"So, Uncle Chuckles, what sort of torture are you going to put me through?" Q scoffed, still irritated with his father having taken away his powers. Whether Q's decision or the Continuum's, the younger Q clearly thought it wasn't fair, and was making it known in his demeanor and attitude.
Chakotay stopped walking and spun on the spot, immediately towering over the young boy. "My name is Chakotay. Not Chuckles...Chakotay. You can call me Commander. One of the first lessons you are going to learn with me is respect. And you need to start showing it, and start earning it, and until you do," Chakotay reached up and began pulling pips off of Q's uniform. The young boy, knowing he had no powers to fight it, stood there and took the reprimand, a scowl on his face and his arms crossed. Once all four were removed, Chakotay held them in the palm of his hand so Q could see them, "I'm going to hold on to these, and you are going to earn them back." He began walking again, speeding up a bit when he knew Q was following behind him.
"I don't understand the point of all this. I'm not going to disrupt anyone here anymore. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life as an amoeba."
Chakotay stopped in front of the holodeck access panel, "There is a very important point to all of this, and living or not living as an amoeba isn't it." Q stomped his foot defiantly.
"Well then what is the point...Commander?" He sneered out the words.
Chakotay let the faintest grin pull his lips up, "That is for you to figure out." He turned to the panel, "Computer, run Diplomacy scenario 12-Alpha." The panel chirped in acknowledgement and the doors opened. Chakotay gestured for Q to enter ahead of him, before following the boy inside.
Arguing voices could be heard getting nearer, and when they came around the corner, a large table was set before them, surrounded by seemingly quite angry people. Chakotay had run this program a half dozen times with various crew members, and was very curious how Q would handle it. "Computer, freeze program. Alright, Q, what do you see?"
Q quirked his lip, his eyes sliding over all the faces, "I see a Nausicaan, a Cardassian," he was pointing as he spoke, "Bolian, Romulan, Ferengi and Bajoran. So?"
"So," Chakotay spoke, "they are all arguing over the mining rights of a planetoid. They all have a substantial claim to those rights, and it's your job to settle the dispute. And before you say it, I know you couldn't care less about these alien races getting along, and I know that you know it's just a simulation."
"Exactly. These aliens mean nothing to me. What do I care if they fight? I'm a Q."
"Yes, and as Q, they should all mean something to you, because it is your job to keep order in the galaxy. Were this a real life situation, a failure to resolve this scenario could lead to devastating results with rippling effects over the entire Alpha quadrant, and that should mean something to you." Chakotay was shocked when he saw a genuine look of guilt flit across the young man's face.
Q walked around, taking in the demeanor of each represented species present before coming back to Chakotay, "Alright."
"Let's run the first simulation together, until you've got a feel for it."
Q furrowed his brow, crossing his arms again, "I don't need your help. I can do it on my own."
Chakotay thought briefly on insisting, but decided against it. If Q wanted to set himself up for failure, Chakotay would let him. Chakotay would wait until Q asked for help...something he very much needed to realize that he needed...help from others.
"Alright, if you think you can do it alone, I'll leave you to it. I'll be back in thirty minutes to check your progress." Q waved snottily at him as he left. Chakotay heard him start the program back up as he exited the holodeck.
=/\=
Kathryn sat back in the chair in her ready room, sipping on a cup of tea. Q sat on the sofa looking dour and defeated. Kathryn chuckled to herself. He had put up quite a fight, but in the end he had lost, and had agreed that he did need help and advice in raising his son, and agreed to relinquish his own powers as well for the next week. Kathryn felt quite proud of herself and wondered how Chakotay was fairing with the younger Q. She had every confidence in his abilities, but was still curious how much of a fight the boy had put up. She wasn't even sure what Chakotay's plans were for him.
"Kathy, couldn't I maybe just tell Q that I've given up my powers?" Kathryn's eyes flew up to him and he sunk back into the seat. "Bad idea. Just a thought." He sighed, pressing his lips out in a pout before letting out a sigh, "Kathy, can I ask you something?"
That wasn't at all what Kathryn was expecting, "Of course you can." She got up with a soft groan at the extra weight, moving to sit beside Q on the sofa, turning slightly to face him.
He glanced from her face down to her stomach and back, "What made you want to have a child?" He looked genuinely curious, "The fate of your race didn't depend on your procreation, so what made you want to go through all of that when there is no point to it?"
Kathryn opened her mouth to tell him it wasn't any of his business, but then closed it again. If she was expecting so much from him, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to give of herself as well. "To be completely honest Q, we didn't mean to procreate. Chakotay and I didn't enter into our relationship with the idea of having a child. That was...an accident on both of our parts."
Q had a glimmer in his eyes, but seemed to realize that this wasn't the time to be trite or condescending. He pondered her words for a moment, "But you're happy?"
Kathryn smiled, surprised that she was actually enjoying this conversation with Q, "I've never been happier. I am having a child with the man I love. And to correct your previous statement, though the human race isn't dependent on the birth of my daughter, her birth will be anything but pointless.
"She will be the perfect combination of Chakotay and myself, and may well go on to Captain this ship after I am gone. Every soul born aboard this ship, or any other ship, or on any planet for that matter has value, as does your son. But you need to start treating him that way."
Q cringed slightly, but looked down at Kathryn's stomach again, "I guess I always thought of him as a means to an end." His eyes moved back up to her face.
"If you think of your son as merely a means to an end, imagine all that you will miss." He looked perplexed and she wanted to shake some sense into him. "Q," she set her tea down and faced him completely, "You have the opportunity to better yourself and your son. I know you weren't raised the same way that I was, but that doesn't mean this isn't an opportunity for you to fix your mistakes and shortcomings through him." She held up her hand to stop his retort, "Yes, Q. Your shortcomings. We all have them, even omnipotent beings such as yourself. This is your opportunity to right every wrong, through your son."
Q thought about that for a moment, keeping silent for far longer than Kathryn was prepared for. "That's a heady tonic to be sure." Kathyrn nodded.
"Yes it is, and it shouldn't be taken lightly. I know your flair for the dramatic Q, and I don't think it would be advantageous to go that route with your son. Yes, as his father you do hold that power, especially being a Q. But you have to remember to be a role model for him. Be the man you want him to be, and he will have no choice but to follow suit." Kathryn picked up her tea, taking another generous sip. "So, it's 1230. I have a few reports to go over, and I want you to head to the mess hall now. I'll be there shortly, and we can all have lunch together and discuss plans."
Q stood up, but gave Kathryn a soft smile, "You really are one of a kind, Kathy. I'll deny it if anyone asks, but Chuckles is a very lucky man."
Kathryn felt her cheeks flush, "Thank you, Q. I tend to think I'm the lucky one. Now get out of here so I can finish my work," she gave him a half smile, watching as he nodded before heading out the door.
She took her tea back to her desk, sitting down and picking up a PADD. She began reading over the reports from astrometrics. They had detected large amounts of xeno-radiation with pockets of thorophasic energy near a J class planet roughly two days away at current speeds. B'Elanna had hoped they could use the ramscoop to collect and refine it; it seemed to have the same energy signature as dilithium while having an atomic density less than a third that of dilithium, and Kathryn needed to look over the reports before giving the go ahead to alter course and begin the retrieval procedure.
However, her thoughts drifted away from thorophasic energy and back to the Qs. She was extremely proud of the elder Q and his seeming receptiveness to her ideas. She wondered how things were going with Chakotay and the younger Q. She was just about to tap her comm badge to call for an update when her ready room door chime went off. "Come in."
Chakotay entered, his face lifting into a smile when his eyes landed on Kathryn. He held his own mug of tea in his hands, coming to sit down across from Kathryn. "Where's Q?" He spoke as he relaxed into the chair on the other side of her desk.
"He's on his way to the mess hall." She cocked a playful eye at him, "What about our younger omnipotent guest. Aren't you supposed to be helping him?"
Chakotay finished his own tea and set the mug down, "He said he doesn't need my help. He's fine on his own."
"And you accepted that?" Kathryn looked genuinely flabbergasted and Chakotay couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of him.
"Of course not. He's determined to do it on his own, so he can fail on his own. Then he will have to ask for help."
Kathryn relaxed back into her seat, her grin spreading, "I should have known." She glanced at the chronometer on the wall, "We have to meet them in ten minutes in the mess hall."
Chakotay stood up and moved to stand before her, "What should we do with those ten minutes?"
Kathryn held her hands out, allowing Chakotay to help her to her feet. As soon as she was upright she pushed him backwards until his back was against the bulkhead, pressing into him as she turned her lips up for a kiss.
Chakotay groaned low in his throat as Kathryn's tongue slid against the seam of his lips, begging entry. He enjoyed the taste of her as her tongue swept through his mouth, her body pressing into him as best she could with her belly in the way.
Finally a need for oxygen forced Chakotay to pull away, already frustrated that they couldn't go any farther in the short amount of time that they had. "You're a tease, Kathryn. You shouldn't start things we can't finish."
She grinned up at him, pressing her bottom lip out in a gentle pout. "We can be quick."
Chakotay groaned even as he sighed, "The things I want to do to you would take longer than the now eight minutes that we have. Besides," he pressed another kiss to her lips, "you and those girls need to eat, and we need to see how Q is doing with his holo-scenario." He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "But wait until tonight and I'll show you all of the things we don't have time for now.
Taking his hand, Kathryn pulled Chakotay to the door and though she let go when they exited into the corridor, she leaned her shoulder into him as they walked to the turbolift that would take them to the holodeck.