#but then Q comes to visit him and in a tone that Picard had hoped would come out as bored but actually ends up betraying him

[yourbuerokrat2]

Jealous!Picard, even in a platonic setting, would be interesting. Because Picard would deny it to anyone and especially to himself that he was feeling jealous in regards to Q. 

And I think especially late in/after TNG it would kind of make sense for him even if only in the sense that it must certainly be good for ones ego to know/feel that you are the (relucant depending on interpretation) Favorite of a godlike entity who ‘chose’ you amongst literally billions and billions of other beings in all of time and space. 

But also can you imagine Qs incredibly pleased reaction at finding out despite how Picard might try to hide it to finding out?

[q-card]

With or Without You

I wrote this major self-indulgent fic back in February for Valentine’s day. You can read it on AO3 (x) but I thought I’d share it here as well. Hope yall enjoy! Note: listen to this while reading, it makes everything more intense hehe

The suns were setting over Makus III, and Jean-Luc Picard was watching them sink under the horizon. A light breeze ruffled the grass around him. Tapping his combadge, the captain of the USS Enterprise sighed, “Ready to beam up.”

Setting suns on Makus III – almost midnight by ship-time.

He kept his eyes on the orange sky as his vision blurred and a light tingling feeling numbed his body. As he was transported back up to his ship, he thought of the twin suns setting over the peaceful planet, and of the little house on the hill he had left behind – how the couple living there had thanked him, how happy they had seemed despite their differences, despite the slight impression of unevenness in the way they stood next to each other, like mismatched puzzle pieces.

He closed his eyes then, cursing himself. The tingling was fading, but the transporter’s chime still lingered in his ears. He’d been having such thoughts – such dangerous thoughts – for too long. And for too long, the person he’d been thinking of with such recklessness had refused to show himself.

After their last encounter, Jean-Luc thought things would change. The quivering of excitement in Q’s voice had seemed almost like a confession – the words had been a gentle warning, but the tone had told a different tale. For weeks afterwards it had echoed in Jean-Luc’s ears, that simple sentence that Q had spoken with such human passion; “See you… out there.” And then he’d disappeared, and he hadn’t come back.

Jean-Luc was left alone with the gut-wrenching words, not knowing if he’d ever see Q again. Not knowing if it had all been a lie, a ruse, a trick of his imagination – or if it truly meant something.

And then Q had begun invading his every thought. Everything was a painful reminder of him: every person, every situation, every forbidding dream. He’d started pondering things Q had said in the past, giving them different meanings, analysing everything. And sometimes… well, sometimes it ached and sometimes it soothed, but no matter what interpretation Jean-Luc pinned upon Q’s words, they always sent him reeling.

“You're not alone, you know. What you were, and what you are to become, will always be with you.”

“In any case, I'll be watching.”

“The Continuum didn't think you had it in you, Jean-Luc. But I knew you did.”

“Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you. You had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end.”

The transporter chime faded entirely, and Jean-Luc opened his eyes. He wasn’t in the transporter room, but in his own quarters. And standing in the very center of the room was Q, wearing a captain’s uniform – the twin to the one Jean-Luc wore.

It felt like being punched in the stomach.

“How cruel must you be?” Jean-Luc breathed. He dared not move – dared not speak above a whisper.

Q said nothing. He stood there with unnatural stillness; his eyes alight with an entirely alien gleam. A shiver snaked down Jean-Luc’s spine, but he straightened his back and swallowed hard. “Why are you here? You haven’t deigned a visit in ten months.”

A small, vicious smile slowly spread onto Q’s lips. “You’ve been counting,” he said. His first words in ten months – yes, dammit, he had been counting.

Jean-Luc could feel his hands tremble with rage. All this time and now he chose to appear, just when Jean-Luc was thinking of him. “Have you been mucking about in my head, Q? Planting thoughts into my mind?” he spat, his rage a white-hot wall of flame in his chest.

Q’s smile widened into a lazy grin. “Oh no, Jean-Luc,” he tilted his head back with inhuman grace, “I’ve made it a personal rule of sorts to never interfere with your tiny human brain. It ruins the fun. Whatever thoughts are bothering you, mon capitaine, are entirely your own.”

Jean-Luc’s cheeks burned with shame and anger and hurt, and although he tried, he couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice as he said, “Fun – this is all a game to you then, isn’t it? You know perfectly well what I mean. For once, Q, let me know the truth.”

And then those alien eyes darkened, and it felt as if a cold wind had swiped the room when the smile faded from Q’s face. “What truth are you looking for, Jean-Luc? The one that pleases you or the one that is hard to hear?”

