Author: Storyspindler
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: You know the drill... not mine...
Oh, and the idea of assigning the lowercase q was not mine. It came from the Q Continuum novels by Greg Cox, but I thought that it was a great idea, so I borrowed. Besides, it makes it easier to read.
Author's Notes: This story has quite a different tone from the first two, not to mention shorter. After that bout of seriousness, I decided that you and I needed a break. I hope you like it.
Chakotay stepped into sickbay, thinking that The Doctor's summons was
somehow related to yesterday's epidemic.
The Doctor intercepted him immediately, coming as if from nowhere. "Commander, good. I need to speak with you in my office for a moment.
His tone betrayed nothing, but his words were coming too quickly. Something was wrong.
Entering The Doctor's office, the captain's absence did not go unnoticed,
and Chakotay felt a dark foreboding creep through his body like an army
of tarantulas.
"There's a problem with the baby."
Chakotay felt his blood first run cold and then drain from his face. "What kind of problem?"
How he managed to utter those words without his voice shaking, not mention actually forming a coherent thought, he'd never know.
"It appears that human and Nosnhoj genes are not entirely compatible. The baby's genetic structure began to break down. If she hadn't been in sickbay, I wouldn't have been able to stop the miscarriage."
"Could she still lose the baby?"
"It's a possibility, but it's also just as possible that she could carry the baby to term without any further complications. We're in uncharted waters."
"But they're both okay now?"
"They're both doing just fine. She's sleeping, and right now, it's probably the best thing for her."
Chakotay nodded, stealing a glance at Janeway's prone form through
The Doctor's office window. "Thank you, Doctor. Notify me when
she wakes up."
The Doctor approached Janeway's bedside as he noticed that she'd begun to stir. As he called her name softly, her eyes opened.
"Doctor?" Her voice was breathy, and she seemed disoriented. Before The Doctor could respond, her eyes widened with her mind snapping into complete awareness. "The baby?"
"Relax, Captain. The baby's just fine."
Closing her eyes, her body released a sigh of relief. "What happened?"
"The baby's genetic structure began to break down, but I was able to correct it."
"Could it happen again?" The fear that had clawed at her heart suddenly gripped it again.
"Honestly, yes, but we're going to take every precaution we can to guarantee that it doesn't. I'm working on adapting a cortical monitor into a fetal monitor, and I'll have it rigged to have you transported to sickbay at any sign of a problem."
She simply nodded, unusually silent.
"Captain, you need to understand that there was nothing you could have done to cause to prevent this."
"I know." It was just a matter of convincing herself. She couldn't help but think of her skipped meal and menial hours of sleep.
"Commander Chakotay requested to be informed when you awoke. Do you feel up to it?"
"I'm all right."
Taking her response as an affirmative, The Doctor paged Chakotay.
"Kathryn?"
Sometime between the moment The Doctor contacted Chakotay and the moment of his arrival, her eyes had drifted shut again.
"Hi. How do you feel?"
"I'm fine, Chakotay."
At her words, he couldn't help but chuckle. "One of these days I'm going to learn not to ask. I already know what you're going to tell me."
A smile formed on her face, which only increased in size as she felt a comforting and now familiar flutter. It was her first real confirmation that her baby was really okay. Her hand automatically went to the movement.
"Kathryn?"
She looked up to see the concern in his face that his voice reflected. "It's all right, Chakotay. The baby's moving."
"What does it feel like?"
"It tickles, actually."
His eyes glittered mischievously, "Do you mean to tell me that the great and mighty Captain Kathryn Janeway is ticklish?"
"A fact that I expect to remain in confidence, Commander." A yawn overtook her suddenly, and she didn't have time to suppress it entirely.
"Get some rest, Kathryn. I'll come back to see you later."
The Doctor was busy rewiring the cortical stimulator in his office when he caught a flash of light out of the corner of his visual processor.
Immediately, he was on his feet. He had a bad feeling about this, and even as he saw the empty biobed from across sickbay, he didn't accept what had happened until he'd actually reached it.
Janeway was gone, replaced with a note written in crayon.
"Don't worry. We'll have Auntie Kathy home in time for dinner."
"Sickbay to the bridge. Commander, we have a situation."
Janeway was not amused.
She was decked out in a baseball uniform and hat, and a small triangular
flag had appeared in one hand while some sort of foam finger covered the
other. To top everything off, she was standing in the middle of the
stands in a very empty baseball stadium.
"Q! Where are you?"
As expected there was a flash of light.
What she didn't expect was a cry of, "Auntie Kathy!" and an impact as the little boy ran to hug her around the legs.
Ignoring the adult, something she was hoping to do for the rest of her lifetime, she knelt down to get a look at little q. She had to admit that he was adorable with his short, red curls and a cute little smattering of freckles on his nose. He appeared to be a human boy around the age of six. "Well, look at you. You've certainly grown up. Are you making your daddy behave?"
Q didn't let q respond. Instead he hustled him away, telling him that he needed to find them some good seats.
"I don't understand that child. Of all the places in the multiverse, he decides to go to a rather rustic baseball stadium. He ceratinly doesn't get his taste from his parents. But I told him that he could pick the place, and as you were so kind as to point out in our first meeting, I always keep my word."
"Q!" She held up a hand to stop him. Unfortunately, it was the hand with the foam finger, and she pulled it down in annoyance. "What am I doing here?"
"Why, Kathy. I owed you a favor. I decided that the time was finally right to set things straight."
"You don't owe me anything. Now return me to my ship."
Disappointed, Q pouted, "Oh, Kathy. Still obsessed about that
little ship of yours. How's Chuckles?"
"Q!"
"Come now, Kathy. I owe you for q."
"I believe that your lady friend deserves credit for that."
