Author's Note: Well here it is my second P/C story. This is a sequel to "The Future's Past". If you didn't read that one then this one will be kinda confusing so read that one first. Some of this is a little PG-13 rated so don't say you weren't warned. Individuals may print this or pass it around for their amusement, but please keep my name and this header attached at all times. No stealing. Mine Mine Mine! Just ask me I'm really not such a bad person (despite what the men in white coats say). Thanks go out to all of those who encouraged me to keep writing and to those who got me thinking and gave me ideas. Also to those who helped to straighten this thing out (wave to Cynthia). I wouldn't have done it without you guys. :O)

Disclaimer: Paramount is the big baby that has all the toys but, they don't play fair so I've borrowed them for a bit. Don't worry I'll only use them for good. Is it just me or does Paramount always own all the good stuff? I do however own one character in this story and that's Elizabeth Picard, but the rest are slightly stolen. Sorry 'bout that but the lovely respectable people at Paramount have had their lovely respectable heads up their lovely respectable posterior ends for so long they seem to of lost sight of the more important things. Not that they aren't great people that would never get angry about what a nice young author writes....

This takes place about 3 months after "The Future's Past".

On the bridge Jean-Luc Picard stood silently with a dangerous look in his eyes. He was surrounded by Cardassians, all with phasers trained on him. The turbolift doors opened and out stumbled his wife and daughter with guards close behind shoving them forward. Upon seeing her father the child ran towards him, slipping away from her mother who tried to grab hold of her, but before she could reach him a fist knocked her flat. Picard flinched when he saw his tiny daughter struck down by a Cardassian. He lunged forward, despite the guards, at the one who had hit her, ready to kill him with his bare hands. The butt of a phaser-rifle slammed against the back of his head. He fell, landing at the Cardassians feet. Everything began to swirl around him and began to go fuzzy and he couldn't seem to be able to think straight but he had to for his daughter and his wife. He forced his mind to clear.

"Captain, you are in no position to be making demands now are you?"

"Take me if you have to, but leave my daughter alone."

"You know I can't do that. She's of far greater worth to me then you are. Say good-bye Picard."

The guards drug Elizabeth away. The last thing she saw before the turbolift doors closed was the anger and tears in her mother and father's eyes as they struggled helplessly against the Cardassians. The sound of her mother screaming in anguish rung in her ears. "Not my baby. Don't take my baby."

********************

She awoke bathed in sweat and screaming. A moment later her parents were by her side whispering comforting words, but she didn't hear them. The child pulled away as her mother went to brush away the sweat soaked strings of hair clinging to her forehead and cheek. She pulled herself into a tight protective ball, her eyes distant as she tried once again to repress the memories that had just recently started to resurface. She was struggling through a thick fog of terror brought on by the nightmare she had just awoken from. She was lost in another time and having trouble finding her way back. Her parents sat anxiously waiting while she fought her way back to the present. Her eyes cleared slowly and upon seeing her father the little girl threw herself into his waiting arms and began sobbing uncontrollably.

They knew without asking what the nightmare had been about. Ever since the slight confrontation with the Cardassians two weeks earlier Elizabeth's nightmares, which they had thought she was finally over, had returned in full force. She had awoken like this every night the past two weeks.

When her crying had finally stopped Jean-Luc Picard picked up his daughter and carried her back to his and Beverly's bed. He lay her in the middle of the bed then he and Beverly slid under the covers sandwiching the child between them.

Elizabeth hugged her mother tightly. Beverly hugged her back and kissed the top of her little girl's head. Elizabeth then turned to her father and climbed up onto his chest where she lay herself down, arms and legs at his sides, her head resting on his shoulder. Jean-Luc wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Feeling safe in her father's arms the little girl was soon asleep. Her parents however, lay awake for hours.

The lone figure was standing on an endless plain staring out across... nothing. The wind swirled around him blowing his hair into his eyes, but he didn't notice. What he saw he saw only in his mind and not out across the vast expanse. They're not as they should be, he thought. Things are not as they should be. They've changed. Something isn't right.... something... He closed his eyes concentrating hard on what he had been sensing. He concentrated for a long time before he realized he was going about it all wrong. Instead he cleared his mind and allowed it to wander freely. It came. It came, but... it was... fuzzy... he couldn't quite get it to focus. It was there but just... just out of his line of sight... His studies had been far too arduous lately and had worn down his mind. He just needed to rest. Yes, he would rest and maybe later...

