Disclaimer: I don't own MBC nor the characters.

The vibe of the chapter: Dream State by Son Lux - Though we were wide awake, this is a dream state. Will we survive in this, our new wilderness? We had to run from it...

Friday night, in the clubhouse

"Alexa? Can I talk to you, please?" mumbled John nervously. He knew that his teammate, Calum, was in the other corner of the clubhouse and could hear their conversation. The red-haired girl came to him.

She was a bit tough, always bruised or dirty from being out and doing sports frequently. Everyone thought she was "The Danny replacement". Always up to something, active, humorous. She was kinda tomboyish but also used to dye her hair bright red. Red suited her cheeky persona. Even though she was the complete opposite of John, there was something about her that drove him crazy. He was a shy boy like his older brother. The others sometimes found him a bit annoying, as he craved attention. Alexa, on the other hand, was interested in his new inventions. She respected him. Those two started getting close while they were forming the new team, despite knowing each other just for a year.

"What's the matter? Do you want me to get you into the cheerleading team after all?" She said jokingly.

He giggled anxiously. "Definitely not, one Lang on the team is enough. I wanted to ask you if you would do something else for me." The pressure started to rise. He was about to ask her out! Finally, the time had come. He was almost certain she will say yes. They were used to spending free time together anyway, so why not spice the things up a little?

The girl just smiled. She nodded and waited for his question to be asked. John took a deep breath and... his V-com started to ring.

"I am sorry. That's Chris, I have to take it." John went aside to have more privacy. God knew what his brother was about to say. It could be something embarrassing like -Sam found your underwear in her drawer again- or something like that.

John answered the call. "Chris! I just wanted to tell Alexa I like her!" John was mad at his older brother for interrupting his confession.

Chris looked terrified and exhausted. "Though I am proud of you having the balls to tell her, it will have to wait. If Alexa is near, grab her by the hand, use an MBV and get here as fast as possible. Sam is possessed by an alien or something! We need you."

"Holy Molly, give us one minute." John didn't expect to hear such terrible news. Given the circumstances, hearing that his sister-in-law is possessed, made him feel scared for her life. He turned to face his love interest.

"Lexy, something had happened to Sam. I really hope she is not dying. We have to help her."

"Oh, God. I will drive us there. Calum, are you coming as well? Maybe you could finally try your telepathy abilities on a mission?"

The blonde boy, who was standing on the other side of the clubhouse stopped doing his homework immediately, stood up and was ready to go. "I am not sure if I can communicate with humans possessed by aliens. I guess I will find out tonight, right?"

Alexa smiled jitterily and jumped into the vehicle. John sat by her side, while Cal sat on the backseat. "The fourth ranger" Maxie, was studying for a test, so she didn't come. Technically it wasn't an alien emergency, so her presence wasn't needed.

...

Elsewhere

Sam was running deeper into the forest, clueless why. It was like something or someone had control over her actions. She arrived at a plain spot in the middle of the forest and was suddenly able to stop. She kneeled down on the grass to catch a breath. Her leg was aching terribly. Sam was obviously scared, normally she had control over every aspect of her life and was able to control her actions and feelings well. Maybe too well. What was going on? Could she be dying?

She took a look around. It was already dark and the forest was quite scary. Tree branches were moving because of the strong wind. Sam was wearing a white minidress and was cold. She took a deep breath with an intention to turn around and head home, as she heard a creepy sound from behind the tree. She naturally turned towards it. Sam saw a silhouette of something. It took her a little time to process what she was seeing but after a while, she knew it very well. It was a spider with long slender legs.

"Aaaaaaah! Help me! Oh God! Why me?" She screamed on top of her lungs while she was trying to close her eyes, unfortunately, she didn't manage. Poor Sam.

"Did you hear that? Wasn't that Sam?" Danny stopped running and tried to figure out from which direction he heard her screams.

"Aaaaaaaaah!" Echoed again through the forest.

"That was definitely Sam, we have to go there ASAP, till something kills her," Chris instructed and ran towards the place he heard her voice from with the new MBC team in his heels. They saw Cathy and Danny running there as well from a different direction. They all approached her at the same time and formed a circle around her. To their disbelief, the only thing they saw was Sam holding her head and screaming horrendously. There was nothing around her, nothing hurting her, nothing killing her.

"What is going on? How can we help her when there is nothing harming her?" Asked Danny.

