Ch. 11

Disclaimer the eleventh: You know the drill by now.

Raymond hadn't slept all night, but he still found himself remarkably alert and ready to look this mission he had devised in the eye and say "Shove it up your ass; I am Raymond, hear me roar." He gave one last glance into his brown leather satchel, a small bag which was to be his only resource on the foreign planet where Amelia was being held captive. The planet was three days away, six round trip, so he allowed himself to pack enough ration packs to last two people that long, some rope, first aid supplies in a shiny red metal container, a sharp eight inch knife, some water, a fuel cell for his flintlock A-17 pistol, and of course, the pistol itself. While he would have preferred a more hefty, dangerous gun, it simply wouldn't fit. He had but a few square inches of space left, and decided that he could wedge in one more important item. He grabbed his black comb off of his dresser and shoved it in the bag, pulling the drawstrings tight. *No sense in looking bad when you rescue her if you can possibly avoid it.* He slung the sack over his right shoulder, and straightened out his jacket. There was no telling what the weather would be down there, so best to bundle up and strip down as the need arose. With a broad sweep of his huge hand, he whisked the door to his stateroom open and headed for the main deck. There was already an extension ramp leading from his ship to the Nautilus, where Eigram was already conversing with some senior officers from the other ships in the "fleet." Raymond climbed onto the plank wood, and crossed the bridge in three long strides, his footfalls heavy as he walked and leapt down onto the Nautilus.

"Good morning, Raymond," Eigram greeted with a smile, "And I want to thank you for providing us with some music this morning. Your footsteps are as loud as a Golondrian drum--and I do believe you've just sounded the first four notes of the Jikius Sonata. Do keep going, it's a rather nice song."

"I don't have time to deal with your childish humor, Eigram," Raymond snarled, "There are more pressing issues at hand."

"Of course, of course," Eigram said, with a wave of his hand, "I've reviewed your plan with the senior officers on all ships. Are you sure you want to personally do this? Why not send someone else?"

"My first officer can keep an eye on my ship. Besides, this is a very delicate mission. I can't trust a rookie to it. I want to see that I...we get Amelia back as soon as possible."

Eigram raised an eyebrow at him and spoke. "Well then, you an your counterpart can be underway immediately."

Raymond did a double-take. "Counterpart?"

Eigram looked at him as if the most idiotic question had just emerged from his mouth. "Well you can't very well go alone, can you?"

"Sure I can! I'm an experienced officer! I've been a captain for over 15 years!"

"And Amelia's been one for over 18," Eigram countered, "But she still found herself in trouble."

"I can handle it, Eigram," Raymond said through gritted teeth.

"Nonsense. You're taking someone with you, and that's final. I'm in charge here, don't forget."

Raymond rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath, "Stupid son of a---"

"I'm sorry?" Eigram questioned, "I didn't catch that."

"Nothing. Who's coming with me, anyway?"

Eigram beamed. "I'm glad you asked."

Raymond's face fell. "Don't you DARE say Doppler. I swear... if one freakin' "d" word comes out of your mouth, I'll rip your throat out and feed it to my iguana."

"I'm sending Hawkins."

"A cadet? You're sending me with a CADET? Good god man, I'm on a rescue mission, not a baby-sitting job."

"I think he'll be a valuable asset. He's young, agile. You'll be able to use his skills and abilities to your advantage. You're not as young as you used to be."

Raymond sighed heavily, as if someone were asking him to do an impossibly daunting task, or just really ticking him off. *Yeah, it's the second one.* "I DON'T need help. Besides, I'm not about to wait on him. I want to leave immediately."

"No problem. He should almost be finished packing."

Raymond's eyes widened and he gripped Eigram's left arm, dragging him off to the side, away from the other officers. "You already told him?"

"Raymond, you seem to hate it so much when I remind you that I'm in charge, so I won't. I'll just give you this incredulous look that says, 'I'm in charge, and therefore, yeah I told him.'"

