There was no set time for the end of the mission -- unpredictable variables again. They roughly estimated to be back in the morning of the second day after departure, but no one showed up until late afternoon.
Seskal was sitting by the console along with Nyran, carefully avoiding eye contact. Rusot had obviously gotten him back on his side, but there was still an air of guilt about him in her presence.
When the hail finally came through, Nyran was about to leave for dinner, but the chime made her completely forget about food. It was Kira with some much needed good news.
"We've delivered the weapon to the Federation. Coming in for a landing in thirty."
"We'll be waiting, Commander. Glad to hear from you," she signed into the comm with relief before ending the transmission.
Apparently, she and Seskal were not the only ones anxiously awaiting the return of the team. As Nyran was stretching her gaze towards the incoming shuttle, a bit of a crowd was forming behind them, a small spontaneous welcoming committee of sorts.
The shuttle landed flawlessly on the almost even patch of rock near the cave entrance they called "the landing pad" for the lack of more fitting terms. Four figures stepped out instead of five; Garak and Kira holding not-so-good looking Odo between them... and Damar.
"What the hell?" Seskal commented on the state Odo was in.
He was all flakey, like he was drying out, crumbling and falling apart. Nyran remembered the female Founder having similar symptoms at one point. She had kept her condition a secret from her "allies", but as soon as the trio arrived to help, they told them everything about the virus plaguing the changelings. Nyran would not give it a second thought other than being relieved that the Founders would soon come to an end, but Odo was different -- and she felt sorry not just for him, but also for Kira, who was about to lose her lover.
"Mind your own business, Seskal, will you?" Kira barked at him. "You could help us instead of gaping."
Seskal shook off the shock and stepped up to land a hand. Nyran meanwhile turned to Damar. He looked pale, almost ghostly, but he did not seem to be injured. His expression was worrisome -- he seemed lost somehow.
"Welcome back," she said quietly and smiled despite his appearance.
The look on his face remained, but as soon as his gaze found her, he headed straight for her. Nyran just gasped in surprise when his whole mass closed around her, hugging her tightly -- in public, in front of everyone who came out to greet them. One of his hands pressed her torso to his chest while the other went for her hair and she could feel him hide his face in it, inhaling deeply, desperately.
It was the kind of embrace a soldier gives to his wife when he comes back from visiting Hell, not a casual friend returning from a successful endeavor.
Nyran panicked for the first few seconds, scared about how it looked to the gathered audience, but something in that gesture and in the grave look Kira gave her made her tune in on his suffering. Something was very wrong -- so much that he did not care about appearances. She instinctively wrapped her arms around him, trying to soothe the pain.
"What happened?" She turned to Kira with alarm. "And where the hell is Rusot?"
"Rusot..." Kira paused just long enough to make Nyran suspicious, "didn't make it. But that's probably not what this is about. We've got some bad news."
"What kind of bad news?" She was trying to speak quietly, but the overload of emotions made her yelp instead.
"I think he'll want to tell you himself," Kira said softly. "It's a lot. Maybe you two should find a quiet corner."
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The Casualty «Dukat/Damar & OFC» 🔞 ✔️
Fanfiction= 'You're my guardian angel, you know that?' He weaved his fingers in her hair and leaned down to kiss her. Despite the heavy smell of stale kanar on his breath, all she wanted right now was to press her lips to his, let his mouth devour her, have h...
