Kathy's Secret Admirer
It was 1100 hours. Janeway was tired. She had just finished her shift on the bridge, without the aid of coffee. Chakotay had challenged her to go for thirty days without it.
She slipped into her Starfleet issue nightgown, and gazed through her window, her eyelids drooping. She remembered her life on Earth. She remembered her home, her fiancé, and her dog. She wished she could get back to it, but at the same time, she knew it would never be the same.
She brushed her hair slowly, combing out the day's bun, sliding the brush through strands of her light brown hair. But, her mind slowed, and she got into her bed.
The covers hugged her in the cold of the night, and she immediately fell asleep, dreaming of coffee. Moments later, she was awoken by a cool draft. She opened her eyes and looked for the bed covers to pull them back up.
"Oh, Kathy," A voice whispered from the other side of the bed. Her eyes shot open, as if she had just seen a ghost. "Don't tell me. You forgot. Again." She turned, and saw Q lying on the bed on a suggestive pose.
"What?" Janeway pulled the covers up to her shoulders. "Q? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, Kathy. You forgot. And on our special day!" Q winked at the captain, who rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Fine, then, Q." She played along. "Why is today special?"
"Special? For us? Why?" Q feigns a look of hurt. "Kathy, its Valentine's day!" He smiles again.
Janeway sits up on her side of the bed. "What makes you think I'd want to spend it with you?" She asks, clearly irked.
"Kathy, I'm hurt!" Q frowns, and then lifts up the covers. "Apart from you, this bed was unoccupied. How was I supposed to know it wasn't reserved for me?" He looks at Janeway like a teenager looks at a bar of chocolate.
"It's not!" Janeway replies in a deep voice. "So get out!"
"Ouch!" Q says, holding his chest. "If I had a heart it would be breaking!" He grasped his heart and then fell backwards into a pile of pillows that magically appeared. He recovers quickly though, and asks in a mischievous voice, "So, if it's not reserved for me, then who is it?" He grins boyishly. "Is it that Mark boy?" Q asks, a look of utter surprise on his face.
"No." Janeway says forcefully. "It's not reserved for anybody. Go away Q!"
"Perhaps it's Commander Chuckles, then." He looked into Kathryn's eyes. "Don't deny it Kathy. You wish it was." He winked again.
"It's not! Go away!" Janeway yelled, wanting more than anything just to be able to go to sleep.
"Kathy!" Q says, shocked. "Don't kick me out! I can change!" His face is serious, and he snaps his fingers. A heart-shaped box of chocolates appears in his hand, along with a bouquet of red roses in the other.
"Q," Janeway sighed. "All I want is to go to sleep."
"Fine then," Q said, setting the box of chocolates and the bouquet on her lap. "Just one more question, Kathy." He paused, waiting for suspense to build.
"What is it, Q?" Janeway half demanded, half played along.
Q's face turned serious again, and he looked deep into Janeway's eyes. "In all seriousness, Kathy." He paused again. "Will you be my Valentine?"
She laughed. "Q? You can't be serious!" She giggled again.
"No chocolate for you then," He said, snapping his fingers. All at once, he was gone, taking the chocolate and flowers with him.
Finally, Janeway was free to get her six hours of much needed sleep.
