Course Correction Studio

Tag: Dani

  • Sweetest Sin – Chapter 7. Reunion

    Dani’s eyes scanned the news report she had downloaded into the PADD. She sat comfortably on the sofa in the living room reading. She had learned from the mistake she had discovered nearly a month ago – always keep up with the news. She looked up when Dukat entered.

    “Hello,” she greeted with a smile.

    “Hi,” he said. He walked over and sat down beside Dani. After he kissed her, he asked, “How are you feeling?”

    “Fine,” she said. “How was your day?”

    “Enlightening. I’ve got some news for you.”

    “Me?” Dani sat up a little straighter in her seat. “What is it about?”

    “Some Starfleet representatives want to meet with you. In order to ensure your welfare.”

    “Do you know who?” Dani asked.

    “Yes. Captain Picard, Admiral Janeway, and Commander Riker.” Dukat watched all the color drain from Dani’s face. “What’s wrong? I thought you would be happy.”

    “I am,” Dani said, “but it’s just a little … weird.” What perfect timing, Dani thought acerbically. At least she wasn’t showing that much, yet, as she was only two months pregnant.

    “Now, don’t get worked up over it,” Dukat said. “If you don’t want to meet with them, I’ll come up with an excuse.”

    “No, I do. Believe me, I do. When?”

    “Will next week be too soon for you?” Dukat asked.

    “No,” Dani replied. “It’ll be perfect.” How could she not get worked up, nervous, anxious about this? It was easier said than done. She took a deep, calming breath. She had a whole week to prepare herself for this encounter. Would that be enough?

    Xxx

    Will Riker didn’t like the look of this place. He didn’t like it two months ago, when he was last there, and he certainly didn’t like it now. He looked at his two companions, Admiral Kathryn Janeway and Captain Jean- Luc Picard, and could tell that they didn’t like it either.

    All of them sat on one side of a rectangular table inside a visiting room at Plakar Labor Camp on Cardassia Prime. They were there to visit Dani.

    Will didn’t know why they were all meeting at the camp. He along with both the admiral and the captain knew that Dani wasn’t living at the camp. She probably hadn’t set foot inside it since that day when she’d made that fateful decision, the day when she’d chosen Dukat over him.

    The three of them, Picard, Riker, and Janeway, had been waiting in the uncomfortably warm room for almost an hour when the large double doors on the other side of the room slowly swung open toward them. Two armed guards entered, first.

    And then, there she was. The three Starfleet officers stood as Dani Janeway walked toward them with a guard who appeared to be unarmed at her side.

    When she’d crossed half the distance to the table, Dani stopped walking and looked at Rowat. He nodded and remained where he was as Dani began walking again. She sat in the chair opposite Riker, Picard, and her mother, who all reclaimed their seats once she was seated.

    Dani smiled at them, though she didn’t really know what to say. “Hi,” she said.

    Riker, Picard, and Janeway looked at each other, not certain of what to say either. Janeway spoke first. “Hello, Dani,” she began. “How are you doing?”

    “I’m fine,” Dani replied. “Really.”

    “How has Legate Dukat been treating you?” Picard asked instinctively. Despite the passage of time, his experiences as a prisoner of the Cardassians was still a clear memory. He had no illusions as to what they were capable of.

    “They’ve treated me very well here,” was Dani’s reply. She almost wanted to say she was happy but didn’t, thinking better of it.

    “I’m glad to hear that,” Will said. His eyes fell to her left hand, and he saw that she no longer wore his engagement ring.

    Dani followed Will’s gaze to her hand and realized what must be going through his head. She self-consciously clasped her hands together.

    “Where are you staying?” Will asked.

    “I can’t tell you that,” Dani said apologetically. She saw the three officers across from her look at each other, alarmed. “It isn’t as if he would ever hurt me. He would never dream of it. In fact, he takes a number of precautions to ensure my safety. It’s just … it’s really for the best if I don’t tell you.” Dani realized that they probably didn’t know how difficult it was for her to tell them that.

    “Dani,” Picard spoke up, “we just want you to know that we are doing everything in our power to negotiate for and secure your release.”

    Dani looked at the captain. Release? But … she didn’t want to leave. “I appreciate that, Captain,” she said.

    The captain continued. “We all realize the sacrifice you made for the ambassador’s welfare, but Ambassador Starr is now safe and at a secure location. The Federation and Starfleet are eternally grateful for what you’ve done, Dani. Offering yourself to the Cardassians as a trade-off … I must say, that was a stroke of brilliance.”

    “You can expect a warm reception when you return,” Kathryn said.

    Right now, Dani felt like the biggest fraud in the universe. She was in this situation for purely selfish reasons, and people were making a hero out of her for it.

    “Dani, we’re working on a way to get you out,” Picard said. “We’re exploring every possible avenue. We’re going to get you back to Federation space.”

    Dani stared at him blankly. “Thank you for your efforts,” she said. That was all she had to say on the subject. It was all she could say while remaining honest. She shifted gears and went on to something safer. She looked at her mother. “How is everyone? How’s Dad?”

    “Your father’s fine,” Kathryn said. “He’s worried about you, of course, but now that I can tell him you’re fine, I’m sure that will make him feel a little better.”

    “I’m glad,” Dani said. “Send him my love, okay?”

    “Of course,” Kathryn agreed.

    Dani nodded and slowly stood. “I guess we’re finished then?”

    Janeway, Riker, and Picard stood, all obviously surprised by the brief nature of encounter. Cardassian officials had told them they wouldn’t have very long with Dani, but Picard wondered if five minutes had even passed since Dani first entered the room. He wondered if Dani had been given special instructions to keep their meeting brief, possibly to prevent certain things from being discussed, he surmised. “Yes,” Picard said. “I suppose we are.”

    Dani walked around the table to her mother. “Chin up,” Kathryn told her daughter. “We’ll have you out of here in no time.”

    Dani managed a weak smile as she hugged her mother. The two parted, and Dani looked to Captain Picard next. She shook his hand, and then looked from her to his first officer.

    “We’ll be outside,” Kathryn told Will and Dani.

    Dani looked at her mother and started to tell her that the time alone with Will wasn’t necessary, but the admiral and the captain were already heading for the double doors. Dani turned back to Will. Maybe they did need some time alone. Completely alone. She looked back at Rowat. He nodded and left the room, taking the two guards at the door with him. Dani turned back to Will. She sat down in one of the nearby chairs.

    “How are you doing?” Will asked. “Really.”

    “I’m doing very well,” Dani replied. “Really.”

    “And Dukat?”

    “He’s good. He treats me very well.”

    “What happened to your ring?” Will asked.

    Dani looked down at her bare fingers. “I didn’t see any reason to keep wearing it,” she said honestly. “I didn’t … I thought my life in Starfleet was over.”

    “The ambassador made sure that wasn’t the case,” Will commented.

    “I know.”

    Will sat on the table. “Dani, I don’t really know what to say.”

    “You and me both.” Dani stood, turning her back to Will and taking a few steps away from him. “I don’t exactly know where this leaves us, Will.”

    “You would be better-suited than I am to address that. You’re the one holding all the cards.” Will stood and walked over to her. “What do you want to do?”

    Dani shook her head and turned to face him, finally. “I don’t think it would be very fair to you.”

    “You don’t think what would be fair to me?”

    “It wouldn’t be fair to you if we tried to continue with our relationship,” Dani said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the piece of jewelry that had been her engagement ring. She turned around, picked up Will’s hand, and placed the ring in it.

    “I lose, then, Imzadi,” Will said looking at the ring.

    Dani couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t bear to hear Will call her that even one more time. She had hated it from the moment he started it. It was time to set the record straight. “I can’t do it, Will. I’m not your imzadi. But I think you know that already.”

    Will nodded. He knew. That didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted it to be true. “Deanna … ” Will trailed.

    “Will, you two have a connection,” Dani told him. “We have one, too, but it isn’t like the one you share with her. It’s different, and you know it. What are you doing with me?”

    Will knew she was right. Admitting to himself that she was right was difficult. He’d wanted to make their relationship work, but what he should’ve been concentrating on all this time was Deanna. It had taken Dani being away from him to realize that.

    “Besides, there’s something else I want to tell you,” Dani said. She walked over and sat down again. “I don’t really know how I should say it, though. It’s going to be quite a shock for you.”

    Will sat down in a seat next to Dani’s. “Just say it. Whatever it is. What do you need to tell me?”

    Dani took a deep breath. Why was she doing this? She couldn’t answer that question; she just couldn’t keep it a secret from everyone. She already felt bad about not telling her mother. Someone should know. “Will, I’m pregnant.”

    The first question that sprang into Will’s head was ‘Who’s the father?’ Dani answered the question before he could ask it.

    “It’s Dukat’s,” she said.

    Will’s heart sank. He had hoped that maybe it was his, possibly conceived before this whole mess had started. But he’d also known that the chances of that were slim to none. “How far along are you?” he asked.

    “About two months,” Dani said. “Will, please don’t tell anyone about this. I want to do it when I’m ready. That’s why I didn’t tell my mother today.”

    “You know I won’t say anything unless you want me to,” Will said. “Does Dukat know?”

    “He does.”

    “How did he take the news?” He figured the last thing Dukat needed was another half-Cardassian child. Will knew it would probably wreak havoc in the man’s professional life.

    “He’s elated,” Dani said with a smile.

    Will’s eyebrows rose at the statement. ‘Elated’ hadn’t exactly been the word that he’d expected to hear. So, that was it then. Dani and Dukat were just going to be one, big, happy family. “Is it safe to say that you don’t want to leave here, then?”

    “I can’t answer that. I don’t know. It’s like…” she sighed. “I do because I want to come home, but I don’t because this has kind of become my home. It isn’t as easy as simply saying that I want to stay or go. Does that make any sense?”

    “Surprisingly it does,” Will said. He stood. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

    Dani stood. “I’m glad you can understand my situation, and I want to thank you. For everything.”

    Will pulled her to him in an embrace. “Good luck, Dani.”

    “You, too.” They parted, and Dani watched him walk away from her and out the double doors across the room.

    Xxx

    “Danielle!” Dukat called out. “I’m home!”

    “I’m in the kitchen!” Dukat heard her call out. He walked across the living room to the kitchen entrance. Dani was standing at the counter sipping something out of a mug. The aroma was too faint for Dukat to put a finger on exactly what it was.

    “Hello,” he said, stepping into the kitchen.

    Dani watched him stroll into the room with a confident smile. She grinned when he bent down to kiss her. “How was your day?”

    “Delightful,” Dukat replied.

    Dani offered her mug to him. “You wanna try some?”

    Dukat looked at her, unsure about the substance. “What is it?”

    “Raktijino,” Dani replied.

    “Ugh!” Dukat scoffed. “Why are you drinking that awful Klingon excuse for coffee?”

    “Because it’s good. You should try it some time.” Dani took another sip of the drink.

    “No, thank you. I think I’ll stick with my tea.” He watched her drink from the mug again. “Will that concoction have any effect on our child?”

    “Well, usually the caffeine would be an issue, but this is decaf,” Dani explained. “The only effect I could foresee is eventually having someone else around here who likes raktijino.”

