Disclaimer – Still own nothing.

AN – Sorry if there are parts of this chapter that seems a bit rushed, but, honestly I was feeling a bit rushed at the time. Hope you all still like this chapter though.

Enjoy!

Trekking through the forest in silence with his Dad, brothers, Anne, Maggie and Weaver, Hal couldn't help but wonder how exactly he had ended up here. Of course as soon as he mentally asked himself that, his brain supplied the memory of his Dad telling about this Espheni factory that was making more Mechs that were apparently going to be used in an attack against the 2nd Mass. Once his Dad explained the situation, he asked Hal to join them on their pre-emptive strike that they were planning. Hal was surprised that his Dad asked given how he had barely been involved in the war since he came to Chinatown and was going to say no but then he saw the look in the older man's eyes. It was as though he wanted to see how he was going to react and, not wanting to appear suspicious, he agreed.

Now though, Hal couldn't help but wish he had said no like he wanted to, and ever since the fighters that were coming on this mission got out of their trucks, hid them and split up into their assigned groups, it was getting worse. He had this feeling deep down in his gut that something bad was going to happen. That something was going to go horribly wrong and he couldn't brush it off no matter how hard he tried. It was messing with his head more than the presence of his family, Maggie, Anne and Weaver was. People he was extremely close to and knew were worried about him. Hal had no doubt in his mind that they would take advantage of the fact that he couldn't really walk away from them if they tried to get him to talk to them about something he didn't want to. It was only a matter of when.

"We should stop to get some rest if we're going to be up all night fighting aliens." Weaver suddenly spoke up, coming to a stop that was bare enough where they could make camp fairly easily and still be somewhat hidden. Hal did his best to not tense up when the Colonel said that. It looked like that he was about to get ambush any minute now, even though Weaver was right. They still had a few hours before they had to get into position for the attack, which they were doing at night when the darkness would cover them.

"Should probably eat something too." Anne suggested, going through her bag for the food and bottle of water she had packed.

After a few minutes in silence as everyone in the group made themselves comfortable on the ground and all started eating some of the provisions they had. Not long after they finished though, Ben stood up with a map, his water bottle and grabbed some of the others causing Hal to ask, "Where are you going?"

"According to this map, there's a river not far from here in that direction," Ben answered, pointing to the left of the clearing, "I'm going to go fill these bottles up with water."

"Good idea." Tom said as he threw his own bottle to his middle son who caught it easily. The others gave him their water bottles as well before he went on his way.

For the next hour or so, everything was fine. Ben came back with the refilled bottles and everyone filled their stomachs as it was probably going to be the last time they could do so before the attack. Hal stayed silent but the others talked. The conversation was easy and simple. It actually calmed him a little.

It wasn't until Matt, Maggie, Anne, Weaver and his Dad started to find places in their 'camp' where they could lie down and get some rest before the mission that Hal felt himself tense up. The only person besides himself that didn't seem to plan to be getting any sleep was Ben and that was because he was on guard duty. With his spikes, Ben didn't need much sleep but Hal didn't have that excuse.

"Aren't you going to get any sleep?" Matt asked when he saw that his oldest brother was lying down at all like the rest of them were.

"No, I'm good." Hal replied with a reassuring grin. Though his gaze was solely on Matt, he was aware that everyone else was looking at him.

"No offense Hal, but you look like you haven't slept in weeks." Maggie commented, her voice a mixture of teasing and worry.

Hal looked over at her for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to answer her when Weaver spoke up, "It's your mattress, isn't it?"

"What?" Hal questioned turning his attention over to the Colonel who was sitting across from him a few feet away.

"After sleeping in terrible conditions for so long, once you get home and get an actual mattress to sleep on you find you suddenly can't because you're not used to it anymore. It feels too comfortable. That's what happened to me when I came home from my tours." Weaver explained.

"Something like that." Hal quietly responded.

While it wasn't the complete truth, it was part of it. Whenever he did lie down to go to sleep, he did have a hard time finding a position where he was comfortable. That had happened even before he came to Chinatown, back when he was living in that hotel room outside of the 2nd Mass's walls. More often than not, he slept on the floor. That wasn't the major reason he wasn't sleeping now though. That would be the nightmares, the memories that haunted him in his sleep.

"Well, maybe you should to get some sleep now then." Tom told him, giving Hal a worried look.

