Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ow!”

“I really wish you would let me take you to sickbay.”

Deanna Troi shook her head as she leaned against the corridor wall to support herself.

“It’s not that bad. Besides, we’re almost at my quarters.”

Doctor Beverly Crusher rolled her eyes.

“Fine, don’t listen to the doctor. It’s your body.”

Beverly helped Deanna to her quarters and onto the couch. Deanna closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

“Where’s your med kit?”

“In the bathroom, second drawer on the right, I think.”

“Here.” Beverly had replicated Deanna some tea. “Drink this. I’ll go find the med kit.”

“Thanks.”

“I still don’t understand why I couldn’t take you to sickbay,” Beverly called from the bathroom.

“Will and I are supposed to have date night tonight and I didn’t want to miss it.”

“I hate to tell you this, but you’re probably going to have to stay off of that leg for at least the rest of the day.”

“But we don’t even know what the problem is yet.”

Beverly poked her head out of the bathroom.

“I said ‘probably’. Let me find the med kit, so I can scan you. This would’ve been a lot easier if we had gone to sickbay…”

“Oh shut—”

Deanna was interrupted when the doors opened and Will Riker came bounding in. She could feel his happiness and excitement. Probably because it was supposed to be date night.

“Imzadi, I…”

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“We don’t know yet,” Beverly said, coming out of the bathroom with a small med kit in hand.

“Why didn’t you go to sickbay?”

Beverly shot her a look as she sat on the end of the couch, opening the med kit.

“Because it’s probably nothing serious and I wanted to come back to our quarters for date night. Besides, don’t act like you go to sickbay for every scrape and bump you get on the holodeck.”

He held his hands up in mock surrender before going over and sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

“What were you doing on the holodeck?”

“We were trying a new hiking program and I fell.”

“And you severely twisted your knee,” Beverly said, finishing her scan with a tricorder.

“See, I told you it probably wasn’t that bad,” Deanna said.

“And you have a partially torn ACL. You should have surgery.”

“What?!”

“You should also let me finish,” Beverly said, not bothering to hide her annoyance. “Since it’s only a partial tear and we have a busy few days coming up, the surgery can wait a little while. As long as you don’t do anything too strenuous.”

She looked pointedly at Will.

“Why are you looking at me? What did I do?”

“Just make sure she’s careful, please. I’m going to give you some painkillers, so you should be fine until ‘our mission’ is over.”

It wasn’t really a mission per say. The Enterprise was picking up some dignitaries and then going to Starbase 46 for a gala of some sort. They were still a little fuzzy on the details.

Beverly went to replicate a hypospray and when she turned around she saw that Will had knelt down next to the couch. He was holding Deanna’s hand and their foreheads were touching. It was a lovely, tender moment that most people in the ship weren’t privy to, but she was glad she was one of the lucky few. She loved how much her friends loved each other. She and Jean-Luc were in a similar situation, but less people knew about it (she hoped/thought) since he was the captain.

“This should be enough to get you through the next few days, but we’ll have to talk about surgery afterwards,” she said, sad to have to break up the moment.

“We’ll see,” Deanna said.

“Deanna…”

“What?”

Beverly and Will spoke at the same time.

“I don’t want surgery.”

Will stood up and Beverly didn’t need to be an empath to know what he was feeling. She also knew it was time for her to leave.

“You two have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Bev. And thanks.” Deanna did her best to muster a smile.

“Yeah, thanks, Beverly,” Will said.

Once the doors closed behind Beverly, he turned back towards Deanna and ran a hand through his hair. Beverly leaving had given him just enough time to calm down a little and Deanna knew it.

She moved over on the couch and he sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her as she snuggled against him.

“I’m sorry about date night,” she said.

“I know.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“Oh I’m already planning things.”

“I’m sure you are.”

He kissed the top of her head.

“You know you have to have that surgery, right?”

“We’ll see,” she said. “What do you think tomorrow will be like?”

“Crazy,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at the change of subject. “All those dignitaries. Vulcan, Andorian, Bajoran. We’ll have to be on our best behavior.”

“Or our worst, since Worf will be representing the Klingons.”

Will laughed and she smiled.

“Maybe we can get a poker game together tomorrow night.”

“He’ll like that.”

She turned her head and kissed him.

“I love you.”

“I know.”

Chapter Text

The next day was a blur. Deanna felt like she had spent the whole day in the transporter room and showing guests to their quarters. Will and Captain Picard had been there as well, because it would be unseemly for the Captain and the first officer to not greet the dignitaries. And practically the whole senior staff was there to greet Worf, who was his usual grumpy self.

Deanna’s knee bothered her a bit during the day but that’s probably because of the amount of walking and standing she had to do. And truth be told, she was a little annoyed with Will because he kept asking her about it. She was fine. She was doing her job. The poker game was a nice distraction.

The game was in Geordi’s quarters, but the Captain was unable to attend because he was having dinner with the Vulcan ambassador. Lieutenant Christine Vale was supposed to have bridge duty, but Data graciously took it, so the current Chief of Security could talk to the former one during the game. 

Deanna left early. She was enjoying herself, but she wanted to relax and get into bed. After her nice, hot bath, she toweled herself off and was putting lotion on when she heard the bathroom door open and felt familiar arms wrap themselves around her.

“I can do that for you, you know,” Will whispered in her ear.

She had felt his presence when he came home of course, but sometimes she tried to tune him out so she could at least try to be a little surprised.

“I’m sure you would like to,” she said as he nuzzled her neck. “You’re in a good mood. I take it you won?”

“Sure did. Although Worf gave me a run for my money. He’s gotten better since he’s been gone.”

He pulled his hands free and slid them up her body until they were cupping her breasts. She inhaled sharply.

“Your hands are cold.”

“You could warm them up for me…”

She covered his hands with hers before taking one and leading him out of the bathroom. He shed his clothes while they were going through the living area and then pulled her in for a deep kiss once they were in the bedroom.

She pulled away and pushed him onto the bed. He grinned. She went to climb on top of him, but she winced. Will didn’t say anything, but must’ve picked up that her knee hurt, because he quickly put her on her back and climbed over her instead. He kissed down her neck and collarbone before taking a nipple in his mouth. He flicked it lightly with his tongue before sucking it. He did the same to her other nipple. She moaned.

As he worked on her nipples, his hand moved between her legs. She was soaked. His fingers grazed her clit and she let out a small gasp. He inserted a long finger into her before taking it out and putting it in his mouth. She watched him, eagerly wanting his fingers, his tongue, or his cock inside her.

He spread her legs and moved between them before burying his face in her sweet, wet pussy. He licked from her hole to her clit and back. She squirmed as she felt his tongue inside her. He circled her clit with his tongue and inserted his finger again. He peered up at her as he inserted a second finger. Her eyes were closed and she was biting her lower lip. He massaged the sweet spot inside her as he licked and lightly nibbled on her clit and soon she was bucking as a large orgasm coursed through her.

Will! he heard in his head.

When she was done, he pulled his fingers out and gave her one last lick before positioning himself on top of her. She wrapped her hand around his hard cock and guided him into her dripping cunt. He moved slowly at first before gradually picking up speed. As he thrust in and out of her, she reached between them and cupped his balls. She massaged them lightly and he groaned.

He kissed her as he continued moving inside her. She could feel he was close, so she started rubbing her own clit and they came together.

Oh fuck! Deanna!

Afterwards, he laid next to her, their fingers entwined, breathing heavily.

“Deanna?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t you want to have the surgery?”

Her eyes had been closed, but now they flew open.

“Seriously? You’re asking me that now?”

“You couldn’t be on top of me.”

“You’re worried about our sex life?!”

“Of course not. I’m just using that as an example. If you can’t be on top of me while having sex, how are you going to do other things?”

“I’m not having this conversation now.”

“Deanna, you’re clearly in pain and this surgery will help.”

She glared at him angrily.

“If you’re in that much pain, how can you do your job properly?”

“What?”

She got out of bed and started putting on her robe.

“If you can’t do your job then you could be relieved of duty.”

She spun around to face him.

“Are you actually threatening my job?”

“I didn’t say I was going to do anything. I’m just giving you examples—”

“You’re the first officer! Of course it would be you!”

“For anyone else, yes. But given our relationship, it would be up to the Captain. If it came down to that.”

“I cannot believe you wou—”

“Bridge to Counselor Troi.”

Deanna counted to three and took a deep breath before answering.

“Go ahead, Data.”

“Counselor, you have an incoming subspace message from Betazed.”

“Thank you. Please put it through to my quarters.”

“Of course,” Data said and the com clicked off.

“This is just what I need now,” she muttered walking into the living area.

She sat down at the computer terminal and tried to block out the confusion & frustration that was radiating from Will as well as her own anger. She took three deep breaths before answering.

“Little One!” Lwaxana Troi exclaimed.

“Hello, Mother. This is a surprise.”

“I had something I wanted to tell you and I just couldn’t wait. I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?” she asked slyly, noticing Deanna’s disheveled state.

“No, you didn’t interrupt anything.”

Lwaxana narrowed her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just hurt my knee yesterday. But it’s fine. I’m fine.”

“You’re holding something back,” Lwaxana said.

“No, I’m just—”

Deanna heard something and turned around. She saw Will, fully dressed, heading towards the door.

“Mother, I have to go,” she said, clicking off the screen without waiting for a reply.

“Where are you going?” she asked Will as the door to their quarters slid open.

“I’m going to the lounge to meet Worf for a drink.”

“We’re in the middle of something.”

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about it. Besides, you interrupted us first.”

And with that, he left.

She stared after him. She was annoyed, but realized he was right. She actually didn’t even know why she didn’t want the surgery. She just knew she didn’t. She thought about calling her mother back, but didn’t feel like getting the third degree, so she took another shower before getting into bed.

—

She didn’t know what time Will came back, but when she woke up the next morning he was laying next to her. She must have been really tired to not even hear him. She was also a little upset that he didn’t wrap his arms around her or anything like he usually does if she’s already sleeping, but she was pretty horrible to him and didn’t really blame him.

She laid there staring at the ceiling, wondering if she should wake him to apologize when a voice came over the comm.

“Senior Staff to the Observation Lounge.”

She sighed and started getting out of bed. She heard Will groan. She saw his eyes were still closed and decided now was not the time. She grabbed her uniform and went into the bathroom. She was able to get ready and leave before him.

Will had felt her get up and leave the room, but he was surprised to see she had left their quarters. He didn’t know what was going on or why she didn’t want the surgery, but he didn’t have time to think about it now.

Chapter Text

During the briefing, which didn’t take long, Will tried to communicate with Deanna through their bond, but she was blocking him, which he did not like. 

He wanted to fix things before they got to Starbase 46, so he tried to catch her right after the meeting, she bolted out of there as soon as it was over and he got distracted by Data.

Once he had freed himself from Data, he hoped he’d find Deanna in their quarters, since they were technically both off duty, but she wasn’t there. She obviously didn’t want to talk to him right now, so he figured he’d leave her alone for the time being.

He had just replicated himself a cup of coffee and was about to sit down with some work when the comm chimed.

“Captain Picard, Commander Riker, and Counselor Troi to Transporter Room 1,” came the Chief’s voice.

Will was perplexed. Why were they needed in the Transporter Room now? He sighed, then took a large gulp of coffee before leaving.

—

Captain Picard was already in the Transporter Room when he arrived.

“Captain?” he asked.

But before the Captain could answer, Deanna walked in, barely even looking at Will. 

“Ah, Counselor,” Picard said, seemingly relieved to see her. “Did you know about this?”

“Sir?” Deanna asked, confused.

She looked at the Captain, then at Will, who gave a little shrug.

“Sir, they’re ready to beam aboard,” the Chief said.

“Make it so,” the Captain replied.

The Chief started the transport process.

“Who else are we expecting?” Will asked. “I thought everyone was already—”

“Oh no,” Deanna said, cutting him off.

He looked at the transporter and saw two figures materializing. One was a man he didn’t know and the other was Lwaxana Troi.

“Oh no,” he said.

He didn’t mind Lwaxana; he was quite used to her by now, but he didn't think her being around while he & Deanna were in the middle of something would be good. He tried to think about other things.

“Little One,” Lwaxana said, coming down and hugging her daughter.

“Mother,” Deanna said, trying to sound cheerful, “what are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story. I tried to tell you last night, but you hung up rather abruptly.”

“Oh…yes…sorry. I was—”

“It doesn’t matter now, dear. I’ll tell you the whole story later. Jean-Luc,” she said, turning to the Captain.

“Lwaxana, how lovely it is to see you again,” the Captain said.

“Oh, Jean-Luc. Don’t be so cheeky,” Lwaxana said, much to the Captain and Deanna’s chagrin. “William.” She turned to Will and held out her hand.

Will smiled, took her hand, and kissed her cheek.

“Hello, Lwaxana,” he said.

She looked at him, then at Deanna, then at Will again.

“What’s going on with you two?” she asked.

Will froze, but luckily Deanna quickly changed the subject.

“Mother, are you going to introduce us to your friend?” Deanna asked.

“Oh, I almost forgot! Where are my manners? Daviln, my dear, this is my daughter, Deanna.”

“Hello Mr. Daviln,” Deanna said with a little nod.

“And this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Commander William Riker.”

Picard and Will greeted the newcomer, while Deanna looked at him quizzically. There was something familiar about him, but Deanna couldn’t figure out what. He was tall, although not as tall as Will. He had light brown hair and those dark Betazoid eyes. 

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Daviln said. “Sorry for the intrusion, but we’re glad you were able to pick us up. We didn’t want to miss the gathering.”

“Have we met before?” Deanna asked.

“No. At least I don’t think so. I would certainly remember meeting someone as beautiful as you.”

“Careful, Daviln,” Lwaxana said. “I told you, she’s taken.”

Deanna was mortified that this conversation was happening in front of the Captain, but before she could say anything, she felt Will move behind her. That was his subtle way of calming her down.

“Deanna, please show our guests where they will be staying. Commander Riker and I need to get back to the bridge.”

“Yes, sir,” Deanna said, grateful for the order. “Mother, Mr. Daviln. Please follow me.”

As she moved past Will, her hand lightly brushed against his. That was her subtle way of saying thank you.

As soon as the doors closed behind Deanna and their guests, Picard and Will looked at each other knowingly.

“It’s going to be a long few days,” Will said.

“So it seems, Number One.”

—

Lwaxana chatted away while Deanna led her and Daviln to guest quarters, which were right next to each other. After Daviln was in his quarters, Deanna tried to get away from her mother as quickly as possible. She loved Lwaxana of course, but she was not in the mood and, like Will (although she didn’t know it), she didn’t want her mother to know what was going on. 

“Mother, I’d love to stay, but I have appointments.”

It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but she also really wasn’t in a hurry. Lwaxana seemed annoyed, but didn’t say anything.

“One thing before you go, Little One. I’d love for you and William to join me here for dinner this evening.”

“We’re really quite busy, so I’m not sure—”

(They weren’t actually busy.)

“Nonsense. I’m sure Jean-Luc would let you change your schedules. We’ll be at that Starbase tomorrow and then we won’t have any time to see each other.”

She wasn’t wrong. Deanna thought for a second and finally relented.

“I’ll let Will know,” she said, before giving Lwaxana a kiss on the cheek. “If you talk to Barin, please send him my love.”

Barin was Deanna’s seven year old half brother.

“I will, dear. See you tonight.”

Deanna went to her office and let out a big sigh. It was going to be a long few days.

Chapter Text

Will met Deanna at her office at the end of their shift to go to dinner. As much as Deanna wanted to make things right with Will, which probably would’ve been the best thing to do prior to dinner, she couldn’t deal with it right now. She knew that she and Will could put on a good show for Lwaxana and take care of themselves later.

Lwaxana kissed them on their cheeks when she answered the door. They weren’t surprised to see Daviln there as well; he didn’t know anyone else. They hoped he would be a good buffer.

Deanna still wasn’t convinced that she hadn’t met Daviln previously, so she asked him a lot of questions as they ate dinner. He was in his early thirties, single, and wanted to be an ambassador, so he had reached out to Lwaxana and she took him under her wing.

“Mr. Daviln, what part of—,” Deanna started.

“Little One, please. You’ve pestered Davvy enough. You haven’t answered my question.”

“What question is that?”

“What is going on with you two? And don’t say ‘nothing’, because I’m not blind. Although, I have to say, William, you’re getting much better at shielding your thoughts from me.”

“Years of practice,” Will said with a smile. He took it as a compliment.

“Mother, can we talk about this later?”

Deanna definitely didn’t want to discuss it with a virtual stranger.

“Nonsense. Davvy’s practically family. You are still together, right?”

“Of course we are.” Deanna was getting exasperated. “Mother—”

“You didn’t turn down a proposal from William, did you? Because you’re not getting any younger.”

Will’s fork was halfway to his mouth when he heard that and froze. He looked at Deanna, who just sat there stoically for a few seconds. Then he was shocked a second time when Deanna stood up and walked out without saying a word. It took him a moment to gather himself, but then he went after her.

—

Will made it into their quarters in time to see Deanna pick up a small glass vase from the table. He plucked the vase from her hand and wrapped his arms around her from behind, with her arms at her sides. He held her that way, not saying anything, until her breathing slowed.

Most people don’t see this side of Deanna Troi. She kept it quite hidden and in check. But it also took a lot to get her this angry. They stood that way for probably ten minutes. Eventually she moved her forearms so they were holding onto his and he kissed the top of her head.

“Are you okay now?” he finally asked.

She nodded.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to have to clean up any glass.”

She nodded again. As soon as he loosened his grip, she turned and buried her face in his chest.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He was surprised, but definitely not mad about this sudden turn of events. He picked her head up so he could look at her. He could see the depth of her soul in the dark pools of her eyes.

“You know you don’t have to apologize for your mother. It’s not your fault she can’t help meddling.”

She gave him a small smile and he hugged her tightly.

“Deanna?”

“No.”

“No? No, what?”

“I don’t want you to propose.”

He pulled back and looked at her in surprise.

“How did you know I was going to ask if you wanted me to?”

“Because I know you, Will Riker. And I know you were scared to ask and now you’re very confused.”

“Can’t get anything past you, so I don’t know why I even try.”

She gave him a small smile.

“I love you more than anything,” she said. “And maybe one day we will decide to get married. But I like where we are right now. Being here. Together.”

He pulled her in close and kissed her long and tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and reveled in the feel of his lips against hers.

“I love you,” he said when they broke apart. “Even when you drive me crazy.”

“Don’t act like that's not one of the reasons why you love me.”

“You’re right about that,” he said, picking her up and kissing her again. “And now we suddenly have a free night. We should think of something to do.”

His blue eyes twinkled slyly.

“I could think of a few things…,” she said, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss.

Then they heard the door chime.

“Ignore it,” Will said as he went to kiss her again.

“It’s my mother.”

“Even more reason to ignore it.”

“I can’t talk to her right now.”

Deanna started walking towards the bedroom.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave me to deal with her?”

“She likes you better than me anyway.”

“Doubtful.”

But Deanna was gone. He tried to guard his thoughts as he opened the door.

“William,” she said, as she walked in. 

“Come on in,” he replied as the doors closed.

She looked around.

“Where is Deanna?”

“She is indisposed at the moment.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You mean she doesn’t want to see me.”

He sighed.

“Please sit,” he said, gesturing to a chair.

She did and he sat on the couch. She opened her mouth to speak, but Will stopped her. 

“Lwaxana, I know you love Deanna and you only want what’s best for her. But you have to give her some space. You come onboard and needle her when you don’t even know what else she may be dealing with—”

“It’s hard to know what she may be ‘dealing with’ if she doesn’t talk to me.”

“I understand that, but you also don’t even give her a chance. I love your daughter. More than anything. And I want to give her the best life, but—”

“Then why won’t you marry her?”

“I never said I wouldn’t. Just because we don’t have plans to get married doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen. But we’re happy the way things are right now. Can’t you just give us a break?”

Lwaxana looked at him and knew he was being sincere, even without reading his mind. She nodded.

“You can’t blame me for wanting the best for my child,” she said, “but I am sorry. I will do my best to not meddle as much.”

“That’s all we can ask,” Will said, smiling.

He stood and Lwaxana followed suit.

“I will see you both tomorrow, she said as she walked to the door. “If she won’t talk to me, I’m glad she has you.”

“You didn’t always think that way.”

“You didn’t always deserve it.”

“Touché.”

“Good night, William,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.

“Good night, Lwaxana.”

He walked into the bedroom and found Deanna in her nightgown, laying in bed, under the covers, waiting for him.

“How much did you hear?” he asked as he took off his uniform.

“Pretty much all of it. You were very good.”

“I meant every word,” he said, getting into bed next to her. “You should talk to her.”

“We’ll see how tomorrow goes.”

“You can’t have it both ways, you know.”

“I know.”

Will took her hand and they were silent for a few moments.

“Will?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you just hold me?”

“Any time.”

She rolled onto her side and he laid down next to her, fitting perfectly against her back. He put his arm around her and rested his head on top of hers. She put her arm over his and they fell asleep.

Chapter Text

The next day was busy. They had arrived at Starbase 46 and were preparing for the event that evening. The ambassadors got a tour of the Starbase and then went back to their guest quarters on the Enterprise to get ready. The Starbase didn’t have enough quarters for everyone invited, which is one reason why the ambassadors were on the Enterprise.

Deanna was the liaison to the Vulcan and Andorian ambassadors so she was with them all day. The only free time she had was to get herself ready for the evening. Will was disappointed that they couldn’t go to the event together, but she did hint that she would be wearing something that’s not Starfleet issue and he was intrigued. 

Captain Picard had asked him if he would be the liaison to Lwaxana and Daviln. For one thing, they hadn’t realized they were coming and for another, they decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea for them to tag along with Deanna. It wasn’t a direct order, but Will didn’t think he could, or should, say no. Besides, he figured, Lwaxana was probably going to want to talk to everyone under the sun.

