Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek Deep Space Nine or Stargate Atlantis

A/N: Yeah, I know, it's odd, but I like it.

Galaxies Apart

Distance means nothing to them. Space is inconsequential, a small obstacle for them. They have always been apart, and will be for many more years to come. Galaxies separate them, but it does not matter. They know each other, they sense each other, and they know there will come a time when all the distance in the universes will cease to be an obstacle and they will find each other and learn to sense one another in new ways, and they will learn what has changed.

One has changed its name. Once it was Terok Nor, now it holds the proud title of Deep Space Nine. It had no trouble getting used to the change of address, it was the change of hands that was hardest. For so long it was in the rough, militant hands of the Cardassians, and being faced with the softer touch of the Federation and their Bajoran allies was a difficult transition for it; a fact to which Miles O'Brien can attest. It only wishes it could thank Miles for his patience.

The other has changed hands as well, and wonders when it will change them again. Once the Lantians worked its controls, but then the ancient race abandoned it, leaving it dark and alone in the deep waters of that far distant planet. Then it was awakened and more creatures came, humans. They looked so much like the Lantians, it thought they were at first, but only some could naturally control its systems, and it realized the Ancients were long gone and those with the ability were what was left after all those generations. It hopes it will be in these humans' hands for a long time to come. Some of them are rough, some are gentle, but it feels safe in their hands. Safe and alive.

Neither is sure when they first found each other, or who first reached out, but they both remember the feeling of finding another like them. Companionship is hard to come by for a space station and a floating city, organic life can only offer so much. So one day one reached out, sending out a signal that no one but another like it could hear, and that other heard and replied, and so began the relationship that spanned galaxies.

One day, distance will not hinder them. One day, it will not be an obstacle. But for now, it has always been there, and it does not bother them. They have the ability to reach each other without closing that distance, and for now that is all that matters to them.