Falling Into Grace

F is for Family, Forgiveness and Fried Chicken
______________________________________________________________________
Paris/Kim Quarters

"Daddy con, In, I've beat you unless you've got an Ace in the 'hole' " Nico
begged yet again for his father to fold.

"Maybe I do have an Ace in the hole" Harry challenged his son.

Nico smiled and giggled.

"What's so funny blondie" Harry said resting an elbow on the table
and giving him the goofy eye.

"You don't have an Ace in the 'hole' dad" Nico said assuredly.

"How do you figure"

Nico laid his cards out and flipped the 'hole' card over "Cuz I got
all four"

"Dammit" Harry tossed down his two pair and the missed 10 that helped
nothing with his 7's and 8's "Don't at tat that"

"Dammit"

"Nicodemus" Harry admonished "You know that your mothers would kill
me if they heard you swearing"

"Mama swears" Nico grouched poking out his lip.

Harry froze for a moment. Despite all the recent changes in his son's
life they boy was beginning to act like a regular little kid. His
borg demonor, though not his vocabulary was nearly gone. "Mama's a
Klingon, it's her nature to swear"

"Oh" Nico scrunched up his face and rubbed the tickle in his nose "Is
that why Mommy just looks at her and shakes her head when she says
dirty stuff?"

"Yes. And because your Mommy is alot more patient then anyone I know"

"Oh"
______________________________________________________________________
Brig

Tom Paris paced. There was nothing else to do. He'd been stripped of
his rank, his son, and his credibility. All because of that borg
bitch. If he couldn't be with his son, he'd leave the ship. It would
be better to be without him when he wasn't close, then to be without
him when he was just a comm call away.

"Hey Gur" Tom called to the Ensign covering the brig "I'd like to see
the Captain"

"On what terms" the man asked professionally.

"I want to see about me leaving the ship" Tom clarified. It wasn't as
if it would have been a secret for long.

"What? Are you crazy? We're 15 years from home, and you want to go on
your own?" Gur shook his head as he made the request from his work
station.

"Yeah I'm a crazy son-of-a-bitch"
______________________________________________________________________
Ready Room

Kathryn Janeway rubbed her temples. The headache had started when she
met with Tom Paris to discuss his wish to leave the ship. It was
keeping up a steady ache even now as she prepared to meet with Lt.
Torres, Seven of Nine and Harry Kim.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when to chime to her Ready Room
dinged. "Come" she called tiredly.

Seven B'Elanna and Harry entered. She was glad Nico wasn't present.

"You wanted to see us Captain" Harry began as the women seated
themselves, he took the open chair diagonal to the Captain.

"Yes. It appears that Tom Paris wishes to leave the ship" Janeway
began once again rubbing her temples.

A collective gasp was heard.

"Also the meeting I had set in my shcedule today was about Harry
adopting Nico. I'm canceling it" Janeway tossed Harry a PADD "All you
have to do is sign Mr. Kim and he's all your's"

"Doesn't Tom get a say in this" Harry cradled the PADD in his hands
as if it were the most precious gift.

"No. He forfeited his parental rights when he attacked Seven of Nine"
Janeway slouched slightly on the couch.

"Captain are you well" Seven asked concerned for the woman she
herself loved as a mother.

"Just a little headache "Janeway forced a smile.

"Tom's leaving? When?" B'Elanna sat forward. She rubbed her hands
together in a nervous action.

"At this very moment" the Captain sighed.

"He didn't want to say goodbye to Nico?" Harry was honestly
confused "The way we fought over him I atleast thought he'd want to
say goodbye"

"He made no such request. Just a ship and his possesions" Janeway
shook her tired head "He went as far as to make sure he could
take 'all' his possesions. He even put emphasis on it, like I
wouldn't let him take something that rightfully belonged to him"

Seven froze as she read the meaning beneath the words "Oh my god.
Computer locate Nicodemus Hansen-Torres"

"Nicodemus Hansen-Torres is in the ShuttleBay" the disembodied voice
came emotionlessly, announcing Seven's greatest fear.

"Computer seal outer ShuttleBay doors"Janeway commanded coming to her
feet.

"Unable to comply. ShuttleBay doors have been locked open"

"By who's authority"

"Unable to Comply"

"Shit" they all ran from the room.

Janeway stopped on the bridge with Seven. B'Elanna caught the
Turbolift to Engineering and Harry took his place at Ops.

"Lt. Nuri, follow that shuttle" Janeway took her seat as 'Voyager'
jumped to warp after the retreating form of the Edison.

