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WHO: Garak and Bashir
WHERE: The Congregation getting towards the inner circles
WHEN: The day of the Quarry
WHAT: Julian needs to get to the Arena to enact the Kestrels' plan and runs into someone unfortunate.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, guns

It only makes sense for Julian to be the one to plant to the bomb.

He works for the Company, knows the challenges to come, understands exactly where the weak points in the arena will be--not to mention he's willing to do it and unwilling to leave it to others. It's the least he can do for being culpable. While he can at least work to knock down some ideas for the worst challenges, he still makes suggestions that are unconscionable, just to keep up appearances as he secretly works to undermine those around him. He at least owes the arena participants that have died by his suggestions in the past. This is the least he can do.

Armed with a small pistol in his jacket pocket and a backpack with the bomb in it, he does his best to seem calm, collected, and not suspicious. Julian is the worst liar there is, so he simply needs to escape suspicion. His eyes dart around him, hoping beyond hope that he runs into no one, especially no one he knows.

He checks his watch. He has ten minutes to get to the Arena to put the backpack into position. He makes a right down a sparsely used corridor adjacent to the main road, thinking how he's almost home free. Most people are inside glued to their televisions as the Quarry begins, so he stops dead in his tracks when he not only sees a figure in his path, but a familiar one.

His heart pounds into his ears.

"Garak," he begins, willingly his voice to stay even through the adrenaline rush--there's no hiding now. Why did Garak of all people have to show up now?

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"Doctor Julian Bashir." He'd known someone was coming. He'd put enough clues together. He'd even known there was a chance of the agent in question being the good doctor, though a part of him had rather hoped it wouldn't be. This day had always been coming, he reminded himself.

Garak pushed up off the wall he'd been leaning against, taking a slow breath. The last arrest he'd made had not gone well; Lance had left lightning burns across part of his chest. This time he needs to be a little more wary just in case Julian has a surprise hidden away.

"What brings you out here?" A plot against the quarry, at the very least. But he's still not sure of how much is going on. "I would have expected you to be otherwise occupied."

He steps closer, smiling pleasantly. "Shall I walk you home?"

Julian is so certain Garak can hear his heart pounding in his chest, he's surprised that Garak even pretends to make conversation.

He takes half a step back in response to Garak's step forward and he immediately regrets it. Innocent people don't usually feel the need to keep a constant distance between themselves and law enforcement. Especially someone he's on friendly(ish) terms with.

"Ah, I left a couple of things at the Company and was on my way back to pick them up." It's vaguely in the same direction as he's heading. Julian puts on his most winning smile. "No need. I'll be heading home from there."

If he hadn't been doing this, he certainly wouldn't have been at home watching the Quarry himself. He generally stays nauseated whenever the day for a Quarry arrives. Luckily today, his adrenaline and nerves have chased away the nausea.

He moves to walk towards Garak, sidestepping the other to bypass him and attempting to be as natural as possible. Like any other day without a bomb in his backpack.

If he'd needed anymore confirmation, the step back would have been it. They've been... not friends, but in each other's orbit for long enough that it's a clear sign Julian's now up to something. It really had only been a matter of time. The doctor cares too much about the wrong sorts of people, and now look at where this has lead.

Garak lets Julian start to walk around him before putting a firm hand on his shoulder, stopping the man.

"Let me be more clear. We'll walk you home, or we'll walk you to a cell. It's your choice, doctor." His voice is pleasantness made manifest. "And you do have a choice. You can turn back from a rather futile path right here, at this moment. Or you can throw everything away."

Really, he should be already interrogating the man. There's something afoot and there may be other players getting into position right at this moment. But Garak has grown unfortunately fond of Julian and would rather like to spare him. There are too many he hasn't been able to spare.

The hand on his shoulder may as well have been a live wire for the jolt it gives him, fear and anxiety flooding him. This is it. He's been caught. He doesn't react immediately.

Deep down, he knew that if he were to ever be caught, it would be by Garak. Really, Garak was the only shrike that had ever had a chance of capturing him--the man was far too clever for his own good.

Which makes it so unfortunate that it comes down to just this between them, alone in an alleyway where no one can interrupt.

"Garak," he says softly, with some strain in his voice and refusing to turn around. "Please. Let me go."

The doctor's answer is disappointing. No, more than disappointing, but he can't quite pin down what all else he's feeling in this moment. Resignation is in there, though.

