Disclaimer: Not mine, yada yada.

Since I couldn't respond to all the lovely reviews I've gotten, I'll do it here.

SLITH - Lol, I'd probably not even turn the water off. But then again, Emily is not me, and I can't go describe myself in a person who is supposed to be someone else.
I know I just postponing the big story moment. I just don't know yet how I will do it - I don't see JJ as the type who initially tells, rather that she lets something slip or someone else finds out.

This chapter has taken me longest to write, and I am still not satisfied with it - There are some parts I like, but mostly I think it's crap. I'll take some time off now and use it to re-read my story: that ought to get me back into the groove.
The next chapter will probably take me a lot longer though, because I planned things out until chapter 6 and after that I just have some loose ideas. However, if things go the way I planned them now, a HG character will be involved! Yay! And no, I'm not saying who.

Oh, and btw - any spelling mistakes... I am not English, and I am having a holiday right now. Though I use English for about 80 of the time I spend on the internet, it's not perfect and it'll probably never be. So. Just so you know.

Now, on to the story - finally!

Still sitting comfortably in the chair, Emily slowly drifted away to sleep.

Her dreams were confusing: she was high up in the air, flying, it seemed, and when she looked down she saw a man chasing a dark figure. He came closer to the figure, and then he reached it, pushing it down. Then he looked up and laughed menacingly, and Emily could see the man's face. It was an eagle's head, with a large beak and greedy eyes.

The eagleman took off, she flew with him and they landed in a field full of flowers. Suddenly, he was gone and Emily's parents appeared: they were dancing and singing and Emily joined them. She felt so light: carefree and happy, as if nothing could ever go wrong again…

Then her parents fell and disappeared from sights. Emily ran towards the place where her parents had just been and saw a huge hole, and before she could help it she was falling, too…

She landed in a ghost town: she recognized it from a place she and her team had driven through, on their way to a case. It was desolate, yet light: Emily closed her eyes to block out the bright sun. She looked around to see if anyone else was there, when…

JJ screamed in fear. Emily woke up immediately and saw JJ entangled in her blankets, moving her arms and legs so that she only got more caught. Emily hurried over to her side and carefully touched JJ's forehead.

"JJ, it's Emily. Shh, you're having a nightmare, it's okay now, I'm here." She sat down on the bed and grabbed JJ's hand, but JJ released herself forcefully.

"NO! Don't touch me! Don't touch me ever again!"

"JJ, you're having a nightmare, but it's okay, you're safe here…"

"Peter, Sophie, help! Don't send me back!"

"Nobody is sending you anywhere, JJ! Wake up!" JJ was scaring Emily, who had never seen her in such a state. Her hair was sticking up and she was sweating, but she appeared to still be asleep – she had her eyes closed and her eye balls were moving rapidly under her eyelids.

"No, you promised… Jess… How could you do this?"

Emily shook JJ's shoulders. "JJ! Come on honey, wake up!"

"I'm sorry…" JJ whispered, and Emily was taken aback by the sudden change of emotion. "I couldn't… I can't anymore…" Tears were streaking down her face now, and Emily knew she'd have to wake up very soon, or very bad things were going to happen.

She shook JJ's shoulders again. "JJ, wake up, it's only a dream!"

JJ made a sudden movement and hit Emily on her cheek. She yelped in pain and JJ finally woke up, looking around in bewilderment. "… Emily?"

"Yes," Emily said, rubbing the place where JJ had hit her. "Next time, can you wake up without hitting anyone?"

"What?" JJ asked foggily, and Emily felt sorry for her. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"You had a nightmare, I tried to wake you up and you hit me," Emily explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry," JJ apologized rather vaguely, as she moved her hand up to her face to wipe away the tears. "I was just dreaming about Hankel and then he changed into Charles and he tried to…" She looked away and blinked.

"JJ." Emily tried to talk simply to calm JJ down: despite her calmer behaviour, Emily had seen the fear and pain in JJ's eyes before she had turned away.

"Hmm?" JJ replied, still looking out of the dark window.

"JJ, look at me."

JJ turned around slowly until the faced Emily, who saw that in those few moments JJ had managed to control herself again: her eyes were emotionless, if a bit tired, and she was on her guard again.

Emily mentally drew a deep breath. "Listen, I know something has happened. And I know you don't want to talk about it. But someday you're going to have to, not only because it's eating you up inside but also because it affects you professionally."

JJ looked surprised and Emily could see a bit of the fear coming back, but she quickly dismissed it when she said: "I'm fine, really. The case just got to me, that's all."

"Really? That's it?" Emily knew she shouldn't resolve to sarcastic behaviour, but she started to become somewhat irritated by JJ's hiding – however, she tried not to show it too much, as she still wanted to help her. "JJ, who are Peter, Sophie and Jess?"

JJ's eyes grew large at the mention of the names. "What? How –" She quickly corrected herself. "They're just some people I know. Friends. Why?"

"You said their names when you were having that nightmare. You asked Peter and Sophie to help and to not send you back."

JJ made an attempt to chuckle, though it wasn't convincing in the least. "Really? They were just standing there in my dream, and I wanted them to do something." She became somewhat nervous again. "Uhm, what else did I say?"

"Nothing much," Emily said, deciding she'd throw the rest at JJ some other time. "Listen, whatever it is – it's hurting you. I know it's a cliché, but talking really does help. I'll help, whenever you are ready to be helped. Do you understand me?"

"What do you know about talking? It never helps!" JJ's voice had grown considerably, she was practically shouting now, and Emily was at a loss as to what to do. What has she done wrong?

"I'm sorry, but please, just leave me alone," JJ said, a little softer. "I just need some time to think."