A/N: This is the first full FF i have ever written. Ari is one of my favourite MR characters and i feel like he doesn't get enough love, so i wanted to make him happy for once! This was originally going to be a Mari story, but then i thought that it would flow better if i used my own chracter, whom is an Itex experiment that has been forgotten. It's also about a year old, and so the writting is no doubt mediocre, but i wanted to post it and see what you guys think. R&R please! I'd be more than happy to write more! (and hopefully it will be better written than this one).

The sound of the bedroom door opening, breaking through the silence of the night is ultimately what awoke me from my slumber. Images flashed behind my closed eyelids, the remnants of a dream. A beam of white moonlight shone directly into my eyes as I opened them and I had to blink them frantically before they adjusted. Glancing at the clock, I saw that several hours had passed since I had last checked it. I checked it often when he was gone, and I could almost feel every tick of the clock vibrate in my ears as each second passed.

Yet, it seemed there was never enough time when we were together. It was such a peculiar feeling. One minute waking up beside him, and the next pacing the perimeter of our small bedroom anxiously awaiting his return. Once complete consciousness came, I sat up in the bed. In the dim light, the room looked even smaller than usual. The large bed took up most of the room, along with a dresser, a night table and a small television set in the corner. The large window on the west side of the room bore a window seat, where I often sat to read. Beside the window seat sat the newest addition to the furnishings; a bookcase. It stood thin and tall, each shelf filled with the utmost possible amount of books. There were books stacked high atop the shelves, small stacks along the bottom on the floor. The bookcase, of course, was for me. A gift for my choice to stay. Mostly because the amount of books scattered across the floor was beginning to become unbearable, but it was also a sort of apology. An apology to me for what this confined space would hold in regards to my future. As much of a future as I could have in my position. The married life, which produced lots of babies, had never really come across to me as a serious topic. I had never thought that I would live long enough to get there. It was more like some kind of a fairy-tale, meant to make me laugh at the stupidity of the protagonist who lacked satisfaction from her housewife routine and decided to switch things up by sleeping with her best friends' husband. Although, I must admit, it makes for an amusing romance novel.

Even so, I've been subjected to love, and I must admit, it does not disappoint. The satisfaction of knowing that someone else in the world cares for you so dearly, it has some unfathomable allure to it. Who doesn't want to feel assured that were they to break down at any given moment, there would be someone there to provide reassurance and security. The thought was soothing. The pledge works crosswise as well. Which is why, instead of flopping back down onto the bed and succumbing once more to the slumber my body so desperately wanted, I made my way down the narrow hallway connected to our bedroom, where I could hear the sink running and the faint sound of crying. Arriving at the bathroom door, reaching my hand out to the knob, I hesitated. I could count the amount of times I'd seen him cry on one hand. Although each time I tried my best to console him, I was unsure of my effectiveness. But, I didn't have enough fingers on both hands to count how many times he had consoled me and how effective he had been at chasing all my fears away. A simple touch could provide me with so much assurance. And so, I had to try my best to attain the same in regards to him. It was this determination that gave me the strength to turn the knob and push open the door.

It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the harsh fluorescent lights, but they soon focused on the scene before me. There he stood, dressed in no more than a lose pair of cargo's, leaning over the running faucet of the sink. I was momentarily captivated by the muscles flexing beneath his tanned skin. The tension in his body was evident, his knuckles whitening as he gripped either side of the porcelain sink. My attention was then averted to the tears that slid down his cheeks and dripped off his chin to join the running water being sucked down the drain. It was obvious that he had not heard me enter, as he made no move to signalize that he recognized my presence. I stepped further into the bathroom, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Ari." I said.

He whirled around to face me, obviously startled, and for a moment we simply stared at one another. Tears continued to flow from his eyes. He analyzed my expression, and abruptly scrubbed the tears from his cheeks with the back of his hand and rubbed his eyes. He stiffened his stance, his shoulders tightening, in an attempt to appear tough. I knew him too well, his mask couldn't fool me. He was falling apart, unravelling at the seams.

"Ari." I repeated. I could hear the crack in my own voice, my emotions scaling a dangerous cliff.

"Abbey, hey." he said. I could hear his voice cracking too. "Sorry I woke you, I was trying to be quiet."

"It's fine. I slept half the day, and besides, you know I'm a light sleeper."

Tears were no longer running down his face, but his expression still looked broken, hurt.

"Yeah, well everything's okay now. Go back to sleep, IL come to bed soon. I'm just gonna have a quick shower." he said. He turned then, towards the shower behind him. It wasn't until then that I realised how far away from each other we had been standing. As if we were strangers. As if….as if he were an animal that I was keeping my distance from, afraid that with any movement made on my part, it would provoke an attack.

"Ari!" I said suddenly, raising my voice to a near shout. Before he could even turn around, I propelled myself across bathroom floor, my socked feet slipping slightly on the tiles. I slammed into his semi turned body. He was clearly trying to turn around to see why I had screamed name, when we were in such a small bathroom, only feet away from each other. I felt as though we were miles away, being forcefully pulled further and further apart. I wrapped my arms around his torso and pressed my face into his bare chest. He was so warm.

"Abbey?" he asked, his voice now laced with concern "What…?"

"I would never mean to make you feel like an animal! You're not an animal no matter what anyone tells you. Your caring, you….. You've been trained to hurt, trained to kill. But, that's not you! I know you, the real you, and that person is caring and funny and thoughtful. I never want there to be a distance between us. I want you to stay close to me, and I want to always be by your side. No matter what these white coats throw at us, I know that we'll always be able to make it through. Just as long as were together." I broke off, gasping.

