Some underage drinking in this chapter, just as a warning.

Everything Gets Worse

Icheb didn't speak a word until they arrived at Janeway's quarters. His hand dropped Q's wrist and he turned to face him with eyes narrowed, "That was inappropriate."

"Again," Q huffed, arms crossing, "It was an accident."

"You did not take the situation seriously," Icheb shot back, voice rising an octave. The lights flickered and his lips pursed.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Q shouted, hands flying.

Icheb scoffed, "You acted impulsively."

"And that's bad thing?!" Q's nose wrinkled, "At least I reacted! You just stood there."

"I do not wish to engage my classmates!" Icheb snapped at him, shaking his head, "When you disappear back to your galaxy hopping, I still have to live with these people."

Q's face scrunched up and eyes narrowed on Icheb, "So, what, because I don't want to join Starfleet, I have to clear every action with you now? Is that it?" Icheb scowled and Q took a step closer, "Cause I'm pretty sure I'm the one with a Starfleet Security detail watching his every move! No one's assigned to do-gooders who don't stick up for themselves!""

"The security detail is your own fault!" Icheb looked down into Q's eyes. Their noses nearly touching as they stared each other down. "I'm not letting your lack of control mess up my life!"

"Leave!" Q shoved Icheb towards the door before turning away.

Icheb blinked, his face dropping. When he reached out towards Q his fingers met static electricity before they could make contact. With his fingers numb, Icheb walked out the door, hands fisting at his side.

He blew past the security officers, who stayed firmly rooted to their posts. At least till they heard Q scream.

Rushing into Janeway's apartment, they found half the furniture on the ceiling and the rest floating through the air in some sort of gravitational current that was circling Q on the floor. Who was very much unconscious.

"Security Detail to Janeway," the lieutenant tapped at his comm badge, "We have a situation in your quarters."

"Situation?" Janeway's voice came back. Before the lieutenant could answer, "I'm on my way."

The immediate beam in probably wasn't strictly necessary, but neither security officer said a word as Janeway assessed the gravitational anomolies that had overtaken her living room.

"What happened before…" Janeway gestured at the flying furniture. She took out her tricord and her brow scrunched up, "He certainly didn't make it easy to get to him."

The lieutenant cleared their throat, "He had an argument with Cadet Icheb, captain. After a previous altercation with another cadet after an engineering class."

"What they mean is Q sort of freaked when someone threw a water balloon at his friend and Q accidentally created a gravity well. It took a bit to return the cadet to the ground." The other security officer drawled.

Janeway looked over at them, "I'm going to need the full details on that." She glanced back at Q as he let out a groan.

Q pulled himself into a ball on the floor. His hands pressed to the sides of his head, face pulled tight in a grimace as he curled tighter.

Using her tricorder to navigate the anomolies, Janeway ducked around tables and chairs to kneel beside him.

"Q?" Janeway whispered, hand stroking over his hair. He flinched at the contact and a sudden wave pushed her away. Her back slammed against the wall.

She quickly drew her legs up to her chest as the furniture fell to the ground, smashing together and clattering across the floor as the pieces were pushed away from Q's still twitching body.

"Captain?" one of the officer's called out.

Janeway shook her head and rose to her feet, "I'm fine. You two?"

"We're good," the lieutenant shouted back. "How should we proceed?"

"We call a doctor…" Janeway blew a hair out of her face and tapped her comm badge. "Emergency beam out to Voyager. Directly to Sick Bay."

For the second time in as many weeks, Janeway was staring at her godson on an exam table.

"Activate EMH program," Janeway called out and immediately the Doctor appeared, forehead creased.

"Captain? You're not due to inspect the ship for-"

"Q." Janeway pointed to the exam table and the Doctor turned, mouth falling open.

He nodded, "I see. Another episode like the one Dr. Crusher called me about?"

"Gravitational anomalies this time, not electrical," Janeway nodded, arms crossing, "What worries me is how he reacted to my touch this time."

The Doctor hummed as he examined Q, head ducking low near Q's face as the boy twitched. His fingers dug into his hair and skin. Janeway stepped closer when she saw the blood.

"We need to restrain him," the Doctor grabbed Q's wrists. An electrical current zipped up his arms, his hologram dematerializing slightly before the shock ran its course. "Activate the restraints," the Doctor nodded towards the bed controls as he held Q's wrists away from his head.

