Chapter Text
IV
Kira
Kira left the holosuite with Dr. Bashir and Chief O'Brien. Worf entered in their place, closing the door behind him.
"I'll let Quark know to leave holosuite 3 available and running," O'Brien said after a moment.
"Someone should probably let Captain Sisko know what's going on," Kira stated.
"I've got a counseling appointment in ten minutes."
"And I was due back in the infirmary half an hour ago."
"I guess that leaves me then." How was she supposed to explain what had happened to the captain? It was all a little overwhelming.
And how would Sisko react to it? He had known Dax for decades and had already gone through the transition from Curzon to Jadzia, so Ezri had been less of an adjustment for him than she had for the rest of them. But how would he handle two Daxes in his life at the same time?
Kira also thought about her own relationship with the Trill. A lot had happened in the past three years that this Jadzia had no memory of. Could their friendship be anything like it was before? Thinking back to Ezri's revelation from earlier, she was pretty sure the answer was no. Was a romantic relationship with Jadzia suddenly possible? How did Worf fit in all of this?
Kira was so distracted that she nearly ran into Odo as she reached the turbolift. "Colonel," he said somewhat curtly as he followed her in. Kira nodded to the constable and then asked the turbolift to take them to Ops. There was an uneasy silence as it began moving.
Her relationship with Odo had been in an awkward position for the past few months. The two had largely reconciled following the changeling's betrayal during the Dominion occupation, but their friendship was once again strained after his ill-advised attempt to woo her.
Kira didn't begrudge him for it. She had never really made her sexuality clear to him after the Gaia incident, so his misunderstanding was excusable. Nonetheless, his embarrassment over the event had caused him to keep his distance from her since then. He was still cordial in their professional interactions, but Kira missed his friendship. Odo had been one of her closest confidants, and his absence had made the months where Sisko had left the station even more difficult.
Kira's thoughts were interrupted by the turbolift slowing to a halt. She almost walked into the doors in front of her, expecting them to open into Ops, but they remained closed. After a moment, the computer explained the situation.
"Turbolift guidance fault. Automatic reboot in progress. Please stand by." Ugh. This had been an issue for the past week. Normally, this kind of problem could be fixed in a day or two by the chief and his team, but they were so busy with repairs to ships from the combined Federation, Klingon, and Romulan fleets that nonessential station maintenance was deprioritized. Luckily the reboot only took a few minutes.
"So... Jadzia's back." Kira figured that the chief of security should be informed of the station's new holographic resident, and talking about it gave them something to do other than stand in silence until the turbolift rebooted.
"Hmm?" Odo replied. "I thought she was Ezri Dax now."
"No - well yes, she is, but there's also a new Jadzia Dax in holosuite 3." Kira explained the full situation to the shapeshifter.
"I see. So then she's been saved in your holosuite storage all these years and you've never noticed?"
"You know I don't care for holosuites. I barely spent any time in one unless she dragged me along." Kira intentionally tried to draw her friend into a personal conversation - the kind that had been lacking between the two recently.
"Yes, I suppose that's true." Kira thought she caught the hint of a smile flicker across Odo's face. "Does the captain know yet?"
"I'm just on my way up to his office to deliver the good news." Kira realized that in all the confusion and frenzy of the day's discovery, she hadn't stopped to consider just how good this news really was. Jadzia was getting a second chance at life, and not just through her memories living on in Ezri, but actually as herself. She smiled at the thought.
"Thank you for informing me. I'll make sure to lock my quarters while I'm regenerating."
"Odo! That was three years ago!" Kira chuckled a bit, recalling the multiple incidents where Dax had rearranged the constable's furniture.
"Yes, but from what you told me, this Jadzia never experienced the past three years, so she never learned not to mess with my quarters."
"Fair point," Kira admitted. "Though she's stuck as a hologram for the time being, so your furniture is safe for now."
Odo harrumphed as the turbolift began to move again. Its doors soon opened to Ops.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure she knows to stay out of your quarters," she reassured him.
"Thank you, Kira" he responded kindly. Kira? Well, that was a start. They were certainly close enough for him to be calling her Nerys, but at least it was better than him formally addressing her by her rank.
They both left the turbolift, with Odo going to talk to one of his deputies, and Kira heading over to Sisko's office. As she approached, the doors opened and Admiral Ross walked out, looking stoic as usual.
"Admiral." Kira had a fairly neutral opinion of the admiral. Her default opinion of most Starfleet top brass was negative, but Ross had earned her grudging respect following the incident with Derna.
"Colonel," he responded, and headed towards the turbolift.
Kira entered the captain's office and could immediately tell that he was in a bad mood. "News from the front?" she asked.
"Nothing worse than the usual," he responded. "But the usual is still pretty bad."
"Maybe I can give you some good news then." Sisko perked up at this. "It's Jadzia."
He sank back in his chair. "Jadzia? What good news could there be about Jadzia?"
"Well, uh, she's back, sir." Kira went on to explain the whole situation.
As she explained, Sisko became downright elated at the news. Kira hadn't seen him this happy since they retook the station from the Dominion. "That is great news, Colonel, if a little unexpected. If you don't mind, I think I'll head down to Quark's now and say hello."
"Uh, captain," Kira felt bad to temper his excitement even a little."She's probably asleep."
"I didn't realize holograms required sleep."
"I'm no holo-engineer, but apparently her matrix is so complex she's still able to get tired."
"I see. Oh well, I suppose I'll visit her in the morning." After a moment, the captain continued. "Who else knows so far?"
"Well, at this point it's probably the entire senior staff," Kira admitted. "I had Ezri and Chief O'Brien come down to figure out what was going on, and the chief brought along Dr. Bashir. I ran into Odo on my way up here and told him as well."
"What about Commander Worf?"
"He, uh, walked in on the rest of us, because he'd reserved the holosuite for his daily workout routine. We all left so that he and Jadzia could talk privately."
"I see. Given what you said about this Jadzia missing the past three years, I don't envy either party in that conversation."
"That's for sure," Kira agreed. "Anyway, is there anything you want me to do given this development?"
"Schedule a meeting in Jadzia's holosuite for 1400 hours tomorrow. I want to formally welcome her back and start working on a plan to beam her out of there."
"Will do, sir. Should I invite all of the senior staff?"
"Yes, and Rom too. He was the one that beamed us out of there originally, so it would be good to have him onboard for this."
"Very well, sir. I'll see you there." Kira was smiling now, her commanding officer's enthusiasm clearly infectious. Jadzia was alive! And she wouldn't let whatever worries she had spoil that.