"Illusions of Grandeur"
Part 3

By Jaclyn Riker

Will and Deanna arrived on the bridge a few hours later. Lily had refused to come out of her room, ignoring all attempts to talk to her. Will had called Geordi to try and open the door, but even he was at a loss as how to get it open. So they had decided to just let her vent in her room, until she was ready to come out and apologize. After talking briefly to Jean-Luc and Beverly who was on the bridge as well, Will and Deanna decided to sit.

"Sir, would you like to sit in your old seat?" Lt. Commander Teri Newman asked, motioning to the first officer's chair.

"That's all right, Teri. It's your post now." Will told her, smiling at the young woman. Suddenly a voice rang to through the bridge.

"Oh how sweet of you Commander Riker. Only, wait, it is Captain Riker isn't it? I guess I will have to call you Mon Capitaine now."

A flash of bright light and the Enterprise's number one pain in the ass appeared on the left ramp dressed in an Admiral's uniform.

"Q!" Jean-Luc exclaimed and glared at the being. As the words left his mouth, the link of Qs appeared in front of the ship and the mighty vessel stopped in its tracks. Jean-Luc glared harder and stood from his chair.

"What do you want, Q?" Will asked heatedly, eyeing him as well.

"As the ancient humans used to say 'don't get your uniform in a knot', Mon Capitaine." Q said giving Will a look. "I am actually here to talk to Commander Newman."

"Well, she has nothing to say to you." Teri replied. "I have heard all about you and what you have done to this ship. So you can go right back to hell where you came from."

"You're feisty. That's good." Q said, seemingly unaffected by her words.

"What do you want with her, Q?" Jean-Luc asked and with a shrug, Q looked at him.

"I have no reason to lie. The Q counsel has just lost one of its members. Don't ask me how. It isn't a pretty story. Anyway, we are looking for a replacement. Commander Newman reminds us very much of Captain Riker many years ago. We want to offer her the chance of a lifetime that he once foolishly turned down."

"Well, I don't want it. Will you leave now?" Teri spat at him and Q's face turned into a mask of anger.

"You ungrateful, human. You don't even know what you are giving up. You don't know anything." Q said to her and whirled around to glare at Jean-Luc and Will. "This is your fault. You have taken away a chance of a lifetime for her by filling her head with your lies."

"They aren't lies." Deanna said, moving to stand next to her husband, but Q ignored her.

"Maybe I should send your ship into Borg territory as punishment." Q said thoughtfully, an evil smile on his face. A person needn't be an empath to sense the fear just the mention of that species brought out on the people of the bridge. Before anyone could respond, the turbo lift doors opened and a young lieutenant appeared. In his grip was a struggling Lily.

"Sir, I..." the young man began, but stopped at the sight of Q.

"What is this, Lt.?' Jean-Luc asked, looking at his goddaughter in confusion.

"I caught her trying to start a shuttlecraft, sir."

"You what?" Will exclaimed and Lily lifted her head higher at his tone in defiance. She didn't say a word, but didn't meet his gaze either.

"Who is this?" Q asked, fascinated by the bold child. All eyes turned to him again, as if they were just remembering he was here.

"I am Kalila Marie Riker. Who the heck are you?" Lily asked boldly staring at him. Q's eyes widened at her words and utter audacity.

"The captain is your father?" Q stated more than asked, but Lily nodded anyway. His eyes flickered over to where Will and Deanna stood together. Lily's eyes followed his and she frowned, looking away quickly. But it wasn't quick enough, for Q caught the scowl on her lips when she saw her parents. A gleam appeared in his eyes and he smiled slyly.

"Why were you trying to start a shuttlecraft, Kalila?" Q asked, crouching down to where she could look into his eyes.

"I like the name Lily and I was trying to leave. I don't want to be here with them anymore."

"Why?"

"They won't let me do the things I wanna do. My way is almost always right, but they won't listen to me cause I am a kid. Besides, she wants me to go away to some stupid school and I won't go!" Lily said and looked at Will and Deanna. "I won't!"

"You are a very brave little girl." Q said and Lily looked back at him then shrugged. "Have you ever heard of the Q?"

"No," Lily said shaking her head. "Is that what you are?"

