Chapter Text
Lucifer Kane woke with a start to the sound of shouting.
Brutus Feels shouting, to be specific.
It had been about a month since they reunited after their adventures in Wonderland, and they had easily settled back into routine. Oddly enough, there hadn't been any new clients, or cases. It'd been a pretty quiet month, which was welcome news, and gave the two detectives time to catch up.
Recently though, for the past few nights, Brutus had begun having terrible nightmares again. Awful ones that would leave him shaking and have him waking up screaming.
So Kane hopped out of bed, and walked carefully down the hall, trying to compose himself enough to comfort Brutus.
He pushed the door open gently, peering in. Sure enough, there was Brutus, curled against the wall, legs drawn up to his chest, with his face tucked between his knees. He jumped slightly as Kane picked his way across his room and flicked on the lamp next to the bed.
"Hey, Luce." he said, his soft voice muffled in the blanket and shaking like Kane had never heard before.
He sat down next to Brutus on the bed and looked him over. He seemed very small in that moment, all folded up. He tilted his face up to look at Kane, and he saw that Brutus had been... crying.
Oh.
His face was flushed and wet with tears, and he looked exhausted. He sighed heavily, and maybe with relief, unfurled from his position against the wall, and leaned his head on Kane's shoulder.
Kane flinched slightly at this, but then relaxed, and put his arm around him. "Do you... need to talk about it?" He asked hesitantly, unsure of how Brutus would react.
Brutus Feels was silent for a long moment.
"There was.. a man." He said finally, voice cracking a bit. "And.. and a town, in America, I think, and there was- there was um.. there was aliens I th- I think? And there were eyes." His voice got very low and quiet, and thick with fear. "There were so many eyes, Luce. They were red and burning and they knew I didn't belong there, and th-"
Kane interrupted him, his voice sharp and steady. "Where? You didn't belong where, Brutus?" He hated himself for sounding so mean and commanding, but Brutus would ramble on for ages unless he corralled him and his thoughts.
Brutus drew in a shaky breath. "The, um.. the twilight z-zone? Where um.. where Alice was? The.. the Void."
Kane felt a chill go up his spine, but Brutus wasn't finished.
His voice was dark, and low, and.. scary. "There was a man in the Void. He was trapped, just like Alice. I saw him, Luce, he was just standing there, and he turned to me, and he looked so so scared. He asked me, 'Is anyone looking for me? Does anyone know where I am?' I told him that I didn't know, and he was quiet for a very long time. 'My name is Jack Wright. Please, is anyone looking for me? Do you know Sammy? Sammy Stevens? Blonde, tall, blue eyes, he has a sleeve tattoo? On his right arm, please you have to- ' as he talked, he tried to walk towards me, and I tried to reach out, to grab hold of him, to help him, but he faded away, still asking me frantically if I knew... if I knew-" Brutus's grey-blue eyes filled with tears. "I couldn't save him, Luce. I couldn't.. I couldn't save him. It was like Alice all over again, I lost him."
He shook, holding back tears, and Kane frowned. The details of his dream seemed far too specific, yet again. This was not the first time Brutus had encountered this "Jack Wright". In fact, all of his recent nightmares had involved the Void, and Jack, and a town that Kane understood to be called "King Falls."
"It's going to be okay, Brutus. We'll crack this case, just as we do with all the others. Do you think you can fall back asleep?" Kane asked, voice soft (for once).
Brutus hesitated. "Do you think- do you think you could sit in here with me? Just until I um- just until I fall back asleep."
Kane sighed and nodded. "Of course."
Brutus looked at him, relieved and grateful, and lay back down, curling up with his back to Kane. It only took a few minutes for him to begin snoring softly, and Kane almost laughed.
He was hesitant to leave though, for as much as he acted standoffish and as rude as he could be, he really did worry and care for his friend. He knew how bad Brutus's nightmares were, and he didn't feel right abandoning him.
What if he had another nightmare?
So Lucifer Kane settled against the wall, one hand on Brutus's back, just as a reassurance, and took out his phone, and pulled up Google.
Using one hand, he typed in "King Falls Sammy Stevens"
He pressed search, and gasped softly as it popped up.
"Gotcha."