TITLE: "Delusions of Godhood", 1/1 AUTHOR: Kristin Johnson SERIES: DS9 CODES: Sisko/Q, m/m RATING: PG-13 SUMMARY: Sisko and Q get a chance for a rematch after Kasidy leaves Sisko… TIMING: DS9, early 7th season Captain Benjamin Sisko sighed at his desk over another damned Dominion War status report. Thank the Prophets today was not the day another damned casualty list would face him with its testimony to the sacrifices of freedom. A ship glided past his window as the wormhole opened briefly, illuminating the sleek lines. It wasn't Kasidy's Bajoran freighter. He knew when Kasidy had left. 0700 hours. He hadn't seen her off. There was nothing more to be said. He felt his uniform suddenly dampen around the collar. He looked to the stars for calm and to the Prophets, who had engineered his birth, for answers. There would be none. None he didn't already know. He knew why Kasidy had left. But divine DNA or not, he was still a living, feeling being and he still wept. It wouldn't do for Colonel Kira to walk in and see him crying. The Emissary could not cry. Ezri Dax, newly arrived, would try to soothe him with her counselor manner, and he'd have to deal with his guilt over wishing Jadzia, who knew him best, were here, instead of Ezri, who he felt he had to counsel. And Dr. Bashir…Julian would immediately order him off duty, then rush to another double shift in the Infirmary or on the Defiant. For the sake of his crew, a captain, especially in a time of war, had to be strong. Add being a religious icon, and… "Hello, Benjy---or do you prefer Emissary?" Sisko immediately leaped up to glare at the slenderly built male in the new Starfleet uniform design. The brown eyes encompassed a universe of arrogance and omnipotence. Sisko felt as violated by Q's sudden appearance as Julian must when Section 31 invaded his quarters by night. Q--- yes, the famous Q he'd hit---smirked at him. "Oh, come on, Benjy, that's not fair. I'm not attempting to seduce you the way dear old Sloanie is your doctor." Sisko stared defiantly at the rogue entity. "I see your sense of humor hasn't improved with age." Q juggled Ben's baseball and several other glowing orbs. "I don't age, but I'll forgive the lapse in memory. After all, you've got the battle between good and evil to occupy your mind these days. Not to mention backroom deals with Garak." Sisko set his teeth. "Next you'll tell me Picard never would have done that." "Picard doesn't do anything interesting these days. Neither, bless her, does Kathy. No, you're where the action is. I can forgive you for including Worf, because you've improved so greatly. You and your rag-tag crew are vastly more interesting than the last time I visited. Although Kira grows more strident each year---" "Did you come here just to discuss my crew?" Q ignored the prompt. "It's a wonder what Odo sees in her. After all, he is a god to those insipid Vorta and those brutish Jem'Hadar." "Jealous?" Sisko went calmly to his replicator. "It's only a matter of time before they discover the wonders of the Q. But we like your amusing little Federation and we don't want to see you wiped out all at once." Sisko sighed and pressed the buttons on the replicator. It didn't produce the icy raktajino he expected. "Benjy, Benjy, Benjy…you haven't mastered this god thing, have you?" Sisko looked down and saw his cup of raktajino in his hand. Q had one as well, and he sipped it. "Much better than Picard's insipid Earl Grey. Where are your manners? Are you annoyed you don't have the imagination to conjure up one for yourself?" "Q, come to the point. Are you here for a boxing rematch?" "My, my, we have turned into a hawk. I would have thought this war, and your game against the Vulcans, would have satisfied your bloodlust." Q's eyes swirled like the Mutara Nebula. "Want to challenge me to a wrestling match? It can be reeeallly interesting against a Q." "I'm in the middle of a war." Q waved dismissively. "Your species is always in the middle of a war, Benjy, whether you know it or not." "We didn't start this." Q nodded in unexpectedly. "No…you didn't, not all on your own. The Prophets did." "What?" Sisko folded his arms. "That's right. Dear old Prophet Mom was behind the whole thing. The Founders would be competition, and as for the Pah-Wraiths---" Sisko didn't like his thoughts at that moment. He turned back to the damned report and ignored Q. "Oh, now you're acting exactly like Jean-Luc." Sisko's mouthful of raktajino turned into Earl Grey. Q was right. It was tasteless. He wouldn't rise to the bait. He would ignore Q--- "Yep, exactly like him." ---get through the day, have dinner wiith Jake, then collapse into bed… alone. "Right down to the empty bed blues. Kassie couldn't handle your divine nature, could she? And you're a captain too. What was it Koloth called Kirk? A swaggering tin- plated dictator with delusions of godhood." Q leaned forward and stroked Sisko's smooth forehead. "But you don't have delusions, Benjy. You're the real thing. No wonder Kassie couldn't handle it." Sisko looked up. "Could Vash?" Q shrugged. "She's more…practical. Kassie…she's got that fiery independence all you captains have, that stubbornness that blinds you to the larger universe. Bashir's not the only dupe in the quadrant. You too are part of a grand design." "Did you come here to tell me something I don't know?" "Yes. You, at least, have the power to tweak the universe." "Q, I can't---" "Because you think you can't." "I don't have control over---" Ben concentrated on the cup, just to prove Q wrong, and the bland Earl Grey tea turned into frothy raktajino. "You do," Q said. "You just choose not to realize the full extent of them. You wait like an outfielder. Maybe the ball will come to you." Q tossed the baseball to Sisko. "You can make it come." "I thought you said I was just part of the larger picture." "That's it, Benjy, you're now in the ballpark. Just keep pitching it to me. Step up to the plate." "Right now, I'm feeling this is a tennis match, not a baseball game, and I don't like it." Sisko wished to be playing against Buck Bokai on a baseball diamond with the breeze blowing against his face, Jake sliding home… Suddenly, the sun burned his face, and he did feel the wind as he stood beneath the sky at the plate in Shea Stadium." An announcer from above sounded like Q. "And it's the last inning of the World Series with Benjamin Sisko at bat…" Q stood on the pitcher's mound. "Hey, batter, batter, batter!" "what are you up to, Q?" Sisko swung and missed. "Stee-rike one!" The umpire sounded like Weyoun. "I'm not the one who's created this, Benjy." Q pitched again. The ball looked like Bajor. Sisko swung again. "Stee-rike two!" "You're not helping Bajor, Benjy." "Then what if I change positions?" Suddenly, Sisko stood on the catcher's mound while Q swung the bat. Sisko pitched Earth at Q, and Q's bat knocked Earth out of the park. Q actually ran all the way around the bases. Abruptly, Q was back at bat, and Sisko pitched a Borg cube at Q. Q swung…and scored another home run. Then, Q was back at bat again. "Benjy, as much as I admire your stubbornness, this is getting a little ridiculous." But Q swung again. Behind Sisko, Jean-Luc Picard spoke. "Pitch him Guinan. Pitch him Guinan." Pitch him Guinan… A ball resembling a serene-faced woman whizzed right past Q. "Ball," Weyoun's voice shouted. Sisko concentrated on what he could pitch Q. A globe of a smiling Q (for Sisko somehow knew him to be such) whizzed at Q, and Q missed. "Stee-rike one!" Now, the umpire sounded like Odo. Sisko concentrated again. "You call yourself omnipotent?" "I'm trying not to humiliate you." Q struck the ball, which resembled Vash, and leaped for another home run around the bases. Sisko dived and caught Q's pant leg before Q stole home. Q and Sisko rolled in the grass as the crowd went wild. Finally, they came to a rest in the outfield. Sisko glanced around, then glanced down at Q, who lay back with his hands behind his head. "Can we call this game?" "Are you asking me for a rain check, Benjy?" "You proved your point." Sisko wondered if the warmth under his hands was real. He wondered why he felt the desire to kiss Q. Maybe power was the ultimate aphrodisiac. "So, what are you going to do next, Emissary?" "Don't you know?" Q smiled. "You're blocking me. I can't read you. Bashir fooled me the same way with his raging hormones, I never would have imagined---" "That's enough about my crew." Sisko lowered his mouth to Q's face. "Do you really think I came here for your crew?" Sisko kissed Q, and felt the Bajoran Fire-caves and the taste of moba fruit in that kiss. "Did Picard ever kiss you?" Q smiled. "Why do you think I left him?" Sisko kissed him again. "I think only someone who is part Prophet could handle you." Kira's voice intruded into their idyll. "Captain!" Sisko looked about, and reacquainted himself with the walls of his office, the viewport. He saw the stunned look on Colonel Kira's face, and saw himself wound around Q. Odo stood behind Kira, and harrumphed. Ezri looked like a stunned doll. And next to her, Julian looked…Sisko could read his thoughts: "We couldn't reach you," Kira said. "We thought…" "You've been under so much stress," Ezri added. "We had to override your lock." Odo sounded like Odo. "We thought it was a medical emergency," Bashir said. "A Prophet vision…" Sisko looked at Q. "Can we jump back in time?" Q smiled, and abruptly they were in the Kendra Valley on Bajor, sitting in the tall grass. Both wore loose-fitting robes. "We're outside time," Q said softly. "Away from your crew and the war. Bashir's right. You do need some rest." "If I'm a god---" "Part god. I'm omnipotent." "Didn't realize you were so particular." Sisko stretched out on the grass, and saw the universe unfold lazily before him. Q leaned against him. "I don't want you to become unmanageable. You flexed your power and discovered the possibilities of existence. Now, you have to learn to use them. But not today." "No…maybe yesterday." "Yesterday." Q looked at him devilishly. "That's not linear, is it?" Sisko smiled. "No. It's not linear." And he pulled Q toward him for a kiss. --end---