Chapter Eight – Stuck in a Forbidden Groove
Jayden Soong put a hand on Harper Talenger's shoulder and watched her jump a mile.
"Gotcha!" came his voice from just behind her. She reached over her shoulder and put her hand over his face, pushed him back away from her shoulder. Turning around in her swivel chair, Harper faced him. She crossed her long legs. The black hose she wore accentuated the curves of her calves.
"Well, if it isn't the golden boy himself," Harper teased, catching her breath from being scared out of her wits. She had her other hand on her chest and was still breathing hard. Her cheeks were flushed, but her eyes sparkled.
Data thought she was a vision.
He grinned. "Golden boy?" he repeated, looking towards the door to her office. On his way in, Data had seen four people in evidence even though it was 5:09. "Next you are going to tell me you find something about me to be artificial or-"
"How I've met robots that were warmer than you?" she finished, taking it away from him.
"Have you?" Data asked, uncertain.
"No," Harper answered, he sighed. Leaning forward in her chair she whispered to him, "I try to not have more than one robot around at a time," she teased, knowing this would get him.
"I...am...not a robot," Data stammered.
She grinned up at him. "Tripped over that one a bit, hon. But I assure you, of that, I have no doubt." Harper turned off her computer at her desk and locked up her office as Data waited and then trailed behind.
As they made their way to the van, she asked Data where they were going for dinner.
"I hope you like fondue, because it sounds intriguing to me," Data told her.
And it was. The meal was wonderful and the service exemplary. The wine was good too and Data made sure that Harper's glass was never empty. He wanted to be sure she enjoyed herself. Harper was very funny when she drank, but she was also relaxed.
Data decided Harper would be in the correct frame of mind for what he wanted to discuss. Data told her how he had been looking into the stock market and wanted her approval to set aside a small allotment of their funds from his next check, to invest.
"Is that not against some temporal interference law or something?" Harper asked in a whisper. They sat in a circular booth that could have accommodated four more people, but they sat in the middle of the bench, together.
"I do not know of any directive that would caution me against properly supporting my housemate," Data told her with a gentle smile. He could see she was getting very woozy.
"How much wine did you slip me, you sneaky bastard?" Harper asked poking him in the side.
"Apparently, enough," Data teased.
"I will still remember everything that happens. I may say something stupid, but I'll remember saying it tomorrow so don't think you can take advantage of me and I won't remember. Besides, I would want to remember."
Data was stunned to hear her say this. He felt his whole body freeze over and then thaw. It was an odd sensation for someone who could not be cold or hot.
"You would?" he asked weakly, looking her straight in the eyes. It almost seemed as though she had been drinking synthehol and was throwing off the affects. Harper looked Data back in the eyes and a smile curved her lips.
"Of course I would."
Data could not resist the temptation any longer; he leaned over and kissed her. The wine on her lips tasted sweet, but the kiss was far sweeter. He wrapped his arms around her as Harper leaned into him, caressing his cheek. He found her tongue and courted it with his own. Data's left hand moved to the back of her head. He ran his long fingers through her dark silky waves. She never did much of anything to her hair. She didn't have to.
Data felt Harper's other hand move from his side, up his chest. He had removed his jacket and tie in the car, and unbuttoned his shirt so she would not tease him. Now her fingers found the opening and found skin. Desire floored Data with that touch. In that moment he remembered the decision he had made, designed to determine her feelings on this matter without having to ask. But she was not close enough to know what was happening to him.
Data felt an overwhelming sense of defeat. They were sitting in a booth of a restaurant, forty-five minutes from home and a bed. He did not want to make love to Harper in the car.
But he wanted to make love to her.
Badly!
Yes, there was a downside to programming this response to be automatic. Data could not just grab Harper's hand and rush her out of the restaurant without at least fifty people knowing that he was...in the mood.
Sighing heavily, he kissed Harper one last time and caressed her soft cheek.
"We need to go home, Harper, but it would seem we have to stay."
She looked confused and displeased by this announcement. "Explain that." She was looking him in the face and he did not wish to just look down, so he took her hand and touched it to the prominent bulge in the front of his slacks. "Oh, my," she gasped, but did not look down. Data was thankful for small miracles. "You...changed it over?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Can you change it back so we can leave?" she asked, hopefully.
"It took thirty four minutes to activate the program that would allow this to happen, should the situation warrant. It would take less time to allow it to...subside."
"Then I guess we should order dessert... and stop...kissing." Data did not want to agree...about the kissing part...but he had to agree. Still, he pulled Harper close and kissed her just once more before the waiter returned.
Data was beginning to think the reaction would never subside, when it finally did. He paid the bill, hid the receipt from Harper and ushered her from the establishment. He walked her over to his side of the van and opened his door.
"Normally I would open your door for you, but I wish to kiss you again and I think we know what will happen if I do. I think I will need to get into the van after that. I hope you are not offended."
Harper giggled. She was still very much under the influence of the wine. But she had assured Data that she knew what she was doing and wanted to kiss him. Those words washed over him like a tide. Data crushed her body against his. Kissing her with a passion that surprised even him. Harper seemed almost aggressive as she returned his kiss, her own desire adding to the fire between them.
His erection returned.
So did her giggles.
"I think we need to go home. My knees are weak," she told him. Data still did not want to release her. But she was right and he could not take the chance that someone would see them if he made love to her in the back of the van. One more penetrating kiss and she pulled away, precarious in her balance.
"You could hang a week's worth of laundry from that thing, you know. You going to be able to get in the car like that?" Harper asked staring pointedly at the bulge in his pants.
"I will be just fine. You are exaggerating about the laundry and it would be unseemly to test your theory." Data lectured. Harper was still laughing when she finally made it to her side of the car.
He drove the speed limit, but was tempted not to. There it was again...temptation! Still this one was easy to resist. Data did not wish to risk injuring Harper or himself. No one to fix him here...
They were twenty minutes from home when Harper fell asleep.
The overwhelming feeling of defeat washed over Data again.
Harper was snoring softly when they arrived home and Data laughed at his hopes being foiled again. He carried her into the house and took her to her bed. Her shoes were the only things he removed before covering her with her blankets and kissing her good night.
"I want you, but I will wait. Remember my kiss, Harper. Tell me tomorrow that you wanted my kiss. Tell me you want me too."
Harper rolled over at three in the morning and wandered to her bathroom in the dark. She wondered why she still had her dress on. I only remembered...let's see...I remember...oh, my God! Data kissed me! And kissed me again! The sensation of those kisses came rushing back to her.
"I always knew he'd be a curl your toes kind of kisser!" she muttered. Harper wondered where he was. She only remembered the car ride and that was it.
Had they? Had she? Had he?
Coming back into her bedroom she saw the other side of the bed was still made and empty. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. Harper really wasn't sure she was ready to be his lover. Or that Data was ready to be hers.
She pulled off her clothes and threw on a nightgown. Climbing back into bed, she wondered what the morning would bring.
Harper woke up early...or rather had trouble sleeping since she became convinced to a greater degree as the night passed that she was not going to get up and kiss Data good morning. If she succumbed to this desire when they were both still so fragile in healing, Harper knew she would fracture beyond repair if he left. They still had no idea how long Q intended for Data to remain in her time. He could appear as soon as Harper allowed Data into her bed for the first time. Maybe in a little while she could take that, but now...it would kill her.
It felt like Robin was ripped from her arms yesterday. Having Data torn from her today would not be bearable.
Harper ambled into the kitchen once she heard indication of Data moving around in the other room. She padded across the floor and headed to the coffeepot.
"You are up early. I have not yet made your coffee." Data said in a surprised, but quiet voice once he noticed her. He was making turkey sandwiches. She nodded and pulled the coffee tin from the cabinet above. Data continued with his task, but he kept looking over at her. The expression on his sweet face reminded her of the one that had been there when Tasha had walked over and told him that it never happened.
Great! I always hated her for doing that and now here I am, about to do the same thing!
"Harper," Data was standing next to her, staring expectantly at her. He was going to ask! He opened his mouth to speak, but she put her finger over his lips and shook her head.
"Coffee first," she grumbles. "Not even human yet...let me wake up." He sighed, but swallowed his questions and pleas.
"Are you suffering from residual effects from the wine...last night?" he asked. He was thinking about last night. Replaying every moment in his head. She could see it in his sunshine coloured eyes. There was doubt and fright there too. There would be more soon...
"No, only get that if I drink mixed drinks." Harper grabbed a cup from the cupboard and added sugar and milk. She warmed the milk in the microwave and walked back to wait for the coffee to get high enough to fill her cup. She drank three sips and then turned to Data.
"Sit, Data," she commanded in a tone nowhere near commanding. His features clouded over, but he sat. He knew what was coming. He had heard it before...or so he thought.
"You remember it?" he asked, just to get the ball rolling.
"I told you that I would. I'm sure it's a bit fuzzy compared to your recollection, but I think it's all there. I fell asleep in the car, right?" He nodded, expressionless.
"Do you wish that you could not remember it?" he asked. Harper was only mildly surprised that he sounded a touch provoked.
"No, Data. I want to remember it. I may as well say it, since you know it's coming. It did happen, but it can't happen again." She tried to emphasize the 'it happened' part, but it didn't seem to help much. He was still angry. He slapped the table so hard that it seemed the house shook. He pushed back from the table and was on his feet, staring down at her.
"Why! Was my kiss so revolting? Did I taste too metallic for you?" Data was shouting.
"No, and if you're going to give me that tired old 'I'm just an android' line I'll scream. I have two reasons and you may argue with the first, but... You and I are still healing from our last...relationships. You know you wouldn't be so upset if you were not still hurting and healing. You've got thick skin, Data, but it doesn't help you here. Right now you're as fragile as I am, and I can't take this right now." He straightened and walked away from her.
"Perhaps it would help us to heal," he offered, looking back at Harper.
"And perhaps it wouldn't. I can't speak for you, Data, but I know that if we pursued it now and then discovered that this was rebound or just not what we wanted, I would break. Believe me, you don't want to see what would happen..." She looked at her feet.
"What if you are wrong? What if this is just what we need?" He was pleading, but she just shook her head. He turned back around and pounded on the door to the pantry. He was holding back quite a bit; the door only cracked slightly.
"Why can I not fall, just once, and have it simple and uncomplicated. Not a virus induced encounter, not an emotionless one, and not...a seduction intended to manipulate me." Data turned and stared at Harper with haunted eyes. "I thought we could have this. Just two beings who could care and...touch each other..."
"Until Q appears and takes you home, Data?" Harper finished for him. He recoiled. "That's the one thing I can't forget. I know that you're not fully vested here. Your life is waiting for you in the future, timelines away. And I can't go there with you! And you would not want me if I could. I had one man ripped from me, do you really believe that I could survive the sudden loss of another?" Harper stood up and went to him. She took his hands in her own, and looked into his troubled eyes. "You know that you really aren't ready either. You still can't talk about the Queen without a pause. Tasha and Jenna...yes, her, no. I'm in the same boat, sweet boy. We are moving towards the shore, Data, but we aren't there yet. Give it time. This is not a 'no', just a 'not now'. Can you accept that?"
He did not know what to say, so he just ran a finger across the curve of her jaw line. He wanted to kiss her so desperately. Just this closeness and he could feel a physical response threatening. Perhaps just a hug... She came to him willingly. He closed his eyes and forced himself to admit that Harper was right, despite how little he wanted to.
How was it that in diagnostic problems with the most sophisticated pieces of equipment known to science in his time, Data was never wrong in his assessments, but in emotional matters he was wrong more often than not?
There was so little logic involved in emotion.
Harper pulled back to look at his face. She was looking for a clue as to his mood; Data could see it in her eyes. He sighed.
"So, I guess the suggestion for us to stay home and make love all day would be shot down?" Data asked, trying to be pathetically humorous. She grinned and gave his middle a squeeze.
"Sit and watch the whole movie 'First Contact' without flinching and we'll talk." She tilted her head to the side as he sighed in frustration at her. "Maybe this is a sucky time to tell you, but are you aware that a new movie is due out in December?" Harper considered moving out of Data's arms, but decided to stay until after she got all the bad news out.
"Well, let me see, I receive my chip and had an emotional break down in the first movie. I was...raped, sort of...in the second, you still have not let me see the third, but told me that I am damaged and shoot at everyone. What do they do to me in this one? Kill me?" He sounded miffed, but he was joking. Harper's eyes got wide.
"Well..." She released him and gave him room to explode.
"You have to be kidding. He kills me?" Data's voice got high in shock. "If I get to meet Spiner, I think I would indeed want to tell him how to play me better. Imploring him not to kill me would be my first suggestion." Data was deep in thought, no doubt planning a trip to see Spiner and wondering if the events portrayed in the new movie would cross over into his timeline.
"At this point it's just rumor. There are also rumors the captain dies. There is also one that suggests that it's not you that dies, but another android." Harper was trying to calm him, but doubted this would be successful.
"Lore?"
"No, another one. The details are sketchy. I've been avoiding finding out too much so I wouldn't get depressed," Harper explained with a shrug.
"YOU!" Data exclaimed. "How do I die?" He was very unhappy...to say the least.
"I don't know. I really don't and I don't think you should try to find out. We can see the movie when it comes out if you want to, but you have to promise not to rip any chairs out in the theater." Harper waved a finger at him. He arched an eyebrow at her. "Don't look at me like that. I know you want to. You are mad. Very mad." Without looking in that direction, she pointed at the crack in the door to the pantry.
"Oops," he said, wide-eyed.
"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty for being mad and having the strength to do more damage than others. Just try to pick something easily replaceable or something we can do without, okay? Make you a deal...next time I have to tell you something that's gonna piss you off, I'll hand you something to break and duck." She grinned at him and he found himself feeling better.
How did she do that?
Maybe it was easier to be unbalanced with someone who was also teetering on the edge herself.
"I will not hurt you." Data wanted to make sure she knew this.
"I know that your ethical program views me differently than the door. I wasn't too worried. I'm not stupid, but I have faith that you're gonna try not to hurt me on purpose." He saw her eyes move to the clock. "Time has chosen not to stop for us, this morning. It has a very annoying habit of moving on. I have to take a shower since I missed my bath last night. The name of the movie is 'Nemesis'. If you find out conclusively that the Data in this universe dies, please don't tell me, okay?" He raised an eyebrow at her. She knew what he was planning...well, it was not a great leap.
"It would bother you to hear of that Data's death?" he asked, knowing the answer. Harper turned back and gave him a knowing smile.
"I don't want to think about any of you dying. And I forbid you to, got it? Temporal Integrity Commission be damned, anything you can find out that would prevent your death would be a good idea."
"Temporal Integrity Commission?" Data asked, confused.
"You really need to watch more Voyager..."
Thanksgiving was quickly approaching. While this meant the release of 'Nemesis' was coming up fast, it also meant that Melody's vacation was coming up even faster. Harper had still not told her daughter about the man living with her. She also worried about Data, as the closer they came to the movie's release, the moodier Data became. Perhaps it did not matter if it were Data or the other android who died in the movie. Either would upset him. If truth be told, Harper didn't even like the thought of Lore being shot and taken apart. Still she did not live with Lore, she lived with Data and he was very sullen today.
Mel was to arrive in three days and Harper was sitting in front of the TV watching 'Pretty Woman', her favorite old movie. She had knitting needles in her hands and a blanket of yellow and blue was two rows closer to completion. Data was at the computer, paying the bills.
"If you had just told her I was your lover, would she have let me stay with you?" Data asked, from the desk. He was still miffed that Harper had gone to her sister's for the weekend and left him home alone. Her sister, Brinna, was seven months pregnant with her first baby, a boy, and Harper had gone to Alabama for the shower and the weekend. Data had not been pleased.
"In the same room? I don't think so, sweet boy. Considering Brin had a ten year affair with her husband before they got married, I don't think she would have a leg to stand on if she tried to judge me for having a live in lover...if that was what you were." Harper looked over her shoulder at Data to verify that he looked irritated by this. He did.
"I still want to be your lover," he snipped. Harper snorted at the disparity between Data's tone and his words. She got his attention and pointed meaningfully at the movie standing on the TV cabinet.
'First Contact' now had an honored...or dishonored place there. It waited for Data to pick it up and watch it, beginning to end. He had tried once. But the part where he had been grabbed and pulled under the closing door had been as far as he could get. Harper knew Data remembered these events just fine, but watching them from the outside had an odd affect on him.
He didn't like it.
"I am working on it. I have decided that I may try again after the New Year comes." He sounded a little calmer.
"After 'Nemesis' you mean," she corrected. He nodded reluctantly. "I guess you figure that if you can handle seeing yourself die, you can handle anything."
"I suppose...except rejection..." Data muttered. Harper turned completely around in her chair and glared at him.
"I did not reject you, now stop moping." She waved her finger at him. She had been doing that a lot of late. But he had been moping a lot.
"Does it bother you to think that you live with an android who wants to be intimate with you?" he asked, knowing he was setting himself up.
"I have passionately kissed said android, you know," she reminded him.
"I have seen you kiss the computer too. We are both machines. How would you feel if your computer wanted to be your lover?" He was getting pissy again, she noted.
"We talked about it actually...the computer turned me down claiming that I was not his type. He wanted to just be friends. I agreed to his terms. You know my terms, sweet boy." She got out of her chair and came to stand behind him.
"I have noticed that when we have discussions like this, you tend to increase the frequency in your referring to me by that term of endearment." Data said this looking over his head at her. Harper was glancing at the computer screen and taking note of their current bill situation.
"That's because I can remember back to when you were less grouchy and were a sweet boy. I keep hoping if I remind you enough you will be again." She leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck. She snuggled up to his cheek and he sighed. He both liked and hated it when she did this. She did not do any sexual flirting or kiss him, but she was, as always, affectionate to him. How was he going to cope with having her daughter here and watching his every move?
Data was grouchy. Harper was right, as always, and he was moping as well. Harper's and his relationship was part of it, but the new movie was also bothering him. Data had promised not to tell her about it but...
"If I...the character of Data dies in this timeline, how do I treat that knowledge if Q sends me back to mine?" Data asked Harper, thinking out loud.
"We don't know that you will in your timeline. We have found discrepancies."
"Harper, the fact that your time has progressed by 'two movies' and that I have hair on...my arms is not overwhelming evidence." There were more discrepancies, but they were all just as insignificant.
"You, I assume, will remember all of what happened here, since Picard did when Q bounced him through time."
"Yes, and he told us all about it."
"Thus turning the timeline. You can do the same thing. Use the knowledge you take back and tell everyone what you think they need to know. But...what will you do if the movie shows that it is not you that dies?" She asked.
"You are asking if I will try to save him, too. I will."
"What if the death of one of you is unavoidable, or the situation requires one of you to sacrifice yourself? Granted I know almost nothing about him or even how long he has been alive...like that makes a difference, but we have seen 'Data' telling him that he must be deactivated as he is dangerous in the film previews. I don't want anyone of your kind to die since there are so very few of you and I am rather against genocide. I just think you have to face the possibility there may be a damn good reason that...one of you has to face the ultimate challenge. I think you know who I'm pulling for..."
Data pulled her arms from his neck and stood to look at her. "I do not wish to be destroyed. But I will not send him to his death if my death will save him."
"Then you most likely will condemn him as well. If he is not functioning properly, who will see that his rights are defended? Picard is loyal to you. The captain wouldn't have been very forgiving towards Lore had he killed you during any of the times you encountered him. You are the advocate, sweet boy. You are the one with the little paper of rights to wave at them. If you aren't there to wave it, no one else will. Even Geordi will be too broken up about your death to defend the other android. I know this is not making you feel any better, but you still have the power to change fate. All you can do is try." Harper wanted to hold him and tell him that it would be all right, but she was too worried that her words would be a lie. How do you advise someone about dealing with a possible death? Possibly even their own!
"I will have to decide when-" the phone rang. Harper sighed and went to answer it. It was Melody. Data turned around and went to his bedroom. He did not have anything to do here, but he wished to give her some privacy. He also found he had much to brood about.
"I have to tell you something that I have been avoiding, Melody," Harper told her daughter only a few minutes into the conversation.
"You have cancer." Melody had much the same odd sense of humor that Harper did.
"No, just a man living with me," she replied, hoping that this sounded much better by comparison. It was a good try...
"What the hell did you just say? Tell me you're kidding. Have you turned into Aunt Brinna?"
