There isn’t much left of Adar’s heart. Not anymore.
It remains a mystery even to him what forces compelled him to act. He has done unspeakable things, cruelty so deep it carved hollows into his very soul. And yet, he could not walk away.
Not when he heard your cries for help.
Summary:
Takes place during the events of Business as Usual. Quark finds himself entangled in the arms trade. You, a Starfleet security officer stationed on Deep Space Nine and his partner, discover what he’s done.
disclaimer: I posted this already on ao3 <3
Something’s different.
You can feel it in the way Quark looks at you lately, as if there’s something on the tip of his tongue that he keeps swallowing back down.
Normally, he never shuts up. He talks about profits and customers and Holosuites, about business schemes and how Ferenginar never truly appreciates its “real entrepreneurs.”
But lately he’s quieter.
Too quiet.
You watch him from the corner of your eye as he wipes down a glass that’s already spotless.
“Quark?”
He startles slightly.
“Yes? What?”
“You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“Quiet? Me? I’m efficient.”
“Efficient,” you repeat, folding your arms. “So nothing illegal?”
“Illegal? Please! I’m a respected businessman!”
“Uh-huh.”
“I swear it on all my latinum!”
You raise a brow. “You mean the latinum you’ve got hidden in that undeclared account on Ferenginar?”
He blinks. “Maybe some of my latinum.”
Despite yourself, you smile.
He’s impossible and that’s exactly what you fell for.
But tonight, something about his grin feels rehearsed. Like a mask he’s worn too long.
And somewhere deep inside, a cold knot begins to form: something isn’t right.
Two days later, your instincts are proven right.
Odo calls you into his office. He’s standing behind his desk, posture rigid, hands clasped behind his back.
“Lieutenant,” he says, voice sharp as always, “I’m afraid your... acquaintance Quark is up to his old tricks.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Arms dealing. Through a man named Hagath. Substantial quantities.”
Your heart drops to your stomach.
“That can’t be true.”
“Oh, it’s true.” Odo tilts his head. “I thought you might prefer to hear it from me, before Captain Sisko asks how much you knew.”
You can feel the unspoken accusation in his tone.
And suddenly, shame burns hot in your chest.
Shame, even though you’ve done nothing wrong. Shame that you love him. That you trusted him.
You go straight to the bar.
The air smells of replicated coffee and tension.
He sees you the moment you enter, and the look on his face tells you he already knows.
“We need to talk,” you say, your voice steady but tight.
“I can explain,” he blurts out.
“Explain? That you’re selling weapons? That you lied to me?”
“I only wanted to protect you!” he protests, too loud, too fast. “If you didn’t know, you couldn’t report it!”
“I work in security, Quark! Do you realize how that sounds?”
His voice falters.
“I thought it was just business. Numbers. No real victims.”
You stare at him, and your chest aches.
“That’s how you make it easier for yourself. You tell yourself it’s just numbers. But it isn’t. People die because of this. And I could lose my job because of you.”
“I just wanted to belong again,” he says softly.
“At what cost?”
He has no answer.
You turn and walk away.
Behind you, his voice cracks.
“I didn’t want to lose you!”
But you don’t look back.
Days pass, gray, heavy, endless.
You bury yourself in work, ignoring the whispers that follow you through the promenade.
Quark’s girlfriend. She must have known.
You say nothing.
But every time you pass the bar, that cold ache returns, anger and love and disappointment all tangled up inside you.
Then, one evening, you stop.
You don’t even know why, only that your feet carry you to the doorway of Quark’s Bar.
The music is low. The room is nearly empty.
Quark stands behind the counter, polishing glasses like a man trying to scrub away guilt itself.
He doesn’t notice you until you take your usual seat.
“You’re late,” he says quietly.
“I had a shift.”
“I thought you weren’t coming back.”
“I thought so too.”
You look at him, really look at him. The dark circles under his eyes, the slump of his shoulders, the twitch of his ears.
He seems smaller somehow. Fragile.
And for a moment, you remember the man who told you stories of Ferenginar at midnight, who claimed emotions were bad for business but wore his heart on his sleeve every time you smiled at him.
“The usual,” you say.
He blinks. “You actually want a drink? From me?”
“I didn’t say I forgive you. I said I want to understand.”
His hands shake slightly as he sets the glass in front of you.
“I made mistakes,” he admits. “Big ones. I thought I could have both, you and the business. But every time I looked at you, I kept wondering what you’d say if you knew.”
“And you did it anyway.”
He nods slowly. “I’m a fool.”
You take a sip. “A small, greedy fool.”
He lets out a sound, half laugh, half sigh. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me today.”
The silence that follows is heavy, but not hostile.
Then you say, “You should’ve talked to me. We would’ve found something. A way that didn’t cost lives.”
He meets your gaze, tentative but sincere.
“I know. I thought I had to handle it alone.”
“You’re not alone, Quark. Not if you don’t want to be.”
