Space, the final frontier…of love! These are the dates of- "What in the seven hells do you think you're doing Q?"
There was no flash this time, but a light being switched on by Dr. Zevil, dressed in a fluffy black bathrobe, long purple nightcap, a red sleep mask that was still down on his left eye socket, and slippers that looked like Cerberus (Disney) on his feet, and Q was at the recording mic.
"What does it look like?" the extra-dimensional being asked indignantly with an expansive gesture. "I'm doing your job for you. Wasn't that nice of me?"
"Q," Dr. Zevil said with a yawn, "I don't need a lot of sleep, but when I do have to sleep, I need to sleep like the dead for at least seventy-two hours, can this not wait till later?"
"Really?" Q asked, eyebrow cocked. "'Sleep like the dead'?"
"I get punny when I haven't slept in two thousand years."
"Then go back to bed and I'll continue with this lovely little literary gem you had on your desk." Said Q, who looked positively ecstatic at the prospect of the new story.
"Well, as I kinda live and don't breathe." Dr. Zevil said, voice a wash with cruel humor. "Is the almighty Q a closet romantic?" He let out a wicked cackle at the glare Q shot him. "I knew you flirted with Janeway and had Junior with Q, but to learn you enjoy romance stories? It's positively delicious!"
"Keep talking you barely higher life form," Q said, warning clear in his voice, "It's not wise to get on my bad side."
"Alright," Said Zevil in mock surrender, "but we are not starting the story like that. Let's keep thing simple with:"
Date Night
Dodging Bullets and Dancing the Night Away
"The hull damage we sustained in the battle and retreat is not nearly as bad as we first perceived, Six told Zevil, "the Dock workers say they should have that fixed soon."
Both were sitting down, not in his ready room aboard the Hades, but his rarely used office at Earth Spacedock, where his ship was docked after the battle in Fluidic space with both the Undine and the Borg. They had sustained heavy damage in the attack and had barely made it to ESD for a thorough repair.
"'Soon' in dock worker speak means we can tack on another three weeks to our stay here." Zevil said as he took a sip of his usual tea, grimacing slightly at the taste. "Which means a whole month of getting subpar tea from my office's replicator that still hasn't been fixed."
His office was nice, a little bigger than his ready room with a floor to ceiling window that had an excellent view of Earth when they past it in rotation, but some of the equipment was faulty. It wasn't a big problem for him usually since he was rarely there, but now he was going to be there for a month, so he needed his replicator to work.
"Chief Rupert informed me that he will make sure that the dock workers fix everything quickly, but efficiently." She replied.
"That's good, but we need to make sure that he takes time off like the rest of the crew is." When they had gotten to ESD, Zevil had decided to give everyone shore leave until the repairs were complete. He and Six would be taking their own leave after they finished this progress report. "I know he doesn't require rest, but I don't want him slaving away and miss an opportunity to relax. The Soong foundation already sends me angry letters about the WBH mark 1's, I don't want them to think I treat my lone Photonic Officer like a slave."
"I will make sure he takes his time off, sir." Six said, imputing a reminder for herself in the padd she was reading from. "That concludes my report, Admiral."
"Good, now we can take our own time off, which leads to something I've wanted to ask you for a while." Zevil stood up and walked around the desk. "I know we had that coffee date, but I was wondering if you'd like to go on a proper date with me?" he had a hopeful smile on his face as he said it, really hoping that she would say yes.
A day before they clashed with the assimilated Undine, He and Six had had their coffee date at the Hades Ten Forward, and it had gone well: they admitted their feelings for one another and both wanted to explore a relationship, but that wasn't really a traditional date. They had both agreed that after the business with the Undine was done with and they had a more than a moment of peace that they would go on an actual date.
They had also kissed right before going into the Cube and facing the assimilated Undine, and a few times afterward when they were alone, but they hadn't had a chance for that date, because shortly after that incident, they got the call to meet up with Admiral Tuvok.
"A 'proper' date?" Six asked as she stood, a smile coloring her voice. "With dinner, dancing, and…" she walked up to him, encircling her arms around his neck as his arms instinctively warped around her waist, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered, her voice turning sultry, "dessert?"
The whisper caused Zevil's cheeks to heat up and turn the color of an Earth eggplant. 'I am a 27-year-old man, with experience at talking to women, yet this woman makes me blush like a school boy.' He thought before he mentally shook himself and attempted to be his usually smooth self. "Y-yes!" but failed as his reply was a squeak and not his usual baritone.
