(AN: Ok, so probably at least a few of you are hating me for the lack of updates and no Artie or Leena's perspectives. I have an explanation for it but I'm just to lazy to type it, honestly. But now I have promised more updates, and with that different perspectives. FYI, there's going to be an update to the second chapter. Sorry, but for this to make sense you're going to need to re-read the part about the pen. Now, onto the story!)

After the shock of Steve's kiss, Claudia had laid in bed for almost three hours, thinking about it and him, before she managed to sleep. And her dream's weren't an escape from him either. She was constantly tossing and turning, and muttering almost incoherent things while she dreamt.

Leena was just finishing up a chapter in the book that she was reading when she heard a quite muttering coming from Claudia's room. She looked at the clock, wondering why the girl was up at 12:14 at night. Curious, she walked upstairs and she opened her door softly.

She almost gasped at what she saw. Even in the dark, Leena could see Claudia's aurora was a mix of so many colors. But confusion, hurt, love, and despair were the most prominent. Leena could feel her pain and hurt, not physical, but emotional pain.

Even for a normal person, the young girl was still a pitiful sight. She was curled tightly into a ball, obviously needing comfort. Her hair was messy, and she looked small among the mass of covers bundled around her. But Leena knew that she could only help her when she woke up. Sighing, she quietly left the girl's room. As she turned to head to her room, Leena picked up a weird feeling.

She felt waves of anguish, similar to the ones from Claudia, coming from Steve's room. Leena couldn't help herself. She gently opened up the door and peeked in. Just as she suspected. His aurora, too, was one of such painful emotions it made her want to cry. She shook her head. Leena knew she could do nothing for either of them.

As she was about to leave, she heard Steve say a name that made Leena stand still.

"Claudia," he murmured softly. Leena was stunned at the love and care he put into the girl's name. That's when it hit her. What was happening between the two of them was indeed the same thing- and for each other. She smiled knowingly and shook her head. How he said her name was not how a brother would say to his sister, but more between two lovers.

Leena left his room as unnoticed as she had entered it, and tip-toad down the hall to her room. She was happy the two had finally considered their feelings. It was about time.

She was just worried about how it would end for the two.

"NO!" The entire B&B was woken up at 6:30 that very same night to yelling. Heart racing at the voice, Claudia struggled to get herself untangled from her blankets and ran into Jinks' room.

Claudia knew it wasn't only her heart racing, but also Steve's. She could feel his fear, and his lack of breath, like he was running. And as she looked at him, lying on his bed, his hands groping the sheets desperately, she felt despair run through her veins.

"Claudia, we're going to help him, okay?" Claudia heard Myka behind her, and knew the rest of the team was there, too. Knowing that was a signal that she was in the way. Taking a step back, she placed her hands over her mouth in an attempt to keep herself from crying. She was failing.

Myka put the back of her hand to his forehead and turned worriedly to the group. "He's burning." Claudia felt a rush of anger. "Well then wale him up!" She almost yelled at Myka, and saw her flinch.

Myka shook him softly. When she got no response other than him clenching his hands tighter, she shook him harder. "Steve, you have to wake up. We're here. Please wake up." No response. By now everyone could see tears were dripping from his eyes. He was shaking, and he was also hyperventilating. Not good.

The red-head jumped as she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. "I have this." Leena said softly to her. She breezed over to Steve's side. Nodding slightly to Artie, she shooed Myka away. Myka took an uneasy step back and stood next to Pete and Claudia.

Leena sat next to Jinks on the bed, and closed her eyes. Only Artie knew what she was doing, but not even him knew how she did it.

"Don't worry. She's going to go though his aurora in a deep-read. She'll see what's wrong and how she can fix it." Pete nodded tensely and grabbed Myka's hand in a sign of comfort. The small part of Claudia that could currently think about anything other than Steve noted how she had to make fun of them because of that later.

Leena reached deep into Steve's conscious, attempting to pull out what she need. As she poked, she finally found a spot that made him flinch, like a bruise. She pushed deeper, forcing the thoughts and memories to surface.

Knowing that this was most likely the source of the nightmare, she started to work faster. She knew that the longer the thought was there, the worse the nightmare would be for him. She quickly shuffled through them, only slightly surprised by what she saw.

She saw a red-headed girl. The girl was smiling, and was dressed in an old-fashioned gray outfit. Leena felt a pang of happiness rush through her, and she knew it was not her own. Everything she felt here was Steve's.

She saw the Pete holding Claudia and jokingly attempting to kiss her. Leena felt an almost overwhelming urge to hit him. Next she was in a room, sitting next to Jane, and being hugged by the said girl. Love rushed through her, and she didn't want the girl to leave.

Leena drew back, knowing how to wake him up.

Claudia jumped forward the second she saw the innkeeper's eyes open, startling the young woman. "How do we fix it?" Leena swallowed nervously. This was going to be hard to explain to them.

"Artie, Aisle 31 Hemmington." Artie gasped. "You have got to be kidding me." Leena shook her head and stood up. "It's all the signs. The nightmare, the fever, it has to be it. Plus, it's where he was taking inventory last week."

"Dear god, can anyone here not have a relationship with their partner? And why can't children keep their hands off artifacts?" He muttered crossly, but he couldn't disguise the smile that had graced his featured.

"What? What is in 31 Hemmington?" Myka asked suspiciously. "Plus, we can't use an artifact to wake up Jinks! Imagine the nasty downside!" Pete sided with Myka, crossing his arms.

Artie shook his head. "We're not using an artifact. He used an artifact. And 31 Hemmington is where we're going to find it." He quickly rushed out the door. Pete and Myka quickly followed, hand in hand. Claudia was about to follow them when she was stopped by Leena.

