False Realities

Quarra AU. Not everyone wants their real life back again. Paris/Wildman.

Chapter one.

Implanted False Memory, Samantha's Point of View (POV)

Her heart constricted with fear as the man sat down beside her on the hospital bed. Her muscles tensed, ready to flee.

Her eyes widened in confusion as he smiled sympathetically and reached down to gently take her hand. "I'm so sorry," he said.

And just like that, she remembered. Gresendtarik. The fight. The pain and the blood. A tidal wave of emotion rolled over her. Sorrow, grief, anger, relief, confusion, and yes, even hope and hot awareness. All mixed together in a blend of guilty turmoil. She burst into tears.

He gathered her close. "Shhh," he said. "Shhh. It's going to be okay. You're not alone. I promise you. I'll get you through this. It's going to be alright."

Hours later, Samantha leaned back exhausted onto the hospital bed. It was horrible, just horrible. The endless questions and the slurred inferences as she was interviewed. Thank God for the kind stranger who had rescued her.

Now finally she was alone. She closed her eyes fervently waiting for sleep to overtake her.

She counted sheep, then stars, then lines in the ceiling. She hummed. Her fingers tapped, and her feet twitched. She sighed and turned. First this way, then that. Trying to get comfortable. Trying to still the voices in her head. She sighed again, finally ready to admit it to herself - Gres had been the single worst mistake of her life.

Gres was so possessive. It was exciting when they were dating. Sam had thought it was wonderful that he loved her so much. She'd thought it would disappear once they married and performed the bonding ceremony. Instead, it got worse. His angry jealousy lashed out whenever she spent time away from him. She had even taken her horrid receptionist job within the same company in order to minimise the bouts of accusations and unreasonable paranoia. Sam squirmed in embarrassed self-recrimination.

This last year had been just awful. With her marriage failing she'd needed a shoulder to lean on. But there had been no one. She had come to the sudden realization that Gres' power and influence over her had been so consuming that she simply hadn't noticed the way she was being systematically isolated and alienated from both friends and family since the wedding. Only now did she understand the total thoroughness of that process.

A few months ago, Gres had started to openly flaunt his latest affair with a mutual co-worker. Unfortunately, Gres' gregarious outgoing nature and slick lying tongue had dictated that most people, including their families and fellow co-workers, placed the failure of the marriage squarely at her feet. Even she had begun to believe it. After all, adultery and divorce were practically unheard of in Ktarian culture.

This assisted pregnancy, undertaken against the recommendations of her doctor, had been her last-ditch effort to save her marriage. Last night had marked the end of her first trimester. She had been so happy. After so many miscarriages, making it this far was a great success. She had thought that Gres would be pleased; that he would love her again. Her hopes had been so high as they left together for the company's annual Christmas party.

Instead, Gres had been his usual self, laughing and flirting with his latest girlfriend, while she sat alone and embarrassed at their table.

And then it happened. One of the new sales reps noticed her. Not realising that Gres was her husband, the guy had sat down and offered to buy her a drink. Gres had been livid. But instead of backing off, the sales rep had slid an insolent look over Gres' girlfriend and dismissed him, turning back to her with a confident smile.

Gres had swung at him. The rep had blocked and an intense fight between the two had errupted. Once the rep was unconscious on the floor Gres had gone for her, hitting her hard in the stomach. But only once.

The next instant he had been there, blocking Gres' next hit and pushing Gres roughly away.

Kneeling by her side, he had examined her, seeing blood and making the connection. Her last view of Gres had been of his angry contorted face snarling as two burly bouncers held him back.

This morning she had woken to the news that Gres was dead, and somehow, she was the authorities' number one suspect.

Chapter Two.

Implanted False Memory, Tom's POV.

Tom stirred his drink unenthusiastically, wishing desperately to be somewhere else, anywhere else rather than in this high profile restaurant with his family and 'friends'. They were all here to 'celebrate' the restoration of his commission back in Starfleet, and his new posting to a coveted 'Senior Conn Pilot" position now that his name had been cleared. He sneered cynically to himself, wondering where all these people had been the last four long and lonely years of his life while he was in prison.