"Can't I get a ranking officer?"

"There's a reason to my madness," Eigram explained, "Hawkins is good. He knows what he's doing. Besides, if Amelia's hurt, she's more likely to try to hide her injuries to save face in front of a regular crewmember, and could make it worse. According to Delbert, Jim's already seen her injured, so she may be reasonable and let you take care of her."

Raymond pondered this. The thought of a slightly weakened Amelia all vulnerable and needing to be carried in his arms was appealing. "I expect him to follow MY orders. And if he gets himself killed...well, YOU told him he could come."

"He'll be fine."

"Fine," Raymond crossed his arms, looked one around the deck, then turned, "Well? Where is he?"

As if on cue, Jim Hawkins came from below deck, followed by Dr. Doppler. Both had small bags, similar in size to Raymond's.

"Ready to go, Mr. Hawkins?" Eigram asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Very good."

Raymond disregarded Jim and instead focused his eyes on the small black bag Doppler had. "Where are you off to, doctor?"

"I'm going with you."

"No."

"No?"

"Obviously you don't understand me. Let me make it clearer: absolutely, positively, not in a million years, hell, hell, hell, hell no."

Doppler's look was indignant. "But--"

Eigram stepped in before the two could come at odds again. After all, their last argument had brought out the absolute worst in Delbert. "Doctor, if you don't mind, I should require your assistance here. Jim and Raymond will get her back quickly and safely, I assure you."

"Besides, you'd just slow us down," Raymond said, giving Doppler a taunting look, "It's bad enough we're heading into hostile territory."

Eigram shot Raymond a look, but it hardly wiped the self-satisfied grin Raymond had from insulting his arch-nemesis. The expression on Doppler's face was a conflicted one, as if he were trying to decide whether or not to continue the verbal match. The feline captain watched the doctor clench and unclench his fist a few times, hoping the astronomer wasn't thinking about dealing blows right there and then. After all, Raymond was easily twice his size and had quite a hot temper--there wouldn't be enough medical supplies on all three ships to repair the damage, should Raymond decide to pound him. When Delbert finally relaxed a bit, Eigram was more than a little relieved. "If you really need me, Captain Eigram," the Canian spoke, his jaw slightly clenched as he realigned his spectacles on the bridge of his nose, "and if you think it will speed up Amelia's safe return, I'll stay."

"I do," Eigram sighed. He turned toward Raymond, who was already heading for his longboat. "Now why can't you be reasonable like that?"

Raymond glared at him with a look so fierce, one might think that his dark brown eyes might bore a large, ugly hole in Eigram's head, right between the eyes. "We'll be back shortly," he barked, "See that you're in one piece when we return."

"See that you're in one piece when you get here."

Jim threw his bag into the longboat, then jumped in after him. "Don't worry, Doc," he said, "We'll bring the captain back. She'll be fine."

Delbert just nodded. *I sincerely hope you're right, Jim.* "Be careful. Your mother would go nuts if anything happened to you."

"Hey," Jim smiled, shrugging nonchalantly, "It's me." He laughed as Doppler shook his head, as if to say, "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about."

Raymond untied the ropes that held the longboat in place and jumped in as the boat began to lower. Jim gave a brief salute to Eigram and Delbert, and the two rescuers were suddenly gone, speeding off into the etherium.

*********

When last Jim checked, three days was 72 hours. *Then why the hell does it feel like it's been ten times that long?* Jim sighed as he ate out of his ration pack. Being that his mom once owned an inn, Jim was used to home cooking, and good cooking at that. Thus the cold, hard, and sometimes crusty food that the military grade rations had to offer were less than appetizing. He found himself crushing what seemed to be a cracker (or very, very flat, stale bread, it could easily be either) into small, miniscule bits. He had finished the entree, but couldn't bring himself to eat the side dish, with was a sort of bright orange vegetable mush with a very unusual, and not overly pleasant smell. He and Raymond hadn't talked in over 12 hours, so the only sounds in the entire boat were that of Raymond checking their position on the navigation console and the incessant sound of Jim pummeling the cracker and/or bread. Crunch, crunch, crunch...

