This has no purpose whatsoever.  It was a very silly, very romantic little scene I had floating in my head that finally demanded emergence.   I wrote it in an hour, so please forgive my lack of editing and any spelling mistakes you may find.  It's not going to be posted anywhere else (I don't imagine).    

The timeframe is post "Insurrection".


"A Hell of a Plan"
by:  QDestinyy@aol.com
Rated:  PG-13 for romantic content.


Eyes buried in a stack of precarious data-PADDs, Counselor Troi was startled from her task by the ticklish sensation of a familiar presence.    It wasn't often that a person could 'sneak up' on her.  But every now and then, she'd lose herself in a task ... and even her empathy would lag behind.

"So what's a beautiful girl like you, doing in a place like this?"

His voice had spoken before she'd even looked up at him, but there was no mistaking it.

"Will," smiling candidly, Deanna shrugged.  "Just working, I suppose."

"Working?" he grinned, "on what?  Deanna, it's oh-three-hundred..."

Shaking her head, Troi set down one PADD and traded it for another.  "I'm not sure how, exactly," she said, "but I've managed to fall a little behind on some administrative things, and I'm just trying to catch up before the senior staff meeting tomorrow."

"Did you need some extra time?" Riker pulled out a chair and straddled it backwards.  His expression had shifted from amusement to concern, and Deanna wasn't certain whether she felt touched by that, or annoyed.

"Will, I'm fine, really, I just need a few more hours."

"You also need to sleep.  If you need another day or two, I can--"

"No." with an adamant glare, she snatched a new PADD up and scowled into its shiny surface.

"Imzadi--" he began again, his voice softer, his hand reaching out toward hers.

Tearing her gaze from her task, Deanna fixed him with a serious frown.  "I'm not 'Imzadi' right now, Will, I'm a Commander on this starship, the same as you.  And I can attend to my responsibilities without your aid.  Thank you."

Having 'dismissed' him, Deanna exhaled an annoyed puff of air, but did not look away.  She held his gaze defiantly, until she felt his emotions shift from concern to something ... less readable.

"You know, even Guinan's called it a night."  Riker gestured at the empty cavernous space in Ten-Forward.

"What is the issue, Will?  Haven't you ever pulled an all-nighter to get something done?  Why are you hammering at me?"

"...and you will always be Imzadi to me," he went on as though she hadn't spoken, "I don't care how many careers ... or data-PADDs ...  you want to stack-up in front of us.  I care about you, Deanna."  Reclaiming her hand without permission, Riker held onto it.  "You and I both have friends on this ship that we care about.  We both have lives that intersect with our duties.  But when it comes to the two of us, we've always tried to pretend that its so different, why is that?" his blue eyes flashed, "I love you."

Deanna's eyes flew open and she sat back in her chair.  "Will," she felt his other hand close over hers.

"You know what happened to me tonight?" he cut her off gently.   

Deanna had meant to return to her task.  But something in the way he smiled, robbed her of the ability to choose.  Thinning her lips, she shook her head slowly instead.   

"I came down to your quarters after my shift.  And I think I was grinning like an idiot the whole way there--" he paused for a moment while Troi felt her cheeks fill with the tangible warmth of colour  "--we had the dumbest thing happen in tactical tonight," Riker continued with a crooked smile, "we lost track of forty-seven of those new gallor-class probes they had us install at Starbase sixteen."

Even Deanna found herself smiling at that.  "I told you they wouldn't stay," she smirked and watched Will do the same.   She remembered being among the first of the bridge officers to point out ... the probes were seven inches smaller in diameter than the orifice in the artificial energy netting they used to hold them in place before a launch.  There'd been a standing joke about the Enterprise leaving a trail of glowing orbs behind them as they warped through the next quadrant.

"I know," Riker grinned, "I know ... and I couldn't wait to tell you about it.  Anyway, I got to your quarters, and they were dark."   With his eyes on hers, Will dropped the smile and threaded their fingers. "I can't tell you how disappointed I was," he said.

With a quiet exhale, Deanna softly cleared her throat.  "Well, I was here.  I'm wearing my comm badge--"

"--which is how I found you," he nodded, "but that's not the point."

"Then what is?"

Riker drew in a deep breath and released it.   "That I realized I didn't want to be heading down to your quarters to share something with you,"  Deanna could see the rise and fall of his Adam's apple when he swallowed.  "I wanted to be heading to 'ours'."

"Oh."  

For a time, Troi said nothing more.  She looked from Riker's serious expression, to the place where their hands were joined together.  She felt the warmth of his fingers surrounding hers and the ever-compelling sensation of Will Riker's emotions in her mind.

"Oh?" Riker tipped his head.  "I tell you I want us to move in together and you say,  'Oh'?"  Deanna could tell that he was disappointed.  And nervous.  She sort of liked that part.

"Yes," nodding slowly, she extricated her fingers from his and set her hand gently down on the table.  Returning her eyes to the stack of data-PADDs in front of her, she finally glanced up at Will.  "Was there something else?" she asked.

Riker stared at her.  In silence.   He finally sighed, "no, I guess not."

"Well," she nodded, "I really -- have a lot of work to finish before tomorrow."

Completely shocked by her lack of response, but prideful enough not press the issue further, Riker seemed dumbfounded.  In fact, Deanna was fairly certain -- as he rose from his chair to stand above her -- that Will was going to leave.   

"That sounds like a hell of a plan, Deanna.  I'll see you later."   As he turned to go, Troi set down her PADD.

"Will?" she called after him.  

He turned, but offered her only a somber look.

"Why do you want to live with me?" she asked.

"If you have to ask that question--"

"I don't have to ask," Deanna interjected quickly, her dark eyes settled on his grave expression.  "I need to."

"Why?" Riker shook his head.

"Because I want to live with you too," she whispered, "so much it terrifies me."

Will slowly exhaled.  He bridged their distance, pulled up a chair opposite hers and sat down.  "Then we should do it."

"But why?" she asked, frowning when she saw his confusion, "Will, we see each other every night as it is, your quarters or mine.  We interact during the day on the bridge or in other capacities.  In ever way that matters, we're almost always together.  Why do we need to live in the same space?  Why should we want it so much?"

Riker regarded her for a long moment.  His thoughtful blue eyes seemed to take her all in at once, and Deanna knew that in a way, he'd done just that.   

"Because--" he finally spoke, "in every one of those moments when I'm sitting alone on the other side of your wall, I'm thinking of you.  And every time that I walk through your doorway and I see my jacket still hanging on your chair from the night before -- I want it to be like that forever," he shrugged loosely, "Because it's time, Deanna.  Time for two people who love each other to take the next step."

Deanna was nodding when Will finished the last of his sentence.  She couldn't think of what to say, but she was so filled with feeling for him that a part of her rejoiced when he said nothing more; when he reached for her and pulled her from her own chair.  They stood together.

"I've never felt this way before," Deanna murmured against his broad chest, clinging to him while he rocked their bodies back and forth.  "Not even back then..."

"And it scares you because neither of us are kids anymore." Riker finished the thought for her.

She nodded.  "When we decided to try this again, I thought it would be simpler to sort through our emotions.   I thought that since we'd been friends for so long, accepting our deeper feelings would be less complicated."

"It's not complicated," she felt Will smile, and the way he tightened his arms around her.  "It's just stronger now, that's all.  Because we've been together for so long.  And Deanna--" Riker touched her face, "I think it's amazing."

"You do?" she shook her head.  "Even though it's maddening, and distracting and--"

"Incredible," he smiled anew.  "Yes.   Don't you agree?"

With the starlight from the Ten-Forward portal dancing in his eyes, Will Riker looked just like an angel to her in that moment.  Deanna managed a short laugh.  "Yes," she said, "I suppose it is rather incredible as well."

Taking her hand, Riker lead her out toward the main room and then stood with her on the brink of a ceiling-length window.   He draped an arm over her shoulder, and they remained that way in silence for several minutes.   Minutes of contemplation; of thoughtful repose, before Troi finally glanced up at him.

"Will?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"Promise me, no matter where we live, you'll always leave your jacket on my chair."

