Justin breathed in and out slowly, deeply asleep. Lexie had turned over in her sleep so that they were spooned together, with Alex the third spoon in the stack, Justin's arms loosely around both of them.

As they slept, Justin's breathing changed, becoming slightly faster, and his eyes began to jerk back and forth rapidly beneath their lids as he began a dream.

In their parent's loft above the sub station, a seventeen-year-old Justin slipped silently from his bedroom, out into the darkened hall. Three steps brought him to his sister's door, and he opened it slowly, just wide enough for him to enter, then closed it behind him, keeping the knob turned as he did to minimize the sound.

He walked slowly to Alex's bed, smiling at the curves of her outline under the blanket, visible in the light from her clock. Taking out his wand, he took a moment to soundproof the room, then to seal the door - not that he expected much of a struggle from her, but it was best to be safe. Erasing their parents' memories constantly was becoming tiresome.

With that done, Justin pulled the covers down off Alex, then moved onto the bed with her, pressing himself against her. "Mmm," he said, pressing against her, his hard rod tingling slightly as it touched Alex's ass through her panties and his boxers. Justin slid his hands up across Alex's belly, onto her breasts, then cupped them, pushed them up and together as he licked the back of her neck, bit her there. She squealed and struggled against him, and he brought his arms in, pinned hers in place.

"Justin… don't, please…."

"Shut up, Alex." He rolled the two of them over, pinning Alex under his body, hooked his left hand into her pajama bottoms and panties, pulled them down with vicious force, grinning as he heard the elastic tear. "I'm feeling horny. I hope you're feeling horny too - because otherwise this is gonna hurt."

She squirmed under him, trying to get away, and Justin grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back, then put one hand on the small of her back, pushing her down. With his other hand, he pulled down his boxers….

"Justin! What are you… no! No!" Lexie tried to kick at Justin, but with him on top of her, she couldn't get any leverage. "Alex! Help me!"

Alex rolled onto her side and blinked as she awoke. "Justin?" She came up onto her knees, then grabbed his shoulder and pulled, trying to get him off of Lexie, succeeded in rolling him to the side. His eyes were open, but his expression was glazed, vacant. His eyes moved to Alex, no sign of recognition on his face, and he reached out a hand for her, grabbing her by the upper arm.

As he did that, Lexie, relieved of Justin's weight, moved and turned over, then smacked Justin on the cheek. "I think he's sleepwalking or something! Justin, wake up!"

Justin's grip on Alex's arm was painfully tight, but she rolled away from him, at the same time hitting his hand with her fist. His grip loosened, and she was able to pull away. "Isn't waking him a bad -" She winced and closed her eyes as Lexie slapped him again, harder, then pushed him off the bed with her leg.

"Don't hurt him!" Alex said, but Lexie didn't respond as she got up on hands and knees and moved over to look down at Justin.

Lexie sighed in relief at the same time that Justin's voice came up from the floor. "Oww… okay, what am I doing on the floor?" He stood up, then looked down , blushed, turned around to pull his boxers back up. "Last thing I remember, I was dreaming that I -"

He broke off, then looked at Lexie, who was pulling her own underwear up. "Oh. Oh, God - I was dreaming I was the other Justin, and I was… I was with Alex, and - oh, Lexie, I'm so sorry. Did I -" Justin broke off again, shaking his head as he looked at Lexie, his expression concerned and apologetic.

"I'm okay," she said, moving over toward him. "Are you okay?" Alex came around the bed, moving toward him as well, and Justin stepped back from both of them, holding his hands out to keep both girls at a distance.

"I - I could have hurt you. God, I am so sorry, Lexie -"

Lexie rolled her eyes and moved closer to Justin. "It's okay. You had me scared for a minute there, but I know you didn't mean it." She paused a moment, then tilted her head and looked from Justin to Alex. "So... what happened? Does he do this a lot?"

"No," Alex said, shaking her head and looking curiously at Justin. "He's never done it before. Justin... are you okay? Is something going on?"

Justin looked into Alex's eyes. They were a little wide, a little curious - but behind that, and much deeper, was the absolute trust she had in him, and Justin closed his eyes and sighed. As much as he wanted to handle things himself, to protect her, he couldn't violate that trust. And, truth to tell, he was worried now: if he was starting to act out the dreams, what might be next?

"I... no. I'm not okay," Justin said, his eyes still closed. He took in a breath, opened his eyes, then looked at the girls. "I..."

He stopped, swallowed, then tried to move past Alex, toward the closet. She stepped into his way, putting one hand against the wall to cut him off, scowling. "You what?"

"I can't stay here," Justin said then. "I can't risk hurting you or Lexie. I'm going to -"

"To what?" Alex interrupted. "Leave us here to worry about you while you go have a pity party? No." She shook her head quickly. "We're not letting you do that. You can't leave here with both of us trying to stop you."

Yes you can, the voice inside Justin said. They're no match for you without magic. They were hardly a match for you with it.

No, he answered himself. I'd have to hurt them to do that. And I will not hurt them. He shook his head at Alex, said, "Please don't," he said, taking another step toward the closet. "You don't understand -"

"Then tell me," Alex said, moving up as well, the two of them now just a few inches apart. "How am I supposed to understand what's going on if you won't talk to me? Quit being a damn martyr and let me help you."

"Let us help you," Lexie put in. "Come on, Justin. You're always there for us." She put a hand on his shoulder, moving as close behind him as Alex was in front of him. "Quit being an idiot and let us be here for you."

Justin looked over his shoulder, saw the same expression on Lexie's face as on Alex's, and knew he was beaten. Slumping a little, he said, "All right. Let's talk."

Ten minutes later, Justin was sitting on the futon, bracketed by Alex and Lexie - he'd wanted to sit opposite them, on the chair, but they'd insisted he sit with them. Holding a cup of hot tea between his hands, waiting for it to cool, Justin stared down, wondering where to begin.

"Okay, speak already," Lexie said.

"It - it's not that easy," Justin replied, but Lexie rolled her eyes.

"Yes. It's that easy. Open mouth. Make words. What is it with men and not being able to talk about emotions?"

"Tell me about it," Alex said, rolling her eyes, and Justin scowled at both of them for a moment.

"Really? This from the girl who invented the 'remember that time I apologized' trick? Or 'you know, that word that starts with 'p' that I can't say?'"

Lexie grinned quickly, said, "If you want to say, 'pussy', we're okay with it, Justin."

He scowled at Lexie again, and Alex reached a hand over his shoulders, smacked Lexie lightly on hers. "Cut it out. Ribbing him isn't going to get him to talk to us." Lexie fell silent, sitting back a little, and Alex put her hand on Justin's arm, stroked it gently. "Justin - we love you. You know that. Just talk. It doesn't matter if it's in order. If it's confusing, we'll ask questions." She smiled a little, said, "Hey, if I can understand Miranda when she's doing a full-on crying jag on the phone, I'll understand you just fine."

Justin twisted a humorless smile at that, then nodded. "Okay," he said at last. "Here's the thing..."