Summary: An accident in Beverly’s quarters give the crew the wrong impression about the relationship between the CMO and Captain.

Author's Note: Just a little fun with my favorite couple.

Disclaimer: Paramount, the great and powerful, owns all of Star
Trek. I merely claim this story.

Something To Talk About

She was late and she knew it.  Jean-Luc was due in her quarters for dinner in thirty minutes and she had barely even gotten there herself.  Throwing her uniform in the recycler, she dashed in the bathroom for a quick shower, not even bothering to grab a clean change of clothes on her way in.  Looking quickly in the mirror, she knew she had her work cut out for her.  She was a mess.  The left side of her neck was covered in an slick, gooey substance used to clean the floors of the cargo bays.  To make matters worse, the technician, who had deposited the horrific substance on her uniform shoulder, had also managed to streak it through her hair.  “Damn,” she said aloud.  “It’s going to take me 20 minutes to get this goop off of me.”  Jumping into the shower quickly, she couldn’t help but shake her head and smile a little as she thought about the poor technician who had entered her sickbay only a short while ago.  He was literally covered from head to toe with the thick goo after spilling a gallon of the cleaner in the bay and falling in the mess.  Luckily, he only slightly injured his arm, which she treated promptly and sent him on his way.  The smile quickly faded as she realized just how difficult the compound was to remove from her skin and hair.  This was going to take even longer than she thought.

He was early and he knew it.  He wasn’t supposed to show up until 19:00 hours and it was barely 18:40.  Yet he could not control his enthusiasm.  He had to tell Beverly of his discovery.  Surely, she wouldn’t mind him being a little early, not after he told her the news.  His excitement overwhelmed him.  The grin on his face and the lightness of his step turned several heads as he maneuvered down the Enterprise corridors to her quarters.  Their Captain was outright *beaming*, causing several crewmen to pause and smile after passing him.  Those who saw him just shrugged after he passed, each wondering what was up with the ever-stoic Captain.  He never noticed the near shock of his crew, too absorbed in the ideas that were flying through his mind at warp speed..

Picard rang the chime.  No answer.  After a few seconds, he rang it a second time, barely containing his excitement and impatience to share his news with Beverly.

Beverly’s ears perked up when she heard the first chime.  “Damn, he’s early,” she said aloud.  She had just turned off the shower after finally removing the remnants of the cleaner from her hair.  Grabbing a towel, she poked her head out of the bathroom just as the second chime sounded and yelled for him to enter.  “Come in.”

The doors shooshed open and Picard bolted into the room, fully expecting to see Beverly in the living room.  After he briefly surveyed the room, he heard her voice call to him from the other room.

“I’ll be out in a minute, Jean-Luc.  I’m in the bathroom.  Go ahead and fix yourself something to drink.”

Picard barely heard her words, too absorbed in his own news and eager to share it.

“Beverly,” he nearly shouted into the next room.  “You’re not going to believe what happened this afternoon. I found the link between the Tellasars and the Iotians.” He was speaking rapidly, pacing the room, impatient that she join him.  “I couldn’t believe it.,” he continued to rant.  “It had been laying there right in front of me for 10 years and it just came to me all of …”

“What?” she called back to him from the bathroom.  “Jean-Luc, slow down, I can’t hear what you’re saying.  I’ll be out in a min …. Ahhaahhaahhaha … oooohhhh.”

Picard had heard a loud thump following her yell.  “Beverly,” he shouted as he quickly entered the bedroom and approached the bathroom door.  “Are you all right?”

He heard a low moan coming from the other side of the door.  “Beverly?” he called again, concern evident in his voice.  He was about the enter the room when he heard her answer him slowly.

Beverly had sat up against the bathroom wall, taking a moment to realize what had happened when she heard Jean-Luc call after him.  “It’s… it’s okay.  I just slipped a little. I’m okay.” she called back to him.  Embarrassed at her suddenly undignified position on the floor, she moved to grab the shower support and pull herself up, and grimaced at the sudden pain that shot through her ankle.  “Ahhhaaaooowwwe.  Damn.”

Still listening through the bathroom door despite her assurances that all was well, Picard heard her moving around and suddenly cry out.

“Beverly, what’s going on?.  Are you hurt?  I’m coming in there.”

“No.  Jean-Luc.  Wait.  I’ve just twisted my ankle a little.  Give me a minute.”  Beverly racked her brain for an easy way out of this.  She brought the knee of her good leg up to her chest and rested her elbow on it.  She looked around for something to pull herself up with and grabbed for shower support again.  Bracing herself against the pain of her now swelling ankle, she pulled herself up slowly, but fell back abruptly to the floor.  The goo that she had washed from her hair had mixed with the water and slickened the bathroom floor, making it impossible for her to stand.

