I do not own Star Trek.

Rest in peace Rene Auberjonois.

Odo.

It was late on the promenade.

But all was well.

All the shops were shutting down from the night, the owners were taking their daily takings with them and storing them up; some of them would be taking them straight back to their quarters where they would spend a few hours totting up their profits for the day after tending to the traffic Deep Space Nine received entering and leaving the wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant saw travellers coming to the station to use the shops and the facilities on the station.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's prophecy of how Deep Space Nine would become a leading centre of commerce and scientific exploration had come true very quickly; everyone ranging from Starfleet officers to non-aligned science vessels, civilian travellers, Klingon warriors stopping over to enjoy some free time as the final preparations were made on their ships for the journey through the wormhole, and other merchants who were simply looking into expanding their businesses in another part of the galaxy came to the station now.

Yes, it had caused a lot of tension, especially for the Bajorans. It was understandable really since their planet and their people had been held under the oppressive leash of the Cardassian Occupation. After half a century of their world being gutted and the hearts of its people turned colder and harder as they struggled to fight for independence, there were many among the Bajoran populace who viewed the Federation as another Cardassian occupation force, only one that was more insidious.

It would not happen of course; conquest was something the United Federation of Planets would never do. Indeed, the Federation was helping repair the damage caused by the Cardassians during the occupation. In any case, the wormhole had become a boon to Bajor's economy. As more and more people visited the planet during their passage to and from the Gamma Quadrant, the money they spent went into rebuilding the planet. Bajor was becoming green again and the pollution caused by the Cardassian Occupation was being reversed.

A few of the more extremist elements had tried to cause trouble, but after the major blow caused by the revelation the Cardassians were supplying the Circle with weapons, and the news if Starfleet was driven out the Cardassians would return and retake Bajor again, the extremists had died down in their protests against Federation involvement.

Odo had been keeping himself alert for any news about these groups ever since the Circle's siege on Deep Space Nine was ended, but as the shape changer finished his nightly patrol of the station before he contacted his remaining deputies he was satisfied when there wasn't any trouble in any part of the station.

After checking in with his deputies, Odo had time to think to himself as he walked towards his office, his gaze flickering over to Quarks' bar. The two levelled room was shut uptight, but Odo knew the Ferengi bartender well enough to know he was probably plotting something. Still, Odo had been keeping watch on Quark for a long time; while he had never been entirely able to prove the slippery Ferengi was really guilty of anything big, Odo was just waiting for the chance.

But as he was about to head for the doors to the security office to lock them up so he could retreat to the cells so he could slip into his bucket to begin to regenerate after concentrating on holding his shape for the past sixteen hours, Odo paused when he saw a message come up in the message box. He tapped a control and he saw that it was from Doctor Mora, the scientist who had studied him.

The moment the shapeshifter saw who the message was from, his first instincts were simply to ignore it. Most of the scientists' letters were the same anyway, and yet Odo still read them. While his relationship with the doctor had soured in the last few weeks where he had left the laboratory so then he could see the world beyond, a path which had seen him begin mediating with the Bajorans whenever one of them had no blankets, little food etc, and despite it healing during that incident where Odo himself had been mutated by a substance brought back from the Gamma Quadrant, their relationship had improved somewhat.

It had improved, yes; now they were routinely sending each other letters.

Odo was about to sit down and read the letter when he felt the discomfort starting to spread through his body. He sighed irritably when he became aware he could barely hold onto his humanoid form for much longer. He would only have enough time to shut and lock the security office, switch off his computer, and then head into the cells to regenerate. He wouldn't have time to read this letter without experiencing more pain and discomfort.

Odo closed the message box regretfully and he went about shutting down the computer as well before he locked the doors.

Odo was just picking up the bucket when he felt another, much stronger, twinge of discomfort which was quickly transforming into pain. With effort, Odo pushed the sensations away, and he shut down the lighting circuits before he went into the back of the security compound.

As he reverted back into a liquid state, Odo wondered what Doctor Mora had wanted to tell him.

XXX

Odo's life was one of routines.

Everyone on the promenade could time his patrols and inspections to the millisecond, something the shapeshifter took great pride in, almost as much as he did being able to keep everyone on the station safe. Even Quark. Odo had always taken a great deal of pride in himself because of that, but he always set the computer to alert him of the time when he needed to be back in his humanoid form.

Despite his ability to regenerate, Odo didn't really need to do much like conventional humanoids. He just simply left the bucket that served as his equivalent of a bed and a dining room, and he returned to his humanoid form, ready to start his duties.

But one thing was on his mind.

As soon as he headed for the security office, Odo switched on his computer and reloaded the message files. He quickly found the one sent by Doctor Mora and he began to read it.

"Hello, Odo.

It has been some time since our last talk, hasn't it? I'm sorry, but at this point in time….I am afraid a personal tragedy has hit me. My brother has died, Odo. You remember me telling you about him, don't you? The Cardassians had tortured him using his as a slave, but he had tried to fight on for years; when he found out Bajor would be freed, my brother was overjoyed. He had always hoped for years to be an artist, anything that didn't involve hard labour of the type the Cardassians. He wanted to live a life, Odo. He wanted children who were free, not destined to work for those arrogant bastards who dominated our people for decades simply because they felt they had the right.

Unfortunately despite fighting for years, his health had been in the decline.

He died only yesterday (if I haven't sent this letter off beforehand, my apologies; but I was so hurt and upset of being on my own, that another member of my family had died even if the Cardassians are now gone although I know I am not the only one; despite the Federation being here now, and I thank the Prophets for their presence since it is a joy to interact with scientists and not wrongheaded fools who look down on you, they cannot stop members of our people who have died. But you know what, Odo?

"I am happy for him. I am happy that my brother has at last found peace. I hate what the Cardassians did to him, to all of my people. But death is a part of life. Without death, there will never be life. But I am even more happy my brother will be happy and safe, but he had been just as happy and safe when the Cardassians were gone. I know, with the Prophets, he will be happy.

"Oh, damn it…I'm just not good with this sort of thing, Odo. Death affects us in different ways…we can say they've gone to a happier place or not, but the truth is…I miss him so much. I honestly hope, Odo, that if you experience the death of a friend, you feel something profound."

The message ended.

Odo sat back in his chair thoughtfully for a moment. Although he and the Doctor were not particularly close considering Odo's own resentment towards the scientist for making so many mistakes in Odo's development.

But that didn't mean Odo didn't feel sorry for the scientist.

When Odo had left the institute, he had seen so much death and paid which was a nasty byproduct of the Occupation. The shapeshifter had heard many people say they were in a better place with the Prophets, although many a time he had wondered if they even meant it.

But Doctor Mora's last sentence got to him.

His friends…

Aside from Kira Nerys, Odo had never really counted anyone as a friend. Alright, maybe Quark, but only because despite being frustrated with the Ferengi, Quark had actually shown the shapeshifter a great deal and had given him an adversary although not on the lines of Sherlock Holmes' Professor Moriarty, which he had read when Starfleet had arrived.

But now….

Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir, and the others….Odo counted them all as his friends, but he had no idea how he would cope if anything happened to him since they were nothing like the Cardassians. When the Occupation had been running, Odo had kept them at arm's length. He had seen them as oppressors, but now….Starfleet had accepted him.

Odo had always prided himself on maintaining security and enforcing justice, but part of it stemmed from his care of others. He would continue his job, his routine, as he always did.