Tina stared drowsily at the ceiling. It had to be past midnight now, and she was still lying awake. She was incredibly tired, but sleep didn't seem willing to come and claim her. She sighed, and grabbed a fistful of her borrowed blanket from Newt and inhaled the scent, vainly hoping that it would help her sleep. The comforting and familiar smell soothed her, though it was somewhat faded now.
Tina leaned into the back of the couch and turned onto her side, curling up into a tight ball. She shut her eyes and tried to summon a wave of sleep to sweep her away, like the ebb and flow of the ocean. After a few minutes, she unconsciously fluttered open her eyes again, and a pit of frustration grew inside of her.
As she was considering getting up to make some hot chocolate or even to take a walk, a startling and drawn out yell reverberated through the still night air. Tina tumbled off the couch in a tangle of limbs and blankets. Fear swept over her, as she was certain the sound had come from Newt. After all, there was nobody else in the apartment.
Unless he's being attacked!
Another yell echoed eerily through the house, and Tina stumbled to her feet, and snatched up her wand, which was lying on the table. She sprinted to Newt's bedroom as if she had wings attached to her ankles.
Not bothering to be stealthy, she slammed open his door with her wand raised, poised and ready to strike at the first sign of danger. Instead, she saw no one else in the room but Newt. A tiny trace of relief swept through her, to be chased away again when the Englishman let out another cry that sliced the air in two.
Tina darted over to his bed, the worst of possibilities racing through her mind. Maybe he was having a heart attack, or a stroke, or suffering from unknown internal bleeding. Newt was writhing in his bed, his hands flailing blindly at an invisible enemy. He whimpered and shook his head furiously, his hair flying all over the place. He kept on mumbling something under her breath, repeating something that sounded like, "No, please, don't hurt her, hurt me instead, please no!"
Tina realized that he was having a nightmare and sighed, grateful that nothing more threatening had been lurking in his room. She lowered herself quietly onto the edge of his bed and set down her wand on his weathered nightstand. Then, concern flooded into her. Hesitating for a split second, she reached out and gripped his shoulder, shaking him lightly but firmly.
"Newt," she whisper-shouted. "Newt, wake up. You're dreaming, it's a nightmare!"
Newt jerked and his eyes flashed open, the green orbs wild with fear. He stared at Tina as though she was a ghost, and screamed loudly and violently, "No, don't hurt her!"
"Newt!" Tina cried. "You're awake, it's over. It was just a dream."
Newt continued to stare blankly at her like she didn't exist. He seemed to be frozen to the spot, rooted the the ground by a force that only he could see. Finally, he blinked and reached out slowly to stroke her cheek.
"You're real," he breathed. "You're alive..."
"What are you talking about?" Tina asked sharply, baffled and frightened. "Of course I'm alive. Why would you think I'm–"
Understanding dawned on her, and she realized that he had been having a nightmare about her. He had been muttering and pleading for her mercy. Something horrible must have happened to me in that dream to make him beg like that...
"Oh, Newt," Tina murmured. "I'm right here."
His fingers still lingered on her face, and they were clammy and cold. Newt was shaking, his complexion pale and waxy. Beads of sweat appeared at his forehead, and his brown hair was dishelved and strewn about. His breathing was heavy and erratic, his chest heaving with every gasping breath.
"I'm right here," Tina repeated softly.
She moved closer to him, and without warning, a pair of arms roughly pulled her to his chest, enveloping her in a desperate and constricting hug. Newt buried his nose into her shoulder, and tugged her so close that she was now sitting directly beside him.
"You're real," he echoed. "Tina, you're real. You're alive and safe."
Tina rubbed his back reassuringly, moving her palm around in small, repetitive circles. She felt him shuffle closer, tightening his hold around her waist. His head rested on her shoulder, and he was swallowing rapidly. She kissed him on the cheek, and wrapped her arms around him to return the hug.
This gesture seemed to calm Newt ever so slightly. He was slowly stopping to shiver. His breath had grown more regular and consistent, and he no longer had to fight to draw air into his lungs. He was warming up in her embrace too, the icy coldness fading slowly away from his skin.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Tina asked gently.
Newt stayed silent for several long minutes. "It was Grindelwald. He had you, chained up to a stake," he began hesitantly in a shaky voice. "We were both wandless, and Grindelwald, he had the Elder Wand. He kept on firing all sorts of curses and jinxes at you, Tina, and I was just standing there, unable to move, unable to help. And – and you were screaming, so heartrendingly, and Grindelwald – he just stood there and laughed. And I couldn't do anything, Tina, I couldn't move!"
He drew in a deep, shuddering breath, and continued. "He had me bound by some brand of magic, I was immobile and he kept on tortuirng and torturing you. You – you were screaming and crying and I couldn't even do a single thing. And then, once he was – was done with the torture, he set fire to the stake you were tied to, just like the Salem Witch Trials. The flames were surrounding you, and they kept on rising higher and higher and I – I couldn't do a single thing....not one single thing..."
Newt gulped, uncried tears making his eyes shine in the dark. "And at last, the fire – it covered you, and you were – you were gone..."
Tina swallowed, forcing down a lump in her throat. She brought her hand up to Newt's messy mass of hair, stroking and combing it gently back into place.
"It was just a nightmare, Newt. It – it wasn't real," she whispered.
"It felt real," he murmured quietly, his voice breaking. "I can't bear to lose you, Tina. What if I did, and it was all my fault?"
A sharp stab of pain and grief pierced into her heart. Tina hated to see Newt like this, so broken, so helpless and so deep in despair. "You'd never lose me. I'm here, and here to stay," she said.
Newt didn't respond, but pulled her closer to him so that their bodies were pressed together. He nestled into the crook between her neck and shoulder, and Tina could tell that he needed to be comforted further, to be assured. She hugged him tighter.
"You'll never lose me. I'll try my hardest to stay alive if I ever get into danger, and my hardest is pretty hard, Newt," she said softly. "You would never, ever lose me, and I would never lose you, either."
"How do you know?" he challenged, defeat and fright clear in his gaze.
"I have a feeling inside me telling me so," she replied insistently. It was true. She could feel a relentless confidence tugging at her gut, telling her that everything would be alright in the end, and it kept on tugging, and tugging, and tugging. "And my instincts are never wrong."
"Can you promise you'll never truly leave me?" Newt whispered, his voice wobbling precariously. "Promise me, Tina..."
"I will never truly leave you," she said firmly, but gently. "I promise."
A sense of peace lulled over her as she said these words. She couldn't remember making a promise that had an actual meaning to her in a long time.
"And I will never truly leave you. I promise," Newt murmured into her shoulder.
Tina believed him with all her heart. They stayed like that for a long time, enveloped in each other's warm and bracing arms, rocking slowly together back and forth. The American witch heard Newt inhale deeply, and when he let the stream of air out, he seemed to be letting go of many other dark feelings along with it.
Tina closed her eyes, and she sensed Newt do the same beside her. They shared their warmth, and everywhere they were touching, it was as though they had melded together. Gradually, their breathing lightened, each drawing comfort from the close presence of the other. Together, they fell asleep intertwined and connected in every possible way, and made their way into the unknown black depths not as two seperate beings, but as one merged soul.