Disclaimer: Star Trek and its characters are the property of Paramount. No infringement is intended nor has any money been made. The story and all other characters are mine, however.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: This is the sequel to "In Love and War." It is set 6 months after the events in "In Love…" and approximately 3 months after the finale "What You Leave Behind."
Qui Desiderat Pacem…
By
NorthernStar
Six months later…
Prologue: Quiet Reflection.
The bare branches rustled above him, dancing in the sunlight. The shadows dappled the green grass around him and played on the contours of his face. A tear twinkled in the morning light and he shivered as the December wind bit into him.
It was a simple grave. White marble with black Islamic leaf to speak the name of the departed.
It didn't seem real. He was standing at his father's grave.
Richard was dead.
The funeral had been quick and dignified. His father, having shown no sense of heritage during his life, had requested a traditional Muslim burial and had been laid to rest less than 24 hours after death, as was the custom.
Having grown up thinking he knew his father, in death he had surprised him.
His father, Jadzia, Miles, Sisko, Odo…
Ella.
He'd lost so many people in so short a time.
He glanced behind him, to the entrance of the cemetery, where Ezri stood waiting, allowing him some privacy. She waved and blew a kiss.
He'd gained so much.
He loved her deeply, far more than he'd thought possible. There was something so right about the two of them. It wasn't grand, or breathtaking but simple. They meant something, and that was that.
Another mourner, huddled in an overcoat, stood by a grave in the distance.
He shivered; he'd given his own coat to Ezri and his fingers were starting to go numb. Time to go.
"Good bye, Dad." He murmured.
There was nothing else to say.
As he slipped an arm around Ezri, he glanced back, feeling like he'd missed something. She laid a hand against his chest in sympathy.
"Julian?"
But the moment had passed. "Nothing."
Part One: From the Ashes
Ezri waved goodbye to the little figure in the turbo-lift with a slight smile. It was moments like this that made up for all the hard work being a counsellor. Ally Wells was laughing again. So different from 4 months ago when her father brought her to Ezri. There had been something so bitter about her. The uncontrollable anger and grief of a child whose mother had been taken from her. Her dad had no words to explain to her why her mother had died, had left her, when everyone else's mother loved them enough to stay alive.
It had been her hardest case, and her most rewarding.
She returned to her office still smiling to herself, so wrapped up in herself that she'd walked straight up to her replicator before she realised that she wasn't alone.
She turned. "I'm sorry. Did you wish to make an appointment?"
The man sitting on huge sofa that was supposed to put people at ease was smiling at her. He was tall and well muscled with longish dark hair, which he pushed out of his eyes with a lean hand.
"Appointment?" He paused, "yes, I do."
Ezri relaxed and realised she'd been tense. She picked up her duty Padd. "Well, I can't fit you in this week but I have a cancellation-"
"I was hoping to see you now."
"I'm sorry, I have another session in a few minutes." She sighed, "if it urgent, I can see you at the end of the day. My last session finishes at 2000 hours. If you came at 2015 we could talk." She punched the appointment into the Padd then looked up, "what's your name?"
He smiled. "You really are a very pretty girl."
Something in his voice made her tense up. "Um, thank you."
"And so kind…to see me at such short notice. I can see why Julian loves you so much."
"You know Julian?"
"Oh yes, we're old friends." He moved like lightening, crushing her in a vice like grip and covering her mouth with his hand. He whispered into her ear. "Perhaps he mentioned me, my name is Travin. Dale Travin." He chuckled as he saw the terror on her face. "I see by your eyes he has. I'm afraid you won't make your next appointment."
He touched the button on his collar and Dax felt the tingle of a transporter carry her away.
*****
Brin Tulla had lost her husband in the war. Just another name in a list so long it would take days to read. Another broken family. Dax had been a good friend though, listening quietly to her fears and anger, never passing any judgement for the things she'd admitted to doing to ease the loneliness. All she would say is that everyone dealt with grief differently and if being with someone else, laughing with them was helping her through the pain, then so be it.
She was looking forward to today's session, the counsellor had been on Earth recently and she'd missed their friendship. She walked straight in, Ezri was expecting her and the Trill prided herself on always having an open door.
The room was empty.
"Dax?"
She frowned, Ezri had been late before that was true, but she always left a note. Something compelled her to touch her Comm badge. "Brin to Dax."
No answer.
"Computer, location of Lt. Dax?"
"Lt. Dax is not aboard the station."
Brin's hand clapped her Comm-badge. "Brin to Ops."
"Ops."
"Sir, Lt. Dax is gone!"
******
Julian Bashir sat at the medical terminal updating his files now that half the senior staff had gone. He'd been putting it off, not wanting to admit to himself how much life had changed. But saying goodbye to his father…He'd finally excepted that nothing would ever be the same.
The image of his fathers grave rose unbidden in his mind and he almost shivered with remembered cold.
And then it clicked into place. The mourner. Something about the way he stood, the set of his shoulders was familiar.
It was Travin. He lived.
******
Kira Nerys was having a bad day. A really, really bad day. She'd been having a lot of them since Odo had left and she excepted them as part of the healing process. Something you just had to endure until the sun came out and life meant something again.
But none compared to this.
"I'm sorry, Admiral, but the Bajoran government doesn't believe anything will be gained by that." There, she thought, I can be polite.
"And their objection will be duly noted, but Starfleet is still in command of Deep Space Nine."
"The Bajoran personnel on this station has learned a lot in the past seven years. I believe they can take over where the senior staff left off." She straightened her back in defiance. "As they have been doing for the past three months."
Admiral Ross sighed. "As it was discussed at the time, colonel, that was only a temporary arrangement until Starfleet recovered from the final battle and could assign new officers to DS9."
"The Bajoran government feels that the military has proven itself more than capable."
"I don't doubt it. However, new senior staff have been appointed and will be arriving-"
"Sir!"
Kira turned her attention to the ensign who had just run, uninvited, into Sisko', no…into her office. He looked about 10 and blushed when he realised what he'd done. His name was Joseph or something like that. All blonde curls and a pretty face.
"Ensign?"
"Its, ah, its Lt. Dax, sir. She's disappeared."
******
Kira entered the infirmary. The engineering team had swept Ezri's office and found nothing, no transporter trace, no…no remains. That was the last place her Comm badge had been, and that was gone too. There was only one explanation she could come up with, and she didn't like it one little bit. She gasped as she almost barrelled into Bashir. The doctor looked shocked, far more than you'd expect from a man who'd nearly sent his commanding officer flying.
Had he heard? News travelled at the speed of light on the station, especially bad.
"If we could talk inside, doctor."
"Colonel, I…" he trailed off, noticing the tension in her voice. He followed her back into his office and looked at her with that polite expression she found particularly annoying.
"Have you had any recent contact with Section 31?"
"Travin!" Suddenly the polite face became one of pure hate. "I-I was going to Ops to tell you. I saw him on Earth, he's alive."
Kira felt the sick cold feeling she knew all to well. "And Dax? Did he see Dax?"
"She…she was with me." She could see by his face he knew the answer, but he asked the question anyway. "Why?"
"Because she's gone, doctor."