Betrayal ( to Bloodlines

Original Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 20:24:22 -0600

"Nurse Ogawa to Captain Picard!" the voice interrupted the relative calm of the Bridge crew.

Nurse Ogawa, Alyssa? Why the hell is she calling me on the bridge? Picard looked to his Counselor for confirmation. Deanna suddenly looked completely pale. "Picard here, go ahead," he said into the air.

"Sir," she began as a loud crashing noise made everyone on the bridge turn as though they would be able to locate its source. "It's Dr. Crusher. I think you and Counselor Troi better get down here." He was already halfway up the ramp at the mention of Beverly's name.

Running into Sickbay he was shocked to see several technicians cleaning up what appeared to be the remnants of broken equipment and scattered debris. He looked around for any sign of Beverly. "What the devil happened here?" he called out above their bent heads.

A young man stood up and began hesitantly, "It was Dr. Crusher, Sir. She appeared to be rather upset, she just . . ."

"Where is she now? Is she alright?" Picard asked impatiently.

"She took off a minute ago, Nurse Ogawa went after her," he added.

"Where'd they go?" the Captain asked but the young man just shook his head. "Computer, location of Dr. Beverly Crusher?"

The ever-calm voice answered, "Dr. Crusher is in her quarters, Deck-" and he was on his way again. Deanna had to run to keep up with him. She had sensed something was wrong a minute before the call came in. A wave of anger the likes of which she hadn't felt in a long time had reached as clearly as if she had been physically struck. The source became clear all too quickly as the next emotions found their way to her; confusion, sadness, overwhelming pain- betrayal.

As they made their way to Beverly's quarters the feelings were still vibrant but those emanating from the Captain were just as intense. He was deeply concerned and even a little frightened. What could have done to this Beverly? She fought to keep her guards in place lest she be overwhelmed herself.

Outside Beverly's quarters, Alyssa and two security guards were trying to get the Doctor to open her door. Jean-Luc stepped in front of them as a loud crash came from inside. He called out his security override code and told the guards to wait outside.

Beverly was at her desk throwing things from the drawers and then the drawers themselves. She looked up momentarily but didn't stop her path of destruction. Next, she went to a shelf and began knocking its contents to the ground. Picard was shocked by his best friend's behavior. What could have done this to her?

"Beverly," he called as calmly as he could manage. She didn't even turn to acknowledge him. "Beverly, stop this," he said a bit more forcefully. Deanna and Alyssa waited just inside the door.

Jean-Luc noticed a spot of blood on Beverly's left hand- he had to stop her. Her back was still to them. Quickly crossing to her, he wrapped his arms around her from behind as she began struggling to free herself. He had trapped her arms at her sides; she wanted to fight him but the anger had drained all her strength. "Beverly, please tell me what's going on?" he said softly as she stopped fighting his hold on her.

She relaxed forward a bit as gentle sobs began to shake her body. He loosened his grip a little and she turned to face him. "You have no idea what he did to me . . . to you . . . to us." Her face was flush with color; slowly, colorless tears descended down her cheeks. The sight tore at his heart. He reached to wipe them away. "Oh, Jean-Luc," she cried as she collapsed against his shoulder. The crystal tears flowed onto his uniform.

In the background, Deanna motioned to Alyssa and they both slipped out of the room. Whatever had happened it was up to Jean-Luc and Beverly to sort through the aftermath.

Jean-Luc held Beverly close as her whole body shook against him. Tenderly he moved her hair away from her cheek where it had become trapped by the moisture of her tears. He turned his head to ask Deanna and Nurse Ogawa to leave them alone only to discover he and Beverly were already alone in her quarters. He mentally thanked them, knowing they would be discrete. By now there were probably all kinds of rumors making their way through the ship regarding the incident in Sickbay. He had to find out what would cause such a reaction. Perhaps he should have asked Nurse Ogawa to administer a sedative to Beverly; her crying hadn't slowed and the muffled words she repeated were incoherent.

"Shh, Beverly, it's all right, I'm here." He tied to find the words to soothe her, but she didn't hear any of them. It took several minutes for her to catch her breath as she gasped for oxygen. Still clinging to him, she tried to focus her mind. It was impossible; the swirl of images was too overwhelming.

A horrifying thought struck him. My God, maybe something happened to Wesley. He couldn't recall any subspace message being received today. Surely he would have been notified immediately if . . . . He pulled back to look at her, "Beverly, is it Wesley? Did something happen to him?" the concern clear in his eyes.

She laughed. A small, ironic laugh in the face of it all. "Wesley," she whispered as if a new realization came to her. "My Wesley," she shook her head. Her throat was very dry, "What's he going to say when he finds out?" A new batch of tears began to flow.