Knowing that if he refused, the concern his Dad was clearly feeling would only get worse and if he stayed awake he would risk letting his parent, or Anne, or Weaver try to get him to talk to them about stuff he didn't even want to think about, Hal nodded and stretched down on the ground though he wasn't intending to go to sleep. If he just closed his eyes, he could pretend he was actually asleep. That way his Dad wouldn't be so worried and he wouldn't have to talk about anything he didn't want to. However, he was apparently so tired that once his eyes closed, he felt his body relax on the hard and uneven ground and began to drift off.

For the next hour, Tom stared at the only dark-haired child he had. Matt, Maggie, Weaver and Anne were all asleep and he was supposed to be too, but found he couldn't. So he sat up and just kept watch over Hal. The only person besides him that was still awake was Ben, but he was doing a quick patrol of the area to make sure there weren't any skitters or Mechs around that could find them. If they were found, then the entire mission was at risk. Tom wasn't really thinking about that though. All of his thoughts were on Hal. He had hoped that this mission would help Hal to open up around them, or at least, get to be more comfortable with them but if anything, the exact opposite had happened.

"You okay?" Tom was pulled from his reverie when he heard Anne's voice. He looked over to see the mother of his daughter still lying on her back, but she was wide awake and was staring right at him.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about him." Tom told her, looking back over at Hal. Hearing some rustling followed by a hand on his shoulder, he knew that Anne was now sitting up beside him but he kept his eyes on Hal as he continued, "I just wish that I knew what was going on, that he'd talk to me. It's times like this I wish Rebecca was here."

He saw Anne stiffen very slightly and quickly explained, "She always knew how to talk to him, always knew what to do, what to say to help him. If anyone could get through that wall of his, it would be her."

"I'm sure that he knows that you're trying, that you want to help him. When he's ready, he'll come to you." Anne told him as she moved her hand off his shoulder so she could hold his left hand.

"I hope so. I hate the idea of him dealing with whatever happened to him all by himself." Tom responded. Anne squeezed his hand again which caused Tom to give her a small smile, but then he turned his gaze back to his son. Only a minute later, his brow furrowed in worry.

"What is it?" Anne wondered, looking over at Hal like Tom was. The minute she laid her eyes on the sleeping young man though, she didn't need the former history professor to answer her. Hal was starting to twitch in his sleep, his eyes squeezing closed tightly and his expression turning to one of fear and pain, all of which were signs of one having a nightmare.

"Hal?" Tom called out to his son. The only response that the young man gave was a small groan and the turning of his head in the opposite reaction. Seeing that he was still asleep, Tom stood up and called out again, "Hal, wake up."

"Tom, maybe you shouldn't," Anne started but then stopped as Tom reached Hal's side and began to shake his shoulder. Hearing some more rustling, the doctor looked around and saw that not only had Ben returned, the others who had been asleep were now waking up, probably due to the noise.

"Hal, wake up." Tom said again, placing his hands on Hal's shoulder and gently started shaking him.

Within only seconds after that action, chaos exploded in the camp. Hal's eyes shot open, hard and cold and calculated. He moved so fast that barely anyone saw it, not even Tom. All they did know, was that it ended with Tom lying on flat on his back with Hal leaning over him, his hand around his father's throat, both breathing heavily. The minute that everyone's eyes took in the violent sight, they jumped to their feet.

"HAL!" Anne shouted as Ben literally tackled his older brother, pushing him away from their father. The doctor then rushed over to Tom, who was in the process of sitting back up.

With Tom being looked over, everyone in the group turned back to look at Hal who was also slowly sitting up. With Ben blocking their view, no one could get a clear look at him except for the middle Mason son. They could tell that Hal was starting to sit up as well and that though Ben was still tense, ready for a fight, he was letting him. Once he was fully sitting up, Ben moved to put a hand on his brother's shoulder, whether as a means of calm restraint just in case Hal did something or as an act of comfort, he didn't know, but he stopped himself when he saw the confusion in his brown eyes turn to one of horror.

"Hal?" Maggie quietly called out, taking a few steps closer to where the brothers were sitting. Hal visibly flinched before he looked up at them, letting everyone see just how shocked and horrified he was by what he just did.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to," Hal's apology came with a quiet tone, almost unheard due to his breathing speeding up.

