Note: Sorry it took so long to update but I just got back from my honeymoon (reluctantly! the cabin in the mountains was absolutely beautiful!) and found that the modem on my laptop is fried and the cdrom on my desktop won't read the cds from my laptop so I had to borrow a computer and email the story to myself! It took some time, but here is the next two chapters! Hope the pace picks up and is not so boring anymore. Any suggestions are very welcome!
Still don't own them, sigh...
"NO," she screamed, "NO, STOP! PLEASE, HELP ME!" Lancelot jumped up to get his sword, thinking someone had attacked the fortress, then saw that it was still dark and Laney was sleeping. He quickly sat down and put his hands on her shoulders and shook. She was mumbling incoherently and making sobbing sounds and repeating the same sentence. "Laney! Wake up honey. It's okay, you're just dreaming." Finally, she shot up into a sitting position, eyes open and scanning the dark room. He reached up and took her face in his hands, "Sweetheart, everything's alright, everyone's safe."
She began to fight him yelling, "I've got to get to him before they kill him!" He had to wrap his arms and legs around her to keep her from flailing about. This was the scene that greeted the four knights that came crashing through the door with their swords drawn. They looked like they had been sound asleep and their eyes were wide and wild looking. Tristan and Dagonet ran over and grabbed Lancelot's arms trying to pull him away from her. "No, you don't understand, I'm trying to stop her from hurting herself. She won't wake up and she keeps trying to fight me off so she can get up and do something to stop whatever she sees in her head." He was trying to explain as he fought to keep his hold on her. They finally realized that he wasn't hurting her and stopped pulling against him.
Gawain tried to talk to her, as did Dag, but she wouldn't stop screaming long enough for them to get through to her. All at once, Tristan walked over and slapped her across the face. The screaming immediately stopped, but the tears were coming even faster. When Tristan had slapped her, Lancelot had jumped up and challenged him, "what the hell are you doing?" Tristan looked at him with his usual unemotional face and he started calming down. "She was hysterical, someone had to stop her." Was all he said as he turned to go back to the others. Lancelot sat back down and took her in his arms making shushing noises. She began to calm down and took the cup of water Dag offered. After taking a drink, she wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. She took a few more ragged breaths and stared at the men towering over her. She wanted to tell them what she had seen, but she knew it wouldn't be the right thing to do.
In one voice, they tried to reassure her that it was just a bad dream, nothing more. After a little while longer, she began to settle down. She just cuddled up to Lancelot and held him tightly. The others gave Lancelot a look that told him they had done all they could, it was up to him now, as they filed out of the room one at a time.
Once they were gone, he lay down and pulled Laney beside him, holding her to his chest. She hadn't cried in a while, but she was snubbing, trying to get her breath back to normal. He finally heard her breathing slow down and become the rhythm of sleep. He lay still and just held her. He then leaned back and looked into her face and saw the creases in her forehead. She had gone back to sleep, but she had not relaxed. The terror of her dream was still uppermost on her mind, unconscious as it was. He began to pull his arm from under her little by little, trying not to wake her. He would ask one of the others to come sit with her while he went to see Arthur.
After he had maneuvered her off his arm, he quickly threw on his shirt and boots. Then he went out into the hall. He expected to have to rouse someone back out of bed, but Tristan was standing outside his door. "I thought you'd want to talk to Arthur, I'll sit with her until you return." He only hesitated a moment before nodding and heading toward Arthur's quarters. Laney had scared him. He had never seen her so upset, she was hysterical, and he knew that if Tristan hadn't slapped her when he did, she would have only gotten worse. By the time he reached Arthur's rooms, he was practically running.
Tristan walked over to the table and pulled the chair next to the bed. He looked at her and saw her face contort into a grimace as she slept. The next time she tensed up and whimpered in her sleep, he leaned over and gently rubbed her forehead until she calmed down. He could see the tears lying just under her lashes and knew she was crying in her sleep. His heart would break if he had to watch her in so much pain for long. She started moving her head back and forth and whimpering again, so Tristan stood up and leaned over her to try and comfort her. She jumped up as he touched her face. Her eyes had the same wild look and she was crying tears that just fell down her cheeks in a steady stream. She made no sound as she cried but her body was trembling underneath the blanket she was wrapped in.
He quickly sat down on the bed and enfolded her in his arms. She reached and grabbed his shirt with both hands and the blanket began to slip off one shoulder. He tried to ignore the creamy look of her exposed skin, but his eyes were drawn to it whether he wished it or not. Finally, in an attempt to get his emotions under control, he pulled the blanket up to cover her, letting his hand linger on the soft skin of her throat. She had put her head on his shoulder and he envied Lancelot for being able to gently caress her body, for at that moment he wanted nothing more. This was how Lancelot and Arthur found the two of them, holding on to each other as if for life, her head on his shoulder and a look of pure torture on his face.
The look on Tristan's face stopped Lancelot in his tracks. He had seen him look at Laney and knew he loved her, but until now he hadn't realized just how deeply. He knew he would feel jealous if another man was holding her and looking at her in that manner, but as he entered the room Tristan had made the move to stand up and relinquish his place beside her. He loved her and would always be there to protect and care for her. But only if Lancelot was unable to do so. As soon as Lancelot stepped into the scene again, Tristan would back away quietly and quickly, even if his heart broke each time. As Lancelot stepped around the other man to sit by Laney, he put his hand on his arm and looked into his eyes. Tristan nodded only once and turned to leave the room, but Arthur told him to stay. He thought maybe since she had seen something regarding him, it might be connected somehow.
Arthur took the seat Tristan had pulled beside the bed. When he was ready he nodded to Lancelot, who spoke quietly to Laney, "Laney, Arthur is here. He wishes to speak with you. Okay?" She was quiet for so long that he thought she might have gone back to sleep. She wasn't crying or shaking anymore. Just lying very still against his chest. After a couple of minutes, she sat up and gave Arthur a small half-smile, "I guess you wish you'd never seen me about now." He was quick to reassure her that on the contrary, the thought had never crossed his mind. "But, I am a little concerned at your dreams. Can you tell me about them? Without getting upset? I don't want you to be upset."
She sat there for a moment, looking at the man as she tried to control her panic. They knew she had seen or dreamed something involving Tristan, but she didn't want to tell them the dream. As the dream replayed in her mind, she let out a sob and put her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her panic. Arthur watched as the emotions crossed her face and he saw the way she clutched Lancelot's shirt tighter, until her knuckles turned white. He was about to leave and tell her they would speak about it in the morning when he saw her take control. Her features changed and suddenly became very calm, her eyes no longer wide.
"Arthur, I don't know what exactly I saw either time. Merlin explained the vision of Tristan so that I was no longer convinced that I had seen an actual event. But, now, I'm not so sure." She hesitated for only a quick breath before continuing, "I can't tell you about my dream. But there have been some other events that you are not aware of. I only told Lancelot tonight and Tristan knew because he had secretly listened to a meeting between myself and Merlin." She gave Tristan a look that Arthur interpreted as 'scolding', but the scout didn't let on that he'd noticed. Arthur leaned forward intent on learning of these new events.
Laney looked at Arthur for a moment before beginning. "I went to the woods near the bath house and Tristan followed me," she looked at Lancelot and said, "at Lancelot's urging, I'm sure." When he didn't deny it, she continued telling him of the events since she and Tristan had gone into the woods. She watched him digest everything she said, and waited for him to ask all the questions she had asked. She just hoped the answers helped him, they sure didn't help her.
Arthur sat there looking at her for a few minutes, then he looked at Lancelot and Tristan in turn. When Laney saw Tristan nod his head she knew that Arthur wasn't really sure about the story, but he now knew that she, at least didn't make it up. Tristan had heard Merlin and was letting Arthur know as much. "Laney, do you believe this story that Merlin told you?" He asked her in earnest.
"Arthur, I don't know what to believe, but it's as good as anything I can come up with. After all, I KNOW I came from the future." Then quieter, she finished, "but that's about all I do know." She watched him and knew he was having a hard time swallowing what she'd said. But being the type of leader who looked for the good in people, he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. At least, Merlin had told him of her arrival before she came, so he wasn't totally in the dark regarding the unusual circumstances of her appearance.
"Well, I think that's enough for me to think about for one night. Tomorrow we will go see Merlin together, you and I." He held up his hand as Lancelot started to speak. "We have to know what is going on and I don't think the Woads would be happy if we all go riding up." Lancelot stopped and didn't say what he'd been about to and Arthur and Tristan headed for the door. Just before they closed the door behind them, Arthur stuck his head back in and said, "Laney, get some sleep. Tomorrow may be a rather long day." As the door shut, she lay back and took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Lancelot was watching her as she closed her eyes. When they immediately flew back open, he gave her a questioning look. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't leaving." She told him solemnly. "I'll never leave you, so don't even think about that." He answered as he sat on the bed. She reached up for him and he lay down pulling her close. Both knew it wouldn't be long before it was time to get up, but they were reluctant to leave the bed until there was something they could do besides think or talk about what had happened that night. Laney didn't want to talk about it, because whenever she closed her eyes she saw the deaths of two people she loved. One she loved more than her own life. The third person she had seen did not have a face, but she had thought it was Dag from the size. She didn't know where he had been, everything was all white, but she had seen the arrows sticking out of his body and knew that he must have died.