Ba'el

By: Ginomo

Based on the TNG episode, "Birthright Part II." While aboard the Enterprise, Worf traveled to a Romulan prison camp and fell for Ba'el, the daughter of the Romulan commander and one of the Klingon prisoners. Years later, the Dominion War brings Ba'el to Deep Space Nine and back into Worf's life.

Chapter 3

"It is nice to meet you, Dax."

"So, how long will you be on the station?"

Ba'el didn't know how to answer that. She'd had the singular goal of finding Worf for so long that she'd given little thought to what would happen after she found him, "I am not sure…"

Just as Dax was debating whether to not to ask Ba'el more about how she knew Worf, her comm badge sounded, "Sisko to Dax."

She tapped the badge on her chest, "Dax here."

"If you've got a minute, Old Man, I need to see you in my office."

"Sure thing Benjamin," Dax turned to Quark, "I'll have to get that drink a little later," and then to Ba'el, "If you decide to stay with us here on the station then perhaps we'll meet again."

"Yes, perhaps."

As Dax left the bar, Quark traded Ba'el's raktajino for a Tarkalean tea. She seemed much more satisfied with that She sat there patiently, her gaze alternating between the sights of the bar and the people filing in and out of the door. Quark noticed.

"You know, Worf usually uses holosuite 3, upstairs. If you wait for him up there you'll be sure to catch him."

Ba'el glanced upward to where he was pointing, "Okay. Thank you."

Ba'el took at seat at a small table on the second floor just as the bartender had suggested. She could indeed see the whole bar and restaurant from here, she wouldn't miss Worf when he came in. It was quiet up there, away from all the bustle of the rest of the establishment. It gave Ba'el a moment to get her bearings and decide how she wanted to proceed.

She came here to find Worf. Any minute now and that would be happening. But then what? How would he react? A lot could happen in six year, and if those reports her father got a hold of were correct, a lot had happened for Worf.

Down below, Lieutenant Commander Worf entered Quark's bar. He had his mek'leth in hand and an impatient glare on his face. Quark saw him come in and held out a small transaction padd to him. Worf pressed his thumb to it, "Is number three open?" he asked.

"As always."

Worf nodded agreeably.

Just as Worf began walking away, Quark stopped him, "Are you expecting someone?"

"Excuse me?"

"I know it's crazy but there's an actual real live person here looking for you. I take it you weren't aware?"

Worf looked around, "Where?"

"I sent her upstairs, she's waiting for you by the holosuite entrance."

"She?"

Quark smirked, "Oh, I'm betting there's a good story to this."

Worf scowled and without a word, made the climb up the narrow spiral staircase. Who could possibly be coming to DS9 looking for him? And a woman no less?

Ba'el stood, and took a deep breath. She could hear his footfalls on the metal stairs and the pounding in her chest grew louder with every step he took. Ba'el was trying to force herself to calm down or she'd never get through this without passing out. Gradually she could see him ascending until he was there. It was him. It was him. She gripped the back of her chair to help steady herself.

Worf's didn't give much credence to this person supposedly waiting for him, it was probably Quark just trying to be funny. His mind was instead on work, he had a ton of things to do but he needed a break. After an hour or so of working out some aggression, he could go back and tackle the next set of intelligence reports with a clearer head.

That was his plan for the night, but when he got to the top of the stairs, all that vanished. There was a small seating area near the entrance to his holosuite and the tables up there were empty tonight, expect for one person. It had been years since he'd spoken her name, but in that moment he knew it could be no one else but her.

"Ba'el?"

She nodded, "Yes, Worf, it's me."

They stood in stunned silence for a moment. Ba'el studied Worf's face. It was definitely him but he looked different somehow. His shoulders sagged tiredly and there was something in his eyes, an emptiness. It was as if he had lived a lifetime since she last saw him.

As Worf looked at Ba'el, the time they spent together all those years ago came flooding back. Worf took a few steps toward her, but stopped before getting too close.

"How...?"

"It is a very long story. But I'm here."

"I… I never thought I would see you again."

"I would like to speak to you, can we sit down together?" Ba'el asked, motioning to the table.

"Not here," suddenly, Worf felt extremely self-conscious, "Come with me," instinctively, he reached down and grabbed her hand. Ba'el looked at her hand in his and felt as if she might faint. Worf led her out of the bar's second floor exit.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To my quarters, we can speak privately there."

"Your quarters? Where you live?"

"Yes," Worf let go of her hand as they walked along the promenade towards the habitat ring.

As they walked in silence Ba'el couldn't help but think about Worf's wife and what she would say if she came home and found Ba'el there. Then again, if Worf didn't think it was a problem, she wasn't going to ask. There really was nothing wrong with two old friends talking. She glanced up at Worf, his stoic gazed was fixed straight ahead. She couldn't read him at all, which had not been the case years ago on Carraya. There, he wore his feelings for her on his sleeve. Now, Ba'el had no idea if he has happy or annoyed that she was here.

Worf opened the door to his quarters and allowed Ba'el to enter first. She stepped in gingerly and looked around at what was her first real glimpse into his world. Everything was neat and orderly, it hardly looked like one person lived here, let alone two. On one wall hung a pair of Klingon swords, there was a display of knives and a pair of gold crowns on another and shelves filled with books lined the third. But Ba'el was drawn to the view out the large oval shaped windows. She stood before them in awe.

"This is just amazing," she said. One ship was docking as another was speeding away from the station, "I have spent the last several weeks just staring at the stars. I had never seen anything like this before."

