~*+*~

The soft chimes of the door woke her from a mild meditating state. "Come in!" The door slipped open and the visitor entered the dark quarters, cloaked in shadows. Deanna almost flew to her feet when she realized who the visitor was. "Will." Her lips moved, but no sound could be heard. With another step Riker stepped into the light, allowing Deanna to study his face. She however remained cloaked in darkness.  

"Deanna," The emotions she sensed from him told her the purpose of his visit; this would be a long night. "I'm not going to dance around the subject. I am the one escorting you, your daughter and doctor Crusher to Romulus, for the sake of my ship and my crew I demand to be given all information I request." She raised her eyes slowly, eying him without looking. Both kept quiet, waiting for the other to speak first. Eventually it was Will who broke the silence.

"What is going on?" A simple question, unfortunately one she wasn't prepared to answer yet.

"What do you mean?" Of course she knew *exactly* what he meant, she could hear his thoughts as clearly as she could see him. Unlike she expected Riker played along, apparently not willing to quarrel about ducking questions. "Why is Beverly here? What is she doing in my Sickbay? Why is your personnel file classified and why won't anyone at command explain to me why your the only negotiator they send?!" As he summed up his questions, his anger began to rise and she could feel him fighting for control.

Making sure she kept a pleasant smile she sat back down on the couch. "Will, I'm not prepared to answer th--"

"Damn it Deanna! Tell me what's going on!" Never had she seen him losing his temper this quickly and her eyes widened in fear. He must've worked himself up before coming to see her, frustrated by being unable to gain an answer to his questions. But it wasn't fair! After all these years he still believed he had the right to know. She could hear him thinking about Imzadi, the life they could've shared together and how it was unfair of her not to tell him what was going on. It wasn't fair for *him*, not when *he* was the cause of her illness, not when he was the one who would kill her!

"I WON'T" she yelled back, forcing him to take two steps back with the sheer loudness of her voice.

 ~*+*~

"Hey! You're the ambassador's kid right?"

"So?" She tried her best to keep the anger out her voice, but she wasn't as good at keeping her temper as her mother was. Unfortunately prejudges still existed and none were as stubborn as the old kid-of-high-placed-people. She'd been through it before and she probably would again.

"Must be handy to have your mommy guide you through the Academy." Kyleigh clenched her teeth together to restrain herself from snapping at the lieutenant who was bullying her. "Yeah, it's nice to have a parent making the time to help you out with psych classes." With a bit of luck she'd touched the right nerve. She knew out of experience that a lot of cadets on the Academy had parents in the Fleet who were too busy helping their kids. Judging from the emotions from the man she was right.

"Yeah well, most of us pull through it by themselves and not because some lady with good looks slept herself through the chain of command just to get her daughter through the Academy in three years." Too much, *no* one had the right to insult her, or her mother like that.

"Calo, don't go there." A young man stepped up behind the lieutenant to calm him, but his words had no influence, certainly not on Kyleigh.

"How dare you?! My mother happens to be one of the most respected people in the Federation. It's your father's own fault that she had to put him in jail. He just should've kept his pants zipped!" The name had run a bell. She had a good memory, certainly when it came to names and actions and when she heard his name she recalled an incident of a few years back.

A commander had been ordered counseling and because of his problem he'd ended up under her mother's care. After working with him for two weeks she'd dropped to the conclusion there was no way to change his attitude to women. Commander Calo had been so furious he had assaulted his counselor, leaving her with no other option but to incarcerate him. Apparently his son had no better attitude.

"You're mother is a bitch! I hope she'll die just as alone as my dad did!" That did it, his remark hit too close to home. "S'hori, draki T'wog!" Her alien words dumbfounded the others present for a brief moment. "Look guys, just leave each other alone." Again the young man tried to step between her and Calo, but again he couldn't calm either down.

"Oh right, the poor little girl cries as soon as someone dares to insult her perfect mother." And indeed, to her dismay she was crying and couldn't stop. "Listen mister, that my mother happens to be smarter than your dad is his problem and that you and your dad have no respect for women is also your problem, but don't *ever* insult my mother cause I promise I'll make you pay for it." The anger that laced her normally musical voice stunned the others present into silence.

"Oh really? You or your mommy? Y'know, maybe I'll just finish what my farther started." The pure hatred and evil that slammed into her mind made her heart skip a beat and before she could stop herself she cried out mentally for her mother. She stood there trembling, to angry to say anything and simply locked her eyes on Calo's. The fury in her gaze must have scared him, for he took a step back at the same moment the young man stepped between them again.

