ETH - Extra Terrestrial Holding.

Cross stared in horror at the creature pressed against the glass in front of him, his body frozen and unable to move. He wanted to scream, yet no sound came only a dry and pained wheeze managing to force itself from his throat.

It was tall, easily seven ft. It's whole body was covered with the same black tar like substance Cross had been staring at in the jars, the liquid dripping slowly down it's body like melting ice. It's fingers were pressed against the glass and dragging deep scratches across it, the tips sharper than your average person's. Clothing wasn't apparent, but some sort of cloth covered it's body, it's original colour now choked with the black slime and melding in with its body. One piercing blue cyan eye stared at him unblinkingly, fixated on him with so much focus that if you shot it it probably wouldn't react. And a pearly white teethed grin stretched across its face, the teeth being sharp and pointed like a wolf's.

It was blood chilling to look at. Terrifying. Cross found himself hardly able to breathe as he watched the creature tap at the glass with a finger slowly, it's gaze never once wavering. Each tap sent shudders down his spine and he panted, his limbs going from stiff as cardboard to wobbly like jelly.

The creature continued to tap its finger against the glass, curious. It didn't recognise Cross. But after five minutes of pointless staring, it slunk back into the darkness of its cell, finding the boy rather boring and unexciting.

Sucking in breaths slowly, Cross shakily pushed himself to his feet, head spinning and light. The rumours were true. They had all been true. Experiments, weapons, Aliens. They were all here. Here in Area 51.

He took a small step towards the cell, his eyes straining in the darkness to see the creature hunched over in the back. He felt his shaky hands grab onto a shard of glass that had splintered off from the test tube he'd stepped on earlier. The sharp edges cut into his hand slightly, but the idea of having some sort of measly weapon comforted him a bit.

The creature- no, the alien looked up at him curiously from the corner, it's head tilting to the side and eye sliding down to focus on the shard of glass he had in his hand. It's eye then went back up to lock with Cross' unblinking.

Inhaling sharply the smaller skeleton stood next to the door, staring at the complicated wires, panels and preventatives that stopped him from getting in, and it from getting out. Poking randomly at the keypad he frowned, wondering if by some magical chance he'd guess it right away. Sadly, he didn't. Or maybe that was for the better.

He didn't risk another try, not particularly fancying his chances of guessing right out of the hundreds of possible combinations. Maybe even thousands. Taking a step back he rubbed his sore arm, feeling his fingers come away sticky with dark blood. He cringed and wiped it off on his hoodie front, leaving an unattractive smear.

The creature watched him with interest, it's body slowly creeping closer to the glass and sinking down to the skeleton's level. A hand crept up to the glass and tapped with a finger, resulting in a surprised glance. It kept his gaze and twisted it's head to the side, watching as they timidly copied,

Cross looked at the alien and managed to smile a little, tilting his head the other way. It copied him quickly, it's head tilting to the other side softly. The boy stepped forwards and hesitantly placed his hand against the cold glass, ripples of ice spreading up through his fingertips. The creature looked at it and blinked - for the first time Cross had seen - and slowly slid its own hand over to match Cross' much smaller ones.

It glanced up at Cross quickly, as if looking to approval. The smaller smiled and nodded, watching it's seemingly proud expression. It almost looked childlike, smug for doing such a simple task.

Placing his other other hand on the glass, Cross couldn't help but giggle a bit, nodding as it pressed it's other hand firmly against the glass. The slime covering it's body splotched on the glass slightly, just like how Cross' blood left marks. He didn't have to worry about fingerprint tracking through because, well, he was a skeleton; skeletons don't have fingerprints. Maybe they could trace his blood, but he doubted it.

Cross shifted his hand to the right a bit and snickered, the creatures face twisting in a frown and sliding the hand to the new position. The little game continued for a minute, Cross moving his hands and the creature constantly following until it got bored and threw itself on the floor with a long groan that somehow, he could hear through the glass.

He smiled fondly and looked away from the creature, his vision catching on the metal plate that was attached to the glass on the left of the door.

N16HTM4R3.

Staring at it, he blinked. "N16HTM4R3?
...Nightmare?" His fingers brushed over the plague before he froze suddenly, hearing something. Footsteps.

They were loud and fast, heading towards him. Cross panicked and whipped around, desperately searching the room for any place to hide.

He dived under the experiment tables just as the door slammed open, a rain of gunfire spraying across the room and making him scream. He shoved his body as far against the wall as he could, class vials and test tubes tumbling from the tables and shattering onto the ground like fireworks. He hid his face in his arms and shook, the gunfire continuing for around five seconds before whoever was shooting them either ran out or decided to stop.

Panting and whimpering he daren't move, convinced that even the slightest flutter of his finger would trigger another volley of bullets.

Whoever was stood in the doorway muttered something under their breath, the smoking gun resting on their shoulder heavily. "I can see you there. Get out before I shoot you."

Cross stiffened and glanced up, catching eyes with the tall, male and human guard. He gulped and shook his head weakly, knowing he'd be shot down no matter what he did. The guard grunted and dropped the gun down into his hands, fingers hovering over the safety catch. He looked like he was actually about to shoot the boy, but a sudden crack behind him caused him to stop, eyes slowly widening. "Shit."

Craning his neck back to try see what he was looking at, Cross gasped. The bullets had sprayed across the whole room, shelves, tables and computers broken and shattered. But he swept over that quickly, his eyes focusing on the creature's cell. Small spiderwebbed cracks spread across the surface of the glass, barely a cause of concern when you thought about how thick the glass was. But the door was another story.

The control panels were smoking, sparks jumping from it and dropping to the floor. The heavy padlock was completely obliterated, a mangled mess left hanging loosely from its hook. The hand scanner was no longer recognisable, having fallen to the floor and revealing the destroyed wires tangled behind. All the defences were gone, the door now being nothing more than, well, a door.

Tearing his attention away and back to the guard, Cross found a horrible, dangerous, stupid, reckless, terrifying idea pop into his mind that would almost certainly end in death. He glanced at the door quickly, his soul beating rapidly.

"Kid--" The guard took a small step back and shook his head, the gun pointed at him. "Don't--"

But Cross had already sprung to his feet, his fingers curling round the door handle and wrenching it open. Bullets were fired at him, but he hid behind the door, the projectiles doing nothing but bouncing off its steel surface.

The man froze and stared, watching as the creature inside stared at the wide open door, it's head tilting in almost a full 180. It slunk over and tentatively reached a hand out through the entrance, one clawed finger tapping at the ground lightly. It's cold blue eye flicked up to meet his wide brown ones, a snarl forming on it's lips.

Panicking, he aimed the gun at the creature and opened fire. It shrieked and roared, flattening down to the floor before launching forwards and digging it's claws directly into his skull.

Cross watched in Horror as the man screamed and thrashed, his body jerking and twisting as the alien above him tore at his throat and ripped it's hands into his skull. It was then Cross noticed the tentacles. There were four of them growing from it's back, all of them black, thick and long. They sharpened into points and stabbed at the man's chest until he could scream no more, dead. Even when he'd finally gone quiet the beast continued to rip the flesh from his bones, chunks of bleeding meat rolling across the floor in a sickly pile that made Cross gag.

He was frozen in fear, peeking out from around the door with his body shakier than jelly. His breathing was shaky and jerky, but stopped completely as the creature turned to stare at him.

It stared at him with a narrowed eye, it's blue pupil staring as it licked the blood from its fingers with a long blue tongue that held a very similar resemblance to a snake's. It lapped up the blood as if it were a bit of juice it'd spilt, its white teeth soon speckled with drops of the crimson substance.

Cross felt he could only gasp and pant like a beached fish, his eyes constantly darting over to the tables flooded with broken glass. He could make out a few vials and injection needles that weren't completely ruined and jumped over, snatching the nearest one up into his grasp.