"That's not an option." His voice is gentle despite the fact that he's bracing to attack. He's enjoyed their games of cat and mouse. Few in his acquaintance have been as clever as Julian, and he'll miss that sorely.

"This is your final chance to walk away, I'm afraid." It's already more chance than he should have allowed, but if he can get Julian to turn around and walk away, somehow, no one has to know. This doesn't have to hurt either of them until Julian tries something again and then it will.

Garak takes a breath. "No other shrike would be this merciful. Even if you get past me, there will be more. Turn around."

He sighs to himself. He knew Garak wouldn't back down. Garak is as stubborn as he is from what he's gathered over the years. No, it's time to get serious.

Julian slowly puts a warm hand on the one on his shoulder. In one brief movement, he's lifting the hand as he uses all of his super strength to pivot and shove the shrike back and away from him.

As Garak works on getting his bearings back, Julian has the hidden pistol out, extended in one hand and aimed at Garak's heart.

"Please don't do this, Garak. Walk away." And miraculously, the gun isn't shaking in his hand.

He's fast. Far faster than Garak could have anticipated and while he's a little off-balance Garak's mostly just relieved to not get burned again. Or at least not literally burned. The gun pointing at him threatens to be quite the metaphorical burn. He should have simply struck. He knew Julian was going to be breaking the law sooner or later, it was his duty to stop the doctor, and he's failed.

His only consolation is the fact that he still has a chance, because he knows Julian won't shoot him. He's far too gentle for that.

"What a shame. But hardly a surprise." He shakes his head, acts like he's about to turn, and charges the doctor in an attempt to disarm him.

While he had the pistol with him for protection, he was hoping beyond hope he wouldn't have to use it.

But of course, Garak gives him no choice.

With a precision he didn't think he had, and his focus narrowing his attention to the situation unfolding in front of him, he quickly fires off two shots--one to each of Garak's thighs, just lateral to the femoral arteries. His aim is not to kill, simply to incapacitate.

The sound of the second shot echoes in the alley as Julian's eyes widen at what he's done.

The sound doesn't quite register at first, nor does the pain. The first thing Garak really notices is that instead of managing to land a blow on Julian he's somehow landed himself on the ground. Then the rest sinks in and he looks up in pain.

"You shot me," he says, voice shocked and strained. There are so many people Julian seems to go out of his way for but instead of simply walking away he'll choose to shoot Garak? There's an emotional sting there too, a sense of betrayal. But he can't dwell on that. He's bleeding, and he needs to stop the bleeding if he's given the chance.

"You've made a grave mistake." There's anger there now too. Garak rips one of his sleeves awkwardly, hands shaking.

What he's done is starting to settle into his reality and he doesn't like it. Never has Julian ever considered himself capable of shooting someone, let alone someone he got along with, someone he talked with on a consistent basis.

The shock in Garak's voice perfectly mirrors what he's feeling.

Now is his chance. He has to turn and run and do his job, what he set out to do, but he's frozen in place. How could a doctor do this?

But remembering where he shot, there are purposely no major blood vessels in the area, just enough to incapacitate Garak and prevent him from giving chase. Even so, every bit of fury in Garak's voice is justified, Julian knows it.

But there are bigger things at play here. It's not just about them or their friendship, or whatever kind of relationship they have--or had. Julian checks his watch. Eight minutes. He has to move. He has to. His moral injury can be tended to later.

"I'm sorry, Garak."

And with that, Julian turns and is gone.

Julian doesn't even finish the job. He's shot him and left him bleeding in the alleyway. Alone. What an idiot he'd been, thinking that any of this respect was mutual. The haste of Julian's departure makes him worry that he's been an even bigger fool, though. If something happens because of his failure it could be him in the Quarry if he even survives this, and with that thought Garak abandons his attempt to bandage his wounds and tries to drag himself to contact other shrikes. It's agony. Each movement feels like knives are stabbing into his thighs and the noises he makes are not dignified. But he's not ready to die. Not for a rebel who would shoot him and then leave him to die. No.

Minutes pass as he so-slowly drags himself, but before he can get backup there's a deafening noise and the world shakes. An explosion. Was it successful? Had the rebels actually done what they intended to do? Had they been caught? Garak slumps against the wall, panting, realizing that he's out of it now. He can't help. Even worse than not being able to help is the fact that he's getting cold.

He's going to die here and it's entirely his fault for being soft. All he can hope is that no one ever finds out he'd failed here.

Not five minutes after the explosion, Julian comes back to the alleyway, hands on his knees as he's doubled over, chest heaving. As he catches his breath, his mind races. He's done it. There's a gigantic hole in the side of the Arena and the participants are likely starting to pour out and the message is out--the people aren't going to take this anymore.

Would anyone aside from Garak believe it was him? Would he return to work next week as though nothing happened? Would someone find him and arrest him within the next few minutes? No one else had seen him that he could tell. He knows the placement of every single security camera and had his timing down pat to avoid detection by any of them.

His breathing starts to slow down and he looks up, stomach sinking when he sees the amount of blood on the ground. That was more than he'd anticipated. Not deadly no, but certainly uncomfortable. The trail leads right to Garak, laying against a wall. Performing an act of terrorism hadn't done anything to his morals, but the sight of Garak so helpless because of him makes his insides clench uncomfortably.

Julian jogs over to Garak and kneels beside him, taking his now much-less-full backpack off his back and sitting it on the ground next to him. He opens it and smoothly takes out two tourniquets, wrapping one tightly above the wounds on each leg. Digging inside again, he pulls out trauma scissors, gauze and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and begins to cut away cloth overlaying the bullet holes to start cleaning and bandaging the wounds.

Movement nearby has him opening his eyes, wondering at when they'd drifted closed, but the sight isn't comforting. Even as Julian starts to tend his wounds there's no reassurance from it. The doctor had shot him to keep from being arrested. Did he somehow think tending to Garak would undo that? Or worse, did he think he was about to have a hostage?

"You're compounding your mistake," Garak hisses. The jostling and disinfectant is agony so even if he hadn't been furious anything he'd try to say would come out much like that, through clenched teeth.

"You cannot make up for this. My survival now depends on breaking you to find out your co-conspirators. So if this is some misplaced pity or an attempt to take me captive, you are making a massive error." He actually wants to break Julian right now, and he's not sure if that's physical pain, emotional pain, pride, or survival instincts speaking. ...Probably not his survival instincts, considering the situation. His heart hurts and he hates everything about this.

Julian is laser-focused on his task and so he nearly misses it when Garak starts talking. He only briefly looks up, realizing how terrible Garak looks. He's lost quite a bit of blood already. He pulls a sealed water bottle out of his backpack as well, holding it out to the other.

"Drink." It's not that he hasn't heard the other. He heard everything loud and clear. It just simply won't dissuade him from continuing his work. Julian finishes disinfecting the wounds as best he can and starts to firmly wrap one of Garak's legs, first with gauze, then with a pressure bandage to keep from oozing too much.

He takes the waterbottle in shaky hands, incredulous. It requires a little fumbling to open, he's getting clumsy, but he manages it and takes a drink. There's really no reason not to. Julian likely still has his gun and he's tending to the wounds he's caused, the chance of this being poisoned or drugged is close enough to zero to be insignificant.

"You shot me without hesitation," he says, trying to make sense of this. He can't. And he can't tell if that's because of blood loss or because Julian just doesn't make sense. "Why are you bothering?"

Every move the doctor is making is confident and precise. It's the opposite of the nerves he'd shown just a handful of minutes ago. Had there been something else going on that Garak hadn't noticed?

"You sound shocked." It's a terrible joke, considering everything happening right now. Garak knows as well as Julian that he hadn't known he was going to shoot until he actually did. It was a split second decision.

Julian also takes out an energy bar from his bag--bland, but calorie and nutrient dense, perfect for a situation like this--and hands it to Garak.

"I had zero intentions of killing you. I'm a physician. If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead right now." His expression is grave. He'd very purposely chosen to shoot where he did.

Gingerly but efficiently, Julian works to wrap the other leg and get pressure on the wound. Once he's done, he undoes both tourniquets and sits back on his heels to monitor his patient. His friend. His friend that he shot without hesitation for the greater good.

He fumbles open the snack too, even though he's not hungry. He wants to live. Which is why Julian's made such a massive error here.

"And in tending to me you've signed your own warrant." The anger has faded. He hurts, he's worn out, but he's got a path to survival at least. The unfortunate fact is that the path runs through this man. "One of us winds up in the Quarry from this. There's no chance me being incapacitated for a few days around the time of the explosion is missed, and I will not protect you when you shot me." No, apparently a spark of the anger is still there. But just as it flares up it's gone, because there's only one ending if Julian goes to the Quarry.

