Jagger kept his word and sat on Salome while Elnor got himself cleaned up. He did his best to be quick, but the regular shower wasn't as efficient as the sonic ones on La Sirena, and his hair was full of knots, making it difficult to untangle by himself. The hot water felt good on his skin and helped soothe his tired, battered body. Once he was clean, he examined his ribs in the mirror. Naseema was right, he did have an ugly, purple bruise forming, but at least he wasn't in any pain, and the bruises on his face were starting to fade. Simon was waiting in the other room for him and had tossed his clothes into the cleaning receptacle, leaving them ready for him when he finished in the shower. When he made it back to the gathering room, Rios and Raffi were still sitting on the sofa by the door, doing an effective job of not looking like they were eavesdropping.
"Why is your hair wet?" Raffi asked as he approached them.
"We don't like those sonic showers," Simon called to her as he went through the door to his office. "Only the real deal for us."
"Where is Picard?" Elnor asked the pair on the sofa.
"In there," Rios replied, pointing his thumb at the closed door. "With the Feeonix."
"Naseema," Elnor said innocuously.
"Huh?"
"Her name is Naseema," he repeated, and Rios exchanged looks with Raffi, but neither of them responded to his statement.
"Why are you sitting out here?" he asked.
"To see if we can hear what they're talking about," Raffi told him.
"Isn't that in-butting?"
"Maybe," Raffi replied. "But, after the ride, we've all had, do you think we should be keeping secrets from each other?"
Elnor frowned but considered her words. "I guess not," he finally said. "Can you hear what they're saying?"
"Some," Raffi shrugged. "There's been some yelling so, we heard most of that and a few other things too." Elnor looked at her with wide, curious eyes but couldn't quite bring himself to ask what they'd heard. "Do you want to know what they were yelling about, kid?" she asked, softening her tone. He appeared unsure for a moment but ultimately nodded. "Well, we heard your name a few times so, I'm guessing they were arguing about you."
The pleasant and inquisitive expression he'd been wearing when he arrived dropped off his face, replaced by one of anger and determination. He moved for the door so quickly neither Raffi nor Rios were able to get up fast enough to stop him from barging through it. He swung the door open, and his eyes swiftly found the retired admiral and the former ambassador on the sofa by the fireplace. He marched towards them, but as soon as he saw Naseema's face, he froze in his tracks. He looked at Picard with astonishment.
"What did you say to her?" he asked, no longer sure he was angry anymore.
"Nothing that cannot be fixed by a warm hug, Elnor," Picard replied.
The young Romulan crouched down in front of the Feeonix. "Are you alright?"
"I will be fine, thank you," she told him with a sad smile. With characteristic enthusiasm, he threw his arms around her and crushed himself into her. He startled her again, but she accepted his gesture. Picard smiled at Elnor's affectionate display and felt confident he was making the right decision.
When he let go of her, Naseema took Elnor's face in her hands and ended up with fistfuls of his long, dark hair mixed in. She looked at him with mild surprise. "What happened to your hair?" she asked. "Why is it all wet and all over the place?"
"I took a shower. Raffi said I smelled like a distillery," he replied. Picard's eyebrow went up, and Naseema glanced over at him with a guilty look.
"You must have had quite a night," he smirked.
"I threw up," Elnor told him.
"I can imagine you did," Picard replied, still smirking. "I don't believe there's a soul alive who can keep pace with her and still retain many of their faculties."
"He did quite well," Naseema interjected. "Especially for a beginner."
"Why were you crying?" Elnor asked, remembering why he'd rushed into the room in the first place and ensuring that they couldn't divert the discussion. The pair quickly exchanged glances, and she looked at him again as the sadness returned to her eyes. The silent communication wasn't missed by the young Romulan, and he placed his hand over hers. "Please tell me the truth."
"Nobody is going to lie to you," she told him. "Jean-Luc has something he needs to say to you, but please come find me afterward, if you want to."
"You're leaving?" he asked.
"Just the room," she assured him. She pulled her hands away, stood up, and quietly left. As she closed the door behind her she noticed the pair of stragglers on the sofa outside looking at her with sympathy.
"He has already told you," she surmised. Raffi started to tear up so, Rios answered for her.
"Yeah," he replied with a sad nod.
"He is going to tell Elnor," Naseema informed them. "We should move away from the door." She caught the quick look between them and added. "Do not feel too guilty. Please believe me, we have all sat on that sofa and eavesdropped as well." Sheepishly, the two humans got up and followed her to Simon's office.
Elnor was staring at Picard intently, his eyes wide with nervous curiosity. Picard hadn't expected to speak to him so soon and was having trouble collecting his thoughts.
How was he going to explain this? He'd convinced Elnor to leave the only home the young monk had ever known, knowing he was dying, and now he not only had to tell him he would be leaving him again but convince him to stay with someone he'd only just met. Elnor was going to feel betrayed and abandoned all over again, and how would he explain Naseema's bonding without scaring him? How would he convince Elnor that it was a small miracle?
Preparing himself to speak, Picard took a deep breath, but Elnor was going to wait for him to say something. "You're dying," he finally said. "That's why Naseema was crying, isn't it?"
"Yes," Picard sighed and leaned towards the young Romulan. "Did she tell you that?"
"No," he replied with a confused expression. "She hasn't said anything like that to me."
Picard smiled gently. "I don't mean with words, Elnor. I mean, did she tell you here?" he asked, placing his hand over his heart.
"I don't understand," he said. "How could she tell me something through my heart?"
"Ask yourself how you knew the reason for her tears," Picard said. "You did know. I can see that you did. Don't think about it, close your eyes and feel it."
Frustrated, Elnor's face crumpled into a frown. "I can't."
"Yes, you can," Picard insisted. "Close your eyes and visualize the interaction you just had with her. Don't tell me what you saw. Tell me what you felt."
Still discouraged he did what he was told, and closed his eyes.
He replayed everything that had just happened. He hugged her and, she held his face, and he touched her hand. What did Picard want from him? He didn't know why she was crying. He had no idea that Picard was going to tell him he was dying, at least not until...wait...he did know...'feel it' was Picard's instruction. Once he put his arms around her he felt that same weird sensation. The one that started in his belly and made its way into his veins. That sensation became stronger as it traveled through his entire body and made him tingle all over. That feeling heightened his senses. It sharpened his focus. It connected him to her as if he'd known her an entire lifetime...but it wasn't real, was it? She said her energy field affected other living beings. That it made them feel unusual things. He wasn't that different from anyone else so, why couldn't he shake the idea that these things inside him were specific only to him? Why did he feel so opened when he was near her. Her hands were unusually warm, and when she touched him with them, he could feel her energy sink into him, but it wasn't just a physical sensation. It was more than that. It was like she was sharing her very soul with him. That was when he'd known. When her hands had touched his face. The feeling, the thought had just appeared, but it couldn't be that simple, could it? She couldn't just give him thoughts by touching him? Without him noticing? He felt something change then. He was different now...somehow. What was happening to him? What had she done to him?
When he opened his eyes, Picard was staring at him expectantly, but it didn't take long for him to realize Elnor wasn't handling this as well as he'd hoped. While he certainly seemed to have reached the desired conclusion, his eyes were full of confusion and uncertainty.
"How did I know?" he whispered at first, but then his tone grew more forceful. "How could she tell me that without saying anything? What has she done to me?"
"You have no reason to be afraid, Elnor," Picard assured him. "There is nothing wrong, but something has happened to you. Naseema is from a unique species, and she has certain abilities."
"She told me about them," Elnor said. "She told me she has an energy field, and it affects other people, but it doesn't seem to affect me the same way. She said that made me different, but she didn't say anything about being able to put thoughts in my head."
"She didn't put anything in your head," Picard explained. "The Feeonix are telepathic but only with each other. They're not able to communicate that way with the rest of us, but there is a reason you were able to know what she was feeling, and why. She's bonded herself to you."
"What does that mean?" Elnor asked.
Picard's explanation was doing nothing to assuage his fears that she'd somehow irreparably altered him.
"She has infused you with her energy. She's given you a part of herself, and that connection will only grow stronger over time."
"Why would she do that?" he asked.
"I don't believe she did it intentionally, Elnor," Picard replied. "My understanding is that she has only ever bonded herself like this to two other people. One was Data, and the other was a man named Nasir."
"She told me about Nasir," he said. "Does that mean she's in love with me?"
