Another Favor

Star Trek: The Next Generation, all characters and ideas there associated are the sole ownership of someone that's not me.
All original ideas and characters contained in the following story are the sole property of J.L. Scott.

Jean-Luc sipped his tea while he waited for Beverly. They still had another two hours before they were expected on the other ship. Jean-Luc himself wasn't needed, but he was transporting over with everyone else anyway, fully expecting to be back aboard his own ship as soon as everyone had dispersed.
"Come!" he called when he heard a chime. Beverly walked in...leading Will, Deanna, Data and Geordi. Jean-Luc stood, immediately concerned. His crew very rarely sought him out in his personal quarters.
"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked. Deanna was shunted to the front of the group, obviously the speaker.
"Captain" she started, clasping her hands and putting one of her 'councilor' smiles on, "We have a request. We think that, if we're going to be working so closely with our counterparts, we should know a little about the circumstances"
"I see" Jean-Luc replied, slowly sitting down again.
"There are a lot of questions which may serve as distractions, sir" Data pointed out.
"I know for me, it was very unsettling to walk into that room and see Wyatt" Deanna added, "I had no idea what his relationship with my counterpart was and I felt as if I didn't know how to act around him"
"I see what you mean" Jean-Luc said, "I'm sure you all have a lot of questions"
"Well I for one would like to know why Wesley called you Dad" Beverly said, sliding into a seat and propping her head on her hand, waiting for an explanation.
"And who is J.W.?" Will added, "And why was I wearing green?" Jean- Luc smiled. He had originally withheld all of this information, chiefly to spare his friends the incessant wondering about the possibilities, and worrying about what happens in those other lives. Current circumstances, however, seemed to have eliminated that option.
"All right" he said, nodding to assure himself he'd made the right decision, "I suppose it is better I tell you" He offered everyone a seat and a cup of tea while he considered where to start. The best thing to do, he concluded, was to go chronologically.
"As you know, Raylyn is my daughter" he started, "With a Betazoid woman named Chaza..." he paused, steeling himself for their reactions, "Troi"

"Troi?" Geordi repeated.
"Yes. She was Lwaxana Troi's younger sister. She was killed when Raylyn was just a baby" he hurried on to avoid any 'humorous' comments, "At the time, I had only just been promoted to Commander, and as I couldn't take a baby with me, Lwaxana offered to raise her with Kestra and Deanna"
"That's why they're Imzadi" Deanna said.
"Who?" Will asked.
"Deanna and Raylyn" Jean-Luc answered quickly, hoping to get on with his dissertation, without too many interruptions, "Now, when I took command of the Stargazer, Ray come to live with me..."
He got through most of the tale without too much interruption. His friends seemed fascinated with not only the differences in their lives, but also the similarities. Will looked a little shocked when Jean-Luc told him he was married to his daughter and they had 3 children. Deanna seemed only surprised that she had rambunctious triplets. Beverly bit her lip when he said they'd married. Data was very interested in the fact that his daughter, Laal, had survived here.
Jean-Luc inserted here his experiences during his last Q-sponsored visit to this alternate reality. Geordi and Will both laughed when he told them about his first "family dinner".
"Now then, last night Raylyn brought me up to date on some other details" Jean-Luc said, "Jason has married and has four children. He's taken over governing Kamor V. My nephew, Renee, has joined Starfleet. Wesley dropped out of the Academy and is studying with the Traveler. Geordi, she tells me that you've recently married a nice young woman named Aquiel and are expecting your first child"
Now that he was finished, the younger officers exchanged glances.
"Well, this reality is certainly...interesting" Beverly commented.
"I for one find it fascinating" Deanna said chipperly, "What a change a few minor differences can make"
Jean-Luc nodded, "Mmm. I agree Councilor"
"I wouldn't call Raylyn a 'minor' anything" Will objected. Jean-Luc smiled.
"No" he agreed, "she certainly is strong willed"
"I wonder where she gets that from" Beverly smirked.
"Between my family and yours, Captain, I'm surprised she isn't running all of Starfleet" Deanna said.
"Well, there are certainly enough people who think she's trying to" he replied.
"What do you mean?" Geordi asked.
"Come on, Geordi!" Will exclaimed, "The entire command crew of Starfleet's flagship are family?"
"There are bound to be suspicious of conspiracy" Data said.
"Yes, exactly" Jean-Luc said, "There are those who believe we're trying to turn the Federation into some sort of monarchy"
"It probably doesn't help that we're all among the best in our fields" Beverly added.
"Mmm" Jean-Luc nodded, "Especially now, with the Borg threat and Starfleet relying so heavily upon us"
"And with all this information we're about to give them, that suspicion is probably only going to escalate" Geordi predicted.
"There have already been several assassination attempts, which the family has tried to keep quiet. Raylyn's twins were even kidnapped, though they managed to escape within a few hours of their abduction"
"They? Escaped? By themselves?" Will asked, "I thought you said they were only seven"
"Morgan and Mary are very exceptional seven year olds" Jean-Luc replied, "In more than one way"
Will felt an odd sort of second hand pride for the offspring of his other self. True, there were a lot of differences, but there were enough similarities for him to start dreaming about being the father of geniuses himself, someday. Deanna must have caught on to his train of thought because she gave him a soft, odd little smile.
"Well, if you are all satisfied with everything" Jean-Luc said, standing, "I believe we're expecting ourselves"
Everyone smiled at his small joke as they walked towards the transporter room together.
"Captain!" Data called. Jean-Luc stopped just before entering the room with the others. The Captain turned back to the man that he had come to believe was the closest thing to a son he would ever have.
"Yes, Data?"
"You said that my counterpart had succeeded in creating a stable neural net for Laal" Jean-Luc recalled saying no such thing. He had said that Laal had survived. It translated to the same thing.
"Yes" he replied.
"It would be...educational to examine the neural net my counterpart created and compare it to the one I created" Data said.
"Do you think you could figure out what went wrong?" Jean-Luc asked.
"It is possible, sir" Data replied. The Captain thought about it for a moment.
"Hmm. Well, I don't think it's my decision to make. You'll have to talk to Captain Riker and the other Data" Data nodded.
"There you are" Raylyn said when the two had transported over.
"Commander LaForge, Wes and Geordi have already started work" Will said.
"They're looking forward to your help" Raylyn added.
"Doctor, I'm sure you can find your way to Sickbay?" Crusher nodded and took off with Geordi.
"The rest of us are going to the Bridge" Raylyn smiled and started to head off.
"Right. I'll see you all later then" Jean-Luc nodded at everyone. His daughter turned back.
"Actually, Papa, I was hoping you'd stay for a while" she flicked a glance at Troi but didn't explain further. Jean-Luc frowned. He had been hoping that, with all the other information they were providing, his daughter would not feel the need to interrogate him. He should have known better.
"Of course" he replied and followed the rest of the group to the Bridge.