A/N: Yeah, I pretty much love Damar by now, haha. My title sucks but it was the best I could come up with.

Story Title: The Little Gestures

Rating: PG to PG-13

Pairings: Damar/Kira, Odo/Kira

Chapter 1

The cooling unit was a small gesture, but, Damar hoped, a meaningful one.

He couldn't help but think of the last time he'd seen Major Kira. Or Colonel. Or Commander. Whatever the hell she called herself these days. Back on Terok Nor, when Gul Dukat had been in command, it seemed that all Damar did was fight Kira in one way or another.

From the moment he'd come onto the station he'd sensed nothing but hostility from her, and, to be perfectly honest, that was the only thing he showed her. It was as if she represented everything he fought against. He didn't care if she wore a Starfleet uniform or not, she was still the embodiment of everything he hated.

And now, here she was, clothed in a Starfleet uniform, even more the embodiment of everything he had hated in the past. But he could no longer afford the luxury of hating the Federation, or Bajor. They were his only chance. She was his only chance.

Oh, how he hated having to accept help from Garak, from Sisko, from her. He longed for the days when he was Dukat's right hand man, and the galaxy seemed to fall before them. The days before the Dominion, when it was just them versus the Klingons. They would sit on the bridge passing a bottle of kanar back and forth, dreaming of the greatness that they would bring back to Cardassia.

The strangest thing was, they had brought greatness back to Cardassia. For a time, Dukat's name was known in every house from Sol to Qo'nos, and never was it spoken without fear. And when Dukat had lost his mind, Damar's name replaced it. But at what cost?

The look in Dukat's eyes as he held his dying daughter was what haunted Damar the most. When he had fired the weapon he had been so sure that he was in the right. He even half expected Dukat to thank him one day. He didn't expect for his mentor, his leader, his comrade... his friend... to completely lose his mind. And even now he couldn't dismiss the horror and despair in Dukat's eyes, the sad moan in his voice as he pleaded with his daughter, pleaded for her life. That strong rock, the one that Damar believed would never be broken, had been utterly shattered by none other than Damar himself.

Even the hint of this memory made Damar want to rush to the storage rooms to see if there was any kanar left. The thick liquid always helped him forget. But the very thought of kanar made Damar jerk his eyes back to the console and take a deep breath. Dominion troop movements, resistance cell positions. He couldn't drink, not now. Cardassia needed him, now more than ever.

But his mind kept wandering back to Kira. Why was that? When Garak had told him she was coming, he'd been filled with dread, even loathing. But he had to respect her, support her. At least, in front of his men he did. In front of Rusot, especially; he did not understand why Damar was doing this.

But when she had walked into his command center... He didn't remember her being so pretty. Defiant, stubborn, annoying, to say the least, but pretty? He couldn't deny it. She was beautiful... for a Bajoran, anyway. At least she hadn't been wearing that ridiculous Bajoran uniform. Instead she was wearing that ridiculous Starfleet uniform, but it didn't upset his men quite as much as the Bajoran one would have.

It had taken some doing to get the cooling unit, but he knew she would need it. Cardassians liked to keep the room a good fifteen degrees warmer than was comfortable for most other humanoids. Why he felt like being so thoughtful was a bit of a mystery to him as well as to his men. A large part of him wanted to make her stay as uncomfortable as possible. After all, she had, on one occasion, attacked him and left him with some nasty bruises and a fracture along his eye socket.

Perhaps that was the reason he respected her so much. He had to admit that she had considerable prowess in hand-to-hand combat. And she knew how to fight against the odds. Damar knew nothing about guerilla warfare. He and Dukat had taken on the entire Klingon empire with one ship, but that was entirely different. They hadn't been fighting for freedom so much as for pride and glory. Every victory was one step closer to greatness. Now, every victory was one step further from oblivion. Damar didn't care about glory anymore, he didn't care about greatness or pride. All he cared about was freeing Cardassia. And right now, Kira Nerys was his best hope for doing that.