Adult-FanFiction.org : Television / Streaming

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
- 5
- 6
- 7
After calling the Hotel Operator for a 9:30 AM wake up call, He goes to bed and quickly falls into a deep slumber.
The next moment, He is cheerfully singing in the streets:
"Somebody loves me, I wonder who
I wonder who she can be
Somebody loves me, can it be You
Who can she be worries me"
After singing a few lines, He starts tap dancing! Round the corner, up the bench, round the pole and through a puddle. People pass him by staring and pointing at him, a girl giggles and blushing hurries away.
"Hey Buddy, can you spare a dime?" a beggar asks him. He stops and hands him some change then just goes on singing and dancing:
"For every girl who passes me, I shout "Hey, maybe"
You were meant to be my loving baby,
Somebody loves me, I wonder who
Maybe it's you"
He is just about to turn another corner still singing and dancing, when suddenly, He feels a delicate hand knocking on his shoulder:
"Excuse me!" He hears a girl's voice and turns to her. She smiles politely "I'm sorry to interrupt..."
To this, He shakes his head a little confused; He is just mesmerized by Her beauty: "No, no..." He mutters - no problem, go on.
She does just that: "...but eh I'm a little bit lost. Do you know a place called 'El Parador'?"
He gives her a nod only slowly waking from his daydream: "Yeah. It's a couple of blocks down, thirty-four between first and second."
"Thanks!" waves the girl and off she goes in a hurry.
"Sure..." He breaths still staring dumbfounded after Her.
"Maybe, baby, it's You!" He finally finishes singing the last line slowly in fascination and walks after Her.
Data stopped at the holodeck door and hesitated for one more moment to go in. He really didn't feel like entering, really did not. However, his earlier conversation with the Captain made it quite clear for him that Doctor Crusher was so adamant about him playing the role that she used her relationship to the Captain to get him to consent. Another blackmail. He was trying to consider the possible outcome of him refusing the part ultimately, but he could not think of anything. The Captain would not discipline him, the Doctor would still consider him a friend. Still he felt he had to comply to their wishes. And he was quite convinced that if he turned off his emotion-chip he would say no without any difficulties. He took another moment to consider that option...
Emma was looking about with a curious expression on her face: she had been on this corridor before, or at least she knew that she had been, still she could not recognize it at all. It seemed absolutely the same as any other corridors on the ship. She wondered how long it would take for her to finally be able the find her way around the ship...
She sighed. It had been a very exhausting day in sickbay - not that there were any out of the ordinary events. It was just that she had to get used to everything. Had to brush up all her memories and had to learn the new technology she was not familiar with at the same time. She realized in one brief hour that it was one thing to get on the Enterprise with Beverly's help, but another was to stay on it for longer than a few weeks. And she was determined to prove herself to Bev and to herself too!
As she turned the corner, she was beginning to feel regret over begging Bev to give her a part in this play of hers. It was clear that it would be a challenge enough to do her job the best as she could in sickbay, and now here she was taking up an extra-curricular activity just to make sure that she wouldn't get enough sleep in the next month...
She was awakened from her reverie by noticing a familiar figure standing in front of the holodeck door: her playmate from the other night. He seemed to be deep in thought but looked up as she advanced toward him.
"Hey!" she greeted him with a much friendlier smile than she had when they first met "Mr. X! Ready for a rematch?" she asked as she got to where he was standing.
Data looked at her as if he was awakened from a dream. He shook his head slowly: "Good afternoon! In actuality, I am here to attend the rehearsal of the play Doctor Crusher is directing." he explained. His voice lacked all emotions and suddenly Emma realized what she felt so strange while they were playing tick-tack-toe earlier. He seemed to be completely dispassionate. The realization made her somehow uncomfortable, but she couldn't quite comprehend why.
"Oh..." she nodded and tried again to smile "I'm here for that too. At least there will be one other person I know. Well, apart from Bev." she added then extended her hand "I'm Emma..." but she couldn't finish.
He accepted her handshake and finished her name "Emma Jones. Medical Officer. I know. I am Data." he introduced still with a blank expression on his face.
Emma gave him a suspicious frown. What the hell?! He looked up her record? Why the hell would he do that? She took her hand away as if he burned her. All her usual paranoia that she should beware of men came back to her as if to attack her while her guards were the most down. As if they have taken another two days to take the trip from Epsilon Four. But they were here now with her again nonetheless.
She took a small instinctive step backward. Then suddenly realized what she was doing and cleared her throat embarrassed as she tried to ignore the sudden cramp in her stomach: it's nothing you idiot. He is your superior officer. Probably, he looked up your record because it was his duty. Now say something before he realizes that you are a complete anti-social.
What did he say? Data... That name she recognized! "Eh... the artificial intelligence..." she managed to get out on a vaguely surprised tone. But rolled her eyes at it immediately. Very bright idea, stating the obvious. As if he was saying: Emma, the human... she again kicked herself in the butt mentally.
"Android. More precisely." he deadpaned. He did not seem to bother about her reactions at all, and this made her even more uneasy about this guy. He was just strange as he was!
"Yeah, okay." she nodded - whatever - then shrugged apologetically "I'm just a bit surprised, I ...I mean, I thought you were human back when we played that silly game, you know." she babbled then straightened her back - after noticing how much she'd been slouching "But now at least I get it why you beat the hell out of me in it." she smiled still a bit uncomfortably.
That was the first time, the android showed any emotion: his lips curved upwards almost as if instinctively: "You were a worthy opponent, Lieutenant Jones."
She shrugged slightly: "If you don't have nothing much to kill your free time with for a couple of years, you ought to become good at it." she muttered, but didn't give him time to ask about the remark "Let's go in before Bev comes out for us!"
Data looked at her with a confused expression for a moment longer then as he followed her, he was wearing the usual unreadable expression on his face.
As Emma stepped through the door, she gaped at what she saw. Where yesterday there was nothing but walls with the yellow grid, now the interior of a theatre could be seen. A stage with no set and some thirty seats. "Wow!" she stopped to turn around in awe "So this is how it's supposed to look!" she whispered. Data stopped next to her, and as she suddenly noticed his presence so close to her, tried very hard to ignore him and looked up at the stage. Bev and two others, a young woman and a forty-something tall guy, were standing on it talking.
"Em! Hi!" Beverly called out with a beaming smile on her face.
"Hey!" Emma equalled, and she walked up to them trying to smile at the two stranger as friendly as she could. - She was not very good at this really... she winced inwardly.
"Data!" Beverly turned to the android "Glad you came! You won't regret it, I promise!" she smiled encouragingly.
Data just gave her a small smile, but he really just wanted to be polite.
"Okay! So Emma, as everybody else knows each other, let me introduce the others to you!" Beverly stood next to Emma and started to point at people. "This is Lieutenant Sonya Gomez," the black haired young woman seemed to be a bit embarrassed but was an eye-catcher who was not aware of the fact - Emma smiled to herself at it. "...and Lieutenant Reginald Barclay, both from the Engineering team," Bev went on. Now, the guy was even more embarrassed. So much so that he seemed to be praying for the ground to open up swallow him, so he wouldn't have to be here - how on Earth did they end up in stage acting? "and Lieutenant Commander Data from the Bridge crew, but I assume you two have met outside." Bev finished pointing to Data who was eyeing her with his unreadable expression. Great! Two tongue-tied adolescents and a guy with the emotional capabilities of a potted plant. That's going to be one hell of an interesting play to be in!
"Yeah." Emma nodded. Then couldn't help herself to take the opportunity ...well to be herself: "...and I'm Emma. An alcoholic for two years. Thanks for taking me in! Should I start with the fact that my mom didn't use to hug me enough times, or it's plain?" she asked on a completely serious voice.
Beverly laughed out loud and shook her head, and after a moment, the two teenager-minded followed her example - Emma had the impression that they were like asking for a permission from mom to laugh. She looked over at the android. He looked as if he was calculating the equation of the Universe, then slowly an amused expression appeared on his features. "Okay, it was a crappy joke." Emma mumbled then looked over to Beverly again: "Did you tell them that I usually have shy guys and gals for breakfast, by the way?" she asked on a lower voice.
"Well, you will need to appease your hunger with some other than these three. Besides your teeth would break on Data for sure." Bev replied as she stepped away from Emma, brushing Data's arm gently and standing next to Reg. It was plain to see that she knew how to deal with Emma's strange way of handling people. Emma looked at the android and found that he was staring right at her - well, you were asking for attention, don't get surprised that you got just that, she told herself regretting her remarks. She bowed her head, while Beverly started talking again "Getting down to businesses, let's just fill in the latecomers, right? Reg, you were explaining your idea about the holo-settings."
"Yes, yes..." he muttered and started gesturing with his hands while strangely keeping his upper arms strictly at his sides "S-so...I-I was thinking that... as this play has a film-noire feeling to it... and-and it is obvious that it is set d-during the-the early ...early-to-mid 20th century, when ..." he seemed to stutter unendingly.
And Emma opened her mouth - this was too irresistible an opportunity to miss at teasing the guy, but Bev noticed it and forcefully cleared her throat to get her attention and firmly shook her head with a strict expression on her face. Emma got it and shut her mouth bemused. She looked around to check who noticed the small scene. Data observed them with mild curiosity but said nothing. Sonya had eyes and ears only for Reg, and Reg didn't seem to notice anything, just went on with his stuttering "...so I was thinking, we could make the settings in black and white." he finished finally.
Emma noticed that at this the girl next to him looked at him with an expression that might have been on the face of the prehistoric woman whose mate just showed her that he had just invented fire. He glanced at her, but the only thing he managed was an embarrassed smile. What an amusing little game! Emma wondered how long could this have been going on between them.
"That's a great idea, Reg!" Bev commented, and Reg of course babbled on.
"Of course we... we would be in costumes with-with color, so it would stand out who is real and who is just a holo-participant." this time he managed to be a bit less annoying - though Emma figured that she would either have to kill this guy or herself, if he didn't warm up a bit to the fact that he was surrounded by people.
"Okay, Bev, let's move on with a little more speed." she blurted suddenly impatiently "Who will take the lead? ...Okay forget that. What do I have to sing?" she asked smugly.
"Well, that's the big surprise." Beverly smiled mysteriously "All of you will lead!" she declared.
"What?" the three humans gaped at her. Data was the only one who stood there seemingly not surprised.
"Bev, ah, I know that we are in the Medical field, and we don't need maths too much, but even for me, four people on two main roles seems a bit redundant." Emma told her offhandedly.
"You will take turns! One night one couple, the next the other couple would perform!" Beverly explained, while the others just stood there with a mixture of surprise and bewilderment.
"Beverly!" said Sonya speaking up for the first time Emma and Data had been there "Are you sure it's a good idea? I-I can't really dance. I will need to learn all of it." she seemed scared.
And Reg looked as if he was a chicken to be slaughtered for food - Emma saw such a look on Epsilon Four, although now this guy had no reason to fear for his life at all! In all honesty, this made her even more annoyed with him.
"S-same here, Doctor Cru... I mean Beverly! I am not an accomplished dancer!" he stuttered.
"Don't worry about that! You will learn all that you need on the way!" the doctor answered.
Emma looked from the annoying engineer to the deadpan android. Which one would be better to be teamed up with? Before she could decide on which of them she disliked less, Beverly spoke again: "I have teamed you up so you will be able to help each other in that! Data is a very good dancer, right Data?" she asked but as she suspected got no confirmation from the ego-lacking android. "You will be with Sonya."
"I will attempt to help, if I am able to." he said finally, after realizing that he actually was expected to say something, while Sonya nodded seemingly disappointed.
"And Reg, you will be with Emma. Emma is also an accomplished dancer, used to live from being a musical actor, right Em?" Beverly looked at her old friend with a smile but got no support from her either.
"Bev, that was in the last millennia. This really sounds a bit crazy..." she winced apologetically.
"Oh, come on! I really expected more enthusiasm from you, guys! I thought you would be happy to finally get a main role! Reg, Sonya! This is a big chance you were both waiting for! And Em this is the opportunity for you to get back on stage! Don't tell me you are not tempted!"
Emma winced again uncomfortably "Yeah... I'm all goosebumps here..." then pointed her thumb toward the android "You missed out Mr. Deadpan here from the inspirational speech."
Data - when it dawned on him that she meant him - looked at her surprised for an instant then explained "Doctor Crusher knows that I am here only because she has asked me to, and I will not disappoint her. I do not require any inspirational arguments."
"Swell. Sorry I bothered." Emma muttered and suddenly realized what a pile of crap it must have been for Bev to stand their silly little pouting faces, while she really just wanted to make every one of them happy. So she grudgingly decided to embark on her ship. She sighed. "Alright, Bev! You have me on board!" she walked over to Reg and lacing her arm around his, smiled up at him with a broad grin "We will kill them! Right, Reg? We will be the couple Romeo and Juliette can come to learn from!" she said with a thrill she didn't really feel. And Reg just looked at her completely intimidated. She also didn't have to check Sonya's reaction to know she was fuming. Well, we may flop with this, but it will be an intriguing one month for sure.
They were talking for an hour more then finally started with some basic dancing lessons. Bev first showed Sonya the steps of a simple waltz then let her practise with Data. Emma waved Beverly away when she wanted to start teaching Reg and took the initiative. She felt rather amused that a tremor went through him as she put her arm around his neck and put his arm around her waist. She counted, and they started to take the steps very slowly. Emma noticed from the corner of her eye that Bev went back to Sonya again, and as she glanced over, she also could very well see that the black haired girl had a very hard time concentrating as her eyes were on Reg all of the time.
"Auch!" she called out as Reg suddenly stepped on her foot.
"I'm so sorry!" he yelped and took his arms from around her to hold his hands up in defence.
Emma gave him an annoyed look: "Look. You didn't really believe what I said at the beginning that I was eating people, now did you. Nothing happened, stop worrying! Come on, relax, try to enjoy this!" she stepped closer to him - but couldn't really decide whether she wanted to really get him to relax or to get him to be even more embarrassed. She flirtatiously slipped her arm around his neck - his hair was damp with sweat already - and took his hand while he reluctantly put his other arm around her. She smiled up at him and snuggled closer "This ought to be fun, you know. You are having an attractive lady in your arms. Is it such a bad thing?" she whispered while an utterly terrified expression came up on Reg's face as he glanced over at the other couple. She smiled on: "Wait for the right beat." she said listening to the music "And one, two, three, one, two, three..." she counted as they started to move again. This time it took six more steps for him to make a mistake.
A/N: Dialogs in Italics are from Dreamland
- 5
- 6
- 7
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave