A/N: Hi! Light warning for non-detailed depiction of an aborted panic attack. It's not a large part of this chapter but I didn't want it surprising anybody.

"How did you do on your chemistry test?"

Elle sighed. "It went okay. Ms. Alta's gonna let me redo the unit and the test, and Wes promised to tutor me, so I should be fine. My brain was not created for 24th century mathematics, and especially not chemistry."

Troi smiled at her. "We don't need to be good at every subject, Elle, not even those of us with a fully 24th century brain. Not even Wesley."

Elle thought about his frankly-abominable literature and poetry analysis. For someone who was supposed to be able to understand things on a more metaphysical level... anyway. He needed to hang out with Picard more. She shook her head, refocused. "True," she said.

Troi grinned knowingly.

"Anyways," Elle said, "everything else is going well."

"Good," Troi said, and reached out to take Elle's hand. "Now, you're doing well in your basic survival training simulations, but Worf asked me to speak to you about the next module."

Elle eyed her warily. "Why? What is it?"

"The next module is swimming," Troi said. "Those certified for away teams must be able to float, swim, and carry others in open water."

Elle froze. "I already know how to swim."

Troi squeezed her hand. "Elle, you can't ignore this."

Elle blew out a shaky breath. "I know, but, well, I don't need away team certification that badly, right?" Even as the words came out of her mouth she knew she was being dumb.

Troi gave her a look.

"Yeah, I know," Elle admitted. "And it's not that bad, honestly. I still take water showers, that doesn't bother me. And I hang out at the fountain with everybody else my age, and I hang out on the main rec deck, which, you know, has two pools, so, it's not that bad. Now my first time dying had me really freaked out, I didn't sleep for months. I hate to say it but it was easier to reconcile this time around."

"Good," Troi said, "then you won't mind joining us on the holodeck for some poolside time. Will has found an excellent replica of a resort in Ensenada, Mexico."

Elle scowled suspiciously. "Who is we?"

"Just the three of us," Troi said.

Elle fidgeted, silently weighing the effects of her accidental drowning versus getting to see Riker and Troi interact as a third-wheeler. Working together over my issues can only draw them closer together, right? "Sure," she said aloud.

They replicated swimsuits, wrap dresses to go over the swimsuits, and headed down to the holodeck.

It was a beach side resort, with a terraced pool overlooking the sandy beach. From this angle you couldn't really see the ocean, which was fine.

"Ah, there you are," Riker said, smiling at them as he came out of the hotel building. He had a tray of lemonades in his hands. "Elle, do you know what a 'mangonada' is and do you want one? They had it on the menu inside."

"Yes!" Elle said.

He came back and presented her with a tall glass filled with mango and pineapple cubes doused in sweet-sour chili sauce and sprinkled with lime and crystalized sugar and chili powder.

"Oh goodness," Troi said, "you'll have to visit Dr. Crusher after you eat that."

Elle laughed. "You would think so, but I've been eating this stuff since I was a toddler. That's one good thing about the 21st century - excellent junk food."

"I'm not sure that's a bonus," Riker said, stealing one of the mango cubes. "Ooh, spicy. That's good."

Elle swatted his hand. "Get your own."

"No thank you. Us 24th century folk have no immunity to poison."

Elle did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at him.

They nibbled on their snacks and chatted about who was dating whom, or who was going to get transferred next quarterly evals, and then Troi said, "So. Should we take a dip in the pool?"

Elle popped another mouthful of mango in her mouth. "No I don't think so."

Riker and Troi exchanged a glance. "Is there anyone else you would feel more comfortable with?" Riker asked.

Elle sighed. "Well, considering Captain Kirk is in another dimension and Spock's more traumatized than me about this whole thing and Bones is like a wet cat in water and also a hundred and twenty years old, you're my top pick."

"I'm honored," Riker deadpanned.

They started small. Elle sat on the top step and stuck her feet in, eating some more of her mangonada.

"You remember that if anything goes wrong, all the water will vanish in an instant," Troi reminded her.

Elle inched further into the pool. "Real water won't though."

"We all start somewhere," Riker replied. "And if you get all the way in the pool I'll give you real ice cream out of Deanna's stash."

"Hey!" Deanna protested, swatting Riker's arm.

Elle edged her way into the water up to her neck, and focused on breathing. So far so good.

Riker took her hands off the railing and held them in his own. "Come on." He walked her slowly out towards the center. "You float, you know."

"I know," Elle said, cautiously kicking her feet to keep afloat. It helped that she could see the bottom of the pool. "Hey, can we have some conversation or something? You're concentrating too intensely and I need a distraction."

Riker carefully let go of one of her hands and gestured to Troi. "Do you want us to gossip about the love lives of everyone on the Enterprise? I have some very interesting information."

Elle raised her eyebrows. "If you're talking about O'Brien and Keiko, literally everybody knows they're engaged."

Riker sighed. "Only thing faster than warp..."

Elle giggled. "To be honest I've been expecting it for weeks now. I've never seen a man so moon-eyed, not even Scotty over his new engine upgrades."

Troi laughed.

"What about Lt. Anderson," Riker started.

"Is going to have a baby?" Elle finished. "I know. Jetta told me."

Riker sighed theatrically and looked at Troi. "There's nothing for it, Deanna, we're going to have to flirt with each other to distract her."

Elle's jaw dropped and she almost stopped paddling as the One True Pairing of the Enterprise made starry-eyes at each other. "This is the best day of my life."

"You swim, we flirt," Riker ordered, letting go of her other hand.

Elle wrinkled her nose and giggled in disbelief. She lapped around them in circles, feeling the odd urge to fan at her face with old-fashioned Victorian vapors as they traded innunendos and sly smiles. "I have a question," she announced, grabbing onto Riker's arm as she passed by.

He supported her tight grip. "What's your question?"

"Why don't you two just get married?" Elle asked.

They shared a glance, old-married-silent-communication if she'd ever seen it. "It's not that simple," Riker said.

"Yes it is," Elle said. "You both have terrible taste in love interests besides each other."

"I take offense at that," Troi said dryly.

Elle cleared her throat and poked Riker in the shoulder. "You went out to dinner with a poisoner, and you-" She pointed at Troi, "-almost got conned by a professional conman. And that's just the last two flirtations."

They shared another glance.

Elle took another lap around them as they communicated silently.

"We don't doubt our affection for each other," Troi said slowly, "but we are posted on the same ship. That does pose difficulties."

Elle stared at them blankly. "You live on a ship full of families. Captain Kirk had a ship full of families. And if you think it's hard now, why'd you wait until you had your own ship?"

They shared a glance. "I haven't got my own ship," Riker said. "Are you saying I get my own ship in the future?"

"Yup," Elle said. "You guys know you're going to end up together anyways. Why are you fighting it? And you can't say love interest plot, because you're real people and not episodes."

"That is a good question," Riker said, giving Troi a look. He tugged at Elle's ponytail. "And none of your business, Miss Nosey-parker."

"I just want you to be happy," Elle said earnestly. "And to stop falling in love with murderers."

Troi stifled a giggle. "I mean, she's not wrong," she pointed out.

Riker scowled playfully and splashed at Troi.

The water splashed Elle in the face and she gasped, flailing instinctively. Her head dropped underwater and she started to choke.

Riker grabbed her by the back of her swimsuit and hauled her above the water. "I'm so sorry," he said, patting her on the back.

Elle coughed. "Can't, breathe," she said, pressing a hand to her racing heart.

The water in the pool vanished and she fell to her knees, gasping. "Ugghhh, I really, hate this," she gasped.

Troi held her hands. "Deep breaths, Elle, it's going to be all right. You're not drowning."

"I know," Elle said, forcing a shuddery deep breath. "I think it was just the, shock of head, underwater."

"Knowing why you're having a panic attack is a good start," Troi said, rubbing Elle's hands. "Let's run through grounding techniques, shall we?"

Elle shook her head tightly. "I don't want to think about water droplets, or, or feel wet tiles. Maybe you should start flirting again."

Riker rubbed her back reassuringly. "If I propose to Deanna right now, would that shock you right out of it?"

Elle huffed out a laugh. "I, would absolutely love that, but I don't want to use, your relationship, for my own issues."

Riker kissed the top of her head. "Thank you for that. I would have had a panic attack myself."

"Wouldn't want that," Elle said, and giggled herself right out of the panic. It drained away, leaving her with nothing but exhaustion. She took another deep breath. "Okay. I think I'm all right now."

"All right. Let's go back to your quarters, get you a hot meal, and a nap," Troi said.

Elle sighed. "Nap first?"

"Sure."

-/\-

Elle slept the rest of the day through and met with Troi again the next morning. "All in all, not as bad as it could have been," she said.

Troi handed her a cup of hot chocolate. "It seemed to me you were in the water just fine. Was it just the water in your face?"

Elle nodded. "I wasn't expecting it. Freaked me out."

"Understandable." Troi gave her a smile. "I've been thinking, and it seems best we acclimatise to being in the water. I think you should attend the children's swimming lessons, as an assistant."

Elle grimaced. "For real?"

"For real. The water isn't more than five feet deep, it's at the pool, and as you'll be helping others, you won't be focusing on your fear."

"The mom friend override," Elle said.

"As some like to call it," Troi agreed. "What do you say?"

Elle sighed. "Sure."

-/\-

"But you're all right?"

Elle smiled fondly at McCoy. "I'm fine, Bones."

"Hmph. They shouldn't even think of putting you in a situation like that again, it's not-"

Elle shook her head. "Bones, I want to qualify for away teams. I want to be on the scene for different missions, if I can help. I want to help. And doing that means getting over this. And besides, I'm not afraid of whales or water. I'm just afraid of drowning. Which, you know, is a reasonable fear. But I can't avoid it. It's not that type of problem."

McCoy sighed. "Elle, my dear, you are too young for all that trauma."

Elle snorted. "You don't want me going for the record of fake death experiences?"

"No," he said sternly. "And besides, Jim invented that record, so you can just behave yourself and let him keep that title."

"He can have it," Elle agreed. She hesitated. "Is David like that?"

McCoy snorted. "David inherited a healthy sense of self-preservation from his mother, don't you worry about him. He's only been believed dead once. Maybe twice."

Elle sighed. "I don't like panic attacks. I'm still tired from yesterday."

McCoy gazed at her fondly. "Then go to sleep, darlin. Put on some of that old television you like to watch and have some hot chocolate."

"It's not even eight o'clock at night!" Elle protested.

"You could do with an early night. You've been working hard anyways. Tea and cocoa, and popcorn. That's my official prescription."

"But then I'll be all sleepy and then I have to brush my teeth and then I won't be sleepy anymore," she totally-didn't-whine.

"I'm positive your teeth will not fall out of your head if you skip one night," McCoy said. "You can trust me. I'm a doctor."

Elle rolled her eyes. "Good night, Bones. Love you."

"Love you too." He held her gaze through the screen. "Call me and let me know how it goes. But don't call Spock yet, you know how he worries."

Elle cracked a smile. "Yeah, I know. Regular pair of mother hens." She blew him a kiss. "Bye. Say hi to Joanna and the kids."

-/\-

"Elle." Alexa's voice brought Elle out of her drowsy not-nap.

"Hm?" Elle asked lazily.

"The Cetaecean Astronavigation Lab requests your presence at your earliest convenience."

Elle opened one eye. "Astronavigation? If it's Wes tell him I'm in my pajamas and I am not going to chart gravity wells right now." She snuggled closer to Simba the Third, who purred delightedly.

"The cetacean lab," Alexa stressed, pausing the classic Doctor Who episode.

Elle opened both eyes. "Cetaceans? We have a whale biology lab on this ship? Why do we have a whale biology lab on this ship?"

"Obviously you haven't gotten around to memorizing the schematics yet," Alexa said, sounding terribly amused. "We don't have a whale biology lab on this ship, we have whales on this ship."

Elle shot bolt upright. Simba the Third went rolling over the covers, squawking displeasure. "We have WHALES?"

Alexa was definitely laughing at her. "Yes, we do. And they want to talk to you."

Elle put Simba the Third back in its biome and threw some shoes on. "Where? What deck?"

"Deck 13, Cetacean Ops," Alexa said.

