A/N: Short oneshot to help me get back into writing now that uni has finished for another year.

[et mareritt (Norwegian) - a nightmare]

At first, Lucifer wasn't sure exactly what had awoken him. He was usually quite a heavy sleeper, able to sleep through most things – including the Detective's persistent early morning alarm.

But it certainly wasn't her alarm that had awoken him now.

Still blurry-eyed and half asleep, Lucifer rolled over so he was facing Chloe's side of the bed. He was almost asleep again when he heard a faint noise that sounded worryingly like a whimper.

He groaned slightly as he forced himself to wake properly. The whimper came again, louder this time, and it was all Lucifer needed to push himself up slightly, leaning over Chloe's curled up form, facing away from him, his arm resting lightly on her arm.

"Detective?" He asked gently, his fingertips brushing the hair out of her eyes once he moved his hand off her arm.

He could tell that she was still asleep, but her whimpering was starting to get louder. Below his touch, Lucifer could feel her lightly shaking. Whatever it was she was dreaming about was clearly not good. It wasn't often that the Detective had nightmares; since they had started sharing a bed together, Lucifer could only count the one nightmare that had woken her up in the middle of the night. She hadn't even woken him that time, not straight away that was. He had woken up after her, once she had curled herself around him, her head resting on his chest. When he had asked what was wrong, she had only simply replied "nightmare", before tightening her grip around his waist and falling quiet. He hadn't known what else to do other than hold her until he also fell back to sleep.

This time was different, though. Chloe was still very much asleep, and Lucifer wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He hated seeing her in any distress, hated feeling powerless in his ability to help her. He tried to think what she would do if it was him in the hands of a bad dream, but his nightmares were different. On the rare occasion he had had them when he had been around her, he had always awoken from them, scared beyond belief and not wanting comfort straight away, not until he had calmed down, and even then he remembered himself getting out of bed and heading outside. He remembered once, though, when Chloe had come out to check on him, that she had taken hold of him and not let go until morning. Maybe that was what he should do, let her know that he was there.

He didn't know if he should wake her, though; wasn't sure what was the best way to let her know of his presence.

Eventually, he settled on carefully running his fingers through her hair, pressing a kiss to her temple. When he pulled away, he noticed that she was no longer shaking under his touch anymore, and that her whimpering had quietened down. Her breathing had also gone back to normal and Lucifer wondered for a moment if she had woken up.

He held back for a moment, waiting to see if Chloe would roll over, blurry-eyed but awake. When she did nothing, Lucifer realised that she was still asleep, but that her nightmare must have subsided a little, if not gone.

Smiling down at her softly, Lucifer pressed a second kiss to her temple, before settling back down beside her. He lay on his side, his nose pressed in her hair. He wrapped arm around her waist, letting his hand rest gently on her stomach, protectively holding her as she slept.

He was just about to fall asleep himself when he felt the warmth of her hand rest on top of the arm around her waist. Whether conscious or not, Lucifer couldn't help but smile. She knew he was there for her, and that was all that mattered.