Things had been pretty damn amazing recently. Well, except for the fact that the adapted was still around.

Things with Tarin were good, if not better than ever. And they had even gone to a playoff game that the Mets had actually won.

But Lee wasn't thinking about any of that. She wasn't thinking about anything good, even though she was currently laying in bed beside Tarin.

That was because Lee was currently not thinking about anything good because she was stuck in a nightmare as she occasionally whimpered in her sleep.

Instead of her safe, comfortable apartment next to the man she loved, Lee was laying on the floor of a bedroom that looked like it was right out of the 1970s. On the floor by the door in a pile of blankets rather than in the bed. Or even in the chair in front of the so-called vanity that was practically the only other furniture in the room.

Laying on the floor near the door desperately searching for any energy within her range that she could siphon. Because this was the only place that Lee had been able to sense any energy, however faint, before she was basically unable to move on her own from lack of energy.

Lee was as awake as she ever seemed to be now, which was really only half conscious, dozing in and out of exhausted sleep as she felt that bit of siphoning start.

Suddenly the door opened and Lee flinched back in her blankets. Looking up without lifting her head Lee saw Anton walking into the room.

Amazing was not traditionally the kind of word that Tarin Brooks would have used to describe his life. There were periods of time when life had been good, there were periods of time where life had been pretty awful, and there had been lots of times that were generally just fine.

Lately? Life had been amazing. There were still aspects of life that were bad. There were a couple of things that had been awful, but those things just weren’t as significant as they might have seemed in the past. When those awful things happened, they weren’t as bad either, because he wasn’t dealing with them alone.

One of the amazing things was just sleeping with Lee. When they’d first gotten together, that hadn’t really seemed like a thing that they’d be able to do much, if at all, and that had been fine. Tarin would have happily gone on they way they started forever. But then Lee had wanted to try, and then she’d started remembering to shut off her siphoning and things had gone even better from there.

Nightmares were much easier to deal with when you weren’t alone too, as Tarin had found out on multiple occasions. Lee was always there when he woke up…and had been there when he hadn’t woken up too.

This night, something woke Tarin and he blinked in the dark for a moment before realizing that what had woke him was Lee..clearly having a nightmare of their own. It had happened before…Lee had just as much reason for them as Tarin did. It did not seem like Lee was waking up on her own from this one, so Tarin reached out to gently shake her shoulder, hoping he wouldn’t startle her too badly…

Suddenly, in a blink, Tarin wasn’t laying in bed with Lee anymore. It wasn’t pitch black and they weren’t warm and cozy. He was standing in a room.

The room looked like something straight out of an old sitcom and it was almost unnervingly bare except for a bundle of blankets by the door. Confused for a moment, Tarin tried to get his bearings, pieces falling into place as he realized that this was that dream thing that Lee could do, happening in reverse.

If that was the case…

The final pieces of the puzzle fell into place and Tarin stared at the pile of blankets in mute horror for a moment as he realized that this nightmare had to do with the adapted that had kidnapped Lee. Kept her in a creepy little house. Kept her away from the energy that she needed to function.

The pile of blankets was Lee and Tarin had just started moving towards them when the door opened and the figure in the blankets flinched back.

A figure stood in the door and almost instantly, rage flared in Tarin like he’d never felt before.

“Get away from her.” he ground out through clenched teeth.

Lee didn't realize that there was anyone else in the room with her, even before Anton had opened the door. There was never anyone else there, no one had come to find her. It was just her, alone in the room with no energy unless Anton was there.

And suddenly Anton was there. Lee had automatically flinched back, away from him, but that was all she could do. She really hadn't even had the energy for that, but her body had just reacted.

Lee's eyes were only half open as she looked up at Anton who appeared to be none too happy to see her in the exact same place and position that she had been…however long ago he was last there.

"You're still laying there?" Anton asked as he looked down at her. "You know everything would be so much easier and better if you would just get up and do what I've asked."

Never mind the fact that Lee didn't want to do anything that Anton wanted her to do, how many times had Lee tried to explain that it was his fault she was like this? That because of him being an adapted, and him keeping her wherever here was, so far from people, she literally couldn't do what he wanted her to. She couldn't even stand on her own.

He either didn't or refused to understand, and Lee was done using her precious energy on trying to explain, so she just blinked up at him.

"Get away from her.”

Lee blinked again, in surprise this time. That wasn't Anton's voice. And it wasn't hers. But there wasn't anyone else in the room. There couldn't be. You couldn't get through the 'windows' in the room, and Anton kept the door locked when he wasn't there.

At least Lee assumed he was still locking the door. She hadn't had the energy to try opening it in what felt like forever.

Slowly, the reaction delayed, Lee's eyes moved over toward where she heard the voice. To see that there was a person there. Further into the room than Anton was. That was impossible. But how did she had the energy to hallucinate?

"Get this room cleaned up, and I'll bring a treat for dessert tonight," Anton said before leaving the room again. And, Lee heard, locking the door behind him.

Sagging back into the blankets now that he was gone, Lee's eyes drifted closed. From some still miraculously working corner of her mind, the thought came to Lee that people started hallucinating when they'd gone too long without sleep.

And that people could die without sleep.

Was that what was now happening? Had Anton killed her just as surly as he would have had he shot her that first day?

"H-how?" Lee breathed, her voice rough and unsteady from disuse even at that low volume. If she was hallucinating, maybe she could imagine being rescued before the end.

Tarin had seen Lee before when she didn’t have enough energy. He had seen her in the mornings before they’d started sharing a bed at night and even though she’d been exhausted, Lee had been somewhat functional. Even then, Tarin hadn’t been able to stand it. Every time he’d seen Lee like that he’d offered her energy.

This was so much worse. So so much worse.

Just looking at Lee like that on the floor, bundled in blankets, unable to move as that…creature stood over her and berated her for not…not…doing what he asked? Tarin tried to move forward, to try to intervene, but it was like he was stuck. It was like every time he moved forward he stayed right where he was. So Tarin stopped fighting and just stared murder at the man in the door, committing every possible feature to memory. On a day that seemed a long time ago Tarin had wondered why nobody had ever ended this piece of shit, now he had what he needed to get a start.

The aforementioned piece of shit dangled a treat for dessert if Lee cleaned up the room and then left and Tarin just stood there, watching helplessly as Lee slumped back to the floor.

It was torture, and so much worse than anything he ever saw in his own nightmares. Those terrors were familiar. This…seeing Lee like this was something that Tarin could hardly fathom and it hurt.

”Lee…Lee…come on Lee, you’ve got to wake up….It’s a nightmare…” .

After long enough that he was worried she wasn’t going to open her eyes again, Lee spoke and it was like something in the air shifted. Tarin stepped forward and actually moved and then he was there, almost sliding to his knees right there in the pile of blankets that was Lee.

He could remember when she’d entered his dream, how he hadn’t known who she was at first and he didn’t want to scare her…hell, if she was stuck in this time, telling her who he was would be even scarier.

”I’m here to help.” he said, all that anger and rage simmering in the back of his mind for the moment as he dealt with the more important thing at hand. Tarin wanted to reach out, to pull her close, but instead he held out his hands, right next to where hers were so she wouldn’t have to reach far, ”This is a dream Lee. You’re safe and you’ve got energy, but you need to wake up.”

He knew her name. Lee supposed that made sense since her mind had created him. And he was telling her that this was a nightmare. Well yeah, this situation was obviously a nightmare. It would be for anyone trapped in this situation, in this house. It was all the more so because somehow it was so isolated that she couldn't get any energy.

Then the man was moving toward her, quickly, and all of a sudden Lee could feel energy.

Lee's eyes widened as the man slid to a stop in front of her. If he was a hallucination, she wouldn't be able to feel energy from him, would she? Lee didn't think so, but the mind was a powerful thing, and that was one of the few things that Lee had even wished for since she had found herself in this room.

Saying that he was there to help as he held his hands out to her. Not to lift her, not to move the blankets, but holding his hands out right next to hers. Did he know about her powers? How?

Lee was trying to wrap her mind around all of this even as she savoured the energy. How could this man be there? Why hadn't Anton known?

In her exhausted state trying to think about all of this, she didn't process what else the man was saying to her. But she stared at his hands for a moment, so close to hers. Movement of any kind was so difficult to force, but if this man was actually here, she would easily make up the energy that reaching for his hands would use by orders of magnitude.

Lee didn't lift her hands as she reached out, they kind of just dragged across the blanket until her fingers touched his hands.

"Help me?" she turned her eyes up to the man, her voice cracking. "Get out…of here?"

She was looking at him now. She knew he was there. She still didn’t know who he was though and Tarin was immensely glad that he hadn’t tried to wrap her in his arms or tell her who he was.

It took a moment and Tarin felt horrible for making her move to touch his hands, but the second she initiated the contact, Tarin wrapped her hands in his and

Lee asked him to help her and just the fact that she asked told Tarin how utterly and completely desperate Lee was…had been…

God…it had all been real. The desperation, the state Lee was in…the son of a bitch that had done this to her was a dead man and he didn’t even know it yet.

Not productive. Tarin needed out of here before he could do anything, and he needed Lee to do that.

”Yep. We’ll get you some energy, and then we’ll get you out of here.” he said, scooting forward and pulling Lee into his arms. Even in the dream she felt so small and frail.

”This will help…” he said, ”But you need to wake up. It sounds crazy Lee, but this is a dream…come on…wake up.”

If she didn’t wake up, he’d have to figure out how to get them out the door. It didn’t look terribly sturdy, but he’d need Lee to be able to hold herself up if he was going to get the both of them through there.

“I will always come for you.” he said, still holding her close, hoping he’d either get enough energy in the dream to move or the words would get through and she’d wake up.

This man had to know about her powers, because the moment that she touched his hands, the slightest bit of contact, he was wrapping her hands with his. What other reason could there be other than to provide more contact and thus more energy?

That was proven to be true a moment later when he said that they would get her some energy then get out of there.

The only thing that Lee wanted more than to get out of there at that exact moment was energy. With energy, she could move, she could start functioning again.

With energy, she could possibly get out of there on her own.

But then the man was actually lifting her, pulling her close, into his arms.

Lee tensed. She didn't have the energy to pull away. Though, this would get her more energy faster.

She needed to wake up? He was right, that did sound crazy.

Why did this man's arms around her feel so familiar?


She had some energy now, enough that she felt capable of moving, and Lee turned her head to look up at the man in confusion. "A dream?" she asked, and while it was evident in the tone of her voice that she was getting more energy than she had at first, her voice was still as rough from disuse as it had been.

Then her brows furrowed as she continued looking up at this man. Slowly, frustratingly slowly, things started to connect in her mind.

"I will always come for you.”

Lee blinked. "T-Tarin?"

It broke Tarin’s heart a little when Lee tensed as he pulled her into his arms. Normally he’d have let go if she’d done that, he’d have let go and made sure she was comfortable. Tarin knew he had to get Lee the energy her dream self thought she needed. Right now, Lee couldn’t think, couldn’t function.

They sat there on the floor and Tarin stayed as still as possible as his mind raced through every possibility he could think of for getting them out of here. Did she need to get out of the house? Did she need him to beat the ever-loving hell out of the monster that had been keeping her here? Tarin wasn’t much of a fighter, but he felt like he could do it right now.

After a few moments, Lee moved and Tarin pulled back so he could see her as she looked up at him in confusion.

Lee questioned that it was a dream and Tarin nodded, ”A nightmare.” he said, ”You weren’t waking up…but you need to wake up.” he said.

She was thinking, Tarin could see it and hoped beyond hope that she was getting enough energy to start putting things together. That she’d be able to wake up soon, to get them out of here.

He said he’d always come for her. He would, no matter what. It was still utterly disgusting that nobody had the first time.

Lee blinked, she said his name and Tarin almost gasped out a sigh of relief as he pulled her closer, ”Oh thank god….” he said.

”You need to wake up though Lee. You’re stuck like I was.”

This was a dream, a nightmare, that she wasn't waking up from. And she needed to wake up.

Maybe now that she had some energy, now that her brain felt like it could actually somewhat work again, now that she was able to move if not stand, she could do that.

When she said his name, Tarin pulled her closer, and Lee turned, burying her face into his shoulder. Of course he would always come for her. But…

But Tarin hadn't even been in the same world as her when this had happened, when she had been stuck in this house. Then how…?

Because she was stuck, again. This time in a nightmare.

Pulling back slightly to look up at him again, Lee nodded. "I'll try," she whispered.

Closing her eyes, Lee tried to pull them out of the dream, to wake up. This part was definitely much more difficult than entering a dream, and Lee sure did not have enough practice doing this taht she knew exactly what she was doing.

Suddenly, Lee felt much more energy in her body. More than she would have expected. More than she generally had after spending the night in bed with Tarin.

Opening her eyes, Lee saw that she was, in fact, in bed with Tarin. Initially, Lee pulled back, taking a shaky breath as she first cut down her siphoning before turning it off.

As the tears spilled over a moment later, Lee practically flung herself at Tarin, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder as she started crying.

She saw him now and the relief was so profound that Tarin didn’t even know what to do with it. It was warring somewhere inside him with the desperate need to make that bastard pay for every second he’d made Lee lie on the floor like that.

They were still inside that weird little room though. Stuck inside Lee’s dream and Tarin didn’t know how long it would be until she could muster the energy to get them out. He didn’t put the thought to words, but if she was pulling energy from him here, was she also doing it outside too?

It didn’t matter.

She was going to try to wake up. She was going to attempt to get them out of the dream. Tarin just nodded and closed his eyes, holding her tight as they waited.

”You can do it.” he whispered…then suddenly something changed.

It wasn’t cold anymore. It wasn’t dank and weird. It was warm, and he was stretched out and when Tarin opened his eyes he could see Lee in the darkness of the room.

At the same time she pulled back and he pulled his arms back, scooting back to try and give her whatever space she wanted. After only a moment though, Lee was launching herself at him and Tarin pulled her close as she cried…arms instantly wrapping around her there in the dark. There had been times that Lee had cried while she had told him stories…a few tears escaping as she talked about things that had happened to her. Horrible things.

She had never cried like this. Not a single time and all of that rage from inside the dream surged back and Tarin could hardly breathe.

He needed to pull it together. This was not the time.

Tarin didn’t say anything though, didn’t try to tell Lee that it was okay because it was so obviously not okay. How could it be?

Instead he just held her, hands moving slowly up and down her back, holding her close as she cried. Right now, Lee needed him…but as soon as she didn’t Tarin was going to do something that should have been done years ago.

Lee wasn't sure how long she was laying there crying,her face buried in Tarin's shoulder. Just as at the time she hadn't known how long Anton had held her there in that house.

But Tarin didn't say anything, he simply held her, rubbing her back.

Lee hadn't had one of those nightmares in years. Even after telling Tarin what had happened, even with this other adapted being around, Lee hadn't had this nightmare.

Lee would never forget that being stuck in that house, in that room, in those blankets had made her feel helpless and hopeless.

The intervening years had dulled just how extremely helpless and hopeless she had felt. Wondering if anyone would ever find her, fearing that no one would until it was too late.

In contrast, the amount of energy Lee now felt was immense. And yet she tried to never spar with this little energy so she could actually get a decent workout in.

Eventually the tears slowed even if they didn't stop, and Lee sniffled as she wiped her wet cheeks. "I…Thank you," Lee whispered, her voice wobbly from the crying and slightly muffled as the side of her face was still pressed into Tarin's shoulder. "I didn't…take too much energy?"

Lee never cried like this and she just kept crying and crying. Tarin hated this feeling, like there wasn’t anything he could do to help, like Lee would always have this to contend with.

For now he’d just have to be there, to let her tell him what she needed.

Eventually the crying slowed and Lee moved to wipe the tears from her face.

Then she thanked him and Tarin shook his head, ”You don’t need to thank me.” he said softly. She asked if she had taken too much energy and immediately Tarin shook his head no, ”No, I’m good.” he said, then took a mental inventory.

He was tired, but it was still dark outside and they hadn’t had the earliest night. Regardless, it didn’t matter and for a few moments Tarin just stayed where he was, holding Lee close in the dark.

”I tried to help sooner…” he said, working hard to keep everything he was feeling out of his voice. “I’m so sorry.” he settled for finally, a plan already starting to form in his head. ”What do you need?”

Tarin didn't think she needed to thank him. Lee disagreed, but she wasn't going to argue.

But she never cried like this. Even the night her parents were there, Lee hadn't cried like this. She hadn't cried like this after the actual events with Anton.

Tarin answered her question a little too quickly. Of course he said that he was good. He always said that he was good in terms of her powers. Though, Lee was realizing as she calmed down a bit more, she really hadn't taken that much energy. Yes, it had felt much more drastic after how she had felt in the dream, and it was more than she normally took from Tarin. He might be more tired because it was the middle oft he night, but it hopefully wouldn't be too bad.

"Sooner?" Lee asked. "What do you mean?"

What did she need? That was a damn good question. To know that Anton was in jail for the rest of his life, or better, gone? To never have a nightmare about it again? For it to have never happened?

"Just…hold me for now?" Lee asked.

Lee seemed confused when Tarin said that he’d tried to help her sooner and he frowned a bit and shifted slightly so he could pull Lee closer.

”I was stuck for a while…” he said quietly, one hand still moving in comforting circles up and down Lee’s back as the other held her close. ”I kept trying to move but I couldn’t get any closer until looked at me.” it had been a terribly helpless feeling, but nothing compared to what Lee had to have been feeling.

As for what she needed, Lee didn’t have anything tangible. At least not anything that she was willing to say out loud. That was okay, she didn’t need to say anything. Tarin knew how she would feel because Tarin knew Lee. Tarin knew how much autonomy and independence meant to Lee, how much the ability to take care of herself meant.

It had been the perfect nightmare and it had all been real for her.

Tightening his arm around Lee a little more, Tarin tucked her head under his chin and settled in as he continued to plan what would happen next.

”Anything you need.” he said simple, and he meant every word.

Tarin had been stuck until she had looked at him? That was strange, Lee thought. She'd never had that happen any time she had been in someone's dream. It often took quite a while for her to convince the dreamer that she was real, really there. But she had always been able to move.

Then again, it was her power that got her into people's dreams. Her power that had apparently pulled Tarin into her nightmare.

"I thought I was hallucinating at first," Lee whispered. "How could someone have gotten into the room? How was there someone there and he didn't know?"

Lee let out a shaky breath as she felt Tarin's arms tighten around her and tuck her head under his chin. Closing her eyes, Lee just lay there for a while.

She felt safe there with Tarin's arms around her. It just felt right how he was holding her. Almost as though they fit together perfectly.

After a long while, Lee spoke again, softly. "You're sure your energy is ok?" she asked. "I just want to make sure before I start siphoning again."