Hello! I've returned!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

After he has a nightmare, Carter confides in his younger sister. Maybe it's not so bad to be afraid.

Don't invalid your feelings. Honor them. -anonymous

"CARTER, HELP ME!"

"Sadie!" He shouted, looking left, then right down the corridor. "Sadie, where are you?!"

"Carter, help me!"

"You cannot save them, Carter Kane," a voice cackled. "They're all going to die. And it's all your fault."

"NO!" Carter screamed as he shot up in his bed, nearly falling off in the process as he battled with the monster that wrestled with him, suffocating him.

"Carter," a voice said from the open doorway, "is there a reason you are trying to murder your sheets?"

Carter blushed. "Um, they tried to kill me first?"

Sadie rolled her eyes. "That was a pitiful joke. Now, come on, big bro, what's going on?"

Carter was about to tell her that it was nothing and that she should get back to bed, but as if reading his thoughts, Sadie crossed the room and sat at the edge of his bed. She crossed her arms and stared at him, and he knew that he wasn't getting out of this one.

He sighed. "I had a nightmare. It was really nothing."

"Carter, I have lived with you long enough to know that your nightmares are never nothing," she pointed out. "Now, come on. Just tell me, or I'll tell all of Brooklyn House about the time you got dressed in the dark and came out wearing-"

"Alright, alright, alright!" He laughed before turning serious. "I was in this maze with red walls, the color of blood, and I couldn't find my way out. People were screaming my name, screaming for help... you, Mom, Dad, Felix, so many people. And I couldn't find you. I was- I was-"

"Scared," Sadie finished.

Carter hesitated before nodding.

Sadie surprised him by chuckling. "Carter, I'm scared, too. I'm scared I'll lose you, like we lost Mum and Dad. I'm scared Amos or Jaz or Walt or any of them are going to die. I'm scared of being alone."

"But you're not alone," Carter protested.

Sadie nodded. "Exactly. And you're not alone either, Carter, so you don't have to act like you are.

"It's alright to be afraid. Afraid of losing someone, of dying, of betrayal. It's only normal, only healthy. There's nothing wrong with feeling fear, Carter."

"But I'm a leader, a mentor. The initiates look up to me; they look to me for guidance. I can't set a good example by acting so afraid."

Sadie shook her head. "Carter, you are so thick. The initiates look up to you because you're afraid."

"Um... what?" Carter asked, bewildered.

Sadie laughed. "Carter, they look up to you because you're afraid, but you don't let that fear stop you. You don't let it control you, and that's what makes you brave, makes you a leader."

"But Sadie, it only takes one little spill up for everything to come tumbling down. I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

"And they won't," she told him. "You are loyal to a fault, Carter Kane. So loyal that it scares me, but I know that you will always be there for me, Carter. That you will never leave me or anyone else out to dry, and you most certainly won't be the reason for someone getting hurt."

Carter didn't respond.

"Carter, is this about Mum and Dad?"

Carter slowly nodded.

"Carter, that was not your fault. When Mum died, you were only eight, and Dad made the decision to host Osiris, knowing the dangers."

"It's just... I miss them. So much," Carter sniffled.

Sadie really didn't know what to do. She'd never seen Carter cry, not even when they were kids. So she did the only thing she could: she sat next to him and hugged him. She just let him cry until he pulled back, rubbing tears from his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"For what? For crying? Carter, there's nothing wrong with crying. Besides, you really didn't get the chance to grieve Mum and Dad. With Dad always traveling and you living such a hectic life, Mum's death was never really talked about and you never really got the time to heal like I did.

"As for Dad, the whole Set thing kind of took away any grieving time, and even after that, you were always taking care of me. You never really gave yourself the time you needed to heal, to grieve."

Carter embraced her. "Thanks, Sadie."

"No problem, bro, and thanks right back at you."

"For what?"

"For always being there."

Carter let her go with a smile. "Now, you should get to bed. No one likes a cranky Sadie in the morning."

The younger snorted. "Have you seen yourself in the morning? You look like a bloody zombie!"

Carter chuckled. "Good point. Night, Sadie."

"Night, Carter," she said before standing and approaching the door. Right before she left, she turned back to him.

"And Carter, I'm scared, too. We all are. It's not just you."

Then, she was gone.

The next week, Carter was lying awake in his bed after experiencing another nightmare when a knock sounded at the door.

Wondering who could be knocking at this hour, he stood and went to open it. As soon as he did, a small bundle of blonde hair and blue pajamas flew at him, thin arms latching onto his neck like a lifeline.

"Hey, Felix, what's up?" Carter asked, a little surprised but not entirely shocked.

"I had a nightmare," he muttered into Carter's shoulder.

Carter nodded, picking Felix and carrying him to his bed, where he sat down with him.

"I'll tell you a secret: I did, too."

Blue eyes met brown.

"Really?" Felix sniffled.

"Yeah. I have a lot of nightmares," Carter confessed.

"But you're not scared of them," Felix muttered, blushing in shame.

"What? Of course, I'm scared of them. When I was your age, I would crawl into my dad's bed every night because of nightmares. Even as I got older, it wasn't uncommon for me to wake my dad up or to go get Sadie," Carter admitted. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"B-but heroes aren't supposed to be afraid, " Felix blubbered, fear shining in his wide eyes.

"Well, of course heroes are afraid. But what makes heroes heroes is that they stand up to their fears and don't let it control them, nor do they let it stop them from standing up for what they believe in. But a hero's downfall is that they don't know when to ask for help. It took a lot of convincing from Sadie for me to realize when I need help."

"So it's okay to be afraid?"

For the first time since Sadie told him a week ago, the fact really sunk in.

"Yeah, Felix. It's okay to be scared."

From outside the door, Sadie smiled as she heard her brother talk with Felix.

Glad to know that her little speech made impact on more than one person.

Thanks for reading, and tell me what you think! Goodbye!