Worf stood by the door watching Ba'el, his mind was racing. He let her look out the windows while he tried to gather his thoughts. How was this happening? How did she get here? He'd honestly hadn't thought about Ba'el in years, especially once he came to DS9 and met Jadzia. But now she was back in his life and he had no idea how to even begin processing it.

"Can I get anything for you? Something to eat perhaps?" Worf finally asked.

"No, thank you," Ba'el turned from the window to face him, "I suppose you're wondering how I got here."

"Yes."

She sighed, "It happened suddenly. One minute I was living life as usual, and the next I was hiding in the jungle from the Dominion."

"They attacked the compound," Worf stated.

"Yes," Ba'el crossed the room and sat on the couch, "The supply ships were coming less and less frequently. We really didn't know when to expect them. My father told us about a war that the entire quadrant was fighting and that once Romulus joined, their resources were needed elsewhere. So we were pretty much on our own. The last of the Romulan guards left about a year ago, except for my father of course. L'Kor and some of the other Klingons took up hunting to help keep us fed. My father never went with them and rarely ate anything they caught. I think he was lonely in those last months."

"How did you survive and escape the attack?" Worf asked as he sat next to her.

Ba'el recounted the story of how the Klingons sacrificed themselves for her, "My father and I stayed in the jungle until the Dominion ship left orbit. When we went back to the compound…" her voice began to waver, "They'd killed them all. Men and women who hadn't fought in almost thirty years killed every Jem'Hadar in the landing party."

"Did any of them survive?"

She shook her head, "No."

"They died warriors," Worf had the same reverent gleam in his eye that L'Kor did when she last saw him.

"My father was able to get us aboard a Romulan ship. He wanted me to go with him to Romulus, or to even go find Toq and the others, but I was insistent," she paused as her eyes met his, "I had to find you."

Worf didn't know what to say.

Ba'el continued, "I made the choice all those years ago to stay behind. I tried to deny it but you were right, I was afraid. As badly as I wanted to go with you, I let my fear paralyze me. I had to find you because I wanted you to know how sorry I was- am. It was nothing you did, it was me."

"You do not have to apologize to me, Ba'el."

"I feel like I led you on that last night we spent… together. I should have just told you that I wasn't going to go with you, but the truth is I really wanted to have that night with you. And I have thought of nothing else for the last six years."

Worf could feel his face flush as the memory of that night came back to him. What she was telling him was no surprise, he knew then that she wouldn't be able to leave Carraya. In a way, it was somewhat of a relief for him. Worf had never been good with relationships and Ba'el choosing to stay behind meant he didn't have to figure out how to make things work between the two of them.

They sat in an uneasy silence for a moment. Ba'el spoke up, "You know, I think I am a little hungry."

Worf quickly stood and headed for the replicator; preparing dinner gave him something to do. Ba'el could sense his trepidation; for years she pictured their reunion going very differently than this. They were supposed to profess how the years apart only made their love stronger and pick up where they left off. Instead, she just felt awkwardly out of place and was thinking she should have taken her father's advice and gone to the farming colony.

As they ate together, Ba'el continued telling Worf what life had been like on Carraya after he and the others left while Worf tried to get her up to speed on the political climate of the alpha quadrant. Once they were finished and the dishes were back in the replicator, Worf asked, "It is getting late, have you arranged quarters for yourself here on the station?"

"No, I, well to be honest I didn't give much thought to what would happen after finding you. You helped the others start lives outside of Carraya, I had hoped you could do the same for me."

"Well, if you would like, you can stay here until you decide what you would like to do."

"Here, in your quarters?" she asked.

"You can have the bedroom. This way," Worf led her to the small bedroom in his quarters, "I hope this will suffice for now."

Ba'el entered the room, "Of course, but, what about you?"

"The couch will be more than enough for me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it is fine," what he didn't mention was that it wasn't uncommon at all for him to sleep on the couch these days.

Ba'el looked around the room, her eyes settling on a picture that sat on the bedside table. Without thinking she walked towards it and picked it up. It was Worf and a woman, they were dressed similarly- both in elaborate red outfits with gold crowns. They were embracing one another.

Worf had managed to stay away from this topic the entire evening, but there was no avoiding it now. The question on Ba'el's face was apparent, so Worf answered it before she could ask, "That is Jadzia, my wife."

Ba'el thought she might be sick, her stomach was queasy and her head felt light. So it was true, then, "Your wife?" was all she managed to squeak out, still staring at the woman who looked nothing like she imagined Worf's wife would.

He nodded, "Yes," Worf paused, saying these next words was still so very hard, "She died several months ago."

"What?" Ba'el quickly turned to face him.

"One of the many casualties of this war."

"Oh Worf…" Ba'el set the picture back in its place and took a step towards him. Defensively Worf stepped back.

"I need to return to my post," he said, changing the subject, "Please make yourself comfortable. It may be several hours before I return."

"Okay."

Worf nodded respectfully, "Good night."

He left quickly and Ba'el could hear the main door to the quarters swish open and then closed. She looked around again and sighed. Her gaze settled on the picture once again. Now it made sense. It may have been six years since they were together, but she could tell something was wrong as soon as she saw Worf earlier that evening. Maybe it was fate, or destiny or whatever but now Ba'el knew why she was there. Had she come back into his life a year or two ago he would not have needed her, but right now he did. The fire that was in his eyes when they first met was gone. Just as he had helped them years ago, Ba'el decided her purpose here was to help him get that fire back.