Fic: Fair Trade part 3
Feb. 26th, 2009 10:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
so_jangTitle: Fair Trade part 3 (yes, I'm all spammy tonight, sorry!)
Author: me!
Rating:PG-13, technobabble, blood, angst
Notes: Remember that clip I was obsessed with? The one with Beverly's crazy hat? Yes, well... Link to TNG clip
Betaing & thanks:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
miriel helped me with the idea and gave me happy thoughts when I got stuck. **lanna_kitty** the hallowed and loved, betaed this like there was nothing else going on in her crazy life. She helped with characters, plot, grammar...everything!!! She rocks. (and is fabulous)
Summary: When Captain Picard disappears on a shore leave on a nonaligned world, the away team goes under cover to try and find him. Worf uses an unorthodox cover story and it spirals out of control. Crusher/Picard with significant Riker/Troi leanings. (yes, I wrote another damn babyfic...)
part one || part two
Will leaned in the doorway leading to the set of bunks in the back of the runabout, Mendel. Deanna had the con and Worf was briefing his security teams via subspace for the escort mission Data was taking the Enterprise on. Raiders were causing trouble near the demilitarized zone between Cardassian and Federation borders. A galaxy class starship was a hefty deterrent to most insurgents but Worf was preparing his deputy to man tactical in his absence, just in case.
It was a fairly routine mission and Data could certainly handle it. Data might even be the best man for the job, so to speak, because no one and nothing would ruffle him. Will had to admit feeling a little guilty letting the Enterprise out of his sight but they needed the captain. Starfleet had allowed him full control over the mission to recover the captain. He reported in when he had something to report, but most of it had been off the record.
They’d gone over the plan once and he’d intended to go over it again, just to make sure they all had it but Beverly had declined. When he’d really looked at her, he’d understood. She’d come to the ready room before they’d left the ship. Something was on her mind but she hadn’t been able to tell him. Data had questions, Starfleet wanted reports and the best he’d been able to offer was a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he talked to Starfleet command.
He hadn’t looked. Will usually rushed when he was in a hurry so he hadn’t thought much when he’d had to slow down to walk with her to main shuttlebay and the runabout. He hadn’t had time to talk to her or get to the heart of what was bothering her, not until now.
“Usually one lies on the bed,” he teased lightly. Beverly’s boots were off and neatly at her side. Her eyes were closed and her head rested on the pillow she’d pulled off the bed and placed on the deck. Her long legs were draped over the bed, with her feet up near where the pillow should have been. Her hair still looked odd, fanned out beneath her head and nearly brown instead of the golden red it had been for the last few years. It did add significantly to the illusion that she could have been his sister.
"Usually I don't feel like the bed is moving," she replied sleepily without opening her eyes.
He settled down on the floor across from her, leaning back against the bunk on the other side of the small living quarters. "Side effects?"
For a moment, she almost smiled, and her head turned slightly towards him. "My blood pressure's a little off." Her hands were folded over her stomach and her medical tricorder lay open and off to her side. "I thought putting my feet up might help."
Will nearly reached for the tricorder but decided to let her explain it to him instead. "Are you going to be all right to beam down in a few hours?"
"I'll be fine," she murmured unconvincingly. Her eyelids remained solidly closed. "Did Deanna find her mother?"
"Lwaxana is more than happy to lend us the latinum we may need to bail out the captain," he reported chuckling. "He might not like being indebted to her for generations to come, should the price be higher than we expect. Thankfully, the indomitable Mrs. Troi not only has the money, but apparently keeps several Ferengi accounts that can be accessed anywhere, including non-aligned worlds."
When mentioning the captain's suffering at the hands of Deanna's mother failed to make her smile, he reached for her hand and touched it tentatively. "You haven't told us what you did," he confronted.
"I'll pass a blood test, a physical exam and a tricorder scan," she answered indirectly. Her fingers moved almost absently responding to his touch. As her hand rolled to the side, her sleeve pulled up and exposed a strange purple mottling of her skin in a neat circle around her wrist. Glancing over to the hand on her stomach, Will reached down and tugged that sleeve back too. An identical bruise, presumably from the metal cuffs they'd all worn briefly the previous day, ringed that wrist as well.
He couldn't help wincing as he stretched to retrieve the medkit from the corner. "I didn't know they were so rough with you," Will said softly.
"They weren't," she replied. Her lips twitched and eventually formed a weak smile. "I seem to be bruising in odd places. I think it's connected to the problems I'm having with my blood pressure. It's a temporary weakening of the capillaries. It doesn't hurt."
Wondering if he wouldn't get more out of her with humor, Will rolled her sleeve back and reached for the dermal regenerator. "It looks like Deanna beats you."
That made her smile remain a moment longer. "I was going to heal them," she sighed and didn't resist as he held her wrist. "I got distracted."
"I may not have a surgeon's touch," Will teased as he activated the dermal regenerator and started making the ugly purple marks disappear. "But, I remember enough first aid to handle a bruise or two."
Instead of letting him lift her hand off of her stomach, she was careful to switch her hands, covering a small medical device with the hand he'd just healed as if she was unwilling to let it be exposed to the air.
"And that is what? A tissue regulator?" His guess must have been wrong because her forehead furrowed for a moment.
"No, but you’re close. Radiation emitter," she corrected gently. "I think it's causing the bruising problem. Capillaries are touchy things. Kind of the canaries of the circulatory system."
