Notes: This is the revised chapter 2.

Thank you for your reviews. They were very encouraging and enlightening. =)

A couple of you mentioned the Beverly – Pulaski switch. Yes, entirely intentional. I never liked Pulaski very much so there was no way I was going to write her in my version of the story. The Beverly and Deanna friendship is a lot richer, in my opinion.

Thanks to BEM96 for her priceless input.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own anything related to the Star Trek universe. I just like to play with it.

The Star Trek: TNG episode titled "The Child" was originally written by Jaron Summers, Jon Povill and Maurice Hurley, and directed by Rob Bowman.

(…continued from Chapter 1)

"I have to tell Will." she blurted out and started lifting herself up from the bed.

Doctor Crusher gently pushed her back down, "You can tell him later, Deanna. You need to rest now, and I also want to monitor you while you're here. I'm not taking any chances." the doctor made it an order.

"But he has to hear it from me." the counselor insisted, lying back down.

"I'm setting an alarm to wake you before first shift. You can tell him then." said the doctor as she input some data into the panel on the bio bed Deanna was in. When Doctor Crusher finished setting up the monitor on the bio bed, the counselor was already breathing steadily, seemingly already asleep. Beverly dimmed the lights and quietly left Deanna's room, heading towards her office.

Deanna felt Beverly leave. The blanket was warm around her body, but the room suddenly felt cold. The silence in the small space seemed loud and heavy.

The Child Chapter 2

She awoke to a chirping alarm. As her senses became aware of her environment, the counselor stretched under the blanket, followed by a long, lazy yawn. She rubbed her face and opened her eyes to the dimly lit room. It felt as if she had slept the entire night. A deep, dreamless sleep that left her feeling good, and well rested. Just a few extra hours of sleep were what she needed, apparently.

In an instant, the memory of the night before returned without preamble, leaving Troi staring for a few minutes at some far away spot between her and the ceiling. Breaking out of her musings, Troi folded the blanket off and sat on the biobed, hanging her feet off the side. She decided that a minute to give her sense of balance a chance to catch up before she got off the bed, was a good idea.

At that moment, Crusher came in.

"Morning!" she said with her usually friendly air.

The counselor smiled in response.

"You feeling okay?" the doctor asked as she put her data pad on the bedside table.

"Yes, I slept surprisingly well," the counselor confirmed.

"I'm glad to hear that," Crusher commented as she ran a tricorder scan on her patient.

"I never thought that could happen in Sickbay," Troi said as an afterthought.

The doctor chuckled. She hovered the sensor around the counselor's forehead, then down around her belly.

In that quiet moment, the counselor sensed that Crusher was withholding something from her; something the doctor thought was somewhat amusing. She stared at the doctor with a look of suspicion.

Crusher noticed the look. "What?" she asked and then disguised her smirk by being once again interest in her tricorder readings.

"What did you do, Beverly?" Troi demanded with suspicion.

The doctor placed the sensor in its clip and closed her tricorder. "I may have given you a little assistance while you were sleeping," she confessed.

The counselor digested that for a moment. "You gave me a sleeping aid while I was sleeping?" she asked, incredulous.

"Yes, I did," the doctor stated assertively. "You weren't entering REM sleep. There was too much neural activity going on so I gave you something that would put you in deep sleep for a couple of hours. Just to give you better-quality rest, that's all," Crusher explained clearly.

Troi recognized the value in that. "Alright, well...I suppose it worked, then. It feels like I slept the entire night," she admitted after a pause.

"Of course it worked. They don't call me Chief Medical Officer for nothing," Beverly said with a raised eyebrow.

That made Troi smile a genuine smile.

"Always glad to help", the doctor added warmly. "Okay, so, are you ready to start the day?"

"Yes, I have to tell Will," Troi said as she slid off the side of the bed. She held on to the edge when her feet touched the floor, checking her sense of balance.

Crusher stood right beside her for support. "You got it?"

The counselor released her grip and tested her balance. "I think so," she replied. She took a few tentative steps while the doctor watched.

"Looks like you're all set," Crusher said, happy with what she saw.

The counselor nodded, and then turned and gave Crusher a grateful hug "Thank you, Beverly. I'm so glad you decided to stay on the Enterprise."

The doctor returned the embrace. "So am I, Dee."

The hug went on for a little too long, and Crusher noticed that Troi wasn't letting go. She lightly rubbed her friend's back, "Hey," she whispered, "how are you, Deanna?" the doctor asked.

The counselor's response was a catching of her breath and a tightening of her embrace.

Crusher continued rubbing her friend's back while she released some tears, respecting the counselor's moment of emotional catharsis. Troi had had fears about her own health, and although the doctor had not found anything critical about her condition, she hadn't been able to give her satisfactory answers, and couldn't predict what lay ahead for her friend. Yet, physically, she was doing fine for now.

"I don't understand what's happening to me," the counselor said, wiping away her tears. "I mean, I understand what you explained, but..." she trailed off.

"Deanna, listen," Crusher tried to reassure her, "whatever else this might be, you are pregnant. And we will continue looking for explanations, but we have to treat this as what it is."

