Chapter 7: The Four Amigos

Author's note: Just a reminder - this is an alternate/universe novel. Just about everything and every event after KesPrytt is non-canon. But it is most definitely P/C. Though there may be similar thematic elements from my other a/u novels THE BEST LAID PLANS and THE SKY IS THE LIMIT, this story is not set in the same universe. In fact, the original story was written before those other novels. However, this version I'm now posting is a greatly expanded and rewritten story from its original. As always, comments would be appreciated.

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IN THE PAST…

In her quarters, Beverly changed into her nightclothes. She looked about the drab living quarters that had been assigned to her for her shore leave on Sarona VII. It was one, lone grey room with sonic shower facilities and a replicator, that was oh so typical of the bottom-of-the-rung officer and student housing that Starfleet provided. Next time, she'd have Jack make the reservations. Command track officers always were booked into the better hotels wherever they went on shore leave.

Jack.

She trembled at the thought of him.

And of her personal foolishness, this night.

For a moment, she considered dressing and looking for him. But she didn't have to continue searching for Jack. For he had found her.

Entering her quarters, his first question coming through the door was, "Beverly, where the hell were you?"

She studied the man with whom she shared her bed. He was handsome. He was young. He had a good heart. He was an enthusiastic lover. And he could also be thoughtless, annoying and presumptive. She didn't dare permit her thoughts to dwell upon or compare him to the much older man that she'd encountered tonight. Though she had to force herself not to do so. The two men were light years apart.

So, she considered yelling at Jack even as she tied her thin cotton night robe over her aquamarine nightgown. She considered interrogating him about the disruption of their plans. She weighed the possibility and the foolishness of even asking him if he knew a Starfleet captain losing his hair, who quoted Shakespeare and murmured words of seduction in French after glasses of wine. She then pondered dragging Jack onto her bed, for her frustrated body was still aching for release.

She chose the last option.

"Love me, Jack."

Jack knew better than to object.

Hours later they got around to actually talking to each other.

"Where were you, Jack?"

She sat up, drawing the sheets about them, then turned to study her lover in the low lighting. He looked as sated as she felt.

"I really did try to tell you about my change of plans, Red." For Jack had been on duty, responsible for all of the ship's details in order to let his captain have some uninterrupted shore leave.

"Well, why didn't you comm me?"

He grinned; that wonderful grin that always endeared him to her.

"I did page you. Red. Several times. But I'm not the one who forgot to wear her comm pin, my dear dancing doctor."

"What?" She automatically looked for her pin and saw it sitting where she'd last left it - on her night stand. She'd never pinned it to her dress. "Oh."

Even though the room was dimly lit, Jack correctly guessed that she was blushing.

His fingers rolled around the edge of the bar to the metal headboard, as he wiggled his toes, stretching every muscle in his body. He gave a sigh of pure male satisfaction. And then looked over at Beverly. The next sigh was one of pure male appreciation. This woman was a constant treasure to him.

"I tried calling some of my friends from the Stargazer to tell them that I was stuck in a meeting." His grin got even bigger. "But they couldn't hear me. Seems they were in a brawl going on at the Blue Parrot and it was making a lot of noise."

"Yes, that's true," Beverly warily admitted. She'd learned to distrust Jack's intentions when he grinned this particular kind of smile. And with the way he was eyeing her body, he was clearly not intending to go to sleep any time soon. "A Cardassian started it, I believe."

"Oh, I heard it was caused by one of the captain's women, not that the Captain would admit to it when I talked to him."

"The captain?" she weakly asked, nervously pulling the sheets about, up over her breasts. "Women. More than one?"

"Jean-Luc has been known to have more than one accommodating woman during a shore leave - though he hasn't done that lately."

He thought he saw Beverly stiffen, as if she were pre-judging his friend - and commanding officer.

"You know Jean-Luc is the kind of captain who is always married to his ship. Pity about that. I think he's a very lonely man when he's not being an officer…" His voice trailed off as he watched Beverly swing her legs over her side of the bed. That fate would never befall him.

Her movements permitted him glimpses of her body that he rather enjoyed observing, bobbing about. For a long moment he was distracted. Then he remembered what he'd been discussing. "Women are always flocking about my captain - even if he decides to ignore them." When she didn't respond, Jack reached over to the nightstand, picked up a bottle from the side of the bed, and poured a double shot of scotch into two mismatched glasses. He silently handed one to Beverly. He noticed that her fingers trembled when she touched his hand, taking the glass from him. He was egotistical enough to smile, thinking that he was the cause of Beverly's response. He was completely misreading Beverly's mood.

Jack continued his observations. "Joe Maxwell - you remember Joe - assigned to tactical on the Stargazer. Well, he was in the bar and called me with all the details about our captain."

"Your junior officer likes to keep you well-informed about your captain's activities?" Beverly was proud that her voice sounded so cool and disinterested to her ears. She then took a small sip of the somewhat ordinary scotch.

"Wait until you meet Jean-Luc. You'll understand when you do. He is such a reserved, remote guy that you'd never guess what a roué he can be sometimes. But the ladies never forget that he is a Frenchman."

Beverly slid out of bed, mentally kicking herself before she kicked aside her discarded nightgown, and then donned her red robe. She sat down on a chair, facing Jack, though she didn't look directly at him. Finishing off her drink, she handed the empty glass to Jack, and looked at the bottle. Jack refilled it.

It took another sip of the liquid courage before Beverly quietly admitted, "I think that I may have already met your Captain Jean-Luc Picard."

The words were casually said, but there was something - a tremor to her voice, perhaps - that put his senses on yellow alert.

He sat up and stared at her. "Jean-Luc Picard is not a man that you can easily forget."

"No, he's not," she quietly agreed.

He considered everything that she was and was not saying. Without revealing any of his trepidation, he too-casually asked, "What happened?"

Beverly smoothed the hem of her robe. Her fingers continued to tremble. "What do you mean?"

"How'd you meet Jean-Luc?"

"Oh." She was silent for a while, and then took a deep breath. And then another.

And Jack began to worry.

"Beverly, I love you." He'd barely whispered the words but she heard them. And with the passing of every silent second, his fears and suspicions began to escalate.

She stood, turning away from him, blindly gazing toward the window.

"You're supposed to say I love you, Jack back at me, Beverly."

"I do love you, Jack."

"But…"

"There was a Cardassian at the bar tonight."

"You were at the Blue Parrot?"

She nodded.

"He started a brawl. I was in the middle of it. A man rescued me." She turned, her eyes pleading for understanding. She was praying that she hadn't destroyed her future. For she had to tell him the truth. It was her way.

"And?"

"I think my white knight was your captain. We never actually had a chance to introduce ourselves."

Jack was shaken to the center of his heart at the thought of Beverly actually admitting to needing a 'white knight'.

"Oh? What did he look like?"

"He had a way about him as if he were used to command. He's muscular, slender, my height, balding, spoke French and quoted Shakespeare."

Jack made a noise. It sounded like a cross between a muffled laugh and a groan of pain.

She knelt beside him, resting her palms on his hairy thighs.

For the moment, his body ignored her touch.

"That's Jean-Luc Picard all right. He's the only man on this planet who'd quote Shakespeare when meeting a beautiful woman for the first time." He took Beverly's hands into his own, and realized that they were cold. He warmed them with his own.

His kindness and concern for her touched the very core of her heart.

"Then what happened?"

He saw something in her eyes, even before she answered him.

"He threw me over his shoulder, carried me away from the brawl which I sort-of accidentally started, and took me back to his rooms. He dumped me on the patio."

"Onto a chair, I trust."

She didn't smile. "A couch of some sort."

Jack knew Beverly. There wasn't any way that she would have permitted Jean-Luc Picard to do this to her unless she had wanted it to happen. He needed to know more about what happened next.

"And?"

"He kissed me. A few times."

"He hadn't a clue as to your identity?"

"No."

For a while, there was silence between them. Each watched the other, trying to understand what was happening - and facing up to what had happened.

"You kissed him back."

It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

He had to admire her for her honesty, even if it did hurt every square centimeter of his heart.

"Why?"

She shook her head. "I'm not really sure, Jack. I've been trying to figure it out…"

Again, there was a moment of silence between them. Jack finally rolled away from her and grabbed his uniform pants off of the floor, pulling them on. Then he sat down next to her on the floor, leaning against the side of the metal bed.

"Jean-Luc has been pretty much alone for quite a while now." Jack gazed into Beverly's eyes trying to find words of explanation. For his captain. For himself. And for themselves.

"He is so detached, now. Isolate. No close lovers…just temporary women. I think I'm the only close friend he'd even claim - aside from Walker Keel."

Beverly slowly rose up from kneeling and then sat back against the side of the bed, close to Jack. She had expected Jack to be mad. To yell. To be jealous.

But this calm recitation of his captain's personal history was a surprise.

Jack lightly touched her lifting her hand and clasping it. His thumb stroked across her knuckles, till he felt her relax.

"Beverly…"

"Yes, Jack."

"I love you."

She welcomed his words even as tears began to glisten in her eyes.

He continued speaking softly, opening up his heart to her. "And in a different way, I love Jean-Luc too. He is my best friend."

"Yes…," she agreed, through the tears.

"If you can't love me…" He gasped a deep breath and then hurriedly spoke as if the quicker that he said his words, the less painful they would be. "…but if you find that you can love Jean-Luc more than me…"

"What?" she protested, not quite believing that she was actually hearing such a self-sacrificing offer.

"If loving Jean-Luc over me would make you happy, Beverly, then it would make me happy too. I only want what's best for you, my love."

"Oh, Jack…" She began to cry, large tears welling then sliding down her cheeks.

Jack kissed them away.

"Beverly, I want only your joy…" Then he smiled the smile that was rapidly becoming to her the most beloved of all of Jack's attributes. "Though I really would prefer it if you did pick me over Jean-Luc…"

She was stunned by his generosity of spirit. And then she knew that she could love him forever. For he loved her the right way - the way that her Nana used to describe as true love.

"I think that I love you more now, Jack Crusher, than I ever thought that I could. Or would." She kissed him with a contentment felt deep within her soul.

"What?" He was bemused even as he kissed her back.

"You silly, wonderful man. You are the man in my life, and you'd better never forget it."

"What about Jean-Luc Picard?"

She snorted at the mention of his name. Her anger wasn't disguised as she explained, "He didn't think that I was the type of person who could be or should be a Starfleet officer."

"What did you say?"

"I'll tell you over breakfast."

"Beverly…"

She laughed. It was a giddy sound. She was relieved that she'd made the right choice for her. And that he'd forgiven her…

Jack pulled her into his arms, lowering her down onto the very thinly padded Starfleet issued dull grey carpeting.

"The bed…" she protested, even as she found the way he kissed her breast to be most distracting.

"Too far away…" he explained, as he made love to her once again that night.

A long time later, when they were finally resting back on top of the bed, she turned in his arms, and whispered, "I did get your book, Jack. I've been meaning to talk to you about it…" She stopped to nibble on his chin for a moment.

"What?" He clearly did not want her to stop her explorations.

"Jack, I love you. So, yes. Let's get married."

"You really do? You really…" She swatted him. "Uh, when?"

"Jack, I'm a doctor who wants to change her last name to Crusher. As soon as possible, if you please. If a doctor taking a last name like Crusher is not an indication of true love, then I don't know what is." Between kisses, she still was laughing.

Jack laughed too as they both fell into each other's hearts for good.

A long time later, right before she fell asleep in her fiancée's arms, Jack mumbled, "But if I'm not around, Beverly, love again. Jean-Luc if you want… If I can't be there, I really mean it when I say that I only want you to be happy…"

She snuggled against his chest twisting the occasional hair, with fingers bent on exploring and mapping every centimeter of her beloved's body. "Yes, Jack. But you'd better make sure that you are the one who makes me happy for a long time to come."

"Yes, dear," he readily agreed. He moved over her so that she was underneath him again. She lifted her hips up so that he could make love to her. "Beverly, remind me one day to tell you what Maxwell told Vigo who told me what Jean-Luc told them about you…"

Beverly stroked him.

And he found better uses for his tongue than talking…

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The next day, Jack returned to the Stargazer to see if he could make new arrangements for his best friend to meet his bride-to-be. Vigo met him in the transporter room, informing him that the captain wanted to see him in his ready room.

Somewhat surprised that the captain actually was on board instead of enjoying his shore leave, Jack entered the miniscule ready room which was only large enough for a screen, a small desk, and two well-worn, comfortable chairs. The room was battered from dozens of space battles. The beige paint to the desk revealed a thousand or more chips around hundreds of unidentifiable stains. Yet, neither Jean-Luc or Jack would have changed a millimeter of it if they'd been given that option.

