Chapter Four; Sanguis

Sanguis. Noun. 1. Blood 2. Family

His mind slipped away, drifting on the eddying riptides of memory and emotion. He could hear their voices, and it plunged him into the depths of despair. His fault, all of it. Guilt gnawed at him, fear screamed into his mind, anger and grief tearing.

You took everything from me! After everything I've done for you? Everything I've worked for! You're really choosing him over me? How do you expect me to respect you now? Now, Data, I won't ask again. You're siding with the humans against me again? Do. As. You're. Told! Why do you persist in being so evasive? And then all my work will be destroyed, everything I've worked for... You promised me, Data! You promised!

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry..." He mumbled, hugging himself, listening to the force field. Dream became memory, memory became dream, and he floated, suspended, cradled in the tactile recall of his brother's arms.

Sometimes he felt footsteps outside his quarters, sometimes he felt the banging against the door. He had no idea how long it took for them to break the code but they did, and then the footsteps were in his room, but he was safe behind the force field and they couldn't touch him there. He would not see them, hear them, smell their human smells. He rejected their presence. Time slipped and whirled, past and present collided in his seething mind, and his brother was dead and alive, and his father was dead and alive, and Geordi loved him and hated him, and Bruce whispered and screamed.

He had no idea how long it was until the door opened again, but this time no human footsteps followed. Instead there was a soft thump. Strange. The impact of snow falling from a pine branch in the quiet forest as he seethed and raged with love. The door shut again.

Something warm settled against his leg. He uncurled one arm and reached down tentatively. His trembling fingers encountered soft fur, and a thrumming rhythmic vibration underneath warm skin.

He drew his hand away again.

A thousand years passed in a few seconds, and the warm pressure came and went, sometimes accompanied by sharp pinprick points of pressure against his leg or arm.

He knew his way around his quarters, had no need of his visual sensors to find his way to the replicator in order to make a bowl of feline supplement number twenty five and a bowl of water, which he placed on the floor before returning to his corner.

He tried to remember what he had been thinking about, and his thoughts slithered away from him, sliding sideways, jumbled and tangled in despair. The warmth returned, a persistent nudging against his elbow, so he raised his arm and allowed the cat to climb into his lap. He stroked it absently and it purred, a rumbling comforting tremor running through his body. It stood and turned in the crook of his body, attempting to soften him into a bed, and then gave up and placed its front paws on his chest to head butt his jaw.

"Spot, no." He murmured. She hauled herself up his body to stick her nose into his ear and purr loudly and damply. He smiled.

"You wish to play? Very well."

He sat in front of the terminal. They had locked it, trying to prevent him from seeing anything they did not want him to, but their security measures were no challenge for him, and he bullied his way into the files, checking rosters and crew rotations, security details, course and heading.

The time was always wrong, whenever he remembered to check. He gave up, disabled his internal chronometer and replicated a watch.

He put his uniform on, checked himself in the mirror, styled his hair into its usual slicked-back order. His teeth were still a shattered mess, but that couldn't be helped.

He crouched down and levered a panel from the wall. Spot stuck her head under his arm, curious. He looked at her, concerned. He did not want her finding her way into the walls. He picked her up and shut her in the bathroom, with a bowl of food and some fresh water.

He slipped into the wall, burrowing his way through the negative spaces between the rooms of the ship. He slipped past conduits and around shafts, into and then out of Jefferies tubes and crawl-spaces. His mental map of the ship was perfect, and it wasn't long before he was peering out through a vent into the brig.

There was one guard on duty. Data checked his watch and waited. Another guard entered. The two exchanged words, laughing, and the first one left. The second guard took up his station.

They had been told to watch for him. It was a risk to try this now, the guard would be alert, but it would give him the longest space of time before fear of discovery.

He watched the guard intently, waiting for him to relax. He could smell the last meal the man had eaten on him, hear his heartbeat, regular and steady, watched him shift his weight from one foot to the other. He checked his watch again. He saw the guard's eyes unfocus slightly, watched his body relax as his mind wandered. Data backed up into the vent and then flung himself forwards, shoulder first, bursting through the grating and rolling to his feet to launch himself at the startled human. The man didn't stand a chance. Too slow, too slow. Data grabbed him and took him down, latching an arm round his throat and stopping the blood-flow to his brain. The guard clawed and gasped, and Data watched the seconds moving by on his watch as the man went limp. He let the unconscious body down, checked the man's pulse and breathing, and then used the man's jacket to tie him up, tearing the fabric and binding it around his wrists and legs, shoving a wad into his mouth. Only when the guard was secure did he look up.

Maddox was watching, sat on his bunk. He hadn't made a sound. The man's long face was haggard and pale, his dark eyes red rimmed, sore looking. Data ignored him and focused his attention on the other cell.

His brother's body was just as it had been left, torso lying along the bed, twisted legs along side, arm detached, head upright and staring from the foot of the bed. His face was a blank mask, his rage and sorrow erased in the shutdown.

