note: mpreg, neko nm, mentions of cutting

A twist of fate, an accidental shot.

It wasn't supposed to happen, yet it did. 

Dream died, leaving Nightmare to deal with everything. Blame, hatred, it all hit him right in his heart. His team abandoned him, everyone hated him.

He clutched Dream's crown in his hand, it was a miracle they even allowed him to keep it, but they did, perhaps it was of pity, or the last time they associate with him. With only him and himself to accompany him, he's been travelling around, a wanderer with no place to go, no one to turn to, no one to love him.  It all seemed to be a bad dream.

It was far more extruciating knowing he had a child with him, he's sure the father was Killer but he's abandoned him too... He wasn't even sure if the baby could live in a safe environment, Nightmare knows he could build a stable home all by himself, but everything felt so draining, it hurt to even breathe.

Slowly, he rests in a small tent he placed down. He placed a bag down and looked down onto his form, his belly. It was larger than last month, he sighed and ate something. It was starting to get dark, the moon eventually claimed its domain, spreading the world with it's brightness in the darkness. Nightmare felt a little comforted that night.

Slowly, his eyes close.

~~~~

He woke up in an unfamiliar place, he breathed and he felt a wave of panic seeing that he was out of his tent. He sat up, darting his eyes around the pristine white room. After a while, it was almost like his hearing came back, a deep and masculine voice called out to him.

"Hey," He spoke. "You okay? You gave us quite the scare."

Instantly, his instincts kicked in, he tried to hit the man but he was stopped by a gentle hand over his own.

"Hey, hey, you're fine. You're safe. No need to fight." He huffed, "If we wanted to hurt you, we would have done so a long time ago, trust me."

Nightmare let his hand go, letting it fall to the side in silent defeat. He eyed the skeleton suspiciously, he looked like Dream, except the whites in his eyes were now an empowering yellow, behind him, he had two large golden wings. He was also quite muscular, Nightmare found himself staring at it a few minutes than usual.

"Hey... you're still there, right?" He asks, "I'm Dreamswap... but you can call me DS, if you want."

Nightmare kept his mouth shut in defiance.

"Fine. Be that way." He sighs, "Ink says that you have a lot of cuts in your arms, do you know who did that to you?"

Nightmare kept quiet, the thoughts and memories of him cutting himself entered his mind, and in the next second, he wanted to forget.

He kept his head down, a deep frown on his face. DS notices and waves his hands around.

"Must be a sensitive subject, huh? My bad." He scratched his head, "I won't bother you about it anymore."

Nightmare silently thanked him.

"Umm... anyway, I'll leave you be." He fidgets before standing up from his chair, walking towards the door, "We keep the doors locked, we don't want you going anywhere before you're healed, sorry. And uhh, if you need something, just call us."

Nightmare raises a brow at us. DS leaves the room, the door shutting behind him softly as footsteps move farther and farther away from his room.

A wave of dizziness hits him, and he had to lie back down to contain it. He groaned to himself and placed the blanket over him.

As he attempts to close his eyes, he felt the chirping of a bird reach his ears.

~~~~~~

—cover in a few days."

—be able to walk?"

—course."

Nightmare opened his eyes, a bright light hitting him as he groaned. They took notice of his awakening.

"It looks like sleeping beauty has just woken up." Someone said in a flirty tone, Nightmare could hear someone elbowing him, earning an annoyed hiss from the one who said it.

"Sorry about him." DS coughs, "Do you remember Ink? I mentioned him before, he told us you could be able to roam free in a few days."

"Hitting it off instantly without me huh? I thought I said we should share." The skeleton beside him, almost identical to DS despite the difference of his eyes, lightly clicked his teeth, annoyed.

"This isn't the time. Shut it." DS hisses.

"Well, anyway, sweetheart." He sat down on the bed, mindful of Nightmare's feet. "The names Swapdream, or SD if you want."

"We found you in a lil' tent, it was raining and everything, you were um, full of negative emotions too." DS looked to the side, "Of course, uh, we can discuss why you had those emotions later."

"I for one agree with you, surprisingly." SD's gaze lingers on Nightmare's face, "I hope we can get to know each other better, sweetie."

"Helpers, comrades, aqquaintances, friends," He winked, "Lovers."

"That's enough of you." Ink rolls his eyes, "Get out."

"Kicked out by my own beloved teammate?" SD feigned forlorn, "Then, I must venture off into the sunset, with me, myself, and I. Such a cruel, twist of fate."

"Nope, come back here. We still need to tell Nightmare the news." The atmosphere darkens, Ink coughs and blinks slightly.

"Whilst we got you out from the tent and brought you here..." Ink sighs, "It seems the baby inside you has died."

Nightmare felt his entire world shatter, the ringing in his ears became louder, and a mix of negative emotions enter his heart. The baby that he loved, they were dead.

Nightmare felt tears roll down from his eyes, he couldn't take it anymore as he spilled his heart out, telling them of every detail, every insult, every emotion.

Nightmare couldn't see their faces, he didn't know what their expressions were, but he didn't care as he lightly sobbed in their arms.

A silent promise is made between the three.

~~~~~

Every day since that day, SD and DS gave affection to him, in forms of cuddles, jewelry, necklaces, gifts, Nightmare couldn't say that he completely moved on but their efforts warmed his heart. On one day, Valentines day, to be exact, SD and DS gave him flowers, chocolates, and they also bought some outfits for him. That night they watched a romantic movie, with wine on the table.

Nightmare couldn't remember much, but he knew he got drunk (courtesy of SD and DS telling him) and started cuddling them both, and being clingy all over.

Nightmare felt embarrasment creep up to his skin as SD laughed and DS tried comforting him.

He even woke up between them, annoyed as the two kept teasing him.

~~~~~~~

A few days after, he started feeling dizzy and he started puking everywhere. They took him to Dream and apparently, he was pregnant, again!

Nightmare felt both surprise and happiness.

One afternoon, he looked at his belly. Stroking it, making a promise.

I'll protect you. Your older sibling may not be here anymore, He blinked through his tears, but he'll live on in our hearts, won't they, sweetheart?

The two comforted Nightmare that night.

~~~~

Some occasional people would come in, claiming that Nightmare was a murderer but they were instantly shut down by DS and SD, or one of them instead.

He didn't know where they went after marching towards here.

~~~~

Their baby is here.

Their baby is here.

Nightmare felt joy rise up to him as he examined the features of his son.

His fathers got to carry the baby, crying softly as they did so.

Nightmare clutches his little family in his hands.

"I'm home." He whispers, "I'm home."

~~~~~

requester: @GhamzehPmd

the only time that Nightmare talks in this oneshot is in the end LOL