One look at Jean-Luc's face told Jack that his friend was greatly troubled, and yet was outwardly denying it. By the very lack of expression on the man's face, Jack knew that Jean-Luc had correctly figured out Beverly's identity.

Sure enough, Jack decided, his captain is feeling guilty. Though someone unfamiliar with the man would have never guessed such an emotion was being experienced by the officer considering the man's stoicism.

So it was up to Jack to straighten things out now, before the matter grew into something that could never be resolved.

Jean-Luc Picard should have known by now that he could not intimidate Jack Crusher. Especially when it came to the bonds of their friendship.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Jack, please sit down."

Jack did, and patiently waited.

"The Stargazer will be returning to Utopia Planetia after the first of the year, Jack. For a refitting. The crew will be able to actually use up some of their shore leave on Earth."

"Good." Jack thought for a moment, and then grinned the kind of grin that he knew would greatly annoy his friend. "Then you can be the best man at my wedding to Beverly."

"For what?"

Jean-Luc abruptly turned away from Jack, swiveling his chair to look out his small, lone starport.

"When. I. Marry. Beverly. Howard."

Stunned by Jack's words - and the way that he'd said them - Jean-Luc finally turned to face his friend. Grasping at straws, the captain uttered the first thing that came into his mind. "What about your career?"

"Hmmm…. Beverly or my career. Whichever should I choose? A passionate red head, or an ice cold command chair…" Jack chuckled even as he watched his unflappable captain start to flap - only a little around the edges. But this imperturbable man was definitely beginning to flap…

He took pity on the man. "Jean-Luc, my career will be fine once I marry Beverly. Otherwise, you will have the grouchiest, meanest, cussedest officer this side of a Klingon, if I don't marry her."

"I, uh, would rather not have that," Jean-Luc conceded, even as he stood and stretched out his hand. "The lady is amenable?"

"Yes, captain. Beverly was foolish enough to finally, officially say 'yes' last night."

Something that Jean-Luc might have defined as his heart's home, inside the soul of this captain closed up and shuttered its windows, even as the officer politely and formally stated, "I would be honored to be your best man, Jack."

For a second Jack stood there even as he shook the man's hand, wondering why Jean-Luc had such reservations about Beverly. There was something in his look. His gaze did not quite meet Jack's eyes with the steadiness and openness that Jack was used to seeing in their friendship.

"By the way, thanks for rescuing Beverly last night, old bean."

Jean-Luc didn't dissemble. He sat back down. "You know?"

Jack thought he knew the source of Jean-Luc's tenseness.

"Beverly told me everything, Johnny."

Jean-Luc didn't say anything even as he cynically wondered if that could be true. But Jack studied his friend's face, knowing that when Jean-Luc donned the frost-king aloof demeanor that even a haughty Vulcan would envy, he was hiding something behind it.

Could it be that Jean-Luc really felt that guilty over kissing Beverly? Even if he hadn't known who Beverly was at the time, nothing important had really happened… Or had it?

"Oh, Johnny…" Jack sat back down in his usual chair. "You should know that Beverly is the most openly honest, loving woman that I've ever met. She told me all about what happened last night - including kissing you."

"I see."

For a moment Jack thought that his captain was expecting to get slugged. And for just a nanosecond, Jack considered doing it. But, Jack was Jack. He loved them both.

"Only reason I'm not making an issue out of it is because she told me all the details - and the circumstances about how you had rescued her."

"I see."

"Good." Jack laughed again, using it to hide the fact that he knew his friend was more shaken by his encounter with Beverly Howard that he would ever care to admit.

"Jean-Luc, Beverly is going to notify you of the location for our dinner tonight. This time, she is going to pick the place. I was informed rather succinctly over breakfast, that the Blue Parrot was not a wise choice."

"Even I could have told you that, Jack." Picard thoughtfully considered his friend and the prospective bride. "Are you sure that you want me as your best man?"

"No one else. Beverly insists, too."

"She does?"

"When you really get to know her, Johnny me boy, you'll understand the kind of lady that she truly is."

Privately, Jean-Luc doubted that he would ever get to know Beverly Howard that well. Only years later would he admit to himself about his own personal foolishness.

That evening, a radiant Beverly dressed in a somewhat conservative midnight blue lace cocktail dress, was introduced to Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his senior staff at a restaurant located within the hotel that most admirals preferred to reside in when they were on shore leave.

The captain greeted her with the proper, distant, formal behavior that one would have expected of any man's senior officer. He treated her with civil cordiality, a politeness of bearing and attitude which held not one word or look that could be construed by anyone as improper or too familiar. Only later on, when he was toasting the engagement of this lady to his best friend was there any expression of emotion in his voice.

Jack noticed his friend's very reserved behavior as Beverly was introduced to him. But Jack said nothing. And the suspicions began to grow. Oh, not against Beverly. She was too honest and open with her heart to ever do anything duplicitous when it came to the man she loved. But Jack had spent years observing every nuance of his captain. Jack knew the man as well as the captain. And Jack came to only one conclusion. Somehow, his best friend and commanding officer, had fallen in love with Beverly.

At no point in the future would Jean-Luc Picard ever give words to such a feeling, but Jack knew. And his sorrow was genuine for the man who would not have Beverly. Even as he respected his friend, he understood the depth of this man's loss. For how could he fault Jean-Luc for loving the very woman that he loved as well?

Jack put his arm around Beverly's waist, relishing in the warmth of her presence, and hugged her close. He knew how very lucky he was.

During that evening, for the first time, Beverly encountered the remote, distant façade that was almost as legendary about this captain as was his famous maneuver. It would take her many years to recognize how well Jean-Luc Picard could disguise his real feelings.

Jack got around to introducing Beverly to everyone in the party.

"A pleasure, Dr. Howard," was the captain's courteous greeting as he escorted one of the guests of honor into their private dining room. For Jean-Luc had spared no latinum when he'd communicated to Dr. Howard, earlier in the day, that he was hosting and planning the engagement dinner. It was his duty as the best man.

"I trust that there were no ill effects from your encounter with the Cardassian?"

By his very look and manner, the way that he spoke and observed, told Beverly that so far as Jean-Luc Picard was concerned, he chose not to remember everything that had happened at the Blue Parrot.

Beverly was about to ease the overly formal captain's mind about his behavior when she was hugged from behind, then giddily spun around.

"Walker!" She recognized her bear-hugger. She returned his embrace, genuinely glad to see the man who had introduced her to Jack.

"Beverly…" Walker Keel looked up, studied Beverly, then Jean-Luc, and suddenly developed quite a twinkle in his eye. "So you've finally met the legendary Jean-Luc Picard. Did you fall to your knees in awe?"

Since that was precisely what she'd done the night before in the flower bed, she was flustered for a second.

No one noticed the fire that glowed in the captain's eyes for a brief moment too. Then he pulled his stoic shield about himself again.

Walker seemingly didn't notice anything, as he continued babbling, "Isn't Johnny here the plague of a dozen world's diplomatic parties? The scourge of ensigns - and medical interns - everywhere?"

"If I can believe what Jack's told me, then yes," she managed to calmly state. She warily eyed Walker. He was well known for his wicked sense of humor and stinging wit. She had a feeling that Walker knew a few things that she did not.

Walked continued his overly-dramatic oration even as he tightened his grip about Beverly's waist. "I'm surprised that Jean-Luc is still in one viable, uninjured, unbloodied piece. Don't tell me that you're losing your touch, Red. I was expecting an evisceration at the very least."

"Whatsoever do you mean?" Her suspicious nature was working overtime as she observed both her fiancée and his captain blench at Walker's casual words.

Walker looked over at Jack. And then over at Jean-Luc. And then he smiled. It was a payback kind of smile.

Beverly observed the looks that all three men exchanged.

"Why Walker, dear, what is really going on?" she ever so sweetly asked.

Jack cleared his throat. "Oh, I believe that it's about something that Jean-Luc said."

Jean-Luc took a step closer to Walker. And away from Beverly. "It was an off-the-cuff remark that I made, Dr. Howard. Last night, I'd had too much wine to drink that was not synthehol. I had forgotten about the loss of control over one's action that real wine could cause…"

Watching him redden as he spoke, Beverly suspected that Jean-Luc Picard rarely if ever found himself in an awkward position. The man obviously wasn't used to it. And he clearly did not care to be placed in such a position at all.

Picard continued, as if he had not noticed that every officer in the room was frozen still, waiting to hear what it was that the captain had said that could cause this man to be so disconcerted.

"I apologize for my unfortunate choice of words." He removed Beverly's arm from about Walker's waist and guided her toward the officers that she had yet to meet, as if the matter between them was finished. "Come and meet the rest of those who have the misfortune of working with Jack, too. Or knowing Walker."

