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Chapter 4: Insomnia


Dwayne closed the door of his hotel suite behind him and tossed the car keys on to a side table. He had said good bye to his sister and nephew a half-hour ago and watched forlornly as their plane lifted off. Though he would miss the two dearly, the truth was that he had nothing left to do with the rest of his forced vacation.

//Maybe I should go fishing...//

Dropping into the comfortable arm chair, he picked up the television remote. Dwayne idly flipped through the channels as he thought about the previous few days. It had been nice to spend time with family. Jeffy and Rusty got along extremely well, and Dr. Slate had actually been rather glad to have the boy robot out of Quark Tower for a while. The two kids had spent all of yesterday together playing in the park.

Dwayne glanced at the clock beside the tv set. //8:34 PM... To early to turn in yet...// Perusing the channels, he found a documentary on WWII fighter planes. //Hey, not bad...// He put the remote on the table next to the chair and sat back to watch.


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THUMP. Dwayne's eyes flew open as he tried to orient himself. //What...? What happened...?// He found himself lying rather awkwardly on the floor and slowly sat up. //I feel asleep... That dream again...// Dwayne unsuccessfully tried to suppress a shudder. The same nightmare was still plaguing him. Rubbing his eyes, he vainly attempted to drive away the images from the dream.

Standing, he glanced again at the clock, "12:30 AM... Man... I was out that long?" It was rare that he fell asleep without meaning to. Actually, having done so was rather disconcerting. Still rather shaken from the nightmare, Dwayne decided it would be better to take walk than try to go back to sleep.

He wandered aimlessly for awhile, not needed a distinct destination. The bright streetlights shown in patches, alternating between the warm glow and darkness. A strong breeze was beginning to blow, and Dwayne turned up the collar on his jacket. Looking up at the sky, he saw dark clouds gathering across the moon and stars, "Great... Now it's going to rain..."

Just as he uttered the words, a torrent of water poured down out. Frustrated, Dwayne sought some shelter. The shops had all closed up for the night, though, and there wasn't much cover from the storm. Noticing a street sign, he realized he wasn't far from Quark Tower. On a whim, Dwayne decided to see if Dr. Slate was still working.

Dwayne stepped into the building, his clothes and hair soaking wet. The night security man looked up from the book he was reading and frowned. "Uh, hi..." Dwayne said lamely, "It's, ah, raining outside..." The man put the book down, watching him warily. "Wait... Here," pulling his military security clearance badge from his pocket, Dwayne handed it to the man. //Never leave home without it...//

Looking much relieved, the guardsman gave him a friendly smile, "Oh, hello, Lt. Hunter. Isn't it rather late for you to be out and around?"

"Couldn't sleep," he explained, "You wouldn't know if Dr. Slate is still in, would you?"

"Oh, yeah," the man shook his head, "She works way too hard. I can buzz her if you like..."

"Nah, I'll just go on up... if that's okay with you, of course."

"No problem, Lieutenant. You know the way?"

Dwayne grinned, "Sure do. Thanks." Heading down the hall, he paused at the elevator. When the doors opened, he stepped in and punched the button for Dr. Slate's floor.

Getting out, he saw that the entire hall was dark except for a single room. The warm yellow glow spilled out into the hallway invitingly. Dwayne stopped in the doorway, looking around. Dr. Slate sat at her desk with her back to the door, totally oblivious to his presence. Not wanting to take her by surprise, Dwayne cleared his throat.

Spinning around, Erica gasped and put her hand to her chest, definitely startled. It took her only a moment to realize who the intruder was, "Lieutenant! You scared me!"

"Oh... Sorry... Believe it or not, I was trying NOT to..."

She smiled faintly, "You weren't very successful. What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same thing..." he said defensively.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Dr. Slate tapped her foot, "I was working."

"Oh. Right," Dwayne rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, "I... just saw your light on and stopped by..."

"You're dripping..."

"Huh...?" looking down at himself, he muttered a soft curse, "Um... sorry, it's raining outside and..."

