Chapter Five

Nicole sat quietly, her green eyes focused on the face of her boyfriend seated across the mess hall table. Daniel was silent, his own eyes focused below him on the table and the food he was consuming at a slow rate. His girlfriend sighed and pushed her own food around on the plate before her. Even though she didn't require nutrition, she sometimes ate with Daniel just for the sake of the taste and sensation, not to mention there was no need for conversation when they were both chewing.

A familiar presence stopped beside the Q and pulled out the chair next to her. Nicole smiled at her tall friend with blonde hair who settled into the cold steel chair beside her. Daniel finally lifted his eyes to greet their friend with a small smile and a quick "Hi, Sam," before returning his attention to his plate.

Sighing, the red head leaned back against her chair and folded her arms over her chest, disgusted with the pretense of eating at the moment. She no longer wished for the silence, but longed for her boyfriend to acknowledge her presence in some way. Sam glanced from the archeologist to the Q seated beside her as her eyebrows dipped in confusion. "Did I miss something?" the brilliant woman asked in a low voice.

"No," Daniel answered shortly before he too abandoned his food, throwing his fork onto the tray angrily. "Actually, ask her," he retorted forcefully, his gaze narrowing on the red haired woman across the table from him. "I'm leaving," he muttered, gathering his tray in his arms and leaving the two women alone.

This time Sam's eyebrows shot toward her hairline, her gaze turning to the woman seated beside her who was currently staring after the man who had just left the table. "What was that about?"

Looking away, Nicole's eyes fixated on the floor while her fingers began twisting the fabric of her shirt's hem nervously. "Uh, well, we haven't exactly been on the best of terms lately."

"Are you two still arguing about the party? That was over a month ago, Nicole."

Shaking her head back and forth slowly, still not making eye contact, Nicole answered, "Not exactly."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked, her tone laced with confusion.

"It means what he's upset about has to do with the party but only because the party was the catalyst for it."

For a minute, Sam studied her friend's face and her brain raced to figure out to what the Q was referring. Finally, revelation dawned, lighting the astrophysicist's face with understanding. "It was that night Daniel asked you to consider becoming human."

Nicole nodded sadly, finally turning, her eyes connecting with Sam's clear blue ones, the fear shining apparently obvious in her shimmering green ones. "I don't think I can do it, Sam."

"Then you need to tell Daniel that. I'm assuming he's upset because it's been over a month, and you still need to make a decision."

"Yes, but I don't think that's exactly fair. This is a huge decision for me."

Smiling a little to herself, the tall blonde shook her head and pulled a spoon from her tray, anticipating the eating of her blue jell-o next, even though she had barely touched the food on her plate. She pointed the utensil at her red haired friend and remarked almost casually, "And yet if you wanted to, you know you do have the power to freeze time while you make this decision."

"You're thinking in such four-dimensional terms, Sam. But I suppose it's a step up from three."

Considering this for a moment, the brilliant woman ate a few spoonfuls of jell-o and watched the Q beside her with a distracted air about her. Finally, she set down her spoon and asked slowly, "So the fourth dimension is obviously time. Is the fifth different planes of existence?"

The Q laughed out loud, but nodded her head quickly. "You're learning, my friend, and much quicker than I had expected. Although, honestly, I'm really not sure I should be telling you any of this. In fact, I'm not sure I should be here at all."

"Here in this time?"

Nicole nodded. "Yeah, confusing, isn't it?"

"Sometimes." Sam took another bite of the gelatinous food and thought for a moment before she asked quietly, "Are you going to leave and wipe all of our memories or fix time so that you were never here? Is that what you're thinking of doing so that you don't affect the timeline?"

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered it. But honestly, Sam, I feel more accepted here than anywhere else I've ever been. I don't know if I want to give that up."

"Then can I make a suggestion?"

"Of course, you know I value your opinion."

Sam smiled. "Even though I'm a limited human?"

Nicole giggled and shook her head. "Actually, I think your intelligence rivals many of my fellow Qs and that says a lot."

The member of SG1 seemed a little taken aback by this compliment, but smiled sweetly and continued with her advice. "I think you should seriously consider what Daniel has asked of you. Somehow I could see you being happy here with him, even if it is as a human."

