A/N: *crawls out from a pile of sewing projects and study materials* Hi! Not dead! To tell you what's been going on in life the last couple months would be longer than this chapter. Suffice to say, one cannot create with an empty reservoir. Thanks to enough procrastination-motivation, I got this chapter out. Thank you for y'all's patience. Hope you enjoy!
Elle woke up slowly, her brain booting up one step at a time. She blinked, letting the dim ceiling blur into focus. She focused on her hearing and Simba's purring next to her. She stretched luxuriously, her joints popping. She yawned and let out a little hum. "Alexa, what's the stardate?"
"45001.3," Alexa replied. "You've slept thirteen hours. Dr. Crusher requests that as soon as you have breakfast, you go to sickbay for a post-mission physical. And Captain Picard requests that as soon as you're done in sickbay, you report to his ready room for a debriefing on the incident."
Elle sat up and scrubbed her face. "Acknowledged," she said.
A leisurely shower and a leisurely breakfast, and then Elle wandered down to Sickbay. "Good morning," Elle said, giving Dr. Crusher a hug. "I'm so glad it's tomorrow."
Dr. Crusher hugged her tightly. "I'm glad, too." She patted the biobed. "Hop up, and we'll make sure there were no ill effects of going through a time loop."
"Okay." Elle got up on the biobed and lay down. "I feel fine," she said, tilting her head to read the diagnostic board backward. "Even the time whirlpool headache went away."
"Time whirlpool?"
"Yeah, we got stuck in the same fifteen seconds and fizzled down from there. It was weird. if I didn't keep moving, I kept getting stuck at the table."
Dr. Crusher pulled out a tricorder and took a brain scan. "Hm. You have aged a week compared to everyone else. And you are registering a significant amount of chronitons." She frowned. "What do you mean, stuck at the table?"
Elle frowned. "The fifteen seconds, I would get up from the table, and if I kept moving, I could push through the loop. Really confused Geordi, but I made it all the way out to the lift."
Dr. Crusher frowned. "That's...hm. Not usual."
"I know," Elle said. "Honestly, the more I think about it, the more it's weird. But in the moment, I just ran with it, you know?"
"I'm going to run some scans," Dr. Crusher decided, "and you can debrief while I analyze those."
"Sounds good." Elle sat up. "So."
"You're fine," Dr. Crusher said. "Besides the chronitons, not unexpected, you don't seem to have suffered any ill effects. But tell me immediately if you start feeling dizzy, disoriented, or things start happening, okay?"
"Okay." Elle watched her expectantly. "You know, for someone who missed their wedding date, you don't seem very frazzled."
Dr. Crusher froze, tricorder in midair. "How on earth-" She sighed. "We told you."
Elle giggled. "The captain spilled the beans when I told him how long we'd been in the loop." She threw her arms around Dr. Crusher. "I'm so happy for you guys. I can't wait!"
Dr. Crusher hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, Elle. It's due to you, you know."
Elle grinned smugly. "Yeah, I know."
The doctor grinned. "All right. Go on, talk to the captain, give the official debrief. Tell him you know what's up."
Elle gave her a thumbs-up. "Yes, ma'am." She left sickbay with a grin on her face and walked to the bridge. She bounced onto the bridge. "Gooood morning! It's tomorrow!"
Everyone on the bridge smiled at her. "It is, indeed," Riker said. "Captain's in the ready room."
"Thanks." Elle let herself into the Ready Room. "Morning, captain."
"Good morning," Picard said, waving her to the couch. He offered her a cup of tea and sat down on the other end of the couch. "So," he said.
"So," Elle said, grinning at him. "The answer's yes, by the way."
"The answer?" he echoed, taking a sip of tea.
"Yes, I will be your best man," Elle said.
Picard, gratifyingly, choked on his tea. "That's right," he coughed, "you did mention that yesterday."
Elle laughed. "Sorry, not sorry."
He went to the replicator, smiling as he shook his head. "Surprises aside, I'm glad to hear it. Thank you."
She smiled. "It'll be my pleasure, captain."
