Author's Note: This has spoilers for the episode Loss. I am sorry that I deleted the chapter only to repost it. I was going to end it one way, but decided to change it up. So I rewrote the ending.
Chapter 5: I'm Not Okay
Several weeks went by and Nicole constantly thought about what Commander Riker said when they were on the planet. He was right! They needed to attempt to get along. For the sake of the ship and crew. It was that or either one of them leaves. Commander Riker wasn't going to leave. And neither was Nicole.
Nicole had the chance to leave. She was asked to be part of the team to help relocate the Higu, but she politely declined.
Nicole was in Engineering standing at a console when a sharp pain in her head caused her to fall to her knees.
"Lieutenant!" She heard Geordi say.
Geordi came over to her and crouched down beside her. "Riker, talk to me. What's wrong?"
"M-m-my h-head." Nicole said, through gritted teeth.
Geordi tapped his communicator. "La Forge to Sickbay. I have an Engineer complaining of a headache."
"We'll be there as soon as we can." Dr. Crusher said.
Just then the ship shook. Nicole went forward into the Chief Engineer.
"What now!" Geordi groaned.
"Riker to Engineering. Geordi what the hell happened?" Commander Riker said over the comm.
"Checking." Geordi said, leaving Nicole's side to run over to the central console station. "Looks like the field collapsed before we could enter warp. I recommend full stop till I can check it out."
And almost as fast as the pain appeared, it went away. Nicole rubbed her temples. She found the strength to stand up, but she leaned against the console for support. She gave herself a couple minutes to get her bearings straight. Then she went to help Geordi out.
"Are you alright, Nicole?" Geordi asked.
Nicole smiled weakly. "Yeah I am alright."
He pulled out a chair next to him. "Sit here and wait for someone from Sickbay."
Nicole wanted to protest, but she chose it was best to listen. Everything felt a little fuzzy anyway.
While Geordi was in the observation lounge with the rest of the senior staff, Nicole was getting checked over in Sickbay. She finally felt all better. However, she wasn't prepared for her mother and father to walk in along with Dr. Crusher.
Troi and Commander Riker hurried over to Nicole.
"What happened?" Commander Riker asked.
"I'm fine, Commander. I just had a little headache. That is all." Nicole said, smiling.
"I had a headache too. Now I can't sense anything." Troi explained.
Nicole's eyes widened as her heart dropped. Her mother lost her empathic powers!
Nicole stayed in Sickbay with her father as Dr. Crusher examined Troi.
"No indication of a concussion or a blow to the head." Dr. Crusher said as she scanned Troi. "Just a pattern of unresponsive neural cells."
"What does that mean?" Nicole asked.
"There's brain damage. How serious? I can't tell yet" Dr. Crusher explained.
"I feel perfectly fine, otherwise." Troi said.
"Can you treat it?" Commander Riker asked.
"I'm not sure." Dr. Crusher said, looking up from her datapad. She looked at Troi. "I will have to review the database on Betazoid neural and physiology."
"The Betazoid brain can heal itself naturally." Nicole said.
"That's right, Nikki. I could be perfectly fine tomorrow." Troi said.
"Yes, but you are only half-betazoid. That changes things." Dr. Crusher said.
"What would cause this? Because this happened around the same time we encountered the anomaly." Commander Riker explained.
"That's true!" Nicole said.
"There might be a connection. I don't know." Dr. Crusher said.
Dr. Crusher tries to comfort Troi. She insists that she talks with someone, but Troi reluctantly declines. Troi instead left Sickbay to return to work.
Nicole got cleared to return to her duties. She didn't have to worry about not sensing anything. It wasn't really needed in her line of work. After telling Geordi she got cleared to return, she assisted them in figuring out what was pulling them.
They found a large number of particles that exist in two dimensions which is why the Enterprise was unable to detect them. Due to the non-naturally occurring motion, Data suggested that they are alive. They were able to polarize the gravitational field, catching the ship in its wake. La Forge suggested a controlled overload of the warp engine to jump directly to warp 6. However, it is not obvious if it will work in the presence of a two-dimensional universe.
Nicole was sitting at a console in Engineering when Commander Riker came in to chat with her about her mother.
"I don't understand why she is so upset, Commander." Nicole said, leaning back in her chair.
"I think it is, because she relied on her empathic abilities too much so she doesn't know how to be human." Commander Riker confessed.
"I agree. I am able to get by just fine though, because I am an Engineer. I don't really need to use them in my line of work." Nicole said.
"You're only one quarter though."
"Yes, but I have had extensive training and some enhancement so I can sense some things."
Commander Riker thought about it a moment. He was intrigued to know more about Nicole's training, however, he chose it was best not to pry. He needed to take things slow with his daughter. Give her a chance to come to him.
"I just hope your mother is going to be okay." Commander Riker said, sadly.
"Me to, sir." Nicole agreed. "Me too."
Later on, Geordi went to the bridge while Nicole went to Ten Forward to meet up with Tucker. Tucker also lost his telepathic abilities. Nicole was secretly thankful that he didn't have them, because he couldn't use them to his advantage.
"I heard Commander Riker came by to talk to you in Engineering." Tucker said. He sounded annoyed for some reason.
"Yes. He was worried about my mother." Nicole said.
Tucker sighed. "I don't understand why your mother is still friends with him."
