Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Thank you to wcv and Bina W for reviewing.

Sisko found Roxanne the next day after lunch. She was under an oak tree, sitting on the grass, engrossed in her Calculus notes. Benjamin sat beside her and clapped her on the shoulder with his free hand; his right arm was in a sling.

"Well, just so you know, every guy at that table gave Solok a good licking for what he said to you."

Roxanne gave him a weak smile. "You didn't have to do that, you know. What happened to your arm?"

"Separated shoulder. I'll be out of the sling by the end of the week...so how's Calculus coming along?"

"Slow, as always."

He glanced at her notes, then shook his head. "I think you need a break, Roxy. Listen, Sicily and Aaron were planning on going down to the Holosuite Bay this afternoon. Wanna join us?"

"I wish I could, but I've got a tutoring session in an hour."

Sisko turned toward her a little more. "Tutoring for Calculus?"

She nodded.

"With who? I hear Hannah Clark is really good."

Roxanne shook her head at him, then looked back down at her notes. "I don't know his name. I've never met him," she lied softly, scrolling down the PADD. She knew if he found out Solok was her tutor that first, he'd flip out, and second, she'd never hear the end of it for agreeing to this in the first place. Benjamin raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh," he said with a grin. "I can tell you're lying, Roxy. Do you like him?"

She let out a genuine laugh. "Ben, don't be getting any ideas. I can assure you now, I won't be starting anything with this guy."

"You haven't even met him," he countered. "He could be the man of your dreams for all you know."

"Trust me, he's not."

"Whatever," he murmured, looking away with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Tell me how it goes, ok? Do you have any plans for tomorrow? Maybe we could get lunch together."

"I'll know tonight what my plans are. I need to arrange a schedule with this guy."

Ben nodded, understanding that she wanted to be left alone, and he stood. "You're doing the right thing, Roxanne. Show Solok who's boss."

She scowled to herself as he walked off. "I intend to," she whispered to herself.

…

The biochemistry lab was completely deserted when she arrived, or so she thought. Solok was seated at a table near the back, in a nook that was hidden by the supply shelf. And he wasn't alone.

She recognized one of his friends from the bar seated across from him, and they were engrossed in quiet conversation. His friend was shorter by about three inches, and his skin was a paler shade of olive than Solok's. The friend's eyes were brown, and they gazed on her with curiosity and arrogance.

"So this is the girl who ran out of the Launching Pad crying?" the friend asked Solok. The latter bowed his head in affirmation, his mouth tugging upward into a smirk. She blinked, then smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I've been having a really bad week. Mind introducing me to your friend, oh Mighty one?" she directed at Solok. The friend raised an eyebrow.

"This is Verok, Ms. Hartman. Verok, may I introduce my new student, Roxanne."

Verok nodded curtly, then gathered his things and left soon after. Roxanne sighed and took the chair Verok had occupied, then looked up at Solok. His eyes were gleaming, but his expression was unreadable.

"Mighty one?" he asked softly, scrolling through the PADD that held the Calculus textbook.

She sighed. "I saw Sisko today. You separated his shoulder."

"And cracked three of his ribs, if I remember correctly," he murmured, setting down the PADD and setting his piercing gaze on her again. "Go to chapter 17 and prepare to take notes."

For the next fifteen minutes, he drilled her in basic Calculus, much of which she already knew. But when they got to harder equations and he still hurtled along at the same speed, she told him to hold up.

"Give me a minute to think that over," she insisted, referring to the latest theory he had made her recite. He tilted his head.

"We will get nowhere if you insist on going slow."

"And all your tutoring will be a waste of time if you don't give me time to digest this stuff."

He allowed her a minute to review everything they had covered thus far. He blinked slowly. "I do not consider this to be a waste of time," he said so quietly she almost didn't hear. She glanced up at him.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

He didn't answer, but rather turned her attention back to his lessons. After another hour, he stopped, and she gathered her things.

"I guess I should thank you. I appreciate what you're doing for me."

