Author's note: Wow, how awesome am I for completely forgetting about this story. Sorry to anyone who was reading this, I thought I'd posted the whole thing, but I discovered today that that was not the case. So here are the last two chapters.

Chapter 4

In the quarters that had been provided to him, Odo paced back and forth, lost in thought. His tour of the station earlier had been informative, convincing him that the Vorta had everything well under control. He'd learned that the Federation had sent a ship into the Gamma Quadrant but that it had stayed well away from Dominion territory and hadn't attempted to initiate contact. Was it the Defiant, Odo wondered? The thought made him miss his life and friends on Deep Space Nine and wish, not for the first time, that there was some way of getting word of what was happening there.

It was odd--all his life he'd wished to find his home and be with his people, and now that he had, he was realizing that there were some things that the Great Link simply couldn't give him. Variety, for one. In fact, this time on the space station was the best he'd had in a long time. He felt useful. The Link did many things, but it certainly didn't give him a feeling of productiveness. Even this Weyoun business was a welcome change.

Which reminded him. Weyoun. What was he going to do about that? Eris' story of Vorta history seemed to be true--Teeren had given him a similar account and neither of their voices had held that insincere note that he'd always associated with Vorta. He had to admit to himself that fighting a war for the opposite side had left him with a fairly narrow view of the Vorta as disingenuous liars blindly following the orders of their superiors. And they were to outsiders--but not among themselves, it seemed. There appeared to be a genuine affection between Eris and Teeren, for example. He clearly seconded her cause and defended her staunchly.

As for mindlessly obeying the Founders…the Vorta used a bizarre logic to justify their faith and push all conflict to the backs of their minds. Odo had seen it with Weyoun Six, and he'd seen it today. They had no way to reconcile what they knew to be true about the Founders with their beliefs, and so they simply ignored what they knew.

Odo harrumphed quietly. Religion. He'd never understand why people complicated their lives with it. Living among Bajorans so long, he'd come to have great respect for their faith, but would never have worshipped the Prophets himself. And yet…he couldn't help but think that it must be hard for the Vorta to have to face their gods every day. And their gods failed to live up to their divinity so often. Odo, to his own surprise, found that he didn't want to disappoint these people. He didn't want to take away anything more from them, even if they claimed it didn't matter how much was taken.

Abruptly, he sat down at the comm. panel and contacted Teeren.

"Yes, Odo?" the Vorta asked pleasantly.

"Teeren, I wondered if we might take a walk."

He looked uncertain momentarily, but quickly bowed his head. "Of course. When?"

"Now, if you don't mind. Can I meet you on the main deck?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes," Teeren agreed with a nod.

"Good. Odo out."

Within five minutes, the two of them were strolling down the main deck of the station. All the commerce took place here, and it was the only place on the station Odo had seen species besides Vorta and Jem'Hadar. There was not, however, anything he could see that remotely resembled Quark's bar, which pleased him immensely. At times, the Dominion didn't seem so bad.

Teeren was clearly waiting for him to speak, so Odo decided not to let the silence stretch on any longer. "Did you know Weyoun?"

The Vorta didn't answer right away and adopted a thoughtful expression for several moments. Then, however, he answered, "We worked together on occasion."

"How would you describe him?"

Teeren raised an eyebrow. "You really are giving his activation serious consideration. Hm. How would I describe him?" Teeren paused briefly before continuing, "Dedicated. Loyal to a fault. Ruthless, cunning, and intelligent. But those are meaningless adjectives--anybody could see those things about him. I suspect in private he could be a very different man, and I wouldn't be able to tell you about that. He had an almost impeccable public face."

"Almost?"

Nodding, Teeren said, "There was one time, not long before the end of the war, when Weyoun was here visiting Eris. He looked…weary, I think is the best way to describe it. The war was hard on us all, of course, but Eris has hinted that it was harder on him than he ever let on."

Odo nodded. "I see. And would you call him cruel?"

"Oh, I'm quite sure he could be. One doesn't go through eight clones without developing something of a mean streak. But then again, with Vorta, it's often difficult to tell where the Founders' wills end and ours begin. Even for us."

Odo turned his head and found that Teeren was looking at him a bit oddly. "What is it?"

He shook his head a little, as if to clear it. "Nothing. Forgive me."

"As usually, there's nothing to forgive." Odo stopped, turning his next question around in his mind a couple times before asking, "Teeren, do you think Weyoun should be activated?"

"Yes," he replied without pause. "Absolutely. I wouldn't have allowed Eris to ask if I didn't. And almost any Vorta would give you the same answer."

"You really think that Weyoun's presence will be beneficial to the Dominion?"

Teeren smiled. "Oh yes, Odo. But it doesn't matter what I think. The question you should ask is; do you think so?"