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Q'd

by Kadi

Rated NC-17

 

Disclaimer: *blink* Oh come on, you don't REALLY expect me to let them have any sort of credit for anything of MINE do you!?  Screw that!

 

A/N1: For the sake of my own enjoyment this fic takes place sometime between Q2 and Endgame.

 

A/N2: This particular story was written for, dedicated to, and whatever else she desires, my Mistress Q Muse, who makes an appearance of her own later in the fic. And also, special thanks goes out to Molly for her much appreciated beta!

 

A/N3: For future reference, the term orbing comes from the series: Charmed. It represents Q’s ability to transport with a flash of light.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

 

Kathryn looked up from the padd she was reading, and between mouthfuls of coffee muttered, "Come in." She didn't bother looking up, it was half an hour past the end of her shift; therefore she was expecting Chakotay to come and nag her. She couldn't have been more wrong.

 

"Aunt Kathy, I need your help."

 

Her head snapped up, her coffee mug was placed back onto the desk with a loud 'clink'. "Junior? What are you doing here?" Then she blinked, "Did you chime?"

 

He nodded, "You hate it when we just drop in unexpectedly," he was wringing his hands as he stood before her desk, "So I popped in outside your door instead."

 

"Thank you, I think." She eyed him cautiously, "What's up?"

 

"Well, it's my Dad." When she rolled her eyes he quickly continued, "No, please, you can't even begin to guess what he's done this time, and I'm trying to fix it, so please don't shoot the messenger."

 

She frowned; she could tell the young Q was obviously worried and anxious about something. "It's alright, whatever your father has done, I'm sure you had nothing to do with it. Go on."

 

"It's no secret that he's always been fascinated with you," at her snort he smiled, "he wanted you to be my mom. Which, between you and me, I wouldn't have minded at all." He smiled at her, "It'd be so much better than reality, any day of the millennia, but I'm getting off track. Dad decided if he couldn't have you, then he was just going to go back and find a younger, more..." He looked for the appropriate word, "agreeable you?" He sighed, "Anyway, he went back, grabbed you from some point in time after you graduated from Starfleet academy and before your first mission---Aunt Kathy, you were really a party girl back then huh?"  The glare she sent him made him wince, noticeably, "Sorry. Anyway, Dad pulled you out of the fragment of space and time so that it wouldn't upset the timeline. And let me tell you, you were not happy at all. I didn't know you could curse in that many languages!"

 

"Junior," her voice was pure ice.

 

"Oh, yeah, sorry Aunt Kathy. Getting to the point now. Dad had you for several months, but because I made him promise it, he didn't, you know... try anything kinky. And to be completely honest, after a while you didn't mind so much at least hanging out with me, and it was kind of nice having someone around closer to my own age, all the other Q are just so, so... old and boring. It was almost like being able to hang out with Icheb again, only it was you. A younger you! You're pretty cool Aunt Kathy, when you want to be. Please don't throw that coffee at me, I'm trying to get to the point, I just wanted you to understand." He breathed a sigh of relief when her cup was safely back on the surface of her desk. "Well to, as Mr. Paris says, ‘cut to the chase’, Mom has always hated you, mainly because of Dad's obsession with you. I guess you can say she's always been jealous. Well, after our last encounter, because it was you that helped me change, and not her, she really hates you. I mean, really, really hate's you. We're talking, would vaporize you from every known universe fragment, hates you." He yelped and orbed out as a PADD was thrown at him, then orbed back just as suddenly. "Aunt Kathy, please!"

 

"Get to the point. Now."

 

He sighed, "Well, Mom found out about Dad's new... toy. And you can imagine how well that went over. At first, Mom just took Katie, erased her memory, and put her back. Dad didn't like that, so he went back and grabbed Katie again, and put her memories back. Mom blew a gasket; she took Katie away from us again, only this time she was going to keep her. And you really don't want to imagine the kinds of tortures one jealous psycho Q can come up with. But, I found them before she could do anything. I erased Katie's memory and put her back, but the next time it was Mom who grabbed her and restored the memories of what all had happened. It's like watching two children play tug of war over a toy, only it's really not funny and I feel like I'm the only sane Q around! I appealed to the Continuum, but since no laws of the universe were being broken, and the timeline was safe, they didn't care. They can't be bothered with ‘lower life forms’." He rolled his eyes, "Stuffy old codgers if you ask me!" Then he sighed and slumped into the chair in front of her desk. "I grabbed Katie again, before mom could do anything, and I need a safe place to put her. She can't keep bouncing around the cosmos between the Omnipotent children that are unfortunately my Qrents. I was hoping that you would let me leave her here."

 

 When it looked like she was about to protest he held up a hand, "Aunt Kathy, I don't have anywhere else to go. I've tried hiding her, Mom found us, and we barely escaped. And I know that, if I leave her here, Dad won't bother her or you again because, one, he'll be too embarrassed to be seen by you because he pulled such a Q-like stunt, and two, because he's afraid of you. On the other hand, I know Mom won't come here looking for her because she'll think it's one, apt punishment for the two of you to be thrown together in the same space, and two, because she knows Dad like I do. And she knows he won't come back here, at least for an extremely long time, and I know she's really going to go for that idea."

 

Kathryn's forehead hit the surface of her desk with an audible thump. "Why is it," she asked after several moments of agonized silence, "that every time you Q show up, you make my life miserable." She glanced up at her God-Q.

 

"I'm really sorry Aunt Kathy. I tried to fix it, but they're uncontrollable."

 

He looked just about as miserable as she felt. She sighed, she could find no fault with the boy; he had indeed tried, from what he'd told her, and she believed him. "And this is our absolute last choice?"

 

"Well," he cringed, "I could completely remove her from existence, but," he looked even more miserable, "she's my friend. Please Aunt Kathy, don't make me poof her away."

 

It was his puppy dog look that did her in. "Fine. I suppose even if I did make you do that it would be some sick, twisted form of suicide." She shook her head, "I have a headache." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than it was gone. "Thanks."

 

"No problem." He was still wringing his hands nervously.

 

"Fine, leave her here. Maybe Q, and Q, will eventually lose all interest in her and you can put her back."

 

"Aunt Kathy, I love you!" He leapt from his seat and hurled himself across the expanse of her desk to lay a loud, smacking kiss on her cheek.

 

"Don't thank me yet." She shook her head, crooked grin in place, in spite of it all. "I don't know if I'll be able to stand myself; I may have to destroy her myself."

 

"Aunt Kathy!" He glared at her.

 

"Oh, it was just a joke." She sighed, "Well where is she?"

 

Q snapped his fingers and a form fell out of the air, landing with a loud "Oomph" at his feet. "Bloody Hell! Q, a little warning next time, you know I hate it when you do that!" She glared up at him, while rubbing her bum.

 

He smiled meekly and offered her a hand, "Sorry."

 

"Yeah, I bet," she took it and let him pull her to her feet, muttering a not so silent, "wanker," under her breath.

 

He laughed, "Aunt Kathy, meet Katie."

 

The young woman looked at her older self and cocked her head to the side, "Mom?"

 

Kathryn immediately noticed the humor dancing in the young girl's eyes, "Not Quite."

 

She laughed and looked at Q beside her, "I take this to mean I can stay?"

 

"Aunt Kathy said yes."

 

"Q, I love you!" She grabbed his face and kissed him soundly on the lips.

 

He blushed, and looked away from his godmother, "Don't thank me, Aunt Kathy's in charge around here."

 

She looked at her older self again, "Why is that anyway? I was never interested in Command."

 

Kathryn shrugged, "We'll discuss it later, maybe. Right now we need to decide how we're going to go about this. Q, you're welcome to stay on board for a few days if you'd like?"

 

He shook his head, "I'd like to but I can't. The Continuum hasn't lifted my sanction yet, but I think I'm winning them over." He gave her a wink, "If I save four more civilizations, I'm sure I can convince the elders to let me have my freedom back. But, my dad is more of a menace than I am, so guess who the real babysitter is turning out to be."

 

"I'm not surprised," Kathryn laughed.

 

"I have to get back," he faced Katie, "I'll check in on you. The Continuum doesn't mind if I come here without Dad, but I've been hopping around so much lately, I don't want to push them."

 

She nodded, "I understand. When you find your father, obliterate him for me, will you?"

 

He nodded and hugged her, "I'll try!" Then he turned, "Thanks Aunt Kathy!" And with a flash of light, he was gone.

 

Katie sighed and plopped herself down in the chair in front of Kathryn's desk. "He's a good kid, but God it's exhausting being bounced around the cosmos!"

 

Kathryn chuckled, and once more lifted her coffee mug. She wrinkled her nose at the now lukewarm substance. "Coffee?"

 

"Oh, yes, please. I'll be your eternal servant."

 

Kathryn laughed as she stood to retrieve two steaming mugs from the replicator. "Well, I'm not looking for a slave just yet," she handed a mug to her young counterpart, "but I'll let you know if that changes.”

 

"So, I guess we're going to have to lay down some ground rules for this little," Katie motioned with one hand, "visit, however long it may last. And let me tell you, Q time rushes by much quicker than what we're used to. After 4 years of being dragged around the Universe by Q, I'm seriously looking for a vacation."

 

"I bet," Kathryn shook her head, "I swear, next time I see that slime… “ the rest of her sentence trailed off into a snarl. She took a calming sip of coffee and sighed, "But yes, you're right, ground rules. And we need to introduce you to my senior staff, so that they can inform their departments of what's going on. And we have a few empty cabins on board, it's not much, but you will at least have your own quarters."

 

Katie nursed her coffee cup thoughtfully, "I really do appreciate you letting me stay here. I know this is strange, for both of us, and I'm sure it's only going to get stranger. But, thanks just the same."  She studied her coffee mug for several moments, "Q said I probably shouldn't tell you this, at least not right off. But, I think you have a right to know, and I know that I would want to be informed." She met her older self's gaze, "He got permission from the Continuum Elders to bestow limited Q abilities on a 'lesser being' for the sake of continued harmony in the cosmos. It's nothing major," She continued immediately at the astonished look on the Captain's face, "If the Psycho Q brigade shows up, I can astral-project myself out of here, at the same time sending a message to Junior to come and get me. I can conjure up a cup of coffee," she grinned, "I asked him for that one, but I'm not very good at it yet," she blinked. "I keep getting Tarkalian spiced ale, and I can't prove it, but I think that little twerp did it on purpose." She shook her head, "In any case, I can't use it on others. For instance, I can't astral-project you from this room and back, not even if I'm moving myself. I can't bring someone back to life; I can't even save their lives with it. But he gave me this really awesome ability to defend myself, that works on others." She grinned wickedly, "And then there's this other thing I can do, but I don't think he was counting on that. You should have seen his face when he experienced his first orgasm."

 

Kathryn shook her head, her eyes tightly closed, "I don't want to know." She sighed, "I should have known this wouldn't be as simple as I hoped. Alright, tell me about this ability to defend yourself?"

 

"Oh it's easy," She looked around the room, her eyes lighting on a data PADD. "Are you using that?" At her counterpart’s negative movement, she snapped her fingers. The data PADD erupted into a ball of dust. Before the dust had settled she snapped them again, and it was back to it's perfectly rectangular self. "It comes in handy against large insects."

 

"Okay, rule number 1: No ‘poofing’ allowed on board; no poofing of crew and Voyager property, unless otherwise instructed. Okay?"

 

"Well, I wasn't going to go around dusting everything and everyone," she looked a little insulted, "But understood, Captain."

 

"Rule number 2: no projecting on board, unless there is an emergency, like Psycho Q shows up."

 

"Agreed."

 

"Rule number 3: when you figure out that thing with the coffee, let me know. I often run low on replicator rations, so that could come in handy."

 

Katie laughed, "You got it."

 

"And rule number 4: you might want to keep the whole orgasm thing to yourself." She shifted in her seat, decidedly uncomfortable.

 

"Aye, aye Captain," Katie laughed, "but it makes a great diversionary tactic at times."

 

"We'll discuss it if the need arises," she blushed when she realized how that sounded. "You know what I mean!"

 

"Okay, okay, no random orgasms, anything else?"

 

"Well, you're going to have to pull your weight on board and we can certainly use the extra pair of hands. I know Engineering and Stellar Cartography are both short handed, and I also know you have medical training, so we could use you in sickbay as well." She picked up a PADD and started inputting data. "We'll work out a training schedule to bring you up to date on the ship's systems that way---"

 

"No need, Q took care of that. He wanted to make sure that if you did say yes, and allowed me to stay on board, that I had knowledge of all Voyager's operating systems. I must say, the gel packs were an ingenious idea, and I'm looking forward to meeting this B'Elanna Torres person. And sickbay duty works for me," she shrugged, "like I said, need a vacation."

 

"You haven't met our doctor yet."

 

"No, but I've heard about him. Junior told me about all of you; he's very fond of this crew."

 

"He's turning out alright, despite his parentage. Well, we should get this show on the road." She reached up and tapped her combadge, "Janeway to Chakotay, I need to see you in my ready room."

 

There was a pause and then, "Kathryn, you've been officially off duty for over an hour; why are you still in the ready room?"

 

Katie lifted a brow at the slightly annoyed voice, but Kathryn silenced her with a wave of her hand. "You'll find out when you get up here Commander."

 

"Understood."

 

Katie eyed her counterpart, "Okay, who is this Chakotay and why is he making you smirk like that?"

 

"My first officer, and a friend." She lifted her coffee mug again.

 

"Just a friend?" Katie gave her a knowing smile, "Uh huh, I know that look." 

 

But the doors to the Ready Room opened and Chakotay breezed in before she could say another word. "Kathryn, if that's coffee---" He trailed off when his eyes lighted on Katie. He looked between the two of them and back again. "Okay, what did you do this time?"

 

Kathryn rolled her eyes and motioned him into a seat, "Q did it, but I'll explain all the details later. She's going to be staying with us for a while. It seems our omnipotent pest and his omnipotent mate has made quite a mess playing tug of war with young Katie. Junior brought her by, and asked for asylum for her until they lose interest."

 

Chakotay sat in the chair next to Katie, "Why us?"

 

"I've been asking myself that every day of the last four years," Katie sighed, "but, I still haven't figured it out."

 

Kathryn rolled her eyes, "In the meantime, my young doppelganger will be our guest." She reached for her computer terminal and tapped in a series of commands, "Do we still have quarters available on Deck 12?"

 

"Yes," Chakotay leaned forward thoughtfully and pulled the screen around to glance at it, "But we cordoned off that section of the ship to save energy. The only other cabins available are on Deck 9."

 

Kathryn brought up the information on that deck; "Has B'Elanna finished moving her things from her old quarters to Tom's?"

 

A frown marred his brow as he tried to recall, "I believe so, I'll double check. If she hasn't I'll see that it gets done today."

 

"Alright, and assemble our staff, I want to brief them on what's happening." She turned the computer off and sat back in her seat.

 

"I'm on it." He stood and left the room without so much as a backward glance.

 

Katie watched him leave with a raised brow. When the doors had closed behind him she turned back to Kathryn. "Tall, dark, dangerous, well it's nice to know that some things never change, most noticeably our taste in men. And it has to be said," she whistled appreciatively, "Strip me down, tie me up, and call me honey!" She smirked at Kathryn's scowl, "Just a friend huh? Yeah right and Phoebe is a rocket scientist."

 

"Actually," Kathryn's lips curved upward into a crooked grin, "Phoebe is now a top researcher in Quantum theory and Warp Mechanics and Applications at the Daystrom Institute."

 

Katie blinked, and let out an almost panicked, "Huh?"

 

At the wide-eyed look of near terror Kathryn started laughing. "Well okay, she's not, but I had you going for a moment."

 

Katie's eyes narrowed. "Bitch."

 

"Ah, ah, ah! That's Captain Bitch aboard this ship." She drained the last of her coffee and stood, "We should get going, everyone is probably on his or her way up now." She started toward the bridge and then thought better of it, "We'll just go the back way." She turned and headed out the secondary exit.

 

Katie followed obediently, "So what is up with you and this Chakotay anyway?"

 

Janeway shook her head, "Nothing, he's my first officer, and my best friend. That's it, end of story."

 

"Right." She fell into step next to her older self, "If that's all there is to it, then why do I have singed hair from all the sparks flying around that room?"

 

Kathryn walked into the still empty briefing room, "Well, since you brought the subject of sparks up, what's going on between you and a certain junior Q? Hmmm?" She eyed Katie carefully as she took her seat at head of the table.

 

"I don't know what you're talking about; I've sworn off men, remember. Or has it really been that long since you were me?" She sat in the chair to Kathryn's right. "Remember Cheb...Riker...to name a couple. Nope, no men, ever for me, period." She winked, "Remember Sara?"

 

Kathryn blinked, "I don't know who you're talking about." She sat up primly in her seat, "But you're dodging the question. And he's not a man, he's a Q, so answer it." She gave Katie her best Captain's glare.

 

"Precisely, he's a Q, they have no need for sex. That's why he'd never even had an orgasm until I snapped my fingers and," She snapped them to demonstrate, "voila!"

 

Kathryn jumped in her seat, "GEEZ!" Her hands gripped the edge of the table and she looked wide-eyed at her young counterpart for several seconds.

 

Katie snickered, "Oops."

 

"Don't..." She breathed, "Do that again."

 

She continued to snicker, "Better get control of yourself Captain, looks like the gangs all here."

 

And indeed, the senior staff began filing into the room, one by one taking their seats. Harry was the last to arrive; he stopped short at seeing the two of them at the head of the table. When he realized he was indeed seeing what he thought he was seeing, he flinched, "AHH!"

 

Kathryn's brow arched, "As always Mr. Kim, it's a pleasure to see you too."

 

"Sorry," he mumbled meekly and took his seat.

 

Chakotay leaned forward; noticing his captain's flushed exterior, "Are you alright Kathryn?"

 

"Fine."

 

Katie snorted, "She is now, anyway."

 

That earned her another glare, to which Katie only smiled sweetly and leaned back in her seat. She hefted one booted foot up to rest on her knee, and toyed with the cuff of her cream colored leather pants as she waited for Kathryn to go through the explanation of her sudden appearance.

 

"Is there anything else that she can do?" A decidedly worried Harry Kim asked, once the explanation had been finished, "Besides poofing and coffee making?"

 

Katie winked at him, "Meet me later when your shift is over and maybe we'll discuss--ahem, sorry." She trailed off, but never flinched under the Captain's death glare. "Four years with a Q will do something to a girl's sense of humor. I meant no disrespect. But as to Mr. Kim's question, there is one small thing I forgot to mention earlier."

 

Kathryn arched one winged brow, "Forgot?"

 

"Hmm, it was all the excitement, it's not every day a girl gets dropped on her bum in her future office!" She blinked, "That was rather embarrassing, he'll bloody pay for that... but I digress." She glanced around the room looking for a target, and decided the fidgeting Mr. Kim would do. With a wave of her hand he froze in place. She waited the space of a few heartbeats, while the others noticed the young Ensign's state. While Kathryn and the EMH looked appalled, Chakotay looked only slightly worried. Of the others however, Paris and Torres were fighting their obvious amusement, while the Vulcan and the Seven-person, were looking decidedly disinterested. When it seemed Kathryn was ready to order him back, she gave another slight flick of her wrist, and Harry returned to normal, albeit looking a touch greener than before. "Sorry about that love, but you were the only one squirming."

 

Kathryn glared at her, "Let's try to refrain from using that particular ability as well, hmm?"

 

Katie shrugged, "You're the boss, I'm just the cute one."

 

The elder of the two rolled her eyes, "If there are no further questions," she addressed her staff again, "I suggest you spread the news and we adjourn for the evening." She gave their guest a pointed look, "You stay put." The Captain waited until everyone had filed out of the room and then turned on the younger woman. "That was not only uncalled for, but cruel. You embarrassed Harry."

 

"I'll apologize to him then, it was just a demonstration." She stood and walked over to the view ports, "Look, Captain, I've spent four years with the Q, and while Junior is a sweet kid, the last year and a half has been spent trying to stay alive. I'm sorry if I have a little trouble conforming to starship ideals and Starfleet protocols. Considering what I've been through, it's a pretty lucky thing that I'm still reasonably sane." She turned around to face her older self once more, "Staying that way rests entirely on being able to remain here, so I can try to behave, but you're going to have to cut me a little slack. It's not been," she gave a shudder, "easy."

 

A chill swept over Kathryn as she stepped closer to the younger woman, leaned against the view port, and spoke in a much softer tone, "What did she do to you?"

 

"It wasn't me she hurt," Katie turned to stare out the view port again, "it was him." She fought back the ache and the tears, "She hates him, her own son. And all because he chose to care, not just for a lesser being," she scoffed, "but for me, for you, for us. Her heart is so black with jealousy that she's turned against her own son. And it hurt him, and he could have handed me over to her, just to win her back. But he didn't."

 

"No," Kathryn laid a hand on the young woman's shoulder, "He wouldn't."

 

"He's so much better than all of them," she whispered, and closed her eyes to try and contain the tears, though a few stray droplets trailed down her cheeks. She leaned into the hand on her shoulder, and drew strength from it. The past four years had been as trying as they had been interesting, and she missed her family, now more than ever. And she missed Junior, though she thought it better not to dwell on that. Her feelings for him should have disturbed her, but oddly they didn't, and she chose to ignore it. He was a Q, and when all was said and done, when she was safe, her memory of him would be completely wiped, and it would be twenty years before she would meet him again. And that, she decided, disturbed her more than it should have.  She drew away from Kathryn, straightened her back, squared her shoulders, and wiped the moisture from her face.  "So anyway," she shrugged, "about these quarters, we should probably get me settled so that you can get back to your day, whatever is left of it."

 

Kathryn recognized the defensive maneuver, and allowed it for the moment, a part of her wondering if this sudden feeling of frustration at watching the other woman cut herself off so completely was how Chakotay often felt. She pushed the thought away before she could dwell to deeply on it and nodded. "Deck Nine, Lieutenant Torres' former cabin. That should be adequate for your needs. The other empty cabins on that deck have not been used in some time, we've cut off the power to those rooms for energy conservation, and I’d rather not reroute it."

 

Katie shrugged, "Whatever works for you is fine by me. I'm sure I can find them by myself, you don't have to concern yourself with playing tour guide."

 

"Actually, I'm sure Chakotay probably had B'Elanna hang back to escort you herself."

 

"Know him that well do you?" Katie smirked again, "Friends. Right Kathy old gal, keep telling yourself that one. Someday even you might believe it." She winked and turned away to stride from the room.

 

 

"No," Kathryn said to the empty room, "I'll never believe it." She leaned back against the view port and let out a weary sigh. It was so much easier to pretend that they were nothing more than friends, because when she stopped pretending, when she started listening to her heart, her job became that much harder to bare.

 

Katie stopped just outside the doors and cocked her head to one side as she met the gaze of the petite Klingon woman that was waiting for her. "Tell me something," a crooked grin spread across her face, "does she always know what the big Indian is thinking?"

 

B'Elanna gave her a puzzled look, "I'm sorry? Chakotay asked me to wait--Oh." She smiled, "Well it's a long, sordid story; it could take a while."

 

"Time means nothing when you've been playing with the Q." Katie fell into step beside her, "Something tells me I'm going to enjoy this; start talking."

 

B'Elanna shook her head, "You're as bossy as she is."

 

Katie just laughed, "I am her! Just the younger and cuter and decidedly less grumpy model."

 

Laughing, Torres lead her into a turbolift, already chronicling the long, drawn out, sordid details of the Captain and First Officer's non-relationship before the doors had even closed.

 

"Well it started almost exactly the day they met, but at the time everyone was just too busy to think about it and she was engaged to some guy back home."

 

"Engaged?" Katie's brow shot up, "I got engaged? To a guy? You mean I didn't swear off men forever? Well wonders never cease, no wonder she didn’t' remember Sa--uh, an old friend. Who was the guy?"

 

B'Elanna shrugged, "Some Mark Johnson character. Anyway--"

 

"Johnson? Mark... Mark Johnson," Katie blinked a few times as she ran the name over in her mind.

 

"Some guy you two grew up with..."

 

Katie frowned, "The only Johnson I knew growing up was vulky Hobbes Johnson---Oh no. She wouldn't... She couldn't, tell me she didn't!"  Katie grabbed B'Elanna by her jacket and hauled her forward. "Tell me she didn't! She--she... got engaged to him?" She let go of B'Elanna and slumped back against the side of the lift, "That means she---they---oh god, I'm going to be sick."

 

Suppressing the urge to laugh, B'Elanna reached over and patted her shoulder, "Slow, even breaths, it'll pass." That earned her the trademarked death glare, to which she did laugh. "Anyway, as I was saying, nobody noticed it at first. Not until they got stranded on that planet..." 

 

The doors to the lift slid open a few minutes later and Katie followed Torres down the corridor. "Wait a minute, you're telling me, I—err, she that is, was stuck on a deserted planet, with that seriously hunky example of male flesh, and they didn't do anything?!" She shook her head, "What the hell is wrong with her! I'd have jumped him the first night!"

 

"We don't know that they didn't, however, I know Chakotay, and I would have known if they had." B'Elanna lead her around a corner and stopped in front of a set of doors, "He gets this look in his eyes when he's been with a woman, and in all these years, Chakotay's never "gotten the look" where the Captain is concerned."  She keyed in the override and stepped back to motion the younger woman into the room.

 

"She's nuts. She's completely, totally nuts," Katie walked into the cabin and dropped herself into a chair. "In seven years the only thing she's fucked is a hologram; she's got to be completely unstable." She looked up at Torres, "You know, you people should really think about getting her some counseling of some kind. This can't be healthy. I'm thinking, some sort of mandatory, conjugal visits in sickbay with the hunky first officer. I'm sure he can yank that stick outta her ass."

 

"It's been tried," B'Elanna sighed, "we were all on holodeck and ration restriction for a month." She shuddered, "And after a month of being sentenced to the mess hall, with no holodeck escape, we decided they could fix it their own damned selves." She shrugged, "Besides, if the captain gets too grumpy, the doctor programs the replicator to slip something into her coffee. But don't you dare tell her, she'll delete him and space the lot of us, and he's the best weapon we've got against her!"

 

"I love it! Slipping your Captain a mickey!" Katie let out a boisterous laugh, "Q was right about this place. No wonder he thought I'd be safe here. God help the Delta Quadrant if you're here much longer!"

 

B'Elanna shrugged, "Well, there's one thing I can say for Voyager, life here is never boring. If we're not being shot at, chased, or looking for supplies, we're drugging our Captain and plotting ways of getting her fucked. A crew has to have fun some how!"

 

"Oh God," Katie hugged her sides, "No wonder," she started laughing again, "she jumped three feet when I zapped her!"

 

B'Elanna gave her a puzzled look, "Zapped her? You mean like with Harry?"

 

"Oh no," Katie snickered, "there was another Q-side effect we didn't mention." She flashed a wicked smile and snapped her fingers.

 

"Oh my god!" B'Elanna sank onto the sofa, "I haven't had one that good since I got pregnant." Then she smiled, "You did that to the Captain?"

 

Katie shrugged and flashed an innocent smile, "Well I had to demonstrate some how, and I didn't want to do it to one of the guys, at least, not in public." She waggled her brows.

 

"So that explains why she was looking all flushed and flustered when everyone walked in." She leaned back on the sofa and lay a hand on her rounded belly, "Hey, that explains the good mood. You know, I'm having a thought..."

 

Katie narrowed her eyes, "Does it involve improving your Captain's disposition?"

 

The half Klingon woman flashed a toothy grin, "I'm really beginning to love how your mind works." The two women shared a brief smile, "Computer," B'Elanna asked, "locate Captain Janeway."

 

::Captain Janeway is on the Bridge::

 

Katie twirled a strand of her hair, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

 

They looked at each other for a split second, and said simultaneously, "Oh hell yeah!"

 

Kathryn was crossing the bridge, on her way to the turbolift, "Mr. Tuvok, Beta shift is all--" She tripped on the stairs leading to the upper level as the sensation washed over her, more intense than the last time. "--yours," she finished in a high-pitched squeak."

 

Two pairs of hands reached for her at the same instant, Lieutenant Ayala who was taking over tactical, and Chakotay who was also leaving the bridge.

 

“Captain, are you alright?” Chakotay’s concern was evident in his dark eyes.

 

“Fine,” she pulled away from him quickly, “just wasn’t watching where I was going.” She flushed as much with embarrassment as with—well, the other. “I’ll see you in the morning,” She rushed into the turbolift before anything else could be said and slumped back against the wall, trying to catch her breath and calm her nerves. When she had managed the other, she slapped her combadge, “Janeway to Torres.”

 

“Go ahead Captain.”

 

Kathryn scowled at the amused tone in her Chief Engineer’s voice, “Is our young guest still with you?”

 

“As a matter of fact she is Captain.”

 

A serious of snickers and muffled giggles could be heard through the com-link, causing the Captain’s scowl to deepen. “Deliver a message for me, won’t you, Lieutenant.” She stressed the other woman’s rank. “Revenge is a dish best served cold, or freezing, as it may be in our case. I hope you get my meaning. Goodnight ladies.”

 

The link was closed and the two women stared at each other for a moment, before erupting into a fit of laughter. It took several moments for them to regain their composure.

 

“You don’t think,” B’Elanna, asked, only half seriously, “that she would space a pregnant woman do you?”

 

“Nah,” Katie waved it off, and watched the other woman relax. “She’ll wait until you’ve delivered and then do it.”

 

“Oh well, in that case.” B’Elanna laughed. “I’d better get home to my husband before he comes looking for me. Do you have everything you need?”

 

Katie nodded and walked her to the door, “I do, thank you. Why don’t we meet for breakfast? Oh, say, around the same time as the Captain?” Katie winked at her.

 

“It’s a date; goodnight.”

 

When she was alone, Katie turned and surveyed the empty cabin. She spotted the computer terminal and made a beeline for it. “All right, Captain Janeway, let’s get to know one another.”  She busied herself with hacking into the computer’s database, and more specifically, the Captain’s personal logs.  “Well what do we have here?” She found what she was looking for and quickly downloaded it to a data PADD and let herself out of the system before she could be caught.

 

She got a pot of coffee from the replicator and carried the PADD, and tray over to the sofa, where she curled up into a corner to read. The first few entries were rather boring, and she managed to skim through them without gagging over the Hobbes, Mark, whatever the hell his name was, crap. But after a while the entries began to take on a more colorful nature. Katie shifted on the sofa and let out a low whistle, “Two weeks together and she was panting after him like an Orion slave girl in heat,” she muttered, “So why didn’t she just go for it?” But her question was answered by the next few entries, and Katie found it hard to believe that she would have ever grown into the kind of person that allowed Starfleet to dictate her life. Not after growing up with a father absent due to it’s every beck and call. She pushed away the thoughts of her father before her good mood could be ruined, and continued reading through the data. 

 

Each entry was nearly identical to the last, there were a few tidbits here and there that detailed specific moments in their journey, but most were about Chakotay and her feelings for him, and more precisely her desire for him. A few of the fantasies recorded gave Katie hope that some of herself had remained in the older woman after all, but Kathryn’s heartfelt admonishments to her own behavior, and obvious heart ache at being so torn between duty and desire made her heart ache for the both of them. Even if her counterpart had not been able to admit it at this point, she could tell that she had already fallen in love with him during the first few months of their trek across the Delta Quadrant.

 

Her heart ached as she read the accounts of his betrayal at the hands of a woman called Seska, of learning of Samantha Wildman’s pregnancy and Kathryn’s own yearning for a child though even in these logs she expressed her doubt at ever having the chance. One particular piece brought tears to Katie’s eyes. Kathryn detailed a dream that she’d had in which she had given birth to a child of Chakotay’s. Then heartbreakingly described how it had been ripped from her arms at birth as punishment for giving in to her baser human needs and defying the protocols she was duty bound to uphold. Her other self’s words haunted her as she read them.

     “...These people have grown so dear to me that when we return home, I plan to do everything in my power to see that their sentences are reduced. I would like more, but I am realistic enough to know that a return home in the next few months, even the next year, would not see pardons so easily handed down from Starfleet Command. And I know, that if I am to do these people any good at all, I must maintain my distance. I cannot let my loyalties to them be called into question by violating protocols, no matter how much Chakotay has grown to mean to me. Our Maquis crew need me far too much, and I’m finding everyday that I need them as well...”

 

Katie tossed the PADD aside with a sigh, “Some things never change,” she whispered to the empty room. “You still care far too much about others, and far too little for yourself.” She poured herself a fresh cup of coffee and stood up to stretch her legs and walk around her new quarters. She walked over to the view port and held the mug between her hands, letting its warmth soothe her. She stared out at the stars. That’s why, she thought, you wouldn’t let yourself get too close to Junior. Not that he didn’t try, she thought with a crooked grin. You knew that eventually they were going to have to put you back, she told herself, and you didn’t want to hurt him when he had to say goodbye. Because ‘he’s’ too sensitive, because ‘he’s’ been through too much. She snorted, “Stop fooling yourself Kathryn,” she leaned against the view port, the glass cool against her brow, “you just didn’t want to get hurt when he got tired of you.”

 

Making a decision, she turned away from the view port and recycled her coffee. There was nothing she could do for herself; she was going to be put back into the timeline with her memories purged, but as far as her older self was concerned she could damned sure shake things up. She marched back over to the sofa and picked up the data PADD, “All right, Kathryn, so in seven years you never dallied, but Chakotay is male...so let’s see if you’re a jealous woman.” A plan was already forming in her mind, and thank God she was Q-endowed and couldn’t get spaced, because she was about to do her best to seriously piss off one redheaded Starfleet Captain.

 

Morning, and the chiming on her door, came far too early for someone who had spent most of the night getting to know her captain. She had forced herself to lie down and nap for two hours, and was just getting dressed when the summons came. She was met by the smiling Paris couple when the door slid open. “You know, there should be a law against looking that cheerful this early in the morning.”

 

“Probably,” B’Elanna shrugged, “But if we leave now we can be in the mess hall before the Captain gets there.”

 

“How do we know she’ll come by?”

 

B’Elanna smiled, “It’s the end of the month, she’s out of rations, and Chakotay moved his into a new secure account so she couldn’t siphon them off anymore.” But she snickered, “I give it another day or two before she’s hacked into it.”

 

Tom stepped back and let Katie fall into step between him and his wife. “They do this at least once every few months. It’s like a game, to see how long it takes her to get back into his account. If you ask me, it would save them both a lot of trouble if he’d just give them to her every month.”

 

Katie laughed, “But where would the fun be in that?”

 

“True,” the married duo said as one.

 

And true to the duo’s word, the three of them managed to arrive and get a prime seat just minutes before the Captain made her appearance. The trio watched her discreetly as she spoke to Neelix and then retreated into a corner of the mess hall with her coffee and breakfast. When Chakotay arrived Katie leaned forward and said softly, “Whatever I do, just play along.” She winked at the pair and stood to go and greet the handsome first officer.

 

“Neelix,” Katie leaned close to Chakotay, “Could I get anoth—Oh! I’m sorry Commander, I didn’t mean to be so rude.” She flashed him her brightest smile, “Please, forgive me.”

 

He laughed, “It’s quite all right.”

 

“I simply had only one thing on my mind. More coffee!” She stepped toward him, purposefully invading his personal space, “Usually Q or Junior would snap their fingers,” she snapped her own to demonstrate, and watched out of the corner of her eye as Kathryn jumped slightly and sat up straight. She could feel the other woman’s glare boring a hole into her as she proceeded to flirt with the First Officer. ‘Well at least I have her attention,’ she thought to herself, ‘let’s see if this does any good.’

 

She placed a hand on his chest, “I just don’t know if I’ll ever get used to being completely among humans again.”

 

Chakotay felt the usual jolt to his system that occurred when Kathryn smiled or touched him. And though she wasn’t really his Kathryn, she sounded, looked, and even smelled just like the woman he had grown to love. “Well,” he handed her his own cup of the dark substance, “far be it for me to stand in the way of a Janeway and her coffee!”

 

“Oh, you’re so sweet,” she held the cup to her nose and inhaled the aroma, “I just bet your Captain loves you to death.” She watched her words hit their mark and knew instantly the moment his eyes clouded over for a moment that he held the same feelings for her older self. “I just bet she can’t live without you,” she added, feeling only slightly guilty that she was turning the knife she had just driven into his chest. She leaned even closer to him, until her breasts just barely brushed his chest, and spoke in a hushed voice, “Maybe we should get together sometime and you can tell me your other secrets to winning her over, because I just don’t think she likes me.” She leaned back with a bright smile, “Well, I need to get back to my new friends, I don’t want to be rude. Thanks again!” She gave him a flirtatious wink and turned to stride back across the room to the table she shared with the Paris’s.

 

B’Elanna leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially, “I almost feel sorry for you.”

 

Tom nodded, “If looks could kill, the Captain would be in the brig for murder right now.” He let out a low whistle; “I hope you know what you’re doing, because I don’t think I’ve seen her look that particularly pissed at anyone in a very long time.”

 

Katie waved off their concerns and lifted the coffee to her lips, “Your Captain doesn’t like it when Chakotay flirts or gets involved with other women. Trust me, it’s for a good cause. Besides, Chakotay is cute and all, but not really my type.”

 

B’Elanna arched a brow, “Oh? And what is your type?” She leaned forward, “Medium height, light brown hair, sort of cute, and kind of immortal?”

 

“That little pipsqueak?” Katie rolled her eyes, ‘yes!’, her mind screamed. “Hardly. My relationship with Junior is purely platonic.”

 

But it was too late; B’Elanna had seen her eyes cloud over briefly, but chose not to press the issue, at least not yet. “So what exactly is the plan?” The Engineer asked instead.

 

“Flirt with Chakotay, make the Captain jealous, practically throw myself at him if I have to, until she just can’t take it anymore and either spaces us both, explodes, or jumps his bones on the bridge.”

 

“And this is where I take my leave,” Tom stood, “I have to get to the bridge,” he kissed his wife goodbye then looked at Katie, “Good luck!”

 

“We should be going too,” B’Elanna stood, only slightly awkwardly, “you are in Engineering with me today, we’re doing maintenance on the warp core and I need the extra hands.”

 

“Works for me,” Katie took one last long sip of her coffee and stood to follow the other woman from the mess hall. They passed Chakotay and the Captain’s table on the way out, purposefully, and Katie flashed him another bright smile and managed a not-too-discreet little wave before leaving the room.

 

The look she had gotten from the Captain had sent the two women into a fit of laughter so strong they were leaning on each other for support before they even reached the turbolift at the end of the corridor.

 

“You are so going to die,” B’Elanna managed between giggles.

 

“I know, I’m going to be so fucked,” Katie sighed and stumbled into the lift, “And not even in a good way either!”

 

B’Elanna shook her head in agreement and leaned against the lift wall to sober up before getting to Engineering. “I’d suggest taking Chakotay for a test drive before she murders you, you know, just to make it all that much more worth it.”

 

Katie snickered, “Based on the daggers that woman was shooting earlier, I just might!”

 

The trip to Engineering was a short one, and the two had managed to get control of themselves before they had arrived. B’Elanna lead the junior Janeway to a terminal near the warp core. “Basically,” she reached for a PADD on the station, “just input these algorithms when asked for, and then do the work I’m not allowed to do anymore.” She rolled her eyes, “Or rather, that I’m too big to do now. You’ll be my right hand today, so I don’t have to pull anyone off their routine and juggle the staff more than usual.”

 

Katie nodded and spent a few minutes familiarizing herself with the controls of the console. She looked up when she felt eyes on her, and gestured to the Vulcan who had returned his attention to his work. “Does he always look like he’s got a corn cob up his ass?”

 

B’Elanna snickered, “Quiet, he can hear you, you know.”

 

Katie lifted a brow, “Ever seen a Vulcan have an orgasm?”

 

Vorik was jerking slightly before B’Elanna had even had a chance to respond. “You’re bad,” she shook her head. “And while that was hilarious,” she was fighting off the laughter, “you probably don’t want to do that again.” She smiled, “while on duty at least. The Captain finds out you’re assaulting the Engineering staff with random acts of...fun, and it’s going to be my head she comes down on.”

 

“Fine, ruin all my fun,” Katie said but smiled. “Truth is, I’ve never seen a Vulcan leave a room that fast before.”

 

B’Elanna just shook her head and walked away, leaving the younger woman to her work.

 

The rest of that day and those that followed passed in much the same manner. Katie would assist in Engineering and Sickbay and on a couple of occasions even Astrometrics. While off duty she spent her time studying the Captain’s personal logs and flirting with her First Officer. She was making progress, and if the summons she had received toward the end of that first week had been any indication, Captain Janeway was already planning her demise.

 

Katie stepped into the Captain’s ready room and waited in front of her desk to be acknowledged. The look in the other woman’s eyes, when she gazed up at her might have frightened any other officer. But Katie simply fought back the urge to smirk.

 

“It seems,” Kathryn leaned back in her seat, “we need to have a little talk about your behavior Ensign.” She narrowed her eyes, “It’s come to my attention that your antics on and off duty are causing ripples among my crew. I’ve given you a week to acclimate yourself to the way we do things around here, and quite simply, I find your behavior appalling and will not stand for it to continue.” She leaned forward, her blue eyes flashing with the anger she was keeping controlled just below the surface. “I realize it probably hasn’t occurred to you, but everything you do reflects back on me. I don’t want my crew looking at me and wondering what kind of party girl I was back in the day. Not to mention these little, stunts, you keep pulling. It’s got to stop; you’re making me look like a fool in front of my own crew. We are in a situation out here where I cannot afford to lose their respect. Am I making myself clear?”

 

“Yes Captain,” Katie offered an apologetic smile, “I honestly wasn’t thinking of it in those terms. I’ll try to be more, reserved, in the future.” Inside she was laughing, why that jealous witch, she thought, so this is how she’s going to get back at me? We’ll see about that Captain. “Am I free to go now Captain?” She asked after a lengthy pause, “I did have a meeting with Commander Chakotay, and I don’t want to be late.”

 

Kathryn’s surprise was visible; “It was my understanding that you were off duty for the evening?”

 

She shrugged and offered a small smile, “I am. We’re having dinner, actually.” She saw the jibe hit it’s mark and smirked inwardly, the truth was that they were only meeting because of her expressed interest in his spiritual beliefs. It was the only thing she had managed to come up with to get herself into his quarters, and that had actually been B’Elanna’s idea.

 

“You’re dismissed, Ensign,” Kathryn barked out.

 

“Captain,” she made a small nod of acknowledgement, and began to turn, but not before something quite literally landed on top of her. It took a few moments, but she finally began to realize that it was a person. She managed to untangle herself from the unlucky individual and rolled away. She wasn’t sure who reacted first, Kathryn or herself, but twin cries of shock filled the room as they recognized who it was.

 

“Junior!” Katie bent over his beaten form, “Oh God, what happened to you?”

 

“He got what he deserved,” was the flippant response from nearby.

 

“What did you do to him,” Kathryn was already rounding her desk and kneeling beside the young man.

 

The female Q shrugged, “Just a little punishment for his behavior. Don’t worry, he’s not dead,” she snorted, “That would have been far to easy.” She flashed them a wicked smile, “And don’t worry about that ingrate of a Q, I’ve taken care of him as well.” She shivered as she recalled his broken form and cries for mercy. “In any case, this one,” she glared at him in disgust, “wanted to be with you so badly that I brought him to you.” She winked at the younger Janeway, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to destroy you either. If I did that, you wouldn’t have to live with what you’ve done.” She gestured to the badly beaten young man bleeding on the deck, “This is your doing, just remember that.” And with that parting shot she vanished.

 

“Janeway to sickbay,” she was removing her combadge as she spoke, “Medical emergency, lock on to my com signal and beam it directly to sickbay.” She pressed the badge as gently as possible to the broken form and stepped away, pulling her younger self with her.

 

Junior dematerialized almost immediately and Katie glanced back at the Captain. “I’m sorry.” And she too vanished, orbing from the room, only to reappear in sickbay only seconds behind the young Q.

 

Sickbay was filled noise and movement when she arrived. Every monitor in the trauma bay screamed in warning at the failing life sign that was the center of their attention. Katie had moved toward the trauma bay, but had been shoved backwards by a quickly moving Paris who was flitting about, fulfilling the EMH's commands. When she started forward again, ready to protest, a pair of hands closed around her upper arms and drew her back, far enough out of the way, but still keeping her in a position where she could see and hear everything that was going on.

 

The forms of the Doctor and Paris became a blur as they moved about the bio-bed, their orders and responses only a faint ringing in her ears. A tightness was forming in her chest, growing steadily to an ache, and she realized after a moment that it might have been because she had forgotten to breathe, but a slight shake from behind and the hands on her shoulders kept her grounded. Junior began to grow blurry before her, and she blinked rapidly, the moisture of her own tears warm on her cheeks, though she had yet to realize that she was crying.

 

Tom winced over each injury as he worked trying to stabilize the failing life before him. "Is there a bone in his body that 'isn't' broken?" He muttered, more to himself than anyone else. But he heard the half strangled moan that his words evoked and glanced up briefly. "You might want to get her out of here," he focused once more on the internal bleeding they were trying to stop. Whether his words were headed or not, he really couldn't afford the time to stop and check.  He shouldn't even still be alive, Tom thought to himself.

 

The young man had bones that were so shattered they would have to be replaced by artificial substitutes. Tissues, blood vessels, and muscles could hopefully be graphed and regenerated, but regenerating the nerves flowing to those areas would be far trickier. If there was enough blood supply to the area, there was a chance. But from the looks of things, Junior had been in this condition for a while. How can you kill a Q? He’d heard someone ask once. From the looks of the barely living young man in front of him, he wasn't really sure he wanted to know.

 

After what felt like an eternity later, Tom finally stepped away from the bio-bed and stretched aching muscles. With the adrenaline of the situation wearing off, his arms, neck and back had begun to ache with the strain of saving such a badly broken body. He glanced over, and noticed the two individuals still waiting, and with a nod from the Doctor moved over to explain the situation. The absolute oddness of the situation struck him now, as he met the two identical sets of worried gazes. One of them was a complete wreck; her eyes were already red and swollen from the tears that had been shed. She was visibly shaken, and would probably have fallen over long ago if not for the strength she was getting from behind. The other was an expression he was more used to, more comfortable with. It was carefully schooled, though the eyes were worried and the mouth had been stretched into a thin line, there was no other outward sign of distress.

 

“He should be all right,” he told them. “We’re going to move him into the surgical bay, and start repairing the damage, but for now he’s stabilized.”

 

Kathryn nodded, “Should I even ask how bad it is?”

 

Tom sighed, “A mere mortal man would be dead twice over by now. We won’t really be able to tell what kind of condition he’ll be in later, until we get in there and start working on the damage. He’ll be alive, but...”

 

Kathryn nodded, not really needing him to finish the sentence. Her heart ached for her godson, and the trembling woman in front of her. “We should go, and let them work,” she gave her younger self’s shoulders a gentle squeeze.

 

Katie nodded absently and finally tore her gaze from Junior long enough to glance up at Tom. “Can I see him?”

 

Paris glanced back, “Doc?”

 

“Briefly, I’m ready to move him now.”

 

Katie pulled away from them and moved over to the head of his bed. She brushed a shaking hand across his blood-matted hair, and leaned low over his bruised and almost unrecognizable face. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered. She jumped slightly, at the hand on her shoulder, and glanced up at her older counterpart. The Doctor and Tom were waiting, so she allowed herself to be lead away.

 

“They’ll keep us apprised of his condition,” Kathryn told her as she pulled the younger woman from sickbay and toward the turbolift at the end of the corridor. Katie sank against the wall of the turbolift and wrapped her arms around herself. She stared at the deck plate, her thoughts still firmly ensconced on the boy in sickbay. Kathryn watched her for several quiet moments, torn between reaching out to the young woman and maintaining her distance.

 

It was easier, if she pretended the young woman was simply a product of yet another of Q’s mishaps, another mess she was cleaning up for him. It was easy to pretend she had nothing to do with the woman if she kept her at a distance. She could believe that they were nothing alike if she focused entirely on the woman’s antics instead of the thought and personality behind them. When truth was, if she allowed herself to think about it long enough, she was envious of the carefree woman she might have become if her life had been just a little different. The mischievous streak of her youth had been tempered by loss and command training, shaping her into the woman that she had become, preparing her for the kind of captain that she needed to be. Yet, here was a version of herself that had experienced none of those tragedies and who had received none of her later training. She had, instead, been pulled completely away from her life and her family, given the chance to dance across the cosmos with a pair of immortal deviants. Okay, in all fairness, only one of them was an immortal deviant. Thinking of Q reminded Kathryn of the young man in sickbay, and again her heart ached. Junior, so much brighter and better than his father, and she was proud of what he had accomplished and her role in it, and she ached furthermore for the heartache he had endured at the hands of his own mother. A part of her wanted to hunt the female Q down and blast her from the cosmos, but how do you hunt a Q? The situation was entirely impossible, and they were quite lucky that she had not further spent her revenge on Voyager. She was appeased at the moment, and that, however fleeting, was something.

 

Kathryn glanced up at her younger self again and realized how much she recognized the haunted, fearful look in the other woman’s eyes. It struck her then, however peculiar the situation might have been, there was more to the equation than she had been told. And knowing herself as she did, she doubted that young Katie had even admitted much of it to herself as of yet. ‘She’s in love with him’, Kathryn thought, a hint of a smile ghosting across her lips. She imagined the reaction of her young doppelganger when she realized it, and fought back the ensuing grin. The doors to the turbolift opened, and Kathryn led the shell-shocked young woman down the corridor and to her cabin.

 

Katie was oblivious to her surroundings until the cabin doors had closed behind them and she realized that she was standing not in her quarters, but the Captain’s.

 

“Have a seat,” Kathryn moved across the cabin to the replicator and came back with two steaming mugs of coffee.

 

She took one and curled into a corner of the sofa, noticing from the corner of her eye that Kathryn had done the same on the opposite end. She allowed the aroma to warm and solidify her. “Thank you.” She stared into the dark liquid, allowing the heat of it to warm her hands.

 

Silence stretched between them for several minutes, until finally the younger of the two spoke again. “She was right, this is my fault. If it weren’t for me...”

 

“No,” Kathryn shook her head and leaned toward her, “if you want to blame anyone, blame her. Q might have pulled you from your life, he might have used you for his own amusement, but that wasn’t your fault.”

 

A harsh snort of laughter was her response, “You just don’t get it do you?” Katie’s blue eyes darkened with self-loathing, “I had the chance to go back, before the female Q even knew I existed outside the fragment of time. I didn’t want to. Q had already tired of me, but...” She sighed, “Junior and I had become friends, and he was incredibly lonely, almost as—“ She trailed off again.

 

“Almost as lonely as you were,” Kathryn finished for her. “Yes, I remember. I lived it too.” She stared into her cup. “You had isolated yourself during your studies to such an extent that when you did finally look up all your friends had moved on. Phoebe was already in France studying at the Art institute, Daddy was never home, and Mother was finally enjoying being able to once again pursue the career that had been on hold so that she could be a mother.” She shrugged, “I remember what those first few months out of the academy were like, and it was incredibly lonely. But it didn’t last very long, although you had no way of knowing that.”

 

Katie shrugged, “Being with Q was an adventure. I didn’t think it would last forever, but I’ve never coped well with boredom. It was fun! How many people get a chance to explore the universe from the Q’s point of view?” She smiled, “And you know, get Q and Junior away from the others and they’re both really not that bad.”

 

“Junior I believe,” but Kathryn’s smile faded, “he’s going to be heart broken.”

 

Katie’s eyes clouded over again, “Do you really think Q is dead?”

 

“I’m not sure, but if he weren’t, Junior would not be here now, nor in this condition, you should know that as well as I.”

 

She nodded and wiped the moisture from her cheek, “I know you don’t like him, but when you get to know him...”

 

Kathryn managed a soft smile, “He really isn’t the pain in the ass he’d like you to believe.” Her smile fell, “or wasn’t.”

 

“He had a soft spot for you,” Katie shook her head, “I don’t know what you did to him, but he always spoke very fondly of you.” She snorted, “I guess you could call it obsession, otherwise how would you explain what I’m doing here. But, I wasn’t you. It just wasn’t the same.”

 

“I told him no.” Kathryn got up to walk around the cabin, and stopped to gaze out of the view port. “Did he or Junior tell you the story? The one behind why Junior was the first and only Q offspring?” When Katie shook her head in the negative, Kathryn smiled. “He wanted to mate with me. His words. He wanted me to be Junior’s mother. He even went so far as to kidnap me and took me back to some ludicrous representation of the Continuum and almost got me killed in the process. Fortunately for him, his former mate, and subsequently Junior’s mother, came looking for him, and to make a long, sordid story shorter, my crew was able to rescue the both of us.” She rolled her eyes, “of course knowing now what I didn’t know then, it might have just been better in the long run if I had just said yes and gotten it over with.”

 

“And you have to admit,” Katie added for her, “it does a girl’s ego good to have an omnipotent being trying to earn her affections. Because let’s face it,” Katie stood up and joined her, “knowing Q as we do, we both know he could have very easily taken what he wanted and been done with it. But he asked first, and when you suggested the alternative, he went with it. And when he needed help with Junior he came to you.”

 

“I admit,” Kathryn sighed, “I’m going to miss the omnipotent pain in my ass.”

 

“Well that’s better than an omnipotent pain in your—“

 

“All right now, there’s no need to be vulgar.” Kathryn moved past her to get two fresh mugs of coffee from the replicator.

 

“I wonder how Junior is?” Katie asked after another long silence.

 

“Tom or the Doctor will call us when the surgery is finished. Don’t worry,” she patted the younger woman’s leg as she sat in a corner of the sofa, “he’s a resilient young Q, he’ll be all right.”

 

“A part of me,” Katie stood up and began pacing the room, worry giving way to anger, “wants to hunt her down like the dog she is.”

 

Kathryn gave her a sympathetic smile, “You’re not the only one, believe me. But what good would it do? She’s a Q, and as good as it feels to imagine dropkicking her into a plasma stream and then sending what’s left of her fat ass into the nearest sun inside a torpedo casing...” Kathryn trailed off for a moment. She took a deep breath to regain her composure, ignoring the grin on her counterpart’s face. “As I was saying, it’s an impossible situation, she is a Q, and you wouldn’t last more than a few nanoseconds against her. And then,” she sighed, “everything Junior has gone through at her hands over this entire mess would all be for nothing. Don’t let Q or Junior’s sacrifice be in vain.”

 

 

“I know, I know...but it helps to think in terms of getting revenge.” She dropped into a chair, “Maybe when Junior is better...” she shrugged, “he’ll be able to do something about her.”

 

“I’m not so sure,” Kathryn shook her head, “going on everything we know about the Q, she likely would have had to strip him of all his powers to inflict that kind of damage. I know the Q have weapons capable of killing one another, but, if that were simply the case, Junior would not be here now, nor would he be in this condition still.”

”He could have simply taken care of himself,” Katie sighed, “Yes I know.” She drank deeply from her coffee and let the silence stretch between them again. When she had drained her cup she set it aside and stood. “It’s getting late, I should return to my quarters. Would you call me when there’s word?”

