A/N: Ah, well, I couldn't keep me from thinking about more ;-) Enjoy the next chapter


.

Sleep

.


It was pitch dark when she woke to a certain pressure. Barbara obviously had drunk so much liquid before she fell asleep that she was not able to sleep through the night. That she had drunk such a huge amount of liquid already had come back quickly into her sleepy mind but when she wanted to get up she felt that she was strangely lying on somebody. On someone's body, not on something. He was warm and breathing regularly and she could tell from the soft snoring she heard that he obviously was still asleep. But not very much longer. Carefully she tried to get up.

"Ouch." that somebody sleepily said when she accidentally pushed her elbow into his ribcage. Tommy increased the firmness with which his arm held her in place on his chest. "You won't go anywhere, my sweet. Go back to sleep." he mumbled snuggling his face back into the cushions.

"Tommy, I..." Hearing herself calling him by his name so easily made her stop short. Hearing her saying his name so easily made him wake up completely. Her voice was only a whisper when she continued her explanation. "I need to... use the bathroom..."

He released her from his soft grip because he knew how much she had drunk. Actually he had been the one making sure she did. While she stood Tommy reached over and turned on the small reading lamp next to his sofa. "Please return and promise me you won't call a cab." he softly teased her watching her hurrying out of the room. Then he sat up and stared into the semi-darkness. Every single muscle ached. As much as he loved to have been fallen asleep with Barbara on top he knew that he was too old to continue the night that way. Barbara could sleep in the big bed in his guest room, he decided, and then he would have the sofa for himself which would be much more comfortable, at least for his aching bones. The doors to the hall could be kept open so he would hear her if she had nightmares or other unpredictable aftermaths of the drugs that still were running through her veins. In the corner of his eye he saw that Barbara had returned from the toilet but had stopped in the doorway. Arms crossed in front of her chest she leaned her shoulder against it and watched him. Uncertainty was written all over her face while she mustered his face, searching for his eyes.

Tommy's hand nervously raked through his hair, and he could not suppress a yawn. Her face softened, even she could feel it, but it really was no wonder. She adored this man and with his soft and sleepy eyes that almost winked at her, the tousled hair and his new beard, still short and probably only one week old, she could not call it else than adoringly sexy. Which brought her mind back to what had happened the evening before and so she frowned. It was clearly visible for Tommy that something was if not wrong then certainly different to the moment a few seconds ago.


"You okay?" Tommy asked with a concerned voice.

Barbara shrugged undecidedly. "My head throbs...?!"

"Any visions?"

She shrugged again and chewed on her lip. "...not sure...?"

Tommy just smiled and made a vague gesture between them and to the sofa where the cushions still were in a muddle. "You mean...?" he softly asked.

"Mh." Vaguely positively nodding Barbara frowned again. This was a weird situation. All she wanted was to hurry back into his arms but actually she was afraid of it all too. Was it a true feeling? Was she still under this loosening drug? Was he serious and not just friendly? Or worse, was he just taking advantage? Although she banned that ridiculous thought immediately Barbara still was unsure if the kiss had happened anyway.

His smile turned even broader. "This is no hallucination, Barbara. It had happened." Silence hovered in the room when he paused and they just stared at each other. One trying to reassure the other and the other trying to believe it, to trust him, to trust herself. Words returned to her mind, words they had said in the evening and her eyes grew wider just a little bit. Tommy noticed so now he nodded. "Yah, and we've said it."

The uncertainty was so overpowering it made Barbara stay rooted in the doorway. It must have been written in her face because Tommy patted on the empty space on the sofa and nodded again. "Please, come here." he whispered and when she - still slightly hesitating - finally followed his invitation and sat down right next to him, only cautiously touching his side, he put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her softly.

"I've meant it." Whispering lips placed a gentle kiss on her temple then he rested his head on hers. For a while in which Barbara almost did not dare move an inch they both sat in silence and dwelled on their own thoughts. When she yawned he gave her shoulder another squeeze and got up. "You still need more liquid before you get back to sleep. C'mon, to the kitchen." Tommy held out a hand to pull her up from the cushions and she took it.


Watching him going around and pouring her a glass of water after he had switched on the kettle Barbara sat at the table. She shivered. Feeling cold was another predicted effect during the process of her body trying to get rid of the poison in its veins. Without a word Tommy went and came back with the still warm blanket which he attentively put around her small frame. His hands rested on her shoulders for a while but he just kept standing behind her until Barbara placed her hand on his and whispered a soft "Thank you!" In that moment the kettle pinged so Tommy just gave her shoulders a squeeze, then went to make her a cup of hot salty broth. "You need some minerals, too." he declared.

