Chapter Six: Doctoring Time

"You and the double can't be seen together," Bashir reminded him as Steed drove through the London streets. "He's pretending to be you, so it would disrupt the timeline for you to be together."

"Why can't your people just 'beam' him up?" Steed questioned.

Bashir shook his head. "We could if he was alone in a room and we knew where that was, or if he was the only person in close proximity to me or Sisko. But we can't pick out his lifesigns from a crowd to beam him up. Besides, that would be a display of twenty-fourth-century technology."

"And upset the timeline," Steed concluded. "But won't the phaser —"

Bashir gave him a lopsided grin. "Don't ray guns exist, at least in comic books?"

"Yes — and not just in comic books," Steed admitted. "That's classified, though, so don't tell anyone."

"I'm classified," Bashir reminded him. "At least, as anything more than your average 1960s general practitioner."

Steed pulled up in front of an ornate building and jumped over the door; Bashir opted to open his side before getting out.

"This way," Steed told him, leading the way to a side door. "We can take the back stairs and keep an eye on things from the balcony."

Bashir followed him up, medical bag clutched in one hand, and soon they were standing unseen, gazing down at the people milling around below.

"I don't see 'you,'" Bashir murmured. "Where's Admiral Westlake?"

"There," Steed indicated, nodding toward a man with a multitude of medals pinned to his dress uniform. "And that's Dr King, standing by the potted plant."

Suddenly a look of horror crossed Dr King's face. "Steed! What are you doing?"

In the same instant, Bashir heard the sound of a gun being fired with a silencer. "Admiral!"

Startled, the admiral turned, and the shot that should have hit him between the eyes, killing him instantly, entered at a more oblique angle. Picturing the likely damage even as the man fell backwards, Bashir realized there was a chance he was still alive. "I have to get down there!" he exclaimed, spinning toward the stairs even as Dr King was pushing his way toward the victim, his low voice clear even to the two on the balcony: "I'm a doctor; let me through!"

Steed grabbed Bashir's wrist. "And treat him how? With your advanced instruments, in front of so many people?"

Bashir clenched his fists. "I can't," he realized with a groan. "But if he dies for lack of them, the timeline will be as badly damaged as if I had used them."

"He's not dead yet," Steed observed, watching Dr King still working over the admiral as the crowd waited anxiously for the ambulance that had been called.

"Let's get out of here," Bashir said shortly. "I can't stand to watch and do nothing. And Dr King may not be the only one who saw 'you' shoot him."

Steed grimaced. "Oo. Being arrested as a murdering traitor would certainly change the timeline."

Bashir glared at him hotly. "That's all you and Sisko care about, isn't it?" Spinning around without waiting for an answer, he hurried back down the stairs toward the car.

oOo

Bashir remained moodily silent as Steed briefed Sisko and Miss Gayle on what had happened. At last he jumped up to begin pacing the room, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I should have kept my mouth shut and let you go," he muttered. "At least you'd have a decent excuse for not helping him, and the time we wasted arguing might have been what kept us from being able to stop the double."

"What I don't understand," Miss Gayle said with a worried glance at Bashir, "is why he would shoot the admiral so openly if he wants to continue to pass as Steed. Surely he knows he'll just be arrested now?"

"Maybe the admiral's death was all he intended to effect to change history," Sisko suggested.

"So either way, we failed; I should have helped him."

"We don't know he's dead yet," Steed reminded him.

Bashir snorted softly in contempt of twentieth-century medicine to deal with an injury of that magnitude, and resumed his pacing.

"Unless he knows you've told me you have a double; maybe he wants to have you arrested for the murder, and then he can claim to be the real Steed," Miss Gayle suggested.

"An enhanced monster won't be successful at that for very long," Sisko remarked, "though his creators are more to blame than he is."

Bashir spun around. "His enhancements don't let him off responsibility for his own behavior," he said flatly. "He could be a decent, law-abiding citizen if he wanted to."

Sisko grunted skeptically.

"Enhancements aside," Steed put in with a quick sideways glance at Bashir, "he seems to be finding it hard to pass as a model citizen."

"I suppose an enhanced mind might have reasons we can't begin to understand," Sisko mused.

"Ah, but don't underestimate your own people, Captain," Steed told him. "What's your opinion, Doctor?"

Bashir glared hard at him. "Um…it's hard to say. Since genetic enhancements are illegal," he emphasized harshly, "the process isn't completely foolproof. Enhanced individuals are sometimes mentally unstable, so his reasoning may not be logical despite having advanced mental capacity. My guess is he did think the real Steed was dead, and he panicked when he found out he wasn't."

"That's what he meant…!" Miss Gayle whispered suddenly. "I think his original plan was to pin it on me; he was asking me to be the admiral's bodyguard, but he said something about no one suspecting me. I don't think he expected me to refuse to help him, and then the way he left so suddenly — I wonder if he heard you coming."

"Our coming probably saved your life, if he did," Bashir commented grimly. "I can't imagine him being chivalrous enough to give you less of a beating than Steed just because you're a woman."

Miss Gayle shuddered at the thought of what she had been told of Steed's injuries and what she had felt herself of the double's strength. "Then thank you again," she said sincerely.

Next chapter coming next week!

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know! (Note that the spelling of some Avengers characters' names has been changed intentionally.)

Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine or Avengers alternate histories, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie