The dust from the concrete choked him as they ran towards the hanger, his eyes streaming, almost blinding him as they staggered to a halt. Clem coughed violently, clutching at her stomach still tender from giving birth. Jamie grasped his arm, dust clinging to the tear tracks on her cheeks, her eyes wide as she stared at the scene behind them.

"Oh, my God!"

Mitch turned to see the battered nose of the plane poking through the concrete wall, rubble all around it, the frantic shouts of what remained of the barrier armed forces sounding incoherent with shock at the sudden turn of events. He waved his free arm to clear the air in front of him, squinting into the chaos to see where the rest of their team had fetched up. He spotted Abe not far from where they stood, his arm around his wife, staring like himself in disbelief at their former conveyance now battering ram, the former security of fifteen feet of concrete between the hybrids and the rest of America now well and truly breached.

He couldn't see Jackson or Tess, but as the dust settled he figured the pair had sought refuge elsewhere or maybe taken a vehicle to make their escape.

"What the hell was Jackson thinking?" said Jamie.

"He wasn't." Mitch bit back. Clem coughed again, drawing his attention back to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Dad. I need to find Jackson, we need to get Samuel back, right now!"

"Clem..."

His daughter slashed her hand through the air, her mouth set in a mutinous line. "You do what you have to do, Dad..I have to find my baby." She brushed off his hand and pushed past him, heading towards where Abe and Dariela stood. Mitch watched her go, frozen in numb shock at the speed of victory turning to disaster in the blink of an eye. A muffled sound made his swing back to where Jamie stood, her gun hanging from one hand while the other tried to scrub her eyes dry. Without a word he stepped close and drew her into a tight embrace, pulling her head into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about, Logan." He muttered into her hair, hearing the gun clatter to the ground as her hands clutched at the back of his coat, her body jerking as she gave in to her grief. Mitch hadn't liked or trusted the younger man, but he didn't harbour any jealousy over Jamie's grief. All that had been thrashed out in the wee small hours, during that pillow talk seemingly overheard by everyone. He accepted that Logan had loved the woman in his arms, probably more than Jamie had loved Logan, truth be told, but that didn't wipe out the years they'd stayed together and looked after Clementine before Max stepped in. "I'm so sorry." He murmured again, one hand coming up to stroke her hair in comfort. After another minute she pulled back and he loosened his arms to give her space.

"There's been so much loss. God, we haven't had a chance to give Max a decent send off, now Logan..." she choked to a halt. Mitch dug around in his coat and managed to produce a reasonably clean square of cloth which she took to wipe her eyes, smearing mascara and tears in with the concrete dust.

An IADG soldier approached. "We need to clear the compound. With the wall breached we don't know how long before the hybrids take advantage. We need to set up a barrier to protect the control center."

Mitch nodded and looked for the others. Jackson and Tess were still a no show, but Abe was close by, together with Dariela and Clem. He and Jamie walked over to them. All three were talking over the top of one another, conflicting ideas batting back and forth.

"Hey...do we have a plan?" He asked. "Anyone seen where Jackson went?"

Abe turned to look at Mitch, flicking a glance at Jamie before returning his gaze back. "He and Tessa have gone to organise transport. We need something more heavily armoured than the hummers. According to Clem the hybrid birds simply picked them up and tossed them around. If we're going to get the baby we need something more substantial."

Dariela joined the conversation. "Jackson seemed to think the IADG had some heavy armoured vehicles further along the wall. He's gone to investigate. Clem and I are going to pack up some gear and head out with them when they return." Her tone was almost belligerent and Mitch sighed, seeing the same determination in his daughters eyes. He almost felt sorry for Abigail if she came between these women and that baby. Almost. Abe nodded.

"I'm going to sort out a medical pack with the serum. Our window of four hours is shrinking, but I might have a chance to slow the rate of decay." Abe paused. "No one knows that Jackson brought the plane here and crashed it into the barrier..."

"And you want it to stay that way." Mitch finished for him. "I'm not going to be any use to you out there. If the plane isn't completely wrecked, I'll start on finding out how that dog mutated into a hybrid so fast, and why it came back from the dead." He glanced over at Jamie, who nodded. "We'll keep Garrison off your backs for as long as we can." Mitch moved into Abe's space and lowered his voice. "And Abe? Make sure she is put down for good, this time."

Abe met Mitch's intent gaze for a long moment then nodded slightly. "We'll keep in touch and let you know as soon as we have Samuel."

Clem approached her father and they hugged tightly for a moment before she did the same to Jamie.

"Good luck, Clem." Jamie whispered as they parted. Clem just nodded. Dariela and Jamie exchanged a nod before she and Clem hurried away together.

The two men exchanged a brief hug before each turned on their heels and headed in opposite directions. Jamie jogged to catch up to Mitch, her hand finding his as they stormed back into the chaotic control center.

z

Garrison met them as they entered the control room, his face livid with anger.

"What the hell just happened? Can you explain, Miss Campbell, why your plane is now parked outside and compromising our defences?"

Mitch instantly put himself between the angry head of the IADG and Jamie, but he was gently pushed to one side.

"I have no idea how it ended up here." Jamie replied. "We abandoned the plane with no expectation we'd be able to get back to it, or that it was able to move or fly. I left my control pads in the plane."

"Then how in Hades did it crash into the barrier?" Garrison was turning an ugly puce. "And how are we supposed to move it?"

"If I can get on board I'll find my back up control pad and see if it's functional, I suppose." Jamie retorted, her fingers gripping Mitch's hand like a vice. "As for how it got here, I imagine that Abigail had something to do with that. I was too busy here at the time to think about it."

Mitch remained silent, lending his support but leaving the bear baiting to her. Garrison looked fit to spit glass, his mouth working as he fixed his glare on the diminutive woman standing before him. His guards hovered at his shoulder, waiting for a command to arrest and incarcerate. At length Garrison's shoulders lowered and his head tilted upwards.

"For the time being the plane will have to remain where it is, like a cork in a bottle, until we can cobble together some sort of temporary fix to that bloody great hole. In the meantime, I understand that the Echo team were attacked by hybrids and your friend Logan killed. My condolences. We've lost a great many fine people, and I don't expect we've seen the last of it."

"The team were attacked by Abigail," Mitch stepped forward. "She controlled the hybrids to enable her to take the baby. My daughter is safe, but the team are going after Abigail to rescue Samuel."

"Do they know where she is? Garrison barked. "We're too short of man power to do much. I heard one of your team request aerial reconnaissance, but I had to countermand that order. We need every able bodied man to help effect repairs and evacuate the injured to Fort Brennan, where Logan was taking your daughter and her son."

"Jackson had a message from Abigail, and they're going to find out what she wants in exchange for the baby." Mitch told him. "In the meantime I need to get on the plane to access my lab, to find out how the hybrids were able to infect that dog and bring it back from the dead."

Garrison looked grim for a moment then nodded. "The dog, along with its owner, are in the morgue. Take what you need and keep in touch. Once the wounded are evacuated, there'll be even fewer troops to defend the breach. Make sure you are secure when you get on board."

Mitch and Jamie exchanged a look. "We'll do that."

z

With help from a couple of the remaining engineers, they were able to rig up a gantry to give them access to the first hatchway along the fuselage, just behind the cockpit. They would have to cut through the door to get in, damage from breaking through the wall having smashed the access panel.

Mitch looked down from his high perch, the hiss and crackle of the gas axe loud above the noise of hammering and heavy machinery clearing away some of the debris below. Periodically he could hear the rat-tat-tat of gun fire keeping the hybrids on the run, who, without the beacon, were happy to slink back from the killing fields of their brethren littering the open ground.

"Almost done," The engineer informed them. Within minutes he was standing up and placing a boot against the doorway, a heavy kick sending the roughly cut oval falling into the plane, clearing a way in.

Jamie entered first, her torch flicking around the interior while the engineer packed up his gear to be lowered to the ground. Mitch followed her, a bag containing the dead dog in one hand, the other a torch highlighting the gloomy interior. Jamie had once joked that she'd made the cockpit into a breakfast nook, in fact it was still a functional cockpit just automated now. As they made their way out into the main living area, debris became evident, paper, glass and furnishings littering the floor, ceiling panels hanging down and wiring exposed in places. From the top deck they made their way down to the lab, again finding the ground strewn with broken glass and upended equipment, shelving and tables. Only the animal tanks and cages were intact, secured so they wouldn't tip, something Mitch was thankful for, not wanting to chase scorpions and other nasties in Jamie's collection, around the plane.

"What a mess," said Jamie, her torch switched off now they had the sunlight through the windows to illuminate the room.

"Is there anything you can do about getting the power on?" Mitch asked, setting a table upright and putting the bag and its contents on it.

"Already done. Jackson proved that by bringing the plane here. The EMP bypass has recharged and for all intents and purposes we are good to go." Jamie indicated the mess around them. "I'll go check that we don't have any more hull breaches." She paused. "I should mention that this bird won't be flying anytime soon. The wings are a mess, we're low on fuel and I wouldn't be surprised if the motors are burnt out too, or a least severely damaged. Jackson did a real number on this. For the time being we're running on battery only."

"Yeah. I don't suppose planes respond well to being used as battering rams." He gave her a tight smile which she returned before turning away to begin her check of the aircraft's condition.

"Isn't the first time, won't be the last!" Mitch muttered to himself as he peeled off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. It was going to take some time to restore order from the chaos.

z z z z

Couple of hours later and the space was at least free of loose debris and broken glass, largely swept up into a pile against the outer wall. Speed was of the essence, finesse would come later. Putting the broom aside, Mitch fired up his computer station and pulled up information on the genetic makeup of several of the hybrids they'd encountered to date. After taking and preparing a sample from the dog he now reviewed the results An hour later he sat rubbing his eyes, noting that the sunlight was fading and his stomach was rumbling. Not having seen Jamie in awhile he made his way up to the bar slash kitchen to rustle up something to eat. He called out, but had no response. The kitchen took little time to tidy up, and he fixed himself a sandwich out of the last of the fresh food. Plate in hand he wandered along to their room and pushed the sliding door back. There, on the bed, lay Jamie fast asleep. For a moment he stood in the doorway admiring the view, his mind replaying the emotional rollercoaster they'd both been on for the past thirty hours. A wave of tiredness swept over him and he made his way over to the easy chair just inside the room. Flopping down he munched his way through the sandwich, then sat back, his hunger satisfied.

Looking at the woman slumbering on his bed, he remembered her myriad expressions – guilt, remorse, grief, shock, tenderness, wariness, contrition, love. Yes, he'd seen the love, there when she returned to be at his side despite the threat of them being over run by hybrids, there when she sat beside him and restated her faith that he, Mitch Morgan would figure out how his alter-ego had created the beacon. It was in her lips, in her eyes, even in her actions. Her decision to keep Duncan around to kill Abigail had been to save him from being an assassin, she had wanted to keep his soul untainted by murder, even when, upon reflection he knew he would have gladly ended Abigail's life for the one she stole from him. It could be argued that she also saved his life after his mauling by the hybrids, changing his fate from heroic sacrifice to one of her Frankenstein creations via the bio drive, using him to create unknown horrors and diabolical tech to sabotage the teams' work and destroy the world. He grudgingly acknowledged thanks for being saved and returned to life, to the daughter no longer a child, and the woman he loved, as well as reunited with his friends...in the middle of that thought he dozed off in the chair.

z z z z

"Mitch?" A gentle nudge brought him awake, blinking in the semi-gloom, Jamie standing before him, her hair mussed about her head.

"What? Did I wake you...sorry." He struggled to rise from the chair, finding his body stiff from being in such an awkward position.

"No, you didn't wake me. Come and lay down, the bed is far more comfortable." She tugged on his arm and steered him over to the side, giving him a push to make him sit down on the covers. He toed off his boots and socks before lying back with a blissful sigh against the pillows. Jamie made to leave the room, picking up the plate as she left. Mitch cracked an eye.

"Where ya going?" he slurred, already half asleep. "Come back to bed."

Jamie smiled. "I'm just going to get something to eat and drink. I'll be back in a tick."

"..'kay." Mitch had already shut his eyes, sleep dragging him under again.

Jamie paused in the doorway, waiting until she heard him give a gentle snore before sliding the door shut and making her way to the galley. She was so stupidly in love with the man.

z z z z

Her exploration of the plane had shown it had weathered the trip across the badlands to the barrier surprisingly well, the hull not breached despite the violent ramming of concrete wall. The wings had suffered the worse and the engines would need to be completely overhauled if not replaced. She wasn't sure whether her finances would be up to the task. With the world in chaos, who knew what was happening in the business world with everyone just trying to keep alive. Before the appearance of Abigail Westbrook, Jamie's financial situation was rosy, her investments ample for her needs. Now the world was going to hell in a hand-basket, grinding to a halt while the population strove to survive day to day, if at all. Abigail had changed the future of everyone, and every thing on planet Earth. Abigail and the insanity of the Shepherds with sterilising everyone. Jamie leant against the bar edge and let her head droop.

There was a good reason why she hadn't wanted to hold the baby, a reason Mitch knew nothing about. In the distant past, due to a reckless teenage rebellion, she had become pregnant at sixteen, the baby not surviving past eighteen weeks gestation. It changed her life forever. It was the kick in the pants from reality that she needed. From that point forward she devoted herself to graduating, then going on to study journalism with a sideline in computer sciences, giving her skills that had since been invaluable in finding the information she needed to build a case against Reiden. She embarked on a crusade in memory of her mother and the other souls murdered, in her mind, by the Chemical giant.

That feeling of life growing within her, of realising that she would soon be a mother with someone solely dependent on her, made her grow up fast. When that dream was aborted - literally, the feelings of loss and grief never went away, compounding those she already felt about her mother's fate. She avoided those of her small circle of friends who became pregnant, avoided any contact at all with babies or small children despite having a magic touch with both. It all hurt too much. Even the sight of a babe in its mother's arms made a void open up in her stomach, fingers clutching at her flat belly as if groping for the soft roundness that used to be there, albeit briefly. When she fell in love with Mitch, all those years ago, hope rose like a waving flag that maybe she would have a second chance at motherhood. She was only just thirty, the right time to be considering a family to her way of thinking. Despite his past lapses with his own daughter, she knew he had left Clem for good reasons, not bad ones. He'd done his best to find a cure, only to be thwarted by his ex-wife. He was a good man, driven, focused and sarcastic, but still a good man.

But the Shepherds had snatched away any chance of her ever being a mother. Even if she had gone to Maine, even if they'd been together all these years, she still would never been able to carry his child, their child. Holding Clem's baby had been like a kick in the head, a wound she might never recover from, only meeting Mitch's warm gaze had kept her from breaking down there in the middle of the badlands, surrounded by hybrids, the fate of the world in their shaky hands. Shoring up her emotional defenses she had continued to hold Samuel until they reached the barrier, then handed him back to Clem, her arms feeling bereft of the warm bundle, the familiar emptiness opening up inside her again.

During the chaos in the control room, all thoughts of a future were put on hold, her only focus being on Mitch and their surviving past getting the beacon down. That accomplished it was Miller time, break out the booze and let's party, for all of thirty seconds. Then Clem arrived to announce that Abigail had stolen Samuel and that Logan had died.

She had been surprised at her visceral reaction to the news. Her relationship with Logan had been good and bad, often more bad than good, but he'd stuck by her after Mitch had supposedly died, living with her and Clementine, being the arms she clung to when her grief overwhelmed her and hope abandoned her. His was the body that offered comfort and release, his hands that cradled her when all she wanted to do was rail against fate and the injustice of the world. His were the lips that warmed her in the dark in those early years while the world around them rioted and destroyed itself once the extent of what the Shepherds had done became clearer. Logan had been her rock during that time, and she would be eternally grateful to him. She had been glad he was there when Max had arrived to claim his granddaughter, leaving Jamie floundering in the wake and the loss of her last emotional contact with Mitch. Logan had encouraged her to write, supported her financially and emotionally while she beavered away at her novel, his choice to join the police force giving her a stability badly needed in a world gone mad. With the success of her first book, she started to make plans for herself, plans that didn't necessary include anyone else, not even the man she slept with.

Her sense of injustice rose up to haunt her, most deeply the injustice that Mitch had died for nothing, that Reiden had won, albeit a hollow victory. Her focus now turned to the organisation of the Shepherds, in her mind enemy number one. That focus has seen her spending long hours at the computer, when she wasn't doing the rounds of interviews, book promotions and writing the sequel. Early on she had seen the sense of keeping the plane 'in the family', so to speak. After the animals had been cured and sterility confirmed, the aircraft had been stored at the governments expense. Now, with her new found fame and finances, she decided to take ownership and give it a complete refit, making it her home as well as her transport. Technology allowed her to incorporate whatever she could afford to make it automated, no crew required. Her own flying fortress of justice and revenge. Logan came a poor second. In the end he gave up on her. At the time she was too angry to care, but over the years their lives had intersected, usually him chasing her over some legality or other, her tracking of the Shepherds putting her constantly on the wrong side of the law.

