Author's Note: There will be somewhat heavy spoilers for season 7 of DS9. Just a warning.
How To Save A Life- Chapter 8
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Tom Paris repeated his previous question. Q snapped his fingers and everyone except for Tom and Q froze.
"You should know better than anyone that actions have consequences." Q replied. "Just because you think it'll be great having Jadzia alive doesn't mean that it actually will."
"Oh yeah, then tell me, what the hell is going to happen if Jadzia lives?" Tom responded and crossed his arms over his chest. Q snapped his fingers again, though nothing visibly happened. "What did you just do?" Tom asked, but Q didn't reply.
"What just happened?" Captain Kathryn Janeway asked her Bridge crew. The visual of Tom Paris and Q on Voyager's viewscreen disappeared.
"I don't know." Harry replied. "It just disappeared."
Janeway looked at Chakotay. "Q?" She asked.
"Q." He responded.
"What I am about to tell you…I'm not supposed to." Q told Tom. "The Q continuum can not know and neither can your precious crew."
"How're you keeping this from the continuum?" Tom interrupted.
"Long story and it won't be long until they can hear me again." Q replied. "So stop interrupting and listen up. When Jadzia dies, Sisko thinks he's failed as Captain and as Emissary. He leaves the station and stays at his father's restaurant for three months. With the help of Ezri Dax, he's able to get the wormhole to reopen while also finding out he's part prophet. Worf and Ezri end up sleeping together and unwillingly find out that the Breen have joined the Dominion in the fight against the Federation, Romulans, and Klingons. Ezri and Worf decide not to get married because she's in love with that doctor fellow…Bashir or something. With the help of the Cardassians, the Federation stops the war with the Dominion. Then Odo leaves to go be with this people and Sisko leaves his now pregnant wife to stay with the prophets. After of course he threw Dukat into the fire caves possibly killing him."
Tom opened his mouth to talk, but Q stopped him. "Don't talk, just listen." Q said. "If Jadzia survives, then all of that will be screwed up beyond belief. Sisko will have never thought he failed as Captain since Jadzia wouldn't have died. That causes the wormhole not to be reopened for at least ten months. He'll have never have found out he was part prophet, Ezri and Bashir will have never fallen in love, and the war will have lasted five more years than it should have."
"And then of course there's what will happen to Jadzia and Worf." Q continued. "They'll stay married, of course, but will try for three years to have a baby. Once Jadzia does get pregnant, she'll have a miscarriage…twice. That takes a devastating toll on them and they only try every once in a while to get pregnant, unsuccessfully. Worf gets offered a position in the Klingon High Council, or whatever, after the war is over and he and Jadzia part ways, but stay married. They see each other often, but not as often as Jadzia would like. Even though they stay together for the rest of their lives, they don't have kids, their adoption requests get turned down because of how far apart they both live and some other reasons. Do you really think Jadzia would have liked that, Tom?" Tom didn't answer.
"Just because you want this to happen doesn't mean it's good for the long run." Q answered the question himself.
Q snapped his fingers, this time making the alien disappear and the casket that held Jadzia's body was also closed. Unbeknownst to Tom, the image of him and Q on appeared on Voyager's viewscreen again. At the same time the Q Continuum could again monitor Q's conversation, though they were too busy dealing with other matters to listen to them.
Tom was quiet, but he didn't stay that way for long. "If you took me through this just to say that you won't let this happen-" Tom started.
"Oh no, I will let you save her, I'm just telling you what will happen if you do save her." Q interrupted.
Tom thought for a long time. Almost two hours had gone by, probably better used to sleep, but to Tom, sleep wasn't an option. He had asked Q a few questions breaking the silence throughout those two hours.
"What if…what if I tell Jadzia to do…certain things that would alter the timeline a little closer to what it's supposed to be like?" Tom asked Q after their two hours of silence.
"It will be closer, but don't forget the fact that she'll have two miscarriages, can't adopt any kids, and her marriage will deteriorate." Q replied.
Tom didn't say anything and they returned to the silence. "I want to talk to my sister." Tom said to Q.
"What?" Q asked in somewhat disbelief.
"I want to talk to my sister." Tom repeated. "My sister Moria. She and Jadzia were best friends and I want to talk to her."
"You do know I'll make it so she can't remember talking to you, don't you?" Q asked Tom.
"I understand, but I want to talk to her…now." Tom said.
"Fine." Q responded. "We'll go talk to your sister. Before or after Jadzia's death?"
"After." Tom answered. "The day after she found out. She'll have cooled down a bit so she'll actually be able to understand."