Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: 19 Jan 2004 10:35:08 -0800 In: alt.startrek.creative From: louiseell@aol.com (louise ellis) Title: "Still There" Author: Louise Ellis Series: TNG Rating: PG Code: P/C Part: 15/? Archive: yes Summary: An alternate universe story that picks up ten years after Disclaimer: no infringement meant, and comments welcomed. "Still There" (15/?) By: Louise Ellis "What's wrong?" Beverly shot out of her seat at the sound of Deanna's voice. "What happened to Felisa?" "Nothing." Deanna laughed at Beverly's expression. "Calm down, would you? We're taking a break and I thought you'd want to see her." "Oh," she blinked and relaxed, a light blush coloring her cheeks. "Sorry. Where is she?" "Maman?" Felisa stepped in front of Deanna. "Felisa, how are you." Beverly smiled. "I'm fine, Papa and Aunt Deanna let me ask them questions if I want to." Felisa glanced up at Deanna, "the Admirals are nice, and let me think about what I want to say." "Good." Beverly rested her arm on the back of Will's chair and leaned against it. "And where is Papa?" "Papa is talking to them. One of them had a question about when he came to get us." Felisa frowned slightly. "They don't seem to be happy about something." "Ah yes." Beverly nodded. "Remember we talked about that too." "Yes." Felisa glanced up at Deanna. "Can I get a drink?" "Over at the replicator," she pointed then returned her attention to the screen. "She's doing fine Beverly. She thinks her answers through before speaking, isn't afraid to ask us questions, or to ask them to clarify for her." "She's accustomed to having to think about what she's going to say, we both were." Beverly glanced down and met Will's eyes before returning her attention to the screen. "I'm glad you called me. I was wondering…" "I know." Deanna's eyes slid sideways at a sound before she nodded and returned her attention to Beverly. "We've got to go back in." "Tell Felisa I'm proud of her, and Jean-Luc that…well, just tell him you've talked to me." Beverly paused, "and Deanna, thanks." "You're welcome." Deanna smiled. "Talk to you both later." "See," Will glanced up at Beverly as the screen returned to his report. "She's doing fine." "I know." Beverly sighed and eased her hip onto the corner of the desk. "It's just I always hated leaving her alone. It was necessary, as I refused to have her be seen by anyone except the guards, so I wouldn't let her come with me when I had to go treat Madred's…guests, not to mention I didn't want him to realize how she was doing. And when we'd go to the market, I made her wear a cloak so no one could see that she was human." "She's a beautiful young lady." He leaned back in his chair. "You do realize what we think Madred was doing." Beverly nodded slowly. "As much as I'd like to think he was keeping her alive for the sole purpose of controlling me, I have a feeling her identity was going to be revealed sooner or later, and used as Madred saw fit." "That's what we thought. And with the Admiral being made aware of her by Madred, in Madred's own way and time…" Will shook his head. "She would have been a complete surprise. Not to mention the shock to each of you to find the other alive, if you'd been allowed to live." "Yes." She whispered, wrapping her arms around herself as she stared out the window. "I had already begun to watch and try to figure a way out, to get away. I just didn't know how…" "You would have managed something." He grimaced. "Somehow." "Some of the guards were already watching her, sometimes I'd catch a look in their eyes." Beverly shuddered. "I had been able to close it out when they looked at me, I'd been dealing with that long enough, but to see them starting to look at her, she's so young…" "You would have done what you needed to do Beverly." Reaching out, he caught her hand and squeezed it, drawing her attention back to him. "You would have survived and you would have made sure she would have survived, and had the skills to do so." "Thank you." Beverly winced. "As I told Jean-Luc, it was a hell of a family tradition to pass down." Will nodded slowly. "I hadn't realized you were part of the Arvedda colony until he told me." "The Howard women have seemed to attract trouble for I don't know how many centuries." She sighed. "Why should I be any different. I'd just hoped for something different if I ever had a daughter." "She has two parents who love her." He stood and pulled her into his arms. "Very much." "And very protective godparents and friends." Beverly rested her head against his chest. "Thank you for accepting her…the situation…" "What's not to accept." He rubbed her back for a long moment until she sniffed and drew back. "Better?" "Always." She smiled up at him. "Thanks. Those spells seem to come on occasionally and unexpectedly." "Anytime." With a grin, he released her. "Now Miss Picard, do we need to start the testing?" "I'll be over there studying." With a short laugh, she stepped back and moved back to her seat. "Professor Riker." "Very well." He watched her settle back down before he returned his own attention to the monitor in front of him. Over an hour later, Beverly stood up and stretched. "I'm going out to the deck for some fresh air, then I'll start lunch, if you'd like." "Sounds good," Will glanced up, "I'm almost at a stopping place myself." "Good. And you can tell me your side of how you finally proposed to Deanna, since I've already heard hers." She smiled at him then strode across the room and out the glass doors to the deck area overlooking the beach. Chuckling, Will finished reading the last of the engineering repair update, then looked up to watch Beverly, one of the rare opportunities he'd had to do so without her realizing. She was leaning against the deck railing, eyes closed and face lifted toward the sun as the breeze gently tossed her hair. She definitely looked older, and the ten years had changed her in several ways he hadn't been able to define yet, in addition to the obvious physical and psychological changes. However, she did finally appear to be relaxing somewhat, despite her trepidation over the questioning Felisa was going through. Her own breakdown the previous day following the media conference had led to something else, he hadn't been sure what, but she seemed more settled this morning. He smiled slightly as she caught her hair and pushed it back behind her ears with a futile movement, finally settling on holding it over one shoulder with her hand. Suddenly he blinked as the com unit sounded. Reaching out, he pressed the control just as the security proximity alert sounded. "Riker here." He reached out to silence the alarm and bring up the alert. "Will," Jean-Luc stared out at him. "Get Beverly inside now – someone found her…" "What?" He blinked, then glanced at the security unit, seeing the alert. "Get her inside, she's on the media…." Jean-Luc stopped as Riker disappeared from the screen. "Beverly!" Will raced across the room and threw the doors open as she turned at his call. "What's wrong?" Alarmed, she moved toward him just as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her inside, slamming the doors behind them and activating the privacy screens as she fell to the floor. "What the hell…" Beverly stared up at him from the floor. "Jean-Luc called, the media found you." He explained curtly, then reached down and pulled her to her feet. "Sorry." "I'm ok." She blinked, pale as she stared at him. "What happened?" "Will!" Jean-Luc's voice finally registered again. "She's fine." Will returned to the desk. "I activated the privacy screens." "Get her out of there." Jean-Luc ordered. "Leave now, the media found her, someone else did too, a live shot of you pulling her inside was just transmitted." "How much time do we have? Are you transporting us to Starfleet…" Already gathering up his padds and pushing them into a case, Will glanced at Beverly who was still staring at him, face pale in shock. "No, I've arranged for you to be transported elsewhere, you'll understand when you arrive." Jean-Luc glanced off screen. "Ready?" "But…" Beverly managed to get out as Will rounded the desk and grabbed her arm. "Ready." Will interrupted, just as they heard something approaching, causing them to both turn towards the screened windows. (end part 15) -- Stephen Ratliff ASC Stories Only Forwarding In the Pattern Buffer at: http//trekiverse.crosswinds.net/feed/ Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCL/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:ASCL-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. From ???@??? Tue Jan 20 00:34:09 2004 Status: U Return-Path: Received: from n6.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.90]) by eagle (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1aIOxB5883NZFji0 for ; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 21:35:07 -0800 (PST) X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1977044-12969-1074576664-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.