Recrudescence Chapter 3

Feb 25, 2010 20:47

I have finally completed it! *pats self on back*

Thanks to jonnycarnahan for the beta!

Title: Recrudescence (chapter 3)
Author: taricalmcacil 
Rating: FRT
Genre: Angst/Hurt/Comfort
Words: 2,211
Summary: Those on the station deal with the emotional and physical fallout of Julian's enhancements.

He was going stir crazy, slowly but surely. Certainly, he could understand the senior and his staff’s desire to keep his recovery as confidential as possible, but Julian Bashir had never been one to sit idly by and let others do what needed to be done. The Infirmary staff had officially upgraded his medical status in the computer to “guarded” the day before, and then to “conscious” earlier in the current afternoon. He was fully aware of the security officers stationed outside the Infirmary fending off well wishers happy to hear of his improvement, rubberneckers, and suspects alike.

For Julian, the days were passing slowly, to his great annoyance. Carefully kept in a private room, he wasn’t being allowed near patients for fear that the lie would be discovered. While normally he wouldn’t mind a few days of relaxation while things were slow on the station, with absolutely nothing to do his mind stewed over the attack in relation to his enhancements. He knew his hearing capabilities were on par with a Ferengi’s…had he really become that good at suppressing it over the years that he never heard the door open? That realization was worrisome at best. It was an issue that would have to be remedied.

Three days after waking from the coma, Julian felt he could give himself a clean bill of health. His nurses were overprotective and reluctant to allow his release, only giving in when Miles suggested he be spot to spot transported to his quarters and news of his release be delayed until morning. Miles arranged the transport from the deepest confines of the stations control center with Odo keeping watch to better protect his friend. No word of it was spoken anywhere but the Infirmary.

Julian was surprised to find most of the senior staff waiting for him in his quarters and they were quickly joined by Miles and Odo. The familiar faces were creased with worry; this would not be an enjoyable meeting. Everyone was standing… he belatedly realized that as these were his quarters, they were waiting for him to request that they sit. He took a chair by the viewport, motioning to the others that they should do the same. He waited for the Captain to speak.

“Doctor…” he hesitated, “Julian. There’s something you need to see.”

He nodded to Dax, and she withdrew from her uniform jacket the envelope containing the letter, hand written on real paper. Odo had attempted a match, but very few members of Starfleet had written enough on real paper on the record to be able to match a handwriting sample, let alone the Federation as a whole. There was just too much difference between handwriting on paper and handwriting done on a PADD by stylus. Dax passed the envelope to Major Kira, who passed it on to the young doctor. He frowned, but withdrew the paper. The crease in his brow deepened with each pass of his eyes over the meticulous script. His shoulders seemed to droop as he refolded the page and returned it to the envelope.

“I’ll have my resignation to you by morning, sir.”

Miles shut his eyes at the tone carried despite his friend’s barely audible voice. It was the same that Julian had used last week when he had first told him about the enhancements. It felt more like years. Julian certainly looked much older than he had last week. Miles was roused from his musing by the captain’s voice.

“No you won’t, Julian.”

“Sir?” There was surprise in that voice.

“We’ll catch them Julian.” Determination was clear in Sisko’s eyes, in his body and voice. It was mirrored by the rest of the staff. For a moment, Julian dared to believe it. But he had read too much, gone through historical incidents far too carefully to fool himself for more than a few seconds. He sighed, reaching up to massage his temple.

“How many?” he wondered. “For how long?”

Sisko faltered. Dax and Miles looked confused. Worf and Kira though, seemed to have comprehension, Odo complete understanding.

“You can’t undo some three hundred years of fear and hate in a few weeks.” He elaborated for the sake of his friends who had never lived as an outcast, fighting against something far great than themselves. “There will always be someone out there who hates me for what I am, who wants to see me lose everything I have because of it.”

Dax winced. In all of her three-hundred years, she had rarely heard such self hate in anyone’s voice, in any species. Julian was a wonderfully kind, caring man, and it hurt to hear him speak of himself in such a way, almost as though he agreed with anti-augment sentiments. She rose and moved to sit on the arm of his chair, ignoring Worf’s annoyed shift.

“And what about you, Julian? When are you going to stop hating yourself?”

He looked up at her, hurt in his hazel eyes, but didn’t deny her accusation. She pulled him into a hug. “Why?”

“I’m not who I should be.” It was barely a whisper, but in the silence of the room, everyone could hear it. “The real Julian Bashir ceased to exist at the age of six.”

“No he didn’t.” Sisko stated. Julian was surprised to feel the Captain’s hand on his shoulder. He turned to face the older man, who emanated the warmth and confidence he so desperately needed at the moment.

“He was just given the ability to do what he dreamed.”

***

Odo stood in complete silence, blending perfectly with the color and texture of the Cardassian walls in Julian’s quarters. He watched the doctor closely, invisible even to his enhancements. Not that it mattered; the young man was sleeping, and quite restlessly, tossing and turning to the point where he could barely move for the covers entrapping him like a mummy. After the previous hours before the senior staff left, Odo found it difficult to resist the temptation to unwrap the young human, who was clearly becoming more agitated by his inability to move.

It had taken them nearly two hours to convince the stubborn young doctor that they would not willingly allow his resignation, and that they would do anything in their power to protect him from whoever was trying to harm him. Odo understood Julian’s upset over the matter, had seen his devotion to the rule ‘do no harm’, and his tendencies to put others first when following it. It was clear that the doctor wouldn’t forgive himself if anyone was injured while defending him. The changeling had no intention of letting that happen. It was now his job to stay with the doctor during his off hours, and a deputy would be with him during his duty hours in the Infirmary.

A whimper from the doctor brought Odo’s attention back to Julian and away from the room’s noises and the echoes from the corridor. The shapeshifter finally took pity and moved to free the man from his covers. He had discovered a kindred spirit in Julian this night, someone who often felt as alone as he did. Odo resolved that from this point on neither of them would be alone as they felt if they didn’t want to.

***

Kira was frustrated. Odo’s investigation was going nowhere (and his moods were growing more formidable as a result), even with the aid of Quark and Garak. There had been no attacks against Julian in the three days since his return to duty, although many were on edge, and the senior staff and Infirmary staff were expecting anyone to pounce at any moment. Julian had reported that the number of patients during his shift had risen, not quite to where they had been before his secret was revealed, but enough for elimination of more suspects. He had yet to complain about his security, but the major could guess it was only a matter of days, if not hours before the doctor demanded his privacy.

This whole thing would be so much easier if Julian had just seen his attacker. Chief O’Brien had mentioned that the doctor admitted to having an eidetic memory, and probably could have reconstructed a perfect picture if necessary. She hated having a mystery on the station with no means to solve it.

***

The only noise in Julian’s quarters were the sound of his fingers gently tapping against the computer terminal as he worked on his prion project and the soft footsteps of Odo’s deputy as he paced, waiting for the shapeshifter’s return. The station’s chief of security had been called away to deal with an explosion on the docking ring (no injuries reported, much to Julian’s relief), and his Bajoran deputy was not happy with guard duty. He would rather be on the docking ring himself, but Odo trusted few with the task of protecting the doctor.

Both the human and Bajoran paused at the sound of footsteps in the corridor, looking to the door and expecting Odo’s return. The steps came to a halt outside the door, but the chime never rang for entry permission. Julian rose to his feet, a frown creasing his brow. He saw the deputy open his mouth to speak and quickly motioned for him to remain quiet, tiptoeing to the door as he did so, listening intently. After a moment he backed away quickly, pointing at the inner locking mechanism and motioning to the deputy. It took a few seconds, but the man eventually nodded that he understood someone was trying to break in. He waved Julian to his bedroom and quickly followed.

Once the door sealed, the deputy tapped his combadge.

“Kenta to Odo.”

“Odo here.”

“Sir, someone is in the process of breaking into doctor Bashir’s quarters.”

There was no hesitation on the other end, running footsteps could be heard under the spoken “On my way.”

Julian waved at the deputy to get his attention again as he heard the door to the main room slide open. They ducked down, hiding on either side of his bed. The bedroom door slid open, framing the intruder with the brighter light from both Julian’s main room and corridor. He pinpointed the deputy with shocking speed, knocking the man unconscious with a phaser shot before the doors were completely open. He adjusted his aim with alacrity, and Julian was positive the only reason he was still conscious was his enhanced reflexes.

He dodged a second stunner sent his way and pounced on the man, trying to break his grip on the phaser without much luck. They struggled for a moment, each trying to gain the upper hand in an evenly matched fight, the intruder suddenly going stiff as they each heard yelling in the distance. Julian belatedly registered flying across the room to land against his coffee table, his head cracking against one of the legs. The last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was the intruders face as he ran out the door and down the corridor.

***

Odo found Julian unconscious on the floor, his hair slightly damp with blood. Major Kira and Commander Dax were close on his heels. Odo heard a gasp from Dax at the sight of Julian as Nerys went in search of his deputy.

“Odo, is he -“

“He is breathing.” Odo reported. “Probably concussed.”

He heard a low moan from the bedroom, and a few seconds later, Nerys appeared, aiding his deputy, who bore the unmistakable signs of a stun hangover. Dax helped her get him to the couch, just as Captain Sisko arrived with Doctor Girani. She crouched next to Odo, tricorder already out to scan doctor Bashir. After a moment, her shoulders relaxed and she withdrew a dermal regenerator from her medkit.

“Mild concussion.” She explained as she ran it over the patch of hair that was sticky with the officer’s blood. “This should take care of most of it, but he’s off duty tomorrow to make sure it’s completely healed.”

“Is it safe to wake him up?” Sisko asked, still looking down at the junior officer in concern.

“It’s not necessary.” Girani replied. “He’s coming around now.”

Sure enough, as Sisko bent down he could see the doctor’s eyes fluttering. He gave a low moan before he was able to open them though. The slightly clouded eyes stared into his for a moment before moving on to Girani’s face.

“Just a concussion.” She told him. “I’ve taken care of the worst of it, but you’re off duty tomorrow. You might have a headache until morning.”

He nodded and attempted to sit up; Odo knelt down and helped him. Sisko swapped sides with Girani and they carefully manhandled Julian to his feet and over to the couch. Odo took a seat next to him.

“Doctor, I hate to push you, but could you possibly describe the man who did this?”

Julian shook his head as he let it fall onto the back of the couch. “I don’t need to.”

“You know who did it?” Dax asked, settling on the arm of the couch as Nerys helped the stunned security officer, Kenta Crel into a chair.

“His name is Calen Sobecki.” Julian stated, eyes closing. “He escaped from the institute seven months ago.”


fanfiction, recrudescence, deep space 9, star trek

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