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That man wasn't her daddy. She looked up at him again and was now convinced of that singular

fact. His face had, what looked to her young mind, pieces of technology spread over it. The

darkness of the room made it difficult to really see what was on him, though. She could hear

sobbing in the background; she tried to keep from hearing it but to no avail. The words "Jean-

Luc! Jean-Luc! No, Jean-Luc!" kept on piercing her resolves. She looked into the man's eyes,

and at that moment, he said: "I am Locutus of Borg. You will be assimilated. Your biological

and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile." She

recognized the voice; how could that man be her daddy? He just said that he wasn't. In that

second, she screamed. Long and loud, making the woman in the other room come in and pick

her up into her arms. Her mother asked why she was there, and Amanda answered, "I was

lonely."

Amanda bolted up from her relaxed position in the bed. She inwardly panicked when she didn't

know where she was; but then reality hit her and she calmed down. 'I'm in Wesley's quarters. I

am fine. That was just a dream...it won't happen again,' Amanda thought. But then her

mind dwelled on past experience; and she knew that she always had the dream when she was

thinking of her father. It wasn't a dream really, but more like her mind remembering the first

time she saw him after the assimilation. She had locked that memory away in the back of her

mind and it no longer plagued her during the day like it used to, but still, it came at

night...which was worse. She breathed in and out deeply, flushing her mind of the dream.

Still, bits and pieces clung to her, forcing her to decide to talk about it. She knew that Deanna

was her best bet. Striking her combadge, she said, "Amanda Picard to Counselor Riker." No

response. She repeated her hail. Still nothing. 'This REALLY helps,' Amanda thought with

fear. She knew that there was one person on board that would be able to help her, and would

remember the Borg; but was it safe to ask for the help? 'No,' she decided, 'I will get through

this alone. I don't need help.' And so she lay awake for hours, not able to return to the blessings

of slumber.

Jean-Luc Picard glanced at the chronometer. He was surprised to see that it was already 0200

hours. He put down his Shakespeare, and tried to relax...and couldn't. Was it because he

and Beverly had agreed that their encounter was simply driven by pity for one another? Or was

it getting hit in the face with a stray pie? He knew he was lied to about both; Beverly was as

ready as he was, and was now afraid only because it would mean taking a new step. And Wesley

and the girl covering for each other? His mind was lost on that one. 'My life is muddled by

Crushers at every turn,' he thought with grim humor. He sighed; his life was really falling into a

downward spiral; so he, like his daughter that he had no knowledge of, did not sleep either.

Amanda Picard looked like shit. That was the best way to explain it; her eyes had dark circles

under them and her hair looked untouched. She held a cup of coffee in her hands; but the only

"kick" it gave her was the need to use the restroom. She was somberly looking out the window

when Picard and Riker came in to play a game of 3D chess. Riker knew something was wrong

the moment he laid eyes on her; she seemed unusually frail. She looked to see them and couldn't

keep her eyes on Picard. She just kept on hearing the words "I am Locutus of

Borg...resistance is futile" running through her head. She began to repeat the words "He is

NOT Locutus, He is NOT Locutus" over and over out loud. She barely noticed when Riker

called Deanna and Beverly or when Deanna came up to her and touched her slightly, making

Amanda literally jump out of her seat. Deanna looked to her with kind eyes, and asked, "Would

you like to come with me?" Amanda's mind drew a blank for a second; then she realized

someone was talking to her. "Oh, yeah, sure," Amanda said casually. Inwardly, though, she was

relieved: she wouldn't have to look at the source of her nightmares. She looked and to Deanna's

left, her mother stood. She walked with them to sickbay, and along the way, Beverly asked her

questions about her health. "Didn't you just scan me yesterday?" Amanda sassed, so tired that

she couldn't hide her thoughts about how boring medicine was. "Yes," Beverly said with equal

zest, "but a lot can happen in a day." They arrived in Sickbay and the tests began. "May I speak

to her alone?" Deanna inquired of Beverly. Beverly nodded and left.

"What was the dream about?" Deanna asked as Amanda told her the source of her insomnia.

Beverly was in the background, nonchalantly listening to the conversation. "Locutus," Amanda

said with voice quavering. Beverly stopped. 'What did she say?' "I was little when it

happened, about 3. It's my first photographic memory. I relive it whenever I think about

him...I can remember thinking that that wasn't my daddy." Beverly was now frozen to her

place. 'Jean-Luc? Daughter? DADDY?' Beverly's mind was a vortex that was getting harder

to navigate every minute. Deanna put her hand on Amanda's arm. Amanda continued, saying,

"then he said that he was Locutus, and I knew the voice. Then I screamed. I don't think I've

ever screamed that loud again. Then mom came in and picked me up. I wasn't supposed to see

him like that; all machine and no man left. She asked me what I was doing there and I lied. I

wanted to see daddy, he was gone for too long. And I had heard earlier that he was in Sickbay,

so I went. When mom asked, I froze. It was the first time I didn't listen to her. I said I was

lonely. She seemed to believe me." Beverly wondered who the mother was; and for a moment

thought it could be her child, but pushed the thought away. Deanna had tears in her eyes.

Amanda went on, "and I could hear mom crying out his name in her office. She was crying so

hard, that when she picked me up, she seemed to have no strength left. She shuddered when she

looked at him. I was afraid he was never going to come back by the way she reacted." Amanda

was finished; her eyes brimming with tears. Deanna hugged her and they sat like that for a few

minutes. In an instant, Beverly decided to run a genetic test to see if all of her claims were true.

Wiping a tear from her face, she told Deanna to leave; she had to run more tests.

Jean-Luc was having a grim day. He was losing horribly to Riker, who wasn't making his

captain feel better with even a pity win (Riker had won four games straight) and Picard was

growing tired of thinking of Beverly, and their life, and the event yesterday. He could feel her

lips against his...and it was intoxicating. He could remember other things as well, but

didn't want to think of them, for fear Deanna would hear somehow...she was too good at

picking up his feelings about Beverly. He sighed lightly, and alerted Riker of his despair. "Sir,

is there something wrong?" Wil asked. "No, Number One," Picard said agitatedly, "I just have

never lost so many games in a row before." Wil knew what really was wrong but didn't say

anything; he liked his three pips. In subtle silence they continued to play.

Beverly checked the results again; yes, what she saw was true. 'Damn,' she thought, 'how could

have I been so stupid as to not recognize it?' Her mind soon thought of other things, however:

'How am I going to tell Jean-Luc?' Telling someone whom you've loved for decades that you

two have a child isn't exactly a walk in the park, after all. She thought of when it could have

happened; and she wanted to know, badly. She took a look at the girl and instantly recognized

Jean-Luc's eyes and disposition. She looked again and found her hair on the girl's head. She

also now recognized the temper; that came from her too. Taking a step forward, Beverly called

Jean-Luc.

Captain Picard was half asleep when he received the call from Beverly. He wondered what she

was calling for; certainly she didn't want to give a relationship a chance. "Jean-Luc," she said

desperately, "Come to Sickbay, now." "What on earth for?" he asked. She knew that some

resistance on his part would be there; after all she had led him on (once again) and then pulled

back. She just gritted her teeth and said, "Jean-Luc, you have to see this." Languidly, he left for

Sickbay.