Chapter 20
Exitus acta probat.
The result validates the deeds.
(Ovid, Heroides. Cf. finis coronat opus.)

Vicki Ann walked into the infirmary for her checkup a few days later. Beverly motioned to a
biobed. Vicki Ann sat down. "How are you feeling today?"

Vicki Ann replied, "I'm alright."
"Are you sure?"

Vicki Ann nodded.

Beverly glanced up and saw that Julian had entered. "Excuse me," Beverly said, walking
over to one of the nurses. "Stall Dr. Bashir for a while. Just keep him away from Vicki Ann."

The nurse ran over to Julian. "Doctor, I'd like to speak to you for a moment."

"Of course," Julian replied.

"You're free to go," Beverly told Vicki Ann when she was finished. "You're fine. Just make
an appointment to see Deanna or Ezri for a counseling session."

"Yes, sir." Vicki Ann got up and walked toward the door.

Julian noticed Vicki Ann walk by. "Excuse me," he said to the nurse.

The nurse grabbed his arm fanatically. "Doctor!"

Julian replied, "Later," and continued toward Vicki Ann. When he approached her, he said,
"I think we need to talk."

"Julian, I don't need anything from you."

"I think we need to make an appointment to meet with Deanna together. We can help
each other get through this."

"I don't need your help. Besides, you didn't even care about him."

"Who says I didn't?" Julian replied sharply.

"Julian, don't your remember? You're the one who wouldn't let me rescue him. You're the
one who let him die."

"That doesn't mean that I didn't care about him. He was my child, too."

"Then why did you let him die?"

"I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE! Vicki Ann, we had to stop Section 31.
There was no time to save him."

"There would have been time if you would have let me go after him in the first place."

"Then you would have been killed too! Would you rather be dead?"

"YES! At least, I would have died trying to save my son instead of doing nothing, like you
did!"

"Dammit, Vicki Ann! That's it! As soon as I'm in charge again, I'm relieving you of duty and
ordering you to see Ezri."

"I'd like to see you try."

"What do you mean?"

"I've requested a transfer."

"You can't. Admiral Kelley said-"

"I'm calling in favors."

"Vicki Ann, you can't run away from your problems! Didn't we already discuss this, months
ago? If you try to leave, I'll tell Admiral Kelley that you're unfit for duty. I will block your
transfer until Ezri and I feel that you're better."

"YOU WOULDN'T!"

Julian looked her in the eye. "Try me." He flinched as she slapped him across the face.

Beverly ran over and pulled Vicki Ann away from Julian. "ENOUGH!" She turned to Julian.
"You, go over there," she said, pointing to a biobed. "I'll be with you shortly." As Julian
obeyed, she turned to Vicki Ann again. "As for you, I'm ordering you to go see Deanna."
When Vicki Ann began to protest, she added, "NOW! And you'd better talk about what's
really wrong, otherwise, I'm going to wring your neck."

Vicki Ann walked into Deanna's temporary office.

Deanna looked up from her desk. "Hi, Vicki Ann. What can I do for you?"

"Beverly wants me to-" She vanished in mid-sentence.

Beverly turned her back to get a tricorder. "How are you feeling, Julian?"

"I'm-"

"What did you say?" Beverly asked, turning around. Julian was gone and all the nurses
were staring at the empty biobed. "Where did he go?"

"He just vanished," replied one of the nurses.

Beverly frowned. "Q. Guess I'd better contact Colonel Kira."

Vicki Ann reappeared on the planet where Section 31 had taken her and Julian. "What
the-?" A second later, Julian appeared beside her. "Great!" she said, crossing her arms
across her chest. "Alright, Q. Very funny. Jokes over. Let's go home."

Q appeared, his face grim. "Not yet, Vicki Ann."

"Why not?"

"Some things have to be settled first. Between you and Julian."

Vicki Ann shook her head. "Oh, no. I want nothing to do with him."

