Disclaimer:The Star Trek franchise was created by Gene Roddenberry and belonged to him and now belong to a bunch of people, and to Paramount; I don't own nothing here. This story was made only for fun; I didn't make any money on this.
Summary: Jean-Luc Picard is facing his diplomatic meeting in a space station with optimism, wanting to enjoy the days off as a relaxing holiday - that is, until Q trapped him in a turbolift for a chat.
Ship: Jean-Luc Picard/Q
Universe:Star Trek – The Next Generation (TNG).
Rated: K+
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Wisdom Of A Fool
By Mychelle in a Wonderland
X_X_X
Jean-Luc had a good feeling about the next few days.
Normally he would be unsatisfied about his situation; being away from the Enterprise and stuck in a space station for a diplomatic reunion was frankly boring. Usually it would only take a few hours away from the Enterprise until Jean-Luc started to worry about his ship and his crew, and what they would face without him. And it wasn't as if Jean-Luc didn't trust Will in his absence; he had complete faith in his First Officer's abilities, but these protective instincts were an unavoidable side effect of being a starship captain.
However, even if these instincts were still present within him, this time Jean-Luc was eager to have some time for himself; life on Enterprise was more intense than normal in those past few months. Jean-Luc was admittedly an adrenaline junkie but even so, even he occasionally needed some time off for himself.
With this in mind, Jean-Luc left his temporary quarters and entered the turbolift, thinking about what he would do with his free time on that day. Several of his colleagues were heading for the available holosuites of the station, but he didn't see the appeal on it, not when he could spend as much time as he wanted on the Enterprise's holodeck.
Another option that he had was to visit the highly frequented local bar, commanded by a Bolian; it didn't see the best of options, but he supposed that he could get some kind of drink there and then he could go to recreation area where there was a touristic garden, a quite natural one according to the recommendation of some of his colleagues. Jean-Luc didn't have any paper books with him, but he was carrying his PADD and if he got the impulse, he was willing to read a book in it.
Immersed in his thoughts, it took a few moments until Jean-Luc noticed that the turbolift wasn't working.
Frowning a little and already regretting the loss of tranquility, Jean-Luc pressed the communicator in his chest.
"Picard to Deep Space Five's Bridge of command."
There was no answer.
Jean-Luc tried his communicator twice more, but soon it became clear that it would be no help in his communication with the station's command.
Sighing loudly, Jean-Luc resigned himself to try and take a look to the turbolift's panel - his engineer skills were rusty at best, but maybe it was a simple problem and he could resolve it on his own.
"I wouldn't bother if I were you. There is nothing really wrong with this turbolift."
Oh, no.
Jean-Luc's first instinct was to turn his head back to the voice's direction, but he forced himself to remain still; he recognized that voice.
He heard an annoyed sigh.
"Jean-Luc, I'm not an imaginary being. I will not go away if you think hard enough about it."
It was not a bad idea in Jean-Luc's eyes; a mystical solution for a mystical being. It was like in the secular tale of Peter Pan and his lost boys, where wishes and words of belief were enough to bring Tinkerbell back to life.
In this case, Jean-Luc stubbornly tried to believe that if he didn't look at him, didn't acknowledge his presence, maybe, just maybe he would go away.
"I have all eternity to stay here if I want to. I think we cannot say the same for you, can we, Mon Capitaine?"
Resigning himself that he wasn't on Neverland, Jean-Luc turned around and saw Q, wearing an admiral Starfleet uniform in red command, as he usually did.
"As always, it's a pleasure to see you Jean-Luc!"
"I would like to be able to say the same," Jean-Luc said, caustically.
The answer was immediate; Q crossed his arms and, honestly to god, pouted.
"You have awful manners, Jean-Luc. Is this how you treat all your old friends?"
"Usually my old friends don't lock me on a turbolift in a whim," Jean-Luc said, making a real effort to not shout.
Q shrugged but didn't answer, only leaned against the wall.
Mentally reuniting all his diplomatic abilities, Jean-Luc turned in Q's direction.
"If I may ask, why did you kidnapped me this time?"
"Kidnap is such an ugly word, Jean-Luc. I just wanted to talk with you. I even thought about approaching you before your little meeting with the Admirals, but I know you would only run away from me. This seemed like a good way to gain your attention."
For a few moments Jean-Luc imagined with horror the reaction of his superiors if Q appeared out of nowhere and started to tease him like this in front of them, and such a thought was enough to make him feel grateful for the fact that they were alone in that turbolift.
"Well, if you wanted my attention so bad you can celebrate; you have it," Jean-Luc said, dry.
Q didn't seem to care for his tone, and only grinned broadly.
"Excellent! I know you can be a reasonable man, Jean-Luc."
Jean-Luc mentally counted from one to ten, and then he counted from ten to zero, took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever it was that Q wanted to tell him.
Except… except for the fact that Q didn't seem to want to talk, after all.
Instead of stating what he wanted, Q stared at him in an unnerving way that bothered Jean-Luc a lot; usually Q looked at him as if Jean-Luc was an interesting species, the favorite toy of a spoiled brat, but this wasn't the way that Q was looking at him now.