"MUST you keep doing that?" Raymond suddenly turned on Jim.

Jim shrugged. Crunch, crunch. "I'll stop."

"You'd best."

Crunch.

Raymond gave him a look.

"I'm done, I swear," Jim said, smirking to himself. *I really hope there's something crunchy with dinner.* He picked himself up off the small seat he was in and pulled his jacket closer around him. The etherium in this area seemed to be getting colder by the day, and Jim wanted nothing more than to find Amelia and get back to a nice warm bunk. He shivered slightly, hoping that whatever godforsaken planet they were landing on, it was warmer than being out here. He was about to head to the back of the boat and check the small sail on the back, when he heard Raymond let out a triumphant "Ha!" Jim turned around to see a planet to the far right of him, a fairly small mass of swirling green and brown. It was surrounded by two moons, and was orbiting a large, red sun.

"There it is," Raymond said, "Amelia's on that planet."

Jim was relieved to see it. Finally, they would do something other than sit and watch consoles all day. Finally, he would have some company other than Captain "Stick-up-the-butt."

Raymond increased the longboat's speed, heading toward the planet as fast as he could force the vessel to go. Within an hour's time, they were just outside of orbit. He slowed his speed and began to descend. Jim scanned the surface as they dropped altitude, a pit of dread in his stomach. The place was covered in forest. It would take DAYS to find her. Weeks, even. About fifty miles or so from the land they were currently above, Jim could just make out a clay-colored building.

"Uh, Captain..."

"What?" Raymond asked, only half-concentrating on his counterpart.

"There's a..."

Whatever it was Jim saw, it apparently didn't like the idea of having a foreign vessel wander into it's space. The small longboat was soon surrounded in laser fire. Raymond raced furiously to the surface, trying to keep their only way off the planet in working condition. They moved as far away from the building as they could, ducking into the trees to avoid being seen. After a few minutes, Raymond managed to drop the longboat down in a very small clearing, missing a large group of tall black trees by only two of three feet. Jim jumped out of the boat onto the ground, which was covered by a soft, bright green lichen of some sort. He made one pass around the boat, surveying the damage, which was minimal, minus the fact that one stray shot had stripped the paint and finish off of the front starboard side.

"Captain Eigram's going to be pretty angry when he finds out what you did to his boat," Jim said.

"To hell with him and his damn boat," Raymond said, grabbing his satchel, "Let's get moving. There's no telling where Amelia is." He began heading into the forest, not noticing or caring if Jim was following. Jim had to keep a brisk jog to stay with the older man, who took impossibly long strides through the forest undergrowth. Raymond climbed over fallen branches, trudged through muddy puddles, and cut away thorny vines with his knife, all the while not speaking a word to Jim. They had gone 15 minutes without conversation-- which was truly fine with Jim-- until Raymond began to grumble about the impossible heat of the planet's midday. The captain began stripping off layer after layer of clothing: blue jacket, gray vest, white tunic, until all he was left in was a white undershirt, heavy brown pants, and shin-length black leather boots. Jim couldn't resist the urge himself, but kept his tunic on to avoid getting scratched by the overly abundant undergrowth. Raymond stopped about a half a mile after the spot where he removed his last article of clothing, and knelt under the shade of a bright green tree with large, broad leaves, about four feet long and three in width. He pulled his canteen of water out and took a long drink. He swallowed, then wiped the remaining liquid off his lips with the back of his hand. Jim sat on the ground and leaned again the trunk, taking a drink from his own water supply and dumping a small quantity over his head. He reveled in the water's coolness as it dripped down his face, neck, and back. Raymond took another drink, then laughed to himself, "This planet's a bitch."

"I'd say so," Jim sighed, wiping his forehead with his discarded jacket.

