The Enterprise

"First Officer's Log, supplemental. Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard have been missing for more than a week now. We believe the captain still has his communicator; between that and Vash's assurances that there are no humanoid settlements in this sector, we feel confident of our ability to locate them, once we enter the correct system. The trouble is figuring out which system that is, before we can even think about figuring out what planet they're on!"

Riker paused, running his fingers through his hair in an agitated gesture that reflected the frustration in his voice. He took a sip of his bourbon--the real thing, not just synthohol--to try and calm himself a bit, then resumed pacing around his quarters as he finished updating his log. "Geordi and his crew have the Far Traveller in running order once again, and Captain Crosby is assisting us in our search. Even with her help, I have a feeling this could take quite a while." Another pause, another sip of bourbon. "We've already alerted Wesley Crusher and Captain Picard's family to the situation, as well as Starfleet Command." Difficult though that had been, he'd informed Picard's brother and Crusher's son himself. It was his responsibility, and no one had argued with him. "The families are understandably upset, and it was only with great difficulty that I was able to convince Wesley not to take an immediate leave of absence from Starfleet Academy to assist in the search. However, the longer it takes, the more difficult it will be to keep him from taking such an action."

Riker continued his restless pacing, holding the whiskey glass absently in one hand. "We've been given permission to continue the search for our missing people for as long as it takes--which means, of course, until some emergency requires our immediate presence elsewhere." He drew a deep breath, trying to get a grip on his cynicism. Before he could continue his moody monologue, the door chimed discreetly. Riker glanced over in surprise, wondering who it could be; it was after midnight, ship's time. Apparently someone else was having a hard time sleeping. Or perhaps they'd finally had some luck... Only one way to find out. "Come in."

"I hope I'm not disturbing you."

It was Deanna Troi. Riker gaped in pleased surprise, then smiled broadly and ushered the counselor in, bringing her solicitously to a chair. "Can I get you anything? A pillow?" It was the first time he'd seen her conscious since her Q-imposed headache at the beginning of the week; Dr. Selar had been forced to resort to sedation when it became obvious that the pain wasn't going to respond to conventional treatment. Riker had made a habit of stopping by Sickbay every night before going to bed, just to check on her; she'd appeared to be still under the influence of the sedative, sleeping peacefully, when he'd visited her bedside earlier in the evening. Her rapid recovery seemed nothing short of miraculous.

Troi rolled her eyes and gestured for him to sit as well. "Please, Will, you of all people should know I'm not a china doll," she said reprovingly. "I just stopped in to see how you were doing on my way back to my quarters." A lie, but a minor one. She knew very well how he was doing, especially since it was his distress and frustration that had served to break through the sedative as the pain finally vanished--probably due more to Q's personal whim than to anything else, in Troi's private opinion--and had drawn her to his quarters like a magnet. She could no more ignore Will's intense emotions than she could her own. Not that she was about to tell him that; nor was she about to tell him that Dr. Selar had given her strict orders to do nothing but rest for a few more days--just in case. There was too much for her to do right now; the captain's disappearance had disturbed more of the crew than just Will Riker. It was too similar to the time he'd been kidnapped by the Borg and transformed into one of their own.

"You're the one who just got out of Sickbay," Riker countered as he moved to sit in the opposite chair and lifted his glass. "Would you care for some authentic Kentucky bourbon?"

Troi shook her head firmly. "No thank you. I may not be a china doll, but I did just get over one headache. I'm not ready to face the thought of another one." She reached out and touched his arm gently as he winced, mentally and physically. "That wasn't meant as a reprimand," she said softly. "I'm sorry. Honestly, I just stopped by to see how you were doing." She allowed a guilty smile to form on her lips. "And, I confess, to find out how things are going. I feel a little out of touch and was hoping you could update me on the situation."

Riker blew a noisy sigh and settled back on the seat, gazing moodily at his drink before downing the remainder in a single gulp. "We're completely in the dark," he admitted after placing the glass on the coffee table. "Vash still thinks Q put them someplace uninhabited, probably someplace he hasn't taken her, either. It's all we have to go on right now." When pressed for an explanation of her reasoning, Vash had merely shrugged and said, "It's not logical, but then, neither is Q. I think he'd pick a planet no one knows anything about, even me. I think he'd find it...amusing." Riker had been forced to agree.

