The food came, and for a while Alex stopped talking and ate her way, steadily and with more than a modicum of elegance, through what would be a fairly large meal for two people. While Alex ate, Olivia thought. Hard. She knew that Alex's mind worked more quickly than hers, but Alex was clearly exhausted, and starving, so Olivia paced through the problem at her own speed. Where could they house thirty children? Presumably, if the US government was planning to claim them, they could go to foster homes, but finding thirty overnight would be impossible. Did she know anyone useful? How were they going to feed them? What-

"Liv?" Alex's voice brought her back to reality, and Olivia realized that she had been staring into space.

"Sorry. Should we go home?"

Alex nodded, and they left. She was beginning to feel the weight of two straight days awake, although she was at least no longer hungry, and sat in a deliberately awkward position so as to avoid falling asleep by accident. She tucked her hair behind her ears, a nervous tic since childhood, and turned to face Olivia.

"Any ideas?"

Olivia shook her head, and took a sharp right.

"Nothing useful. I think we ought to phone El in the morning - he's always remembering another useful army buddy when he needs to weasel himself out of trouble; maybe he can think of someone."

"Good plan," Alex said, too tired to be eloquent.

They pulled up outside Olivia's building, and they made their way up to the apartment. Alex was nearly asleep on her feet, hit by a sudden wave of exhaustion, and halfway up the last flight of stairs she swayed precariously and lost her balance.

Before she could fall even a single step, Olivia had caught her. She wrapped an arm around Alex's waist to prevent further mishap, and they made up the stairs and into the apartment.

"Thank you," Alex said, and smiled. "And now, to bed, before I collapse."

Alex moved to go, but then stopped, realizing that she didn't know where she was going. Olivia saw this, with a rush of affection, stepped in front of Alex, and lead the way to her bedroom. She put Alex's suitcase on the bed.

"Goodnight, Alex," she said. "Please, sleep until noon."

"Deal," Alex replied, with a ghost of her old smile. "Goodnight, Liv."

Olivia turned to go, then changed her mind and swept Alex into another hug. Alex felt the breath catch in her throat, but it felt good, to be safe and warm and not hungry, and in the arms of the person she loved best in the world. Olivia stepped back, and, to Alex's surprise, kissed her forehead.

"Sleep," Olivia said again, and Alex nodded. Olivia left.

The couch was not entirely comfortable, and although Olivia had frequently slept on much worse, she could not settle. Eventually, she gave up, switched on the floor lamp, and took her book from the coffee table. If she was going to be awake, she might as well enjoy it.

She was coming to the end of a chapter when she first heard the noise - a faint, pleading voice. She listened for a second. The noise stopped. She shrugged to herself, chalked it down to New York, and went back to her book.

But there it was again. She got up and checked the front door. Then, careful to tread lightly, she walked into her bedroom, where Alex was presumably asleep.

The sight that met her eyes hurt her heart. Alex was curled into a tight ball, tighter than seemed possible for such a tall woman, and she was shaking.

"No, no, no, no. Please, I can't, I can't, don't make me, I can't. Please. Anything else, please, please, I can't leave her, I can't, don't make me. It hurts, it hurts. I can't, I can't, she won't-"

"Alex." Olivia rushed to her side and shook her friend gently. "Alex. Alex."

Alex's eyes opened, wide with fear, and saw Olivia.

"Liv, I can't-"

"I know." She lowered herself onto the bed next to Alex and held her. "I know. It's alright. You don't have to do anything. It's alright. Shh, shh."

As Alex woke up a little, she remembered where she was, and found herself in time. This was not a hospital bed in the bowels of Mercy, hidden away from the other patients because she was meant to be a corpse. Her shoulder no longer bled. She was in Liv's arms, in Liv's bed, in Liv's apartment; probably the safest place in New York.

But her dreams were still thick with fog and men in black, who came to her while she was still half-dead and told her that she had to leave. That she she could never see any of them again. Not even Olivia. And she could no more accept that now, six years and three identities later, than she could at the time.

"Liv," she murmured. "Liv, Liv."

"I'm not going anywhere, Alex. Breathe."

She did breathe, slowly and deeply, and Olivia could feel her chest rise and fall against her own. From the way she was holding Alex, she could see the bullet wound in her shoulder. She put two and two together.

"You're safe here, alright? You have to trust me, Alex. No-one can hurt you. I won't let them."

"I know."

"Good."

"They wanted - they wanted me to leave - Liv, I can't-"

"It was a dream, Alex. A nightmare. You don't have to go anywhere. You're going to stay right here with me, alright?"

Olivia held her tighter, and Alex felt the anxiety drain away, slowly, to be replaced by embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Olivia shook her head.

"What for? If you're hurt, this is where I want to be."

So good. So kind. Alex thought her heart might burst. Of course she loved her.

"Thank you."

"Shh. Go back to sleep. I'll stay here."

Olivia smoothed back Alex's hair from her face, and Alex closed her eyes.

"Love you, Liv," she said. Olivia's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't let on, merely continuing to smooth Alex's hair.

"Love you too, Alex. Sleep now. Talk in the morning."

Alex nodded blearily and put a hand on Olivia's cheek to hold her still. Olivia sighed, and, once she was sure Alex was asleep, kissed her gently on the mouth. Then she rearranged herself into a more comfortable position, arms still wrapped around Alex, and slept.