More than two and a half whole months had passed and still, Lore had no further evidence regarding the whereabouts of the elusive emotion chip that he longed for so greatly. It had surprised him greatly that Grace did not think much of the fact that he was treating lieutenant commander Data's personal quarters as if they were his own.

In fact, it wasn't only Lore in lieutenant commander Data's quarters, Grace was too. To be more precise, she wasn't exactly living there. She would just stay over there. She would get some strange looks from fellow officer, who saw her always going into what they thought to be Data's quarters.

Throughout their reasonably short time of knowing each other, although Lore did not like to admit it, he and Grace had grown very close. Lore was actually beginning to almost completely forget what the main reason for him transporting aboard the Enterprise was. As Grace would continue going on with her usual daily routines, so would Lore. And, as much as it surprised him, he felt that he had actually fallen in love with her.

Whenever Grace and Lore would walk around the starship together, they would be the subject of numerous looks. The many crew members found it very odd that an android, who they all, quite understandably, thought to be Data, was holding hands with a fellow female officer.

"How are you?" Lore asked Grace as he returned to Data's personal quarters, to see her sat on the couch, looking pensive. He placed his hand consolingly on her rigid shoulder. Lore's emotions had evolved considerably since the time of his arrival on board the USS Enterprise. His thoughts used to only linger around hatred and malevolence, but now he was more focused on the feelings of care and of... love.

"I'm fine." She replied simply as she looked up at him.

Lore studied her expression, which gave very little away, regarding the true feelings that she fought back. "Your expression says otherwise." He pointed out.

Grace put her hand on top of Lore's and gestured for him to sit down. "Sorry. It's just been a bit of a hectic day, that's all." She made a poor attempt at a smile.

"Grace," Lore began, "I need to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?" She looked at his face, lovingly placing her hand upon his cold cheek.

"I don't know if this is working." He shrugged her hand off his face.

Grace's facial expression was one of upset and worry. "What do you mean?"

Lore tried to explain to the best of his ability, which he hoped would mean the explanation would be acceptable enough. "Us." He replied simply.

"I don't understand, Lore. Why? What's wrong?" Tears started to form in her eyes.

"I can't control my emotions any more."

"I know it must be difficult. But I don't understand how that affects your feelings for me?" She desperately needed a clarification.

"Grace," he looked her straight in the eye. They were of a light blue hue and seemed to Lore to symbolize purity and forgiveness. He was thankful for this perception. "I'm becoming more and more confused. I don't see how I can continue."

"Lore, listen to me." Grace Fletcher instructed him, as she then placed each of her slender hands onto the android's cold, pale cheeks. "Love can be confusing, very confusing. I should know that more than anyone else. But, it turns out fine in the end. I'm here for you, don't worry." She lay her head on his broad shoulders, burrowing her head into the soft material of the Starfleet issue uniform.

Lore considered what Grace had said and came to the conclusion that what her words made a lot of sense, and he mirrored her way of showing affection, by resting is head on her shoulder at the same time as she did the very same, inhaling her aromatic scent. He did enjoy her company, and was certainly not in any immediate position to deny it, but he was still unsure.

As Lore felt the young ensign's position shift ever so slightly, he altered his aimless gaze at the wall until noticed a large mirror. It looked very out of place, standing where it was. As the room was of such a great size to start off with, this awkwardly placed mirror quite clearly showed Data's obvious lack of home design skills. Seeing himself appear to be so vulnerable made Lore shudder inside. He looked so weak, crying on this woman's shoulder. Then he realised that this 'woman' wasn't just anyone, she was Grace Fletcher. He would never, ever openly admit it, but he loved this woman. And, what was even worse, he did not know why he loved this woman, all the knowledge he possessed pointed him to the same thing: that he loved her. The confusion had been almost causing him to go insane. The only emotions he had ever experienced were of malice and hatred. However, he had seen love, in regards to other people, but he, himself, had never felt love before. That is, until he met Grace. She cared for him and it didn't seem to bother her in any way, shape or form that he was an android. She clearly loved him for who he was, and not for any other reason. What if she were to find out who I truly am?... What happened to Data...?

