A/N: My apologies for the delay. I wanted to finish my other fic first. The last few chapter were happy, but Lizzie and Red still have a long way to go and it will be quite a bumpy ride. And it starts now. But despite the angst, keep the faith because I will always want a happy end for these two. A short chapter, but I promise you won't have to wait too long for a update. I hope you enjoy and reviews are always great appreciated.

Chapter twenty-four

He wasn't really sure what exactly had woken him up. There was restless movement next to him and he heard different sounds. He opened his eyes and realised it was Lizzie who was making the movements and sounds. Looking past her he saw Jethro was sitting next to the bed, his head on the matrass looking intently at his boss. Her movements and sounds apparently had woken the dog up too. Before he had the chance to calm her down her movements got wilder, her head turning from left to right and back again. Her soft whimpers turned into muttered words. At first he could only make out the word no. She said it a couple of times, each time getting louder.

Standing up on all four, Jethro was now getting restless. He tried to wake Lizzie up by nudging his nose against her arm. He walked over to the other side of the bed, indicating to Red that he wanted help. Red patted the dog on his head. "She'll be fine, Jethro." This seemed to ease the dog's mind who sat down and waited.

Red turned back to Lizzie, who was now trashing around on the bed, her legs and arms moving around. He moved closer but he had to be careful not to get hit, however that didn't go as planned.

"Raymond! No!" She screamed, sitting bolt up right on her bed, hitting his shoulder with her head.

He felt her piercing scream go straight through him and it caused his heart to beat wildly in his chest. It was the first time she'd called him by his given name, but this was never how he imagined it to be, never in this distress. He quickly grabbed her by the shoulders, guessing that was enough to wake her up.

"Don't leave me." She tried to struggle free from his grip. The tears were running down her cheeks. "I promise I won't disappoint you. I promise I'll be good." She whimpered.

His heart broke when he heard her pleas. His emotions were all over the place, but he had to push it all aside. He needed to focus on her. He put his arms around her, pulling her against his body. "Lizzie." He said trying to wake her up. When that didn't work, he tried again, this time louder, shaking her lightly. "Lizzie!"

Jethro had walked back to Lizzie's side of the bed and was now howling lightly. He couldn't reach her because she was now in the middle of the bed. Jethro put his front feet on the bed and inched closer until he could reach Lizzie again with his nose.

"Elizabeth!" Red tried again to wake her from her nightmare, this time finally succeeding.

Waking up Lizzie felt restrained. She immediately tried to free herself. She felt disoriented, scared and her emotions were all over the place. She always felt like that waking from a nightmare, but the restrained feeling was new. She tried to free herself again.

"Stop, Lizzie." Red said as she tried to push him away.

"Red?" She remembered going to sleep lying in his arms. She wiped away her tears, immediately feelings ashamed. "I'm sorry." She apologized. She always dealt with the aftermath of her nightmares alone. She'd foolishly thought her nightmare wouldn't occur when he was with her. She should have never asked him to stay. She felt Jethro pushing against her arm. She pushed away from Red with a force that probably surprised both of them. She turned to Jethro, hugging him against her. Just like every other night, Jethro comforted her.

"Lizzie?" Red asked. His voice cracked. Though he promised himself to keep his emotions at bay, it was difficult for him. Especially now when he watched her retreat. He would let her, knowing he needed time as well as she did.

She left the room without saying a word, leaving him behind in the dark in her bed. Jethro of course followed her. In her living room she walked to her couch and let herself fall on it. She remembered her nightmare, she always did. It was always about Red leaving her. Though the scenario was never the same, it always came down to him leaving her and her begging him not to go. This time a case had gone terribly wrong because she'd blown their cover. Her failure caused Dembe's death. This made Red yell at her, telling her she was not a good agent, that she was useless, that he was better off without her. After that he'd left her alone. The tears were rolling down her face again.

He sat down on the edge of her bed, his elbows on his knees and head in his hands. He felt disgusted with himself. This is what his disappearance had done to her. This is what he did to her. The urge to leave was big and it took everything he had not to give in to it. He promised her he wouldn't leave and so he wouldn't. He took a few deep breaths, hoping it would calm him down, but it didn't. He wanted to punch something or someone, wanted to destroy something. He couldn't. It hurt him also that she pushed him away so easily. He'd hoped that she would seek comfort in him, seek out his closeness like she'd done so the entire day. Yet at the moment he thought she would need him most, she didn't want him. She'd walked away from him. He knew it was because of the nightmare, that didn't make it hurt any less though. He sighed and crawled back into the bed. He wasn't going to go to her nor was he going to leave. There was nothing else to do then to wait, hoping she would come back to bed. He listened carefully for any sounds, but didn't hear any. He wondered what she was doing. Was she crying? Was she angry with him? Was she going to grab a drink? That last thought almost made him get up and check on her, but he couldn't. He was ashamed to go to her simply because he was a big failure. He'd failed the most important person in his life even if he thought it was for the best. He didn't deserve her. He really didn't. Maybe it was best he did leave.

TBC...