Star Trek Deep Space Nine – One Door Over
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Characters: Weyoun centric with Bashir/Kira/Odo/Garak/female Changeling
Spoilers: AU
Time: Final episode and from there on
A/N: I don't want to change the outcome of the series so I figured let's put this in a parallel universe. This takes place in the closest parallel to our right so the characters are going to differ slightly from the originals but only slightly.
This is a two-parter so please review and tell me what you think, constructive criticism is welcome too if you feel for it. I really want your opinion ; )
Beta reading by MizJoely, thank you very much, I would be lost without a beta.
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Chapter One
They had pushed forward and, he admitted to himself, they had been lucky that the guards had voluntarily let them in. He smiled a bittersweet smile; the success had not come without loss. Legate Damar had been killed just on the floor below and it was up to Garak now to lead his people and help them rebuild what they had lost, that is if they let him after his exile.
However this was neither the place or the time to wonder about that. The only thing that mattered now was to end this, to end it all before it was too late and everything he held dear was truly lost. He glanced at Colonel Kira who aimed her phaser at the door in front of them.
"Are you ready to do this?" he asked seriously.
She nodded. "I am as ready as I can be."
He accessed the door panel and raised his gun to fire. The handful of Jem'Hadar soldiers were no match for him, Colonel Kira and the small group of Cardassians that followed them.
Finally he and Colonel Kira stood face to face with Weyoun and the female Changeling. The Vorta looked at them, stepping protectively in front of the Founder. He didn't seem surprised to see them; it was more as if he had been expecting them.
"Well Colonel Kira, what a pleasant surprise." Weyoun said by way of greeting.
The Bajoran woman smiled faintly at him. "The pleasure is all mine."
"The Federation Fleet has now surrounded the planet." Garak heard one of his fellow Cardassians say. He knew there was no way back now. They had gotten this far and this was only the beginning.
"I want you to contact the Jem'Hadar and the Breen and order their ships to stand down." Kira said in a chilly tone.
"And order the troops on Cardassia to do the same." Garak added calmly, the phaser in his hand pointing unwaveringly at the Changeling and her loyal follower.
The Founder looked ill, her imitation of the human skin appeared to be falling apart, but her determination did not waver. "I will not do such thing."
Weyoun suddenly spoke up. "Tell me, where is my old friend Damar?"
Garak could feel his temper rise but didn't let it show in his voice. "Damar is dead."
"What a pity." the Vorta replied coldly
"He died trying to free Cardassia." Garak's temper was flaring now and his grip around the phaser tightened, his focus entirely on the arrogant little creature in front of him.
Weyoun made a face and shrugged. "What's left of it." he remarked dryly.
And that was enough; Garak didn't think about it, he just reacted to the offence thrown in his face. It wasn't like he hadn't done it before while in the Obsidian order. He pulled the trigger in a rage and watched with satisfaction as the surprised Vorta fell to the floor with a thud.
In a way it had been too easy, the cloned alien hadn't even tried to evade the phaser beam. Used to be re-awakened in a new body after every accidental or deserved death, there simply didn't seem to be any survival instinct left.
The female Changeling looked down at Weyoun's lifeless body. "No." she whispered.
Ignoring the looks from her so called enemies she simply walked over to where the Vorta had fallen and knelt by his side. Seemingly upset,she placed two fingers under his chin searching for a pulse. "It's his last clone, he can't be lost."
Kira angrily holstered her weapon and began moving towards her enemy. "The war is over, you have lost everything."
The Changeling glanced up at her. "There is still time."
"For what?" Kira demanded.
At first Garak thought he had imagined it, but then there was no mistake, the Vorta moved slightly.
The Changeling said nothing, simply placed her hand under his head. "Weyoun you are the only solid I have ever trusted."
Big bright blue eyes stared up at her. "Forgive me, Founder."
She shook her head slightly. "You have done nothing wrong, my dear Weyoun."
The Changeling looked at the Federation-allied Bajoran. The Cardassian didn't deserve to be acknowledged. He would have been eradicated from the universe with the rest of his people if everything had gone according to plan.
"You are surrounded, now recall your troops."
The Bajoran was nothing if not persistent, but she didn't see the whole picture. "Maybe we have lost but by now you should have realized that you haven't won anything either." she answered the Colonel, devoid of emotions.
"What do you want? More bloodshed?" Garak questioned angrily.
