Set after S5, whatever time you want.

TW: Killing, death, injuries, blood, gunshot, stab wounds, crying, realistic nightmares, screaming.  

Lloyd has nightmares sometimes, when the monsters hide in the dark of his dreams, and when the darkest thoughts invade. Kai's there to keep them away, though.

• • •

Lloyd was standing in a abandoned street, listening to the wind howl through the trees.

Behind him were the sounds of a fight through the city, screams fading away into nothing. 

"You said you loved me." A low voice rang out behind him, and he turned, holding out a sword defensively, only to see his father standing behind him, staring at him. 

"I-I do." He stammered, weapon slipping from his fingers.

"Then why did you do it?" Garmadon asked, and his expression twisted in confusion. 

"Do what?" 

The moment he asked, blood began gushing from his father's chest, dripping to the ground. 

"D-dad?" He asked, rushing towards him. Garmadon gave him one last dark, accusing look, and promptly crumpled to the ground,  blood pooling around him.

Lloyd looked at his hands, realizing they were stained a dark red. 

His sword was buried into his father's chest, and Lloyd's mind spun wildly, thoughts rushing out of control. Darkness swept in from the corners of his eyes, and-

He found himself kneeling on the ground in a dark alleyway a second later.

 Kai and Jay both laid in front of him, a gunshot wound through the former's stomach. The lighting ninja was curled up next to him, a deep puddle of blood pooling around his shoulder. 

 A gun was thrown aside on the path, wall behind him peppered with bullet holes. 

"Kai?" Just as he whispered the name, the world turned blank again, and he was standing above Nya laying on a edge of the empty docks, blood gushing from the long wound on her throat. 

The sea water was stained with red, mixing with the clear liquid. 

He stood in shock, faintly noting the knife next to her. Blood dripped steadily from his fingertips, splattering onto the ground. 

He didn't-

Everything starting twisting into each other, the docks melding into the water, and he lurched forward-

In front of him laid another one of his friends. 

"W-w-why did you do it?" Zane stammered, and Lloyd saw with horror that his chest had been ripped up, a gaping hole in his body revealing the robot's inner works. Torn, mangled wires sparked for the last time, 

 The nindroid blinked one last time, and the light in his eyes went dark, accusing gaze turning into a empty, lifeless stare. 

"Zane- I didn't-"

"Lloyd?"

The scene spun into black before him again, and he stood at the edge of a building before Cole. 

 Lloyd distantly felt the outlined shape of a brick in his hands.

"Hey, hey, hey- stop that—"

This time, the world didn't fade away, and he stepped forward unsteadily, feeling like he was watching himself move. 

Like he was a puppet, but he didn't know who was moving the strings.

Was he possessed again?

"Lloyd?" Cole turned around, frowning at him. "Have you seen the other-"

The heavy piece of stone slammed into the side of his head, and he fell to the ground instantly-

Lloyd screamed. 

"—wake up—"

He dropped the makeshift weapon, hearing it clatter loudly to the ground, and stumbled to the side of the tower. 

Nobody was controlling his strings.

He was doing it . . . himself. 

"—Lloyd! Wake up!"

He stepped forward blindly, eyes blurry with tears, not seeing anything. 

And the crevice of pure black swallowed him up, heart catching in his throat—

—Lloyd sat up,  gasping for air. Around him stood his teammates, everyone looking at him worriedly.

Kai sat next to him, hands on his shoulders. Lloyd stared at them, mind racing. Swiping a hand across his cheeks mindlessly, he realized they were wet from tears.

Hadn't he- hadn't he just killed them-

"Y-you're not dead?" His voice came out a whisper, and the other's expressions turned to confusion. 

Jay shook his head. "We're not dead, kay? Nothing to worry about." He reassured him, voice gentle. 

"B-but I killed you." Lloyd said in a painfully small voice, bringing his knees up to his chest. He hates feeling so young, so vulnerable.

"Nope. We're alive and kicking."Cole spoke up, from where he was perched precariously on a fragile side table, almost bending under his weight.

"My dad turned evil." He said quietly. "What if—" he couldn't bring himself to say the words out loud.

"Oh, Lloyd." Nya breathed. "Don't. You know you're never going to be like your father, right? You're not him." 

"There's not a bad bone in you." Cole added, but Lloyd looked unconvinced, . He glanced over all of them, a sense of relief spreading over him at the realization that they were all unharmed. 

His gaze landed on Zane, and he exhales sharply, seeing the same dead eyes and wires poking out of the robot's chest for a split second. But the nindroid's metallic skin is as flawless as ever, eyes lit up a bright blue. They almost looked sad.

"Why- why are you all here?" he stammered, looking at them all variously standing- or sitting around his room. 

"Well-," Jay started "-you were screaming a lot. And crying. And you fell off your bed." He motioned senselessly, and Lloyd realized with a start he's sitting on the cold wooden ground, palms splayed, steadying himself. 

His hands slowly curl into fists, nails digging in painfully.

"Oh." His cheeks heated up, not knowing that they could hear him in real life. "Uhm, sorry for waking everyone up-"

"It's fine, Lloyd. Are you okay?" Zane interrupted his apology, steady, quiet voice somehow calming his anxieties down more. He nodded listlessly, and everyone gave him a unbelieving look. He's fine. He's fine, he just needs to—

"It was just a nightmare. I'm good." He said, trying for a smile. None of them move. His eyes slide shut for a moment again, and all he can see again is the bloodied bodies of his brothers, haunting the dark behind his eyelids.

"Lloyd. " Kai spoke up. His soft brown gaze flickering up to meet his trembling green.

"It's okay to not be okay. You know that, right? We all get nightmares. It comes with the—" he hesitates for a moment "— things we have to do everyday. Every time we fight." 

That's what brings down the walls that have been steady for so long. In the end, the tears threatening to slip out again win out in the struggle, and Lloyd breaks into ungiving sobs, shoulders shaking uselessly as he tries to stop.

Kai pulled him into a hug, and he suddenly can't remember the last time he held his younger brother like this. "It'll be okay. Don't bury it, Lloyd." 

Lloyd sniffs quietly, Kai feeling his shoulder turn wet where his head leaning, and everyone looked at Kai, all holding a unvoiced question. 

"Yeah, go." He mouthed, waving them out. They slowly trailed out of the room, headed back to their own beds. Pushing himself further, he hoisted the small teen onto the bed, and leans against the wall, grip loosening slightly.

He spends the night with his arms around Lloyd, fading off to sleep sometime in the night. When dawning sunlight breaks through the window, he wakes up to a still soundly asleep boy, and Jay standing over them with a flashing video camera.

"You guys look so cute."

• • •

But now, whenever the screaming starts again in the middle of the night, Kai is the first one found in Lloyd's room.