Sighing, the Q ran a hand over her face and slowly nodded her head in agreement. "I see where you're coming from, Sam, but it's still not that easy for me. Making the decision to stay here means accepting the fact that someday I will die – and that's a reality I haven't had to face in over a century. Not to mention I would be giving up abilities that even someone as humble as you would have to admit are pretty tempting."

This comment elicited a smile from Sam as she shook her head in amusement. "All I'm saying is that you should at least consider it. I'm not trying to make the decision for you."

"I know," Nicole replied sadly, glancing sideways at her friend and smiling despite the turmoil of feelings inside her. "Sam?"

"Yes?" Sam replied, casting her gaze sideways as she placed her silverware on her empty plate, ready to leave as soon as the conversation was finished.

"If I do this, become human I mean, if I decide to become human, then I'm going to need some help – and as much as I love Daniel, I'm going to need a woman's help, too, and that's something he can't possibly give me."

Sam smiled broadly at her friend and nodded in response. "I'd be glad to help. Does this mean you're considering becoming human?"

"What do you think I've been doing for the past month?" Nicole asked, flashing the woman beside her a wide grin.

A woman with a very wise look to her soft, comforting features sat at a computer terminal and ran a hand over her face with a sigh before she replaced her glasses over her shining green eyes. Threading her fingers into her thick, wavy reddish brown hair, Kate Roslyn leaned back in her chair and stared at the computer interface before her.

It had been three months since she had discovered the malignant tumor in her breast that was at that very moment expanding at an alarming rate. Since that time, she had spent as much time as she could researching cancer, its cures, and anything that would lead to her recovery. She knew she would not last the year it would still take to reach the nearest starbase, even with her husband and children doing the best they could to accelerate the science vessel's engines.

A tear slipped unnoticed from her eye and down her cheek as she thought of her three children, all of whom she loved very dearly. It was for them she spent so much time searching for a way to cure this disease herself, knowing that the time away from them would prove to be worthwhile if she lived to see them grow older and have children of their own. She could not bear the thought of leaving them permanently without their mother.

It was in this state that her eldest daughter found her, the girl knocking quietly on the door to her mother's lab. Kate ushered her inside and hugged the girl closely, enjoying the momentary distraction from the harsh reality that faced them both. Wiping the tears from her green eyes, Kate gazed into their almost exact duplicate in the girl standing in front of her, and she noticed a maturity in her daughter's eyes that she had never seen before.

Deciding not to mention this, the brilliant scientist settled into the chair she had just risen from to greet her daughter. Capturing a few strands of long dark hair behind her ear, the woman smiled sadly at the girl. "What's going on, Nicci girl?" Kate asked quietly, her right hand reaching out and grasping Nicole's lightly, pulling her daughter closer.

The Q had gone through great pains to change her appearance to that of the thirteen-year-old girl who had a very close relationship with her mother – a mother who had a terminal disease and would soon after this time die a very painful death. Nicole's eyes closed tightly, trying to block out the gut-wrenching feelings that went along with that event. "Nothing, Mom. I just wanted to see you," the girl replied sadly as she stared openly at the woman before her. She had never openly defied her stepfather before, and this indiscretion of delving into her past would definitely not go unpunished. Still, as Nicole stood there and felt the heat of her mother's palm pressed against her own, she didn't seem to care what the consequences of her actions might be.

Kate smiled warmly at her eldest daughter and pulled the girl into another hug. "Well, I wanted to see you, too," she whispered into the girl's ear affectionately. "I missed you."

"I miss you every day," Nicole whispered into her mother's ear and held the embrace for as long as she could. Finally she broke free of the woman's grasp and pulled up another chair, placing it next to her mother and sitting down. "Mom?" she began quietly, her eyes never leaving her mother's face.

"Mmm?" The scientist answered her daughter, the familiar exhaustion beginning to creep up her limbs.

"How did you know you were in love with Dad?"

Kate's eyes snapped open in surprise and focused on the girl in the chair beside her own. "That's an unusual question, Nicci."

The Q shrugged and replied, "I'm just wondering, you know, in case you're not around when I fall in love."

"I hope to be around – and even if I'm not, I'm sure I'll be watching you from heaven. I'll make sure he's good enough for my girl."

