Daniel Pierce was exhausted. Worn out. He had spent the night before solving a major case with Kate, and he had gone from the FBI building to his office for a 2-hour nap before Lewicki woke him up for his classes. After reading 6 midterm papers, words began to blur together. Lewicki was downstairs, reading the rest of the papers, and had insisted Daniel get some sleep.
"Doc, go to bed, okay? I got this," he had said, gently pushing Daniel towards the stairs. "I'll wake you up in the morning."
Dressed in a gray tee-shirt and boxers, with his faced washed and teeth brushed, Daniel was ready for bed. But something didn't feel quite right. He didn't know what, but something was nagging at the back of his mind, refusing to let him even close his eyes. He pulled a Sudoku book (level 3 for advanced, of course) out of his nightstand and grabbed a pen, his eyes scanning over the puzzles and rows of numbers.
"Missing me?," Natalie Vincent asked. Daniel looked up, peering over the tops of his glasses. He set down his puzzle book. She was sitting at the foot of the bed, in a pair of soft, charcoal-gray pajamas.
"Nat, where have you been?"
"You didn't take your meds tonight, again," Natalie gently berated him, avoiding his question. "You can't ignore that plastic bottle forever."
"Maybe I can," Daniel said, with the defiance of a 6-year-old.
"No, Daniel, you can't," Natalie said, scooting towards him on the bed and taking his hand. He sighed and watched her fingers trace over the veins in his hand.
"What if I want to?," he asked softly, looking into her eyes. "I can't lose you, Nat. I need you."
"What you need is to get better, Daniel," Kate said gently, meeting his gaze. "You can't live in this state of delusion forever."
"But, Natalie, I don't know who I am without you," he said sadly. She sighed.
"Oh, Daniel…"
"No, Natalie. Please, don't try to justify this. Don't come up with a hundred reasons why I should let you go. Because I can't. And don't even bring out that old "if you love something, let it go free" phrase."
"What?"
"I don't care what else happens to me, as long as I still have you. I can't let go you, Natalie. You're my best friend, and….. and I love you."
They stared at each other, speechless for the first time.
"I love you, Natalie Vincent," Daniel whispered. She nodded and a tear slid down her face. He reached his hand out to wipe it away, and suddenly he was pulling her face to his, placing his lips upon hers.
The touch was electric. Daniel wrapped his arms around Natalie's neck, pulling her down on top of him. She kissed back, and with every touch Daniel felt revived. The rush was incredible – like a high, only softer and more wonderful. He refused to part his lips from hers, deepening the kiss every time he felt it was about to end.
When they finally had to break apart for air, Natalie rested her forehead against Daniel's.
"I love you too."
Daniel awoke at 2 AM, with moonlight streaming in though the window. He looked around the room and saw Natalie asleep beside him, her long, silky blonde hair resting on the pillow just inches from his face and her gray pajama top moving up and down with her chest.
He got up for a drink of water, then got back in bed. He was about to close his eyes when he heard a voice.
"She's very pretty… who is she?"
Startled, he opened his eyes and sat up. Kate was sitting cross-legged at the foot of his bed, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and twirling a lock of her long, dark hair around her finger. She looked curious.
"Kate?"
"Yeah. Who else would I be?," she asked with a smile. "So, who is she?"
"Natalie. Natalie Vincent. We went to grad school together… how did you get here? Did Max let you in?"
Kate ignored his question and looked at Natalie. "Former girlfriend?"
"He'd like to think so."
Daniel rubbed his eyes and blinked. Natalie was sitting next to Kate, with that look on her face. The "I'm right, you know it" look.
"I'm the reason he won't take meds," Natalie said to Kate with a sigh. "I keep trying to tell him to let me go, but he won't."
Kate looked at Daniel. "Is this true?"
"I…," Daniel, still confused. He looked beside him. Natalie was still asleep, but she was sitting next to Kate too. How could this be?
"Yes," Natalie answered for him. She stroked his cheek. "I love you very much, Daniel, but you have a responsibility to the people in your life who are real. Like Kate, for example."
Kate looked a little sad. "Daniel, why don't you take the pills? They would be really helpful to you. I see that look on your face sometimes, I know you still see things and people that aren't there."
Daniel shook his head. "No, no, I can't. Because if I do…."
"What?," Kate asked gently. She needed an explanation, and Daniel knew she wouldn't stop until she had one.
"He'll lose me," Natalie whispered. She looked at Daniel.
"Kate cares about you, Daniel. You need a relationship with someone who's real, and I know part of you loves her. You just won't admit it, because you're scared."
Kate looked upset and confused. Daniel was stuck between the two women he loved, and he had no solution.
"Kate, please… it's so complicated. You don't want me. I'm damaged." He turned to Natalie. "And Nat, I can't let you go. I'm not insane, but without you I will certainly go crazy."
Kate slid off the bed and squeezed Daniel's hand.
"I know you have a lot to think about, and this is very hard, but for the record, I don't care about anything but you. I've always cared for you, Daniel, and nothing will change that."
She opened his bedroom door and slipped out quietly, leaving Daniel and Natalie alone. Natalie turned to Daniel and glared at him.
"Daniel! You just broke her heart."
"What? What are you talking about?" He pointed at the door. "She left! She was very understanding. It's your fault, for springing this on me."
"Daniel, you have a big choice to make, and you need to decide who you love. Do you want to keep talking to the walls and watching baseball games with someone who is a figment of your imagination, or do you want to get better and finally resolve things with Kate?"
Daniel stared at her. Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.
"I don't know," he admitted, falling into Natalie's arms. She held him close and rubbed his back.
"Shh, it's okay. I know you'll do the right thing. You always do."
"But I don't know what that is," Daniel whispered. Natalie tucked him back into bed, pulling the covers over him and kissing his forehead. The Natalie beside him in bed and the Natalie tucking him in morphed back into one, and Daniel pulled her close to him, breathing in the smell of her shampoo. He was totally and completely lost.
The next morning when he woke up, the bed was empty. He knew that last night hadn't been real, and that Natalie was right, but that didn't help him process what his hallucinations of Kate and Natalie had said.
Who did he love?
What do you guys think? It was hard to write this, because I've never written a fic where only one of the characters was real. New territory, for sure.