SILENT WHISPERS
by Carol Sandford

Chapter one

Silent Whispers

by Carol Sandford

Will glanced up into the sky in between the intermediate swipe of the windscreen wiper as it swept away yet another dusting of fine snow. The further he moved across the planet, the more the snow fell. And the more snow that fell, the colder it got. The darkening sky was heavy with its wintry load, and it steadily, and relentlessly, continued to fall as his small shuttle ate up the miles.

Inside the shuttle, Will was as snug as a bug. He wasn't bothered by the weather, not really. Not at that point. Over the years, he'd travelled in a lot worse. But this time, though, it was worth the risk. Will was taking a journey that would hopefully end with a welcoming hug, and it was all that kept pushing him on, relentlessly.

Lulled as hour after hour the radio churned out melody after melody, some of which Will knew, most which he did not. It hadn't been long after he'd set out, that he'd given up the pretense of enjoying the journey as he'd sang along and tapped the steering column in time with the jazzy beat. Steely determination slowly slipped in and replaced his high-spirits as he struggled against mother-nature's worst.

Minute by minute, a journey that Will had waited a whole month to do, was now becoming something he'd wished he'd done at least a week earlier. But he'd put it off for the sake of a date. A date that he was sure that Deanna would remember, because it was a date that he would never forget.

It was the day a year on that Deanna had left the Enterprise and married Jal Collser.

A day that his nightmares were born.

~*~

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Deanna pressed her hands to her swollen abdomen as it throbbed beneath her splayed fingers, her face drawn and anxious as she looked out the window again at the swirling, wind-whipped angry snow. Visibility was so limited that she couldn't even see beyond the fifty yards to the ground. She was stranded in her little castle up in the air, a castle that could become her prison if the snow got too deep and trapped her within it's thick metallic walls.

The temperature had plummeted alarmingly and her tiny solar powered communication station had told her that the blizzard was going to be around for at least the next 24 hours hours, probably longer. But she couldn't wait that long, and nor could her baby, but she didn't have a choice, and Deanna was more than aware that she was going to have to prepare herself for the hours ahead.

Deanna was in labour. Her unborn child was a whole month early and Deanna knew without a shadow of a doubt, that the tiny being within her was going to need a medical facility as soon as it was born. But she had nothing, and no one. She was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

Bitter tears welled within her as she turned away from the chill of the glass, making her way gingerly towards the warmth of the solar-fuelled fire. The electricity had gone over an hour ago. Communications were out, and the back ache that had niggled her for a week intensified enough to know she had left any chance to get help far too long. Far, far too long.

Deanna slowly looked around the home that her husband had brought her to a year ago. At first she'd thought it was wonderful; a true step into the future. A home on a planet in the Jabaab star system, with a husband who had worshipped the ground she'd walked on, even though it had only lasted until he'd broken her close connections with her past. How she had missed his deception, his lies, still caused Deanna to shake her head in painful disbelief. But it was too late now. She was on her own, on a planet a zillion miles from Federation space, and pregnant.

And now with the impending birth of her baby, no husband and no way of contacting the outside world, Deanna was locked in her own private torture, a torture that increased ten fold every minute that another snowflake landed. A day that should have been the happiest of her life was wreathed in pain, regret and loneliness as each contraction that rippled through her body brought her nearer to seeing her son or daughter.

Oh, what she would have given to have had Beverly beside her, helping her along, being there for her child when he or she finally said hello to the world. But what she really wanted, and needed, was Will.

Sinking heavily onto the modern chrome and suede-like synthetic couch, Deanna's eyes were drawn to the window again, willing the snow to stop, and willing for someone, anyone to come to her now desperate aid. Deanna's teary whispered plea cracked above the sounds of the only means of heat in the house; a furnace that roared through her home's heart via a flue that rose through its centre "I wish you were here. I need you, Imzadi."

Will Riker had never been far from her thoughts, even when her life with Jal had been happy and content. Was it so long ago? It had seemed like a lifetime had passed since she'd left the Enterprise and her friends, and Will, but it was only a year. One, whole, nightmarish year.

The tears broke free and trickled down Deanna's flushed face, but she didn't notice them, nor did she notice the hiccupping sob that rose and lodged in her throat. She was lost in her past; caught up in the memories of a different life and a different time. Deanna needed the tender loving care of Beverly Crusher, and the even more comforting arms of someone closer to her heart, William Riker.

Her husband didn't even enter her mind. His betrayal hurt her too much to let him back in, even if it was purely for companionship and aide. Deanna would rather die than let him near her child.

*How did I get it all so wrong?* she wailed, silently. *Why didn't I wait just a little longer for him?*

But she'd made her choice even though it was going to cost her everything she had ever wanted and needed in her life. Deanna had waited long enough for Will to move on with their relationship, more than long enough. And then she had met Jal, the one man who offered her more than friendship. The one man who'd almost come as close as Imzadi as feasibly possible. Deanna had taken a giant leap of faith and left. Everything and everyone.

*What a fool I've been* she sobbed. *Will Will ever forgive me? And as another contraction began to peak, Deanna took a deep unsteady breath and pushed all her thoughts of Will and her failures down and focused on the here and now. Memories and regrets could come later, she just had to get through this. She just had to.

Deanna picked up the padd that was face down but lit up on one particular page that had previously been perused and nervously studied it's contents again. It was the page that showed her what she'd got to do when her baby finally made its premature arrival into the world. The pictures had terrified her, still terrified her, but the promise of soon holding her child in her arms pushed away the fears.

But now as she glanced at the first picture, Deanna was more than aware that she had to prepare herself. There was no going back now and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was going to be doing this solo and hoped with all her heart that the Gods, anyone! were looking down upon her.

As yet another contraction began to tug at her womb, Deanna closed her eyes and prayed.

Chapter two

Will pulled out the padd that held the instructions on how to get to Deanna Troi's home but instantly mentally kicked himself and cursed quietly to the private confines of the shuttle, "Damn it, Riker, she's a Collser now. She's not a Troi, nor a Riker, thanks to you, you dumb jerk."

Studying the contents of the padd and then looking into the whiteness outside his window, Will peered worriedly through the swirling snow that had reached its tempest within the last few yards or so that he had crawled along before coming to a halt, knowing that Deanna's place was around this area somewhere. Squinting as he'd made sense of the shadowy outline of a building ahead of him, he let go a heavy breath that he had subconsciously been holding, ignoring the plume of steam that rushed out and blinded his view momentarily, forcing him to take an impatient swipe at the window. Grinningm he wallowed at the vision that spread out before him.

He was there. Will was finally there and his heartbeat pounded in his chest at the implications that the simple statement meant to him. In a few minutes, he expected - hoped to find himself within Deanna's arms, even if it was just for a nanosecond. That was all he wanted. It was all he came for. That and to see her beautiful face to remind himself of what he'd lost, and in his darkest days, of what he'd thrown away.

But now he was here, now that he was within moments of seeing her, Will found himself hesitating. And it was also then that he felt the first stirring's of something amiss. At first he thought it was her absence; That he'd come all this way for nothing. It was a strange sensation, not feeling her and his heart hurt with the knowledge that he was no longer foremost in her psyche.

As he continued to stare unseeing into the bleakness at her home, his heart began to pound with something else; something that he'd not felt since she'd left the Enterprise. Fear, but he wasn't sure if it was his own, or Deanna's, or what kind of fear it was, until a sadness whispered over him and answered his unasked question.

It was a fear of loss. Deanna, his friend, his lost love was afraid of losing something. Something that was important to her. Something so powerful that it overrode all her senses of him. He had to get to her, urgently.

It took a full five minutes for Will to land the shuttle and find himself at her hatch. The power of the storm pushed against him with all its might, holding him back, fighting against his intrusion. But he stood his ground, determination keeping his feet firmly on the terra firma. At last, he stood before the metallic entrance, listening to his own urgent voice as it got thrown back at him and whisked away with the fury of the blizzard as he tried to speak into the panel.

His heart and his senses grew heavier and duller with every freezing second of silence that he stood on the threshold of not only her home, but a whole bunch of other important things that Will was certain was about to happen. But each got replaced by something else as he continued to wait, shivering at her door.

The home that Deanna lived in was not large by any means. Its mushroom shaped hull rose over him like an umbrella giving a tiny amount of protection against stinging snow. But nothing could halt the bitter wind that whipped around his body, freezing his blood. That's what it seemed to feel like as he tried once more to shout into unwelcoming access panel.

He decided to quickly walk around the perimeter to see if he could see any sign of life, or any other way of getting into the structure without having to wait for someone inside to finally move their ass to let in a soon-to-be human icicle with a temper to match.

