A/N: HOLY SHIT, I'M BACK! Wow. I am so sorry for being gone so long folks, but I have had a shit time of trying to write anything lately. So here is the first of two updates, the second coming...sometime this week. maybe. I haven't decided. But SOON!

Huge, huge, HUGE thanks to my friend DrZevil, for lending his character to this story and for helping to further the plot. As always, thanks to Kretolus as well, because he's awesome. Both of these people write some epic fics that you need to go and write.

And now...I'm going to have a nap. This took a lot out of me!

Thanks for reading, everyone!


The young Admiral found Léonie sat on a small seat, head in her hands and on the verge of sobbing. She kneeled down in front of the clumsy young woman, taking her hands in her own.

"Listen Léonie," she said softly, trying to make eye contact despite Léonie's attempts to look away, "I'm...pretty stunned by what you've told me, yes, but...I need your help. I need you to work with me to get this ship flying again, because right now my evil twin is flying around the galaxy with-"

"A Starfleet Intelligence issue Scryer-class science vessel, I know," Léonie sniffed, wiping away an errant tear. "I just...I'm better than this, you know? I work so hard to...to prove I can do things right, and then...and then I practically ruin the timeline!"

She began crying, leaning onto Lydana's shoulder suddenly and clinging to her with enough force to choke a Klingon. Almost as suddenly she let go, sitting upright again and stammering.

"Uh, uh, right, um, s-sorry, I know I shouldn't-...but it's just-"

"Léonie, calm down," Lydana told her, injecting some force into her tone in order to get the girl's attention. "The temporal prime directive shit? It doesn't matter right now, okay?"

Léonie nodded.

"Good. We need to get this ship flying. Now, can you help me do that, or are you going to have a breakdown every time something comes up that you think I shouldn't know?"

Léonie sniffed again, scrubbed at her eyes and took a deep breath, before finally standing up as best she could inside the small ship.

"Let's get back to it, mama," she said, smiling at Lydana before heading back into the cockpit, and the admiral paused for a moment.

"That will take a lot of getting used to," she muttered, before following her daughter to resume the repairs.

It took time - much more time than Lydana wanted it to, and most likely far more than they had, but if they were going to save the galaxy from...well, her, they needed a ship that worked first.

They flew in relative silence, Léonie loathe to give away yet more secrets of the future, and Lydana lost in her own thoughts. They spoke only when the ship's operations demanded it, and a warning tone from Léonie's station heralded just such an occasion.

"We're picking up another ship," the awkward woman said softly. "It's Starfleet...reads as a retrofitted Galaxy-class. The...USS Le Fey."

"Le Fey?" Lydana queried, frowning. "That's...Admiral Zevil's ship, if I'm not mistaken. Not sure what brings her out here, but I'm not complaining. Open-"

"Um...they're hailing us," Léonie interrupted, still sounding a little uncertain.

Lydana looked around for a screen, and when she didn't find one shrugged and told Léonie to answer the hail anyway.

"Denorios-class Interceptor, this is Admiral Xavius Vexius Zevil of the United Federation Starship Le Fey. We see you're ship is in need of some care, do you require assistance?"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Admiral. Admiral Kassai Lydana, of Starfleet Intelligence. And yes, my ship could use a little...attention," she answered with a chuckle.

"Admiral Kassai? I'm surprised to see you away from the shadow, and on a Bajoran shuttle. I'd love to hear the story behind that, unless of course your required to kill me after telling me."

Lydana chuckled again. It felt good after the brutality of her captivity.

"For once, no, I'm not required to 'silence' anybody," she said with a smile, before sobering again. "Although, I would prefer to keep this between you and me...for a number of reasons."

There was a momentary pause before Zevil replied, as if he was issuing instructions to his crew.

"Very well then, the hanger doors are open and I will send my Chief of Operations to meet you and bring you to my ready room. Zevil, out."

The channel closed, and Lydana put them on a course to rendezvous with the Le Fey. She allowed herself a sigh of relief - this would be a lot easier with other allies.

"Um...should I...should I stay here?" Léonie asked timidly, but Lydana shook her head.

"No, you're in this as much as I am. Besides, I don't know your skillset - you might have something valuable to add."

