Author's Responses at the end:

Chapter Nine: The Power of Love

Bill did not sit down. He started pacing nervously.

Naomi sat down and fought a sigh. "Bill, please sit down."

"We didn't do anything!" Bill said angrily. "Why are we all here? It's like we're under arrest, but we didn't do anything!"

Realizing words alone would not get through, Naomi stood and walked into his path. He stopped directly in front of her, trembling with suppressed anger. "Bill," she said softly, "I need you to sit down."

His eyes widened with hurt. "You did this, didn't you?" he asked. He sounded as if he were on the verge of tears at the betrayal. "You're my doctor. How could you do this to us?"

"I'm not your doctor any more, Bill," Naomi said. She managed to keep her eyes dry, but couldn't entirely keep the hurt out of her voice. "I've been put on medical leave. I'm not here to examine you. I'm in observation with you."

That shut Bill up like a slap. "You…you…are you all right?" He rushed forward and took her hand, and the moment their skin came in contact she felt a rush of warmth fill her whole body. It felt almost like a sexual rush, it was so intense.

It took effort just to keep standing. "No, Bill, I'm fine. I'm here because of this." She lifted his hand in hers, and he stared from the joined fingers to her eyes. "Whatever you've done to your friends, you've done to me," Naomi explained.

"But I'm not doing anything!"

"Bill, when you touched my hand it felt as if you were trying to heal me or make me better. It was the most intense feeling I've ever had." She dropped her voice into a whisper. "And part of me wants it to continue. And that's why I can't be your doctor any more. Whether you meant to do it or I did, we cannot function as a doctor and patient any more. Now, will you please come and sit down?"

She continued to hold his hand, and he let her guide him to the small bistro table in the corner near the window.

"What…what happens now?" he asked. "Are they to cut me up or something?"

"Cut you…Bill, this is Starfleet. We don't cut people up. But they need to understand what is happening to make sure it doesn't present a risk to anyone else. Once they've determined there is no public safety hazard, everyone will be let go."

"And what about you?"

"That…I'm not too sure on," Naomi said. "You can imagine how this looks to my superiors."

She was still holding his hand. She knew they were under observation and she knew that she should let go, but for the life of her, at that moment she was seriously considering throwing her career entirely away just to keep that warmth a little longer.

"I'm sorry," Bill said. "I never meant to hurt anyone."

"And we're not sure you did, Bill," Naomi said. "That's what we're going to try and find out. The Lauterbur is due in Space Dock within the hour. Doctor Bashir has redirected it because of what is happening. We're going to do a thorough scan, not just of you, but of me and your four friends."

"Will it hurt?"

"The resonance frequency is so high humans can't detect it all. You won't feel a thing."

"Will you be there?"

Naomi nodded. "I will."

Bill bowed his head, and then rested it against the table. "Nothing has felt right since I woke up," he said from that position. "Nothing. The city looks wrong. The food tastes wrong. The air smells wrong. The only thing that has felt right since I woke up was Susan, Diana, Mary and Kathleen." He finally looked up and his eyes were red. "And you. Please don't let them take you all away from me. I don't know how I'll survive without you."

Naomi swallowed past a lump in her throat. The grief and fear that welled up within her was stronger than even she could understand. A small part of her wondered if some of it was coming from Bill himself. "I can't promise anything, Bill," she finally managed to say. "But I'll try to stay with you as long as they'll let me."

* * *

Deanna and Julian faced a room of very angry parents. The Starfleet Judge Advocate General was not very happy with them either, nor was the attorney the Chamberlains brought. Father Mendoza, fortunately, was not angry as he gently patted Carey Boxing's hand.

It was days like this when Bashir regretted taking the post of Chief Medical Officer. "Your children are not under arrest, they are under observation for a potential health risk, and you are being kept separate from them for your safety as well as theirs," he explained again.

"It's that boy who is the health risk!" Commander Dunningham snapped. "Why should our daughters be held in isolation when it's all his fault?"

"If this is a pathologically induced condition," Deanna said with forced patience, "then it doesn't matter if it originated with Bill or not."

"Then why don't you have us in isolation as well?" Jennifer Chamberlain asked.

"Well, that is why we are all here," Bashir said. "We would like your permission to perform a deep-tissue resonance scan on all of you."

The attorney for the Chamberlains almost fell out of her seat. "You what? That is a very invasive scan and a violation of basic civil rights."

"Admiral Bashir is making a request only," the JAG representative said quickly. "We will of course honor any refusals. We simply wish to rule out any further contamination."

"How can a disease do to anyone what happened to my Diana?" Carey asked. "She was flying off the bed! Not just bouncing—something was lifting her off! And she made a lamp fly across the room without touching it!"

"There are records of outside influences causing psychokinetic abilities," Deanna explained. "If something is affecting her mind, it could very well have that effect."

"And she spoke in someone else's voice!" Carey almost wailed.

"And that's why we're here," Bashir said. Carey Boxing's fear seemed to have mollified the Dunningham's and Caraough's, whose own daughters had not gone through the nightmares before. "We want to understand exactly what is happening, and what we can do to help make it better. But we cannot do it, legally or morally, without your cooperation."