 

”Of course,” she stood and took both their cups to the recycler, “I know it’s not likely, but do try to get some sleep.”

 

Katie paused in front of the door, “Oh, I’ll probably sleep about as well as you will tonight.”

 

Kathryn nodded as the woman left, and spoke to the now empty cabin, “That’s what I was afraid of.”

 

 

Katie returned to her quarters and upon entering, wandered over to stare out the view port. Her head ached from crying and her heart ached from worry and doubt. Oh Junior, she thought, what am I going to do with you? She pressed her hands against the coolness view port and leaned forward until her head rested against it as well. She had pushed him away so many times when he had sought more than friendship from her. The urge for self-preservation was a strong one and she had wrapped herself in its cloak of safety. It had been as much to protect his heart as hers, or so she had told herself, but faced with the reality of it, she had been selfish. She hadn’t wanted to be hurt, but she had justified it by simply rationalizing that by the laws of the Q they simply could not be together. And then, of course, there was the fact that he would have eventually grown tired with her mere, mortal, human self and moved on to more exciting things. Or would he? It was a question she had asked herself, but not been willing to learn the answer to. And now she was faced with the possibility of losing him anyway, despite assurances to the contrary. She wouldn’t rest easily until he was well and whole and in her arms.

 

A shiver worked its way up her spine at the thought, and she recalled the first and last time that he had ever touched her in an intimate way. They had been left to their own devices while Q answered a summons from the Continuum; it had been late, by human standards, and they had spent several days on a pleasure planet in the Gamma Quadrant. The specifics of that night were a blur; all she really remembered was how his lips and hands had felt exploring her body.  She closed her eyes now, and shivered again as it came back to her, washing over her body in a wave of desire. Q had chosen that moment to return, interrupting them before they’d had a chance to get very far. But it had been enough for Junior to know that he wanted more and to send Katie running in the opposite direction.

 

Katie turned away from the viewport and moved over to curl up on the sofa. She pulled a recently replicated throw around her shoulders and leaned back into the cushions with a sigh. She couldn’t be certain when she had fallen asleep, or how long she had dozed when the chirping of her combadge awakened her.

 

“Yes?” She sat up quickly, smoothing her hair out of her face and blinking the sleep from her eyes.

 

“He made it through surgery,” the captain sounded tired, but relieved. “The Doctor said that you can see him in the morning, but he’s not sure when Junior will regain consciousness.”

 

Katie nodded before she realized the Captain couldn’t see her, “How bad was it?”

 

Kathryn’s sigh was audible over the com link, “Bad. It’s going to be a while before he’s back on his feet, and he’s going to need help, lots of it. I’ll let the Doctor fill you in on the rest of it in the morning, for now I suggest you get some sleep.”

 

“You should do the same.” She paused for a moment, “thank you for letting me know.”

 

“Good night---Katie.”

 

She smiled as the link was closed, as much from the news of Junior’s condition as the captain’s response. It was the first time she had called her anything other than Ensign since coming on board. Katie lay back on the sofa and pulled the throw more firmly around her shoulders; too lazy to move to her bed, she closed her eyes and let herself drift back to sleep.

 

The next few days passed at an agonizingly slow paced as she watched and waited for Junior to regain consciousness. She had even gone as far as switching shifts with Paris so that most of her days would be spent in sickbay where she could be on hand at a moment’s notice. The waiting was necessary, her mind knew that, his body needed time to heal and would have to do that before he could rejoin them. But that didn’t make it any easier on those who cared for the young man. The captain stopped by at the end of every shift, as did the commander, but other than herself and Icheb, no one else loitered around sickbay waiting for him to awaken.

 

Today had been no exception to the norm, Katie was refilling hyposprays and restocking med kits while alternately keeping an eye on Junior. The task was as mindless as one could find in sickbay, and not surprisingly Paris always left it for her to do. But she would come up with a way to get even with him when she wasn’t spending all her free time worrying about Junior. She was thinking about what she might say to him when he awoke when she heard the faint moaning. Her ears pricked at the sound and she tensed, wondering if perhaps it was her imagination. And then she heard it again, louder this time, and turned toward the sound. There was a frown marring his before peaceful face, and from the way his body was tensed, she could tell that he was trying to move his arms, though the force field in place would prevent any movement at all so that his body could continue to heal properly. She moved over immediately, calling for the EMH as she did.

 

“Relax,” she said softly, “it’ll only hurt worse the more you try to move.” She pressed a hand to his cheek, continuing to speak softly as he rose slowly out of unconsciousness. By the time his eyes began to flutter open the Doctor was standing on the other side of the bio-bed running a tricorder over his prone form. “Hey there,” she smiled down at him, “welcome back.” She watched as the Doctor pressed a hypospray to his neck and some of the confusion began to leave his eyes. “Better?”

 

Junior nodded and then groaned, “For a moment,” he croaked, his mouth and throat dry from lack of use, “I thought I was dead.”

 

Katie brushed a hand across his hair and down across his cheek, “For a moment I thought you might be.”

 

He frowned as he tried once again to move, “What’s wrong with me?”

 

“Your injuries were quite severe,” the EMH supplied for him, “Over half of the bones in your body were either broken or crushed. I’ve placed a force field around your body to prevent you from moving while the tissues are regenerating.”

 

“That’s ridiculous,” Q frowned, “I should be able to...” he trailed off as he concentrated on healing himself, the frown deepening as he failed. “Wait a minute, I can’t—“

 

“I know,” Katie stroked his cheek again, “do you remember what happened?”

 

He looked at her, completely lost for several moments, and then his eyes clouded over in sorrow and in rage. “I’ll hunt her down and...”

 

“The thought had occurred to me as well,” Katie smiled sympathetically, “But you’re not a Q anymore. I’m sorry.”

 

“Nonsense, my father will come for me and...and...” Tears filled his eyes as he remembered and was flooded with all the human emotions he’d never felt before.

 

Katie glanced up at the Doctor and silently beckoned him to leave them alone. With a sympathetic smile for the young man, he deactivated himself, leaving just the two young people. “I’m sorry.” And not for the first time she wished that she could hold him, damn the force field anyway. “I’m sorry this happened. If it weren’t for me...”

 

“No!” He shook his head, then gritted his teeth at the pain it caused, “She hated us long before you ever came along. This wasn’t your fault, and I never want to hear you say that again. Agreed?”

 

“Junior,” she sighed and looked away. “You defied her because of me, that’s what brought her wrath down on you.”

 

“Damn it Katie, if she hadn’t hunted us down for this it would have been for something else. She never wanted me to begin with! She would have tried to destroy me long ago if it hadn’t been for Dad and the Continuum.” His eyes blazed with green fury, “But I can get back at her, I may not be a Q any more, but I can still get my revenge.”

 

“And how do you propose to do that? You can’t hunt her down, there’s no way you could even begin to know how to find her.” Katie sighed in frustration, “So how in all that’s holy in the universe could you possibly get revenge for what she’s done?”

“I can live. I can be happy, and I can prove I’m still better than she is.”

 

“Junior, she may just come back to finish the job once she realizes that you’re still alive.”

 

“No,” he smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes, “She can’t. That was the whole reason she came after us to begin with. While I was on Voyager talking to Aunt Kathy, Q had gone before the Continuum judges and requested an injunction, to prevent her from doing any more harm to humankind. Though the Continuum will always view humans as a lesser life form, they decided to rule in favor of Dad’s proposal. She can’t hurt us now; if she does she not only loses all her powers, but they’ll sentence her to live out the rest of her life as some sort of single celled life form in the worst imaginable environment.” He flashed a wicked grin, “Inside a human being!”

 

She shook her head sadly; “It still didn’t stop her from getting her revenge on you.” Tears welled in her eyes and though she tried to blink them back, a few made their way down her cheeks. “I thought I’d lost you.”

 

He watched her closely, unsure of how to approach this emotional side of her. “Hey, you know how it is, you just can’t keep a good Q down!”

 

“Junior,” she rolled her eyes at his joke and shook her head. “I’m being serious here.”

 

“Are you?” The smile on his face faded and he took on a more serious expression, “And what are you being serious about? You’re sorry you almost lost a friend? Well, a lot of people usually feel that way, or so I’ve been told. I remember when Itchy almost died, and I was really worried about him too. So I understand, look, don’t worry about it.” He would have shrugged off her concern if he could have moved.

 

“Oh, you are so infuriating sometimes, you know that?” She frowned down at him, “I’m trying to tell you something important and you make jokes and then pass it off as nothing. You know, sometimes I don’t know which I want to do more, kiss you or kick your ass! It’s not easy for me to say this, the last time I told a guy I loved him he basically shit on me, so the least you could do is lie there patiently and just let me say it!” Her blue eyes glared down at him while her chest rose and rapidly after she’d finished her tirade.

 

“Katie...”

 

“Oh, don’t Katie me!” She turned away and began pacing beside his bed. “I should have realized, it’s pretty obvious. You do everything in your power to get me to fall for you, and when finally I admit that I have, you’re making jokes! Jokes!” She turned and pointed a finger at him, “you are SO going to pay for that mister!”

 

He gave her a smug grin, “You love me?”

 

“It was a momentary lapse in judgment,” she said dryly, “don’t worry I’m working on reversing the condition.”

 

He tried to reach out to her, but winced at the effort and scowled at the invisible force field, “You know that is REALLY annoying.”

 

Katie smirked, “Maybe it is for you.” Then she leaned over his bio-bed until her breasts would have just been barely brushing his chest. “But for the rest of us, it opens up a whole new world of promise.”

 

Junior scowled, “Oh, now that’s just wrong.”

 

She brushed a kiss across the tip of his nose and then straightened up, all the while laughing, “Poor, abused baby. I guess you’ll just have to be a good boy then, and hurry up and get well.”

 

“Oh, I’m going to make you pay.” He continued to scowl at her, “You just keep on laughing, cause I’m making a list, from here on out everything you do is going on that list and then I’m going to get you back for all of it.”

 

“You can try,” she looked up as the doors to sickbay opened, admitting the Captain for her evening visit.

 

Junior looked over to see whom his visitor was, his face lit up immediately. “Aunt Kathy! You’re just in time to save me from the peanut gallery.” He gave Katie a mock glare. “You know, I think you should really crack down on certain members of your staff; cruel and unusual treatment of patients really is not very nice.”

 

“Oh, I don’t know,” She moved over and leaned against his bio-bed, “You don’t look the worse for wear.” She winked at Katie and smiled down at her godson. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Um, like an omnipotent being decided to play baseball with a few dozen planets and used my body as her bat?”

 

“I’m sorry,” she gave him a sympathetic smile, “I know how hard this must be for you.”

 

Again, he would have shrugged, and cursed the limited use of his own body. “It sucks a big one, that’s for sure.”

 

“Junior!” She admonished his vulgar language and rolled her eyes, but did no more than that, as his pain and sorrow was clearly etched into his young face, “If you need anything have Katie or the Doctor call me. I’ll leave you alone to get some rest.”

 

“Goodnight Aunt Kathy. Thanks for, well, you know,” he smiled wanly.

 

“You’re welcome Q.” She stepped away from his bio-bed and motioned for Katie to follow her. Once they were out of hearing range, she asked, “How much does her remember? Have you told him about his father? I didn’t want to say anything yet. You’re closer to him than I am, so it might be better if you--”

 

“He knows.” Anger flashed in her blue eyes, “He remembers all of it. But the good news is, she made a careless mistake, from her viewpoint anyway, by making him human. The Continuum hierarchy had passed a decree,” she rolled her eyes at the term, “prohibiting the Female Q from causing anymore trouble to any of the human race. That was why she attacked Q and Junior. To get revenge for being leashed.” Anger quickly gave way to amusement however, “And there was one side benefit to the ruling; punishment for disobedience would be living out the rest of her life as a single celled organism.” She paused for effect while the Captain took it all in, “An organism residing inside a human body, and knowing her hate for us, and the wicked sense of humor the Q are known for,” she snickered, “she probably would have been sentenced to you or me.”

 

Kathryn shook her head, “Fitting as that would be for her, I’m not so sure I’d want her in my body.” She gave a delicate shudder, “although knowing the Q, we’d likely never even know she was there.”

 

Katie nodded her agreement, “Very true. On another note, Junior is indeed human now. He tried to use his powers to heal himself and, as we expected, they were gone. And considering no one from the Continuum has shown up to retrieve him yet, I think it’s very unlikely that they will. He seems convinced that he’s going to live out his life in this form. I’m pretty sure the Continuum already knows what’s happened,” she snorted, “there’s nothing in the universe that they *don’t* know, actually.”

 

“You’re probably right,” Kathryn sighed, “We’ll have to watch him closely, see how well he copes. In the meantime, I want to discuss his condition with the Doctor.”

 

Katie nodded, “I’ll hang back with Junior for a while. I don’t think he should be alone for very long, at least not at first.”

 

“Agreed,” Kathryn glanced past her toward Junior one last time, “but don’t stay too long,” she said as she turned away to walk into the Doctor’s office. “Stop by my cabin later, dinner’s on me.”

 

“Okay, but only on one condition,” Katie wrinkled her nose, “promise me you’re not cooking.”

 

“Oh ha-ha,” Kathryn rolled her eyes as she left, leaving a laughing Katie behind her. “Computer, activate EMH,” she called out once inside his office. “Doctor,” perched on the edge of his desk facing him, “I see that our young patient is awake. Have you examined yet?”

 

“As a matter of fact I have,” he moved over to his desk and activated the computer console. “Physically, not much has changed in the last several hours, except that by his coming out of unconsciousness and retaining alertness I’ve been able to conclude that there is no lasting brain damage. We’ll continue tissue regeneration for another week, so he’ll have to remain confined to the bio-bed. Once that’s completed we can move on to his physical therapy, which will involve rebuilding some muscle in his legs and arms, more so in his legs however as they had the worst bone breakage.”

 

“And emotionally? How do you think he is doing?”

 

The hologram shrugged, “Based on our limited contact since he regained consciousness, I see no outward signs of severe emotional distress. Time will reveal any problems he may have in that particular arena.”

 

Satisfied, she nodded and stood to leave, “Thank you, Doctor. I’ll get out of your hair now,” her eyes twinkled mischievously.

 

“Suddenly everyone around here is a comic,” he muttered as she left.

 

Katie poked her head into his office a little while later, “I’m off for the night, do you need anything before I go?” He muttered something unintelligible but didn’t look up from his computer. “Gee,” she walked further into his office, hands on her hips, “what’s got you in such a snit now?”

 

He glared up at her, “You are a bad influence on the Captain.”

 

“Me?” She blinked in mock innocence, “however do you mean?”

 

“Now that I think of it, you’re a bad influence on a great many of the crew,” he paused and added dryly, “except perhaps Mr. Paris.”

 

Katie rolled her eyes, “All right, what did I do now?”

 

He sniffed indignantly, “The Captain is making jokes about my hair.”

 

She blinked and stepped forward, showing signs of shock, “Hair? You have hair?” She quickly moved over to examine his baldhead, “Nope,” she sighed, “I’m afraid not. I think Kathy was just trying to be nice dear. You really shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up.”

 

He glared up at her, “Get out of my sickbay before I decide to ignore my moral subroutines.”

 

She gasped, “I’m shocked and dismayed that you would suggest doing such a thing,” she shook her head sadly, “I really am going to have to report that to Lieutenant Torres.” She sighed dramatically, “Your program seems to be in need of an overhaul, and there’s just no telling what she may fix, or,” she paused clucking her tongue, “remove.”

 

He glared at her, “You are evil and must be destroyed!”

 

She shrugged as a broad grin spread across her face, “Many have tried, but all have failed!” And after flashing him a wink, she quickly retreated, not for the first time wishing that her little ‘extra ability’ could be used on holograms.

 

She was still chuckling over the exchange when she stepped into the Captain’s quarters a few minutes later. Kathryn narrowed her eyes and watched the younger woman closely, “All right, what did you do?”

 

Katie snickered as she dropped into a chair at the already set table, “Only finished what you started; that was a brilliant opening by the way.”

 

Kathryn arched a brow in askance as she removed dinner from the replicator and set it on the table, “Something tells me this is going to end up causing me a headache later.”

 

“Probably,” she laughed gleefully. “Apparently you made some comment to the doctor about his hair, or lack there of,” she went on describe what else had been said, and sat back in her chair when she’d finished. “So yeah, you can expect him to probably complain about lack of respect,” she paused, “again.”

 

Kathryn gave in to the fit of laughter, and doubled over slightly as she imagined the look on the Doctor’s face, “Oh God,” she said after a moment, “you are pure trouble!”

 

“I know,” Katie sighed contentedly, “what can I say? I was warped by the Q.” She turned her attention then to the meal on the table and eyed it suspiciously, “It looks edible,” her mouth practically watered over the sight of the angel hair pasta and vegetables in what appeared to be a creamy garlic sauce. She cautiously lifted her fork and sniffed, “Smells heavenly,” and taking a deep breath and praying, she took a bite. She moaned in delight and took another bite before finally looking up at Kathryn again, “Okay, give over, who did you pay to sneak in here and program the replicator?”

 

Kathryn sniffed, “I beg your pardon, I don’t have to pay anyone to do anything around here. I’m the Captain; I just threaten their lives.”

 

“In other words,” Katie’s eyes gleamed, “If I ask Neelix tomorrow he’ll say no, but he’ll do that little thing he does of tugging at his whiskers when he’s lying.”

 

“Basically,” Kathryn poured them both a glass of wine, “yeah.”

 

“Devious, devious woman,” Katie took a sip of the wine. “It’s nice to know some of me wasn’t lost throughout the years!”

 

Kathryn shrugged and pushed her meal around on her plate, “Life happened; I had to grow up.”

 

Katie noticed the change in her mood and tried to change the subject, “Are you implying that I’m not a grown up? I think I’m insulted! Just you wait, I’ll get you and your little Talaxian too!”

 

Kathryn appreciated the gesture, but continued along her train of thought. “You know, we haven’t talked about that yet,” meaning the talks they’d had over the past few days and the effort they had made to get to know each other in the wake of Junior’s predicament. “You’ve never asked about the family, Mom, Dad and Phoebe.”

 

“I always figured I’d be going back,” she shrugged, “it wasn’t really until today and finally knowing Junior was really human that I actually realized I’d be staying.” She smiled good naturedly, “Looks like you’re stuck with me!” But then she turned serious again, and took another sip of her wine, “Besides, I had actually, kind of, done some checking on my own.” She shrugged again, “I looked through your records in the database, so I kind of already knew some of it.”

 

“Why didn’t you mention it?” Kathryn leaned back in her seat, and watched the younger woman, “They’re your family too. As odd as this situation is, that part at least never changes.”

 

“Because I didn’t want to bother you,” she sighed. “Official records don’t go into any great detail, so I know Daddy is dead. I know how he died, and I know you were involved some how, and at the time that was enough. It wasn’t fair to make you rehash everything when I was just going to have my memory wiped and be put back to live through it all anyway. And,” she toyed with her food now, “the less I knew about them, the more...”

 

“The more you were able to remain removed from it all,” Kathryn nodded, understanding completely. She pushed her plate away, as the pasta no longer appealed and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table. “If you’d like to know, you have a right to. It was a long time ago, I exorcised my demons on the issue a good long while ago.”

 

Katie offered a small smile, “Another time, perhaps.”

 

“Whenever you’re ready,” the older woman sighed, “I could tell you about that annoying creature we call a sister if you’d like...as well as her little heathens.”

 

A brow shot up, “Phoebe has kids?” She blinked several times in disbelief, “Please tell me that’s a joke! I don’t think I could take it if it’s true.”

 

“Nope, this time I’m not joking.” She picked up her wineglass and the wine bottle and, seeing as they had both lost their appetite, gestured for Katie to follow her over to the sofa. “She has two, actually, an eight year old and a six year old, both boys. And according to what mother had to say in the last data stream, number three should be making an appearance in roughly six more months.”

 

“Oh by all that’s holy,” Katie groaned and allowed her wine glass to be refilled, “And I’m assuming mother is still sane? How is that possible?”

 

“Hours of meditation,” Kathryn snickered, “and a never ending supply of patience.”

 

“All right, since you’re in a sharing mood it has to be asked,” Katie sat Indian style on the sofa facing Kathryn, her back against the arm rest, “B’Elanna said you were engaged, a guy named Mark Johnson that you grew up with. Please, please, pleeeeaaaase, tell me that’s not who I think it is.” When Kathryn only smiled, waggled her brows and took a sip from her wineglass, Katie groaned in complete disgust. “Oh gross! Ew, ew, ew! Me and...him...and we…” she shuddered, “Oh that’s just so wrong on so many levels.” But she paused and leaned forward, “Was good ole Hobbes any good?”

“Well,” Kathryn reached up and twirled a strand of auburn hair around her index finger. “It wasn’t mind blowing or anything, but it was all right.”

 

“But still,” she shuddered again, “that just gives me the willies!”

 

Kathryn shrugged, “Like I said, life happened. We grew to be good friends before we were anything else. He was there for me after Daddy and Justin died.”

 

“Justin was the guy on board when you crashed right?” She watched the sadness flicker over the older woman’s face and suddenly hated herself for asking.

 

“Justin and I were engaged at the time,” Kathryn smiled fondly, “It’s too bad you’ll never get to meet him, he was,” she searched for the right word, but shrugged when she couldn’t think of anything appropriate enough.

 

“I’m sorry...”

 

“As I said, life happens, so don’t be,” Kathryn curled into the opposite side of the sofa, “He was a good man, an amazing lover, and I’m only sorry that our time together was so short.”

 

Completely intent on changing the subject and chasing away the suddenly melancholy atmosphere in the room, Katie reached for the wine bottle and topped off her glass. “All right, so there was Justin and,” she shuddered, “Hobbes, what about more recently?”  She had stopped reading the Captain’s personal logs when she had reached about year five of the journey, and now that she was getting to know the woman, felt guilty for the intrusion. “You can’t tell me that in seven years you’ve not gotten laid at least once!”

 

Kathryn sighed, “Why is everyone so fascinated with my sex life?” She shook her head, “Sometimes I think I should just drop my pants, bend over the helm and let every man on the bridge just go at it, just so that they’ll all have something to talk about!”

 

“Well,” laughing Katie reached over and topped off Kathryn’s glass, she wasn’t sure if it was the wine or not, but her older self was loosening up and it could prove to be interesting, “it would obviously liven things up on Gamma shift, from what I hear.”

 

“Oh, please,” Kathryn rolled her eyes, “That’s Harry’s shift. That boy probably doesn’t know where to stick it.” Katie choked on her wine and started coughing. “Oh come on,” Kathryn continued, “don’t tell me you actually thought he might? After the way he acted during the briefing that first day? Honey I think that boy’s afraid of you, and I know he’s afraid of me.” But she sighed dramatically, “Oh the woes of being on top.”

 

“Well, you know,” Katie managed once she’d finally gotten control of her breathing, “If you’re really that desperate, I can take you into the bedroom, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve satisfied a woman.”

 

“That’s all right,” Kathryn said dryly and without stopping to think about it, “I’m not into sisters.”

 

Katie stopped mid-sip, “Sister?”

 

“Well,” Kathryn stretched her legs out in front of her along the length of the sofa and leaned back against the armrest. “It is a lot like having a twin, despite the age difference. Besides, you’re more tolerable than Phoebe. I was planning on telling Mom about you in the next data stream anyway, and you know she’s going to adopt you, so you know, if the shoe fits...”

 

“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” not seeing a problem with it she shrugged and mimicked the other’s actions, stretching her legs out on the sofa and leaning back until they were practically lying side by side. “Phoebe’s going not going to like it.”

 

A decidedly wicked grin spread across Kathryn's face, "I know," she drawled, "ain't it great." She reveled in the feeling for a moment. “Phoebe is no longer the baby. I really can’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her.”

 

“Oh no you don’t,” Katie pointed a finger at her, “my life was the one that got interrupted; I get to tell her.’

 

“I’m afraid not,” Kathryn fought off a yawn, “that pleasure gets to be all mine; but if you’re really nice, I’ll let you watch.”

 

Katie frowned, “How come you get to make all the decisions?”

 

“Because dear, I’ve been in this timeline longer than you have.”

 

“That,” Katie snorted, “does not make you special, that just makes you older!” She put emphasis on the ‘old’ and then yelped as she was shoved off the sofa.

 

“Katie, go home!”

 

She glared at the stain on her pants from her spilled wine, then looked defiantly at the younger woman. “Well, if you insist!” She disappeared in a brief flash of light.

 

Kathryn slapped her combadge in the next second, “You are such a brat.”

 

“But I’m so good at it!”

 

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Kathryn pulled her favorite throw off the back off the sofa and draped it over herself. And then, after tossing back the rest of wine, she set the glass on the floor beside the sofa and just decided to let her self doze on the sofa for a few minutes. She was just drifting into a deeper slumber when she felt it, her entire body jerked at the sudden sexual release. “Brat,” she muttered in mild annoyance. But the sudden unexpected orgasm had left her yearning for more, so she rolled up from the sofa and decided to do something about it.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“This is supposed to be a physical therapy session,” the EMH looked thoroughly disgusted after materializing in holodeck two to find his patient and his “assistant” with their lips locked. “Not a lesson on the finer points of making out.” 

 

Katie pulled away from Junior slowly and smiled coyly at the Doctor from over her shoulder. “I didn’t know that there was a difference between the two?”

 

The EMH rolled his holographic eyes and moved over to examine his patient, who in the past three weeks had shown a remarkable resilience and was healing much quicker than previously expected. Junior was walking on his own now, albeit stiffly, but given his progress to date, the EMH felt that with another few weeks of therapy any signs of stiffness or limping would be completely gone. The emotional duress had at first been a concern, but was no longer. Due, no doubt in part, to the support group that had formed around the young man.  Aside from the younger Janeway, others had come forward to offer their help, emotionally as well as physically. Lieutenant Paris volunteered his time to assist with the physical therapy sessions during Ensign Janeway’s Engineering shifts, and prior to Junior’s release from sickbay the week before, he’d had visitors all hours of the day, ranging from Katie, to Icheb, the Paris’ and even the Captain herself. Most times he couldn’t get any of those people into sickbay without chaining them up and dragging them in, but for two weeks he’d spent his time trying to chase them out! He’d wager the Captain had been in sickbay more times during just those two weeks than in the previous six and a half years. If Holograms had egos, his would be smarting, but he wouldn’t allow any of them the satisfaction of knowing that. 

 

Turning his attention back to the tricorder in his hand, the EMH closed it and met the young man’s gaze. “Well, everything appears to be continuing to heal properly. You can stop for the day, but I want you to get some rest. No more gallivanting around the holodeck with Katie and Icheb.” He gave the young woman a stern look, letting her know that he felt it was all her fault.

 

“It was Icheb’s birthday; I can’t let my best pal not celebrate in style!”

 

“Style?” The EMH snorted in disgust, “Is that what you call it? No wonder Seven of Nine sent him to me for a detox-shot this morning.”

 

“Hey, Itchy can’t hold his liquor,” Katie shrugged, “That’s hardly our fault. Besides, we’re not the ones that gave him that whole big bottle of S’tarian ale for his birthday.” She smiled innocently, “You can blame that one on Commander Chakotay!” 

 

“Indeed. I’ll be speaking to the Captain about the issue.” He glared at the both of them one last time before having himself transferred back to sickbay.

 

Junior looked at Katie, “Think we should have told him it was Aunt Kathy that bought the ale in the first place?”

 

“Probably,” she smirked, “but it was just more fun not telling him.”

 

“True!” He stood up from the exercise bench he’d been sitting on and winced as his muscles screamed in protest. “I’ll be so glad when I can stand up again without it hurting.”

 

“Aww,” She gave him a sympathetic smile and wrapped her arms around his waist, “Come on, why don’t I feed you,” she tilted her head up and brushed a kiss across his lips, “and then you’ll feel better.” 

 

“I could go for some food,” he gave her a worried look, “You’re not going to cook it are you?”

 

“Hey!” She pinched his side and pulled away from him, “not funny!”

 

He rubbed the spot as he followed her from the holodeck, “It is for those of us who have lived through it.”

 

“Oh ha, ha,” she rolled her eyes, “That wasn’t my fault you know, it was all the replicator’s doing.”

 

“All right, all right, I’m sorry,” he reached for her hand and held it as they made their way down the corridor. That was one of the subtle ways their relationship had begun to change in the three weeks that he had been aboard Voyager. Handholding, kissing, touching; those were the ways in which the dynamics of their friendship had changed, but beyond that, their relationship had mostly remained the same. She had admitted that she loved him the once, but had not spoken of it again since then, though her constant devotion spoke of her feelings for him. Or at least that was what Commander Chakotay had translated her behavior toward Junior as, and seeing as the big Indian had been human longer than he had, he was apt to believe him. Not that he was trying to rush her, he was comfortable with the way things were now, but her constant closeness was slowly beginning to drive him insane. He had told the Commander about that, too, and strangely, “Welcome to my world,” had been all he’d said on the matter before promptly pouring himself a large glass of brandy.

 

“Anyway, I was thinking,” Katie pulled him away from his thoughts as they entered a turbolift, “Deck 2, Mess Hall.” She waited for the lift to start upward before continuing, “The Captain’s Birthday is next week...”

“Oh, subtle Kat, very subtle, like I could forget you birthday.”

 

She rolled her eyes and suppressed the urge to elbow him in the ribs, “I hate it when you call me that, and that wasn’t what I was getting at. I was thinking that we should do something special for her.” Her eyes had lit up on the word special, the wicked gleam he loved so much flashing across their blue depths.

 

“Hmm,” he pursed his lips, thinking about it, “is this going to get us in trouble?”

 

“Yup!”

 

“Is it going to cause Aunt Kathy’s eyes to go all dark and her face to turn red, and that little vein in her forehead to start throbbing like an Orion slave girl on Ecstasy?”

 

Katie giggled, “You can count on it.”

 

He frowned for a moment, still appearing to think about it, “Will we end up in the brig for this?”

 

“Most likely, yes.”

 

“I’m so in! What did you have in mind?”

 

“Well you see, it’s like this...”

 

Junior spent the rest of the turbolift ride paying rapt attention to her every word, snickering and laughing occasionally and shaking his head in the affirmative to her every wicked plan.  “You realize,” he said as they stepped off the lift and headed toward the mess hall, “she’s very likely to kill you for this.”

 

She shrugged, “It’s a possibility that she’ll try, but highly unlikely that she’ll succeed.”

 

Junior laughed, “Oh I cannot wait to see the look on her face.” He smiled more fondly, “My dad so would have loved this.”

 

“I know,” she slipped an arm around him and gently squeezed, “that’s the beauty of it!”  They got their meals and headed toward a table in the corner. They had only just seated themselves when the object of their machinations walked in, her First Officer in tow. “You know,” she pointed a fork at the pair, obviously chuckling over some private joke, “I just don’t get it.”

 

Junior glanced at the pair from over his shoulder then turned back to Katie frowning, “Don’t get what?”

 

“Them, as in those two over there,” she gestured again and sighed, “I don’t understand how two people so obviously and sickeningly in love with one another could not be together.”

 

Here we go again, Junior thought, “Well,” he said, “Maybe they’re just more comfortable being friends.”

 

“Spoken just like a man,” she grumbled, “come on, don’t tell me you really buy that crap.”

 

He shrugged, “She’s my godmother, I try not to think of her in terms of being with a man. Okay?”

 

Her eyes narrowed and her brow arched, “It might have slipped your mind, so let me just remind you. Technically, I am also your godmother, and you don’t have any qualms about me being with a man, more specifically you!” She watched as his face paled, “And when you really think about it, that’s pretty twisted Q.”

 

He lowered his fork, choked down the food in his mouth, and pushed his plate away with disgust. “Now that you mention it...like, ewww!”

 

“Precisely. So if I were you, I wouldn’t be getting all sensitive about Kathryn being with a man.”

 

“Oh no,” he rested his head in his hand, his shoulders slumping, “It’s much worse than that. I may never be able to look at you in the same way again.”

 

“Oh, poor little Q, if that’s the way you feel I can just tell Ayala I changed my mind about that dinner date and---“

 

“No, that’s all right,” he straightened immediately, eyes blazing with jealousy, “No need to go to extremes.”

 

Katie snickered, “That’s what I thought. So, what are you going to do to help me get those two,” she gestured to the table her sister and the Commander were now sitting at, completely unaware of everyone around them, “together? I’m sure your devious little mind can think of something good.”

 

He sighed, “I just don’t know if I should.” When she scowled at him he quickly continued, “Look Katie, she’s been good to me, she’s been good to you, I just don’t see that it’s my place or yours to interfere with her personal life.”

 

“Who are you and what have you done with my Q!?” She stared at him in open-mouthed astonishment, “Where is this coming from? The Q I knew would have jumped at the chance to play match maker.”

 

“Yeah, well, I’m not a Q anymore.”

 

Katie winced, “I know, I’m sorry. But that wasn’t what I meant. Just because you don’t have the abilities of a Q anymore, doesn’t mean your personality isn’t the same. Come on Q, don’t you think she deserves to be happy? Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me that you think she’s happy. Think about every talk you and I ever had over the last four years about what I wanted for my future, and then look me in the eyes and tell me that she’s happy.”

 

“Well maybe she changed her mind,” he tried lamely.

 

“Q,” she sighed, “fine, if you really don’t want to help I’ll just do it alone.”

 

He inhaled deeply, and knowing it was against his better judgment he ignored every instinct telling him to leave it alone and finally nodded. “All right, I’ll see what I can think up.”

 

“Thank you!” She squealed and leapt across the expanse of the table, and taking his face between her hands thoroughly kissed him. She felt something hit her shoulder a second later and looked up scowling in the direction of her sister, “hey! I’m smooching here!” She picked up the rock hard dinner roll that had been thrown at her and threw it back.

 

“No public displays of affection please, people are trying to eat!” Kathryn scowled at her in mock seriousness. “Don’t make me put you on report for voluntarily causing mass indigestion!”

 

“All right then,” She grabbed Junior’s hand and pulled him up and with her out of the mess hall. “We’ll just go somewhere private and snog like crazy. You know, I’ve heard the Captain’s ready room could use a little action...”

 

Kathryn’s eyes narrowed, “Brat.”

 

“Nag.”

 

Although he chuckled, Chakotay could see another sibling argument starting and quickly pulled Kathryn’s attention away from the younger woman before those present in the mess hall were able to see their Captain reduced to adolescent, immature, sibling rivalry, even if it was all in good fun. “Anyway, as I was saying,” Her smile was infectious and he found himself easily returning it and almost getting lost in her dancing eyes. He had to admit, as much as having two Kathryn Janeways on board Voyager frightened even him, the bond the two women had forged had been good for the Captain. She was happier than he remembered her being, and her constant laughter was a product of that fact. He must have remained silent too long, lost in his thoughts as he was, for he found her staring at him now (in) askance.

 

“What?” A brow arched upward slightly as her head cocked to once side, her grin turned to more of a wicked nature, “Do I have something caught in my teeth?”

 

“Huh? No,” he shook his head, “Sorry, I got lost for a second.”

 

“Must have been a nice trip,” she gave a husky laugh, “we’ve got full dimple effect going on.”

 

“It wasn’t too bad,” he leaned back in his seat. “Anyway, I was thinking that we should definitely let Tom hold his party planet side if everything checks out in the supply department. I don’t see a reason not to offer an extended shore leave, it’s been a while since the crew has had one.”

 

She nodded, “And the natives are starting to get restless, yes I know. I’m feeling it myself. All right, go ahead and tell him to start planning it, but I want it kept clean.” She narrowed her eyes, “Unlike his belated bachelor party...”

 

Chakotay blushed, “That wasn’t all that bad, we only had three strippers, anything else would have been distasteful!”

 

“Mmhmm,” She stood and carried her plate to the recycler, knowing he’d follow, “I’m not going to discuss it with you, just tell Paris to keep it clean or this time I will let Mrs. Paris dismember the lot of you.”

 

“You’re brutal when you’re jealous.”

 

“Jealous?” She stepped into a turbolift and waited for him to follow her. “Of what precisely?”

 

He snickered, “That we didn’t ask you to strip for us.”

 

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself that I would have,” She leaned forward, “I have much better things to do with my time,” she said in a seductive voice, “than show off my goods to the likes of Paris and company.”

 

He blinked, suddenly astonished, “Goods? You’ve got goods? Since when!” He gave her body a slow once over, “I’m not sure that I can really tell from this angle, the uniform is getting in my way. Maybe we should just go back to my quarters and you can take it off and show me those goods.”

 

Kathryn laughed as the lift opened, she stepped through the doors and turned around to wink at him, “That’s not likely to happen Commander.” She stepped back and allowed the doors to close between them, and then laughing again turned to head toward Astrometrics.

 

Alone in the lift Chakotay sighed, “Story of my life, baby.”

 

*~*~*

 

Junior was quiet as he walked along side Katie on their way back to his quarters. She could tell he was lost in thought, “I can see those wheels turning from here,” she quipped.

 

He nodded, “I think I might be on to something.” He keyed the padd next to the turbolift and stood back to allow her to go in ahead of him.

 

“Well, don’t keep me waiting,” she crossed her arms and leaned against the back of the lift, “Share already!”

 

His eyes sparkled pure mischief, “Ah, but that would ruin the surprise.”

Katie’s eyes narrowed into blue slits, “Don’t make me hurt a healing man.”

 

Junior laughed, “I’ll tell you tonight, after I’ve had time to perfect it.” The lift doors opened and he shoved her out, “now go to work, you bum!”

 

Katie stumbled forward and turned quickly to glare at him, “Hey!” But the doors to the lift had already closed. “Oh, he’s going to pay for that.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she continued down the corridor, her mind set on revenge.

 

“Oh dear, looks like you’re planning something,” Kathryn commented when Katie strode into Astrometrics a few minutes later. “I have to warn you, if it involves flooding another cargo bay---“

 

“No, not this time,” she stopped beside Kathryn and leaned against the console, “Just plotting the demise of a former Q we both know.”

 

“Already? And I thought my relationships were short.”

 

“Don’t be cute Kathryn,” Katie sighed, “All right, let’s do this.”

 

“Are you sure?” There was a touch of concern in her voice, though she was already keying in the commands. “There’s no rush, I can tell her about you this time, and you can meet her next month if you’d rather wait.”

 

“Meet her?” Katie smiled, “She’s my mother too, it’s not like she’s a complete stranger. And from where I’m standing I haven’t seen her in four years. No, I’m just more concerned about how she’s going to feel having two of us.”

 

Kathryn snickered, “At least it’s two of us and not two of Phoebe.”

 

“Thank god for small favors!” But aside from the joking, Katie stood straight and squared her shoulders, signaling that she was ready.

 

Kathryn slipped an arm around her shoulders for a moment and gave them a squeeze, and then pulling away she waited for Katie to step out of viewing range and nodded. “Here goes nothing.”

 

Gretchen had been expecting her call this month, and smiled brightly when it finally came through. “Katie!”

 

“Mama,” Kathryn glanced at her younger self out of the corner of her eye. She felt her heart lurch slightly from the tears she saw there. “How are you? And Phoebe and the family?”

 

“Oh,” Gretchen waved a hand through the air, “that girl is getting on my nerves, I swear if she gets herself pregnant again after this one I’m packing up and getting the hell out of Dodge!” She chuckled, “Now don’t get me wrong, I love my grandbabies; in fact the more the merrier, but I just can’t handle too much of your sister on a normal basis. Throw in the hormones and the morning sickness and I’m just about ready to shoot the bitch!”

 

Katie clamped a hand over her mouth to suppress the giggles that threatened, but her shoulders shook with silent laughter. Chuckling Kathryn nodded, “I can understand that. Well, you’re in luck, I’ve got a surprise that just might make the next few months worth it.”

 

Gretchen clapped her hands together and practically squealed with delight, “You and that big lug of a man finally decided to give me more babies to spoil?”

 

“Uh, no Mama,” Kathryn sighed, “not quite.”

 

“Oh,” Gretchen’s face fell, “Now Kathryn, you know you’re not getting any younger, and neither is Chakotay, just because you have some insane sense of loyalty to your crew doesn’t mean you can keep expecting him to put off natural urges. When you and I both know he wants a family so bad he almost can’t stand it.”

 

Kathryn reddened slightly as Katie’s eyes snapped to her in wide-eyed astonishment, “Actually, I don’t really want to talk about that today, something else happened recently.”

 

“Oh, well, for the love of coffee, Kathryn, just tell me what it is already; you’re starting to make me worry. Nothing’s happened to Chakotay has it?”

 

“Oh no, he’s as annoying as ever,” Kathryn smiled, “Actually, remember us telling you about Q?”

 

“The omnipotent pain in the ass?”

 

“That would be the one!” Kathryn chuckled, “Seems he decided to do a little timeline robbing, and ended up dropping his most recent mess in my lap.” She smiled to her left, and winked at Katie who was now glaring at her. “Apparently because he wanted me and couldn’t have me, he decided to steal me, from an earlier point in my life, when he thought I would be more agreeable.”

 

“Ha!” Gretchen laughed, “Doesn’t know you as well as he thought he did huh?”

 

“Very funny, Mother,” Kathryn rolled her eyes. “Well, to make a long story short, and because we only have a few minutes,” she reached over and grabbed Katie jerking her into sight, “Meet Katie.”

 

Katie waved, “Hi mom!”

 

“Oh dear,” Gretchen blinked a couple of times to make sure she was seeing, what she was actually seeing. “Either this is actually happening or I’m getting senile in my old age.”

 

“No, I’m real,” Katie shrugged, “I come with a few extras that we won’t get into right now, but I’m me!”

 

“And god is she a thorn in my side,” Kathryn sighed dramatically.

 

“Oh, you’re not such a basket of roses yourself you know,” Katie elbowed her, “And don’t think you’re getting away with not talking to me about that other matter either. Oh, you’re so in for it when we get done here.”

 

“I don’t have to talk to you about anything, missy, Captain’s privilege.”

 

“Captain shmaptin! We’ll just see about that.”

 

“Now see here you little...”

 

“Girls, that’ll be enough!” Gretchen shook her head, dear lord what was she going to do with two of them!

“But ma!” the girls said in unison, “she started it!”

 

“Good lord,” Gretchen sat back in her seat and stared at the two of them for a moment, letting it all sink in. When they both started to fidget and look worried, she leaned forward again, “Well at least there are two of you, and not two of your sister!”

 

The two women looked at each other and laughed, “We had come to the same conclusion actually,” Kathryn snickered.

 

“Well,” Gretchen gazed at her younger daughter through the view screen, “What about you? Any children yet?”

 

Katie made a strangled, tortured sound that almost could have been a moan, but was more likely a whimper. “No, not me.”

 

Kathryn laughed heartily, “Oh this is great, I love it!”

 

“Shut up,” Katie kicked her.

 

“Oh, you’re not off the hook yet, Kathryn,” Gretchen glared at her eldest child, “I expect to hear you’re pregnant by our next communication or there will be hell to pay.”

 

Katie snickered and elbowed her sister, “Better get to work then, huh?”

 

Kathryn rolled her eyes as the console before them beeped, signaling the end of their transmission time, “We have to go now Mama, love you, bye!”

 

“Good bye girls, do try and behave yourselves; no destroying the ship, all right? Love you both.” She blew a kiss to the screen just as it went black.

 

Katie immediately relaxed, letting out a huge sigh of relief, “Well, that was, interesting.”

 

“Yup, well, I’ve got meetings now, gotta go, bye!” Kathryn turned on her heal and was almost to the door before Katie caught her.

 

“Oh no you don’t,” she pulled the other woman back and spun her around. “Start talking, Captain Closed Mouth!”

 

“Talk? About what? I have nothing to say!” She tried to step around her sister but was held firmly in place. “I could put you in the brig for this you know.”

 

“You could,” Katie snickered, “But you’d get in trouble with Mom, and even you can admit it’s just not worth it, so start talking.”

 

Kathryn sighed, “About what?”

 

“You and Chakotay, and what mother knows that I don’t.”

 

“There’s nothing to tell, he’s a friend, he’d like more, Mom would like more, end of discussion.”

 

“Mmhmm,” Katie arched a brow, “I would believe you if you weren’t doing that thing you do when we lie,” she looked down to where Kathryn was toying with the cuff of her uniform sleeve.

 

“Oh for crying out loud,” she groaned, “I’m fucking his brains out every night, and sometimes in the ready room too, happy now?”

 

Katie stepped back from her and crossed her arms, “Not quite, how long has this been going on and why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Kathryn mimicked her stance and ignored the fact that the other woman looked hurt, “About five years, and because it was none of your business.”

 

“Five years?” Katie blinked, “You’ve been with him for five years and you never told anyone?”

 

“Uh, yeah,” Kathryn smiled crookedly, “That’s what secret affair means, you don’t tell anyone.”

 

“I don’t believe this!” Katie threw her hands up in the air, “They’re all running around like crazy trying to get the two of you together and... Oh this is good,” her eyes narrowed, “You’ve made me and the rest of this crew look like fools and you’re loving every minute of it.”

 

“Well,” Kathryn shrugged, “as long as they’re happy... and did you know they try to drug me too?” She shook her head and sighed dramatically, “Like I wouldn’t know! There’s not a thing that goes on aboard Voyager that I don’t know about.” Then she shrugged and softened her stance and her smile, “Look, it wasn’t that I didn’t trust you; it’s just that, we’ve worked hard to keep this to ourselves. I mean, look at how fast everything else travels aboard this ship. I can’t even take a nap without someone knowing how long it was, and why, and speculating on why I was tired in the first place, I mean God forbid it be because I was up late,” she gasped, “working!” She touched her sister’s arm, “It’s the one thing on this ship that was solely ours, and it works for us.”

 

“I suppose,” she shrugged and then sighed, “All right, I won’t tell anyone. It’s not my place to, but you could have told me.” She wrinkled her nose, “Then I wouldn’t have thrown myself at him, oh God how embarrassing!” She ran a hand through her hair, “How could you let me do that!”

 

“Well,” Kathryn snickered, “it was kind of funny.”

 

“You’re not the one that has to come up with a way to convince Junior NOT to try and get you together, after convincing him it was a good idea.” Katie sighed, “Oh, that’s going to take some explaining.”

 

Kathryn shrugged, “Just tell him.”

 

“Oh just like that?” She rolled her eyes, “I had to almost beat it out of you and you just want me to tell him?”

 

Kathryn stepped around her, “Well honey, he was a Q, so he probably already knows.” She flashed a smile and a wink over her shoulder and then she was gone.

 

Katie stood there for a moment before full realization dawned on her. “Oh that little...” She left Astrometrics, fully intent on bodily harm. She made it back up to deck 9 in record time, had keyed in the override code to his door and was picking up the nearest heavy object to hurl at him before she even realized that he was sprawled out on the sofa sound asleep and snoring softly. “Asshole,” she mumbled and tossed the large hardback he’d gotten from Kathryn into the nearest chair. She inhaled deeply, and let it out slowly, all her irritation with him leaving her as her heart melted at the sight. She lowered herself to the floor next to the sofa and resting her chin on the cushion next to his head, she reached up and gently smoothed his hair away from his forehead. “You are so lucky I love you,” she murmured, as she leaned into the sofa, a soft smile spreading across her face. If she’d had more time she might have stayed there like that, but duty called. With a sigh, she brushed a kiss across his brow and started quietly for the door. She looked back only once before leaving him to his nap.

 

*~*~*

 

Following the discussion with her mother, Kathryn had spent the remainder of her duty shift in meetings with various department heads. Security wanted to run more battle drills, Sickbay wanted more respect from assigned personnel. Though she had fought back laughter during that meeting, she had promised to have a word with Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Janeway about their lack of respect while on duty. In Engineering she had spent at least an hour arguing with a hormonally imbalanced half-Klingon about the advantages of maternity leave, and that she would be taking one. And really all that discussion had boiled down to was an hour of agreeing that men were pigs and should be shot on sight, although Kathryn had emerged the victor in the end, that really wasn’t a surprise given that she had more pips than Torres did.

 

But now, with another day gone, and the communication with her mother no longer hanging over her head, she walked into her cabin and let out a long, cleansing breath. She stretched her arms and rolled her head around on her shoulders, leaving the tension of the day at her door. Satisfied that her daily ritual was honored, she moved through the rest of her cabin. When she entered her bedroom, she paused at the door to lean against the bulkhead and smile, her eyes drinking in the sight before her. The lights were dimmed, the bed turned down, and reclining back against the headboard, smiling at her, and naked as the day he was born, was Chakotay.

 

He placed the book he’d been reading on the nightstand and rose from the bed. “How did it go?”

 

Her eyes followed his graceful movements, “Like I thought it would.” Her fingers itched to follow the ripple of his muscles as he moved toward her. “Although, orders have been issued from above, Mama dearest expects a grandchild planted by the next transmission or we’re both in the doghouse.” She sighed in contentment as his hand reached for hers and she was pulled toward the bed, “She just doesn’t want to accept the concept of protocol and time restraints.”

 

Laughter rumbled deep in his chest, “Well, she is your mother after all, it’s no surprise that she’s stubborn as hell.”

 

“Hmm,” she sat on the bed and smiled as he tugged her boots off and began massaging her feet. “No surprise,” she moaned softly as he worked his fingers along the pad of her foot, “but annoying as hell.”

 

Chakotay held his tongue, knowing that if he commented they would argue instead of what he had planned. The issue of her mother, and children, was the one area they disagreed on. His personal belief was that her mother was right, and he was more than willing to comply with that particular wish. Keeping their relationship a secret had been Kathryn’s idea, and in the beginning he had agreed with her. But now, he no longer felt their worries had any substance in fact. Starfleet had already assured them that the Maquis would be dealt with fairly; prison time was no longer an issue, not even for him. Kathryn had already been reprimanded for her more serious incursions against the Prime Directive, but on the whole she was praised for accomplishing that which she had in an unknown quadrant with no support from home. Now it seemed to him that it was more an issue of habit with her, than of necessity. She was used to their relationship belonging solely to the two of them, and while he liked the air of privacy that allowed them to have, there were other things he wanted far more. More than ever, as he grew older, he felt the urge for a home and family. He could acknowledge Voyager as their home, for now, but he was growing more tempted to press the issue regarding children, something he had never done before out of fear of pushing Kathryn away. He hadn’t realized he had grown so intent on his own thoughts, and Kathryn’s hand against his cheek startled him.

 

“You’ve grown awfully quiet all of a sudden,” her fingers danced across his raven locks, “What is it?”

 

“Just thinking about how long it’s going to take me to get you out of those clothes,” he waggled his brows at her.

 

While the thought of lying naked against him sent as shiver through her body, his eyes were still clouded with concern over something. “No, whatever it is Chakotay you can tell me.”

 

He sat back on his heels with a sigh and let her foot drop from his grasp, “I just don’t think you should discount everything your mother tells you, that’s all.” He watched as realization flashed across her face.

 

“I see,” she looked away from him for a moment and he could tell that she was preparing her argument.

 

“Don’t do that,” He moved to sit on the bed beside her, “don’t get ready to argue about it, that’s not what I’m trying to do here.” But still he could feel her body stiffening beside him. “I just think your mother has a point, that’s all. I’m not saying you should follow her every command, although having you pregnant by the next data stream would do wonders for my ego,” he saw the ghost of a smile that twitched at her lips and felt his courage bolster. “I think it’s something we shouldn’t completely toss into the ‘never going to happen’ bin. I know why you’re hesitant, I do, and I can respect that and to a small degree I even agree with it. However, I would be lying if I told you that I agreed with you 100 percent on the issue, because I don’t.” She still hadn’t looked at him, even though she no longer held herself as rigidly as before, so he reached over and cupped her chin in his hand and brought her face around until he was gazing into her eyes. “I want a child, or two, or ten, but I want them with you. And after you’ve given it serious consideration, beyond just the usual ramifications to the ship, if at that time you decide children are still out of the question, I’ll be disappointed yes, but I’ll go along with what you decide. I won’t love you any less.”

 

Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back, and reached for the hand cupping her chin. She brought it to her lips and kissed his palm, “I’ll think about it,” she told him in a voice thick with emotion.

 

He gave her a full-dimpled smile, “That’s all I ask.” Then he moved his hand behind her head and brought her lips to his. He could feel her body slowly melting under the gentle caress of his mouth and the hands gently kneading her shoulders. When he felt the last of her resistance fade, he pushed his tongue forward to lightly trace the length of her lips. They parted in invitation and he took it, that initial taste of her, all coffee and sweetness sending the usual jolt of desire through his body. He lingered, as he usually did, in exploring her mouth, enjoying the feel of her body as she arched toward him and the sound of her voice as she moaned into his mouth. Slowly, his hands moved from her shoulders to slide down her arms, and pulling away from her, he nibbled at her lips for several moments - before finally tugging her to stand before him.

 

She moved between his legs and the crisp feel of her pants against his bare inner thighs made his already hardening member twitch in anticipation. He gazed up at her and found her staring down at him through half lidded eyes, a soft smile on her face. His hands moved to the clasp of her jacket, and, unsurprisingly, hers were right there helping him to remove it, her turtleneck quickly following it to some unnoticed place on the floor. Kathryn arched into him when he pushed her tank up, baring her stomach to his mouth. Her muscles danced at the first touch of his lips and tongue, and she shivered as the cool air invading the bedroom danced across the wet flesh he was leaving behind in his exploration.

 

When his hands moved up her sides, brushing against her breasts, she made a soft keening sound and arched her back. Chakotay smiled against her skin, and pushing the front of the tank over her head, he kept it looped around her arms to bind them behind her. She growled in response but it quickly turned into a strangled gasp as his teeth sank into her lace-covered nipple. Glancing up at her, he slowly ran his tongue along his lips as he reached to unclasp the front closure of the lace garment. She shivered against him, and tugged at the binding around her arms, almost whimpering in protest to his slow torture. The moment her bra was out of the way, Chakotay closed his eyes and rubbed first his cheek, and then his lips against the soft swell of her left breast. And while his hand rose to cup and tease the right, his lips parted to allow his tongue to trace a lazy path around her hardened nipple.

 

“Chakotay...” She sighed his name as another spark of pleasure flowed through her to rest at the ever-increasing ache between her thighs. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and hissed at the friction the small movement caused. Bending her knee, she pressed it against the evidence of his own increasing arousal and felt him shudder against her. His thighs closed against her legs, allowing her no further movement, and she growled her protest.

 

In response he wrapped an arm around her waist, tugged the tank top restraining her arms away, and pulled her down onto the bed, twisting her at the last moment until she lay on her back. He moved until he lay mostly covering her, one of his legs wrapped around both of hers, and an arm across her waist, holding her in place. Then his head lowered once more and his lips once again closed around a hardened and aching nipple. He rolled the pebbled nub around, grazing it with his teeth, before finally sucking it into his mouth where his tongue continued to dance across the sensitive flesh. She arched against him, moaning her approval, and grasping his shoulders when his teeth once again sank into her.

 

The ache at her center had continued to spiral up, heating her body and causing her to tremble beneath his attentions. When she thought she might cum, just from the attention she was getting from his mouth, he released her nipple with a slight ‘pop’ and once more trailed his lips across her flat stomach. She opened her eyes and gazed at him, the contrast of his dark hair and skin against her paleness causing, as usual, a shiver of pleasure to run through her. Unconsciously, her mind turned to their previous discussion and an image flashed before her eyes of Chakotay moving to kneel between her thighs, his large hands resting against the rounded fullness of her belly swollen with their child. She gasped at the unexpected jolt of fire it caused within her, and it was then that her heart won the battle and she made up her mind to do everything in her power to be pregnant by the next data stream.

 

Even as the thought entered her mind, it was quickly chased away as Chakotay lifted her leg over his shoulder and pressed his face against the inside of her thigh. His nose brushed lightly against the dampness of her silken curls, and groaning softly, he drank in the heady scent of her arousal. His tongue darted forward, and slowly he traced the silken length of the sensitive skin where her- thigh joined her torso. He heard her gasp, and then she shuddered beneath him. He nipped lightly with his teeth at her soft mound, before finally running his lips along the length of her slick folds. Wrapping his arms around her thighs he held her firmly anchored to him as his tongue slid along her opening, lapping at her juices. He buried himself in her heat; his nose nudged against her clit while his tongue swirled and thrust within her.

 

Kathryn hummed in absolute delight as each stroke of his tongue sent wave up on wave of desire spiraling through her. The ache within her was growing to an almost painful height, and she could feel her legs beginning to tremble against his hold on them. “Oh...fuck yeah,” she managed to mumble when his head moved slightly and she felt his tongue circle around her swollen clit. She jerked in response to his teeth grazing across her sensitive flesh, and began to rock against his face when he sucked her clit into his mouth and began to tease it with abandon. Her hands grasped out blindly for support and found the bed sheets instead. She grasped at them until her knuckles ached, but wasn’t able to distinguish that ache from the intense pressure building low in her belly. “Fuck...” She felt Chakotay pull her more firmly against his mouth, and her back arched as the first hot sparks of release began to vibrate through her. 

 

At the first violent tremors, he released her clit and buried his tongue in her opening again, lapping at the juices that poured from her body, even as she began to tremble and buck against him, loudly giving voice to the strength of her orgasm.

 

Chakotay continued to lap at her center until well after her body had collapsed beneath him. When he finally pulled away from her, she was gazing at him through heavy, half lidded eyes. She reached out for him, her hand skimming along his tousled hair, to cup his damp cheek. Rising, he climbed up the length of her body until their faces were inches apart. Shifting slightly, Kathryn rolled her hips so that her slick folds rubbed along the swollen length of Chakotay’s cock. Groaning, he lowered his head to nibble at her lips.

 

Humming softly, Kathryn slid a hand behind his head and parted her lips to lick the remainder of her juices from his chin and mouth. When not a drop remained, she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and nipped at it. Chakotay growled playfully in response and pressed her more firmly into the mattress. As his lips closed over hers again, Kathryn slid a hand downward along his chest. She paused to pinch and tug at a nipple, rolling the tiny nub between her fingers as their tongues met and mated. But because she had another destination in mind, she soon abandoned the nipple and continued her downward trek, her fingers dancing lightly across the soft flesh at his waist. The muscles beneath her fingers danced, and she chuckled softly even as Chakotay groaned into her mouth. He reached down to curl his fingers around her wrist and guided her fingers to his throbbing cock. He let out another groan and shuddered as her fingers curled around the thick width of it.

 

Kathryn trailed her fingers along the familiar length of him, and then gripping him gently, guided the engorged tip to her slick opening. She rocked her hips toward him in the same moment, and let out a throaty moan as the head of his cock pushed between her sensitive folds. Kathryn released her hold on him and slipped her arm around him, until her hand rested against his lower back.

 

Without loosing contact with her lips, Chakotay reached for both her hands, and brought them back above her head. Their fingers intertwined as he shifted his weight, and then with a roll of his hips, he sank into her until the tip of his cock nudged at her cervix. His cock twitched within her, reacting to the tight heat that surrounded it, the absolute unbridled pleasure of that first thrust never ceased to amaze him.

 

Kathryn trembled beneath him, and clamped down with her inner muscles as he pulled back to thrust again. She rose to meet him, matching his thrust, and once more tightening her inner muscles around his cock when it lay embedded with her. Groaning, Chakotay began his thrusts, slow and deep, her contracting muscles threatening the hold he had on his control. When she continued the action, he rose over her until he was situated on his knees, his hands at her hips. She shivered at the look in his eyes and felt another rush of arousal flow through her body. She reached down alongside her hips to grip at his thighs as he began to thrust into her again, her back arching as he pulled her into each deep thrust. Her cries filled the room for the second time that evening as his cock pounded against her cervix with an almost bruising force.

 

He could hear her muttering obscenities and smiled slightly, his Kathryn liked to talk dirty when they were in bed together. But the smile faded as his thoughts were overruled by his actions, and instead he concentrated on the feeling of her slick folds moving against his aching cock, as well as that of his balls as they slapped against her ass with each hard movement he made. He could feel her nails cutting into his thighs were she gripped them, and could already imagine the blood red, crescent shaped marks she would leave behind. A growl rumbled low in his chest as the image flowed over his mind, and with fast jerking motions, he pummeled into her body.

 

Another image flashed threw his mind as he gazed down at her, back arched, breasts bouncing with each hard thrust, and for a moment he imagined those same breasts swollen, and her stomach rounded, stretched, and full of his child. It wasn’t the first time he had imagined taking her while she was heavily pregnant, and likely would not be the last, but the effect it had on him was always the same. He could feel his cock shudder, and the tightening in his groin that signaled his quickly approaching release. He removed a hand from its grasp on her hip, and reached between them to slide his fingers along her sensitive clit. Her muscles tightened around him immediately, and he focused all his concentration on holding back long enough to bring her with him over the edge. He massaged her clit with his thumb as he continued to thrust within her, the pressure of his release slowly inching its way along his cock.

 

“Oh...fuck,” was Kathryn’s response as her entire body stiffened and began to shudder violently against him. His continuing thrusts as her walls began to clamp down on him had her gasping for air as the force of her third orgasm rolled through her.

 

The force of her walls clamping down on his cock was the final straw, causing his release to wash through him, bursting forth in hot spurts that splashed against her cervix. Silently, as happened every time, a part of his mind made a wish that the seed being spilled into her body would take root, forming something created of their love.

 

He sat back heavily on his knees as the last shuddering spasms flowed through him. It was with some reluctance that he slipped from her body as he moved to lie beside her, his arms automatically reaching out to pull her against his chest. Kathryn snuggled against him, humming her contentment, and threw a leg possessively across his thighs.  Resting her head in her hand, she gazed down at him for a few moments before leaning over to run her lips along his jaw line. “Rest up Tattoo Boy,” she tugged at his earlobe with her teeth, “I’m not done with you yet.”

 

A brow arched as he glanced at her, “Is that so?”

 

“Mmhmm,” she sucked his lobe into her mouth and continued nibbling at it. When he tugged his head away from her so that she would be forced to look at him she gave a small pout. “What?” She blinked and offered her most innocent expression, “We need the practice, man of mine.”

 

This had his other brow joining the first near his hairline, “Practice?”

 

She nodded, “The way I see it, we’ve never tried to conceive a child before and considering the fact that I’m having the Doctor reverse my ovulation inhibitor tomorrow morning, I thought we would get a little practice time in. Problem with that?” The corners of her mouth twitched, but she suppressed the smile, continuing instead to stare down at him as though what she’d just said was the most obvious of information.

 

He stared at her as though she had just spoken to him in some unknown language that the universal translator refused to acknowledge. “Come again?”

 

She smiled seductively, “Well, I will - if you do your job right.”

 

“Kathryn...” His voice took on a tone that warned her not to play with him.

 

She sighed, “Oh all right, I’ll spell it out for you. I made up my mind, all right?” She gave his shoulder a shove and then moved to straddle his waist. “We’re stuck out here for God knows how long, the crew is starting to pop them out like they’re rabbits, so what the hell.” She shrugged, “It’s still not an easy decision, by any means, but I just realized that I love you far too much to ever deny you anything, - even this.”

 

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to regret this Kathryn. And I don’t want you to feel like I’ve pressured you into it. This won’t be something you can change your mind about later.”

 

“I know that, Chakotay,” she slid down his body and leaned forward until she was lying atop his chest, her head resting on her folded arms, their faces only inches apart. “I’ve always wanted to be a mother, you know that, so this is hardly a decision that I would regret later.” Bowing her head she kissed his chest, “I’ve never regretted anything about our relationship,” she met his eyes again, “except the pain loving me has caused you. I know it isn’t easy...”

 

“Kathryn,” he stroked a hand over her hair and rested another on her bare shoulder, “Loving you has never caused me anything but happiness.”

 

Rising back onto her hands and knees, she pressed a kiss to his lips, “Thank you.” Then she smiled at him, “So, what do you say Old Man? Play your cards right and you could be a daddy by years end.” She wiggled her ass playfully in the air as she knelt straddling him.

 

Chakotay’s eyes darkened with desire and something else that caused a shiver to run along her spine. “Woman, I intend to make sure you never see your feet again.”

 

Kathryn squealed with laughter as his arm looped around her waist and she was flipped onto her back. Her laughter soon gave way to a series of moans and half choked sobs as he began working his hands and mouth along her body again, fully intent on using her as his own personal breeding ground.

 

*~*~*

 

The following morning found Katie on the early shift in sickbay tiredly hoping that one of the tricorders she was updating would turn itself into a cup of coffee. The doors to sickbay slid opened as she yawned for the hundredth time, her eyes widening at the figure walking awkwardly toward the Doctor’s office. “You know,” she found herself saying, “I’ve seen Orion slave girls that didn’t walk that bowlegged after a wild orgy with ten randy Klingons.”

 

Kathryn glared at the younger woman and bit back the curses that had sprang to the tip of her tongue. “You know,” She smiled wickedly, “there are plasma manifolds down on deck 13 that need a good cleaning, if you get too bored tuning up tricorders.”

 

“For someone who obviously had a good time last night,” Katie laughed, “you sure are in a bad mood.”

 

“You would be too,” Kathryn muttered as she walked into the Doctor’s office, “if you had just sentenced yourself to indefinite coffee deprivation.”

 

Katie laughed, wondering what the hell had happened this time to get the older woman on restriction. “No wonder she’s so bitchy,” she chortled under her breath.

 

“Computer,” Kathryn winced as she lowered herself into the chair in front of the doctor’s desk, “Activate the EMH.” She shifted carefully as he materialized behind the desk, and wondered if she should embarrass herself by asking for a regenerator.

 

“Please State the---“ He stopped as he saw who it was, “Oh.” Then he became immediately concerned, “It’s not time for your physical, are you ill? Do you have a fever?” He started to reach for the tricorder on his desk, but she held up a hand, stopping him.

 

“No, I’m not ill,” she sighed, “I need to talk to you about reversing my ovulation inhibitor.”

 

That did catch him by surprise, which clearly showed on his face when he sat down behind his desk. “I beg your pardon?”

 

“What is with the men on this ship?” She groaned, “Are you all that dense?” She sighed, “I want to get pregnant, I can’t do it as long as the inhibitor is in place, therefore I need you to remove it!”

 

“I see,” he studied her carefully, “And how exactly do you plan on achieving this goal?”

 

“Oh good lord, do I have to draw you diagrams?” She threw her hands up in the air, “I intend to achieve it in much the same way every other pregnant female on this ship has, by shagging like a bitch in heat. Can we get this over with now?”

 

The Doctor continued to study her closely, “Captain, have you been drinking?”

 

“Oh for the love of coffee,” she leaned forward dropping her head into her hands.

 

“Well,” he picked up a tricorder and started around the desk toward her, “Your skin is flushed, your pupils are dilated, and you are not acting like your usual self.” He began scanning her immediately.

 

Kathryn leaned back in her seat and gave him her wryest expression, “That probably,” she began dryly, “has something to do with the fact that I just spent most of the night and much of this morning fucking my first officer’s brains out. And you know, since we’re talking about it, he finished with me just fifteen minutes ago and I’m feeling awfully sore, so when we’re done with the other thing, can ya take care of that for me too? Sitting on the bridge is going to be hell otherwise. And since I’ve brought it up,” she continued her sarcastic litany, ignoring the astonished look on his face, “why don’t you just issue the Commander and I our own personal regenerator; ours quit working last month, and I’d really hate to have to start coming in here every time he fucks me until I can barely walk.” She smiled sweetly, “Okay?”

 

Without even blinking he shook his head, “Really, Captain, I would think that an officer of your caliber would know better than to be drinking such---“ He trailed off as his tricorder began to hum. “Oh dear.”

 

“Some people just can’t understand plain English,” she sighed. “Now can we get a move on?” She stood rather stiffly, “Because, quite frankly, I’m sore, I’m tired, and I just realized this morning that if Chakotay keeps his word I’ll never have coffee again, and quite frankly I’m not even pregnant yet and he’s programmed every replicator on board against me.” Her eyes teared up, “It’s almost too much for a girl to handle.”

 

“If you and the Commander are in agreement about your choice to have a child---“

 

“Doctor, do the words, ‘Woman I’m going to make sure you never see your feet again’ mean anything to you? Believe me, he’s in agreement. Now, let’s get this done, I’ve got places to go, people to talk to, babies to make!” She shoed him out of the office and into the main medical bay, pausing when she caught sight of Katie, “Oh no, she’s not staying to help, go on you can work in Engineering today.”

 

Katie started to argue, wanting to know what exactly was going on, but decided not to press her good luck and instead headed for the doors. She paused only once and shook her head as Kathryn eagerly hoisted herself onto a bio-bed. Deciding that she probably didn’t want to know, she shook it off and headed for Engineering.

 

The Doctor worked silently as he first examined and then administered the proper nutritional supplements, vitamins, and finally counters to her inhibitor. On a whim, he lifted a final hypospray, but paused before administering it, “If, Captain, you are as serious about this current goal as you stated,” he held up a hand when she started to speak, “I could, while I have you here, also administer a drug that would prompt immediate ovulation. Chances are good, considering that much of the remaining sperm within your body is still alive, that you would conceive immediately.”

 

She didn’t even pause to think about it, “Do it.” The hiss of the hypospray against her neck, and what it meant, sent a shiver along her spine. “Are we done?”

 

“You are free to go Captain, but I must caution you, if pregnancy is your intention, I would like you to begin considering a shorter duty shift schedule. At your age, your body will be working harder to nourish a child than if you were ten years younger.”

 

“Agreed,” She sighed once again as she slid off the bio-bed, her aching muscles reminding her to ask for the regenerator. “Doc, you’re forgetting something.”

 

“Ah yes,” he turned and pulled a med kit out of its resting spot, and opening it, handed her the required item. “Do use this with caution, any serious injuries should, of course, be reported to sickbay.”

 

“Yeah yeah, I’ll keep it in mind.” She was almost to the door before she turned, “Oh, and Doctor, I shouldn’t have to caution you to keep your mouth closed on this matter.” She remembered the discussion she’d had with Chakotay after their fourth and final bout of ‘breeding’ the previous night. “We aren’t ready to inform the crew yet, so I’d appreciate you filing this under Doctor-Patient confidentiality.”

 

He looked almost insulted, “Of course, Captain, this will of course remain between the two of us and Commander Chakotay as well.” She nodded once before leaving him. A sly grin formed across his holographic face once she’d gone, “But,” he said to the empty sick bay, “that doesn’t mean I can’t cash in on it.” Laughing delightedly, he hurried back into his office and flipped on his computer console. A few commands later and he was sure he had a jump on all of Mr. Paris’s betting pools regarding their commanding officers.

 

Half an hour later Kathryn emerged from the small bathroom connected to her ready room sighing with relief, “Thank you God,” she muttered as she moved across the room to her desk and stored the small regenerator in a drawer for later use. She plopped down into her chair and turned it toward the view ports, watching as the stars streaked past. A hand moved to rest against her abdomen, and she wondered idly if maybe, just maybe any of the doctor’s -ministrations had worked and something good was happening in there. Smiling at the thought, Kathryn allowed herself a few more minutes to daydream before the Captain reared her head and forced her to get to work. Her last thought before turning to the PADDs that required her attention, was the look that was going to be on her mother’s face when she got her next letter.

 

*~*~*

 

The following weeks however, found Chakotay with a few extra duties he had not originally planned on. Normally this job would have fallen to Tuvok or one of the security personnel, but knowing how important the young man was to his lover and her new sister, he had volunteered his time to see to the young man’s tactical training.  “Not bad,” Chakotay watched as Junior successfully obliterated another target. “Ready to try the next level?”

 

The former Q glanced to his left and nodded before once again lifting the phaser in his hand. “I believe Katie would say, bring it on.”

 

Laughing, the Commander instructed the computer to the higher level, and then threw in a few surprises as a bonus. When the Computer acknowledged his request, he stepped back and once again leaned against the bulkhead to watch his pupil. “Keep your shoulder level, and your elbow straight,” he offered as he evaluated the young man’s stance and movement. He was doing well, showing, after six strenuous weeks of physical therapy, none of his former stiffness. All that remained was the faintest hint of a limp, but even that would soon be a distant memory. “Good,” he commented as the young man rolled to take out another target. “Computer end.” He stepped forward smiling, “You learn quickly, but,” he added before the other man could, “you were a Q.”

 

Junior shrugged, “That doesn’t mean that I knew how to fire a phaser; I appreciate your help. I know you probably have better things to do,” he smiled knowingly.

 

Chakotay shook his head at the young man’s grin, “How much did Katie tell you?”

 

He disengaged the phaser and keyed in the safety mechanism before following the Commander from the holodeck, “Not much really, I already knew that you and Aunt Kathy were together.” He offered another knowing smile, “I knew it the last time I was here, and it wasn’t hard to figure out, especially for a Q. I’m just surprised no one else knows.”

 

“They will soon,” Chakotay couldn’t help smiling.

 

Junior eyed him carefully, “You’re up to something,” he lifted a brow, “You look entirely too pleased with yourself.”

 

“Oh,” he chuckled, “I am.”

 

Junior narrowed his eyes, but since the Commander wasn’t volunteering any information he decided to let it go, for now. “I understand that Katie is spending the evening with Aunt Kathy, some weird girls night in ritual?”

 

“Yes,” Chakotay laughed, “God help any man who wanders into their path,” which was why for the first time in as long as he could remember he would be sleeping in his own quarters.

 

“I’m not sure I understand this particular ritual, what does it involve?”

 

“Well, they’ll probably do their nails, drink some wine, and talk about what dogs men are,” this from Kathryn’s own mouth that morning.

 

“I see,” Junior frowned, “And why would they compare men to canines?”

 

Chakotay clapped the younger man on the back, “If men knew the answer to that one, our lives would be much easier.”

 

The two men walked in silence for several minutes before Junior finally found the courage to ask what he’d been meaning to all afternoon. “I was wondering sir,” he managed to choke out, “if you could help me with a personal problem.”

 

Chakotay stepped into a turbolift and turned to lift a brow at the younger man, “I’ll certainly try.”

 

Junior took a deep breath and blurted it all out at once, “How do human males initiate sexual intercourse with their chosen females, because quite frankly Katie is driving me nuts but on the other hand she scares me to death!”  

 

Chakotay blinked several times, not at all expecting this particular line of questions. “Well, uh,” he stopped and leaned against the back of the lift. “Interesting question that.”

 

Junior began pacing the length of the lift, “I mean, how do I know if *she* wants to, and when is the right time to try, and what do I do if she doesn’t like it? What if I’m no good at it?” He looked practically panicked.  

 

This wasn’t supposed to be in his job description, Chakotay thought as he shook his head in amusement. “Slow down, take a breath.” When the young man looked decidedly calmer, Chakotay ordered the turbolift to a halt. “All right, I’ll tell you what my father once told me. If a girl isn’t ready, she’ll let you know, so just do what feels natural, and remember no means no. Don’t worry about the rest; instinct will kick in. The first time will be a little awkward for both of you, it always is, whether its your first time with your partner, or your first time with anyone, that’s something you can only figure out and learn as you go along.”

 

“Are you sure?” Though he looked and acted calmer there was still a touch of worry in his green eyes.

 

“Trust me.”

 

And he did, Q thought as he nodded, “Okay, just do what feels natural.” He blinked and looked up, a startled expression on his face, “So if throwing her against the nearest wall and having my way with her feels natural I should just do it?”

 

“Well,” Chakotay suppressed his laughter, though his dimples peeked out on either side of face as he smiled, “If she doesn’t say no, and she seems to be liking it, which believe me, Kathryn has always thoroughly enjoyed a good wall romping, go for it.”

 

Junior wrinkled his nose, “That was way more than I really wanted to know about Aunt Kathy, but considering where Katie comes from, I get what you’re saying.”

 

“Good,” Chakotay shook his head again, “Computer resume.” He glanced at the younger man again, “You’ll figure it out, believe me, it’s not that hard.”

 

Junior nodded, then stepped out of the lift when it opened onto his deck, “I believe you, thank you for the advice Commander, and the lesson.”

 

“Good luck,” Chakotay started laughing when the doors closed once again. “You’re going to need it,” he shook his head. If Katie was anything like his Kathryn during sex he had no doubt she would likely scare the poor young man the first time. He was still smiling when he stepped into the quarters he now shared with Kathryn. He intended on getting his carving tools and sand painting materials so that his time next door would be occupied, but when he caught sight of Kathryn stretched out on the sofa asleep, he couldn’t help the gentle smile that touched his lips. He approached her quietly, but as if sensing his presence, her eyes opened when he leaned over to kiss her. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

 

“Hmmm,” she smiled and lifted her hands so he could pull her into a sitting position, “I was having the most interesting dream.

 

“Oh? Want to share?”

 

“Maybe later,” she curled up into his side, “Katie should be here soon, and I don’t want to start something she’s likely to walk in on.”

 

He laughed, “Well, if you get bored with your sister, do feel free to step next door for a visit.”

 

“I will definitely keep that in mind.” She rested her head against his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her.

 

Their solitude was soon at an end, however, when Katie rushed through the doors even before they had finished opening completely and was grabbing her sister by the arm. "I need your help, now."

 

Chakotay stood from his place on the sofa, "I'll just leave you two ladies to it."

 

"No," Katie squeaked, sounding near panicked, "It's all right, you can stay, I may need your help too."

 

Kathryn guided the young woman into a chair, "What's wrong?"

 

"Well, it's about Junior." She toyed with the cuffs of her sleeves, "we've been getting closer...really closer." She blinked, "And we haven't, you know..." She gestured between Kathryn and Chakotay, "Done that thing that makes him grin like a lunatic for hours afterwards."

 

Chakotay's brows shot up, "Like a lunatic?"

 

"Shut up," Kathryn shook her head and returned her attention to the younger woman, "I always assumed that you two had...you know." She shuddered slightly, not really wanting to contemplate all the repercussions of any version of herself doing the wild monkey dance with her Godson. "I mean, I knew that at the point from which Q pulled you from the timeline that you were still a...oh dear." She sat back in her seat and sighed, not quite knowing how to approach this. She looked hopefully to her left, "Chakotay?"

 

"Don't look at me," he held his hands up in front of him like a shield, "I'm not breaking her in for him." He ducked as they both slapped at him at the same time.

 

"Please try not to be so uncouth." Two sets of blue eyes glared at him. Kathryn turned back to her sister, "Well, I can't really tell you what to do. Just do what feels comfortable. I mean, Junior will know---"

 

Katie shook her head, "Nope, he's never done it either!"

 

"Oh for the love of coffee!" Kathryn sat back, "A former Q would have to be a virgin."

 

"I was thinking actually," Katie looked at Chakotay, her eyes pleading with him, "That maybe you could talk to Junior...I'm not sure if he would come to you on his own."

 

Chakotay reached up and ran a hand through his hair, he was reluctant to mention that he had already spoken to Junior so that he wouldn’t break a confidence, but was unsure how to handle two Kathryns giving him that pleading look. "I'll," he sighed, "See what I can do."

 

"Thank you!" Katie launched toward him, and planted a kiss firmly on his cheek. "You know, if you weren't taken, and I weren't in love with Junior, I just might..." She squeaked, as she was pulled backward.

 

"Get your mitts off my man wench!" Kathryn scowled at her for a moment. "I’ll tell you what," She stood up and walked Katie toward the door, "Why don't you come by here tomorrow evening when you get off shift, and we'll plan an evening Junior won't be able to resist."

 

Katie paused at the door, “What about tonight?”

 

“Actually,” Kathryn sighed, “I was going to call and postpone it, I’m feeling pretty worn out.”

 

“Oh,” she blinked, how unusual, “Well, all right, but honestly, resisting isn't the problem, I just think he's nervous."

 

"Well stop worrying about it," she pulled her sister into a brief hug, "it'll happen when it happens."

 

"I know," she sighed, "All right, thanks guys."

 

Kathryn waited until the doors had closed behind her before turning to face Chakotay, barely able to control her laughter. "Spirits save us from two fumbling virgins!"

 

Chakotay shook a finger at her, "Hey, you were there once yourself."

 

"Yes," she let herself be pulled down onto the sofa and into his arms. "But Justin knew what he was doing."

 

"Junior will too," he assured her, "the mechanics aren't that hard to figure out," he chuckled, "especially for a former Q. He's just nervous."

 

"Well, I'm confident they'll figure it out, and as much as I love my sister, I really don't want to think about her sex life, or Junior's." She gave a delicate shudder.

 

"All right, then why don't we just think about our own sex life, unless of course you’re feeling too tired?” When she shook her head in the negative he leered at her, “Good, because I'm willing to discuss this whole, 'grinning like a lunatic' issue." He rose from the sofa and pulled her with him, then without warning scooped her into his arms to carry her laughing into the bedroom.

 

True to her word, the following night Kathryn kicked Chakotay out of their cabin and was helping Katie through her issues with Junior, although somewhere along the line they had gotten a bit off course.

 

“You should have seen the look on his face,” Kathryn gasped, “He wasn’t expecting it to work on the first try!”

 

“You didn’t tell him about the Doctor’s extra boost?” Katie dissolved into another fit of giggles, “Oh you’re bad!”

 

“Well, I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen either!” Kathryn laughed as she leaned further into the sofa cushions, a hand resting unconsciously against her lower abdomen. “I was expecting it to take a couple of months, I thought I’d have longer to get used to the idea before I started popping the damned things out.”

 

Katie started laughing again, and rested her elbow on the sofa cushion next to Kathryn’s arm. Her sister was reclining back against the sofa arm, her legs stretched out before her, while Katie sat in the floor between the sofa and the coffee table. “No wonder,” she snickered, “You’ve been so bitchy!”

 

She nodded, “You would be too! No coffee, mood swings, and I swear I felt sick this morning.” Kathryn sighed, “God help me, the man wants at least four!”

 

The younger woman just shook her head, “You are so in for it now,” she giggled, “how far along are you?”

 

Kathryn’s eyes closed, “Four damn weeks, almost exactly to the bloody day. And naturally,” she sat up, “He walks around here like the smug bastard that he is!” Her voice rose as the last bit of that - she directed toward Chakotay’s quarters, knowing that he would hear her.

 

“Well,” Katie stood and picked up the bottle of wine she’d brought with her, “We won’t be needing this.” Shaking her head again, she smiled down at her sister, “Why don’t we call it a night, you can call Chakotay back over here and torture him for getting it right on the first shot.” She winked.

 

“You know,” Kathryn smiled, “I think I’ll just go pay him a little visit,” she sprang off the sofa as a sudden jolt of energy swept over her. She left Katie behind in her cabin, figuring the young woman could show herself out, and darted barefoot down the corridor to Chakotay’s door.

