Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, nor do I own Star Trek, Paramount does.

Live long and prosper. -Linwe

Author's note: now remember, Q has just presented himself to Kathryn thinking she'll fall in love with him. He's trapped Chakotay in the mess hall, and he trapped Kathryn on deck 4 so they won't see each other and fall in love. Got it?

Q was staring at Kathryn waiting for her to do… something. Run into his arms, start kissing him, fall to her knees in awe when she feels the love for him…start ripping off his clothes… or hers… anything?

She hadn't moved. She just stared blankly at him.

"Kathy?" She just stared at him. "Kathryn?" he asked, calling her by her real name for the first time in a while.

"What?" she asked. "How did you get in here again?"

"Are you alright?" he said, still puzzling over why she didn't love him.

"Yes…" she said, confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm Q, but does that really matter?"

"Q? What kind of a name is that? How did you get here again?" Suspicion suddenly crept into her voice. "Do you have something to do with me not being able to get to deck 2? I need to get there, I'm looking for someone."

Q's selfish heart sank to the floor. "Who are you looking for?" he asked, knowing the answer, but dreading it terribly.

"His name is Commander Chakotay." She said, a slight blush coming to her cheeks.

"Where have you met him before?" Q asked, puzzled. How could she know of him? She hadn't directly met him, Q would have been aware of that. Maybe she'd only seen his picture. That was, Q assumed how Chakotay knew of her, the crew manifest. Why hadn't he paid closer attention? You can't leave Humans alone for one second! They always get into trouble. He should've been more careful… hidden the crew roster like the logs and personal information. Kathryn's response interrupted his thoughts.

"I haven't exactly met him. I saw his picture." She paused. "You know what's strange? I can't seem to remember anything about my life. I've talked to some crewmen, and neither can they. Do you have something to do with that too?"

"I must admit I do, Kathy. I trapped you on deck 4, I made sure you only saw other women." He paused, and anger darkened his features. "I tried to make sure you didn't meet that stupid commander!"

Kathryn was dumbfounded. "If you can do all that, did you take our memories as well?" She said, coming closer to him.

"Yes." He spat, arms folded across his chest like a rebellious teenager.

"But… why?" Kathryn almost whispered to him.

He looked down at Kathryn with fiery eyes. "Because, Kathy, I feel for you something I've never felt for any other female in the universe." He took her hands. "I knew you would never return my affections, so, since today's Valentine's Day, I decided to give us a fresh start." He let go of her hands and turned away rather dramatically. "It was a perfect plan! I erase all your memories, you fall in love with the first person of the opposite sex (or the same sex, if that's what you prefer) you see---"

"Which would be you." She finished, hands on her hips.

"Exactly! Then you little commander, Chuckles or whatever it was would see some other woman and you would forget each other. Well at least for the day, anyway.."

She stared him in the eye for a moment and then said, "Q, I don't know much about myself, but I'm pretty sure I'm a reasonable person. Why not just tell me how you feel instead of going through all this trouble---"

"Because, Kathy, you love someone else, and you despise me."

"Despise you?" she asked. "Then you must've done something truly horrible for that." She looked him up and down. "And you don't strike me as the righteous type. No offense." She said. Then she narrowed her eyes. "Wait, who exactly do I love, Q?"

He turned away again. "The same person you're seeking now. Chakotay." He spat the name with pure hatred, and Kathryn feared for Chakotay.

"Yes!" Chakotay said aloud. When Q snapped away, he'd sealed the doors of the mess hall so Chakotay couldn't escape. But did that stop Chakotay? No way. He'd pried the doors open with his bare hands and made for the nearest turbolift. He was sure that Q was up to no good and that he had to find Kathryn.

To his great frustration, he'd found that the turbolifts weren't functioning either. Q was good, but maybe he had underestimated Chakotay. After all, he'd been careless enough to let Chakotay see (and therefore fall in love with) Kathryn.

Chakotay knew (somehow) that most starships contain Jefferies Tubes that go throughout each deck of the ship. They're usually used to reprogram power relays on certain decks, to assist in maintenance work, or in emergencies when turbolifts are malfunctioning or not functioning at all. He'd thought that perhaps he could use them to get to deck 4, where Q had Kathryn trapped. Maybe Q had overlooked them, thinking Chakotay would never think to use them. He'd figured it was worth a shot.

So now here he sat, in Jefferies Tube7, looking at a schematic of the Jefferies Tubes in the ship. Q had been careless enough not to seal the Jefferies Tubes, unless he had another trick up his sleeve, but Chakotay doubted it. His main focus was wooing Kathryn, not playing tricks on him, he knew that much.