"No, not the way you're thinking," Picard said. "There are many different ways people can love each other, and while I don't think she has romantic feelings for you, she does sense something special in you. Something that made her feel so strongly she wasn't even consciously aware of what she was doing at the time. It is nothing to be afraid of, Elnor. You are never going to have to feel alone again in your life. She will always be your family now."
"Did she do this because you're dying?" Elnor asked.
"No, I don't think so," Picard replied. "She only learned of my impending death just before you did."
It was obvious Elnor had been blindsided by this and had questions he was going to need answers to, that he deserved answers to. He regretted letting Naseema leave the room. She was much better at these sorts of conversations. Hell, everyone was better at this than he was. He knew he wasn't going to be able to order Elnor not to express his feelings, but he couldn't think of anything comforting to say. Everything felt flat and disingenuous. He was angry with himself for being so ill-prepared for a conversation he knew was coming, and he was sure he was about to disappoint Elnor again.
"Did you know you were dying before you came to Vashti?" the young Romulan asked, already anticipating the answer.
"Yes, Elnor, I did," Picard replied.
This was too much. He felt angry and sad and scared. He'd just gotten Picard back, and now he would have to say goodbye again, forever. Why did he bring him out here into this insanity only to leave him on his own again? What was so wrong with him that Picard left him for fourteen years and now wanted to dump him off onto someone he barely knew? Did he think she was somehow better qualified to deal with him? Why would she put this bond on him without even telling him? What was it doing to him? He didn't know how he was supposed to feel right now. He needed to get out of here, away from Picard and Naseema, and all these aggressive, angry aliens.
The crushed look on Elnor's face said everything. He abruptly stood up and wordlessly walked out of the room as determined as he'd entered it. Picard tried to follow, but Elnor had enough of a head start that by the time he reached the door, all he could do was call after him and be ignored.
Hearing the mild commotion from Simon's office, Naseema looked out into the hallway and saw both Picard standing in the meeting room doorway, and Elnor disappearing around the corner. She held her position until the retired admiral noticed her and gave her a look of defeat.
"I take it that did not go as you hoped?" she asked as she approached him.
"No, it did not," Picard replied, annoyed with himself.
"Are you not going to follow him?"
"I think if he wanted to talk to me, he would be doing it," Picard said flatly. "He isn't one to keep his feelings bottled up."
Naseema shook her head gently. "You really do not understand teenagers, do you?" she asked sympathetically. "Just because he walked away does not mean he does not wish for you to follow him."
"You sound like Guinan."
"That is one of her little gems."
"I've never had to understand teenagers," he sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I always had you for that."
"That is what you had Deanna for, Jean-Luc. I did the paperwork," she said, arching an eyebrow at him. "Deanna is not here and, I am afraid Elnor is not an administrative duty."
"He's very upset about the bonding, Naseema," he told her. "I'm afraid I failed to explain it adequately."
"Why did you bring it up in the first place?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "When I left the room, I assumed you were going to tell him about your condition. That information is terrible enough why would you confuse him by telling him what I have done?"
"I thought it might soften the blow if he knew he wouldn't be alone after I'm gone," he replied. "Telling him only made it worse, and he stormed out before I could say anything else."
"He is unhappy right now, but this is not an irreparable situation," she said. "I am sure he feels that you are attempting to offload him onto me."
"You know that's not what my intentions are, don't you?" he asked and let out a frustrated sigh.
"Of course not," she assured him. "But Elnor does not know either of us very well right now. He is questioning both our motives. He has been through a lot in the last few days, and I am afraid it is likely that my energy has only heightened his senses and made his feelings more intense."
"So, this is partially your fault too," Picard said as he looked at her with hopeful confidence.
"Nice try," she replied and returned his look with a critical one of her own. "What is it you expect me to do?"
"Do a better job of explaining what happened than I did," he said.
She let out an exasperated sigh and folded her arms across her chest. "I will attempt to smooth over the bonding situation, but after that, you are on your own," she reluctantly agreed. "I am still unable to say no to you." She motioned for him to precede her as they traced the path Elnor had taken.
"Thank you," he said. "I don't expect you to magically make him understand. Just get him to open the door a little."
