My first fanfic so please review/rate/give feedback etc etc. This is the first part of what will probably be a 2 or 3 part fic. Rated M for later chapters. Excuse lack of lemons in this chapter if that's what you were hoping for :L.

1

Yelena stared out over the battlements. The sun was sinking lower and lower, staining the horizon pink and orange as it went, and a chill wind had picked up. She shivered and tugged her cloak tighter around her shoulders. It wasn't her cloak really; she had taken it from Valek's rooms after he'd been gone a few weeks. She told herself she was only borrowing it, and only because the weather was turning and she had no cloak of her own; deep down she knew this wasn't the case… She missed him more than she could say, and she could barely understand why. He'd left six weeks earlier without ceremony or explanation- she rarely worried when he took off like this, he often carried out secret missions and had been known to disappear for up to two weeks at times… but this was different. He had seemed uncharacteristically panicked before he left, and had been gone far longer than she was comfortable with. She had taken to watching the sun set over the battlements every night for the past two weeks, watching anxiously for signs of his return or even a messenger, but to no avail. Darkness was falling faster and earlier with the coming winter, and she had been forced to return to her rooms sooner each evening, which did nothing to ease her mind.

The sun slipped out of sight and before long had pulled the rainbow spectrum of coloured light with it. With a sigh, Yelena turned and began walking across the wall in the direction of her rooms. The wind had begun to gust harder and she increased her pace as Valek's cloak flapped around her ankles, leather boots hardly making a sound on the weathered stone. Just as she reached the watchtower she had entered from, there was a scuffling and a quickly stifled cry from behind her. Without turning she practically bolted the rest of the way into the watch room, hastily tucking herself against the wall and catching her breath and her thoughts. She mentally kicked herself for her cowardly actions, but eventually steeled herself to peer around the corner of the archway that sheltered her. It took a moment for her to process what she was seeing, but after a moment, she recognised the panting figure huddled against the battlements and muffled in a heavy travelling cloak.

"Valek!" she gasped. The figure's head snapped upwards, his body tensed and his eyes found the source of the voice. Bright blue eyes pierced her brown ones with a spark of recognition.

"Yelena" He said with relief. His body relaxed and he slumped against the wall and Yelena hurried to his side, catching him and laying him on his back before he struck the ground.

"Valek? Valek what happened!" The wind tugged open Valek's cloak and Yelena stifled a scream as she saw what lay beneath. His black woollen shirt was soaked with blood. She knelt beside him, frozen in shock for a beat.

"For god's sake girl get this thing off me" He barked hoarsely. Yelena snapped back to life "knife in my belt" Valek croaked. Yelena burst into action, pulling the long slender dagger from its sheath and carefully slicing the bloodied garment down the centre and pulling it from his body. Valek hissed at the biting cold and sudden movement, Yelena could hardly imagine the torment of scaling the sheer walls with this kind of injury. She quickly proceeded to tear a jagged strip of cloth from the hemline of her own cloak, and pressed it hard to the gash before wrapping the remaining length of cloth around his lean torso. He grunted at the pressure but she shushed him. "Wait here, I'm going to get help" Yelena said, making to stand up and run, until Valek's hand closed around her wrist with surprising ferocity.

"No" He said through gritted teeth. Yelena stared at him and cursed but Valek cut across her. "NO, Yelena. No one must know." Yelena glared at him but knew better than to argue.

"I can't carry you to your rooms alone and you know it, Valek" but Valek just shook his head and motioned for her to help him up. A moment later, the pair swayed in the now ferocious winds as Yelena struggled to help him to the watchtower.

The journey back to Valek's apartments was torturously long, and interspersed with ducking into shadows and corners to avoid guards or drunken soldiers. Eventually they arrived back at Valek's apartments. Yelena shouldered open the door and heaved Valek to the sofa where he collapsed with a grunt.