"Tea, Early Grey, hot." He took the small glass when it materialized and went back to his chair behind the desk in his ready room. "I just don't know what to do anymore Counselor. She just keeps getting worse."

"I don't know either Captain. Everything I try to help her doesn't work. In order for recurring nightmares to end something has to change within the dream. The dreamer at some point has to take control and change the outcome of the dream thus changing it from something threatening to something they have control over. Then they are no longer a victim. Everything I've tried to accomplish that has failed. I don't know what to tell you," Deanna Troi responded.

"Are you saying there's nothing at all I can do?"

"Nothing I can think of." She paused and bit her lip in thought. "Unless...."

"Unless what?" He put his tea down and looked at her hopefully.

"Maybe it would help if you took some time off and went on shore leave." He gave her a you-can-just-stop-right-now-and-forget-about-it look, but she continued anyway. "It would do her good to get away from here for a while, and it wouldn't hurt you to have some time away either." He opened his mouth to protest, but she ignored him and kept going. "There's a transport ship headed for Earth that we'll be passing in a couple of days. You and Beverly could take time off and take your daughter home until she gets over this."

"Deanna I can't just..."

"Yes you can," she interrupted "You need some time off with your family and there's no reason why you shouldn't take it. Will can handle whatever comes up until you get back."

He was silent for a long time before he spoke. His family... he was still getting used to that. "I guess you're right," he said quietly.

Beverly Picard was packing some last minute things when her husband strode into their quarters. Elizabeth, who had been helping her mother, dropped what she was holding and ran to her father. "Papa!" He picked her up and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"Where have you been?" Beverly asked picking up the things her daughter had dropped on the floor. "We're supposed to beam onto the transport ship in ten minutes."

"I was just leaving some last minute instructions with Will. Do you have everything?"

Beverly looked around for anything she might have forgotten. "Yep that's everything. Let's go."

********************

They entered the transporter room to find the rest of the senior staff waiting there to send them off. Elizabeth let go of her father's hand and ran up to Will Riker who kneeled down to say his good-byes. Elizabeth hugged him and kissed his cheek then proceeded to do the same with the rest of them. They had all grown quite attached to the precocious five year old, once she had gotten over her fears enough to accept them, and would miss her terribly. Then the adults said their good-byes. Handshakes, hugs, and wishes of good luck were passed around before the three disappeared in a shimmer of light.

They arrived at the Picard estate in LaBarre France in the late afternoon. Both Beverly and Elizabeth were breathtaken by the sight of the house and surrounding vineyards and instantly fell in love with the French countryside. Picard ushered them into the house actually feeling glad that he had come.

While Jean-Luc and Beverly started dinner with the provisions they had brought from the village Elizabeth ran through the house poking her head into each of the rooms. She stopped when she came to what looked like a young boy's room. From the old starship models hanging by invisible wires from the ceiling she guessed it had been her father's room when he was a boy. She went in and began to look around.

"Elizabeth? Are you up here?" Jean-Luc called as he climbed the stairs in search of his daughter. He found her in his old room sitting on the bed looking through a book. "Here you are. What's that you've got?"

Elizabeth looked up giggling. "Is that you?" she asked pointing to a picture in the old photo album she was holding.

Picard sat down next to her and studied the picture. "That's me all right." His daughter giggled. "What's so funny?"

"Nuthin'. I just never imagined you as a little boy. You had so much hair, what happened?" she asked in mock confusion.

"Very funny," he said trying to sound hurt.

"That's okay papa I'd love ya no matter what you looked like." She stood up on the bed put her arms around his neck and kissed the top of his smooth head.

"Dinner's ready," Beverly called from downstairs.

"Come on before you mother starts without us." He stood, Elizabeth clinging to his back for a ride, and headed downstairs.

********************

After dinner they retreated to the library where, even though it wasn't cold, Jean-Luc had built a fire in the huge fireplace. Elizabeth sat with her mother on the couch while Jean-Luc sat on the floor in front of them reading Shakespeare aloud as he did every night as his daughter's bedtime story.

"I think that's enough for tonight."

"Just one more scene papa, just one more," Elizabeth pleaded.

