"Within The Confines of Time"
Chapter 7 ~ "More of a Man"
-x-x-x-x-
"You don't act like a Romulan, you don't treat me like a Romlulan nor do you speak like one." She looked down at the maru's, then back to the man whom had recently become an enigma to her. She studied his eyes, pleading for the answer held within them. "And you just called me Tasha; only my closest crewmates used that name. Now I will only ask you one time, Commander - Tell me who you really are?"
Data's anger began to boil over. "Why do you wish to insist that I am someone else?" He moved dangerously closer to her, tempting fate and Tasha's fury. "Is it because I don't slap you around like Volskiar or make you do unspeakable acts. Perhaps, I should start being as cruel to you as they are – is that it? Is that what you want?"
"No! All I want is to know who you really are?" Tasha spat back!
Data lowered his head in grief and resignment. "I am who I told you I was." He whispered. Again, he met her eyes with his. "But I will tell you what I'm not. I am not the one you need to keep discrediting; in fact I think it would benefit you greatly to trust me, Tasha!"
"I don't trust anyone!" She argued. "And the only one I did trust while on this god-forsaken mission is dead now."
Data's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared a little. "You mean Castillo?"
"Yes, Richard!"
"Richard?" His face scrunched up in distaste. "What kind of name is Richard?"
Tasha simply rolled her eyes and resumed to walk away from him.
He had no clue what was going on with him. In fact, Richard was a very common name. But he also knew it was a name that he, as of five seconds ago, absolutely detested. Why was he so insistent upon knowing more about this man! It was a torture that he seemed to want more of – she had turned him into a man that was glutton for punishment. He wanted facts about Castillo! He wanted his place of birth, the name of his parents, his rank and especially the reasoning behind his interest in her.
He watched helplessly as she quickly strolled further through the arboretum. His inquisitive nature getting the best of him!
"Volskiar confided in me that he had Castillo killed because he knew that you loved him." She immediately stopped her retreat from his presence. "Is that true?"
She turned to face him and he could tell that she was battling the tears that were threatening to fall.
Her voice was shaky and distraught. "Yes, I believe Volskiar had Richard killed, although he told me otherwise."
Data shortened the distance between them only to stop a few yards away. He smiled slightly, "But did you love him?"
Tasha tilted her head to the side in annoyance. "How is that relevant to me trusting you? And besides, if I confide the truth to you, whose to say that you want go back and tell Volskiar?"
Data was enraged at the accusation. This woman was impossible!
"I don't care about Volskiar but I do care about you!" He shouted.
Tasha was taken back by his statement but quickly retaliated. "You can't possibly care about me; you've only just met me a day ago."
Data shook his head insistently. "No, believe me – I've come to realize that I care a great deal about you!"
Tasha remained silent, her mind processing the revelation.
"Now please, I just need to know – did you love him?" Data asked.
He could see the war she was waging inside herself and he began to wonder if she truly even knew the answer to his question herself.
She hesitated a moment. "I don't –"She paused, while meeting his eyes she corrected herself. "I believe that I could have loved him."
His heart was elated. "In other words, you weren't in love with him yet?"
Tasha's patience was wearing thin. "No, I was in love with -"She quickly caught herself before she disclosed the man's name. "Someone else!" she shouted.
"If you were in love with someone else then why begin a relationship with this man?"
Still irritated, Tasha answered. "Let's just say he didn't feel the same as me!"
Data shrugged his shoulders in disbelief. "I find that hard to believe."
"If you knew what I know, you wouldn't."
He smirked slightly. "Enlighten me with your wisdom!"
Tasha growled and brushed past him roughly but Data's reflexes were quicker than she had anticipated. Before she could completely get past him, his hand had already grasped her arm once again. But she couldn't help but notice how he only used enough pressure to stop her, ever careful not to hurt her a second time. She bravely turned to look up into his eyes, their faces inches apart.
Her lips slightly parted in surprise and she could easily feel his breath grazing the coolness of her lips. His voice was much calmer and if she closed her eyes, she could envision the man whom possessed the same smooth, alluring voice.
"Is it possible that this man was an officer on board your futuristic Enterprise?"
A realization suddenly hit her. No, it couldn't be! Why didn't she recognize it before! The likelihood of it truly being him was less than ten percent, she thought. And besides, this man was obviously displaying signs of emotion.
There was only one way to find out for sure. She would continue in this pretense of his. If it was really him, the real Data was incapable of lying and she had no doubt that he would surely tell her.
She briefly flicked her head to the side, a quick motion to remove the rebellious strands of hair from her eyes. She stood up a little straighter and her body tensed up, causing Data to tilt his head to the side in suspicion.
"Yes, he was!" she admitted.
She watched as he downcast his eyes briefly over her body and then back to her gaze, his hold on her arm refusing to loosen up but pulling her all the more closer.
He taunted her again. "His name, please?"
Gawd! Why did he have to still be so pleasant even in moments such as this. Right now, all he wanted to do was take this woman and ravage her where she stood. Yet, his so called code of honor wouldn't allow him. He wanted her to love him, no scratch that, he needed her to love him!
When had this woman beguiled him? Is it possible that Q knew he felt this way for her all along but just couldn't express it? He wasn't sure! All he knew was that this woman was driving him inexplicably crazy inside. She stirred a thousand emotions up within him that he had not experienced within the three days of him being human.
"It doesn't matter because he doesn't even exist yet!"
Still, he smirked knowingly. "I see, he hasn't been born yet, right?"
"No, he hasn't been created yet. He's still the magnificent thought inside the ingenious mind of his father."
Confused, Data raised an eyebrow, a silent plea for her to continue.
"Have you ever heard of Noonian Soong, Commander Saket?"
Data's heart began to race and his eyes widened in acknowledgement. He fumbled to hide his delight but Tasha had already seen the light of verification in his eyes.
"The cyberneticists?" He asked in disbelief.
Tasha nodded her head in agreement.
Shocked, Data continued on. "You love a machine?"
"He's not a machine!" Tasha defended. "He's an android and I promise you that he his more of a man than you will ever dream to be!"
Suddenly, His arm recoiled from her. The look in Data's eyes changed to that of fear and shame all rolled into one. She had wounded him in some way with her words and he had neglected to conceal it.
His eyes searched hers, the pain so very evident in them. He silently nodded his head in resolve as he broke their gaze to look off into the distance at some unknown figure that intrigued only him.
The heat of the moment was lost by her poisonous choice of words. And she knew that he was refusing to meet her steady eyes.
"I see!" He whispered confounded. "I truly hope that you find this android of yours one day."
And with one last glance, he turned to walk away, quickly making his way toward the exit.
Tasha was amazed at how alone she suddenly felt. She had become accustomed his presence. She found that she didn't want him to leave. She needed him to be there! Despite their disputes, she had grown used to his company. And there was still a chance that it could be whom she hoped it was. To hell with the logical reasoning of it's impossibility in her mind. She had to know!
"Data!" She shouted.
Tasha was transfixed by the way Saket abruptly ceased his retreat. His shoulders tensed up at the name of the android she had just blurted out. Slowly, he turned to face the woman who had undoubtedly discovered his secret – or had she?
-x-x-x-x-
Author's notes: To everyone who is reading the story, if you are enjoying it, please take a few moments to review. You have no idea how the reviews fuel the mind of the author, which in turn leads to quicker updates. And to all of you whom have left the most inspiring and uplifting reviews, I sincerely thank you for your feedback. You guys are the reason why it is continuously updated. Thanks a bunch! ;)
