Q, Continued

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of these characters.

"Court is adjourned."

With the gavel bang, Q felt the truth settle into him and take hold. He was human now. For good. He couldn't move, so great was his shock. He'd survived his week without his Q powers on the knowledge that the Continuum—and his father—would never go so far as to actually force him to stay mortal, no matter what he did. He'd always slithered out of any other consequences to his actions by one means or another. Somehow he'd assumed that would be the case here as well.

Vaguely, he heard his father shouting something about an outrage. "They can't do this to me!" the older Q yelled to the air.

To him? What a joke, Q thought as his father vanished. He's not the one stuck as a powerless biped with a measly sixty or seventy years left to exist.

He heard someone's heeled shoes approaching. To his shock, Q found it was Aunt Kathy—Captain Janeway. He'd completely forgotten she was in the room for the hearing as well. Gently she put an arm around his shoulders. Her face read nothing but compassion and concern.

Q looked down. He didn't deserve either of those emotions from her; he'd just finished betraying her yet again on a trip that had injured a member of her crew. How could she forgive him? Again?

And what was he going to do stuck as a human?

There was a long silence. At last, Janeway said, "Are you all right?"

That did it. Pity was the last thing he wanted from anyone, least of all her. "I'm…going to my quarters," he managed.

She let him go. Q stumbled through the halls of Voyager in a fog but found himself almost by accident at the quarters Janeway had assigned him. There he perched on the bed in the small, bare room, staring at the offwhite bulkhead and wishing he could disappear.

Eventually he had to think. That was one small advantage to being human instead of an amoeba: his mental abilities were still intact. But that made it all the worse. If he were an amoeba, he wouldn't care that he used to be a being with unlimited control of space, matter and time. Now he thought he understood why being human was considered the "next worst fate" above an amoeba by his judges from the Continuum: capable of thought, and remembering, but trapped in a weak and helpless form. Humans relied on weapons to defend themselves, for Univerese's sake. They got around the universe so slowly with their pathetic warp drive. They didn't even have the advantage of superior cognitive or physical abilities over most species in the universe. And now he was one of them. He'd never felt so…insignificant.

What to do now? Barring pleading with the Continuum to reinstate him, which he dismissed as a waste of now-precious breath, he saw two options: remain on Voyager, or ask to be dropped on a planet that would support his physiology.

The second option appealed; the human body couldn't survive long in the most interesting places in the universe, but he'd make do. At the very least he wouldn't have to deal with all the people he'd let down. Including Janeway. And Icheb.

Icheb! Q shot up. He hadn't checked on Icheb yet. His father had said Icheb would be fine, but Q wouldn't put it past him to revoke Icheb's "miraculous" recovery as some form of retaliation on his son for his failure.

Q shot down the corridors, dodging crew members and ignoring the annoyed and disgusted looks some of them were giving him. He deserved them. Icheb's well-being was what he cared about right now, not the opinions of lowly… He stopped that thought. Not lowly. Fellow humans.

Ugh. This whole idea of humanity going to take some getting used to.

The doors of Sickbay swished open. Q came charging in, only to stop short at the sight of the empty bio bed where he'd left Icheb.

"Oh, it's you again." Voyager's annoying holographic Doctor came out of his office area. "I take it your mission to find out more about the Chokuzon weapon was a success?"

"What?" For a second Q had to wrack his brains to remember what the hologram was talking about. "Oh, that. Well, sort of. They turned out to be my father giving me some sort of test. By the way, I'm human for good now, thanks. The Continuum wouldn't have me back. Where's Icheb?"

"I gave him a clean bill of health and sent him back to his duties in the Astrometrics Lab fifteen minutes ago," the Doctor replied. "He made quite a miraculous recovery, which I presume coincided with the conclusion of whatever test Q was giving you. And I'm sorry to hear you won't be leaving us."

Q glared at him. "Very funny. I was looking forward to getting off this ship as much as you all were to seeing the last of me." He spun on his heel and stalked out.

"Wait…if you'll let me run a few scans—" the Doctor called after him as Sickbay doors shut.

Q ignored him. No doubt the Doctor wanted to make sure he was fully human with no lingering Q traits that would make him dangerous to the crew. Q knew it was a waste of time. The Continuum wouldn't have left him so much as a scrap of power to abuse.

The Astrometrics Lab was occupied by Icheb and Seven of Nine. Seven glanced at the doors when they opened, registered their visitor, and went back to whatever she was doing. Q knew that in her Borg mind he'd been dismissed as irrelevant for the time being.

Icheb turned and saw Q. His usually emotionless former-Borg face went even colder, if that was possible.

"Hi…Icheb," Q said, defeating the urge to use the nickname "Ichy." People skills might not be his strong suit, but he had a sense that it would not be welcome at this juncture in time.

"Hello." Icheb, too, turned back to what he had been doing.

"Um…how are you feeling?" Q ventured.

No answer. The silence got uncomfortable. Q was on the verge of cutting his losses and leaving when, to his surprise, Seven of Nine spoke. "Q inquired about your health, Icheb. It would be polite of you to respond."

Icheb glanced at Q again. "Fine. I feel fine."

"Good." Another pause. "Look, Icheb, I just wanted to say…I'm sorry. For all of it. For what it's worth, I'm mortal now."

At this, Icheb turned all the way around and even Seven looked up from her console.

"That's right." Q spread his arms. "You're looking at my permanent form from now on! The Continuum decided I hadn't done enough to warrant the reinstatement of my powers. And you'll be glad to know I won't be spending the rest of my remaining years on Voyager. I'll ask the Captain to drop me at the nearest habitable planet. That way you won't have to deal with me and my colossal screwups anymore. Well, see ya." He made to leave.