Realizing that she wasn’t going to be able to get up on her own, she took in a deep breath and let it out quickly.  Might as well get this over with, she thought.  At least she still had a towel.  “Jean-Luc, I need a little help here.”

Picard cautiously poked his head through the now open doorway, not knowing what to expect.  He was anxious to help his friend, but did not want to embarrass her, or himself for that matter.  However, the image of his beautiful CMO laying naked on the bathroom floor had run through his mind while waiting outside the door, especially after she said she was indeed all right.  When he saw her sitting in the corner near the shower, her body covered by a small towel, he almost let out a sigh of disappointment.

She looked up at him sharply, a look of disgust on her face as she held the small towel over her body.  “Don’t … say a word.  Just get over here and help me up.”

Now, Picard couldn’t help but let a small smile creep on his face as he crossed his arms and leaned slowly against the counter.  “You DO seem to get yourself into some interesting messes, don’t you, Doctor?”

Beverly narrowed her eyes at him and nearly spat out an appropriate reply to his comment, but bit her tongue.  He was being entirely too smug about the situation, but she *did* need his help.  “Just … “  She took a quick breath and closed her eyes to calm her temper.  “Just get over here and help me stand up.”  His eyebrows shot up at her commanding tone.  She paused a moment before adding through gritted teeth, “Please.”

Picard chuckled for a slight moment and shook his head before walking toward she was sitting.  Bending to give her his support, Beverly realized for the first time just how small her towel really was.

“Wait.  Uh.. Jean-Luc, could you get me a robe from the bedroom first?”  She blushed fiercely.  “It’s getting a little cold in here.”

Picard raised an eyebrow.  From where he was standing, it wasn’t cold at all.  Quite the opposite.  He smiled knowingly at her predicament, cleared his throat and decided to take pity on his blushing CMO.  Obediently, he walked into the bedroom, retrieved a soft terrycloth robe from her closet and returned, tossing it to her gently.  “Here, try this.”

Taking back his position against the counter, he crossed his arms and waited.

Noticing he wasn’t going to leave on his own, Beverly let out an exasperated sigh.  She was getting a little tired of being his center for amusement this evening.  “At least, you could turn around.”

“Oh Doctor, you take the fun out of everything,” he grinned back at her.

If looks could kill, Picard would have been dead where he stood.  It was just the reaction he had hoped for.  Chuckling again, he turned his back toward her and crossed his arms, looking up at the ceiling as he spoke.  “You know, Beverly, if it ever got around the ship that the ‘Dancing Doctor’ slipped in ….”

“Oh, shut up Picard,” Beverly countered as she struggled to put the robe around her shoulders.  “You just say one word of this to anyone and I’ll.. I’ll… , well, you don’t want to know what I’ll do.”  With an exasperated sigh, she finished wrapping herself in the robe.  “Now, get over here.”

Jean-Luc could barely contain his laughter as he walked over and slid his hands under her arms to help her stand.

“Ow,” Beverly called out as she placed a small amount of pressure on her injured limb.  “This may be a little worse than I thought.”  Jean-Luc’s expression quickly changed to that of concern when she cried out.  Gently, he began to help her to a standing position, not noticing the mixture of goo and water under his shoes.  When he almost had her standing, he began to slide on the wet surface himself.  Beverly quickly assessed the situation and grabbed at his shirt front, ripping the buttons off as she slid back to the floor.  Jean-Luc had managed to slow their descent somewhat by bracing his forearm against the wall, which in turn, caused the side of his face to crash against the tile before they both fell back to the floor.

“Are you okay?” he asked her when his senses returned.  His look of concern was so unlike the smirk he had worn a few seconds before that Beverly couldn’t resist.  “My hero,” she managed to squeak out before the laughter overtook her.

Picard was no longer amused.  “Hmmm,” he grunted back at her.  He looked around the bathroom for another solution to their problem, eager to save his wounded pride and get them out of the situation as soon as possible.  Spotting the towel that Beverly had recently discarded, he placed it under his feet and stood, looking down at the still laughing doctor.  He ignored her chuckles and grabbed her under the arms again.

“Let’s try this again,” he said as he easily raised her to her feet.  When they were eye to eye again, Beverly spotted the sour expression on his face and again burst into laughter.