"I will do my best," she told him. "Wait here, and you can take over once I have managed to convince him that there is no conspiracy against him." Then she exited out the door leading to a small garden. She found Elnor sitting on the ground with his back against a low retaining wall out of sight of the building. He was quietly staring out across the skyline over the small settlement nestled below. His head perked up as he heard her approach, but he pointedly didn't look over.
"I don't want to talk to you," he said still refusing to look at her.
"That is fair," she replied. "You do not have to say anything if you do not care to, but will you allow me to explain what has happened between us?" He shrugged and gave an indignant snort in reply, but Naseema wasn't going to be deterred. "Elnor, I cannot begin to express how sorry I am for what I did. I promise you I did not do it on purpose."
"Then undo it," he curtly replied and kept his eyes fixed in front of him. She sat down next to him and folded her hands in her lap.
"I do not know how," she said. "It does not seem to be something that I can control. Unfortunately, that is sometimes the case with my abilities, and I do not know what Jean-Luc has told you but-"
"He told me that you're a part of me now," Elnor interrupted.
"Yes, that is true," Naseema confirmed.
"How did you put that thought in my head?" he asked.
"Which thought is that?"
"When you put your hands on me somehow, I just knew Picard was going to tell me he was dying," Elnor said and finally looked at her. "How did you do that?"
"It is an effect of the bond," she replied. "When we make physical contact with each other, you will be able to know what I am feeling at that moment, and I will be able to do the same with you." He answered her with silence so, she continued. "You may also find that you are more keenly aware of your senses and that your emotional responses are intensified. Those may be temporary although, I suspect you will simply adjust."
"But you don't know," he said.
"No."
"Why did you do this to me?" he asked. There were hurt and anger in his eyes, and she knew she was failing to both offer an explanation or reassure him.
"You remind me so much of those that I have felt deeply for something inside of me was awakened, and it just happened," she said. "I did not even know I was doing it at the time."
"So, because I remind you of someone dead for a thousand years you just left a piece of your soul inside me and now I have to carry it with me for the rest of my life," There was so much venom in his voice, and she had no idea what to say next so, she just sat there and looked at him with pity and regret. "Please leave me alone," he told her and then folded his arms across his knees and buried his face in them to terminate the conversation. She let out a vanquished sigh and stood up. As she made her way back inside, she could see Jagger standing next to Picard at the window. The look on her face told the two men everything they needed to know, and when she opened the door, Picard asked,
"Which one of us is winning now?"
"It is definitely me," she replied.
"You two fucked this up royally," Jagger remarked with a shake of his head.
"I know," they replied in unison, and he let out an amused snort.
"I'll go talk to him," he said.
"I do not believe he wants to talk to anyone right now," Naseema cautioned.
"Agreed," Picard added. "I think enough has been said already."
"Quite the pair of selfless martyrs, you are," Jagger replied with ridicule. "What he needs is a good man to man with someone who doesn't have a stake in this, no offence Pops."
"It's always a pleasure, Mr. Jagger," Picard said and rolled his eyes.
"I'm serious," the Feeonix continued. "Naseema, go take Picard and the others down to the Station. I'm sure the droids will be glad to see Soji again. Let me handle Junior."
Naseema sighed but nodded. "Alright," she said. "Just do one thing for me and make sure Salome keeps her distance. That is the last thing we need right now."
"I can do that," Jagger replied, and then he put his hand on Picard's shoulder in a gesture of solidarity. "Don't worry, Admiral. I got this."
They watched him exit the building and walk over to the wall Elnor was hiding behind.
"Are you sure this isn't a mistake?" Picard asked as he turned to her.
"Jean-Luc," she replied with unnerving solemness. "I am unsure if anything I have done in the last twenty years has not been a mistake."
"I know the feeling," he agreed, and they left the window and went to go collect the rest of their party.
"Hey," Jagger said and nudged the young Romulan with his foot. "Let's go for a walk."
"Please go away," Elnor replied without looking up.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Jagger told him. "Come on, you've been cramped in the galaxy's tiniest starship for hours, and you seem like the type who always gets his daily exercise. I'm sure your muscles are getting stiff. I'm not here to convince you to forgive those two idiots. They used to do this kind of crap all the time. Always thinking everyone else should just trust that they know what's best. I don't blame you for being pissed off. Believe me, I'm not thrilled about this whole bonding bullshit either."
Elnor raised his head and looked up at the exceptionally tall, blond alien in front of him.
"Come on," Jagger said. "We'll do a lap around the pond, and you can vent your frustrations out. If you still want me to go away after that, I will." Elnor got to his feet and eyed Jagger suspiciously at first but finally agreed to go with him. They didn't say anything to each other for the first few minutes, but his curiosity eventually got the better of him, and he pointed down at the settlement below.
"Who lives down there?" he asked.
"The androids," Jagger replied. "And their creator."
"Why don't you live down there with them?"
"Because we can hear their thoughts, and it gets a little noisy after a while," Jagger told him. "At least up here, we can get some peace."
"Can you talk to them, like that?" he asked. "Without speaking?"
"No. We can do that with each other, but with them, we can only hear."
"Could you hear Data's thoughts?"
"Yup."
"That's amazing," Elnor said, awed.
"It wasn't," Jagger disagreed. "It was annoying, and he said most of them out loud anyway, so I had to hear them twice."
"You didn't like Data?"
"I did like him, actually," Jagger replied. "I mean, not at first. I hated him at first, but he was one of those people that just kinda grows on you after a while. Like a fungus." Elnor laughed at the Feeonix's lighthearted insult.
"Why didn't you like him at first?"
"Well, to be completely honest, the Feeonix used to believe that synthetic life was beneath us, and when I met Data, I wasn't happy Naseema had developed such a close relationship with him. I thought he was pathetic for trying so hard to be human and...I was a little jealous that she seemed to like him more than me. Then I found out about their bonding, and well, I pretty much completely lost my mind."
"You're the one that told!" Elnor exclaimed with wide eyes.
"I see you've heard that story," Jagger said and pressed his lips together.
"Why did you do that to her?" he asked as he looked at the Feeonix with mild judgment.
"Hey man, I'm not proud of it," Jagger replied defensively. "I was angry and a little jealous."
"A little jealous?" Elnor said as his eyebrow went up. "She's very beautiful, and I've seen other men fight over beautiful women."
"Of course you think she's beautiful," Jagger laughed. "You're not a Feeonix, and I bet you're probably used to Romulan and Human women. She's no more attractive than any of the other ladies I see every day. She's more like a sister to me by this point, and there's a lot more to women than the way they look. Besides, I've seen women that'd really get your engine started, if you know what I mean." He gently elbowed the young Romulan to further his point.
"I don't think about women like that," Elnor replied with just a touch of haughtiness in his voice.
"Of course you don't," Jagger replied with the satiric jest of a more experienced man. "So, Qowat Milat, eh?"
"Yes."
"That couldn't have been easy for you," Jagger queried. "Living with all those women, all the time?"
"The sisters took very good care of me," Elnor replied. "They raised and taught me well."
"I'm sure they did, but still, it must have been pretty lonely at times?" Jagger said with a frown.
"Sometimes," Elnor admitted as he ran his hand along the top of the tall grass.
"The fairer sex is great, don't get me wrong, but a man still needs other men to talk to once in a while."
"I guess."
"They do buddy, there's no shame in admitting that, and I'm guessing there wasn't much in the way of positive male role models growing up in a convent, especially on Vashti?"
"No, not really, and even if there were, they wouldn't have wanted much to do with me. I wasn't very popular back home."
"Yeah, I suppose other Romulans probably consider the Qowat Milat pretty subversive by most standards. That couldn't have been easy for you either, huh?"
"They called me sisterboy," Elnor said with a shrug. "I'm not sure if any of them even knew my actual name."
Jagger curled his lip up. "Sisterboy? Jeez, that's not even very clever. I'm sorry you had to put up with that."
"It's okay I got used to it," Elnor replied and looked at the Feeonix. "Thanks, though."
"It sounds like you had a bit of a rough time on Vashti. Is that why you like Picard so much?" Jagger asked.
"He was there a lot when I was little. He paid attention to me and taught me things," Elnor replied, and his voice only dropped a little, but it was enough for Jagger to pick up that he still harbored some hurt feelings. Then the young monk asked, "Do you like Picard?"
"I do," Jagger nodded. "He's probably one of the greatest men I've ever known. Sure, he can be a pain in the ass sometimes. He's emotionally stunted, and he's terrible with kids, but I'd trust him with my life."
