a/n: hey look what i found! i should clean up my hard drive more often :P
A few weeks later, when it was yet again Chakotay's turn to do the night feeding, he found a surprise. He'd been making pretty good progress this night: he'd heard the cry first, he'd gotten out of bed stumble-free, and Kathryn was actually still asleep. He was feeling pretty proud of himself, and about getting a routine going. But when he was just outside the door, the crying stopped. That had never happened before.
Rushing in with a sudden panic, he saw his fears realized. There was someone standing next to the crib, holding his child.
"Put the child down. Please."
"Aw shoot, I was hoping you wouldn't wake up!" the voice was familiar. It was then he realized the figure was rocking the child, and the child was gurgling happily.
"Emma?"
"Hi Dad." She looked up at him and smiled. "I came for a visit."
"I noticed, it's nice to see you again." She nodded.
"You know, she looks just like me when I was that age."
"Strange, that." They laughed quietly.
"Where do you keep the bottles?"
"You want to feed her?"
"No, I want to taunt her. Of course I want to feed her, unless you'd like to. Watching is good too."
"Don't you find this all a bit weird?"
"I content myself with factoring it in to my enjoyment level."
"All right. Here." He said, handing her the bottle and pulling up a chair next to the rocking chair for himself.
"What's her name?"
"We decided on Meredith. Don't ask me, I don't know where it came from. Kathryn could have done a random draw or polled the crew, for all I know." He laughed, "We just needed something that didn't sound anything like Emma. There's going to be enough confusion as it is."
"I do have a few years on her."
"But isn't it strange to be holding a younger version of yourself?"
"Ssh…she's asleep." She handed the baby to her father. Chakotay kissed Meredith on her forehead and placed her in the crib. He turned back to his older daughter, "will you be staying for a few days? I'd like to catch up, and I'm sure you're mother would like to see you too."
"Q says I can stay as long as I want, but within reason. He says I won't be missing anything important."
"You trust him?"
"Yes Dad, I do." Her tone almost made him trust Q.
"I can find you a bed, I won't let you sleep on that couch-"
"I'm fine, Dad, I've already slept," at his disbelieving look she continued, "Where I left it was 9am and I'd just finished breakfast." She paused for a second. "And I'm pretty sure it will still be 9am when I get back." She propped her chin on her fist to think about that for a minute. Then shook her head and smiled up at Chakotay. "I think I'll go catch up with some friends, I'll be back for breakfast."
8 years later, Emma was now 22, and everyone had decided that Meredith was now old enough to understand the full story of her origins. For years they'd been putting it off, only answering her questions (like "Why doesn't Emma live with us?" and "How come she's so much older than me?") with simple answers (like "She's old enough to live on her own." and "When you're older."). There was no real reason to hide the truth from her, they just didn't want to confuse her or give her a complex.
The three adults, Emma, Chakotay and Kathryn, mutually decided that now was old enough when Mere came in with a particularly difficult question, several of them in fact. She just walked into the room on the three of them and let it all spill out:
"How come Emma comes on board in a flash of light like Q, not in a transporter beam?" All the adults just stared at her. She took their silence for an opportunity to ask everything, so she continued, "not that there's anywhere to transport from right now. Who are you, Emma? Are you really my sister? I'm pretty sure you're not a Q. Sure you look like us, and act like us, but you don't live with us. You only visit. Where do you live, because it sure isn't onboard? And Mom and Dad didn't get married until 9 years ago, and you're 22. I don't think Mom even knew Dad 22 years ago! What's going on?" She sucked in her breath and looked at them expectantly. Emma made eye contact with her parents and nodded. She got up and led Meredith to the couch, their parents following.
"Mere, I'm going to tell you a story." Meredith rolled her eyes; she didn't want to hear another story. "Because you're old enough and this is the easiest way to tell you everything." Mere's eyes focused immediately on Emma and she sat up. Emma continued, smiling, "you want anything to drink, this might take a while." Mere shook her head; she didn't want anything to delay this story.
"Everything started with those first letters from home…"
There was a flash in the centre of the bridge, and then a teenage girl appeared. She took one look around,
"Oh, this is too much." She said, and then fainted dead away. Chakotay was instantly in action, and caught her before she hit the ground. He crouched down and laid her out.
"Is she alive?" asked the Captain from behind him, her hand on his shoulder, as he checked for a pulse.