"Didn't you say that she went bonkers or something? Maybe she is just hallucinating." John suggested to Chris.

"Well, she jumped out of the window, so I don't know what to think exactly. But we have to do something, that is for sure."

"That had to be a nasty fall, look at her ankle. Maybe she is just moaning in pain." Cathy pointed to Sam's leg.

"Can you find out what is going on in her head?" Danny turned to Calum hopefully.

"I am not Elton, I can't read minds, I can just insert thoughts to other's heads." Cal was clearly unsettled and moved by what was going on. "Why doesn't Chris approach her and try to comfort her, he's her husband after all."

Everyone's sight was on Chris after that statement. He smirked, took a deep breath and went closer to his wife. "Samii? What is going on? You don't have to be afraid," he said calmly while he was reaching for her hand. All of sudden, Sam punched him in the nose with all the strength she had. Chris fell on the ground, unable to say a thing. His nose started to bleed and the blood was dripping on his grey T-shirt. Everyone was stunned by this, Alexa's and John's jaws dropped, Cal took a step away and Cathy covered her mouth in disbelief.

Danny was watching Chris growling because of the pain. He knew exactly what it feels like because Sam punched him in the nose the day they met on the schoolyard when they were 8. It was quite a funny story, nevertheless, this wasn't the proper time to reminiscence over that. Sam crawled on already defeated Chris who was on the ground and carried on punching him. Danny intervened by trying to tuck Sam to the ground.

The rest was watching Chris rolling and Danny fighting with Sam - it was quite entertaining to spectate. Sam's and Danny's strength levels were probably the same. One thing's for sure - they were about to end up with a lot of bruises and scratches, Sam's dress will no longer be white and Chris' nose will be broken.

"Do something! Try to insert a thought of giving up into Sam's head!" Cathy raised voice on her cousin, who was covering his eyes in horror. She wanted to end this nonsense and to provide some medical help to the three "fighters".

Cal opened his eyes unwillingly and tried to concentrate on the *Sam, stop it* thought. Nothing had changed. Danny and Sam were still struggling, Chris was trying to crawl away from them in the meantime.

"Try something else. Maybe she is sleepwalking, try to wake her up." Suggested John.

*Wake up Sam! Wake up, it's just a bad dream!* WAKE UP!

...

In the bedroom

*Wake up Sam! Wake up, it's just a bad dream!* WAKE UP!

"Aaaaah!" Sam screamed for the last time and finally woke up from her bad dream. She tried to stand up yet failed and just sat instead. She took a look around and this time, to her relief, was in her bedroom with no spiders around. Danny and Chris were both sitting by her side on the bed. Alexa and John were standing by the door, Cathy was sitting on a chair and was clearly worried. Cal was standing by the bed and gazing into Sam's eyes.

"It worked. A-Are you okay? Are you awake?" He asked her.

"I think so.," she was curious about something. "How did you manage to get me here? The last thing I can remember was that fight in the forest."

Everyone exchanged a look. "What are you talking about? You were in your bed the whole time. You fell asleep then started moving while sleeping and screaming, so I called the rest to help me wake you up. I didn't want to underestimate anything." Chris explained to her.

Sam was in denial. "No. I jumped out of the window, messed my ankle, ran to a forest, then a spider attacked me, you came, we had a fight and then I woke up."

"That was just a wild dream. Luckily. Imagine how would your ankle looks like if you had jumped out of the window." Said Danny casually. Then he checked Sam's ankles to prove his point and realized that there is, in fact, something wrong with her ankle. "Crap. It's swollen."

"That does look sprained indeed. Don't worry though, you will still be able to cheer - if you walk it out and numb the pain." John examined the situation. He was taking additional Biology classes as he was fascinated by anatomy and in contrast to his older brother's dream career path (computer engineer), he wanted to become a doctor one day.

Cathy stood up slowly. "Who had a fight exactly?"

"Danny was struggling to tuck me to the ground, we basically rolled on the grass and tried to take control of each other." As Sam finished her sentence, she examined her body to know, what else had happened to her, physically. At that time, everyone got chills sent down their spine. Danny and Sam had grass stains on their clothes and the struggle they "had" was visible - both of them had bruises and scratches. They looked bet up overall.

Danny turned to face Sam. "But why?"

