Three's a Crowd

by trekangel

My first complete fanfic story from P/C Archive challenge: A/U where we see Picard and Crusher's relationship through the eyes of the crew as they deal with the aftermath of a phenomenon that accidentally switches some of the senior staff's bodies.

5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Three's a Crowd

Although by design Beverly's quarters were not that far from sickbay, the walk back seemed longer this time. Much of the crew was unaware of what had happened to them, so it wasn't their fault that it felt like a jab in the gut to her every time one of them passed by and addressed her as 'Commander LaForge'. Fortunately, their interactions were limited to a few polite goodnights which she acknowledged with equal courtesy.

The rest of the time, she found herself distracted by pockets of colored lights emanating from various panels along the wall and flickering waves of energy coming from tiny fissures that only Geordi's visor could ever pick up. He had warned her that the constant influx of signals to its pattern buffers might be overwhelming, and he was not exaggerating. Somewhere down the line, she had to remind herself to look into what she could do about that, but for now, all she wanted to do was turn out the lights and go to sleep. She sighed as she reached her door, but nearly crashed into it face-first when it wouldn't open, having not been programmed to do so automatically by the presence of Geordi's com signal.

"Dammit."

She cursed under her breath and punched in her entry code to override the controls before entering to find Geordi and Data hard at work.

"Hey Doc. How are you feeling?" Geordi asked from behind a stack of padds.

"Better, thanks." She moved over to where Data had set up work on the dining table and pulled a chair over to sit by him to examine the baby with her tricorder. "How about you?"

"I am fine, Doctor." He leaned back a little so that she could get a better reading and cocked his head. There was a deep furrow in her brow. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'm just not used to seeing my body from this angle." She stared at him and raised an eyebrow after noticing the slightly disheveled status of 'her' tresses. "Data…what did you do to my hair?"

"I'm sorry Doctor. I am not accustomed to having to dealing with quite so much of it."

"Well, just brush it out to keep it from getting tangled and it will be fine." She untangled a few strands before looking back down at the tricorder. "The baby's readings all look good. You're going to need to make sure you eat at least five small meals a day, including at least four to six servings of dairy. Just avoid whole milk. For some reason it gives me heartburn."

"I will, Doctor."

Almost as instinctively as if it were still her own, Beverly placed her hand over the spot where the baby was growing. "Can you feel her moving?"

"Yes. It is a most intriguing sensation…she is quite active."

"She's got a lot of space to swim around in right now, so it's a little like having a swarm of butterflies in your stomach. But as she gets bigger, it's probably going to feel more like she's playing a game of Pareses Squares."

She frowned as her hand massaged the hardened bulge of her abdomen. As much as she hated the morning sickness, the mood swings, and even the surprise bouts of hiccups she found herself dealing with in the middle of the night, she would give anything to be back in her body and feel her daughter's presence again. She had to force herself to pull away before the longing consumed her.

"Doctor, when we were in sickbay, you mentioned that you have only known about your pregnancy for a couple of weeks. I take it that means that means you and the captain did not plan to have this child."

Unable to continue watching her own face stare back at her, Beverly leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes and exhaled.

"No, Data. We didn't plan this. But sometimes the best surprises in life are the unexpected ones." She smiled wistfully as she focused her sight on some non-descript portion of the ceiling, and then let out a chuckle. "Although I can't imagine what the odds are that after the thousands of contraceptive injections I have installed, my own would be the one that failed."

"I am sorry, but I can no longer perform instantaneous calculations."

Listening from where he was working, Geordi looked up. "Actually, the odds are one in 11,496 thousand." He cracked a big smile, obviously impressed that he could provide the answer.

Beverly's smile left her face, replaced by a tinge of sadness. "Thanks, but that was a rhetorical question." There hadn't been any anger or malice in her tone, but an uncomfortable silence fell over the room nonetheless. "I'm sorry, Geordi. I just really miss being in my body. And I miss…" Her words trailed off, and when she looked over to him, she could see the sympathy in his expression.

"I know, Doc. It's okay. We're going to find a way to fix this."

"I know. It just took us so long to get to this point."

"May I ask why it took so long, Doctor?" wondered Data.

"Well, I think that maybe when people suffer a lot of losses in their lives, they tend to put this wall up around their hearts because they can't bear the thought of feeling that hurt again. They forget that as much as that wall can keep the bad things out, it won't let good things in either. I started building that wall when I lost my parents and every time I lost someone, I put up another brick. By the time Wesley left, I had convinced myself that if I opened my heart to anyone else, somehow I'd end up losing them too."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Jean-Luc. He was so persistent. He found a way to break through that wall and reminded me that it is braver to open up your heart and risk loving someone than to convince yourself that it would be safer to give them up because you're afraid of losing them. The fact of the matter is that we have no control over how or when that will happen, but we do have control of every day that comes before then. What is important is to treasure those moments and realize that loving someone doesn't make us vulnerable…it makes us strong."

