Hey babes! Back again with a new piece for ya! Just a little something I came up with after reading a tweet from someone I follow. Really quick turnaround with this fic, too, I'm very proud of myself.

Enjoy!

Approaching the familiar wooden door that she's come to associate with safety and comfort, Riley hesitates. She doesn't know if she should use her key right now or not. She knows Mac wouldn't care if she lets herself inside, that he'd tell her she can use it whenever because she's always welcome. But for some reason, in this moment, it feels almost wrong to use her key. So she knocks.

She knocks quickly and then rocks back on her heels, grateful for the slightly oversized hoodie she's wearing, allowing her to hide her hands. She plays with the ends of the sleeves as she waits; her entire body is on edge, nothing will settle.

The door swings open and her nerves get unsettled ever more when she sees Desi standing there instead of Mac, looking half-asleep. She shouldn't be surprised. She knows that Mac and Desi are dating, that they're living together. But with the state her mind is in right now, it's a bit of a shock to the system.

"Riley?" Desi speaks up. "It's really late. What are you doing here?"

She shuffles on her feet. "Uh, yeah, sorry. Is...is Mac awake?"

Desi lets out a heavy sigh. "He's working on something in the guest room. Some experiment or contraption that apparently couldn't wait until morning."

The tiniest hint of a smile tugs at the corner of Riley's lips at the many memories that rush through her mind of when she was living here and Mac would be up late working on something. And if she couldn't sleep either she'd keep him company, listen to him explain the concept whatever he was working on.

But then the smile disappears when a flash of Mac lying motionless in that hyperbaric chamber enters her mind. She swallows thickly, looking at Desi. "You said he's in the guest room?"

Desi eyes her carefully and then nods. "Yeah."

"Thanks," she says quietly and then steps inside the house, the door closing after her. She barely spares Desi another glance as she moves easily through the house toward the back hallway, knowing this place like the back of her hand since she's spent so much time in it over the years.

When she reaches the guest room, a space she used to call her own, she's grateful to find the door already open. So she stops and leans against the doorframe, her eyes drifting to where Mac is sitting at a desk working on a contraption that she definitely has no idea what it is. But that's not very unusual.

Her nerves relax a little when she sees him working; it helps ease the terrible thoughts that have been running rampant in her mind. But she's still on edge, her hands wringing together and her bottom lip bit between her teeth.

"Hey, Desi? Did you see who was at the—Riles?"

She moves before she even registers what she's doing. She pushes off the doorframe and strides quickly across the room toward her friend. Throwing her arms around his shoulders, which is much easier to do with him sitting down, she buries her face deep in the crook of his neck. The relief is instantaneous. And then his arms wrap around her a split second later, gently rocking both of them, and her mind is finally calm.

"Hey," he says quietly after a moment. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"

She leans back, keeping her arms around him, trying for a smile but knowing it doesn't reach her eyes. "Nothing, really. I just...I needed to…" She shakes her head and breathes deeply, her lips pulling into a tight line. "You know what? This was a bad idea." She gently pats his shoulders as she pulls away and steps back. "I'm sorry I came over so late." She turns around and begins making her way toward the door when his hand gently wraps around her wrist.

"You're always welcome here, Riley. Day or night, doesn't matter the time. I'd hope you would know that by now."

She nods slowly, turning around to look at him again, his hand still on her wrist. "I do know that."

"Okay. So then why are you trying to leave without telling me what's going on? Especially after running in here and hugging me like that. Talk to me, Riley. Please."

He says it so softly, so gently. And it's all she can do not to completely break down in his arms. She can't do that right now.

So she swallows thickly, grateful when he lets go of her so she can cross her arms over her chest. She opens her mouth to speak but closes it again just as quickly. She steps past him and approaches the neatly made bed, kicks her shoes off, and then climbs onto it. She settles herself against the headboard and pulls her knees up, wrapping her arms around them to protect herself. Protect her from what, she's not entirely sure. But it makes her feel safe, and that's what matters. Though, that could have more to do with the fact that Mac is present. But she tries not to dwell on that.

The mattress dips and she looks up to see Mac sitting in front of her, pulling his own legs underneath of him so he can fully face her. He doesn't say anything, though, just sits there quietly. He's watching her, but it's not weird or awkward, and it doesn't make her uncomfortable. It's just Mac.

"I uh...I haven't been sleeping too well the last few days," she finally says. "I start to, and everything's fine, but then I close my eyes and I see—" She cuts herself off and clenches her jaw, unable to say the words just yet.

"What do you see?" Mac asks gently.

