Chapter 3

Creedy woke at dawn, inhaling sharply. She shifted against him, and he noticed that somehow over the course of the night, she'd turned on her side and ended up cradled against him, using his shoulder as a pillow, and he'd wound his arm around her side. His cheeks grew warm as a small smile touched his lips, and he glanced around, noting with satisfaction that all the children were still asleep. She moved again, sliding a hand over his stomach and around the other side, tucking her fingers in under his back and pulled herself a little closer. A glint of silver caught his eye, and he reached out, lifting the pendant around her neck to look at it more closely. Her arm twitched around his middle, and he glanced up at her face quickly, but she was still asleep. Suddenly, her hand was around his, eyes staring up at him questioningly. He managed a small smile, and she let her eyes close again, moving away from him. She lifted her head to let him move his arm, and he clenched and unclenched his hand, getting the blood moving again.

"We should get up, then," he said quietly. "Start working." She nodded, stifling a yawn as she swung her legs over the other side of the bed. As he woke the kids up, she pulled her long sleeve shirt on. "Um, breakfast," he sighed, shaking his head.

"Have you been down to the kitchen?" she asked quietly. He shook his head again. "I'll go," she said, heading for the stairs. She returned a few minutes later and nodded to Creedy, who rounded up the kids, single file, and led them down to the kitchen. It was completely silent as he handed out tiny boxes of cereal to the kids.

After everyone had eaten, he led them all outside, the older, stronger boys helping with reconstruction, and the younger ones playing in the courtyard, staying close to the castle instinctively. Creedy returned to the kitchen, seeing Chaz still sitting on the counter, turning a box of cereal over in her hands as she stared into space.

"You okay?" She started at the sound of his voice, nearly dropping the box, and forced a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sighed, leaning against the counter next to her. She set the box down and slid to the ground, pulling the rubber band from her hair and pulling it back again. He reached out to stop her, taking the elastic from her and setting it on the counter. Her eyes closed for a moment as he threaded his fingers through her hair, his hand coming to rest on the side of her neck, his thumb lightly stroking her cheek.

"You're not fine," he pressed. "Something's bothering you." She pulled away, snatching up the rubber band as she turned her back on him, pulling her hair up and going to the door. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and following. When he reached the main stairs leading to the courtyard, she was walking toward the forest, axe in hand. He swore, running down the stairs. When he finally caught up to her, she was already hacking at the base of a tree. "What are you doing?" he asked. She paused, wiping her forehead with the back of a hand.

"Well, we need lumber to rebuild the roof. Unless you have spare planks just lying around, we're gonna have to do it ourselves," she said, hoisting the axe over her shoulder and heaving another swing with a grunt. "I figure the roof should be top priority, right? I mean, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't think it'd be a good thing for it to rain inside the house, yeah?"

"So you're going to come in here and take over rebuilding, is that it?" he demanded. She dropped the axe and whirled around to face him.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she snapped. "I'm helping here. I killed that fucking thing," she said, pointing to where the carcass of the dragon still lay, "and I'm helping put the roof back on that fucking castle. How the fuck is that taking over?" He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm sorry."

"Christ."

"Look, you're going to hurt yourself with that thing." Her eyebrow rose slowly, and she glanced over her shoulder at the axe lying in the dirt. "Just…" he trailed off with a sigh. "Jesus, don't just automatically assume you have to do everything yourself. Maybe you've had to in the past, but not here. Not anymore." She shook her head, mumbling to herself as she picked the axe up and started wailing away on the tree again. He watched for a few moments. "Chaz."

"What?" she snapped between chops.

"Take it easy okay? I'll be right back. Don't swing that thing until I get back." She sighed, burying the axe in the tree and walking away, plopping to the ground under another tree nearby as he walked back toward the castle. She sat there, mumbling to herself as she fumed, staring up at him angrily as he returned. "Do you at least know what you're doing?" he asked, letting a small smile slide across his lips.

"Does it fucking look like I know what I'm doing?" she snapped, standing and returning to her tree. He watched her wrench the axe free and continue chopping. He chose a tree a few yards away, quickly working up a sweat of his own. "Timber!" she yelled, smiling lightly as the tree started to waver. Creedy jogged to her side. "Well, I thought it was ready to fall," she said with a shrug. They glanced at each other and she walked over to the tree, kicking a foot out to add pressure. Wood split and cracked, and they both backed up, coughing through the dust kicked up as the tree finally fell. "One down."

"How many do you think it will take?" he asked, waving the dust from the air around him.

