A/N: First I must say thank you for all your kind words. I'm sorry it has been so long. I moved my family to a different state and then took a vacation, which was not much rest at all. This weekend was the first time I have relaxed in months. Hope I found my funny. If not, I bet you'll let me know.

Chapter 4

They didn't say another word to each other. What was there left to say? They just walked side by side, down the corridor to where their parents were waiting for them. Of that much Deanna was sure of.

"Wait, wait," Will Riker called out as he pulled on her arm. "Before we do this, we really need a plan."

"A plan?" Deanna asked. "Such as?"

"We have to be together on this Deanna. If they sense weakness from one of us…"

"Our parents are in some sort of a relationship, Will. We don't like it. What kind of plan do you have in mind? Poison them?"

"No. Well…" he tipped his head to one side as he reconsidered for a moment. "No. But they need to know we do not approve," he said firmly.

"They know we don't approve, Will. That's why they were hiding it from us."

"But nothing they say can change our minds. I mean, if we want it to stop, we have to hold firm to the line."

"We don't approve," Deanna repeated sullenly. "Now are we ready?"

Will looked back and forth in the empty corridor. It was late morning and the ships crew was busy with the work of the day. How would one really get ready, he wondered, but he shrugged his shoulders defeatedly.

With a nod, Deanna continued walking. Come in, Little one, she heard her mother call in her mind. Deanna only sighed as she shook her head and, ignoring her mother's invitation, rang the chime.

"Something wrong?" Will asked sarcastically. There were just so many things wrong.

Deanna only sneered at him. "Other than my mother inviting us into your father's quarters?"

The door slid open in front of them. Will was pleased that this time everyone had their clothes on. Kyle Riker hung back from the door, almost tentatively. Lwaxana Troi stood in the middle of the room with her arms folded across her chest, the long draping material of her sleeve wrapping itself around her. "Didn't you hear me?" she asked her daughter sharply.

Deanna didn't answer her. She glanced over her shoulder to where Will stood cautiously eyeing the scene in front of him.

"Why don't you come in," his father offered. "I'm surprised you both came so… quickly."

"Don't be ridiculous. They came because Jean Luc shamed them into it. And why not I say. What kind of officer just comes barging into-"

Deanna saw Will cringe next to her. "Mother," she interrupted her firmly.

"If you had bothered to talk to us like adults," Will countered.

"What adults? You're behaving like spoiled children!" Lwaxana argued.

Will and Deanna both opened their mouths to respond, but Kyle Riker stepped between Lwaxana and their children. "Please!" he called. "Please, come in. Sit down. We can talk about this, together."

Deanna walked to the couch that Kyle motioned to and carefully sat down along with her mother, though there was a gulf between them. Will sat gingerly on the chair nearby, perched on the edge, as if he might bolt out of the room at any minute.

"Now, I know that this must be incredibly uncomfortable for the two of you," Kyle began as he walked and sat on the edge of the arm of the couch, near Deanna's mother, putting a careful hand on her shoulder. Deanna and Will exchanged a wary look at the closeness of their parents. "It's not a picnic for us, I assure you. But we realize," he said glancing down at Lwaxana, "we could have addressed this better."

Will wasn't so sure that Deanna's mother agreed with his father.

"While we are all adults, Kyle feels that we are the parents and it is our place…"

"We both feel," Kyle corrected her, but Will could see that Lwaxana did not.

"We didn't want to make this any more difficult for you," Lwaxana finished.

"So you lied to us, and ignored us, pestered us…" Deanna pressed. "Because you thought that was easier for us? Or just for you?" she accused.

"You make it sound like some evil plot," her mother brushed her aside as if she was being ridiculous.

"That is what that all was about, wasn't it, Mother? All the questions? And him," she gestured to Kyle Riker over her mother's shoulder, "ignoring us both, not saying three words to his own son."

"I am sorry for that. I didn't know what to say."

"For that?" Will asked angrily. He was only sorry for that?

"What do you want him to apologize for, William? Regardless of what the two of you are thinking, this is not some conspiracy. We met. We found the other interesting. We began to see each other socially. It is past my understanding what any of that has to do with either one of you!" Lwaxana bellowed.

"You're our parents!" Will answered.

"Yes, we are both aware of that," Lwaxana told him coldly.

"Our parents," Will said, gesturing desperately between Deanna and himself.