Several years ago, the despised flying job at Caldick Prime his father had forced him to take, had ended with the death of his two best friends, his beloved wife and their unborn child. Initially convicted of their deaths due to misconduct, Tom had been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Now, after serving four of those 20 years, Tom had been exonerated. A series of other accidents had resulted in a formal inquiry which led to the discovery that an intermittent glitch in the shuttle's experimental guidance system would cause the system to freeze for a nanosecond. The glitch was so slight that it wasn't noticeable, except when it happened during one specific but rare piloting manoeuvre. The evidence from Tom's case had been re-examined and Tom cleared of fault.

Tom had been sitting quietly in the background letting the party roll on without him for several hours when the Ktarian/human couple walked in. He'd noticed the baby bump immediately. His quiet tinge of envy quickly disappearing into disbelief as he watched the Ktarian male's antics contemptuously.

Unsurprised by the fight, Tom kept his eyes on the forlorn blonde trying to disappear into her seat. He watched her bite her lip, bitter acceptance on her face. It must be a common occurrence. His heart went out to her. He knew all too well the emotional roller coaster of never being quite good enough, of being second best.

A wave of exclamations drew Tom's attention upward toward the woman's husband. He saw the look in the man's face as he turned to gaze at his wife.

The next instant Tom found himself with the Ktarian man's arm being restrained in his own hand, not even knowing when he'd left his chair. He saw the angry bouncers headed their way and threw the man into their arms.

Turning, he looked down to see the woman still shaking and moaning on the ground. He brushed a glance over her to make sure that she was uninjured. Then he saw it. The blood. Visions of his wife, dying, bleeding out while he kneeled unable to help her. NO! Not again.

He knelt beside this woman and took her hand into his. He looked into her eyes.

"How far along are you?"

"Three months."

Tom nodded and reached for his combadge. No time for the public system. He would deal with the fallout later. "Medical emergency. Two to beam out straight to Starfleet medical immediately."

Chapter three

Quarra. Now.

"Daddy, daddy!" Naomi squealed as she jumped up into her father's arms. Tom laughed as he caught his daughter and swung her around and around in a circle, her legs flung out in a 45 degree angle from his body. Tom helicopter circled his way to the couch where father and daughter finally collapsed, Naomi's arms still clutching wildly around her father's neck. He hugged her close and leaned in to smell the fresh rose scented soap fragrance that indicated she had just completed her night time routine and was only waiting for her story before going to bed.

"You're late! I missed you, daddy."

"I missed you too, munchkin. Both of you." Tom looked up and smiled into his wife's laughing eyes. His voice was a husky velvet as he greeted her. "Hey, you."

"Hey, yourself. How was work?" Samantha Paris returned her husband's smile with a love filled one of her own.

"Great! We catered a private party for the Caladen Municipal Exec's today. The XO is one of the patrons for the local creative arts higher learning centres. Monique wanted to impress him enough to sponsor our expansion into the exclusive Caledon restaurant market, so I spent the night on the piano instead of the bar."

"And?"

Tom laughed with excitement. "And he loved it. He promised Monique that if I was included as a regular segment in the entertainment line-up, he would not only sponsor the building of the new function centre but also commit his company to a monthly function night. Monique performed some of her wonderful charm on the guy, and he's paying my salary, too."

"So, you'll have regular piano work once a month. Oh, Tom that's wonderful."

Tom gave his daughter one last tight hug before swinging himself up from the couch. He settled Naomi back on the coach, then turning, he grabbed both of his wife's hands in his own. His eyes sparkled as he looked down into hers. "Not just the month, love. My entire salary. Complete with a raise, a huge advance retainer, and an affordable deposit paid loan on a small four bedroom condo in the Caledan District. This means an automatic proximity acceptance to the Caledan Private Academy for Naomi. Plus, there will be enough for you to stay at home during the pregnancy and enough for us to adopt that child you were telling me about."

"Tom! Are you serious?" As Tom nodded, Samantha squealed and hugged her husband close. "No more bar work. No more horrid women trying to steal you away from us. No more loud, obnoxious, screaming neighbours." Samantha breathed in the woodsy, masculine scent of her husband. Sighing in contentment, she snuggled in closer. Naomi got up and snuggled closely against her parents' legs too. She looked up at her parents.

"Does it mean I can have a new sister as well as a new brother?"

Tom and Samantha both reached down an arm to draw their daughter close. "It sure does, munchkin. It sure does." The family stood close in a tight hug for a few more moments before Tom released his two girls.

"Come on, Naomi. Time for bed. Go get Mr Ted and we'll continue with the next exciting, adventure filled chapter of Mr Ted, the space pirate."

"Okay, daddy. Just as long as we don't have to go on a real one, too."

"No way, honey." Samantha shuddered as she remembered bout after bout of space sickness. "After the way you and I spent the whole journey from Earth to Quarra in our cabin throwing up from space sickness, I don't think so."

"That's for sure. I'll stick to playing the piano and leave the space adventures to Ted. Following my dad into the family business was the worst mistake of my life. I'm so glad we took the chance on a fresh start here on Quarra. It was the best decision we ever made."

"It sure was." Samantha agreed. She leaned over and lingered over a long, semi-chaste - in deference to their daughter - kiss. "Thank you, darling."

Tom looked quizzically at his wife.

"Later," she mouthed to him.

Tom nodded. Swinging his daughter onto his shoulders he galloped her gently to her bedroom.

Samantha's glanced fondly after her husband. She had the most wonderful husband in the world.

Chapter four

Tom snuggled gently against the slight swell of his wife's belly; arms and legs still entwined. Samantha's head coming to rest against his shoulder. He breathed in the soft fragrance of rose water that still lingered on her skin.

"Wow, that was some thank-you. What did I do to deserve it?"

Sam's breathe tickled against his neck as she quietly chuckled. "Can't a girl just be excited to have her man home for the night?"

Tom grinned. He rolled them both over so that Samantha was against the bedsheets and reared up onto his knees. "So, you don't want to talk? We 'ave vays of changing your mind." He leaned in for a gentle kiss.

Samantha giggled and spread her arms above her head in pretend surrender. "I dare you to try" she purred.

Chapter five.

Samantha glanced out of the kitchen window, pausing to watch her husband running slowly across the lawn exuberantly being chased by the children. She laughed out loud as Tom allowed their two oldest children and the three neighbour's children to "catch" him. Satho (pronounced Say-Toe) was hooping wildly like an Indian. Samantha was amazed at how quickly Satho had adjusted into their family. It had taken less than a month for it to feel like he'd always been a part of their family. He adored Tom especially. All children seemed too.

Back on Earth Tom had been a quietly withdrawn man in public, only his natural self when lost in his music or around her and Naomi. Now, with the pressures and disappointments of the past behind them, Tom had blossomed into the cheerfully open, relaxed and sunny person he should always have been. One of the things she loved the most about her second husband was his calm patience and gentle manner of speech. Tom was one of the most forgiving people she knew. And no matter how frustrated he got, he never raised his voice or his hand in anger. He was loving and protective, but never possessive. Of any of his girls. In fact, it was through Tom's gentle encouragement when they first got married, that she had been able to go back to college and get qualifications in an area she loved. Science.

Samantha sighed. If only she had met Tom first.

A demanding cry brought Sam's attention to their newly adopted daughter. A quarter Klingon child with blue eyes that amazingly looked just like Tom's. Sam's heart melted as she picked little Mikhayla Miral up and started rocking her. She thought again about the way their life had changed since they decided to move here to Quarra. They'd both started at the factory, she doing scientific research, Tom in engineering.