The main room where the event was taking place wasn’t huge, but it fit all the guests nicely. There was a long buffet table in the middle of the room and there were three large centerpieces on it; one on either end and one in the middle. They were more like sculptures really and they weren’t like anything Will had ever seen before. The sculptures were surrounded by various types of food and delicacies from the different worlds that were represented by the ambassadors as well as the Starfleet personnel.

Will was standing with the Captain, Beverly, and Lwaxana. He was hoping Lwaxana would go talk to someone else but he had a sneaking suspicion that she was waiting for Deanna, who hadn’t had time to see her that day (although Will wasn’t sure if she would have anyway) and would probably stop to see Will once she arrived.

They were in the midst of a conversation when Will felt that slight tug of the Imzadi bond, which had gotten stronger since they revived their relationship a couple of years ago. He looked towards the doors and his breath caught in his throat.

Deanna looked radiant. She was wearing a black dress that had thick straps and came to just above her knees. Her hair was pinned back on the sides and hung down in loose curls. She was still the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.

She had come in with her charges who quickly dispersed to mingle with other guests. She smiled at Will when she saw him and quickly came over to where they were standing. Will bent his head a bit to kiss her cheek (although not as much as he normally would have because she was wearing heels) and whispered in her ear.

“Almost twenty years later and you still take my breath away.”

She beamed at him.

“Ahem.”

“Hello, Mother.”

Deanna really didn’t want to ruin this moment by talking to her Lwaxana, but she didn’t really have a choice. 

“Deanna, dear, we need to talk.”

Jean-Luc and Beverly looked at each other and made their excuses to go speak to other people. They didn’t want to get involved.

“I’m sorry, Mother, but it will have to wait. I just came over to say hello, but I have to get back to the other ambassadors.”

Will knew that was a lie, but he certainly wasn’t going to say anything.

“I’ll see you later.”

She gave Will a quick kiss and walked away. Lwaxana sighed.

“What am I going to do with that girl?”

Will gave her a look.

“Don’t look at me that way, William. At least you two seem to be getting along better.”

“We can never stay mad at each other for long. We like each other too much,” he said with a smile.

Lwaxana smiled and patted his hand.

“You are good for her,” she said. 

“Thank you, Lwaxana,” he said sincerely.

“I guess I should go talk to other people,” she said, kissing his cheek.

Will watched her find the Bajoran ambassador and let out a breath he felt like been holding all evening. He got another drink and went to talk to some of the other guests.

—

A while later, Will was bored. He actually hated these kinds of events. Well, not totally hated. He liked them at first, but he hated that he couldn’t leave early since he was the first officer. He looked around and saw Deanna standing in a corner by herself, looking at the buffet table.

“Trying to decide what you want to eat?” he teased as he came up to her.

“Trying to figure out what those sculptures are and what they’re made of.”

“Do you want to get a little closer? Because I don’t think you’ll be able to figure it out from back here.”

“No. I like it back here. I don’t really want to talk to anyone anymore,” she said.

“You’re talking to me.”

“You don’t count,” she said with a little smile.

He put an arm around her waist and she leaned into him.

“Is it too early for us to leave?” he asked.

“You know I can’t leave until the ambassadors leave.”

“Too bad.” He bent his head and whispered in her ear. “I can’t wait to get you out of that dress.”

His hand slid down to her ass.

“Will!” she whispered forcefully.

He laughed and moved his hand back to her waist. She suddenly pulled away.

“I’m going to talk to the Vulcan ambassador.”

“I thought you didn’t want to talk to anyone…,” he called after her.

“Ah, William, there you are.”

Deanna had realized her mother was coming towards them and left him so she wouldn’t have to deal with her. She could be so devious. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Hello, Lwaxana,” he said. “How are you enjoying the party?

Across the room Deanna smiled at him. She knew she was going to get it later.

“It’s fine, but I think I’m about ready to leave. Would you care to escort me back to the ship?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

“One moment.”

Lwaxana scanned the room and saw her protégé near a group of people. He was on the outskirts, listening, but didn’t seem to be part of the conversation. She frowned.

“Do you think he’s having a good time? I feel like he hasn’t said much.”

Will looked at Daviln. He definitely didn’t seem that engaged. But Will didn’t know what he had been like earlier in the evening. 

“He kind of looks like he’s indifferent at this point.”

“Maybe I should see if he wants to go back to the ship.”

“That’s probably a good—”

Will’s words were cut off by a sudden explosion. He quickly got Lwaxana down and tried to shield her with his body. Then there were two more explosions, one right after the other. He felt something hit his left lower back & side. He didn’t have time to worry about that though because in addition to all the ensuing chaos and screaming, there was a familiar scream that made his blood run cold.

“Deanna,” he whispered.

Lwaxana had heard it also. She tried to contact her daughter telepathically, but there was nothing. She looked at Will with frightened eyes. They stayed like that for a bit until he thought it was safe to get up. They hadn’t heard anything else.

Will stood and helped Lwaxana up. They looked around. It was a mess. There were people laying everywhere, some were just starting to get up like him and Lwaxana.

“William…,” Lwaxana said in a low voice, “you’re bleeding.”

Whatever it was that hit him had cut right through the white tunic of his dress uniform.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, more concerned with Deanna than himself.

He looked to where she had been standing, but he couldn’t see over the mess of the buffet tables and other various things.

“Will,” a gentle voice said. 

He turned around and saw Beverly and the Captain.

“You should get fixed up,” Beverly said.

“I can wait. I need to find Deanna.”

“Will,” Picard said.

“Please just stay here with Lwaxana. I’ll be right back.”

“I’m going with you,” Lwaxana said.

He nodded. He knew this wasn’t time to argue. They all walked over to where Deanna had last been seen with the Vulcan ambassador.

The ambassador was on the floor, green blood collecting in a pool around him. But there was no Deanna. And the only sign that she had even been there was one of her shoes and some blood.

Chapter Text

Will stared at the shoe and blood, trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing when he was shaken out of his stupor by a strangled cry. 

“Where is my daughter?!” Lwaxana asked angrily.

Captain Picard tried to placate her and asked an ensign to take her back to the ship, but she wouldn’t go.

“Please, Lwaxana,” the Captain’s voice was gentle. “We’ll figure things out, but you should go back to the ship now.”

“William?”

“Listen to the Captain,” he finally said, trying to keep his voice steady and his mind clear. He didn’t want to worry Lwaxana more than she already was, despite the fact that he shared all of it as well.

Lwaxana finally allowed herself to be led away. The Captain called Data down to the Starbase to start an investigation.

“Will?”

Beverly was at his elbow. The Vulcan ambassador was still alive and in sickbay, along with others who had been seriously wounded. Others with minor injuries were being treated by the Starbase’s small medical staff. Luckily, no one died. At least not yet.

“Will, you have to come to sickbay.”

“I need to help Data.”

“You need to get treated because you’re bleeding all over the place. You can help Data later.”

He nodded, but when he tried to stand up he realized he was a little lightheaded. Worf, who had some cuts on his face, helped him stand. Will leaned on his friend, both physically and emotionally as they were transported back to the Enterprise and the Klingon helped him to sickbay. He knew Worf cared for both him and Deanna, in his own way, and was unfortunately all too familiar with losing people he loved.

“Worf…,” Will choked out, “what if we don’t—”

But Worf didn’t let him finish.

“We will find her, Commander. Commander Data is a skilled investigator.”

That was the last thing Will heard.

—

Will opened his eyes and realized he was in sickbay, but couldn’t remember how he had gotten there.

“Hey there,” a soft voice said.

“Beverly? What happened? How did I get here?”

“You passed out right outside the transporter room. Good thing Worf was with you. Your injury isn’t that severe, but you lost a lot of blood because you didn’t get treated right away.”

She looked at him pointedly.

“How long was I out?”

“A couple of hours.”

“Hours?! Did they find Deanna?”

Beverly shook her head sadly.

“I have to get out of here,” Will said, starting to sit up.

“Not so fast,” Beverly said as she put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back against the pillows. “You need looking after for a little longer. Data has been conducting an investigation and he’ll be here with Jean-Luc soon to tell us what they know.”

At that moment, the Captain walked in with Lwaxana. Will sat up and Beverly rolled her eyes.

“William—”

“I’m fine,” Will said, interrupting Lwaxana. “Any news?” he asked anxiously.

Picard shook his head and Data came in.

“What have you found, Mr. Data?” Picard asked, cutting to the chase.

“All guests, as well as the crews of the Starbase and the Enterprise are accounted for except for two: Counselor Troi and Mr. Daviln.”

Everyone turned to look at Lwaxana who looked as if she had been caught stealing.

“Daviln? But that can’t be,” she said after a moment. “Why would he want to do anything to Deanna? She’s my daughter. And he’s such a lovely young man.”

“This is your fault,” Will said, angrily. “If you hadn’t brought him here, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Will…,” Beverly tried to calm him down, but it seemed to just make him angrier if that was even possible.

“No!” he said, practically shouting. “Don’t try to tell me to calm down. Deanna would still be here if she hadn’t brought him. We don’t even know where they are. They could be halfway across the galaxy by now!”

“Actually, Commander, we did pick up a faint warp signature,” Data said.

“Then why are we still sitting here?!” Will was incensed.

“I had to conduct my investigation and we were waiting for some crew members who had not yet returned to the ship,” Data said.

“Is everyone back on board?” the Captain asked before Will could say anything.

“Yes, sir.”

“And have you finished what you can do on the Starbase?”

“Yes, sir.”

Picard turned to Lwaxana.

“We should take you home first.”

“We don’t have time for that!” Will said.

“He’s right, Jean-Luc. Besides, I’m not going anywhere until we find my daughter.”

Picard nodded and turned to Data.

“Report to the bridge and follow that signature. Warp 8. And have Lieutenant Vale take a security team and search Daviln’s guest quarters. Ask Mr. Worf to join her.”

“Yes, sir,” Data said, and he left.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Will asked, still fuming.

“We can’t do anything until we find them. Hopefully we can catch up to wherever they’re going,” the Captain said.

“This is your fault! How well do you even know him?!” Will glared at Lwaxana.

“Commander Riker!” Picard’s tone was very authoritative. “You cannot speak to a Federation Ambassador like that.”

“Fine.” Will stormed out of sickbay, much to Dr. Crusher’s chagrin.

“I’m sorry, Lwaxana—” the Captain started.

“He’s right,” Lwaxana said sadly. “I brought him here and now he’s taken my daughter. I can’t lose another one, Jean-Luc.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Maybe that’s not a good idea,” Beverly said.

“No, no. It’ll be fine. He’s just angry and upset and rightfully so. Thank you both.”

Chapter Text

Will paced angrily around the living area of the quarters he shared with Deanna. Finally he sat on the couch and put his head in his hands. Sadness and anxiety were taking over. He heard the door chime, but ignored it. He heard the chime again.

“Go away,” he said. He wished whoever it was would go away.

It rang again.

“What?!” he said angrily as he opened the door, expecting to find Beverly or Worf, but was startled to see Lwaxana there.

“Lwaxana…”

He paused and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry. About this and before. I know you didn’t do anything on purpose and I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt Deanna—”

“It’s alright, William,” she said, in a gentler tone than he was used to.

“Come in,” he said, moving out of the way.

He invited her to sit and he sat back on the couch. She didn’t sit though. He watched her as she looked around as if she hadn’t really seen the place previously. She stopped at the desk where the computer terminal was and picked something up, studying it. 

She walked to the couch and sat, before speaking.

“I like this picture,” she said softly. “You both look so happy.”

He took the picture from her and looked at it. It was the picture of him and Deanna where he was whispering in her ear and she was laughing. He smiled a little at the memory and the joy that was radiating from her.

“It's one of my favorites,” he said a little wistfully. “And yes we were very happy. ARE very happy.”

“She loves you very much,” Lwaxana said.

“And I love her. I always have, since the moment I saw her.”

“I’m sorry I pushed about marriage. I hate that she was angry with me and now…” Lwaxana trailed off, not wanting to say what they were both thinking.

She was trying not to cry, but realized that Will was. He was still looking at the picture and tears were silently falling onto it. Lwaxana put a hand on his arm and he looked at her.

“I couldn’t stop this. I was right there and couldn’t save her…,” his voice choked with tears.

Lwaxana could no longer stop herself from crying. She put her arm around Will’s shoulder.

“Neither could I,” she said.

They cried together, silently for a few minutes. Then Will looked at her.

“What if we don’t find her?” he asked.

“We will,” Lwaxana said.

“How do you know? We don’t even know where she is.”

“You always find each other.”

“It’s never been like this though. It’s like she just disappeared into thin air. I…I just…I don’t know what I would do without her.”

“You’ve been separated before.”

Lwaxana was trying so hard to help Will by putting her own anxiety about Deanna’s disappearance aside, but she didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to do it.

“It’s not the same!”

He stood up in anger and, not remembering it was on his lap, the picture fell on the floor, glass shattering. Lwaxana’s hand flew to her mouth, but Will just stood there, staring at it. He looked at Lwaxana, pain in his eyes. Of course she knew what he was thinking.

“William…it doesn’t mean—”

“Commander Riker to the Observation Lounge,” the comm chirped.

Will took a deep breath before answering.

“On my way.”

“You can stay here if you want,” he said to Lwaxana.

“I’m coming with you.”

—

When they arrived, the Captain didn’t seem surprised to see Lwaxana. Data was also there.

“Did you find her?” Lwaxana asked, hopefully.

“Not exactly,” Picard said.

“What does that mean?” Will asked.

“We have traced what we think was Daviln’s warp signature…”

“Well…where are they?” Lwaxana was getting impatient.

“We think he took her to Betazed.”

That was the last place either of them expected, except for maybe Earth.

“He took her home?” Lwaxana asked, confused.

“It appears so.”

“But why?”

“We don’t know. But we hope to find out. We should be there in fifteen hours.”

“Actually, Captain, we should arrive in fourteen hours fifty eight minutes,” Data said.

Lwaxana glared at him.

“Thank you, Data,” Picard said.

“Why would he take her back to Betazed? That would be one of the first places we would check,” Will said.

“It is a large planet, sir,” Data replied.

“That’s true, but something doesn’t feel right about this,” Picard said.

“Agreed.” Will seemed much more himself now than he was in his quarters. He was not wallowing in sadness. He was determined.

“What now?” Lwaxana asked.

“We’ll start searching near your home and go from there,” the Captain said.

They all looked at the image of Betazed on the screen in the Observation Lounge. They knew that time was probably not on their side.

Chapter Text

“Ughhhh.”

Deanna groaned. Her head was aching. Not aching. Throbbing. The rest of her body was aching. What the hell happened?

She tried to open her eyes, but was only able to see out of the right one. She touched her left eye and touched something sticky. Blood. She quickly realized she had a gash on her forehead and blood had dripped down over her closed eye. She wiped it away and was relieved that she could see properly.

She remembered leaving Will to deal with her mother while she went to speak with the Vulcan ambassador. She caught Will’s eye a little while later and smiled at him. Then there was a loud noise. She thinks she screamed when something hit her face, which would explain the gash on her forehead. Then there was another loud noise and she flew backwards, hitting the wall behind her (that explained her aching body). Then everything went dark.

She looked around. The lighting was dim, but she didn’t see or hear anyone else and this definitely didn’t look like the Starbase. She was in a dirty, no, filthy, looking room. It reminded her of a jail cell. There was an unpleasant, yet slightly familiar smell. Why was she here? What was going on?

She had been lying on the ground, still in her dress from the event, which was now ruined, and she only had one shoe. She took her other shoe off and tried to stand, but it was difficult.

“Fucking knee,” she swore.

She was definitely going to need that surgery when she got back to the ship. If she got back. She looked around again and finally noticed the faint outline of a door. She managed to get across the room and tried to open it, but it seemed to be locked.

“You won’t be able to get out,” a voice said.

Deanna looked around. She didn’t see anyone.

“I’m not there, so don’t bother looking,” the voice said.

She knew the voice, but couldn’t place it.

“Who are you? Why are you doing this?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Please…”

But there was silence. Whoever it was was gone.

She slid down the door to the floor and put her head in her hands. She wanted to be strong, but she had no idea what was going on or why she was there. She didn’t even know how long she had been there. How long ago was the event? What was happening on the Enterprise? Did they even know she was gone?

That’s ridiculous, she thought. Of course they must know by now. Will probably noticed immediately. 

Will…

He was probably freaking out. Saying things about how he was supposed to protect her and stuff. And she was sure having her mother there didn’t help.

She got sad thinking about Lwaxana. She had been so mad at her mother’s meddling. It was one thing when Deanna was single, but she and Will had rekindled their relationship over two years ago and it seemed pretty obvious that it was for good this time, whether they got married or not. She didn’t understand why she did it, but now she was mad at herself for not talking to her about it when she had the chance. She hoped she would be able to see her again…

Deanna shook herself out of her stupor. She had to find a way out of there. She looked around again. She realized she was in what at one point may have been a child’s room. There was a small bed in one corner and a small table in another. There were framed drawings on the walls and what looked like a toilet in another corner. Everything was very dusty and dirty. And there was still that familiar smell that she couldn’t place. It wasn’t overwhelming, but it was there. Being in such a place was kind of torturous to her because she was sensitive to certain smells and hated being dirty.

She stood, with difficulty, and tried the door again. She couldn’t figure out how it opened, but she also didn’t hear the voice, so she hoped that meant whoever it was wasn’t watching her the time. 

She felt something drip down her face. Blood. She touched the gash on her forehead and realized it had started bleeding again. She didn’t think it was too bad because head wounds tended to look worse than they actually were, but she looked for something to stop the blood. She didn’t see anything that wasn’t covered in dust, so she tried to rip a piece off the bottom of her dress. It took some doing, but she finally managed to tear a piece off. It wasn’t the best material for this, but she didn’t seem to have any other options.

She sat back down on the floor and winced as she held the material to her head. She tried to communicate telepathically with Will, using their Imzadi bond, and her mother, but they must have been too far away.

She was still hurting and was exhausted, physically and mentally. She finally fell asleep leaning against the door that wouldn’t open.

Chapter Text

Will was frustrated. He was also exhausted and losing hope.

Deanna had been missing for two weeks. They had been slowly searching Betazed to no avail. Will certainly wasn’t going to give up and neither was the Captain, but Starfleet was pretty unhappy with how they put everything else aside for so long to search for one officer. But they didn’t order the Enterprise back since the missing officer happened to be the daughter of the Betazoid ambassador.

Lwaxana had reluctantly gone back to her home to be with her son Barin, Deanna’s seven year old half brother. Will loved him, but they decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to see him because then Barin would ask questions about why Deanna wasn’t there and they didn’t want to say anything just yet.

Will was sitting alone in the Observation Lounge. He didn’t like to spend too much time in his quarters, which meant he hadn’t slept much. He was staring intently at the maps of Betazed trying to figure out where they should look next when he heard a soft voice.

“Will?”

He looked up, startled, to see Beverly. He hadn’t even heard the doors open.

“Hi,” he said.

“Will, you have to get some rest.”

“I can’t.”

“I will relieve you of duty if I have to.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

She sat down next to him.

“You won’t be any good to us or Deanna if you drop from exhaustion.”

He sighed.

“I just don’t know if I’ll be able to fall asleep. I think about her all the time. I have nightmares about what could be happening to her. I…”

Beverly laid a hand on his arm.

“I understand. I’ll give you something to help.”

After a long pause he finally nodded. Beverly stood up.

“I’ll walk you to your quarters,” she said.

“Don’t you trust me?” 

“Would you?”

“Nope.”

They walked to his quarters in silence. When he opened the doors, Beverly was surprised to see what it looked like. It wasn’t messy, per say, but definitely not up to Will & Deanna’s usual standards. There were half drunk cups of coffee on the table, PADDs scattered about, and glass on the floor, because Will never cleaned it up after the picture fell.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Will said, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Cleaning was the last thing on my mind during the small amount of time that I’ve been in here.”

“I understand,” Beverly said gently, knowing all too well what that was like.

She walked to the picture on the table and picked it up. She didn’t know why it had broken, but she didn’t want to push him.

“We’ll find her,” she said.

“You don’t know that.”

“You’re right,” she admitted, “but do you feel like she’s dead?”

“No…at least I don’t think so. But if we can’t find her then she will be.”

“One step at a time. Now, I’m going to give you a sedative and you’re going to get in bed and get some sleep.”

He nodded and she administered a hypospray in his neck.

“I’ll stay here and clean up a little,” she said.

“Thanks.”

After he disappeared into the bedroom, she cleaned the glass, put the coffee cups in the reclamator, and gathered the PADDs. She realized they all contained information about Betazed. She figured another set of eyes couldn’t hurt, so she sat down on the couch and began to read.

After a little while, she read something that caught her eye. She read it again before contacting the Captain.

Chapter Text

Deanna had lost track of the time. It simultaneously felt like she had been trapped there for months, but also only a day. She felt like an animal in a cage except she was trying not to walk a lot. Her mystery captor hadn’t spoken again. Food (if you could call it that) appeared sporadically via transporter. She didn’t want to eat at first, not trusting it, but eventually she had to so she wouldn’t starve to death, although that was still in the realm of possibility. She was basically surviving on what little bread & water came in, as well as some liquid soup-like thing which she had to force herself to eat.

She was also filthy. Deanna always hated to be dirty, even when she was a child, so this made an already horrific situation even worse. Her hair was disgusting and her dress was definitely going to have to get discarded. She couldn’t wait to take a long, hot bath. That is, if she was ever able to get back to the ship. She was also pretty sure the cut on her forehead was infected; her head constantly ached and it’s not like there was anything around to keep the wound clean.

The one, hopeful, light at the end of the tunnel was that she had found a control panel behind one of the pictures hanging on the wall by the door. She hadn’t been able to open the door yet, but she was about to try again. She had been gathering her strength to walk over there, but now felt she was ready.

She took a deep breath and slowly limped to the door. She had tried the panel a couple of times before to no avail, but she also didn’t spend a lot of time lingering there because she had no idea when her captor was watching her.

She slid the picture out of the way to reveal the panel. She steadied herself against the wall and started to push buttons. She gasped when the door opened on her fourth attempt.

 As soon as the door opened, the faint smell that had been in the air got much stronger and she knew immediately what it was. It was the smell of death.

She steeled herself and went through the door…only to find herself in another room. This one was stark white and was definitely where the smell was coming from. 

The way out has to be through this room, she thought.

She moved slowly into the room and she saw two beds where it looked like people were sleeping. She moved closer to the beds and her suspicions were confirmed: these people were dead. 

Did her captor kill them? She moved closer to look at the bodies. There was definitely some decomposition, but both bodies were fairly well preserved. One was an old man and the other was younger. Deanna didn’t think her captor had killed these men. Yes, it would be possible for someone, even a killer, to not have a ‘type’, but something seemed off. Both of the men looked familiar and Deanna tried to think about where she may know them from. Then it hit her.

The younger man was Zelbar, the person who had been accused of using a machine to cause destruction on Betazed a couple of years ago. He took the blame, but she didn’t think he had done it. She tried to get him to give up his partner or the mastermind and she felt he was going to, but then she wasn’t allowed to see him again and the Enterprise left. Not long afterwards they got word that he had killed himself, although they doubted that’s what had actually happened.

She looked at the other body and realized it was old man Zelbar. He had basically been a reclusive man living in the woods near where the Troi family (and others) had a lake house. She and her friends had always thought he was creepy when they were younger and they never knew he had even had a son until they came across the younger Zelbar. The latter had told them that his father had died because of the Dominion when they took over Betazed during the war, but that was a number of years ago now and this body didn’t look that decomposed.

Why were these bodies even here? What was going on?

A wave of nausea came over Deanna just then. She took a few deep breaths and tried to gather herself. Between her exhaustion, injuries, and the smell, she needed a moment before trying to find her way out of this tomb.

Unfortunately for her, that moment was too long.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” an emotionless, dry voice said from behind her.

She nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn’t heard, nor felt, anyone come in.

She turned around and recognized her captor.

“You? But why?”

Deanna was completely taken aback by seeing Daviln in front of her.

“You killed my brother and you’re going to pay.”

Chapter Text

“What?”

Deanna was dumbfounded. This person was holding her captive because he thought she killed his brother? That couldn’t be right. Maybe she misheard. She was, after all, exhausted and starving.

“You killed my brother.”

Daviln advanced toward her menacingly. She tried to move, but her knee gave out and she fell backwards. She braced herself with one arm and put her other up to try to protect herself to no avail.

Daviln grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up.

“Please,” she said. “I didn’t kill him. I tried to help him.”

She pleaded with him as he pulled her back into the other room. He threw her down and her head hit the floor. She felt a searing pain and thought she heard a crack.

“Help him? If it wasn’t for you he’d be alive.”

“I was trying to get him to tell the truth, so he would be released. So he would be free.”

She stumbled to get the words out. Between the pain and fighting back tears, she was having a hard time concentrating.

“You don’t understand,” Daviln said, yelling. “He was never going to be free. Father wouldn’t let us.”

“But your father was already dead…”

“You Federation people think you know everything,” he spat. “You’ll believe anything you hear. My father was the one who created the machine. He always used my brother & I as scapegoats. I was able to finally get out of the reclusive life that I hated so much, but I was always stronger than Z. He couldn’t bring himself to leave, so he was left doing my father’s dirty work. He said Father was dead because he knew our incompetent inspectors wouldn’t dig too deeply and he didn’t want Father to get in trouble. He would rather take all the blame than tell them about Father. Until you came along.

“You were the first person…really the first woman…who has ever been nice to him. He was going to tell them about Father, but we couldn’t let him. I had to tell him that we knew he was going to tell and he couldn’t live with himself. When Father found out that Z had died, he was beside himself and soon followed. Now I’m alone. Because of you.”

She cowered as he came towards her and felt his fist meet her face. Blood was pouring out of her nose and something broke. She could no longer stop the tears from falling, mixing with the blood.

“Please…,” she begged. “Please…”

She felt ribs break as his foot met her torso. She had to stop this, but she didn’t know how. All she knew was she was certainly going to die if she didn’t. She groped the ground trying to find something during the onslaught of his kicks. Anything. Then she touched something familiar. Something she had forgotten about.

Gripping the forgotten treasure, she mustered whatever strength she had left and plunged the item into his neck.

All of a sudden the violence stopped. Daviln stumbled backwards, clutching his neck. Blood dripped from his wound as he fell to the floor. Soon his hands fell limply at his sides and all the life was gone from his eyes.

Deanna looked at her shoe, the heel of which was sticking out of Daviln’s neck. Then she looked at the door. It was still open, but she couldn’t get to it. She was in so much pain and was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

She thought of her little brother, Barin, who she hadn’t seen for a while. She thought of her mother sadly because she had been so mad at her when she should have just talked to her. And she thought about Will. After years of dancing around each other, they were finally together again and in a good place, minor squabbles aside. She thought of his smiling face and mischievous blue eyes that she could drown in.

Imzadi…, she thought, before the world grew dark.

Chapter Text

“Deanna!”

Will bolted upright in bed, breathing heavily. For a split second he thought it was a dream, but he knew it wasn’t. He heard Deanna’s voice in his head. She was alive.

He scrambled out of bed and asked the computer what time it was. He had only been asleep for a couple of hours and he knew that whatever Beverly had given him should’ve kept him asleep for hours. He straightened his uniform and hair and left.

—

Beverly was in Picard’s ready room, discussing what she had found when the door chimed.

“Come,” the Captain said.

“Captain, she’s alive,” Will said as he walked in.

“Will, how are you awake?” Beverly asked.

Will ignored her.

“Deanna is alive,” he said more emphatically.

“How do you know?” Picard asked.

“I heard her,” Will said, tapping the side of his head with his finger.

“Will, you were probably dreaming,” Beverly said, sympathetically.

“I wasn’t dreaming! I know what the difference is!”

The Captain held up his hand and they looked at him.

“Captain, I know she’s alive,” Will said more calmly.

“Okay,” the Captain said. “Then we’ll look here next.”

He handed Will a PADD that showed a map. Will looked at it in surprise. It was the lake area where the Troi family had a house.

“But, we looked over there,” Will protested.

“We didn’t look everywhere,” the Captain said, pointing to the woods on the other side of the lake.

“There’s nothing in the woods though.”

“There is one place,” Picard said. “The Zelbar house.”

“But I thought they demolished it after…”

“Apparently they haven’t gotten around to it yet. It keeps getting moved to the bottom of the pile.”

Will was thoroughly confused. Seeing that, the Captain continued. He scrolled down and pointed to a name on the bottom of the PADD. Will looked at it and was even more confused.

“Why would Daviln have any say in what happens to this house?”

“We’re not totally sure yet,” Beverly said, “but we think he might be related to the Zelbars.”

“What?” Will asked, surprised.

“I saw this PADD in your quarters and came across this information about Zelbar from two years ago. Then I saw this newer part about a brother who claimed Zelbar’s body after his death,” Beverly said, handing Will the PADD.

“How did I miss this?” Will said after reading the information. He sank into a chair.

“You were exhausted. And probably still are,” Beverly said. “You just needed another set of eyes.”

Will nodded dejectedly.

“So, what are we waiting for?” he said. “Let’s search Zelbar’s place.”

“Beverly, put together supplies and meet the rest of the away team in Transporter Room 2.”

She nodded and left.

Will stood.

“I’ll get an away team together and—”

“Will…Data is going to lead the team.”

“What?”

“You’ll be part of the team, but Data is going to lead it.

“But, Captain—”

“You’re too close to this. We have to do it by the book. We can’t have a diplomatic incident. Is that understood?”

Will stood up a little straighter.

“Yes, sir,” he said stiffly. He turned to leave.

Picard could tell his first officer was unhappy.

“Will…”

He turned towards the Captain.

“Bring her home.”

“Yes, sir.”

Chapter Text

In addition to Will, Beverly, and Data, Worf and Lieutenant Vale were also part of the away team. They were unable to beam directly into the domicile, so they ended up just outside. They had been informed there would be issues, so they brought some transport enhancers.

When they entered the house, Data sent Will & Chris upstairs, while the rest of them searched the main level. Beverly realized that her tricorder was having the same issues as the transporter, so they couldn’t detect any life signs. Worf noticed a door off the kitchen that led to a downstairs level.

They went down a long flight of stairs and found themselves in a dark room. There was something about it that struck Beverly as odd, but she couldn’t quite figure out what. She expressed this to Data & Worf.

“It is an almost empty room,” Worf said.

“Yes, but there’s something else…I think this room is too small.”

Data looked at her quizzically.

“Doctor, how can a room be too small?”

“It doesn’t match the footprint of the rest of the house.” Beverly looked around. “There should be more room on that side, but there’s a wall.”

Data walked over to where she was pointing. He examined the wall and ran his hand over it.

“Doctor, I think you may be correct. There is a button here.”

He pressed the button and a hidden door opened to reveal a dark narrow passageway.

They followed the passageway until they came to another door, which stood open. They walked into a white room that smelled of death. Beverly walked over to the beds and looked at the bodies.

“These men have been dead for a while. I think one of them is Zelbar…”

Data noticed that there was another open door that lead to a darker room. He walked in and quickly looked around.

“Doctor, I have found Counselor Troi.”

Beverly went into the room answering saw friend lying in an unmoving heap with Daviln was dead near the door. She hurried to where Data was standing over Deanna, hoping she wasn’t dead. She scanned her with a medical tricorder, but it was also not working properly. She felt for a pulse and let out a sigh of relief. It was faint but there.

She pressed her comm badge.

“Crusher to Commander Riker.”

No response.

“Crusher to Lieutenant Vale.”

No response.

“I think the comms are affected as well. Worf, find Commander Riker and Lieutenant Vale please, but don’t say anything about Deanna.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Data, set up the transport enhancers. We have to get her out of her as soon as possible.”

Data immediately started. Worf had barely been gone when he came back with Will & Chris.

“Deanna!”

Will tried to rush into the other room, but Worf held him back.

“Wait, Will,” Beverly said. “She’s seriously injured and looks like she’s been through a lot. I’ll give you a minute to see her, but then I have to get her to sickbay.”

He nodded and Worf let him go. He walked into the room and could see that the love of his life had been through hell. She looked like a rag doll. Her body was obscenely broken. He knelt down and placed a hand on top of hers. She was cold.

“She cold. She hates being cold,” he said quietly.

“I know,” Beverly said, her volume matching his. “I’m going to help warm her up.”

He nodded. It was hard for him to look at Deanna like that, but he also couldn’t look away. He was afraid if he did she would disappear.

