AN: Here we are, another piece to this one!

If you read, I hope you enjoy. If you do enjoy, please do let me know!

111

Jean-Luc was confused and overwhelmed, but he willed himself to calm as much as he could, knowing that Beverly could practically sense his emotions and would wait for the calm that she'd requested.

This, he reminded himself, was always why he had avoided getting—or, rather, staying—involved while he was an acting captain. He could remain absolutely calm in the face of some of the worst disasters. He could meet things with a level head and make clear and rational decisions.

All of that, though, seemed to go out of the proverbial window when matters of the heart were involved. Jean-Luc didn't trust himself, honestly, when it came to keeping a perfectly level head in matters that involved Beverly—and, now, Laris.

Unfortunately, this situation seemed to involve both, and he was struggling to maintain even an ounce of the decorum that he expected of himself.

"I assure you, Beverly, that I am as calm as I am capable of being at this time," Jean-Luc said, trying to watch the actions of the nurse and doctor and to unscramble some of what it felt like they were saying in a language that not even the universal translator could translate for him.

"Copper levels rising," one of the nurses said.

An alarm blared. At the moment, it sounded more terrifying than a red-alert claxon to Jean-Luc. He found himself being somewhat pushed out of the way, as another nurse approached. Beverly was surrounded for what felt like a lifetime.

Jean-Luc was helpless.

In this sickbay, it seemed, his entire world was threatening to crash and burn before his very eyes, and there was nothing he could do. He couldn't even fully understand what was happening.

And, then, the emergency of the moment seemed to pass once more. There was space made for him, and he stepped forward again. Beverly looked tired. She was clearly damp from perspiration. Still, she offered him a reassuring smile. He took the hand that she offered out to him and he kissed her knuckles.

"Please—don't ask me again to be calm," he said. "I don't have it in me."

From somewhere else in sickbay, another alarm blared.

"Go…" Beverly said, directing her words to the Caitian doctor. "Please—help her."

"Monitor levels," Dr. M'Pram said, giving orders to the one nurse that remained behind.

"Beverly…" Jean-Luc said, feeling now like he couldn't recall what it was to feel his lungs entirely inflate with air.

She squeezed his hand.

"It's alright, Jean-Luc," she said.

He laughed quietly.

"You will forgive me if I say that I'm finding it entirely impossible to believe that," Jean-Luc said. "I don't understand what's happening—what happened. I am feeling rather adrift, at the moment."

"I'll explain," Beverly said. "But—I do think that…you need to brace yourself. This may be a great deal of information for you to deal with all at once."

The nurse pressed a hypospray to Beverly's neck, and she closed her eyes for a moment. The medicine clearly felt unpleasant as it entered her bloodstream.

"Iron levels are rising," the nurse said.

"Administer another round of Cufenol," Beverly said.

"Dr. M'Pram…" the nurse stammered out.

"Is very busy trying to save a life," Beverly said. "I outrank her, and I've been doing this at least twice as long as she has and probably four times as long as you have. Administer another round of Cufenol now, before the copper levels rise again and your hesitation costs lives."

The nurse seemed practically tearful, but she accepted Beverly's order and disappeared a half a second to a replicator, before returning with the ordered hypospray. Beverly gritted her teeth through the administering of the second hypospray, and Jean-Luc squeezed her hand, not knowing what else he might do to help her.

She blew out her breath after a second, drew in a deep breath again, and repeated the action.

"Now?" She asked, her attention turned fully from him to whatever was happening.

"Iron levels are rising," the nurse said.

"Copper?" Beverly asked.

"Falling, but still existent," the nurse said.

"Continue to monitor. Wait thirty minutes, and administer Cufenol…unless there's a spike in copper levels. Please—go and check on things with the other patient and report back to me? I'll be fine. My levels will hold steady for at least ten or fifteen minutes, no matter what."

The nurse nodded, but she looked a little reluctant as she left the space.

"Beverly…" Jean-Luc said. He shook his head. He didn't even know what to say anymore.

"I'm fine," Beverly said. "Improving every minute. I promise."

"Improving from what? I don't understand!" Jean-Luc said.

"I know," Beverly said. She nodded her head and squeezed his hand. "Before I say anything—was there anyone else that you were worried about?"

"What?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Out there…watching those ships. Was there anyone else that you were worried about?" Beverly asked.