"Yelena it's not as bad as it looks," were the first words he managed. Yelena raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure," she muttered sceptically. By now she'd figured that Valek wasn't going to die on her, but she was far from relaxed. She peeled his cloak away from his shoulders and quickly laid him down, stemming the flow of blood with fresh linens from the washbowl. The room would have been cold but luckily she had lit a fire earlier; Yelena had taken to spending some nights on Valek's sofa, too self-conscious to sleep in his bed yet not wanting to be apart from his extensive collection of books and papers, but she wasn't about to confess this when he hadn't yet questioned the existence of a roaring fire in a room which had been 'deserted' for six weeks. Yelena wet the white sheet and wrung it before gently dabbing it across Valek's chest. He'd stopped panting by now and instead sat in stony silence, regarding her meticulous work with a sort of fierce interest, which she found quite disconcerting. Yelena noticed his frame was leaner than before; he had clearly not been getting enough to eat. She glanced up at his face too, which looked thinner and worn. His eyes betrayed exhaustion he refused to let his demeanour reflect. She worked in silence, cleaning around the wound. Once most of the blood had been wiped away it looked much less menacing. She glanced up at his face again.

"It's not very deep," she said quietly "It'll heal soon, it just needs rest." Valek nodded once in response, and a silence stretched between them. Yelena took a breath, wildly curious but aware that the wrong question or too many questions would result in weeks of stubbornness from her mentor.

"Where did you go?" she asked after a moment. Valek sighed and turned to stare into the flames. "

Sitia" he said bluntly. Disappointed, Yelena pulled a pile of bandages towards her. Valek held gauze to the wound, just above his kidney, and winced as he moved into a sitting position, refusing Yelena's offer of help. She knelt on the cushions beside him and carefully wound the bandages around his middle, slender arms circling his torso as she passed it under his arms, pulling it perhaps a little too tightly to secure it. Valek grunted.

"Christ girl pull a little harder why don't you," he muttered, not unkindly. Yelena glared at him. Valek stared back "My work does not concern you" he said quietly, "I'm sorry Yelena, I really am." Valek reached up a hand, and to Yelena's utter astonishment, cupped her cheek. His hands were warm but coarse from days away, but they felt so indescribably safe to her. She leaned into his palm almost subconsciously as his thumb began to wander absently over her cheekbone.

"I don't care if it isn't my business, I want to know," She said. Valek chuckled darkly. Yelena suddenly became very conscious of how close they were sitting. Her knees were tucked up beneath her and gently nudged Valek's thighs as he turned a little to face her. It really had been too long since she'd seen him. She could feel his hand begin to move away from her face, but before it could she caught it and quickly turned her face to kiss his palm. She froze, blushing furiously, after a moment, she allowed both their hands to fall. She looked up at his face through her lashes, and was again surprised to see how close they were, foreheads almost touching. What surprised her even more was the soft smile playing about Valek's lips as he leaned in a little more. Almost delirious from the nearness of him, she let out a tiny sigh, which was swiftly enveloped by Valek's lips as they met hers. Utterly stunned, Yelena froze momentarily before succumbing to the melting warmth, which spread from every point of contact joining their bodies, however small. Her soft lips parted slightly, allowing his tongue to tease the inner crevices of her mouth. She felt him lay his hand gently on her knee as her hand shyly rested on the area of skin around his waist she had just bandaged. After a few seconds, although it seemed like hours to Yelena, Valek pulled away a little.

"You should go to bed, Yelena," He murmured "We'll talk in the morning". She swallowed and, though it killed her, pulled back a little more, nodding her head. She stood and swiftly moved towards the door, gathering her cloak up from the floor where she had thrown it on her way in. Neither said any more. She returned to her rooms still reeling from the overwhelming events of that evening. Still delighted by Valek's return and shell-shocked from their kiss. When she finally slept that night, it was curled under Valek's cloak with the taste of his lips still lingering on hers.

To Be Continued