CHAPTER 2

A/N: It has come to our attention that there's another recent 'Q gets Janeway pregnant'-fic on That the stories are similar in that way is obviously coincidental or perhaps the author is also a member of the JCFicHaven- group, where the idea was suggested by one of it's members. We just wanted to get that out of the way ;)

Thanks to Rachel, our lovely beta and our awesome Dutch KM-girls !

Kathryn Janeway sighed loudly. She felt like she'd been just run over by a starship. Everything ached, a dull searing pain spreading throughout her limbs.

"Oh God," she muttered as she slowly tried to sit up in bed.

So it hadn't been a nightmare. She was really pregnant.

And Q was the father.

"Oh God….." she groaned again and slowly swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up.

Her legs felt wobbly and she was sure the room was spinning. Either Voyager was doing loopholes or her 'symptoms' had gotten worse.

"Great."

She grabbed her satin, pink robe and looked out the window. The Stars. Unknown planets. Aliens, hostile or friendly. Too many uncertainties, that's life in the Delta Quadrant.

Not the place she'd like to raise a child.

Earth.

Oh how she'd give anything to see earth again. Home, Indiana. The farm. Her family.

She shook her head at the tears welling up in her eyes.

'No need to get all sentimental, Kathryn,' she told herself firmly and glanced around the room. Her uniform lay sprawled across a nearby chair and again she couldn't stop the tears.

What was going on! She was crying because she hadn't properly put away her uniform.

She hardly ever cried.

Damned hormones.

'Pull yourself together.' Kathryn wiped her eyes, picked up the uniform and slowly started to get dressed. She'd just stepped into her black pants when she noticed the clock next to her bed. She was probably one of the only people that still had clock on her bedside table. It was kind of traditional, but she couldn't help herself. She had one at home just like it.

6:33? 6:33?

"Impossible." She muttered to herself. Her biological clock always made sure she woke up well in time for shift. She usually woke up around five, while her shift began at six.

Plus, if her biological clock failed her, she always made sure to set the alarm as well.

Narrowing her eyes, Kathryn walked over to the small clock. 6:33, and she hadn't set the alarm after all.

"Computer," her voice was a shrill shriek. "What's the time?"

"The time is 6 hours and 34 minutes," the monotone voice replied.

"Oh God."

-

The moment she stepped off the turbolift, all heads on the bridge turned.

Kathryn mumbled, "At ease," before Tuvok had a chance to call out 'Captain on the bridge.' He shot her a bemused look and she shrugged in return. She'll have to explain later.

Without a word, she quickly walked towards the Commander and sat down in her chair next to him. People were still staring, so Chakotay cleared his throat, "As you were!"

Tom frowned glanced at Harry, then focussed on the panel in front of him. Harry smirked and stared back at his console as all the others resumed their work as well.

"Thanks." Captain Janeway muttered and let her head fall back. She could imagine the crew's surprise. She had never been late for shift. In fact, she was always too early as she liked to get a head start on things.

"You're late." Chakotay stated and he looked at her in concern. "I tried the comm. link a couple of times."

"Late. Late. Didn't even get the time to be 'late'," she sighed and closed her eyes momentarily, feeling tears welling up again.

"Kathryn?" He frowned.

"Never mind." She shook her head. "Thanks for trying to wake me up. I've never overslept before." She could feel a headache coming up and absent-mindedly rubbed her neck.

"I know." He leaned over her console and lowered his voice. "Are you alright?"

"I will be. Give me a couple of months. Now, anything happen while I was away?"

"Nothing worth mentioning. We've passed 2 M-class planets, both inhabitable. No encounters, no strange readings."

Kathryn arched an eyebrow. "Well, at least I have something to be grateful for."

"Um…Captain?" Harry asked.

It was too good to be true. Of course the Delta Quadrant wouldn't give her a quiet day 'just' because she was pregnant and not feeling like herself. "What it is Mr Kim?"

"I'm picking up on an alien vessel, 50 occupants aboard. 2000 kilometres away and closing."

Kathryn nodded. "Shields to full, just to be sure."

Harry Kim looked up from his console. "We're being hailed."

Janeway let her head fall back, sighed and then pushed herself from her chair. "Alright, Mr Kim. Let's see what we've got here. On screen."

Chakotay too, got up from his chair and walked up this Captain.

She glanced over her shoulder and frowned at him. The images on the screen seemed distorted and the audio was even worse.

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. I-"

Suddenly, the images on the screen became clear and a small, thin figure appeared.

At first, they were only able to see the upper part of his body, when suddenly the images moved and his face and shoulders also came into view.

He had three horizontal stripes on each of his greenish cheeks, a long thin green nose, big eyes with dark brown pupils, thing white eyebrows, green lips and long white hair.

Janeway frowned. The alien looked like a goblin of some sort or maybe even elfish. He was unlike any of the species they'd ever encountered before. Although his skin was bright green, he did look very human.

He arched an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Captain Janeway. The Female. I've heard of you."

She glanced at Chakotay briefly, the words 'the female' echoing in her mind. "Well, I wish I could say the same, Mr….?"

In his impressive low voice, the alien answered, "I am Grakarock Nzul. I've heard of your ship, the Voyager. I've contacted you to discuss a trade."

"Alright. Why don't you beam aboard and we can disc-"

Grakarock cut her off. "Who is that?" His long, thin index-finger was pointing at Chakotay, who was standing behind his Captain, only a few inches away.

"I'm Commander Chakotay," he responded quickly, glad that Kathryn seemed to have her hormones in check again. The last few hours on the bridge had been terrible but also completely understandable.

"Ah," the green alien nodded. "And you serve under …" he paused and then continued in a tone of disgust, "the female?"

The Captain arched both her brows and felt her cheeks flush in anger. That was the second time he'd called her 'the female'.

"Captain Janeway is my superior, yes," Chakotay responded. He knew Kathryn wasn't going to take this well, but on the other hand…they've met so many species like Grakarock over the past few years. Diplomacy, he thought to himself. We have to be diplomatic about this. Like Kathryn always is.

"Interesting," Grakarock replied. "Well, Mr Chakotay. We have some dilithium here I'm sure your crew would be interested in acquiring."

Janeway narrowed her eyes and then cleared her throat. "And what exactly would you like in return? If you don't mind this female asking." Chakotay shot her an alarmed look, but she choose to ignore it. She could feel the anger boiling up inside of her.

Grakarock looked her up and down. "We need food supplies, Commander. Plenty of fresh, healthy-"

"I'm sorry to say the Commander does not negotiate trade by himself nor does he run this ship." Kathryn raised her voice and approached the screen.

"But you're just……a woman. Your kind are inferior to us men. Now, if you want what is best for your crew, you'll let me bargain with Commander Chakotay," Grakarock stated plainly and eyed her in disgust.

Chakotay took a step forward and put a hand on his Captain's shoulder in an attempt to calm her. Kathryn angrily shrugged off his hand, walked up to the console next to Tom Paris and leaned in to the huge screen. This day had started off bad, continued to get worse and this excuse for a man would pay for his sexist remarks. Bastard.

Her voice was dangerously low when she spoke, "Well, my dear Grakarock. Allow this woman to tell you something. Do you know what you can do with your dilithium? Shove it were the sun don't shine. Or maybe, you desperately want this trade to happen, in which case, you give me the dilithium so I can ram it your throat. How does that sound? Do we have an agreement, huh?"

"KATHRYN!" Chakotay said loudly as most of the crewmembers gasped. Harry dropped a Padd and Tom spun around in his chair to gape at the woman standing next to him.

"Oh WHAT Chakotay? You men are all the same," she snapped, eyes blazing with fire.

On the other side of the screen, Grakarock's dark brown eyes seemed to fall out of their sockets but he remained silent.

Chakotay cleared his throat uncomfortably and slowly walked up to the Captain, who was trembling with anger. "Maybe you should lie down, Kathryn." He whispered softly as he gently took her by the elbow and started leading her away from the screen.

"Fine, you want the bridge? You've got it. You want to reason with this alien primate? Go ahead. What else is there? Ah, yes. Do you want my ship as well?" Although he'd whispered, she had no intention of lowering voice. She was so enraged, she couldn't even think straight.

She looked up at him defiantly, hands on her hips.

"Kathryn," he breathed. "Please. Before this goes any further. Just take a moment to yourself. Two moments. A day. Whatever it takes to calm you."

She glared at him. "The Bridge is yours Commander." She pulled her arm free and walked away, right into her ready-room.

-

When Kathryn Janeway entered her ready-room, she grabbed the first thing in her way, her desk, for support. Never before had she acted this irrational, had been so sensitive to someone's insults or displayed this kind of…ill-judgement. On the bridge of all places!

Tears were now freely streaming down her face. This was only her first day into her pregnancy and already everything had gone horribly wrong. How could she ever survive months of days such as today?

She could never stay captain if she continued to behave like this.

"Computer," she croaked, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, "seal the doors to this room to anyone. No-one is allowed to enter this room without my permission. Got it?"

"The doors have been sealed."

Slowly, Kathryn made her way over to her couch, tiredly pulled off her comm-badge and closed her eyes. Maybe this day would turn out to be a bad dream after all.

-

"Kathy…Kathy?"

Her eyes flew open as someone was standing over her, softly shaking her. "Who…?"

"Why, it's me, of course." Q was sitting next to her on the couch in her ready-room, where she'd fallen asleep after the scene on the bridge.

When she thought back of her irrational behaviour, she closed her eyes again and groaned.

"What?" she mumbled. Forming sentences seemed like too much trouble.

"I've come to apologise. For what happened. This was never my intention. Yes, I wouldn't mind raising a child with you but this was an accident."

"You could say that again." Kathryn sighed as she opened her eyes again, but Q had already disappeared again. "Q…Q?" she frowned and pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Computer, what's the time?"

"The time is 2200 hours."

She glanced around, sighed and rose from her comfortable spot on the couch. After taking a deep breath, she exited the ready-room, quickly crossed the bridge and headed for the turbolift, deliberately not meeting anyone's eyes. Kathryn knew Harry's nightshift had just begun and was glad Chakotay wasn't there. He wouldn't have let her go that easily.

After only a few seconds the turbolift came to an abrupt halt and she marched to her private quarters. This day had been the worst ever, but she was determined to not have this happen again. Perhaps a good night sleep would do it. And a positive attitude.

-

Neelix couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He blinked, shook his head and asked if he'd heard it right. "Are you sure you want leolaroot stew for breakfast today, Captain?"

"Yes, Neelix I just feel like it today," was the unexpected answer he got from his Captain.

His heart swelled with joy. Finally, someone acknowledged the sheer delight and quality of his favourite food. And it was the Captain, no less! "Then I have good news for you!" he said, cheerfully. He pulled out a steaming pot with the familiar smell coming out of it.

She inhaled deeply and smiled. "Looks delicious Neelix, I'd sure like some of that."

Some of the crewmembers that were standing around thought it was a joke. Everyone agreed that they'd starve to death before eating leolaroot.

But to everyone's surprise they saw that Captain Janeway eagerly accepted the plate Neelix handed her, walked over to sit at a table and began eating from the peculiar looking substance. However, the weird thing was she actually seemed to be enjoying it.

Commander Chakotay joined her at the table, wrinkled his nose, and tried not to inhale too deeply. He knew exactly why Kathryn had this sudden craving for leolaroot, but that still didn't make it a pleasant experience for him to sit there and constantly smell the bitter food all the time.

He glared at the crewmembers, who all quickly looked the other way. He promised that he'd help her with this, and that included making sure that she didn't have to worry about crewmembers looking weird at her choice of food. Or the bridge-scene, which seemed to be the news of the day on Voyager.

"So, how are you feeling now?" He asked her softly. He glanced around the room, not wanting to raise anyone's suspicions by her unusual behaviour of the past couple of days. He knew it was only a matter of time before she'd have to tell the rest of the crew. Until then, he vowed to himself that he would do whatever he could to make this as easy as possible.

"Yesterday was hell …didn't sleep too well last night…," she paused, "but this morning has started off pretty good."

That was a relief. At least she wasn't feeling sick now. "Good," he said.

The leolaroot for dinner didn't surprise him, although it was another small thing in a line of incidents that would inevitably cause the rest of the crew to get suspicious.

And yesterday had been….something. He'd never seen Kathryn that angry before and that was saying a lot. Today she seemed a lot better.

"Kathryn," he began. "About yesterday…I…"

"What do you think of my stew Captain?" Neelix had suddenly appeared at their table. He still couldn't believe it and wanted to make sure everything was alright. Because of that, he didn't realise what he was interrupting them.

