Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: 29 Apr 2004 10:27:31 -0700 In: alt.startrek.creative From: whoa_nellie40@hotmail.com (whoa nellie) Title: Volte-face Author: Whoa Nellie (whoa_nellie40@hotmail.com) Series: TNG New 5/5 Rating: NC-17 Codes: P/Vash Summary: The most joyous time in the Picards' lives suddenly takes an Author's note: Feel free to archive to any pertinent site. Important detail: This occurs in the Double Entendre timeline after Reasons of the Heart (reminder: in this universe, Worf is Chief of Security and married to Deanna; there is no Crusher/Chakotay relationship and Riker still has his beard). As always: Paramount owns all the marbles, we just have a lot more fun playing with them. Feedback is always appreciated - posted or e-mail. Whoa Nellie's Picard/Vash Romance Fan Fiction website is at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Galaxy/7926/ Whoa Nellie's Sci-Fi Romance Fan Fiction website is at: http://www.geocities.com/whoa_nellies2000/ Continued from Part 4 Vash stood in front of the forcefield, facing the alternate version of herself for the first time since that initial encounter. She wasn't even sure why she was there or when she had even decided to confront her evil twin. Jean-Luc had just held her all night, one hand cradled protectively over her stomach and the other endlessly stroking her hair. At one point she thought she felt some moisture on her head and peeked up to see wetness streaking silently down his cheeks. Castigating herself for her part in the emotional torture that Jean-Luc had been enduring wasn't sufficient, so here she was about to castigate her other self for awhile. "I look a little soft in this universe," the alternate Vash remarked after they had stared at each other for several moments. Vash arched an eyebrow. "And I was just thinking that I look a lot old in your universe." "Jean-Luc is quite a man, just the way we like them," the alternate purred, stretching seductively to punctuate her innuendo. "He obviously keeps you in style judging by your jewelry. I intend to catch up on everything I've missed out on now that Johnny boy is honor-bound to provide for me and our little bundle of lust. At the very least, I can rest assured that he won't send me back to my universe without the means to care for his genetic deposit." "Go back to your own universe and track down your Jean-Luc," Vash suggested. "Seduce him and let him take care of the baby, just leave my Jean-Luc alone." "And lie to him?" the alternate replied in mock horror. Vash sneered. "Don't be such a cloying bitch; we both know you've done worse." "You have a point," the alternate shrugged, idly examining her fingernails. "This reality isn't big enough for both of us," Vash said. The alternate caressed her stomach. "But I can offer him a child." "So can I," Vash retorted. "In fact, I conceived a good couple of weeks before you did. Besides, you don't really want that baby, you're just using it to manipulate Jean-Luc." "So what?" the alternate challenged. "I look out for myself, maybe you don't remember what that was like. I don't have a sugar daddy taking care of me, honey." Vash bit down on her frustration. Obviously going toe-to-toe with herself was getting her nowhere. "Do you know what this is doing to Jean-Luc? Do you even care how much this haunts him and will haunt him for the rest of his life?" "No." "He was so excited about becoming a father and now you're turning it into this twisted, sick perversion. Jean-Luc feels responsible for your pregnancy even though you're apparently too stupid to comprehend something as simple as contraception, you manipulated him and now he doesn't want to send you back because he won't be able to take care of the baby in another reality." The alternate threw her arms out. "You think I wanted this? I want to get back to my normal life in my own universe and this little inconvenience doesn't fit into those plans. By the way, I understand the concept of contraception, I just usually use it prophylactically only when necessary. Your Jean-Luc forced this condition on me when he prevented me from taking anything." "You don't have to keep it," Vash suggested. "Oh, I beg to differ," the alternate laughed. "This fetal tissue may well be the most valuable acquisition of my career. If I do get sent home without my transporter, I can always use it as leverage against a certain Starfleet captain and if I can't go home, I know I'll have a very comfortable life here thanks to our Jean-Luc. No penal colonies for me, no where, no when, no how. If I somehow manage to get back to my normal life as it was--with my transporter, I can always get rid of this thing later." She paused thoughtfully, "it might even have some monetary value to individuals back in my universe. It's certainly worth exploring if the opportunity arises." Vash recoiled in horror at the things coming out of a mirror image of her own face. "What kind of mother could you possibly be?" "The kind with a nanny to care for the little brat." "I can't believe that we were ever the same person," Vash said. "What happened to you to make you such a bitch? Never mind, I don't care. This is all just a waste of time anyway, you obviously have no feelings for anyone or anything beyond profit. You can't possibly understand emotional pain and suffering much less care how sadistically you're inflicting it using a helpless little baby as a weapon. You disgust me and I can't wait until you're no longer polluting this universe with your mere presence." ............................. In her office that afternoon, Vash forced her thoughts back to the results of an artifact analysis that she'd been staring at for the better part of an hour. Her hand absently covered her abdomen as she recalled her encounter with her other self. How could she ever have been so completely self-centered? Did the differences in their respective universes account for the difference between them or was her chance encounter with Jean-Luc on Risa that significant to her personality? Suddenly her mind was filled with horrifying 'what if's'. What if she was a horrible mother? What if she made a mistake and their child turned into someone like her alternate? The genetic predisposition was there, she couldn't very well deny that when faced with what might have been if not for circumstance and the precious gift of Jean-Luc's love. Lost in her worries, she never heard the phaser shots being fired in the lab beyond her office. She was startled when someone barged into her office and looked up to see that mirror image of herself pointing a phaser at her. "Like you said," the other Vash drawled, shrugging her shoulders. "This reality isn't big enough for the both of us." Before Vash could reach her communicator, the phaser fired and everything went black. ............................. Picard winced and softly swore at the hot tea splashing over his hand when the red alert klaxon went off abruptly and startled him. Quickly wiping the moisture from his hand, he strode out onto the bridge. "Report." Worf was ready with a preliminary report. "Sensors detected weapons fire in the archaeology lab." A light flashed on his console, "energy signature detected, someone just activated a transporter." "Picard to Vash," he said, slapping his communicator. When no answer came, Worf's fingers danced across the screen. "Councilmember Vash is in the archaeology lab." Worf paused, "There is an unidentified life sign in the archaeology lab as well. No response from the officer on duty in the brig, it appears that our prisoner has escaped." Riker vaulted over the railing to look at the sensor readings. "How did she get out of the brig?" "Unknown," Worf growled. "Dispatching medical team to the brig; security teams already responding to archaeology." The computer chirped to signal an intra-ship communication which Worf put on speaker. "Bridge." "Lar reporting," came Geoffrey's voice. "We have five crewmembers down but alive; they were hit with a phaser on stun setting. Councilmember Vash is not here, her communicator was on the floor of her office." "Mr. Worf," Picard was on his way to the turbolift. "Unable to locate Vash," Worf reported. "Attempting to track transporter signal. Engineering reports that the Vorgon device just de-materialized." Picard stayed where he was; it wouldn't help for him to go off searching the ship for Vash, he could do more from the bridge. He activated a science station. "Mr. Data." Data turned his station over to a nearby ensign and quickly joined Picard who was already studying the transporter signature. "There are transporter signatures bouncing all over the system," Picard showed him. "Can you identify the actual transport coordinates?" Data's fingers were a blur, information flashing on the screen faster than the human eye could see. "Those are not phantom signatures, every transporter onboard the Enterprise completed three transport cycles apiece. Operations crews will need to review pattern buffer logs at each transport console to determine which transport was the one we are attempting to track." "Make it so," Picard ordered Riker who was already heading toward the nearest computer console to relay the orders. A warning light flashed on Worf's station. "Captain, energy signature detected in Holodeck Three consistent with the Vorgon device." Picard was instantly moving. "Number One, have Dr. Crusher meet us at Holodeck Three; Mr. Data, Mr. Worf, with me." Minutes later, Worf overrode the lock and opened the holodeck door. Data cautiously held out a tricorder to scan for life signs. "One life sign," Data reported as he closed the tricorder and palmed his phaser. Picard was the first to enter, scanning the room and hoping against hope that the