It was all too much. Joran's presence in her mind was urging her to pull the trigger. To glory in taking a life. The Vulcan's rifle was swinging up towards his shoulder. What she could see through the yellow-tinged display told the Trill she had moments to act. Moments to take her shot.

Ezri Dax froze, just for an instant.

Then the door behind her hissed open, the sudden sound jolting her body into motion, almost without thought. Her rifle wasn't quite aligned perfectly, but her left index finger closed around the trigger, discharging the rifle. The bullet vanished, reappearing just inches in front of the Vulcan, Chu'lak, if she remembered his name from the file she'd just been looking at. He twisted, dropping his weapon on the floor.

And then she heard a very familiar growl from behind her.

"Lieutenant Dax, drop your weapon, now." Odo said. Without thinking she released the rifle, dropping it to the floor, where the advanced 24th century technology didn't go off on impact. Through the goggle, she'd seen the Vulcan staggering towards his weapon.

Then Odo grabbed her, and before she could react, he'd knocked her legs out from under her and was pushing her to the floor. A puddle of Odo broke her fall, right before he twisted her hands behind her back. With tears rolling down her face, Ezri waited for the shot that she was sure would come. Instead, Odo handcuffed her, placing her arms parallel across her body, before fastening the cuffs around her wrists, leaving her arms almost completely useless. She could change which arm was above and below and move them slightly side to side. That was it.

Then he dragged her to her feet, in a motion that would have even left Emony off-balance, before marching her down the corridor. Her head dropped, as she realised that she was being arrested.

"I didn't do it, Odo." She pleaded, as they approached the promenade. "It wasn't me.

"We'll settle that soon enough, Lieutenant." Odo grated, activating his combadge. "Odo to Sisko. I've apprehended the sniper. And I think you're going to want to talk to them yourself."

"Sisko here. What were they doing?"

"Taking another shot. I interrupted them."

Ezri didn't know what to say. Benjamin… Ben… Captain Sisko… he was going to find out.

"Odo…" Sisko asked. "Who is the sniper?"

"Sir… I'm afraid that the person I caught in the act was Lieutenant Dax."

"What?" Even though it wasn't coming through her combadge, Ezri could hear the utter shock and dismay in the voice of her oldest friend.

"She was in the Operations centre meeting room. She fired just as I entered."

"Ben…" Ezri almost whispered. "I didn't do it."

"Dax…" Sisko said. "What's going on?" His voice was low, and she could tell he was dealing with emotions too.

Jadzia would have had a flippant response. Curzon would have been ironic.

Ezri suddenly found that the words wouldn't come any more.

Closing the connection, Odo continued marching her to the cells, before scanning her with a tricorder. He removed everything from her pockets, including the lighter she'd used as part of the rite of emergence, along with her combadge. There was a pause, before Odo spoke.

"I'm going to need your uniform, I'm afraid." He said, releasing the handcuff from her right arm, while keeping hold of the left.

Ezri stared at him, feeling as if her skin had suddenly caught fire. It seemed like every single part of her entire body was suddenly flushing with embarrassment. Then, remembering her time in the academy, she steeled herself, before stripping out of her uniform jacket and trousers. Odo (looking away, as if that mattered for him at all) took them, gravely, and dropped them into an evidence bag. Before anything else, one of them ran a tricorder over her hands, before taking samples using a cotton bud.

A female Bajoran deputy handed her a bright blue one-piece, once that was complete. She was given time to pull it on, before Odo twisted her arms back behind her back, fastened the handcuffs and marched her, without any of his usual warmth, into the corridor featuring the cells. He led her down it, and placed her in a cell, before stepping away, then activating the security forcefield. He just left her there, staring through the security field, very aware that she was now the prime suspect in a serial killing investigation.

Slumping awkwardly onto the bench, Ezri looked over at Joran. The other Trill just smirked.

"You know, I never let them catch me." He said, in his oh-so-charming voice. "I was never that careless."

"No." Ezri said, as cuttingly as she could. "One of your victims fought back and killed you instead."

"That Vulcan is still alive, you know." Joran said. "He's probably watching you through his targeting sensor. He's probably going to shoot at any moment."

"Shut up!" Ezri shouted.

Joran just smiled, and she lashed out with a boot, trying to kick him.

Her boot went straight through, of course. Trying to kick figments of your imagination was never going to work, her rational mind said. The bit that was Curzon and Jadzia, on the other hand, seemed to approve of the effort.

Then she spotted a small mirror. It was one of the standard fittings of her cell. Although it wasn't large, she could see a reflection in it. Of Joran.

Staring into it, she tried to clear her mind. "I'nora, ja'kala vok." She began, focusing on the words that would leave her alone in her mind. "Zheem Dax... nah sass-eye-ahn… D'za-oo bah-zheest..."

Then Sisko marched into the room, wearing a red robe with a purple undershirt. The expression on his face was thunderous, even compared to the time Curzon had detached an Orion dancer from his lap. The old man had thought it funny to lure her away from the human. Sisko had loudly disagreed the next day at the briefing.

"He blames you." Joran hissed. "See how easily he wants to throw away all your years of friendship."

"Shut up." Ezri hissed, before remembering that talking to an invisible person wasn't normally considered acceptable off Trill. On Trill, it went entirely unremarked unless objects were thrown.

Sisko gave her a look. "Ok, Old Man. What's going on?"

"I was investigating, Benjamin." Ezri responded. "I was trying to get inside the head of the killer. The Vulcan… he had a TR-116 and exographic targeting array too."

