Right Behind You

A/N: Cheers and thank you for reading!

Missing scenes based on "Heart of Glory." For some unfathomable reason, there are not enough Tasha/Worf fics out there.

Worf is actually a giant softie. 

Mix of fluff and angst. Canonical major-character death.

This is a work of fan fiction based on the characters and world created by Gene Roddenberry.

If you like my works, want to stay up-to-date on my stories and art, or just like chatting about the fandom - follow me on twitter @TheTartanTart.

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Disruptor fire sounded as the tell-tale rumble of another cave-in echoed against the rock formations.

It was dark, but Worf could see better than most in the reduced lighting.

They had beamed down an hour earlier to the planet only to encounter a hostile group of Cardassian troops. The away team had sought to lose the Cardassian contingent in a cave system that was nearby.

However, the cave was unstable, and the away party was quickly separated when Commander Riker and Data found themselves stranded on the opposite side of a cave-in from Worf, Tasha, and Miles O'Brien.

Miles had been injured by the falling debris and the Cardassians were closing fast.

A disruptor fired above their heads and blew a chunk of rock off the cave wall.

"I can't see anything," Miles said.

"Lieutenant Yar?" Worf asked as he scanned around in the dark.

He hadn't seen her since the dust from the cave-in had settled.

"Here," she replied.

"Lieutenant?" he asked again.

He couldn't get a visual.

Tasha could sense he was struggling to see in the blackness of the underground. She was as well.

But years of surviving in the dark caves of Turkana had heightened her senses.

"Right behind you," she said calmly as she took a step backwards and they made contact.

Worf had come aboard the Enterprise three weeks earlier.

When he had first met the young Security Chief, Worf had been sceptical. His first impression was that she was young – too young - and approached security situations with a cool demeanour that lacked the vigour of a warrior.

Each time she spoke during a crisis, the infuriatingly calm tenor of her voice made Worf think they were discussing a mundane maintenance report rather than a threat.

Everything about her screamed that she was incapable of possessing the stamina and presence necessary to carry out such a prominent role. The job of a Security Chief demanded strength and grit.

In his eyes, the willowy Lieutenant was a far cry from the kind of hardened warrior Worf felt should be the security chief of the Federation flagship.

At the time, he kept his reservations to himself.

She had been hand-picked for the assignment by Captain Jean-Luc Picard. She had served with him longer than any of the other officers aboard the Enterprise. The Captain had the utmost faith in her abilities and Worf didn't want to make waves so early into a new assignment.

Now as he stood there back-to-back with her in a firefight against the Cardassians, he was grateful he had.

Because she proved every bit as fierce as the warrior he had expected to find in this new assignment.