After the pup had been tired out and little Q could no longer exert the power to project herself Q found himself alone in the room with Janeway picking up the room a little. "So you still haven't told me why you are mortal." It would happen sooner or later, he couldn't creep in the shadows about what events had caused him to become mortal. Though he wished he could have kept it secret from her at least. It was going to be difficult to explain not because it was above her mental processing power but because it was so horribly below his own. It wasn't a common problem for a Q, in fact he was almost certain he was the first to fall into this problem.
"No, I haven't." Kathryn raised her brow and looked him over. Not that it was necessarily her business to know but he had promised to tell her. Now he was starting to regret it.
"What did you do to anger the continuum this time? Unless you have changed your mind then I would very much appreciate it if you could leave so I can clean up this mess."
Q raised his brow and put on a devilish grin. "Why, do I distract you Kathy?"
"No, you test my patience." She looked like she was going to tell him to get out and so Q finally set aside his ego to admit something he dared no say out loud.
"Oh, alright I'll tell you but don't let it get to your head Kathy. The only one who needs an ego on this ship is me." The look on her face said she didn't agree with his statement.
"Just remember Q, you are mortal now."
"Oh Kathy, was that a threat?" He raised his voice a pitch and looked her over with that menacing little spark in his eyes. "How attractive." He crept a little closer to her until she gave him another one of her classic death glares. She was so beautiful when she was angry, she was so beautiful when she was doing anything. She could have been running down the hall with snot hanging out of her nose, well maybe not snot running down her nose, that was disgusting, but the point was she still would have been beautiful if not a little disgusting. "And I still intend to tell you how I managed to become mortal." As uncomfortable as it would be. "There are few rules in the continuum. Though the rules have decreased quite a bit lately. Still two things remain the same, to not interfere with the natural cycle of sentient species such as human history."
"Which you have broken, several times from what I understand." She interrupted him and pressed a finger to her forehead feeling like she would get a headache from his explanation.
"And I have now broken the other unbreakable rule."
"Well, that must be historic for you. Sounds like you have finally broken all the rules in the continuum." She joked.
"Not funny." He sighed. Still he hadn't really explained everything, only that he had broken another rule. Could he leave it at that? No. "The second rule is to never get involved on a more private level with a sentient species, well strictly anything that goes above or beyond simple pleasure at least."
"Involved?" He could tell she was curious, that tone of voice, that look on her face, that sort of concerned glint in her eyes as if she was walking in on something she hadn't wanted to see.
"Such as, falling in love for example. We are not allowed to fall for a lesser species. It would be forbidden because our emotions would cause us to act against most of our laws. Use our powers, abuse our powers to protect and improve the lives of those we cared for. Could you imagine the chaos if Q were allowed to alter history for those they cared about? I was called into question over my attachment to a certain person. I was able to convince them I had no intentions of being in a relationship with a simple primitive little beings nor that I had any feelings for one. They believed me until I acted as they knew I would. I used my powers to defend one person on this ship, they saw it, they realized I showed more than a simple affection for a mortal, and they acted to prevent what they foresaw as a disaster waiting to happen by making me equivalent to my chosen mate." He paused and let out a little sign. "I suppose snapping a number of Vidiian's into a supernova was a little bit drastic. I could have just put them outside the airlock."
This was the second time he seemed to have surprised her, the first being when she discovered they were having a baby girl. Or perhaps it was the fact that their baby girl had just showed up out of the blue unannounced that had surprised her. Little Q did take after him in that regards. No concept of timing or calling ahead to give fair warning. Now this little bit of information left her with the same look in her eyes, Kathy slowly set herself on the edge of the bed and ran through his conversation once again holding her finger up to stop him from interrupting her. "Let me get this straight." She finally spoke up and leaned back a little on the bed. "You lost your powers, were turned into a mortal, and are stranded on my ship because..." She paused again and titled her head to the side. "You have feelings for me?"
"To say I just have feelings for you is making it a little impersonal. I admit it surprises me as much as it surprises you. It started as a little crush when I first met you, a sort of respect that came later with how you were so valiant to aid Quinn, but that night you told me to get out of your room I knew it was too late for me, I was going to break the greatest rule of them all. That command in your voice, that superiority, the fearlessness. Kathy, my heart was all a flutter. Then with the war breaking out, my idea to inject the continuum with your human idea's and concepts, I admit I never thought you would agree, I know how stubborn you are but you did to both of our surprise. From there my little crush went from a like, to a lust, to what I would consider full blown love. I think, no I know I love you Kathryn. You are the most remarkable human female I have ever encountered, the most interesting female of any species I have encountered, dare I say, you can make the mighty fall."
"Oh." That was all she could say, not to admit she had thoughts about the two of them. There were moments where she considered something more than being a co parent for Q's child, she could even admit she had feelings towards him the night they had made little Janeway and perhaps she had what he described as a crush and even lust for him but love wasn't what she experienced so far unless a love hate relationship could be counted.
"Too soon?" He asked with a hint of concern.
"So, you love me then?" She cocked a brow not certain if she could take his words as fact.
"Yes, enough to have given up my mortality and become human and I must say it was better than the other option which would have been to never see you again. I did promise you after all to be beside you not just for our child but for you as well. It seems mortality would be much easier, especially if I spend it by your side. How bad could it be? I can be trapped with you here in the Delta Quadrant, acquire a position on your ship, make it home to Earth with you and perhaps take up a teaching job. I still know more than any human could ever imagine, I am certain my intellect would be valued on earth. We can live successful lives, you a respectable Admiral like you father one day and I a renowned scientist, grow old together and even...one day die." His voice softened towards the end, the idea of death, of vanishing completely, being gone, missing the rest of eternity. All that history he would never witness. Could he live with that? Could he live with the alternative? Live forever while Kathryn grew older and older? Watch her wither away and do nothing about it? Watch her one day die and live the rest of eternity without her? Humans lived short lives, she would live a short life, now he could at least live a short life with her. As for junior that would be difficult. One day Kathryn and Q would be gone but their offspring might live forever. After all she was part Q, immortality was a likely in her little repertoire of powers. "Does that bother you?"
"No, not at all." She still sounded a little distant, a little lost in her thoughts.
"Then why do you look so unhappy?"
"Q, it's not that I am unhappy, I just have a lot to think about."
"This wasn't the life you expected? But you always say humans like the unexpected. You leave your children's genders up to fate, play some of the most confusing courting games of any species, you are a species who finds joy in the unknown, losing control, seeking the unknown."
"I'm the captain of this ship, I can't like your species get attached to anyone, get too close. I have to make the biggest choices on this ship so I can get us all home. I have the biggest responsibility here and I owe it to them..."
"I know, nobility and loneliness, they don't go hand in hand Kathryn. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself. It's not the first time I have been mortal. You don't have to be Voyagers sacrificial lamb Kathy. Besides you have to admit it, the reason you took up my offer that night was because you realized you could have a life and get this ship home. You are more than capable of that. You are not immune to pairing off as you call it and everyone deserves love."
"Q..."
He cut her off and grabbed her hand pulling her back onto her feet and making her fall into his arms. "Oh shut it Kathy, the more you deny it the truer it becomes." He leaned her back thinking back on the night he had asked her first to be the mother of his child. The flutter of butterflies in his stomach. Being mortal had some advantages, he certainly understood the passion of humans better. "And I am going to love you like every day could be our last." Pressing his lips against hers he kissed her trying to be so careful with her. Not because he feared hurting her but because he feared her hurting him. When he felt Kathryn's arms wrap around his neck he couldn't hold back the little smug smile that pulled at his lips and removed him from their kiss. Life with her was going to feel just as worthy as living an eternity.