Elle made it to Deck 13 in lightning speed, and stopped at the door labeled 'Cetacean Ops - Authorized Personnel Only'. She put her hand on the doorpad.

It opened.

She went in. It was warm, humid, and - there were whales. In front of her, behind a row of consoles and holo-imagers, were two decks full of water. And two small humpback whales. Two whales. And dolphins. Several dolphins.

Elle gaped. And gaped some more. She stepped up to the glass and gaped some more. "This is the best day of my life," she whispered under her breath. Any lingering fear she'd had about the past, or even about her near-death by space whale, vanished as soon as she saw the whales, their long, sinuous lines glinting under the low lights. "You're beautiful," she whispered.

"Elle Wilcott?"

Elle glanced around, and focused on the vocoder built into the wall. "Hello?" she said uncertainly.

One of the whales drifted closer to the transparisteel wall and met her gaze with one of its eyes. It hummed, and the whale song echoed through the room. "It is you, then," said the voice coder, a second later.

"You can talk," Elle said blankly.

"Yes, we can," the whale replied, and sounded amused even in the way it sang. "My name is Carol Burnett and this is my brother, Johnny Carson."

Elle let out a wheeze of disbelief. "For real?"

"Our parents thought it was funny to keep naming us after comedians," Carol explained.

"Your parents..." Elle gaped. "George and Gracie? George and Gracie- the- you- are the-" Her brain screeched to a halt.

"No, no, George and Gracie are our grandparents. We're the third generation of humpback whales in the future."

"And you're on the Enterprise?" Elle screeched. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"There's two more generations, they're on Earth, it's fine," Carol said.

"So it did happen," Elle said, needing confirmation. "The probe, the time travel. The whales."

"Yes."

Elle flapped her hands inarticulately. "I can't believe- there- there be whales aboard!" she whisper-shouted.

A long sigh came through the vocoder, and the hum sounded plaintive. "Why do you always say that?"

Elle blinked in surprise and then grinned. "Ah. Sorry. Scotty raised me. I quote him sometimes."

"Yes, I know," Carol said. "We have access to your file."

Elle sat down on the bench facing the water. "Hi. Nice to meet you. Why are there whales in space?"

"And dolphins," Johnny Carson pointed out.

"And dolphins," Elle said. "Why?"

"We come with astronavigational brains," Carol said. "We run the bulk of stellar cartography and astronavigation. And Johnny is the Beta Shift helmsman."

"From here?" Elle asked.

Johnny gestured with a fin, and she followed him to a concave part of the tank where there was an entire holographic helm set up. "Technology has advanced quite a bit," he said through the vocoder. "Dr. Taylor was able to get us properly integrated with the atmospheric pressure systems."

"Dr. Taylor?" Elle echoed. "Dr. Gillian Taylor?"

"Yes. Our first handler."

"This is the best day of my life," Elle said again, beaming.

-/\-

Elle barely said good morning to any of her classmates. "There are whales on this ship," she said instead. "Whales."

"Yes," Jetta said, eyeing her oddly. "We know."

"Whales," Elle said, still grinning. She'd probably grinned through her entire sleep cycle. "Isn't that so cool?"

"That's literally the first field trip stop on the Enterprise," Nicole said. "How did you not know that? I thought you were studying the schematics of the ship."

"I am!" Elle retorted. "I memorized the places I usually go, but do you know how many miles of Jefferies Tubes and access conduits there on this ship? I'm only three-quarters of the way through."

The twins stared at her. "You're memorizing the Jefferies tubes?" Jetta asked.

"Yes," Elle said stubbornly. "Those are the priority."

"Why."

Elle stared back at her. "For the next time the Enterprise gets boarded, duh."

"That's why there's bulkheads and civilian lockdown areas," Nicole said.

"I'm literally never in the right place for those. And besides, I've gotta find places to stash my kits."

"Your kits?"

"I am not going to be stuck crawling through the ship in a swimsuit ever again," Elle said firmly.

They tilted their heads in their creepy-twin motion. "You are talking to Counselor Troi about your issues, right?" Jetta asked.

Elle huffed a laugh. "Yes. But anyways, whales!"

A/N: This is a real department on the Enterprise-D schematics. You can even find some set sketches that were never realized. It's awesome.