Troi nodded her own agreement to that assessment. "We're on our way to one of those systems now?" she asked, to confirm the scant information Dr. Selar had been able--or willing--to give her.

Riker nodded. "Captain Crosby is searching the closer sectors, the ones we already know something about, just in case Q is playing a deeper game."

"Like the purloined letter?" Troi guessed, remembering one of her father's favorite short stories. "Hiding them in plain sight?"

"Exactly," Riker agreed. "Trying to outguess Q is an exercise in futility, as we already know, but all we have to go on is Vash's theory and our own experiences with him. Which isn't an awful lot." He sighed again, hunching his shoulders and leaning over to rest his arms on his legs in a gesture of defeat. "I just feel as if I should be doing something more."

"You're doing everything you can, Will," Troi replied earnestly, leaning forward and touching his hand gently with her own. "You've taken every possible action ." She shrugged. "All we can do now is wait until we arrive at our first target. Which I know is difficult for you," she added with a gentle smile, "but not impossible."

Riker nodded, allowing a small smile to tug at the corners of his lips. "You always know how to help me put things in perspective," he murmured, catching her gaze with his own.

Troi felt herself blushing slightly at the naked need in his eyes. As always when they were alone together, she could feel the intensity of the emotions Will normally kept firmly in check. He was particularly vulnerable tonight, as was she, and his half-formed longing was beginning to make her uncomfortably aware of her own uncertainty. Time to break the spell.

She pulled her gaze away and rose to her feet. "I'd better get back to my quarters." A note of wistful regret tinged her words in spite of her intentions otherwise. Will was making it very difficult for her to remember her logical, sensible reasons for not resuming their former relationship while serving on the same ship, just by looking at her in that particular way.

"Do you have to leave so soon?" he asked softly, then rose to his own feet and shook his head. "Of course you do," he answered himself, his voice brisk with suppressed regret as he took her arm and walked her to the door. "I'm sure Dr. Selar told you to rest, not to come here and counsel the acting captain." His eyes met hers once again, this time with a twinkle of amusement showing through. "Didn't she."

Troi shrugged guiltily. "I think you know me a little too well," was her only response. "Good night, Acting Captain Riker." Then she was gone.

oOo

Riker and Troi weren't the only ones having a sleepless night. Two decks below, the lights were on in the comfortable guest quarters that had been set aside for the angrily pacing form of Q's current travelling companion.

At least, she assumed she was still his current traveling companion. For all she knew, this was Q's way of letting her know that she was now his former traveling companion. Leaving her on the Enterprise might just be his idea of a subtle way of telling her he was ready to move on. Without her.

It was an annoying thought, and one Vash couldn't get out of her head. Not that she was all that enamored of Q on a personal level, but the fact that he could just dump her like this, with no warning or explanation, irked her in a way she never would have predicted.

To make it worse, all of this irritation was founded on baseless speculation, not on any kind of facts. But then, Q was hardly around to contradict her conclusions, now was he? No. As far as she knew, he hadn't made another appearance on the ship since he'd taunted Riker and given Deanna Troi that walloping headache.

The headache was another source of irritation. It smacked of casual, needless cruelty. Not that she had any illusions about Q's rather arbitrary moral code, at least as far as "inferior beings" were concerned, but she also knew that he never did anything without a reason. What exactly his purpose in creating the headache was, she couldn't quite tell--to keep the empath from helping in the search for the missing people?--but she had no doubts as to his reasons for removing the captain and the doctor from the ship.

She reached the far wall, spun on her heel and turned back the other way. The speed of her pacing increased furiously, but she never noticed, too busy with her thoughts. Oh yes, she knew exactly why Q had chosen that particular couple to deposit on some unspoiled wilderness of a planet. He delighted in making Picard do things he didn't want to do--or things that he didn't want to admit that he wanted to do. He was probably sitting somewhere out there right now, watching everything and laughing to himself. Or sitting somewhere nearby, invisibly observing her reactions to the situation.

Vash paused in her restless pacing to glance up at the roof of her cabin, then shook her head ruefully. Even if Q was watching her, she'd never know it. Not unless he wanted her to. And it was extremely obvious that he didn't want anyone to know where he was or what he was doing right now. Especially her.

"Q, you're nothing but a colossal pain in the neck," she announced to the room at large, then sighed and headed for the bathroom. A hot shower would help her relax, and then bed. Some sleep would do her good. She'd leave the worrying about Q--and his dubious intentions--for the morning.