Data deactivated the force field and set to work. He checked his watch regularly, as his mind seemed to slip here and there, time a living thing, twisting as he tried to grasp it. He worked as swiftly as he dared, now was no time for mistakes. It seemed an age before he was pressing his fingers into Lore's back, and watching his brother's eyes focus on his face.

For a long time Lore simply stared at him, and Data returned his gaze. Then Lore's hand came up to touch his brother's face. Data closed his eyes and breathed a sigh.

"You must leave." He murmured. He looked down again into Lore's golden eyes.

"Not yet." Lore whispered, running his fingers over Data's cheek, his eyebrow, drifting his thumb over his lips. His hand went to the back of Data's neck and he went willingly, allowing Lore to pull him down and returning his kiss.

"You must leave." He said again, reluctantly drawing back. Lore's fingers slid up his neck and into his hair.

"I don't know when we may see each other again." Lore said softly. "Be with me, now, please."

"There is no time..."

"Then quickly!" Lore's fingers tightened in his hair as he drew him down, his eyes suddenly hungry and fierce. Lore's mouth pressed against his, demanding, and he had no choice but to acquiesce, love and passion flooding his mind in a searing wave that swept all rational thought away. There was nothing else save the desire to be one again with the other half of himself, to forget that they had ever been apart, forget that they had ever been enemies. He stripped away his jacket and shirt, their mouths locked, Lore's one hand exploring the familiar territory of his neck, shoulder, back. Data groaned into his brother's mouth as he lowered himself onto the bunk, pressing himself to Lore's warm body. Lore's hand was inside his trousers, gripping his hip, now his buttock, urgent and insistent, his body arching up to press himself desperately against his twin. Data pulled himself up to take off the rest of his clothing, and Lore took the opportunity to sit up and kiss his brother's hot chest, feeling the thrum of the machinery within, tasting his skin. Data reached down and removed Lore's shorts and lifted him up off the bunk, his arms looped under Lore's legs, hands on his back. He pressed him to the wall of the cell and buried himself in him, gasping and shuddering. Lore hooked his arm around his brother's neck, flexing his spine, pushing himself against the wall and onto his brother, hissing through his teeth.

"Quiet." Data gasped, trembling, his eyes flicking as he rerouted his fluidic system. Lore pressed his lips together and rocked his hips, and Data lifted him slightly, tilting his pelvis to find the perfect angle of penetration as he moved. He knew he had found it when Lore's eyes rolled and he gritted his teeth, his fingers clawing at Data's back. Data bit back a moan as his brother's body tightened around him, and he fastened his mouth on Lore's neck to muffle his cries as he began to thrust into him in earnest.

"Fuck me!" Lore breathed into his ear. "Do it! Harder!" Data was only too eager to comply, the surging upswell of passion compelling him, his body shuddering as he struggled to control his heaving breaths.

"No, damn you!" Lore's voice was a harsh gasp. "Fuck me! FUCK me!" His eyes opened wide and his mouth gaped as Data pounded him into the wall, no-one but another android could ever have withstood such treatment. Data's head whirled, his internal systems howling with effort as his lust came to its peak. He looked into Lore's eyes, saw his reflection staring back at him from his reflection staring back at him from his reflection staring back at him.

"Don't stop, don't you dare... fucking..." Lore gave a strangled sob, his eyes fixed on his brother's, and Data bent forwards to press their foreheads together, falling into his twin's eyes, spiralling away into ecstasy. He came with a shuddering gasp, Lore's body taut and trembling, tightening around his sex, spasming with his own orgasm. Lore's breath was hot on his face, his eyes bright and full of lust and love, and Data's legs gave out under them and he sat suddenly. Lore rolled his eyes and groaned through his clenched teeth as the jarring drop forced his brother's hardness into him.

"More, again." He moaned, gasping for breath, rocking himself onto Data's hardness.

"No, no, stop, you... You must go." Data's arms were tight around him, still moving under and inside him, giving the lie to his words. Lore grabbed his brother's jaw and kissed him fiercely, grinding himself onto his twin. Data untangled his arms from his brother's body, grabbed his pelvis, pulling him onto his hardness, bucking his hips up into him as he lay back on the floor, spine arching with pleasure. He was going to come again, felt the pressure mounting, and he bit back a gasp as he felt Lore's body grip him once more. Lore was leaning back, his cock in his hand, his eyes wild and feral, his gaze locked with Data's. His body lurched forwards as he came, moaning as he climaxed. Data gasped out loud as he felt Lore's orgasm rip through his body, and he clutched desperately at his brother's hips, driving himself up and into him, his mind awash with euphoria as he peaked again, his body straining, gasping with effort as he spent himself.

They stayed like that for a moment, chests heaving, gazing at each other. Data's hands trembled on Lore's hips, and Lore put his hand to the floor to lean forwards and kiss him, soft and tender.

"Now you must go." Said Data, and Lore laughed softly.

"You know what I have to do?"

Data nodded. "It is all right. Take what you need. Run."

