Memories flashed before Doctor Julian Bashir's eyes.
The other O'Brien, "Smiley", was begging for death, it was the only release from his torture. Of course, the ever merciful Intendant granted his wish, spraying Bashir with his blood. He stared opened mouthed at the corpse, shocked. O'Brien had been punished for trying to help him escape; he shouldn't have died for it!
Garak's voice cut into his thoughts, complaining that the Intendant had killed O'Brien far too quickly. He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well" he said with a sinister grin. "At least I still have this one." He stroked Julian's cheek with a new torture device.
It was then Bashir jolted awake, breathing heavily. Even unconsciousness didn't provide a reprieve from the pain. He was left with nothing to do but wait for the next session with the Intendant's second in command.
XXX
Major Kira Nerys paced her quarters like a caged animal. That was basically what she was. She wore her own uniform, refusing to continue dressing like the Intendant in a small act of defiance. The quarters that were given to her by her double were luxurious to say the least, but she no longer had the freedom to roam the station. The replicator and computer were programmed for captivity, but Kira continued trying to think of an escape plan.
She was jerked from her thoughts when the door chimed and her Klingon guards entered. She shuddered. It was time for another session.
XXX
Kira was escorted to the Promenade; her dread growing with every single step. When the Occupation ended, she believed her days of watching comrades tortured at the hands of Cardies were over, yet there was Bashir.
His wrists were bound over his head so that he was suspended over the floor. His bare torso displayed the wounds he'd accumulated over the past few days. Kira's stomach turned as she surveyed the damage. He'd been beaten, branded, whipped, cut, and subjected to a myriad of other creative Cardassian… techniques for all to see.
As Garak, who Bashir considered a friend on their side, approached to start the session, Julian caught Kira's gaze. His eyes, normally full of life and excitement, held only despair. He turned away from her and attempted to steel himself for the impending pain.
Garak pulled out a long, jagged knife and began deliberately running it gently over the doctor. The apprehension added to the psychological side of the torture as Bashir had no idea when and where Garak would strike.
Kira looked away, unable to face another torture session. Bashir probably thought she didn't care, that she was even enjoying this. It was true they didn't always get along; she had found his naivety and eagerness obnoxious at best and offensive at worst. And she had suggested having him left in ore processing. To show him how the "other half lived". Because she knew what it was like. Guilt rose like nausea in her stomach. Garak wasn't the only reason he looked so betrayed.
"Look," The voice made Kira jump. The Intendant had come up behind her. She never missed a session. "They're starting now. Look!" She ordered again. Kira knew she wouldn't be the one to receive the consequences for disobeying. She forced her eyes back to Bashir. The Intendant was right; Garak was finally beginning in earnest, starting with a deep gash into Bashir's stomach. A cry of pain forced itself through his clenched teeth. The wound was bleeding, but not heavily, blood was trickling down his stomach and forming a puddle on the dirty floor.
Cardassian torture was elegant and skillful; they had special methods of keeping prisoners alive, but engulfed in pain. Kira had seen it before. But that was over! It was supposed to be over.
After several more cuts to the doctor's body, Garak had apparently grown bored of the knife. He exchanged it for a white-hot poker given to him by one of the Klingon guards. He smiled with perverse pleasure as he plunged the searing tip of the poker into Julian's already abused abdomen. Garak only sought to cause pain as he continued his work. He was enjoying this! As Garak redoubled his force, Bashir's screams echoed throughout the Promenade.