"I think I'll go recalibrate the inertial dampeners," Garak said, probably to give Kira some time alone. Damar debated whether or not to do the same. He wasn't sure if Kira was the type to express her grief violently, but he suspected that she was. In which case, he felt he should probably stay; they couldn't afford for her to destroy any of the equipment on the bridge. He watched her carefully for a sign, anything, that would tell him what she was going to do.

A tear dancing at the corner of her eye was the only clue to what she had to be feeling as she handed the headset to Damar. "Take the helm," she said, heading for the door.

He was surprised at her composure as he took the headset from her. He could imagine what she had to be thinking; after all, he had just gone through something similar less than a week ago. He turned toward her. "Kira." She stopped in the doorway, but did not turn to face him. "If you need anything... you need only ask."

She said nothing as she walked out and the door closed behind her. He wanted desperately to follow her out, to let her cry on his shoulder. But he knew she would only be angry. What right did he have to want to comfort her? She had probably lost more than a few loved ones at the hands of the Cardassians. If only they had met under better circumstances. If only...

He stopped. Since when did he care so much about her? There was a time when he had hated the thought of her, when personally executing her would have given him great pleasure. And now... When had he... how long... ?

He couldn't even bring himself to terms with it. Was he... actually... in love? With Kira?

He shook his head. It was ridiculous. Why would he be in love with her? There was no sense in that. No reason for it. She was an ally, perhaps even a friend, but not...

A friend. When had that happened? Was she really his friend? When the war was over, if they survived, would they go have a drink at Quark's together, sit and talk, like friends do? He liked to think they would. In the little time they had spent working together they had both been through so much. He hoped that when it all ended they would both see that there was a friendship there.

Hours passed. Garak returned to the bridge, but said nothing. Suddenly, it hit Damar. During the three days they had been on this ship dodging patrols, he hadn't seen Kira eat once. That didn't mean that she hadn't eaten, but she couldn't have eaten much. Perhaps bringing her something to eat might help her a little. Even if she wasn't hungry, it might be good for her to know that she wasn't alone, and that her comrades on this ship cared about her.

The Jem'Hadar fighters didn't have quarters, due to the soldiers' lack of need to sleep, so the team had set up quarters in the cargo bay. When Damar first entered, the bay seemed nearly destroyed, but empty. He was about to leave and scour the rest of the ship when he noticed Kira's shoulder sticking out from behind the only stack of Ketracel White barrels still standing. He approached gingerly. "Kira?" He halted, almost standing over her. "I brought you something to eat," he said, squatting beside her.

It didn't really matter, but he theorized that she had walked into the cargo bay, shoved over all the barrels of White within reach, and, exhausted, had halfway collapsed behind this last remaining stack, without the energy to so much as shove any of them out of place. Now, she was simply staring at the wall, her mind somewhere else.

"I'm not hungry."

He didn't know what to say. He had never been good at this. "Well, I'll leave it here, in case you should want any," he said gruffly. He winced; he'd tried to make it sound tender, but he just wasn't able to make his voice sound that way. Standing, he began to walk out of the bay, but was startled to hear her speak.

"I wasn't there when my father died."

He stopped, and turned around. He didn't expect Kira to want to talk, least of all to him. But then, if she needed to talk, then he was the only one there to listen. He walked back over and sat down next to her.

"I was off killing Cardassians when he died. He'd asked me to stay, but I just couldn't. It hurt too much to watch him die. And now I've done it to Odo, too."

"He wouldn't have wanted you to watch him die," Damar said, staring at the same wall she had been staring at.

She turned to look at him. "How do you know that?"

Damar looked back at her. "If he had, you would have been there. If there's anything I've been able to observe about you, it's that you don't abandon the people you love." He looked back at the wall.

"I abandoned my father."

"How long ago was that?"

Kira thought for a moment. "I see your point. I suppose I have learned from that mistake, at least. But... I just wish I had been there for Odo." He could see tears coming to her eyes as she shook her head.

"At least he knew how much you loved him," Damar replied. "By the time I finally had the sense to tell my wife, it was too late. Words no longer carried meaning; I wasted too much time."

He glanced at her, and saw that she was staring at him with compassion. It was not a look he was used to seeing from her. Not directed at him, anyway. "I'm so sorry, Damar."

"I don't want your pity, Colonel."

She looked back at the wall. He kicked himself for being so harsh. "I'm sorry, Colonel. I didn't mean--"

"I understand. I don't want pity, either."

"For what small comfort it may afford you... Odo was a good man."

"Yes, he was."

They sat there silently for a few minutes. Occasionally, he would glance at her, and now and again he would see a tear streaming down her cheek. He wanted to do something, and debated what that something was. Finally, timidly, he touched her hand softly, and to his surprise, she grabbed his in response, and held it tightly. Aside from the sporadic tear, it was the only outward sign of her grief. He admired her for having that kind of strength. He had expected more of an outburst from her, but she really was the type to keep her passions private.

Damar didn't know how long she was going to keep that vice grip on his hand, and it didn't matter. He would let her for as long as it took, because he cared about her. She was his friend.


A/N: Damar's not a hard character to write, but Kira... MAN! She's really a hard character to pin. I must have rewritten this chapter three or four times trying to figure out how she would grieve and how Damar would relate to her in that. I'm still not completely happy with it, but oh well.