"Report," ordered Captain Kathryn Janeway, stepping onto the bridge at the start of her shift.

"All systems normal," replied her first officer.

Janeway locked eyes with Chakotay as she sat in her chair. She offered a small smile, and her heart swelled when she received one in return. He had such a warm smile. It reached all the way up to his dark brown eyes...

She refocused her attention to a PADD in her hand, her heart aching. Chakotay was no longer hers to think about. He was with Seven now. She knew she couldn't have expected him to wait for her forever. After all, he deserved to find love with someone who was in a position to give it to him...and sadly, she was not that person.

Sure, she could have started a relationship with a member of her crew. She was certain they wouldn't mind, but the thought of it went against everything she believed in as a Starfleet Captain. It would be unprofessional, inappropriate, and somehow immoral. Chakotay was one of her most trusted officers, and her best friend. They had a dynamic between them that worked, and she wasn't foolish enough to mess it up.

Still, she would miss the slightly flirtatious aspect of their relationship. She couldn't deny that her heart fluttered a little bit every time he said her name. Just being near him made her feel at peace.

Kathryn bit her lip in frustration. Once again, her principles were standing in the way of something she wanted. But it didn't matter anyway. She loved Chakotay, she loved Seven, and the two of them loved each other. If they were happy together, so be it. She wasn't the first woman to be in this position, and she certainly wouldn't be the last.

She shivered and crossed one leg over the other. Chakotay, ever attentive to his captain's needs, ordered the computer to raise the temperature on the bridge by five degrees.

She looked at him again and smiled her thanks, not knowing how to tell him that the cold she felt had nothing to do with the atmospheric controls and everything to do with her internal cognitive processes.

As long as Chakotay had been single, she'd falsely comforted herself with the fantasy that she had someone. Now that Chakotay was taken, she had no one. She was all alone, and she was going to stay that way for a very long time.

Fresh tears unexpectedly stung her eyes. Grabbing her PADD and standing quickly, Janeway announced,

"I'll be in my Ready Room, if anyone needs me," her gaze lingered on her first officer for a moment before she turned and walked across the bridge. If only, she thought as her Ready Room door whooshed open, If only there were someone here for me.

The door whooshed shut behind her, and Kathryn walked the well trodden path from the door to the replicator.

"Coffee, black," she muttered and took the materialized mug in her hand, turning towards her desk.

There was bouquet lying there of what seemed like nearly one hundred blood-red roses.

Her brow furrowed as she approached it, her mind racing. Who would do this? She thought to herself. Chakotay? Her heart swelled and just as quickly deflated. Chakotay would never leave roses on her desk, and even if he did, it wouldn't be a bouquet like this. He'd leave a single flower, with a handwritten note...

At the thought of the word note, Kathryn scanned the flowers with sharp eyes, looking for just such an object.

She saw it. A creamy vanilla envelope tucked discreetly between masses of red and green.

Walking around the desk, Kathryn sat down in her chair. She pulled the envelope from the roses and simultaneously bent down to inhale their scent. Lovely.

The paper was cool and crisp against her fingertips. Not one to postpone discovery, she opened the envelope and removed a single folded sheet of fine linen paper. She opened the paper and read the neatly calligraphied message:

For my dearest Kathy-

Thinking of you always.

-Q

It took her a moment to understand. The roses were from Q. From Q. The roses were from Q.

She had no doubt in her mind which Q had sent them. If it had been the son, the inscription would say "Auntie Kathy" instead of "Dearest Kathy."

Dearest? Thinking of you always? What does it mean?

It sounded like a love note, but this was Q. Q didn't love, did he?

Pushing this thought aside, she strode back to the replicator and demanded a large vase with water.

The roses were easy to arrange, but the bouquet was so conspicuous that it blocked her vision, regardless of where she set it on the desk.

It suddenly occurred to her that the self-proclaimed omnipotent one might be watching her as she shifted the vase around.

"They're lovely Q. Thank you," she called out, wondering if he could hear her.

There was a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. She looked up. He was sitting on her couch, in front of the windows, legs crossed, looking for all the world as if he belonged there. He was wearing the Starfleet uniform with captain's pips, per usual. Janeway wondered if he did it to fit in, or just to annoy her.

"You're quite welcome, Madam Captain," he replied with a nod. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine," she said slowly with a diplomatic smile, walking out from behind her desk and up to join him on the couch. "How are you?"

"Why, I've never been better," Q replied, making the grandiose statement in a way only he could pull off. "The Continuum thrives, and Junior continues to make his father proud...thanks in part to your excellent tutelage," he made a gesture in her direction, for all accounts completely sincere.

"Thank you," Kathryn replied, sitting down. She rested an elbow on the back of the couch and crossed her legs. "Though I'm sure his father has provided an excellent standard of behavior for him to aspire to."