Zevil cleared his throat and tried again as she pulled back from his ear, her small smile on her beautiful face and her eye sparkling with bemused mischief. "Yes. I've booked us a table at Vic's Las Vegas Lounge at Quarks. I figured with our shared love of mid twentieth century Earth Jazz, it would be a nice evening." He smiled as he saw her small smile grow at his words right before she kissed him. It was chaste, both officers not wanting to start something in the Admirals office.
"That sounds wonderful." She said as she pulled back from the kiss. "When do we leave? I assume we'll be taking a shuttle."
"Yes, we'll be taking the Iago." He said, cupping her cheek, "we'll make a transwarp jump to the Alpha Quadrant and DS9, and before you know it, we'll be drinking cocktails and dance to the dulcet tones of Vic Fontaine." He cracked a smile as he did his best impression of mid twentieth century American, "With my best girl on my arm." Six rolled her eye at him but leaned in for another kiss.
Soon they were on the U.S.S. Iago, Zevils Delta Flyer shuttle, engaged the transwarp drive, and were docking at DS9 before you could say 'Badda-Bing'. While they were keeping their relationship secret from their crew and the rest of Starfleet until it was absolutely necessary, Zevil wasn't going to use a fake name on a flight plan when using his own shuttle, so it was no surprise that they were greeted by Commander Sarish.
They had quickly told her that they were there purely for shore leave and not on any official business. She bid them a good shore leave and went on her way, they did the same, going straight to their temporary quarters to replicate their outfits for their date, agreeing that they would meet one another at Quark's. Zevil replicated a classic black tuxedo from the 1960's complete with a black bowtie and gold cufflinks and leaving his combadge in his quarters. He and Six decided to leave their commbages in their quarters to avoid any unwanted intrusions to their night.
He was pulling at his sleeves, being mindful of his claws, feeling a little nervous as he walked into the Ferengi bar. 'I've survived a fight with an assimilated Undine, stared down an insane Klingon war monger and his doomsday weapon, and single handedly fought dozens of Jem'Hadar in this very station.' He thought to himself as he went up to the bar, 'I can handle a simple date with a beautiful woman…even if that woman means a great deal to me. Dammit that didn't help!'
"Well, well!" Said a slimy voice, breaking Zevil out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw the sharp toothed smile of the bar's infamous owner, Quark. "If it isn't one of the youngest Admirals in Starfleet. You must be thirsty after dealing with the Borg and Undine, how about a Valixian brandy and some sugar beetles?"
Zevil cocked an eyebrow at the well informed Ferengi. "Rule of Acquisition number one hundred and ninety-four: It's always good business to know about new customers before they walk in your door."
"I'm impressed! I can only think of a few Starfleet officer that can quote the Rules of Acquisition from memory!" Said Quark with an even wider smile, reminding Zevil of another rule: 'The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.'
Zevil crossed his arms and gave a low-level glare at the businessman. "And I'm concerned you have knowledge of a Starfleet operation on the other side of the galaxy."
"Rule of Acquisition number seven: Keep your ears open." Quark said, barely fazed by the Admirals glare. "So, what brings you to my bar? Some dabo perhaps or are you going to be the adventurous sort and try one of my holosuite programs? I've heard good things about the Orion Slave harem." he gave a salacus smile, "Only heard, of course."
"Yes and no." Zevil said and couldn't help but smirk, which made the smarmy man pause. "I and a friend of mine are headed to Vic's Las Vegas Lounge." Zevil's smirk grew wider as the smile was whipped off the Ferengi's face and was replaced with a scowl. It was no secret that Quark saw Vic as his competition and the fact he had to give up one of his lucrative holosuites to keep the program going still rankled him.
"Are you ready to go, Xavius?" Six's voice grabbed his attention before Quark could reply. Zevil turned and whatever he was going say died on his tongue and his mind went blank. Six was dressed in a floor length, forest green, and velvet gown with a slit that was an inch above mid-thigh, tight sleeves that reached her wrists, and a deep V-neck with heels that matched her dressed.
It was a classy yet alluring dress that truly enhanced her beauty. Her hair, which was normally a pixie cut, by some means had been grown out to reach her waist and was sideswept to her left side and in waves. Her makeup was a deep forest green that complimented her grey skin, black hair, and the bright green of her optics beautifully.
"Wow." Zevil said breathlessly, completely blown away at the beautiful woman in front of him.
"You can say that again." Said Quark, voice matching the lecherous leer he was giving the liberated Borg. This snapped Zevil out of his stupor, and he was not proud of himself for using his telekinesis to yank Quarks feet as if he had slipped on something behind the bar…no, not proud at all.
Zevil walked up to his date and offered her his arm. 'You look lovely as always, my dear.' He said to her telepathically, causing her to smile and blush a little at his words. After she was disconnected from the Collective, Zevils presence in her mind was off-putting to say the least but after a few visits with the ship's counselor, she learned to trust the telepaths she served with when they spoke to her in her mind.
She took his arm and they made their way to the holosuite that the lounge was in, not noticing that Hadron had been watching them and was now activating a communicator. "Hadron to S.S. Greed. The female is here."
"Good." Said a voice over the commlink. "Let them enjoy the primitive waste of latinum for a while then activate our little surprise." The voice gave a nasty chuckle, "I love when revenge and profit come together!"
The band was playing an upbeat jazz tune as the couple walked into the lounge and were seated at a table near the dance floor by a waitress. Zevil had done his research before booking their table, because normally Vic's didn't have a dance floor, but it was couple's night and that meant dancing. "I have to hand it to Mr. Knightly," Zevil said as he looked around the room. "The historical detail for this program is amazing."
"It is quite impressive." Six said as she also looked around the room as holographic patrons and lounge workers. "And the music is wonderful."
"I'll take the compliment and make sure Felix and my boys get it too, doll face." The couple turned to see the proprietor and main act of the lounge, who extended his hand for a hand shake. "Vic Fontaine, this is my place, nice to meet cha pallys."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Fontaine." Zevil said standing and shaking his hand. "I'm-"
"Admiral Xavius Vexius Zevil, that's a real mouth full of a name you got there by the way, pally." Said the photonic singer before he tapped his head, "I got your personal file up, which means I also know that this lovely lady is Lieutenant Commander Six of Nine."
"I hope we're not pulling you away from your duties Vic." Said Zevil as he resumed his seat.
"Not at all pally," Said Vic reassuringly with a casual wave of his hand. "I always like to greet my guests' right before a show, but I also wanted to personally thank you for helping get the station back from those Dominion yahoos." He said this earnestly, and if Zevil and Six hadn't known Rupert, they wouldn't believe it was real. "The last time those goons were here, they tried to deactivate me permanently. So, thanks, pally."
"It was my honor to help, but I didn't do it alone." Zevil said humbly. "It was a group effort of the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Republic, with help from the Dominion forces from the Gamma Quadrant."
"You ain't wrong pally," Said Vic with a charming smile and a good-natured laugh, "and if my old pals Odo and Worf ever drop in again, I'll thank em, but you're the one who's here so again thanks. Any requests for the night?"
"Anything would be lovely Vic." Said Zevil with a quick glance to his date. "But I would ask that you keep romance at the front of your mind."
"Hey, you got it pally." Said Vic with a knowing smile. "You kids have a good night and drinks are on the house." The photonic singer gave a final smile and went up to the stage to start his first set, the first song being "You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You".
"An excellent and appropriate first song. This was the first song my father and I listened to when he introduced me to Jazz." Six said in a soft voice. Six didn't have a lot of memories of her life before being assimilated by the Borg, but with the help of a counselor and Zevils telepathy, she had recovered many memories of her childhood and was in the process of getting more. She noticed Zevil was looking at her with soft eyes. "What is it?"
"You're just so beautiful and I'm so lucky that you said yes to this date." He said, causing her to smile and take his hand in hers.
She blushed interlaced their fingers. "I'm the lucky one, Xavius." She said with adoration shining in her eyes. "I never thought I would ever have someone look at me the way you do. To most I'm just a Drone that could rejoin the Collective at any moment. But you look at me like I'm a person, not just a person, but someone that finds me beautiful even with my grey skin and implants." She touched her optical scope and the casing around it self-consciously.
"I think you're the most beautiful woman in any room Six." Zevil said softly as he lifted their hands to kiss the back of hers. "And I'm not the only one that thinks so," he said with a mischievous smile, "I'm sure Quark would wholeheartedly agree with me."
"Yes, because that is the type of man that I wish to attract." She said dryly. She was about to say more, but a waitress came up to their table and asked for their order. As Six gave her order, Zevil knew he truly was lucky. Not many people would have accepted his use of future technology to change the outcome of a major event in the near future.
'But you haven't told her everything, have you?' he asked himself, breaking him out of the light feeling he had encased himself in since he saw Six in that dress and the date began. While not in depth, he had told her about his mission as a Delta recruit, but what had yet to tell her that their meeting had been engineered by Daniels, Crey, and the Temporal Agency they both served. 'If I'm going to start this relationship, there will be no more lies between us and if Daniels doesn't like it? That's just too damn bad.' He thought resolutely.
"Six," he said getting her attention after the waitress left, "there's something I need to tell you about-" Before anything further can be said, the roar of automatic gunfire cuts him off.
The sound prompts everyone in the room to turn to the entrance where several men dressed in black suits and fedoras stood with all manner of guns pointed at the crowd. The leader of the group, who was the one to shoot up into the air to get everyone's attention, stepped forward. "You miss me Vic?" said the man as he leveled his tommy gun at the singer.
"Frankie Eyes?" said Vic, his voice confused. "But I thought-"
"You thought boss Zeemo had me killed after you and your future friends stole this hotel from me, didn't ya?" said Frankie cutting Vic off. "Well he was, but I got a few friends from the future of my own now, and they took care of Zeemo for me so I'm the boss now."
"And what the boss wants, the boss gets!" said a big man next to Frankie.
"That's right Tommy," Said Frankie, a sneer on his lips as he pointed his gun at Zevil and Six. "And what I want is that dame right there."
"I think not, Mr. Eyes." Zevil said coldly at the photonic mobster. He didn't know what was going on, but he would not let some malfunctioning program try and kidnap his girlfriend and second officer. "Computer delete program Frankie Eyes and associated programs." but nothing happened. He tried again, "Computer, delete-"
"That ain't gonna work pally." Said Frankie with a derisive laugh. "I don't know what or how, but my new friends say that because I'm a 'jack-in-the-box program', you can't just snap your fingers and get rid of me. Now, get out of our way and give us the broad or else."
"I choose 'or else'." Said Six right before she fired a type-1 phaser at the mobsters.
The beam passed right through the group of angry photonic beings, not even harming them. "Or else it is! Light em up boys!" ordered Frankie and he, and his men, opened fire.
Thinking fast, Zevil psychically grabbed several tables and used them as cover. "You brought a phaser to our date?!" he shouted over the roar of gun fire. "Should I be flattered or offended?" he quipped.
"Considering this stations history, I thought it was prudent!" she shouted back, ducking as a piece of table was shot off by the continuous stream of bullets coming their way. "And as much as I enjoy your wit, Xavius, it would be advisable to think of a solution to our predicament!"
"Where were you keeping it anyway?" He asked incredulously. He had paid very close attention to Six in that dress, and he didn't remember any bulge of a phaser anywhere on her dress, even for one as small as a type-1 phaser.
"Xavius! We are being shot at by rouge holograms!" she shouted as another piece of table was blasted off. "Please focus!"
"Why? I only put up this barrier up out of instinct. They're holograms, the holographic safety protocols won't let themARAH!" Zevil was saying before a bullet broke through the barrier and hit his arm.
"Xavius!" Six yelled, going to his side as the makeshift barrier fell a fraction of an inch as Zevil lost focus, but it was quickly back in place with broken plates, glasses, and the fallen cutlery being brought up as well to add more defense to their position. "You're damaged!"
"Just a flesh wound dear." Zevil said as she pulled his hand away to inspect his wound. "I guess that means the safety protocols are off." He winced when he saw Six tear a strip off the hem of her dress to make a bandage to stop the bleeding. "Oh, I loved that dress."
"I will replicate a new one once we get out of this mess." She said rolling her eye. "I suggest we retrieve Vic from the stage, he seems to know this Mr. Eyes." She pointed to the stage where Vic was using the overturned grand piano as cover. His band and the rest of the holographic patrons had already left, but Vic was pinned down by Frankie shooting at him specifically.
"An excellent idea as always." Zevil said as he made their barrier orbit around them as they ran to the stage and joined Vic behind the piano, placing their barrier in front of it to increase their defense.
"Neat trick there pally, real lifesaver." Said Vic with a relieved smile. "I'm glad you came when you did, this piano wasn't going to last much longer. Tell me one of you guys brought one of those combadges that can call us some help, cause I'm gettin' nuttin' on my line."
"They must be scrambling your connection to the rest of the station. No, we didn't bring them." Zevil said. "We didn't want our date to be interrupted, but clearly Mr. Eyes didn't get that memo. A friend of yours, Vic?"
"We grew up together in the old neighborhood. Felix put him in a as jack-in-the-box program to liven up my program." He shook his head, "To make a long story short, Captain Sisko and most of his crew helped me get rid of him." He ducked as plate shattered to dust from another gunshot. "Clearly, we didn't do a good enough job though because he's still here, which I don't get. Chief Miles O'Brien said he took him out of my program completely, so how's he here?"
"Frankie said he had 'friends from the future', could he mean non-photonic beings?" Zevil asked. He received his answer in the form of their cover being disintegrated by an energy weapon.
They looked to see two Ferengi standing at the front of the group, both armed with energy whips. One was Hadron and the other was "Madran." Zevil said with contempt as he recognized the squat little Ferengi he had met on that mining moon Hakeev had been using as a base.
"That's right Starfleet, didn't think you'd see me, again did you?" he asked with a sneer. "Did you like the little surprise I had Hadron set up?"
"Oh yes very amusing." Zevil said dryly as he, Six, and Vic stood from their earlier crouches with their hands raised in surrender. "I take it he or maybe even Quark saved Mr. Eyes' program after Chief O'Brien thought he deleted it?"
"It was Quarks idea actually." Said Hadron with a smirk. "He said that if the opportunity ever came up to profit off this program, he wanted to be the one to do it."
"I'll have to thank Quark the next time I see him." Said Vic sarcastically.
"Shut up Vic!" Frankie said as he aimed and fired his gun at Vic's feet.
"Stop you idiot!" shouted Madran, dropping his energy whip and pulled out a Ferengi tricorder, put in a set of commands, and the gun was gone.
"What gives?!" Frankie shouted back as stopped shooting.
"You could have shot the female!" The greedy little man roared.
"You said you didn't need her alive!" argued the photonic mobster.
"Yes, but we can harvest more nanoprobes if she's alive!" Madran argued back.
"That's what this is about?" Zevil asked, outraged at the thought that his date had been interrupted because of a Ferengi get rich scheme. "The mining business not profitable enough?"
"There is no business because of you!" Madran snarled as he turned back to his captives. "After your trip down it, there was nothing left profitable in that stupid mine! The explosion you caused-"
"That Hakeev caused." Zevil interrupted in a deadpan.
"That you caused made whatever was left either unusable or impossible to get to!" Madran insisted, hate burning in his eyes. "And then both Federation and Republic officials came and unloaded a moons worth of fines on me! I was ruined because of you!"
"Why nanoprobes?" Zevil couldn't help but ask. For some reason, this situation was ringing a bell in Zevils memory. He had to keep these idiots talking in the vain hope that someone would have noticed that something was wrong in this holosuite and call security or a repair team, at this point Zevil didn't care.
"Nanoprobes are still a rare commodity, even with all those Liberated Borg roaming the galaxy, so I decided I was going to be the one to corner the market!" Said Madran with pride at his own brilliance. "I actually just had an uncle of mine that tried the same thing with a hologram too!"
"That's why all this seems so familiar!" Zevil said in an 'Aha!' voice. "Your uncle must have been one of the Ferengi that used a hologram of Commander Barclay to try and kidnap Seven of Nine."
"Is now really the time for a history lesson pally?" asked Vic wearily, eyeing all the guns pointed at them.
"The hologram has a point." Said Madran, "Kill the males, but leave the female alive."
"You gonna keep your end of the deal?" asked Frankie defiantly. "We do this for you and you give me and my boys those gizmos that'll let us walk out of here?"
"Rule of Acquisition number sixteen: a deal is a deal." Said Madran piously, "I'll give you the mobile emitters you want, now kill them!" Zevil tensed, ready to try and bring whatever he could grab to shield him and the others, but they were rescued by an unlikely individual.
"What in the Vault of Eternal Destitution is going on in here?!" shouted Quark as he walked into the lounge, an angry scowl on his face. "I had a few customers in here shouting that someone was-" Quark cut himself off as he saw the situation in full, "Okay, so they weren't exaggerating about someone shooting up the place."
"Get lost Quark!" sneered Madran sneered. "This isn't any of your business!"
"Except that it's being done in my bar, in one of my holosuites, my holograms," Said Quark with an angry scowl as he noticed Hadron "and apparently my employee who not only took my programs without asking," his tone turned threatening, "but is probably going to wind up my ex-employee for stealing my programs!"
"This was all his idea!" Hadron said, more afraid of the brother to and who had the ear of the Grand Nagus. "I didn't have a choice! I owed him money and he said that he would forget the debt if I helped him."
"Rule of Acquisition number one hundred and eleven: Treat people in your debt like family... exploit them." Quark said with a shake of his head. "And what profit are you making from this?" he asked tersely. When Hadron answered with only a grimace, Quark grabbed him by his ear roughly. "What kind of Ferengi are you?! Rule of Acquisition number eighteen: a Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all!"
"And you!" he pointed at Madran, "You are using my programs and my employ to make a profit! I should report you to the FCA for blatant and stupidly executed theft of a fellow Ferengi's property."
"This is all culturally fascinating and all," interrupted Frankie, forcing the three Ferengi to look at him. "But can I get back to shooting these too mooks?"
"I don't know this human phrase," Zevil whispered to Vic, "Should I be offended? I feel like I should."
"Yeah," said Vic a little disbelievingly, still a little shocked at how much of his time was lost from the now, "it means idiot." Zevil glared at the photonic mobster.
"Just hold on holographic Hue-mon!" barked Madran before fixing Quark with a glare. "What do you want Quark."
"70%" said Quark simply as he roughly shoved Hadron away from him. "You used my equipment and people."
"I'm sorry, what?" Zevil asked, more than a little dumbfounded.
"30%." Said Madran just as simply. "I did all the work, you just supplied the tools and those people were incompetent enough to not cover his tracks."
"Hey!" said an indignant Hadron, rubbing his mishandled ear.
"That's just insulting," said Quark with a scowl, "you were only able to get this far with my equipment and my people, no matter how incompetent he is. I always charged double the price whenever I lent Rom to someone."
"Fine, fine!" snapped Madran, "I agree your equipment and your moron were useful, so I'm willing to express that in a proper share of the incoming profits: 45%."
"50% and that is my final offer before I call my brother, who happens to be the Grand Nagus!" threatened Quark.
"May I put in a counter offer?" Zevil said as he was hit with inspiration. The two Ferengi turned to him so he continued, "The profits you'll make from this particular scheme will probably get you a massive amount of profits…eventually." Zevil gave a slight grimace. "Plus, given Madran's track record for making profits, this venture might not even get you any."
"You don't know anything!" shouted Madran, "I have buyers from all over the galaxy that want nanoprobes and the last failure I suffered was your fault!"
"Sure, you have buyers, but what's to stop them from just taking it? It wasn't my fault you lost profit from that moon, it was yours for making a deal with the Tal Shiar, who I bet are one of those buyers given their fascination with Borg tech." Zevil asked, gaining a bit more confidence as he saw a wavering look in Quarks eyes. "I, on the other hand, can supply you with a substantial amount of gold pressed latinum that I am more than happy to barter for our freedom."
"How would you have any money?" Quark asked suspiciously, "Starfleet doesn't pay its officers."
"A few months ago, I was on a mission that required me to play dabo as a cover, I won quite a bit, invested, saved, and stored it with a banker on Ferenginar who manages it." Zevil said, his voice cool and calm, squarely in his element, "If you give me your tricorder, Quark, I will happily bring up my net worth."
Quark looked at the Admiral suspiciously, before he grabbed Hadron by the ear again. "He tries anything," he said pointing at Zevil, "stun him, not shoot him. If we kill a Starfleet Admiral, Dax will never forgive me and Kira, Kai or no Kai, will kill me."
With that said he released Hadron, walked over to Zevil, and handed his tricorder to him. Zevil imputed his information onto the device and handed it back to Quark once the information was brought up. Quarks eyes went wide as he looked the number that was on the screen. "Is that in strips?" he asked in disbelief.
"Bricks." Zevil said and smiled as he heard the bar owner let out a squeaking noise in surprise. "And it will be all yours if you help us."
Both getting curious, Six and Vic looked over Quarks shoulder to see what the GPL number was. "Whoa! That's a lot of scratch you got there pally." Vic said, voice impressed.
"I do not recall your winnings being that high Xavius." Said Six.
"I invested in a few reputable Ferengi businesses." Zevil answered. "I figured if Ghev was going to be in my taskforce and another event like the one that involved Quarks sister-in-law happened again, then it would be prudent to have a bit of money 'squared away'. I believe that is the correct expression, right?" Zevil looked to Vic for clarification, who nodded his head.
"If I do help you out," Quark said slowly not looking away from the beautiful number on his tricorder, "You won't report me to station security or anyone, deal?"
"Deal." Zevil said.
"Okay, time to cut my losses." Madran said before he turned to Frankie. "Kill them, including Quark!"
"Computer deactivate program Frankie Eyes and associated programs. Quark-Latinum-777." Said Quark quickly and the photonic mobsters disappeared. Madran tried to run but found he couldn't move. He sent a dirty look Zevils way, knowing that he was using his telekinesis to keep him in place, which made Zevil smile.
They soon turned off the scrambler that was disrupting Vic's connection to the station and contacted station security. Sarish soon showed up with Constable Ro and a few of her deputies, who carted Madran away.
"We'll keep him in our brig until we can move him to a more permanent facility to await his trial." Sarish told Zevil, her tone official, but it changed to regret. "You have my deepest apologies for this Admiral, this should have never happened."
"Your apologies are unnecessary, Commander." Said Zevil with a small smile. "You couldn't have known that a Ferengi was going to exploit a very foolish waiter and some holographic mobsters." Zevil shook his head, "It happened to me and I still can't believe it myself."
"Yeah let's get back to the part with the stupid waiter, his boss, and their involvement in this whole thing." Ro said with a glare at the two Ferengi.
"Involvement? What involvement?" Asked Quark with a smile, projecting himself as the humble soul of innocence. "I simply came in to reclaim my programs and my idiotic employee and if that lent a hand to the Admiral, that was just a happy side effect."
"Don't be so modest Quark." Said Ro flatly, glare still on her face. "I wouldn't call bartering over the abduction of a Starfleet officer and the execution of an Admiral nothing."
The smile was wiped away instantly, and his brain went into overdrive trying to figure a way out of this. "I think, given the overall outcome of events, constable," Zevil said walking up beside Quark and putting a clawed hand on his shoulder, "We can overlook Quarks dubious behavior and focus on his positive behavior." Quark looked up at Zevil and saw him glaring at him, sending ice down his spine, before he looked back at the former Starfleet officer. "Just this once and he'll happily turn over those programs, of course." Quark quickly nodded his agreement.
Ro did not look happy, but she nodded. "Of course, Admiral." She then leveled a glare a Quark, "I also expect you to give the Admiral's money back, Quark, or we will have a problem." She then turned and left, Sarish quickly said her goodbyes and was right behind her.
"We had a deal!" Quark growled once the two officials were gone. "I get the money and you don't say a word about my involvement!"
"You're right and I'm a man of my word," Zevil said in a mockery of a solemn voice, "and I didn't say anything to the Commander or the Constable." Zevil pointed to Six. "She on the other hand made no such deal."
Quark turned to vent his ire on the former Drone, but the look in her lone human eye made the words die on his tongue and for a second, he thought he saw Jadzia in that woman's place. "My night of dinner and dancing was interrupted because you thought you could make a profit on a dangerous program. I feel no guilt over telling the station authorities what happened and you should be glad I stopped there."
"Fine, keep your money." He said instead as he grabbed Hadron by the ear and started dragging him away, "I'll just have to console myself with watching this idiot clean the bars floors on his own with hue-mon toothbrush."
"Aw, not again." said Hadron as he was roughly pulled away by his boss.
Once the two Ferengi were gone, both Six's and Zevil's shoulders sagged. "Not exactly the relaxing and romantic evening I had planned." Zevil said, his tone a little defeated. He was surprised to feel Six's hand take his and he looked up to see her smiling softly at him.
"I am just glad that you were not killed and that I am not in that Ferengi's hands." She looked around the shot up and ruined lounge around them. "I am just disappointed that we did not have our dance."
"Who says you're not going to get your dance?" asked Vic before he snapped his fingers and restored the lounge to its former glory minus the patrons from earlier. "One of the perks of being a self-aware lightbulb is full control of my world. Now I think I owe you kids a song."
"Give me one moment to adjust my makeup." Six said with a smile before she hurried off to the bathroom. Zevil was about to do the same, he had a few scrapes on his face he wanted to wash, but stopped when he felt Vic's hand on his shoulder.
"I know it's none of my business, but whatever you're not telling her, you should tell her." He said and Zevil looked at him a little shocked. Vic shrugged, "Part of the job, pally. I don't know what secret you're keeping or why, but I get the feeling that dame will follow you to hell an' back no matter what." He patted Zevil's shoulder one last time and headed up to the stage where his band was already warming up.
Zevil thought over Vic's words. Was he right? Would Six still want to be with him if she learned that their first meeting was manufactured by a shadowy branch of Starfleet from the far future. 'By the Night Cloak, how do I put that into easier words?'
His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his arm. He turned to the owner of the hand and saw that it was Six, who was looking up at him with a look that could be nothing but adoration as the band struck up one of his favorite songs.
Someday, when I'm awfully low
When the world is cold
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight
"May I have this dance?" He asked her charmingly offering her his hand. She took it and he lead her on to the dance floor and they went into a slow waltz.
you're lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft
There is nothing for me but to love you
And the way you look tonight
"Six there's something I have to tell you." Said Zevil with a pained expression as she looked up at him. "It's about when we first met. I was-"
"Ordered by the organization, that you are part of, to find my Cube, destroy it, and inspect the wreckage and bring back whatever you found." She said simply, making Zevil trip slightly, but not utterly ruin the dance.
"How?" he asked surprised.
Six smiled at him bemusedly, "I was never quite sure. When I investigated your temporal missions, I suspected that our meeting was a manufactured one," she took her hand from his shoulder, cupped his cheek, and looked deep into his eyes, "but I don't care about any of that, Xavius."
With each word your tenderness grows
Tearin' my fear apart
And that laugh, wrinkles your nose
Touches my foolish heart
"I didn't know I was sent to find you." He said, still needing to clarify this so she knew he wasn't a monster. "They didn't tell me I was sent to get a person, if I had known-"
"You might have corrupted the timeline," she said soothingly, rubbing his cheek softly, "I understand that Xavius, so please listen to me."
Lovely, never, never change
Keep that breathless charm
Won't you please arrange it?
'Cause I love you
just the way you look tonight
"You saved my life Xavius, gave me a second chance, and you see me for the woman I am and not the Borg monster that I was," She looked away for a moment, "that I physically still am to some degree."
"You are not a monster," Zevil said firmly as he tightened his grip on her waist, bring her closer to him, "You are beautiful, inside and out, and you are one of the best officers I have or will ever serve with."
With each word your tenderness grows
Tearin' my fear apart
And that laugh, wrinkles your nose
Touches my foolish heart
She looked back at him with a watery smile. "Thank you for proving my point. For the record, you are the best captain and man that I have ever known in both my lives, Xavius." she took a deep breath, looking a little nervous, "There is something else I want you to know,"
Lovely, never, never change
Keep that breathless charm
Won't you please arrange it?
'Cause I love you
just the way you look tonight
"I love you Xavius Vexius Zevil." She said a little breathlessly, "I know we have only just started our relationship and I don't have as firm a grasp of my emotion as should, but I know that-" Zevil cut her off with a kiss and opened his mind to her, sharing his feelings with her.
Just the way you look tonight
"I love you too." He said needlessly, because the link he made in their minds proved that to Six, but he knew she needed to hear it too. There were no more words necessary in this moment though, as Six smiled and kissed him again.
Just the way you look tonight
When the song was over, they bid Vic a good night and went back to Xavius' quarters for…dessert.
AN: So, what did you think? I've done slight romances for my other stories, but never a full blown one (I still probably haven't), but this idea just entered my head and wouldn't leave me alone.
And to anyone who has read MaliceUnchained's stories about Kassi Lydana (If not you reeaally should), you know that she is 22 in Earth time (27 on Bajor) so I made Zevil just a little older than her so she's still the youngest Admiral in Starfleet.
There will be more stories, but till then, I bid you adieu!