 

Katie stared after her, “Well don’t say bye or anything,” shaking her head she let herself out of the cabin and decided to find Junior and pounce on him. Her sister’s sudden happiness had her feeling a just twinge of jealousy. But the twinge soon passed as an idea began to take root in her mind. Suddenly her plans for pouncing on Junior began to take a new direction, and a shiver of heat rolled through her body at the thought.

 

When she arrived at her location, she didn’t bother ringing the chime, choosing instead to punch in the override code and let herself into his quarters. She wasn’t really expecting for him to be home, thinking that he would have chosen to spend time with Icheb on the holodeck, so was surprised when she found him sprawled out on his bed, shirtless, and sound asleep.

 

She moved slowly, and as quietly as possible, she kicked off her boots and removed her socks, before slowly climbing up the length of the bed, being careful not to wake him before she was ready. “Junior,” she murmured softly next to his ear, her breath flowing out along the lobe in a hot caress. He shifted slightly beneath her, and mumbled something incoherent but still didn’t awaken. A slow, feral smile slid across her face as she moved to straddle his waist. Leaning forward over him, she tugged his earlobe gently into her mouth and nibbled at it, suckling at his soft skin for several moments before trailing her lips along his neck. Her tongue swept over the muscled curve of his neck and shoulder, trailing a wet path along his skin; she moaned at the taste of him and unconsciously began to rotate her hips in slow circles against his lap. She could feel him, beginning to harden against the inside of her thigh, and even though his eyes had yet to open, he arched against her moving hips.  A rush of heat flowed through her to pool between her thighs at his reaction, and grinding against him, she tried to alleviate some of the ache that was quickly spiraling upward.

 

Moving lower over him, she began to rub herself against his thigh as her lips brushed over his chest. Her hair spilled over his arm in a pool of red as her teeth closed over one tiny nipple. Junior arched then, bucking against her as she pulled the tiny nub into her mouth and suckled at it. She glanced up momentarily, and confident that he still slept, she tossed her hair behind her and repeated the action, suckling at his nipples in turns until both were puckered, erect, and aching. Her own breasts had begun to ache for the attention of his hands, and the friction against her sensitive skin as she rubbed her breasts against his torso sent another rush of heat through her body. Suddenly needing to feel him against her, she sat up and began removing garments, until only her pants remained. She let out a tiny gasp as the cool air in the cabin flowed across her aching nipples, causing them to harden even more, and leaning forward again, she rubbed the aching mounds over the straining bulge in Junior’s pants. 

 

Her lips danced over his belly, which had been tightened and toned during his weeks of physical therapy. Even now the muscles danced beneath her touch, and smiling, she nipped at him with her teeth, pulling the skin just above his waistband into her mouth. She sucked at it, and in a moment of impishness, left her mark on him. It would be the first of many, she decided with a wicked smile.

 

When she pulled back and reached down to unclasp his pants she paused for a moment, a spark of nervousness washing over her. She glanced up, and gazed into his face, the closed eyes, the slight frown as his mind concentrated on what he was feeling, and then there was the slight quirk to his lips. The almost smug smile that was all Junior. Her heart skipped a beat, but it wasn’t until he bucked against her in frustration, his body having sensed her hesitation, that she finally chose to ignore the nervousness in her stomach. Her fingers shook only slightly as she unclasped his pants and pulled the zipper down. Her brow arched at a sudden realization, the former Q doesn’t like to wear underwear, naughty boy. She could feel herself grow wetter as she began to carefully tug his pants past his hips; anticipation shooting through her in sparks of heat. She shifted so that she straddled his thigh, and began to rub herself against him, the moistness of her arousal having long since soaked through her panties and trousers.

 

She realized, as she finally managed to tug his pants low around his hips, that a pair of green eyes was staring intently at her. But so caught up was she, in the sight of his erection finally springing free of its confines, that her tiny gasp of wonderment and approval was the only sound she could make. Her fingers itched to touch him, and she did just that, her hand tentatively curling around his hardened length. When he gasped and bucked against her hand, her eyes flew up, finding his face. Their eyes met and held for several moments, and when her hand began to move along his length, sliding from tip to base, his eyes darkened, the earlier surprise at finding her astride him giving way to pent up desire.

 

Katie felt her lips curl into a mischievous smile, and never losing the connection with his eyes, she slowly lowered her head and brushed her lips across the engorged tip of his cock. Her tongue snaked out on instinct, and licked up the drops of precum that had seeped free. Junior’s eyes rolled back and his head dropped back onto the pillow as he drove his hips toward her. Katie chuckled, the sound vibrating across her lips and causing his cock to twitch in her hand. Spurred on by his reaction, she drew the swollen head between her lips and began to gently suck at it, her tongue smoothing along its surface. When he groaned, she drew him deeper into her mouth and began to slowly move her head, setting up a rhythm similar to what she’d seen in the more lurid holovids her girlfriends at the Academy had been fond of.

 

She continued to suck at him, delighting in the way he arched and thrust at her, his every moan and movement sending jolts of pleasure coursing through her body to her center. She enjoyed the hiss of his breath as her teeth scraped against his sensitive flesh, and the way his cock - twitched when she began to gently mold and massage the sacs beneath. When she felt him begin to tremble beneath her, she pulled her mouth from him, releasing his cock with a soft “popping” sound. She continued to nip and lick at the skin of his thighs, and even wiggled her ass playfully in the air as she tugged his pants further down his legs. When she had them off of him, she held them up and tossed them playfully over her shoulder.

 

She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, and noticed as his eyes snapped immediately to her bouncing breasts. She felt her inner muscles twitch as his tongue snaked out to moisten his lips. Rising up on her knees, and knowing that his eyes were following her every movement, she allowed a spark of mischief to guide her hands to her breasts, which she cupped and molded. Her head fell back as her fingers skillfully pinched and twisted at her own nipples, a throaty moan filling the room as she began to pleasure herself for his enjoyment. Her hands moved low over her belly to the fly of her pants, and she smiled as his eyes darkened further when she lowered the zipper and began to push the course regulation material down her pale, shapely thighs. She wiggled out of the garment and kicked it away, so that she knelt before him in only a delicate pair of ice blue, lace panties that were barely more than two triangles of fabric held in place by two flimsy straps.

 

Katie drew her bottom lip between her teeth as she hooked her thumbs into the straps and began to slowly push the material down her thighs. When she had wiggled free of them, she lifted her hand and allowed the lacey scrap to dangle from her finger between them. Junior had risen up on his elbows to watch her strip tease, and now reached for the scrap of cloth, seizing it from her fingers; he tossed it behind her shoulder, and then reached out to curl his fingers around her wrist. He gave her arm an insistent tug, and smiling seductively, Katie pulled free of him and began her slow climb back up his body.

 

She leaned over him as she moved, allowing her nipples to graze along his body, the friction causing the pebbled nubs to tingle and ache for more definite attention. Junior sat up and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her firmly against him when she was positioned once more across his lap. The first feel of their bare torsos pressed against one another caused them both to shiver with need. Junior’s hands trailed along the softness of her back, his fingers dancing over her spine as they trailed lower until he cupped the cheeks of her ass. He began to knead and massage her soft flesh as he arched against her, his cock nudging insistently against the moist heat of her center. Katie bent her head and nipped at his lips, her tongue tracing the length of them before finally slipping into the moist depths of his mouth. As their tongues met and began to mate, Katie began to rock against him, her slick folds sliding along the length of his erection, coating him in her juices. Junior groaned into her mouth, and gripped her hips just a little tighter.

 

It was he who finally broke their kiss, trailing his lips along the soft curve of her neck, his tongue tasting her smooth flesh as his teeth marked her as his. Katie wiggled against his lap and parted her lips to gasp softly when he trailed a hand between them to cup the roundness of her breast. She allowed her head to fall back, her long hair brushing against her ass, causing her skin to tingle. Wrapping his other arm more firmly around her waist, Junior bent her slightly back and lowered his lips to her other breast. The first feel of his tongue against her sensitive flesh caused her to jerk slightly in pleasure and surprise. When he pulled the hard nub between his teeth and began to suckle, Katie arched toward him, pushing her breasts against his mouth and hand, moaning her pleasure at his actions. She lifted a hand to his hair, tangling her fingers in the light brown locks as he sucked her breast more firmly into his mouth, his tongue teasing her as the fingers of his hand pinched and tugged at her other nipple. Her other hand she dropped to the arm around her waist, and tugging at his wrist, she cupped his hand in hers and drew it low over her belly. She pressed his hand between her thighs, hissing and arching as their combined fingers tangled in her damp curls. Realizing her need, his fingers began to move along her slit, brushing teasingly against her swollen clit.

 

Katie gripped his wrist and arched into his hand as his fingers parted her slick folds and a single digit slipped into her moist opening. Fascinated, Junior pulled his attention from her breasts and leaned back to watch her as his fingers began to massage her aching center. Encouraged by her response, he added a second digit to her tight center, and began to rock with her as she started to ride his hand. Her ass rubbed against his straining cock as her hips rose and fell against his hand. He experimented moving his fingers within her, testing her reactions, when he pressed his thumb against her swollen nub his eyes widened as she arched sharply and began to rock more intensely against his hand. Spurred on by that response, he began to move his thumb across the swollen flesh, circling it at different angles until he learned what pleased her most. When her head dropped to his shoulder, her breathing uneven against his skin, and her legs began to tremble against his thighs, he instinctively wrapped his arm around her, holding her firmly as the walls of her inner body began to contract against his moving fingers.

 

Her hands reached up to grip his shoulders, nails biting into his skin as her body stiffened and then began to shudder violently. She let out a low keening sound as wave after wave crashed through her. Awed by her reaction, Junior continued the movements of his hand, forgetting for the moment his own aching arousal as she continued to writhe against him, her cries growing louder as the walls of her center clamped down almost painfully against his fingers.

 

When the shuddering subsided, he pulled his fingers from her slickness, and wrapped his arm around her, holding her to him as her breathing slowed and began to even out. His hands rubbed along her spine as he pressed his lips along the smooth curve of her shoulder, moved by what had just taken place between them. When she had regained some of her senses, Katie lifted her head and gazed into his face. A smile began to spread across her lips as she leaned forward and once again sought out his lips. At the sight of her desire clouded eyes, and the feel of her hips moving once more against his erection, Junior felt a part of him snap, and the more instinctive, primal part of his newfound humanity take over. Without warning he rolled them across the bed until Katie was pressed firmly into the mattress beneath him.

 

Her hands continued to grip his shoulders as he parted her thighs, and nudged the head of his cock against her slick opening. He gasped as he slipped past her folds and the head of his cock was surrounded by her heat, Katie arched into him, moaning her approval and slipped her hands down his sides around his waist until they eventually gripped at his ass. She tugged at him, but he continued to move slowly, slipping centimeter, by precious centimeter into her tightness. She was more than ready for him, but still she stiffened at the slight intrusion; the discomfort didn’t last though, and was quickly chased away by the more pleasant feeling of the head of his cock nudging against her womb.

 

Junior sought out the connection of her mouth again, their tongues mating as his body began to move of its own accord. Katie arched and pushed against him, matching his thrusts as they grew more insistent. Giving in to a moment of impishness, she bucked against him, and never losing the connection of their lower bodies, rolled him once again onto his back. She rose up on her knees and gripping his hips in her hands, she began to rise and fall against his cock, much as she had his fingers earlier. Junior watched her intently, his eyes drawn to where they were joined, the sight of his cock slick with her juices, moving in and out of her heat causing sparks of heat to travel along his cock. His eyes began to roam up her body, however, and were immediately drawn to the bouncing mounds of her breasts. Lifting his hands, he molded them into his palms and began to pinch and massage their rounded softness.

 

Arching her back, Katie pushed her breasts more firmly into his hands, and began to roll her hips in a circular motion, grinding her pelvis into him. Junior arched and thrust into her, finding that if he countered her movement he was able to slip more deeply into her heated depths. So, as he pinched and tugged her nipples between his fingers, his hips began to roll against her, the friction as his cock moved against the walls of her channel sending jolts of pleasure down his cock to his already tightening sacs. His hands slipped down her sides to grip her hips as his movements became more erratic.

 

Realizing he wanted to watch Katie experience her release again, he slipped a hand along her inner thigh to once more cup her seeping mound. His fingers easily found the swollen nub, and once again he began to tease it with his thumb. Katie gasped as sparks from the oversensitive flesh spread through her body. Moving her hands behind her, she rested them against his thighs and began to rock more quickly against him, her new position pushing the head of his cock against her cervix and sending jolts of heat and pleasure through her lower belly. She let her head fall back as her second orgasm began to build with more of a vengeance than the first, the ache spreading through her belly and center and along her thighs.

 

It was at that point that Junior curled an arm around her waist and flipped them, a sudden need to be atop her, burying himself as far within her as possible overpowering the spell the site of her atop him had held. Gripping her hips he lifted her to him as he began thrust against her body, driving himself as far and as deep as he could reach, and trying to go farther and deeper with each following thrust.

 

“Oh shit...” Katie managed as his cock slammed against her womb, she arched and twisted against him, hands clawing at the wrinkled blankets beneath them. “Fuck,” she growled as the first tremulous waves of her orgasm began to crash over her. His thrust grew harder as he lost all control until their bodies were pummeling against one another. Katie reached over her head and pressed her hands against the cool surface of the headboard, gaining leverage as she pushed back against him, her body beginning to jerk- violently in its release. 

 

The ache within him began to spiral sharply upward as her walls clamped down on his plunging cock, the pressure in his balls moving along his cock until finally his entire body began to jerk and spasm, his release spilling into her still contracting body. They continued to shudder against one another for several moments before finally collapsing onto the bed in a tangle of sweaty limbs.

 

They lay side by side panting until the cool air of the room sweeping across Katie’s skin made her shiver. Sighing contentedly, she rolled onto her side and, grasping behind her for Junior’s arm, she pulled him with her until they lay front to back. As they continued to lie there, a thought came to Junior’s mind. “No wonder the Commander is often grinning like a lunatic.”

 

Katie laughed and snuggled back against him, pressing her bottom against his groin. Turning her head, her lips sought him out from over her shoulder. She had intended the kiss to be a brief caress, but it quickly deepened beyond that. When his hands moved to cup and knead her breasts, she wiggled her hips against him, noticing that he had already begun to grow hard again.

 

Wishing now- for the chance to taste her as she had him, Junior broke the kiss and rolled Katie onto her back. He hovered over her, eyes raking over the length of her body until they settled on her desire-swollen breasts. He lowered his head and tugged at one of the puckered nipples with his teeth. Pulling it into his mouth, he suckled greedily at it, none of the urgency of their first encounter present in him now. He massaged the sensitive flesh with his tongue, rolling it around in his mouth, grazing it with his teeth until she was arching beneath him, mewling her pleasure and purring much as he would expect a kitten to do. When he finally released her breast from his mouth, she had only a moment to recover before he repeated the action with her other, again teasing her to a near frenzy. He lingered over her breasts, moving back and forth between them reluctant to leave them, but finally slipping lower to allow his lips to trail along her flat belly.

 

His tongue swirled around the indention of her naval, and he noticed that her stomach muscles danced under his attentions. He pulled the soft skin below her naval into his mouth, and sucked it against his teeth, marking her. Rising to his knees, he moved between her legs and parted them to his view. His eyes roamed over the creamy length of her legs, and finally came to rest at the dark auburn curls at her center, matted and dampened by their combined juices. He felt his mouth water at the sight and settled himself between her thighs, pulling a leg over his shoulder to allow them both more comfort and him better access to her slick center.

 

Junior inhaled their combined scents, the heady nature of it sending a rush of heat through his body to his groin. Tentatively, his tongue darted forward, and slowly he traced the silken length of her slit. He heard her gasp, and then she shuddered beneath him. Encouraged, his tongue slid along her opening, lapping at the juices remaining from their previous love making, and seeking those already flowing from her body. Junior buried his face within her heat, his tongue darting deeper within her as he sought to lap up all she had to give.

 

Katie’s legs began to tremble as he drank from her, her body arching against each thrust of his tongue. “Oh God yeah,” she gasped out and jerked when his teeth grazed against her clit. And finding the nub with his tongue, Junior greedily sucked it into his mouth, teasing it as though it were a teat. “Shit,” she exclaimed as her hands reached for the headboard once more, “Junior...” She moaned his name as she continued to rock against his mouth.

 

In response he pulled her more firmly against him and once more buried his tongue within her depths as her juices continued to seep from her body. He lapped at her, drinking in every drop as his tongue swirled within her hot center.

 

“Fuck,” the obscenities continued to roll from her lips as she writhed beneath him, bucking wildly when he clamped down on her clit again, once more sucking greedily at it. Her back arched off the bed as the first violent wave rolled over her causing her legs to tremble and her hips to buck. “Oh God,” she half choked, half sobbed as the orgasm crashed through her system.

 

Junior had released her clit the moment it had begun and was drinking in the juices that gushed from her body. She gained a small reprieve as he concentrated on his task, but when the flow of her desire had slowed, he began to work his tongue and his teeth over her clit again, bringing her over the edge and again until he had finally gained his fill of her, and the straining of his cock over powered his lust to taste her. Sitting up on his knees he peered down at her, limp and sated before him, her skin glowing with satisfaction and contentment. Satisfied, and pleased that it was he who had brought her that, he reached for her again, gently rolling her onto her stomach.

 

He remembered an image from one of the holovids Lieutenant Paris had given Icheb for his birthday; something called porn. From it, he recalled the male mounting his lover from behind, and the sudden image of Katie kneeling before him in the same manner was far too great to ignore.

 

Katie, sensing his intent, shivered with desire and rose to her hands and knees. She thrust her ass into the air toward him and wiggled it invitingly, moaning when he cupped her hips and nudged his cock along the crack of her ass. She parted herself for him, and felt the head of cock push against her sensitive folds, the sensation causing her to jerk as the over stimulated flesh was once again teased.

 

Junior nudged his cock along her slit, coating his length in the juices still flowing from her body. He gripped her firmly with one hand; he reached down to guide the head of his cock to her opening, slipping easily into her hot sheath. Katie arched her back and pushed back against him, the friction of her softer thighs rubbing against his rougher skin causing sparks of pleasure to fire up her thighs and into her center.

 

As much as he enjoyed the feeling of her heat surrounding him, he didn’t allow himself to remain still within her for long. His thrusts began slow, but deep, the head of his cock just barely brushing against her cervix as he moved within her. Katie began to rock more firmly back against him, as their movements grew more frenzied. Her head dropped forward onto the mattress as each push of his cock against her womb sent jolts of heat and pleasure coursing through her.

 

Junior slipped an arm around her waist, his hand splaying across her lower belly, as his movements grew rougher and less rhythmic in nature. The penetration from this angle was far deeper, and Katie found herself gasping as his harder thrusts pummeled almost painfully against her womb causing her body to tremble and arch in response. She felt Junior’s hand slide up her stomach until it came to cup her breasts, his fingers tugging and pinching at her already oversensitive nipples. But the pleasure it caused remained, and she bucked against his thrusts as the first tremors of release began. Junior had no hope of lasting long once the contractions began, so he pushed into her, intent on being embedded as far within her as possible when his release finally came. Moving his hands to grip both hips tightly, he pulled her against him, holding her in place as his cock pressed firmly against her cervix, his seed splashing against the opening to her womb as her walls milked him.

 

They collapsed panting onto the mattress, neither retaining the strength to move for several long minutes. It was the sudden need to protect and possess that finally spurred Junior into movement, giving him the strength to reach for Katie and pull her against his side. She curled into him, purring her delight, as her eyes closed. The rise and fall of his chest as her head rested upon it began to lull her to sleep, but shivering in the cold air of the room she lifted her head and searched the bed for a blanket. Finding one draped precariously across the corner of the foot of the bed, she reached for it, groaning as certain muscles reacted to the friction of moving. She snatched the corner of the blanket and plopped back against Junior, drawing it across both their bodies.

 

She was able to settle into the bed then, snuggling against him, her head resting atop his chest. His hand at the small of her back pulled her more firmly against him and - she began to doze. She couldn’t put a finger on how much time had passed, only that she had been very close to slipping into a deep REM cycle when she felt Junior shift beneath her, his voice ringing in the quiet room.

 

“Hey Katie, let’s do that again.”

 

Her last thought as she was rolled onto her back was, ‘Oh God, I’ve created a monster...’

 

*~*~*

 

Kathryn and Chakotay were close to finishing their breakfast when the couple finally made their appearance in the Mess Hall the following morning. The change in their relationship was obvious about two seconds after they walked into the room. Their posture and stance had changed completely; they were more at ease with each other. And of course, Kathryn recognized the sparkle in her younger self’s eyes all too well. Nudging Chakotay’s leg under the table, she gestured behind him to the young couple, and smiled as he turned look.

 

“Looks like they figured it out,” he said, confirming her suspicions. When he turned back around his eyes were dancing with silent laughter, “Of course, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why he’s got that goofy grin on his face this morning.”

 

Kathryn waved the young couple over and moved to take the seat next to Chakotay. “Behave,” she warned him before they arrived.

 

Katie dropped into the seat across from Kathryn and then winced as her muscles screamed in protest, “You look like you’re feeling better,” she choked out. She smiled at Junior as he sat beside her and unconsciously she leaned into him.

 

She nodded, flashing her sister a knowing and very sympathetic smile, “I’m feeling much more rested this morning.” Silently she vowed to get Katie up to her Ready Room after breakfast so her trusty regenerator could work it’s magic for the younger woman.

 

Chakotay just couldn’t help himself and smiled wickedly at the young man across from him, “You’re looking pretty fit yourself this morning; sleep well?” He winced and then glared to his right when Kathryn kicked him beneath the table.

 

The two young lovers had shared a look so missed the warning Kathryn shot at her First Officer. “Actually,” Chakotay said as he stood, “I hate to eat and run, but I need to get to the bridge.”

 

“Okay,” Kathryn smiled, she was tempted to kiss him and decided to go with it, pulled him to her. “I’ll be up in a little while,” she said as she pulled away completely ignoring surprised stares from those around them.

 

“No,” Chakotay pointed a finger at her, “Your shift doesn’t start for another hour, if I see you before that I’ll carry you off the bridge and you’ll find yourself tied to a bed for the next 8 months.”

 

Katie and Junior snickered as the couple argued, both completely oblivious that every eye in the room was now focused primarily on them. “Do you think they care?” She heard Junior whisper against her ear.

 

“No,” she murmured back, lifting her coffee settling back to watch.

 

Kathryn’s eyes narrowed, “You wouldn’t dare?”

 

Chakotay lifted his coffee mug and drained the last of it, “Show up on the bridge before your shift starts and try me.”

 

Kathryn blinked and then smiled seductively, “But I’ve already tried you dear, many, many times.”

 

With a roll of his eyes and a groan Chakotay leaned over and kissed the top of her head, “Make sure she finishes eating,” he said to Katie as he stepped away from the table. He was almost across the room before he turned back and smiled knowingly, “And no coffee!”

 

“Damn it,” Kathryn gave Katie back her mug and slumped in her seat. “Nag, nag, nag,” she called after him as he left. It was then that she finally noticed everyone in the room, save her sister and godson, was staring at her. “What?” She asked, suddenly crabby that everyone had coffee except for her. When Katie burst out laughing she scowled, “Oh shut up.”

 

“Actually,” Junior spoke up, smiling sweetly at his godmother, “A little bit of coffee won’t hurt the baby.”

 

Touched though she was, Kathryn gestured about the room. “Do you see all these people? If I so much as look like I’m thinking about touching a cup of the stuff Chakotay will know in five seconds and I’ll never hear the end of it.” She sighed, “Thanks, but some things just aren’t worth the loss of my sanity.”

 

“Nah,” Katie smirked, “She’ll just wait until she’s alone in her ready room and then sneak a cup.”

 

“Uh, hello,” Kathryn’s scowl deepened, “the replicators have been programmed against me, remember.”

 

“Oh yeah,” she grinned, “Poor baby.” She lifted her cup, and never taking her eyes off her sister, took a nice long sip from it.

 

“Bitch.” Kathryn reached for her fork and decided to ignore her sister and choke down the rest of her breakfast instead.

 

Katie leaned forward and said in a low voice, “Now, now, you’re the one that went and got herself all knocked up, don’t go complaining about the consequences now.”

 

“Just you wait,” Kathryn waved her fork at her, “your time is coming.”

 

“Not for a long, long time,” Katie snickered as she sat back.

 

Kathryn finished off her meal but noticed most of the eyes in the room were still on her, “WHAT!?” She finally cried, “is everyone’s problem?”

 

“That probably has something to do with you kissing the Commander in public,” Junior supplied for her.

 

“Oh that,” She blinked, “Yeah, so?”

 

Katie leaned forward, “They’ve never seen you do that before, remember.”

 

“And your point is still what?” Kathryn slowly stood, “I do quite a bit more to him in private, too, and I still don’t see what the big deal to everyone is.”

 

“You know,” Katie stood to follow Kathryn from the room, “I so don’t need to know the details of your sex life.”

 

“Well you know,” Kathryn waggled her brows at her, “when you get really technical about it, my sex life is really your sex life and vice versa.”

 

“Okay, now that’s far more twisted than I really want to think, so I’m going to start ignoring you now.”

 

“Be nice,” Kathryn snickered as she led the young woman through the corridors to the back hall entrance to her ready room. “Or I won’t help you with your little problem this morning.”

 

Katie flushed with embarrassment, “I don’t have a problem,” she mumbled.

 

“So that’s why you looked about ready to cry when you sat down this morning,” she teased. “That good was he?”

 

“Shut up,” Katie groaned, “Just because you want to discuss your sex life doesn’t mean I want to discuss mine.”

 

“Ah ha! She admits she has one! Sooo?” Kathryn nudged her as they walked.

 

Katie tried to fight the smile but didn’t succeed, “He’s definitely a quick study.” Her cheeks continued to blush bright red, “we definitely don’t have to worry about his nervousness being an issue anymore.” She sighed finally, “But my God, I didn’t even expect a former Q to have that kind of stamina!” She followed Kathryn into the ready room, “I think I passed out somewhere around sixth time, not that it stopped him.”

 

Kathryn stumbled to a stop and turned to stare at the younger woman, “Six!?!”

 

“That I was conscious for, yeah,” Katie sighed wistfully, “I really wouldn’t have minded being around for the other two. Though they made for some really nice dreams, and did I mention twice this morning?”

 

“Good lord,” Kathryn reached into her desk for the regenerator, “I think you need to keep this more than I do!” A decidedly wicked gleamed flashed across her eyes as she passed it to her sister, “You know, it’s really too bad Q didn’t survive. Given what you’ve said about Junior, I really wouldn’t have minded seeing if an actual Q would stand up that kind of record.”

 

“Kathryn!” Katie gasped, “that’s no way for a pregnant lady to talk!” 

 

“Honey, with these hormones,” Kathryn plopped back into her chair, “that’s exactly the way for a pregnant lady to talk!”

 

Katie took the regenerator into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later, greatly relieved. “So, Chakotay just isn’t cutting it these days, is he?” She asked as she handed the regenerator back.

 

“Well,” Kathryn sighed, “it’s not his fault. This pregnancy is making me insatiable. But,” she shrugged, “I spoke to B’Elanna and she said it’s been the same for her, so the good news is I won’t have to replace Chakotay after all. Which really works out because I kind of love the big lug.”

 

“So what happened to keeping it all secret for now?” Katie sat in the chair across from Kathryn’s desk and pulled her legs up into it Indian style.

 

Kathryn shrugged, “Too damn happy I think. It’s sort of spilling over everywhere. Chakotay is grinning like an idiot more than usual and I find that I’m actually quite chipper.” She blinked, “Which to tell you the truth, is actually scaring Ensign Kim, so you might not want to place yourself around him and any sharp objects.”

