Work Text:
Encounter Session
The anticipation on the starship Enterprise was reaching tangible proportions. Once every five years, all starfleet personnel were required to take part in a week-long therapy session, recorded by the computer, watched only by three very important doctors at HQ, and immensely enjoyed by all. The reason for this was that these therapy sessions were what Riker described as a "free-for-all".
One was assigned a partner, a room, and off you went. Usually the kinds of things discussed at first would be work, what each person had been doing, what had been going on during shore leave, and so on. Later the games would begin - literally. People would play card games, strange games they'd seen on pleasure planets, almost every kind of game that two people could play. When that began to get boring, people usually started to talk about themselves - their hopes, fears, dreams, plans for the future.
It was, Starfleet thought, one of the best ideas ever implemented on Starships. Although one was constantly in the company of only one person for an entire week, one would come out of the session with a new perspective on fellow crewmembers. Working relationships would improve. Marriages would take place. Babies would be born (not all the games were innocent!) Friendships would be cemented. The ship would be altogether a happier place.
On the Enterprise, all the crew were required to take part, but because of the families and all it took to run the ship, there would be two sessions and the crew would rotate. Everyone was looking forward to it - a time for complete relaxation and fun! Most people were already speculating as to who their encounter session partners would be. Partners were usually assigned by the ship's Doctor, Counselor and Security Chief, just to make sure that everything went smoothly. People were already whispering their "choices" to Beverly, Deanna and Worf. Although the three did not want to assign couples as partners, they usually did assign as a partner someone with whom a person felt comfortable.
No one knew who to assign Data to. Finally Deanna assigned him to herself, with approval from Beverly and Worf. Riker was assigned to a cute yeoman he'd been eyeing in Ten Forward. Worf got a gung-ho female security guard. Geordi found himself in the room with Sonja Gomez. Barclay ended up with Guinan - who didn't really need the sessions, but who wanted to take part anyway. And Beverly Crusher ended up with the captain. This surprised her very much - why had Troi and Worf done this to her?
"You're one of the few people the captain will open up to," explained the Betazoid. "He trusts you, and you trust him."
"But we already know each other well!" protested the doctor.
"I often sense tension between you two when there shouldn't be any," said Deanna. "You often get angry at him without telling him why, and although you carry on, you never solve this ongoing thing. It's time you did."
Picard, too, protested his partner assignment. "Out of the question. We know each other well, and further psychological encounters will be unnecessary."
Deanna told him the same thing she'd told Beverly. "Captain, I have a feeling this will be good for you. Take my advice - as a friend - relax and enjoy it."
Picard sighed, knowing he had no choice in the matter.
***
By the third day, Deanna wanted to run screaming from the room. She didn't want to hear any more about nebulas, Babe Ruth's batting average, the dimensions of a dilithium crystal or even statistics about her home world. Data prattled on and on, not ceasing. At first she put up with it, thinking that he would eventually stop. But he did not. Finally she said, "Data! Try to relax."
"I am always relaxed, Counselor."
"Stop talking so much! Slouch a little. Tell me about yourself."
He began to quote what he was made out of, his brain structure, and so on and on and on. "Data, stop. What are your dreams? How do you feel - I mean, what do you think about Lore, about Dr. Noonian Sing? About being kidnapped? Tasha's death?"
Finally Data began to communicate in a meaningful way. He was concerned about Lore - why did Lore continue to betray him? Why hadn't Dr. Sing made him more human? Why was he considered such a curiosity? And Tasha... he preferred not to say anything about Tasha. And overlaid on top was the constant longing to be human. Data said he had no feelings, but he wanted them. It was almost a
sadness that he could not get what he most wanted in the universe.
***
Beverly Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard at last discussed Jack Crusher's death. It had been a long time, and though both had forgiven, there were still many unanswered questions. "I had to make that decision, Beverly. More than one life was at stake. I would have given mine if it would have saved his."
"At the time, I was... angry. Emotional. I was concerned for our son - what it would be like for him to grow up without his father, how he'd handle knowing it was you who ultimately made that choice."
"Wesley made that choice in his Academy entrance exam," explained Picard, violating the confidential nature of those tests. But no one was prosecuted for what they did this week, unless of course it involved murder or some sort of equally heinous crime. "He made the choice he once hated me for. And he told me about it, that he understood."
"It's almost like he's your son too," she replied.
"I would have been proud to be his father."
Beverly suddenly got up and paced. "Wanna play a game?"
"What?"
"You pick."
***
Worf and Alys had discussed battle strategy, the Romulans, the Ferengi, starship design, warrior races of the galaxy... and what it was like to grow up with people who were nothing like you. She had been brought up on Vulcan after being born on Mars to Human parents. They had allowed her to be adopted because of their highly dangerous experiments with antimatter. She had not heard from them since she was five. "My parents... I mean my Vulcan parents... do love me, it's just... they're nothing like me. They can't understand what drives a human. They gave me everything, even love. But on their terms."
"And now you want to live life on your own terms," Worf concluded.
"Yeah. Starfleet gave me focus, something I could latch on to. And, I suppose in rebellion against all that peace philosophy of theirs, I do enjoy security duties."
"I too," said Worf, and she smiled.
"I knew where Tasha was coming from, with all her background. But I never knew her well."
"She was a fellow warrior, and as such I was proud to claim her as a friend."
Alys smiled at him. "We warriors must stick together."
"Absolutely," Worf deadpanned.
***
Riker was not having much success with his female yeoman. Her name was Sami, and she looked just like her name: long, dark eyelashes, navy blue eyes, long black curly hair, an hourglass figure. And a brain to match her post, unfortunately. To get into Starfleet you couldn't be stupid, but some people used their brains to get in and never exercised them again. Such people ended up yeoman, or stayed ensign forever. She was extremely beautiful - Riker didn't want to admit he'd wanted her as his partner because she reminded him slightly of Deanna - but she was beginning to bore him.
He personally didn't care about farming quotas on whatever planet she'd been born on, and he didn't care about how long it took to get a new officer moved into certain quarters. He was about to interrupt her (again) when something stopped him. Why was he so sure that he was right? Did she care about Alaska? About how difficult it was to keep a captaim from running off planetside with an Away Team? Probably not.
So he smiled at her - an open, honest smile, devoid of any deviousness. "Well, we're poles apart as far as home's concerned," he commented. "Do we have anything in common?"
"You like swimming?"
"Nope."
"Three dimensional chess?"
"Not particularly."
"Poker?"
"What?"
"You like Poker?"
The old hell-on-wheels Riker was back. His "evil" smile was back. "You play?"
"I can beat you."
"You're on."
Playing such a game with two people was not really easy, but she did win - five times. "How can you do so well?" Will's brow was furrowed beyond description.
"Instinct," she smiled. And Riker thought that it could work
***
Beverly had talked Jean-Luc into playing a game called Twister. A very old Earth game, it was extremely difficult to play - though some aliens had no problems whatsoever! Arms and legs went everywhere. Beverly grabbed Jean-Luc's uniform to stop herself falling. "Oops!"
"Don't fall," said Picard, who was laughing in a way his crew would not have recognised. They both fell over and sat there out of breath.
Crusher Dulled her hair out of her eyes. "Having fun?"
"Yes."
He was; they were.
***
So were Geordi and Sonya, who were playing a card game - Snap. "Snap! I got it, you cheated, Geordi, that was my card... oh that's evil!"
Geordi couldn't remember ever having had so much fun. "I'm bushed," he said, lying down and taking his VISOR off. Sonya leaned over, concerned.
"Geordi?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Just resting my optic connections."
Sonya lay next to him. "What do I look like to you?"
"Heat patterns in outline, mainly."
"I suppose to see like us would be strange to you, then."
"Not that strange. Once, I did see. Really see, I mean. Tasha was beautiful and strong. The captain looked like his voice, know what I mean?" Sonya nodded before she realised he couldn't see that. She was about to apologise when he went on. "It's okay. You nodded; I felt movement. Wesley looked his age, Worf looked imposing - a real Klingon! Commander Riker looked like a lady-killer - which he is. They were all so beautiful... seeing in shallow was beautiful. But this VISOR makes me me, and I don't think I'll give it up any time soon."
"You mean you could?"
"Doctor Pulaski's had success with implants."
"But Geordi, that's wonderful!"
"It would make me less successful in my work. This VISOR contributes to my work in Engineering. No, I think I'll keep it... at least for now."
Sonya lay there in silence for a long time pondering this; Geordi fell asleep.
***
Data and the Counselor had also gotten to the point of playing games. Deanna taught Data all the games she knew which required more instinct than logic, for they unnerved the heck out of him! She perceived nothing from Data but a sentient presence, and suddenly, as Data picked up the pink block on the Galaxy Game, she realised why she had chosen him as her partner.
She had picked Data because being in his presence continually for seven solar days would not overload her empathic senses! On impulse, she hugged him.
Data didn't know what to do, so he did nothing, then when she let go he asked, "Why did you do that?"
"Because I like you, Data."
Data's face mimicked a warm smile. There was no answer to that, really. Deanna Troi knew the rest of the week would be a breeze.
***
As a person might suspect, Riker and Sami had gotten on a LOT better after discovering they had something in common. Sami HAD beaten him in quite a few games of poker, and other alien games besides. Will was enjoying her company, but she had made it clear that she liked him as a friend only. Having had THAT experience before, he knew that all he could do was accept it. They spent the rest of the week talking, playing, and enjoying each other's company.
***
Picard had told Beverly all about his feelings on being turned into a Borg, made to hurt and kill... his feelings about home... that he was proud of-her son for doing so well. His feelings about Jack's death. But he kept avoiding responding to her queries: how did he feel about her?
"We spend a lot of time together, Jean-Luc. We enjoy each other's company,
"I know that. But every time I try to bring this subject up, you ignore me. I think now is the only time I'll ever have to know the truth."
"What truth?" He really was confused - he had convinced himself long ago, that all he felt for Beverly Crusher was friendship, and that was that. He had ignored the warmth he felt when they shared a joke; he'd ignored his jealousy when she'd fallen in love with parasitic ambassador Odan; ignored even his dreams, convincing himself that he dreamed about her because she was his closest friend. But Beverly was having none of this.
"Please TELL me, Jean-Luc." They were sitting together on the couch, having just eaten lunch.
"I don't know!" he responded, almost despairing. "I... feel things for you, but I don't know what they are or how to take them."
She leaned forward and closed her hand over his. The heat and pressure of her hands sent warning signals to his brain: disengage yourself now, turn away, leave. Instead he moved closer to her, looked into her eyes.
"Beverly... why is this so important to you?"
"I need to know." A bold statement. "It doesn't matter what you say, but I need to know." Pause. Then her hands tightened over his. "Please."
"I've been afraid of that kind of relationship. It's dangerous, and carries the possibility that one of us might be killed out here. I don't want you going through that again. I don't want to go through that."
"Will you let me decide for myself, please?" Beverly became more forceful. "It's worth it. Love is always worth it. Jack is dead, but I wouldn't give up those years of happiness just to spare myself the pain I felt when he died."
Picard said nothing and only looked at her, distractedly.
"You've been hiding from life on this ship. Here, you're safe. Even your decisions are safe. You're used to them, so you don't take risks anymore. Take a risk, CAPTAIN."
Picard took the risk. He let go of her hands and instead put one on her cheek, feeling the warmth radiate from her to his hand, and back to his heart. He explored further, up into her hairline, feeling red silk fall through his fingers.
Beverly did nothing but sit as he touched her. She could hear her heart hammering in her chest; she hoped she was the only one. She could hardly move a muscle, as this had been rather unexpected. Then she finally lifted her arm and put one hand against his cheek, making him look her in the eye. All at once, neither knew exactly how, their lips met.
Beverly forgot to breathe; she only realised this when she moved suddenly away and found herself wondering where the oxygen had gone. Jean-Luc appeared to be having the same problem - which, in fact, he was. They stared at each other. He frowned, a tear fell from her eye. Picard wiped the tear from her cheek, then kissed where it had fallen.
