet to get medical attention, or she'll die."

"Luckily I notified them before. They might already be here, but no one was around to contact them."

Claire couldn't help it; she laughed.

"What's so funny?" Mirage asked, wheeling around. She crouched down, glaring hatefully and victoriously at Claire. "You're done for. What do you have to laugh about?"

Claire shook her head. "You're so stupid," she muttered. "So stupid." She looked in front of her, and found McCoy watching her. A bittersweet laugh escaped her, and she smiled at him. It's me, she wished she could tell him. It's me, and I'm probably going to die. Claire moved herself to set up straighter, and then, with little energy she had, she lunged forward to tackle Mirage. Mirage yelped in surprise, and had the disadvantage as Claire used all of her weight to pin her down.

"Get off of me! Help, someone!"

"No one can help you now," Claire growled, and grabbed the knife that had remained in her arm - blood was everywhere now. With a trembling hand, she raised the knife and took a deep breath.

"Mom, no!" Leo called. He shot forward, and took Claire's hand firmly. She tried to get around him, but he said again, "Mom. Don't kill her, okay?" More gently he held her hand, and managed to take the knife away from her. When Claire looked up at him, there were tears in her eyes.

"I knew you'd know," she said. He nodded seriously, then waved her away. Black Mirage still lay there, in complete shock. Leo stood over her and pointed the phaser in her face. She realized what had happened, and her expression turned to stone.

"Are you going to kill me?" She asked.

Leo, after a beat, shook his head. "I could, but I won't. I could have let her do it, but...someone has to show you mercy, right?"

"How did you know?" Mirage asked.

Leo smiled down at her, a sad smile. "You could never be my mother. When you were transported here, I was outside, watching you. Your idea was easy to figure out, since you look just like her. Once you knew about me, you'd try to use me against her. I only had to wait for you to call me to the bridge, and figure watch it all pan out."

Black Mirage threw her head back a little and gave a strange laugh. It was like a giggle, but came out more like a wheeze. "Why didn't you just shoot me there, instead of leading me on?"

Leo crouched down closer to her, the gun still in his hand. "A friend told me, that if you let your enemy think they're the smart ones, you'll end up winning. Also, that if you try to understand their motives, and learn how they work," he shrugged, "you can't be stopped."

"Oh, you think you understand me now?" Mirage hissed.

Again, he shrugged. "I tried. It wasn't perfect, but, I could...empathize with you. You just wanted to make things right for your life, even if that meant getting rid of a good part of it. You're just trying to move on at this point."

Mirage looked away, shaking her head bitterly. "You couldn't be more wrong."

Leo decided to leave it at that. He looked up at Kirk, and noticed the proud smile playing at the Captain's lips. "Now, how do I get you out of here?"

Kirk looked out from his cell, noticing a nearby security guard. "Ensign, we'd all love to get back to work. Why don't you let us on out?"

The officer nodded, looking somewhat relieved. Having been threatened with his life only an hour before, it was nice to receive orders from the good guys again. He unlocked the cell, and his fellow crew mates filed out. Two officers apprehended Black Mirage, brought her into one of the coves, and locked the door back up. The fight must have gone out of her, because she didn't say another word after that.

McCoy couldn't have been released from his prison fast enough. As soon as he was out, he hurried over to Claire, and took her face in his hands. "Look at you! I'm so sorry for before, Claire, she threatened me with - "

Claire shook her head and smiled. "Forget about it. Um, I think I'm hurt pretty badly...so let's talk about it later."

He looked at her injury, nodded, and ordered two people to help him. "This wound is deep, and she needs to be sent down to Med Bay right now. Does anyone know where Nurse Chapel - oh, there you are, dear. Have someone..."

Claire didn't hear the rest, because as quickly as she closed her eyes, she was out cold.

A week passed, and many things were mended and taken care of. Upon arrival, Starfleet Officials could hardly believe the story that Kirk had given them. They were amazed - and relieved - to finally have the real Black Mirage in custody. Three people spent that time in sick bay - Claire, and Pharen and Ehala. The couple just about drove her crazy with the apologizing, and more than a few tears were shed. They wished they hadn't ever been found out by the Klingons, and would never know just why it had all happened.

Claire thought of Du'Ralle, once or twice. Though she wasn't sad to know of his death, she couldn't help but wonder what his last moments had been like. Kirk had explained that there'd been no time to react, because Mirage had gone around taking names and threatening everyone in sight. That part was sad, knowing that she'd returned here so changed. Though a crazy thought, Claire wished that Mirage hadn't had to experience all of the darkness she'd undoubtedly let into her life.

In the week that had gone by, Claire had also come to a decision, and had talked a lot with Leo over it. For a third, wound-opening time, she'd had to explain to her son that his father was dead. For some reason, she'd expected the same reactions as she'd had in her dream, and in reality. However, her heart broke as she watched Leo shed tears, and was sure he would spend as much time as she had in grieving. When he came to visit her the next morning, though, he surprised her.

"Mom, I want to stay here. What do you think?"

She blinked a couple of times. "I...I was going to ask you about that."

"You want to stay, too?" He asked.

She smiled, and slowly nodded. She told him about her time in the future, after she'd escaped the Klingons. She'd wanted to stay there so badly, to be with him in that time, but she hadn't been sure yet. ""We'll have to talk to the Captain about it, though," she added. "I'm worried that Pharen and Ehala will be in trouble, and they'll probably have to send us back...again. I honestly don't know if I could take it."

Leo nodded. Then he smiled, and it grew wider as he said, "Well, good thing the ships 'don't work' anymore."

"...What?"

"Yeah. Scotty and I have been disassembling them since you've been in here. Captain Kirk told Starfleet that the ships were damaged, so we've been junking the pieces or destroying them."

Claire's mouth dropped. Now they really were stuck here! "What about Pharen and his wife? How will they get home?"

Leo shrugged. "They're going to go with the Officials, get some things worked out. They aren't in trouble, but their tech hasn't exactly won them any points with Starfleet, either. So, yeah, we get to stay here."

The two of them shared a laugh about it. Here, Claire had spent so much time pondering and considering her options, when there was only one to decide on. She was staying here, and she never had to worry about leaving again. Her injuries - a sliced arm and a concussion - had healed over nicely, and she was out of sick bay two days later. Starfleet had explained that they would be back, to settle things with her, and that meant living arrangements. Claire worried that she and Leo would have to leave the Enterprise, but Kirk was very reassuring.

"I've sent in a request for two new crew members, seeing as that was the only way to possibly keep you with us," he'd explained simply. "You each have your own quarters - Claire, I'm sure you'll remember where yours are - and we'll find a position for you soon enough."

Claire couldn't have congratulated him more. Leo was grateful, too, and gave the Captain a respectful handshake. "Thank you, sir."

"Thank you, for listening to me. It saved us all, and you'll be a brilliant asset to the Enterprise."

At the end of that day, Claire decided to make a stop before settling into her old room. She hadn't really had a chance to talk to McCoy, because he'd been with the Captain or taking care of reports. He'd stopped in to check on her from time to time, but their conversations had been brief. He also didn't know that she would be staying, so it was time to break the good news. Cautiously, she stepped into the medical bay and cleared her throat. "Leonard? Er, Doctor McCoy, I mean?" She still wasn't used to that, and he was still working, besides.

He was at his desk, but he stopped work to smile up at her. "Leonard, I think, is fine," he replied. He stood to greet her, and patted her head. "You're feeling all right?"

"Better than that - I'm staying. Captain Kirk is making sure Leo and I get to stay."

He raised a beyond-surprised eyebrow, then beamed at her. "Well, isn't that just dandy! I'm...I'm so happy for you," he laughed, hugging her tightly. She returned it, closing her eyes a moment. She'd missed him so much, and now...she could be with him. "Leonard, can I tell you something?" She looked up at him, and he nodded. She smiled, went up on tip-toes, and kissed him sweetly on the mouth. A muffled grunt settled in his throat, then he sighed contently and kissed her back.

Whooo! Looks like I don't need an epilogue, though it would be fun. There's a million things I could add, but I decided on that ending, and I love it! So cute, and she finally got to be with him! For the billionth time, thank you for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting this story, I had a lot of fun with it.