2374: Dominion Headquarters

HOPE

Corat Damar smiled to himself. It was both a smile of happiness - that he would be able to see his beloved, and his son; and a smile of sadness, for he knew he would not be seeing the two of them in person anytime soon. His duty to the Union, to the Dominion, and to Gul Dukat had to take priority. They were at war. Personal feelings and situations were not that important in comparison.

He ambled his way down the corridors and found his quarters. He missed his quarters back on Terok Nor, or Deep Space Nine as it was now known. It had been so long since he had set foot on a planet; a solid body, for such an extended period of time, but Cardassian didn't feel quite the same. Everywhere he looked, he would be greeted by the sight of annoyingly stoic Jem'Hadar and the angelic, patience-trying Vorta. He hated how Cardassian was now more or less in the place of Bajor in the Occupation. He and his people were being controlled and dominated by the Dominion.

He keyed in his access code to the quarters and the computer gave the command for the door to slide. He went inside and picked up a large bottle of Kanar. He sat down at his computer station, but didn't open the bottle. He wanted to - he needed to - but managed to refrain himself from doing so.

He ordered the computer to turn on and typed in a few commands with the Cardassian characters before him. He waited for the grainy display to load and stared in wonder when he saw the image on the screen.

"Keela?" he whispered, not wanting his transmission to be heard.

On the other end of the feed, Keela smiled at him. She looked a little tired, but Damar guessed that was because she had to raise a child by herself.

"You look as beautiful as ever," Damar declared, wanting desperately to be able to kiss her.

"Oh, Corat," she said in a wistful voice. "I've missed you." She hung her head in sadness.

He wanted her to be in his arms. He wanted to hold her. She looked alone, though she had assured him that her family and friends on Earth were standing by her. "I have missed you, too," he told her. He reached up to touch the screen. "I wish you could be here," he murmured.

She smiled weakly. "So do I," she agreed sadly. "I may not be able to come to Cardassia Prime, but you could come to Earth again."

Damar lifted his head up and sighed solemnly. "I can't," he reminded her, seeing her face become even more crestfallen. "It's to dangerous."

"This war..." Keela began cautiously, scared. "I don't want you there. What if something happens to you, and I'm not there?"

Damar shook his head, in the hope that the small, simple movement would help him shake the feelings of dread and wrongdoing and longing that he was constantly in possession of. "Don't worry for me," he said firmly. "How is Alexander Sejan?"

Keela tilted her head in an ambivalent way. "He's at school now."

He had managed to visit her numerous times, and he would be ever glad when she ignored the rude looks he got from Earth passersby as they instantly linked his Cardassian visage to the horrors of the Bajoran Occupation. Since late 2373, though, when Gul Dukat had announced that Cardassia would be joining the Dominion, he had been forced to remain on Cardassia. Outsiders were treated with tremendous superstition, leaving Keela next to no chance of visiting. Dukat and he, himself, certainly were not as powerful in the Dominion as they were in the Cardassian Union.

Damar sometimes hated Dukat for appointing him his second in command during the War. He wanted to return to Keela and their son. He knew it was all for the greater good, though. That was what he had to keep reminding himself.

He thought of his son. His only child. "He is at school?"

Keela nodded and beamed at him, forgetting the desperate situation for a moment. "Yes. Proper school, this time. Not just nursery." She smiled.

He couldn't believe his son was at school and he wasn't even there to send him off. He was his father, and family was one of the most important aspects of Cardassian life. He cursed himself internally, as he so often did.

"This War should be over soon," Keela guessed, hoped, wanting to lighten both of their moods. "You can see me then."

Damar gave a thin, unconvincing smile. "I hope you are right."

"I love you, Corat," she said softly, her expression beginning to fade into sadness again. The backs of her eyes were starting to burn with tears. She held them back and laughed weakly. Keela sniffed and regarded him through teary eyes.

"I love you, too," he replied as the signal went dead. His voice choked as he said the words. He wondered when he would next see his lover. The screen went black and he reached for his Kanar, studying its contents with empty eyes.

Outside he could hear Jem'Hadar soldiers noisily marching. He knew what that meant. There was only one diplomat who went everywhere accompanied by a dozen soldiers.

The door slid open. That was another thing he missed about being on Terok Nor. He had a little more privacy there. The annoying little Vorta had a habit of just entering whenever and wherever he wanted to.

"Damar," Weyoun announced. He shooed away the alien soldiers and the door slid close behind him. He waltzed over to where Damar was sat.

The Cardassian lifted up is eyes and downed a mouthful of Kanar. "What do you want, Weyoun?" he questioned him, clasping the bottle tightly.

"I just wanted to inform you of some important news," the Vorta said innocently. His cherubic smile was present, as always, and Damar wanted nothing more than to smash his frustrating face in.

Damar didn't offer for the Vorta to sit down and make himself comfortable. Instead, he picked up a glass and poured more Kanar out of the bottle and into it. He picked up the glass and examined it.

"It's a little early, don't you think?" Weyoun observed, smiling wryly. "Even for you."

Damar ignored him. "Just tell me and then leave," he ordered calmly.

Weyoun laughed and sighed with mock sympathy. "I'm in command, here," he reminded him. "Now," he said defiantly as he clapped his hands together briskly. "I need to inform you of more war casualties. I know how... passionate you are about these things."

Damar nodded his head slowly. He didn't even dare ask how many had died. He knew it would be a lot, and he knew the casualties would be Cardassian. No Vorta had been injured; no Breen or Jem'Hadar had died, either. And, even if they did, what did it matter? -to anyone? They had no understanding of death, nor could they fully appreciate the importance of it. They had no lamenting family and no sense of honour or pride. They were lab rats.

Weyoun crossed over closer to Damar, who was sat at the computer station in the corner. "While we're on the topic of how... passionate you are," he began slowly, making sure Damar heard and took in every word of what he was going to say. "I was looking through the security feed logs, when I came across a most interesting spectacle."

Damar stopped drinking the Kanar and set it down on the table, where it made a loud noise. He stared at Weyoun, his frustrated and angry blue eyes boring into the Vorta. Damar could only dread to what exactly Weyoun was referring. He gathered it was to do with Keela.

Weyoun was obviously enjoying his little charade. He smiled rat insufferable smile at Damar. "You never told me you had a wife."

Damar stared at him furiously. He kept quiet.

"Oh?" Weyoun cocked his head to one side, his purple eyes sparkling. "Who were you talking to, then?"

Damar's hands balled into fists and resisted the temptation of punching Weyoun were he stood. He stood up angrily, knocking over the Kanar in the process. "Shit," he swore.

"Well?" Weyoun pressed, still looking like his usual innocent self.

"Her name is Keela," Damar told him, after calming down a little bit.

Weyoun nodded, taking it in, and planning his next move. "You miss her?" Weyoun sounded genuinely concerned. His tone was ever so light and measured.

"Of course I do!" Damar yelled at him, surprised at the volume of his angry voice.

"And... you wish to go back to her?"

Damar sighed and looked at the Kanar as it seeped over the computer controls, causing sparks to rise. "I cannot," Damar replied calmly. "That is all that matters."

Weyoun smiled thinly, as if almost praising the usually rash and ill-tempered Cardassian for his ambience and control. "I will give you the list of the casualties," he said, finally changing the subject.

Though he hadn't noticed, Damar now realised that his eyes were begging with him to cry. He daren't break down in front of Weyoun. He forced the tears out of the way and nodded in response to Weyoun's words.