#he is Echo and Hunter’s sleep paralysis demon

[here-comes-the-moose]

I don’t know why, but Crosshair gives me the vibe that if his stomach hurt, he’s making sure EVERYONE on the ship knows.

[kyber-kisses]

Sleep Demons

Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: sleep paralysis, nightmares, cursing. That good ol angst and fluff

Summary: Being a hunter, nightmares are just another part of the gig, the only problem? The readers are worst than most.

A/n: Once again, I’m throwing another Dean comfort!fic at you. (Try and stop me.) anyways, hope you guys enjoy and my SPN taglist is still open! I also based this off my own experience with sleep paralysis.

Nightmares were the bane of your existence.

You would think that being a hunter for so long that you wouldn’t be afraid of anything. You had seen everything from ghosts to the very devil himself. . . So what exactly was left to be afraid of? You would have thought the answer would be simple, but it wasn’t. It was about as long and complicated as the life itself.

As a life long hunter the days can easily blur together, and many times it can feel like you haven’t slept for days, but when sleep did come it was rarely ever relaxing. That was when the nightmares replaced the horrors of the waking hours, weaseling their way into every crack and crevice of your mind and paralyzing you with fear. . . Literally.

Your nightmares were worst than what most people had. They were twisted and warped and strong enough to partially make it into your conscious. Most of them were about people you had failed, people you had lost- and then there were the ones about people you were afraid to lose. Like Sam and Dean.

But the absolute worst ones were the sleep paralysis demons that came much too often. It was usually the same shadowy figure sitting at the edge of your bed when it happened. You had done some research on it when sleep didn’t come at all only to find out that it was the concoction of your body waking up but your brain still in dreaming mode, resulting in your nightmares being projected into the real world.

The end result was that the nightmares disrupted your sleep cycle and tried to jerk you out of it early, leaving your body in lock down mode while you were fully conscious. You had lost count of how many times you found yourself paralyzed in your bed. Sometimes you would even try to scream but nothing happened. The noise unable to escape your throat.

You of course didn’t tell the brothers of your problem. . . Especially Dean. He could usually read you like an open book but you tried hard to keep this hidden. You were a hunter. Hunters didn’t get scared. You didn’t need anyone’s judgment- so you suffered in silence.

And that’s the way it stayed for a very long time.

*. *. *. *. *. *.

“Y/N?. . . Y/N!” Dean sighed, his voice raising as he snapped his fingers in front of your face, snapping you out of your zoned out state. He had been talking to you for the past five minutes but only now noticed your lack of attention.

Blinking out of your thoughts, you looked across the table at Dean, finding his face screwed up in concern. “What?”

“I’ve been talking to you for the last five minutes- what the hell is going on with you?”

Shit. He was on to you. He knew something was up. Quick, feed him a lie.

“I’m fine! Just thinking about the case.”

At that you watched Deans face fall further, eyes filling up even more with concern. “Y/N we aren’t working a case. Now tell me the truth.”

In truth Dean had been concerned about you for awhile now. The bags under your eyes were there more often than not and this wasn’t the first time you had zoned out. He just didn’t know what was wrong specifically.

“Dean, I’m fine!”

The older Winchester let out a deep sigh, crossing his arms over the table as he leaned forward. “You’re sitting here drinking coffee at 11:30 at night. Sweetheart that ain’t fine.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. “I’m just. . . So into this research. It’s a real attention grabber. Didn’t want to pass out.”

The hunter across from you rolled his eyes, clearly not taking the bait. “Well hate to burst your bubble there but that’s decaf.”

“Sam-“ you grumbled in annoyance, shoving the useless drink away from you along with your book. This whole conversation was turning into a train wreck. “I’m gonna kill him.”

The faint trances of a smile crossed Deans face, even if only for a moment. “Please don’t. Sure he’s annoying at times but he’s actually a decent brother.”

He was hoping to at least get a small smile out of you. . . But nothing came. Rolling your shoulders you gave him one last look before pushing yourself out of your seat. There was no point sitting here if you were eventually going to fall asleep. Plus, you really wanted to avoid telling Dean the truth. You didn’t need to burden him with more problems.

“I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” You yawned, already dreading the coming hours. “Good night, Dean.”

You didn’t even give him a chance to answer before you were stepping out of the library and down the dim hallway towards your room, leaving Dean in silence as he watched you go, expression still heavy with concern. He wanted to run after you, make sure you were okay- but he didn’t want to pester you, not when you looked so tired. He didn’t need to annoy you. . . Especially not at this hour.

It was maybe five minutes later that Sam strode in, claiming your now vacant seat as his own, only to find his brother staring off into the distance, deep in thought.

“Dude, you okay?” He paused, seeing he had yet to catch his attention. “Dean!”

“Hmm?”

“What the hell were you thinking about? You were totally zoned out.” Leaning back in the wooden chair, he folded his arms, waiting patiently for an answer.

“Has Y/N seemed off to you lately? Like not her normal self?

There was a pause from the younger Winchester before he answered. “I mean, she has seemed more tired lately, but that’s about it. Why?”

Dean chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to decipher the problem at hand. He missed the usual you. The vibrant and energetic you. Now that he had come to think of it, he hadn’t seen that part of you in a long time. You tried to act like your usual self but Dean suddenly realized there was a tint to it. What he and Sam had been seeing these past few months was just an act.

“God, I’m such an idiot-“ he sighed, head falling forward into his hands at the realization. 

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Y/N! What else?” He half shouted, eyes darting back to the door to makes sure you weren’t listening in. “I mean, Ive been worrying about her for awhile now, but I just-.” he took a deep breath. “ Shes struggling with something.”

“Struggling with what?”

“Hell if I know!” Dean sighed, throwing his hands up. “I just tried asking her and she shut me down.”

“Then go talk to her.” Sam tried, seeing clearly that his brother wanted nothing more than to help you. Dean was always looking out for you, even if you didn’t always realize it.

“She went to bed. . . I’ll have to try talking to her in the morning.”

Sam tapped out around an hour later, going off to bed without a word, leaving Dean in a lonely silence. He was only half paying attention to the work he was doing, his eyes having gone over the same paragraph several times but not processing any of it.

It wasn’t until the clock on the opposite wall read 1:30 that he knew he had to surrender and give up. Maybe if he tried he could still squeeze in his average four hours of sleep before he had to get up and get back to work. Maybe it would help get his mind running again.

Peeling himself out of his seat and slightly stretching, Dean set off towards his own room, turning off the many lights that were still on as he went. The silence becoming almost deafening without the buzz of electricity.

It wasn’t until he was reaching for the handle of his own door that the silence was broken, a crash echoing down the hallway from the direction of your room and making him pause. Before he could register his own movements he was walking down the hall. He wasn’t sure if it was curiosity or worry that was pulling him along. Maybe it was both.

The hunter side of him wanted to throw open your door and burst in, but he kept himself calm, raising his hand to rap his knuckles against the door softly. “Y/N?” He paused, only twisting the knob a few seconds later when he didn’t get any sort of response.

He mostly expected to see you tucked under the covers and sound asleep, but instead he was met with a totally different sight.

You had your back pressed firmly into your headboard, knees tucked against you tightly while your hands were planted firmly against the headboard, almost like you had scrambled back in terror. Your eyes wide and glossed over with fear, tear stained cheeks a rosy red.

“Woah, hey. You okay?” His tone rushed as he stepped over the threshold, eyebrows knitting together in concern. He had never seen you like this and it made his stomach drop.

“Just-just a nightmare.” You panted, dragging a shaky hand down your face. “I’m sorry.”

You didn’t want to annoy him anymore than you probably already had. He needed his sleep too and now your stupid little problem had stopped him from that. You should have known this would happen sooner or later. If you had just put your damn laptop on your desk instead of leaving it on the bed, then you never would have kicked it off when you had snapped out of your paralysis.

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to apologize.” He breathed, “I get em too.” kneeling down, he picked your laptop up from the ground, setting it on your side table. Nightmares. He should have known. God, now he really did feel stupid.

“You- you can go back to bed. I’m fine.” You stuttered, looping your arms around your knees in hopes of finding some sort of comfort.

“Y/N, you’re shaking. That’s not fine. Now tell me what’s going on.”

Slowly he lowered himself to sit on the edge of your bed, watching you intently and giving all of his attention over to you. He wanted to help. He needed to help.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up. I didn’t mean to.”

“I wasn’t asleep. . . Plus I don’t sleep much as it is. Like I said, you’re not the only one who gets nightmares.”

“Oh.” You say in a lame response, looking down at your hands. You had been clenching them so hard that there were now crescent shaped divots in the skin of your palms. “I think mine can out beat yours though.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

You couldn’t bring yourself to look up at him. He was probably giving you some sort of pitiful look. “Not really. But I know that if I don’t you’ll just keep worrying about me.”

“I’m always worrying about you.” He swallowed, “ain’t nothing new there.”

“As a hunter I thought I wasn’t supposed to be afraid of anything.” You explained, tugging your comforter back over your tucked in legs. “Yet somehow damn nightmares are the thing that is tearing me apart. I think mine are worst than most.”

“Why do you think that?”

Letting out another sigh, you finally looked up, eyes locking with his jade ones. He looked concerned. He looked sad. “The sleep demons. The paralysis. They used to be rare but now it happens almost nightly.”

“I’m sorry, sleep demons?” His tone slightly raising in surprise. He wasn’t expecting to hear that. Hell, he didn’t exactly know what you were talking about.

You let out a soft hum, nodding your head in defeat. “They’re hallucinations linked to sleep paralysis. It occurs when a person is jolted awake in the middle of dreaming.” You paused, trying to find the best way of explaining it. “Basically you wake up - but your brain is still dreaming, and it projects your nightmares into the real world.”

Dean was silent for a moment, taking in the information slowly. You had been dealing with this by yourself? Alone? Why didn’t you come to him or Sam?

 “Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped you sooner.”

“Didn’t want to bother you- plus, I hate even thinking about it, Dean. Everything about it is terrifying.”

Chewing on the inside of his lip, Dean dared to venture further into the conversation. If he wanted to help you, he needed more answers. “You could never bother me. I need you to know that.” He paused. “Now what is this sleep paralysis or whatever like?”

There was a stretch of silence from your end before you answered. “Awful. In every sense of the word. The first thing I usually see when I wake up is the same shadowy figure sitting on the end of my bed. I don’t know who or what it is, all I know is that it’s a concoction that my head made up. Maybe it’s how I envision fear, I don’t know.” You shrugged. “And when it happens I can’t move. I can’t blink. I sometimes try to scream but nothing comes out. Sometimes it lasts a few seconds. Sometimes a few minutes. And the whole time I just have fear coursing through me. It’s basically like starting a dream and waking up in the middle of it.”

“Y/N, you should have come to me! You shouldn’t have to suffer alone like that!” Dean let out a sigh, giving you one of his defeated looks that made your heart break in two.

He couldn’t imagine going through what you did on a nightly basis. Being awake and not being able to move? Not having anyone to help you? Sure, he had nightmares but those were nothing like this. They were usually about losing you or Sam. . . Or about the people he had failed to save.

“I’m sorry- I just-“ you panted, unable to form words as tears formed in your eyes. You were so tired, and still so scared. Your own mind would be the thing that killed you if this kept going.

“Hey, hey it’s okay.” Dean hurried, shifting so he could pull you into him, his arms wrapping around you to rub soothing circles on your back, almost instantly calming you. “It’s alright. I got you.”

