I really had trouble with doing a oneshot of Captain Benjamin Sisko and Kasidy Yates. Adoring them very much, I could not just make it another sappy story, but it's important to keep them as believable as they were on the actual show.

Chapter Two

Benjamin Sisko and Kasidy Yates: Slide

"So, did you meet her yet?" Jake asked as they all sat at the dinner table like the family they were. Mia loved chicken paprikash, even though Benjamin rarely cooked it except on a special occasion and whether he was in a good mood. In this case, he was. The negotiations with the Peljenites went well, so why not have a cause to celebrate?

Unfortunately, the rest of the crew who had begun to become his extended family could not make it, so this was just him and his two children. Again, unfortunately, Jake had trouble pronouncing it correctly and always added an "I" in place of the "A" in the kash ending, but Mia always got it right. She pronounced more languages correctly than he did; she could have majored in linguistics, but she was ever the free-spirit.

"Who?" Ben asked when the delicious Hungarian dish was placed on the table in front of each of them, saving himself for last.

"Kasidy Yates. The freighter captain I was telling you about," Jake answered excitedly.

For weeks now, his son who was barely sixteen now - Mia twenty-two and ever a fresh-blooming blossom - had been talking nonstop about the "beautiful" Captain Kasidy Yates, who was also the founder of the Interstellar Freights in her name. He was so eager to...set his father up, knowing it was time for Ben to start seeing someone again, but sometimes he wasn't sure if he was ready to, given he was still getting over Jennifer's death.

Mia had met the woman, apparently, for she spoke very highly of Captain Yates. "She's really nice, Dad," she said with a smile. "You'd like her."

"We should ask her to dinner tomorrow night," Jake added, and now that was getting too far ahead. Ben held up his hand.

"Whoa, whoa, you two, this is too sudden. I know you want me to meet her, but let me decide when the time is right."

~o~

Sometimes he was glad he agreed to meet Kasidy; Jake proved to be a great matchmaker, but Mia had nothing to do with it even though she allowed him to get away with it.

Kasidy was an interesting woman, for lack of a better word. She wasn't a baseball player or entirely a fan herself despite having a younger brother who loved it, and no one had engaged in the sport for two centuries - leaving him and Jake as the last ones in the present. Mia wasn't a sports gal, although she did participate sometimes, mostly choosing to stand by and watch for the fun of it.

Not that many months went by, and Benjamin had to say he was warming up to her. It had been a long time since any woman made him feel like this.

Sometimes he wondered if a long-distance relationship would ever work for him the second time around, but just today, he had learned of her taking into consideration working for Bajor, which meant she could be moving onto Deep Space 9.

"Well, Kasidy...that's a big step," was all he could say. Bad words of choice, and that had been disastrous to end at dinner before more wine could be poured. He shouldn't have said those words because he really was hoping he'd be...enthusiastic that they'd be closer together. Now he didn't know what to do but go to Dax and Bashir.

Both of them said the same thing that it was a bad move, and that left him with two more people for a second opinion - or should he say four, given that there was one opinion from each person? Kasidy said he was afraid of commitment, so maybe he was. But it was because of the fact that his career and being stationed got Jennifer killed as well as Antonio, his good friend and comrade - Mia's birth father.

Perhaps it was because he did not want to get hurt again, and he didn't want her harmed either. That was what was holding him back.

And just tonight he was learning from Jake this morning that she had chosen not to take the job after all, which shocked him. Upon asking his son why, Jake answered, "She said you didn't want her to take it."

Sisko could not remember being so stunned. Kasidy thought he didn't want her to take it?! She was seriously overreacting. "Look, Jake," he said, "sometimes things between men and women can get a little...complicated."

Jake nodded absently. "Yeah, maybe, but I don't think this is one of those times. It's pretty simple, Dad: you're scared."

"What do I have to be scared of?" he exclaimed.

"Kasidy's willing to make a major change in her life just to be close to you. And if things don't work out, you're going to feel responsible, and that's scary."

Alright, he was agreeing with that, just a little. But all of this was coming from his teenage son of all people - and the one who set them up to begin with! "You figured out this all by yourself?"

"Actually," Jake said with a little laugh, "Nog, Mia and I talked about it."

"You talked to your sister AND Nog about my relationship with Kasidy!"

"And we think you have nothing to worry about," he answered calmly. "We all agree that if Kasidy wants to change jobs, that's her decision, not yours. Same thing if she wants to live on the station. If things don't work out, they don't work out."

"I see." In that case, he needed to fix this up with her if he wanted this new...relationship to work.

He arrived at the site of her ship the next day, taking Jake's advice. But if he said she was enthusiastic about seeing him, he'd be lying. "You know someone who's qualified for it?" she asked coolly, turning her back to him when she began to check the latest listings.

"I know someone perfect for it - you," he answered proudly as he held the container of her shipment she handed for him. "I think you should take the job - I want you to take the job."

Her posture went rigid, and she turned to face him. Now she was smiling deviously, knowing. "You've been talking to Jake. He's a smart boy, though I can say his sister knows better to stay out of our business. Jake must take after his mother."

Jennifer was still a touchy subject for him even though it never hurt talking about her once in a while. "I do owe you an apology," Benjamin admitted, "because you came to me with this wonderful news, and all I could say was 'that's a big step'. I don't know what I was thinking." He turned to put the container on top of one of the crates before turning to look back at her. "I wanted to tell you how happy I was for you...f-for us," he corrected himself, "but it didn't come out that way. I was uncomfortable and nervous. I haven't been in a serious relationship in a long time, and I didn't expect to be in one anytime soon...until I met you."

Her smile was soft and understanding, without spoken words needed, and you could see it especially in her dark, soulful eyes. "This life I lead," he went on. "- this job I do - that's what got Jennifer killed. And if anything happened to you -"

"Why don't you let me worry about that?" she interrupted gently, firmly.

