Boldly Going... (BtVS/Star Trek)

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Star Trek. They belong to Joss Whedon and Gene Roddenberry respectively. The first four lines of this fic are an excerpt from the Star Trek: Voyager episode, The Q and the Grey. I also don't own Batman. He belongs to DC Comics.

An ascended Cordelia bargains with Q… She will bear his child, thus preventing him from having to have it with his ex-wife, if he will save her doomed friends from their deaths. This group includes Angel, Xander Harris, Charles Gunn and Winifred Burkle. They are sent by Q into the future…

Warning: The following fic has mentions of rape and implies that one of the characters is a past victim of rape. If this makes you uncomfortable, please don't read further...

Upper Plains
Time has no meaning...

"I know that you're probably asking yourself, 'Why would a brilliant, handsome, dashingly omnipotent being like Q want to mate with a scrawny little bipedal specimen like me?'"

"Let me guess: no one else in the universe will have you!"

"Nonsense! I could have chosen a Klingon Targ; a Romulan empress; a Cyrillian microbe…"

"Really? I beat out a single-celled organism? How flattering!" The sarcasm in the higher being's voice rang out coldly.

Q sighed in frustration. Unlike so many of her former species, Cordelia Chase had great power at her disposal now. She was heavily restricted by the dictates of her superiors in the Powers that Be, but she was certainly capable of defending herself from Q's advances. "What will it take to convince you to become my bride? I can give you the universe, Cordelia."

Cordy opened her mouth to reject the proposal once more, but then she hesitated. So many of her friends had met with deaths long before their times. First had been Fred, overcome by Illyria. Next to go had been Gunn, dying of his wounds at the beginning of the battle against the massive demon army in L.A. Third had been Xander, saving a slayer in Africa from some demonic poachers. Last had been Angel, sacrificing his life to save Buffy of all people. Cordy still cringed to think of it.

She thought for a long moment before she spoke carefully. "I'll go along with you on this on one condition, Q. I want you to go back to the moment of death for Fred, Wesley, Gunn, Xander and Angel and to save them. That's my price."

Q frowned at the demand. It would be oh so easy to go back to his ex-wife, but he so preferred that it be Cordelia who was to bear his child. "I cannot leave them alive in their own times, Cordelia. Whilst I am more powerful then any of your superiors, they do have the cumulative power to interfere. They will not like me interfering with Earth's history by leaving those five alive to influence it."

Cordy just smirked in return. "Then bring them forward in time, Q. I just want them to get a decent chance to live their lives."

Q grinned. "Done!"

Q is a mischievous being at heart, and so it shouldn't have come as any shock to Cordy that he scattered her friends to the solar winds, landing them on different planets at various different points in time…

November 6th 2267
Triskelion

Angel had been a thrall on Triskelion for a month when the three new thralls came.

Angel considered himself a great warrior, at least by human standards, so he had to say that it was embarrassing that he had been taken down so easily. That he was outnumbered ten to one made the experience a somewhat less bitter pill to swallow.

He tugged at the hated collar that compelled his participation in this blood sport. He supposed he should be grateful. This experience was so frustrating that he was certain that a moment of true happiness would be impossible for him to experience. On the other hand, Angelus would have enjoyed this experience a heck of a lot more.

Still, the three new thralls were interesting. The leader of the three was blond with a golden shirt. His somewhat arrogant manner tickled Angel's memories or Spike a bit, but the man in question seemed far more… potent… then Spike ever was. The blond was called James Kirk. He claimed to be the Captain of a Starship. The very notion revived Angel's curiosity in when and where he was.

The second new thrall was a brunet, also wearing a gold shirt. The youthful lad was a hothead who often allowed his mouth to write checks his body couldn't cash. Angel couldn't help but wonder if Xander had managed to have an illegitimate child with a Russian woman prior to his death, so strongly did the lad resemble Xander in attitude. The boy's name was Pavel Chekov.

The last new thrall was a woman. She resembled Kendra faintly in looks, but her manner more closely resembled that of Tara Maclay, whom Angel had only met briefly. She was sweet and soft-spoken, a condition that masked a razor-sharp intellect. Her name was Nyota Uhura.

Angel leaned back as he waited for the next match to begin. If he new his humans, he suspected things were about to get interesting…

December 29th 2352
Turkana IV

The rape gang was getting closer. Life on Turkana IV was not an easy thing, especially for a young woman with next to no combat skills. Tasha silently vowed that if she ever got off the damn planet alive she was going to get training so that she would never be helpless again.

Looking down in the alley in which she was concealed, Tasha was shocked to find a small cat that had somehow managed to survive in the terrifying underbelly of the godforsaken planet. "You poor darling. How did you get here?"

"We just looked around till we found you, Love…"

Tasha let go of the cat and silently urged it to escape, even as she turned to face the rape gang who stood behind her, leering grotesquely. "No…" The word was uttered softly, with a hopeless and helpless quality that Tasha despised. The gangs had caught her only once before this and once had been far more then enough as far as the fifteen-year-old girl was concerned.

The leader of the gang continued to leer at her, apparently unconcerned with her potential consent. No surprise there. "I'm afraid we won't be giving you a choice, Love."

"Certainly not. She's not even old enough to give consent, hotshot. So why don't you and your band of idiots just move along peaceful like."

