Room With A Q Too - Thirty-eighth Chapter
There was a short pause as everybody in the room assessed the situation. Q glanced at his wife's swollen lip, then turned his attention to the Q standing in front of her, blocking her from moving away from him. He flicked his hand casually causing Colonel Q to fly across the room and smash into the brick wall. He slumped to the floor dazed with blood pouring from a gash on his head.
"I always knew you were a coward and totally repellent but I never thought that you would stoop so low as to force yourself on a reluctant female," growled Q.
Colonel Q tried to make excuses, "Q, It was a misunderstanding, I never meant to hurt your wife."
Q turned around to look at his wife's swollen, bruised mouth with disgust, he waved his hand again and Colonel Q's face jerked to the side as though he'd just been punched.
"Well I meant that one! Now what am I going to do with you?"
"Q I've learnt my lesson, I will never touch any of your family again," stammered the Colonel, who knew that he was fighting for his survival.
Q smiled but it was malicious, "Oh don't worry I'm a hundred percent sure that you won't bother my family again."
The Colonel was terrified, he'd known Q for a long time and he had never seen him in this mood or so menacing. As the Q were immortal, murder wasn't even mentioned in their laws. Colonel Q wondered if Q would be punished for killing him or praised effusively.
Q summoned Lady Q to help him decide what to do. She appeared in a flash of light with Junior and the Twins and she was furious. He took her aside and told her what he'd witnessed when he arrived and added Colonel Q's pathetic excuses. She walked up to Colonel Q and punched him with a mean right hook. She shook her hand afterwards and smiled.
"I've been wanting to do that for as long as I can remember!"
She turned to Q, "What are you going to do with him, we can request a punishment by the others."
They watched Qi walk over to her mother and ask to be picked up. She touched her mother's lip gently and healed it. Quinn turned his attention to Colonel Q but he waited until his sister could join him. They joined hands and stood in front of the Q who hurt their mother. Although they looked like human children, nobody was in any doubt at this particular moment that they were Q.
Junior was disgusted with the spineless hypocrite, I've had to listen to your tedious lectures and moralizing for nothing, you are a hypocrite and a snivelling coward, the highlight of this shameful episode is that I'll never have to listen to you again," Junior was ecstatic at that prospect.
The Twins were standing in front of him, holding hands and already starting to glow. Time started to reverse for Colonel Q. He was soaked in sweat as the years fell away from him; his hair started to darken from grey to black; the wrinkles on his face smoothed themselves out and he started to shrink and lose weight. Q had never seen this process before as it required an enormous amount of power, he watched in horrified fascination. Now the Colonel appeared to be in his late teens but the Twins hadn't finished their task yet. Their older brother, Junior, couldn't look away, as it was enthralling and frightening to watch. Eventually the regression stopped when Colonel Q resembled a human infant. Q picked him up at arm's length, examining him from top to bottom.
"Well what are we going to do with him now?"
Lady Q answered "I will talk to the others but I think the best thing to do is allow him to mature again and try to ensure he has some class, second time around.
Q asked for one more favour, "Thank you for your help Q, could you look after the Twins for a little longer while I reconnect with Kathy please?"
Lady Q looked between him and Captain Janeway, nodded her head and disappeared with a wave of her hand, taking the children with her.
"Well, I'm back darling, did you miss me," asked Q, not really sure about his welcome."
"Well, I was occupied: dealing with the rogue Q who kidnapped our children; I was imprisoned in the Continuum and just escaped from a Q who couldn't keep his hands to himself."
"I returned to you as quickly as I could, I was going crazy in the Continuum not knowing what was happening to you and the Twins. The last thing I expected was Q trying to force himself on you, explained Q.
Captain janeway was exhausted, "Well, what now?"
"We have been summoned before the Ruling Council. They will make the final decision on whether we can keep the Twins with us or they will have to stay in the Continuum. They will also decide on an appropriate punishment for Q."
"When are we expected to appear, do I have time to get showered and dressed more appropriately?"
"Of course, we have to attend the hearing in roughly two hours, in deference to you, they will all take human form and have altered the Hall of Reconciliation to resemble a human court."
