EDIT: Well, that explains the slim reviews. Thanks to Echolot for spotting the mistake here (i.e. the chapter not uploading). Hopefully it's working now? Anyway, enjoy, and please review if you can, it means the world to me.

"ROBIN!" The anguished howl tore from him even as he clawed himself free of the shroud, scrambling to his feet. He ran from room to room, checking for Robin, but before he'd finished searching the bathroom Ingrid had emerged from the guest room, wrapped in a bathrobe and clearly worried.
"Bertrand, what's wrong?" He dropped the shower curtain and rushed past her to check the guest room. There was nobody there, either, so he charged downstairs.
"He's got Robin, he's got Robin- we have to go and save him-"
"Wha-? Where? Bertrand, Robin's at Vlad's, remember? With Vlad and Malik-"
"Good, they can help get him back, we have to go-"
"Bertrand, stop-"
"I WON'T LEAVE HIM THERE!" His hand was on the door handle when his shoulders suddenly slumped. "I can't..." He turned the handle and found a small object thrust into his hand. He picked it up and realised it was making a soft but insistent humming sound. Curiously – maybe this could help Robin – he placed it to his ear.


Robin's phone rang in the middle of the night.
"...Ingrid...?" The response didn't come from Ingrid, however, though it was still her name displayed on the screen.
"Robin? Are you alright? You can... um, just say 'pumpkin' if you're OK. If you're not, you can just-"
"Pumpkin? Wh-? Bertrand, I'm fine. I'm fine, I'm at Vlad's, what's going on?" He sat up, frowning. His lover sounded frantic.
"Oh, blood, he can probably hear me, can't he? It's OK. It's OK, Robin, I'll... I'll make him change his mind, somehow, we're coming to save you." The line went dead, and Robin blinked in confusion for a moment before he managed to put the pieces together. Bertrand thought he was in trouble. Bertrand probably thought his sire had him. Bertrand was launching a rescue mission to blood only knew where.

He threw a cape around himself, slipped on a pair of shoes, and sped towards his own home just in time to crash right into a pyjama-wearing Bertrand coming the other way, pursued by a sleepy-looking Ingrid.
"Bertrand! Bertrand, I'm safe. It's me." Bertrand's eyes widened as he took in the sight of his lover – boxer-clad and desperate though Robin knew he must look – before he pulled him into a hug.
"Oh, Bran, oh, Robin, I've got you, I've got you, did he hurt you-?"
"He never had me, love. I promise, he never came near me, it was just a horrible dream, I promise-"
"I tried- I begged him to take me instead, to let you go, but he- he said I was used up and worthless and you were- and then I was here- and I couldn't help you-" Bertrand was crying, now, eyes and hands still fluttering over Robin's body, checking for damage.
"Bertrand, it's OK, it's OK. I'm safe, it was just a nightmare-"
"The things he did-"
"Shhhhhhh. Shhh, Bertrand, come on, let's go home, shall we?" Ingrid chose that moment to interject.
"Guard coming, at the end of the path. I'll go and distract him, you get him home." And she sauntered up to the guard who'd just turned the corner, leaving the two of them alone together.
"Please, Robin, please forgive me, I tried-"
"Shhh. I know, love, I know, but it was just a horrible dream. Come on, let's go inside and you can tell me all about it while we have a cuddle, OK? And a cup of tea, I think."

Tea, however, would have to wait, it seemed, as Bertrand refused to let go of Robin's hand and threw his arms around him again the moment they were settled in the library. Robin had thought the books might have a calming influence on his husband, but it seemed he would have to ride this out all the same.
"Shhhh, it's OK. You're OK, I'm OK, we're both fine, we're together... shhh, shh. Please, Bertrand, please stop panicking, I'm worried about you."
"But he- he-"
"I've never met your sire, B, he didn't do anything to me." Bertrand was still crying, huge, heaving sobs racking his body, and all Robin could do was hold him and murmur reassuring nothings into his ear.
"'m sorry- crying- pathetic-"
"No, none of that. If you want to cry, you get it out of your system. I'll never judge you for crying, love, never."
"I thought- but you're- you're OK?"
"Yes, Bertrand, I'm OK. I'm OK. I'm right here with you, we're safe."

Ingrid came back in just then and took a seat opposite where they sat on the little sofa. Bertrand tensed in Robin's arms, but then seemed to decide that she was going to neither judge him nor hurt him and relaxed against Robin's chest.
"Are you feeling better now, Bertrand?" Ingrid didn't seem anxious, which was a relief to Robin. The vampire in his arms hesitated, then nodded mutely. "Good. Robin, I hope you aren't suffering too much from the interruption to your sleep?" Robin shook his head, but Bertrand was already clinging tighter.
"Oh, blood, was that me, did I wake you up? I didn't mean to- I never meant to harm you, but he- but he wasn't-? You were... you were asleep, and safe? And I woke you?"
"I'm safe. It's OK."
"Technically, Bertrand, I woke him up, so don't feel bad about that. And yes, we're all safe and in your library, which is very nice, now I look at it. You must be very proud of it."
"We- yeah- oh blood, Robin-"
"I know, B, I know, you're still shaken up. Deep breaths for me, like you need them, ready? In... and out..." He coached his husband through breathing for a little longer, taking his cue from Ingrid in trying to divert Bertrand's attention from his fears. It worked a little better than Ingrid's throwaway comment about the library, though Bertrand was still shaking and clinging to Robin for a while after he stopped crying.

"Thanks," he managed at last, "thanks for calming me down."
"That's alright, B, I'm glad I could help. Do you think you can go back to sleep?" Bertrand's eyes widened and he shook his head urgently.
"No! No, not yet. Please, Robin, not yet, I can't-"
"Shhhhh. OK, you don't have to sleep yet if you don't want to. Let's just... do some breaths again, OK? Big breaths like... like... like when you were a kid and you went swimming in the sea. OK?" He brushed a thumb over Bertrand's ever-present engagement ring, with its wave-like design, and smiled hopefully at him as Bertrand began to breathe deeply again, relaxing slightly in his arms.


Robin's hand was now curled gently around his neck, thumb stroking over his cheek as his other arm continued to hold him close.
"That's it, B, you're alright." He nodded weakly. "What got you so worked up, anyway? I've never seen you like that after a nightmare-"
"He had you. My sire, he had you."
"You've thought he had me before-" Ingrid spoke up, then.
"Robin, don't push him. You don't want to go there, and right now, neither does he."
"But-"
"Robin." Something in her tone must have convinced the boy, because he backed off.

"I made you come back," Bertrand mumbled after a few moments, "I'm sorry. We had a plan..."
"It's tomorrow, just. We made it, B, we managed as long as we said we would."
"But now... are you allowed to come back? Really come back?" Robin hesitated, just for a second, and Bertrand glanced behind him to see what Ingrid was doing. She shrugged slightly. Still, Robin said nothing. Minutes seemed to drag by, and then...
"...Yeah. I'm coming back, love." Bertrand collapsed gratefully against his lover's chest and allowed his hair to be stroked, just glad to have his husband. "But... I think it would be best if Ingrid sticks around for a bit. Maybe Malik too, if he wants?" He nodded, nuzzling against Robin's skin, just glad to have him there.
"We can do that." There was a long pause after Ingrid had spoken, as if she and Robin were having some kind of wordless conversation over his head, but Bertrand didn't care. He had his Robin back, and he hadn't been harmed. He breathed in deeply, comforted by his lover's scent, and just focused on that. Robin was safe.

He wasn't aware of falling asleep, but he kept drifting in and out of a conversation that didn't seem to make any sense, so he supposed he must have done.
"...knew he'd go looking, who knows where he would have ended up?"
"I know, he didn't even get dressed. He was going out of his mind, Robin." That was a fair enough description, he thought, but he had no idea how they'd got from there to,
"...in the wardrobe?"
"Yeah. And I woke up to find him asking what I was doing in there. He's very protective of..." or from that to,
"...alright there? You look like your neck's going to start aching any second."
"Probably, but he's comfortable, and he needs his sleep."
"'m awake," he mumbled, and sat up, hands shifting to hold onto Robin's as he moved over to give him space to stretch. "Better?"
"Mm, only sort of. Now you're far away." Ingrid yawned.
"Well, seeing as it's the middle of the night and you lot insist on sleeping at night... I propose we all go and get some sleep. I'll call the guard post at the house and let them know you haven't just vanished, Robin. You go and get in your own coffin for a change." Robin grinned, but Bertrand just rose sleepily to his feet and climbed the stairs, Robin's hand still held tightly in his own.

When they got there, he had to look around for a bit before he found the mattress they'd been using as a divider. Robin took it out of his hands as soon as he'd folded it in half, and tucked it carefully down the centre of the coffin before flattening it out at the head end.
"Now we can still see each other, no panicking like last time."
"Mm. Thanks." He was too exhausted to really appreciate it, until they were both safely in the coffin and Robin tentatively reached over the barrier.
"Can I hold you like this?" Bertrand kissed him quickly, then turned to face away from him, back pressed against the barrier, as Robin wrapped an arm around his waist and held him close.
"Love you," he murmured, only vaguely aware of Ingrid's footsteps moving up the stairs and into the guest room. Robin relaxed, sighing softly against Bertrand's neck.
"Love you too."


Knowing Ingrid was right next door was a comfort. Oh, it was nice, it felt good to be sleeping beside Bertrand again, his husband wrapped securely in his arms, but it was scary, too. And, well, Robin wasn't exactly sleeping, was he? He was just clinging, trying not to disturb his lover as he worried about their future together.

"Bran," came the quiet murmur after several long, tense minutes, "you don't seem very relaxed." Bertrand rolled over to meet his eyes and smiled faintly. "No, definitely not relaxed. Do I need to ask what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," he told him instinctively, and a little of the light left Bertrand's eyes, but he just nodded, accepting the lie.

"We've got to stop getting people to separate us," he ventured after a moment, and Robin frowned at him. What was that supposed to mean? "Don't you remember the last time, before all this, the last time we had to voluntarily spend time apart? I went to your parents'..."
"...When I was revamping." Yes, Robin remembered now. "You bit me, and I had to send you away. Because I-" It was Bertrand's turn to frown in confusion as Robin cut himself off.
"I'm sorry?"
"...Because I hurt you."
"You didn't mean to."
"But I terrified you. And, blood, I hit Vlad and Malik a few times, too. How could any of you stand to come near me again? Especially you, B..." He'd pinned him down in his bloodlust, overcome by the more common variety of lust.
"We love you. Especially me. And we knew it wasn't you, you weren't in control of yourself. You have to make some allowances for revamping blood addicts – any kind of addict – and you didn't do any lasting damage."
"But... weren't you scared? That I'd do it again?" Bertrand shook his head.
"Not really. You were always my Robin, always kind and loving. I knew you wouldn't hurt me if you weren't out of your mind with blood cravings, and I knew you were better when Vlad and Malik brought you back to me." He bit his lip. "Are you scared? Being back here, now?"

Robin sighed.
"No. No, I'm not scared now. I was a bit, earlier, but then you sounded so scared and I thought you were just going to disappear somewhere looking for me and I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to find you if you did..."
"An adrenaline burst. That doesn't mean you're not-"
"And then you reminded me about revamp. I nearly killed Malik at one point, if I hadn't been stuck in the coffin I'm pretty sure I would have broken his nose. And he didn't hold it against me because I wasn't in control, and because he had faith in me. He knew when I got over what was making me lash out, he'd be safe as houses with me." He leant forward to kiss Bertrand gently on the nose. "And I'll always be safe with you when you're not afraid I'm him."
"But I do get scared-"
"-And we'll deal with that together. But I wouldn't give up on getting better if I were you, you've got Ingrid on your side and she doesn't do giving up."
"I'm not giving up. I just don't want you getting hurt because you're too good to leave me."
"I feel safe with you, Bertrand. Try to remember that."

