Title: Parterre, Season four, Chapter Six b: "Clues"

Rating:T (PG-13)

Author's Note: See previous chapter please :)

Chapter Six b: "Clues"

The small round containers with frilly scarlet moss seemed so benign. They were. So benign in fact that they were nearly extinct. She watched the incubation chambers intently, hoping childishly that if she stared long enough, she would be able to see the moss grow.

When she'd waken up on the floor of Sickbay and was told, upon contacting the bridge, that the Enterprise had unexpectedly traveled through a small wormhole, she knew that her plans to plant the moss would have to wait. What had followed was a long day of treating headaches and minor injuries sustained by falls when the wormhole had knock the crew unconscious.

Beverly sighed. It would take a full day before the rare breeds of diomedian scarlet moss would have grown enough to be taken out of their containers, and then another two or three weeks before she could call the crops successful

She sighed, again, remembering telling Deanna of the complicated process of growing this kind of moss.. They'd made polite small talk, consciously avoiding any intimate subject and Beverly had felt guiltily relieved to be able to chat on and on about something as frivolous as the moss she was planning to grow. There had to be a way past this awkwardness, but whenever she tried to find that way she ended up fantasizing about Troi's nude form writhing beneath her own. Like now.

Beverly tried to redirect her thoughts to the task at hand, failing that she begrudgingly thought about a young man who'd been in her year at medical school. But the slender, feminine body of her friend would not be chased away. Not even Jean-Luc did the trick this time. Frustrated with her inability to control her own thoughts, and embarrassed by the growing arousal low in her stomach Beverly slammed the small container she was holding against the surface of the desk. The ball didn't break, but rolled onto the floor and under the desk as if it was hiding from her.

"Get yourself together Beverly Howard." She ordered under her breath. Intellectually she knew that her heightened emotions were, at least mostly, the result of the airborne agent Data had released into the ship's air-circulation system, but she also knew the effects should have diminished by now. Instead they only seemed to increase. Almost if there was something in the pit of her stomach warning her that something big was going to happen.

Plastering a pleasant smile on her face she turned back to the doors leading to Sickbay's center, hoping that there would be someone waiting for her help to take her mind off her half Betazoid friend. She froze when she saw who was blocking her exit. "How long have you been standing there?"

The counselor regarded her solemnly, her black eyes unusually wide. "I wanted to ask if you could give me a sedative for my headache. You seemed occupied, I didn't want to disturb you."

The way Troi was leaning against the wall accentuated the curves she had tried to ban from her head just seconds earlier, her cheeks burned hotly. "How long have you been standing there?" She had to know how much Deanna had sensed, she had to know how quickly she could peel that burgundy uniform away from-. "Damn this!"

She didn't dare to look at her friend, even when she felt the other woman come closer she kept her eyes trained on the floor. This was killing her. She wanted Deanna, but she didn't. Heat exploded on her arm where Troi touched it and she raised her gaze. "I never meant to make you uncomfortable." The remorse was clear in black eyes, but it wasn't the remorse that got to her.

"I can't get you out of my head." Beverly murmured, craning her neck to look past the remorse, her heart beating loudly in her chest. Deanna wanted her, she could see it in her eyes and unlike herself, she realized now, the counselor wasn't afraid to admit it.

The shorter woman met her gaze head on and for a second she was certain Deanna was going to kiss her. Anticipation drummed against her temples. "I'll leave you alone."

Beverly nodded numbly, stunned by an intense sense of déjà vu, she could have sworn they'd had this exact same conversation before. A sudden flare of arousal hit her like a wall and made her knees weak. Her cheeks burned hotly with embarrassment. A vivid image of Deanna undressing herself flashed before her eyes, and for eternal second she desperately wanted to help the ghostly woman. Instead her eyes lingered on the counselor's backside as the woman left the lab and without knowing how, she suddenly knew exactly how Deanna's naked skin would feel against her own.

...tbc...

A/N: And, confused yet? hehe. Have a great time all, and be ready for a new chapter in three weeks :) (and if you, like want to, you can, like review? -smiles sweetly-