"What's going on Captain" Chakotay asked turning slightly in his seat.

"Tom Paris just kidnapped Nicodemus"

"What?"
______________________________________________________________________
The Edison

"Why are you doing this?" Nico asked for the 5th time in as many
minutes.

And for the fifth time Tom refused to answer.

"Why? Where are we going?"

"Far away from here" Tom growled.

"I want my Mama" Nico began to cry.

"Don't be soft boy. You don't need a Mama. You need your father." Tom
yelled.

"My father is aboard that ship" Nico said angrily "Your just a mean
man"

"I am your father. Not that soft weakling Harry" Tom said putting the
ship on auto pilot. He turned to Nico and grabbed him by his upper
arms "Your my son you understand, MY SON. And no one is going to take
away something of mine. I've lost to many things in my life to just
let you go because of what people think of me"

Nico was strangely calmed by his words. He realized the man was
slightly crazy, but he did have a point.

"I forgive you"

"What" Tom said honestly confused.

"I forgive you Dad" Nico gripped his arms, much like Tom was doing him.

"Forgive me for what?"

"For being scared. For being human. Just like the rest of us"
______________________________________________________________________
'Voyager'

"We have visual" Lt. Nuri advised the Captain after minutes of
pursuit.

"On screen"

The Edison warped along at 7.8 carrying the newest addition to the
Voyager family and their insane ex-pilot.

"Can we get a tractor beam on him" Janeway asked.

"No. At that Warp Factor it would tear the ship apart and kill them
both." Harry's voice shook slightly in fear for his son. /I just got
you. I don't want to lose you now/ he thought praying to any gods
that were listening to keep him safe.

"We could if we got them out of warp. Or alteast Warp 2.1 it would
give them on hell of a jerk but the ship would be intact" Lt. Nuri
said turning to the Captain.

"And how would be do that" Janeway wondered why she hadn't noticed
this Lt. before. The woman was quiet but obviously intelligent.

"An EMP maybe. It would most likely disable the ship though. Maybe a
BiLinear Juxom Pulse. It would cause the Engine to drop to a lower
speed without the Pilot's input. The ships are all built to do so
automatically"

"Do it" Janeway kept her eyes on the screen as Harry Kim's fingers
flew over the control panel.

The eerie green pulse flew at Warp 8 and connected with the Edison,
jarring it into a much slower pace. Lt. Nuri slowhe lhe larger ship
without the Captain telling her to do so.

"Open a comm channel" Janeway stood.

"Channel Open"

"Tom Paris. Return the boy and go on your way" Janeway set her hand
on her hip and frowned.

"Not a chance. You said I could take everything of mine. It took
everything that belonged to me" Tom's smart assed remark rubbed
Janeway wrong. As it always did.

"He belongs to Seven of Nine, Lt. Torres and Harry Kim" Janeway
corrected "And they want him back. Now"

"No" Tom fired Photon Torpedos at Voyager.

"Shields holing at 98% Captain" Tuvok advised.

"I don't want to return fire with Nico aboard that ship" Janeway
worried aloud "Any good idea's anyone?"

"We could overleaod his shields and beam the boy out" Lt. Nuri
offered.

"How?" the rest of the bridge crew chorused.

"Nanetic energy. Allow it to pulsate at variation 6.78325 and it will
gently overload the shield modulator. Nothing with blowup it'll just
go off line"

"God I love this new pilot"
______________________________________________________________________
Edison

"They'll get me back" Nico told him.

"Shut up"

"That's rude. Mommy says never to be rude" Nico told him shaking his
head.

"Shut up or you'll never see your Mommy again" Tom threatened him.

"As it is, you were counting on me never seeing her again. What's
changed now?" Nico flopped back in his seat wide eyed.

"What's changed? They're here that's whatchanchanged. If they find a
way to get you back they'll be disappointed. You'll be dead. If I
can't have you" Tom began to breathe deeply his insanity finally
taking control.

"No one will"
______________________________________________________________________
Voyager

"Is that pulse ready" Janeway was pacing her bridge.

"Yes Captain"

"Well fire away"

Harry Kim began to shoot pulses of the variatnergnergy in 6 second
intervals.

"Shields are weakening" Tuvok advised from his place at tactical.

"Shields at 90%, 80%, 67%, 50%"
______________________________________________________________________
Edison

"The shields are at 38% your not gonna last much longer" Nico gasped
past his fathers hands.

