Title: Gratitude

Author: Heather Cook

Series: DSN

Codes: B/Ty Kajada

Rating: [R] for soft-focus sex

Disclaimer: Paramount owns everything except the order of the words.

Warning: none

Summary: Ty Kajada wants to express her gratitude.

Feedback: Good, bad or indifferent can be send to [email protected]

Beta: My thanks go to Kathryn Ramage for fast beta; any remaining mistakes are mine.

Note: Part of the Doctor Fuh-q Fest.

Gratitude

So far, Julian Bashir had to admit that his posting at Deep Space Nine had been an exciting one - he'd saved lives, had a bit of intrigue and made some interesting friends. He hadn't made any romantic conquests, but it certainly wasn't from lack of trying. It was just a matter of time - he figured that Dax was within reach, if he persevered, and in the meantime, there was a lovely Dabo girl that he had his eye on... His 'frontier posting' had been as much of an adventure as he anticipated, even if there were times when it seemed that time stood still.

After the action of the past few days, filing reports and CMO logs seemed dull, but it was a necessary evil, and Julian prided himself on his thoroughness. He signed off on his report concerning his 'possession' by Rao Vantika, and forwarded it to Commander Sisko before stretching in his seat.

A glance at the chronometer told him that his shift was over; Julian

straightened his desk, and logged out. As he left the infirmary, Julian was

surprised to see Ty Kajada walking toward him. As she came to a stop in

front of him, he asked, "I thought you were leaving for Koblia?"

"I was, but I wanted to thank you again. I've been after Vantika for a long time, and to have lost him now would have been...difficult. May I take you to dinner so that I may thank you properly?"

A wide grin crossed Bashir's face as he offered his arm to the Kobliad. "It would be my pleasure."

---

The evening went by quickly: dinner was delicious, the wine that Quark had served with their meal was light and refreshing, and Ty seemed very interested in what Julian had to say, actually listening to him as he spoke of his achievements and of what he wanted to accomplish while stationed at DS9. As the evening progressed, Ty moved to sit next to him and her hand drifted to rest on Julian's knee.

When she was able to interject, Ty slid her hand up his thigh asking, "May we go somewhere more private, Julian?"

"Um...I, uh...why, yes," Julian stammered. "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking that your quarters would be perfect." Ty said this while squeezing Julian's upper thigh and brushing her fingers against his groin. "I'd like to be somewhere that we can spread out..."

Julian flushed and nodded his agreement before pushing his chair back. His voice was strained as he said, "After you, please."

---

The door had barely closed behind them before Ty dropped to her knees, unfastened Julian's trousers and taken him into her mouth. Settling into a quick rhythm, Ty sucked and stroked him to completion in a matter of minutes.

When Julian was able to speak again, he looked down into Ty's eyes. "Not that I didn't appreciate it, but what was that? Do you always just jump into things like that?"

Shrugging, Ty said, "You want me... That is why you worked so hard to impress me at dinner, is it not?" Ty sat back on her heels, and began to unbutton her tunic. "I just thought that things would be less awkward if I got right to it."

Frowning, Julian crouched down in front of her, and stopped her. Leaning in, he kissed her, lightly at first, then with increasing urgency as she began to respond. Pulling away from the kiss, he said, "I want this to be mutual. I want you to want it as much as I do, Ty. I admit that I wanted to impress you - I find you very attractive, and I wanted this to be more than gratitude on your part."

"It is. I *do* want you. I want to be with you. I wouldn't be here otherwise, no matter what I felt my debt is to you." As she spoke, Ty continued to undress, and she rose to her feet, pulling Julian along. "Come to bed with me."

Turning, she crossed to the bedroom, pausing at the door to look back at Julian, who was standing where she had left him. She crooked a finger at him, winked and entered the room. Julian gulped loudly and hastened to follow her.

---

It was quite late when Julian awoke. As he remembered the previous evening's events, he smiled. Sitting up, he called to Ty. Twisting to rise from the bed, Julian knocked a datapadd off the other pillow. As he bent to pick it up, he realized who it was from, and he knew that she was gone.

On the chance that she hadn't yet departed, Julian queried the computer as to her whereabouts.

"Ty Kajada is no longer on the station."

Julian pressed the play button on the padd, curious about what Ty had left behind. Her face appeared on the tiny screen, and she smiled.

"I had a lovely time, Julian. You were wonderful, and I just wanted to thank you again for all of your help."

And that was it. Julian was a bit nonplussed. It wasn't that he'd expected that Ty would drop everything and stay with him - in fact he was glad that she hadn't. But he felt a little like Ty had used him. Maybe it was just the way that she'd left, or the way that the whole thing had started, but he was a bit discomfited.

Julian flopped back on the bed, trying to figure out why he was feeling like this. His musings were interrupted when the computer chirped to announce a comm from within the station.

"Infirmary to Doctor Bashir."

"Go ahead."

"We have an emergency; three of the engineering staff have plasma burns."

Speaking as he climbed out of bed, Bashir affirmed that he would report immediately. Even as he closed the comm channel, he was pulling on a clean uniform and straightening his hair. Bashir looked over his shoulder at the disorder of his room as he walked to the door - if not for the blankets and pillows that were strewn all over the floor, and the crumpled uniform that lay over the dresser, he wouldn't have believed that anything out of the ordinary had happened...

Chuckling to himself, he said, "Ah well, just another day on the frontier."

End.