Author's Note: Alright, sorry for the wait, but it'll be worth it. And there's going to be a mention of a Next Generation episode in this chapter, but it'll be explained easily.
How To Save A Life- Chapter 7
Deep Space Nine
"You figured out how to save her?" Q asked.
"That's what I just said!" Tom asked. He was happy and the excitement overwhelmed him. Tom walked over to Q and showed him the padd he was reading. "On Stardate 43957.2, the Enterprise encountered-"
"Picard's Enterprise?" Q interrupted.
"Yes." Paris replied, annoyed by the interruption. "Anyway, they encountered 'John Doe', an alien that was evolving, but some of his fellow aliens called him an escaped prisoner."
"What the hell does that have to do with Jadzia?" Q asked.
"I'm getting to that." Tom responded. "This 'John Doe' can heal people. He healed Worf when Worf had no vital signs! If I can get this 'John Doe' guy in to see Jadzia right after she died, he can save her!" Q looked at him oddly for a second then back down at the padd. "Every single time I've tried to save Jadzia, someone has died. So if I can get that guy to save her after she died, then everything's fine!" His logic was flawed, but Q didn't point it out.
Q continued to look at the padd. He was thinking of whether or not to let that alien come to the future and help them out. Tom looked at Q angrily.
"Do not take this away from me, Q." Tom said to Q. "I found a way to save her. Sure, it requires going back in time a few years and grabbing an alien then wiping an alien's memory, but it's not like you've never done that before."
"It's worth a shot." Q replied.
Q snapped his fingers and he and Tom were on board the USS Enterprise-D. They were on the Bridge of the Enterprise, in front of a majority of the Senior Staff, including Captain Picard. Picard was talking to the 'John Doe' and another alien, when he looked over and saw Q.
"Do you try to make a scene?" Tom asked Q.
"Q!" Picard yelled. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Oh, Picard, you can't tell me you haven't missed me!" Q replied. He walked over to the 'John Doe' alien and Q put his hand on the alien's shoulder. "I just came here to borrow you're buddy for a few moments." Picard was about to open his mouth, but Tom spoke up instead.
"Q, you obviously know the Captain isn't going to just let you have him." Tom started. "So put your fingers together, snap them, and let's get out of here."
"And who the hell are you?" Picard asked looking at Tom.
"Temporal Prime Directive can't tell you that, sir." Tom replied. "Now, let's go."
"Fine, ruin my fun." Q responded. "Well, nice seeing you again, Picard. I'll be seeing you soon…" Q snapped his fingers and Tom, 'John Doe', and Q arrived back on Deep Space Nine.
"You always ruin my fun." Q said to Tom. He now was holding 'John Doe' by the arm, making sure he didn't wander around.
"Now's not the time to have fun." Tom replied.
'John Doe', afraid for his life, tried to get Q's hand off of his arm. He was attempting to escape the two people that had kidnapped him. He was able to get Q's grip off of his arm and grabbed Tom's chest with his other hand. Since 'John Doe' could save people easily, he could also kill them just as easily.
"What the-" Tom started.
Soon his chest began to glow and pain shot out throughout his body. Tom screamed out in pain, but couldn't move his body at all. Soon Tom stopped screaming and 'John Doe' removed his hand from Tom's chest. Tom's body fell to the floor, motionless and not breathing.
"Gods damn it…" Q said. 'John Doe' tried to pull the same stunt on Q, but it didn't work. "Now you ruined his plan and we'll have to start all over…"
Q snapped his fingers and 'John Doe' disappeared. "Hey Helmboy, wake up!" Q said and nudged Tom's body with his foot.
Tom's hand moved. Then his head moved as well. He turned himself over and looked up at Q.
"What happened?" Tom asked.
"You died…again." Q replied.
"Where did our 'friend' go?" Tom asked.
"I sent him back to the Enterprise." Q answered.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tom yelled as he stood up. "He was our only shot at saving Jadzia!"
"Calm down, Helmboy, we'll go back and get him." Q responded. "Only this time we'll explain why we're taking him before we actually take him."
"Then let's go." Tom replied.
Q stared at Tom for a second or two. He was deciding whether or not to continue this obviously emotional drain on Paris. "Fine, we'll go." Q said finally.
Once Q snapped his fingers, Tom and he appeared in the Enterprise-D's Sickbay. There were several people in the room, including 'John Doe'. 'John' was sitting on a biobed, frozen in time along with the other people in Sickbay. Q snapped his fingers again and 'John' began to move.
"What's going on?" 'John' asked Tom and Q who moved next to where he was sitting.
"My name is Lieutenant Tom Paris." Tom said to 'John.' "We're from the future, 8 years in the future to be exact. As you can tell, everyone on this ship is frozen in time, so we can take as long as we want. We need your help, you see, my best friend is about to die at the hands of a cold blooded murderer. Could you please help us save her?" The alien was silent. "Please?" Tom asked again.
The alien stayed silent, while Q was getting very annoyed. "I will help you." The alien finally replied. Tom opened his mouth to say something, but Q interjected.
"Great, now, let's get going." Q interrupted.
Q snapped his fingers and the three appeared back on Deep Space Nine. They appeared in an empty room with a tube that contained Jadzia's body inside. It was almost time for the service to begin, so Q snapped his fingers again and time froze.
Tom and 'John Doe' walked up to the tube. Tom opened it up to reveal Jadzia's dead body inside. It was covered by a teal sheet that covered most of her body. Tom looked at 'John Doe' after looking at Jadzia for a couple minutes.
"We have all the time in the world, so, take your time." Tom told the alien.
'John' nodded and put his hands on Jadzia's body. A glowing light came from his hands, increasing their hopes for her survival. Tom watched anxiously, hoping this would be the last time he would have to see Jadzia dead. The alien's glowing light continued for one more minute.
"How boring…" Q muttered.
"Shut up." Tom muttered back to him. At that moment, Jadzia took a breath. The alien removed his hands from her body. "Jadzia, can you hear me?" Tom asked. Jadzia made a noise and babbled something incoherently in response.
"He did it." Q said amazed.
"He did it." Tom repeated.
"Well, since he did it, now all you have to do is do it all over again without screwing up the timeline." Q said to Tom.
Tom turned around and looked at Q angrily. "What the hell are you talking about?" Tom asked.
"Did you even stop to think what life is going to be like now that Jadzia is alive instead of dead?" Q countered.
"Yes, it'll be better." Tom replied.
"For you, maybe, but for others, not so great." Q answered.