“Beverly, it isn’t THAT funny,” he stated firmly as he eased them out the door into the bedroom.  He couldn’t help but relax a little as they left the bath and let a small grin overtake his features as he sat them both on the edge of the bed.  Looking at her face, he could see the tears welled up in her eyes, not from the pain of her injuries, but from her laughter.  She was absolutely adorable.  Tucking a damp strand of hair behind her ear, he gently wiped a stray tear away with his thumb and allowed a small smile across his face.  They sat there for several moments, each looking into the other eyes until the sound of the door chime abruptly ended the moment. Reluctantly, he removed his hand from her face and stood.  Both realizing that Beverly was in no shape to entertain visitors, he looked at her, questioning whether or not he should answer the door.  Knowing what he was thinking, she shrugged and nodded.  He walked into the outer room and opened the door to a stunned looking Lt. Ogawa.

“Captain,” she blurted out, confused by both his presence and his appearance.  Jean-Luc’s left cheek was red and beginning to bruise and his shirt, absent of it’s buttons, was hanging open.  “I… I was looking for Doctor Crusher.  Captain, are you all right sir?”

Picard cleared his throat.  Looking down at his appearance for the first time, he tried unsuccessfully to arrange his shirt back to a more acceptable position.  “Yes, well, I’m fine.  Bever.. Doctor Crusher is in the bedroom.”  Picard’s ears had begun to turn pink as he realized the implications of his words.

Pulling back his shoulders and taking on his best captain’s pose, he tried to salvage the situation.

“Actually, nurse, I’m glad you’re here.”  He placed his hand on her arm, leading the now wide-eyed lieutenant through the door.  “You see, Doctor Crusher has been injured and we … “

Ogawa stopped abruptly when hearing that her boss was injured.  “Is she okay?”

Noticing the alarm in Ogawa’s voice, a passing member of security immediately stopped and approached the still open door and took in the appearance of the Captain.  He looked like he had been in a fight.

Picard opened his mouth to answer, but was abruptly cut off.

“Captain, is everything all right?” the eager, young security officer said as he stood in the doorway.  “You’ve been injured, sir?”  Not waiting for a reply, the young officer tapped his communicator and called out into the air.  “Security to Doctor Crusher’s quarters, the Captain and doctor have been attacked.”

Picard looked up abruptly at the young man.  “No, wait,” he shouted.  Quickly fishing for his own communicator from his tattered shirt, he punched it.  “Security, this is the Captain.  Cancel that order.”

The security chief’s voice answered back quickly. “Captain, is everything all right?”

“Merde,” Picard whispered to himself as he ran his hand over his head and took a calming breath.   By this time, several other people had gathered in the hall outside Doctor Crusher’s quarters.  He looked around briefly, all eyes on the Captain.   “Yes, Mr.  *********, everything’s fine.  We just had a little accident here.  Picard out.”  When the Captain turned his gaze to the security officer, he thought for a moment that the young man was going to faint.  The crowd in the corridor quickly dispersed.

“Captain,” he stammered, backing away from the doorway.  “I’m sorry.  I.. I thought you were in trouble.  I… I was only doing my job, sir.  I…

Picard let out another breath quickly and merely stared at the man for a moment.  “Dismissed, Ensign,” he said in his most captain-like tone.  The young officer quickly nodded and turned, almost running down the corridor.

Throughout all the chaos, Picard had almost forgotten that Ogawa was still standing just inside the door.  When he turned to enter the quarters, he nearly ran into her.  Regaining his composure, he tried his best to look nonchalant.  He gently took her by the arm again and glided her toward the bedroom.

“Alyssa,  I’m glad you’re here.,” he began softly.  “Doctor Crusher has hurt her ankle.  Could you do me a favor and take a look at it.”  Stopping at the bedroom door, he knew that Beverly had heard every word that had been spoken in the corridor.  She had her hand placed firmly over her mouth, trying to contain her laughter.  He faced Ogawa again.  “I think you can handle it from here nurse.”  Turning abruptly, he added.  “I’ll be in my quarters.”

*************
By 07:00 hours the next morning, the rumor mill on the Enterprise was in full swing.

The sound of the door chime woke Beverly from a deep sleep.  Looking at her chronometer, she realized the identity of the would-be intruder.  Rolling gingerly out of bed, she groaned as she slowly made it to the bedroom door and called out.

“Come in.”

Deanna Troi strolled into the room, fully expecting Beverly to be dressed in her gym clothes and ready for their morning workout.  They were supposed to have met 30 minutes before at the gym.  She was surprised to find her friend still dressed in her nightgown.

She smiled at the doctor, who was still leaning heavily against the door frame.

“Rough night?”

Moving slowly toward the couch, Beverly scowled at her friend, which only encouraged Deanna to widen her grin.

