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A/N: This isn't very long but I wanted to get some more added. It's close to the end and I don't want to spoil it by rushing. Please be a little more patient.

Chapter 37

Duke took a good look at Phil and decided that he needed some time alone with Red. He cleared his throat to get Phil's attention and said:

"I'm gonna go down the hall and get somethin to drink. You want anything?"

"Yeah, a coffee would go down pretty good."

"Sure." Nodded Duke, slipping out the door, closing it behind him.

Phil walked over to the bed and pulled up the visitor's chair. He reached through the rails and lifted one of her hands into his own.

"Hi there." He said softly, not sure what to say. "You're still looking good."

Phil felt ridiculous, trying to make conversation with her. He still had not become completely comfortable with being around her and thought back to when they had first brought her to the care home.

She had never woken up from the surgery to repair the damage done by Jack and Duke. They had tried various treatments and there had been countless tests and doctors examinations but nothing could pin point the cause of her coma. Eventually they had brought in a psychologist and after he had interviewed them all, he declared that she had withdrawn into herself as a protection measure and would only emerge when she was good and ready. The hospital had recommended Silver Streams and he had transferred her to there. The costs were not an issue since an anonymous donor had already paid for a year's stay in advance. Phil had his suspicions of the donor's identity but kept it to himself.

They had tried everything that they could think of to bring her out of her self imposed imprisonment but nothing made an impact. Even attempts to provoke her formidable temper proved futile. She was locked in her head and no one had the key. Phil had begun to doubt the doctors when they told him that she could still hear them talking to her and although he kept coming regularly, his visits became shorter and shorter. He felt guilty about it, but didn't know how to deal with it. He hoped that the news he had brought her would stir her since he was losing hope.

"They finished the cases today." He started. "Marcus got a ten year sentence, thanks to your hard work."

Phil let go of her hand and stood up to look down on her, but there was no response, no indication that she had heard him. He doggedly continued.

"Jack was put away for life. He isn't coming back."

He studied her face, desperately hoping that there would be a flicker of reaction, something, anything. There was nothing.

"Red, he's gone. He can't hurt you anymore. You can come back to us now, it's all over. Please…"

Phil's voice cracked on the last word and so did his composure. He leaned his head on the rail and began to weep. The tears spilled over his cheeks and onto the sheets, making little dark spots. A few splashed onto her hand but unlike common fairy tales, this did not wake the sleeper.

Since Dive had retired to his and Wing's room to read comics, Wing and Mal had holed up in her room again. They were currently lying on the bed, Wing on his back with Mal next to him resting her head on his chest. He was absently running his fingers through her hair, deep in thought. A sharp poke in his ribs jolted him back to the present and he looked down at Mal, startled.

"What was that for?"

"I spoke to you four times and you didn't hear me." She said.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly. "What did you say?"

"I asked you what's wrong? You've been very deep in thought since Tanya told us that she could find the raptor and I'm getting worried about you, brooding isn't good for you."

He smiled at her and said:

"I'm just thinking what all this means, y'know, getting Dragonus at last and maybe going home."

"Why not talk to me about it?"

"I will, as soon as I get it all straight in my head."

"You'd better." She warned. "Or there'll be dire consequences."

"Oh yeah?" he smirked. "Like what?"

"Like this!" she exclaimed, just before she attacked his ribs.

"Oh!" squealed Wing, caught off guard.

He retaliated in kind and soon they were engrossed in a tickle war that led into a pillow fight and ended in other ways that were more enjoyable.

Further down the hallway in Grin's room, Tanya was fighting a losing battle to keep her eyes open. She was lying face down on the futon that he used as a bed while he massaged soothing oil into the stiff muscles of her back. Soft candlelight flickered across the walls and she smiled as she thought about how she ended up in this position.

After they had eaten she had gone back to the lab to make sure that everything was still progressing smoothly. Her neck and back muscles were a mass of screaming tension but she ignored them as she monitored the chemical compounds brewing away. She was nearly done when the doors opened behind her and she looked over her shoulder to see Grin entering, holding her robe.

"Are you finished in here?" he asked her before she could ask him why he was wandering around with her clothes.

"Yeah, I'm done." She said, reaching up to rub futilely at the new crick she had just put in her neck.

"Good. Now you will come with me." He said gently but firmly.

She raised an eyebrow at him and said:

"And just where am I going and why are you holding my robe?"

"To the shower and then to my room."

Tanya's eyebrows hit the roof, making him chuckle, a deep rumbling sound that she loved to hear. Before she could say anything else, he clarified his intentions.

"You are in pain. Let me help you."

She smiled at him and took the robe that he was holding out to her. He walked her to the bathroom and then told her to meet him in his room when she was done. The hot water had done little to ease the stiffness in her muscles and she had a pounding headache by the time she tapped on his door.

Entering, she was touched to see her favorite type of candles flickering in a little group on the table. He had dragged his futon to the middle of the room and there were a few glass bottles of oils on the floor next to it. Grin himself was standing by the door and wordlessly gestured for her to take a seat on the futon, which she did. He smiled at her and offered her a cup of steaming herbal tea, which she took. About to open her mouth to speak, she was mildly surprised when he placed a finger gently on her lips and shook his head. She nodded, understanding his need for silence and sipped the tea slowly while he knelt down next to her and started mixing the oils from the bottles in a small bowl.

By the time she had finished the tea, her headache had been replaced by a slight dizziness and a sense of weakness in her limbs. Grin took the empty cup from her hands just before she lost her hold on it and his knowing smile told her that there had been more to the tea than just the basic tealeaves. But she was just too lethargic to care, even when he gently took hold of her and laid her down on her tummy. His tugging on her robe alarmed her for a moment as she realized that she was exposed down to the top of her backside but the relaxed as he picked up the bowl of oil, his intentions clear.

Which brought her back to this moment. He had skillfully kneaded away all the tension and pain of the last two weeks and left a feeling of relaxation in its place. She struggled to open her eyes for the umpteenth time when he leaned down and spoke softly by her ear.

"Sleep, your mind and body needs to heal. I will be hear when you wake."

Tanya didn't even hear the last part of that sentence. The tea combined with the soothing motions of his hands ushered her into a deep and dreamless slumber.

Duke paused outside the door, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. His acute hearing heard the sounds of Phil's grief and he wondered if he should intrude. Deciding that it would be best, he tapped on the door and then entered. Phil was standing with his back to the door, looking out the window. It was now late afternoon and the sun was a deep gold. He turned to face Duke, shoving his handkerchief into his pocket. Duke held out the coffee and Phil took it, grateful that Duke wasn't going to pry.

"Why don't you take a walk in the garden Phil? I'll sit with her for a while."

"That's a good idea, thanks Duke."

Phil took one more look at Red and then left the room, anxious to be alone with his pain. Duke watched him leave and then came up to the bed. He looked at the chair with a thoughtful expression and then lowered the rails on that side of the bed. Taking up Red's hand, he cradled it in both of his. Rubbing his thumbs over her palms, he could feel a fading callus from where she wielded the spanners of her trade. He reached into the bedside drew and pulled out a bottle of cream. It wasn't the first time he had done this for her, just like it wasn't the first time he had visited. Unbeknown to the others, he had been visiting on his own during the night. The staff were already used to his late night visits and thought nothing of them, in fact, Mrs. Brown encouraged them.

Finishing with her hands, he put the cream on the side table and started speaking to her.

"I know I keep coming here and I tell you everything that's going on. Phil must've already told you about the cases so I ain't gonna repeat that. Instead I thought I'd tell ya somethin new."

He took a deep breath and wondered where to start. Skirting an issue wasn't his style but it's what he found himself doing.

"Phil's about to go crazy y'know. He's having a hard time dealing with this, with you. I figured you were stubborn, but don't ya think this is taking it a little too far?"

"Okay, a bad joke I know."

"You may have given up on yourself Red, but we haven't. You have to come back to us. Despite what you think, there are people that need you here. Willy needs you, Phil needs you…"

He trailed off into an uncomfortable silence and then took a deep breath and said softly:

"I need you."