She curls her hands tightly into fists when they start to shake, looking down at the blanket for a moment. Her brows furrow together as her nightmare flashes in her head again. "I see you. In that hyperbaric chamber. But...but you didn't...you don't wake up." She looks at him through slightly blurred vision. "You die, Mac. Every single time. They pull you out of the chamber, and I'm standing there staring at you, waiting for you to open your eyes. But you don't. You just…" She swallows thickly and shakes her head. "I know it wasn't real, but it felt real every time. It felt so damn real. Usually, I'm fine, but tonight I woke up in a near panic attack, thinking you actually did die."

Mac's face morphs into one of understanding, his eye softening. "So you came over to make sure it was just a nightmare."

She nods. "Yeah. But I'm better now. I can see that you're alive, and you're okay, so I can go home and get some sleep."

Mac tilts his head, giving her a look. "Seriously? You're not in any condition to drive right now."

"I made it here, didn't I?"

"But how long did it take you to get here?"

"I had to pull over a few times."

Mac nods slowly. "Okay. So then you're going to stay here for the night and go home in the morning when I know you're okay to drive."

She nods, knowing he isn't going to let up on this, and breathes deeply, running a hand through her hair. "Fine. I don't know if I can sleep right now, though. I think I'm still pretty wired."

He smiles softly. "That's okay. You can sit here for as long as you like until you are tired. Or...if you want, I wouldn't mind having an extra set of hands with what I'm working on."

She smiles. "Afraid I won't be much of an assistant this time around." She takes a deep breath. "But, since I'm here, and probably won't be able to sleep for a while, feel free to talk to me about whatever you're working on over there," she says, gesturing in the direction of his desk.

He smiles. "I just might take you up on that. And I promise not to be offended if you start to fall asleep while I'm talking." He leans forward then, resting a hand on her knee and squeezing gently. "I'm here if you need anything, okay? Anything at all."

She nods. "Okay. Thanks, Mac."

"Anytime." He tosses her a smile and then stands from the bed to situate himself back at the desk on the other side of the room.

Riley shifts on the bed, leaning her head back and letting her eyes drift up to the ceiling. Her mind is still a bit of a mess, conflicting memories of Mac in that chamber keeping her wide awake, both images fighting to be at the forefront.

It makes her heart clench, but she reminds herself over and over that Mac is alive, that he's safe. She closes her eyes tightly as she tries her hardest to force down the image of Mac lying permanently motionless in the hyperbaric chamber, to ignore the echo of the heart monitor flatlining as her entire world falls out from under her. She tries to focus on the image of him waking up, when he looked at her and sat up, no words needing to be exchanged between them as relief flooded through her system. But it's hard. The other image keeps fighting to be on top, to be the one that lives forever in her memories.

Familiar sounds of metal and power tools, mixed with Mac's idle chatter, drift toward her. It really shouldn't be a surprise that it helps calm her, helps remind her brain that Mac is alive, that he's safe. He's not leaving her. He kept his promise.

It doesn't take long for images of Mac dying to flood her mind again, though. Different moments from all the years they've worked together where something went wrong and he never made it back to them. He dies at the hands of Murdoc, dies in the field because he put something together fast enough, dies from a freak accident in the Phoenix lab, dies from a bomb set by the Ghost, dies during the whole ordeal with Codex, dies in that damn hyperbaric chamber; he keeps dying over and over again.

She cries for him each time, watching helplessly as the life leaves his eyes. Each death feels as real as the last and she doesn't know if she can take it anymore. Doesn't know if she can stomach seeing Mac die on a loop. But maybe she needs to see all of these, maybe she needs to let them run their course so she can get through this. So she'll no longer have nightmares when she goes to sleep at night. She can't go through that again. Can't fall asleep to images of Mac dying. Just seeing them while she's awake is bad enough, silent tears streaming down her face as she calls out to him in the images.

"No! Mac! You promised, Mac! You promised me! Mac! Come back! Please!"

She keeps trying to get to him in the images but something is holding her back. Some force that she can't see is keeping her from moving, restricting her arms from reaching out to him and her legs from running to be at his side. It feels real, though. More real than the panic she'd felt when she woke up from her nightmare earlier in the night.

And then there's a voice in her ear, piercing right through the images swimming around in her mind.

"Riley! Wake up!"

Her eyes shoot open and everything is off-kilter. Her throat is sore, her chest is heaving, and her body feels exponentially warm. The pressure against her makes itself more known, it's centralized to her arms and legs.

"Riles, can you hear me?"

She blinks a few times and concentrates on the voice, the familiarity of it clicking in her mind as her vision starts to clear up. She shakes her head quickly when the face in front of her comes into focus, continuing to fight against the pressure holding her down. "No. You're dead. You're not...you're not here. You're dead...you're—"

"Riley."

She stops moving at the firm, yet gentle, tone. Her breathing is still heavy and her heart is still pounding in her ears. The pressure against her arms and legs is slowly released and she moves back until her back hits a hard surface.

And then Mac's right there in front of her, as clear as day, sitting on his knees. His eyes bore into hers as he shuffles closer to her and then grabs one of her hands to hold it against his chest. "You can feel that, right?"

