AN: hey there again! sorry for being inactive for a few weeks, I got really busy and had a hard time writing things down, but here's a slightly longer-ish chapter to maybe make up for it! Huge thanks to the two followers I've gained! It means the world!

Enjoy!

"Hello! I'll be ready in just a second!" Deanna called, as she heard the doors to her office slide open. She didn't bother looking, it was just Captain Picard coming to complain about Q and ask for guidance. That was her job, anyway.

She turned to see someone who was definitely not Captain Picard. Instead, Data stood in her doorway, looking awkward and out of place. No, not Data, she realized. Lore. They were going to have to put a bell on Lore, or something. It was hard to tell the difference between him and his brother at times. She strode to her chair and sat down, deciding that she could at least be civil to the android.

"Lore," she greeted, with what she hoped was a warm expression. She could sense the discomfort rolling off of him in waves and beckoned for him to sit down in the chair across from her. He obliged, sitting as if someone had rammed a pole up his spine.

"What brings you to my office, Lore?" Deanna asked in a kind and patient voice. She had never seen anyone look like they wanted to crawl out of their skin as much as Lore did at that moment.

"I-" he began, trying to find the words to express what he needed. His face twitched. It appeared it twitched more often whenever he was agitated or angry. He took a breath and tried again, trying to let the tension out of his shoulders.

"I'd like to make up with Data."

Lore saw surprise flicker in Troi's face. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should just leave, he didn't need Counselor Troi's help, he could just figure it out himself.

"Uh, this was a mistake, I'm sorry for bothering you Counselor," he said hastily, making to stand.

Deanna put a hand out to stop him.

"No, I'm sorry Lore, I had not meant to make you feel uncomfortable," she said, waving for him to remain seated.

She let him tentatively sit back down again before speaking.

"You want to reconcile with Data, yes?" she asked, folding her hands in her lap. She didn't think she had ever seen Lore acting the way he was now, so anxious and volatile. She decided the best course of action was to treat him with the patience of an adult consoling a child, until she inevitably coaxed out the typical Lore.

He nodded.

"I've lived with my hatred for long enough, and I feel like it's eating me from the inside out, and I'm just so tired of it," he let out in a rush, a desperate look in his eyes. She could not sense feelings in Lore the way she could in living beings, but she could certainly see feelings in his body language, and hear it in his voice.

She considered his words, trying to find the best way to tell him what she was thinking. He may appear vulnerable at this moment, but that didn't mean he wouldn't turn homicidal with the flip of a coin.

"I think," she started hesitantly, "that the feeling you're feeling right now is guilt."

Lore looked taken aback.

"How dare you even suggest that?" he hissed. Deanna sighed inwardly. This is what she was afraid would happen.

"I don't feel guilt," Lore sneered, looking beyond offended. "I'm not the brother who took all of the attention and all of the love without even considering the effect it would have! I'm not the one who acted so perfect and innocent all of the time! That was Data, not me!"

Deanna could see just how deep these feelings ran through Lore. They had been festering inside the android for years, rotting him from the inside out.

"I am not suggesting you are the one to blame here, Lore, and neither is Data." she said soothingly. "Someone in your past made you feel inferior in such a way that you had to make everyone else see your superiority."

Lore flinched so imperceptibly that Deanna was almost certain she had hallucinated it. But no, he had definitely flinched at her statement.

"I am superior," he said hollowly, as if reading something.

"And that may be, but what has made you insist on flaunting your gifts?" she questioned. "Data doesn't do this."

Clearly that was the absolute wrong thing to say, as Lore seemed to implode on himself.

"Oh it's always 'Data this! Data that!'" he shouted, standing and beginning to pace. "Ever since the day he was created, he's been the center of attention! Data, Data, Data! Even our father said the same! He and I were just fine on our own but then dear old dad just had to make another android! Our perfect world was completely uprooted! And then everyone hated me!"

His voice faltered on the last line.

Deanna's heart almost broke at the sound, but then she remembered who was sitting in front of her.

She let Lore collect himself again, but he did not return to his chair, instead standing behind it with his hands braced on the back. If he had had a normal circulatory system, Counselor Troi suspected she would see his knuckles go white with how hard he was clutching the chair.

"To me," she began warily, wanting to avoid the minefield that was Lore's emotions, "It seems your father is more to blame for these feelings." She almost tacked a "than Data," on the end, but knew it would be best not to mention Lore's brother.

He looked at her, mouth agape.

Yes, he had considered the fact that his father may be the reason he was so hated, but he dismissed it years ago. His father was the only one who loved him, there was no plausible way that Noonien was the cause. It was Data. Not their father.

Right?

"Lore, please sit down," Deanna pleaded, beckoning to the chair once more.

"I'll stand, thanks," he growled back at her, looking like a cornered animal.

Troi sighed. She really did now know how to go about this whole situation; she didn't know Lore very well, and did not hold him in high regards, and he was having problems with a close friend of hers, practically family.

She readjusted the hem of her skirt, thinking. And then she had a spark of an idea. Well, not really a spark, more like a glint, a shimmer.

"Lore," she said, getting his attention, only continuing when he looked at her. "What if- and please don't say anything yet, just listen and think about it- I call your brother down here-"

Lore opened his mouth in outrage but the counselor silenced him with a finger.

"Just listen," she admonished gently. He closed his mouth, face twitching in barely concealed anger.

"I can act as a mediator and help you two come to an understanding," she finished.

Lore looked like he wanted to say a few choice words on the matter, but he did take a second to consider it.

He had asked her for help, and maybe this would actually do him some good? Speaking to his brother in a controlled environment, having someone there to mitigate, and maybe getting some closure as well?

But this was a two sided coin; what if Data didn't come down? What if he didn't want to? What if he didn't understand?

Mind made up, Lore nodded once.

"Fine. Call him down here."