Rios jolted awake, crying out into the dark. His furrowed brow was slick with cold sweat, a sharp contrast from the desert landscape of his dream. Panting, he looked around the hotel room, only faintly illuminated by the bathroom light, mentally scolding himself for what felt like to him a childlike response to a bad dream. He lowered his head into his hands, kneading his closed eyes, then looked to his left to the other bed where Salem lay on his side, his bare back facing Rios. The big man studied him, listen to his steady breaths and soft snoring. Though this calmed him a bit, paranoia and a feeling of vulnerability still gnawed at the back of his mind. He knew the fear was unreasonable; there was no obvious threat in the room and it was doubtful there would be one that night, but he couldn't shake the terror that still echoed from the nightmare. Sighing heavily, he gave in. With languid, somewhat wary movements, he got out of his bed, and crawled in next to Salem.
The younger man barely stirred from the added weight shifting the mattress. Rios stilled, staring at the base of Salem's neck in thought. A part of him felt childish for this, but the terror outweighed the shame. He needed his friend. Despite having what Salem thought was a wide social circle, in reality the only one Rios could truly relate his darkest times with was his partner. No one else came close to having the connection they shared. Not that he ever admitted this to Salem, but at times like these it seemed the younger man was all he had.
Salem arched his back and yawned, clumsily rolling over onto his back. He squinted sleepily at his friend, scrutinizing his scarred face.
"Everything okay?"
"Just go back to sleep."
"You first."
"Shut up."
There was a long pause before Salem broke the silence.
"Somalia?"
Rios swallowed, embarrassment once again flooding him. "Afghanistan."
Salem rolled over to face him, sorrow showed in his drowsy eyes. "We're not there anymore. And we don't have to go back."
"I keep going back, Ellie. And I can't stop."
Salem's faintly winced from the remark. The weakness in Rios' voice frightened him. "I'm there, too, right?"
"What?"
"In the nightmare. I'm there, too, right?"
"Yeah. Most of the time."
"That's good. Nothin' bad happens when we're together," he chuckled softly. "Well, nothin' too bad."
"Don't get sappy on me."
"Shut up. We deserve to be sappy sometimes."
