"And when the Admiral arrives?"

  "He is bringing a transport ship with him. They are to be taken back to Earth to stand trial for their crimes."

  "And imprisoned for the rest of their lives on some quiet, out of the way penal colony, I'll bet."

  "Yeah, that's how I'm reading it too."

  *****

  The hustle and bustle of a space station was something one had to experience to truly understand. Deep Space Nine was no exception. The stations themselves seemed to thrive on it. Every one he'd ever been to had a 'personality' of its own. Here, everyone lived in the shadows. Dark corners. Barely lit passageways. Secrets of the heart...and soul. If you wanted to lose yourself, this was the place to do it. No one looked that carefully when they passed you. Too afraid of their own secrets to delve into yours. Deep Space Nine was built in the dark and was destined to always remain there.

  The dark was to his advantage. The shadows hid things no one else could know. Once he had completed his mission, he could blend back into those shadows and slip off the station. It was how he worked. It was how they worked.

  No one noticed as his gaze tracked his prey. No one cared when he got up to follow the tall, dark-haired man. No one saw when he plunged the crude weapon into the stranger's back. No one heard the transporter beam when it snatched him from the station.

  *****

  "This wasn't a random attack, Tom," B'Elanna told her husband pointedly.

  It had been two days since Quark found Tom Riker unconscious and bleeding in the back of his bar. Luckily, the attacker has missed his mark and hadn't stuck around to make sure he'd finished the job. However, the mere idea that an assassin had been sent was worrisome. Dr. Bashir had informed the commander that he suspected Section 31 in the attack because of the way it was handled just this morning. Although the weapon had been crude, the cut had not. It would have been fatal if not for the fact that Riker had turned slightly as he felt the knife go in.

  "No," he sighed. "It wasn't."

  "They'll kill them one by one. They know too much. Seen things the Federation doesn't want anyone to know."

  "I know," he nodded. "We have to talk to the Captain."

  B'Elanna looked at him incredulously. "He won't listen! He's so angry at Tom, he won't hear a word we say!"

  "Then we'll make him listen. Will Riker is a fair man, B'Elanna. I know we can trust him."

  She shook her head. "I hope so, Tom. I really do."

  They walked in silence to the turbolift. B'Elanna fidgeted non-stop during the short ride to the bridge. Tom hid a smile at her behavior, knowing she wouldn't appreciate the humor he found in her nervousness. He gave her hand a quick squeeze before the walked on to the bridge and over to their captain.

  "Captain," Tom began. "Can we have a word with you?"

  Riker looked from his First Officer to his Chief Engineer and sighed. Somehow he had the feeling he wasn't going to like what they had to say.

  "In my Ready Room, Commanders," he gestured to the door.

  They walked single file into the room. Will sat at his desk and gestured to the chairs for them to sit.

  "You might as well be comfortable for this. I have the feeling you have quite a bit to say to me," Riker grimaced.

  "Captain," the Chief Engineer began as soon as they were seated. "When Voyager returned home...."

  "This isn't the same as Voyager, B'Elanna," Will cut her off. "Tom, Laren and the others were convicted of crimes against the Federation. They were high profile officers who used their connections for Maquis purposes. All the members of Chakotay's cell had -resigned- from Starfleet before joining the Maquis. It's a completely different situation."

  "That's Starfleet rhetoric and you know it, Captain," Paris told him. "What about Sito Jax? She committed no crime. What about her? If the Federation wanted to, they could pardon them. They've been held in a Cardassian prison for ten years now. I think they've served their time."

  "Treason is still punishable by death, Commander," Riker reminded him harshly.

  "The Federation hasn't put someone to death in over a hundred years!" B'Elanna burst out, leaping from her chair in frustration. "This is insane-! We can't let this happen! Too much was lost over this damn war already. Too many lives have already been sacrificed!" Her voice broke. A shaky hand came up to cover her mouth as she fought vainly against the sudden tears that filled her eyes.

  Tom stood up and placed a steadying hand on the small of his wife's back. "It's all right," he whispered, guiding her to the sofa in Will's office. "I'll contact my dad, if I have to. Kathryn and Chakotay too. They still have some pull at Command. We're here now. It won't happen again. We'll stop it."

  Will watched the couple in confusion. Something more was definitely going on with them.

  "Think of your career, Commander," Riker warned gently. "Pulling strings for Maquis criminals won't look good after all you've done to redeem yourself."

  Tom stood up slowly. His jaw set ominously. "Comrades, Captain."

  "What?"

  "I'll be pulling strings for my Maquis comrades, not criminals."

  "Tom," Will began patiently. "You were never really Maquis. I've read the reports. In the end you were Starfleet and helped Janeway find Commander Chakotay's cell."

  Tom felt B'Elanna stiffen. Her breath caught just ever so slightly. With a grimace, he met his Captain's gaze head on.

  "No, Sir," he corrected. "I didn't help Captain Janeway because I was committed to Starfleet. I helped Kathryn because I knew B'Elanna was a member of Chakotay's cell and if he was missing and in danger, then so was she."

  *****

  "Did you really help Captain Janeway because of me?" B'Elanna asked quietly, still in shock from what her husband had revealed a short time ago.

  Tom sighed. They had never really dealt with this issue. It had been an unconscious decision by both of them to not speak of their Maquis days and his betrayal of Chakotay. He owed her the truth.

  "Yes."

  She swallowed hard and sank tiredly into the deep-cushioned sofa of their quarters.

  "Why didn't you...?"

  "Why didn't I tell you?" he asked with a self-depreciating smile. "Would you have believed me, B'Elanna? Would you have believed that I was half-in-love with you from the first moment I met you way back at the academy?"

  "You do remember!" she exclaimed.

  Tom smiled again. "Yeah, I do."

  "You could have told me later...after we became friends. Chakotay might not have been so hard on you those first few years on Voyager."

  "Chakotay knew, B'Elanna. He warned me off you my first day with the Maquis. He saw what I wouldn't even admit to myself. And he warned me again after we were stranded in the Delta Quadrant."

  Ten years earlier....

  "Paris!" Chakotay called down the corridor, halting the young pilot from his hasty retreat.

  Tom turned with resignation. "Commander," he addressed the older man. "I understand I have you to thank for my new found sense of...security."

  Chakotay gritted his teeth. "That's right. You live or die on this ship at my command, Paris."

  Tom grinned with cocky self-assurance, setting Chakotay's teeth on edge. "Oh, come now," he admonished. "Is that any way to talk to the man who saved your life?"

  "I promised Janeway that you would have my protection," he told Tom. "And you will...under one condition."

  "And what would that be?" Paris asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

  "Stay away from her," Chakotay warned.

  "Janeway?" Tom played dumb. "I don't think she's inter...."

  Chakotay's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You know who I mean, Paris. I don't want you near her. Understand?"

  "Or what? You'll let your Maquis friends loose?"

  "No," Chakotay smiled slowly. "I'll deal with you myself. Are we clear?"

  Tom stiffened at the blatant threat. "As crystal, Commander."

  "Good. You're dismissed."

  *****

  "I'd forgotten this was still in here," he commented distantly upon entering the holodeck.

  B'Elanna picked up her uniform jacket and wiped the sweat from her face.

  "It's a good program, Captain. I hope you don't mind...."

  "No." He shook his head with a grin. "Not at all. Someone should use it. Worf and I haven't 'battled' together for years."

  "I just needed to work off some steam."

  "Yeah," Will sighed. "I know what you mean." He ran a tired, frustrated hand over his face.

  "I owe you an apology, Commander." Will sat down on a nearby rock and motioned for B'Elanna to do the same. "I sometimes forget how many people were hurt in the war. Things have returned to normal so fast that it's easy to forget just how many people gave their lives in the name of freedom."

  B'Elanna's eyes widened. She'd never heard Will Riker refer to the Maquis as anything other than 'criminals.'

  "I've surprised you," he chuckled in self-derision. "It was never the Maquis cause I had a problem with, B'Elanna. It was the Starfleet officers that used their positions 'within' the Federation to further it. Maybe you can't see the distinction, but...."

  "I can," she admitted, albeit reluctantly. "If you can't keep the oath you made to Starfleet because of personal convictions you should resign. I guess you're right, they are guilty of treason, but...."

  "But they've served their time. They've paid for their crimes. Yes, Commander, I know. I'm just not sure what, if anything, I can do about this. None of this is up to me."

  "Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to, Captain." B'Elanna stood up and tossed him her bat'leth. He caught it effortlessly then looked at her with a confused frown. "I think you need this more than I do," she commented as she exited the holodeck.

  Will stared down at the Klingon weapon. He rose slowly, testing the weight and feel of it in his hands. It was a little lighter than he was used to, but the balance and form was of superior quality. This was a finely crafted weapon. The inscription brought a smile to his face.

  "By your side. In life. In love. In battle. Of one heart. Tom."

  Someday he was going to have to ask his XO about his time on Voyager with B'Elanna. He had the feeling there was more than one story there.

  "Computer," he called out, still grinning. "Reset simulation to Level Four."

  "Unable to comply. That level is restricted. Command authorization only."

  He was really going to have to talk to B'Elanna about changing the voice on the computer.

  "Command authorization, Riker, alpha, four, seven."

  "Authorization recognized," the computer intoned as the scenery around him shimmered and then changed. "Simulation reset. Begin."

  Will's senses leapt to life as he survey the jungle. His ears pricked up at a sound. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and he sensed danger was near. His eyes darted back and forth. Then, spinning around suddenly, the bat'leth at a deadly angle, he rendered a holographic alien headless.

  The thrill of the kill and the hunt prevailed his senses. Sweat trickled at his temples and ran down his spine. He crept along like a cat stalking its prey deep into the jungle. Coming to lean up against a tree, he waited patiently for the next kill.

  Then he heard it. The snap of a twig on the ground. The crunch of a jungle vine underfoot. Will gripped the bat'leth, springing from behind the tree, stabbing with the weapon and coming to within centimeters of decapitating his twin.

  "Jesus! Will!" Tom grabbed the arm that held the bat'leth and saved his neck. Literally.

  "What the hell are you doing here?" Will growled, wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve and dropping the bat'leth to rest next to his leg. Suddenly the holodeck seemed steamier, hotter, more suffocating.

  "I thought I'd work off some stress." Tom glanced around the jungle and commented dryly, "Looks like someone else had the same idea."

  "You all healed?" Will asked

  "Doctor says I'm good as new."

  "Join me?" The tone of his voice made it more of a challenge than an invitation... a challenge he knew Tom could never refuse. A feral grin came to his face.

  "Computer, replicate one bat'leth," Tom ordered and the weapon shimmered into existence at his feet. He picked it up and tested the weight momentarily. A hum of approval emanated from his throat. Without warning, he turned around and stalked behind a clump of tall grass. A moment later the sickening sound of a dying holographic animal rang through the jungle. Tom returned with a genuine smile on his face.

  "Feel better?" Will drawled.

  "Not yet, but when we're done here, I will," he promised.

  The captain grinned. "Computer," he called out. "Level Five."

  Minutes passed like seconds and it was more than two hours later when they ended the simulation and sat down at the base of a large tree, weapons stained with holographic blood lying at their feet. Tom reached up to wipe the sweat from his face and smooth back his damp, spiky hair. "I needed this."

  Will chuckled. "You'd think a person would get tired of killing."

  The cheap shot made Tom stiffen and shake his head. "You haven't changed a bit, you self-righteous son of a bitch."

  "Careful," Will warned. "You're in danger of insulting yourself."

  "No," Tom snarled. "What I've been through the last ten years makes your life one big picnic, brother."

  "Spare me. What have you been through besides ten years of well deserved prison time?"

  "Oh, forgive me. I forgot who I was speaking to. Black and white. That's all you see, Will. Isn't it?"

  Tom leaned back against the rough tree trunk and closed his eyes.

  "You have a beautiful family," Tom surprised him with the non-sequitor. "Laren and I can't have children, did you know that?"

  "Marissa?" Will asked, surprise evident in his face.

  "Adopted. The daughter of a woman who died giving birth. Her husband was killed when he blamed the guards and starting attacking them. Marissa was orphaned before she even had a name."

  Will didn't know how to respond to the revelation so he just waited for Tom to continue.

  "The Cardies, Will. What they did to Laren as a child...." Involuntarily, Tom shuddered. The pain in his brother's voice was unbearable. Will reached over to grasp his shoulder.

  "I knew Laren had been hurt during the occupation of Bajor, but I never knew the details," Will admitted.

  "She was just a -child-! A child! They used her and threw her away. Just like Picard."

  "Tom," Will cut in. "That's not fair. We had a mission. She had a mission."

  "She asked to be relieved! She begged! That bastard -knew- what she was going through and he didn't care! How can you defend that?"

  Will sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I can't. Maybe you're right and I'm wrong. Maybe I've known it all along and haven't wanted to admit it. If I acknowledge Picard's mistakes, I have to acknowledge mine. I stood by him on this. I backed his decision to use her for this even when something inside me didn't want to. I didn't put a stop to something that was hurting one of my officers. I didn't do my job, Tom. The safety of the crew was -my- responsibility. If I accept everything you're saying, I have to accept the fact that I didn't do my duty to this ship, her crew and even Starfleet."

  "And God forbid if the almighty Will Riker isn't Starfleet's Golden-boy."

  "It's what I am, Tom."

  "No, Will. It's what you -do-. It's not who you are."

  "It's part of who I am, you can't deny that. It's part of who you are as well."

  "Once, maybe. Not anymore. I don't follow blindly anymore. I won't compromise my beliefs. I am a husband to Laren and a leader to my people. -That- is who I am."

  "How is that so different than what I am? I am the captain of this ship and married to Deanna."

  Tom smiled sadly. "Does she know that you are a captain first and her husband second?"

  Will's jaw clenched in anger.

  "I was surprised to find the two of you married," he continued. "I didn't think you had it in you to actually commit to her."

  "Watch it," the captain warned again, bristling at the insult. "You know -nothing- of what we've been through."

  "Then tell me," Tom asked harshly. "Tell me what you've endured that even remotely compares."

  "In the last month alone, Deanna and I almost lost Kyle to a rare condition that was barely diagnosed in time to save him. Within a week of that, Deanna and Lucas were kidnapped during a mission that went sour on us! Every single minute I live with the knowledge that my family is in danger because of my job!"