"But Vicki Ann, he's your best friend."

"Not anymore he isn't. Now take us home."

"No," Q said, shaking his head. "There's something you need to see first." He snapped his
fingers. An image of the inside of Colonel Kira's office appeared. She was seated at her
desk with Admiral Ross. "This is what would have happened if your son had lived."

Admiral Ross frowned. "I don't know how it happened, but Section 31 is stronger than
ever. It all seems to have started after Dr. Troi and Dr. Bashir returned."

"You don't think that they had anything to do with it," Kira asked.

"I don't know. It's a possibility. Therefore, Starfleet Headquarters has asked me to
conduct a formal inquiry on the matter."

Kira nodded.

The scene shifted and this time Julian and Vicki Ann were in the office as well. "Dr. Julian
Subatoi Bashir and Dr. Victorianna Leonard Troi, you have been found guilty of treason.
You are hereby discharged from Starfleet and your medical licenses are revoked. You will
be sent to Jaros II, where you will serve a life sentence. You will leave immediately."

Q snapped his fingers and the image disappeared. "Want to hear more? Section 31
becomes more powerful due to Junior's genetic engineering. They take over all of Starfleet,
which becomes paranoid about everything. Eventually, war breaks out with the entire
Alpha Quadrant. The Federation is defeated and life as you know it ceases to exist. All
Federation criminals are executed, including you two." He turned to Vicki Ann. "Change
your mind any?"

Vicki Ann sighed and sat down on a nearby rock. "I'm sorry, Julian. I shouldn't have blamed
you. You were just doing what you thought was right. And you were."

Julian walked over to Vicki Ann and nudged her over. He sat down beside her and put his
hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Vicki Ann. I should have tried to be a little more
understanding toward your feelings. But I want you to understand that I didn't want to
leave him there. I wanted to save him as much as you did. But, I also saw the big picture.
I knew the implications of a genetically engineered operative. We had to stop Section 31."
He sighed. "We're going to have to talk to a counselor about this."

Vicki Ann nodded. "I think a vacation might be good, too."

"I agree."

"I'm thinking of Chelsa VII. No Holosuites, no computers and no one but me and David."

"Sounds nice. Except I'm leaning more towards Risa."

Vicki Ann smiled. "You would. Ezri, too?"

"Of course. She needs a break as much as I do. Problem is, with you and me both gone,
who's going to run the infirmary?"

"Well, the rumor is that the Enterprise won't be back for a few weeks, so I think we can
talk a certain redhead into taking the job. Besides, she'll be glad we're going away."

"Why?"

"Two reasons. It will be good for our recovery. And she won't have us in her way,
constantly asking her when we can get back to work."

Julian laughed.

Q rolled his eyes.

Vicki Ann went over to him. "Hey, you never told me what happened with the Continuum."

"There's nothing to tell. My brother and I were acquitted."

"You mean that the Continuum has accepted its past?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Alright. Time to go home." He went to snap his fingers, but
Vicki Ann stopped him.

"Thank you, Q," she said, hugging him.

"You don't need to thank me. Seeing that smile back on your face is enough. But, before
you go, there's something else I need to tell you. At least part of the Prophecy has been
fulfilled with Junior's death. In return, the Prophets are taking care of him."

"Do you mean that they-"

"Sshh. I can't say anymore." He snapped his fingers and Julian and Vicki Ann were back in
the infirmary.

Beverly ran over to them. "Am I going to have to separate you two again?"

Vicki Ann laughed. "No. We're fine. We talked. That and Q showed us that our regrets are
meaningless because our son had to die in order to stop Section 31." Her smile faded. "It
still hurts though."

Beverly nodded sadly. "I'll bet it does. Are you going to talk to Deanna about it?"

Vicki Ann glanced at Julian. "Are you free?"

Julian nodded. "Let's go."

They said goodbye to Beverly and walked to Deanna's office.