The Ties That Bind
This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: Star Trek: The Next Generation no mine...no money, no sue, please?
"Q! I should have known you had something to do with this!" Will exclaimed and may have lunged at the usually cocky, nearly omnipotent being if Miranda hadn't convulsed behind him.
"Q, do you know who is doing this to her?" Beverly asked desperately, realizing at last that she was helpless to save the girl.
"Yes, I do, Doctor" Q answered with a surly expression, "Unfortunately"
"Q" Jean-Luc urged the being harshly.
"What the lovely unconscious Councilor has guessed is true. The young man you know as Park is the cause" Q answered.
"How?" Jean-Luc asked. He chanced a glance in Will's direction. The cuts had stopped appearing on Miranda's body and the already existing ones seemed to be healing. There was fire burning behind the man's eyes, though, a fire that almost disturbed the Captain.
"Park was once part of the Continuum" Q announced, regaining the Captain's attention. "None of us really liked him" Q continued, "He had a nasty feel about him. Liked to torture lesser beings"
"That doesn't sound so different from the Q we know" Will challenged. Q threw a sharp look at the Commander.
"You'd think I was your saving angel compared to him, Riker. He was disgusting. He was the first Q to ever be kicked out of the Continuum"
"If you kicked him out, how is he still able to do this?" Lwaxana demanded, speaking for the first time since Q had appeared. Deanna had told her plenty about this creature already.
"At the time we didn't think to strip him fully of his powers" Q admitted, "To reduce him to full mortality still seemed a bit harsh to us back then. We now see the error of that assessment"
"Why haven't you stopped him before this?" Will demanded.
"He's never attacked someone we like before now" Q replied honestly.
"Someone you like?" Lwaxana repeated, "Of all the pompous things I've ever heard! You're like a child with too many toys, and now that he's gone and stolen one, now you get mad!"
"I really have no idea how Deanna turned out so well with you as a mother!" Q retorted. It looked as if a battle of arrogance was about to ensue, but Miranda yelped in her bed, the slightest of shutters ran through the ship and everybody's attention was brought back to the problem at hand.
"Doctor" Will cried, forced to let go of Miranda's hand as it started to turn to a rotted color. Beverly already has her tricorder out.
"Gang green" she announced, "A result of extreme frostbit" As they watched, Miranda's hand healed itself magically, but then a bare foot began to discolor.
"Sir, she can't take much more of this" the distraught doctor reported, "The human body is just not equipped to handle this kind of strain"
"Q, is there anyway to stop him?" Jean-Luc asked.
"Well, you could try killing him I suppose" Q answered as if trying to think very hard.
"I wouldn't suggest that, Jean-Luc" Lwaxana objected, "With such a strong psychic link it could kill her"
"She's right, Captain" Beverly intoned. Miranda yelped again and a stronger shutter shook the ship.
"LaForge to Captain Picard" Picard tapped his badge.
"Go ahead, Geordi"
"Captain, the field Data and I created around the ship is collapsing. We've started repairs on the damage, but if Miranda continues to send out that electrical pulse at the force she is now we might have a bigger problem on our hands" Geordi reported.
"What kind of problem, Mr. LaForge?" the Captain asked.
"Data thinks the pulse could be interfering with the harmonics of the dilithium chamber. We could lose the hyperdrive" Jean-Luc was now getting anxious. Not only did they have an extremely dangerous and powerful being on the ship torturing one of the crew, but one of the labs had reported an ion storm headed in their direction a few minutes ago. It wasn't due to arrive for another 12 hours, but without hyperdrive they could be in serious trouble.
"Understood" he said, "Do what you can, Mr. LaForge" Jean-Luc turned to Q, hopeful that this other, less dangerous, powerful being could provide an easy solution.
"Q we need to do something now" he said. Q just looked at him expectantly.
"I don't know what you expect me to do, Jean-Luc" he said, "This is out of my hands"
"You're a nearly all powerful being and this is out of your hands?" Will raged, "This is happening to her because of a mistake you and your Continuum made, now help her!"
"I can't!" Q replied sharply, "Not without killing her. You humans and your super fragile minds!" Contrary to what the crew of the Enterprise would believe, he was actually very fond of Miranda, having known her for so many years in the future, and he hated to see her in such pain.
"The only way to save her now is for Park to let her go willingly, which he won't, or for her to break the link, which she can't" he concluded. The humans felt defeated. Q had never actually lied to them. There was nothing the doctor could do, and nothing Lwaxana could....
"Maybe you're wrong" the telepath suddenly said. Q regarded her with an annoyed look.
"You're right that it's power she's lacking" she continued, "But maybe not a matter of psychic power"
"Hmm" Q was thinking, "Will power. Yes. Maybe you're right"
"I don't understand" Beverly admitted.
"If these headaches are anything to tell by, Miranda is very strong psychically" Lwaxana explained, "Maybe enough to fend off this ex-Q, Park"
"And I still don't understand how she's doing that" Beverly pointed out, "She's only half Betazoid"
"But he's torturing with more than physical pain" Q continued, ignoring Beverly's comment, a familiar light entering his eyes, "He's convinced her there's nothing worth her fighting for"
"How do we change her mind?" Will asked.
"First you have to get into her mind" Q replied.
"But I can't get in this way" Lwaxana told him. They were forming a plan together as if old scheming buddies.
"That I think I can help with" Q snapped his fingers with a bright white flash and it was done.