"Will Katherine experience these…nightmares?"

"We believe there is a high probability," Deanna said. "And for Mary as well."

"Why?" Mary's mother asked.

"We aren't sure," Bashir said, "but they do share some interesting characteristics. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain, your daughter already underwent a deep-rez scan at the behest of your normal medical provider. The scan could only penetrate two millimeters. Diana had the same result. So did Bill Hogs. And this morning, we ran the test on one of our people who also appears to have been affected and had the same result."

"What does that mean?" Dunningham demanded.

Julian fought an urge to sight. "It means that Bill, Susan, Diana, and likely Katherine and Mary, are all generating an energy field of some kind that interferes with the scan. We simply haven't been able to get a look inside to see what is happening. I have ordered the return of the USS Lauterbur, which has the strongest resonance imager in the Federation. With your permission, we wish to transfer all six of them to the ship for a scan."

"You're not taking our daughter anywhere without us," Jennifer snarled.

"Nor would we expect to," Deanna said quickly. "You will all have to come."

"I want this boy kept away from my daughter," Dunningham declared.

"That might be difficult," Bashir said. "We are going to have to take them by shuttle."

"Shuttle?" Dunningham said. "Why?"

"The energy field they are generating prevents transport locks," Bashir said.

"Will they be in pain?" Elena Caraough asked. "Is this boy hurting them?"

"Just the opposite," Deanna assured them. "I've spoken with Susan and Diana. And one of my own staff physicians who was affected. They are describing intense feelings of affection and protectiveness for Bill. Physical contact has a very strong impact on them."

"He's brainwashing them into sex slaves," Dunningham declared indignantly.

"Dear, I don't think that's likely," her husband said meekly.

"Bill has not shown anything but graciousness to the girls," Deanna said. "I've spoken with the Director of Hope's Point and his teachers. We've even reviewed school security logs. The most contact they've had is hand holding."

The door behind them opened, and Naomi Wildman walked in. "Hello," she said with a brave smile.

Deanna stood. "Thank you for coming. This is Doctor Naomi Wildman. She is the youngest human psychiatrist to ever work for Starfleet Medical. Some of you might recognize her name as being the first UFP child born in the Delta Quadrant. She was Bill's attending when he first arrived."

"You're the one they're talking about," Carey said. "I can see it in your eyes."

Naomi's smile faltered a little under the glares of the others, but she nodded. "I am. Dr. Riker asked me to come and talk to you about what your daughters and I are experiencing. Because of my training, I might be able to explain it a little better."

"But you're affected."

"Yes."

"Please have a seat, Naomi," Bashir offered.

The young doctor collapsed. "Sorry, just got through talking with Bill. He's on the verge of tears thinking he might have hurt anyone."

"I bet," Dunningham snarled.

"No, you really have no idea," Naomi said, suddenly angry at the woman. "None of you can. I'm not even sure I can explain it."

"Why don't you start at the beginning," Deanna suggested.

So Naomi explained Bill's arrival and unknown origins. His last name was picked based on where he was found. She described their tests and the mystery of his skin and family. She then talked about her protective feelings for him and her efforts to curtail those feelings. Then she came to their first overt contact at Hope's Point.

"He hugged me," she said simply. "It…it was hard to describe. It was a simple hug, and yet the feelings it produced were beyond anything I had ever felt. There was this…this warmth that flooded me. It was the single most comfortable feeling I've ever experienced, and I truly did not want it to stop. But of course I was his doctor, and so the hug ended and we went about our business. But that night and in many of the nights thereafter, I started experiencing incredibly erotic dreams. This was highly unusual for me. I am young, but I don't have a lot of experience in romance because of my background. The dreams became so intense that…well, let's just say they were mind blowing. I then started having nightmares. I can't really tell you any details—the specific memories disappear almost the moment I open my eyes. I can tell you there are the sounds of screams and pain. Anger, hatred. But mostly pain. And a voice whispering something that I just can't quite understand.

"It was during the second week that I noticed objects around my apartment were broken. So I put a monitor in my room, and showed Dr. Riker the next day. I experienced exactly what Diana and Susan did, including the speaking in a different voice and the psychokinesis. I've been in voluntary isolation since then. But I don't think it's necessary. I don't think there will be any others."

"Why is that?" Carey said.

"From the moment he met up with Susan in the school, Bill said there was something specific about your daughters that felt different to him. That made him feel comfortable. The thought of losing that comfort is wrecking him. He early on included me in that same group, but I did my best to ignore that. But the truth is, there was something about the five of us that is different from the rest of you. And that is why we need to do the deep-rez scan on the Lauterbur and find out."

The adults sat around staring at her for the longest time. Finally, Susan's mother Jennifer said very softly, "Susan said she is in love with this boy."

"I've never really been in love," Naomi admitted. "But not having experienced it, I have to admit that's what it feels like. I have a compulsion to be with him, especially right now. I can feel him. Even as we speak I can feel his worry and anguish. He can't stand the thought of being without us. And I want to go and hold him."

"And more?" Dunningham sneered.