"Do you think I'm a kid?" Elnor asked.
"No. Maybe you were a few days ago but taking on the Tal Shiar, on a Borg cube, by yourself? You're a man now. That takes a set of brass ones." Jagger told him and coaxed a small smile out of him. "I bet you're still pretty glad Naseema showed up and saved your butt though?"
"Yes," he admitted.
"I know she can be a bit intense, but she means well," Jagger said. "I mean, she brought you with her without going on much more than her intuition. She barely knew your name."
"She's been very kind to me," Elnor recounted and started to feel regret for his earlier outburst. "I shouldn't have told her to leave me alone."
"She's a very loving and compassionate person, buddy, but she's not perfect," Jagger replied. "I'm sorry about what she did, and I don't blame you for being upset about it. I'm upset about it too."
"Why are you unhappy about it?" Elnor asked. "It didn't happen to you."
"A bonding is meant to be between two Feeonix," Jagger explained. "When a Feeonix finds their forever mate their energies completely intertwine, and when we're in our human form that kind of bond makes our hearts glow. Naseema has never formed a bond of any kind with another Feeonix."
"Why?"
"If I had to wager a guess, I'd say it's because she's been in her corporeal form for so long she feels more like one of you now than us," Jagger surmised.
"Was she born on Earth?" Elnor wondered. "She told me she was a ribbon of light in her natural form. How does that work? Do you have parents?"
"We're not born in the same way as organic beings," Jagger said. "We still call it birth, but we don't have parents who create us. When the right elements combine under the right conditions we just kind of explode into existence. It usually happens in, or near where our nebula used to be, but once in a while, a Feeonix is born elsewhere, and that's what happened with Naseema. Nobody knows where she came from, but she made her way to Earth, and that's where I met her. She didn't even know what she was until she met me, and while she is a Feeonix, she's also different from us in ways I've never seen before."
"Like bonding with people who aren't Feeonix?" Elnor asked.
"That and other ways too," Jagger replied. "She has a much harder time controlling her abilities than the rest of us, hence, the accidental bonding. She describes that part of her like it's a separate entity inside her, and she calls it the predator. I admit, it's unusually strong, and she believes if she doesn't keep it under control it will take her over, and then all bets are off. It's happened once or twice, and I will say, it's pretty frightening when she does lose her control."
"I saw her set a man on fire before we escaped the Borg cube," Elnor said. "She told me afterward that it was the predator that killed him."
"If it was only one man, that's pretty tame," Jagger told him. "She could have incinerated that entire cube and everyone on it if she wanted to. It takes a pretty extreme setup of circumstances for her to lose it like that though. As I said, I've only ever witnessed her go completely ballistic a handful of times."
"What does that mean for me?" Elnor asked. "She told me she couldn't reverse the bond. Will the predator come after me if I make her angry? Can she control me now?"
"No, she can't control you, buddy," Jagger chuckled. "The bond is not as scary as you're imagining. It's an emotional and spiritual connection more than anything else. It's not as if you made her heart glow." His mood changed then, becoming somber, and he sounded like he was talking to himself. "She's been so lost since Data died. It's been twenty years, and she still can't say his name without tears involved. It's heartbreaking to watch. I've tried to help her but...I just don't know what to do for her anymore."
"She talked to me about Data, and she didn't cry," Elnor said, a little alarmed by Jagger's abrupt despondency.
"Did you sleep while you were with her?"
"Yes."
"She waited until you were asleep," Jagger told him. "Look, I'm not trying to scare you, but you're young, Elnor, too young to understand what losing a mate is like and what that kind of grief does to a being especially, beings that feel things on the scale we do. It can cause them to behave in self-destructive ways and make them believe in things that maybe aren't there."
"Like seeing the dead in the living?" Elnor suggested.
"Exactly," Jagger said. "I've known her for a very long time, and I think I know her pretty well. She's felt pretty lonely for most of her life. She's one of those people who are completely alone, even in a crowd. Data changed that for her, at least for a little while. Now, his death has all but destroyed her. She's so desperate to let go of her grief, but she doesn't know how and when you came along, I honestly believe she just couldn't help herself."
"She bonded to me because I remind her of Nasir, and she thinks I'm lonely, like her?" Elnor asked.
