Another story of mine, in html.
BTW, you might want to change the wording on the page. You say you have six
stories of mine, but with this one -- if you want it, that is -- you'll have
eight total now.
(-|-)* Judith
DS9: Unexpected by Judith Macquinn
DS9: Unexpected
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ARCHIVING: RAFL, ASC, ASCEM, Dakhur Central & my private fanfic archive only.
LINKING: please ask first and Thank you.
DISCLAIMER: This non-profit material was produced out of love for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and is not intended to infringe upon the Star Trek copyrights of Viacom, Paramount Pictures Corporation, nor those of any other legal holders of Star Trek copyrights, in this or any other universe...
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This story presents a 'what-if?' account of events following "The Way of the Warrior"...
"All I know is that it was a damned foolish thing to do."
Doctor Julian Bashir's voice was raised to an uncharacteristic level as he spoke. Captain Benjamin Sisko merely lifted an eyebrow at this.
The entire command staff of Deep Space Nine was being debriefed, one by one, after the Klingon battle that had taken place. The captain had already spoken to his first officer, Major Kira Nerys, the Chief of Station Security, Odo, and his science officer, Jadzia Dax, as well as the Chief of Operations, Miles O'Brien, and he still needed to confer with his new Strategic Operations Officer, Worf, and his Starfleet Security Chief, Michael Eddington.
It was Odo that Bashir was speaking about. Both he and the constable had been on the station at the time of the Klingon boarding parties and been called upon to fight off the enemies attack in hand-to-hand combat. The doctor conceded that Odo had unnecessarily involved himself in the fighting, nearly getting himself skewered by an attacking Klingon.
Of course, even if he had, it would not have harmed Odo since he was a Changeling and impervious to assault by conventional means. Sisko believed it was something else that was troubling the doctor, though, something far more subtle. His anger was the slow to develop type and he tended to hold it in, letting it simmer until it bubbled over as it appeared about to do. He nodded and changed the subject.
"Tell me, doctor, what were our number of casualties?"
"Huh?" Bashir blinked, obviously still thinking of the senseless way Odo had almost been hurt. He shrugged. "We incurred nearly forty deaths and well over a hundred non-fatal injuries, the worst of which was Major Kira's. She suffered a renal artery detachment, as well as severe internal bleeding, but she'll be fine now."
"I see," Sisko nodded, looking at the PADD Bashir had given him upon entering earlier and pretending to be engrossed in reading it. In actuality, he was thinking of how to broach the subject. He opted to go the roundabout way. "I guess we were lucky."
The doctor looked up at this, his tone of voice grew dark and sarcastic. "If you say so, sir. Every one of the dead did not die painlessly. Klingon disruptors cause extensive cellular damage. Those hit in the torso died of suffocation from the blood which instantly filled their internal cavities and choked off their cardiac muscle's ability to pump. Those hit in the head died of synaptic scorching of the brain stem itself...and those who died of bat'leth and knife inflicted injuries weren't quite so lucky as all that...sir."
"I take it, doctor, that you are unhappy with the station's security effort in the battle?" the captain finally asked outright.
Bashir turned his face away, then looked back. His expression was angry and bleak. "I understand that we were fortunate to be ready, to have survived the Klingon assault, to have gotten them off the station with so few casualties, but..."
"But?"
The young doctor looked troubled. "Nothing, sir."
Sisko raised his eyebrows. "It sounds like you have a pretty big 'something', doctor. Out with it."
Bashir sighed. "It's just...why didn't Odo change into something and stop the Klingons! He could have. I've seen him change into all sorts and sizes of objects. He could have...I don't know, become a net and wrapped all of them into one big bundle on the Promenade or maybe shot out spikes from his body and impaled all the attackers on the Promenade." He paused in his distressed declaration and then finished softly, "Our worst casualties were there, on the Promenade. If he had done something more--used that genetic gift of his, then we wouldn't have lost at least twenty-six people. Twenty-six officers who would still be here today. Sir."
Sisko considered all this. What he said was, "I heard you actually helped the constable during the battle?"
"Yes, I stunned a Klingon about to split him in two. He thanked me and I even chided him a bit at the time," Bashir admitted.
"Did you point out to the constable at the time, what he could have done or could be doing, doctor? Give him battle strategy?"
The young doctor shook his head forlornly. "No, sir. I'm afraid I didn't even think about it until later...when I was conducting the first of the autopsies."
"I see." This was all Sisko said, but it was clearly a statement of dismissal. Bashir looked up at the captain.
"Sir, is that all?"
Sisko nodded. "Yes, doctor. Thank you very much for your thorough report."
"Aye, sir, you're welcome, of course." Bashir stood and began heading for Sisko's office door.
"Oh, doctor?"
The young man turned back to Captain Sisko. "Yes, sir?"
"I suggest you broach the subject of the battle with the constable. Talk to him about it. Find out his reasons, if any, for not using all his skills during the battle."
"His reasons, sir?"
"Yes, you could broach it as a health-related issue, doctor. Perhaps the constable wasn't feeling quite up to par at the time of the battle," Sisko replied mildly.
At this, Bashir frowned. "Are you privy to something about Odo's physical condition that I'm not, sir?"
The captain's broad face split into a smile. He shook his head. "Not at all, doctor. I simply suggest you talk to him about it since it's obviously troubling you so much. I'd hate for it to become an issue of resentment that destroys the harmony on the station."
"Oh! Oh, no, sir. I wouldn't allow my personal feelings to affect the working environment of DS9."
"Glad to hear it," Sisko nodded. "Dismissed, doctor."
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
Miles O'Brien ducked, dipped his oar into a section of white water to the starboard side, felt the kayak balance almost immediately to the left. A shursh! of liquid sound and the spattering of a few drops of water along his neck told him his partner had been responsible for keeping the craft upright.
A rock appeared straight ahead though, before he could say anything and he tilted his torso to port, dipping his oar deeply, broad-side to the water which churned around the sudden intrusion. He could hear the water runnel past, his ear only inches above the water, the kayak tilted with his weight in a precarious manner. Water spilled along the edge of the kayak's wooden frame, reaching the rubber-sealed opening in which he was ensconced. He waited for the sound of impact he was half-expecting or else for the kayak to fully tilt over and submerge both he and his kayaking partner.
Unexpectedly, the kayak tilted to starboard, a smack of water sounding loud above the muted roar of the rapids. The rock was gone, behind them, and another shursh! sound came from behind him and was followed by the subsequent water droplets which ran down the back of his head. O'Brien now sat in a puddle of water. He could feel it saturating the suit he wore and knew his partner was also seated in a puddle of water. He sighed, not pleased with his performance, but glad they hadn't capsized.
Been at it too long, O'Brien, he risked a quick check of his waterproof chronometer, while avoiding further obstacles and making small adjustments to their course, and frowned. The time was almost up and they hadn't gotten to the most exciting part yet. Ah, well...
He shouted over his shoulder, "I think we should call it a day, Odo!"
"As you wish," came the reply, as it always did. The constable never complained about the length of their excursions or the weather or the water...or the singing. Damn! That's why I was off. I stopped singing after our break.
"Computer, end program."
Instantaneously the watery canyon walls surrounding them disappeared, replaced by the magnetic-bottling grid of the holosuite. The water was also gone, settling their kayak down with a meaty thump on the also grid-lined floor. The only water left was on the two men.
O'Brien sighed. "All right, let's get out of this, my port, your starboard."
The two wiggled their way from the rubber-sealed openings of the kayak, each to the opposite side to provide balance for the other. This was actually the hardest part of kayaking that he'd had to teach Odo; the constable had, at first, simply morphed his way out of the kayak, leaving O'Brien struggling in the large, wobbling craft. Miles had learned to manage a single-person kayak, but the tandem kayak was built with the balance of two in mind. After a rather terse explanation, during which a decidedly unapologetic Odo held the end of the kayak straight for him as he worked his way out, the constable had never again morphed free. He constrained to the method O'Brien had explained without comment or complaint. Of course, O'Brien had also taken to ending the program during one of their breaks which had helped.
Now, the two stood, water dripping down their limbs. O'Brien felt it slipping into his mesh and rubber shoes and frowned.
"Well, I hope dinner tonight with you and Kira turns out better. The kayaking was a total wash," he muttered with disgust, unsatisfied with his performance on this outing.
"I don't understand, Chief. I thought a wash was a shallow waterway or referred to being swept along by unmanageable rapids?"
The Irish engineer turned to retort, then noticed his kayaking companion's appearance. Odo had fashioned an approximation of the same tight-fitting rubbery suit and shoes that O'Brien wore since they had begun their kayaking holosuite excursions, reforming his uniform Changeling-fashion as O'Brien changed his wetsuit for dry, regular clothing courtesy of the holosuite's replicator module, both providing the other privacy in which to change.
Neither had changed yet so Odo still wore the incongruous red and black suit on his lanky frame. This in itself was a sight that O'Brien found comical, but he had been careful to never mention this to the somewhat taciturn security chief. However, he also normally refashioned his entire form during their breaks, which neatly expelled the water both usually were drenched in after kayaking. Since the engineer normally chose to stop the program during a break because it kept them from the precarious balancing act necessary to remove themselves from the kayak on the bare holosuite floor, he had never really seen Odo wet or unkempt.
They had capsized three times since the break and had not taken another before he'd decided to stop the program, so the constable had yet to change. His light brown hair was dark with water, plastered to his head in disheveled swirls with cowlicks that dripped down to his shoulders. Combined with his sharp and angular features and two blinking blue eyes, he looked somewhat like a drowned rat. O'Brien stifled a bleat of laughter, then gave in and began to chuckle, helpless to stop it.
"Chief?"
This only made O'Brien laugh harder and he looked down and away, tried to control his somewhat uncharitable merriment.
"I fail to see what is funny about my question," Odo muttered, a bit resentfully and O'Brien finally forced himself to look up and take a deep breath.
A chortle escaped him and he gave up, saying in between bleats of laughter, "It's...it's just...I've never seen you...wet before."
Odo frowned at this, turned to the glossy replicator panel to peruse his reflection and frowned. He shrugged. "It's no more amusing than your own appearance."
"I'll bet," O'Brien sniffed, his laughter finally running down. He sighed, grateful and smiled at his kayaking partner, a genuine expression of comradeship and not amusement. "And I'm sorry, Odo; it was a good session. Even if we didn't make it to the main waterway this time."
The constable nodded, accepting his explanation and apology in one step. He sighed. "I suppose once we do make it to and through the main waterway successfully, there will no longer be a reason to run the program."
O'Brien looked up at this. He frowned. Odo's tone had been almost rueful, but when he looked up, his friend's expression was as impassive as ever.
"No reason to stop, constable. We can keep running the program."
Odo looked up at this. "We will have successfully completed the course, what reason would we have to run the program?"
O'Brien's expression softened. His smile was warm and lit his eyes as he spoke. "Because we're kayaking partners, Odo, that's why. Besides, I don't think we'll get through this bloody program in either of our lifetimes!"
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
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Unexpected, part two
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
Kira Nerys finished her Stardrifter, ordered another as Bashir entered Quark's Bar. The establishment was quiet, being a weekday afternoon and the usual evening crowd not yet having made their presence known. Nearly all the command staff was unwinding after the harrowing events of the last few days. Bashir approved of the laissez-faire attitudes displayed; it saved him from having to lecture anyone on stress-reduction or set up de-stressing exercises for the crew.
Should set up one for myself, he thought darkly, remembering his mornings uncustomary and unexpected outburst in Captain Sisko's office. He'd really had no idea he'd been holding such uncharacteristic resentment inside and this bothered him. It indicated he was under more stress than he had consciously realized. He bellied up to the bar beside Kira.
"Good evening, Major."
She turned to him and he noted she was not holding herself ramrod straight as she usually did. Her posture was a bit slumped over and her eyes were bright and a bit tired-looking. This week has been hard on us all.
"How have you been?" he asked her now, referring to the fact he had released her yesterday from the Infirmary after two days of post-surgical recovery. Keeping in mind her stubborn, workaholic nature, he had admonished her to stay away from Ops for two weeks, else he would tractor her out with an anti-grav unit and lock her in a holosuite. She had responded by graciously relenting to a week off work, followed by light-duty status for another week.
"Not bad, doctor, although I still feel a twinge when I sit up," she responded, touching her lower rib cage at the side and then shrugging. "I guess it could be worse, though. You did a good repair job."
