Everyone looked expectantly at Janeway after Q's exit. She kept her eyes fixed where they were on the bulkhead behind them all. "We'll do as he said." She tried to ignore the expressions of confusion or disapproval from her officers. They already knew more than she wanted to tell them. She wouldn't be surprised if Q's mark upon her had lit up to broadcast her weakness in his presence.
"Let's get a move on," she said loudly when no one made any effort to get to work. "Q will be back in a matter of hours. We've got work to do."
Her officers obediently set off about their business without argument, but they kept shooting her glances. She ignored them.
As could be expected, Chakotay lingered. Janeway had noticed him seething for the entirety of Q's intrusion. In a way, it frustrated her. She didn't need him to worry about her or protect her or fight her battles. Why couldn't he, for once, keep himself out of her troubles? What gave him the right to care so much for her? To see how much she mattered to him pulled at the heartstrings she'd tried to sever.
"Kathryn." His voice was so gentle it was difficult to believe he'd practically been breathing fire only moments before.
She looked at him, forcing her face to be as bland as possible, and cursing him at the same time. At least he knew better than to touch her.
"I'm sorry." His demeanor and dark eyes filled in the blanks. Sorry for what Q was doing to her, even though he didn't know the half of it. Sorry for not being able to help. Sorry for how the crew was acting. Sorry for it all.
She stared at him, really stared, taking in every detail. As her eyes examined his face, her nose began to tingle with the threat of tears. The sensation almost made her laugh aloud. What a sight she must be! Exhausted, half her hair pulled out of place and fighting back the urge to cry. Pathetic.
"Thank you," she finally managed.
Before her words, the space between them had been like ice, solid, cold and fragile. But her words melted through the imaginary barrier, and they both visibly relaxed. Things were different in a way hard to explain.
Chakotay took a step toward her and sought nonverbal permission to touch her now.
She feebly nodded consent, and he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Only, it wasn't comforting. She wanted it to be. Really, she did. But there was too much weighing on her mind, and too much of it had to do with him.
Janeway stood abruptly, and Chakotay's hand fell away. "I need to go help B'Elanna with those modifications."
"Harry's already helping." It was clear her changeable behavior was confusing to Chakotay and probably hurtful.
"Well, I need to study the upgrade," she said. "It might provide answers."
"Answers to what?" He wasn't going to make this easy for her. He didn't want her to leave.
She held his gaze for a moment before answering. "I'll be looking for biological information hidden within the engineering. I just want to know more about who we're dealing with." It was less than the truth. She could see in his eyes that he knew it.
But he didn't call her out. "Always the scientist," he said, forcing a smile. "I guess I'll let you get to it. Any orders for me before you go?"
Janeway forced a smile as well. "You've got the bridge. Keep me informed." She left before he could reply with more than a "Yes, Captain."
The brig modifications appeared completely arbitrary. There was no doubt they made for a more sophisticated force field, but, for the life of her, Janeway couldn't find anything that could correlate to the physiology of the intended prisoner. And she'd been studying the instructions for hours. It didn't make sense, and she hated it when she couldn't understand something. She resentfully had to admit that Q's intellect was indeed far beyond her capacity.
"Uh, Captain," B'Elanna called, interrupting Janeway's thoughts from where she was working across the room.
Janeway looked up from her PADD. "Yes?"
"There seems to be a problem, but I swear we've followed these instructions to the letter."
Janeway strode over. "Elaborate a little."
B'Elanna activated the force field. "Harry," she said with a nod.
Harry thrust his hand toward the barrier. Janeway winced slightly at the sound it made. The electronic sizzle was louder than normal and sounded painful. However, Harry's palm did not bounce from the field. Instead, it went right through.
The captain furrowed her brow. "I see," she said quietly. She joined B'Elanna at the console and looked over the changes that had been made. She didn't need a PADD to remember the specifications. They were burned into her memory after all the inspecting she'd given them.
"You've done everything perfectly," she muttered, checking a second time as well. "It doesn't make much sense to have a containment field that doesn't actually contain anything. What's Q up to?"
On cue, as always, the omnipotent thorn in the side popped into existence beside Janeway. First, he swatted her hands away from the console. "Careful, Kathy," he chided. ""We don't want to mess up anything. Your pet officers spent hours working on this."
B'Elanna bared her teeth but didn't retort.
"Why have you wasted their time with something that doesn't work?" Janeway asked, decidedly ignoring the hand sliding down her back.
"It works perfectly. For once your people have done a good job." He pinched her rear.
"Q!" she exclaimed, her voice strained. But he had already relocated to the brig's entrance, quite out of slapping range.
"Tuvok and I will be inside. It'd be nice if we could get out without compromising the containment field," Q explained.
It made sense, dammit. "I trust R will not be immune?"
"You've got it." He winked saucily.
"Are you ready to proceed, then?"
Q made a show of checking several old-fashioned pocket watches that he pulled from various pockets that didn't exist. "Yes," he said slowly. "I believe the stars are aligned correctly."
Janeway rolled her eyes. "Janeway to Tuvok."
"Tuvok here.
"Q's here. He's ready to begin."
"On my way. Tuvok out."
Q returned to Janeway's side as they waited. Her entire body tensed in spite of herself. Tactile as she was, Q's touch was something she could not abide. She gave him a glare that said as much.
He waggled his eyebrows as if to say "Who cares?" before moving behind her. He rested his chin on her head, mussing the bun she'd already redone once because of him. He was doing this purely to annoy her, and she really shouldn't give him the satisfaction, but she was already angry with him. Enough of this. She bobbed her head away, but he grasped her by the upper arm with each hand to hold her in place.
"Now, now, Kathy," he reprimanded softly. "My chin needs a rest, and you're the perfect height." The oh, and I own you, remember was left unsaid, but Janeway heard it loud and clear.
Still she ducked her head to avoid him. Harry and B'Elanna were making quite a show of not looking at the pair. Seeing someone being so intimate with their captain was rather unnerving.
Fortunately the uncomfortable situation was brought to an end when Tuvok entered the room. Q wasted no time in leading the Vulcan inside the brig.
"Is the containment field all fired up?" he asked. After the affirmative from B'Elanna, he excitedly pulled Tuvok's hands to his face.
Tuvok sighed and looked to Janeway. "Captain?"
She nodded. "Do it."
"My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts."
The words were scarcely out of Tuvok's mouth before there was a loud pop, and a third body appeared in the brig. Q lunged through the force field, dragging Tuvok along. The newcomer made to follow but stopped short of rebounding off the barrier.
Silence reigned as everyone examined the stranger, and he examined them. He was quite unremarkable. In fact, if one were to bring a stickman into reality, Janeway supposed that is what it'd look like. Bald and without a single defining feature. He was human with a nose and eyes and mouth as he should, but everything was so nondescript it was like looking at a blank wall. Completely forgettable. His stature and build were also entirely average. But most of all, Janeway was struck by how absolutely harmless the being looked.
It took a moment for her to realize that Q was staring at her, trying to catch her eye. She reluctantly returned his gaze. His eyes narrowed. Do it, they seemed to say.
She cocked an eyebrow and shrugged. How? She was glad she had that excuse, at least for the time being.
Q frowned. "Well, I'll leave R in your capable hands," he said, addressing everyone but still focusing on her. "I'll be back for a status report sooner or later." The look he gave her stated clearly that the deed had better be done by that point.
She inclined her head ever so slightly to show she understood. Q vanished.
Hello, Captain Kathryn Janeway.
Janeway quickly turned to look at R in surprise. Surely the greeting had come from him. But instead of the monotone, expressionless voice she expected to belong to the creature, the voice in her head was her own.