Work Text:
[2385]
“I haven’t found anyone to take him in yet.” Jean-Luc rubbed his eyes wearily as he looked at his wife on the screen. His young son was playing on the sofa behind her, and the sight made him smile despite his weariness. Beverly sighed.
“Why don’t we just take him in?”
“Beverly...we can’t. How would that look? To Starfleet...to the Federation...to the other orphaned Romulan children we don’t take in?” Beverly frowned.
“Maybe Laris and Zhaban would....” she trailed off when she saw her husband shake his head.
“I already asked. They aren’t willing to adopt a child, even if you and I would be the ones to raise him.”
“I’m sorry.” Beverly yearned to pull her husband into an embrace, but it would have to wait a few more months. He smiled at her and looked behind her.
“What’s Rene up to?”
“He finished The Hobbit. Wants another book.” Jean-Luc chuckled. Rene was four, but already reading on his own and challenging his mother....just like his older brother, Wesley, had.
“What was Wesley reading at that age?” Beverly shrugged.
“Anything I could get my hands on.”
“Check the shelves. I took The Three Musketeers with me to give to Elnor, but there should be plenty I left behind for Rene. Does Rene want to talk to me?” Beverly grinned and turned around.
“Rene, honey. Do you want to talk to Papa?” Jean-Luc saw his son’s face brighten in a large grin and heard his muted “Yeah!” and watched him clamour off the sofa and over to the desk. Jean-Luc sighed. If only he and Beverly were able to adopt Elnor.
###
[2399]
Beverly looked around Jean-Luc’s quarters aboard the La Sirena and glanced over at ‘Mister Hospitality’.
“It looks like home,” Beverly ran her fingers across the back of the desk chair. It had been a while since she saw this room...the house. The hospitality hologram beamed.
“I’m glad to hear it, Ma’am. We managed to recreate Admiral Picard’s study, living room, kitchen, and master bedroom from the holoimages sent to us by Mister Zhaban. “ Beverly beamed at the hologram, even if it was slightly unsettling.
“Thank you. And you say my husband will be on board shortly?”
“Yes, Ma’am. We’re scheduled to pick him up in eighteen minutes, thirty-two seconds.” Beverly concealed her smirk. Holograms and androids were always precise. “Would you like to wait for him on the bridge?” Beverly shook her head.
“No. I think I’ll wait here and surprise him.”
“As you wish.” Mister Hospitality bowed slightly to her and winked out of existence.
Beverly continued to walk around the recreation of her home and wondered why Starfleet never used holodecks as quarters. It would have been much nicer over the standard ship colours. She wandered into the living room and took in a deep breath. It even smelled like home. Beverly grabbed a book off a nearby bookcase and settled onto the sofa to wait for her husband.
###
Jean-Luc had dismissed the hologram and continued to putter around the holodeck quarters. Everything seemed accurate, down to the crystal decanter of whisky. He paused when he spotted the silver and auburn head resting against the back of the sofa. “It even created my wife,” he murmured as he drew closer to the sofa. Beverly snorted.
“You think I’m a hologram?” She stood and quirked an eyebrow.
“Beverly? How did you...why did you....oh, I’ve missed you.” He drew her into his arms and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. Beverly returned the kiss, then pulled away with her hands crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. “Oh. I know that look. I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
“Yep.” Jean-Luc sheepishly grinned at his wife.
“I’m sorry,” he offered in a small voice. Beverly rolled her eyes.
“Just explain to me what’s going on.” He reached for her hands and pulled her back over to the sofa, where he noticed there was already a pot of tea and two cups waiting. Over the tea, he explained everything that had happened since they last spoke, even though Beverly knew some of it based on what Laris and then Raffi had told her. She placed her cup back on the saucer with a soft clatter.
“So, you’re going to find Maddox on Freecloud? God, Jean-Luc. Don’t you know how dangerous it is there?” She raked her fingers through her hair, disturbing the pins she had carefully used this morning. Jean-Luc shrugged.
“I can hande it. I have Raffi with me.” Beverly poked his chest.
“Not good enough, Jean-Luc. Raffi probably hasn’t fought in anything other than a bar brawl in the past fifteen years. Does she even still have a permit to carry a phaser?”
“Probably not. But I don’t think that matters on Freecloud.” Beverly pursed her lips.
“Hmm. I’d feel better if you had protection with you. Why didn’t you call Worf or Geordi? Or Will?” Jean-Luc ran his hands down Beverly’s arms slowly to clasp her hands.
“The same reason I didn’t tell you what I was doing. I didn’t want to put any of our old friends in danger.” Beverly arched an eyebrow.
Damn. I shouldn’t have said that.
“I see.” Beverly pulled her hands away and crossed her arms over her chest again . Jean-Luc gently pried her arms apart and held her hands once more.
“Beverly, my love....I have to do this. For Data.”
“But you don’t think that Data’s other friends might want to help? Jean-Luc, if Data has a daughter out there, maybe Geordi can...”
“I know. But I don’t want to get Geordi’s hopes up. Just because there might be a daughter doesn’t mean we’ll ever be able to restore Data. Besides, synths are still banned within the federation...that includes Data. If Data could be revived, B4 wouldn’t have been stuck rotting away in a drawer.” Beverly gasped.
“B4 is in a drawer?” Jean-Luc nodded.
“At the Daystrom institute. Where Bruce Maddox left him.”
“And Bruce is on Freecloud.” Jean-Luc nodded again. Beverly sighed.
“I just don’t like to think you might be going there unprotected.” Jean-Luc dropped Beverly’s hands and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Truthfully, neither do I. But I don’t have a choice.”
“Hmm. Don’t the Qowat Milat owe you a favour? Perhaps one of the nuns would...” Jean-Luc snapped his fingers.
“Yes! That’s a brilliant idea. I’ll ask Zani if she has anyone who might be able to help.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to his wife’s lips. “What would I do without you?”
“Clearly, dive headfirst into dangerous scenarios.” He grinned.
“How long can you stay?”
“I have a few hours.” Jean-Luc stood and reached for her hands tugging her upright.
“Good. Let’s see how well the bedroom turned out.”