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.

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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
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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