Castaways

Chapter 6

Through the layers of sleep, something began to tug at me, bring me back into reality. At first I refused—I wanted to keep dreaming. But there was something trying to wake me up. A rustling... a mumbling. I tried to ignore it, and I curled in on myself, but unfortunately my mind continued to rise up to consciousness, and before I opened my eyes, I realized that I'd already fallen out of sleep. I was awake. And something was moving next to me.

"Hnn... ngh. No... [Y/N]...!"

I winced as I heard my name and I turned over towards the disturbance. Julian's legs were kicking like a dog dreaming about chasing a rabbit, and he was whimpering in his sleep. I sighed and touched his jaw. He was kind of cute, sleeping, but he was clearly having a bad dream.

"Julian... wake up." I said sleepily. "You're having a nightmare."

"Nnmph..." he mumbled, his head turning away from me, as though I were some sort of distraction in his dream. I sighed.

"Julian. It's not real," I insisted. His eyes slowly cracked open and upon seeing my face, he flinched away, but then he seemed to register his surroundings and he relaxed.

"Mmph, it was... just a dream," he mumbled, his voice scratchy and thick with sleep. "Thank god." He looked relieved, but now I was curious. I'd heard my name.

"What were you dreaming about?" I asked softly, getting closer to him and tracing the lines on his face. He closed his eyes and let out a shudder of a breath.

"Oh... you," he admitted. "Sort of."

"Sort of?" I asked softly. He nodded.

"It was... confusing. You kept switching. Sometimes you were you. Sometimes you were... well. Um. Ezri." Julian opened his eyes again nervously, as if anticipating a bad reaction. I furrowed my brow.

"What was I... what were we.... doing? I imagine it wasn't something you liked." I trailed a finger down his chest, and placed a flat palm over his heart. It was still beating really fast.

"You were... dying," Julian mumbled. "Just like Ezri. Same situation."

"Warp core breach," I whispered, knowingly. "On the runabout."

"We were on DS9. I knew what was going to happen this time, because I'd seen it before. I tried to talk you out of going," Julian said. He was staring at the ceiling numbly, and his eyes looked wet. "Then when you wouldn't listen, I went after you. I couldn't let you die. Not again. But I was too late. I saw it again, on the view screen in Ops."

"I... I'm still alive Julian. I haven't died," I said softly. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Right, I... I'm sorry," he said. "You're not Ezri. She's gone."

"You don't have to be sorry," I said gently. "It was a dream."

"You're right," Julian said quietly, reaching up to rub his eyes. "But it's not... I guess, well, it's not just a dream. It was an anxiety dream; it came from somewhere. I think—well, I haven't felt... I guess I'm just afraid of losing you."

"Losing me?" I said, smiling slightly. It was sort of sweet, even if it was a little clingy. Obviously we had feelings for each other. "Go back to sleep, Julian. I'm not going anywhere."

"Mmkay..." he said quietly, closing his eyes, but as I was about to turn over and get some more shut eye myself, he sighed. "I can't sleep. I need to go calm down."

"You're still nervous?" I asked, perking up. "You stay here. I'll get you some water."

"You don't have to," he said, starting to sit up. I placed a hand on his chest and urged him to lay down.