Story is set within "The Q and the Grey" after Q initially tries to seduce Janeway and before Lady Q appears.
"The Unwelcome Visitor"
Kathryn Janeway rolled over in her bed, making herself more comfortable. She breathed in deeply, letting herself enjoy the bliss of being half awake and half asleep. There were no worries in this state of consciousness, no concerns. Everything would hit her in the morning, but, for now, she didn't care…
Her hands reached for the pillow under her head, hoping to adjust it for more comfort. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment, then closed.
Wait, was that a face…?
Janeway leaped out of bed like her nightgown had caught on fire.
"Q!" she yelled.
No response.
"Q, I know that's you!"
Silence.
"Computer: lights, full illumination!"
Nobody was there.
After a moment of hearing nothing but the thrum of the warp core, Janeway sat down on her bed, trying to calm herself. Well, so much for enjoying my time asleep. She turned around and looked at the spot on her bed where she swore she'd just seen Q's face, a smirk spread across it. But, as soon as she'd really looked, he was gone.
Maybe I'm just imagining things.
Of course, she could just be having some post-traumatic stress. Finding an omnipotent in your bed when you hadn't expected anyone to be there was something she was having a hard time forgetting. Not to mention just yesterday, when Q had tried to get her to mate with him. She had tried to push the thought aside before going to sleep, chalking it up to the strange occurrences just being part of the job of a Starfleet captain. A Starfleet captain lost 70,000 light-years away from home, at that, and being bothered by an entity who wouldn't be told what to do. Q was Q, and no one could stop him from being himself, no matter how annoying his personality was.
Janeway absently ran her hand through her long, light-brown hair. She didn't think she would be able to go to sleep again tonight.
"Computer, what time is it?"
"The time is 0426 hours," the pleasant female voice responded.
Well, I might as well get dressed and start my morning early.
Janeway walked over to her replicator. "Coffee, black," she said to the device. A swirl of energy appeared on the small platform before it solidified into a nice, steaming cup of black coffee.
Kathryn Janeway took a sip, expecting to enjoy the taste of her favorite beverage. But, instead, she tasted something sickly sweet, almost overwhelming…
Janeway wrinkled her nose at the unexpected flavor, wondering what had happened to her replicator. She walked over to her mirror and gazed into the alien liquid in her cup. Right as she was absentmindedly contemplating what the flavor could be and thinking of calling up B'Elanna Torres, the Chief Engineer, to fix the replicator as soon as her shift began, she looked up at her reflection in the mirror.
Except it wasn't her reflection, it was Q's, smirking at her.
Janeway jumped, which made her spill the steaming cup of the strange liquid onto her light pink nightgown. "Oh!" Janeway exclaimed, startled at the unexpected image in the mirror. Then, when she felt the burning hot sensation of the fluid touch her skin, she let out another "Oh!" except, this time, it was more out of pain than surprise.
The image in the mirror cleared and a confident, smarmy voice sounded from behind her.
"You didn't think I would let you be all alone out here! You, a frail little mortal, so far from home!"
"Q! I knew it was you!" Janeway spun around, seething with rage at the omnipotent's appearance and gasping in pain at the burning dark splotch on her gown.
Q looked at the stain. "Oh, you Starfleet captains always manage to spill beverages on yourselves," Q rebuked. He strode over to her and passed his hand in the air in front of her chest, turning her sullied nightgown to good-as-new. "There, better?"
"Why the hell are you here again, Q?" Janeway exclaimed, tired of this. She was just glad he wasn't wearing a robe like the last time he had shown up and tried to seduce her. Instead, he was wearing his usual mocking Starfleet captain's uniform.
She would never admit it, but she felt more vulnerable than ever knowing that he could come and go as he pleased and there was nothing she could do about it. And that he took advantage of his powers in that way. "Why do you feel the need to bother me again?"
"Bother you? I'm helping you! What you need is someone who will look out for you, be there for you! You should be honored!"
"Honored? That's just like you, Q, thinking everyone should bow down in your presence!" Janeway was fed up with his puerile behaviors.
Q put a finger to his chin and gazed upward as if contemplating the comment. "Well, that does sound most intriguing…"
Before Q could begin a rant about why he was worthy of such worship, Janeway spoke up. "I'm warning you, Q, if you do this again I'll—"
"You'll what, Kathy?" Q smiled as if he knew there was nothing she could do.
Which there wasn't.
"Fine. What do you want? If you're here to ask me to mate with you again the answer is no," Janeway just wanted to get this over with and be left alone.
"What do I want? Kathy, honey, I want you to be happy!"
"Then go away!" Janeway muttered. Of course, Q couldn't be omnipotent and omniscient and not hear her comment.
"Oh, Kathy, here you are, all alone in the Delta Quadrant—"
"I'm not alone; I have my crew!"
"—and here I am, just passing by, tossing the proverbial pebble against your window…"
Janeway heard a sound to her right. She looked over and just noticed what looked like a small stone hitting the window that displayed the stars at the head of her bed.
"Q, knowing you, you want more than to say hello," Janeway glared at him and took another sip of her drink. Then, forgetting that it didn't taste very good, she choked it down and held the drink out in front of her. "What's in this thing, anyway?"
"Honey for my honey," Q stated in his most seductive voice.
"Oh, God, Q, first of all, have you ever even tasted black coffee with honey in it?" Before Q could respond, Janeway continued. "And is this why you're here? To try to seduce me again? Well, I told you, I'm not interested!"
"Of course you're interested—any mortal would be interested in me! Here I am offering you anything you desire, anything in the universe!" Q spread his hands dramatically. "Nothing is beyond my grasp!"