A wave of panic gripped Jean-Luc so unexpectedly that he staggered. He reached out a trembling hand and held onto his desk. “I don’t understand,” he whispered.

Q closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. Such a human expression. “You never understood…” Q’s voice was strained.

The anger seeped back into Jean-Luc veins, making his blood boil. “Yes,” he nodded resentfully, “how could I possibly understand? What with my ‘tiny human brain’…”

Silence fell upon them, thick with anger and hurt and words left unsaid, unspoken. And then a sharp intake of breath, and Jean-Luc was calm again. So very calm as he asked, “What do you want from me? Why are you here?”

Q’s eyes flew open. “I don’t know. I told myself I had nothing more to do on this ship, but I keep coming back, and I thought that you would’ve understood by now…”

“Why must you make me crawl for an answer every damn time?” Jean-Luc shouted, his calmness and control snapping like a twig, “Just tell me, Q – you’ve made me beg before, I won’t do it again – tell me what you’re here for!”

Q’s eyebrows tilted upwards. “I can’t,” the entity breathed.

There was something desperate about the words – something desperate and pleading and so unlike Q… but, no, he would not relent.

“Then leave,” Jean-Luc said, seething with an anger he wasn’t sure he still felt.

Q straightened his back. His eyes were veiled, cold and barren. Unearthly, unknown: he was one of the Q, and the power of billions of years of existence coiled in his very being.

“I will,” he spoke with his human voice, nodded with his human body, but Jean-Luc had never been so utterly aware of how otherworldly the entity truly was. “A human lifetime is but a nanosecond to me, Picard. I will not be coming back.”

A flash of blinding white light – and he was gone.

Gone. Forever.

Jean-Luc, still gripping his desk, let out a gasp of disbelief. He pushed himself into the sleeping area of his chambers, a heavy weight on his chest, his entire body a brutal reminder of his own mortal misery. This, all this – it was but a nanosecond for Q.

But, damn it all to hell, it was everything for Jean-Luc Picard. The past ten months – the past seven years – he’d somehow known that this would mean everything to him. Something had pulled him towards that entity from the very start. The most annoying being in creation – devious and amoral and unreliable and irresponsible and definitely not to be trusted…

And now he was gone forever and Jean-Luc’s world was collapsing. He let himself fall onto his bed and buried his head into his open palms. The world was collapsing.

~

Q hovered above the Enterprise, invisible in his non-corporeal form. He could see right through the bulkhead of Starfleet’s flagship, right through walls and walls of primitive Federation technology. He could see Jean-Luc Picard, sitting on his bed with his face in his hands.

And Q ached. Not in the physical way he’d experienced when punished by the Continuum, when he’d been a hapless mortal on this very ship. No – this was an entirely different pain. Something was wrenching at his very being, triggered by the sight of the captain’s misery.

And Q longed. He knew the longing by now, it was familiar. He hated it, but it had been there for quite some time. How they had mocked him, in the Continuum. How they had sneered.

But Jean-Luc’s words had been haunting Q’s thoughts.

‘Thank you’, he’d said, with such unashamed gratitude, with such Human warmth. Jean-Luc Picard had thanked Q, after all that was done and said. Noble – he was noble and decent and honourable and everything that Q wasn’t.

Everything that Q was supposed to abhor.

Everything that Q loved.

Q loved this Human. Q loved this puny little Earthman who was mourning him on his puny little bed. Oh, but for his noble Human heart, for the grace in his unwavering goodness, Q could not fool himself into believing that Jean-Luc was puny. He may not have the all-powerful supremacy of the Q, but he had something stronger. Something brighter, and better – something Q cherished.

So, without warning, without light or sound or artifice, Q materialized back in Jean-Luc’s quarters in his human form. He stood there for a while in silence, watching Jean-Luc who simply sat on his bed, lost and broken. It hurt – oh how it hurt, to see the man he loved in such a state.

Just then, Jean-Luc turned.

Their eyes met. The silence was a living thing, spiralling around them and through them and suddenly Jean-Luc was on his feet, eyes wide, mouth open. “Q,” he whispered.

Q blinked. “Jean-Luc,” he answered.

And then they were running towards each other, desperately, like every second could tear them apart, like every moment was their last. They fell into each other’s arms. They looked into each other’s eyes. Jean-Luc’s hand was on Q’s neck, pulling him downwards.

“Your eyes… they look so human,” Jean-Luc said softly.

Q raised his eyebrows. He was about to give a sarcastic retort, but Jean-Luc silenced him with a kiss.

Jean-Luc Picard kissed Q.

