Mithrais Takes a Q (July 10, 1994) A. Rex Anna Mithrais sat in deep contentment underneath the towering spruce trees that ran down the simulated hillside of this, the holodeck re-creation of her home on Earth. Since her time on Menos Two, and her discovery of Q, she had taken to coming here to think and to be alone. She could hardly believe that it had been six weeks since they had left the beleagered planet of Menos Two, and left it in a lot better condition for having been there. Mithrais would be eternally grateful to Q for his help--even though the conditions of her meeting him were less than perfect. She wondered where he had gone--ever since that day when he had joined her on the holodeck--all of six weeks ago--she had neither seen nor heard from him. Perhaps he didn't find her as appealing as she had initially thought, despite that mind- blowing, knee-melting, heart-stopping kiss they'd shared here in this very spot. Oh, well....she might as well enjoy the sunset, and be glad of it. "Mind if I interrupt?" A quiet voice interrupted Mithrais's reverie, and she looked up, hoping to see Q. Instead, she saw Deanna Troi. "Oh! Counselor--forgive me, I didn't hear you come in." Mithrais grinned. "Please, have a seat--if you can find an available rock!" "I don't mind if I do." Troi gathered her voluminous skirts under her and took a seat on the mossy ground beside Mithrais. She gazed out over the sea, watching the simulated sun sinking slowly into the dark, choppy waters. Today, Mithrais had programmed the simulation for autumn, because she loved the island's cruel beauty when the weather got colder. "This is very lovely--I can see why you come here." Her dark, pretty eyes were kindly as she smiled at Mithrais. "You've been spending a lot of time here--I'm curious." "Oh--it's nothing--I mean, I'm alright, I'm not having flashbacks or anything like that." Mithrais was stumbling over her tongue, trying to reassure the counselor. "Does this have something to do with Q?" Troi gave her an opening. Mithrais chuckled. "I can't fool you at all, can I?" She picked at the hem of her denim shirt, looked out over the sea. "Deanna, you and I have been friends since...well, since that incident with the Cardassians. Sometimes, you know me too well-- better in fact, than I know myself." Mithrais pleated the hem of the shirt as she spoke, concentrating on making each pleat the same size as the others. "You're right--it does have something to do with Q. I'm just not sure what!" And she cast a supplicating gaze in Troi's direction. The other woman thought for a moment, shifting her legs under her until she was sitting cross-legged under her long skirt. She leaned forward and with slender, delicate fingers picked a small flower from the mossy ground. "You're in love with him." Mithrais opened her mouth to protest, but Troi was still talking. "I should have immediately suspected this, when you started visiting the holodeck so much. And Beverley told me that he was instrumental in helping you on Menos Two--it all fits, it really does." Mithrais laughed. "And now you're going to tell me that nobody in her right mind would fall in love with Q, because he's arrogant, and quixotic, and often dangerous. That he wields an enormous amount of power, and could destroy me utterly on a whim. That he's incapable of love, thinks of us humans as insects." Mithrais wanted Troi to disapprove of her choice so that the counselor could offer some sane, rational explanation for why Mithrais felt the way she did, and then Anna could forget all about Q and go on with her life aboard the Enterprise. "I think..." Troi spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. "...that under the circumstances, it was inevitable that you would fall in love with Q." When Mithrais raised a questioning eyebrow, Troi continued, ticking the reasons off on her fingers. "For starters: Q is very attractive--tall, well- built, handsome, very confident. He's powerful. He's intelligent. He's witty. He has much to offer, Anna. As well, he offered a tremendous amount of help to you when you especially needed it." Mithrais knew that Troi was referring to the situation on Menos Two, but her statement could also apply to the help that Q had offered Mithrais when her memories of the Cardassian attact threatened to overwhelm her. But Troi couldn't know that. "I also know that you've been reliving your memories of Cardassia, and that Q really gave you a shoulder to lean on." "You have to stop doing that!" Mithrais said, half- seriously. "Doing what?" Troi stuck the flower behind her ear where it poked out into midair. "Reading my mind!" Mithrais swatted Troi lightly on the arm. "Damn, Deanna! How did you know?" "Q isn't all bad--he's very complex, very difficult to get to know." Troi nodded, setting the flower to bobbing up and down. "You have to realise that what you're feeling for him right now is what anybody would feel in your situation." Troi laid a comforting hand on Mithrais's shoulder. "So stop feeling so bad about it." Troi brightened. "Hey, at least Q's omnipotent--try skating around Klingon ideals of Honor and Justice and see where you get." Troi was referring to her own relationship with Worf. Mithrais nodded, laughing. "I can see where that would be a challenge!" She stuck out her hand, and Troi yanked her to her feet. Standing, Mithrais's taller, stockier figure nearly dwarfed petite Troi. 'Maybe that's why I'd rather talk to Dee sitting down,' Mithrais mused. 'At least then I don't feel like a goddamn building next to her!' "You don't look like a building." "Deanna!" "Sorry!" The pretty counselor colored in embarrassment. "I'd better go--I have a batch of afternoon appointments--you know where to find me if you need me." She patted Mithrais gently on the arm and exited the holodeck. Mithrais watched her go, savoring the warm feeling that talking with Troi always gave her. Troi was so good to talk to-- especially for Anna Mithrais, who didn't have many female friends. Some things, you just needed another woman's perspective. Mithrais mentally shook herself, and started down the hill. She could have ordered the computer to discontinue the simulation, and just walk out of the holodeck, but she wanted the physical challenge of negotiating the steep hillside before returning to the pristine world of the Enterprise. "Attach docking clamps." Commander William Riker watched the docking on the main viewscreen, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. No matter how many successful manual dockings he witnessed, he could never relax fully when one was in progress. There was always that moment of tension, before the massive clamps locked into place, when anything--he was certain--could go wrong. "Docking clamps locking....now!" Data's long fingers danced over his board at Ops, correcting the minute details of manual docking. "Re-engage life support and computer control to saucer section." Riker stood behind Data's chair, his foot propped up against the partition. "Computer, record manual docking successful, authorisation Riker Omega Three." "Manual docking complete." The female voice of the computer dutifully recorded the event without emotion. "Sir." Data swiveled his chair around to speak to Riker, his big, golden eyes utterly guileless. Riker had known Data long enough now to know that look. "Yes, Mister Data?" "I am presenting a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest this evening on Holodeck Three. I would appreciate it if you could attend." Riker mentally groaned--to be subjected to yet another of Data's forays into classical theatre! God bless him, he tried, but his efforts were not always rewarded with a convincing realism. Riker tried to muster up some enthusiasm. "Of course, Data! I would be honored! What time is the blessed event?" Ouch! That probably sounded sarcastic! "Sir..." Data's pale brow furrowed. "Am I to understand that you do not wish to attend?" Damn! "Of course, I'd love to be there!" Riker wheeled away, coming face-to-face with Worf, towering over the bridge from his station at Tactical. Worf looked like something that had been carved from granite and left to weather in the sun. "Love to--wouldn't miss it." Worf grunted. "Indeed." "Then I can count on your attendance as well, Mister Worf?" Data's face brightened in that little-boy look they all knew so well. Worf grunted. To Riker, it sounded as if he'd gotten hold of some bad Rokeg Blood Pie and was having trouble keeping it down.... Anna Mithrais stepped off the turbolift, reporting for her duty shift in Sickbay. She had watched the manual docking of the saucer section, heard the great clamps locking into place. A ship such as the Enterprise was required to perform regular manual docking drills. In the event of an actual "incident" the saucer section of the ship could be removed and reattached with a minimum of fuss. And, she knew, Picard preferred all operations aboard ship to be that way. "Good morning, Doctor Crusher." Mithrais went to her duty station and started reviewing the morning's O.R. lists: Two tissue repair series, a bone-knit, (Ensign Botenedes diving off the cliffs of Heaven on the holodeck again) a couple of exploratories, and a routine physical for Commander Riker. Mithrais grinned--that Beverly! How in space had she ever managed to get Riker into Sickbay? The handsome Alaskan's distaste for anything medical was nearly legendary aboard ship. "Morning, Mithrais--want a coffee?" Alyssa Ogawa, a pretty Asian nurse tapped Mithrais's shoulder lightly as she passed. Alyssa was pregnant, and glowing. "Oh, sure--thanks, Alyssa. How's Junior?" She patted Ogawa's tummy as the two women stood talking. "Just fine--except for playing Parisi Squares on my ribs, everything's looking great." Ogawa's dark eyes regarded Mithrais over the rim of the cup. "I hear you've got a hot new romance on the table." Mithrais's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her bangs. "Who told you that?!" She shook her head. "God! Talk about a ship's grapevine." Ogawa laughed. "So--who is he?" Mithrais blinked, sighed in derision. "Nobody--what have you heard?" "Only that you were seen in Ten-Forward with some tall, dark handsome so on and so forth...." "That was Q." Ogawa stared. "Q? You can't be serious!" Mithrais shook her head, a little impatiently. Alyssa was sweet, and a fabulous nurse, but she could be a notorious gossip. "No, you don't understand. Q was the one who helped me get that epidemic under control on Menos Two. I was just having a cup of tea with him--I wanted to thank him, on behalf of everyone, for his help. Really, we couldn't have gotten nearly as much done, if he hadn't shown up when he did." Ogawa nodded. "Ahhh. So you and Q don't have a thing going?" "How can anybody have a 'thing' for Q? He's not human-- oops, here comes the boss!" Mithrais gave Ogawa a little push to send her on her way. Crusher was crossing the floor of Sickbay. "Doctor--I want to ask you about this regen series on gerh-Goki- Tnan. The medical files say he's in for some regeneration of the fourth intercostal membranes, lying anteriorly to the peritoneum. I'm concerned about going that close to the peritoneum in a Theskian--won't that increase the internal fluidic pressure in the abdominal cavity?" Crusher scanned the padd briefly, her lips pursed in an expression of concentration. "You might want to do a scan series first--see how the flow rate of the internal fluids are routed around the peritoneum--they're all different, these Theskians." Crusher peered at Mithrais for a moment. "Is there something else, Doctor?" Mithrais could feel that Crusher was hesitating over saying what was so obviously on her mind. "This may seem...petty, especially coming from your superior officer, but--" Crusher chewed her lower lip, her lovely green eyes distracted. "How in space did you end up in the ready room like that?" Mithrais felt a hot flush creeping up her neck. "It was Q-- " Crusher nodded, a smile playing around the edges of her lips. "I'm so embarrassed...." She ducked her head and giggled, seeming for a moment to be a charming schoolgirl. MIthrais laid a hand on Crusher's arm. "Please, Doctor Crusher--don't be embarrassed on my account." She paused, wondering how to frame the next statement. "I mean--everybody here really likes you, and wants you to be happy. And I've suspected for awhile now that you and the Captain were more than merely friends." Mithrais squeezed the older woman's arm lightly. "So let's say no more about it--I, for one, am very happy that you've found someone you can love as much as you loved your husband. And I know that the Captain--although he may be somewhat reticent about his feelings, cares for you just as much." Crusher grinned. "You know, Anna--you might just toss Troi out of a job one of these days." Mithrais laughed. "Oh,no! I wouldn't dare come between Dee and her work--she might come after me, strangle me with her pantyhose or something!" Crusher laughed heartily at that. Then, sobering, leaned closer to Mithrais and in a confidential tone, asked, "Are you...er...'involved' with Q, by any chance?" Mithrais felt her brows knit in the center. "You're the second person to ask me that today, and I've only been on duty for half an hour!" She sighed, took a deep breath to calm herself. "This is getting way out of hand. I'd love to know who's been spreading that story--I just had tea with him in Ten- Forward, to thank him for all his help on Menos Two." Crusher frowned. "Hmm," she mused, "that's odd." Mithrais looked up from the padd in her hand. "Hmm?" She had momentarily been distracted, ordering a scan series for her Theskian patient. "Q told the Captain that he found you very intriguing." Mithrais snorted. "Q says that about everything--it's one of his favorite phrases--that and how much everybody "wounds" him." She put down the padd. "Look--don't tell anyone, but he kissed me in the Holodeck. That's all. Then he disappeared." Crusher's eyes twinkled. She's so beautiful, Mithrais thought wistfully, I'd love to look like Beverly does. "He kissed you? Mithrais, I'm discovering a whole new side of you that I never knew before. It's...refreshing!" With that, Crusher tapped Anna lightly on the shoulder and said, "Get that Theskian down here and run those scans--if the fluidic pressure is allright, go ahead with the procedure. Alyssa will help you with prep." The doors to Sickbay swished open, and Crusher's tall, elegant frame disappeared into the corridor. Mithrais sighed and set about whittling the day's workload down to a manageable level. That evening, there was a reception on Holodeck Five for a visiting Tholian ambassador. Mithrais wasn't too enthusiastic about going, but at the last minute recanted her decision, and hopped in the shower. She gave herself a perfunctory washing, spending the minimum amount of time required to be presentable. When she got out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, Q was waiting for her in the other room. Mithrais walked the perimeter of the room, her gaze never leaving him. He was lying across her bed, leaning up on one elbow, wearing a Starfleet dress uniform-- admiral's rank. Leave it to Q.... "What are you doing here?" She sat on the edge of the bed nearest him and began brushing out her hair. Q leaned forward, one long-fingered hand coming up to touch her bare shoulder. He traced a trickle of water that was running down out of her hair, caught it on his fingertip. Mithrais felt the pit of her stomach quiver, felt a moist heat begin, low in her belly. "Did you miss me?" Q's dark eyes were playful, twinkling, their expression masking a deadly earnestness. "I've been busy." "Don't toy with me, my dear." His hands were on her arms, pulling her down on the bed beside him. He rolled onto his back, his momentum taking her with him until she way lying full-length against his body. "I'm getting you all wet--" Her protest was cut off mid- sentence as Q tangled his hands in her wet hair and pulled her closer, covering her mouth with his. "You are getting me a lot more than all wet," he murmured, and Mithrais felt something in the centre of her chest burst with a small, hot pop. She slid her hands up his red-clad arms and around his neck, kissing him deeply, feeling the delicious heat rising up from her abdomen, encasing all her limbs in a hazy glow. She couldn't quite believe this: here she was, wrapped in a towel-- --make that, not wrapped in a towel-- --naked-- and clinging to a very desirable, exciting, and sensual individual who was, merely by the strength of his kisses, making her feel something that she thought she would never feel again. "You are quite a piece of work." Anna Mithrais murmured, against his neck. He was warm, and smelled...sexy, exciting. "I am the ultimate piece of work." Q rolled her gently off him, so that she was lying beside him on the bed. He bent his head and caught a stray trickle of water with his tongue as his hands cupped her full breasts. "I missed you, you know. All this darting to and fro in the universe really takes it out of me." "I have something important to tell you, Q." Mithrais raised herself up on her elbow to look into his dark eyes. Q's expression changed. "Please don't tell me you are going to have a child--I will not go through that willingly again with another woman, I swear--" Mithrais stopped the flood of words with her palm against his lips. "I'm falling in love with you." He relaxed. "Oh." He peered more closely at her. "Oh!" He snapped his fingers, and the uniform he was wearing disappeared into the ethers. Mithrais moaned softly as she felt his strong, lean body sliding over her own. She pressed herself close to him and wrapped one smooth leg around him. "I do love you." Q smiled, looking for all the world (from Mithrais's vantage point) like a mischevous little boy. "I know you do." He captured her mouth in a long, fiery kiss, his artful tongue tracing the edges of her lips. When he drew away, his visage had changed: he looked very vulnerable, a vulnerability that verged on sadness. "I was in love once--a long time ago, admittedly--and out of that union there was born a child, a son." Q felt the old, vicious grief welling up from that place in his chest and bit down on his bottom lip. "When her--my--son by his actions endangered the existence of the Universe, I had to destroy him." Mithrais felt a sharp jab in her chest. "I do not give my affections lightly, Anna--I want you to realise what this means. When you turn your affections to one of the Q, it is much more than a mere fling with some...wet-behind- the-ears ensign under one of the warp nacelles!" Mithrais laughed. "I've never had an assignation under a warp nacelle with anybody!" She ran her fingers through Q's dark hair. "I know how difficult it is for you to give your love--but I know you love me. You loved me from the very beginning." Q nodded. "Yes. I do love you--and I want to give me everything, you heart's desire." His expression changed to a wicked grin. "And I would very much love to attend that illustrious gathering this evening, but first--" He drew a hand down her side, bent his head to place a line of soft, gentle kisses along the outside curve of her breast and up her inner arm. "I would very much like to make love with you." And then there was nothing more to say, for his skilful hands were drawing caresses along her skin, and Anna Mithrais was gently-but- blissfully wrapping her body around him, and soon there was silence in her quarters as she made love with Q. Troi picked another shrimp puff from the tray as the Bolian waiter went by. She really shouldn't, but they were so good-- lightly battered, crispy. "Here, Worf, try one of these." The tall Klingon beside her grunted. Worf was in his dress uniform, as were all the bridge officers, and he looked very nice. "That is food for a child!" Troi poked him in the stomach. "Oh, don't be ridiculous." She stepped forward as an anti-grav went by, covered in desserts of all types and persuasions. "Oh, look! Chocolate!" And she went off to indulge. What the hell, she reasoned. So it would be another ten laps in the pool, another hour on that damned step machine.... Beverly Crusher, standing near the salad bar with the Captain, turned as the doors of the Holodeck swished open. She grinned at Alyssa and her husband, turned back to the Captain. "Oh my God!" Beverly gasped. She nearly spilled her drink. "Can you believe it?" Picard was looking at her with the expression of a man in the presence of someone possessed. "What on earth...? Doctor?" Then he saw it. "Q!" Beverly followed that with, "and Anna Mithrais!" And it was true: standing in the corner of the room, underneath an arrangement of Tholian pines, were Q and Commander Mithrais. Q, as was his wont, was dressed in the uniform of a Starfleet Admiral. Mithrais wore a deep jade off-the-shoulder gown. They were kissing. Not openly, or vulgarly, or in a way that could be construed as public display: Mithrais was standing in front of Q, he had his arms around her waist, and they were kissing gently, but with (from the looks of it) great enjoyment. Picard turned back to Crusher, who had a certain look in her eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Jean-Luc, but is that not my nurse and your..." "Correct, Doctor." Picard was flabbergasted. Not that Q had chosen Mithrais, she was a lovely young woman. But to think that Q was actually capable of affection... "Looks like he's pretty good at it, I might add." Crusher's voice held a hint of ill-concealed amusement at Picard's discomfort. "Doctor!" "You know, Jean-Luc, I'm only a physician, and not especially skilled in matters of the psyche--that's Deanna's job." Crusher's voice was carefully level. "But I would have to say that Anna Mithrais and Q definitely have the appearence of two people who have recently become--" It hit Picard like a phaser blast. "Intimate," he croaked, feeling a trickle of cold sweat between his shoulder blades. "With a member of my crew!" He turned to Crusher in panic. "He'll be on the ship forever--getting in the way, getting in my hair--" Crusher snickered. "Might I point out--" "You may not!" Picard yanked on the front of his uniform. "I'll never get rid of him, he'll always be around, he'll never leave!" Picard and Crusher turned as the Tholian ambassador, a cheerful-looking humanoid, and his entourage, came up to greet them. The Tholian, well over two metres in height, thumped Picard on the shoulder in a jocular fashion. "I say, Pick-ard! That admiral of yours--he got some female, eh?" The ambassador laughed heartily, his great girth shaking. "What a sly devil, eh?" Picard grimaced, at the fearful thumping he was getting, if nothing else. "Devil--that's exactly what he is!" And from inside his head, a familiar voice was echoing: Now, Now, Jean-Luc! Don't be jealous! THE END!