"Please, Major, you're not a piece of equipment that I fix." He pulled his portable bioscanner which he never went anywhere without, and ran it over the region she'd complained of. "You were injured and I performed surgery, not a 'repair job'. Ah, just as I thought."
"What is it?" she asked now, concerned at his tone of voice.
"Nothing to worry about, Major, my work is still holding quite well. A bit too well apparently. A slight amount of cicatricial stenosis has occurred."
"A sick-uh-what?"
"Cicatricial stenosis," he repeated glibly, then explained, "it's just a medical way of saying that fibrous scar tissue has developed along the surgical re-attachment of the renal artery. It's a minor condition which you can either ignore or I can repair it quickly and permanently in the Infirmary with a minor surgical procedure."
"Surgery again?" Kira's expression grew skeptical. She sat straighter. "You know, it's not so bad. I think I can handle it."
Bashir was about to argue, then decided that he had given her the choice and that the situation was neither life-threatening nor did it affect the surgical repairs he had done. He nodded.
"Very well, Major, but if it starts to trouble you with frequency or grows painful--"
"I'll let you know right away, doctor," she assured him, obviously glad to avoid any further surgery. Her eyes suddenly brightened; she was looking over the doctor's shoulder. "Constable! How were the rapids?"
Julian turned to note, as Kira had, Odo winding his way down the staircase which led to Quark's upper-level holosuites. When he saw the Major, his head inclined in greeting, although his eyes remained locked on her. For a moment, it even appeared to the young doctor that the expression in the constable's eyes softened, but this was probably a trick of the light. He looked as sharp and pressed as he had since he'd modified his uniform. Bashir frowned suddenly as he realized that prior to that, the constable had always appeared rumpled and informal. Why the change, he wondered now, and why hadn't he noted it before? For some reason, it seemed suddenly significant.
"As challenging as ever, Major," Odo replied, as formal as his appearance, which made the young doctor frown even more. The constable had grown a bit more formal...since when?
"Doctor, did you need something?"
This question from his object of distracted attention made Bashir jump a bit, but he merely shook his head and said, "No, not at all, constable. I was just thinking how that uniform suits you."
Kira lifted a brow at this and Odo briefly glanced down, then shrugged slightly. "I thank you, doctor, but it's the same suit I've been wearing for almost two years now."
Two years, Bashir thought, two years since Odo discovered his origins, as well, he mused. "Yes, well, I just now noticed."
Kira smiled. "I guess we should be glad Odo is the constable and not you, Julian, if it takes you that long to notice something. You'd be missing clues needed to solve your cases."
Odo tilted his head a bit at this, uttered his little bark of a laugh, a chuffing sound, even as Kira chuckled into her drink. Bashir smiled a tight little smile, playing along, but for some reason he felt he had missed something, something substantial and that his subconscious had realized it, but he could not bring it forward yet into his conscious mind.
"If you'll both excuse me."
Kira gave him a curious look. "You just arrived, Julian, where are you off to so fast?"
Bashir inclined his head politely at the Major. "Just...remembered something in the Infirmary. I'll see you both later." He leveled another look at Odo, unconsciously frowned, then shook his head and headed out of Quarks.
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"I appended my recommendations for Station security, Captain," Worf pointed out.
Sisko scrolled down the PADD screen and nodded. His tone was calm and modulated, revealing no hint of either gratitude or disapproval. He looked up then.
"I'll take these security renovations under advisement, Mr. Worf."
"Aye, sir," the Klingon responded formally, then added, "I also sent a copy of them to Mr. Odo."
"I see."
Sisko considered this with equal aplomb. Then he set down the PADD and considered Worf with an appraising look. The Klingon sat straighter at this attentive gaze.
"Tell me, Mr. Worf--do you miss the Enterprise?"
"Aye, sir. However, that will not affect my duties to the station."
"I'm not worried about that, Worf. I just want to know if you miss the ship, miss your old job."
"Perhaps a little...sir."
"I see."
When the captain said nothing further, Worf cleared his throat slightly, a Klingon rumble which would sound menacing coming from nearly any other race, but which was a sign of his discomfort.
"Was there anything else, Captain?"
"How did Odo responded to your suggestions, Mr. Worf?"
Worf was taken aback. What did the captain mean? "Respond, sir? Why should he respond? They are merely suggestions."
Sisko smiled. "Ask me that again after he does, Commander. Dismissed."
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"How was the kayaking?"
Keiko stepped up to her husband, who pulled her against him and kissed her before saying, "Good. Very good."
"Your hair is still wet," she observed, noting the springy wet curls which were tightening even further from the dampness. Her husband looked like an overgrown pink-cheeked cherub, which made Keiko smile. "You should towel off."
"I will. How's our little girl?" O'Brien looked around.
"Not so little," she responded, shaking her head at this, then smiling. "Now that she can read, she spends most of her time on the computer, asking it all sorts of questions."
"Yes, well, she's going to be a little scientist that one, or maybe a doctor, I think," O'Brien replied proudly.
"Or maybe a world-class botanist or even an incredible engineer like her daddy?" Keiko teased, slipping back into his arms and linking her own behind his neck, ignoring the damp curls against her skin.
"Keiko..."
"I think Molly will be studying the Bajoran sea snail for a long time, O'Brien," his wife intoned sensually.
Miles looked in the direction of his daughter's room, then looked back to his wife and smiled back in kind. "You think?"
"Considering I programmed the lesson to take two hours and she's only been at it for ten minutes...yes, I think."
"Then let's you and I go do some studying of our own before we have to get dinner ready for tonight, Mrs. O'Brien," Miles whispered lovingly.
"I thought you'd never ask, Mr. O'Brien."
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"Well, if you'll excuse me, Major, I think I'll head to my cabin."
Kira looked up in surprise at Odo, then across the wall to Quark's chronometer. It was still early, she noted, then shrugged; maybe the constable needed to revert to his gelatinous state. He looked just the slightest bit tense and she suddenly realized she'd spent the entire time they were together discussing the changes she felt the Infirmary needed. She had decided on most of them during her involuntary stay following the intensive surgery Bashir had needed to perform on her due to the injuries she'd suffered in the battle at Ops against the boarding party of Klingons.
She shook her head now self-deprecatingly and smiled. "I'll walk you there. I think I'd like to get some rest myself."
She didn't notice the surprised pleasure that lit Odo's eyes. When she turned to look at him, his expression was as formal as ever. He merely gestured for her to proceed him and followed her out of the bar.
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"So did you ask him?"
Jadzia Dax managed to ask this question while seated atop a thermal-psionic response pad which was tied to a kinetic field register; the pad generated the image of a glistening sphere before her which she maintained by focusing her thoughts. It was to her credit she was able to speak, to turn her attention to something else and still maintain the image hovering, perfectly spherical, if not uniformly one color. Bashir had tried the game once. His attempts had been dismal failures and her obviously easy control made him frown now.
"No. I didn't quite know how to word it."
Jadzia considered this with one portion of her mind as the rest calmly maintained the sphere. The young doctor had not gone to the Infirmary, but sought out her company instead, as he did sometimes when he had something he wished to discuss, but on this day, he was more disturbed than usual. Whatever it was, it was making him lose sight of something important.
"It's Odo, Julian."
Bashir frowned at this. "What do you mean?"
Jadzia actually looked away from the sphere, which remained hovering, but now turned blue as she said pointedly, "I mean that he's the direct type. Just ask him directly."
The young doctor sighed. "It's not that easy. I didn't even realize I was bothered by the whole episode. Not to mention..."
Dax lifted a brow at this, then as the sphere began to sink, sighed. I have to see if Kasidy brought that dis'suaba anyway... "Computer, terminate game."
The sphere disappeared and she turned to Julian, fully focused on him now, which only served to make him more nervous. He shrugged. "Well, I was speaking to the Major at Quark's when the constable stepped up and I suddenly realized I'd never noticed his uniform before. I mean, he changed it. Do you remember when?"
"About two years ago. Why? Does it matter?"
"Yes, but why did he change? He wasn't ordered to by the Provisional Government. It's probably nothing, but it seemed suddenly strange to me that he had is all. Plus the fact that..." Bashir's voice trailed off as the uneasy feeling of earlier returned.
"Yes?"
He shook his head again. "I'm not sure. He changed it around the time we discovered the Founders were his people. You remember; it was a little after Winn ascended as Kai? And it wasn't just the uniform. The constable changed as well...in some indefinable way."
Jadzia considered this methodically, the way she did everything presented to her. She was fully aware of what the young Human was referring to, if from a different perspective. She was far more perceptive than her appearance would indicate, able to access three-hundred years of studied humanoid behavior. In this case, her three-hundred years had given her a mere edge in the understanding of Changeling behavior--at least the behavior of the one Changeling that she knew. The sharing of memories and feelings from her Rite of Closure ceremony, the Trill zhian'tara, had confirmed some of what she had deduced about Odo, but both the ceremony and her own innate sense of honor dictated that this acquired knowledge remain private. Therefore, she merely shrugged now. "Just ask him, Julian. That's the only advice I have to offer you."
"You make it sound easy."
"It is, Julian. Unless you feel the answer will disturb you for some reason."
Bashir considered this, then frowned. "Disturb me..."
"Yes, you told me that something was disturbing you since the Klingon's attacked the station. Something about Odo."
"Yes, well--" Bashir felt his face heat up after recalling how he had grown uncharacteristically irate in Sisko's office earlier.
"I haven't seen you this concerned since that Altuvian flu virus was spreading around the station and you thought you'd have to quarantine DS9," Jadzia noted. "What happened, Julian?"
"I...blew up in Sisko's office earlier. This thing with the constable. Something that's been bugging me about the altercation with the Klingons and I didn't realize it had been bothering me, which bothers me even more and...well, for some reason, other things about the constable started to eat at me. Like his uniform and his...manner."
Dax tilted her head. "His manner?"
"Before the uniform change, he was--I don't know, not so formal."
Jadzia almost laughed. "Odo's always been formal, Julian, don't tell me you didn't notice before?"
"Yes, well, perhaps formal isn't the right word, but it's just that around the Major, he'd always been..." Bashir's voice trailed off as he suddenly began making deductions he had previously missed.
Earlier at the bar...his eyes...when he saw Kira...but what? When his gaze turned to Jadzia, she merely sat watching him knowingly, her expression somewhat protective and reserved. She knows, he suddenly thought and frowned. But she won't tell me...
"It was the Major," he finally said. When she only nodded at him, Bashir pursed his lips together and slowly talked his way through his realization. "Before that, the constable was formal with us, those of us in Starfleet, I mean, but he'd never been so formal around Kira. Now he's more formal and very formal around her."
Jadzia's voice was even. "So what do you think it means?"
Bashir turned his gaze to her now, eyes piercingly direct. "You already know, don't you?"
Dax considered this, not because she would reveal anything, but merely for appearance's sake. After a moment, she sighed and shook her head. "I couldn't say."
Julian shook his own head, "You mean you won't. You already know. You told me how you shared a great deal with Odo from the zhian'tara, your Rite of Closure. You know."
Jadzia's voice remained even. "What do I know, Julian?"
"You know what made him turn so formal...something happened between him and her, I'd wager. Something that made him change his manner, change his uniform...made him finally accept private quarters and start kayaking with O'Brien...but--"
"What does all that have to do with your getting upset in Sisko's office, Julian?"
"Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. Was he trying to act the hero? No, because he would have saved more lives if--" Bashir's voice trailed off as he considered this and his frown grew into a scowl.
The sudden squeeze Jadzia gave his shoulder made him jump. He hadn't noticed her stand and move to him.
"I think you should talk to Odo about it, Julian, not me."
To his surprise, Julian suddenly realized he did not want to confront the constable. Before he could stop himself he blurted out, "I'm not ready."
To his surprise, Dax nodded. "Neither is he, but I think it would be good for both of you to get things out in the open."
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
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Unexpected, part three
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
Kira found herself sighing with contentment, glad to be relatively free of pain, despite the annoying twinge in her side which she ignored. After all she had gone through during her years in the underground, she wasn't going to let a little post-surgical soreness affect her. It was nice to be out of the Infirmary, nice to be free of work for a change, with a few more days yet before she had to report back to duty, and very nice to be in the company of the one friend who didn't mind if she was either overly quiet or overly talkative.
Odo had always been the easiest company on her busy and occasionally troubled mind and spirit. He didn't ask for anything from her, didn't make any demands, didn't seem to mind her moods and although the demands of their stressful jobs occasionally made them bicker, they'd always been able to set aside their disagreements in order to work together, to help each other.
