Disclaimer: While the attempt has been made to be medically accurate, some artistic license has been taken, and statements made by Dr Bashir are not to be regarded as authoritative. Recognizable characters and plotlines are the property of Paramount and Viacom; all original characters and story © 2023 FemaleChauvinist.

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A/N: I was "into" thinking out Dr Bashir stories while watching Walker, Texas Ranger, so when I watched the episode "The Bachelor Party" (in which Ranger Gage is attacked by a bear while he and Trivette are on a camping trip "bachelor party" with Walker, I couldn't help imagining Bashir into it… I don't consider this story to have actually "happened" in either my DS9 or W,TR timelines, but if it did it would be after my DS9 story "Times Ills," as Bashir remembers things a character in that story said to him. Barbie

Chapter One: Theories of Time

It was bad enough to fall through a time vortex, Dr Julian Bashir mused fleetingly as he dodged through the woods, but did he have to land such a short distance from a bear that obviously wanted nothing so much as human flesh?

At an ominous growl behind him, he looked over his shoulder without slackening his pace, and caught a glimpse of brown fur rapidly gaining on him. His enhanced speed was of little use in these woods, as he still had to dodge around obstacles the bear merely crashed through. He thought briefly of climbing a tree, but knew the pause to find a suitable one would be fatal; the bear would be on him before he could climb high enough to be out of its reach.

He looked over his shoulder again, and saw the bear measurably closer.

It was in that instant that he tripped, running too fast to right himself even with his superior reflexes, and cursed his own stupid arrogance even as he fell. Enhanced senses might have let him walk through this forest blindfolded without so much as touching a tree, but that was if he was giving the feat all his powers of concentration; it wasn't the same as having eyes in the back of his head.

Sensing victory, the bear was on him in an instant.

"Get back!" Julian shouted, swinging his medkit up to take the brunt of the bear's vicious swipe even as he scrambled to his feet. The next instant he was running again, this time careful to resist the temptation to look back and see how close the bear was.

"Over here! Hurry!"

The call came from the door of a small cabin, and Julian veered toward it without question, putting on an extra burst of speed as he crossed the clear area just in front of it.

The instant he was through the door, his rescuer slammed it shut behind him. The man and his partner shoved an upended table in front of it, leaning against the barrier as the bear attacked it with frightening force.

Julian slumped against the wall, panting, not even having to feign his reaction as he tried to wrap his mind around the crazy turn of events.

"Are you all right?!"

"Yeah," he assured the woman. "Think the field kit got the worst of it." He ran his fingers over the gashes torn in the outer fabric, trying not to imagine what it would have done to human flesh. "Thanks," he added, turning to his rescuer as the man relaxed, the bear appearing to have given up for the moment.

"Don't mention it," the man told him, extending a hand. "Cordell Walker; my fiancée Alex Cahill." He indicated the woman who had questioned whether Julian was all right. "And this is Jimmy Trivette."

"Julian Bashir," he responded, accepting the man's handshake.

At the sound of a moan, Bashir turned swiftly toward a low cot where a man lay shivering as a young woman sponged his forehead. "It looks like he wasn't so lucky," he commented grimly, fighting the urge to go to the young man's side.

He knew the laws of temporal displacement; besides doing nothing to change historical events as you knew them, you couldn't kill or save a life lest you irrevocably damage the timeline.

And yet… He recalled now the theories of a young man who had once visited the Deep Space Nine space station, a man Bashir suspected had traveled to the past more times than he would admit to one who didn't share his views.

"The past never has been changed," he had pointed out — "at least, not that we know of."

"Sure," Bashir had agreed, "but that's because someone has always been able to go back and fix it."

Tairvaul had snorted softly. "Aside from whether 'fix' is the right word, do you really think it was just a lucky coincidence that the timeline was restored every time? Either the fact that it was restored was Time working to fix itself — or the attempt was unnecessary and the timeline would have healed on its own in any event. If you were to go back attempting to change the past, you would either find yourself thwarted at every turn — or discover you had brought about the very thing you were attempting to prevent. It happened to the Klingons once, you know." [Ishmael, by Barbara Hamlin]

He had given a low snort of laughter. "Besides, if the timeline was as fragile as the Department of Temporal Relations makes out, you wouldn't have to worry about altering the timeline as you knew it or taking or saving a life — because you would already have put history on an entirely different course just by the two extra seconds someone took to say hello to you in the street."

It was Tairvaul's religion, Bashir had thought then; he spoke of Time as if it were a conscious force or entity, even a god. Bashir didn't think he would ever go that far himself, but he had seen the logic in the man's reasoning.

And now…

"How long ago did he get mauled?" he continued, the question almost seeming to ask itself of its own volition.

"Yesterday," Walker replied grimly. "We gave him first aid…earlier today I tried to make it to town to call for help, but the bear chased me back, along with Alex and Sydney there."

"Looks like the bear's leaving for now," Trivette commented.

"Then I guess I have to try again," Walker said grimly.

"Walker, no!" Alex exclaimed, at the exact same moment as Bashir's sharp, "Don't!" But if his voice was the one that convinced Walker not to go, did that count as saving a life?

"I was lucky once; I can be lucky again," Walker insisted.

"And Gage needs medical care," Sydney added, looking torn between begging Walker to go or begging him to stay.

"He has it," Bashir said firmly, knowing even as he spoke that he had never really had another option. He would take a chance on Tairvaul's theories being right, because some hypothetical timeline wasn't nearly as important to him as a man dying of his injuries in front of him. And he didn't know this timeline; for all he knew Time or whatever entity controlled it had brought him here for the express purpose of saving that life.

Next chapter coming next week!

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I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie