Short - Dinner Date

Very shortly after we dealt with that whole mess involving Avatar Korra, Harry Dresden, and zombies, I received a signal from one of my temporal beacons. It was from Nerys, on Bajor for business and looking to have the promised dinner.

Given my mood after that mess, I decided to take her up on it.

I parked the TARDIS in the Bajoran capital Ashalla, gave the girls enough local currency to go have a romantic dinner, and stepped out to find Nerys waiting for me. She wasn't in uniform this time, wearing a long-sleeved brown and green jacket and trousers that passed for casual dinner fare for Bajorans. I was, of course, in my navy blue jacket, light blue button-down, and navy blue pants with green shoes. We made quite a clashing pair.

The meal was excellent, a combination of Bajoran seafoods and vegetable platters with a side fruit. We were served almost immediately, a custom at the restaurant, so we ate quietly for a time before Nerys spoke. "So, how far ahead are you?"

"Oh, not very far from when I gave you the beacon," I said. "I almost bumped into you when you and Chief O'Brien were hunting history for Sisko and the others. I wanted to show the girls a modern Earth and we were already in this cosmos so..." I sighed. "A shame Los Angeles is underwater in this timeframe."

"You almost bumped into us?"

"Well, I saw you, but I knew what you were doing and that you had no time to talk. I suspect the TARDIS may have been responsible for your reading on that era. Sorry."

"Any reason you didn't help?"

The question was a reasonable one and not said with any irritation. "I might have complicated it further. It's hard to mess with fixed points in time like that, Nerys. Sisko did what he had to in order to fix the situation, but you know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen."

"And you did stun Dax the last time," Nerys pointed out. "We had these two DTI agents debrief us all after that."

"Lucsly and Dulmur?", I asked.

"No. It was another pair of them. A Human man and Bolian woman. They'd already had to deal with Miles' time looping so they came back out."

"Ah, time loops. Always a bother." I took a small drink of the Bajoran tea I'd ordered. "Good to see you're doing well, at least. How is Shakaar?"

"He's got a campaign to plan."

"Good. He'll make a fine First Minister." My smile hid an uncertainty; I knew that in at least one possible timeline Shakaar would be taken over by an alien parasite and then assassinated by a Trill security agent hunting the parasites down. I hoped, for Nerys' sake, that this timeline was not that one.

I almost spoke about Kai Winn, but I didn't. Talking about the power-hungering woman serving as Bajor's spiritual leader would only lead to Nerys thinking about Bareil, the man Winn had slandered to take that office and Nerys' lover. That wound would be fresh in her heart.

"I'll let him know you gave your endorsement." Nerys smiled. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Oh, nothing too unusual. Well, save the zombies."

"Zombies?" Nerys' face showed her confusion.

"Oh, come now, three years with Starfleeters and not one of them have ever told you a good zombie story?" I laughed. "The walking dead, Nerys."

Her look was surprisingly skeptical. "What? 'Walking dead'?"

"As in corpses re-animated to life through metaphysical energy of some sort," I explained.

Her look remained skeptical.

"Each cosmos tends to have its own level of metaphysical activity. I found one with a very high level. And we had to deal with zombies. Fast and strong buggers too, due to the energy they fed off of." I briefly considered the Crack and pushed it from my mind. I was supposed to be enjoying myself. "Actually, it was a rather bad day, but it could have been worse."

"They can always be worse, it seems," Nerys agreed.

We shared a brief laugh. Our discussions turned toward the current status of DS9 and its crew. I enjoyed the talk greatly and seeing Nerys smile. It seemed to justify that horrible decision I'd made to leave an eight year old girl on a world full of violence and pain.

When our bellies were full and a bottle of springwine had given a bit of a buzz to the evening we made our way back out into the streets. "All you have to do is ask, you know," I said.

"Ask for what?"

"There are all sorts of wonderous cities in Bajor's past that we could visit," I said. "Just a quick hop in the TARDIS and off we go."

"I don't think I could justify that to DTI if they found out," Nerys answered, smiling wistfully.

"You're Bajoran militia, you don't answer to them."

"And I work on a Federation station. Working alongside Sisko is more important to me right now."

"Very well. It was just an offer." We stepped up into the alleyway where I'd left the TARDIS. "Would you at least let me return you to Deep Space Nine?"

Nerys drew in a sigh. "Well, it'd cut down the travel time. I'd just have to explain how I got back without being on a manifest."

"Oh, I'm sure Odo can cover for you if you ask nicely. Maybe not for me, but definitely for you."

She seemed to think it over. "Well, I suppose... I'll have to go get my things first."

"Oh, of course, I have to wait for the girls anyway. No telling how long those lovebirds will be. Shall we be off?"

Nerys wasn't staying too far away as it turned out. We retrieved the bag she'd brought to Bajor and returned to the TARDIS in time to see Janias and Camilla walk up, hands clasped. "I love this city," Camilla said. "I don't think I've seen anything more beautiful in my life."

"Thank you," Nerys said, grinning in reply.

"Well, when you grew up in the Sith Empire you don't see much in the way of beauty," Janias pointed out. "But she's right. I love Bajoran designs."

