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Dalen Quaice, Beverly’s boss, knocked on the door to her small office on Starbase 32 and smiled sadly at her. Beverly looked up and caught the look on his face and she paused for a minute, suddenly worried about her seven-year-old son, Wesley.
“Dalen? What’s wrong? Is Wesley alright?” Dalen offered her a brighter smile.
“Wesley is fine. No, I’m here to deliver some news...about the Stargazer.” Beverly’s heart was in her throat. The Stargazer had been her husband’s former ship, captained by Jean-Luc Picard, her best friend. After Jack’s death, Jean-Luc had stayed with her and Wesley for a week before returning to his ship. They had only seen each other a half a dozen times in the past two years, but they talked nearly daily. If fact, it was Jean-Luc combined with their other friend Walker Keel who had convinced her not to resign from Starfleet after her husband’s death. She tried to prevent tears from pooling in her eyes as she glanced at Dalen.
“What happened? Is Jean, I mean, is Captain Picard alright?” Dalen chuckled. He knew Beverly was close to the Captain, and his wife even suspected there were romantic feelings between them after seeing them together a few times since Beverly had been stationed on the base. Of course, neither Dalen or his wife knew about the history between the two, only that Jean-Luc had been her husband’s commanding officer and her best friend.
“Your Captain is fine. His ship, on the other hand, is not.” Beverly blushed at Jean-Luc being referred to as ‘her captain’, but indicated for Dalen to continue. “It was last seen dipping into the atmosphere of the planet they were orbiting.” Her eyes widened. That was bad. Really bad.
“Casualties?” Dalen sadly nodded.
“Many. Names are still coming in.” Beverly frowned. She still knew a number of the crew of the Stargazer, both from Jack serving on the ship and from her own stint onboard eight years prior as part of her work study assignment from the Academy.
“But Jean-Luc is alright?” Dalen nodded.
“I’m sure he’s battered, but fine. I saw his name on the report myself. I’ll forward it to you.” Beverly let out a long breath and nodded.
“Good. I suppose you don’t know where they’re heading?” This time, Dalen grinned at his assistant.
“Here, actually. This happens to be the closest base. You know, Beverly, I think if you wanted to you might be able to reach him on the comms.” Beverly smiled. Leave it to Dalen.
“I think I might.”
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Beverly sat in front of her desk in her quarters long after she had put Wesley to bed and began her attempt at reaching Jean-Luc on his shuttle. After about fifteen minutes of her signal being bounced around the various relays, his face finally filled the screen. She took in his face. He had a cut above his left eye, cutting his eyebrow in half, and he looked fairly dirty. His eyes held a bit of darkness, and guilt. He smiled when he saw her.
“Beverly.” She smiled back.
“I needed to see you with my own eyes...are you ok?” She mentally chastised herself. That was a stupid question. Of course he wasn’t alright.
“As good as I can be. The ship is gone. There’s going to be an investigation...I can’t really talk now.” She nodded. All calls on the emergency frequency his shuttle was using were recorded, and no doubt Jean-Luc wasn’t alone while they talked.
“I understand. But....come here when you get here, alright? Wesley misses you,” she used her eyes to tell him she missed him too. “And....run a dermol regen over your forehead. That scrape could get infected.” He mock saluted her.
“Yes, Sir.” She grinned back.
“I’ll see you soon.”
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When Jean-Luc arrived at Beverly’s quarters she pulled him into a long hug, then held him at arm’s length. He still had the cut above his eye, and his uniform was dirty and ripped in a few places. She tutted as she pulled him inside her quarters.
“You need your cut fixed, a hot shower, and a warm bed. Come on, let me take care of you.” He flashed a smile at her as he let her tug him towards her bedroom and bathroom. He paused in her bedroom and listened as she rummaged in her bathroom for her regenerator and he heard the shower turn on. “Let’s get you taken care of.” She walked back into her bedroom brandishing the regen. “Throw your uniform in the reclimator. I’ll replicate you some pyjamas for now. I assume...”
“Everything is gone,” his voice came out raspy, as if he was trying to hold back his tears or as if he hadn’t spoken much recently. “I lost it all...my belongings....my ship...my crew,” his voice broke and Beverly pulled him into her arms once more.
“I’ll listen if you want to talk.” She brushed her lip against his cheek and he smiled.
“Thank you. I think....I think a shower sounds good. We haven’t had access to one in weeks.” Beverly wrinkled her nose.
“Yeah, I know.” She patted his arm. “On you go. I’ll leave pyjamas on my bed for you. Cup of tea?” He smiled again.
“You know me so well.”
Jean-Luc spent far longer in Beverly’s shower than he usually showered for, watching as the dirt of the past few weeks washed off of him and swirled into the drain. He let the water concentrate on his neck and shoulders, enjoying the warmth. He hadn’t realised just how tense he had became. He exited her shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. True to her words, there was a pair of pyjamas waiting on her bed and a pair of slippers on the floor along with a robe draped across the foot of her bed. He slipped them on and padded out into her living room and he was surprised to see Beverly had changed into her own night clothes, too.
“Good shower?” He nodded and accepted the cup of tea she held out to him.
“I needed it. Thank you,” he lifted his cup in thanks and drunk deeply. He hadn’t had anything to eat or drink other than emergency rations for the past three weeks and he savoured the taste of his favourite blend of Earl Grey, glad that Beverly had a box of the ‘real stuff’ in her small kitchen.
“Anytime.” She grinned. “Now, there is a small person who would like to see you, but I told him he would have to wait until morning.” He chuckled.
“And he listened? I’m surprised.” Wesley Crusher was nothing but tenacious, the best of both his parents and Jean-Luc doted on his godson. Beverly snorted.
“It was hard, but I convinced him that you would want to go straight to bed when you got here.” Jean-Luc stifled the yawn.
“You’re not wrong. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since....” he trailed off.
“I know. Come on, let’s go to bed.”
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