**Merry Christmas, All!

XXXVII.

"I've known it for a quite a while."

"Hey, Doc. What's the hurry, and—whoa! What happened to you?" Bruce Maddox came to a halt at the entrance to the corridor Owen had just entered. He gave every impression that he was surprised, despite having witnessed the entire altercation in the café just moments before. Maddox was a damn fine actor, if he did think so himself.

"I'll tell you what happened to me!" Owen growled as he once more tried to wipe at his uniform front, "You're damn android is what happened! Mark my words, he is out of control! What were you thinking bringing him back? You should have left well enough alone."

Maddox frowned and lifted his chin with mild offence. "My android?"

Owen looked up as if ready to continue his outburst, but his chest fell almost instantly, "I'm…I'm sorry, Captain. That was out of line. I didn't mean to—."

"Relax." Maddox said, putting on a rueful laugh, "You're not the first person to give me a piece of his mind where Lore is concerned, and you probably won't the last. So…what happened? Lore may be, um, abrasive as a general rule, but he does tend to do things for a reason."

At this, Owen shifted his eyes a little bit, and Maddox could see that the man was embarrassed about something. Of course, Maddox had his suspicions, but decided it was best not to jump the gun. It was better to wait for good information than to fly off with bad.

"Lore…" Owen began, shiftily, "Lore doesn't like me."

At this Maddox laughed, "Well, that's pretty obvious, I would say. Why not?" When Owen hesitated again, Maddox decided that the man needed a little more coaxing. "Look, I think I know Lore pretty well, all things considered. Some things irritate him and some things could, well, really piss him off. If you told me why he doesn't like you, maybe I could give you an idea of which is which."

Maddox was even impressed with himself. It was probably the most arrogant lie he had ever told in his life. Except for the actual mechanics of his physical person, Maddox didn't know Lore from Adam. He had no idea what angered him, pleased him, or anything in between, but Owen didn't know that.

Owen looked around the corridor wearily, "Well, it's Lt. Hall, actually."

"Lt. Hall." Maddox repeated. It wasn't a question, and he nodded in a sage kind of way, "I see."

"Yeah. He has a crush on her or something, and I've been seeing her, so…." Owen worked his jaw angrily. The motion only increased when Maddox laughed again, "I'm sorry, Dr. Maddox, but I don't think this is funny."

"It isn't, it isn't. Forgive me." Maddox said, raising his hand apologetically. He was surprised. There was no acting this time; he really was genuinely surprised. He had always known that the Hall woman harbored feelings for Lore, what with her irritating penchant to defend him at every turn, but he had summarily dismissed them as little more than her own morbid curiosity. It had never occurred to him that Lore might actually have feelings for her! Who would have thought?

"I just never suspected Lore capable of something like romantic jealousy." Maddox clarified. "Friendship, perhaps, maybe even a little loyalty, but not this."

"So, you have no idea what he'll do?" Owen said with a frown.

"Do?" Maddox said, seeming to ponder, "He'll probably do a lot of what he has done, try to scare you off with these childish public displays, or perhaps private ones—. Ah, he's done other things, hasn't he? This isn't the first, shall we say, encounter you've had with him?"

"No." Owen grumbled, "He told me to stay away from Anna."

A little alarm went off inside Maddox's head, but he gave no indication. Despite what he told other people, and he told it often, he knew damn well Lore was capable of violence. Of course he was. All Maddox had done was reinstate the standard operating parameters of Lore's ethical subroutines, as Dr. Soong has always intended, but that didn't mean Lore had no independent will. Human beings with a perfectly sound understanding of ethics did unethical things every day. The fact that people believed Maddox when he spun this lie was just another indication of how little anyone understood his work. He wasn't trying to build automatons with preprogrammed reactions! That was easy. That was doable.

"So, you're telling me I can expect more of this!" Owen cried, bringing his hand to his forehead.

Maddox hesitated for only a moment as an idea suddenly entered his mind. He was not a man for whom epiphanies were a standard operating procedure, but when they did come he knew to pay them close attention. He eyed Owen appraisingly. The man was weak and probably wouldn't put up with much more from Lore. Maddox could see surrender written all over his face. That simply wouldn't do.

"No. He'll get bored with this." Maddox assured him, "Trust me. Lore is nothing if not flighty. He's intense, I'll grant you, but shifty. Just…lay low for a while. Keep tabs on him with the station computer and just make sure to stay far away."

Owen frowned with clear disbelief, "That's it? You…you really think he'll just get tired of all this?"

Not a chance in Hell. "Definitely. He was…um…interested in some other woman on the Enterprise, as I understand it, for a time, but quickly grew bored. You see?"

"Really?" This seemed to put a dent in Owen's worry. Maddox could see the wheels turning in the man's head. He was thinking, Maybe he's right. Maybe this is just some passing obsession of Lore's, and if I could just wait….

Maddox smiled.

"Thanks, Cap—Doctor." Owen said, forcing a smile of his own, "I guess I need to get out of these messed up clothes."

"I would say so." Maddox agreed. As Owen moved to walk away, Maddox stepped forward, another epiphany entering his mind, "If you don't mind, Dr. Warrick, would you happen to know where Lt. Hall is at the moment? I do have something to discuss with her, in relation to B-4."

Owen pressed his lips together and shook his head, "Sorry."

"That's alright. I'll just consult the computer." Maddox made a wave goodbye.

"Oh, well, you can't do that. At least not today." Owen sighed heavily, "The Enterprise main computer is down for several days, so they're utilizing much of the station computer for repair needs. Personnel tracking is offline until further notice. There was a bulletin this morning."

"Yes, of course." Maddox said, smiling, "I tend to be remiss in reading the bulletins."

Owen nodded one last time before skulking off, his arms far from his sides and the mess of coffee and pasta sauce. As Maddox watching him walk away that same epiphany came to his mind again, and this time it has companions.

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

"—without a doubt one of the stupidest things you have ever done. What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how angry the station manager is?"

I know, Troi. I know. Lore closed his eyes and shook his head for a moment. He was an idiot. A class A, immature, moron! He had spent his entire life allowing his emotions to get the better of his judgment, and here he was, still at it. Of course, he was unlikely to say anything of the sort to her.

"Why is that?" He said, innocently, "I said I was sorry. I even offered to help him up."

"Oh, did you?" Troi scoffed, "Don't go into acting for a living, Lore. You're terrible at it. Never mind the fact that I know when you're lying."

He smiled a little. Ah, yes. Troi the empath…. He looked up from his bridge console, which was currently displaying a grid and topographical map of the city of Wallace, Idaho. The room was mostly dark, as he had not bothered bringing up the lights beyond what he needed to function normally. Troi was squinting in the darkness and running her hand over the stair railing to keep from tripping.

"Computer, full lights." He muttered.

The large bridge of Lore's vessel suddenly came into view, and Troi took the moment to look around. Other than the security personnel who had first boarded the ship upon Lore's arrival, no one else had been inside. It was only because Lore had no bothered to secure the hatch behind him that Troi had been able to just waltz right in, looking for him with single minded determination. Considering that the incident in the café had happened more than twelve hours ago, he was surprised it had taken her this long.

"Did Crusher tell you to come here and lecture me?" Lore asked as he sorted through the public files on the town, noting place names and landmarks. He was irritated to find that residency information was not publicly available, meaning that he still did not know where Anna's home was located.

"No." Troi countered, "But she did tell me what happened and I thought it might be important to find out what instigated you to do something so foolish."

"Do you really have to ask me that?" Lore said, looking up briefly from the screen.

Troi crossed her arms, "Do I need to ask you if you're jealous? No, I suppose I don't."

Lore's actions stopped and he shot her a warning glance. Yes, he was jealous, but he did not wish to acknowledge it so much by discussing the matter. Besides, his jealousy was not the issue this time. "The good Doctor had it coming. He set Anna up."

"What does that mean?" Troi said, a little taken aback.

"Computer, reinstate standard security measures with an audio warning." Lore looked away from the screen and faced Troi, "Anna went on leave yesterday without notice. Do you know why? Because the Starfleet officer who interviewed her for a position at Utopia Planetia told her she had 'questionable character'. I imagine that was one of the kinder things he said to her, judging from what her roommate told me. But, her roommate also told me something else that was very interesting. Dr. Warrick was the one who arranged that interview without Anna's consent. So, I repeat, he set her up."

The diplomatic look that came to Troi's face, sympathetic yet skeptical, did not help Lore's mood. "That a pretty big leap." Troi said, "Why would you think that Dr. Warrick would have any idea how that interview would go?"

Lore laughed a harsh, bitter laugh, "I suppose Owen can read. If he can, it would have been nothing for him to discover the same thing I did in the last twelve hours. That the First Officer at Utopia Planetia lost his niece in one of the Borg attacks that I was responsible for! What a coincidence!"

Troi lowered her eyes, "I'm sorry, Lore."

"I'm not the one who needs an apology, and certainly not from you anyway." He replied, "But, wasn't I right? You tell me, Troi. Now, and with no sugar coating. How bad has it been for Anna? What has she had to deal with because of me?"

She took a deep breath and averted her eyes to the room. It was clear that she was making up her mind about something, no doubt whether or not to say anything to him. Finally, she shook her head and said, "Anna tried to leave the Enterprise six times. All six requests were denied for no given reason."

Lore remained very still for a few moments because he knew it would only cause problems later if he were to suddenly crush the console in front of him like he wanted. "I knew it." He muttered, "I never should have come back here. She would have been better off if I had just stayed—."

