Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. These ditties are mine, as are Duke and McCallister. Bustin' into some more serious prompts, but nothing too heavy, and humor still abounds, I hope. Enjoy these humble offerings!

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019 - Nightmare

"Nhn…No…Mnuh…No…"

Sleep disappeared as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him. Leon's eyes flew open and he found himself staring at the ceiling, chest heaving, cold sweat pooling over his neck. For a moment, the horror remained, chilling his blood and making his heart throb in his ears.

As awareness cleared the clouds, however, he caught his breath and got it back under control, sitting up in bed and running a sweaty hand over his equally sweaty forehead. Bewildered at how much the subconscious image had shaken him, he got up and walked out into the living room of the apartment.

It was the middle of the night, the lights were all off, and the blinds were all drawn. A quick glance showed Tifa's room was empty. She'd mentioned something about staying at the station for an all nighter. Sighing heavily but unable to loosen the knot in his gut, he snatched up his phone and was dialing her cell phone before his thoughts could catch up.

He pressed 'Call' and then stopped.

This was stupid. What the Hell was he going to say? 'Hey, sorry about this random-ass call, but I had this weird dream and wanted to make sure you were okay, because in the dream you were murd—'

He hung up after one absent ring and tossed the phone on the couch, going back into his room and falling back into bed. Damn nightmares.

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020 - Concussion

It felt like somebody was beating her skull with a sledgehammer every time her heart beat.

"You awake?" Leon asked.

Tifa cringed and burrowed deeper into her pillow. "No, g'way."

"It's been two hours. Concussion check."

She opened one eye just wide enough to see Leon standing in the doorway, Duke blocked from her bedroom by his legs. The light hurt her sensitive eyes and she winced, closing them again.

"There, I'm alive, you did your job. Now leave me alone."

He made an amused noise and his boots marched up to the side of her bed, "Name."

"Tifa Lockhart, aka your future cause of death."

She heard him take a step back…just in case.

"How many fingers?"

With a long suffering groan, she opened her eyes again just long enough to see his hand.

"Three."

Duke barked and Tifa whimpered as the sound sent fresh rods of pain through the base of her skull and ballooning over to her temples.

"Ah, hey, no." Leon was saying.

She opened one eye again and saw Leon holding Duke by the collar, thwarting the canine's attempt to jump up on the bed with Tifa. He pulled her to the door and closed it, blocking her out.

"Count to ten." He said.

"I hate you." She grumbled, but did as he asked.

"All right, you check out again." He said.

"How many more of these torture sessions do I have to suffer through before you leave me alone?"

"Three more before you're out of the 24-hour danger window." He replied. "Need anything?"

She looked at him narrowly, "I only want one thing right now."

He obviously sensed a trap but took the bait. "And that is?"

"For you to get OUT of my ROOM." She snarled.

He started to look amused, then saw her expression and lifted his hands, "All right, I'm going."

Tifa dropped her head back onto the pillow and closed her eyes against the pounding in her skull as Leon made a hasty getaway. Damn concussions.

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021 - Resuscitate

"Leon…" Tifa lifted a hand, but refrained from touching his shoulder. "Leon, stop."

McCallister looked up, her fingers pressed against the casualty's neck. She shook her head. Tifa bit her lip and looked from McCallister to Leon, who had kept up compressions on the civilian's chest for over ten minutes now.

"Stop." Tifa knelt down beside him, "It's too late…You can't—Leon, stop it—He's gone—"

"No, I can…" He trailed off, continuing to push on the unresponsive chest.

At a momentary loss, Tifa glanced around the otherwise deserted Bailey. McCallister withdrew her hand from the civilian's neck, looking to Tifa for direction.

"Call it in." Tifa sputtered after a moment, "Get an ambulance down here to transport him…I'm…I'm calling the TOD."

"Don't." Leon practically hissed.

"He's dead." Tifa tried to break through to him, "His spinal column is shredded. There's no coming back from that."

Leon looked like he was beyond himself at this point and Tifa swallowed before reaching over and grasping his wrists.

"Stop." She pleaded.

He recoiled as though he'd been shocked, jumping to his feet and backing away from the body.

"Dammit." He growled, turning and walking a few paces away.

McCallister looked alarmed and Tifa raised a hand, "Leave him alone. Just call the ambulance again." She checked her watch, "I'm calling Time of Death at 8:45 a.m."

"Yes, ma'am." McCallister nodded, staying with the body and calling the medical unit on her cell phone.

Tifa ran a hand through her hair as she stood and looked over to Leon, who had his back stubbornly turned and his head lowered. Drawing a composing breath, she approached him steadily.

"You can't save everybody." She said gently.

She heard him exhale sharply.

"I know, but lately it feels like I can't save anybody." He growled, voice quivering at the end of the statement.

Standing within arms' reach of his back, she lifted her hand again, but hesitated and then dropped it back to her side. They both just stood there like that for a moment.

A beat passed.

He started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" She asked, concerned at his emotional state.

"A walk. Clear my head." He threw over his shoulder, not looking back at her directly.

She didn't follow and he turned the corner, disappearing from view.

"Be careful." She murmured, and then went back to wait by the body with McCallister.