"Kathy, don't interrupt. Besides, q is so excited about the outing with his Auntie Katy. You wouldn't want to disappoint him, would you?"
"Q, you took me out of sickbay. My crew will be worried about me."
"Nonsense, q left them a note."
"Q, with your track record, I think that would give them all the more reason to be worried."
Q mocked being shot in the heart. "Oh, my dear Kathy. How you wound me." He grinned at her, "Come on, relax. You need a vacation. Let's go find q and sit before your pretty little feet begin to swell."
Knowing that the only way he would ever send her back to the ship was to humor him, Janeway allowed herself to be led over to where q was anxiously awaiting them.
As soon as they sat down, Q snapped his fingers, and suddenly the stadium was bubbling with excitement and activity.
q clapped with delight. "Oh, Daddy, can we have peanuts? Please? You said we could."
He leaned over to Janeway, "I just spoil him so, but I can't help myself." Louder he announced, "Peanuts for everybody!"
Suddenly a bag of peanuts appeared in Janeway's hands. "Q, I can't eat these."
"Live a little, Kathy. Besides, they're high in protein. They won't hurt Junior any."
"Q, why are you doing this?"
"Why, q and I just decided to spend a day with his Auntie Kathy. Since when have I ever had any ulterior motives?"
"Do you really want me to answer that in front of your son?"
Q rolled his eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you didn't like me."
She simply stared at him.
"Well, if you must know, I brought you to see q."
Janeway glanced over at q, who was engrossed in watching the baseball players run out into the field. This far, q had not inherited his parents' superiority complex, but she knew that his youthful enthusiasm would be replaced all too soon.
She turned back to Q with a question in her eyes. "You already said that, Q"
Q rolled his eyes in exasperation with his head following. Speaking as if to the sky, he grumbled, "Humans. They're all alike." His voice took on a mocking, higher pitched tone. "Spell it out for me, Q. My mere mortal brain can't handle facts unless they're served to me on a silver platter."
If looks could kill, Q would have been dead on the spot, despite his own immortality and omnipotence.
"Fine. I know what it's like entering parenthood unprepared,
and since I know everything, who better to advise you about your present
condition?"
"Q, are you trying to tell me that you abducted me from my ship to
give me advice on parenting?"
"But of course! After all, I did teach Jean-Luc about love, not to mention showing him what his life would have been like if he was always the incorrigible bore he is today." His voice trailed off as if he was now speaking to himself. "You know, I've rather neglected Jean-Luc as of late. I must remember to rectify that."
A wave of empathy washed through her, as she sent a mental apology
to her unfortunate counter-part.
Chakotay was not amused.
In fact, he was furious.
Staring down at the wax imprints on the otherwise harmless sheet of paper, he would have given anything for one of the Q rifles because at that moment, all he wanted was to kill the obnoxious being, regardless his self-proclaimed omnipotence.
Q had been annoying in the past, grating Chakotay's nerves with his displays toward the captain, but this time he had gone to far.
What made it worse was that he was completely helpless. All he could do was keep Voyager on a course for the alpha quadrant and wait for Q to graciously return the captain.
She didn't deserve any of this.
She didn't deserve to have a pregnancy forced upon her, she didn't deserve the possible threat to her pregnancy once she had finally begun to accept it, and she certainly didn't deserve to be abducted by a self-deluded delinquent with delusions of godhood.
"Doctor, could the captain or the baby be harmed by this prank?"
"I seriously doubt it, Commander. In Q's previous visits, he has shown a certain... fondness for the captain. I think that is unlikely that he would allow her to come to harm."
Bristling at the word, "fondness," Chakotay replied, "Then I guess
all we can do is wait."
Despite herself, Janeway found that by the end of the ninth inning, the excitement of the game had drawn her in. She had also allowed herself to subconsciously snack on the peanuts, which Q had thankfully conjured up unsalted. The last thing she needed was a lecture from The Doctor upon her return.
Sometime in the middle of the game, q had climbed into Q's lap to see the game better, and Janeway had admit that the little boy snuggled in his father's arms was a touching scene.
It was a scene that said so much more than the babbling drone of Q's experiences that had lasted throughout the first three innings.
The next batter was walked, and Janeway almost laughed at the cliché. The bases were loaded, and there were two outs with the home team down by three points.
There was only one possible ending, but q seemed oblivious, nearly bouncing on his father's legs as he tried to contain his enthusiasm.
Q winked at her with his all-knowing smile, while the next at bat obtained a full count.
At the next pitch, the bat made contact with a resounding crack. The ball flew right at him, and the next thing she knew, the ball was resting comfortably it a mitt that had conveniently materialized on her hand.
The stadium exploded in a moment of chaos before becoming empty once again.
q jumped down from his father's lap, unable to sit still any longer. "Wasn't that fun, Auntie Kathy?"
"It sure was." She placed the ball into his hands. "I want you to have this."
"But you caught it. It's yours."
"I'm it to you." Bringing her voice down to a whisper, she continued,
"Besides, there's nothing to good for my godson."
"Thanks!"
"Well, Kathy it's been fun. I'll try not to make it so long next time. Take care of your baby." Q moved to snap his fingers, but q interrupted.
"Let me do it, Daddy."
Q gestured towards his son to continue, and Janeway disappeared...
Only to reappear in sickbay, still in her baseball attire.
"Captain?" The Doctor was immediately at her side, scanning her with his tricorder. He snapped it shut with a small sigh.
For the first time in the last couple of days, everything was
as it should be.
"Daddy, I don't understand. You told Auntie Kathy to take care of the baby, but-"
His father stopped him. "Now, q. We can't give them
all the answers."
All right, I am blaming this whole thing on light-headedness due to
a blood donation. Please review.