He could tell she didn't want to sleep and he really couldn't blame her. He could remember how hard it was for him to sleep after his abduction by the Borg and after his own torture by the Cardassians. He still had nightmares about it now and then, especially now that he had a wife and daughter to worry about. "All right one more."

She smiled gratefully sensing that he understood and snuggled up to her mother. But soon she couldn't fight the exhaustion any longer and she fell asleep, slipping once again into the nightmare and reliving every moment of her abduction and torture by the Cardassians.

Beverly smiled at her daughter, unaware of what was going on inside the child's head, and kissed her gently before sliding off the couch to join Jean-Luc on the floor in front of the fireplace. She rubbed against him amorously. He acted as if he didn't notice and continued to read. Beverly snatched the book and tossed it aside looking ardently into his eyes. For some reason he felt a little silly, maybe because they were in the house he grew up in. He ignored the feeling and kissed his wife, tenderly at first and then with a rapidly growing passion.

Beverly pushed him onto his back and eased herself over him never allowing their lips to part. Jean-Luc slid his hand under her shirt pulling her closer, running his fingers over her soft skin of her back. She shifted, sliding her hand between them, and untucked his shirt. She then began a trail of kisses across his stomach before moving back up to reclaim his mouth. There came a soft noise from the couch. Beverly collapsed against Jean-Luc and they both stifled a laugh suddenly remembering their five-year-old. They were now both feeling a little like teenagers trying not to wake their parents.

"I'll take her upstairs," Jean-Luc said. Beverly rolled off of him onto the floor. He bent and placed a quick kiss against her cheek before gathering up his daughter and carrying her upstairs. He settled her into the bed in his childhood room, kissed her, and then hurried back down to Beverly.

She was stretched out on the floor in front of the fireplace, head propped up on one arm, staring into the flames, and eagerly awaiting her husband's return. It was nearly impossible to spend time alone with him on the ship. They were both always working and when they weren't they were trying to keep up with Elizabeth, who had proved to be quite the little prodigy.

Jean-Luc stretched out in front of her, mirroring her position. It wasn't long before they were right back where they had left off a few minutes earlier. Beverly pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside to join the book. She began another trail of kisses. This time down his jaw line and neck and then across his shoulders. Then, with agonizing slowness, she headed down his chest to his stomach. She tugged at the fastener to his pants and finally pulled them open. Beverly looked at him teasingly as her fingertips grazed against his erection. Jean-Luc groaned slightly and pulled her back up to kiss her. He rolled over pulling her along so that he was on top and kissed her deeply, his tongue exploring her mouth hungrily.

He thought for a moment about how it had finally come to this, how they had managed to free themselves enough from the past to be like this. It hadn't been a smooth easy road that they had walked along in a blissful haze. There had been the arguments, the long sleepless nights when they had finally and painfully managed to tear down the barriers they had built up for so many years, and more tears than he cared to remember. There was the pain that they both had to live with everyday, of knowing that their daughter had been taken from them and tortured. For weeks he had suffered an overwhelming sense of guilt, blaming himself for his daughter's abduction and abuse, which caused a fight that nearly had the wedding called off. He had cursed himself for not being strong enough to save his little girl, for not being good enough to protect her. It had been Beverly who had saved him from himself, who had made him see that it hadn't been his fault and that it was no use torturing himself for something he had no control over. She had stuck by him and they had pulled each other through it all, becoming closer and realizing how important they are to each other because of it.

Beverly, with some annoyance, could feel that Jean-Luc's mind had begun to wander as the long kiss began to loose some of its passion. She bit his tongue and he snapped suddenly back to full attention. Jean-Luc smiled apologetically and focused his attention on the smooth skin of her neck as his hands found their way under her shirt. Soon her own shirt joined his and the book along with her bra. Now it was his turn to start a trail of kisses, but just as he reached her breasts a piercing scream tore through the house. They grabbed their shirts and flew up the stairs.

********************

When they had finally reached the top of what seemed like an endless staircase they burst into Elizabeth's room. She sat pressed against the headboard of the bed in her protective ball, knees pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped tightly around them. She had the same distant unseeing look in her eyes that she always had after waking up from a nightmare, but as always she eventually managed to rip herself away from the dream and came back to reality.

