Paramount owns Star Trek, DS9, the characters, and
large chunks of the galaxy.  This story was written
for personal amusement and should not be taken as
intended copyright infringement or indeed anything
but the product of a slightly bored mind seeking its
own entertainment.

******************************************
If it's anything, it' s a G/B story.  I'm probably
over-rating it by giving it a PG, since nothing
remotely graphic happens, but these days it seems
better to be on the safe side.  You never know how
the unwary reader might react to a story which
features the DS9 crew in their jammies.

Kit
******************************************

Captain Sisko surveyed his senior staff.  "I'm glad
you could all make it to my slumber party."

Dax smiled.  The captain had summoned them all here
to the wardroom in the middle of the night for this
emergency meeting and not given anyone time to dress.
In spite of the crisis, she found herself amused:
given her general interest in people, she was fascinated
by the sight of her co-workers in their pajamas.  It
was like seeing a hidden facet of each of these people
she knew so well.

Odo, of course, was in the same brown uniform as always;
it was part of him.  Benjamin was still imposing but
far more resplendent in blue-and-orange geometrically
patterned pjs.  Kira was almost regal in a copper-colored
negligee with lace-work shoulders and matching, floor-
sweeping robe.  Miles O'Brien wore red and white striped
flannel and well-worn terry-cloth.  Julian was the one
who surprised her.  The last time she had seen him in
his pjs, they were similar to the two-piece, dark blue
cotton outfit she wore now.

Tonight, he was in gold-shot emerald silk--either a
very short nightshirt or just a top; she had caught a
flash of white briefs when he took his seat.  The shirt
was collarless, cut low across the pectorals.  An
exotic garment, totally unlike him.

And Julian seemed self-conscious in it.  Catching her eyes
on him, he shrunk into the pale silver-gray robe that was
too big for him and drew it close about his shoulders--
which only made her more curious.

But now was not the time to puzzle over this minor
mystery, for Sisko was announcing news of far greater
importance:

"Cardassia Prime has fallen into communication silence.
Given Starfleet's last intelligence reports regarding the
precarious political situation, it seems likely that
there has been a coup."

"Founder influenced?" asked Odo.

"Unknown."

There it was: since the TalShiar and the Obsidian Order
had been infiltrated, deceived and destroyed by the
Dominion six months ago, they all had been expecting,
and dreading, something exactly like this.

"The Founders might have nothing to do with it," Kira
argued. "There's been a growing dissident movement on
Cardassia for years.  The destruction of the Obsidian
Order's left a huge hole in Cardassia's internal
security--and that would give the dissidents the
perfect opportunity to gather enough power to succeed
in overthrowing the Central Command."

Dax added, "It's presumptive to assume that the Dominion
must be responsible for Cardassia's fall.  The only way
the Founders could get to Cardassia is through the
wormhole--and we monitor every ship that goes through.
We scan the cargo, the crew..."

"Everyone who comes in from the Gamma Quadrant
undergoes a blood screening," Bashir interjected.

Dax nodded.  "And once they've been through our security
procedures, anyone heading for Cardassia has to pass
*their* blockade.  Since they've sealed their borders to
guard themselves against Dominion infiltration, they've
been particularly zealous about hunting for shapeshifters.
You could almost call them paranoid, if they didn't
have good reasons to be worried."

"So it's not impossible," said Sisko.

"No," she admitted.  "We've been as thorough as we
can be, but..."

"A shapeshifter can be disguised as *anything,*" Odo
finished for her.

"If there's been a coup brought about by internal
influences alone," said Kira, "it's to our advantage.
*I'm* not sorry to see that bloody oppressive government
overthrown."

"Good riddance!" O'Brien tossed in his agreement.

The major continued:  "But if the Dominion is behind this..."

Sisko nodded.  The implications for the entire Alpha
Quadrant were enormous.

"Odo, what have you heard from your Cardassian contacts?"

"Nothing lately, Captain.  But may I point out that Mr.
Garak has sources of information I do not?"

Sisko flashed one of his smiles.  "Excellent suggestion!
Constable, will you go and fetch Mr. Garak?"  He glanced
at the doctor, as if he considered sending him instead.
"Invite him to join us."  His tone suggested that Odo
not take "no" for an answer.

Odo returned a few minutes later with a disheveled and
somewhat irritated Cardassian in tow.  Garak was
usually impeccably groomed.  Now, his black hair,
normally combed back, flew about his shoulders and he
wore a plain, rumpled undershirt that was oddly matched
with a pair of elegant gold-shot green silk pajama
bottoms.

"What can I help you with, Captain?" the tailor asked
smoothly as took the nearest seat--but it was too late.
The group had already noticed and begun to speculate.
No one spoke a word, but Dax could almost feel the
mental commotion going on about her.  Her own mind was
whirling.

Poor Julian was scarlet.

"So, Mr. Garak," the captain began.  "What news have
you heard from Cardassia lately?"

"The same news you have, Captain--disturbing reports
of riots in the capitol, civil uprisings, bombings,
the assassination of Legate Auth.  The tragic loss
of the Obsidian Order in the Gamma Quadrant has left
the Cardassian state vulnerable to all sorts of
assaults from its enemies.  These are troubled times."

"They are indeed," Sisko replied.  "You haven't received
any more...confidential information from any of your
old friends in the Empire? You haven't heard anything
about a coup?"

Garak's eyes widened at this information.  "No, I
haven't," he answered with apparent sincerity. "But it
would explain a great deal.  I haven't heard a word
from any of my old friends in some time.  If there has
been a coup, I suppose they've all been executed
by the new regime. A pity, really."

Dax had to admire Benjamin's control and Garak's
composure as they kept to the subject of the fall of
Cardassia.  Both appeared determined to remain
oblivious to the excitement bubbling around them
since the unexpected revelation that Dr. Bashir was
wearing the top half of the Cardassian tailor's
pajamas.

That open collar was cut to accommodate a Cardassian
neck; she should have seen that from the first.  The
robe must also be Garak's, she realized. The color
was all wrong and the shoulders were far too broad
for the slender doctor.

The only sign she detected that Garak was flustered
was in his unusual candidness.  As Sisko introduced the
possibility of Founder influence, the tailor answered
every question with no more than a token of evasion.
Would he be so cooperative if he weren't anxious to
get out the wardroom--away from the glares of Kira,
O'Brien and Odo?  Miles, especially, looked as if he
wanted to leap across the table and throttle him.

Dax felt like laughing--and at the same time, she wanted
to reach out to the young man who sat so near her,
his eyes firmly on the table in front of him, and let
him know that at least she was on his side.

At last, Sisko thanked Garak and let him go.

There was a second moment of agitation after the
tailor had gone.  O'Brien cursed and Kira twisted in
her seat to face the doctor and seemed on the point
of speaking when Sisko cut them both off.

"We'll reconvene in one hour."  Standing behind Bashir's
chair, he placed a hand on his shoulder.  "You can
go now."

Was he addressing the doctor alone, or his staff in
general?  Not that it mattered--Julian was the first
one out of the room.

When everyone except for the captain had exited--and
*he* did not invite her to loiter for gossip--Dax went
out.

She had not gone five meters down the curving corridor
when she stopped abruptly: the corridor was dimmed for
"night," but Julian's pale robe was visible in the
faint light. He was speaking to someone who stood
hidden in the shadow of a support beam.  From where
she stood, she could not see who it was, but she knew
who it must be.  He had waited.

She was also aware now of O'Brien hiding behind the
support beam just ahead of her and Odo and Kira
pressed to the wall on the opposite side of the
corridor.  Miles reached out to offer to pull her
out of sight, but it was too late for her to hide or
retreat gracefully.

Julian glanced up at her as she hesitated, then
turned back to whisper something urgently at Garak.

She heard the hiss in reply:  "Only if you're
ashamed...Are you?"

"No!" Julian answered emphatically and glanced her way
again.  Even from this distance, she could read the
stubborn set of his lips, the angry flash in his eyes.
He was still embarrassed, but righteously indignant at
being spied upon and defiant in the face of his friends'
disapproval.  He made a decision.  "No, I'm not."

Garak stepped out of the shadows.  "Then it doesn't
matter."

He had to be aware that they were all there, watching,
but he ignored them.  The Cardassian reached up to
slip one hand behind the doctor's neck and pull his
head down.  The little group held their breaths,
expecting to witness a kiss, but Garak only whispered--
too softly to be heard--and slipped an arm around
Julian's waist to lead him around the curve of the
corridor, out of sight.

The others emerged from their hiding places.

"Could you hear what they were saying?" Kira asked.

O'Brien shook his head.

"For once, we could've used a Ferengi with us."

Miles rolled his eyes.  "If Quark knew about this!"

"He was in Garak's quarters when we were summoned,"
said Odo, stating only what everyone had been thinking.
"He didn't have time to dress."

"They could have been sharing jammies before the
call went out," Jadzia offered. "Lovers do that."

They had all made the same conjecture, but it obviously
disturbed the others when she spoke the word aloud.

"I knew Julian was seeing someone," she continued,"
but he wouldn't tell me *who.*"

"If you were seeing *him*, would you want it getting
around the station?" asked Miles.

"That Cardassian," said Kira.

"Cardassian spy," said Odo.

Each apparently had a different problem with the
relationship.  Dax's sympathy went out to the young
doctor again.

"Poor Julian.  He was so embarrassed," she said.

"I really don't think the doctor's private life is
any of our business."  Captain Sisko stood in the
wardroom doorway behind them, scowling like a school-
master who had just caught the children up to some
naughtiness.  "You've got fifty minutes to dress and
be back here.  I suggest you hurry."  His eyes went
from one officer to another.

There was a chorus of "Yes, Sir"'s and they were on
their way.  Dax remained behind.

Sisko sighed.  "I had hoped that we could avoid this
sort of gossip, for Dr. Bashir's sake."

Dax thought again of how Benjamin had glanced at the
doctor before sending for Garak, and how cool he had
been at this astonishing revelation.  "You knew about
this?" she nearly sputtered the question.  "Before-?"

He nodded.  "Remember--I called you all here on the
station comm.  Our doctor was not in his quarters, but
the computer did tell me where he was.  If I had known
it would cause this much trouble, I would not have sent
for Mr. Garak--or at least sent the doctor after him
instead so they could have the opportunity to straighten
out their clothing problems in private.  I didn't
intend to embarrass him, Dax.  I certainly didn't
intend to disrupt my own conference!"

Benjamin sounded strangely sympathetic to Julian's
situation.  "I'm surprised that you approve," she said.
"You never liked Garak."

"Approve?  I think our doctor has lost his mind!" Sisko
exclaimed.  "He's in way over his head with Garak--but,
if he is, he's been in too deep from the beginning.  I
would not interfere when they were just having lunch
together and I will not now.  It really is none of
our business."

"If it's any comfort, I don't believe there will be any
trouble. Oh, O'Brien and Kira want to slam Garak into a
bulkhead, but they won't do anything to hurt Julian."
And, thinking of the doctor's flash of defiance before
leaving with Garak, she added:  "The last thing you
want to do is force Julian to choose.  And--who knows?
--perhaps Julian will be a good influence on Garak.
You know, we could use his cooperation more often."

"He *was* extremely cooperative just now," Sisko agreed.

"That's the spirit!  We all ought to make him feel more
welcome.  After all, he *is* one of the family."

"I get the feeling you do approve."

"I know what they must be going through," Dax answered.
"It's not easy to conduct a relationship knowing that
everyone in the galaxy is against it--but that's also
part of the attraction."

Sisko laughed.  "You are an incurable romantic, Old Man."

Dax grinned.  "Forbidden love is the most exciting."
And she went down the corridor to her quarters.

END

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