A/N - I don't own Star Trek in any shape of the franchise.
Please let me know what you think.
Glass Jaw.
When the door opened, Ezri couldn't help but wonder if the Dominion had timed it perfectly to make her and Worf as uncomfortable as they could be; sometimes Ezri wondered if the begging done on the part of both Ben and Worf (she still wondered why the Klingon would want her to stay, especially since she was the newest host of the Dax symbiont, but this was not the time to dwell on it), but she pushed those thoughts aside as she and Worf both got to their feet as Weyoun stepped into the room, clasping a PADD to his chest, wearing that same simpering smile on his face. In the doorway stood Damar, and two other Cardassians, both of whom holding phaser rifles while posing as a barrier who wouldn't hesitate to shoot if she and Worf both tried to escape.
Ezri noticed they did not look happy. Her heart bled for them, with the memory of how Dukat murdered Jadzia in the shrine on Deep Space Nine fresh in her mind, Ezri felt little sympathy for the Cardassian people on the whole.
They'd allowed the Dominion into their homes, if they didn't want it to happen then they should never have betrayed the Alpha Quadrant. Somehow, just staring at the three Cardassians, Ezri had the suspicion if these three were with her, and they knew they would not be overheard, they might agree with her.
"Let me take this opportunity to welcome you both to Cardassia Prime," Weyoun said in that exaggerated friendly tone, holding out his hands in a dramatic flourish, which bled with his arrogance and made everyone want to murder him within a few moments of meeting him, "I trust that you're being well treated, so far."
Weyoun laughed softly as if he knew a joke Ezri and Worf were the butt of, but the two Starfleet officers kept silent, wondering what the visit was about, although the presence of the three Cardassians told them it was hardly likely to be good. "I've been looking over the information you supplied to the Breen," the Vorta administrator went on, tapping on the PADD likely to find the relevant information he wanted to view, "during your interrogation, and the results are a bit confusing, as mental probes so often are," he added with that same smile while shrugging offhandedly as if telling the two Starfleet officers such a detail was expected.
"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sifting through the data and clarifying certain issues for us?" Weyoun finished, finally getting to the point of what he wanted, although Worf and Ezri had both reached the conclusion on their own.
Ezri saw Worf's hard look in his eyes, and she mirrored it herself as she glowered at the obnoxious Vorta. "You can't be serious?"
Surely he didn't think they were weak-minded enough to betray their friends, Starfleet, the war effort, did he? If he honestly thought they were just going to talk, handing over sensitive information about the Federation's defence strategy, he was in for a shock; Ezri knew Worf would rather die than disgrace himself, and he was too loyal to his friends and colleagues to betray them, and she felt the same way.
The smile turned icy on Weyoun's face, and the cold, ruthless individual who lurked behind that simpering demeanour bled out at them.
"I'm always serious," he said, going on slowly, "you see, if you don't do as I ask I'll have to hand you over to Legate Damar, and you know how ruthless the Cardassians can be," he finished in a stage whisper like he was imparting one of the greatest secrets of the universe that he didn't want anyone to know.
Still, it had an effect.
Ezri shuddered at the thought of Cardassian torture. Their reputation for brutality towards their prisoners, especially prisoners of war, was well known. Many people who went through Cardassian torture never recovered mentally, but at the same time, she knew it wouldn't be any better with Weyoun or the Dominion. Thanks to the Founders, the Dominion did not care for the niceties.
Taking the mention of them as their cue, Damar and his two soldiers stepped forward - Ezri noticed the hard glare the Cardassian leader sent towards Weyoun; the DS9 crew knew thanks to that mess where Odo was duped by one of Weyoun's former clones the former Weyoun was implied to have been killed in a staged accident, with Damar as the prime suspect.
Looking at the scene now and the Cardassian's body language, Ezri could well believe it, just as she could tell the Cardassian really did not want to be near the Vorta. There was absolute loathing in Damar's eyes as he glanced at Weyoun, so he turned his attention to the PADD clutched in his hand, looking at it and then read off what it said, "It is my duty to inform you that you'll be turned over to a Cardassian tribunal, where you'll be tried as war criminals."
"War criminals?" Ezri repeated in horror. "What are the charges?"
"That is not necessary for you to know. All you need to know is you'll be found guilty and executed.
Ah, I should have known, Ezri sneered with distaste as she took in the three Cardassians. Typical; the Cardassians are going to throw one charge after another, painting us in the worst possible light, and it is going to be shown to the masses to make them think well of the war and make them think only Cardassian morality can prevail. It's like Miles, all over again! The Cardassians don't care about justice, especially as their courts are like theatre productions with the defendant guilty anyway. They just like appeasing the masses, and stage the whole thing to make everything look nice!
Out of the corner of Ezri's eye, she could see the look on Worf's face. The Klingon, like her, had reached the same conclusion, and like her, he was angry with the Cardassians and their view of justice. Knowing Worf, as Ezri did thanks to her own time being around him, to say nothing of the bond he had with her predecessor, the Klingon likely viewed it as dishonourable.
