My newest Keevan story is a little twist with a childhood classic, "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial", and named after one of the greatest movies of all time starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. Only this time, some time after the Dominion War came to an end, Keevan remains ever a dislike amongst his people for his rebelliousness and is therefore exiled no differently than Garak had been from his own homeworld - and with an even deadlier secret that he hides from everyone who hates him. However, his life changes when he meets the daughter of Deep Space 9's new tailor.
I own nothing but my main OC and a couple other minor ones.
Chapter One
He was a disgrace to his own kind, they said. A traitor to the gods he served.
They banished him. Cast him away instead of executing him like they always would to many of his people - many of whom did not look upon him with affection either. Well, he cared not. Not anymore.
He had long ago given up any hope of love. Love, he was told, did not exist, that it was only a story to give to the foolish. Without it, you were never weak.
He knew he was different from the other Vorta the moment his first incarnation was activated, that there was something - everything - wrong with the Dominion. The Founders could not have been gods, because what gods hated their children and punished them at all times, expected them to serve and nothing else? Expected them to give their lives over and over as punishment, with the memory of their past failures and mistakes?
It was torture.
That was why Keevan intended to live despite being in only his first incarnation. Despite it being "glory to the Founders", as the Jem'Hadar would say. Obedience brings victory - and victory is life.
Victory is life...that could be interpreted in many different forms. It could mean that life was meant to be precious and worth living, or it could mean that life had many rewards for you. Either way, there were so many things Keevan felt like he had to accomplish - hadn't he served the Founders well that he did not deserve to be treated like this?
His predecessor was supposed to activate his termination implant when he surrendered to Starfleet, but he didn't. He would have been executed if the Ferengi successfully returned him, and Yelgrun got himself captured for it. Perhaps he should say he had been spared the death penalty at the order of the Founder - but now, in his second life, he fared no better. No matter his incarnation, he was a mocking failure of a Field Supervisor. Simple as that.
Now the Armistice between the Dominion and the Federation had been signed, and peace was secured, although life within his own people fared no better. Keevan had thought this would mark the beginning of a new era for the Vorta, but he had been a fool. And as punishment, the Founders no longer saw him as a worthy agent and exiled him from the Gamma Quadrant.
He was given no Jem'Hadar to accompany him, no fellow Vorta to join him - he was alone. Alone with only the clothes on his back, his nutritions that were specified for his tastes, and his little communication system to personalize anywhere he would be.
None other than Deep Space 9. Where everyone would know what his people did no matter being the Founders' orders - and despise him.
~o~
She hummed softly to herself as she ran the tricorder over the hemline of the latest colorful dress and made sure there were no threads left - until her mother scolded her from the back.
"Vera, that's the third time today I had to tell you that your singing drives me crazy!"
She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Mom." Still, it was a never-ending minor battle ever since she and her mother decided to move in together after both their divorces a year ago, which was one year after the war between the Federation and the Dominion came to a drawing close. Her father remained on Earth while she and her mother, Norah, moved to Deep Space 9 following the former Cardassian tailor returning to help rebuild what was left of his home planet that had once been conquered by the Dominion. Vera Coleman herself had a lack of a direction in her life, something she and her parents disagreed on from time to time, calling her a wild call girl because she loved to go out with just random men and aliens instead of taking anything seriously.
She had been married before, or had they forgotten? After a year, they divorced because of his unfaithfulness, which her father, Colonel Jonathan Coleman, disagreed with because of southern beliefs of staying married no matter what happened. He was never the most supportive of fathers, which was why Vera had not spoken to him since her split and why her mother left him, because she had been forced to choose between her husband and daughter. Norah tried to be the best mother she could be while Vera did the best she could, working in the tailor shop with her mother; she happened to love making clothing because it was a stress-reliever.
Sometimes she could not say the same for her mother.
"Lt. Dax will be here soon, or have you forgotten?" Norah Coleman asked as she came out from the back with a new Bajoran uniform done, ready for Colonel Kira herself. Vera had to say she felt intimidated every time she met the commander of the station ever since its last one, Captain Benjamin Sisko, went missing in action. But Kira Nerys was very courteous, telling her and her mother that they might lighten the place up since Garak, a longtime comrade of hers, had returned home to rebuild it.
"No, Mom, I did not," Vera replied; the client of this garment in her hands would be here soon to collect. "Is the dress ready for her?" Ezri Dax, the station's counselor, was tying the knot in a month with Dr. Julian Bashir; the two of them were the first real friends she actually made in the entire place, besides the Ferengi bartender Quark, whose bar she visited twice a week after work. Her mother yelled back yes, and in time for another voice to chip in.
"About time, too!"
"Ezri, you came!" Vera said, finishing the touches and walking around the table to greet the lieutenant. "It's all set for you. Just how have you been?"
