Disclaimer and author's note in Part I.
Part VI
The snow was melting. It was now nothing more than slush in most places and as Jean-Luc sloshed his way up the mountain he cursed himself for not having brought more substantial boots along with him. His toes were wet and cold and he seemed to be lost. The young kid at the office hadn't been much help in offering directions when he had checked in. 'I'm just watchin' the place for my uncle and don't really know my way around yet,' the boy had said. Even though he had been apologetic about it Picard had felt like thwaping him upside the head. He felt even more like it now as he stood in the freezing cold with wet boots not knowing which direction he was supposed to be going in. The long shuttle ride had put him in a nasty mood, and this really wasn't helping.
He trudged along for about twenty more minutes before stumbling upon a little clearing and what he hoped was his cabin. It was set back against the shear wall of the mountain and nestled in a little grove of trees just inside the tiny clearing. There was a soft light glowing in the window and it looked very warm and cosy, which meant it couldn't be his. The boy had said no one had been in his cabin for months so there certainly wouldn't be a light on. *Beverly....*
He hurried up to the door and knocked. *Finally we can put all this mess behind us,* he thought wearily. *In a few moments it'll all be cleared up and all of this nonsense....* His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps and laughter muffled by the heavy wooden door. The door swung open revealing Beverly and a handsome man (presumably the boy's uncle) with mysterious eyes and his arm around Beverly's waist. For a moment Jean-Luc just stood there with his jaw hanging open in surprise before making a hasty retreat. "I'm sorry...I...I didn't realise you had....company," he said as he hurried away.
"Jean-Luc wait! It's not what you think!" But he had already disappeared behind the trees.
(o come on, you knew that was coming...and of course I had to use that line....)
Part VII
Jean-Luc stumbled upon his cabin quite by accident. When he had left Beverly's he hadn't had the slightest idea what direction he was headed in. All he wanted was to get away from the mess he himself had made, and so he'd simply taken off in a random direction. He was so busy ranting to himself , 'It was stupid to think you could just come here and fix everything right up. You blew it. You really screwed up this time,' that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and had practically ran smack into the wall of the cabin in the dark.
He pushed open the door and stumbled in. It was nothing like what he had glimpsed of Beverly's cabin. Hers had been warm and bright and inviting, this was downright dingy. He dropped his bag down on the only piece of furniture, (save for a small table and chair) a tiny couch with several small holes in it. He went into the bedroom just off the tiny kitchen area and found the bed wasn't much better than the couch. He suddenly realised how tired he was and decided he didn't care that the sheets looked like they hadn't been cleaned in months. He pulled his boots off and dropped down onto the bed. It wasn't long before he fell into an agitated sleep.
*******
When he awoke it was still dark out. There was no replicator in the cabin which really didn't surprise him. Instead there was a little pantry stocked with odds and ends and an old stove that looked as if it were about to fall apart. After several tries he managed to make something edible.
When he had finished eating he took a quick shower (the water was ice cold) and dressed in a warm pair of pants and a thick sweater. His boots were still a little damp, but he pulled them on anyway and stepped out into the brisk winter air. He had decided a walk would help him to think and so in the dim light of the early morning he set out through the forest.
Somewhere along the way he found a path and followed it as it wound around the trees and occasional bolder. The path ended abruptly at a little clearing just before a drop-off. He walked right up the edge of the cliff and peered over. The sun had begun to rise. Thin rays of light struck the frozen lake below the drop-off. The ice shot back shimmering waves of light of all colours that danced in the air above it. The scene just about put the northern lights of Earth to shame. He stepped back taken aback by the beauty of it.
"Beautiful isn't it?" a soft voice behind him asked.
Jean-Luc jumped and spun around. There, sitting on a rock with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them, was Beverly. "Yes it is," he said absently thinking that it was nothing compared to the beauty of the woman before him. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to watch the sunrise."
Jean-Luc tore his eyes away from her remembering that he was mad at her after what happened last night.
Beverly seemed to read his mind for she said, "About last night...."
"There's no need to explain Beverly." He turned away from her and peered over the cliff.
"Jean-Luc it's not what you think."
"Oh isn't it?"
Beverly could feel her anger start to bubble up. "No. Andy just came by for dinner. He's just a friend, nothing more." But that wasn't entirely true. They had been just moments from becoming far more than just friends (Wasn't she more sensible than that? She had always thought she was. Then why was she being so foolish?) when Jean-Luc had shown up. When Beverly had seen Jean-Luc, his face his eyes, what she had known would be wrong all along was only made more clear and she'd gathered up her sensibilities that had deserted her and asked Andy to leave. She had realised that forgetting about Jean-Luc was not what she really wanted, and running away from her problems wouldn't solve a thing, but right now her anger was getting in the way of logical thought. "Besides, what the hell do you care?"
He just looked at her over his shoulder and shoved his hands into his pockets. The look in his eyes saying 'Exactly. What the hell -do- I care?'. The truth was he really did care but he'd be damned if he'd tell her that now. Call it foolish pride or just plain stupidity.
Beverly was by now standing. She walked over to a narrow path leading down to the frozen lake and despite his nastiness gave Jean-Luc an 'Are you coming?' look. He simply stared at her and so she headed down by herself, being careful to stay as far away from the edge as possible (*What was I thinking coming to the mountains?*). Jean-Luc watched her departing back and kicked at the muddy snow, the stubborn part of his mind not wanting him to follow. The part that was after all hopelessly in love despite everything that had been going on won out in the end and he tromped down the path after her.
He found her at the edge of the lake and came to stand beside her. Beverly glanced over at him still feeling a little angry.
They stood silently looking out over the lake. After a while Jean-Luc put his foot out and tested the rose coloured ice. It was thick and so he stepped out onto it. Beverly watch, amused, as he began walking slowly around on the ice. He decided it wasn't too awfully slippery and so began taking larger steps. He realised his mistake when he began sliding and fell flat on his butt. The silence was broken by Beverly's laughter.
Jean-Luc picked himself up off the ground and marched carefully across the ice. Beverly was laughing too hard to notice him come up behind her. He gave her a shove and she went flying across the ice. She spun around and went sprawling. She looked up to see Jean-Luc laughing. "That was not funny!" she said, trying to sound angry, but he could hear the laughter in her voice. Jean-Luc walked out to help her up. He offered her his hand and as he pulled her up she gave a sudden yank.
Beverly had meant for him to fall. She hadn't meant for him to fall on top of her. For a moment, a long moment, the feeling of his body pressed against hers sent tingles up her spine, the warmth of which made her forget she was laying on frozen water. She could feel his breath warm against her face and was well aware of the fact that their lips were mere centimetres apart. For a brief moment their eyes locked, but it was only for a brief moment. Jean-Luc stood up and pulled Beverly with him. They started back toward the cabins in an awkward silence.
Part VIII
By now Jean-Luc's boots were soaked. So soaked that Beverly could hear them squishing as he walked beside her in that awful silence. "You're squishing," she said, glad to break the quiet.
"What?"
"Your boots, you're squishing."
"Oh, yes. They're pretty well soaked with all this damn slush."
"Haven't you got better boots?"
"If I did don't you think I'd be wearing them?" he snapped. Wet shoes always put him in a bad mood. Especially when they were ice cold.
"I was only asking," Beverly snapped back. She was beginning to develop her own bad mood.
"I'm sorry Beverly. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
His voice was soft and she knew he meant it. "That's okay Jean-Luc. They'll dry in no time if you put them by the fireplace."
"I haven't got one."
"You don't have a fireplace in your cabin? How did you sleep last night without a fire? Weren't you cold?"
"No, I don't. I haven't got much of anything in my cabin. I was fine last night."
Beverly thought for a moment and then spoke hesitantly, "Would you like to come to my cabin for a little while? You could dry your boots.....and maybe...stay for lunch."
Jean-Luc glanced over at her also feeling hesitant. "If it's no trouble...."
"None at all," she assured him.
"Well in that case I'd be delighted."
They walked a little farther in silence. Then after a while, "Beverly?"
"Yes?"
"I froze my butt off."
*******
Beverly passed her card through the slot, pushed the heavy door open, and lead the way inside. Jean-Luc followed and as his eyes scanned the room they filled with surprise. "Why didn't I get a place like this?"
"What's wrong with your cabin?"
He was to busy staring at something on the far wall to answer. "You have a replicator?"
"You don't?" Jean-Luc shook his head. "Andy did say this is the best cabin."
"I can just imagine how you managed to get it too," Jean-Luc grumbled in a voice tinged with something that might have been disgust.
The words, as well as what they were implying , didn't get past Beverly and she gave him a sharp look as she struggled to control her temper. "Why don't you get the fire started and I'll get us something to eat," she said through tight lips.
