Title:   Homecoming
Author:  Kathryn Ramage
Series:  DS9
Codes:   S/B  
Rating:  NC17  
Summary: A sequel to "A Small Corner of Happiness."  Sisko and 
Bashir decide whether or not they want to go on seeing each other 
after they've returned to the 24th century.

Paramount owns Star Trek, DS9, and the characters.  This story 
was written purely for entertainment purposes.

Special Thanks: To Karmen, for her beta-reading.

Copyright May 2001

~|*|~

The night after he and Sisko returned from the 21st century, Julian 
Bashir left his quarters on the Defiant and went swiftly down the 
corridor.  Chief O'Brien, at the far end of the corridor, was about 
to call out to him, but the doctor was heading in the opposite 
direction and did not see him.  

Bashir stopped at Commander Sisko's door.  O'Brien only heard his 
first words as the door opened--"Ben, I have to talk to you,"--and 
then Julian went inside.

Miles took the lift down to the mess hall.  Dax was there, staring 
pensively into a cooling mug of raktajino, but she lifted her gaze 
as he entered and gave him a small smile.  "So you couldn't sleep 
either?"

He shook his head and told her, "Something's up."    

~|*|~

Julian was in Ben's arms before the door slid shut.  After relying 
completely on each other for so many months, it seemed only natural 
to seek comfort in an embrace.

With his head resting on the older man's shoulder, he began to 
explain, "I've been lying awake, tossing, practically spinning.  
It's not just my room--All of this-" he waved one hand to indicate 
their general surroundings, "feels strange.  I didn't mind it so 
much when we first beamed up and we were busy with our debriefing, 
but once I was alone... I just couldn't stand it anymore.  I know 
I can't spend the night here, but I want to be with you.  Just 
for awhile?"

"Yes, stay.  I'm glad you came."  Ben had been reading to try to 
fall asleep, but it was a fruitless effort.  His quarters seemed 
alien to him too--the close, curving walls, the blinking lights at 
the door and the comm interface panel.  His old robe and pajamas 
felt unfamiliar against his skin.  Plus, this was the first night 
he'd spent by himself in nearly two years; he'd been relieved to 
find Julian at his door.  "I missed you too."

They'd waited so long for the day when they were rescued, but now 
that they were back in their old lives, the 24th century was just 
as jarring as the 21st century had been.  But they still had each 
other.

~|*|~

"You should've seen him," said Miles.  "Wearing just his robe, 
with nothing on underneath--not even a pair of underpants as far 
as I could tell.  He went straight to the commander's door.  He 
called him 'Ben'.

"Since they've been back aboard," he asked, "do they seem- well- 
odd to you?  Not frightened, exactly, but uncomfortable being here?  
They were awfully nervous if they were apart from each other for 
too long.  When we first found `em, I got the impression that they 
weren't all that happy to see us."

"We just caught them by surprise," Jadzia answered thoughtfully.  
"They couldn't have known we were coming.  There wasn't any way to 
let them know we'd picked up their signal and had traced them to 
their location.  They may have given up all hope of being rescued.  
I was only lost for a few days--you found me right away.  From the 
Defiant's perspective, they were only missing a little longer--
barely 20 hours--but they're two years older than they were when 
we beamed down yesterday.  Two years, Chief.  That's a long time 
to be stranded.  Anything could have happened between them..."  

Their eyes met over the table.

"You're thinking the same thing I am."

~|*|~

"It had to happen eventually," Ben said.  "With all those subspace 
beacons we planted, at least one would survive.  I knew they'd 
find us one day, but you could've knocked me down with a puff of 
breath when Dax and Chief O'Brien showed up at our kitchen door 
this morning."

Julian, head still on Ben's shoulder, chuckled.  "Can you imagine 
the looks on _their_ faces if they'd come in 10 minutes earlier?" 

They'd been enjoying their usual Saturday-morning leisure time
--sleeping late, lazily discussing their plans for the weekend, 
making love--and had just gotten out of bed.  Julian was in the 
shower, and Ben had gone to the kitchen to make breakfast, when 
there was a knock on the door.  When he'd answered it, Dax had 
cried, "Benjamin!  I thought we'd never find you!" and leapt in
to hug him fiercely.

General confusion had followed--exclamations, questions, answers, 
and more hugs.  Julian had dried and dressed quickly.  They'd 
made their farewells to the 21st century; Dax and O'Brien were 
surprised when both men insisted on leaving messages at their 
respective jobs to say they were called out of town indefinitely.  
They also seemed somewhat baffled when Bashir and Sisko had 
gathered up a few personal items that they wanted to bring with 
them.  Then they had beamed up to the Defiant.

"I wish I'd known it was going to be our last day," Julian said
as he tugged open the collar of Ben's pajamas.  "Our last time 
together..."  He planted a kiss on the exposed portion of his 
chest.  "I would have savored it a bit more."

Ben had slipped his hands inside Julian's robe to trace the well-
known lines of the younger man's body.  "It doesn't have to be 
the last."  

When Julian lifted his head, their mouths met hungrily.

~|*|~

"You were busy talking to Benjamin.  You didn't have a chance 
to look around that place they were living in, did you?"

"Why? What about it?"

"One bedroom," said Dax. "One bed."  Then she sighed.  "I'd 
always hoped that Benjamin would find someone again after losing 
Jennifer, but- well- Julian?"
 
"Julian."  Miles nodded, understanding.  "This'll take some 
getting used to."

~|*|~

Julian dropped his robe on the floor.  As he sat down on the lower 
bunk and drew up his legs, he patted the foam mattress.  "I'd for-
gotten what these were like--thin, hard, cramped, and even more 
narrow than the beds we had at..." he stopped and glanced up at 
Ben sheepishly.  "I was about to say 'at home'."

Ben smiled in sympathy.  "It's going to take a little while, but 
this will feel like our home again."

"And what happens when we're back on DS9?"

They had never discussed it, but both had acted on the assumption
that their sexual relationship was only a temporary measure, to give 
them something to hold on to while they were alone in a hostile and 
unfamiliar world; when they returned to their own time, it would be 
set aside along with the rest of their 21st-century lives.  But they 
had been lovers for over a year, and it was not so easy to let go.

"I don't like to think of going to sleep alone from now on," said 
Julian.  "Or waking up without you there beside me."

"Neither do I."

"I don't want to end this, do you?"

Ben shook his head.  "No."  And he knelt to take Julian in his arms 
again. 

~|*|~

"What're we going to do about it?"

"I don't know, Chief.  Is it any of our business?  It's not what 
anyone would've expected, but they're grown men and if they want 
to sleep together, that's their decision.  It's not as if it's an 
abuse of the chain of command.  Starship captains have personal 
relationships with their CMOs all the time. They even get married." 

O'Brien's eyebrows shot up.  "D'you think they'd go _that_ far?"

~|*|~

Kisses trailed down Ben's bared chest as Julian yanked off his 
pajama top.  There was another hungry meeting of mouths once he 
was free of this clothing, and then Ben took Julian by the fore-
arms to hold him away just long enough to shed the pajama bottoms.  
His hands traveled slowly, deliberately, up those impossibly long
legs from ankles to knees to flanks; with a little push, he sent 
Julian tumbling back onto the bunk and tried to climb in after 
him, but nearly hit his own head on the low overhang.  

"You're right about these bunks," he said as he ducked. "No room 
to maneuver.  One good thing about getting back to the station
--there's a nice, big double bed waiting in my quarters, and it 
doesn't come apart at the middle."  He caught Julian by the hips, 
fingertips reaching to the base of his spine, as the younger 
man's arms went around his shoulders.

"And I'll get to join you in it?" Julian asked coyly. 

"Any time you want.  Until then..."  His hands slid lower; 
cupping each buttock in his wide-spread fingers, he drew Julian 
toward the edge of the bunk.  "There's no reason to regret 
leaving San Francisco."

"It was a miserable place," Julian responded between kisses.  
"Filthy city, shabby little apartment, low-paying jobs that 
barely kept us off the streets."  He pulled Ben down so that 
they lay side by side and wrapped a leg around his thigh.  One 
hand went to Ben's backside and brought them up against each 
other, pelvis to pelvis.  "What's there to miss?" 

"Nothing."  Ben rolled to put Julian flat on the mattress.  With 
the tip of his erection tucked against the folds of skin at the 
base of his lover's scrotum, he began to thrust.  Julian matched 
his movements by rubbing into the hollow of his groin.  They could 
have stopped to order a vial of lubricant from the replicator but, 
caught up in the immediacy of mutual need, they satisfied them-
selves with this less formal act of engagement.  "Nothing at all," 
he panted as they ground together, the rhythm of their thrusts 
growing increasingly urgent.  

But, in that miserable world, they'd built a haven together.  
They'd always had each other to rely on.  To care for.  To love?  
Ben thought so.  He couldn't deny that having Julian not only 
made the poverty and shabbiness endurable, but it made life in 
the 21st century worthwhile.  In this one respect, he'd been 
happier in the past year than he'd been since he'd lost his wife.  

Julian threw back his head and cried out in abandon.  In his 
last coherent seconds, he brought his hand around from the small 
of Ben's back, slipped it between their undulating bodies and, 
with a few practiced strokes, ensured that Ben climaxed with him.  
Together, they thrashed briefly, and then lay tangled and breath-
less.

Once, Benjamin Sisko had believed he would never find this kind 
of happiness with anyone again; it still seemed incredible to 
him that it would be with Julian Bashir.  He could think of a 
dozen ways to explain how and why it had happened, to try and 
rationalize it, but there it was.  He did not intend to lose it 
now.  

"I won't let you go, Julian," he promised.  "We'll make this 
work out."

~|*|~

"We ought to talk to them--not in an official capacity, but as 
their friends," Jadzia decided.  "We _are_ their friends, regard-
less of how long they've been away.  Benjamin's never kept a 
secret from me.  We've always been able to share confidences."

"You'd know just how to put the question to him without looking 
too nosy about it," Miles agreed.  "And, knowing Julian, he won't 
be able to keep his mouth shut for long anyway.  At least, we'll 
find out what's going on."

~|*|~

"It could be awkward, especially for you."  They had arranged
themselves as comfortably as they could within the confines of 
the lower bunk.  Julian lay with his head on his lover's chest 
while Ben drowsily stroked his back.  "How will the crew take 
it when we tell them?  They might think I've got some sort of 
privileged position as the commander's lover.  And what about 
Jake?"

"Jake likes you."

"As one of your senior staff.  That doesn't mean he'll be eager 
to welcome me as his new step- er- something.  Have you talked 
to him?"

"Yes, as soon as I could.  I wanted to see if he was all right."
Ben laughed softly.  "He's fine.  He didn't even know we were 
missing."

"Did you tell him?"

"A little.  I had to explain why I started crying like a baby 
at the sight of him."

Julian looked up to meet his eyes.  "Did you tell him about us?"

"No," Ben admitted, "I didn't know what to say, or even if 
there was anything _to_ say.  Look, Julian, if you're worried 
about what will happen, we don't need to announce our relation-
ship.  We can be discreet."

"Meeting in secret?"  The young man smiled at the melodrama.  
"I'll come to you like this every night?"

"Not 'in secret'--we're just minding our own business.  No 
one's going to think it's unusual if we spend more time together 
after everything we've just been through.  You'll have dinner 
with me, two, three times a week, and spend the evening.  We'll 
give Jake some time to get used to having you around before we 
break the news to him.  Then, maybe, we can let a few other 
people know too."  Julian still looked doubtful; Ben gave him 
a reassuring kiss.  "It'll be all right.  You'll see."

~|*|~

"Computer," said Miles, "locate Dr. Bashir."

[[Dr. Bashir is in Commander Sisko's quarters.]]

He cocked an eyebrow at Dax.  "He's been there for close to an 
hour."

"Come on," Jadzia got up from the table.  "Let's go talk to
them."

~|*|~

"You'll be okay?" asked Ben as they put their robes back on.  "You
don't have to go if you don't want to.  You can take the top bunk."

"No.  If we're being discreet, I ought to go before the crew is up 
and about.  I'll try to get some sleep."  Julian smiled.  "I don't 
think I'll have any trouble now."  They exchanged one last kiss, 
then drew apart.  He stepped back toward the door.  "I'll see you 
at breakfast-"

The door slid open.  Dax and O'Brien were waiting in the corridor.

"Ah- Benjamin," Dax spoke first, "I hope we aren't interrupting."

"You're not," said Sisko.  "Dr. Bashir was just leaving.  You 
wanted to see me?"  

"Both of you, actually.  I know it's late..." she hesitated awk-
wardly.  Bashir turned bright red, and he would have retreated 
to his own quarters if Sisko had not put a hand on his arm.  They 
stood staring at each other, searching for the right words, until 
O'Brien went straight to the point.  

"It's like this, sir: Since we beamed down to you this morning, 
we've both seen some things that concerned us, and we thought 
it was better to come to you about it instead of sitting and 
wondering all night.  It's not something we could bring up in 
front of the rest of the crew."

The commander nodded slowly.  He had been kidding himself:  No 
matter how discreet they were, he couldn't keep his relationship 
with Bashir a secret for very long.  They had only been home a 
few hours, and their closest friends had already figured it out.  
It would only be a matter of time before it became common know-
ledge on DS9.  The truth would have to come out now.

"Come on in, Chief, Dax.  You too, Julian.  We'll have that 
talk."

~end~

Kathryn Ramage                             kramage@erols.com
|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|*~*|
"Welcome to the 21st century, Doctor."   
                        - Benjamin Sisko, "Past Tense" Pt. I