"And to think, that damned doctor wanted to come. Couldn't you just imagine that? Ha! I think he would have been dead a mile back."

Jim glared at him. "What makes you say that?"

Raymond scoffed. "Please, cadet. He's not exactly...cut out for this. This is man's work."

"He IS a man."

"Whatever you say," Raymond took one last drink before putting the cap back on his canteen.

"What the hell is your problem, anyway?" Jim spoke, his eyes narrowing at his superior officer.

"I know you're not talking to your captain like that," Raymond said, his voice low, "You forget---you're on a field training assignment. The academy frowns upon cadets who can't obey orders." He stood and began to head back into the depths of the forest vines.

"Sorry, sir," Jim scowled, not the least bit sorry, "But Doc is a friend of mine. You sound like such a jealous jerk when you talk about him." Jim stood and trailed behind the larger man.

"I am not jealous, cadet," Raymond grumbled, cutting through a particularly ugly bunch of brown and green vines, "Let's make that perfectly clear. I'm confused as hell. I'm more handsome, more debonair, and I have a better job..."

Jim rolled his eyes. *He's going to brag now, isn't he?*

"Amelia's such an amazing woman. She's deserves an amazing man. Someone romantic, someone good-looking. Strong. Witty. She's so perfect, and I think she deserves someone perfect."

*Oh, and I'll bet you mean you, right? Heh, that's one strike against you buddy, you're delusional.*

"That Doppler guy is just holding her back....Do you think maybe she's seeing him out of pity? Ahhh, that must be it," he gave himself a reassuring grin.

"Look," Jim sighed, "All you've done since this voyage started is sling insults about him or at him. She's not seeing him out of pity. She loves him. And just because you don't get it doesn't mean it's not so. Damn."

Raymond looked back at Jim who ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated with the older man's arrogance. "Let's keep moving," the captain barked, "We still have to find her and this weather is killing me. The sooner we get off this rock, the better off we'll be."

Jim sighed with relief. *Well at least he's dropping the whole 'Amelia' thing.* The silence that followed was so palpable, you could cut it with a knife. Jim knew that inside, Raymond was probably fuming from being told off by a "lowly cadet." Jim knew that inside, he didn't care. He had had all the foolishness he could take with Raymond, and now he just wanted to find Amelia, leave this planet, and take a cool shower. They continued their trek until the sun was beginning to dip low in the sky and dusk was settling all around them. The sky that was visible through the heavy forest canopy was a blood red, probably a direct result of the planet's red giant sun. Raymond was about to quit and set up camp for the night when he heard it.

"What the hell are you doing back there, cadet?" he turned toward Jim.

"I didn't do anything," Jim shot back.

"Then what was all that noice I heard?" he asked, turning back to the direction he was originally facing.

*Your tiny brain rattling in your big head?* "Beats me."

The captain stood still, listening for the rustling sound he could have sworn he heard. He slowly turned a circle, observing the forest ahead of him as he turned...90 degrees, 180, to face Jim again, 270 deg---

BAM!

The alien leapt from the forest so quickly that neither Jim nor Raymond saw it until it was well on top of Raymond. The creature was fairly massive, a match for Raymond's body weight easily. Though the captain's arms were far more muscular, the assailant had four of them, so it didn't shock Jim that the alien had managed to wrestle a 250 pound man to the ground. They were struggling with one another, Raymond trying to get a good stab at the alien's face with his hand knife, while the alien tried to cock his pistol just long enough to put a shot in the other's temple. Jim pulled out his pistol and tried to aim at the four armed creature, but the two were constantly moving, and his overall inexperience with weaponry meant he couldn't quite get a clear shot. He was just about to jump into the fray himself, when he felt something hit him from behind. Hard. As Jim hit the ground face first, he managed to catch a glimpse of the first assailant's counterpart, who was a smaller alien that Jim recognized as the same species as one of the riggers back on the Treasure Planet journey. When he tried to stand back up, Jim found a sword pointed at his jawline, as the alien's beady little eyes watched him pensively from their place inside his throat. Meanwhile, Raymond was beginning to lose his fight with the large tetrapod. Slowly, Jim began to reach for his knife, which was in his left boot. He moved slowly, hoping the lizardlike alien threatening him wouldn't notice.

