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Possession
Five
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"You're working late." She sat on the edge of Picard's desk and glanced over at the tattered album he held. She smiled tentatively before rising and walking to the window.
In a moment Picard stood beside her. "I so wanted to believe Shinzon. But the Thalaron radiation can't be explained away. Whatever he's after, it's not peace." Jean-Luc stood rigidly next to the Doctor, hands clasped at his back.
Suddenly Beverly turned to him. Her blue eyes flared. "You can't trust him Jean-Luc, not even for a second. He's dangerous." Her voice was tremulous but resolute.
"Dangerous?" He raised an eyebrow. He'd sensed a duality in the Praetor, and a deep-seated anger. He had power that was untempered, and his back was against the wall. Certainly a recipe for danger - but what would make Beverly come to him like this?
Crusher began to pace the room, hands shoved deep into the pockets of her lab coat. There was a restlessness about her, and she had barely stopped moving since she entered his ready room. He did not need empathy to know something was very wrong.
"Beverly? Hey." He skirted his desk to place a hand on her shoulder. She stopped pacing, but she brought her hands out of her pockets and began to wring them at her waist.
He took his hands from her shoulders and held her cold slender fingers in his warm palms. "Hey."
She ripped her eyes from a spot on the floor where they had been fixed and met his unwavering gaze. She did not yet have the words to speak.
"What's going on?" Picard was concerned, to say the least. He had felt off his game ever since Janeway had called the Enterprise out on this mission. Nothing fit – he could get no traction on the situation. And now he was completely nonplussed by Beverly Crusher in a state he rarely, if ever, he had seen her.
Beverly took a deep and shaky breath. She steeled her resolve. This was not about her, not even about Jean-Luc. Knew she had to report what Shinzon had done, but she wasn't ready. But she had to warn the Captain. This was about the Enterprise – the Federation. She exhaled and gathered her thoughts. "He's dangerous Jean-Luc. Please don't ask me for more right now." She searched his eyes as he held her quivering hands. "All I can give you is my word."
He smiled gently. "Your word has always been good enough for me."
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