Kathryn looked up and saw an enthusiastic Neelix. "Oh!" she smiled. "Yes, Neelix, it's very good. You've exceeded my expectations."

"Splendid Captain." If possible, the already cheerful by nature Talaxian was even more excited than normal. "Just let me know if there is anything else I can do for you, Captain," he said and walked back to his kitchen again.

"I will. Thank you Neelix," she replied, cheerfully.

Chakotay gave Kathryn a questioning look. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" she shrugged and stared back at him.

"Look, I know what's going on, but…yesterday…" he lowered his voice and glanced around the room. Fortunately, most crewmembers had already left. "I understand you're not ready to go public with this. I know that. But if you keep this up, you'll raise everyone's suspicions if you haven't already done so by this yesterday's incident and the fact that you're…" he wrinkled his nose again. "Eating leolaroot. And liking it."

She sighed and pushed her plate away. "I know." Kathryn lowered her voice as well. "I'm very sorry and embarrassed about what happened yesterday on the bridge. I just…wasn't in control of myself. But, that was me out there and…..I shouldn't have said those things. It wasn't personal. Really, Chakotay."

She reached out, took his hand and squeezed it a little before letting go again. "And I'm glad you cleaned up the mess I made there."

He smiled at her kind gesture. "It turned out fine; I managed to do the trade after all. I have to admit, his comments bothered me as well."

Janeway arched an eyebrow and nodded her agreement.

"But, enough about yesterday. Water under the bridge." He smiled and she couldn't help but smile back at his choice of words.

"But," he started. "Just promise me something."

She looked up from her stew and put her fork down. "Alright."

"Promise me you'll get some rest today and you'll see the doctor."

"But I feel fine!" she exclaimed. True, headaches continued to plague her, but today she actually woke up without morning sickness. And, with great effort, she'd kept her hormones in check for the past 2 hours.

"Exactly. And don't you want to keep it that way? I know I do." He paused and looked at the woman sitting opposite of him.

His Captain and best friend for several years now. The friendship he shared with her wasn't like any other he'd ever had. Maybe that was because there had been hints of something more during all this time. Unspoken, yes. But so very present all the time. Like a sparkling silver ribbon that tied both their lives together.

"Look, if you don't want to do this for yourself then do it for me. A favour. Because of yesterday."

She looked up in mock surprise. "Whatever happened to water under the bridge?"

Chakotay chuckled, but then the smile faded. "I don't want you to suffer when you don't have to," he said softly.

Kathryn decided to give in. It was the least she could do, she thought. "Ok. You're right. I'll go see the doctor."

"And sleep." Chakotay was not letting her get away with that again.

"But of course, it's not like that enormous pile of PADDs staring at me from my desk will go anywhere while I'm asleep," she said, a little cynically.

"They can wait. And if they can't I'll take care of them." The determination was evident in his voice.

"You're right. Again. They can wait." She unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn. "Look at me. The day has just started. But, maybe I should go slow today."

He nodded in consent. "You should. Get some rest. I promise to wake you as soon as if we're invaded by the Borg."

She laughed and shook her head. "Preferably before we're invaded, Commander."

They both left breakfast for what it was and excited the mess hall together. He walked with her to her quarters, and they both stopped at the door and stared at one another in silence for a moment. "Well, sleep tight," Chakotay began. "And don't forget your doctor's appointment."

Kathryn was already standing in the door opening and grinned. "How could I possibly forget that?" She put a hand on his chest and looked him straight in the eyes. "I have you."

That last remark sounded a bit….flirtatious? Could it be? "You do. You know that." He smiled at her as the doors closed between.

Kathryn grinned a little after the doors had closed. I have you, she thought. What was I thinking? She shook her head a little and yawned again.

"Yes time for bed," she said to herself. "Computer set alarm for… 1400 hours."

"Alarm set."

She couldn't remember the last time her bed looked so appealing and fell asleep almost instantly.

"The time is 1400 hours. The time is 1400 hours." The computers monotone voice pulled Kathryn out of a very deep sleep. She'd set the alarm around noon, because she intended to keep her promise to Chakotay and visit the doctor.

As soon as she opened her eyes, and they adjusted to the bright light in her bedroom, her headache returned. This time accompanied by the familiar feeling of nausea.