He did notice.

The sting of the blade against his cheek shocked him more at first than it actually hurt him, and Jim had to take a few seconds to recover.

"Don't move or ya'll get worse," the alien growled, "I'll cut ya trachea right out if I haf ta."

Jim let the warm blood fall down his cheek unchecked as he turned his head to see how the captain was faring. A shot went off from the alien's gun, striking Raymond in the upper leg. The officer let out a cry of pain, trying desperately to throw the other man off of him. Jim watched in horror as the four-armed aggressor managed to overpower Raymond just long enough to wrench the knife out of his hand. The attacker poised his gun to Raymond's head. Jim watched as the lower right arm that held the gun flexed slightly as it reached for the trigger.

And suddenly, that arm was on the ground.

Turns out a rifle packs a powerful punch if you aim it just right at a small joint.

The alien holding Jim captive was about to make a run for it, but was shot in the back with the same weapon that claimed one of his friend's lower arms. Jim looked up into the forest to see Amelia, still cocking a large rifle at the four-armed man.

"Get up and I'll blow more than your arm off," she sneered, approaching the attacker, who was gripping the stump where his arm had once been. The alien didn't move, just stared at her nervously. Amelia crept over to Raymond, not taking her eyes off of the alien once as she helped the other captain into a sitting position.

"Are you alright, captain?" she asked Raymond, surveying him quickly.

"Oh, just frickin' great."

The alien took this slight moment to try and lunge at Amelia. Seeing this out of the corner of her eye, she reacted as quickly as her feline instincts and years of military training allowed her. Needless to say, the missing arm soon became the least of the alien's problems, for he soon found himself with a large hole in his stomach. Amelia looked over the two dead pirates once, then turned to her "rescuers."

"And here I thought they'd finally given up on me," she nodded to the carcasses. "I can't tell you how pleased I am to see you two."

"The feeling's mutual, Amelia," Raymond said, trying to stand, "I was worried about you."

Amelia shrugged the sentiment off. "I trust you have a longboat nearby?"

"About 20 miles from here," Jim said.

"Good job, men," Amelia smirked, "Now let's get off this damned rock." She helped Raymond to his feet, then she and Jim helped him along the route back, watching the older man limp heavily on his wounded leg. When they had made it back to the longboat, Amelia climbed in an sat at controls, but not before noticing the ruined paint job on the starboard side.

"That's a horrible landing you made there," she commented, "I hope the ship is alright."

"That wasn't the landing," Jim spoke up, "We were fired at."

Amelia's expression turned dark as she rounded on Raymond. "You let yourself be SEEN?"

"Not intentionally," he bit back, "I didn't see the headquarters until it was too late."

"Good god man! What did you think was down here? A damn circus? I told you I was being pursued in my communication! I gathered that you'd get I was being pursued by BAD people."

"Your communication was muddled, and besides, how can you see anything in this damn area? It's overgrown with weeds!"

"Three years of academy training! Three! First-years know that when attempting a rescue or reconnaissance you never, NEVER let yourself be seen!"

"Alright! So they know we're here! How are we getting off?"

"We'll have to make a run for it," Amelia grimaced, "Or they'll just send ground forces to trap us anyway." She powered up the longboat and turned to Jim. "Well Mister Hawkins, it seems as if we're going to have to get out of here as fast as possible. You navigate, I'll work the helm. Hold on to your briches men, we may be in for an ass-kicking."