"You walked here in the rain?!" Dr. Slate interrupted, "It's cold outside!" Dwayne opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when Erica took his arm and forced him into a seat. "Take off that coat," she insisted, helping him out of the wet garment.

He watched her hang the coat off the back of another chair, "Uh, thanks..."

"Here..." handing him several towels, Erica laid another one about his shoulders, "I keep these around in case of emergencies. Never know when you might need one."

"Thanks..." he repeated.

She paused, studying his face and frowning, "Are you all right? You look exhausted..."

Dwayne shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "It's nothing... I just haven't been sleeping all that well."

Fetching another chair, Dr. Slate sat down near him, "Is something bothering you?"

He somewhat surprised by her question - not because it was unexpected, but because it was correct. Rubbing his hair vigorously with one of the towels, Dwayne answered, "No... No, it's just... I've been having some bad dreams... Nothing big..."

"Nightmares?" she asked, her voice soft.

He froze for an instant and then slowly set the towel back down in his lap, "Something like that..."

Concern shown in her warm brown eyes, "Do you... want to talk about it?"

Taking a deep breath, Dwayne submitted, "I'm... not entirely sure what to say. It's kind of strange... Ever since I got out of the hospital, I keep having the same dream over and over... and it seems so real every time..." he began slowly, "I don't remember everything, but..."

Dr. Slate nodded in encouragement, "Go on..."

"I'm in the Big Guy, and I find myself fighting an enemy I just can't seem to beat. It moves so fast that I can't even get a good look at it. I don't know where it came from or what its trying to do... but I end up chasing it here... to Quark Tower... I saw people getting killed by stray weapon's fire... I tried to grab it, but it tossed me around like a sack of potatoes." Dwayne's face looked stricken as he recalled the dream, "Then I saw... you... You were trying to tell me something, but I couldn't hear you... And then... then..." He broke off abruptly, bowing his head.

"What happened?" Erica asked, gently reaching out to touch his arm.

"You... were killed..." Dwayne said, his voice nearly inaudible, "An incendiary took out the first floor of the tower..." He let out a short, harsh laugh, shaking his head, "As if that wasn't bad enough, I finally got a good look at the person I was fighting..."

Dr. Slate seemed completely absorbed by his words, "Who was it?"

Dwayne looked her straight in the eyes, his mouth drawn into a thin, severe line, "It was me... I was fighting myself... I was killing those people. I killed... you..."

"No," Erica tightened her grip on his arm, "It wasn't YOU. You were trying to save those people. The enemy was someone else... maybe someone who looked like you, but not you."

"Hah. That's pretty funny coming from you considering that I tried to strangle you a couple of weeks ago," he said bitterly.

"But you didn't," she reminded him, "You fought off Number Seven's control. Why are you being so hard on yourself? You shouldn't feel guilty about what happened. It wasn't your fault."

Dwayne ran his fingers through his damp hair and sighed, "I know, I know... I don't know why I keep having this nightmare... I don't even remember what happened. The only things I know is what I was told in the debriefing."

"I suppose such a traumatic experience would have a profound effect on the subconscious if nothing else," she suggested, "You might not consciously remember what happened, but it's possible that you do UNconsciously..."

"I guess that could explain it..." he assented.

Dr. Slate smiled reassuringly, "You shouldn't be worrying about this. The whole point of this vacation is for you to relax."

Raising his head, Dwayne studied her face for a moment before returning her smile, "Thanks... I really appreciate this."

"Yes... well..." Erica stood quickly and turned toward the window. Her face felt warm, and she was certain she was blushing. //How does he do that to me?// "It... it looks like it's stopped raining... I... should be getting home now..." she said awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah... Me too," Dwayne collected the towels, "You... you wouldn't happen to... uh, maybe I could... walk you... home...?"

Erica paused as she was removing her coat from the hook. //Oh, heck, why not?// "Actually... that would be nice."

"Really? Uh... Okay..." trying not to seem too eager, Dwayne put on his still damp coat, "Sounds good..."

Chuckling, Dr. Slate turned off her desk lamp, "Come on. Let's go."


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