The Case

Closing Arguments

Author's Note: Gah! Only two more chapters to go after this! 

You all have been so wonderfully, patiently awaiting some fluff. Well, I'm happy to say that most of this chapter is just that.

When I initially got the idea for The Case, this chapter and the next were the first parts written. Everything that has happened up to this point has been building to this moment.

Without further ado...

-X-

"Data," Tasha gasped.

She had rematerialised in his quarters.

Data looked just as surprised by her sudden appearance as Tasha was to be there.

For a moment, neither of them moved nor spoke. It was the first time since their argument that they'd seen one another without being on opposite sides of a courtroom.

"How?" Tasha asked.

Data shook his head. He didn't have the answers.

"Geordi," Data shrugged.

It was likely that their friends had coordinated this secret meeting on their behalf. Geordi would have needed help from others in order to pull off such an elaborate scheme.

"But how?" Tasha asked as she looked around.

She was terrified that they would be found out.

"I do not believe that is important right now," Data answered.

They both fell silent.

Tasha had no idea what to say.

Data didn't know where to start.

After a few tense seconds, Data stepped forward and closed the distance between them. He pulled Tasha into a tight embrace. Tasha returned the embrace, snaking her arms under Data's.

She buried her head in his chest and clutched at the back of his uniform, wordlessly relaying just how grateful she was to be there with him.

Data closed his eyes and relaxed, relishing in the familiar – the beating of her heart, the smell of lavender and honeysuckle on her skin that always came with holding her in his arms.

"I love you," Data said.

Tasha squeezed him tighter in response.

Data paused and pulled back, loosening his embrace so that he could study her face.

"I love you," he repeated. "I need you to know that."

"It was never in question," Tasha replied with a soft smile.

Only Data wasn't smiling back. He seemed anxious.

"My feelings for you are genuine. They are my own. This is not programming or the result of some complex algorithm," Data insisted.

His voice was urgent as if he were desperate to reassure her of this fact.

"I need you to know that," Data said, panicked. "Everything that has been shared between us is because what I feel for you is real and-"

Data stopped and took a shaky, artificial breath.

"And he is so wrong about me, about what I feel for you," Data said.

Ever since Maddox's comments earlier in the evening, Data had been overwhelmed. He couldn't stop playing the interaction over and over again in his mind.

Is it just sex for you or have you actually convinced yourself it really is capable of love?

Questions like that had plagued Data and Tasha ever since initiating their relationship. Even Captain Picard had made assumptions at the start.