A/N — I was supposed to be working on a crackfic prompt from srp2017. Instead, I wrote this. But I do still plan to write the prompt! If anyone else wants to join us on this madhat, crackfict prompt frenzy, drop me a line. Also, since FFN has been a disaster, I did want to mention that I updated both Don't Let me Go and Choices, in case you didn't get alerts. And in case of total meltdown, I'm on A03 as "kals". xoxo — kals
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Name: Dreams
Setting: Bookworms/Choices Universe (crackfic)
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Danny woke to the feeling of Kara struggling out of the bunk, her movements rather more frenzied than usual. He slipped a hand to her lower back, which she instantly shrugged off. She stood, not looking at him, and yanked open her locker.
"Woah, everything okay?" He asked, moving to sit up as much as possible without banging his head and snapping on the bedside lamp. A check of his watch showed that it was still early, meaning that Kara wasn't late for her shift, and there were no alarms going off suggesting an emergency.
Kara stood, frozen, then twirled and Danny was horrified to see tears in her eyes. "I had a dream where you were cheating on me with Rachel. I walked in and saw the two of you ... together. It was awful."
"With Rachel? Ick," Danny replied, only to realize that was not the correct response as the tears disappeared and Kara's face hardened into a look that Danny suspected did not bode well. "I mean, I would never cheat on you, Kara. You should know that."
But Kara wasn't having it. Hands moving to her hips, she glared at Danny. "Out. Now."
Baffled by how quickly things went sideways — over a dream, no less — Danny stood slowly. "Really, Kara. I've never even thought about Rachel like that. Even if we weren't married, she's not my type and besides, Tex has a thing and I'm sure you know all about the bro code and..."
Kara's arms rose to her chest and her jaw tightened. "You have thirty seconds to vacate this cabin before you find yourself missing a critical portion of your anatomy."
Danny decided that maybe the better option would be to give her a little time to realize how completely irrational she was being.
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Twenty-eight hours later, Danny was starting to suspect that he had made a major tactical error by retreating. If anything, Kara was more pissed at him now than she had been when she first woke up. When he tried going by her cabin last night, Alisha answered the door and flat-out refused to let him inside. The only positive to the interaction was that Alisha didn't seem mad — in fact, she seemed rather sympathetic and suggested that Kara would come around — but she was also supremely unhelpful when Danny asked what he could possibly do to prove to Kara that he hadn't actually done anything.
He was poking at his meatloaf, listening halfheartedly to Frankie's attempts to cheer him up — most of which involved stories about Berchem that probably shouldn't be told in public — when Rachel appeared, Tex at her heels. She made a beeline for Danny. "Lieutenant Green, just the person I wanted to see. Do you happen to know why Kara might be ..."
When Rachel trailed off, Tex jumped in. "Madder than a mama wasp and unwilling to give the Doc here the time of day?"
Danny stared, stunned. It hadn't occurred to him that Kara would also be angry with Rachel. Frankie, on the other hand, apparently found this new information hysterical and was now laughing so hard that he was crying. Danny elbowed him, trying to figure out a way to explain what was going on to Rachel without making Kara sound insane. After all, Rachel was at least partially Kara's boss these days and messing with Kara's career was a sure-fire way to piss her off even more.
"Kara had a dream where we were, um, involved," Danny offered. "Apparently it was very ... real. She's upset."
"Involved?" Rachel asked, her eyebrows furrowing. Tex chuckled, leaning forward to whisper something in her ear, and then understanding dawned. "Oh, involved."
"Yeah," Danny sighed. "She knows it was just a dream but, um, is kind of mad anyway."
"Well, of course she is," Rachel said crisply.
Danny looked to Tex, but the man was as little help as Frankie. "What?"
"As I've explained during Kara's appointments," Rachel said, her voice taking on a lecture tone, "dreams during pregnancy, particularly in the second trimester, can be extremely vivid. Kara is no doubt attempting to reconcile her very real feelings of betrayal with the fact that she understands that the events she saw in her dream never happened. Further, I imagine that Kara is ..."
But Danny was no longer listening, because the door to the wardroom had opened again and Kara stood in the doorway. Her eyes bounced from Danny to Rachel and back. Before Danny could say anything, Tex spoke. "Hey there, KFG! Come take a load off."
Rachel turned, then swept across the cabin. "Kara, Danny was just telling me about your dream. As I'm sure you are aware, Danny and I are merely friends, but I feel terrible that I've been the cause of so much emotional distress. Please accept my apology."
Frankie leaned over, apparently done laughing. "WTF? She's apologizing for something she did in someone else's dream?"
Danny shook his head, wondering if he had moved into the twilight zone. "I have no idea."
Then Kara smiled, reaching out to take Rachel's hand. "Thank you, Rachel. Of course, I understand that you aren't responsible for what happened in my dream. And I'm sorry for avoiding you earlier. We can talk whenever you're ready."
Baffled, but not willing to let opportunity pass, Danny stood. "Kara..."
"No." At the sound of his voice, Kara threw up a hand. "You I'm still mad at."
As Kara swept back out the door, Danny wondered whether it was possible that pregnancy could actually make someone insane. Tex leaned over, hitting Danny's chin to close his mouth, which was apparently hanging out. "Pretty sure you have a mighty fine hole to dig yourself out of, Connecticut. I suggest that you start now."