Deep Space Nine: A Year and a Day (Bashir/O’Brien | PG | 707 words | 04/25/07)
[ Bashir/O’Brien | PG | 707 words | 04/25/07 ]
It was months before anyone even found out she wasn’t coming back.
Author’s Note: This is the B/OB plot bunny that’s been biting me ever since I saw the episode where O’Brien was getting so jealous over Keiko’s time on Bajor (and her male friends) that she considered leaving him. Thanks so much to tinheart for the hand-holding.
A Year and a Day
It was months before anyone even found out she wasn’t coming back.
He went about his business as usual, constantly simmering under the surface, and everyone knew there was something wrong, but no one knew how to ask. Julian had tried more than once, but Miles shut him down before the question mark could even form in the inflection of his voice.
And then Miles threw himself into work, to the point where even the ensigns could tell that he was pushing too hard: he’d re-calibrate conduits manually that he could have cascaded with a simple set of commands from Ops, or pull double shifts even when the repairs weren’t essential.
The day Sisko decided to call him into his office, Molly arrived on station. With a friend of Keiko’s.
Suddenly, everyone knew just what to ask, but no one wanted to know the answer.
:::
Julian came a week after Molly left again, dart board in hand. Miles let him in and they played in silence, a way that they could talk about it without talking, because both of them knew he wasn’t ready.
His quarters were hardly different from when Keiko had been here, and Julian found it hard to stay, but they tucked back a bottle of whiskey and he watched Miles sleep on the couch.
This station had shown him long ago that being a doctor-that healing-was as much about treating a patient as it was about learning when not to treat.
Miles would quarter no medicine. Not now.
But when he would, Julian would be ready. Julian would wait.
:::
It was another six months before the station was able to let out its collective held breath.
Nothing significant happened, that they could see-Molly had been visiting regularly, and Dax and Odo were keeping an eye on all subspace transmissions from Bajor. Nothing from Keiko outside of her check-ins with Molly.
But at 0945 hours, O’Brien walked into Sickbay, and Bashir sent a notice to Ops that anyone needing treatment should report to the auxiliary wing in the Brig.
Sisko nodded his approval to Dax, and the message was acknowledged.
Kira sighed in relief as she alerted personnel.
:::
A few weeks later, the dartboard was moved back to its rightful domain in Quark’s. Morn told them the wall looked ugly without it, and Quark had scowled, but somehow undercharged Miles for his drink, claiming that the credit processor was acting up again.
The Battle of Britain was again successfully won every five standard days, and Julian brought a box of women’s garments to Garak’s. Garak was insulted when asked if he could use them discreetly and took them with a pointed eyebrow raise.
Molly came to one of the Captain’s dinners and talked about life on Bajor, and while no one asked about Keiko, none of them looked away when Molly mentioned her. Not even Miles.
:::
More and more nights, Miles kept Julian in his quarters until all hours, plying him with whiskey and a brogue that was proportional to the amount of whiskey ingested. Their repertoire of songs soon began to annoy the neighbors, but Julian was so happy to hear Miles singing again that he told them to stuff it. (He later apologized to Odo.)
And more and more nights, Julian didn’t want to leave. Kukalaka had somehow migrated to Miles’s couch and seemed very comfortable there.
And who was he to argue with a comfortable teddy bear?
:::
It wasn’t simple. These things rarely are, especially when all one half of the equation can say is I don’t hate you and all the other side can say is I need to get to surgery. To further complicate matters, both of these statements were invariably true: like and love did not always go hand in hand, and a doctor’s job is never done.
But somehow, on a night when they didn’t drink any whiskey and they didn’t sing any songs, they muddled their way through to It gets lonely some nights and She isn’t coming back. A week (and a fumbled kiss against a viewport that neither could have predicted nor knew how to react to after it occurred) later, Kukalaka migrated to Miles’s bed.
He was right at home.
It was months before anyone even found out she wasn’t coming back.
Author’s Note: This is the B/OB plot bunny that’s been biting me ever since I saw the episode where O’Brien was getting so jealous over Keiko’s time on Bajor (and her male friends) that she considered leaving him. Thanks so much to tinheart for the hand-holding.
A Year and a Day
It was months before anyone even found out she wasn’t coming back.
He went about his business as usual, constantly simmering under the surface, and everyone knew there was something wrong, but no one knew how to ask. Julian had tried more than once, but Miles shut him down before the question mark could even form in the inflection of his voice.
And then Miles threw himself into work, to the point where even the ensigns could tell that he was pushing too hard: he’d re-calibrate conduits manually that he could have cascaded with a simple set of commands from Ops, or pull double shifts even when the repairs weren’t essential.
The day Sisko decided to call him into his office, Molly arrived on station. With a friend of Keiko’s.
Suddenly, everyone knew just what to ask, but no one wanted to know the answer.
:::
Julian came a week after Molly left again, dart board in hand. Miles let him in and they played in silence, a way that they could talk about it without talking, because both of them knew he wasn’t ready.
His quarters were hardly different from when Keiko had been here, and Julian found it hard to stay, but they tucked back a bottle of whiskey and he watched Miles sleep on the couch.
This station had shown him long ago that being a doctor-that healing-was as much about treating a patient as it was about learning when not to treat.
Miles would quarter no medicine. Not now.
But when he would, Julian would be ready. Julian would wait.
:::
It was another six months before the station was able to let out its collective held breath.
Nothing significant happened, that they could see-Molly had been visiting regularly, and Dax and Odo were keeping an eye on all subspace transmissions from Bajor. Nothing from Keiko outside of her check-ins with Molly.
But at 0945 hours, O’Brien walked into Sickbay, and Bashir sent a notice to Ops that anyone needing treatment should report to the auxiliary wing in the Brig.
Sisko nodded his approval to Dax, and the message was acknowledged.
Kira sighed in relief as she alerted personnel.
:::
A few weeks later, the dartboard was moved back to its rightful domain in Quark’s. Morn told them the wall looked ugly without it, and Quark had scowled, but somehow undercharged Miles for his drink, claiming that the credit processor was acting up again.
The Battle of Britain was again successfully won every five standard days, and Julian brought a box of women’s garments to Garak’s. Garak was insulted when asked if he could use them discreetly and took them with a pointed eyebrow raise.
Molly came to one of the Captain’s dinners and talked about life on Bajor, and while no one asked about Keiko, none of them looked away when Molly mentioned her. Not even Miles.
:::
More and more nights, Miles kept Julian in his quarters until all hours, plying him with whiskey and a brogue that was proportional to the amount of whiskey ingested. Their repertoire of songs soon began to annoy the neighbors, but Julian was so happy to hear Miles singing again that he told them to stuff it. (He later apologized to Odo.)
And more and more nights, Julian didn’t want to leave. Kukalaka had somehow migrated to Miles’s couch and seemed very comfortable there.
And who was he to argue with a comfortable teddy bear?
:::
It wasn’t simple. These things rarely are, especially when all one half of the equation can say is I don’t hate you and all the other side can say is I need to get to surgery. To further complicate matters, both of these statements were invariably true: like and love did not always go hand in hand, and a doctor’s job is never done.
But somehow, on a night when they didn’t drink any whiskey and they didn’t sing any songs, they muddled their way through to It gets lonely some nights and She isn’t coming back. A week (and a fumbled kiss against a viewport that neither could have predicted nor knew how to react to after it occurred) later, Kukalaka migrated to Miles’s bed.
He was right at home.