Jean-Luc flipped the light on and walked over to the bed. His daughter buried her face against his chest and cried, something she only did when things were far worse than her parents knew. It was going to be another long night.

The images, like the flames he was sitting before, danced around in front of his tired eyes. Sweat trickled down his face and neck disappearing under his shirt. If he could just focus, but he was so tired. So very tired... His head, as well as his eyes, slowly lowered until his chin was nearly touching his chest and he drifted off, not yet asleep but also not quite awake. The images grew stronger as did his mental awareness. It was coming almost easily now. His head snapped up and his eyes opened wide.

Elizabeth lay on her back in the grass looking up through the branches of a huge oak tree. The breeze sent the cool dappled shade shimmering across her face. She could feel that something was different. Something had changed. She didn't know what it was, but she could feel that she would... soon. She stretched and continued to stare lazily up through the trees. It wasn't long before the memories she always tried to avoid came threading their way into her peaceful thoughts forming a tangled web. The more she tried to push the thoughts away, the tighter the web became until it had strangled away everything else and pervaded into nearly every part of her mind. Memories forced their way to the surface causing a sick heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. A movie began to play itself out behind her clenched eyes.

"She's our daughter Beverly. That isn't something we can just ignore," he yelled.

"I know that Jean-Luc, but I want you to marry me for me, because you love me not because you feel obligated. If the only reason you asked me is because you feel you have to then I'll leave right now. I'll take Elizabeth and go. Then you can go on leading your noble captain's life without a wife and daughter to get in your way." Her voice was angry, hurt, and strained with tears.

"Is that what you think? That I'm only marrying you because I think I have to? Then shame on you Beverly Crusher. Shame on you for thinking no more of me than that." His voice broke off choked with the tears burning in his throat. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he continued with a thick pained voice. "How could you doubt me like that? How could you doubt my feelings for you? I love you. I thought you knew that. I thought you believed in me, in us. I guess I was wrong to think there could ever be anything between us."

She must have realized how wrong she was because with tears streaming down her cheeks she had reached out for him, but he was already walking out the door.

Unnoticed by her parents, Elizabeth had been standing in the doorway of her room witness to the entire thing. At that moment she had hated herself, thinking that it was entirely her fault and if she hadn't ever been there then they could have had a happy marriage uncomplicated by an unexpected child. She had felt as if she were a burden to the only people she had ever cared for, and even though everything had worked out in the end, the memories of the arguments and hurtful words plagued her to this day.

It was a long time before she finally jumped up and trotted into the house. She crept through the dining room to the kitchen doorway and peered around the corner. Her senses told her of her parents rambunctious mood and from the scene in the kitchen her senses were right.

Beverly picked up a handful of flour and gave Jean-Luc a threatening look.

"Now... now Beverly I was only joking. I'm sure you're a wonderful cook. Now put that down."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And?"

"And I'm sorry." She made a move to put the flour down, but Jean-Luc couldn't resist adding, "I'm sorry that everything you cook tastes like gagh." The flour hit him right between the eyes.

"Now you take that back."

"We all have to face reality Beverly," he teased.

"I'll show you reality." She landed another handful of flour in his face before he went after her. He grabbed her from behind while she screamed and laughed struggling to get away. Jean-Luc picked up his own handful of flour. "You wouldn't dare." He dropped it on her head. "Oh now you are really going to get it." She twisted in his arms, but before she could do anything he was kissing her.

Elizabeth moved into the doorway smiling. To her there was almost no greater peace of mind than a kiss shared by her parents. It made everything feel all right somehow.

"Maybe we could..." Jean-Luc mumbled against Beverly's lips. It was then that he noticed his daughter standing in the doorway. "Lizzie, it's about time you came in." He pulled away from Beverly, rushed over to his little girl, and scooped her up into his arms leaving white handprints all over her dress.

She took a deep breath, blew the flour from his cheek, and kissed him. "I love you papa."

He couldn't help but smile at her sudden show of affection. "I love you back."

Beverly looked on, smiling and brushing Jean-Luc's handprints off the back of her dress. Elizabeth was certainly a daddy's girl.

Jean-Luc put his daughter down and took hold of her hand. "Come on I've got a surprise for you Miss Elizabeth."

"What is it papa? What is it?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it?" He headed towards the back door, but stopped before he got there. He looked back at Beverly and then down at Elizabeth. "You go on ahead to the barn and I'll be there in a minute," he said ushering his daughter out the door.