Finishing her wrist, Will held her hand and wondered why the skin suddenly seemed so warm. "You're not intending to fill your blood vessels with poisonous gases, are you?"
She nearly chuckled before it turned into a weak yawn. "Some missions you just can't sleep before," Beverly explained as she realized he wasn't leaving or releasing her hand. She squeezed his for a moment. "We'll get him back."
"Of course we will," Will teased sardonically. "I only had to sell myself to Lwaxana as her son-in-law to afford it."
Her eyelids actually fluttered slightly, but the light on the ceiling seemed to be too much and she pulled her hand away to cover them. "Deanna decided she'd take you?"
"Only as a last resort," he admitted with mock sheepishness. Will's medical knowledge wasn't one of his strong suits, but he couldn't bring to mind any reason why she'd need a radiation emitter. His hand hovered over her shoulder as he tried not to worry about the pallor of her complexion.
Beverly sighed heavily and reached slowly to take his hand again. This time, her grip was tighter. "Will, if you're going to ask me, just ask before I fall asleep."
He watched tiny beads of sweat appear on her forehead as her skin flushed. Her forehead crinkled again in discomfort, but she seemed determined not to move. "You’re sweating. Beverly, what have you done to yourself?"
"It'll be over in a minute," she promised as he watched in horror as perspiration broke out over her exposed skin. "It's uncomfortable, but really not as bad as it looks. I assure you Will, the danger from hot flashes, low blood pressure and a bruising problem is minimal. It's annoying but I'm fine."
He let the officer part of his mind take over. They were beaming down to less than friendly territory, the Enterprise was hours away and she was physically compromised. He'd asked her to do whatever it was to herself. It did appear that she'd gone beyond the call of duty, but wouldn't they all have done it for the captain? He'd known the captain for seven years and he would put his life on the line for him. Will realized he hadn't really considered how far Beverly would go. "You won't have any problems down on the planet?"
"I'll have a few nasty looking bruises if we get into a scuffle," Beverly admitted as her fingers grew slick with sweat. "My blood pressure is unstable, so I’m not running any marathons. Put too much stress on my circulatory system and you’ll have to have Worf carry me out of whatever trouble we’re in. I’m sorry Will." He felt her grip tighten on his hand. Something was wrong in his gut and he hadn't dealt with it yet. She was too quiet and almost too accepting of the situation. He'd expected her to be more frustrated; she'd fight against her symptoms instead of letting them wash over her. Patient wasn't usually a word he associated with Beverly. Dogged, determined, passionate, fiery...but patient? Accepting? Overly tolerant?
“Sorry?” he repeated softly. “This is temporary, isn’t it? After the mission, you’ll feel better. You can undo whatever you did and you’ll be fine.” The tricorder was off and waited patiently in his hand as he tried not to tighten his jaw with worry. Her eyes opened and she stole her hand from his to wipe the perspiration from her forehead before it ran into her eyes. Grabbing the corner of the sheet, he pulled it down so she could wipe her face.
“I have to admit I didn’t really expect to have to deal with hot flashes for another fifteen years or so,” she observed wryly. Staring past him at the ceiling, she pushed the sheet weakly back into the bunk. “What time is it?”
Glancing over at the chronometer near the door, he stared back as her eyes started to close again. “Almost fourteen hundred,” he told her. “We’ll be in orbit of the planet in half an hour. Deanna and Worf will beam down and make a withdrawal from the Ferengi Commerce Authority Branch on Suuka. You and I will join them when they signal they’re ready. Most likely around fifteen hundred. The Suuka prison has visiting hours--”
She interrupted him and finished the explanation. “Then I see if I can visit the captain. Let him know the plan before we have our time to bargain for him at the Suukan tribunal.” For the first time since he’d entered the cabin, she looked straight at him.
He paused and contemplated the flush in her skin and the dark circles beneath her eyes. “Will you be all right by then?”
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him without looking away. Her expression had the same intensity he was accustomed to. She was hiding something so serious that she seemed to doubt her own ability to find a way to put it into words.
Moving his hand to her shoulder, Will squeezed it reassuringly before he activated the tricorder. Making an effort to keep his tone warm and friendly, “I could order you, if it makes it easier.”
Beverly let her eyes slip closed again and barely swallowed a yawn. “If you scan me, I’ll appear somewhere between ten and twelve weeks pregnant. The reading will fluctuate for the next half hour. At fourteen hundred hours, the emitter will deactivate and my symptoms should improve.”
“When you say appear, you mean you did something to make it look like you’re pregnant, not that you actually are?” he guessed hopefully. When she didn't try to encourage that idea, Will felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. His words came too slowly, like he had to pull them out of his mouth. His fears hadn’t mentioned this. He’d worried she could make an error and make herself ill or that the charade would land them all in a Suukan prison. His stomach turned to a hard knot of ice and his mouth wasn’t working properly. His sudden change in mood alerted Deanna and he felt the echo of her concern adding to his own.
“The tricorder will say I’m pregnant,” Beverly repeated evasively. It was obvious she was exhausted and he could feel her holding back. Normally he wouldn’t have pushed her but he had a duty to know. The away team depended on the success of the component parts.
He pushed his hair off his forehead and felt his jaw tighten. That uncertainty ran all the way down his back like a line of ice becoming solid inside of his spine. “But this isn’t a deception. Whatever you’ve done, this is real. You’re actually pregnant. Beverly, who’s the father?”
Will swallowed hard and felt Deanna’s surprise join his. Trying to calm his mind enough to keep her from charging to his rescue, he focused on his breathing and centered himself, just as she had taught him. “It’s been what, ten, twelve hours since our briefing yesterday? You can’t have become ten weeks pregnant in ten hours. That’s completely impossible.”
“I’m all right,” she assured him. Her hand caught his and stopped it a few centimeters from her stomach. Will immediately felt guilty, as if he was crossing a line. “It’s,”she started. “I- I’m a little sore. Keeping my eyes open too long or lifting my head makes the room start to grey out and I feel like the environmental controls are going haywire. Considering what I’ve done--”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” he stammered. Will repeated what Deanna had taught him, pulling his thoughts together and calming them as if they were waves on the ocean coming to rest. “Hey, Beverly, stay with me. Tell me what you did.”
Squeezing her hand brought her back around and she sighed heavily. “I tried-” she shook her head once from side to side and corrected herself. “I intended to tell you. I, I even thought about asking your permission. I didn’t mean to break the chain of command. Will--”
His mind assembled the pieces in a sudden flash of insight. “You used the captain’s DNA,” he realized abruptly. “You got it from the computer and then came up with some way to speed up development.” He cut himself off and ran his hand through his hair. Shock released its frigid hold on him and gave way to wonder. “You can do that?”
“That was the easy part,” her admission had no pride and simply ended in a sigh. “This planet would have been suspicious if I wasn’t past a certain point of development. I didn’t know, I don’t, I mean I wasn’t sure it would work.” Her tongue ran over her lips and he could see her throat pulse as she swallowed. “I fertilized one of my ova with the captain’s DNA and then impregnated myself with it. In the last ten hours, that embryo has experienced at least ten weeks of development. When the radiation is removed, the embryo will begin to experience time at a normal rate and my condition should stabilize.”
Beverly stopped speaking long enough to bite her lip before she forced her eyes open. “ I didn’t want Deanna to know. I used a variation of what happened to her. I needed to speed it up, make time where I didn’t have any. Will, we’ve never spoken about her son. I didn’t want to tell her, but I had to do it.”
Pain shot up from his memory. He and Deanna had a standing date on Ian’s birthday, in case she needed to talk. He smoothed the thought down and tried to focus on the positive thought that of all the people in the galaxy, Jean-Luc Picard was about to have a child. “What are you going to tell the captain?”
The corner of her mouth actually twitched into something resembling a weak smile. “I don’t know,” she answered gently. Something beeped, then beeped again as it demanded her attention. Her hand deactivated the emitter and slowly removed it from her stomach. Setting it aside on the floor of the Mendel, she lifted her hand to his and surprised him by pulling it down to the soft flesh of her stomach. “It’s all right, Will.” While his hand rested there, she took the tricorder from him and ran the probe over herself. “It should be fine now.”
Lifting herself up on her elbow, she started to roll to her side and stopped short. Her lips were suddenly almost white and her eyes rolled up slightly.
“Hey.” Will halted her and brought his hand to her forehead. “I can read a tricorder, keep your head down before you pass out on me.” He returned the probe to the tricorder and waited for the results. “Eleven weeks, three days, twenty-two minutes--” His great effort to be charming instead of terrified earned him the reward of her surprised laughter.
“No seconds?” she asked lightly.
Shrugging in what he hoped was a passable imitation of Data, he grinned. “Your self diagnosis is correct, doctor.” He said peering at the tricorder before bringing his eyes back to her. “Your blood pressure is eighty-two over thirty-one. Your body temperature is thirty-nine degrees. Your blood chemistry is a mess and there’s an indicator down at the bottom that’s flashing very quickly.”
Pulling in her breath quickly, she took a moment to explain. “Orange triangle, on the very bottom. Fetal heartbeat. Tap it twice and it’ll give you a visual.”
Doing as he was told, Will felt Deanna’s emotional state wash over him like a sudden burst of rain on a summer day. She knew and he couldn’t help wondered if he’d been so surprised he’d accidently projected the thought. She’d been worried about the dark place Beverly’s thoughts had been in since the captain had been declared missing.
He hadn’t given it much thought, he’d been so concerned about the ship and finding the captain that he’d ignored everything else. He’d barely even spoken to Deanna and now exposing her to his unfettered, powerful emotions almost seemed rude. She’d forgive him, she always had, so he pushed that thought aside and lost all others as the tricorder gave him the visual image.
The only image he’d seen of a unborn human had been Deanna’s ill-fated son, Ian. That child had terrified and angered him. Deanna hadn’t been anything more than his very close friend when it happened, but Ian hadn’t been his. On some level that bothered him and he’d barely been able to look at her. How would the captain react when he found out he’d become a father?
This blurry blue and green image on the tricorder was a child that was half Jean-Luc Picard. It had not been created by nature, but simply to bring him freedom. He didn’t envy his captain the gravity of that but on some level, he was jealous of the experience the captain was now going to have. Will knew children might be something in the future for him, at least, that had always been his hope. He didn’t know if it was in the captain’s plans for his life.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to tell him?” he asked before he moved his eyes from the tricorder’s fascinating image. Beverly’s head was tilted slightly to the side and her breathing was slow and regular. Without his attempts to keep her talking, she had fallen asleep. He didn't even know how long he'd been staring at the tricorder's fuzzy image. Lifting the emitter from the carpet, he placed it carefully in the medkit. Taking another look at the tricorder, he smiled at the image before he closed it. He was willing to bet the kid would have red hair.
