Vanishing Barriers

"What a day!" Kathryn muttered as she entered her quarters. As so often in the Delta Quad nothing was going as it's supposed to. The warp core kept going off line and then coming back online again for no particular reason. All day long she and her Chief Engineer, not to mention the rest of engineering, tried to find the error. They searched the software as well as the hardware for possible malfunctions to no avail. They were unable to see changes in the warp core itself. Then, already four hours off duty but still were in engineering, Tom Paris hailed them. He said his console were malfunctioning. There was nothing wrong with the warp core, only the conn. Paris had been the one telling them there were problems in the first place. And in the end his console kept telling him the warp core would be going off line and online.

It had been a long day and she wished for nothing more than a little sleep. Changing into her night gown, she went to her bed, fell onto it and tried to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come to her. At first she didn't know what was bothering her, then sudden realization dawned. She couldn't hear a single movement from behind the wall. Right, it was late but not that late. Kathryn sat up in bed and turned to face the wall, knowing he was behind it. Slowly, as if afraid of the contact, she raised her hand, pressing it against the wall . . . Except the wall was no longer there. Instead her hand made contact with Chakotay who looked equally shocked, his right hand in the same position as hers. She jerked hers away, as if it was burned.

"What the hell . . ." she began then it hit her, "Q!"

He appeared in a bright flash of light, broadly smiling. "Very smart Kathy."

Chakotay started moving towards the omnipotent being, angry and utterly confused as well. "No." Kathryn stopped him, holding up her hand. "Q, what do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious? I've grown bored of your behavior. Every single night you both do the same thing, touching the wall."

"I don't see why that is any of your business," Chakotay responded, having resumed his previous position on his bed. Kathryn nodded in agreement.

"As if I would care," Q said with a smug grin, earning glares from Kathryn and Chakotay. "Kathy, Kathy . . ." he shook his head, "What do I do with you? You do love old Chuckles here. Why can't you admit it?"

She had heard enough, the conversation had taken a turn in a dangerous direction. She rather didn't pursue it. "Get off my ship," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Only if you admit it," Q answered, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! I'm going to strangle you! And it doesn't matter if you claim to be immortal!"

"Kathy, Kathy . . . You can try if you want, but I won't leave you two turtledoves until you admit your feelings for Chuckles." Q's posture didn't waver a bit and Kathryn really was too tired for his games.

Chakotay was about to go berserk when Kathryn spoke. "Yes, I do. Now go bother someone else!"

"As you wish." Then Q was gone but the wall wasn't back in its place.

Kathryn turned to Chakotay. She wanted to apologize for Q's interruption but when she saw his face all thoughts of it were forgotten. Chakotay looked surprised and equally confused, staring at her with his mouth open.

"You do?" he whispered.

Only now she realized what Q's intention had been, making her admit her feelings in front of Chakotay. She struggled with the answer. She could say she had only said it to get Q off the ship but it would hurt Chakotay in the process. They would know it wasn't the truth. But if she confirmed it as the ansolute truth, what would happen then? She would be distracted by a romantic relationship, her judgement would be corrupted, wouldn't it? Yet she had already loved him for a long time now and her command decisions had never been based on her feelings for him. Nothing would change, not for the worse anyway.

"Yes, I love you," she confirmed, her barriers finally coming down. Kathryn then crawled to him. Q had been so nice to not only let the wall disappear but the space between their beds, too.

Once she was within Chakotay's reach he crushed her to him, hugging her hard. She responded in kind, pressing him tight to her body. After what seemed like an eternity to them they laid down in his bed. Everything felt right somehow, nothing earth shattering had happened. The ship was still in one piece, the world hadn't stopped turning. Only two people had finally found peace and comfort in each other through the interference of an arrogant omnipotent being.

Q smiled to himself, having watched the scene all along. He eventually returned to his mate and son . . .

THE END

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