AN.: Thank you to whoever faved and followed and took the time to write something for me to smile over. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Awakening

Something felt wrong. In the mist of a dream, a dark figure emerged and grinned at Adam. It was a messenger, a sign… a ghost. Liar.

Adam woke with a start and a slight gasp. His wide eyes stared at the opposite wall, unfocused, trying to get accustomed to his surroundings. He was in his room, Adam realized. He felt deep relief and closed his eyes for a brief moment. He was safe, everything was fine. He didn't wander around last night.

"Adam?" A deep voice brought him back to reality. The voice sounded like a concerned, younger brother, but it felt like a predator's paw, clawing at Adam's lungs. Realizing Adam wasn't alone in his room made him open his eyes in shock and look around until his gaze landed on Hoss and Joe who both kneeled beside his bed and stared at him in anticipation. They had a similar expression of shock on their faces as if they were expecting Adam to get up and jump out of the window at any moment.

Oh. Adam suddenly realized that they knew. He looked at Joe's face and saw him gaping like a fish, speechless for once in a lifetime. His young eyes seemed like they got their innocent gleam back; It reminded Adam of a time when little Joe truly was little Joe and had looked up at him with that same expression, searching for advise, for someone to tell him that everything would be alright in the end. Next, Adam's gaze fell onto Hoss' face; his younger brother wore a worried expression. Adam also saw strong determination glinting in his younger brother's normally gentle eyes. They must have seen him, or even worse: brought him back from one of his moonstruck escapades through nature. Checking his body by slightly moving revealed new painful areas Adam had no recollection of. There was no way out of this now. Instead of finding an excuse, he took a deep breath, turned to face his brothers and looked them deep in the eyes. Their expressions softened after they recognized their strong, older brother in the man sitting before them. Feeling it was a matter of now or never Adam addressed them.

"What do you want to know?" That was the signal both Hoss and Joe had been waiting for and they both started throwing questions at Adam. The chaos continued until Adam rose his hand, signaling for them to quiet down.

"Calm down, please. I can't understand a word you are saying if you both ramble like that at the same time. Hoss, please go first." Hoss took a moment to brace himself before talking.

"We followed you from the house for a short time to investigate why you sneaked out at night until we realized you were actin kinda strange; you kept trippin and hurtin yourself. We ran up to you to stop ya but you was kinda out of it Adam. We was scared for ya." Adam nodded at them. He couldn't help but be curious; He only knew about it in theory but hearing about it from someone was… Breathtaking. His theory was just confirmed.

"How did I look? I mean, how was I acting? Did I react to words, voices? Touch? Did I resist?" Adam's eyes jumped from Hoss' to Joe's face, waiting for an answer, but they just glanced at one another.

"Adam, we've never seen anything like this before, not to mention it being our own brother behaving like that. You have to do a little more explanin' first so we can tune down the panic a bit first." Hoss tried to convince Adam.

"I'm sorry, you are right." Adam slightly turned his battered body towards his nervous brothers to be able to face them correctly while telling his story. "The truth is, it's a… condition. As far as I know, it's not deadly." Joe and Hoss slowly nodded at Adam, a serious expression on their faces. Adam's cheeks turned a slight shade of red. "It's also something that's usually experienced by… children." Hoss looked surprised at that while Joe's face was a picture of both confusion and the try to hold back laughter. Adam took their silence as an indication to continue.

"A month or so ago, I woke up in the middle of nowhere with no recollection of how I got there. I was in my night getup and I had seriously hurt my feet walking a long distance barefoot."

"That's why you wear those shoes to bed!" Joe exclaimed, the penny visibly dropping in his head. Adam fixed Joe with his eyes for a moment to silently tell him to keep it down before he picked his story back up.

"After the next time I walked out of the house in my sleep, I remembered a case from a friend of mine in Boston; A small boy who displayed the same symptoms as I do. He died because he fell down the stairs while being asleep." Adam made a small pause to let all the information sink in. "I realized that I was in danger as well, that's why I first locked myself in my room, and then after I realized Joe found out-" He glanced at his youngest brother. "-I tried to tie myself up before going to bed."

"But what is this sickness? Why do you go out while being asleep?! It can't just happen, can it? It's not normal, there should at least be a reason!" Joe blurted out, working himself up while doing so. Adam pressed a finger to his lips reminding him that their father was probably still asleep next door.

"As you saw, it's like being in trance. It's like sleeping but instead of lying in bed, I take a walk. Dr. Robertson, said friend of mine in Boston, believed that the moon is the reason for people leaving their beds while still being asleep." At that, Hoss chimed in.

"You mean, the moon tells you to take a walkin?" He had a frown on his face, being upset with the situation.

"I wouldn't say it like that… Besides, those are old beliefs, this phenomenon still couldn't be explained. I think it's just human's nature and instinct to seek out light in the darkness and follow it and not some kind of moonstruck state." Saying that word out loud felt weird to Adam. Unfortunately, Joe picked up on it.

"Moonstruck… You know, Adam, you looked like you were in trance last night." He looked concerned at his older brother, not daring to take his eyes off of him.

"You two don't need to worry about me. It's not something we can do anything about. There is no cure… But there are reported cases of the illness disappearing on its own." Hoss and Joe looked slightly relieved about that announcement, but the uneasiness stayed with them.

"What should we do about this then? Should we tell Pa?" Joe asked his older brothers. Adam spoke first.

"The reason why I kept it a secret was because I wanted to avoid Pa being worried and to avoid rumors in town and on the ranch. You know how people think about me after the trial… What do you think will happen as soon as they think I'm some kind of lunatic that gets coaxed out of bed by the moon? They will question my sanity! And the worst case would be that a murderer could be set free. So, I kept quiet about it. I hoped for the illness to disappear before anyone found out in the first place." Adam finished, took another heavy breath and looked at his brothers to wait for their reaction. They looked doubtful and worried. Adam feared that they might go behind his back and tell Pa anyways. He needed to keep them quiet. Knowing his brothers, there was only one way to achieve that.

"But you know, now that you two know about it I kind of feel relieved. It was such a burden to keep this a secret and I couldn't deal with this all on my own." At that, Joe and Hoss pricked their ears. Adam allowed himself to form a little smile of satisfaction on his lips but hid it quickly. Instead, he put on a tortured expression for Joe and Hoss to see.

"I couldn't properly keep myself from walking out of the house at night and I kept injuring myself. Once, I woke up standing near the bone-crusher ledge." Little Joe escaped a small gasp as the unspoken tale of Adam falling to his death while being asleep and in trance played out in his imaginative mind. Hoss looked like he understood as well, the concern written all over his face.

"But now, I can rely on you that you'll help me!" Adam concluded. He could see how his brothers' expressions changed from confusion, to understanding, to pride. That was what Adam counted on. He was usually so reserved, never asking for help that it was impossible to turn it down once he actually did. Adam was still their older brother and in many ways, their role model. They respected and loved him but even though he was their brother, they weren't immune to the air of authority around him. So, Adam asking them for help, showing that he was relying on them, made them feel proud and honored. Hoss' smile faltered as he realized that they couldn't disappoint their brother now. They needed to keep it as secret… Together.

"So, we are in this together now?" Hoss voiced his thoughts out loud. Adam fixed his brother with a serious expression as he nodded in agreement.

"Every night, every time I fall asleep, I could start to sleepwalk again, risking injuring myself or being found by someone other than you two. We need to prevent that from happening." Adam said.

"We could tie you up before you go to bed, you know… make it a stronger bond, more difficult to slip out of." Hoss suggests first.

"I could keep my door open a bit. If you happen to leave your bed, I might be able to hear you and prevent you from leaving." Joe suggests cautiously, his face lighting up as soon as Adam gave him a nod and a little smile of approval. The plan was made; The goal was to keep Adam's secret and to prevent him from hurting himself. They stood, shared one last brotherly look at each other and split up to get ready for breakfast and for facing their father.

AN.: I hope the characters are not too OOC... Next chapter will be a bit more lighthearted and about how the whole 'keeping it a secret' is going to play out. Thank you for reading. Makes me really happy :)