So, I found it in me to continue this after all, but this is as far as it goes. This concentrates on Keevan's road to recovery after he is rescued by Dr. Teila Lang and is now living with her. Recovery is NEVER easy business. The story is rated so for nudity, masturbation, mental and medical recovery, and mentions as well as flashbacks of rape.

I own nothing of DS9, not even the wonderful Vorta Keevan, only my OC Dr. Lang.

Her hands trembled as she looked over the information on the PADD regarding her recently rescued patient. Outside, her home planet was in ruins because of the Breen and the Dominion, but right now, she focused on the trauma that the young man suffered while being captive for so many months.

Name: Keevan

Species: Vorta

Gener: Male

Age: Unknown

Height: 6 ft.

Weight: 95 lbs.

Description: Patient suffered considerable agony to all body parts, however sexual abuse more dominant than physical. A considerable amount of genital infliction and rear both interior and exterior, pubic hair torn off by bare hands. Minor amount of blood loss, most notably in lower regions. Extreme starvation and malnourishment. In and out of unconsciousness in the last three days with no change.

Dr. Teila Lang closed her eyes and held the PADD close to her heart. She made the mental note of the unknown extent of how the poor man's mental state must be now. His behavior in the cell made it clear: evident distrust, hatred and possibly self-loathing. Whatever he had been condemned for, it did not justify this. Cardassians were strict with law and order, but she was not any Cardassian, and neither was her mother.

Keevan's injuries had healed by the slightest, but she had not seen him as she was busy helping with the effort of healing injured Cardassian men, women and children saved from the slaughter, few hundred numbers they were. They were an endangered species now, unless there was a chance of ensuring their survival as the Cardassians had a long history of pride and conquest - until the Dominion and Gul Dukat sold them. She despised him with all her being, knowing from the beginning to never trust people they didn't know, but he was desperate. Her mother had warned her speaking out would be a bad move, so she was the good girl in keeping her lips sealed until the time was right. Dominion rule was brutal, and everywhere you went, there were Jem'Hadar and Vorta - and then the Breen. Vast more unpredictable and even dictating the health of the people under Teila Lang's care. The daughter of Professor Natima Lang, she was a secret dissident and not being overtly active as her mother and the late Legate Ghemor had been. She was far more discreet than any other Cardassian man or woman in existence; few survived and lived to tell of it.

"Doctor?" She looked up to see the nurse Ninal coming up to her. "Forgive me, but the patient is awake, if you're willing to see him now - and if he would be willing to see you, madam."

Lang nodded. "Thank you."

She walked into the room where the patient himself was sleeping in gray sleeping clothes, the first time he must have had anything on his body during imprisonment. She snarled as she thought of the men who did this to him; she was more compassionate than any other on the planet, and she knew it. She loathed the Dominion for putting one of their own through this; they had no sense of honor or preservation. Klingon word "honor", she knew that, but it was true. The young Vorta male's eyes were closed, but his breathing was even. His wounds on the outside were cleaned and regenerated - but his internal wounds would take more time to heal.

Teila found herself looking over his beautiful face; she meant every word of it. Such beauty should never be destroyed, and this poor creature had been through so much. She reached over and ran her fingers across his smooth forehead, brushing the black hairs out of the way. Keevan must have felt her touch in his sleep; he flinched at the simple contact and jerked his head away, his face turning to the opposite from her. "No..." That one word was enough to tell her that he did not want any physical touch. Who could blame him? She would gladly respect his wishes.

The Vorta had nowhere else to go, too, so she would gladly take him in with her, oversee his care. She was living with Garak now; he was her guardian and the new ruler of his broken planet. He had told her about Keevan himself. Teila snorted as she would not let Keevan be taunted anymore.

Keevan's eyes opened, showing dull amethyst and a faint trace of a sparkle in his eyes. He must have been so full of life, now destroyed like a priceless item. Either way, he had survived violation and hunger, imprisonment and abuse. Just like she herself survived the assault on her people and the cities. She promised him things would get better, and they would.

His eyes now looked up at her, but his face did not change from emotionless. "Doctor."

"I won't ask how you feel as it is foolish, given I know," she replied, giving a slight smile, but he did not return it.

"Apparently so. How long was I unconscious?"

"Three days, no change. But you'll be physically well soon, and then I'll arrange a place for you to live. You'll be walking around on your own for the first time in a long time."

Keevan blinked, obviously disinterested. He did not seem enthusiastic about walking free; what could he do to function well after being in a cell for a year? "You won't be alone," she added. "I'll live with you, to keep a close eye on you."

His face finally changed, but it was not to a positive reaction. His lip curled in a snarl. "Oh, free from one enslavement to a new one? I'm free but still have to be watched over. Am I supposed to thank you, Doctor?"

"Please, I said you can call me Teila. And no, you don't have to thank me. You can when time goes on. I won't abandon you like everyone else has, I promise you that."

