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Trinity was bleeding. Bad. Helen had got a pretty good angle, slashing Trinity's arm fairly well. Had this been any other situation, I would have said that it was good aim. But the wolves were still there, and Trinity had just passed out against me. No, she hadn't died. I refused to let my thoughts even wander there.

The sun set, and I kept my guard up. The wolves were getting restless, and I didn't trust them enough to lower the rifle any more than I already had. This seemed to keep them at bay, but Trinity's whimpers were setting them off. What was she dreaming about? It had to be traumatizing, running into Helen and creatures you had thought you left behind.

"Connor?" her voice, soft in the loud silence, brought me from my thoughts, and I looked down at her.

"What is it, Trin?" I asked, weary.

"They aren't coming, are they?" she asked. Her voice cracked, and it broke my heart to hear that coming from her. She was the one who held the team together. The optimistic child of the group. She saw everything in a light that nobody else did. She saw a terrifying crocodilian that had no right in this world as a beautiful, elegant, graceful creature that happened to stumble upon a world-wrecking light. "Just like us," she had said one day. "Just like Helen."

Helen. What had the woman in my arms have to do with Helen? Nothing, I told myself, She has nothing to do with Helen. They simply ran into each other, and Helen began taunting Trinity. Right? I didn't know. I couldn't possibly know. Everything had been so hay-wire lately. Today, anyway. I let my thoughts overcome me for a very long time, not bothering to answer Trinity's question. I didn't know the answer, so I wasn't going to get either of our hopes up.

An hour went by.

Then two.

Three.

Four hours trickled by, slowly marking the time until our death.

Five hours was almost up.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

It was getting light out. The wolves hadn't let up.

It was the ninth hour when we heard shots, indicating our rescue.

"Connor, Trinity! Cutter, I found them!" Becker's voice rang through the woods, a welcome sound. Trinity, who was still in my arms, shivering, gave a weak smile. Finally, it was over. They ran over to help, and when they started helping me up, I stopped them.

"No, Trinity," I said through gritted teeth, nudging Trinity towards them. She needed far more attention then I did, and I wasn't going to allow myself to get aid before her. If not for her, I probably would be dead on several counts. Becker set his gun aside, knelt down, and pulled Trinity out of my arms, carrying her. We had to be so far from the cars. Unless they drove part the way here.

"Connor, are you okay?" Abby and Cutter were at my side in a minute.

"I'm fine, Abs. Cold is all. Will Trinity be okay?" I asked.

"We think so," Cutter told me, helping me up. I was so stiff. "She lost a fair bit of blood. But she should be-"

"Put me down!" Trinity's voice was shrill in the dawn. We all froze, watching as she stumbled her way back to the wolf that I had killed earlier. She dropped down to her knees, running her fingers over its fur, crying quietly.

"Trinity, what's wrong?" I asked, kneeling next to her.

"It's my fault he's dead," she whispered. "He'd still be alive...he had a family. A pack. There are more, back home. He brought his mate, his beta, and his beta's mate. They probably had pups, too. And now…now there's no way the pups are gonna be raised by their father," she sobbed. I looked at her for a long moment, confusion written on my face.

"Trinity, your life is worth more than…"

"Than the lives of four? Than the lives of pups, of his pack? Wolves can't live without their alpha. Chaos, agony, confusion. It'd be us without Nick!" she cried, giving me a hard look. "I'm sorry, Connor," she whispered, hugging me tightly.

"Come on. Let's get you two some help," Cutter said, pulling Trinity to her feet.

"I'm fine. I just want to go home and sleep," she said, sighing heavily. Nick nodded, understanding. On our way back to the cars, we heard a soft whimpering. Trinity had stopped walking, so we assumed maybe it was her. Cutter went to say something, but Trinity held her hand up, diving for a dugout at the base of a large tree. She lay half submerged in the den, and when she finally wiggled out, she was holding a small wolf pup.

"Trinity, there is no way…"

"He's just a puppy! It's not his fault. He's mine now. And his name is Icho," she nuzzled the wolf puppy lovingly, and it returned the affection. No, this was too much like the case we had with the saber tooth cat. But cats were different. Dogs had a sense of loyalty to their alphas. If Trinity could play alpha to this pup…

We drove Trinity and the puppy home, and on her way out of the car, I managed to catch her shirt. She turned, eyes questioning.