"Except me," Janeway muttered and turned to place her drink on the dining table and retrieve her robe. She definitely felt the need to cover up around him.
"Darling Kathy, I must say you are putting up a good display of resisting me—and quite an attractive one at that—but the time for that is over."
"Oh, so there's time involved in this 'hookup'?" Janeway said the word disdainfully and raised an eyebrow at him, hoping to keep him talking so she could maybe get some more information out of him.
Q started to look exasperated. "I told, you Kathy, this is no one-night stand. I have true feelings for you!" He took a step closer to her as if his nearness would change her mind. The fact that he didn't sweep her up in his arms like he had yesterday evening made her think that maybe her persistent protestations were finally starting to dawn on him.
The step toward her just made her take a step back and get more irritated. "Don't call me 'Kathy'! It's 'Captain Janeway', or just 'Captain'." Janeway held up a finger at him. "I'm sure if I call for security, it won't work."
"No, of course not." Q looked disgusted at the thought. "The last thing I want to see is a bunch of primitive bipedal mortals trying to take me to a useless brig with their useless weapons."
"Oh, don't worry about the brig, we would take you to the airlock." Janeway glared some more at this insufferable man.
"Kathy, why would you do that to me? I know you're not a heartless woman!"
"I'm sure you could handle it, Q."
"Is it that man with the tattoo? Chuckles? Is he standing in the way between us?"
"We've already talked about this, and I've already given you my answer: No!"
"—Because I can show you that I'm better than him in more ways than you can imagine!"
Before Janeway could say anything more, a flash of bright white light filled her room and she heard a crystalline sound. Blinking off the dramatic effects, she found herself in a sunny glade, a sunhat on her head, her hair falling in tresses down her shoulders, a white sundress clinging elegantly to her body.
Q was before her holding a picnic basket. "How about a picnic on a planet unknown to humans? You are the first human to ever set foot—even lay eyes—on this planet! Chuckles can't do that!"
Q lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. Another flash of light and Janeway was transported to what looked like an amphitheater in the middle of performing a musical concert. The instruments were unlike any she had ever seen before, the sounds otherworldly. The man in the seat beside her leaned close and whispered, "Or how about an unparalleled concert on Neblian V? The tickets really are quite expensive, and they sell out like that!"
With the "that", Q lifted his gloved right hand and snapped again. The blinding light burst from his fingers, slightly disorienting Janeway.
Janeway now found herself in an alien forest at night, albeit a beautiful forest. The stars glittered between the tree branches above her, the planet's two moons glowing in the distance.
She jumped at the voice she heard in her left ear and felt Q's hands hold her shoulders, keeping her close. "Or exploring the vast and magnificent forests of Derinia II? You wouldn't believe the scientific discoveries yet to be made in this forest!"
Janeway knew that, with this setting, Q was trying to appeal to her scientific interests. But, despite the mind-numbing distances she was jumping in the course of a few seconds and the amazing sights she had just seen, she was not going to allow herself to be wooed by this intolerable omnipotent.
She twisted herself out of Q's hold.
"Q, yes, this is a beautiful forest, and that was surely a wonderful concert, but I have other responsibilities that I can't just shrug away like you can." Janeway removed the strange hat upon her head and tried to figure out the design for a moment.
"It's a Tsanit exploring hat," Q answered, mildly, in response to her unasked question. "Well, Kathy—" Q sighed dramatically, a defeated tone to his voice. "Since you refuse my affections—resplendent affections it seems you will never experience… pity—I see there's no choice for me but to leave you here."
"What?" Janeway gasped. But she had no time to contemplate the severity of that decision before Q disappeared in a flash of bright light and a spear point embedded itself in the ground of the forest floor before her.
Janeway reflexively hurled herself out of the way, jumping behind a tree. "Q!" she yelled into the air. "This is absurd! You have no right to leave me here just because I refuse to return your affections!" Another spear thumped into the tree trunk she was hiding behind and Janeway dashed through the underbrush, hoping to loose her attackers. She heard tribal shouts behind her, sounds that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
Then, she had an idea. She stopped dead in the middle of the forest.
"I refuse to play your games, Q!" she yelled.
The humanoids caught up with her, spear points surrounding her.
Janeway folded her arms over her chest, not taking anymore. She knew Q wouldn't admit such affection for her and let her die. At least, she hoped not.
"Oh, fine," an irritated voice from everywhere and nowhere said. The people with the spears disappeared and Q stood before her, his own arms folded across his chest. "If you have to be that way."
Before she knew it, Janeway was back in her room, her pink nightgown on. Q was nowhere to be seen. Finally, she thought. But she knew this ordeal might not be over.
After a few minutes of silence, Janeway walked over to the dining table. She noticed her coffee still perched on the table. She picked it up and sipped its contents. No honey. Thank goodness, Janeway thought. Maybe this meant he was gone for good.
As Janeway walked back over to the couch, she noticed something on the coffee table. She walked toward it. A brilliant bouquet of red roses in a glittering crystal vase rested on the table. Janeway noticed a note tucked within the flowers.
"I will soon return, dear Kathy. Don't forget about us!" -Q
Janeway sighed and sat on the couch.
"Computer, what is the ship's time?"
"The time is 0427."
It seemed Q had slowed time. Janeway rubbed her temples. Her unwelcome visitor had not only managed to exhaust all her energy for the day but he had also graciously left a long day ahead of her.
I hope you enjoyed! This was fun one to write, for sure. If you want to know more about me or my other Star Trek stories, check out my profile page! PLEASE REVIEW! I really really appreciate feedback, and it's never too late to send me some! :)