"What have you done now Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked. "You spoil her entirely too much."

"What fun would it be being a father if I didn't?" He moved over to her and slid his arms around her waist. "And besides you spoil her just as much as I do." He kissed her tenderly, but she pulled away.

"I'm worried about her Jean-Luc."

He leaned his forehead against hers. "So am I, but Beverly you have to remember, she's a very strong little girl."

"But she shouldn't have to be. She shouldn't have to be that strong. She's just a little girl."

They stood silently for a long time each drawing strength from the other.

"Oh papa thank-you! Thank-You!" Elizabeth shouted as she ran into the house. "She's lovely."

Beverly lifted her head and met Jean-Luc's eyes. "What did you do?"

Before he could answer Elizabeth said, "Didn't you see mamma?" She grabbed hold of her mother's hand and pulled her out into the warm afternoon. They ran to the barn with Jean-Luc following more slowly still brushing flour off himself. When they reached the barn Elizabeth let go of her mother's hand and ran in while Beverly stood in the doorway looking in with disbelief. Jean-Luc came up behind her and slipped an arm around her waist.

"Oh Jean-Luc you didn't."

"Didn't what?" he asked innocently as he walked into the barn and over to where his daughter was standing proudly next to a bay pony.

"You did not get that child a horse... did you?"

"Isn't she beautiful mamma?"

Beverly walked in and stroked the mares nose. "Yes sweetheart she's very pretty."

"I may have done something like that," Jean-Luc said answering Beverly's question.

"I can't believe you," Beverly said laughing as her husband swung her around and kissed her.

"Like I said, it wouldn't be much fun if I couldn't spoil her."

"Where's Elizabeth?" Beverly asked poking her head into the library where Jean-Luc sat reading.

"She's out riding her pony."

"You let her go off by herself?"

He looked up from his book sensing that he was in trouble. "Yes," he said cautiously.

"Jean-Luc she's only five years old. She could get hurt or, or lost. What were you thinking letting a five year old go off riding by herself?" she demanded standing in front of him, hands on her hips.

"I was thinking she's not an average five year old. You know how precocious she is, and she rides like she were born on the back of a horse," he said defensively.

Beverly sighed. "I guess you're right, but she still shouldn't be out there all alone. Something could happen."

"Nothing's going to happen."

Beverly made a disgusted noise annoyed at her husband's calm. How can he not be worried? She turned to go, but Jean-Luc grabbed the back of her shirt pulling her back until she fell into his lap.

"She'll be fine Beverly," he whispered, his lips brushing against her cheek. Although she was trying very hard, Beverly just couldn't stay mad.

"Just remember, it'll be all your fault if something does happen."

"Mm hm all my fault," he mumbled kissing her neck.

Well at least it give us some time alone, she thought as she turned her full attention to Jean-Luc.

********************

Elizabeth was riding her new pony bareback through a huge field behind the barn, the tall grass brushing against her bare legs. She trotted the mare up a large hill and stopped to have a look around at the top. Down in a little valley she could see a sparkling blue ribbon cutting through the grass. She loped the mare down the hill towards the stream. Once there she urged the mare into the water and then slid off her back. She waded through the water with the pony following happily along for several minutes stopping every now and then to smell the wildflowers growing on the edge of the stream. Suddenly she felt something. She looked up and at the top of the hill could see a lone figure silhouetted against the slowly setting sun. At first she thought it was her father, but this person didn't feel like her father. She wasn't sure who it was, but he felt familiar somehow. She jumped up onto the mare's back and galloped her up the hill towards the figure.

He watched as the little girl galloped up the hill and smiled. This was whom he had made the long journey to see. It was she who had drawn him here. "Hello Elizabeth," he said when she had reached the top.

She slid off the pony and stood studying the man carefully. "Hullo."

"Do you know who I am?"

She scrunched up her face thinking. "You're my brother."

"That's right."

"Mamma told me all about you. She said that you're a traveler."

"Yes, I am and I traveled here to see you."

"'Cause of my dreams," she said looking down at her toes. "And also because of something else. What else?"

"You know that you're different don't you?"

"Yeah, I know."

"That's because you're like me," he said sitting in the grass.

"I'm a traveler too?" she asked sitting down opposite of him.