 

Katie waved off her concerns; “He’s tried to get into my pants so many times by now that I’m hardly scared of him. Besides, I can kick his ass.”

 

“Katie, everyone can kick Harry’s ass,” Kathryn laughed, “except maybe the Doctor.”

 

“Speaking of which,” Katie untangled her limbs and stood, “I have to get to work.”

 

Kathryn nodded, “Yeah, it’s about that time for me as well.” Her eyes sparkled impishly, “And if I don’t see you again today, have fun taming Junior tonight.”

 

“Ugh! Your incorrigible,” Katie rolled her eyes and let herself out the back way, Kathryn’s laughter following her into the corridor.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“That is SO not fair!” Katie leapt at Junior and began checking his shirtsleeves as he won yet another round of the poker game they were playing in her sister’s quarters. Finding nothing to indicate that he was cheating she turned to glare at Chakotay, “You’ve been tutoring him at this, haven’t you?”

 

Chakotay held up his hands, “I’m perfectly innocent, I swear.”

 

Kathryn laughed from her spot at the table across from Chakotay, “I’d hardly call you innocent love.”

 

Junior leaned toward Katie and waggled his brows, “What can I say, I’m just a lucky guy.”

 

Her eyes narrowed, “Keep it up and you won’t be getting lucky with me again for a very long time.” Smirking at him, she reached into his very sizable pile of chips and took a handful for her own lot.

 

“Hey,” he grumbled and reached for them, “that’s cheating!”

 

“Yeah,” she leaned away from him, swatting at his hands, “your point?”

 

“All right, that’s it,” he reached over and slipped an arm around her waist to pull her laughing into his lap, “Give them back.” His fingers danced across her sides, tickling her until she writhed against him, “Hand ‘em over and I’ll stop.”

 

“Never!” She gasped and then squealed, twisting and turning to get away from him.

 

Kathryn slid back from the table, shaking her head as she watched the young lovers, whose relationship had only proved to grow stronger over the past three and half months. She saw in them the potential to share what she had with Chakotay, and smiling at her lover now she lowered a hand to caress the just barely discernible curve of her belly. Her attention was drawn back to the younger pair as Katie’s knee bumped against the table, “All right, all right, you two, don’t make me turn the hose on you.”

 

“But Aunt Kathy,” Junior had stopped tickling a gasping Katie but still refused to let go of her, “she’s cheating!”

 

“Yeah,” Kathryn smiled, “and your point?”

 

Chakotay just shook his head and leaned toward the younger man, “You really can’t win against either of those two, and especially not against the two of them together, so it really is in your best interest to just ignore whatever they do that annoys you.”

 

“Why Chakotay,” Kathryn said sweetly, “Are you trying to imply that I, the mother of your unborn child, annoys you?”

 

He thought about it for a moment and then nodded, “Yeah, that’s about it.”

 

“Oh, okay, just making sure I’m doing my job right,” She winked at him.

 

Junior reluctantly released his girlfriend who elbowed him once in the ribs before climbing back into her own seat.

 

“And as much as I really would hate to break up this cozy little family scene,” a voice said from behind them, “Son it really is time for us to go home.”

 

Junior’s head snapped around, eyes wide and jaw hanging open, “Dad?” His eyes darted over to the leather clad woman beside him and then back again, “Huh?”

 

Kathryn stood up immediately and moved to put a hand on the young man’s shoulder, “Q, we were under the impression that your former mate had obliterated you.”

 

He nodded, sighing, “She tried,” he hooked his head to the woman beside him, “If this one hadn’t found me, I would have been dead.”

 

Kathryn’s gaze snapped to the other woman, her eyes widening as she took in the other woman’s attire. Dark brown leather pants looked as though they had been painted onto her legs and sat low on her hips. Her arms were encased in a sheer, white material that flowed up her arms, stopping at her shoulders. Her chest and, it appeared, her back were bare to the point where a corset of the same dark brown leather hugged her figure. It amazed Kathryn that her breasts remained hidden behind the leather as the woman stepped forward, for they appeared about ready to spill over.

 

It was the woman’s low whistle as she moved toward Kathryn that snapped her attention back and away from her clothes. “I can see now why you keep coming back Q,” she spoke in low, velvety voice, “and two of them to boot.” She walked around Kathryn not at all hiding the fact that she was appraising her, “Can I keep this one?” She asked hopefully.

 

Q rolled his eyes, “Q, behave.”

 

The female Q shrugged and tossed a wink over her shoulder at a scowling Chakotay, “Good work old chum, on the first try too, we were awful proud of you.” She glanced at Kathryn again and then back at Chakotay, “Intending to keep her barefoot and pregnant are you? Good for you!”

 

Junior stood up and moved in front of his godmother, shielding her from the other Q, “Dad, what’s going on?”

 

“I’ve come to take you home.”

 

“No!” Katie stood up, making herself heard for the first time, “You can’t just show up here after months of him thinking you were dead and pull him out of his life. It’s not fair! He’s happy, you can’t do that.” She looked desperately at her sister, “You’re not going to let him are you?”

 

Kathryn’s heart lurched at the tears in her sister’s eyes, “Q, she has a point. You can’t just yank him out of the life he’s made for himself here.”

 

“Dad?” Junior tore his gaze from Katie, still expecting an answer from his father.

 

“I don’t have a choice son, and I’m afraid you don’t either. We need to find your mother and deal with her. The Continuum sent me for you.”

 

“Bloody bitch needs to be eliminated, if you ask me,” the female Q said as she idly toyed with a strand of her deep red hair. She let go of the strand she’d been twirling around her finger and smiled brightly, “And I get to do it! Oh, I’ve been waiting for this day for so many centuries,” she smiled wistfully. It only lasted for a moment though and she sighed. “What hot stuff over here is trying to say is,” she addressed the son, “the Continuum balance has been thrown off by your mother’s actions. You were created to keep it balanced, and now you are absent. Without you, the Continuum feels it will be once again at risk of a civil war.”

 

Junior bowed his head, knowing that every word she said was true, and knowing in his mind and heart that the consequences for the universe were far greater than for his own personal happiness. It was his destiny, and he couldn’t deny it, nor could he deny the need to find and deal with his mother. He glanced back at Katie, human tears burning his eyes, “I have to,” he said in a small voice. The pain that sprang instantly into her blue eyes was a like knife to his heart, “Katie...”

 

“No,” she glared at him, pain giving way to instant anger, “you want to leave, fine, leave. Don’t expect me to stick around and watch you do it.”

 

“Actually,” Q Senior said before she could leave the room, “I’m afraid we’ll have to put you back in your own timeline now that my former mate is no longer a threat to you.”

 

Panic froze her instantly, “What? But I don’t want to go back. I’d rather stay here.”

 

Kathryn stepped toward Q, “Really, I think she’s better off where she is Q, you’ve done enough to disrupt her life. Let it be.”

 

“But,” Q began but was cut off by the female to his left.

 

“No, I think they have a point,” She stared at the young woman intently, easily seeing what the other two failed to recognize, “There is no harm in leaving the girl here if she wishes to remain.”

 

Q glanced at his son, “Junior?”

 

“If she wishes to stay,” he sighed, “then I agree to allow it.”

 

“So be it then,” Q paused, “I’ll let you say goodbye to your friends before we go.”

 

Junior nodded and looked once more to Katie who was still standing rigidly near the table. He approached her but she backed away, her eyes growing cold as she glared at him.

 

“If you’re leaving me to go back to your bigger and better things, than I really don’t want anything else to do with you,” her voice trembled as she said it.

 

“Kat...”

 

“Just *go* Junior, the Universe is waiting for you to save it again, you can’t keep it waiting.”

 

His shoulders slumped and he bowed his head in defeat, “If that’s how you want it. I do love you.” He never even glanced at his godmother or Chakotay as he walked to his father’s side, afraid he would see the same cold looks in their eyes and unable to bear it. “I’m ready,” he said in a quiet voice.

 

Q nodded only once, and before his son could change his mind, the three of them were gone.

 

The pain of watching him leave her was like an open wound, bleeding out from her heart and into her soul. She could feel her body beginning to tremble as she looked desperately toward her sister, hoping that she would pinch her, or slap her, or anything to make her wake up from this horrible nightmare. But seeing even Kathryn’s eyes shining with tears made her heart break even more. A hand flew to her mouth as the first heart-wrenching sob tore its way from her body, shaking her entire being. Realizing she would never see him again was like a blow to her stomach; she could feel her legs giving way beneath her and found herself kneeling on the floor, arms wrapped tightly around her stomach as her entire body shook with the force of her tears.  She felt arms encircling her from behind and realized she was being pulled against Chakotay’s chest, even as Kathryn knelt before her, their arms closing around her as she continued to tremble violently under the assault of her broken heart.

 

Her last coherent thought as she gave herself up to the rising darkness was, “I never got to tell him,” she sobbed into her sister’s shoulder, “I never got to tell him!”

 

*~*~*

 

Word spread quickly through Voyager of Junior’s departure, and while many were happy to leave Katie to her depression, others stepped forward to try and lighten the burden on her heart.  Icheb felt guilty that his friend had hurt her so badly, even though he knew he had no fault in it, and found himself hanging around her more, trying in some small part to fill the void that Junior had left behind.

 

Kathryn and Chakotay watched her with a more concerned attitude, and found themselves moving her into Chakotay’s old quarters so they would have her closer at hand. As the months progressed and Katie became more involved with her Sister’s pregnancy, she began to slowly emerge from the shell she had locked herself in. Kathryn felt her emergence had more to do with their mother than with anything else as she had been donating all of her own time to speak with Gretchen to Katie, knowing that now more than ever, what the girl needed most was her mother. The change was slow, but Katie’s laughter began to have some of the old carefree ring to it that had been so contagious in the past, and when she smiled, it would now reach her eyes.

 

As more of the girl she had been began to re-emerge in the woman she had become, Kathryn felt more comfortable turning her attention away from her sister and more to her impending motherhood. Occupied by her worries over Katie and the goals she had wanted to accomplish before her due date, like having Admiral Paris perform her wedding to Chakotay via the Pathfinder array, Kathryn found that her pregnancy had passed by far faster than she would have liked. She enjoyed carrying her son within her and felt herself growing more reluctant to give up the special closeness the two of them shared as her due date fast approached.

 

She was once again lamenting over that fact when a flash in the corner of the room drew her attention. Her eyes narrowed immediately at the two Q standing before her. The female Q looked rather pleased with herself as she strode toward the sofa where Kathryn sat, lounging in her quarters.

 

A low whistle left the woman’s lips, “My, don’t you look rather ripe, must be about ready to pop, I’d say.” She shivered, “Too bad Q wouldn’t let me keep you.”

 

Junior stepped forward more hesitantly than his companion, “Q,” he warned, “you promised to behave.”

 

“I am behaving,” she smiled seductively at Kathryn, “If I weren’t you would be on your back with your legs in the air and I would be...”

 

“Q!” Junior groaned.

 

“Sorry,” she smirked.

 

Kathryn ignored the female and stared at her godson, “What are you doing here?”

 

“He’s miserable,” the female supplied for him, “and absolutely no good to anyone, poor heart sick bastard.” She dropped herself into a chair near the sofa and propped her leather clad feet on the table. “So, I’m defying all the laws of the continuum and I’m returning him to you. Oh, that reminds me,” she snapped her fingers, making Junior completely human again. “Look, all human!” She smiled, rather pleased with herself.

 

Kathryn rolled her eyes, “No offense, Junior, but you’d be better off staying with the continuum. It’s not fair to you or to Ka—anyone else on board if you just leave the next time they ring their little bell.”

 

“Ahh, but you see,” the female snickered, “I’ve taken care of that as well. I have friends in high places in the Continuum, old girlfriends mostly, some old boyfriends.” She waggled her brows, “Honey I’ve been around so long I make Q look like a pup, and I’m not talking about Junior over there.”

 

“What about the Continuum balance?” Kathryn sighed, she wasn’t going to turn him away if he was really there to stay, but she wouldn’t allow him to break her baby sister’s heart again.

 

“I took care of that as well,” the female Q winked, “My old friends granted another request of mine, I was permitted to mate with Q.”

 

“I have a sister!” Junior beamed.

 

“Uh huh,” Kathryn looked worriedly at the female, “They allowed Q to mate, again? Are they insane?”

 

She shrugged, “They’re Q.” But she snickered, “Of course, I didn’t allow him to get away with his little hit and run like he did the last time he created a Q, oh no.” She flashed a feral grin, “We took a page from your book dear, and I had him on his back all nigh—“

 

“Uh, Q, I really don’t want to know,” Junior said, “I mean, I *really* don’t want to know.”

 

She shrugged, “Suit yourself. Anyway, he’s here to stay, his dad or I may drop in from time to time to see how he’s doing, but we’ll try to stay out of your,” her eyes dropped momentarily to Kathryn’s lap, “hair.”  She stood to leave, pausing at only the last minute, “Oh, before I go, Q asked me to give you a little present. He said to tell you- that if a son of his would be living aboard this ship as a mere human, he expected him to be in a much safer place than some god-awful corner of the Delta Quadrant.” She tilted her head to one side, and the ship lurched under them, shook for a moment, and then settled. “Your bridge should be calling you - any moment, don’t get too excited, I’m more practical than Q. I at least have the foresight to know that you’ll need the next two years to prepare for actually reaching Earth.” She winked at Junior, blew a kiss at Kathryn, and with a flash of light was gone.

 

As predicted, she had no sooner disappeared than Kathryn’s combadge chirped, “Bridge to Captain Janeway.”

 

“I know Commander,” She sighed, “a gift from Q.”

 

There was a pause, and then his concerned voice came over the line, “He was here?”

 

“She was here, actually, and she brought back something that we’d lost.”

 

He understood immediately, “I’m on my way.”

 

As the link was closed, Kathryn looked at Junior and sighed. “I hope you don’t think you can just walk back into her life and everything will be exactly the way it was before.”

 

His green eyes grew sad as he dropped into the chair that Q had recently vacated, “I know, it’s not going to be easy. But I can’t live without her.”

 

She smiled sadly, “You may have to Junior, she was deeply hurt when you left. She’s going to have to forgive you for that before she can even begin to start trusting you again. It might happen right away, it may take months or even years, or it may never happen at all. Are you at all prepared for that?”

 

“Aunt Kathy,” his green eyes bored into her, “I didn’t want to leave, but I had to, and I jumped at the first chance I had to come back. I’m never leaving again, you’re all stuck with me whether you like it or not. And whether Katie likes it or not, I had to do what I thought was best for her, and me, and every other being in this universe, that’s what being a Q is all about, it’s not all fun and games and parties. We, or rather they, keep the balance so that the rest of you can live on in harmony never really knowing exactly how much is at stake!” During his tirade he’d risen to stalk the length of her quarters, “I’m sorry Katie got hurt, but it didn’t exactly feel good for me either.”

 

Kathryn smiled, satisfied with his response, and looked up as Chakotay entered the cabin. “Where is Katie right now?”

 

“Sickbay, she’s filling in for Tom so he could spend the day with B’Elanna and Miral.” He eyed Junior carefully, “What’s he doing here?”

 

“Q brought me,” he faced the Commander, “we worked out a way for me to leave the Continuum for good.”

 

“I don’t know that this is such a good idea right now Kathryn,” Chakotay’s gaze moved from the young man to his wife, “She’s just getting over it.”

 

“We can’t not tell her,” Kathryn sighed, “but it’s best to just get it over with now,” she reached up and tapped her combadge. “Janeway to Katie, I need to see you in my quarters immediately.”

 

“Understood!” Her voice rang through the cabin, music to Junior’s ears.

 

He moved over, reclaiming his seat as his heart began to beat wildly in his chest upon anticipation of her arrival. It felt like forever had come to pass before she finally came striding through the doors of her sister’s quarters. He drank in the sight of her, from her long auburn braid, to the dancing blue eyes, to the, “Holy hell what’s wrong with your stomach!”

 

Kathryn flinched and shared a glance with Chakotay, both of them thinking the same thing. They really should have prepared him for that. Katie had learned just days prior to Junior’s departure that her own ovulation inhibitor had failed to work, allowing her to become pregnant most likely their first night together, as her due date was just a few weeks after Kathryn’s. Junior, however, had never known about her condition, but that matter was being quickly rectified.

 

Katie stopped abruptly at Junior’s outburst, her eyes widening upon realizing that he was truly standing there and not some figment of her imagination. Her first instinct had been to throw herself into his arms, but it was quickly pushed aside as she remembered all the pain and loneliness of the past several months. Her eyes narrowed and grew colder, “What is *he* doing here?” she snarled.

 

Ignoring her coldness, Junior marched toward her, eyes widening at the obvious rounding of her middle. He glanced between Katie and Kathryn, the obvious similarities finally starting to dawn on him. “Your pregnant!” He accused as he pointed at her stomach.

 

“No, I swallowed a basketball,” she replied dryly. “Of course I’m pregnant, you dolt!” She moved over to sit next to her sister, seeking both her comfort and her strength, “That doesn’t answer my question,” she faced the older woman, “why is he here?”

 

“The Continuum allowed him to return, permanently.”

 

“Oh,” Katie felt her heart spring to life once more, but ignored it, “isn’t he lucky.”

 

“You know,” Kathryn held out a hand to Chakotay and allowed him to help her to her feet, “I’m feeling suddenly starved. Why don’t we go get some lunch and leave these two to talk?” She gave Katie’s knee an affectionate squeeze as she moved past her to follow Chakotay from the cabin, “Call me if you need me.”

 

I need you now, Katie thought, but kept her tongue, waiting until the older couple had left before opening her mouth again. “Junior, I don’t know what you’re hoping you can accomplish by coming back here, but it really was a waste of your time. You might as well just call Daddy to come and get you, because there’s nothing here for you anymore.” She rested a hand against her belly to soothe the child within as it kicked, reacting to the negative emotions flowing through her.

 

“When did you know?” Junior continued to stare at her stomach, completely oblivious to anything else that had been said. “Did you know before I left?”

 

She looked away from him, not quite able to meet his eyes, and shrugged, “Does it really matter now? What’s done is done.”

 

“It matters to me,” he walked forward until he stood just the other side of the coffee table, “Did you know you were pregnant before I had to leave Voyager?”

 

“Yes, I did.” She snarled, “Are you happy now? When you left I knew that you’d gone and fucked me good, knocked me up, and that you were leaving me alone to deal with it. Satisfied?”

 

Anger flashed through his eyes, “Why didn’t you tell me? If you knew before, why didn’t you say anything? I had a right to know Katie.”

 

“Would it have mattered?” Tears sprang to her eyes and she cursed her hormones for them, “Would you have stayed?” When he didn’t answer she took his silence for a no, “Then you see, it doesn’t make any difference if you had known or not, you still would have left us.”

 

“I still wouldn’t have had a choice in the matter, but I would have come back a hell of a lot sooner, Damn it Katie.” He sighed, angry at her attitude and himself for not realizing it before he had left, “Just because I had to leave doesn’t mean I wanted to.”

 

“But you did,” she stood up awkwardly and glared at him, her hands going to her hips, “You left without even a fight, without even considering the other options. So what, the Continuum let you return, big fucking whoop! What I can’t forgive, Junior, is that you didn’t even bother to see if they could come up with this solution before taking off.”

 

“Because I wanted to find my mother and deal with her so that she couldn’t come back to hurt anyone I loved ever again!” He yelled at her, his human emotions of pain and anger getting the better of him. “I had to do it Katie, she almost killed me, she just about did kill my dad, and I couldn’t take a chance that she would come after us, no matter what the Continuum said about it.” He rounded the coffee table and stood inches from her, her protruding belly brushing against him as he faced off with her, “I love you too damn much to leave her as a loose cannon in the universe. I thought you understood what it means to be a Q, I thought you learned that from your time with me. It’s not just an existence or a job, it’s a duty, and sometimes we don’t get a choice as to our duties, but we have to fulfill them anyway. I fulfilled mine so that I could come back to you, and I’m here. I’m really sorry if I hurt you when I left, but quite frankly Katie, grow up and get over it!” He grabbed her arms and pulled her against him, his mouth crushing down against her lips in a bruising kiss.

 

She began to respond to his kiss, her arms winding around his neck until his words took root in her mind. She pushed him away from her, ready to tear into him for talking to her the way he had, but the chirping of her combadge interrupted her.

 

“Chakotay to Katie.”

 

“Go ahead Commander.”

 

“I need you sickbay, now.”

 

She straightened immediately and stepped away from Junior, a wave of worry washing over her, “What happened?”

 

“Kathryn has gone into labor and wants you with her.”

 

“I’m on my way,” she started toward sickbay immediately not even noticing Junior was behind her until he followed her into the turbolift. “Junior, I don’t have time to argue with you now,” she sighed.

 

“I’m not here to argue, I want to be there for Aunt Kathy.”

 

He looked as worried as she felt, so she nodded, and left it alone, riding the lift with him in silence. When they arrived in sickbay they found that Kathryn had already been dressed in a gown and moved to a more private section of sickbay for the delivery. Katie crossed the distance to her quickly, tossing a worried glance at Chakotay, “Isn’t it too soon?”

 

He shook his head and smiled reassuringly, “Only two weeks, the Doctor says they’re both perfectly healthy.”

 

“Oh good,” she took her sister’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “you shouldn’t worry a pregnant woman like that, it’s not good for her health!”

 

Kathryn laughed, but winced as another contraction started, “It’s not really your health I’m worried about right now babe, no offense.”

 

“None taken,” she fought back a grimace as Kathryn gripped her hand through the contraction, sure that every bone in her hand was being systematically crushed. When the contraction had passed and her hand was free she turned away and mouthed several obscenities.

 

Kathryn’s delivery progressed rather slowly, as first deliveries had a habit of doing, with Chakotay and Katie taking turns at her side, rubbing her back and holding her hand. After the first couple of hours, Junior had retreated to the sidelines, taking on the job of commentator for the rest of the crew.

 

It wasn’t until well into the following morning that little Kiernan Janeway finally decided to grace his mother with his appearance. With tears filling her eyes, Katie retreated to the Doctor’s office to watch from a discreet distance as the new family was united for the first time. She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders and leaned into Junior, allowing him to support her exhausted body.

 

“I can’t believe he’s so small,” Junior murmured in complete awe.

 

Realizing that he was seeing his first baby she smiled, “It is amazing isn’t it.” She felt his chin rest against her shoulder as they looked on, and for a moment allowed herself to forget everything but how she felt in that instant. The child within her kicked, reminding her of its presence, and biting her lip she reached for Junior’s hand. She drew his arm around her and pressed his hand against the spot, knowing the child would react to the slight pressure and repeat the action. She couldn’t even begin to fight the grin that spread across her face at his response.

 

He stared at the spot in open-mouthed astonishment, eyes barely blinking as the child kicked the spot beneath his hand a second time. As he lifted his eyes to meet Katie’s his brow arched at the sudden impish expression on her face.

 

*~*~*

 

Kathryn leaned over the child in her arms to seek out her husband’s lips with her own. She hummed with contentment, as her son nudged at her breast with his tiny fists, letting his appetite be known. Smiling she glanced up at Chakotay, about to proclaim her son’s actions as his doing, but her head snapped around before the words had even had a chance to form when she heard her godson’s shocked wail.

 

“What do you mean there’s two of them!?!”

 

“You know,” she shook her head, “we really should start warning him about these things.”

 

Chakotay sighed, “Damn, I thought I had mentioned that to him?”

 

“No,” she snickered, “but at least he knows now.” She looked down as her son whimpered to regain her attention, “All right, all right,” she cooed and lifted him to her breast, he latched on to it on the first try and she gasped in wonderment of it. “Good lord, he really is his father’s son.”

 

“That’s my boy,” Chakotay chuckled as he leaned forward to brush a kiss across the baby’s tiny head. He glanced in the direction of the Doctor’s office and gently nudged his wife, indicating that she should look.

 

Kathryn’s smile immediately brightened at the sight of the two young people locked in a passionate embrace. “So,” she said after a moment, “should we warn him she’s been seeing Mike Ayala?”

 

“More like Mike’s been trying to see her,” Chakotay snickered. The Lieutenant’s advances toward Katie had become infamous almost from the first moment she had been dropped on board Voyager. It hadn’t gone anywhere beyond a few dinner meetings that she had grudgingly agreed to go on simply because she had been so lonely following Junior’s departure, but despite the fact that she was hopelessly in love and pregnant by another man, Mike had not given up. He wasn’t the only man on board trying to fill her void and her bed. Since Junior had left, he and Kathryn had watched a steady stream of suitors try their hand at the young woman, among them Icheb, no doubt more out of loyalty to his friend than anything. Harry Kim had, surprisingly enough, been on the list, as well as Vorik, Gerron, and spirits help them, Neelix. Katie couldn’t understand their sudden interest in her, and quite frankly Kathryn was frightened by it! It made her wonder how many other men aboard Voyager were secretly lusting after her body. Of course, it had been Chakotay’s duty to remind her that it was the younger model they were after, but he didn’t want to think about that as it had landed him on the sofa for several nights.

 

Turning his attention back to his wife and their newborn son, he murmured as to not rouse the now sleeping infant, “Let’s let them figure it out, I think that they’ll be all right.”

 

“I think you’re right,” she leaned against him, sighing in complete contentment as his arms slid around her. But she spared one last glance at the young couple leaving sickbay together, and silently prayed that they would find their way.

 

Katie walked Junior back to his cabin, stopping just outside his door, “You should find everything the way you left it, we hadn’t gotten around to clearing your rooms out yet, so all of your things are still here.”

 

He nodded as he keyed in his security code, when the doors open he stood back, “Are you coming in?”

 

“No,” she offered a wan smile, “I’m going to go put myself and the little ones to sleep.” She was willing to reach out on a parental level, and allow him access to his children, that much she had realized after watching her nephew’s birth, but she was far from ready to let him back into her life as anything more than just the father of her children.

 

He reached for her arm before she could leave, “You could sleep here,” he offered eagerly, “you’ve done it before.”

 

“That was different,” she sighed, caught up in the excitement of the moment she had let him kiss her a second time, but by responding she had obviously given him the wrong idea. “Look, Junior, I’m trying to be nice about this, but I really don’t want to stay. I can’t be around you right now, it’s just too much.” She gently disentangled her arm from his grasp, “I’m sorry if that hurts you, but that’s just the way it’s going to have to be. You left and life went on,” she pressed her hands against her rounded middle, “I have other responsibilities now, other things that I have to worry about, and the last twenty-four hours alone have been extremely tiring emotionally and physically. I need to be able to think, and I can’t do that right now, and I especially can’t do that if you’re hanging all over me.” The rational part of her knew that his words had been true, that his leaving had been unavoidable and chastised herself for holding his duty against him. But the more irrational part of her, the part that was her broken heart was not yet ready to forgive. And when she was completely honest with herself, she realized that she would have to forgive herself for her resentment before she could forgive him for hurting her. “Now goodnight, Junior, I promise that we will talk later.”

 

His shoulders slumped in defeat, and nodding his head, he stepped into his cabin, “Goodnight Katie.” He watched her go until she rounded the corner at the end of the corridor and then stepped back into his quarters, allowing the doors to slide closed. With a heavy sigh of regret, he moved through the small cabin and threw himself across his bed. This was shaping up to be much harder than he had ever expected.

 

With his human body giving in to the exhaustion of the past days events, Junior found himself falling into a restless sleep. He awoke feeling more the worse for the wear, and reluctantly decided to go to the Mess Hall after learning his rations supply had not yet been reinstated.

