A/N: For all those at the WeirMcKayShipgroup who understand…
It was just there.
That intangible, unnamable…something. He couldn't explain it. He couldn't tell you when it started or even how. All he knew was that when she talked, he listened. When she soothed, he was calmed. And when she ordered, he obeyed. He wasn't sure what she had done to gain that measure of respect and obedience from him, only that she had.
He didn't know when she had become so important. Important enough to step in front of a gun for her safety. Granted, he hadn't given it much thought. Which spoke volumes for him. He thought everything out carefully. And yet in that one crystal-clear moment, he'd known instantly that life without her was simply unacceptable, no matter what it may cost him. He just knew.
It was just there.
She knew there was no logical reason for her to care if he'd gotten enough sleep, and yet she did. Her nightly walks didn't have to lead her to his lab, any more than she had to talk him into walking with her. She couldn't tell when her thoughts has strayed more from him as a chief scientist to her chief scientist. But they had and he was.
Sometimes she would sit in her office late at night and try to pinpoint exactly when he'd gone from hard-nosed, sarcastic ass to a trusted friend and confidant. She didn't know when. Only that he had. Someone she could trust with her most secret thoughts and fears and dreams. She didn't know how it had happened. Only that it happened.
Neither of them could say what it was that connected them. It was strong. It was indefinable. Unexplainable. Unbreakable and unending. It was something they depended on, took strength from, and found comfort in.
It was just…there. And that was enough.