Jean-Luc started the fire and settled himself down on the floor in front of it. He pulled his boots off as well as his socks and set them on the hearth to dry. Beverly brought sandwiches and sat beside him. Neither of them knew what to say and so they sat in silence as they ate.
When they were done eating Beverly took the plates and glasses away and returned to sit by Jean-Luc. She wanted to ask him why he had come, but she was afraid of what the answer would be. She knew that avoiding the problem wouldn't solve anything, but she was afraid to do anything for fear of making the situation even worse. It was bad enough fighting with Jean-Luc, but in her confused mind she thought it better to be fighting with him than to not have him at all.
"Did you sleep with him?"
The question snapped the silence and jerked Beverly out of her thoughts. "What?"
"Did you sleep with him?" Jean-Luc repeated looking into the flames.
Beverly was caught between anger and understanding. "I really don't think that's any of your business Jean-Luc." Her anger was starting to get the better of her and her voice rose to a yell. "What would it matter to you if I did anyway? It's not like I've gotten any other offers." She stood and turned away from him.
"It would matter a lot to me dammit. Don't you think it hurts me to see you with someone else?"
"I don't think anything hurts you Jean-Luc Picard. I don't think you feel a damn thing for anyone but yourself. You don't care about anyone, and you know what? I really don't give a damn anymore. I'm sick of you and your thoughtless self-important ways. So no Jean-Luc I don't think it hurts you one damned bit."
Jean-Luc was silent. Slowly he stood up, collected his boots, and walked out the door.
In her anger Beverly picked up a book off a nearby table and flung it at the door her soul mate had just walked out of. She hadn't meant a word she had said. She had in fact regretted it the moment the words left her lips. She was furious with herself and felt the sudden need to destroy something. Her eyes were filled with tears so she couldn't see what she had picked up off the table. She threw it across the room and heard it shatter. She angrily rubbed an arm across her eyes and tried to gather herself, to regain some semblance of composure. She walked across the room to where she had thrown the object. At her feet was shattered glass and a picture of herself and Jean-Luc that had been taken at a party that had been thrown to celebrate after a long diplomatic mission. Despite not wanting to think about Jean-Luc she had brought the picture along as a reminder of happier days. In the picture they were dancing and both laughing at something she could no longer remember. Beverly fell to her knees and tears began to flood her cheeks.
Part IX
Jean-Luc decided it best to stay away from Beverly, and so he spent most of the next three days in his cabin save for an occasional walk when he felt sure he wouldn't run into her. He had a sick feeling inside that he refused to admit was because he missed her. He was almost sure he had lost her forever. *You can't lose something you've never had to begin with,* the practical-sensible part of his mind was quick to tell him. *Well then why the hell do I feel so damn bad?* he asked it. The practical-sensible part of his mind had nothing to say to that. He thought about leaving, going back to the ship. It was after all pointless to be there after that fight, but some part of him, the hopeful-desperate part no doubt, refused to let him. And so he spent his days sulking around in his tiny cabin and brooding over lost chances, and his nights alone in that big bed freezing his butt off.
On that third night as he tossed and turned he was awakened by a horrible loud noise shattering the stillness of the silent night. He had at first thought it was part of the dream he was having (or rather the nightmare) but when he heard it again he knew it wasn't. He sat up and listened intently trying to figure out what it could be. The noise grew louder and sent little tremors through the ground. It was as if a thousand freight trains were thundering down the mountainside. Suddenly he knew what it was, an avalanche. The snow that had been falling relentlessly for the past few days was now falling again, only this time in a huge sheet straight down the mountain. He leapt out of bed and dressed as quickly as he could with only one thought in his mind, Beverly.
Snow had built up behind the door and for a minute he was unable to open it. A picture of Beverly buried alive in the snow formed itself in his mind and the door flung open. He plunged out into the swirling night which was unexpectedly bright with the driving snow. He had stepped away from the cabin and when he turned back it had disappeared behind a thick mask of white flakes. Didn't this damn place have a weather net? For a moment he lost all sense of direction. His hand held up in the snow inches from his face was invisible. *Go back now or you'll be lost out here forever,* the practical-sensible part of his mind assured him, but he ignored it and instead plunged farther into the blinding white of the snow in what he hoped was the direction of Beverly's cabin. It seemed as much destiny as destination.
