p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It had been a long, but he'd like to think, productive eight months for the captain of the federation flagship (not that he'd been captaining *anything* during his time away, he thought a bit ruefully). A certain malaise had followed him the length of his journey towards his ship, towards home, and, truth be told, he'd had too much time in the shuttle to ruminate upon his decided course of action. What he wanted most, now, was to *act.*/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As enjoyable and relaxing as the planet had been, as Anij and the exploration of their feelings for one another had been, he hadn't been able to shake, during his lengthy absence, the feeling that this was yet another attempt on his part to escape his unfulfilled desire to finally chase what he'd really been after for so many years of his life…. *Beverly*…. More specifically, a real, mature, and honest relationship with his erstwhile best friend. Or, at least, that had been the status of their relationship before he'd announced his intention to take ten months leave to return to Bak'u, to Anij./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Beverly had been very reserved with him in the weeks following their return to Earth and his preparations to take time off on Bak'u, avoiding him in all except the most necessary of circumstances in their professional roles. He'd *thought* that this might spark *something* between them, that the tension between them might at last tip over the line of always friends, almost lovers, but it wasn't to be. She'd stubbornly refused to reveal how she felt about his plans, smiling benignly at him over morning coffee, and he stubbornly refused to make any overture, insistent in his stance that *any* move was hers to make. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Meanwhile, his time spent amongst the Bak'u and the Son'a had morphed into a quasi-diplomatic mission as he worked with Anij and the other leaders on the planet to help the two groups to merge their lives and make a smooth transition to a peaceful reunification. It was the least he could do, after all, given the detrimental role that Starfleet had played in the Son'a affair and how it had almost ended. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And so, eight months later, he was not nearly as rested as a man returning from an eight-month shore leave should have been, despite the planet's recuperative and rejuvenating properties. Add to that, the fact that his once promising relationship with Anij had quickly fizzled once the physical had been sated and their many differences in personality and outlook had come to the fore…. A few months after his arrival, they'd mutually decided that they were better suited to friendship. It seemed to Picard that this was to be the curse of *all* of his potential relationships. It was, therefore, a professionally satisfied, but personally unsettled captain returning to his ship. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once he'd pondered it for a while, it had been an easy decision, to cut short his leave and finally deal with… other… matters. It was time to have a talk with a certain doctor, to lay all of their cards out on the table. Skip the dinner… and the wine… and the candles…. This last thought provoked in him a physical reaction, a very visceral shudder. While he piloted the yacht towards home, he was running through mental scenarios of how, no… *where* to engage her in this discussion which, he sighed, she most likely did *not* wish to have. He'd all but given up on her, on his desire to have a full and *real* and intimate relationship with her. He'd realized approximately a month into his stay with the Ba'ku, that this leave, this quest to explore the connection between himself and Anij, was nothing more than a last desperate bid to outrun his fear of rejection. He'd been running away, not towards something. Running away from Beverly to be more precise. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And yet he couldn't help but notice her reaction to his announcement of almost a full year's leave. At first it had given him hope, hope that she'd finally break this years long stalemate that she'd triggered upon their return from the mission to KesPrytt. Then…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Enterprise to Cousteau, you are cleared for docking. Welcome home, Sir."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cousteau to Enterprise, acknowledged… and thank you." Picard didn't recognize the voice over the comms system but was unsurprised given that shortly after he'd disembarked, bound for Bak'u, the Enterprise had been slated for a major personnel rotation at a nearby starbase. Doubtless there were many new faces aboard. However, as he brought the captain's yacht around to pass through the shuttle bay doors and set her down gently, he thought that it was more familiar faces that concerned him right now, namely one very stubborn and evasive redhead…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the shuttle door whooshed open, his eyes took a beat to adjust to the brighter open space of the bay. He took a moment to look around himself and smiling very slightly, thought how good it was to be home. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He almost hadn't spotted the petite brunette waiting for him a short distance away from the yacht. As he caught her eye she smiled widely, obviously pleased to see him. He returned the Counsellor's smile but felt a pang of disappointment that Deanna and not Beverly had come to greet him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Counsellor." He nodded towards her, eyes twinkling. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Captain." She couldn't contain the grin that had erupted at her happiness upon seeing him after such a lengthy absence. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I trust that you are well?" He easily found himself responding to her smile with an open one of his own./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes, Sir."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And Commander Riker?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""He sends his apologies, Sir. He wanted to come and welcome you home personally but was detained by a subspace message from Admiral Nechayev."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Better him than me, thought Picard with a touch of good humour, imagining his Number One (soon to be Captain of his own ship, he reminded himself; this thought accompanied by more than a little melancholy) dealing with that formidable woman. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And Geordi, Data…?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""All very well, Sir. We're all very much as you left us, Sir." As she finished that sentence Picard noticed her eyes visibly dim and her smile seemed to grow somewhat forced. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He adopted a nonchalant tone, trying not to give any hint of his thoughts or feelings. Why he attempted this charade with her after a decade together was beyond him, but it had become ingrained, habit, ritual even. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And… Dr. Crusher?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""She's…. good, sir. Actually… she took a bit of leave herself. She's… scheduled to return this afternoon actually." He was no empath, but he could sense discomfort and even evasion in her answer, her body language shifting ever so subtly. There was an unnaturally drawn out pause as he took in this new information. Deanna literally saw him shake himself back into awareness in front of her, saw him visibly assume his captain's mask as if knowing his question, then hesitant response concerning Beverly's whereabouts had been a bit too revealing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Very well…. Again, thank you for coming to welcome me back, Counsellor." He was, once again fully in control of himself… but for how long, she wondered, giving a mental sigh. Just this morning she and Will had discussed, at length what to reveal, *how much* to reveal to their Captain and friend. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Will, I don't think it's right to keep him in the dark…. To allow him to be…" She'd taken a moment to search for the correct word with which to summarise how the *Captain* would feel about the situation. "ambushed… by…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"In response Will had gently grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to him. "Deanna… Imzadi…. It's not our place to tell him. It's not our news. Let Beverly…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Deanna's responding disbelieving snort, accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll made it clear what she thought about Beverly's ability to be forthcoming about the bomb she was currently sitting on. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""He didn't consult her, did he?" There was an edge to Will's voice now. They'd both witnessed what Picard's dalliance with the Bak'u woman, then his shocking plans for months of leave had done to their friend and colleague. Oh, she hadn't said anything, refused to open up about it, even to Deanna and she'd hidden it admirably…. But that she'd been devastated had been clear to just about everyone with functioning eyes onboard the ship, from the lowliest ensign to her acting captain. Will, who along with Deanna, had had to watch that devastation play out in agonising slow motion over several weeks immediately following the Captain's departure, was understandably defensive of Beverly, whom he considered family. It hadn't mattered that the Captain was *also* family…. Beverly had been the one left behind, until…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Deanna didn't have an adequate response to that softly voiced reminder that didn't damn her captain, so she simply nodded her head. They'd not interfere, let it play out on its own. "Alright, Will." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Unable to settle now that his immediate plans had been derailed upon learning that Beverly wasn't even aboard the Enterprise, Picard went directly to his quarters and dropped off his duffle bag, deciding to leave the unpacking until *after* his conversation with Beverly, hopefully first thing this afternoon upon her return to the ship. He was too keyed up to unpack, now that he'd laid out a path for himself, now that he was firm in his decision to discuss, once and for all, their relationship with his reluctant partner-to-be. He smiled to himself at his optimistic vocabulary choice, in the turbolift on the way to the bridge. Glass half full until proven otherwise was his motto for the day. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Exiting the turbolift, he felt a swell of satisfaction as he took in his crew at their stations, everyone busy and focussed, but not too busy to notice the Captain's arrival and greet him with a nod. It was still jarring not to see the face of his former Chief of Security amongst the bridge crew, but the Enterprise had returned Worf to DS9 some time ago, following the investigation into the Son'a - Bak'u affair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Will's greeting was, of course, much more jovial, and his loud "Captain!" accompanied by that signature Riker grin made Picard feel that he was truly home, that he had been missed and that his crew, his *family,* were indeed happy to have him back amongst them once again. He'd *missed* this, he realised. Not just the ship, the missions, his role as Captain… he'd missed them, all of them. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Will stood up, tugging on his tunic, immediately ready to cede the centre chair to his Captain. Picard simply shook his head and indicated with his arm that he'd like the Commander to accompany him to his ready room for a briefing. Will settled into the chair on the other side of the desk. Picard had noticed his slight hesitation as the Commander had almost made for the chair behind the desk, already an ingrained habit from the months he'd been acting captain. "It's good to have you back, Sir. All well with Anij? With the Bak'u and Son'a?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thank you, Will. And, yes, they've made significant progress in their steps towards reunification, I'd say. And things here? My ship?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Just as you left her, Sir." Riker's knowing grin had Picard smiling slightly despite himself. He *did* feel somewhat like an errant parent that had dropped his child off with the relatives for an extended period of time and now eager to check up on all that he'd missed. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'd like to have an early meeting of the senior staff tomorrow morning." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Of course, Sir. 0h800?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes, that's fine… Is there anything else, Number One?" Picard couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off. Will looked pleased to see him, but almost hesitantly so, as if he were withholding some tidbit, something he'd rather not divulge, some regrettable or unfortunate news. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, Sir. It's good to have you back." This was accompanied by a genuine smile that put the Captain more at ease. Perhaps he was simply imagining things. He'd been away for a while after all, and was somewhat rusty at reading his colleague's body language and facial expressions./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dismissed, Commander."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Riker had cleared the threshold and the ready room doors hissed closed, Picard sat himself behind his desk, reacquainting himself with his belongings and the environment; Livingston looked to have survived his absence without any ill effects. Having already procured a cup of Earl Grey to tide him over, he began the slow crawling slog through months of mission logs, repair reports, requisition forms, and of course transfer and leave requests. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He told himself that he was *not* looking for Beverly's leave request form when he began pulling up the first of many documents on the console on his desk. He purposefully began with a review of the mission logs, all presented with the professional polish and flair of Will Riker. His Number One was going to make an excellent captain, he mused. The melancholy evoked by the thought of losing Riker in the near future, turned his thoughts again to Beverly. However, that was *not* why he closed out the mission logs and opened the personnel files for transfers and leaves that had been effected during his absence instead…. At least that's what he told himself. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Nearly two hours and a refresher cup of tea later, Picard finally came across Beverly's request for leave form filled out two months previously. Looking at the star date, he realised that she'd been absent from her post and the Enterprise for four weeks…. That was most unlike her, he thought…. While Beverly seemed to get some sort of perverse satisfaction in forcing *him* to take leave (well, not this most recent leave, he conceded) she, ironically enough, rarely took any for herself, and *never* could he remember her taking a month's worth of leave at once. Looking at the document more closely, he felt shock hit him low in the belly as he reread the destination line of the form… Risa…. What in the world would Beverly Crusher find to occupy her time for a *month* on Risa…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dr. Talbot is now on board." Having immersed himself again in the documents awaiting his perusal, Picard was startled to hear the computer chirp and inform him of Beverly's arrival onboard. For a moment he thought that the computer had mistaken her name, but immediately dismissed it as a result of his fatigued brain having spent too many hours today alone in a shuttle then cooped up in his ready room reading. It *had* been a very long, very monotonous journey back to the Enterprise and he was having difficulty focussing; the very reason he'd set the computer to inform him of Beverly's arrival in the first place, to give him time to freshen up and dissipate the paperwork induced brain fog before seeking her out. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"His mind was immediately preoccupied with thoughts of Beverly. He knew what he wanted to say to her, but working up the courage to do so was another matter entirely. He was *determined* however, to finally have this conversation with her. Regardless of the outcome, it was time, long past really. He had arrived at a point where the potential reward outweighed the risk of speaking plainly to her about their relationship. He'd come to the conclusion, during his months on Bak'u, that they were at a crossroads. He somehow *knew* that whether he lost Beverly because they simply drifted apart through inevitable reassignment, or because he pushed her for a definitive decision about their relationship, that he was going to lose her regardless. It had made the decision to have the upcoming conversation that much easier. With that, he powered off his console and rose to his feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He knew, intuitively, that she'd want time to check in with sick bay, even before she took the time to settle back into her quarters, so his intention was to first make his way to his cabin to freshen up. He still couldn't escape the feeling that something wasn't quite right, however. When he exited his ready room, he had the disquieting feeling that the bridge crew were studiously avoiding his gaze. Of course, they all knew that Beverly's shuttle had docked, he told himself... He caught a loaded surreptitious glance pass between Troi and Riker and paused on the threshold of his ready room to the bridge. He *wasn't* imagining it. *Something* was going on here… and it seemed as if he were the only one unaware of what that something was…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Two hours later, he was *still* waiting for the computer to alert him that she had left sickbay and was become impatient to see her, to talk to her. There was nothing else for it, he thought as he exited his quarters and made his way to the turbolift, calling out *sickbay* as he entered. He'd just have to convince her to speak with her alone, which might not be an easy task, he conceded. He'd been gone for months, and she'd not been exactly enthusiastically happy about his departure. He was muddling through what exactly he should say when he realised that he'd already entered the main area of sickbay and was almost to her office. He noticed immediately that the walls had been opaqued and slowed his pace. Perhaps she was in a consultation… Already? She shouldn't be back on duty until tomorrow morning. She had the Alpha shift; he'd already checked. He then remarked that, while her private space was, indeed, set to privacy mode, she'd left the door open. Tentatively he moved so that he could see inside… and felt all of the oxygen sucked completely out of his lungs, perhaps out of his entire body, he thought somewhat hysterically./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He could see Beverly, perched on her desk, long legs stretched out in front of her, which in and of itself was nothing remarkable. She was dressed in civilian clothing, a striking amethyst top, long sleeved and cut modestly and wrapped around her torso. His eyes were drawn to her legs, encased in slim fitting black trousers… but it wasn't the trousers that had caught and held his attention. No, it was the legs brushing up against the trousers that had drawn his gaze. There was a man standing close, far too close for his comfort and as he watched, the man, whose thick brown hair was now dipping towards her copper locks, manoeuvred himself into the space between her splayed legs, pulling her pelvis firmly against his. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nah-uh. Let's go. I do believe *wife* that the honeymoon isn't over for another… Computer time."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It is currently 18h02."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Another thirteen hours…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Beverly's back was to Picard, and he could see the man's hands grasp Beverly's shoulders. Just then his breath caught as the man looked up towards him. He thought he saw some recognition in that gaze, at least recognition of the rank pips adorning his collar… The man moved his arms slowly down the doctor's arms and Picard clearly heard him murmur, "I think maybe the honeymoon's over early…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He didn't remain in place long enough to see Beverly turn towards him but heard her voice nonetheless as it followed him out of sickbay and down the hallway. He thought her words might very well follow him for the rest of his days. "Was that the Captain?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He'd been in his quarters long enough to have poured himself his second tumbler of scotch. Perhaps if he drank enough, he could forever unsee what he'd seen down in sickbay… When he heard his door chime he wasn't at all surprised and yet was caught completely off guard, unprepared…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Come…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hello, Jean-Luc." She entered his quarters, turning her head and finding him with unerring accuracy. She crossed her arms around her midriff, just below her breasts and kept her position by the doorway as if she'd prefer to have an exit handy before beginning this conversation./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hello, Beverly." He was facing her, arms held stiffly at his sides, his expression hidden in the shadows cast by the dim lighting./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I missed you in sickbay… You didn't stay…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No… you were… occupied…" Silence greeted this obvious understatement, but she seemed to gather her wits quickly around her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sorry that you found out this way… You weren't scheduled to return for weeks, and I hadn't realised that…" Her voice trailed off as if she didn't really know exactly how to finish her thought. He simply continued to stare at her, unable to believe the turn of events since he'd arrived back on the Enterprise this morning. Had it *really* only been this morning...? It felt as if his entire existence was slowly collapsing around him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I was… *We* were… on leave… Our honeymoon. We were married last month, so… It was a good time, in terms of scheduling, to take leave…" Upon hearing her words, he finally found his voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Beverly, how did… when did… all of this take place…?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""After you left. You remember we underwent a substantial crew rotation at Starbase Two. You left in the yacht… We had a lot of turnover in sickbay…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And what…" He simply could not wrap his mind around this. This simply was *not* possible. "What of us?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What do you mean, *us*?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You know exactly what I mean." He'd moved towards her, was almost within reach as he finished speaking, his eyes flashing in anger at her obstinate denial of his meaning./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Stop playing games with me." He reached for her then, but she evaded him, twisting out of his grasp but he managed to grip her by the shoulders forcing her to turn back towards him and meet his eyes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, Jean-Luc, I'm not playing games. You can't. We can't…. You're leaving tomorrow." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Leaving…" He searched her face, desperately trying to make sense of what she was telling him. "Leaving…" he tried again, now focussing on her eyes, but finding nothing helpful there. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes…. When you wake up… but there's still time."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Wake up...?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Captain." He could see her mouth forming the words, but her voice was off, different, somehow lower, gruffer, not soft, and melodious as it usually was, as it always was. "Captain…. Wake up…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Captain, wake up." There was only minimal lighting in the room as he lifted heavy lids./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Captain, I have paged you, sir. Twice. I am sorry to intrude, but I needed to see for myself why you were unresponsive. Are you unwell? Do you require assistance?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Mr. Worf?" Completely disoriented, Picard attempted to regain his senses, eyes taking in the familiar environs of his dimly lit bedroom. "Uh, yes. I mean, no… no assistance will be necessary, thank you Lieutenant…". As Worf was moving to exit his quarters, he remembered himself. "Mr. Worf?" Worf tilted his head and peered down at him where he was still reclining on his bed, torso propped up on his elbows and forearms./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sir. Are you certain…" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Picard cut him off with a shake of the head. "I'm… just somewhat sleep-addled, no doubt." Just then, the remnants of the memory… no *dream* came to him, crystal clear and so very precisely detailed, before once again fading around the edges as dreams so often do. "What…. Why were you paging me, Mr. Worf?