InsaneJournal

Liz had noticed that her bedsheets were singed when she woke up this morning. Her nightmares were getting worse. She felt she was the cause of Roger’s death. Or that she could have done something to help it. She mourned him still, and felt she’d never get over it. Hellboy and Abe weren’t there to help her and she felt adrift at sea.

Instead she was adrift in space. And she couldn’t smoke. She was a pent up mess, and she went to the one person Hawke mentioned could help-- Jadzia Dax.

The door slid open but she still knocked on the wall next to it, “Um, excuse me, I’m looking for Jadzia?”

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Looking up from her project, Jadzia spied a woman who looked like she was completely falling apart. And knowing what that woman was capable of lent a certain sense of urgency. Still, she smiled and got to her feet. “I’m Jadzia. How can I help you?”

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“I’m Liz Sherman.” She sounded tired. “Hawke said you were working on something to shield the walls of our dorm rooms… or at least a room.” She sighed, with her eyes closed, “You know, from like fire and stuff?”

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“I have been!” She pointed at a seat. “Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll explain it. There are a number of solutions but obviously we want something that leads to no one getting hurt, yourself included.”

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“The fire can’t hurt me.” She held her hand out and it engulfed in flame. It looked like it could burn her, but her skin stayed intact. “It’s mine. It’s … it belongs to me.” She closed her fist and the fire extinguished, leaving no smoke.

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Jadzia nodded and decided not to mention ‘computer automatically venting the cabin into space to put out the fire’ as an emergency option if the fire was bad enough. “I can work with that.”

She pressed a button and something flashed around Liz. “Reach your hand out. Carefully. It’ll be a little shock but you won’t be able to go past the field. I want to use these to cover the walls of your cabin. It should be able to contain any fire if you lose control.”

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Liz looked confused for a moment and then reached her hand out. “Eh!” She quickly pulled her hand back. “It’ll keep the fire from spreading?” She wasn’t sure how space worked and felt stupid about the whole thing. She didn’t like feeling stupid.

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“It’s a forcefield. Do you think you could make some fire?” If the field held, it would be a good test. If not Jadzia would have to make it stronger. “Think of it as an invisible fire-proof box, that’s only turned on while you’re sleeping. You won’t notice it’s there, but it’ll be there when you need it most.”

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Liz took a deep breath and lit her whole body up. She erupted in flames all over her body. It didn’t touch her clothes, and it seemed to move as if breathing with Liz.

She looked lost in concentration as the fire spread out a little further, touching the forcefield. It gently bounced off the forcefield like nothing Liz had ever seen. “Whoa.”

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Jadzia watched as the fire was repelled by the field. It even seemed to flow up it and around Liz. She smiled, “It’s beautiful.”

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Liz smiled softly, looking a little embarrassed. “I don’t hear that often.” She held her hands up in front of her and watched as the fire floated around her. “It is really pretty though. Thanks, Jadzia. This makes me feel a lot better about keeping everyone safe.”

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“I’m glad to help,” Jadzia replied. “Your peace of mind is as important as everyone’s safety, too.”

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