Disclaimer: I do not own CotT.

Monsters

"Theresa, look out!" Jay cried, as the giant lunged at her with his spear. She ducked and rolled out of the way, keeping her eyes trained on the beast.

"I've got 'im," Archie said confidently, whipping his Hephaestus whip towards the giant.

The giant turned surprisingly fast, avoiding the whip as it fell uselessly to the ground. Archie stared at his weapon for a moment, awestruck that he missed.

The giant took advantage of the moment, and with amazing speed and precision, threw the spear right into Archie's chest.

"ARCHIE!" Atlanta screamed, running towards the fallen friend. She knelt down beside him and yanked the spear out of his body. "Archie! Please, talk to me!"

Letting out a savage battle cry, Jay lunged towards the beast with his sword, stabbing him deeply in the chest. The giant slumped over on the ground, dead.

"At…lanta?" he said thickly, looking up at her with unfocused eyes. He coughed harshly, and a drop of blood flew out of his mouth and onto his already blood-soaked sweater.

"Oh my gosh, Archie, don't die, don't die… You can't die…" she sobbed, clutching him to her chest.

"Atlanta, I… I don't think I'm gonna make it," he said weakly.

She stared down at him in disbelief, tears pooling in her eyes as she shook her head. "No, Archie, NO! I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE!"

"Atlanta, I know this is… a bit short notice," he rasped, chuckling humourlessly, "But I just wanted to let you know… I love you."

"I love you, too," she said breathlessly, smiling faintly, though her eyes still shone with fear and panic.

He smiled weakly, then his eyes rolled back into his skull and he slumped to the ground, his last breath escaping his lips.

"Archie?" Atlanta said tearfully, staring in fear at Archie's comatose body. "Archie! WAKE UP, ARCHIE! PLEASE! Wake up…"

Atlanta woke with a start in her bed, breathing heavily as tears ran down her cheeks. She shuddered with sobs, still wracked in the throes of her dream.

"Archie!" she whispered urgently, a sense of total fear coming over her. What if he really WAS dead?

She leaped out of bed and opened her door. She ran down the hall to Archie's room, and swung open the door. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Archie's empty bed.

"No…!" she whispered shakily. "He… CAN'T be!"

"Who can't be what?" a familiar voice asked from behind her. She whipped around to see a rather rumpled Archie looking down confusedly at her.

She let out a huge sigh of relief and happiness. "You're alive!" she whispered joyously, throwing her arms around him.

He stood awkwardly, his not fully-awake brain trying to decipher what was going on. "Uh, yeah, I am…"

She suddenly let go of him and glared up at him sternly. "Where WERE you? You scared me half to death!"

"Uh, bathroom…?" Archie mumbled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Wait, why were you surprised that I was alive?"

"Uh… bad dream," Atlanta confessed quietly, flushing softly as she remembered their confessions of love in the dream.

"Yeah? I died?" Archie asked conversationally.

"Yeah… you got stabbed in the chest," she sighed. She wrapped her arms tightly around him again. "Oh, I was seriously scared, Archie!"

He responded this time, wrapping his arms around her. "Well, its okay, I don't plan on dying any time soon," he joked.

"But that's just it!" she gasped, pulling away from him to look him seriously in the eye as she began to tear up. "We were just fighting one of the giants when you died! Who knows what could happen in the next battle!"

"Uh…" Archie said awkwardly, not used to dealing with emotional females. "Are you alright, Atlanta? Like, are you going to be okay going back to sleep?"

She nodded, reconsidered, and then shook her head. "I don't know. I don't want to go back to that dream."

"Uh… don't take this the wrong way, or anything, but… do you want me to sleep with you tonight?" Archie offered awkwardly. "Not like in a… romantic sense, but, you know, just someone to be there with you. My little sister used to always want me to sleep with her after a nightmare, so…"

Atlanta nodded, wiping away her tears. "Yeah, I'd like that."

They went into Archie's room and got into bed. Atlanta snuggled into Archie, who, tentatively, wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll scare all the monsters away, okay?" he whispered playfully into her ear.

"Mmm, my hero," she murmured, smiling softly.

"G'night, 'Lanta," he murmured, gripping her tighter to him.

"Night," she breathed, falling asleep in his arms.

AHH! Done. This was easy to write, and OMG, I finished it. I'm sorry if I made any people sad with Archie's dream-death. I got a little teary-eyed myself. In any case, I hope you enjoyed it.

Please R/R. I was considering lumping a bunch of one-shot ideas I had into one story (each chapter is a different one shot, but it goes in order, so you can sort of see the little moments that made the relationship form), but I have to write them all first. xD If you give me enough reviews, I might be more persuaded to.