The next morning when Katherine woke up, she was lying on her back on top of the covers, and Jack was sprawled out with his head on her stomach, one of his hands tightly clutching her nightgown. 

She stared at the ceiling for a minute, trying to remember why they were in this position, and then the memories of the night before came flooding back. She sighed and looked down at her husband. He'd just made it through unspeakable experiences, seen horrible things, and now his mind was forcing him to relive it all at night. He didn't deserve that.

She ran her fingers absently through his hair, thinking. Surely Jack wasn't the only soldier that this was happening to. She wondered if there was anything that could be done about it, something to help. She wasn't sure how they would manage if it kept happening.

Katherine was drawn out of her thoughts by Jack stirring, letting go of her dress and blinking up at her.

"Hey, Ace." She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was still half asleep. She smiled at him. These were the moments that reminded her that all the heartache was worth it.

"Hi, Jack."

He lifted his head up and moved into a sitting position, allowing her to do the same. He took her hand in his.

"I'm sorry about last night - "

Katherine gave him a look and he stopped, giving her a small sheepish look. "You don't have anything to apologize for. It wasn't your fault." Jack nodded.

The two of them continued to sit in silence, their hands held tightly together. They both felt like they should say something more, but neither of them knew what.

oOo

A few days had passed before the next major incident (they weren't sure how else to describe it). Jack and Katherine were walking to the Lodging House when a car backfired. Katherine thought nothing of it, and before Jack left, he wouldn't have either. Even if it was an actual gunshot he wouldn't have reacted.

But it was a different time, and Jack had horrible memories associated with that sound. So the minute he heard it, he froze before dropping to the ground on his hands and knees. A split second later, Katherine was crouched down next to him.

"Jack?"

He didn't respond, and judging by the look in his eyes, his mind wasn't there with her, it was across the ocean somewhere. She had learned from the first night not to try and touch him, so all she could do was stay next to him and comfort him once he came back.

She waved away the occasional well-meaning stranger who would try to assist, and she was actually surprised by how many people didn't do anything. The majority of passersby did just that - didn't even give them a second glance and just walked around them. Though she supposed that was best anyway, neither of them wanted to draw attention to themselves.

She didn't know how long they sat there on the ground. It must've been a while though, because she didn't even notice that Jack had been drawn back to reality until he began to lean on her.

"Katherine?"

"I'm here."

 She pulled him into a hug and, though he returned it, he pulled away rather quickly and let her help him to his feet. He gave her a fleeting look of gratitude before continuing on their way, and Katherine frowned, but followed him. In that moment she decided that something had to be done, whether he wanted to or not.