Together with you

Nightmare

*Disclaimer*

This story is a continuation of the previous one and takes place the day after the "punishment night".

*Trigger warning*

There are some graphic descriptions of battles and bodies. Viewer discretion is advised.

*

"What's taking you so long?" Zhao barked at Lin Jing, who was typing on his laptop, gathering data from his fancy equipment.

"Boss, I swear I'm running all the tests at once. The computer needs time to analyse it. Just ten more seconds."

Zhao clenched his jaw, helplessly watching Shen Wei lying motionlessly on the cold surface of Lin Jing's lab table, wearing only the underwear he usually slept in. Multiple cords and wires were hooked to the unconscious man's head and body, measuring all his vitals. Zhao was losing his mind with worry.

The night before, after all the evening fun, he and Shen Wei had taken a long shower, and they both went to sleep. In the morning, Yunlan woke up to an unresponsive lover lying by his side. What was even worse, strange dark mist-like energy enshrouded Shen Wei, curling and twisting menacingly. It wasn't his usual power that Zhao knew and grew accustomed to. This one seemed like a wild animal holding its prey, ready to lash out at any moment.

Without wasting time, Zhao called Lin Jing, and they decided the best way of action would be to check Wei's vitals at the SID lab. The first shock came when they couldn't bring Shen Wei inside the SID Headquarters because all the security measures activated in full blast trying to defend the place. Lin Jing had to create an exemption to allow the professor inside. And even then, the flashing red warning lights didn't go out, unnerving them.

"Boss, I've got the first readings!" Lin Jing exclaimed, staring at the monitor. "They don't seem that bad. I mean, his blood pressure is relatively low, but in Professor Shen's case, it's perfectly normal. Other vitals indicate massive blood loss, but you did mention it had happened. Hmm. I am still unsure about the weird energy source. It seems to be coming from him. It also seems hostile, yet doesn't actively attack as if held in check. What I can now say for sure is that he is actively dreaming."

"What?" Yunlan looked from Lin Jing to Shen Wei and back again. "But he doesn't dream. Never has."

"Well, he is now," the scientist pointed at one of the monitors. "This is his brain activity. Notice this active area. We like to call it the posterior cortical hot zone. It's a region that includes visual areas as well as areas involved in integrating the senses. And his hippocampus is on fire! He's using his memories like crazy!"

Zhao stared at the seahorse-shaped area of Shen Wei's brain, lighting up in flares on the computer screen. The mere fact that they could get any readings at all from a man usually so well-guarded was alarming.

After analysing some new data, Lin Jing swallowed hard, casting nervous glances at Yunlan.

"What is it?" The detective asked, sensing bad news.

"It's not all the time... I mean, It's not constant or anything. These are just flare-ups, but. Here. See? The insula, here and here in the prefrontal cortex. Those parts are responsible for pain."

"What?!" Yunlan looked aghast. "You mean he is not simply sleeping but also physically suffering?"

"I wish I had better news, boss," Lin Jing shook his head. "But as I said, those are sporadic."

"We need to wake him up," Yunlan decided.

"Sure. But how? Also..." the scientist looked sceptically at the dark mist surrounding the unconscious professor. "That doesn't look good. I need to run more tests and check if that energy isn't affecting us in any way."