Julia had been thinking about Horatio non stop now that she was in recovery. She couldn't help herself. He was so persistent. No matter how she pushed him away and told him she didn't need him or want him, he was always there. He always was looking out for her and their son. He was so selfless. She felt obligated to think of him. She didn't want him to think she was insane, in fact, he was the only person who didn't. He came to see her everyday and now that she was improving (and soon to be let out) she was sure he would be there to see her out. She lay back on her bed and thought of the time they had spent together almost 18 years ago. Closing her eyes and grinning she remembered him. The way it had all started.

OoOo FLASH BACK oOoO

Julia was a busy nurse that day in Pensacola. There had been an attack and a lot of people were severely injured. She was only a junior nurse so she couldn't help as much as she would've liked to. As she followed a gurney with a bleeding man atop it, her chief nurse pushed her back.

"Not you, Eberly. You don't have enough training." She said. God, Julia hated her.

"Enough what? You need all hands-" the chief nurse cut across her.

"I said no. Their is a patient who was only grazed by a bullet in there," Julia followed her gaze into a room to her left, "redress his bandages and try not to injure him further." Julia glared after her and reluctantly walked to the open door. Her eyes fell upon a man who was facing away from her. He was muscled and had impressive red hair. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. She let out a small cough to alert him to her presence and he turned around.

"Oh, hello." He greeted with a smile. Julia could barely smile back. He was so breathtakingly handsome and had bright blue eyes. His voice was soft and low like velvet. Julia approached him.

"Where's your graze?" She asked nervously. The man showed his is strong right arm, there was and old bandage around it but blood had started to pool out from under it. She removed the bandage slowly and it slid of as the blood had compromised the adhesive. The man didn't flinch, but she could feel his glowing eyes watching her every move.

"What's your name?" He asked with his velvety voice.

"Julia, Julia Eberly." She answered, looking at him as she reached over his lap to dispose of the bandage.

"Well, Julia, Julia Eberly, I'm John Walden." The man whispered with a smile. Julia chuckled at the joke as she cleared up the blood and analysed the wound.

"This is why it won't stop bleeding." Julia said, grabbing some tweezers and plucking something out. Both she and John looked at it for a while. "The bullet left a frag behind. It was still cutting into your flesh." Julia explained, disposing of the fragment and sponging the wound with a wet surgical sponge. She felt John's eyes penalising her every move. Smiling as she wrapped new dressing around his muscular arm, she spoke.

"Why are you watching me, John Walden?" She asked. She leaned over him again to replace the scissors and dressing back on the tray, and paused to look into his scorching blue eyes.

"It's because you're very pretty, Julia Eberly." He whispered, soft and slow. She turned away, grinning and blushing. John's hand, soft as silk, turned it back towards him. "You have green eye and one brown eye." He mused aloud. Julia nodded and turned her attention back to the newly dressed wound. She taped it and kissed it once, just for good measure. Them she gave John back his arm and looked at him. He winked at her and drew nearer, their lips almost meeting. Then he got up and walked to the door. At first Julia was disappointed because she thought that he was leaving but he closed the door and walked back to her. He sat opposite her and she sighed as she tidied away her things. His eyes were religiously trained on her the whole time. The attention made her so nervous that she got clumsy and dropped her purse on the floor. As she scrambled to retrieve the contents, John also got to his knees and helped.

"Thank you." She smiled. John looked at a photo of a young girl with her smiling parents. The distinctive eye colour difference told him that the young girl was Julia. When she saw him looking, she snatched the picture away and replaced it in the purse and hurried to collect her other things so that she could leave.

"Are they your parents?" John asked.

"No, they're no one." Julia snapped, heading for the door.

"What happened?" He asked again, is voice filled with concern.

"Nothing," she said tears prickling in her eyes.

"Please don't go, Julia." He begged. She halted, his voice so panicked and soft that it coaxed her to stay. Withdrawing her hand from the door handle she turned to John. She nodded and rejoined him on the medical bed. They sat next to each other and Julia quickly wiped away a tear.

"What happened." Came John's amazing voice again.

"Well, m-my dad killed my mom after he'd been drinking, and he ended up mad. He killed himself in a mental asylum last year." She stuttered, "I keep this photograph to remind me that things weren't always like that."

"Me too." John muttered. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a picture of two boys with their parents. "That's me with my parents and my brother Raymond." He pointed him out, "my dad killed my mom. I tried to save her but it only made things worse."

"What happened?" Julia asked, John chuckled at the joke.

"Let's just say I intervened on the situation and her killer ended up dead." He whispered.

