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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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Three hours later, Data was sitting at Counsellor Troi's office for his session. She eased up on the daily schedule a week ago, now he had to see her three times a week, and he attended meticulously without being late even a minute. Deanna poured some tea for him as it had become their custom to tea together during the sessions.
"How are you feeling today?" she asked handing him his cup.
"Thank you, Counsellor." he told her as he took the cup and nursed it in his hand "I feel fine, thank you."
She chuckled "Data, you always start all of your sessions like that. You're not supposed to give this polite but meaningless reply to this question here, you're supposed to tell me how you actually feel."
He gazed at his tea thoughtfully "It is very difficult to share how I feel exactly, because I feel a lot of things at the same time."
She scowled a little curiously "You mean your emotions do multi-tasking just as your thoughts?"
He nodded "In essence, yes, Counsellor."
She crossed her legs and sipped her tea. After a moment, she looked at him again "Then tell me about the emotion that's the strongest."
He looked at her delighted "That is easy to choose, Counsellor. The strongest emotion I feel is the crush I feel for Emma." and this started him off.
Deanna smiled serenely as she listened to him speaking about how excited he was about his relationship. For the last week, the depressing stories about the Borg Queen and his abduction were replaced by cheerful stories of his girlfriend. The change was so abrupt and striking that she knew that they needed to talk about it.
"...Doctor Crusher then told me I would have to ask for advice about Emma in the future. Though I was grateful for her offer, I am not sure why she said that. I got the feeling she was implying to Emma being a difficult personality, which might be true to those who do not know her, however..."
"Do YOU know her, Data?" she cut in trying to get a grasp on his flood of words.
He looked at her surprised "I believe I do. At least better than most others."
"Even Doctor Crusher?" she asked with a small smile.
He decided to take some time to answer this question, and he sipped his tea. Then cocked his head and looked at her with some resentment "Would you like to imply that I am wrong?"
She put her cup down on the table and clasped her hands "Data. I'm not implying anything. I'd like you to consider that you have known Emma for a shorter time than Beverly does, and that probably your opinion about her is biased." Data sat there as if he had to calculate the equation of the universe, so Deanna went on "What you're experiencing right now is natural. When we are having a crush, all our thoughts are about that special someone, and we may even consider him or her the most perfect person. But just try to think a bit rationally for a moment." she secretly took a moment to feel amazed: Data needs to be told to be rational, that's undoubtedly the biggest turn in a person's character she's ever witnessed.
"I am thinking rationally, Counsellor." he said on a silent voice "I always do. However, it is an exciting change that sometimes I can let go of rationality, if it is about Emma. The sheer amount of resources my system requires for thought-processes about her is most intriguing."
"This is exactly what I'm talking about. Two weeks ago, you were still having trouble with flashbacks of what happened to you during the Borg invasion. You said the same thing: your resources were occupied by your memories about it. And now you talk about nothing but Emma."
"Is that not a progress, Counsellor? For the last week, I have had no flashbacks, and for the last three days my abduction barely crossed my mind. If it did, it passed by quickly. I was hoping that is a sign of healing." he said and disappointment was palpable from his voice.
"It is, Data. But if you've just replaced your painful thoughts with happy ones, it's not healing. It's just diverting your attention and stifling the unpleasant memories. And once these strong feelings of excitement calm down even just a little bit, those troubling memories will come back to haunt you." she explained her main concern that'd been troubling her for the last week.
Data bowed his head then mirroring her actions, put his cup on the small coffee table. He straightened and looked into her eyes "I understand. I do not doubt the truth in your words, Counsellor. However, I feel I have managed to reclaim most of my life before my abduction. I am reacquainted with my friends, I returned to some of my hobbies, and I stopped having flashbacks. And this is not solely because of my relationship to Emma. Although the emotions I feel for her contributed to it largely."
Deanna gazed into his eyes for a moment longer and instinctively reached out with her mind to feel whatever he was feeling. When she felt the usual emptiness, as if he wasn't even there with her in the room, she once again wished she could somehow find a way to use her abilities on him. Just this once. She sighed "I know, Data." she gave him a small smile to soften the suddenly tense mood "I actually wanted to tell you that you progressed so rapidly that I think you're ready to return to duty. My greatest concern about your condition was your hallucinations and strong flashbacks, and you haven't experienced any for a week. However, that doesn't mean that you are fully healthy. As I've told you, I have my reservations about such a rapid progress as you displayed in the last weeks. It may be because of the nature of your mind so different from the human mind which wouldn't be able to heal in such a short time. However, there's no method to make sure about that. Therefore, I want to go on seeing you three times a week just as we have been doing so far. And you must not take up more than one shift a day. I want you to take it easy for a while."
"Yes, Counsellor." Data just sat there gaping. He didn't expect to hear that he could go back to work!
"I also need you to promise to tell me immediately if there's a change in your condition. Let it be flashbacks returning for any reason or memories stirred up by any kind of stimuli." she smiled apologetically "I cannot check your emotional state the way I usually do with others. Therefore I need to ask you, and I want you to be as honest as you were, when you came to me and told me about your issues three weeks ago. Do you feel fit for duty?"
Data's answer was a small smile of wonder.
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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave