Janeway had tucked Emily into bed and kissed her goodnight, it was understandable she wasn't going to get a story tonight. After leaving her room she laid Amelia in her crib and laid down in her bed not even bothering to change out of her uniform. Laying there curled up alone she held his pillow close to her chest taking in what scent had been left behind by him there. She had cried into the pillow until she had fallen asleep, it was easier to cry alone when no one could see their brave captain fall apart. Before she had gone off to dream Janeway had heard that voice in her mind again "What would you give to have him back?"

Janeway felt as if she had been startled awake but upon opening her eyes she wasn't on Voyager. Looking around all she could see was an endless empty white, a blinding light that shone all around her, devoid of sound of feeling. No wind, no rustling from even her own clothes. Sitting up she tried to figure out if she way laying on a ground or if the concept of a ground and sky even existed here in this 'dream'. Her red captains uniform stood out in the whitewashed world around her. Janeway got to her feet trying to look behind her, trying to turn but uncertain if she was moving and if it mattered. Spinning around once more she was finally faced with something beyond the white, a figure dressed in white attire and dark hair. "Q." She smiled running to the figure, his back turned to her. Grabbing his shoulder he turned around with a little smirk fixed on his face. He was indeed a Q but not her Q, the Q that had come to their aid once before, the Q who had once been called a friend to her Q. "You."

The Q tilted his head to the side and rested a hand against her face. "Janeway, nice to see you again." Pulling his hand away he rested it to his side once again. "You know, I considered coming to Voyager to 'comfort' you in your time of sorrow but I think someone I know would have hunted me down and honestly mortal or not, he still frightens me a little." The Q joked, playing off her own grief as if it were a game. "Don't look so glum chum." He continued on grabbing her chin and making her look up at him. "When I asked you what you would give to have him back you told me everything. Now I don't want to take everything from my best friends future wife, in fact my price is very small Janeway."

"What do you mean?" She furrowed her brow and stepped back away from him, she knew Q were hard to trust, the only one who's word she could take had been her Q.

"To get Q back, this is about sending him home. I can't very well just let my best friend die can I?" He let out a sigh. "But I do nothing for free." Looking over his hand again he examined his fingers and picked under his nails to somehow perfect them more. "It's not a high price, a thank you will suffice." He glanced back at her. "And a kiss."

"Go to hell." Janeway glared back at him.

"Ouch, I thought you would give everything for him, I'm just asking for a thank you and a kiss captain, not for some sultry night alone with you in your quarters. He would murder me if I did, not that I didn't think to but I have a saying. Never sleep with your best friends fiancee. Even after he has died. Wait half a millennia first and seeing as you won't be around my then it's pointless to try." He smiled a little looking back at her. "I promise I won't bite."

She stood there clenching her fists and glaring still at this Q who thought he somehow could torment her with the death of her Q. "I..."

He raised a finger pressing it over her lips. "Ssssshhh, don't argue, what would I have to gain from tricking you? Captain please, don't think so little of me. Think of Q, do it for him."

She rolled her eyes and looked away from him a moment before glaring back at him. "Thank you." She huffed hoping he wasn't lying to her.

"And?" Q raised a brow as Janeway leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. He sat there leaning towards her and pretending he would allow her to just get away with that until she was close enough. Turning his head slightly he caught her on the lips knowing he would regret that latter, for sure. Breaking away from her he stood back with a cheeky little smile on his face, so proud of his little accomplishment. "I have been dying to do that." Pointing over his shoulder he shrugged a little. "Promise not to tell him though, I won't ever live it down." Janeway was about to ask him if he was going to keep his end of the bargain but the Q snapped his fingers before she could get the first words out. In a flash of light another man appeared, slightly taller than the first Q, her own body clad in the same white attire, his dark hair holding a slight curl.

"Q?"

The man turned around looking at her with dark eyes, a smile slipping across his face. "Kathy." It was finally the right one, her Q. Rushing forward she threw her arms around him holding him tight and crying softly into his shoulder. "Kathy, you're shaking. What's wrong?"

"You died." She whimpered against him holding him even tighter for fear she would wake up from her dream and realize he was still gone. Even if she could only have him in this moment, in her dreams then it was all she needed. "You're gone."