"It's okay. It's okay Hal." Tom told him as sincerely as he could, already knowing that Hal would never intentionally hurt him. But due to how tightly Hal had held his throat, his voice was hoarse and his son could easily tell. And when Hal looked over at him and saw how Tom had his own hand up to his neck, rubbing it a little as the bruises already started appearing, he jumped to his feet and started running away from the group.

"Hal!" Tom shouted out, moving to follow him but Anne immediately pushed him back down.

"Tom no." She said. While she was sure that Tom was okay, that Hal hadn't hurt his father besides a few bruises, she still wanted to check him over just to make sure. Not to mention, she highly doubted that Hal was in a good mindset right now. Better to leave him be, to calm down without everyone watching him.

"She's right, let him go. Just give him a minute." Weaver quickly sided with Anne. For a moment, everyone stayed still and quiet, then Ben and Matt both moved over to their Dad, wanting to make sure that he was okay. Maggie and Weaver however, continued staring at the direction that Hal had run off in.

After about a minute, Maggie started walking to where she had seen Hal going. Even though she understood that Hal would want his space right now, she was positive now that they had given him too much of that lately and that the sooner he realized that what just happened wasn't his fault the better. And there was no way he was going to come to that conclusion himself. Plus, there could be skitters out there and he could end up in danger.

Whether it was because no one had noticed her leaving or because they knew they couldn't stop her, no one said a word as she walked away from their 'camp' and in the direction Hal took off in.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Hal didn't stop moving until he broke through the treeline and came to a small opening with the river that Ben had gone to earlier. He slowed his stride as he approached the stream before he crouched down, cupped the water with his hands and splashed it on his face. The liquid was nice and cool against his burning skin and helped calm him down. He repeated the process two more times before he wiped his face with his jacket sleeve and stood up. Seeing a log lying horizontally on the rocks, he walked over to it and sat down, his back to the trees and his face to the river.

Staring at the water, Hal tried to process what had just happened at the campsite. Everything had occurred so fast that it wasn't until it was all over that his brain told him what happened. He had been somewhat pressured into getting some rest, fell asleep, had a nightmare, his Dad tried to wake him up and he attacked him. He had actually put his hands around his father's neck and squeezed. He knew it could've been a lot worse, that he could've done a lot worse but that didn't excuse what he did and it didn't make him feel better. All day he had the feeling that something bad was going to happen but he thought it would have something to do with the attack they were launching, not something like this. And because of what just happened, he was starting to wonder if he should find a way out of this mission.

"You okay?" Hal instinctively jumped in surprise before he quickly turned around to see who had snuck up on him, his mind still going either too fast or too slow to register the voice. When Hal saw that it was only Maggie though, looking very concerned, he forced himself to relax, at least visibly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to, surprise you. I tried walking loudly so you'd hear me, but apparently it wasn't loud enough." Maggie apologized, lowering her head a little in slight embarrassment.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. And I'm fine, just needed some air is all." Hal told her, giving her a small, reassuring grin. Maggie didn't look too convinced, but didn't say anything about it which Hal was grateful for. He didn't really want to talk about what just happened, at all. Still though, there was just one thing he had to know before he tried to make sure the subject was completely dropped.

"Is my Dad alright?" Hal asked, now being the one unable to meet Maggie's eyes instead of it being the other way around.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's pretty worried about you, we all are, but you didn't hurt him. You barely touched him." The young man resisted the urge to scoff when he heard that. They both knew she was only saying that to comfort him, to make him feel better since he had just attacked his father for waking him up. There were bruises to prove it. Hal also didn't say anything to correct her either.

Instead, he just turned his back to Maggie and resumed staring at the river a few feet in front of him. Soon though, he heard the sound of rocks bumping into each other as his partner walked over to him.

As he felt her hand come to rest on his shoulder, he heard her ask, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, just thinking." Hal replied, keeping his gaze on the running water of the river, not wanting to see the worried look he knew was on Maggie's face. If he did, not only would he feel guilty for being the reason it was there, it would also make him want to tell her everything that was going on and he couldn't do that. He wasn't ready to do that, not yet anyways.

"Thinking about what?" Maggie questioned, clearly wanting some kind of answer and unwilling to settle for an assuring brush off like he had been giving her. Hal debated it for a minute before deciding to give her an answer, one that he knew she wouldn't be expecting.

"About staying behind on this mission." Hal revealed.