He got up onto his feet and stood up, before staring into the mirror, as if he was secretly hoping that it could offer him any clues as to why he was becoming so overwhelmed with emotion, but his efforts were in vain. Although he knew the idea was quite obviously ludicrous, he continued to stare at the mirror, and the mirror, in turn, appeared to be staring back at him. Suddenly, Lore remembered something. He was not supposed to fall in love with this woman, but he had. He needed some way to stop himself from loving her, but he simply couldn't. His attempts to restrain his love so far had been proven to be futile, so he decided that declaring the love unrequited would not be the most logical and most beneficial method of proceeding. Therefore, he tried desperately, but silently, to try and recall what his main reason for coming on board the Enterprise was.

All of a sudden, rage began to build up inside of him and Lore was at a loss regarding how he should dispose of the anger. He could not just simply keep it stored up inside of him, he needed some way to vent it out. He knew there was only one way that he could do so, and it was by violence. But, Grace was in the room with him, and he could not bear to let her see him in this state. Lore knew that, if his quick temper was going to get the better of him now, as it quite often did, Grace would be witness to it. Lore dreaded an instance in which he might actually lash out at her.

All being told, Lore could not restrain himself and so he lashed out, but not directing his anger at Grace. Instead, he brought his leg back and, with all his strength, he thrust it into one of the walls of the quarters. As he did so, he opened his mouth and out came a sharp, loud but only short yell of frustration, desperation and anger.

All Grace could do was sit and stare. She had thought that she had managed to calm him down, but, evidently, that was not the case. "Lore..." she began, as she walked over to him, cautiously. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Lore shook his head and began to pace up and down across the room. He had his hands held up to his head, sighing loudly.

"Lore?..." Grace asked again. "You can talk to me..." She wanted desperately to make sure that he was all right.

But, still, Lore did not respond. Instead, he continued to pace. Grace walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, which he made a feeble attempt to brush off, and Grace held her hand on to him firmer. "I don't understand what is the matter. Please... tell me..."

"I can't..." Was all Lore could manage to say. He simply could not tell her of his true intentions of being on board the Enterprise. If he did, he would lose everything. At this moment in time, he was not phased by the fact that his plan would surely be obliterated, instead, he was worrying about the notion that he would almost definitely lose her. And, he could not bear for that to happen.

"Why?" Grace persisted. She walked over to the large, plain white sofa that was situated in the corner and sat down. After more than five minutes, she still did not see any signs of Lore even attempting to respond, so she decided to drop the question. "Look, it doesn't matter. Just... sit down." She patted the space of the couch next to her.

Taking in the ensign's welcoming gesture, Lore made his way to the couch and sat down. He didn't sit next to her, instead, he sat as far away from her as was physically possible to do. He hung his head and sighed, exhaling deeply and loudly.

Seeing how distant he was from her, Grace shuffled along the couch until she was sat right next to him. "Just..." she began, "calm down... please."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Lore replied loudly.

"Shhh..."

"I'm sorry, Grace." He shifted his position ever so slightly, so little that it was hardly worth mentioning, but nonetheless he moved. He was now facing her. He feared even the very thought of upsetting her.

"Lore..." She tried to make her voice seem firm, but she could not and it soon broke and cracked. "If its me, then..." Although she did not really show it, she braced herself for Lore's response.

"What? No!" Lore interrupted her, in a sharp tone. He was confused because he was not entirely sure what he had done wrong. He was also rather angry.

As she felt the tears starting to form, Grace sniffed in a vain attempt to prevent her nose from running. The tears were now streaming down her face in smooth, fluid, continuous movements and she could not seem to stop them. Just as her vision was almost at the point where it was clouded so greatly by the tears, she felt them begin to disappear. Lore had placed his pale, brisk hand to her warm cheek, wiping away the many tears. "Its not you." He lifted her chin, holding it firmly yet gently and stared deeply into her bright, ultramarine eyes. "You're perfect."

Grace felt her mood begin to slightly be uplifted. "I doubt that." She sniffed.

"Well, don't" He added. "This is my fault. Its not yours. Don't ever think that." Lore hated himself for acting so weak and so gullible. How could it be that he actually loved this girl?