Troi nodded pensively through glistening eyes, and then there was a pause. She let go of the embrace, and her hand moved instinctively to cover her flat belly. It was like an impulse she didn't know she possessed had suddenly awoken. All she cared about was protecting this baby.

"So, everything is going to be okay?" Troi asked.

"Everything I've been able to learn so far tells me that it is a normal, healthy, developing baby and that your body is reacting appropriately to the pregnancy. Granted, the kid is developing at speeds that are off the charts, but everything else reads okay," She confirmed with a reassuring smile. "I'm going to run tests to learn more, but I'm confident that you and your baby are okay." With her hands on the counselor's shoulders, Crusher emphasized, "But I meant what I said, Deanna. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Do you understand?"

The deeper meaning in the doctor's words did not go unnoticed by the counselor. It was not something she wanted to delve into at the moment but seeing the determination in the doctor's eyes was enough to settle Troi's worries.

Crusher squeezed the counselor's shoulders one last time. "Now, come out to main sickbay and let me get a blood sample for analysis," the doctor said as she released Deanna, "then you can get out of here."

Counselor Troi thought that sounded a little like an order.

"And let me worry about informing the captain." Doctor Crusher added.

Deanna rolled her eyes. She stuffed her fists in the fleece pockets of her jacket and sighed with a tiny sound of disgust at the thought of the public announcement.

Beverly noticed the shift. "Is there a problem?" She asked with a little more authority as they walked into main sickbay.

Not getting a reply, the doctor challenged the counselor with a dumb question, "Do you want to keep this a secret from the captain?"

They stared defiantly at each other for a second, then Troi broke eye contact and sighed in defeat. "No."

"Excellent. I'm glad that we have an understanding," Crusher said. "Now let me get that blood sample so you can get out of here."

Crusher realized that the counselor had been so out of sorts when she came into Sickbay several hours ago, that she had behaved like a completely different patient. She had been almost sedate. Now, though, the doctor recognized the beginnings of a small fit of temper appropriate to Deanna Troi in the role of patient. Considering the circumstances, it was a good sign.

It was still early by the time Troi arrived at her quarters.

She grabbed a packet of chocolate chip cookies from the cabinet next to the replicator and munched on them as she thought. The unusual events that had transpired that night had kept her frightened and restless. The hours had stretched long that night. She hadn't meant to contact the doctor that early, but it was too much to handle alone in her quarters.

Now, back in her quarters, and with the memory of that night beginning to fade in her mind, she set her mind to the task of finding Will Riker and telling him herself. Face to face. She didn't care how or if anyone else got the news, but the commander had to hear it from her. Anything else would be horribly unfair. And then he would know. He would know that there had been no one else…wouldn't he?

They seemed to have come to an unspoken agreement several months ago, and it wasn't often that they acted on it, but whenever the pull of something only they shared returned to the surface, there would be nights when Riker would take her on a date, or sometimes she would invite him over. They would spend an evening together watching a film or listening to music, and they would almost always enjoy much more than the pleasure of dinner together.

Whatever Troi and Riker had together while they were lovers on Betazed was still there. The telepathic bond that had practically disappeared from their everyday lives returned easily with a heady rush when they made love. The high was addicting. They had agreed that the first time they had slept together on the Enterprise had been a moment of lack of self-control and poor judgment, and they promised each other it would not happen again. But the experience had let something escape. Not too long after, they found a way to make it happen again, and that's when they decided they wouldn't repress this need for each other when it surfaced.

The memory of that last time they made love came back just like it had in sickbay. She replayed it in her mind until she forced herself to snap out of it and go to her computer terminal to get a message out to the commander.

Crusher fell into her seat behind her desk in her office and took a truly deep, calming breath for the first time since Troi came in. "Wow," she said to herself as she sighed. In her mind she went over the events of the past hours.

Doctor Crusher, the scientist, was reveling in all the questions it brought up, and determining the best procedures to follow to test her hypotheses. But Beverly, the woman, was conflicted. What was this child? She hadn't lied to Troi. The baby was, in fact, a humanoid. The tricorder's analysis of its biochemical composition produced clear conclusions about that. But a genetic analysis would have to be done to determine its exact genetic composition, and that would have to wait until there was enough fetal DNA in Troi's blood to collect a viable sample. If the baby kept growing at the rate it was, however, it would only be a matter of a few hours until she would be able to collect one. Then they would know with all certainty that it was a real Human child.

Or Betazoid.

Or half Human, half Betazoid.

Or three quarters Human, one quarter Betazoid.

Beverly rubbed her forehead.

So, is the baby the anomaly…or is the anomaly the anomaly?

"Hmm…a riddle." she said to herself with a touch of dramatic flair. She felt uplifted as a plausible explanation that would favor her friend materialized in her thoughts. Maybe, the baby itself was not the mystery…maybe what Troi had described happen to her had caused the accelerated growth, and since she could have already been pregnant when it happened... oh, that would be great news. She had seemed happy when Crusher told her she was pregnant. She knew that wouldn't have been the counselor's first reaction if she hadn't known that the possibility of being pregnant had existed.

But first, tell Jean Luc.

