Rajan sat up quickly and his eyes flew open, trying to figure out what had woken him up.

Disoriented, he reached out for Kala. His hand reached her skin and he felt her shaking. That must have been what had woken him! She was having a nightmare again. They didn't happen too often, but occasionally he would wake up to her shaking and murmuring in her sleep. She was facing away from him, jerking slightly. She was clearly reliving something awful. He laid back down next to her, his arms reaching around her small frame to pull her close and envelop her in a hug.

"Kala?" He whispered.

She didn't stir, but murmured unintelligibly. She hissed quietly as if she were in pain. Rajan gently caressed her arms and nuzzled his face into her hair.

"It's okay my love. You're safe. It's only a dream"

He knew it was a dream and not an emergency with one of the others. When it was something real, she would suddenly sit bolt upright in bed startling him awake with the motion. He would fearfully ask what was going on and she would fill him in on whether it was something worth getting out of bed for. It happened more frequently than her nightmares and was often just Lito being dramatic. This was different. This wasn't real, just a nightmare.

His hand stroked her hair. Kala jerked away from him, still asleep. He could finally make out some of the words she was saying.

"Neinnnn... Ich werde dich toten."

The first word was drawn out slowly, almost as a moan. But the second sentence was quiet, intentional, and dangerous.

Rajan blinked in surprise.

"Wolfgang?"

As if in response Kala flipped over in bed to face him and opened her eyes... but they weren't her eyes. Kala's eyes were always warm and light. Sometimes he could see worry, discomfort, or annoyance in his wife's eyes. He'd even seen them full of pain, but even then, they always retained her warmth. Right now, that warmth was gone. She scanned the room for threats. The danger from her voice was present in her look. It was such a foreign expression that Rajan recoiled, startled. It was physically the face of his wife, but wrong.

He recognized Wolfgang in the expression instead. Kala was probably still asleep. They both were, as Wolfgang's roaming eyes didn't seem to be taking in his surroundings. He flinched and hissed using Kala's voice; feeling some perceived threat. Wolfgang grasped his chest in pain, crossing Kala's arms defensively.

Rajan had frozen when he saw Wolfgang, but seeing that look of pain made him reach back out.

He drew his wife into his arms. His hands roaming her back and his face nuzzling hers, trying to coax one of them awake. Their arms were still clutching her chest so he just enveloped her, stroking her skin as gently as possible. He kissed their cheek and their forehead.

"Shhh, it's okay, you're safe. It's just a dream. You're safe."

He felt Kala's body jerk, the murmuring stopped, then slowly her arms uncrossed themselves.

"Rajan?" Kala's voice asked in confusion. Her eyes blinked and her body pulled back to really look around the room. Rajan put a hand on her face and directed their eyes to his. They still weren't Kala's eyes looking back at him, but at least one of them was awake. Rajan continued stroking Kala's cheek.

"You were having a nightmare, but it's okay. I've got you. You're safe."

Wolfgang stared back at him, still confused. His mind was racing, just a moment ago he was being tortured. He could feel the paddles on his chest, but the sensation was fading. His breathing started to slow as Rajan steadied him. Kala woke up quietly, figuring out quicker than Wolfgang what was happening, but curious to see how they would interact with each other. She stayed in the background, not wanting to interrupt.

"Rajan... I'm not..."

Wolfgang groggily realized that he was in Kala's body. The concerned look that Rajan was giving him must be for Kala, not for hm. Wolfgang tried to extricate himself from Rajan's arms. They had never been this close before without Kala. It felt wrong to mislead Rajan into thinking he was Kala. He tried to squirm out of Rajan's reach.

Rajan tightened his grip and wouldn't let go.

"You're Wolfgang right now. I know. Now come here so we can both go back to sleep."

He leaned forward and kissed Wolfgang tenderly on the lips then pulled him into his chest. Wolfgang's eyebrows raised in surprise, but he melted at the touch. This was more intimate than they usually were with one another. They'd had sex a number of times, but always with Kala, and usually the romance was focused on her. This felt more personal. Wolfgang gave in and relaxed, allowing Rajan to hold him comfortably in his arms. He felt weirdly safe here. He liked it.

Kala smiled at them, then made herself known and crawled into bed behind Wolfgang, sandwiching him in the middle. She caressed his hair and kissed the back of his neck. Wolfgang sighed happily, leaning into both of them.

Rajan saw the look on Wolfgang's face and noticed that he shifted slightly as if making room for someone else. "Kala is awake now too?" Rajan asked, caressing Wolfgang's cheek. Wolfgang nodded into the palm of Rajan's hand.

"Wonderful! Then let's all get some sleep. No more nightmares, yea?" Rajan's gaze pierced Wolfgang's, and he kissed him again.

With Rajan's lips on his and Kala's body caressing him, all his stress from the nightmare slipped away. Wolfgang nodded and the three of them settled against each other.

"I love you both" Rajan stated, a hand caressing their shoulder. Kala's heart exploded with happiness. Rajan had never said that to Wolfgang before. She sat up to look at Wolfgang, beaming. She could feel Wolfgang's own happiness dripping off him, even if he was more reserved with an embarrassed grin. Holding eye contact with Kala, Wolfgang said to Rajan,

"We love you too"

Then he leaned over and kissed Rajan again before settling into his arms. Kala fell back down beside them leaving Wolfgang snuggled in the middle. Wolfgang reached back and grabbed Kala's hand, wrapping her arms around himself as well. Kala and Rajan both fell asleep before him, and Wolfgang smiled to himself between them. It would be hard to have a nightmare like this, so comfortably nestled between the man and woman that he loved. And with that thought Wolfgang fell back into a light, nightmare-free sleep.

Author's note:

Hey there, this is the first fic I've published in about 10 years. I wrote it a while ago, but got locked out of my account due to inactivity for a long time. Something about the Kala, Rajan, Wolfgang relationship just made me want to write again. I'd love a review! And feel free to check out some of my other stories. Thanks for reading!

- FA