“I’m coming back to the ship with you,” he said.

“Okay. Data, we’re ready.”

Data pressed some buttons on the transport enhancers and they were gone.

Chapter Text

When they materialized on the floor of sickbay, the medical team was waiting. They got to work immediately with Dr. Crusher giving them orders. They brought Deanna into surgery and Will tried to follow, but Beverly stopped him.

“Will, you know you can’t go in there.”

“Beverly—”

“No. I’ll call you when we’re done. You should talk to Jean-Luc about what we found and contact Lwaxana.”

“You’ll call me?”

“Yes. Now go. I don’t want you in here pacing a trough in my floor.”

She watched him walk out and then went back to her patient.

—

Will spoke to the Captain and they agreed that they wouldn’t contact Lwaxana until Deanna was out of surgery. Then he paced in his own quarters, because no one could stop him from doing that. But now, a few hours later, he was on his way back to sickbay, because Beverly had just contacted him.

Beverly met him when he arrived at sickbay and ushered him into her office where the Captain was waiting. 

“How is she?” he asked as he sat down.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’?” Will replied, hotly.

Beverly looked at the Captain, because they both expected that response.

“The surgery went well. She had a couple of broken ribs, multiple face fractures, including a broken nose, some internal injuries which resulted in bleeding and bruising, and we fixed her knee…”

Will’s eyes narrowed.

“What aren’t you saying?”

Beverly took a deep breath before responding.

“She had a skull fracture, which resulted in a brain bleed.”

“What does that mean?”

“On the surface it wouldn’t actually seem too bad, if she were human. But for Betazoids or even half Betazoids—”

Will paled.

“What are you saying?”

“She’s in a coma. It may just be her body’s way of trying to heal itself, but unfortunately we just don’t know much more than that right now.”

“Are you saying that she’ll never wake up?”

“We don’t know that.”

“But there’s a possibility that she’ll never wake up?”

“Yes, there is that possibility, but we just have to wait.”

Will thought he was going to be sick. He took a couple of deep breaths to gather himself.

“Can I see her?”

“Of course. I put her in a private room.”

Will followed Beverly out of her office and down a short corridor. They stopped outside the door.

“Will…she still looks…,” Beverly started.

“Like someone beat the shit out of her?” Will replied angrily.

Beverly nodded sadly.

“We will help take care of the bruising, but since we did a lot of surgery we didn’t want to put her through much more right now. We should be able to give her further treatment in a few days.”

The door opened for them automatically and he had to use all of willpower to not break down in front of Beverly. She would’ve understood, but he still wanted to maintain his composure.

Deanna, despite still being very badly bruised, actually looked better than she did when they found her, so that was a little bit of a relief.

“Has anyone told Lwaxana?” he asked.

“I believe Jean-Luc is getting in touch with her now, so I imagine she’ll be here shortly. He’s going to offer her guest quarters on the ship if she wants them, but we won’t be leaving orbit any time soon.”

“Good,” he said, nodding.

“The room door will open for you and Lwaxana whenever you want.”

“Thank you.”

He walked to the side of the bed and sat in the chair that was there. Beverly watched as Will picked up Deanna’s hand, then she backed out of the room to give him some privacy.

“Deanna…Imzadi…I know you’ve been through something terrible and you need to heal. I’ll wait however long that takes, but I need you to wake up. I need you. I don't know if I can…if I can…”

He trailed off as a tear fell from onto her hand. Then he heard the door open and quickly wiped his eyes before turning around. He stood up when he saw Lwaxana standing there with the Captain.

“Hello, William,” she said walking into the room. 

“Lwaxana.”

He didn’t think he had ever seen her look so sad, not even when she had recovered the memories of her eldest daughter which she had long repressed.

She walked to the bed and put her hand over her mouth when she saw Deanna.

“Oh, Little One…”

She turned towards Will and Picard.

“Daviln really did this to her?”

“Yes,” the Captain replied.

“Is he really dead?” Lwaxana asked.

“Yes,” the Captain said. “Deanna killed him.”

“With the heel of her shoe,” Will added.

Lwaxana couldn’t help but give a little smile.

“That’s my girl,” she said.

Chapter Text

It had been a week since they found Deanna and she still hadn’t woken up. Lwaxana was going back and forth from the ship and her home on Betazed because she didn’t want to be away from Barin too much. She wanted to be with Deanna, but Barin was still so young and she didn’t want him to think anything was amiss, at least as of yet. She also knew that Deanna was in good hands.

Will stayed by her bedside as much as he could while still doing his duties as first officer. The Captain gave him more leeway than he anticipated and he was grateful. He sat there, holding her hand and talking to her, hoping that she’d hear his voice and wake up. 

Despite everything, Deanna was looking better. Dr. Crusher and her team had taken care of the bruising and other medical issues that they couldn’t do before and the scans of Deanna’s brain were looking promising. But she still had dark circles under her eyes and looked extremely fragile.

Will wasn’t sure if her being in a coma was better or worse than not knowing where she was. He felt just as lost now as he did then. He wasn’t eating much or getting a lot of sleep and it showed. Finally, Beverly had had enough.

“Are we really going to do this again?” she asked him.

They went back and forth for a bit before he finally relented.

“Fine. You win. I’ll go to my quarters and try to get some rest. But you have to call me the moment anything happens.”

“You know I will.”

He kissed Deanna on the forehead and scowled at Beverly as he left.

—

A few hours later, Beverly was checking on her patient and running some tests when she heard a soft sound coming from the bed. 

“Deanna?”

Deanna’s eyes fluttered open and for a few seconds she was confused about where she was. Then she recognized the familiar sights and sounds of sickbay. She was home. She almost couldn’t believe it.

“Beverly?”

Her voice wasn’t more than a whisper considering she hadn’t used it in a while.

“Hey,” Beverly said, smiling at her. “How are you feeling?”

“What happened? The last thing I remember is…”

Her voice caught in her throat. She didn’t want to say it. She didn’t even want to remember it. The violence. The rage. Feeling her body breaking. She started to tremble.

“It's okay,” Beverly said, putting a comforting hand on Deanna’s.

“How did you find me? How long has it been?”

“It’s been about a week since we found you, but we’ll tell you the rest later. Right now I have to make sure you’re okay.”

Beverly scanned Deanna with a tricorder and Deanna tried not to cry as she told her about her injuries and what they had to do to help her. 

“Will?”

“He’s been at your side as much as possible, but I had to send him to get some rest. I didn’t want him to pass out on the bridge. I’ll call him now. And I’ll have the Captain call your mother so she can come see you.”

“My mother?” Deanna was confused. “Where are we?”

“We’re in orbit over Betazed. Your mother has been here almost as much as Will. She would have been here more, but she didn’t want to leave Barin too much. She didn’t want him to worry. Your scans look good. I’m cautiously optimistic.”

Beverly helped Deanna sit up, then tapped her comm badge.

“Doctor Crusher to Commander Riker.”

It took a few seconds before they heard Will’s groggy voice.

“Go ahead, Doctor.”

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but someone is asking for you.”

“On my way!”

Beverly smiled at Will’s enthusiasm, but it quickly dissipated when she looked at Deanna.

“I’m sorry, I jumped the gun a bit. Do you want me to tell him not to come yet?”

“No, no. I just feel a little off.”

“That’s not surprising considering what you’ve been through. You’ve had a traumatic experience and have been in a coma for a week. It’s expected that you would feel a little off kilter.”

“I guess…”

She trailed off because Will burst through the doors.

“Did you run here?” Beverly asked.

“Basically.”

“I’m going to call Jean-Luc,” she said, leaving them alone.

He sat down next to Deanna’s bed and his eyes filled with tears. She put a hand on his cheek.

“You look terrible,” she said.

He laughed and kissed her palm.

“I could say the same about you, but I won’t,” he teased.

She smiled wanly. Then she frowned.

“What is it? Are you okay?” he asked.

“I just feel odd.”

“I suppose that’s normal all things considered.”

“That’s basically what Beverly—”

She gasped and he jumped up.

“What? What is it?”

“I can’t feel you…”

“What do you mean, you can’t…oh…”

He realized what she meant.

“I can’t sense your emotions. I can’t get into your head. I can’t…I can’t…”

“It’s okay. We’ll talk to Beverly when she comes back.”

He was trying to be strong for her, but it was difficult, because he could see her anguish. Her breathing was getting very quick and she was crying.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. You’re going to hyperventilate. Take deep breaths.”

He sat next to her and put his arm around her, carefully pulling her close. He stroked her hair as she tried to take some deep breaths and eventually her breathing slowed.

“Deanna, we’ll figure it out. You probably just need time to recover. The most important thing is that you’re here and you’re safe.”

She nodded and sniffled and put her head on his shoulder.

They sat there for a few minutes in silence and then the door opened.

“Little One!” Lwaxana exclaimed as she came in.

Will kissed the top of Deanna’s head.

“I’m going to go talk to Beverly,” he said, getting up. “It’ll be okay.”

Deanna nodded and Will gave her a quick kiss. As he walked past Lwaxana, she grabbed his arm.

“Thank you, William.”

He smiled, nodded, and walked out.

Lwaxana sat next to Deanna’s bed.

“Oh, darling, I was so worried about you. I’m so sorry I ever brought that horrid man here.”

“It’s fine,” Deanna said quietly.

“Of course it’s not fine. Look at you. You’ve been through so much and we were worried sick. William was a wreck. I didn’t want to tell Barin of course, but—”

“Mother, please!” Deanna couldn’t yell, but she tried to be as vehement as she could. She just needed her mother to stop. “I’m sorry. I just have a headache.”

Lwaxana looked a little put out.

“Of course, dear. I’m sorry. I’ll let you rest. I should go talk to Doctor Crusher anyway.”

“Please tell Barin I said hello. Maybe you can bring him to the ship once I’m out of here.”

“Of course, dear.”

Lwaxana kissed Deanna’s forehead and left. Deanna didn’t want to tell her mother that she didn’t have her empathic abilities right now. She didn’t even want to think of it herself. She just hoped they would come back.

Chapter Text

Deanna was released from Sickbay a couple of days later. She still couldn’t sense anyone’s emotions and was very conscious of that as she and Will walked from Sickbay to their quarters, even though logically she knew no one could tell that anything was wrong (other than the fact that she had been missing for two weeks).

They arrived at their quarters and Will immediately began to fuss over her.

“Can I get you anything? What do you need? What can I do for you?”

“Will,” she said, gently, “stop. Please. I’m fine.”

He went to the replicator.

“Do you want something to drink? Or maybe—”

“Will…”

He stopped and looked at her.

“The only thing I need is for you to sit here next to me.”

“I can definitely do that,” he said, smiling as he made his way to the couch.

“Data to Commander Riker,” chirped the comm.

“Or maybe I can’t,” Will said with a sigh. “Riker here.”

“Commander, your presence is requested in Engineering.”

“Right now?”

“That would be the most beneficial, sir.”

Will looked at Deanna, who gave him an understanding smile.

“I’m on my way,” he said, clicking off his comm badge. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

“You have bridge duty soon.”

“But I’ll come to check on you beforehand.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll be fine. Really. I’m going to take a hot bath and get into bed. Maybe read. I haven’t been able to do that for a while.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am. Now go before Data calls again.”

He gave her a quick kiss.

“I’ll see you later,” he said.

Deanna watched him walk out and let out her own sigh. It’s not like she didn’t want him or need him, but she knew that he gets very overprotective of her at times like these. She wished she could’ve told him to ignore Data and stay with her; she was still recovering after all (and as good as 24th century medicine was, she was still a little sore and bruised), but he was still the first officer of the ship and needed to be there for others.

Deanna went into the bathroom and started filling the tub. Then she went into the bedroom and saw that her nightgown and robe were still on her side of the bed where she had left them over three weeks ago and smiled. Of course Will had left them there.

She changed into her robe and went back to the bathroom. She checked the temperature of the water, which was just how she liked it, and put in some Betazoid bath salts. She took off her robe, stepped into the tub, and practically sank into the water. It felt so good.

—

Twenty minutes later, Will left Engineering, annoyed. They definitely didn’t need him for that. He had some time before he was due on the bridge, so he decided to ignore Deanna and check on her anyway.

He walked into their quarters and didn’t see her in the living area, so he checked the bedroom. He thought for sure she’d be sleeping, but she wasn’t there. She could still be in the bath and he didn’t want to disturb her, but he also wanted to make sure she was okay. He walked into the bathroom and found her naked, soaking wet, and staring at herself in the mirror, tears streaming down her face.

He quickly gathered her in his arms and held her close. His heart broke for her as she sobbed into his chest. He lost track of how long they stood there, but eventually her sobs began to subside.

“Are you okay?” 

That was a stupid question because of course she wasn’t okay, but he didn’t know what else to say. 

He felt her nod against his chest. 

“What happened?”

“It’s so stupid,” she said softly. “I got out of the bath and saw myself in the mirror for the first time since…I didn’t even recognize myself. And I guess I just lost it.”

He pulled back a little and lifted her head so he could look into her eyes.

“It’s not stupid. You’ve been through a lot and you’re still recovering. You may be feeling better physically, but it’s going to take some time to feel better mentally and emotionally.”

“Okay, Counselor,” she said.

“I learn from the best.”

Deanna sniffled and then really looked at him.

“Oh, Will. Your uniform is all wet. And you have bridge duty”

“It’s okay. I’m not going.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m staying with you.”

“You can’t. It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“That’s what you said before and aren’t you glad I came back anyway?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“We’ll compromise. I’ll stay and help you get settled and then I’ll go to the bridge. Okay?”

She nodded.

“Now, I’m going to call the Captain to let him know and you should put on some clothes.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever told me to put clothes on before.”

He grinned and left the bathroom.

Deanna turned and looked at herself in the mirror again. She looked at her gaunt face, hollow eyes, and almost emaciated  body, and wondered how long it would take to get back to feeling like herself. She took a deep breath, determined to be resolute, put in her robe, and walked out of the bathroom.

Chapter Text

A few days later Lwaxana brought Barin to see Deanna. She hadn’t told him exactly what happened; only that Deanna hadn’t been feeling well. She wouldn’t have even told him that, except that the Enterprise was going to be leaving the next morning and she would feel terrible if Barin didn’t even get to see his beloved big sister.

“Deanna!” Barin cried as he came into her quarters, Lwaxana close at his heels.

He ran to give her a hug.

“Be careful, Little One,” Lwaxana admonished.

“He’s fine,” Deanna said as Barin wrapped his arms around her waist.

Deanna extricated herself from Barin’s embrace and looked at him.

“You got so tall!” she exclaimed.

“Soon I’ll be taller than you,” he said cheerfully.

“It doesn’t take much, but I think you still have a ways to go. I have a little treat for you.”

She gave him a piece of his favorite chocolate, which also happened to be her favorite as well.

“Thank you!” he said, excitedly.

“Come sit with me.”

He sat down next to her on the couch and ate his chocolate while peppering her with questions.

“Mama said you’re sick.”

“Well, I was sick.”

“But now you feel better?”

“Yes. I get a little better every day.”

“Are you leaving soon?”

“Unfortunately, yes. But I hope to come back for a visit soon.”

“With Will?”

“Of course.”

“Did I hear my name?”

Will walked in at that exact moment.

“Will!” Barin jumped up and ran to give Will a hug.

“Hey, Bud,” Will said with a smile as the little arms wrapped around him. “How are you?”

“Great! But Deanna has been sick.”

Will looked at Deanna and flashed her a smile.

“I know. But she’s getting better.”

“That’s what she said too.”

“You know, I have to go to Engineering and check out the warp core. Do you want to come with me?”

Barin’s eyes lit up. He looked to Lwaxana, who nodded. Will could tell that both women were grateful to have a moment or two to themselves.

“We’ll be back in a little while,” Will said as he and Barin walked out the door.

“He’ll make an excellent father some day,” Lwaxana said.

“Mother!”

“I’m just making an observation.”

“Uh huh.”

“How are you doing, Little One?” Lwaxana asked, sitting next to Deanna on the couch.

“I told you, I’m getting better every day.”

“No, that’s what you told your little brother. How are you really?”

Deanna sighed.

“I’m frustrated. I really am feeling better, but I still can’t sense anyone’s emotions. It’s taking too long…”

“You’ve always been a little impatient. You’re still healing. I’m sure your empathic abilities will come back. Just give it time.”

“You don’t know that!”

Deanna stood and started pacing.

“You’re right. I don’t know that for sure. But I’ve been around longer than you and usually those abilities will come back if you’re patient.”

“I don’t want to be patient. I want to feel what Will is feeling.”

“Oh, Little One. You don’t need to be an empath or a telepath to know what William’s feeling. It’s written all over his face when he sees you.”

Deanna stopped by the desk and looked at the picture of her and Will. She had noticed it was in a different frame, but hadn’t yet asked why. Her mother was right. It was written on both of their faces.

“Just be mindful of William right now.”

Deanna turned sharply towards Lwaxana.

“Why?”

“Well, he’s feeling a lot of guilt and I think he may be a little more fragile than he likes to let on.”

“Why would he be feeling guilty?”

“For similar reasons I do; because you were taken. I was the one who brought that monster here and look what happened.”

“Oh, Mother.”

Deanna sat down and took Lwaxana’s hand. 

“Please don’t feel guilty. You had no idea. And Will certainly shouldn’t feel guilty. I’ll talk to him. I’m just glad you both were able to help and get along.”

“You know I adore William.”

“Sometimes,” Deanna said with a chuckle. “Seriously, Mother. You didn’t do anything wrong. The person that was in the wrong is dead.”

Lwaxana nodded and they hugged.

The doors opened and Barin came bounding in eating a piece of chocolate with Will right behind him.

“I gave him a piece of his favorite chocolate; I hope that’s alright.”

“Barin…” Deanna said admonishingly, “I guess you didn’t tell Will that you already had some.”

“Oops. I forgot.”

“Can’t imagine where he gets that from,” Will said, winking at Deanna.

She gave him a bemused look and Lwaxana laughed.

“Okay, Little One, it’s time to go,” Lwaxana said.

“I’ll walk you to the transporter room,” Will said.

Barin hugged Deanna.

“Bye, Deanna. I hope you feel better soon.”

“Bye, Bud. Thank you for coming to visit.”

Lwaxana hugged Deanna.

“I’ll talk to you soon, Mother.”

“Please do. And let me know if there are any changes.”

“I will.”

“I love you, you know.”

“I know. I love you too.”

Deana watched them walk out and thought of what her mother had said about Will feeling guilty.

She wasn’t sure if that was true. Not that she didn’t believe her mother, but she didn’t know why Will would feel that way.

—

When they got to the transporter room, Will had dismissed Chief for a five minute break.

“Thank you, William,” Lwaxana said, stepping onto the transporter pad.

“Thanks, Will!”

Barin gave Will a hug.

“Bye, Bud. Be good. And thanks for helping me check out the warp core.”

Barin beamed and got onto the pad.

“William…take care of her,” Lwaxana said.

“You know I will.”

“I know.”

And with that, Will transported them home.

Chapter Text

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. I think I’m almost a hundred percent.”

Deanna was on a subspace call with her own counselor, Marlyn Del Cid, who was stationed on the USS Amargosa. She had been very helpful to Deanna in the past and continued to be now.

“Deanna…”

Deanna sighed.

“I still don’t have my empathic abilities back yet,” she said, slightly annoyed. She should’ve known she couldn’t pull one over on a fellow counselor. “Sometimes I think I can sense something, but by the time I realize it, it’s gone.”

“That’s good though. Your body may be ‘almost a hundred percent’, but your mind still has some catching up to do.”

“I guess.”

“Still having nightmares?”

“Every once in a while. I’m glad they’ve lessened for many reasons, but mostly because they were also really affecting Will. Although I’m not sure if he was being woken up by me having the nightmares or if he was already awake because he wasn’t sleeping.”

Marlyn frowned.

“You don’t think he’s sleeping?”

“I’m not sure. He doesn’t seem overly tired, but he’s always awake when I get up, whether it’s from a nightmare or just for the day.”

“How’s he doing otherwise?”

“He seems fine. Other than being a little overprotective.”

“That’s only natural.”

“I know.”

“How’s work?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’m still on leave.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“A little of both. I’m glad to have the time to recover without having anyone bug me to get back to work, but I’m bored out of my mind.”

They both laughed and then continued their session by talking about Lwaxana and Barin before circling back around to Deanna’s experience. Deanna was always impressed by the younger woman’s ability to get her to open up even though she also knew all the tricks and has been doing this longer.

“Did you ever find out more information on him?” Marlyn asked, referring to Daviln.

“I can’t believe I almost forgot to tell you. Apparently he was the younger of Old Man Zelbar’s sons by a number of years. Old Man Zelbar was a bit of a recluse and he kept his family that way as well. I had been kept in the children’s room, which would explain the drawings on the walls.”

Deanna stopped, remembering the children’s pictures, which sometimes haunted her dreams. She didn’t know all the details of what went on in there, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to, because she was sure it wasn’t good.

“There’s not really any details on the mother (or mothers),” she continued, “but Old Man Zelbar and his older son were extremely close.”

She told Marlyn of the things that Daviln had said to her before…he died.

“So he felt like he owed it to his father and brother?”

“Or something like that.”

Marlyn shook her head.

“I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: you’re one of the strongest people I know. You certainly didn’t deserve what happened to you, but you’ve come out of it even stronger.”

Deanna smiled.

“Thank you. I appreciate that. But we won’t know how strong until I am fully myself again.”

“Deanna…”

“I know. I know. I have to prepare myself just in case I’m never ‘fully’ myself again. I’m working on it. But I’m also trying to stay positive.”

“Okay. As long as you’re aware.”

“Oh I’m very aware. Trust me.”

“I do. See you in a few days, but you know you can get in touch if you need me sooner.”

