Above and Beyond
Author: IzzY and Sarajayne
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Paramount owns the names

Setting: During First Contact, the movie

CH 1.

The bright blue cloudless sky slowly gave way to darkness as the rocket ship ascended through Earth's outer atmosphere and past the planet's lone satellite. Though he'd lived among these very stars for well over half his life, nothing could have prepared Will Riker for such an experience as this.

Ever since he could remember, he pictured himself as an explorer and an adventurer; living his life as only he knew how to live it. And of all the places he been to, of all the aliens he'd befriended, of all the battles he'd won...this single moment in time would stand out above them all.

Once the Pheonix screamed past Earth's gravity field, Riker was finally able to move his head side to side and took a quick glance at the other co-pilot sitting next to him and  knew immediately the grin on Geordi LaForge's face undoubtedly mirrored the one smeared across his own. 

"Warp field looks good,"said Geordi, looking at the readouts.

Riker flipped on the speedometer and announced, "Speed: twenty thousand kilometers per second."

The man seated in the pilot's chair looked out the window to his right. "Jesus!"

Zephram Cochrane; the inventor of the warp engine, the first man in history to make contact with an alien race, the man who would be worshipped as a hero for centuries to come, sat in awe at the grandios site laying framed outside the starboard window.

Both Riker and Geordi grinned as the Enterprise E came briefly into view. The massive starship looked so peaceful, quiet, and beautiful that Riker had not noticed the missing deflector dish, nor the missing escape pods. To him, she looked like she was standing guard: watching as history was made before her eyes.

"Relax, doctor. They're just here to give us a send-off." Riker beamed.

The archeic ship, by 24th century standards, pitched forward as they crossed the threshold that would take humanity into a world it'd never imagined. The warp barrier was broke, and by Riker's estimation, they had made it with but a few minutes to spare.

Cochrane looked out the window and shook his head in disbelief that his idea, built solely for the purpose of self-wealth, actually accomplished as it was built to do. Thankful that they were not now miniscule particles blown to pieces by some defective valve, he happily backed off on the throttle as per Riker's command and pointed the ship back towards the blue dot far off in the distance.

"Is that Earth?" Cochrane asked, still utterly astounded.

"That's it," LaForge answered.

"Its so...small," the scientist shook his head.

"It's about to get a whole lot bigger..." Riker breathed.

"Let's go home, Doc." LaForge keyed in a few numbers and they weren't a minute into their trip home when something unimaginable began to take shape.

The Pheonix rocked back and forth as if it was being belted by a thousand little meteors all at once.

"Hey, I don't see your ship," Cochrane careened his neck to look out all the windows of the small cabin.

Riker wasn't sure if he'd heard Dr. Cochrane correctly over the engine noise and the pings of whatever hitting against the hull. "Come again?"

"Your ship. I said, I don't see it? Maybe it left without you?"

Riker unfastened his harness and pulled himself forward toward Cochrane. After a careful scan of the debris and a frantic glance out each window, Riker, absolutely horrified, twisted to look back at his engineer and silently shook his head in disbelief.

"It's gone", Riker said, slumping against one of the panels.

"Gone? Gone as in, back to our time line, or..." Geordi didn't want to think or even say the other option. But when something large and metallic sounding hit the hull, he knew immediately what Riker was trying to say. "Gone," he whispered in confirmation.

"What happened?" Cochrane asked innocently, but neither starfleet officer's were able to admit what had indeed happened.

From the silence and from the sickening look on the commander's handsome face, Cochrane simply assumed the worst and gripped the controls a little more tightly and readjusted his harness a little more securely and flew the Pheonix back home to Montana.

                                                ~******~

The silo crackled with electricity as soon as word had gotten out the Pheonix had just re-entered Earth's atmosphere. Deanna Troi sat idely at her station at mission control slightly bewildered by the different sets of emotions she was sensing. All around her, crewmen congratulated each other on what they assumed was a successful mission, only because they were ignorant about what had  happened in the sky only minutes earlier. And yet, there was a distinct sadness that seemed to drown out the jubuilant celebrations going on around the empath.

Will? she thought.

Accepting a brief hug from Lt. Bartles, her mission control partner, she stood from her chair and was  nearly overcome by such distress, she slumped back down again.

Somethings happened.

Forcing herself to rise once more, Deanna  hurried to the field where the ship was to have landed and gazed out into the bright sunshine.

The top hatch on the ship blew open and a tall lanky man stepped out onto the hull and gazed with pride at the throng of curious individuals who'd come to see his newly christened spaceship.

Careful to not bring attention to herself, Deanna moved around the mass to the backside of the cylidrical vehicle to see Will and Geordi slumped to the ground against the hull. Both men looked like they had recently been sick to their stomachs.

"Will?" Deanna walked closer and saw his pale, alsmost ashen face. "What's wrong?"

The big man pressed against the former missle silo housing and slowly stood. "Gather up all our people and--"

Deanna moved closer, her voice more demanding. "Will, what happened?"

He couldn't look her right now. Not yet, it was too soon. Bottling up his emotions like he'd learned to do so long ago, he practicly slammed a wall down between them and tried to focus on the next task. He didn't need nor want her to burdoned by what he was feeling when she was about to have an entire team to console.

But one accidental look into her beautiful, onyx eyes almost made him fall to his knees by the sheer concern they showed. "Can you get everyone gathered up for me?" He swallowed hard and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly.

Without another question, Deanna nodded and turned to walk away when another crewman came running up to them from beyond the treeline.

"Commander!" he panted, nearly out of breath. "A pod....an escape pod landed just on the other side of the clearing!" He pointed in a direction that appeared to be out of site from the village.

"Escape pod?" Deanna questioned and looked to her commander for an explanation.

Will rushed to the other side of the ship to make sure no one from the village had seen it come down and began heading in the direction the ensign had pointed. "Geordi, Deanna...get everyone together and meet us by the creek. You know the place, right?" He looked to Geordi and saw the engineer shake his head.

Without further explanation, Commander Riker took off running into the trees and it wasn't until he'd completely disappeared before Deanna moved another step. It was obvious the Riker had not wanted to tell her what happened yet, so she was not about to ask Geordi. However, the engineer did not have the same control over his emotional output as did Riker and what she sensed scared her to death.

Fear, sadness, loss...

She knew right then, something terrible had happened to the Enterprise. And as she attempted to gather her composure and fulfill her orders, another thought crept from the darkness into the light of reality:

They were stranded...

ch. 2

Without giving it a thought, Riker presumed it would be the Captain that would step from the small vessel.

Instead however, he immediately recognized the small woman that had just crawled from the open door of the escape pod as the woman Beverly had beemed to the ship moments before he was summoned to the surface.

"Commander William Riker," he announced giving her a hand as she stood from the door.

"Lily Sloan," she immediately handed him the PADD that Picard had given her moments before she was jetisoned out into the blackness of space. "Did he make it?" SHe looked around.

Riker heard her question and instantly became nauseous. "Who?" He knew whom she was referring but he needed to here his friend's name.

"Jean-Luc?"

Riker gripped the PADD tightly as he read:

By Starfleet Regulation 997.46 and Federation Code 45.2:
You are hereby ordered that contact with the existing
culture will be as minimal as possible. Extensive contact will
 jeapordize the Prime Directive Order and would constitute
a court martial offense. No further information regarding
Starfleet and its technologies is to be communicated.

Commander Riker,
All surviving crewmen of the USS Enterprise, including Doctor Crusher and Lt. Worf, have been ordered to Gravett Island in the Southern Pacific Ocean. The Cultural Non-Contamination Laws are now in effect for the next two generations. At that point in time, it should be safe to integrate fully into the society as it exists. And it is of utmost importance to keep the course of history in mind at all times.

I bid you farewell my friend.
I consider it an honor to have served with you. May
you live your life as courageous and productive as you have done so thus far.
Pass my goodbyes on to the rest of the crew and may you together make the most of history.

Jean-Luc Picard, Captain USS Enterprise  NCC-1701-E

Riker reread the entire letter one more time before he allowed his hands to fall to his sides.

"He told me to tell you to 'find a nice little corner of North America and  stay away from history' ", Sloan said.

Conceiling his true devastion, Will allowed a brief smile and nodded. "Can you give me anymore information as to what happened?" He sat on a fallen tree and motioned for her to do the same.

"I think he called them the Borg," She waited for Will to nod, "Anyway, they'd apparently taken over your ship. He tried to fight but they'd gotten too far...disgusting creatures..." she shivered at the recollection of first seeing how roughly the tubing penetrated the victims skin and the way the laser beam eye seemed to scan straight to her soul.

"They'd gotten to a lot of your crewmen," she said sadly. "He told me he was going to help out a friend. That was the last I'd seen him."

Still unable to grasp the seriousness of what happened, he swallowed hard and felt a comforting hand on his arm. "He was a brave man, Commander."

"I know," Will said softly and placed a hand over hers. Attempting to not show his emotions, he scanned the treeline, wishing that at any moment Picard would step from the forest and tell him he'd found a way to stop the Borg and that everything was going to be just fine.

"Look, if you guys need help...anything, just let me know. I know you'll be needing places to stay, food-"

Will released his grip and stood. Glancing down at the woman, he smiled thoughtfully. "Thanks. But you've done more than you'll ever know already."

Lily Sloan gazed up at the big man and for the first time, was able to appreciate his handsome face and his bluest of blue eyes that seemed to sparkle despite the world of worry she knew was hidden behind the gleam.. "Listen Riker, this world isn't as nice as what you're accustomed to. We have some real lulus out there."

Lulus?  "Thanks again but I'm sure we'll be fine. We can be pretty inventive when we need to be." He glanced back at the pod and was sincerely glad they'd have use of the replicator for a short time. "Give Doctor Cochrane our congratulations when you see him," Will said as he walked away. "Oh," he retreted a few steps, "we'll take care of the escape pod in a day or so, but until then, is there anyway-"

"We could keep people from seeing it?" She smiled. "Don't worry, Riker, no one from our village travels this far into the woods, even if their life depended on it. Like I said, its too dangerous."

"But what about those not from your village?"

"The trouble-makers? Oh, they're usually too stoned or drunk to see it. Just cover it up a bit." Eager to congratulate Zefram herself, she stood and gave the big man a gentle hug. "Take care, Riker."

After she'd left, he glanced at the lone pod nestled within the brush. He was going to have to do something he did not want to do right at this moment: contact Beverly and the others. He was no more prepared to deal with her loss of the captain as he was dealing with his own. He wished now he'd have asked Deanna to accompany him so that once he delivered the bad news, she'd be there to offer the comforting words that he knew he'd never choke out.

Imzadi...

The thought flittered through his mind and for just a moment, he was unsure if he'd thought it or if...

"Will?"

He turned in the direction from which he heard her soft voice. "Over here, Counselor."

Deanna found him sitting inside the small vessel looking at the blank video screen. "Everyone is gathered..."

She stood in the doorway and propped herself against the opening with her arms outstretched. Will slowly turned to look at her and when his eyes met hers, the emotions poured over her like a dam that had just burst.

"No," she breathed and fell forward into his arms.

Will held her tightly and began to feel guilty for allowing her so much pain all at once.

"I'm sorry," he buried his face in her hair. "I didn't mean to do that."

After a moment, she finally pulled back and wiped her eyes. "How many?"

"All the lifeboats but this one were ordered to an island far from here. I'm not sure yet how many made it." He looked away quickly, hoping she didn't see his own suppressed tears. "I was getting ready to contact them. I'm glad you're here," he squeezed her hand as she drifted into the adjacent seat.

Will inhaled deeply as the screen turned from black to fuzzy static. "Damn."

"Whats wrong?"

He touched a few more buttons. "The existing radiation in the atmosphere is reeking havoc on the communication waves. I need to--there. Got it."

A second later, Beverly Crusher's saddened face appeared against a backdrop of a bright, cloudless, sun-filled sky. "Hello Will," she paused as she appeared to collect herself. "Please tell me he made it?"

Will's teeth grinded together and he swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, Beverly."

The doctor's head dropped and they could see her shoulders rise and fall with each sob. Deanna reached for Will's hand and clutched it tightly, feeling her own tears falling freely again.
They gave her a few more moments before he spoke again. "Beverly, how many are there with you?"

She shrugged. "Three hundred and twenty-two crewmen are here on the island."

It didn't take long for Will to compute the number they'd lost. Fifteen crewmen including he and Deanna here in Montana, three hundred and twenty-two on Gravett Island, meant six-hundred and forty, including Captain Picard and Data, were unaccounted for.

"Christ," Will sighed and cupped a hand over his mouth. "Do you have a manifest ready?"

"Yes. I'll relay it over to you. I'm sure those there are anxious to see who survived." She restraightened herself in her chair and tried to appear calm but Deanna could sense the anger in the doctor for showing her weakness.

"Beverly, its all right to feel this way. You shouldn't feel like you have to hide your emotions," Deanna placed her hand on Wills shoulder and leaned in to the screen.

Beverly rubbed her tired eyes. "The crew is scared. They've realized there's no chance of getting home. I have to be strong for them."

"Their reaction is normal...as is yours. Grieving is not a weakness." Deanna glanced quickly to Will, hoping he was listening as well. "And it doesn't mean you've lost your control..."

Beverly smirked. "I wish you were here."

Deanna sighed heavily. "As do I."

"We'll see about getting everyone together but I'm not sure how that'll be possible. It will take time to seek out transportation options," Will said.

"I understand," Bev frowned. "We'll do the best we can."

"In the mean time, you have your orders?"

"Yes. Between the rations, the replicators and all the fresh fruit on this island....looks like we'll be set for some time."

"Fresh fruit?" Deanna sounded envious. "I might just hop the next boat there."

Will smiled, realizing how good it felt even if it was only  for a moment. "We'll check in every twelve hours to keep you updated."

"Thanks. Be careful guys. I don't want to lose-" she stopped as the words choked in her throat.

"Good-bye Beverly." Will flicked off the monitor and looked to Deanna with a loathing sigh."I guess its time to inform the crew," he said softly.

She reached for his hand and followed him back to the creek where everyone was waiting.

                                  ~************~

Ch.3

The crew took the news surprisingly well but Deanna knew the emotional devastation would hit everyone at different times and she had to remain prepared. Assuming Reg Barclay would possibly have the hardest time adjusting, she kept a close eye on his reaction as she moved about the crew, waiting to see if anyone would approach her to talk.

There were quiet mumblings of sadness for those who were lost, questions being asked amongst each other as to where each might go, and yet above all, a sense of comaraderie and loyalty.

"Captain, how long before we can see the other crew?" A young ensign Deanna recognized as James Ballows, spoke up.

He might have ignored the question out of practice but what caught Riker most by suprise was the hushed silence that fell over the group.  His eyes fell for a moment, trying to grasp the fact that they all still considered him their leader even though none of them belonged to the oranization known as Starfleet any longer.

"W-we'll know more in a few days. But for now, we're going to need firewood cut and the tents from the lifeboat set up." He stood and looked towards the setting sun. "Let's get moving."

An overwhelming sense of sorrow blanketed her heart as Deanna took a long gaze at her imzadi.
He was trying his hardest to not look at her, she knew. The inability to mask his frustrations and pain only meant he was beyond exhaustion at this point.
She followed him back into the woods and called to him as soon as they were out of sight from the others.

"Are you okay?" she saw him lean heavily against a tree and bury his head in the crook of his arm.

"Captain," he laughed sarcasticly. "He called me 'Captain' for Christ's sake!"

"By order of Starfleet Code four four two-"

"There is no Starfleet, Deanna! Or haven't you noticed?" He turned sharpley and glared at her, ignorant of how angry he sounded. "We're nothing more than a bunch of commoners trying to fanagle our way through the day. Starfleet doesn't mean shit down here!"

"Listen to yourself, Will! Just because Starfleet doesn't exist yet, doesn't mean you can throw away everything we stand for! Like it or not, we are all still Starfleet officers," she grasped him by the arm and swung him around to look at her, "and they are still your crew...looking to you as their leader!"

"Deanna, how can I-"

"How many times have you been put in this position? Three...four...five? Will, they trust you, I sense their desire to stay together. They don't want to separate from you." She grabbed handfuls of his leather jacket for emphasis. "They still have hope...don't you see it?"

Gods, how he wanted so badly to believe her; to believe as they did. To believe there truly was hope.

"I'm sorry," he exhaled. "I shouldn't have yelled."

Deanna let a faint smile penetrate the seriousness of the moment. "You can yell all you want, Captain...but you can't get rid of us that easily."

Lured by the gentleness of her voice, he pulled her to him in a bear hug of an embrace. "Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you for being here."

"I'm not going anywhere," she answered and then thought, not now...not ever...without you.

                                                ~*********~

The chill of the evening came as the sun went down, bringing with a darkness casting eery shadows across the entire campsite.

It would soon be time and every few seconds, the crew seemed to all scan the sky at once in hopes of spotting the Vulcan vessel as it approached Earth.

 Riker volunteered to stand guard of the escape pod just in case one of the drunkards decided to check it out. Or at least thats what he told everyone. The real reason was because he wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Decisions would have to be soon made regarding their presence here and how they would try and meet up with the rest of the survivors.
He thought briefly of Worf, and other non-human survivors who'd have the tuffest time of all fitting in. In about another thirteen years, Will remembered, Klingons would be considered enemies. Which meant Worf would be unwelcome everywhere.

A loud crack of a tree branch interrupted the silence and he quickly spun from his seat to see the counselor emerging from the trees. "Hi," he said smiling. It was always good to see her, no matter the circumstance.

"Thought you might want a little company." Deanna stood outside the door and leaned against the opening.

"You should have stayed by the fire," he watched her breath rush from her mouth. "Its going to be a cold night."

"Well, once all five tents were put up and bed partners chosen, it was either share one with the other four females...or move in with Reg and Geordi," she laughed. "This was my better option."

His face twisted into a crooked grin. "I'm not sure, but I think there was a compliment in there somewhere." He slid over so that she could sit inside. "Welcome to my humble abode, Counselor."

Deanna found the chair terribly uncomfortable and the more she wiggled to find a spot, she'd caught Riker's attention.

"Forgotten your survival and lifeboat training?" he asked and upon seeing her brow furrow in confusion he added, "These seats do fold down, you know?"

Will reached around the rear of the seat and gently laid the chair back. And as the chair fell, his face came within centimeters of her own and he suppressed a desperate urge to kiss her right then.

His desire did not go unnoticed by the empath and she layed there for a moment staring at him as he slid back into his own chair. Trying to figure out her own emotions, she watched him play with a few of the controls for a moment when a low thunderous noise began to rattle the entire woods.

He turned towards her and grinned like a young child who'd just awakened Christmas morning.

"Its beginning," he announced and grabbed her hand, pulling her with him out the door.

ch. 4

Riker pulled Deanna through the woods  to a high cliff overlooking the village and carefully sat them within inches of the rocky edge. After a brief search through the gravel he found her hand and gripped it tightly as they watched the Vulcan scout ship land just outside the main buildings.

"He must feel like the king of the universe," Deanna said as they spotted Cochrane stepping forward out of the crowd to meet their guests.

"Rightfully so," Riker agreed. "Let's just hope he doesn't welcome them in the same fashion he welcomed you," he chuckled.

Deanna cringed at the thought and opted to not offer a comeback. Instead, they sat in companionable silence and watched everything happening down below with revered awe.

Sometime later after the Vulcans followed Cochrane into The Crash & Burn, Deanna leaned her head against his shoulder and shivered.
Moving back away from the edge slightly, he wound his long arms around her small frame and pulled her close.

"Its a shame we can't ask them for help," Deanna said wistfully.

"I know. I've thought about that a hundred times over." He felt her shiver again. "Maybe we should go back now." He looked back to the Vulcan ship with a longing gaze. "We know what happenes next."

Before they stood, Deanna reached up and touched Will's cheek, feeling the rough stubble outlining his thicker beard. "I have no doubt, Will, that you'll make the right decisions..."

"But...?" he said when the corners of her mouth curled up into a smirk.

"But...just so that you know where I stand on the subject..." she stood and yanked him up as best she could. "I'd be a much happier woman if we settled on the tropical island."

The ironicy of the situation stopped his movement for a moment while he thought about Cochrane's earlier comment regarding his own desire of 'being surrounded by naked ladies'.

Then he briefly pictured Deanna standing naked on the beach.

"I'll keep that thought in mind," he said with a lascivious smile that she did not see and followed her back to the lifeboat.

                                               ~*********~

The following morning, Riker awoke to the sound of knocking coming from the closed hatch on the escape pod. Sliding it open a crack so that they did not lose their warmth in the tiny vessel, he caught a glimpse of Geordi's smiling face.

"Good morning, sir."

Riker opened the door the rest of the way and immediately felt the morning chill. "What time is it?"

"0700." He looked inside and smiled at the uncomfortable looking Deanna, who was slowly stirring. "You know, Counselor, you could have slept with Reg and I in the tent. I promise you, we don't bite."

Riker placed a hand on the engineer's shoulder and nodded toward the semi-conscious Betazoid. "But she does. I think she was just protecting you," he whispered.

"Very funny," Deanna tossed Will a scathing look then began to stretch out the soreness from her muscles.

"Barclay and I will take  watch tonight," Geordi offered.

"Its all yours," Will grumbled and slid his leather coat back on. "Did you see it?" he asked, smiling.

Geordi grinned from ear to ear. "Wouldn't have missed it. We all watched it come in! So tell me, did you ever consider-"

"Yes. Over and over and over again. Sorry Geordi, but the consequences..."

"I know, I know." He patted Riker on his beefy shoulder. "Breakfast is ready if you two want any?"

Deanna pushed the men aside and started to squeeze through the door when she stopped and looked at Geordi. "I'd rather you tell me you built a bathroom, complete with hot running water?" she smiled but the men knew she wasn't entirely joking.

"Sorry, Counselor. Maybe in my spare time today," he mused and watched her march back towards the camp.

Riker shrugged. "She gets a little testy in the morning."

"I see that," Geordi nodded, making a mental note to tread carefully from now on.

                                                  ~*****~

The morning dew slowly dried as the temperature began to warm from the bright sunshine.Thankfully, Riker thought, they were in the middle of the springtime season here and were headed for much warmer temperatures. At least it wasn't fall moving into winter, he sighed as he removed his coat and vest. Deanna should appreciate that, he hoped, because it appeared it was going to take some time finding a way to get to Gravett.

He'd met with Cochrane and was now on his way back to the camp carrying, among other items, a bottle of Zef's finest liquor, a gift for Deanna...and he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he presented it.