No, Q looked at him now with an intensity that wasn't completely new, but it was rare enough to raise the hair in Jean-Luc's nape, an unpleasant sensation.
"So? Do you have anything to tell me or what, Q?"
Q sighed dramatically, but didn't stop his staring.
"You're impatient today, Mon Capitaine."
Jean-Luc crossed his arms.
"You have the power to wake this feeling in me."
Q finally dropped his staring, but seemed to love the idea of being such a pest that could get so easily in Jean-Luc's last nerve.
"You flatter me, Jean-Luc. But you are right. I wanted to talk with you to… set an appointment with you, I think it's the right term."
Jean-Luc didn't feel any kind of relief with so little information on Q's end.
"What kind of appointment?"
"Oh, anything at all," Q made a dismissive gesture with his hand "I have my ideas of course, but I'm willing to hear suggestions."
Jean-Luc only stared at Q, at loss.
"The only thing I ask of you is to please, don't make me go to one of these primitive holodeck of yours. If you want to visit any planet at any time I can take you there, but those cheap holographic recreations are offensive to me."
Q finally stopped talking then, but this time it was Jean-Luc that was staring with an intensity that seemed to bother even a powerful being like him.
"Jean-Luc, I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed now. You are always a man of oh-so many words, not heavy silences."
Jean-Luc sighed.
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, Q."
Q seemed to get more serious.
"Stupidity doesn't suit you, Jean-Luc."
Jean-Luc once again mentally counted from one to ten and from ten to zero, took a deep breath and reminded himself that Q was an alien being with incomparable powers, and that enraging him was never the best option in any situation, as experience unfortunately taught him.
None of it was enough to stop him from lashing out.
"Damn it, Q! Tell me at once what you want or let me out of here and stop wasting my mortal and limited time!"
"But Jean-Luc, I already told you!" Q put one of his hands on his waist, a strangely human gesture "I want to set a date with you!"
That… was enough to make Jean-Luc's rage be instantly replaced with confusion.
"You said you wanted an appointment."
Q shrugged.
"An appointment, a date… those verbal languages you humanoids use can be a confusing means of communication. They're similar terms."
Jean-Luc thought Q was only trying to annoy him, but even so he has to begrudgingly admit that it made some sense - for a member of the Q Continuum, verbal communication was probably primitive and confusing.
"You want to have a date with me."
"That's what I said, yes," Q said, impatient.
"A date."
"Yes."
"With me."
"How many times you will need to repeat it to understand, Jean-Luc?"
Jean-Luc gave him an annoyed look.
"Well I'm sorry, but it was an unexpected proposal! The idea never even passed through my mind. And… when you say you want a date with me, should I assume it is a date between friends, or… a romantic date?"
Jean-Luc felt himself blush while he said those last words; he couldn't believe that he had just said that to Q, of all people. Most certainly this wasn't what Q meant and he didn't know what possessed him to suggest such a thing.
However, Q didn't mock his question or launched into a monologue about silly primitive emotional and sexual humanoid behavior; Q only looked at him and shrugged, once again a disconcerting human gesture.
"I'm open to any option, Mon Capitaine. We can, as one say, follow your instincts. But if you are interested in a little sordid adventure, I can appear to you as whatever you would like, even as a woman."
Q has already raised a hand, probably to snap his fingers and appear as a woman, but Jean-Luc was quick to stop him.
"That won't be necessary, Q," He said in a gentle, almost delicate way "Gender is not particularly relevant for me in these matters."
Q smiled in apparent relief.
"I'm glad, Jean-Luc! I have to confess that I am strangely attached to this face," Q said while he touched his own face on an almost reverend way, making Jean-Luc want to roll his eyes at him. But he couldn't exactly disagree, knowing it would be disturbing to see Q appear in front of him wearing a different face.
"Evidently. But I didn't say I was interested in you in that way, Q."
Q stopped fondling his own face and turned to Jean-Luc.
"And this isn't something you wouldn't even consider, my stubborn captain?"
Once again Jean-Luc felt himself blush, this time because of Q's inadequate and possessive word, but refused to show it in any other way.
"Well, you never really made any effort to present yourself as a pleasant company, Q. And for me is essential to at least tolerate the person I'm with."
"Oh, details, details," Q rolled his eyes "But this is why I wanted to have a date with you, Jean-Luc."
"What makes now different than any other time you showed up before?"
Q gave Jean-Luc an annoyed look, as if he had asked a stupid question.
"Obviously it's because you're not in the Enterprise right now, Jean-Luc."
Faced with Q's condescending words made Jean-Luc want to complain again, but he had to admit that Q was right - the change of location was a drastic change in their dynamic.
Every time Q showed up, Jean-Luc spent half of the time worrying about the ship and the crew and what Q was up to; it was unavoidable that the weight of the responsibility of commanding a starship forced Jean-Luc to see Q as a threat, even more so after all the power demonstrations that Q was always eager to show off.
But being in this station truly changed things. Jean-Luc doubted that he would ever feel completely at ease with Q around, but being here gave Jean-Luc the freedom of not being the one responsible for the local crew.