“I really don’t think I can make it this morning, Deanna,”  Beverly replied as she eased herself down.

Deanna’s grin faded when she realized Beverly was in real pain.

“What happened, Beverly?  You’re moving like you just got run over by a shuttle.”

Beverly could help but laugh at her friend’s analogy, then quickly placed her hand on her side to steady her aching ribs.  She really didn’t want to tell Deanna about her not-so graceful landing in the shower the night before.

“It’s not as bad as it seems, Deanna.  I just had a little accident and fell last night.  This old body just isn’t as young as it used to be.”  She could still see the concern in Deanna’s eyes.  “It’s okay, really.  Alyssa came by and took care of everything, but I’m still a little sore, that’s all.   She gave me something for the pain and I guess it made me oversleep.  Sorry about this morning.”

Deanna’s sour expression lessened after hearing Beverly’s explanation.  She was sure that Beverly was not telling her everything, but chose to not push the issue.

“That’s okay.  I wasn’t that excited about class this morning anyway.”  She smiled and laid her hand on Beverly’s shoulder.  “I’ll see you at the staff meeting after breakfast.”  Squeezing her shoulder lightly, she turned and exited the quarters.

Beverly closed her eyes for a moment as she put her head on the back cushion.  Realization coming over her, her eyes popped open.  “Breakfast?  Oh my God, what time is it?  Jean-Luc will be here any moment.”

Jumping up a little too quickly, she groaned as her aching muscles and joints protested.  Slowing he pace a little, she walked to the bathroom.  She just had time for a quick, hot shower.

Jean-Luc pressed the chime a second time before Beverly called for him to enter.

“I’ll be out in a moment, Jean-Luc.  I’m running a little behind schedule this morning.”

Picard grinned when he heard the water to the shower shut off as he entered the living area.  After a few moments, he walked into the bedroom.  He just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tease his friend.

“Need a hand getting out this time?” he called through the closed bathroom door.

Not skipping a beat, Beverly opened the bathroom door.  A damp towel promptly caught Jean-Luc in the face and dropped to the floor.

Not one to make the same mistake twice, Beverly stood in the doorway fully clothed.  She crossed her arms and replied in her most patronizing voice.

“Very funny, Jean-Luc.  Your humor is improving.  Really.  Those lessons from Data seemed to have really paid off.”

Stunned for only a moment at the sudden bombardment, Picard looked up at the now smirking doctor and chuckled.

“Only trying to help.”

She smiled back at him.  “Well, if you really want to help, why don’t you order us some breakfast.  For some reason I missed dinner last night and now I’m starving.”

Still grinning, he turned toward the door and walked into the living area, calling back to her over his shoulder.  “Are you feeling better this morning?”

“Yes, much, a little sore though.  A hot shower this morning really helped.  How about you?” she called to him as she continued her morning ritual in the bathroom.

“My cheek’s a little bruised, that’s all.”

Beverly walked out of the bedroom and headed directly for Picard who was standing by the replicator.

“Here, let me take a look at it.”  Beverly gently turned Picard toward her as she examined his cheek.  “You really DID hit it hard, didn’t you?  It’s swollen up pretty bad and the outer edges are turning blue.  Come over here and sit down.  I’ll see what I can do.”

After leading Picard over to the couch, Beverly retrieved her med kit from the bedroom and sat down next to him.  With skilled precision, she ran the instruments over his cheek.  “You know, you should have had someone take a look at this last night.”

Picard cut his eyes sharply at her and frowned.  She knew exactly what he was thinking and began to laugh softly as she worked.  After last nights adventure, she wouldn’t have gone to sick bay either.  Her laughter only increased his frown.

“Oh, come on, Jean-Luc.  You have to admit, it was pretty funny.  For a minute there, I was expecting you to throw that poor ensign in the brig for calling security.”

“He deserved to be put in the brig,” Picard said sternly.  “Beverly, this could have been a very embarrassing situation.”  He paused for a moment before continuing, concern evident in his voice.  “What did you tell Nurse Ogawa?”

“Nothing, really.  She didn’t ask me anything.”  Beverly paused for a moment, thinking about the nurse’s visit.  “You know, it wasn’t really like Alyssa.  She hardly said a word the whole time she was here.  Maybe I should talk to her later this morning.  I think she might have the wrong idea about what went on here last night.”  Beverly put away her instruments.  “There, that should do it.  It’ll be a little red for a while, but that’ll go away in a day or two.”

“What do you mean ‘the wrong idea’?”

Beverly stared at Picard for a long moment before answering.  She knew Jean-Luc would be mortified by what she was about to tell him, but couldn’t keep a small smile from creeping to her lips.  She took his hand in hers gently.

