Chapter Text
Twenty-five years after the Founders ordered the Vorta and Jem'Hadar to stand down, ending the Dominion War, the Federation was holding a month-long celebration to commemorate that wonderful day. Speeches, ceremonies, and near-constant events about the war were a daily occurrence. DS9 and the wormhole played an important role in the war, so it was no surprise that DS9 was covered with banners, flags, podiums and stages constantly in use during this time of commemoration.
As the commanding officer of DS9, Captain Kira Nerys was up to her eyeballs with Federation politicians, ambassadors, and Dominion War veterans on top of the standard day-to-day operations. It was enough to make a sane person run screaming into the night. Two additional Bajoran assistants barely allowed her to keep all of the plates spinning.
On a positive note, several of her friends from back in the day were coming to DS9. Miles and Keiko O'Brien, Worf , Dr Julian Bashir and his wife, Ezri Dax, were arriving today. She was looking forward to meeting up with all of them tonight at Quark's Bar at 19:00. To her surprise, her Security Chief had informed her that Elim Garak arrived at the station this morning. Cardassian visitors were still a bit of a rarity on a Bajoran space station so she had to wonder what he was up to since his name did not appear as a participant in any of the official events.
The festivities added to her workload and responsibilities resulting in a state of perpetual stress. Her normally short fuse has been officially non-existent for the last two months. Her assistants and subordinates were walking on eggshells while on duty and drinking heavily at Quark's when off-duty. Several of them had a calendar countdown until this insanity was over and life on DS9 got back to normal. That day, without a speck of exaggeration, couldn't come soon enough for any of them. Kira felt that an evening with her old friends would be a very welcome and much needed diversion. Her shift was over an hour ago, so she felt zero guilt as she bid farewell to her staff in Ops and headed for her quarters.
A quick sonic shower felt wonderful. She already had a dress picked out. A red, sleeveless number with a slit up the right side with a matching shawl. She tamed her short hair into her usual style, only adding a small comb with white diamonds and red rubies on it. Her other jewelry consisted of her usual Bajoran clan earring plus the necklace that Odo gave her. Make-up followed the same route. Base, blush, eye shadow and some red lipstick. Done. Time faded her red hair to gray, but she was still hot as hell in this dress.
When she arrived at Quark's Bar, Worf, the O'Briens and Quark were already there. Garak approached her and asked “May I be so bold as to join in your festivities?”
Kira looked him right in the eye and asked “Why are you here Garak? You haven't set foot on DS9 since the war ended. Why are you here TODAY?”
“Actually, I was invited.” Garak replied.
Julian must have told Garak to meet him here, she thought to herself. She was curious to see what those two have planned, so she motioned for him to sit down at their table.
Just then, the Bashirs entered the bar. Julian and Ezri greeted Garak with a handshake and hug.
Ferengi waiters took their drink and food orders. Instrumental Earth Jazz played over the bar's sound system. Looking around, she could see that Quark's was quite busy. Most of the tables and bar stools were occupied. Kira was glad that she had one of her assistants reserve a table. The table behind her had four men. One human and three Bajorans sharing a meal, a bottle of springwine and some lively conversation. In front of her, there was a group of eight freighter crew members who originated from at least five different planets. Their dinner consisted of several bottles of alcohol and other intoxicants. As a result, they were loud, crude and getting drunker by the minute. Odds were 50/50 that these clowns were going to be the unwilling overnight guests of the DS9 Security Chief before the night was over.
Once their food and drinks arrived, Quark pulled up a chair and joined them. He took the last empty seat which was between Kira and Worf. The gang all took turns asking others at the table for personal and professional updates during their meal.
Miles was still teaching engineering at Starfleet, now as the head of the Engineering Department. Both his children, Molly and Yoshi, graduated from Starfleet and were doing well in their respective fields on starships many light years away. Keiko, as the Federation's de facto botanical expert of the Gamma Quadrant, had written multiple articles and books on various plant life.
Ezri has been the captain of the science vessel USS Grace Hopper with Julian as her Chief Medical Officer charting and exploring the Gamma Quadrant for the past 20 years. They made more first contacts with new intelligent species than any dozen Starfleet officers combined.
Garak didn't claim that he was hemming trousers on Cardassia, but he wasn't giving too many specifics either. No surprises there. He described it as “giving his insight to interplanetary matters on occasion” which could mean almost anything. Kira heard from official and unofficial sources that he was instrumental in the rebuilding of Cardassia Prime. According to her sources, desperately needed equipment, raw materials, engineers, medical staff & supplies were directed to areas at his behest. He regularly allowed others to take the credit for his work, as he preferred to work in the background while collecting an impressive number of “favors” from some very powerful people. When Julian questioned him directly about his personal life, Garak smiled and admitted that he had a wife and two teenage children who were living on Cardassia Prime.
Worf stated that he recently had a mission with some Enterprise crew members. The mission was classified, so he couldn't discuss it.
Quark had several franchises of Quark's Bar. He had run into some problems after he used some Gamma Quadrant technology without permission. Ever the businessman, Quark was still making very serious profit even after paying back royalties.
“Any special ladies in your life Quark?” asked Miles.
“No” answered Quark, but Miles noticed that Quark was looking over at Morn as he said it. Since he knew that Morn wasn't Quark's type, he looked a little closer and discovered that there was a tiny Ferengi barmaid talking to Morn.
“Quark!” growled Julian in his best Odo voice. “You are not being totally honest with us. I think there is a woman who has tickled your fancy.” Quark didn't move. “Is she that lovely woman refilling Morn's glass?” asked Julian.
Quark nodded.
“Have you even asked her out on a date yet?” asked Miles. Quark didn't answer. Miles and Julian both looked at Quark with disapproval.
“Why not?” queried Julian “It's not like it is unheard of for people to date co-workers on DS9”. Light laughter rippled through the table while Kira bit her lower lip. “This positively sounds like a job for Vic Fontaine!” exclaimed Julian.
“If I date her and it doesn't work out, I'll lose the best General Manager that I have ever had. I can't risk it.” explained Quark. “I hired her last year. Profits were up 10% the first week she was there, and it only got better as time went by. It seemed like everything she touched turned to gold-pressed latinum.”
“It sounds like she is out of your league, Quark. You should date her before she comes to her senses and finds someone better, like Broik here.” teased Miles, as he jerked his thumb towards Broik.
“Chief, you might be right” Quark replied with a rueful smile “The odds are not good that someone better will be coming to DS9 anytime soon. I was brought up to believe that only men have the lobes for business. She shows me every day how that is total nonsense. To be honest, she intimidates the hell out of me.”
To everyone's surprise, Kira put her hand on Quark's hand. Since the last time she laid hands on Quark, it was followed by a trip to the infirmary for him, everyone was half expecting her to twist his lobe or to simply throw him to the floor. But she followed it up by looking him right in the eye and telling him “Take the chance, Quark. Be brave. Ask her out. Treat her like royalty. And if she makes you half as happy as Odo made me, you will be kicking yourself that you didn't do it sooner.”
Stunned, Quark took a moment to regroup. He was uncomfortable with Kira being nice to him, so he tried to change the topic of conversation slightly. Quark cautiously asked “Anyone hear from Odo?”
Worf reported “I have gotten intelligence reports from Odo several times via a Vorta messenger over the years. The last report was just a few months ago. A disturbing report of a splinter group of Changelings who are angry about losing the Dominion War and want to inflict serious retribution on the Federation.”
Garak stated “I received the same reports from Odo. They were quite concerning. A single disgruntled Changeling is a serious problem. Several of them working in concert is simply terrifying.”
“I will take that to mean that Odo is still alive, then.” Quark said to no one in particular. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Quark says “I've heard rumors of the Changeling home world wanting to join the Federation and a Changeling wanting to attend Starfleet Academy. Have any of you heard anything official about this?”
“Sounds like wishful thinking to me. The Dominion has lied to us before. It was only 25 years since the Dominion War when who knows how many millions of Changelings on the home world were totally on board with killing or enslaving every 'Solid' in the Alpha Quadrant. Them wanting to join the Federation sounds awfully far fetched.” ventured Miles.
“Since Changelings live a very, very long time, 25 years is like a long weekend to them when you start comparing them to humanoids.” Julian added.
“If these rumors are true, it would be quite the accomplishment for Odo” mused Worf.
“A Changeling Starfleet Officer would be quite an asset should that come to pass. On top of being able to mimic any person, animal or object, Changelings are several times stronger than Klingons and unbelievably fast too.” stated Julian.
“Odo destroyed every wall, door, computer screen and piece of furniture in his quarters in under ten minutes once. I have seen less damage from a dozen Klingons during a victory celebration ” added Quark.
“When the hell did that happen? Why didn't I hear about this?” roared Kira as she stared at Quark.
Miles shot Quark a dirty look and tried to do some damage control. “It was a long time ago. Odo was very upset about a personal matter. My work crew and I did the repairs 'off the books'. If I had done the repairs according to regulations, Odo would have been charged with destruction of property by the Bajoran government and the Federation. He would have lost his job and might have had some time in a holding cell on top of it. Odo lost his temper once and no man should lose his career over that. No people were hurt, only his quarters and his own possessions were damaged.”
Kira looked directly at Quark and demanded “What was Odo so angry about?”
Quark considered his options and decided that since Kira was close enough to wring his neck and Odo was in the Gamma Quadrant, the smart thing to do was to throw Odo under the bus and spill his guts. “It was when First Minister Shakaar was on the station and there was a 'True Way' assassin after him. Odo was jealous that Shakaar spent the night with you and angry that Worf caught the assassin while Odo was distracted about Shakaar. His career and his personal life both imploded on the same day. You have Odo's bucket. Didn't you notice the big dent on it from when he threw it against the wall? I thought you knew about this!” Quark squawked.
Kira thought back to that time and remembered that Odo acted strangely the morning she invited him in to her quarters after Shakaar left. Kira closed her eyes, facepalmed and quietly said to herself “Oh damn. How many times did I hurt him by being the most oblivious idiot in the Alpha Quadrant? And I thought that cheating bastard Shakaar was such a prize. What was I thinking?”
“I told Odo that he needed to tell you how he felt about you, but he couldn't do it” offered Quark, trying to earn points with her.
Staring at Quark, Kira demanded “So you knew how Odo felt about me back then?” Quark averted her stare and slowly nodded.
Addressing every person at her table, she asked “And how many of you knew how Odo felt about me before we kissed on the Promenade?”. Everyone at the table, except Julian, slowly and awkwardly raised their hands while avoiding eye-contact with Kira.
“When we met our descendants on Gaia?”, continued Kira. Worf put his hand down.
“When Odo destroyed his quarters?”. No one moved.
“Jadzia's Zhian'tara?” Everyone but Ezri put their hands down.
“I really walked into that one, didn't I?” said Kira as she slowly shook her head. She drained her wine glass then raised it while yelling “Broik, we are going to need another bottle of springwine. No, on second thought, we are going to need several bottles.”
Julian, Miles, Worf and Garak saw their opportunity to escape. Julian and Miles each got a beer from Silva at the bar then begin a friendly game of darts. Miles and Julian playfully argued how far back Julian should play from. Worf and Garak stood behind Julian, watching the game while speculating how many games of darts Julian and Miles would play until “The Alamo” or a trip to a holosuite was mentioned.
Quark leaned in and whispered to Kira “You might want to slow down with the springwine. Drinking your problems away never works. As usual, our stubborn Constable had to find out the hard way about that.”
“Spill, Quark. Now.” demanded Kira.
“When Odo was an ex-Changeling for about a month, he was terribly depressed. He discovered alcohol. I tried to restrict how many non-synthohol drinks he could buy. He threatened to arrest me on some nonsense charges if I did. He sounded totally serious. He got progressively drunker each night. I walked him back to his quarters several times. I didn't want to embarrass him by getting his deputies or Sisko involved. Eventually, one night when I was closing up, I found him passed out drunk at his table. I asked Morn to carry Odo back to his quarters. Once we got inside the door, Odo threw up on himself and Morn. Morn and I cleaned everyone up, put Odo to bed and left. I notified Dr Bashir to check on Odo. I thought that there was a real possibility that Odo succeeded in giving himself a case of alcohol poisoning. I also left a message with the Security Office that Odo was feeling unwell and would not be reporting for his shift in the morning.
“The next day, at around noon, Odo staggered into the bar. He looked horrible. Bloodshot eyes. His skin looked a gray/green color and every sound above a whisper made him cringe. Even while sporting a hangover from hell, Odo figured out that Morn carried him to his quarters while I unlocked the door. Odo was angry at us for “breaking into his quarters” and said that he was going to arrest both of us. I told him that he needed to get all of the facts first. I sat Odo down next to Morn and we told him exactly what happened. We left out no details. Odo was mortified. I didn't think that he could have looked worse, but he did. He looked like he was going to throw up again. He apologized to the both of us for almost half an hour. He insisted on paying Morn's bar tab for the month. It cost Odo about 3 months worth of salary. Odo never got drunk after that. The moral of that story is that you should listen to your Uncle Quark when he tells you that you had enough to drink.“
“Any other stories you would like to share with me, Quark?” inquired Kira.
Out of the corner of his eye, Quark spots Vic Fontaine walking down the spiral staircase and Quark says “Hold that thought, I will be right back.” Since Vic is a hologram, it should be impossible for him to walk around outside of the holosuite. A thoroughly confused Quark jumps up and grabs Vic's arm. At that point, he notices that Vic is sporting a top-of-the-line mobile holo-emitter on his right arm. ”Where the hell did you get that from Vic?” demanded Quark.
“A gift from an old friend, if you must know. I have a song request to do, Pally”. Vic gently pulled away from Quark and walks to the open area in the center of the bar, grabs the karaoke microphone from the sound system and positions himself in the center of the bar facing Kira's table. Quark wanders back to the table and takes a seat. He knew that something was up, but he was going to have to wait to find out what, just like everyone else.