Bertrand seemed to mull that over for a while before leaning in to claim Robin's lips in a gentle kiss. Robin sighed happily and kissed him back, just as softly, a celebration of their reunion that didn't need to be hurried.
"Is that why you wanted Ingrid to stay?" Bertrand murmured as he eventually pulled away. Robin considered lying, but not for very long.
"Yeah. I just think we're probably not ready to do without her yet. Better that she's here if either of us needs her." Bertrand nodded.
"I pity her other patients. But let's be selfish about this. I can't risk you."
"Mm, and I won't risk you. Now let's sleep, Ingrid's bound to have plans for us tomorrow." Obediently, Bertrand turned his back – it seemed he felt safer with his back to the mattress and Robin's arm around his front than facing Robin with a hand on his back – and closed his eyes with one last whisper.
"Love you."
"I love you too. Go to sleep." And Robin took his own advice.


Ingrid didn't wake them in the morning, at least not directly; instead, Bertrand was woken at about ten o'clock by the sound of cupboard doors being slammed in the kitchen. This was followed by a moment of silence in which he briefly considered going back to sleep, and then the clanging of metal saucepans being carelessly thrown about jolted Robin into awareness as well.
"B-" He seemed to calm slightly as he realised his lover was beside him, and Bertrand reached for his phone. The ringing noise from downstairs would no doubt answer Robin's most pressing questions.

"Ingrid," he began pleasantly as soon as she picked up, "is there a reason you're trying to destroy our house at the loudest possible volume?"
"I'm hungry, so I'm making breakfast." He rolled his eyes.
"You're our guest, we'll be down in a second and I'll make breakfast. I insist. Besides, it'll be quicker, I know where things are."
"Fine, but don't be too long. We have things to do today."

Bertrand hung up and tossed his phone aside, only to find Robin trying to muffle his sniggers in the mattress.
"And what exactly is so funny, husband of mine?"
"Did you just phone Ingrid even though she's downstairs?" He kissed him before he had a chance to reply, and Bertrand was hardly going to complain. "I must be rubbing off on you."
"Sadly, we don't have time for that," he told him with a smirk, "and I don't think Ingrid would be too pleased. Come on. Up."
"Mm, up yourself." Robin had burrowed into the mattress again before he realised what he'd said and the whole squishy barrier between them began shaking with laughter. "I mean... get up, yoursel- oh, blood, there's no fixing that sentence now, you know what I meant."
"Come on. We've got to go and make breakfast."
"Why aren't we letting Ingrid make it?"
"You've never experienced Ingrid trying to cook for herself, have you? She excels in a great many areas, but this isn't really one of them." He stood and opened a drawer and random, throwing a hasty selection of clothes at Robin and pulling on a shirt of his own. "Besides, she is our guest."


Robin, displeased with the rude awakening they'd enjoyed, made it his business to sing 'Be Our Guest' throughout the entire meal, whether he had his mouth full or not. At one point, he decided to go the whole hog and make his knife and fork dance, Bertrand having decided to spoil them all with a full English breakfast. By the triumphant end of his performance, Ingrid looked faintly nauseated and more than slightly murderous, and Bertrand was smiling lovingly at him whenever he thought nobody was looking.

As penance, and because Bertrand had cooked, he was left to do the washing up while Bertrand and Ingrid conversed softly in the living room. He suspected that Ingrid was checking up on him and, probably, trying to ascertain whether he was well enough to start his exercises. This was confirmed when it turned out to be his turn for a similar examination.

"How was your night?" He shrugged, handing her a tea towel before quailing under her glare and taking it back.
"It was alright. Luckily Bertrand remembered about the mattress-barrier thing, because I forgot, and it means I can cuddle him without him elbowing me in the eye at 3am."
"That happened once," Bertrand countered mildly, as he brought an empty glass through to be washed up. "See you in the other room." Robin accepted the kiss on his cheek and watched him walk away until he was sure he was out of earshot.
"Yeah, once was enough. Anyway, it was OK. I was a bit nervous to start with, even Bertrand could tell, but... I don't know, he's Bertrand. He won't hurt me unless he's really out of it, and you can usually tell when that's going to happen, really. It's when he tries to push himself on his own that I come back and get caught off-guard."
"Yes, well, speaking of that... are you ready if we start his exercises today?"
"I'm ready whenever he is."
"Well, then. When you're finished with the washing up, come and find us."