“Jean-Luc, think about it for a moment.”  The confused expression on his face told her that she would have to elaborate.  “Alyssa came to the door.  Your shirt was all ripped open.  You told her I was in the bedroom and when she saw me, all I had on was my robe.  What would you think?”

Picard just stared at her for a moment until realization came over him and he turned away, his eyes on his lap.  “Oh, my.”

“’Oh, my’ is right.”

They both sat there in silence for a moment, each a little embarrass by the implications.

“You don’t think that she would say anything to …”

“Alyssa?  Of course not.” Beverly broke in.  “But I don’t want her to think that I.. that we..  I mean, we don’t want her think something’s going on that’s not, right?”

Picard didn’t answer for a brief moment.  He pulled his hand away from Beverly’s and sat up straighter on the couch.  “Agreed.  So, you’ll *talk* to her?”

Beverly smiled at his obvious attempt regain his composure.  “Yes, I’ll talk to her.  Don’t worry, Jean-Luc, your reputation is safe,” she giggled.  Picard was not amused by her comment, so she decided it was best to change the subject and rose from the couch.  “Come on, let’s eat.  I’ve got to run by sickbay for a few minutes before the staff meeting.”

Both were careful not to mention the subject again as they enjoyed their breakfast together.

**************

Deanna thanked the server as he placed the chocolate chip waffles and coffee on her table in Ten Forward.  She had decided that if she wasn’t going to exercise this morning, she’d enjoy her extra time with a leisurely breakfast.  The lounge was unusually crowded and the conversations around her quite lively for this time of the morning.  She couldn’t help by overhear some of the conversations as was surprised that a couple of them seemed to be about the same subject.

“Well, I heard that he wasn’t wearing a shirt at all when he came to the door and that *she* was naked on the couch,”  Deanna overheard one ensign say at the next table.

The ensign’s companion piped up.  “No, she wasn’t on the couch, she was in the bedroom.  Jacobs told me all about it this morning.  He heard the whole conversation from the corridor.  He didn’t say that she was naked though.”

Another crewman joined the conversation.  “Well, I don’t know about that, but I think they had a big fight.  A real knock-down, drag-out, you know.  His cheek was all red, like she had slapped him or something and she was hurt too.  They almost had security down there before he was able to put a stop to it.  I heard that part personally.  He actually called security and overruled the call to her quarters.  Whatever was going on, he was really ticked off at being interrupted, if you know what I mean.  You could hear it in his voice.”

Another less animated voice joined the conversation.  “Keep your voices down, guys.  It’s really not any of our business.  It’s not like we haven’t known for years that this was going on.  Besides, he’d have us *all* thrown in the brig if he knew we were having this conversation.”

The table seemed to quite a little as they contemplated the last statement.  Deanna sat back in her chair, a little disappointed that the gossipers ended the exchanged and were not going to identify the battling lovers.  She admonished herself at first for eavesdropping, but gave her guilt a slight reprieve when she realized that it was, after all, part of her job to be informed about the mental well-being of the crew.

Will Riker strode into Ten Forward to catch a quick bite before the morning staff meeting.  Before leaving his cabin, he had reviewed the events log of the night before.  Everything was pretty routine, except, for an aborted call for security to go to Dr. Crusher’s quarters.  He made a mental note to ask the doctor about the incident when he saw her.  He was surprised to see Troi sitting at their usual table, already halfway through her breakfast.  Walking over to her, he pushed back his chair and sat down.

“Am I late, or were you just ‘unusually’ hungry this morning.”

Deanna snickered at his gentle jibe about her appetite.

“Neither, actually.  I was early.  Beverly wanted to skip exercise class, so I came on over here.  She wasn’t feeling too well this morning.”

“She’s okay, isn’t she?” he asked quickly.

Deanna looked at him a little startled.  He seemed overly concerned by her comment.  “She’s fine, Will.  Why wouldn’t she be?”

Riker suddenly felt a little embarrassed by his question and looked down at the table.  He had always felt a special bond with Beverly and was a little overprotective of her, especially since the incident with Odan.  “Well, it’s just that I saw that security had been called to her quarters last night.  I was wondering if she was hurt or something?”

“Security?  She didn’t say anything about security being there last night.  She *did* say that she had an accident and Alyssa took care of her.”  Deanna stared at her near empty plate for a moment before continuing.  “You know, Will, I did sense that Beverly was not telling me the whole story this morning.  What do you think really happened last night?”

“I don’t know.  The security log didn’t really say that much, just that an officer called security and it had been a mistake and that the Captain called them back to call it off.”

“The Captain?”  Deanna said louder than she had intended.

“Deanna, calm down.  What’s unusual about that?  You know they have dinner together sometimes.  It’s not that ..”

She held up a hand to quite him as she stared at the table.  Everything was coming into place in Deanna’s mind, her conversation with Beverly, the tale of the ‘lover’s quarrel’ she heard from the next table, security at Beverly’s quarters last night.  For a moment, she was concerned that her friend and the Captain had actually had an argument, somehow causing the injuries, but she quickly put that out of her mind.  She knew both of them too well  to even consider that one of them would strike the other.  There had to be another explanation as to why the Captain was in Beverly’s quarters, apparently not fully dressed, and that she was a in a similar state of undress in another part of her quarters.

Riker was becoming concerned at her sudden silence.

“Deanna, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer him for a moment and then a thin smile crept over her face.  Riker noticed the change in Deanna’s expression and his own face reflected the grin.

“What?” he said, rubbing his hand over his beard.  “You know something, don’t you?”

“No, not *know* exactly.  Let’s just say I have more information than you do.”

His smile broadened.  It didn’t take him long to coax Deanna into a full explanation of her suspicions.

************

After breakfast with Jean-Luc, Beverly made her way towards sick bay, intent on talking with Alyssa.  She was trying to think of a tactful was of broaching the subject with her nurse.  It wasn’t that she thought Alyssa would say anything out of the way to anyone else.  Alyssa was one of the most thoughtful and caring individuals she had ever served with.  She would never betray the privacy of anyone.  It just wasn’t in her nature.  Beverly was more concerned with what Alyssa, herself, thought was going on.

She spotted the nurse standing over one of the biobeds and approached her cautiously.

Alyssa immediately smiled warmly as her boss approached.  “Doctor Crusher, is there something I can help you with?”  Beverly was relieved at the casualness of the smile and returned it.

“No, Alyssa, I just wanted to talk with you.  Could you come into my office for a moment?”

Alyssa nodded, genuinely confused by the request for a private meeting, and followed her into the office.

“Is there something wrong, Doctor?”

Beverly couldn’t help by mentally kick herself for her earlier concerns.  “No, nothing’s wrong.  It’s about your visit to my quarters last night, about my ankle.  I just wanted to ….”

Alyssa suddenly felt very uneasy with the conversation and blushed fiercely.  Cutting the doctor off in mid sentence, she began to speak very quickly.  “Oh, I’m sorry, Doctor, I didn’t mean to intrude.  It’s just that you left sickbay so quickly yesterday and then I remembered that  I forgot to tell you something and, well, I’m … I’m really sorry.  I should have called you first.”

“No, no, that’s not it.”  She put her hands on the nurse’s shoulders gently, trying to console her.  “I’m not upset because you came by, Alyssa.  I just wanted to thank you for taking care of my ankle.”

The nurse seemed to settle down a little after a moment.  She had been embarrassed by the incident in the doctor’s quarters last night, knowing how much each of them enjoyed their privacy.  After she left though, she decided that it really wasn’t any of her business, put the incident out of her mind and hadn’t really thought of it again.

Alyssa smiled uneasily and nodded her understanding that she was not in trouble with the doctor.  “I was just doing my job.”

“Well, I just wanted to thank you.  Sometimes I forget what a great staff I have.”

“You’re welcomed, Doctor.”  Alyssa’s genuine smile had returned.  “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get back to recalibrating the biobeds.”

Beverly nodded, but as Alyssa turned to leave, she stopped her.  “Alyssa, wait a minute.”  Beverly paused for a moment, deciding how she would word her question.  “What did you really think was going on when you came to my cabin last night?”

Alyssa’s face flushed.  She didn’t want to embarrass herself or the doctor.  “Well, it’s really not any of my business.”

“I appreciate that you feel that way, but I really want to know what you thought.”

“Well,” she paused, staring at her hands as a small smile crept on her face.  “I thought that maybe you and Captain had finally, you know, gotten together.  I mean, I know how you feel about each other, and, well, I was happy for you.”  She looked up shyly to look at the face of her boss, who was staring at her with her mouth hanging open a little.  Perhaps, she thought, she had said too much.  “I’m sorry, Doctor Crusher, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, Alyssa.  That’s okay.”  Beverly thought for a moment that she should deny that there was anything between her and the Captain, but knew it would fall on deaf ears.  She couldn’t very well deny what she knew herself truly existed, even if it hadn’t gone to the level that Alyssa thought it had.  “Thank you.  I appreciate your honesty.”  She forced a smile on her face and nodded her dismissal.  The nurse smiled at her boss again and left the office.