"Don't even think about completing that sentence!" Troi spat, pointing a finger at him angrily, "Anna would have been perfectly content to remain aboard the Enterprise. She never would have made all those transfer requests if you had been there!" She dropped her hand and shook her head, "This is not my business, Lore, I know that, but…you're thinking on this subject is entirely wrong. You think Anna would have been better off if you had stayed away, but you have plenty of evidence now to show that's not the case. The damage was already done. At least she would have been black-listed and ridiculed with you instead of getting the same treatment all alone."

The room became remarkably silent as Troi waited and Lore looked at her with an angry expression. He said nothing because he did not know what to say. No. He knew what he should say, but willing admissions of stupidity were not something he enjoyed very much. Troi was right. She was right about him leaving, she was right about what he did in the café….When had this woman ever steered him wrong? The thought was a bitter-sweet epiphany.

He tapped his finger on the console in a rare display of embarrassment and said, "You do realize that all of this is your fault?"

"Excuse me?" She said, her jaw dropping, "I have heard some whoppers in my day, but if—."

"You asked Data to let me work in engineering."

Troi halted, frowning. "I—What?"

Lore smiled awkwardly and looked back at the active screen, "I said, you asked Data to let me work in engineering." He let that sink in, leaving the rest unspoken. If he had never been sent to engineering, he would never have met Anna, and if he had never met Anna…. Lore wasn't sure how to complete that thought.

"Oh." Troi said, clearing her throat, "Well, eh…."

"Thank you." He did not look at her, and his voice was hardly warm and friendly, but for him it was downright sappy.

A look of astonishment came over her, quickly molding into a more common smile, "You know what, Lore? I take back what I said to you in the café the other day. I said, 'I had no idea you were such a sweetheart.' That's not true. I've known for quite some time."

Miserable human! "I think I'm done talking to you, Counselor. You can go." He waved his hand at her irritably.

She raised both hands, laughing, but instead of backing away she stepped forward and looked at the screen that had been absorbing his attention since she arrived. "Are you going somewhere?"

He shot her a smirk and reached for the dark blue jacket he had left draped over the console. He shrugged into it and smoothed the front. Troi gave him an up and down glance, followed by a questioning look.

"What?" He said, looking down at his clothes. He wore a dark blue suit paired with a grey high-neck vest and white shirt. It was similar to the clothing he had worn while playing human on Gesteia Nor station, though it was quite different than the typical black pants and grey sweater that he usually wore. He had thought it a good idea, perhaps, to dress in a manner more like human civilians, considering where he was going.

"Nothing. I just…." Troi trailed off and actually brought her hand to her lips as if she might laugh.

"Are you laughing at me?" He said, outraged.

"No." She insisted, shaking her head. "You look fine, Lore. In fact… you look better than fine. Are you…" She laughed again, "Are you dressed up?"

He met that with an insulted snort and turned back to his screen, "I'm merely attempting to blend in better. Besides, you need to focus, Counselor. Weren't you busy lecturing me like a child? Don't get off track."

Troi ignored this and went with his other statement, "Blend in where? Where are you going?"

He shot her that same sarcastic grin, "I'm going on vacation. I've decided the mountains suit me better than the tropics, since I don't tan."

Troi's eyes widened a little, "Um…have you thought about this? Starfleet personnel might be accustomed to seeing you, but not every place on Earth is like—."

"Don't waste your time. I'm going." He said, "I would have gone sooner, only…." He trailed off. Why was he telling her any of this anyway? It was none of her business.

"Only…it was the middle of night in Idaho?"

Lore spun around and shot her a frown, "Let me guess. LaForge."

"No. Anna's mentioned her home several times to me, but you just told me where you're going with that reaction." Troi said. She was sure to put on her own satisfied smile, to rival his previous one.

"Are you going to tell me I'm making a mistake?" He said, deactivating the console screen, "Are you going to tell me I should just stay here and leave her alone, 'give her time', or some other empty sentiment?"

Troi shook her head, "No. You wouldn't listen to me if I did."

That's right.

"But, some friendly advice?" Troi said, her tone now completely serious. She waited for his unamused glance, then said, "Don't force a litany of questions onto her. Just be with her."

"That's all I want." He mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." He said, stepping away from the console, "I'm leaving now and I should warn you, my security on this ship includes a total vacuum."

"Charming." She said as she joined him. They walked the short distance back toward the airlock. Troi took the opportunity to take in the ship; the arched doorways and deep red carpet, the bare ceiling angles where decorative molding had been recently removed. As they stepped through the first airlock and Lore turned to activate the security measurements behind him, Troi said, "I don't think I know your ship's name."

"It doesn't have a name." He replied.

"Ah." She smiled, "It's bad luck not to name a ship, you know."

Lore gave her a bemused smile, "Really? I guess that explains everything."