Title: Blame

Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Characters/Pairing: Jean-Luc Picard & Beverly Crusher

Rating: PG 

Length: 319 words

Author notes: Post-ep for 4x21 - The Drumhead. References events from 3x26/4x01 - The Best of Both Worlds.

Summary: Picard and Beverly reflect on Admiral Satie’s words.





“Penny for your thoughts?”

Their breakfast that morning had been a quiet affair. Beverly had expected it, especially with the tirade that Admiral Satie had unleashed upon her breakfast companion the day before. She knew his thoughts were still on what had transpired. He had barely touched his food and his customary Earl Grey tea had long gone cold.

“There’s an old Earth saying that I’ve been thinking about,” he started, “It goes something like ‘You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain’. I’ve been wondering just how many people see me as the latter.”

Beverly’s heart ached for her longtime friend. Satie had brought up the events of Wolf-359, where Jean-Luc had been the unwilling orchestrator of a brutal attack on the Federation. He had been assimilated by the Borg and had no control over what was being done. While she and the rest of the crew who had seen just what the Borg were capable of understood that their Captain was not at fault, she knew there were others who saw things differently.

“Beverly, do you blame me?”

He looked up at her. From his pained expression, Beverly could tell he wasn’t just talking about Wolf-359. The guilt was still following him from Jack’s death over a decade before and she needed to clear the air, once and for all.

“No,” she replied, “Never.”

“Never?” he asked in a tone that told her that he didn’t quite believe her.

“Never,” she repeated with a small smile on her face.

He returned the smile and reached for her hand. She gave it. The two finished their breakfast and Beverly could sense a difference in her friend. It was as if her words had lifted a huge burden from his shoulders and he could finally put that part of the past to rest. Beverly was more than happy to do the same.