H&C: 04) The Well of Hurt

Epilogue

Q flashed into the seat beside Kathryn in her quarters and said, "Quite a nice visit wasn't it?"

"You didn't plan this Q. They weren't supposed to be here." Kathryn said, seeing if she was right.

"There are some beings in this universe who don't follow the eddies and currents of the timestream. They move against it or sometimes, like this time they accelerate it." Q explained.

"So Andrew is such a being... a wild card." Janeway speculated.

Q looked up for a moment and finally said, "A very accurate description. You see, the future has already been written for the most part, sometimes details are altered one way or another, but that's why parallel dimensions follow the same general progression. Eddies and currents. But for Andrew and those around him, the future can be anything they make it."

"I feel more than Andrew's hand at work in this... that wormhole. You did that didn't you?" Kathryn accused.

"Moi?" Q asked with his most innocent look... which wasn't very.

"Somehow Andrew speeded something along and you needed to take two years off our journey to set it right." Kathryn speculated.

"I suppose it doesn't matter now. Everything's been done. The answer to your question is yes. Except it was Alan who speeded you along, Andrew just delivered him. And yes, I created the wormhole to bring you where you needed to be." Q said and gave a gentlemanly bow of his head.

"And collapsed it while we were inside..." Janeway said with acid.

"Kathy, don't be upset. There were thirty Videan ships swarming the Borg cube trying to scavenge flesh before it fell into the collapsing star. If I hadn't collapsed the wormhole, you would have dropped into the middle of a feeding frenzy." Q said with sincerity.

"Fine, I'll concede that point... Did Alan's sister really have the power to reach across dimensions and four hundred years with a portal?" Janeway asked knowingly.

"You see right through me Kathy. Dawn received a small boost from the Q, so she could reach you, but only with the best intentions." Q said with wide eyed honesty.

"But since Andrew and Alan have gone, does that mean we are done in the Delta Quadrant?" Janeway asked with hope.

"I abhor giving out answers to such questions, so I'll leave you with this thought: All is in place, all has been done that needs to be done, all that is left to do, is to do it." Q said and vanished in a flash of brilliant white light.