Still. Don't. Own. Star Trek.

Also, this chapter (and at least the next one after it, if not more) is dedicated to anyone who either has or knows someone who has PTSD.

Picard's POV

"I wanna see 'im!" God, Orion was persistent! As soon as he found out I had returned with Hugh, he'd parked himself in front of Hugh's room and refused to move. Even Wesley couldn't get him to move. He had all but fused himself to the wall. I looked at Beverly for approval, and she nodded.

"I wanna see 'im!" Orion piped up again.

"And you can," I said softly, kneeling down to be at eye level with him, "but you have to be quiet, okay? Hugh doesn't feel very good, and loud noises make his head hurt, okay?" Orion immediately settled.

"Okay, Daddy." he whispered. I hugged him close and picked him up.

"Hugh." I called quietly as I walked in, "There's someone who wants very badly to see you." I slowly walked over to Hugh's bedside as he weakly opened his eye.

"Orion." he said softly.

"Daddy say you no feel good." Orion said. Hugh gave him a pained smile.

"No, sweetie, I don't. But the doctor says I'm going to get better. And you make me feel a little better already." Orion smiled at this and clambered out of my arms to hug Hugh.

"Orion, be gentle." I warned. Hugh's good arm shakily lifted up, trembling as he moved it. I carefully took his arm as I realized what he was trying to do and wrapped it around Orion. The child settled into it, hugging Hugh's neck.

"Wuv you, Daddy, Hugh." he said. Hugh smiled again.

"I love you, too, Orion." I stood back and let them embrace. It rekindled my anger at whoever had done this to Hugh. No child should have to see something like this, their parent in such a helpless, pained state. Especially such a sweet and innocent little child like Orion.

Child aside, how could someone do this to a person like Hugh, whose only crime was being a Borg, something he didn't choose? Sure, maybe whoever this was hated Borg, but how could one fault Hugh for that? They HAD to know who he was, his story was known to pretty much the entire galaxy, and Starfleet only had one Borg officer in all its ranks. His uniform had been a dead giveaway that he was with Starfleet, as had his tricorder and combadge, which were in the labs even now, being studied and restudied in an effort to find any clue as to who had taken Hugh and why. I knew at some point Hugh would have to be questioned about his ordeal, and I dreaded it for him. He would have to basically relive his entire experience again in order to give the complete story. I decided I would be with him for this, no matter what anyone said. I had seen people try to do this alone, seasoned soldiers and Starfleet officers, and it never ended well. Hugh would never be able to make it through this alone.

Hugh's POV

Orion was a welcome source of warmth against me, and I wanted so bad to put both arms around him, to hold him close like I had been longing to do ever since I was taken. But despite my regeneration line being hooked up constantly, my body was still too weak, and my broken arm couldn't even be moved. Jean-Luc came over and sat down beside me, so I could lean against him with my head on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around me and Orion as he held us close to him. Between the two of them, I felt safe and warm and loved.

But my arms couldn't move under Jean-Luc's. They were locked like restraints around me. And Orion's were locked tight around my neck. Too tight. Squeezing. Cutting off air. My arms were bound to my sides. I was back in the lab again! No, no, this couldn't be! How had they gotten me back? What happened to Jean-Luc and Orion! I started thrashing around hard against my restraints, screaming and writhing to get my hands and feet free.

I didn't remember blacking out, but the next thing I knew, I was alone again. I could faintly hear Orion crying somewhere outside and Jean-Luc and Crusher's hushed voices. Now I was confused. How did I get back on the Enterprise? Did Picard know I'd been taken again? Did he know I was back? And what was wrong with Orion? I was confused and afraid as I shrank down under my blankets.

Picard's POV

It all happened so fast. One minute I was holding Hugh and Orion close, the next minute Hugh was shrieking like a banshee, thrashing wildly in my arms, clawing at Orion, finally throwing him off into the floor. I jumped up and ran to him, sweeping up the little one in my arms as Crusher came running in, yelling "SEDATE HIM" as loud as she could. I rushed out with Orion sobbing and clinging to to me tightly. I sat down on the exam table with him, hugging him and letting him cry while Crusher got the situation under control.

Orion kept my mind off wondering what had just happened as I checked him for injuries and tried my best to comfort him, until he finally calmed enough to speak.

"Wh-why he do that, Picker? I hurt him?" I gently brushed the tears out of his big brown eye, so much like his Borg father's, and shook my head.

"I don't know what happened, sweetie. But I'm sure Dr. Crusher will know what's wrong."

"She help Daddy Hugh? She make him all better?" He looked up hopefully.

"I'm going to do everything I can, Orion." the doctor said as she walked over to us.

"Pwomise?" he asked. She smiled and nodded.

"I promise," she said, "Now, can you go see Wesley for a moment? I need to talk to your daddy about some...grownup things."

"Otay." Orion slid off the table and shuffled away, obviously not wanting to, but knowing it was best if he did as he was told. I waited until he was out of earshot before asking what the "grownup things" were.

"Well, the good news is, it's a very well known and very treatable condition." She looked sadly toward Hugh's room, "The bad news is, it's PTSD." I loosed an audible gasp.

"Will he be all right?" I asked.

"Yes, Jean-Luc. As I said, it's very treatable. The experience might be worse for him, though, since no Borg has ever had the condition. He doesn't understand what's happening to him. Based on his brain scans and the way his vitals spiked, I believe what just happened was either a flashback-a common symptom-or a reaction caused by some trigger-also a common symptom-or maybe even a combination of the two."

"So it's not his fault that Orion was attacked?" She shook her head.

"More than that, Jean-Luc, I don't think he was seeing you and Orion anymore. If it was a flashback, he was likely seeing some person who hurt him or some place where things were done to him."

"But why, Doctor?" Why did that happen?"

"It's hard to say right now. Sometimes it just happens, and other times, it could be triggered by something he saw, heard, smelled, felt, tasted, or thought. I'd need more information on what he went through to know for sure." I nodded.

"I'll see if I can talk to him." I whispered, "May I go back to him now?" She peeked into Hugh's door and nodded. I slowly walked in past her, and she shut the door behind me, setting it to privacy mode.

Hugh had sunk down into his covers, but he watched me with both eyes as I came to sit beside him, his brown eye wide and scared.

"What happened?" he asked as I gently took his hand in mine. The gold band still glittered on its slender white finger.

"You started...screaming and fighting." I said softly, rubbing his hand in mine, "You threw Orion into the floor-" Hugh's eye widened at that, and a look of horror crossed his face.

"Did I-"

"He's fine." I assured him, "A bit shaken up and confused, but he's not hurt." Hugh went from horrified to sad now.

"I'm sorry, Jean-Luc." he sniffed.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault, and you didn't mean to do it. You would never hurt Orion and I know that."

"But then why did I?" I straightened a little. This was where it would get difficult.

"Hugh...what exactly made you start fighting like that?"

"What do you mean? Didn't you see, they took me again. They had me back in the lab, then...i don't know how, but...I came back here."

"No, Hugh, you never left the Enterprise. No one took you anywhere."

"But they did, Jean-Luc. I swear they did! I wouldn't lie about this, especially not to you!" His eye was watering now.

"I know, Hugh, and I know you're not lying. I believe you actually saw all of this. What I'm saying is that it didn't actually happen. What you saw was your own memory. You were reliving it, you didn't actually go anywhere."

"Why? I don't want to relive it, Jean-Luc." I reached up and brushed a tear away from his eye.

"I know, Hugh. Unfortunately, it's not your choice to have this happen." I carefully explained to him what PTSD was, how it affected the mind as Dr. Crusher had explained, and what exactly had happened here. When I was done, he started to cry, and I immediately offered my shoulder.

"I don't want this." he sobbed, "I don't want to hurt anyone, ever."

"I know, Hugh, I know." I softly kissed his head, "But I promise you, we will get through this. I vowed on our wedding day to stay with you and help you through such things and I meant every word of it. I love you, Hugh, and nothing is EVER going to change that." I finally wrapped one arm around him and whispered.

"You will never be alone."

I didn't hear a response, but the arm weakly wrapping around me said everything I needed to know.