Beverly raised a thoughtful finger to her chin. She could see the image in her mind of Jean-Luc sitting across from her while they dined in his quarters after their release from Kesprytt, his expression so full of certainty and love. She could remember every single emotion that burst through her like a warp core breach when he leaned over and kissed her, and the contentment of waking up next to him in the morning without a shred of regret. It wasn't until she noticed Geordi and Data staring at her that she realized she had forgotten anyone else was in the room.

Wiping away a few runaway tears from her cheeks, she straightened up in her seat and smiled. "I guess I can't blame this on pregnancy hormones now, can I?"

"I think we'll let you slide this time."

"Thanks."

"You know, I think the captain is going to be a really good dad."

"I think so too." Rising from her chair, Beverly took a last look around the room to all of the equipment that had been brought in. "I think I'm going to turn in for a bit. You'll wake me if you find anything?"

"Sure thing."

With a nod, she turned and went into the bedroom with the same lyrical gait that she had in her own body.

"Geordi, did we say anything to upset Doctor Crusher?"

"No, it's not that, Data. This has been hard for all of us, but if we can't find a way to reverse what happened to us, she's got the most to lose. I mean think about it. You and I both have lives that we'd miss, but we don't have children."

"So are you saying that Doctor Crusher's loss would be considered greater than ours because she has a family?"

"No, I'm not saying that. But it wouldn't be the same for her as it would for us. You and I don't really have anyone aside from ourselves who would suffer from having to deal with these changes. Beverly is facing being separated from Wes and her unborn baby as well as losing her relationship with the captain."

"But technically, the Doctor would not be losing them as all of her memories and emotions will still be alive."

"Yeah, but she'd be in my body. Try to imagine how that would be, not just for her, but for the captain and Wes- to look at the body of the person they have this whole lifetime of history with only to find that everything they loved was not there anymore. Believe me, it would be bad for us, but it would definitely be worse for her."

"I see. I am curious about how much bearing a person's physical being has on love. With which part of a person does someone truly fall love with? Can that love survive a change in venues, so to speak? And is love limited by the parameters of who we are physically?"

"Those are all good questions that people have been trying to answer since the dawn of time, Data, and if there were any simple answers, then maybe the universe would be a much different place."

---

The start of alpha shift brought with it an air of urgency as the senior staff gathered in the ready room to go over Geordi's latest findings. He had spent most of the night in stellar cartography with little or no effect on his stamina, but Data found himself surprised by what a night of sleepless worry and sensory overload could do to the human body. Fatigue was a foreign sensation to him, coupling that with the constant needs that Beverly's body had to eat and relieve itself had turned the night into jarring fluctuations between states of restlessness and unconsciousness.

He could also tell that Doctor Crusher hadn't had much more luck adjusting to being in Geordi's body, even when the captain arrived for breakfast in an attempt to retain as much normalcy in their routine as possible. The presence of witnesses to their usually intimate morning ritual no doubt contributed to the tension that was now carrying over into the meeting.

"Data and I analyzed the sensor logs and we detected traces of an unusual ionic particle trail coming from an unidentified subspace anomaly moving away from the sector that the shuttle passed through. We were able to calculate by its velocity and course that it terminates near a small planetoid in the Sargas system," explained Geordi as he brought up the visuals on the monitor.

Will stood up and expanded the view on the monitor. "The Sargas system? That's pretty deep in the Badlands, Geordi."

"I know. However, despite all of the distortions in the sector, the energy signatures of the phenomenon that hit the shuttle were so unique that we were still able to nail down its trajectory."

"Unique in what way, Commander?"

"Well, Captain, it's a little hard to explain. We have never encountered anything quite like this. It was biomagnetic in nature."

"Geordi, are you saying that whatever did this may be a life form?"

"Counselor, until we get close enough to get better readings, I can't really tell you what, or who it is."

An uneasy hush fell over the room and Data watched as the captain stared at the monitor with the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes. Across from him the doctor fidgeted and bit down on her lower lip as her jaw jutted back and forth.

"How long will it take us to get to the Sargas system at maximum warp?" asked the captain.

Geordi motioned over to Data, who looked down at the padd in his hand for the number. If he had been in his own body, he would've been able to recite the information instantly. The fact that he couldn't was a stark reminder that he no longer had access to his informational database. He didn't have the time to ponder the specifics of how it made him feel, but off the top of his 'borrowed' head, he labeled it as 'frustrated.'

