Notes: This is the revised chapter 1.
This story is essentially a re-imagining of episode 1 from season 2 titled "The Child".

*For author's notes and news, please check my profile.*

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own anything related to the Star Trek universe. I just like to play with it.

The Star Trek TNG episode titled "The Child" was originally written by Jaron Summers, Jon Povill and Maurice Hurley, and directed by Rob Bowman.

A big and loud 'thank you!' to BEM96 for sharing her time and gift with words. Her corrections and suggestions made all the difference.

The Child

Chapter 1

This one won't do.

The sphere of energy hovering over the snoring man spun around once more and gathered momentum to pass through the top bulkhead. It entered another confined space as its curiosity drove it to find an ideal host to permit its transition into the species it found so new and interesting. So far, none of the multiple beings the orb had come across would do. It would keep searching. Given the number of potential hosts, it was bound to find one soon.

The luminescent orb hovered directly over the aura surrounding the sleeping body in the darkened room.

The features on this one were different. It was smaller, with abundant dark hair splayed out on the pillow. The body had significantly more curves than several of the other beings.

Another female.

The orb had been observing the species on this vessel for several of their cycles and had gathered enough information, not only to be able to identify their particular characteristics, but to be immensely curious about them. It knew that it needed a female of the species, just as it had been in most of the other species it had encountered and studied. The orb hoped it found in this one, the kind of host it was looking for.

In fact, the orb really liked this one, far more than all the other females it had found. It was attracted to her by more than pure curiosity. There was uniqueness about her aura. The energy that was being projected by her neural activity in this state of hibernation was soothing, calming, and very inviting.

The orb's light dimmed to a barely detectable degree as it approached the sleeping form. The orb slid through the atmosphere in the room, air particles accommodating back into place in its wake as it made its way towards her. It came to a lazy stop right above her face and then dipped down, barely an inch from her skin. The orb linked itself to her biological energy and slowly, silently began to familiarize itself with her.

It had already inspected enough of them to recognize what made them all the same. Now the orb wanted to know what made this one unique. It focused on the particular energy that concentrated at the topmost part of her body. It was different from the rest.

Neural resources exceed typical sensory perception.

That was most certainly a tempting reason to select her, but the orb continued its reconnaissance of her form and composition. It was always very selective in its choice of hosts.

It made a detailed pass of her face, moving in an apparently erratic but precise and smooth pattern. The orb navigated down her neck towards the rest of her body. The pheromones rising from the skin on her neck were impossible to dismiss.

The orb continued its course pausing at her rising and falling chest. The muscle that circulated life supporting fluids along her entire organism produced a rhythmic, low-frequency sound whose beats had been steadily increasing in speed since the orb had begun its transit of her frame.

Indication of immediate awareness...instinctual response.

It passed between her breasts, across the plain below, and reached the small indentation at her middle, where her body had once been physically attached to her host during her initial phase of life. After lingering there for a moment, the orb stopped and circled.

This was it; the place that would provide the optimal conditions to receive the life-giving support of its host.

The orb spared no more time.

As it gathered its energy, the light surrounding it became brighter and brighter as the orb resumed its path down and then disappeared inside the female's body.

The woman woke gradually, so much that she could perceive the waking of each layer of her consciousness as it happened. She became aware of her surroundings. Familiar. Her bedroom. But she wasn't lying like had thought she was. She tried to move, but her body didn't respond. Her brain ordered her body to move, but it was still…a mind body disconnect, a stage of deep sleep she had suddenly half awoken from. A spark of panic shot a hot burst of adrenaline within her chest. She felt her heart beating fast.

Calm down, it's just sleep paralysis and it's happened once before. I just have to wait it out. My body will wake up eventually. There's no sense in panicking.

She tried to talk herself into calming down, and she was succeeding, but it as she relaxed, her senses perceived a separate presence in her proximity. Deanna sensed awareness from it, but she couldn't reach beyond that. A sense of apprehension invaded her even though she could not detect any hostile intentions from it.