"It's not that kind of...who am I kidding? It is yet to be that kind of relationship, but it may one day be like that, and I am an old woman who will die soon, give me a break!"
"Translation: you're horny and so you've lured this unsuspecting guy into your den of horrors. Do I get to tell him to 'be afraid, be very afraid'?"
"I think he knows already. You're taking this better than I expected. Do you want to know anything about him?" Harper asked.
"A name would be a good start. Is he cute or tall, blond and geeky like you prefer?" her daughter teased.
"No, Stewart Copeland was not available, I had to settle. He's tall...pale and well, I guess you could consider him geeky in a way. His name is...oh hell, you know too much to fall for this. Hold one sec, Melody. I will be right back." Harper put the phone down and went to fetch her housemate.
"She is never going to fall for the ruse," Harper announced at his bedroom door. Data was lying on his bed, but looked at her when she came into his field of vision.
"Why do you say that?" Data asked.
"Even your name is going to ring bells, your assumed name. She's heard me talk about you and has watched enough Star Trek to know the name Soong. On a good note, she doesn't seem too shocked that I am living with someone." Harper shrugged as Data sat up.
"You should have let me come with you to your sister's shower. I could have met the whole family. You are hiding me." He was still in mid-brood.
"Stop it! I need real guidance here, Mr. Depression. Come with me." Harper grabbed his hand and he followed with a sigh of resignation. Once they were back in the living room, Harper put the phone on speaker and told her daughter that her friend was now in the room.
"You still haven't told me his name, Mom," Melody's voice complained.
"Tell her your name," Harper coaxed him.
"I am called Jayden Soong." Data rolled his eyes at Harper for making him do this.
"Very funny, mom. Sounds like a depressed Data. Where did you download that wave?" Melody replied, sounding like she could not believe that her mother would try to pull this one over on her.
"Gee, guessed it right off the bat. He does a great Data impression, doesn't he?" Data was back in the computer chair and she was standing over his shoulder.
"Yeah, except that I don't remember Data being depressed much. Worried a lot, but not depressed. What kind of weird-o is he if he's feeding your Data obsession? Have you given him any money?" Melody sounded upset and worried.
"I paid it all back!" Data defended. He hated being accused of this by Linda.
"Tell him to stop that, mom. If he doesn't stop, I'm gonna call the cops and tell them some guy is taking advantage of you. Mom!" Melody sounded almost frantic.
"Okay that's enough! I guess this was a bad idea. When are you going to be here, Mel?" Harper asked, cutting off the tension-filled conversation and redirecting it.
"That's why I called...I'm gonna be there tomorrow. If he's gonna be there, I'm not-"
"Stop! You are to come here and we will all sit down and get to know each other. I am your mother and you will respect my wishes. Got it?" A sigh of frustration could be heard on the line.
"Fine, but he better not be using my room!"
"He's in the guestroom and always has been."
"How long had this been going on?" Melody asked sounding defeated.
"Two months, three weeks, two days, six hours, eleven minutes and eight seconds." Data answered. Harper suppressed a laugh.
"You just couldn't resist, could you?" Harper said, swatting him only half playfully on the head.
"That was not funny! I-"
Harper cut Melody off saying, "Relax, pumpkin. I have not lost as much of my mind as you think I have. We'll see you tomorrow. I love you."
"Love you too," Melody answered begrudgingly and hung up.
Harper disconnected the call from her end and sighed. "Well, that went perfectly awful."
"It was your idea for me to talk to her," he said defensively.
"Oh, I take full responsibility for fucking it up, but did you have to recite the full exact time?"
"She asked!"
"Data. I don't think you need to worry about what happens in Nemesis, because I'm going to kill you right here and now!"
"If so, can I have a last wish?" he asked coming to stand before her. He moved in close.
"You know my terms," she said, again, waving her finger at him.
"I need you, Harper. Please!" He moved closer.
"What about the tape?" She pointed at the TV. His attention was not to be distracted from his target.
"I will watch it...later." He took hold of her waist, pulling her against him.
"Just a kiss, no further!"
"I will settle for that...for now."
It had been too long... His desire had only increased during the wait. Not that she had not been tempted to start unbuttoning his shirt and just go from there. His kisses were so demanding...so full of passion...Harper forgot everything she had been feeling and could only feel her resolve slipping away...and his need.
"Data..." she moaned. She could feel the evidence of his desire press against her.
"Let me, please, Harper. Do not deny me. Please." She felt so swept away by the sound of his voice, and his touch. His intoxicating touches and scent. He was kissing her cheek, nibbling her ear, and whispering words of desire to her. Data lowered her to the floor. He could have lifted her to the bed...any bed, but the world was a blur and all he could think of was having her love. It was what he needed. Not her body, but her mind. Still, his sexual desire seemed in conflict with this.
"Tell me that you love me, Harper." Data was pleading and commanding all at once.
"I have always loved you." Her eyes were closed and she looked almost on the edge of ecstasy.
"No, Harper, Not him. Not the man on the screen, or the one in the stories, any story. Me! Open your eyes and look at me!" She opened her eyes.
It was there... Data could see it there.
"Tell me...save me..."
Harper reached up at traced his lips with a finger. "Human," she whispered.
"No...I am not." He was confused as to why she would say this now.
"No. That is the first word you said to me. Human. You had that 'in control' stance and were turned in a way that made...my mouth water for days just thinking about it. You are him, but better. You are not so perfect...which oddly makes you more perfect. You get pissy, frustrated, you laugh louder and you're much sneakier. I always knew you had the capacity to be stubborn, even before the chip and with it you're ten times worse. You are the sexiest man I have ever met...but you have to let me up."
Data felt like a warp bubble had just collapsed. "Why?" he pouted.
"Because, we cannot become lovers the day before Melody comes to stay for four days!"
Why would that have anything to do with...oh.
Harper could see the realization hit him.
"You told her we were not lovers," he voiced. She nodded. "You have to stop telling people that," he admonished, only half joking. She started to giggle. And kept giggling. He stopped her giggles with another kiss. For someone who did not want to make love with him, she was awfully damn responsive!
"The day she leaves-" he began, as he helped her to her feet moments later.
"You still have to watch the tape, the whole tape. No blinking and no coffee break. And right now we have a bigger problem." She glanced down for just a second and then pretended not to notice his 'bigger problem.' "Bigger than that if you can imagine..." She gave him an evil grin.
"Your humor chip is malfunctioning. That was not funny!" He growled. He turned and went to the couch. She followed and headed for the chair, but tossed him a pillow first and motioned for him to put it in his lap. She had to catch the pillow a second later.
When Harper stopped laughing she told Data she doubted they would be able to keep Data's 'secret identity' from Melody. "She has heard too much about you through the years to be fooled. She also knows how to look things up, and Soong she already knows. If she looks up Jayden, we're sunk. We may be sunk already as she knows your voice."
"I can change it during her visit, but I could not answer the phone or speak to anyone else outside the two of you."
"Exactly. Not feasible. She needs to know. I think I am going to need her to know anyway." Her voice was suddenly shaky and he did not understand why, it did cause him to loss his erection.
"Why?"
"For when Q returns. I don't want to have to explain to her why her mother is a basket case...again. I want her to be able to figure out that your absence equals...well I think you can put two and two together. She needs to know, so pick an opening on your head to show her all the pretty lights and be ready." Harper gave him an uneasy expression. The shadow of pain that Data had hoped was gone once again clouded her features. She rose and touched his cheek with the tip of her finger.
"Bathing," she said and walked down the hall.
He was being selfish. Data was thinking only of himself and assuming that Harper was in shape to take on his full neurosis. Why each time they thought they had a handle on a past trauma, new ones kept appearing? It had gotten dark outside. He went out on the back deck to sit and look at the stars. He was going to do as Harper had asked and watch the damned tape. Data would do as he planned, wait until after they had gone to see the new movie, and then later view the tape.
The new movie. One of us dies...
"Damn you, Spiner. If you cause me to die I just might return the favor!"
Melody was driving in from Alabama and should arrive around four o'clock Wednesday afternoon. Both Harper and Data requested half days at work, so they were home by a quarter to one. They changed clothes and Harper headed to Melody's room to change the sheets on her bed and dust. Data looked in this room on his first day, but had never needed to enter it again. He entered now to check on Harper. His neurosis seemed to be rubbing off on her, or she was just anxious about Melody's reaction.
"Well, it is unbelievable! Her most logical reaction would be to believe that one or both of us are nuts. Probably that I am nuts and you are feeding my instability by pretending to be Data." Harper was making the bed and defending her concerns at the same time.
"I am Data and you are not unstable...mostly."
"Gee, thanks! Is this where I wake up at my computer and realize this was all a dream?"
Data walked over to her side and stressed his words by tapping her nose. "You are not dreaming." He lowered his finger. "Why do you think you would wake up at your computer?" he asked, intrigued.
"I was there writing when you appeared."
"You did tell me that before. Are you ever going to let me see those stories?" Data tried to give Harper one of his most sincere and innocent smiles, but he was forgetting how to do it right...ha!
"NO! I deleted them, remember!" She looked very unconvinced by his smile. Maybe he really had forgotten...
"I cannot believe that you totally deleted your work. I have never thrown away one of my paintings. Some of them burned in the crash of the Enterprise-D, but I have never destroyed one myself." He tilted his head, his eyes attempting to coax the truth from her.
"Okay, they're on disk. But they're mine. Personal and private. I told you enough. Mushy love stories. Boring really. I tend to be long winded and repeat myself. You'd hate them."
"Do I die in any of them?" Data asked.
"No, of course not! You get saved from death, but no, I don't try and kill you off."
"Am I emotionally assaulted? Or sexually assaulted? Do I become damaged and go berserk?" Harper shook her head through each question.
"I guess you could say that Larria sexually harasses you, but you manage to keep your shirt on. Oh, you are hurt on the leg, but it's very minor. Lessa patches you up as soon as she can."
"Sexually harasses?"
"Larria keeps propositioning you, and won't take no for an answer."
"Why? And who is Larria?"
"Side character. Wants to try out your sexual programs. Please, that's about it. Everybody lives happily ever after and only one security guard dies."
"You said there was a sexually explicit scene? In which story?"
"'Dangerous'. There is more than one scene. And if I ever finish it there will be even more. Lessa decides sex is fun. Is that enough yet? Or should I describe the scene?"
