Work Text:
Kira Nerys looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Objectively, she knew she'd met her goal. She looked good, which was absolutely essential for this kind of work. But when the Cardassian occupation had ended, one of her personal joys was her steadfast knowledge that she would never, ever have to do this again. And so choosing her clothes and her make-up to suit the tastes of a Cardassian, carefully designing her appearance to appeal to Gul Dukat of all people, felt like an irrevocable step backwards. She forced herself not to dwell on that. She needed to get the job done; revulsion was a luxury she didn't have time for.
There was nowhere on her long sleek gown where she could hide a recording device, but that didn't matter. The tiny microphone could clip onto her ear cuff easily enough, and she knew from experience that no Cardassian would look at that too carefully. They considered the cuffs to be dull provincial symbols of an inferior culture, and generally just ignored them. And they were so confident in their correctness in that matter that they hadn't ever thought to change their attitudes, even at times when confidential information had been flowing like wine out of what Cardassian officers had assumed were private liasions.
Flowing like wine - that reminded her. She reached for the bottle of spring wine that she'd chosen for the night. It was one of the first rules for this kind of mission: if at all possible, control what you're eating and drinking.
Kira remained herself that she had one innate advantage here. For a Bajoran, words were weapons. The Cardassians may have been physically bigger and stronger than they were but they used their words carelessly, tossing them out haphazardly in useless efforts to extoll what they saw as their own power and glory. And in decades of conflict, they'd somehow never learned that the Bajorans were very good at picking up their discarded weapons and using them against them.
She shuddered a bit as she left her quarters, and then immediately checked herself. If she looked suspicious on her way to Dukat's rooms then any Cardassian who noticed may decide it was a good idea to interrupt their dinner and warn him, and she couldn't risk the disruption. She forced herself to think of Jake and carefully rearranged her face into a neutral blankness.
She was horrified that Jake had been caught smuggling information back to Starfleet. Objectively, she knew Jake Sisko was an adult who had chosen to stay behind and do what he could when Starfleet had been forced to abandon the station. But in her heart, she still saw him as the Captain's sad little teenaged boy, and he had taken greater and greater risks out a desire to help Bajor. To help her. She had to do everything she could to get him released.
Dukat smiled as he opened the door for her. His eyes swept down her body. He was hateful, but she knew he wasn't a fool. All of it - her long dark dress, her glittering jewelry, her ornamented hair - he knew that all of this had been done to impress him. And he believed that meant that he had the power here.
Good. That would save her time.
She handed him that bottle of spring wine. "It's my favorite", she told him, making it inexcusably impolite for him to insist on kanar or anything else that he might have doctored. She watched as he poured the wine and let him see her take a good-sized swallow. That should satisfy him, and she'd stick to tiny sips for the rest of the evening.
He drank more deeply than she did, and she'd anticipated that. For him, having something he knew that she wanted was a pleasure and wine would only enhance that. She let herself give him a genuine smile. It was a good start.
"I'm so glad we're finally getting a chance to chat, Major." His voice was already filled with triumph. "I was beginning to wonder just what I'd have to do to get some time alone with you."
"Arresting my friend was a bit extreme." There was no point in pretending that she was there for any other reason, and telling an obvious lie would be pointless.
"An unfortunate necessity." Dukat was practically purring with false regret. "But if it got you here, there's a silver lining in everything."
She made a show of lifting her glass to her lips. "You must know it's more dangerous for you to harm him than it is to just release him back to Starfleet. He's a Federation citizen, and the son of a Captain. Is it really worth the risk of having him stand trial?"
The verdicts in Cardassian trials were decided long before the defendant ever set foot in a courtroom, and there was only ever one outcome. Guilty. If Jake's case made it to the point where charges were formally laid, he was as good as dead. She had to stop this now.
Dukat waved his hand dismissively. "This is hardly the conversation for cocktails, Major. There will be plenty of times to sort out how to handle Federation criminals. For now, I'd much rather be focused on more pleasant matters. How are you?"
So her opening gambit hadn't gone well. Kira reminded herself that it had been a long shot to begin with. And she had all night.
"It's difficult." She let a bit of vulnerability show on her face. "Working with you, when so many of the Bajorans here still don't trust you. It's a challenge."
He knew better than to touch her yet, but he did lean closer. "You can handle it, Major. I have nothing but faith in you."
"If I could bring them something", she ventured. "Some kind of show of good intentions..." His eyes were too canny; it was too soon. She decided to change the subject. "Maybe I'll feel better once I've eaten. I didn't have time for lunch today."
