Chapter 4: Not everything is as it seems. . .

"23:00." Beverly grimaced at the thought of how long she's been without sleep. She looked at the computer screen that displayed the information from the tests they'd run that day; they couldn't find anything 'Not a damn thing.' She thought. She yawned and stretched in the seat at her desk, trying her hardest to keep from falling asleep right there.

She'd been working and treating and testing for over seventeen hours now, and it was ironic to her that she felt like a prisoner in her own Sick Bay. Her eyelids felt as though they were made of led as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She propped her head up on her hand and tried to blink the ever thickening veil of tiredness away. She finally let herself succumb to the exhaustion and let her eyes slide closed, allowing the relaxing feeling of sleep wash over her like a wonderfully blessed rain after a long drought.

"Doctor?" Alyssa popped her serenely quiet bubble and forced her to come crashing back down to a drowsy reality. She stifled a yawn and spoke. "Yes Alyssa, what do you need?" She walked into her office and handed her a padd with the information from their latest analysis. "The test is finished; here are the results." She took the padd and read it silently, letting an aggravated sigh escape her lips. "No DNA to compare to anything in Star Fleet records, no other chemical or tissue samples; nothing. What could cause this kind of damage and not leave a trace?" She lightly tossed the padd aside and sat up, letting out a yawn and stretching in her seat. Alyssa crossed over to her. "Doctor, you should go get some rest. I can take care of things here."

Beverly looked up at her and smiled. "Thank you Alyssa, but I still have a lot to finish here. You go ahead; I'm fine." Alyssa began to walk out of her office as she continued to speak. "Alright, if you're sure. . ." Beverly simply smiled and gestured with her hand for her to go on. "I'll back be back in a little while. Andrew just told me he's having trouble with Michael. Husbands, they can never seem to figure out how to feed and burp a baby!" Beverly smiled. "I remember those days, have fun." Alyssa smiled back and walked out the door, filling the entire Sick Bay with a calming silence, except for the continuous beeping and humming of computers and other equipment. She rested her head on her hand and began to drift off again, the beeping and humming almost seemed to be singing her to sleep. As she fell into the relaxing abyss of slumber, her mind subconsciously analyzed everything that had happened; the negative test results, the rising number of injuries, the low epinephrine levels. . .

Epinephrine. . .

She shot upright to a sitting position. "That's it!" She muttered. She activated the computer and searched for the information she needed, her exhaustion seemed to disappear completely. After several minutes she found what she was looking for. She smiled and a tired laugh escaped her throat as she reread what she'd found. She pressed her comm badge and spoke, a happy tone breaking through in her voice.

"Crusher to Picard." "Picard here, go ahead Beverly."

"She bit her lip and smiled to herself as she spoke again. "I think I've figured out what this creature is." She could hear the relief that washed over him in his voice.

"I'll be there in just a minute, Picard out."

Beverly leaned back in her chair and breathed a long, deep sigh; they finally found what they needed. She loaded the information onto a padd and prepared herself for a senior officer's meeting, since that was probably what the captain was planning on doing next. The doors to Sick Bay opened and in walked Captain Picard, his authoritative posture not allowing any sign of relief to show on his face.

He strode into her office and spoke, his voice deep and resonating. "Doctor." She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice; she looked up at him from the computer and smiled. "Oh Jean-Luc. I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to get here this fast."

"I was already on my way here." He smiled and sat down at the seat across from her desk, then tugged at his uniform before settling into the comfortable chair. She stood and went around to the other side of her desk, then handed him the padd with the information she'd found. He read it quickly as she continued to talk. "I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. I'd read an article about it before, years ago; for some reason I just thought of it as I was drifting off to sleep." He read the information over and over, amazed that she had found it; and found it by chance. He set the padd aside and walked towards her, and then placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "You did it, Beverly; you've found it. Now we can figure out a way to locate it and get rid of it." He sounded different, softer. There was a certain tenderness in his voice that she did not here often. She turned and went back around to the other side of her desk, uncomfortable by the turn this conversation was taking. "If you'll excuse me Jean-Luc, I have some work to finish here." She kept her eyes down on her desk, trying to focus on the computer screen, the padd she'd read many times; anything but up into those hazel eyes of his. She yawned as the tiredness she knew earlier became all too real to her again. He crossed to the other side of her desk and next to her. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and tried to suppress another yawn that was threatening to come out. She kept her back to him, trying her hardest to ignore how she was feeling. He put his hands on her upper arms and gently rubbed his thumbs back and forth. She shuddered as a chill of apprehension (and pleasure) ran down her spine.

He brushed her coppery locks off of her shoulder and began to kiss her neck, then moved his lips over her ear and whispered. "How long has it been since you've gotten some . . . rest?" She bit her lip; she knew what he really meant. "Three days." "Far too long." He breathed. He turned her around and kissed her passionately. She knew that she shouldn't give in to it, the fire that he'd awakened within her, but she couldn't fight it; she couldn't even try. They wrapped their arms around each other continued the kiss, their tongues stroking the inside of their mouths.

'No,' she thought, 'we can't do this. Not here; not now.' When the kiss finally ended, she let her hands come to a rest on his upper chest and kept her eyes on her feet; she knew that if she looked into his beautiful hazel eyes she lose what little control she had left. "Jean-Luc," she whispered so quietly that she was somewhat surprised he responded. "Yes Beverly." He held her face in his hand, running his thumb back and forth over her soft cheek, his hands were so warm. She took his hands into hers and, still looking down, continued to speak. "We shouldn't do this." She allowed herself to look up. "I love you, but-"

She let go of his hands and stared at him; he rested his hands on her shoulders. When she looked up, she didn't see the sparkling, hazel eyes she knew so well. Instead she saw eyes that burned with a reddish brown flame. She pulled herself away from him, astounded that she could have been fooled so easily by this thing. "What is it, Beverly? I'm Jean-Luc, your friend; you know me." He held his hand out to her, but she resisted it. She shook her head at him. "Believe me, I know Jean-Luc; and you are not him."

She expected it to try and defend itself with some poorly developed lie, but instead it just smiled at her with pointed, yellow teeth and said "I think you're right." He pushed her with all of his force, which sent her reeling into the wall. She hit her head and fell to the ground with a thud; her head pounding so furiously that she thought it would burst. Before she could stand he grabbed her by the throat and pulled her up off of her feet, then pinned her tightly against the wall. Her feet were dangling as her held off of the ground. She kicked at his shins and punched him with all her might, but that only made him angry. He held his hand up, and she saw his fingernails grow long and shape into claws. He swiped them across her face as she tried to pull away; four long tears now ran down her face. She screamed out in pain, but that only encouraged him to tighten his grip around her throat and cut off her cry for help.

She could feel the exhaustion taking over her again, but it was even stronger now than before. The room was beginning to spin, the only thing that remained in focus was the face she'd known almost her whole life. It twisted and distorted with an evil smile that made her shiver as numbness spread throughout her entire body. She was dying, and there was nothing she could do. He lowered her down to his eye level and chuckled wickedly at her pain and fear. "I had the pleasure of meeting your son," he whispered, "and I have to say that I look forward to . . . speaking to him again." She tried to fight it, fight the numbness, fight this creature, fight death, but she knew that it was hopeless. As the darkness began to wash over her she whispered "P-please." The last thing she saw was his eyes, now a bright red, burning on the face that she loved, that she'll always love.