By: magicks
Summary: a fluffy cotton-candy cloud of a story inspired by "Alcohol, Jake-Bashing, and Snuggle bunnies" Gabe gets hurt; Sara fusses over him. You want a plot? Keep looking.
Disclaimer: Gabriel is mine! All mine! Mwuahahahahaha!! Ok, well , um, no, he's TNT and TopCow's, like the rest of WB, but a girl can dream, right?
A/N: This blurb is set in what I lovingly refer to as the Joyverse (read "Alcohol, Jake-bashing, and Snuggle bunnies"), where so many of my Sara/Gabe fic ideas are now centered. Sara and Gabe have been together for some months now, maybe close to a year.
"Hey Gabriel, open up. It's Danny. I'm here for the info on that new case," Danny said loudly into the intercom. A moment later, the door buzzed open and the Asian detective walked the flights of stairs leading to Gabriel's apartment and knocked on the door. A full minute passed before it opened.
"About time," he said when the door finally opened. "What took you so lon-" Danny stopped mid-sentence and gave a low whistle when he saw Gabe's face. There was a large bruise forming under one eye, and blood dribbled from a split lip. Gabe was also holding an ice pack to the back of his head. "What happened to you?"
"Some guys wanted my wallet, and they got a little pissed when I didn't give it to them," Gabriel answered, wincing as he removed the ice pack and stepped aside to let Danny enter.
"You ok?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just do me a favor, don't tell Pez, all right? She's got enough on her plate right now, and she doesn't need to be worrying about me all day."
"Well, I won't bring it up, but how do you plan on hiding something like this?" Danny gestured to the bruise and lip. "Especially from Sara."
"I'm gonna tell her tonight; I just don't see any use in her dwelling on it until then," Gabe responded. "Knowing her, she'd overreact and take off work to come here and fuss over me like a mother hen."
Danny chuckled. "Don't tell me you wouldn't enjoy it."
Gabe grinned. "Of course I would. But I can wait till tonight if it means Sara gets through the day without worrying over something that happens every day."
Danny sighed and shook his head. "I hope for your sake she sees it that way." He looked around the shop. "So where are those files?"
***********************
Danny entered the office and almost ran into Sara.
"Hey, partner," she greeted him. "I was just about to run out and pick up some information from Gabriel."
"Already got it," he said, holding up the folder.
"So you saw him? How is he?" Sara knew she sounded foolish, but she couldn't help asking about her boyfriend.
"Shouldn't you know? You saw him this morning," Danny teased, but Sara caught a faint worried look in his eyes that underlied his mirthful tone.
"Danny? What's wrong?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't lie to me. I can see it in your eyes. What's wrong? Did something happen to Gabriel?" Sara started getting worried. Danny never hid anything from her unless it was serious.
Danny caught the change of mood and stopped it before she went too far. "He's fine, Pez. He just had- an incident- this morning, and he asked me not to bring it up."
"You're not bringing it up. You're answering my questions because you like living. Now *what* happened to Gabriel?"
Danny sighed. "He was mugged this morning. Some guys beat him up and took his wallet." At hearing Sara's gasp, he held his hands up in a placating gesture. "I told you- he's fine. Just a couple of bruises and a busted lip from what I could see."
"Well, if he's fine, then why didn't he want you to tell me?" she snapped, concern making her irritable. Not to mention the slight jealousy at the fact that Gabe hadn't called her first.
"He said something to the effect of 'you would overreact', and thought you would leave work to check on him if I said anything."
"What? That's- I'm not-" Sara didn't know what to say. It was exactly what she was planning to do. Unable to make a reasonable argument that wasn't a lie, she looked pleadingly at Danny, who laughed and waved her towards the door.
"Go. Spend the afternoon with your boyfriend; I'll make your excuses on this end." With a grateful smile, Sara grabbed her jacket and headed for her bike.
As soon as she was gone, Danny picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Talismaniac."
"Gabriel, thought I'd let you know you were right about Sara's reaction."
A groan, followed by "You promised not to say anything."
"Wrong. I promised not to bring it up. Sara interrogated me, and you know how she can be. Anyway, she left about three minutes ago, but I'd expect her pretty soon."
"Why? My store's at least a ten minute ride from there."
"Yeah, but she left with that 'I'm worried about him but ticked that he didn't tell me' look on her face."
"Oh crap."
"Tell me about it. Just thought I'd call and warn you."
"Thanks. She'll calm down when she gets here and sees me in one piece. I hope."
Danny laughed. "Good luck," he said, before hanging up.
Gabriel stared at the phone for a minute, as if waiting for it to tell him what to do. Finally he placed it back in its cradle, turned back to his desk, and started shutting down his computer and putting away his artifacts. He didn't think he would be getting any more work done that day.
*************************
Gabriel finished his task just as he heard a motorcycle drive up outside his building. Sighing fondly but with slight exasperation, he stood and waited for the sound of her key in the lock. Sure enough, two minutes later Sara walked into the room and straight into his arms.
"Are you okay?" she asked, hugging him tightly as he kissed her cheek. She drew back and took his face in her hands. "Baby, why didn't you call me?"
"I didn't want you to worry," he said simply. "It's nothing, really."
"It's *not* nothing," Sara insisted. "You're hurt." She felt the bump on his head. "You should get this checked out. You could have a concussion."
"Sara, I'm fine. All I have is a headache."
"Then you should be lying down."
Gabe grinned. "Only if I get a snuggle bunny to hold."
Sara smiled and gave him a quick kiss. "Of course. Now go get into bed and I'll get you some aspirin."
"Yes, ma'am." Gabriel headed towards the bedroom while Sara rummaged around for the medicine and filled a glass of water. That done, she walked into the bedroom to find him clad in boxers and a t-shirt, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding his head. She was at his side in a second.
"What's wrong?" she asked, worried that he really did have a concussion.
"Nothing, I just need that aspirin, that's all," he said, taking the pills and gulping them down with some water.
"Come on." Sara tucked him into bed and changed into a pair of pajamas she kept at his place before sliding under the covers herself. She sat propped up with pillows and pulled him halfway onto her lap. "I'll rub your head."
Gabriel didn't respond except to close his eyes and lean back into her chest as she massaged his temples. While she rubbed, she sang softly, humming little tunes to calm and relax him. Ten minutes later, she looked down into sleepy brown eyes watching her.
"Thank you," he said, yawning.
"Go to sleep," she ordered gently, petting his forehead.
He yawned again, and Sara thought she had never seen him look so innocent and childlike.
"Will you be here when I wake up?" he asked.
"Always," she assured him softly. "Sleep." He relaxed, and his eyes fluttered closed. "G'night," he muttered.
"Night, sweetie," she replied, kissing his forehead. As soon as he was solidly asleep, she eased him off and slid down so she was lying next to him. Wrapping her arms around him once more, she hugged him close and let herself be swept into Morpheus' arms.