Rusot objected to the presence of the Human around the Resistance base. She had been a regular sight and the soldiers were witness to many intimate moments between their leader and the Human.
Some of them tried to object but Damar quickly shut their objections down. In fact, he wouldn't even entertain their protests. They couldn't offer a real reason for their objections beyond the fact that she was Starfleet. He quickly pointed out that Starfleet and the Federation came to the Resistance aid when didn't have to.
Rusot though, kept going with his protests to the point that he brought it up several times a day. "She's using you, Damar. Why are you so blind to that?"
Damar sighed. "Not again."
"She's making you run around after her and you just go along with it."
"Enough!" Damar shouted. "I am fed up with you bad mouthing the mother of my children. She saved my son. She gave us vital information."
"She has you trapped, just like she did with Dukat."
Damar angrily stormed towards Rusot, angrily jabbing a finger towards him. "Do not mention that name to me again." He snarled. "Anymore comments about Raina and I'll send you back to the Dominion myself.
Damar walked into his temporary office to see Raina perched on his desk, carefully studying the maps of a Breen facility on Kelvas Prime. She looked deep in thought, like she was formulating a plan. Watching how she worked was one of his favourite things to do because she looked so beautiful and natural when she did it. She was logical, thoughtful and clever when she came to planning and he was happy to concede to her plans.
He moved quietly behind and quickly wrapped his arms around her, making her jump but an unbidden laughter escape her mouth. "You look devilishly beautiful when you wear that scheming face." He kissed her bare shoulder and slid a hand under her uniform vest.
"I'm always devilishly beautiful, Corat."
"Oh, I know." He moved in front of her to get a better view. She wore her uniform skirt that had ridden up her thighs and knee high black boots. She only wore it when she came to see him. She claimed it was only for him, but he suspected that she did it just annoy Rusot. "So, have you formulated a plan?"
She hopped down from the desk and approached a small table to pour them both a drink. "Nearly. Shall I open the whiskey?"
Damar nodded. "Raina, can we talk?"
Raina gulped down a glass of whiskey. The look on his face made her nervous. "Sounds ominous."
"Not like that, beautiful." He sat down on a sofa and patted the seat next to him. "Just come and sit with me."
Raina sat down next to him, angling her body towards him, giving him his drink. "What's on your mind?"
"Have you thought about what will happen after this is all over?" He asked as he swirled the whiskey around in the glass.
"In what way?"
"Us." He downed his drink. "I love you, Raina. I hope you know that."
"I've come to that conclusion, yes."
"I want to know if you could see us married?"
Raina's heart thumped excitedly. It was then she came to the realisation that they'd never really discussed how they truly felt about each other. She took the empty glass from his hand, placing it on a table before straddling his lap. "Corat, I've given my heart to three men in my life. First time it was broken, then it's was broken even more." She ran her fingers down his neck scales and pressed her forehead against his. "Then I met the love of life and he healed me, no matter how hard I made it for him."
"I want to make us official, Raina." He kissed her tenderly, caressing the side of her face. "Promise me, we will find a way for us to live as a family. I can't go months without seeing you and our children. It hurts too much."
"We'll find a way, Corat. I want to go to sleep at night knowing I'll wake up to you in the morning." She returned his kiss, letting it linger. It was strange to consider, a stable life and a family. She'd been chasing after life for so long she really hadn't stopped to think about what happened after she ran out of things to occupy her time and thoughts. What would it be like to wake up next to the same person every day and know they would always be there? What would it be like to have a house full of children and laughter and life that she created? The more she thought about it the more she enjoyed the idea, and even briefly toyed with the notion of getting a jump start on that tonight with Damar but stopped herself. There would be a time and place for all of that. "A future." She mused. "What a thrilling idea."
Damar kissed her again. "We have a facility to raid."
"I've had an idea about that."
Raina stood still, frozen as Rusot pointed a gun at her. She had a feeling it would come to this eventually and she had no doubt that he would kill her. He was so desperate to cling to the old Cardassia that he'd betray his own friend for it.
Damar threw himself in front of her as Garak pointed a gun at Rusot. It was Damar's act of love and loyalty that scared Raina the most. She didn't know for sure that Rusot wouldn't shoot the man she loved, but she also knew that Damar would continue to shield her.
"What are you doing, Sigol?" Damar hissed, trying to keep Raina behind him as he too pointed a gun at Rusot.
"We can take the weapon, Corat." Rusot glanced at Garak quickly before turning his focus back to Damar. "We can bring Cardassia back to its old glory."
"You are pointing a gun at my future wife, Sigol."
"She is using you, Corat. How do you know those children are yours?"
Garak Scoffed. "I think their Cardassian features would indicate Cardassian parentage."
"Mere trickery." Rusot sneered. "Let's just kill them both."
"Sigol, put the gun down before Garak shoots you." Damar pleaded.
"Would you really kill another Cardassian and friend for a Human?" Rusot asked both Damar and Garak.
"That Human happens to be a close friend of mine." Garak growled.
Raina didn't like Rusot but that didn't mean she wanted him dead. She knew it would eat at Damar if he or Garak killed him, so she had to end the madness before someone acted regrettably. "Garak, put the gun down."
"Are you sure?" He asked, unsure as to whether he should. When she nodded, he complied but kept the gun ready to shoot if he need to.
She pressed on Damar's arm to convince him to lower his gun and she stepped out from behind him, carefully walking over to Rusot. "Rusot, I know you don't like or trust me and I'm fine with that. But I have an obligation to Damar, and Cardassia."
"The Federation want to control us."
"No." Raina said confidently. "The Federation wants Cardassia on the same side. For that we will help build Cardassia into a new, prosperous society. You can either be a part of that, see your children be a part of that or you die here. I don't want that, nor do I want Damar to have your death on his conscience. So, what will it be?"
It was the mention of his children that had Rusot crumbling. But the look that the Human gave him made his hands shake. He had a gun pointed at her head and she stood defiantly before him. She was unlike any Starfleet officer he had met before and unlike any Human he had met. Truth was written all over her face and the hatred for her had cracked into a million pieces. He dropped his arm as if he couldn't hold it up any longer. "I hope you keep to your word, Human."
Raina nodded at him before moving to the main control panel. "Let's get out of here."
It had been a tense journey back to DS9. Damar and Garak had watched Rusot like a hawk, just in case he had anymore ideas about aiming a gun at Raina's head.
Raina headed to a cabin that Sisko had organised for her where Ziyal had stayed to look after Cadim, Cora and Casey. The children were already in bed by the time she returned, which she was pleased about as she really needed a long shower. After giving all three children a kiss, she slipped into the bathroom shedding her clothes.
She breathed a sigh of relief as the hot water hit her skin and her aching muscles loosened from the heat. She sensed a presence in the bathroom and fully expected that she would have to share her shower.
Damar stripped off his uniform and stepped into the shower behind his lover, wrapping his arms around her body and resting his head on her shoulder.
After feeling his sadness radiated through her, Raina turned to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Are you ok?"
"Why did you stop me from shooting him?" He whispered against the wet skin of her neck.
"Because he's your friend and I know it would eat at you. I wanted to save you from that."
Damar pulled back to look at her and his breath got caught in his throat. She looked at him with love and affection. No one had ever looked at him like that before. He kissed her gently and with the same love that she had shown him. "Let's go to bed."
After drying off and changing into some nightwear, both of them crawled into bed, shattered and weary from their latest mission. Raina fell asleep quickly, secure in her lovers arms, but Damar stayed awake a little while longer, watching as she slept.
She was the love of his life and he didn't quite know just how to prove that to her. Then he realised, he didn't need to prove it. She knew just how much he loved her.