Khaat slept, but restlessly. Brian didn't sleep. As much as they had developed that all as acceptance that it was okay if Khaat died or if Brian died protecting her, the truth was that it wasn't alright. Not with him. Tonight alone in the dark he was angry. Angry at Robert for not letting them duke it out when this happened months ago, angry at Grindlewald, and angry at whoever had let him out of his little box in the first place. Silently, in the night, he found himself wanting revenge on those Death Eater idiots that had been foolish enough to activate Grindlewald's horcrux. Now the path they were on was unchangeable.
He got up out of bed and was standing at the window when he heard the door push open. He whirled, his wand taking dead aim...at nothing. Then he realized he was aiming too high. Padding barefoot across the hardwood floor was Abbey in her little pink nightgown, coming right to him, completely unphased by the fact that he had a wand in a firing position. He sheathed it quickly and knelt down.
"Why are you awake?" he asked softly.
"Monsters," she whispered.
"Where?" he asked. "Show me." She reached for his hand and he took it. He let her lead him back to the nursery. All seemed quiet here. Nothing but other sleeping babies here. "Where are they?" he asked. She pointed to her bed. He checked the bed, the sheets, under the pillow. "I think you scared them away," he told her. "They're gone. No more monsters." He watched her peek timidly under the bed and he crouched on the floor and looked under the bed with her, lighting the space with his wand. "Nope. Not here either." She crawled up on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What did you see, Abbey?"
"Monster. Monster eat Mama," she said.
"Now you listen," he said to her. "No monster is going to eat Mama." He didn't know how to explain a bad dream to a child almost two, so he stuck to the point. "Mama is fine. Mama is asleep in our room." She looked at him skeptically. "I'm sure. Shall we go see?" She nodded. he got up and carried her to the bedroom. He showed her Khaat sleeping safely in bed. He went to take her back to her own bed, but she didn't want to go. "Alright. You want to stay with Mama and me tonight?" he whispered, "In the big bed?" She nodded. "If you do, you have to go to sleep." She nodded. He tucked her in between himself and Khaat and kissed her. Abbey cuddled tight to him and soon went back to sleep.