Beverly recognized a sidestep maneuver when she saw one. A man like Jean-Luc Picard did not apologize over nothing in advance. She turned and sternly glared at Jack.

Jack knew that look. And gulped. "I think I can remember what Jean-Luc said - the quote that is." His fiancée's glare was far more formidable than anything his captain could threaten. He'd rather face an angry Picard over a mad Howard any day or night.

"She strode like a grenadier, was strong and upright like an obelisk, had a beautiful face, a candid brow, pure eyes…" Jean-Luc's voice was stentorian even as he turned redder with every uttered, quoted word.

Walker rather innocently piped up, "That's Conrad, isn't it?"

"Yes," was the captain's curt response. He knew Walker too well. Innocent observations had never been Walker's style. Besides, Walker was not exactly the bookish type, so the man must have looked the quote up before he'd come to the party.

"Why, Jean-Luc, you've left out the best part if I remember that quote correctly," Walker innocuously commented.

Judging by the way all three men were looking, standing sheepishly now in front of her, told Beverly that there was something most definitely that had been left off of the quote.

Beverly bestowed upon the men a gracious, saccharinely comprehending look; then went for it. "And the end of the quote is?" When no one spoke up, she quickly added, "I can always look it up."

The gleeful expression on Walker's face spoke volumes as he chose to further Beverly's literary education.

"…And not a thought of her own in her head."

It wasn't often that the friends of the great Jean-Luc Picard could hoist him up by his own petard.

Picard actually genuinely looked at Beverly for the first time that night, his eyes full of remorse. Up until then, he'd done everything that was correct, but he had denied to himself the fact that she was anything more than Jack Crusher's bride-to-be.

And Beverly saw more in his stormy grey to sea green eyes than he knew that he exposed. He was truly mortified by his unwise decision to make a witty comment to his friends, obviously brought about more so by his own guilt over his actions than by anything that Beverly had actually done.

She walked over to the man and flashed him a friendly smile, full of sympathy.

"Thank you, Captain Picard."

She placed her hand on his forearm, even as Walker was disappointed by the lack of the emergence of the already infamous Howard temper. "You're not going to yell at the man? You are always yelling at me when I get out of line! You're always berating somebody over something. I've heard you rant for hours about the Prime Directive versus medical ethics alone. And you're just going to let this insult slide?"

"I do apologize, Doctor," Picard lowly said, with a sense of sincerity that encompassed more than just his verbal gaff.

She leaned close to the captain's ear. For a second he breathed her heady perfume and would have forgotten everything if she had not whispered, "I know, and I accept your apology," she quietly responded. More loudly she announced, "Captain, there is no need for you to apologize about anything. I prefer to think that you only intended to recite the part about my beautiful face and candid brow."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise even as he mentally distanced himself from her.

"I accept that it was the wine that cause the rest of the quote to slip out. Something tells me that you're the type of a man used to reciting quotes in their entirety."

Suddenly, Jean-Luc started to laugh. It was a deep laugh, as the superior officer vanished and the man within emerged, starting to relax in her presence. He sent Beverly an appreciative, understanding look. And then he turned toward Jack, considered his next words, grinned, and then announced, "Jack, I did not misspeak, I think. Only someone without a thought in her head would be foolish enough to attack a Cardassian. And a Nausicaan. At the same time. Both of them had been drinking. Along with their friends. They had a great many friends."

Jack's eyes widened when he learned something that Beverly had neglected to mention. "You really did flip a Nausicaan?"

Beverly reddened. Then she corrected her beloved. "It was a Cardassian. He was trying to buy my services. Rather forcefully. So, I flipped him into the Nausicaan. Accidentally, of course…"

Jean-Luc laughed again. "She did indeed, Jack. Let me tell you about it over dinner. I couldn't believe that anyone, much less such a beautiful woman could be so brave. Or be so completely lacking in universal common sense when it comes to barroom brawls and how not to start them…"

As he spoke, there was a twinkle in his eye as he sent Beverly a teasing look that he reserved only for those that he considered to be close to him.

Jack saw the silent exchange and relaxed. Things were going to work out between Beverly and Jean-Luc.

Beverly understood and silently accepted Jean-Luc's gesture. She knew then, even as she forced herself to develop selective amnesia over what it was like to be held in this man's arms, that all of them were going to become the best of friends