"Her pulse is a little weak for my tastes, but it's steady. Chakotay to EMH."
"Doctor here."
"Doc, I'm beaming a patient to you. She just appeared on the bridge, and then fainted."
"Interesting. All right, beam away." Chakotay watched her disappear and glanced at Kathryn. He wondered if she'd noticed how the girl seemed to look familiar, or the telltale sign of a q in the flash.
"Well, if she is a q, she's acting very bizarrely." Kathryn said. Well, that answers one question, Chakotay thought.
"EMH to the bridge. Captain, would you and the Commander please come to sickbay, at once?" Kathryn glanced at Chakotay.
"We're on our way."
"Ah, you're here. I've discovered some interesting things about our new patient." Whom he was scanning on a biobed, she was still unconscious.
"Such as?" Kathryn prompted the doctor.
"Well, for instance, our guest would appear to be a time-traveler. My guess is she's from the late 20th century. She's got a tachyon displacement, chronitons abound, and she's full of contaminants only found in that era."
"Very interesting, Doctor. Is that why you called us down?"
"No, I actually called you down to say congratulations."
"Doctor?"
"By my scans, she is biologically and genetically your daughter." Chakotay just stared while Kathryn suddenly became very pale and had to lean on Chakotay for support. Her mind reeled. They'd only started a relationship three months ago, after they got those first letters from home. And now she had a daughter…
"How old is she?" she managed to get out in a small, quavering voice.
"Approximately fourteen years old," she nodded and he continued, "She's in good health. She had a nasty virus zipping through her system, but I fixed that. And I've updated all her vaccinations, she was woefully behind on them." He tsked.
"Thank you, Doctor. Can you wake her?"
"She's just sleeping now. I can wake her if you like." He reached for a hypospray.
"In a minute, Doctor, thank you." He took his cue to leave. Kathryn and Chakotay moved up next to the bed, holding each other. They looked down upon the girl, their daughter. She did look about 14, with flowing dark hair and dark features, but they both remembered the grey-blue eyes they'd seen on the bridge. Her face seemed a perfect combination of their two. Lying down, she looked about 170cm, tall and thin. Chakotay squeezed Kathryn tight,
"She's beautiful." He looked into Kathryn's eyes; "I think I love her already." At the look in his eyes, she had to agree. She reached for his collar and pulled him down for a passionate kiss. They only stopped at the startled gurgle beside them. They broke apart and looked into down into the eyes of their new daughter. She smiled hesitantly and spoke up,
"No, don't stop. They won't let you on TV, at least do it in my dreams." And then she drifted back to sleep.
"Uh…Doctor?"
"Yes?" Coming out of his office, pretending not to have been eavesdropping.
"Is there any way to check her…her sanity, she said something about us being on TV."
"Really?" The thought seemed to appeal to the EMH's ego.
"She must have thought she was dreaming." He scanned her again. "She's back in REM sleep already. I assume that means she needs it. I'll call you when she awakens." He paused to scan the Captain. "Now, go eat some lunch. Something healthy." He spoke to Chakotay while pointing at the Captain.
They decided not to go to the mess hall. Inside Kathryn's quarters Chakotay ordered up lunch for two. He was humming. She was sitting on the couch staring into space, miles away. She still looked a little pale.
"Are you going to be alright?" He asked. She turned to look at him.
"We have a daughter." He picked up their plates and brought them over to her. She ate it distractedly, never really looking at it. "How did this happen?"
Suddenly there was a flash. They'd both had enough surprises today, neither even flinched.
"I'm afraid this is my fault, well, mostly." He paused. "And I must say, I think that was least response I've ever gotten." He sat down.
"Please explain, Q." Kathryn said through gritted teeth. She was suddenly very angry. Q held up his hands defensively.
"Oh, the child's yours. I wasn't messing around with your DNA or anything. The two of you created that life sleeping down there in sickbay. I just helped her along the way."
"If this is about my concern of having a baby on board-"
"Oh, it's nothing like that, Kathy. But I did this as a favour to you for helping me have Junior."
"What did you do, Q?"
"Ah yes, hello Chuckles."
"Q!"
"Sorry, Kathy. To the point then: do either of you remember the last time you had sex?" They both nodded, Kathryn a little red.
"I think I was…oh my, that was six weeks ago." Chakotay knew that fact only too well. She turned to Chakotay and took his hand in hers, "I had no idea it had been so long, we've been so busy with repairs…" He silenced her with a finger, and then began kissing her. Q began to cough, loudly.
"Excuse me! You could at least wait 'til I've left."
"If we continue to kiss, will that hurry you up?" She leaned towards Chakotay's face again.
"Okay here: you were already pregnant, the night the Hirogen took over the ship."
"How far was I along?"
"You were only two-weeks pregnant. Do you remember how you ended up in sickbay? You were shot point blank in the gut by a Hirogen Hunter. Fortunately he only wanted to render you unconscious, not kill you. Unfortunately, he didn't count on you being pregnant at the time. The blast was headed straight for your baby." Kathryn's hand went to her stomach, her eyes wide. "I took the baby from you a split-second before impact." She remembered the shot, but now it had a whole new meaning. Chakotay broke the silence.
"What did you do with a two-week old zygote? You put her somewhere, she's done some significant growing in the last four weeks."
"You get a point, Chuckles. I did indeed 'put her somewhere.' I found a nice family on Earth for her to grow up with."
"She has a family? Q, put her back this instant."
"You surprise me still, Kathy, so selfless. Don't worry, I've stopped time on her world for now, no one's missing her."
"You didn't put her on our Earth, did you?"
"Another point for Chuckles, you're doing well this evening." He chuckled to himself. "Yes and no, I found her a nice home back around the turn of the 21st century. She grew up in a lovely home with two caring parents, and two dogs named Castor and Pollux." Kathryn couldn't help but smile at the home he'd found for their daughter. "They'd been having trouble conceiving, so I helped them out a little. I chose to put her in that timeline because on that Earth there's a television phenomenon called 'Star Trek,' you two star in the fourth incarnation of the show.
"Show?" Kathryn sputtered. "On TV?" Q nodded. "Well, that answers one question…" Q waved his hand,
"I'm sure she'll explain that all to you."
"How long is she here for?" Q seemed to wince slightly at the question.
"I was originally planning on replacing her to you almost immediately, but time moved faster there, and the hirogen were still on board, and well…they'd grown awful attached to each other. I couldn't bring myself to steal her away from them."
"So why now, then?"
"At first I checked on her daily, but as time went on she needed me watching out for her less and less," it comforted her to know that Q had been watching out for her child, "And then I lost her." He added in a quiet voice.
"You what?" Kathryn Janeway was suddenly very angry. Q's eyes shot up to see her looming above him; the air seemed to be seething around her. Chakotay carefully collected her back onto the couch.
"They moved, or something, when she was four. I went to see her one-day and they were gone. I wasn't too worried because I'd installed a failsafe device in her."
"A what?"
"A failsafe, so that even if I wasn't around, she wouldn't be injured. The power of the Q would kick in and she'd be saved. Also, it would alert me to her location. Had no idea the little thing would be so safety conscious. It took her ten years to injure herself seriously enough, ten years! Can you believe that? And then it wasn't even her fault. Her ex-boyfriend pushed her into an oncoming train." Kathryn went to yell, but found that Q had removed that ability. So instead she slapped him, hard.
"You're lucky that didn't hurt. I thought I was doing you guys a favour. Her ex followed her to the train station after she dumped him, rather spectacularly, I might add, you Janeway's never do anything small, do you? Anyway, he followed her, they argued some more, and then when a train came into the station, on the spur of the moment he pushed her in front of it. Needless to say, this was life threatening enough for the Q powers to kick in, and she was bounced off the air back onto the platform. It was quite comical actually, the looks on everyone's faces. Her ex looked like he was going to faint, or start screaming "she's a witch!" In any case, he didn't do either, because I'd found her by then and brought her here. I figured this was a better place to recover from something like that. And it's about time for her to meet her real parents." On cue, the Doctor's voice cut in.
"Doctor to Captain Janeway. You and the Commander can come back now, assuming you've eaten. She's regaining consciousness." The two blinked and looked back at Q, but he was gone. On the table was a 30cm stork with a pink blanket hanging out of its beak, 'it's a girl!' hung in a sash over its back.
