Awkward

Stardate 44671.10

(Saturday, 2 September 2367, 22:56 hours, local time)

Starbase Twelve

Tears threatened but I forced myself to smile and admit: "Oh, Data, I missed you so much."

Then I fainted.

I came back to awareness just long enough to realize that Data had gathered me into his arms, and requested immediate beam-out. It was my second trip through a transporter, and just like the first, I missed it.

I woke up a second time to dim light and the sensation that I was safe and comfortable. Disoriented, I felt a hypo being pressed against my arm, and Dr. Crusher's voice telling me to rest.

(=A=)

Stardate 44671.54

(Sunday, 3 September 2367, 02:44 hours, ship's time)

U.S.S. Enterprise

I woke up – again - some time later, to the sound of purring, and the feeling of my hair being pulled. I reached out, and made contact with fur. Cautiously, I opened my eyes, only to find an orange and white cat, previously known to me only in video recordings, sitting on the pillow – pillow? – next to my head, playing with my hair.

Abruptly, I realized I was no longer in the hotel room. Nor was I in my own room on the Enterprise, or in sickbay. I sat up in what was a surprisingly comfortable bed, and looked around. Realization came in a burst of embarrassment. I'd been in this room before, but only to walk through to the bathroom during a lesson that ran long, or that one time when Data was… I let my thoughts trail off.

I was in Data's bed. With Data's cat.

I assessed further.

I was fully dressed, except for my boots (which I hadn't been wearing when my rescuer had broken through the hotel room door) in Data's bed.

This wasn't going to be awkward at all.

A tug on my hair told me that Spot was still playing with it. "Heyyy, that's attached," I said softly, extricating her claws. She moved to sit next to me, and for a moment, watching her claws flexing, I thought she was going to take a swipe at me. Instead she butted my hand with her head in the universal signal for pet me, now, feeble human.

I complied.

I should have known that Data would hear movement, because his silhouette appeared in the partly-opened door. "Zoe," he said softly. "Are you awake?"

"Awake, embarrassed, in pain, hungry, and really confused. Also, I'm apparently a living source of macramé yarn for your cat."

"There was no indication that you were injured when Dr. Crusher scanned you," he said. "Are you able to join me in the main room? If so, I will ensure that the third and fourth conditions are alleviated, and endeavor to help you eradicate the fifth."

"You're not going to address the embarrassment part?" I asked, teasing gently.

"If you are embarrassed because you…collapsed…" he said, "then you should know that you were exhibiting symptoms of shock and low blood sugar. The doctor gave you a nutritional supplement and a mild sedative before leaving you here, in my care."

"That's…part of it…" I admitted. "Why am I not in sickbay?"

"The Enterprise is helping to treat those who were injured in the explosions on the starbase," he explained. "Since you did not appear to be emergent, and since your mother is on leave, Counselor Troi and Dr. Crusher suggested that keeping you here would be preferable to leaving you alone."

"If I were more awake, or less in pain, I would point out the obvious flaw in that decision," I said, and honestly, snarking at him made me feel a little more normal. "If you have my padd somewhere, there should be a document detailing aftercare for a tongue piercing. That's what hurts. Also, if I'm 'in your care' for the night, I'd really like to change to something I haven't been wearing for a gazillion years."

He refrained from correcting my time estimate. "Your belongings are in the main room. I will read the document in question," he said, "and have a solution waiting for you when you have changed."

"Thanks," I said. "Um…should I go get my suitcase, or…?"

"I will bring it." He went to do that then returned, instructing the computer to raise the level of the lights in the room. "I will need the password for your padd," he said."

I gave it to him, and then bent to open my suitcase. Just as the door closed, I remembered where those aftercare instructions had come from. Well, I was going to have to tell him sooner or later. I used the bathroom, washed my hands and face, and changed into a tank top and sweat pants. Then I pulled out the gifts I'd brought for Data and Spot and went to the main part of the room.

True to his word, Data had read the notes on aftercare. A shot-glass of a thick liquid that I recognized as the same painkiller Lore had replicated was waiting next to a glass of ice water on his dining table, at the place I'd occupied whenever I was doing coursework in music theory, or shared a meal before or after a lesson. Data was sitting in the chair opposite, and he gestured for me to join him.

"Drink the painkiller first," he said, his voice soft and serious. "The ice water is to sip during our meal."

I took my seat, putting both packages on the table, and chugged the smaller of the two drinks, feeling the throbbing pain in my mouth recede almost instantly. "Better," I said. "Thank you."

A ding from the replicator signaled that our meal was ready, and Data went to retrieve two spinach and mushroom omelets. "The aftercare instructions recommended soft foods, at first. You will need to rinse your mouth out immediately following."

I nodded. "I'll do that," I said. "Thank you."

We didn't talk much during breakfast? Dinner? Whatever. Partly this was because I was so hungry, I couldn't have managed a conversation if I wanted to. Partly it was because we both knew what the only possible subject would be.

When my plate was cleaned, and I'd finished sipping the glass of ice water, I excused myself to brush my teeth, and rinse my mouth. I didn't have mouthwash with me, so I used his – it was another 'fleet issue product, but it worked – assuming he wouldn't object. I did have a moment of embarrassment at the implied intimacy of sharing hygiene products, but…on a scale of zero to a thousand, I figured generic mouthwash was about a level two.

I padded back out to the living area, and tucked myself into my corner of his couch. "You made tea?"

"Tea and confidences are our ritual," he reminded me gently. "And I did promise to share tea with you upon your return." He dislodged Spot from his corner of the couch, and we waited for her to resettle before he handed my padd back to me, Lore's message displayed on the screen. "Zoe, when were you going to tell me you had encountered Lore?"

I closed my eyes against the prick of unwanted tears, but opened them before answering. "If I hadn't fainted, I'd have told you as soon as we were back here," I told him truthfully. "But I did, and then I woke up in your bed – how did three incredibly intelligent adults determine that a single man was the best guardian for a sixteen-year-old girl, by the way? – And you saw the note before I had a chance. I mean, what did you expect from me? 'Hi Data, love you, missed you, by the way, your brother left a message for you in my mouth.'"

I wasn't hysterical, but we both knew snark and ranting were my strongest defense mechanisms, and I was scared. I wasn't so much worried for my physical safety, as I was about the possibility that I might lose Data's friendship. On top of that, I was mortified at what I'd just blurted, and terrified that he would pick apart what I'd just said.

On the last point, I needn't have been worried. He let my words wash over him, and stayed focused on the questions he needed me to answer. "I am sorry to cause you further distress," he said, "but you must tell me exactly what happened. I can call Counselor Troi to join us, if her presence would help."

"No," I said. I picked up the mug of tea and took a careful sip. The hot liquid felt weird in my mouth, but no weirder than food had, and the mint flavor was soothing. "Either I trust you or I don't. And I do." I kept the cup cradled in my hands, and gave him my best blow-by-blow of everything that happened from the moment Lore showed up at the café, to the moment Data had forced the hotel room door open.

When I'd finished, he began asking more specific questions.

"Why did you leave the café with him?"

"I felt like I didn't really have a choice," I said. "I mean, he'd pointed out that it would take time for help to arrive, by which time he'd be gone, and he was dressed like you. Well, he was wearing an old uniform. It was out of date, by the way. The only reason I knew it was him was because he wanted me to…if security had come, he'd have passed himself off as you, and it would have been my word against the second officer of Starfleet's flagship. Who would you believe?"

"A valid point," he conceded. "Did he say anything that might provide a key to his motivation?"

"I don't know. He seemed to think our relationship – yours and mine – was more than it is. Oh! He quoted a conversation you and I had in this room. He quoted me."

"Which conversation?"

"When I said that our relationship was intimate, but not…"

"Intimate, but not sexual," he supplied. "An interesting choice, and, as we agreed then, not an inaccurate assessment."

"Data, that conversation was…here."

"I am aware of that," he said, not at all curtly. "It is disturbing, and I will investigate how it is possible as soon as we have finished our conversation."

I was quiet for a long moment. I felt like I was forgetting something, but couldn't figure out what. "Anyway, he put the piercing gun in my mouth, and," I gestured to my face, "and this happened, and he kissed me, and said to remind you that he'd had the first taste, and the second."

I lowered my eyes. "I never told you that part about February. I was embarrassed, and Counselor Troi didn't think it was relevant except to goad you. But then, when he kissed me then, he told me to tell you that he'd had the first taste." I met his eyes again. "When I have nightmares, that's what I hear him say."

"I…see," came his somewhat discomfited response. I could tell he was processing everything I was telling him. I could practically hear gears spinning inside his head. Okay, not really, but… "Zoe," he said very gently. "Did Lore…force himself on you, sexually?"

Part of me wanted to laugh at his polite phrasing. It seemed so out of character. "You mean, did he rape me?"

His golden eyes met my gaze and held it. "Yes."

"No. He didn't."

"Did he…seduce you?"

I wondered what prompted him to differentiate the two. Was it because, since last February, he'd learned the extent of my relationship with T'vek? Or because he really did know that I'd been crushing on him for months?

"What? No! Data, I swear the only penetration of any kind was in my mouth." I could feel myself paling from the implication of that phrase. "With the piercing gun," I amended quickly.

"If he did…"

"If I'd thought rape was on his mind, I would have called for help. You said last time, if he wanted to cause me physical harm, he could have. He would have. He said I matter to you, and so I was useful to him. Anyway, rape isn't his style. Coercion? Possibly. Seduction? Definitely. But not rape."

"You seem certain."

"I am certain. Also, I made sure of it while he was kissing me." Data gave me a look that clearly meant I should elaborate. "I kicked him in the balls. Thanks for the information that it would work, by the way. Though, you might have warned me about how horrible his scream would sound." Or that he would taste like acid.

"I did not know," he said. "Somewhat ironically, you are now in a position of knowing my brother more intimately than I do."

I shivered. "Did you have to phrase it that way? I know I once asked you about meeting him, but that was when he was an idea and not a rather brutal reality." We were both quiet for a while after that. Finally, I asked. "Data…what do we do now? I mean, you have to report this, don't you?"

"That is standard protocol," he said.

"And Lore's message to you… the data-solid in my tongue…. Can you remove it?"

"I will have to examine it more closely first," he said.

"Yeah, that won't be awkward at all," I said, more to myself than to him. "When you do report this, can you not be specific about the nature of the conversation he quoted? Out of context it's…"

"I do not believe that level of detail will be necessary."

I opened my mouth to thank him, but yawned instead. "Sorry," I said sheepishly. "It's been… kind of a day."

"Go and rest," he suggested in a tone that made it clear I shouldn't argue. "I will begin my investigation, and contact the captain and Lt. Worf, as well as the doctor and the counselor. Someone will wake you when you are needed."

We stood up at the same time. He returned the tea things to the replicator in preparation for his investigation, and I moved toward the bedroom – his bedroom. A part of me flashed back to the beginning of the year, when he'd guarded my sleep during my mother's recuperation. A part of me indulged in a moment of fantasy about a future when sleeping in his bed would mean something very different.

"Data?"

"Is something wrong, Zoe?"

I wanted a hug, but didn't want to ask. Apparently, a rather intense year of friendship had been long enough for him to recognize when I needed reassurance. "No, never mind."

"I have observed that when you are anxious about something, you are usually soothed by a hug. Would you like one now?"

"Yes, please." I turned around and let him enfold me in his arms. It wasn't a long embrace. But it was enough.

Spot, having decided that I either needed a friend or a guard, was already on the bed. I instructed the computer to dim the lights and curled up on the bed trying not to be hyper-aware of where I was, and why.

I wasn't a cat-fan by any means, but sometimes the soft purring of an animal is the best soporific around.

(=A=)

Stardate 44672.03

(Sunday, 3 September 2367, 07:02 hours, ship's time)

It was Data who woke me up again, a few hours later, though in all honesty, my sleep had been fitful. I kept not-quite dreaming, and not-quite waking up. Considering that I'd slept away a good chunk of the previous day on Starbase Twelve, and then been sedated for several hours after that, the fact that I'd slept at all was miraculous.

"Zoe, I am sorry to disturb you, but the captain has asked the senior staff to be in Conference Room One at eight hundred hours, and your presence is required as well."

"What time is it now?" I asked, pushing my hair away from my face.

"Two minutes after seven. I was uncertain how much time you would need to 'get ready,' or whether you wished to shower."

"Here?" I asked, alarm and embarrassment warring for dominance. "I can't shower here."

"Zoe, I may be an android, but I can assure you there is nothing atypical about the shower in my quarters. You have used the bathroom more than once." Anyone else would have been a bit testy. His tone was oddly flat, even for him.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Honestly, not everything has to do with you being an android," I said. "In fact, most things don't." I took a deep breath; my litany of the levels of wrongness could wait. "How dressed-up do I need to be? I only have summer clothes in my suitcase, but I don't think there's time to run home and change."

"If you have any clothing that does not display writing, that would be best," he answered calmly. "No one will judge you on your attire…" He stopped in the middle of his thought. "Do not move." I stayed where I was, sitting on his bed, while he turned on his heel and left the room, returning with a tricorder. "Do you typically wear jewelry to bed?" he asked.

"Jewelry?" I tried to remember if I was wearing earrings, or not.

"Your bracelet," he said, aiming the tricorder at my wrist.

I looked down at the circle of turquoise, green, and white beads and then back up at him. "Mala beads aren't really jewelry," I said, evading his question. He opened his mouth, probably to refute my statement, but I cut him off, explaining in a low voice, "You gave it to me; I don't ever take it off."

I don't know if it was the tricorder reading or my statement that made him match my tone, but what he said was, "I am gratified that it pleases you," followed swiftly by, "there is an extra bead."

"What?"

"When I gave you that bracelet for your birthday, there were twenty-seven beads. There are currently twenty-eight." He tapped a command into the tricorder, then scanned my wrist again. "I believe I know how Lore heard our conversations, as well as how he was able to track you to Earth and Starbase Twelve."

"A bug?" I asked. "He planted a bug in my bracelet. When?" I thought for a moment. "Oh. After he knocked me out. But…that means he was planning it? He was planning to find me back in February?"

"It would appear so," Data said gravely.

I did not burst into tears. Instead I said. "If you want me ready for an eight AM meeting, you need to leave the room now."

"I will need to take your bracelet with me."

"Will I get it back?" I asked, automatically. "No, never mind. It doesn't matter. Not really." I held out my wrist and let him undo the fastener, leaving my wrist feeling oddly naked. As soon as he left the room, I dashed for the bathroom.

We made it to the conference room at exactly seven-fifty-nine.


Notes: The bracelet was Data's gift to Zoe back in Crush, chapter 42. Lore knocked Zoe out in chapter 44, and her reactions to that incident began in chapter 45. Music will resume shortly. (For Data's POV of the last half of this chapter and the beginning of the next, see my one-shot In Conference.) (Revised 6 November 2016)