Leaning down to dust his lips across her hair, Riker pulled her closer.  "I promise," his breath caressed her hair.  Turning her body, he held her facing him.  "We're not those two kids anymore, Deanna.  I know exactly what I want."

"You might think so," Deanna agreed, reaching up to wind her arms around his neck.  She stood on her toes while she brought their noses together, "but -I- know exactly what you -need-."

The kiss was long and deep.  Familiar and gentle, but filled with the passion of a lifetime's love.  When they pulled apart, a slightly breathless Will Riker looked characteristically smug.  "And I know," he raised both eyebrows, "that you need an extra two days for those reports... Imzadi."  Ignoring her furrowed frown, Will grinned.  "That's an order."

With a frustrated lungful of air, Deanna finally grumbled,  "all right," she ducked under his arm and laid her head against his shoulder.  "You win," adding a very exaggerated, "SIR.  But I'm still not sold on the idea of moving in..."

He shrugged.    "Just think of all the time we'll save,"  Riker lifted a hand and brushed a long, thick tendril of hair from the edge of her face, "trying to decide whose door to open when we can't keep our hands off each other."

"You mean when you can't keep your hands off me!" Deanna laughed, remembering the last time.

"As I recall ..." Riker bumped her with his shoulder, "...you were the one who had me  pinned against the wall that time, Counselor."

Deanna made a short sound.  "You were tickling me!  I had to retaliate somehow..."  she turned in his arms and fixed him with a dangerous glare, arms akimbo.

"I could tickle you again ... if you'd like," he grinned back.

"Don't you dare!"  Advancing toward her, Riker had her up against a wall within a matter of moments, and Deanna held both hands against his chest.  "Will, I'm warning you..."

"Please don't hurt me Deanna... " he winked smugly.   But his expression transformed from assurance to shock when she flipped him roundly onto his back.

"Hey!"  He looked up at her with as wounded a stare as she'd ever seen on him.

"You deserved that!" Deanna continued to glare down at him, until the threat of laughter became too difficult to bear and she succumbed, giggling helplessly.

"Now that was not fair."  Righting his posture, Riker hopped onto his feet.

"But it was definitely funny," she continued to smile.

"You still don't want to move in with me?" he asked her seriously this time, and Deanna paused for a moment before she shrugged.

"Would you let me do that to you -- every night?"

Riker's eyes narrowed.

"I'm kidding, Will."

"I know that," he looked away.

"Will--" approaching him from behind, Deanna laid her hand against his back and traced the edge of his spine.  "What is that famous Earth saying...?"    Riker turned where he stood.  "Oh yes," she continued, "you had me at 'hello'."

The light in his eyes at that moment, Deanna would have sworn, was enough to illuminate an entire planet.  It swallowed every doubt in her mind and every cautious thought she'd harboured, with a tumbling, warm and wayward sense of happiness.   A feeling so profoundly alive that she felt whole in it.

"You're happy," she whispered matter-of-factly, more to regain her equilibrium than for anyone's benefit.   But she saw him grin in response.

When his arms opened to surround her, the light of a billion stars outside the great ship's portal kicked suddenly into a series of brilliant streaking trails.  The Enterprise had gone into warp.  And Deanna couldn't have thought of a better metaphor if she'd tried.  

Her own smile bright, she lifted her head to meet the touch of Will's welcoming kiss, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small blue orb drifting placidly across the window.  

Caught in the Enterprise's warp bubble, it was completely trapped; doomed to follow them to wherever their next destination would be; likely to be thrown at least a light year when they broke off their speed.

She grinned at Will when he disengaged their mutual encounter in order to regard her curiously.   "What is it?" he asked.

"That," Deanna indicated the tiny glowing ball outside their window, "is yet another indication that you and the Captain should listen to me the next time I have an observation to make."

He laughed.  "Deanna, the Captain doesn't listen to -me- half the time.  It's him up there, and sometimes it's Data..."

"We should do something about that," she frowned demurely.

"Well, you could always dump him on his back, the same way you did me."

The luminous probe outside their window continued to drift as Troi pondered.   "Now -that-," she grinned suddenly, "sounds like a hell of a plan."



[end]