He'll make a wonderful suitor for some lucky woman someday, Kira mused now, glancing sidelong at the constable beside her. He had not spoken a word since acquiescing to her request to accompany him to the Habitat Ring, although they had foregone the turbolift and taken a crossover bridge. The walk had been a pleasant, stress-free stretch of the legs and she was feeling quite serene now--an unaccustomed state of affairs for the typically over-occupied Major. It's been too long, Nerys. How long exactly?
As her nose scrunched up in thought, she did not notice that her steps had slowed, but Odo did. He waited patiently, noting the two extra creases in her upper nose which indicated a change in her mood or contemplation. Privately, he took the time to gaze on her, in particular appreciating the way her recently altered hair-style softened her features.
Even were she bald, she would remain the loveliest humanoid woman I've ever met. For the briefest of moments, the expression in the constable's blue eyes revealed a touching depth of tender feeling, an expression that as quickly vanished when she suddenly stopped her slow stroll to turn to him and speak.
"The Tzenkethi."
Odo blinked at this incongruous statement. "I beg your pardon?"
"It was after the incident with that Changeling on the Defiant when the Founders almost started the war with the Tzenkethi that we last had this much time off duty," she explained now. "It's been so long I couldn't remember, but it feels so good to just have time to walk the station with you."
Odo considered this. As was his wont, he tucked away the unintentional compliment for later perusal, refusing himself even the momentary illusion that Kira's statement could mean more than she'd said, then inclined his head gallantly. His tone was equally formal, almost courtly.
"I find it very pleasant as well, Major."
Kira smiled at his formality, then suddenly yawned. She frowned, yawned again, then waved an apologetic hand at him. "Sorry, I think the Stardrifter finally caught up with me, Odo."
He nodded his understanding. "We're closer to your cabin, Major, I'll walk you there, then you can rest."
Kira smiled up at him, a disarmingly warm expression that made Odo's internal liquid grow heated and turbulent. He froze, carefully maintaining his even expression. Her cheerful statement was unintentionally sensual though, and it made him swallow. "Odo, you've spoiled me, you know?"
He blinked by way of requesting clarification. Instead, she suddenly took him by the hand, a friendly gesture, and they began walking again in a companionable silence. Odo's steps were mechanical, uncertain if he was more relieved or disappointed in the sudden easing of tension between them.
The Major basked happily in the comfortable companionship while the constable wondered for the thousandth time if true and complete joy would ever be his in this life. He looked at the drowsy, if content Major and sighed imperceptibly. For now, this was as close to happiness as he'd ever known; it would suffice.
"Constable! Major!"
This sudden shout made him start and try to pull his hand free of Kira's, even as it made Kira blink and tighten her grip on his. Their hands remained linked between them, down at their sides as Bashir stepped up to them from farther down the corridor. The young Human didn't seem to notice.
"Sorry to shout, but if I had to jog anymore to catch up with you, I'd need a vasodilator," he huffed in explanation. At their puzzled expressions, he shrugged. "The chief and I haven't played tennis in rather a long time. I guess I'm a bit out of shape."
"What is it, Julian?" asked Kira.
"Well, actually, I was hoping to have a word with the constable," admitted Bashir, looking from the Major to Odo.
Odo straightened at this, surreptitiously, and somewhat reluctantly pulled his hand free of Kira's. To his surprise, she held onto his hand a bit longer, making him look to her and causing the doctor to notice their linked hands. The young Human tilted his head slightly at this overtly affectionate display, but to his credit said nothing.
Kira didn't notice his intense interest, or didn't care if she did, only smiling warmly at Odo in parting before she let go of his hand. They were to dine with the O'Brien's that evening and her tone conveyed this private knowledge. "I'll see you at twenty-one hundred, Constable."
He nodded, even more formally than before in the presence of Bashir; his tone was polite. "Have a pleasant afternoon, Major."
She smiled at Odo, nodded to Julian, then continued on down the hall. Both men observed her progress momentarily, then Odo turned to Bashir. "What can I do for you, Doctor?"
He noted that the doctor's affable expression suddenly froze; he obviously had something difficult to tell him or ask him. He straightened in preparation, but to his surprise, Bashir's face settled into a congenial expression which did not quite match his eyes and inclined his head in the direction Kira went.
"Congratulations are in order, I take it?"
Odo blinked. "Congratulations, doctor?"
"You and Kira. I take it you are seeing one another?"
Julian was startled with the rapidity at which the constable's demeanor changed at this unthinkingly good-natured jest. Already alert, Odo straightened his back to a painfully rigid stance, his blue eyes turned icy and glacial and for a moment, the young doctor feared for his safety. However, much as Odo's back had grown rigid, so was his voice severely controlled.
"I'm certain the Major would thank you to keep such baseless speculation to yourself, Doctor," he intoned frostily. "It is hardly appropriate to assume a relationship between us from a...a purely friendly gesture on her part."
Bashir inclined his head by way of apologizing. "Just a little joke, constable, I meant no offense." Although I think you doth protest too much, my shapeshifting friend...
Bashir swallowed down his anxiety, worsened by his failed attempt to relax the atmosphere by making his little joke, and admitted, "Actually, I need to speak with you about something rather private, is there somewhere we can speak?"
The shapeshifter considered this, then inclined his head, relenting only a fraction from his previous stance. "I was about to go to my quarters, I suppose that's as good a place as any, Doctor."
"Lead on, constable."
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
Sisko was walking along the corridor to his cabin when he ran across Jadzia Dax. She was dressed in off-duty clothing, a rarity for her, and he took a moment to appreciate the purple satin fabric which softly emphasized her statuesque figure.
"What's up, old man?" he asked as she approached, deliberately using Curzon's nickname and recalling the mental image of the old man, effectively curtailing the more intense and sensual imagery that tended to creep into his mind when he saw the lovely Jadzia.
She smiled at him. "I was just on my way to ask you and Jake to come eat dinner with me. I've got non-replicated Raktajino and some fresh dis'suabba."
"How on Bajor did you manage that, Dax?"
"Easy. Captain Yates owed me a favor," she blithely replied.
"Captain... Kasidy?"
"Yes, Captain Kasidy Yates. The woman you've been dating?" Jadzia teased.
"Yes, but...?" Benjamin was at a loss for words.
"I'll take that yes as a yes for dinner. It's casual, so just change the uniform and bring Jake."
"When did she get to the station?" He finally managed to ask.
"A few minutes ago. I asked her to call me straight away and let me know if she managed to get the dis'suabba she owed me from our last game of dom-jot. Oh, that reminds me, have Jake bring his set. We can play after dinner."
"Dom-jot?" Benjamin felt as if he was lost in some strange temporal loop; things were going by much too fast--in a nice way--but still much too fast for his comfortable comprehension.
"Dress, dinner, dom-jot...are you all right, Benjamin?" Dax asked him, not really concerned. She was aware her Trill nature tended to make her seem a bit hurried to some, but in this case, she knew Sisko was just dazed by the sudden change in his dinner plans.
Just as she'd known he would, Sisko blinked, nodding automatically, a slight and unintentional smile lifting the corners of his mouth as he replied, "I'm just fine, old man, just fine. I'll see you both later."
"Great! Dinner's set for nineteen hundred hours." Jadzia hurried back down the hall the way she'd come, leaving Benjamin staring after her, no longer noticing the rippling satin, his mind's eye now recalling the smooth and lovely features of Kasidy Yates. It looked to be an interesting evening indeed...
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
----------------------------------
Unexpected, part four
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
"My rest period is fast approaching, doctor, can you please get to the point?"
Bashir blinked at this clipped, somewhat abrupt statement from Odo. "Of course. Really, what I was concerned with is...well, during the battle on the Promenade--"
"Yes, 'when the Klingons invaded the station'. You've already laid the groundwork, Doctor, please continue."
"Well...why...that is, I was wondering why you didn't, uh, that is, I was thinking about the battle again and it had occurred to me...well, it was just a...a curious thing really and it rather ate at me, you see, so I--"
"Doctor," Odo's tone could convey a depth of exasperation that few could attain. His eyes bore into Bashir's. "You needn't be concerned about offending me with direct speech. I'm used to it. I'm also used to questions concerning my shapeshifting abilities. As you are a doctor, I doubt I could be offended by any comment or question you might have."
Julian shrugged, still uncomfortable, then asked in a careful tone, "I was just wondering why you didn't utilize your shapeshifting ability to better purpose during the confrontation on the Promenade, constable--in order to neutralize the Klingons, I mean."
Odo's expression did not change and the doctor relaxed. The constable merely stared at him for a lengthy moment, then looked away before speaking. His response, however, provided no explanation. "I read your initial casualty report, doctor."
The doctor waited, but Odo did not seem inclined to say anything further. He finally essayed, "I trust it wasn't too technical?"
To his surprise, Odo looked askance at him, providing Bashir a brief glimpse of his deep, blue eyes. The expression in them astonished Julian; the constable was deeply pained. His voice, however, remained quiet and even, but Julian detected the self-derision in it, "Not at all, doctor. Even a simple security officer could easily comprehend it."
Bashir was disturbed. "Odo, I didn't mean to imply you wouldn't understand it...nor was I implying fault with your action. I just wondered--"
"Why this station's Changeling security chief didn't whip out his arms like rope and subdue all the attacking troops, or become a large net and envelop the Klingons...or perhaps turn his arms into sharp plates and cut them down where they stood which would, no doubt, have spared the lives of several of those who were killed."
The doctor considered this terse self-indictment, nodded slowly. "Yes. That is what I was wondering."
Odo shook his head, moved half-way into a darkened corner of his room. He turned then to look at Bashir, his face hidden in the shadows. The doctor could not read his expression.
"I take it you've given Captain Sisko your initial report?"
"Yes. I did."
"And will you append your disapproval of my actions, or lack thereof, during the battle in your final report?"
Julian shook his head. "No."
"Really, doctor? My own does." Odo's quiet, gravelly voice was thick with self-denigration. Bashir frowned at this, but before he could speak Odo continued, "In fact, I gave the captain my voluntary resignation."
The doctor was shocked. "Your resignation?"
"He refused to take it, of course, since he was the one who specifically ordered me not to utilize my shapeshifting ability before the battle."
"Ordered you?" Bashir was staggered now. This was something he had not anticipated. That Odo might be reluctant to speak, he had expected; that he might get angry, he had expected; but that he would be just as upset over the situation as he was, had been completely unanticipated, much less that he had been placed in the situation unwillingly.
"Yes," the constable replied with a sigh. He moved away from the shadows and met Julian's gaze directly. "The captain informed me of his concern over the Klingon propensity to fight first and consider the situation later. They were accusing the station of having been overrun by Changelings. If even one had witnessed me shifting my shape during the heat of the battle, he might have raised an alarm, started a rallying cry that would have shifted the balance of the battle to their side."
Bashir slowly nodded with growing understanding. "They would have kept coming, wouldn't have stopped fighting until we were all dead and the station commandeered by Klingons."
Odo scowled. "Yes, that was what the captain asserted."
"You didn't believe him?"
"I believed him. I just didn't want to stand back and do nothing but fight humanoid-fashion. No offense, but your method of hand-to-hand battle is not only tiring, but highly ineffective."
"To you."
"Yes, to a Changeling, if that's what you mean."
"Odo..." Bashir's voice trailed off in weary exasperation. This entire conversation had shifted in a completely unanticipated direction. This was not at all what he'd intended when he confronted the constable. Actually, you weren't sure what you intended, were you, Julian?
"Odo, I'm sorry. I had no idea you were under orders--"
"Ah, so as long as my lack of action is conveniently sanctioned by the captain, then the deaths of thirty-seven officers is all right?" Odo's voice was tight, filled with anger. "Well, it might make things all right with you, doctor, but not with me. Perhaps it even makes the death count perfectly acceptable for you, but not for me...not for me!"
"Odo..."
"NO!" the constable barked, enraged now and giving vent to feelings that had been simmering within since the day after the eventful battle.
Odo had been awaiting reproach from his fellow crew mates for his lack of action after the details of the battle on the Promenade had been made known in the various station reports. To his disgust, no one had said a word to him, aside from the Major, who had merely smiled from her Infirmary bed at him and told him she was glad to see him. Her genuine pleasure had done much to assuage the bitter feelings he'd been harboring, but still the shapeshifter had been awaiting castigation from everyone else with a mixture of dread and anticipation. The fact that he had the captain's endorsement to fall back on did not soothe his feelings.
Anyone could do the job he did with training, but his one unique and useful skill had been the very one he'd been denied in the battle, leaving him helpless and dozens of good officers under him dead. He felt keenly for the dead under his command. Now he turned to the young Human, his blue eyes full of a mixture of anger and sorrow.
"No, doctor, it isn't all right, orders or no. Thirty-seven people died. Thirty-two were officers under my command. I owed them better than that. They died because I didn't act. I'm just as guilty of their deaths as the Klingons that butchered them."
Bashir wasn't sure how to respond to this. His mouth opened, then he shut it and dropped his gaze. He was still formulating a reply when Odo's incongruous and softly spoken request made him look up. "If you don't mind, doctor, I really do need to rest now."
The doctor nodded automatically, stepping back. "Yes. Yes, of course." He stepped out of the room, a mildly bewildered expression on his face as the door slid shut behind him.
"Computer, activate door lock, Odo, Chief of Security for DS9, Bajoran Militia, personal security code Thaliff Gah."
"Door lock activated."
Without further ado, the distressed and agitated constable took a deep breath, then slowly released it and his customary humanoid form, allowing gravity full sway with his gelatinous state.
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"Dom-jot!"
Sisko sighed. He and Kasidy Yates jointly owed his son over forty-eight Bajoran litas. Not to mention the twenty-three Starfleet credits he owed Jadzia and the nine he owed Kasidy. This has been an expensive night, he mused now, then as Kasidy turned and smiled at him he amended, but a damn fine one, too.
Dinner had been delicious, the grilled Trillian dis'suabba as flavorful as he remembered Curzon's being. The Raktajino had complemented dinner perfectly and his own homemade bread-pudding had been well-received. Then Jake had set up the dom-jot table and his steady financial decline had commenced.
"I should know better than to play dom-jot with you, Jako."
"Ah, dad, you just need to put your wrist into it, that's all."
Jake's bright young face made the rest smile indulgently. Jadzia in particular looked so maternal for a moment that Sisko was certain she was accessing memories from one of her past hosts, one who had been a parent. Even Kasidy appeared warmly maternal--this impression left him suddenly shaken.
Good lord, what on Earth is the matter with you, Benjamin? Kasidy as mother? We don't even have anything that resembles a serious relationship. She works here, you work here, and you both love baseball. Not much to build a relationship on. It's not like you're serious about her...are you?
He looked up to find his stare had drawn Kasidy's attention and he smiled slightly. She smiled back and then turned to Dax, asking her about the Raktajino, giving Sisko more time with his introspection.
Maybe you are, so what? But if we were to get together...would she want to start a family? Do I want the responsibility again? Would I want to be a father again after eighteen years? Good lord, I must be insane! For all you know she doesn't even think of starting a relationship with you...does she?
"Benjamin, it's rude to stare."
"Huh?"
Jadzia teasingly slapped his hand across her small table and smiled at him. "I said it's rude to stare, especially at your elders."
"Ah."
Fortunately for Sisko, Kasidy took this opportunity to start asking Jadzia about her Trill background. The two women were soon chatting warmly as Jake contentedly played Dom-jot, having sensed the adults loss of interest in the game and reprogrammed it to challenge him with it's own pre-programmed game levels.
"Dom-jot!"
Sisko shook his head and sighed, content for a change, even if it was only for the evening.
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
----------------------------------
Unexpected, part five
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
Odo reformed at 2015 hours, giving him forty-five minutes to prepare for dinner that evening. Not that he had a great many preparations to make, but he had painstakingly planned something and needed time to execute it. His earlier conversation with Bashir he had put out of his mind, at least for the moment. What mattered now was the completion of his carefully wrought plan.
"Computer, location of Major Kira Nerys?"
"The Major is in her quarters."
"Please inform me when she is at connecting bridge junction Three-B."
"Acknowledged."
Timing was important. Once Kira was at the designated location, it would indicate she was well on her way to the O'Brien's quarters. It would mean he could then use the program he had deciphered the Romulan's had used once on the station to make a replicator function as a small transporter.
With a little judicious reprogramming, he had learned he could transport something directly into someone's quarters. The Romulans had intended on transporting an explosive device, dishonorable as they were. Odo intended on utilizing their killing device for an entirely different purpose; he was going to use it to transport a small thisk'a keepsake onto Kira's front room table.
The presentation of a thisk'a gift was a somewhat outdated Bajoran custom, but Odo had been raised by Mora Pol, a man old enough to remember the older traditions. When a friend survived severe illness or injury, such as the nearly fatal wound Kira had received at the hands of the Klingons four days ago, it was said the Prophets had honored them. The thisk'a gift was a closure of the time of healing and an abiding remembrance of veneration by the Prophets.
The presentation of a thisk'a gift was said to remind the person of their kinship with family--if a family member presented it--and of their spiritual kinship if a close friend presented it. Only another Bajoran could present a thisk'a gift; having been counted in their census since his discovery, technically Odo felt he had the right to present one to Kira. His decades among the Bajorans had imbued him with an appreciation for the gentle serenity of their traditions--so different from the harsh and condescending viewpoint of the Cardassians. More than any other race he had learned of, or encountered, Odo identified with the Bajorans. In a very real sense, he shared a kinship with them which went beyond conventional blood-ties; he felt they were spiritually connected.
At any rate, he had made the decision to give her the gift after he had spent nearly two hours watching worriedly as Bashir fought to save her life in the station Infirmary. Odo was not a religious man, but the experience had taught him the purpose of prayer. He never thought to feel such a profound need to believe in some greater power than his own or Bashir's which could save the woman he loved...
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
After Bashir had successfully stopped the Major's profuse blood loss, he had turned to the lengthy repair of her internal damage. Only after he wearily nodded his satisfaction, only after Odo knew beyond doubt that Kira would survive and that his vigil could end, he had found himself standing uncertainly just outside the station Infirmary.
He would have gone to his office, but the place was a hotbed of activity with every holding cell full of Klingons and his Starfleet counterpart, Eddington contentedly in charge of the situation. The Human had cited Starfleet security concerns and for the first time Odo could not have cared less. Between having to stifle his shapeshifting skill and watch as his men and women died at the hands of the Klingons and Kira's near-fatal injury, he kept himself from the office. He did not know if he could see one of the alien murdering hoard and keep his temper, his emotions under customary control. It was best for him to absent himself from the situation and so he had.
The only other place he could have gone was his quarters, but they were farther away and he required a more immediate peace, as well as time to contemplate in privacy. The station temple's opening had beckoned and without deliberation, he had entered. Once inside, he found a corner bench and allowed his weary spirit a rest. It was where the young cleric, Prylar Zehr'ha, had found him.
Without evincing the slightest curiousity about his being there, she merely handed him a small, burning palm taper. "Lighting a candle in the temple is said to inform the Prophets of your presence."
He noted the unlit candles by his bench, bemused. "I thought the Prophets were always aware of one's presence?"
"They are, however, lighting the candle is symbolic, indicating you wish to enter their light, that you wish for them to illuminate your path...to dispel the darkness of a troubled spirit."
Odo stared at the young Bajoran monk for a lengthy moment, then stood and lit the candle beside him. He handed the palm taper back to Zehr'ha, who merely nodded at him again and headed toward the inner chamber of the temple. His soft question stopped her.
"Once you have their attention--what then, Prylar?"
Zehr'ha's shining black eyes assessed him in the dark of the chamber. "Behests, pledges and prayers are the means by which we communicate with them. Divination, illumination and peace are the manner in which the Prophets communicate with us. Which do you seek, Odo-zah?"
He blinked at the honorific which she bestowed on him; it was an archaic term, almost unheard anymore among Bajorans, although he knew it indicated true kinship on a spiritual level. When he spoke his voice was soft and almost inaudible.
"I'm a Changeling, Prylar Zehr'ha."
Her own voice was equally soft, but emphatic. "You are of Bajor, Odo-zah."
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
After this Zehr'ha had left him to his contemplation, and he had many things to contemplate. It was during this period of reflection that the notion of getting Kira a thisk'a gift had manifested. It had taken him a moment to consider what it would be best to present her with. It had to be a personal memento, something she could use or enjoy that would remind her of his presenting it and the time he had given it to her. He knew everything about Kira Nerys--what she liked to eat, to drink, the games she enjoyed and the sports she favored playing or watching, even her taste in music.
His brow furrowed at this, then he stood and exited the temple, composed now. He was highly pleased with his decision. Now, as he set about implementing it, he wondered if it was appropriate. Would she understand why he had chosen it? Would she be displeased with his method of presenting it? Would she even like it? This thought remained with him, even as he left his cabin for the O'Brien's.
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"Odo, are you sure you're all right?"
The constable blinked away his reverie and looked up to nod at Keiko O'Brien, who smiled at him. Molly took this opportunity to stare at him with stark curiosity again. At seven years of age, the child had yet to discern the complexities of appropriate behavior. Odo did not mind; he was used to being stared at; at least Molly was a little girl and not some transient spacer on the Promenade. He tilted his head at the child and she tilted her own back, a shy smile on her face now. The corners of his mouth eased and her tentative smile increased.
"Uncle Odo, why are your eyes blue?"
"Molly, don't be bothering Odo," O'Brien chided his daughter, then shrugged apologetically at his kayaking partner, "Sorry."
"Don't be. I think that is a very astute question."
Molly frowned. "It wasn't stewed. It was about your eyes."
Kira smiled at this, amused at the rapport Molly had developed with the normally taciturn Odo. The O'Briens were unsurprised. Ever since he had started kayaking with Miles, the constable was a periodic guest; their reserved and quiet daughter and the equally reserved and quiet Odo had rapidly found a kinship with each other.
For now, the constable considered his reply, then inclined his head at the little girl as he explained, "My eyes are the color of the Bajoran sky, Molly, when I was first allowed out of the research center. It was the first natural color I saw, aside from the grey confines of the Cardassian ship that brought me to Bajor and the thermoplast walls and metal floors of the research center."
"The Car-see-uns brought you?" Molly's mouth twisted around this large, but familiar word she'd often heard, but never said.
"Yes. They took me to the research center on Bajor, in Upper Fhaari."
"Upper Fhaari!" This exclamation made everyone look to the Major, who suddenly dropped her gaze, abashed. She shrugged at Odo apologetically, "Sorry, it's just--I didn't know you were confined in Upper Fhaari."
"Does it matter, Major?" Keiko asked her now, intrigued.
Kira did not look away from Odo as she replied. "Upper Fhaari is a mountainous region in the middle of Bajor's northern continent. Cadderpod's and a few other crops grow there, but it had no useful metals so the Cardassian's didn't bother with it during the Occupation. They did build a number of their landing sites there and they allowed approved and well-supervised Bajoran chemists and scientists to conduct research for them in some research facilities they built there. I guess I should have realized that was where you were, but--"
"Does it really matter, Major?" Miles wondered now.
She turned to him as she explained, "The region is desolate, Chief. It tends to be cold and windy, even in the summer. The winters there were said to be--"
"Brutal. They were."
Everyone turned from Kira now to Odo as he quietly finished the statement. Miles smiled nervously at the suddenly serious turn in their dinner conversation. Keiko merely frowned, a soft and compassionate expression on her face as she considered Odo now. For his part, he merely cleared his throat and looked to Molly again, who waited for her 'uncle' to finish his statement. To Kira's astonished delight, the constable smiled gently at the O'Brien's little girl.
"You see, Molly, I found the blue of the sky so incredibly rare, so striking, that I chose it for the color of my eyes."
Molly nodded seriously at him, then she looked to her mother. "Can I change my eyes, too, Mommy?"
Miles and Kira smiled at this, forgetting their previous conversation as Keiko shook her head at her daughter. "Your eyes are very pretty, Molly, just the way they are."
"I like Uncle Odo's eyes."
"Yes, well..." Keiko looked over to Odo helplessly and the constable quickly took the hint.
"Perhaps, if you can't change your eyes to match mine, I can change mine to match yours. Agreed?"
Molly looked to her mother for approval and Keiko shrugged and nodded. The little girl then turned to Odo and waited. Without looking away from her, the constable allowed his eyes to go liquid, reabsorbing them into this main mass, then carefully reforming the round orbs with the color he assessed on the young Human child. Within seconds, he stared back at her with limpid, ink-black eyes.
Rather than being impressed, Molly tilted her head at him, considering this, then said skeptically, "Those eyes look better on Mommy and me."
"Molly!"
