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Casey had discovered that the cargo bays on the Phoenix were empty most of the time. She would bring her CD player and the speakers Daniel had purchased for her, and work out, doing any one of the routines she taught, or combinations from any or all of them.

She was in sweats, the music was blaring, and she was literally bouncing off of the walls. Seeing Wade had shocked her. She had never expected to see him again. Had no desire to see him again. She ran toward the wall and up three steps before flipping over backwards and landing on her feet. She did it five more times, making four full steps up the wall on the fifth try.

"I’m impressed," a familiar voice said.

She looked over at the doorway. "You should be. It took Carly two months to talk me into even trying it," she said with a smile.

"Angel, are you all right?"

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. "To be honest, I’m not sure."

Daniel nodded. "Guess that makes two of us."

She turned off the music, walked over to stand in front of him. "Are we all right?"

He reached out and tapped her gently on the nose. "We are absolutely all right." Her smile dazzled him, made him weak in the knees, just like it always did. "Ready to call it a day?"

"I think so."

"If you still have pent up energy, I know a better way to use it," he said, smiling seductively at her.

"Do tell," she smiled, letting him pull her against his body.

"Yep. It can be…exhausting," he continued.

"Really? For you, or me?"

He laughed. "Smart aleck. Come on, let’s go take a shower. Then I’ll help you get rid of all that excess energy."

"Doctor Jackson, are you trying to seduce me?" she asked, her eyes wide and full of laughter.

"Yep. Is it working?" He was nuzzling her neck.

She giggled. "Maybe. Depends on how well you…um…wash my back."

"Oh, now that sounded like a challenge," he said softly. He moved his lips to hers, kissed her deeply, felt her lean against him, the way she always did when he kissed her long and hard.

She pulled away. "Shower, Doctor Jackson. Now."

"And then?"

"Then we’ll see if you have any energy left, to help me burn up my excess," she said suggestively, smiling warmly.

"Now that was definitely a challenge. You’re on, lady," he grinned.

A  A  A  A  A  A

They had showered, making love under the flow of the warm water, and then Daniel proved to her just how much energy he did have left. She was still lying on top of him, sound asleep. Sleep didn’t come as easily for him. Like a tape on a loop, he saw Casey and…Wade…in that room, her slender legs around his hips, his body moving on top of her. The more he tried to force it from his mind, the more entrenched it became.

"No…" she murmured in her sleep. "No…not you…not you…you’re not Daniel!"

He tightened his arms around her. He knew what, or rather who was filling her dreams. Wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what was making her cry out. Gave in to the temptation to see what she was dreaming about…

Wade stood at the doorway of a room, it looked like a hotel room. A very luxurious hotel room. She was standing there, wearing the leather pants and bustier, the boots adding three inches to her height. The light was behind him, casting him in shadow. She smiled, held out her arms. He walked toward her, pulled her into an embrace. He knelt down, pulled her boots from her feet, his hands moving over her feet, up her legs. They undressed one another, caressing, kissing, touching. He pushed her to the bed, moved over her, began to make love to her. The light suddenly shifted, and she saw his face. She pushed him away, her green eyes wide with shock…and pain. "No! No! Not you! Not you! You’re not Daniel!"

Daniel stood in the corner and listened, watched, his heart pounding against his ribs. Did she really want to get to know the man she had…fucked…was this her how subconscious was trying to tell her that? Did she have feelings for him?

"No! I have never done that!" Movement in the corner of the room caught her eye, and broke her heart.

Daniel jerked. He dropped her hand, wiped his hand over his face. Had she really fantasized about that? His heart was in his stomach. Stop it! he told himself. It’s a goddamn dream! She can’t help what she dreams! And now that you know about it, it’s going to eat at you, his brain taunted him. Until you confront her about something that isn’t even her fault… something she has no control over. He shook himself mentally. No! I would never do that! he insisted. Yes, his brain told him, you will.

She was still murmuring, her body was trembling.

"Shh, Angel, it’s okay," he whispered, his hand moving slowly up and down her back.

She jumped, her eyes flew open.

"Babe?" he asked softly. Tried to fight the feelings of hurt and anger.

"Oh, god," she moaned. She could remember every detail of the dream with crystal clarity. She looked up into his eyes. Saw the pain, the confusion. "Couldn’t let me have a nightmare alone, could you?" she asked, her trembling voice full of accusation. "You saw it, heard it." She pulled away from him, climbed from the bed. She found her robe, pulled it over her naked body and sat down on the chair across from the bed. "Well, let’s get it over with."

He was watching her, stunned at her reaction, still reeling from his own emotions over what he had witnessed. "Get what over with?"

"Twenty questions. And wipe that damned wounded puppy dog look off of your face," she said.

"Excuse me? Do what?" He sat up on the bed. He let go of the anger he had been holding in check…felt it rush through him. It flared in his blue eyes.

She rolled her eyes. "Stop with the wounded husband routine. I had a nightmare. You had to poke around in it. I saw you standing in the corner. Do you want me to just list the answers, or do you want to ask the questions?"

"Do you want to fuck him again?"

Her eyes went wide. "No!"

"Not even if I joined him?"

Her cheeks blazed. "No."

"But you thought about it, right?"

Casey jumped to her feet, began pacing the floor. "Do you want to get into all the fantasies you have? Oh, wait, I fulfilled all of them for you, didn’t I?" she said sarcastically.

"Answer the damned question!" he snapped.

"The truth?"

"Preferably."

"No. I didn’t. I…the thought of having another man in our bed…with you…at the same time…" she shuddered. "No thanks. I have you. You’re my Adonis, my hero, my…god. No other man could come close to you. Why would I want…that?"

"Casey, it wouldn’t have been in your dream if you hadn’t thought about it," he insisted. He was so focused on his anger that he didn’t even hear all of what she said…consciously.

"Okay, here’s a question for you. How often do you dream about Neferteri, or Ishtar? How about Osiris…or Sarah. Maybe Sha’re? Ever dream of having two or three of them at once…or all of them? With me or without me? What about that little blonde nurse that flirts with you all the time. Ever screwed her in your dreams?"

"Not that I know of," he mumbled, suddenly unwilling to meet her eyes.

"Right. But I’m supposed to monitor my dreams so that you don’t get your feelings hurt if you decide to come snooping into them!" She let out with a hiss of frustration. "Do me a favor and just stay the hell out of my head."

His eyes went wide. "Casey…"

She shook her head stubbornly. "Stay out of my head. Period." She grabbed her clothes and began dressing.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere to get out of here!"

He watched her storm out of the room. Told you so, his brain taunted him. Shut up, he replied. He reached out with his mind. And felt himself shoved away…hard. He ran his hand over his face again, then crawled out of bed and dressed. ‘Babe? Angel, I’m sorry. Love you.’

Silence. Worse than the silence was the fact that he couldn’t even ‘feel’ her. She was blocking him completely. They had only had this ability to…share…to communicate…for a short time. He was already accustomed to it, depended on it…needed it.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Casey made her way down to the cargo bay. She sat down in one of the corners of the room, forbade herself to cry. She was angry. She was hurt. But most of all she was afraid. Afraid that she really did have feelings for her husband’s Doppelganger. Afraid that she really did want a chance to get to know him. She didn’t want to sleep with him, she had been telling the truth about her feelings on that matter. She felt Daniel reach out to her, she pushed him away with all the strength she possessed. Even though it was breaking her heart to do so. She wanted to remain angry with him, be furious with him for entering her dream…her nightmare. But she knew that the only reason he would have done that was if she had been restless and crying out. He'd have done it simply to protect her, to fight the demons she was facing. Because he had always faced her demons for her, fought them for her. The tears were getting harder to hold back.

"Sorry, didn’t know anyone was here," a soft voice said. It was familiar…yet…different.

She looked up into blue eyes. They were too damned familiar. "It’s okay, really."

He studied her for a moment, took note of the pale cheeks and the look of sorrow that haunted her delicate features, the pain that filled those beautiful green eyes. "Are you all right?"

Tears filled her eyes, and she shook her head.

He lowered himself to the floor beside her. "It’s about me, isn’t it?" he asked.

She looked at the floor, finally nodded. "I had a nightmare, and he couldn’t leave it alone."

"I don’t understand," he said, a frown on his face. It wrinkled the skin between his blue eyes exactly as a frown did on Daniel’s face.

Casey sighed. "Daniel is The Chosen. I’m His Chosen. We have the ability to communicate…mind to mind. We can…see each other’s dreams…if we want to. I was having a nightmare…and he…he just had to poke around. Now he’s pissed at me."

"For having a nightmare?" he asked incredulously.

"It was…bad," she replied.

Wade was more than just handsome, more than just talented at pleasuring a woman. He was bright, and intuitive. "And I was in it?"

She turned her head, her cheeks flushed.

"It’s okay. I’m not easily…hurt, or offended," he said softly.

"Yes, you were in it. Maybe it was just my subconscious telling me what I want."

"Or what you don’t want," Wade replied gently. "Otherwise it wouldn’t have been a nightmare."

She looked at him, one tear escaping and rolling down her cheek. "Whatever it was, it…hurt him. And in my…confusion…embarrassment…I lashed out at him. I…I…might have really blown it this time," she admitted.

"I doubt it. He loves you too much." He ached to reach out and wipe that single tear from her face. He locked his hands tightly around his legs in an effort to keep from reaching out to her.

She shook her head. "Sometimes the love just can’t overcome the pain," she whispered.

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