Tasha had never seen him this angry. Not even during the incident— that's all it was ever referred to as, 'the incident'— with the Borg and Lore had he shown such fury. Before the emotion chip, he had his own subtle, understated way of showing how he felt. Faint smiles and soft touches and "please do not take any unnecessary risks" before dangerous missions. This blind rage, this raw anger, was so unlike him, and it scared her.

Another piece of lab equipment flies through the air and she ducks, only just missing the bulk of metal thrown from the other side of the room. "Hey!" she calls, "I know you're upset, but ruining all your stuff isn't going to help."

"I will do as I please," Data shouts as he paces furiously back and forth, fists clenched tight. He knocks over a stack of PADDs, shoves a pile of wires to the floor.

"Data, you need to calm down. You don't want to overload your circuitry again."

"Do not tell me to calm down," he rages, jabbing a finger in her direction.

"Data," she takes a cautious step forward, "please talk to me. I can't pretend to understand what you're going through right now, but if you just talk to me, I can help."

"There is nothing you can do, Tasha," he snaps, finally stopping his pacing. "The chip has fused itself to my neural net and I am unable to control any of the emotions I am feeling."

"I know, Data, I know," Tasha sighs, moving closer to him. "I mean that I want to help you get through this, you know, be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on. That's what I'm here for."

Silence is his only response and she takes another step, only inches from him now. "Look at me," she pleads.

He keeps his eyes firmly locked on the table, refusing to meet hers. A hesitant hand reaches out to grab a balled fist, and she feels him relax slightly. "Hey," she says. "Look at me— just breathe, okay?"

When he finally meets her eyes, she's alarmed to see tears.

"Tasha," he whispers, "I am… afraid."

She wraps her arms around him and holds him close as he begins to sob, whispering comforts in his ear, petting his hair, pressing light kisses to his face.

They stay that way, holding onto each other tightly, well after the sobs have stopped and the tears ceased. Tasha dries his eyes with her sleeve, a reassuring smile on her lips. "We'll get through this Data. Together."