"Want me to stay with you?" I offered, not wanting her to be alone. She gave a faint nod, and I climbed out after her. She led me inside, and a large dog jumped off the couch and sniffed at me. Trinity set the puppy down, and I watched as the two canines immediately clicked.

She went to the bathroom, and I knew she was examining the smudged dirt on her face. She was probably freezing, and was no doubt sick again. I waited for her to shower, and when she got out, I got in. I was shocked, no doubt, when she came walking out of her bathroom in absolutely nothing but a towel.

When I got out of the bathroom, I couldn't find Trinity. I walked around a bit, and when I stumbled across a room, I pushed the door open. There she was, propped up against a pillow with a ferret curled up on her breasts and a large German Shepard at her feet, snuggled up against the wolf puppy. She was wearing nothing other than boxers and a tank top.

"I set a cuppa on the side table for you, Connor. Hope you like chai," she said softly, never taking her eyes off the book in front of her face.

"Thanks," I said, walking over to her awkwardly and picking up the tea. "Uh, where am I sleeping? Couch, yeah?"

"Actually, that's Bam's bed. I'm 'fraid you'll have to sleep in here with me," she answered, finally looking up at me. I know I flushed, and she smiled gently, sending Bam and the puppy off. "Come one, Nuwanda," she whispered gently to the ferret, "Bed time, lovely," she cooed, picking it up and gently placing it in the cage that was right by her bed. I watched as the spice colored animal darted its way into the hammock.

I climbed into the bed with her, and we talked for a bit before she yawned. The sun had long been up, and I was glad that she had some dark curtains. She leaned over, kissed me on the cheek, and shut off the light. I, too, went to sleep. At some time in the day I woke up, and found myself with my arms wrapped around Trinity and her head buried against my chest. I sighed in contentment, and she smiled, making it seem like she knew what was going through my head. I had no idea when our positions had changed so drastically, but as I held her, right before sleep took me once more, I knew that this was something I could get used to.

Never again was Helen going to jeopardize the relationship that seemed to be growing between Trinity and I. She had ruined everyone's life already, and I wasn't about to let her ruin mine. No, this was something that I was going to cherish. Never again would I let something like this slip through my fingers, the way I had done only once before, in high school. Not this time. No, I was going to cherish it.

When the phone rang, Trinity cursed loudly and rolled out of bed, walking sluggishly to the phone and answering it.

"What the hell do you want?" she snapped into the phone. I had never heard her so irritated, so angry. She was usually so nice, and I realized too late that it was because of what had happened.

"Alright, bye," and she hung up before trekking back over and collapsing next to me.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Nick. He says he doesn't expect us to go to work today, but he wants us in first thing tomorrow morning," she explained, sighing heavily. I smiled, pulling her against me again, noting that she flushed before I did.

"Come on. Let's go get coffee," I said, grinning and getting up. I got dressed and waited for Trinity to get up and around. When she did, she walked out in blue jeans and a green quarter sleeved shirt. She had green converse, and as usual, fingerless gloves and a Rockstar.

"Alright, I'm ready."

"Where do you get those?" I asked, staring at the drink.

"It always helps to have an addiction on hand," she said. She took a long drink, and then placed it on the counter.

She took my hand in hers, and I blushed. But I didn't pull back, and the two of us walked hand in hand to the café. When we got in, she grinned broadly, rushing to the counter where a brunette girl was working. They seemed to be close friends, and gossiped together in hushed voices, every once in a while looking at me.

"So, Trinity, what will it be today? The usual?"

"It's always the usual, Alice. You know that."

"And you, Connor?"

"Same thing as always," I told her with a smile, lacing mine and Trinity's fingers together once more. Alice looked down at our hands and flashed Trinity a knowing smile.

Author's Note: This one is the longest by far. It took me a bit longer with this one, since I wasn't sure exactly where I was going with it. I know where the story is going, in fact I have the final chapter all planned out. But for some reason I couldn't figure out how I wanted them to be rescued, or how I wanted Connor and Trinity's relationship to get into swing. There's probably going to be at max six or seven more chapters to this, even though I'm thinking about writing a sequel to it. Yes, that will be quite lovely. Connor stumbles upon an AU where he and Trinity are best friends, and only that. She's engaged, and he has to win her over. Engaged to Becker, no less. I think that will work perfect.

Thank you all so much for reviewing, I love you all dearly, tata for now. I shall attempt to put up another chapter later, but no promises, yeah?