Sam was terrified to say it out loud nor face Chris. If her theory's right, Chris has a broken nose and it's her fault.

"I...I am so sorry...I didn't want to, I don't know why I did it. I think I broke Chris's nose in that dream." She whispered.

Everyone's sight was suddenly on Chris's nose. The blood started dripping on his grey shirt. As the pain was kicking in, he was struggling to breathe through his nose.

Calum sent Cathy a thought: *Do you think it was an impactful nightmare? If yes, you are all doomed.*

Cathy just said "Oh no." out loud.

"What is wrong with my nose? How did this happen?" Muffled Chris.

"Cal thinks that Sam just experienced an impactful nightmare. The term is pretty self-explanatory, but if you want me to explain, I will."

Alexa was confused and terrified. "If I am getting this right, you are basically saying whatever happens in her dream will have physical consequences in real life?"

Cathy nodded sadly. "If we don't find a way to either stop it or fight against it, this could be the end of the road... The consequences could be fatal. Consider the fact aliens want to kill one of us and this is an easy way to do it, they can kill us without being near us. If they already have access to our minds, I am afraid we won't last long."

"What are we going to do then?" Asked Danny the rest, as he was trying to come up with a plan himself.

"I don't think Sam is capable of killing someone in her dream. I mean, there is a long way from causing a sprained ankle and breaking a nose to a murder. The aliens obviously chose one of you who has the strongest will. The more terrified and stressed she will be, the worse the consequences will be." Said the blonde boy.

"Is there anything I can do to prevent it?" Asked Sam hopefully while she was massaging her ankle.

"Yes... Don't sleep." Delivered Calum baldly.

"The human body can go 10 days without sleeping, but that's the record. I am afraid there is no way Sam could go without sleeping for more than 2 nights though." Said Chris to remind others that this plan won't work.

Cathy had a plan for this night in particular at least. "Cal and I will go home and try to find out more about impactive nightmares from our grandpa. Danny, Chris, don't let Sam fall asleep tonight. Can I count on you?"

Boys exchanged a look and nodded with hesitation. They were still processing, what had just happened. Chris was holding his nose thinking about ways to ease the pain. Danny was thinking about ways of distracting Sam and preventing her from falling asleep and thus possibly hurting someone.

John and Alexa muttered that there is nothing they can do at this point and went home. Cathy and Cal left as well, leaving the three childhood friends alone.

The Smith's were walking home silently. Cathy couldn't stop thinking about her pregnancy and that she (and her baby) could be possibly dead over the course of a month. Cal sensed she's not feeling herself and asked her how he could help.

Cathy stopped. "You know what? I will tell you the whole truth. I want to tell grandpa tonight as well and hopefully, you will be my moral support. It's not just that I am afraid of dying. I am pregnant with Danny and nobody knows. Apart from Chris."

Cal was shocked but wanted to be as compassionate as possible, as this was a very hard time for Cathy. "Why did you tell Chris instead of telling Danny, who is the father and Sam, who is a human female and possibly knows more about pregnancies than a boy does?"

"I tried to tell Danny tonight, but we were interrupted by the call from Chris. Sam mustn't know about it. Not now at least. Can you imagine what would her reaction be like? I am not in the mood for her -I know it all- attitude." Cathy took a deep breath. "Either way, I want to tell grandpa. Before I die. I don't want to leave this world without him knowing it. He is the only person who has been always nothing but supportive of me. And I want to be nothing but honest with him in return. I also seek support and acceptance at this unfortunate time. So, are you with me?"

Cal didn't have to say the answer. He just sent *You can count on me, I will support you no matter what* to Cathy's head. She smiled as a sign of her gratitude. They continued on walking, preparing themselves for an uneasy conversation ahead of them.

Back in the bedroom

Sam was trying to walk with her injury. She was told that not moving is the worst thing she could possibly do, so she wandered around her room through the sharp pain. Danny was telling broken-nose-related advice to Chris, as he knew what to do about it.

"Do you remember the day we met? Sam broke my nose, so I can imagine the pain and struggle to breathe you are experiencing now."

Sam smiled because of that reference. Of course, she remembered that day well.

"Yes, but when Sam broke your nose, she was 8, not 18. Try to consider that factor as well. She is way more strong now." Chris tried to clarify the situation.

"Technically, she didn't do anything. This is just a thought of it, which is quite scary. I am glad I have just a few bruises."

