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                    Rebellion: Man of the Temple
Catherine Allan

  The first thing Odo did on his return was embrace his family. Then,
and only then, did he allow the weariness he felt show through as he
listened raptly to their unborn child. He was complete, this way,
with his family surrounding him, and his hand cupped lovingly over
Nerys' newly-showing child.
  Ralin had joined in the embrace, as had Liya, one of his adoptees who
had just begun to crawl. Liya grinned, showing tiny little teeth, and
dribbled slightly on her jumpsuit.
  Odo loved every one of them.
  "Bad day at the office?" Nerys smiled, holding them all close.
  He let loose a sigh like a man sinking into a warm bath after a long,
chilling day.
  "That bad." She sat with him on the floor, holding them, still. "Ial,
Yoris, Kodrom and Denee went to their families on Bajor."
  Odo hugged his children tighter, he could feel himself loosing
cohesion. So tired.
  "Rest, dearling," Kira soothed, "you need it."
  He had to tell her now, or risk everything, "I'll need medical
assistance," Odo managed, "the five-day - amplified; something wrong in
me. I - I feel ill..." He relaxed into his native form, sliding towards
his hollow in their bed, and much-needed rest.

  Kira fought down tears. After all this, they had to cope with his
illness, now. Both Liya and Ralin crawled into her lap. Ralin kissed her
tears as his 'father' had done once before.
  "We'll be fine," she reassured them, "Templer will get here soon, I
finally get to find out who they are, they'll help. They *have* to
help."
  "Papa beeeyoh kay," Ralin mauled, still having trouble with solid
words, "Mama-smile make Papa okay."
  Kira kissed him, "Yes, dearling. He'll be okay."
  Liya, of the same age as Ralin, give or take a few months, only
understood that the tears had stopped. "Mama," she smiled back, patting
Kira's expanding abdomen, "Baba. Happee!"
  _Hurry the hell up, Templer!_

  Odo was convalescent for three more days before Templer's vessel
finally showed up. Kira had more-or-less taken up the strategies where
he love had left off, but her difficulties with some dialects required a
small staff of translators by her side.
  Templer's ship looked to have survived a number of skirmishes getting
to them. It also appeared to be Starfleet.
  Kira's suspicion was confirmed when she met up with the rogue ex-
Starfleet officers at their poky mini-airlock. "I knew you wouldn't
abandon us, Emissary."
  "That's 'Captain' to you." He looked her up and down, focussing on her
dishevelled uniform, the children at her hips and legs, then resting on
her stomach. "Not again. Please tell me you're not pregnant *again*."
  She sneezed. "Sorry. At least this time the kid got there th' usual
way." Kira grinned, trying to be sly, "The father's extatic."
  "I'll bet he is," rumbled Sisko, stepping aside to let ex-Starfleet
officers Dax and Bashir through with a big box. The side read; 1 Gross
Ug Boots. "So, how's the Constable?"
  _Damn,_ Kira couldn't stop grinning, "Extatic. Apart from the medical
trouble."
  Sisko, aka 'Templer' burst out laughing, "I'm glad you two have sorted
it all out... 'Medical trouble'?"
  Kira briefed him on the five-day seige/war, and it's results. During
her story, the human's smile had dropped.
  "I'll get Dr. Bashir to have a look at him with the others. We may
have to ask Mora's help on this, too, if it's serious." He climbed up
into the base, helping Kira and her attendant children up. Together,
they batrolled the base; Sisko taking notes in his head, judging by his
introspective gaze. "*Damn*, I don't like this... the Constable's been
the one thing holding the Dominion back. We need him."
  Kira paused to re-adjust Zora, one of their adopted children, "We
need him, too." She sighed, "We thought it would show the Founders what
they were doing to themselves. And now - my dearling's hurt."
  "Never give up," councelled Sisko, "sometimes the message takes a
while to sink in."

  Shattered mirror littered the floor around her. Jhyrl whimpered in
pain; not physical pain, since little could harm a Founder, but
spiritual pain. Every time she opened her eyes, thousands of enemy faces
stared back at her. Her face.
  She'd nearly killed him, when he was Jorad, countless times. The only
thing that stopped her was that Jorad held a valuable piece of
information in his head, and they weren't going to get it by cracking it
open.
  Jhyrl had nearly killed Odo.
  Someone approached, stepping on shards of mirror, snapping the enemy's
face into more of them. Jhyrl shuddered.
  "Sister?" The Founder knelt, "Are you ill?"
  "I don't know." She stared absently at his feet.
  "You have not spoken, nor shared in any links sincce the solid--"
  "He wasn't a solid!" Her outburst made Z'hryk flinch, "He was Odo, and
I nearly *killed* him..."
  "Jhyrl?"
  "He said our enemy was behind the mirror. He meant the reflection of
us. We're our enemy." She shivered once more, "We've become what we
despised."
  Z'hryk didn't say a word, but she could feel distain radiate from him.

To Be Continued...