But all he could see was nothing. All he could feel was emptiness and he scowled anew as he came back to the door's front. Will knew Deanna was inside. He had felt her presence even before he had arrived. But another wave of foreboding washed over him as it suddenly, with more clarity than he'd felt since he'd arrived, knew what was troubling him.

Loneliness. Along side the fear was the gloomy sensation of loneliness as it seeped into him and he felt himself go even colder at the realisation of what it meant. Deanna was alone. She was afraid, She was in pain and alone.

But then, as fast as the eerie panic had risen, it dissipated. One moment Will had been beside himself as he joined himself with her fears, and the next, nothing and with it came a dread as it washed over him; A feeling.

At that moment, he didn't know why, but he thought of Data. As he stood there wondering, a flash of the androids simple logic filtered through the haze and consternation of all Will's burning need on how to get inside, 'Try turning the handle, Commander, it may simply be unlocked.'

Silently staring through the giant white flakes at the hatch's mechanism, he forced his gloved hand to rise to it, hoping above all odds that it would open and let him in.

Chapter three

William Riker sank down to his knees beside her in disbelief as she lay prone on the floor beside the vent that released a steady wave of warmth. Sweat poured from her brow and her once lusciously full hair lay in damp ebony tendrils around her head. But even so, even in her heartbreakingly distressed state, Deanna was still as beautiful to him as the first day he'd met her.

Tears streamed from her closed eyes, joining with the rivers of sweat as she cried pitifully into the gloomy darkness. Only a few strategically placed illuminations to lighten the room added to the strangely melancholy scene.

But it was Deanna's stomach that had captured Will's full gaze. Distended out of all proportion, the thin nightgown that she wore was high upon her still slender drawn up legs. Legs that were set into a position that needed no explanation as to why they were placed that way.

Unable to stop himself from doing it, Will reached out one shaky, now glove free hand and placed it gently onto the taut mound, marvelling at its meaning and feeling its rigidness as Deanna quietly moaned as another contraction built within her.

Mesmerized, Will watched as the stomach tightened even further still, but when Deanna's hand closed over his, his wide eyes broke away and found hers silently watching him. For a long moment nothing was said. Nothing could be said. It was a moment that only silence needed to be heard. A moment of reunion, upon each and every level.

As the contraction subsided once more, Deanna enclosed Will's fingers within hers and pulled them towards her heated cheek, her eyes drifting shut as the intimate flush of delight rippled through, not only her, but Will too. Will moved closer and replaced his fingers with his chilled lips and a sigh of blessedness whispered from them both.

And that was how they felt; Blessed. There had never been a moment in Deanna's life when their Imzadi bond had been more evident. Unknown forces had pulled Will to her when she'd needed him most, and he'd come. Despite everything, Will had come.

But barely a second later, she felt the familiar dull ache of another contraction coming and Will felt her body and mind prepare for imminent take over. Fascinated, his eyes moved down to watch her stomach as it slowly contorted with the contraction's intensity.

He felt ridiculously helpless as he sat, listened and watched as Deanna moaned and squirmed against the cushions beneath her, trying to relieve what was happening to her body. He hardly noticed the tight grip of her fingers within his until she relaxed as the assault petered off, leaving her gasping for breath and his hand throbbing as the blood rushed back into it.

Will found Deanna's eyes searching his, pleading him to help her. Begging him. She didn't have to say the words, her heart and soul said it loud enough. Tenderly pushing away a damp, frizzy ringlet of hair from her face, Will whispered, "Tell me what to do, Deanna?"

Squeezing her eyes shut as she tried and failed to control her innermost terrors, Deanna battled to push her fears away. The next hour or so was going to be the worst of her life, but somehow, she knew she was going to have to be strong. She was about to give birth to a tiny being that had a very high possibility of dying and with no doctor present to give it even half a chance.

But now Deanna had the next best thing; She had William Riker, and if anyone could save her baby, against all the odds, it would be him. He had come to her rescue, yet again, and hope lit a fire in her heart as she dared to let take a hold.

Opening her eyes and finding his once more, Deanna brokenly whispered, "Keep my baby alive, Will, that's all I ask. Let my baby live."

Chapter four

Will felt the blood drain out from his features when he looked at the padd that Deanna handed to him. Deanna felt and saw the shock but could do nothing to allay his fears as yet another contraction began to take over before she had a chance to soothe his shocked state.