He got a new cup of tea and sat back down on the couch. "All right. Besides spilling the proverbial tea, what else happened during this time loop?"
Elle began to describe the deja vu of days and slowly recounted everything that had happened over the last ten days.
Picard frowned. "Why were you spatially unaffected by the fifteen-second time loops?"
"Honestly, captain, I have no clue." Elle wrinkled her nose as she thought. "Maybe I had so many chronitons from the time loops that I just kept going forward, as opposed to everybody else?" She shook her head. "We'll have to think about it." She continued with her retelling and finished with, "Geordi and Data were invaluable. And I recommend we keep potentially reality-twisting experiments to isolated outposts." She grinned. "I'll get to write my own paper about the dekyon field and its effect on spacetime."
Picard smiled briefly at that. He looked at her for a long moment, his smile fading.
"What?" she asked.
"I am incredibly proud of you," he said. "You handled this situation without foreknowledge. You acted like a seasoned Star Fleet officer, and no one could have done more." He smiled at her. "If you were in Star Fleet, I would see you promoted. As it is, I'm putting a commendation in your file."
Elle blushed. "Thank you, sir."
"Do you have any concerns on your part regarding your adventure?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm just glad it's over with, and we can get on to more important things." She grinned at him. "When's the fam arriving?"
"Tomorrow," Picard said, logging the end of the debrief and adding it to the mission report. "We'll have the party the day after, our 'relative Friday', since everything is still on schedule."
Elle grinned. "I literally cannot tell you how excited I am."
Picard laughed at her expression. "Somehow, I can guess," he said dryly. He hugged her. "Thank you, Elle, for all your efforts on our behalf."
"It's my pleasure, captain. For reals."
-/\-
The official debrief and paperwork over with, Elle went to call Bones and Spock. Their combined concern, talking over each other on the comm, made her laugh. "I'm good, I'm good, I'm fine," she promised. "We were stuck in a time loop."
Bones huffed. "I hate those things. I hate them so much."
Spock quirked an eyebrow. "How did you get out of it?"
Elle told them.
Bones wiped a fake tear away. "Our little girl, all grown up and solving temporal loops."
"Bones," Elle complained, grinning.
-/\-
Elle bounced on her toes. "So excited," she whispered under her breath.
Riker leaned his elbow on her shoulder. "You're gonna bounce through the floor at this rate. Relax." He fended off her attempts to smack him.
Picard ignored them both. "Energize," he intoned.
Chief O'Brien smothered a grin and energized.
The group that materialized on the transporter dais was so stereotypical in their reactions that Elle barely stifled a laugh. Wesley immediately darted off the transporter dais and hugged his mother. Robert Picard was scowling for all he was worth, Marie looked pleased, and Renee was about to burst a blood vessel in excitement.
"Welcome to the Enterprise," Picard said, waving them forward. He hugged his brother, kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek, and hugged the stuffing out of Renee. "This is Commander Will Riker, my first officer, and of course, you remember Beverly and Elle."
Marie gave Elle a hug. "Good to see you again, my dear," Marie said, kissing her cheek.
"You too," Elle said, grinning at them. "I'm so glad you could make it."
Wesley grabbed her in a hug. "I can't believe you did a time loop without me," he said, grinning at her.
"Oh, trust me, I wish you were there," Elle said, elbowing him affectionately. "Wouldn't have had to memorize so much math." She hugged Renee. "I'm so glad you're here; we're gonna have so much fun. Come on, you want a tour? Wes, come on, let me show you the changes Geordi made to the manifold..." She ushered the boys away, leaving the adults to their more sedate tour.
"How was the starbase?" Elle asked, leading them towards guest quarters.
"Fine," Wesley said. "Commander Derrick was gonna let me go out with one of their runabouts to see what was going on if you had been gone for another two days."
Elle grinned. "Nice." She poked Renee. "How about you? How was your trip out?"
Renee beamed at her. "It was incredible!" He gushed about it happily as they detoured to guest quarters to drop their bags off.