He hesitates, then places his hand on the counter. You reach out, and for a heartbeat, your fingers brush.
Small. But real.
And just like that, the cold between you starts to thaw.
“I don’t know if you’ll ever trust me again,” he whispers.
“Trust can be lost,” you say. “But love... love stays.”
He stares at you, caught between disbelief and hope.
“You’re crazy, you know that?”
“Maybe,” you reply softly. “But you’re worth it.”
as if the world itself had forgotten how to breathe.
Ash drifted through the air, melting on the skin, settling over scorched earth like a burial shroud. Everything smelled of iron, smoke, and sorrow.
Adar stood motionless among the wreckage, his hands dark with blood. His own, perhaps, or another’s. The air was thick, and yet he could hear it: the faint heartbeat of the earth, the distant cries of his children in the dark. A few had survived. Too few.
He lowered his gaze.
“So the old ends,” he whispered, “and the new is born in pain.”
A flicker of movement made him turn. Between the blackened tree stumps, a figure emerged slight, wounded, but standing. A human. A survivor of the Southlands.
She had recognized him. He saw it in her eyes.
And yet, she did not flee.
“Stay where you are,” he said softly, though the words sounded more like a plea than a command.
She stopped. The wind lifted a strand of hair across her cheek.
“I have nowhere else to go,” she said quietly.
Her voice cut through him like a blade of light. He saw the tremor in her hands like a candle still fighting the dark.
“You should hate me,” he murmured.
He took a step closer. The cinders cracked beneath his boots.
The air between them shimmered warm from the fire, but pulsing with something else.
She met his eyes, and in that gaze he knew she saw him, not only the enemy, but the shadow of the man he once might have been.
“I saw you,” she said, voice trembling. “You saved them. The orcs. You called them your children.”
Adar was silent for a long time. Then his expression softened.
“They are all I have left,” he said. “They call them corrupted, monsters. But who corrupted them? I? Or the light that cast them out?”
She hesitated, then stepped forward. Her hand rose, brushing the ash from his brow.
He froze. Not in anger, but from a kind of pain he thought long dead.
Something in him shuddered. He wanted to turn away, to drive her back but her gaze held him.
And so they stood, surrounded by ruin, by fire and silence. Two enemies, who for one breath of time were something else almost something tender.
He placed his hand over hers, gently, reverently.
“In another age,” he said, “you might have seen me differently.”
“In another age,” she answered, “you might not have had to fight.”
A wind rose, carrying ash like snow between them.
He let her hand fall away, and with it, the fragile dream that something good could still remain.
When she turned to leave, she did not look back.
Adar watched until her figure vanished into the grey.
Then he lifted his face toward the smoke-veiled sky,
and whispered, so softly that only the dying earth could hear:
let's be real if andy from alien romulus would have been played by someone like michael fassbender (white and blonde) there would be a ton of x readers and fanfics
A/N: Sorry it took so long! It was kinda hard to come up with something, hope you like it tho xoxo
would be very flushed to see you in his hoodie
definitely let’s you borrow it again
would love to see you flaunt it around the beach to let everybody know you’re his
nobody would mess with you or even look at you the wrong way
secret glances
I don’t think he is a jealous type, like after he finally trusts you enough to open up and start a relationship with you he wouldn’t question your loyalty
ride or die
but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t come after any person that tries to harass youÂ
that includes Niragi, probably wouldn’t let him come near you
very protective but kinda lowkey about it
would let you go to games alone if you want to because he trusts your abilities
but he would have no problem if you came along with him if you can’t handle yourself
waits in the lobby for you to return from a game
doesn’t mind pda but I don’t think he would initiate it
let’s you take his hand whenever you want
doesn’t mind when you two chill somewhere around the pool or the club and you put your arms around him or rest your head on his shoulder, probably would put his arm around you in return
Hi, I love your imagines. Can you do some more with Cahir? Thank you so much, have a great Day! :)
aww thank you! messages like these always make my day <3Â
I do plan on making more Cahir imagines in the future, at the latest when the new season drops and we will hopefully see more of him. But maybe I get inspired earlier :)Â
This year has been a rough certainly. I have been sporadic in my posting on this website this year as life has been hectic, as I’m sure it’s been for you all. Still, through it all, my friends, followers, the blogs I follow, writers and content creators, and some wonderful people on this site have made my life better while quarantined. I appreciate you all so much. Thank you for sticking with me through this tough times and for bearing with me for taking a semi-hiatus. To everyone I’ve talked to and everyone I haven’t, thank you and I adore you more than you will ever think.Â
“You have to live Y/N. Do you understand?!“ He grabs you by your shoulders and looks deep into your eyes. “Live for me.”
“No, don’t do this! Please.”
Taking his hand in yours you say: “You know you can tell me anything.”
Joe looks at you for a moment then he gives you a small smile. “I know” he says and squeezes your hand.