Stars exploded and galaxies shattered. Q rattled the very core of creation as Jean-Luc kissed him harder, deeper; desperate and passionate and angry.  

He pulled away to breathe with such charming mortal vulnerability. “Don’t ever make me wait again,” he panted frantically, “every day without you, I could’ve died. Q, I could’ve died without you.”

And it shook Q so much that he let his human body lean into Jean-Luc, let their foreheads touch. “Can you live with me, though?”

Jean-Luc smiled. “I think it’s worth a try.”

And he kissed him again.

[silverbackwolf14]

Hey sorry to bother but I would find it funny if q jr just Appear on the Enterprise and was messing about when he accidentally lets it slip about Picard and Q relationship. Love you write and it's only getting better.

        Aw, thank you! This one was difficult to write because I have not seen Voyager. I have, however, read the amazing book ‘I,Q’. (I highly recommend it, it’s amazing.) Anyway, when it comes to writing q Junior, I’m as awkward as Picard around children. I do however, hope you enjoy this. And to other anons I have not answered, I swear I’m getting around to it. Sorry.

—————————————————————————————————-

 The pattering of feet was unnatural to the young Q who explored the vast hallways of the starship Enterprise. He seldom spent time in a materialistic form, so the experience was strange to him. His powers had not yet fully developed, and he was very proud of himself for making it to the Enterprise without help. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be aboard without permission, but the temptation of exploration had thrown all caution out the window.

q Junior had always been the curious type. He simply wanted to know what the other Q knew. But humans were special. Not even the Q knew everything about them, or rather, they didn’t understand them. q wanted to explore the humans that captivated his father so completely.

He had already met Captain Jean-luc Picard; his father’s human mate. He had seemed nice, but a little awkward around him he had noticed. q giggled as he remembered how flustered they’d both been when Commander Riker had showed up at the door. q really didn’t understand why they tried so hard to keep it a secret from Picard’s crew. Was the Captain ashamed of his father? He hoped not, q didn’t think his father would like that very much.

q continued his adventure through the hall until he came to an area with large windows. He stopped a moment to admire the shimmering nebulae outside. He loved the beauty of space, for it often reminded him of home. He gazed at the greens and purples all blending into the inky black vacuum of space. So vast, so lonely. He understood why his father was so desperate to be with the Captain. His father loved the Captain, and this love banished the loneliness of eternal existence. He also knew that his father loved him. A lot. His father didn’t love his mother, nor did his mother love his father, but they got along. Most importantly, they both loved him. q smiled at the thought. His smile grew wider knowing that his mother approved of his father’s relationship with the Captain.

Voices and approaching footsteps startled the young q’s train of thought. Coming around the corner of the corridor was most of the senior staff. Amongst the small crowd the young q recognized many faces. There was the dark haired first officer, the yellow eyed android, the red headed doctor, the blind engineer, and the half-betazed counselor.

“-So when the new engineer started I thought he was just going to be another big shot who thought they knew everything but nothing could have prepared me for-” The first officer’s words were cut off when he caught a glimpse of q. The bearded man crouched down to q’s level. “Hey there buddy, where are your parents at?”

The boy looked up at Riker with a suspicious gleam in his dark eyes. Riker looked back to the others questioningly, unsure of what to do next.

Just as Riker was about to open his mouth, q replied quietly: “My mother is out there.” He pointed out to the stars.

Now the counselor took a step towards him. “Is she on another starship?” Her dark chocolate eyes seemed to be filled with warmth and compassion. q found he rather didn’t care for being looked at like that. As if he were some poor child who had lost everything. He shook his head and hoped that they would leave him be.

The crew once more looked at each other with growing concern. A young boy like this shouldn’t be out alone on a starship. “Where is your father then?” Troi asked, still using that gentle tone.

q was becoming very annoyed at this point. All he wanted to do was continue his exploration of the ship. “How should I know? It’s not my job to keep track of him. He’s probably kissing your Captain or some-” The young Q quickly caught his mistake and promptly closed his mouth. The crew gawked at him open mouthed and q could practically see their minds imploding upon themselves.

To add upon their bewilderment a sudden flash of white light, the signature flash of a well known omnipotent being. Q quickly flashed in next to the young boy, covered his child’s mouth with his hand, gave and embarrassed smile, and flashed out.

They all looked at each other for a moment in awe, then bolted to the captain’s ready room. The rest of the group was fast, but Riker, powered by undeniable rage, was faster. Riker burst into the ready room with the rest of the group right behind. “Q????!!!!! REALLY???!!!! OF ALL THE PEOPLE IN THIS UNIVERSE, Q????!!!!!!”