"What do you mean I'm your daughter? I'm Emma Weigh, from Toronto, Canada, in 2002, not 237-whatever-the-hell-year-this-is. My parents are Doug and Judy. I'm sorry, but you're not Doug and Judy. You're…you're actors. I don't know why you're doing this to me, why are you doing this to me? I wanna go home!" she was almost frantic now. It's one thing to dream about your favourite show, it was another to have it suddenly become startling reality.
"This was so much easier when Q explained it." He said, more to himself, really.
"There's footage of my birth, you know, and I know it's me, because the baby has this funny birthmark on its arm, shaped like Paraguay, and I do too." She wrenched up the sleeve of her shirt and showed them a very good map of Paraguay on her upper arm, should you ever need one.
"This is as much a surprise to us as it is to you." Kathryn reached out and took her hand. "You say you watched us on TV?"
"Yes, every week." She gulped through sobs. Kathryn moved some strands of hair out of her face.
"And it's the same as this, right?"
"So far."
"So you know that we're very thorough in everything we do. We're very sure about this. And you know you're safe here." She paused as Emma slowly nodded. "Do you know about Q?" she nodded again.
"He's responsible for all this…shifting around," She turned and directed her voice to the universe at large, "now, if he'd stop hiding and care to explain what he's done, I think we'd all be happier."
"Moi? Hiding? I think not. I was just giving you some healthy bonding time."
"Bonding done, explain now." This was Emma who spoke. Q blinked, looking back and forth between mother and daughter, the similarities were remarkable.
"They're telling the truth. I brought you here to let you decide which family you wanted to live with." Kathryn was taken aback at his proposal, "You won't miss anything back on Earth while you're here, except a remarkable face on that ex-boyfriend of yours," Emma giggled at that, remembering it, "I'm not going to put you back to face him"
"Thanks," she said in relief, "I'd be happy if I never saw him again. Which doesn't mean that I choose here, not just yet. This is all very strange." She didn't sound like she quite believed everything.
"Emma, what's your name?" Q asked.
"You just said my name, and then asked me my name." Emma giggled.
"No, I mean your full name."
"Emma Weigh."
"You're entire full name, and I don't care how hokey you think it sounds." Emma sighed.
"Ugh, I hate it. Anyway, no one's called me that since my Great-Aunt Jane died, ten years ago." She looked to everyone, seeing there was no way out of this, "It's Emma-Jane. There, I said it."
"Q, you can't be serious," Kathryn said disbelievingly, "You're telling me her name is Emma-Jane Weigh?"
"Hey, you're right!" Emma had obviously never noticed, "How did you manage to pull that off?" Q shrugged.
"It just worked out that way." Kathryn and Emma both rolled their eyes.
Later that night, the three were eating supper in Chakotay's quarters; Emma didn't feel quite up to meeting the rest of the crew yet. She was having enough of a time adjusting to everything as it was. They'd spent the afternoon getting to know each other. She was everything they'd ever hoped for in a daughter: confident and strong in her beliefs, rational and intelligent, stubborn yet giving. And she loved coffee. She was already endearing herself to both her new parents, and she'd be lying if she'd said she wasn't taken with them herself.
"I had quite the eventful few minutes today. At least from my perspective." She had their rapt attention. "First of all I dumped Brad, he was being far too clingy. Anyway, after he pushed me out in front of the train, I had this moment of terror, as I realized I was actually going to die. And then the air seemed to get solid behind me, and then I hit something and sprung back onto the platform. It was a very strange feeling. And the look on Brad's face-" She trailed off laughing, shaking her head. "I know he realized what he was doing was wrong the instant after he did it. And then I proceeded to bounce off the air…his face didn't know what to do!" She stopped to laugh again. "I hope you realize I'm only laughing because everything turned out alright, and also that my only other option is freaking out, which I'm not in the mood for right now. So I laugh. Anyway, in the next instant, I find myself standing in the middle of the bridge of Voyager, everyone staring at me."
"And then you fainted."
"Yes, I've never done that before. Thank you for catching me, by the way."
"You're welcome. I agree with you that it all was really 'too much,' as you said."
"Well, the next thing I know, I'm lying in Sickbay, and you two are kissing. And I'm really happy about that, just so you know."
"Why?" this was Kathryn who spoke.
"You know the show, Voyager, yeah well, on the show you two never get together."
"Never?"
"Never. I found it horribly frustrating, myself. Maybe that's why I feel so happy now to find out that you're happy. I always knew you'd be good together. Although this is all so very strange. Have to say it never occurred to me that I could be your daughter. I think I need to lie down again."