Q had never seen his wife looking so defeated, obviously everything that she had been through recently had overwhelmed her.
He stood in front of her and opened his arms, his wife leaned into him and rested her head on his chest.
"I'm sorry, I've brought nothing but trouble into your life Kathy, say the word and I'll disappear!"
"How can you say that, I will never regret having a relationship with you, our children are the best thing that has ever happened to me. However, I'm tired of all the excitement; I'd like to return to Voyager and experience some normal family life."
Q laughed, "This is normal family life, as far as I'm concerned as this is the only family experience I've ever had,"
For the first time since she met Q, Captain Janeway felt sorry for him. She had only good memories of her childhood, she couldn't imagine what Q had gone through as a young Q.
"I'm going upstairs to try to get an hours sleep then I will dress appropriately and tell your Ruling Council that I will raise my children on Voyager and I will allow the Twins, accompanied by their nanny, Amanda, to spent time in the Continuum, learning what it is to be Q. Lady Q has offered to be their role model and teach them how to be responsible members of the Continuum."
Now Q knew why Starfleet valued his wife's diplomatic skills highly. She had already anticipated that the Continuum would want to keep the Twins and devised a solution that should be acceptable to both parties.
While she was sleeping, he went to find out what was going to happen to Q. He really hoped it would be humiliating and demeaning. He still had a strong urge to kill Q himself but he realised it wasn't the best lesson to teach the Twins.
When the Captain woke up, she felt more like herself. She always thought she was a strong woman but she had never felt that helpless before. She knew that she was quite capable of defending herself however she froze when Colonel Q became insistent.
After a quick shower she put on her Dress Uniform because it made her feel more in control plus she wanted the Q to know that she was a leader. Q reappeared, to tell her what the Ruling Council had decided about Colonel Q.
"They have wiped his memory so he doesn't remember his life as a Q. He will be placed with a foster family on Earth to be raised as a human. If he shows signs of developing his Q power again then they may reconsider and bring him back to the Continuum."
Captain Janeway nodded then continued to brush her hair and to apply some light make-up. Q came up behind her,
"Darling, you look wonderful," he went to kiss her and she flinched, he moved away quickly trying not to dwell on her reaction.
Q waited until she was ready then held her hand, "Are you ready?" Then he clicked his fingers to move them to the chamber of the Ruling Council.
Captain Janeway opened her eyes to find herself in a typical courtroom, except there were three judges. She sat down in the chairs provided which she meant that they had to look up to the members of the council
The judge sitting in the middle cleared her throat, "I would like to apologise and express our disgust and horror at the attack on you by a member of the Continuum. As Q has already informed you, we have already dealt with the matter. Is our solution acceptable to you?"
Captain Janeway nodded her head, she didn't want to dwell on that episode ever again.
"Now we must deal with the other matter, the Twin Q. We are not happy with the idea of these powerful Q living away from the Continuum without our guidance and control. We understand that you are the Twins' mother however you are from an inferior bipedal species how can you ever hope to control them when they are older."
Captain Janeway put her Starfleet training to good use to control her temper after being dismissed as inferior.
"I am the Twins mother, that might not mean anything to the Q but it does to me. When Q first expressed the idea of joining human and Q DNA, it was for the purpose of introducing morals to the Q. My children will be raised to know the difference between right and wrong. They will be taught to have respect for all life, regardless of their development and most importantly I hope they will listen to and respect my guidance.
"I apologise Captain, I didn't mean to offend you by suggesting you are inferior however you do not possess similar powers to the Q, how will you prevent us from keeping the Twins in the Continuum." said the Judge sitting at the right.
"I don't need to, they will! She didn't need to elaborate
That small sentence, made all the Q, on the panel of three judges, gasp and think again.
"I propose that they will stay on Voyager with myself and Q, and their Q Nanny Amanda. They will be part of a loving family and protected by my crew. The Twins will be allowed to spend regular periods in the Continuum, to learn how to be responsible Q accompanied by Amanda and supervised by Junior's mother."
"Captain Janeway could you step outside please while we consider our judgement. We will call you back when our deliberations have finished."