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Chapter 2: War Crimes and Disagreements
He could not read her expression. If he had, it would have surprised him yet again. She longed to know why a criminal like him was allowed to talk to the Prophets while she, the leader of Bajor, was denied that access. Finally she spoke.
"I must take a few days to consider what you have told me. I don't know if I can actually forgive you for the mess you seem to have fallen into. I don't even know your name. I cannot forgive you if I do not know your name," Winn related in an even tone.
"Eminence, I can't tell you just yet. If certain people find out I'm here, they will have me killed. For the moment, I go by Anjohl," Dukat explained.
She stood and slapped him again. "How dare you mock me, mock my people! Using a Bajoran name! Why I ought to-" he interrupted her.
"You ought to have me killed where I stand? Perhaps you are correct. Perhaps death is better than life for me at this point. Good evening, Eminence, and thank you," he stood to leave. She watched him with silent fascination. Just before he reached the door, she placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"What did you do to talk to the Prophets?" she asked him, her eyes pleading for answers, her voice almost a whisper. In that instant he understood everything: she had become too corrupt to hear or see the Prophets, so he had been assigned the task of bringing her back to them. He heard such anguish and hunger in her simple question. He gave her a warm smile, causing her to blush for the harsh words she had previously spoken.
"Meet me at the temple tomorrow evening at twenty-two hundred and I'll show you," he persuaded.
Part of her knew not to trust him, but another part knew he had something that she wanted and could not obtain. "I will come," she found herself saying.
He gently lifted her hand and kissed it. "Then I shall see you tomorrow," he said as he left the room. Her gaze followed him long after the door had closed, very confused about the integrity of the cryptic gentleman.
Three hours after his job ended for the day, Dukat waited in the temple for Winn. At last he caught sight of her familiar golden robes. "Well? Will you show me what you know, or do I have to find the answers myself?" she asked with a smirking half-smile, raising one eyebrow. He wondered for a moment if she knew she was attractive.
They approached the box and he placed his hand on her shoulder as she opened it. Much to her total amazement, she found herself on the promenade, surrounded by a bluish light. Then she saw Sisko, Kira, and Bashir. Sisko walked over to her. "We are the Prophets. Heed what we will tell you," he stated.
She spoke before she would bother to listen. "Why didn't you visit me before?"
"Your practices as the Kai of Bajor lost our favor. You must listen carefully to him who has requested your forgiveness," Kira answered.
"But did you really forgive him?" Winn inquired.
Bashir spoke. "Does it rain because we want it to, or because we need it to?" and with that Winn suddenly found herself back in the temple.
A wave of dizziness washed over her after closing the orb's box. Dukat caught her. She noticed his arms wrapped around her, the security she felt. Then the moment passed she immediately drew herself out of her reverie. She pulled away and stood. "Thank you," she muttered under her breath.
He kissed her hand and began to leave the temple. "Good evening," he said.
She grabbled the elbow of his sleeve and stopped him. "What kind of a person are you?" she asked softly.
Their eyes locked through the hooded material for a long minute before he could answer. "A man of agriculture looking for something simple after a lifetime of complication," he replied plainly. She was puzzled when they exited, but devised a plan for the next day.
She walked over to the agricultural sector the next day during the employee lunch break. She found the Starfleet officer in charge. "Sir, may I ask you a question about one of your employees?"
He nodded. "What kind of a man is Anjohl?" she asked.
The officer shrugged. "He works hard at what he does and he does it well. He is amiable but keeps to himself. He's the smartest guy down here really. I think he should be with the engineers, but he wanted a job here. He is a good man," the officer replied.
"That's what I wanted to know," she remarked.
Benjamin Sisko was to marry Kassidy Yates the following day. But as Winn prepared to perform the ceremony, her mind kept drifting to her Cardassian guest. She performed every promise of good will and phrase of cooperativeness with perfection. Yet she still wondered about the true identity of her guest.
After the ceremony, as she watched the Emissary's reception out of most people's vantage points, a familiar cloaked figure suddenly appeared next to her. Neither said a word because nothing needed to be said. His hand lightly brushed hers and in that moment he took her hand in his, fingers entwined. She liked the warmth of his touch. They just stood, watching everything as if detached from it. Then he leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. This time she did not blush, but gripped his hand tighter. He was the one who let go and left.
That evening at twenty-eight hundred, just after Solbor left, Winn found Dukat at her door. She invited him in and handed him a cup of coffee. He accepted it as they sat on the sofa. Winn spoke first. "I talked to your boss the other day," she relayed.