The restraints were activated and Q thrashed against them. He whimpered and yelled, Janeway's eyes went wide as he let out a scream. Empty hyposprays took flight from a nearby table.

"I'm suddenly very glad you had all of my carts outfitted with gravitational locks," the Doctor raised a brow at the medical tricorder floating past his head. He reached for it and a static shock zapped at his photons when his hand made contact with the gravitation current circling Q. "I don't believe we can cross electrical anomolies off the list this time either."

"He's getting worse," Janeway sighed, head shaking, "And he was doing so well this morning."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor tilted his head as he reached for another tricorder. He began examining Q at a slight distance.

Janeway smiled, "He made himself dream for the first time." The Doctor looked up at her, brows furrowed. "He'd been practicing apparently. Trying to force his powers to respond to do something on purpose."

"And he chose dreaming?" The Doctor raised a brow as he glanced down at Q, "An interesting choice."

"I think Icheb had something to do with the selection," Janeway smirked. And then she frowned.

The Doctor's tricorder chirped, "Well, I seem to be getting the same results as Dr. Crusher. His body is in flux, zeta waves incredibly erratic."

With a hand held to her face and arms crossed, Janeway stepped up to the side of the table. She looked down at Q. His face was pinched, his lips parted as tiny breaths escaped in slow pants.

"Last time he looked almost peaceful," Janeway whispered. The Doctor followed her gaze with his own.

"I don't believe the same is true in this instance," the Doctor sighed, "The few readings I can get from his nervous system indicate high activity."

"He's in pain," Janeway's fingers twitched as she kept herself from reaching for Q.

-.-.-

Icheb did not return to his quarters. Primarily as a means of avoiding Seven. She would certainly recognized his distressed state and he did not wish to discuss his issues at the academy.

Unfortunately, this left him with very few options to retreat. Naomi was off planet, getting to know her father. Any other member of the crew he could think of would most certainly contact Seven.

"You're not the one I expected to see back here," the Ferengi bartender grinned widely at him as he stepped back into the man's establishment. He gestured out, head bowing slightly, "Will you be wanting juice again tonight?"

Eyebrow quirked up, Icheb stared at the Ferengi, at the rows of teeth staring back at him. The eyes of several patrons flickered to him briefly.

"I'd be curious to try Ferengi wine."

The bartender's smile widened as he pulled a bottle from the top shelf, "You're in luck, just got a fresh shipment of my favorite brand from Ferenginar."

Chances were that his reaction to the alcohol would be minimal. Icheb's physiology was similar to humans yes, but not the same. And then there were the borg enhancements. He'd calculated the likelihood of an adverse reaction at only 4.7%.

"What'd'ya think Star Fleet?" the bartender grinned at him as Icheb swallowed his first glass in one gulp. It was tangy, and fruity. His mouth tingled and his throat burned.

"Satisfactory," Icheb pushed his glass across the bar top and the Ferengi filled it up again. He had no data on how Brunali reacted to alcohol. It was unwise to continue drinking it before he could adequately take stock of his body's response to the first glass.

Knowing that and doing that were two different things. Q's words from their argument were louder than his own thoughts.

Icheb downed the second glass and blinked at the haziness of the room around him. The bartender chuckled, "You a lightweight kid?"

"I'm not familiar with that term," Icheb stared at him, eyes fluttering. His throat bobbed. Somehow, the argument from earlier was now louder and repeating in his head with odd distortions that didn't correspond with his memory. "But I am... experiencing something wholly unfamiliar to me."

"Lightweight is someone who can't drink much," the Ferengi's smirk was slipping off his face as Icheb turned his head to examine the rest of the room.

Colors blurred together. Shapes and faces and noises. Everything felt off. And bigger. Or louder. It was an entirely new experience.

"I was not expecting this reaction," Icheb mumbled, he slid his glass back over to the bartender, "I don't dislike it."

The Ferengi did not refill the glass, but Icheb was too busy following the buzz of electricity in the air to notice. He turned in his chair, watching the thin blue halo as it zipped around the room from light fixture to light fixture. Comm badges glowed. Watches. The replicator in a corner.

"This is quite intriguing," Icheb laughed as he turned back to face the bartender.

"Yeah, I bet," he snorted, head shaking, "Cutting you off early, Star Fleet, you're already drunk."

That was a word Icheb was familiar with. He'd heard Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim discussing it once the morning after a party on the holodeck he was too young to attend.

"Seven will not be pleased."

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