A/N I've borrowed Judith from E. Wallace. I guess they could sue if they wanted too.
Captain's Personal Log: Supplemental
The Titian is due to arrive in three hours with the representatives of the Tere 'Tel high counsel. How I'm supposed to negotiate a biphasic weapons treaty with them in just a few days is beyond me.
Seeing my now former ship and crew again would be enough of an emotional ringer, but running interference between Beverly and Deanna has become a full time job. I'm not sure how much longer we can all exist here with all of us pretending that everything's alright.
...
Beverly blinked at him.
"I see." She said almost coolly, breaking the icy silence she'd been in since he'd stop talking.
"Dr.."
"No Captain I understand its-."
"No you don't understand. It's not about not trusting you or-."
"Will really. You don't have to explain any longer. I'll just-." She held up her hand for a second before tapping her combadge. "Dr. Selar could you join us in here please?"
"Beverly." He sighed again, this was not going how he'd hoped.
"Dr?" The tiny Vulcan slipped into Picard's office with out much of a sound. Beverly spun on her heels.
"Selar, the Captain has just informed me that Dr. Ree of the Titian will be meeting with you this afternoon to go over Counselor Riker's prenatal information and brief you on Fibronatal Infusion.
"Ma'am?"
"The Captain and Counselor have decided that you will be taking over as her Obstetrician." Beverly's professional detached tone hurt Will's ears.
"Sir?" She turned her questioning eyes to Riker. His were still on his CMO.
"Beverly please. If you'll just give me a moment to explain."
"Not necessary. Now if you'll excuse me I'm needed else where." She swept past the both of them, leaving a very guilty Captain and a very confused Vulcan in her office.
Will Riker took a long breath before looking at his assistant chief of medicine.
"Selar." He dropped the pad he'd been holding into her hands and gave her a quick nod before leaving.
Will waited in the corridor for a few minutes making sure he'd given Beverly enough time to get away.
He wished she'd let him get past 'Deanna and I think it's best.." He had many good lines after that. Plenty of praise. Plenty of ego stroking. Sugar. He'd thought to himself as he'd rehearsed it last night. To help the medicine go down.
But she'd preferred to take hers straight it seemed.
He needed someone to talk to. Someone who was not his wife. He needed to talk to Jean Luc Picard. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He could feel Deanna's mind reaching questioningly out to his.
Believe me Imzadi you don't want to know. He sent to her before securing the walls he had around his current emotional state. She had enough to worry about.
This ship surely had someone aboard who could work this through with him. Someone who didn't have a personal stake in it all.
"Computer. Location of Counselor McKenna?"
"Counselor McKenna is in session."
"Of course she is." Will muttered to himself before huffing and heading towards the next best thing.
"I was wondering what was taking you so long." Her dark lips split into a calming smile and the Captain couldn't help but share it.
"Oh you knew I couldn't stay away." He shook his head before hugging the woman.
"You want the usual?" She purred, as he dropped onto the chair between them.
"You still remember?"
"I've got the good stuff." She lifted a sly eyebrow before floating off to the bar and returning with his favorite beverage.
"So what's on your mind Captain?"
"Where do I start? I'm finally here. He gestured around the room. "The flag ship of the Federation. Back Home. Deanna's struggling through the last few weeks of this pregnancy, the Damn Tere'Tel can't keep their biphasic energy to themselves, my mentor has a degenerative disease and I just had to tell my CMO, his wife, that she won't be delivering our child. And speaking of children I haven't seen my daughter awake in two days."
He stopped, rubbing his face with his hands before taking a long drink.
"Other than that it's just peachy."
"Beverly took it hard?" She asked the question more like stating the fact. Will could only grimace. "She's been through a lot."
"I know." He grimaced.
"You and Deanna made the right decision." Guinan assured him softly.
"Did we?" Will questioned silently. "She's the best doctor in Starfleet."
"She's the best Doctor in Star Fleet because she's a healer. There is nothing hear to heal. Not Jean Luc, not Deanna, not Elizabeth. She's the best Dr. in Star Fleet but she's powerless to save her own family from their pain and suffering."
"The damn guilt radiates off of her. I don't even have to use Deanna's empathy for it to overwhelm me." He took another swig. "She's done nothing to feel guilty about."
"No." Guinan agreed.
"But I go in there telling her we want Selar to deliver this baby.." He sighed. "How else is she supposed to take that?"
"You think he meant it that way?" Judith McKenna asked calmly as her patient wore holes in the carpet of her office.
"How else could he have meant it? He doesn't trust me and I can't say that I blame him."
"Did he say he didn't trust you?"
"He didn't have to. I mean how much trust should he have in me anyway? I'm the one that caused this whole mess."
"You caused Fibronatal Infusion? That's quiet a feet considering from my knowledge I believe it had already become an obscure Betazoid illness years before you were born." Judith hummed.
"You know what I mean."
"I do." Judith reached out and grabbed Beverly's arm as she paced by. "I just wanted to remind you how ridiculous you sound."
The red head snatched her arm back from her friend before dropping onto the couch beside her.