Grace considered what he had said and then leant her head down, so that it was resting on his broad shoulders.

"I... love you." Lore said, swallowing. Now, he knew that he was capable of love. In some ways, he felt himself beginning to feel sorry for his brother. For, Data was all alone in that dark and foreboding compound. Data could never feel love.

Grace lifted her head up off of his shoulders, as she fixed her faze upon his eyes. They were amber in colour, which could be seen by many, to denote anger. But, Grace thought of it more as though they portrayed loneliness. Lore's hands were resting her lap and she placed her delicate hand on one of them, holding it tightly. "I love you too, Lore."

Caressing her supple chin, he held her head, softly. As he stroked her smooth, silky dark brown hair, she brought her face forward marginally; their nose were almost touching. Lore felt her lips brush against the top of his lightly and he kissed her gently.

As they pulled themselves out of the kiss, their foreheads touched. Grace felt Lore's cold body against her, making her shiver slightly. She felt safe and warm. "Don't ever leave me, Lore." She whispered. It was as if time seemed to stand still, she did not want this moment to end. Whenever she was with him, she felt safe.

Lore, himself, knew that he could not promise her anything. It was only a matter of time until captain Picard would realise that 'Data' was not himself. In addition, Lore did not know how to react when and if he found the emotion chip. He wanted to continually persuade himself that he could not love Grace, but he did. He could see no way to stop himself from doing so. He had never been loved. At one time, he did feel something akin to love for his brother, Data, and Dr Soong, but as soon as he learned that they had more or less betrayed him, those feelings were soon gone. But, he could not bring himself to say no to her. How could he? "I won't." Needing to satisfy his suspicions, he added, "I promise."

The room was dark, which gave the appearance of Grace's bright blue eyes being incandescent. Her dark eyelashes fluttered, making them stand out even more so. Now, Lore knew what it felt like to be loved, for real.

The kiss morphed into an embrace. His arms were were wrapped tightly around her back, hers, looped around his neck. As she brought her head upon his shoulder, he could smell the faint scent of her perfume.

Then, all of a sudden, Grace yawned. This made her feel, understandably, very embarrassed. She quickly placed her hand over her mouth in order to catch the annoying yawn. She blinked a little, before apologising for yawning, "I'm sorry. I'm just a little tired." She said, smiling.

This made Lore laugh slightly. A snarky laugh. "I'll leave if you want some rest." He said politely. He wasn't usually polite, but, this was one of the times when he actually was.

Grace found his suggestion very sweet and kind, and she wanted to just stay with him, but, to be honest, all she wanted was to rest. She had had a long day, and the paper which he still had to improve so that she could have a chance of becoming a lieutenant was due in soon. And, although she didn't really want to push him away, she felt that she more or less had to. "Okay, thank you." She smiled as she watched him leave the room. She didn't really mean for him to actually leave the quarters, but, she felt that maybe Lore wanted some breathing space too, so she left him to it.

Lore hadn't really been doing anything of much importance whilst he was out of Grace's way. He had been wandering around the ship for at least one hour, and if not, more. For the rest of the time, he had been in the Holodeck. He hadn't even bothered any particular setting, he was just stood in there, thinking about various things.

After a while, he decided to leave the Holodeck and he made his way back to his and Grace's quarters. Well, they were actually Data's quarters, as a matter of fact.

He was very careful not to make any noise when he entered the quarters and he soon saw that Grace was indeed fast asleep on the bed. He walked over towards it and crawled under the covers with her.

Grace moved herself back rather violently when she felt Lore's cold hand touch hers. "Lore?" She whispered quietly.

"Yes?" He asked the simple question

"Where did you go?" She asked as she shuffled over, so she was right beside Lore.

Lore looked at her and replied, "Nowhere important." The answer was very simple, but Grace trusted him and so she was happy with that answer and said no more of it. Lore put his arms around her and drew her into him and he watched as she promptly fell asleep in his arms, with her head resting on his chest.

Lore, being an android, did not have any need of sleep, and so he just lay there and looked at Grace as he gently stroked her hair in smooth, continuous motions.