Many hours later, Sisko walked wearily to his quarters. The Orionite captain had denied all knowledge of the irridial in his hold, right up until Dax had dug the manifest out of his computer. Even then, when the charade was finally over, he maintained that the explosive had never been intended for Bajor or DS9. "I know it's illegal to transport it in Federation space, but I didn't plan to be here," he had argued stridently. "If my warp coil hadn't been damaged by the solar storms of Helfredi, I would never have stopped here for repairs. Yes, I kept it quiet, but only because I didn't want to have any trouble. It's destined for Chordian miners, I swear."

"Chordian miners do use irridial to blast new tunnels," Dax had admitted. "Nothing else works on their planetary crust because it's so high in titanium alloy."

"That's also why Chordians are the perfect excuse to any terrorist or arms dealer smuggling irridial!" Kira remained unimpressed. "And if you're so innocent, how did several kilos of your cargo end up on the station?"

The Orionite was either the best actor Sisko had ever seen, or there was more to the puzzle than they knew. The commander was convinced the Orionite's amazement had been genuine.

Kira, of course, had dismissed it with a sneer and continued to grill the now-sweating captain, but Sisko was unsurprised when no further revelations were forthcoming. Now it was simply a question of tracing the cargo's origin and contacting the Chordians to check the captain's story. Not that that would necessarily settle the matter; alibis were easily bought.

He was nearly at his door, when Jake came barrelling down the hall, holding his nose and using words Sisko would have sworn he didn't know.

"Jake!" he exclaimed in concern. "What happened?" He caught his son by the arm and tilted up his chin so that he could see the damage.

"It's nothing!" Jake snapped angrily, pulling free. "Just a bloody nose."

Even knowing his son's fury was not directed at him didn't make it less unpleasant. Sisko fought to restrain his own impatience. Keeping his voice calm and level, he asked, "Are you all right? What happened?"

"I banged it, okay? Are you satisfied?" Jake wasn't usually an obnoxious teenager, but he had his moments.

"I want you to have Dr. Bashir take a look at it."

"What? Dad! It's only a bloody nose! I don't need the doctor!"

"I heard you, but I want you to go have it checked." Sisko let a note of steel enter his tone. He privately agreed with Jake that it was probably unnecessary, but Sisko would take no chances where his son was concerned.

That son was wholly unimpressed by both Sisko's paternal devotion and his professional authority. "Dad! That's ridiculous! I don't -- "

"Jake." Sisko had had a long day and he was too tired to argue. "Just do it."

For the first time, Jake took a close look at his father, and he was clearly taken aback by what he saw. "Are you okay?"

"Go to -- "

"Okay, okay," Jake said hurriedly. "I'm going."

Sisko watched him trot down the corridor and spared a moment wondering where his son got all his energy. The thought made him feel old and served to depress him further. "I need a cup of coffee," he thought. "Or a vacation. Or both."

Hoping at least for the former, he entered their quarters only to be met with a yell of angry scorn. "So he went running straight to you?" the Bajoran boy demanded, rising up from his seat on the couch. "What a crybaby! Anyway, so what? What are you going to do just because I hit him?"
"You hit Jake?" Sisko repeated, eyebrows raised. "Is that what caused his bloody nose?"

The boy shut up, nonplused. "You mean he didn't tell you?"

"No. What seems to be the problem?" Sisko regretfully abandoned his plans for a quiet evening at home.

The boy shrugged. "He's a twink."

"That's all? You didn't like him so you hit him?" Sisko tried very hard to sound patient and non-threatening. "There must be more to it than that."

The boy grinned suddenly. "No. I said something he didn't like, and he swung at me. That's when I hit him."

Sisko was thunderstruck. "Jake swung first?"

"Yeah," the boy was relaxed now, enjoying himself. "Ask him yourself."

"What did you say?"

He shrugged. "We were talking about families."

Sisko's attention was diverted from Jake's unusual attempt at fisticuffs. Maybe the Bajoran boy would finally say something about his relatives! "You told him about your parents?"

The boy snorted, sounding remarkably like Odo. "I told him my parents were dead."

"Both of them? Are you sure?"

"That's what just Jake said. I told him that I saw my mother's body after the Cardassians were through with her."

"But your father -- "

"There's no way that he would have let her be killed unless he was dead himself!" the boy declared hotly. "Or she him! If one was dead, then both were!"

Sisko selected his words with care. This was obviously a topic on which the boy felt strongly. "Under conditions like that, all sorts of things happen," he said delicately. "You can't assume that your father is dead. Jake lost his mother, but I'm still here."

"That's because you didn't try hard enough to save her! My father would have if he'd been alive!"

Even five years after Jen's death, the guilt wasn't gone, and the charge hurled by this angry child hurt more than Sisko cared to admit. This was unquestionably the point at which Jake had lost his temper. Sisko held onto his with difficulty. "That's not necessarily true."

The boy flushed, clenching his fists. "It is! It is! Just because you're a coward doesn't mean my father was!"

"It's not a question of cowardice -- " Sisko began, but the Bajoran had heard all he would. Snatching up the first thing he saw, a baseball Jake had neglected to put away, he threw it at Sisko as hard as he could.

Sisko ducked just in the nick of time, and the ball continued past him to smash against the shelves behind him. He turned to find the framed picture of Jen lying on the floor, its glass shattered.

The boy was as stunned at the destruction as was Sisko, and his anger dissipated with the damage. Sisko faced him, and he involuntarily backed up several paces. "I -- I didn't mean to," he stuttered, then abruptly cut off the apology as though realizing it was inappropriate to the image he meant to convey.

