"He's strange," Julian said definitively a few days later at the dinner Dax had prepared to keep herself company while Worf was running an errand off station.

"Of course you would say he's strange. You're the one that keeps acting like he's human." Jadzia pointed out as she placed a bowl of Klingon appetizers in the center of the table.

"Jadzia does have a point there Julian. You do tend to go out of your way to pretend you don't know he's actually an alien." Kira remarked as she wrinkled her nose slightly at the appetizers and opted for the safer looking vegetable tray on the table.

"That's ridiculous. I treat Doctor Ore like I do everyone I've just met. And anyway, doesn't it bother either of you? I mean, aren't you just the least bit curious about who he really is?" Julian asked in that leading way he did when he wanted someone to validate him.

Both Jadzia and Kira exchanged looks and then laughed.

"What?" Julian felt like he was missing something.

"Nothing. It's nothing." Kira said dismissively.

"Dax? Come on." Julian pressed.

"Kira's right, Julian. It's nothing. It's just that it's not really true. You don't treat Dr. Ore like everyone. In fact, you treat him the same way you do every time you…you…" Jadzia was struggling to find the easiest way to put it.

"Meet someone who isn't human." Kira finished for her bluntly before sticking her favorite pastry into her mouth that she'd brought to curb her latest craving.

"What? What are you talking about?" Julian protested, genuinely confused and intrigued at the same time.

"Please, Julian. Let me see if I can illustrate for you. Who was the first Trill you ever met personally and became close to?" Jadzia asked.

"Besides the few I knew at the academy? You. But I don't see what…" Julian began to protest.

"Julian…" Jadzia's eyes widened at him, "Stop pretending to be so stupid. You know exactly what I'm referring to."

"Oh. Right. Well, that doesn't count." Julian protested, realizing she was referring to the fact that he'd been infatuated with her when they'd first met. "You are not an average Trill."

"Sure it doesn't." Jadzia rolled her eyes. "What about Garak? Or even Odo? Face it, Julian, aliens fascinate you. The fact that Dr. Ore is not a human and that his life circumstances are shrouded in mystery is irresistible to you and so, instead of just letting it go, you overcompensate every time you're around him like you're trying to hide something."

"I do NOT overcompensate when I'm talking to Dr. Ore…" Julian said indignantly.

"Yes, you do." Kira and Jadzia said in unison flatly.

"Look, all we're saying is that if you're so interested in him why don't you try to get to know him a bit? I know he seems stuffy, but he's actually quite…I dunno," Kira offered as she tried to find the right words.

"Nice." Jadzia finished for her. "And probably lonely."

"Fine, fine. The doctor sure seems to have won the both of you over, though I can't see how since the man seldom says more than two words at a time to anyone." Julian muttered.

"Maybe around you. I don't have much reason to talk to him but when I do, he's friendly enough about it. Quiet, sure. But courteous and curious. Dr. Ore strikes me as a very thoughtful man. He pays attention to people and what they need. Like when he helped me with my sneezing. He saw a problem, and he just fixed it." Kira remarked.

"Last week he sent Worf and I a gift basket of lotions and salve. He'd heard it was our anniversary. The card was quite sweet. I think he's just really good at being impersonally personal. He's guarded. Private. But kind. He looked almost alarmed when Worf and I came by to thank him for it. Anyway, we're not trying to gang up on you Julian we just aren't interested in saying anything negative about the man." Jadzia explained.

"It wasn't my intention to be negative, I was trying to be conversational. Never mind. Let's change the subject and go about having a nice time. Cheers." Julian muttered, toasting the others as they got on with their meal.

The first week or so of Gaven's arrival proved to be a solitary one. Dr. Bashir had been kind enough to find Gaven a small office space within the station's infirmary to do his work. This work consisted mostly of doing basic physicals on the available and willing non-human station inhabitants and writing up his findings in triplicate. He had permission to send his proposals for updates to Starfleet Medical and to Vulcan, but Gaven wasn't allowed to input new information directly into the station's database. This seemed to occupy all Gaven's time unless Julian wanted his help with something. Gaven's interaction with his patients was thorough and usually very brief. Julian noticed how he commonly asked to touch a patient and marveled when he saw that Gaven could detect the presence of injury or disease using a form of biological empathy that was unique to his species.

Julian desperately wanted to discuss the phenomenon with Gaven but found it difficult to secure an opportunity since he couldn't freely ask Gaven about it while at work without the risk of violating his cover. He realized that if he did want to learn about Gaven he would have to convince him to be more social and so he went on to double his efforts at trying to engage the man every time he saw him. His overtures of friendliness were not very well received.

"Well, good morning Dr. Ore. And how are we getting along today?" Julian said as he had on most mornings when Gaven showed up for his rounds.

Gaven noticed the doctor always seemed to speak slightly more loudly than was needed as if he was trying to project his voice on a stage and his movements were somewhat exaggerated. More substantial steps, more arm waving, broader smiles, and an annoying level of exuberant expression.

This morning was no different. "I'm…Fine. Doctor. Thank you."

Gaven stalked the rest of the way into the infirmary and went directly to his small office almost as if he were trying to escape.

"Well, that's…Good. Listen, I have an idea. What do you say to us having lunch today together? I thought we might pick each other's brains. Maybe talk about some cases that have proved troublesome in the past." Julian offered while he leaned casually in the doorway of Gaven's office.

"Thank you, but no," Gaven replied bluntly.

Julian's eyes looked like they might pop out of his head at having his offer rejected so utterly. He felt confused by the man's tone and blunt delivery.

Noticing his reaction, Gaven mentally kicked himself at the prospect that he might have just hurt the other man's feelings.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I have a great deal of work to do today. I wasn't planning to take lunch." Gaven lied.

Julian waited for him to finish with a follow-up offer but waited in vain. "Oh…Well, another time then I'm sure. Right. Well, if you need anything I'll just be over here. Doctoring."

Gaven watched Julian linger for a few seconds longer before he backed himself out of the office and disappeared.

When Julian was out of earshot Gaven finally sighed and turned forward at his desk covering his face with his hands as he tried to rub away his deep regrets. "Damn it all."

"Bad morning, Doctor?" The blunt gravely tone of Odo's voice suddenly cut into Gaven's reality like a comforting rush of warm water.

"Mr. Odo, hello. Yes. You could say that. Come in." Gaven said, clear relief in his tone that hinted at how much he liked the shapeshifter and was glad just then to see him. "What do I owe to your visit. Anything wrong?"

Gaven straighten his posture an pushed away his troubled thoughts in order to adopt a more placid expression.

"I told you before that I would take your medical advice into consideration and report the result," Odo remarked.

"And? How did my recommendations go over?" Gaven asked, genuinely interested.

"The new chair is helping, and I must admit the inversion therapy you recommended has been quite effective and even…Enjoyable." Odo reported.

"Good, and the baths?" Gaven inquired.

"I'm…Still working up to them. I'm not quite sure how much I like the prospect of being wet. Warm or not." Odo admitted.

"More ironic words have never been spoken given your species natural state and the collective way you engage in the Great Link. Baby steps, ." He encouraged.

"Ye-es. Speaking of baby steps, if you don't mind me saying so, you might just consider allowing our good doctor the satisfaction of getting to know you a bit." Odo advised gently.

"I don't think that's wise," Gaven replied.

The look on his face said he didn't like the taste of his own words.

"Why? You seem more than capable of making friends here at the station if you wanted to. I think you'd find Doctor Bashir very likable. Most people do." Odo encouraged him gently.

At this Gaven got up and closed his office door before he sat back down and rubbed at his face some more.

"I'm not good at this, you know. This business of starting my life all over from scratch and having to go around pretending as if my old life never happened. Back when I was found by the Vulcans and found myself stuck on one of their freighters while they brought me to their homeworld, it felt much easier than this is. On the freighter I was kept in isolation and was mostly just under the Vulcan's observation. It was impersonal and temporary." A well of emotion seized up in the man causing him to pause.

"Being here on the station, being asked to get involved in the problems of this quadrant feels overwhelming. I don't want people to get too attached to me here and I don't trust the Federations motives in anything involving the work I'm doing. But, the reality is I have nothing else to leverage but my work and insights. Doctor Bashir seems like a good man, but he takes his relationships with people to heart. I don't want him getting tangled up in my secrets, Mr. Odo. He is the kind of person who enjoys uncovering things that at times would be better left concealed."

"Fascinating that you're so worried about Dr. Bashir's wellbeing in particular," Odo remarked. "Have you considered that we're all curious about who you are?"

"Perhaps. But Doctor Bashir is the one that sees me the most of anyone on this station. He's the one person I can't consistently avoid day to day given our work arrangement." Gaven shrugged.

"I see. I must say, I don't really like this shroud of mystery the Federation is keeping over you. Frankly, I fail to see the reasoning behind it." Odo said, settling himself on the edge of Gaven's desk.

"I should think you of all people would know what it's like to be the first of your kind to be commonly identified. Before all this business with the Dominion, you were just a unique alien oddity and just another individual trying to make a place for themselves in the universe. Now you're much more than that to both your kind and others. If the Federation had it within their power to turn me or my work into a weapon to use against the Dominion, do you honestly think they'd just let me go about my business? Even if they did, do you think once others learned about my existence all of them would also leave me to my own devices in the galaxy?" Gaven inquired.

"I see your point. It seems to me you've also disclosed a great deal to certain Federation parties. Why be secretive now about the fundamental details of your life?" Odo asked.

"I have told Starfleet and the Vulcans enough to give them cause to help me survive. Until I was found, I had no real concept of there being so much life out in the universe. My people are space capable and advanced enough to be an acceptable first contact culture, but we have not bothered to educate ourselves about who else and what else is happening beyond our planet. I am essentially a fish out of water having to learn how to breathe on land. It's been quite a learning curve and I am trying to get up to speed as quickly as I can." Gaven sighed, miserably.

He then continued darkly. "I have no doubt, Mr. Odo, that if I were to show any real resistance to the Federation's overtures; I'd be sitting in some isolation unit somewhere being poked and prodded at against my will by someone or other and I've had just about enough of that experience already."

"You've been held against you're will before?" Odo raised one brow.

"Yes. And not humanely." Gaven replied.

"Why?" He asked.

"Do people who do such things need a reason? I assume it's because I have the misfortune to be able to metabolize a radioactive element that is toxic to almost everyone else and that has a specifically interesting effect on changelings." It was the first time Gaven had vented about the suspected reality of his situation to anyone on the station besides Benjamin.

"Mm. I see." Odo did see very clearly. More clearly than some might have that the alien man sitting in front of him was a literal prisoner of circumstance.

Given Odo's history of being prodded at and experimented on, he understood. He also realized quite acutely how much distress the other man was probably experiencing.

"Since you were so kind as to give me such succinct advice before, Doctor. Please allow me to suggest something of my own?" Odo planned to say something with or without Gaven's approval.

Gaven didn't protest.

"You're a man of many secrets, and I think some of them are causing you a great deal of pain. It may help you to make friends. Maybe even find someone you can confide in that is…Better with feelings. You appear to be a forthright man. I would suspect you're also one of deep conviction and I'm sure for better or worse your attitudes are part of the reason you've ended up here. While I respect your need for caution and anonymity, I feel too much isolation and personal reflection could do you more harm than good." Odo said decisively.

Gaven smiled slowly after a few seconds. "I do like you Mr. Odo. I'm glad we have such a good understanding of each other. I'll take your recommendations under advisement."

"I'm sorry. I…I can't understand you. I NEED to run some tests if you WANT me to help her." Dr. Bashir was at his wit's end as he tried desperately to communicate with the tall red skinned female alien that had come in on the last transport with a sick child in tow later that morning.

Presently the child in question was being held by an almost panicked looking Julian as the mother muttered something guttural and made hand gestures that the universal translator didn't register as a language.

Gaven didn't say anything at first when he'd come upon the unusual scene and stood in the frame of his office door watching the chaotic-looking situation without comment.

Finally, Julian caught sight of him and uttered the most pathetic sounding "help" imaginable.

Gaven grunted and walked the rest of the way into the central part of the infirmary rolling up his sleeves to his forearms as he came around the exam table where Julian had been trying to put the clinging child down. "Well? What's happening?"

"She just came in here off the morning transport and started babbling incessantly at me. Next thing I know she thrusts this child into my arms and starts making a god-awful fuss. As far as I can tell the child has a very high body temperature. Normally I would assume it was a fever, but I have no idea if the presenting temperature is an abnormality in this species and to what extent. Every time I try to put her down to examine her the child starts crying bloody murder and the mother tries to hoist her back into my arms. Would YOU try to reason with her, please? I'm about ready to sedate both of them and be done with it." Julian desperately threatened.

"Right. Give me a moment." At that Gaven swiftly went back around the table to address the woman who was nearly a foot taller than him.

Julian looked on as Gaven gently took her upper arm, breathed in sharply once, and then guided her aside and began talking to her with one or two carefully placed words. Julian noticed he didn't let go of the woman's upper arm and that she allowed it to hang dead while she made a few slower hand gestures with her other hand and one or two guttural grunts. Several seconds later he nodded in apparent understanding and let go of the woman then turned back towards Julian.