Picard was thoroughly confused; if it wasn't Wesley then what? or who? He held her close again for another woeful minute. She suddenly pulled away from him, fire in her eyes, "That bastard! I'll show you what he did!"

Beverly crossed back to her desk and began rifling through the already scattered contents. Finally, she found the offending computer padd that had betrayed her so thoroughly. She thrust it toward Jean-Luc, "Here, see if you're as disgusted as I am."

He wasn't sure he wanted to know what information the padd contained. He tried to decipher the information, but it was a medical jumble; something about DNA codes and baseline analysis. "Beverly, I'm afraid I don't understand."

She sighed and began her explanation, "It says, oh God, I don't even know where to begin . . . it's-"

"Just take a deep breath and start from the beginning," he offered.

Her body began to shake again as she thought about *the beginning*. "It's Jason," she began gasping for air. "I found a match for his DNA, the real thing this time."

Picard's heart began to race; it had only been a few days since the boy had left the Enterprise. It had taken him by surprise to find he might have had a son. Then just as quickly that hope evaporated. It was all an elaborate plot by a revenge-hungry Ferengi. It caused many old memories to surface; an almost forgotten affair; a lover who now rested in her grave. He hadn't even had time to digest the fact that she had obviously been with someone else immediately before or after the affair. He preferred not to think about it.

"It's Jack- Jack was his father," she spat out the words like a bitter poison.

Jean-Luc's artificial heart stopped and sank into the pit of his stomach. All the oxygen disappeared from the room; he was about to become physically ill. He sank to his knees gasping for air. Beverly moved to his side and helped him into a sitting position. His color was frighteningly pale- fortunately, the Doctor persona kicked in and she was able to react to him despite her own sick feeling.

"Are you sure?" he begged hoping another mistake had been made. The look in his eyes was desperate.

"Yes," she said evenly. "I duplicated the results three times. I couldn't believe it . . . I didn't want to be right . . ." This time she fought the tears back down.

Jean-Luc was shaking his head slowly. His best friend, a man he had honored and trusted with his life. How could they keep something like that from me? He thought he knew Jack Crusher. He thought Miranda felt as intensely as he did at the time. Now it felt as though he never knew either of them. Oh my God. Beverly, Jack had already met and was dating Beverly at the time. That's why Picard was with Miranda in the first place. He wasn't about to come between Jack and Beverly. . . even in the aftermath of Jack's death he honored that promise, that unspoken vow he had taken never to tell Beverly how he really felt about her. And now it was all for nothing.

The anger came slowly, building like a gentle fire then whipped into a full-blown inferno as the full implications of it all hit him. Now he understood why she had reacted so violently. He swallowed a wave of nausea and just as it threatened to begin a new path of destruction he caught sight of Beverly's trembling hands. She was wiping the blood away from the small cut on her left hand with her lab coat. He took her hand in his and kissed it tenderly. The metallic taste settling on his lips. She had been betrayed far worse than he.

"I'm so sorry Beverly," his voice gravelly and low. His throat was so parched it was difficult to make any sound at all.

"It's not your fault. It's ... it's ... dammit!" She sat next to him on the floor and rested her forehead on his shoulder for a minute. Just long enough to gather the strength to continue. "What kind of woman sleeps with two men so close she can't even tell ... and you were best friends, how could she?... how could *he* do this to you?!"

Jean-Luc had the same thoughts, but it struck him that in spite of everything, Beverly was thinking of his feelings not simply wallowing in her own self-pity but trying to understand how this was going to affect him. Angry because it did affect him.

"Oh Jean-Luc, I'm sorry. I never should have told you- if I could have just kept my damn temper under control." He smiled at the thought. She had every right to throw the royal tantrum she had. Hell, he would have done the same thing if he had been alone. If they weren't already dead, I'd probably- What would he do? He thought about that for a minute. All the 'what ifs' were too confusing. The question now was what to do next?

They sat on the floor slowly digesting all the implications of this revelation. It was such a long time ago; as if two other people had lived that experience. But the pain they felt was too real for that possibility. Then it hit both of them again- how much time had passed as they held onto loyalties that never were. If they had known from the beginning things might have turned out so much differently. But it was too late for those thoughts also.

They looked at each other with sadness, a longing for what might have been, what still might be. Reaching for each other's face, they trailed their fingers down the sculptured lines. Her eyes were still red from her earlier efforts; the teary pathway still marked on her cheeks.

They leaned forward and kissed gently. Their foreheads rested against each other as his arms pulled her closer. He lay back on the floor and she nestled into the crook of his shoulder. He stared at the ceiling while his hands played in her hair. She stared at the contents of her desk drawers strewn about the cabin.

They stared at nothing- they said nothing.

- The End (?)-