"Yes, we are your parents," Kyle agreed. "And we raised you. We gave up our lives to make sure you had what you needed. And now you are grown and we don't have to answer to you about what we do in our personal lives. This isn't about you. Either of you."

"But it does effect us," Deanna answered calmly. "All of us."

Lwaxana turned to her daughter. "And why does it upset you so?"

Deanna only rolled her eyes. "Mother," she protested.

"You think I should know, should somehow understand and I would, but you told me yourself, the two of you are friends. Good. If that's the case, I don't see how it effects you at all."

"Of course it affects us. Will and I were once… much more than…"

"Yes, once, but you made it clear to me that was in the past. We are now talking about the future," her mother told her curtly.

Will and Deanna's eyes met as the tried to keep their collective cool. "And the job you came to do?" Will asked them. "That doesn't count for anything?"

"Now, what's that supposed to mean?" his father barked.

"You're in the middle of negotiating an important energy treaty!" Will reacted. "\With the Sorronian's. The cold, impersonal, patronizing Sorronians of all people! What do you think they would do if they knew?"

"The Sorronian delegation is perfectly aware of the situation," Lwaxana answered haughtily. "We've been seeing one another for weeks. We certainly didn't keep it a secret from anyone."

"Except your children," Deanna muttered.

"Well which is it?" Kyle Riker asked angrily, beginning to pace the room like a prowling animal. "Are you worried about the Sorronians and the negotiations or is it about you? You can't have it both ways."

"You've put me in the situation where I have to be worried about both, Dad," Will answered tersely.

"Well, you have nothing to worry about. The Sorronian's don't have an issue with it. The only ones with issues are you."

"Yes, we have an issue with it," Will answered, exasperated that neither of their parents seemed to give any credence to why.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Lwaxana said firmly. "But it won't change a thing."

"No, it won't," Kyle agreed. "So you can either get over the shock of it, or not. But we've said all we can say. We didn't set out to hurt you, either of you," he said glancing towards Deanna. "We love each other. We've given you enough. This isn't about you. This is about us."

"So no matter what we say or feel…" Will began.

"Stop acting like a five year old, Will. It hurts your feelings? Go cry in your pillow," his father snapped, dismissing his son's opinion with a quick wave of his hand.

Deanna watched Will recoil. Gone was the tone of 'come and let's talk peacefully'. This was the tone that had driven them apart for so many years. Kyle Riker had lost his temper and his son was about to do the same. Will looked to Deanna, his fury written all over his face, practically pouring off him. Deanna almost reached out to him, wishing she could say or do something to calm him down that wouldn't make the situation worse.

"God, why do I even try?" he said, partly to his father, though he was looking at Deanna. With a shake of his head, he stood up. "Do whatever you want, Dad. You will anyway. Just leave me out of it," he told him and walked out of the room, not even looking back to where Deanna sat.

Deanna didn't blame him, but a part of her wished she had seized the moment and gone with him. She looked around the room at her mother, perched on the end of the couch, seemingly put off by the flare of temper between Kyle and Will. Kyle Riker only seemed more angry, almost stomping as he paced, furious, but Deanna couldn't tell if it was because of his son or because he had lost his temper and driven him away. She could feel that sense of regret, like he knew he shouldn't have said what he did.

"It's just.." he began, as if he were going to try to explain it to the two women, but then just shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "I need some air," he said and without a goodbye, he stormed from the room as well.

Deanna was left on the couch with her mother, now. Alone in quarters where neither of them belonged, in her opinion, though her mother seemed perfectly content there, the silence dragging on between them.

"He does realize he's on a starship, right?" Deanna finally asked. She hoped Kyle Riker wasn't actually so furious that he would take his search for 'air' that seriously.

"Men can be so juvenile, don't you think? Especially human men. So easily riled up. Impulsive. Maybe that's why I'm so easily attracted to them," Lwaxana sighed.

Deanna didn't respond.

"Oh, little one. Can't we talk about this rationally now that they're gone?"

"What's there left to say, Mother?"

"There's always more to say," Lwaxana said calmly smiling at her daughter. "I enjoy him, Deanna. He's made my life exciting again. He's vital and unpredictable."

"Temperamental, you mean," Deanna corrected.

"Is that what Will told you?" her mother asked suspiciously.

Deanna thought of all the times she and Will had sat and talked about his father, and for the first time, she questioned how much of what he has said she could share. How much had been in confidence? Even as a friend? Certainly as a counselor it was private. But rarely did Will come to speak with the ship's counselor.