 

The Mess Hall was in the middle of its dinner rush, and abuzz with the news of little Kiernan Janeway. As he stopped inside the doors and began to scan the room, he felt the eyes of many who had not yet heard of his return, turn to him in a mixture of shock and disdain. A flash of auburn in the corner of the room had him craning his neck to get a better look, but when he spotted Katie, is eyes narrowed immediately. He felt jealousy and anger boil up within him as he watched her sitting on one of the small leather couches near the view ports, Mike Ayala’s arm around her shoulders, laughing at whatever he was telling her. He started toward them, his fury amplifying as she leaned sideways on the sofa, turning toward the view port to allow Ayala to massage her lower back.

 

“Oh that’s heavenly,” he heard her sigh in a husky voice as he neared, “You keep that up and I’ll have to chain you up in my quarters and keep you as a slave.”

 

Laughing softly Mike leaned forward, his lips moving against her ear as he spoke, “I wouldn’t mind.”

 

Katie laughed again, “No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” She moaned again, rather loudly as he worked a particularly stiff spot, “God where’d you learn to do that?”

 

“I got plenty of practice when my ex-wife was pregnant with our boys.”

 

Junior stood, fuming, over them, “Isn’t this a pleasant surprise, Katie. You forgot to mention that the moment I was gone you were spreading your legs for Ayala.” He was silently appalled at the words coming out of his mouth, and wished instantly to take them back, and as he opened his mouth to say as much more spilled forth, “I mean, was it only after I had left, or were you fucking him while you were fucking me?” He snorted a short bark of humorless laughter, “I mean, you haven’t actually come out and said the twins are mine, which should tell me from the way you’ve acted, that either they aren’t, or you just don’t know whose they are.”

 

Before he even finished getting the words out of his mouth, Mike sprang from the sofa, and grabbing him by the front of his uniform pinned him against the nearest bulkhead. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are you little bastard,” he growled menacingly, “but if I ever hear you talk to her that way again so help me God, I swear that I’ll---“

 

“Mike!” Katie grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Junior, “Let him go,” she pulled the much larger man away. “It’s all right...”

 

“No, it’s not all right,” but reluctantly he shoved the younger man away from him and stepped back beside Katie, his hand resting against her back as she in turn glared at Junior.

 

Her eyes were colder than they had previously been, reminding Junior of exactly who she was, where she had come from, and who she had been destined to become before his father and then later he, had interfered. For a moment he felt as if he was facing his Aunt Kathy and he wanted nothing more than to be swallowed by a hole in the floor. “I don’t know,” she started coldly, causing several people around them to flinch as they were reminded of their Captain at her worst, “why you are suddenly so angry, or why you are choosing to take it out on me, but let me assure you that you will never do it again.” She stepped toward him, belly protruding before her to brush against him, “And since you’ve obviously forgotten, let me remind you, I’ve never fucked, as you put it, any man but you, and while I’m on the subject, these children are *mine* and you’ll be damned smart to remember that in the future.” Then she turned to Mike, her voice softening, “I’m not feeling much like eating any more, would you walk me back to my quarters?”

 

“Absolutely,” he smiled softly at her, his hand still at her back as he guided her past Junior. He glared at the younger man as he moved past him, roughly bumping against him as he walked past.

 

Chakotay had arrived toward the end of the confrontation but had been present long enough to figure out what had happened. He could sympathize with the young man, after years of experience with his own version of Kathryn Janeway. He had been close to where the young man was now, hopelessly in love and completely shut out, making stupid mistakes and not sure how to stop himself. With a sigh, Chakotay crossed the room and put a hand on the young man’s shoulder, “Let’s take a walk.” Junior nodded sullenly and let himself be led from the room. As they walked several decks, Chakotay told him everything he knew about Kathryn Janeway, senior and junior. He explained every mood, every emotion, every facial expression, and how best to handle it when she was hurt or angry. He also told him about every self defense mechanism he’d come up against with his Kathryn, and that pushing was never a wise choice. He told the young man to sit back, lie low, and let her come to terms with having him back in her life before he began to assert his own needs and wants. The one point Chakotay agreed with Junior on, more than any other, was that the young couple was working on a very small time frame. They had five weeks to get it figured out before they would become parents, and it was his and Kathryn’s opinion that they should get it done before then.

 

Their walk eventually led them back to the officer’s quarters on Deck 3, and before he left him, Chakotay said, “The best thing you can do right now is just support her and be there for her as the father of her children, don’t pressure her, don’t talk about your relationship, let her come to you, because believe me, she will.”

 

As Junior looked up, the doors to the Captain and Commander’s quarters opened to reveal Katie. She stared, startled at the two of them, Junior’s heart wrenching at her red and swollen eyes, evidence of a recent crying jag. Not even bothering to say a word to either of them, Katie squared her shoulders and walked right past them, disappearing a moment later into the quarters next door. Bowing his head in defeat, Junior thanked the Commander for his time and walked back to the turbolift.

 

Chakotay watched him go and shook his head. When he entered his quarters he found Kathryn curled up on one end of the sofa, their son nursing at her breast. “I see Katie was here.”

 

“Yep,” she sighed, “and when I get my hands on my godson I’m going to ring his neck.” She shifted when Chakotay sat next to her and leaned back against his chest, “she must have cried for two hours, I just can’t believe he could be so cruel.”

 

“He wasn’t prepared Kathryn,” he stroked a hand gently along his son’s cheek, “you have to remember he’s not used to being human, and dealing with all the emotions that go along with it. He came back here prepared to deal with her anger, but he wasn’t prepared to find her pregnant, or to find her in the arms of another man.”

 

“It was completely innocent,” she cried and immediately flinched when her son whimpered in response, “Shh,” she pressed a kiss to his tiny brow, “Mama didn’t mean to yell.” When he had settled down she raised her eyes to her husband again, but spoke in a much softer voice, “Nothing is happening between Katie and Mike, they’re friends. Mike would like more, but you know as well as I do that Katie has told him very firmly and on more than one occasion that she’s just not interested.”

 

“I know that,” Chakotay explained, “I’m not trying to say otherwise, I’m simply saying that if I had walked into a room and found you with another man’s hands on you, I might have gotten just a little angry myself. I might not have expressed it in the way Junior chose to, but I would have felt it.”

 

“We’re not property, Chakotay, that you men can claim and mark.” She sighed, “Junior is going to have to realize that.”

 

“I agree, but he’s not the only one to blame here.”

 

“Katie hasn’t done anything wrong, Chakotay,” she lifted Kiernan to her shoulder and began rubbing his back. “She was the one that got hurt, remember, she was the one that lived with us for three weeks because she nearly had a miscarriage and we were afraid to leave her alone in case it happened again.”

 

“Kathryn, I’m not saying that there is a right or a wrong party involved in this,” he took Kiernan from her and cuddled him against his shoulder, his hand moving in circles against the baby’s back, “Just think about it for a moment, if it had been you, would you have left?”

 

Crossing her arms she scowled at him, “this isn’t about me.”

 

“No, it’s not, but answer the question anyway.”

 

She heaved a weary sigh, “Yes, I would have gone.”

 

“So would I,” he passed a sleeping Kiernan back to his mother, “Would Katie have done it?”

 

Realizing what he was getting at, she nodded, “So she can’t hold it against him, when she would have done the same thing in his place.”

 

“Exactly, and neither can we.”

 

“I get what you’re saying Chakotay, I do, and I care about Junior, don’t get me wrong, but after going through all of this with Katie it’s really hard to not want to stand up for her.”

 

“I realize that, it’s hard for me too,” he turned on the sofa, and leaned against the opposite side, then pulled Kathryn between his outstretched legs so that she and the baby were both encompassed in his embrace. “I just think that if Katie can start to realize that there really is no reason to blame him, then she can forgive him. Once she does that she’ll realize that she still loves him.”

 

“Loving him isn’t her problem Chakotay,” she rested her head in the crook of his neck, “her problem is feeling that he didn’t love her enough, and doesn’t care enough about her now to know that she would never be with anyone else. Not while they were together, and certainly not while she was carrying his children.” But she shook her head, “but Junior needs to learn to control his emotions, and especially his temper.”

 

“I had a talk with him, I told him to give her some space.”

 

“Hmm,” turning her head she pressed a kiss to his jaw, “you would be the expert.”

 

“No,” his lips sought the soft spot below her ear, “I’m still just figuring it out.”

 

Her lips curled into a tender smile as she gazed down at her son, “Oh, I’d say you’re doing a pretty good job of it too.”

 

As the days rolled slowly by for Junior he tried to do as the Commander had advised. He mostly stayed away from Katie, which became easier once he began working on the bridge. Junior had a natural knack for flying, and on a ship where the First Officer crashed a shuttle every other week; it was a knack that was carefully nurtured under the close supervision of the chief helm officer.

 

After the first two weeks he began to run into her in the Mess Hall, or he would be called to the Captain’s quarters for dinner and the two would sit not even looking at one another.

 

Kathryn began to grow more concerned for the young man; as time passed he began to spend less and less time outside his own quarters, and when he would finally emerge, the dark circles beneath his eyes and the obvious weight loss were very telling of his emotional state. She had hoped that over time Katie would begin to at least allow him to be a part of her pregnancy, but the young woman refused, still quite hurt and angry at his previous behavior. But, Kathryn soon realized, it wasn’t so much Junior that Katie was angry at anymore, it was herself.

 

It was around week four that Kathryn finally decided that enough was enough. She left Kiernan with his father and went looking for her sister, finally catching up to her just inside the Mess Hall. “I need to talk to you,” She grabbed the young woman’s arm and drew her to a secluded table.

 

“Hey,” Katie pulled her arm free as she was pushed into a chair, “I’m meeting Mike for lunch, and we can talk later.” She started to stand, but Kathryn stopped her with a glare.

 

“No, you’re not. Sit down, shut up, and listen.” Kathryn pointed a finger at her, “This has gone on long enough.”

 

Katie met her glare with one of her own, “I’m going to pretend that you’re not trying to butt into my life now and leave.”

 

“No, you’re going to do as your told,” Kathryn reached over and grabbed her arm when she started to stand, pulling her back into her chair. “Have you even looked at him lately Katie, I mean really looked at him.”

 

Katie crossed her arms and tried to wave it off as nothing, even though she knew exactly what her sister was talking about. It had affected her, the sunken in eyes and the way his uniform hung on his body. “I don’t know what you’re talking about it,” she said instead.

 

“Katie,” Kathryn’s voice grew dangerously low, “you really don’t want to piss me off.”

 

“You should really listen to her babe,” the Female Q appeared in a third chair to her left; she leaned back and propped her feet on the table. “That woman has got postpartum hormones going that you can’t even begin to comprehend. She could kill you and most of the crew and get off on temporary insanity.”

 

“What are you doing here,” both women asked at the same time.

 

“I was just dropping in to check on the step-son.” She smiled sweetly, “he wasn’t in a very good mood actually, which is why I’m here now.” She turned dangerous eyes on Katie, “be very glad that you are carrying my mate’s grandchildren, otherwise I wouldn’t hesitate to turn you into a Cardassian slug and then step on you.”

 

“Now listen,” Kathryn said immediately coming to her sister’s defense, but the female Q quickly cut her off.

 

“No, she needs to listen Kathy darling, God you’re even cuter when you’re not pregnant,” her eyes dropped to Kathryn’s chest, “Nursing are you?” She purred, “Can I have go?”

 

Kathryn rolled her eyes, “You’re worse than the other one.”

 

Q shrugged, “We are a perfect match, even he admits that. Now as I was saying,” she glared at Katie, “I realize that when Q and I showed up to retrieve Junior it was difficult for you. But quite frankly dear, we didn’t have to come to Voyager for either of you. We could have simply wiggled our noses from our spot before the Continuum Council and Junior would have been back at our side, you would have been put back in the timeline, and your children would now be non-existent.”  She leaned forward smirking; “You can thank me for that. I sensed what was going on, Q was too wrapped up in revenge and retrieving his son to notice.”

 

“You can’t make me forgive him,” she said defiantly.

 

“No, I can’t,” Q smiled, “but I can make you admit to yourself that you’ve already forgiven him. You don’t want to get hurt again, that’s all fine and dandy sweetheart, but acting like a coward isn’t doing you, Junior, or those babies you’re about to pop any good.”

 

As much as it irked her to agree with a Q, Kathryn nodded, “She has a point Katie, which is extremely surprising actually.”

 

“Thank you doll.” Q winked at her. “So what are you going to do about it?”

 

Katie crossed her arms and sulked, “Well, just for the sake of argument, if I did say I forgive him, it doesn’t mean that he would be willing to work anything out beyond custody arrangements.”

 

Q looked from her to Kathryn, “Is she really this dense or is it just the brats? Honey wake up,” she said to Katie again, “And smell the coffee! That boy can’t even tie his own shoes without you, which is really embarrassing to admit considering he used to be a Q.” Seeing the tears that sprang to Katie’s eyes she smiled softly, “He didn’t have to come back here. He asked to be allowed to. He got down on his knees in front of the Council and begged them to send him back to Voyager. He destroyed his own Mother to keep her from harming you, and then he gave up his immortality for what? To come back here and be treated like dirt, I won’t have it. So either you grow up, you swallow your pride, and you admit that you still love the little pipsqueak, or I’m taking him back with me for good. There are bigger and better things out there in this universe than you honey, and if I have to kidnap him for a few centuries I’ll do it.”

 

As all her defenses were stripped away and the reality of the situation was finally brought home to her, tears began to fall unheeded from Katie’s eyes. “That’s not necessary.”

 

“I didn’t think it would be,” the female Q stood and smiled. She glanced down at Kathryn and sighed, “And you’re sure I can’t convince you to run away with me for a few hundred millennia? You know, just the foreplay alone could last for decades.”

 

“So I’ve been told,” Kathryn said dryly, “But as charming an offer as that is, I’ll pass.”

 

“Oh well,” Q shrugged, “there’s always the other universes. If you change your mind, or you need us at all, we’re always watching, you just have to holler. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and pick up my own little brat before her father completely warps her mind.” With a wink she vanished.

 

“You know,” Kathryn said after a moment, “If she would quit coming on to me, she wouldn’t be all bad.”

 

Katie laughed as she wiped her tears, “Oh you know you like it.”

 

“Well, what are you going to do now?” She said completely ignoring the other statement.

 

“I don’t know,” she moaned, “I’ve been so horrible to him.”

 

Kathryn drummed her fingers against the table’s surface as a thought began to take root in her mind. “You know what, just leave it all to me.”

 

“What are you going to do?” Katie eyed her suspiciously.

 

“Oh, just call in a few recruits,” Kathryn winked as she slapped her combadge and began setting plans into motion.

 

Three days later everything was ready, and Kathryn had even gone so far as to return to half-day shifts so that she would be able to control the situation.

 

“Someone tell me,” Harry grunted as he struggled to push the large crib into the exact spot, in the exact corner, that Katie had wanted it in, “why we’re doing this? It’s not even practical,” he stepped back and wiped his brow on his sleeve. “I mean, they’re probably just going to move back into the Commander’s old quarters after the babies are born anyway, they’re bigger!”

 

Katie shook her head as she began to set the table for a romantic dinner for two. “It’s all about the sentiment, Harry, the mood.”

 

“Yeah, you p’taq!” B’Elanna slapped him across the back of the head as she walked by with another stack of baby clothes. “Really, Starfleet, I would expect this from Tom,” she pulled drawers out of a small dresser and began stacking the tiny garments inside. “I never would have thought you would be so completely brainless. Or maybe,” she snickered, “You’re just jealous because Katie turned you down.”

 

“I am not,” Harry’s cheek’s blushed bright red, “I just think it would be more practical to have set all this up in Katie’s current quarters, that’s all.”

 

“Harry,” Katie smiled softly at him, “If I moved him into my cabin, it’s just one more example of me controlling our relationship and his role in it. By moving in here, I’m putting the reigns in his hand, so to speak. It’s a way of relinquishing that control, letting him know that I’m giving in.” She turned as the door chimed, “Come in.”

 

Chakotay entered carrying a covered dish, “Soup’s on.” He carried the dish over to the table and set it in the center.

 

“Mmm,” Katie lifted the cover and inhaled deeply, “Broccoli cream, his favorite.” Rising on her tiptoes she brushed a kiss across his cheek, “Thank you.”

 

“And,” B’Elanna returned from the bedroom, “the replicator is set for fresh baked bread, on the Paris’ of course.”

 

“You guys are the greatest,” She hugged each one of them in turn as the moved to leave, “I really appreciate this.”

 

“Just remember,” Chakotay paused at the door, “Kathryn said to wear the blue one!”

 

Katie laughed, “I remember, I remember, go already so I can get dressed!”

 

“Want me to stay and help?” B’Elanna offered, remembering exactly how awkward the last weeks of pregnancy had been.

 

“No,” she smiled appreciatively, “I can handle it.”

 

“If you’re sure?”

 

“Positive.”

 

“All right,” She stepped close to the door activating the opening mechanism, but paused for a moment before heading out. “Don’t forget, we want details tomorrow so take notes if you have to.”

 

“Would you go already,” Katie laughed and gave B’Elanna a shove out the door. “Good lord,” she sighed when she was finally alone. Looking around she eyed the cabin, once again making sure that everything was set, from the candles set up on every available surface, to the roses Kathryn had supplied from the rations she had saved by not being able to have coffee, to finally the table setting. Everything was in place, everything was perfect, now all she had to do was get dressed and win back the father of her children. Suddenly, she was very, very nervous.

 

On the bridge Kathryn watched as Chakotay took his seat, nodding silently to her to signal that everything on deck 9 was ready. She checked the chronometer on her command console, pleased that an hour still remained before the end of Alpha Shift. The hour itself passed rather quickly, all things considered, but fifteen minutes prior to the end of Shift, Tom retrieved the helm from Junior. “Okay, that about does it for our lessons today, you’re free to leave if you’d like.”

 

The young man nodded sullenly, as he did most days, and got up to quietly leave the bridge.

 

Tom waited until the young man had stepped completely into the turbolift, and the doors had closed behind them, before turning to face the Command team, a cocky grin on his face. “A dozen rations says they make it through dinner, but she goes into labor before the night is over,” he waggled his brows at them, his mind, as usual, in the sewer.

 

“Mr. Paris,” Kathryn sighed, “I thought we had discussed betting aboard my ship? I believe I told you that the next time I caught you running a betting pool, you would find yourself in the brig.”

 

“Sorry ma’am,” he turned to face the view screen, his lips turning down into a pout.

 

Kathryn smiled and winked at Chakotay, “That’s quite all right Tom. I’ll let it go this once.” She paused for several moments and waited for Tom’s shoulders to sag in relief. When they did, she added, “By the way, you’re probably wrong, as usual, so put me down for two dozen in favor of Katie going into labor *before* dinner.”

 

Tom grinned broadly, “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” He grabbed a data PADD and began quickly taking down bets as the other officers on the bridge called them out.

 

Katie was removing bread from the replicator and placing it on the table when the cabin doors slid open to reveal Junior. She paused half way through her task and smiled nervously at him, “Hi.”

 

“Hi.” He stepped into the cabin, his eyes roaming warily over the changes, “What’s going on?” His eyes fell to the crib in the back corner of the sleeping area. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I’m serving us dinner,” she explained as she placed the bread on the table. She lifted the cover off the soup warmer, “I even have your favorite, but no worries, I didn’t make it.”

 

Junior moved slowly toward the table, a frown creasing his brow, “But why?” He continued to move slowly around the cabin, “It looks like all your stuff is here.”

 

“That’s because I wanted to get moved in and settled before the babies come, which could be any day now.” She smoothed her hands nervously over her rounded middle.

 

“But you still haven’t said why?” He continued to watch her with a wary, guarded expression. “Why did you move in, why did you arrange my favorite meal, maybe you should explain it to me so that I’ll understand. I’m poor dumb Q, remember, I don’t understand how humans are supposed to think and feel.”

 

“Junior,” she sighed, “I never meant for you to think that.” She sat awkwardly in one of the chairs at the table, “I feel horrible about the way I acted, and I just wanted to start trying to make it up to you.”

 

“You haven’t wanted anything to do with me for weeks,” he said sadly, “why do you suddenly care now?”

 

She smiled and said very simply, “Because I love you.” She rested her hands on the table and toyed with the nail of her index finger. “I was angry, because it hurt when you left. But after a while,” tears began to burn her eyes, “I came to realize that I was really just angry at myself because I didn’t tell you goodbye. And then you came back, and it was just all too much,” she sniffled, “I needed time to think, but then you said those awful things, and I felt like you didn’t even know me.” She lifted her tear-streaked face and met his gaze, “Because if you had you would have known that I could never be with anyone else. You’re all I want.”

 

Still rather wary of her sudden change in attitude, Junior sat in the chair across from her. He took a moment to let it all wash over him, his human emotions were still rather contrary, and if she was really here to let him back into her life, he didn’t want to ruin it by pushing too hard. “Okay,” he began slowly, “so why not just tell me, why go to all this trouble?”

 

“Because,” she rested her hands on her belly, “we’re going to be parents and I want to share that with you. That’s the most important thing, but the other part, is because I just can’t live without you anymore.”

 

Junior felt his shoulders sag as the weight of the last weeks lifted from them. “Do you mean it?” He was still careful not to let his hopes climb too high.

 

“Of course I mean it,” a smile curved across her face, “I love you, and I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you.”

 

Inhaling deeply he shook his head, “No, I’m sorry. I left, and I should have waited, I should have talked to you. If I had explained it better you would have understood, and if you knew that I was going to do everything I could to come back then maybe we---“

 

“Junior,” she stopped his rambling and reached across the table to take his hand, “it’s in the past now. Let’s just leave it there, okay?” When he squeezed her hand and nodded she smiled. “Alright, now I’m starving, and the first thing you should learn is never, ever, *ever* come between a pregnant woman and a meal!”

 

Junior’s eyes dropped to the swell protruding beneath her blue dress. “Can I...” He gestured nervously, indicating her stomach.

 

“Come here,” She scooted away from the table and drew him around to her. Then taking his hand she pressed it against the bulge, watching as his eyes widened when one of their children kicked in response.

 

His mouth formed a little “o” and moving on impulse he knelt beside her, lifting his other hand to press against her. “I can’t believe there are really two of them,” he began to gently stroke her stomach. His eyes roamed slowly over the rest of her body, “You’re so different,” his hands moved upward and traced the sides of her swollen breasts. He stopped at her sharp intake of breath and glanced up at her face.

 

“It’s okay,” she breathed as she leaned toward him. She tentatively brushed his lips with hers, moaning when he leaned into her to deepen the kiss. A rush of heat shot through her when his tongue slipped between her lips. She lifted a hand and slipped it behind his head, and then with her other hand she lifted one of his to gently cup her breast. She pressed him against her gently, indicating how she wanted him to touch her swollen and tender flesh. “God I’ve missed you,” she finally managed, and threw both arms around his neck, hugging him fiercely.

 

Junior buried his face in her neck and slipped his arms around her to rub her back. “I’ve missed you too.” He continued to hold her for a long while, finally pulling away when he felt her stiffen against him.

 

“What?” He asked, concern sweeping over his face as she grimaced.

 

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Oh, I might have forgotten to mention it. But I’ve been feeling weird all day, I think actually, that I’m in labor.” When another cramp rolled through her she nodded, breathing deeply, “Yup, definitely labor.”

 

“Oh.” He blinked, looking endearingly cute as well as frightened. “What do I do?”

 

“Uh, getting me to sickbay would be a good idea,” she winced as he helped her to her feet. “Oh dear,” she glanced down at the puddle at her feet. “Yep, sickbay is definitely a good idea, now.” Junior looked on the verge of panicking so she slipped an arm around his waist, “Just breathe Junior,” she chuckled.

 

Kathryn and Chakotay could hear the screaming the minute they stepped off the turbolift, and it only amplified as they stepped into sickbay. “I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! YOU’RE NEVER TOUCHING ME AGAIN! OH MY GOD I FUCKING HATE YOU!”

 

“Tell me,” Kathryn glanced up at her husband, “that I wasn’t that bad.”

 

“No,” He laughed, “you were worse.” Approaching the couple, he clapped the panicked young Junior on the back. “Let’s take a breather, and leave the women folk alone for a moment.”

 

He nodded, eager for the break and allowed Chakotay to lead him into the Doctor’s office. “She hates me,” he sighed sadly.

 

“No,” Chakotay laughed, “she doesn’t mean it. And it’ll probably get worse before it gets better,” he shook his head, “Kathryn became physically violent before the end and tried to dismember me.”

 

“Well that’s a relief,” he sighed as he sank into a chair.

 

“At least she’s not a Klingon,” he reassured him, “Tom had broken bones after Miral’s birth.”

 

“Okay,” he squeaked.

 

Chakotay laughed again, “You’re doing fine, just remember to ignore most of what she says. And when she confines you to the sofa for life, it’s all right, she doesn’t mean that either.”

 

“Oh good,” he took a deep breath and stood, “I should go back.”

 

He was still laughing when Kathryn approached, “How is she?”

 

“Miserable” she smiled, “but happy. Seems they worked it all out.”

 

“Well that’s good,” he arched a brow, “So are we bankrupt or no?”

 

Kathryn laughed, “Oh no, we’re very rich in the rations department love, I should have enough for a lifetime supply of coffee and diapers.”

 

“The diapers we may need,” He leered at her, “but the coffee you can forget about.” He pulled her too him and kissed her deeply. “Remember,” he stated when he finally pulled away to breathe, “I promised you’d never see your feet again.”

 

“Ahhh,” she smirked, “but you’ll have to get me in bed again for that.”

 

His hands slipped down to cup her ass, and he drew her against him suggestively, “Two weeks and counting baby.”

 

“Oh stop,” she pushed him away, “Come on, lets go make sure the kids don’t kill each other.” Grabbing his hand she lead him back into the delivery area, jumping when he pinched her ass.

 

Katie’s labor progressed much faster than Kathryn’s had, much to the older woman’s vexation, within just a few hours of going into hard labor, the first twin made her appearance, and was soon joined by her identical sister. After the tears and the congratulations, the older couple had left to return to their own child, allowing the young family time to bond.

 

“What are we going to name them,” Junior stared at the tiny five-pound infant in his arms, a complete carbon copy of the baby her mother held.

 

Katie laughed softly, “Actually, I really hadn’t thought of a name for either of them yet. I just, didn’t really want to do that without you.”

 

“Thank you,” he leaned toward her, pressing his lips to her brow. “So, I’ve only ever named planets before. I’ve never named a person.”

 

“Give it a try, you might find you’re rather good at it.”

 

“All right.” He gazed at the infant in his arms, from the puff of red hair on her head, to her tiny toes. He thought of her and the woman who had birthed her, and the way his soul felt forever bound to her. He smiled at the term, bound, and glanced over his daughter’s tiny head to meet her mother’s eyes. “Rebecca, for this one.”

 

“Rebecca,” she let it roll off her tongue, “I like it. Rebecca it is.”

 

“What about the little one?” He gazed at the baby she held, smaller than her sister, yet identical in every other way.

 

“Hmm,” she shifted the child, chuckling when the tiny girl whimpered and grunted in protest. “Oh the little princess doth protest.” Princess, she thought, and searched her mind trying to recall names that had meant that or something similar. “Sara,” she said after a few minutes, “it means little princess.”

 

“Sara and Rebecca,” Junior nodded, and glanced between his daughters, “it suits them, I think.”

 

Smiling, she leaned her head toward her daughter and murmured, “What do you think, Sara?” The child’s mouth stretched open in a wide yawn. Katie chuckled softly and glanced up to find Junior watching her intently. “What?”

 

“I love you.”

 

She reached for him and pulled him toward her, she first brushed a kiss across Rebecca’s brow, and then turned her face to her lover. “And I love you, and not even the Q could separate us again.”

 

The End