It was the same dream, familiar now but no more welcome than the first time she'd had it. She was alone, so very alone, and the loneliness was crushing. She was running from her enemies rather than standing and fighting. She didn't even know who her enemies were, or how to fight them, so she ran like a frightened child.

Olivia shuddered awake, lost for a moment until warm arms circled around her and pulled her into an embrace. She shivered in his arms, buried her face in his neck. The dreams always left a lingering hopelessness.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Her throat ached as if she'd been screaming. "Dream."

Nick brushed her bangs away from her eyes and kissed her forehead.

"It was a dream about her again, wasn't it?"

Olivia hesitated a moment before nodding. "They're getting more frequent. They're not changing, though. She still doesn't have any idea what's happening. What she is." She pulled the blanket tighter around them. "She's so lost." Her voice was barely a whisper. Sympathy for the enemy was not tolerated, even if that enemy crept into her dreams and wore her face.

Nick sighed. "That's a good thing, Ol. It means we're still ahead."

"I know. I know, I just feel bad for her. It doesn't seem like a fair fight."

"Fair or not, I'll take it." He tightened his arms around her. "The storm is coming. It's almost here."

"We're ready." She snuggled closer into Nick's arms, the scent of his sleep-warm skin so comforting. He was her partner, her mate in every sense of the word, and the other her didn't have him. The other one was alone.

"Where do you think you are? Over there, I mean."

Nick looked somber, his eyes dimly blue in the dark room. "I'm not sure. I don't think he's alive. How could he be and not be with you?"

"Maybe something happened to him."

"It would have had to be bad. Everything over there is. They don't even know what they're up against." He rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. "Are you worried about it? The war?"

She shrugged and shifted so her cheek was over his heart. She was worried. They were both worried. The other side fought tenaciously, despite being clueless and lacking resources. The swift war they'd been promised, over before it really began, was not happening. After a while she said, "I know we're ready. We were made for this."

He nuzzled her reddish-blond hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "We should get some more sleep while we can. We need to be up early."

"Yeah. 'K."

"Love you." He murmured the words and she felt them more than she heard them.

"You, too." Whispered as his heartbeat lulled her back to sleep.