"Raising children is a difficult thing. There are no user manuals. You don't come with instructions. Kyle admits he was never a perfect father," Lwaxana conceded, but Deanna huffed in scoff.

"Not perfect? Absent, Mother. He left Will on his own at fifteen."

"They didn't get along."

"He broke his arm, did he tell you that?" Deanna asked bitterly.

"A childhood accident."

"No!" Deanna shouted. She could not abide hearing her mother defend the man.

"They were playing some sort of game. That's how they relate to each other. It's all very primal."

"He was his father," Deanna pleaded.

"It was a very long time ago," her mother justified. "It's cultural."

"No, Mother. It's not. Bullying your child is not cultural. It's abusive."

"There are things he regrets. He wants to do better. People change, Deanna." Lwaxana watched her daughter, sitting across from her, her arms folded angrily across her chest. "It that really the issue? That you don't like Kyle?"

Deanna wished it was. Perhaps she could persuade her mother to listen to her if that was all there was.

"Deanna," her mother pleaded. When her mother said her name like that, it always made her feel like a disobedient child.

"You say that this isn't about us, but how can it not effect us, Mother? I love him. Perhaps we aren't romantically involved, but that doesn't change…"

"There are many kinds of love, Deanna."

"I'm not going to approve of this, Mother. I don't think you're behaving rationally. You hardly know him."

"How well did you know William all those years ago?"

Deanna reached up and almost covered her ears. "Please, please, do not compare the two situations. I know more about him than you do. And I can't approve of what you are doing."

"Even if it makes me happy?" he mother asked, a harsh edge to her voice.

"For how long?" Deanna asked. "And when it stops making you happy? Then what?"

Lwaxana rolled her eyes. "You sound like your father. Always ten steps ahead, finding problems that don't exist yet."

"Good!" Deanna cried. She would rather behave like her father than her mother.

"Don't act like a child!" her mother scolded.

Deanna stood from the couch. "One of us has to behave like a responsible adult, Mother. And over and over again, that has been me. Even when I was a child. I can't make you do anything. But I will not stand here and act like I approve when I don't. I will not pretend it doesn't hurt me. What you do, is up to you, but do not count on my support."

Deanna turned to go, as her mother stood up angrily. "How selfish of me to expect my own daughter to, just once, put my happiness before her own," she called after her, her voice dripping with disdain.

Deanna glanced back at her, but part of her knew that this is how her mother manipulated her, in every situation. Well, not this time. Deanna only shook her head and walked out of the room, leaving her mother standing indignantly, alone.

Deanna went back to her quarters for almost an hour. She hated that she cried. She wished she hadn't. It took her a while to be ready to find Will, to be ready to listen to someone else's problems rather than feeling wrapped up in her own. He was in the holodeck, and when she entered, she wasn't the least bit surprised to find him beating the tar out of holograms. It was one of Worf's programs, a bit gruesome, as far as she was concerned. She had surprised him, and when their eyes met, he looked almost ashamed of himself.

"Computer, freeze program," he called. The room was suddenly quiet. There was just a small hill left in the darkness around them. She didn't know where it was supposed to be. Maybe nowhere. Maybe just a figment of Worf's imagination.

"Hi," she said quietly, sitting down on the pile of dirt below her.

Will had worked up quite a sweat. He wiped at his forehead before he sank down next to her. "Hi," he responded guiltily. "I'm sorry for storming out like that."

Deanna shrugged casually. "It's alright."

"I shouldn't have left you alone with them."

"Your father left right after you. My mother and I tried to talk, but…"

"She didn't listen?"

"I stormed out too," Deanna admitted.

Will could see the red in her eyes and knew she had been crying. He wrapped an arm around her. "Oh, poor thing," he tried to console her tender heart.

"I tried, Will. I honestly tried," she said as she curled into him.

"I know."

They sat like that, alone in the dark for a while. "Now what?" Deanna finally asked. "Do we have a new plan?"

"I have my good old fall back plan," he offered.

"Ignore it?"

"Ignore them," he corrected. "We don't have to be supportive. Just professional. So distance seems like a good alternative."

"What do we tell the Captain?"

"That we tried," Will offered. "That it won't affect the mission."

"And the reception tonight?" Deanna asked.

"I don't really see either of them trying to approach us. Do you?"

Deanna thought about that look on her mother's face before she left. Cold, angry, and hurt. "I doubt it," she offered.

Will sighed heavily. "I don't know, Deanna. I don't know what to do. I'm not sure it matters what we do, honestly. If they have their minds set on something…"

"This… this whole thing… it never occurred to me," Deanna confessed. "Why do you suppose I never thought of it?"

"Deanna," Will chided her. "You can't conceive of every possible problem."

"But it's logical," she offered, even when Will gave her a scornful glance. "Data thought so," she told him.

"There is nothing logical about any part of today." Will said wiping at his sweat again.

"Is that why I'm so tired?" she asked, and Will laughed under his breath. "I could lie down right here on this dirt and fall asleep."

"Me too," he offered.

"Oh no," she said pushing him away from her slightly. "Not you too. You need a shower. You stink."

Deanna spent the rest of the day closed in her office, though she had only a couple of appointments that day. She couldn't face her colleagues on the Bridge, and she knew her mother knew better than to track her down while she was working. That room was her only sanctuary at the moment. She sat at her desk staring at the wall trying to counsel herself, to talk through the problem in her own head. Why was she so angry, so hurt? Was it because she didn't like Kyle Riker, didn't trust him? Was it because of Will? The thought of it made her cheeks flush. She could not have Will Riker be her step- brother. The entire thought made her temper flare. He was her Imzadi. How could her mother put her in this situation?

It was late when she finally left her office, mostly because she waited until she was sure her mother would be otherwise occupied. She hurried home, and cleaned herself up, before heading to the reception. She was, what they used to call, fashionably late.

Deanna tried to slip into the room unnoticed, but the Captain caught her eye and gave a quick nod, at least acknowledging her efforts. Deanna only sighed. She hoped Will had told him that it hadn't gone well. She heard her mother's laugh from across the room and looked, to find her with her arm wrapped around the arm of Kyle Riker. Oddly, no one else seemed bothered. They were surrounded by their colleagues from Earth and Batazed, and no one seemed to find it the least bit odd. Only the Sorronian's looked put out, but they always had that same feel of annoyance about them. Slowly Deanna realized that this wasn't a shock to any of them. They had probably been carrying on this way for weeks. Only the presence of their children had cooled their behavior.

Deanna knew her mother could sense her presence, but Lwaxana never gave the slightest hint of knowing her daughter had entered the room. She shook her head and turned away, wondering to the bar in the corner. "I don't suppose you have any real alcohol, do you?" she asked the server.

"Yes, ma'am. The Sorronian's have made quite a point about no synthahol being served around them."

"Really?" Deanna asked. Maybe there was something that could take the edge off the evening. "Make me something, please?" she begged.

"Anything particular?" he asked, a bit confused.

"Something alcoholic," Deanna answered, before turning around and scanning the room for Commander Riker. He had probably gotten a head start in the drink department. But as she scanned the room, she realized he was nowhere to be found. "Data," she called as Data walked past her.

"Counselor," he greeted her.

"Have you seen Commander Riker?" she asked.

"Yes. Commander Riker is in Engineering with Commander LaForge. There was a problem with the lateral alignment stabilizers that Commander LaForge requested his assistance with."

Deanna's face fell. "Really," she asked with bitter disbelief. He had found a way of avoiding the reception and didn't even bother to tell her? He would pay for leaving her there alone.

"Counselor, if you have a moment," Data asked and Deanna eagerly agreed. If she were paired up talking with someone, it would be easy to avoid the lovebirds laughing away near the main table. She put her hand around Data's arm, her other holding her drink and followed him to the far end of the room where there were some chairs away from the table. Together they sat down. "I wanted to apologize for my statement earlier today. It was clearly upsetting to you."

"Oh, Data, no. It was fine. We, Commander Riker and I, we were just… shocked. We weren't behaving very well at all. I should be apologizing to you."

"There is no need, Counselor. But I did have some questions about what you were saying about your mother."

Deanna took a drink. "What did I say about my mother?" she asked. The whole incident had become a bit of a blur.

"She has been married eight times?"

"Nine," Deanna corrected. "One before my father when she was young, then my father who passed away, two more when I was a teen-ager, then there was one just before I left Betazed, and the last four have been in the last 10 years or so."

"Did they all… die?" Data asked, puzzled.

"Die? My father died," she corrected him. "The rest she divorced."

"Fascinating," Data muttered.

Deanna took another drink. "Colorful, I suppose. I'm not sure I'd go as far as fascinating."

"It was my understanding that divorce was… frowned upon in most cultures," Data explained.

