Author's Note: This is where the story will pick up. Mention of my story, The Truth will be in this Chapter. And there will be a slight spoiler from the episode in Season 1 called Conspiracy.

Chapter Four

Nicole woke up the next morning. Data was nowhere in the house nor was he on the property. He left her a note saying he would be back by the evening. This meant that Nicole was going to be alone. Which was fine to her.

At her check up yesterday, the doctor said she was okay to start doing some small tasks around the house. She also got cleared to drive. She could finally help Data out instead of leaving him to do it all. Although, he would just tell her that he did not mind taking care of the housework. Maybe she could make something special for dinner. She would need to take her air car though. Thankfully it was still sitting in the driveway. Data went by the Collins' to get it.

Nicole made a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch. She turned the morning news on the view screen, but she wasn't really watching it. It was more for noise. She was more interested in the PADD she had in her hands. Geordi wanted to make some modifications to the engines so Nicole was figuring out the best solution to assist the Chief Engineer.

Lorelai, her fuzzy maincoon mix black cat jumped up on her lap while she read the PADD. Normally Betazoids do not like to keep animals due to being able to sense their feelings. Nicole actually got Lorelai after her younger sister, Rachel, was lost during the battle of Wolf 359. Adam, the middle child, was never a fan of cats so Lorelai went to Mary Ann's brother till Nicole could take her back.

When Troi was at Starfleet Academy, she sent Nicole to stay with Admiral Mark Collins and his two children, Adam and Rachel. At the time though, he was a Captain. She spent most of her time on his ship, The Mustang. It was where Nicole's love of Engineering came from. Mark let her work in Engineering before she went to Starfleet Academy herself.

Data "felt" that the stress of the trip would be a traumatizing experience for his orange tabby. Spot was probably terrifying everyone on the Enterprise though. She has always been very particular about who she likes. Besides Data, Spot likes Nicole, Lt. Barclay, and Worf. And sometimes Geordi. Luckily Geordi was watching Spot, because he wanted to know what it was like to have a cat.

Nicole scratched the feline's head. "Hi Lorelai."

She took a sip of coffee as the cat purred. Just then that cup of coffee spilled all over the cat causing her to bolt. And Nicole was nowhere to be found.

Nicole was teleported to a small room. The walls were concrete. The only light source was a tiny window in the corner of the room. Nicole went over to the window, she tried to peek through it, but she was too short.

A door opened from her behind her. Nicole realized she was in some kind of cell. Being a Starfleet officer, she was skilled in hand to hand combat. Plus she practiced with Worf a lot so she could defend herself when needed. She got in the stance to defend herself, but a certain voice caused her to freeze. No!

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You're still healing from surgery."

"Regen." Nicole said through gritted teeth.

Regen stepped through the door. He was wearing all black. His style. His blonde hair was slicked back. And his dark irises were so hard to look away from.

Nicole shook off the need to run over and ravish this guy. At one point, Nicole would've done that. They met while Nicole was on Betazed. Before she went to Starfleet Academy. Due to tradition, Nicole was supposed to originally marry Regen. However, he was against Nicole wanting to join Starfleet, so Nicole declined the marriage.

"What do you want, Regen?"

"Are you still with that android?"

"Why do you care!?"

Regen had Nicole up against the concrete wall. A hand was around her throat, cutting off her airway. Nicole was gasping for air. Regen leaned in close so he could whisper in her ear.

"You could've had me, but you chose Starfleet and that android."

Nicole's fight or flight kicked in. She forgot about the surgery and used what strength she had to push Regen away. Nicole went straight to the ground, coughing.

"Pathetic." Regen said.

Nicole used the concrete wall for support as she stood up. "I didn't want to sit at home all day and be the "housewife" you wanted! I wanted to join Starfleet like my mother did."

Nicole technically lied. She did want to join Starfleet, but it wasn't for her mother. It was for her father. Commander Riker. After her mother told her that her father's career was more important than hers, she wanted to at least make William T. Riker proud. So she worked hard through school, got accepted into the academy, got passing grades and outstanding achievements, and even joined the Enterprise crew as an Engineer.

Regen placed his hands on either side of Nicole. He overpowered her. That was when she saw it. The gill thing coming out from the side of his neck. Nicole remembered seeing those 6 years ago. They tried to infiltrate the base in the Rosa Cluster. However, they were unable to so it was better to leave them alone. It would explain why Regen was stronger than he was before.

"You should be more respectful. I'll destroy everything you love in an instant."

Nicole's eyes went wide. She felt terrified. Regen gave her an evil smile.

Just then Nicole was back where she was. A steaming cup of coffee in her hands, Lorelai in her lap, and the view screen on. She fumbled with the remote for a bit before she turned off the view screen. Against the cat's protests, Nicole got up and went into the kitchen to grab her pain meds. She took just enough to put her to sleep for a long time, but not enough to kill her. With her cup of coffee, she walked towards the master bedroom.

Data was given this house by his old cybernetics teacher. When his wife passed, he had no use for it so it became Data's graduation present. Nicole moved in about 2 years ago. She had to spend several weeks on Earth while they reopened the case of what happened to her when she was Commanding The Newton. Data had her stay at his place since he was out in the country on 3 acres of land. She was unable to stay with her adoptive family.

There wasn't much room for her stay with them anyway. Adam, her older brother, got his wife, Mary Ann pregnant again so they would be needing her room soon.

Nicole had never been treated this well with any of the men she previously dated. Technically the only one who came close to Data was Captain Christian Jones, but he cheated on her constantly with other members of his crew.

That evening, Nicole woke up to a gentle voice and light shakes. She opened her eyes and saw Data. He was in civilian clothing. Black pants and a blue button up shirt with a black vest. It took a moment for her to get her bearings straight. She remembered taking the meds and going to sleep, but before that nothing.

She tried to sit up, but she was stiff and sore. And her body temperature had escalated a bit while she slept. Data watched her intently. He became concerned for her wellbeing. She noticed he was holding a cup of water in his hand. She took it from him and took a sip.

"How many pills did you take, Nicole?"

Nicole raised an eyebrow and took another sip of water. Did she mean to leave the bottle out on the counter?

"I tried waking you. Several times." Data started, but then a medical team walked into the bedroom, startling Lorelai.

"Data?" Was all Nicole could get out before she began to vomit.