"Kathryn, Kathryn." Q was fighting a little through the group of people walking along the market. It was another one of those dull days where they came down to a 'civilized' planet to gather up supplies as they journeyed into the unknown. He had been off with Kes gathering up various herbs they could use to derive medicinal properties from. He pushed past a few more people shielding some sort of lily he had gotten from the stand across from them. It had been a lovely quaint little flower shop and the lily reminded him a little of the captain. Beautiful and sturdy, it had a lovely scent to it and yet it, like a rose had thorns. Of course the thorns had been painstakingly removed so it wouldn't cut her hand when he gave it to her. Despite the protest of his cut up fingers, Q had to think about Janeway and the baby first. Catching a glimpse of Torres he figured his Captain would be close by. Ah, there she was, she stood off to the side with her arms crossed as Torres negotiated with the trader for the parts she was going to be needing. The captain was starting to sport a nice red jacket now that went down a little past her hips in an attempt to hid her pregnancy better. She didn't like being bothered about it down on other planets, as the captain unless they happened to be on shore leave she had to be taken seriously. Not questioned about when she was due. Five months had gone by in the blink of an eye and Q knew the last four would go by even faster. Staying back in the crowd he waited until Torres and the captain were done with the negotiation and started walking away from the stall.
Quietly he walked up behind them hardly listening to their conversation as Torres mentioned she had really needed those parts. Rather than make the fatal mistake of creeping up behind the captain and likely getting his throat crushed he sidled up to her side and put the flower close to her face. "For you my dear." Janeway jumped swatting it away a moment before she realized Q was the one who had put the flower near her. This was why he had been certain the lily was sturdy breed, a normal flower would have fallen apart from that backhand of hers but this lily retained it's perfect form and beauty. With the captain now certain she wasn't under attack by some stalker she looked back to Q and took the flower from his hand with a little smile.
"It's lovely Q, thank you." She thanked him and sniffed it.
"You are very welcome, it caught my eye and I couldn't help but think of you." Torres rolled her eyes and let out a little grunt in disgust. She still didn't trust Q as far as she could throw him and honestly she could probably throw him fairly far. "Sorry Torres, they didn't have a carnivorous plant for you." Q snapped back and watched the chief engineer walk away.
"Q." Kathy scolded.
"What? She started it. Did you see that look she gave me? I must say Captain your crew isn't the friendliest bunch. I try my best to fit in but it seems Kes is the only one who has given me a chance aside from yourself."
Janeway laughed a little, Q wasn't an easy pill to swallow. "You are an acquired taste Q, give them a chance to get use to you."
"Even the doctor hates me."
She laughed again, he was being a little dramatic. "He doesn't hate you, he just doesn't like when you challenge his intelligence and abilities."
"It was a reasonable concern. He's only delivered what? One baby? I simply suggested someone a little more experienced in the matter be there when Amelia is born. Just in case." Grabbing his hand she turned to kiss him on the cheek only to have him turn his head and hitting their faces against each other. Janeway instantly grabbed her nose after the little collision making Q panic. "Oh god Kathy, are you alright? Let me see." He pulled her hand away from her nose and lifted her chin a little so he could make sure it wasn't bleeding. One of the problems with being a good deal taller than your mate. You had to coordinate these sort of things so you didn't break to nose of the soon to be mother of your child. "I'm so sorry." She may have been a big scary Starfleet Captain but she was still a petite little human to him. Granted a sturdy one, he had seen her bounce off walls and hit by beams of energy and debris without even the slightest show of pain on her face. Knock her down and she got right back up.
"I'm fine." Despite her nose hurting Kathryn threw on a smile knowing he would insist she go to sickbay if she so much as grabbed her nose again.
"Good." He rubbed her belly leaning closer to her now. "Hear that Amy, no need to throw up your little shields or zap me into oblivion or whatever today's punishment is for an attack on mommy." Even though the baby was incapable of projecting herself like she use to it seemed Teth had showed her a few good tricks before sacrificing himself. Mainly the ability to put up her own privacy bubble when she felt like trouble was coming. At times that trouble was just someone running up to Janeway and putting a hand on her shoulder to get her attention only to get a good zap up the arm that made them jump a foot off the ground. Jumpy little kid, likely all that coffee her mother drank. Q argued that the baby was going to come out drinking coffee to which Kathryn said if she stopped drinking coffee then everyone was going to suffer. "And you complain about me being protective." He sassed at Kathryn.
"Well where do you think she gets it from?" Q was so caught up in her smile, her eyes, her overall radiance that he hadn't thought twice about the two men following them through the market. "Tomorrow before we leave orbit we should bring Rowley down here." She suggested. It would be good for the dog to get off the ship, after all he wasn't much of a pup anymore. Stretching his legs on a planet might be best for him.
