Disclaimer: CBS/Paramount own Star Trek and all characters established on the various series. Only the original characters and story are mine.
Everyone on the bridge of the Lindbergh sat in a tense silence waiting for T'Phir to announce the alien ship from Adigeon Prime was out of sensor range. The wait seemed much longer than it actually was, at least to Ezri Dax who, although the situation seemed to be under control, would be unable to truly relax until she was able to physically be in her husband's presence. Eventually, T'Phir made the announcement for which they had all been waiting. "The Adigeon ship is out of sensor range."
Dax smiled, the first smile she could remember donning for several days. "Excellent, however, I want sensor sweeps every 15 minutes for the next few days. I don't want to be caught off guard in case one or both species returns." She stood up, took a deep breath, "Icheb, you have the conn, I'm going over to CS12." At the look of apprehension she saw on her First Officer's face, she elaborated, "I want to update the staff on CS12 personally on what has transpired and on the current status." She dropped her voice so that only Icheb could hear her, "Don't worry, I know it's too soon to expect to be able to see Julian." Icheb was mollified.
After debriefing the CS12 temporary commander, as the new commander was still in quarantine, Ezri returned to the Lindbergh.
A few days later, after the senior staff got some much needed rest, the crews of the Lindbergh and Cold Station 12 were able to get back to something approaching normal operations, now that all the aliens were gone. On Cold Station 12, they began the long and arduous task of cleaning up. The interim commander had explained to Ezri that the station hadn't needed to perform such a thorough cleansing and decontamination since Dr. Soong and his augments had taken over the station briefly in the 22nd Century. They estimated it would take months, possibly a year, to neutralize and contain all the pathogens which had been released.
Doctor Bashir was recovering nicely and quarantine had been lifted. He spent his first night out of quarantine with his wife on the Lindbergh. After the first night, he was busy overseeing the clean up and getting his new quarters on the station in some semblance of order. With the latter, he was assisted by Ezri. The Lindbergh was going to spend the next two weeks at CS12, just in case either set of aliens decided to return.
Starfleet had acted quickly on Ezri's report about the healers of Adigeon Prime. They had released a statement on all channels revealing the practice of the healers to continue to subject their patients to continued testing.
Todd stormed out of the holodeck; Threm, Icheb, and Naomi were right behind him. His costume was still smoking, "I was supposed to be one of the good guys. I was one of Nero Wolfe's helpful detectives. How could my character be the killer? I had to blow myself up!!!"
The last statement was delivered at such a volume, passers by stopped to stare.
His mood wasn't helped by the fact that Threm, Icheb, and Naomi were laughing at him. "Stop laughing, this isn't funny. Why didn't someone tell me that my character was the bad guy? It's no fun being the bad guy. I had to blow myself up!"
"So you said." Threm's attempt at sounding understanding was ruined by the chuckling.
Icheb was more successful, "Todd, I told you that Tom Paris warned us not to read that particular novel before playing the holonovel. I didn't know your character was the killer."
"I had to blow myself up, have you ever blown yourself up?"
Naomi was lagging behind the men enjoying the show, which more than a bit amusing. Threm put his arm around Todd's shoulder, "Honey, it was the holodeck, you weren't in any physical danger."
"I…had…to…blow…myself...up. What about that is funny? Nothing, that's what! I'm never playing another Nero Wolfe holonovel again. I don't think I like them."
"That isn't what you said last evening when you were looking forward to finishing the novel today."
"Yeah, well, that's before I knew I had to blow myself up."
Threm pulled Todd close to him, "Why don't we go to our quarters, and you can put on something more comfortable. You know, something that isn't smoking."
"Okay, that sounds good, let's go home. We'll see you two later, okay."
Naomi and Icheb said, "Goodbye" at the same time. Once the other two were out of sight, Icheb asked Naomi, "Shall we go to my quarters and get some dinner."
"Sounds good." Naomi wasn't sure if Icheb was fidgety because of Todd's reaction to a holonovel which Icheb had picked out or what, but he was definitely nervous about something. When they were all the way into Icheb's quarters he seemed more nervous rather than less nervous. Maybe he was worrying about the prospect of being in command when the Captain and Dr. Bashir were going to take their vacation in two months. She knew this was a sensitive subject for Icheb, so she said nothing. While she was going through all this in her mind, she hadn't really been paying attention to what Icheb was ordering from the replicator. She was somewhat surprised to see him turn to her with two glasses of champagne. Icheb wasn't a big drinker and neither was she, and they weren't celebrating anything special.
Icheb handed her a glass and motioned her to the couch. She smiled at him, she realized she was really liked the way he looked when dressed in a mid 20th Century business suit. She was so busy looking at his suit she hadn't consciously noticed that he was kneeling in front of her. This couldn't possibly be what she thought, could it?
"Naomi Wildman, will you marry me?"
She was stunned, but also thrilled. She didn't have to think about it, not for a second, "Of course, yes, I'll marry you."
She saw Icheb's face go from being nervous to elated at warp speed, then she was being kissed…by her fiancée.
The End
Author's note: This is it, we've reached the end of NIche stories, at least for some time. I've really enjoyed writing them, but now maybe I'll have some time to read all the excellent Naomi/Icheb stories YOU all have been writing!