Fortune {Star Trek Enterprise Fan Fiction}

The Bride Wore Turquoise

"She is the iron. All I am is tin." – Doctor Keleth

=/\=

Hoshi sat in the cafeteria, alone, mulling over tea and the stars slipping by outside the viewing portal.

The ship was going into dry dock soon, and she'd been offered a place on the USS Zefram Cochrane. Captain Archer had been generous, and she had been promoted to Lieutenant.

But there was something missing, and she was tired of life just being about work.

The early dinner crowd was beginning to come in.

"Is this seat taken?" she was asked.

He was tall, the tallest guy on the ship. He was losing his hair, and worked the night shift, in Engineering. José Torres.

"Huh?"

"I asked you if the seat was taken," he said.

"Oh, uh, no," she said.

"Thanks," he said, "Are you, um, going to Movie Night? Chip is showing Casablanca. It's supposed to be really good."

"Huh, yeah, I heard it was good," she said, a little absently.

"Would you, uh, would you go with me?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she said, and then realized what he had just asked, "Uh, sure," she smiled as Tripp Tucker, unseen, walked in, "I'd love to."

=/\=

"I know they still look while I squire you around." – Malcolm Reed

=/\=

Lili stood in the hospital room and sobbed and sobbed. When the baby joined in, she was able to compose herself a little. She picked him up. "Shh, shh, my little love."

"I –" Q began.

"Get out. Just get out. You've done enough for one day."

"I still have questions."

"I don't give a damn," she said sharply. The baby started up again, and she shushed him again.

"But –"

"But nothing. How dare you. I don't care how puny-brained you think I am, but you had no right."

"No right? Little Earth mother, it's not all sunshine and roses. Main events are not just pleasant things, as you have seen."

"But, that? What did you hope to accomplish by showing me?"

"I want to know about, about comfort," he said.

"It happens. People do their best. We often have no idea what to say – things are beyond words. So we just hold someone, or we are close by. Or we fumble, but we mean well."

"But it's not just lovers who do this."

"Correct. Treve isn't Melissa's lover. He's just a close friend."

"Friendship, again," Q said.

"Q, what did you think would happen, by you showing me, showing me that?"

"You can be prepared now," he said.

"Prepared? How?"

"You will know," he said.

"I'll be neurotic," she said, "I'll forbid him from hunting – I know myself, I would do something like that. And he'd either end up sneaking out or something else would happen to him, right? I mean, the timeline can't be changed, not for this – it's just the circumstances that could potentially be altered. So let's say I tell him to not go hunting in June of 2181. And he gives me lip service, because I can't bear to tell him why. And he ends up going anyway. So not only am I mourning him," her voice broke a little, and she took a few moments to collect herself again, "but I'm also furious with him. Furious for lying to me."

"Or he could obey you, and then the death would happen at home, to terrify you out of sleeping in your shared bed again," Q pointed out.

"Possibly," she allowed, "And he'd be miserable, and questioning. And it would spoil the last month, as I became – become – more and more anxious, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I can't just wake up on the morning of the thirtieth and say to myself, 'I think I'll make a frittata this morning, and then I'll start digging Doug's grave so I can get it done before it gets really hot out.' It doesn't work that way."

"Experiencing the pain now, would that diminish it later?" he asked.

"No. I just get it twice now. Thank you so freakin' much, Q," she said angrily, then caught herself. She put down the baby again, "But there is one thing."

"Oh?"

"You were – you were almost, almost, dare I say it? You were almost considerate. You knew it would be a bad time, and you told me not to bring him. Did you, did you give a damn about how it would affect me?"

Q thought for a moment, "You are telling me to be considerate. I admit I could use the practice. And I suspect it would help with Kathryn."

"Are there female Qs?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"So why are you trying to get with a human? Why not just go with someone of your own kind?"

"Why didn't you originally mate with someone from your own universe? You did not, and the mismatch almost cost you your life."

"True," she allowed, "But he and I were thrown together. It was like he was almost given to me."

"Nonsense. You were lying on a Calafan amplifier, and so was he. And then your respective ships entered space where those amplifiers could be activated. And they were."

"But we were positive together. It was, it started off as lovemaking. I mean, we could have been hostile," she said.

"But you were not. And so things unfolded for you. Shall I show you another event? I would like to ask a bit about commitment."

"Commitment? I will be burying him. Isn't that enough information about commitments to satisfy your curiosity?"

"There are positives as well," Q said, "Despite what you may think, I am not here to pull the wings off flies, or burn up ants with a magnifying glass."

"You're spending an awful lot of time with me, Q. Why aren't you out getting your billionth opinion?"

"I can multitask," he said.

"Surely even you have limits."

"I do," he said, "I suspect I need fewer opinions than I had originally thought."

"Hmm," she said, "Are our little talks affecting you somehow?"

"A little," he said, "You have strong opinions."

"So you feel what I'm saying is worthwhile?" she asked.

"Possibly," he said, "This one, it will be a positive experience. If you wish to bring the infant, do so."

She picked up Declan and the scene changed.