She couldn't see, but behind her Léonie smiled broadly.

The small Bajoran vessel fitted easily among the standard shuttles in the Le Fey's hangar, and the two women exited the ship and walked towards the officer sent to meet them.

"Welcome to the Le Fey, Admiral Kassai and-" she gave Léonie a confused look. "-guest, I'm Lieutenant Commander Six of Nine, follow me to the Captain's Ready Room."

Without any further comment, the Lieutenant-Commander turned and strode towards the turbolift, leaving Léonie and Lydana hurry after her.

The short journey passed in silence, and eventually they were brought to the Admiral's ready room.

Admiral Zevil was a tall, graceful man, his black hair combed back and his small beard and mustache were immaculately groomed. While his purple scaled skin often put others off, Lydana was unbothered, and she greeted the man warmly.

"As lovely as it is to finally meet you, Admiral Kassai," he began in a cultured voice, "would you please explain to me why a 29th century officer is with you? Or is this something to do with a man named Daniels?"

Lydana gave her daughter a sideways glance, then shook her head.

"No, worse - something to do with a man named Q. I'm sure it goes without saying, Xavius, that this entire conversation doesn't leave this room. Are we clear?"

Without breaking eye contact, Zevil said, "Computer, deactivate all sensors in the this room and erase all data collected since Admiral Kassai entered. Zevil-omega-5-7-1-1-2." A positive tone confirmed the Admiral's instructions. "I would say crystal clear. Now what has that imp done now?"

Without asking for permission, Lydana collapsed into the small sofa in Zevil's ready room, gesturing for Léonie to follow suit.
"Actually, he's the least of my troubles," she said wearily, heaving a heavy sigh and scrubbing at her eyes. "This is Léonie, by the way. She's my daughter, which should give you some insight into what that 'imp' has done. But the 'what' is less important than the 'why'."

Oh, well then nice to meet you." Zevil said to Léonie, before turning back to Lydana and the task at hand.
"I've read the various accounts concerning Q, especially Admiral Janway's. So tell me, what is it that Q thinks he's helping us with?" Zevil asked as he leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers. "And I think we should at least consider that Q might have caused this in some way we 'simple three dimensional peons' can't fathom, but tell me what we are dealing with, Admiral."

"No, he doesn't seem to have caused this one. On fact, I genuinely believe he us trying - in his way - to help fix the situation."
Zevil raised an eyebrow, an invitation for her to continue, and she obliged.
"Well, the short version is, my Mirror Universe counterpart has broken through into our universe, stolen my identity and my ship for who-knows-what reason, and Q decided that he didn't like interlopers 'playing in his universe'. He gave me a ship, my daughter to help make it space-worthy, and now I've found you to help me get my ship back. Any questions?"

Zevil is quiet for a moment, "In that case, I need you to come here and give me your hands."
She raised her eyebrow this time, so Zevil clarified, "You just told me that a duplicate of you has infiltrated our government. Now you can be telling the truth that she is on your ship, or you could be said duplicate and trying to use me to do your dirty work."
Zevil leaned forward and his voice went cold, "So I would like to do my peoples' version of the Vulcan mind meld, to make sure you are not only who you say you are, but that you are telling me the truth."

Lydana leaned forwards and offered her hands willingly, understanding the necessity with her twin now in the same universe.
"I hope you can focus only on what you need to see, Xavius," she said, her tone icy. "There are things in my head no-one outside of Intelligence should know...and things no-one else should suffer."

"Luckily for me and my curiosity, Valix's Will doesn't work like that, think of it more along the lines of a psychic polygraph. I will get the emotions of the your answer and a glance at the memory associated with them," Zevil explained, as he placed his hands on her wrists and she did the same. "Now close your eyes and open your mind. I will hear your truth and I will hear no lies.

"Now, give me the story again, this time leave no detail out." She did as she was asked, and after a moment to look through the information, Zevil sighed, let go of Lydana, and tapped his badge. "Stand down, Commander Utprut, the security team will not be necessary."

"Yes sir," Said a feminine voice on the other end of the comm.

