Notes: Blanket spoiler warning for the entire series, but especially the overall arc of the later seasons.
This is an AU diverging primarily from the ending of the episode "Treachery, Faith and the Great River." There are smaller elements likely to pop up just because they've become incorporated so thoroughly into my own headcanon that I can't not use them, as well as one other large difference that will become apparent later.
Content Warnings: Death, near-death experience, suicide, failed suicide, difficulty breathing / remaining conscious.
!
"Please, Odo." Weyoun is grasping his arm, pleading, and this can't possibly be happening. This entire day has been one long string of things that could not possibly have been happening and it has all culminated in this. "Tell me that I haven't failed. That I've served you well."
"You have!" That, at least, he can say honestly. "And for that you have my gratitude."
It's not enough. It's not enough; Weyoun's eyes say it all, say with undeniable certainty that if Odo can't shove aside his own misgivings long enough to tell him what he wants to hear, he's going to die heartbroken.
He tries, for this one moment, to sound like a God: "And... my blessing."
He thinks he's going to shatter at the new look on Weyoun's face. He shouldn't have this power; his word of all people's shouldn't determine anyone's happiness in their dying moments.
Weyoun shudders, curls in on himself against Odo's chest and breathes. The sound is ragged and halting and Odo can do nothing but hold him and wait for it to stop altogether.
It doesn't.
Minute by minute, Weyoun keeps breathing, and keeps shaking, and for all that Odo is already aware of the Founders' capacity for ruthlessness, he cannot help but wonder at the sheer cruelty of this method of termination - and at the lie of it being quick and painless.
And then he cannot help but wonder something else entirely.
"Don't... take this the wrong way," he says. "But are you sure you did it right?"
Slowly, Weyoun begins to uncurl. His fingers tighten around Odo's arm as he tries to sit up, and Odo helps him lean against the wall.
"Not... not really," he wheezes. "It's... It's instinctive."
"Of course it is."
"But... If I'm... If I really am defective, I suppose I might have..." He manages, somehow, to heave an annoyed sigh. Odo is impressed. "It's a very precise process. It's possible I was a millimeter or two off in the pressure application, or... or the implant itself may simply be dysfunctional."
"Whatever the reason, I think we can call ourselves grateful."
"I wouldn't count on it lasting too long. Have I mentioned-" Weyoun shuts his eyes and inhales sharply, clutching suddenly at his chest and throwing his head back against the wall. "...that I am still in excruciating pain. I am still - shutting down. I can feel it. The process may simply be... slower."
"Huh. If you can last until we reach Deep Space 9, I'm sure Doctor Bashir will be able to... do something for you."
Weyoun grimaces. "For all our sakes, I hope so."
"Can you stand?"
"I highly doubt it. I can't promise I'll be... awake... for much longer..."
Odo considers the situation. It's slightly less bleak than it was the last time he considered it. "Wait here. I'm just going make sure the autopilot is still functional. I should... monitor you on the way back."
"Odo." Weyoun huffs a breathless laugh. "You won't be able to do anything if I die."
Odo stands up, crossing his arms. "I'll be able to keep you from dying alone."
And there's that look again.