Letting the door shut behind him, he put a finger over lips and tried not to grin like an idiot at Worf. The big Klingon got his message and nodded once before returning to whatever he was studying on the computer console in front of him. Will hadn’t mentioned it yet but black leather was a good look for him. It brought out the points of his teeth. Worf’s outfit stunning but it wasn’t nearly as much fun as Deanna’s.
Today, she wore something black and skintight, like vinyl that had been sprayed onto her body. Over the black, she wore a filmy green dress that seemed to float above the jumpsuit like fog on the ocean in Alaska. The black layer was so tight he almost expected it to creak when she moved, like Worf, but instead she managed to inhabit it with a special kind of silent grace. His own outfit was green and black to match hers, but it was simpler, almost rakish with tall black boots that came to his knees. Will liked the boots.
Deanna was still at the con. He eyes were fixed straight ahead as if she needed to keep watch for the planet. Part of his joy faded when he realized “I’m sorry, Deanna. I had no intention of projecting anything.”
Her hands remained on the panel and she wouldn’t turn her head towards him. Will squared his shoulders and settled in to wait for her to speak to him. His mind wandered back to the captain. Trying to picture him with a baby barely seemed possible but he liked the idea. He’d known the captain and Beverly were close, possibly even closer than he thought but he would have never taken a bet that they’d have a child together. The odds were too high, even for him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized, at the heart of this odd situation, it was Worf’s fault. That thought brought a chuckle to his throat.
“Is she all right?” She asked as he realized she was looking at him instead of ahead at the window. Deanna had the tracks of tears on her cheeks and more glistening in her eyelashes.
Reaching over the Mendel’s controls, he wrapped her hand entirely in his own and nodded once. “I think so,” he admitted gently. “Deanna, I was just as surprised as you are.”
“Not your fault,” Deanna assured him with quiet certainty. “I knew she was doing something that provoked an incredibly strong response. Her guilt and desperation were almost overwhelming. I thought it was just part of missing the captain. Then I felt you.” She brought his hand to her cheek and held it there for a long moment. “You’re happy.”
He opened his mouth to respond but decided to leave what he was going to say in his mind.
“You’re many things,” she continued as she settled their entwined fingers into her lap and leaned towards him. “I don’t think I’ve felt you that surprised, ever. You’ve decided to channel your feelings and be happy for them. That thought gives you great peace.”
Using the hand that wasn’t in her lap, Will cupped her cheek and stared into her dark, wet eyes. Deanna’s grief was only the first layer of emotion and he didn’t need to know the rest before he reached out to hug her. “Will,” she buried her face in his neck for a long moment before she finished her thought. “Your emotional control has definitely improved over the years. Your choices are very distinct and admirable.”
“It’s just another one of the very good reasons to bring the captain home,” he agreed as he rubbed his hand down her back. The black cloth of her outfit was incredibly soft under his touch. “Just thinking about the look on his face.” Grinning at her, he concentrated on the positive side, picturing the captain trying to calm an infant, or sing it to sleep. That coaxed a smile from her.
Deanna kept that smile and covered his hand on her shoulder with hers. “Will Beverly be all right? What exactly did she do?”
“She’s weak,” he admitted guardedly. “I don’t understand it. We knew she was good.” Shaking his head, Will tried imagine the feat it must have been to speed the development of a fetus that far. “Somehow, overnight, she’s become almost three months pregnant. It doesn’t seem at all possible but it’s right there on the tricorder.” His protective side surfaced and he sighed before he finished. “There were side effects. She’s dizzy, exhausted, shaky...if we didn’t need her I’d order her to stay up here.”
“How did she do it?” Deanna asked them both. “Starfleet medical doesn’t have that kind of technology.”
Fingering his beard helped him think but he had no answers for either of them. “We might never know. This is the captain. Any one of us would give up our lives.” Deanna’s quick nod demonstrated her agreement. “I suppose this is the other side of that equation. In order to save a life, his life, Beverly thought she had to create one.”
Deanna’s eyes softened in sympathy and he knew she understood what he felt. The captain was family to them all. He’d proved he would go to any length for them. Their loyalty knew no boundaries. Captain Picard’s life was sacrosanct and they would bring him back. She accepted that as much as he did.
She had to look away from his gaze before she confronted him. “Your thoughts went to Ian.”
“That was how she did it,” he replied. No amount of gentleness could ease the emptiness Ian had left, even years later. “She copied what Ian, what that being, did to you.”
“Ian did not make me ill,” she reminded him defensively. “He was very careful to leave my body untouched.”
Nodding, Will kept his eyes on her face. “Beverly might be brilliant but she’s not an energy being. So far, what she did seemed to work but I don’t think even she knows how well or at what cost to her health.”
This time it was Deanna who hugged him and her little fingers dug tightly into his shoulders. Her own shoulders were still, and the crying had passed, but he thought he could feel the tension and weight of her grief in her body.
“It’s going to be all right,” he promised sincerely. He didn’t know how. He wasn’t even sure why he had so much faith but he knew, regardless of what happened on the planet, he was going to make this all right. No matter what he had to do. Even just so he could invite Lwaxana on board to congratulate the captain.
Deanna must have felt that thought as well because he was certain he was feeling her chuckle.
Author: me!
Rating:PG-13, technobabble, blood, angst
Notes: Remember that clip I was obsessed with? The one with Beverly's crazy hat? Yes, well... Link to TNG clip
Betaing & thanks:
miriel helped me with the idea and gave me happy thoughts when I got stuck. **lanna_kitty** the hallowed and loved, betaed this like there was nothing else going on in her crazy life. She helped with characters, plot, grammar...everything!!! She rocks. (and is fabulous)Summary: When Captain Picard disappears on a shore leave on a nonaligned world, the away team goes under cover to try and find him. Worf uses an unorthodox cover story and it spirals out of control. Crusher/Picard with significant Riker/Troi leanings. (yes, I wrote another damn babyfic...)
part one || part two
Will leaned in the doorway leading to the set of bunks in the back of the runabout, Mendel. Deanna had the con and Worf was briefing his security teams via subspace for the escort mission Data was taking the Enterprise on. Raiders were causing trouble near the demilitarized zone between Cardassian and Federation borders. A galaxy class starship was a hefty deterrent to most insurgents but Worf was preparing his deputy to man tactical in his absence, just in case.
It was a fairly routine mission and Data could certainly handle it. Data might even be the best man for the job, so to speak, because no one and nothing would ruffle him. Will had to admit feeling a little guilty letting the Enterprise out of his sight but they needed the captain. Starfleet had allowed him full control over the mission to recover the captain. He reported in when he had something to report, but most of it had been off the record.
They’d gone over the plan once and he’d intended to go over it again, just to make sure they all had it but Beverly had declined. When he’d really looked at her, he’d understood. She’d come to the ready room before they’d left the ship. Something was on her mind but she hadn’t been able to tell him. Data had questions, Starfleet wanted reports and the best he’d been able to offer was a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he talked to Starfleet command.
He hadn’t looked. Will usually rushed when he was in a hurry so he hadn’t thought much when he’d had to slow down to walk with her to main shuttlebay and the runabout. He hadn’t had time to talk to her or get to the heart of what was bothering her, not until now.
“Usually one lies on the bed,” he teased lightly. Beverly’s boots were off and neatly at her side. Her eyes were closed and her head rested on the pillow she’d pulled off the bed and placed on the deck. Her long legs were draped over the bed, with her feet up near where the pillow should have been. Her hair still looked odd, fanned out beneath her head and nearly brown instead of the golden red it had been for the last few years. It did add significantly to the illusion that she could have been his sister.
"Usually I don't feel like the bed is moving," she replied sleepily without opening her eyes.
He settled down on the floor across from her, leaning back against the bunk on the other side of the small living quarters. "Side effects?"
For a moment, she almost smiled, and her head turned slightly towards him. "My blood pressure's a little off." Her hands were folded over her stomach and her medical tricorder lay open and off to her side. "I thought putting my feet up might help."
Will nearly reached for the tricorder but decided to let her explain it to him instead. "Are you going to be all right to beam down in a few hours?"
"I'll be fine," she murmured unconvincingly. Her eyelids remained solidly closed. "Did Deanna find her mother?"
"Lwaxana is more than happy to lend us the latinum we may need to bail out the captain," he reported chuckling. "He might not like being indebted to her for generations to come, should the price be higher than we expect. Thankfully, the indomitable Mrs. Troi not only has the money, but apparently keeps several Ferengi accounts that can be accessed anywhere, including non-aligned worlds."
When mentioning the captain's suffering at the hands of Deanna's mother failed to make her smile, he reached for her hand and touched it tentatively. "You haven't told us what you did," he confronted.
"I'll pass a blood test, a physical exam and a tricorder scan," she answered indirectly. Her fingers moved almost absently responding to his touch. As her hand rolled to the side, her sleeve pulled up and exposed a strange purple mottling of her skin in a neat circle around her wrist. Glancing over to the hand on her stomach, Will reached down and tugged that sleeve back too. An identical bruise, presumably from the metal cuffs they'd all worn briefly the previous day, ringed that wrist as well.
He couldn't help wincing as he stretched to retrieve the medkit from the corner. "I didn't know they were so rough with you," Will said softly.
"They weren't," she replied. Her lips twitched and eventually formed a weak smile. "I seem to be bruising in odd places. I think it's connected to the problems I'm having with my blood pressure. It's a temporary weakening of the capillaries. It doesn't hurt."
Wondering if he wouldn't get more out of her with humor, Will rolled her sleeve back and reached for the dermal regenerator. "It looks like Deanna beats you."
That made her smile remain a moment longer. "I was going to heal them," she sighed and didn't resist as he held her wrist. "I got distracted."
"I may not have a surgeon's touch," Will teased as he activated the dermal regenerator and started making the ugly purple marks disappear. "But, I remember enough first aid to handle a bruise or two."
Instead of letting him lift her hand off of her stomach, she was careful to switch her hands, covering a small medical device with the hand he'd just healed as if she was unwilling to let it be exposed to the air.
"And that is what? A tissue regulator?" His guess must have been wrong because her forehead furrowed for a moment.
"No, but you’re close. Radiation emitter," she corrected gently. "I think it's causing the bruising problem. Capillaries are touchy things. Kind of the canaries of the circulatory system."
Finishing her wrist, Will held her hand and wondered why the skin suddenly seemed so warm. "You're not intending to fill your blood vessels with poisonous gases, are you?"
She nearly chuckled before it turned into a weak yawn. "Some missions you just can't sleep before," Beverly explained as she realized he wasn't leaving or releasing her hand. She squeezed his for a moment. "We'll get him back."
"Of course we will," Will teased sardonically. "I only had to sell myself to Lwaxana as her son-in-law to afford it."
Her eyelids actually fluttered slightly, but the light on the ceiling seemed to be too much and she pulled her hand away to cover them. "Deanna decided she'd take you?"
"Only as a last resort," he admitted with mock sheepishness. Will's medical knowledge wasn't one of his strong suits, but he couldn't bring to mind any reason why she'd need a radiation emitter. His hand hovered over her shoulder as he tried not to worry about the pallor of her complexion.
Beverly sighed heavily and reached slowly to take his hand again. This time, her grip was tighter. "Will, if you're going to ask me, just ask before I fall asleep."
He watched tiny beads of sweat appear on her forehead as her skin flushed. Her forehead crinkled again in discomfort, but she seemed determined not to move. "You’re sweating. Beverly, what have you done to yourself?"
"It'll be over in a minute," she promised as he watched in horror as perspiration broke out over her exposed skin. "It's uncomfortable, but really not as bad as it looks. I assure you Will, the danger from hot flashes, low blood pressure and a bruising problem is minimal. It's annoying but I'm fine."
He let the officer part of his mind take over. They were beaming down to less than friendly territory, the Enterprise was hours away and she was physically compromised. He'd asked her to do whatever it was to herself. It did appear that she'd gone beyond the call of duty, but wouldn't they all have done it for the captain? He'd known the captain for seven years and he would put his life on the line for him. Will realized he hadn't really considered how far Beverly would go. "You won't have any problems down on the planet?"
"I'll have a few nasty looking bruises if we get into a scuffle," Beverly admitted as her fingers grew slick with sweat. "My blood pressure is unstable, so I’m not running any marathons. Put too much stress on my circulatory system and you’ll have to have Worf carry me out of whatever trouble we’re in. I’m sorry Will." He felt her grip tighten on his hand. Something was wrong in his gut and he hadn't dealt with it yet. She was too quiet and almost too accepting of the situation. He'd expected her to be more frustrated; she'd fight against her symptoms instead of letting them wash over her. Patient wasn't usually a word he associated with Beverly. Dogged, determined, passionate, fiery...but patient? Accepting? Overly tolerant?
“Sorry?” he repeated softly. “This is temporary, isn’t it? After the mission, you’ll feel better. You can undo whatever you did and you’ll be fine.” The tricorder was off and waited patiently in his hand as he tried not to tighten his jaw with worry. Her eyes opened and she stole her hand from his to wipe the perspiration from her forehead before it ran into her eyes. Grabbing the corner of the sheet, he pulled it down so she could wipe her face.
“I have to admit I didn’t really expect to have to deal with hot flashes for another fifteen years or so,” she observed wryly. Staring past him at the ceiling, she pushed the sheet weakly back into the bunk. “What time is it?”
Glancing over at the chronometer near the door, he stared back as her eyes started to close again. “Almost fourteen hundred,” he told her. “We’ll be in orbit of the planet in half an hour. Deanna and Worf will beam down and make a withdrawal from the Ferengi Commerce Authority Branch on Suuka. You and I will join them when they signal they’re ready. Most likely around fifteen hundred. The Suuka prison has visiting hours--”
She interrupted him and finished the explanation. “Then I see if I can visit the captain. Let him know the plan before we have our time to bargain for him at the Suukan tribunal.” For the first time since he’d entered the cabin, she looked straight at him.
He paused and contemplated the flush in her skin and the dark circles beneath her eyes. “Will you be all right by then?”
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him without looking away. Her expression had the same intensity he was accustomed to. She was hiding something so serious that she seemed to doubt her own ability to find a way to put it into words.
Moving his hand to her shoulder, Will squeezed it reassuringly before he activated the tricorder. Making an effort to keep his tone warm and friendly, “I could order you, if it makes it easier.”
Beverly let her eyes slip closed again and barely swallowed a yawn. “If you scan me, I’ll appear somewhere between ten and twelve weeks pregnant. The reading will fluctuate for the next half hour. At fourteen hundred hours, the emitter will deactivate and my symptoms should improve.”
“When you say appear, you mean you did something to make it look like you’re pregnant, not that you actually are?” he guessed hopefully. When she didn't try to encourage that idea, Will felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. His words came too slowly, like he had to pull them out of his mouth. His fears hadn’t mentioned this. He’d worried she could make an error and make herself ill or that the charade would land them all in a Suukan prison. His stomach turned to a hard knot of ice and his mouth wasn’t working properly. His sudden change in mood alerted Deanna and he felt the echo of her concern adding to his own.
“The tricorder will say I’m pregnant,” Beverly repeated evasively. It was obvious she was exhausted and he could feel her holding back. Normally he wouldn’t have pushed her but he had a duty to know. The away team depended on the success of the component parts.
He pushed his hair off his forehead and felt his jaw tighten. That uncertainty ran all the way down his back like a line of ice becoming solid inside of his spine. “But this isn’t a deception. Whatever you’ve done, this is real. You’re actually pregnant. Beverly, who’s the father?”
