Author's Note: The bits of dialogue in this scene were written by Lee Sheldon.
Jean-Luc Picard sat on the bridge of the Enterprise, listening with intense concentration as Data and Riker docked the ship at Starbase 371, re-establishing the precise coordinates and attitude of the ship at the time when Wesley Crusher had initiated his ill-fated warp bubble experiment down in Engineering.
At the back of his mind he could hear the seconds ticking relentlessly away like the timer on an auto-destruct sequence. Less than four minutes remained. Less than four minutes to rescue the love of his life from a pointless, inadvertent, certain death.
And there was no telling whether they would succeed.
Jean-Luc had never faced a future so bleak.
Well, there's nothing more that can be done here. He knew where he wanted – needed – to be. He rose and tugged down sharply on the hem of his uniform tunic. "I'll be in Engineering," he said over his shoulder, heading for the turbolift without a backward glance.
Less than two minutes later he was striding into main Engineering. His eyes quickly swept the room. There was no sign of Beverly.
Mr. La Forge stood gazing fixedly at the warp core, while young Wesley Crusher and the being Picard recognized as the Traveler flanked the main console. Their fingers flew over the controls despite the fact that their eyes were tightly shut, and hope filled Picard's heart as he recognized that they were engaged in a procedure that went far beyond his understanding.
Although impatient to know what was happening he forced himself to stand still and silently watch as the two flickered in and out of reality, realizing that any interference, any break in concentration now might doom the entire enterprise. The seconds marched relentlessly onward, until,
"We're losing the bubble!" La Forge shouted.
No! It took every ounce of Jean-Luc's self-control to remain quiet, to let Wesley and the Traveler continue their work uninterrupted. He wished desperately that there were something, anything at all that he could contribute. It was agonizing to know that he was in command of the flagship of the Federation, a galaxy class starship with a thousand-strong crew, and yet with all the power and expertise at his disposal there was nothing he could do to help save the woman he loved.
He couldn't lose her. He couldn't lose Beverly.
Not only was she the best CMO he'd ever had, but over the past few years – all unlooked for – she'd become something far more precious to him – his friend. His cherished friend, one of a very small and seemingly ever-dwindling number.
She had so many qualities that he regarded highly. He treasured her intelligence and strong will, her independent, fiery spirit, her empathy and brilliance as a doctor. Her understanding of his need for privacy and solitude as a refuge from the burdens of command. The way she was his staunchest supporter and also, when necessary, his fiercest critic.
He even enjoyed her impish sense of mischief – as exasperating as it could be – most of the time secretly pleased that she felt comfortable enough in their relationship to tease him mercilessly. Her presence on the Enterprise these past few years reminded him how much he needed that in his life. Someone to challenge him, to keep him on his toes, to shake him out of his – not complacency – but his structure, his routine.
But of course, no matter how much he loved her as a friend, the truth was she meant far more to him than that. She stirred his blood like no other woman ever could. He never had, and never would, feel about another woman the way he felt about her. The way he had felt about her for years, ever since the very first time they'd met. He loved her with his whole being – body, heart and soul – and that love constituted part of the immutable bedrock of his life.
He would never tell her. She was Jack's widow, and he could never forget that. But even that knowledge didn't – couldn't – change how he felt.
Throughout the years the three of them had been friends he'd fought his attraction to his best friend's wife. Knowing that it was hopeless, convinced that it was wrong. And keenly regretting the slight distance it forced him to place between himself and the two people he held most dear. At times, to his despair, he almost resented Beverly for the unwitting hold she had over him – and then castigated himself for the unfairness of his thoughts. Only time and distance had finally tempered his ardor and loosened the dominion she had over his heart.
But now, all these years later, as his once intense passion had reawakened during their time together onboard the Enterprise, he was slowly coming to view his feelings in a different light. Experience was teaching him the precious nature of this love – unspoken and unrequited as it was. No matter how dark the hour it gave him something beautiful to hold on to, to treasure, deep in his heart…
No, he would never tell her. But now, no longer tainted by guilt, he was beginning to discover that the pure, unalloyed essence of his love for her was sustaining him like nothing else he had ever known.
I can't lose her now, he silently begged the universe at large. Please, not now.
Jean-Luc felt the change an instant before he saw it. An acceleration of the air molecules racing towards him from across the room, followed by a sudden rend in the fabric of reality just beside the warp core. Stunning blue-white light snapped and cracked through the room as though a huge electrical storm had suddenly materialized inside the ship.
Then he heard a thump next to the warp core, saw a flash of blue and a tangle of limbs. He barely noticed that the light and sound vanished, only that a body had appeared and landed hard on the deck with a pained gasp. A living, moving, breathing body – that of the woman he loved beyond measure. And all at once he was in motion, striding past Wesley as though he wasn't even there.
"Beverly!" Jean-Luc knelt beside her as she rolled onto her side and began to sit up. Took her arms and quickly scanned her for signs of injury. To his infinite relief she seemed unharmed.
She gazed up at him, her face alight with wonder.
He helped her to her feet, not releasing his hold on her for an instant. "Jean-Luc," she breathed, exhaling a wobbly sigh of astonishment and release. And then she was embracing him with a desperate strength that told him she knew precisely how close she had just come to oblivion.
He held her tight, just as he had always wanted to hold her, and wished that the moment would never end.
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