"They've been doing it for thousands of years," I pointed out. "Lots of time to practice. Anyway, ladies, all aboard the TARDIS..." I pushed the door open.

A look of horror crossed the girls' faces and utter confusion on Nerys'. I turned to see what had happened and the sight almost struck me dumb.

The control center was now a mess. Fragments and scraps of fabric were strewn everywhere, creating a colorful mess.

"What in the Frozen Hell of Corellia?!", Janias cursed.

I put a hand to my head and visually scanned the control center. A figure emerged from the other side of the central control column. "You," I said accusingly.

The offender replied with a grin.

When the TARDIS rematerialized, I threw the door open and shouted, "OUT! Out with you!"

I wasn't looking up, but I already knew who was watching. It had been, for them, only ten or so seconds since the TARDIS had de-materialized from when I'd left them the last time, but now Harry Dresden and Molly Carpenter were staring at me in confusion.

The wrecker of my wardrobe slowly left the TARDIS. "Mouse?!", Harry said, incredulous.

"Bad dog!", I shouted. "Bad bad dog!"

Mouse barked a retort.

"A favor!? You ruined my wardrobe! Do you realize how much cleanup work I have to do?!" I put my hand on my head. "Did you at least get the patchwork suit and yellow stripe pants? I've been forgetting to find a star to throw them into."

Mouse nodded and made a huffing sound.

"Okay, okay, thank you for that. But seriously, Mouse! You could have asked for a TARDIS ride instead of stowing away!" I looked up to Harry and Molly, who were staring beyond me to where Nerys was watching with bemusement. "Oh, yes. Nerys, may I introduce Harry Dresden, Wizard of the White Council, and his apprentice Molly Carpenter. Harry, Molly, this is Major Kira Nerys, first officer of Deep Space Nine."

Mouse let out another bark.

"Oi, you're lucky you don't have opposable digits or I'd have you in there cleaning up your mess!"

There was a grin on Molly's face, but Harry went beyond that and broke out laughing. "Nice one, buddy," he said to his dog.

"Don't encourage him, Harry!"

Mouse bounded over to Harry and Molly and stood between them. "So, uh, did Korra get home?", Harry asked.

"Yes. I'll have to take you to Air Acolyte Island sometime. Pema is a wonderful cook. No meat, of course, but still fairly good. Much better than that Burger King fare you tried to inflict on us."

"Don't diss the King," Harry retorted. Molly let out a giggle.

"Make sure to punish him thoroughly," I insisted.

Harry knelt beside Mouse and put a hand between his ears. "You'll get an extra biscuit tonight, Mouse."

I let out an exasperated sigh and closed the TARDIS.

An hour of cleaning had cleared most of the debris from the TARDIS; Nerys had pitched in out of amusement more than anything. "I think the dog did you a favor," she remarked. "Some of these suits were just horrible."

"I'll grant you that," I replied. At least Mouse had destroyed the Sixth Doctor's suit thoroughly. "We're in your quarters now, Nerys. I can't keep you any longer."

We walked to the TARDIS door. As I opened it I reached over into bags I'd prepared. "A little something for Lieutenant Dax," I said. "First edition volumes from several prominent Trill science journals during the development of Trill interstellar space travel. Tell her it's an apology gift. And the offer of a TARDIS ride is still open."

Nerys moved the bag into her quarters and looked back. "And that's... a baseball bat?"

"Not just any old baseball bat," I said. I handed it to her, pointing out the crown insignia on the bat. "It's an authentic London Kings 2026 team slugger, signed by the entire squad. Buck Bokai even left a message at my request."

Nerys flipped the bat and read the autograph. "'From Buck to Ben Sisko, my number one fan.'" Nerys let out a chuckle. "I... do you think the Federation will let him keep it?"

"Oi, I hope so. I don't want to tell you what I went through to get that autograph," I answered. I let Nerys set it down on her table and come back. We exchanged a final hug. "Thank you for the dinner, it was lovely. Take care of yourself, Nerys. Remember, if you need anything, just use that temporal beacon and I'll come right away..."

"...but only if it won't wreck the timeline," she added.

"I see I've given you the line before," I remarked. "Tricky thing, time travel. All sorts of fixed points and currents to deal with. But it can be worth it." I stepped back into the TARDIS, feeling like the crazy uncle saying goodbye to his favorite neice. "I'll see you around, Nerys."

"I'm looking forward to it," she answered.

"My regards to the others." I let out a sigh as I closed the TARDIS door. One of these days I was going to have to straigten things out with Starfleet and DTI.

And so the night ended. After the bad day... it was a comforting change of pace.

I suppose I should finish with a comment on Mouse, now that everything has come and gone. Mouse's rampage was not random. After the hard work of restoring my dressing room to normal working order, I would find that my normal suits were untouched. Mouse apparently had a very specific target in mind when he ransacked the TARDIS.

The replica Doctor costumes.

And he was thorough. Every iconic garment from that collection was ruined beyond repair. Eleven's bowtie, Nine's leather jacket, Eight's green suit, Four's scarf... I would never be able to wear them. Which was, I suppose, the motive for Mouse's attack. It was a blow for my individuality against the force compelling me to become the Doctor.

In other words, Mouse did do me a favor.

I'll need to remember to give him a nice doggy biscuit for that one.