"Never better. And to think I didn't think marriage was on my list, but I'm happy to marry Julian. I never get tired of saying that," she added with a laugh, pointing a finger into Vera's face. When she looked down, Vera found herself looking at the ring around the Trill's finger from the good doctor; it was incredible and clear, the middle diamond surrounded with spirals of smaller ones resembling a supernova in space. Befitting since they all lived in space. Dax had been through eight hosts in the lifetimes; Ezri was the latest, so she would be the fourth bride while there had been two grooms. She had made the right decision to marry a genetically enhanced physician while the Dax before her had tied the knot with a Klingon. Quark had done the deed in entertaining her with the stories of his history of complaints of the intermarriage.
"Lieutenant, you're going to be a wonderful bride," Norah said with a beaming smile as she brought out the garment bag from the back and held it onto a rack so she could pull the zipper down the front. When she revealed it to the bride herself, Ezri was blown away. The bodice was strapless, covered with an elaborate pattern of crystals and beads, stopping at the waistline and flaring out with an ethereal white fabric. Ezri looked like she was trying not to cry as she tried to imagine Julian's face when he saw her coming to him.
Seeing Ezri's face took Vera back to when she first got married, and it was extremely bittersweet for her.
Her mother had made the dress for her; it had been dramatic and sophisticated silk-satin, smooth and billowing with little lines of lace and crystals down the bodice, made her feel like a woman at eighteen years old. She'd been young and hopeful for the future as she wished she could have done something better with her life, but her father always knew how to destroy her self-esteem. Now she wasn't sure what to do with her life at the present; all she wondered was if she would ever get married again and work out for sure this time.
The three women - her mother, Dax and herself - all turned their heads in the direction of the doorway at the sound of angry shouting on the Promenade.
They gathered at the doorway and looked over to see everything that was going on. A crowd had gathered in the middle of the Promenade at one of the newest residents coming on board, yelling and roaring obscenities and offenses, and Vera could have sworn she caught phrases like "You don't belong here!"
Another was clear enough: "Your people ordered the deaths of so many of our own!"
Most of all: "You served shape-shifting monsters!"
From her knowledge of all of this and the Dominion War, a Vorta had arrived aboard Deep Space 9.
"Alright, people, that is enough!" Colonel Kira had arrived, shouting for everyone to back away from the individual, with the security staff coming in and pushing the angry mob away. "There's been enough blood spilled," Kira said angrily to them all, "so leave this to me! If Captain Sisko were here, he would have been severely disappointed in all of you as much as I am!"
"Excuse me," Ezri whispered to Vera and her mother, "but I'll come back and get my dress later. Duty calls." Norah agreed, but Vera barely heard and instead focused on the incredible creature that had almost been beaten by the mob. Some things never changed. When Captain Sisko was still here, as well as the shape-shifter Odo who had been the last chief of security, order had been intact, but some people believed just because they were no longer here, they could do what they wanted.
The Vorta was male, avoiding eye contact with anyone but still holding himself high; it didn't look like he brought much of anything with him other than food, limited as it was. The sight was almost sad. His face was soft and delicate, not the manly form that her first husband had been - and her breath caught when she saw pale skin, full lips not even smiling, smooth cheekbones, elongated ears ridged along the sides and a thick mane of silky-looking black curls. She had never seen a Vorta before, only heard about them and that they were master tricksters, manipulative and cunning...
...but someone failed to mention seductive.
"Vera, we have to get back to work," her mother whispered to her. "Leave the colonel to take care of that."
She followed Norah back into the shop, but found she was unable to stop thinking about that strange creature who had just arrived.
~o~
"Keevan. Dr. Bashir filled me in about you."
"Colonel Kira Nerys. Finally an honor to meet you," he said sarcastically as he leaned back in his chair, back still high and head tilted as he crossed one leg over the other, looking up at the woman in command after the late Captain Sisko, rest him. Keevan remembered him respectfully even if the man loathed him for his own Jem'Hadar.
"What happened, the Dominion sent you over here to spy on us?" the Bajoran sneered, though her face was straight. He chuckled.
"Not likely. I don't work for them anymore. I've been exiled here to Deep Space 9."
She snorted and sat down across from him, mimicking the leg crossing. "Just like Garak from Cardassia? What did you do this time? Have more of your Jem'Hadar traded to save your life again?" she asked, fist flat on the table surface.
Keevan pursed his lips; why he was here, he should say was none of her business, but she was the commanding officer of this station. "I'm not a favorite amongst my people. You know my record too well, shouldn't you? I'm only in my second incarnation, but the Founders chose not to execute me. Instead, they thought a fate far worse than death for me, so they sent me here. I've...protested that my people deserve freedom now that the war is over. For a year I have done so, but the Vorta are too loyal to the Founders; they can never get it through that they are NOT gods." He felt his lip curl in disgust. "But I have."
"So they send you to live amongst people who hate yours. They might as well be laughing about you now," Kira stated, a small smile forming that he was inclined to spit upon.
"I see we understand each other. But if no one will welcome me, then where do you recommend for me to live out the rest of my miserable immortal life?" Keevan asked smoothly. "By now, the entire Alpha Quadrant will leave me to starve and rot, not that I frankly give a damn. It's ironic, is it not, Colonel?"
He gave an obscene smile when he saw her posture go rigid that she thought he was trying to play her so she could give him a place of residence, but he was not - or maybe he was. All he wanted was a safe to live, maybe make the best of what he could. He was supposed to carry himself out into his new life like he used to amongst his Jem'Hadar and fellow Vorta. He was not going to let himself be weak amongst these hateful others around him.
"I suppose," Kira said finally. "You did everything to survive while your comrades gave their own lives up and your Jem'Hadar for slaughter."
"That's all they live for, in case you forgot not that long ago," he said, infuriated. "They live to serve and die, nothing more. And the Vorta trade their lives over and over until terminated permanently. I cannot do that. Death for all eternity? Could you yourself or any others you care about live like that? That is one thing you Federation people will never understand about the Vorta."
She nodded. "You're right. I wish I did entirely." Kira rose then. "I'll see what I can do to arrange quarters for you. Though I'll warn you that there isn't going to be a warm welcome until you find a way to get everyone to soften around you."
Keevan tried not to laugh. "As if I need to be reminded. Thank you, Colonel; you are most gracious." She snorted and turned her back to him, calling for the security team to take him.
~o~
By the time the day ended, Vera returned back to her own quarters which were also three doors down from her mother's. She was a legal adult now and did not need to live with her mother forever, but she also needed to live close enough to check on her when she could. Ever since divorcing herself as well, Norah Coleman had struggled to find someone new because of her age. She was only forty-three and still striking. Vera liked to think that she could get another man if she wanted to.
As for herself, she might still be young, but she wasn't planning on falling in love again anytime soon because the first time did not work out.
Just as she arrived and was about to settle in for the evening, she heard noises outside. Frowning, she walked back to her door and peeked through the crack she made with her own hands - and outside, across the hall and directly in front of her, she saw the very same Vorta opening the door to his new quarters. The outcast was moving in and across from her.
He paused, back turned to her, but his head tilted around as if sensing he was being watched...and then his head whipped around, glaring directly at her invading his privacy. Heart panicking, she quickly closed the door and pressed her back against the wall, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down.
He'd seen her. The Vorta saw her!
What could she say or do now?
What was he going to do?
Maybe he would simply ignore her and leave her be. Something about him intimidated her so; maybe it was because of the way his strange eyes had caught hers. They were wide and round, clear as a sky but a bluish shade of purple. She had never seen such eyes before, looking at her and trying to read her...
She shook her head. Her stomach was excited and beyond her control and disbelief. He wasn't even welcomed anyways, so even if she WAS interested in him, her mother might not even approve. But she was a grown woman who could make her own choices.
Vera found herself staring into the mirror as she changed for the night after her sonic shower. Her hair was a rustic shade of red, like her mother's, but unlike Norah's mid-shoulder-length mane which she always held up very tight behind her head, Vera's was three inches past her shoulder, curling at the ends and straight all the way up. Her eyes were blue while Norah had hazel ones. But both women had the same ivory skin and full, naturally dark rosy lips and full bust, complete with hourglass figures.
She dressed herself into a knee-length peasant shirt, soft red and matching her hair, and smooth silk. She also did not have it in her to take off her jewelry at bed besides cleaning up. Her necklace that she wore every day were of five smooth beads on a band of woven gold chords, close to her throat; the bracelet snugged her wrist, without the beads but the same mesh chording. Finally, there was her favorite ring on her middle right finger; it was given to her as a birthday present by her father long ago, saying one day she would find the perfect man to spend her life with who would satisfy the entire family, the symbolism in the two moonstones on an intricate golden band ironic enough. She and her father might not speak anymore, but she did not have it in her to remove this last piece of him.
Now that she found herself looking at it again as she laid down on the bed, she wondered once more if another was out there. Someone who would never abandon her. Someone who would never cheat her. Someone who would not treat her as second-hand or a transaction. Someone who would never take her for granted.
Someone who would be there for her always.
The story behind Vera's broken marriage and disapproving father was based off of the one of a second-time bride in an episode of "Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta" - called "Ties That Bind" - in which her mother was being forced to choose between her daughter and husband, but in the end she ended up not going to the wedding which is definitely one of the biggest mistakes she's ever made, as it is with the case of mothers who don't go to their daughters' weddings.