But an instinct that Will had buried deep within him somewhere surged up from nowhere as he glanced at Deanna's face and saw the signs of another contraction take hold of her. Immediately Will put the padd down and kneeled back down on the floor beside her, holding her hand, unconsciously breathing along with her as she panted through it's peak. Dipping the wet cloth into the bowl Deanna had placed near her earlier, Will wrung out the excess moisture and lay it gently upon her brow.

Deanna's eyes never left his as she waited for a moment to talk to him as with one hand still holding hers, he picked up the padd once more and begun to study it in earnest. Her breath rasped through her throat as she voiced her concerns, "Will?"

He didn't even look at her as he continued to read, his brow furrowed with deep lines as he sat on his heels, "Yeah?" he said absently.

Deanna licked her lips and watched his face as she spoke, "They're getting closer together."

He went still as her words sunk in, until at last, he sought out her worried features. "How close?"

She swallowed painfully, nervously. "Very close, but I don't know if I'm ready to push yet, Will." She paused for a long moment before adding quietly. "You're going to have to check."

Will felt his cheeks go scarlet as the implications of her words filtered through the crazy, unlaughable moment. "Ch...check?"

But Deanna was already concentrating elsewhere as another contraction made itself know, this one much stronger and more painful, leaving her gasping in pain and fear. Will felt as helpless and as scared as she as he helped her through it once more, dimly realising that she was right; they were getting closer. Very close.

It was then that it was forcibly rammed home to him just what he was facing. Now desperate, Will focused all his thoughts on the padd before him, its contents telling him about how and when the contractions should be happening and more importantly, the precise moment that she should be able to push, but to know that he was going to have to examine her.

Deanna knew he'd read the part that she'd just told him about when she watched him drop the padd from his fingers and stare at her with a look that in another time and other situation would have made her laugh. But now it was too important and it needed to be done. Deanna knew it, and Will knew it too, "It...it's okay, Will. I know you're scared, and embarrassed, but I'm okay about this, really."

Nodding understandingly, he reached up and scratched his head, then looked at his hand as though it belonged to someone else. Pushing himself to his feet, he muttered walking quickly away, "I need to wash up. I'll be right back."

But once he was inside the bathroom, Will quietly closed the door. Turning the tap on, he mechanically washed his hands, but his eyes never left the image that stared back at him in the mirror. Before him he saw a man that was shit scared of what was about to happen and was mortified about what he was going to have to do to her. How the hell was he ever supposed to look her in the face again after this? What the hell was he going to do if it all went tragically wrong? His heart thumped with the implications that broke him out into a cold sweat.

But he didn't have long enough to answer even one of his own questions as Deanna's terrified wail brought him out of his nightmarish moment of selfishness and he finished washing his hands and arms, rapidly drying off the excess water with a small fluffy towel that hung behind the still closed door. Taking a deep, shuddering calming breath, Will let himself out and made his way back to Deanna's side.

But when he reached Deanna, every hardened part of his mind that was needed to allow him to perform the task in front of him shattered to bits when he knelt back down beside her; Her body, her hands, her legs shook with terror and exertion, and even though her eyes were wide with fear as she stared up at him, she was crying silently. Her small hiccupping sobs tore at his heart and he wanted nothing more than to pull her up into his arms and hold her close.

Before Will could do or say anything though, she turned her head away from him, but not before he caught the way her face screwed up and she let out another pitiful wail as yet another contraction began. Her desperate plea of, "Oh, Will, it hurts, make it go away!" as she squirmed in pain against the cushioning beneath her made him go cold with dread.

Will gripped her hand as he leaned in close to her, doing his best to soothe her, unsure if anything he said was even registering. But it didn't stop him from trying, and when at last the lengthy contraction abated, he kissed her dampened forehead before moving away enough to look into her dark, scared eyes.

Swallowing, Will licked his lips before speaking, "Deanna, I'm going to check you now, okay? I...I just want to say that if I hurt you, I'm sorry. I'm kinda new to this childbirthing thing...okay?"

But right now, Deanna didn't care if Will touched her or not as she could already feel yet another contraction building. Under his fingertips that lay gently upon her tummy, Will felt it too and he knew he'd have to wait until it was over before he did the examination.

Once more, Will rode the storm with her, marvelling at the power beneath his fingers, but once it had died away, he moved his hand down towards her lower limbs and settled it upon her trembling knee.

Sitting back on his heels again, he searched her face for anything that told him not to go any further. But pulling her knees up high once more, Deanna draped one arm over her eyes and muttered almost bitterly to him, 'Do it, Will' pushing him past the tense moment enough to move his hand.

Closing his eyes, Will gingerly inserted one finger, gently probing around for the entrance of her cervix. But on finding what he was searching for to be larger than he expected, he entered another digit. The way his brow furrowed as he bit down hard on his lip revealed his concentration and dedication at assessing just how far she'd got to go.

But before he'd even removed his hand, Will felt the powerful tightening in her muscles as she rapidly went into another contraction, her moans and squirms louder and more violent than before, leaving her gasping and drained when it finally abated leaving her battered, exhausted and desperate for sleep.

Even so, though, Deanna still managed to seek out Will's face as he moved back towards her head and picked up the padd again. His silence and the way he studied the padd intently made her heart pound harder, her strangled voice as she asked the question that she really didn't want to know, "How long, Will?"

He didn't take his eyes off the padd as he answered, "Soon...very soon. I need to get everything ready, Deanna, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to leave you alone for a few minutes." He searched her face, "Will you be okay?"

For the first time since he'd arrived, Deanna chuckled, nodding her head, allowing a fresh set of tears to fall, "I'm just glad you're here, Will," she said with gratitude. "I thought I was going to have to do this all on my own so I'm sure a couple of minutes won't kill me."

Will grinned, his eyes lighting up with relief, "Good girl. I'll be back as quick as I can. We've got a baby to deliver, Deanna and I'm here for the duration, like it or not."

More tears trickled as Deanna swiftly pulled his fingers to her mouth, her mumbled, "I like it, very much, I'm just so glad you're here." was lost as she pressed her lips tenderly against his knuckles.

But even as Will stood, Deanna was already in the throws of another contraction, the reminder making his feet move even quicker as he began rounding up everything he needed. By the time he'd counted to 100, Will had found everything that the padd had listed, all except one thing; the most important thing of all; an incubator.

Even without knowing how far along Deanna was, even a blind man could have seen that her unborn baby was tiny and he desperately hoped that its lungs were going to be strong enough to allow it live. Will also knew that by this time tomorrow, he was going to have Deanna and her hopefully still living baby in the best medical facility that he knew of, under the care of the best doctor that he knew of.

But he had to get through today, and as he made his way back to Deanna's side, Will came to a sudden halt a few feet away from her and watched as her body arched off the floor, its position as unnatural as the scream that reverberated around the room, her gut-wrenching howl freezing his feet where he stood as he watched her clutch at her distended abdomen as she futily tried to hold her baby inside.

It had begun.

Chapter five

"Will!! Help me, please! Something is happening. Oh! Oh! I want to push! I want to push!" Deanna cried frantically, her eyes wide with terror as she wriggled and clawed at her body as it violently fought to expel the being within it.

Will fell to Deanna's side and her hand automatically reached for his, but she almost wept when he pried her fingers away, her eyes searching his beseechingly, not understanding why he was refusing her the comfort that she needed. Will felt like a heal, but he couldn't help her, not that way. "I'm sorry, Deanna, I can't hold you right now. I've got to help your baby."

Deanna wondered what he was doing when he suddenly rose again and moved the couch out of the way, then swung her and her temporary bedding around so that she faced the wall. She almost yelped when he gently grabbed her ankles and pulled her nearer to the wall, placing her feet upon its coolness.

Instantly she understood; He was giving her something to push against instead of using his own strength to hold and help her. Another contraction took hold and she momentarily forgot everything but the need to breath and ride out the all consuming pain.

Meanwhile Will was hurriedly placing everything he needed within his reach, mentally ticking them off as he eyed them one by one; the scissors, a huge stack of mop-up towels, the bowl for the placenta, the string for the umbilical cord. A huge fluffy towel for the baby when he or she arrived, and last but not least, his wits.

Will was scared stupid. Not about what was going to happen, but for the tiny being that he knew was going to be in his sole care for the next few hours. But he didn't get to stew over the possibilities of it going wrong for long. Deanna was restlessly moaning, the pains obviously continuous now.

