Taming the Muse

Title: One Thing

Author: pargontwin

Fandom: Voyagers!

Prompt: Haven

Warnings: None

Rating: G 

Disclaimer: Voyagers! and its associated characters are the property of James D. Parriot Productions, Scholastic Productions, and Universal-MCA Entertainment. I realize no profit from this and intend no copyright infringement. Besides, I’m so broke I can’t even pay attention, so don’t bother suing me! ;D

Summary: In the immediate aftermath of The Trial of Phineas Bogg, Jeffrey begins to face his divided loyalties.

A/N: This piece is excerpted (is that even a word? ;p) from a much longer WIP that will eventually be posted at Fanfiction.net.

<ljcut>One Thing

By

Pargontwin

        The instant his Omni was back in his hand, Bogg scooped Jeffrey up and hit the activator switch, mindless of anything else Garth might have to say to him. All he wanted was to be away from the site that had very nearly—too nearly—seen him separated from his surrogate son and sent into exile, all because that idiot Drake had been making some sort of power play.

        The charges against him had mostly been false. Violating territorial parameters? Come on now; he’d barely passed Voyager school by the skin of his teeth. How could anyone possibly believe he possessed the skill to bypass the limits his Omni circuits imposed when he was barely capable of performing routine maintenance? It had been a malfunction that had landed him in 1982, pure and simple. That charge had been thrown out. 

        The rest had been equally ridiculous, easily refuted by Susan, his court-appointed defense attorney. But one was actually true: He’d let Jeffrey help him shoot down the Red Baron.

        The Voyager Code was clear: When a Contemporary was accidentally transported out of his own time, his safety was the responsibility of the field worker until he could be returned. Well, returning Jeffrey had been impossible; his Omni had dropped him in 1982, but could not be set to return to that date, being limited to dates prior to 1971. They’d landed in France to find Eddie Rickenbacker injured and unable to fly, when the Red Baron had buzzed them and literally thrown down the gauntlet. The solution had been clear; Bogg had volunteered to take Rickenbacker’s place in the cockpit. That solution, however, had engendered a problem of its own: The plane had been a two-seater, requiring a second person to fire the rear-mounted gun. The only one available to do that had been the eleven-going-on-twelve Jeffrey. By its very nature, it had been a hazardous job, and his allowing the boy to do it had been a clear violation of the Code. The only thing that had saved him was the fact that it had been discovered that Drake had tampered with evidence, requiring that the entire case be thrown out of court.

        That had left the problem of Jeffrey’s presence. Drake had produced Jeffrey’s file from the Voyager Archives and used it to show that the boy must be returned to 1982 to fulfill the destiny outlined in that file. Once again, the proof of Drake’s tampering had saved them, as it had shown that the file itself had been falsified. The genuine article showed that Jeffrey did indeed do all the things Drake claimed he was supposed to do, with the critical difference that he was supposed to do them as a Voyager. Professor Garth, the head of the tribunal, had gleefully delivered this news to them, at which point Susan had bestowed congratulatory kisses on them both. Garth had then returned Bogg’s Omni to him, then turned to pick up a new Guidebook to hand him; by the time he’d turned back, the two were gone.

        They landed, giddy with joy and relief, on a riverbank, near a weeping willow that leaned out over the water. The mountains in the background faded into a kind of bluish haze as they rose into the clouds; the place was a positive haven after the sturm und drang of the trial. Exchanging a look, both of them simultaneously burst out laughing at the clear impression Susan’s lipstick had left on both their faces. Bogg pulled out his shirttail and used it to wipe the marks off Jeffrey’s face and his own; then, as he tucked the shirt back in, he grinned, “Congratulations, Voyager Jones.”

        Said Voyager had never been happier in his life. There’s only one thing I’d rather be called, the guilty thought came all unbidden, taking him by surprise. It felt disloyal somehow, as if he were turning his back on his parents, but if there was an adoption in his future, he knew where he wanted it to come from.

Finis </lj-cut>