"Claudia, you need to stay here. He's going to need you, especially when he wakes up." Claudia sighed and sat down in the big armchair that sat in Steve's room. She hated seeing him like this. She noticed that his fear came more in cycles, like he was having to re-live what he was going through. Currently his hands were loose, and only a single tear remained on his cheek. "Please... no... don't. You don't want to do this." Now that the room wasn't as clouded with emotions and worry, they both could make out he was talking.

Claudia rushed to his side. "What? No what?" She could also now feel her own tears spilling out. She fell to her knees and grasped his hand between her own. "No what?" She whispered.

"No... please... don't. Don't hurt her." She heard him whimper. "I'll do anything." The flow of tear had started back up.

Claudia felt hopeless. She felt him shaking, and it took her a moment to realize it wasn't just him. She turned towards Leena. "How do I help him?" She said, her voice filled with so much sadness it broke the Innkeeper's heart. She honestly didn't know.

"I... I don't know. There's really nothing we can do more than wait for the to neutralize the artifact that did this." "Then what did this?" Claudia asked.

Her voice was now cold. It came out more a demand than a question. "Albert Bandura's pen. Causes horrible nightmares in exchange for-" "Learning what you desire and yearn for." Claudia cut her off.

"Yes, how did you...?" Leena trailed off, questioning in her voice. "He read me the label last week."

Leena reached out and patted her friend's hand.

"Claude? You here?" Claudia's head shot up and looked at Jinks, how was gripping her hand softly. She was disappointed to see her was talking in his sleep.

"Yes, I'm here." She whispered, her tears dripping onto their clasped hands.

"Huh?" Steve looked around. He heard a giggle and remembered what he was doing. "Claude? You here?" He called out. He heard the giggle agin from somewhere inside this maze of blank, dull, white walls. He smiled as he heard her.

"I know you're here!" He called out. He turned a corner and felt something run into he. "Eek!" The girl squealed as he grabbed her fiercely from behind her. She was wearing a long, flowing, and bright white dress that came down to her knees. She was also wearing plain white flats, which brought her about 4 inches shorter than him.

"I'm not letting you go." He growled, fake menace in his voice.

The girl squirmed in an attempt to leave but her wouldn't let her. He kissed behind her ear, knowing it was her ticklish spot. She collapsed in a fit of giggles. "Not fair!" She quickly spun around on tip toe and planted a kiss on the tip of his nose.

He held her head between his hands and looked into her dark, warm, brown eyes. He gently leaned in and pressed his forehead on hers. His arms were wrapped around her waist, resting gently on the top of her hips. Her arms were similarly wrapped around his neck.

The tips of their noses were barley touching. "You know I love you." He smiled, still looking into her eyes. He loved how she was the perfect height, and how he could look perfectly into them. He loved her beautiful chocolate eyes. He loved her short, red hair, and the adorable stripes of color she put in it.

He loved everything about you. And here, he could show it, and her, just how much he cared for her.

"I love you to." She whispered back. She kissed him gently, and leaned into him. He closed his eyes returned the kiss. He never wanted to leave this place. This was paradise for him.

Suddenly, the feeling of her lips on his disappeared, and he no longer could feel the pressure of her body pressing against his. He opened his eyes to find air.

He looked up, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw her. But instead of standing there, smiling, a dark-clad figure had a hand over her mouth, and the other held a knife to her throat.

He didn't know why, but he knew this thing wasn't here for money, or a hostage. He knew it fully intended to hurt her. He couldn't let that happen. He took a step towards the figure.

"Now, you don't want to do this." He was trying to keep the fear and tremble out of his voice. To his horror, he knew he was failing miserably. Even though he couldn't see it, he had a feeling that it was smiling in that horrible way at him. "Please, don't."

Now he he was just pleading. "Please... no... don't." He begged it. It pressed the blade tighter to her neck. A trickle of blood ran down her neck.

He tried to run forward, but found his feet were stuck in the ground, almost like quicksand, but he wasn't sinking. The figure pressed the blade deeper, causing the girl to scream.

He collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

"No... please... don't. Don't hurt her." He whimpered. "I'll do anything."

The figure pulled the blade quickly across her throat. Suddenly, the girl's body went limp. The figure dropped her and disappeared behind another wall.

Still stuck, Steve had to sit there and watch the life bleed out of the girl who he loves.

"Steve... please... help me..." She whispered hoarsely, her arm stretching toward him. He reached back, but there was still a good half a foot between them.

He watched in despair as blood poured freely from her neck. "You... you don't really love me. You lied. You never did love me." She said accusingly. Her eyes were filled with hate. "No,... I love you..." He tried to convince her. By now, tears clouded his vision.

"You never did." She spat at him. Then, her body lost the last bit of life, and her head dropped to the floor.

"NO!" He screamed. He notice his feet were loose and was quickly by her side. There was now a pool of blood that surrounded her body, but he ignored it. He dropped to his knees beside her and grasped her hand. It was already cold.

"No... please, hold on... I'll get help. I'll fix this..." He looked into her eyes, which were now hollow, like an empty void. He knew it was too late, but he still held her hand tightly. "No... please, don't leave me. I love you." He whimpered, teardrops running down his face. "Claudia, I love you."

"Huh?" Steve looked around. He heard a giggle and remembered what he was doing.

Claudia was holding his hand tightly. It was killing her to watch him like this.

"Claudia, I love you."

"What?!" Claudia shrieked and jumped up, almost knocking of a lamp. She turned to Leena, her eyes wide. "What did he just say?!"