She meant to tease, but found that she actually meant it.

Q chuckled and looked a bit pleased.

"Junior sends his regards...he's become quite the diplomat, you know. A regular chip off the old block, if I do say so myself."

"I assume you're referring to his mother?" This time she was teasing.

"Oh, come now Kathy," Q chastised, looking a tad petulant. "Surely you're aware of my political prowess? Was it not I who conceptualized and executed a plan to bring peace to the Continuum? Not to mention its overwhelming success!"

"I seem to recall having a hand in the matter myself, Q," Kathryn replied, hiding a smile. She'd learned to take Q's bragging with a grain of salt. He knew full well how those events had transpired.

"As I remember it, you could have had much more than your hand in the events, my sweet Kathy," Q replied softly, reaching up to stroke her cheek with a touch that was feather-light.

Kathryn felt her heart give a strange beat, and blood rushed through her veins. Her face felt warm.

In an instant, the touch was gone, leaving her confused and disoriented. Struggling to regain control, she managed to blurt out,

"Why are you here Q?"

"Now really, mon capitane," Q admonished, pulling a face of righteous indignation. "Do I really need a reason to catch up with an old friend?"

"Are we friends?" Kathryn responded, though even as she asked, she knew the answer. Yes. Somewhere along the way, between their battles over the fate of Quinn, and their parental collaboration over his son, Q had become more than a mal-intentioned, omnipotent pest; he was an acquaintance, someone she trusted, if only slightly.

"Now Kathy, all this playing captain has made you cranky. Do try to be nice. I'm only here to help."

"Help?" she asked, confused. "Help what?"

"Why, you're current situation of course..."

"Oh?" she asked suspiciously. "What situation is that?" Is he sending us home? He already said he couldn't do that...

"I'm referring to your current romantic entanglements..."

"My what!"

Q sighed dramatically. Taking both her hands in his, he looked into her face and began to explain very slowly, as though she were a small child.

"You're lonely Kathy, I can tell. Sitting here with your coffee and your PADD, wondering when tattoo-boy, will ever realize that you're worth waiting for. I hear he's fraternizing with the Borg now. Imagine, he picked the emotionless drone over you...what a fool...

Janeway pulled her hands from his and stood up angrily.

"Seven is a..."

"...valuable member of your crew, an individual, taking great strides to reclaim her humanity. Yes, yes, I've read the pamphlets. And Chuckles, I'm sure he deserves every happiness, he's your best friend, blah blah blah... Tell me, Kathy dear, what kind of man can't find it in himself to wait for a prize like you, hmmm?"

Something inside Kathryn was telling her that Q was telling her just what she wanted to hear...and something even deeper inside was telling her that he was right.

He was standing in front of her, grasping her firmly, but not tightly, around her upper arms. Her face felt warm.

"You never consider your own happiness. It's always all for someone else. You deserve much better, and I'm going to see to it that you get it."

"Oh really?" she snapped, pulling away from him. "Just how do you intend to do that? Are you going to make Commander Chakotay fall in love with me?"

Q snorted with disdain.

"Certainly not," he quipped. "I'm giving you someone much better."

"Ha," Kathryn gave a derisive laugh. "Like who?"

"It's quite simple, my dear Kathy," he took her hand in his and began to absently massage her palm. "I'm giving you...Me."

"You!" Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Haven't we been down this path already? Q! I have no interest in mating with you!"

"Who said anything about mating?" Q asked politely. "Though now that you've suggested it, I daresay we could have some fun." He gave her a wicked smirk and raised an eyebrow.

He was still holding her hand. Kathryn absently remembered him commenting on how soft it was.

"No, my fair captain, I'm not here for anything so trivial as mere copulation. My quest, instead, is for your heart."

"You're joking..."

"I'm not," he replied in all seriousness. "Kathryn Janeway, I'm in love with you. I have been since you first banished me from your living quarters."

"You don't mean that," she muttered, looking into his face while trying to pull her hand away from his. He gripped it tighter and brought it up to press against his chest.

"Don't I? Why else would a member of my species continually seek out an inferior life-form such as yourself? I mean it Kathy! I love you!"

"You're lying! Let go of me!"

"I will not. Besides, wasn't it you who said I was many things, but never a liar?" He flashed her a charming grin.

"I was wrong!"

"No," said Q, pulling her to him with an unseen force she couldn't move against. "You were right."

He paused and considered her face at close proximity. Smiling, he brushed a small strand of hair out of the way and slid his hand over her cheekbone to cup her jaw.

"I know you don't believe me now...but you will. I'll prove it to you, my sweet, wild Kathy. You'll be happier than you've ever dreamed...and it will all be because you're with me. Not your precious Mark, or your stupid Chakotay. Me."

And then, he kissed her.