I'm back again. The lyrics that are relevant are at the top, but the rest I haven't bothered with. I heard this and thought it was so A/H that I had to write something. So, here it is. I own nothing.

You know I can't be there
Each time that you call
I swore not to come, but I'm here after all
(Because Of You, Nickelback)

You sit at your desk, eyes turned to the window. The blinds are opened as far as they will go, showing a large section of the night sky. The stars shine like diamonds, heralding her arrival. Of course, she told you that she wasn't coming – you can recall her exact words, and they weren't friendly – but you know that she will come. She will make up some excuse to get away from work, which she claimed was burying her alive. She will say she was completing the Ritual or had some holiday time due. She will make you wait most of the night, but she will come. She always comes.

You think back to the last time you saw her. It was almost a month ago, around the time of the last full moon. You had spoken to her earlier that day, told her of the investments you had made and how your brothers were 'quite possibly the most irritating beings on the face of the planet'. She had retorted that she worked with both Foaly and Mulch, so you should shut up and stop complaining. You had smirked and invited her over, to 'get away from it all'. Your words implied that 'it all' was the irritating co-workers, but you and she both knew that 'it all' meant the rest of the world. You taught her to play chess, and though she's nowhere near your standard, she is better than most. You joked that it was because she had an excellent teacher. She threw a pawn at you and said she had to go. She said that she would have to stay away for a while, because work was creeping up on her. Earlier today, she had yelled at you over the communicator because you were 'interrupting her flow'.

"I can't come to you every time you crook your finger at me! I have my own life, you know, and some of us have to work for a living. We don't all have it as easy as you! Now, if you'll excuse me, my inbox is overflowing."

She had hung up without saying goodbye, and you had leaned back in your seat and smiled to yourself. Now, four hours later, you sit in the same chair as last time, in the same spot as last time, staring out of the window for her approaching figure. You think it is probably too early yet; you estimate that she will turn up in thirty-six minutes, but you prefer to be ready. She is the one person who can confound you; she may turn up sooner than you expect. All you are certain of is that she will come. You have as much influence over her as she does over you, and you know that she will come when you call. Just as you will tell her the truth always, a luxury that nobody else gets to enjoy. Just as you will give her all the time and attention she asks for, whether it's help with a particularly difficult mission or talking with her late into the night, ignoring your body's cries for sleep. The relationship you share is more than friendship, but nothing so complicated as romance. It is more a symbiosis. Over the years, you have become so dependent on each other that you could not survive otherwise. You cannot even imagine a life without her; you don't want to.

Twenty-three minutes until she arrives. You pull your glasses on and return your gaze to the window, now able to make her out even if she is shielded. The sky remains clear. You sit almost motionless; the only sounds the ticking of the clock on the wall and your breaths rasping in your throat. You have the beginnings of a cold, but she will heal that for you when she gets here. Seventeen minutes.

When there are twelve minutes left, you see a figure in the distance. A small humanoid with large wings holding her in the air flies towards you, getting larger by the second. You smirk, allowing her to see the smugness in your expression as she enters the room through the window. She pulls the opening closed behind her and turns back to face you, pulling her equipment from her body of pooling it on the floor. Then, clad only in her work uniform (which has gotten quite a bit more form fitting since Kelp took over the LEP) and a light sheen of sweat from her flight, she stalks towards you. You pull the spare chair from its space next to the desk and place it beside you, spinning it slightly. Her eyes widen. Last time she was here, she had commented that you always got the fun chair, so you had requisitioned her a computer chair of her own. Maybe that will give her more cause to stop by. She sinks into it and launched into the anticipated excuse for her visit. You nod and don't bother to correct her. You don't need to acknowledge the real reason she is here; the reason you asked to her to come, and the reason your heart would break a little if, one time, she didn't. You need her, and she needs you. And that's the closest relationship the two of you can share, the closest you can ever imagine her wanting and her people accepting.

You lean back in your chair and allow a natural smile to frame your features. In the end, it doesn't really matter why she's here. It's just enough that she is.