"Not exactly, but you are very special."

"Because of the experiments. I know."

"That's where you're wrong. You were always like this, the experiments just helped it along. Because of the experiments you are much more advanced. Right now you are where you would be in ten years without them having interfered. That temporal disturbance that brought you to your parents wasn't just some random occurrence and it wasn't something the Cardassians did. That was you. You pulled yourself out of where you were and, without actually knowing it, brought yourself to a place where you'd be safe. You are connected to your parents in a very special way and so you found your way to them. That's only a very small part of what you're capable of. I came to help you understand."

They spoke for a long time, Elizabeth asking questions and Wesley giving explanations as best he could.

"I want you to come with me," he said as he stood and offered her his hand some time later.

She hesitated looking uncertainly down at the house. "To where?"

"I'm going to take you traveling with me. Don't worry, they'll never know we were gone so they won't worry. I want to show you something that will help you. I'll show you that you can control what happens to you. It will stop the dreams."

"What is it?" she asked eagerly.

"Never mind that. Are you ready?" She nodded her head and he took hold of her hand. They stood for a moment, half there and half not, before they disappeared completely.

********************

For a moment there was nothing but blackness. Slowly, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, She could make out the all too familiar walls of the dank filthy cell. The nightmare again. She reached out for her brother's hand, but her fingers only closed around the blackness. Her breath came short and quick as the cold familiar grip of fear clamped around her throat. Where once there had been air there was now nothing, as if the air she breathed had no air in it. But what did a trivial thing like breathing matter now? Nooo. No. No. No. Not again.

Then suddenly anger, provoked into showing itself by some strange force, began to replace the fear, flowing thickly through her body. She stood in the middle of the cell, her fists clenched at her sides, and allowed the anger to form into a hard ball in the pit of her stomach. It grew bigger and bigger until it finally burst. She threw herself against the door and beat her fists against it screaming her anger. The door, much to her surprise, gave way suddenly, and she tumbled out onto the floor. She sat up feeling dazed and rubbed her head where it had banged against the wall. She found herself in the long dark corridor she could remember being dragged down so many times. But this isn't how the dream goes, she thought as she pushed herself to her feet. Confused, but with the anger still boiling deep within, she started cautiously down the corridor. She moved slowly at first but built up speed as the need to escape built itself up.

She ran looking over shoulder and so didn't see the Cardassian standing in the corridor. She slammed into him and fell sprawling on the ground. Looking up she could see Gul Madred himself looming ominously over her like a vulture ready to pick her bones clean. A menacing grin spread across his face, and he had that look in his eyes that had always seemed to strangle her very will to survive.

Reaching down he took hold of her arm and jerked her to her feet. "Thought you could get away did you? Well think again my dear child. You're mine. You will never get away from me." She struggled against him, but his grip was too tight to break. "Soon I'll have your parents as well. I won't be as kind to them as I am to you. Your family. Mine to do with as I wish. Subject to my every whim."

"You can't. You are not competent enough. Papa is better than you and he won't allow a degenerate dastard like yourself get away with this."

His fist slammed hard into her stomach. She forgot that this was really nothing but a dream. Her mind held fast to the idea that she was back when it had been real. To her it was all happening over again, and everything about her life and family as it had become was forgotten. There was only the long days of torture and Gul Madred. Again his fist sunk into her tender stomach, and again, and again. She could no longer breath; all the air had been forced from her body.

If he keeps on like this I'll die. If he keeps on he'll kill me. Another blow. But what if he doesn't. That's what you're really afraid of. What if he doesn't kill you, she thought with mounting terror. The fear of more of this, of living like this for years to come began to build inside her. Along with the anger it made a perilous combination.

"Nooo!" she screamed suddenly finding her breath. "NOOO!" Something from deep within, something dark and merciless, found it's way out. Impetuously she lifted her eyes to his and twisted herself from his grasp with a sudden show of strength. All the ruthlessness, vindictiveness, and spite drained from his pale cold eyes as her frighteningly intense gaze bore into him rendering him helpless. A part of her mind that was pure instinct and self-preservation took control. Powers she had been completely unaware of showed themselves. There was a long moment when time seemed to stand still and nothing dared to move as her mind penetrated his. Then slowly, as if being eaten away from the inside out, the Cardassian began to disintegrated before her eyes. His screams of agony tearing through his throat were the last sounds he made. Startled and shocked, yet somehow morbidly pleased, she stood staring blankly at the place where Gul Madred had been standing just moments ago. Then, as she regained control of her mind and realized what had just happened, she felt completely sick with herself and turned and ran as fast as she could down the corridor.