“I know. Thank you.”

Deanna hung up and all of a sudden she felt an almost overwhelming sense of guilt. It took her a moment to realize she was feeling someone’s emotions. Then Will walked in and she gasped.

“You are feeling guilty!” she blurted out before he even had a chance to greet her.

“What?”

He was totally taken off guard.

“My mother had said you were probably feeling guilty and I thought she didn’t know what she was talking about, but you do. Why?”

“Wait, you can sense what I’m feeling? Deanna, that’s great!”

He went to hug her, but she held him at arm’s length.

“Don’t change the subject. Why do you feel guilty?”

He sighed, ran his hand through his hair, and walked to the other side of the room.

“I couldn’t save you,” he finally said after what felt like an eternity.

“What are you talking about? You did save me.”

“I meant I was right there and you still were taken. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. To stop him. I couldn’t stop him from taking you or hurting you. I was helpless.”

As he looked at her, he thought he saw on her face the last thing he wanted: pity. She was the one who was hurt, not him. He didn’t want anyone’s pity.

“Oh, Will.”

She walked over to him, but it was his turn to keep her away. She was confused as he walked away. But she felt all of his emotions, which were now sadness and a little anger overtaking the guilt.

“Will…”

“I don’t want your sympathy,” he said and she saw there were tears falling from his blue eyes. “I don’t deserve it. I couldn’t protect you and I couldn’t even save you because I wasn’t allowed to lead the mission. I—”

He didn’t get to finish because she had walked over to him and kissed him.

“Sometimes you can be really dense, you know,” she teased as she wiped his tears away. “I’m not pitying you. I’m sad because you’ve been feeling this way this whole time. I’m sad because you’re sad. I’m sad because you shouldn’t be feeling guilty about this.”

He looked away, but she turned his head back to face her.

“You’re going to look me in the eyes, Will Riker, and listen to me. Got it?”

He nodded.

“Good. Because you did not cause this. You did not know this was going to happen. You did not let this happen. My mother is one of the greatest Betazoid telepaths and she didn’t even know, so how would you? Or even me? Yes, we could look back at the chain of events that started this two years ago and say well maybe if we didn’t do that or maybe we could’ve done this or whatever, but we can’t change the past. We are here, right now, in the present. You and I. And we don’t know what the future will bring, but I know that it will involve us. Together.”

She ran the back of her hand down his bearded cheek then kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. 

“Feeling better?” Deanna asked, knowing full well that he was.

“Yes. Thank you for setting me straight.”

“Any time.”

They kissed again passionately. Deanna’s hand moved between them and started rubbing Will’s cock through his pants. He pulled away.

“Deanna…”

They hadn’t been intimate since before the event. She had a long recovery and he didn’t want to push her.

“Will, we need this. I want to be with you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

She pulled him in for another kiss and put her hand on his crotch again. She rubbed him through the fabric a bit before reaching into his pants and wrapping her hand around him. She moved her hand up and down and could feel him getting hard.

Suddenly he spun her around and pulled her back against him. She could feel his cock straining against the confines of his pants against her ass. He had a hand on her breast and was kissing her neck. She wrapped an arm around his neck as his hand wandered down and under her skirt. He put his hand between her legs and could feel the heat coming from her pussy through her thong. He could feel her getting wet as he rubbed her through the thin lace. He finally pushed the lace aside and lightly touched her clit. She arched her back against him in response. He inserted a long finger into her and soon added a second. His other arm was around her waist, holding her close while he finger fucked her. His fingers moved faster while his thumb was rubbing her clit at the same time. He added a third finger and she screamed when they hit her right in the sweet spot. She squeezed his hand between her legs as she came long and hard.

When she finally came down, her legs loosened their grip on his hand, which he removed and immediately stuck his fingers in his mouth.

She watched him suck her off his fingers lustily and then kissed him.

She pulled away, took off her dress and her bra and thong soon followed. He stared at her beautiful naked body. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe that this gorgeous woman was his. He stripped off his clothes and knelt down before her. He put his hands under her breasts, pushing them up and running his thumbs over her sensitive nipples, which were already hard with arousal. His mouth surrounded one nipple while his hand was still on her other breast. She threw her head back as he sucked and teased her nipples. She inhaled sharply as he lightly bit her nipple. He peered up at her as he flicked it with his tongue. He started sucking on her other nipple and her hand was in his hair.

“Will…,” she said a little breathlessly.

“Hmmm?”

“Fuck me.”

He took his mouth off her breast and smiled.

“Yes, ma’am.”

He stood, took her hand, and went to lead her to the bedroom, but she didn’t move.

“No. Fuck me here.”

“Here?”

He thought they would go a little slower and more traditional since it had been a while.

“Here. Against the wall, on the table, I don’t care. I just want you to fuck me now. I want your cock inside me.”

“Your wish is my command,” he said, lifting her so she was perched on the edge of the desk.

He positioned himself in front of her and she put her hand on his rock hard cock to guide him into her waiting pussy. He still wanted to take it a little easy, at least at first, so he eased in slowly until he was fully inside her. She wrapped one leg around him while he thrust in and out of her. He moved slowly at first, gradually getting faster, his balls hitting her with every thrust.

Will…oh, yes…oh…fuck.

She clung to him as she came again. She kissed him.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Don’t thank me yet, because I’m not done with you.”

He pulled out of her, his cock still hard and glistening with her juices. He turned her around, bent her over the desk, and thrust into her from behind. She gripped the edge of the desk and he started rubbing her clit as he rammed into her.

Oh, Deanna!

Soon she was moaning again while he exploded inside her. When he pulled out, they were both breathing heavily. He took her hand and kissed it.

“I should probably be thanking you now,” he said.

“Funny you should say that because now I don’t think I’m done with you…”

“Oh really?”

“I want to feel your beard between my legs.”

She had caught him off guard again, but he saw the look on her face and knew she was serious.

“If you insist.”

As much as he loved fucking her (and she him), him eating her out was both of their favorites.

He knelt down in front of her and spread her legs, putting one over his shoulder. Her beautiful pink pussy was swollen and dripping with their mixed cum. He licked from her asshole to her clit before latching on to her. She writhed on the desk as he sucked and licked the cum from her pussy. Will was great at sex, but his tongue was magical. He lapped at her, licking her clit and thrusting his tongue in and out of her. She was holding onto the desk with one hand while her other hand was pushing his head into her trying to get him deeper. She came again, somehow even bigger than the previous times. Her legs had his head like a vice and if he were to die right then and there, he would’ve died happy.

He continued licking and sucking her until she came down. He stood up and she pulled him in for a kiss.

“That was amazing,” she said.

“Mmhmmm,” he replied, licking his lips.

She got down off the desk and began to pull him towards the bedroom.

“You are definitely feeling better,” he said.

—

Some time later they were laying next to each other in bed, basking in the afterglow of the marathon sex they had.

“I definitely didn’t think that when we had sex again it would be like that,” Will said after a little while.

“Well, it had been a while…”

He looked at her.

“I think you finally feel ‘whole’ again,” he said.

“Probably. Not that I wouldn’t have been with you if my empathic abilities hadn’t come back, but it’s definitely an added bonus.”

He put his arm around her and pulled her close. She laid her head on his chest. He ran his hand down her thigh until it was resting on her knee.

“Why didn’t you want to have the surgery?” he asked.

She put her hand on top of his and entwined their fingers.

“I honestly didn’t know until recently.”

“What do you mean?”

“I felt like something bad was going to happen, so I thought if I didn’t have it, everything would be okay. Except that the bad feeling…”

“…turned out not to be because of the surgery.”

She sighed.

“Exactly.”

“There was no way of knowing. Besides, it’s not like you could have gotten the surgery right away anyway, especially because Beverly didn’t think it was an emergency.”

“But we thought it would only be a couple of days, not a couple of weeks…”

He squeezed her a little tighter and kissed the top of her head.

“It doesn’t matter now anyway,” she said. “It’s over. All of it. As long as you’re not feeling guilty anymore.”

She looked at him pointedly but he looked away.

“Nope. You don’t get to do that,” she said, turning his head back to look at her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You had enough to worry about without my guilt, whether it was warranted or not.”

“But you didn’t know that I wasn’t going to have my abilities when I woke up. What were you going to do then?”

“I would’ve just dealt with it. I hated that you lost your abilities, but I was also a little relieved that you couldn’t sense my guilt and I was hoping I would stop feeling it by the time they returned. But it doesn’t matter now anyway,” he said, using her own words.

Now it was her turn to squeeze him tighter. She tilted her head up and kissed him lightly. She could tell his emotions were still a bit tumultuous and he knew that she knew, but she didn’t didn’t want to press the issue.

She snuggled against him again and they laid there for a bit, her hand lazily tracing shapes on his chest.

“Will?”

“Yes, Imzadi?”

“What happened to the picture?”

“Oh that. It broke.”

“I figured as much. How did it break?”

“I had been talking to your mother—”

“You didn’t throw it at her, did you?”

He laughed.

“Of course not. Although I had been pretty awful to her just prior to that while we were in sickbay. She was very sweet to me and asked about it. I got distracted and forgot it was on my lap. It fell when I stood up and shattered. I thought it was a bad omen, but here we are.”

“At least the picture itself wasn’t damaged. It is one of my favorites.”

“Mine too,” he said, going to kiss her.

“Wait, why were you in sickbay?”

“It’s not a big deal. I passed out from losing too much blood—”

“Excuse me?!” she exclaimed, pushing him away. “When did this happen?”

“I had gotten injured during the explosion, but you were missing and I didn’t want to go to sickbay until we found you. It really wasn’t bad, but I ended up losing a lot of blood because I didn’t get treated. I woke up in sickbay a couple of hours later and got a lecture. No big deal.”

“No big deal?!”

“I’m fine. I had other things to worry about, you know.”

“I love that you were worried for me, but you’re no good to me dead.”

“Ditto.”

She let out a small laugh.

“Where was your injury?”

“Here.”

He shifted and pointed to his right lower back/side. She looked at it and could see no sign of it.

“Beverly is so good at her job,” she said.

“That she is. Best doctor in Starfleet.”

Deanna ran her hand over the area.

“It’s a little too bad there isn’t even a hint of a scar though. It would’ve been kind of sexy.”

“Oh yeah? I’m sure I could arrange something…”

“Don’t you even think about it.”

She climbed on top of him and kissed him.

“Well, if you’re sure…,” he said, jokingly.

“Shut up,” she said, kissing him again.

“Bridge to Counselor Troi,” Data’s voice rang out over the comm.

Will groaned in frustration.

“Yes, Data?”

“You have an incoming message from Ambassador Troi.”

“Please tell her I’m indisposed and will speak to her later.”

“Yes, Counselor,” he said, clicking off the comm.

“What’s the matter? You didn’t want her to see how disheveled you are?” Will teased.

“She already said something about what a good father you’d make; I don’t want to give her more ammunition.”

“Did she now? That’s funny…”

“It is?”

“Well, we are practicing,” he said.

She squealed as he flipped her onto her back and kissed her.

The End