"I don't trust solids."
No, that much was obvious, Kira thought. "Perhaps you could tell us why? What have we ever done to your people?"
The Changeling ignored her question and carefully began peeling away the layers of clothing from the deep burn on the Vorta's chest, Weyoun had long given into unconsciousness.
"Withdraw your forces and stop this nonsense!" Garak exploded.
"Your words mean nothing to me Cardassian. You sealed your faith when you shot my loyal servant." She looked up at him. "I believe solids have a saying, 'Don't shoot the messenger'."
"The people out there are innocent, they don't deserve to die." Kira tried. "For every minute you delay more people is going to die, is that really what you want?"
The Founder made a face. She seemed to have aged considerably in just a few minutes. "I am dying, we are dying and I have nothing left to lose."
Garak swallowed, things didn't go according to plan. If the Changeling didn't call off the forces, the Breen and the Jem'Hadar would continue to fight and the Federation casualty reports would double at the very least.
Kira activated a channel to the ship. "This is Colonel Kira calling the Defiant."
"Sisko here, it's good to hear your voice. However, I am a bit preoccupied at the moment so what can I do for you?"
"I need Odo and Julian and I don't have time to explain."
"They are on their way; just end this."
"I intend to Ben, I intend to."
Ten seconds later Odo and Dr. Bashir materialized next to her and Garak in the Dominion Command Center.
Kira nodded at Julian who quickly walked over to the pale alien lying on the floor. Odo followed and carefully put a hand on his fellow Changeling's shoulder.
"You need to stop this." Odo said softly, helping her up to give Dr. Bashir room to work.
The look of defiance was gone as she looked at the other Changeling. "Why, Odo, why do you side with these solids?"
"Don't you understand? I am happy with them and I trust them, they don't judge me for not being like them."
"How could you? They are unpredictable and dangerous; they don't share with each other like we do."
"It doesn't make them dangerous, it makes them human." Their eyes met and he wore a sad look on his face. "Everything doesn't need our control."
The female Changeling looked at Weyoun sadly. "He is lost without our control."
Odo shook his head. "The Vorta can relearn what they lost so long ago, what we took away from them. The originals didn't obey us, " he reminded her.
Kira swallowed, suddenly not liking where this conversation was going. "You destroyed them?"
"They were a strong and formidable enemy but an enemy can be shown the true path in one way or another."
"Perhaps it's you who need to be shown the true path." Garak offered.
She ignored the Cardassian and turned to the Federation doctor. "Odo thinks highly of you." She nodded in the direction of Weyoun. "I need you to save him."
Bashir looked at her grimly. "I won't lie to you; his chances of survival are slim at best." He looked up at Kira and Odo. "I need to take him with me to the Defiant."
Kira tiredly ran a hand through her hair and nodded.
Garak watched as Julian and Weyoun disappeared in a shimmer of blue in front of his eyes. Reports where still coming in from the frontline. "Do you want him destroyed with the rest of the people out there?"
"Trust them and trust me." Odo said softly. "There is still a future out there to embrace."
"We are dying, Odo."
"No, you're not, I can stop it." He reached out with his hand for her to take it.
"Odo!" Kira warned.
"How?" The female Changeling wondered, slightly amazed.
"It doesn't matter, just link with me." He urged.
Her sunken face looked up at his. "Why would you do that?"
"Because I am part of you, I need you as much as I need them."
It was clear to her who he had meant but the idea didn't intrigue her. "A joint future?"
Odo nodded."Yes."
Garak watched the Changelings blending together, his hand on the trigger, a moment later the aliens returned to their human shapes; both of them healthy.
The female smiled faintly at Garak and Kira. "Please step aside so that I can recall our ships."
Garak didn't move at first, afraid that she was deceiving them but as he looked at Odo's satisfied face he reluctantly stepped back, deciding that she was telling the truth.
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Weyoun opened his eyes although still oblivious to his surroundings. He'd had the strangest dream, it didn't felt like he had gotten a new body and been reactivated again. No, this was something else entirely for he felt excruciating pain and it threatened to take him back into the blackness that had surrounded him moments earlier. He clung to an image etched in his memory; a Cardassian aiming his gun at him and then voices, but he was unable to recall what they said. Still not really aware he struggled to sit up, which almost landed him back in the unconsciousness. Immediately he felt a couple of hands firmly on his shoulders.