"And more," Naomi confirmed quietly. "Even if it means my career. I think I really do love him."

"Will you help us try to figure out what is happening?" Bashir asked the parents in the silence that followed.

* * *

The shuttle settled down onto the pad of Starfleet Medical with a hum and a rush of wind. Dr. St'alar walked out first with Susan and her parents. When they were in the shuttle, Deanna accompanied Mary and her parents. Julian personally escorted an angry Katherine and her parents, plus Carey Boxing and Father Mendoza, who as before was coming for Carey's benefit. The woman looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Finally, the door opened and Naomi led Bill out onto the pad by his hand. Behind them came two Starfleet security officers.

The moment Bill stepped onto the shuttle, Susan flew from her seat and into his arms. Diana was only a moment behind.

"Katherine Elizabeth Dunningham, you sit down this instance!" Marilyn Dunningham said. Katherine ignored her and joined the group hug.

Mary looked at her parents and smiled. "I have to," she whispered to her mother before she too joined them.

"Julian, look!" Deanna whispered.

Julian could see it. The air around the five—no six, he realized, since Naomi was a part of it too—the air above them shimmered with some form of energy. Finally they broke up enough to sit down in a row, with Bill in the middle. Every girl, even Naomi, had a hand on his back as if both drawing strength from him and giving it in return.

The boy's eyes were misty as he looked around the shuttle. "I'm sorry for this," he said in a thick voice. "I would never hurt them. I couldn't hurt them ever."

"You are hurting them," Marilyn Dunningham said as the shuttle lifted off.

"Mother, shut up!" Katherine yelled. Suddenly the shuttle rocked. When the rocking finished, Marilyn Dunningham's hair was a bright, metallic shade of green.

"What is going on back there?" the pilot said over the speakers. "We lost power for a moment!"

Katherine was staring wide-eyed at her terrified mother. "Did I do that?" she whispered.

"I know I didn't," Mary said. "I wouldn't give that color to my worst enemy."

"Turn it back!" Marilyn shrieked.

"I don't even know how I did it in the first place!" Katherine said.

"Please, we need to calm down," Bashir almost yelled over the sudden din. "Mrs. Dunningham, aside from the unfortunate color of your hair, are you harmed?"

"What? No!"

"Then madam, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to deal with it until we get back to the surface. Space is not the place to have arguments that can evidently drain the power from a shuttlecraft."

The clouds outside were already starting to thin as they reached the upper atmosphere. Suddenly they were in space. Bill leaned forward. "Wow, I can move! Aren't things supposed to be floating around?"

"Are you an idiot?" Marilyn said, still obviously angry. "Why would things be floating around?"

Everyone bristled. Suddenly Marilyn's hair was simply gone. The shuttle lost power once more, and Marilyn shrieked.

"Stop it, now!" Bashir shouted. "That is enough. Commander Dunningham, if you cannot control your tongue you will remain on this shuttle. You are now on a Federation shuttle approaching a Federation starship and you will purport yourself accordingly."

The woman glared sullenly even as she rubbed her smooth, shiny head.

Bill looked out the window and gasped. "Merlin's beard!" he said. "What is that?"

He was virtually leaning over Diana's lap and even with Naomi. The doctor smiled fondly at him as she moved a strand of his unruly hair back over his ear. "That's Space Dock, Bill. It's where Starships are serviced and restocked. It's the largest artificial satellite around the planet and one of the largest space stations ever constructed. The Lauterbur is inside it."

Bill settled back in his seat. "This is so strange," he whispered.

"You have no idea," Naomi agreed.

sp

sp

Author's Responses

First off, thanks to dajohu; prudiisten; cruailsama; catwriter; Isis the Sphinx; SomeGuyFawkes; Pointer3109; JEKrug01; Crys; dragonlord; Roosterman71; Debbster21; Bobboky; Matt; Wonderbee31; Tilius; Manus Dei; Firemane; and Fangirl (never had one of those before. Don't tell my wife). I appreciate your reviews and comments, especially considering the issues with the review function when I posted this chapter.

Q: You said it was going to be drastically different in content, but so far it doesn't seem to different.

A: My exact words were "both tone and content". More tone than anything. FF was really a crack!fic sex romp with a story. This is a story, without so much the sex. You're not going to see orgies in this. However, there will be no reborn dark lord. That's what I meant by content. This is a story of discovery, both of Harry's past and the magical world. This isn't an action-driven fic. There is some, but it doesn't drive the story. Just FY

Q: So will Sisko and the other Bajoran gods turn up?

A: Sorry, no Sisko, nor any Wormhole aliens.

Q: Is their a defineable antagonist?

A: While I said earlier that this is not an action driven story, there is a defineable antagonist a little later in the story. While it is related to his past, it is the past within the context of the story, not FF or HP canon.

Q: I remember enough ST history to know that if you were alive during one of the more violent episodes of it, something bad happened to you.

A: Shhhhh! Keep it a secret for now, okay? ;)

Lots of interesting speculation on who Grams was, and what's going to happen soon. Like I said, this was never intended as an action-oriented story. However, much of the action is really going to be what happened to get us where we are now. So bear with me. Things are happening soon!