Picard stiffened and became visibly uncomfortable. He tried to listen but his mind was racing. How did they know? How did they know? How did they- “Captain,” Deanna began calmly. “We all are happy for you-”

“HAPPY? DEANNA THIS IS-” Riker was quickly cut off by the counselor.

Deanna continued in a somewhat more irritated tone. “We’re all happy that you’ve found someone, but we all wish we had been aware of your relationship with Q. We understand your need for privacy, but due to the subject of your secrecy we just wish-”

“I understand Counselor and I’m very sorry that you didn’t hear about it directly from me. If you don’t mind my asking, how did you find out?” The crew all looked at one another.

Beverly was the first to step forward. “Jean-luc, are…are you aware that Q has a child?” The crew held their breath. None of them knew about Q’s child before the encounter, and it would be just like Q to hide something like that. They also knew that the Captain wasn’t entirely comfortable around children.

“Ah, you must mean Junior. Yes I am fully aware of Q’s offspring. He’s a fine boy.” Picard gave a small smile at the thought of q. Meeting him had been an… Interesting experience, no doubt about that.

Then all of the crew (save Riker of course) eased a bit.

“Captain, if I am not invading your privacy of course, may I inquire as to how long you and Q have been in a romantic relationship?” Data paused a moment. “You are in a relationship of romantic nature with Q, correct Captain?”

Picard nodded his head in affirmation. “We’ve been seeing each other romantically for about a year now.”

“Captain,” Deanna started “Why did you keep it a secret for that long?”

Picard thought as to his answer a moment before replying: “I suppose I was afraid you all would have stopped trusting me or would begin to question my judgement.” He looked to the ground, ashamed of his thoughts.

“Jean-luc, we would never think less of you.” Beverly whispered, embracing Picard in a tight hug.

After everything had been explained, Picard went to his quarters, tired and emotionally drained. When he entered his quarters he was surprised to find Q sitting in his chair with Junior in his arms. q’s face was hidden in his father’s chest. Picard gave a small smile and walked over to his lover and his son. Picard gave his lover a quick kiss, then turned his attention to the problem at hand.

“Hello Junior.” He said softly. God why was he so awkward around the child?

q tensed up and shook slightly. Picard sighed, trying to find the best way of going about this.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Picard waited a bit for an answer and just when he was about to give up and ask again, Junior let out something of a sob.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. It just slipped out. They kept asking me all these questions and I just wanted to be left alone.” q continued his light sobbing for a few minutes while Q held him, attempting to calm his frightened child.

“Junior, it’s alright. I’m not angry… In a way I’m almost grateful.” Picard said, resisting the small urge to put a reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder.

q lifted his head from Q’s chest to look at Picard. “You’re not mad?” He sniffled.

Picard gave a small smile. “No, I’m not mad. I wasn’t sure how I was going to tell my crew, but it would appear that you’ve taken care of that for me.”

q wiped away another stray tear. “Really?”

“Really.”

It was then that a bright, white flash appeared at the opposite end of the room. In place of the flash stood a tall woman with red hair. “Well it seems we got that cleared up. q, did you learn your lesson?” The small boy nodded solemnly. The woman smiled. “Then I think it’s time we returned to the continuum.”

Junior looked up at Q, telepathically questioning if it was really time to go. Q kissed his forehead and the boy slipped out of his arms, and went over to his mother. Picard watched all of this in silence, knowing it was not his place. When it came to q and his mother, Picard often felt he had no business being Q’s mate at all. The boy was picked up by his mother and given a kiss on the cheek. Picard was about to turn away and go about his business, when Junior looked at him, smiled, then waved goodbye before flashing out with his mother.

Once they had gone, Picard gave a rather deep sigh of relief and headed over to the replicator. Every visit from Junior gave him a feeling of despair and self loathing. He was absolutely certain that Junior resented him. Who wouldn’t? He was probably the only thing keeping Q, from q’s mother.

It was then, in the darkest part of his thought process, that he felt a warm body against him, and long arms wrapped around him. “Q?” The Captain felt his semi-omnipotent lover smile into his neck.

