Young Q absconds to earth to stay with his godmother. Janeway is absolutely suspicious, but...he is her godson, and she can't trust Q to help his son now can she?
Rated T, because Q, will eventually include Icheb/Q. Focus is on Janeway and Q. Most of the Voyager Crew and Naomi Wilder will make appearances.
Chapter Three: Let Sleeping Qs Lie
Icheb scowled at the communicator in his hand before slipping it back into Q's pocket. Q himself was slumped over the table, head in his arms. Neither of them had actually had any alcohol, Icheb had made sure of that, but ten minutes ago Q had put his head down and hadn't brought it back up.
"This is an inappropriate place to sleep," Icheb jostled his shoulder, attempting once more to wake the other young man. It had no affect.
The Ferengi bartender and a few of the other patrons had started to notice the situation. Not a one wore a Starfleet uniform and Icheb could tell by his rising heart rate that he was no longer comfortable in this situation.
"You two alright?" The bartender approached him with a grin, rows of teeth on display. Icheb nodded, forcing himself to remain calm. The Ferengi glanced at Q, his hands went wide, "How about another round of sparkling clavisoa juice?"
A transporter beam interrupted the bustle of the bar, silencing both the bartender and the patrons as Janeway and Seven appeared, Starfleet badges on full display. The bartender's grin immediately dropped.
"He won't wake up." Icheb said as soon as Janeway turned in their direction. She walked past the bartender as Icheb stood up to gesture emphatically at Q. Janeway placed a hand on Q's shoulder. No amount of shaking woke him. "I tried that."
"Of course," Janeway smiled at Icheb, but her eyes were tight. She glanced at the empty glasses on the table.
It was Seven who asked, "What were you two drinking?" Her brows were even and her mouth a thin line. Icheb fidgeted under her obvious disappointment.
"Just juice," Icheb said, head titled and brow furrowed.
"I would never serve alcohol to minors," the Ferengi bartender pipped up, looking nervously at the pips on Janeway's uniform. "I can assure you, what ever is the matter with your young man, it wasn't anything from my establishment."
Janeway offered him a quick nod, "Of course."
Icheb ignored the exchange, fingers digging into his palms as he spoke, words frantic. "Q wasn't tired before, and his heart rate seemed normal when I tried to check, but I don't have a tricorder to be sure."
"Not sure that'd tell you much anyway. He may look human, but that doesn't mean much, not with him." Janeway ran a hand through Q's hair. She was openly frowning now.
Q startled, drawing in a deep breath as the lights flickered up and down the street. Icheb's shoulders visibly relaxed as Q's head rose up.
"Q?" Janeway kept a hand on the brunet's shoulder as he blinked at her. "Are you alright?"
The Ferengi bartender snorted, "Humanoid psychic makes the lights flicker and Starfleet frets." He clapped one of his patrons on the shoulder on the way back to the bar. "Doesn't that just sum up the whole state of the quadrant?"
A round of laughter rose up and Q visibly flinched before he shrugged Janeway's hand away, "I'm fine, Aunt Kathy." He plastered on a smile, teeth bright. "Just too much fun is all."
Icheb snorted this time. Q's eyes snapped to him, brows furrowed. Janeway chuckled, "I don't believe you're convincing anyone with that line tonight."
"But I'm fine!" Q pouted. His bottom lip stuck out and his eyes widened. Janeway cajoled him up and out of his seat. Q stumbled on his first step. Janeway caught him with a smirk.
"I can see that." She wrapped an arm around Q's waist to help support him. Janeway pursed her lips when she found herself supporting most of Q's weight.
Seven inclined her head to the side. In front of her, Icheb mirrored the gesture without realizing and the fact that Q didn't make a joke about it worried Janeway more than his inability to support himself.
"Why don't you two get going?" Janeway leveled her eyes on Seven, who raised a brow. "I think Q and I need to have a talk. Privately." Seven nodded.
"As you wish," Seven nodded and gestured towards the door, "Let's go, Icheb. I'm sure you have studying to do before class tomorrow."
Icheb frowned. He looked from Q to Seven and then back.
"I'm fine, Itchy!" Q grinned as Icheb's cheeks reddened, "No sense in us both getting lectured now." Q nodded towards the door, "We'll catch up later."
"If you're sure." Icheb said. Q nodded again. Icheb was still frowning as he walked out the door, but Seven corralled him out all the same.
"So…" Q drawled, looking up at Janeway with a big grin, "How much trouble am I in?"
Janeway tapped her comm badge, "Request for immediate transport to Starfleet Medical for two." She looked down at Q with narrowed eyes as the young man's jaw dropped, "We're about to find out."
As the two beamed out, the Ferengi bartender cackled, "Kid should've seen that one coming." He elbowed the patron at the end of his bar. "Whatcha wanna bet the kid comes back?"
-.-.-
Q looked at the sterile walls of Starfleet Medical with a visible frown and whined dramatically as Janeway shuffled him onto a biobed. It was a private room and when the door swooshed open, the director walked in with arched brows.
"Captain Janeway, what's happened?" Dr. Beverly Crusher walked up to the bed as Janeway turned to face her. "Admiral Paris said there was a Q with you?"
"Yes," Janeway raised a hand to rest on Q's shoulder, "This is my godson." She looked at him as she drawled out, "He just passed out and caused a small power surge when he woke up." Q rolled his eyes.
Beverly hummed as she stood closer, "Were you feeling dizzy before you passed out?" She pulled out a tricorder even as Q leaned away from her.
"I'm fine!" Q huffed. Janeway scoffed. "I am Aunt Cathy! I just fell asleep."
"And couldn't be woken up." Janeway added, leveling her brows on him. "Be honest Q, you've been off since you got here."
Q fidgeted. Dr. Crusher took the opportunity to scan him thoroughly. "Why don't you lay back so I can take some more readings?" Q frowned at her, brows furrowing as he crossed his arms. "The sooner you let me check you over, the sooner I can tell Captain Janeway you're as fine as you claim."
"Well, alright," Q plopped backwards with a flourish. Beverely traded a smile with Janeway as the would-be teenager fussed about getting comfortable.
The scanners rose up on either side to arch over his body under Dr. Crusher's command. Q eyed them warily and Janeway moved to stand by his head.
"I'm fine, Aunt Kathy, you'll see," Q bit his lip as he watched the warbling light of the scanner move back and forth.
Dr. Crusher's forehead grew more wrinkled as she watched the readings roll over the display. She started another round of tests immediately after the first. Her brows knit together and her eyes narrowed.
"Doctor?" Janeway raised a brow, her hands moving to grip the edge of the biobed when the scanners finally slid back down the sides.
"It seems your internal organs are in flux, Q. One second you've got three lungs and no liver and the next you've got nothing but a heart and tonsils."
Janeway looked down at Q's face. He didn't immediately meet her gaze. The strong chin, curly hair, and everything in between were the same as they were the night before when he'd asked her to stay. But his color was a few shades lighter, at least. Perhaps a bit yellower too?
Q bit his lip as his eyes finally dragged up to meet Janeway's. He shrugged, "Staying human is a lot more work than you'd think." He flashed a bright smile, too tight to be natural, "I have to contain quite a lot of awesome in this body ya know."
"Is that why you're not using your powers?" Janeway asked him, voice soft and soothing. She ran a hand through his hair. Q moved in to the touch. He didn't answer. "That's why you're tired?"
As if on queue, he yawned. Janeway shook her head as he turned on his side, "I'm perfectly fine, Aunt Kathy. A regular, run of the mill teenage Q. I promise."
"And what exactly does that mean?" Janeway prodded with her hand as Q blinked rapidly. Before her eyes she watched his dark circles appear and the lights began to flicker again.
"Is that the same as what happened before?" Dr. Crusher frowened up at the ceiling before looking down at the boy curling his fingers into Janeway's uniform as she sat down on the bed beside his head.
"It happened when he woke up, yes." Janeway didn't bother trying to wake Q after an initial attempt. "He slept in my quarters last night without issue. I would have noticed a power fluctuation."
Beverly hummed as she focused her scanner on Q's head and glared at her tricorder. "Annoyingly, I can't really tell you if he's right or wrong about this being normal for a Q."
"You have experience with Q offspring," Janeway stated. "I double checked the records this morning, you examined Amanda Rogers on the Enterprise. Q should be in a similar enough stage of life."
"Give or take a few centuries?" Beverely chuckled and shook her head, "Even then, Amanda Rogers was born as a human daughter to two Q, they were masquerading as humans."
Janeway sighed and looked down at Q, "And Junior here was the first Q born to the Continuum." She raised her head to meet Dr. Crusher's eyes, "Not sure what that entails, but I doubt it looks anything like a human birth."
"I'll pull up Amanda's files though, I might be able to find something from her years at the Academy." Beverely turned towards the door, eyes still focused on the readings displayed on her tricorder.
"Our Doctor on Voyager examined Q when he stayed with us, those records might be helpful as well." Janeway called after her.
Dr. Crusher's nose wrinkled for a moment before she nodded, "I'll talk to Admiral Paris about having the EMH records released to me immediately."
"The Doctor's been confined to Voyager, it'd be quicker to ask him yourself." Janeway drawled. She ignored the way Dr. Crusher's shoulders tensed before she finally agreed.
Janeway focused on Q then, with the room empty and the boy still unconcious. His head was plastered to the bio bed, a sheen of sweet over his body despite a distinct lack of warmth or chill to his skin.
"You're a very bad liar, Q," Janeway leaned down to whisper in his ear. She ran a hand down his back, rubbing slow circles as if to sooth him. "That's probably not ideal for a Q."
The lights began to flicker again and Q's eyes fluttered open. There was no gasping breath this time, though she noticed he did take a long while to exhale. Janeway watched as his eyes zipped around the room before looking up at her.
"Feeling better?" Janeway asked as Q made the arduous quest of three inches to move his head from the biobed to her lap. He curled around her like a puppy and Janeway pursed her lips to keep from laughing.
"I'm fine," Q repeated with a huff. He grumbled something and Janeway cuffed his ear. "Ow!" She did laugh this time. "I'm just tired," Q said with as much confidence as she was sure he could muster. Janeway was fairly positive he'd been more enthused about becoming an amoeba.
The door whooshed back open and Dr. Crusher returned with a pinched expression. Janeway caught sight of the security team just outside the door and frowned.
"Do you know what zeta waves are Q?" Dr. Crusher asked him as she walked over to the bed. Janeway looked down at the bleary eyed teen. His eyes were unfocused as he nodded. Dr. Crusher's lips twitched up, "Your brain waves are moving exceptionally slowly while you're unconcious, especially for a human. We'd consider it a sign of brain trauma."
"Q aren't human," he murmured and he shuffled closer to Janeway, body folding into a tight ball. It almost seemed like he was trying to fit his entire person in her lap.
Beverly shook her head, tried not to think of Wesley, "That's true. You and the only other Q I've examined, Amanda Rogers, you both have considerably higher brain activity than normal humans."
"So?" The bite to Q's voice was sharper than Janeway had ever heard it and she could feel his fingers twisting in the fabric of her uniform.
"I certainly can't say I know what it means for a Q to sleep…" Dr. Crusher met Janeway's eyes, "…when you were on Voyager though, the Doctor said you slept an average of one hour every night. Even when forced into human form like that your brain activity remained elevated."
Q's eyes scrunched closed. He was tense beneath Janeway's hand when it paused on his shoulder, "Do you know what's wrong Q?"
The computers in the room began to beep frantically and several lights flashed red. Two security officers entered the room. Janeway eyed them up. They carried phasers, not rifles, and they lowered them when Janeway shook her head.
Dr. Crusher had her tricorder out, it trilled angrily. "His brain waves are erratic!" The tricorder flew out of her hand to smash against a wall. An alarm sounded in the hallway.
Janeway looked up at Dr. Crusher, who was staring blankly at her tricorder as it sat in pieces on the ground. She saw the security officers' fingers twitching. Without another thought Janeway scooted further onto the biobed and pulled Q firmly up and in to her arms. She rocked him, slowly, as he huddled within her embrace.
"Please don't be mad." Q said into her shoulder. He clung to her, eyes still firmly shut. "I'm sorry." His whole body was shaking like a leaf. Janeway shushed him lightly, stroked the back of his neck. She could feel his heart beat. A wild tremor beneath her palm.
Dr. Crusher appeared behind him with another tricorder. "You need to calm down, Q," Beverly spoke in soothing tones. "You're blood pressure, your heart rate, they're both extremely high…and your heart can't seem to pick a spot in your chest." She offered a tense smile and a short chuckle, but Q continued to shake.
"Sorry." Q whispered into the thick fabric of Janeway's jacket. His fingers dug into her arms as Dr. Crusher moved the tricorder's sensor around his head. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm sorry. Don't be mad."
Janeway looked up at Dr. Crusher, resting her chin on Q's head. The two shared a look and then Dr. Crusher turned to send the security officers out of the room.
"No one's mad, Q," Janeway spoke softly as she rubbed a hand down Q's back, "but I am worried." Q released a deep breath as she moved her hands in circular motions again. "What's going on?"
He opened his mouth, but Janeway clucked her tongue.
"If you say you're fine I swear -"
"I don't know." Q's words were quiet, and fast, but Janeway caught them all the same.
Janeway paused her rocking motion for a brief second. Q tensed. She resumed them immediately. Her young charge sank into her embrace, his knees rose up to tuck between their chests as he lean into her entirely.
"The Continuum doesn't know either." Q admitted into the void of silence that had formed. "My father tried to hide it from me, but I just…know. Whenever I wonder something, I just know it."
"And that's not normal?" Janeway asked. Her lips quirked up, "I thought Q were suppose to be all-knowing?"
Q chuckled, a watery sob escaped, "All together, maybe, not singularly." He looked up at Janeway, bending his neck back. His eyes finally opened, "They're afraid of me now."
"Well," Janeway sighed dramatically, "That sounds exactly like the Continuum we all know and despise." Q chuckled again. His chin fell back to his chest and he curled smaller against Janeway. She wrapped both arms around his body.
The lights and alarms calmed and the room plunged into darkness. Janeway didn't pause in her attempts to sooth Q. When Dr. Crusher returned, thankfully alone, the lights finally flickered back to life.
Q didn't budge from his position. Janeway didn't make him.
Dr. Crusher stepped up to them with her tricorder. "I'd like to do a full body scan when you're ready, Q, but your heart appears to be staying in place now so we're on the right track." Q nodded once, short and robotic.
It took another ten minutes before he finally stopped shaking. Five more but he finally lay flat for the full scan. Q yawned afterwards, a smile plastered on his face, "Well, that was dramatic!"
-.-.-
Janeway didn't have any allusions about Starfleet's interest in Q. The security team that was waiting, none too subtly, outside her quarters when she and Q arrived home merely solidified what she already knew.
No one below the rank of Commander was cleared to know anything about the Continuum - every enlisted and ranked member of Starfleet who encountered a Q had been debriefed and ordered not to speak of it.
"Even Icheb and uh…the girl? Uh… Naomi?" Q tilted his head, nose scrunched up, "That seems kinda silly."
"Your father has caused quite a stir over the years. Captains Picard and Sisko both had run ins with him, and he's never been shy about using his powers." Janeway smirked as she watched Q huff.
He crossed his arms, "Figures." He leaned back in a chair at her dining table, "He's always telling me to use my powers responsibly and he's nothing if not a hypocrite." There was venom in his voice and Janeway could see literal steam rising from his head.
"You can't control them, can you?" Janeway sighed, raising her fingers to her head as the color drained from Q's face. "Your powers." Q pursed his lips and his eyes flitted about. "Don't lie, Q, I'm really not in the mood."
Q sagged in his chair and his eyes settled on his shoes, "No. They've been…well, I told you, I just know stuff now, and my powers are like that too. They just…do stuff, without me even trying or anything."
"That's why you're attempting not to use them?" Janeway asked, resting her chin in her palm as she leaned forward on the table. Q's eyes flickered up to hers and then he nodded. "Well." Janeway sighed and sat up, "This certainly isn't going to make Starfleet any less nervous about your appearance here."
"You mean…I can stay?" Q straightened in his seat, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "But, but… I thought…"
Janeway shook her head as she stood. She stretched her arms and turned her head to crack her neck, "You can stay as long as you need to Q." She ruffled his hair as she leaned down to meet his gaze, "But no more secrets, understood?"
"Yes, Aunt Kathy," Q nodded frantically, lips stretching into the first genuine smile she'd seen on him so far.
With a shake of her head, Janeway pointed at the door, "That security team will be with you the whole time though, Q, so don't do anything your father would."
"I'll be the best behaved Q in this realm of existence." Q beamed at her. Janeway snorted. She almost felt bad for the security team.
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