Chapter Two: Partners in Crime

When Commander Sisko had gone, Bashir stood drumming his fingers on the edge of the biobed, staring at the annoyingly normal readings. All were indicative of a perfectly normal sleep state, and yet despite his assurances to Sisko, the commander was right; a healthy fourteen-year-old boy who couldn't be roused from that sleep state was decidedly not normal.

He had been teasing when he suggested Jake might have sneaked out late with Nog, but now he considered the possibility more carefully. Not that a mere late night could be the source of the problem, but the boys were together so much that Nog might be able to provide some insight on anything Jake could have been exposed to, or even if he had been feeling or acting off in the past several days.

It wasn't a bad idea to check on Nog anyway, he reflected. The two boys were so inseparable that anything Jake had been exposed to Nog likely had as well, and though their species usually reacted completely differently to any given infection, there was always the chance that the Ferengi reaction would be the more dangerous.

Glancing one more time at the monitors in the vague hope of seeing something, anything out of the ordinary, he called a nurse over, asking her to watch the monitors and notify him of any changes. Then he left the infirmary and headed down the promenade to Quark's.

"Is Nog around?" he questioned, leaning against the bar.

"I need him working," Quark told him.

"Fine; have him bring me a Tarkalean tea to that booth over there…pay you triple to let me talk to him for a few minutes."

Quark scowled, but gestured toward the booth Bashir had indicated, unwilling to turn down a chance for extra profit.

Bashir slid into the booth, idly people-watching until Nog arrived with the steaming mug of tea.

"Sit down, Nog," Bashir invited.

Nog glanced over his shoulder. "I can't talk long," he warned.

"I'll make it all right with Quark," Bashir assured him; "this is important."

"I'm not sick!" Nog insisted, reluctantly taking a seat.

Bashir chuckled. "I didn't think you were. I just need to know if you and Jake did anything particular yesterday…or I suppose even over the past week."

Nog's eyes narrowed, making Bashir instantly sure they had indeed been up to something. "We didn't do anything wrong!"

"You're not in trouble," Bashir promised. "I won't even tell Odo if it was someplace you weren't supposed to go."

"Then why do you care at all?"

Bashir sighed, deciding it wouldn't do any harm to tell Nog. "It's Jake; he won't wake up this morning, but the scans don't show anything wrong. I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on anything he may have been exposed to or encountered."

"Oh." Nog was silent for a moment. "Yeah, I guess there was something…if you promise not to tell Odo."

"I promise not to get you in trouble for it," Bashir agreed. "I'm not sure I can promise not to tell, if something's going on he should know about."

"Just leave me out of it if you can."

"Fair enough," Bashir agreed. "Now tell me what happened."

"I'm only telling you for Jake," Nog insisted. "It was yesterday, after he got out of school. We were exploring in one of the empty levels."

"I won't ask how you got in there," Bashir said dryly.

"Good, 'cause I wouldn't tell anyway. It wasn't real interesting; mostly a lot of Cardassian junk that wasn't even any good to sell. But as we were looking through it, we found a whole nest of some kind of bug; one of 'em bit Jake, but he said it didn't even hurt."

"Bit him, where?" Bashir questioned, leaning forward eagerly.

Nog turned his hand palm up and indicated a spot just between the thumb and wrist. "About there, I guess."

"And you didn't recognize what kind of bug it was?"

"Neither of us had ever seen them before."

"And where was this, exactly?"

Nog's eyes narrowed again, and Bashir sighed. "Look, I already promised neither of you would get into trouble. But if we have some kind of venomous insect on board, we need to know where to find it so we can get rid of it. And I may eventually need a specimen to find out what's wrong with Jake."

"Okay," Nog gave in. Drawing with his finger on the table, he described exactly where he and Jake had encountered the insects.

"Thanks for the help, Nog," Bashir said, standing up. "I'd better get on back to Jake now, and I'm sure Quark wants you to get back to work."

"Dr Bashir," Nog said anxiously, and Bashir paused, turning back toward him. "Jake is going to be all right, isn't he?"

Bashir smiled. "Of course he is. I'll figure out what the venom is and find an antidote for it. Anyway, at the moment he doesn't really seem to be in danger of anything worse than sleeping the day away."

But as he left the bar, his smile dropped. He hadn't noticed any signs of venom when he scanned Jake; but then, he hadn't been looking for it. Still, maybe it was time to try waking Jake — just to be sure he could.

Next chapter coming next week!

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie