"Sacrifice of Angels"

By Noelle Morrow

You know the drill. Paramount owns it, I have fun with it. Don't steal it from either of us.

~~~~

WORF

"Warp nine, helm, engage!"

I could feel the fire of battle raging inside me as General Martok yelled the order to head for DS9. We had been on Qo'noS for several days. Captain Sisko was planning to retake DS9, the most strategic point in the Alpha Quadrant. He Martok and myself to see Gowron, and after much persuasion, we convinced him to send squadrons to join the fight to defend DS9 and the wormhole. We were traveling as fast as possible, but I feared we would be too late. And if we couldn't get to the station in time...

I forced myself not to think about the worse, but, those thoughts still came. Communication was down, and we had no way of knowing what was going on until we got there. I sat nervously, I hated being nervous, but I was nervous.

"General, we are approaching the battlefield,"

I sat up attentively, as if the helmsman had been talking to me, "On screen!" I demanded.

A sea of ships was before us, and it was obvious that the Federation was not doing well, "Locate the Defiant," Martok ordered.

"The Defiant is several light years ahead of the fleet, at maximum warp on a course for the station."

"Mr. Worf, signal the Klingon fleet to follow the Defiant, lay in an intercept course, maximum speed.

Blood was pounding in my ears, this was it, this would be the day of our victory. I could feel it, I had no doubt in my mind. Minutes later, we were in comm range of the ship, and I hailed them, not waiting for the order to come from Martok.

Captain Sisko responded to my hail, and seated on his left was Dax. My eyes shifted to her, I could tell she was relieved to see me, I was definitely relieved to see her, "Captain, I am sorry we were late, " I began, trying to focus on Sisko and not Dax, "It was not easy to convince Chancellor Gowron to spare us any ships."

"I'm just glad you could join us, Commander."

Jadzia was smiling. Not brightly, but just enough. Her smile was what I focused on as the communication ended. They went forward to the station, we stayed behind the hold off the enemy.

JADZIA

I thought this battle would be a suicide mission at first. Then, I saw Worf, and I had hope (he seemed to have that effect on me.) Now, I'm back to my original thoughts. We're going to die. We fought through the enemy lines and made it to DS9, but we were too late. The minefield had been deactivated before we could reach it. That meant that the Dominion reinforcement could just waltz right in.

It seemed that things couldn't get worse, until Benjamin ordered us into the wormhole. Into the wormhole, were he knew all the Dominion ships were waiting. One ship to face thousands... what was he thinking?

It wasn't my place to judge. I did as I was told, but as I sat there with the blue haze of the wormhole surrounding me, and countless enemy ships before me, and I knew I was going to die. I kept repeating that in my head, trying to accept the fact. He ordered Miles to lock phasers, and he silently obeyed. I'm sure the Chief had the same thoughts as I. I'm going to die.

But what happened next was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen...

"Steady people, make every shot count," he said calmly. Ben wore an unusually calm expression, I think he knew more about the situation than we did.

"Benjamin..." I began slowly.

The wormhole stirred, the ships phased in and out, and then disappeared.

"They've cloaked!" Miles exclaimed.

I shook my head, "I'm not picking up any neutrino emissions."

"Then," Garak asked, "Where did they go?"

"Wherever they went," Ben said, still remaining calm, "I don't think they're coming back."

He paused a moment, taking several deep breaths, "Okay people. Let's go home. Set a course for DS9."

We probably should have been jubilant, but everyone was still in shock over what just happened. Part of me expected the fleet to re- emerge and destroy us. But, of course, it didn't.

The Defiant came out of the wormhole and DS9 was in clear view. On the other side of the station, I could see thousands of tiny ships, the combined fleet was only moments away.

"Sir," O'Brien reported, "The Dominion forces are leaving the station."

"Let them go. We're in no shape to stop them."

"Captain, we're getting a message from the Cortez," Bashir said from the back of the bridge, "The Dominion fleet have broken off the fight. They're in retreat."

"Tell the Cortez, and the rest of the fleet," Ben began, "To rendezvous at Deep Space Nine."

Hearing him give that order made it a reality. And not a single person on that ship could contain their smile. Especially me.

~~~~

I had never docked the Defiant so fast before. I skipped at least three steps in the sequence, just so that I could get off this ship and back home. I just hoped that the Rotarran wasn't too far behind.

The promenade was filled with cheering people. They were waiting for us to return, and I couldn't wait to see them. Kira, Jake, Odo, Morn, and even Quark. I didn't realize just how much I'd missed DS9 until I stepped out of the airlock and looked around.

I went to say hello to Kira when a loud raspy vice caught my attention. It was Martok-- The Rotarran had just docked. I spun around and I could see the group of Klingons stepping out of the airlock and onto the promenade.

And there he was, "Worf!" Right behind Martok was my husband- to- be. I pushed through the mass of people, my body ached to be in his embrace. It didn't take long for me to get my wish. When I got to him, I looped my arms around his neck.

"Jadzia..."

"I guess, the wedding's still on."

That made him smile. We kissed for a very long time. Worf usually hated public displays of affection, but he just didn't seem to care right now. We stood there, surrounded by throngs of people, holding each other extremely tightly and kissing until we were out of breath.

"Don't ever let me go," I whispered.

He squeezed even tighter, "I won't," It hadn't been that long since we'd last seen each other, but knowing that we'd be together for *good* was amazing.

Worf looked behind us, "Wait one moment, I have someone I want you to meet."

I knew who it would be, and I anxiously awaited. Worf disappeared into the crowd and returned with a young Klingon adolescent. I smiled brightly.

"Jadzia, I would like for you to meet my son, Alexander."

I was so excited that I skipped the formalities of a handshake and reached out and hugged him, "It's good to finally meet you."

"You were right Father," he said, "She is very beautiful."

That made me blush. Worf looked so proud standing there with his son. My whole body was swelling with happiness

Just then, Miles tapped my shoulder, "Captain Sisko wants to briefly see the senior staff in ops."

"We'll be there," I said.

"As soon as we finish ops, perhaps the three of us could have dinner?" Worf suggested.

"I would like that," Alexander said eagerly.

~~~~

The senior staff was assembling in ops. We were in our usual impromptu meeting area, the pit where Nerys and I did most of our work. We stood around the circular star map wearing giddy smiles.

"Where's Odo?" Ben asked.

"He said he had a security emergency, and that he would be on soon," Kira answered.

"All right. I asked you all here to just say," Ben let out a sigh of relief, "Congratulations. Each one of you had a vital hand in getting us back here, back where we belong. This isn't over by a long shot, but being home will definitely give us the morale boost needed to continue fighting. Now, I know everyone is eager to do their own personal celebrating, but we've got to secure our position here. We need to assign a basic four shift crew rotation immediately, as well as battle assignments."

I didn't notice it, but Worf and I were holding hands, something we *never* did during any type of work situation. I was so happy to be with him, I really didn't care. He probably felt the same way.

Just then, the turbolift rose and Odo entered the room, "Captain, we have Dukat."

An eerie hush filled ops, "Constable?" Ben said in disbelief.

"Yes, sir. I think you should come to security with me immediately."

Benjamin ascended the stairs to the turbolift, his face looked unusually uneasy. He turned back to the rest of us, "Just, make sure that a basic crew is in place, and then go enjoy yourselves."

It didn't take long to finish and distribute the temporary assignments. After that, Major Kira dismissed us all to go and enjoy being home. In the back of my mind, I was worried about how Ben was handling Dukat, but I had happier things occupying my immediate attention.

Bashir and O'Brien stepped onto the turbolift to leave ops, and I was about to follow, but Worf held my arm back, "Wait," he whispered.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but I complied, "We'll get the next one," I said to them with a sweet smile. The turbolift whizzed downward.

"Why didn't we--"

Worf placed his finger over my mouth, "Shh. We will get the next one."

I tilted my head, "Okay..."

An empty turbolift was available minutes later. We stepped on together and the instant we were out of sight, Worf backed me against the wall and kissed me hungrily. I laughed merrily, "This is why you wanted me alone..."

"Mmmm," he answered, his lips buried in my neck, and his strong hands explored my body as if it were the first time.

I laughed even more, "Those doors will be opening any minute, and then the whole promenade will see how animalistic you can be."

"You talk too much," Worf stated. He silenced my lips with his.

We pulled away breathlessly as the lift made it's promenade stop. A group of people crowded on as Worf and I stepped off. We were both quietly laughing, "I can't believe you..." I said.

"I like to surprise you every now and then."

As we walked the promenade, my tone became serious, "You know, I really want Alexander to like me..."

"Why would he not?"

"I just want to make a good impression on him. I want to be more than just 'his father's wife.' I really do."

"He has been very anxious to meet you. He is happy that I have found someone to share my life with."

I could feel my face heating up, and I smiled, "That's me, isn't it?" I asked playfully.

"Of course. Who else could put up with me?"

"You know, Mr. Worf, when I met you in Quark's, I had no idea what was in store for me. None. Though, I must admit, you caught my attention. But, I had no clue that you would be *the* one."

"I have to agree with you, Dax. You being my wife was... *far* from my mind."

We stopped walking and looked down over the railing, "And when we first got together, you know, when we couldn't stop fighting, it was even farther away."

"I try not to think about that," he said, shaking his head, "I really do not see how you and I lasted beyond that time."

"We were just learning each other, that's all. Besides, we *still* fight."

"You mean, I still do foolish things, and you still forgive me."

That made me laugh, "Something like that. Come one, let's head to Quark's. I'm, sure Alexander is waiting."

~finis (June 27, 1998)