You couldn’t help it that you were practically clinging to him like a life line. He radiated safety and comfort in way that nothing else did. Resting your forehead against his shoulder, you inhaled. He still smelled like cheap motel soap and something distinctly himself. It was calming. You almost didn’t notice that one of his hands had gone to cradle the back of your head, or that his cheek was pressed to your temple. he was just that gentle.

Dean Winchester. Both soft as cotton and tough as nails. That was one of the reasons why he was so dear to you. . . Along with everything else that made him him.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Y/N. I’ll always be here if you need me.” He muttered, pulling back just enough to press a kiss to your head.

“You can go to bed. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” He gave you a soft grin as he toed off his shoes, taking up the empty portion of your bed, and hooking his arm around you, pulling you close. “I ain’t leavin you. Not now. Not ever. Sometimes even the monster hunter needs to feel safe.”

You should have resisted. Told the stubborn man to go back to his own room and leave this all in the past. . . But he felt so safe and warm. He was like a magnet and all you could do was let him pull you in, securing you in his hold.

“Also, just so you know- whenever I get a nightmare I’m coming and crawling into your bed.” Dean mused, nuzzling into your shoulder. “You just signed a contract.”

and that is exactly what happened. Because for almost every night after the first, You and Dean helped fend off each others nightmares. When you woke up frozen in fear, Dean was there besides you reminding you that you were safe until eventually the shadows slipped away. As for Dean, only reality was the woman held fast in his arms.

End.

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[zenithlux]

Cadence Update - 28

Catch up on the full story here!

Now and again we try To just stay alive Maybe we’ll turn it all around ‘Cause it’s not too late It’s never too late

Never Too Late - Three Days Grace

---------

Over the next few days, things fell into something akin to a schedule. Nero and Nico would arrive in the morning before Dante had even rolled out of bed. Then, Nero would carry Roxy to the backseat of the van, give her the blade Kuro had blessed, and wait for Vergil to hop in after. It had only taken a day for the devil-hunting duo to lapse back into what Vergil assumed was normality. Nero and Nico fought more with each other than they did demons, but Vergil could sense a certain underneath all the arguing. When they did encounter any demons, Nero would let Vergil out and the two would fight them off together. 

There was just one, glaring problem: Vergil couldn’t kill anything on his own. 

He had been worried something like this might happen. It didn’t matter how strong he was on his own; he was still a familiar. And, for reasons he still hadn’t figured out, familiars couldn’t kill other demons. Every time he tried, he failed miserably. His most vicious attacks would do nothing, leaving Nero to kill them himself. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the demonic energy always shot straight at Nero, no matter how much damage Vergil had done. Nero had apologized, but they hadn’t figured out how to fix it. And the less energy Vergil had, the more pain Roxy was in. Every day put Vergil further from figuring out how to fix her paralysis, and there was nothing he could do about it.  

Nico had tried to solve it. Nero had used their blade instead of Yamato, but it didn’t do anything. Nico had offered to drag Roxy out, but she could barely raise her arms, much less stab a demon. She’d been too weak to summon Aki, much less hand him off to anyone else, so that was out. Vergil tried everything he could think of. He’d dragged a few demonic bodies back to the van, but both had spurred back to life before they reached her. Nero had done the same, even holding her hand to kill them, but the energy still flocked to him. Vergil had even slipped back into his corporeal form to try and direct more energy at her. But nothing happened, and he had a sinking feeling that nothing ever would. 

How had Kuro managed this? Aki mentioned that it had taken the dragon a few years to even manifest himself, much less reveal his existence to her. Another lie that, unfortunately, Roxy hadn’t been aware of. Vergil had learned through her thoughts that Kuro had revealed himself to her as some kind of passing demon with interest. She hadn’t had a clue that he’d already existed within her and had just waited until he could show himself to let her in on it. But no matter how much Vergil cared for her, they didn’t have years. They all knew that Mundus would be back. The former (or current?) Demon King would find his way out in due time. And if Roxy was this week, both her and Vergil would be dead in a heartbeat. 

Or enslaved, the thought of which was much, much worse than a quick death. 

After four days of no luck, Vergil could tell that even Nero was getting upset. “How long do you think this will take?” He said even though his present company had no hope of answering him. “I can’t stay away from Fortuna forever, even with Dante’s constant visits.” He sighed, rubbing his fingers aggressively through his hair. Vergil didn’t blame his son for being so close to a breaking point. Vergil himself felt positively miserable, as his only contribution to the last few days had been almost-demon-kills and long, fitful naps beside his summoner. 

He could feel Roxy’s frustration as strongly as his own, even though she was rarely lucid enough to express it. 

Nero stabbed through another demon, wincing as the energy swarmed him. “Sorry, Pops. I’m not doing it on purpose.” Vergil shrugged, prowling around Nero impatiently, before pouncing on another demon, biting its neck for good measure. It didn’t bleed out - of course not - and Nero shot it without about as much gusto as a snail. “Is she close to standing at least? Surely she’s getting stronger.”

Vergil sighed, but it came out as nothing more than a huff. ‘No’, was the easy answer, as ‘I don’t know’ made him uncomfortable. Luckily, he didn’t have to say anything as Nero plopped himself on the ground, spinning Blue Rose in his hand. Vergil sat beside him, glancing at the van behind them. Nico was missing from the front seat, probably checking on Roxy. She was fine if a bit tired. Vergil could feel her in the back of his mind no matter how far away he got. She was mildly more awake today - thankfully, as she’d been in and out of sleep for a few days now - but her back still hadn’t healed. Vergil could still see the strings connecting them; small, fragile things that still didn’t show any signs of improvement. 

Finally, Vergil sighed and tapped the ground. Nero glanced at him, and he drew a circle in the dirt with a claw, before drawing a line through it. Nero snorted, but Blue Rose stopped spinning. “I can’t stay here much longer.” Vergil drew a question mark and Nero sighed. “Nico will stay behind to help, but Kyrie needs me.” Vergil nodded, even though his heart sunk at the thought. Nico could only do so much. He hoped that Roxy would at least be walking before Nero left, but it wasn’t fair of him to expect that. 

So, he drew a single word in the dirt, “Go.” 

Nero nodded. “Don’t worry, pops. It’ll all work out.”

A rumble pulsed around them. Vergil’s ears flattened on his head as he searched for the source. A quiet dream laugh echoed from beneath him. He slammed his head into Nero’s side. The younger hunter swore as he rolled to his feet and darted to the side, giving Vergil just enough time to leap out of the way. A massive demon burst through the ground, sending chunks of concrete in all directions. Vergil’s gaze jerked to the van, but he was forced to dodge away as a giant fist slammed down where he’d been standing. “Wonderful,” Nero said as he propped Red Queen on his shoulder. “I swore I killed you months ago.”

Vergil had never seen this creature before. It towered over them with lava swirling through its rocky body. Two, massive horns curled off the top of its head, but Vergil’s attention was drawn to the massive, shark-toothed mouth in place of its stomach. “Human!” The creature roared. “You were the one who fought my brother?”

“Guess so,” Nero said. “And he was just as ugly as you.”

Vergil wanted to roll his eyes, but his gaze kept shifting to the van. They needed to pull the beast away before it crushed the helpless women inside. But Nero wasn’t moving, and the last thing Vergil wanted was to draw attention to them. The creature roared again before his stomach snapped open. A ball of fire shot at Nero, but he simply hopped out of the way before Vergil could react. Nero clicked his tongue as he shook his head. “And now I’ll just have to take care of you too.” He slammed Red Queen into the ground, revving it with a wink. That time, Vergil did roll his eyes; Nero was acting far too much like Dante for his liking. 

The creature roared again. Another fireball shot at Nero. Vergil backed away, glancing at the van again. Nico was in the front seat now but had yet to move. But with a building at her back and the demon in front of her, Vergil knew she wouldn’t have a chance. He considered going back to the van himself. There wasn’t exactly much he could do to the monster. 

