So I'm a little in love with this show, particularly Will and Riley. This story includes all of the Sensates and all of the canon couples, but will have a strong undertone of their relationship throughout. Please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: not mine.

Officer William Gorski was nothing if not resourceful. Let's face it…you don't survive as a cop on the streets of Chicago without being able to improvise and take advantage of whatever aid your situation might give you. Maybe that played into his ability to take the backseat in his own mind, to allow the others to step in seamlessly and get the job done. Will was not afraid to accept his limitations and embrace those strengths in his cluster, and it hadn't taken the eight of them long to trust each other and reach out for help. Sometimes it was instinctual, like when he'd experienced Riley's suffocation and took over to save her, or when Sun stepped in and took over to take out the guards. Sometimes it started as observing and giving advice, and then turned into working together, like when Whispers went after Nomi. The more they became comfortable with each other's skills, the easier it was to just think of what needed to be done, and boom. Shit got done.

The moment that his eyes met Whispers' in the elevator, though…Will knew that he was screwed. His body went rigid, and his blood ran cold. Will faintly heard Nomi asking him what was wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to reply. The son of a bitch would hunt him down, would try to get to the rest of his cluster through him. And no way in hell was he letting that happen. He had to protect them…these seven other parts of his soul. He had to protect Riley.

If he couldn't save her, nothing else would matter. All his life, Will had been skeptical of the notion of soul mates…until he met her inside that church. The wonder shining in her eyes when he told her she was in America had taken his breath away, and he'd found himself inexplicably drawn to her ever since. He was closely bonded to their entire cluster, but it felt like Riley's spirit resonated in him. When he'd finally found her, he'd been terrified to touch her, as if it would shatter a dream and he'd end up being too late to save her. The time he'd spent without her presence in his mind had been torture…he'd become so accustomed to hearing and feeling seven other people that when one was silenced…when that voice was silenced, it physically ached all throughout his body.

It wasn't until he felt Cephaeus take over that Will realized he'd basically switched to autopilot. They'd made it to the ambulance, and he watched as his perpetually-optimistic counterpart jumpstarted the rig before returning control to the officer. Hope sparked in him for a moment when they made it off of the complex, but it wasn't long before the helicopter caught up to them and Whispers was in his ear, taunting him. Whispers told him that he knew Will didn't have it in him to kill all of them, and he was right. Will couldn't sacrifice Riley's life because of his failure.

If he knows anything about me, he'll know that I do. Wolfgang allowed his plan to play across Will's mind, and that's all it took for Will to grant him control. Whispers wouldn't be able to tell that the German was bluffing…because if it came down to it, Will told him to follow through with it. Whispers wouldn't give the others the chance to rescue both him and Riley, and he would rather all of them deal with the loss and move on than risk them getting captured as well and made into lab rats.

The events of the next five minutes would certainly go down as the most fucked up five minutes of his life. He barely had time to register and respond to Riley's terror before they were both caught up in an insane reenactment of the crash that took her husband and newborn baby from her. It all happened so fast that Will was amazed they didn't crash. The second the flashbacks stopped he pulled over the van, and Riley bolted.

With a curse, Will took off after her, calling her name. Riley stumbled up to the top of a hill and fell to her knees, folding her arms as if she was holding something. She's still caught up in the memory, he realized. Will dropped to his knees in front of her, reaching out in an attempt to ground her to reality. He tried to reassure her, but Jonas and Angelica both appeared to him, pushing him to protect them like Angelica had done. When he returned his gaze to Riley, he found himself drawn back into her memory, where her hair was no longer vibrantly blonde and she was cradling a still baby to her chest. The agony of her loss felt like knives to his heart, and he dropped his forehead to hers.

"It's okay, Will. I was supposed to die here."