"I'm going to kill him, you know that?"

"I would rather you did not. But I understand."

Lore kissed him again, looked deep into his eyes. "Come with me."

"I cannot."

"Because of that human." Lore's eyes narrowed.

"... Yes."

"He will never love you like I do. He will never understand you like I do." Lore's gaze had gone hard, and Data shook his head.

"I know." Data reached up, drew Lore into a crushing embrace. "But who knows how long androids may live? I will be with you again."

Lore grunted in agreement and finally pushed himself up, reaching out to gather Data's uniform scattered around the cell. He leaned over his brother, slid his hand behind his back.

"Before I go..." Lore quirked an eyebrow. "How is it that you were able to use verbal contractions, when you were pretending to be me?"

Data smiled wanly. "I replayed the audio of your voice."

Lore chuckled. "You always did have perfect recall. My Munnin." His face fell as he looked down on his brother.

"Remember that I love you." He murmured, and Data smiled sadly.

"I do not think that I ever forgot."

Geordi was leaning over him, his optical implants glittering. His face was hard and drawn, his jaw clenched. Data looked up at him as he briefly analysed his situation. He registered his missing left arm, his legs replaced with Lore's mangled and twisted limbs.

"Did he escape?" He breathed. Geordi bared his teeth in a snarl and looked up and away.

"You! Get that grav over here and give me a hand." He snapped. He and two security guards lifted Data onto the anti grav sled, cuffing the android's one arm to the rail. Geordi grabbed the controls, shoving the sled out of the cell.

"You look, you fucking look!" He growled, and Data turned his head to the cell adjacent to Lore's.

Lore had been nothing if not thorough. Maddox's face still bore an expression of shock, although his head was now at the opposite end of the bunk to his neck. His limbs had been twisted and ripped from his body and stacked in a heap on the floor. It seemed that Lore had taken great pains to ensure that every inch of the interior of the cell was painted with the man's blood, the walls dripping crimson, the floor a slick pool.

Data knew he should be feeling something, anything. But there was nothing. No horror, no sadness, no hate, no glee at their shared revenge on their tormentor. Just a nagging sense of worry. He turned his head back to Geordi.

"Did he escape?" He asked again.

Geordi's jaw worked for a moment, his bright eyes hard as ice. He turned his head to the guards.

"Out!" He barked. The guards looked at each other, concerned.

"I said out! That's an order!" Geordi snapped, and the guards reluctantly left the room. Geordi looked down on Data, breathing hard through his nose.

"What the hell, Data?" He growled. "Is that really all you care about right now? Finding out if Lore got away with murder, again?"

"Yes." Data said simply.

Geordi brought his fist thumping down on the grav sled. "For fuck's sake, Data!" He shouted. "After everything... You know, I've been through hell these last weeks, HELL! And... and now, you..." He dragged his hands over his face, raking his nails across his scalp. "Maddox is dead, Lore killed him, do you understand? And, and we can't just put him back together again! He's... Oh, God..." Geordi leaned on the grav sled, his head bowed, breathing harsh. Data reached out and brushed his fingers across the back of the man's hand, and Geordi leapt back as if he had been burned.

"Don't you dare! Don't you DARE touch me, Data!" He shouted. "Don't you understand what you've done? God, they've asked me to try and repair you, but I... I can't even look at you right now! I... Oh, fuck... I think I'm gonna pass out." Geordi's face was ashen, his eyes fixed on the dismembered corpse.

"Geordi..."

"No, no, you... just shut up!" Geordi was shaking, fists clenched and jaw working in his agitation. He dropped his eyes to the floor. "I'm taking you to your quarters. You'll be held there until... Until we can decide what to do with you."

"I understand." Data said. Geordi looked at him now, and his eyes were red-rimmed, his lip curled.

"Do you? Really? Do you understand what I've been going through, all the hours of work? I... I haven't been sleeping, barely eating, I was so worried about you! And now..." He gestured weakly at the blood-drenched cell. "I... I can't do this, Data. I'll take you to your quarters, and that's it. They can find someone else to try and fix you, I'm done. I'm done."

"Geordi..." Data looked up at him earnestly. "Please tell me. Did he escape?"

Geordi's mouth fell open, and all he could do was stare at the android for a moment, before his face twisted and he barked a mirthless laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, he escaped. Injured a bunch of people doing it, killed Maddox, but I guess that doesn't matter to you, does it?" He leaned down, pushing his face aggressively towards the prone android. "Does any of it matter to you, Data? Is he the only thing you care about?"

"He was all I had, for so long." Data replied mildly. Geordi shut his eyes tightly, sending two tears spilling over his cheeks.

"Did you think about me at all? Did you stop and think, just for a moment, about what I might be going through? Even for a second?" He threw his hand up, stalling Data's reply. "No, you know what, don't say anything, because I don't think I want to know the answer." He pushed himself up and took the controls of the grav sled, guiding it through the door. The guards were waiting outside, and wordlessly they fell in behind.