Weight of the World-p.r.s

25-the shark and the wolf

Brooke woke up with a yell, instantly bolting upright. Her side instantly stung at that action, and her chest heaved. She felt sweaty as her eyes snapped around the room, and she felt as her claws grew in and upper lip curled around her canines. Her senses started to kick in, and she felt Jayden sitting beside her, him instantly waking up due to her yell. The warmth of his body helped her calm down some, and one of his arms was wrapped around her waist, his other hand was gently stroking her hair. It was calming, and Brooke felt her panic disperse at the feeling of being held by him and having Amaris curled at her feet. It was much better than the bloody battlefield than her nightmare depicted.

She still smelt the blood and the smoke, and Brooke saw Jayden's collapsed figure when she closed her eyes. Serrator had been hovering over him, and she was useless, silver chains wrapped around her arms and legs. They had burned her skin- but the pain was secondary as she watched Serrators staff swing down and collide with Jayden's neck. Her scream had died in her throat, and she had watched him die. She had watched him bleed out, and he had just shot her a small smile. Like everything was going to be fine, which hadn't been the case. He had died, and she did nothing. Brooke could only watch.

"Red," Brooke whimpered, tears rolling down her cheeks, and Jayden stopped stroking her hair. "I watched you die. Serrator- Serrator killed you. And I- I- just watched." She choked out, shifting her position so that she was facing him, gold eyes welling with tears.

"Hey, hey. I'm right here, I'm not leaving. You're safe, I'm safe." Jayden reassured Brooke, and he could make out her figure thanks to the faint glow coming from Amaris. Who had woken up when Brooke had yelled, and she was now watching intently, keeping violet eyes trained on the silver ranger.

Who latched herself onto Jayden, Brooke wrapping her arms around his torso tightly. He felt her claws prick his skin through his shirt, but he didn't care much, returning the hug. They said nothing, Brooke only letting out choked sobs, and Jayden rubbing small circles in her back. He understood her nightmares all too well- he had his fair share of them throughout the months. Watching his friends and teammates die never got easier, and he didn't know what to really say, so Jayden just held Brooke as she shook. He provided himself as a source of physical affection and comfort, and she seemed to latch onto him, but he wasn't complaining.

After ten minutes or so, Brooke eventually calmed down. She drew in a shaky breath, tightening her grip on Jayden slightly. "Thank you." She thanked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course. I'm always here, and I'm not leaving you anytime soon." Jayden replied, and Brooke let out a weak laugh.

"God, you're the best," Brooke murmured, pulling away. Thanks to her heightened eyesight, she could make out the features of his face, and she gently cradled Jayden's face in her hand. She could feel the warmth radiating off of his cheek, and that caused her to break into a small smile. "Are you embarrassed?" She teased, and he presumably shot her a glare.

"You're really something," Jayden grumbled, his face burning. It was due to the fact Brooke was praising him and mixed with the way she was somewhat straddling his lap didn't help. Still, he wasn't complaining, he just wasn't used to it. "How quickly you can go from upset to teasing me amazes me." He commented, and god did he want to kiss her. It was the prime opportunity to, in all honesty, but Jayden stopped that thought process before it could even start.

"I had to act this way for Maxx. He would always get angry when he saw me upset- not at me, but at James. To prevent him from doing something stupid, I just had to snap out of it quickly," Brooke replied, chewing on her bottom lip as her eyes flashed. "Thanks for dealing with it." She thanked, stroking Jayden's cheek with her thumb. It was even warmer now, and she didn't really know what had gotten into him. But, he was still here.