Disclaimer - All rights to Star Trek DS9 belongs to Paramount.

Impact by Ivycat

Words. They had always been his friends, the blue suited figure in the runabout mused. A hedge with which he could surround himself,a comforting torrent when he was nervous. Now, they proved to be as fickle as a Dabo girls affection. They jilted him when he most needed them, when his heart was the fullest.

It was a perverse fate that had put him in such close proximity to Jadzia, when he had only just determined to cease being the love sick boy.

He was smart, Damn it, smarter than anyone on the station, but around her, one would never have guessed.

'Amusing.' That was what he had overheard himself described as.

Amusing. The description rankled. He was almost sure that he had overheard 'arrogant' as well.

He worked the controls effortlessly, almost flawlessly. His face a mask at the moment, betraying none of the turmoil inside. He sat in silence for hours, not looking at the fellow figure in blue beside him in the cramped confines of the runabout. But soon the restless silence surrounding him was snapped like a brittle twig. There was a shrill beeping from the console. He leaned forward, his eyes scanning the readout.

"Asteroid directly ahead!"

"Raise shields." Dax replied, her fingers dancing over panel in front of her.

"Shields up."

Bashir leaned forward slightly, some instinct prompting him to look out window in front of him. His eyes widened and his breath hitched.

"Dax! Brace…" He never got a chance to finish the alert.

There was a head filling cacophony as the exterior of the runabout made contact with a chunk of icy rock .

The occupants were thrown around the shuttle mercilessly as the shield was assaulted. Steam began to vent into the shuttle from a ruptured hose filling it, obscuring the prone figures, through the haze a lone light began to blink. The proximity alert flashed once, twice, dimmed and gave a last halfhearted glimmer, then went dark.

The Rio Grande floated in an aimless manner, rotating slowly in the emptiness.

It was thick, too thick. She rubbed her eyes trying to clear them, coughing as she inhaled acrid fumes. She blinked trying to escape the thick oppressing blackness. Nothing helped. Still coughing she pulled her shirt up over her mouth, then she tried to stand up, she swayed on unsteady feet and winced as she made contact with the runabout seat. With her head. The shuttle was inverted.

She let out a breathe and tried to orient herself. "I am Jadzia Dax." That was a good place to start. "My arms work…" She flexed them slowly. She already knew her legs worked, no matter how unsteadily. She stumbled toward the upside down panel trying to activate lights, sensors, something. The Trill's calm manner was in evidence as she methodically attempted to restore some type of system function, but all of her efforts were in vain and the shuttle was still dark.

Her next move was to find her silent companion. It was not a long task as it was a small shuttle, indeed no sooner than she had formed the resolution to find him her foot landed on one of his limbs with her full weight . Muttering an apology she knelt down beside him, her slender hands searching and probing to find injury. There was no evidence of injury, the still figure was warm and breathing. Sitting back Jadzia assessed the situation, all emergency supplies we located under the floor of the runabout, now well above her head. Unconscious doctor beside her… Suddenly she bent over Julian again, her hands fumbling with the ever present tricorder that was on his belt. Flipping it open she let out a small coughing breath of relief, the small patch of light seemed as welcoming as the sun on the Trill home world. Julian's breathing was soft and regular and life signs steady. It seemed as if the young doctor had only sustained a blow to the head that had temporarily rendered him unconscious. She stood up, once more attempting to reach the medkit and emergency supplies but they were out of reach, she could not obtain them unaided. With a sigh she slowly made her way to the doctor, one more scan showed he was still stable. She reluctantly turned off the device to save power. Now surrounded by the darkness she pulled at her collar uncomfortably, for all the effortless ease with which she wore the uniform Jadzia had always despised tight collars. She shifted uncomfortably, her hand pressing over the symbiont . Then a groan sounded from the blackness.

"Kukkalaka."

Jadzia smiled faintly at the memory the word brought up.

"Julian?"

She felt forward in the darkness attempting to reach for his hand, but a shrill yelp and her fingers told her she had made contact with his nose instead.

"Oh, sorry about that."

Even in the darkness the smile was evident in her voice.

"Jadzia… uh, what happened to the lights?"

"I don't know right now, we hit something, lost attitude control, we are drifting inverted at the moment. The artificial gravity seems to have malfunctioned and reversed and is producing graviton particles with a polarity shift. I can't reach the control panel. Life support seems to be functioning at the moment. Plasma leak on starboard side."

There was a moment of silence and a rustling as he sat himself up.

"I lost my tricorder." There was an edge to his voice.

"No, here, I borrowed it to see it you were hurt. And also to see if I could use the light to help me reach the control panel."

Jadzia grasped the hard case and pushed it forward in the darkness. His warm hand closed over hers for an instant as he took it. The blackness abated somewhat as he opened it. Jadzia involuntarily leaned in toward the light. In the dim light she could see a dark line along the side of his face. Seeing her gaze he reached his hand up and gingerly touched his scalp.

"Hmm," he said dispassionately, "I seem to have a minor scalp laceration."

Then seconds later he was directing the scanner to his crewmate.

"Any pain or tenderness?" She furrowed her brow and gave him an impatient look.

"I was just rolled around the inside of a runabout following an impact. I could give you a shorter list of what does NOT hurt."

"Ah, yes, that's a good point."

"Julian?"

"Yes?"

"You need to save the battery on your tricorder."

"Good idea." He snapped it shut quickly, and then scooted over to the side of the shuttle Jadzia was leaning on.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"I was hoping you would have some brilliant plan. So far I have nothing, we have to be able to reach the control panel, see why so many systems are down, make sure we have enough life support, send a distress signal, access our emergency packs, restore lighting…" Her voice trailed off.

"And how do you suggest we proceed?" His voice was strong, professional.

"Well, at the moment I would say take a few minutes to asses then formulate a plan."

"All right, that's a plan."

She could feel him sitting close even though she could not see. The Trill found it comforting, a moment later and she reached out her hand to search for his.

"What?"

His voice was startled, she had grabbed his elbow.

"Sorry, I was reaching for your hand."

"Not a problem." He assured her, and in an instant his warm hand had clasped her cool one.

"Well, it is a good thing I have never been scared of the dark." He quipped.

There was a long silence.

"Jadzia?"

"Hmm."

"Are you about to tell me you are afraid of the dark?"

"No, "She lied easily with a laugh. "I am a trill Julian, remember? The symbiont lives in dark caves underground remember." She repressed a small shudder.

"Ah, yes. I had forgotten."

"Well, Jadzia, shall we get to it?"

"What?"

"You yourself said we had to reach the control panel. That endeavor will require the two of us, I propose you stand on my back and reach the comm. "

"Alright," she agreed after a pause. There was a firm tug to her hand as he rose, pulling her with him. He took a few steps forward.

"Julian? Where are you going? The front is this way."

"Um, yes, sorry. The darkness has me slightly disoriented."

"Alright, can you climb on my back, Jadzia?"

"Climb from what?" Jadzia replied in a maddeningly reasonable tone. "We are standing on the roof."

"I see your point, well, what if you get on my shoulders then I attempt to stand up?"

"That should work."

She maneuvered to get close to him when,

"OW, Jadzia! You are standing on my hand!"

"Oh, sorry."

She straightened up quickly catching him under the chin with the crown of her head causing his teeth to clack sharply.

"JAD.. ZI.. A!"

The tension of their situation began to tell as she fought back a small giggle.

"Stop laughing, it is not funny! I am a doctor, Jadzia. A doctor who has peoples' lives in his HANDS that depend on him to save them. My hands are one of my greatest tools!"

" I am sorry, Julian,you are right." She said penitently.

She slowly clambered onto his back, wincing sympathetically as Julian hissed as a knee dug into his back.

She sat up slowly,

"I need light,"

"Well, it would have been nice if you had decided that before we got started." He stated though gritted teeth.

He ever so delicately reached down and fumbled with the device trying to access it without dislodging Jadzia.

"Any chance you could hurry?"

"Of course there is, if you don't mind me dropping you. This is not nearly as easy as it may seem to you up there."

"Easy!" Jadzia gave an un-lady like snort.

Then there was a soft whirring as the tricorder muted light shed a dim illumination.

"There, how is that?"

"Better thank you… Let me see here, first I need to reach there… now… OK, Julian, I am about to power it on to regain attitude control. "

There was a beeping and a satisfying whirr as the panel above them glowed, then, very slowly, the shuttle rotated causing Bashir to lose his footing and stagger, dropping Jadzia onto a seat, which was now in its rightful place.

"Hey!"

Julian's face broke into a grin as he surveyed the shuttle; he walked towards the pilot seat, extending a hand to Jadzia who was rising from the seat where she had landed.

Then with a slight popping sound the panel went dark again.

"No!" Julian smacked the back of his seat with his palm.

"Did you get a chance to send out a distress call?"

Before she could reply there were slight rustling noises, then another pop. Just as he was opening his mouth to ask what was going on, Jadzia activated an emergency light. The shuttle was bathed in bright light one more, seeming to do battle with the darkness outside.

"Ah, that's better!"

He sat in the seat and turned towards his companion.

His brow wrinkled,

"Did you happen to see a ship after we collided?"

She looked up, startled.

"No, why?"

"Because, I could have sworn I saw one right before impact."

Jadzia's brow furrowed in concern.

"Are you sure it was not a result of you hitting your head?"

"Yes, very."

He looked at her, affronted at the question.

She opened her mouth to say more but suddenly a transporter beam shimmered into the shuttle, giving them only enough time to exchange startled looks before they de-materialized.