The New Doctor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, mirrorverse Miles/Julian/Keiko, R)
Written as a yuletide treat, 2012.
“You’re in a good mood.” Miles isn’t sure what to make of this.
“No need to sound so surprised, Smiley,” Julian says, stretching out in the bed.
Miles jabs him in the stomach. “We’ve been over this, Julian.” Not in bed. Not the nickname everyone else uses, not that.
But there’s a grin on Julian’s face, and he leans in for a kiss. Now that really is unsettling; it’s gentle and relaxed, not the usual way Julian kisses - fierce, angry, trying to prove something. And then he stretches back out on the bed again, showing no signs of leaving.
This, whatever the hell ‘this’ is, happens at moments of stress, of grief - discovering another Terran betraying them to the Alliance, losing a friend in a skirmish. And he always leaves. Always.
“What’s wrong with you?” Miles asks.
Julian flashes him a smile. “I’ve met someone.”
There’s something about those words that make Miles feel more naked than he already is. He draws the sheets a little closer, a little tighter. “Right.”
The kiss, then, is nothing to do with him, really. And everything to do with this other person. Miles can’t help feel a little sting. It’s not that he’s never thought of someone else, but if the someone else is that other Julian - the man who changed his life - is it quite the same?
“You’ll love her,” Julian says confidently, and then Miles is the one to go in for the kiss, to shut him up.
***
It took them a while to figure out the station could be a real home, a real base of operations, instead of just another temporary stop-gap while they planned which Alliance target to hit next. They’ve always tried to have someone around who’s handy with a hypospray, who can actually read a medical tricorder, but it’s only recently they’ve started thinking in terms of doctors.
The new doctor extends a hand to Miles when he walks into the infirmary, formerly an office for one of the Intendant’s minions. Keiko Ishikawa is beautiful, that’s the first thing he thinks. The second is that she’s got a firm handshake that tells him there’s grit underneath the pretty. “It’s good to finally meet you, Captain O’Brien,” she says. “Julian’s told me a lot about you.”
Is it his imagination or is there something mischievous in her expression? Something knowing?
“I just wanted to welcome you to the station,” he says, stiffly. Like hell. Wanted to check out the competition, more like.
“Well,” she says, and it’s only then he realises she’s still holding his hand, “thank for you for the welcome.”
***
Julian turns up in his quarters that night. “I hear you’ve met the good doctor.”
“Very pretty,” Miles says tightly.
Julian kicks off his boots and moves towards the bedroom. Miles holds up a hand to stop him.
They stare at each other without speaking for a moment, and then Julian lets out an aggravated sigh and storms out. He’s left his boots behind, which is typical; he’s never let practicalities interfere with letting his temper get the better of him.
Miles sits down and sighs, and then realises that despite his best judgement he actually cares.
***
Two days later, Dr Ishikawa approaches him while he’s at the bar, half-watching Ezri Tigan flirting with the new bartender and half-pondering some problem they’re having down in what used to be the ore processing centre. “Mind if I join you, Captain O’Brien?
He notes that she doesn’t wait for him to nod, or even say anything, before she places herself on the seat. She’s graceful. He hates that he notices. He can see, of course, what Julian might see in her. It would be easier, in some ways, if it was completely mystifying.
“Go ahead, Doctor,” he says.
“You can call me Keiko,” she says, squeezing his knee companionably.
He jumps slightly, then tries to hide it. “All right.”
“And may I call you Miles?” She’s smiling a little, and there’s something in her eyes, and why is she acting like she’s flirting with him?
“Sure,” he says, shrugging.
“Miles,” she says, edging closer so he can breathe in the scent of her hair, “do I make you uncomfortable?”
Miles has no time for these kinds of games. “Yes. What d’you want? Keiko,” he adds, almost sarcastically.
“I’m not trying to steal Julian away from you,” she says, amused. Her lips curve up and he wants very badly to kiss them.
“You’re doing a good job of it all the same,” he says, finishing his drink in one gulp and setting the glass back down on the bar before leaving.
***
“Are you as stupid as you look?” is what Julian uses as a greeting the next time they meet. The fact that they’re supposed to be meeting to discuss the latest intelligence and that there are four other people in the room seems to be entirely lost on him.
“What’re you talking about?”
“Keiko,” Julian hisses.
“Gentlemen,” says the new guy, Paris, in his infuriatingly calm voice, “let’s put personal problems aside for the moment.”
Miles and Julian turn to him as one. “Shut up.”
But Miles does manage to unclench his fists just a little bit, and sit down. “Come on, Julian, we’ve work to do,” he says pointedly.
Julian flings himself into the next chair, and Paris displays the recent maps of Alliance movements, the scattered attempts at retaking control of Terran bases.
And then Miles feels a hand creeping up his leg.
