Onward with the crossover magic! As always, I'd love to know what you think! :D :D

Deanna knew the moment Cortana's program had been reactivated.

She had been sitting in her usual chair on the bridge when an overwhelming presence pervaded her mind. There were so many emotions and turmoil that flooded her. It took her a half-second to shield herself from the unexpected raw emotion.

Melancholy. Angry. Jealousy. Hate. But, stronger than all of those, a deep feeling of longing that nearly caused Deanna to gasp.

Her tension was not unnoticed. Will looked at her from the captain's chair. "Everything alright?" he asked, a slight worry entering into his voice.

She nodded her head and pasted a smile on her face. She blocked as much of the powerful emotion as she could. "I'm fine. It's just...Cortana's program was activated."

"And you could feel that?"

She nodded, allowing herself to slowly process Cortana's feelings. "Well, I was able to sense Data's emotions when Lore installed the emotion chip. I imagine it works the same way for Cortana." Deanna settled back in her seat. She wanted to raise a hand to her head, to try to bring clarity to what she was sensing from Cortana, but she knew it would only worsen Will's increasing worry.

Will studied her for a second. He knew she was hiding something from him. "What is it?"

She lowered her voice so only the two of them could hear each other. "I'm detecting a lot of...noise." She frowned as an explanation eluded her. Will might be her Imazdi, but there were things as an empath that she couldn't easily relate to him.

"Noise."

She nodded. "The best way to describe it is that it's like when I'm near someone who is suffering from psychological disorder."

Immediately, Will tensed. "Should I contact the captain?"

"No." She shook her head. "She's not dangerous. Just...confused." She shrugged. "For all we know this is just a side-effect of Data having to divide her program. It's probably nothing to worry about."

"I hope so." Will blew out a frustrated breath.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Will. According to what the Chief said, the two of them used the neural link for a long time and Beverly detected no neural damage on her scans," she continued.

Another minute passed and Deanna was able to relax slightly. She gave Will a reassuring smile.

He frowned slightly. "Do you still believe the Master Chief? That there is some kind of floating ring in the middle of the galaxy?"

"I do." Despite being there for over two weeks, there were many things about the Chief that were shrouded in mystery, even to her. But, she didn't doubt the validity of the Chief's claims about the Halo ring. The strength of the Chief's convictions extinguished any doubts she might have had.

"Besides, what purpose would he have to lie to us?" she wondered.

"To fix his broken AI?" he retorted, settling back in the chair.

Deanna didn't have a response to that.

Hours passed. Cortana's presence was no longer as oppressive as it had first been. Over time, her emotions leveled out and Deanna was able to relax.

"Commander, we're picking up something on long-range sensors," Ensign Jameson reported from the comm station.

Deanna watched as Will's eyebrows rose. Perhaps she wouldn't have to defend the Chief and his claim any more.

"On screen."

A half-second later, a small object appeared. Wll stood up from the chair. "Magnify."

The image was a little grainy, but there was no doubt what Deanna and the rest of the bridge crew were looking at: a giant ring floating in the middle of space.

"It's Halo," Deanna said.

"Contact the captain, tell him he's needed on the bridge," he said to the ensign. He walked back to Deanna and sat down in the chair. "I guess this means I owe the Chief an apology."

/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-

Q always had to be the one who had to fix everything.

He had tried to warn his brethren that humans were far too curious for their own good. He had known that Data would get the ancilla working again, despite the staggering odds against success. If his time as a human taught him anything, it was that the android didn't give up on anyone.

Despite the optimistic android, Q had another reason for knowing that the Enterprise would continue their search for the Halo ring. Her. Q knew that if she had sent these two renegades, the universe was not going to deny her after all she had suffered.

It wasn't fair that he had to be thrown in the middle of this, really.

But, the Continuum had been resolute. He knew the most about humanity. He had interacted ("meddled," Q2 had said smugly.) with the crew of the Enterprise so often, it was up to him to convince Picard to listen to him rather than the two travelers since by the Life Worker.