She ran with tears blurring her vision and didn't notice when the dark walls fell away. She ran until she couldn't any longer and collapsed into a breathless heap on the ground. She cried for what felt like hours and then stopped abruptly. She sat up and rubbed her arm across her eyes. Wesley stood silently before her. She looked up at him and an understanding flowed between them. It was over. She had done what she had to, she had taken control, and it was over.

********************

When they finally returned the sun was still in the same position in the sky as it had been when they had left. It was as if time had stopped and waited for their return. Elizabeth stood for a moment feeling a little dazed. Everything that had just happened was fading from her mind. She only vaguely remembered what had occurred while she was with her brother, but what was clear to her was that everything felt right somehow and that the heavy weight that had been sitting on her chest for so long had vanished. She smiled at her brother feeling better than she had felt in weeks. "Its getting late. Mamma and Papa will be worried. Come back to the house with me. They'll want to see you."

The pony still stood grazing as if nothing had happened. Elizabeth gathered up the reigns and smiled up at her brother. "Thank you," she said quietly. He smiled back, and they walked hand in hand down the hill in the fading light.

Beverly ran through the house with Jean-Luc hot on her heals. She screamed and continued to laugh as he grabbed her shirt from behind and yanked her back into his arms. She turned as he pulled her and fell against him. They both laughed and Beverly leaned forward and kissed the tip of Jean-Luc's nose.

A voice from the doorway interrupted them. "Hi mom."

Beverly turned in Jean-Luc embrace. "Wesley?" For a moment she didn't quite recognize him. He had changed a great deal from the last time she had seen him. No longer was he a scrawny know-it-all kid. Now he was a full-grown man with broad shoulders and a kind handsome face. "My god, Wesley. I can't believe it's you." She broke away from Jean-Luc and threw her arms around her son. "How've you been?"

"Fine Mom. I've been fine. I just thought I'd come and help out my baby sister." He paused and looked at Jean-Luc. "Hello Captain."

"Hullo Wesley."

"So you've met our little Elizabeth," Beverly said smiling down at her daughter. "How is it you're going to help?" she asked sounding a little confused.

Wesley motioned for them all to sit at the small table in the kitchen. He then proceeded to tell them all that he had explained to Elizabeth, and about their traveling, although he refused to say what had occurred during that time when he and Elizabeth had been gone, and Elizabeth herself had only fuzzy half memories. When he had finished, Beverly and Jean-Luc sat silently looking at their daughter. They had known that she was different from other children. She had tested above all the other kids on the ship and was far more advanced than any of them, but they had never thought it went beyond being extremely precocious.

"Well that explains a lot. I mean why she's so different from other children."

"Yes it does," Jean-Luc added not knowing what else to say.

They were all quiet for a while before Beverly said, "Well Wesley dinner's almost ready. Why don't you stay and eat with us."

"Sure mom, I'd love to."

They talked all through dinner trying to catch up on all they had missed. When dinner was over they moved into the library still talking.

"I'm sorry it's been so long Mom. I should have come sooner. I kept meaning to, but I always seemed to get side-tracked."

"That's all right Wes. I understand how hard you've been working. At least you came when we needed you," Beverly replied smiling tenderly at her son. No matter how old he got or how many plains of existence he visited he would always be her little boy, and no matter what Elizabeth became she would always be her darling little girl. Beverly looked down at her daughter who was curled up next to her with her head in Beverly's lap. She had fallen asleep.

Jean-Luc followed Beverly's gaze to their daughter. "I'll take her upstairs and put her to bed," he offered. Standing, he gathered up his little girl and carried her upstairs. When he came back down he found Wesley and Beverly by the back kitchen door. "Leaving already?" he asked Wesley, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah, I have to get back." He stuck out his hand. "It was good to see you Captain."

Jean-Luc grasped his hand and shook it firmly. "As it was to see you," he replied.

Wesley then hugged his mother. "Good-bye."

"Good-bye." They said in unison. As they watched he walked out into the yard and disappeared.