She nods silently.

"That's my heartbeat. And it means that I'm here. I'm right here, Riles. I'm right here."

She closes her eyes tightly, focusing on the steady tempo beneath her palm. Her hand curls into a fist, gripping tightly to the fabric of his shirt, the beat of his heart thumping against her knuckles.

"You fell asleep," Mac says, his voice helping to soothe her racing heart. "I thought you'd be okay for a minute, so I stepped out, but then I heard you screaming. Desi tried to come with me to check on you, but I figured you wouldn't want to feel like you had an audience once you woke up. I hope you don't mind that I held you down the way I did. I didn't want you to accidentally hurt yourself thrashing around."

"I saw you die again," she manages to get out once he finishes talking. Even though he didn't ask, she still feels the need to tell him. "But it wasn't just the chamber," she continues. "It was...so many other things. And I wasn't there. I was never there. I—" She hesitates for a moment, breathes slowly and deeply, and then opens her eyes to look at him. "I can't lose you, Mac."

His entire face softens and then he's pulling her into a bear hug, his arms completely engulfing her. "You're never gonna lose me."

She closes her eyes again as she buries her face in his shoulder, the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at her lips when she hears him speak the same exact words she said to him not so long ago. Those words, combined with his arms around her, put her at ease. She always feels better in Mac's arms. And it's not just because of her feelings for him. Even before she realized how she feels about him, he's proven time and time again that he's safety, comfort, and protection. And he always will be.

Pulling away after a moment, she wipes at her eyes with the sleeves of her hoodie and leans back.

"Are you going to be okay?" Mac asks softly.

She nods, looking at him. "I think so, yeah. I haven't had nightmares that bad since prison." She breathes deeply and then gives Mac a small smile. "Thanks again for this. I appreciate it."

He smiles. "It was my pleasure." He shifts a little, his brows furrowing slightly. "I do have a question for you, though. I wanted to ask earlier but figured it could wait. Is that my hoodie?"

She glances down at the large piece of clothing hanging off her body that she'd stolen when she moved out. She hadn't planned on taking it with her, but she'd worn it once when she was freezing in the house and none of her clothes felt warm enough. Mac offered her one of his hoodies to wear and she just never gave it back.

She looks back up at her friend with a straight face. "No, it's mine."

His lips pull into an amused smile. "Oh, really? I didn't know you went to MIT."

She tilts her head, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "You didn't? Hmm, you were probably too busy on your little experiments to notice me walking around campus."

Mac chuckles lightly. "Trust me, Riley, I would have noticed you."

She sucks in a sharp breath involuntarily at his words. He probably didn't mean it the way her brain took it.

"Hey, since you shared something with me that I'm assuming you haven't told anyone else about, can I tell you something that I haven't told anyone else about either?" Mac asks, a slight furrow to his brows.

She nods. "Always."

He takes a deep breath. "I remember what happened while I was in the chamber. It was blank for a while, which is understandable, but now I remember."

"What do you remember?"

"You."

Her breath catches. "What?"

"I had all these flashes going through my head, of the team, and everything we've all been through together. But the one person I saw the most was you." He reaches out to grab her hands in his, holding them tightly as he smiles softly. "You brought me back, Riley. I heard your voice, begging me not to leave. So I didn't. Because I will always, always come back to you."

She manages a smile, squeezing his hands gently, unable to find the right words. But it's okay. She can tell with just one look that he doesn't need or expect her to say anything.

And as they continue to sit on the bed, their hands clasped together, Riley sees something flicker in Mac's eyes as he smiles at her. She can't quite place it, but it makes her stomach flip and her heart jump. It makes a small sliver of hope start to blossom inside her chest; hope for a future where she no longer hides from her emotions out of fear and opens that metaphorical door to let Mac in.

She knows they'll need to have another talk later, when she's in a better headspace and no longer seeing him die on repeat in her nightmares. Because she knows that there's a lot they need to talk about, that there's a lot on the line if they ever decide to give in fully to what they're feeling. Time and time again she's told herself to keep her heart protected, that if anyone were to completely break her into a million tiny pieces, it would be Mac.

Watching him, though, in the quiet of night that surrounds them, she can feel that resolve begin to falter. The way he looks at her—she's not even sure he knows that he does it—has her entire being telling her that letting Mac love her will be worth the risk of getting her heart broken again. Maybe they'll be that epic love story that most people only ever dream of having, maybe it'll be the best thing to happen to either of them. Only time will tell.

Right now, though, her nightmares are finally quiet, those terrifying images getting farther and farther away, no longer tormenting her for the time being. Her best friend is safe, alive, and sitting right in front of her. And for now, that's good enough. Because she has that little sliver hope, and she's going to grab it and hold on tight.

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!