Might fit into M for a nasty mind-game.
Emma sat in the back of the car listless. As if she viewed reality through water, everything moved so slowly. She'd watched her colleagues - her friends - disappear into thin air. She'd watched the Romulans taking Data away - she saw him turn his head back to look at her one last time. Even without emotions, he still seemed to be attached to her, maybe even worried about her... And then she'd watched as the human soldiers took Earl away: proud and tall and defiant as ever, fearless as ever... Finally, she was sat into Edmond's car, and they got going. And now he was sitting there next to her as she was looking out of the window, watching as the buildings of the city rushed by - and she knew he was watching her even though she didn't give a single glance at him. She felt his gaze, felt his presence, as if it never really left her.
At the residence, he led her to their old room. She followed without any objection. What was there to object? He entered, and she went after him. He started to look for a new suit in the closet, and she watched him standing a few steps away.
So he never moved out from here. And seemingly neither did she. Her eyes wandered to her dressing table - everything was there, everything the way it was when she'd left it over two years ago. Her brush, her make up, some small notes stuck into the frame of the mirror. Her gaze travelled to his wide desk just a few steps from where she was standing. It was full of clutter as always. And her eyes became fixed on the long, thin letter-opening knife...
"Maybe you'd like to change too, chérie!" she heard, and her head snapped back to see that he was still going through his closet as he went on "Those rags are really not fit for the beloved wife of the Premier. Just returning to publicity from her years of absence."
She took a slow step toward the desk "So... this is your plan with me? Make me play your dutiful wife?" she asked on a voice lower than she intended.
Edmond laughed softly "I won't need to MAKE you do anything." he remarked putting on a suit he seemed to like. He stepped to the tall mirror at the wall and adjusted the garment "You'll be happy to be my dutiful wife." he told her looking at his image seemingly satisfied.
Emma stood at the desk, and watching her husband's every move, she reached out cautiously and picked up the knife "I'd first be dead before obeying you, Edmond." she told him hiding it behind her back, her heartbeat quickened as her fist squeezed the hilt of the blade "And you know that."
Edmond chuckled "There are worse things than death, ma chérie." he remarked turning to her "How do you like it?" he asked spreading his arms showing himself.
She snorted "You need my approval?"
He walked up to her and gazed into her eyes "I will need to get used to needing it again. My wife is home with me once again!" he whispered almost caringly.
She sensed that there will be no better moment than this one! Gathering all her strength, she raised the knife and tried to stab it into his back. But he was faster. He caught her wrist and stopped her stab in mid motion. She moaned struggling against him to deliver the blow she knew she had to, she NEEDED to! But he was just so much stronger...
"Stop it, chérie!" he hissed as she hit him with her other fist.
He grabbed now both of her wrists and pushed her up against the wall, banging her fragile body into it. She moaned in pain and gripping her wrist he hit her fist still desperately grasping the knife, into the wall several times, until she finally let go of the blade.
He pressed her into the wall, holding her by the wrists pinning them next to her head forcefully. She struggled to get free, but her wrists hurt, and she felt drained from her failed attack. She suddenly felt dizzy and rested the back of her head against the wall gasping for breath.
"Did you have enough?" he asked leaning close to her face. She gazed into his dark eyes and saw him glancing at her parted lips. He moved even closer pressing his body onto hers making her lock her gaze with his. He made her feel his breath and tasted hers as he whispered "You still want me."
She turned her head away and answered on a cold, tired voice "If you think that, Edmond, you're sicker than I've ever thought."
He watched her for a moment longer and frowned with disgust "You really don't. Not since you have had the machine in your life..." She turned back, and he gazed into her eyes with disgust "You think of him even now."
"So it's true..." she whispered feeling desperation welling up in her "You CAN read my mind!"
After a moment of staring into her eyes, he started to laugh, then slowly let her wrists go and stepped away from her. He seemed to walk about in the room aimlessly, and she rubbed her hurting wrists staggering a few steps from the wall. She watched her husband with growing dread as reality slowly began to dawn on her "What ARE you?" she asked finally on a trembling whisper.
He stopped and looked back at her from the middle of the huge room "Half-Ullian, half-human." he replied matter-of-factly.
She stared at him for a long moment before she could utter a word. She frowned still barely believing it "So everything you told me about you being raised by your grandfather..." she started, but he cut her off.
"It was all true." he walked back up to her slowly as he explained "I WAS raised by my human granddad, given that my human mother died, and my Ullian father wanted nothing to do with his freak son. My dear grandfather raised me as if I was a human, as if I should have been ashamed of my other half. Even if that allowed me to be more than any of you. Much more." he hissed.
She gazed away confused "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked bitterly "Once... we were close. Really close. I loved you so much, you think I wouldn't have accepted you? Why did you have to hide who you were?" she asked looking into his eyes pleading.
"Hmm, at the price of losing my most important tool in controlling you? No, chérie." he chuckled seeing her shocked expression "Yes, I knew you loved me. Desperately, without reservation. You trusted me so completely - the way you trust the machine, now."
She bowed her head feeling her throat close "Why... Why wasn't it enough to simply love me back, if you knew my feelings were deep and sincere?" she asked on a whisper.
"Because controlling you was more secure." he replied, and she looked at him stunned as he went on "Feelings change. Look at yourself! You hate me now from the bottom of your heart! Don't fool yourself, your deep love for the machine will not last forever either." he shrugged "It was also easier." then smiled with glinting eyes "And it was a hell of a lot more fun than anything I've ever did to anybody!" he hissed, making her realize that she had been expecting love for years from a man who was not capable of the emotion at all! It was a frightening revelation!
She shook her head in disbelief "Edmond... We were family once, and now you're telling me you never ever had any kind of feelings for me, only the need to control? We wanted to have children for god's sake! How could you have-" she stopped short seeing his expression.
He smiled at her almost caringly so "Oh, chérie..." he slowly walked up to her locking his gaze with her. He then raised his hand and gently stroked a stray strand of hair out of her face "The only thing that could ever touch me was your utter naiveté." he whispered.
She gaped feeling her eyes fill with tears "You knew we could never have children, didn't you." she breathed "You knew it all along..."
"My genetics." he shrugged apologetically "I would never be able to sire children fit to be born... But it was a powerful means of control. Just the way our sex life was. I knew that by making you go through the cycle of hoping to conceive, then hoping to be able to bear the child, and finally the pain... I knew you'd not have the strength to leave me while you were struggling with yourself. I'd have been a fool not to use it." She could only stare at him pale and almost completely unable to believe the nightmare that had no end... He turned and paced lazily around "You'd have left me years sooner, if I didn't use all the means of control I had. Mils would have talked you into appreciating yourself over our marriage a lot sooner, just the way he always tried to." he turned back to her standing at the window across the room "The unexpected element was you finding another means of escape." he shrugged "Hague was adamant about getting rid of you, I couldn't do anything about it at the time. He couldn't afford his right hand having a drug addict wife! I was thinking, I'd keep you in the nuthouse until I seize the power from the old son-of-a-bitch. I wanted to get you back afterwards. But... of course, for Mils, nothing was a high enough price to lay his hands on you." he snorted in disgust.
She watched him again only as if she watched reality through a dark distorted mirror. It all seemed so bizarre, so unreal that she couldn't even start to sob or be upset over what she just had to learn. She frowned slightly as she heard her own voice ask "What do you plan with him?"
Edmond raised his eyebrows "Don't you know?" he stepped up to her again searching her eyes "Don't you beg for his life?"
She locked her gaze with his, feeling her eyes fill with tears again. Wouldn't she want to beg for the man who had been the father she'd never had? Who was her sole friend and family during the years her life was purposefully and systematically destroyed bit by bit by her very husband?
He smiled feeling her deep distress - and also her defiance in that silence. "What about your machine?" he asked "Will you beg for HIM?"
She frowned feeling her cheeks burn as fear gripped her chest. She knew what the inevitable would bring to her and to Earl throughout, and she was prepared as much as anyone could have in her place. But Data! No, she had no idea how to face the uncertainty of his fate on her conscience!
"What do you want with him?" she asked on a bitter voice "You cannot take revenge on him or use him! You cannot hurt him, you cannot make him do anything you want. You can't blackmail him into anything. He can't be bribed, he can't be tortured!"
"Oh, you think, he cannot be blackmailed. Hmm, that's disappointing! Do you think he values your life so little that if he were to choose between obeying me and giving up your life, he'd choose disobedience?" he shook his head seeing the hopeless expression on her face "You're unsure?" he asked smiling almost feeling sorry for her uncertainty "True enough, he is a loyal Starfleet officer after all."
She looked at him wearily "What would you gain on making him serve you? The people hate technology! What would you gain on a man who's nothing but technology?"
He laughed out loud "My silly little wife! I don't need him for servitude, of course!" his eyes flashed with enthusiasm "I need him for the propaganda! He's the perfect means to prove that the people of Epsilon Four are under constant threat from the Federation and the alien powers behind it! He's even bigger a gain than the technology to mine dilithium! A fascinating asset that will solidify my power like nothing else!" his eyes were sparkling, and she listened to him in disbelief as he started to pace aimlessly again gesturing as he drafted what he saw in his mind "Imagine a court case! Where the main accused is a man who looks completely like us! Imagine him being disassembled to his pieces in front of the press and the people. Imagine their utter disbelief and shock! All the voices of those who said so far that we are TOO paranoid, and we need to ease up on our laws a bit would immediately be silent! Just imagine that shock! AND on top of all that, your precious Data will play along with everything! I will MAKE him! He will confess that the purpose of his creation was to fool our people and hurt them where they least expect it!"
"No!" Emma shook her head desperately "You can't..."
"Of course I can!" he smiled almost apologetically "I have all the aces in the stack."
She shook her head stubbornly trying to find a means of salvation "No! The Enterprise is still here! They will save him!"
"They don't even know where to look for him! Their scanners are worthless on my planet!" he smiled seeing the dread in her eyes as she finally realized, they had no escape. He gently put his two hands on her upper arms, almost in a supportive gesture "Accept it, chérie. You lost. You never really had a chance at winning, and you knew that all along. Now you just need to accept it. Everything will be a lot easier after that." he whispered almost lovingly.
She looked at him with pleading eyes "Don't do this, Edmond! He's done nothing against you. I'm the one you want to cause pain to. And Earl. Not him. You have me, and you have the leader of the Resistance. It WILL be enough for the propaganda, just... just let Data go... Please!" she added on a whisper.
"Let him go, hmm... well, beaming Mils into oblivion might be enough for the propaganda for a while, true enough. But still, if I let your little boytoy go, I'd lose the trump card from my hands that could redefine the words propaganda, fear and power just by his very existence. And I should give it up, all because you ask it of me?" he asked incredulously.
Emma looked into his eyes distressed "There's nothing I can give you in exchange." she confessed "Except... y-you might have been right." she stammered bowing her head "I might be your dutiful wife once again on my own free will. If you wished."
His eyebrows ran up his forehead, and he smiled in surprise. After watching her fighting her disgust and fear AND pride for a moment longer, he slowly stepped behind her and put his hands on her shoulders leaning close to her ear "He's important for you, isn't he? Hmm?" he asked on a soft whisper and felt her heart lurch thinking about her love. He needed to see how serious she was, he pressed her on "Maybe if you'd be a little more friendly, I'd consider what you propose..." he wiped her hair away with an almost impossible tenderness, then leaned to her neck and kissed a trail on her skin from her shoulder to her ear.
Emma shut her eyes exasperated. She thought she was prepared for this! But her breathing quickened as her body froze in complete terror and insuppressible disgust from his touch. No... No, she couldn't stand this! She ripped herself out of his deadly embrace and swirling around looked into his smug gaze "We may make a bargain!" she told him breathlessly "But I want my securities. As soon as I can make sure that he's back on the Enterprise, you'll have what you want! But not a moment sooner, Ed Jones!" she added on a low voice.
He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment longer then stepped close to her again "You would really, now wouldn't you? ...Alright, chérie. Let's make a bargain. But... I want my securities as well. Call it a love-token, if you will."
"What do you want?!" she asked in despair "You can read my mind, you know I meant what I said! What more security do you need?!"
He crossed his arms "All I can sense from you is your fighting yourself over this. You want me to believe you, when you cannot even stand my presence near you? No..." he then smiled seeing her torn by thinking that she'd have to beg for him to accept her offer that turned her own stomach! He reached up to her face, and she struggled to stand the touch "What I want in exchange for now compared to what you're asking me is nothing..." he whispered as she stood there unmoving "I want a kiss. The kiss of a wife who's still in love, still attracted and still eager to fulfil all her husband's wishes!" he raised an eyebrow challengingly "That's not such a huge sacrifice, is it? Since this is exactly what you're promising to give in exchange for his life."
Emma grew pale but didn't say a word. What other choice did she have? Everything was better than to lose Data in such a cruel way! She took a shaky breath as her eyes filled with tears of frustration, and she reached up to his face - you were once attracted to this man, you can do this! Don't think, don't feel, just do it! Sliding her arms around his neck, she pushed her lips up to his.
He smiled into the kiss and pulled her tightly against him - she was surely eager, he noted satisfied. She thoroughly explored his mouth as if her own life depended on that one single kiss, and it was a refreshing sensation to feel her making herself do this, while she had no attraction or affection for him at all. On the contrary... It was a tantalizing sensation to explore thoroughly...
She made her mind go completely blank. Her body responded to his embrace, to their kiss, but she, herself withdrew into a tiny spot in her mind that was untouched. He couldn't reach her here. She would let him do whatever he wished with her body, but she would not be there, she would not feel it. Maybe this was how Data perceived kissing her without his emotions. Because she just felt nothing. Nothing at all.
He broke away and looked at her appreciatively. She gazed back at him with hollow eyes, and his lips broke into a wide smile of recognition. This was it! This was exactly it! He took a step back from her and started to laugh from his heart.
She looked at him with a shocked frown "Why are you laughing?" she asked on a shaky voice, clearly feeling humiliated.
He sighed deeply, getting a grip on his sudden fit of laughter "Because finally I got what I wanted to see on your face for a decade! You finally gave in to me!" he smiled amazed at the thought as he watched Emma bowing her head, trying to hide her tears. But no matter how hard she struggled, they stubbornly came, and she wiped them with the back of her hand sniffling. He stepped opposite her and studied her expression for a moment longer before speaking on a low, patient voice, as if he was talking to a child "You seriously thought, that I'd give up such an asset as Data is, to have YOU back?" Emma raised her head and looked at him through her tears shocked as he went on "You really thought that, didn't you. Oh, your naiveté, chérie..."
"Is no torture enough, Edmond?" she moaned now openly sobbing in complete desperation "Isn't it enough that you take everything and everybody from me? All hope that I ever had. What could I do to make you stop?!"
"Make me stop?" he asked then shook his head almost confused "You don't want me to stop, Emma! On the contrary." he cupped her cheek in both of his hands. She trembled fighting her tears and glared at him feeling a kind of hatred she'd never experienced before. He leaned closer to her, and she could feel his breath on her wet cheeks "You ask me to do this to you, because this is where you can find your place! The only place you ever felt secure. With me, you can rebel all you want, knowing that I'd always be here. Strong and in control over you. Just like your father used to be..."
She shook her head in denial, while she realized in horror that to a certain extent, he was right! She knew it all along that he'd come for her, he'd never give up on getting her back, and the fear from the inevitable was almost secure. When they were caught, it was almost like coming home to a terror she knew all too well... The only moments she could get rid of that fear was when she was with Data - and now her desperate clinging to him would kill him or worse... She bowed her head giving up on trying to stop crying. She deserved no better than this...
Edmond wiped her tears gently leaning close to her, tilting her head upward. His mouth lingered over hers for a short moment, and he saw her shutting her eyes expecting what's to come - and felt that she didn't struggle against it anymore.
But before he could kiss her again, there was a knock on the door. Edmond straightened, letting her go with a furious expression.
"I said I don't want to be disturbed!"
His young assistant looked through the crack of the door "I'm sorry, Premier, but the execution has been prepared." she announced.
"We're coming in a minute." he growled angrily, and the woman disappeared.
Emma's mind then produced the most impossible thought, in this most impossible moment: how long had he been screwing this girl? - Here she stood, all humiliated, giving up on all her hopes, minutes away from the execution of her closest friend, and probably hours from having to witness her love blackmailed into taking part in Edmond's appalling plans... And she was thinking about her being cheated on by her husband. Then she finally understood: this was no different than her previous sensation of secure fear - it was second nature to her, like getting back into an old habit. An old habit of fear, or of jealously, there was little difference: she had no real control over it or the cause of either emotions. She could only anticipate them, but she was no more guilty for that than for once being in love with a man who mislead her at each step, in everything she'd ever done.
He turned back to her with a surprised frown feeling the change in her emotions. She stood there staring into his eyes for a long moment, then turned and walked up to her cupboard.
His frown deepened "What are you doing?" he asked alarmed by the fact that she didn't voice her strong emotions he could feel oozing out of her!
She stopped and turned to him with blazing, defiant eyes "I change into clean clothes and put on some make-up, Edmond." as he watched her taken aback, she went on walking up to him slowly "I do it so that my closest, dearest friend can see in his last moments that I did not break! That I stand there and live one of the most painful moments of my life with a straight back and pure heart! Never giving in to you! Ever!"
Edmond glared into her eyes for a moment longer, than started to laugh. He walked to the door and putting his hand on the handle turned back to her "You do that well, ma chérie. Because the moment is almost here!" he hissed, then walked out still laughing, feeling her pain as if it was palpable.
The door closed, and she remained alone. She put her palms flat on her dressing table bowing her head - but no tears came this time. She then opened the fastenings of the Starfleet uniform top she was wearing, then put her hands into the pockets absently, out of habit to check if there's anything in them. She was almost hit by the realization! Of course there was! She pulled out the combadge Beverly had previously put into her hand, when they said goodbye.
She held on to the small object in both of her hands tightly "Beverly..." she whispered and felt a measure of hope creeping into her heart.
She didn't care about herself anymore, she accepted to be purged to her atoms here in her personal little hell. She also knew that Earl thought in a similar way: they'd talked about facing death before, and since his son died... No, neither of them had anything to look forward to on this planet anymore.
But she was not about to give up on saving Data yet, and the combadge was her only hope in that. They couldn't use it for communication, everything was bugged, and she knew Bev knew that too. But it enabled the Enterprise crew to find her, and through her, they could find Data too!
A/N: It might be wrong to tell you about my interpretation of what you've just read, but here you go: the scene is the metaphor of the kind of relationships, where you try to give yourself up to somehow make your partner be happy with you. At the end, it would always turn out that nothing is enough, and you have no real influence over how satisfied they are with who or what you are, or what you can give them. The bottom-line would always be that they simply enjoy manipulating you into doing something you hate, while they keep telling you how unhappy you make them. It's difficult to recognize, because you keep on trying, and you can get seriously hurt by the time you can actually get rid of such a person, but it's not impossible either. Maybe a good friend can help in that too.
