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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave	By : madradena Category: Star Trek > The Next Generation Views: 1693 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own ST:TNG nor Dreamland, nor the characters from either. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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At Ten Forward, the audience of the premiere mingled cheerfully with the participants. Reg and Sonya - to their own surprise - enjoyed the attention, or maybe even more so the fact that they could take part in a social gathering for the first time of their lives as a couple. Some nice, romantic melody played in the background, and after having a drink, they danced to it happily, while Will danced with the third pretty ensign in a row in a single quarter of an hour.
By the time he walked up to the table where Deanna, Beverly and the Captain were sitting, the latter two were immersed in an intense discussion.
"At least tell me why she needed to be grounded, Jean-Luc? I know she has a big mouth but to confine somebody to quarters - she's not a dangerous criminal!"
Before the Captain could answer, Will sat on the one free chair at the table energetically: "She's no criminal, but I would definitely dispute her not being dangerous." he chuckled "She's the proverbial shrew! I'm pretty convinced she can actually spit fire!"
"Will!" Deanna gave him an annoyed shove, to which his only response was a naughty grin.
"Jean-Luc! Are you going to give me any kind of explanation?" Beverly interrogated him on.
The Captain looked at her with cold eyes "You realize that as the Captain of this ship, I do not owe you one, Beverly."
"But you do owe me one as a friend! Jean-Luc!" she pleaded trying to catch his gaze - but he did everything to avoid hers.
The Captain realized that he was in trouble - as a matter of fact, he'd realized it the moment Beverly told him that they needed to talk just before the premiere began. What should he have told her? That Emma brought up the subject of their supposed relationship, and he simply overreacted? - He was also somewhat surprised. Why didn't she know about it in the first place? How come Emma didn't tell her?
Before he could answer, Will butted in once again "She walked up the Bridge and kissed Data fully on the mouth!" he answered and still couldn't wipe the grin off his face.
"That's IT?! You can't be serious to ground someone for THAT!" Beverly burst out.
"You should've seen it! Nobody was sure when she would stop!" Will chuckled and drank the last of his synthehol out of his glass.
Deanna watched them silently. She knew that the Captain was hiding something. He even felt guilty about letting Beverly think that Will was correct about the reason of Emma's grounding, whereas Deanna knew he was wrong. She looked at Will annoyed. His constant butting in did NOT help to find out what the Captain didn't want to say. Sometimes the result of the placebo effect of synthehol was just too similar to what alcohol could bring out of him...
"Beverly," the Captain began on a voice suggesting that he was losing his patience "even if I wanted to overlook whatever she did, I confined her to quarters, and she didn't even obey a simple order as that! You are a commander as well. Would YOU tolerate an insubordinate behaviour such as that one under your command?"
Beverly sighed and looked at him pleading "I was the one who ordered her out of her quarters."
"Then it was wrong of you that you didn't discuss the matter first with me."
"We were behind schedule, there wasn't time for that! What did you want to achieve, Jean-Luc? To ruin the premiere?" she asked frustrated then went on seemingly giving in a little "Alright, I know an off-duty activity such as playing in a piece is not important enough to measure it against insubordination. But can't it be that you simply overreacted this whole situation? Such a punishment is just not fair for a silly, little thing like kissing her boyfriend on the Bridge..." she shook her head really not seeing what he felt to be so grave in this whole.
Will chuckled again "No, you're absolutely right, Doctor. I actually would introduce the practise of kissing superiors on the Bridge as a mandatory activity for female officers. I suppose it would definitely give a good boost to the morale!"
Deanna looked at him challengingly and answered for Beverly "Sure! Especially, if you had to kiss that pretty Benzite lieutenant that just joined the crew - what's her name? Loya?"
Will gave her a dirty look "You’re definitely not playing fair! You just ruined the nicest fantasy of the month!"
They all chuckled, but then Beverly looked at the Captain once again with an amount of resentment, while he just played with his glass and avoided her gaze.
"Are you sure there's a good enough reason to hold on to being so strict?" Beverly nagged him on.
He looked at her apparently sick and tired of the conversation or of the topic of Emma - or more likely of both. "Beverly. You never asked me to conduct favouritism, and I never did, not for the sake of anybody. Lieutenant Jones is no exception. If I overlook her misbehaviour, it won't be because you or anybody else on or off this ship asks me to. And if I have her locked up in the brig, that will also not be to defy you and prove that I am the Captain around here. You like it or not, Ms. Jones has serious deficiencies in disciplined behaviour and in showing respect for her superiors. And don't tell me you don't agree with that observation. You know that I value your opinion above anything else, Beverly, however, it's not your place to decide how or when Lieutenant Jones would or would not suffer the consequences of her flaws."
Beverly sighed as her heart sank - she might have made matters worse by bringing up the subject at all. But she tried one last time "Alright, I understand. And I accept your reasoning. But are you going to at least tell me what you're planning to do with her?"
The question was valid - if only he knew what he wanted to do with her...
Before he could think of anything to answer, they again heard Will: "Speak of the shrew, and she doth appear."
They all turned to the entrance and just saw Data and Emma walk in hand-in-hand.
The Captain looked back at Beverly with a 'told you so' look: "Speak of disobedience and it doth appear. I would bet this ship on the fact that she doesn't even remember the fact that I confined her to quarters in the first place."
Beverly just shook her head frustrated - it seemed no matter what she tried to tell him, he couldn't let this whole go. Then he took all of them by surprise, when he stood up and walked up to the couple.
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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave