Here he was, about to do what he'd always wanted ever since his fateful first meeting with the Cardassian in the Replimat : get inside Garak's head.

Only,this wasn't quite what Bashir had in mind. On his shoulder, nurse Selanas touched him lightly. "Doctor, the patient is prepped."

Patient. He allowed himself a smile at that. No longer the spy. No longer the Cardassian. Just the patient. Yet he was so much more to the man who now turned toward the main surgical dais. So much more than a simple exile. Julian inhaled brokenly, and clutched the laser scalpel a little tighter than necessary.

"Nurse," he prompted, moving to the end of the bed where Garak's head peeked out from a heavy diagnostic rig. The young Bajoran nodded and began carefully mapping out a dotted pattern on Garak's shaved head. Julian watched very intently, his gaze drifting off to the Cardassian's closed eyes ... perhaps searching to see that his friend was truly unconscious. It would be a long surgery ... a delicate operation whose results would finally allow the Cardassian to be rid of the detrimental implant.

The nurse nodded, stepping away when her task was done. Bashir stepped closer, and, hoping the gesture wouldn't be contrived for anything but professional probing, the young man curled his palm over Garak's forehead, and smiled behind his mask.

Garak touched his hand lightly, drawing him back to the present. "Doctor?"

"Why do you always call me Doctor?" Julian murmured dazedly as he cuddled into the Cardassian's embrace. "You make me sound so formal."

"Think of it as an endearment," the Cardassian smiled warmly, wrapping his arms around the svelte form of his lover. "What were you thinking?" he whispered softly, nuzzling the young man's delightfully thick hair.

Julian murmured appraisingly and said, "Just how much I love you ... how much I've loved you from the moment I touched you ..."

Garak hummed pleasantly and covered them with the warm blankets, hiding to the world the secret kiss he bestowed his young lover.

The End