This wasn't something that could be brought to his attention in the briefing. It was a very delicate situation, and the captain would want to determine the best way to handle the diplomacy it required.

Crusher gathered all the data she had available, and the results from Troi's blood analysis. She sent the counselor her results, as she had promised, along with an appointment scheduled for later in the day. Then, she transferred all the information the captain would need into a data pad and walked out of Sick Bay. She prepared the presentation in her mind as she walked to the captain's quarters for breakfast.

Commander Riker had been commanding the ship from the Bridge until late that night. His report listed two astronomical phenomena and one random energy fluctuation as the events that had occurred during his watch. The random energy fluctuation was being reviewed by Lieutenant Commander Data.

There was an important repair scheduled in Engineering at 06:00 which Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge would be leading, and Riker would be supervising. It couldn't be postponed. It just wasn't an option, since the malfunction would disable many of the ship's functions and make life on board the ship extremely uncomfortable for as long as it took to bring them back online. And if that could be avoided, it would be. It would mean a lot more sleepless nights for the commander if he didn't. And that would mean fewer opportunities to fit in another date any time soon with the ship's counselor.

That had been going well. And as Riker walked to his quarters for some down time after his shift on the bridge, he thought about this 'thing' he had with Troi. How had it gotten this far? The frequency of their nights together had increased in the last few months and neither of them had shared any thoughts about slowing down. There were no expectations in their…arrangement…so they were playing it by ear. But now, he pondered, there seemed to be traces of a line appearing, and it was drawing a limit between an affair, and a relationship.

The doors to his quarters slid shut behind him and he walked over to his desk. He dropped his data pad on the cluttered surface without a glance and started to undress as he turned the corner into his bedroom. He hung his uniform on its perch, took a quick shower and then he slid into bed for a few good hours of sleep.

Without wasting any more time, she activated her computer and dictated a message for Riker with her request to meet. Hopefully she would see his reply waiting for her when she got out of the shower.

She finished the quickest shower of her life and put on her burgundy uniform. Then, after checking her messages she sat down in front of her dresser mirror as she attached her communicator in place. Troi applied a light layer of makeup and placed the pins that would hold her loose hair in place. With a nod of approval at her reflection in the mirror, the counselor stood and checked her inbox again. Still nothing. She tapped her communicator on her way to the replicator.

"Troi to Riker."

She checked the time on the panel on top of the replicator and made her order, "Coffee."

"Wait…no, cancel order." She remembered the nurse's recommendations about avoiding coffee and certain teas. The counselor changed her order. "Almond milk with cinnamon, hot, lightly sweetened." She leaned against the bulkhead and watched a steaming mug of milky liquid materialize. She took the mug from the replicator shelf and sipped the hot beverage carefully.

Troi checked her computer terminal again, even though she hadn't heard the notification of any incoming message. Riker hadn't answered her request and the clock was ticking.

The counselor tapped her communicator again "Counselor Troi to Commander Riker."

The commander's voice came through clearly but accompanied by sharp drilling noise in a background of static that was being partially muted by the comm badge. "Riker here! I'm in Engineering, Counselor! I can't hear you very well!" She could tell he was yelling, but the volume had been automatically normalized.

"I need to speak with you privately before the staff meeting. It's important." She spoke calmly but kept her tone serious.

Riker rushed into the chief engineer's office for a minute. Its thick, transparent walls muffled a good part of the noise as the door slid shut behind him. "Ok, I can hear you better now. Go ahead."

The counselor repeated her request.

"Uh…" the commander sounded hesitant "I can't leave right now, Deanna, can we reschedule?" He was rushing the conversation, anxious to get back to monitoring the status of the final steps in the repairs, assisting LaForge, who was down on the platform working hands on with the technicians. It was Commander Riker in full officer mode and Troi had interrupted his flow during work, but Riker realized who he was talking to and quickly changed his tone. "Listen…repair's almost done; can it wait…ten minutes?"

Can it wait…Troi released a drawn-out breath. "Please let me know when you're free to talk, Will. It's important I see you before the meeting."

"Okay, ten minutes! Riker out!" He was already out of the chief engineer's office, back in flow with his immediate goal.

The captain's breakfast croissant sat half eaten on his plate from the moment Crusher had begun recounting the events of that night. Amazement and disbelief had him hanging on to her every word. When the doctor concluded, he leaned back in his chair looking pensive.

"It's so surreal, Jean Luc." Crusher voice brought him back "When she told me about the light with a consciousness hovering over her…I got goose bumps. It was a little creepy."

"Hm…" Picard murmured in sympathy.

"We were tempted to write it off as a hallucination, but…I don't know…Deanna was not herself at all. She was in moderate shock -kind of in a haze most of the time. And then the evidence of the baby growing at a humanly impossible speed…" The doctor brought her palms up in a gesture of disorientation. "Is it just me, or are the implications here really that difficult to accept?"

"One step at a time, Beverly." He gestured with his hand. "First of all, how is the Counselor Troi? Is she well? Is she in any danger?"

Crusher organized her thoughts "Physically, she's healthy and responding normally to the pregnancy…but I need to conduct more observation to detect any patterns or signs that we may need to worry about." She gave him her best clinical response.

