Pretty Little Arrows

Panic!

Night had finally arrived and everyone had returned home for the evening. Spencer seemed to have exhausted herself with the gathering of her friends and their families so she was more then ready to head to bed. However, neither Veronica nor Peter were sure if their daughter would actually get some sleep as it was her first night home so Peter was rather reluctant to retire to the barn. He would much rather sleep on the couch so he could actually hear if his little girl was in distress. Unfortunately, he knew arguing was out of the picture because they wanted to give Spencer a stable environment with no drama of any kind. So, heaving a heavy sigh, Peter headed to the barn for the night.

Melissa made sure to leave her door partially open to better hear in case Spencer needed her before she too headed off to bed. She didn't really want to leave her little sister all by herself, however, according to Dr. Sullivan Spencer needed to feel that she had some control over her environment. That meant that none of them were supposed to smother her with their presence by being around her 24/7. As such, they had to allow Spencer to slip off to her own room alone while the rest of them gave her a little space.

Veronica checked in with Melissa first before gravitating towards Spencer's room. She still couldn't really believe that she had her little girl back once more. Veronica had long since given up hope of ever seeing Spencer again when it had all but been confirmed that it was highly unlikely anyone survived the Gambit sinking. When she had first been notified, she had been adamant that Spencer was still alive, that she had somehow survived it. She had survived everything else that got thrown at her, why not this?

But as time passed, Veronica began to lose hope and with it, she found herself overwhelmed with grief so strong that she couldn't even leave her own bed at times. It took several strong, swift kicks to the ass from both Peter and Melissa to knock some sense back into her. Afterwards, Veronica decided to live the rest of her life trying to do as much good as she could in Spencer's honor; working around the clock on hopeless cases while praying that Spencer could, at the very least, be proud of all that she had done.

Veronica stood at the bedroom door as she saw her daughter passed out in the fetal position on the floor next to her open bedroom window. Just before she found herself questioning why Spencer would rather sleep on her bedroom floor than her own bed, the older woman recalled a recent conversation that she had had with Dr. Sullivan. Going from having a bed to sleeping on hard, cold ground and then back to a bed again probably isn't easy for Spencer and the bed may be too soft for her at the moment. With that in mind, Veronica lingered for a moment before finally leaving for her own room. She had a feeling, though, that she would get woken long before her alarm went off and given the events that transpired hours later, she wished she had been wrong.

It was around 2:30 in the morning when Veronica found her eyes snapping open in full alertness. She stayed still for a moment as she tried to recall why she had awoken so abruptly before the feeling of unease washed over her. She found herself growing restless as she rose from her bed before slipping on her robe and leaving her room. Veronica had long since come to trust her maternal instincts that went off whenever something was off with one of her girls and tonight was no different.

She found herself gravitating to Spencer's cracked bedroom door before she even realized what she was doing. She knew she had made the right move when she opened the door to find Spencer in the middle of a vicious nightmare with her face pinched with fear and pain. As she took several steps inside the room, she noticed the howling wind and rain that was making an entrance into her daughter's room. Veronica took action and quickly closed the windows before returning to Spencer once more. Heeding the doctors orders to not touch Spencer when she's in the throes of a nightmare, Veronica lowered herself to the floor before speaking loudly and firmly to her daughter.

"Spencer, honey, wake up."

Seeing the continued pained expression on Spencer's face sent spikes of heartache through Veronica. Taking a breathe, she resumed coaxing her daughter out of whatever hell she was currently trapped in.

"It's ok, sweetheart, you're home."

"You're safe... you're not on the island anymore."

Speaking even more louder and more firmer, she gave it one more go.

"Spencer, honey, wake up!"

At those words , Spencer sprung up with wild eyes and heavy breathing. Sensing another person in the room, Spencer quickly moved; shuffling backwards, like a scared caged animal, until her back hit the wall. Seeing the wild, unfocused look in her daughter's eyes paralyzed Veronica for a moment before she shook herself and spoke up to ease her daughter's panic.

"Spencer, honey, it's ok. It's me...mom. You're home, in your bedroom, where nothing can hurt you."

Spencer's eyes found her mothers upon hearing those words while emitting a strangled sob. Veronica struggled to keep herself calm as she took in the pain and fear that ran rampant in her daughter's expression; trying to be calm in the storm that was her daughter's panic.

"That's right, sweetheart. You're home and you're safe."

Through haggard breathing, Spencer finally spoke up.

"Mom?"

Taking a sigh of relief that Spencer was coming back to her, Veronica reassured her daughter once more.

"Yes, honey, it's me. It's just you and me."

Spencer's eyes moved frantically around the room before returning back to her mother and speaking up.

"Talk to me."

Those words confused her mother as she didn't expect them to come out of her mouth with such desperation.

"What?"

"Talk to me. It doesn't matter what you say. Just talk to me."

Hesitating for a moment, it suddenly hit Veronica why her daughter was begging her to talk to her. She needed her mother to distract her from whatever hell was raging inside her mind. Veronica was more than willing to help her daughter out and if talking would help, then she would talk.

So she started to talk, if you asked Veronica what she said to her, she would tell you that she couldn't remember. All she did was move her mouth and talk about everything and nothing as she was too focused on Spencer to really think about what she was saying. It seemed to be working too because Veronica could see her youngest start to calm down and slow her breathing to a more acceptable and normal rate.

Next thing she knew, Spencer lunged towards her mother and buried her head in Veronica's chest while wrapping her arms tightly around her back. Veronica responded in kind and held Spencer firmly against her while slowly rocking them both back and forth; running her fingers through her daughter's hair and rubbing her back as she continued to soothe her.

"It's alright sweetheart, you're safe. It's over, honey. It's over."

Once she was satisfied that Spencer had calmed down, Veronica suggested that they returned to bed. Upon receiving a hesitant nod from her daughter, she got them both up before getting them settled in Spencer's bed. After realizing that her mother wasn't going to leave her, Spencer snuggled into her side and buried her head into Veronica's neck.

It took some time before Spencer finally fell back to sleep, allowing Veronica to take a deep breath; relaxing as she took in the laxed and fear free look on her little girls face. Ten minutes later found the older woman fast asleep as she held onto her daughter wrapped securely in her arms; the house falling silent once more.