He tries not to make a sound, but then it moves up to cup him and he has to cover a gasp with a cough.
Julian looks impossibly smug. And his hand continues caressing Miles, getting him hard, distracting him from what he’s supposed to be looking at, and all Miles can think is how much he wants to get out of here right now and fuck this man.
Which is one of the reasons Julian infuriates him, how he can be impossible sometimes but still manage to get Miles into this state so quickly. Because of course he loves the man, and it’s not just that he associates this face with the kind eyes of that man he met all those years ago. No, this Julian - his Julian - is raw and passionate and impetuous and right for him in a way that the other Julian could have never been.
The briefing finishes, and Miles orders the others out and watches Julian slowly, slowly drop to his knees, unbuckling Miles’s belt along the way. His head falls back against the chair as Julian edges his trousers down around his ankles, and does that magical thing with his mouth that is both sucking and biting at the same time. Miles’s mouth opens, and he’s coming with a grunt sooner than he’d like, breathless.
Julian stands up, wipes his mouth, continues to look smug. “As I was saying,” he says, as though they’ve been having a conversation all this time, as though Miles is capable of saying anything rational right now, “you’re an idiot.”
***
Miles has to admit they do look beautiful together. Julian’s hand is at the back of Keiko’s neck as he kisses her; he watches as her hands go around his waist, and then smiles when one hand slides past Julian and reaches out to him. “Come on, Miles,” she says, giving him that smile again, that knowing one. “Aren’t you going to join us?”
He lets her tug him closer, then kisses her, and then it’s all a tangle - Keiko’s mouth on his, Julian’s hands pushing him down on the bed, his own hands reaching for them both, wanting too much and yet somehow being granted it all at the same time. And being inside her, Julian inside him, and his world dissolving into heartbeats and gasps and pleasure. The way Keiko’s skin is softer than Julian’s; the way she feels delicate and then digs her nails into his back so firmly he knows she’s tougher than she looks. The way Julian is as impatient as ever, and how it fits so neatly into this blur of sweat and skin, how there is no way to be patient when there is so much happening at once.
“Told you,” Julian says, sprawled out on the bed with an arm around each of them.
“Shut up,” Miles says lazily.
“Gloating doesn’t become you, Julian,” Keiko says.
“On the contrary. I think it adds to my rogueish good looks.”
Miles lies there and lets them at their amiable bickering. This is it, he thinks, what he’s been looking for without even realising it; this is something that could be a family.
“You’re in a good mood.” Miles isn’t sure what to make of this.
“No need to sound so surprised, Smiley,” Julian says, stretching out in the bed.
Miles jabs him in the stomach. “We’ve been over this, Julian.” Not in bed. Not the nickname everyone else uses, not that.
But there’s a grin on Julian’s face, and he leans in for a kiss. Now that really is unsettling; it’s gentle and relaxed, not the usual way Julian kisses - fierce, angry, trying to prove something. And then he stretches back out on the bed again, showing no signs of leaving.
This, whatever the hell ‘this’ is, happens at moments of stress, of grief - discovering another Terran betraying them to the Alliance, losing a friend in a skirmish. And he always leaves. Always.
“What’s wrong with you?” Miles asks.
Julian flashes him a smile. “I’ve met someone.”
There’s something about those words that make Miles feel more naked than he already is. He draws the sheets a little closer, a little tighter. “Right.”
The kiss, then, is nothing to do with him, really. And everything to do with this other person. Miles can’t help feel a little sting. It’s not that he’s never thought of someone else, but if the someone else is that other Julian - the man who changed his life - is it quite the same?
“You’ll love her,” Julian says confidently, and then Miles is the one to go in for the kiss, to shut him up.
***
It took them a while to figure out the station could be a real home, a real base of operations, instead of just another temporary stop-gap while they planned which Alliance target to hit next. They’ve always tried to have someone around who’s handy with a hypospray, who can actually read a medical tricorder, but it’s only recently they’ve started thinking in terms of doctors.
The new doctor extends a hand to Miles when he walks into the infirmary, formerly an office for one of the Intendant’s minions. Keiko Ishikawa is beautiful, that’s the first thing he thinks. The second is that she’s got a firm handshake that tells him there’s grit underneath the pretty. “It’s good to finally meet you, Captain O’Brien,” she says. “Julian’s told me a lot about you.”
Is it his imagination or is there something mischievous in her expression? Something knowing?
“I just wanted to welcome you to the station,” he says, stiffly. Like hell. Wanted to check out the competition, more like.
“Well,” she says, and it’s only then he realises she’s still holding his hand, “thank for you for the welcome.”
***
Julian turns up in his quarters that night. “I hear you’ve met the good doctor.”
“Very pretty,” Miles says tightly.