Riker's thoughts drifted back to two nights ago when Deanna lay in a drunken stupor in his arms. He'd managed to carry her limp body out of the bar and to the main silo where she finally woke completely dazed and utterly embarrassed.

He was going to have to give the gift in privacy, he decided quickly. She would certainly not approve of the crew finding out about her session with Cochrane.

Hoisting the large axe and shovel Lily had given him on to his left shoulder and a duffel bag containing various gifts and necessities that the replicator was unable to reproduce onto his right, he began tthe slow climb back to camp, all the while, letting the memory of lost friends occupy his thoughts the rest of the way.

                                                  ~*******~

"Will went to meet with Doctor Cochrane this afternoon," Deanna said with hopeful jubilance to the red-headed woman on the video monitor. "We should know a little more once he returns."

"From what we've been able to find out....it looks like this part of the world faired pretty well during the war," Beverly sighed. "We spotted some pleasure yachts anchoring not too far away and a plane or two fly overhead."

"Oh?" The dreaded look on Deanna's face caused Beverly to quickly interject.

"But you can tell Will, the lifeboats were sunk yesterday as ordered." She smiled. "We removed what we could from them first."

"Sounds like the technology wasn't so hard hit as it was here and in the European areas."

"From what I can remember from my history lessons, it was the major cities like Washington D.C,  Los Angeles, Paris, London, Tokyo, and countries in the Middle  East that were obliterated."

"Is that island completely unoccupied then?"

"I believe it was used once as a naval military base for the United States. And since its now deserted, we've gladly taken use of the buildings. Quite facinating stuff we've found!"

"I bet Worf's having a blast with all the antique weaponary then," she chuckled. "No pun intended."

"Yes." Beverly looked back over her shoulder for a moment to make sure she was alone. "Speaking of Worf...Deanna, he's not dealing with this well."

Deanna's playful expression faded as she held the doctor's attention. "It hasn't been easy on any of us."

"No," Crusher's voice faded and she looked away. "It hasn't. But he feels more out of place than any of us here. He understands what history has in store for Klingons, so between that and the fact that he misses Jadxia, well... I'm just not prepared to deal with him right now. Its just not like a Klingon to be so pessimistic."

Deanna breathed out a long sigh. "He's completely out of his element. Klingon honor doesn't mean anything here. I'll talk to him soon?"

"I think that would help," Crusher said, obviously relieved. "If you don't, I'm afraid he's going to hijack one of those boats or shoot down a plane just to get to you."

Deanna laughed even though the idea wasn't all that absurd. "Beverly, how are you doing?" Her voice returned to the somber timbre Crusher was well used to hearing when her friend was in the counseling mode.

"Time. I just need some time," she shrugged.

"You didn't exactly answer my question...but I'll let it slide this time," she said warmly to her best friend.

"I'm sure you've had your day full of counseling sessions. You don't need another one."

"But its still my job."

"But even a doctor knows when enough is enough and call it a day, Deanna. And quite frankly, I've thought about it so much, I'm not sure I can stomach it to speak about it as well."

The picture began to phase out and Deanna hit the side of the console. "Beverly, the radiation's affecting the communication! We'll contact you again soon!" The screen went blank and Deanna flopped back to the chair frustrated.

                                                ~*******~

ch.5

Riker tossed the various items Cochrane had given him, save for the liquor, on the ground in a heap and looked around at the crew. Surprisingly, even after informing them it would take weeks to gain transportation to the nearest functioning city, they still looked hopeful.

"We'll have enough firewood tonight, but be prepared to begin chopping wood tomorrow," Riker picked up the long handled axe and used it as if he were leaning on a walking cane. "They tell me there's a storm front moving in bringing rain, so I want as much wood as we can, chopped, and placed under the tarp."

"Looks like we'll have another hour or so of daylight left, so let's do what we can before dark," he finished and looked around again, realizing a few members were missing. Most notably Deanna. "Where's Counselor Troi?"

"She went for a walk with Lt. Barclay," Geordi answered. "Down along the creek."

For just a moment, he must have looked panicked because Geordi went to him immediately. "Is there a problem?"

Riker quickly moved to the gravely edge of the creek and looked both ways, hoping to spot them. "Cochrane told me they had trouble last night in the village after the Vulcans left. There was a major fight and some of the drunks ended up wandering out this way."

Geordi, using his occular implants for a closer look spied them walking back toward the camp. "Looks like they're on their way back."

Relieved, Riker turned to the crew. "No one is permitted to leave the camp area alone. Not even to use the bathroom. We don't need anyone asking questions...which means I want everything we can use from the escape pod removed tonight. It gets destroyed in the morning. Let's move."

Expecting that one of the men would offer to chop wood, he was more than sursprised when the entire crew walked off towards the pod without a second thought about the firewood. "How many engineers does it take to change a light bulb?" he mused, picked up the axe and headed to the edge of the trees.

                                                     ~*******~

Perched on a small outcropping overlooking the camp, Deanna couldn't help but admire the view framed down below her.

Swinging the axe high above his head, she watched every muscle in Riker's back flex as he landed blow upon blow to the fallen tree. She knew just from the casual touch and the far too occasional embrace, that he'd gained much muscle since the last time she'd seen him shirtless.

Gods, that was eons ago...she wondered to herself.

Taking the quickest trail down, Deanna gathered up a canteen and filled it with water from the replicator and made her way to where she'd seen him.

Walking up behind, she waited until he took one last swing at the large log and split it in two before she came any closer. Using the handle once again like a cane, he leaned against it took a moment to catch his breath.

"I brought you some water," Deanna said, holding out the canteen and taking a seat on one of the unsplit logs.

"Thanks." Will took a long gulping drink then poured some over his head to cool his heated skin before he too sat down.

Flipping the handle of the axe away from him, Riker looked at his palms and grimaced. "I guess its been awhile since I've done this."

Deanna immediately noticed the blisters that had already formed along his palm. "Let me look," she said and crouched down in front of him. "I guess if Beverly can play Counselor, I can play Doctor."

Riker bit back a sarcastic remark and simply sighed as he felt her gently massaging the tender skin. "They just need need new callus' to form," he said and pulled them away before her ministrations stirred emotions in him he hadn't the time for right now.

"Well, I think we have enough wood for the next week," she looked over his shoulder at the pile of cut lumber. "Let someone else cut next time."

Will retrieved his shirt from the ground and tossed it over his shoulder. "Cochrane is leaving for California tomorrow but said he'd try and figure out a way to help us," he tried to sound hopeful but he knew Deanna saw right throught the facade,

"He won't be back, will he?"

"No. He'll stay in California now. The scientists there will be eager to learn of his accomplishment."

Deanna moved back the log and fumbled with her hands for a moment. "Of all the worlds we've ever explored...this is by far the most frustrating one of them all."

Seeing her frustration and sadness almost as if it were the first time since they'd been stranded, he could have kicked himself for being so selfish and careless of the counselor's needs. It had not occured to him any of the times when she came to him alone, that she might have wanted to talk about her. He simply assummed she wanted to know about his feelings, not to discuss her own.

"Imzadi...?" He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know this place can't be easy for you. You've done well keeping the crew's spirits up but I'm afraid you haven't had any time to think about yourself."

"They'll be time later," she sighed and stood to walk back to the camp.

"Deanna?" he called out after her. "How about tonight? Dinner, in the tent?"

"Are you cooking?" she tossed back over her shoulder.

"Of course."

"Then I'll be there."

                                                  ~********~

Deanna silently poked at the rehydrated pasta that sat untouched in her bowl. Sitting cross-legged in the tent, she tensed again as another bolt of lightning lit up the night time sky knowing full well, the monstrous roll of thunder would soon follow.

"So much for dinner," she mumbled and pushed the pasta to the farthest corner away from her.

The second the first rain drop hit the ground, Will was out the door in a flash to help the engineers cover what they had removed from the pod. And she'd not heard from him since.

Happily following his orders to stay where it was warm and dry, she dredged up one of her PADDs, turned up the illumination and began to scribble in her personal log when the tent opened a pinch.

"Is it safe to come in?"

It was Will's voice and it sounded dreadful. "That depends," she answered. "No muddy boots in here!"

A few seconds later, the opening widened and Will cautiously stepped inside, crouching down slightly so that his head did not hit the roof. "Its a little cold out t-there."

Dripping wet from head to toe, Deanna decided he looked like the sadest thing she'd ever seen. "Oh, Will...you're freezing! Get those clothes off."

Frozen fingers fumbled with the zipper of his coat then the buttons of his shirt. Tossing the drenched garments to the side, Deanna picked them up as he removed each peice and wrung them out. "I didn't know it was so cold out there!" Other than hearing the thunderstorm, the walls of the tent were fairly impervious to the outside elements.

"As soon as the rain came, the temperature dropped." He turned around as he unclasped his trousers. "But at least we got everything stored before it poured." His pants fell in a heap around his bare feet and he kicked them to the side. "Blanket please?"

Deanna wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and a second later, his boxers lay next to his pants. "I guess this is one way to wash clothes," she mused as she picked up his underwear, smiling as she fondly remembered his affinity for boxers rather than briefs.

"Sorry about dinner," he apologized and crawled on top the sleeping bag. "I didn't know the rain would come so quick."

Deanna finished with the clothes and layed them flat along the floor. "I wasn't hungry anyway." She looked to the bowl of pasta. "Can I get you something?" she asked as she rummaged through the container of rations stored in their tent.

Riker shivered and he ran his hands over his bare arms, trying to bring warmth back. "A hot cup of coffee?" he teased. There wouldn't be anything hot tonight.

Deanna smiled at him and at his pathtic state. "Sorry, no coffee, but I seemed to have found this," she pulled out the bottle of whiskey Cochrane had given him, "when I layed out your sleeping bag."

Riker grinned. "Cochrane wanted you to have something to remember him by", he said and watched her roll her eyes before he added with a smirk, "and he also told me to remind you that 'his bed was warm and comfortable', should you ever decide to venture into the village."

Deanna let out a faint exasperated sound as she crawled  next to him on her own blanket. "I think I'll pass."

"Just think, Dea," he continued to tease, "you could have sex with the most influential man in modern hisory!"

"Keep it up Riker, and you'll find your boxers buried in the mud in the morning."

Will laughed and leaned back to his elbows. "You play too rough, Counselor."

Deanna caught and held his gaze. "You haven't seen anything yet."

For just a moment, the air inside the tent seemed equally as charged as the thunderstorm outside. The air was heavy and heated and seemed to be on the verge of exploding within itself.

Riker watched her sultry dark eyes travel down his torso and settle on his abdomen where the blanket had fallen away just a bit.

Her gaze lifted back to his face at the same time a warm hand pressed firmly on his belly.

A clap of thunder directly overhead sent her diving towards him where she quickly found herself safe and secure in his arms.

 The exact place she always seemed to find peace. The exact place where she always pictured herself to be. Forever.

Ch.6

Deanna buried her face into his shoulder when another crack of thunder shook the walls of the tent.

"I forgot you didn't like thunderstorms." Will tenderly smoothed her hair out with long, slow, caressing strokes.

"I don't remember the thunderstorms on Betazed ever being this loud," she might have laughed at her childish actions but quickly decided it felt far too nice to be held by him again this way.

