"Come."
Picard looked up from his computer screen to see Wesley Crusher step through his ready room door. The young man walked over and stopped in front of his desk.
"Wesley."
"I hope I'm not interrupting, sir."
"No, not at all. What can I do for you?"
Wesley took a deep breath. "I have something I want to give you." He drew his hand from behind his back and extended it.
Picard reached out and took a data rod from him. He looked at the boy inquiringly.
"It's the parameters for my holodeck program."
Picard turned the rod over in his hand and stared at it momentarily. "Wesley, please, have a seat."
The teenager sank into the opposite chair. "I thought you might like to have it. The program can be adapted so you can…" Wesley's voice trailed off and he looked away.
"Bring back anyone," Picard finished his sentence.
"Yes, sir."
Picard held up the rod. "I suppose you have a copy of this?"
"No," Wesley answered. He swallowed. "I went back to the holodeck. It won't work for me."
"You mean…"
Wesley looked over at Picard, his eyes bright. "He's not there, sir. The park is, but he's gone."
Picard exhaled deeply, surprised to find that he'd been holding his breath. "Would you like to talk about him?"
Wesley shook his head. "It was just a holodeck image."
"Yes. But one who looked and acted a great deal like your father."
Wesley shrugged. He felt very uncomfortable. And yet, this was what he'd wanted. Talking to the captain about Jack Crusher was one of the main reasons for coming.
"I wanted to know what he was like. And to see how it would feel to actually have a father."
"And…" Picard prompted.
Wesley smiled despite himself. "It was…" he hesitated, realizing he couldn't choose just one word to describe how he'd felt. Finally, he settled for, "Incredible."
"Incredible," Picard echoed. He smiled and leaned back in his desk chair. "You know, I think I would have enjoyed spending a little time with him myself."
Wesley grinned. He'd never seen the captain so… laid back was the only description he could think of.
"Yes," Picard stared up at the ceiling, "it would have been wonderful to have visited with your father - even if it was just a holodeck image.
Wesley envisioned Jack Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard running around Golden Gate Park playing baseball. No…
"Cricket," he murmured.
"What was that?"
Only then did Wesley realize he'd spoken out loud. Captain Picard was staring at him.
"Sorry, sir, I was just thinking aloud. Something he told me about you."
"Which was?"
"That you were a very good cricket player."
A broad smile broke over the captain's face. "He's right you know. I am a very…" His smile abruptly faded.
"Are you all right?" Wesley leaned toward him.
"How did he know?"
"Know what?" Wesley wasn't quite following the captain's train of thought.
"How did he know I was a damn good cricket player?"
"I don't know, sir. I suppose…" Wesley stopped midsentence, suddenly hit by the same realization.
The two of them stared at each other for several moments.
And then Wesley took a deep breath. "There's no way the holodeck image I programmed could have known that. The Jack Crusher I created could have only known the things I programmed him to know." He hesitated. "And I never knew you were a cricket player until he told me."
A long silence stretched between them until, finally, Wesley spoke again. "Sir, was that really my father?"
Picard tried, unsuccessfully, to swallow the lump in his throat. "I don't know, Wes," he answered, standing and turning towards the viewport. "Perhaps neither of us ever will."
Wesley rose from his chair and walked over to stand next to him. Together they stared out at the blackness, streaked with starlight as the Enterprise warped through space. Picard's thoughts drifted from Jack Crusher to Hannah. And yet, there was still a connection there, one he had not been aware of until that moment.
"You know, Wesley," he said, strength gathering behind his voice, "we have something in common, you and I."
"We do, sir?" Wesley questioned. "I mean, what is that, sir?"
"For a long time, you have been a child without a father, and now I…" Hannah's face flashed in his mind. He swallowed. "Now I am a father without a child." Picard turned and looked at Wesley, for the first time really seeing how much he resembled his dear old friend Jack. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I think so," Wesley answered, turning to leave. He walked over and stopped at the door, looked back. "Sir, I would like it if you and I could have more talks like this."
"I would like that also," Picard agreed. "In fact, I would like that very much indeed."
Wesley smiled and left. Picard turned back to the viewport, pressed his palms against it. "I'm sorry I missed you, Jack," he whispered into the darkness. "Maybe next time."
~vVv~