Julian kicks off his boots and moves towards the bedroom. Miles holds up a hand to stop him.
They stare at each other without speaking for a moment, and then Julian lets out an aggravated sigh and storms out. He’s left his boots behind, which is typical; he’s never let practicalities interfere with letting his temper get the better of him.
Miles sits down and sighs, and then realises that despite his best judgement he actually cares.
***
Two days later, Dr Ishikawa approaches him while he’s at the bar, half-watching Ezri Tigan flirting with the new bartender and half-pondering some problem they’re having down in what used to be the ore processing centre. “Mind if I join you, Captain O’Brien?
He notes that she doesn’t wait for him to nod, or even say anything, before she places herself on the seat. She’s graceful. He hates that he notices. He can see, of course, what Julian might see in her. It would be easier, in some ways, if it was completely mystifying.
“Go ahead, Doctor,” he says.
“You can call me Keiko,” she says, squeezing his knee companionably.
He jumps slightly, then tries to hide it. “All right.”
“And may I call you Miles?” She’s smiling a little, and there’s something in her eyes, and why is she acting like she’s flirting with him?
“Sure,” he says, shrugging.
“Miles,” she says, edging closer so he can breathe in the scent of her hair, “do I make you uncomfortable?”
Miles has no time for these kinds of games. “Yes. What d’you want? Keiko,” he adds, almost sarcastically.
“I’m not trying to steal Julian away from you,” she says, amused. Her lips curve up and he wants very badly to kiss them.
“You’re doing a good job of it all the same,” he says, finishing his drink in one gulp and setting the glass back down on the bar before leaving.
***
“Are you as stupid as you look?” is what Julian uses as a greeting the next time they meet. The fact that they’re supposed to be meeting to discuss the latest intelligence and that there are four other people in the room seems to be entirely lost on him.
“What’re you talking about?”
“Keiko,” Julian hisses.
“Gentlemen,” says the new guy, Paris, in his infuriatingly calm voice, “let’s put personal problems aside for the moment.”
Miles and Julian turn to him as one. “Shut up.”
But Miles does manage to unclench his fists just a little bit, and sit down. “Come on, Julian, we’ve work to do,” he says pointedly.
Julian flings himself into the next chair, and Paris displays the recent maps of Alliance movements, the scattered attempts at retaking control of Terran bases.
And then Miles feels a hand creeping up his leg.
He tries not to make a sound, but then it moves up to cup him and he has to cover a gasp with a cough.
Julian looks impossibly smug. And his hand continues caressing Miles, getting him hard, distracting him from what he’s supposed to be looking at, and all Miles can think is how much he wants to get out of here right now and fuck this man.
Which is one of the reasons Julian infuriates him, how he can be impossible sometimes but still manage to get Miles into this state so quickly. Because of course he loves the man, and it’s not just that he associates this face with the kind eyes of that man he met all those years ago. No, this Julian - his Julian - is raw and passionate and impetuous and right for him in a way that the other Julian could have never been.
The briefing finishes, and Miles orders the others out and watches Julian slowly, slowly drop to his knees, unbuckling Miles’s belt along the way. His head falls back against the chair as Julian edges his trousers down around his ankles, and does that magical thing with his mouth that is both sucking and biting at the same time. Miles’s mouth opens, and he’s coming with a grunt sooner than he’d like, breathless.
Julian stands up, wipes his mouth, continues to look smug. “As I was saying,” he says, as though they’ve been having a conversation all this time, as though Miles is capable of saying anything rational right now, “you’re an idiot.”
***
Miles has to admit they do look beautiful together. Julian’s hand is at the back of Keiko’s neck as he kisses her; he watches as her hands go around his waist, and then smiles when one hand slides past Julian and reaches out to him. “Come on, Miles,” she says, giving him that smile again, that knowing one. “Aren’t you going to join us?”
He lets her tug him closer, then kisses her, and then it’s all a tangle - Keiko’s mouth on his, Julian’s hands pushing him down on the bed, his own hands reaching for them both, wanting too much and yet somehow being granted it all at the same time. And being inside her, Julian inside him, and his world dissolving into heartbeats and gasps and pleasure. The way Keiko’s skin is softer than Julian’s; the way she feels delicate and then digs her nails into his back so firmly he knows she’s tougher than she looks. The way Julian is as impatient as ever, and how it fits so neatly into this blur of sweat and skin, how there is no way to be patient when there is so much happening at once.
“Told you,” Julian says, sprawled out on the bed with an arm around each of them.
“Shut up,” Miles says lazily.
“Gloating doesn’t become you, Julian,” Keiko says.
“On the contrary. I think it adds to my rogueish good looks.”
Miles lies there and lets them at their amiable bickering. This is it, he thinks, what he’s been looking for without even realising it; this is something that could be a family.