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Worf looked at him like he'd like to put a call in to sickbay to have the attending physician report immediately to check him over. *That* thought brought his mind around to Beverly and he scrambled fully upright, swinging his legs off of the bed, desperately trying to sort through exactly what was part of his fever dream and what was reality. Worf spoke just as he was preparing to push himself off of the bed. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We've reached the coordinates for your departure, Sir. The Cousteau has been prepared and is awaiting you in shuttle bay two." The Klingon continued to eye him up carefully, not quite ready to believe that the Captain wasn't in some way impaired. Picard felt all of the air leave his lungs at Worf's words, his relief so great that he felt lightheaded enough to necessitate settling back onto the edge of his mattress and allowing his head to drop somewhat down towards where his arms rested upon his knees./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sir… are you *certain* that you are well? Perhaps I should contact Dr…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No. I'm perfectly fine Mr. Worf. Just a very vivid… dream…". Worf paused for a moment and finally nodded. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Very well, Sir. Is there anything else I can…?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Actually, Lieutenant, there is. Could you please inform shuttle bay two that I no longer require the use of the Cousteau… Also, inform the duty officer to continue on to Starbase Two for the upcoming crew rotation, as intended."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Aye, Captain." Worf only hesitated very briefly before responding./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Picard waited until Worf had exited his bedroom before getting up and grabbing his robe from its place on the back of the chair near his bed. When he heard the door to his quarters shut behind the Lieutenant, he wasted no time querying the computer. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Computer, location of Dr…." His hesitation was minute, but the gut twisting feeling that accompanied it seemed to go on for ages. "Dr. Crusher?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dr. Crusher is currently located in her quarters on deck twelve."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Is she alone?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Affirmative." He felt as if an elephantine weight had just been lifted from him. It had all been so *real*… *felt* so real… in the way that only very perturbing nightmares could./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Computer, time."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It is 03h24." It was far too early to wake her up, far too early for his intended conversation (and he *did* intend to have it). He snorted softly in the quiet of his bedroom, once again sinking to sit on the bed's edge, shaking his head and rubbing his palm up and over his pate. *Too early,* he could not think of a more ironic nor erroneous thought. *Nearly too span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"late/span*…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He pressed firmly on her door chime and waited impatiently, completely uncaring that he was in the hallway outside her quarters in the wee hours of the morning dressed in nothing more than his pyjama shorts and his loosely tied robe. When his second attempt again elicited no response, he queried the computer as to her whereabouts, just to confirm that she was indeed still in her quarters. He had his fingers on the panel beside her door and was on the verge of keying in his override code when the doors unceremoniously slid open. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She stood there blinking, dressed in a low scooped high hemmed blue nightgown that matched the colour of her eyes, and an obviously hastily donned robe. Running a hand through her hair she simply blinked owlishly at him. He swallowed hard and tried not to stare at the length of thigh that her current attire exposed almost mockingly it seemed, to fuel his overactive imagination and, if things didn't work out as he intended, to provide fodder for future daydreams. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She *knew* that if it had been an emergency she would have been paged, either by sickbay or the bridge, so… that meant he was here, not in his capacity as captain, but as Jean-Luc… her, whatever. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jean-Luc, do you *know* what time it is!? What the hell?! ". He saw on her face, the moment that she remembered that he was set to depart on leave this morning. She completely wiped her face clean of all emotion, all reaction. He could only surmise that she imagined that he was here to bid her a final farewell. He took advantage of her state of outrage and confusion to brush past her into her quarters. She looked shell shocked as she turned to follow him into her living room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Just then he stopped and turned to face her. His volte-face was so abrupt that she bumped up against him and felt his hands shoot out and up to grasp her upper arms. When she'd sufficiently recovered her wit, she looked over at him to find his gaze riveted on her breasts. She inhaled sharply, about to give him a piece of her mind, when his eyes slowly journey upward to hers and she became caught in his gaze, in the fire she saw clearly burning there. She'd thought she knew every look, every expression, every potential variation to possibly be found in his gaze, but she'd never seen the look currently blazing at her from his grey eyes. She startled slightly when she realised, he'd been drawing small circles on her upper arms with his fingers this entire time and that her body was shuddering, now trembling in reaction. Just then she felt his hands shift from her arms to graze upward to her collar bones, then down, just brushing the sides of her breasts. Her eyes closed instinctively then flew open, her pupils wide with desire as she felt his thumbs at her nipples. She had to bite back a whimper, trying to pull herself out of his spell far enough to find her voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jean-Luc, what… What are… What in the world are you doing…?" Her voice was so low and husky that she wondered that she could hear it herself./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He gave her a look that was deadly, calmly serious before announcing "What I should have done years ago. I'm seducing you… And you are going to say yes." She gaped at him, at a complete loss for words, then putting her hands on his chest retorted acidly "I don't think so *Captain.*. Aren't you leaving tomorrow… today… whatever?" Her sleep deprived, abruptly awakened brain simply couldn't hope to keep up with whatever he was playing at, but she was in no emotional state for his games right now./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Not unless you tell me to go, no." Try as she might, she couldn't get a read him. For such an ungodly hour his eyes were clear and forthright, showing no signs of sleepy confusion or reduced capacity fatigue. Waiting until he was certain that he had her attention, her full attention, he continued "If you tell me to go, I'll go, but… I'll never again revisit *this.* The decision will be final, Beverly. No more hiding, no more dancing…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She couldn't pull her gaze from his, knowing *exactly* what he was telling her. She swallowed hard as she again felt his thumbs brush over her breasts, then move to smooth roughly over her nipples. She felt her body responding to his touch. Did she really want him to go? Was it finally time to deal with this *thing* between them? She could feel his breath now against her jaw, then her cheek as his fingers continued to arouse and entice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well, what's it to be...?" She'd never heard Jean-Luc be so direct with her, at least not concerning *this* topic, *them.* "Am I staying or going, Beverly? The choice is yours."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her hesitation was momentary at most as she made the first, tentative pass of her lips over his before responding. "Staying."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As enjoyable and relaxing as the planet had been, as Anij and the exploration of their feelings for one another had been, he hadn't been able to shake, during his lengthy absence, the feeling that this was yet another attempt on his part to escape his unfulfilled desire to finally chase what he'd really been after for so many years of his life…. *Beverly*…. More specifically, a real, mature, and honest relationship with his erstwhile best friend. Or, at least, that had been the status of their relationship before he'd announced his intention to take ten months leave to return to Bak'u, to Anij./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Beverly had been very reserved with him in the weeks following their return to Earth and his preparations to take time off on Bak'u, avoiding him in all except the most necessary of circumstances in their professional roles. He'd *thought* that this might spark *something* between them, that the tension between them might at last tip over the line of always friends, almost lovers, but it wasn't to be. She'd stubbornly refused to reveal how she felt about his plans, smiling benignly at him over morning coffee, and he stubbornly refused to make any overture, insistent in his stance that *any* move was hers to make. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Meanwhile, his time spent amongst the Bak'u and the Son'a had morphed into a quasi-diplomatic mission as he worked with Anij and the other leaders on the planet to help the two groups to merge their lives and make a smooth transition to a peaceful reunification. It was the least he could do, after all, given the detrimental role that Starfleet had played in the Son'a affair and how it had almost ended. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And so, eight months later, he was not nearly as rested as a man returning from an eight-month shore leave should have been, despite the planet's recuperative and rejuvenating properties. Add to that, the fact that his once promising relationship with Anij had quickly fizzled once the physical had been sated and their many differences in personality and outlook had come to the fore…. A few months after his arrival, they'd mutually decided that they were better suited to friendship. It seemed to Picard that this was to be the curse of *all* of his potential relationships. It was, therefore, a professionally satisfied, but personally unsettled captain returning to his ship. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once he'd pondered it for a while, it had been an easy decision, to cut short his leave and finally deal with… other… matters. It was time to have a talk with a certain doctor, to lay all of their cards out on the table. Skip the dinner… and the wine… and the candles…. This last thought provoked in him a physical reaction, a very visceral shudder. While he piloted the yacht towards home, he was running through mental scenarios of how, no… *where* to engage her in this discussion which, he sighed, she most likely did *not* wish to have. He'd all but given up on her, on his desire to have a full and *real* and intimate relationship with her. He'd realized approximately a month into his stay with the Ba'ku, that this leave, this quest to explore the connection between himself and Anij, was nothing more than a last desperate bid to outrun his fear of rejection. He'd been running away, not towards something. Running away from Beverly to be more precise. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And yet he couldn't help but notice her reaction to his announcement of almost a full year's leave. At first it had given him hope, hope that she'd finally break this years long stalemate that she'd triggered upon their return from the mission to KesPrytt. Then…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Enterprise to Cousteau, you are cleared for docking. Welcome home, Sir."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cousteau to Enterprise, acknowledged… and thank you." Picard didn't recognize the voice over the comms system but was unsurprised given that shortly after he'd disembarked, bound for Bak'u, the Enterprise had been slated for a major personnel rotation at a nearby starbase. Doubtless there were many new faces aboard. However, as he brought the captain's yacht around to pass through the shuttle bay doors and set her down gently, he thought that it was more familiar faces that concerned him right now, namely one very stubborn and evasive redhead…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the shuttle door whooshed open, his eyes took a beat to adjust to the brighter open space of the bay. He took a moment to look around himself and smiling very slightly, thought how good it was to be home. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He almost hadn't spotted the petite brunette waiting for him a short distance away from the yacht. As he caught her eye she smiled widely, obviously pleased to see him. He returned the Counsellor's smile but felt a pang of disappointment that Deanna and not Beverly had come to greet him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Counsellor." He nodded towards her, eyes twinkling. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Captain." She couldn't contain the grin that had erupted at her happiness upon seeing him after such a lengthy absence. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I trust that you are well?" He easily found himself responding to her smile with an open one of his own./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes, Sir."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And Commander Riker?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""He sends his apologies, Sir. He wanted to come and welcome you home personally but was detained by a subspace message from Admiral Nechayev."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Better him than me, thought Picard with a touch of good humour, imagining his Number One (soon to be Captain of his own ship, he reminded himself; this thought accompanied by more than a little melancholy) dealing with that formidable woman. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And Geordi, Data…?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""All very well, Sir. We're all very much as you left us, Sir." As she finished that sentence Picard noticed her eyes visibly dim and her smile seemed to grow somewhat forced. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He adopted a nonchalant tone, trying not to give any hint of his thoughts or feelings. Why he attempted this charade with her after a decade together was beyond him, but it had become ingrained, habit, ritual even. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And… Dr. Crusher?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""She's…. good, sir. Actually… she took a bit of leave herself. She's… scheduled to return this afternoon actually." He was no empath, but he could sense discomfort and even evasion in her answer, her body language shifting ever so subtly. There was an unnaturally drawn out pause as he took in this new information. Deanna literally saw him shake himself back into awareness in front of her, saw him visibly assume his captain's mask as if knowing his question, then hesitant response concerning Beverly's whereabouts had been a bit too revealing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Very well…. Again, thank you for coming to welcome me back, Counsellor." He was, once again fully in control of himself… but for how long, she wondered, giving a mental sigh. Just this morning she and Will had discussed, at length what to reveal, *how much* to reveal to their Captain and friend. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Will, I don't think it's right to keep him in the dark…. To allow him to be…" She'd taken a moment to search for the correct word with which to summarise how the *Captain* would feel about the situation. "ambushed… by…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"In response Will had gently grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to him. "Deanna… Imzadi…. It's not our place to tell him. It's not our news. Let Beverly…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Deanna's responding disbelieving snort, accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll made it clear what she thought about Beverly's ability to be forthcoming about the bomb she was currently sitting on. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""He didn't consult her, did he?" There was an edge to Will's voice now. They'd both witnessed what Picard's dalliance with the Bak'u woman, then his shocking plans for months of leave had done to their friend and colleague. Oh, she hadn't said anything, refused to open up about it, even to Deanna and she'd hidden it admirably…. But that she'd been devastated had been clear to just about everyone with functioning eyes onboard the ship, from the lowliest ensign to her acting captain. Will, who along with Deanna, had had to watch that devastation play out in agonising slow motion over several weeks immediately following the Captain's departure, was understandably defensive of Beverly, whom he considered family. It hadn't mattered that the Captain was *also* family…. Beverly had been the one left behind, until…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Deanna didn't have an adequate response to that softly voiced reminder that didn't damn her captain, so she simply nodded her head. They'd not interfere, let it play out on its own. "Alright, Will." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Unable to settle now that his immediate plans had been derailed upon learning that Beverly wasn't even aboard the Enterprise, Picard went directly to his quarters and dropped off his duffle bag, deciding to leave the unpacking until *after* his conversation with Beverly, hopefully first thing this afternoon upon her return to the ship. He was too keyed up to unpack, now that he'd laid out a path for himself, now that he was firm in his decision to discuss, once and for all, their relationship with his reluctant partner-to-be. He smiled to himself at his optimistic vocabulary choice, in the turbolift on the way to the bridge. Glass half full until proven otherwise was his motto for the day. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Exiting the turbolift, he felt a swell of satisfaction as he took in his crew at their stations, everyone busy and focussed, but not too busy to notice the Captain's arrival and greet him with a nod. It was still jarring not to see the face of his former Chief of Security amongst the bridge crew, but the Enterprise had returned Worf to DS9 some time ago, following the investigation into the Son'a - Bak'u affair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Will's greeting was, of course, much more jovial, and his loud "Captain!" accompanied by that signature Riker grin made Picard feel that he was truly home, that he had been missed and that his crew, his *family,* were indeed happy to have him back amongst them once again. He'd *missed* this, he realised. Not just the ship, the missions, his role as Captain… he'd missed them, all of them. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Will stood up, tugging on his tunic, immediately ready to cede the centre chair to his Captain. Picard simply shook his head and indicated with his arm that he'd like the Commander to accompany him to his ready room for a briefing. Will settled into the chair on the other side of the desk. Picard had noticed his slight hesitation as the Commander had almost made for the chair behind the desk, already an ingrained habit from the months he'd been acting captain. "It's good to have you back, Sir. All well with Anij? With the Bak'u and Son'a?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thank you, Will. And, yes, they've made significant progress in their steps towards reunification, I'd say. And things here? My ship?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Just as you left her, Sir." Riker's knowing grin had Picard smiling slightly despite himself. He *did* feel somewhat like an errant parent that had dropped his child off with the relatives for an extended period of time and now eager to check up on all that he'd missed. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'd like to have an early meeting of the senior staff tomorrow morning." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Of course, Sir. 0h800?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes, that's fine… Is there anything else, Number One?" Picard couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off. Will looked pleased to see him, but almost hesitantly so, as if he were withholding some tidbit, something he'd rather not divulge, some regrettable or unfortunate news. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, Sir. It's good to have you back." This was accompanied by a genuine smile that put the Captain more at ease. Perhaps he was simply imagining things. He'd been away for a while after all, and was somewhat rusty at reading his colleague's body language and facial expressions./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dismissed, Commander."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Riker had cleared the threshold and the ready room doors hissed closed, Picard sat himself behind his desk, reacquainting himself with his belongings and the environment; Livingston looked to have survived his absence without any ill effects. Having already procured a cup of Earl Grey to tide him over, he began the slow crawling slog through months of mission logs, repair reports, requisition forms, and of course transfer and leave requests. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He told himself that he was *not* looking for Beverly's leave request form when he began pulling up the first of many documents on the console on his desk. He purposefully began with a review of the mission logs, all presented with the professional polish and flair of Will Riker. His Number One was going to make an excellent captain, he mused. The melancholy evoked by the thought of losing Riker in the near future, turned his thoughts again to Beverly. However, that was *not* why he closed out the mission logs and opened the personnel files for transfers and leaves that had been effected during his absence instead…. At least that's what he told himself. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Nearly two hours and a refresher cup of tea later, Picard finally came across Beverly's request for leave form filled out two months previously. Looking at the star date, he realised that she'd been absent from her post and the Enterprise for four weeks…. That was most unlike her, he thought…. While Beverly seemed to get some sort of perverse satisfaction in forcing *him* to take leave (well, not this most recent leave, he conceded) she, ironically enough, rarely took any for herself, and *never* could he remember her taking a month's worth of leave at once. Looking at the document more closely, he felt shock hit him low in the belly as he reread the destination line of the form… Risa…. What in the world would Beverly Crusher find to occupy her time for a *month* on Risa…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dr. Talbot is now on board." Having immersed himself again in the documents awaiting his perusal, Picard was startled to hear the computer chirp and inform him of Beverly's arrival onboard. For a moment he thought that the computer had mistaken her name, but immediately dismissed it as a result of his fatigued brain having spent too many hours today alone in a shuttle then cooped up in his ready room reading. It *had* been a very long, very monotonous journey back to the Enterprise and he was having difficulty focussing; the very reason he'd set the computer to inform him of Beverly's arrival in the first place, to give him time to freshen up and dissipate the paperwork induced brain fog before seeking her out. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"His mind was immediately preoccupied with thoughts of Beverly. He knew what he wanted to say to her, but working up the courage to do so was another matter entirely. He was *determined* however, to finally have this conversation with her. Regardless of the outcome, it was time, long past really. He had arrived at a point where the potential reward outweighed the risk of speaking plainly to her about their relationship. He'd come to the conclusion, during his months on Bak'u, that they were at a crossroads. He somehow *knew* that whether he lost Beverly because they simply drifted apart through inevitable reassignment, or because he pushed her for a definitive decision about their relationship, that he was going to lose her regardless. It had made the decision to have the upcoming conversation that much easier. With that, he powered off his console and rose to his feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He knew, intuitively, that she'd want time to check in with sick bay, even before she took the time to settle back into her quarters, so his intention was to first make his way to his cabin to freshen up. He still couldn't escape the feeling that something wasn't quite right, however. When he exited his ready room, he had the disquieting feeling that the bridge crew were studiously avoiding his gaze. Of course, they all knew that Beverly's shuttle had docked, he told himself... He caught a loaded surreptitious glance pass between Troi and Riker and paused on the threshold of his ready room to the bridge. He *wasn't* imagining it. *Something* was going on here… and it seemed as if he were the only one unaware of what that something was…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Two hours later, he was *still* waiting for the computer to alert him that she had left sickbay and was become impatient to see her, to talk to her. There was nothing else for it, he thought as he exited his quarters and made his way to the turbolift, calling out *sickbay* as he entered. He'd just have to convince her to speak with her alone, which might not be an easy task, he conceded. He'd been gone for months, and she'd not been exactly enthusiastically happy about his departure. He was muddling through what exactly he should say when he realised that he'd already entered the main area of sickbay and was almost to her office. He noticed immediately that the walls had been opaqued and slowed his pace. Perhaps she was in a consultation… Already? She shouldn't be back on duty until tomorrow morning. She had the Alpha shift; he'd already checked. He then remarked that, while her private space was, indeed, set to privacy mode, she'd left the door open. Tentatively he moved so that he could see inside… and felt all of the oxygen sucked completely out of his lungs, perhaps out of his entire body, he thought somewhat hysterically./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He could see Beverly, perched on her desk, long legs stretched out in front of her, which in and of itself was nothing remarkable. She was dressed in civilian clothing, a striking amethyst top, long sleeved and cut modestly and wrapped around her torso. His eyes were drawn to her legs, encased in slim fitting black trousers… but it wasn't the trousers that had caught and held his attention. No, it was the legs brushing up against the trousers that had drawn his gaze. There was a man standing close, far too close for his comfort and as he watched, the man, whose thick brown hair was now dipping towards her copper locks, manoeuvred himself into the space between her splayed legs, pulling her pelvis firmly against his. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nah-uh. Let's go. I do believe *wife* that the honeymoon isn't over for another… Computer time."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It is currently 18h02."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Another thirteen hours…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Beverly's back was to Picard, and he could see the man's hands grasp Beverly's shoulders. Just then his breath caught as the man looked up towards him. He thought he saw some recognition in that gaze, at least recognition of the rank pips adorning his collar… The man moved his arms slowly down the doctor's arms and Picard clearly heard him murmur, "I think maybe the honeymoon's over early…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He didn't remain in place long enough to see Beverly turn towards him but heard her voice nonetheless as it followed him out of sickbay and down the hallway. He thought her words might very well follow him for the rest of his days. "Was that the Captain?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He'd been in his quarters long enough to have poured himself his second tumbler of scotch. Perhaps if he drank enough, he could forever unsee what he'd seen down in sickbay… When he heard his door chime he wasn't at all surprised and yet was caught completely off guard, unprepared…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Come…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hello, Jean-Luc." She entered his quarters, turning her head and finding him with unerring accuracy. She crossed her arms around her midriff, just below her breasts and kept her position by the doorway as if she'd prefer to have an exit handy before beginning this conversation./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hello, Beverly." He was facing her, arms held stiffly at his sides, his expression hidden in the shadows cast by the dim lighting./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I missed you in sickbay… You didn't stay…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No… you were… occupied…" Silence greeted this obvious understatement, but she seemed to gather her wits quickly around her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sorry that you found out this way… You weren't scheduled to return for weeks, and I hadn't realised that…" Her voice trailed off as if she didn't really know exactly how to finish her thought. He simply continued to stare at her, unable to believe the turn of events since he'd arrived back on the Enterprise this morning. Had it *really* only been this morning...? It felt as if his entire existence was slowly collapsing around him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I was… *We* were… on leave… Our honeymoon. We were married last month, so… It was a good time, in terms of scheduling, to take leave…" Upon hearing her words, he finally found his voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Beverly, how did… when did… all of this take place…?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""After you left. You remember we underwent a substantial crew rotation at Starbase Two. You left in the yacht… We had a lot of turnover in sickbay…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And what…" He simply could not wrap his mind around this. This simply was *not* possible. "What of us?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What do you mean, *us*?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You know exactly what I mean." He'd moved towards her, was almost within reach as he finished speaking, his eyes flashing in anger at her obstinate denial of his meaning./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Stop playing games with me." He reached for her then, but she evaded him, twisting out of his grasp but he managed to grip her by the shoulders forcing her to turn back towards him and meet his eyes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, Jean-Luc, I'm not playing games. You can't. We can't…. You're leaving tomorrow." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Leaving…" He searched her face, desperately trying to make sense of what she was telling him. "Leaving…" he tried again, now focussing on her eyes, but finding nothing helpful there. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes…. When you wake up… but there's still time."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Wake up...?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Captain." He could see her mouth forming the words, but her voice was off, different, somehow lower, gruffer, not soft, and melodious as it usually was, as it always was. "Captain…. Wake up…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Captain, wake up." There was only minimal lighting in the room as he lifted heavy lids./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Captain, I have paged you, sir. Twice. I am sorry to intrude, but I needed to see for myself why you were unresponsive. Are you unwell? Do you require assistance?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Mr. Worf?" Completely disoriented, Picard attempted to regain his senses, eyes taking in the familiar environs of his dimly lit bedroom. "Uh, yes. I mean, no… no assistance will be necessary, thank you Lieutenant…". As Worf was moving to exit his quarters, he remembered himself. "Mr. Worf?" Worf tilted his head and peered down at him where he was still reclining on his bed, torso propped up on his elbows and forearms./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sir. Are you certain…" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Picard cut him off with a shake of the head. "I'm… just somewhat sleep-addled, no doubt." Just then, the remnants of the memory… no *dream* came to him, crystal clear and so very precisely detailed, before once again fading around the edges as dreams so often do. "What…. Why were you paging me, Mr. Worf?