The continuum was looking rather dull this evening. Of course, it was dull every evening, but today was just atrocious.

Junior had decided to pay a visit to the humans he loved so much. Q had been so excited, a visit to Voyager always lifted his spirits, but Junior had put his foot down.

Something about wanting to have time with his human family alone -bah.

Family? Perhaps this was his comeuppance for always bothering the earthlings, his own child no longer wanted him around and preferred the company of fools to his own father.

He opened the door to his home and sat on the luxurious leather recliner. With his back laying down and his face towards the ceiling he was able to enjoy his own handy work.

The walls were a soft blue, the ceilings an eggshell white. The stairs and flooring were all dark, rich mahogany. The tv was almost the size of the wall, he had been proud of that but Junior had made some side comment about size not mattering. Pah, his own boy, not knowing how important it was to be the biggest in any given room.

This whole house was a monument to his observations of the human culture, the luxury they all pursued in their fleeting, pointless little lives…

He closed his eyes to listen to the heart beat of the house, everything in the continuum was alive and his own finger snap creations weren't an exception.

"This is quite the place you've set up"

He nearly fell back behind the recliner.

He jumped out of the chair and stood face to face with the most dangerous, most beautiful, most intoxicating woman in all of existence. His ex wife.

She waited for his barrage of questions but much to her irritation he didn't seem to have any. She tapped her heeled toe against the ugly wood and felt a piece of her mind snap.

She was in his domain, here she was forced to look like she belonged. No matter what outfit she'd been in before entering this forsaken human home, she was now dressed in a white dress and black high heels. The dress curved nicely around her frame and the heels worked wonders on her calves. But this was not her. And like it or not, this was not Q either.

"Where is our son?" She folded her arms and leaned against the still opened doorframe. She need only look outside to find solace that this nightmare was her ex husband's delusions and not her reality. The white, blank slate of the continuum greeted her eyes and calmed her racing heart.

This must be what claustrophobia felt like.

Q stood a little straighter and brushed his hand through those annoying black human curls he loved so much. Any body in the world he could create and he chose a middle-aged man with black, frizzy ringlets. Something was wrong with this Q.

"Hello, Q, Junior isn't home at the moment. He's visiting his friends"

She could break his neck right now, but it still wouldn't matter. He'd just reconstruct the bones and the nerves.

"What friends?"

Her tapping toes finally stilled and she awaited the inevitable. Junior didn't have any real, healthy relationships here in the continuum. Since becoming a teacher he'd given up the chance to be a normal Q. Her son was now seen as either a pariah or a gift.

"he's with Icheb."

"He's not only on Voyager, but you allow him to be with a borg? How unfortunate of a father you are."

Q took a step forward, and pointed a finger at his ex's chest

"I may be a pathetic father, but I never abandoned my child" He watched her cool features sharpen and when she opened her mouth to speak her glaring white teeth were clenched.

"You are correct, Q, my mistake was leaving my child alone with you. A mistake I am trying to rectify."

Rectify? What was she trying to play at? The council wouldn't try to play custody battles with Junior. He was an adult here in the continuum, if she liked it or not their boy was free to choose where he called home.

She turned away from Q and continued out to the fresh, clean air. She threw her hand out behind her and called, "Tell my son that I am looking for him whenever he is done at the voyager zoo with those useless animals."

The door had slammed after her before he had even realized he'd snapped himself towards the frame. His entire being was shaking, he clenched his fists and watched as his human nails dug into their human palms and very human red blood began to leak from the self inflicted angry wounds.

It all looked so real, if he closed his eyes he could picture the pain, but when he opened them again the red was gone and he was left with the illusion that was his life.

He let a pitiful chuckle leave his lips and let himself sink into the anger and hate he felt for his ex wife. She wanted to harm the humans so much but could not understand how damning that would be for their son. She would ruin his psyche before she left him alone to his happiness.

What a horrible entity she was.

He let himself drop to his knees and wished he could be in a real home on the actual planet earth. He wished Junior had been raised there without any knowledge of the continuum. He would've been so much happier there. They both could have been happier there.

But he wasn't a human, neither was Junior. And earthlings, no matter how good their intentions, had a terrible habit of finding out lies in plain sight. They would stick out like a mountain in the middle of an ocean.

Q snapped his fingers and the TV turned on, he filled past a few of his most favorite viewings, Jean Luc on the Enterprise, Sisko walking deep space nine, until he found his goal. Voyager.

Icheb and Junior were playing some game inside the holodeck and both were completely safe and at ease. The way his son smiled and laughed with the restored borg child, the way his eyes shone when Seven of Nine appeared to take them to lunch.

It made his own Q heart thud in contentment, lady Q hadn't tried to destroy the star ship Voyager while Junior was aboard.

He got off the floor and returned to his recliner, rocking himself slightly as he watched his boy's day progress. In the dining hall Neelix was serving some kind of plant based nutrition to feed the crew of Voyager. One bite and he could see both boys go rigid, he barked out a laugh alone in his home.

Junior promptly snapped his fingers in a quiet manner so as not to draw attention and threw his elbow into his friend's side. He nodded towards the food once more and Icheb took one more hesitant bite. Q couldn't tell what he'd done to the food but it now apparently tasted like Manna with the gusto the boys were eating.

The doors slid open behind the pair and Q tried to ignore his heart race at the sight of Kathryn. Captain Janeway paused only a moment to locate his child before she beelined for the giggling boys. She put one of each hand onto the boy's shoulders and they both jumped at seeing her. She beamed at his son and his boy was positively radiating in her presence.

She leaned down and kissed his head before she took a seat in front of them, joining the two for lunch as Neelix brought her a plate. He hoped his boy had enough sense to enhance the flavor of her plate as well. The way she ate and chatted with the children he knew Junior had done just that, Kathy hadn't even hesitated at her first bite.

He watched the ease with which they ate together and talked of life. How Icheb was helping Seven of Nine create a navigational system to help Voyager get home quicker. They talked of Junior's classes and how the continuum were receiving his words. Q tried not to sit forward when Kathy discussed her work and how crazy her adventures tended to be.

He could tell she was sleeping better. Her eyes weren't nearly as dark as they had been the last they'd talked. Her soft brown hair was not long enough to put back into a band at the nape of her neck anymore, yet still, even at this short cut she was able to keep each strand in immaculate order. She took his breath away if he stared too long.

For a moment he let his mind wander and imagined what it could be like if he were there. He could have lunch with Kathryn and Junior, two of the three technically didn't need to eat, but he would give anything to change places with Icheb at this moment.

To be a part of this family his son had created, it would be a dream. It was a dream and it could never be anything more. If he wasn't watching Enterprise, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, even Earth itself at times, they all would've died long ago.

His place was here, in this house, watching as a makeshift guardian over the ones he cared for the most. If he felt lonely at times it wouldn't matter. He could be content with his silent moments, he had to be. So he let himself shamelessly stare at Kathy and wander how soft her lips could be.