Will swallowed hard and felt Deanna’s surprise join his. Trying to calm his mind enough to keep her from charging to his rescue, he focused on his breathing and centered himself, just as she had taught him. “It’s been what, ten, twelve hours since our briefing yesterday? You can’t have become ten weeks pregnant in ten hours. That’s completely impossible.”
“I’m all right,” she assured him. Her hand caught his and stopped it a few centimeters from her stomach. Will immediately felt guilty, as if he was crossing a line. “It’s,”she started. “I- I’m a little sore. Keeping my eyes open too long or lifting my head makes the room start to grey out and I feel like the environmental controls are going haywire. Considering what I’ve done--”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” he stammered. Will repeated what Deanna had taught him, pulling his thoughts together and calming them as if they were waves on the ocean coming to rest. “Hey, Beverly, stay with me. Tell me what you did.”
Squeezing her hand brought her back around and she sighed heavily. “I tried-” she shook her head once from side to side and corrected herself. “I intended to tell you. I, I even thought about asking your permission. I didn’t mean to break the chain of command. Will--”
His mind assembled the pieces in a sudden flash of insight. “You used the captain’s DNA,” he realized abruptly. “You got it from the computer and then came up with some way to speed up development.” He cut himself off and ran his hand through his hair. Shock released its frigid hold on him and gave way to wonder. “You can do that?”
“That was the easy part,” her admission had no pride and simply ended in a sigh. “This planet would have been suspicious if I wasn’t past a certain point of development. I didn’t know, I don’t, I mean I wasn’t sure it would work.” Her tongue ran over her lips and he could see her throat pulse as she swallowed. “I fertilized one of my ova with the captain’s DNA and then impregnated myself with it. In the last ten hours, that embryo has experienced at least ten weeks of development. When the radiation is removed, the embryo will begin to experience time at a normal rate and my condition should stabilize.”
Beverly stopped speaking long enough to bite her lip before she forced her eyes open. “ I didn’t want Deanna to know. I used a variation of what happened to her. I needed to speed it up, make time where I didn’t have any. Will, we’ve never spoken about her son. I didn’t want to tell her, but I had to do it.”
Pain shot up from his memory. He and Deanna had a standing date on Ian’s birthday, in case she needed to talk. He smoothed the thought down and tried to focus on the positive thought that of all the people in the galaxy, Jean-Luc Picard was about to have a child. “What are you going to tell the captain?”
The corner of her mouth actually twitched into something resembling a weak smile. “I don’t know,” she answered gently. Something beeped, then beeped again as it demanded her attention. Her hand deactivated the emitter and slowly removed it from her stomach. Setting it aside on the floor of the Mendel, she lifted her hand to his and surprised him by pulling it down to the soft flesh of her stomach. “It’s all right, Will.” While his hand rested there, she took the tricorder from him and ran the probe over herself. “It should be fine now.”
Lifting herself up on her elbow, she started to roll to her side and stopped short. Her lips were suddenly almost white and her eyes rolled up slightly.
“Hey.” Will halted her and brought his hand to her forehead. “I can read a tricorder, keep your head down before you pass out on me.” He returned the probe to the tricorder and waited for the results. “Eleven weeks, three days, twenty-two minutes--” His great effort to be charming instead of terrified earned him the reward of her surprised laughter.
“No seconds?” she asked lightly.
Shrugging in what he hoped was a passable imitation of Data, he grinned. “Your self diagnosis is correct, doctor.” He said peering at the tricorder before bringing his eyes back to her. “Your blood pressure is eighty-two over thirty-one. Your body temperature is thirty-nine degrees. Your blood chemistry is a mess and there’s an indicator down at the bottom that’s flashing very quickly.”
Pulling in her breath quickly, she took a moment to explain. “Orange triangle, on the very bottom. Fetal heartbeat. Tap it twice and it’ll give you a visual.”
Doing as he was told, Will felt Deanna’s emotional state wash over him like a sudden burst of rain on a summer day. She knew and he couldn’t help wondered if he’d been so surprised he’d accidently projected the thought. She’d been worried about the dark place Beverly’s thoughts had been in since the captain had been declared missing.
He hadn’t given it much thought, he’d been so concerned about the ship and finding the captain that he’d ignored everything else. He’d barely even spoken to Deanna and now exposing her to his unfettered, powerful emotions almost seemed rude. She’d forgive him, she always had, so he pushed that thought aside and lost all others as the tricorder gave him the visual image.
The only image he’d seen of a unborn human had been Deanna’s ill-fated son, Ian. That child had terrified and angered him. Deanna hadn’t been anything more than his very close friend when it happened, but Ian hadn’t been his. On some level that bothered him and he’d barely been able to look at her. How would the captain react when he found out he’d become a father?
This blurry blue and green image on the tricorder was a child that was half Jean-Luc Picard. It had not been created by nature, but simply to bring him freedom. He didn’t envy his captain the gravity of that but on some level, he was jealous of the experience the captain was now going to have. Will knew children might be something in the future for him, at least, that had always been his hope. He didn’t know if it was in the captain’s plans for his life.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to tell him?” he asked before he moved his eyes from the tricorder’s fascinating image. Beverly’s head was tilted slightly to the side and her breathing was slow and regular. Without his attempts to keep her talking, she had fallen asleep. He didn't even know how long he'd been staring at the tricorder's fuzzy image. Lifting the emitter from the carpet, he placed it carefully in the medkit. Taking another look at the tricorder, he smiled at the image before he closed it. He was willing to bet the kid would have red hair.
Letting the door shut behind him, he put a finger over lips and tried not to grin like an idiot at Worf. The big Klingon got his message and nodded once before returning to whatever he was studying on the computer console in front of him. Will hadn’t mentioned it yet but black leather was a good look for him. It brought out the points of his teeth. Worf’s outfit stunning but it wasn’t nearly as much fun as Deanna’s.
Today, she wore something black and skintight, like vinyl that had been sprayed onto her body. Over the black, she wore a filmy green dress that seemed to float above the jumpsuit like fog on the ocean in Alaska. The black layer was so tight he almost expected it to creak when she moved, like Worf, but instead she managed to inhabit it with a special kind of silent grace. His own outfit was green and black to match hers, but it was simpler, almost rakish with tall black boots that came to his knees. Will liked the boots.
Deanna was still at the con. He eyes were fixed straight ahead as if she needed to keep watch for the planet. Part of his joy faded when he realized “I’m sorry, Deanna. I had no intention of projecting anything.”
Her hands remained on the panel and she wouldn’t turn her head towards him. Will squared his shoulders and settled in to wait for her to speak to him. His mind wandered back to the captain. Trying to picture him with a baby barely seemed possible but he liked the idea. He’d known the captain and Beverly were close, possibly even closer than he thought but he would have never taken a bet that they’d have a child together. The odds were too high, even for him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized, at the heart of this odd situation, it was Worf’s fault. That thought brought a chuckle to his throat.
“Is she all right?” She asked as he realized she was looking at him instead of ahead at the window. Deanna had the tracks of tears on her cheeks and more glistening in her eyelashes.
Reaching over the Mendel’s controls, he wrapped her hand entirely in his own and nodded once. “I think so,” he admitted gently. “Deanna, I was just as surprised as you are.”
“Not your fault,” Deanna assured him with quiet certainty. “I knew she was doing something that provoked an incredibly strong response. Her guilt and desperation were almost overwhelming. I thought it was just part of missing the captain. Then I felt you.” She brought his hand to her cheek and held it there for a long moment. “You’re happy.”
He opened his mouth to respond but decided to leave what he was going to say in his mind.
“You’re many things,” she continued as she settled their entwined fingers into her lap and leaned towards him. “I don’t think I’ve felt you that surprised, ever. You’ve decided to channel your feelings and be happy for them. That thought gives you great peace.”
Using the hand that wasn’t in her lap, Will cupped her cheek and stared into her dark, wet eyes. Deanna’s grief was only the first layer of emotion and he didn’t need to know the rest before he reached out to hug her. “Will,” she buried her face in his neck for a long moment before she finished her thought. “Your emotional control has definitely improved over the years. Your choices are very distinct and admirable.”
“It’s just another one of the very good reasons to bring the captain home,” he agreed as he rubbed his hand down her back. The black cloth of her outfit was incredibly soft under his touch. “Just thinking about the look on his face.” Grinning at her, he concentrated on the positive side, picturing the captain trying to calm an infant, or sing it to sleep. That coaxed a smile from her.
Deanna kept that smile and covered his hand on her shoulder with hers. “Will Beverly be all right? What exactly did she do?”
“She’s weak,” he admitted guardedly. “I don’t understand it. We knew she was good.” Shaking his head, Will tried imagine the feat it must have been to speed the development of a fetus that far. “Somehow, overnight, she’s become almost three months pregnant. It doesn’t seem at all possible but it’s right there on the tricorder.” His protective side surfaced and he sighed before he finished. “There were side effects. She’s dizzy, exhausted, shaky...if we didn’t need her I’d order her to stay up here.”
“How did she do it?” Deanna asked them both. “Starfleet medical doesn’t have that kind of technology.”
Fingering his beard helped him think but he had no answers for either of them. “We might never know. This is the captain. Any one of us would give up our lives.” Deanna’s quick nod demonstrated her agreement. “I suppose this is the other side of that equation. In order to save a life, his life, Beverly thought she had to create one.”
Deanna’s eyes softened in sympathy and he knew she understood what he felt. The captain was family to them all. He’d proved he would go to any length for them. Their loyalty knew no boundaries. Captain Picard’s life was sacrosanct and they would bring him back. She accepted that as much as he did.
She had to look away from his gaze before she confronted him. “Your thoughts went to Ian.”
“That was how she did it,” he replied. No amount of gentleness could ease the emptiness Ian had left, even years later. “She copied what Ian, what that being, did to you.”
“Ian did not make me ill,” she reminded him defensively. “He was very careful to leave my body untouched.”
Nodding, Will kept his eyes on her face. “Beverly might be brilliant but she’s not an energy being. So far, what she did seemed to work but I don’t think even she knows how well or at what cost to her health.”
This time it was Deanna who hugged him and her little fingers dug tightly into his shoulders. Her own shoulders were still, and the crying had passed, but he thought he could feel the tension and weight of her grief in her body.
“It’s going to be all right,” he promised sincerely. He didn’t know how. He wasn’t even sure why he had so much faith but he knew, regardless of what happened on the planet, he was going to make this all right. No matter what he had to do. Even just so he could invite Lwaxana on board to congratulate the captain.
Deanna must have felt that thought as well because he was certain he was feeling her chuckle.