“Junior really likes you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

[daleisgreat]

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Four

-Welcome back to my semi-annual Star Trek: The Next Generation coverage! I need to get better at watching only one episode a week so I can make better progress than only two seasons a year. Today I am covering season four (trailer) of the BluRay collection I am gradually marching through. To catch up on my entries on the first three seasons, click here! Yes, all these photos for this entry were taken via outdated smartphone, so apologies for the lack of quality, but I felt it was worth it for some of the captions! -Continuing the trend in past entries let us kick off with notable cast changes for season four. The most noteworthy one is Mr. Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) finally landing that spot in Starfleet Academy and departing the show a third of the way into the season. He had a great sendoff episode where Wesley and Picard (Patrick Stewart) go on one last adventure and he winds up saving Picard and the two have a couple emotional final exchanges I could not help but get wrapped up in. I thought Wesley was finally coming into his own the last dozen or so episodes he was on, but in the extra feature interviews he stated he was displeased by how we was treated by the producers in his final year on the show and did not want to pass up other acting opportunities for being the two main reasons he departed. I believe we get a couple more guest appearances from him in the remaining seasons, and for the rest of season four there is a rotating non-essential crew member every couple episodes filling in at the helm.

-If you recall the previous entry, season three wrapped with the critically acclaimed Best of Both Worlds cliffhanger where Picard became assimilated by the Borg. The season four opener wraps up that arc in a gratifying manner in how the crew rescues Picard from the Borg threat and restore him back to his original form. I want to emphasize again how important this episode was in terms of gripping narrative, near theatrical quality special effects and CG and how it was the catalyst for TNG finally being accepted by ardent fans of The Original Series and managing to overcome that show’s huge shadow. It was so groundbreaking that the two-part special eventually got its own special home video release. -The follow-up second episode of the season proved to be the quintessential ‘calm-down’ episode after the intense season opener. Picard takes some much deserved shore leave and visits his family back on Earth and we get to see them reconcile their differences when Picard’s brother gets him to break down his emotions from his Borg assimilation in a moving scene that will always stay with me. The secondary plot of that episode focuses on being introduced to the adoptive human parents of Worf (Michael Dorn) and how Worf overcomes the embarrassment of his loving family and they all wind up embracing each other. Normally, getting all wrapped up in an overly ‘lovey-dubby’ episode can be overkill for me, but I cannot think of a series that captured the perfect moment for it any better after the thrill-ride of the season opener.

-Speaking of Worf, season four proves to be a showcase season for everyone’s favorite Klingon. Aside from meeting his human step-parents, he later on becomes a sudden grieving widow in the same episode he meets the son he never knew he had. Season four finale is another two-part cliffhanger called Redemption and the first part that ends this season is all about Worf finally acting on Picard’s pleas to win back his family’s honor from the Klingon race after the big episode in season three where he covered up a Klingon controversy by taking a fall for a crime his family did not commit and being ex-communicated from the Klingons. The aftermath from that over the next year and a half was constantly referenced every couple episodes as a reminder from the consequences Worf had to live with so it felt like a justifiably big deal when Worf finally stepped up to overcome the shame cast upon his family name. Season four felt like a breakthrough season for Worf where his episodes no longer felt like ‘another Klingon episode’ to tolerate and I am now on board with all the way. -The holo-deck use seemed more dialed back this season. There is a fun mini-Dixon Hill excursion with Picard and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) which regrettably gets put to a halt early on. Picard shows off some funky laser racquetball skills, and Worf duels with Guinan in a laser-target shootout I never caught the name of. Also dialed back this season was the poker games which I only think appeared in one or two episodes this season and one poker scene wound up on the cutting room floor in the deleted scenes. I hope to see both of these fun distractions become more featured in the proceeding seasons. The Ten-Forward tavern scenes continue to impress however as much needed breather scenes where Guinan offers her sage bartender wisdom like only she can and she even gets to put a badass halt to a stereotypical barfight that erupts!

-For the rest of crew, Data (Brent Spiner) has a memorable episode where he plays three characters at once that sees the return of Lore and after a few teases finally seeing the on-screen debut of his creator, Dr. Soong. I usually am a fan of Geordi (LeVar Burton) centric episodes, but his season four episodes where he is brainwashed by Romulans and infected by an alien race were more headscratchers that did not have me quite invested. The same can be said for Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) with her big episode where she is romantically involved with a symbiote who needs to constantly change hosts that proves to be too much for her. I will recognize however season four for her emerging as a competent doctor for a change and finally saving some lives! Transporter Chief O’Brien (Colm Meaney) gets a first name this season, and more importantly gets married too! Like last season, the use of telepathy from Troi (Marina Sirtis) is sparingly used, but whenever implemented it is noteworthy and actually helpful. The use of Ryker (Jonathan Frakes) as a key crew member also seemed a little more toned down this season, with him only having larger roles in a couple episodes. -Season four I will chalk up as a win for recurring once-annual recurring characters for TNG. I was delighted to see Picard’s treasure hunter partner Vash (Jennifer Hetrick) return in the Q (John DeLancie) episode this season that has Q whisk away the Enterprise crew for a memorable mission in the Robin Hood universe where Patrick Stewart shines as the ‘Prince of Thieves.’ I will also mark season four as the first time the annual episode with Troi’s mother, Lwaxana (Majel Barrett) as a legitimate entertaining episode. I previously could not stand her, but in season four she stood out in imploring an ambassador she fell for to go against his culture’s protocol of mandated suicide at age 60. I liked the ways to get Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) involved in the show again via estranged family members and more alternate dimension cliffhangers to wrap up this season. Props to them bringing back Reginald Barclay (Dwight Shultz) as a recurring crew member and his episode this season cracked me up where a cosmic blast leads to him overcoming his SAD to becoming overwhelmingly brilliant.