Crusher closed her eyes, not wanting this to go away. If she opened her eyes he'd be gone, she reasoned illogically. And she needed him here. Then she realised that she hadn't even put her arms around him - one hand was still against his cheek, the other lay useless in her lap. She somehow managed to get them under control enough to wrap them around him and pull him closer to her.
It wasn't close enough; somehow their uniforms were getting in the way. You did not have to wear a uniform to these encounter sessions, but Picard and Crusher had both felt that the uniform was as good an outfit as any. Which turned out to be not-so-good an outfit as it kept them apart.
But neither said anything, as Beverly turned away and removed the top of her uniform. When she turned back, his was gone too. Hesitantly she put her hand on his chest, wondering if this was real. It certainly seemed real as she came into contact with warm, human flesh, and a hand covered hers. She looked from their entertwined hands into his face.
Picard was not smiling; he kept his face straight, but he looked intently into Beverly's eyes. Then he lifted his other hand and caressed her shoulders, moving inward. Finally Beverly could not take it one second more and she kissed him again, honestly, openly, with love. Jean-Luc leaned over her, returning the kiss.
When and where the rest of the clothes disappeared, neither knew. They knew only that this was right, and that even if the Romulans attacked, they would probably never notice.
***
Sonya Gomez and Geordi had enjoyed their encounter session: they, too, had played Twister. Geordi had won, she had argued, they had played again and again. When the comm panel sounded, signalling the end of the week, the two were laughing hysterically over the time she had spilt hot chocolate on the captain. "I was a klutz, wasn't I, Geordi?"
"Yeah." He waited a beat and them said, "C'mere."
After the hug, she stepped back, confused. "What was that for?"
"You're a nice person, Sonya. Don't ever change."
Before the young ensign could even mutter "Ah... okay," Geordi had left the room. All she could do was follow.
***
Worf and Alys and, in their encounter session, finished discussing personal truths and had devised a new strategy for use the next time the Enterprise was required to play war games. Then they had figured out how to improve on battle simulation consoles, and made up an easy game which, in fact, was rather bloodthirsty but enjoyable. When the signal came, they still had their heads together, and were conferring. Worf stood up, straightened his uniform, and said, "We will continue with this later."
"Uh... yeah..." Alys said, and shook her head.
***
Riker and Deanna met in the corridor. "Enjoy your week, Counselor?"
"Very much, Commander."
"Really?" With Data, one could never be sure. But Deanna only nodded, for it was true. "Really."
They stepped into the turbolift together. "Bridge," said Riker.
***
When the comm panel signalled, Picard was the first to awake. He was lying on the couch, and had a naked female body draped across him. "Uh... Beverly?" He tried to extricate himself, but no matter which way he moved, she somehow moved the other way, preventing him from getting up. He flicked her hair out of her eyes and said again, "Beverly!"
"Hmmmn?"
"The session is over. We must return to duty."
She opened one eye and looked at him. Not kidding. She opened the other eye. Then she smiled, dreamily. "Good morning, Jean-Luc."
His demeanour softened slightly. "Good morning, Beverly."
Moving slowly, Beverly came to rest her arms across his chest, her chin on her arms, and her eyes just inches from his. "This was a valuable encounter session, don't you think?"
For once, the captain didn't frown, or look stern. His eyes grew wide and he smiled, reminding Beverly of all those cliches about the sun coming up when he smiled. They were all true.
"Back to duty, I suppose?" It sounded petulant, and it was.
Picard looked at her. "Back to duty. I don't know if I will be able to concentrate, though," he said.
Her shy answering smile made his day.
***
Picard was not very late getting to the bridge, and no one gave him a second glance except Deanna. But she looked away again when he turned a "well, what is it" glance on her. "Enjoy your encounter session, Captain?" asked Riker.
"Very much, Number One," he said, meaning it.
The Enterprise continued on its way, new friendships made, old connections reinstated, and some new possibilities begun. Something new had begun for two old acquaintances, new lovers, but always friends. Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher would have a lot to think about, those first few duty shifts.
END