Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters featured here.

Nightmare

"No!"

That scream was what first woke Wybie from his sleep. Instincts he honed all summer long kicked in first, and at first he thought that some creature had broken into the Shack and had begun making a mess of the place. However, as his vision came into focus, the room was still dark, quiet, and nothing looked out of place. He began to think he imagined that scream, or heard it in a dream, when he heard a whimper, and heavy breathing, and the rustling of bed sheets coming from the bed on the other side of the room.

Wybie jumped out of bed and crossed the room in an instant.

Coraline tossed and turned, her breaths short and ragged, mumbling words that Wybie couldn't make out. The sheets of her bed were strewn about, looking like they were soaked in sweat. Wybie had seen Coraline like this only once before. He hated it then, and he hated it just as much now.

Wybie grabbed both of her shoulders and started shaking her.

"Coraline! Coraline, wake up! Come on, Coraline! Coraline!"

Wybie stepped away as Coraline jumped awake with a gasp. Her eyes were wild for a few seconds, searching around in the dark until her gaze met Wybie's.

"W-Wybie…?" Her eyes narrowed. She looked down, at herself and her messy bed, then around, at the room still barely illuminated by the moonlight shining through the window. "H-how-? Y-you… where-?"

Fear suddenly filled her eyes, and she began to scramble unsteadily off of her bed. "Th-the others! We gotta go, we gotta-!"

Wybie grabbed Coraline by the shoulders again, trying his best to hold her down. "Coraline, everything's fine!" he quickly blurted out. "You were dreaming! It's just a dream! Just a- just…"

Coraline gradually stopped pushing to leave her bed. Her rapid breathing slowed as realization of what's happening dawned on her. Wybie breathed out in relief. He wouldn't be able to hold her down for long.

"Just a nightmare, Coraline. Just a nightmare."

Wybie was caught off-guard when Coraline's eyes began to water, and she suddenly pulled him into a hug. A tight, crushing hug. He could feel her nails digging into his back. He nearly pulled away, until he noticed Coraline trembling, and he noticed liquid beginning to soak the clothing on his shoulder.

"Y-you and th-the others… she… she was…"

Wybie resolved to stay like this, hugging her, for as long as she needed.

"It's fine, Coraline. Everything's fine," he spoke, over and over again, and he would've said it as many times as she needed to hear it.

Eventually, Coraline pulled away. She sniffed, trying to get her breathing under control, hastily rubbing away any remaining tears. Wybie quietly sat down at the foot of the bed. His shoulder was completely soaked, and he could feel a few lines on his back that now throbbed with dull pain, but he paid them no mind at the moment. What mattered now was Coraline, and how she averted her gaze when he looked at her, like she's embarrassed or something.

The two sat in silence for a while, with Coraline breathing in and out to calm herself, which was kind of awkward, but also kind of good, because it left him free to wonder what he should to help Coraline calm down. The first thing that came to mind was to bundle up her in blankets, which he did do, and which Coraline mumbled something in reply, but she said it so low that he couldn't make out what was said, so Wybie just guessed it's probably a thank you.

The next thing that he thought up was a nice cup of hot chocolate. That always calmed him down when he's feeling stressed, he knew there's some stashed in the Shack's kitchen somewhere, and while Wybie had no idea if Coraline liked hot chocolate, she never said she hated it, so that sounded like a solid idea. He was halfway up to his feet when he felt a hand on his arm, tugging him back. He looked back to find the hand was Coraline's, who still had her gaze fixed on her bed sheets.

"Please. Don't- not yet. Just- just for a little longer, please," she begged. Wybie realized she was starting to tremble again.

"Hey, I'm not- I'm just gonna make you a cup of hot chocolate, okay? You know, to make you feel better." Wybie offered her the most comforting smile he could muster. "It's gonna take three minutes, tops."

Coraline's grip on his arm tightened for a moment, before she slowly let go. "Alright. Three minutes."

