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Will hates it when she leaves the ship without him. He makes a point of being in the Transporter Room as she beams away and now that he can speak to her mind-to-mind again, he always sends her a “Come home safe” as he watches her disappear. He likes that the last thing he feels before she’s gone is her spike of joy at both the thought of the Enterprise being her home and Will waiting for her when she returns. He knows that when he’s away she also worries, but her empathic abilities allow her to subtly track him even when he’s on the surface thousands of miles away from her. It’s a comfort to them both, knowing that she can look out for him when he’s on a mission. He has no such relief when she’s away, and instead resorts to pacing the bridge, glancing at her empty seat when he thinks no one is looking, and asking for updates on the Away Team as often as he thinks he can get away with. (22.6% more often when Deanna is with the team, Data has informed him. It hasn’t stopped him.)
He feels her the moment she returns, but the Captain is with her and he cannot leave the Bridge to greet her properly. He can feel her making her way to him; she always finds him when she gets back – she knows how much he needs to see her, to reassure himself that she’s home and safe. The turbolift opens and he sends her warmth and relief as he greets her. “Welcome home, imzadi.” He can’t quite see her behind all the bodies, but he can feel her again, and the sensation is immediately grounding.
“Hello, Will.” Her voice in his mind is laced with joy, but she feels hesitant and distant in a way he can’t quite place. The cause becomes immediately apparent when he sees the way Riva looks at her and feels the way Deanna partitions her mind: a part of her still open to him, always, but a part tucked away behind a carefully constructed wall.
“New friend, imzadi?” He makes sure she can feel his genuine pleasure that she’s made this connection, that someone appears to appreciate her as much as she deserves to be appreciated. And if there is a tiny hint of possessiveness underneath it all – well, Deanna has always forgiven his more human failings before.
“Perhaps,” she answers.
Will grits his teeth but interrupts Deanna’s dinner date as ordered. His desire to see her happy runs deep and he doesn’t wish to sound like a jealous ex, ruining her evening out of selfishness or pettiness. He’s gratified and relieved when she walks onto the Bridge with Riva and comes to stand near him, just shy of slipping her hand into his. They haven’t touched at all since she’s returned to the Enterprise, and he realizes suddenly that they are both craving that familiar connection.
“Come see me after Riva beams down?” She asks him.
“I’ll be going down with him.” He sounds regretful. “Sorry for cutting your evening short.”
“Occupational hazard,” she answers. He laughs into her mind and she smiles. “Come home safe.”
“Always,” he promises.
She monitors him while he’s on the surface. She feels his anxiety, feels the way he fights against his own instincts and training to remain still when he spots the weapons carried by both sides. She’s with him in the moment that he leaps in front of a phaser blast set to annihilate and she screams, holding her breath until she senses his anger and shock and outrage – something has gone terribly wrong, she knows it, but he’s alive and that’s more important to her right now than anything else.
The hardest part of her day is not leaping straight into Will’s arms when he arrives in the conference room with Riva. She has a job to do, and so does he. Still, she can feel him straining towards her in her mind – he’s using every ounce of his Starfleet training to hold himself still and remain focused but he’s watched people die and nearly died himself and they both need each other in a way no one else can understand. When the Captain asks her to take Riva to Sickbay, he nearly gets up to follow him.
“You can’t, imzadi,” she tells him gently. “But I’m still here with you.” She leaves her mind wide open to him when she walks away.
He can feel the moment she goes to the Captain with her idea, her fear and elation both, and it fills him with dread. Not her, on that planet. Please God not her. “Deanna…” It’s not easy to speak to her when she’s half a ship away, but the channel she’s left open to him helps.
“If Riva won't, I have to try,” she insists.
“Not without me.” His voice is a growl in her mind.
“I’m counting on it,” she sends back.
They leave Riva on the planet and beam back to the ship. Deanna’s commbadge pings the moment they arrive back on board.
“Picard to Troi. Could I see you in my Ready Room?”
She takes one look at Will and gives him a sweet smile. “Troi here. Could I have thirty minutes first, Captain?”
“That would be fine, Counselor.” The line closes.
“Come with me?” She asks - though she doesn't have to ask. His arm is already around her waist. Will walks with her to her quarters and pulls her close the moment the doors close, breathing in the scent of her, basking in her warm, familiar mind.
“Hi,” she says. He can hear the smile in her voice.
“It’s good to be home,” he sends.