"Oh." Was all Julia could say, she turned her attention back to the photo, "your brother looks just like you."

"Yeah, he does." John smiled sadly. Then the door was opened and the chief nurse stood there.

"Eberly, out, now! Don't just lay around we need help." She said before leaving. Julia sighed, knowing it wasn't worth the fight.

"Goodbye, John Walden." She said. He handed her back her purse.

"I hope not." He said with the sweetest smile Julia had ever seen. She nodded, grinning like an idiot and left with her purse. Later that night she was with her room mate Kimberley Dalton in their cabin and she was looking through her purse. Kimberley was reading a letter from her fiancé Edward Swann. Julia saw how happy she was. She knew that soon, Kimberley would be having her baby and would be sent home, but right now they were so short on nurses that she had to stay at 4 months. Plus she knew she would've refused to go. She was good like that. Julia watched as Kimberley put down the letter and rubbed her belly grinning.

"What's the word from home?" She asked.

"Eddie says that the moment our child is born he will whisk us away and marry me." Kimberley giggled. Julia smiled.

"That's great." She said.

"OK, what's on your mind?" Kimberley asked. She was great at reading people.

"I- I met this gorgeous guy today. John Walden, do you know him?" Julia inquired.

"I know of him," Kimberley answered, "all the guys I've treated say he's the ultimate good guy. Last week he risked his life to save children of the enemy and two days ago he-" as Kimberley spoke, Julia lost herself in all the wonderful things this man had done. How truly brilliant he must be. One hand still in her purse, she felt something that wasn't hers in the bottom. It was a piece of paper. She with drew it and read the writing on it. Meet me in tent 309 at midnight, John. Julia grinned excitedly and held the note to her chest. She turned to Kimberley.

"Kimmy, can you cover for me?" She asked. Kimberley, who had been interrupted in her stories, nodded and watched confused as Julia practically danced out of the door. She weaved her way through the guards around her and found tent 309. She slipped three fingers through the gap and whispered.

"John, it's Julia." The tent flap opened, revealing John's handsome face. His blue eyes shone in the moonlight.

"And 15 minutes early." He chuckled. She laughed too then they heard some guards.

"What was that? Its coming from this tent row." John pulled a panicking Julia into the tent like lightning and laid her under the covers he laid down on top of her, shielding her from view. He breath became ragged as John's bare chest's contact on her aroused her. He put a finger to her lips and she complied to his wishes, being quiet as if she were under his spell. The guards lifted away the tent flap and John put his head over Julia's, lips inches from each other. John closed his eyes but Julia kept hers wide open, fixed on John. The guards soon left and John's eyes opened. He looked down on Julia and tenderly moved some hair from her face. She was so in awe of this man that she couldn't even move. Her eyes were just transfixed upon his dazzling blue ones. After a while, he must have thought that she was uncomfortable so he made to get off of her. That woke Julia up. She forced he back on top of her and kissed him hungrily. She could feel him smile against her lips and she opened her mouth and invited him in. Their tongues met, fighting for dominance. She ran her delicate fingers up and down his bare abdomen. She felt him groan; a low rumble in the back of her throat. They broke free of each other for just a moment to catch their breath and John's hands found her face. Kisses landing all around her cheeks and jawline.

"Mm, Julia." He muttered. That was probably the sweetest thing she had ever heard. Her fingers slipped through his stunning red hair as he kissed her over and over. A moan escaped her lips. It was odd. She barely knew this man yet she longed for him to touch her, to feel him close to her. She loved the feel of his bare skin and his scent. He smelled amazing. Like sandalwood and musk. They clawed at each other, stripping off each others clothing with so much haste that in a matter of minutes they were both naked. The close space to which they were confined made it more heated than ever and desire for the other filled each of them. Julia groaned in pleasure as John kissed her chest and rubbed her abdomen. He moved inside her, causing her to cry out. John pressed his lips to hers to silence her. Julia could've stayed this way forever, in the perfect sanctuary, before John rolled off of her and laid down beside her. It was incredibly cold without him there, so she snuggled into him, longing for his contact once more.

"John." she whispered. John gently kissed the top of her head affectionately. "John, I need you," she whispered again, "don't leave me, don't tell me this is just a one time thing."

"It's not a one time thing if you don't want it to be, Julia." he said in a low rumble, "You can stay as long as you want." Julia let out a small, elated whimper and showered John's chest with kisses before resting her head on it. John snuggled her into him, so tight Julia honestly thought she was invincible. She would always want this man. Feeling so safe she gently dropped her eyelids and fell into a deep sleep, knowing that in the morning her life would still be that much better.