The sun had been bright enough to blind you should you stare up at it for too long, Piper had been in a T-shirt and shorts complaining about the heat, ice lolly in hand while she sat on the grass.

Letting her body fall back so she could lie out on the slightly cooler grass she let her hair fan out around her head like it were some halo and she a goddess.

She'd been working on some formula - that if she still wasn't entirely sure what it did nor what it was for - all day, itching to get out in the sun, that was now beaming down on her blissfully. Setting the ice lolly stick down beside her she let her eyes close, she allowed herself to relax, knowing she didn't often get that opportunity, not when you were in erudite, 'relaxing was for the unintelligent' or so Jeanine would say at every meeting, but if being able to relax meant she'd lose some of the intelligence she had, it was an easy deal that she'd take every time.

She'd grown up in erudite, she'd lived and breathed science her entire life and yet it never felt right but she didn't have much of a choice. The only thing that made her days worth while was Will. Will who had disappeared to change into his shorts and grab some more ice cream.

Pipers eyes flew open as a yelp escaped her at the feeling of a freezing cold wrapper touching her forehead. There stood Will above her, hunched over and laughing while she throw the lolly back at him and muttered some names.

He let himself fall down beside her as she sat up, sticking her hand out and waiting him to place the lolly sensibly in her hand this time, which he raised a brow at.

"William, I could've had a heart attack" she gave him an irate look.

"Always with the dramatics Piper" he shook his head with laughter, placing the lolly very gently in her hand which clasped around it and pulling it away from him, "hey, I got you another lolly, be grateful!" He gave the girl a nudge and a toothy grin waiting for her to do the same.

Initially she kept her glare, the glare that slowly disappeared to be replaced with a laugh while she lay her head on his shoulder.

"I'm proud of us" she whispered looking ahead.

Will placed his head on hers and spoke gently back to her, "why? What have we done?"

He enjoyed playing along and so did she, she more so just enjoyed his company, "well, for starters we've survived" she pulled away to meet his confused face, "survived every day of our life being stuck in there" tilting her head to the large blue and clear building they had been working in since they could remember, "it won't be like that forever and I'm proud of us for our perseverance" she smiled at her taller friend.

He smiled ahead at the building for a moment.

"I am proud of me too" he mused laughing, getting his arm nudged by Piper who shook her head at his comment.

"You mean you're proud of us too" she emphasised the word 'us' looking back at the building made of glass, watching the hundreds of busy bodies running around like headless chickens after Jeanine no doubt.

"No" Will's sudden somber tone caught her attention, having her look his way a little more serious than before, "I'm not proud of you" she let out an awkward laugh, thinking he had been joking, "you are not a good person Piper"

Her smile fell and her lips lay agape.

The summer lit skies around them went dark, the clouds turned grey and she felt the chill. Looking down at her hand which had held the ice lolly, the ice lolly that was now gone, leaving her hand bare her brows creased and she looked back to her left to find Will who seemed to now be standing over her, not that she'd heard him move.

She had intended to stand up, but her body was stuck, like she had been super glued to the spot.

"I don't understand" she had been referring to Will telling her she was a good person, but also what was happening around her.

"Of course you wouldn't" his voice came across a lot more sinister now, "you couldn't believe that someone would call you out for your actions?" His laugh that echoed around them was twisted, "you aren't a good person, you know it as well as I do Piper, you just won't admit it"

This time when she looked down she was stood up, wearing the outfit she was given in dauntless, lifting her head to see Will was now also wearing his dauntless attire.

This is a dream, she'd thought.

"You don't mean that" she shook her head refusing to accept his words. Will wouldn't say that about her.

"Oh but I do" his hand forcefully grasped at her throat, watching her trying to suck in a breath he continued, "you allowed me to die" she looked down at the now present bullet wound he had, "you did nothing, while they murdered me" her eyes widened partially because of the lack of breath she could capture, her lungs emptying, and partially due to his words, "it should've been you" his face started to appear scarred, "you should've died that day, not me" she felt her heart break, ready for her lungs to give out and end all of this.

She didn't get the opportunity when wills forcefully firm hand pushed her backward against a brick wall that wasn't there before, the wall that she stood behind when Peter tried to hide Wills body from her.

"Will" she spluttered trying to catch her breath, "this is a dream" she closed her eyes, whispering, "a nightmare"

"You killed me Piper" Will leaned down, looming over her, "you killed your brother too" she felt the tear roll down her cheek, "I'm sure he hates you all the same, wishing you took that bullet instead of him" the worst part was, she too wished she'd taken the bullet for both Will and Wren, "now the man that once loved you doesn't even want to share a room with you" Peter, she thought of Peter, "he probably thinks he will die at your hands too"

"No" She shook her head, "no, stop" closing her eyes, "I would never hurt him" she could hear Wills words on a loop in her head, "Peter!" Her voice trembled as she yelled, "Peter!" Trying to scream but it come out only as a whisper.

"No" the mumble came from the girl who lay beside Peter.

Peter Hayes had been lying facing the wall for what felt like hours, trying to fall asleep but the thought of Piper plagued his mind. The way she felt when he dug his fingers into her hips, the way he felt touching her skin.

He was just about drifting off at 02:17 when he heard Piper sleep talking. If his eyes hadn't been closed he'd of rolled them.

"No" she muttered again, only this time the word had been more clear. Peter turned over, leaning his head on his hand and watching to see why she had been making such a racket, his face twisted when she mumbled again, "no, stop" her wards were louder and easy to hear. She began shaking her head as she slept.

"Piper" he whispered, trying to figure out if she had definitely been asleep.

She didn't respond, her eyebrows raised in the middle and her lip looked like it was trembling, though he couldn't be sure with how dim the room was, so reaching behind him he turned on the small lamp on the bedside table near where he slept.

Upon turning back around he seen what looked to be a tear roll from her closed eye, down the side of her face to her ear. He had never seen someone cry in their sleep, perhaps it was just a coincidence.

"Peter" she whispered.

Another tear looked to fall and he realised then something was wrong, she wasn't dreaming, she was having a nightmare.

Peter used to suffer from nightmares and night terrors often growing up but he'd never seen someone else suffer, let alone Piper.

He raised his hand to cup the far away side of her face, "Piper?" He moved her head in hopes to gently wake her, she didn't stir. Now however, her body had gone stiff, "Piper?" He tried again, louder than before, in another attempt to wake her.

"Peter!" This time she spoke urgently, she felt she was trapped in her own nightmare.

Peter sat up, back against the headboard and pulling Pipers body up to lay her against his bare torso, with her head slanted by his shoulder. Shaking her, she again didn't stir.

"Baby please" he pleaded, shaking her harder than before.

Her body jerked and he tightened his arms around her while she was about to bolt upright, sucking in a deep breath while one of her shaking hands lifted to her neck. She was awake and breathing like she'd been held under water for ten minutes. Peter placed one of his hands on the side of her face, the other around her west to console her as much as possible.

Her other hand gripped his forearm, so tight her nails dug in but he didn't care. He was just happy she was awake.

She turned her head to look up at Peter, tears running down her cheeks and chest heaving, while he whispered low 'shhh's to calm her as much as he could.

"Peter?" she whispered as though she was checking to make sure he was really there with her.

"I'm here" he pulled her in, feeling her wrap her arm around his unclothed torso, "it's okay, I'm here" he ran a hand over her hair while he felt her sob against his chest, closing his eyes due to hating the feeling of her crying, "you're okay" he placed a gentle kiss on top of her head.

The pair just stayed in each other's hold for what felt like an hour, not that either cared.

She stilled more the longer he held her. His and her chest started to slow along with their breathing and her tears had eventually stopped. The thought of what happened still prominent in her head. It looked like Will, sounded like him too but it wasn't. It was her own mind playing tricks on her.

"Will" she murmured.

"What?" Peter's voice was the most gentle yet deep she'd ever heard it, "you can tell me what happened" he offered, "but you don't need to if you don't want to"

He'd thought of how poorly he'd treated her how she may not even want to look at him after this.

"It was Will" she cleared her throat after realising how hoarse she sounded, "it was like a memory at first" she tilted her head up to look at the man above her who claimed not to care about her, "but then it changed" her voice trembled and Peter squeezed her tighter. "He told me it was my fault" Peter closed his eyes, hurt by just how wrong she was, "he said I killed him and Wren, that it should've been me that died"

Peter turned her body ever so slightly so he could ensure she was looking directly at him, cupping her face as he did.

"No, over my dead body would I have let anything happen to you" he nodded, "Will and Wren were the same" her eyes looked glassy but he kept going, "they would've protected you to any extent, just as you'd have done for them"

"He said.." her voice disappearing on her, swallowing harshly she continued "he said I wasn't a good person" Peter felt his heart fall, he wanted to scream just how good and pure she was, "maybe he's right, maybe I'm a bad person" shaking her head at the thought. Her voice was breaking while she spoke.

Peter now shook his head.

The anger felt like it was building up all from a dream, a dream that had broken her.

"I know a bad person when I see one Piper" he rolled his thumb over her cheek where the tear fell, "I am one, but you?" He placed his forehead against hers, "you are as kind and pure as they come, the only bad thing you ever did was let yourself like me"

At that she pulled away from him slightly, placing her hand on his covered thigh that was tense. Looking up into his eyes.

"I don't like you, I never did" he looked taken aback by that, "I love you" she whispered.

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The nightmare trope! I hope it came across well and you all enjoyed this chapter.