Tasha and the gang froze as the heard a weapon cocking and watched a menacing figure step out of the shadows. Tasha had never seen a rifle like the man had before, but she'd lay money that it was still effective for all that it was unique. The gang themselves were only armed with knives. The stranger's eye patch added to the threatening aura of the man.

The rape gang was initially thrown by the man's calm approach, but they quickly regain confidence when they noted that he was alone. The leader spoke again. "There are six of us and only one of you. So either join in or piss off."

The man in the patch grinned in a positively maniacal manner. "Tell me something pal. Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

The gang was obviously tired of talking and so they charged her rather frightening-looking saviour. The man simply shrugged and fired, killing one of the band instantly. If there was one thing Xander had picked up in Africa, it was that sometimes you had to kill humans too. Some humans were far worse then demons could ever hope to be.

As the second gang-member dropped from the shotgun round, Xander started using the rifle as a quarterstaff, slamming it into the rapidly oncoming band of creeps.

Xander had always been a punching bag for vampires and demons alike. Unluckily for the ungrateful living, Xander's fighting skills showed much better when being used on beings that approximated his own size and strength. The idiots didn't stand a chance.

Once the surviving gang-bangers were groaning in the dirt, Xander turned to the frightened girl who was cringing in the alley's deepest corner. "I'm not gonna hurt ya, sweetheart. I'm Xander."

For a long moment Tasha stared into the open face of the man who had saved her. It took her a moment, but she managed to look past the eye patch and the military jacket. This was a man that was more used to laughing then snarling. Something about him immediately set her at ease. She reached her hand out to grasp the one he offered. "I'm Tasha…"

Xander's face twisted into a broad smile. "Come on, Tasha. Let's see if we can find a way to more civilised parts. By the way… You wouldn't happen to know where in hell we are, would you?"

July 11th 2365
Starbase 173

"Let me put it this way. Would you permit the computer of the Enterprise to refuse a refit?" The cold, if perhaps accurate, statement of Commander Bruce Maddox echoed between the various participants.

Captain Picard's forehead puckered slightly as he tried to come up with a rebuttal. Lt. Commander Data merely appeared unmoved by the attack on his… humanity. In the end it was Captain Phillipa Louvois whose decision mattered in this. "He makes a good point, Captain." The leading statement seemed to make Picard flinch inside.

"I disagree, Ma'am." The smooth voice of Charles Gunn, a civilian who had mysteriously appeared on the station a month ago, cut deeply into the uncomfortable silence.

It was perhaps lucky for Gunn that the Wolfram and Hart legal upgrade was self-updating through time. The end result allowed Gunn to transition far easier then Angel or Xander had.

Louvois turned to the only other lawyer currently assigned to Starbase 173. "Your opinion, Counselor?"

Gunn straightened, instinctively shifting into his lawyer voice. "If I might put a question to you, Commander Maddox?"

Maddox seemed unbothered by the scrutiny of the larger Gunn. He was confident in his position. "Of course."

Gunn smiled almost condescendingly. "Tell me Commander, would you allow the Enterprise computer to attend Starfleet Academy as a student?"

Maddox was thrown by the question, unsure of where it was going. "No, of course not, but…"

"What about Mr. Data's cat. Spot, I believe it is called. Would Spot be permitted a place at the Academy?"

"No, the Academy only accepts sentient beings. A cat simply doesn't…"

"Qualify. Yes, I know that Commander." Gunn turned a smirk on Louvois. "I would contend, Captain, that the mere fact that Data was allowed to attend Starfleet Academy as a regular student, suggests an implicit declaration by their governing body that Mr. Data is a sentient. Starfleet does not allow a ship's computer or a household pet to attend for obvious reasons. Spot the cat is a living being, so it is not life that is required. The computer is perfectly knowledgeable, and so it cannot be brains that qualify. Mr. Maddox said it himself, Ma'am. Only sentient beings are permitted to attend."

Louvois grinned at Gunn. "So he did, Counselor. Well argued." She turned to Maddox. "I believe Mr. Gunn's statement to be accurate, Mr. Maddox. Unless you have a way of proving that Starfleet is in the habit of allowing non-sentients to attend the academy at all, I would suggest to you that the ruling has already been made in Mr. Data's favour and that he has every right to refuse you."

It was then that Gunn noted the faintest hint of expression on Data's face. Satisfaction.

February 1st 2367
Terlina III

"Noonien, you must let him return. He's already stated that there is a medical emergency. We can't simply let some poor child die just to satisfy your vanity."

Dr. Noonien Soong flashed a hurt look at the beautiful and brilliant young woman who had appeared to him in a spectacular flash of light just a month ago. "Winifred, I'm dying. You know this. If my work is not finished soon, then I might never be able to finish it."

Fred sighed. "I known that, Noonien, but the life of a child is at stake here. If it becomes necessary, I can complete the work on your behalf. For heaven's sake, Noonien. You know that I am qualified to do the job if it comes to that. The work would still be yours. Please, Noonien. Allow Data to do what he has to. I am sure he will return soon."

Noonien sighed, seeming to come to a decision, when another android walked into the room. "Impossible… Lore?"

Fred frowned as she noted Data's faint hint of revulsion. This was not going to end well.

Good luck, folks.

Note: If anyone decides to pursue a Xander/Tasha 'ship in this fic, please at least wait until she's eighteen (at the bare minimum). That's all I ask.

Anyone who'd like to pick up this plot please drop me a line via the reviews and it'll be all yours.

Jasper