"Captain, can I see you in your Ready Room? It's a private matter. No, actually it's an urgent one." She said as she fled into my ready room."

"But..." I was about to tell her we were too busy but she was gone. "Damn it." I said to Worf and headed after Beverly. "Now, doctor..." I started but she interrupted me.

"I believe I've become infected myself, captain." she said sitting very casually and alluringly on my desk.

Wait, she's infected? We need her to be able to think clearly to cure the infection or we'll end up like the Sea of Kofsky. "Do you know what the infection is?" I asked. She laughed and started to remove her lab coat, the lovely blue one that matched her eyes. "Come on, quickly." I said trying to focus her attention.

She laughed again, "Sorry, it is definitely like alcohol intoxication. The same lack of good judgment. For example, right now I find you extremely, extremely..." she trailed off not finishing her thought. I wanted to know exactly how she was planning on ending that sentence. "Of course, we haven't time for that sort of thing." she said urgently.

"What sort of thing?" I asked. What the devil was she talking about?

"Oh God, would I love to show you." she said as she came close, too close, thisclose. I could have just leaned in a little bit and kissed her. I wanted to lean in and kiss her. It wasn't right, she wasn't herself. I would be taking advantage. I can't do that to her. I tried to remain professional but I was feeling a little intoxicated myself. I wasn't sure if it was this damn infection plaguing my ship or her nearness. "Doctor, there must be a cure. Some formula..." I tried to clear my throat to have an excuse to lean back from her lovely face but it came out as more of a whimpering chuckle and I couldn't bring myself to back away. Steady, Picard, be professional I admonished myself. "...similar to the old one."

"Captain, my dear captain!" she said as she leaned in to kiss me. She wasn't in her right mind and I wasn't doing much better myself. This was no way to begin any sort of relationship. With all the mental strength I could muster I backed away from her. It cost me much.

I was trying to get out of my Ready Room, out where witnesses might help us rebuild a sense of decorum, but she followed me to the door. It swished open and she leaned against the door frame. "You owe me something. You do realize that don't you? I'm a woman." she said as she unzipped her uniform several inches. "I haven't had the comfort of a husband, a man..."

"Not not doctor, please." I implored. Then I did the last thing I wanted to and walked away from this beautiful, intelligent, sensuous woman who was offering herself to me.

"Beverly." I called out to get her attention as I entered her laboratory.

"Yes, Jean-Luc?" she purred.

"You will address me as captain." I said with authority.

"Captain?! Well then, my dear captain, you will address me as Chief Medical Officer or doctor." she replied saucily.

"I will? That's true. I started out by calling you Beverly and of course, naturally, you..." I had called her Beverly. I wanted to continue to call her by her first name. I want to be her friend, maybe more. And I liked that she called me by my first name. Why was I thinking about this? We were in a deadly situation and I was thinking like a schoolboy trying to get a girlfriend. "I'm still not thinking straight."

"Likewise, where the hell was I headed?" she asked with a hypo-spray in her hand.

"If that's something you were going to test..." I suggested.

"Yes! On Geordi!" she exclaimed and headed out to sick bay.

Later, after the ship was out of danger and everyone was well again and everything was put to rights I had some time to think about the ship's doctor. We had been friends years ago. Actually I had been very attracted to her back then but she was my best friends love interest so I had to conceal my feelings for her. Had she really thrown herself at me when she was in the intoxicated-like state of the past few hours? Was she interested in me like that or was it just the illness? Then again, she could've thrown herself at any male on board and there were arguably more handsome officers abounding, ones younger than me, a bit closer to Beverly's age but she came to the bridge. She was after me, it was me she came to see. It was my ready room she ran to once she got to the bridge. Perhaps it was time to see if there was something between us that we could grow and nurture into a satisfying relationship. The captain's life can be lonely but it doesn't have to be if he can find the right woman to fall in love with.

"Captain!" Beverly said surprised to find me outside her cabin door. Then she looked me up and down and noticed I was not in my uniform. She's an extremely smart woman and quickly inferred that I was there in a personal capacity and not as the captain. "Come in, come in, did you need something, Jean-Luc?" she said dropping our professional titles as she ushered me into her quarters.

"I believe I owe you something." I said nervously.

"Owe me something?" she asked.

"You said I owed you something. I was wondering what you would like me to do about it." I said gently. She looked confused. "In my ready room a few hours ago, you said I owed you something."

Her face turned as red as her hair as she blushed furiously, "Oh, captain, I am so sorry! That was the illness talking, I didn't mean to be so unprofessional. You don't owe me a thing! Please forget I said that!" she begged and then hid her face in her hands.

"Beverly" I said and waited for her to show her face again. She continued to hide behind her hands. I gently took her arms and lowered them from her face so I could see her lovely face. "Beverly, I'm not sure I want to forget what you said." I admitted.

She looked up at me and I could see shock register on her face at my words. "Jean-Luc?"

I steeled myself and asked the difficult question, "Beverly, was it only the illness talking? Could you have been talking to any man on the ship or did the illness allow you to say something you wanted to say to me, specifically?"

She was quiet for a moment, judging the situation I believe. Her illness allowed this particular topic to be brought out into the open but now that it was out there, the question was what we were going to do about it? Just forget it ever happened? I cringed at the thought of doing just that, it might take us years to break through again. She had to be wondering if I had serious feelings for her so I tried to impart my intentions to her in a way that would save us both embarrassment later if she decided to rebuff my advances, I tenderly touched her. Nothing too personal but personal enough, I tucked a stray curl behind her ear and ended that motion with a small caress of her ear that trailed down her hair. She got the message, she visibly swallowed and said, "I couldn't have been talking to any other man on the ship, Jean-Luc, only you. Definitely, only you." she said bravely.

I smiled with relief and joy, she wanted me – definitely, only me. As long as we were breaking through barriers and being brave I went a step further, I leaned in and gave her the lightest of kisses. It was as gentle as the brush of a feather but it spoke volumes about our feelings. There was something there on both sides, it was out in the open now. We could work to make this happen. The tension was getting unbearable though. Finally, she laughed, "Who would've thought a near death experience could be a good thing?" she said as she backed away from me. "Would you care to stay for dinner, Jean-Luc?" she asked lightly. Our intentions out in the open did not mean we didn't need to take things slowly. I wanted this relationship to grow at it's own pace, one that would sustain itself and us and not burn out quickly. A simple meal and conversation together was a perfect start.

"I would be delighted." I answered truthfully and moved away from the door and entered her cabin, and her life.