"It's all right, Mrs. O'Brien. I find children to be refreshingly honest," Odo assured her.
Keiko's own liquid black eyes looked at him appraisingly, then gave him a warm smile. "And I find some adults to be surprisingly good with children, constable."
She gestured to Miles, who snapped to attention and moved to help her clear the table, even as Odo looked askance at Kira, who merely smiled fondly at him over her glass of saki. He sighed, taking inordinate pleasure in the evening, despite his earlier distressing conversation with the doctor. He did not look forward to speaking with Bashir in the morning, but that was the morning. For now he would endeavor to enjoy what the evening wrought.
"Constable?"
Kira's questioning tone brought him out of his reverie and he snapped out of it to find himself having been staring at her.
"Nothing, Major, I was just thinking about a security matter."
She frowned at this and then leaned across the table to him and took his hand in hers. "Forget about your work for tonight, Odo. Let's just enjoy dinner."
He met her eyes, found himself nodding without saying anything. Molly took this opportunity to climb practically in his lap to study his eyes. He let her.
Kira considered this, then asked, "When did you become Molly's 'uncle', constable?"
Before he could answer, Molly did. "Mommy said 'constibbo' saved Daddy's life and he's Daddy's friend so he's my 'uncle' Odo." She turned back to the bemused shapeshifter. "Do you want to play darts with me, uncle Odo?"
Again before he could answer, Keiko called out, "No, honey, it's time for bed."
"I want to play darts with uncle Odo!"
"No excuses."
"Mommy..."
"I'll come play darts with you this weekend, would that be all right?" He asked, setting her down as he stood. She looked up at him, her expression serious.
"You won't forget?" He shook his head somberly and she smiled brightly at him. She looked briefly at Kira before turning back to him. "Good night. Good night, uncle Odo."
"Good night, Molly." They both echoed.
Odo watched as the little girl ran off and he sighed almost imperceptibly. If only...he turned to find Kira watching him with a considering expression and cleared his throat, frowned a little; dinner was over, there was really no reason for him to remain any longer. "Perhaps, I should retire."
"Nonsense!" Miles called from the replicator vestibule where he and Keiko were loading the dirty dishes. "You and Kira are going to settle down in the living room and have a look at the holo-images Keiko brought with her from her last trip to Tokyo."
Kira looked to Odo, smiled indulgently. His still-black eyes regarded her with equal warmth, although he tempered it to friendly congeniality. The constable sighed imperceptibly. For tonight, for now, he told himself insistently, this was enough.
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
----------------------------------
Unexpected, part six
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
Quark assessed the 'hew-mon' sitting alone at the end of his bar. 'Hew-mons' were interesting creatures, an intriguing, if ignorant species. This particular 'hew-mon' was more obtuse than some of the others Quark had met; he had an incredibly useful skill and vast opportunities in which to reap high profit from it, yet he was satisfied to just give away his hard-earned skills to any that asked for them. This was unconscionable to the greedy Ferengi.
"What can I do for you, Doctor Bashir?" he asked him now, keeping any evidence of his disparaging thoughts to himself. Above all, this particular 'hew-mon' was a well-paying customer, and Quark wasn't one to be overly concerned with how a fool spent his money so long as he spent it in his bar.
"Cognac--genuine."
"I see. You must have broken it off with Leeta or one of your other females," he placed a cup before the young doctor and poured a smoky, amber-colored liquid into it with care, then set the bottle back below the counter.
"Quark," Bashir began in an irritated tone of voice, "Has anyone ever told you how disgustingly sex-addled you are?"
"Is that the way to talk to the man who willingly listens to the problems of all and sundry who enter his bar?"
"Sorry. It's not Leeta I'm upset about, Quark."
"I see. Must be one of your patients then. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure out what's wrong with them in time to save their lives, doctor."
"No, it's not one of my patients," Julian sighed.
"Well, then, doctor, I give you the same advice I gave Nog. Forget about Jadzia. She's way too much woman for any one of us on this station."
Bashir chuckled at this. "It's not Jadzia, either, Quark, but I will keep that one in mind."
Quark frowned now. "Well, if it isn't some woman you've been dating, your work or Dax, then what's bothering you?"
"Do you really think I'm so shallow, Quark?"
The Ferengi considered this, then shrugged, "It's your life, doctor, what do you think?"
Julian shook his head, sipped at his cognac. "I think that your powers of observation are limited to the confines of the bar, Quark. You don't know what happens beyond here and you don't really care, do you?"
"Sometimes. If it's worth something to me," the Ferengi admitted cautiously.
"Well, this mood is brought on by something that happened out there...in the non-profit sector."
Quark shook his head. "It's your poverty, not mine. I try not to let non-profit ventures take much of my time."
"No doubt."
"Tell me, doctor, aside from medicine, saving people's lives and women--is there anything else that motivates you?"
This question made Bashir frown. He was about to retort angrily when his face suddenly lit with comprehension. "Of course!"
This made Quark frown now. "What?"
"I should have seen it."
"Seen what?" the Ferengi glanced about.
"Thank you, Quark. I'm glad we spoke. Put the cognac on my tab, would you?" Bashir hurried out of the bar.
Quark watched him from his vantage point, noted the still nearly full cup of cognac, then shrugged. He retrieved the bottle from below the bar, looked around briefly, and poured the remainder back in the bottle. "Waste not, our mother used to say."
Rom scurried up with a tray of dirty glasses. He looked around, then back at his brother, asking eagerly, "Were you just now talking about Moogie?"
Quark rolled his eyes.
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"It looks like a nice place to go. Maybe we can see it next time we go to Starfleet." Kira was ruminating as she and Odo walked along the Habitat Ring on their way to her cabin. The holo-images of Tokyo had been lovely, the second cup of saki the Major drank had relaxed her and she was in a contemplative mood as she walked beside her friend.
It's so good to just walk with Odo, talk with him about...things. I wish there were more quiet times like these... Kira snorted derisively at this thought. Sure, why not ask for Winn to be deposed and Opaka to be back as Kai? Hell, for that matter why not ask the Prophets to bring back Bareil, sure...
"Major?"
Odo's quiet, questioning voice brought her out of her contemptuous reverie. She suddenly realized she'd stopped walking and was standing in the middle of the corridor with a frown on her face. She shrugged apologetically at Odo.
"Sorry. Just thinking...old problems, new ones," she sighed and started walking again and Odo paced her.
"Is there something I can do?"
She looked up and smiled at this; Odo was so good to her. "You already have."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You've been listening to my problems, helping me relax. That's the biggest help of all, Odo. Thanks." She took his hand in hers and squeezed it briefly, let it go. He looked askance at this small display of affection, then opted to say nothing. They continued in companionable silence down the corridor.
He was looking forward to arriving at her cabin. He hoped once more that she would like what he had managed to acquire for her.
"Odo!"
Both of them turned at this call to a familiar sight; Bashir was trotting down the corridor toward them. Before he arrived, Kira whispered sarcastically, "I don't know about this, Odo. Maybe he should find another tennis partner. I think he's got way too much time on his hands."
The constable remained silent, merely feeling a slow roil of uncertainty causing his insides to surge, a sensation most humanoids would refer to as their 'stomach dropping'. Odo had no stomach, but the sensation was exceedingly familiar nonetheless.
"Constable. A word with you, please."
Kira looked up at Odo, waited. This was an obvious indication that she would remain if he wished her to. She had noted how her friend had straightened and his expression firmed upon sight of the young Human and sensed that Odo did not really wish to face the doctor. However, he merely looked at her and nodded.
"If you'll excuse us, Major?" To temper this quiet dismissal, he added with warm sincerity, "I enjoyed dinner."
"Me, too, Odo." She smiled at him in commiseration, gave Bashir a sharp look, then turned and continued on down the hall. When she was out of earshot, Odo turned from watching her to find Bashir watching him knowingly.
"You love her, constable. Don't you?" Of all the things Odo had been expecting Bashir to accuse him of, this had not been one he'd conceived of. His mouth dropped open, but he found he didn't know what to say. The doctor didn't seem to notice, explaining, "I just realized it. So many little clues over the last year or so. How long, Odo? How long have you been in love with her?"
To both their surprise, the constable sighed, his shoulders falling a fraction and he softly said, "Years, doctor. I've known for years."
"Yes, but I didn't realize it until now. And she doesn't know! For heaven's sake, man, why haven't you told her?"
"I really don't care to discuss it, doctor. I only ask that this remain a doctor-patient confidentiality." This said, Odo turned and headed for his cabin, suddenly weary. Bashir appeared surprised at this, but followed him nonetheless.
"Maybe you don't, but you really do owe it to her, you know."
At this, Odo did stop. He turned to impale Bashir with an icy glare which brooked no argument. "I said I don't care to discuss it, doctor."
"All right, but I owe you an apology for earlier," Julian insisted.
"You don't owe me anything. You aired your concerns, matters were clarified, the issue is moot." Odo continued down the hall.
"I was thinking of placing you in transitory counseling, constable. I even thought of asking Captain Sisko to order it."
This quiet pronouncement was loud in the suddenly silent corridor. Neither man took another step, Odo still turned away from Julian. The doctor simply waited for a reaction to his risky announcement. When Odo turned, there was no hint of emotion in his expression or his voice.
"I find Humans to be inordinately concerned with others well-being. While this can be admirable, at times it crosses over into intrusion. This is one of those times, doctor."
"Poppycock. I don't want to place you in counseling for being in love, constable. I'm concerned with your state of mind after all you've been through this last year alone--not to mention the year before." He continued speaking rapidly as the constable scowled and looked away, "First you found your people, then you found they were mortal enemies and had to choose between us. Not to mention helping that Jem'Haddar boy who turned against you. Then the Major was replaced by a Changeling on that mission you two went on, and while I'm on that subject, they know how you feel about her, don't they? That was why Kira was replaced, wasn't it?" Julian pressed on as Odo remained bitterly silent. "You've loved her all that time, but you just stood by and watched her with Bareil, hell, you even helped her clear him of collaboration charges before Winn became Kai!"
"Doctor, I'm going to my quarters. I have nothing further to say to you." Odo turned and started walking, but Bashir kept pace, speaking at his elbow.
"You and Garak were kidnapped. I read your report; you were tortured! And Tain and his improvised fleet attacked your homeworld, your people, Odo. I know that must have been horrifying for you to watch, helpless to do anything about it. Then you joined with Curzon--"
At this, the constable stopped. He was in front of his cabin now, but he turned back to Bashir. His voice was deceptively even, "Sharing the zhian'tara with Dax was an experience I honor, doctor. It was very fulfilling and I refuse to have it cheapened by your histrionics."
"Yes, but you didn't want to return Curzon, did you? You wanted to stay joined with him. Why? Was it because, as Curzon, you might be able to say to Dax and to Kira what you hadn't been able to say as Odo?"
To his intense interest, the constable's surface began to appear moist, malleable. His eyes were watery blue points in a shiny and less-distinct face. His voice was coarse. "Enough..."
"Really? What have I said that's untrue? Then the mission to the Tzenkethi, Odo--you do remember that--you had to track down another of your own kind, then you killed him."
"It was necessary, doctor." Odo's voice was bleak.
"Yes, but you didn't talk to anyone about it, did you? You just stuck yourself in your cabin on the Defiant and forced Dax and Kira and Miles and myself to shout at you through the bulkhead. You didn't even show your face until the staff meeting on the station and then you gave us the real news; that your people were everywhere. They weren't content to stay in the Gamma Quadrant, were they, Odo? Your presence brought them here."
"NO!" Odo pounded his door lock and almost threw himself into his room, Bashir right behind him like a Wanoni tracehound.
"Yes, I think that's what your hidden fear is, Odo. You believe your arrival in the Omarian Nebula alerted them to us. That you and you alone were responsible for bringing the Founders to this quadrant, endangering all us humanoids...endangering Kira."
"No..." this was less a denial than an agonized plea and the young Human closed his eyes in sympathetic pain as he watched Odo curl in on himself, his features all but lost in his unsuccessful attempt to preserve his humanoid form.
Almost done. Don't stop now; his sanity depends on it!
"Yes. They're here and now some don't look at you as an unusual life form anymore, do they? They think of you as the enemy. They blame you."
"I only wanted to...to find my people."
The doctor was astonished that Odo was still able to speak; he was barely recognizable now as a vague humanoid shape. He relented; the job was nearly complete.
"You did." He stepped up now to the shaking constable and his features blurred, a shapechange taking place. Soon, Bashir had morphed into the familiar form of the female Founder. She regarded him with gentle and sympathetic eyes. "You found them, Odo."
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
----------------------------------
Unexpected, part seven
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
Odo looked up at this sudden surprising change, cringed despite himself, then slowly began to grow more solid. "I should have known."
She laid a warm hand against his shoulder, allowed the automatic reversion to take place, merging their combined cellular structures together, imparting thought and feeling in this most natural and intimate of contact between Changelings. Odo did not fight it.
His voice was ravaged with feeling...and fear. "Why?"
"No Changeling has ever harmed another."
"But I--"
"You had to. We've learned to do what we have to. And I had no idea any Changeling would or even could become so attached to a lower species," she admitted. "This attraction you hold is of intense interest to us."
Odo said nothing, merely savoring the bittersweet sensation of being joined with another of his kind, even if she was the harbinger of all his pain and sorrow. There was no one else--she understood as no humanoid could...or would. This was the truth he kept hidden, even from himself.
"I've missed you, Odo." He looked up at her, then stood, pulling free of her liquid caress. He said nothing and she smiled, her eyes regarded him warmly. "More importantly for you, I'm trying to understand and to forgive, but some of our people haven't. They want you punished. I doubt they will ever understand though--they didn't link with you, as I have."
"I do think about us--what we shared--from time to time," he managed to say.
"It is natural. I also think of you, of our shared joining, from time to time."
He met her eyes. To his surprise, he found he was no longer angry, no longer afraid. Nor did he sense any danger from her toward anyone on the station. "Why did you really come?"
"To see you," she tilted her head, assessing him, then smiled. "All I said as Bashir is true. I picked up a great deal during our joining, as is our way. I've been concerned with your state of mind, your equilibrium since you left. It is not healthy for a Changeling aware of the joining to be far from the Great Link."
"I will not return with you."
"I am aware of that. I am not here to kidnap you. A Changeling must want to join the Great Link, Odo. If I took you by force, the entire link would resonate with your sense of outrage and fear. I would never willingly harm my own people. No Changeling seeks to harm another."
Odo considered this, then shook his head. "I didn't want to harm the Changeling on the Defiant. I had to stop him and he got thrown into the unshielded warp core. I only wanted to stop him."
"As I said, this I understand." She emphasized this statement by reaching up and stroking his cheek. He let her. "But I cannot speak for the others. All they know is that you have been corrupted. I chose to try and discover how this happened. Until I am satisfied with my answers, they will not trouble you."
"I won't go with you."
"I know." She allowed her hand to drop, to take his in hers, as they had on their homeworld the first time they'd met...and joined. "I will be leaving soon, Odo."
"Please don't," Odo managed to say, feeling the pulsing wave of joining-awareness begin to rush through his inner being as his hand merged with hers automatically. It was a sensation no humanoid could ever know, the innately internal perception of another of his kind seeking him out was as persistent, as alluring as a siren call. This was far different from the forced collusion with the enemy Changeling in the engine room aboard the Defiant; this was soothing, inevitable, the difference between a punch and a caress. Odo tried to pull free, repeating, "Don't."
"I know you hunger for this joining, Odo. If neither of us reports it...who would know?" She gently curled more of herself further up along his slowly liquefying arm, sending increased sensations of pleasure and a questing, tender warmth along the link.
"I would," he said softly, managing to pull free. He took a moment to solidify his features, to stand a fraction straighter.
"I really have missed you, Odo."
He regarded the Founder with his deep-set blue eyes and nodded. "I know." Suddenly the door-chime sounded, startling them both. He cleared his throat. "Who's there?"
"Constable? It's Bashir, can I speak with you, please?"
Odo fought a moment of panic, tried to think of a suitable excuse to turn away the doctor, then turned to the Founder. He was startled to find an exact replica of Kira now watching him knowingly.
"I'll just leave," the Founder said brightly, looking at the door. She knew, as did Odo, that he would not raise the alarm against her; she had said what needed to be said and done what needed to be done. Her mission was a near-success, with the exception of not having joined with Odo. His eyes spoke of this awareness as he nodded at her, then turned toward the door.
"Come in, doctor."
The door slid open and Bashir stepped in, then lifted his brows at the sight of the two of them standing so close together in the darkness of his room. The Founder stepped back, inclining her head at the constable. "I guess I'll see you later then, constable?"
Odo inclined his head. "Perhaps."
To his shock and Bashir's astonishment, she stepped even closer and gently kissed him on the angle of his jaw. "Good-night, Odo."
She stepped out of the room with a lazy, sensual stroll. Both men watched her leave. Then the door slid decisively shut. Odo turned to Bashir, his tone admirably even. "What can I do for you, doctor?"
"Well, for one thing, I'm sorry I interrupted," Bashir quipped with a slight grin, then he added, "Look, I know you argued with me earlier about it, but really, I do think you and Kira would make a very interesting couple."
Odo considered this, considered the events of the evening and then, to his surprise, nodded at the young doctor. "I agree, Doctor. However, I take it that isn't what you came to tell me?"
"No, you're right, I came to apologize for earlier. I might not have been aware of the circumstances involved in the battle, but I should know by now that you always have all our best interests in mind, constable. I'm sorry if I gave you any other impression."
"That's quite all right, doctor."
"The other thing that occurred to me earlier this evening is that I honestly believe you are suffering from some form of traumatic stress syndrome. What with all that's happened since you found your people, constable, well," Bashir frowned, tried to decide how to phrase his next concept, then shrugged. "Were we on a starship, you'd have received appropriate and timely counseling for matters, but out here--suffice it to say--all we've got is each other. So if you ever need to talk about something, I'll be glad to serve as sounding board."
Odo considered this, then nodded. "I'll keep it in mind, Doctor."
"Good." Julian turned to leave, then turned back again briefly. "You know, constable, I happen to know the Major is partial to the musical work of Tor--"
"Jolan," finished Odo calmly, almost smugly. He was feeling more like himself again after the earlier emotional turmoil. He sensed it had something to do with the female Founder's momentary link; she had graced him with the serene and deliberate awareness of his people and eased some of the agony he'd been enduring for longer than he realized. He regarded the startled young human now with an even expression, then shrugged. "I 'grew up' on Bajor, doctor. I'm included in their census. While I may not understand them, I am quite familiar with the Bajoran disciplines...and the Major and I are close friends."
"Yes, of course." Bashir looked somewhat chagrined. "Well, I was only going to suggest asking her to the concert Tor Delas is holding later this week. Tor's son is quite talented. In time, he might outshine Jolan in musical composition."
Odo almost smiled, eyes bright as if with secret knowledge, but he merely nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Do that. I know she's quite fond of you." This said, the doctor stepped out of Odo's room. The door slid shut behind him and the shapeshifter relaxed for the first time all day. He felt drained, yet oddly content. There would be, he knew, no trouble from the female Founder, no station sabotage or systems interruption. He had sensed in their momentary link that her sole purpose for coming to the station was to see him, to assure him of her patronage despite his current status as opponent to his people. Odo sighed.
Maybe someday. He shook his head. His people felt humanoids, 'solids' as they called them, were a lower species. Such attitudes were hard to eradicate, especially when the humanoids had waged war against them for centuries. Yet he had managed to successfully live among them. Despite the occasionally unavoidable misunderstanding or ignorant blunder, he had a job, he was accepted, he was befriended and he was...happy?
Am I happy? Odo considered this with his usual thoroughness. All the issues the Founder had brought up as Bashir were valid, yet all of them in their turn seemed inevitable. There was nothing he could have done or not done that would have prevented them...being kidnapped by Enabram Tain and tortured...killing the Changeling scout aboard the Defiant...not even loving Kira Nerys. He could not help how he felt, he couldn't have stopped himself from feeling this way, nor would he want to, he decided. I love her. I always will--even if she never returns my feelings.
Odo sighed. "Computer, play a random selection of musical compositions by Tor Jolan."
"Working."
Soon the soothing sounds of a Bajoran serenas musical arrangement filled his cabin and he took the time to wonder about how his thisk'a gift had been received. He sighed, hoping she would understand that the gift meant nothing more than that he was glad she'd survived and that they were still friends. Only family or very close friends presented a thisk'a gift and he hoped she understood that this was how he felt. He wondered briefly what Kira would do if he went to her now, at this very moment, and declared the depth of his feelings for her. Too much for one day. He sighed. Too much for one year. And what does the new one have in store?
The sound of his door chime surprised him. "Enter."
Kira Nerys stepped into his room, looked about as if looking for someone. Odo recalled now that when they'd parted, he had been in the company of who they both took for Bashir. Noting he was alone, Kira turned to him and for a moment, Odo wondered if the female Founder had returned, but then he noticed the suspicious redness, the pooling of liquid in her eyes; she had been crying. Even as he watched, tears slipped down her cheeks, landing on his carpet. They were quickly absorbed, darkening into small spots that did not change. The Major was entirely humanoid.
He stepped closer, worried. "What is it, Major? Are you all right?"
To his stunned surprise, she suddenly thrust herself into his arms, holding him closely. Her tears dampened his shoulder, confirming his deduction and making him relax. Her words were muffled against his warmth. "I'm fine...I found your thisk'a gift."
"Ah." Odo relaxed, gently put his arms around her. He shrugged slightly. "I take it you appreciate the gift I chose?"
Kira pulled back, then looked up at him and hugged him one more time, tightly. He let her and she managed to speak through her tears, "The last time I got a thisk'a gift was from my brother...back when I was fourteen and the Cardassians had nearly burnt off half the skin on my back. I didn't think anyone still remembered the custom."
"I'm glad you appreciate it."
She pulled back to look at him. "I had to come and tell you how much I...well...thank you, Odo."
"There's no need. I'm glad you liked it," he assured her, privately feeling that the unexpected embrace he'd received would suffice for a very long time indeed.
"And I...I think I realized something," she added, wiping at her cheeks and sniffing away a few tears. He inclined his head at her inquiringly, but she merely looked around. "I think I need to sit."
Odo did not have typical humanoid furniture in his cabin, aside from the bolted-down bed of Cardassian construction in the inner room. He hadn't removed it, intrigued as he was by the snarling gargoyles on all the bed poles.
"All I have to sit on is the floor...or my bed," he noted apologetically. To his surprise, she made her way to his inner room, sat on a corner of the bed. After a moment of uncertainty, he followed her.
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
----------------------------------
Unexpected, part eight
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
"Please, Odo," Kira urged him, patting the area beside her on his bed. He swallowed for fortitude's sake, then sat next to her and she smiled. "I never noticed it before. Well, actually, maybe I did, but I never really thought it through. Then I got your gift today, and I started thinking about Shaaz again."
"The Bolian engineering tech?" Odo was puzzled, wondering what the excitable Shaaz had to do with anything.
"Yes, remember how we were all looking for the Changeling on the Defiant during the Tzenkethi situation," she asked, continuing without waiting for his response. "He and I were paired together, but we got separated. Captain Sisko came on us and ordered us both to drop our weapons, but he wouldn't. He pointed his phaser rifle at me."
"Ah, yes," Odo nodded, recalling the instance, "I disarmed him."
"Yes, but after that," Kira prompted.
"Captain Sisko decided to institute blood tests for the crew."
"No, Odo, immediately after you disarmed Shaaz," Kira urged him, smothering an intriguing smile.
"I disarmed him, then Captain Sisko asked how long we all had been separated from one another."
"Odo!" Kira managed to convey amused outrage and exasperation in one breath. The constable looked taken aback at this explosion of sound, even more astonished as she reached up and cupped his face in her hands. "You decked Shaaz, Odo. Remember?"
He frowned. He did not recall the incident with his typical clarity. Then he recalled that Eddington had needed to pick up the shaken Bolian off the deck of the Defiant. He had struck Shaaz...and he hadn't remembered until now! He looked up at Kira to find her smiling at him, a warm expression on her face he'd never seen before. She regarded him fondly as she spoke.
"It did strike me as odd, but the situation was tense, so I kind of ignored it, but it kept coming back to me since then. In fact, I was thinking it over last night and got nowhere. All I could think was that you were stressed with the situation like the rest of us and that's why you'd decked him. Then I got your thisk'a present." She leaned in closer to him, urging him with her eyes and her words. "You love me, Odo, don't you?"
This simple question froze him in place. His mouth moved without sound issuing from it and Kira could feel his surface cool then warm beneath her fingers still touching his face. In the silence, she could hear the soft strains of a serenas by Tor Jolan. It made her smile, a loving, comprehending gesture and his voice was small and tremulous, "You know that because I disarmed Shaaz?"