"By our calculations, at warp nine-point-six it, will take exactly thirty-five-point-twenty-seven hours."

"Thirty-five more hours?"

"I am sorry, Doctor, but the large number of unmapped plasma storms and gravitational anomalies in that sector of space will require us to manually navigate around the unstable regions to avoid disruptions to the ships primary systems."

"You're right, Mr. Data. And unfortunately, we do not have any other options. Make it so," answered the captain.

Geordi nodded and headed straight for the conn station on the bridge, followed by Deanna and Will. Data rose to head for the ops when he suddenly stopped and reached for his belly, wincing.

Beverly rushed over and pulled out her tricorder. "Data, what is it? Is something wrong?"

He sat down and smirked while she took bioscans of the fetus. "I am…fine. I am simply unaccustomed to the movements of the child, which have become particularly vigorous within the last few minutes."

"Are you sure?" asked the captain, looming protectively over both of them, his eyes filled with unease.

"Everything looks normal. I think she's just agitated." Beverly put the tricorder aside and reached over to manually examine the spot that Data had grabbed. "Jean-Luc, this is amazing."

The captain leaned in to try to see what she was seeing. "What is?"

"The visor. Being a doctor, I have been trained to be able to pick up the feeling of faint fetal movements as early as fourteen weeks, but the visor actually shows the spot where she is growing as giving off a different energy signature than the rest of my body. It's like a little dance of red light floating around in a bubble of blue right here."

Beverly brought the Jean-Luc's hand over and placed it on the spot she indicated. For what seemed like minutes, the three of them lingered there with their hands pressing into various spots on her abdomen, feeling for signs of life from the baby.

"I don't feel anything."

"Just wait. It's called 'quickening' and the sensation is almost like little ripples under the skin…"

Without looking up, Beverly slowly entwined her fingers in the captain's, and he responded by bringing his free hand over and resting it on hers. The darkness that had been clouding his eyes started to fade as it was replaced with the sparkle of wonder.

"My god, I can feel it."

"That's our little girl, Jean-Luc."

For the briefest of moments, it was almost as if Data wasn't even there and all was right with the universe while they focused on the tiny, little being growing inside of Beverly. Data had never experienced the intensity and raw emotion of that kind of closeness before. It was like a warm, physical force wrapping itself around them, and he could feel a lump forming in his throat again. All he could think of to do was slip one arm around Beverly and the other around the Jean-Luc and pull them in close against his chest. The sensation was intensely moving, and for the first time, he could understand the full impact it would have should their efforts to reverse the switch fail.

---

Thirty-five hours might as well have been thirty-five days as the crew waited to arrive at the Sargas system. For Data, the parts of Beverly's life that had been a novelty to him, like the ability to discern the distinctive flavors of food and variety of sensations that the flesh was susceptible to were quickly being overwhelmed by the emotions associated with being human. They were fascinating, but in the end, they were not his emotions and this was not his life. For the moment, there was only one thing that allowed him to get back in touch with his former routine, and that was the familiar and welcoming position at the Ops station.

"Captain, we are now entering the Sargas system. The probes sensors are reading a Class 'L' planet orbiting the central star."

"On screen, Mr. Data."

The star field on the screen ahead of them was replaced by the image of an azure blue planet enrobed by a shimmering nebula that seemed to change colors as it swirled in non-descript patterns.

"So that is our mystery planet. Are there any life signs?"

"The scans are inconclusive, Sir. The biomagnetic energy seems to be scrambling signal."

Beverly shot a warning glance over to the captain from her seat next to Deanna. "Kind of like it scrambled us?"

Jean-Luc met her gaze with his own expression of concern. "Commander LaForge, increase power to the shields. Counselor, are you picking up anything that would suggest sentient life down there?"

"I'm not sure," she answered, closing her eyes to focus. "Yes. There is definitely something do-"

"Captain! We are being scanned!" yelled Worf as the red alert klaxon sounded. "The probe has penetrated the shields and is accessing our language database and personnel files."

"Modulating shield phase variance to compensate," responded Geordi. "The shields are not responding, Captain!"

"Commander, send out a hail to the planet on all frequencies."

"It looks like that won't be necessary."

The air on the bridge grew cold and seemed to vibrate as what looked like an offshoot of the nebula came through the screen and coalesced on the bridge in the form of a pale blue humanoid dressed in a shimmering, metallic-grey robe. It was masculine, but with a delicate, almost elvish face, piercing blue eyes, and long, white hair. In full warrior mode, Worf jumped over the rear railing with his phaser in hand.