"I hope you're not offended, Admiral Kassai, but if you were lying, I wanted to be prepared. I've recently been to the Mirror Universe and tangled with a Terran Captain, so I know how deceptive and dangerous people from that universe can be."

"Not at all, I understand the need for precautions. Perhaps now we can discuss how I can get my ship back?"

"Of course. We can head over to your ship's last coordinates, but I doubt it's still there," Zevil said, stroking his chin in thought.
"We can discuss tracking options with my Senior Staff, but I perhaps... there is a human saying, Admiral: 'put yourself in their shoes.'" Getting an unamused glare from the petite Admiral, Zevil chuckled.
"Metaphorically, not physically," he said as he held up a hand placatingly. "If you were this version of yourself, an evil scheming psychopath that has been beaten down time and time again by both your own people and the fascist government that rules the galaxy, what would you do in a universe where your counterpart was successful?"

Lydana narrowed her eyes in thought.

"Hmm...one of two options. Either a power trip, or tear down that counterpart's...successes..."
She looked up suddenly, her expression one of alarmed realisation.

"Wait a minute. She said to me she intended to...'make our name one for all to fear'. What's the easiest way for an Intel science vessel to spread fear?"

"It can..." Zevil suddenly paled. "By the Night Cloak, it can fly in, cloaked, and disable a fleet with a variety of cyber attacks and then one by one destroy every ship! But...if she's really nasty, she can fly to a planet, disable their defenses and launch a bio weapon, possibly killing millions." Zevil shot to his feet. "And if she is going to tear down your success, there is only one place in the galaxy I can think of that would do that."

"By the Prophets," Lydana whispered in horror, getting to her feet as well. "New Romulus!"

"Exactly," Zevil said before going out the door and barking orders to his crew.
"Red Alert! Helm set course for New Romulus, maximum warp! Lieutenant Commander Six, send Subspace messages to my task force to meet me at New Romulus immediately and inform New Romulus that there is an attack eminent and to ready their defenses for a cloaked ship. Lieutenant K'Thoke, arm weapons and read emission seeking torpedoes."
Zevil sat down in his chair as his crew got to work, sparing a glance at the woman who was clearly his first officer from the uniform and the fact she was sitting in the number one seat, but said nothing before turning to Lydana. "Admiral Kassai, if you don't mind, I would like you at the science station. If anyone can find a solution to finding and disabling the Shadow, it would be you."

Lydana moved to a science station, familiarising herself with the capabilities of a retrofitted Galaxy-class ship. Léonie moved nervously into the bridge area, making several uncertain motions before attempting to speak.

"Um, where-"

"Next to me, sweetheart," Lydana said firmly, not looking up from her console. "Admiral Zevil, I'm setting up a recurring Tachyon detection field through the deflector dish, it'll help detect any cloaked ships in our immediate area."

"Very good Admiral." Zevil said, before turn back to the rest of his crew, "Status report, all other stations."

"I have yet to receive a response from New Romulus but I have sent word to your task force, Admiral." Said Six from the operations station. "The Lecter, Grindel, and the Saruman will meet us there, but the Cardinal, DeWinter, and Maleficent are otherwise occupied with other missions and cannot get away."

"Tell those captains that unless their mission involves the possibility of planetary genocide and the possibility of going to war with the Republic, tell them that their mission is not a priority." Zevil said decisively. "And keep trying to get in contact, but if you still can't, send a message to Obisek. Next."

"Emission-Seeking Torpedoes are armed and ready for use Admiral," said a muscle bound giant of a Klingon.

"All systems are nominal and shields are ready sir!" said an older looking human with an accent that Elisa had called Scottish.

"Security officers are ready to board the ship when we can and they have been ordered to shoot to stun only," announced a short woman in an Intel uniform.

"ETA thirty minutes, but I can make it ten if we engage slipstream drive, sir," said a Caitian at the helm.

"Do it." Zevil turned back to the human at the Engineering station. "Chief, let's see if we can make it five minutes."

"Aye sir. Computer, transfer Rupert program to Engineering." Suddenly he was gone, causing Léonie to squeak in surprise, and leaving behind a mobile emitter.

"One last thing," Lydana said, addressing no-one in particular. "I would really appreciate it if someone got me a proper uniform."