"Laris…" Jean-Luc said.

"They're doing everything they can for her," Beverly said. "And as soon as I am able, I'm going to do everything I can for her. But—focus on what I'm asking you. Besides Laris, was there anyone else?"

"I know many of the Romulans that were out there, more than likely, but…"

"Shhh," Beverly said, laughing quietly. "You've answered my question well enough. Jean-Luc…I don't know how else to tell you this without simply telling you. When we beamed Laris aboard, her injuries were extensive. There was evidently an explosion at her console. The burns were extensive. There was also a great deal of internal injury from the impact of the beam. The damage to that small flier was impossible for us to see, but…there was a great deal of shrapnel embedded in her body."

"She's not going to make it, is she?" Jean-Luc asked.

"We're going to make sure that she makes it," Beverly said, with more confidence than Jean-Luc was sure that the situation truly allowed. "My first scan revealed, however, that she wasn't alone."

"There was someone else in the flier?" Jean-Luc asked.

Beverly smiled and nodded.

"A tiny passenger," Beverly said. "Someone that—I imagine Laris knew was there, but she may have only just become aware of it. I'm assuming that…she hadn't had time to tell you about her partner in all of this."

"Partner?" Jean-Luc asked.

Beverly smiled, even though her eyes glittered with unfallen tears.

"Jean-Luc…Laris was pregnant," Beverly said.

"Pregnant…" Jean-Luc said, hearing the word, but feeling quite unable to comprehend it.

"Half human," Beverly said. "I believe—we have discovered another part of your previous self that was left intact with this android body."

"Pregnant?" Jean-Luc repeated.

"A baby, Jean-Luc," Beverly said.

"Laris was pregnant?" Jean-Luc asked. Beverly nodded. Suddenly, the whole thing settled like a lead weight in Jean-Luc's stomach. He couldn't quite fathom why Beverly looked as happy as she did, even as large tears dripped down her cheeks. Jean-Luc reached and wiped them with his fingers, still feeling as though everything about this moment was somehow happening in slow motion and entirely outside of his actual reality. "'Was pregnant' means that…she is no longer pregnant."

"No," Beverly said, "but…"

"If she knew, then…we'll have to tell her that…it couldn't possibly make it," Jean-Luc said. "Laris was pregnant. We never discussed that, because I never thought it was a possibility, and now…"

"Jean-Luc…" Beverly said, interrupting him, her voice a touch loud and a bit sharp, to cut through his thoughts and rambling. "I haven't finished."

"What else is there to say?" He asked.

"A great deal," Beverly said. "The damage to Laris' body was extensive, and I was very limited on what I could do for her. I knew that I could prolong survival—hopefully long enough for Starfleet to find us and get us to safety, where she could get better treatment. I also knew, though, that I had to lessen the load on her system. Her body couldn't save both of them. It was too much strain. I knew the baby was very small. It wouldn't survive if Laris died. I had to make a decision, Jean-Luc. I wish that I hadn't had to make a decision on my own, but there wasn't any time to waste…"

"You made the best decision," Jean-Luc said, interrupting her. "You made the best call. You always do. Don't doubt yourself now. The baby wouldn't have made it, if Laris had died. It's better to save the life you can, than to lose everyone."

She laughed. There was an unmistakable touch of irony in the sound—not a genuine laugh.

"Thank you for the validation, Jean-Luc," Beverly said. "To give Laris the best chance that I could, I lessened the load on her body. I transferred the fetus."

"Transferred?" Jean-Luc asked. "Where? Forgive me, but is that a medical term for…for…forgive me, but…termination?"

"Termination is a medical term for termination," Beverly said. "I couldn't make that call, Jean-Luc. I didn't want to. The baby was healthy. Her body was giving everything it could to keep the little thing safe, even through all of that. She would have sacrificed herself. It's her body's instinct. She would have died to give it a few more moments of life. I couldn't terminate the pregnancy, Jean-Luc."

"I don't understand," Jean-Luc said, growing frustrated.

