Chapter Text
She didn't feel quite ready to wake up, but there were at least three minds with particularly loud emotions somewhere nearby and Deanna couldn't concentrate on how much she wanted to drift back off to sleep.
So instead she slowly opened her eyes - then immediately closed them because it was bright white and she was obviously in sickbay - and then opened them again.
“Deanna!” Beverly shouted happily, smiling down at her. “You're finally awake!”
“Mm…Beverly…?” She brought a hand up to massage her forehead and sat up as much as she could.
“We couldn't figure out why you were unconscious for so long,” Captain Picard said, concern radiating from his mind. “You had us very scared for a while there, Counselor.”
Deanna blinked a few times and looked at all the people around her bed. Beverly, the captain, Data, and Geordi were standing and staring at her like she'd been out for days. She hoped that hadn't been the case, but it wouldn't have been the first time that’d happened. “I…I had a strange, detailed dream.” She looked at Geordi. “You were there,” then looked at Data, “and you, and-”
“That wasn't a dream, Counselor,” Geordi interrupted, chuckling. “Q was really here and that all really happened.”
“You were the only one unconscious when we got back to the Enterprise, though,” Beverly continued.
“We came to the conclusion that Q wanted to imitate the part of the story where Dorothy wakes up at home,” Data explained. “Though we had no way of confirming.”
Deanna nodded her head in understanding. “So…he's gone, then?”
“It seems like it,” the captain answered. “He hasn't reappeared, so we're hopeful.”
“How are you feeling?” Geordi asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Besides confused, I'm guessing.”
“Mostly just confused.” Deanna smiled softly at him, but the two missing senior officers were only adding to her confusion. If that hadn't been a dream, and she'd had nice moments with both of them not too long ago, then why were they the only people absent from sickbay? Tired of her? Wanted to give her space?
She felt a little embarrassed and didn't want to ask anyone where they, especially Will, were. He usually went out of his way to make sure he was there when she regained consciousness. It felt weird to open her eyes and see almost everyone but him.
Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher looked at each other - she raised her eyebrows in a communicative way, and he nodded and turned back towards Deanna. “Of course, Commander Riker wanted to be here, but we didn't know when you'd wake up and someone needed to take the bridge.”
“Ah.” Deanna felt even more embarrassed now that she'd been caught. “Makes sense.”
There was a surprisingly awkward few seconds of silence before Beverly leaned down and patted one of Deanna’s legs. “You're off duty for the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow, too.”
“That's really not necessary. I'd like to get back to work.”
“Mm, no, with all of your double shifts lately, I think you could use some time to relax,” the doctor insisted. “Wouldn't you agree, Jean-Luc?”
Picard stared between the two women, suddenly looking like he was trapped between a rock and a hard place. He glanced at Geordi, too, who only shrugged in response. “Um. Yes. Perhaps you could go down to Betazed and visit your mother? Since we're so close.”
Deanna frowned. Right. She'd promised herself about a dozen times during their fantasy adventure that she would go down to the planet - she didn't really want to do that, but after all the emotional turmoil she'd gone through, it seemed appropriate.
“Ah…yes, maybe. I should call my mother, at least.” She looked up at the doctor. “If I'm free to go?”
Beverly was staring back and looking impatient, like she wanted to say certain things that couldn't be said in mixed company. “Really, Deanna? Your mother is who you want to talk to right now?”
Her implication was obvious, and Deanna felt Geordi and Captain Picard’s embarrassment as easily as her own. She glared at the doctor. “Yes.”
“You're impossible.”
The captain cleared his throat suddenly. “Well, I think I'll go back to the bridge. Let Commander Riker and Lieutenant Worf come say hello.”
Deanna shook her head. “It’s alright, Captain, I don't need them fussing over me.” She pushed herself off of the biobed and landed next to Data, who put a gentle hand on her back while she straightened up. “Thanks. I think I'll just go to my quarters.”
“May I walk you, Counselor?” Data asked.
“Yes, of course.” She gave him a smile, said her goodbyes to the other three (with one more glare at Beverly, of course) and then the two of them started walking towards the turbolift.
“Today was very…interesting,” Data said casually.
Deanna raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side. “That’s…certainly a way to describe it.”
“Spot does not usually go on adventures. She fell asleep immediately when we returned to our quarters.”
“Aw, well, I hope she wasn’t too bothered by being carried around for so long.” Deanna chuckled and held her arms to her sides. She’d never spent so much time with Spot, and it reminded her of how much she’d wanted a kitten when she was little. Betazed kittens were very similar to Earth ones, though they came in a wider variety of colors. “I tried to accommodate her emotions, but there were a lot of…distractions.”
“I do not think it was an issue. Spot is usually quite relaxed when you are around,” Data responded as they entered the lift. “Which is not dissimilar from the rest of the crew.”
Deanna blinked slowly at him, absorbing the compliment. “Oh…Data, that’s very sweet of you to say.”
“It is simply an accurate statement.” He motioned for her to exit the turbolift first, then followed after. “I do not believe you would be as effective of a counselor if you were not so easy to talk to.”
She smiled. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.” As they got closer to her door, Deanna stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Data’s cheek, just as she’d done before getting into the hot air balloon basket. He’d always been a good friend to her, but since the breakup, they’d been spending more time together. She’d grown to truly value their friendship and the comfort she felt being around someone that she couldn’t sense. “Thank you for walking me.”
Data nodded. “I hope you enjoy your time off.”
“Right. Going to see my mother, I almost forgot,” Deanna mumbled, wishing she had forgotten. Seeing her mother meant explaining what happened with her and Worf, which meant explaining some other relationship things that she didn’t particularly want to explain, which meant a lot of judgment and offers to set her up with someone new. “See you around.”
He walked off and Deanna entered her quarters, letting out a deep sigh once the door was closed. She needed some hot chocolate and a few minutes of meditation before reaching out to her mother, definitely. After an already stressful day, Lwaxana wouldn’t-
Deanna’s eyes were immediately drawn to something unusual in her quarters. Sitting in the middle of one of her chairs was a familiar pair of sparkly, silver heels.
She blinked slowly and then looked around the room to see if Q was still there. Not in the living room, nor the bedroom - she even checked the bathroom and the closet, out of paranoia. Not a Q in sight. So it seemed to be some sort of goodbye present.
With another sigh, Deanna grabbed the shoes and started walking towards the replicator to get rid of them - but before she could, a voice coming from her comm badge announced, “Counselor Troi, you have a call coming in from Betazed.”
Deanna frowned and tapped her badge to respond. “You can forward it to my quarters.”
“Yes, sir.”
Her console’s viewscreen lit up immediately with the expected sight of Lwaxana Troi - she looked beautiful and regal as ever, which could’ve meant that she was lazing around at home or that she had an exclusive gala to attend soon. There was no way to know with her.
“Hello, mother.”
“Darling, where have you been? I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for days!”
Deanna sat down and tossed some of her hair behind her shoulders. “It’s a long story. Sorry I haven’t had a chance to listen to the messages you left, it’s been…well.” There was no point in lying, of course, but that didn’t mean she necessarily wanted to tell the whole truth. “I was busy and then things got a little hectic. But I promise to come visit the House tonight, if you’re free.”
Lwaxana looked surprised by that and smiled softly. “Well that’s wonderful, dear, but it’s not what I wanted to talk about.” She paused for a moment, then added, “Do you remember that Q fellow? The one with the truly unique mind?”
“Um.” Deanna stared and hoped she wasn’t about to hear an announcement. “Yes…”
“He attempted to get in touch with me recently, and though I rebuffed him, of course, I got the feeling that he was going to try and reach out to you as well,” she continued, moving her hands around while she spoke. “I remember how much you didn’t trust him before, so I wanted to warn you that he might be coming around to bother you.”
Deanna thought back to all the times over the past few days that she could’ve read her mother’s messages and chose to ignore them instead. This was obviously some sort of karmic punishment - she shouldn’t have ignored her mother. She should’ve just sucked it up and been good and spent time with the woman that carried her for ten months and suffered through her difficult birth. Because obviously not doing so was a terrible idea - maybe she wouldn’t have been able to stop Q from treating them like play toys, but at least everyone would’ve been prepared.
It took every bit of effort not to lay her head down on her desk. Instead, Deanna leaned her head back and stared up at her ceiling. Maybe a few days with Lwaxana Troi wouldn’t be so bad.
“Little one?”
“Thank you, mother. I appreciate the warning.”
That seemed to satisfy her for the moment, and she smiled. “Of course, Deanna! You know I’m always looking out for you.” She sat there for a few seconds, clearly waiting for Deanna to give her her full attention again, and then continued. “Now, speaking of, I recently learned that you broke things off with Mr. Woof. Does this mean you and William are getting back together or can I set you up with Gav Pillit’s son?”
“Gav Pillit’s son…” Deanna felt both exasperated and confused. “Are you talking about Deitran? Mother, he’s half my age!”
“He is twenty-two and you can’t let a silly thing like that get in the way!”
Deanna closed her eyes and sighed once more. “No.”
“Then perhaps you should bring William to the surface with you.”
“No.”
“How about I beam up to the Enterprise instead of you coming down? I could say hello to Jean-Luc and to-”
“Absolutely not.”