"I see." Picard tapped his fingers on the surface of the table "And how is the counselor feeling?"

Crusher smiled at the complexity in such a simple question "For that question I don't have such a straightforward answer. Like I said, she was in a moderate state of shock when she came in…pausing in mid-sentence and drifting off somewhere. She seemed…" the doctor searched for the precise word "…haunted… by the experience. But, by the time she left sickbay, she was noticeably more at ease." Crusher recalled what had hinted to her that Troi was mostly herself again.

Picard nodded. "That's good." There was another moment of silence as they evaluated the situation.

The captain's desire for a logical explanation provoked a question. "Did the counselor know about her pregnancy before this morning?"

The doctor shook her head "Not that I could tell. She seemed surprised when I told her." She thought about her own questions "But I do have a hypothesis that I hope I can prove."

Picard nodded "Make Counselor Troi your top priority, Beverly. I'll assign Data to the investigation if you'd like, and I believe it is necessary to inform Worf and Commander…" he trailed off.

"Beverly," The captain's eyes narrowed just a bit "does…Will…play a part…in this hypothesis of yours somehow?"

"You mean do I think he's directly responsible for our Ship's Counselor's current condition?" Crusher rephrased the captain's question with a smirk and a sip of her coffee.

Picard acquiesced to her point-blank precision with a tilt of his head.

"I wouldn't be at liberty to say," was the doctor's honest reply.

"You're right," the captain quickly assented. "I shouldn't be asking such a question."

There was an extended pause. Picard and Crusher sipped their coffee in silence, until the captain introduced a reflection.

"This particular dilemma puts a little strain on doctor-patient confidentiality, I'm afraid…" the captain commented.

"Like I said, Jean Luc, I still have questions I need to answer," Crusher explained, "But I need to talk to her as her friend too, not just as her doctor. Some questions I need to ask could invade her privacy, and I don't think she'll have too many reservations about talking to me at that level, but whatever she wants to keep private should stay that way."

"Of course, Beverly. Utmost discretion." The captain pushed his chair back and set his napkin down on the table. "Any questions regarding the investigation that can be considered intrusive should go through you." He stood. "And I trust that you will keep me well informed about any progress in the investigation, as well as Counselor Troi's wellbeing."

"Absolutely, Captain," Crusher said as she followed his lead and stood.

"Wonderful. Now, I believe we have a staff meeting to conduct," he said gesturing for Crusher to precede him out the door "After you."

The doctor picked up her data pad and both officers headed up to the conference lounge.

"Computer, locate Commander Riker."

"Commander Riker is in Main Engineering," the computer responded without pause.

Troi began pacing. With only a little over fifteen minutes until the staff meeting, they would barely have enough time for a brief conversation.

Fed up with the waiting, she decided to go down to Engineering and meet Riker there. They would have to find some privacy in one of the corridors and she would tell him. Then they would walk up to the Bridge together. The short speech she had prepared while she waited would have to be enough, given the inconvenient circumstances.

The counselor placed her cup back in the replicator and walked towards the exit. When she reached the mirror by the door, she paused and gave her reflection a quick final glance. But a momentary glance turned into lingering, as the counselor unexpectedly saw herself in a different light.

Looking at her full body reflected, she thought about what was happening inside her. So many questions and so much hope…but the dark possibility of an ominous explanation followed her like a personal rain cloud. One hand covered her still flat belly protectively while she wondered, as if the touch would help her identify what exactly was inside her.

With a blink she broke out of her trance and rushed to Engineering.

"That's it, we're done! Good work, everyone!" Riker shouted down to LaForge and his crew of technicians.

The chief engineer looked up at the monitor station "Thank you, Commander!" Then he turned back to his crew "Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. The hard part is over. Take a thirty-minute break and report back."

The chief engineer gave the quick instructions to his teams before climbing up to the engineering main floor. LaForge went into the monitoring station where Riker was hastily putting his uniform jacket back on.

"Big date?" LaForge teased.

The commander chuckled "Something like that. Deanna wants to see me before the briefing…says it's important." He looked around collecting his data pads.

"Oh," said LaForge, watching him. "You don't have much time, though. The briefing begins in exactly…" the chief engineer checked the time display "…fifteen minutes."

Riker grabbed his last data pad from the chair "Yeah, that's why I'm leaving right now. See you there." The commander walked briskly out of engineering. "Computer, locate Counselor Troi."

"Counselor Troi is in her quarters," the computer replied.

The commander stepped into a lift to Troi's quarters.

Walking down the corridor to Troi's quarters, Riker wondered what could be so urgent. She had sounded disappointed when he had asked her if their meeting could be at another time. As he approached the doors to the counselor's quarters, a thought occurred. Maybe they were being too obvious, and she had found out that the captain was going to call them on it.

The commander sighed inwardly. Just when their mostly 'undefined' relationship was beginning to gain focus, the real world had to ram the doors down.

Freakin' fantastic was his sarcastic cheer as he stopped outside Deanna's quarters. He heard the chime inside and waited. There was no answer, so he used the intercom.