He was so happy about something actually turning out in his favor, that he'd forgotten that he had no idea where to go. He read the schematic carefully. According to it, he had to go about 20 meters forward and he'd hit a door that led to deck 4.

He turned off the console with the schematic on it, and began crawling through the Jefferies Tube. "I'm coming, Kathryn." He whispered to himself. "I won't let that lecher get you."

"Kathy, will you at least give me a chance?" Q pleaded.

"A chance? Q, maybe if you hadn't taken my ship, erased our memories, trapped me on deck 4, and my first officer in the mess hall, put this little 'love curse' on all of us---"

"Please?" Q begged.

"This is absurd! Return our memories and please leave my ship at once!" She said in a commanding tone. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like herself again, although she wasn't quite clear on what "herself" was.

"Fine, Kathy. Then I guess I'll have to start from scratch. Again. This time I WILL be the first person you see…"

"No!" Cut in a deep voice that made Kathryn jump. She knew that voice…

"Not you!" Whined Q. "How did you escape the mess hall? I sealed the doors!"

"Did you think that would hold me?" Chakotay said rather heroically placing his hands on his hips. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kathryn blush.

"No!" Q cried as he grabbed Kathryn from behind so she couldn't move. "You can't have her. You won't. I'll erase your memories again. She'll love me, not you!"

"Q, you're mad. Let her go, or I'll---"

"No, Chakotay let me talk with him." Kathryn said. Chakotay's dark eyes sent a message to hers saying simply, "be careful."

"Kathy, you're such the diplomat, but this is no time for diplomacy. I've made up my mind. Now I'm going to erase your memories---"

"Hold it right there, Q." said a voice from behind Q.

"Q!" shouted Q, gripping Kathryn tighter. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, Q" said the tall, sandy haired Q. "The continuum's not at all pleased about what you've been doing. You've tampered with their minds too much already. If you continue to interfere with their lives and memories, your powers will be taken away."

"What? But--"

"No buts, Q. You need to come back to the continuum now--"

"But I--"

"Q, will their memory return?"

"Yes." Q spat.

"When?" the other Q asked.

"Tomorrow. 12:00 exactly."

"Good, then let's go."

Q just stared at the other Q for a long moment and then shot Chakotay a look of pure venom. He let go of Kathryn.

"Au revoir, Madam Captain. We will meet again." He said, and then disappeared.

Kathryn let a sigh of relief escape from her lips.

"Are you hurt?" Chakotay asked, coming to her side. She rubbed her arms where Q had gripped her.

"Maybe a bruise or two, but I'm fine."

"So… were you trying to find me?" he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Yes." They stood there, awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

Kathryn knew that she loved him, as Q had said, but she didn't know anything about their relationship. Chakotay felt that he loved her more than anything else in the whole universe, but he didn't know what to say or do to show it.

She finally cleared her throat and looked up at him, but she got lost in his dark eyes, and was at a loss, for no words came out. They were just standing in the middle of a corridor outside a turbolift on deck 4, gazing into each other's eyes. Before they knew what was happening, they were drifting closer… closer… centimeters away. Their eyes never left each other, her blue/gray ones swimming in his dark brown ones.

She felt as if he was looking into her very soul with those dark eyes. She could feel his breath on her face as they came closer. Her eyes closed as their lips gently met in a tender kiss. She felt him wrap his strong arms around her, and she put her arms around his neck as the kiss intensified. If you had walked down that corridor at that moment, not only would you have been amazed at how lovingly they held each other, but you probably would've gotten second degree burns from the sparks flying.

After about a minute, they pulled back, realizing what they were doing. Kathryn's eyes were still closed and a content smile played across her lips. Chakotay still had his arms around her, and was looking down at her, thinking about how beautiful she was. She opened her eyes slowly, and met his.

They still stood like that for a time, until Kathryn's stomach growled really loud, completely disrupting the romantic moment.

"I guess you're hungry?" Chakotay asked while laughing at the stupidity of the moment.

"I haven't eaten a thing all day, have you?" she laughed.

"No," he answered. " I was a bit more concerned about not having any memory about who I was, where I was, and how I got here."

"Me too. What time is it?" Kathryn asked.

"Time for dinner." Chakotay said. "Care to join me?"

"Of course." She said while beaming.

So they strode down the corridor, arm in arm, toward the mess hall.