"You will meet me tomorrow during your lunch hour in the cafeteria, at the same table you were at earlier. My companions and I will be waiting."

She nodded curtly and left the room, hurrying back to her dorm so she could do some studying on her own. So far, things with Solok were ok, but she knew things could turn bad very fast. Knowing Solok, he would probably push her buttons again tomorrow, with his friends as an audience.

She sighed and pulled out a good book, in desperate need of a break from Calculus.

…

The next morning, her first class of the day was Calculus, and she got there a little early. Soon enough, the regular crowd shuffled in, some bright and alert, others, like her, yawning and rubbing their eyes. But she concentrated on the notes she had taken with Solok, and she was happy that they made a little more sense than they did before his lesson. She still had a ways to go, but still, it was a start.

She hardly noticed when he sat beside her, but when she looked up to search the room for her friend Aaron, she nearly jumped at the sight of her Vulcan tutor watching her intently.

"I hope you took sufficient notes last night," Solok said quietly, cocking an eyebrow at the PADD in her hand. "I went over what we will cover today in class."

"That was...thoughtful," she said in reply, frowning at him.

"Your expression suggests otherwise."

She glared at him. "I meant what I said. I'm just not sure why you're sitting by me today. You're usually closer to the front of the room."

He smirked slightly. "I chose to be near you today as to answer any questions you may have, and to make sure my tutoring does not go to waste. You will pay attention."

"It's not my attention span that's the problem here," she hissed, but was prevented from talking further as the professor walked in. Solok nodded to the PADD in her hand, as if she needed reminding to take notes.

The class passed quickly, but she was constantly aware of his presence not a foot from her right arm. The class size was small and the seats rather close to one another, and her elbow occasionally brushed him when she reached the end of a line of notes. He said nothing, nor did he attempt to move further away. He stayed fairly still, his eyes on the teacher or on his notes.

Finally, the professor let them go, and she packed up her things. He did the same, and waited for her as she slipped the strap of her bag onto her shoulder. Roxanne turned and saw him waiting; she blinked.

"When would be a convenient time for us to continue our sessions?" he asked quietly. The room had quickly cleared out, and she realized they were alone.

"Whenever you want," she said coldly.

"Would tomorrow night be acceptable?" he said with a smug gleam in his eye.

"Sounds fine," she said, trying to move past him. He caught her shoulder as she made to leave, and she looked back at him, irritated.

"You will be at the cafeteria on time," he said lightly but firmly, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'll be there, Solok," she growled, then shoved his hand off of her and exited the room. He watched her go, a smug smile on his face.

…

Roxanne took a deep breath before approaching the table of Vulcan cadets. They were engrossed in their conversation, but she saw Solok look up and nod to her in satisfaction. The only seat available at the table was the one next to him, and she set her tray down on the table and sat in the chair.

"I'm pleased you could make it," Solok said lightly. There were several raised eyebrows and some smug looks around the table, and she sighed.

"No problem," she all but growled. She took a sip of her water to give her something to do.

"I do not believe you have met my companions, except for Verok." The Vulcan on her right nodded, his lips twitching upward for a split second. "This is Meral, Stuvak, Tolar, V'Tek, Lonev, Kov and Nuval."

Each of his friends nodded in greeting as Solok said their names. They were all male, and every one of them had the same smug expression on their faces. And they were all focused on her. She swallowed.

"So tell us, Ms. Hartman," said Tolar, who was seated across from her, "what field of study are you in?"

"I'm studying to be a tactical officer," she said quietly, stabbing at a sprig of asparagus on her plate, "that or security."

"That would be consistent with your...combative tendencies," Verok commented. Though none of their expressions changed, almost all of their eyes brightened, and she could see amusement behind their dark irises.

"Even her food is not spared her volatile nature," Solok continued, and the amusement was almost tangible.

Roxanne chewed her food, breathing deeply and reminding herself why she was here in the first place. At the moment, it all seemed very pointless, and she wanted to leave. But she gritted her teeth and continued eating.