With no warning it came very close, stopping above her eyebrows. Her heartbeat sped up again, but the reaction wasn't out of fear. There was a conscious presence within that source of light...and it was hovering above her skin, moving in an arbitrary pattern of circles, loops and pauses. Deanna couldn't avoid the increasing anxiety this was creating. Her racing heart beat in a body that wouldn't obey the orders from her brain. An unknown presence had invaded her bedroom and was extremely interested in her...it justified the privilege of having a panic attack.

She concentrated on taking deep, even breaths to settle the anxiety while the presence traveled her immobilized frame; across her neck, where it paused for a brief moment. Then it continued down past her breasts, down her stomach and circled around her navel until it stopped right below it. Instantly the presence collected its energy as it hovered lower, and in one unhurried moment it was within her. She felt it enter, and soon the sensation quickly dissipated.

When everything was back to normal, Deanna felt her body reconnecting with her brain. She regained movement in her fingers, then her hands, her toes, her arms, her feet…it was all back. She curled up on her side and inhaled deeply, her eyes blinking wide open and staring into the darkness of the room as her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

The communication system in her quarters chimed indicating an incoming voice conference request. It chimed three times before it nudged her from her placid sleep. Dr Beverly Crusher checked her bedside clock with one half-closed eye. There was no way she would ever grow accustomed to the 'pre dawn emergency call'. For the caller's sake, she hoped this was a real critical emergency.

"Crusher here."

An agitated voice greeted her, "Beverly...I'm sorry to wake you..."

"Deanna?" Beverly said groggily. The anxiety in the counselor's voice made her lift herself up onto her elbows and pay closer attention. "What's wrong? Where are you?" Beverly's professional response and friendly concern fused into her questions.

"In my quarters...Beverly, something very strange happened. Something was here…in my bedroom…" she trailed off. Deanna felt unable to articulate what she had experienced…it was still too close.

"Oh my god, Deanna, did you call security? Are you alright?" the doctor's questions rushed out as she hurried out of bed.

"I'm alright now, but when I woke up, I couldn't move. There was a presence…very close…"

Deanna was having trouble organizing her thoughts. The lack of sleep and sudden loss of her adrenaline rush had left her in a daze.

Beverly changed out of her sleeping clothes with practiced speed as she tried to make sense of the words the counselor continued to utter, scattered, partially formed thoughts...light, awareness, presence…

"Deanna…" Beverly tried to interrupt her, but the counselor continued rambling.

"Deanna, stop talking. Listen." Dr Crusher spoke in a calm and authoritative manner which usually worked in moments like this one. When she heard silence, the doctor continued, "Are you well enough to meet me in sickbay right now, or do you need me to come to you?" She asked as she put on her second shoe.

There was a pause, then an unsteady reply, "I can meet you there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." The Counselor felt a strong need to be somewhere other than her quarters at that moment.

"Okay, go straight to sickbay. I'll be waiting in my office." Beverly quickly ended the communication, grabbed her tricorder and rushed to her office.

Dr Crusher walked into a dimly lit sickbay, hearing only minor activity in the lab section and the sound of a couple of sleeping patients. Nurse Linares stepped out of an adjacent section to begin her rounds.

"Dr Crusher! I didn't expect to see you here at this hour", nurse Linares welcomed her in a surprised but hushed tone. "Can I help you with anything?"

Beverly replied with a weary smile, "No, don't let me distract you Aleena. Counselor Troi will be here in a few minutes. Please show her to my office, I'll be waiting for her there."

"Of course, doctor. Is...Counselor Troi alright?" She asked, allowing a touch of concern into her voice.

"I'm sure she's fine." The doctor answered with a sleepy, reassuring smile. She quickly walked into her office to avoid any more well-intended inquiries.

Deanna changed into a clean pair of soft, cotton pants and a fitted white tank top. She picked up the light fleece jacket that she had draped across the back of a chair. She was unsettled and her movements were slightly awkward as she stepped into her slippers, and wrapped the soft fleece around herself as she walked out the door. As she stepped into the hallway, Deanna regained her balance and zipped her jacket up halfway. Her hands hid inside the fuzzy front pockets the rest of the way to sickbay. Maybe they would warm up by the time she got there.

