It really wasn't the demon they had expected, not by a long shot. Instead of the ugly, scaly, horned Rogash demon, it was a rather attractive man in his mid-40's, with dark wavy hair and a sardonic grin on his face. He wore strange clothes, something like a uniform, with dark pants, a red tunic with black shoulders, and boots. Four golden pips adorned his collar. Nathan Reed, who had fallen to his knees, looked aghast. Everyone else looked puzzled except for Lindsey McDonald, who was fighting back a grin.

"Well, this is an interesting surprise!" The man looked around, taking in the circle of 13 well-dressed men and women who circled the pentagram which had been inscribed around the altar. A naked young girl, tightly bound, lay upon it, weeping. "You must be cold. Let's get some clothes on you!" He snapped his fingers and the girl, now untied, wore a white shirt; Nathan was naked, his $2000 suit folded neatly beside him. He snapped his fingers again.

"Ooooh!" Lilah Morgan gasped, as her panties were suddenly gone. The girl now wore them.

"Let's start you on your trip home," the strange man said, and snapped his fingers a third time. The girl disappeared.

"What?" Detective Kate Lockley asked as the missing Brenda Robinson, the subject of a statewide search after her disappearance from the Galleria, appeared in the middle of the police station. The girl ran into the blonde detective's arms and began to cry tears of happiness and relief.

Back in the secret chamber on the 15th floor of Wolfram & Hart, the man looked around one more time. "You know, Nathan, you look much better in clothes. However, I'm not going to give them back to you." The clothes disappeared. "You," he said, pointing at Lilah, "and you," pointing at Lindsey, "come with me." The three vanished.

They reappeared in Lindsey's apartment. "You know who I am, don't you?"

Lindsey held out his hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Q!"

Q reached out and took his left hand. "What's with the right hand, Lindsey, isn't it?"

"A scroll, a fire, a vampire, a scythe. Same old, same old."

Q touched Lindsey's prosthesis. "My pleasure." It turned into a flesh-and-blood hand, the exact match of the one that had been severed at the wrist. "Now if you will excuse us, I think you should go make a statement to Detective Lockley, explaining that you had helped the girl escape from Wolfram & Hart. I'll take care of Miss Morgan." Q smiled to himself, knowing that one day soon Kate and Lindsey would marry. A descendant of theirs would be a starship captain named Kathryn Janeway. He wanted to get the ball rolling; after all, Janeway would be almost as much fun to tease as Jean-Luc Picard!

After Lindsey departed, chuckling all the way out the door, Q turned to Lilah. "Let's go to your place for a nightcap, shall we?" The couple disappeared and reappeared on Lilah's bed, Lilah now wearing a sexy black lace nightgown. Q wore a velvet dressing gown. An ice bucket containing a chilled bottle of Dom Perignon champagne bearing the label Picard Wineries 2388 and two glasses sat on the nightstand. "Now, ma cherie, tell me about yourself."

The next day Lindsey, having concocted two excellent stories to cover his butt, one with the police and the other with the firm, showed up late for work. Detective Lockley had been most grateful for his help with the missing girl, whose hysterical story had not been believed by anyone except for Kate. Most grateful. He could still feel those soft lips on his. He hadn't noticed before how beautiful she was. And her soft. . .well, those thoughts were best kept private. They were meeting tonight in her apartment for dinner and dessert. And did he have a dessert planned! He was bringing lots of whipped cream and chocolate sauce!

Lilah, meanwhile, was about 12 hours pregnant, but she would never know. A snap of Q's fingers and the child was implanted in a young Nevada woman who would be delighted to learn that she was finally pregnant. This baby's descendant, hundreds of years in the future, would be the beautiful but not totally ethical Vash, who would be the lover of both Jean-Luc and of Q.

A smug smile on his face, Q headed off to do a little harmless mischief on the other side of the galaxy. The Continuum was so boring! Well, he had done a good 12 hours work. Lindsey McDonald would be leaving the firm very shortly and would start on the path to redemption. Lilah had had one of the best nights of her life. And he had assured the birth of two of his favorite people. It's nice to be omnipotent!

Author's note: I had this idea after watching the episode Qpid on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Q, played by the fantastic John DeLancie, is an omnipotent, omniscient, immortal being from The Continuum, where all the inhabitants are named Q (except for the son he has one day, whose name is q!). Vash, played by Jennifer Hetrick, is a con artist who lives by her wits and enchants both Picard and Q in several ST:TNG episodes. Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) is the captain of USS Voyager in the Star Trek series of the same name.