"No, I'm right here." He wrapped his own arms around her running a hand along her back. He felt real, his body was warm, she could feel his every breath, his hand against her back, his breath in her hair. "Kathy, it's alright now. Did you think the continuum would really just let me die like that? I have two troublesome offspring to look after. They won't let me off that easily. Besides no one else wanted to accept the task to go back and keep them in line." He laughed realizing it hadn't made her feel any better. "And there is the problem with Nexus, he's not a task for a mortal to look after. Point is they need me more than they like to think and I like to think you need me more than you admit, and the girls certainly need me and they know it." Kissing the top of her head lightly instead he just let her hold him and cry all she wanted. "I heard what you said to me. That was, well, thank you."

She finally pulled her face away from his shoulder and looked up at him, her grip on his shirt tightening again as he tried to step back away from her. "Is it really you or is this a trick?"

"It's me Kathy."

"How do I know?" She asked still not certain she could believe this.

"How about, well you told me you use to be a dancer and take dance lessons, you wished you had learned to play a musical instrument as a child, you love roses and the way they smell but they remind you of your fathers funeral and so when I mentioned having them at our wedding one day you told me you would prefer white lilies. I think that's perfect, you would look beautiful holding lilies anyways, or white orchids. Do you remember when I said that? One of the secrets to putting Amelia to sleep is also running the water in the bathroom, we still don't know why, only the sink works, anywhere else and she will get wet her diaper and cry more. I think it's because she likes the sound it make son the marbles. I also distinctly recall you hate it when I check you out in front of the crew, I'm not good at hiding it...especially in those starfleet uniforms." He paused pulling out one last fact he could use on her. "Oh and have I ever told you how annoying it is that you always try to skip going to sickbay when you get sick?"

That was a mouthful of information but certainly things Q would know. "I'm sorry." She cried wrapping her arms around him again. "I should have told you how much you meant to me before. Q, I..." She looked back at him letting out a sigh as that familiar feeling came back to her, that fluttering in her chest, that slight light headed feeling. "I love you."

"I know." He smirked kissing her again.

The other Q turned his back and attempted to cover his eyes. "Disgusting, if you two are going to copulate please save that for on Voyager."

Q turned back to his friend wrapping one arm around Janeway. "And don't think I didn't notice you asking for that kiss."

"Well you didn't stop me." The other Q sassed.

"I was actually kind of hoping she was going to punch you in the face." Q glanced back to Janeway. "I'm not disappointed Kathy, but that's the last time you'll be doing that Q." He looked back at Kathy again and kissed her on the forehead once more. "Report to the ready room captain. I have a surprise for you there." Q snapped his fingers making Janeway vanish in a flash of light.

She sat up in her bed looking around her room and wondering if she had only been dreaming or if that had been real. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she stood up and walked over to the crib gazing down at Amelia. She was still fast asleep. Pulling the blankets up on the baby's chest Janeway brushed her fingers against Amelia's face lightly and smiled, she could see so much of him on that little girl and not surprisingly Emily. It would be hard to look at them and not think of Q. Turning her attention back to her room she took in a deep breath. It was easier to accept a dream as a dream but there remained the smallest spark of hope her dream had been real. Even if Janeway knew she would be let down she walked out of her room and down to the turbolift. Taking it up to deck one she walked past the ghost crew for the night shift and stepped into her ready room not at all surprised it was empty. Still Janeway did a quick search of the room, nothing was out of place, there wasn't anything new or unusual waiting for her. Reality struck her again, her heart sinking as she brushed another tear from her eye. Just as she turned to walk back out of her ready room Janeway paused pulling a smile across her face.

She looked down to her hand, on her ring finger the engagement ring Q had given her secured in it's place. She could have taken it off, she could put it back in the top drawer next to her bed but she didn't and she wouldn't. She could have begged for her miracle but it seemed her miracle hadn't come. Janeway reached up to open the door to the ready room and walk out again when a flash of light behind her had caught her attention. Freezing in her step she held her breath waiting, waiting for a sign, a voice, waiting for Q's friend from the continuum to taunt her, waiting for Q himself to say something, anything. And then words were spoken that broke the silence. "Hello Kathryn."