Author's Note: I know this isn't up to my usual writing standards, but this was an idea I had gotten onto paper and simply couldn't ignore. I know O'Brien isn't a proper character to write Slash with, but Mirror O'brien (A.K.A. "Smiley") has no wife or kids, so he's open. As for Mirror Julian, that's your opinion. This will probably be seen as a MirrorO'Brien/Mirror Julian friendship thing, but you can decipher this however you want. I personally can see them as a couple...Opposites attract, after all!
By the way, If you don't like Slash or even Implied Slash, (which implies two of the same sex togther) then don't bother reading...I already had ONE ignorant person's review removed. ^_^
Open-minded individuals may enjoy...
He was tired.
Most of the repairs on Terok Nor had been done, another shift was handling adjustments to the I.S.S. Defiant.
Everything that had to be done for today was done. The only thing that was keeping him up was the thought of having to use the small Phaser that he had hidden under his pillow. (This was still an Alliance station. Who knows what could happen?)
Despite all of this, all Smiley, the current leader of the Terran Rebellion, wanted to do was fall under the spell of the semi-comfortable bedding of the former Captain's Quarters and sleep. His eyes were struggling just to stay open. Why deny himself rest?
His body relaxes as a long sigh escapes his lips. And with that, he gives in as his eyes finally close and the world goes dark.
BANG!
The first thing Smiley hears is the noise. He instinctively places his hand under the pillow, grasping the hilt of his Phaser. Howver, no sooner does he grab it that he hears a guard outside say "Damn faulty wiring...How the hell did the Alliance keep this place afloat?"
Great...More repairs to do...No use in worrying about right now. When he woke up, he'd-
A kick.
Smiley's head turns to his right at super-speed only to see...
"Julian?"
There was his bitter rival Julian Bashir, the man he constantly argued with; the man who hated everybody and everything...sleeping next to him on his bed.
"Not again..." Smiley mouths to himself.
This was the third time. The first time, Julian had done this to piss Smiley off, as the two could barely stand each other's prescence in the same room.
The second time, they HAD to be together during an Alliance raid on the station. That was the only time he had ever actually talked with Julian at all, as both men (Julian in particular) did their best to avoid close relationships.
But this time was different. There was no raid...It wasn't a joke, as Julian hadn't seen him for over a week. (Him and a Guard investigated warp shadows they had detected near the station, only to find unmanned probes) So why was he here?
His eyes were telling him to sleep, his hands were telling him to aim the Phaser at Julian and fire. Smiley's brain was telling him to sleep. It was two against one.
Smiley turns back on his side of the bed, closing his eyes as he yet again falls prey to sleep...
"N-No...No!"
For the third time, Smiley's eyes fly up at the sound of noise.
"I can't even get any sleep in the quietest place on the station..." Smiley thinks to himself.
No sooner do they register the room that he begins to feel the bed moving. Turning again towards Julian, he sees something he never thought he'd see.
Julian's face was distorted in panic unusual for one of his temperament. His head continously rocks back and forth in clear distress. His moving hands and feet distort the bedsheets. His breathing is erratic.
"Not...Kukalaka! Not the bear! Anything but the bear!"
The Klingon soldier takes a teddy bear from a little boy of no more than five years old. More Terrans are being herded like cattle in the back ground, with a Kilngon Guard poking one or two of them occasionally to encourage movement. Two Terrans, one male and female, watch the scene with the boy and the klingon Soldier, who leaughs a hearty laugh.
The boy is sobbing his heart out as the Klingon holds the bear just out of his reach, taunting him.
"A mere construct of cotton and fur!" The soldier says. "It is not needed where you are headed, Terran scum!"
"Give me back my bear! Give back Kukalaka!" The boy shouts. He continously looks back at the two Terrans watching the spectacle, as if he expected them to jump in.
At last, the Klingon has had enough. Taking the bear in between his hands, he hold it down to the boy.
"Not...Kukalaka! Not the bear! Anything but the bear!"
With a demented chuckle, the Klingon rips it in half in a show of brute force as cotton and astranged hairs and strands fall like raindrops over the area the boy was standing on.
In anguish, the boy falls to his knees as he picks up two of the ecottonballs from the former trinket. He sobs loudly, prompting attention from other soldiers in the area.
Two Kilngon Soldiers usher the two watching Terrans ahead as they protest being seperated from their son, being met with fists to their faces in response.
The boy's sobbing soon ends, but in it's place is a dark stare directly into the Klingon's eyes.
In a screaming rage, the youth runs towards the Klingon soldier, managing to actually pull the warrior's dagger out from his pocket in a blinding flash. He jumps up and slashes the Klingon in the eye with the weapon, as two more soldiers finally enter the fray, dragging the struggling boy away.
"I'll...I'll kill you...You murdered Kukalaka! Someday...Someday!"
Smiley didn't know what to do. Should he awaken Julian from his nightmare, risking pissible argument? Or should he let it pass and deal with a more irritable Julian in the morning. Deciding against his better judgement, Smiley begins shouting the man's name.
"Julian!"
"You murdered Kuka-"
"JULIAN!" Smily shouts, pushing the sleeping man's shoulder roughly.
"You...Wha-huh?" Julian asks groggily. "Why did you wake me up?"
"You were having a nightmare." Smiley asks matter-of-factly. "And why are you in my quarters?"
"I didn't ask for your help!" Julian says irritably. "And I just felt like coming here."
"Youre welcome, you ass." Smiley responds icilly as he turns away from Julian and closes his eyes, berating himself for not telling Julian to piss off.
Five minutes pass. There was no hope for sleep now. Julian's little episode made sure of that.
"The bear's name was Kukalaka." Julian says finally breaking the silence.
"What?" Smiley asks angrily.
"When I was five years old, my parents and I were sent to the Terran Internment camp on Rigel Two." Julian says. "I had a stuffed bear named Kukalaka that I carried around with me everywhere I went. I loved that bear...even more than my parents. If I was ever scared or worried, or stressed, one squeeze from Kukalaka made everything better. When I got to that camp, a Klingon guard ripped him in half in front of my eyes. I went berserk and stabbed his right eye with his own dagger before they finally took me away...That was when I vowed to never be happy again...To avoid smiling...and living that memory again..."
"That was your nightmare?" Smiley asks.
"Your'e thinking...'It was just some stuffed bear. A child's toy.'" Julian says angrily. "But no. That bear was the only happiness I had. My parents didn't care. They did nothing. They just stood there and watched it all happen...Oh, why am I wasting my time telling you my problems? Not like you care, anyway."
This was new...and creepy. Julian the irritable loner was currently spilling his guts out to his most hated rival. Has Hell frozen over? Smiley didn't want to sleep anymore. He needed to know what the hell was going on.
"No...I care." Smiley says, finally turning to the other side of the bed, facing Julian directly. "I know what it's like to be dehumanized. We were ALL wronged."
Smiley wasn't the social type. He couldn't come up with anything meaningful to say...Any words of comfort or spirit. Plus, Julian's release had made him think of his OWN induction into slavery. He had nothing to say because he could relate to Julian so easily in this one moment.
"So...I guess i'll find some other quarters to sleep in." Julian says, starting to get up.
Smiley doesn't even think. He reaches out and grabs Julian's left hand just before it slides off of the bed.
"No...You can sleep here if you want." Smiley says.
"Why are you being so nice to me, O'Brien?" Julian says, his tone oddly saddened. "You...You hate me."
Smiley never hated Bashir. He hated the way he acted, yes. But never the man himself. And it was this little episode that finally connected him to this man.
"No...No, I don't." Smiley says. "Now come back to bed before I regain my sanity, huh?"
"You..." Julian starts.
"It'll be our little secret." Smiley says. "If anybody asks, you had WAY too much to drink at Morn's and I couldn't get you to sleep anywhere else."
"Where did we get the money?" Julian asks.
"Morn gave it to us for repairing his Replicators." Smiley says.
"Why give it to me?" Julian asks.
"I was already half-buzzed." Smiley says. "I couldn't tell you from Muniz."
Julian says nothing, silently slipping back onto the bed. Smiley could tell Julian was eyeing him, waiting for any chance of betrayal, but he didn't care.
Smiley turns away from the man again, as he feels Julian's body facing the opposite way as well. These two weren't the type to bond. It was somewhat awkward for the two men. For Julian especially, who considered most of allies as crumbs under his boots.
"Just don't snore, huh?" Smiley says with a chuckle as his hand retreats under the pillow and back to his Phaser.
"And try not to move so much, you big lummox." Julian responds. "You shake the bed too much."
Smiley's body finally relaxes as his eyes demand sleep again.
After five more minutes...It's finally said as O'Brien feels Julian's breath on his right ear.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but...Thank you." Julian says in a whisper.
Smiley pretended to be asleep, but he was sure that Julian knew he was awake. Tomorrow, it'd be back to being heated enemies out for authority over the Rebellion. Julian would punch him, Smiley would respond with wisecracks...But tonight...At least for tonight...They were practically best friends.
After ten minutes the bed stopped moving. Julian was asleep. Smiley's eyes began to close themselves as he too started falling to sleep. The last sensation Smiley had felt bfore finally falling aslep was Julian's arms curving onto his back and over his body, his right hand ending up right next to Smiley's.
And against his better judgement...Smiley took that hand in his own.