Willful Vengeances

The war between the two brothers Jacob and Esau was only the beginning.

Deanna Troi stepped slowly into the luxurious shower in her quarters. She felt the warmness of the water as it sprayed upon her sore, tired shoulders. She began to slowly meld to the rhythm of the water, relishing in the warmth of it.

"Deanna." The voice was deep and lazy, and very flirtatious. A voice she recognized.

"Will?" She called his name, only seeing a tall silhouette of a man standing outside of her foggy, frosted glass shower door.

Troi’s relaxed mood dissolved to what she was sensing. "Computer, turn off spray." She stated in a low cautious voice.

"Will?" she repeated apprehensively.

There was no reply, only silence…. He was still there, silently lurking, silently stalking.

It wasn’t Will, now she was certain. Slowly opening the shower door recognition flooded her face.

He was there tall and handsome. Totally relaxed, as if he belonged in her life, casually leaning against a wall, his arms folded in front of him. He smiled at her almost impishly as his federal blue eyes began to size up her naked body.

Deanna felt the heat in her face, and her cheeks flush, with a flash of reality telling her instantly that she was naked. She quickly grabbed a towel to cover herself.

"The Betazoid is self-conscious now?"

"The Betazoid isn’t any of your business." Deanna stated curtly.

"Not yet."

"Not ever." She stated with an absolute, quickly stepping out of the shower.

"Ah…… yes.” Thomas nodded, ”The Princess and the Starfleet Toad."

Deanna said nothing. She replaced her towel with a bathrobe, wrapping it tightly around her, and tugging at the belt in annoyance.

A slow almost mechanical smile spread across his face, as he moved away from the wall. "So tell me.” He asked casually. “How is my brother by the way?"

"He’s the way he’s always been."

"Which no doubt could stand some major improvement."

She didn’t respond to his dark sarcasm. "What are you doing here? How did you get on board?"

"I came to apologize for not attending the engagement party." He answered with a shrug.

"I don’t recall sending you an invitation." Deanna deadpanned the renegade Riker.

He looked at her with a lopsided grin. "Do I really need one?"

"What are you doing here, Thomas?" Deanna reiterated, more sternly this time.

"Would you be totally upset if I were to…tell you…" He moved in closer to her. Too close, she felt his breath as it brushed across her face. "I’m here to kiss the bride to be?" Thomas Riker ran a lazy finger, tenderly, teasingly, tracing her jawbone. "I seriously doubt if you would…." He leveled his gaze upon her lips, and then whispered in a voice so seductively soft, so soft that, she barely heard him. "Imzadi."

Her blood boiled at the thought of him referring to her in such a way. The name that had such a deep meaning, she doubted if a man such as Thomas Riker could ever understand it’s true form. She jerked away from him.

He recognized the anger in her eyes. Deanna sensed that it seemed to give him some warped satisfaction, knowing that he had affected her this way.

For a moment there was a dead silence between the two, as their eyes focused and locked on one another.

His eyes sparkled with what she could only discern as hate as they quickly moved from her robed body, to her face and then resting on the expression in her eyes. She wasn’t certain if the hate was directed towards her, Will or the fact that he sensed she wanted nothing to do with him.

It was Thomas who broke away first. "“And one brother,” he said in a low tone of voice. “ Shall cut a swathe through the other.” His eyes flashed with hatred.

Deanna began to nervously focus her mind on Will, her fingers nervously twisting the golden engagement band on her hand. It was fast becoming a shield to her, a fortress in which she could rely on, in times of crisis. And the thought of Thomas removing that fortress frightened her. She didn’t want to lose it. Gathering up all of her courage, and swallowing her fear, she looked at him squarely and stated, "I think it would be better if you left now, Thomas.”

“I will feel no guilt for shedding my brother’s blood.” He vowed, “That I promise you…” he said with an evil confidence and then added, “Imzadi.”

Before she could respond the image of Thomas Riker slowly vanished.

Deanna head snapped towards the now vanished image of Thomas Riker, she quickly found her com badge and smacked it, "Troi to bridge."

“Counselor?” Came the familiar reply.

"Captain, scan the sector for ships or alien life forms. Use long range scanners if necessary."

There was a moment of silence; apparently the bridge crew was baffled by the Counselor’s unusual request.

"Just do it!" She barked impatiently, not realizing the harshness or urgency of her tone.

Silently praying that Thomas wouldn’t show up again, Deanna dressed quickly, probably the fastest she had ever gotten dressed since her commission upon the Enterprise. Hurrying out of her quarters she headed at a rapid, steady pace towards the bridge.

"What’s this all about, Counselor." Picard asked standing to his feet as the Betazoid stepped off of the turbo lift. He knew by the look on her face and the earlier tone of her voice that something had frightened her.

"Is there anything out there?" she asked, directing her question towards Data, totally ignoring the rest of the crew.

"Long range scanners are not picking up any type of life form, Counselor."

"Nothing?" she asked in disbelief.

"Is something wrong, Deanna?" It was Riker’s voice that sounded from the bridge this time.

Troi stood silent, sensing his confusion, as well the other members of the bridge, all mingled with her own; she slowly inhaled and exhaled, feeling as if the weight of the universe had just fallen upon her shoulders. She frowned and bit her bottom lip. "Yes, something is wrong. Very wrong." she answered faintheartedly, and then added in a voice that only she could hear as she stared blankly out into the dark void of the view screen. “May the Gods help us.”

Chapter II

He had heard her the first time, at the briefing with the rest of the crew, but he had to hear it a second time from the privacy of her quarters just to convince him self. “What did you say?” Riker asked his deep blue eyes intent on every word.

“Thomas.” She choked, knowing that her next words would no doubt change their lives forever. “He’s come back.”

Running a nervous hand across his bearded face, he reached out and grasped her hand, their eyes met and held for a long moment. “It wasn’t a dream . . .” He whispered, “Was it?”

He found his answer behind her dark rich ebony eyes.

He silently stood to his feet, walked towards the only window in her office, and stared out into the cold dark abyss of space, he stood with his back to her. His demeanor suddenly became grave. “And one brother shall cut a swathe through the other” reciting the words that he had often heard as a child.

“Thomas said those exact words, Will.”

He straightened his posture and turned to face her. “I’ve got to go Deanna.”

“You can’t.” She stated with urgency, unaware of the fear in her voice.

“Deanna” He stated calmly. “Thomas knows where we are, he knows where the Enterprise is, and he’ll stop at nothing to fulfill his vow.”

Her bottom lip already beginning to quiver, she blinked. Knowing that it was useless to argue, she simply asked. “Can you promise me that you’ll come back?”

His heart twisted and he reached out and traced the path of the single tear that had coursed down her cheek. “No, I can’t . . .” he said, his voice full of remorse. She swatted his hand, and when she tried to back away he grabbed her arms.

They stood there for an endless amount of time and then he drew her closer to him. “What I can promise you . . .” Deanna raised her eyes to meet his, Riker took her face in between his hands, “What I can promise you . . .” he repeated in a slow lazy whisper. “ Is that I’ll always love you.” He bent his head down to kiss her, but she flinched backward.

Deanna placed her hands flat on his chest and tried to push against him, but he held tightly to her wrists. “Please ---- Will --- Whatever this is . . . we can do this together. If you’ll just. . .”

Riker didn’t give her a chance to finish, as he lowered his mouth to hers and silenced her with his lips.

For a second she resisted, and soon her body began to melt into his. Riker felt her kiss him back, he let go of her wrists and she threw her arms around his neck.

When he finally did break off the kiss, he heard her whimper but that sound soon turned into a groan as he thrust his hips against hers and captured her lips once again. His passion grew and he could feel her body tremble in response to his need pressed against her stomach, she began to rub sensuously against him, as she held him tighter to her, neither of them wanting the kiss to end.

Suddenly, he broke away, his voice raspy with desire; she noticed that the shadow of his beard had darkened his jawbone. “I love you so much Deanna it hurts.”

There were plenty of reasons she had swimming inside of her head to tell him not to go, to stop and they could work this out together, but at this moment her voice froze and she simply remained silent.

Desire once again glittered into his eyes and he swept her into his arms and headed towards the bedroom. His eyes’ never leaving hers, on his face was the look of a man in love.

The next morning Deanna woke up and Will’s clothes were gone, a growing sense of dread spread throughout her body. Glancing over at the empty space on the other side of the bed, she breathed in deeply allowing her mind to evaporate the heartbreaking truth.

He was gone.

Without a word, he was gone.

TBC...