He might have been omniscient, but even he recognized that some things were just impossible to accomplish.

Still, the Continuum had spoken and he was forced to comply.

With a quick thought, he moved to the Enterprise, morphing into the human body the crew knew and loved. (Well, he wasn't so sure about the loved part.)

On the bridge, he recognized the regular bridge crew and looked at the two characters who looked oddly out of place in the carpeted bridge. The man was wearing green armor that looked like it had seen better days and was holding a crystal with a small holographic woman projecting from it.

He inwardly sighed. She had over a hundred thousand years to come up with some sort of master plan and this was it? He almost felt sorry for her.

He appeared next to the science station where Data sat, facing Picard and the rest of the bridge crew. "I had no idea it was your habit to take interdimensional hitchhikers, Jean-Luc. Starfleet continues to surprise me."

"Q!" Picard said, frowning. "What are you doing here?"

Q had no intention of answering his obscenely obvious question. He walked up to the tall man and looked him up and down. "Do you even try to use that tiny brain of yours or do you just expect for me to hand you all of the answers, no matter how glaringly obvious?"

He watched as Worf stiffened. Honestly, it was so easy to get under the Klingon's skin.

"And," he said, bending down low enough to be eye-to-eye with the blue hologram. "A tiny woman made of light. Starfleet's standards are as rigorous as ever, I see."

This time is was the Spartan that stiffened.

Picard moved towards him. "Again, Q, what are you doing here?"

"Can't a friend stop by and visit?"

"Yes, but you are no friend."

"Jean-Luc, you wound me." He put a hand over his chest for good measure. "And after I helped you save humanity."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"My, we're feeling awfully dogmatic today. Has some of Worf's tenacity rubbed off on you?"

Picard said nothing. He only crossed his arms while he waited for the answer he was demanding.

Q sighed. Why did Jean-Luc always have to act like a spoiled child who sulked when he didn't get his way? "Fine. I've come to see what your mission is."

He watched as Picard and Riker exchange a glance. It was the first officer who said, "I thought you knew everything."

"Oh, I do. It seems as if you and your crew are operating under some misinformation." He spun on his heel and looked at the duo. "Isn't that right, Johnny boy?"

Q didn't miss the look of surprise that passed over the hologram's face. "How do you..."

The Spartan spoke. "I have never lied to the captain or anyone on this vessel, sir."

He actually thought he was part of Starfleet, Q realized with a wide grin. This could be a lot of fun.

Before he could capitalize on this newfound -and well-deserved- respect, he was rudely interrupted. "Q is not a member of Starfleet, Master Chief." There was Jean-Luc messing with his plans again, Q thought with a wave of aggravation. "He is a-"

"God among men?" Q suggested.

"Annoyance was closer to what I was thinking."

"My point still stands." He walked around the Spartan. "What is your mission, Jean-Luc? To run a diagnostic on this ring? To study it?"

He snapped his fingers and suddenly appeared next to Picard. He lowered his head to speak in his ear. "More importantly, what is their mission?"

An uncomfortable silence settled over the bridge. Q clucked his tongue. "Jean-Luc, you are far too trusting. No one travels back in time from an alternate universe just do to do some land surveying."

A flash of uncertainty passes over Jean-Luc's face and Q knows that he has him right where he wants him. "Go on, ask him. He won't lie, you know. Neither will she."

"Master Chief, as much as I hate to admit it, Q does have a point. If you have another objective, I need to know what your objectives are," Picard said.

"It's classified."

"I could tell you, if you want, Jean-Luc." He grinned. "It is rather juicy."

He pushed too soon. Jean-Luc turned his frustration on him. "Not now, Q."

"If you change your mind, just whisper my name and I'll be here." Then, in a flash, he disappeared. He had cast enough doubt on Chief's character to satisfy the Continuum.

His meddling could mean the destruction of this universe, however. Which really was a pity if Q did say so himself.