Fools Rush In by Teal

Chapter Four

Colonel Kira Nerys, over her cup of coffee, gazed amusedly at Ezri.

"Your not serious about this are you?" Her eyebrows were raised and her voice was sarcastic. Ezri answered her with a sigh.

"That's what he's doing. If there isn't anyone really there, then he's fallen into some kind of Cardassian trap. Look, if I don't hear from him in say two more days, then I'm going after him."

"Hmm. That didn't turn out to be the best thing to do the last time you went and rescued him." She grinned mischievously at Ezri. Ezri blushed remembering her last rescue attempt. Worf had been trapped in an escape pod, floating in space in the Badlands, when she had finally found him. An energy burst had struck her shuttle and forced them to make an emergency landing. During the argument that followed the landing, she and Worf had mated, starting what seemed to be a perfect relationship. It ended only two weeks later when they both realized they were basing it on Worf and Jadzia's feelings, and not their own.

"We were busy reliving memories that had happened between he and Jadzia. It didn't really have anything to do with ME. This on the other hand, could be very serious. I don't like the sound of this one at all."

Worf's breath caught in his throat, and then his heart seemed to stop all together. She knew him. He uncovered her methodically, removing the cover from her legs and then her body and finally her head. He could clearly see the abuse she had taken. Her left ankle was tilted at an odd angle, obviously broken and healed improperly. Her right arm was in much the same contorted condition, and her lower and upper body was besieged by black and red bruises, along with infectious cuts and scabs. What was left of her uniform was definitely Star Fleet in nature, but too dirty to tell which division, and was barely covering her skeletal frame at all.

Finally, almost fearfully he reached for her face, his hands shaking. Her very long hair was matted down with grime and dirt and other unknowns. It seemed to be brown in nature, but there were several wads of gray as well, and it was currently stuck to her face from moisture and sweat that had built up under the tarp. He pushed back her hair, and saw even more abuse. Her eyes were swollen shut, from what must have been countless beatings, and infection had set in from her bacteria ridden prison cell, leaving them caked with green and white blood tinged puss.

Was she familiar because he wanted it, or was this Jadzia? It was sad to say, but because of her condition, he couldn't tell. In any case, he had been familiar to her. He shifted her out of his arms to lay flat on the ground, and she winced and cried out, grabbing feebly at her shattered arm.

"I am sorry. It is not much further to the shuttle."

She seemed to understand, nodding almost imperceptibly as she allowed him to re-wrap her body into the tarp. She moaned deeply and went limp when he picked her up, fainting away from the pain. Worf wished there was an easier way, but he could see none. It would be over soon.

A half hour later they arrived at the shuttle. Worf cleared away the debris from the door and brought her aboard. After laying her on one of the bunks he made his way to the controls and tapped in the lift off sequence. At once they were lifting off through the atmosphere. He laid in a course for home on Deep Space Nine, and turned on auto pilot. They would arrive in nine hours.

Moving back towards the bunk he once again unwrapped the woman. Seeing that she was still unconscious, he decided to try and clean her up and care for her wounds. He cut away at what was left of her clothes and carried her into the sonic shower chamber. Her odor was something he would not be able to stand for much longer, and he sensed she would probably feel much better if she were clean. He guessed she may never have been allowed to bathe through her entire incarceration. Cardassians were vile captors.

He held her up in the shower for several minutes as it worked to clean the months of dirt and grime from her body and hair. Once done, he brushed her hair, treated the open sores, redressed her in a loose fitting robe and laid her back in her bunk. He made sure to be very cautious when moving her ankle or arm. Those would have to be repaired by a professional.

He didn't really think about why he was giving her such care. He moved, almost mechanically, not thinking about her person as he did so. He pulled up a blanket and was about to reach up and turn down the lights, when he very instinctually, reached over and turned her head to the left. Pushing her hair back, he saw something he now realized he had hoped to see: the scar.

Frozen in place and unable to look away, he stared at it. Cautiously, he traced the scar with his finger, seeing it matched his teeth marks exactly. Slowly, as if melting out of a dream, he grabbed hold of his tri-corder and moved it over her body, doing three full body scans. Then he took two samples of her blood and raced to the medical station.

"Computer, scan blood and blood type. Run a comparison analysis to sample Jadzia Dax one. And, run a clone analysis." He paced back and forth as he waited for the results.

"Scan complete."

"Results." He demanded.

"Blood type consistent with Trill biology. Not clone in nature. Dangerously low in essential proteins and minerals. Comparison to sample Jadzia Dax one is positive."

Quickly, his heart racing, Worf downloaded all the information into a message for Dr. Bashir, and sent it off to Deep Space Nine.