Disclaimers and crap: See previous posts.

Catti-brie paced the narrow passageway. I should have been stoppin' him, she berated herself. I should have seen him bleed before I let him go to me friend. A sound echoed along the rock walls and her eyes widened then narrowed. With a colorful dwarven curse she nocked arrow to bowstring and rand towards the waterfall.

The scene that greeted her eyes when she turned that last corner was nothing she had expected. Drizzt and Entreri at each other's throat, she could have foreseen. The sight of Artemis Entreri, master assassin of Calimport, curled up in Drizzt's dark arms, sobbing harsh and hoarse into her friend's shoulder was another thing entirely. His voice was torn by his sobs, as if he was putting everything he had into stopping the sounds and failing. He was like a man who had never learned to weep, or had forgotten so long ago that he had lost the skill. She had seldom seen something so true, so primal.

Her steps faltered to a stop. Entreri seemed so small, so broken. She had never realized how thin he was without the bulk of his armor. Drizzt's eyes met hers over the dark head. In the hour he had been away from her, something had changed in those lavender depths. Pain was there, but it was no longer the burning agony it had been. His cheeks shone with tears, and she realized that they were the first she had seen him shed since she found him again.

Drizzt gave her a soft sad smile, and she smiled back. Hope bloomed in her heart. They would survive this. Drizzt would be well. Somehow she would overcome her dislike of Entreri. Her hatred of the man was hard to maintain in the face of his suffering. Unwilling to interrupt, she pointed to herself, then back the way she came. Drizzt nodded, and she turn around and left.

All will be well, she thought, all will be well.

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Entreri lay with his eyes closed, just experiencing the sensation of the warm body in his arms, the scent of Drizzt's hair against his face. They had slept many times since the waterfall, and the assassin had reached a state of almost peaceful existence. No words had been spoken of the incident, yet every time they had stopped to rest since, either Drizzt would come and curl up next to Entreri when his watch was over, or Entreri would do the same.

Even together, we are so different, Entreri mused. Drizzt would only sleep during Catti-brie's watch, when Entreri was with him. The assassin still could not believe that Drizzt felt comforted by his presence, but there seemed no other explanation for why the drow tossed and turned while Entreri was on watch, and not when he was pressed close.

Entreri found himself only able to sleep when Drizzt was away from him. Otherwise he could not stand to waste the few hours he had to enjoy the feel of that body in his arms, the beat of the drow's heart, the slow rise and fall of his chest.

Enjoy it while it lasts... a voice whispered in his head. He won't need you forever. Sooner or later he will remember who you are, the things you've done... His fingers itched for the cool of his dagger's hilt. One cut, so quick it would be painless, and Drizzt would never be able to leave him, never be able to hurt him.

Strike first. It had been his life's motto. He remembered the others over the years, those who would have hurt him if he'd given them enough time...some were beautiful in his memory, some merely kind. Most were skilled enough with a blade for him to respect them. He had killed them, before they could hurt him; before they could betray him, abandon him. Hells, he had killed them before he had ever been tempted to touch them, or let them touch him.

Drizzt sighed and turned in his arms. Dark fingers covered his own where they rested on the silk-clad waist.

Later. He told the fear, the need to protect himself. Not now. Not yet.

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Reviewer request: I know it's quick. Is it good?

Thanks,

-Janelly.