"Nightmare."
Requested by: Ladysunshine6

A/N This is the continuation of "They're not flashbacks anymore."

Dean bolted upright when he heard the scream. It was Zara. He always knew when it was her and if the last few nights had been any indication, she was having another nightmare. It had only been a few days since she had summoned Crowley. Which set off a chain of events… Crowley summoned Sean to torture her. Dean tried to save her by shooting Sean but hit her in the heart instead. She had to have emergency surgery and almost died in the process. She would have died afterwards if Balthazar hadn't come and healed her. Now, she was having nightmares every night and was barely keeping it together by day. One hour with Sean had undone all the progress that she had made in the past few months that she had been with the Winchesters. It broke Dean's heart to see her that way and he could only do so much to help her.
Despite Zara forgiving Dean for shooting her, he couldn't miss the look of fear in her eyes when she saw him. He was so used to being the one to soothe her fears. She always felt safer with him and let her guard down when he was around. But now, she couldn't even do that. No matter what she said about forgiving him- that it was an accident, she couldn't help that her initial reaction to him was now fear instead of trust. Zara knew how much it hurt him but she couldn't help it. She may be able to ignore the fear as soon as she reminded herself she was among friends, but the fear still lingered in the back of her mind. It wouldn't go away.
Dean got out of his bed and padded out of his room. He could hear her muffled crying coming from behind the door across the hall from his. He wanted so much just to go in and hold her like he always did. He wanted to drive her nightmares away and make her feel safe again, but he couldn't. Dean turned and walked down the hall to the room next to his- Sam's. Sam was the only one she was able to relax around anymore. He was at least able to help her back into a fitful sleep when the nightmares came. Dean hated that he couldn't help her, but seeing him after her nightmares recently only made it worse.
Dean rapped lightly on his brother's door. "Sam?" He could hear muffled groaning from inside the room. Sam had probably just gotten to sleep. None of them had really been able to sleep well in the past few days. "Sam?" Dean asked a little louder and this time he could hear rustling. "I-it's her. She's having another nightmare." Sam opened the door and gave him a tired look. Dean's voice broke. "She needs you, Sam."
Sam looked at his big brother. He knew how much all this was hurting him. He could see the brokenness in Dean's eyes. Sam gave him a kind look. "No. She needs you, Dean. I can only do so much for her. She needs to get over this and the only one who can actually help her do that is you."
"But-"
"Dean," Sam sighed. "You know I'm right. She may be afraid, but deep down she knows she can trust you. You just have to show her again." He started to close the door again. "Just go to her."
"Sam… Please…" Dean tried again, but the door was closed. He knew Sam was right. He did, but the look in her eyes broke him. Dean walked back up the hall towards her door and put his hand on the handle. He took a deep breath, turned the knob, and entered the room. Zara was curled up in her bed- crying. She looked so sad… so afraid of everything. That gave him the courage to go to her. He knew he could help her. It was what he was good at. Dean went and sat on the bed beside her and put a hand on her shoulder- like he always did.
She flinched away from him. Dean thought he should have been used to that reaction by now but he wasn't. She always reverted back to the scared, abused girl he met that first day in the few minutes after her nightmares. That motion wasn't new. Every time she did it though, his heart clenched. He felt angry that someone had hurt her so badly that she instinctively interpreted all touch as hostile.
"Hey, Zara. It's me." Dean reassured her. Before, she had always calmed down as soon as she heard him. She always felt safer with him. But this time, instead of turning to him like she always did, she curled up tighter into a ball and started crying harder.
His brow furrowed. "Zara?"
He could hear her whispering something- almost like a mantra. Dean drew closer to hear. "It's just a dream. It's not him. It's just a dream. It's not him…"
"Sean's not here. He can't hurt you. It's me- Dean. Come on Zara. You know you can trust me. I'm here to help you." He tried to soothe her by rubbing circles into her back.
"It's not Dean. It's just a dream. It's not Dean."
Dean's heart dropped. She wasn't dreaming about Sean. She wasn't having nightmares about Sean. They were about him. He guessed that explained why it was so hard for her around him when she was awake and why Sam was the only one that could get her to calm down. Who would be able to be calm in the presence of the monster in their nightmares?
Maybe he needed Sam to come in after all. Dean withdrew his hand from her back and started to get up. He was surprised when her arm shot out and her hand latched onto his- stopping him. She finally turned her tear stained face to his. "Don't go." She pleaded in a childlike voice. "If you go, the monster will come." She tugged on his arm and nodded to the space beside her.
Dean lay down on the bed and pulled her into a comforting embrace. She immediately curled into his chest and buried her face into his shoulder. "I thought I was the monster."
"No. He just looks like you."
"I thought you dreamt of-" Dean paused. "… of Sean."
"It was Sean… but then he turned into you." She started crying again. "You always drive away my monsters. What am I supposed to do when you are one of them?"
Dean's heart ached for her. He knew that both of them just wanted to go back to how it was. "I don't know, Princess." He held her closer to him. "But I'll be here for you. I will protect you. I'll show you that you don't need to be afraid of me until the nightmare Dean doesn't frighten you anymore. Because you know he's not real. I would never do anything like that to you on purpose. I promise. We can get through this." She seemed to calm as he spoke. That alone gave Dean hope. Things would get better. He knew that they would. She had calmed down enough to go back to sleep again but Dean didn't want to go. He wanted to keep her here and protect her even in sleep. "Do you want me to leave?" He asked quietly.
Zara shook her head and nestled closer into his side. "Stay. Please. Stay with me." She mumbled sleepily.
He kissed the top of her head. "Always." He whispered.