~o~

Home was supposed to make you feel safe and secure, but Keevan did not feel like that in the slightest. He felt like a stranger from a distant land, coming into foreign territory, with Teila Lang by his side as she brought him into the new residence they would share. It was surreal and grim, not at all welcoming. It felt...wrong to be able to enjoy having a new home, no guards to watch over except his doctor and caregiver.

Keevan sneered. He wanted to say he didn't need or want her help, but what choice did he have? He'd been beaten and raped in captivity for a year, and then he was rescued by none other than her and the new Gul Elim Garak. But, at the same time...she was being good to him, treating him with more kindness than he could recall. He did not remember anything like this in his lifetimes.

"Well, what can I do for you first?" Lang asked him. "Are you hungry?"

He scoffed. "What could possibly fit my tastes, Teila? Vorta taste is limited to nuts and berries."

"Oh, my apologies. I'm sorry that I did not know that, but then again, the Dominion is all about mystery and complexities," she said with a snort. "Our replicators we have just brought in with the help of the Federation are befitting our people's tastes, what is a start to rebuilding our race. But we lost all of our music, literature, art...all gone." He looked behind himself to see the look in her eyes, how faraway she looked. She was as loyal to her planet as any Cardassian - and that was where she differed from Keevan. He once was so loyal to his people until they banished him from their ranks because he was not like them. He was jealous of her for this.

"Are you going to be fine with something with yamok sauce? I can get you anything you want if it won't taste well to you -"

"I won't be able to taste it at all," he interrupted. "I would love to clean up first, if that won't be a problem."

She nodded her understanding before motioning to the bathing room, where he had privacy and a sonic shower for the first time - as well as a bath tub, but the shower was more appropriate. However, by the time he stripped and looked at himself in the mirror by accident, he jolted and felt the tremors return. His body remained ever skeletal, but he might be getting back to his old state in the event of time; he was not sure he would say the same for his mental state. The longer he looked over his body, specifically where the hair at the base of his thighs was ripped off and slowly showing stubble to let him know he was growing it back...it was too much. He closed his eyes and tore himself away from the mirror, slapping the sonic shower on and stepping inside.

But no matter how much he would clean himself outside, he would never be so on the inside.

For the next few months, he lived with Dr. Lang, who was very gracious and giving, but he didn't feel he deserved this. He was conscious of every action he did, waking up and cleaning himself up, ate something but not getting the chance to enjoy it due to his lack of proper taste; she had a collection of literature herself that she gave for him to entertain himself, but it was short-lived at times. He wanted to go outside, be under the sun, but he doubted it would do any good. Any Cardassian would recognize him and perhaps try to kill him for what his people did. But being inside, he would always go mad and wish he could do something about it when Teila wasn't looking.

But at night, it was much worse that sometimes he would wake up screaming and then she would rush into his room. She had been monitoring him, apparently, making him angry even though it was necessary. He never stopped dreaming about those voices and every part of his body ruined. Even that horrible word they called him.

"Look at his face - he likes it."

"Yeah, he's nothing but a piece of meat for us now, gentlemen. His 'gods' don't need him anymore. He's a cheap whore now, just for us when we feel like it."

He would lean into Teila, crying and sobbing as he would tell her everything done to him, damaging his pride and self-esteem. How his life was nothing, that he did not deserve to live -

"Stop this," she said firmly, taking his face into her hands as she leaned back for him to look at her. "Keevan, this will be over soon. I won't let you kill yourself for this. There is always something in life worth living. I know how to make these dreams go away and how it will make you feel good about yourself like you used to. But if nothing works, then we'll think of something else."

He wondered what the "treatment" was and regretted it the next day after he agreed.

He was just stepping out of the shower in time to hear Teila call to him. He was about to dry up and get dressed when he heard her voice nearer than he thought. "Don't put your clothes on just yet." She stood in the doorway, making him jump furiously and hold the towel close to his damp form, lips tight angrily.

"Invading my privacy now, Doctor?" he sneered. "Or are you now pleasing yourself at the sight of me?"

"Not at all. This is part of the therapy."

He stiffened. Therapy? How could this be part of his "care"? "What's next?"

"Follow me into the bedroom," she answered simply, turning on her heel and marching away from him. Keevan followed her, still drying himself off and standing beside her. She turned to him and motioned for him to sit on the bed, which he did. "Now, spread your legs, Keevan."

Now he knew where this was going, keeping his legs closed together and covering himself up instantly. "Why are you doing this? As if I hadn't been humiliated enough!" he said angrily. She sighed and shook her head.

"Keevan, the point is to make you comfortable with yourself again. That's the only way you can rid yourself of the nightmares and the pain once and for all. You're not the first to experience this, and you won't be the last. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in these rooms, waking up every morning after a night of reliving what happened to you in prison, ashamed of yourself and who you are - and unable to be happy in a physical manner? Those men wanted you to feel like this, and so did the Founders. Is this what you want?"

His throat tightened, and he closed his eyes. "You don't even know besides what is in the medical report," he ground. "You don't know the pain I felt when they..." He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, wrapped his arms around his chest because if he asked for her arms around him, her scaly skin would bring back the memory of contact.