The alien glanced at him in surprise, it's pupil rolling down to the injection needle held in Cross' hand before letting out a low hiss. It seemed to haunch it's back, a bit like a cat does when feeling threatened. It's blue eye, which had stared at Cross with such curiosity before, now held threat.

The boy laughed nervously, the hand gripping said injector shaking more than the ground does during an earthquake. "What? Y-You don't l-like it?"

The creature followed the injector as Cross held it to his side, a deep rumbling growl emitting from it's throat. Taking a step backwards, the oreo swallowed the large lump in his throat. "I- It's o-okay, I won't use it t-to hurt you..."

It cocked it's head to the side slightly, signifying to the smaller that it was listening. He didn't know for that fact however if the thing even understood him.

"Yeah, I-I'm just going to, just going to put this a-away, okay?" He slowly placed the needle back down onto the table full of glass shards, shivering. It followed his movements all the way, it's eye never once leaving the needle. Yet even when he'd put it down, it didn't seem happy with him.

Cross blinked, his fingers hovering over the needle twitching. The creature's tentacles were raised, all of them pointed at him and sharper than any glass he'd cut himself on before. Trying to give a reassuring glance, he picked it back up.

It snarled in response, towering up to its full height and casting the much smaller in a dark shadow. He whimpered and shook his head, stumbling back. "N-No! Look!"

The creature paused, watching as the skeleton dropped the injector to the floor. It bounced slightly, the glass earning a long crack up it's thin surface. It went silent, the boy stamping on it and shattering it completely. He ground his foot down on the glass until there were only tiny sparkling shards left, the needle and syringe part being kicked off to the other side of the room.

It blinked.

Cross panted softly, staring up at the being with scared eyes. He didn't know if that little spectacle had been enough to convince it that he wouldn't hurt it. He felt small and vulnerable stood in front of it, already regretting destroying the injector. He wouldn't have any sort of weapon if it lunged at him now. But then if bullets hadn't effected it, why would a measly needle do anything more?

The two had a sort of staring competition for a few moments before the creature relaxed, no longer looking like a threatened cat. It slowly crept over to Cross, not seeming to notice how with every step the smaller shrank back in fear. It stood over him and grinned, an icily cold tentacle curling round his wrist and jerking it up roughly.

Cross gasped and tried to tug his hand free to no avail, his soul thundering loudly in his chest. But instead of doing anything Cross thought the beast would do - like chomping his hand off or snapping his wrist - it gently pressed the palm of it's hand against his, just like how they'd done through the glass. Except this time Cross could properly feel the beast's cold touch. Interestingly enough, it seemed to be a skeleton, the individual phalanges visible under the dark sheen of slime.

He looked up at him in shock and blinked, his hand looking fragile and weak compared to the creature's big and hooked ones. But he forced a weak smile, nodding. "Y-Yeah, just like e-earlier..."

It let out a low sounding rumble, it's clawed finger's gently curling around Cross'. They were holding hands. The smaller nervously did the same, his fingers also curling over the creature's. "O-Okay then, we need to get out of here..."

He said we on instinct, in the mindset that he would somehow manage to get both himself, and the seven ft alien out of the heavily guarded Area 51 without getting killed. Should be a piece of cake, right?"

Peeling his hand away from the taller's - with some grunts of protest - Cross walked over to the mangled guard's body and gingerly leaned down. The machine gun he'd been holding was slick with blood, chunks of raw flesh littering its surface and squeezed into the cracks disgustingly. He gagged at the sight, and the smell, before forcing himself to tug it from their ruined hands and into his own. The gun felt slippery and heavy to hold, his fingers failing to find a grip on its sleek surface. But he managed to eventually, hoisting it high and resting the butt on his hip. He hadn't a clue how to use it- but it's a gun, how hard can it be?

The creature let out a disapproving growl beside him, but nothing more as the smol walked over to one of the many shelves where piles of thick, heavy leatherback books were stacked. Grabbing one at random, he shoved it into his rucksack for later. He had to have some knowledge of this place other than a living, breathing alien. Maybe the book could hold epic info and all the secrets of Area 51.

He then padded over to the slightly open door and slowly pushed it open, peaking out the hallway. Empty.

"Right- we're gonna have to be quiet, and careful- wh- No- wait!" Cross hissed, grabbing onto the creature's arm as it pushed past him and began to march down the corridor.

It pulled free of his grasp as if his fingers were blades of grass, grunting as it continued. Cross internally screamed, his mind panicking for a few good seconds before he scrambled after it, not wanting to be left behind. "We have to be stealthy!"

At this point he was certain the alien either couldn't understand him, or was just ignoring him. The first one was most likely because, y'know, its an alien. But he'd have thought the scientists and military people working here would have at least taught it something. Other than injection needles are bad.

It marched down the corridors slowly, it's tentacles stretching out and pressing against the walls as it walked, leaving a dark slime trail that dripped slowly down the wall. Cross followed closely behind it and constantly cast nervous glances behind them and over their shoulder - he had to jump every time he did that - paranoid that a whole squadron of armed guards would come charging round the corner.

The creature continued onwards down the long corridor until it reached the same crossroads the smaller had come across before, it's eye wandering over the silver labelled plaques. It clearly couldn't read or understand them, frowning and jabbing a pointed finger on the words.

"It says Barracks, Armoury, Tunnels and ETH." Cross said, glancing up at it. "We just came from ETH, and we most definitely don't want to go to the barraks or armoury. We need to go to the tu- hey! Wait--"

He yelped as it started trudging down the corridor labelled barracks, not interested in listening to him. "No! That's the worst way you could have chose!"

Grabbing onto it's arm, he tugged harshly. His strength was nothing compared to the creature and it easily yanked him forwards, blinking. Cross yelled and tripped, having to rake his fingers into the creature's arm to prevent his face smashing into the floor.

It blinked and looked down at him, an expression of confusion passing over it's face. Cross staggered upright and shook his head, pointing at the way labelled 'tunnels'. "W-We wanna go that way, this way is dangerous!"

Tilting it's head to the side, the creature poked him in the chest lightly before turning to continue walking the way it had started going. The barracks.

"No!" He tugged at it's arm and struggled, his feet planted firmly down on the floor. But it pulled him along easily, the only sign it even registered him being a grunt and flick of a tentacle. "Listen to me!"

Still getting no response, Cross slid past it and stumbled in front of it. Planting his hands firmly on it's chest, he shoved it.

The creature stopped abruptly and stared down at him, it's eye narrowing. Cross gulped and took a quick step back, regretting that decision. "H-Hey now- l-let's not- let's not fight. I-I'm just trying to help."

It growled lowly and stared down at him, tentacles wavering and coiling around Cross' ankles slowly. The smaller stumbled, shaking his head. "N-No wait I didn't mean to--"

He let out a shriek as the beast suddenly yanked him off of his feet, his spine crashing into the ground and his skull following suit. He clutched it and groaned loudly, feeling his whole body sting. Before he could try to get back up again he felt himself dragged into the air, shrieked protests leaving him as he found himself thrown unceremoniously over the creature's shoulder. Like a rag doll.

It gave a hum and stood still, glancing forwards and backwards between the way out, and the barracks. Cross tried to point in the way they wanted, but it just slapped his hands with it's tentacles, not wanting any of his help. If it could talk, Cross was sure it would have growled at him to shut up and stop struggling.

The smaller froze upon hearing footsteps, his head whipping round in the direction of barracks. They were faint but prominent, definitely there. And they were headed right for them.

"C'mon! We've got to go!" Cross hissed, hitting his fists against the alien's back rapidly like a child having a tantrum would do. "This way! He kicked his legs for good measure and huffed, only to stop a scream at the last second when the damn thing clamped it's teeth around his leg firmly.

He immediately lashed out and struggled, panicked protests and stutters spilling from his mouth like a river of fear. The creature grunted and detached it's jaw from his leg, only a faint outline of it's teeth and a dribble of blood showing on the bone.

