She Moves in Mysterious Ways

Star Trek TNG Fanfiction
Title:	She Moves in Mysterious Ways
Author(s):	Atara Stein
Date(s):	1997
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Next Generation
External Links:	online here, Trekiverse
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She Moves in Mysterious Ways is a Star Trek: TNG Picard/Q story by Atara Stein.

Series

• She Moves in Mysterious Ways
• With or Without You
• Until the End of the World

Reactions and Reviews

Summary: Takes place shortly after the events of "Generations". Picard has been left depressed and lonely after the loss of his brother and nephew and the temporary loss of his ship and crew. Taking a position as an instructor at Starfleet Academy until the new ship is available, he is captivated by a striking professor of Astrophysics. Mysteries and secrets on both sides lead to surprises in store for everyone.

The Picard of this story is a creature who is momentarily tetherless, open to what seems at first to be uncharacteristic and reckless self-indulgence and personal gratification. His sexual and emotional involvement with Catherine Vye, and eventually Q, at first seems sudden, rash even, his capitulation to Q rather overwhelming, considering the conflict of their mutual history. However, the secrets involved make it believable, providing an opportunity for Picard to realize his own attraction to Q by changing his perspective on the immortal. What started out as an apparent game becomes much more serious.

This is an almost whimsical Picard, who revels in his own sensuality and sexuality, throwing himself into his physical encounters with Vye and Q. I was thrown off balance by this, until I saw that Picard himself is off balance, cut loose from his regular duties and thus open in a way that he wasn't when surrounded by his ship and crew. Q to fill some of his emptiness, and both men are surprised when the gift turns out to be mutual. There is also the indication of struggles in store for them, as they work out who exactly is in charge, and what each of them wants.

I'm very glad Atara was prevailed upon to write sequels to this, because as lovely as it is, there is a feeling of being left in the middle of things, literally and figuratively, and the tenor of the story was just *begging* for further development. It is also a story that requires multiple readings, as what is learned while you read changes what came before in unanticipated ways.

picard/ofc, p/q, nc-17, st:tng, het sex. set in the movie sequence. picard's sort of restless; but though it's his pov you'll find him surprisingly opaque. it works astonishingly well, faltering notably only towards the end. a very enjoyable read, even containing hints of humor--though not ultimately satisfying.

I can't go rec'cing Ruth's genderfuck story without mentioning the one that inspired it. At loose ends after the events in Generations, Picard gets involved with a mysterious woman. Her identity is a secret to absolutely no one, neither the reader nor Picard himself-- the clever twist is not that she's Q but that Picard *knows* she's Q and sleeps with her anyway, a nice role reversal of the at-the-time much more common notion of trickster Q tricking Picard into bed.