"Uh-huh. We have special powers. Kind of like magic. Would you like to see?" Q asked her and with a small wave of his hand, a floating chocolate sundae appeared. Lily's eyes widened and she cautiously reached out to touch it. Upon feeling the cold ice cream she put her finger in her mouth, and then pulled it out to stare at Q in awe.

"It's real! How did you do that? Can you do it again?" Lily exclaimed and the smile on Q's face grew.

"How about you do it?" Q said and Will stepped forward.

"Q, leave her alone." He demanded, but Q just held up his index finger and shook his head.

"Uh-uh, Mon Capitaine. The Borg." Was all Q said and Will quietly stood there fuming. Deanna put her hand on her husband's arm, not only to hold him back, but to support him too.

"I don't know how." Lily responded to Q's question and frowned.

"All you have to do is think of something you really want and then wave your hand, like I did." Q told her and the child closed her eyes in concentration. No one noticed the small flick of Q's wrist towards Lily for they were all concentrating on the girl. After a moment she opened them again and gracefully waved her hand. A flash and then a loud sound caught everyone's attention.

"Sugar!" Lily cried and ran over to hug the pony she had left behind on Earth.

"Get this horse off my bridge." Jean-Luc ordered, but Q just shrugged.

"I didn't do it."

"But you can undo it." Will told him and Q frowned.

"Very well. If you don't mind taking the smile off of your daughter's face." With a wav of his hand the horse disappeared. Only Lily hardly seemed to notice as she whirled around, her eyes shining excitedly.

"More. I want to do more," she said, breathlessly.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Q told her and flashed over to where she stood. Deanna realized what he was about to do as she watched him take Lily's hand in his own.

"Q..." She said let out in a warning tone, but he just smiled at her.

"It turns out I have what I came for after all." He said and suddenly Lily's eyes widened. She had gotten a sense of what he was going to do and it was no longer fun and games. Fear replaced her excitement and she looked over at Deanna.

Mommy! Lily's voice echoed in Deanna's head as Q waved goodbye and disappeared off the ship, taking the girl with him.

"Noooooooooooooooo!" Deanna let out a heartbreaking cry, stepping forward at the same instant. She dropped to her knees as she realized they were already gone. "Oh Gods, no! Q! Q, bring her back. Please, Q, bring her back!"

Will stood in shock staring at the space where his daughter had just stood, but quickly shook himself out of it. He went to his wife's side and wordlessly gathered her up into his arms as she called out for their daughter and the being that had taken her. As he did so, the Q link became a sphere and zoomed away through space.

"I can't feel her, Will. They took her so far away that I can't feel her!" Deanna cried hysterically into his embrace. Will felt hot tears slide down his own face and through a sort of fog, he saw Beverly step forward with a hypo spray. She injected the sedative into Deanna's bloodstream. Deanna fell silent moments later with her body limp, but still shaking as Will lifted her up into his arms. Jean-Luc gave command of the silent bridge over to Teri then followed his friends to sickbay.

Will laid Deanna down on a bio bed, then seemed to lose all strength in his legs. Jean-Luc helped him into Beverly's office and into a chair. Will buried his face into his hands and his shoulder began to shake. Though no sound was heard Jean-Luc knew that his friend was crying. He placed his hand on Will's shoulder; not saying a word, then out of respect left the man to deal with his pain in solitude.

Jean-Luc went into the sick bay area where he saw Beverly lean over and brush a sisterly hand over Deanna's hair. He knew how close the two women were and could see that as a mother herself, Beverly was hurting for her. His wife looked up and at the sight of him, almost ran into his arms.

"Jean-Luc, how could he do this?" Beverly asked, her voice anguished. "She's just a child. What could he possibly want with their little girl?"

Jean-Luc thought for a bit and then frowned.

"The Q needs a new counsel member." He tested out his theory in his head, reapting it aloud slowly. "Instead of trying to make a new own out a fully-grown adult who all ready has opinions of its own, what better opportunity than to take a child. One who is bright, bold, highly creative, and at that particular moment, angry at her parents."

"And he calls us the savage race." Beverly said angrily.

"We'll get her back." Jean-Luc said, but they both knew the chances were slim to none. One did not find beings like the Q. They found you and even then it was only if they wanted to.

TBC