-Like previous seasons, I could not help but take notice of a couple episodes of TNG in season four I saw Seth McFarlane pay homage to in his current sci-fi show, The Orville. First Contact (yes a TV episode shares the same name as the eighth Star Trek film) establishes the rules for when the Federation of Planets recognizes the right time to well, establish official first contact with a new race, but only to see it be too much for the race to take in. Orville puts a twist on its first contact rules, but sees their own entertaining dilemma pan out when their cultures clash. In Theory has Data attempt to get involved in a romantic relationship with a crew member and that was replicated on McFarlane’s show when Isaac tries to maintain a relationship with that vessel’s doctor. Click or press here to see how the two shows contrast from each other with their respective androids trying to get romantically involved. -Like the previous seasons, Paramount does not disappoint on the extra features. Besides recycling past DVD extras, there are all new HD bonuses for the BluRay. Excluding a handful of commentaries, according to my notes I tallied up about four and a half hours of behind-the-scenes interviews. Yes, I watched them all for you dear readers! I will once again try to highlight the standout extras. Being a fan of Wesley and Picard’s father/son relationship I like how that is dissected in Selected Crew Analysis. Chronicles of Final Frontier and Homecoming provide valuable insight at the injection of new life a stable writing staff brought onto the show this season. Departmental Briefing indicate how Frakes and Stewart made the move to directing episodes starting this season, with Frakes especially getting more out of it and how it lead to him eventually directing a couple Trek films.

The showcase new HD extra is In Conversation: Star Trek’s Art Department which gathers several of TNG’s CG and special effect artists as they talk shop on how they were brought onto the show and share some of their favorite anecdotes for a little over an hour. I will admit some of it goes over my head, but it was mostly fun being a fly on the wall seeing these colleagues reunite and celebrate their favorite war stories. Random factoid I will forever remember from this was the artist’s disappointing writers for forcing them to tone down amount of phaser blasts they requested because they cost approximately $2000 to produce per individual blast at the time. -Damn, I babbled on for incredibly longer than I wanted to once again, but season four was a damn good season that warranted it. As breakthrough of a great year season three was for The Next Generation, I have to give credit where it is due for season four somehow surpassing it with a better overall quality of episodes. There are landmark moments for most of the crew throughout the season, and once again there is another two-part cliffhanger that has me anxiously awaiting to dive into the following season. Hopefully I will be back sooner than later this time…..no promises!

Past TV/Web Series Blogs 2013-14 TV Season Recap 2014-15 TV Season Recap 2015-16 TV Season Recap 2016-17 TV Season Recap 2017-18 TV Season Recap 2018-19 TV Season Recap Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series Baseball: A Ken Burns series Angry Videogame Nerd Home Video Collections Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 | Season 2 OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30 RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13 Roseanne – Seasons 1-9 Seinfeld Final Season Star Trek: Next Generation – Seasons 1-7 Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle Superheroes: Pioneers of Television The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5

[yourbuerokrat2]

2. Riker

Commander William Riker has mixed feelings about his captains new partner to say the very least. On one hand captain PIcard is less stressed and from Qs comments he gets to experience all the ancient cultures and archaelogical delights he could ask for. On the other hand his partner is Q. Dangerous, (although not that dangerous these days), unpredictable, misantrophic Q

Shaking his thoughts of, he tried to get back to the task at hand. The current visiting Ambassadors made more than a few alarm bells in his head go off. And he wasn’t the only one. Worf and even Deanna, who could feel hostile emotions oozing off them, especially towards their captain, were keeping a close eye on them. 

Apparently that was not enough or else Riker wouldn’t be searching the ship for them. Somehow they managed to disappear, since no camera nor sensor was able to pick up on their whereabouts. 

But where could they be? The only place currently without a camera was the old storage room. Seeing that he might as well make a search through it to check it off his list of possible places, Riker kept his phaser close and ready to stun as he opened the door. 

