I Think I'll Keep You, a You-Add-On TNG fic

[PicardsTrueLove]

I'm going to stry posting this here b/c no one's adding on in the fanfic thread so I'm hoping TNG fans here will add on! (please? pretty please?) I've written the first two pieces my self but I hope someone else will add the rest.

Ok, here's the deal. I'm going to set some parameters for this fic (i.e., the end result, the series, etc.), write the beginning, and then let anyone add on their own additions. Please try to keep mostly to the story that I'm trying to tell, but beyond that, let your imagination run away with you! Happy reading/writing!

THIS IS A POST-NEMESIS FIC. DO NOT READ THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO SEE SPOILERS OR HAVE ALREADY SEEN THE FILM.

Parameters:

1) Stay in the TNG series: otherwise I get confused ( <me when you talk about other series...)
2) Picard and Crusher should end up together, and while you can make them have affairs with other people their love should be a large part of the fic. Also, I want to end with Beverly pregnant, but NOT in a nice happy way (not sexual abuse, but under "strange circumstances"). Maybe Picard gone or something?
3) Please find some way to use the phrase "I think I'll keep you" in the body of what you add to the fic.
4) Please DO NOT add "one-liners." Try to post at least a good sized paragraph, but no more than ten paragraphs in a turn.
5) Try to fit eveyrthing you want to write into ONE POST: don't post small fragments one right after another.
6) Please include your name/pen name with your writing: everyone should get proper credit!
7) This takes place after Nemesis: I'm going to make the assumption that another Enterprise will be built. This will be the NCC-1701-F

OK I think that about covers it. Here's the intro, by Dana Katherine Scully:


Jean-Luc Picard walked onto the bridge of the new Enterprise F. Since he had taken command of the Enterprise D those many years ago, it had felt like a merry-go-round of Enterprises: one right after another. He could swear that sometimes he flet dizzy! However, the one constant had been his crew. His senior officers especially had been a pillar of his life for 15 years, and when the Enterprise D had been destroyed, they all had moved with him to the Enterprise E. But now? He had lost his First Officer, his best friend, to the winds of change. And to make matters worse, he had lost a dear friend and trusted companion in the same gust: poof! The great Jean-Luc Picard stood slightly more stopped than before, his proud silouhette just a bit less distinct. "A man is no more than the people he surrounds himself with," he noted in his personal log.

Amid all of the turmoil caused by the departure of his friends, Jean-Luc found comfort in the strength of his strongest pillar: that of his dear friend Beverly. She had remained with him for many years, and he felt honoured to serve with such a fine officer and top-notch doctor. Although he'd never admit it, he also felt a bit more than honoured. "To be perfectly honest," he noted in his log, "I'm downright giddy that she's chosen to remain with me."


Standing in her new sickbay, Beverly Crusher was overwhelmed by the newness of it all. The technology was advancing so quickly she swore that some day it would trip over itself and they'd be pack to the days of the automobile and the "desktop computer" (if you could call it that). She quite imagined herself that way sometimes: moving from place to place so quickly that eventually she'd trip and fall flat on her face, and realize that she had no one left to pick her up. Wesley was following his own path, and Jack had left long ago. Jean-Luc was sweet, but he was so afraid of offending her or pushing her that he would only pick her up with her express consent! His tendency to repress his emotions made her both amused and angry, because she could ask him point-blank if he was feeling something she KNEW he was feeling, and he would blow her off. But there were those rare moments, moments when time seemed to stop short and all other creatures disappear, leaving them alone in the universe. Moment when he would make an off-hand remark that he thought revealed nothing, but told Beverly everything.

Occassionally, she would have dreams about him. She wondered with a sigh what Deanna would think about that. Would she laugh and say, "Beverly, it's an infatuation!" Or look her in the eye and ask her, "And did you two...you know...well...so?" (to which Beverly would have to nod). Beverly though, however, that the most likely reaction she would get from her friend would be, "Beverly, why haven't you told him how much you're in love with him?" She would spin some tail about how she felt it was inappropriate. But in her heart, she was afraid. Afraid that his feelings were not as strong as hers, or that he was secretly in love with someone else, or that he was simply not attracted to her, or...or... Or what, Beverly? she would then ask herself. The personal log entries that she had made regarding the subject were confused rantings, showing Beverly "The Ice Queen" Crusher going through emotions like a newborn through baby clothes, sometimes blushing, sometimes smiling, somtimes tearing up a bit. One time she'd even gone to the holodeck and told the computer to program him up. She put them together in a small suite in a hotel in Paris, and spent nearly three hours dancing with his hologram. When she was called to the bridge, Beverly paused the program and stared hard at the hologram of Jean-Luc, trying to decide whether to save the program and admit her weakness for him, or to let it pass into oblivion and to save it only in her memory. After a long moment, she whispered, "I think I'll keep you." The paused hologram gave no reply, simply stared back into her eyes blankly.

And so her life continued, an endless cycle of unfulfilled longings and half wishes: dream-world fantasies and real life miseries. Does he even know?


Part 2, again by me:

"Captain's personal log, Stardate [something or other]. The Enterprise F is still in space dock and we are preparing for her new crew members to board before heading to the Neutral Zone to assist in concluding the Romulan peace talks. Meanwhile, my personal life has taken a turn for the worse. Dr. Crusher seems to have insinuated herself into my mind, and I can't seem to shake her image from my dreams. I've tried everything I can think of to make it stop, and my last resort may have to be a visit to sickbay. I cannot imagine what Beverly would think of me then.

"Today, she brought a tabby cat into my ready room, one that she's apparently adopted from the Starbase's museum. She plunked her down on my desk and said that she was the newest candidate for Ship's Conselour. I was shocked and a bit angry that she'd bring an animal into my ready room, but as I looked into that little cat's eyes I could swear she was reading my soul. By her silence she was almost pushing me to reveal everything to Beverly: to tell her everything about my feelings for her. I am still a bit shaky from the encounter, as it revealed so much about the inner workings of both of our minds. A little too much about me, I fear.

"There are times that I desperately wish that I knew her thoughts again. The feeling of truly connecting with her in such a way was incredible. To know the mind of another human being so well is to become a part of something greater than yourself. It is to become a part of a true "us." Unfortunately, the last conversation I had with Beverly about the matter clearly showed that she did not wish to start that kind of relationship between us. At the time I thought, well I've waited 20 years. What's another few? But I've become restless: obsessive even. I see her everywhere, everything reminds me of her. I suppose I've always been a bit obsessive about things: I become extremely single-minded when I want something. I fear that is what is happening now. Good Lord I hope I can wait for her. End log entry."


"Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher, personal log. Startdate [same something or other as above]. I am in the midst of "acclimating" several new medical staff members to the Enterprise F and my expectations. They are an attentive group, and though they are young and inexperienced I'm sure they will learn very quickly.

"This past few days has been tiring for me, but I have a new family member to help relieve the strain. Her name is Miss Deanna (after my dear friend), and she is a tabby cat. She wandered into my quarters one day after apparently having escaped the "exotice Terrean animals" display at the Space Dock's museaum. I contacted the museaum officials when I found her and they told me she had been nothing but a pain since the day they'd found her. I told them that I would be happy to remove their pain from their hands. The communication ended right after they told me they were more than happy to give me the cat. I looked her right in her inquisitive green eyes and said, "I think I'll keep you, Miss Deanna." She c*cked [the computer bleeps it out] her head at me, and at that moment I swore she could read my soul. Incredible how you can find a human personality in an animal.

"I was so struck by Miss Deanna's little foray into empahtic perception that I decided to formally introduce her to Jean-Luc. I marched onto the bridge holding the cat one day, and was told by a very flustered Liutenant that the Captain was in his ready room. I "rang the bell" and heard his familiar "Come." The doors slid open, and I held the cat in front of me.

"The look on Jean-Luc's face was priceless. He went from shock to anger to amusement in the space of a few seconds. "Beverly, what the devil are you doing with an animal in my ready room!?" he boomed, attempting to sound imposing. I laughed. "Jean-Luc, I think you should consider this little tabby cat a candidate for ship's conselour." Jean-Luc looked extremely confused. I put the cat down on his desk and let her look him right in the eye for a few moments. At first he was shocked that I would be so presumptuous as to place a tabby cat on his desk! But after a moment, he took notice of Miss Deanna's penetrating stare and was fascinated by the power she had over him. I picked her back up after a few moments, and stroked her until she purred. "Isn't she just perfect for the spot Jean-Luc? Incapable of any form of speech, and yet with a stare she can look into your soul and help you to do the same." I wish I could see into his soul as I fear he does into mine.

"Our subsequent discussion was fascinating, an intellectual feast of ideas about centience, psychology, and a myriad of little remarks that made me shiver with delight. I hope I did not reveal too much of my feelings for him: I fear he does not reciprocate them.

"Well, Miss Deanna seems to be a bit hungry. We've transfered the Enterprise D's replicator memory files from ship to ship, so I can still request some of Data's concoctions for Spot. Poor Spot. After we lost Data, he seemed to waste away to nothing. He died two weeks ago, and we all got together one last time to bid both of them goodbye. It was one of the saddest moments of my life. Data's death hit us all very hard. But that is a story for another day. End log entry."

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Ok, so now someone ELSE please (!!!!!!) post something!

[alisa_2002000]

I'm no expert but i'd say this should probably go in the Fanfic section

[Pah-Wraith]

Yeah well I'd say that too

[PicardsTrueLove]

I had it in the FanFic section but no one was adding on and I figured that they'd be more likely to on the strictly TNG board. Ack!

[Los]

A thought: why don't you make it something more personal like a character from your mind? Its easier to work with.