Unless. 

He closed his eyes as Nero continued to run the Goliath around. Vergil wasn’t sure why he and Dante spent so much time playing with their prey, but it didn’t matter. Instead, Vergil focused on his memories of Shadow. The way her body moved and twisted in whatever way she wanted. She could have fought a creature of this size, and he couldn’t rely on Nero any longer. 

My tail…

His eyes snapped open. Of course. He’d spent hours working on summoning his demon tail. Surely that could use that now. And as Nero continued fighting, Vergil focused on his tail. After a few moments of nothing, it snaked out around him, sharpening in a form similar to his demon tail. More tendrils seeped off his body in response, and he was satisfied when he found he could recall them at will. Perfect. As Nero slashed across the demon’s chest, Vergil leaped forward, slamming his tail into its leg. The creature howled, surprised as he swung at Vergil. But Vergil sunk into the ground surprised to find that it didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. He slipped back out on the other side, stabbing his tail into the opposite leg. The demon swung to the side and his stomach-mouth widened. But as the fireball launched, Nero appeared and knocked it back into him. 

“Not bad,” Nero said. “But you need a lot more practice.” Vergil glared at him, but Nero’s wings appeared and the man was gone, launching into the air. Nero kicked the Goliath in the head, leaping off of it with a whoop of delight. The monster stumbled. Tendrils shot from Vergil’s tail, wrapping around the creature’s legs. He yanked back as hard as he could. Goliath went down in a heap. Vergil backed away, snarling as Nero moved to take its head off. “You ugly piece of…”

“Wait!” Nico said. 

Nero froze, Red Queen inches from the beast’s neck. Alarm swept through Vergil as he realized that Roxy was standing, arm over Nico’s shoulder. The frozen blade was in her other hand as they limped toward them. “What are you…?” Nero’s voice trailed off as Roxy shakily extricated herself from Nico’s arms and stumbled slowly forward. Vergil moved to her side, uncertain what he could do if she fell. And while the pain was obvious between them - Vergil could feel it in his own back - her determination was as strong in her eyes as it was in her heart. The strings between them pulsed with energy, though it was far less than Vergil wanted. She unsheathed the blade as she approached the dying demon. Its eyes rolled up toward her. 

“You,” It whispered. “My master wants you.”

“Well,” She said, out of breath as she dropped the sheathe. “He can’t have me.”

Then, with both hands on the hilt, she stabbed the creature straight through the eye. Blood pooled at her feet as it screamed; a shrill, terrible sounding thing. Then everything went ominously silent. His body vanished, leaving behind trails of red orbs and demonic essence. It all cascaded into Roxy, nearly overwhelming her. Vergil moved first, leaping to her as she clumsily dropped to her knees. He propped his body against her back as the sword fell from her hand. She took a deep breath as her head fell back toward the sky. “There,” She said quietly. “I did it.” 

Then she slumped forward, her eyes closed, and she said nothing more. 

[munsooon]

he heard it almost every day, every minute, every second. your stupid voice and the stupid phrase echoed at night, his sleep paralysis demon really had nothing on you.

he can’t seem to remember when the last time you had said anything coherent. what was is like having a normal conversation with you? there must have been a reason for him to fall head over heels for you. but right now, he was debating.

he didn’t like libraries, he hated them; too quiet. too stale, boring. but quiet is what he needed and he didn’t know how to tell you. how could he? you, the sweetest little thing with big sparkly eyes that watered as soon as any mean thing was said to you. you were a hunter of course, but you were the first Cancer he’d seen in the field. he didn’t know much about the stars, but one thing was sure, the stars deemed you a baby crier, and you were the biggest baby crying hunter out there. he’d break your heart if he told you to just cut it out; and besides you were having fun. you, and your stupid memes.

after an hour of so of research and silence, it was time for you to head out.

“baby did you print the articles?” he asked, looking back at you as you walked out of the library.

“and i oop-“ was all you said before zooming back inside.