"It's so much, and I'm sorry…" Beverly said. "The baby was healthy, but it needed a healthy womb, Jean-Luc. There was one available. I knew that I would need help. Laris' had clearly been taking supplements. She was taking care of the little thing. Cross-blood type pregnancies can end terribly if the mother isn't doing everything necessary to help the baby's blood type come to match her own. The baby was half-human, but I could see that it scanned as copper-blooded. Laris was doing everything right, and I knew that I was going to need help, but I knew that it could last until we could get that help—as long as Starfleet was on the way. I wish I had had better equipment to make things go more smoothly, but I used what transporter system I had available. I made the transfer just moments before you hailed the ship."

Jean-Luc felt realization seeping into his system.

He felt it sliding down—running down—coating the walls of his brain.

For what seemed like an eternity, he was acutely aware of the distance he felt from the moment, from himself, from Beverly, from the sounds of the sickbay staff working in the same room but, somehow, far away, to keep Laris alive.

Realization seeped slowly into his system, and Jean-Luc felt like the reality his brain imagined couldn't possibly be real.

"Copper blood…" He said. It wasn't useful. It meant nothing. Still, he suddenly felt as if he knew no language at all.

Beverly gave him a reassuring smile and nodded—an act meant only to comfort him, since he'd said nothing with which she could really agree. He'd said nothing that meant anything.

"I'm taking the supplements now," Beverly said. "See the monitors? They're monitoring both of our levels. It's so strong, Jean-Luc. It's so small, but…it's so strong. Like it's mother, it's fighting." She laughed quietly. "This little one is making the best of every bit of Romulan in it—and every bit of Picard."

"The baby…" Jean-Luc said.

"The levels of copper are dropping," Beverly said. "It's responding so well. Its iron levels are rising. Soon, I won't even need the support. The blood I make will be perfect for it."

"There's a baby…" Jean-Luc said.

Beverly nodded and tugged the hand that she was holding—the hand that had been holding hers, earlier. Jean-Luc had almost forgotten that he'd had hands entirely. Now, they seemed to slowly be coming back to him. He felt like he was slowly drifting into the room.

He stepped forward one more step. She caught his other hand. He was aware of the tubing going into her hand. It would deliver fluid and possibly other medications. She took his hand and pressed it to her body, over the gown she was wearing—a gown they would have changed her into very quickly, to have access to her body.

Her body was warm beneath the gown. The baby in question would be there, in her womb, adjusting to its new home. Jean-Luc rubbed his fingers there, where she had placed his hand.

"I don't feel anything," he said.

"The baby is measuring at seven weeks Romulan gestation," Beverly said. "Romulans carry their babies for approximately a year. I'm not sure what that's going to mean for now, but we'll figure it out."

"She hadn't said anything," Jean-Luc said.

"She likely didn't know about the baby until after you left," Beverly said. "She would have known that you might come back if you knew. She would have known that you needed to do everything that you did. She took care of the baby, Jean-Luc. She probably started the moment she knew with the supplements and vitamins that were necessary—that are necessary—to carry this kind of hybrid pregnancy to term."

"This means that you're…pregnant?"

"It wasn't my plan," Beverly said with a laugh. "Not when I woke up this morning, but…yes. I'm carrying this baby. Your baby, Jean-Luc."

"My baby…I'm sorry, I'm just…"

"It's a lot to take in," Beverly said. "I don't think it's entirely sank in for me, either. I'm just—focusing on getting everyone stable."

"Are you...?"

"I'm fine," Beverly said. "Look. The levels are stabilizing. In an hour or two, the baby will be fully integrated. Settled in, I guess you could say. I'm handling it well. The baby is handling it well."

"Laris," Jean-Luc said, shaking his head.

"She's going to be fine," Beverly said. "We'll do everything we can for her. You'll see. In a few days, she'll be on her feet."

"We'll have to tell her," Jean-Luc said. "I have to tell her that I know. I have to tell her about all of this, and I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I can hardly understand it all myself."

Beverly squeezed his hand. She gave him another reassuring smile.

"We'll tell her together," she assured him. "Now—I'm sure they're giving us a little space. Why don't you—see if you can find someone to give me an update on things. I'm grounded, right here, for just a little while longer."

"You need to rest. Take it easy," Jean-Luc said.

"I've been pregnant before," Beverly said. "Never with a Romulan hybrid, but…how different can it be? I'll take care of myself, Jean-Luc. I'll take care of both of us."

"And I'll take care of all of you," Jean-Luc said.

"For now—find someone to give me an update? To give all of us an update?"