Her acceptance bled into his mind, and before he knew it, Will was on his feet with his gun in his hand. He wasn't sure if he was going to end her life or his own…maybe both…but just as quickly, he snapped back to reality and tossed the weapon away. There had to be another way to beat this, to protect the others from Whispers. There had to be a way to sever the man's access to him—

The psychic connection was blocked when a person was unconscious. Unlike sleeping, where they could still access feelings, unconsciousness left a total void like had happened with Riley. Whispers wouldn't be able to access his thoughts if he were knocked out. As he ran back to the ambulance, Will called on Kala, who guided him and wished him luck. She promised to reach out to the others once she was able to connect with Riley again, and sat with him while he prepared the needle and injected himself with the sedative. The officer felt the darkness creeping in quickly, and prayed he could get through to Riley before it was too late.

"Riley…" abruptly he was kneeling before her again, this time cradling her face in his hands. "Whispers saw me. He's in my head. As long as I'm unconscious he can't see what I see…that's why I shot up with all those drugs. In a minute I'm gonna be unconscious. Our only chance is if you get in that ambulance and drive us out of here." He watched her for a few seconds, fear gripping him at the way she continued to stare off with tears in her eyes. "Riley…if you don't, we're all gonna die."

"I can't," she breathed, finally meeting his eyes. "I can't." Suddenly they were in the snow again, and the overwhelming emotions assaulted him. "I can't leave her."

Tears streamed down Will's face unchecked, and he gently cradled the baby's head. "Riley, please," he begged.

"I'm so sorry, Will…I can't do it," she sobbed, pressing her lips to Luna's forehead and rocking gently back and forth.

He watched her silently for a moment, back in reality, fighting to gather his composure and hold off unconsciousness just a little bit longer. He reached out for her again, and Riley's chocolate eyes returned to his. "I know how much it hurts. You want to lay down here and never get up again. I know it because I feel it." They flashed briefly back to the memory, and he pressed his forehead to hers once more. "I can feel it," he whimpered. "That means…somehow, somewhere, you can feel what I'm feeling too." Clarity was slowly returning to Riley's eyes as she listened to him, and he felt her begin to allow his emotions to wash over hers. "I love you. That's why I can't give up. I love you." With his declaration, one he'd been holding in since their first kiss in his apartment, he leaned forward and tugged her close. Before his lips touched hers Will hesitated, praying that he'd been able to get through to her. Relief flooded him when she closed the gap between them, and he poured as much love as he could into their embrace.

The pull of darkness finally won out, and he sunk into oblivion, her thoughts of reciprocation floating across his mind before he gave in.

The next time he felt awareness returning, Will had to wonder for a moment if he was still alive. A soft voice in his ear was singing a beautiful lullaby, fingers were tracing lightly through his hair, and it felt as though he were slowly swaying. He listened for a moment as he came further out of his sedation, and realized that he'd heard the song before in Riley's memories.

Her hands came to rest gently on his shoulder and chest, and the singing stopped. Will opened his eyes slowly, the brightness of the sun overwhelming him at first. It didn't take long for him to figure out that they were on a boat, but he didn't want to wonder beyond that in case Whispers tried to use the information to find them.

Riley smiled tenderly down at him, stroking his hair and jaw once more. Will cursed the man that had put them in this predicament. They'd just found one another, just touched and kissed for the first time not in their minds, and now…who knew how long it would take to find a way to get rid of Whispers so that Will could have his life back.

"Is he sick?"

Will kept his gaze trained away from the man speaking, not wanting to put him at risk as well. He was too groggy to try to connect with Riley, but the voice sounded vaguely familiar from various memories of her life in Iceland.

"No, he's okay," Riley assured gently. She returned her gaze to him for a moment, and he could read the guilt and pain in her eyes as she reached for the already-prepped needle. Part of him wished he could tell her to wait, to give them a few minutes together, but the more lucid he became, the greater the risk of Whispers finding him again. "Everything's okay." The sting of the needle was dulled, but the effects of the drug kicked in right away. Riley cradled his jaw, stroking his cheek tenderly with her thumb and leaning in until they were almost nose to nose.

Will fought to cling to consciousness for a moment longer, needing to tell her that he was proud of her. "You did it," he breathed. "You saved us."

The words stole what was left of his strength, and when she pressed her lips to his, he hoped that she could feel him try to kiss her back. In that instant, as darkness took him away again, peace settled over him. They would beat Whispers…they would get their lives back…he would spend his life proving to Riley that he would not leave her.