"No idea," she said. "I'm gonna start chopping this bitch up. Warn me when you get close." He nodded, swallowing thickly as he backed away, turning back to his tree. He shook his head, picking up his axe. His eyes fell on her again as she heaved the axe over her head and dropped it with a thunk deep into the log. She left it there, ripping her shirt over her head and tying it around her waist, once again in a tank. He had to admit she looked good in his jeans, but quickly pushed the thought away with a shake of the head, pulling his own shirt off and going back to work. A few minutes later, he let out a yell to warn her, and they watched his tree fall. "Nice." He smiled at the compliment and wiggled his eyebrows evilly.

"Want to race?" he asked. She cocked an eyebrow at him. "First through the width of it."

"You're crazy, you know that? Don't hack a foot off," she quipped. "You're on, and you're goin' down."

"Is that right?" She only nodded, looking him over quickly before turning back to her log. "Ready?"

"Are you?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?" she asked, throwing a smirk over her shoulder at him.

"Go." They both whipped into a chopping frenzy, Creedy getting through his just barely before her. She let out a huge grunt as she swung the axe through the last shred of the trunk, leaving it stuck in the ground as she plopped into the dirt, leaning over her knees as she caught her breath. "You're getting my jeans dirty," he said quietly, his victorious smirk growing.

"Yeah, and I'm getting them sweaty on the inside too," she shot back with a sigh. "How thick is yours?" she asked after a beat, biting back a laugh as he bent over to approximate the width of the tree.

"About the same size as yours," he said, eyeing the log she leaned against. "Fair competition. You lose."

"Yeah, but what do you win?" she asked, rolling her neck.

"I keep the pride I would have lost if you'd have won," he said, stepping over the log he'd chopped to sit across from her. She smiled, shaking her head.

"You know, it's not such a bad thing to have a strong woman around," she commented.

"I never said it was."

"Might save you some trouble in the long run." She wore a smirk he couldn't help but mirror, and he let loose a quiet chuckle, shaking his head.

"You're amazing, you know that?" he asked after a moment, the smile slowly disappearing.

"Why's that?" she returned, wiping the back of her neck with the shirt she'd taken off, and had fallen off as she raced him.

"You go from being angry enough with me to curse up a storm and the next minute you're jovial like nothing happened," he explained. "I mean, a while ago, you were moping around brooding about something, what it is I've no idea, then you're incredibly pissed off at me, and then we're joking and racing and just fucking around like it was nothing."

"It was nothing, Creedy," she said quietly, running her fingers along the inside hems of the legs of her pants. "And you're right. I'm used to doing pretty much everything myself, but that doesn't mean I can't do it somebody else's way. I've been on my own since I was fucking eighteen, for more than eight years. And I never really lived with anyone. It's not like this is normal for me. I was on my own before they came, and I was on my own after they came, fighting to survive just like everyone else." She sighed, rubbing her eyes with the back of a hand. "I don't know. I just…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "I'm not exactly used to this yet. It's always been me, and if something needed doing, I'd do it."

"But you don't have to do that now."

"I know that," she said, "but I'm not used to that yet. And it's probably going to take me a while." He shrugged, playing with a blade of grass. "What do you do for food?"

"We had a field a few kilometers away, but it's been burned to hell, most of it," he said with a heavy sigh. "I don't know what we're going to do."

"You know, if we clear out enough trees to rebuild the roof, you could probably start up a field closer to the house," she said, glancing around. "Transplant some of the soil and start hoarding seeds." He also glanced around, shrugging again. She eyed him for a moment. "Listen, I'll start teaching you how to be efficient with a bow. That way, if…" she trailed off, and he glanced up at her. "If Quinn doesn't come back, there will still be two of us, you know?" He averted her gaze, and she sighed. "No offense."

"None taken," he said with a quiet snicker. "I just don't want to think about that situation." She nodded slowly. "I mean, I know it's possible. Hell, it's probably likely, but…"

"Look, we've got two huge trees to hack up, clean up, chop up, and haul up," she interjected, groaning as she got to her feet. "Not to mention getting it up onto where the roof used to be and reconstructing everything," she added, holding her hands out to help him up.

"We're doing this the wrong way," he said with a quiet chuckle, taking her hands.

"What do you mean?" she asked, pulling him to his feet.

"I'm supposed to help you up," he answered, resting his hands on his hips. She stared up at him for a moment, finally rolling her eyes and turning away.

"Don't start that chivalry 'let me get the door for you and pull your chair out for you' bullshit," she groaned. "That shit's a luxury we can't afford right now." He smiled, shaking his head and going back to work.

---

"Oh, what I wouldn't give for a shower," she moaned, falling backwards onto the bed. Creedy laughed, ushering the children into the room and tucking them in. She smiled, staring up at the ceiling as they recited their 'prayers'. He stifled a sore groan as he crawled under the sheets next to her.

"Yeah, you could use one," he smarted quietly, receiving a gentle jab to the ribs and a sly grin.