Nicole shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She had long ago left behind the religion of her youth in favor of her new family and state of being, but she couldn't very well tell her mother any of that. She quickly continued in her former line of questioning, "Would you have done just about anything for him?"

Her mother laughed a little and ran a hand over Nicole's unruly red curls. "Oh, sweetie, I still would, and I'm sure he would do just about anything for me. That's what love is. You do things you never thought you would before. Does that help?"

The girl nodded. "Yes, it helps a lot."

Nicole stood up and moved slowly toward the door. Once she reached it, she turned back and took in the sight of her mother alive and well one last time. She fought the tears that were welling up in her eyes at the thought of saying good-bye again to this woman she loved. Smiling sadly, she waved awkwardly and said slowly in a soft voice, "I love you, Mom."

Kate smiled and stood up herself, making her way over to her daughter and pulling the girl into one last hug. "Thanks for coming to see me," the scientist whispered tenderly in Nicole's ear. "I hope you're happy with him," she added softly before pulling away and looking directly into her daughter's eyes. "He had better be good to you." Surprise flickered across the Q's face, but she quickly recovered, reasoning that her mother was probably speaking in terms of the future. Still, there had been something in the way the woman had looked at her, a brief moment in which the scientist who readily believed time travel was possible could have guessed her daughter wasn't the same girl she had seen only a few hours before. Shaking the odd feeling away, the Q hugged her human mother one last time and left the room.

He stood alone by a window that wasn't technically there, but a representation of a room that was inside his imagination. His graying hair was like that representation, a sign of maturity and age that he himself had fabricated, knowing that his physical appearance only changed when he wished it, not with age like mortals. Outside the window was a night sky he had seen many times and brought up at a moment's notice, perhaps enjoying the feeling of power it gave him to be able to materialize many stars at his whim.

She knew he was in a pretentious, accommodating mood, and yet still she approached him with a fear she had only experienced once or twice in her long years. Watching him, she wasn't sure what his response would be to a request she knew no Q had ever made in the history of their species. Taking a deep, symbolic breath, she stepped forward and cleared her imaginary throat.

Pivoting on one foot, his face exploded into a wide grin the moment his brown eyes settled on her face. "Nicole!" he greeted her enthusiastically. "Where have you been? It's been a while since I've noticed your mark on the radar screen of Qs. Have you been pretending to be mortal again?"

"No, Stepfather," Nicole answered humbly, coming to stand beside the man who had made her into what she was. "I no longer wish to trick mortals into thinking I am one of them."

"Well, that's good to hear," he replied, turning once again to the window. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Nicole winced, but focused her vision on a particularly bright star on the other side of the panes of glass. "You can do this," she told herself mentally before answering aloud, "I have a favor to ask of you, Stepfather, and I don't think it's one you are going to be particularly happy with."

"Oh?" he asked, moving once again to catch her eye. "And what would that be?"

Taking another deep breath to calm herself, the red haired girl began slowly, "Well, I haven't exactly been tricking any mortals lately . . . but that's because the mortals I've been spending my time with know what I am."

Shrugging, the Q known only as "Q" stared down at the girl with mild interest, sensing she was about to unload something rather important. "Nothing wrong with that," he replied idly, as if she hadn't said anything shocking. "I've done that myself. Quite fun at times, isn't it?" he asked, winking in her direction.

"Sure it is . . . at times."

"So what's the favor?" Q asked. "Do you want to do something for your mortal friends and have me look the other way? Because you know I would be more than happy . . ."

Nicole shook her head back and forth fervently. "No, that's not it."

"Then what?"

"I want you to talk to the elders and ask them if I can be made human," Nicole told him quickly, some of her words almost running together in her nervousness.

Q blinked his eyes a few times and stared at the woman before him in disbelief. After a few minutes he finally began slowly, "You . . . want me . . . to turn you human?"

"Yes."

"Are you nuts?"

"Quite possibly."

At this response to his question, Q let out a loud laugh and nodded his head. "All right, Nicole, if that's what you want, I'll talk to the elders about it. But I am almost positive they will leave the decision up to me since I am the one who made you a Q in the first place."

"And your answer would be?"

"I'll miss you, but if this is the path you choose, I won't be the one to stand in your way."

Nicole smiled. "Thank you, Stepfather."

"Just one question."

"What's that?"

"Have you talked to Teeny about this yet?"

Her gaze dropped to the floor as she shook her head back and forth slowly. "No . . . not yet."

Sam's living room was quiet with the exception of the television, which was currently playing a movie most humans knew quite well. The screen flickered with spacecraft and explosions, the middle of a space battle, when Nicole decided to appear in a flash of light directly behind the sofa. Only Daniel noticed her entrance, his eyes leaving Star Wars momentarily as his head tilted upward slightly to acknowledge her presence.

The redheaded Q smiled down at him before her vision settled on the next person in the room to take notice of her – the blonde seated comfortably in the oversized arm chair beside the sofa, her long legs pulled up to her chest and her arms surrounding them. Sam smiled at her friend and moved to join her behind the men who were just beginning to become aware of the new presence in the room. Jack waved a meek hello before quickly turning back to the movie he had personally never witnessed before. Teal'c merely inclined his head in Nicole's direction before returning his rapt attention to his favorite movie of all time.

"You okay?" Sam asked quietly when Daniel finally moved his attention back to the television.

Nicole nodded, her eyes currently glued to the top of her boyfriend's head. "Yeah, just wanted to talk to you about something."

Sam nodded and led her friend up the stairs and into her room, knowing that anywhere downstairs would not be private from the men currently lounging in her living room. "What's up?" she asked as she lowered herself into the chair situated by the window.

The Q sighed and sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed, looking out the window at the sun beginning to set. She rubbed her arms self-consciously and finally moved her gaze back to her friend seated opposite her. "I've made my decision."

"And?"

Nicole took a deep breath and replied slowly, "I've decided to become human. I already discussed it with my stepfather, and he told me he'll support me whatever I choose to do."

"And you're okay with this?"

She nodded. "I talked with my mother. I didn't tell her anything, of course, but I just feel like I'm supposed to be human. It's how I started, and besides, I love Daniel. It would be worth shortening my life to spend it with him."

Sam smiled and nodded, turning her head to gaze out the window. "Not many people find a love like that, Nicole. You're right to want to hold onto it."

Glancing down at her hands, Nicole nodded. "I know." She raised her head and smiled a little at her friend. "And I know you'll find that love, too."

Shaking her head, the blonde turned back to the woman seated on the bed. "Don't you tell me what happens and ruin the surprise for me, Nicole. I want to find out on my own."

"I would never do such a thing," Nicole replied with a grin.

"So when will this change happen? And when are you going to tell Daniel?"

"Soon, I hope. I'll tell Daniel before it happens, obviously. But first . . ." she sighed and broke off, her green eyes shifting uneasily back and forth before she continued in a low tone, "I have to tell Teeny."

Sam nodded. "Your sister, right?"

Just as Nicole was about to respond, a bright light filled the room, leaving a tall woman with long blonde hair and a defiant expression painted over her face standing in the middle of the room. "You have to tell Teeny what?" she asked, throwing a disapproving glance in the human woman's direction before placing herself next to the red head on the bed.

Nicole's eyebrows rose as she nodded her head glumly as if she had expected something like this to happen. She gestured toward her sister. "Sam, meet my sister. Teeny, this is Sam."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Teeny brushed the introduction aside, apparently not interested in meeting her sister's friend. "What do you have to tell me?"

Just then, a familiar face poked his head in the open door, his eyes widening when he saw the three women seated in the room. "Didn't you just come in here with only one of them?" he joked, pointing to Nicole and her sister.

Sam smiled and nodded. "This is Nicole's sister, Teeny."

"Ah," Jack replied as he stepped into the room. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that the movie's over, and I was just planning on sticking in the next one. Do you want me to wait?"

She shook her head. "No, I've seen it, thanks. We'll be down in a minute."

He nodded, but before he could leave, Teeny let out an exasperated sigh and commented loudly, "If you and your boyfriend need the bed to frack or something, Nicci and I can just leave."

Jack seemed frozen in the spot as he glared at the blonde woman seated next to Nicole on the bed. The woman seated by the window looked as if there was a raging inferno inside her, and if she had been a cartoon, there was no doubt smoke would have come whistling out from her ears. Standing slowly, she crossed her arms over her chest and stepped toward the Qs seated on her bed. "I do hope you're joking."