Kathryn and Chakotay stood in the doorway watching their daughter sleep in his bed.
"I can't believe she's ours."
"She may not be. I mean, she may decide to go back home to Earth, and we'll never see her again." Kathryn was quiet and sad.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to show her all the wonders of the delta quadrant, won't we?" He smiled widely for good measure, "come, let's get some sleep."
"What if she-"
"She knows how to use a communicator. And she could probably use some time alone for once, we haven't left her alone since she woke up."
Four days later Emma had come to a decision, or rather an idea of a possible decision, and called Q.
"So, what's your decision? Where are you going to live?"
"I want it both ways. I've really enjoyed my time here, I think I could let myself love Kathryn and Chakotay if I just let myself, but what about Doug and Judy? I can't just leave them, not knowing what happened to me. I couldn't live knowing I'd hurt them by leaving. So, I want it both ways."
"And how do you expect to pull that off, seeing as you're only one person and you can only live once."
"Exactly."
"Okay, you've got my attention now. What's your idea?"
"I want to go back to Earth and live out my life there. But, I don't like how I may have stolen Kathryn's only chance to be pregnant and raise a child with Chakotay. I showed up here pretty much done. I think they feel that they've missed out. So, I want you to replace me where you found me, like you said you meant to do in the beginning."
"Interesting. Both ways…maybe that will make Kathy happy…"
"What do you mean by that, Q?"
"Oh, nothing." She glared at him, hands on her hips.
"You're a spitting image of her mother, when you-"
"Q!"
"Right, fine. I went to talk to her the other day and found her crying."
"Did she know you were there?"
"No, she didn't notice. A minute later Chuckles-"
"Chakotay!"
"Whatever. He came in and held her, and then she started on about how I'd stolen something from her, that it wasn't fair." He obviously hadn't a clue what she was talking about.
"She was talking about her pregnancy, having a baby of her own, Q. She thinks you stole from her her chance to have a baby too. It really isn't fair."
"I did save you're life, you do remember that, don't you?"
"Yes, and I'm very grateful. Now let's go put things right."
Kathryn watched Emma come in, followed by Q.
"So you've decided then?" Kathryn dreaded her response; enough time hadn't passed for her to decide to stay here. She must hate it here to leave so quickly. Oh no… Emma saw the emotions cross her mother's face and quickly reassured her.
"Don't worry, Mom, I think I've come up with a way to solve everything." Kathryn doubted that. Chakotay came in the main doors then.
"Sorry, I got here as quickly as I could. So, what's the decision?" Chakotay was obviously much more hopeful that Kathryn.
"I'm going back home-" Kathryn collapsed, head in her hands in her lap. She just couldn't take it, first her child taken from her, and then choosing to live away from her. Emma was instantly at her side, Chakotay at the other. "That's not all! Mom, listen to me! I'm not finished! I'm sorry; I should have phrased that better. I just thought my solution was so great that I guess I got carried away."
"No, no, it's your choice. Live where you want to live."
"Mom, you actually have to listen to me to hear me. I have a solution: I go back to Earth, while Q re-impregnates you with…well, me. That way everyone gets what they want: I get to live with both families, in a way, and you still raise me, and so do my parents on Earth." She paused and smiled to herself, "I'm feeling all brilliant."
"It's a wonderful solution, but I have one thing to add. Q?"
"At your service." He bowed his head down to his knees, waving a three cornered feathered hat in his hand.
"I'd like Emma to be able to visit us, like she is now. I know her and the baby will technically be the same person, but they won't have the same memories, experiences or personalities."
"I see your point. Very well, Emma, I'll sort that out with you later. Everything else you wanted: done."
"Q?"
"Yes Kathy?"
"Everything else?"
"Yes, and by 'everything' I do mean 'everything'."
"Okay then." Kathryn responded, giving Q a funny look, putting her hand on her stomach, not that she could feel actually feel anything, it was only a two-week old fetus, after all. Turning to Emma she asked, "Will you be staying a little longer? I'd like to go visit the doctor now and watch his face. I wonder if this will overload his matrix…" she trailed off smiling to herself.
"Wouldn't miss it." Kathryn, Chakotay and Emma got up and left the room, all but forgetting Q.
"See you next time."
The End :)