Chapter Text
“Commander Riker, would you like to take on another mission while you’re still in your shuttle?” Jellico asked.
“What mission Sir?”
“Go intercept the Cardassian shuttle and pick up Captain Picard.”
“Gladly Sir.”
“I’d suggest you swing back this way and pick up Dr. Crusher first. He’s going to need a doctor.”
“Yes Sir. Please transport her onboard as soon as we’re in transporter range, and we’ll turn around.”
***
Picard beamed onto the Enterprise shuttle, and Dr. Crusher was standing there waiting for him, Riker and Geordi were at the shuttle's controls. He had been asking for her earlier when they made it clear they were releasing him, but no one would tell him anything about her whereabouts. He wondered if his mind was still playing tricks on him, as she looked fine, she was in her uniform, clean and seemingly well rested. He stumbled into her arms noticing she even smelled a bit like her favorite bath salts. “Beverly, you’re alright?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” She asked, then realized he hadn’t known she made it back. “I’ve been on the Enterprise the whole time.”
“Worf?” He asked.
“He’s fine. He’s at his station on the bridge.” She answered. As she was holding him, she noticed he was leaning on her, much more than usual, he clearly couldn’t hold his own weight. “Jean-Luc, lie down, let me examine you.” She said, as she helped him lie down in the back seating area of the shuttle. She saw a tear running down his face, “What did they do to you?”
“They put something in me, here.” he said pointing to the scar in his chest, “Get it out of me.”
She scanned him looking concerned, “I need to get you back to surgical facilities on the Enterprise. We’re a little over a half hour away. I’ll have Nurse Ogawa prep a surgical bay and beam you there as soon as we’re in transporter range.”
“Water.” He said weakly.
“Geordi, can you get me a half liter of oral rehydration solution Crusher-1, in a cup with straw, cold.” Crusher asked.
“Here.” Geordi said, handing her the cup a few seconds later.
“Your electrolytes are low. This is a little sweet, and it will rehydrate you better than water.” She said, holding the straw up to his lips. He started gulping the liquid. “Slowly, give your system time to absorb it.” He slowed down drinking it a bit, but not much. “Just sip it. I’m going to put you on an IV, that will rehydrate you much faster.”
Crusher turned back to Geordi, “I need the intravenous hydronutrient solution in my med kit.”
Geordi handed it to her, and she hung it from the roof of the shuttle and went to attach it to Picard's wrist. As she picked up Picard’s hand to attach it she noticed how badly bruised it was and got out her tricorder for a closer look.
She gently turned his hand to see the extent of the injury. While moving his hand hurt, and anyone else doing that would have bothered him, the tenderness of her touch outweighed any sensation of discomfort. She seemed unhappy with the tricorder readings. “How did this happen?” She asked concerned, as she attached the IV to further up his arm. He didn’t want to answer her, he knew how worried she would be. “Jean-Luc, I really need to know.”
“They left me hanging from the ceiling by my wrists overnight.”
She nodded, trying to stay professional and hide her shock and concern. She knew he was hesitant to tell her because he didn’t want to see the worry on her face. She scanned his arm, shoulder and down through his legs, then back up the other side, “It’s not just your wrists. There are pulled tendons in your arms and shoulders, one shoulder is partially dislocated and the other is badly strained. Three of your ribs are fractured as well. Can you take a deep breath for me?” She said scanning him, as he winced in pain taking a deep breath. She loaded a hypospray. “This should help with the pain.” She said before giving it to him.
“What’s happened? How is the Enterprise?” He asked as he was starting to feel a bit better.
“Everyone is fine. The only casualties so far are you and the peace treaty.”
“Are we at war?” He asked.
“I don’t think anyone knows for sure yet, but there’s been everything short of a formal declaration on both sides.” Riker answered.
“If that’s the case how did you convince them to release me?”
“We attached remote detonation antimatter warheads to all of their ships and threatened to set them off if you weren’t returned.”
Picard thought about that for a moment, from Riker’s description it would be highly unlikely anyone would have had time to make it to escape pods if they detonated them. “You threatened to kill them all? How many people?”
Riker paused, he hadn’t thought about that. Doing a basic calculation of the number types of ships and what he knew of their crew complement, he answered, “I’m not sure Sir, I would estimate between five to ten thousand.”
While there were several people on the Cardassian ships he wouldn’t mind seeing dead, the scale of the loss of life disturbed him, and yet he couldn’t trust his own mind to know if that was his general respect for all life or some kind of Stockholm syndrome. He turned his head and closed his eyes, desperately wanting sleep. He figured he would wait to comment on that until his head was clearer later.
“Jean-Luc?” Crusher asked, concerned at seeing him close his eyes. “Are you alright?”
“I’m just exhausted.” He replied, “I want that thing out of me.”
“I need a proper surgical facility for that. Attempting to remove that on a shuttle with a medkit could seriously injure you.” She turned to Riker, “Can you get us back to the ship any faster?”
“I can’t speed up the shuttle much, but the Enterprise could be here almost immediately at high warp. Should I make the call?”
She nodded, knowing it was one more breach of the treaty to have the Enterprise enter Cardassian space uninvited, but if they were going to war today that would be the least of the provocations. “Tell them Picard has been badly injured, and I can’t treat him here. Then put me through to sickbay to have them prepare for our arrival.”
Riker nodded and hailed the Enterprise. “Is there a problem Commander?” Jellico asked.
“Picard was severely injured, and Dr. Crusher needs to get him back to sickbay immediately.”
“Ensign, set course to rendezvous with the shuttle and engage at warp 9.” He said.
“Worf?” Picard said, his voice a bit horse.
“I’m here captain.” He replied over the com line.
“I just wanted to hear your voice.” Picard replied.
“Have Crusher and Picard prepare for transport. We’ll be there in 7 minutes.” He responded to Riker.
“Yes Sir.” Riker answered.
“Enterprise out.”
“Will, I could use your help.” Crusher said.
“I can stand.” Picard protested, as it became clear she wanted Riker to help carry him.
“No.” Crusher said. “I don’t want you hurting yourself further. Just sit up.” Picard was a bit annoyed at that, but was too weak to protest. He slowly moved to a sitting position.
“Geordi, take the shuttle in.” Riker said.
“Yes Sir.” Geordi answered. “The Enterprise has just dropped out of warp on top of us.”
“Enterprise to shuttle, are you ready for transport?”
“Prepare to beam three directly to sickbay on my signal.” She said. She left the com line open when she said, “Will, on three. One, two, three.” As soon as they lifted Picard, so he was sitting in both of their arms, she said “Energize.” And they materialized in sickbay.
Crusher and Riker carried him to the bio bed in the surgical bay. “Ten cc’s Kayolane.” Crusher said as Picard laid down on the biobed.
“Yes, Doctor.” Nurse Ogawa said. While they hadn’t had time to prepare for their arrival, sickbay was still on full combat alert. It was fully staffed and everything was ready to handle incoming casualties.
“You’re going to wake up in a few hours feeling fine.” Crusher told him as she prepared to give him the hypospray.
“The Cardassians are hailing us.” Worf said.
Jellico turned to his helmsman, “When our shuttle is onboard, set course for our previous position, Warp 3.” He turned back to Worf, “Ignore them.”
***
Picard blinked his eyes open to find himself in sickbay, with Crusher standing over him. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” He answered, noticing all of his injuries had been healed. “I’m starving.”
“That’s good. I’d be worried if you didn’t have an appetite.” Crusher replied. “Do you want company for dinner?”
“I would like that. Join me in my quarters?” He replied, not feeling ready for seeing everyone in ten forward.
Crusher nodded, agreeing. “Captain, do you think you’re ready to take command of the Enterprise?”
He looked at her surprised by the question. He would have expected her to tell him to spend the next few days resting. He wasn’t fully sure of the answer either, but she wouldn’t have asked without a good reason. “Why?”
“It’s complicated. I’ll explain over dinner.” She said.
He took a deep breath, finally feeling more like himself. “Yes, if I need to.” He replied.
“Admiral Nechayev says she’ll reinstate you when Troi and I clear you and she gets your report.”
“I think I can write the report after dinner. I haven’t even seen Troi yet.” He said, getting out of bed in sickbay. Crusher nodded. “I’ll use the sonic shower in the bathroom here to clean myself up before heading back to my quarters. Can you replicate a new uniform for me?”
She nodded. A few moments later Picard came out of the bathroom clean shaven, clean, dressed, and looking like himself, and they both went back to his quarters.
Picard replicated a hot baguette with a plate of baked camembert in raspberry sauce, a bottle of red wine, two wine glasses and two small plates. “You aren’t eating more than this?” Crusher asked, somewhat worried as he placed it on the table.
“Of course I am. I intend this to be the first course of a proper five course meal.” He said, sitting down and pouring himself a glass of wine. “Americans eat too fast. It’s a bad habit I’ve picked up in Starfleet.”
