FicWad

In the morning, Natalie peeked out of her room into the main room. It was only seven o' clock or so, but Chaos was already up, dressed in some of the new clothes and sitting at the table with a map and newspaper spread out in front of him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but only for a second.

She stayed silent for a moment, leaning on the doorframe, then spoke up quietly, "How long have you been up?"

He shook his head a little, flipping a few pages over in the newspaper. "Since yesterday."

She blinked in surprise. "You never went to sleep?"

Another small shake. "I was busy. I'll sleep later."

"That's not . . . healthy."

He stopped and looked up at her for a moment. "Neither is waiting to get found."

She paused, then shook her head with a sigh. "I think I'll make a quick run out for breakfast. Don't tell me you're not going to be eating, either."

He stood and pulled a piece of folded up paper out of his pocket as he walked towards her. He handed it to her without a word and went back to whatever he had been doing. She opened up the paper and saw that inside were specific details of what to get for the boys to eat. I should've known. She thought.

"Well . . . okay," She gave a small shrug and picked up her purse, then walked towards the door, "I'll be back soon." She knew she didn't have to ask if there was anything else. If there had been, she knew Chaos would have said something.

When the door closed, Vex gave a small jerk, shaken out of sleep by the sound. He sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes. When he noticed Chaos sitting at the table, he blinked a few times and tried to wake himself up.

"What time is it?" Vex asked, running a hand through his hair.

"7:21." Chaos replied, not looking up from the table.

Careful not to wake the others, Vex slipped his bare feet down onto the floor and padded quietly over to the table, taking a seat across from Chaos. Chaos scooted the map and paper closer to him, giving Vex room as the other boy rested his arms and head on the table. There was a long silence.

"What are we doing?" Vex finally asked quietly.

"We're leaving after breakfast." Chaos said, then pointed to a spot on the map. "This is us. We'll go east," He ran his finger down the roads on the map, "To these canyons here."

Vex picked his head up. "Why? What's over there?"

Chaos gave a little shrug. "Somewhere to hide. The canyons are a good place to make a stand. If the people following us can actually keep track of us, we can deal with them there."

Vex paused for a few seconds, then nodded and looked solemnly down at the table. "Blight and Solace . . . won't like that."

Chaos stood and started to fold up the map. "I know."

Vex sighed and rested his head on the table again. ". . . I don't really like it either."

"It's necessary." Chaos said, a little softer than before. "I promise. . . We won't do anything that isn't necessary."

Vex gave a small nod.

Blight stirred from his position on the couch and one of his arms slipped off, his hand hit the ground. Vex picked his head up, expecting Blight to have been shaken awake, but the other boy was still sleeping soundly.

For a while, Vex relaxed and laid his head back down, but Blight started to make noise. He squirmed slowly, turning towards the back of the couch. A small noise escaped his throat, lips parting slightly in what looked like a silent scream. Vex picked his head up, saw Blight's fingers twisting in the blanket that covered him. Worried, Vex stood up and walked to Blight's side, leaning a knee on the couch.

"Blight . . . you okay?" He asked quietly, then shook his brother's shoulder lightly. "Wake up. . . Come on, wake up."

Blight's face scrunched up, his teeth clenching visibly. His breath was coming shorter. Now that he was closer, Vex could see that Blight had broken out in a sweat.

"Blight. . . Wake up, Blight. . . Wake up." Vex shook his brother's shoulder harder.

With a panicked scream, Blight shot upright. He felt Vex's hand on his shoulder and clung to his brother's shoulders, burying his face in Vex's shirt.

Vex stood in shock for a moment, then wrapped his arms around Blight. Was he . . . crying?

Havoc had jerked awake at the sound of Blight's scream and shot up quickly, stirring Solace awake too. "What just happened?"

"Blight," Vex said quietly, "Blight, what happened? What's wrong?"

Blight's chest heaved erratically, breath coming in gasps, but he didn't pull away, clutching tightly to Vex.

"Shhh," Vex switched tactics, rubbing Blight's back gently, soothingly. "It's okay. . . You're okay. . . It's over now. . . It was just a dream. . ." Slowly, Blight's breathing calmed and quieted. "What is it, Blight? What's wrong?"

Blight let his head fall forward and leaned his forehead against Vex's chest. "Th-The dark . . ." He forced out, voice shaking, fingers tightening around Vex's upper arms, "Haunting. . . Creeping. . . Closer and closer. . ."

Vex paused, confused. "What -?"

"Don't let go!" Blight snapped suddenly, shaking his head. "Don't . . . just . . . don't let go. . . I don't want to lose you. . . I don't want to lose any of you!"

The others watched worriedly as Vex slowly managed to calm Blight down. When he pulled away, there were no tears in his eyes. Only fear. Shear terror written all over his face. Vex moved away from him and Blight sat with his elbows on his knees, face in his hands.

Vex kneeled in front of him. "Tell us what's wrong?"

Blight nodded slowly and ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. "I - I had a nightmare. . . God, it felt so real," He dropped his head into his hands again, "I don't know who but . . . I saw . . . one of you . . ." He shook his head again. "It was so dark, I couldn't see anything. But I saw one of you and - one second you were with me and the other . . . you were just . . . falling. . . You screamed . . . and I couldn't reach you. . . But then I heard a noise . . . saw blood on the ground. . ."

Blight/s voice was shaking more and Vex pulled him into his arms again. "Shh," He said soothingly, "It's okay. We're all here. . . We're okay." For now, Vex couldn't help but think. Who knows what will happen next.

It took ten or fifteen minutes for Vex to get Blight to calm down. Solace had wandered over and cuddled up against Blight's side, helping the process a little. After a while, Havoc stood and walked to the window, looking out. Whether he was curious or checking for pursuers, the others didn't know.

He made a small, thoughtful noise after a minute or so of watching. "What'd Doc go out for?"

"Breakfast," Chaos said from his spot sitting on one of the couch's arms, "And for a change of clothes and other supplies, I'd assume."

Havoc nodded. "She's got a few bags."

Solace stood up to look and laughed when he got to the window, looking off to the right to see Natalie walking down the street towards the hotel. "She looks so small!"

"We're on the fourth floor, Sol," Havoc said with a little smile, "Of course, she looks small."

"Yes," Chaos said as he walked up next to them, "And that car speeding down the road is anything but."