A/N- I haven't written anything in a long time (not just here, but anything). I was just sort of wondering if I forgot how. ;)

Don't own Star Trek or anything else. Just felt like playing around for a while.

"There will be a reception tomorrow evening, and after the official closing ceremonies of the summit, we will have the pleasure of escorting the delegates from Earth, Sorronia, and of course Betazed back to Betazed for the official signing of the energy treaty," the Captain said with a forced smile plastered to his face.

"Ah, the diplomatic shuttle service," Will Riker said with a sigh.

"Yes, well," the Captain shrugged. "Duty requires us to make the best of it. Counselor," he called looking down the long conference table to where his ships counselor sat quietly tapping her nail on the table. "I think it would be appropriate to arrange certain… cultural…"

"Entertainment?" Deanna offered.

"Experiences… for the delegates to enjoy in their time aboard," the Captain corrected.

Deanna smiled and nodded. "I'll take care of it, Sir."

"I don't think I need to remind anyone that the Sorronian treaty is extremely important to Star Fleet, and the support within the Sorronian alliance is tenuous at best. It will be important that we do nothing to discourage their participation in this."

"You want us on our A game, Captain?" Geordi asked lightly.

"We're ready, Sir," his first officer assured him.

"I have no doubt of it," the Captain said, sitting a little straighter in his chair. "However, I think it will be important to avoid the distractions that may come aboard with certain delegates…" he left the sentence dangling in the air.

Deanna Troi looked up to find the rest of the senior staff watching her. "I'll do everything in my power to control my mother, Captain. That's the best I can promise," she told them with a gesture of surrender.

Geordi and Beverly Crusher laughed at the almost defeated expression of the ship's counselor, but the Captain turned his attention to his first officer seated next to him.

Will noticed the captain's resolute stare, and arched his eyebrow. "I have no intention of antagonizing Ambassador Troi, if that's what you're asking, Sir," Will answered confused.

"Is it ever intentional?" Worf muttered at the far end of the table.

But the Captain shook his head slightly. "As much as I appreciate no one antagonizing Lwaxana Troi while she is aboard, I was referring to…" but he hesitated. "I meant that…" The Captain paused as he studied his first officer. "I assumed you knew," he said slowly.

"Knew?" Riker asked, following his captain's gaze as he glanced around the room to the rest of the senior staff watching them.

"Perhaps we should discuss this later," the Captain fumbled.

"Did I miss something?" Will asked.

"I just assumed he would have talked to you. My apologies," the Captain said, turning again to the group, ready to dismiss them all.

"He?" Will continued. His curiosity was piqued.

The Captain turned back to him, terribly sorry that he had brought it up at all. He let out a small sigh, before he mustered the words. "Your father. He's leading the delegation from Earth."

Will didn't respond. Those around the table were left trying to interpret his facial expression, but even that was rather blank and matter of fact.

"It should be less than two weeks with them all aboard. I'm sure we can find a way to-" the Captain began but his first officer simply shook his head.

"It's fine. It won't be a problem," Will said dismissively, but the rest of his collogues still watched with some concern. Certainly they were aware that the relationship between Will and his father had been strained for years, some times more than others.

"Commander Riker's father and Counselor Troi's mother? Quite the family reunion," Geordi mumbled softly.

"Double the trouble," Doctor Crusher answered.

"Where do you suppose we should hide?" Deanna teased from across the table, but Will Riker didn't seem to be in a teasing mood. He turned back to the Captain perfectly serious.

"It won't affect the mission, Sir."

The Captain looked from his first officer to his ship's counselor with a great deal of compassion. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have his own father romping around his ship. "I have no doubts," he said kindly. "That is all," he said and the crew around him began to rise from their seats and head off in different directions. Geordi and Data walked towards the far doors, following Doctor Crusher. Worf passed him on his way back to the bridge. "Number one," he called from his seat as his first officer started to walk away. Will Riker stopped dutifully and the Captain waited until the room cleared a bit more. "I am sorry, Will. I thought he would have talked to you."

But Will shook his head, and sighed, before he smiled nonchalantly. "We talked once about nine months ago," he admitted. "Don't worry about it, Sir. Either he didn't think it was important or he completely forgot where I serve. Either way, I'm sure I can do my job."

"I have no doubt of that." The Captain smiled reassuringly as he passed his first officer and headed onto the bridge. Only when he was gone did Will Riker let his smile fall.

"Are you okay?" Deanna asked, though Will had almost forgotten she was still in the room.

"Fine," he said, planting his smile back on his face.

Deanna wasn't fooled. She shook her head gently at him as she walked towards him. "I don't think he forgot where you served," she said softly, resting her hand on his arm.

"It really doesn't matter, Deanna. Maybe we'll have dinner or something, but we just don't talk that much. He'll do his job and I'll do mine," he said with a shrug. "And in a couple of weeks, he'll be gone again."

Deanna leaned back onto the conference table behind her. "Would you think I was a horrible person if I thought that sounded rather nice?" she asked, defeated.

When Will smiled again, it was in genuine amusement. "Want to trade?" he offered and they laughed softly together. "Your mother and my father on the ship and the same time. What are the odds?"

"Knowing our luck?" Deanna asked, then simply shook her head.

"Well we have a whole day before the fun begins," Will encouraged her, putting his arm around her shoulders as he lead her in the direction of the bridge.

"Do you have dinner plans?" she offered.

"Heavy drinking may be likely."

But Deanna elbowed him in the ribs. "That's not funny Will. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Who's asking?" he asked, turning to face her. "The ship's counselor or my friend?"

Deanna hated when he wanted her to distinguish between the two. She scrunched up her face, slightly. "The ship's counselor," she decided.

Will sighed. "I'm fine."

"Okay, your friend," she offered, wondering if she would get a different response.

"He's just my father, Deanna. I'm not going to throw myself out the nearest port hole or anything."

Will was trying to distract her, to make light of the situation, but Deanna could feel it, that lump of dread within him. Perhaps he just needed some time. "Okay," she sighed. "I'll check on you later then," she said, leaning up and kissing him on the cheek lightly. She turned and started to make her way to the far door to head to her office.

"Hey, at the very least," he called after her. "The next two weeks will not be dull."

Deanna almost laughed. "When, on this ship, have our lives ever been dull?" she asked, then turned and walked out of the room.

Deanna tried to get a feel for his mood as she waited outside his quarters that night. She could still feel that lump of dread within him, even from the hall outside. But his voice sounded calm as he called for her to come in.

He was sitting in his chair, reading a mission briefing, but when Will saw her he laid it aside. "Decided to come over for the heavy drinking?" he asked.

Deanna sighed as she sank onto his couch. "My mother has called me twelve times today," she said, rubbing at her temples. "She wants to know what I'll be wearing at the reception tomorrow night. Though apparently anything would be better than my ghastly uniform."

"Ouch."

Deanna only nodded. "I'm thirty four years old, Will, and she still wants to pick my clothes."

"I don't think you look the least bit ghastly in your uniform," he told her. "For the record."

That made Deanna smile. "So have you talked to him at all?" she asked.

"Why would I?" Will asked almost casually. "He didn't tell me he was going to be there. If he really wanted to get in touch with me, he knows how."

"Has is occurred to you that by asking that the Enterprise escort the delegation, he was asking to talk to you?"

Will sat up a little straighter and grabbed for a PADD on his table. "As it turns out, your mother was the one that requested the Enterprise escort the Betazoid delegation."

"Not a surprise there," Deanna muttered. Her mother apparently thought that just because her daughter was aboard, that she could use the Federation flagship and her own diplomatic shuttle.

"No, and all my father requested was that the Earth delegation travel with the Betazoid delegation."

"Maybe my mother just got around to it first."

"Maybe my father is chasing some gorgeous twenty something member of the Betazoid delegation," Will offered in return.

"Because Betazed is full of hot twenty- somethings?"

Will leaned over to her and brushed her hair back over her shoulder. "That was my experience, yes."

Deanna was happy to see the laughter in his eyes, as she shoved him away from her. "You're such a child," she chastised him.

"Want something to drink?" he asked casually as he stood and headed towards the replicator.

Deanna studied the PADD Will had left on the table. "Do you suppose they have figured out who the other is?" she asked, looking at the names of the delegates. Surely her mother had caught the same name and similar mannerisms of the two men as she had apparently been at the same conference with Kyle Riker for several weeks. "Do you think that we made that weird for them?"

Will's laugh was colder than he intended. "Do we really care?" he asked.

"They have their own jobs to do, Will. They don't need our… history getting in the way."

Will grabbed a drink and walked back to the couch, settling in next to Deanna. "And yet we seem to be fine working together. Are you suggesting that our respective parents are less mature and enlightened than we are?"

Again his eyes glinted with his playful smile. "It's possible," she admitted. Deanna settled back on the couch next to him. She enjoyed the warmth from him. It was always reassuring to her. "The Captain is really terribly sorry that it came up in a senior staff meeting like that. He's very embarrassed."