Only to see Q and one of the Ambassadors on a table playing a game of cards. And while Q seemed to be in a rather relaxed state the other person clearly was about to have a heart attack by the way the hands that held the cards seemed to shake. 

“Ah, Number Two. So nice of you to join us.”

Q waved at him to come nearer as a chair appeared next to him. 

“Q, what’s going on here? Where are the other diplomats?”

“Well, dear William, we are currently playing one of the card games you are usually so fond of.”

Riker hated it, whenever Q would use that condescending tone and Q knew it.

“As for where these so called ‘diplomats’ look no further.”

And Q showed him his hand. And there they were. Locked inside a picture with some of them hammering against the surface to no avail while others have already given up. 

Before Riker could say anything about the inhumanity of what Q was doing, Q raised his hand and silenced him.

“Now, Number Two, I know how this may look. But even Worf has figured about that they are not exactly here in hopes for any cooperation. 

In fact” and here Q turned towards the still shaking Ambassador. “why don’t we ask our little friend over here just what it was they were planning to do to your father figure and my boyfriend.”

Seeming too intimidated the addressed only looked at the table trying to avoid any sort of eye contact or answer.

“Come on, don’t be shy. After all, you were so vocal when I first arrived.”

Having already experience with dealing with Q he decided to take pity on him even though people who wanted to kill his captain were usually beyond his pity.

“So, what’s this game about?”

“Glad that you ask. The winner gets to keep all the cards for himself, while the loser leaves empty handed.

As for the rules, well, I am making them up while we play.”

Q gave a laugh as Riker and the other one once again realized how hopeless this situation was for nearly everyone involved.

Riker thought. There must be some way to solve this situation. 

Pointing out how unfair it was wouldn’t help. Appealing to Qs good side?  Ha, good joke. 

What would Picard do?

Bingo. 

“But wouldn’t the Captain notice their sudden absence?”

This seemed to stop Q in his tracks. Literally since he stopped mid-air just as he was about to take a card from the stash on the table. 

Q turned his head towards him, slowly letting his human face on his skin melt away to reveal the cosmos behind it. Probably to remind Riker of just who he was dealing with.

“Why, you wouldn’t tattle on me, would you, William?”

Trying to keep up his confidence he made a gesture as if to wave away Qs accusatioin. 

“No, but you must say that even if I kept my mouth shut about all this, the captain would get suspicious. After all, he already knows from Deanna that these people had less than warm feelings towards him.

Q sighed and leaned back into his chair.

“And here I always thought you wouldn’t be such a spoilsport.”

A snap of his fingers and the cards together with the Ambassador disappeared.

After seeing the accusing look  on Rikers face Q held his hands up in mock surrender.

“They are all relatively well in the cell and the evidence you’ll need to give them a slap on the wrist is in your office.

So I am willing to give you all the credit.”

Riker stood up and nodding his head. 

“In exchange for the captain never finding about your involvement.”

Giving Riker a strange smile, Q only said “Good boy.” as Riker closed the door behind him leaving Q alone in the room. 

Letting out a breath he did not know he was holding, he informed Worf through the badge that the situation has been solved and that as soon as Worf checked the cells and Riker his office they could inform the captain.

I have a scenario you could write about if you’d like? I think with dark Q, as long as it’s still kinda canon Q, he would not let Picard see his dark moments. With him around he would just be soft and dorky and playfully egocentric, but as soon as Picard would leave the room he would go all evil abstract horror ob people who slightly inconvenienced, or were treating him without the respect he deserved. And they probably wouldn’t ever tell Picard about it (even if Q didn’t threaten them) because they’d be too afraid of what that monster would do if the relationship didn’t work and he didn’t have to play the sweet boyfriend anymore

5 times someone didn't tell Picard the truth about his boyfriend and one time someone (nearly) did

Warning for body horror is mostly for the first one

1. A bureaucratic Admiral

It has been a a rather long and tiring diplomatic mission for the Captain. Especially since one of the conflicting sides did not need to sleep and demanded constant entertainment.

And they refused to have Commander Data for company since he did not have a high enough rank to be worthy of interacting with them.

As soon as the door closed behind him, he felt a presence rather close behind him.

"My, mon capitaine, we have been rather busy dealing with imbeciles lately. And all that built up tension and stress."

"Hello, Q.", it comes out more fond than he would have ever imagined when they first began this affaire that grew into a relationship.

"Lucky for you, your charming and overall perfect boyfriend has already planned an emergency vacation. Two weeks on a planet created for just this purpose and you'll be back in about two seconds.

What do you say?"

If Q had not been on his best behaviour and if Picard had not found out the last few times he gave Q the benefit of the doubt that he really stuck to his words, he would have said no.

But before Picard could reply that as long as Q kept his absence to two seconds  they are free to go, his badge went off.

"Riker to Picard."

"Picard speaking. What is it, Number One?"

"I am sorry, captain, but Admiral Johnson requests to have a call with you immediatly."

Time froze. Or to be more specific, time on the Enterprise froze.

And a certain Admiral found himself in front of a very frustrated Q.

“I was this” and the Admiral found himself squished between two fingers that started to slowly press against each other, nearly crushing him to deah as a loud voice continued “close to a romantic getaway I have created an entire planet for while having to watch my dear boyfriend work himself to the brink of exhaustion without being allowed to interfere.”

Without so much as a warning Johnson found himself face to face with this dangerous entity that now seemed to consist of the universe itself with black holes and imploding stars scathered across their skin He felt nauseaus and a tad bit mad just trying to look in what appeared to be their eyes. 

“And you have the audacity to call upon him after this rather meaningless errand just to” 

and the Admiral could feel his mind being invaded the entity making sure to let him know about it and about their anger once Q found out the reason behind the Admirals call.

“tell him you need the entire paperwork filled out  and a personal report as soon as possible.”

He not so much heard it as felt it in his head, the being erasing any other thought he might have, leaving behind a pain in his head that was about to drive him to insanity. 

When Q finally decided to leave his head alone, he was able to think again. 

He wanted to speak or to let Q know, that he now sees the error of his ways and that he will not bother the captain any longer. But he found himself unable to form out a single coherent sound. 

Q on the other hand did not seem to care about his opinion on the matter, having already made up his own mind as  he saw what the Admiral guessed to be a wicked grin, it was really hard to tell with Q losing more and more of his human features.

“But I am willing to give you the ‘benefit of the doubt’ as mon capitaine always says. Perhaps the reason for your insistence on the bureaucrat procedure without giving a thought about how tired Picard must be feeling was less out of malice and more because you have no idea what exhaustion feels like.

Let me help you with that.”

And Q snapped his fingers and suddenly the Admiral was on a running track. Sweating profusely under a scorching sun. 

“Go on. Run. I promise, as soon as you have reached the finish point I will send you right back on your way.”, came a voice from above.

Still unable to defend himself vocally nor seeing any other way out, the Admiral started running. Really, it did not seem to be a particularly long run, sine he was already able to see the finish line after a while. 

Now, if only his back wouldn’t feel so heavy. 

The more he ran the heavier his back got, until he had to resort to go on all fours.

And was he... shrinking? The grass around him seemed to get bigger and bigger and the finishing point further away than it should be. 

His sweat was feeling less like sweat and more like a sticky strange liquid that was covering his body and his eyes too started to feel rather weird. Like they wanted to stretch out of his eye sockets. 

“A rather funny thing about some of you organics is that each one of you can develop a sort of fear or disgust to something much smaller than you. For Jean-Luc it’s spiders, for Klingons it’s Tribbles and when I got a look into your rather pathetic mind, guess what I found?”

Laughter filled the entire space around him, as realization began to hit him. 

But what was he supposed to do? The only thing he could hope for, was that he would be able to cross the finish line in time before it was too late. 

When he could feel his legs and arms disappear, his mind followed. 

All that was left of him when he finished the race was a small snail that was not capable of any thought other than that it needed to move forward.

Picking the snail up, Q smiled at it. “You know, the french have some rather nice recipies for things like you.

But I am a god of my word.”

Q snapped his fingers and they were once again in the Admirals office with a now terrified Admiral and an amused looking Q, who were both back in their human forms. 

“I do believe, that our little misunderstanding has been solved and that you will tell your collegues that should they do the same mistake as you were about to make, then I shall treat them like the insects they are.”

Still unable to talk, the Admiral only nodded franticly. 

“Good, now I am going to have to eradicate your fear for a while. Wouldn’t want you to have a panic attack while talking to my dear Jean-Luc. 

Because there are certain things he does not have to know about. Do you understand?”

In this situation Admiral Johnson, was willing to understand just about anything, if only to make the entity leave. 

And just as Q disappeared, so did his fear and as he looked at the screen to see a clearly tired captain Picard with a smiling Q in the background. He managed to excuse himself by saying how good of a job Picard did and that he wanted to cancel his next visit to the Enterprise out of private reasons. 

Needless to say, a warning was issued to most Admirals that would have to deal with the Enterprise in the future.

Up next, because I am really liking this prompt, but don’t have the time to write everything down just yet:

2 Riker

3. Deanna Troi

4. Beverly Crusher

5. The Continuum

+ Guinan