I looked up at Ari. His eyes were wide. He looked stunned, but also a little confused. I could feel tears running down my cheeks but I couldn't be bothered to stop them. I dropped my head to rest on his chest. So much emotion had been drained from me in such a short time that I no longer had control. I felt two fingers bellow my chin that lifted my head upwards, and my eyes met his once more. He slowly lifted his other hand to my face and gently wiped my tears. I closed my eyes at his warm touch.

"Abbey, I-"he broke off, as though he were searching for exactly the right words. "Where did all that suddenly come from?"

I sniffled a few times, and then took a deep breath. "I don't know, I just, I felt like there was a barricade between us. As though we were being wedged apart, and I hated that feeling, like I couldn't protect you. I can't stand to watch you cry."

Ari's mouth hung open, he looked absolutely shocked. "Abbey, you don't need to protect me. I'm supposed to be the one protecting you."

This time it was my turn to be shocked. "But I'm not the one in danger! The whitecoats think I escaped months ago, they've forgotten about me! You're the one being emitted to their experiments every day!"

At the mention of the whitecoats experiments, Ari flinched. Realisation struck me. "That's it isn't it?" I asked "That's why you were crying. What did they do to you? Did they hurt you?" The sudden urge to defend and protect him overcame me, like a motherly instinct.

"It's no big deal" he said, none too convincingly. I could tell he was trying to cover up the worst of it. "It wasn't that bad. They just wanted to see my reaction to peanuts."

"Peanuts, why?" I asked, confused. I had expected him to say that they had submitted him to high voltage shocks, or done more graphing for his wings, not that they had simply given him a school kid's' lunch.

"Well when I was a kid, before I became an Eraser, I was really allergic to peanuts. So I guess that they wanted to see if the Eraser genes changed anything."

"Did it?" I asked. Things were now beginning to make a little more sense.

Ari hesitated. He looked horror-struck, and I could tell that he was remembering the whole thing, every detail. He sighed. "No, I had that same reaction as usual. My throat swelled up and I couldn't breathe. I guess they weren't expecting it because they started scrambling around, looking for something regulate my breathing. They gave me medication for anaphylaxis." He took a breath and looked down, towards the floor. "I thought I was gonna die. I thought I was gonna die and you'd be left here, alone."

I felt dizzy. I felt as though my brain weren't getting enough oxygen, as though I was viable to collapse any second. I tightened my grip on Ari's arms, and processed his words. "You almost died." I said. "You almost died and you were worried about me? Your life was hanging in the balance and you were wondering if I would be okay? Oh Ari, you idiot! You need to stop being so selfless, worry about yourself for a change!"

At that statement Ari laughed. "And here I've been told my whole life that it's a good thing to be selfless."

"But your life was on the line!" I cried "I need you to stay alive; you're not allowed to die."

Ari's face regained its previous seriousness. He took hold of both my arms and held me out in front of him, as though he were studying me. "Abbey, listen to me. When I took you from the whitecoats and hid you in here, I promised that it would only be for a little while. Just long enough for me to grab as much cash as I could off of Itex, then we'd hit the road. It's been longer than I intended, I know that. I want to get you out of here as soon as I can. I want you away from any possible danger, and keeping you in my room in the Itex facility is a huge contradiction to that. I want you to be happy. I'm working on the escape plan, I am, and it's going to happen soon. But, it's hard. Each time I start to think that the whitecoats have forgotten about me, that they've moved on to something better, that I'll be able to disappear without notice, they pull a stunt like they did today. It's like I'm their favourite guinea pig. I need to escape too, Abbey. I can't do this much longer and next time, who knows, they might not be able to save me. I don't want to die here."

He looked down at the floor. His eyes were tearing up. I couldn't stand to see him cry again. I cupped his cheeks with my hands and brought his head down, so that his eyes were eye level with mine. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was suddenly cut off.

"Im going to get you out of here, Abbey" he said with sudden undeniable determination. "I would do anything to keep you safe. If anyone tried to lay a finger on you I would break it, along with the rest of their bones. You mean the world to me. Before I met you, all my life revolved around was revenge. But when I saw you in the whitecoats testing room, with your beautiful red hair and white wings, I thought that maybe there were some good things left in the world. Then I got to know you, got to fall in love with you. Now, all I need to get through the day is to see you smile. To hear you laugh. You get me through. I could never leave you, you keep me going. I love you, Abbey, and I always will."

I stared into his deep brown eyes, and I knew that every word he said was true. This boy, this man, he loved me more than anything. He would do anything to protect me. He brought me more comfort than anything else could. I once longed to meet the parents I had never known, to feel the love that every child longed for. To feel accepted, despite my obvious genetic differences, to find someone who could care less about my avian DNA. And I had found that person, not in the form of a parent, but in the form of a lover. "I love you too Ari and I will never leave you. I want you, always."

We stared at each other for a moment, as though a simple glance could transmit all our feelings. Words were not always needed. Ari smiled, and so did I, as he brought his head down to mine. I lifted myself up on my tippy toes, and our lips met.

The kiss was gentle, soft. It was similar to many other kisses we had shared, but this one held something different. A promise. A promise to be there for each other, to protect each other, to love each other unconditionally. When we finally broke away for air, I opened my eyes, and saw Ari grinning. His lips were swollen slightly, and he had a blush spread across his cheeks.

"So about that shower, mind if I join you? I wouldn't mind one myself." I said, followed with a somewhat naughty grin.

Ari laughed, and turned to the shower to run the water. After stripping off our clothes, he stepped into the shower, and held out his hand to me. I looked into his eyes once more. It was all there, his promises. It hadn't been a dream. I took his hand, and he pulled me into the shower with him.