Chapter 4: Settled

Roger held the ice pack to his lip while Amelia leaned against the sink, slowly draining a glass of water. He could see her hands trembling around the glass wear, both hands holding the clear crystal for fear of dropping it. They both turned to the doorway when they heard footsteps, Franklin appearing in the hall. Amelia rushed to him immediately and spoke softly into his ear, which changed his entire demeanor from struggling soldier to wounded man.

She helped him into a kitchen chair and furbished another ice pack in the way of a bag of frozen peas. Franklin held it to the back of his head where a few flecks of dried blood dropped from his hair and onto his mussed white collar. Amelia stood over him like a mother hen, trying to get him into a more comfortable position before remembering that Roger was in the room.

"Just sit still." Was her final order before she sat down in a third chair, her glass forgotten.

"Amelia, did you recognize those men?" Roger asked, taking the ice pack from his mouth.

She shook her head, "No. But I should have expected them."

"What?"

She entwined her fingers on the table and looked down at them. "I thought telling someone would get them off my back. Before I asked for your help I had been getting strange phone calls of someone trying to get me to tell them what my memories were about. I would always hang up, but then I started getting threatening ones as well. I tried to have them traced but each time it lead the police to a number that had been disconnected for some time. I was sure that something was going to happen soon, so I thought telling someone else would stop it or at least delay it for a while."

"You were willing to let them threaten me?"

"Would you really feel that threatened, Roger?"

He frowned slightly at the fact that she was right. He wouldn't feel threatened, not when he could call on the power of the Mega Deus when he needed to. He finally shook his head no and she nodded slightly, massaging her temples.

"I am sorry that they tried to shoot you. Money for this has already been transfered into your account, so if you want to take your leave you may."

"I don't think I should leave. It seems that they would send more people after you now that they've failed once."

"I have no right to put you in any more danger."

Roger shook his head, "You're not asking me to stay, I'm offering. Free of charge."

Amelia looked at Franklin who was still sitting at the table, his head pillowed on his hands and his makeshift ice pack on the throbbing bump forming under his hair.

"Maybe just for tonight. There are plenty of guest rooms you can stay in if you want to remain that long."

"I'll just sit up tonight if you don't mind. I try not to sleep on the job, even the ones I'm doing gratis."

Amelia smiled softly and nodded, "Alright. Help me get Franklin up to his room now."

Roger stood up and set his ice pack on the table, helping her lift the butler from the chair and walk him slowly up the staircase to the first floor and down the hall where he watched as Amelia put Franklin to bed. The scene was as touching as it was amazing to watch, the lady of the house suddenly in the opposite position, but quite unaware that she was performing a deed that no other woman of her status would have ever dreamed of doing. It was charming in it's own right and incredibly right to watch the young woman care for others.

When she was finished they left and she shut the door, leaving Franklin sleeping peacefully with a bandage on his head and painkillers coursing through his bloodstream.

"Does everyone get such personal service?" Roger asked, following her as she walked to the library and began to help her pick up the fallen books.

"Everyone who deserves it does. And a few that don't. Why?"

He shrugged, "It's nice to see someone who doesn't discriminate against people because they aren't in the same social class."

"Franklin may work for me but he's also my friend. I have a feeling that it's the same way between you and your employees as well."

Roger nodded, "Guilty as charged."

Amelia frowned slightly as she righted an office chair. "Guilt shouldn't be a part of it."

"How did you grow up inside the domes and not become the spoiled monsters the rest of the wealthy are?"

She shrugged, "Luck and the help of a nanny who grew up outside the domes. She taught me that it isn't what a person can buy that counts, it's what they do to earn what they have."

"She sounds like a wise woman."

Amelia nodded and helped him lift the book case that had been pushed in front of the door. Together they cleaned up the library and taped off the broken conservatory window, Amelia taking care of the plants that had been damaged long after the sun set. Roger had called Norman and told him the circumstances of his absence, as well as when to expect him back the next day. When Amelia had emerged from the conservatory, Roger was sitting in the library reading quietly.

"Are you sure you don't want me to open a guest room for you?" She asked.

Roger shook his head, "I'll sit in here all night. But feel free to go to bed if you're tired."

"I am feeling tired. I'm going to leave it up to you to make sure Franklin doesn't get up too early in the morning."

"I'll lock him in his room if I have to."

"Good to know. Good night Roger."

Roger stood up and nodded slightly, "Good night Amelia."

She leaned up and gave him just the slightest, most chaste kiss on the lips, her own soft skin fluttering against his mouth in a way that made him want to take her into his arms and ravage her mouth with his own. Instead she touched his cheek and left him wanting so much more that he had to hold in a groan as she left the library and walked upstairs to the master bedroom, the click of the double doors audible from where he was. It was going to be a long night.