. . . Time is nonlinear to Q . .

. . . Q Continuum. . .

Trelane stormed through the Judge building with hands in fists and watery eyes. Most Q had awkward glances at him and some viewed Trelane as rude as his rather highly regarded father when getting royally pissed off at someone. Many stayed out of his way. He opened the doors wide making quite the theatrical entrance. The walking stick he came with had all but vanished in thin air.

"Come in." Came the first Judge.

Trelane walked into the room.

The wooden doors closed behind him.

"What is it, Trelane?" Came the second Judge.

"Assign someone else to be Q's watcher!" Trelane demanded.

"But you are the perfect candidate to make sure he learns from his mistakes." The third Judge said.

"The only mistakes he is making is living a mortal life and losing his memory every day because of an invading alien external source. He didn't recognize me this morning!" He threw his hands up in the air acting as though he had been defeated. "I can't watch him degrade like this."

"Are you saying Q is your father and not our best science leading Q?" The third Judge inquired.

"No," Trelane said. "He is my godfather."

The third Judge looked at Trelane ever so cautiously.

"And you want us to select someone else to supervise Q?" The second Judge asked.

The first Judge was all but quiet.

"Q?" The second Judge said, notioning to the first judge with a nudge.

"You are afraid to feel helpless." The first Judge said.

"I AM HELPLESS!" Trelane shouted.

"You cannot help Q as under the agreement of supervising him," The first Judge said. "It is the purpose of this exile is to show him he will never get the help he needs from us and he needs to wing it."

"Are you mad?" Trelane said, dangerously close to the first Judge. "You never just say wing it. In fact the judges NEVER say that!" He walked away feeling an intense anger at the power of authority. "I can't do anything. It is a bunch of crap. Do you want Q to die?"

"That is the point." The first Judge said.

"You asked me to supervise him!" Trelane said.

"Fools errand." The first Judge said.

"Are you calling me a fool?" Trelane asked.

"Yes." The first Judge said.

"So you gave me a suicide mission. A dead end so to speak." Trelane said.

"Q is a annoying pest who breaks rules. His time as a Q has run out." The third Judge added.

"If his time as a Q has run out; then why are you still calling him Q and assigning a Q to SUPERVISE him!" Trelane asked.

The Judges went silent, for fourteen minutes.

"Because he has no other name," The third Judge finally said. "And someone has to make sure he isn't trying to become a Q again."

Trelane flipped the table over making the Judges land on the floor on their backs.

"You know what; I quit!" Trelane said.

"You what?" The Judges said, getting up.

"I quit being a Q." Trelane said, flatly. "In fact I will exile myself into another timeline in 2265 and live out the rest of my life spoiling the entire future to Star Fleet unlike MY FATHER. In fact I will give various headaches in other timelines that may result from my retirement from the continuum. The only power I will have is making a machine capable of traveling through realities." Trelane took out a wallet then flipped it open revealing a Q badge. "Just take it." He dropped the wallet on the wooden shiny floor. "I won't watch my father wither away before my eyes."

The first thing Trelane thought of visiting with his last powers wasn't going back in time, but really, was going forwards.

Trelane went one year into the future.

There lay his father on his death bed, eyes closed.

For once Trelane lacked the powers of the Q, but instead he was a genuine man. A man with flesh and blood belonging to Q. Q wasn't there for most of his son's lifetime as a child but he did try to be there when Trelane needed him the most, sometimes he screwed up. Q wasn't just perfect. Trelane picked up his father's hand and squeezed it. He sat down into a comfortable chair.

Q was on a biobed.

A biobed.

Behind the door there was security posted. There were security alarms set up all over the place in the room. But here Trelane is, flesh and blood defying it all. He felt relaxed not to know what may happen next. For once Trelane couldn't see the endless possibilities. He didn't feel all powerful. For once he and his father were on the same level.Trelane looked at the heart rate above Q's head.

His father had a name.

It is best to start calling him Quarty.

Trelane owed his father that.

The heart rate seemed to be slowing down for Quarty.

"I can't . . ." Trelane said. "I can't believe you . . ." Tears started to grow down his cheek. "Went down this path. . . I haven't been there for you only because you pop in just as rarely as you did to me in my childhood. Was I punishing you by messing with your friends? Yes, I was. I am sorry, father." He put his head on his father's chest then closed his eyes. "I am so sorry."

Quarty was dying.

A horrible scolding way to pass for a former Q member. And almost all the Q hated him so much they would throw him under the bus. God, would Trelane be abandoned that way? 'Would' is the keyword. It was his choice to be turned into a human and resign from the continuum. No non-existent trial held by other members. Trelane never intended his father to be treated his way. He couldn't do a damn thing for his father. He couldn't help him. All he could do was weep.

Trelane understood.

His father had no desire what-so-ever to become a Q again by cheating the exile.

It was Trelane's idea for planting in how long the exile will last into his father's brain.

No light show for Quarty this time around when he dies.

He will die as a human.

This body was a clone, after all.

"Is he really dying?" Q2 asked.

Trelane lifted himself up.

"What do you think?" Trelane asked.

"That q is stuck with me forever," Q2 said. "I can't stand the thought of it."

"Get used to it." Trelane said.

"Trelane? . . ." Q2 said, approaching the man. "What is wrong with your powers?"

"I don't have them." Trelane said.

"You . . . Didn't." Q2 said.

"I did." Trelane said.

"You better be glad no one saw that stunt!" Q2 said.

"It wasn't a stunt," Trelane said,letting go of Quarty's hand. His eyes were stained in red. "If Quarty is not suppose to survive this then there is no reason for me to be a Q. He is the one who's kept me in line to being a Q unlike you! You ditched me with Aunt Q at the first chance you got!"

"Hey, don't shift the blame to me!" Q2 said.

"I am pointing out the truth," Trelane said,turning back toward his unresponsive father. "Can you just . . . Not tell him? Not tell my brother that father is never coming back."

"This is a touchy subject, Trelane." Q2 said, cautiously.

"Not like you ever cared." Trelane muttered.

"I did care!" Q2 said.

"Where were you through all of this?" Trelane asked.

"I was busy teaching Junior," Q2 said, combing through his blonde hair using a comb. "Up until you came along and took him on a trip."

"You could have visited him!" Trelane said.

"Wait, so you were giving me a vacation to visit my brother?" Q2 said in realization.

"No duh." Trelane said.

Q2 sighed.

"And all this time I thought you were giving me grief." Q2 said.

"My reputation proceeds me." Trelane said.

"You want to help your father?" Q2 asked.

"I can't help him." Trelane said.

"I thought this stunt was organized." Q2 said.

"I didn't plan it, Uncle." Trelane said.

"You are going to make the Judges worry about other Q's taking a stance for a change by retiring." Q2 said.

"They can't retire," Trelane said. "Too old. It is unheard of for a veteran to retire."

"Well Trelane, you just opened a Pandora's box." Q2 said.

"I didn't." Trelane said.

"Yes, you did," Q2 said, with a nod. "Q are jumping at the chance to make a change."

Trelane is at first surprised but his mood turns into a fury.

"Just get your Q business out of here!" Trelane shouted, standing up facing Q2. "Business will go around as usual and until I see a sign that their mind is changed . . ." He pushed back a tear. The fear of losing his father was real. "I am sticking by my father's side."

Q2 frowned.

"Fine, have it your way." Q2 said.

Q2 vanished in a white flash.