"You're one to talk," she fired back, settling on her side, her back facing him. The room fell silent for a while, until the bed creaked and he turned on his side, tentatively draping his arm over her and pulling her back against his chest.

"You know," he whispered, "I didn't expect to wake up this morning with a beautiful American woman at my side." He was close enough for her to feel his breath on the back of her neck, and she fought a shudder.

"Is it the American part or the part with me all cuddled up against you?" she asked quietly, feeling him chuckle behind her.

"Both, I suppose," he answered, blowing a chunk of her hair out of his eyes. "I've not met many American women that can handle a Scot," he admitted.

"I've not met many men that can handle me," she replied with a quiet chuckle. A moment later she wriggled against him to shift onto her back, looking up at him with a twinkle in her eye. "Especially the ones that try to pull that chivalry crap on me."

"It's not so bad," he said, tucking a chunk of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her face, tracing her features with a feather light touch.

"I can open doors and pull out chairs myself," she said flatly, receiving a fleeting but highly amused smile.

"See, it's not about men thinking women can't do things like that themselves." Her eyebrow rose slowly. "It's about men thinking women are precious enough for us to care about doing small things for them."

"Oh, but the big things like cooking and doing laundry aren't on the list of things chivalrous men do for the women they think so precious, huh?" He smiled, and this time it stuck.

"No, the truth is that most of us are worthless shits in the kitchen." She couldn't help but laugh, and he shushed her quietly, glancing over his shoulder at the children, undisturbed.

"Let me guess," she continued in a whisper. "You believe in love at first sight."

"And what, you don't?"

"I don't believe in love," she said simply. His eyes widened, and he pulled away a little.

"You don't believe in love," he repeated, receiving a nod. "Okay, so how many broken hearts did it take for you to come to that conclusion?" She kept her laugh quiet, lifting her head as he moved his arm, settling it under her again.

"I believe in compatibility and attraction, but not some wishy washy feeling you can't explain but somehow just know."

"So you think love is just compatibility and attraction." She nodded. "That's pathetic."

"What's pathetic about it?"

"It's just horribly depressing to think that. To reduce something like that down to two words that are just as hard to define and claim it makes perfect sense." She sighed, shaking her head. "I mean, it makes sense, perfect sense, but it's still depressing." He paused, glancing down at her quickly. "And what do you have to say about soulmates?"

"Oh, God, don't get me started," she groaned, shifting against his side.

"I take it you don't believe in them, either, then."

"I refuse to believe that out of however many humans are left there's only one that's meant for me. With my luck he'd be on the other side of the world or in a dragon's belly," she sighed, keeping her voice low. A laugh vibrated low in his throat.

"So when you say the other side of the world, do you mean America, then?" Her breath caught as she thought about what she'd just said. At this moment, she was on the other side of the world from where she'd thought through her reasoning, and now it all seemed so questionable.

"I don't know," she said after a beat. "I guess I'll have to think about that one for a while." The room fell quiet, and she started to drift off. Just as Creedy was getting to sleep, she bolted upright, nearly throwing him out of the bed.

"What is it?"

"Shh," she hissed, holding a hand out. He sat up slowly as she closed her eyes, straining to hear. "Take them to the shelter," she said quietly. "I don't know what it is. It's not one of them, but just to be safe." He swallowed thickly, nodding as she moved across the floor. As she neared the main entrance, the tension melted away, and she jogged back to Creedy and the children, still lining up in the bedroom. "It's a horse," she said quickly.

"Okay, Jared. Take them down to the shelter quickly and quietly. We'll go check it out and come get you, alright?" The teen nodded and started ushering the kids down the stairwell, as Creedy and Chaz headed down the main steps, Chaz carrying her crossbow and quiver. They waited at the bottom of the stairs as the horse neared, and Creedy took off toward it. Chaz followed at a slower walking pace, smiling as the two men embraced. Quinn turned to help Alex off the horse, and the older woman stretched and groaned, obviously not used to being on a horse that long. Chaz looked on from a distance as Quinn greeted the kids, hugs exchanged, until eventually everything settled down again.

"So you've started already, then," Quinn observed, glancing up at the start of a new roof.

"Her idea," Creedy said, nodding to Chaz, who only smiled. Quinn nodded. "And it'll go a lot faster now with two more."

"And the dragon?" Alex asked, glancing between Creedy and Chaz. Chaz lifted a hand with a wry smile. Quinn's eyebrows arched in surprise, but he quickly covered and clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"It's late," Quinn said, glancing around the bunk room. Creedy nodded. "Room for two more?"

"Absolutely," Creedy answered with a nod, both he and Chaz following Quinn and Alex into the room. They settled in, Creedy once again wrapping around Chaz, and soon, quiet snores echoed through the castle.