His back was propped against the worktop while he watched her drinking and warming her hands at the hot cup. Barbara looked lost. Fear still was written in her face and she hardly looked at him. Her eyes were small and red and he could tell that she was extremely tired and worn out and probably had shared some tears while she was in the bathroom.

"You need to sleep, Barbara." She looked up with a jolt and big fearful eyes suddenly pained his soul so he immediately felt he had said something wrong. He could not know where she had heard those exact words before. Barbara fiercely tried to rationalise it into her muddy brain. He could not know that this was exactly what the kidnapper had said to her right before he had given her a severe dose of a sedative injection. But this was not the kidnapper. This was Tommy, her rescuer. Tommy, her boss, her friend, her- Barbara sighed and allowed herself to continue the thought that had sneaked into her mind. Tommy was the love of her life. Tommy smiled seeing her face soften again. "Only if you want to, of course." he explained. "But it would be best to get rid of the truth drug and to lessen the pain in your head. You could use the guest room and we could leave the doors open."

" 'kay." Barbara mumbled swallowing down the last remains of the salty broth.


"Oh, bother!" Tommy suddenly swore. He knew he had missed something. Before he had abandoned everything to put all concentration onto finding Barbara he had interior decorators start to renovate his master bedroom, so right at the moment he was sleeping in the guest room. The bed was made but it was his and he had not yet changed the sheets. How could he have known he would have an overnight guest? He told her of the misery. "Umm, if you have a moment I'll change the sheets for you. Oh, and you can have one of my pyjamas if you'd want to get rid of the jogging suit."

"No! No, it will do." Barbara stopped him. "The sheets, I mean. It's okay. I just want to sleep." She lopsidedly smiled while he put out some dark green sleep wear for her and fished for his own pyjama from under the duvet. Patiently he had waited for her to come back from the bathroom. Of course he quickly had changed into his own deep red pyjamas. They met in the hall.

"Are you really okay with it?" Barbara nodded. "Okay. I'm on the other side of the hall. Leave the door open so I can hear you. If you need something just call, will you?"

Barbara nodded. "Ta."

"Oh, and Barbara?" she turned back to him and found him standing right in front of her with an earnest smile. "Sleep well."

When Tommy bent down Barbara involuntarily straightened up and met his lips halfway in a brief but tender kiss.

"You too." she whispered blushing but answering his happy face with the slightest of smiles.

Tommy went back to his sofa and turned off the lamp. Of course he could not go back to sleep with things, or better, with Barbara running through his mind and with his ears listening if something would sound strange in his guest room.

Barbara was thankful that she could sleep in a bed with a soft mattress, cosy pillows and a cuddly duvet. She quickly drifted into something like sleep only to wake up immediately to her memories wandering back into the cold and humid cellar, screening horrid pictures into her mind. For a while she tossed and turned, trembling when she closed her eyes and when tiredness overpowered her into a restless semi-sleep and nervous when she was fully awake every now and then and could smell Tommy on everything that surrounded her. The bad thing was he was in the other room, probably asleep now, unaware of her traumatic flashbacks. She took a sip of the water on the night stand and plonked back into the pillows with a capitulating thud. A few tears silently escaped her eyes.

"Everything ok?" she heard him whisper and could not decide if she should answer or pretend she was asleep.

"Hmmm." She breathed hoping he had not heard her. She also hoped he had heard her. Barbara swallowed down a sob. The last thing she wanted was his pity though she really would want him to give her solace. Everything she felt was jumbled.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Staying where he was he still loudly whispered across the hall.

"Everything's just fine." she whispered. He could come over to her, everything smelled of him anyway.

"You sure?" Barbara realised that she had thought aloud. She deeply inhaled before she answered.

"I could do with a friendly human being right next to me. A little steady snore would be helpful, I think. Actually I can't find sleep." Like she usually did she overplayed her uncertainties with witty remarks.

It was seconds later when she heard him whispering right into her ear. "I thought as much. But I'm here, my sweet, just try to get some." It was only a bit awkward out of its strangeness when he slipped under the duvet on the other side of the bed. Without any touches they lay there, Tommy noise- and motionless, Barbara restless. Against the dim lights in the other room he could see her trembling silhouette so he opened his arm and simply said that he was there. His gesture was very much appreciated by Barbara who came closer almost without any hesitation. Tentatively she placed her hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

In an instant she was asleep.


.


.