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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave	By : madradena Category: Star Trek > The Next Generation Views: 1693 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own ST:TNG nor Dreamland, nor the characters from either. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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When Emma left the holodeck with Beverly after the rehearsal, and Emma had to let Data leave alone, she was hoping that he would finally find the courage to go to the Counsellor's office. Maybe his recent experience had been enough motivation for him to admit that he needed to seek help. But in all honesty, right at the moment, she had her own messed up self to worry about.
Beverly was quite blunt - compared to herself of course. She wanted peace in her theatre, and Emma had no choice but to promise that she would be a good girl from then on. She got home fairly late with her moods down in the dumps, but she knew she still needed to try to study. It took only half an hour for her to fall asleep over her padd.
She slept over the night on her couch. The last two days were exhausting and fatigue finally caught up with her. She slept so soundly that she didn't even dream anything. The next day, she woke to her timed alarm. It took her 20 minutes to wake up enough to get up. But at least she was not late from work that day.
Beverly greeted her with a grim expression. It was plain that something was up. "May I have a word with you." it was not a simple friendly request, and Emma followed Beverly to her office.
"What is it?" Emma asked when the door closed behind them.
"How much did you know about Data's condition?" Beverly asked on a low voice, and Emma was sure the storm was just about to come.
Emma looked at her taken aback "What are you talking about?"
"Don't do this Emma. I KNOW you knew about it!"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." or rather she had no idea what the fuss was about...
"So you need a jog of memory. Fine. Yesterday, Data walked into Counsellor Troi's office and admitted that he is having flashbacks and even hallucinations in relation to his abduction by the Borg. So I'm asking you again, did you know about it?"
Emma frowned irritated "What if I did? What difference does it make, if he ultimately went to ask for help?" she really didn't see the point of this.
"What difference?! Emma! He is a senior Bridge officer! When he is on duty, he is responsible for over a thousand people on board! If he is suffering from severe mental stress, he is like a walking time bomb! You should have reported this the moment you learned about it! What if he breaks down during a critical situation? What happens to the ship? Has that even crossed your mind?!"
"I told him he needs help! It took him a huge effort and a lot of courage to at least tell me! What was I supposed to do?! Betray his trust and sell him out to you?!"
"It's not about betraying anyone's trust, Emma! It's about rules and regulations that - whether you want them or not - apply to you as well! If you learn about the mental state of a senior officer to be so fragile that he is unfit for duty, you are obliged to report that! He knows that too, and you should know it just as well!"
"I don't give a shit about regulations that make me sell out people I love!" Emma blurted suddenly.
They both stopped and looked at each other taken aback. After a moment, Emma shook her head "I didn't mean it THAT way." she told her on a low voice. She sighed trying to calm down "Bev. I care about him. He needed to confide in somebody, whom he knew would not betray him or judge him. He was scared that he would have been judged by you, his friends. You knew him before, he was scared to disappoint you. He chose me exactly because I am not a friend, not even a close colleague. He could tell ME without fearing for consequences. And I could not just throw that trust away for rules and regulations."
"Understand, Emma." Beverly lowered her voice as well "Rules are there to protect ALL of us. Even him. It's plain that his good judgement is damaged in some way, otherwise he'd have reported his condition the moment he realized that it was so bad."
"Is that so?" Emma asked silently taking a step towards Beverly and looking deep into her eyes "I do not see any protection for him by your precious rules at all, Beverly. What does the rules say about Starfleet personnel who went through a trauma just the way he did? Isn't it standard procedure to take that person off duty and make him go to therapy until it's made sure that he can take up his daily tasks? Have you asked yourself why this rule was not applied to HIS situation?"
"He WAS examined by Counsellor Troi after the incident, but there was no reason to take him off duty! He checked out fine in all the mental tests." Beverly answered her accusations spreading her arm.
Emma rolled her eyes: "Come on! You know as well as I do that this is just an excuse! You knew that he had a problem, as well as I did. Still he was not taken off duty."
"Understand, Em! He did his job exemplary. The Captain can't just relieve people because of a hunch!"
"So the solution is to wait until he breaks down? Or some disaster happens? Why do the rules that are to protect EVERYONE fail to protect HIM? Just because his uniqueness eludes some lousy tests?" she waited for Beverly to reply, but it seemed that her friend couldn't find an answer "Well, Beverly. I would start to revise those rules, if I had any control over them."
"...she indirectly accused me - well, all of us - of mistreating Data, just because he's an android." Beverly looked up at the Captain as he sat beside her on the couch in his ready room, Earl Gray in hand "And I'm inclined to admit that she's right."
The Captain sighed uneasily "You see, Beverly, it was a miscalculation on my part. It never even crossed my mind that he would have issues even remotely similar in depth to mine after my own abduction. It was plain that he was affected in some way, but..."
"He WAS abducted before. He didn't need any help to get through that experience then. I don't think any of us thought that aside the regular sessions with Deanna that everybody needs to take, he would need any further help. All the more so, because during these sessions, his issues didn't turn out." Beverly shook her head regretfully "Of course at the previous occasion... he didn't have emotions..."
"We have known Commander Data without emotions for a lot longer than WITH emotions." the Captain mused gazing away.
Beverly smiled gently "Sometimes I still half-expect him to ask questions starting 'What does it feel like' even though he hasn't asked one for over two years."
The Captain had to agree "And sometimes it's still surprising, when he starts explaining how his own emotions fascinate him." he sighed "It's not right, but I have to admit that it never even crossed my mind to relieve him of duty. Because I never thought he would be capable of the issues he is actually facing now..."
She sighed "Me neither, Jean-Luc... This whole makes me wonder whether we are sloppy friends for him..."
The Captain smiled comfortingly "No, Beverly. We just made an error. It's up to us to correct it. Starting with revising the image we have in our heads whenever we say the name Commander Data."
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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave