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“Well, why don’t we have a do over?” Jean-Luc looked at Beverly over the rim of his teacup. He had finally got to the bottom of the reason why she had looked at him funny on the bridge earlier - his doppelganger had invited her over for dinner the night before and had apparently sent her mixed signals culminating with a quite intense kiss before she was unceremoniously kicked out of his quarters. It had embarrassed Beverly to tell him, but not nearly as much as it had embarrassed him to know what his double had done to his friend.
“A do over?” Beverly’s eyes twinkled.
“Sure. Come to my quarters tonight for dinner. 1900? Now that you know it’s really me who is inviting you.” Beverly blushed. Was Jean-Luc suggesting what she thought he was? She nodded.
“Alright. I’ll see you then.” She stood and moved to put her teacup in the recycler. “And you should probably stop by sickbay so I can check you over. Your doppelganger seemed to have no trouble arriving for an unscheduled physical.” Jean-Luc groaned.
“Fine. I’ll stop by in about an hour. Will that give you enough time to set up the torture chamber?” Beverly tossed her hair and laughed.
“I’ll make sure to lower the temperature just for you.” Beverly smirked as she turned towards the door and Jean-Luc could only shake his head at his friend. There has been some awkwardness when Beverly explained what happened between her and the other Picard, but they had easily fallen back into their usual banter.
Jean-Luc promptly arrived in Sickbay an hour later. Beverly laughed and ushered him into a private room and grinned at him. “Strip.”
“Beverly!” She rolled her eyes.
“Relax. You can keep your shorts on.” Jean-Luc glanced at her nervously.
“And my...doppelganger? Did he...” Beverly shook her head with amusement.
“He was stripped to his shorts and waiting on my bio bed when I came into the room. I even commented on how eager you appeared.” Jean-Luc removed his uniform and sat on the bio bed in his undershirt and boxers.
“And there was nothing different about him?” Beverly began scanning him with her tricorder.
“Physically, nope. He was in perfect health, as are you. There were no reading s to indicate he might have been a clone or projecting your image. But you did ask me to dinner in your quarters.” He grinned.
“But we often eat together.” Beverly nodded.
“In Ten Forward. We had never had dinner alone in one of our quarters before. I have to admit, I was nervous...and now I’m nervous again for tonight,” she softly admitted. Jean-Luc reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Don’t be. Besides, you were there before. If anything, I’m the one who should be nervous. “ She smiled and finished up her scan and projected the results onto the monitor on the wall. She studied it for a minute and glanced back at him.
“You have a burn on your arm. What happened?”
“We tried to escape and received an electroshock from the door. I’m fine.” Beverly glared and reached into a drawer pulling out a dermol regenerator unit.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner. Hold out your arm.” Jean-Luc dutifully obeyed and Beverly bathed his arm in the blue glow. She shut off her machine and patted his arm. “There. Done. You can get dressed again.”
“And I’ll still see you for dinner?” Beverly nodded with a smile as she left him to put back on his uniform.
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Beverly had been surprised to discover the same foods as the previous night laid out on the table when she arrived and Jean-Luc wearing the same shirt and tight trousers. But then again, she figured if the doppelganger had really had access to all of Jean-Luc’s thoughts, it might have had this dinner already planned. She then laughed to herself – she had worn the same dress. It wasn’t like Jean-Luc had seen her in it before, at least, not the real Jean-Luc. She was still thinking about the doppelganger’s words and kisses and wondered if Jean-Luc would try to kiss her or admit his feelings to her. She was brought out of her thoughts with a kiss to her cheek.
“You look lovely, Beverly.”
“You look pretty good yourself, Jean-Luc.”
They had a relatively quiet dinner. Jean-Luc wanted to ask her what she had talked about with his double, and she was wondering if he would bring up the same topics the doppelganger had. Instead, they spoke of other topics. Beverly told Jean-Luc about his double appearing in Ten Forward and singing and he wondered what he would need to do to confiscate any recordings from getting off the ship. Over their glasses of dessert wine, Beverly soon learned Jean-Luc was about to give her a very similar speech from the night before, only this time, it would be real.
“Beverly?” He reached across the table to clasp her hand.
“Yes, Jean-Luc?”
“Do you ever think about us being together? As something....more than friends?” Beverly looked down at their hands.
“I’d be lying if I said no. Truthfully, I think about us frequently.” Beverly decided to play her cards differently than she had the night before. Perhaps she had answered how she had because something inside her knew it hadn’t been the real Jean-Luc...and how embarrassing would it have been if she had slept with his double?
“I do, too. I often wonder if things were different....if I wasn’t your superior, or if Jack hadn’t been my best friend if we would have....”
“Yes, Jean-Luc?” Beverly raised her eyebrows, almost daring him to suggest that they should be together. He chickened out and looked away.
“Perhaps you’d like to dance?” Beverly smiled.
“Alright. You know, your double shocked me when he asked me last night. I know you’re not overly fond of dancing.”
“It all depends on the partner. I’ve always enjoyed dancing with you at functions.” Beverly flushed.
“Oh.” Jean-Luc rose and held out his hand to her and she took his hand in hers and he led her over to an empty space of floor and had the music activated. They swayed gently to the music in a strange shuffle that wasn’t quite a dance, almost more like a long hug while swaying. They held each other in their arms and then Jean-Luc gave her a tentative kiss. She smiled against his lips and kissed him back, opening her mouth and letting him kiss her deeper. Her heart raced. Was he going to end their evening just as abruptly as the double had the night before? Was she putting her heart out there only to have him crush it again?
He broke off the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “Beverly?”
“Yes, Jean-Luc?”
“I don’t....I don’t know if what I’m about to say is appropriate or right. I’m your commanding officer, and your husband was my best friend so I feel slightly guilty about my feelings...” He trailed off and Beverly reached up to cup his cheek.
“Don’t. Please. Jack’s been gone a long time.” Jean-Luc nodded and took a deep breath.
“Beverly, would you like to spend the night with me?” Beverly grinned.
“Yes. I absolutely would.”