"My ignorance destroyed their child Judith. It's hardly ridiculous to think that they might blame me."
"And you think that by replacing you with Selar they're protecting themselves?"
"Who else could they be protecting?" Beverly whined, looking up at Judith's raised eyebrow. "Me?" She squeaked when her friend didn't reply.
"You." Judith confirmed. "And that's very noble of them, seeing as they don't even know about your secret lab and the hours of research and testing you've been doing in there."
"Secret lab." Beverly moaned. "You make me sound like a mad scientist or something."
"Well.. As a doctor you are a scientist.. And well Beverly you do seem-,"
"That's enough Counselor" She teasingly interrupted, before the smile faded off of her lips. "You know I'd tell Jean Luc in frustration that trying to cure all of them was making it impossible to cure any of them he'd tell me to cure Lizzie." She smiled sadly. "He'd say that he was an old man and that she had her whole life ahead of her. And if he had to loose his mind for her to have lungs, he'd do it."
"Beverly. You can't save everyone."
"No." Picard looked up at McKenna again before wiping at her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I can't save any of them."
"Deanna doesn't need saving." Judith reached out and gripped Beverly's wrist. "She's going to be fine. She's going to deliver a healthy baby and go on to live a healthy life." Beverly's lips twitched. "She doesn't blame you. No one is blaming you."
"Except for me." The CMO whispered. "I blame me. I gave her the damn hypo-."
"And if any pregnant crew member walked into sickbay tomorrow with the same complaint you would give the same hypo and all that would happen to them is that their pain would go away." Judith smiled sadly. "It's not your fault."
"I wish I could believe that." Beverly shook her head.
"Maybe if you could the Riker's wouldn't see it necessary for Selar to deliver their child."
Commander Geordi LaFordge slipped off the turbo lift and joined Commander Vale outside the diplomatic conference room.
"They still in there?" He asked in amazement.
"Yep." Vale sighed.
"How long does it take to convince someone not to use biphasic energy?" He turned, pushing his body up against the wall beside her in exhaustion. "I'm pretty sure 'you'll dissolve your entire population' only takes like.. Ten seconds."
"They think they can control it." She sighed.
"They can't." Geordi assured.
"I'm assuming that part of the discussion is what's lasting longer than your ten seconds."
LaFordge shook his head,
"You hear anything from Star Fleet command yet?"
"Nope" She sighed again, looking at him with a look of uncertainly.
"You'll get it. They're just being slow to mess with you."
"I don't know." Christina smiled. "I just don't want them to send me some fresh from a desk, brain trust, to break in as my boss you know?"
"You'll get it." he assured again before pushing off the wall. "They're coming."
Vale straightened up as well, silently praising Geordi's heightened sight as the doors slid open.
Will was still shaking hands with the Counsel members with Worf and B-4 flanking him on either side.
He stole a look at Christine and she sagged back. She'd been his Number 1 for years, she could read him like a book and they both knew that this was only the end of one small chapter.
"We'll meet again tomorrow morning." Will confirmed as he bowed slightly to the Ambassador. "Commander Vale will get you beamed back to the Titian."
He waited until Christine had led them into the lift before he looked at Geordi and blew out a long breath.
"Geordi we need to discuss what your going to present to them tomorrow." Will said slowly before wincing. His hand flew to his temple as his breath quickened. B-4's lavender eyes regarded him with mild interest.
"Captain?" Geordi leaned forward slightly. "Are you alright?"
Will's face snapped back to his Engineer.
"Yes of cour-" B-4 caught the catch in the tall man's breath.
"Actually Geordi can we do this later?"
"Sure." He whispered calmly as Riker pushed past him and into the turbo lift.
"What the hell was that?"
"I do not know Geordi." B4's; deep voice chimed in. "But it is the fourth episode like that I have witnessed since Captain Riker has come on board."
"If he found it relevant. He would have shared it with us by now." Worf 's commanding tone quickly ended the gossip as Geordi silently nodded his head.
Will rounded the corner to his quarters crashing against the wall as he did. He put his hand onto the panel and let it guide him to the door way as the door swished open.
"I'm sorry." He heard her cry as he stumbled towards their bedroom. "I tried to wait but I couldn't stand it any more! I'm sorry."
"Shh.." He whispered dropping onto the bed where she was curled up in a ball. He rested one hand on her side while the other fumbled for the med kit Dr. Ree had supplied. "It's alright."
He struggled to control himself as his wife writhed in pain beside him. Will grasped at the hypospray, pressing it with a hiss against the tender skin of his neck. He winced as the medication made it's way though his skin.
"I tried. But I couldn't do it anymore. I'm sorry. I-.. I couldn't stand it." Deanna sobbed as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the link between them, sweeping the pain from her mind into his.
"Shh.." He whispered again, waiting for the medication to numb the agony she was sending him. "Just breathe. It's okay."
He lowered himself down on the bed next to her as she continued to cry softly until she fell into a fitful sleep. He tried to focus on the hazy tingle of the medication as he closed his own eyes.
"Every things going to be okay." He whispered as he lost grip on both of their consciousness'.