Trying to make a decent cup of hot chocolate in under three minutes was not easy, but Wybie would like to think he managed to copy his grandma's recipe pretty well. He returned to the bedroom just in time, with a steaming cup of hot chocolate in hand. Coraline was still right where he left her, bundled up in blankets on her bed, and he caught a breath of relief from her as he entered the room. He handed her the hot chocolate, added the obligatory warning that it's still hot, before sitting down at the foot of the bed again. Coraline pretty much ignored the warning, blew on the drink once before taking a big slurp out of it. At least the effect was instantaneous; a breath of satisfied relief leaving her as soon as her lips left the cup, a shiver passing through her body, and overall she looked more relaxed than she was just seconds before.

She spent the next few minutes in silence, intermittently taking sips from the hot chocolate, though smaller ones this time. Wybie was content with just watching over her, ready just in case she needed anything else. He guessed Coraline downed two thirds of the drink before she stopped taking sips out of it, and just started staring at the cup, not saying a single word. Wybie was about to ask if she's had enough hot chocolate, but she spoke first.

"I didn't win."

Coraline's voice was even as she said that. Almost scarily even. Her index finger absentmindedly rubbed the lip of the cup, her eyes vacant, lost in the contents of the cup. Wybie had no idea how to respond. He had no idea if she even wanted a response.

"I never won," she continued. "I just ran. That's all I ever did."

She said that as if it was fact. As if that was the truth. The worst part was that Wybie could kind of agree with her.

"I ran."

Wybie wracked his brain for anything to say, because he needed Coraline to stop heading down this road.

"Eventually, she'll catch up. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or even next year, but eventually. I just know it."

Still no words. Wybie officially hates himself.

"It's… inevitable."

Coraline's tired eyes finally looked up, catching sight of Wybie with his eyes bugging out, his mouth half-open.

She turned her gaze away again. "Sorry, that was… you can just go back to sleep now."

There's no way in hell that Wybie was going to let that be how this conversation ended. If words were going to abandon him at a time like this, then he'd just need to find something else he could use.

That was his motivation, as he rose to his feet and practically dove towards his summer bag. He fished out his old, thick, barely-functioning laptop and set it down on Coraline's bed right in front of her. He opened it and booted it up, while Coraline watched with her head cocked.

"What're you doing, Lovat?" she asked, with a hint of irritation in her voice.

Wybie didn't reply with words. He replied by spinning the laptop around to face her. A video was open onscreen. Wybie clicked play, and stepped back.

The video began with a shot of the garden back at the Pink Palace, decorated with all sorts of colorful plants and flowers. Among the flora, everyone who lived in the Pink Palace complex had gathered; Grandma, Coraline and her parents, Miss Spink and Forcible, and Mister Bobinsky, all chatting and laughing together. Wybie remembered clearly what the occasion, and he could tell Coraline remembered too. It was the one year anniversary of the Jones family moving into the Pink Palace. Grandma insisted they throw a garden party to celebrate, even though the Jones thought it wasn't necessary. In the end, they caved in, and it turned out to be a pretty swell party, all things considered. Sure, one of Miss Spink and Forcible's dogs started chasing the Cat, which ended up ruining the pizza they ordered, but they all laughed it off pretty quickly. Not to mention, for Grandma, Coraline, and himself, it was also the one year anniversary of Coraline managing to lock her away for good. The video ended just as Coraline's dad surprised Coraline with a hug from behind, drawing a hearty laugh from her.

Coraline didn't say anything. She just stared at the screen, at that last shot of herself, grinning and laughing. She closed her eyes and sighed, whispering, "Wybie, what's this all about?"

Wybie didn't reply to that question with words either. He just stepped closer, opened a different video, pressed play, and stepped back.

Coraline easily recognized this video too. This was from last year, when she won first place in sprinting at the state track and field championship. Folks began swarming her from and left right the second she stepped down from the podium. She popped up above the crowd, now perched on her dad's shoulders. When she spotted the camera, Coraline flashed it a proud grin, brandishing the trophy in her hand high up. Wybie let out a small smile, remembering how short-lived the trophy was in her hands. Her mom drove them to this fancy Italian restaurant for a celebratory dinner, and they ended up breaking the trophy while goofing off with it. Good thing Coraline wasn't at all upset about it. It was actually probably the hardest he'd seen her laugh.

Again, Coraline simply stared at that final shot of her, flashing a proud grin at the camera. She didn't even have anything to say this time. Wybie quickly opened another video, but he hesitated to press play, afraid that Coraline actually was about to say something. He waited a few more seconds, and once it was clear that Coraline was going to keep her silence, he pressed play and stepped back.

Coraline would definitely remember this one. This was from a couple months ago, at the beginning of summer. They - the Mystery Kids, that is - were just finished with one of their earliest hunts together, and to celebrate, they decided to have a meal at Greasy's Diner, because no one really had any money to splurge for something actually fancy. Mabel insisted they only use one booth even though there were eight of them, and they all went with it for some reason. Eight people cramped together in a booth weren't exactly comfortable, and some hated it more than others, but when the food arrived, Wybie remembered it tasted way better than it should have been. Maybe it was because they were gathered together, maybe it was because they almost died just an hour before, but it was probably one of the nicest meals he's ever had. Of course, Raz just had to flick a cherry at Coraline, and she just had to retaliate with a peanut right to his temple. It damn near escalated to a full-on food fight, until Dipper reminded everyone that they're all broke and so they had no money to pay for damages, if they caused any. Mabel was probably the most disappointed one out of all of them, and she started talking about what she would do if a food fight were to break out. The conversation then somehow shifted to food fight strategies, where Wybie learned that a sausage could actually hurt someone if thrown properly.

The final shot of the video was of all eight members of the Mystery Kids cramped in a single diner booth, slightly uncomfortable, but mostly satisfied, relieved, and glad to be alive.

Wybie slowly closed the laptop. Coraline blinked a few times as the room turned mostly dark again. She was still silent as she looked up, her gaze meeting his, which was great, because Wybie has finally found the right words.

"If she ever catches up, things'll be different." Wybie smiled. He hoped she could at least kind of agree with him. "Things are already different."

Coraline's eyes gently closed as she breathed out. She lifted the cup to her lips and downed the rest of the drink in just a few gulps. As she brought the cup down, Wybie was glad to see that she was feeling better already. Maybe not exactly fine yet, but better.

"Thank you."

Wybie shrugged. "No prob."

Coraline set the empty mug aside on the floor, before glancing at Wybie. "You can… go back to sleep now. For real this time," she said, kind of haltingly.

"You gonna go back to sleep too?" Wybie asked.

Coraline huffed. "I dunno. Maybe. We'll see."

Wybie frowned. Having the rest of the night to her own thoughts probably won't be good for her, so Wybie was quick to suggest, "Well, you know, I just finished downloading the Avengers movie."

"Wybie, you're a goddamn lifesaver."

"It's still the pirated version, so quality's probably crap."

"Don't care. Let's do it."

They watched the movie, and once it ended, they watched it again, and again, and again, until morning came, and they stepped out of the room, dark bags under their eyes, in desperate need of a cup of coffee.

X-X-X-X-X

So, this is a little late, but happy sixth birthday to ParaNorman!

I think this is my favorite chapter in quite some time. Not only did I have a blast writing it, I am also incredibly pleased with how this chapter turned out. I hope you guys like it just as much as I do!

Next chapter, we jump forward again to a post-Weirdmageddon world, where we're getting a few more additions to the team. It's a little more on the unusual side this time around, but I don't wanna box myself in with only using the popular additions to the MK. That said, I'd be surprised if any of y'all managed to figure out what the additions are gonna be. Until then!