Geordie's Quarters

He was disoriented… barely conscious. He couldn't see anything- it was blank, everything. But he would imagine that if he could see, the room would be only a blur. A dark void.

He could hear two voices in the background. The words meant little to him; he could barely tell that the two men were angry with each other, arguing over something.

"They cannot remember."

"Yes, but our best are not here-"

"It will take to long for them to get back. We must do it now."

As he listened, he heard their yelling stop. The sound replaced by their footsteps drawing closer to him…

Geordie's eyes snapped open, taking a large breath. He pushed away his bed covers, too hot already from the sweat that had formed over his body.

Slowly, he managed to collect himself, bring his breathing and heart rate to normal. It seemed nothing new to him any longer- the past week leaving his nights with only a few hours of unrestful sleep.

He sighed; if he couldn't get a decent night sleep, he was bound to find himself waking up on his workbench. Not to mention that his work efficiency was down and he was constantly blowing up at his engineering staff.

Geordie got out of bed, walking over to his bathroom sink. He splashed some cold water on his face, trying with little effect to erase the images, or rather words, from his memory. He didn't know what they meant, if they meant anything, but they scared the hell out of him for some reason.

Geordie was walking back into his bedroom when the door chime rang. Throwing on his robe, he called out to the person to come in, walking into the main room as he did.

He got there in time to see Commander Riker step in, his movements hesitant but there. "Did I catch you at a bad time?" Riker asked.

"It's ok, Commander, I couldn't sleep anyway."

"You, too, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Geordie asked as he took a seat on the couch and Riker mimicked him.

"Well, I've been having some of the strangest dreams, Deanna too. They started after that mission to Hytor Settlement. Along with some other things," Riker replied, mumbling the last part.

"What other things?" Unfortunately, Geordie had great hearing caused by his lack of natural sight.

"Nothing important. Geordie, just what have you been dreaming about? If you don't mind?" The engineer sighed, thinking over what he had seen in the past few days. It was usually the same dream with the two people arguing in the background.

"Well, Commander, I always have this dream about sitting in a dark room, or it could be that I don't have my VISOR on. And there are these two people talking in the background. They're saying something about… that someone can't remember something. They're not aloud to. They also mention something about their best being too far away and they'll have to do something themselves."

Riker thought about that for a minute. If they were talking about the away team and that they couldn't remember meeting them and the procedures, that could make sense. Then they just rewrote their memories to make it so they don't suspect anything. But, was that possible?

"Commander, may I ask why you want to know?"

Geordie's question was enough to pull Riker out of his pondering. "I think something happened on that planet. Something someone didn't want us to remember. So they replaced our memories of it and put something else there. What we remember now."

"What do you think happened?" Geordie's question was innocent enough, to him anyway. To Riker, it was something he wasn't sure he wanted to think about. Not at that moment anyway.

"I'll tell you later, ok?"

"Yes, sir."

"Try and get some rest, you look like crap."

Geordie gave a small snort of laughter for he knew that Riker knew he wasn't sleeping well. "Funny."

"I thought it was hysterical."

Captain's Ready Room, The Next Day

"Captain, may I speak with you for a minute?" Riker asked as he walked into the Captain's Ready Room.

"Of course, Number One. What is it?"

"I was… I would like to request permission to return to Hytor Settlement, sir," Riker said with false confidence, hoping that he could convince his captain to allow him to figure out what happened to him and his away team.

Picard looked at his first officer, eyeing the man suspiciously as he considered the request. "May I ask why?"

"I think that place has the answers to… to the memory loss or whatever Deanna, Geordie, and I are suffering from. We may even find out what caused Deanna's pregnancy."

Again, Picard thought about what his second in Command had told him. He trusted and respected Riker's judgment, but he was a little lost as to what he was talking about. "Are you sure it's memory loss?"

"What else would it be?"

The Captain himself had no other ideas and felt inclined to agree with what Riker said. "Very well, we can return to Hytor settlement, but you do realize it will take two weeks at warp seven."

"Yes, sir. Thank-you. I'll give the order." Riker walked out the door and left Picard to think about what he had agreed to. He hoped that they would find something; this mystery was puzzling even to him.

Lounge

Riker sighed as he starred out the window, watching the stars pass by at warp. He leaned his back against the bulkhead as his mind pondered the situation he seemed to have found himself in.

He knew why Deanna was so reluctant to open up to him. He had betrayed her trust so long ago and, even though the wounds were healing, it was a slow process. They had both been hurt, but it seemed that Deanna was hurt the most. He broke the fragile trust they had built when he left her the first time. And while on Enterprise, their love, thought merely simmers, began to grow as their trust was rebuilt.

But, it seemed, it would be some time before she could again trust him with her heart…

Through all his thought, Riker never heard the door to the lounge open and Geordie walk in. "Oh, sorry, Commander."

Riker jumped slightly, unprepared. His head turned to see Geordie walking through the door. "It's ok. Something I can do for you?"

"No… I just came here to think. It seems you stole my idea. Something on your mind?" He asked as he walked toward the Commander.

Riker sighed again as he looked at his friend. Only Deanna, Beverly, Picard, Guinan, and himself knew about Deanna's… situation. To tell Guinan was one thing; she never talked to anyone in a way you could understand. But Geordie… he didn't feel like it was his place to tell. Hell, he didn't even know if she wanted anyone to know.

He looked back at the stars as they zoomed past the mighty ship. He just shrugged and said, "Deanna."

Geordie gave him an amused smile, his eyebrows raised mockingly. "Really?"

Riker glared at him and hissed, "Not like that! Just… thinking about…" He sighed again, "I don't have a clue what I'm thinking about."

"What do you mean?"

Riker shook his head and answered, "I really don't know. I still love her, that much is about all I know."

"Maybe you should just get over it and ask her out." Riker chuckled along with Geordie, not at all surprised with his sarcasm.

"I'll give it a shot."

Deanna's Office

"Deanna?" Riker poked his head inside the door of her office, looking for Deanna. She was sitting with her back to him on the couch-like bed she had for her patients to sit on.

"What!?" Deanna hissed, her voice exhausted and annoyed.

Riker was taken aback, but said, "I'm sorry, I can come back."

She spun around to face him, her expression softening the minute she saw him. "Sorry, Will."

"Hormones?"

Deanna rolled her eyes and said, "Do you need something?"

Riker stepped inside the room, hesitating at first. He was afraid she might suddenly attack him after her harsh remark. "No, um, I just… wanted to talk," Riker stated with a shrug.

"About what? Why we're heading back to the Hytor Settlement?" Deanna asked, angrily. Deanna's hormones were again in full gear and Riker was trying to not take it personally. He did recall that she had once told him how emotional Betazoid woman could be for the second and third months of their pregnancies.

He looked at her, shocked that she had even known he was the one who ordered it. Then he sighed and said, "Something happened there, on that planet."

"And you think we just dropped everything we've built up our twisted relationships on? That we disregarded it all and had sex on that planet before we conveniently forgot it?"

Riker opened and closed his mouth several times before anything managed to get out. "Uh, um… no… no." Then he ran his hand through his beard and walked to the couch she was sitting on. Kneeling down in front of her, he took her hands in his.

"What I think happened on that planet was… Gawd, I don't know. We were taken… abducted, maybe. Something had to have happened but I doubt we would have… without good reason."

He had grown serious, able to easily quiet his stuttering. Deanna, on her part, had calmed and was regarding him earnestly, though she felt that his explanation was ludicrous. But, she would admit, it could have happened. Considering what else they had gotten themselves into before, it was rather mild.

Then she looked at him, her eyes apologetic. "I'm sorry, Will. Hormones, stress, this whole thing is driving me insane."

"Understandable. I guess asking how you're holding up would be stupid, huh?" Deanna smiled and playfully slapping him on the arm. "I'll take that as a yes. So… when do you think we should tell everyone?"

"I don't know. I was hoping that I could keep it a secret for as long as possible and they could just figure it out."

Riker chuckled softly but knew that she was seriously considering it as her course of action. "How can they do that? We haven't even figured it all out." She smiled, falling into an awkward silence.

It was a few minutes before Deanna asked, "Is there something pacific you wanted to talk about?"

"Huh?"

"You said you wanted to talk."

"Oh, right. Um… I was wondering if you wanted to go out for dinner. Where we could talk in a tranquil setting about nothing."

Deanna smiled warmly at him, stroking her cheek. His emotions were screaming for her to say yes; compelling her to go with her gut and agree. "I'd love to."

Riker's grin grew, his dimples showing through his beard. He stood up as he said, "Then what are we waiting for?" He held out his hand to help her up.

"Now?"

"Why not?"

"Ten Forward?" Deanna asked.

"No, not there," Riker said in a secretive voice.

"Then where?" She asked as she was being forced to stand.

"Come and find out." The glint in his eyes made it hard to contain her curiosity and excitement, so she allowed him to drag her to wherever it was that they were going.