"Mommy!" 

Idina awoke to Walker shaking her.

"Wha- Walker!" she exclaimed, her hand going to her forehead. "What time is it?" She looked around. It was still dark.

"I think Erika's having nightmares," the boy said, concerned.

"What's going on?" Aaron asked, awoken by all the noise and movement. 

"Erika's having nightmares. She's being really loud. Is she going to be okay?"

"Okay Walker, I'll come, can you go wait outside for a moment?" she asked, realizing she was not wearing anything underneath the covers.

"But," the boy protested.

"Now, Walker," she said.

"Okay," he said after a moment and left the room.

Idina quickly found her bottom and top, then went out the door, Aaron following close behind her.

They walked down the hallway past Walker's room. They could hear Erika's shrill shouts of "No!" as they approached. Idina started going through what they'd said in training about night terrors. It wasn't exclusive to young children, often the longer someone's been in the system, the more likely they were to have had traumatic experiences leading to night terrors. It might be every night, it might be on occasion, they might be triggered by something during the day.

They quietly opened the door to Erika's room. She'd kicked the covers of the bed and was thrashing about. 

"Is she okay?" Walker asked.

"Just stay outside," Idina said, "'kay baby?"

"Mmkay," he muttered, taking Aaron's hand for emotional support. 

Aaron pulled him away as Idina stepped into the room. Should she wake Erika up?

It seemed like the right thing to do.

She crept over to the bed. "Hey, Erika," she said, sitting down on the side of the bed. Gently, she tried to shake the girl.

Erika tried to brush her off, but she grabbed her arms. 

"Erika, wake up," she said. "It's just me." Was it a good idea to wake her? She didn't want to leave her to whatever was scaring her. She tried to shake the girl again, firmly but gently, if that was possible.

Erika still tried to push her off. "Get off," she called out. "Please, just leave me alone," she muttered.

All of a sudden, she sat up, still trying to fight off Idina.

"Erika!" she exclaimed, trying to stop the girl from hurting either of them. 

Erika turned to her, her eyes wide and cheek wet with tears. She pulled her knees to her chest and started bawling in large gasps that soon turned to hiccups.

"Erika," Idina said softly.

The girl didn't look at her. She buried her face in her knees as she cried. She was shaking violently. 

Idina rubbed her back, then pulled her into a hug like she'd done with Walker when he'd been younger and had a bad dream. 

Aaron came in and sat on the other side of the bed with a glass of water.

Erika was still gasping for breath between sobs. He tried to hand the glass to her, but her form was trembling with a coughing fit as her lungs tried to force her to breathe more.

Aaron looked up at Idina, concerned. 

"The water might help," he told Erika. She wasn't paying any attention to him.

"What's wrong?" Idina asked.

"I-I-he-" she stuttered through sobs. 

Idina pulled her closer, resting her chin on the girl's head, then pressing her temple against her as she hoped that somehow she could use her body to black whatever it was that was causing this.

Idina felt Erika's trebling hands clench onto her forearm and pull her closer. 

"I'm here," she said, closing her eyes and wishing Erika would know just how here she, and how here she would be in the future.

Soon she stopped gasping for breath, but she was still breathing heavily and quickly. Erika coughed again.

Aaron offered her the water for the third time. This time, a shaking hand extended. Idina held her hand steady and lead it to her mouth as she tried to calm her breathing enough to take a sip. She finally took a small sip, and instantly coughed some more. She lifted the glass to her lips for a second time, this time managing to get a bit more down and take a deep breath.

Idina kissed her temple. "You're safe here," she whispered. The hand that was still on her forearm tightened in response.

Idina felt a sinking feeling in her gut. Erika wasn't safe here, she... Idina couldn't think of that now. She had to make sure that Erika was okay right now. She could worry about later when it came.

She helped Erika finish the glass, then sat there until she was no longer gasping for air and just crying silently into her knees.

"Is Erika okay?" came a voice from the door. Walker was staring at them in his dinosaur pyjamas, holding a rabbit plushie.

He came over to the bed and sat between Erika and Aaron. 

"Here," he said, brushing the rabbit against Erika.

He did it again until her hand came up and grabbed the leg.

"Mommy says nothing bad will happen when Mr. Rabbit is around," he explained. He looked up at her waiting for an answer, but Erika wasn't ready to talk yet. 

Idina gave Walker what she hoped was a reassuring glance and a nod. He leaned his head against Erika's arm.

"I'll keep the bad guys away with my ninja skills," he said, but without his usual perk. 

Idina wished Walker's ninja skills could keep all the bad guys away.

The four of them sat there while Erika slowly calmed down. The whole while, she didn't say a thing. 

Walker soon fell back asleep and Aaron took him back to bed, leaving Idina alone with Erika once more.

"I'll stay here all night if you want," she offered, wondering if her presence last night had been the reason why there had been no terrors.

"No," she croaked out. 

Idina reached over to the nightstand and got her the glass of water.

"What's wrong?'

"Nothing-"

Idina huffed. "It's clearly not nothing."

"-I want to talk about," she finished.

Oh. "Okay," Idina said. "You can tell me when you're ready."

Erika's hand finally fell from Idina's forearms.

"This doesn't happen often, I promise," she said. 

It should never happen ever, thought Idina. "It's fine," she said, quoting the line she hated.

"I didn't mean to wake you," Erika continued. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I'm sorry for not keeping you safe. I have everything to be sorry for. 

She rubbed Erika's shoulders and wiped the tears off her cheeks. Erika coughed another sob, but she seemed much better overall. She straightened her back, no longer pressing her knees to her chest.

Idina stroked her hair. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Erika did not reply right away. "I guess so..." She did not sound that confident. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I'll be okay," she told Idina. 

"Are you sure?" she asked while loosening her grip on the teen.

"Yeah," Erika replied. Idina didn't believe her.

"This isn't because of the plane, is it?" she asked, just wanting to be sure.

"No," Erika replied. "Not because of the plane. It's not your fault," she added, answering Idina's next question.

"Then what?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. I'm here when you do."

"You've already said that."

Idina sighed. "I know," she said. Why did their conversations always go in circles?

Idina did not get up to leave though. There was no scoreboard, no guideline, no rules, but leaving now would give Erika a point in whatever this was between them. And point towards Erika meant that she was right and this place wasn't going to last. Staying didn't give Idina point though. What did it prove other than her stubbornness, or maybe her awkwardness? Either way, she wasn't going to leave the teen alone yet. 

"I can stay here until you fall back asleep," Idina said.

'I'll be okay," Erika said, though she wasn't convinced herself. "I'm sorry I woke you." She yawned.

"Go to sleep," Idina said, "I'll stay here. I'm awake anyway."

"You can give this back to Walker," the teen said, handing her Mr. Rabbit. 

Idina took the rabbit. 

"You don't have to stay," Erika said. 

Idina conceded. Erika was a teenager after all. She was probably embarrassed enough.

"Alright," Idina said. 

She went back to her bedroom.

"Careful," Aaron warned, "Walker's under there somewhere."

"Okay," she replied, feeling around for her son before slipping under the covers.

"Is Erika coming?" he asked.

"No, she's fine," Idina replied, handing him Mr. Rabbit. "He fought all the monsters away," she said. "Now go to sleep."