Crusher smiled. “That seems wise.” She said, as she was used to needing to remind someone who hadn’t eaten in days to eat slowly to avoid making themselves sick. She was glad to let French culture of eating slowly and savoring one’s food do that for her.
Picard sipped his wine and cut a triangular piece from the into the camembert, covering his slice of steaming baguette in the melted cheese and jam. “So why is my retaking command so urgent?” He asked, after he finished eating the first piece.
“We need you to reinstate Riker as first officer.”
“Reinstate Riker?” Picard asked half shocked.
“Yes. Jellico relieved him after they got in an argument over you.”
“Who is first officer now?”
“Data.” Crusher replied.
Picard rolled his eyes and took a larger sip of wine. “A moral crisis is one of the few things Data is poorly equipped to handle.”
Crusher took a bite of the baguette prepared like Picard’s, covered in the cheese and raspberry jam. “Jean-Luc, this is delicious.”
He smiled, “Growing up my neighbors used to make the cheese from scratch, and we traded wine for cheese with them. I’ve never tried the Enterprise’s replicator’s version before. I always thought I’d be disappointed.”
“Are you?” She asked.
“I’m a bit too hungry to notice the difference. That’s why I thought this would be a perfect time to try it. It’s not a bad facsimile, but some of the subtler flavors are off. It’s supposed to contain live cultures until the cheese is baked.”
“If the replicated version is this good, I’d love to see what the handmade version tastes like.” Crusher said.
“Next time we’re on earth, I’ll show you.”
“I would like that.” She replied.
“So how has Data been handling it?” Picard asked.
“Riker was acting as a buffer between Jellico and everyone else. Since he relieved Riker, Geordi and I have both offered to resign, and bring most of our departments with us.”
Picard gulped the wine, then forced himself to put the wine down and serve himself another slice of cheese and jam covered baguette. “Why?”
“Jellico asked for engineering changes that had most of the engineering staff working around the clock. I ended up with some of the engineers coming to me asking for stimulants. I refused, relieved anyone who asked me of duty for the next twelve hours, and told them to eat something and sleep for a minimum of eight hours before going back to work.”
“Jellico had a problem with this?”
“Yes. He told me to start giving the engineering staff the stimulants. I said no and offered to resign, along with all of the doctors on my staff, and he backed down.” Picard shook his head. While on a smaller ship nurses would have the authority to replicate certain drugs if the ship’s doctor was incapacitated, that wasn’t the case on the Enterprise, as four doctors were statined onboard. If all of them resigned simultaneously it would leave the ship crippled. “At some point Geordi just started filing reports with what he wanted to hear. Half the engineering department’s transfer requests are on the captain’s desk at the moment…”
“I get the picture.” Picard answered while taking a few large sips of wine.
“Jean-Luc, I hate to put this on you now, but the Enterprise needs you.”
“It’s fine, Beverly. The burden of command.”
“Troi and I will certify you fit for duty, but just reinstate Riker, wait until Jellico leaves and report to Troi or myself.”
“I can do that.” Picard said, finishing the last of the appetizers. “Now for soup.” He said, “A bowl of Bourride and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon sounds perfect.” Crusher got up to get their next course, clearing the table from the previous one, “Leave the baguette, we’ll finish it with the next two courses.”
***
“Captain, if you’re up for it, I think there’s someone you should see.” Troi said after they’d been talking in his ready room a while.
“Who?” He asked.
“Ro. She’s been worried sick about you.”
Picard nodded, wondering why he hadn’t thought of that yet. After what happened to her father, she must have been having a horrible time with PTSD. “How is she?”
“Not well. She hasn’t eaten much other than chocolate and hasn’t been able to sleep without Crusher’s help, since we found out what happened to you.”
Picard nodded. “I think I’m up for seeing her.” He said, knowing it meant convincing her he was okay.
Troi and Picard walked to Ro’s quarters “I’ll leave you to it.” Troi said, before walking away. She figured her accompanying him would send the wrong signal.
Guinan answered the door, “Come in.” She said, putting her arms around Picard and greeting him the traditional French way, with an air kiss on each check. He responded in kind. It had been a long time since he had been greeted that way, but he appreciated it under the circumstances, as it reminded him of home, and that kind casual intimacy was something he relished at the moment.
“Lauren.” He said, looking for Ro.
For a second she thought he had forgotten how to address her properly, then she realized he had intentionally addressed her in the familiar way. “Jean-Luc”, she replied, responding in kind. He nodded telling her she’d responded correctly, and she ran up to him and threw her arms around him. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine Ensign.” He said, putting his arms around her. He met Guinan’s eye, and he could tell she knew she was lying. He had just done for Ro what she had failed to do for him when he needed it, to say the lie someone one cared for desperately needed to hear. As she watched him do what she couldn’t, she remembered why she cared for and needed him so much. That he was the only person she’d met since her planet’s destruction who was stronger and wiser than she was. At that moment her own failure to be there for him at his weakest moment, something she’d nearly lost him over, haunted her more than anything. She was determined not to repeat that mistake. This time she wouldn’t let her feelings get in the way of being there for him, just like he wasn’t letting his feelings get in the way of being there for Ro.
As he embraced Ro, she couldn’t stop herself from crying on his shoulder. From the contrast to how he’d spoken her name, and the professionalism in his voice as he claimed to be fine, a part of her knew that wasn’t entirely true. Yet his ability to be that professional meant in many ways it was. “Captain, I…” She started, but was too overwhelmed with tears to continue.
“Lauren, it’s alright. I’m fine.” He said, more convincingly this time. “And so are you.”
She held him crying on his shoulder, unable to respond verbally. Whether they were tears of relief, of sadness, or both, she couldn’t tell, and neither could he. The only thing she knew was that she was too overwhelmed with emotion to put words to her feelings, and she couldn’t stop the tears.
After some amount of time passed, he whispered, “It’s alright if you’re crying for your father”. She nodded and just started crying harder. She wanted to respond that it wasn’t alright, that she knew he wasn’t as okay as claimed to be, but she couldn’t. She was just a helpless little girl in that room again, except this time it had a happy ending.
If anything, her reaction made him hate Cardassians more than he did already. He had been trying to infiltrate and destroy one of their military facilities. He had knowingly risked his own safety to protect the Federation, with violence if necessary. He had no illusion of himself being an innocent non-combatant, while she had just been an innocent child. He would have hated having any of his people watch what the Cardassians had done to him, and they were all trained combat officers. He hadn’t even wanted to describe it to Beverly. He didn’t want to imagine what Ro’s father had gone through knowing she was watching.
***
“Commander, Starfleet Command is hailing us.” Worf said.
“I’ll take it in the captain’s ready room.” Riker said, before stepping into the ready room and opening the channel.
Once he opened the terminal, he saw Admiral Nechayev's face. “Commander Riker? Where is Captain Picard?” she asked.
“Captain Picard is indisposed at the moment, and I’m temporarily in command of the Enterprise. How can I help you Sir?” He answered.
That explained some things. She had been worried about him retaking command within hours of being rescued from Cardassian tortures, and wondered how he’d gotten Dr. Crusher to okay that so quickly. She hadn’t really cleared him for duty, she just reported she had so he could put Riker in command. “I was calling to see if he was alright. Is he still being treated for his injuries?” She asked.
“I didn’t know you cared Sir.” Riker answered, clearly still upset about everything that had happened. She couldn’t blame him for that much. While she was trying to convince the Cardassians she didn’t care, she seemed to have convinced the Enterprise crew as well.
“Commander, I gave an order that will likely start a war over it, after I spent the last five years working on the peace treaty. That is not a decision I made lightly.” She replied. Riker met her eye on the view screen for a moment, to some extent he was surprised that she fully understood the gravity of the consequences of the plan she had approved, or even that she’d been fully informed of it. He felt a bit better about having mined the Cardassian ships knowing it was in response to what they did to Picard. “I will not negotiate with people who think torturing and threating to kill hostages is an acceptable negotiating tactic. When they showed us the tape, and made clear they had every intention of violating the seldons convention, it was a blatant act of war. Every diplomatic discussion after that was about maintaining the element of surprise and buying time to reposition our forces for a military response.”
“Yes Sir.” Riker replied, understanding a bit better. He decided to answer her earlier question. “Dr. Crusher ordered us to let Picard sleep. No one is supposed to bother him for anything for at least the next twelve hours.”
“Understood,” she answered smiling. “If I have a message for Picard at the moment, it’s to take care of himself and listen to his doctor”.
“I’ll pass that along Sir.” Riker answered.
“And that was some nice flying Commander.”
“Thank you Admiral.”
“Nechayev out.” she said and signed off.
Jellico walked in behind Nechayev, “How did that go?”
“Riker just refused to put me through to Picard.”
“Really?”
“On Dr. Crusher’s orders.”
“I thought she cleared him for duty.”
“Apparently only long enough to get rid of you.”
“But…”
“Let them take care of their own.”