Disclaimer: Star Trek, and everything related to it, is the property of CBS/Paramount. The original characters and story are mine.

Naomi was in bed unsuccessfully trying to get back to sleep, she had been tossing and turning for hours. When she first went to bed, she fell asleep easily, but, moments later, was once again wide awake. She was jolted awake from a very disturbing dream. After checking her bedside chronometer she realized she had only been asleep for 20 minutes, probably less. She could tell by the steady rhythm of Mary's breathing, her roommate was fast asleep. The dream which woke her was still rolling around her mind. It had obviously been generated by her subconscious mind from the current situation on Cold Station 12. In the dream, she had been on the ship orbiting CS12, but it wasn't Captain Dax' husband, Dr. Bashir, who was in jeopardy, it was Icheb. Her mind, being unfamiliar with the station and its appearance had filled in the details, the result being her dream version of CS12 resembled areas of Deep Space Nine, which they had recently visited. Icheb was quarantined in an area resembling the sickbay of DS9. The dream Icheb had succumbed to the onslaught of viral pathogens, and as Naomi watched on a viewscreen, he lost consciousness and died within minutes.

Naomi finally gave up the attempt to get back to sleep. Getting up as quietly as possible, she put on her pink dressing gown, affixed her commbadge to it, and left the sleeping area for the living area. Making sure the door was closed, she tapped her commbadge and whispered, "Computer, locate Commander Icheb."

"Commander Icheb is on the Bridge."

"Thank you." Naomi thought for a minute, she didn't want to call Icheb over an open communication channel and draw attention to the fact she wanted to talk to him in the middle of the ship's night. After commanding the computer to bring up the lights to a very dim setting, she crossed to the computer console and sat down. After activating it, she sat staring at it for a moment, trying to decide what she wanted to do.

Finally she decided to send Icheb a short and simple text message, giving him the opportunity to respond only if he was free to do so, it read, "Icheb, I know you're on the bridge and are very likely busy. If at all possible, would you please respond?" She sat waiting for his response for only a few short moments.

His face appeared on her computer console, "Hi, are you okay?" He was obviously in the Captain's Ready Room.

"Hi, I'm not sure. I am having trouble getting back to sleep. You see, I had a nightmare about you, and it's upset me. I know I'm being silly, it was only a nightmare."

"Okay, I was about to leave the bridge anyway, would you like me to come to your quarters?"

Naomi beamed, "Could you? I'd really appreciate it."

"I'll be there in a few minutes. Icheb, out."

When his image flickered off the screen, she sat back in her chair feeling both relieved and a bit embarrassed. She was sure he'd laugh at her, both because a dream was upsetting her this much, and the dream itself. While waiting for his arrival, she stood up and paced back and forth across the living area of the quarters she shared with Mary. It seemed to take forever for the door chime to sound, but it finally did.

As soon as Icheb crossed the threshold, he could tell Naomi was truly agitated. He took her by the hand, and gently pulled her over to the couch. Making sure he was looking directly into her eyes, he asked, "Now, what's going on? What has you so upset?"

The tension she had felt since waking up with the nightmare came out in a gush of words, "I dreamt you were the one over on Cold Station 12, and it was you who had been exposed to all the pathogens. You collapsed, just like Dr. Bashir, then you…" her voice was barely a whisper at this point, "died."

Icheb reached over and gathered Naomi into his arms. He pulled her onto his lap and hugged her as tightly as he could. "Naomi, I'm so sorry. No wonder you're scared, but I'm fine, I'm right here." He realized she was crying, and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm not going to insult you by saying nothing will ever happen to me. I can't promise anything like that, just like you couldn't. We are in a dangerous profession, where things can happen in the blink of an eye, but right here and right now, I'm fine. We're together."

Naomi wiped the tears from her cheek and looked into Icheb's reassuring eyes, "The Captain must be terrified."

"She is, the EMH on CS12 recommended Todd give her a mile sedative, and she agreed, which is an indication of how worried and scared she is. After Dr. Bashir collapsed, I took her into her Ready Room to try and calm her down, and she was so frantic, she asked how I'd feel if it was you in Dr. Bashir's place. This situation has everyone on edge."

Naomi tried to smile, "Thank you."

Icheb was puzzled, "For what?"

"Coming here, reassuring me, taking care of me, just…everything."

He pulled her head onto his shoulders and whispered in her ear, "I love you." They sat in silence for some time, Icheb was rubbing Naomi's back in an effort to help her relax. Icheb wasn't sure how long he'd been holding her before he realized her breathing had slowed and her muscles were relaxed. She had fallen asleep, he had no intention of waking her, and he soon fell asleep as well.