A/N- This is a short standalone that takes place in Plums 'verse, but probably could work anywhere, any age.
Disclaimer: Sadly Danny and Rusty belong to others.
Rusty was still trembling. He'd woken from the nightmare without a cry, without making any noise at all. He pressed his fist against his mouth and bit down on his lip. His whole body was shaking now; not from the nightmare, but rather from the effort of keeping silent. He couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face though. Don't let them see, don't let anyone hear.
Just then, Danny, who'd gotten up to get a drink of water, came back into the room. He'd had plenty of his own bad dreams and knew what was happening, even though in the couple of weeks Rusty'd been sleeping here he'd never known his friend to have a dream this bad.
He was at Rusty's side in an instant.
"Rus, Rusty. Hey, I'm here. I've got you." He spoke softly but firmly, trying to bring Rusty back from the edge of whatever was terrifying him.
Rusty flinched and backed up onto the corner of the bed, pressing his back against the wall. When he finally met Danny's eyes, he looked momentarily terrified. Then, as if really seeing who was there, he took a shuddering breath and relaxed.
Danny grabbed a light summer blanket and wrapped it around Rusty's shoulders. He offered the boy a sip of water and then crawled up next to him. Even though they'd snuggled up close on countless occasions, to share a book, while stargazing, or just to whisper to each other, his time Rusty started to pull away, to put distance between them.
Danny, a little bit hurt and a lot confused, just stared. Then Rusty, again, with that look on his face that practically screamed, a least to Danny, Right, safe. It's Danny. It's not them. I'm safe here, gave one last little shudder and relaxed against him and laid his head on Danny's shoulder. He closed his eyes, but didn't sleep.
Breathing his own sigh of relief, Danny studied Rusty's face. Shadows played across his face, long eyelashes, the silver scar under his eye, small but deep. Danny wanted to touch that scar and ask how it happened and make sure whoever put it there paid for causing the hurt.
Danny wondered how often Rusty's been comforted in his life. He wondered what it would be like to wake in the dark and know that nobody was coming to help, to offer reassurances, or a hug, or to check the closet for monsters. Then he wondered what it would be like to wake, still shaking from intangible nightmare terrors, and to hope that they wouldn't come.
The End.