"Why?" Will asked. "It's not his fault."

"I know, but he brought it up several times this afternoon. You should tell him that you're not mad about it."

"I did! Twice!"

"I know, just tell him again some time when other people aren't around and he doesn't feel like you have to. Would you?"

Will rested his chin against her head. "Sure, if you want me to."

Will Riker tried not to think about what was coming too much. No matter how much he prepared, he wasn't going to be able to figure his father out. He'd never understood him, and he doubted he ever would.

There were times in the last few years that they had almost broken through the barriers they had build between them all those years ago, but they'd never really managed to sustain it. They were just too different, and after all those years, part of Will had given up, moved on. He liked who he was. He liked the life he led. If his father didn't, well, Will couldn't worry about that. And yet, he couldn't hide that he was a little hurt by his father's distance. It drove him crazy that his father always managed to make him feel like he wasn't quite good enough. He hated that somewhere inside him he still wanted his father's approval.

He'd been dreading it from the moment the Captain told him his father would be there. The political galas were bad enough without having to come face to face with his father. Will tugged on his dress uniform as he headed to the transporter room, his dread growing with every step.

When the door to the transporter room swished open in front of him, he found he was the last to arrive. Dragging his feet, he supposed. His eyes immediately wandered to Deanna standing with Beverly Crusher. Her mother had gotten her way, and for once, Will was glad. He had never thought she was ghastly in her uniform, much to the contrary. He found her to be very attractive, no matter what she wore, but the bluish gray evening gown that fluttered over her shoulder as if there was a breeze in the room was outright stunning. He tugged again nervously on his dress uniform.

"Commander, good of you to join us," the Captain quipped. "I think we're about ready," he said to the transporter chief with a curt nod.

"Maybe it would be best if I stayed behind," Will offered. "Someone needs to be in command."

But the Captain shook his head. "I think Commander Laforge has that well in hand. And I would prefer not to be explaining your absence, Number One," the Captain dismissed his idea. "Commander Data, are we ready?" he asked.

Data was tapping away on the transporter console, before nodding quickly. "Aye, Sir."

That was Will's last way out. He shrugged non-commitaly and followed the group onto the transporter pad. "Don't you look nice," he whispered to Deanna.

"I give it three minutes until my mother criticizes something about my appearance," she answered flatly.

"I say it's even money that my father will be surprised to see me," he replied.

Beverly Crusher turned around to face her friends. "Are you sure you two are ready for this?" she asked.

Deanna slipped her hand into Will's and gave it a light squeeze, and he smiled. "It's just family. How bad can it be?" he asked casually.

The Captain nodded and looked around at the group around him. Data stood puzzling at Commander Riker and Counselor Troi standing behind the others. Beverly stood next to him, pushing her red hair over her shoulder. The Captain took his place at the head of the group, and gave a single nod to the transporter chief, who nodded once in return before activating the beam.

As the light from the beam faded away Will had to squint to adjust his eyes to the dimmer light. There were hoards of people and music and food swirling around the room, and he heard his Captain sigh at the sight of it.

"Deanna! Darling!" Lwaxana Troi's voice pierced through the crowd, and the entire group braced themselves for the onslaught of commotion.

Lwaxana Troi was followed by a throng of aides and other delegates, busily trying to keep up. She paused only briefly in front of the Captain, "Jean-Luc, I see you are well," and then brushed him aside and gregariously clung to her daughter. "Come, there are so many people who are dying to meet you," she said a moment later and began to sweep Deanna off with the crush of the crowd around her.

"Mother," Deanna protested.

"Nonsense! The Captain doesn't mind at all, do you Jean-Luc?" But she never even paused for an answer.

The crowd bustled away from them, having enveloped one of them in their folds. Will hoped Deanna would be able to manage on her own.

Jean-Luc Picard watched Lwaxana Troi make her way in the opposite direction and felt of wave of relief was over him. Typically greeting Lwaxana Troi with any dignity had proven difficult. That in comparison was almost as if he had been ignored. "That was almost too easy," the Captain muttered, glancing around at the remaining members of their party.

"I hope they let her come up for air at some point," Beverly offered as she watched her friend being swept along into the swirl of activity.

"Captain," someone called, and as a group they turned to see one of the Federation Emissaries coming toward them, with the Sorronian Ambassador in tow. "Welcome, welcome. We are so glad to see that you and the Enterprise have arrived. Please, let me introduce Elon Ferrie, the Sorronian Ambassador. Elon, this is Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Enterprise, and his crew."