As expected, he leapt at the chance to offer her something inconsequential that she nonetheless wanted. "I have an excellent brine for hasparat."
It had no doubt been procured just for her, but there was zero chance that she was eating anything to which he had already had unrestricted access. "I'm in the mood for something a little milder. Do you have any pelaka noodles?" She knew he wouldn't; she'd never met a Cardassian with a taste for pelaka. He'd need to replicate fresh ones.
"An excellent idea." The lie hung in the room between them. "I haven't had pelaka in years."
As they sat to eat, Kira was pleased to see that he clearly disliked the traditional seasoning to the point where he took frequent mouthfuls of wine to cleanse his palate. Mostly he just moved the noodles around on his plate. She knew that the less he ate, the more susceptible he would be to the alcohol. That reminded her to finish her full portion.
"Dessert?" Dukat suggested, after the plates were cleared away. "I have some lovely selmian cakes. Or, of course, I can replicate you something different if you prefer." There was a weight to his words. Maybe he hadn't been as oblivious to her precautions as she'd hoped.
Safest to just decline. "I'm full", she demurred, settling a hand against her belly. She stroked the fabric covering her stomach and let him imagine stroking the skin underneath. "But I'd love some more wine, if you aren't in a hurry."
The offer to spend more time with him than just eating required disarmed him, as she'd hoped it would. The two of them moved to the sitting area with newly filled glasses. Kira made a show of admiring her goblet. "This is beautiful. Bajoran-made?"
Dukat nodded. "From Telacta province. I quite like them. Primative, of course, as most Bajoran crafts are, but they have a certain beauty."
She managed to refrain from rolling her eyes.
He went on. "Have you ever been to the crystal mines in Telacta, Major?"
Kira shook her head. "I haven't had much time for leisure travel since I came to the station. And before that, I couldn't get the transit permits." She didn't add 'because your people got to decide where my people went, even on our own world.' There was no need to say it. He knew.
He waved his hand. "I'd love to take you there. The mines are actually quite lovely, nothing like you might expect. Miles and miles of pure crystal, sparkling all around. Perhaps you and I and Ziyal might take a trip there together."
She couldn't help but laugh. "You really think I can travel around Bajor with you?"
"Why not?" Another wave of his hand; these extravagant gestures had to mean the wine was taking hold. She chanced a moment of extended eye contact and found his gaze blurry and unfocused. "It's a whole new era, one of Cardassian-Bajoran cooperation, after all. And what a statement it would make! The people would see that we were... friends. Not colleagues, actual friends. It would put their minds at ease, and surely you want that."
Taking a vacation with Dukat and his half-Bajoran daughter would suggest to the Bajorans that they were far more than friends, and he had to know that. There had already been plenty of rumors started just by her bringing Ziyal to the station even though the girl's name and age alone indicated that Kira couldn't possibly have been her mother. But he was offering her leverage, something that he clearly desired, and she had to seize on that. "If you really want to be my friend, Dukat, there's something that I'll need first. Jake Sisko. Let him go."
He laughed out loud. "You think it's that simple, do you? Just release an obviously-guilty Federation spy, like it doesn't even matter. The Cardassian military would have my head on a plate, with the general public cheering them on."
Kira leaned forward, allowing the front of her dress to slip down just a bit. She heard his audible exhale at the sudden reveal of an extra inch of skin. "You're a smart man, Dukat. You'd think of something. But if my friendship doesn't mean that much to you...", She settled back and smoothed her dress into place. Even through his drunken haze, the implication must have been clear.
"You... make an excellent point." Dukat took a deep swallow of wine, presumably to steady himself. It was probably a bad idea, as he was already beginning to slur his words, but she certainly wasn't going to discourage him from it. "There's only one problem, my dear Major, and I'd suggest that it's a significant one. I don't actually want to be your friend."
There was a moment of sheer panic,and she almost gave into it. Her fingers twitched, instinctively seeking out a weapon. She forced herself to stay calm. He wasn't going to try to kill her in his own quarters with no provocation; both he and his superiors valued the fragile peace on the station too much for that. "Oh? I've misread you then. You invited me on holiday because you don't want to spend time with me?" She was proud of herself for keeping her voice steady.
He shook his head. "I want to be much more than that."
He looked oddly shaken, like he'd given away more than he'd intended to. It was strange; surely he knew that she was aware of his attraction to her. He'd never made a secret of it, after all. In fact, he seemed to delight in using it to torment her.
