Chapter 4: Thinking Pain

I keep forgetting to do this, but here's my disclaimer: I do own the rights or these characters of Kingdom Hearts. This fic is purely for fun because trust me, I if I owned Kingdom Hearts, Kairi would've died in the first game.

Day 1 decided to start at 3:38 in the morning, when Cloud and Leon were both pulled out of their slumber by Nathan screaming. They ran into the room to see if he was hurt and from his tossing and turning, it was very clear that he was having a nightmare. He was sweating again, and Cloud tried to remove his shirt but Nathan was struggling too much.

"Nathan! Nathan! Nathan, wake up!" Cloud called, shaking him, trying to wake him up.

"No!" Nathan shouted in his sleep, "No, please! I didn't mean it! I'll behave, I'll behave I swear just don't! Please!"

"Nathan, wake up!" Cloud yelled.

"Stop it! It hurts!" Nathan cowered.

"Nathan!" Leon and Cloud both yelled.

Nathan bolted upright in a startled wake, almost headbutting Cloud is Cloud had not moved out of the way. He was gasping as if he couldn't get enough air in, and he jumped in fright when Cloud put a hand on his shoulder.

"No!"

"It's okay, it's okay! It's just us. It's Cloud and Leon. Remember? You're okay," Cloud said reassuringly. Nathan was calming down after recognizing who he was with, and Cloud was pretty sure the situation had dissolved when Nathan's face twisted up in pain and he groaned in pain, falling back into the mattress.

"Nathan, what's wrong?" Cloud asked, looking at Leon in complete puzzlement. Nathan wouldn't answer him, and he started sweating again as he arched his back and curled his fists into the sheets.

"Ah!" Nathan cried. Cloud was shaking his shoulders, trying to snap him out of it.

"Did he not wake up?" Leon asked, coming closer.

"Nathan, what's going on?!" Cloud asked, patting the boy's cheek, trying to bring him back.

"He's...ah-he's here!" Nathan cried in anguish.

"No, he's not, Nathan. He's not here," Leon said.

"He-is! I-I can...f-feel him!" Nathan said, tossing his legs, "I can feel him...inside me!"

"What?" Cloud asked.

"It's the nightmare" Leon concluded, "He's still reeling from the nightmare."

"Nathan, Nathan, listen to me" Cloud said, trying to calm him, "He's not here, he's not here. You're in our house. You're not in pain. It's not real. Come back to reality. He's not here."

Leon was going to join in and help his husband, but he was still trying to figure out why Nathan had acted like that. Kids are always a little shaken up after a nightmare, but what Nathan was doing on another level of confusion. Why did he think the guy was here?

After what seemed like forever, Nathan's breathing gradually began to slow down. He gave few more short intakes of breath before breathing out slowly. Finally, he opened his eyes, and looked at Cloud.

"Are you okay?" Cloud asked.

"I'm sorry. I woke you, didn't I?" Nathan asked immediately, and he looked terrified that he did.

"No-well, I mean you did, but that's not important. Are you okay?" Cloud asked again, clear concern written all over his face. Nathan only nodded, frowning.

"What was that?" Leon asked.

"I had a nightmare," Nathan responded, a little as if that was obvious.

"I mean afterwards" Leon corrected, "What happened there?"

"Are you able to go back to sleep?" Cloud asked, cutting Leon off.

"Um...yes," Nathan decided. Cloud squeezed his shoulder and smiled.

"Alright, then get some sleep," Cloud said, getting up off the bed. Nathan resettled himself back into the covers as Cloud led Leon out the room. When they got back to their room, Leon looked at his husband in confusion.

"Why did you-"

"I think it's best" Cloud said, "That we should wait until the morning to discuss his...night terror. That wasn't an ordinary thing and we both know it. But he needed to get back to sleep, he looked exhausted and so do we."

"Why do I feel like you just don't feel like learning anymore horrible news for the night?" Leon chuckled before settling into bed next to his husband.

"Do you?" Cloud asked. Leon snuggled into his pillow as his answer and Cloud smiled before turning off the light and going to sleep.

The next morning when they woke up and went to check in on Nathan, Cloud and Leon were both relieved to find him sitting up in bed and drinking a water bottle.

"How are you feeling, Nathan?" Cloud asked.

"Better...thank you," Nathan said.

"You hungry?" Cloud asked and he nodded slowly, as if afraid to answer.

"I'm going to cook some bacon and eggs, can you eat that?" Leon asked. Nathan nodded again. He's had those foods only twice in his life as he could remember and that wasn't even from the man, it was one of his clients. He made a motion to get out of bed and Cloud stopped him.

"Oh, no, no, that's okay. You can stay up here and watch TV while you wait," Cloud suggested before he and Leon disappeared back into their room. They washed and dressed before Leon made his way downstairs to begin making breakfast. Cloud was making the bed when he heard a bump and a groan. He walked into the hallway and found Nathan at the top of the steps, rubbing his legs from exhaustion.

"Nathan! What are you-"

"I'm sorry" Nathan said quickly, "But I didn't want to be confined to the bed. You didn't give me a chance to say it earlier."

Cloud automatically remembered what Nathan had said last night about being confined and he could've shot himself in the foot for his stupidity.

"Fair enough. I forgot. Let me help you down," Cloud said. He helped hoist Nathan up off the floor and together, they slowly descended the stairs.

"Are your legs still not feeling right?" Cloud asked as they made it into the kitchen.

"It's a little bit more bearable, but I still can't completely walk" Nathan admitted sadly. Then he sniffed the air as Cloud sat him down, "It smells really good in here."

Leon chuckled, "That's my home cooking you're smelling. It's almost done."

Cloud walked to the refrigerator and took out a gallon of water and pour Nathan a glass before setting it down in front of him, which he could've sworn he saw Nathan give a tiny smile of thanks for. He helped Leon make the three plates, and then they all sat down to eat. When Cloud noticed Nathan wasn't touching his food, he nudged Leon and they both paused.

"You okay?" Cloud asked. Nathan sighed heavily.

"I... I feel like I... owe you an explanation for last night," Nathan said solemnly. Leon looked over to Cloud, basically telling him to brace himself for whatever the hell was about come out of Nathan's mouth.

"You don't owe us anything, Nathan-"

"No, I d-do" Nathan pushed, "Because it's going to happen again... and again and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Why do you say that? Nathan, it's only a few nightmares, there's nothing to-"

"I'm not t-talking about the nightmare. It's afterwards," Nathan said more sternly.

"What happened afterwards... it's going to happen again?" Cloud asked, looking at Leon with complete worry.

"It's... not something I can control" Nathan started, "About two years ago, I think, he came back to the house one night with someone with him and after they... finished with me, he told me to sit up and stare at the guy he had brought with him. The guy took out this... thing out of his briefcase and my mas-he told me to stare at it and if I looked away then I would be punished."

Cloud and Leon couldn't believe what they were listening to. The fact that he has to explain what happened to him last night was shocking to them. Especially after he said it's going to happen again. Nathan took a hard break before continuing.

"About halfway through, I start getting really, really sleepy and it was only then that I realized that he was hypnotizing me, but I couldn't figure out why he would do that. Just before I lost consciousness, the guy who I was living with, he... sat me on his... on his cock and I-I was already bruised from earlier so it hurt more than usual and I couldn't black out. He forced me to look back at the device the man had in his hand and he told me that I would always remember... the pain of my ma-his cock...even in my sleep. I blacked out after that."

"And...this is why what happened to you last night-" Leon started, trying to put the pieces together. Nathan nodded, finishing his statement.

"It's been happening every time now when I have a nightmare. I wake up and even though I'm physically fine, for the time being, it still feels like it hurts. I can still...feel him inside me. And I can't control it," Nathan choked, sniffling as two huge tears fell from his eyes as he looked down and away from the table. Cloud immediately got up from the table and went over and hugged him, purely out of parental instinct. Leon just sat there, replaying in his head what he just heard. Hypnotized to feel pain even in his sleep? Was he ever relieved from the pain?

Leon looked across the table as Nathan was now full-blown sobbing and clutching Cloud for dear life. Cloud's face looked broken, and Leon leaned back in his chair as it only became more and more clear about what type of case they were taking on here. This was definitely not what they were used to, and they went through over 30 kids in their house to get them back on the right track. But this... this was something else.

Nathan ended up not having the strength to eat his breakfast, and he just drank the water Cloud had provided for him. They helped him into the living room, where he actually fell asleep on the couch from exhaustion. And both Cloud and Leon both prayed that he wouldn't have a nightmare.

"Cloud, what are we going to do?" Leon asked, "This kid is-"

"Is pained, abused, and emotionally broken" Cloud said, "I know. But Leon we can't abandon him."

"I wasn't suggesting that" Leon said, taking Cloud's hand, "We don't abandon our cases, we would never be able to forgive ourselves. I was going to say that the kid just needs a little more help than we're used to providing. But I think he can make it. It's just going to be a long time, especially when he's still afraid that this man is coming for him. We will work with him, at his pace. We can't push him like the scared straight kids we did before."

"It's only Day 1," Cloud laughed. Nathan gruntled against Cloud's arm and both froze for a moment until he settled back into a peaceful slumber. Cloud brushed his hair out of his face as Leon turned on the TV, more determined than ever to see this case through.

I realize this chapter is rather short, but I didn't want to make it too long with another scene because I'm just gonna put it in the next chapter. Have no worries, the BBS kids are coming back and so are Demyx, Axel, and Roxas , I just had to include this before I forgot about it. I told you guys this story was on my mind for a long time so it's getting all the way out. Next chapter is the boys, supposedly two weeks after they brought Nathan (Sora) to Leon and Cloud, and Nathan has a realization. You guys are probably tired of Sora being called Nathan in this story. Anyways, R and R! Poof!