Title: The Regular Routine
Fandom: Spooks (MI5)
Rating: G
Length: 300 (3 x 100)
Summary: An established night-time procedure for Adam and Lucas

Lucas could feel his heart racing and he struggled to breathe as he tried to escape.  He’d been betrayed again, and he knew what would happen if he was caught.  He mustn’t let that happen.  He ran as fast as he could down dark passageways, but each time he thought he was nearing the end, there was another turning, and his pursuers were still behind him.

Suddenly he felt a hand on the back of his neck.  He tried to arch away, but a quiet voice said, “It’s okay, it’s me.  You’re quite safe, you’re just having a nightmare.  Relax.”

---

Adam had woken to the sound of Lucas’ rapid breathing.  He raised himself onto his elbow to confirm Lucas was having another nightmare.  Gently he put a hand behind his partner’s neck and spoke quietly to reassure him.

Once he was satisfied Lucas was fully awake, Adam slipped out of bed and went downstairs to make some hot chocolate.  He brought it upstairs, together with a couple of plain biscuits and gave them to Lucas, before settling back into bed.  He soon fell asleep, confident that once Lucas had finished the hot chocolate, he too would go back to sleep.

---

Neither made any mention of the nightmare the following morning.  Anything could have triggered it, a sudden memory, a problem at work, even certain music on the radio.  At first, they had hoped the nightmares would reduce, but now, more than ten years after they had begun living together, they remained just as frequent as they were when Lucas first moved in.  But at least they had established a routine which worked, and Lucas no longer stayed awake for the rest of the night following a nightmare.  They weren’t sure why it worked, that it did was all that mattered.