"What?" Maggie said in surprise as she dropped her hand from his shoulder and sat down on the log beside him.

"After what just happened, I don't think I can be trusted." Hal told her, lowering his head to stare at the rocks under his feet. True, he was still keeping some details to himself, but it was the truth. If he couldn't stop himself from physically attacking his own father because of a nightmare, what would he do in an actual attack with adrenaline flooding his body?

"Hal," Maggie started but was immediately cut off by another voice.

"Maggie, can I talk to Hal for a minute please?" The pair both snapped their heads to look over their shoulders and found Tom Mason standing about 20 feet away. Maggie looked over to Hal, wanting to make sure that he was okay with it. If he wasn't ready to talk to his Dad just yet, then she would stay with him and tell Tom to leave. Hal however, wasn't looking at her. He had turned his head back to stare at his feet but after a few seconds, he nodded once, letting her know that it was okay for her to go.

"Yeah, sure." Maggie answered. As she stood up, she reached over and gave Hal's shoulder a comfortingly squeeze, then started walking back in the direction towards their camp.

Tom watched Maggie leave, waiting until she was completely out of sight before he turned his attention back to his son. Though both Anne and Weaver had tried to get him to stay and wait for Hal to come back, he didn't listen and went anyways. He didn't want to take the chance that Hal might just leave or something, and he needed to talk to him. Needed his son to know that he wasn't upset with him. Seeing that Hal wasn't even looking at him, Tom knew that he was going to have to start this conversation.

"Are you okay?" Tom wondered, slowly walking towards the young man.

"I should be asking you that." Hal responded quietly, still keeping his gaze on something in front of him, even when Tom reached his side and sat down beside him.

"I'm fine Hal, you didn't hurt me." The minute he said that, he could tell Hal was about to protest, so he kept going, "It was my fault, I startled you. Should've known that you'd react like that if I woke you up from the middle of a nightmare."

"How could you? It's not like you have," Hal started to reply, finally looking over at him but then paused at seeing the sad realization on his Dad's face, "before."

Tom and Hal never talked about it, not once, but they both knew that they weren't very close as father and son. Tom had never been able to spend much time with Hal and Hal always kept a carefully made wall between them, stopping his father from getting too close whenever Tom tried to remedy that. It had been like that for pretty much Hal's entire life. He didn't know any different and since it had started so early, Tom didn't know how to fix it. It was Rebecca who was always there for Hal. Whenever he had a problem, she was the one he went to. When he was sick, she took care of him. When he had a nightmare, she was the one who woke him up and comforted him. She did, not Tom.

"No, I haven't. Especially not in the middle of a war against aliens." Tom admitted, causing Hal to chuckle.

"What?" Tom asked, somewhat smiling at the sound of his son's laugh even though he had no idea what was so amusing to the young man.

"Nothing it's just," Hal looked over at him, smiling as well, then asked, "did you ever think you'd ever say a sentence like that?"

Tom smiled wider and let out a breath of a laugh before answering, "No, no I did not."

A peaceful moment of silence passed between the two as they stared at the river in front of them. While Tom knew Hal would not want him to ask about what had been going on with him, he needed to know. So he interrupted the moment by asking, "How long have you been having nightmares?"

"A while." Hal quietly admitted. Tom wasn't shocked by the reveal. He had seen the signs, they all had. The circles under his eyes that only seemed to be getting darker, the not-so-subtle yawns, his movement becoming slower as though he was too tired to do anything. Then there were the times he would jump at the slightest of sounds or appear to just zone out of conversations. If Hal was having that much trouble sleeping and wasn't at the top of his game, which anyone could clearly see after what just happened, Tom didn't want him anywhere near the attack.

"Hal, if you don't want to continue on with this attack, you don't have to. You can just meet us at the rendezvous point." Tom told him. Hal clearly wasn't expecting that as he turned his head to look at him with a shocked expression.

Seeing that his father was serious, Hal lowered his head as shame covered his face, "I just, I don't think I'm up for this Dad."

Tom put his hand on Hal's back and said, "That's okay. I'm not upset, or disappointed with you. Everyone needs a break every now and then. Even strong young men like you."

Hal nodded, but continued to avoid his father's gaze. Tom moved his hand to wrap his entire arm around his son's shoulders then said, "Come on, let's get back to the others."

Again, Hal's only response was a nod, but he stood up and allowed his father to lead him back to the group.