    “Wonderful,” Dukat deadpanned. “I have a surprise for you.”

    “What kind of surprise?”

    “A good one.” Dukat relieved Dani of her mug and placed it on the countertop. He took her hand and led her into the living room. “Wait here,” he instructed.

    “Okay … ” Dani said. She watched Dukat walk out the front door. After a few moments, the doors slid open, but it wasn’t Dukat who entered the house. Instead, a small brown and white puppy with floppy ears sprinted into the house. Dani smiled and crouched down to meet the puppy, which ran right to her and immediately proceeded to lick her face excitedly. Dani looked up at Dukat, who was standing near the front door. “What is this?” she asked him?

    “He’s for you,” Dukat said. “He’s the surprise.”

    “Oh, Marac … ” Dani looked down at the dog, stroking his shiny coat. “He’s adorable.”

    Dukat walked over and crouched beside Dani. “His name is Sherlock,” he informed her. “He’s already been house broken, and is here purely for your comfort and enjoyment.”

    Dani gazed down at her new furry companion. “Sherlock … “

    Xxx

    Three days later, Dukat regretted ever having laid eyes on Sherlock. He sat on his bed, looking down with dismay at the mangled boot in his hands. It was the third one in two days. That dog was supposed to be housebroken. When the trader had told him it was, Dukat had naturally assumed that included knowing the difference between a chew toy and a shoe. That’s what he got for doing business with a Ferengi.

    Dukat huffed with frustration. He would have to replicate a replacement shoe. He hated wearing replicated clothing. They were so inferior to handmade goods.

    Dani walked into the bedroom and stopped short when she saw the gnarled shoe in Dukat’s hand. “Another one?” she asked.

    “I don’t know what is wrong with that dog,” Dukat fumed.

    “He’s probably just getting used to his new surroundings,” Dani defended.

    Dukat stood and walked over to the recycler. He tossed the remains of the shoe into the little cubby hole and punched in some commands on the console. The shoe disappeared as its particles were broken down and reintegrated into the system’s resources.

    Dani walked slowly over to Dukat. “If he’s so much trouble, which he seems to be for you, we can always get rid of him,” she offered. “We could put him up for adoption or trade …it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. I haven’t gotten that attached to him anyway.” Dani could see how much trouble Sherlock was for Dukat and even though she had fallen helplessly in love with the dog, she would be willing to get rid of it, unfortunately, if it meant she wouldn’t have to endure anymore of Dukat’s rumblings about him. Almost from the moment the dog had entered the house, he’d been a source of irritation for Dukat.

    Dukat knew Dani’s proclamation was a lie. Over the past three days, Dani had nearly been inseparable from that dog. She’d be crushed if he told her they had to get rid of it. “No, no,” Dukat said. “I suppose I’m just being a bit of a grouch. He isn’t going anywhere. He’s your dog, now. He makes you happy, so obviously he has to stay.”

    Dani smiled and delivered a kiss to Dukat’s mouth. “Rowat and I will go into the city today and pick up some more shoes for you,” she told him.

    “Thank you, my dear,” Dukat said. Dani walked out of the bedroom, and he turned grudgingly to the replicator and input specifications for a new pair of shoes, size eleven.

  • Sweetest Sin – Chapter 6. Surprises

    Dani woke up the next morning alone in her own room. That was the way she wanted it at the moment. She had replicated dinner and eaten alone before going to bed alone the night before. She woke up not feeling 100 percent like herself. Something felt different. It was probably knowing that there were people in the Federation who were still worried about her, who cared about her. They probably thought she was languishing as a laborer while she was actually on Cardassia living it up. It wasn’t a good feeling at all. She actually felt physically sick. She willed herself to a sitting position, though, hoping that her morning run would help her shake it off.

    After getting dressed, she ventured downstairs to the kitchen and was relieved when she saw that Dukat was absent from the breakfast table. She didn’t feel like seeing him. She didn’t know if she would ever feel like seeing him again. She sat down, and Melba placed her customary breakfast before her on the table. Dani picked up her fork. The meal looked delicious, and she poked at it and ate a few bites, but she didn’t really have an appetite. She did finish off her orange juice, at least.

    Rowat sat down across from her and wasted no time beginning his meal. He noticed that she wasn’t eating and regarded her a little peculiarly. “Is something wrong with your food?” he asked.

    “No,” Dani said. “It’s fine.”

    “Why aren’t you eating then?”

    Dani sighed. “I just don’t have much of an appetite, okay?” It came out more harshly than she’d intended.

    “Whatever you say, Lieutenant,” Rowat said. “Forgive me for prying.” He looked at her, studying her appearance. Her color looked a little different, paler, maybe. He wondered if she was feeling well. He knew that she and Dukat had had a falling out yesterday. That was probably the reason she was in such a sour mood. It was possible that her mood was affecting her appearance, as well. But if she insisted that everything was fine, everything was fine.

    “Are you ready?” Dani asked.

    “Yes. We can leave whenever you wish,” Rowat said.

    Xxx

    A bead of sweat rolled down Dani’s damp forehead and into her eye. The salty fluid burned, but she had to keep going. She blinked a few times, and the minor burning sensation subsided.

    Beside her, Rowat jogged seemingly effortlessly. He was a far cry from the person he’d been the first time they had run together. Back then, he’d been exhausted, bent over panting and gasping for air after only 20 minutes of running. Now, Dani watched him run with quick, confident strides. He had progressed nicely.

    Today, the situation was reversed. Dani was the one who was having problems. Her vigor was diminished, and her usual rhythm was off. She wasn’t running at the level at which she usually ran. She was more sluggish than usual. It was evident by the way Rowat continually pulled ahead while Dani visibly lagged behind.

    Rowat chalked Dani’s lack of energy up to the events of the previous day. He suspected that her mind just wasn’t on jogging or keeping up the pace. He slowed his pace so that she could more easily keep up. She surprised him by speaking.

    “You know, Rowat,” Dani said between breaths, “I never thanked you … for yesterday.”

    “What do you mean?” Rowat breathed.

    “You saved my life,” Dani reminded him.

    They jogged for a few moments with nothing but the sound of their breathing constantly breaking the silence. Then Rowat spoke again.

    “I was just doing … my job,” he said.

    “That’s all it was to you?” Dani asked. “Just your job?”

    “Yes, Lieutenant,” Rowat said in his usual formal tone. “It is.”

    Dani looked at Rowat unbelievingly. The man had nearly gotten his head shot off while trying to save her, and he’d reacted with little more than a blink. “You were only doing your job,” Dani repeated.

    Rowat nodded. “Yes.”

    Dani shook her head. “Forgive me if I have a little trouble seeing it that way.”

    “Lieutenant, I was just – “

    “I know – your job.” Dani’s lungs felt like they were going to burst. She found she could no longer keep up a jog, even at the slower pace Rowat had set by slowing down. She slowed to a walk, an unsteady one at that.

    Rowat unintentionally pulled ahead, but stopped and turned back to Dani. He walked back to where she was. “Lieutenant, are you all right?” he asked, panting.

    Dani leaned over, resting her hands on her knees for support. After a moment, she stood upright, swaying a little as she did so. “I’m fine,” she lied. “I must be a little more tired than I initially thought.” Everything was spinning, and she felt like she was going to throw up. Her heart was beating in her ears.

    “You don’t look fine,” Rowat said, his breathing slowing to normal, as his concern over Dani grew. “Come on; we’re going back to the house.”

    “No,” Dani objected. “Let’s finish.” She took a step and felt like she’d stepped off a cliff. The only thing that kept her from going over was Rowat, who caught her.

    “Oh, no you don’t,” he said, promptly picking her up. “You’re going back to the house. If I let anything happen to you, Dukat would have my head on a platter.”

    “You’re just on a roll this week, aren’t you?” Dani joked before the world went black, and she went limp in Rowat’s arms.

    Xxx

    Twenty minutes later, Rowat entered Dukat’s house with an unconscious Dani in his arms. “Melba!” Rowat called out. A few seconds later, the maid appeared in the foyer.

    “Yes?” she said. When she saw Rowat holding Dani, her jaw dropped. “Rowat! What happened?”

    Rowat headed for the stairs, Melba trailing him. “I don’t know,” he said. “She fainted during our run.” He reached the top of the stairs and made a beeline for Dukat’s bedroom. He gently laid Dani on Dukat’s bed. “Call Legate Dukat – and a doctor.” He stretched Dani’s legs out, removing her shoes and socks. Then he placed pillows under her head in an effort to make her as comfortable as possible.

    Xxx

    Dukat arrived within minutes. He entered the bedroom in a rush and immediately gravitated toward the bed, where Dani, now conscious, still lay. He sat on the bed, studying her. The paleness of her complexion was the first thing he noticed.

    Dani looked up at him. She still wanted to be mad at him, but he looked so scared, and she just didn’t have the energy right now. She felt better than she had earlier, but she was so tired. “You’re fast,” she said.

    “I had them beam me directly here,” Dukat replied.

    Dani gave a little nod and closed her eyes. She opened them again and looked back up at Dukat. He looked positively terrified. She reached up and stroked his face. He closed his eyes, reaching up and covering her outstretched hand with his, kissing her palm.

    “Danielle,” he said, “you’re going to have to quit scaring me like this. This is the second day in a row I’ve nearly had a heart attack. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

    “Sorry,” Dani said. “I’ll try to stretch the life-threatening emergencies out from now on.”

    “My love,” Dukat said, stroking her face, “what happened?”

    “Nothing,” Dani dismissed. “I just got a little dizzy. I probably just didn’t eat enough at breakfast.”

    Lurok, who had treated Dani’s cuts from the confrontation with the house workers, entered with a medical scanner already in hand. He didn’t waste any time being cordial and went straight to work scanning Dani. Dukat stood and watched him intently, taking note of every expression that played across the other man’s face: first, curiosity; then, determination; then surprise, although it didn’t seem, at least to Dukat, to be of the bad variety.

    “What is it?” he asked Lurok.

    “I think you might want to talk about this is in private,” Lurok suggested.

    One glance from Dukat conveyed an unspoken order to Rowat.

    “Okay, everyone, let’s move it along,” Rowat instructed, herding the guards and servants who had entered out of the room.

    Dukat turned back to the doctor once everyone was out and the door was shut. “Doctor, what’s wrong with her?”

    “She’s pregnant,” Lurok replied promptly.

    The world stopped for Dani when she heard the words. “Pregnant?” she repeated.

    “Yes,” the doctor nodded.

    “Pregnant?” Dukat asked.

    “By one month and five days,” Lurok elaborated. Dukat sat back down on the bed, at a complete loss for words.

    Xxx

    It was night now, and the doctor had long since left. It was actually quite late in the evening. The house was quiet and dark, the household at rest for the night.

    Dani padded down the steps of the carpeted, spiraling staircase on bare feet. Upon reaching the bottom step, she noticed a weak light that gently broke into the darkness of the house emanating from somewhere. She followed it and was led to the source – Dukat’s office.

    Dani stood, watching Dukat from the doorway for a time. He sat at his desk, his back turned to the soft white light that poured from his desk lamp, the only light that was on in the room. Dani couldn’t see his face, but she could tell by the positioning of his body that he was deep in thought. He leaned back into the chair, his head bent slightly forward and his elbows resting on the arms of the chair. His finger played around his lips absently, and despite the fact that he was gazing out the window behind his desk, Dani guessed that he wasn’t even paying attention to the view.

    Dani picked a moment and decided to enter the room. She walked up behind Dukat’s chair and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. His head snapped to one side, and he swiveled in his chair and looked up at Dani, concern clouding his features.

    “You should be in bed,” he said. “You shouldn’t be on your feet.”

    “I’m fine,” Dani said softly.

    Dukat glanced down and glimpsed Dani’s bare feet. “Danielle, you’re going to catch a cold. Look at you, walking around without anything on your feet.”

    Dani smiled at his unwarranted state of worry. Dukat gave up and let a small smile creep across his lips. He reached out and took Dani’s hand.

    “You should come to bed,” Dani suggested.

    “I will in a moment. I just have … a lot on my mind,” he confided.

    Dani stepped closer to Dukat’s chair. “Wanna talk about it?”

    Dukat regarded her for a moment, as if considering telling her what he was thinking about. But he ultimately decided against it. “It’s nothing I would want you to trouble yourself with, my dear.” He returned his gaze once again to the window. How could he possibly tell her it was she who was at the core of his thoughts, his dilemmas?

    When he looked at her again, he found her eyes on him. “It’s me, isn’t it?” she correctly guessed. Dukat didn’t say anything, but she continued. “It’s me. You’re worried about how this is going to affect your career, your life here.” There wasn’t the least bit of contempt or anger in her words. Just sadness. She was speaking of the unexpected turn events had taken, and she was right.

    Dani figured that he was holding back his thoughts because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “It okay,” she said. “I know how you must feel.” She lowered herself onto Dukat’s knee. “You’ve been given this chance of a lifetime, a second chance, at what you’ve always wanted, and here I am.” It was she who stared out the large window, now. She looked at Dukat. “I’m well aware of what happened to you when you brought Ziyal back here to live with you. I know, from experience, what Cardassian society is like. I know the prevailing attitudes toward outsiders. But with that said, I can’t get rid of something that is a part of me, Marac. I won’t.”

    Dukat had watched the weight of the situation manifest itself on Dani’s exotic features. He knew that she understood the situation completely, but there was no way he was going to have the mother of his child exhausting herself with worry over the matter.

    “Darling, there’s no way I could ever advocate anything so drastic,” Dukat assured her. “This child is a part of me, too.” He reached up and touched her face, attempting to soothe her worries. It was evident that this had been on her mind all day, as it had been on his. “There’s no need to trouble yourself with any of this,” he told her. “All you need to do is stay healthy for our child. I’ll handle the rest.” He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned into him. “I’ll figure something out,” he repeated quietly into her ear. What that something would be, he had no idea.

  • Sweetest Sin – Chapter 5. Mall Madness

    “While I’m away today, why don’t you go into the city?” Dukat pulled on his uniform tunic and turned to Dani, who was sitting on the bed, wrapped in the covers. “You haven’t been out much since you’ve been here,” he said, walking over and sitting on the bed in front of Dani. “I know that being here this past month has been difficult for you.”

    “It isn’t all that difficult when I’m with you,” Dani cooed. She reached up and stroked Dukat’s face.

    Dukat took Dani’s hand. “I want you to enjoy yourself, have a good time. Don’t let these fools corner you into this house.”

    “I know,” Dani said. “I’ll try to go out and have some fun, but I was hoping to have some of that fun with you.”

    “I thought we had plenty of fun this morning,” Dukat said with a devilish grin. He moved in to kiss Dani, but she stopped him momentarily with a hand on his chest.

    “That wasn’t what I was talking about,” she told him.

    “You mean you don’t like it?” Dukat asked, mock skepticism playing in his voice.

    “I didn’t say that.”

    “That’s what I thought.” Dukat proceeded to peck at Dani’s neck and then her lips. “I know I’ve been busy lately, and I apologize.” The past few weeks had been a little full for him. Starfleet was still making steady attempts to negotiate for Dani’s release; Dani still didn’t know about it. It was lucky for him that she hadn’t seemed to have an interest in reading the news lately.

    But it wasn’t just the Federation Dukat was dealing with. He was also working on numerous other projects. “I promise you – I’ll take a few days off, and we’ll do whatever you wish.” He leaned forward and kissed her, which made her smile a little.

    Dukat rose and continued to get dressed. He spoke while examining his reflection in the full-length mirror that comprised the closet door. “You realize, of course, that I’ll be sending Rowat with you,” he said, commenting on Dani’s impending trip into the city.

    “Of course,” Dani said. She leaned back against the headboard. “I’m actually glad that you are.”

    “Oh?” Dukat questioned. He studied his reflection more closely, his eyes trained on his jet black hair. Was that a gray hair?

    Dani pulled her knees to her chest. “I’m not so sure people around here would take kindly to a Terran walking around freely,” she said.

    No gray hairs, yet, Dukat concluded. He smiled and looked at Dani in the mirror. “You know Cardassians well.” He wished she wouldn’t hide herself under the sheets.

    Dani smiled back at him. “Well, I am in love with one after all.”

    Dukat turned to Dani briefly on his way to the bathroom. “Get whatever you want while you’re out, my love,” he called to her. “Tell them to bill it to my account.” The light in the bathroom went out, and Dukat emerged. He walked over to the bed and sat in front of Dani once more. He took her hand into his and kissed it. “I want you to have a good time today.”

    “I’ll try,” Dani promised. She leaned forward and delivered a full, lengthy kiss on Dukat’s lips. He pulled her close, and she gently pushed him onto his back.

    “I just finished dressing,” Dukat protested mildly.

    “Getting undressed is the fun part of getting dressed,” Dani quipped. Sitting on top of him, she kissed him again.

    Dukat wanted more than anything to slip back between the sheets with Dani and make love to her all day long … but he had to get downtown. He gently pushed her away. “I should leave,” he said. “I don’t want to be late.”

    “Aren’t you one of the bosses?” Dani asked. She kissed him again, working her hands underneath his tunic, but he pushed her away again. She moaned and slouched, frustrated.

    “Darling, I can’t,” Dukat protested. “I really must go.” He would’ve kissed her again, but if he did it again, he wasn’t going to be able to get up from the bed and away from her. “I love you,” he added before getting to his feet. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight.” He stroked her disappointed face before walking to the door. He stopped short of walking out, though, and turned to look back at the Dani. Then he realized what a mistake that one action had been. The vixen had pulled the covers back from her nude body and now lay there innocently staring up at him with those big brown eyes. Now, he truly had no choice. He marched back over to the bed, climbed in, and kissed Dani. He knew he was thinking with the wrong head, but to hell with it anyway. Dani was right – he was one of the bosses. He could be late if he wanted to be.

    xxx

    A smile came to Dani’s face as memories of her morning with Dukat came to mind. She sat in a cushy leather seat, staring at the sights of the city through the tinted windows of one of Dukat’s personal ground transports. She sighed. Dukat had been like an animal that morning. So primal, powerful. It had been a far cry from the refined gentleman he presented himself to be in public. They’d tossed and rolled … the bed had been a mess when they were finished. It was almost too much for her to think about. A part of her felt like telling the transport operator to forgo the shopping trip and go to Dukat’s office. But no – it could wait until this evening.

    “Are you all right?” Rowat asked. Dani, pulled from her thoughts, looked from the window to Rowat. He eyed her curiously. “Your color has changed slightly. You’ve turned red.”

    “Oh,” Dani said. She hadn’t realized that just thinking about Dukat would have that big of an effect on her. “I’m fine. It’s … a bit warm in here.”

    Rowat nodded. He activated the comm link to the transport driver, who was separated from him and Dani by a transparent divider. “Lower the temperature a few degrees,” he instructed the driver.

    “Yes, sir,” the driver obliged. A few moments later, Dani felt a noticeable change in the temperature inside the vehicle. Rowat looked at her expectantly.

    “That’s much better,” Dani said. “Thank you.” She smiled a little and turned back to the window.

    The transport arrived in the retail district 10 minutes later. As Dani filed out of the vehicle with Rowat and two other guards, she secretly wished she had someone else to go shopping with besides three burly Cardassians. She was certain anyone would make better shopping companions that these three.

    The first shop Dani thought looked interesting, they stopped at. But before she could enter, Rowat had to ensure that the store was secure. That involved making sure no one was in the store except the store’s employees, checking all the back rooms for unlocked outside doors, and looking for any object that looked suspicious or out of place. All this, the guards had to do at each place Dani wanted to stop at.

    “It’s all clear,” one of the guards reported.

    Rowat nodded and turned to Dani, who was waiting impatiently. “All this is a little excessive, don’t you think?” she asked.

    “Just following orders,” Rowat informed her. “Legate Dukat gave explicit orders that each establishment was to be completely secure before you entered.” He gestured to the door, indicating that she should enter, which she did.

    When Dani walked in, she immediately wished she hadn’t. The racks and shelves were filled with clothing that she wouldn’t want to be caught dead wearing.

    “Oh, gods,” Dani muttered. There was no way she would ever want to wear any of the clothes in this store. They were all flamboyantly colored and designed. Before Dani could turn and leave, though, a middle-aged Cardassian woman, presumably the store manager, approached her. She wore an apparently condescending expression on her face despite the smile that also appeared there. She looked Dani up and down a few times before speaking.

    “Goodmorning,” she began. “I’d like to be the first to say that we’re all so delighted that you decided to grace our store with your presence today. We hope you’ll find everything to your liking.”

    Not damn likely, Dani almost said. But, she decided, since the woman was appearing to make an effort to be nice, so would she. Instead of her initial response, she merely replied with, “I’m sure.”

    “Please – allow me to show you our merchandise,” the woman said.

    “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Dani lightly protested. “I was just planning on browsing -“

    “I insist,” the woman pressed.

    Dani acquiesced and let the woman lead her to a nearby shelf. Folded on the shelf in neat little stacks were articles of clothing with the most hideous color combinations she’d ever seen in her life. Greens with blues. Reds with pinks. It was all awful.

    “These are some of our best designs,” the woman said holding up an absolutely criminal yellow and red number. It almost hurt Dani’s eyes just to look at it. She wondered if it glowed in the dark …

    “It is the must-have for the season,” the woman was saying. “This dress is a design that is sure to show up at all the major social events.” She turned to Dani, who quickly covered the dismay on her face with a pasted-on smile.

    “I don’t think it’s my color,” Dani said politely.

    “True,” the woman said, replacing the dress on the shelf. “Then again, I don’t quite know what would be your color. It isn’t often that we get many customers with such dark skin.”

    Coming from just about anyone else, Dani might not have taken offense at what had been said, but because it came from this woman, who seemed to have a bit of an attitude problem, Dani couldn’t accept that it was just an innocent remark. She’d held back earlier, but now it was time to bite back with a few words of her own.

    “That’s okay,” she said. “I don’t usually shop at places were employees are as ugly as the clothes.”

    The store manager appeared shocked that anyone would dare speak to her in such a manner. She regained her composure and looked down her ridged nose at Dani before moving on to another shelf, stocked with what Dani guessed were blouses. They weren’t as loud as the dresses had been, but they still weren’t anything Dani would actually wear. The manager picked up a lime green one.

    “These are a key wardrobe component for any woman of status,” she said. Then she looked at Dani, in her jeans and tee, and appeared to re-think her statement. “Then again, that probably wouldn’t apply to you.” What was that written on the girl’s shirt? ‘Take a dive’? What was that supposed to mean?

    Dani was getting pretty fed up with this woman’s sour attitude. It had been emanating from her since Dani had first set foot in the store

    Dani looked around the room a few times, then took a few steps toward the manager. “I’m glad it doesn’t apply to me,” Dani began. “Truly. I don’t want to be a woman of status if it means I have to wear these ugly clothes your store sells.” She looked down jeans and tee she was wearing. “I think I’ll stick to my own clothes, thanks.” She looked at Rowat, indicating that she was ready to go, and they walked out.

    “Well, that was thoroughly unpleasant,” Dani said, once she and Rowat were outside the building. She didn’t know where they were going. She didn’t care. She just wanted to get the hell away from that woman and her store.

    “I would tell you not to worry because it isn’t personal,” Rowat said. He turned to Dani. “But it is personal. She doesn’t hate you because you’re Terran. I’d bet my right hand that she doesn’t have a problem with Terrans when she visits other places. But you’re here, and that’s what she hates. She hates you because you’re not Cardassian, and you’re here.”

    “I’m sorry she feels that way,” Dani said.

    “It isn’t just she who feels that way,” Rowat hinted.

    “So, I’ve noticed.” Dani walked with Rowat and the other guards for a few silent moments. “Is that the way you feel?” she asked him.

    Rowat continued to look straight ahead of him. “If that were my attitude, I would not have accepted my current assignment.”

    Dani looked over at Rowat and smiled. His expression softened a bit, and he seemed to smile, too – a little. Dani looked up at the building they were approaching and stopped walking. “I want to go in here,” she told Rowat. From what she saw of the window displays, the clothes sold in this store might actually be worth having a look at.

    Rowat afforded a glance at the building before nodding to her. With a point, he directed the accompanying guards to enter the building in order to secure it. In the meantime, Rowat’s eyes darted around the area where he and Dani were standing, ever alert to anything remotely suspicious.

    Neither of them saw where the first shot came from. It had whizzed past Dani’s head and burned a hole into the wall behind her head. In an instant, amidst additional fire, Rowat had shoved Dani into the store and onto the floor, covering her body with his own. The two guards who had moved into the store to secure it were now outside attempting to disable the shooter or shooters with a counter-attack.

    Rowat had drawn a hand phaser from somewhere on his body. Dani hadn’t even known he’d had it. He looked down at her. “Are you injured?” he asked.

    “I’m fine,” Dani maintained.

    “Stay down,” Rowat instructed. He listened intently to the phaser fire that was being exchanged outside, hoping it would come to a stop soon. Those damned terrorists …

    Dani nodded. A patch of red caught her eye. Her eyes landed squarely on the side of Rowat’s neck. The skin there was singed, red and black in color. It looked very painful. “You’ve been hit,” Dani realized aloud.

    Rowat didn’t even reach up to feel for the spot Dani was talking about. He already knew where it was because it hurt like hell. But that didn’t matter right now. He had to keep Dani safe. “It’s just a graze,” Rowat claimed. “Just stay down. This should be over shortly.” He looked back at the door, holding his weapon so that he could effectively shoot anyone who tried to enter.

    xxx

    Half an hour later, Dani and Rowat sat in chairs in the store, being treated for injuries resulting from the attack. Rowat, as Dani had indicated, had received a phaser wound to the neck. Dani had only suffered a few minor bruises when she’d hit the floor.

    Dani looked over at Rowat. A medic was using a dermal regenerator on his neck. That burn had to hurt, Dani surmised. She knew that the cartilage that lined Cardassians’ necks were particularly sensitive. The blast that had grazed Rowat had clipped him right on those ridges. Burns hurt like hell anyway; a burn like the one Rowat had received was probably excruciating. However, Rowat was handling it very well. He looked remarkably calm considering what had just happened.

    Dani, on the other hand, was more rattled. She suspected it was the surprise of it all that had her so unsettled. She’d been shot at before, and she’d been in dangerous situations before. The difference this time was that she hadn’t been thinking in that mode. Getting shot at had been the last thing on her mind. She was glad it hadn’t been the last thing on Rowat’s mind.

    Something inside of Dani breathed a great sigh of relief when a distressed Dukat entered the store. Dani stood and walked to meet him.

    “Danielle – thank goodness,” Dukat breathed, relieved. “Are you all right?”

    “Yes. I’m fine,” Dani said. She turned to look at Rowat, who nodded to the medic who’d just finished treating his injury. He stood and joined Dukat and Dani.

    Dukat looked at Rowat, irate. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. “Rowat, what the hell happened here?” he demanded.

    “Someone attacked from a nearby building,” Rowat explained. “He was killed in the exchange with our guards.”

    Dukat was angry, that much was obvious to anyone within a ten-mile radius. Dani wanted to make sure that anger wasn’t misdirected. “Rowat saved my life,” she told Dukat. “He deflected a shot that probably would have gone right through me.”

    Dukat looked at Dani, visibly calming a bit. Then he returned his gaze to Rowat. “Very good, Rowat. You’ve done your job well.” Rowat nodded, and Dukat continued. “I want all of these buildings searched for any accomplices or evidence. I want to know how this happened. I’m taking Danielle home. Contact me the minute you find something.”

    “Yes, sir. I’ll see to it,” Rowat said obediently.

    xxx

    Dukat and Dani walked into the house, glad to finally be home. Dani walked to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, she closed her eyes for a relaxing moment. Dukat watched her from the doorway. “Are you feeling well?” he asked her.

    Dani opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Yes. I’m just a little … tired, I guess.” Dukat nodded. “Are you going back to work?” she asked him.

    Dukat shook his head. “No. No, of course not.” He walked over and sat beside her on the sofa.

    “Why do you say it like that?” Dani inquired.

    “Like what?”

    “Like I should know that you’re not going back to the office,” Dani clarified.

    “I didn’t think it would be such a big surprise, Danielle,” Dukat responded. “Someone just tried to kill you.”

    “I don’t think it’s anything to make a big deal about, Marac. It was an isolated incident.” Dani stood. “Besides, Starfleet may not want me back, but I was a Starfleet officer. I’m not some helpless, fragile creature who doesn’t know how to conduct herself in a firefight. I went through combat training just like any other officer.” She walked over to one of the windows and crossed her arms.

    Dukat stood and walked up behind her. “I didn’t mean to imply differently. I know you can take care of yourself, but I have to make sure that I do everything I can to make sure that you’re safe. That’s why I send Rowat with you, and all those guards.” He reached out and gently turned her so that she was facing him. “I love you, and I’m going to do everything that’s necessary to protect you.”

    He sighed. What Dani had said about Starfleet had hit a nerve with him. This had gone on for too long. He should tell her what was really going on because it was obviously still eating at her. She was going to be mad, for sure, because he hadn’t told her earlier, but maybe she would take into consideration that he was actually telling her and not letting her find out from the media first. If he could just explain his reasoning …

    “Danielle,” Dukat began. “There’s something … that you need to know. It’s about Starfleet. And it’s about you.” At the puzzled look that arose on Dani’s face, Dukat urged her to sit back down on the sofa again. He sat beside her. “I have a confession to make. Starfleet has been attempting to negotiate the terms of your release. They do want you back.”

    Dani couldn’t find any words. They wanted her back? She looked at Dukat, a million questions racing through her head. He continued to speak.

    “They’ve been contacting our government ever since we let Hea Starr go, and you took his place,” Dukat said.

    Dani shook her head. Took his place? “What are you talking about?” she asked. “I didn’t … there wasn’t any kind of exchange. I told you that. My staying behind had nothing to do with Starr’s release.”

    “That isn’t what Starfleet believes,” Dukat informed her. “When they debriefed Starr, he apparently told them that you offered yourself as insurance for his release. You are a hero. I apologize for not telling you sooner.”

    Dani stood and wondered in the direction of the doorway. Her back was still turned to Dukat as she said, “You apologize … you know how this has been eating away at me almost from the moment that I made the decision to stay here.” She turned to him. “How could you not tell me? I guess it’s pretty convenient for you that I haven’t been reading the newspapers. All this time, I’ve been thinking that my career was over, that my family … and you let me think it. And these ‘negotiations’ – you’re probably the one they’ve been trying to negotiate with, aren’t you?” She was silent while the implications of what she’d just said sunk in.

    “I didn’t know how you would react,” Dukat tried to explain. “I didn’t know if you would want to go back.”

    “So, you would just let me stay here, probably for the rest of my life, thinking that all the people I loved hated me?” Dani didn’t want to believe that Dukat was still capable of manipulation of that magnitude. She had wanted to believe that he really had changed. Holding on to that belief, though, was hard with something like this staring her in the face.

    Dukat stood and walked over to her. “I didn’t want you to leave. If you had known sooner, you would’ve gone back.”

    “You don’t know that because I don’t even know it.” Dani took a few steps away from him. “I can’t believe you would let me suffer like that. You’ve manipulated Starfleet, and you’ve manipulated me. Right now, I don’t-I can’t be around you right now. I need to think.” She turned away from Dukat and walked out of the room.

    Dukat swore. He should have just told her that night they’d taken that walk after dinner. He would have avoided all this drama. This was his fault, there was no doubt about that, but how was he going to fix it? She probably wasn’t going to ever trust him again, or believe anything he said. And he didn’t blame her. Now, she would probably want to leave Cardassia, and what could he do? He could, of course, keep her there against her will, but what good would that do? She would just hate him even more.

    Rage boiled up inside him over the situation and his lack of options. He picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a flower-filled vase on the table beside him, and hurled it at the wall. The colorful glass shattered into pieces at impact and fell to the floor, leaving water and a few red petals trailing down the wall.

  • Sweetest Sin – Chapter 4. Ex Factor

    Dani slipped on her sneakers and proceeded to stretch her muscles. She had been on Prime for three weeks, now, and had been sitting around the house for far too long. She’d taken to reading novels and had already worked her way through ten. She was just itching to get some kind of exercise.

    When she made it downstairs, Rowat was already there. She didn’t usually see him this early in the day. His quarters were located in the house, but he usually didn’t come down until after Dukat had left.

    “Goodmorning, Rowat,” Dani greeted cordially. “You’re down early, aren’t you?”

    “Only a little,” Rowat replied dryly. He noted Dani’s attire and took on a look of surprise. Running shoes and athletic attire? It wasn’t what she usually wore to breakfast. “Are you going somewhere?” he asked.

    “After breakfast, I’m going for a little run,” Dani told him matter-of-factly.

    “I’m sorry. I can’t allow you to do that,” was Rowat’s reply.

    “Why not?”

    “It’s too dangerous.”

    “That’s what I have you for.” Dani tried to side step him, but he blocked her path. She sighed, annoyed, and stood there, her arms crossed.

    “Good morning,” Dukat’s voice rang out. Dani turned to see Dukat walking out of his office, a PADD in his hand. He noted the dismayed looks on Dani’s and Rowat’s faces. “What seems to be the problem here?”

    “She wants to go running,” Rowat complained.

    “Well, then you’d better make sure you’re all stretched and warmed up,” Dukat said.

    Rowat looked quizzically at Dukat. “What?” he asked.

    “I wouldn’t want you to pull a muscle,” Dukat said, as if that would clarify everything.

    Apparently for Rowat, it didn’t. “I don’t understand.”

    “While you’re running. I wouldn’t want you to injure yourself,” Dukat said slowly, as if he were speaking to a child. He smiled. “She’s fast. Be sure to keep up with her.” He offered one final smile before walking off toward the kitchen.

    Rowat looked at Dani, a scowl on his gray face. “I’ll be ready to go in 15 minutes,” she gloated. She smiled sweetly, mocking him, and followed Dukat into the kitchen.

    “If Rowat doesn’t keep up with you, be sure to tell me,” Dukat said, as Melba placed a light breakfast in front of him. He plucked his neatly folded napkin from the table.

    As Dani’s own breakfast was placed before her, she asked Dukat, “You don’t have a problem with me going for a run, do you?”

    “No, of course not, my love,” Dukat said. “In fact, I’m quite pleased to see that you’re doing something you enjoy. I want to see you happy.” He smiled at her.

    “You don’t think there’s any real danger, do you?”

    “Oh, of course not. As long as Rowat stays with you, you should be fine.” He watched Dani nod, albeit with some apparent degree of uncertainty. “Don’t worry yourself with this. Go, and have fun. I only wish I could join you.”

    “Maybe soon,” Dani said optimistically. She gave him a smile of her own.

    “We’ll see,” he said. “What time do you think you’ll be ready to go tonight?” he asked, moving on to the next subject, which was the formal ball he and Dani were to attend that night.

    “Whatever time you need me to be,” Dani replied. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Do you really think this is such a good idea? I mean, dinner is one thing, but this? I don’t even like formal engagements in the Federation. I know this one is going to be much more trying than any of those.”

    Dukat reached across and covered Dani’s hand with his. “I know that venturing into another room full of Cardassians is probably the last thing you want to do, especially after what happened at the restaurant,” he began. “However, I would greatly appreciate it if you were at my side tonight.”

    “You know I will be,” Dani assured him with a weak smile. All she really wanted to do was stay in and enjoy a night alone with Dukat. But if he had to go to this state function, and he wanted her with him, she would be there.

    “Wonderful,” Dukat said. He pulled his napkin from his lap, placed it on the table, and rose. “I have to get going.” He leaned down and kissed Dani. “I’ll see you this evening.”

    “Okay.”

    “I love you,” he told her.

    “Love you, too.” She kissed him again before he left.

    xxx

    Dani felt like pure energy while she was running. She hadn’t exercised vigorously in weeks, and now that she was doing it, it felt like she was taking a long, deep breath. She felt like she could go on forever.

    Rowat, on the other hand, was having a harder time. He felt like he wouldn’t make it much longer. His breathing was getting ragged, and he was falling behind Dani.

    Finally, Dani slowed to a walk. Rowat was more than relieved. He felt like his lungs were about to burst. He didn’t know how long they had been running. It seemed like hours.

    “Twenty minutes,” Dani breathed. Her breathing was heavy but nowhere near the degree of Rowat’s.

    Rowat looked at the woman in disbelief. Twenty minutes?! he thought. That was all?

    Dani continued. “I guess that’s enough for today. We can do more tomorrow.”

    “Tomorrow?” Rowat rasped.

    “Wouldn’t want to wear myself out on the first day,” Dani said, walking past the hunched over, exhausted Cardassian.

    xxx

    All heads in the room turned to them when they entered. It was a large, grand room, and it was filled with people dressed impeccably in formal dresses, suits, and uniforms. Dani Janeway would never again complain about being stuck in a room full of admirals. That was a piece of cake compared to this.

    Dani and Dukat hesitated momentarily at the entrance. He turned to her, flashing a reassuring smile as he covered her hand with his. He knew she didn’t like this, but having her here was for the best. It was high time these people got used to seeing her around, because she was here to stay. There was no way he was going to let them railroad her into a reclusive existence. They glided gracefully into the room, arm-in-arm.

    As the couple made their way across the room, they left a wake in the crowd, as a boat does in water. Dukat waved and nodded at various individuals as they walked. Where they were going, Dani had no idea. She wasn’t exactly the tallest person around, so she couldn’t see over the scores of people who lined their path and stared while they passed by. After a few more moments of walking, though, Dani could see a long, table seemingly elevated and looming at the front of the room. She looked up at Dukat, questioningly.

    “Let me guess – that’s our table,” Dani surmised.

    “You are correct,” Dukat replied. “We’re supposed to mingle with the other guests until Damar arrives. Then we can all take our seats.”

    Dani nodded. Damar had been the leader of Cardassia since the Dominion War ended, which was about eight years ago. Dani wondered what it was like for Dukat, having to serve under a man who had once been his subordinate. From what Dani had learned, Cardassia had suffered under Damar’s leadership. His intentions had been good, but a society couldn’t be run on intentions. In nearly a decade, Cardassia hadn’t yet completely recovered from the war. Terrorist cells lurked in both the colonies and the anonymity of the large cities, attacking sporadically. And the economy was a mess. The treaty with the Federation was a small step, and it could be a while before any significant gain from the alliance would be visible. Cardassia needed solutions now. In the meantime, the general attitude toward the Federation remained resentful. People on Cardassia didn’t like the idea of asking for help from the Federation and outwardly scoffed at the idea of one day becoming a member planet.

    “So, who else sits at the table?” Dani asked Dukat.

    “Damar, of course,” Dukat began. “And Reyal. I’ve told you about him.” Dani nodded, and Dukat continued. “Then there are a few other legates and guls. When we have guests of the state, they usually sit with us.” Dukat’s eyes roamed the room before focusing in on a group of men a few feet away. “There’s most of our group, now,” he said, pointing out the group. He led Dani over to the group.

    “Gentlemen, allow me to introduce my guest, Lt. Danielle Janeway,” he said. “Danielle, these are our table companions.” He pointed to each one as he introduced them. “Legate Reyal, prefect of Prime’s Eastern Hemisphere, Legate Maroll, and Guls Evek and Madred.”

    “How do you do?” Dani greeted. This was her first time meeting all of them in person, but she already knew the names Evek and Madred.

    “I’ve been reviewing your service record, Lieutenant,” Evek said. “You served under Picard.”

    “That’s right,” Dani replied. “In fact, I was onboard a few times when you visited the Enterprise.”

    “Really? The last time my ship encountered the Enterprise was years ago. You don’t look old enough to have been an officer then.”

    “I wasn’t. I was a little girl then.”

    “Well, you certainly are a woman now,” Reyal said, admiring Dani with a smile. Dukat regarded his colleague with great annoyance. Who the hell did he think he was? Then again, only a few short weeks ago, Dukat had tried to convince the man that Dani Janeway was little more than a housekeeper. Dukat had to admit, he had left himself exposed on this one.

    Dani turned to Reyal. She would’ve gotten mad, but Dukat had told her that Reyal was generally a good person. He was only serious when there wasn’t any other option. He was a few years younger than Dukat and only two or three inches shorter. He was handsome with a sort of boyish charm. Actually, Reyal reminded Dani of Will a little. “Very good,” Dani said, responding to Reyal’s statement with mock praise. “You’re very observant.”

    Reyal smoothly took Dani’s hand. “Lieutenant, allow me to formally welcome you to Cardassia and our little party,” he said. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it before speaking again. “And might I add that you look absolutely lovely tonight. That dress … ” Reyal’s gray eyes roamed the length of Dani’s body, clad in long, scarlet gown that clung and hugged in all the right places. “Red really is your color.” Reyal couldn’t have cared less about the color. It could have been the ugliest shade of pink; it wouldn’t matter. The view would still be the same. He looked over at Dukat, who didn’t look at all amused. What reason did he have to be upset, though? After all, he was helping convince everyone that there was nothing going on between Dukat and his ‘guest’, Reyal thought with an silent laugh.

    Reyal turned back to Dani. “I hope that we can get to know each other better and that your time here on Prime is well spent,” he told her, letting go of her hand.

    Dani wanted to break into a laugh, but she held it back. Reyal was just being nice. Maybe a little too nice, but it was a welcome change from all the hostility Dani was becoming used to encountering on this planet. “Well, Legate Reyal -“

    “Please – call me Dorien,” Reyal requested.

    “Dorien,” Dani acquiesced. “I thank you for the very warm welcome.”

    “Reyal is a very cordial person,” Dukat said, finding the perfect opportunity to finally jump in. He looked at Reyal. “Sometimes he goes a little overboard.”

    Madred spoke up. “I would also like to welcome Lt. Janeway to Cardassia,” he said.

    Dani looked up at Madred. She remembered his name vividly. How could she ever forget? The man who had personally interrogated and tortured Captain Picard during his captivity on Cardassia. He was the reason Will hadn’t wanted Dani on their mission to Cardassia.

    Madred peered down at her. “And also, send your captain my regards – when you see him again, that is,” he said. “We’re old friends.”

    “I know,” Dani said coldly.

    Madred grinned a little, satisfied that he had gotten underneath Janeway’s skin. It was regrettable that he had never actually gotten the chance to interrogate her. He imagined that the procedure probably would have been interesting.

    “Ladies and gentlemen, Legate Damar,” a male voice announced. All heads turned to the room’s entrance. Damar walked in, a beautiful young Cardassian woman on his arm. Her dress was intensely elaborate and complicated, and her hair did it all justice.

    Dani leaned in close to Dukat and whispered, “I didn’t know Damar was married.”

    “He isn’t,” Dukat whispered back. “She’s temporary.”

    “Oh,” Dani mouthed, nodding.

    It didn’t take Damar long to make his way over to the group. “Good evening gentlemen,” he greeted cheerfully. He noted Dani’s presence and added, “And lady. This must be the guest I’ve been hearing so much about.”

    “Yes,” Dukat said. “Damar, this is Lt. Danielle Janeway. Danielle, this is Legate Damar – our leader.”

    Dani could see the sarcasm behind Dukat’s eyes even though it didn’t come through in his voice.

    “A pleasure, sir,” Dani said politely.

    “Likewise,” Damar said. He turned to the rest of his companions. “Shall we take our seats?”

    Everyone began to follow Damar to the table. Dukat hung back a little with Reyal. He spoke quietly to the other man so that only the two of them could hear. “Laying it on a little thick, aren’t we?” Dukat asked Reyal.

    “I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re referring to,” Reyal said innocently. Then with mock realization, “Oh, do you mean Lt. Janeway?”

    “Yes, I mean Lt. Janeway,” Dukat said pointedly.

    “Dukat, you’re lucky to have such a beautiful woman working in your house,” Reyal said. He looked at Dani, who turned around and looked at Dukat, probably wondering why he wasn’t behind her.

    “Okay, you’ve made your point.” Dukat took his eyes off Reyal momentarily to cast a reassuring look to Dani. Then he turned back to Reyal. “But I’d appreciate it if you’d quit making passes at my guest,” he said before walking off to join Dani.

