A/N: Stepping out of the spring of 1973 for a set, to bring you Christmas Break week of 1978. Why? Because Carole mentioned having to call Jenkins for Pete in shock in a chapter of Seeing a Trailer and now I know why.

Week 13 - UDC 4 - Another time that Pete was repeating a number sequence...

61. Hold Back the Darkness

It was early on a Saturday and she was still up before the boys, Carole reflected as she made her way to the kitchen to start the coffee she knew Nick was going to want. Passing through the living room, she noticed Pete on the couch and realized he'd not actually made it all the way to bed the night before... or he had, and hadn't been able to sleep and had gotten up to read a book as the book on the floor beside him seemed to attest to. She smiled and continued on.

Nick's parents had left them to their own devices for the weekend, a long-anticipated getaway for them both, trusting both herself and Nick with Pete as an awkward chaperone.

Arms enveloped her from behind as she started the bacon, and she leaned back slightly. "Mmm... four years is a long time, you know."

"It is," Nick admitted into her hair. "That smells good."

"It's bacon, of course it does." They stood like that for long minutes, just enjoying one another's company until she sighed. "Go wake Pete, would you? This'll be ready in a jiff."

She could feel his frown without seeing it. "That's odd, that he's not up by now."

62. Take a Stand

In the living room, Nick found Pete still asleep on the couch and had to chuckle. Had he really been pushing himself that hard, or was it simply that he'd been unable to sleep after they'd gotten back from the movies? His hand was barely touching Pete's shoulder when he realized that the seventeen-year-old's eyes were open, but he was staring, and that was when he heard that Pete was saying numbers.

Nick stared at him, startled at that, and reached for the notepad and pen his mother always kept on the end table. He started writing down the numbers, noticing that they repeated every seven, always starting with the same one. "Carole?"

"Done and plated!" She called happily.

"I need you in here."

Shortly, she was at his side, staring at Pete's odd behavior, and then they both froze when he added a name to the mix. Jenkins. "What is this?"

"Won't know until he comes out of it," Nick told her, pushing the piece of paper he'd ripped off the note pad at her. "Call Alan."

"Right."

63. When You're Lost

"Nick?" Carole asked from the kitchen after a couple minutes. "He wants to talk to you. Something about a stress response?" She watched him stand up and move to take the phone from her, and pushed her gently into the living room. "What?"

"We're not leaving him alone like that," Nick said, then turned his attention to the phone and left her to it.

Cautiously, she moved to sit next to the couch and held Pete's hand. Where was he, that he was lost this way? "Come back to us, hon."

Pete's only response was to continue to repeat numbers.

64. No Solid Ground

[ "Carole said he was laying on the couch when she went into the kitchen to start breakfast?" ] Alan questioned.

Nick nodded, eyes going to where Carole was keeping Pete, though he wasn't aware of it at the moment, company. "And he hadn't moved when I joined her in the kitchen. I don't know much more here, Mr. Jenkins."

Alan chuckled suddenly, which caused Nick to blink, startled at the levity. [ "You're over eighteen, Nick. You don't have to be so formal anymore. Where are Helen and Walt?" ]

"Having a weekend, away from us." Nick frowned suddenly, the night before catching up to him. "Alan? We went to the movies. Pete seemed fine after, but..."

[ "That could be it. What was the movie?" ]

Which was a good question, now that he was thinking about it, because it had been a movie about Prisoners of War. "The Deer Hunter. You know, that new one?"

65. There's Only Us

Carole looked up when Nick joined her beside the couch. "What'd he say?"

"To wait him out," Nick replied, eyes searching Pete's face for any sign of awareness. "He's done this before, according to Alan. Then, he came out of it, only to fall asleep on Mr. Finney."

Carole frowned at him. "When was that?"

"Spring of '70." Sudden silence and Nick looked at Pete again, to find him looking back with an expression that began to crumble. "Hey there. Back with us?"

"Dad," Pete gasped and Nick dragged him off the couch to join them on the floor in a huddle. "Nick, I..."

"Had a nightmare?"

"How'd you know?" His eyes shifted to Carole, and then she was hugging him, too. "Carole, I'm fin-"

"Pete," Nick interrupted. "Remember how you don't get to say you're fine when you're not? We're not fine, right along with you right now."

Pete sighed and then allowed himself to sniffle. "I dreamed that Dad was in one of those awful camps with the VC!"

They stayed on the floor like that for a long while.