"Oh, that's what Jake said."

Kasidy laughed. "You see? Smart boy."

And he could not argue with her on that. "Is tonight a bad time to catch up on the dinner we lost the opportunity on?" he asked her. Her lips pulled back into a mischievous, tooth-bearing grin.

"I have something more...interesting than dinner in mind, Benjamin. Because tomorrow I leave for Bajor. You didn't think I'd miss on a great opportunity just because you got cold feet?"

He was stunned to his boots, again. How was it that he, the mighty Captain Sisko - not being narcissistic on himself - could be caught off by a possible new girlfriend? She laughed. "You're a good man, Benjamin Sisko, but you got a lot to learn about women."

Especially this one in front of him. And as for what was more interesting than dinner...

Later that evening, he had it prepared anyway, this being a romantic Italian dinner for two which was spaghetti and sauce without meat - the red sauce was flavored so. It was also lit by candlelight and red roses, the rich perfume in the air, and enough to make up for the unpleasant last time. She was leaving in the morning, so he wanted tonight to be perfect. Somehow, Benjamin felt like he was an infatuated adolescent again - the one Curzon used to make fun about regarding women.

But, as Jadzia Dax said, if she were Curzon again, she would have snatched Kasidy off her feet from him. Which was why he was relieved she wasn't the old man anymore.

When she walked in, she looked absolutely amazing in her draping lilac dress and her dark hair wild and free, curling lusciously. Her skin was shining and more delicious than chocolate. He could almost smell her perfume, which was musky and sweet with apples and jasmines. Ben could not remember the sudden burn in his body that he had not had in a long time, either. He wanted to say that this was happening too fast, but they were also adults now. They had mistakes to make but also to learn from them. Jake was right that his father was not the only one to have his own decisions to make either, and Kasidy had decided this was her idea to have dinner tonight before she left in the morning...

...only there was something more than dinner tonight, as it seemed.

"How should we do this, Ben?" she asked softly, subtle and seductive at the same time as she stepped forward. "Have dinner first and then dessert afterward - or skip dinner and move onto dessert?"

Damn, did it have to be a difficult question? It should be skip dinner, but he had prepared all of this just for them. Joseph always said never spoil dinner or your appetite, so that was what made it harder. "Why is that a trick question?"

"Oh, Ben, you're acting like a spoilsport, thinking about dinner before dessert," Kasidy scolded when she finally stood in front of him. "Or does your father have the dinner rule first? I suppose an appetite could give us the additional energy." Her eyes twinkled as mischievously as her smile, tantalizing him on the spot.

Dinner first it was, which was delicious. Even though he was raised by a chef father, he sometimes thought he did it better than Joseph Sisko when it came to Italian. It was...saucy and savory, but what made it even difficult to enjoy was the fact that this beautiful woman sat across from him. By the time they were finished and the wine settled into their systems, the curtains fell as barriers fell, too, and all doubts shoved aside. Kasidy did not drink too much as she had a cargo ship to lead in the morning for Bajor, but it was enough to get her going as it did to him.

Their clothes were gone as they made way for his bed. Jake was staying the night with his sister as he was well aware that his father was going to spend the entire night "making it up" with Kasidy. There was no mistaking what the poor boy had on his face as he must have hinted what his father meant by "all night". Mia always knew how to work her magic to not make him think TOO much about the adult subject, even though he was old enough to understand it.

Benjamin laid on his back as he watched her glorious form move on top of him. Just for a moment - and he did mean just for a moment - he thought it was Jennifer on top of him again, but his vision was hazy before it cleared to show his wife was still gone. A new one was in her place. He was consciously aware that he was beginning to sweat in the midst of their lovemaking. Kasidy's hands on his shoulders tightened as she increased her pace; he was even surprised at how tight she was around him, given the position. Her legs remained clenched together as her body rubbed up and down over his, the friction between them sparking almost literally, like they would both go up in flames at any minute...

And the flame that burst when they both reached the end was more than either of them expected it would be.

~o~

Why was she here, after what she just did that nearly took the lives of everyone on the station? What about him and what they had?

But most of all, Mia and Jake?

She had her orders, deliberately putting those two young lives and those around them in danger once their father and the best crew was away to look for the Maquis that she was smuggling for, and Sisko had felt nothing short of betrayed. He couldn't let his feelings get in the way as the suspicions Odo and Eddington - that traitor! - had given to him were true that they brought them both to this point. Now she would be going to prison for awhile.

But she didn't know an attack would happen, just to be here and wanted to quit the runs - the Maquis wanted to have her caught, too. Just to pull the captain from the station. Now Eddington was a fugitive, and a new dangerous threat to them now that it was out. Betrayed his oath and loyalty over a bunch of replicators, called his own people worse than the Borg.

He would worry about Eddington later; right now was him and Kasidy, the woman he still loved in spite of what she did. She wasn't a wicked woman, but she wasn't innocent, either. No one was entirely innocent, but no one was perfect, either.

The Xhosa docked, but she was alone, having dropped her crew off at a Maquis base for the sake of not having them involved in her arrest. She didn't have to come back either, but here she was.

"I'm not going to stand here and apologize for what I did," she told him, not emotionless and not guilt-ridden either, "but you had your duty as I had mine. And you still do. And I know I'll probably go to prison, but I came back because of you. In spite of everything that's happened...I still love you, Ben. I don't want to throw that away."

He closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head and whispering, "No." He did not want to throw it away at all. He would forgive her in time, but right now came the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life. He called for Lt. Reese and the security team, never tearing his eye off the woman he loved. Kasidy's eyes glazed over but did not spill the tears.

"I'll be back," she whispered as she was led away from him.

"I'll be waiting," he promised.