"Too bad they're not as warm either." He grinned, remembering the time they made love outside her mother's home on Betazed during one of those such storms.

Deanna must have sensed his emotions because at that moment she looked up into his eyes and blushed. "We were so young."

"So naive!" he added, laughing. "I remember thinking the whole universe had stopped and there was nothing but the two of us."

"Yes," she said curtly and sat up. "How foolish of us."

Will sat up as well and wrapped the blanket around them both and pulled her backwards into his chest. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

The moment seemed to demand more from him and when she made no effort to respond, he continued, "I was such an idiot, Deanna." He cupped her chin and turned her so thast she could see the sincerity in his eyes. "What I did was unforgivable...and I can't blame you for not wanting to put yourself in that position again."

"I tried hard to forget that day." Deanna pivoted around so that she rested on her knees in front of him. "I wanted to forget you ever existed. But then you came into my life again. Will..." tears cascaded freely down her cheeks and dripped on his exposed thigh, "I don't know what I would have done if it had been you on the Enterprise..."

She looked up into his face, mesmorized by what she saw. His own eyes were wet with unshed tears and as she reached out empathicly to him, she knew she had to tell him. "Now...I can't imagine you not....in my life."

Deanna dove back to his chest. Back to the place where she knew she could find comfort. Warmth. Love. And cried.

She cried openly for her lost friends. She cried for the captain and for Data. And she cried for her own selfishness when she realized how thankful she was that it was someone other than Will who had died.

"Ssshh. I'm here, baby. I'm here to stay." Again he pulled her chin up to look at him and he grinned the grin that she fell in love with that fateful afternoon of Chandra's wedding. "And right now, I want to kiss you so bad that it hurts..."

Deanna felt her pulse quicken and through the tears, she smiled. Searching his face she saw his expression turn to one she knew bordered on dangerous. "You know I don't like to see pain..."

Without another beat passing, Will took her face between both hands and his lips closed over hers with a passion he had not shared with anyone else. Ever.

Pressing into her body fully onto his, they fell backwards onto his sleeping bag. Will was quick to remove her vest and he might have uttered a protest when they broke apart to remove her shirt if wasn't for the immediate feel of her bare breasts against his chest.

His hands, now unobstructed, moved slowly over the delicate skin of her back towards her belly where he felt her trimmer slightly from his touch. Riker then rolled them both over, trapping her beneath his strong arms and stared with boyish wonder and fascination at her chest.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered as he tasted the skin surrounding her nipples, teasing one of the tips with his tongue.

She arched under him and raked her nails up along his arms, feeling his biceps and then the muscles of his shoulders quiver.
Between the soft moans and gasps of desperation, Deanna turned her head as if she'd heard something.

"Will?" she sighed out of frustration rather than passion. "Do you hear that?"

He reluctantly stopped his progression and looked up. "What?"

He then heard it too. It was a voice calling his name and it was growing louder by the second. No sooner did he untangle himself from Deanna's body when the door to the tent flew open.

"Captain...I mean, Comman...I, I mean....!"

Will moved quicker than humanly thought possible and shielded Deanna from the intruder with his body and the blanket. "Spit it out, Barclay!"

"I'm sorry, sir..."

"What do you need?" Riker almost growled, gathering up Deanna's sleeping bag to cover himself.

"Geordi...I mean, t-there was a group of men....th-they took some of our equipment. Lt. LaForge followed them in-into t-the woods!"

"A group? How many?"

"About five, I think."

"What did they take?"

"I was too dark to tell for sure, but it looked definitely like the communication monitor. Maybe more."

"Damn it!" Will looked down and made sure Deanna was completely covered before he stood up. "All right, wake Ensign Munoz and get him to meet me at the life boat. Then I want two more keeping watch of everything else until we get back."

"Yes, sir." Barclay moved out of the tent and re-latched the door.

Deanna removed the blanket from her face and watched Will grimace when he picked up is wet clothes.

Sliding the cold, damp underwear up to his thighs, she saw him take a deep breath.

"This is absolute..." he wimpered as the garment was drawn into place, "...cruelty," his voice raised to a pained high pitch.

"What should I do?" Deanna asked, tugging her shirt back over her head.

"Stay here." He fastened his pants and looked at her and winked. "And keep the bed warm." He pulled his wet shirt over his head and opened the door, frowning when he saw the rain coming down harder than ever. "We don't need anyone getting lost out there so just keep everyone calm. I'll be back shortly," he said smiling then closed the door behind himself. "I hope."

                                               ~*************~

Crawling up the muddy, rain soaked mountain side, Riker pulled out a tricorder and scanned once more. "Over there," he pointed into the darkness. "Let's hope Geordi's okay because I sure as hell can't carry him down."

He caught Munoz's arm as the young ensign slid against the wet rocks. "Watch your footing," Riker instructed. "If I can't carry Geordi...I can't carry you out, either."

Munoz nodded and readjusted his grip. Hailed as the youngest ensign assigned to the Enterprise, he knew full well Riker had not chosen him to come because of intellectual and engineering skills. He was a large man, almost as large as Riker, and was highly skilled in boxing. Months ago, he'd lost track of the number of times people asked him why he chose engineering over security. The answer was simple; because he'd killed his last opponent. And he'd not thrown a punch since.

Riker knew of Munoz from the stories Geordi had told him. A cocky fellow with biceps as large as his head and an ego to match, he was told more than once. But regardless of his personality, Munoz was here for one reason only. He was muscle.
And if these men were the ones described by Cochrane as instigators and rebel rousers, then there was bound to be some fighting.

"They're holed up under those rocks," Riker poked his head around a large tree and squinted against the driving rain. "Shit. Geordi is laying face down in front of them all."

Gripping a tree branch, Riker positioned himself to begin the slight descent towards Geordi when he felt something cold against the back of his ear and heard a distinct clicking noise.

"You boys up here for any particular reason?" a voice snarled.

Riker slowly turned his head towards the voice only to see Munoz laying face down with blood oozing from a gash along the side of his head.

"One...I can handle. But not the two of ya," he seemed to laugh as he kicked the young ensigns head. "Get moving," he ordered and pushed Riker down the hill, careless of how he might have landed.

Sliding sideways, Will made it to the bottom without incident and when he re-gripped the small palm phaser he'd been clutching, he felt the antique metal firearm pressing against his temple. "Drop whatever it is you have in your hand, or I put a bullet through that guys head." He pointed toward Geordi.

Riker tossed the phaser far into the woods hoping no one would be able to find it.

"Now, get inside."

Riker ducked past the small opening then stopped dead in his tracks. The group of men were all sitting around in a small circle gawking at the women who was on the video screen.

~I demand to know what happened to the owners of this machine~ Beverly pleaded.

"You tell me where you are, baby, and I'll tell you everything," one of the men laughed. "how 'bout you show us a little incentive..."

Ch.7

Just before she severed the connection, Riker watched Crusher's expression on the monitor turn from horrific to one of repulsion at the man's suggestion.

"Hey!," one of the men yelled. "Get her back!"

"You shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you," Will said calmly.

"And you should not speak unless spoken to." The man who held the firearm to the commander's temple moved quickly and  whacked him in the mouth with the barrel.

Will felt his bottom lip break open and the immediate warm trickle of blood running down his chin into his beard.

The group of men who were surrounding  the now blank video screen turned and looked at the new comer.

"You're just findin' all sorts of things in them woods, ain't ya, Jimmy? More friends of that crazy Cochrane?"

Pushed forward from behind, Riker caught his footing and raised himself up to appear as tall and as menacing as he could. Turning around, with his fists clenched to his side, he glared at the man they'd just called 'Jimmy'.

"Are my friends okay?"

"You must be dumb!" Jimmy raised the gun once more and shoved the barrel against the bridge of Riker's nose. "Or maybe you're just hard of hearin'."

"Look, I don't want any trouble," Will backed off slightly. "Just tell me if my friends are okay?"

Jimmy gestured out into the rain. "If he doesn't suffocate in the mud, he'll live."

A sudden feeling of relief washed over him but he wasn't about to show it. "Then what do you want with us?"

"We don't give a damn about you, or your friends." Jimmy looked at the monitor and smiled. "But if you stand in the way of us gettin' the rest of your stuff, then we might have a bit of a problem."

The lanky man walked over and picked up the monitor, closing it within its case. "You see, all this stuff is worth money. All this hi-tech shit ain't been seen since the war. People will be paying high prices to get their hands on it."

"You don't even know what most of it is or how to use it!"

"Don't matter." His yellow teeth appeared behind a thin lipped smile. "It'll sell. See that computer," he pointed to the monitor, "them's a hot commodity. If you get it to a city."

Will wiped the blood from his beard with the back of his hand and winced when he inadvertantly touched his swollen lip. "So what's it going to take to let us go?"

Jimmy ran a hand over his stubbly beard and laughed. "You are dumb. We want it all, boy!"

"Not possible." Riker kept an eye on the hand that held the gun. "There are others who won't let you take anything else."

He waved the gun infront of Riker's face. "We ain't scared."

Riker took another quick glance around the room: five against one. He's had better odds, and he's had worse. The one thing he was counting on was the fact that most of the men looked like they were about to pass out from their drunken state.

"Someone's liable to get hurt if you continue to wave that thing around like that," Riker said and watched as the gun was placed directly bewteen his eyes.

"You ain't the first man, I've ever killed," he sneared.

Riker moved his eyes toward the door of the cavern and appeared to be surprised by something in the darkness. The expression on his face caused Jimmy to follow his gaze and when his head turned away, it was all the time Riker needed to take action.
Bringing his hand up, he caught the older man's wrist with a vice-like grip forcing him to drop the weapon.

When the man struggled against Riker's grasp, he used his other hand and dealt him a bone-crunching blow to the nose and let him slump to the floor writhing in pain. Wiping away the splattered blood from his face, Riker bent down and retrieved the gun well before any of the other men were able to stagger to their feet.

"I think I'd sit right back down, if I were you," he said pointing the weapon directly in the face of one of the approaching men.

"You ain't me," he said confidently. "And thats a damn good thing 'cause your ass is about to get kicked."

Will pointed the revolver into the rear of the cave hoping he'd scare them into cooperation but when the weapon simply clicked without firing, his gut twitched into a nervous painful knot.

The man laughed. "That thing ain't held a bullet in years," he said and closed the circle of drunkards leaving Will in the middle, surrounded.

                                                ~***********~

The incessant pelting of rain hitting the tent made it impossible for Deanna to sleep. Though the thunderclaps and lightning all but ended, the rain still poured and was now accompanied by punishing winds and bone-chilling air.

Bringing her knees up to her chin, she wrapped her arms about her legs and sat in the dark thinking of Will; hoping he was safe, smiling when she thought of the way he looked at her when he removed her shirt, laughing when she remembered his reaction to his cold, wet underwear.

~Be safe, Imzadi~ she sent, though she knew he was unable to hear her.

Her thoughts continued, albeit, in a more intimate way when she recalled his naked body wrapped in the blanket, hiding the single thing she desperately desired.

For how long, she wondered. How long had it been since she felt such passion from a single kiss?
Since the Jalara Jungle, she answered for herself after a moments thought.
And ever since, no one ever compared to Will Riker and the way he consumed her with such fire. And she also knew that no other man ever would make her feel the way he could.

Deanna stirred in her sleeping bag, unable to pin point a sense of urgency she suddenly felt. "Will?" she whispered.

In an attempt to reach him, she closed her eyes tightly and sought out his presence. Something she'd been unable to do for some time.
After a few moments, however,  her trance-like state was broken when a rush a cold air blew through her hair.

"Commander?" it was Lt. Barclay again. "I-I'm sorry to disturb you."

Deanna opened her eyes to see the dripping wet engineer's head poking past the door. "What's wrong?" she asked quickly, fearing he'd say something happened to Will.

"Its the river. Its rising quickly!"

Deanna jumped to her feet. "Are we in danger?"

He nodded and looked back over his shoulder. "A few more meters and the first tent will be lost."

Deanna yanked her coat over her shoulders and stepped out into the freezing deluge. Judging from the rate of the downpour, it would only be a matter of minutes before the tent would be devoured by the intense rushing water.

"Wake everyone! Get the tents down and moved higher up the mountain!" Deanna ordered, then ran to the next tent and conveyed the urgency of the situation.

By the time all the tents were down and the crew was standing atop a ledge overlooking the river, the rapid murky water had indeed overtaken the previous campsite.

Trying to shield herself from the driving rain, Deanna leaned against a large tree and called out towards Barclay. "Lieutenant? Is the equipment safe?"

Barclay nodded. "It seemed far enough away and sheltered against a cliff," he stated confidently.

"I want to check on it," she said and flipped away a soaked lock of hair from her face.

Deanna followed Barclay's lead back through the woods and when they were about 10 meters away from the tarp covered stacks of another lifetime's electronics, a horrible crackling sound began high above their heads.

"Whats that?" she asked, narrowing her gaze as she looked up the mountain side, unable to focus on anything in the pre-dawn hours.

"I-I'm not sure."

Deanna felt something scurry past her feet and when she looked down, she saw the first of many pebbles sliding down the mountain side. "Reg?"

"Yes," he answered.

"I think we're in trouble." Deanna's voice shook as did her entire body.

Reginald's eyes widened in horror as he looked up the mountain, understanding immediately what she was trying to say.

"MUDSLIDE!"

Ch. 8

A mere quarter of a kilometer up the mountain side from where Troi and Barclay stood, trees snapped like twigs creating a thunderous echo as the mudslide forged downward consuming everything in its path.

"MOVE!" Deanna cried, pushing Reg in front of her.

Feeling the earth below their feet quake as it approached their vicinity, the two officers ran as fast as they could, sliding down a ravine then clawing their way up the other side before they finally stopped and watched in horror the remnants of the life boat being swept away in a ferocious mixture of earth, water, and trees.

"Its all gone," Reg gasped.

Unwilling to watch the carnage pour into the rapidly growing river, Deanna closed her eyes and bent over at the waist to catch her breath.

"Commander...Lieutenant, are you okay?" it was Ensign Camphrey's voice. The young female ensign placed a hand on the counselor's shoulder then gripped it tightly as the severity of the situation became known.

"Oh, God..." she whispered.

Deanna straightened up and flipped her wet hair back from face and when her eyes focused onced again through the wetness, she was staring face to chest with a very bruised and battered former Starfleet Commander.

She tried to remain calm, even as all the pain and hopelessness that radiated from the man who stood in front of her caused her knees to buckle. 
Torn between her officer's duty of responsibilty and wanting desperately to embrace him; to take away the despair he felt, Deanna remained where she stood and withstood the full force of the myriad of emotions he spewed.

Will stagggered when he took a step and caught his balance against a tree before his knee that he knew was swollen, gave out completely. 
After fending off the drunks, he had been able to revive Geordi and Ensign Munoz minutes before the mudslide began.
And in the attempt to outrun the disaster, his footing gave way when he stepped on wet rocks and fell almost the entire way back down. And if it weren't for a large tree stopping his descent, he would fallen in the black, log-filled, rushing river.

"Will?" Deanna was by his side. "I think you need to lay down," she said softly not wanting anyone else to know exactly how much he was hurt. Physically or mentally.

He shrugged off her hand that she'd placed on his shoulder, wincing from the pain that the little movement caused. "The medical kit?" he asked, still staring at the place where all their technology once rested.

For him to ask about medical supplies meant he was in far worse shape than she thought.

"Gone," she breathed.

He took a shallow breath and closed his eyes. "The monitor slipped out of my hand when I fell," he said, trying to get control over his emotions. "We have nothing...now."

Deanna felt his disappointment in himself for allowing such a mistake. "Will, we're all still together, and we will all learn...and adjust. It will just take time-"

"Time?" he said sarcasticly and shook his head. "Take a look around, Deanna. Time has just kicked my ass!"

He pivoted around on one leg to look at her and when she regarded him mutely, studying him with those damn eyes that pierced to his very soul, he knew she was waiting to take what ever else he was going to lash out.

"I'm sorry," he said humbly and broke their gaze. "You don't deserve this."

Deanna glanced back over her shoulder and made sure the others were making their way back to the tents before she gripped his arm. "You're hurt badly, Will. You need to lie down."

She wrapped her arm around his torso only to feel him flintch back in pain.

"My ribs are bruised...if not broken."

She readjusted her grip and tried to brace for the weight he was about to place on her. "Geordi?" she asked, suddenly remembering again why it was he went up the mountain in the first place.

"He'll have a headache for a while, but he'll live. Same with Munoz."

By the time the hobbled their way back to the rest of the crew, they'd reassembled the tents in a thicker part of the forest.

"Lie down," she eased him to the ground inside one of the environmentally safe huts and helped remove his wet garments, tossing them to the side with a loud splat.

Taking a quick assessment of his injuries she noted the purple mottling on his left side, various other scrapes and bruises, and his swollen left knee. "I'll see what I can do about getting some help."

"Deanna, I don't have to remind you about our orders..."

"No, Imzadi, you don't." She placed a gentle finger on his cut lip. "Try and get some sleep. I'll be back soon."

She tossed another blanket over his shivering body and fought the urge to crawl inside with him.

"Famous last words," he mumbled just before his exhausted body succombed to the needful sleep.

                                         ~***************~

Riker rustled in his sleep and kicked off the top blankets when he felt his skin slick with sweat.

His body ached in places he'd forgotten existed when he tried to sit up. "Shit," he groaned in agony.

Raking his nails across his scruffy beard, he found the strength to pull himself toward the door to look out. Delightfully, he saw the sunlight cascading through the trees and felt the warm, muggy, humid air. 

"From one extreme to the other," he grumbled and looked around for his clothes.

After a brief, yet exhaustive search through the small tent, he poked his head back out when he couldn't find them. "Deanna?" he called, then listened for a response. When his question came back answered by the chirping birds overhead, he called again, "Hello? Anyone out there?"

Will caught a faint whiff of fire in the distance and presumed everyone was probably gathered around that. Wrapping a blanket around his waist, he lumbered to his feet in groans of pain and staggered outside.

"...well I'm glad you all were safe. I guess we picked the right side of the mountain to settle on, huh?" Lily Sloan shrugged as she spoke to Deanna Troi.

Troi, Sloan and the other women of the group sat on logs just outside the roaring fire, draped from view by clothes drying on the nearby branches.

All, except Sloan of course, had been covered at one time by blankets but because of the warm air and the heat of the fire, they now sat in their undergarments relaxing and enjoying each others company for the first time.

"As for extra clothing, I'll see what I...can...gather...up," Lily said slowly,  distracted by something or someone she saw through the hanging clothes.

Deanna turned around and parted two pair of pants just in time to see Will, wearing his own blanket, limping his way toward them.

"He certainly doesn't look so terrible," Sloan smiled appreciatively as the near-naked Commander approached.

Deanna frowned at the earthling and at the immediate response she sensed in all the women of the group. Despite their efforts to cover themselves, they made it quite clear, to an empath anyway, they were more than anxious to see him as well.

"Counselor Troi?" Riker called and stopped his progress when he spotted clothing too small for men to wear, dangling from the nearby branches.

Deanna gripped the blanket around her torso and stood.

"Commander," she said, and slipped out from behind a shirt.

Frustrated by the amount of pain radiating from his knee, he slid down along a trunk of a tree to wait.

"Should have told me you were starting a nudist colony," he smiled as she approached, followed closely by Lily.

"Your clothes are washed and drying...thank you very much," Deanna said proudly.

"I understand you've had quite a night?" Lily kneeled down next to him.

"Does this place always get this much rain?"

"Only in the springtime," she answered and pulled away the blanket from his knee. "Does this hurt?" she felt him jerk back as she applied pressure around the joint.

"A little," he hissed.

Lily delved deep into a pocket and pulled out three tiny chalky tablets. "Here, take these."

Riker held the small items in his palm. "What is this?"

Lily looked between Riker and Troi. "You guys don't take pills in the twenty-fourth century?" After the blank stare she received from them both, she added, "Its aspirin, and it will hopefull take away some of the pain before I aspirate."

"Aspirate?' Will frowned. "Surely your not going to do surgery on my knee, are you?"

Lily chuckled. "A big strong man like yourself, isn't scared of a little needle now, are you?"

"I thought you were an engineer?" Deanna noted and immediately sensed Will's hesitation .

"I am. But when you're stranded hundreds of miles away from the nearest hospital, you tend to learn a few things here and there."

The small woman looked at the knee again. "I'm going to aspirate off some of the fluid then tape it up. I think its only a sprain so you should be good to go in a few days."

"Swell," Riker sighed, feeling not quite as confident as his make-shift doctor. And for the first time ever, wished for a hypospray.

                                             ~**************~

Ch.9

Filling yet another bucket from the cold, mountain artesian spring, Deanna dipped in a rag she'd been given and soaked it with the frigid water.

"You must be numb because you're not complaining anymore," she said as she applied the cold wet cloth to Will Riker's knee. "Can you feel any more pain?"

"No. But ask me again after she sticks that needle into my joint," he joked, trying to hide his apprehension.

The dark skinned woman turned from a table where she'd been preparing the minor surgical instruments and held up the syringe. "You can't tell me that a big strong fellow like yourself is scared of this little thing, are you?"

He nodded his head slowly as he eyed the elongated 'spear'.

"I promise to be gentle," Lily said. "But you will feel a pinch then some pressure."

"You sure you know what your doing?" Will asked nervously.

"You'll know shortly if I don't. Now hold still," she placed a hand just above the joint and with the skill of a surgeon, easily pierced the skin next to the patella.

Light amber colored fluid quickly filled the syringe and she pulled out to aspirate from the other side.

"The fluid doen't look too bloody. So, I'd feel safe to say you haven't ripped any ligaments." Using gentle movements, she tenderly pressed around the knee, feeling for more soft spots.

Deanna stood back away from the crude imitation of a surgical table and watched Will's reaction, waiting for his pain to invade her thoughts, preparing to brace herself from the full force of the impact if need be. But when she sensed nothing but affection and admiration directed toward to the woman either hardly knew, she found herself drawing deeper into his emotions

Unable to discern if his feelings stemmed from everything this woman had endured the last few days or if it was a genuine attraction to the lady, it made Deanna slightly unnerved.

Lily Sloan was a product of her time. A bold yet compassionate woman who had conquered the Captain's eyre at one point, saving the crew when he, Will Riker, hadn't been able to.
She wasn't a lusty blonde like some of his previous women , but her brash courage was enough to earn Will's affection in terms of a friend, not so much like with Soren, though that affection had taken another path after some time.
She was confident and strong and in another lifetime, might have made men swoon. Riker understood perfectly, why Cochrane found it so necessary for her to be around.
Another pinch brought him back to the present to see the look in Deanna's face, tracing it's path to the woman he had just been thinking about.

Purging the viscous fluid into a separate container, Lily set the syringe downand met his gaze. "Feel any better?"

Knowing enough to not try and bend the joint just yet, Will gently rubbed the area, glad to be free from the pressure. "Yeah, it does," he said, sounding surprised.

"Good. Now I'm going to wrap it up to try and immobilize it as much as possible." She easily lifted his leg up and placed a box under his foot and began to wrap the knee in a sort of elastic tape.

"I figured you'd be in San Francisco with Cochrane," Will asked, trying to ignore the slight pain when she adjusted the wrap tighter..

Lily ripped the end of the tape and allowed herself a deep, thoughtful sigh. "Answer me this Riker...do you recall ever seeing my name in any of your history books?"

Giving Deanna a quick look, he suddenly felt ashamed for bringing it up. "No," he answered.

"Then I guess that would explain why I'm here." She turned away sharpley leaving Riker to believe he'd hurt her feelings.

"Look...Lily, I didn't-"

"Don't apologize," she said, and raised up a hand. "For some reason, I always knew in the back of my mind that he'd take off without me someday." And laughed sarcasticly. "I just didn't realize it'd be literal, though."

"I suppose, in a way, that is our fault," Deanna stepped forward. "With all the information given to him about his future-"

"He saw no need to take me with," Lily gave Deanna an understanding, yet saddened look. "Just call me Paul Allen."

"Who?" Both Deanna and Will asked in unison.

Lily shook her head. "Nevermind."

Removing another roll of gauze from a drawer, she held it up. "Time to wrap your ribs." She gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. "And don't worry, this won't rip off your hair like the other stuff  I used will." She pointed at his leg.

Will cringed as he looked at his leg, wrapped from mid thigh to mid calf in a thick white tape. "Swell," he breathed and heard Deanna chuckle in the background.

                                                ~*********~

Will tried to get down off the table himself and nearly fell over due to the lack of range of motion from his bandages.

"You can breathe, can't you?" There was a lightness to her tone when she came to his aid.

"Just don't elbow me if I start to turn blue."

Deanna handed him a cane made from a piece of steel they'd found and reached around his waist to help him balance.

"You need to keep him off that knee as much as possible," Lily instructed and watched the Betazoid roll her eyes. "Is there anything else I could do for you?"

 Will scratched at his beard and mumbled something about a shave at the exact time Deanna wished for a hot shower. 

Lily smiled. "Would you believe me if I told you I could arrange for both?"

Deanna nearly dropped Will. "Really?"

"The silo where the Pheonix is kept has one working shower. Complete with hot water! Well, enough for a short one anyway." She scruntched up her nose and whispered, "But thats our own little secret."

"Absolutely!" Deanna was amazed that they would have such a thing.

"And if you'd like, Commander, I'd be happy to trim your beard for you as well."

"You do that too?" Will smiled.

"After my brother was injured in the war, I was the only one left to take care of him." She shrugged. "Like I said, you learn quick when you have to."

Once again, Deanna immediately sensed Will's pleasure when he heard her offer and her arm slowly, though very intentionally, slipped from his side.

"You've been such a help, Lily, I hate to impose any further..."

"Nonsense. Besides, that will give me a good excuse to keep him off his feet a little longer." Lily began to pull Riker back toward a cot in the corner.

Deanna tried to smile but her top lip that pulled upwards into a scowl forbid it. "Great. Just great," she said and headed toward the silo alone.

Ch.10

 As nervous as he was about Lily Sloane poking around his knee with a needle, Will Riker was oddly quite cool when she came at him with a straight razor.

"Lean your head back," she instructed and palmed a bar of soap in her free hand.

"Exactly how long has it been since you've done this?"

Lily cast her head back and thought for a moment. "Probably been about three years now, I guess." She smiled down at him. "But its like riding a bike."

Will found her smile contagious and he grinned as she applied the bubbly soap to his cheeks. "Is your brother still alive?" he asked .

"No. The radiation finally got to him just before we found the clean air up here."

Riker had read plenty of history books, as well as horror novels about what the survivors went through immediately following the bombing. Those killed instantly were the lucky ones while those that were left struggled against disease and famine.

"This place was a blessing," he heard her say as he felt the first swipe of the sharp blade against his skin. "Zef and I hit it off right away," she quickly cleared her throat and amended with a bitter tone, "yep, he suckered me right into his plan."

"He must be coming back. I'm sure there will be other scientists wanting to take a look at the Pheonix," Will tried to offer some hope.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll bring his financiers to take a look. The Indonesians that backed this whole plan will definitely want to see their investment."

At the mere sound of the country that financed everything for Cochrane, Riker felt his stomach grow nauseous as he thought of how close Bev and the others were to that very country and yet no way of contacting her. So close, yet so far...

Lily placed a hand on his forehead and gently pushed his head back so that she had access to his neck. A few swipes later, she flicked the blade clean and grinned. "All done."

Riker took a towel she'd offered and wiped his face clean. "Feels good. Thanks."

The smallish woman pulled up a stool next to the cot and sat. "Tell me something, Riker? How exactly did you guys travel through time?"

Time travel? He couldn't even think of where to begin. Basicly because he didn't entirely understand it himself.

"Or, rather," she frowned and reformed the question, "how exactly would you be getting back to your own time, providing you still had your ship?"

Riker sighed. "We would have to reconfigure the warp field to match the chronometric readings that the Borg used and follow that back through the temporal vortex."

The look on her face was exactly as he would have predicted. "Its complicated," he acknowledged. "The computers do a lot of the work for us."

Lily pursed her lips together and let loose a long exhale. "But, would it be possible by using a ship like the Pheonix?"

For the first time since he found out the Enterprise was scattered about the atmosphere in minute particles did Will Riker feel any sort of hope. "Possibly," he said. "But we can't use the Pheonix-"

"Screw the Pheonix!" Lily exclaimed and waved her hand through the air. "I'm talking about building another ship!"

Riker considered her suggestion but not before a hundred reasons why it wouldn't work flashed through his mind. "Money," he said simply, knowing it was the biggest obstacle that they would face. "We don't have any."

"If a drunk like Cochrane found investors, then surely we-"

"Can't!" Riker shook his head. "We have nothing to offer them in return, Lily. I can't just take their money and run!"

Lily stood abruptly and kicked the stool away in frustration. "Then stay here. I don't give a shit," she muttered as she headed for the door, walking slowly in hopes that he'd ask her to stay.

"Wait."

With her back to him, she allowed a quick smile to grace her face before she replaced it with the frown she was wearing earlier. "What?" she asked gruffly.

"Do you think there are any buyers for antique military equipment?"

                                                   ~***********~

Rather than putting back on the grimy clothes she'd been wearing for the last three days, Deanna found a fairly clean jump suit in a locker near the shower and yanked it on. Cuffing the legs and arms of the overly large suit, she pulled on her boots and peeked in a broken mirror that hung near the door.

Frowning at the exhausted image that peered back, she ran her fingers through her wet hair in a last ditch effort to control the tangles and walked out, feeling just slightly better than she did before.

Walking past the villagers without garnishing even an extra glance, Deanna came upon the path that would take her back to the tents but she stopped and looked back toward the infirmary where she assumed Riker still lay.

It was quite clear that he was left in the capable hands of Lily Sloane and would undoubtedly be safe until he could walk back on his own. But what exactly those hands of hers would be doing to him at the moment kept her from stepping foot onto that path. With slightly more hesitation than determination, she reversed direction and headed back toward the small building at the edge of the village.

A scant amount of sunlight slipped between the closed shutters of the infirmary but was enough for Deanna to see Riker's sleeping body propted up on the same cot where she'd left him.

Gathering up the thin shirt he'd worn here, she shook it out and began to fold it when she heard a low, grumbly voice.

"Have a nice shower?"

Without turning to look at him, she answered with a simple, "Mmhmm." Deanna then flipped out his pants and snapped them with quick jerk. "Have a nice shave?" she asked, showing a little more annoyance than she might have preferred.

"Mmmhmm."

His answer certainly sounded a lot more satisfying than hers.

She couldn't hold back any longer. With a slightly wry grin that she was almost certain he couldn't see, she asked, "and I suppose she offered you a bed bath, too?"

Riker smirked and hoped she was in as a playful mood as he thought.  "How'd you know?" He said as he eyed the blue uniform that donned her body, imagining what lay underneath the thin material.

She turned quickly to glare at him as he continued, "but I told her I wanted it from my nurse, not my doctor."

"Liar," she grinned.

"Damn those empathic skills." He reached for her arm and pulled her toward him, sitting her down on the edge of his cot. "We might have a chance to get home, Deanna," he announced full of enthusiasm, searching her eyes for an equal response.

"How?"

"Lily has offered to help us build another ship!" When her gaze dropped, he lifted her chin up so that she looked at him again. "Whats wrong?"

She offered a weak smile and gripped his hands. "I'm sorry, Will." Forcing away the anxiety and hesitation, she drew her lips back into a bigger grin. "I think thats great."

"And thats not even the best part," he beamed.

"What could be better than going home?"

Had he felt any better, he might have answered with an off-handed remark, but instead he just shrugged and said, "well, okay...maybe not better than going home. But better than being here."

She threw her arms up and let them fall back into her lap. "I give. What?"

"Lily can get us to Gravette Island!"

"How?" Her distrust of Lily Sloane was becoming more evident. "And why didn't she tell us sooner?"

"I don't know," he said, trying to keep his eyes from following the contours of her slim neck downward to the exposed skin of her upper chest. He finally broke away when he realized she seemed distant and unwilling to share the same enthusiasm.

"You don't like her, do you?" he asked softly. 

With a gentle sigh, Deanna felt almost guilty about voicing her concerns."Its not like I'm not grateful for what she's done..." She leisurely caressed his side, acknowledging the bandage covering his bruised ribs. 

"...but she's driven by self-motivation, Will. Almost to the point that it seems devious to me."

"But if it wasn't for that self-motivation, she'd be dead, right along with the majority of the population!" The tone in his voice and the way he seemed to want to defend Lily surprised even himself. A little more gently, he added, "I do value your opinion, Deanna, and I think you know that?"

After he saw her give a faint nod of her head, he continued, "but I'm willing to take this chance to get back to our time. We don't belong here, Imzadi."

She felt his strong arms pull her body forward to the point where her head rested against his chest and for the moment was perfectly content to lay there and listen to the soothing rhythmic beating of his heart.

                                                 ~************~

Carrying the thin black case in a protective embrace within his muscular arms, Geordi LaForge found his way to the edge of the village and to a small building he'd been told was the 'hospital'.

After opening the door, he allowed his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness before he caught site of two figures sleeping peacefully in the back on a small cot. And not surprising at all to the engineer, was the way the larger figure held his bed partner in such a loving yet protectful embrace.

If it was for any other trivial reason, Geordi wouldn't have had the heart to wake them, but given the circumstance, he figured they would quickly forgive.

Opening the case to reveal the screen, he punched in a few buttons and held it in direct view of Riker.

"William Thomas Riker! Who'd have guessed you would be the the first one to discover the practice of ancient medicine!"

Riker's eyes shot open, as did Deanna's. A moment later, he smiled at the red-head's picture before him.