"Deanna, it's me." He spoke into the shiny black panel, but still no answer.

Riker tapped his comm badge "Riker to Troi." And he waited.

This is NOT how it's supposed to go.

Troi set off to Engineering already upset. At this point she only hoped she would reach him in time to at least save him from the undesirable experience of walking into that briefing completely blind.

She felt like she had been riding that turbolift forever down to Main Engineering. As soon as she had that thought, the lift came to a halt and the doors swished open.

The counselor walked quickly, hoping to easily locate the commander. She looked around but didn't see the tall, well-built man anywhere. Off to the left she saw the chief engineer.

"Geordi!" she called out as she walked in his direction.

"Counselor! Commander Riker just left to find you. You wanted to see him before the briefing, right?" The chief engineer graciously informed her.

Troi closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank you, Geordi."

"Everything okay, Counselor?" He called out as she hurried back to the lifts, but she didn't return an answer.

Her comm badge chirped just as she stepped back into the same lift that had brought her to main engineering.

"Riker to Troi." The commander's clear voice filtered through.

Troi tapped her comm badge a little too hard. "Will! Where are you? I'm in engineering looking for you!"

"I came to your quarters!" He sounded a touch bothered. "Can't you just tell me?" He asked as he walked back towards the turbolift. Maybe he could bypass all the drama and just get her to tell him through their comm link.

Troi hesitated for exactly one second, which was the time it took her to consider the commander's petition. "No, not like this." frustration stained her words. She stepped into the lift. "Just…meet me on the Bridge. Troi out." She ordered the lift to the Bridge and tapped her foot the whole way there.

Will growled in frustration and rolled his eyes, glad there was no one else in the corridor to appreciate his little outburst. He took a deep breath and returned to the lift. What had ser so uptight? It had to be something personal. It was unlikely she would have this uncharacteristic attitude about something work related.

"Main Bridge," he ordered, and the lift began moving.

If it were anyone but her… He shook his head, but a tiny smile pulled at the corner of his lips as the lift took him up to meet Deanna.

The counselor arrived at the bridge and stepped out of the lift just in time to see Riker's form disappear around the bend, past the Science station. She jogged a few steps to catch up with him.

"Will," she called to him without raising her voice too much. She reached him as he turned around to look at her. The commander watched Deanna like a hawk expecting her to spill what she had been carrying all morning. He spoke as the counselor took his arm and pulled him further into the corridor to the small space, just to the side of the doors into the conference lounge.

"Deanna," he said with a hushed but urgent tone, "what?" Riker was done with the guessing-game. He wanted it out…right now.

The counselor looked up at him as they stood there. It was the closest Troi had physically been to Riker since she had first thought of him as the father of her baby. He felt different to her somehow and it stunned her for an instant. Troi's eyes were trying to keep up, as his blue ones darted back and forth on hers, trying to read in them what was in her mind. Her mouth opened to speak, but all the things she wanted to say trickled down to just two words.

"I'm pregnant."

She needed to tell him so much more, but the bombshell was out. And as she freed herself of that immediate worry, every other emotion that had been waiting in the background tumbled forward, and she was filled with thoughts of what this baby meant. Troi's own emotions were so jumbled that she couldn't tell what she was sensing from him.

Riker's eyes grew slightly rounder, and the rise and fall of his chest was a little more noticeable. He started to fidget, but he stopped himself, forcing some composure. His arms crossed over his chest, unsure of what else to do with them. The expression on his face was undefined. The commander shifted and took a breath to speak.

"Number One!"

The captain's voice reached them from behind Riker as he approached the conference lounge. "Good morning." Walking briskly from his ready room, he greeted his first officer, shaking his hand.

"Oh, hello Counselor." The captain was a bit startled. He hadn't seen Troi behind the commander until now. "Good morning to you too." Picard's smile softened and he gestured towards the doors. "Please…" he said, politely requesting that they join him in the conference lounge.

Riker's eyes were wide. He appeared slightly agitated, and it seemed that his esteemed counselor may have been the culprit.

Splendid…The captain sighed inwardly. The more he thought about it, it appeared to become a more delicate and more difficult situation to mediate.

Riker and Troi cast quick, hesitant glances at him and at each other, and then crossed the short distance to the entrance of the conference lounge with Picard right behind.

LaForge was the last to enter the conference lounge, running in just before the doors closed behind the captain. They took their usual seats near the captain, at one end of the conference table. The counselor, however, sat a couple of seats away, separated from everyone else. The others glanced at her, but no one said anything.

The captain initiated the meeting by greeting his team of officers, and then he took a seat at the head of the table. He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair.

"We have…" Picard chose his words carefully "a very delicate situation on our hands."

Upon realizing that his introduction was about her, Troi found an interesting spot to stare at on the table and sank a little deeper into her chair.

"Shortly after zero hours last night, Counselor Troi was visited by an unexplained presence in her quarters which invaded her body and left her in a state of moderate shock." The captain paraphrased from the text in front of him. "Before dawn this morning, Counselor Troi tested positive on a pregnancy test," he informed.

First, Data, LaForge and Worf turned to look at her, and then the other three officers that already knew. They looked around the room at each other and back to the captain. Only Riker kept his gaze fixed on her, his expression still unreadable.

He felt lost in a battlefield. Why the hell was this public knowledge? And why did the captain know of this before him? His eyes switched from Deanna to Captain Picard several times as though that would help him understand things.

The counselor caught the commander's glances and the emotions he projected. She felt his confusion grow and mix with indignation. The direction his emotions were taking was beginning to frighten her.

The chief engineer was confused by the tension that permeated the room, and broke the awkward silence, "Shouldn't we be saying congratulations?" He looked around, but no one else spoke until Picard continued.

"Upon examination," the captain said "Doctor Crusher discovered that the fetus is in accelerated growth. Every hour, it seems to develop at an equivalent of fifteen hours." He looked at the text "At this rate, counselor Troi's pregnancy would be coming to term in approximately twenty-one days." He put his data pad down on the table and looked around the table. "As you can see, this is not an ordinary pregnancy and there are elements surrounding it that we cannot explain. Discussion please."

Hearing the captain practically broadcasting the information to the rest of the senior staff in a cold and professional manner bothered Troi. It made her maddeningly self-conscious, and she sank further back into her seat, wishing she could somehow disappear into it.

"Counselor" Data spoke, and she looked up at him. "The 'presence' you described for Doctor Crusher's report; you stated that it manifested itself in the form of a point of light or focused energy." He had already downloaded the medical report through his panel on the black surface of the conference table.

Troi nodded.

"And you are certain it was not a visual hallucination?" Data asked her.

The counselor found that it was not such a simple question to answer. "It…could have been, but it felt…very real."

"Captain," said Data before taking his eyes off the counselor and turning to face his commanding officer. "I have been able to isolate a specific occurrence that has a statistically high probability of directly relating to what the counselor refers to as a source of 'light' and 'energy'."

Presence, light, energy? Accelerated growth…hallucinations? As Data explained the possible connection between the two events, the commander tried to make sense of it all, but the more he tried, the farther out of reach it seemed.

The bomb Troi had dropped on him right before the meeting had left his mind whirling. Just the thought of becoming a father had triggered all kinds of emotions that he had never imagined could be felt simultaneously. But just as he had begun drifting into the certainty of his future as a partner to Troi and the father of their child, Riker found himself being pulled back by the evidence of something beyond explanation that began transforming his certainty into doubt. He didn't like the feelings that this doubt was stirring inside of him.

"Sir," now Worf spoke up. Data's and LaForge's educated guesses about the energy transference were painting a troubling picture of a possible undetected intrusion, "if this classifies as an intrusion aboard the ship, security measures must be established…at least until we can determine it is not a risk to the wellbeing of the counselor and the ship."

Picard placed his palms on the table. "Good points, gentlemen, very good points. Mister Data, mister LaForge, the energy transference…it could lead us somewhere. Please investigate and I would like a report."

"Yes, Sir," The android and the chief engineer said, almost in unison.

The captain continued "Now, mister Worf, your concerns."

"Is there any evidence indicating that this entity might be any sort of threat to the ship or to Counselor Troi?" Worf went straight to the point.

"We have no way of knowing that at this point, Worf," Doctor Crusher answered. "But from what I have been able to assess, I have a pretty good feeling that it is not an immediate threat to anyone here. For all intents and purposes, it shares Counselor Troi's biochemistry."

Worf still didn't seem completely convinced.

It was difficult for everyone around the table to unite the notions that this was a real humanoid baby, and that it could have been created by an unknown intelligence. But no one else in the room felt anything close to the anguish that Will Riker did, at the possible mysterious nature of Troi's pregnancy. It was hard for him to imagine that he may not be the father of Deanna's child. And even harder to accept was that something was happening to his imzadi, and he had no way of knowing, yet, if she would survive it. The more he heard the others speak, the more upset he became. No one else felt his disappointment…except Troi.

"So, who's the father?" Riker spoke for the first time since he stood with Troi outside the conference lounge. He suddenly didn't care what he was risking by asking that question. He just wanted to know one way or the other…for his own sanity.

Now all eyes were on him.

Crusher felt the weight of the first officer's question, and she smoothly distracted attention from it with a perfectly composed answer. "I've categorized the accelerated growth as a phenomenon, but the pregnancy itself remains undefined. We cannot know at this point if the pregnancy was already under way before the unexplained event of last night, or if it began at that precise moment. The acceleration phenomenon inserts a variable that will not let us know that, until we do a fetal DNA analysis. To do that, the fetus must be at least six weeks old, but factoring in its current rate of growth, we could have the answer we're looking for by tonight."

"So, there is a possibility that this being is of unknown origin and intent," Worf reflected out loud. "Sir, we must determine a course of action to prepare for a hostile outcome."

Data interjected, "If I may suggest a course of action," he offered.

"Please," said the captain.

"If the being incubating in Counselor Troi were, in fact, of undetermined origin and intent," Data explained "it would be possible to safely remove the fetus from within Counselor Troi and incubate it by artificial means. It is a very delicate procedure, but by doing so we could preserve a viable fetus for observation without risking the counselor's well-being."