Beverly sank back into her chair and contemplated Alyssa’s words.  She was sure that Jean-Luc would ask her about their conversation.  She just wasn’t sure what she was going to tell him.

She stared at the chronometer on her desk.  She had 15 minutes to come up with an idea before the staff meeting.  A walk around the decks might help, she thought, so she headed out the door.

Spotting Deanna coming out of the turbolift, Beverly was tempted to turn down another corridor.  She really needed time alone to think, but it was too late, Deanna had seen her and she couldn’t very well ignore her.

“Beverly, just the person I wanted to see.”

“Oh, hi Deanna,” she replied, forcing a smile.  Beverly really didn’t have time for this.  Maybe she could get this over quickly and be on her way, she thought.  “What did you want to see me about?”

The two entered the turbolift together.  Deanna could sense that her friend was uneasy.

“Nothing really.  Just a friendly chat.  Headed for the bridge?”  Deanna smiled innocently.

“Uh, no.  Deck eight,” Beverly ordered the computer.

As the lift started to move, Beverly was getting more impatient.  “Deanna, could this wait for a while, I’m kind of in a hurry here.  I need to stop by my quarters before the staff meeting.”

“Oh, that’s okay.  I’ll walk with you.  We have a few minutes.”

Beverly wasn’t sure what it was, but something was up.  She needed time to think and Deanna wasn’t helping matters.

“Deanna, maybe we can have lunch together later.  I’ve really got a lot on my mind right now.”

The counselor smiled broadly.  “I’ll just bet you do.”

Now she knew something was up.  “Computer, halt.”  The lift stopped and Beverly turned sharply to face her friend, waiting for an explanation for that last comment.

“Beverly, when are you going to learn that you can’t hide anything from me.”  When she didn’t respond, Deanna continued.  “I heard what happened last night in your quarters.”

Beverly’s heart was pounding, but she concentrated on keeping her voice steady as she played with the sleeves of her labcoat.  “Really, exactly what did you hear?”

“Oh, that maybe you and the Captain had ‘special’ dinner last night,”  Deanna replied, her voice dripping with innuendo.

Beverly turned toward her friend and clinched her fists next to her sides.  “Deanna, this isn’t what you think.”

Deanna crossed her arms and gave Beverly her most patronizing look.  “Oh, really.  And I suppose everyone made up the part about finding the two of you together in, let’s see, how should I put it, various stages of undress?”

“Everyone?” Beverly almost shouted.  “What do you mean ‘everyone’?”

Deanna’s smile quickly faded when she felt Beverly’s panic.  “Well, not everyone, just … a few people down in Ten Forward?  It’s okay, Beverly.  We’re all happy for you and the Captain.  It’s nothing to be ashamed of.  I mean, it’s not like we didn’t know that you have feelings for one another.”

“Oh, God.”  Beverly’s mind was racing as she leaned heavily against the wall.  Not only were people saying that they were sleeping together.  Hell, they had ‘expected’ it to happen.  How was she ever going to explain this to Jean-Luc?

When Beverly remained silent for a moment, Deanna told the lift to continue on it’s destination to Deck 8.

“Are you all right?” she asked cautiously as the lift doors opened to Beverly’s deck.

Beverly didn’t respond, but exited the lift, shaking her head slowly.  As the doors closed, Deanna could have sworn she heard her say something about “killing” someone in Cargo Bay 2.

****************

When she entered the conference room, everyone else on the senior staff was already seated.  Picard looked at her with mock sternness as she took her usual seat.  “Nice of you to join us, Doctor.”

Beverly darted her eyes at him and forced a quick smile, before taking her usual seat.  Her usually nervous behavior was not missed by Picard, but he said nothing and proceeded with the meeting.  He made a mental note to ask her about it after the meeting.

When the meeting concluded, Beverly was the first person to stand to leave.  She still hadn’t figured out what she was going to tell Jean-Luc and really didn’t want to face him right now.  Picard caught her quick movement out of the corner of his eye and called after her before she reached the door.

“Doctor, could you stay for a moment?”  She froze in her tracks, plastered a casual look on her face and turned just in time to catch’s Deanna’s grin as she left the room.

“Of course, Captain.”  She returned to her seat and when the doors closed, buried her face in her hands.

“Beverly, are you all right?”

She peaked up at him through her fingers, groaned and buried her face again.  He had taken a seat on the edge of the table next to her, confusion written all over his face.

“Beverly?”

After a few seconds, she placed her hands firmly on the table in front of her, pushed herself out of the chair and stood to face him.

I’m just going to tell him, she thought.  I’ll come right out and tell him and get it over with.  However, when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out.  Raising her hands in frustration, she turned quickly and walked over to the view port.  “Jean-Luc, I … Oh, God.”

Picard crossed the room to stand behind her.  “Beverly, whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.  What’s wrong?”

She turned to face him and laughed nervously.  “You have no idea.”  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she focused on her hands in front of her.

“Jean-Luc, maybe you should sit down.”  She took his hand and led him over to the table again, pulling out a chair for him.  Though thoroughly confused by her actions, he obediently took his seat as she leaned on the table in front of him.  The concern was evident on his face as he waited for her to speak.

“Jean-Luc,” she began again, forcing a small smile on her face.  “You know, ten years from now, we’re going to look back on this and really laugh.  It’s just that right now, it doesn’t seem so funny.”

Picard was getting frustrated.  “Beverly, would you just say what you have to say?”

“Right.  Right.  Say what I have to say.”  She absently brushed her hair back with her hand and took another deep breath.  “Well, Jean-Luc, it’s like this.  Last night’s incident in my cabin is all over the ship and now everyone thinks we’re sleeping together.  And, not only that, they’re happy about it.  There.  I said it.”

Picard sat back in his chair, dumbstruck, his only movement for a few moments were the blinking of his eyes as he stared at her.  He didn’t really know what he was expecting Beverly to say, but he was sure it wasn’t this.

“Well, just don’t sit there.  Say something.”

He remained silent as he stood, tugged down his uniform shirt and crossed the room to the view port, his back to Beverly.

Cautiously, she crossed the room to stand a few feet behind him.  His body began to shake slightly and she feared if she said anything or got any closer, his anger would explode.  He had placed one hand over his face, masking his expression from the reflection in the glass.  After a few moments of more silence, she began to hear a slight rumble coming from his throat and she braced herself for the upcoming explosion.  As the rumble grew slightly louder, her eyes opened wide.  My God, she thought, he’s laughing.  He spun on his heel suddenly and upon seeing the open-mouthed expression on her face, began to chuckle more heartily.

Beverly crossed her arms.  This was not exactly the reaction the she was expecting.  “You’re taking this awfully well.  Would you mind letting me in on the joke?  I certainly didn’t expect you to think this was funny.”

“Funny?  No, I don’t think it’s funny, Beverly.  I think it’s absurd,” he chuckled.

She did not look amused.  Picard’s laughter faded when he saw her expression turn solemn and she turned away from him.

Beverly was mortified by his reaction and his words.  She could have understood his being upset by the rumors, but for him to call a possible relationship between them “absurd”, that completely took her off guard.  She thought that she knew how he felt about her, even if he had never acted on it.  Now, she was both angered and hurt by his apparent lack of feelings for her, but she was determined not to let it show.

“Well, I’m glad you feel that way about it, Captain,” she replied as calmly as possible and then kicked herself mentally for using his title.  “I’m sure this will blow over in a few days.  No real harm done, right?”

She still had her back to him.  Despite her efforts to deceive him, Jean-Luc knew that she was upset and why.  His words had been misunderstood and he had hurt her.  He had not meant that the idea of a deeper relationship between them was absurd.  He was referring to the rapid pace of the rumor mill aboard the Enterprise and the fact that his crew was so apparently intrigued by their relationship.  Slowly, he approached her and placed his hands lightly on her shoulders.  She jerked slightly at the contact.

“Beverly,” he replied slowly.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean that to sound like it did.”  When she didn’t respond, the turned her gently so that she was facing him, but she kept her eyes lowered.  “Beverly, please, look at me.”

She took a deep breath and looked up, still determined not to show her true feelings.  She failed miserably as a tear began to stream down her cheek.

“I didn’t mean that the idea of “us” was absurd.”  Brushing the tear away with his thumb, he spoke steadily and softly.  “I think you know how I feel for you.  That will never change.”  Jean-Luc was overwhelmed with the need to pull her into his arms and kiss away the hurt.  Seeing the sincerity and emotion in his eyes, Beverly beat him to the punch and leaned in to brush her lips across his in a first tentative kiss.

For a moment, he was shocked by her actions.  He expected her to pull away, as she always had; to retreat in the safety of their friendship.  He was delighted, however, when she leaned in closer and covered his mouth with hers in a passionate kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, he gazed into her eyes.  He couldn’t afford another misunderstanding.  She recognized his questioning look and smiled mischievously.  “Let’s give them something to talk about,” she replied, pulling him in for another searing kiss.

He gladly complied.

The END