Kira smiled knowingly. She stroked his face gently. "No. Because you'd already disarmed him and he was no threat to me, but you slugged him anyway because Shaaz was endangering me, because you love me...don't you?"
As if guided by an invisible string, Odo's head bobbed, an emotional affirmative. He couldn't speak. He didn't have to. Kira's expression softened at the look in his eyes.
"Why haven't you told me?"
At this, his gaze dropped down, eyes suddenly full of guilt and regret and longing...and fear. His rough voice was a husk of sound, faltering poignantly as he spoke, "I didn't think it was wise...after all, my people are the enemy. I didn't want to...to trouble you."
"Trouble me? By letting me know you love me?" Kira sighed, then let go of his face. She tipped his chin up and made him look at her. "You may not believe this, constable, but I've thought about you for a long time now."
"Thought about?"
"Since before that incident with Pallra, Vattrick's widow. Before that happened, I used to wonder if we could possibly make a good couple, but then--"
"You were no longer interested," Odo sighed, more than a touch regretful over this incident in their past which had pained them both so much.
"No. I was still interested. I just felt unworthy of you," Kira admitted.
His eyes grew wide. "Unworthy...?"
"Yes," she nodded emphatically, then explained, "You always stood by me, were there for me since the very beginning. And all the time I'd been keeping what I did secret from you. I damaged what we had, but then...you didn't go away. You were still my friend. I felt so lucky. I was so grateful for that, Odo!"
He looked askance at this declaration, hardly daring to move, feeling ripples of disbelief inside him, and managed to say, "I saw no point in holding what you did as a terrorist against you."
"Yes, but I'd been holding what you did as an investigator for the Cardassians against you! And I was wrong. We all were. You've more than proved that these last few years and you didn't have to. I should have treated you like you treated me, but I was a blind fool."
"No. You acted within your beliefs. I had been working for the Cardassians. That made me suspect," he pointed out.
"But you've always been nothing but good to me and look how I--" she stopped, bit her lip as a stray tear slipped down her cheek, evidence of her heartfelt feelings. She shook her head. To her surprise, he gently reached over and smoothed it away. His fingers were warm and she pressed his hand against her face. He swallowed. This incredible day didn't seem as if it would ever end. Somehow, he didn't want it to.
They gazed at each other for a timeless moment, then she quietly asked, "Where did you find it?"
"What?"
"The new composition by Tor...your thisk'a gift to me."
"Oh. Actually I commissioned his son to complete one of his latter, unfinished compositions," Odo admitted. "Delas asked what sort of thematic layering I wished and I told him it was for...a lady friend. That particular melody is what he called a, uh, `passion-piece'. The written notes were found hidden amidst some of Tor's belongings from the Sor-Jee'el detention center. His son said it was a most unexpected discovery. So he named the composition--"
"Unexpected." Kira's voice was a knowing whisper.
Odo nodded, swallowed, dazed at the fact that the woman he loved was beside him, that he was touching her, that she knew he loved her and was not amused or appalled or disgusted at the knowledge, which meant that perhaps there was still a chance for happiness...for completeness.
"It was beautiful," she said, more tears slipping free as she read the look in his clear, blue eyes.
"You're beautiful," he managed to whisper, smoothing her tears away, his warm fingers gently stroking her cheeks. He'd hungered to do so for a very long time and permitted himself the luxury now, aware he may never receive the opportunity again. Odo found his eyes could not leave hers; it was his voice which revealed the depth of his yearning, rough with passion unexpressed up to now. "Nerys..."
Kira smiled at this, looking at him guilelessly, then she reached up to take his hands in hers. "I think it's been long enough, Odo, for us both."
He hardly dared blink. "What do you mean?"
She leaned closer, squeezed his hands. "I mean that after tonight there will be no more secrets, no more evasions, no more seclusion."
His voice trembled helplessly. "Kira, I'm not sure if...if we--"
"Do you love me?"
He closed his eyes, nodded and opened them again to whisper, "Yes."
"Then you're sure."
Kira let his hands go. She leaned in closer still, touched the fine hair along his temples, stroking the silky strands. Then she kissed him. When she pulled back he gently, firmly, took her hands in his. His mouth opened, but the words would not come. She merely smiled and nodded slowly at him. His eyes closed again, but this time he sent a silent and heartfelt invocation to the Prophets. Then he opened them and inclined his head to claim her lips, letting her hands go to slip his arms around her and hold her closely...tightly.
Tor's music played on...
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
Julian Bashir made his way to his cabin with tired strides. It had been a long day and he looked forward to a shower and shave and a nice soothing cup of hot tea before retiring with the latest medical journal. He was glad to have resolved matters with the constable; he had quite enough stress lately without adding to it.
You are an incredibly lucky man, Julian, he chided himself. You are in a profession you enjoy, you have the posting you want, friends and all is right with your world. The only thing missing was the presence of a special woman in his life, but that wasn't an impossibility. With a little effort, he knew he could find a suitable partner, either temporary or with a bit more effort, permanent. For now, however, what he had suited him.
"Infirmary to Doctor Bashir."
He tapped his commbadge. "Go ahead."
"Sorry to bother you, sir, but Lieutenant Sufti-Graves surgical site appears to be bleeding internally again."
"Damn! I thought the coagulant therapy would work despite her Rigellian blood components."
"Should we place her in stasis, doctor?"
"No, get an emergency pressure bandage in place and prep her for surgery. And please call Nurse K'Teyn in please to assist me. I'll be there straight away."
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"Maybe I should just go to my cabin?"
Kasidy looked at Benjamin and took pity on him. While everyone assumed their relationship was full-fledged, they had yet to consummate the passion they felt. It was a comfortably frustrating situation they both acceded to.
Sisko for one, did not succumb easily to his passions; he preferred maintaining his decorum and building the tension in pleasurable increments. Holding a woman's hand, their first kiss, their first embrace, these were clearly defined moments in his head, each more special because of the spontaneity, the joy of the moment.
Kasidy looked at her cabin doorway for a moment, the cabin that Sisko had procured for her on the station and took his hand. "I'd rather you come with me, Benjamin Sisko."
"Kasidy..."
"Just while I make sure my quarters haven't been disturbed. I was gone a long time you know..."
"Not as long as I thought you'd be."
"Yes, well, two weeks seemed an awfully long time to me," Kasidy teased, running a finger along his beard, then kissing him gently. "I just wanted to get back to DS9. I missed the Federation Founding Day celebration."
Sisko's eyes grew darker at this and Kasidy sighed, abruptly remembering the new situation. She touched his face, made him look at her. "I'm sorry, Benjamin, I didn't mean to remind you."
"I still find it hard to believe the Klingon Empire and the Federation are at odds again." He couldn't even bring himself to use the word 'enemies'.
Kasidy nodded sadly. "So do I, but my papa always used to say there's a reason for everything that happens."
"Mine used to say the same thing," he admitted.
"Then no doubt, they would remind us that there's a reason for this happening, too."
He sighed. "I can understand why the Klingons chose to attack Cardassia, fearing a Changeling invasion. I can understand why they attacked DS9, but to withdraw from the Khitomer accords? They weaken themselves and they weaken us!"
"Benjamin." He turned to Kasidy. She chided him gently, "There's not a whole heck of a lot you can do, besides what you've already done. You stopped the situation from exploding into full-fledged war. For now, that's enough."
"It'll have to be, won't it?" His tone was bitter.
"It's enough," she insisted. "One day of peace at a time. That's the way it's always been."
Sisko sighed, conceded this as truth. He blinked, then looked down at the lovely woman before him and smiled. He looked at her cabin, considered for a moment, then shrugged a little.
"Well."
"Well, yourself."
"I would offer to bring you to my quarters, but Jake is bound to stop playing tango and dom-jot with Jadzia sometime."
"True." Before he could say anything else, she placed her fingers on his lips, graced him with a beguiling smile, then led him into the darkness of her room.
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
----------------------------------
Unexpected, part nine
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
"I, uh--"
"Shhh, don't spoil it." Kira sighed contentedly.
"I...I just want to...to apologize."
"I know. There's no need."
"But you, uh...I, uh--"
"You surprised me, that's all," she assured him, then underscored her words with a long, soft, sensual kiss. Kira's voice was suffused with satiated passion. "It was a wonderful surprise."
Odo sank back against the cushion of his bed, hoping for the dozenth time that he would never waken from this intriguing dream, for dream he'd assured himself it must be. He turned to look upon the woman he loved, the only woman he'd ever loved, the one who now lay beside him. She smiled at him, then reached for him and he responded instantly, taking her hand in his own. She met his inquiring gaze with a darkly heated one of her own.
Technically, they had not yet 'made love' in the humanoid way, although he had shared himself with her, Changeling-fashion. The raw hunger of his need had made him temporarily lose all cohesion, an unpredictable moment best classified as an unexpected discovery. He had not been able to help it and each had coped with the situation in the rare acceptance and acknowledgment which marked their relationship.
Kira had also handled it with passion. Finding him surrounding her so intimately, a living heated liquid, had not been the frightening or repulsive experience Odo had feared it would be for her. It had been an incredibly arousing sensation and she'd run her hands through his silken warmth, revelling in the remarkably smooth and honeyed feeling, unintentionally providing the hydrously supple Changeling with intensely powerful gratification.
He swallowed now, still repentant. "I--"
"Hush."
She traced the lines of his face, brought him to her, kissed him gently, then again and again. While she kissed him, she ran a hand down his body, marveling at the slim, wiry form he created, so very like a humanoid in it's shape and construction. His own hands gently explored now, caressing, stroking, discovering. Odo began to tremble with building passion and it made her smile against his mouth. Kira pulled back from him, noted the heated desire in his gaze and she brought him closer, embracing him tightly. He buried his face in the soft silky strands of hair that swept along her neck and she smiled, pleased. Her whisper was fervent.
"Now let's make love..."
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
Doctor Bashir triple-checked the biobed readouts over the unlucky lieutenant and sighed with satisfaction. Nearly seven hours of complex vascular micro-surgery had effectively stemmed the blood loss to her surgical site. He was exhausted, but finally satisfied with his patients condition.
The hapless Sufti-Graves had taken a Klingon bat'leth right in the side, shattering a rib, severing a kidney, several feet of intestinal tract and skimming her spinal column. Despite this, She had been incredibly lucky to survive; many of her friends in Security had not been so lucky, Julian knew.
This sobered him momentarily and he remembered now his conversations earlier...or actually yesterday, he thought now, with Odo regarding his role in the battle against the Klingons.
He's just one man, Julian. A good one, but just one. There's nothing he could have done...not without disregarding orders. And like you, he's done the best he can for us, for this station... he sighed now, noting the hour, assessing himself and realizing he was running on adrenaline.
He would need to wind down before sleeping, so he decided to complete his final report to the Captain and turn it in before catching some shut-eye. He smiled once more at the peacefully sleeping lieutenant and headed for his office.
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
In her room, Jadzia Dax stretched sensuously, the towel she wore threatening to fall free. Worf watched her with a mild expression, sipping at the raktajino he'd ordered from her replicator as she showered. Their session had been most fulfilling. He said so now.
"I enjoyed our session."
She smiled in agreement. "I love wrestling in the morning, too. No one else on this station understands how stimulating it is, how...exciting."
"I will gladly oblige you any morning with a wrestling session, Commander."
"Sure you won't mind? Everyone will wonder why you're coming to my cabin in the morning and leaving after an hour or two."
"I do not care what others say about me. Unless this disturbs you?"
"No. It's just amusing. From the rumors I've heard around the station, apparently some people assume that you and I already have a torrid affair."
"Interesting. I heard you and the doctor were copulating."
"That's a very old rumor," she assured him with a smile.
"I also heard that you and the Captain used to copulate."
Dax turned at this, considered it and frowned. "Really?"
"Yes. And that you and the constable had, as well."
"Now wait a minute!"
He seemed surprised at her sudden outcry. "What is the matter?"
"Odo...and me?"
"Yes. I heard that in order to get him to return one of your hosts you shared with him during some Trill ceremony you agreed to mate with him."
Her blue eyes flashed with cool, icy anger. "Oh, really? And just who told you that?"
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
Quark's voice grew muffled as the strong, dark fingers tightened their grip around his collar.
"Jadzia..." he squeaked, looking to her for help.
She ignored his plea, asking mildly. "Guess who I heard has been spreading nasty little unsubstantiated rumors about Odo and me and my zhian'tara, Quark?"
"Erg--"
She gestured at Worf to let the Ferengi go. He did so with a mildly disgusted look. "I had no idea about that particular rumor and I won't tolerate it, Quark. I won't! My Rite of Closure was a very special time for me and I won't have it tainted by some baseless rumor."
"Baseless? I heard you spent hours in his room," Quark muttered, annoyed at being manhandled so early in the morning.
"Oh, really? Then you admit to starting the rumor?" Worf's tone was dangerously quiet.
"No, no! It was my brother, Rom!" Quark turned back to Jadzia with a sheepish look and declared, "Rom said he saw you go into Odo's room when he still had Curzon in him. His quarters are on the same level of the Habitat Ring as Odo's, you know."
Dax considered this. She looked to Worf who merely merely waited. "Well, I--we better not hear about it again. Understood?"
"Your distrust wounds me deeply, Jadzia."
"Not as much as Odo will if he ever hears about this."
He tilted his head and fingered an ear nervously. "Point taken, Commander."
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
"I take it you spoke with the constable?"
Bashir nodded at Sisko. The Captain was perusing the report that the doctor had given him first thing that morning. Julian had spent a good half-hour appending his final report and opted to drop it on the Captain's desk before turning in and catching some sleep.
He had been startled to find a decidedly cheery Sisko already in his office, obviously freshly showered, cleanly pressed and in a good-natured and cheerful mood. He also smelled suspiciously like patchouli, Kasidy's signature fragrance, but the doctor kept this observation to himself. After a moment, Sisko looked up. "I take it there are no further issues with which you take exception?"
"No, sir. We spoke last night and I addressed my concerns. As I wrote, I now believe the constable did an admirable job under difficult circumstances."
"As do I." Sisko signed the PADD with satisfaction and handed it back to Bashir.
"Thank you, sir."
"Just one more thing, Doctor," insisted the captain. "I put the constable up for a meritorious service commendation right after the battle. The approval arrived a few minutes before you did. Since he's not in Starfleet, it's an allied-service award, but the sentiment is the same."
"Yes, of course. I think the constable will find that pleasing."
"He'll find it damned annoying and a nuisance, I'm sure, but sometimes, doctor, I think he doth protest too much, if you ask me," Sisko intoned with dark amusement.
"Me, too, sir." Bashir grinned tiredly.
"Please inform the staff, if you will, under a sufficiently plausible medical excuse, to gather in the Infirmary for the ceremony at sixteen hundred hours."
"The Infirmary, sir?"
"It's the most inconspicuous place I could think of, doctor, and it's perfect. The senior staff all fit in there and he won't suspect a thing."
"Yes, sir, of course. I'll see to it."
"Good. After that, go catch some sleep, doctor. You look as if you could use some."
-- 2B cont'd --
DISCLAIMER: in part one
----------------------------------
Unexpected, part ten
by Judith Macquinn (OdoGoddess@aol.com)
Watching someone sleep was, perhaps, one of the most boring activities one could conceive of doing, aside from watching plants grow. However, Odo had long been an observer of minutiae, he did not find such observation tedious, and this particular vigil could never be so to him.
Kira had been sleeping for nearly four hours since their final lovemaking session. He had not taken his eyes off her; he could not. He still could not believe the night which had passed. There were no words that he could think of to describe it, so instead he recalled the more particularly memorable moments from the three times they had 'coupled'.
Made love, Odo corrected himself. He had often wondered why there were so many humanoid euphemisms about this act; now he knew. In no way would I ever describe anything which transpired last night as a 'simple' sex act, he mused. How could a humanoid ever consider doing such things with someone they do not care for?
He pulled back to look at the woman he held. To his elation, Kira murmured unhappily at the loss of closeness and warmth, reaching out to pull him back to her. He held her close then and closed his eyes, shutting out everything but what he could feel. It was very nearly overwhelming.
"...time is it?"
He opened his eyes again. "Computer, station time index?"
"It is oh-six-hundred and five hours."
"...don't want to sleep later than...ten-thirty," she mumbled, nestling her head against his chest.
"I'll be sure to awaken you."
Kira nodded, sighed deeply. He could feel her blinking. "I'll get up."
"There's still time, you don't have to--"
Her fingers against his lips stopped him and she levered herself up to present him with a drowsy smile. "I'll sleep later. I was just dreaming about you."
"You were?"
"Yes. You took me to your cabin and played me a beautiful song I'd never heard before. Then you started singing."
"Singing?" he considered this, bemused.
She stretched and laid her head back against his shoulder. "Yes, you had a wonderful voice, too. You sang the Del'Fiosra serenas."
"I don't know that one," he admitted.
"It's in masculine format. It's about an unexpected gift of love, given without expectation of anything in return."
"I don't think I could do justice to a Bajoran serenas."
He could feel her smile against his upper chest. "I don't know about that, but then you showed me how you felt by making love to me ... and that was wonderful."
Odo swallowed. "Kira--"
"It felt so real. Was it just a dream? Or did you really make love to me while I was sleeping?"
He shook his head. "I wouldn't do that."
She lifted her head to look at him again, then kissed the corner of his mouth. "You have the right to, you know?" She slid her hands down his body, even as she slid back up against him to look into his eyes. They swam with a helpless desire.
"Kira..."
She smiled at the hoarse, passionate quality of his voice, then spoke against his mouth, gently correcting him, "Nerys."
She kissed him passionately and despite himself, he responded. Odo carefully gathered Kira closer to him and hoped against hope that time would stop, freezing them like this eternally. In answer to this silent behest, the commpanel sounded.
"Bashir to Major Kira."
She shook her head with an amused snort, dislodging their contact. "I knew this was too good to last. We definitely have to find him a new tennis partner, Odo!" She reluctantly pulled free of Odo's warm embrace and sat up, holding the bed sheet to her as she spoke towards the commpanel pick-up. "Go ahead, doctor."
"Major, I'm calling to request your presence in the Infirmary at sixteen hundred hours this afternoon."
"What for? I told you I don't want that twinge operated on, it's fine," she exhorted.
"No, Major, it's not about that, but well...are you alone?"
She looked over at Odo, then gestured for him to stay silent and play along. He nodded and she replied, "Yes, Doctor, why?"
"Well, so long as the constable doesn't get wind of this--Captain Sisko's put him up for a meritorious service award and Starfleet Command sanctioned it. We'd like to surprise him with it in the Infirmary this afternoon."
"I see," Kira managed to say, despite the huge smile now distorting her lips. A slight snicker escaped her despite herself as she noted at her lover's expression.
"Major, are you all right? You sound a bit breathless."
"I'm fine, Julian, I was just...exercising, tell me--would you like me to try and trick Odo into the Infirmary?" She waggled her brows at the bemused constable, trying to maintain an even tone of voice.
"Well, I suppose if anyone could, it would be you or Dax."
"I think I can manage it, Julian. I'll have him there at sixteen hundred. And I promise not to tell him about the award."
"Very well, Major. Thank you." The doctor sounded relieved.
"Don't mention it, Kira out." She collapsed against Odo's chest, shaking her head with amusement. He looked askance at her.
"Have you always been so devious, Nerys? Or is this a side of you I'm unacquainted with?"
At this, she let off helpless peals of laughter. After a moment, her amusement died down and she levered herself up to look into his eyes. The look in them touched her and she smiled gently, traced the lines of his face, kissed him; her voice was a sensual whisper.
"I think that after last night there isn't much of me you're unacquainted with. Then again, there might be a few things you still don't know about me."
He considered this. "Really?"
"Oh, yes. In fact, it might take a long time for you to ferret out all my secrets, constable."
"I suppose it would be prudent to begin an investigation, Major," he murmured, adhering to her playful mood much to Kira's delight.
"Oh, yes, I insist you start one right away."
He gently slid her to his side, and turned to look in her eyes, indulging her humor, delighting in it himself since this was an unexpected and joyful discovery in the art of humanoid coupling that he'd been unaware of.
"Should I get a tricorder?" he asked, dipping his head to run the tip of his nose up the curve of her neck to her ear, then across her cheek until he was snuggled to her, forehead to forehead. Her dark gaze swallowed him and he lost himself in the liquid depths of her eyes. She saw the passion in his burning gaze.
"I think you'll do better if you conduct a manual search," she managed to whisper, no longer playacting as his mouth slowly sought hers.
"Nerys--" His voice was thick and husky, filled with heated desire. How had she missed it for all these years? Then she felt his arms enfolding her. His beautifully clear blue eyes remained fixed on her as he carefully enveloped her, gentle tendrils of warmth searching out all of her, a surprising bonus to the Changeling ability of this man she loved. Her own dark eyes stayed fixed on him, unafraid, full of the love she felt.
As Odo's intensely warm liquid body surrounded her, Nerys gladly relinquished her control to him, giving in to the tender caution of his probing touch. She gasped and it was echoed by him as they were both united, filled with the searing heat of their passion. Odo could feel Nerys everywhere. She was his entire tightly-contained world. She could feel nothing but her lovers warmth, his loving touch. He was within and without her, moving with the pulse of her heartbeat, the steadily increasing demand of her need. Their lovemaking rhythm was set by the waves of gentle pressure that rocked them both, another unexpected but wonderful surprise they'd discovered during the incredible night that had passed.
Still overwhelmed by the unexpected depths of their mutual need, the pleasure built for both lovers, an already familiar rush of sensation. Exquisite moments slipped by in a tide-flow as ancient as that of ocean beating perpetually against shoreline; but their pleasure was untainted this time by uncertainty or nervousness or the shock of discovery. The profoundly overpowering strength in their intimate union asserted itself as once-soothing and comforting surges of sensation abruptly crested into a flood of uncontrollable pleasure. The tide swelled for the lovers and began to crash against the shore in an endless rush. The sensation was so overwhelming as it burst through them, they could not even cry out. Unable to vent her feelings in any other way, Nerys simply hissed with blissful joy. Her lover answered her with a nearly noiseless gasp and both stilled, riding it out until the tide gently receded...
(-|-) * * * (-|-) * * * (-|-)
When Nerys regained her senses, Odo had already disengaged, still holding her, but once more in his humanoid body. He watched her carefully, his eyes still dazed...and a touch apprehensive.
"I didn't hurt you, Nerys?"
She smiled gently at his concern. "I told you last night; you didn't hurt me. I don't think you could."
"I...it's my main concern," he managed to whisper.
She shook her head. "You didn't.
"I'm glad." To his chagrin, his profound gratitude and the aftermath of their lovemaking combined to overwhelm him. He buried his face in her shoulder, held onto her with cautious, trembling hands.
"Are you all right?" she whispered, running her hands along his back. He nodded, unable to speak. After a moment, he managed to gather himself. As he pulled back, Kira assessed him, then stroked his silk-smooth face. Odo swallowed, contrite.
"That was unexpected," he confessed. To his surprise, she shook her head in negation and smiled. He lifted his brows in inquiry. "What?"
"It was wonderful." He relaxed at this, as she intended. Then she slipped her arms around him and held him close as she added, "We were wonderful."
"It was still unexpected."
"Not to me." Kira argued. "And definitely not to Tor's son. I think the Prophets guided Delas when he finished that song." He said nothing, simply held her a fraction closer. She sighed, too, then asked, "Odo?"
"Nerys?" He spoke her name with undisguised satisfaction.
"Why did we wait so long?"
He considered this, smiled. "Perhaps Tor's son wasn't the only one guided by the Prophets, Nerys."
She pulled back, astonished at this very spiritual proposal coming from this most unlikely source, then she noted the look of utter contentment on his face; it delighted her. She developed an impish look and said, "In that case...maybe we should honor them again."
The turmoil of the last few days vanished and the pain of years began to ease for Odo as he pulled Nerys closer to him without a word, taking her up on her suggestion that the Prophets be honored with his utmost dedication. He could do this; she was his now. Always...
Nerys touched his face with wonder as his mouth reclaimed hers, then slipped her arms around him to hold him closer to her...and Odo silently conveyed his first heartfelt prayer of thanks to the Prophets for granting his one and only wish.
~ finis ~
-------------------------------------------------------------
original: December 1995. The characters are Viacom & Paramount's. The situations they're in are the author's. This non-profit material is not meant to infringe on any legal holders of Star Trek copyright. Please do not reproduce for anything other than personal reading use (including fanzines) without written consent of the author. Comments, questions to: OdoGoddess@aol.com
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