Cross went limp quickly after that, the message clear. Do that again, and I'll properly bite you.

The footsteps came closer and it tilted it's head to the side, a low growl sounding. Glancing back at where the irritating skeleton had been constantly pointing to, it confirmed that no footsteps were coming from there. It turned, earning a sigh of relief from Cross which quickly turned into a yelp as the beast strode down the 'tunnels' corridor at a pace much faster than before.

He nearly toppled off of it's shoulder completely, but it gripped onto his ankle firmly with a hand, stopping him. The creature walked quickly down the corridor, glancing behind every now and then to both check that Cross was still there - not that he could leave - and that no guards were charging after them.

They walked for ten minutes, covering far more ground than the skeleton had managed to. Upon reaching stairs however, it stopped completely.

"...Is everything okay?" Cross squirmed on his shoulder and looked over, seeing the stairs. "What's wrong? Just walk up them!"

Frowning, it suddenly dropped him to the floor, expression seeming confused. Kicking the first stair lightly with it's foot, it hissed.

That's when it dawned on him. "...You've never seen stairs before?"

It glanced at him, unsure. Almost feeling the urge to laugh, Cross slowly took the first seven steps before turning back and facing it. "It's easy, see?"

Blinking rapidly it gingerly lifted a foot to place on the first step, its expression contorting in disgust at the feel. It didn't seem a fan, clearly. Encouraging silently, Cross reached out to grab hold of it's wrist gently. He pressed his other hand against it's palm flatly, mirroring what they'd done at the glass and half an hour ago. "It's fine, they can't hurt you."

It stared at him, it's eye constantly flicking from his face to their hands. After a moments thought it curled it's fingers around the smaller's, earning a smile.

"C'mon, just follow me." Cross gently tugged him along, walking up three more steps. It resisted a little but stumbled up after him, allowing itself to be pulled up the steps behind the oreo.

After a few shaky minutes they made it to the top, the creature looking slightly dazed and staring down the long flight of stairs they'd just climbed. It looked back at Cross and then down the stairs again, as if checking he knew that he'd climbed that.

"Yes, I'm very impressed. Now hurry up- guard's can climb stairs a lot faster than we can I'm afraid." He pulled at it's arm and hurried on, his mind plagued with the sounds of thundering footsteps that he knew for a fact weren't actually there.

It stumbled after him, almost loosing its footing a few times before it managed to match yeh smaller's pace. Cross smiled up at it every few seconds for reassurance, squeezing their clasped hands softly. He got a few tight squeezes in response, it's touch seeming unsure.

They weaved in and out of the corridors for another fifteen minutes before reaching another flight of stairs. The flight that would lead them up to the door to the outside world.

It seemed a bit more confident with the stairs this time, but constantly hissed and grunted with each step, its grip on Cross' hand firm and tight. The skeleton made sure to keep his pace slow, not wanting to rush the creature and cause it to refuse to move completely.

They'd just about reached the three-quarter way point when they heard a sound that sent both their blood's cold - well, mainly Cross' - and bodies freeze.

Cross slowly glanced back behind them to see the dark silhouette of a guard, their gun being pointed right at them.

"Don't move. Or I'll be forced to shoot."

Swallowing harshly, Cross glanced back down the corridor just visible above the peak of the stairs. "We were um- w-we were just, just leaving!"

They snorted, the weapon pointed directly at his skull. "You're attempting to escape with ET Subject code N16HTM4R3. I'm afraid we can't let that happen."

"O-Oh, really?" He could feel sweat slowly trickling down the back of his neck, voice cracking and high pitched.

"Yes." They growled, placing their first foot on the stairs. "Come down here, now."

Beside him the creature blinked, nudging Cross and staring down at the gun he'd strapped over his shoulder earlier. The smaller gave it a nervous glance, knowing that it would take at least five seconds to sling it off and aim the weapon. And in that time the guard would have already planted seven bullet holes in his chest.

Grunting in disapproval it suddenly ripped the gun off of Cross' shoulder, earning a yelp from him, and a yell from the guard.

"Put the weapon down!" They called warily, watching as the alien stared down at the military weapon in confusion and twisting it. Cross swallowed and slipped behind Nightmare quickly, his fingers digging into his side warily.

"I said- put the weapon d-hEY--!" They stumbled back in surprise as the beast yeeted the heavy gun down at him, the barrel hitting him square in the face. He stumbled a little, shocked, before he collapsed to the ground suddenly, limp.

Cross let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding, a grin forming on his face as he momentarily hugged it. "Yes! You did it!"

It looked down at him in surprise, unsure what he was supposed to be gaining by pressing his face into his chest and squeezing. Frowning, it gently nudged the small boy off him, earning an embarrassed apology it didn't understand.

"R-Right, sorry. We need to go." He tugged it up the last few steps and broke out into a sprint upon hearing shouts from the bottom. More guards were here.

"Quick!" He scrambled to the door he came in from as quick as possible, his grip on the creature's hand loosening as he grabbed onto the handle and tugged. It stayed firm, locked. "Nononono!"

He yanked at it desperately, the door not even shifting. Even when he leaned back and pulled with all his might, nothing happened. Panicking, he risked a glance behind them, the thundering sound of twenty guards marching up the steps drowning him. He gave a terrified look at the creature, knowing this well could be the end of the line for both of them.

It stared down at him before casually pushing him aside, the skeleton toppling over and sent sprawling to the floor. Shaking it's head in disgust at his pitying strength, it slammed its tentacles into the door.

It was sent flying off its hinges, clattering out onto the sandy floor outside with a bang. Sunlight streamed into the corridor and it hissed, shrinking back a bit. After being held up inside for so long, it most likely wasn't used to so much brightness.

However as soon as the door opened rapid gunfire sounded and Cross screamed, flattening himself down against the floor as much as he could as bullets ricocheted off the floor and walls.

A screech sounded from the creature and it stared at the guards positioned outside, its 'lips' curling back in a snarl before it launched at them, the bullets doing nothing. Cross could hear yells and cries from outside, the bullets slowly reducing to nothing as they abandoned their guns and ran. They didn't get far.

Pushing up off of the floor, Cross staggered to the doorway in time to see the beast rip a bloody chunk of flesh from a man's chest and throw it across the dusty courtyard.

He ran out and flinched at the sound of gunshots from behind, the second volley of guards having reached the top of the stairs. Diving to the side he pressed his back up against the wall, bullets whipping past his blood drenched shoulder and hitting the walls opposite meaninglessly.

He froze as a shadow loomed over him, but relaxed slightly as he saw that it was just the monster. It cast it's gaze down the tunnel where the guards were charging towards them, it's body soaked in blood and expression annoyed.

Grunting, it took hold of Cross' arm roughly, disregarding the hiss of pain and squirming it got in response. It pulled him into his chest quickly and stepped back, growling loudly as the first row of guards erupted from the doorway with all weapons pointed at them.

It's four tentacles coiled protectively around the boy, the beast's hands now resting on his shoulders and gripping tightly. His wounded arm stung like hell, but Cross knew better than to move their position. Currently he found himself completely covered by the tentacles from the ankles up to his shoulders, only his feet and skull visible behind the slime.

One person stepped out, dressed in one of your cliché lab coats. They had greasy black hair and olive skin, their eyes dark and cruel. "Come on now N16HTM4R3. Leave that boy, and we'll take you back to your cell."

It hissed lowly, eye narrowed to a slit and tentacles sliding further around Cross' small figure. That was a no.

He frowned and slowly brought something from his pocket, a long shining injection needle reflecting in the hot Nevadan sunlight.

This time it growled, staring at the needle with pure hatred and taking a step back. Cross shuffled with it, soul pounding loudly in his chest and vision spinning. How were they going to get out of this one?

"Now, don't make this difficult." He muttered, stepping closer purposefully and making the creature snarl and unravel a tentacle from Cross to point at him. "This will only hurt a bit."

Cross watched nervously, his fingers digging into the tentacles and feeling them twitch lightly. His pupils darted over to all the guards that now had them surrounded, not a single exit being visible. They were trapped.

And the scientist only stepped closer and closer, forcing the both of them further back into the wall behind them that also had guards around the whole perimeter.

Getting slightly panicked, the creature looked around rapidly and hissed, hunching over like before with Cross sinking into it's slime-like body.

"Drop the boy, now." He was only three metres away, the injector never looking so threatening before.

The creature tensed as it felt the butt of a gun press against its back, it's pupil sliding back to glance at the man behind him with a growl. But that was all the scientist needed. He lunged forwards and stabbed the needle into it's arm, earning a screech.

It lashed out and slammed a tentacle into the scientist's chest, sending them flying and slamming into the nearest wall. Looking up in alarm Cross stared at it, noticing how it's gaze already seemed slightly unsure. "N-No!"

The scientist cackled and pushed himself to his feet, grinning at the two. "You won't get away now, boy."

Cross was frozen, his body trembling in the creature's grip as it loosened slightly and groaned. "Y-You- you cant do this!"

"Oh but I can~" He drawled, flicking the hair from his eyes and grinning. "There's no escape now."

Cross went to stutter something in response, but trailed off as the creature leaned down and mumbled something in his 'ear' that he couldn't understand, it sounding more like a growl than anything else. He frowned and looked up at it to ask for that to be repeated when suddenly a sharp pain stabbed into his stomach and his vision warped, spinning out of control.

He gasped and reached out blindly, his vision actually going black for a moment before it went clear once more in a flash.

Blinking rapidly and heaving, he felt himself fall to the floor, his hands hitting against rough concrete. Rough concrete.

Concrete.

Looking up in alarm, he saw their surroundings had completely changed. He found himself in a parking lot, empty cars littered across the large space and the night full of the sound of traffic. The lampposts all around were just starting to flicker on, the sky going pink from the sunset.

A groan sounded from behind him and he jolted, turning just in time to see the creature fall to it's knees. It looked tired and confused, barely able to stay up on it's knees.

Cross frowned in concern and pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the twisting pain he felt in his chest and gripping onto it's shoulders. "Wh- Are you okay? I- Did you teleport?"

It hummed something weakly and leaned against him, it's eye half lidded and drowsy. Cross grunted at the weight and looked around quickly, his eyes widening as he saw a car parked a few spaces away. It was his car. This was where he'd parked up before coming to join the raid.

He couldn't help the laugh of relief that left his mouth, his soul welling up with hope at the sight of it. They could get out of here. "Look it's my car! Come on!"

He gripped onto the creature's arm and dragged it along, the poor alien groaning in protest and stumbling on it's knees behind him. Whatever it had been injected in had clearly been some sort of sleep drug, it's efforts sluggish and tired. "We only have to walk to that car, okay? I promise that's it."

It met his eyes shakily, looking more scared than he'd seen it be before. Frowning, Cross stopped and crouched down in front of him, his hand gently pressing against the taller's trembling one. "Hey, it's okay... I'm not going to hurt you, and they're not going to get you... I promise."

He slung his bag from his shoulders and rooted through it, finding his car keys after a moment of fumbling and unlocking the vehicle.

It clearly couldn't understand Cross, but the skeleton's voice was calm and smooth, gentle and caring instead of the harsh barking tones it was used to back in the cell. So it let him drag itself into the car, splaying across the backseats clumsily and groaning.

Cross gave it a little nod of comfort before skirting round the outside of the car to the front seat, the key stabbing into the ignition and sparking up quickly. The engine rumbled to life and the headlight flashed on, illuminating the parking lot.

From the back the creature groaned weakly and poked his leg with a tentacle, not understanding where it was or what was happening. Cross reached a hand down and gently squeezed the tip of it reassuringly while reversing out of the parking spot and driving out, his breathing finally starting to relax. "It's okay, we've made it. They can't get us now."

The car drove slowly out of the car park, Cross indicating as they took a right turn onto the highway and joining the other slow crawling cars in the evening rush hour queue. The oreo glanced back at the creature through the wing mirror, thumb rubbing the tentacle in his grasp.

It looked tired, it's eye heavy and a slit, the blue pupil glancing warily across the car in exhausted confusion. Clearly it didn't want to fall asleep in this strange place, not being able to confirm where it'd wake up after, which Cross could understand. It was probably worried that it'd be dragged back into the dark, confining cell while vulnerable and asleep.

He continued to talk softly all the way home, attempting to reassure the half consciousness alien. It seemed to relax a little when he spoke, liking the soft sound of his voice. It made it feel safe.

At some point while driving home he heard the sound of police sirens, his mind immediately spiralling into panic for a few good seconds before the flashing car zoomed past without even registering his existence.

He sank back into his seat and relaxed, his eyes darting off the road for a second to check on the creature again. It seemed asleep now, an arm hanging limply off of the seats and tentacles draping. It's eye was fully closed now, breathing deep and slow. "That's better..."

Three hours later they finally made it home, Cross himself feeling rather sleepy. He pulled up in his driveway and took out the keys, cutting the engine. He dragged himself out the door and threw the backpack over his shoulder, yawning. He trekked round the side to the back doors and pulled it open to reveal the snoozing beast inside.

"Hey, we're here now..." He leaned over and gently shook it's shoulder. It grumbled and swatted his hand away weakly, it's eye opening blearily to look at him.

"C'mon, the living room will be much comfier than here, I swear." He tugged it's arm and smiled weakly, his own eyes feeling heavy with the longing of sleep.

It made minor protests, but eventually slid out of the car, its limbs seeming heavy and useless as Cross pulled it along to the front door. It slumped against the wall as Cross unlocked it, trying it's best to shake the thick cobwebs from it's mind with no success.

Pushing it open, Cross wrapped an arm around the creature's waist and guided it inside, bowing with the dead weight of a seven ft alien slumped over him. They bumped into the walls and banged their hips on his furniture, it taking three attempts for Cross to even turn on the light switch

They staggered into the living room and Cross groaned, shoving the creature off of him and toppling onto his double sofa. It blinked sleepily in surprise, looking up at him.

"Don't worry, I won't make you walk anymore. You can rest now." He gently pressed the palm of his hand against it's cheek, rubbing it with a thumb before pulling away. He trudged over to the box of old blankets and wraps he kept behind the TV and dragged two out at random.

Then walking back over to the tired alien he draped it over it's body. It gave a weary glance down at it, but didn't do anything more, clearly too out of it to bother.

The skeleton gave a loud yawn and draped the blanket round his shoulders. He walked over to the light switch and flicked it off before collapsing on the small couch he had, too lazy to walk all the way upstairs. He curled up on it and stared at the creature, its blue eye glowing dully in the dark. It stared at him silently, eye fluttering.

He smiled a little and got comfy, watching as it's eye fell shut properly this time.

"Night, Sleep well..."

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6,508 words holy--

This idea originated started off as a crackhead meme, but now I'm kinda obsessed-–

The hand pressing, stairs and car moment actually made my heart melt and I'm the fricking author like shsghsnshdusudxkhxhsbsjxhd

I kinda o unhealthily love how Nightmare could rip an armed man to pieces without batting a non-existent eyelash but is also scared of stairs like lmaooodhxjwuxgshsjxhjdjehxhdjdjsnsyx

Anyways I have like three more chapters planned for this so uh watch this concept take over the book-

Seriously though I hope you enjoyed it cuz I honestly had far too much fun writing it and it turned out way longer than I expected.

E x p e c t m o r e s o o n

And oml don't even get me started on how annoying it is to write "it" instead of "him" every time Nightmare fucking breathed like it's so frustrating--

But we'll be Bacc to normal pronouns soon uwu

Okie byeeeeeeieusyzhsjushds

(Now 6,666 words, take that Devil)

-Jess-