******************

They had been fired at twice, once going in, and once coming out. Add that to the long trek through the sweltering heat, and the fight that likely just got him a nice facial scar, and Jim was actually relieved to have nothing to do as they neared the Legacy. The entire small armada was only a half a day away, and he simply couldn't wait to arrive. Raymond had managed to patch up his wound rather nicely, and was currently sleeping in a corner of the boat, snoring loudly enough to wake every Orcus Galacticus pod for 300 parsecs. Amelia was studying the navigation console intently, trying to stay clear of any etherium irregularities while plotting the shortest course to their destination. Jim watched her out of the corner of his eye while he ate his last ration pack and longed for a hot shower and a large roast beast sandwich. He absentmindedly scratched the side of his face, where his cut was just beginning to heal into a very long, very itchy scab.

"Don't scratch it, you'll scar it," Amelia said, her eyes not leaving the console.

"It's itchy," he mumbled.

"You sound like a three-year-old, Mister Hawkins," Amelia smirked.

"You sound like an old mother," Jim retorted. Amelia threw him a look. "I mean that respectfully...ma'am."

She gave a short nod. "I'm sure." She sat down across from Jim and drank a bit of water. "I truly can't wait to take a bath and have a long rest in my bed alone," she said, staring out into the passing etherium. Jim smiled inwardly. He knew very well that Doppler would likely spend all night HANGING off of her, so he doubted she'd get much sleep. He, however, kept the whole idea to himself. He figured the surprise of seeing him unexpectedly would add to the lovers' reunion, and Jim figured that Doc deserved his poignant moment. If only he could be there when Doppler first saw her--he was sure the look on his face would be priceless...and blackmail enough to last him awhile.

*****************

Most of the crewmembers were asleep by the time the travelers returned to the ships. Standing on the Legacy's main deck, Eigram gladly welcomed the three weary voyagers back.

"Amelia," he said, extending his hand to the female feline, "A pleasure to see you again."

She took his hand and shook it. "What brings you out here?" she asked.

"I was sent by Admiral Plovk to retrieve the Nefarious--we stumbled upon you guys shortly afterwards."

"Thank god for that."

Eigram smiled at her. He watched Raymond pull himself out of the longboat, limping as he made his way over to himself and Amelia.

"I trust you didn't screw anything up too bad," Raymond regarded Eigram.

"No. Actually, the repairs to the Legacy are coming along very well. We should be able to get underway again in three days."

"Good," Amelia said, "I suggest you get some rest gents. I've got quite a story to tell. Those pirates are up to no good."

"It can wait until morning. We can't leave here just yet anyway," Eigram said, "In the meantime, I have something I've been meaning to give to you for weeks now."

"Oh?" Amelia raised her right eyebrow in question, "What's that?"

Eigram grinned. "Follow me."

He led Amelia up to her stateroom, with Raymond in tow. Amelia's heart almost wrenched to a stop in shock as he opened the door.

****************

He had been poring over astronomical data for over four hours now. All of his charts were spread out on Amelia's usually neat desk in such a way that likely would have frustrated her badly, given it's sheer disarray. He had found that he wasn't the least bit tired, and that working on his scientific experiments tended to distract him from worrying about Amelia. He was standing over a particular map of the Lagoon Nebula when the door to the stateroom swung open quietly. For a moment, he ignored the persons entering, as it was likely Turgevny, there to check up on him. As he made a quick glance to regard the first mate's presence, however, his eyes met a far different sight.

Standing there, cut, bruised, ragged, but totally beautiful was Amelia.

Doppler stood still for a moment, as if the whole thing were a massive illusion, and that by moving, he'd somehow destroy that illusion. In the brief second following that moment, however, he found himself rushing to her, sweeping her into a large, full body hug. She held him tightly in return for a second, and he was glad she was occupied; it gave him time enough to choke back the tears of utter elation he was feeling. If his brain were properly functioning at that moment, he may have remembered that she didn't like public displays of affection, especially in front of her crew, but it wasn't, so he pulled her into a long, hard kiss.

Eigram chuckled a little at the sight. Between the doctor squeezing her so tightly and kissing her so fervently, he was sure Amelia would soon run out of breath. He saw Raymond about to interrupt the exchange, but Eigram quickly kicked him in the shin.