"I'll walk him if we do, last time we took him off the ship he nearly took you off your feet. That animal got bigger than I expected." Q smirked and looked back at her. "Besides the only one allowed to take you off your feet is me." Q wrapped an arm around her and lifted her off the ground finding this was so much easier since he started working out with Tom and Kim on the holodeck. Before mortality Q could have lifted a starship, with his mind. After becoming human it had been exasperating to lift a human woman with two arms. Try being romantic and carry your girlfriend into the bedroom with shaky arms and legs and then insist it wasn't because she was too heavy but because you were too weak. Especially when he dropped her and turned as red as her uniform. Once Q set her back down the 'wolves' came out to play. Behind him the two men who had been following signaled to another three men stationed around various stands. As on of the stalkers grabbed hold of Q's shoulder the other three moved out closing in on them in a small circle.
"Hand over your credits and any other valuables you have." The man who had grabbed Q's shoulder spoke up. The crested ridges over his eyes giving him away as a local to the planet. His eyes shifted over to Janeway as the man pulled out a weapon, far more primitive than the phasers carried by the crew of Voyager but an energy weapon all the same. "You too miss."
Stepping in front of the man Q raised a brow for a moment forgetting he was mortal. "Excuse me? Should I assume you just threatened Captain Janeway?"
The thug smiled hearing Q's words. "I don;t know, should I assume a captains life is worth more than either one of you might be carrying? One hundred credits, a thousand credits? How important is this captain to your people?"
Q puffed up his chest and clenched his jaw. "Too me? Important enough to kill for." He wanted to snap his fingers and make the man bleed from every orifice of his body. See how threatening he was when he laid down bleeding until his heart had nothing to pump to his brain and he just shut down all together. Q had a million ways he could make the man suffer but without his powers there was only one. The thug raised his weapon ready to fire on him but Q caught his hand and pulled it up, surprising even himself at how quickly he had moved the weapon out of range of his own face. It fired off once into the sky sending people in the market scattering while Janeway pulled her own phaser. One of his friends fired at Janeway only to find all to well that little Amy was one impressive personal shield. The beam was almost instantly absorbed before reaching Janeway giving her time to fire back at him getting him right in the chest. The others seemed to back off from her knowing now she wasn't going to be so easy to deal with.
Q on the other hand felt the thugs head ram into his, the thugs species possessing a thicker skull heard a loud crack between his ears as he stumbled back dazed. The weapon aimed at Q for a split second before he realized what would really punish Q. Turning it on Janeway Q blinked through a river of blood running down his forehead and moved in front of the weapon just as it went off. Hit down by his spleen he fell back against Kathryn forcing the captain to partially catch him and turn to fire back at the attacker. Struck on the shoulder he fell back onto the ground out cold while Janeway crouched down beside Q. "Q can you hear me?" She lifted up his shoulders trying to rest him half way in her lap. His face was covered in blood now, his eyes shifting about almost against his control. His hand clutching tight to the wound on his side where he had been shot.
"Kathy, would you think." His face contorted in what looked like pain. "any less of me if I passed out in your arms? Getting, getting shot really hurts." His body started shaking while his hand fell at his side.
Pressing down on her com badge she kept herself calm, there wasn't time to panic. "Janeway to Voyager, two to beam up to sickbay, Q is critical." The light engulfed them turning into a spark of white while they were transported up. One second they were on the street in the center of the market and the next they were on the ground of the sickbay.
Quickly the doctor and Kes helped her move him onto the biobed as the doctor scanned him with the medical tricorder. "He has massive amounts of brain damage, his skull is fractured in at least seven places and there is heavy bleeding in the frontal lobe. I'm going to have to perform surgery." He turned to Kes. "Please stop the bleeding to his side I will address that once I have repaired his brain." Turning to Kathryn he pushed her back so the area was clear for surgery. "Please stand back Captain, he's in good hands. I promise you." Together Kes and the doctor moved around the bed to stabilize Q, his body going into a spasm as the doctor informed Kes to inject him with one of the hyposprays.
It had taken nearly an hour to stop the bleeding in his brain, repair the damaged tissue, and grow the bones of his skull back together so portions of the plate hadn't slid around and caused more damage later. Kathryn sat at his side waiting for him to wake up, holding his hand and he slept. Once he finally started waking she felt urge to throw her arms around him but refrained, even if he was better she didn't need to startle him. Opening his eyes Q looked over at her, a little smile tugging at his lips. "Hello beautiful." He managed to mutter the words before rubbing his forehead.
Janeway smiled back at him finally wrapping her arms around him. "Q, I was so worried."
Rather than embrace her in a hug of his own Q pulled back looking a little startled. His eyes shifting over her again as he raised a brow. "Excuse me but, do I know you?"
