Nathan and Moira, Monday night

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They're both having nightmares. What a pair they make. They do manage to talk about it, though, and come up with a strategy to address their similar if somewhat different problems.



Moira rubbed her eyes, irritated with herself. Another nightmare, another sleepless night it seemed. Leaning back in the chair at the desk, she glanced over at Nathan and smiled. At least one of them was sleeping. Though he'd been doing a great deal of that lately. But at least it was good for him. Moira leaned forward again and put her head in her hands. Nathan was back, Mistra gone--so why the bloody nightmares? Because, she admitted, getting kidnapped was a scary business, no matter how hard you tried to pretend it wasn't.

Nathan wasn't sleeping quite as soundly as he appeared. Deep in his subconscious, below even the level of the posthypnotic suggestion Charles had implanted, things were beginning to shift. Memories, or figments, rather, of seeing the mansion torn away piece by piece... the kids in training at Mistra...

Nathan frowned in his sleep, reaching out for those images, trying to understand. Even as he did, they surfaced with a sudden, violent speed, becoming solid, real.... and Nathan flung the covers aside with a cry, falling sideways out of the bed to the floor.

The link actually warned her that something was happening seconds before the actual cry or thump, so Moira found herself at his side faster than if the link hadn't reacted. "Nathan?" Gently, she shook him, trying to make sure he was alright.

"Shot Jane," he said disjointedly, his voice breaking. "They shot Jane..." He couldn't focus. Nothing was connecting, again, not even the urge to curl up and sleep, which was tugging at the back of his mind, but not managing to carry him away.

Leaning over, she managed to get an arm between his head and the floor. "Nay real," she murmured, stroking his face. "Jus' a nightmare, love." They seemed to be making the rounds, she thought.

It took a long few minutes before the strange, half-detached, half-panicked feeling faded. Nathan blinked up at her, seeing the dark circles beneath her eyes. "You were already awake," he muttered finally, sitting up with her help. She didn't look, or feel as if his dream had jolted her out of sleep.

"Jus' for a wee bit," Moira said, focusing on him. She smoothed his hair back from his forehead, noting he was soaked in sweat. "Ye okay?"

"I... I think I was remembering something," Nathan muttered, blinking rapidly at her as his eyes tried to blur again. "Not something real... something they put in there. Maybe when they were reconditioning me..."

"Probably," she murmured, checking his pupils quickly. "Jane is fine, jus' so ye know. Wasnae 'urt at all durin' th' whole thin'. Come on." With some effort, she managed to get him up off the floor and at least sitting on the edge of the bed. "Better."

Nathan took her hands as she sat down beside him, squeezing them as he tried to breathe deeply. "I'm not falling asleep," he said, still breathing hard. "Not sure I wouldn't if I tried to think about the dream too hard, but..."

"Nightmare probably hit you verra 'ard." She frowned and held onto his hands, watching him. "Tha's it, jus' relax."

It took a few minutes more for him to slow his breathing down. By then, the drowsiness really was getting to him. "I hate this," he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut. "I don't get why Charles has to do this..." There was a distant, quiet part of him that was beginning to get quite upset about the whole thing. It just had to be quiet, or he'd faceplant on the floor.

"Because otherwise ye'd worry yerself inta th' floor boards. Ye know ye would. Ye _need_ ta rest an' I know Charles probably dinnae think ye would rest if'n 'e dinnae step in." Moira gave him a sharp look. "I dinnae like it meself, but I know 'tis 'elpin' ye."

"But I can't..." Nathan closed his eyes, concentrated on breathing for a moment. And not falling asleep. "I can't even think about what happened, Moira... I can't sort it out in my head, because when I try, I fall asleep. It took me hours to write that email to Jack...."

Her frown deepened. "Ye need ta talk ta Charles," she said, after a minute. "Ye need ta sit down an' talk 'bout this. See if'n 'e can make it so ye can remember." There was a pause. "Are ye goin' ta beat yerself up, like earlier?"

Nathan shook his head wearily. "I just..." He sighed heavily, squeezing her hands. "Was being neurotic, I guess. Not like they don't have their own lives to look after, and I shouldn't require that much reassurance." He smiled a bit weakly at her.

"I keep tellin' meself yer adorable when yer neurotic," she teased, leaning in to brush a kiss on his cheek.

Nathan sensed a trace of her own disquiet as she kissed him, and he frowned a little, raising a hand to touch the side of her face as she drew back. "You're safe, too, you know," he said, his forehead creasing a little as he peered down into her eyes.

Moira froze and then smiled, leaning into the touch. "Mmm, was 'opin' ye wouldnae notice tha'," she commented, dryly. "Ye've ta much on yer plate as it 'tis."

"You are the main course on my plate," Nathan murmured, putting an arm around her shoulders and drawing her in close. "And I'm not okay if you're not... thought you'd have twigged to that by now?"

Snuggling closer, she nodded. Somewhat amused by his metaphor, she was still unhappy that she was putting her troubles on Nathan. "I know, but ye've been through so much lately, ye dinnae need me problems, for now, on top o' yers."

"Your problems, my problems..." Nathan shrugged. "Our joint problems, no?"

"True." She snuggled closer, fitting her arms around her waist. "Wish sleepin' was easier for me--an' 'arder ta do for ye," she teased.

"I'll talk to Charles tomorrow... " Nathan smiled a little, kissing the top of her head. "You could always take the evil green pills."

"Dinnae want ta," she grumbled into his shoulder.

"You're as bad as I am." Nathan stared at the far wall of the room for a long moment, trying to banish the images from the dream. They wouldn't go. Calmly, he told himself, breathing deeply. "Some things I don't want to remember," he said, his voice very low and pained.

"I know but sometimes, we 'ave ta remember th' 'orrid thin's ta enjoy th' good." Carefully, she reached out and reached into the link with her mind, mentally 'cuddling' against it, if you will.

Nathan took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked quietly. "I hate not having been here for you, after you went through all that..."

"I will be." The answer took a few seconds and she sighed when she said it. "Missed ye somethin' fierce but I focused on ye an' nay everythin' else while ye were gone.

"Not good for you," he mumured, his arm tightening around her. "Not now, at least. You should talk to Charles..."

"I guess so." She wrinkled her nose. "I make a 'orrible patient."

"Of course you do." Nathan was silent for a moment. "Are you still annoyed at me for wandering off?" he asked tentatively.

She blinked up at him. "Wha'? Nay, was jus'--a wee bit panicky when I woke up." Moira sighed. "An' I feel bad about tha'."

"I don't know why I can't sit still when I'm awake," Nathan muttered, but squirmed a little inwardly, knowing he wasn't being entirely truthful.

The link, especially in such close contact, was very useful at times. "Wha' was tha'?" she asked, smiling a little. "Dinnae catch tha'..."

"It's... the walls. I keep expecting them to change." He laughed a little, trying to be dismissive. "Weird, I know."

"But understandable at th' same time. It makes sense ye dinnae want ta sit still in one place--afraid ye'll end up somewhere ye dinnae want ta be."

"I think there's a word for it," Nathan muttered a bit darkly. "'Sense' isn't the one that comes to mind." He reached out, tugging the covers back. "I don't know what you were doing," he said, shifting backwards on the bed, "but if you were out of bed, come back?"

Nodding, she shrugged out of the sweater she had grabbed and climbed back in. "Nay sure if'n I can sleep well, but I'll give it me best shot." Moira relaxed as Nathan slid under the covers next to her and drew her closer.

Nathan took a deep breath, trying not to hold her too tightly. He really needed to stop with the pitiful clinging. "Maybe the narcolepsy can be contagious?" he suggested very softly.

"Let's 'ope so. Especially if'n ye dinnae let go..."