Of course, Jean-Luc would worry and take action if Q started to show himself as a threat for those people, but if Q really wasn't playing any game, if he really wanted this date…
Jean-Luc thought that things could be very different indeed.
"You complain and complain that I take your free time, but you're the one mysteriously silent today," Q looked at Jean-Luc with a slight smile "Is it my presence, Jean-Luc? Am I making you speechless?"
"Well, it was a sudden proposal," Jean-Luc said, slightly annoyed again "But… I suppose I agree, yes."
Q grinned again, but before he could say another word, Jean-Luc lifted an inquisitive finger.
"If you give me your word that you're not going to put at risk the lives of any of the people of this station. And if you break this deal, Q…"
"What would you do, Jean-Luc?"
Q seemed amused with the question - of course he would be. There wasn't much that Jean-Luc could do against a semi god like him.
But Jean-Luc had one advantage, and even if it was a small one he wasn't afraid to use it.
"I would never again agree to do anything that involved you."
Q didn't seem impressed, but Jean-Luc wasn't finished.
"And before you say… yes, I know you could force a situation. You could force me to even want to be with you if you desired so, but the fact that you didn't tell me that you want my sincere cooperation."
Q narrowed his eyes and Jean-Luc knew that he got it right; Q didn't want his unwilling presence. He wanted Jean-Luc to want to talk with him.
"You have my genuine cooperation, Q. And these are my terms."
"Ugh, fine, fine," Q threw his hands up the air "I agree. But this is completely unnecessary."
"The past few years taught me to never underestimate you," Jean-Luc answered, satisfied to see that Q wasn't being stubborn in this point - it wasn't negotiable.
Q seemed to think that Jean-Luc had some reason, since he stopped trying to protest and once again started to look excited about the odd idea of a date.
Jean-Luc thought that he maybe should make a suggestion, but the truth is that Jean-Luc wasn't really in his domain. He had his fair share of affairs and friendships in his life, but they weren't really many and they weren't that frequent. Even if they were, he didn't think any other relationship he ever had could compare to the one he had with Q.
"Can we go now?" Q asked, pulling him away from his thoughts.
Jean-Luc shook his head.
"I have a meeting with some admirals later today. But tomorrow I don't have any appointments."
Q rolled his eyes.
"Right, I forgot. You are a hard man to please, Jean-Luc."
"I don't think this is any news for you at all."
"It isn't. But since you're so full of requirements, I got one of my own."
Jean-Luc tried to hide a grimace, mentally preparing himself to give up the whole thing and strangely disappointed with the notion.
"I don't want any more suggestions. I'm going to take you to a place of my choice, and that's not up to negotiation."
That put an end to Jean-Luc's former dilemma, but he didn't want to make things so easy for Q.
"As long as it is a place where I can breathe…"
Q made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
"You won't need a proper atmosphere, Jean-Luc. You will have me."
Jean-Luc tried to hide the fact that he enjoyed that idea, but judging by Q's smug smile, he failed.
But it was hard to control himself; it was a tempting idea. To be in any planet, even a deadly one for the human species, to be able to know so close something so different from what he knew was an appealing idea.
However, it would also be an exercise in trust that he wasn't sure he was ready for. He would have to trust his life and well being to a creature as volatile as Q was, and Jean-Luc knew this wasn't exactly a good idea.
"Now you can't complain about lack of warnings, Jean-Luc. Wait for me tomorrow, at any time."
"What do you mean with at any…"
Jean-Luc didn't manage to finish his question, because Q disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Jean-Luc behind, resigned to the fact that tomorrow would be an eventful day.
In a bump the turbolift started working again, making Jean-Luc jump a little - he forgot where exactly he was.
After he finally walked off the turbolift, Jean-Luc was in a contemplative mood, thinking about how surreal the past minutes were; he still had trouble believing they actually happened. It was all so completely different from what he came to expect from Q, and for years Jean-Luc had accepted that he had to expect the unexpected from the entity.
Walking without a certain destination, Jean-Luc felt the war within his own thoughts, the part of himself that chastised him for being so careless and the part of himself that was curious enough to see what Q was up to this time.
And in the intimacy of his mind, Jean-Luc had to admit to himself that Q's visits, even dangerous and annoying as they were, they were also equally stimulating. Q was immature, arrogant and presumptuous, but he was also an incredible old being with knowledge that Jean-Luc couldn't even begin to imagine, and Jean-Luc liked the idea of knowing that side of Q.
Q could drive him mad, but Jean-Luc would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the challenge, the opportunity of peek behind the mask and see what kind of mysteries Q was hiding. Jean-Luc was an adventurer, an explorer, and Q was already a fascinating object of study as an antagonist - he couldn't even imagine what would be like to have him as a friend, or even something more as Q seemed to imply.
Shaking his head, Jean-Luc decided to go to the bar after all and drink only something relaxing, thinking that his best decisions were always taken someplace between his caution and his sense of adventure, and he hoped that this time it wouldn't be different.
The End
A.N.: Translation of my own fanfic, originally posted in Portuguese.
I received a request to write a Qcard fic, and since Qcard is my OTP from TNG, I gave it a shot and that was the result.
Hope you liked, comments are always welcome!