"Okay," Elle said. "We'll start with the bridge and end in engineering, or else we're gonna lose Wunderkind over here to the depths." She grabbed Renee's hand. "Come on."
Between her and Wesley, they kept up a steady running commentary of the places they were passing. "And here she is, the heart of the ship and, incidentally, the heart of your uncle," Elle said, smiling. She stepped aside to let Renee go first.
He edged forward onto the bridge, gaping in awe. Wesley darted around him to greet the rest of Alpha shift.
Elle grinned. "Got my ship, got my boys," she quoted to herself. "I'm not as cool as Amy Pond, but definitely feeling the vibe."
Worf gave her a look, the kind that said 'Why in the name of Kahless did I decide to serve on a ship full of humans?'
Elle grinned and went to rescue Data from Renee, who was pelting him with nonstop questions. "Hey, do you wanna meet the whales?"
-/\-
"How do I look?"
Elle smiled at her pseudo-mom. "Perfect." She glanced at Wesley. "Dude, your hair."
"I know," he said, stressed.
"Here, let me," Dr. Crusher said, taking the brush. "My baby." She kissed his forehead.
"Mom," Wesley complained, reddening.
"It's my surprise wedding. I can do what I want," she retorted, ruffling his hair.
Elle stifled a laugh. "If you'll excuse me, I'd better check on the captain." She headed over to the captain's quarters.
The captain was glaring at his collar.
Elle grinned. "Having trouble?"
He glared at her through the mirror.
"Do we need a new shirt, or do you need a new neck?" Elle asked.
He sighed.
"Leave it unbuttoned," Elle advised. "It's just a party. If you come in too formal, you're gonna tip everybody off." She reached out to straighten the shoulder seams. "You should be so glad the twins aren't here. They would have caught on so fast." She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You look good, captain."
He gave her a small smile. "Thank you, Elle. For everything."
"Don't get emotional," Elle said, "or I'm gonna cry, then you're gonna cry, then we're all gonna cry and give the game away."
"Yes ma'am," Picard said, and hugged her anyway.
-/\-
"All right, Guinan, how we lookin'?"
"All systems go," Guinan replied. "Are you crying already?"
"Captain started it," Elle said, dabbing at her eyes with a cocktail napkin.
"Of course he did," Guinan said fondly. She handed Elle a small cube-thing covered in chocolate. "Eat that."
"Mmm."
As it got closer to the hour, people started to filter in. The Earth-based bit of the Picard family came in, and Elle went over to give Marie a hug. "You look very nice," she said knowingly.
Marie smiled. "As do you."
Troi came to introduce herself. She gave Elle a Look, sensing the mischief in the air.
Elle just gave her a smile.
People kept coming in, the music started playing, Guinan and her army brought out all the snacks. It was going perfectly. There was a flash of light. Spoke too soon. She turned to look at the omniscient being standing next to Elle's elbow. She eyed him warily.
"Congratulations," Q said, offering her a glass of champagne.
"For?" Elle asked, taking the champagne. It wasn't the kind she and Guinan had picked out. She sipped it. The taste... like you know how you can tell if something is before or after WWII depending on radiation? There was also a taste key before or after WWIII. "Q, what champagne is this?"
"Dom Perignon, 1890," he said. "Relax, it's only two years old at this point." He filled the glass again with a wave of his fingers.
"You trying to get me drunk before my speech?" Elle asked.
Q scoffed. "Please, the drinking age is 16, and you've already been well-trained by your vigneron of a captain. And besides, if there was ever a time to indulge, this is it."
"Why?" Elle asked. "For an engagement party?"
He looked at her. "Don't be stupid. It doesn't become you. Do you not realize, you chaos gremlin, that you have single-handedly rewritten an entire branch of the multiverse?"
"Did I?" Elle asked.
"Hm. Godparent, at my age," Q sniffed. "What a terrible thought."
Elle tilted her head. "They're too old to have kids."
Q flicked her forehead. "We're not in your disease-ridden 21st century. Those two have another hundred and fifty years on 'em."
"Do they?" Elle asked, excited.
