Disclaimer – Own nothing. So this chapter's a little more of a filler chapter, so there's not as much excitement, but there is plenty of Hal and family moments, as well as Halgie. And like I promised, there is no cliffhanger.

Chapter 12

Unsteady

Hal stood in front of his baby brother. His shaking hand holding the gun right at Matt's head. Tears were falling from his eyes, he was fighting, begging the bug to stop, but he didn't and his finger pulled the trigger.

Hal shot up with a scream. He wasn't in that room, he wasn't being controlled, Matt was no where in sight and there was no gun in his hand. He looked around, remembering that he wasn't even in the makeshift infirmary anymore, he was lying on the couch in the back of the med bus that they had gotten a hold of while they were in Chinatown.

The morning after Hal had woken up, Tom and Weaver had decided to go ahead with moving out to Washington, and Hal was told about being put on bed-rest. He wasn't happy about it, but since he knew how freaked out his family was, he agreed, as long when he was in the med bus, he could stay on the couch which was much more comfortable than the gurneys.

"Hal?" Hal looked up and saw Maggie, coming over to him, concern covered her face. She had heard him scream.

"More nightmares?" Maggie asked, sitting down beside him and gently pushed Hal back down on the couch. Hal nodded, letting his head relax on the pillow.

"What was it about?" Maggie asked, leaning over him slightly.

"Nothing." Hal said and closed his eyes.

"We've been here before Hal. You know you can tell me." Hal knew they've been here before, but that was exactly why he wouldn't, couldn't tell her.

"Hal, I can't help you if you won't tell me what's going on." Maggie told him. Hal opened his eyes and looked at her.

"I know you want to help, but right now, I don't think you can." Hal said. Maggie pursed her lips. It was clear she wanted to argue, but knew she couldn't force him to tell her. She would have to wait until he was ready.

"Just, remember you can tell me anything." Maggie reminded him. Hal nodded, but didn't say anything. Maggie bent down pressed her lips against his in a small kiss which he returned.

"Get a room." They broke apart upon hearing Matt's slight disgust and amusement. They looked back and saw him, standing in the middle of the bus watching them.

"Wait, are we there already?" Hal asked, just noticing that the bus wasn't moving anymore.

"No, we're just stopping to fuel up. Get some more rest okay?" Maggie said, giving Hal another quick kiss before standing up and headed off the bus leaving Matt and Hal alone. Hal sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the couch.

"Come here buddy." Matt complied with Hal's request and sat down beside him. Hal threw his arm around his shoulders, holding him close.

"What's up?" Hal questioned, as Matt hadn't said anything since Maggie left.

"Nothing, just wanted to make sure you were okay." Matt replied. Hal smiled and pulled Matt a little closer to him.

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere."

"Good, because if you do, I'm disowning you as my brother." Hal's eyebrows shot up at that. He pulled back a little to look at Matt. His brother's face was completely serious, while his eyes held a little bit of worry.

"Well, then you know I am most definitely not going anywhere." Hal told him. They both looked at each other and laughed.

"Did I miss something?" Anne asked, coming into the bus. Hal and Matt stopped and looked over at her.

"No, not really." Matt answered.

"Okay. Well, we're going to start moving again soon, alright?" Anne told them, then left the bus.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

When Tom called for a stop to refuel, he was planning on making a beeline for the med bus to check on Hal, but had seen that Maggie had beaten him to it. He knew that Hal wouldn't want everyone worrying over him and smothering him, so he decided he'd go and see him right before they left.

He was out helping some of the 2nd Mass with fueling the cars when Maggie came over to him.

"Hey, is he doing okay?" Tom asked, handing the gas can over to Anthony, and walked over to meet her.

"Says he is." Maggie muttered under her breath, looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

"So that's a no." Tom deduced.

"I walked in there to him screaming himself awake. Whatever he now remembers, it's bad." Maggie said after seeing that no one else was around.

"I'll go check on him." Tom ended the conversation and headed over to the med bus.

As Tom stepped onto the bus, he passed Anne who was leaving, saying that she was going to get some more water for the rest of the trip. As she left, Tom saw Hal and Matt sitting on the couch beside each other, talking. Tom was about to leave, not wanting to interrupt them, when Hal noticed him.

"Hey Dad. What's up?" Tom turned around to see Hal and Matt watching him.

"Nothing much. Hey Matt, we're getting ready to move out." Tom told his youngest. Matt nodded, and after giving Hal a brief hug, he stood up and left the bus.

"Is something wrong?" Hal questioned, knowing there was a reason his Dad had gotten Matt off the bus.

"You mean, besides what's going on with you? Yeah, everything's fine." Tom answered, coming over to sit in one of the chairs in the back by Hal.

"Hal, you know, you still haven't said anything really about what happened," Tom started, and Hal looked away, now realizing where the conversation was headed and his Dad went on, "and all that I know, is what Anne told me. I'm not saying you need to tell me everything right now, but know, that it's okay to open up. You've been standing on your own for too long, it's okay to need help every now and then."

Hal didn't say anything, nor did he turn to look at his Dad. He kept his gaze firmly ahead. Tom didn't say anything else. He simply put his arm around his son, and pressed his lips against Hal's temple.

"Try to get some more rest, okay?" Tom suggested and stood up. It was when he was about halfway across the bus when Hal spoke.

"Dad?" Tom looked back, not expecting for Hal to speak up. Hal opened his mouth, then closed it, unsure of what to say. It took a few minutes for Hal to finally say what he had been wanting to say.

"I'm not. I, I'm not ready yet. But when I am," Hal started, but Tom was already walking back towards his son, and knelt down in front of him.

"I'll be right here. I promise." Tom answered the unspoken question and lifted his hand to cradle Hal's face. Hal nodded, and Tom pulled him into his embrace.

Tom only pulled away when he heard Weaver call out the five-minute warning. They were getting ready to move again.

"I'll see you soon. Try to get some rest." Tom said, pressing another kiss on Hal's head, then walked off the bus to his own vehicle.

Hal laid back down as Anne got into the driver's seat. Soon they were heading out, but Hal didn't fall asleep. He knew he would have more dreams, more memories revisit him. He couldn't handle anymore of that. So Hal stayed awake, staring at nothing, feeling the moving wheels and the bumps under him, and the memories of a past life running through his mind that he could no longer distract himself from.

AN – See, no cliffhanger. You know, I was thinking I'd put one in, cause I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go with this chapter, but I had told you guys no cliffhanger this chapter and I thought I should stick to that. Next chapter though, oh you guys are going to want a pillow, to squeeze and to scream into because that is going to be such a big cliffhanger. See you soon.