"No, I don't know what it felt like, but I don't like what it made you into now," Lang said, disdain clear in her voice. "My people had appetites for this, but not I. You can blame most, maybe half, but not all. If I did not care about you, I wouldn't even have you here in my quarters, Keevan. You'd still be in that cell, used and tossed away like trash. You're not trash; you're a living, breathing being as I am."

How could she even think to assume he was worth anything? His heart was harder than she thought, but the more her words sunk in...he felt himself breaking down. He DID want to be happy, but how could he when he was in too much turmoil, abused and raped by her people, left to rot? He wanted to look at his own body again without flinching every time he bathed, he wanted another to treat him like he was a man and not some plaything...there was so much more he wanted that it did not feel right. His thoughts might as well be all over his face.

"Keevan, I might have said too much. We can postpone this then..."

"No," he said quickly, looking back up at her. "I want to get this over with."

She nodded and sat back. "All right. First, start with your chest. Touching yourself in every place is all the same, but each different part represents something else, beginning from top to bottom - the lower you start, the higher the pleasure increases."

Keevan chewed his lip nervously as his right hand began first, going straight to his chest and caressing the smooth skin, eventually reaching his nipples which hardened under his own touch. The sensitive nubs made him shiver and close his eyes, a moan escaping his lips at the sensation of his own touch. The jolts traveled throughout the rest of his body, to his stomach and then lower, where he tingled - but then he stopped and reopened his eyes, horrified, and looked up at Teila who shook her head.

"Don't think about them. Concentrate on yourself. Think of anything or anyone else BUT them."

His fingers rubbed and pinched small, tingling skin and ignited the drive in his body he never thought he'd have. His whole upper body straightened with each ministration of his hands over himself, but his legs remained closed and concealing the most important part. The more he touched his upper body, the more he burned down there. Don't think of them...think of someone else...anything else.

Teila...

His mind was suddenly filled with Teila on his mind, because of her kindness and care, her determination and passion for looking after his well-being and others before him, but the most unexpected thought came as to what she looked like under her dresses and robes...

Keevan stopped right there, ceasing his self-ministrations altogether and ignoring the tight heat between his legs, keeping his eyes closed and trying to control his heavy breathing, his pounding heart. "Keevan, what is it?" he heard her ask gently.

"I don't...I can't do this."

"Are you thinking about them, again?"

"NO!" He immediately calmed himself down and repeated softly, "No, I wasn't thinking of them."

"Oh, I see." Teila nodded in understanding. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Keevan felt hurt more than ever. He wanted to tell her she occupied his mind now, but how could he?

"Do you want to continue?"

His hands moved of their own, answering her question, but now they were over his stomach. His nipples were sensitive enough that they did not need anymore attention than his aching groin area - and this part he dreaded the most. "Teila, this is where..."

"Sssh," she whispered, a finger on his lips now, the smooth leathery skin making him moan and melt. "Keep going. Touch yourself now."

His thighs parted, giving him more access to his nether regions. His fingers and nails rubbed and scraped over the arch of skin he remembered seeing blood come from after the hair was ripped. The skin was sensitive, responding to his own touch...and this time he did moan when he found the long length of thick skin which made all the difference. His heart rate picked up at the delicious shivers through his body.

It felt so...good.

"Uhhh..." He felt like he was going off some deep edge that would result in the thrill of the fall, as well as the fear of the impact. He never thought pleasure would really be like this. His brain tried to fight him and return the memories, but he overpowered it by thinking more and more about the female in front of him, not the least bit ashamed - yet frightened if she reacted in a way he did not expect.

Keevan stopped himself right away. Somehow he did not want to finish himself off, even though his erection was painful and ready to explode. Teila looked at him with a slight frown. "I want you...to finish me, Doctor," Keevan said breathlessly.

She leaned back further, shock and surprise evident on her face. "Keevan, I - I would, but...you sure you want me to do this?" She was a doctor and would gladly do anything for her patients, but was that all it was when it came to Keevan specifically?

"Please." He looked at her long and hard.

She was off the chair then and kneeling in front of him, looking at him with one last permission request with her eyes, and he nodded. He sighed now when he felt himself taken into her hand - and he was happy he asked her, for her touch was much more than his own. He laid back against the bed, his legs spread for her. To his surprise, she crawled up with him, though she sat above and beside him at the same time instead of her whole body atop his. Keevan felt like an angel was looking down over him, a fallen one being worshipped and loved in a place that hated him. She was the one who made all the difference in the world.

Keevan never once tore his eyes off of her as she brought him to the edge, but neither paid attention to himself coating them both, just gazed into each other's eyes, their roles as doctor and patient forgotten for the moment. She leaned down over him, and his attention fell to her mouth nearing his; he welcomed them to his for the first time, loving the feel of her mouth and unable to describe the texture. Her arms came around his naked body, pulling him close to her as they deepened their first kiss. He now began to see the ray of light at the end of the tunnel and knew he was going to be all right - even if he still had a way to go.