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Worf looked at him like he'd like to put a call in to sickbay to have the attending physician report immediately to check him over. *That* thought brought his mind around to Beverly and he scrambled fully upright, swinging his legs off of the bed, desperately trying to sort through exactly what was part of his fever dream and what was reality. Worf spoke just as he was preparing to push himself off of the bed. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We've reached the coordinates for your departure, Sir. The Cousteau has been prepared and is awaiting you in shuttle bay two." The Klingon continued to eye him up carefully, not quite ready to believe that the Captain wasn't in some way impaired. Picard felt all of the air leave his lungs at Worf's words, his relief so great that he felt lightheaded enough to necessitate settling back onto the edge of his mattress and allowing his head to drop somewhat down towards where his arms rested upon his knees./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sir… are you *certain* that you are well? Perhaps I should contact Dr…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No. I'm perfectly fine Mr. Worf. Just a very vivid… dream…". Worf paused for a moment and finally nodded. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Very well, Sir. Is there anything else I can…?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Actually, Lieutenant, there is. Could you please inform shuttle bay two that I no longer require the use of the Cousteau… Also, inform the duty officer to continue on to Starbase Two for the upcoming crew rotation, as intended."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Aye, Captain." Worf only hesitated very briefly before responding./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Picard waited until Worf had exited his bedroom before getting up and grabbing his robe from its place on the back of the chair near his bed. When he heard the door to his quarters shut behind the Lieutenant, he wasted no time querying the computer. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Computer, location of Dr…." His hesitation was minute, but the gut twisting feeling that accompanied it seemed to go on for ages. "Dr. Crusher?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dr. Crusher is currently located in her quarters on deck twelve."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Is she alone?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Affirmative." He felt as if an elephantine weight had just been lifted from him. It had all been so *real*… *felt* so real… in the way that only very perturbing nightmares could./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Computer, time."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It is 03h24." It was far too early to wake her up, far too early for his intended conversation (and he *did* intend to have it). He snorted softly in the quiet of his bedroom, once again sinking to sit on the bed's edge, shaking his head and rubbing his palm up and over his pate. *Too early,* he could not think of a more ironic nor erroneous thought. *Nearly too span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"late/span*…/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"—-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He pressed firmly on her door chime and waited impatiently, completely uncaring that he was in the hallway outside her quarters in the wee hours of the morning dressed in nothing more than his pyjama shorts and his loosely tied robe. When his second attempt again elicited no response, he queried the computer as to her whereabouts, just to confirm that she was indeed still in her quarters. He had his fingers on the panel beside her door and was on the verge of keying in his override code when the doors unceremoniously slid open. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She stood there blinking, dressed in a low scooped high hemmed blue nightgown that matched the colour of her eyes, and an obviously hastily donned robe. Running a hand through her hair she simply blinked owlishly at him. He swallowed hard and tried not to stare at the length of thigh that her current attire exposed almost mockingly it seemed, to fuel his overactive imagination and, if things didn't work out as he intended, to provide fodder for future daydreams. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She *knew* that if it had been an emergency she would have been paged, either by sickbay or the bridge, so… that meant he was here, not in his capacity as captain, but as Jean-Luc… her, whatever. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jean-Luc, do you *know* what time it is!? What the hell?! ". He saw on her face, the moment that she remembered that he was set to depart on leave this morning. She completely wiped her face clean of all emotion, all reaction. He could only surmise that she imagined that he was here to bid her a final farewell. He took advantage of her state of outrage and confusion to brush past her into her quarters. She looked shell shocked as she turned to follow him into her living room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Just then he stopped and turned to face her. His volte-face was so abrupt that she bumped up against him and felt his hands shoot out and up to grasp her upper arms. When she'd sufficiently recovered her wit, she looked over at him to find his gaze riveted on her breasts. She inhaled sharply, about to give him a piece of her mind, when his eyes slowly journey upward to hers and she became caught in his gaze, in the fire she saw clearly burning there. She'd thought she knew every look, every expression, every potential variation to possibly be found in his gaze, but she'd never seen the look currently blazing at her from his grey eyes. She startled slightly when she realised, he'd been drawing small circles on her upper arms with his fingers this entire time and that her body was shuddering, now trembling in reaction. Just then she felt his hands shift from her arms to graze upward to her collar bones, then down, just brushing the sides of her breasts. Her eyes closed instinctively then flew open, her pupils wide with desire as she felt his thumbs at her nipples. She had to bite back a whimper, trying to pull herself out of his spell far enough to find her voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jean-Luc, what… What are… What in the world are you doing…?" Her voice was so low and husky that she wondered that she could hear it herself./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He gave her a look that was deadly, calmly serious before announcing "What I should have done years ago. I'm seducing you… And you are going to say yes." She gaped at him, at a complete loss for words, then putting her hands on his chest retorted acidly "I don't think so *Captain.*. Aren't you leaving tomorrow… today… whatever?" Her sleep deprived, abruptly awakened brain simply couldn't hope to keep up with whatever he was playing at, but she was in no emotional state for his games right now./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Not unless you tell me to go, no." Try as she might, she couldn't get a read him. For such an ungodly hour his eyes were clear and forthright, showing no signs of sleepy confusion or reduced capacity fatigue. Waiting until he was certain that he had her attention, her full attention, he continued "If you tell me to go, I'll go, but… I'll never again revisit *this.* The decision will be final, Beverly. No more hiding, no more dancing…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She couldn't pull her gaze from his, knowing *exactly* what he was telling her. She swallowed hard as she again felt his thumbs brush over her breasts, then move to smooth roughly over her nipples. She felt her body responding to his touch. Did she really want him to go? Was it finally time to deal with this *thing* between them? She could feel his breath now against her jaw, then her cheek as his fingers continued to arouse and entice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well, what's it to be...?" She'd never heard Jean-Luc be so direct with her, at least not concerning *this* topic, *them.* "Am I staying or going, Beverly? The choice is yours."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her hesitation was momentary at most as she made the first, tentative pass of her lips over his before responding. "Staying."/p