A.N. I was never happy with the way the episode Tuvix ended. This is what I think should have happened. Unbeta'd.

Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing from any of the official Star trek universes whether in book or film form.

Stardate: 49678.4

"Come in." Tom smiled tentatively as he entered the Captain's ready room.

"Mr Paris, what can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Captain. But I believe I might have a possible solution to the Tuvix issue."

The captain looked up in surprise, and an element of hope. She got up and gestured to the couch, taking a seat there as well."

"Alright Mr Paris, let's hear it."

"Back when I was in Prison, I became acquainted with a former member of Starfleet who used to work in the Transporter section on the Enterprise."

Kathryn quirked an eyebrow, "Go on."

"He told me about an incident that happened in 2369. The Enterprise went to Vervala IV, for some reason - I don't know what it was. I guess it's not relevant. What is, though, is that when they got there, they found another version of their first officer, William Thomas Riker, who had been duplicated during transport eight years earlier, and left on the planet, while another version was successfully beamed up to the Potemkin."

The captain nodded thoughtfully. " Yes, now that you mention it, I do remember hearing about the incident at the time. However, Tuvix wasn't duplicated, he was symbiotically created."

"I realize that, Captain. But what if he could be?"

"What?"

"What if we duplicated Tuvix. One version could be turned back into Neelix and Tuvok. The other version could continue to exist as Tuvix. Not only does no one die, we end up with our crew members back, and keep our wonderfully versatile cook Tuvix, as well. I don't know about you, but I would rather not go back to Neelix' cooking, if we can help it."

Kathryn laughed in agreement with Tom's comment about Neelix' food before sobering. " A fine idea, Mr Paris. But how do we go about it?"

Tom took a deep breath. ""Well Captain, I'm not a transporter technician, so I'm not quite sure. But, isn't it at least worth looking at before we unilaterally consign Tuvix as the unwilling sacrifice on the sacrificial altar of the greater good."

The Captain grimaced. "You've made your point, Lieutenant."

Kathryn stood and tapped her combadge. "Senior officers to the meeting room." She nodded to Tom. "You're with me, Lieutenant."