"Oh," Deanna said taking another sip of her drink. "Well, maybe." She gave a shrug and tried to explain. "I think there are two schools of thought on my world about marriage. One is that there is a true love, that you should be with for your entire life, that you bond with. Divorce from your true love would certainly be a disappointment, and I guess you could say frowned upon. It would certainly cause a stir in the social circles, I'll give you that."

"And yet your mother has been divorced repeatedly."

"Well, the other school of thought is 'if you're not Mr. Right, you can at least be Mr. Right now'."

Data only stared at her, puzzled.

"Oh, Data. How can I explain? Some people will never find their true love. For them, it is better to be with someone they can enjoy. And when it stops being enjoyable or you've grown apart, the most natural thing to do is move on."

"So your mother would not object to you getting married and divorced?" Data asked.

Deanna almost snorted her drink. "Oh, I'm sure she would. She would find it disgraceful!"

"But…"

"She found her true love, Data," Deanna told him, glancing over to where her mother stood, happily on the arm of Will's father, the center of attention. "My father," she said, looking back to Data. "There are some loves that are once in a lifetime. And sometimes you spend the rest of your life trying to fill that void."

"She would want you to find your one true love," Data offered, and Deanna nodded, glancing over to her mother again. "How would you know if you have?"

Deanna sighed. "I thought I knew… once."

"But you erred?"

Deanna thought of Will Riker all those years ago and felt her heart swell with emotions, until she almost felt a tear in her eye. "I don't know, Data." Was that it? Was that why she was so angry with her mother? Was she taking away her one chance at true love, wasting it away on a momentary thrill?

"Counselor, are you feeling satisfactory?" Data asked her.

Deanna looked away from her mother and quickly wiped at her eyes. "I'm fine, Data. I'm sorry."

"Do you find your mother's relationships unsettling?"

Deanna almost laughed. "Usually, I do my best to ignore them," she admitted. "I guess in a very odd, incredibly selfish, childlike way, I take comfort in knowing that she'll never love anyone the way she loved my father." She looked over as she heard the group around her mother almost cheer and saw Kyle Riker lean over and kiss her mother. Deanna felt her stomach sour. "I find this one unsettling, yes," she said flatly. "Would you mind terribly if we talked about something else?"

"Did you have a topic in mind?" Data asked matter of factly.

"Anything else would be fine."

Data began telling her about some sonnets he had written, a formula for cat food he had tried to reduce Spot's problem with hairballs and the warp core output signature he had been analyzing earlier in the day, and to Deanna's surprise she was thrilled to listen to him talk. She could just shut her mind off and listen. It was moments like this where she reveled in Data's company. She didn't have to try to find his real meaning, to interpret the words from the emotions. It was a blessing, not sensing anything from him. It was cathartic, like meditating.

Finally the doors to the room opened again and Will Riker walked in with Geordi LaForge. He and the Captain shared a quick nod. Something told Deanna, from where she sat next to Data watching it all that Will had been given strict orders to make sure nothing kept him from this dinner.

"Sorry we're late," Geordi greeted Deanna and Data as they approached.

"I'm not really, but," Will said with a shrug. "Did I miss anything?"

"They were kissing," Deanna told him, with a sour look on her face.

"Here?"

"Oh, yes. Just like it was the most natural thing."

"Anything else?" he asked.

Deanna tapped at the rim of her glass. "Real alcohol," she told him. That seemed to perk him up. He might make it through the night yet.

"Interesting. You need another?

"I need about 10 others, especially since you left me here alone," she said bitterly.

"I was working!"

"Right," Deanna muttered.

"Geordi, tell her I was working," Will pleaded.

"I really did ask for his help. I don't know what happened with the alignment. It's never done something like that before."

"Will broke it," Deanna told him. "He broke it to avoid the reception."

"I did not!" he argued, then reconsidered. "Not that it'd be beneath me or anything, it just didn't occur to me."

The group around them laughed, except for Deanna. "You left me here with them kissing," she protested.

"Yeah, but you had alcohol!" he said reassuringly and then headed towards the bar himself.

"You two better watch out," Geordi urged, pointing towards Deanna's half empty glass. "You're not used to that."

"All the better," Deanna sighed.

"That bad?" Geordi asked, looking over his shoulder to their parents.

Deanna just stared back at him.

"You know, my roommate at the academy, his grandparents were step siblings," Geordi offered.

Will had just walked back to the group, drink in hand and looked to Deanna a bit puzzled by the statement.

"I think they were older when their parent's got married and…Not that I'm saying that the two of you… I mean I'm just saying that just because they're you know, doing whatever it is that they're doing," he said gesturing slightly to their parents behind him, "it doesn't really have any impact on…" but the more Geordi talked, the more cross the looks on the counselor and commander's faces grew.

"Whose side are you on?" Deanna asked, bitterly.

"No sides, I was just…"

"Yeah, you know, he's right," Will said, sitting down next to Deanna. "I mean why would it change anything about our lives?" he said, his tone deeply sarcastic.

"We could take family vacations together!" Deanna chimed in.

"And it certainly wouldn't keep us from, you know, getting married, having kids…"

"They'd have one complete set of grandparents," Deanna offered. "And when they were old enough, I'd just have to explain, 'see Timmy, that nice man you call Daddy, he's also your uncle!'"

"Any we are really, really sorry about your webbed feet," Will added seriously, and Deanna laughed.

"Interesting," Data said, studying them. "You do understand, Commander, that even if your parents were to marry, that you and Counselor Troi would be no more closely genetically related than you are now, making any chance of a birth defect, such as webbed feet no more or less a statistical probability."

"They're metaphorical webbed feet, Data," Will told him.

"I see."

"But we're laughing about it. That's a step in the grieving process, right?" he asked her.

"Not technically," Deanna answered, but it did feel good to laugh for a moment at the absurdity of it.

They talked for a few more minutes before the Captain motioned for them to join him at the table. The dinner was ready to begin. But just as they were reaching their seats, the chirp of the communication system interrupted. "Commander LaForge, the alignment is complete, but the system is not coming back on line," an ensign called.

"On my way," Geordi answered tapping his COM badge. "Commander?"

Will needed no further invitation. "Of course." He turned to Deanna and whispered, "Duty calls."

"Don't," she bit back. "Don't do it. Don't leave me here." But it was too late. Will was explaining the issue to the Captain, and also to the delegates, reassuring everyone that it would not delay their journey, and then he and Geordi were off, out the door and safe from the disapproving glances Deanna was receiving from her mother.

It was a full two hours before the system was up and running. Granted, he hadn't exactly been pushing the engineering crew to move it along. He knew it was wrong, but it was easier than sitting in that room all night with his father touching Deanna's mother like it were normal. Will doubted there was much of the reception left going on but he promised he'd report in to the Captain and the computer told him the Captain was still there. He and Geordi walked out of the lift together.

"The counselor's going to be mad at you," Geordi almost sang.

"That's nothing new," Will offered as they rounded the corner and headed back into the dining hall.

The Captain was talking with Jonathan Durrant, one of his father's assistance, and a member of the Sorronian delegation whose name Will hadn't committed to memory, and he looked relieved for the interruption. "Commander," the Captain called. "An update?"

"The stabilizers are functioning normally, Sir. And the ship has returned to full speed."

"Excellent, thank you."

Will gave the Captain a quick nod before glancing around at the rest of the room as the two delegates bid the Captain good night.

"Commander," Will heard a soft voice from behind him.

"Guinan," he said as he turned to greet her.

"If you're done with that problem, you may want to deal with the personnel issue."

"What personnel issue?" Will asked confused.

With a rueful point she indicated the far side of the room, where Beverly Crusher was sitting next to Deanna. Geordi had already made his way over and was looking back to Will nervously, while Worf and Data mulled nearby.

Will made his way across the room. "Hey there, everybody," he called casually, trying to feel out the scenario. "What's going on?"

"I told her to take it easy, Sir," Geordi answered.

Will looked back to the only two women in the room. Beverly sat protectively close to Deanna, who sat rather too casually, a new drink in her hand. Will glanced back to Guinan as she scurried around the room cleaning up and she gave a nod, as if he was on the right track. "Deanna, what's that there?" he asked, trying not to sound too accusing.

"Lovely, lovely alcohol," she responded, her voice ever so slightly slurred.

"Wow," he muttered. Maybe this was worse than he thought.

"Calm down, Commander," she said bitterly. "It's juice with… something else. I don't really remember what. Want some?" she asked offering him the glass.

That was as good a way as any, he thought as he reached for her glass and took a sip. "Ahgh," Will sputtered. "That is a little tiny bit of fruit juice and a whole lot of vodka."

"It's good," Deanna said taking the glass back from him and taking another drink.

"Yeah, but maybe you're had enough," he suggested, reaching for the drink, only to have her snatch it away. "How many of these have you had?"

Deanna only shrugged her shoulders, innocently, but Guinan wandered by and held up six fingers.

"Six?" Will gasped loudly, then glanced to the other end of the room where the Captain was just ushering the last delegate out. "Okay, six," he said more softly, forcefully taking the glass from her.

"They were kissing!" Deanna argued her case. "And you just left me here. I could have gone to engineering!"

"Yes, you're known the ship over for your engineering skills. I think the Captain would have bought that."

"And he was just as bad as the others, just acting like it was no big deal… like he bought right into it."

"What it that I was buying, Number One?" the Captain asked coming up behind him and Will froze, feeling caught red handed.

"Nothing, Sir. We were just… I was going to walk Deanna home."

"Seems a prudent move," he said with that knowing look.

If Will thought he was keeping the fact that one of his officers was tipsy from the Captain he was mistaken. Will hoped she hadn't made a scene, but the look on the Captain's face told him that he had the situation contained. Will glanced around the room again, just to make sure there were no lingering guests.

"They're gone," Deanna muttered.

"Who?"

"Our parents, that's who. They left together, by the way. It was… lovely," she said with a shake of her head.

"Well, I say we follow their lead and get you home. Come on," he said tugging on her arm, but she wasn't budging.

"Careful, Commander. You're starting to sound dangerously like a big brother."

"Well, the alternative's an angry Commander, so let's get you out of here." He gave another tug, but Deanna wasn't moving.

"Do you know what our parents are doing right now?" Deanna almost yelled.

Will could see she had no intention of going anywhere, and he sank into the seat next to her, drearily. "No, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me," he said warily.

"They're having sex!" she declared to the room.

Will put his head in his hands. "Oh, thank you," he muttered, picturing the morning's events all over again.

"They are!" she hollered too loudly. "I mean do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had sex?"

Will dropped his hand and looked her in the eye. "Do you have any concept that you're sitting in a room full of your colleagues?"

"Oh, shut up. It wasn't yesterday for you either," she said bitterly.

"Okay, now we're in a room with all my colleagues."

"I'm just saying that if anyone of us is having sex, it ought to be us! Oh," she gasped. "That's it! We should go have sex," she declared, perfectly serious.

"Yeah, that'll show 'em," Will answered sarcastically.

"I'm serious!"

"And if you weren't drunk as hell, I might take you up on it, but you are, and I'm taking you home. Come on," he said standing back up and giving her another firm tug on the arm, but she still didn't budge.

"You know the worst part? The part that really gets me?" she asked.

"More than the sex? Because I gotta say, that's the part that really gets me," he told her.

"Do you know what my mother said about you when we were together?"

"No, but I'm willing to take a guess that it wasn't flattering, and I'm still in a room with everyone I work with," he answered.

"She said you weren't good enough for me," Deanna told him, as if it was some great revelation.

"I'm shocked," Will answered with his same sarcastic tone.

"I mean it, Will. Would you stop mocking me for just one minute? Can't you ever be serious?"

Will pointed at himself innocently. "You're drunk!"

"I'm making a point!"

"But will it make sense to anyone else?" he pleaded. "Come on, I'll walk you home, I'll get you some water…"

"She said you weren't good enough for me, but now it's suddenly okay for her to date your father? Let me tell you something about your father, Will. You're ten times the man your father is on his best day, and she thought you weren't good enough for me?"

Will couldn't help but smile at his friend who sat, so put out in front of him. "That's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me," he told her.

"Yeah, well…" Deanna shrugged him off. She was mad at him for leaving her there alone all night.

Will tugged her up again and this time she stood and he put a protective arm around her. "You probably won't remember it tomorrow, but…"

"I always think that," Deanna said softly as she leaned against him.

Will kissed the top of her head lightly. "Come on," he urged. "Things'll look better in the morning."

"Promise?" she pleaded, suddenly seeming very sleepy.

Will smiled back at her. "Well, not for you. You're going to have a splitting headache, but for the rest of us. We got free entertainment," he said with a shrug. Deanna started to take a swat at him, but it seemed it took too much energy, so she let her head hang against him. "Okay, party's over folks," he told the rest of the group as he ushered her away.

"It's the Sorronian's fault," he heard Beverly telling the Captain as he walked Deanna out of the room. Sure, things would look better in the morning. They couldn't get much worse.