"And grass stains. I should probably throw our clothes into a washing machine so they won't stay there forever. Take off your T-shirts." Sam instructed, she knew that the grass (and also blood) stains should be washed while they are still fresh.

The boys took off their T-shirts without making a fuss about it and handed them to Sam. "Your knees are dirty from rolling on the ground."

"Are you gonna wash our jeans as well?" Said Danny with slight naughtiness in his voice.

"If you want to ever wear them again, I should. Otherwise, it won't be possible to remove the stains." Sam defended herself.

They didn't think twice, took their jeans off and Sam grabbed them. She went to a bathroom and threw the clothes in the washing machine. She added her not-so-white-anymore dress too.

She returned to her room wearing underwear only. Chris and Danny stared at her. All three of them were just in underwear, during the night, in one room. And they knew that sleeping isn't in order. It was a bit awkward for them at first. They all had this thought: "We are just good childhood friends and underwear it still acceptable, nothing sexual is going on."

Sam sat on the bed, between the boys. They remained silent for a good minute. Danny then suggested going to shower.

"Like together?" Asked Chris with a giggle.

"That was not my intent at first, but whatever floats your boat. We have to keep Sam awake after all." Sam raised her eyebrows. She wasn't certain if they were serious or joking.

Chris caught hir rift fast and went with it. "That could work. After all, two is a company, three is a ménage!"

"Sharing is caring. And you love and care about her, right?" Danny kept on provoking.

Chris didn't back up. "I am sure she needs a distraction. Plus it will make her forget about her achy ankle."

"Chris, if I had to disappoint two people at once, I'd have dinner with my parents." Danny cracked a joke.

Chris answered with a joke as well. "What do you call a threesome in heaven? A triangel."

It was like a spicy game of tennis as the opponents were passing the ball from one side to another, which caused a (sexual) tension. Sam was just a fairly confused and astonished spectator unsure if she should join them or not.

Was this another dream? Was this just a joke? Was this a mind game they were playing with her to control her? Who was in charge? She was surprised because the suggestions and jokes didn't anger her, as she would've expected. It made her feel... lustful and anticipating. Apparently, she didn't know any threesome related jokes, so she went straight to the point.

"If you both want me, why don't we just fuck each other?" She said quietly.

That statement caught them off their guard. They didn't expect her to say such a thing, but they kinda liked the idea.

"You are playing a game, if you want to score, you have to work for it. But if you want to back up, you still can. The choice is up to you." Whispered Sam seductively.

Danny smirked. "I know what you are doing. You are heckling us! Do you really think we would trap you in between us?"

Sam gazed into Danny's and then her husband's eyes, one by one. "Would you?"

Silence filled the room. Danny wasn't sure if he should play it safe or tell the truth. Chris's nose started to bleed again. He knew that what are they up to wasn't right. On the other hand, some things are so wrong but feel so right.

.

Author's note: I feel like I need to clarify several things to you:

1: This is a T-rated story and thus I can't provide an explicit and detailed narration. However, if you'd be interested in reading about that night in detail, I probably could write it as either a one-shot or a chapter divided lemon. Let me know in the reviews or private messages if you want me to do that.

2: Maybe you are thinking: What the hell is happening in the story? It's probably hard to distinguish what happened and what was just a dream, so I decided to sum it up for you: John wanted to ask Alexa out, but they were interrupted by Chris' call. Cathy wanted to tell Danny she is pregnant, but they were interrupted by a call as well (a phone call was mentioned in the last chapter). Long story short, no one knows anything and the secrets are still secrets. Chris and Sam were in the bedroom the whole time (do you remember the last chapter, as they were laying on the bed next to each other? That's when Sam fell asleep.) Sam's inner vision is divided by ... in the story.

3: The characters are acting strange, out of their typical character. That's part of the story - you didn't think that Sam will be the only one from the Famous Four who will be struggling with her emotions and actions, did you?

4: I know that this is a romance story and one of the main two pairings is obviously Cathy x Danny. At this point, it doesn't look ideal for them, but one of the main topics of the story is finding a way back to each other. As in real life, we have our ups and downs, but in the end, everything is as it's meant to be and it all works out somehow. So please, don't be afraid that I don't ship them anymore and carry on reading.

Thanks for your support. If you enjoy the story (or not) feel free to write a review.

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