They bombarded her with questions about her hobbies, her relationships, her family, what foods she liked to eat and everything in between.

"Did you engage in sexual relations with Garret Vancouver?" Stuvak asked rather abruptly. They were discussing one of her past boyfriends. She frowned at the Vulcan, not sure what to say, then shook her head.

"Why do you want to know?"

Stuvak raised his eyebrows. "I was simply being thorough."

"Well, its none of your business what I did with him. I'm not going to answer that question," she said firmly. She had a headache from dealing with their intrusive and rather personal questions, and she was more irritated then she had been at the bar. These Vulcans were insufferable.

She turned to Solok. "How much longer?"

"Four minutes," he replied smoothly. "Why does Stuvak's question make you so uncomfortable?"

Roxanne looked at him incredulously. "Do I really need to explain it to you? I know you all would feel uncomfortable talking about your sexual exploits with me."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, then cocked an eyebrow and dropped the subject. They continued eating in silence, and finally Solok said she could go. She didn't even bother saying goodbye to his friends, knowing she'd see them again fairly soon. She gathered her things and picked up her tray, then walked away as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself.

She walked back to her dorm, pounding the pavement, fuming, clutching her things to her body. She hardly paid attention to her surroundings until she heard a voice call out her name.

"Roxy!"

She turned and saw Ben Sisko walking toward her, and she stopped.

He stared at her a moment when he reached her. "You ok?"

She didn't reply, but kept walking toward her dorm, which was in sight now. Sisko frowned at her.

"Ok, what's going on? What's got you on the rampage?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, Ben." She walked a few steps more before stopping and turning to him. "I'll be ok, and thanks for asking."

She quickly turned off the path and headed up a small hill to the tree she liked to sit under, and Ben followed.

"Can we talk about something other than me right now? Tell me about your day," she said as he sat down. He looked at her for a moment, then nodded and told her a funny story about something that had happened in class that day.

Solok nodded farewell to his companions and set off toward the chemistry labs, reading a PADD as he went. The sky above him was bright blue but partially cloudy, and the wind was cool. He shrugged off the chill that crept over him with the wind and zipped up his jacket against the cold. The sun, for the moment, was obscured by a cloud, casting the world into shadows.

He was absorbed in reading over his notes when he heard laughter, and he looked up just as the sun came out from behind the clouds. Time seemed to slow.

Roxanne Hartman was sitting underneath a tree, laughing at something Benjamin Sisko had just said. Her bright green eyes were alight with her laughter, making them the liveliest he had ever seen. Her eyes were always narrowed or cold when she looked at him, but out here, in the autumn weather with the sun shining down on her...Her short auburn hair was glowing at the tips as the sun beat down on them, and it made it seem as if she had a fiery aura around her, as if she were emitting some otherwordly, ethereal light from her pale flesh. The apples of her cheeks were flushed pink, and as he walked closer, he noticed for the first time a spray of freckles across her nose and cheeks, tiny brown dots that darkened in the sunlight.

He found the sight exquisite.

Unfamiliar warmth spread from his abdomen up to his chest, and his fingertips were tingling. His throat felt suddenly tight, and he swallowed, trying to relieve the tightness, as he found it uncomfortable. Solok breathed in and walked on, quickly banishing the memory of her bright, lively eyes to the darkest recesses of his mind. It was illogical to take pleasure in the sight of a human woman. She was irrational, as volatile as the emotions he had managed to coax from her. She was human, unworthy of his attention or of his admiration.

And yet...he could not deny that the sight of Roxanne laughing in the sunlight was an aesthetically pleasing one. By human standards, she was quite attractive, and even by Vulcan standards, she was not unpleasant to look at. Quite the opposite...

He shook his head like a dog clearing its ears of water and hurried on, once again disciplining his thoughts and focusing on his notes, refusing to acknowledge that Roxanne's laughter was still ringing in his ears.