This fic is to take place at the end of the episode "Skin of Evil", season 1 episode 23.


"Data, is something wrong?" Doctor Beverly Crusher had glanced up from her work to see Commander Data standing in sickbay, looking worried and confused.

"I am not sure," He replied, slowly.

"Well...can you tell me what's going on?" She offered him a seat, and he took it with a thankful nod. He sat, again in silence, brow knit with concentration.

After a few moments, Beverly couldn't take the quiet. "What's on your mind, Data?"

He looked at her with a yellow gaze that felt oddly intense. "Doctor, I do not understand...I can not comprehend..." It seemed he was unable to correctly phrase his thoughts—quite unusual for the chatty, intelligent droid.

"Is it about Tasha?" She asked, gently.

Data nodded. "I can not seem to understand my thought pattern on the subject—Lieutenant Yar died exactly the way she had hoped; quickly and painlessly in the line of duty. Yet in some odd way, it would still seem that something is not as it should be, but I can not pinpoint what."

Beverly gave a sad smile. "I think that just means you miss her."

"A human emotion, doctor?"

She nodded.

He was quiet another moment. "Yes, I suppose that is the case." He tilted his head. "Thank you."

She patted his arm. "Anytime, Data."

They both stood up, and Data turned to leave.

One step. Two steps. Three steps. He stopped in the doorway and turned about. As he did so, light glistened off of a moisture on his face. "Doctor, I still do not understand..." He gingerly touched the tear and examined it's evidence upon his fingertips. "I did not know that I was programmed for such complex human feeling. Nor can I understand how."

Beverly walked closer to him, wearing a look of concern. "Are you crying, Data?"

He looked up, perplexed. "I believe so. Is that bad?"

"No, no!" She exclaimed. "In my experience—which has been mostly humans, granted—crying is a perfectly healthy way of expressing one's emotions!"

"But I am not human," He pointed out. "I am an android."

"Well, we already know that you're capable of positive emotions; pleasure, satisfaction, attachment to others. Why not sorrow, too?" Beverly thought aloud.

"It does make sense." Data agreed, and then another tear hit his cheek.

Beverly frowned and gently touched his shoulder. The reason was unclear, but it did hurt to have that normally smiling, curious, intelligent face before her, looking so distantly sad and seeming unfairly punished for a hate crime of which he was innocent. Everything about Data was innocent—maybe that was the answer.

"She will be very missed." He said.

"She will." Beverly agreed. "And it's okay to be sad and miss her. Sometimes it even helps to have a friend."

He averted his gaze to the floor, and another drop of water fell. "I did not realize that it was so difficult to prevent one's self from crying."

She took him into a hug, and he eagerly returned the embrace, taking the opportunity to close his eyes and allow a few tears to come.

When they released each other, Beverly brushed a bit of the moisture from his face. "Better?"

Data nodded. "Yes, actually." He even managed a weak smile. "You were correct—it does help to have a friend."