Angel

Author's note: Originally, this was supposed to be a part of "Chinatown Noir", my ongoing series of Cabot/Huang stories, but then, I decided to make this a stand alone story, inspired by "Execution".

"George…."

Someone was calling his name. He could hear the voice, faint and female, but his head hurt so much that he couldn't open his eyes to see who was calling him.

"George…"

There it was again. Someone was calling his name again. With difficulty, George forced himself to open up his eyes.

What he saw took his breath away.

A beautiful angel was hovering above him, her blonde hair floating around her face like a halo, blue eyes shimmering quietly in the soft light of the room.

George was so surprised that he accidentally reverted to Chinese, muttering to himself.

The angel spoke again. "George…wake up…it's me."

The voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it. He couldn't see the face very clearly, but he could see that it was wearing glasses. Desperately searching his memory, he pulled a random name out of the air.

"Alex?"

The angel smiled. "That's right, George…I'm Alex. Do you remember me?"

He blinked and the image came slowly into focus. Alexandra Cabot's face was hovering above his, concern and worry crystal clear on her beautiful face.

"Alex…" he said, quietly, trying to sit up, but he groaned.

"No, no, it's ok…just relax." She said, encouraging him to lie back down. "Save your strength. Do you remember what happened?"

"No…not really. Where am I?"

"You're in a hospital in Jersey." She said. "Brodus attacked you…and gave you a concussion. You'll be ok, but they want to keep you here overnight for observation." She then cocked her head to one side, pausing for a moment. "What did you call me earlier?"

"Huh?"

"When you first began to wake up, you were talking Chinese." She said. "What did you say?"

"Oh…I called you 'angel'…because I thought that you were my angel or something…you certainly looked the part from my point of view."

Her eyes widened and her expression softened. "I thought that I was going to lose you." She stroked his hair. "The moment the coast was clear, I got here as fast as I could. It made me sick that he hurt you like that."

"Well, I'm ok, now, Alex." He clasped her hand. "I missed you…even if it was for a little while. I'm glad that you're with me…and I know that you must be glad that I'm with you, too. After a while, your thinking pattern becomes predicable."

"Ok…now that's just scary." She said. "But interesting."

He gave her a weak smile. "You know that I love you, right?"

"Yes…but I want to hear you say it. It warms my heart every time you do."

"I love you, Alexandra." He murmured, groaning as he shifted himself over to one side of the bed. He patted the now empty spot. "Come. Lay next to me."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "What if someone sees?"

"Let them look, then… I just need you by my side right now. Please?" He was pleading with her in such a way that she found it very hard to resist.

She gave him a warm smile and slipped out of her shoes. She climbed up on the bed and cuddled next to him, allowing her head to rest on his chest.

Alex was taller than George, but for the time being, she decided to pretend that she wasn't. She curled next to him, allowing him to stroke her golden hair, something he only did whenever they made love and were lying in bed together, reveling in the afterglow. She wasn't towering over him, then. She wrapped one arm around his waist and sighed.

"This is nice." She said softly. "We should do this more often."

"Yeah…but not in a hospital bed." He said. "In your bed…or mine…doesn't matter." He laughed a little and let her stroke his head. Her hand stopped when she touched the bandage on the back of his head.

She sighed. "I can't believe that he did that to you."

"It could have been worse." He said, nonchalantly. "He could have killed me. But, I'm here with you now and that's all that really matters, right?"

She smiled. "Yes…" She nuzzled him. "I love you, too."

Her response was a little late, but he liked hearing it.

"I know, Alex," he murmured as he began to fall asleep. "I know."

And they stayed like that for the rest of the right, happy to feel the warmth and comfort of another human body.