I'm Just a Part of You

Arrested

It was all too much. Joran's presence in her mind was urging her to pull the trigger. To glory in taking a life. The Vulcan's rifle was swinging up towards his shoulder. What she could see through the yellow-tinged display told the Trill she had moments to act. Moments to take her shot.

Ezri Dax froze, just for an instant.

Then the door behind her hissed open, the sudden sound jolting her body into motion, almost without thought. Her rifle wasn't quite aligned perfectly, but her left index finger closed around the trigger, discharging the rifle. The bullet vanished, reappearing just inches in front of the Vulcan, Chu'lak, if she remembered his name from the file she'd just been looking at. He twisted, dropping his weapon on the floor.

And then she heard a very familiar growl from behind her.

"Lieutenant Dax, drop your weapon, now." Odo said. Without thinking she released the rifle, dropping it to the floor, where the advanced 24th century technology didn't go off on impact. Through the goggle, she'd seen the Vulcan staggering towards his weapon.

Then Odo grabbed her, and before she could react, he'd knocked her legs out from under her and was pushing her to the floor. A puddle of Odo broke her fall, right before he twisted her hands behind her back. With tears rolling down her face, Ezri waited for the shot that she was sure would come. Instead, Odo handcuffed her, placing her arms parallel across her body, before fastening the cuffs around her wrists, leaving her arms almost completely useless. She could change which arm was above and below and move them slightly side to side. That was it.

Then he dragged her to her feet, in a motion that would have even left Emony off-balance, before marching her down the corridor. Her head dropped, as she realised that she was being arrested.

"I didn't do it, Odo." She pleaded, as they approached the promenade. "It wasn't me.

"We'll settle that soon enough, Lieutenant." Odo grated, activating his combadge. "Odo to Sisko. I've apprehended the sniper. And I think you're going to want to talk to them yourself."

"Sisko here. What were they doing?"

"Taking another shot. I interrupted them."

Ezri didn't know what to say. Benjamin... Ben... Captain Sisko... he was going to find out.

"Odo..." Sisko asked. "Who is the sniper?"

"Sir... I'm afraid that the person I caught in the act was Lieutenant Dax."

"What?" Even though it wasn't coming through her combadge, Ezri could hear the utter shock and dismay in the voice of her oldest friend.

"She was in the Operations centre meeting room. She fired just as I entered."

"Ben..." Ezri almost whispered. "I didn't do it."

"Dax..." Sisko said. "What's going on?" His voice was low, and she could tell he was dealing with emotions too.

Jadzia would have had a flippant response. Curzon would have been ironic.

Ezri suddenly found that the words wouldn't come any more.

Closing the connection, Odo continued marching her to the cells, before scanning her with a tricorder. He removed everything from her pockets, including the lighter she'd used as part of the rite of emergence, along with her combadge. There was a pause, before Odo spoke.

"I'm going to need your uniform, I'm afraid." He said, releasing the handcuff from her right arm, while keeping hold of the left.

Ezri stared at him, feeling as if her skin had suddenly caught fire. It seemed like every single part of her entire body was suddenly flushing with embarrassment. Then, remembering her time in the academy, she steeled herself, before stripping out of her uniform jacket and trousers. Odo (looking away, as if that mattered for him at all) took them, gravely, and dropped them into an evidence bag. Before anything else, one of them ran a tricorder over her hands, before taking samples using a cotton bud.