He watched her as she prepared to bare down once more, noticing the way she bravely grit her teeth, forcing herself up onto her elbows, ready to give it her all. But Will knew Deanna and knew she was even more scared than he was. She was worried about her own health and she was scared about her future. But over all that, she was absolutely petrified for her baby's life.

But Will was also aware that Deanna was strong. If anyone could pull this ordeal off, it was her, and looking down at her now as she gasped and panted and groaned her way through the contraction, filled Will with such pride that it briefly brought tears to his eyes.

And then suddenly his thoughts were distracted from the woman before him by a warm wet feeling. Surprised, he looked down to his knees which were now being stained darker by the liquid that poured from Deanna's loins. There was no stopping her now.

Will waited until Deanna flopped back down flat to the floor exhausted before gently touching her trembling knee, his own voice none to even when he spoke, "Deanna, darling, your water's have broken. I'm going to check you again. Okay?"

As her chest rose up and down with exertion, she could only nod wearily. This time when Will probed her gently, he had an intimate knowledge aiding him and his confidence soared. Equally, now that Will had done the exam once, she simply let herself go limp and let him do his job. She was past embarrassment, and she was past caring.

That was until Will spoke excitedly, "I can feel its head, Deanna! You're almost there, honey!"

Will couldn't stop himself as he scuttled back up her body planting an excited kiss upon her dry, chapped lips, his giant hand already dabbing the damp flannel across her fevered brow. But when he saw her features begin to change and her body begin to prepare for yet another contraction, Will moved back down to her thighs and he watched spellbound as Deanna's body began to expel the tiny being within.

Two more contractions and a head the size of a grapefruit coated in dark matted hair made its entrance.

One more after that and the tiniest baby Will had ever seen placed itself securely into his massive, eagerly waiting hands.

One of the longest minutes in Will's entire life followed that as he gently but quickly wiped away the sticky mucus surrounding the baby's nose and eyes and mouth. When he was satisfied with that, he held his breath and gently smacked one minuscule foot, letting his breath go with a strangled whoop of joy as a pitiful mewing noise came from the infant that instantly spasmodically sprang to life at its harsh, unjust treatment.

Deanna watched Will work on her baby with an almost serene smile upon her tear-stained face, her fears passing as he successfully achieved what she undoubtably would not have been able to do with out him there. The image of him tenderly bringing her child to life with tears streaming down his own cheeks was one that she would take to her grave and it would be locked away in her heart and treasured forevermore.

When Will had wiped away the worst of the baby's gunk, he gently lay it on the huge fluffy towel, half covering it to keep it warm as he prepared to do the next stage of the delivery. Deftly, as though he'd done it a thousand times before, Will tied the still pulsing lifeline and then deftly severed it.

Seconds later with the baby now completely enveloped in the towel apart from it's tiny cherubic face Will crawled towards Deanna's waiting arms and placed the child within them. The happiness of what had occurred between them was written all over his handsome face and his eyes were as glassy as hers with unshed tears of joy and pride.

Will watched mother and child for a long moment and something deep within him surged to life, bringing a huge lump to his throat and a longing that he'd never known before. He'd never really considered settling down before. Nor had he contemplated a need for a family, not since he'd lost the only woman he'd cared enough about to even contemplate a different way of life.

Until now. As Will watched Deanna tenderly move away the towel so that she could count her baby's fingers and press a light kiss to its face, it slammed home that he wanted to be a father. More than that, he wanted to be a father to this tiny one. He wanted it all, and that included Deanna.

A plan began to formulate in his mind, but for now he had to put it on hold. Will had things to do, and with one last, somehow proud fatherly glance at his, he hoped, new family, Will made his way back down her body to begin the post-delivery necessaries. He didn't care that she was still married. The very fact that Jal had abandoned his wife and unborn child did not sit well with Will. Hell, Jal was going to wish he'd never laid eyes on Deanna or himself when Will got his hands on him.

Hell, was the bastard even still alive? Maybe he was dead. Maybe he'd gone and left Deanna for good. Maybe Deanna had kicked the Son-of-a-bitch out. Maybe he kicked Deanna about! Hell, maybe Jal was a bastard after all!

Will had a lot of maybe's racing around in his mind. Maybe's that needed answering. But not right now. Now he had other things on his mind, like how to keep Deanna's baby alive until he could put it firmly into safer hands.

Like Beverly Crushers.

tbc...

~Chapters 6 to 10~ ~Chapters 11 to 15~ ~Chapters 16 to 19~