"And," Q continued, grumbling, "in too many realities, they insist on squandering them, continuing lovesick and brooding from afar."
"That's just the dramatic tension," Elle said. "Can't have good subplots without it."
"This isn't a television show," Q said.
"I know," Elle replied. "That's why I'm getting rid of them." She took a sip of champagne and leaned over to jostle his shoulder. "Why don't you just say you're happy for them and get on with it?"
His protesting sputters were music to her ears.
"So you're not here to congratulate them?" Elle inquired innocently.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're treading a fine line, mortal."
She took a sip of champagne. "If you try anything, Guinan will smack you down so hard you'll be seeing stars for the next millennia."
He subsided at that threat.
Speaking of Guinan... Elle turned to survey the rest of the party. They were all moving and chatting and laughing. No one was looking at them. "Are we out of phase? Are we frozen in time?" she asked, intensely curious. "Can I have a tricorder? Can I see?" She turned to look at Q, who was regarding her with, dare she say, fondness. "What?" she asked, suddenly suspicious again.
"You would never be able to comprehend it," he said.
Elle scowled at him and turned to survey her surroundings more closely. She smacked at the counter. It held substance, but no one looked around at the sound. "We're invisible, and you've turned everyone's attention away," she deduced. "Why not take us elsewhere?"
"Because then you'd be squawking about being put back," Q replied. "One of these days, you'll figure out your own secret conversational tricks, never fear."
She put the glass down. "Did you bring a gift?" she asked, deciding to ignore that little tidbit. "Since you're one of the few that know about the wedding?"
He put a hand to his chest and gasped over-dramatically. "Wedding? What wedding? What a surprise-"
She stared at him, unimpressed.
He deflated and held up a hand, which suddenly held a wrapped box. "Yes, of course. What kind of friend did you take me for?" he asked.
"A good one," Elle said, pleased.
He sniffed, tugging his jacket down, but he'd made his face too human. He was pleased. "You know, I can preside over marriages," he said. "I'm a certified minister in three galaxies. I'm a god."
"No, thank you," Elle said. "The captain's blood pressure wouldn't survive it, and neither would the paperwork."
He sniffed, this time managing to convey his disdain for the entire realm of mortal beings and their bureaucracy.
"You gonna stay for the whole thing?" she asked.
"I wouldn't miss it for all the water in Cana," he said, smirking at her. "Enjoy the fruits of your labors." He snapped, and he was gone.
Guinan glided over, squinting suspiciously. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the box, which had stayed on the counter.
Elle repressed a grin. "Wedding gift," she said.
"Better scan it for worms," Guinan scowled.
Elle laughed. "Guinan, come on."
"If he does anything, I will gut him," Guinan threatened.
"Trust me, he knows." Elle went to put the box on the table with all the other scattered gifts from the crew.
As she was placing it down, everyone suddenly burst into cheers. Picard and Crusher had arrived.
Elle grinned and went to join the crowd.
Beverly said a few things, thank you, enjoy, no posting about it in chatrooms, etc, and then Guinan announced the dinner buffet was open.
Elle ended up in line next to Robert and Marie as they went through the line. She pointed out a few things that were alien but tasty, and watched Robert grumble his way down the line, complaining about replicated food. "Wasn't replicated," she said casually. "We have chefs on board."
"Oh."He picked up a glass of champagne on the drinks table at the end of the buffet line and sniffed it, already wrinkling his nose. "Synthehol ruins your palate," he started, and then trailed off. He sniffed it again.
"That's not synthehol," Elle said. "Guinan has a supplier."
He took a cautious sip and blanched. "What is this?"
Elle took a glass for herself, worried that the champagne may have spoiled, or the ones pouring had flattened the bubbles, but- She almost choked on her sip. "Dom Perignon, 1890," she whispered. "Q."
A faint snicker wafted past her ear.
"All the water in Cana," Elle echoed dumbly. "Wine." She put her tray down and hurried over to the other bottles of wine. The labels were untouched, but she took a glass and sipped it. It was definitely not 2257 Chardonnay. She choked back a disbelieving laugh. "What a wedding present. You still can't preside."
