Summer Fic Challenge: August Edition
Welcome back everyone to the Open Vein Writing Summer Fic Challenge: August edition! This officially indicates the close of the July edition. But, now we're at the end! July completely got away from me, but we've got time to make it up
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Will stirred next to her and Deanna cursed their connection, wishing she had the strength to send him back to his cabin for the night. But his arms had been so warm around her and what she hadn’t even told Beverly was how cold she felt. Stasis fields didn’t change that she’d been dead for thirty minutes and her mind still didn’t trust the world around her.
She clutched the thin, heat efficient blanket to her chest and pushed errant strands of hair back from her face. By the time she’d reclaimed her equilibrium, Will was awake. Knowing her better than anyone had a right to, he rose silently and came back to the bed with her most comfortable shawl. He draped it over her shoulders and let her lean back against his chest and when he secured her in his arms, she almost felt safe.
Tell me …
The words were faint, gentle, brushed against her mind with tendrils. He didn’t want to push too hard. But words couldn’t convey the darkness, the emptiness, that had wrapped around her mind and started to squeeze like one of the water snakes so common in the oceans of Betazed. She shivered and burrowed closer to him and thanked the Gods of Betazed that he didn’t push. He just held her against him, giving her warmth, letting her work out the emotions. Finally, she projected the void to him and as he came to understand, his arms tightened around her.
Finally, she pulled from bed and made her way to the replicator. “Betazoid Rejan Tea. Hot.” The glow of the unit lit the room for three seconds and a perfectly crafted cup of Rejan Tea waited for her. Deanna took the cup and lifted it to her lips, inhaling deeply. The scent of the herbs tickled her senses and she started to relax. Will watched her from the bed, and she could feel his anticipation, his wondering.
“I’m okay,” she finally said. “Really.”
“I thought our rule was that we wouldn’t lie to each other.”
She chuckled dryly and walked over to the chair by the bed, sinking into it. “Ensign Taylor has an appointment with me next week,” she said dryly. “I’m supposed to look this poor kid in the face and say, hey, thanks for the sexual release but I was really being influenced by the raging hormones of a domineering ambassador and really, I wasn’t myself.” Tears caught in her throat but she pushed them aside with a chuckle. Outside, the warp field and the stars raced past and she watched the comforting scene. “Or poor Ensign Maloy who didn’t want to seek me out, but she had a complaint to file against her superior officer and I told her to stop whining.” Her voice caught again. She was avoiding the real problem, the damage in her mind, the hole in her psyche. It was easier to focus on the humiliation. “I have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust with some of my patients.” Deanna sighed and set the tea on the bedside table, snuggling deeper into the shawl. “It’s a wonder the captain hasn’t asked for my transfer or my resignation.”
Will tensed. “What do you mean?”
“I’m a liability.” She sighed. “The empath who isn’t as strong as she should be.”
“Deanna …”
She only shrugged, appreciating his instant defense. “There’s only so many times I can have my mental … capacities … invaded. In the past, it’s only been an inconvenience to a few people but … but this …” she rubbed her eyes. “This could have killed me. All because I wanted to do something nice for a guy who I thought I trusted.”
“What about after Malor died?”
“The emotions I thought I sensed from him? Of course they were turbulent. I thought his mother had died.” A shiver passed through her. “And I willingly accepted it, Will. He linked to me and I was flooded with his emotions and I didn’t fight him. He overpowered me that quickly.”
“Deanna, it wasn’t your fault.”
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