"Stand down, Commander!" ordered the captain, signaling everyone to remain in their seats. "Stand down. If they had wanted to destroy the ship, they could have done so by now."

"Your captain is correct, Klingon. Do not worry. I am not here to hurt you. I am Jo'than of the Alshat. Why have you entered our system?"

Data watched as the captain looked around before walking slowly towards the alien visitor, and in a surprise reflex, he found himself covering the child protectively. Jo'than's voice was soft and non-threatening, but experience had taught them all that sometimes the biggest threats often came in the most innocuous packages.

"My name is Jean-Luc Picar-"

"We know who you are, Captain. We know who all of you are. But why are you here?"

"We are explorers, and were passing through this area of space when three of our people encountered a disturbance while traveling from Galor IV. Whatever that disturbance was has displaced my officers from their rightful bodies, and we followed a trail here in the hopes that we could find some answers."

"Ah yes. You speak of your crew's collision with the Al-raí."

"Who are the Al-raí?

"Not who, what. The Al-raí is the conscious force that carries our souls back to Elkhif-fá, the source of our being, so that we may prepare for rebirth."

"Your souls?"

"Yes."

The alien responded as if the captain should have already known the information, but then raised his hands thoughtfully. He moved gracefully to the front of the bridge and motioned to the view screen, which was now showing a series of cloud-like 'arms' stretching out from the nebula surrounding the planet that trailed off into space.

"Our people have not always been as we are now. We lived on this planet for millennia as sentient but brutish creatures of flesh, without identity or purpose, simply existing as part of the natural cycle of life and death on the surface. The Al- raí, who existed as energy with no form, were in search of a new way of life. They found our world and discovered that we could be vessels for their souls. Together, we became something new, the Alshat, beings with awareness, culture and history. And now, when our vessels die, our souls journey back to Elkhif-fá to wait as a new vessel is prepared. The Al-raí was on a path back to us when it inadvertently intercepted your shuttle, carrying with it the essences of your officers. Once it realized what happened, it endeavored to return them as quickly as it could. Please be sure that it did not mean your people any harm."

"We appreciate your candor, but unfortunately it seems that your Al-raí miscalculated which souls, belonged to which vessels, as you call them."

"We do not understand. The Alshsat do not put such importance on our physical beings. The richness of our existence is based on sharing our essences through the exchange of our souls into new vessels. Is this not the way of your people?"

"Our people have learned that although certain aspects of our beings, like race and gender, are not important to our roles in society, our identities as individuals are uniquely tied to our physical forms, as are our connections to each other. Right now your Al-raí has…disrupted…those connections for my officers."

"I see." Jo'than replied as he looked around the room. Looking disturbed, he closed his eyes and reached out his hands, sending out a warm, colorful mist of light that danced around the room and scanned each of the officers before settling around Data, Geordi and Beverly and finally dissipating. "You have another life form inside of you," he said to Data, his head cocked in curiosity.

"Yes. It is the offspring of Doctor Crusher and Captain Picard."

"Do you not have children on your planet?" asked Beverly.

"No…when it is our time to move onto a new vessel, we are joined with it fully matured and ready to contribute to the greater good of the Al-raí."

"Well Jo'than, this is how our species reproduces. And in doing so, we form what is called a family."

"Jo'than," Beverly reached out for the alien's hand and at first he held it back, but then he reached out, allowing her to lead him forward to where Data was standing to place his hand right over the bump where the baby was growing. "This is my body. Growing inside here is my child. These people are my family, and I need very much to be with them. Please tell me that you can return us to our original bodies."

Jo'than's hand jumped slightly when it felt the baby's movement, and he looked up at Beverly with an awestruck smile before straightening up and glancing around at the others. "I believe that I understand now. I will go back to my people and inform them that we must direct the Al- raí to return you all to your proper forms as soon as possible."

Jean-Luc smiled and walked to the front of the bridge with the alien. "Jo'than, there is so much that we do not know about each other. We have never encountered a species like yours and would like it if you would allow us to learn more about your people and this Elkhif-fá. Perhaps you would allow us to visit the surface of your world."

"Captain, you and your people have our sincerest apologies for this accident, and I promise you that the Al-raí will take extra precautions to make sure that this never happens again. However, I do not believe that it is the right time for my people to share our souls with your race. But perhaps some day, when your people have evolved past the limits of the flesh, we will meet again on the road to Elkhif-fá."

His last words seemed to echo in the air as Jo'than faded away as ethereally as he appeared. The speechless crew around as if they were waiting to see what would happen next when the ship started to quake. Before anyone could say a word, another bright light just like the one that the shuttle crew experienced glared across the bridge; and just like before, the event lasted exactly three-point-nine seconds.