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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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Emma looked at Data with excitement mixed with a hint of apprehension before they entered Ten Forward. He smiled at her encouragingly and squeezed her hand; she took a long breath and nodded before the door opened. The moment they stepped through the threshold however, they both were taken by surprise as a spontaneous applause broke out sounding from everywhere in the room. They stopped short, and the next moment, an inordinate number of young female (and some male) officers swarmed noisily around them - or more precisely around Data.
They all wanted something different: some of them wanted an autograph, some others wanted to shake his hand and tell him how brilliant he'd been. A minority of them however was more daring than the rest: half of them wanted to dance with him, and the other half was ready to simply make a move on him completely ignoring the fact that he was there with a female. He was thoroughly overwhelmed by their almost violent enthusiasm, and had no idea how to react. Before he realized, his hold on Emma's hand broke off, and they got separated in the crowd.
He awkwardly just gave an autograph to a young ensign, when her friend leaned embarrassingly close to his face and smiled at him flirtatiously: "Mr. Data are you free for tomorrow evening? I'd be happy to cook you dinner... in my quarters."
He blinked at her for a long moment then shook his head "Thank you for your kind offer, but I will not... be free." he glanced to his side to find Emma with his gaze - the girl spotted her too a few meters from them with a bemused expression - and to be thoroughly precise, he added "And I do not require sustenance."
The girl gave him another of her seductive smiles and touched his chest with a finger "Well, if you should get tired of her," she nodded toward Emma "my room number is 1117. You may come over any time of the day... or night."
He gaped totally intimidated by the outright offer, but thankfully the girl was then pulled away by her seemingly totally embarrassed friends.
Emma watched at first with an amused smile as Data was surrounded by his new-found groupies. Then as she saw how lost he looked finding himself in the center of attention among so many people so suddenly, she felt her heart lurched. This was no joy for him. She needed to save him. She was about to break through the mass of people surrounding him, when suddenly the crowd opened up around her, and she found herself face to face with Captain Picard. She was not able to cover her sudden fright as he looked straight into her eyes, though in the next moment, she swallowed and smoothed her features.
"For a word, if you would, Lieutenant." he asked, and Data could just see that the two of them moved away from the crowd around him. He was just about to push through the people to follow them, when he felt a hand on his shoulder:
"Hey!" he heard Geordi's voice from behind him.
"Hello, Geordi." he turned to him with a hint of surprise.
The Engineer looked around with an apologetic smile "Excuse us, ladies, but please give this young man some air! Thanks!" and he pushed Data out of the crowd to the bar.
In a few moments, they were sitting in relative peace sipping drinks, only with an occasional girl coming up to them for an autograph. Geordi then looked at him apologetically "Sorry that I didn't make it to the premiere! - Well, at least it seems you had success! - We're swamped in Engineering, there was no chance for me to leave before 10 PM. Especially, that I had to let Barclay go from Beta shift." he told his friend feeling really bad about missing the play.
"It is alright, Geordi. The next performance is on the day after tomorrow. You can watch it then, so you have not missed a thing." he reassured him, but his gaze travelled back to Emma and the Captain "I should go to her! I promised her that I would protect her." he told his friend helplessly overcome with worry.
Geordi smiled "I think she manages quite alright, Data." he told his worried friend as they were watching Emma and Captain Picard - starting to dance?! Data couldn't utter a word, just felt his jaw drop at the sight.
Emma and the Captain started to move in the direction of the dance-floor to get away from the crowd and to have some privacy for the conversation they were about to have. As she spotted the dancers just a few steps from them, an idea struck Emma: if they were to play this game, she wanted to play it on her own playground! She turned to him and gave him a small challenging smile:
"Would you care for a dance, Captain Picard?" He blinked in total disbelief, but before he could utter a word, she went on "You do dance, don't you?"
He understood her power-play very well, and he was not going to show any weakness to her - it was plain that he would not achieve anything with this woman by sheer authority. He raised his brows and told her with a small, smug nod: "As a matter of fact, Lieutenant, I'm an accomplished ball-room dancer." he held out a hand to her "Shall we?" and led her to the dance-floor.
Emma put an arm around his neck and felt him slip his own around her waist. They started to dance to the waltz-like music as far from each other as it was possible without letting go. Their movements were stiff and rigid to the experienced eye, though to a layman, they seemed to perform the steps with perfection. She gazed into his eyes, and a shiver ran up her spine - it was like dancing in the arms of death! He WAS after all the one who would make a decision about her very life!
The Captain held her gaze with his own "I understand that your ability to obey orders only deteriorates with the passage of time, Lieutenant." he started tauntingly, just the way he did in his ready room. She bit her tongue instead of saying the first thing that came into mind. His lips flinched into a fleeting smile "You’re not saying anything? Mmm, that's a surprise, Lieutenant! You gave me the impression earlier that you had a reply to everything!"
She stared back at him with inexorable defiance and did give him an answer after all: "Whatever difference would it have made, if I'd stayed in my room, apart from the fact that Beverly's and my other friends' work would have been ruined? You want me off your ship. Fine. Understood. But I'd rather be court martialed than to let Bev down!"
Picard took a moment to reply. So she was trying to make him believe that she was a knight of the round table, willing to sacrifice herself for her friends, he thought with a measure of incredulity and sarcasm. Almost as a response, he swirled her around without warning and pulled her back against him. She was surprised by the sudden movement but tried hard not to show it as he looked at her with an unreadable expression "I do know that Beverly ordered you out of your room." he told her - he wanted to see her reaction. Is she going to lay it on Beverly's door? If he was right about her, she'll do just that.
"She just told you that to protect me." she lied giving him one of her trademark smirks "We both know how awfully good-hearted she can be."
Now that came as a surprise. She WAS trying to protect Beverly! His expression remained as carved in stone as it had been a moment ago. "I also know that you didn't tell her that you were to be transferred. Or the reason behind that." he went on with his tracing her character around. He started to be intrigued.
She almost blurted 'I didn't have the time!' - which was true, but she figured she should start to be more tactical in her interactions than simply blurting out the naked truth. "No, I didn't." she replied... and after a moment, just couldn't help herself "Even if I wanted to, with the premiere and all, I never would have had the time."
He was surprised yet again - her honesty bordered on mindlessness "And did you want to?"
"No, I didn't." she replied on a low voice knowing full well that he would not believe her anyways.
He swirled her around yet again then pulled her back to him, making her dance a little closer to him "Hmm... heroic I might say..." he taunted "Tell me, Lieutenant, what are you hoping? That I might change my decision as a reward for your blunt honesty? It got you into this trouble in the first place."
"No." Emma shook her head then looked at him challengingly again "Whoever I ask, everybody tells me, you're the most equitable and fair captain, Starfleet ever produced... I was hoping you also have... a heart." she added, and her voice broke - he was surprised to see despair in her eyes. She did nothing but trying to put up the image of a formidable woman so far and now...
"Hold on, cause I'm going to dip you!" he warned, and before she realized, he leaned forward and dipped her. She instinctively gripped his shoulder then after a short moment, relaxed as the realization hit her: he WAS good! When they came back into a vertical position, she let her chest brush to his as she held on firmly to his neck with one arm - she actually started to enjoy this! Am I this depraved and crazy?! He's just about to throw me out of his ship, and I enjoy dancing with him?! So yeah, I'm this depraved and crazy...
He looked deep into her eyes - maybe he was crazy, but something told him, she was worthy of a second chance: "I owe you a confession, Lieutenant... After thinking it over - not more than an hour after you left my ready room - I realized that I'd do a lot more harm with sending you away than with overlooking our little chit-chat..." he lowered his voice though he didn't speak loudly at all to begin with "And that's precisely because of that certain someone we both well know. I realized I did not wish to explain myself to Beverly, and I have to admit, I'm relieved that you haven't done any explanation of your own about this incident to her. I assume you realized yourself the same as I did that it would have hurt her and our friendship in ways that's not worth even to begin to calculate."
Emma had to take a moment to recover from her shock - this was not at all what she'd expected! "Yes, Captain Picard." she said surprising even herself that she could answer anything at all.
He went on: "As your little remark was rather a personal offence than an offence to your superior, I'm willing to overlook it. On the condition that you will never talk about this incident to anybody. Ever... Though I suppose Commander Data already knows about it, I also know he can keep his mouth shut - if ordered."
"He knows only that I'm grounded, and that you got angry at me cause I was insolent." she gabbled quickly and shook her head "He doesn't know the details. I'd never have told him or anybody else anyways. I never meant to cause any harm." she blurted out the truth yet again - being tactical forgotten, she only hoped that she sounded convincing enough, with her voice trembling as much as it did. This man who seemed so much like her father used to be... full of authority, full of power over everybody else around him... this man showed a trait, her father never displayed in his life: a capability of forgiveness, of having mercy.
The Captain nodded, but his expression remained unreadable, and he went on "I don't often make a concession like this, Lieutenant, and I'm only making it for her sake! I still think that you are insubordinate, arrogant and disrespectful. And I want you to keep in mind that, if you show even a hint of disobedience towards any of your superiors again, I will have no choice but to proceed with disciplinary action. No matter who gets hurt in the process." his voice was thoroughly professional.
"I understand, Captain Picard." she whispered, her voice lost.
Picard nodded and his small smile was the only warning Emma got this time before he swirled her around and then dipped her low yet again. She trusted him now, and didn't grip his shoulders as hard as before, rather just let him hold her and then pull her up to himself again.
She smiled a tentative but sincere smile "You have to know... I was not entirely right... about you. You’re not like my father. You can show generosity... something he never did... Thank you!" she stammered.
The Captain gazed at her thoughtfully and took a moment to reply "I understand it must be difficult to grow up with a father as remarkable as Admiral Stern used to be." he mused slowly.
A disillusioned expression appeared on her face "Remarkable... Yeah, I'd... I'd use a different term, Captain Picard..." she breathed then shrugged and smiled again, this time it was more heart-felt "If we are speaking so frankly to each other... Why don't you go to Bev and just ask her out?"
The question had a similar effect on him as his dips were on her, it made him gap in disbelief: he's just told her that she was risking being disciplined, if she doesn't shut her mouth, and here it is! "Lieutenant, this is none of your--"
"Yes, it is! Bev's my friend. I want her to be happy and... I think the two of you could be happy." she smiled eagerly.
Picard stared into her eyes, his face again grim "This is still none of your business. And if you are so well-informed, you might as well know, that we have talked about this, and she was the one not willing to..." realizing what had just left his lips, he trailed off, surprising himself with his confession a lot more than her. What the devil was he doing?!
"Of course, she wasn't! She's scared!" she replied without missing a beat "Think about it for a second! What the two of you share is more than friendship, more than romantic love, more than family! She's scared that if she lets herself go into it more deeply, and something doesn't work out, your unique relationship would suffer. She'd lose you. You need to reassure her that it won't happen, you need to..."
But the music came to an end, and Picard couldn't help but felt utterly relieved. He let her go almost as if she burned him and held his hands up with a very uncomfortable, wry smile "Lieutenant! Thank you for your kind relationship advice, but I'd still prefer, if you minded your own business." this was bordering on ludicrousness. Emma looked at him pleadingly - she had helped one star-crossed couple to hook up today, why shouldn't she be successful with these two pigheaded toughnuts as well? But the Captain's voice hardened "If you're not capable of abiding by what I'm asking you, then I'm ordering you. Stop interfering with other people's personal lives. Especially with Doctor Crusher's and mine. Is that clear, Lieutenant?"
Emma slouched and bit her tongue before she could utter 'Stubborn as a mule!'. Instead she nodded "Yes, Sir."
Picard nodded too then gave her a small smile "Thank you for the dance, Lieutenant!" he told her then turning to go, he added "And by the way, congratulations on your performance tonight!"
Emma smiled with a fleeting frown, feeling some strange double entendre in his sentence "Thank you, Captain!"
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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave