The door snapped closed between them, and they both stayed rooted where they stood. She knew he needed her. He knew he needed her. And neither of them had the means to act.

From the start, Amanda had known this assignment was a bad idea, and had tried to suggest as much to Billy, in an indirect way. Routine though the surveillance may have been, it was the locale that had triggered her fears. An orphanage. You couldn't get much crueler than that, where Lee was concerned.

Stoic to a fault, he hadn't reacted as Billy had announced the case distribution at his latest staff meeting, but sitting beside him, Amanda had picked up on a new note that hummed like a high tension wire above the usual resonance she associated with her partner. Lee was a great agent because he gave so little of his inner life away, so she'd become proficient, over the years, at reading his most subtle cues. This one was going to hurt.

SMK SMK SMK SMK

Alone again inside the spare office that served as their observation centre, Lee felt exhaustion wash over him. He hadn't slept since they'd arrived the day before, despite Amanda having spelled him off twice already. But lying under the rough grey blanket on a too-small cot, he wouldn't close his eyes for fear of what memories the dark might bring. Crippling tiredness was preferable. He leaned against the office wall, allowing his back to slide downwards until he sat on the floor, folded in on himself like origami.

He felt fragile and translucent, like an empty glass. He was vibrating at such a high pitch, one well-placed blow and he would shatter. It shocked him that people didn't comment on the lonely five year old boy wandering the orphanage's halls, playing make-believe federal agent, but no-one seemed to notice. No-one but Amanda. He could feel her quiet concern lapping against him like soft ripples in a pool. That was apt. If he was a glass, then Amanda was water. He was a vessel whose essential purpose was to hold her. She in turn was elemental, and when exposed to heat, she would transmute into the sustenance he craved. The only peace he would find in this hellhole would have to be stolen from her.

SMK SMK SMK SMK

She lay on her back, staring at the stained ceiling tiles. She had no idea how Lee was still functioning. She knew he hadn't slept since they'd begun the assignment yesterday. Could see it in the tightening around his eyes, smell it somehow in the tiny bed that was still warm from his body when she lay down. It made her heart ache for him. She didn't have skin like he did, to keep all the hurt inside. She wanted to wipe his slate of memories clean for him, and write her own story on the blank pages of his heart.

Slipping into a dreamstate, she pictured Lee walking backwards over a bridge, holding out a hand towards her, but disappearing into fog. Gasping awake, she was down the corridor to the spare office before she had time to let herself think. Her eyes searched him out, honing in on his darker shadow in the dim room. Sinking to his side, she grasped his cold hand, cradling it between her two warmer ones.

"Stay awake with me, Amanda."