"Elle?" Deanna asked, passing by her with a full tray.
"Nothing," Elle said, handing Deanna the glass of wine. "Drink this. Enjoy it. It's a miracle." She went back to pick up her tray.
The only ones that suspected anything were the assorted Picards, who didn't think much of it, and Guinan, who was livid that her wine list had been supplanted with better vintages.
Elle managed to suppress her excited wriggling until they were done with dinner. Once everyone was done, starting to glance around, she stood up. So did Guinan, who went to smooth her robes and straighten her hat. Elle cleared her throat, and everyone's attention fell on her.
"Hi," Elle said, and let them chuckle. "So, at this point in the evening, I was supposed to give a speech, both honoring and embarrassing my two favorite people, but somewhere in between time loops in the last couple days, I found out they were gonna switch it up on us. So, if you all could move your chairs to face the windows? And, Data, you know that violin piece you said you were gonna play later? Can you play it now?"
Data got out his violin without complaint, and started to play a pretty piece.
People started to murmur as they moved their chairs, realizing what was going on as Guinan moved to stand on the raised part of the floor near the windows. Captain Picard stood up, tugged at his collar, and waited for Elle to walk over to him before they started walking over to stand in front of Guinan.
Everyone was very quietly freaking out. Deanna had Riker's arm in such a tight grip he was wincing underneath his huge grin. Alyssa Ogawa, next to them, looked like she was gonna faint.
Elle smirked inwardly as Wesley escorted his mother up to where Picard and Elle were standing. Wesley let go of his mother's arm and turned to Picard. "Sir," he said, nodding to him.
Picard smiled and drew Wesley into a hug. "Thank you," he whispered, ruffling Wesley's hair.
Elle grinned at Wesley across the "aisle." "Don't cry," she mouthed.
"Shut up," Wesley mouthed back, running a hand through his hair in vain.
Guinan cleared her throat. "From the first days of sailing vessels," she said, "even captains have gotten married on their ships."
Everyone laughed. Picard and Crusher shared a smile.
"It is a great honor and privilege to be presiding over this union," Guinan said, "and honestly, it is also a relief. I thought these two would never come to the point." Pause for a quiet grin. "To see two people so in love and so united in their goals, that's rare, and wonderful. We are here today to celebrate that love, and this union. And to officiate it before this ship gets into any more time loops."
Everyone laughed again.
Guinan turned to Picard, smiled. "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do," he said solemnly, reaching out to grasp Beverly's hand.
"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do," Beverly said, squeezing the groom's fingers lightly.
Guinan smiled. "Now, the vows. Do you remember them, or do you want to take them in parts?"
Picard didn't even look away from his bride. "I could never forget them," he said softly. He cleared his throat. "I, Jean-Luc Picard, take you, Beverly Crusher, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, I promise to love and cherish you."
She smiled at him, and repeated the vows.
"Do we have the rings?" Guinan asked.
Elle stepped forward, bearing her precious burden. The tiny ring box had been burning a hole in her pocket. Thank the Great Bird she didn't fumble it, and she opened it to let Picard and Crusher pick their rings out.
"With these rings, it's a visible reminder that you belong to each other," Guinan said.
Beverly smiled up at Picard. "Would you still love me if we turned into amoebas?" she whispered.
He smiled as he slipped the ring on her finger. "Yes, I would," he replied quietly. "Would you still love me?"
"Of course," she said, bringing his hand up to kiss the ring on his finger.
"Glad that's settled then," Picard murmured, eyes warm.
Guinan couldn't hold back her wide smile. "By the power vested in me, as witnessed today by friends, family, and omnipotent beings, in accordance with our laws and beliefs, I declare you husband and wife." She grinned. "You may kiss the bride."
Picard dipped his head and kissed his wife.
Everyone whooped and cheered. Elle wiped away tears and laughed when Wesley crashed into her for a hug. She hugged him tightly and turned to the rest of the room. "Who's up for cake?" she called, and another cheer met her.
The bustle of bringing out the dessert line distracted everyone, and Elle turned to look at the newly-married couple. Picard wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Congrats," she whispered, trying not to choke up.
He released her, and Dr. Crusher swapped her bear hug on Wesley for crushing Elle into her arms. "Thank you," Beverly whispered.
Elle kissed her cheek. "I love you guys," she said, blinking back tears.
"Hey," Wesley said roughly, from where he and Picard were letting go of each other, "we said we weren't gonna cry."
"I never said nothin'," Elle retorted, as both of them scrubbed tears off their cheeks. "C'mon, I want cake." She grabbed Wes by the arm and tugged him out of the way of the melee of senior officers and family members who were impatiently advancing.
"Does your heart good to see a man crushed with affection," Elle mused, as Riker bear-hugged his captain and Deanna and Beverly started laugh-crying on each other.
"Cake," Wesley said, now single-minded.
The cake was, admittedly, excellent. Elle enjoyed one piece of each flavor and watched in amusement as the last piece of chocolate-espresso cake disappeared into thin air. "Good, isn't it?" she asked nonchalantly.
Once the newlyweds had been seated with cake, more wine, and had pictures taken with Data's camera, Guinan nudged her. "You're up," she said. "Best man speech."
"No, I don't want to," Elle said, suddenly nervous.
"Too bad," Guinan said.
Elle cleared her throat and signaled to Data to stop playing. Everyone turned to look at her. She waved. "Now for the obligatory vaguely-embarrassing best man speech," she said, and people started grinning. "Not that I knew it was gonna be a best man speech until about halfway through our little time loop adventure. I had a whole script. It was gonna be half 'you're perfect for each other' and half 'don't wait till the Federation dies of old age before you actually get married'... needless to say, I am now winging it."
"Sorry, not sorry," Beverly called cheerfully.
"This could be, actually, the best day of my life," Elle said, "not counting the day that I found out there were actually whales on this ship." She smiled wistfully. "When I arrived here, I was convinced I would have to go home to Earth in shame, unable to find my bearings in this new century, with this new captain who supposedly hated teenagers."
"I don't hate teenagers," Picard complained as his senior officers cackled.
"I didn't know that," Elle retorted and grinned. "As it stands, I know now that Jean-Luc Picard, as he always has, loves every single person on this ship, dare I say, this galaxy, and will always do the right thing, even in defiance of even He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named."
Brat, a subconscious whisper on the wind.
"There's a lot of things you need to survive out here," Elle said. "Through the best things in the universe and the worst, you know the thing you need most of all, to borrow a phrase, you need a hand to hold. Thankfully, Dr. Crusher has two hands, so she can hold hands and a hypospray at the same time."
Everyone laughed.
"What's the captain holding in his other hand?" a crewman hollered and was swiftly smacked into submission.
"My hand," Riker hollered back, and Deanna almost spit out her drink choking back laughter.
Elle snickered and then refocused back on the happy couple. "The two of you have beat the odds time and time again," she said, "and I know that this ship, and this crew, and the two of you, are always stronger together than apart. I-" The back of her neck tingled. Something... she looked around the room. Something was off... She squinted at a crewman she didn't recognize. "You-"
The man brought up a phaser.
"Q!" Elle yelled, already moving.
Everything froze, including the phaser beam.
Q stepped back into phase. "Interesting," he drawled. "One of these things is not like the other." He snapped, and the man was standing there with them.
"Who are you?" Elle asked, trying to still her racing heart.
He glared at them.
"A Temporal Agent," Q said, wrinkling his nose. "From the Temporal War."
"You don't know what you've done to the time stream," the man snarled.
"Oh, you're on the bad guy side," Elle realized.
"You've ruined everything," the man raged, struggling against Q's invisible hold.
"Out of curiosity, what does this change?" Elle asked.
"Their future children are ambassadors to the Suliban," Q said, after a moment. "Mostly. And then sometimes they go back in time and stop factions from weaponizing the NX-01."
"Huh?"
"Telling the future is only telling probabilities," Q said. "Forward and back."
