Title: Wait in the Fire
By: geekwriter
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: G
Summary: Angsty little double-drabble-and-a-half. Post-ep for "Grave Danger."

He wakes up sometimes with a start. He never screams. Sometimes I wonder how many nightmares he has that I don't wake up for. We sleep closer now than we used to. I don't think he ever leaves more than a few inches of space between us. I don't mind.

His nightmares are bad, but we rarely talk about them. He only tells me if they're different than before, different than what really happened. One night he dreamt that I was the one trapped, another night he dreamt he became a ghost, but mostly the dreams are the same. He's back in the box and he's never, ever going to get out.

If I'm already awake or, more likely, if his startle response wakes me up, I reach for him. I touch him gently. Sometimes he flinches. Then, when he realizes it's me, he turns and burrows into my arms and I stroke his back and if it's really bad, if he's shaking and can't stop, I sing to him.

I don't really know the kinds of songs you sing to someone after a nightmare, but I sing him what I do know anyway. Sometimes it makes him laugh. Sometimes he falls back to sleep. Sometimes he cries and cries and those nights I do everything I can to hold it together and I hold him and I stroke his hair and he makes me promise him, promise him, promise him over and over again that I'll never let go.