Commander Chakotay sat in the Captain's chair watching the returning shuttle on the viewscreen.

"Commander, I'm showing massive fluctuation in the shuttle's warpcore."

"Beam them out NOW!"

Harry didn't even get a chance to push a button--the shuttle had already started to explode. The entire bridge crew watched in silent-horror as the shuttle blew into a thousand pieces.

Chakotay just sank into the command chair. It was Tuvok who gave the order to gather the debris, so they could determine what had gone wrong.

After what seemed an eternity, the Commander rose, "Mr. Tuvok you have the bridge." No explanations were necessary--before the general announcement was made, families needed to be told. Chakotay would tell his two daughters that their mother was dead, and B'Elanna Torres-Paris would tell her son that his father was gone. A shaken B'Elanna left her engineering station and joined him at the lift; together they went to the schoolroom.

That evening he sat in their quarters, tired and lost. He had just put their two girls to bed. It didn't seem real--it was like some bad dream. He too decided to go to bed, not expecting to ever sleep again. For ten years they had lived together--soon after Kathryn had learned she was pregnant with their first child. That had been in another life--a life that had ended five hours ago. He was now responsible for raising a 10 and 6 year old alone. The reluctant, new Captain of Voyager didn't even bother to take his uniform off as he lay down in their--no--his bed. Alone.

A shadowy figure stood staring out the window at the stars. He hadn't been here for years, but couldn't stay away this evening. He turned at the sound of soft footsteps behind him.

"Who are you?" Asked 10 year old Maria Janeway.

"Hello Maria, I'm an old friend of your Mother's," he looked at the child. Her eyes were red from crying.

"I don't know you." She was holding a phaser in her right hand, her other was on her hip.

"No, you wouldn't know me. I'm Q. I haven't been here since... Since before you were born."

"I think I've heard my Mom and Dad talk about you. You do weird things or something."

"Or something." He smiled at the child. Her dark hair was braided behind her. But the way she looked at him, reminded him of her mother all those years ago, when...

"Maria, you should be in bed." Chakotay quietly told his daughter, then he noticed Q. "What the Hell are you doing here?"

Maria watched for a couple of seconds then returned to her room.

"I repeat, what the Hell are you doing here," Chakotay felt himself becoming angry--feeling any emotion was better than the overwhelming numbness threatening to overcome him.

"I heard about the accident. I just came to say, well..." Q was rarely stuck for something to say. "I came to pay my respects, Kathy was..." He thought back ten human years to the last time he had seen her. The continuum had ordered him to procreate with her. In the end he hadn't been able to--for whatever reason he couldn't bring himself to do something she was so opposed to. He had returned her to the ship. He smiled as he realized the Commander was also remembering that night.

Q had returned her to Voyager all right, but had left her in Chakotay's bed. Both had been asleep, but Chakotay had woken with a start, and had rolled over to find himself staring at the sleeping form of his Captain. She had opened her eyes--that went wide with surprise to discover where she was. Then delight and then... Even after over 10 years, Chakotay remembered every detail of that night. Her lips on his; how she felt and tasted; the look in her eyes as he had caressed and kissed her; making love; and then five weeks later when she told him she was pregnant.

"Thank-you," Chakotay replied. Q had been responsible for a lot. And the grief he was trying not to show seemed genuine.

Q grinned, flicked his fingers and was gone.

Commander Chakotay sat in the Captain's chair watching the returning shuttle. Something didn't feel right. "Beam them out NOW!" He ordered.

Puzzled, Harry did. As he initiated the transport, he noticed that... "Commander, I'm showing massive fluctuation in the shuttle's warp core."

The silent bridge crew watched in alarm as the shuttle blew into a thousand pieces.

"Commander, the transport was successful, both Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Paris are safely onboard Voyager."

Kathryn Janeway looked around the transporter room, for whatever reason they had been beamed back to the ship just as the shuttle computer had announced an imminent warp core breach. She hadn't even had time to react. She rubbed her head. "You all right Tom?"

Tom also looked puzzled. "Yes. Captain. The shuttle?"

The Ensign at the console shook her head. "It disintegrated as we beamed you off."

"Somebody had quick reactions--I'll be on the bridge." The Captain walked out the door. "Maria, what are you doing here!" She exclaimed as her oldest daughter caught her in a hug.

The child said nothing, just held her mother tight. Kathryn realized, with surprise, that Maria was crying. "Is everything all right, sweetheart," she whispered as she hugged the girl in return.

"Now it is." Maria released her mother and smiled. Kathryn smiled back. Chakotay always said that Maria had her mother's smile. "I had a terrible dream--that the shuttle blew-up and... and... you..." She stopped, her mother was looking at her strangely. "Mother?"

"The shuttle did blow-up, but Uncle Tom and I were beamed out safely." The girl showed every sign of weeping again. "I'm fine, Uncle Tom is too, everything is OK. Maria." She held her daughter tight.

"I'm so glad." Maria stood there, her arms again wrapped around her mother. "Who's Q?"

Kathryn didn't speak for seconds. "Q is here?" She asked quietly, almost as if she spoke any louder he might appear.

"He was in my dream."

There was no response. Kathryn stood there.

finis