This is the final chapter of the short story where Ezri leave DS9 earlier, though not out of choice.

Merry Christmas.

Out of their Hands

She was almost finished with her packing when the door chime went off, startling her slightly, though she knew by now the majority of the station crew would have heard about the reassignment by now; word travelled faster on a space station than on a starship, after all, though truthfully Ezri had no idea who was on the other side of the door.

"Yes?" she called out, signalling her visitor to come in. Deep down she didn't want to truly speak to anyone. She had had a hard couple of hours, hoping to speak to the Trill Symbiosis Commission to find out why they had gone behind her back, though she wasn't hopeful she would get a reply any time soon.

Ezri was startled and surprised and yet delighted to see it was Worf on the other side (It was a truly hard chore for her not to leap across the room into his strong arms and kiss the living daylights out of him, but she was thankful she was a good three months into being joined to the Dax symbiont, or else the board back on Trill would have exiled her for sure), looking out of place and awkward. Suddenly she realised she couldn't put this one off even if she wanted to.

Things were not good between her and Worf thanks to the symbionts' history with the Klingon, and Worf had not hidden the fact he was hurt the Dax symbiont was back in his life at all, so she wondered what he was doing here now. For a long second Ezri and Worf just stared at each other awkwardly, neither knew what to say. Not for the first time, Ezri cursed herself for coming with Ben and Jake back to DS9, it would have just been easier to go on her own way. For a moment it occurred to her that it might be her predecessors' relationship with Worf that was making the Symbiosis Commission making her leave while using Nechayev to do their dirty work, but this wasn't the time for that type of thought.

"May I come in?" Worf asked in his deep baritone voice (Ezri cursed the part of her, the part of the symbiont that was Jadzia for swooning at the sound of the voice, begging to ignore Trill taboo and just kiss the life out of the Klingon on the spot. But Ezri managed to regain control; this was just as bad as the return of the Kahn symbiont in Dax's life a couple of years ago, Ezri could remember it from Jadzia's point of view) of his, but only Daxs' experience with the Klingon told her Worf was nervous.

"Of course," Ezri said quickly, hoping that Worf didn't catch on she was nervous herself.

Stepping into the room, Worf looked like he was struggling to find the right words to begin the conversation. Ezri meanwhile concentrated on her packing, unsure if the next urge to jump on Worf would actually happen or not.

"I heard you were leaving in the morning," Worf said. It wasn't a question, it was a fact.

Ezri sighed. Leave it to Worf to state the obvious. "Yes," she said simply, not trying to deny it. "That's right. I've been reassigned," she added bitterly, not even trying to hide the bite in her voice, nor the anger in it. "Those damned control freaks on Trill simply won't leave me alone."

"Why are they doing this?" Worf asked, pushing the present awkward reason he was here aside so he could focus on something else.

Pleased to have a reason to vent her anger, Ezri turned her head and paused. "I don't know," she said honestly, "I think there are a dozen reasons why the Symbiosis Commission are getting me reassigned now; the history Dax has with DS9, the relationships with the crew….."

Worf looked down. "The marriage I had with Jadzia," he whispered.

Ezri nodded sadly. "I think they're frightened that I'm going to suddenly jump on you or something along those lines," she whispered before she went on in a more louder tone though her voice was still soft, "so they have made Admiral Nechayev do their dirty work for them."

She heard Worf growl briefly, and she wondered for a second if the Klingon was growling at the name or the fact that her own people couldn't do their own dirty work for themselves. But truthfully she wasn't surprised by what the Board did though she did want to know why they were making her do this now.

"Is there nothing you can do to fight this?" Worf asked.

"No. Could you fight Starfleet Command if they gave you a direct order backed by a dozen admirals made on the request of one of the most respected members of the Federation?" Ezri asked back, and Worf looked down at his feet. They both knew the answer was a no. Oh, Ben had tried to ask Admiral Ross if he could do anything, but the Trill Symbiosis Board had thought of that quickly. They had pulled strings with a number of more higher ranking admirals to make sure Ross couldn't interfere.

"Besides," Ezri went on, voicing her current thoughts, "Ben tried to ask Admiral Ross if there was anything he could do, but he couldn't. It's out of everyones' hands."

Ezri shook her head as she paused in her packing. "It's ironic," she said.

"What is?"

"The fact I didn't want to be joined, and yet no matter what I want I'm joined anyway," Ezri replied before she turned to Worf. "Anyway, was there something you wanted?" she asked, hoping to change the subject and find out why her former host's husband wanted anything to do with her now.

Worf looked awkward once again. "I am not certain I have treated you in a way Jadzia would have wanted," he said awkwardly.

Ezri couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice on that one. "You'll get no argument from me there," she said, remembering the harsh glares, the sharp looks, the nasty way he'd spoken to her in the corridor…. The sad thing was Ezri did know how Jadzia would have felt. She had lost count of the number of times she had felt Jadzia's personality reel with anger at the way her husband was treating her successor despite wanting to take control of Ezri and making her leap on Worf regardless, though Ezri knew the Klingon well enough to know he'd probably slap her off.

Worf meanwhile looked downcast and upset, and despite the fact he hadn't been her husband, Ezri knew he was going through a bad time. Her presence only made it worse, so in retrospect, the Trill Symbiosis Commission had done her a favour, even if it was meant to save their own skins.

"I loved her with all my heart," Worf whispered, and Ezri had to close her eyes to fight back the urge to cry. Hearing the sheer pain in his voice….. it only served to make her upset, and she hoped that if Dukat was found anytime soon, the silver-tongued Cardassian found himself in a box, or given to the Bajorans. Either way, she hoped that the insane Cardassian never darkened the galaxy with his slick manner ever again.

But what made her angry on Worfs' behalf was what Dukat had done to Jadzia. It hurt even more since Ezri herself knew every single second of her predecessors moments in that shrine when she had been attacked.

Ezri stopped what she was doing and walked slowly towards Worf, aching to hug him but knew he wouldn't like that very much. "And she loved you. Very much," she wrung her hands. "Every day she was with you…..Jadzia was happy."

She noticed Worfs' posture stiffen and then saw his head bow, and she decided to just shut up so then he didn't hear her babble.

"I was happy as well," Worf replied. "Part of me glad to know that she is not gone forever, but in some ways it would easier if she were."

"I know," Ezri said simply.

Worf turned back to face her, his face still drawn out with pain and agony, but she could see he was trying to hide it behind his fierce Klingon nature, but she could see it wasn't working. That was part of the problem with Worfs' human upbringing; while it had made him very Klingon, he had gained a few human traits, and while it had made him torn between his people and the Federation, it had done more to define him than anything else. But there were times when it got in the way of what he truly wanted to say.

"I am sorry you are not staying," he said and she was surprised by the sincerity.

For herself, Ezri was surprised and stunned that Worf seemed to be more accepting of her now than he had been before, and for a moment she wanted to ask him what had changed his mind, but she held back. She was just glad Worf was more accepting of her now than before. If she was going to leave, then she was pleased she had a reason to leave on a high note.

Ezri had woken up early the next morning so then she could get one last look at the station before she had to leave. She had no idea who was going to be assigned to, but for the time being, she didn't really care. As she walked around the station, relying on the mental map of the place she had already thanks to Jadzia's memories, she had time to think.

After their mutual unease had faded, she and Worf had finally had a decent conversation for a change, where they were speaking to each other as equals instead of two people on opposite sides of a tall wall.

When she was finished, Ezri headed back for her quarters and she grabbed her satchel and walked towards the airlock where she would board the ship that would take her to her next assignment.

But when she arrived at the airlock, Ezri's eyes widened in surprise when she took in the sight. Every member of the senior staff and she was surprised to see Quark, Rom and Leeta there waiting for her. She caught Benjamins' eye and looked at him questioningly, to which he shrugged. She rolled her eyes at him, but she was grateful.

Nerys hugged her first - that surprised her since Nerys had been unsure of how to deal with her, but she had been more nicer than Worf - and whispered though everyone heard her Ezri had the impression that was the point, "I wish you weren't going."

"So do I," Ezri replied, "but if I don't who knows what could happen. I don't trust the symbiosis commission as far as I can throw them."

"You believe they might try to kidnap you?" Odo asked gruffly as Nerys let her go.

"These are the same people who didn't bat an eyelid when they tried to keep a lid on Joran; with that kind of mindset, you're capable of anything. Besides, they've got the ear of Starfleet and they don't care one little bit about pulling strings to get what they want," Ezri stated bluntly.

Odo grunted with a nod, not looking too happy. Ezri knew Odo well enough to know how much contempt the shapeshifter had towards Starfleet himself since they had not liked the fact he wasn't a team player and he followed his own rules but that was who he was, and he was an exceptional detective and security expert, and he held out his hand, but Ezri glanced at Nerys for a second, speaking without words to the Bajoran, who nodded. Ezri then pulled the shapeshifter into a hug. "You take care of yourself," she told Odo, "and Nerys."

"I intend to," Odo promised as they let go of one another.

After saying goodbye to Rom and his wife, Ezri turned to Quark. To her astonishment, the Ferengi bartender held out a few slips of gold pressed latinum.

"I haven't got all of it," Quark confessed, and Ezri chuckled as she remembered what this was all about. She didn't need the money, but she took it anyway, knowing enough about Ferengi custom to know it was an insult to not take the money. "Keep the rest, Quark," she said to him, "use it to make your bar one of the best in the quadrant. Everyone could use a place to liven things up, especially now."

Quark nodded with a sharp-toothed grin. "Sure, especially with this war on."

Odo humphed but Ezri and Quark knew it was his way, so they ignored him. Now she moved onto the senior staff. She exchanged hugs with Julian and Miles (she wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but Julians' hug seemed more…deeper than the others), and then she found herself looking at Worf.

The Klingon looked like he wasn't sure whether to hug or kiss her, but Ezri decided to just hug him gently.

"Take care of yourself," she whispered to her former hosts' husband.

She felt Worf nod, and they finally released each other. And lastly, she found herself looking at Ben. Ezri couldn't help but feel that this was the virtual end of an era, though she knew it wasn't. There was no way she was going to let a dear friend to two of her hosts just slip away.

"Keep in touch," Sisko told her.

"I plan too," Ezri grinned at him before she hugged him deeply.

When she was finished with her farewells, Ezri walked through the airlock, closing a chapter on the Dax legacy forever.

What do you think?