Melanie's communicator chirped and she heard the voice of Lt. LaForge.

"LaForge to Melanie Kampen. Please come to engineering, it's an emergency."

"Alright I'm coming," she said and rushed out of the quarters.

On her way she almost ran into Captain Picard.

"I'm sorry, Captain," she said and kept running down the corridor. She didn't hear what he said but didn't really care even if he was yelling at her.

The way to engineering seemed to take ages. When she finally reached it, she stopped for a second. What if Data was…? No, he couldn't be dead. Not Data.

She stepped into the sensor reach and the door hissed open. In the middle of the room was Data lying on a table with Katharina, Katrin and Geordi standing around him.

At least he looked like Data. Melanie could see more metal than skin and cloth. In this moment he looked more like a robot to her and she was so scared that she started screaming.

"Oh my god! Data! What….what….what happened?" she cried and slid down the wall to the ground. The tears started blurring her view to the table, but she could see a red dressed figure coming towards her.

"Melli, we do everything we can. He can take a lot. Cmdr. Meunier to Counselor Troi. Deanna, please come down to engineering. Melli is close to a breakdown," Katharina said and wrapped her arms around her. A few minutes later Melanie was still crying and sobbing into Katharina's uniform. From a far distance Melanie could hear the door hissing again and she heard another familiar voice.

"Let her go, Rina. I'll take to your quarters."

Melanie felt another pair of arms getting her on her feet and gently guiding her out of engineering.

"I know how you feel. It must be very strange for you to see him like that. You've grown accustomed to his human appearance. Please trust me. Geordi is perfectly able to repair the damage."

Melanie placed her forehead in her hands and her sobbing grew louder.

"You really have become attached to him, haven't you?"

"I suppose I really love him," she cried, big tears falling from her face. Her breathing was really fast to hyperventilating when Deanna got up and went to the replicator.

"Alright, Melanie, you are almost hyperventilating. I'll get you sedative. Computer, sedative. Permission: Troi, b…alpha…7356…beta…red."

She came back with a glass of water and some kind of spray-looking thing. Deanna put the spray on Melanie's neck and she heard a hiss. From one moment to the other she felt a nice peace spreading out in her body.

"Here, drink this. You were crying a lot."

It took her a few minutes to calm down completely. Melanie hugged her knees, leaning her head against Deanna's shoulder. She heard the hiss of the door and looked up, expecting to see Katharina.

Data stood in the living room, his hair messy and still in his torn uniform. Despite that he was back to normal. Melli leaped up and before Data had the chance to say a word she had wrapped her arms around his waist, like a daughter would have done. She felt him tensing in surprise but he gently put his arms around her, resting his hands between her shoulder blades.

"Melanie, why are you crying?"

"I was worried about you."

"There is no reason to worry. I am functioning within normal parameters." He was silent for a moment. "Do you think differently of me now that you have seen that I am a machine?"

"No…no. I still love you."

"You know that I cannot love you but your presence has enriched my live. I consider you as…my daughter."

Melanie said nothing and just hugged him tighter. Although he had told her about his inability to love, she felt loved for the first time after seven years.

And yet another scene with the relationship between Data and Melanie. But the next one-shot will be something between Melanie and Wesley.