School is back in session! I'm feeling ambivalent about this because I like to go to school, but I LOATHE homework. Plus, now I have no time for fanfiction! Well, less time at least. Oh, well. I'll do the best I can!

Chapter Seventeen: Dukat's Tirade

Bashir

"But Changelings can't do anything that elaborate!" Bashir protested. "This doesn't make sense!"

"I didn't say it made sense," Kira pointed out calmly. "I'm just telling you what I know."

Bashir let out a deep breath and thought about it. "So, you go into Garak's shop to get a dress fixed," he started, finding that saying it out loud seemed to make more sense than thinking about it did. "Then, suddenly, a young woman comes into the shop too. She pulls a phaser out of her pocket, and Garak grabs one from behind a counter. She shoots, landing a blast at your stomach, just as Garak shoots at her. You see her middle. . . open up to let the shot pass through, and then you're out cold.

"We can assume the Changeling knocked Garak out after that, and then. . . Well, from what you've told me, it sounds as if the blood was the Changeling all along!" Bashir finished. "But that's not possible. Changelings can't bleed."

"They don't need to bleed to be blood," Kira pointed out.

"Then how could a Changeling copy somebody's DNA?" Bashir asked, not interested in and answer. "It's much to complex. It's impossible."

"Please enlighten me, Mr. Changeling Expert!" Kira snapped sarcastically. "How do you know what the Founders can and cannot do?"

Bashir gave her a sour look and stood, circling the bio-beds around him. Then he seemed to give up and tapped his combadge. "Bashir to Sisko. I've got someone in the Infirmary who has something to tell you."

Odo

Not about to be ratted out, Odo shut down the console and kicked the Cardassian lying on the ground for good measure, stealing his phaser on the way. Then he took off down the corridor, still looking like a Cardassian, toward the cargo bay.

He made it to the cargo bay and looked around. Then he slid the doors open, only to find that the bay was heavily populated with Cardassian guards, all of whom fired an unusual weapon at him simultaneously as he entered the room.

Pain shooting throughout his body, Odo crumpled onto the floor, fighting to keep his shape. He could feel himself liquefying, no matter how much he urged himself to stay in Cardassian form. Eventually, exhausted from morphing so much and the pain still rippling over him, Odo lay in a puddle on the floor of the cargo bay, helpless.

He hated being helpless.

But there was nothing he could do about it, presently, as Gul Dukat's smug face peered down at him disapprovingly. "Now, why did you do this?" Dukat asked rhetorically of Odo. "Why would you go through all this again? You know you can't escape, and I don't understand why you'd even want to get out anyway. We're so courteous to you, and you repay us by embarrassing us in front of Starfleet -- Sisko himself, no less!"

Odo mustered some strength and oozed himself four inches in Dukat's direction before tiring again. Dukat signaled with his hand, and his guards hit Odo once more with the strange weapon. Had he had a mouth, Odo would've screamed the agony he felt the second time he was hit. A stinging rang through his gelatinous body, and he receded into the Changeling equivalent of convulsion as the torment continued. It seemed to last forever, and even though it didn't, it lingered in his body long after, making it nearly impossible to listen to Dukat's tirade about his "disgraceful behavior" . . . nearly being the key word.

"And then you try once more to escape through this cargo bay!" Dukat bellowed. "You're becoming predictable, my friend. And, quite frankly, your Cardassian impression leaves much to be desired."

Dukat gave the order and the pain renewed, even though the previous pain hadn't really subdued yet. It was simply torture, the irritation those weapons caused him. Odo felt himself thin out, spread across the floor with no self-containment left. He felt like he was going to die, and worse yet, he wanted to die.

Sisko

"Bashir to Sisko. I've got someone in the Infirmary who has something to tell you."

The doctor's words interrupted Sisko's thoughts."I'll be right there," Sisko replied gratefully. The last thing he wanted was to be alone with his thoughts. He stood immediately and hollered, "Jake-o!"

Jake came running around the corner that separated the two rooms. "Yeah, Dad?" he asked.

"I've got to go, but I promise we'll get that home-cooked meal in soon, okay?" Sisko asked, smiling at his son.

Jake was disappointed, but he tried not to show it. "Okay," he said, knowing his father was needed by more people than just him. "I'll talk to you later."

"Of course," Sisko said, embracing his son momentarily before leaving him wondering whether he'd ever get to say anything about his date.

Kira

Upon hearing the Commander's voice over the com, Kira relaxed for a moment, but only a moment. Sisko - - he restored her confidence for some reason. Then she remembered the mission he had sent Odo on and found herself in a state of ambivalence (AN: You should have looked that up by now if you don't know what it means; this isn't the first time I've used it, you know!).

Kira felt her forehead. Still warm, but not so hot anymore. She still felt horribly groggy, but she propped her elbows up beneath her and pulled herself into a sitting position. She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, and objects around her shifted out of phase. She pressed her fingers to her temples in an effort to still them.

Kira felt a small pinch on her neck and almost immediately she felt better. She looked to her left and saw Julian withdrawing from her with hypospray in hand. She offered a quick half-smile and turned to see Sisko walking into the Infirmary.

"Major," Sisko said, smiling. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, sir," Kira responded, returning the grin halfheartedly.

"You've missed quite a bit," Sisko pointed out.

"It would seem so," Kira agreed. "I've already been informed. I'm almost sad I missed it all."

Oh, I'm so glad Kira's awake! She's such a great character. Now, I'll admit I have a loose idea of how this story's going to end. I'm still thinking about what to do with Odo, but I've got a pretty good idea. Review to find out what happens next!