"Next time, Riker...keep two hands on me at all times!"

ch.11

Pulling open one of the few duffle bags that somehow managed to survive the mudslide, Riker yanked out the last remaining PADD and with a long, burdensome sigh, began his log entry:

Acting Captain's Personal Log...
After a thorough search of the banks of the receding river,
I have concluded that all technology belonging to our 24th century
lost. We have only this PADD and the communication
monitor left. I only hope that this will be enough to help
get the crew to Gravette Island where we will attempt to
build another ship similar to the Pheonix. The near proximity of
Indonesia, Australia, and other existing governments will
aid in financial and material needs.
Lily Sloane has offered to take us to house about thirty kilometers from
the village where we will meet two brothers whom, she says, will
be willing and able to help us out on our journey.
We are to hike down the mountain in the morning and try to hook up
with a transport vehicle along the highway.

The crew is weeried and frustrated but I feel they still
have the stamina and determination to make this work.
I'd like to say that I share in their optimism however I
can not...at least not yet.

Riker rubbed his eyes and after tapping the off button, tossed the PADD to the side of the tent. It was late and they had a long hike ahead of them in the morning. For the first time in a few days, he was able to bend his knee and he curled onto his side into his favorite sleeping position.

After a brief time of excruciating pain earlier in the day, Lily removed the tape from his knee--along with a great amount of hair--just as promised. From about mid-thigh down to about mid-calf, his leg was as bald as a Betazoid's. The redness and swelling at the joint had gone down considerably and it looked almost normal, save for the faint purplish mottling that still remained.
Thankfully, his chest did not suffer the same punishment and managed to maintain most of its hair.

Hearing the door to the tent open, he glanced up into the darkness to see Deanna's slim form entering and gave her a warm, slightly mischievous smile.

"Hi," he said and began to scoot over in his over sized bag, patting the now unoccupied space.

Deanna's features warmed at the gesture and was able to give him a fleeting smile back just before she was pushed to the side by Reg Barclay and Geordi.

"Sorry Captain, I hope we didn't wake you," Geordi said as he layed out his bag. "Everythings done for the night."

Will's shoulders slumped and he moved his entire bag over to the side to allow space for the others to sleep. "Wonderful," he tried to hide the frustration from his voice.

Before Reg could unroll his own bag, Deanna quickly staked out her territory next to Will and unfolded her own bag before the engineer could usurp that particular spot.

Reg never gave it a thought and layed lengthwise near the door. Moments later his soft snores, in combination with Geordi's, filled the small tent.

Propping herself up on one elbow, Deanna felt Will's hand snake around her neck and pull her to him. "I think I'm getting used to having you in my arms at night," he whispered and kissed the top of her head.

Deanna ran a hand down the top of the material that separated their bodies and allowed it to rest on his stomach, dangerously close to his loins. "Me too," she answered softly. "Will you be all right tomorrow?" she asked, knowing his body wasn't quite back to one hundred percent.

"I'll be fine."

She sensed a bit of hesitation in his answer but knew when the time came, Will Riker would do whatever was called upon him to do, despite the objections from his body.

"You always are, Imzadi...you always are," her voice drifted off, along with the rest of her body into a much needed rest.

~**************~

"Don't worry, Riker! Not much farther to go now!" Lily Sloane called back over her shoulder.

Using Geordi as a crutch, Will felt the engineer's grip around his waist tighten as they came to a steep drop along the mountain side.

"Let me go, Geordi. I'm gonna have to go this alone," Riker eyed the path the rest of the crew was taking. "No need for you to fall as well." He sat down at the edge and began to slide, catching rocks and tree trunks along the way to help slow his descent.

Already at the bottom of the cliff, Deanna turned around to watch Will's descent and held her breath. Knowing it was his pure athleticism that kept him from tumbling head over feet, she felt his confidence as he made his way to the bottom. Once there, she walked up to him and swiped the dirt and mud from his butt.

"Not bad for a lame horse," she smiled.

Riker opened his mouth to remark about just how lame he actually was when he felt his body being pulled away.

"Quick! There's a truck coming!"

It was Lily and she seemed almost frantic as she pulled him through some bushes and onto the shoulder of a road. "See?" she said pointing down the highway at the old troop transport vehicle coming their way. Albeit still a fair distance away.

A few minutes later, the army-green colored truck slowed and pulled to the side. "Need a ride?" the driver asked.

"The Brussau Ranch," Lily had climbed onto the step leading to the cab. "There's about fifteen of us." She gestured back over her shoulder at the rather pathetic band of hitchhikers behind her. "We can pay you once we reach the ranch."

The driver scratched his thick beard before nodding. "All right," he agreed and reached over to open the passenger door. "Two can ride in here, the rest will have to hop in the back."

Deanna caught a glimpse of the driver and immediately felt his compassion and willingness to help the strangers. "Thank you very much!" she heard Lily tell him. "Everyone in back! Riker, you're up here with me!"

Will glanced at Lily then to Deanna.

"Go ahead," the empath frowned slightly. "I'll see you at the ranch."

Will hesitated a moment before he saw Lily standing by his side again. "I want to look at your knee."

She lied, Deanna thought. And she was certain now it was jealousy she sensed earlier when she was caught swiping the dirt from Will's rear.
Taking a step toward the back of the truck, she took one last look at Will as he climbed in the cab only to see the glare of the dark-skinned woman boring a hole directly into her.

Deanna stood there for moment completely aghast by what she sensed. Not entirely sure if the reason for such an indignant look was caused by actual jealousy over her relationship with Will or if there was an underlying intent that had yet to surface, Deanna tried to shrug it off and hope it was neither. Afterall, it wasn't like Lily Sloane would have been the first person she'd ran across that felt intimidated by the empath.

"You coming, Counselor?" Geordi reached out from the back of the large troop transport truck to offer her a hand up.

With a slight shake of her head, she grabbed the proffered hand. "Thanks," she said and pulled herself into the vehicle.

~************~

"So what is it that these men do?" Will adjusted his position again, trying to and find a comfortable position in the cab but it seemed as though his legs kept tangling with Lily's.

"They sell solar energy. Back before the war, it was a cattle ranch that was soley ran by harnessed solar and wind energy." She shifted slightly and more or less seemed to plant herself on Will's lap.

"And the sons," she continued, "took over after their parents death. Now, since the dust clouds have all settled, they supply energy to the nearby towns. Zef and I got to know them quite well."

"And what makes you think they're going to help us?"

"Because they owe me a favor or two. And..." she paused.

"And, what?"

"It won't be long before they'll be needing more solar cells. And the only place to find them now is-"

"Indonesia."

"Bingo."

Ch.12

Standing on the clean, white painted porch of the huge ranch house, Deanna felt anxious and totally out of place. Normally accumstomed to the finer things in life, she suddenly like a vagabond in her muddied clothes and dirty boots. In a desperate attempt to make herself more presentable, she franticly pulled her fingers through her hair and wiped away the dust from her face all the while garnishing an amused look from Riker.

"You look fine," he leaned over and whispered. "I think they're going to understand anyway."

With a frustrated sigh, she cast her hands down to side just as the door opened.

"Well I'll be damned! Lily Sloane!" The young man who stood just inside the house threw the door wide open and gathered up the small woman in his arms. "How the hell are you?"

Lily graciously hugged him in return and grunted out "Fine, Nate. I'm fine."

Once she was back on her own feet, Lily stepped aside and grabbed ahold of WIll's arm, holding it to her closely. "Nathan Brussau, I'd like you to meet some friends, Will Riker and Deanna-" she stopped and suddenly realized she did not the know the woman's full name.

Deanna saw Lily's hold on Riker and barely caught her tongue before any expletives exploded out. Shoving her anger to the side for a moment, she, in a true dignified and eloquent manner, stepped forward and extended her hand. "Troi. Deanna Troi. Nice to meet you Mr. Brussau."

"You may call me Nate," he said, still staring Deanna. Taking her hand in his, he politely shook it but not before spotting the full entourage standing in the driveway. "I see you brought a lot of friends!"

Lily nodded. "I'm sure you've heard of Zef's success by now?"

"Sure! Who hasn't? Well, I mean, anyone able to get the news has definitely heard!"

"Well," Lily swiped her arm on the air, gesturing to everyone, "these are the people that truly made it happen!"

"Then congratulations are in order. Please, everyone," he called out, "come in inside. I'm sure you all are hungry and thirsty."

Will nodded to the group and everyone quickly filled into the foyer.

Taking a quick peak about the entryway, Deanna imagined what a beautiful house this must have been before the war. Not that it wasn't now, but the effects of the war and probable quakes left their toll in the walls and infrastructure. It looked like there had been attempts at fixing the holes and cracks but overtime, the scars had returned.

"Well I must say..." Nate ushered everyone into the large kitchen, "that you all came at the most appropriate time."

"Way is that?" Lily asked.

"We've been having problems with some of the energy repacitor storers. They don't seem to want to work simultaneously and we're having bad leaks right now.""

Will looked to Geordi and the former chief engineer stepped forward. "We'd be happy to take a look for you."

Nate looked very grateful. "Nicholas, my younger brother, usually handles all the technical stuff but he's away right now and won't be home for another couple of days."

Pulling out several glasses from the cabinet, Nate offered them to the crew to fill with water. "I'm sorry, there's not much else I can offer you now, " he said. "The wine cellar was destroyed a few years back."

"The water is very generous of you, Nathan. Thank you," Deanna said as she accepted her glass.

Just then, a little girl rushed into the kitchen and hid between Nathan's legs sneaking a peek at the guests from between them.

"Shay, can you say hello to everyone?" Nate tried to coax his daughter out of hiding.

The girl hid her face in his thigh and squeezed tightly. "She's a little shy. We don't get to meet too many people anymore," her father explained.

Deanna stooped down until she was at eye level witht the tiny blonde headed girl. "Hello, Shay. My name is Deanna. My, what beautiful hair you have! Can you tell me how old you are?"

The girl slowly uncurled four of her fingers from her tight fist.

"Four? Well, your practicly a grown up! Would you like to show me some of your toys?"

The girls face immediately lit up and a smile grew from ear to ear while finally nodding her head. Grabbing Deanna's hand, Shay let out a squeel as she led the counselor out of the room in a dead run.

Watching his daughter depart, Nate sighed gently. "Its been a while since she's had anyone to play with."

"You and your brother run all this yourselves?" Geordi asked.

"Sometimes. Once in a while we'll get visitors passing through who will work for a few weeks then take off again." He shrugged. "People are still too afraid to be in such a highly targeted area such as this. They hang around just long enough for a few paychecks--then split."
Taking a seat at one of the kitchen's barstools, he glanced at the group. "We have plenty of work for everyone, if you'd like to stay? The guest house hasn't been used in a year!" he sounded hopeful.

"Actually, Nate," Lily sat next to him and found it hard to come up with a good explanation for what she was about to ask him. Luckily for her, Will must have sensed her hesitation and jumped in.

"We'd love to help you, Mr. Brussau. But you see, we all are trying to get to Australia. Well, an island not too far off the coast to be specific."

"Oh?"

"We have friends there that are working on another project," Will added truthfully. "But no way of getting there."

"And I suppose Lily mentioned that we have a boat...still in working condition?"

"Sort of..." Lily smiled. "I thought that it would be a good chance for you to purchase some more of the solar cells that I happen to know you will desperately be needing soon."

Nate chuckled and shook his head. "And you wonder why I tried to recruit you for my project. But noooo, Zefram Cochrane had to get to you first!" He walked around to stand next to Riker and slapped him on the shoulder. "You have a smart lady here. You're a lucky man."

Riker's eyed grew wide at the assumption that he and Lily were...well, were together. But now was not the time or place to set him straight.

"Listen, Nate..." Lily looked at the overfatigued crew. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to suggest you give these ladies and gentleman a day to recoup. We've all been through a lot the last couple of days?"

"Sure. Absolutely. Let's see...we've got three empty rooms here in the main house, and the guest house can sleep fifteen. I'll let you all decide who gets what," he grinned, feeling good to be able to share his blessings with others.

"We don't want to impose, Mr. Brussau...we have tents and food-"

"Nonsense, Riker! I won't allow you to sleep anywhere else!" He looked around for his daughter and Deanna. "But might I suggest that the Ms. Troi take the room next to Shay's. She seems quite taken with her."

"I think that can be arranged," Riker smiled.

"Well then," Nathan grinned, "I'll be off, while you get settled."

Nathan Brussau, the one-time stock broker turned business owner left the room.

With question or argument, Geordi took his crew of engineers and headed back out the door toward the guest house. "We'll begin in the morning then, Cap- er, Will?" Geordi covered up the potentially alarming official rank designation.

"Sure," Riker tried to ignore the fact that he and Lily were left alone. "In the morning," he said and looked about the large room, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"Come on," she pulled his arm, "I'll show you the other rooms."

Riker gently pulled his arm back without letting his irritation show and followed the woman past a another large room with a fireplace and down a long hall.

She opened the first of several doors that lined the hall. "I'm assuming Nicholas still has his same room, so that leaves this one...and the last one down on the left." She pointed. "Each room has its own bath."

"He must really owe you some favors if he's letting all us strangers in his house?" Riker had a thousand questions running through his mind but opted for just this one. For the moment anyway.

"He and I go way back. Let's just say that he'd be dead if it wasn't for me," her voice dropped to a low whisper. "Its not something he likes to discuss."

Riker nodded and then stepped forward into the room. "This will do nicely. Thank you, Lily."

"Oh my! I still haven't looked your knee!" She said quickly and followed him in.

Riker turned and faced her, stopping her progression. "Really, it feels fine. Maybe in the morning?"

She retreated back to the doorway stopping to look at him. "Morning then," she said smiling and closed the door behind her only to see the counselor leaning against the wall in the entrance to her room.

"I think you and I need to talk."

Ch. 13

Looking straight ahead to her destination, Lily Sloane sountered down the hallway toward the counselor and tried to mask her nervous emotions with a sweet innocent smile. She had no idea of the Betazoid's talents.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

Deanna took a deep breath and tried to figure out where to even begin. Which truly was quite difficult because she didn't know where exactly her relationship with Will stood at this particular moment.
She would like to have claimed him as her own, but that wasn't entirely true. So instead, she decided to try and figure out Lily's plan.

"You seem rather taken by the commander?" she said simply.

Lily erected her body up in a tense, intimidating poise and with not a hint of her previous smile remaining, said, "Let me ask again...is-there-a-problem?"

Deanna folded her arms across her body if only to restrain from slapping the arrogance out of the woman. "Not yet," she feigned her own smile and saw Lily staring poignantly at her left hand.

"Good. Because I don't exactly see any symbolism of his eternal love for you. And besides...I'd hate to see your plans to go home ruined just because I felt a little...jealous."

Bitch! Deanna's mind screamed but her voice fell silent.

And Lily's haughty smile returned. "Now then, if you'll excuse me..." she pushed her way past the empath and into the bedroom before the door slammed closed behind her.

~***************~

The evening hours grew long and the more Deanna stared out the window at the mountains in the distance, the more she found herself looking up into the twilight sky, wishing desperately she could return there--to her home.
Thoughts of her mother were quickly brushed aside as she realized that by now, the Troi matriarch had probably heard about the battle...and the Federation losses and was undoubtedly in mourning right now over the death of her daughter.

Deanna felt her eyes burn with tears from the pent up frustration and sadness over the loss of her friends. Will had tried a couple of times to get her to talk about her own feelings and each time, she'd managed to defer to a different subject.
But now, as she finally managed to lay across the double bed in physical exhaustion, did she wish he were here to listen to her...to hold her...to tell her everything would be just fine.

Pulling back the slate blue comforter, she slid her legs underneath and felt the coolness of the sheets when she heard her door begin to creak open. With her mind in a whirlwind of tumultuous emotions, she was unable to discern the caller and quickly covered up her near naked body within the blankets.

"Hello?" she called out.

A large shadow appeared, back lit by the dim hall lights and stumbled forward.

"Can I help you?" she asked the intruder.

"Damn!" The man sighed and leaned his body up against the wall. "I got a stranger in my bed....and it ain't even the right sex!"

The man was obviously drunk. "I'm-I'm sorry. I was told that this room was unoccupied." Deanna pulled the blankets a little tighter around herself.

"Don't worry darlin'." He risked falling over by letting go of the wall and holding up both hands as a sign of peace. "I ain't gonna hurt-"

Another shadow stood in the doorway and thankfully looked a lot familiar.

"Is there a problem, Deanna?" The shadow's baitone voice asked.

"No. No, its fine, Will. I think this is Nate's brother."

The drunk turned around as fast as his wobbly legs could move and eyed the large man.
Standing in nothing but his brown pants, Will couldn't dismiss the lascivious look he was gathering and wished he'd taken the time to pull a shirt on.

"Nic...Nichol...Nicholas at your service," he offered a wavering hand shake and a subtle belch.

Will limped forward, favoring his bad knee, and accepted the proffered hand. "William Riker."

"Nice to meet you, William." He smiled again.

The shake lasted a tad longer than what Will would have liked and he forcefully withdrew his hand.

"Maybe we should all get back to bed," Will said, hoping Nicholas would leave.

Looking from Will to Deanna, then back to Will again, Nicholas grunted. "Just my luck. Guess I'll leave you to play white knight with the beautiful lady whilst I find my real bedroom. Unless of course...you'd care to help me?" he added suggestively.

"No thanks," Will hobbled out of the way--far out of the way-- and let Nick pass by then closed the door.

Deanna wiped the remaining wetness from her eyes and sat up slightly, still holding the blanket around her. "I don't think I'd be very good company tonight, Will." She hoped he'd understand. The last thing she wanted was to turn him away.

He smiled and cocked his head. "That's not why I'm here."

Trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his knee, he drug his body closer to the bed and sat at the foot, purposely avoiding anything she might construe as flirtation.

"I felt you crying," he tapped the side of his head, "in here."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"No. I was just laying there...thinking."

"About what?"

He grinned and shook his head. "Oh no you don't. No changing subjects again."

Deanna returned his smile. "So you caught on to my scheme, did you?"

"You can't fool me all the time, Counselor."

Then their eyes locked and in one simple, fleeting moment, she felt from him everything she ever needed to feel. Any uncertainty she had earlier regarding his love for her was cast away by his simple yet penetrating gaze.

Feeling her cheeks blush, Deanna quickly looked away. "Maybe its best that we continue this in the morning."

"You are good, Ms. Troi. But try again."

With a long, drawn out sigh, she gave in. "Its just...well, I think that we all need a time to grieve. Up until just a few hours ago, no one had time to do anything except try and find a way to live. Now, in the midst of this oasis, I think a lot of us are coming to grips with what really happened." The tears began to fall again and this time, she didn't bother to wipe them away.

Will slid around the edge of the bed and saw her scoot over to make room for him. "You feel everyone's anguish?"

She nodded. "Their's....and mine."

"Come here." Will wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, very mindful of her modesty and kept the blanket between them. This wasn't the time, he thought. It never is...

He continued to hold her, though at an awkward position for his knee, and tried to offer comfort.

"Maybe once we reach the island, when we're all together, we can have a ceremony," Will suggested.

Deanna nodded and pushed away from the warmth of his chest. "I think that would help." She saw him cringe as he readjusted his position. "You hurt your knee again?!"

"I hit the the damn thing on a chair when I got out of bed. I think I just bruised it, is all. I'll have Lily look at it in the morning."

The moment he said the woman's name, he saw Deanna's whole posture tense.

"Or not," he ammended quickly and she smiled.

Laying atop the blankets next to her, Deanna nuzzled up to Will with her head on his chest. "How do you think we'll all get to the coast?' she asked, avoiding the conversation about Lily that begged to be started.

"It looked like there were transport vehicles behind one of the barns in back," he said softly. "But it might be a couple of days before we get their energy storage units back on-"

He looked down and saw that she'd fallen asleep. With a gentle kiss to the top of her head and one last soft embrace, his eyes closed as well.

~Goodnight, Imzadi~

~**********************~

The early morning sun shined brightly through the closed blinds, illuminating a small part of the bedroom in a beautiful orange glow.

Deanna stretched her body lengthwise and sat up. It took a moment to remember the night before and when she saw no sign of Will, she frowned. Across the room, the bathroom door was outlined with even a brighter light than what the sun could offered at this time of day and she heard water running.

Hoping it wasn't Nicholas who had returned, she pulled on her shirt and knocked softly. "Will?"

"Come in."

With a sigh of relief at the sound of his familiar voice, she cracked the door open and peeked inside.
Will, standing in front of the vanity in his tight, black Starfleet issued briefs and a face full of shaving cream, smiled.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully. "Have a nice sleep?"

She watched him rinse the razor under the steaming flow of hot water. "Yes. Very." She walked in and shut the door.

Much to his surprise.

And satisfaction.

"What...no assistance needed today?" she said sarcasticly and gestured to the razor.

"Are you offering?" He held the razor out.

"I've never shaved anyone before," she admitted.

He quickly recalled his hand. "On second thought...I don't think I want to be a guinea pig."

She brushed past him, purposely skimming his backside with her hand. "Please tell me there's hot water left?"

"Of course," said Will as he resumed his shave.

From the corner of his eye, he saw her strip off her shirt and toss it to the floor. And when he turned to get a better look, he felt her panties hit his bare feet just as her body disappeared into the stall.

"Uh-maybe I should-"

"Come here." she finished for him with utmost confidence.

"Well you know I'd never disobey an order like that?" he smirked.

Poking her head out of the stall, she smiled. "I didn't think you wo-"

There was another knock at the door.

Will froze as did Deanna. But just for a moment. "Who is it," she called out.

"Lily."

Grabbing Will by the arm, she pulled him into the steamy shower stall with her and silenced him with a hand over his mouth.

They were still too far away and needed her help desperately andldn't risk losing what little hope they still had over a lover's spat.

"Come in." Deanna poked her head out of the stall to see Lily. "Yes?"

"I was looking for Will. I thought that maybe-"

"Sorry. But he's not. Maybe he's outside already?"

Lily scowled and looked very unbelieving. "Whatever," she mumbled and walked out, slamming the door.

Deanna ducked back under the hot water and saw Will looking absolutely astounded.

"What?" she huffed.

"You lied!"

"I did not," she objected.

"Yes, you did!" he smirked.

She stepped into the water and let the heat penetrate her tense shoulder muscles before looking at him again. "Okay. Fine. One little lie."

Her expression lightened considerably and a very salacious grin appeared.