MIND GAMES By Amy Bower (rewob@adiis.net) Summary: The bridge crew is acting strange, and Janeway thinks Q might be involved. Set during the present season. Rating: PG Disclaimer: The usual – no infringement upon Paramount or Viacom is intended. This is solely for amusement yada, yada, yada. Dedication: To my sister, Seana. Mom and Dad always knew we were weird, but they didn't know we were this weird! What can I say, our conversations can be a little Twisted! Author's note: Any and all feedback is appreciated. Get yourself a copy if you want, but please leave my name and everything attached. Thanks and Enjoy! Captain Kathryn Janeway sat on the bridge of the Starship Voyager surveying her crew. Their journey had been going well lately, but for some reason, Janeway had a feeling of unease. She glanced at Commander Chakotay seated next to her. If he had similar misgivings, he wasn't showing it. She glanced up at Ops where Ensign Kim was doing some routine diagnostics. Nothing amiss there. Her gaze wandered over to Tuvok at tactical. If anyone would know if something were going on, he would. He gazed impassively at his Captain and raised a quizzical eyebrow. She shook her head and turned to look at Lieutenant Torres who was at her engineering station working intently on some minor problem. The last person to receive Janeway's scrutiny was Lieutenant Paris at the helm. She saw his hands pause in mid-procedure, and his head cocked to one side. At last, she had found the problem. "What is it, Mr. Paris?" She asked quickly. "Captain?" Paris swiveled in his chair to face her. "Are you having a problem?" "Yes, Captain. All of a sudden, my controls are not registering. They were working just fine until just a moment ago." Paris was genuinely puzzled. "Lieutenant Torres, are your repairs affecting any other systems?" Janeway inquired. "No, Captain. I haven't touched any systems related to the Conn." She paused to look at Tom. "It must be the pilot." Tom whirled around to look at B'Elanna. "Thanks, honey, for your vote of confidence!" "Lieutenants, please." Janeway gently reprimanded. The last thing she wanted was to get them started on one of their mock lovers' quarrels, which could just turn into the real thing. She should have had them flogged when she had the chance. She could have blamed it on those alien experiments and no one ever would have known. She smiled at the thought and quickly buried it before anyone noticed. "Any idea what the problem is?" Chakotay asked the bridge crew in general. "Sensors don't indicate any interference or spacial anomalies or anything else that would account for losing helm control." Ensign Kim reported quickly running some scans. "There are no alien vessels in the vicinity and no inhabited planets, either." Tuvok also reported. Janeway shook her head in exasperation. "I want everyone to find out why we're stopped dead, and what we can do to remedy this situation. I'll be in my ready room. Commander, the bridge is yours." B'Elanna moved down from her engineering station to stand by Tom at the helm. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you mind if I take a look at your console, sweetie?" Tom gave her an adoring look. "Not at all, snookums. Take your time." He moved his seat over to give her room to work. He crossed his arms across his chest to watch her. B'Elanna smiled at him before wriggling under his panel to check out the systems. "Everything looks okay under here, dearest. I wouldn't want anything going wrong to hurt my helmboy, would I?" She smiled sweetly, blew him a kiss and returned to her station. Tom watched her walk away before turning to his own console. Janeway had made it to the ready room door, but had turned to watch the interchange between Tom and B'Elanna. She couldn't believe them! Acting like that on the bridge! What they did on their own time was their own business, but calling each other those sickening names on the bridge! She would put a stop to this. "Lieutenants Paris and Torres, may I see you a moment?" Tom and B'Elanna followed her into the ready room. "Captain, is there something wrong?" Tom asked. "Wrong, Lieutenant? What would be wrong with saying "snookums" on the bridge of my ship? " Janeway gave him a withering look. “Captain?” Paris looked puzzled. “I have warned you once about your behavior, and I didn’t think I would have to do so again. I am disappointed in your actions just now, and the next time anything like this happens, I will place you both on report. Is that clear?” “Yes, Captain.” They both answered at once before exiting the ready room. The ready room doors did not have a chance to close before Commander Chakotay entered. “Is there something I can help you with, Commander?” Janeway was still trying to figure out Tom and B’Elanna. “I thought maybe I could help you.” Chakotay informed her. “Not unless you can keep my helmsman and chief engineer from acting like love smitten teenagers on the bridge of my ship. Can you believe that little performance out there?” “Actually, I thought it was kind of cute.” Chakotay admitted. “Cute?” Janeway looked at her first officer like he had just lost his mind. Chakotay moved over to Janeway and began to gently massage her shoulders. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Does that feel better, honey?” Janeway whirled around to stare at Chakotay. “What did you just say?” Chakotay moved close and took Janeway into his arms. “I’d rather not talk at all right now.” He suggested as he leaned down and placed his mouth on hers in a passionate kiss. Janeway responded to the kiss before realizing what she was doing. She abruptly pulled away, her face flushed. “Chakotay, what do you think you’re doing?” “Enjoying myself?” It was his turn to look puzzled. “I just thought I would help you relax a little. You seemed a little tense.” Janeway walked over to stand behind her desk so there was some distance between them. Her head was still spinning thanks to the kiss. “Chakotay, does everything seem normal to you?” “What do you mean ‘normal’” “Doesn’t it seem odd that everything was going fine and then all of a sudden we’re stopped dead in the middle of nowhere and people start acting strange?” “Who’s acting strange?” He placed his hands on the desk and leaned towards her. Janeway backed up a step before explaining. “Tom and B’Elanna for starters. They know better than to behave like that on the bridge. And you don’t seem to be yourself, either, for that matter. What got into you a moment ago?” “Kathryn, I thought it was clear how I felt about you.” “That’s not what I mean, Chakotay. I think maybe we should have a staff meeting about this and figure out some answers.” She quickly called her senior staff to the briefing room before she had to spend any more time alone with Chakotay and his smoldering brown eyes. In the briefing room, Captain Janeway noticed everyone sitting in their usual places. She looked at Chakotay next to her and thought his chair was a little closer than usual, but passed it off as paranoia. Tom and B’Elanna were sitting next to each other. As a matter of fact, if they were any closer they’d be sitting in each other’s laps. She shook her head before beginning the meeting. “First, does anyone have any idea as to why this ship is not going anywhere?” “The engines are off line and the helm control is dead, Captain.” B’Elanna explained without taking her eyes off Tom. Janeway rolled her eyes and tried not to sigh in exasperation as she stared at her chief engineer. “Thank you, Lieutenant, I know that. What I want to know is why the engines are off line.” “I’d say there’s something wrong with them.” Tom helpfully pointed out. Janeway was ready to jump out an airlock. “Thank you, Lieutenant. That is very informative. May I please get some serious input on this matter, now?” “Kathryn, why don’t we just take advantage of the situation and go down to Holodeck 2 for a little R and R? The others can fix whatever is wrong.” Chakotay suggested in a low voice. Janeway stared at him as if he had just grown two heads. She looked at the rest of the senior staff who had missed the comment. Tom and B’Elanna were still staring into each other’s eyes and every once in a while Tom would whisper something in B’Elanna’s ear that would make her smile. They were leaning against each other and paying no attention to anyone around them. Janeway found them quite distracting especially as her first officer was now looking at her the way Tom was looking at B’Elanna. “Mr. Paris, would you and Mr. Kim please exchange seats?” It was phrased as a question, but it was definitely an order. Tom looked at B’Elanna lovingly, but switched seats so that Harry was now seated between the two Lieutenants. It didn’t take long before Tom and B’Elanna had edged their seats as close to Harry’s as possible and were holding hands and whispering behind his chair. Janeway looked around for the nearest airlock. This was all so maddening. What in the world was going on? She hadn’t been this frustrated since… “Q!” She breathed. It had to be. What else would explain the behavior of her officers and the ship’s unexplained malfunctions? “My dearest, Kathy. However did you guess?” Q materialized at the other end of the table. “Q, what have you done to my ship and my crew?” “Whatever do you mean?” Q put on his best ‘who me’ expression and looked around at the senior staff who didn’t appear to notice his arrival. “What have you done to stop my ship, and what did you do to make my crew act this way. It has to be you, there’s no other explanation.” She was beginning to lose what little patience she had left. “Oh, okay, you’re right. I stopped your ship, but don’t worry; there’s nothing wrong. As for your crew, you seemed to be getting a little bored so I thought I would make your life interesting. I just let them act on impulses they would never act on otherwise. Kind of fun, don’t you think?” “No, I don’t think it’s ‘kind of fun.’ I want you to return them to normal. NOW.” “Oh, but I was having such fun watching Chuckles here, though I still don’t understand what you see in the man.” Q had circled the table to stand next to her. “Q, I want you to restore my ship and crew back to the way they were before you started playing your little games and get off my ship!” Janeway was definitely worked up now. “If you insist. I’ll be back, my sweet Kathy!” He promised as he waved his hand. There was a blinding white light as the officers appeared again on the Bridge as if they had never moved. Janeway sprang from her chair to look around the bridge. Nothing. “Captain, is something wrong?” Chakotay came to stand next to her. “No, Commander. I think everything is just fine. The bridge is yours. I’ll be in my ready room.” As she entered her ready room she looked around to make sure Q was not in sight. She let out a sigh before moving to the replicator to order a cup of coffee. As she thought of the day’s events, she smiled. She wondered if it had really happened or if she had been daydreaming. Maybe it was best not to know. She turned to make her daily report, but couldn’t figure out how she would phrase it so turned to her personal log instead. “Captain’s Log: Voyager and her crew are running smoothly, but I had the feeling all day that something was going to happen. I was right, and had a visit from Q. I think I was the only one to notice him and his stunts, but I wonder how much of their behavior my officers remember. I have no way of knowing, unless…” She shut off her computer and tapped her comm badge. “Captain Janeway to Commander Chakotay. Could you please come to my ready room? I have a couple of questions for you.”