Amelia pulled away first, panting and a little flustered. She didn't blush, but she was thankful that no one she had to preside over was present. "How...?"

"I enlisted his help," Eigram said. He turned toward Raymond, who was rubbing his shin and mouthing foul names at Eigram. "Anyway," the male feline grinned, "It's getting late, and I really should see to it that Raymond here gets some medical attention. Have a good evening, captain, doctor." As Raymond once more opened his mouth to comment, Eigram clapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him out of the stateroom, closing the door behind him. He had gotten about ten feet away when the stateroom door opened again, and Amelia poked her head out of it.

"Captain," she said to Eigram, "I request that you notify me of any business only if it's an emergency. I'll be...occupied...for the rest of the night."

"Aye, ma'am."

She nodded to him and shut the door. Eigram listened just long enough to hear her lock it tight behind her. He laughed to himself, thinking of Doppler.

*Lucky man.*

****************

She had been asleep for about thirty minutes, but it was a light sleep, however relaxing it was to be back in her own bed after a very short, but very nice shower. Thus being that she was sleeping lightly, she could easily feel she was being watched. She opened one green eye, which, feline in nature, quickly adapted to the darkness of the room and revealed that in fact she WAS being watched, if only by her bed companion. Opening both eyes, she yawned and looked Delbert straight in the eyes.

"You're still awake?" she asked, "You're usually out cold after an evening like this."

He shrugged. "Usually."

She studied his face for a moment. He was visibly exhausted, whether from the whole voyage or just the night's "events" she couldn't tell, but regardless, he was fighting sleep.

"You're exhausted, dear. Go to sleep."

He disregarded the "order" and instead pulled her closer to him, holding her around the waist, the length of her back pressed up against his chest. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, and she could feel his warm breath against her skin. "I can't sleep," he muttered into her shoulder.

"Is that your way of telling me you want to go at it again?" she cocked and eyebrow at him.

He laughed. "No! I don't think I have enough of anything in me that isn't too tired to even think about it."

"So why can't you sleep if you're so damned tired?"

He sighed, his lips brushing her collar briefly. "It's...hard to explain."

"Try me," she said, rolling his over onto his back. She sat on the bed next to him and watched his facial expression.

"I guess..." he stopped and rethought his sentence, "It's like I have this fear that if I fall asleep, you'll be gone again in the morning. Like this is some crazy dream."

She shook her head. "Well for one, let me tell you that if ALL your dreams were like tonight, I totally envy you and your sleep thoughts. Really though, I'll be here in the morning. It's a ridiculous fear to have."

He blushed slightly. "I guess...It's just...For the last few weeks, I thought you were dead. And now you're here. And if there's any chance that I'll wake up tomorrow and all that would be gone, I'd just as soon never sleep again."

She smiled. *How does a man with so many slips of the tongue find such romantic things to say?*

"They told you I was dead?"

He nodded. "It's like having your heart torn out and stomped on, Amelia. It really is."

She reached out and caressed his cheek. "Poor dear. But I'm alive and well, and I promise I'll be here in the morning. Please sleep."

He conceded, leaning all the way back into the pillows. She lay down next to him, satisfied that she had coaxed him to sleep. Suddenly, he sat up.

"Maybe in the morning?" he asked.

"'Maybe in the morning' what?"

"We could...uh...'go at it' again."

She laughed into her pillow and thrust Delbert back into the pillows, face down. "Go to sleep," she mumbled.

He pulled her close to him, watching her doze off again. He lay there, reveling in her scent, her touch, and cried quiet tears of joy until he fell asleep.


To be continued...

Ok...so Doppler and Amelia finally get to see each other for the first time since Ch. 1! Hope you enjoyed...I couldn't wait to write this part (it took me 1/20 of the time it took me to write the rest .;;). Anyways, r/r and let me know what you thought!

Aloha,
J.