Like a panther, Jack vaulted across the room, grabbing an astonished Picard by the shoulders before he even had a chance to pull away from Beverly. He backhanded him viciously, knocking his captain to the floor. The older man tried to get up, but Jack flattened him with a quick sideways kick.
Then he turned his attention to Beverly. His eyes were full of hurt and betrayal. "How could you," he asked, looking both fragile and dangerous. She didn't answer, just sat there quaking. He turned away from her, grabbed Picard by the throat, and threw him into the hallway. "Don't you ever come back here again," he spat at him. Picard, flat on his side, did not move. "How did you ever dare to call yourself my friend?"
The door hissed shut as he turned back into his quarters, leaving Picard alone. Slowly, and with an effort that took more out of him than he would have ever admitted, he rose to his feet. He felt as though his whole body were on fire as he limped doggedly down the hallway to his own room. Walker was waiting there for him.
"Beverly did this to you?" he asked, his face both astonished and incredulous. "I wasn't sure how she would take it, but, somehow, I didn't expect that."
"Beverly didn't do this. Jack did."
"You told her in front of Jack? Picard, for a smart man you are seriously lacking in the common sense department." Walker whistled under his breath.
"I didn't tell her in front of him." He stood up and paced, even though movement hurt. He felt as though, somehow he had to regain control. It was as if suddenly everything were spiraling out of control. "I told her, and then I kissed her. Right in the middle of it, he walked in."
"You kissed her? Picard, you are a fool. I'm sorry, but you can't seriously believe you can take her away from him. I can't believe you want to. I thought Jack meant more to you than that."
"She kissed me back," Picard whispered.
"You have to go back there and apologize. How can you expect him to serve as your first officer if you don't…" Picard's words permeated his haze of thought. "What?"
"She kissed me back. I know what I felt. She didn't even try to stop me."
"Oh shit," said Walker. He looked in Picard's eyes, and knew what he said was true.
Picard thought for a moment, and then said aloud the only thought that occurred to him. "Indeed."
* * * * *
Jack clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes lowered to the floor. He didn't look at Beverly. He wasn't sure he could.
Beverly, for her part, became very taken with a small spot on the sofa upholstery. She was afraid to speak. Some part of her wondered if she were even able to. She didn't know what she would say. She herself was not quite sure what had just happened.
At last Jack stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Beverly."
She choked. "Yes Jack?"
"What was that that I just saw? Please tell me it wasn't the only woman I have ever truly loved kissing the best friend I have ever had." He rubbed his temple with his thumb. He wanted this to go away. He hoped he would wake up, and see her lying peacefully beside him. He wondered if he would ever be able to look at her the same way again.
"I'm sorry," was all she said. It was more a muffled sob than it was a statement.
"Do you love him?" It was a question he didn't want to ask. He wasn't sure he could handle the answer.
"No."
"Then why?"
"I don't know. It all happened so quickly…" Her voice trailed off, as though she had no explanation. Even if she had, he wasn't interested in hearing it. All that mattered to him now was that Picard, the man who had everything he had ever wanted, had now tried to steal from him the only thing life had managed to provide for Jack and deny Picard: Beverly.
Now there was only one thing he wanted to know. "Do you love me, Beverly?" He couldn't bear it if she said no.
"More than anything." She smiled at him, and he embraced her. He never even noticed that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.