Chapter 6: Q Vs Chuckles
"Q?" the Captain found she had to repeat.
"Q?!" demanded the Commander.
Both were a mixture of shocked and angry.
"Yes." confirmed the Doctor.
"I'm going to kill him." the Commander may not have meant to voice his thoughts but he certainly wasn't going to apologise for them.
The Captain wanted to scream, scream a thousand times and then do it again but she knew it wouldn't make any difference.
Her head fell into her hands, her fingers roughly running along her hairline.
Silence fell upon the trio for a long few moments.
"Well, he got what he wanted." the Captain's voice was dangerously flat.
The Commander felt his jaw clench and relax by the time she looked up at him.
"You told him no." his voice was cold, his anger towards the absent being obvious to all.
The Captain shook her head in painful disbelief.
"How did he even manage it?" her mind raced over every second he'd been near her.
"Were you ever alone with him?" the Doctor queried.
The Commander scoffed. "He dragged her to the Continuum with him."
"In the middle of a warzone." the Captain had to point out.
The Commander shook his head. "It wouldn't make any difference." he told her, "He could have done this without even having to touch you."
The Captain felt her head drop again. Chakotay was right. All Q would have had to do was think and it could have been possible. No physical interaction would have been necessary.
"Damn him." she hissed in a quiet tone.
The Doctor stood awkwardly, unable to even know how to think in a situation such as that. Meanwhile, Chakotay just leaned down to kiss the Captain's head. For the first time ever, he didn't give a damn about protocol. It was only the Doctor around and he knew he wouldn't report him for lack of discretion while on duty.
"It'll be okay." Chakotay quietly whispered into her ear, his hand finding hers and allowing their fingers to lace together.
=/\=
Learning Q was her baby's father only led to the Captain isolating herself further. Just being pregnant was something she had no idea how to inform the crew of, despite the fact she knew it would become obvious sooner rather than later.
Again, her lack of confidence when it came to her personal issues was causing an issue. She was actually dreading finding a way to break the news to the crew. What would the best way by? Should she do it personally one-by-one with the crew members she was closest to before making an announcement? Should she do it over a meal in the mess hall or in a staff briefing? Hell, she'd even considered starting it as a rumour in order to let it spread throughout the ship but that idea was only asking for trouble.
It took a lot of courage on her part, and a lot of conversations with Chakotay, before she finally decided to push aside her fears and return to her duties on the Bridge. She knew from him that the Bridge crew were growing increasingly concerned about her absence and even though she didn't feel fantastic about everything, she knew the crew needed her. She was the Captain. It was time for her to step up and prove it.
As she stepped into the turbolift that morning, her anxiety levels hit breaking point. She was sure that every crew member she saw could see that she was pregnant yet she'd hardly put any weight on at all. Physically, she was about 14 weeks and thanks to the Doctor, she was painfully aware that first-time mothers tended to start showing between the twelfth and fourteenth week of pregnancy. However, both he and Chakotay had assured her that her bump was barely there and underneath the uniform, it was virtually impossible to see. Still, she wasn't as sure.
The turbolift stopped and doors opened, presenting her to the Bridge that she had silently found herself missing. Composed and surprisingly ready, she stepped out which the Commander on her tail.
"Captain on the Bridge." Tuvok declared, calling for everybody to stand to attention.
She smiled as they all silently greeted her, the Bridge crew as well as the other senior officers who just happened to be on the Bridge already.
She made her way down to her chair, vaguely aware of the soft smiles the crew were displaying. As she came to a stop by her chair, her eye caught Tom Paris'.
"It's good to have you back, Captain." he spoke for the entire crew.
"It's good to be back." she was honest as she sighed contently, "As you were."
Nobody eased and they all watched her take a seat, glad she was finally back where she belonged. Voyager hadn't been the same without her sitting in the Captain's chair.
The crew slowly started to resume working once they were satisfied the Captain was back. It was at that time that the Commander took his seat. Of course, he had handed her four unread reports on four separate PADDs before doing so.
The Captain only giggled to herself. "I haven't even been back five minutes yet."
"No rest for the best, Captain."
The Captain rolled her eyes. "I'm so glad you didn't say wicked." she glanced at the title of the first report, "I might have had to demote you to Lieutenant, Commander."
The Commander smirked. "Does that mean I get promoted?"
The Captain scoffed playfully. "You wish." she sighed, barely reading the first sentence before looking back at him, her expression suddenly a serious one. "What did you tell them?"
The Commander smiled sympathetically. "That you've been unwell." he sighed, "I did debate whether or not just to explain that as Captain you could command this ship from wherever on-board you wanted, but in the long run, a half-truth seemed the better option."
Nodding softly, the Captain flashed him a grateful smile. "Thank-you." she whispered.
=/\=
The Bridge itself was fairly quiet that day; the only noise being the sounds of conversations between the officers. With Voyager in good health and crew in good spirits, the Captain was rather glad to be back on duty. She'd forgotten just how much she'd missed her crew.
"Really?" the Commander enquired curiously at Harry's statement about something the Captain hadn't really being paying attention to, "You saw the Roger Whitman's son… in the flesh?"
Harry nodded proudly, something which made Tom laugh and roll his eyes.
"Yep." the young Ensign answered, "He was as close to me as you are."
"You lucky so-and-so." the Commander sighed.
"Oh, come off it, Commander." Tom scoffed, spinning around on his chair, "Roger Whitman's son is nowhere near as impressive as Roger Whitman himself."
The Commander's eyes widened slightly. "You can't have met him?!"
Tom sighed and shook his head. "Sadly not." he confessed, "Only ever holographic representations at the Academy."
The Captain looked up from the final PADD. She hadn't finished reading it but she was definitely in need of a break.
"Who's this you're on about?" she wondered, looking between the three men.
"Roger Whitman." Chakotay answered.
She had to think for a moment. "Oh, that… professor of… Ancient Space History?" she slowly recalled, pausing to look at the Commander, "Is he that one who won that prize for his work?"
"That's right, the Daystrom Historical Award back in 2299." Tom answered before the Commander could, his smile beaming, "It was his work which led to the introduction of the course at the Academy. The moon landing and early Mars missions were my favourite topic."
"Mine too." seconded Chakotay.
The Captain looked over at the grinning First Officer, her chin leaning upon her palm.
"I never knew that." she sighed, intrigued as to what she was hearing.
"Kelly and Kumagawa. Armstrong and Glenn." the Commander grinned goofily, "The best semester topic the Academy had on offer."
"Here, here." Tom agreed wholeheartedly.
The Captain was smiling as the pair continued to talk about their interest in early Space History but it soon faded, especially when she noticed a dull ache spreading across her lower abdomen. The Doctor had told her it may happen as her pregnancy increased but his words of warning hadn't informed just how uncomfortable it would be.
She shifted in her seat but it was no help.
She stood suddenly, her movement halting the conversation between the two Mars fanatics.
"You have the Bridge, Commander." she stated suddenly, "I'll be in my ready room."
The Commander barely had enough time to process what she'd said before she left the Bridge.
=/\=
It hadn't taken long for the pain to subside but she had no desire to move from the sofa. Nothing about her desk seemed to be appealing to her. When she sat there, she had to work.
Shifting to lean her arm on the backrest of the sofa, the Captain sighed as she found herself watching the stars. She'd always found watching them seemingly fly past had an almost psychedelic effect. It was a natural beauty reserved only for those with a deep love of space and all it had to offer.
"What's so fun about watching stars all day?"
Her head snapped around violently, the gasp from her lips loud and sharp.
Her eyes soon registered who'd spoken. Q.
She actually scrambled away from him, her fight or flight mechanism kicking in. Apparently it was bizarrely choosing to flee instead of fight.
"Stay away!" she warned.
She was fearful. She hadn't expected to fear him but she couldn't ignore the way he'd made her feel. Her heart was beating in her ears and her body was actually shaking. She couldn't recall a time she had felt so scared.
"What?" Q was confused.
She moved further away, trying to put as much distance between herself and him. However, she could only go so far before her back hit the replicator.
She could only attribute her fear to the fact he was more powerful than her. After doing what he'd done, it proved that he could do whatever he wanted whether she liked it or not.
She needed him gone. His presence was sparking something inside her even she couldn't understand. It was a classic example of Kathryn Janeway breaking down Captain Janeway's strong exterior.
"Keep the hell away from me!" she demanded.
She didn't want him near her. She didn't want him touching her. He'd already been closer than she ever wanted.
However, Q was Q. He didn't listen.
"Kathy, what's gotten into you?" he closed the space, every step closer he took making it harder for the Captain to breathe.
The effect he was having was startling. What was he turning her into?
Her hand violently smacked her combadge. "Security to the ready room!"
Lt. Tuvok, another armed security officer and a rather concerned Commander Chakotay arrived within seconds.
Q frowned when he saw them all, phasers at the ready.
"Have I arrived in an alternate reality or something?" he wondered aloud.
The Commander's heart grew cold at the sight of him, the one individual in the entire universe he felt an actual desire to hurt. He took no pride in feeling like that but even the Cardassians hadn't evoked such a strong emotional response within him. However, his more immediate concern was the petrified Captain back up against the wall.
Tuvok was unsure how to proceed. He had no idea what the problem between his Captain and Q was but he knew that phaser fire would be useless. Q was omnipotent. It wouldn't affect him in the slightest.
"Q, get the hell away from her now!"
The anger in the Commander's voice was enough to surprise even Tuvok. Even when he'd been undercover back on Chakotay's old ship, the Val Jean, he'd never witnessed him so angry.
Q was physically taken aback when the Commander shoved him out of the way to reach for the partially-panicking Captain. She readily took his hand and allowed him to guide her towards the security of her other officers.
Her breathing was fast and erratic as he pulled her into his chest, her head falling against it as he wrapped his arm around her.
He could feel her quivering as he comforted her. "It's okay, it's okay…"
Q regained his balance and spun around to face the Commander.
"Well that was certainly unwarranted, Chuckles!"
The Commander's look was cold. "How dare you…" he tried to remain calm for the Captain's sake, "How dare you come aboard this ship after what you've done!"
"What?!" exclaimed Q, looking extremely puzzled.
"I thought even you have better sense than that."
Q just stood there in utter disbelief. "Seriously, what?!" he sighed roughly, "What have I done?"
The Captain rolled her face into the Commander's chest. She didn't want to be seen crying by the two security officers in the room.
For some reason, Q's total denial over everything just seemed to be making the entire situation worse and her emotional instability just couldn't be controlled any further.
Aware of her little breakdown, the Commander simply shook his head at Q. His glare would have been enough to halt an army in its tracks.
"Leave." he ordered, his voice deep and flat.
Q gave up. "Fine!"
The moment he disappeared in a flash, the Captain could feel her legs give way. She was certainly thankful that Chakotay was holding her tightly so she didn't just downright collapse.
Her sobbing became more evident and that was when Tuvok thankfully decided it was time to leave the room. As her friend, he certainly didn't like seeing her in that kind of state. In fact, he couldn't recall a time he'd ever seen her in that kind of state. There was obviously something very wrong.