I really loved this story! After reading the summary, I thought for sure I would not. You are a capable writer. Everything you write is very real and human. The characters interactions are never smooth and often result in problems with each other and that is true to their characters (something many who write Q and Picard seem to ignore for the sake of easier writing).

You stay true to a complicated friendship, never straying from the hard stuff between them. The narrative was so real, I could easily see this being a part of the true universe. Thank you! I look forward to reading your other stories. Though I do certainly wish you had way more than four. :D

Amazing story! Thank you. I was so pleasedon't to find this.

Great story!

This was amazing, thank you

Awww :)

This was a amazing piece of storytelling featuring Q and Picard and Riker and Data. The storytelling you delivered is amazing, fantastic, and very enriched in what could have been. It is a story that dives deep into the very friendship that ties Picard and Q together. It is quite amazing. The Delta Pine joke was funny, really it was! How Q acted in this story is rather beliveable.

Picard would never be entirely rid of Q.

For that this story should be rated beyond 2005 for the description, characters, and dialogue that was humorous and realistic to a point. Good job :)

Oh Q, only you would interrupt his last speech XDDD.

Great story!

Oh what a satisfying ending point to the angst train. I the relationship of mutual commendatory we all know Picard and Q always wanted finally revealing itself. Would be funny if you do a short fic where Q finds himself with the challenge of throwing a party "larger then the Eugenics Wars and the Roman Empire" which shouldn't be hard for a quasi omnipotent being if it were for the fact that he feels so miserable. I know I've mentioned before that a mortal's death shouldn't hurt a Q as much as it would another mortal, but he can go back in time and to alternate realities, but you're right it probably wouldn't be the same exactly the same as this. A nice way for him to cheer himself up, but he wouldn't be making the 'linear' journey along with Picard. Now I'm sad this is over. :(

A 24th century luxury vehicle a black Lexus LS with tinted windows that's what the Prospero sounds like talk about your pimped up ride. :D As much as it must have been frustrating for legitimate Starfleet security to have to deal with and extra port and super advanced ship that they have absolutely no access to and can't so much scan it's interior I'm, sure it drove section 31 even crazier lol!

Picards reaction to the ship is very...Picard. Ignore, stubbornly go to investigate at some elses behest, then come up with righteous sounding personal justification to use it. Of course we know from Q's own narration that he did feel legitimately guilty and it's not like Q has never shown Picard any kindness, but it's very believable all the same that Picard because of his pride would see it as a flaunting of his powers.

Man you have a flare for angst I was reading at the edge of my proverbial seat when I thought Picard was going to commit suicide. After using the ship regularly I'm sure all the guilt and regret about how he treated Q would sink in but, of course how's he suppose to get his attention, and he might figure he has nothing to lose he's miserable his best years have long since passed. Although being cleanly shaven and generally well groomed is not a good indication that someone might not be suicidal, it would be unpleasant to imagine your corpse looking like a slob, it would make sense to take a shower shave comb your hair (not applicable to Picard) and throw on your favorite outfit. Not that I expect Q to know that, those are the few things where the "gnosis" of being mortal trumps the billions of years of life experience of an immortal...but I digress.

I had mixed feeling about the part where Q makes all the stars in vicinity go nova. One of the reasons why Q and Picard in my opinion keep a sort of verbal valley ball through out the years, is because Q's not exactly a Armus or a Nagilum. He has no compunctions in putting people in danger to watch them jump his hoops, and he has frozen people who have attacked him, which is not really justified seeing as they were never a threat to him, but he's never really directly just snuffed people out...at least not in front of Picard. Picard reacts really bad to that sort of thing. He'll resist any powerful being with every ounce of his will, if he believes they're completely callus and beyond reasoning with. This would also open the old wound from what happened in Q Who, the death of those 18 people were partially Picard's own fault for not heading Guinan's warning. He'd be faced with a situation were Q really did it but at the same time it has to do with his actions too. This could have easily made the whole of their relationship go sour. I'm guessing you had Picard believing that Q wasn't going to leave things like that permanently?

This is easily turning out to be the best piece of fanfiction I have ever read though, and I've read some dammed good ones for Star Trek anyways for other fandoms I have not so much. :P

Woohoo! This review makes lucky number 50. :) I admire the way you packed more 'dramas' in chapters 4,5, and 6 then can be found in a thousand day time television talk shows left out in the sun to concentrate lol! During the retirement scene I almost wanted to cry out "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!"

The part where Q goes to a planet with rocky lifeforms was fun, I can totally see a sulky depressed mind-energy being going to planet just to be worshiped, especially if they're feeling ashamed of themselves, seeing as they're capable of reading minds, imagine what an ego stroking they would get seeing themselves through their worshipers' proverbial eyes. Plus when he vanishes at the end of the episodes he's appears in you can't help but wonder what other shinanigans Q gets into when 'off screen' I love it when people put those things in fan fics .

You know reading about Q's meltdown in Jean-Luc's retirement got me thinking just how much restrain Q has actually shown in cannon, of course this tantrum would be do to along time of pent up anger. As would be Picard's decision to punch Q. That was epic.

Wow...just, wow! I wish I would have started reading this properly sooner (as in not skimming to see if it's worth reading I do that a lot with fanfiction). I've always thought to myself while re-watching TNG whenever there's a seen where Picard and Crusher seem to get a hair's width away from getting into a relationship "Moron! You're a moron Picard! You won't get with Beverly because of the guilt you've felt for having been Jack's commanding officer when he he died, you won't get with Vash cause your lives are incompatible, actually that's a good idea stay away from Vash. You won't get with Commander Darren cause you don't think you can objectively put someone in your intimate with and under your command in danger, and you'll never leave your command if it's up to you, no sir, you're married to the Enterprise like a nun's married to the Catholic church, only problem...You have to retire someday and then you'll be alone, or worse still, have only Q as your spare tire!

That what I love about this fic, it deals with exactly that Picard having to deal with his mortality and even better Q having to deal with Ricard's mortality lol. I just adore that line in the first chapter. "Sixty years hundred and twenty. Sixty years is nothing to me a speck of dust in the glow of my life. You can understand why I'm bothering him more then usual." I personally imagine that Q has the luxury of not missing Picard once he's dead since Q's life isn't linear he can always visit Picard in his timeline whenever he longs for his company, and in different virtually identical time lines so he doesn't saturate Picard's life and drive the poor man insane. It's Picard's suffering that I think Q would have a hard time dealing with, whether he wants to admit it, whether Picard would ever want to deal with what that suggest. So I totally see Q trying to force meeting with him like this, it's very in character.

I also loved the exchange between Picard and Troi, the part where she asked if he and Q are intimate made me lol. I can imagine the strain in Picard's voice as he was explaining what's been happening to him regarding Q that would lead her to assume that he was being sexually harassed.

Then when Picard offers Q anything naturally he's going to pick for him to go on a trip with him. He's been wanting to do that with Picard since Qpid, and yes Picard was tempted even then, and I can see you picked up on that. I will continue reviewing this masterpiece as I continue to read.

Great story!

Great story!

Wow simply...phenomenal

Heartbreaking.

...My reviews are usually much longer than this.

Rating: 20/10

Sincerely yours,
J.