Not long after Dr Crusher settled into her office chair, the sound of the main sickbay door made its way to her ears. She heard Aleena quietly inform the counselor that the doctor was waiting in her office, and Deanna's grateful reply followed by her footsteps. Dr Crusher looked up just as the counselor's form appeared at the entrance to her office.

Deanna's face was flushed and framed by loose, slightly mussed curls. She was trying to remain composed, but Beverly detected an almost imperceptible trembling in her arms and throughout her frame. Her friend's expression justified the concern she felt from the moment she received the disturbing call. The agitation in Deanna's voice during the call was something she hadn't often heard, and that itself was cause for some worry. Something happened to her and it had seriously frightened her. Beverly stood immediately and went to her.

"How are you feeling?" she inquired as she placed her hands on Deanna's shoulders and gently guided her to a bed in one of the private examination rooms.

Deanna shook her head, "I felt better for a while, but then I started feeling like this again so I called you", she replied in a wavering voice as she allowed Beverly to guide her.

"You're trembling" Dr Crusher observed, "Are you cold?" She asked in a calm, steady voice as they reached the bed and Deanna got up onto it.

"My hands won't to warm up." She replied. Deanna let Dr Crusher guide her down onto the soft surface of the bed, where she curled up on her side. She didn't want to think right now so she closed her eyes, shielded her senses and gave in to the complete trust she had in her friend; the unsteadiness in her mind and body beginning to overwhelm her again.

Beverly immediately detected the detachment in the counselor. She needed to get her talking to try to describe what she thought caused this. As Dr Crusher ran a scan on the counselor, she tried to make relevant conversation with her.

"You said you had a nightmare; that the symptoms began when you awoke from it?" Beverly sorted through the scan results as they appeared while she waited for Troi's answer. Her adrenaline levels were a bit elevated for a person who was supposed to be trying to sleep, and her body temperature was lower than normal, which explained the trembling. As Beverly reached for a thermal blanket from one of the bed's storage compartments, Deanna spoke in a halting voice.

"No...I woke up and I tried to move, but I couldn't."

"Sleep paralysis." Crusher stated.

Deanna nodded, "I began to panic, but I used a breathing exercise to calm down...then I sensed it."

The Counselor was still a little shaky, but she was composed enough to talk coherently.

Dr Crusher tucked the blanket around her while she listened to Troi speak.

"It was there, in my bedroom...a presence...watching me..." She focused on a random spot across the room as she spoke.

Dr Crusher was beginning to imagine the worst.

"What happened, Deanna? Are you hurt?", the doctor asked with concern in her voice. Then she braced for the worst, "Were you assaulted?" It was hard to ask, but she needed to know exactly what happened so she could treat or reverse any damage.

Troi sensed the doctor's increasing concern and focused back on her, "No, no...", she said more emphatically to reassure Beverly, "It didn't hurt me...it...", she recalled the event, remembering how she felt as it traveled along her body .

"What did it do?" The doctor encouraged Deanna to continue. When the pause continued for too long, Beverly leaned in and spoke in a warm voice, "Deanna, you're light years away. Focus."

A moment passed and then Troi continued. Using a still shaky hand to trace its motions, the counselor recounted the path that the presence had taken along her paralyzed body. Dr Crusher listened and observed every detail of her description.

"...and stopped here." She hovered her hand over her flat belly. "The energy I felt from it got stronger...and then it... then it was inside me." The last few words were spoken with a mixture of wonderment and disbelief. It was the first time she had spoken them and it gave the experience a whole different flavor.

Beverly had pulled up a stool and was sitting by Deanna, giving her undivided attention to the counselor's words and condition. More than her physical condition, it was the detachment that Deanna projected that worried Dr Crusher. Beverly gently took her friend's hand from where it rested on her belly and held it between them on the warm blanket . Perhaps the contact would reconnect her enough and get her back to herself again.

"Could it have been an hallucination from the sleep paralysis?" the doctor kept her voice warm but professional.