"I think it's more complicated than that," Jagger replied. "And I'm not going to sugarcoat the reality for you. She's always had problems, and after Data, she leaned into them. She drinks too much, and she goes out of her way to isolate herself from others, even us. I think there are things she can sense about you that remind her of both Data and Nasir, but I'm afraid I don't know you well enough to see what those things are. She obviously found something in there that got her attention. Otherwise, she wouldn't have felt compelled to do what she did."
"So, what am I supposed to do now?"
"Just go with it," Jagger replied with a shrug. "That's all you really can do. I think the benefits for you outweigh the drawbacks. I remember when this happened with Data, and the effect on him was profound, but he wasn't organic, and our energy does things to beings like Data. Plus, he was her forever thing, you know. I doubt the effect will be so dramatic with you. She loved Nasir too, but she never bonded to him. It was more of a conventional human love, and I think that's what you're looking at. They were happier when they were together, and being around them, you could see they shared something special, but it wasn't earth-shattering like what happened with Data."
"Were you jealous of Nasir too?"
"I was a little, at first," Jagger admitted. "But he was human, and he wasn't her soulmate. I probably figured I could wait him out. When your life expectancy is half a million years, human life isn't very long especially, back then. Humans didn't live nearly as long as they do now. Nasir only made it to forty-three, and that was considered a pretty good run in those days."
"Is it also because they were unable to consummate their relationship?" Elnor asked, and if Jagger hadn't already accurately discerned how naive the kid was, he might have thought he was taking a shot at him.
"Wow, you go right for the jugular," the Feeonix replied with amusement. "But maybe you're right. I guess I always assumed we would bond with each other eventually, but it never worked out that way, and when Data came along, I had to accept it was never going to happen the way I wanted it to. I bonded to her, and I do love her, but nothing was ever going to supersede what she had with Data."
"Why are you bonded to her, but not the other way around?" Elnor asked.
"I didn't have much choice," Jagger told him. "I had to do it to save her life, and I'm afraid I'm not going to tell that story without her okay, so we'll have to leave it at that."
"I'm sorry," Elnor said, "I didn't mean to in-butt."
"It's butt-in, and it's okay, kid. It feels good to talk about it. I take it she explained the no sex with organics rule?" Jagger asked, and Elnor confirmed his assumption with a nod. "I guess I'm not surprised she laid that out for you. Did you put the moves on her?"
"The what?"
"You know, the moves. Did you try to get in her pants?"
Elnor's eyes widened. "She said the same thing!" he exclaimed.
"Well, did you?"
"No," he replied, clearly insulted.
"Huh," Jagger looked him over. "Well, that explains at least part of it."
"What does it explain?"
"If you weren't attracted to her energy field, that would have been a big deal to her especially, considering your age."
"What does my age have to do with it?"
"Younger men usually respond much more readily than you seem to. You're what, sixteen? Seventeen?"
"Eighteen."
"Yeah, usually eighteen-year-olds do most of their thinking with their johnson. If you didn't pounce on her inside of an hour, especially if she touched you, that would have gotten her attention."
"What's a johnson?" Elnor asked curiously.
Jagger chuckled gently. "It's your...um...appendage." He pointed towards the young Romulan's crotch.
"Oh," he said as his face flushed slightly. "I didn't know I could think with it."
"I don't recommend it," Jagger laughed. "Boy, you're not much of a skirt chaser, are you?"
"A what?"
"You're not particularly interested in sex," Jagger said.
"No, not really," Elnor admitted.
"Nasir was a bit older than you when they met, but he was like that too."
"He didn't try to get in her pants, either?"
"You got it."
"Does that mean there's something wrong with me?"
"Not at all. It's just not a common response. I'm starting to see why she thinks you're Nasir."
Elnor's eyes widened. "Is-is she insane?" he asked with real concern in his voice.
"Jesus, I hope not!" Jagger laughed. "Poor choice of words. I'm starting to see why you remind her of Nasir. I don't believe she thinks you're Nasir. She hasn't reached that level of lunacy yet."
"Are you not sure?"
"I'm not going to pretend I haven't wondered sometimes," Jagger replied. "She's a rather tragic character in her own mind, but she always seems to pull it together when it matters, and I've met crazier."
"I think Picard wants me to stay with her when he's gone," Elnor said as he looked at the ground.
"I think what you want probably matters more, but it's not uncommon for a dying man to try and tie up his loose ends before his times comes," the Feeonix explained.
The young Romulan looked at him with a sad, confused expression. "Is that all I am to him? A loose end?"
"I think Picard feels a lot of guilt for how he left things with you, and he's trying to make up for it now," Jagger said. "As far as Naseema goes, she just happened to show up at the right time. She has a bit of a knack for that, and he wants to know that you won't be alone once the inevitable occurs. He needs that assurance, and he has a lot of trust and faith in her. Picard isn't very good at expressing his feelings, and the closer he is to someone, the harder it is for him That in itself should tell you something. If he didn't care, he wouldn't be giving you a solid shove in that direction. He'd just tell Mr. Rios to drop you off back on Vashti." He could tell Elnor was still struggling to reconcile what Picard wanted for him with his feelings, so he added, "She's not so bad for company, you know. You should give it some consideration. Plus, it'd be a load off my mind knowing she had you to look after her."
"She doesn't seem like she needs much looking after," the young monk skeptically replied.
"You'd be surprised," Jagger said with the weary knowledge of the multiple lifetimes he'd spent with her. "She's become the personification of a lost cause, and that sort of thing is right up your alley, isn't it?"
"What if I stay and my feelings change over time?" he asked.
"The bond isn't going to fade over time if that's what you're worried about."
"No, I'm worried that...what if I start to want to...?"
"Oh, that. Well, she's never going to be able to satisfy that desire for you herself should it materialize," Jagger told him. "I thought you didn't think about women like that?"
"I don't, right now, but what if I do in the future?"
"Life is filled with what-ifs, and very few of us ever get to know what our future holds. I wouldn't let those maybes fill up too much of my thoughts if I were you. Take my word for it, there's a lot more to life than sex," Jagger said.
"Have you ever had sex?"
"It takes a lot to keep Salome satiated. I do my part," the Feeonix said with languor.
"I never have. I've never even kissed anybody."
"Someday, you might meet someone that makes you think of nothing else, but you also might never feel like it's something you need to experience. Love is a complicated emotion, and loving somebody doesn't always mean you'll want to combine body parts with them. I managed to get through a couple of thousand years without it being too much of a problem for me even though I make a lot of crass jokes," Jagger assured him.
"I guess I have a lot to think about."
"Take my advice and don't think about it too much. Listen to what your instincts tell you. Overthinking everything leads to alcoholism."
"What's al-co-hol-ism? Did I say that right?" the young Romulan asked and pronounced each syllable separately and slowly.
"Spend enough time here, and you'll find out," Jagger said with a touch of disillusionment.
"Thanks for talking to me," Elnor said and gave the Feeonix a grateful smile.
"It's my pleasure," Jagger replied and returned the gesture with a wide grin of his own. "I think I kinda like you, Elnor." He reached over and grabbed him in a gentle headlock before he pulled him in for a quick hug.
"I like you too," the young Romulan said as his smile grew bigger.
He did like Jagger. He was straightforward and didn't talk to him like he was a child which Picard sometimes did. He was glad he'd let the Feeonix convince him to go on their walk, and he was feeling better, at least where Naseema was concerned. It was clear to him how much Jagger cared about her and how hard it was to watch her struggle to come to terms with Data's death. She felt abandoned and alone. He understood what that was like. He hadn't known her very long, but he liked her. So far, she was kind to him and gentle, and he didn't feel as though he was getting on her nerves the way he did with the humans. He was still unsure how he felt about her bonding, but Jagger had done a lot to assuage his fears that he would become a different person because of it. Maybe it was some kind of fate that brought him here. Listening to Jagger describe her as a lost cause he realized that even though he failed to save Hugh, his decision to stay on the Artifact had brought him into Naseema's path, and maybe he could help her.
"Have you eaten in a while?" the Feeonix asked. "You must be getting hungry."
"I am, but I thought Feeonix didn't need to eat?"
"We don't, but Naseema's the only one who's weird about it. Don't let her set the standard. The rest of us enjoy food quite a lot so, why don't we both go get something to eat?" Jagger suggested, and Elnor nodded enthusiastically.