It was a difficult situation but one that was unavoidable. Jean Luc Picard was headed back to Earth briefly and The Stargazer was continuing on without him for a few weeks. Jack Crusher, his friend and first officer, had asked him to call in on his wife as a personal favour and of course he would have to make the time. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Beverly, it was just complicated.

Jean Luc had known for some time that he had fallen in love with Beverly Crusher. At first he had thought that it was simple infatuation, but as the months had passed he had realised that it was something more. He had thought that distance would have helped the attraction diminish but in fact his feelings for her had deepened over time, and he knew that it was wrong. He had tried to push the feelings aside, he had thrown himself into his work and whenever Jack had spoken of Beverly he had tried to steer the subject onto safer topics, all to no avail. Now here he was entrusted with a mission from his best friend to visit his wife and he couldn't see any way of avoiding it without raising Jack's suspicions or hurting Beverly.

For the first few days he was kept busy with meetings and various seminars but finally he managed to make contact with her. She was pleased to hear from him, she relished any news of Jack and any opportunity to see their friend.

"Come over for dinner tonight" she had said and he had agreed.

Now here he was, approaching the little complex of houses close to Starfleet Medical, carrying a bottle of wine and wondering how he was ever going to spend an evening alone in her company without giving himself away.

The door opened and there she was smiling and inviting him in. She took the wine from him and proceeded to look for a corkscrew and glasses. They slipped into easy conversation and as she continued to prepare dinner he sipped his wine and sat and watched her.

"Where's Wesley?" he finally asked.

"Oh, he's staying over at a friend's tonight" she replied. "We take it in turns, she is on her own as well. We help each other out."

"That's nice" he said as she passed him the salad to put on the table "it's good that you have a support network. It can't be easy with Jack away so much of the time."

"It's not," she said as she brought the plates to the table and they sat down, "but it is only for a few years and then we'll hopefully be able to be together. They are building a new class of starships that will allow families on board so hopefully as soon as I am fully qualified we'll be posted together."

They both began to eat and he poured more wine. They chatted comfortably about recent missions and her studies. Gradually the conversation turned to other subjects. She told him about her upbringing on Caldos and he spoke of his family in France.

It was getting dark outside and the low level lighting in the house began to lend an air of intimacy to their conversation. They finished eating and moved across to the sofa. Beverly lit the fire. It didn't give out any heat as it was just for effect, but the flames were beautiful to watch as they danced making shadows on the ceiling. They sat in comfortable silence watching the flames.

The wine must have lowered his inhibitions he told himself afterwards or he would never have reached out and touched her, making her turn to him with a questioning look in her eyes. He reached out with his other hand and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. Then he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.

As they parted she looked down and he knew that he had over stepped the mark. He stood up and made to move away.

"Beverly, I'm sorry I should never have…"

But before he could finish she reached out and took his hand. She looked up at him and the firelight caught her hair picking out the red and gold and before he could turn away she said,

"Jean Luc, please don't go. You don't have to leave."

He looked at her then and saw her smile.

She stood up and moved closer to him. Taking his other hand she leaned in and whispered,

"I'd like you to stay."

With that he was undone. All thoughts of loyalty to his friend gone, he took her in his arms and kissed her. Not gently, not reverently, not innocently but with a raw passion and intensity that left them both breathless. Then they kissed again and he whirled her round and pushed her against the wall knocking over the lamp on the table and stumbling to keep hold of her.

The crash seemed to bring them both to their senses for a few seconds, long enough to break the moment, and he knew that whatever he wanted he couldn't do this to her. He closed his eyes and drew away from her. She bit her lip and looked at him and then she bent down to pick up the lamp. Turning she put it on the table. When she turned around she saw that he was putting the glasses and the wine bottle back on the kitchen counter and she knew that it was time for him to leave.

She walked across the room to him and taking his hand in hers she said,

"Take care of yourself out there won't you? And tell Jack," she paused before taking a deep breath and said, "tell him I love him and to come home safe."

He nodded and opening the door he walked out. As it closed Beverly sank to the floor and wept.