"Don't go."

"What?" Q turned, sure he'd misheard Icheb. Damn mortal ears.

"Don't leave Voyager," Icheb said. He looked at Seven, then back at Q. "Your knowledge of spacial anomalies, and of the various species in this quadrant, is extensive. Your travels as a Q have also made you quite proficient at engineering. You could become a valuable member of this crew, as Seven of Nine and I have."

"I doubt that would make anybody on this ship happy," Q said grouchily. "And your memory processors must be malfunctioning. Have you forgotten I almost got you killed a few hours ago?"

"You would have to earn the trust of the crew and the officers, of course," Seven put in. "Not an easy thing to accomplish from your current position, but I speak from experience when I say it is worth the effort. Icheb is correct. You have the potential to be a valuable member of this collective."

"Thanks. I'll think about it. Glad to see you're OK, Ichy." He turned and left, catching the amused look Seven sent Icheb out of the corner of his eye. Or whatever facial twitch passed for amusement among former Borg drones.

Q wandered back to his quarters, lost in thought. Should he stay on Voyager? Seven and Icheb were right about one thing; his knowledge of the Delta quadrant might prove valuable as they traveled across it. Certainly life on Voyager wasn't boring, as bipedal life went. A lot of the routine was tedious, but the crew were explorers and inclined to investigate new things rather than stay safely in their ship. And they did encounter things they needed to make explode all the time. He liked explosions.

There remained the question of if he'd be allowed to stay. Aunt Kathy had said she'd ask the Continuum to let him remain, but that had been before his most recent 'mishap' with stealing the Delta Flyer and almost getting Icheb killed. He'd given her enough food for second, and third thoughts, about allowing him to stay on her ship.

Still thinking, he got up and made his way to Janeway's Ready Room. She'd probably be there if she wasn't on the bridge. He stood in the spot and pressed the signal to let her know she had a visitor.

"Come in!" her voice called.

Now that he'd arrived, Q found himself uncharacteristically nervous. Aunt Kathy had never intimidated him before, but that was back when he'd considered himself her superior. He briefly envisioned himself as she must see him: fresh-faced, brash, and incredibly young despite his former omnipotence. "Do you have a moment?"

She nodded, and he approached the desk where she'd been reading.

"A few days ago, you offered to let me remain on Voyager," he began. "I know I've made a few mistakes since then, and you probably don't want me around…but if it's all right with you, I'd like to continue my training."

Janeway's expression was hard to read. He thought he detected surprise. "But you have nothing left to prove to the Continuum," she pointed out.

He nodded. "There's a lot I still need to prove to you."

She acknowledged this, then asked, "What about your father?"

Q allowed himself a small, sad smile. "You don't honestly believe we'll see him again, do you? He obviously doesn't want me around. Why else would he have left me here? Twice?"

"The question you should be asking is why I keep coming back," said a voice from the other side of the room. Q and Janeway turned to find the older Q perched on Aunt Kathy's sofa as if he'd been there all along. He probably had, Q thought wryly.

His father stood. "Now, I'm sorry I left so abruptly, but the Continuum's verdict demanded an immediate appeal. But no matter how I argued, they still maintained that you had a lesson to learn about consequences. It's not a no!" he exclaimed at the look on his son's face. "But it's not a yes, either." He grinned. "It's a better outcome than I expected, though."

"Just to be clear," Janeway interrupted with an upraised hand. "Your son is still human?"

"For the moment, yes," Q admitted. "He still hasn't demonstrated that exemplary Q-ness I was talking about earlier. That's the only way he'll get his powers back."

"Still no hints about what that is?" Janeway coaxed. "So I can help him get to the point where he can demonstrate it?"

"Still too complex for a mere primate, Kathy," Q said condescendingly. His son sent him a disgusted look. Had he really talked to people like that? No wonder nobody wanted to be around him. From the look Aunt Kathy was giving Q, she didn't appreciate being talked down to, either.

"So, I'll be going for now," Q said. "But I'll keep an eye on things as they proceed." He patted his son's shoulder. "The moment you've passed, you'll get your powers back. I got the Continuum to promise that much."

He turned back to Janeway. "In thanks for your help in keeping the boy on, I did a little homework for you." He handed her a data Padd.

Janeway studied it. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but this will only take a few years off our journey." A sly look crossed her face. "Why not send us all the way?"

"Now what kind of example would I be setting for my son if I did all the work for you?" Q asked sweetly. Before either his son or Janeway could respond, he vanished.

"For what it's worth, Captain, I wish I had my powers, if only to send you back to the Alpha quadrant," Q said after a moment.

"I know." Janeway had slumped a little in her chair. "You probably miss your home as much as we miss ours." She looked at him. "Any idea what Q-ness is?"

"No," he said dejectedly. "If I didn't really get it when I was a Q, how can I when I'm stuck as a human?"

"Well, I had to ask." Janeway shrugged. "Welcome to Voyager, Q."

Author's Note: This is a story I've been kicking around for a long, long time. It's entirely complete and will be uploaded fully in a matter of hours. A full backstory into the writing of it will be offered at the end of the final chapter. I grew up watching Voyager and have a deep love for the characters.

Any errors in what things are officially called/spelled in the Star Trek universe are entirely my mistake. This is not my usual fandom, nor do I consider myself a Trekker/Trekkie/whatever the least offensive term is at the moment. I dabble for pure enjoyment.

SamoaPhoenix9