It was the whole reason why she had any hope of this plan even working.
She crossed her legs and let the slit in her skirt fall open. "Okay, Dukat. I understand what you're saying. But what I'm saying is that we need to talk about Jake, before we can discuss anything else. Do you think that's possible?"
To her surprise, he groaned and rubbed his hands across his face. "You don't." He sounded as unsure as he had when faced with the reality of Ziyal in the Breen prison, and the extremity of it was jarring. "You don't understand anything at all."
She was beginning to suspect that he was right, but there was no chance to change course now. "Of course I do." She kept her tone light and teasing. "You want something. I want something..."
He made a noise of pure frustration and stalked over to the comm unit on the wall. For a moment, she was terrified that he was calling for someone to arrest her. She clutched her wine glass, wondering if the shards would be sharp enough to do some damage if she broke it. But his words stunned her into inaction. "Damar. I want Jake Sisko released immediately. All charges dropped." There was a outraged buzz of response from the comm, too fast and angry for her to grasp. "Because I said so, Damar! Release him now, or I'll have you up on insubordination charges."
A wave of relief washed over Kira. It had looked dicey for a while, but it appeared she'd actually pulled it off. She put down her glass and tugged off her ear cuff, ready to play her recording of what had just occurred as soon as he returned intending to claim his payment for services rendered.
But when Dukat slumped back into his chair, he looked anything but triumphant or predatory. His face was as defeated as that of any Cardassian she'd ever captured. He picked up his glass and drained it. "There. You wanted Jake and now you've got him. You can go now."
It was definitely a good idea, but confusion kept her rooted in place. "Dukat?"
"I don't want you, Major. Or rather, I do. Oh, I do. But more than that?" He laughed and the sound was utterly joyless. "I love you. I'm in love with you. So you want Jake Sisko released? You have him. Come what may for me, you have him because I can't deny you anything." He dropped his head into his hands. "As lovely as this evening has been, and no matter how much I've enjoyed your little act, you don't need to do this. You don't need to stay here anymore."
The way Kira was feeling reminded her of having a hiding place that everyone thought was secure easily uncovered by Cardassian forces. The sense of exposure was painful. She wanted to object. He couldn't possibly actually love her. Desire, sure. She'd known that. But love? The way he was looking at her, however, and the incredible risk he had just taken, stalled the protest in her throat. "You were going to let him go the whole time?"
"If you asked for it. And I was fairly sure you would. I can make up something about faulty evidence and diplomatic necessity; with a war on my superiors will have more important things to worry about than Jake Sisko. At least, I hope so. If they don't... then I suppose they don't. Nothing for it now. And I got to spend a pleasant evening in your company." He peered at her through bloodshot eyes. "There's no way you can understand what that's meant to me, Major."
Her stomach churned with something that resembled nausea, but wasn't quite there. Pity, perhaps, although she didn't want to name it. When you start feeling sorry for the enemy, you're lost; every Resistance fighter knew that.
Why would he love her? She'd never given him any reason to. But the agony on his face wasn't an act. It wasn't an overdramatic drunkard indulging himself in melancholy. This was something else, and it was something she had no idea how process it.
He sighed. "You're still here? Please don't worry, Major. I'm not going to do anyone any harm in my state of drunken heartbreak. I've been coping with my feelings for you for a long time. This is nothing new to me."
It was new to her though, and she needed to find some way to mitigate it. They were going to have to work together in the morning. The realisation hit her like a fist. She would know how he felt about her now, and he would know she knew. How long until his wounded pride made him do something to retake the upper hand? A confident Cardassian was dangerous but manageable; a shamed Cardassian was a wounded and desperate predator.
The idea struck her then, and she made herself act on it before she could reconsider.
Her ear cuff was still clenched in her hand. It warm to the touch; the little recorder loaded with all the leverage that she'd ever need the next time one of her friends ran into trouble with the Cardassian officials. She forced herself to ignore that and dropped the cuff into her still-full glass of wine.
They both listened as the electronics in her recording device sizzled at the contact with the liquid, frying themselves beyond repair. The hiss of the destroyed recorder seemed to penetrate the layer of alcohol and shame that Dukat had covered himself in that night. Kira watched as something unidentifiable crackled in his eyes.
Then she handed him the glass, ear cuff and recorder and all. "Thank you, Dukat." There was no need to specify for what. He took this glass without trying to touch her hand.
"Thank you, Major."
She walked over to the door and let herself out.