The counselor focused inward now and tried to give Beverly some more detail, "It was too real. The presence was strong and I saw the light above me." Deanna's voice carried more conviction than moments before. "I felt…" she paused to remember the sensations, glad that her skin was already slightly flushed "It was too real."

Deanna felt an irrational need to protect the whole experience. She felt it becoming increasingly difficult to share it in more detail. Yes, she had panicked for a moment, but there had been nothing hostile or frightening about it. As she recalled it now, it had been eerily intimate, and it was something she just didn't want to share with Beverly, or with anyone.

Deanna took a long, calming breath, "I was able to move again after it disappeared."

The counselor went silent and blinked a couple of times, her eyes settling on their joined hands.

Equally silent, Dr Crusher reached for another tricorder, and releasing the counselor's hand, she folded the blanket back partially off her and ran a localized scan.

They both remained silent while the scan progressed; the severity of the situation still unclear. Deanna kept her eyes shut and just tried to relax, feeling the rush of anxiety subsiding. Dr Crusher guided the tricorder as the scan offered several readings, and as the results appeared, Beverly noticed a familiar pattern.

Deanna almost appeared to be deep in meditation, but she was discreetly monitoring Beverly's emotions as she worked. Except for the continual stream of apprehension that had been there from the beginning of their meeting, the doctor's emotions were fairly balanced as she focused on the tricorder.

Then, the counselor sensed a change in the steady stream of emotion flowing from the doctor as she came to a realization that was not yet evident to Deanna. What she could identify was a combination of familiarity, surprise and a little…disbelief. The counselor knew then that Dr Crusher had conclusive results.

Deanna opened her eyes "What did you find?" she asked with impatience.

Beverly looked up at her, then back at her tricorder.

"Deanna...how have you been feeling these last couple of weeks, anything out of the ordinary?", the doctor asked somewhat cryptically.

Deanna thought back for an instant and shook her head, "I've felt fine, why?"

Doctor Crusher studied her tricorder for another moment.

"Beverly" the counselor persisted.

"I seem to have an answer for you." Dr Crusher chose her words with caution, knowing full well that the counselor had been practically stalking her emotions the whole time.

"Well?" Deanna insisted with raised eyebrows.

Beverly spoke slowly and carefully but straight to the point, "You're pregnant".

Counselor Troi slowly parted her lips to speak, but no words came out. She didn't know why, but it made sense. The presence inside her...what it did...the way it left her feeling...

"And it looks like you're about four weeks along." the doctor added.

Four weeks. Deanna backtracked through her recent memories, and a very pleasant encounter filled her mind. About a month or so back was that night when they were last together...it had been totally spontaneous and felt completely right. Could it be? Was she really pregnant with his baby? Could what she thought had happened when she woke up all have just been some sort of a bad dream?

Deanna calmly lifted herself up and sat cross-legged under the blanket. A dreamy smile softened her features as she considered the facts.

Beverly watched her expression change and felt a weight was lifted.

The counselor, still smiling, turned to her friend, "Really?" The word was hushed, but conveyed so much joy.

Beverly let out a sigh of relief, and allowed herself to revel in the joy of it with her friend. "Really. The readings indicate that the fetus is in an early embryonic stage. Do you mind hanging around for a more specialized scan?" She asked with evident joy in her voice.

The counselor responded with an enthusiastic nod. She couldn't find any reason at all to wipe the smile from her face. She wasn't at all prepared for this, but she welcomed it nonetheless. Deanna could think of nothing that could make her happier as she thought of ways to give Will the news.

It took a few minutes, but Beverly managed to wheel in a larger scanning device. They could have gone into main Sickbay for the scan, but for the sake of Deanna's wish for privacy, they decided to keep the procedures in the private exam room.

She positioned it beside the bed, and switched it on. The counselor rested quietly while Dr Crusher worked.

Deanna had had a few minutes to herself while Beverly went off to prep the scanner. During that moment of solitude she contemplated the meaning of it all; of having a child in her life, in Will's life. She had sat quietly as she pondered.

