Charged

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Sisko had just settled down in his office in Ops, having stolen a few hours of sleep beforehand, when he was interrupted by a pounding on his office door.

He knew exactly who it'd be.

"Come in, Worf!" he called. The Klingon hadn't gotten over Jadzia. He had no idea how to react to or behave around Ezri. He seemed to push her away sometimes, but other times, he seemed to be more protective of her than he'd been with Jadzia. His confrontation with Bashir in the infirmary, after Ezri arrived on the station, for instance, had been straight out of the possessive Klingon playbook.

Stepping through the door, the Klingon crossed to the desk, looking down at Sisko. Most humans would have interpreted his behaviour as glaring. Sisko knew it was merely a Klingon being direct about paying attention to you.

"Sir, I understand Lieutenant Dax is in the brig." He growled. "Why?"

"Because Odo caught her in the act of shooting a Vulcan science officer, using a TR-116 with a transporter attachment." Sisko said, without pre-amble.

"Sir, she's been investigating the killings." Worf stated, his voice going slightly lower. "She isn't the killer."

"Worf, have you seen her... arguing with herself?" Sisko asked.

"Arguing with herself?" Worf repeated. "Why would she do that?

"We're concerned that another host's personality may be controlling her actions or manipulating her. She threw a shoe at Doctor Bashir earlier and shouted at him to stop bothering her."

Worf blinked. "Clearly, she is demonstrating that regardless of her behaviour, she does not wish to have a relationship with the doctor."

"He was delivering some comforts to her." Sisko stated. "He'd barely spoken two words before she threw her shoe directly at his head."

Worf didn't respond.

"Did Jadzia ever talk to you about Joran?" He asked. "Did he ever... affect her personality?"

"No, Captain." Worf rumbled. "She never discussed that peta'Q with me."

"Well, we're no further forwards, then." Sisko commented with a deep sigh. Then his combadge chimed. "Sisko, go ahead." He said, after tapping it.

"Captain... I think you're going to want to see this." Odo said, his voice heavier than usual. "I've just been searching Lt. Dax's quarters. I was looking behind the access panel for the environmental controls. Most people don't know there's a cavity to the right of them aboard Cardassian stations."

"I'm on my way." Sisko told Odo. "Lt. Worf... follow me. We may want as many witnesses as possible."

Trotting through the near-deserted corridors, Sisko and Worf needed about five minutes to arrive outside of Ezri's assigned quarters. Opening the door, they noticed that Odo was holding a tricorder, along with a large plastic bag.

The changeling gestured to an open access panel. "It's in there, Captain."

"What is, Odo?" Sisko asked, walking across, and pulling on a pair of gloves handed to him by a Bajoran security officer.

"See." Odo grated.

Reaching into the compartment, Sisko encountered a large, angular object. There was just enough room to slide it out into the room. And then he realised what he was holding, and a sinking feeling grew deep within his chest.

He was holding a TR-116 rifle, with a micro-transporter attachment and an exographic targeting array looped around the stock. There were several small black hairs visible on the inside of the band of the headpiece. It'd been inside a wall, in Dax's quarters. Unless someone had managed to transport it into a tiny void, it could only have been placed there by Dax.

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