Yilaan's eyes fluttered open. She was in some sort of bright white expanse; completely void of detail except for a single figure in white robes rushing up to her, hands outstretched. "Excuse me?" she said, her voice raspy.
"You were successful!" the figure responded, pulling back the hood on his cloak. It was Q.
"Well that's good to hear anyway," Yilaan said dejectedly. She folded her arms and paced around while Q stared at her, confused.
"You should be jumping up and down with glee, Commander. What's the problem?"
"I didn't particularly want to die doing this. I've got too much of a life left to live. Though I'm certainly glad I was successful and all that, you'll forgive me if I get a little selfish for a moment. And I don't know what I did to deserve being here. You're most certainly not God; therefore I must be in hell."
"What do you mean, Cecilia? Don't you want to spend eternity with me?" Q asked, his eternal sarcasm thick in his query.
Yilaan stuck her tongue out at him, "Of course not." Yilaan then stopped herself. "Wait a minute. If I'm dead, why am I wearing my Starfleet uniform all of a sudden?"
Q rolled his eyes. "Because you're not dead, stupid, that's why."
"I'm not?"
"Of course not. When you prevented the attack on the President from succeeding, the time line was restored. You're Commander Cecilia Yilaan on board the U.S.S. Bristol. You died, but you didn't. Understand?"
"Not really, but I suppose it all makes sense in a temporal mechanics kind of way," she replied. Q smiled and nodded at her. "So, why am I not aboard the Bristol?"
"Well," Q said, uncomfortable. "I wanted to thank you for all your efforts. You showed a lot of character back there, getting killed and all."
Yilaan smiled at him, "Q, that's really nice. Thank you! May I also take this moment to thank you for your advice during all of this."
"Yes, well, just don't tell anyone," Q replied. "Good luck to you Commander. You've intrigued me. If there are more like you in your race, perhaps humanity isn't quite so ape-like after all."
"Take care, Q," Yilaan said.
"Oh, don't count me out, Commander. I'll be back to visit from time to time," Q commented, as his form began to disappear. "Don't forget you still have one more duty to perform, Cecilia."
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