"You will die for this, because I refuse to." He regrets it. Regrets that it's necessary, at least. Life will be a little emptier and lonelier without the doctor in it but he hadn't made the choice that lead them here.

"Only if I'm caught," he replies simply. Chaos is no doubt descending upon the Arena and that means more time for him to get away.

"I didn't expect you to protect me. I'm not asking anything of you for tending to your wounds." He swallows hard. He should have been gone a few minutes ago. It's positively asinine that he stopped to do this, and for anyone else, the choice would have been clear what they had to do. Not for Julian. He could never just leave someone behind like this--especially when it's his fault in the first place.

He takes a towel out of his backpack and uses it to clean his bloodied hands and shoves it back into his backpack. Lastly, he hands Garak a small, sealed pouch.

"Painkillers."

What is it about this man that makes Julian want to stay at his side, despite the seconds spent here ticking down to his own demise? This enigmatic, frustrating man that challenges him at every turn, that's on the opposite side of him in this war--because make no mistake, what Julian did was trigger a war. A war that would cost lives but would be for everyone's freedom. A war that more than likely would cost his life.

But at the very least, he hasn't lost his soul or moral compass along the way. Yet.

He closes his eyes and sighs, knowing he should leave.

"I'm sorry, Garak," he says once again.

The reply makes the packed supplies clear. They had been intended for Julian, for his getaway. The doctor had returned and used things he'd gathered and hoarded for himself on Garak instead. Why? This frustrating, infuriating man who shot him had come back and deliberately lowered his own chances of survival. And Garak doesn't want to see him go.

"What did you do?" He has to know. Maybe there's some other way out of this, something that can be used for Julian's sake even as Julian has clearly done something against the system that keeps everyone alive. Can he really prioritize one man over justice for this? Over stability?

"What did you destroy, or who did you kill?" Can there be recovery? And if he finds some way to help Julian, what about the next time the doctor attacks? Anything Garak tries would be untenable. Julian is almost definitely already dead and Garak hates everything about today.

Julian shakes his head.

"I never intended for you to personally become entangled in this." His face is pained. Of course, eventually Garak would have heard what happened and if he'd been spotted, perhaps Garak would know then. Or maybe Garak would notice that Julian was not haunting their usual table at the bar and he would put two and two together.

"The less you know, the better." And Garak would be able to truly claim innocence if the higher ups came for him, or somehow got wind of this encounter.

Every logical fiber of his being is screaming at him to get up, turn and run. But they aren't what keeps him sitting here, trying to make Garak understand. Wishing Garak could understand.

He closes his eyes, leaning against the wall. Pushing would be a mistake of his own in so many ways. Julian made this choice and helping him would only endanger the state further. That was something the Kestrals couldn't seem to grasp, that breaking down the system would doom everyone. No, life wasn't easy for many here, but at least people were still alive.

While apparently he cares for this man more than he'd known, it doesn't matter. He has to remember why he serves and who he serves.

"Run, doctor." His voice is barely more than a whisper. After a beat Garak opens his eyes again to look at Julian, quite certain that this will be the last time he'll see him alive.

"What you have done has likely cost more than you understand. But I hope you find somewhere safe to hide."

He's not sure what possesses him to do it but Julian reaches out, grasping Garak's free hand. If there was only a way to make him understand--

But there's no time for that. Remembering himself, he releases the other's hand. He hates this.

"Take care of yourself, Garak. I'll miss you and our lively debates." He even manages a wry smile as he stands up and puts his pack on. Julian looks like he wants to say more but he's already dawdled enough. His life is now on the line. And as a doctor for the rebellion, if his life is on the line, his future patient's lives are on the line as well. Garak is safe and will be safer when he's gone.

With that, Julian turns and exits the alleyway at a light jog, unable to look back one last time.

The touch had been so brief and then Julian's gone. Garak watches him go, at a loss for anything else to say. Several of the arrests of late have made his life smaller and emptier, and now this. He wishes he'd realized how close to going extreme Julian was and had somehow managed to stop him before today but it's far too late. It's far too late for a great many people now.

Clumsily he takes painkillers and then waits for someone to pass by because even with them, he's not going to be walking out of here on his own. Not like Julian did.

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