    Damar sat in the seat at the center of the table, with Reyal and Dukat on either side of him. Dani was beside Dukat. Beside Dani was Evek and then his wife. Maroll and his wife were beside Reyal. Madred was at the end. Without delay, a unit of servers began to bring out the food and kanaar for the table.

    Dukat turned to Dani. “I apologize for Reyal’s behavior,” he said. “He was trying to prove a point.”

    “Really? I could’ve sworn he was just trying to help you out,” Dani said, taking a sip from the glass of kanaar that had just been poured for her.

    “How so?”

    “By illustrating the fact that you and I aren’t a couple,” Dani explained. “No man in his right mind would just stand by while another man made blatant come-ons to his girlfriend.” She smiled behind her glass.

    “You enjoyed it, didn’t you?” Dukat questioned.

    Dani placed her glass back on the table. “Maybe I was a little flattered,” she admitted. A smile was on her face, but there was hysterical laughter in her eyes. Dukat realized that she was teasing him. He took a sip of his drink and returned her smile.

    “I’m going to the little girl’s room,” Dani told him. “The restroom,” she clarified upon seeing the questioning look on Dukat’s face.

    “Do you want me to go with you,” Dukat asked.

    “I didn’t think you were that type,” Dani quipped before standing.

    Dukat watched her walk away, a lopsided grin on his face. The woman had no shame.

    “Dukat, are you attempting to bring back the tradition of comfort women?” Maroll asked with a mischievous grin.

    “Yes, Dukat – what’s the truth behind Janeway?” Evek inquired.

    “Gentlemen, I know that I am not the only one at this table who’s ever borrowed from the prison population to take care of household labor issues,” Dukat said. He took an innocent sip from his glass of kanaar.

    Maroll, a rotund, older man with graying hair, chuckled. “Come now. Surely, you don’t expect us to believe that you have a girl like that in your house for purely professional reasons?”

    Dukat kept up the act. “Why not?”

    Evek narrowed his eyes at Dukat. “Didn’t you have some kind of romantic liaison with this woman a little while back?”

    “No, Evek – I appeared to have a romantic relationship with Janeway.” Dukat rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and clasped his hands. He prayed to whatever gods could hear him that his story was believable. “Can’t you see? The relationship was a ploy to lure Janeway here,” he lied. “Gentlemen, you have to agree that with Janeway in our custody, we have an excellent bargaining chip with the Federation. Janeway will give us the opportunity to negotiate different terms for the treaty, terms that could possibly give us the upper hand in this deal. We have something they want, and we want something they could give us.”

    “That’s a good plan,” Evek commented.

    “Yes, it is,” Maroll admitted. “But I still find it difficult to believe that your relationship with Lt. Janeway hasn’t returned to its romantic roots. A man has needs, you know.” He turned and smiled knowingly at his wife, who returned his grin.

    “It’s all purely physical, I assure you,” Dukat said.

    “Does she know that?” Damar asked, entering the conversation for the first time.

    Dukat looked at Damar. “What purpose would that serve?” he asked.

    Xxx

    Dani walked out of the restroom and immediately wanted to run back in. Madred was there, and he was looking right at her. She wondered if he had coincidentally gotten up at the same time as she, but she doubted that was what had happened. It was more likely that he had followed her and waited.

    She began to walk but he immediately moved to block her path. “So, you know who I am, do you?” Madred confronted her.

    Dani looked up at him with an unwavering stare. “I’ve heard of you, yes,” she replied.

    “I’m sure you’ve heard all sorts of stories about the nasty things I did to your captain,” Madred said.

    Dani nodded defiantly. “I have.” She wasn’t going to let Madred intimidate her.

    “Well, let me tell you something,” Madred began, “Picard got what was coming to him because he violated the law. He was a criminal – just … like … you.”

    “Would you kindly step aside?” Dani requested. “I’d like to return to the table.” She tried to side step him, but he was quick in blocking her. He grabbed her by the arm.

    “Careful, dear,” Madred said. “If it weren’t for your boyfriend out there, you’d be in the same situation your good captain was in all those years ago.”

    Dani tried unsuccessfully to squirm out of his grip, but he was stronger than he looked. He moved closer to her, and all of a sudden, she wasn’t sure what he was going to do next. She was revolted when he traced his finger along her collarbone and down her chest. With strength that was rooted in her anger, Dani snatched her arm away from Madred. A guard stepped up seemingly from no where, and Dani wondered where the hell he had been two minutes ago.

    “Would you like me to escort you back to your seat, ma’am?” he offered.

    “No,” Dani said, looking from Madred to the guard. “I’ll be fine.” She finally stepped past Madred.

    Xxx

    Dukat nodded to the server who refilled his kanaar glass. When she moved away, he took a small sip of the liquid and looked over the vast room, wondering what was keeping Dani. She should have returned by now. When his eyes reached the room’s entrance, the expression on his face fell. Dani was returning, but Madred was with her. What was he doing? Dukat hadn’t even seen the man get up from the table. The man was an efficient and effective interrogator, which was exactly why Dukat didn’t want him anywhere near Dani. Dukat’s eyes never left Dani as she made her way back to the table.

    “What happened?” he whispered to her as she took her seat.

    “Nothing,” Dani replied quietly.

    “You look troubled,” Dukat observed. “What did he say to you?”

    “Nothing. We just had a little talk. That’s all.”

    Dukat looked down at the end of the table where Madred was seated. Madred smiled sweetly at him and Dani. Dukat turned back to Dani. “Why don’t we discuss this when we get home?” he suggested.

    “There’s nothing to discuss. Can we just leave it alone?”

    Dukat was a little taken aback, but Dani obviously didn’t want to talk about, so he would let it go. He still wanted to know what Madred had said to her, though. It looked like he would have to find that out on his own. Underneath the table, behind the cover of the silk tablecloth, Dukat took Dani’s hand. He looked at her and offered a gentle smile. She did her best to smile back.

    Dani was glad that Dukat was content with letting the matter drop. She didn’t want to dwell on it anymore about it than she had to, because Madred was right. If it hadn’t been for Dukat, Dani would have ended up in front of Madred’s desk, just like Captain Picard had. And gods only knew how what would have happened to her then.

    She sighed. It was an unsettling thought. Dani looked at Dukat. Was he really all that was standing between her and a tortuous, imprisoned fate? No wonder everyone here hated her. In their eyes, she was just a no-good criminal who had gotten off.

    Xxx

    The next day was a lazy Saturday. Rowat had the day off, and Dukat and Dani had spent the day at home. They had hoped to spend a relaxing day together without having to deal with life’s little annoyances, which is why when the doorbell rang, neither of them worried about it because they were certain that Melba or one of the other house workers would take care of it and send whoever was at the door on their merry way.

    At least, that’s the way it should have happened. When Dani, on the sofa with Dukat in the living room, heard talking in the entrance foyer, she wasn’t sure things were going to go exactly as planned. Soon, Melba appeared in the living room doorway. “Sir, you have a visitor,” she said.

    “I’m not seeing anyone today, Melba,” Dukat dismissed. “You know that.” He never even looked up from the book he and Dani were sharing.

    “Won’t you make an exception for an old acquaintance?” It wasn’t Melba who had spoken. Both Dani and Dukat looked to the doorway. A middle-aged Cardassian woman slid past the maid and glided into the room as if she owned the place. Dani had no clue who the woman was, but it was evident by the look of utter shock on Dukat’s face that he knew the identity of the woman. He sat up straight, closing the book.

    “Sarai … ” he said, coming to his feet. Following suit, Dani uncurled her legs and planted them on the floor, standing.

    “It’s been a long time,” Sarai Lataan said, slowly approaching Dukat. She had a sly smile on her face.

    Dukat was less amused. “That it has,” he said. “What are you doing here, Sarai?”

    “My, how you’ve changed. You didn’t used to be so frank.”

    Not wanting to change the subject at all, Dukat persisted. “Why are you here, and what do you want?”

    “Can’t a wife come and visit her husband if she so wishes?”

    Dukat turned to Dani. “Could you give us a few moments?”

    Dani glanced at Sarai before nodding reluctantly. “Sure.” She grinned up at Dukat before she walked out of the living room, leaving Dukat and Sarai alone.

    Once Dukat was certain that Dani was out of earshot, he turned angrily back to Sarai. “How dare you march into my house in this manner!” he scolded.

    Sarai looked exaggeratedly taken aback. “Is that anyway to greet your wife?”

    “My wife?”

    “Oh, darling, I’ve missed you so much over these past few years.” Sarai proceeded to throw her arms around Dukat.

    Dukat, very confused and equally angered, promptly disentangled himself from her and took an instinctive step back. “Sarai, what is going on?” he asked her.

    Sarai laughed and regarded him as if he should already know. “Why, Marac … you always were adorable when you tried to play dumb.” She moved to close the gap between them, but he put his hand up to stop her. For the first time during her visit, Sarai’s smile left her face. “Marac?”

    “This is all just a bit too convenient for my taste,” Dukat said. “You and everyone else in my life on Prime cut me loose when I brought Ziyal back to live with me.” He saw something within her flicker momentarily at the mention of Ziyal. “Now, after I’ve been back for a while, have my position, my status, I’m … worthy again?”

    “Now, Marac … don’t be so paranoid. I simply realized that people make mistakes, and they shouldn’t be condemned forever because of them. I want us to be able to look past the … bad times and get back to the relationship, to the life that we had before. Reconciliation, Marac.”

    Dukat almost couldn’t believe that the woman had the guile to actually be saying this. But she had been married to him. Perhaps she had learned it from him.

    “While your offer certainly is lucrative and quite tempting,” Dukat said, dripping with sarcasm, “I’m afraid I’m just going to have to decline.”

    “Decline?” Sarai sounded positively surprised.

    “Yes. I’m quite happy with my situation as it is now.”

    “Happy? How could you possibly be happy? Isolating yourself from your fellow Cardassians by fraternizing with a Terran, a Starfleet officer at that. Wouldn’t you much rather enjoy the pleasures a true Cardassian woman can provide.”

    “Ah, Cardassian pleasures … it’s regrettable that they’re only available when the situation at hand is overwhelmingly good.”

    “And what is that supposed to mean?”

    “It means that you left when things became a little too warm for your liking,” Dukat hissed. “You were my wife; you were supposed to be by my side, no matter what.”

    “As were you,” Sarai countered. “But as soon as I was out of site, I was out of mind, wasn’t I? It didn’t seem to take you too long to find comfort in the arms of Bajoran filth. How many were there, Marac? Ten? Fifteen?”

    “That is none of your concern,” Dukat said. He was quickly tiring of the conversation.

    “Okay. So, now I see you’ve moved on from Bajorans. You now prefer the company of Terrans, do you?”

    “Quite frankly, yes. Especially over you.”

    The pair were silent as Sarai let Dukat’s words sink in. Her expression softened, and she looked away from him, as what he said had the chance to take full effect. “What went wrong with us, Marac?”

    “Plenty of things,” Dukat replied. “Too many to name.”

    “Maybe we can make some of those wrongs right?” she said hopefully.

    “I’m afraid it’s much too late for that, my dear,” Dukat informed her. There had been a time when he would have jumped at the opportunity to patch things up with his former wife. He had once loved her very much, but she had cut all ties with him, even reverted to using her maiden name, when Ziyal’s existence became public. He didn’t blame her for being upset about his affairs. He understood that. But to refuse to continue to recognize him as the father of the seven children they shared … that was what had turned Dukat away from her. “We’re past any possible reconciliation, Sarai,” he said. “And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

    Sarai looked down at the floor. “I suppose you want to see the children,” she surmised.

    Dukat rolled his eyes. Most of their children were adults, and the ones that weren’t were in their teens. “I’ve already seen the children, Sarai,” he said. “They came to visit my first week in office, and I correspond with them on a regular basis.”

    Sarai looked at Dukat, shocked. The reaction brought a smile to his face. She didn’t have anymore cards to play.

    “Sarai, I think it would be best if you didn’t come back here again,” Dukat said.

    Sarai inclined her head slightly. “I think that’s a good idea.”

    Dukat nodded. “Yes, so you should probably leave now.”

    Sarai let out a laugh and shook her head. “So frank … it was good seeing you again, Marac.”

    “The feeling isn’t mutual,” Dukat deadpanned.

    A funny little grin appeared on Sarai’s face. “Goodbye, Marac.” She turned and left the living room. Dukat’s smile grew wider. After all these years, he’d finally succeeded in getting under her skin.

  • Return to Normal – Chapter 10

    Twenty-four hours later, Data was back on board, Spot was with her rightful owner, and it was Friday night.

    Ten-Forward was packed. Apparently, this was more than just a little performance, as Will had claimed it would be. At a few minutes before 1900 hours, there were at least 200 people in the room. Dani was surprised there was still an empty table or two remaining near the platform that would serve as the stage. She walked over and, after confirming that they weren’t being saved for anyone, she sat down in one of the chairs.

    She looked around the room. With this many people in attendance, she was beginning to think they should have held this event in the auditorium. Maybe there was something else taking place there. Then again, even if there were, she knew that Will would much prefer the casual, interactive setting of Ten-Forward over the formal distance of the auditorium.

    When the crowd became more hushed, Dani looked around the room to see what had caused the sudden change. Her eyes fell on Ten-Forward’s entrance, and she learned why the crowd’s noise level had dropped a few decibels. Will and the rest of the musicians in the group had arrived and were walking through the door. As they took the stage and prepped their instruments, everyone clapped. The quintet consisted of a trumpet, a saxophone, a trombone, a clarinet, and percussion. Will, the ensemble’s leader, stepped forward to the mic, his trombone in hand.

    “Good evening, everyone,” he began. “I hope everyone has had a wonderful day. And if you haven’t, I hope tonight can be the bright spot in your day. Let me start off by saying that this isn’t a formal concert. If you get the urge to get up and dance, by all means do so. Socialize, drink, eat. Whatever you want. Our purpose up here is to help ensure that you all have a good time. So, without further ado, here’s the music. Enjoy.”

    Everyone clapped as Will returned to his seat at one end of the row of chairs, which were arranged in a slight arc, with the exception of the drums, which were situated behind the rest of the musicians. They began with a slightly upbeat tune, which had everyone tapping their feet. Some had even taken on partners and were dancing in an area beside the stage which had been set up specifically for that purpose.

    Dani watched Will as he played. The trombone – it certainly wasn’t the most alluring instrument. In the wrong hands, it could look awkward and sound awkward, too. But it seemed to suit Will. She couldn’t really see him playing anything else. And he played it so well. He had such a command of the instrument. He made it look so easy, never having to distort his features in the slightest to reach those high notes.

    When the song ended, the audience clapped, and Will stood and approached the mic. “This next piece is an old Earth favorite, from the twentieth century, circa the 1940s. It’s called “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” The audience chuckled at the title of the song as Will returned to his seat. The song began with a trumpet solo that led into a very upbeat melody with a heavy brass influence. Some of those dancing caught her eye when they started to perform movements that Dani could only guess were swing dance movements. She’d learned a little of it herself when she was in dance classes as a child.

    Dani watched and saw that they were actually quite good. They had to have taken classes to get like that. They weren’t missing a beat. Dani had a brief urge to get up and join them, but decided against it. She didn’t have a partner, and she didn’t want to make a fool of herself. She contented herself with simply watching them. She was amazed when the man lifted the woman off the floor and swung her to either side of him before placing her feet back on the floor again. ‘They had to have practiced all this before they came here,’ Dani thought, watching them as they maneuvered through another set of complicated dance moves from another era. Their movements came to an end as the song did, and once again everyone clapped. Will walked up to the mic again.

    “Thank you, everyone,” he said, as the applause died down. “This next piece is a little something I wrote for a very special lady.” Will’s eyes landed on Dani, casting a mischievous gaze her way. “I won’t say who it is. I wouldn’t want to embarrass her by sending any unwanted attention her way.”

    ‘What a joke!’ Dani thought with a smile. That man was always doing things to bring unwanted attention to her.

    Will eyes spanned the audience as he introduced their next song. “Ladies and gentlemen, sit back, relax, and enjoy as we play for you our next piece, ‘Voyager Girl’” Will’s gaze returned to a blushing Dani, and he grinned, placing the mouthpiece of the horn to his lips.

    ‘No unwanted attention?’ Dani thought to herself. She looked around the room. Amused eyes had fallen on her from various locations in the room. A few tables away, she spotted Beverly, Deanna, and Geordi. They were all looking at her. Had they known about this, she wondered, as the music began to flow from the stage.

    Dani turned her attention back to Will. His was the leading instrument in the piece. As he played, he stood at the edge of the stage, his body angled in Dani’s direction. A waiter approached her table, offering her a glass of champagne, which she gladly accepted. She took a drink of it and listened to the music.

    It was a slow, soulful melody that featured distinct qualities of all the instruments involved. The conglomeration of these different attributes produced a scintillating effect. Will, in the forefront with his trombone, never averted his eyes from Dani as he played. His playing was so expressive, as was the look on his face, it was almost as if he were talking to her.

    Dani had taken a second sip of the champagne before she realized that it was not of the syntheholic variety. This was the real stuff! She looked around for the waiter, but he was nowhere to be seen. How did he get a hold of real champagne? Dani took another sip of it. Damn, it was good! She hadn’t had real champagne in ages. She looked back up at Will, who was staring down at her with amused eyes. ‘He’s laughing at me!’ Dani thought. Then she realized that he must have had the champagne brought to her table. She was inclined to laugh back at him. She watched him turn to the other members of the ensemble and nod to them. She secretly wondered if he had anything else up his sleeve for tonight.

    Dani turned up her glass, draining the rest of the liquid into her mouth. But the glass was not empty, she realized. Something had bumped against her lips as she was drinking the last of the champagne. Dani turned the glass back to its upright position, and the object clinked to the bottom. A ring? Dani poured the ring out into the palm of her hand. It was a pale blue diamond. She looked up at Will, who had left the stage and was now making his way to her table. She looked back down at the ridiculously shiny stone set in a platinum band.

    Will stepped in front of Dani’s table and knelt in front of her. The other musicians were still playing softly as Will began to speak. He took the ring, moist with champagne, in one hand, and her left hand in the other.

    “Dani. Danielle.” Will’s mind went blank. He’d planned everything, every detail, except what he was going to say to her. He decided to forego any long-winded rhetoric and just went straight to the point of it all. “Danielle Janeway – make me a happy man by becoming my wife. Please – marry me?”

    Dani looked into Will’s blue eyes and laughed. “You would be the one to ask me in front of 200 people,” she said.

    “Is that a no?” Will asked, a smile on his own face.

    “No, it isn’t.”

    “Then you’ll marry me?”

    “Of course.”

    Will’s grin widened as he slid the ring onto Dani’s finger. They both stood and wrapped their arms around each other. The room roared with applause and cheer.

    “I love you,” Will said into Dani’s ear.

    “I love you, too,” she responded. They kissed each other and embraced again.

    When they parted, they were surrounded by friends and crewmates offering handshakes, hugs, and congratulations.

    Beverly hugged Dani and congratulated her. “I’m so happy for you,” she said.

    “Thank you,” Dani replied.

    “Congratulations, you two.”

    Dani turned to find that it was Deanna who spoke to her and Will. “Thank you,” both said in unison. Dani didn’t quite know what to think. She knew that Will and Deanna had had a pretty serious relationship at some point, and she knew they were still very close. How close, though?

    “Dani? Dani Janeway?” a voice called out. It was a familiar voice that Dani hadn’t heard in forever. She turned to the direction from which she’d heard her name and saw a person she hadn’t seen in two years. “Rane Skara,” Dani said aloud, a smile coming to her lips. She watched the young Bajoran woman make her way to her position.

    “Dani!” Rane exclaimed, finally reaching her estranged friend. The two embraced excitedly.

    Dani didn’t know what to say. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on the Merriman?”

    “I was. I just transferred here,” Rane said. “I came aboard this morning at Medisna. What about you? I thought you were on Deep Space Nine?”

    “I transferred a few weeks ago,” Dani said happily. She couldn’t believe it. Her and Rane, together again, just like at the Academy. She hugged the woman again. “I can’t believe you’re here,” she told her.

    “I know. Looks like I got here just in time, though.” Rane smiled, pointing her gaze to Will Riker. “Dani…married?”

    “I know. Can you believe it? We haven’t even talked about it or anything. He just…surprised me.” Dani beamed.

    Rane quirked an eyebrow. “The last time I saw you, you were ready to say ‘to hell with Will Riker,’” Rane said, her voice lower than it had been previously. “What gives?”

    Dani released an exasperated sigh. “Oh, Rane – so much has happened in the past two years. I can’t wait to tell you about it all. What’s your work schedule look like?”

    “Well, I won’t know for sure until Sunday, but I think I’m going to be in Engineering during Alpha shift,” Rane surmised. She hadn’t received her official duty schedule, yet, but she’d already corresponded with Commander LaForge, and he’d told her he needed officers for that time.

    “That’s perfect!” Dani said. “I’m on the Bridge at Ops during Alpha shift.” The fact that they were working the same shift would allow them to spend off-duty hours catching up with one another.

    “The Bridge?” Rane said. “My, my – playing in the big leagues, are we.”

    Dani smiled. Skara hadn’t changed a bit. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

    “So am I,” Rane said.

    “We’ll see if you still are once you start helping me plan this wedding,” Dani joked.

    Some slow music started up from the band again, and Will gently lassoed Dani to him, deftly stealing her away from the small crowd of well-wishers. He draped her arms around his neck, and she leaned into him, just letting him and the music carry her. She looked up him, into those impossibly blue eyes, and something in her chest and stomach fluttered. Will smiled at her right after it happened.

    “What?” Dani asked.

    “I didn’t know I could still do that,” he said.

    “Do what?”

    “Cause that kind of reaction in you. Your eyes just got brighter. They dilated for a second.”

    “Yes, you still do it. Just when I think I’m used to seeing them, I’ll look up into your eyes, and my heart will miss a beat.” She sighed. “Oh, I love you so much.”