The Captain extended his hand. "An honor, Ambassador. Please allow me to introduce my senior staff; my first officer, Commander William Riker," he said gesturing to Will, "Commander Data, who will be attending to any special needs you may have during your time aboard, and Doctor Beverly Crusher, my chief medical officer."

The Sorronian Ambassador glanced at each of them rather coldly. "Charmed," he said dismissively. "Lwaxana Troi indicated that her daughter would be part of your group…" he said glancing at them again.

"Oh, yes, well, you have happened upon us too late. Lwaxana has already swept her away, though I'm sure you'll see her at some point this evening."

"Fine then, Commander Data, was it?" he said turning to Data. "There are a few things I must insist upon to make the journey… tolerable. I would like to go over those details now."

"Of Course, Ambassador," Data agreed.

"Fine. Come with me." He spoke as if he were talking to a servant. "You should be writing these down. Perhaps someone could find you something…"

"I assure you, Ambassador, that I am capable of remembering exactly what you say," Data replied calmly. At times like that, maybe having no emotions was a blessing, Will thought as he watched his friend follow after the pretentious man. Certainly Will would have had to bite his tongue if someone belittled him so easily. He and Beverly glanced warily at each other for a moment, then to their Captain standing with the Federation Emissary.

The Emissary looked awkward. "Sorronians," he said with a nervous laugh. "Ah, yes. One moment," he said stepping away for a moment. That is when Will saw him. His father was more gray than the last time he saw him, stocky and shorter than Will. The Emissary pulled Will's father aside, and brought him over to the group, and Will watched helplessly, trying to read the expression on his father's face. "And Captain, I believe that you have met Kyle Riker, the head of Earth's delegation," the Emissary introduced them and Will watched his father smile politely, though he could see in his eyes that he uncomfortable.

"Yes, of course, Mr. Riker," the Captain offered extending his hand.

"Captain, thank you for agreeing to carry the delegates on to Betazed. I'm grateful for your cooperation."

"Of course. Mr. Data is currently speaking with Ambassador Ferrie about any arrangements the Sorronian delegation would like to be comfortable."

Kyle Riker almost let out a short snort. "Sorronians," he mumbled, then sighed. "Well," he said. Only then did Kyle Riker glance back to where his son stood watching him. "How's my son?" he asked, turning back to the Captain.

Captain Picard looked awkwardly between Kyle Riker and his first officer. "I'm sure he'd he happy to tell you himself, Sir."

"Living up to his potential, I hope?" Kyle asked, ignoring the Captain's suggestion. Will felt his jaw clench, as his heart pounded in his chest as he filled with anger.

The Captain nodded. "Yes. Surely. I… Honestly, I would be lost without him."

Beverly Crusher stepped a little closer to Will and smiled at him kindly.

Kyle Riker nodded and laughed a little under his breath. "Well, I appreciate you keeping him out of trouble. I just don't want to see anything holding him back," he said, his voice growing serious and cold.

"Of course, not," the Captain answered determinedly.

For only the second time Kyle Riker glanced back to where his son stood silently. "Will," he said with a simple nod.

"Dad," Will answered shortly.

"Well, if you'd excuse me," Kyle Riker offered and he turned and walked away, leaving Will with his collogues.

Deanna Troi was across the room being madly introduced to delegates and emissaries when she saw Will's father approach him. She watched the exchange from across the room and sensed Will's flood of emotions. When his father suddenly turned and walked away, Deanna waited until she could catch her good friend's eye. When she had Will's attention, she arched her eyebrow to ask if he was okay, but Will only shrugged indifferently and turned away from her, to greet someone awaiting his attention.

The night went on as most other political soirees. The food was good, but the portions were painfully small. The noise started to wear on the Captain's nerves early on. Polite, yet completely meaningless conversation filled the air and Will Riker watched as his father skillfully avoided being anywhere near him. Deanna managed to bump into him once or twice. Will got the feeling she was angry, but why and at who was unclear. Though she was being drug around by her mother, so he could take a guess.

By the time the festivities were winding down the crew of the Enterprise was gathered together talking quietly, waiting for Lwaxana Troi to release her daughter long enough that they could all leave. Finally Deanna hurried in their direction. "Hurry, let's go quickly, before my mother finds some other poor unmarried man to throw me at," she huffed, irritated.

"So that's why no ghastly uniforms?" Will asked pertly.

Deanna only sighed heavily. "Can we please go Captain, before she drags me off again?"

The captain smiled ruefully and nodded tapping his COM badge. "Transporter room, five to beam up."