"All right," he added, as Sisko's stare unnerved him, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Sisko was looking at him, but he wasn't seeing the boy. He was busy counting to ten in each of the five languages he knew. "That's it," he finally felt calm enough to say. There were some things which Star Fleet simply could not expect him to do.

#

Keiko O'Brien was surprised when her door chimed. "Miles? Is that you?" she asked, opening the door with Molly in her arms. "Commander! How are you? Won't you come in?" she invited.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. O'Brien," he apologized with the courtliness he'd always shown her. "I see I've interrupted you, and I'm afraid I came to ask you a favor."

"Oh, not at all," she quickly forestalled his apologies. "I was just putting Molly to bed, but she's delighted by any delay. Please come in."

For the first time, she noticed that Sisko had a young Bajoran by the arm, and she smiled at him. "Hello! I don't think we've met."

"Hi," he said briefly, but his shy smile won her heart.

"What's your name? I'm Mrs.O'Brien."

Sisko's grip tightened, and after an alarmed glance at the commander, the boy decided not to push his luck any further. "Ryton Tellur."

"Well, Ryton, would you like a cookie? I just finished making some for class tomorrow."

"Mrs. O'Brien is the schoolteacher here," Sisko explained.

"Thank you." It was clear that Ryton was on his best behavior.

"Why don't you come with me? Commander, please have a seat. I'll be right back."

Having settled Ryton with a plate of cookies and glass of milk, Keiko set Molly down with a book and rejoined Sisko in the social room. "You mentioned something about a favor?" she prompted.

"I'm embarrassed to ask," he said with a chuckle. "You've done so much for this station already, but..."

"Don't be silly," she protested, flattered and pleased. "I've been in and around Star Fleet for years now. I'm glad to help whenever and however I can."

"I don't know if Chief O'Brien has mentioned Ryton to you -- "

"No," she shook her head blankly. "He hasn't come home yet. He did call to say that he'd be working late, something about making progress on a project." In point of fact, O'Brien's message had been much more explicit about the current status of the irridial investigation, but Keiko didn't want Sisko to think that her husband was indiscreet.

"No?" Sisko brightened. "Ryton is an orphan who seems to have sneaked aboard the station several days ago. We're looking for his family, of course, but it may take a few days to find any leads. I was wondering, since you were so good with Rugle... Do you think you could take Ryton in for a few days?" He gave a self-deprecatory laugh. "I sent him to my quarters at first, but I'm afraid he and Jake didn't hit it off, and so I thought of you. It's really very presumptuous of me," he added, laying it on thick.

"Not at all!" Keiko declared stoutly. She truly liked children, and her heart went out to the lonely orphan. Besides, it couldn't hurt to accommodate Miles' C.O.

"Thank you!" Sisko's gratitude was heartfelt.

"I'll try to have him enroll in the school," Keiko added, showing Sisko out.

"Good idea!" he said, leaving with slightly more haste than was required.

#

When O'Brien finally came home a few hours later, Keiko was waiting up for him, reading. "Hello, sweetheart," she said, walking into his arms and embracing him. "You must be exhausted."

"Completely," he murmured into her hair. "How was your day? School go all right? How's Molly?"

"Busy, fine, and sleeping, in that order," she smiled up at him. "Would you like something to eat?"

"I hope you didn't wait on me," he exclaimed in concern.

"No," she grinned. "I'm full. But it's easy enough to dial something up for you."

He shook his head. "I grabbed a snack at work, and I'm more tired than hungry now. Maybe just a cuppa?"

She was already turning, the teapot in her hands. Within a few minutes, they were snuggled on the couch, sipping tea and unwinding from the stresses of the day.

"This is what I live for," O'Brien breathed, working the tension out of his shoulders.

"The tea or me?" Keiko teased.

"Hmmm." O'Brien pretended to think it over for a moment, but quickly leaned forward to kiss her. "Ahhhhh. How long has it been since I told you I love you?"

"Much too long. Oh, that reminds me: Commander Sisko stopped by."

"Why does that remind you of Sisko?" O'Brien squawked.

Keiko batted at his hand. "Don't be silly. I was just thinking about how doing a favor for the commander will -- "

"A favor? What favor?" O'Brien sipped his tea and regarded her quizzically.

"Oh, it's nothing really, and I'd have been happy to do it anyway. He just asked us to put up a young Bajoran boy named Ryton -- "

O'Brien banged the teacup down with such force that Keiko exclaimed in concern. "Miles! You'll break it!"

"That Bajoran imp? Where is he?"

"Miles, I don't know what you're so upset over!" Keiko said reprovingly. "He's been a perfect lamb ever since he arrived. He's very polite, and he went straight to bed. I haven't heard a sound out of him in hours."

"Bed, eh?" O'Brien snorted. Hurrying to the door of the bedroom, he looked in. Molly slumbered peacefully in her bed, but there was no sign of Ryton in the spare cot. "He's gone."

"Gone?" Keiko gasped, pushing past him to stare at the empty bed. "But when -- "

"O'Brien to Odo." O'Brien wasn't wasting any time.

"Odo here."

"We've lost the Bajoran kid again, Odo. Sorry. Oh, by the way, his name is Ryton."

"Charming," came the acerbic reply. "Shall I catch him again or would you suggest I not bother?"

O'Brien exchanged a glance with his wife. "I said we're sorry."

"When I find him, where shall I deliver him?" Odo ignored the apology.

"To Commander Sisko," O'Brien said, gazing at Keiko. She looked upset, but made no protest. Comforting stray children was one thing, but Sisko shouldn't have expected her to be a jailer!