She's in her office, deep in thought. Deanna scheduled a lunch outing for them today. Beverly admits she enjoys the Betazoid's compay, but she doesn't want to go. I'll spend the whole hour focused on her. Why must I focus on her?
She's pretty. Beautiful legs, soft black curls, cute brown eyes and luscious lips. Beverly knows exactly why Will fancies the woman. For the exact same reasons she does.
She and Deanna are friends. They confide in each other, and she feels that she can tell the counselor any secret and seek her for advice. But this time is one exception. How would she react if she told her? She doesn't even know if Deanna would ever want to think about her in that way.
Her commbadge chirps. "Picard to Dr. Crusher" Jean-luc. He's always been there for her. Perhaps he could give her some wise advice. "Crusher here. What's the problem?" "You're needed on the bridge. We're discussing what we're going to do about the Ahnubas." No. Bad idea. Beverly knows how he feels about her. It would break his heart, and she doesn't want to do that. "Alright. Crusher out."
She lets out a long sigh. Deanna will be there. But she'll have to face her fears sometime. Clenching her fists, she takes a deep breath and strides out of her office.
~ooooo~
Beverly glides out of the Turbolift and onto the bridge. Her presence becomes known, and everyone turns to look at her. Jean-luc, Will, and Deanna are clustered in the middle. Her blue eyes lock with dark brown ones as she walks to join them.
"Doctor, now nice of you to join us." Jean-luc nods as she steps between him and Will. Standing beside Deanna is not an option.
"We know these Ahnubas people are in dire need of help, but they won't accept our offers. I'm beginning to wonder why." Will begins.
"I sense that they are in great pain, and they do need our help. But they feel very hostile towards us, since we are a different and new species." Deanna begins to speak. Beverly closes her eyes as the exotic sound drifts through her ears. She doesn't open them until Deanna finishes speaking.
As Will and Jean-luc start to talk about ways to earn the Aliens' trust, her eyes shift focus from the two men to the lovely features of a certain pretty Betazoid woman. Those eyes soon travel down to the V- neck of her jumpsuit and stay there. The cut is low enough that it exposes just a hint of cleavage, and Beverly begins to think about what Deanna would look like if she moved the clothing down to her hips-
"If we go ahead with the plan, do you think you will be able to help the Ahnubas, Dr. Crusher?" Jean-luc asks. The sound of her name snaps Beverly out of her thoughts. She realizes that she's been staring at Deanna for a while now, and that the Counselor has finally taken notice. She quickly looks away and diverts her thoughts to the sickly Ahnubas. Heat begins to radiate from her cheeks, and she wishes there was a hypo that would cure it.
"If they do agree to let us intervene, then I could probably create a vaccine to cure whatever's causing this sickness. Judging from how the high priest looked on the View Screen, I'm guessing it's a virus that has gotten into their bloodstream and lungs which is causing them to cough up blood." Beverly explains, quicker than she'd like.
"So you can cure them?" Will jumps in. Beverly nods, taking a quick glance at Deanna who has a thoughtful frown plaguing her face.
"I'd have to run tests, of course. I'm not promising anything. It could be something much larger than we think."
"Thank you Doctor, everyone." Jean-luc begins to end the meeting. "There will be a more formal gathering in the conference room at 0800 tomorrow morning. Until then."
Everyone says their goodbyes and goes their separate ways. Deanna leaves for the Turbolift, obviously to go get ready for their lunch. Beverly stops her.
"Yes, Beverly?"
"I'm really sorry, Deanna, but I have to cancel our lunch plans." She makes a strong effort not to stare at the other woman's chest. Deanna cocks her head to one side, her brow furrowing.
"Oh, really? May I ask why?"
Beverly recites the names of each bone in the human body to keep her thoughts away from the curious Counselor. "I… I just have a lot of work to do. Files and other things that really can't wait. I hope you're not disappointed." She lies.
"No, I understand. Just make sure to eat something, ok?" Deanna smiles sweetly. If it were anyone else but her, Beverly would have made a joke about it. But this is Deanna, and she can't find anything funny to say. Beverly just smiles back and dashes to the turbolift on the other side of the bridge. She watches Deanna stare back at her until the door closes.
Once the Betazoid woman is out of sight, she backs into the wall of the lift and rests her head against it. Looking up at the ceiling, she lets out a long sigh of relief.
~ooooo~
Beverly's reading a medical journal on viruses that cause disease in the blood when she hears the doors to her office open and close. She knew she would show up eventually. Deanna never stopped sticking that dammed Betazoid nose of hers into things.
"Beverly, we need to talk."
She doesn't look up from her screen. "About what?"
Deanna walks over to the desk and closes the computer, forcing Beverly to listen. She stares into the Counselor's dark eyes that are set ablaze with anger. "When you told me you were too busy to go to lunch with me, I could tell that you were lying. You're hiding something from me, Beverly. And I want you to tell me what it is."
Beverly rises from her seat at her desk and stands in front of the Counselor. Arms crossed, she retorts;
"And what if I don't?"
"Well, you could explain the reason why you were staring at my chest for all of the meeting! Is it my clothing? I know it shows off to much of my breasts, but just because you might be annoyed by it doesn't mean you can just cancel our plans! If you're suggesting that I change-"
"No." Beverly interrupts. Her fingers trail down Deanna's cheek and neck before stopping just above that v-neck that's been the focus of her day. Blue eyes follow the path her fingers made. "On the contrary, I quite adore your clothing."
She lets some of her mental defenses down and watches as Deanna's eyes flutter closed. Resisting the urge to press both hands onto the woman's chest, Beverly simply brushes her fingers over the exposed skin before leaving Deanna alone in her office.