The snow was thicker than fog and just when he thought it might stop it rose again like a smoke screen as he floundered through it. Thoughts and images of Beverly's lifeless frozen body chased themselves around in his head driving him forward. It suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know the way to Beverly's cabin from his. Both times he had come from her cabin his mind had been on other things and he had no real memory of the walks only the thoughts he had had during them. He came to an abrupt stop and looked around him. Nothing but pure white. Then another thought occurred to him, a comforting reassuring thought. The trees. He had yet to run into one and break his nose. That could only mean one thing, and that was that he was on the path. All he had to do was keep on the path and he'd be fine. The problem was he couldn't see the path. He couldn't see anything save for the swirling white flakes, but this didn't occur to him or if it did he chose to ignore it.
What should have been a short little walk took hours. Twice he had wandered off the path and run into tree branches scratching his face a good many times. Both times it had taken him several long agonising minutes to find his way back to the path, and when he finally did he couldn't be sure he was headed in the right direction. At some point along the way something had pulled him to the left like the hands of some unseen saviour, and that's what it must have been for when he turned that way he found himself on Beverly's doorstep. Relief beyond words flowed through him that there was a doorstep left even if it was covered in a good three feet of snow.
Jean-Luc raised a fist and pounded the numb ball against the door. When nothing happened he pounded again, and as he began to get a panicky feeling he pounded steadily with both fists. After what felt like an eternity, and seconds before he broke the door down, the door opened and there stood Beverly in perfect health. So shocked he was that when she invited him in (or rather ordered him before he froze to death) he didn't move. Beverly finally had to drag him in herself.
Jean-Luc hadn't expected to find her like this all warm and snug in her cosy little cabin. He had, in the long walk through the snow, convinced himself that when he finally found her she wouldn't be breathing. He stood for a long time staring at her as a man dying of thirst might stare at a glass of water.
Frightened by the way he was staring and shocked that he was there at all after the horrible way she had behaved Beverly said, "Jean-Luc....what the hell are you doing here?" The last thing she expected to happen happened next. As if he had suddenly awakened from a horrible nightmare Jean-Luc seemed to snap back to reality. Needing to touch her, to be sure she was there and was all right, he practically flew to Beverly and gathered her into his arms kissing her with a blistering passion that left her gasping for air.
They pulled away from the kiss feeling suddenly awkward as the events of the past week caught up with them. There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence before Beverly managed to find her voice again. "What are you doing here?" she repeated.
Still a little stuck in the moment it took Jean-Luc a while to catch up. "I...The...The avalanche...," he stammered. "I was afraid you...." He let the sentence go unfinished having an irrational fear that if he spoke the words aloud they may find a way to come true.
Ashamed of what she had said days before Beverly could not bring herself to look at him. Instead she took him gently by the arm and led him to the couch. She seated him in front of the fire that she had started when she had been awoken from the noise a couple hours earlier, and then went into the bedroom and pulled a blanket off the bed. She brought it out to Jean-Luc and offered it to him. He was looking into the fire and didn't seem to notice, as if his mind were trying to comprehend something so complex that it couldn't bother with something so trivial as a blanket. He seemed to have slipped back out of reality.
Beverly set the blanket aside and knelt before him. She carefully pulled his wet boots off as unintrusively as possible. She pulled his socks off as well and then, ever so carefully, his wet sweater and the shirt that was underneath it. His pants were wet too, but she didn't suppose she ought to pull those off. Jean-Luc didn't seem to take any notice of her actions, and Beverly was beginning to worry. She went to the replicator and came back with a cup of tea....Earl Grey....hot. She draped the blanket over his bare shoulders and pushed the steaming cup of tea into his hands. Beverly then sat down next to him and looked at him tentatively. "Jean-Luc? Are you all right?"
It was a long time before he answered and when he did his voice was vague and distant. "Yes....I'm fine." It came out as a hoarse whisper.
They sat for a long time in a gentle silence, neither of them feeling particularly inclined to speak. Hours past before Beverly finally stood and looked at Jean-Luc. By an agreement made only with their eyes Jean-Luc stood and followed Beverly into the bedroom.
Neither bothered to turn the light on (Beverly for fear of its intrusive nature and Jean-Luc simply because the thought hadn't crossed his exhausted mind) so in the dark Jean-Luc pulled his still damp pants off and both crawled under the covers without a word. A tacit barrier was drawn down the centre of the bed and for a long time neither of them crossed it, but somewhere in the darkness their resolves melted away and as Beverly began to move towards Jean-Luc she found that he was moving towards her. Jean-Luc wrapped his arms around her and they were both soon asleep, huddled together in a tiny cabin under a deep blanket of snow.
(follow the link below to finish reading the story)