Data's eyes got wide with interest. "Would you?"
"NO! I can't remember it that well. Forgetful human and all. Real is always better than imagined...well it's supposed to be. Make your own scenes, Data."
Harper had been dusting, but Data pulled the duster from her hand and lowered her to the bed. He covered her mouth with his. Why could he not get past this? At the least provocation, he was on her. Data tried to convince himself to release her, but he felt his penis growing hard and he found his hand was slipping up her skirt, touching the skin. He found her panties and began to pull them off.
Just once.
He just wanted to taste this feeling once.
Harper grabbed at his hand and shook her head.
"My daughter is due here in just hours, Data."
"Let me love you for those hours. You will be able to tell if your scenes are accurate..." He was looking for anything to convince her.
"Let me make this perfectly clear to you, Mister," she said, pushing his hand away and sitting up. Her tone was laced with venom. "When you come to my bed, you'd better plan to come to it until Q drags you away. There will be no going back, so you had better be sure. I am not a toy or an experiment. It will not be temporary. If you come to me, you are mine for as long as you live in this time and place. Understand?" He nodded, wide-eyed. "Good. Now go and put fresh towels in your bathroom and make some coffee, please. I think I'm gonna need some."
Data was in the hall, obeying her order, before he knew what had happened.
But she had not told him anything bad...
The front door opened and Melody Talenger walked through at precisely 4:12. Data was covered in his holo-disguise for now and Harper was lecturing him on behaving and not acting like a sex-starved teenager. He was assuring her that he was love starved, not sex starved when the door opened. Harper ran from the kitchen.
"Melody!" her mother cried.
The young girl dropped her bags just in time to receive her mother's embrace. Data turned the corner and stood by the kitchen, holding the cup of coffee that Harper had thrust at him when she heard the door. Data studied the new arrival. Melody was two inches shorter than her mother but had almost the identical figure full of curves. The girl's hair was a lighter shade of brown, longer and thicker than Harper's, but with no wave. Data wondered if this was how Harper had appeared at Melody's age. Both women were beautiful.
The women fussed over each other for several moments before Melody commented on how nice the front yard looked.
"Did your black thumbs suddenly turn green?" she asked, grinning. Harper laughed and shook her head.
"Don't look at me, I can still kill any plant within a hundred yards just by looking at it. He did it," Harper said and turned slightly to indicate Data, who was still standing by the kitchen. Melody had apparently not noticed him before this moment. She stood transfixed and stared at Data in disbelief. She came across the floor with her mouth opened in stunned silence. Data glanced at Harper. She looked suddenly nervous.
"You could be his double. Contacts, makeup and you would be him." Her voice was full of wonder. Melody stopped short of touching Data's face, but looked tempted. She turned to face her mother, question and confusion in her blue eyes.
"Did you hire him or something? This is just too much, Mom. You have to get over him, he's not real!" Melody walked back over to Harper and took her mother's hands in hers. Harper was shaking her head. Data wondered if he should leave.
"The man standing behind you is real. I know who he is and I am not living in a dream...or at least I don't think I am. There is a very good reason why he looks so much like Data, but you may not be ready to hear it. I assure you, baby girl, I'm not crazy." Melody did not look persuaded. "Let's take your things to your room. You need to relax after your drive. Maybe you should take a nap."
"I'm home, but that does not mean I've turned into a little girl again," Melody snapped as she grabbed one of her bags.
"Harper, perhaps I should attend to her things and allow the two of you to speak privately." Data handed the coffee back to its owner and waited for her answer. "I could retire to my room for a time or I could take a walk." Harper smiled thankfully at him. As it turned out, though, he was sent to the store with a list of 14 items that Harper wanted. He listened and of course did not write them down.
Once Data left, Harper and Melody put the girl's things away, and sat on the girl's bed to talk.
"You look well. I guess he's not beating you..." Melody commented, with just a little bitterness.
"If he had, I'd be dead. I didn't tell you, since there was nothing you could do and I didn't want to take your mind away from your studies, but I was attacked last month at the mall." Harper calmed her daughter's strong need for belated panic. She told Melody some of the details and admitted for the first time who had come to her rescue.
"He ran from the house?" Melody asked, shocked, but impressed.
"He knew I was not in the best frame of mind and was worried. You should have seen him. He was astounding! The slime never landed a punch. Then, Jayden knocked him out cold and we called the police. End of story, except the slime got four years in jail for the attack and called me quite a few very nasty things during the moments when he was carted off."
"Are you okay? Did it scare you?"
"I had a few nightmares, but I had a strong shoulder to cry on. Jayden came with me for the trial. He almost never let's me out of his sight." Harper looked like she was lost in thought.
"That could be taken to mean that he doesn't allow you any freedom, Mom. Is he controlling your life? Why is he living here? I know money is tight, but-"
"Not so much anymore. He makes good money and...he needed a place to stay. He had nothing when he first arrived. Nothing but the shirt, or uniform on his back."
"What, StarFleet uniform? Come on Mom, stop talking like he's really Data!"
"He is."
Melody stood up and with a huff of frustration, left the room. "He stays here?" The girl asked, pointing to the guest room...Data's room. Harper nodded and followed her into Data's room. She said nothing as Melody opened Data's closet and looked through the contents. There were four business suits, two pairs of jeans, two khakis, one pair of black pants, six shirts in different colours and patterns, and one StarFleet uniform in black and mustard. Melody grabbed the uniform and shook it at Harper.
"You're both crazy. What, do you take him to parties and have him perform?" Her daughter was almost screaming at her, but Harper decided to take a page from Data's pre-chip days and remain expressionless until Melody was done ranting. Before her daughter finished telling Harper how she was going to commit her and call the police on Data, Harper heard the garage door opening.
Melody stopped when she heard it too. Dumping the uniform on the floor, Melody raced past Harper and down the stairs that led to the garage. After picking up the uniform and laying it on Data's bed, Harper ran after her. Data was just getting out of the van when the door to the house flew open and Melody jumped the two steps down to the floor. Harper was only two seconds behind her.
"Is something wrong, ladies?" he asked, alerted by their ruffled behavior.
"Nothing's wrong at all, I'm just tired of this weird game you both have going on, Mr. Robot." Melody said sashaying towards him. Harper groaned inward, anticipating the response she knew would be coming.
"I am an android, not a robot." Data replied, right on cue. This caused Melody to ball her fist and try and pop him one, right in the face. Judging that she would do more harm to herself than him, Data grabbed Melody's fist and held it firmly one inch from his face.
"I would not advise this action. You could break the bones in your hand." He slowly lowered both his and Melody's hand.
"Melody, stop this! We're telling you the truth. He was not brought here by his choice, but he is here and you have to deal with it." Harper sounded and looked very disappointed in the actions of her daughter. She came over and grabbed the girl, turning Melody roughly to face her.
"He can prove what he claims to be true. Are you ready to see it?" The girl seemed to think vindication was seconds away and nodded with her jaw set.
They both turned to face Data. He turned off the hologram. Melody's eyes went wide and she began to take small steps backwards.
"How did he do that?" she whispered to her mother.
"Hologram. Designed to disguise him so he can go out in public. He can't go out of the house like that can he?" Harper said, gently. She smiled at the golden skinned, amber-eyed man who faced them. He still looked very discomfited. He never liked frightening people. He turned away, heading for the rear of the van and the groceries. Harper led Melody up the stairs and back to her room.
"It's impossible. He's a character in a TV show." Melody mumbled.
"Trust me, I know how you feel. I was quite shocked at first, but as I saw him just two seconds after he popped into the living room and in uniform with tricorder and phaser, it took less to convince me." Harper set the girl down on her bed and kneeled down to talk to her, gently.
"He was brought here by Q. We don't really understand the reason, but he's here to learn something...from me. He is a very interesting person and a bit of a hard head, but sweet nonetheless. He is just like the character, but different too."
"How is he different?" Melody asked, still rattled.
"He has hair on his body. I saw it on his arms," she blushed and did not mention the hair on his chest. "He was also pulled out if his time before the events in 'Insurrection' took place. He found out about the new movie and is quite distraught about it." Harper told her.
"I guess he doesn't like the rumors about his own death." Melody remarked, calming.
"Exactly. He's been bent out of shape for three weeks now. He's been a royal pain in the butt to live with, but I can't say I don't blame him."
"I can't believe that you didn't even mention any of this at the shower. Couldn't you have clued me in at all so I could have been a little prepared for this?" Melody accused, since she too had gone to Brinna's shower. Harper put a finger to her lips and made a hushing sound.
"Don't mention that. He wanted to come with me so he could meet all of you and still hasn't forgiven me for leaving him behind. I don't think we need to tell your grandmother or anyone else who he is. Since you were going to be staying and you know something of him, anyway, I felt you needed to know who he really is. I also wanted to have...someone I could talk to about...all of these impossible happenings." Harper laughed for a moment and Melody looked at her expectantly.
"What?"
"Can you imagine if we did tell your grandmother? Hell, just the fact that I have a man living here is going to send her over the edge. She always believes I'm too reckless." Harper grinned at the thought.
"Can't say I disagree. Nonny just wants you to be happy, but are you sure this will make it so?" Harper gave her daughter's hand a squeeze.
"Star Trek humor? Funny. Seriously, I have no idea. I know I can't kick him out. I don't want him to leave. I know I need to introduce him around the family, but he's got to get over his being upset about 'Nemesis' and the events that took place in 'First Contact'." Harper was musing, but this reminder caused Melody to gasp.
"Oh, God! I forgot about that one! Mom, he was involved with that Borg! You told me that- you hinted that you had feelings...and that he had feelings... Mom, he was with that Borg woman!" Melody was horrified and revolted at the thought of what Data had done and what could come to pass.
"I saw the movie too, I was with you." Harper reminded her. "He suffered from those events. You can't imagine how he suffers. Don't throw it in his face, baby girl. I warn you, I'll take you over my knee if you do. I may also toss you out on your ear. He is my guest and I care for him...a lot. So don't piss me off by ticking him off!" Harper gained the fierce edge that Melody had come to dread over the years. You couldn't argue Harper out of anything if she reached this point and there would be hell to pay if you tried. Melody knew her place. She looked her mother in the eye and wisely chose to nod.
Harper patted her daughter's knee and nodding herself, left the girl to freshen up.