"We didn't find anything like that when the medical team got to his quarters. You came within three inches of killing him."

"I swear he had them." Ezri insisted.

"He won't believe you." Joran commented snidely. "He can only see what's in front of his face."

Then Sisko turned and looked over his shoulder. "Odo, why didn't you take the cuffs off when you put her in the cell?"

"Because I took a knife off of her yesterday, Captain." Odo replied. "And because I'm not sure that is our Dax sitting in that cell."

"Odo, what do you mean by that?" Sisko asked, a warning growl in his voice. "Do you think she's a Changeling?"

"No, Captain." Odo said, his voice level, almost mournful. "When I sent a team to check her quarters, they found a lot of strange paraphernalia in them. Like the paraphernalia the Guardian bought for the Zhian'tara."

"You think Ezri tried to perform a Zhian'tara or something on herself… and Joran got control?" Sisko asked, cradling his head in his hands. "You think…?"

"Not all the time, Captain." Odo continued. "Several people have reported her arguing with no-one over the last two days. As if she was having a conversation with someone they couldn't see."

"Dax?" Sisko asked. "What did you do?"

Ezri couldn't bring herself to admit it to her closest friend. She just looked away, closing her eyes silently. "Joran Tanas Rhem. Vok Ezri…" She mouthed, silently. "I was trying to catch the killer." She repeated, awkwardly wriggling into the corner of the bunk in the cell and pulling her legs up to her chest. That bit was all Ezri Tigan, she thought, ironically.

"If you tell him about me, he might forgive you." Joran said. "He might even let you out of this cell."

"Yes." She said, out loud. "I… used a Trill ritual called the Rite of Emergence. He's been walking around with me. Giving me insights…"

"Affecting your personality." Sisko completed. "I'd never seen any Dax lose it like you did in Quark's. Even Jadzia wouldn't have gone for a knife, never mind nearly stabbed someone."

"He compares you to her." Joran gloated. "He'd rather he had her back."

"SHUT UP!" Ezri yelled into the corner of her cell that Joran was occupying. "Stop trying to make me angry! Stop trying to make me into YOU!" Then she dropped her head so that her face was resting on her knees and tried to hold back the tears.

Sisko flinched backwards, before tapping his combadge. "Sisko to Bashir. Please report to the security office."

A couple of minutes later, Bashir arrived, carrying a medical tricorder. He looked extremely startled at the sight of a securely handcuffed and out of uniform Ezri sitting in a cell sobbing, while his commander stood outside in his pyjamas.

"Doctor, what do you know about personality conflicts and takeovers in joined Trill?" Sisko rumbled, without preamble. "Odo just found her in the Ops meeting room, holding a TR-116 and wearing an exographic targeting array. He was unable to stop her shooting a Vulcan officer in the habitat ring just after he entered the room."

"I… don't believe there is any available literature on the subject, sir." Bashir replied, barely holding in his utter shock, and entirely unable to keep it off of his face. "I could contact the Trill Symbiosis Commission for details, but I'm not sure how much they would tell me."

Sisko's eyes narrowed as Bashir mentioned the Symbiosis Commission. Ezri remembered Jadzia's memories of the first time Joran had gotten past the memory block and shuddered at the thought. Her memories of Audrid told her that this would be an incredibly bad idea.

"Ben…, Julian…" She said, lifting her head. "Don't tell them. Please." From his expression, she could tell that Sisko could see the fear in her eyes. "They'll send Gard." Then she slumped back into her corner, ignoring the smirk on Joran's face as he watched her.

"Can you convince me I'm talking to Ezri, Old Man?"

"No, Benjamin. I can't." Ezri said, twisting slightly as she tried to get more comfortable. "I… am in control. Joran is not."

Sighing, Sisko gestured to Odo. "Constable, let her out of those things for now. At least let her get comfortable."

"You're sure, Captain?"

"Yes, Constable."

Sighing, Odo deactivated the forcefield securing the cell, before crossing over to Ezri. She felt her cheeks colour slightly when she realised that her position actually prevented Odo letting her out. She shuffled awkwardly around, before standing up.

"He's never going to believe you didn't do it, you know." Joran said. "Wait till he lets you go and kill him with them."

"Shut. Up." Ezri hissed, turning to allow Odo to unfasten the handcuffs. She wriggled her shoulders, releasing the knots in her shoulders that had already started to build up. And then she spun around, grabbed the handcuffs from Odo, and threw them through Joran. "Go Away. I don't want to hear you say anything!" She shouted.

Then she slumped onto the cell's bunk, tucking herself into a corner again, and tucking her legs against her chest.

Bashir had watched the entire exchange. "If she was a species that I had significant psychiatric data for, I'd say she was having a mental breakdown, sir."

Sisko sighed, loudly. "Doctor, in your opinion, is she a threat to herself or others in her current state?"

"If she was a…" Bashir paused. "I don't know, sir. If I knew more about joined Trill psychology…"

"Knowing that she nearly stabbed another Starfleet officer yesterday after intervening to stop him fleeing station security?"

Bashir shook his head slightly. "Sir… I do not believe that Ezri… Lieutenant Dax should be confined to the brig. However…" he sighed, deeply. "We do not have any other secure place where she can straightforwardly be monitored and prevented from…" he stopped talking, but everyone heard the unspoken "trying to hurt people or herself."

"Understood, Doctor." Sisko responded. "I'm sorry, Old Man."

Ezri didn't respond.

Shaking his head, Sisko led the way out of the brig, leaving Ezri alone in the Cardassian cell. She didn't even notice for several minutes.