In The Dark Of The Night (Xander)

[Deleted]

A scream broke the cool night air, officially waking up half of the fourth cohort. Well, it had to happen sometime. Clare had been writhing in her sleep for at least an hour before it finally got bad enough that it woke her up. Nightmares could be such a pain. Especially when they involved watching both her brothers being shot and most certainly not surviving. She sat there in her bed for a moment just getting her wits about her. It was a dream, just a dream. A really, freakishly bad dream. Some of the other girls in the barrack around her were either unsuccessfully asking her if she was okay, or blowing it off and going back to bed. After a few minutes, she did what any sensible Clare would do. She pulled on shorts, pausing for a moment and remembering that she had to take her pajama bottoms off first and then fixing that issue, and then just pulled a jacket on over her tank top. Before she ran out the barrack, she double-took and grabbed Flounder her stuffed Little Mermaid fish that Xander had gotten her for her birthday a while back and had quickly become her favorite. Just for the added protection.

She had one of two places to go. The question was, where to start. Visit Xander and see if he was okay and likely wake him up? Or do the same to Damien? Well, she needed comfort stat. And Xander was closer. Plus he did have this way of being able to stare down the scariest things and make them run home whimpering. If anyone could chase a bad dream away, it was probably him. So she clutched Flounder close and muffled the crying that had started up in his brightly colored fluff as she ran. It was about then that she realized she hadn’t thought to put on her flip flops, in the form of a rock jabbing her in the bottom of her foot. She let out a little cry into her fish and all but dropped to the ground, clutching her foot. She flicked the rock off and pressed her fingers into the spot where blood was starting to blossom in the hopes of stopping it. For a moment, she just sat there holding it, Flounder sitting on the ground next to her, and cried. Why this, now right after the nightmare too?

But she had to get to Xander. The dream was just so real, she knew she couldn’t get back to sleep without making sure her brothers were okay. So she stole herself and stood up, wiping the blood on her shorts and picking up Flounder. Walking just on her toes on that foot, she set off at a slightly slower and more rock-conscious pace.

The barracks were dark, which was as to be expected. But she’d been here so many times visiting or bothering or once even attempting a surprise birthday party that she knew her way around even with only the moonlight to guide. She didn’t let it faze her at all that she was in a guy’s barrack in the middle of the night, which was probably highly frowned upon, but this was urgent. She grabbed a tissue from the box on one guys nightstand – and judging from the way he was slowly soaking his pillow in drool, he needed the tissues badly – and crossed to Xander’s bed. Carefully, she sat down on the edge and pressed the tissue against her foot as she watched him carefully. He was breathing. And for all she could tell, there was no bullet hole in his chest either. Keeping her foot over the edge of the bed, she laid down and scooted under the blankets and up against her brother and waited for herself to stop shaking from the remnants of the dream.

WORD COUNT: 644
TAG: big bro Xander!
NOTES: here’s the terrible image inspiring the nightmare, thanks to Nicky for finding that disturbing thing lol

[xander]

come morning light
you and I'll be safe & sound

It had been a long day and all Xander really wanted to do was get to bed – he had dealt with a bunch of mars kids feeling like they would want to take on the cursed boy during training. He had a few scratches a bruises on his chest from it but he was able to walk away smiling because he knew those jerks would be pulling rock dust out of their ears for a few weeks. It was something he was used too though, new recruits thinking they could prove their worth by taking on the guy that was supposed to bring on the end of the world. They rarely ever got it through their heads though that he had been a Legionnaire for twelve years and he was a son of the big three.

There was usually a pretty big chance of them getting their asses handed to them.

When he got to his barrack he quickly changed into a black t-shirt and sweat pants – thanking the gods that he was finally able to get out of that day glow purple nightmare for a few hours. As he got ready he caught a few of his barrack mates staring but that was all they did – they knew not to mess with him. It wasn’t long before he settled himself in bed and fell asleep.

Xander was one who always considered himself a heavy sleeper – you kind of had to be when what few guys in your barrack usually snored like rhinos and every so often you would have to deal with a ghost try to get after you in your sleep. However he begun to stir when he thought he heard a soft sniffling in the (thankfully) otherwise silent barrack – but he guessed he must of just been hearing things and let himself start to drift back to sleep without even opening his eyes. It wasn’t until he felt someone climb in next to him that he turned towards the person in question, opening his eyes the first thing he was met with was the face of a plush flounder doll.

“And there’s a fish..”

He mumbled sleepily knowing that it was his little sister who had climbed in next to him. Without really thinking about it he wrapped an arm around her and held her close – he was never one for sentiments but as he looked down at his sister and saw the tears running down her cheeks he knew that he had to be a big brother for once. Or at least try…” Hey Guppy – you going to tell me what’s wrong or am I going to have to go around camp beating it out of people?” He whispered softly as he sat up in bed a little so he could see her better, moving a little slower just because of those damn mars kids. He never really acted protective of his siblings in front of anyone but if you asked the people who had ever picked on or messed with his brother and sister you’d find they only ever did it once.

He also made sure to keep an ear out for any sound of his barrack mates waking up, most of them probably wouldn’t say anything but if they did they would be met with a swift book to the face – which was one of the only reasons Xander kept a ready supply by his bed. Dictionaries where his favorite weapon…

WORDS: 577
TAG: Clare

[Deleted]

Nightmares were not fun. It was official. Though it seemed a lot less bad when she was leaning against her big brother with the knowledge that he was definitely alive and not shot through the chest by a pack of psychopath murderers. Which was a relief. She closed her eyes, one arm clinging to Flounder and the other to her brother. It was easier to believe the crazy gunmen wouldn’t come back when Xander was there. She was pretty confident that either of her brothers could take on a crazy person or persons easily. They were not the type anyone in their sane mind wanted to mess with. Though that didn’t mean that the dream was any less scary.

She opened her eyes and looked up when she heard a very groggy sounding voice and had to smile a little. She hadn’t even noticed Flounder was basically staring down Xander point blank. “Sorry,” she muttered and tried to maneuver Flounder into a less obstructive position. However, Xander didn’t seem to mind as he pulled her close. She had to smile. It wasn’t often that Xander showed any sort of open affection, so the few times that he did meant a whole lot. She sniffled and burrowed in against him. The warmth and the sound of his heart beating and reassuring her that it most certainly had been a dream and nothing more, was almost enough to make her forget about it entirely. In fact, she was pretty sure she could fall asleep right here. Not that it would be the first time, even if the last time it had happened she had been eleven years old so Xander’s barrack mates were a little more understanding. That and she was pretty sure they were all nervous he was going to kill them in their sleep. Details.

She owed him an explanation though. So she took a deep breath after a moment of silence. “Just a bad dream… I… I saw you and Damien get hurt.” Okay so hurt wasn’t exactly anywhere near it. She had seen them both stumble into a trap and try to break out only to fail and be shot from less than five feet away, straight through the heart. It was hurt and then some. “And I stepped on a rock,” she added as an unnecessary afterthought, but the fact of the matter was, her foot was throbbing and it wasn’t that pleasant either. She hugged him a little closer and muttered, “Sorry to wake you…” Well, mostly sorry. Didn’t mean she wouldn’t do it again given the choice.

WORD COUNT: 432
TAG: Xander
NOTES: So short! I’m sorry!!! >.<