"Why?" he simply asked.
"I needed to know more about whom I was talking to," she explained.
"And?" he encouraged.
"He says you're a good man, but that you are bright and ought to be working with the engineers. Why aren't you?" she questioned.
"Because I'm more likely to be recognized there," he paused. "Well?"
She stared into her half-empty coffee cup for a moment before replying. "Please don't hate me for saying this. I can't forgive you because I don't forgive war criminals," she remarked.
He sounded vehement. "What kind of answer is that?"
She calmly took a sip of her coffee. If he could have read her mind, he would have seen the guilt she carried from that comment. "I suppose it isn't an answer: it's an excuse," she stated.
After drinking an ample gulp of his coffee, he faced her. "Everyone who has ever served in a government and has given orders, whether they were to attack the enemy, finance the people's right to make weapons, or donated any sort of money to a war is a war criminal," he remarked, carefully observing her reaction.
His comment struck her indefinitely. She looked pale. At last she met his glance. "But what if your side is the oppressed side?" she inquired.
"You are still funding something that will kill people. My point is that all government officials in one way or another are essentially the same and whether or not someone is a war criminal is in the perspective of the opposition," he reiterated.
She felt cold inside and out. Perhaps this was why she feared this man who called himself Anjohl, and why she was attracted to him. He made her realize the truth that she kept hidden from herself. She involuntarily shivered. He placed his hand over hers for a moment. His touch was warm again and after a moment she retracted her hand. When her eyes met his she was speechless.
He stood to leave. "I had better go, Eminence. I will see you in a few days." Then he brushed her cheek with his hand. "Goodnight," he added before leaving.
Winn spent the next two days pondering her experiences. Finally the door chimed at twenty-eight hundred. She opened the door for him and he took a seat on the sofa. He watched her pensive actions with close scrutiny. Guilt over not revealing his true identity had begun to gnaw at him. He despised guilt, yet that emotion seemed to be driving him lately.
"Eminence, there is something-" she interrupted him.
"Adami," Winn said.
"What is that?" he questioned.
"It is my name," she admitted with a smile.
"And it is a lovely name," Dukat found himself saying.
"Thank you," she relayed. Then he noticed that she was blushing.
"I need you to know who I am. Unfortunately for me, you will most likely call security shortly," the said curtly. She suspected something was bothering him, but said noting.
Then she stared in shock and horror as he removed the hood and cape. She new that face, what it represented and what it was. She jumped up and staggered backward. "Gul Dukat! I thought you were dead! I ought to call security and have you eliminated right now!" she seethed, yet she simply stood there. Every logical element of her mind told her to call for security, call for anybody, yet she stood as still as a statue. Looking into her eyes, he knew she was upset but would do nothing.
"I am sorry I have upset you," he remarked as he slowly rose and left her.
At o two hundred hours, a message woke Winn. She, wearing her nightgown and bathrobe, walked to her door and opened it to find Dukat, as she had expected to. "I had to see you again. I feel terrible about all the instances that I had to use pretense to earn your trust," he apologized. "I'm not even sure why you are allowing me to visit you like this, since you knew it was me."
She ushered him into the room and replicated two cups of coffee as he took his seat. "I had to see you again," she replied, repeating what he had said, almost in a whisper. "I forgive you, for everything. I understand now that if I didn't forgive you, how could I expect forgiveness for my own corruption? A comment was made while I talked with the Prophets, about whether it rains because we want it to rain or need it to. The answer is because we need it to of course, the rain being forgiveness. I also know that I ought to resign as Kai. You were right to say what you have said," she remarked.
He finished his coffee and set the mug on the table. "Thank you," he stated.
She took that moment to look at her bathrobe. "Oh, I must look terrible! Here I am, wandering around in my nightclothes with my hair down-" he interrupted her.
"I like your hair down," he commented.
She blushed again. "Thank you. I never once dreamed that I would be having a late night discussion with Gul Dukat," she admitted wryly.
"If you had, your dream probably would have ended with my extermination somehow," he added with a smirk.
She smiled warmly. "No, not this time. But enough about dreams; you are under my official protection now. As long as I am alive they cannot harm you," she told him.
Genuine surprise registered in his eyes. "I didn't expect that, nor do I deserve that. I can't thank you enough," he expressed.
Dukat stood and walked toward the door a moment later. She reached for his hand and stopped him. "Goodnight, Dukat," she paused. "Please come back and visit me again. I like having you here," she whispered.