"Why does that bother you so much, babe?"
"He is her ex lover. I just don't think they should have any contact outside of work."
Nicole was stunned at what she just heard. Does Tucker expect her to tell her mother that she can't be friends with the first officer? Her mother will have her head on a platter if she tried something like that.
"I am not going to tell my mother who she can or can not be friends with." Nicole said, annoyed.
Tucker narrowed his dark irises at her over the rim of his glass. Nicole just sighed and looked over at her mother with sadness in her eyes. Troi was resigning as ship's counselor.
They were eventually able to escape. Troi (and Tucker) were able to return their empathic powers. Nicole was in Ten Forward, watching her parents from a distance. She wanted to join them, but decided not to interrupt them.
"You know, it's not polite to stare." Someone next to her teased.
Nicole looked over at the direction of the voice. It was Guinan. Nicole just smiled at her.
"I am just thankful that she is not leaving." Nicole said, stealing a glance at her parents.
"Are you sure about that?" Guinan asked.
Nicole raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I have seen the way you watch a certain first officer when you both are in here. You have this expression of longing. Like you want to talk to him, but you don't. You walk away with sadness in your eyes." Guinan explained.
Nicole looked down at the glass in her hands. Guinan was right. Nicole grew up wanting a relationship with her father. Later on, she began resenting the man for not trying to find him. Now that they are serving on the same ship….
"I am too scared to talk to him, Guinan." Nicole said.
"Why?" Guinan asked.
Nicole looked up. "I have no idea. I get the strength to talk to him, but I get scared and just walked out."
"Have you talked to your mother about it?" Guinan asked.
Nicole shook her head. She couldn't find the courage to talk to her mother. Although, her mother could sense what she was probably feeling. Troi just knew better than to approach the young lieutenant about it. Nicole wasn't the type to talk about how she feels to a therapist.
"Well, I am going to clean some tables. If you excuse me." Guinan said, walking away.
Commander Riker came up next to her and asked the bartender for two drinks.
"You are more than welcome to join us." He said to her.
Nicole downed her drink. "Thanks, but I am going to work out."
Nicole walked out of Ten Forward without saying another word. She waited till she was in the turbolift before she took a couple of breaths.
"Get a hold of yourself Nikki. He hurt you. Don't forget that." Nicole whispered to herself.
"Picard to Lieutenant Riker."
Nicole snapped back to reality. She quickly tapped her communicator. "Lieutenant Riker here. Go ahead, sir."
"Please report to my ready room immediately."
"On my way. Lieutenant Riker out." Nicole said. She then tapped her communicator to close the comm channel.
"Reporting as ordered, Captain." Nicole said, walking into the ready room.
"Why don't you sit down." Captain Picard offered as he motioned towards the sofa.
Nicole was confused at first, but the expression her captain was giving her made her think that sitting down was best. She watched him as he went to the replicator and grabbed two cups of tea. One Earl Grey and the other a Lemon Chamomile.
"How did you know I liked Lemon Chamomile tea?" Nicole asked, smiling. She took the teacup from him.
"Mark had said several times that it was one of your favorites. You like to drink it in the evening." Captain Picard smiled back.
"Captain, I may not be able to fully sense what is going on, but I am getting a feeling that something is wrong." Nicole said.
Captain Picard sighed. "I rather wait for your mother to get here."
"With all due respect sir. I am not a little girl anymore. I can handle it. Did something happen with Mark or Adam?"
Captain Picard sighed again. He looked away from Nicole for a moment. Wishing for Troi or even Commander Riker to show up. Nicole watched her captain with confusion. It was the truth, she had this feeling that something was wrong. What was so bad that her mother had to be here?
Just then there was a chime at the door. Startling both of them.
"Come." Captain Picard said, getting up from the couch.
Both Troi and Commander Riker walked in. They joined Nicole on the couch. Sitting on either side of her. Nicole didn't want to be this close to the first officer, but when you are in the presence of your Captain you do not question who he sent for.
"Lieutenant…" Captain Picard trailed off.
"Yes sir." Nicole said.
Captain Picard sighed once again. "I got a call from Starfleet Command. Admiral Collins was teaching at the Academy when he had a heart attack. He is at Starfleet Medical now getting treated."
"What?" Nicole squeaked. Tears began to form at the back of her eyes and she began to cry.
Her mother tried to pull her into a hug, but to everyone's surprise, Nicole reached for Commander Riker's hand. The first officer did not question it. He held her hand. Rubbing his thumb against it for comfort.
Back in her quarters, Nicole cried into her mother's shoulder.
"I am right here, baby. You can cry all you want. I won't leave you." Troi said over and over telepathically.
Nicole wasn't the type to show she felt. It was easy for her to hide the pain behind a mask. However, her mother knew better. So she often had to break her down just so she could let out her emotions in a safe manner. Just like she does with everyone else.
"I want Tucker!" Nicole said, telepathically.
Troi looked over to Commander Riker. "Will, can you see about getting Tucker here? Our little girl needs him right now."
"I will see what I can do." Commander Riker said.
In the end, Tucker never showed. He had to cover a shift since someone called in. Commander Riker only stayed for a little while longer before he, to, had to leave to get some sleep. He did contact Geordi though so Nicole got the next day off. Troi even cancelled her appointments so she could stay and comfort her daughter.