She might have issues with Worf, but Ezri agreed there. There was no justice, no honour in Cardassian courts. At least Klingons didn't make an opera out of their trials.
"However, if you should decide to join us in our search for a quick end to this miserable war, your sentence will be reduced to life imprisonment," Weyoun interjected with an alternative - the two Starfleet officers weren't surprised by Weyoun's alternative 'offer' since it would make sense they wanted something from them both, and the threat of execution was meant to frighten them into joining the Dominion, betraying everything the two officers stood for along the way, not that the Dominion cared.
But if he honestly thought they believed it to be a nicer alternative he was in for a disappointment, they both knew life imprisonment would be a death sentence in Cardassian territory anyway, and being guarded by the Jem'Hadar was unlikely to be pleasant, so there was no real choice, was there?
Still, Ezri did notice something important…
"If you want to end the war why don't you convince the Founders to surrender?" She asked, knowing he wouldn't do it no matter how strongly he might feel about ending the war. In any case, it would be against his genetic programming to go against his 'Gods.'
Weyoun chuckled softly, and he walked towards her - Ezri stood her ground, even though she did not want to be close to the Vorta, who oozed an obnoxiousness she remembered from dozens of people her previous hosts had met over the years. "You know, my dear, it would be such a shame for you to die, without the good Dr Bashir knowing how you felt about him."
It was the smirk that did it. Well that and the PADD the bastard held up, showing in Cardassian characters a vivid picture of what the Breen mind probe had reported.
This was why Ezri despised mind-probing devices, why they were banned in the Federation in general; they tore apart people's private thoughts and exposed them for all.
She lashed out with her right fist. Ezri wasn't a large woman, but she was young and deceptively strong, and as ingrained in her by her Starfleet training, very interested in her health and in her physical fitness. The fact she had undergone the compulsory training in physical defence courses helped, but her knowledge of the Dax hosts had taught her a trick or true.
Ezri's left fist lashed out, catching Weyoun right in his smug, arrogant face. The Vorta, not expecting the attack, staggered back, but not before Ezri's fist had dislocated his jaw with a single punch.
Worf's own hands lashed out, gripping Weyoun's head and there was a loud click, and the Vorta fell to the ground…. Prompting one of the Cardassian guards to hit the Klingon with the butt of his rifle, sending Worf to the ground on his knees before pointing his weapon at Worf. Ezri tensed, ready for a fight; she might be having issues with Worf, but she wasn't going to stand back and let him get hurt or killed. In any case, if they could overwhelm the guards they might be able to make it out of here…
"WAIT!"
Damar's call stopped the Cardassian guard from taking any further action, and Ezri lost her tenseness even if the guard relaxed, and stepped back past his leader's outstretched hand.
Damar waited for the atmosphere in the cell to become less tense before he slowly knelt down by the Vorta's corpse. A vivid red-purplish bruise was already beginning to appear on Weyoun's face, right on the jaw, and he could see the dislocated jawbone without any trouble. A snort escaped his mouth as he studied the Vorta before he gently tapped Weyoun's head….and the head just moved to the side without trouble or resistance while the Vorta's blue eyes were wide.
A deep belly laugh rumbled in Damar's chest and he laughed scornfully, his body shaking, to the surprise of the two imprisoned Starfleet officers. "Overconfidence," he laughed, "the hallmark of the Weyouns. Maybe the Founders should eliminate that from your genetic recipe next time!" He said gleefully, while his guards smiled. Oh, it seemed every Cardassian despised the Vorta as much as those in Starfleet who had the displeasure of meeting the obnoxious diplomats did, as he stood up before he turned to Worf and Ezri.
"They'll just make another copy of him, you know," he told them simply, although he knew they knew that already. "You should have killed me. There's only one Damar."
Ezri saw Worf glare at the Cardassian and she knew what was coming. "I will keep that in mind," Worf said, a promise clear in the air. He really would try to murder Damar at some point, and the Cardassian knew it. For a moment Ezri wondered if Damar had a death wish, but he likely didn't; Damar might feel guilt over what happened with Dukat as the plan Ben had cooked up to retake DS9, and secure the Alpha Quadrant terminal to the wormhole, but Ezri doubted he wanted to die for something so senseless and pointless.
If he was that suicidal, he'd have tried to kill himself long ago.
Damar didn't seem fazed by the promise, in fact, it seemed to amuse him. "I'm sure you will," he agreed amicably before his demeanour became more serious. "Consider his offer, Klingon; you die in two days. Pick that up, and let's go," he added, looking down at the Vorta's body before he walked out.
Once the door had closed after the guards had dragged Weyoun's cooling body out of the cell, Ezri looked at the Klingon.
"He's got a way about him, hasn't he?"
"Damar?"
"No, Weyoun. You'd think he would be a bit more careful, especially considering your track record, but I wasn't expecting that crack he gave me," Ezri commented.
"No," Worf growled, but he looked away at her raised eyebrow. "Good punch," he added, although not convincingly.
"He had a glass jaw," Ezri smirked, making Worf snort.