She kept the rest of the world at bay, pursuing her one and only purpose, as she saw it, never thinking what she would do once her great crusade was over. Clem coming back into her life was both shocking and welcome. The possibility that Mitch was not dead was at first denied. Jamie had done her research well, and even without the evidence of a body, there was little left of any trail to follow. Clem arriving and producing a significant crumb was both salvation and a dawning horror of what Mitch might have suffered in the ten years he'd been locked in a tank. Of course they now knew that he hadn't always been 'tanked', had in fact been reworked into a creature for Abigail's use, Charles Duncan, compelled to be a servant to her will and purpose. The bio-drive in his head was now permanently switched to Mitch, but remained an unknown hazard to his health and well-being if anything went wrong. It was a constant worry that they may only have days instead of years together, that idea alone snapping her out of her thoughts.

Quickly creating a meal out of what was left of the fresh food, Jamie made her way back to the bedroom, Mitch now lying on his side deeply asleep. After having her meal she took a shower and changed her clothes before climbing onto the bed and laying down beside Mitch. Relaxed in sleep, without his glasses, he looked younger and less worn. She gently ran her fingers over his scruff covered cheek, his hair ruffled every which way as usual. She smiled to herself when she remember their first meeting, how clean shaven and tidy he'd been in his blue shirt and chinos, the perfect image of the lecturer he was. That had changed once they'd begun the serious investigation into the animal mutations. Out came the plaid shirts and jeans, the black t-shirts and leather jackets. Logan had been right when he'd said Mitch was more like the lead singer than the drummer.

Staring into his face, she marveled and how much he'd managed to survive, nearly mauled to death by hybrids, shot by Abigail, brain surgery, going blind, all the pressure of everyone looking to him to come up with a solution to every problem. And now a grandfather. Jamie giggled. He was never going to accept that appellation – ever. Of course, if they ever got to the stage of making their relationship more permanent, that would make her, Jamie Campbell, a grandmother. She giggled again.

"What's so funny?" Mitch mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes but a smile tilting his lips slightly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"Was only dozing, resting my eyes..."

"Sure. Well, if you're only dozing, would you like an update of our situation?"

Mitch just nodded, still not opening his eyes.

"We're secure for the time being, apart from the door missing at the front. Despite crashing into the barrier, the hull isn't breached, although with the landing gear down it does leave us vulnerable through the base of the plane. The space where the wheels come up is separate from all operating functions and the main batteries, but I'd want to add some extra bracing to the hatch access to make sure."

"What about our continued power supply? Won't the batteries run down?" Mitch asked, opening his eyes and blinking slowly at her.

"Not for some time, and there's the added bonus of solar cells I added in the last upgrade."

"Solar cells?"

"Yeah. I thought about what would happen if the plane was stranded somewhere with no access to mains power or the motors were damaged."

"Clever girl." Mitch murmured, his hand coming up to sweep back a piece of bright hair behind her ear.

"Mitch?"

"Yeah."

"Do we need to talk?"

"About what?"

Jamie rolled her eyes. "About the last couple of days, about us, where this..." she gestured between them. "Is going?"

"Well..."Mitch drawled. "I was hoping it was heading towards getting you naked on my examination bench..." He leant forward, pressing a soft kiss against her cheek. "Getting you out of those tight pants that drive me nuts..." His arm snaked around her waist pulling her towards him. "Thinking of filling that perfect mouth with mine." He suited words to action and melded them lip to lip, tongue to tongue, drawing out the kiss until the room spun. When they eventually parted, neither had much breath left to talk, but Jamie gamely tried.

"Mitch, that's not what I meant..."

"I know. Genius brain and all that." He sighed, meeting her anxious gaze. "Jamie, I'm sorry I yelled at you, I'm sorry I never told you that I love you. I'm sorry you had to make so many horrible decisions on your own. I know why you left me as Duncan, I explained that."

"You did...but, Mitch?"

"What?"

"I never told you I loved you either."

Mitch chuckled. "You didn't have to. You kept my glasses."

"Hardly a declaration." Jamie huffed. "Maybe I kept them as a trophy."

"Nah. You loved me."

"Ass." Jamie mock punched him before leaning in to kiss him. When they next surfaced, it was Mitch who spoke first.

"I wasn't just angry at you. I was angry at everyone and everything. You were just an easy target."

"I know. I love you too."

They lay there, comfortably wrapped in each others arms, the faint sounds of activity beyond the walls like the sloughing of waves against a distant shore. At length Mitch spoke again.

"So...we good?"

Jamie let out a giggle. "We're good...whatever good is."

"This is good, this is great." His hand found the swell of her bottom, smoothing over the silky fabric encasing it and extending the stroke down her thigh then back up again. Jamie pressed herself against him, chest to chest, her arms bracketing his neck, fingers digging deep into his hair to hold his mouth against hers.

"Too many clothes," Mitch murmured against her lips, tracing a path across her cheek and down her jaw to nibble at her neck. Between them they managed to wrestle out of their respective garments until they lay skin to skin, the darkening cabin illuminated by the spotlights outside that seemed to be constantly on the move, creating slanting shadows that exposed bright slices of bare flesh as the bodies on the bed moved together.

This was what made them so right together, this binding of skin so that they melded into one, her smooth, rounded curves against his rough scarred torso, his body joined with hers with her legs wrapped around his waist, gripping him, urging him onward. His mouth devoured her skin, lapping at breast and neck until her sirens mouth drew him upwards again, feet digging into the covers to gain purchase while a whirlwind of gasps and groans voiced their pleasure, all else forgotten for a brief moment of time.

Mitch, his heart hammering, poured everything he had into the woman below him, her slender body taking and draining him, convulsing around him with cries that pulled him over the edge into bliss.

z z z z

In the aftermath they lay still entwined, still joined, hearts slowing while lips and fingers soothed and savoured. The air around them cooled and he snagged one of the tumbled blankets to drag over them both. Jamie mewed when he slipped from her body, his arms gathering her to him so she snuggled into his shoulder, the blanket warm and soft around them.

"Mitch?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be, that was...wonderful."

"Not about that."
"About what then?"

"I saw your expression when I was holding Samuel."

"So?"

"I had dreams too...pretty good ones, as well."

"About us?"

"Yeah."

Mitch waited for her to continue, but the silence stretched.

"Jamie?"

"Yeah."

"If this thing Abe has going with Samuel works out, you might just get to have one of your own...one day."

Instead of responding Jamie burrowed further into his side. His questing fingers running over her face found dampness, confirming his suspicions.

"I'm too old, Mitch. Maybe before, but now..."

He didn't try to refute it. She wasn't anymore too old than he was, but he understood that hope was a fragile thing, easily fractured and they were a long way yet from curing sterility. They had yet to determine if it was to do with Clem's past history, or maybe Sam's exposure to something that made them both able to sire and conceive and child. Were there other woman in the world able to become pregnant? Did they share anything in common with Clem and Sam? So many questions, and if Abe didn't get to the baby in time to administer the serum, would that doom them all, doom humanity or would they be able to create another baby using eggs and sperm from the young couple, even if they agreed to it voluntarily. What if they wouldn't? He'd fight tooth and claw to keep his daughter and her child free from harm, safe from being exploited, but he was only one man. With the future possibly held within their genetic make up did Clem and Sam have the right to deny humanity hope?

"I would love to see you carry our child, Jamie...but if that doesn't happen, it doesn't lessen you in my eyes. Do my scars do that to me?

"No, of course not." Came Jamie's quick retort.

"Then why would the inability to have a child affect you. It's not like we have a choice."

He felt the waft of warm air against his skin as she huffed against him.

"I know what your trying to say, I just..."

"Just nothing. Tomorrow never comes. You, Clem, Samuel, you're all my family now." He felt her nod slightly against his shoulder. "Apparently we're also Jackson's family, which makes thing complicated...but hey, you can't pick your relatives."

Jamie giggled against his side. "That's what started me laughing in the first place."

Mitch peered down at what he could see of her face. "Explain?"

"Gramps or Grandpa Morgan..."

Mitch growled and dug his fingers into her ticklish spots. Jamie squealed and jerked against him, bringing her elbows in to protect her sides.

"Stop, Mitch stop...I won't mention it again!" she gasped and wriggled until he stopped.

"Never...never call me that again."

Jamie muffled her smile against his chest, listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat for long moments, the warmth of his body soothing against her skin. Her fingers traced the line of a ribbed scar along his side, snaking over his stomach. It was Mitch's turn to twitch.

"If you keep that up we won't get any sleep."

Jamie grinned and tilted her head up to better see his expression. He had his eyes closed but his lips were lifted at the corners into a smile.

"I just marvel every time I touch them, how close you came to not being here."

"Yeah. As much as I hate to admit it, Abigail did us a pretty big favour resurrecting me."

They fell silent, neither wanting to acknowledge the truth of that statement. Sometime during that silence, they fell asleep, cocooned in warmth and secure in their feelings for each other. What battles and impossible tasks they had left to perform would still be there to face in the morning.