Groaning, she pulled on her uniform. Every joint seemed to ache, every muscle complaining. "A whole lotta good resting did me," she muttered and briefly wondered if this by any chance, could have been caused by the leolaroot.

As Kathryn Janeway slowly walked into sickbay, a very cheerful doctor greeted her. "Captain! What a pleasure! How are you feeling today?"

"Been better. Trust me." She sat down on one of the bio-beds as the doctor moved around her with a tricorder.

"Well you have every reason to be, now don't you?" he replied in an almost annoying happy voice.

She rolled her eyes. "I suppose so…."

"No need to be so grumpy, Captain! It's a great day! No invasions, no strange readings, no warpcore breach..." he tried to cheer her up.

"Save the pep talk, will you?" she cut him off.

Slightly taken aback by her unfriendly remark, his smile faded and he glanced at his tri- corder. "Right," he mumbled and arched an eyebrow.

"What?" Kathryn inquired.

"Nothing!" the EMH quickly said. "You are in good health, given the circumstances. But…"

"Given the circumstances…" she muttered and frowned. "But what?"

There was no way around this. "I strongly recommend that you start cutting down on work and get some more rest." The hologram stared at her and awaited her reaction.

This reaction, however, was not entirely what he'd expected. The obvious response would be a 'do-I-look-like-can-cut-down-on-work?' look which would be followed by a very firm 'NO!'

But she didn't do any of that. Kathryn Janeway did something the doctor least expected.

He saw tears in her eyes.

"Captain?" he asked her, concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I may be pregnant but I'm not dying." She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "And how can you expect me to work less! I'm already taking my time today and… I'm only three days pregnant, for god's sake!"

Pregnant women were confusing. Now she's mad at me? The doctor thought to himself.

"Just for your information," she snapped at him. "I have a crew and ship to get home."

"I am well aware of that. But if you're not careful with this, you might not come home with them," he stated plainly, seemingly unimpressed.

And the tears were back.

"How do you expect me to do this?" Kathryn asked him, and sniffed.

That was new, Kathryn Janeway…helpless.

"I could use some advice from a friend here," she said when she got no reply.

"Well.. Captain…" The doctor started, and thought about a way to make her feel better. "First of all, every person on this ship cares about you. And I'm sure you can do this. You've gotten us this far, you can do this too."

"If you say so."

"Yes. Of course you can. And you need to cheer up now, because your child can sense this."

"Already?" she gave him a quizzical look.

"Yes. I don't think we should forget who her father is." He shrugged a little.

"Like I could ever forget..." Kathryn mumbled, but then nodded. "I'm going to be a mother. It's…beyond strange." She sighed. "It's so hard to believe…"

"It's just one more challenge the Delta Quadrant has in store for you."

"Ok, that's it. Enough with this sentimental nonsense." The Captain said suddenly and stood up. "I think I'm done here for now."

A little bit surprised, the Doctor took a few steps back. "Why...yes, you are," he replied. "Any more questions? "

"Actually, yes." She wasn't sure how to put this. "Given my recent behaviour towards others, and on the bridge, is that going to stay that way?"

"Ah! Hormones!" the EMH smirked at his Captain.

"Exactly," was the answer, in a tone that oozed: don't- mess –with- me.

"Funny, really. Commander Chakotay came by yesterday evening and asked me the very same question," he told her.

Kathryn raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Yes. In fact, he asked me if you could, I quote, become an entirely different person." The Doctor walked around.

"Well?" Her eyes followed him around the room.

The doctor considered that for a moment. "There is a chance of some change in personality, yes. But I wouldn't worry about such big personality alterations if I were you."

"Good…I think." She stared absent-mindedly into the distance.

"Just one more thing," the Doctor said when he saw the captain had already gotten up and was heading towards the door.

She turned around. "Which is?"

"No more coffee."

"What?"

"Warm, black substance. Lots of caffeine."

"Doctor…"

"It's not good for the baby."

Kathryn straightened her shoulders. "Well, I could have seen that coming."

"So, you agree then? No more coffee?"

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'll try. If you'll excuse me doctor, I've got a bridge to check up on. "

Before the Doctor had a chance to say something back she'd already left sickbay.

"Captain?"

TBC - please let us know what you think !