"So them getting married stabilizes the future," Elle said. "Nice."
The man swore under his breath. "Abomination," he spat at Elle. "You should never have been here."
"Rude," Elle said, scowling at him. "I can't control it. You can. Who's the real abomination?"
"I wouldn't worry," Q said, snapping his fingers. The man disappeared, and everything shifted. "I've erased him from the timeline and secured this event in the time stream. Honestly, with you here, I'm surprised they even attempted it. They've got gumption, you've got to admit."
"He almost killed the captain," Elle pointed out, suddenly shaky.
"He couldn't have," Q said dismissively. "You would've been in the way."
Elle gaped at him. "I almost died again," she said out loud.
"Weddings are dangerous business," he said, patting her on the back. "But never fear, your friendly neighborhood omnipotent being was here." He snapped, and Elle suddenly felt stable again. "You don't need that adrenaline rush. It'll ruin the moment."
"Q," Elle said, grabbing his hand. "Thank you."
He quirked a little smile at her. "For my favorite humans? This was nothing." He snapped, and he was gone again, and time was restored.
She was literally in the middle of her previous sentence. "-and I know that this ship, and this crew, and the two of you, are stronger together than apart." She smiled at them. "I know you have many happy years ahead of you. I love you guys." Elle lifted her glass to them in recognition and then sat down to applause.
"I thought there was gonna be wine jokes," Guinan said in her ear.
"That was before the temporal assassination attempt," Elle muttered back. "I decided I'd better cut it short."
"What?" Guinan hissed.
"Thank Q, he stopped it," Elle said.
Guinan scowled. "Good thing he was here," she said, and it sounded like it physically pained her to say it.
Somehow, the air suddenly seemed extremely smug.
"Don't gloat," Guinan snapped at thin air and swept away to get everybody more cake.
Deanna glanced at Elle, her eyebrows raised.
Elle shook her head. Nothing for them to worry about. Technically, it hadn't even happened.
"All right, time to dance!" Guinan announced, and servers started moving the tables.
-/\-
The bride and groom left after a couple of hours, on their way to a honeymoon on Starbase 61, which was famous for not only its hotel resort but also its proximity to two anthropology universities. There was a pool going around as to how many days out of their two-week shore leave the Picard-Crusher duo would spend going to lectures and not the spa.
After the newlyweds left, it turned into a regular party, and the different crew shifts began to cycle through to take advantage of the food and the music.
"Elle? You alive?" Someone poked her in the shoulder.
"Nnnh," Elle said, lifting her head off the table.
"Go to bed," Riker said, smirking at her.
"Clean up?" Elle asked groggily, turning to look at Ten-Forward. People were still dancing and eating. Delta shift, looked like. How long had she been napping?
"Maintenance already has a team for it," Riker said, tugging Elle to her feet. "You set everything else up. Let other people clean. Come on. Where's your shoes?"
Elle looked around for her low heels. She blinked. "I think Q mighta disappeared them, too."
"Q?" Riker asked, stilling.
"He was here," Elle said, "left a present. A good one."
Riker sighed. "Of course he was. Okay." He found her shoes under the table and handed them to her. "Here."
"Kay." She hugged him. "Night."
"Night," he said and kissed the top of her head. "Good job," he told her, smiling at her. "It was an excellent surprise."
"Good," Elle said, satisfied.
She found Wesley and Renee in the corner, sleeping against the wall. "Guys," she said, toeing Wesley's shin. "Bedtime."
They followed her out. The elder Picards had already returned to their quarters. "Bonne nuit," Renee mumbled sleepily and disappeared into his family's quarters.
"Bonne nuit," Elle replied, and she and Wesley continued on to deck 6.
He walked her to her quarters and hugged her. "I'm really glad you meddled," he said.
"Me too," Elle said, grinning at him. "Night, bro."
"Night." He went off to find his own quarters, yawning.
Elle went into her quarters and stopped. There was a bottle of wine on her desk, a note attached. "For beating the odds," she read aloud. She grinned and went to bed.