"Neither will you" Tom continued to choke the little boy. He was
surprised that it was harder than he'd tought. It was like his neck
was reinforced with steel. Knowing who his mother was it probawas was
steel reinforced.

"Shields at 15%" the computers voice droned.

Nico slumped under the pressure around his throat finally losing
consciousness.

"Computer initiate Self Destruct sequence 30 second count down" Tom
dropped the still form of his son and began to key in his securtiy
code.

"Self Destruct Sequence Initiated" the computer droned "30 seconds
until self destruct 29,28,27,26"
______________________________________________________________________
Voyager

"Shields at 10%" Tuvok reported "Shields are down"

"Lock onto Nico's life signs and beam him out" Janeway commanded.

"There are no child lifesigns on board the vessel. And there is a
Self Destruct countdown 14 seconds Captain"

"No life signs for a child?" Seven slumped over her station.

"Oh my god"

"Tuvok lock onto any object that's 32 to 38 kilos in weight and 3 ft
in length and beam if aboard" Lt. Nuri said beginning to back voyager
away.

Tuvok nodded and wondered why he didn't think of it himself.

Moments later they Warped away as the Edison blew in a ball of fiery
death.

"Bridge to Transporter room 1, did we get him" Chakotay ordered.

"Yes Commander but he isn't breathing. He's got bruising around his
neck" the Ensing covering the Transporter Room rushed to answer.

"Beam him to sickbay"

"Done"
______________________________________________________________________

Seven, Harry and B'Elanna rushed to Sickbay.

The EMH didn't bother to look up as the three harried parents entered.
Nico lay still on the biobed, looking small and beaten. Seven began
to cry and B'Elanna took her into her arms trying not to break down
herself. She failed miserably when Harry wrapped his arms around her.

After several minutes the doctor looked up from what he was
doing "He's alive. He's not conscious yet but I know he'll come thh" h"

All three cried harder. In the end the doctor had to sedate them all.
______________________________________________________________________
Sickbay

Captain Kathryn Janeway rushed into Sickbay later that evening. She
found her Ops Officer, Astrometrics Officer and Chief Engineer all
sedated on adjacent biobeds. The small boy that they'd retrieved
earlier sat up swinging his legs off the edge of his bed watching his
parents sleep.

"Hello little man" Janeway approached him slowly.

Nico looked up and smiled at the Captain. She was struck by how
beautiful the child really was. Even with the slight bruising around
his throat the doctor had yet to heal.

"Captain. He was so sad. I think he missed me" Nico rushed to say.

"Who"

"My other Daddy. He was scared like the rest of us. But I forgave
him" Nico explained.

"Oh" Janeway sat on the bed next to him.

Nico promptly climbed into her lap and snuggled beneath her chin.

"Did he scare you?" She asked him softly.

"Yes. I was scared when he started to choke me. And he yelled alot"
Nico shivered at the memory.

"Oh, you were very brave" Janeway stroked his soft hair.

"I tried to be. Can we wake up Mommy and Mama now?"

"If you can wake them with a kiss" Janeway let him down and followed
him to Seven's bed. She hefted him up on a knee so that he could kiss
her mother on the temple.

"Mommy?" Nico whispered next to her ear "Mommy wake up" he kissed her
again for good measure.

Seven'ss fls fluttered before opening "Nico!" She sat up and threw
her arms around the son she'd thought lost forever.

"Mommy you're hugging too tight" Nico squealed from Seven's ample busom.

Seven released him and began to touch his face. She ran her fingers
over his eyes and cheeks and checking his bruised neck. After minutes
Janeway carried him over to B'Elanna's bed.

"Mama wake up" Nico whispered kiss the ridges of B'Elanna's forehead.
He had tried to wake her up on previous occasions and had developed
very good dodging skills. The fist she swung missed by a mile. Nico
leapt out of Janeway's arms and atop of his mother and let out a
yell.

Janeway stood back stunned while Seven watched with a grin as her son
and wife went through their wake up routine.

B'Elanna woke up catching her son in a bear hug. She released him
quickly and held him back to check him out. "If he weren't already
dead, I'd kill the bastard for hurting you"

"If he weren't already dead, I'd help you kill the sick bastard"
Janeway rested a hand on B'Elanna's shoulder.

"Oh enough with the killing already. I'm hungry" Nico yelled from his
perch on his Mama's lap.

"What do you wish to consume Nicodemus" Seven asked willing to give
him anything at the moment.

"Fried Chicken"
______________________________________________________________________
and C is for Conclusion which is exactly what this is...