It was a few more minutes while Dr Crusher configured the settings on the scanner for a specialized gestational scan that would give her important details about the fetus and the mother. "Sorry about the wait, Deanna. I haven't had to use this scanner in a while. I normally use the one in main Sickbay. I just have to configure some settings for this particular scan and then we can get started."

"That's fine" said Deanna, relaxed into the raised backrest and staring at a particular spot on the bulkhead.

Beverly grinned, "Where are you off to now?" she asked while she entered commands into the scanner, encouraging some conversation out of her silent friend.

"Oh, just thinking" was Deanna's vague answer.

"About?" the doctor inquired with a raised eyebrow.

The counselor took a long, deep breath, "About how to tell him." she confessed.

"Ah," Beverly acknowledged. "And I assume I'm correct in whom I think he is." she said seeking confirmation.

The counselor grinned, "Yes."

Beverly was happy to have it confirmed.

"Okay, so lie back a bit," said the doctor as she adjusted the bed's backrest and the counselor stretched out comfortably.

Beverly folded the blanket down, leaving only Deanna's legs covered. "Your body temperature is back to normal. Feeling better?"

The counselor nodded, "Yes, much better."

"Good", said the doctor while picking up a hive-type mesh of transducer cells from a compartment in the scanner. "This goes directly on your skin. Lift up your shirt a bit".

Counselor Troi did so, and Dr Crusher placed the transducer cells on her patient's lower belly, adjusting the waist of her pants around it.

In the center of the mesh was a touch pad. When the transducers were placed to Dr Crushers satisfaction, she activated the connection between them and the machine, and activated the holographic imaging function.

An image jumped into view, projected onto the screen above the scanner.

At first it was something unrecognizable to Deanna. She felt a little anxious to see with her eyes, what Beverly had just told her.

"Give it a few seconds to analyze the data", the doctor explained, watching the figures and data flash across the smaller screen on the scanner computer.

Just a couple of seconds later, the image of a tiny life was drawn into existence, in full holographic detail, on the clear panel above the scanner.

Doctor Crusher ran her fingers across the touch pad in the middle of the transducer mesh, rotating the hologram, zooming in and out, and studying it intently.

From the moment it caught her eyes, Deanna was mesmerized. A tiny being in its initial stages of life. It's head was almost as big as its body, and Deanna could see tiny little nubs that would soon be its fingers and toes. She pointed it out to Beverly in her excitement.

"Yes, I see that", responded the doctor, but the sound of her voice caught the counselor's attention.

Beverly was absorbed into the data she was reading, but she was intrigued and concerned about something.

Counselor Troi's brow furrowed, "Is everything okay?" she asked, sensing the doctor's preoccupation.

"Yeah...", Doctor Crusher responded somewhat distracted, "...the baby's fine..."

The counselor waited for more information. When none came, she leaned forward a bit trying to get into the doctors line of sight. Beverly's preoccupation with something she was seeing worried her.

"But?" not having succeeded in catching Doctor Crusher's attention, the counselor leaned forward a bit more causing the transducers to shift, and the holographic image to jump on the screen, "Beverly?"

"Deanna, be careful", snapped the doctor, and turned to readjust the transducer cells on Deanna's abdomen.

The counselor seized that moment. She grabbed Beverly's wrist and her attention, "Beverly, what is it?" Deanna searched the doctor's eyes.

Doctor Crusher locked eyes with her patient for a moment. She still wasn't sure how to explain what she was seeing. It didn't make sense to her.

Deanna felt herself growing anxious again, "Just say it, Beverly. Don't walk on eggshells around me. It's a pointless thing to do with an empath."

Doctor Crusher sighed, "You're right, I'm sorry." Beverly said, nodding. She began to say something but paused.

"I'm still waiting", Counselor Troi insisted, arms crossed.

Dr Crusher took a calming breath. "Okay, first of all, the baby seems fine and so do you. Everything is normal, except...it's like I'm seeing it grow right before my eyes." she explained.

"What do you mean?" asked Deanna.

"The scan keeps reporting new data, like it keeps updating because every few seconds there's something new going on. For example, here", Beverly pointed at a set of readings, "this is data on the state of the baby's nervous system. Look at all these points." The doctor focused the counselor's attention to a specific set of data. "Each one is more advanced than the previous." She turned away from the monitor, and turned to face her patient giving her a moment for the information to sink in.

