Title: Light in the Dark

Rating: K

Summary: Beverly tells Jean-Luc why she kept his children and how much that gift meant to her in even her darkest times. Sequel to The True Strength of Dr. Crusher

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Trek characters or Jim Butcher's characters and I'm making nothing from this.

Beverly still had no clue who had sent the monster that had almost killed her and Jean-Luc. Sally had been horrified that Beverly and the Captain had almost died. She did admit that chopping a monster down with just swords was pretty bad ass.

"Thanks," Beverly said.

"So is this something that your family is known for?"

"No, it's rare."

Having a hundred enemies isn't so rare.

Sally left and Beverly fed both Mister and Mouse. She checked on Rowan and Anna and thought about things. It had been a lovely non-date before the big, ugly, green monster had decided to ruin things. Gods, she hated monsters ruining her love life. As she watched them she thought a lot about the past year. She had given birth, loved them both to death, would break even the first law of magic if it meant that they were safe and was with her.

The sound of the bell broke her away from her thoughts.

"Who is it?"

"It's Picard."

Beverly smiled at her twins and let him in.

"So I see that you've kept the swords," he said.

She had put them up so that she would remember what had happened.

"I can say they're a souvenir for a green date," she said, "Though I don't think swords are the reason that you came."

He sat down and motioned her to follow. She sighed and said, "Did you tell Will that I'm really sorry about the mess?"

"I told him," he said, "I think he only believed me because I'm the Captain."

Beverly sighed and said, "I'm sorry about what happened. I didn't-."

"Beverly, I'm not blaming you for what happened."

"But I would of blamed myself," Beverly said. "I've trained, honed my skills, and kept my world away from my friends. And then, this damn virus appears, and everything gets thrown out the window. And, now I'm back. All because of some power hungry man that should have died three hundred years ago."

"Why did you keep them?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Keep what?"

"The twins?" he asked.

She looked down at her legs, not wanting to meet him with a soul glaze. She didn't want him to see the full depth of her soul and what made her, her.

"Because they were my light," Beverly answered. "Because in the end they meant the world to me. They were my only connection to you, to something that I only thought would happen to me once. When I left I felt like I was trapped in a very dark place, like I was unable to breath, and then they showed up and I could breathe at last. I could pull my head above the water and see the sun again.

"You might not have intended it to happen but you gave me the greatest gift of all: hope. And now I feel like the dark is coming back, clawing at my face and my arms. It's the Doom, I know it is. It's Merlin and Morgan's sick, twisted, pleasure. The dark pleasure that has twisted their minds and changed them into monsters. Now, I can't hide my world from you, from my friends, but I'm scared. I'm so scared Jean-Luc that you all will die just because of my own fears that none of you would be there for me if you ever found out the truth about who I was. What I am."

She felt him touch her hand she felt herself melt.

"I would never turn my back on you and neither would anyone here that really knows you," he said.

Beverly felt the tears falling down and she felt him rubbing them away.

"Thanks," she said, "For everything."

She wanted him to hold her, to further sooth her pain away, but she was content with just this. Life was good, even with the unknown that was ahead. Her logical part told her that she would soon figure out who had almost killed both of them. And when she faced him, or her, she would make them burn.