He smiled, watching her eyes. Something had changed in her so that she not only forgave him, but felt comfortable with him. He wondered if maybe he would not be alone forever after all. "Good night, Adami. I will visit you again," he promised.
When he brushed her cheek again she closed her eyes for a moment. His finger and thumb cradled her chin and the two drew closer. Then his lips touched hers for a gentle kiss. She drew him closer to her and kissed him deeply. He responded by drawing her toward him with one arm around her waist and kissing her with passion. She reached for him and kissed him again. After a while he wondered whether she planned to release him that evening. Then they broke away and he left.
He came to see her two days later, surprised to see her in an indigo blue garment instead of the gold robes. And her hair was simply pulled back opposed to the restricted pinned up braids he usually saw it in. He stepped inside and locked his arm around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they shared a deep kiss. Unwinding herself, she replicated two cups of coffee and the two sat once again.
"Adami, you look lovely," Dukat complimented.
She grinned. "Thank you."
Why the change of colors though?" he inquired.
She took a sip of coffee before replying. "I resigned as the Kai of Bajor today," she stated.
Dukat nearly spat out his coffee. "Really? What will you do now? You aren't going back to Bajor, are you?" he asked worriedly.
Winn reached for his hand and entwined her fingers with his. She smiled softly and shook her head. "No, I will not be leaving. I am staying right here on Deep Space Nine, with you," she added. Winn scooted toward him and kissed him lightly before replacing her coffee in the replicator.
"Do you know who will replace you?" he asked when she seated herself again.
"No, but I can make suggestions," Winn replied.
Dukat looked around the room. "Will Solbor be staying with you?"
She shook her head. "Solbor and his assistant Kavan will return to Bajor in the next few days," she answered grinning.
He did not miss that glint in her eye. "So you're glad they're going?" Dukat questioned.
She laughed. "Without them I can do what I please to my own discretion," she remarked as he chuckled.
When he had finished his coffee, he stood to leave. As he reached the door, she stopped him. He kissed her before departing.
Dukat came to see Winn five days later. He remembered seeing Solbor pass him in the corridor. As soon as Dukat had entered the door and it closed behind him, Winn wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him deeply.
"So you're free of him at last?" Dukat asked as they walked toward the center of the room.
She laughed lightly. "Yes. And Kavan left too. Now I can rearrange the furniture and change the door codes," she joked.
Dukat was about to reply but abruptly stopped when the door suddenly opened. Kavan dashed back into the room.
"My apologies, Eminence, but I seemed to have forgotten my bag and-" he stopped as he saw Dukat standing with one arm around Winn's shoulders. Kavan's eyes showed a burning rage. But that hateful stare was directed more toward Winn than Dukat. "You filthy bag of decaying flesh, you should be dead!" he yelled.
"Obviously I'm not," Dukat remarked, stepping away from Winn.
Kavan reached into his bag, which sat by the door, for a phaser. "It is fitting that you will die here, where you spent so many years killing my people," he declared as he lifted the weapon. Winn abruptly stepped up.
"You can't kill him. He's under my official protection!" she called out, trying to save him.
Kavan's eyes grew wide and dangerous like red embers from a campfire. "You! You betrayed your people! How can you protect him and still say that you are Bajoran? Now I know why you have resigned," paused and set the phaser to kill. "I know what you promised him. He stays alive until you die. That means all I have to do is kill you," he reasoned, aiming the phaser at her.
Just as Kavan was about to fire it, Dukat grabbed his harm and the two struggled for it. A phaser blast erupted and hit the wall. "I have a new idea. All I have to do is kill her and then injure myself. They'll blame you instantly and think it was an act of retribution by a bitter Cardassian," he gloated.
"Kavan, you stop this madness right now!" Winn cried.
Another phaser blast hit the wall. "You'll never get away with this! Some day it will catch up to you!" Dukat related as the struggle continued.
Then a most horrible thing occurred. Winn had stepped aside near a table, not certain what she should do. Dukat was loosing against Kavan, but as Dukat's hand was being involuntarily twisted, the phaser shot off again, this time at a table on the other side of the room. In that instant, Dukat saw Winn collapse onto the floor in pain. He seized the opportunity and his fist contacted with Kavan's nose and cheek. Dukat ran to Winn while what was left of Kavan ran out of the room.
He sat with her in his arms on the floor. "Oh Adami, I'm so sorry. I tried to prevent his from happening," he conveyed.
A tear ran down his cheek and he was about to say more when she reached up and put her thumb over his mouth. "I know. It wasn't your fault. I think I can survive this, however," she responded softly.