    Will pulled her to him, and her head rested comfortably on his chest. “I love you, too…imzadi.”

    Dani pulled away. At first she didn’t think she’d heard correctly, but looking up at Will, she realized that she had heard correctly.

    Will noted the expected puzzlement that invaded Dani’s features. “Come on,” he said, leading her to a more secluded spot by a viewport on the other side of the room.

    Will began, “Do you remember that night in San Francisco, before we started dating, when we had dinner with your parents?”

    “I remember,” Dani said.

    “You remember the walk we took afterward, when I kept asking you about Icheb.”

    “How could I forget?” Dani asked, remembering the great annoyance with which she’d fielded Will’s seemingly endless inquiries about her love life.

    “Then, you remember when I asked you if he was your imzadi.” Will looked at her. Her gaze rose to meet his.

    “Yes,” she replied. She wondered where this was going, how it had anything to do with why he’d called her ‘imzadi’ tonight.

    “I said something that night, and you probably just dismissed it as nonsense or whatever.” Will looked at Dani. She was waiting for him to continue. “I implied that your imzadi was someone you’d known but hadn’t become involved with, yet.”

    Dani remembered the conversation vividly. She did remember Will saying something to that effect, but then it hadn’t made any sense to her. Now, though, the pieces were all coming together. Dani stilled the swing.

    “You were talking about yourself,” Dani realized.

    Will didn’t say anything. He just moved in closer to Dani. Cupping the side of her face with his hand, he kissed her.

    Dani didn’t know what to think about what Will had just told her. She loved him, and he loved her, but now she was just confused. The conversation they’d just had awakened new feelings, new questions that Dani hadn’t really given any attention to before. She pushed those feelings aside, though, for the moment. ‘No need to ruin a good moment,’ she justified, returning Will’s kiss enthusiastically.

    xxx

    Later on that night, Dani lay in Will’s bed staring up at the ceiling. Will was beside her, also gazing at the ceiling. Her head rested on his shoulder, and her hand rested on his chest, her fingers playing in the fine hairs that grew there.

    One of her legs draped lazily over his, Dani asked Will out of the blue, “Have you ever thought about having children?”

    Will looked down at Dani. “As a matter of fact, I have,” Will replied.

    Dani hadn’t been expecting that answer. Her surprise resonated in her features. “You look surprised,” Will observed.

    “I am,” Dani said. “You’ve never shown any desire to have children before.”

    “Well, I’ve thought about it,” he said. “Maybe a daughter.” He thought about a little girl, perhaps a tiny replica of Dani, running to greet him after a hard day. Piggyback rides, cooking lessons…boys. An alarm flag went up in his head as he thought about all his previous flings and romps with members of the opposite sex. Suddenly, he wasn’t too keen on having a daughter anymore. He reconsidered. “Or a boy.” His mind suddenly returned to that incident with the alien who’d tricked him into believing that he had a son. It’d given him a taste of fatherhood, and after he’d gotten used to it, he’d liked it. He’d found that even though the experience he’d had had only been an illusion, he missed it.

    “I never told you about the time I had a son, did I?” Will asked.

    Dani looked up at Will, even more shocked than before. “What?”

    “A while ago, we came across this life form that tricked me into believing that I was the captain of the Enterprise and had a 12-year-old son.”

    Dani sat up on her elbow and looked down at Will. “You’re kidding.”

    Will shook his head and gazed at the ceiling, remembering. “No. His mother was supposedly deceased. When I looked through some of our family videos, it didn’t take me long to realize that my ‘wife’ was an image from a holo-program I’d encountered during my first year of service aboard the Enterprise.”

    “Who was the boy?” Dani asked.

    “The boy was the alien. He was lonely, so he took on the form of a human boy, created the illusion, and pretended to be my son.” He looked at Dani, as she began to stroke his hair. “Before that incident I’d never really contemplated fatherhood. All I knew was that if I were ever to become a father, I would be a better father than my own father was.”

    Dani looked down at Will. He would be a better father than Kyle Riker had been. Dani frowned. She imagined that Will must’ve had an unhappy childhood. He didn’t talk much about it, but she knew that he’d never known his mother, and the time he’d spent with his father had apparently been less than perfect. He’d abandoned Will when he was fifteen. Dani leaned down and kissed Will on the forehead. He looked up at her and smiled lightly.

    “What about you?” he asked. “Have you ever thought about gracing the universe with your offspring?”

    Dani laughed sarcastically. “Yeah. Okay. Just what this universe needs – someone who ends up being screwed up because of my wonderful parenting skills.”

    “What do you mean? You’d make a wonderful mother,” Will assured her.

    “No. The prospect of being a parent scares me to death. I mean, parents hold a lot of power. They could really mess a kid up if they didn’t know what they were doing.”

    “Your kid would be fine. In fact, if she was anything like you, she’d be perfect.”

    “Yeah, well, we’ll see,” Dani said, returning to her previous position, lying on Will. “That’s a long time coming, if ever.”

    They lay in silence for a while longer before Will spoke up again. “Since we’re baring our souls, there’s something else I want to tell you.”

    “Yes?”

    “It’s a mission we had a few years ago. Voyager was still in the Delta Quadrant, but here in the Alpha Quadrant, we engaged the Borg.”

    “I remember reading about it,” Dani said. “The Enterprise was supposed to be patrolling the Neutral Zone, but Captain Picard disobeyed those orders to go help fight the Borg. You guys destroyed the Borg cube, and that was it.”

    Will sighed. “No, that wasn’t it.”

    What did he mean ‘that wasn’t it’? She looked up at him “That’s what the report said.”

    “That’s what the public report said,” Will corrected her.

    “Huh?”

    “What I’m about to tell you is top secret. If I tell you this, you have to swear that no one else hears about this.” Dani was up on her elbow again, her curiosity running high. “Whatever I say stays in this room, between us,” Will continued.

    “I swear it,” Dani agreed. “Now, what happened on that mission.”

    Will sat up on his elbow so that he was face-to-face with Dani. “Yes, we destroyed the cube, but what the public report doesn’t reveal is that a smaller Borg sphere escaped from the cube and traveled back in time to Earth’s mid-21st century using some kind of temporal anomaly. We followed them back.” Dani could believe that. Time travel was frowned upon by Starfleet, and most of the missions involving it were usually deemed top secret.

    Will continued. “The Borg went back to assimilate Earth and stop Zephram Cochrane’s warp flight. We had to stop the Borg and make sure Cochrane’s flight went off without a hitch.”

    “You guys must’ve succeeded, or we wouldn’t be here right now,” Dani conjectured. Will nodded, but Dani could see there was more to this story.

    “Dani, Geordi and I were on Cochrane’s ship with him when he made his flight,” Will said. He watched her for her reaction.

    “Will Riker,” Dani said, “you’re bullshitting me, aren’t you?”

    “No.”

    “You’re saying you were on the first Terran warp vessel?”

    Will nodded.

    “Will, that-that’s incredible!” Dani sputtered. “What was it like? I mean, Cochrane – what was he like?”

    Will looked at Dani. “You want the truth?” Dani nodded eagerly. “The guy was a whino,” Will said frankly.

    “Will! Have a little respect! You’re talking about the man who invented warp drive.”

    “Dani, I spent a whole day with the man. The only time he wasn’t drunk was when we were actually going up. I had to stun him to get him that far. The man tried to run away from us.”

    “That certainly shatters my historical image of the guy,” Dani said, sullenly.

    “Yeah, me, too. But he finally sobered up, got serious.” Will lay down on his back again. “We all came out for the better.”

    Dani sighed. “I guess so.” She also lay back down. “As long as you don’t tell me that Shakespeare was a fake or anything, we’ll be okay.”

    xxx

    “…and so then the rock gave way, and I’m just sitting there with Q clinging to my hands, dangling from this little rock landing,” Dani said, telling the story of the adventure she’d just had on Garessa II a few weeks ago. Rane rested comfortably on the sofa in Dani’s quarters. She graciously accepted the cup of tea Dani had just brought her from the replicator.

    Dani finished up the story, as she sat down beside Rane. “I was able to pull him over, and he made it out of the caves with the rest of us, though.”

    “I think I would’ve let him fall,” Rane said, sipping on the warm liquid.

    “I couldn’t do that,” Dani insisted.

    “I could. Especially after he did what he did to you and Will.” Rane grimaced slightly. “And he really transported you to the bridge in the middle of…you know?”

    Dani nodded. She still hadn’t gotten over that completely. “It was so embarrassing. We’re just sitting there on the deck, nothing but a bedsheet around the both of us.” It was one of those things that would probably get funnier as the years went by. As of now, though, Dani felt like she would never live it down.

    She and Rane sat in silence for a while. In the past few hours of the afternoon, they’d talked about almost everything that had happened to Dani in the past few years. Will, life on the Enterprise, her parents. They’d even discussed the play she’d gone to rehearsal for that morning. But there was one chapter of Dani’s life that had noticeably not be talked about, yet.

    Rane was the one who summoned the courage to broach the subject. “Tell me about him,” she said.

    Dani took a long sip of her red leaf tea, and smiled inwardly. He had been the one who’d introduced her to it. “He’s the one who started me drinking this stuff,” she said, staring into the liquid. She placed the cup, now only half-filled with the tea, on the coffee table.

    “What was he like?” Rane asked. She genuinely wanted to know. What could’ve possibly attracted one of her best friends to a man she’d heard horror stories about as a young child?

    “He was…” Dani began, but decided to start again. “The man I knew was wonderful. He was kind and nothing but good to me.” She paused and brought her feet to a position underneath her body on the sofa. “He was a romantic. And he cared a great deal for his daughter. For all his children, but Ziyal was the only one he could actually have contact with. The rest of his family practically disowned him when they found out about her.”

    Rane swallowed. That was certainly different from anything she’d ever heard about the man. “You miss him,” she observed.

    “Very much,” Dani admitted. “The first few weeks after…they were the hardest. Everywhere reminded me of him. And Ziyal…” Dani laughed sadly. “She has his eyes.”

    Rane heard Dani sniff, an indicator that the other woman was on the fringes of crying. If talking about him was having this kind of effect on Dani this long after it had all ended, Rane understood clearly that this had been a man that her friend had been deeply in love with. She was still in love with him, despite the fact that he was dead. A question arose in Rane’s head.

    “If Dukat were still alive,” Rane proposed, uttering the Cardassian’s name for the first time that night, “and you had to choose between him and Will, who would it be?”

    Dani looked at Rane, puzzled. She’d never dreamed that she would ever have to make such a choice, and had never thought about it. How could she make a decision like that? She loved both of them. With Will, there was the history that they both shared. She’d known him since she was eight. Their time apart had been rough for her, and she didn’t want to go through it again. He was a brother, friend, and lover rolled into one person. Being at his side was so natural, it felt like breathing.

    On the other hand, with Marac there had been so much passion, Dani thought. Dukat had been like a drug that she couldn’t get enough of, despite the ramifications her relationship with him had for her personal and professional life. She’d needed to be around him.

    Her face visibly contorted as she grappled with the decision, she finally looked to Rane helplessly. If she were ever presented with the choice, she didn’t know how she would ever be able to choose.