A/N: This idea took me a surprisingly short amount of time to write, all things considered. It was also the first fill that I liked as soon as I finished it. Could be me getting my groove or it could be a fluke lol Time will tell!

Day 6 | Ray/Salima | Rated: T

Restrain

Salima was running for her life through the jungle. Terror had hold of her insides, squeezing them tight as a vice, making every panted breath hurt like knives in her lungs. Her legs ached from running and jumping over the underbrush, but she couldn't stop.

If she stopped, it would catch her.

So she ran fast, adrenaline pumping through her veins and sweat pooling in the small of her back.

She could hear the footsteps galloping behind her growing closer and she started to cry, choking on sobs and panic in equal measure.

Her pursuer tore through the jungle like it was an open plain.

Salima stumbled through clumsily, waiting to feel claws digging into her and blood gushing hot down her spine.

By a stroke of luck, she came to a dense thicket of trees. The gaps between them were so thin that there was a chance her assailant wouldn't be able to barge through. She twisted her body sideways to slither between them. The jungle was darker inside, the air thicker, and the edges of it seemed to fade away in a jagged sea of pixels.

She kept running, the blackness breezing by in strokes of earthy air so heavy and humid that her lungs felt like they were filling slowly with mud. The vines here were more persistent. They grabbed for her neck and her ankles and her wrists in a desperate attempt to steal back her advantage.

Suddenly, there was a light ahead. She could hear familiar voices through the mist and knew, deep in her bones, if she could clear the edge of the jungle, she would be safe at last.

That was when a vine wrapped around her ankle and she tripped. She hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Her chin cracked off of the ground and she tasted blood.

She tried pulling herself up, desperately clawing at the ground, scraping up dying leaves and dirt. Each time she managed to get her arms beneath her, another vine wrapped around her body, making it impossible to wiggle free.

Her breath was coming in sharp gasps now, loud to her ears, but not loud enough to cut through the distant hum of voices from beyond the trees. Every time she opened her mouth, the salty taste of her tears mingled with the iron tang of blood, but there were no words.

She could hear her pursuer getting close again. It seemed to bring the pixelated darkness closer with it. The light beyond was nothing but a pinprick when Salima made one last ditch effort to free herself and rolled onto her back.

Instead of a canopy of trees, there was darkness and what looked like lines of code speeding across the sky.

Her heart was beating fast in her chest and so hard that she could feel it reverberate against the mossy ground.

With a mighty crash, Cyber Driger cleared the last of the trees between them. Its glowing, red eyes locked onto where she lay, prone, waiting for it to devour her.

She tried to wiggle free again, but her wrists were caught in vines. She managed one kick before her legs were pinned as well. Her chest heaved with panic, eyes wide and burning, as the beast closed in.

Cyber Driger came to a stop directly above her and roared, a terrible metallic sound that sent a chill down her spine and made the ground shake.

She was crying in earnest now, ragged sobs and half-mumbled pleas pouring from her lips in place of the screams she wanted to let loose.

"Salima!"

The distant voices were shouting for her, but she couldn't muster a single word to shout back.

"Salima!"

They'd never find her, and she'd never find them; the pinprick of light was long gone. Cyber Driger dipped its head and opened its mouth. Its teeth grazed her neck and she waited for the bite that would end it all, once and for all.

"Salima!"

Her eyes snapped open. There was still darkness, but the jungle was gone, melting away into the familiar sight of her attic apartment. Instead of Cyber Driger's vicious, red eyes, Ray's gentle, golden ones were staring at her with concern.

"Ray," she squeaked through the rawness in her throat. She tried reaching for him and was met with resistance. A bolt of residual panic shot through her.

"Easy," Ray soothed and let go of her wrists. He'd been pinning them above her head. As she came back down to earth and took stock of her surroundings, she realized he was pressing her whole body into the mattress. Before she could make any inferences of her own, he said, "You were thrashing so much, I was afraid you were going to get hurt."

He brushed his hand over her arm and guided it down to where it could sandwich, warm, between them. Her muscles ached like they really had been working overtime. In a way, she guessed they had been. Her heart was still racing.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled hoarsely. It had been a long time since she'd had a nightmare like that and it had never happened with Ray.

Goki and Kane and Jim were all plagued by their own demons after the Cyber Bitbeast incident; once upon a time they all took turns rousing each other when needed. Nowadays, she found that she only had nightmares if she drank caffeine too close to bedtime. She'd gotten good at cutting it out of her diet almost completely, but she must have went wrong somewhere.

"Don't be sorry," Ray said, easing up on his pin enough to give her some air. He still maintained a steady, grounding degree of physical contact and she wasn't about to protest. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Salima shook her head. The awful images were already fading out of memory, her heartbeat returning to normal. She pressed her hand to Ray's chest and focused on the steady rhythm of his breathing, willing herself to match it.

"I'm okay."

Ray nodded in silent understanding. There wasn't judgment or pity in his eyes, only a comforting softness as he watched her carefully for any hints that she needed more from him. With a tender touch, he wiped the tears off of her cheeks and untangled sweaty tendrils of hair from her neck.

Salima fought a surprise wave of emotion by pressing her eyes shut and pursing her lips. Ray never failed to make her feel safe and cared for. She didn't know what she'd ever done to deserve it, but she'd do it over again in a dozen different lifetimes if it meant she could always have this.

"The green tea wasn't decaf," Ray whispered, pressing apologetic kisses to her eyelids, temple, forehead, even though it wasn't his fault.

"No," Salima confirmed with a wavering voice as a fresh batch of tears started to fall.

Ray's strong arms wrapped around her and held her close.

Salima grappled for his shoulders and hugged him tight and sobbed. It felt like every emotion a human could possibly feel was pouring into her and bubbling over and, even as her nails dug into Ray's skin, he stayed and lent her his strength.

It could have been hours before she finally calmed down; her concept of time was gone, but the sun was rising outside. She felt hollow and drained and like her limbs were made of lead, but strangely content. On some level, she must have needed the release.

Ray rolled to the side and, before Salima could consider wiling away the morning in bed alone, pulled her back against his chest.

When she dozed off this time, she didn't dream at all.

A/N: I've had the idea of Ray waking Salima from a nightmare in my notes for a long time. I was happy to finally have the perfect excuse to write it down. Also sneaked in a random headcanon that Salima and caffeine don't mix. MayBlade is like my "random idea and headcanon" bingo card lol

Thanks for reading!