Teeny rolled her eyes, apparently not at all concerned her comment had upset the woman of the house. "Not at all. If you and your . . ." stealing another look at Jack, she continued, "Below average intelligent boyfriend want us to leave, just say the word."

"He's not my boyfriend," Sam hissed through clenched teeth. "And even if he was, we're not just animals who have to jump into bed together every chance we get. Apparently you don't understand humans as well as you thought."

If it were possible, Jack's eyes grew even wider as he watched the exchange unfold before him, his expression one of disbelief bordering on a distinct fear of his second in command's rare display of rage. Teeny merely shook her head. "I understand as much as I care to understand. Your species isn't as interesting to me as it is to Nicci and our stepfather."

"Then maybe you should think before you open your mouth."

Standing and positioning herself mere inches from Sam's face, her eyebrows raised as she replied in a soft voice, "You think I give a flying frack what you and your friends think of me? You're just a lesser developed species who all think you're better than you actually are. And you . . ." her eyes narrowed on the slightly taller woman before her. "Have been filling my sister's head with so much dren I can't even begin to tell you how much I hate you."

Sam shook her head. "I don't even know what dren means."

"Of course you don't," Teeny replied, stepping away from the woman dramatically. "But I know you know what hate is. In fact . . ." she started, trailing off and her gaze shifting to the man still standing frozen by the door.

Nicole shook her head and turned to Jack. "Run," she told him simply. He nodded and made a very quick exit. Her gaze returned to her sister, whose hand she grabbed and pulled her back into a sitting position next to her on the bed. "Teeny, this isn't helping. We need to talk."

The younger sister huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "About what? And why do we have to do it here?"

"Yes, why do you have to do it here?" Sam asked as she sat back down in her chair, eyeing her new "guest" warily.

Nicole's green eyes found Sam's blue ones and held them for a moment before responding, "Because I could really use your support right now. Just having you around helps immensely."

Teeny rolled her eyes and retorted in a very annoyed voice, "What now? Do you two wanna hop on the bed and . . ."

She didn't have time to finish her sentence before Sam was on her feet and interrupting through clenched teeth, "Nicole, I highly suggest you do this now before I try to kill your sister."

Teeny laughed. "That would be quite impossible," she retorted.

"Shut up, Teeny," Nicole finally spat angrily, attaining the full attention of the shocked woman beside her. "I am going to tell you what I need to tell you and then you're going to leave."

"And you're not going to set foot in this house again," Sam added, her rage boiling just beneath the surface as she once again lowered herself into the chair next to the window.

"Fine, whatever. As if I care," Teeny replied, not quite succeeding in sounding unruffled by the sudden turn of events. "What do you want to tell me?"

Nicole nodded. "This isn't going to be easy for either of us."

"What do you mean?"

The red haired Q took a deep breath and stole a glance at her friend seated opposite them. Sam nodded, and Nicole continued, "I've come to a decision I know you aren't going to like. I have decided to remain here, with Daniel and the others . . . as a human."

"What? Stepfather would never go for that."

"He already told me if it's what I want, he'll back me up."

Teeny shook her head and stood up slowly, her eyes never leaving her sister's face. "You're leaving me."

"It's not like that. You can visit me whenever you like."

"But . . . why? Why would you want to be human?"

Nicole sighed and raised herself up next to her sister. "Because I'm a better person this way."

"What the frell are you talking about? Better?" She shook her head back and forth. "You think you're better than me, don't you?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all!"

Blonde hair flew back and forth as Teeny shook her head vehemently and stepped away from her sister. "I don't know you anymore. And I will continue to believe it's these humans that have corrupted you, no matter what you say. I will not visit you when you become human. I can only hope it is a temporary thing. Good-bye, Nicci. I'll miss you." And before Nicole could respond, the blonde Q snapped her fingers and was gone.

The redhead turned to her friend and remarked sarcastically, "Well, that went well."

Sam nodded and stood up. "I think she'll be okay. She'll get over it eventually."

Nicole nodded in agreement. "Yeah, maybe."

"So, time to talk to Daniel?" Sam asked, one eyebrow lifting in a questioning manner.

"Yes. Time to talk to Daniel," the Q agreed softly.