"Hand her over, please." Gaven requested.

"Huh, gladly." Julian gently pried the child off him and directly into Gaven's arms before the girl had time to realize what was happening and could start fussing again.

Gaven balanced the girl child on one hip as he pressed his thumb and pointer fingers into either side of her forehead and gently dragged them down toward her throat. "Mm. Your right. We have to get her body temperature down right now. She's also exceedingly dehydrated, but that should be easy to fix once I get her stabilized."

"Fine and just how do you propose we do that? The mother won't let me near her with anything let alone put the child down." Julian muttered in frustration.

"I can get it down." Gaven assured him. "I'll need an isolation room, a sub-zero anti-thermal blanket, and a large bottle of water along with your temporary help."

Julian nodded and jumped into action to fill the order quickly gathering what they needed as he escorted Gaven into a private room, figuring the man would explain as they went.

"Now what?" Julian asked.

"I need you to secure that door for me once we get started. I can't afford prying eyes while I do this. In the meantime, I need you to cut off my shirt so the child can properly latch onto my skin." Gaven explained.

"What are you going to do? Strip down and wrap yourself and her in that anti-thermal blanket? You'll induce hypothermia." Julian protested.

"Not in her. And only a little in me. You're a doctor. I'm sure you can treat me for it after. I need to get her temperature down and this is the quickest way. Once her temperature is regulated, she'll take the bottle, and then the mother can handle it from there. But if we're going to keep perpetuating the idea I'm human I have to do it in here. This is a need to know kind of situation, doctor; and you're in a need to know position." Gaven insisted. "Let us get to it."

Julian didn't protest further and after locking down the room, he worked on fulfilling Gaven's requests. He didn't see what all the fuss was about until he cut about halfway down Gaven's shirt where he ripped it the rest away to expose the man's toned muscular torso. Once he was completely visible from the waist up Julian suddenly saw the glaring difference in their anatomy.

Along the front of Gaven's abdomen was a pocket of what looked like muscle and cartilage. There was one slot on either side of his stomach starting about two inches down from his rib cage and ending just above his defined pelvic muscle. It reminded Julian of a gill opening on a shark.

"Facinat…" Julian muttered as he nearly reached out and touched one.

"Later, doctor. I need you to position the anti-thermal blanket for me." Gaven muttered.

"Right. How do we know when enough time has passed do you think?" Julian inquired.

"I'm hoping that she'll unlatch and want out of it and off of me once her body temperature has normalized." Gaven mused.

"Is that a professional opinion?" Julian quipped.

"No. More like an educated guess. Why don't we find out if I'm right." He urged.

Julian and Gaven didn't waste any more time. The anti-thermal blanket was a thick insulated cooling blanket designed to rapidly reduce a person's body temperature in a short period. Prolonged time in one at least for humans could result in hypothermia and shock. True to his estimation the girl child seemed to latch onto Gaven by her fingers and toes which had little suckers on them then she went into a kind of stasis. Gaven joined her in this stasis, and after being secured on a med bed, he became verbally nonresponsive as the child and man were caught up together in a mutual kind of repose. For Julian's part, he monitored them carefully, trying to come up with a quick game plan if something went awry. The experience was nerve-wracking for Julian since for once he felt like he didn't know what was going on.

About forty-five minutes in and just about around the time Julian was ready to pull the plug on the whole damn experiment. Julian suddenly saw the child begin to stir and eventually indicate it was moving about independently and wanted out of the blanket as quickly as possible. Julian obliged her swiftly, and sure enough, the child suddenly seemed alert and very eager to return to her mother as she started making loud chirping noises and stood expectantly at the door.

"Quiet you. I'll let you out in a moment. Gaven? Gaven, come on. Wake up." Julian unwrapped the other doctor as swiftly as possible and began taking his vitals.

Not surprisingly he was in the beginning phase of hypothermia, and it took several minutes for the Doctor to stabilize him and get Gaven to start coming out of it.

"Damn it; you scared the hell out of me!" Julian crossly said once Gaven began to open his eyes and show signs of independent awareness.

"Well? Did it work?" Gaven muttered his lips still shivering as Julian worked to stabilize his body temperature.

"Yes, it bloody well worked which seems like a damn miracle since I'm only vaguely certain you had any idea what the hell you were doing," Julian grumbled trying to keep his tone in check.

"Like I said…It was an educated guess. I'll explain more about it later if you really want to know. Throw me something to wear if you would and get that girl back to her mother before they both have an anxiety attack. Everything should be fine now." He insisted.