"Calo, you're out of line! You'd better shut up before the captain hears about this." He just stepped between them to block their view of each other when the doors slid apart and Deanna and Will hurried into the room.

"Liz, what's wrong?"

"Lieutenant," Riker's voiced boomed through the room, bringing all officers present to attention, "what's going on here?" His gaze was locked directly on Calo's, but when he didn't answer he shifted his eyes to the man standing between Calo and Kyleigh. Although Kyleigh hadn't yet answered her mother, the latter knew what was going on. Hearing the thoughts of those involved it wasn't difficult to guess what had happened prior to her arrival.

"Sir, lieutenant Calo insulted Lieutenant Troi and Ambassador Troi without apparent reason, sir." Through her tears Kyleigh frowned amused at the man's formal words. Having grown up among two of Starfleet's most renowned admirals she had never been very formal towards senior officers. She really was a Starfleet brat. "Lieutenants, I want to see the three of you in my ready room in one hour. Calo, you're confined to your quarters until then."

"Calo?!" Wide-eyed Deanna spun around. "Rick Calo?" His cold eyes flashed with hatred as he took a step towards her. "Counselor Troi." His voice dripped with venom.

"You look a great deal like your father." For a second his eyes troubled with confusion. The politeness and care in her voice threw him off balance, and for a second he wondered if she was the right person.

"I am," she answered his thought, "but I did what I had to do."

"Oh c'mon you just turned him down because he was a mere commander!" Deanna bit her lower lip trying to keep her anger inside; she sensed Kyleigh jumping into defence-mode and mentally ordered her to stay out of it. "LIEUTENANT!!!" The anger in Will's voice would've made Deanna jump into the air, hadn't she been aware of it before he opened his mouth. Her eyes remain locked with Calo, who was so engrossed in his hatred he hadn't even heard his captain.

"Unlike you and your father believe," an icy-quality now laced her voice and she spoke through clenched teeth, "I have never slept with an officer higher-ranked than me."

"That's enough." Again Riker tried to get their attention, but again he failed. "My father doesn't believe anything anymore bitch! He died in the godforsaken prison you put him in!" Deanna was genuinely sorry to hear that and the wave of sadness that came along with his words made her sway slightly. She was about to say how sorry she was when a familiar dagger of pain thrust into her mind. Her hands flew to her temples and she vaguely chided herself for not paying more attention as her knees failed to support her any longer and she sank to the floor.

"Mother!" Kyleigh shot forward and quickly hooked an arm around her mother's waist, easing her to the floor. "Troi to Crusher, she's having another attack!"

"Damnit," Beverly hissed over the comm, "I'll be right there." Numbly Riker stared at Deanna's face, his mind trapped in a flashback of his last encounter with her. "Everybody out! She needs space." Slowly the crewman backed out of the Holodeck, some lingering behind trying to see what was going on. But when Beverly stormed inside and told everyone in no uncertain terms to 'get lost' even Will obeyed. Within seconds of arriving she had pressed a hypo against Deanna's neck and was scanning her.

Outside the Holodeck Riker leaned against the door, what happened to Deanna had unsettled him a great deal. He recalled perfectly what had happened the morning after the Picards' wedding; she had experienced a similar pain then. Was she in any danger?

~*+*~

"All right, listen up. You're duty is to protect the Ambassador, keep your eyes on the Romulans around and be prepared at all times."

"Aye sir." The Captain nodded his appreciation, but didn't quite manage to suppress the feeling that something would go wrong. He spun around as the door behind him slid open to allow Ambassador Troi access to the transporter room. Deanna wore a beautiful flowing purple robe that lightly kissed the floor as she walked. A golden belt was tied around her waist, accentuating her curves even more. Her hair had been pulled back into a simple ponytail, a style he'd seen on her only one or two times before.

She looked as beautiful as possible, but beauty was the last thing on her mind. Her lips were drawn in a thin line and when she spoke her voice was laced with controlled anger. "What's this?" She froze in her steps as her eyes fell on the security team surrounding Will. "I thought I made it clear I'm going down alone." Her eyes held a look he hadn't seen many times before; this wasn't an issue to discuss.

"Ambassador, for your own safety--"

"My own safety Captain, will be best looked after when I'm alone down there." Will's mouth opened to protest but her glare made him change his mind. Damn it, he felt like Picard's XO again, trying to talk the Captain out of beaming down. Some things just never changed.