"So..." Deanna wagered her interpretation, "the baby is growing."

"Well, yes", Doctor Crusher confirmed, "but way too fast." she added with emphasis.

Counselor Troi frowned, unsure of what to make of what Beverly was saying. The emotions her friend was projecting were troubling, and that, plus her words, were having a sobering effect on Deanna.

"What this means is that your baby is in accelerated growth. This is not humanly possible, Deanna, neither Humans nor Betazoids gestate this quickly." Doctor Crusher finally stated.

Deanna nodded, lost in thought. The possibility of this baby being hers and Will's had felt right somehow…even with it being so unexpected. What she thought happened earlier could have very well been a symptom of her sleep paralysis. She knew vivid hallucinations were common during an episode. Deanna hoped with all her heart that the odd readings were in fact a glitch…but Beverly's troubled emotions, and her own ominous memory of that intelligent consciousness she perceived from whatever was in her bedroom that night, haunted her.

The counselor felt her pulse quicken. Her breathing rate increased. A pinch of fear was upsetting her.

"Deanna," Doctor Crusher spoke quietly and waited for her friend's gaze to return to the present moment. "You're upset." she stated the obvious.

"Yes, a bit." the counselor didn't mean for it to sound sarcastic.

Doctor Crusher noticed but let it slide. "What are you thinking now?" she reclined in her swivel chair, crossed her arms and waited.

Moments later, "Can you take this off?", the counselor motioned at the mesh resting on her flat belly. It was starting to itch.

"Sure." Doctor Crusher took the mesh of transducers and placed them aside.

The counselor rubbed her skin and rearranged her clothing, turned on her side to a more comfortable position, and pulled the blanket up.

"Should I be afraid, Bev?" she spoke, fear staining her words.

"Don't be, Deanna" Dr Crusher reassured the counselor. She rested her elbows on the bed and continued, "It's strange, yes, but it doesn't seem to be dangerous or life-threatening. All the data says your baby is a humanoid just like you and me. We'll take it one day at a time." the doctor explained.

"But what if it grows too fast, what if my body can't take it, what could happen to me?" The string of questions were growing frantic.

Doctor Crusher noticed the counselor's nervousness. "Deanna, I've got you", the doctor reassured her again, this time squeezing the counselor's hand tight, expressing her determination in that touch.

"I'll be monitoring your progress constantly. We'll investigate what could have caused this. And at the slightest hint of danger, we'll take action. We'll do whatever is necessary for your safety. I mean it." Doctor Crusher gave Deanna a determined look. "You know I'm serious."

Counselor Troi forced a strained smile in response to her friend's declarations, and although she sensed that Beverly was absolutely sincere, even the doctor's determination couldn't relieve her fears completely.

After a moment of just being there together, absorbing what they had just learned, the counselor yawned. It caused the doctor to yawn too, and they both chuckled.

"De, stay here, okay? Just sleep. At least until first shift starts." Beverly requested. "I'll feel a lot better having you close by, at least until you're well rested."

Deanna didn't have to think about it that long. Her eyes felt heavy, her body exhausted, and the warm blanket wrapped around her felt really good. But a second later her eyes shot open again.

"I have to tell Will." she blurted out and started lifting herself up from the bed.

Doctor Crusher gently pushed her back down, "You can tell him later, Deanna. You need to rest now, and I also want to monitor you while you're here. I'm not taking any chances." the doctor made it an order.

"But he has to hear it from me." the counselor insisted, lying back down.

"I'm setting an alarm to wake you at first shift. You can tell him then." said the doctor as she input some data into the panel on the biobed Deanna was in. When Doctor Crusher finished setting up the monitor on the biobed, the counselor was already breathing steadily, seemingly already asleep. Beverly dimmed the lights and quietly left Deanna's room, heading towards her office.

Deanna felt Beverly leave. The blanket was warm around her body, but the room suddenly felt cold. The silence in the small space seemed loud and heavy.