I am not who you think

Nightmare night

He laid with his back against the wall behind him. Exhaustion made his bones ache. For the last few days he been running on little sleep. Shallow catnaps only. No real sleep.

Legend laid next to his master till his breath evened out. He was asleep and the big dog got off the bed, laying down on the floor facing the door.

Silence followed his departure from the kitchen. "What happened to my brother?" North voice was raw with emotion. It didn't go unnoticed to him that Luke hardly smiled during dinner.

"Good question. Is that even really Luke?" Nathan asked. He got stared down by North and a few of his other brothers. "For all we know it could be someone impersonating as Luke." He pushed on in spite of the glaring. He didn't like how Luke spoke to him. Luke has always backed down from him.

"He reminds me of the war veterans I work with." Victor added. North frowned. "Luke has never been in the army." He stated. Victor shooked his head. "We don't know where he has been or what happened to him at all. I seen that over cautious and dead look before." Victor reasoned. And he hated that he saw it on Luke's face.

"We need a family meeting." Sang spoke up. "But preferably when Owen and Sean can be part of it." "And Luke preferable not." Gabriel's voice was quiet. He didn't say much the whole evening. Just watched as his best friend that he thought as dead sit across from him.

"He is underfed. He also hardly ate anything. He also looked like one of the victims we rescue and that doesn't sit well with me. He doesn't trust us." Silas spoke up. It actually hurt how guarded Luke was.

"What ever we do, pushing him for answers may just make things worse or force him to run. I lost him once, I'll be dambed to lose him again." Kota had that it is final sound in his voice.

"We will see what Owen and Sean says."  He added. They all looked at North as he swore. "He covered the camera. How did he know where it was?"

He came clean about putting cameras in their rooms and was made to remove them by Owen. That only happened after Luke's abduction. He never removed the one in his room.

Shortly after they all went their separate ways. Victor and Silas, sleeping in Sang's bed as she didn't want to be alone.

North could not sleep. On the way to the kitchen he heard a muffled scream coming from Luke room. His reaction was instant. Wrenching the door open he was met by a growling dog. The animal let him pass though as he moved to a thrashing Luke.

The moment his hand touched Luke shoulder, he was pushed back with power and found himself on the floor, a knife at his throat and Luke was staring at him, no recognition in those brown, hard eyes.

"Luke it's me." He kept his voice calm staying dead still. What Victor said suddenly made sense. This was what veterans described. This Luke was deadly. And there was no doubt in his mind that Luke would push down on that knife. "Come on big brother. It's me, North."

As fast as he was on him, Luke let go and moved till his back hit the opposite wall before he slid down and curled up in a ball. His breathing came out ragged and he was shaking. The dog was at his side whining. Luke was having a panic attack. North moves carefully.

"Bro I need you to calm down. Breath with me. In and out. In and out." Luke followed his instructions. Carefully he pulled Luke up. Being careful not to touch him too much. The knife was laying on the floor.

Slowly he got Luke to calm down. Luke was still shaking. "I could have killed you." His brother voice was soft and there was a sound of terror in his voice.

"It was my fault. And you didn't." North kept calm. His inner agitation would only make it worse. He remembered dealing with Sang's panic attacks. What exactly happened to Luke to cause this? He needed to speak to Sean.

Luke's phone rang. "Ben." Luke mumbled between gasps. North picked up the phone and sure enough the contact id read Ben. But Luke was in no state to answer a call so he did.

"Put on the speaker. I need to talk to Luke." Part of him wanted to tell who ever this Ben was to shove it. That Luke was having a bad moment and she, cause it was definitely a woman's voice, should phone back tomorrow. Instead he found himself doing what she said. And she started to speak to Luke in the same language he spoke to his dog in.

He watched as Luke calmed down and started to talk back. His breathing became more normal, the wild look on his face and eyes started to disappear. All that was left was tiredness. Luke looked drained.

"Are you still there?" The voice asked. This person had a very Irish accent. "Yes." North answered. "Look Luke most likely is going to need help moving. Can you make sure he is in bed if he is not?"  

He helped Luke up. He wasn't difficult to move, he was light, which bugged North. He helped him to the bed. The dog joined him as soon as he laid down and Luke's finger grabbed onto the animal coat.

Something more was said in the infernal foreign language and North watched as his brother close his eyes, his head pressed close to the massive animal's side. The huge dog whined and licked his ear.

"Don't leave him alone. He rarely has these attacks but when they hit.... He don't like being touched though."

"I figured that out. I tried and had a knife pressed to my throat." North mumbled as he watched Luke fall asleep. There was a short silence and then a sigh. "And he is going to beat himself up for it in the morning. Look just keep an eye for him. Sometimes it's a really bad night and the nightmares come more than once."

"And you will know this how?" North voice was hard and cold. "Cause we share the same nightmares.  He has always been there for me when mine hits. We return the favor. If he start dreaming again order Legend to wake him up That's what family kind of do."

"Family how? I don't know you." North watched the dog move closer to his brother as he twitched. "Look we will be there tomorrow, Uncle and me and I can explain better. I'm as exhausted as Luke and your Uncle is starting at me...."

"The girl has a point. We will see you tomorrow nephew. I need to see your brother."

North felt the knot in his throat. "Luke is different Uncle. I don't know how to explain." "You don't have to I know. See you tomorrow North." There was a click as his uncle disconnected the call.

Running his hand through his chin long hair, North slipped out to his room. He grabbed his pillow and a blanket. He settled down on the couch in Luke's room.  He worried about his brother. It took a long time for North Taylor to fall asleep.