Tom had run afoul of the Efficiency Monitor almost immediately. While blowing off steam, he'd met Monique. They'd talked, exchanged war stories, connected on an artistic level. She'd offered him a job. Tom had hesitated, but another run in with the efficiency monitor the next day, as well as Naomi's babysitter breaking her leg had settled it. They'd moved to the Scarett Sector and Sam had started commuting. She'd loved it: the down time to just relax and read on the transport into work, her work in scientific research, coming home to a tidy house, and home cooked meal.

Just, not as much as she had thought she would.

Not as much as she loved being home with Naomi. She had actually become jealous of how much time Tom got to spend with their daughter. Which was silly, because if anything, Tom was an even better stay at home parent than she was. Naomi had just thrived once Tom began being her primary carer. So had Tom. He was such a natural. Not like her.

She thought about their second move to Caladen and Tom's sacrificial decision to go back to full time work to enable them to live in this upmarket suburb and to let her be the stay at home parent once more. Not one word about how much time and money had been spent over the years for her to pursue her dream job, just to chuck it in after a mere two months.

And now this new opportunity had just opened up. It was such a gamble. Tom was hesitating, because of his responsibilities as the only wage earner for the family. But it was the perfect fit for him. This time it was her turn to support her husband's dream. This position he had just been offered might be just the thing to make it all worthwhile – for all of them.

Chapter Six

Kathryn frowned as she looked at her newly returned Chief Conn Officer, her Senior Exobiologist and the three children. It had taken over eight months to find them, 50 lightyears away from Quarra on a completely different planet. The 'family' had been back on Voyager for a week. So far Tom, Samantha and Naomi had proved totally immune to the corrective treatment. None of them had regained any of their original memories. And they didn't want to, either. In fact, they were demanding to be returned 'home' to their adopted planet.

Right now, B'Elanna was in Engineering taking her frustrations out on Voyager and her staff. Tom didn't remember her, and baby Miral had screamed blue murder when B'Elanna picked her up. She kept screaming until Samantha took her back. B'Elanna was devastated. It had been like losing Tom and Miral all over again.

The secondary problem came because, even if Tom did suddenly remember his marriage to B'Elanna, there was still the issue of Samantha's advanced pregnancy and their 'adopted son.' And Naomi.

Kathryn winced, still angry and disappointed that she'd been kept in the dark regarding Samantha's real life serious post partum depression after Naomi's birth, death and replacement's return during the Duplicate Voyager/Vidiian incident. Nor had she, B'Elanna or Harry had any idea that 'Uncle Tom' had played such a large part in Naomi's life throughout the years. Neelix may have been a dearly loved 'Uncle' but apparently Tom had come a close second, gradually taking over as Neelix found new duties and 'busy' activities to fill the pained-filled hole in his heart after the loss of Kes.

Now, of course, real life had been superceded by a fabricated 'ideal' where the three truly were one family – made even better by their extra three 'additions.'

Even a personal visit by the Quarren investigative team had yielded no joy. The family weren't interested. And now, the local authorities from their adopted world had become involved. Both Voyager and the Quarran Officials had been accused of 'kidnapping' valued and treasured citizens. An accusation heavily founded on Tom's economic influence as a successful 'world acclaimed' musician who was bringing sector wide interest to the planet's arts and culture platform.

Tom and Samantha sat silently together on the sick bay beds. The three children were all still asleep on make shift beds between them. Both were thinking the same thing. It's not true. I refuse to believe it. This isn't real.

Samantha refused to look at the woman she remembered as a fellow worker at the factory. Now she was being told to believe that the red-head was a Space Captain. The male first officer she had never seen before. She bit back a sob. All she wanted was to be back home with her husband and their three, soon to be four, children.

They were quickly joined by the holographic doctor who had been 'treating' them.

Tom looked to see the three strangers – still wearing the dreaded Federation uniform - who were determined to destroy his hard won freedom, his wonderful family, and his perfect life. He scowled at them before setting his face into a hard, determined line. This was one fight that he intended to win. Starfleet destroyed his first 'life' they wouldn't destroy this one.

The End. Maybe.