one life sign was the right one. The holodeck was running a simulation of Sickbay and the Emergency Medical Hologram was attending to someone on a biobed. "Computer," Beverly spoke up. "De-activate the EMH." She rushed to the biobed, one step behind Picard, and scanned the unconscious Vash lying there. "Captain," Data said. "The EMH program has been altered and the protocol that Geordi and I developed to send the alternate back to her universe has been activated from this holodeck." Picard never took his eyes off Vash. "Altered how?" "It appears that the ethical sub-routines have been disabled." Beverly gave an incongruous sigh of relief. "Doctor?" Picard asked. "It's our Vash," she replied. "The quantum signature matches ours." Picard took Vash's hand in his and allowed himself a brief moment of relief before voicing his last concern. "Is there any way the EMH could have altered--" "No, sir," Data supplied. "There is no method for altering a quantum signature." "Then why kidnap Vash?" Picard asked. "Why not just get the Vorgon device and leave? What about the baby?" Beverly took a deep breath before answering. "I've run the scan twice, Jean-Luc, there are now two fetal bio-signatures in Vash's uterus." Moaning softly, Vash began to stir. She opened her eyes to find herself in Sickbay with Beverly and Jean-Luc hovering over her. Her hands instinctively covered her stomach. "My baby?" "Fine, you and your baby are both fine; in fact, your baby seems to be entertaining a guest," Beverly said. "We just found you, unconscious, in a holodeck simulation of Sickbay and you've somehow acquired a second fetus. I'm showing a slight differential in the quantum signature of the second fetus." Crusher's words sent a shiver down Vash's spine. "The other Vash," she murmured. "Does it pose any threat to Vash or her pregnancy?" Picard asked. Beverly shook her head, "No, not at all. What do you want to do?" "Leave it," Vash said sitting up. She saw Beverly shoot a quick glance at Picard. She met his gaze. "The other Vash risked capture to leave her baby behind; it's probably the first and only completely selfless act that my other self has ever performed. It's as much a part of you as ours is, Jean-Luc, and since it was conceived in another me, genetically it is also yours and mine." Picard tenderly combed his fingers through her hair. "Are you sure?" Vash captured his hand and kissed his palm before cradling her face against it. "Yes, together we can give both of our children the very best life that any child could hope for." The stress of the past week dissipated so quickly that Picard was momentarily dizzy. Somehow the escape of the alternate and the theft of the Vorgon device was irrelevant in comparison to his whole world being complete and perfect once again. "Will the difference between conception times be a problem, Doctor?" "No," Beverly answered. "I'll closely monitor the progress of the other fetus, but I don't anticipate any complications." Vash winced. "Could you stop referring to it as 'the other fetus'? They're not his and hers, they're ours now. I'll grant you that this is an unusual way to have twins, I just don't want the circumstances to diminish the value of either baby. I don't want the transplanted baby to go through life feeling like a mistake." Picard drew Vash against his chest and held her tight. He kissed the top of her silky hair and whispered, "I love you, ma petite. Our children couldn't ask for a better mother." "If you wanted to know the gender of the babies," Beverly suggested. "We could simply refer to them by name." Vash peeked up into Picard's face. "I know," he grinned back at her. "For the same reason you read the end of a book first, instant gratification takes too long; you want to know now." Getting a confirming nod from both of them, Beverly smiled. "One is a boy and one is a girl and while 'he' and 'she' are fine, I'd like mom to stay in Sickbay tonight for observation." "Agreed," Picard said, overriding Vash's protestations. He picked her up and carried her toward the holodeck door. Vash wrapped her arms around Picard's neck, safe in the warmth of his strong arms. She laid her head on a broad shoulder and thought about her alternate somewhere out in the universe, alone. "Thank you," she whispered softly. **FINIS** AUTHOR'S FOOTNOTE: (Just for Mr. Whoa Nellie) The unofficial title of this story is 'The Evil Vash Story.' (He's been lobbying for us to use that title for ages--obviously he lost since that would have given away the plot entirely too soon.) -- Stephen Ratliff ASC Awards Tech Support http://www.trekiverse.us/ASCAwards/commenting/ No Tribbles were harmed in the running of these Awards ASCL is a stories-only list, no discussion. Comments and feedback should be directed to alt.startrek .creative or directly to the author. Yahoo! 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