All the while Data spoke, several pairs of eyes had been going from him to the counselor, to the captain, and back again. The perfectly sensible reasoning behind his words numbed the android to the utterly inappropriate nature of his suggestion.

"We would be safely terminating the pregnancy, removing Counselor Troi from any possible risk, and preserving a viable fetus for further study. It would signify great advances in the field of genetics."

"Whoa, Data..." LaForge stepped in to stop Data from putting his foot deeper down his own throat.

The commander had been pulled out of his daze when he heard Data mention terminating the pregnancy, and now he watched the android in mild disbelief. Although the reasoning behind his words was faultless, the commander felt his own resentment at the mere suggestion. He felt as if he should say something in the defense of Troi and her child…or their child?

But what was it he was defending…a child or an unknown entity…or his child, or Troi? And what would he be risking…the safety of the ship? His imzadi's health…or her life? Riker turned his gaze toward the counselor to assess her reaction to Data's suggestion.

There was silence and everyone was looking at Data. But no one else looked at him with the expression that Troi had across her face. The counselor had looked up from the downward gaze she had chosen to keep for most of the meeting, and now she stared at Data with a long and piercing gaze. Data only observed her patiently as he determined how to proceed.

Troi could not believe what she had just heard Data suggest. The outrage she felt caught her by surprise. Troi didn't know where such a strong reaction was coming from, and even though deep inside she felt she may be overreacting, she still couldn't contain the overwhelming feeling of isolation she felt. Everyone seemed focused on figuring out what to do with her and the child she carried, and it made her feel as if she was standing alone against them. She needed her imzadi. She needed him to be her ally in all of this.

The counselor glanced at Riker and immediately sensed his turmoil. He was looking at the android in puzzlement and disbelief. He wanted to react, but something was holding him back.

At that moment, the commander turned his gaze towards her, and he saw Troi's plight in the glistening of her unshed tears. He followed her gaze as it went from him to the captain, then to the images of the baby, and then back to her hands resting limply on her lap. Before he turned away, Riker saw her slowly place a hand on her belly. It surprised him that the gesture he had just witnessed caused him pain. Pain from the possibility that hung in the air; that this child…or whatever it was…would not be the milestone on a new and wonderful road towards the future of his relationship with Troi, but instead could be the end of everything they could have possibly had.

The captain observed this silent exchange, and a warning went off in his head. The counselor's eyes turned to him for an instant.

Delicate situation, Jean Luc.The captain heard his own voice in his head.

"Data, we are not considering this a research opportunity," Picard said hoping to deflect any more prodding by the android.

"I must disagree, captain. It is the perfect research opportunity. The probabilities of this reoccurring are-" Data continued.

"It is not open to discussion, Lieutenant." The captain raised his voice enough to make the point easier for the android to process. "Counselor Troi's condition will not be considered a research opportunity, Data. That is final."

Picard had seen the mixture of fear and disgust in the way the counselor had looked at Data after the android had begun to speak. Then she had turned to him for an instant, and the expression in her eyes had compelled the captain to shut Data up for good.

As her companions continued their exchange of ideas, Troi withdrew back into herself, and as she did, the voices in the conference lounge faded out of focus. All she could hear was her own heartbeat drumming loudly in her chest, and impossible as it was, the quick beating of the tiny heart from the child inside her. Her hands once again moved towards her middle and covered the tiny life she carried. The instinct to protect the baby inside her surfaced stronger than before.

She lifted her gaze and stared at the screen displaying an image of a tiny baby.

"I won't let anyone hurt you," She promised.

Troi regained some of her composure, and addressing her commanding officer, she spoke with all the clarity and confidence she could convey.

"Captain," The counselor's voice broke through the chatter. The voices fell silent and every pair of eyes around the table watched her expectantly. "Do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of the crew and the ship…but I am going to have this baby."

The stares of her colleagues went on for what she felt were several, excruciating, long seconds, making her more uncomfortable than she thought possible. Finally, the captain broke the silence.

"Well," Picard said in a strangely lighthearted tone, "that concludes this discussion." He sent the counselor a look of understanding and respect for her decision, and then he turned back to everyone, "Dismissed."

The counselor was the first to stand and exit the conference lounge.

The rest were left to share puzzled glances, until after a moment's pause, Riker stood abruptly, and with no explanations, he followed in the counselor's wake.

Troi stepped from the bridge into the lift and leaned back against the bulkhead. "Deck nine," she said as the doors began to slide shut. But before they closed completely, a hand shot in and made them open again.

Their eyes locked as Riker entered the lift. "Deck nine." He repeated what he had heard Troi order the lift to do.

"Where are you going?" she asked him. Troi was drained of the energy she needed for a confrontation with him.

The commander crossed his arms over his chest. "Same place you're going," He answered starkly.

She looked away and sighed, "Will…"

"What?" he asked, taking a step closer to her "You don't want to talk to me now?"

"I want to be alone," She answered honestly.

"You want to be alone," Riker echoed with a hint of sarcasm. "So, you're not going to tell me what the hell all this is about? I have to be happy with the captain's recount of how my girlfriend got pregnant." His words meant to sting. He resented how foolish he had felt during the meeting because of her.

"I'm not your girlfriend." Troi hadn't meant to say that, but she hated the way he was talking to her, and her tired mind let slip a bit of her own resentment. Even still, it was too late to take the words back, so she just remained quiet.

"Computer, halt." At the commander's orders, the lift stopped moving. The counselor looked up at him in surprise at his unexpected action.

"Really…" the commander made no effort to disguise the irritation in his voice that made her look away. "So, what are you, Deanna?" he questioned. "What are we? Have you asked yourself that lately? Because I have. And the answer was becoming clear…things were fitting into place… for me at least, but this…" Riker paused and paced the couple of steps the confined turbolift would allow, then turned back around to face the counselor. "I don't know what's going on. I don't even know how I fit into this, or if I even fit in at all. How am I supposed to understand what's happening?" He shortened the distance between them again. "Please tell me, Deanna, because a clear explanation would be appreciated right now."

The counselor took a deep breath. She was reaching her limit, and she could feel it. The tension from the staff meeting on top of the emotional load of her unexpected pregnancy, were testing her self-control. Now Riker wanted to add their entire 'non-relationship' on top of it all. She knew this was not the best way to deal with the situation…not that she knew what the best way was, but this was definitely not it. Still, her emotions got the best of her, and the anger just burst out.

"You want an explanation? Well, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I don't have more answers for you, Will." Troi's voice crept up in volume along with her resentment as she spoke. "I'm sorry you had to hear it from the captain, and I'm sorry that you were so caught up in your inner conflict that you couldn't say anything," anger permeated the counselor's words "not one thing in my defense when Data was going on about term…" The word caught in her throat and Troi's voice broke. The same tears that had sprung out of fear when she had been in sickbay that morning, returned to her eyes with little warning. She had always hoped that the news of a baby in her life would bring tears of happiness, but life, as she had learned a long time ago, usually had different plans for her.

"Is that why you don't want to talk to me?" Riker hated making his imzadi cry, so he tried to calm down and sound less angry, though he was sure that she could still sense his turbulent emotions. "Because I didn't say anything to Data?" He was determined to get an answer to something.

The counselor only leaned silently against the side of the lift with her arms crossed in front of her. Looking anywhere but at Riker, tears trailed down her face. The commander took her silence as a yes.

Riker brought a hand up to his head in frustration. "You tell me you're pregnant and it's like a bullet right through me." he pointed at his own chest "Didn't even see it coming! All I could think about was that I was having a baby with you, and then I have to hear all that in a staff briefing? From the captain? What was I supposed to do? Stand up and protect my child? I don't even know if it's mine!" He tried to take a calming breath. He had to ask it. "Am I the father of this baby, Deanna?" Riker paused and stared at her, against hope for the answer he wanted.

Troi didn't answer right away. She wiped her tears with the back of her slender fingers and then she spoke almost in a whisper, as though she didn't want him to hear the words, "I don't know."

Riker released the breath he was holding and leaned back against the lift in a gesture of defeat. He stared at the carpet for a moment. They were both silent.

"Computer, resume course. So, whose is it?" Riker managed to find the strength to ask. It was a question he had hoped that he wouldn't have to ask. The commander's voice was softer now, but the words were still loud in the silence of the turbo lift, and Troi could hear the pain in them.

The counselor shook her head. She felt the effort Riker invested into asking that question, and he deserved the only straightforward answer she had. "There's no one else, Will," she said, but she still would not look at him. His breathing was all she heard in response.

"You know…" he said after a brief pause. "I know there's something mysterious about all this; that something happened to you that you don't understand, and that the baby is growing in a way that can't be explained…but I hoped that, in spite of all that…the baby would still be mine."

Troi looked at him leaning against the side of the lift just as she was. She knew that was how he felt. She knew him too well to expect anything from him but acceptance and love towards his own child. But the overwhelming uncertainty of the events surrounding this particular child cast doubt over any certainties either of them might have had.

"When I found out," Troi said, "my first and only thought was of how to tell you that you were going to be a father." She searched for his eyes for the first time since he entered the lift with her. "Before everything else came about and turned things upside down…" She reached for his hand and held it. "There was no doubt in my mind, imzadi."

Riker had turned to watch her as she spoke, and when their eyes met neither one could look away. It wasn't the answer he thought he wanted, but it settled part of his soul.

"Don't you think I still hope that it's true?" she said softly. Her answer was an almost imperceptible smile on his face.

The lift's sudden stop interrupted the moment and its doors slid open. Troi was stepping out of the lift when the commander's voice made her stop and turn around.

"Deanna, I'm sorry."

The counselor had to smile at that. It sounded like an apology coming from a very sincere young boy in a commander's uniform. It was a precious image that warmed her heart. No wonder they could never stay angry at each other.

"Maybe we can talk again later today…without yelling at each other." Riker ended with a half-smile that charmed her every time.

"I would like that very much," She replied with a soft smile of her own.

Without another word, Troi stepped out into the corridor, and with a sigh, the doors of the lift closed between them.