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?

Park popped in out of thin air.

"Get away from her!" he shouted. He loosed worse, if possible, than he had a few minutes ago, and his appearance was rapidly deteriorating. His hair was thinner, as if it was falling out, his eyes were completely blood shot and he noticeably trembled.

"I said, get away from her!" he yelled a gain, taking a menacing step forward.

"I knew it!" Q crowed triumphantly, "She's drawing on your power, isn't she?"

"Q what are you talking about?" Jean-Luc asked.

"No, no! I control her! I control her!" Park screamed hysterically, but he wasn't very convincing.

"Will?" a cracked voice whispered. Miranda had opened her eyes and was looking up at her brother. Her wounds had started healing, though she still looked ill and exhausted.

"You coward" Q sneered. Everything was happening too fast for the humans to fully comprehend. Miranda was improving by leaps and bounds, and Park's condition continued to worsen. He was shaking uncontrollably now.

"Stop her! Q, stop her!" he shouted. Q only folded his arms, an amused look on his face.

"Too bad you didn't know why she was so important to the Continuum, eh?"

"Q, what is going on?" Jean-Luc demanded.

"I'll kill her, Q! I'll kill her now!" Park cried, and threw his arms out wide and took a deep breath. Worf, Data and Jean-Luc stepped in to a guarding position around Will and Miranda. Beverly and Deanna were both on the floor on either side of the recuperating girl. Will was whispering to her though she wasn't speaking.

"Q!" Worf growled a warning, but Q made no move to interfere.

"He's bluffing" Q sneered again, "He couldn't kill her, even if he wanted to. He's lost the power. And he knows what's waiting for him"

"What are you talking about?" Jean-Luc was forced to ask again.

"The whole Continuum is waiting to finish him off. He knows they won't touch him while he's here, so he's using her mind to hide out" Q explained. Park's arms dropped.

"What do you mean he has lost his power?" Data inquired.

"She took it" Beverly suddenly realized, joining them from the floor, "She is somehow drawing on his power to heal herself. I knew she couldn't be producing those electrical pulses on her own"

"You mean she's actually drawing power from him," Geordi asked, "Like Enterprise draws power from the dilithium?"
"A crude analogy, but yes" Q responded. Park seemed to have found some stabilizing power within himself. He still looked as if he was decaying alive, but he had stopped shaking. The humans couldn't tell if Park had regained some power or lost it all and Q didn't care.

"I will kill you! I will kill you! I will kill you!" he started chanting, raising his arms again. There was insanity and fear in his eyes. It must be terrifying for an immortal being to be faced with death, a man who had brought the destruction of so many to be awaiting his own.

None of them had any sympathy for him.

"I will kill you! I will kill you!" he continued to rant.

"No...you...won't!" Park's eyes widened with fear and those standing spun around. Miranda was painstakingly getting to her feet, with the aid of her brother. Her bruises were that disgusting yellow green color that meant they were healing, her cuts, most of them, had scabbed over and her legs were apparently no longer broken.

"Well, it took you long enough, Ms. Riker" Q complained. Miranda spared him one of her old death-to-you glares. He frowned and dropped his arms. She turned back to Park who looked as if stuck between arrogant anger and cowardly fear.

"You...can't...do this to me! I...am...Q!" he shouted at her. Spittle was forming in his mouth and it drooled down his chin. He had become very thin, like his body was simply losing mass.

"Not anymore, bucko" Miranda replied, her voice strong if the rest of her wasn't. Something was happening, though. There was an energy passing between Park and Miranda. The rest, as part of her mind, could feel it too. Even Data felt more powerful. It was a battle now, one that Park was losing. The humans were confused. They couldn't understand how Miranda could possibly be doing what Q claimed she was doing. But she was doing it, they could feel it. She had already had a foothold, taking power from him slowly before he realized, so now she had the upper hand. He was weakening quickly, unable to protect himself and without anyone to do it for him.

"I won't leave! You can't get rid of me! I am Q, dammit!" Park yelled.

"See what arrogance gets you, Q?" Miranda chirped at the actual Q, "You turn into this freak, fading away fast by the mere thought of a half human, half Betazoid brat"

"I'll be sure to make a mental note" Q replied with a roll of his eyes.

"At least we know where she gets the sarcasm from" Geordi whispered to Data who was relishing this odd excursion into Miranda's mind.

Miranda's face was glowing. The air was heavy and Will suddenly realized what they were feeling. It was the power of Q, or at least some of it. He recognized it now, but he was the only one who had ever felt it before.

Park was almost gone now. It hadn't actually taken as long as any of them would have imagined. He was doing exactly what Miranda had said, fading. He was thinner than any real human could ever be, and now it seemed he was becoming transparent. All the anger was gone from him now and the only thing that remained was the fear.

"Randy, please! Don't kill me! I...I don't want to die!" he sounded pathetic with his miniscule voice.

"Sorry, Eddie, but you can't be allowed to live" There was compassion in her voice, which startled everyone but Q. He already knew the depths of her generous heart.

And then, Park was gone. Just like that, he wasn't there anymore. There was sorrow and a little regret. Worf, in particular, could not understand that. The heaviness of the Power of Q was still there, glowing inside the mental image of Miranda's nearly healed, but scarred badly, body.

"Are you all right?" she turned to face her friends, but spoke to her brother.

"We're fine" he told her, "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm peachy!" his little sister replied with a happy smile, "This whole draining the Power of Q thing is really cool!"

"You can't keep it" Q piped up. Miranda rounded on him, her forefinger punching his imaginary chest.

"What do you mean I can't keep it? You're the one that started all of this, led him straight to me, and now I can't keep it?"

"No" was Q's curt answer.

"Why not?" Will demanded, a little indignant himself, on his sister's behalf of course.

"She's too young. Don't give me that look, you are. You said so yourself"

"I did not!" Miranda denied.

"Well, you will. It's not the right time" Q gave her a stern look. She opened her mouth to protest again, but snapped it shut again.

"Oh, fine! Just take it then, take it all!" she cried and crossed her arms. Q rolled his eyes and without comment snapped his fingers. Miranda sucked in a breath and the others had just enough time to see her eyes roll back into her head before they were back in Sickbay.

"Doctor? Captain?" Nurse Ogawa was waving a hand in front of each of their faces.

"We're fine" Beverly promptly replied, "How is Miranda?"

"Much better" Ogawa answered, concern still in her voice, "I don't know what happened. One second she was screaming and the next she had improved drastically"

"Seconds?" Jean-Luc repeated, "But we were there for several hours"

"Time passes much more quickly in the mind, Jean-Luc" Lwaxana said. She was standing near her daughter, who was just reviving.

"Well, it appears everything is back to normal here" Q said smugly.

"Wait, Q!" Jean-Luc stopped him, "There are still some questions that need answering!"

"All in good time, Mon Capitan!" Q smiled, "All in good time!"

And then he was gone.

AN: There's more coming, don't worry!