"Easy Weyoun, easy," a gentle voice cautioned, and he let himself being lowered back on the bed, his eyes closed.
"Do you remember what happened?"
He slowly shook his head as if trying to clear away the haze surrounding it. He thought he had seen Federation equipment but he wasn't sure.
The voice spoke up again and it sounded unsatisfied. "You were shot." He allowed Weyoun a moment to process that knowledge, then continued gently, "I am afraid you have lost a lot of blood. Unfortunately I couldn't save the tissue around the wound. You're lucky Garak managed to hit you between your vital organs. We are talking mere millimeters here."
Weyoun opened his eyes to slits as the bright light above him made his eyes water. The voice belonged to Dr. Bashir, he could place it now but he still didn't understand.
"Why am I here in this body?" he asked confused.
"Don't worry about that, it's natural to be a bit disoriented when you've been brought back from the brink of death. Now keep still and tell me the minute you feel anything out of the ordinary. I hope the pain doesn't trouble you too much, but I am not at ease with your physiology and I don't dare to pump you full of human medicines."
"I am the last clone." He whispered, grimacing as he shifted on the bed. "The Founder, I was on Cardassia." he said as if suddenly remembering.
Julian Bashir looked down at his pale patient.
"We lost the war, may the Founder forgive me."
The usually arrogant and cunning ambassador of the Dominion fleet looked lost. The clone had fulfilled his part of the war by planning it, eradicating millions and keeping the forces together. The Vorta was dangerous and Bashir involuntarily shuddered thinking about the millions of innocents that had lost their lives because of him. However deep down Julian believed there was something more to Weyoun than his cruelty and blind obedience for the Founders, there just had to be.
"Doctor Bashir, why am I back in Federation territory?" The voice was returning to the normal soft but still demanding.
"The female Changeling is quite fond of you, it seems."
The Vorta seemed almost upset by the words."No, you don't understand, we live only to serve and our mistakes are punished by our being replaced by a cloned successor." Weyoun looked straight at the doctor, fixed him with a fierce stare. "So I ask you again; why am I here?"
Julians' face turned grim. He had no answer to that but he had plenty of questions of his own. When he didn't reply the Vorta turned his head away staring at some imagined thing on the wall. Then suddenly he looked at Bashir again, his features softer.
"I serve no purpose anymore." The blue eyes no longer held the cruelty and confidence they used to. In them was only defeat.
"Where do you come from?"
"The Founder created us, we owe everything to them."
Bashir shook his head. "No, I am not talking about the clones. What about the first of you, the first Weyoun?"
"The first was created when the Founders needed him," he said simply, not understanding what the doctor would get out of it.
"Do you believe that?"
"It is not my…right to question."
He had to congratulate the Changelings for managing to get the Vorta so mislead. He heard footsteps and looked up to see two Federation security officers walk over to guard his patient.
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"The Jem'Hadar are retreating." Garak said, tracking the movement from the Dominion HQ.
Kira nodded and looked at Odo.
"It's over now." he said reassuringly, looking at her and then back at his fellow Changeling with a slight smile on his face.
Garak was disappointed to see Breen ships still attacking the Federation allies. "Nothing seems to be stopping the Breens."
"They are a proud people, a good ally and fighters." The female Changeling said.
Kira glanced at the screen displaying the ships in the area and watched as symbols disappeared from the battlefield one by one. "What do they hope to achieve?"
Garak smiled happily. "All ships are powering down weapons, now the hard part begins."
"The hard part?" The Founder questioned.
"To rebuild everything that has been lost, unfortunately we can't just breed a new bunch of Cardassian warriors to replace the ones killed in the battlefield." Garak felt a restraining hand on his shoulder and turned to look at Kira.
He nodded at her and sighed.
"We have all come a long way today but there is much to repair. Let's make peace and let this be the beginning of something good." Kira said, looking at each one of the faces in the room.
"Well said." Odo concurred.
"Kira to the Defiant, four to beam up."
Odo walked over to stand beside her with the female Changeling but Garak remained where he was standing.
He shook his head sadly, looking at the chaos around him. "I am staying with my people." Their eyes met in a moment of understanding.
"Belay that, three to beam up."
Garak watched the Changelings and the Bajoran disappear in a shimmer of light, then sank down on his knees, all memories of home drowning him in a mix of joy and sorrow.
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To be continued
