It had been six months since Deanna Troi, Tom Paris and Geordi LaForge had been taken hostage by the pirate Captain Will Riker. Deanna's memories of the last day were fuzzy.
She remembered being in Riker's strong arms, collapsing under the overpowering blaze of his emotions. The whole event seemed so surreal. The next thing she knew, the three of them woke up in a hospital on a Farpoint Station.
The officers on the station couldn't tell them much. They had followed a faint distress signal that led them to the three, all unconscious aboard an escape pod.
Starfleet had been contacted and the Enterprise flew at Warp 9 to pick them up.
They didn't return to duty for almost two months. Deanna returned home during that time. Commander Paris had tried to contact her many times while she was planetside, but she refused his communiques.
When she returned to the ship it was awkward. Shipmates knew the three had been kidnapped and tortured, but only Picard knew what really happened to Deanna. He was unaware of what Tom had seen.
Paris had refused to talk to a counselor. His demeanor became darker as the weeks went on. What made it worse was that Deanna could feel his frustration pounding into her when they were in a room together.
He was frustrated for getting his team in that kind of situation, as any good first officer would be. He was frustrated for being so helpless while Deanna was being molested in another room, frustrated for letting Riker get the better of him.
One night, after he had a few drinks in Ten-Forward, Paris had cornered her and told Deanna that he wanted their relationship to be like it was before. Deanna politely turned him down, explaining she didn't think it was the right time.
Ever the gracious Starfleet officer, Paris agreed, apologized, and swallowed down her rejection. But as the weeks went on, Deanna could feel his resentment and bitterness swell. When she approached him about it, Tom would smile and say everything was fine.
Other times he would be blatantly hostile towards her, letting snide comments slip out under his breath.
One evening, she walked into her quarters to find Tom sprawled out on her couch quite drunk. He apparently though it was okay to use his pass code to enter her quarters without permission. Deanna stepped into the room cautiously.
"You've been trying to find him." He sneered, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. It was obvious whom he was talking about.
"What?" It was true. She couldn't deny it. She wasn't sure how to respond so instead Deanna tried to turn it around. "You went through my computer?! How could you?"
Tom launched off the couch. "How could I? How could you?!"
Deanna felt trapped. She tried backing towards the door as he came at her.
"I was a gentleman. I took things slow like you asked, I never pushed you. That slime marches in, locks you in his room for days forcing himself on you and YOU SEEK HIM OUT!! YOU WHORE!"