A/N: I'm the sappiest person alive right now it seems—hehehe. I wonder why? I shouldn't be—I should believe by now that spoilers lie. But I can't help it—so my Jolie loving writing will continue. Until next time—PCGirl.
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John let go of the hold he had on Natalie and looked into her eyes, finally allowing a real smile to appear on his face in weeks. He pushed her hair out of her face before speaking, "You're really here."
"Yeah," she laughed at him through tears in her own eyes. "And when did you have such little faith in me?"
"It'd been so long and we had no clue where you were—I didn't want to believe it, but—."
"Then you shouldn't have."
"Where were you? How'd you get out?" he asked quickly.
She laughed again, "We've got all the time in the world to answer those questions, but not here—do you have a hotel room or is this where you've been sleeping too?"
"Sleep? What's that?" he asked as he paid for their bills, never taking his eyes off of her.
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John opened the door and motioned for her to walk in first. She noticed there was nothing in it—his duffle was sitting in a corner half empty and she could see some shirts hanging up in the closet. When she turned to look at him his head was down and she could tell he was trying to come up with something to say. She didn't say anything as she waited, but the silence was deafening. "John—."
"Let me talk," he said as he walked towards her and stopped just a few feet away. "When you were gone—when we couldn't find you and Barber was doing nothing but taunting us—I couldn't do anything. I didn't eat, sleep, or take a moment for myself.
"The only thing that mattered was finding you safe and alive. I was at the edge of the world the other night—I didn't know what else to do. I just wanted it to be over, and when Officer Riley said it was my mind was so close to believing the impossible that it simply slipped into that line of thinking.
"You have to believe me Natalie—I didn't want you to be gone from my life. Because you—you were the one that woke me up on the inside. We danced this dance for nearly two years and to think the dance was done and nothing came out of it--," he stopped for a moment and corrected himself. "No, everything came out of—you woke me up, that's what came out of it—you let me be me. Did I already say that?" he chuckled.
Natalie just smiled and nodded as she watched as John laid his whole soul out in front of her and wondered what would be left standing when he was done.
"I came to town and the first time I saw you I know my heart told me to turn and run—that you were going to be the one to finally do it. To finally tear down my defenses and remind me what—," he said as he began to get choked up and looked towards the floor—unable to speak.
"What John?" she asked as she walked towards him and lifted his head so she looked into his eyes.
"You reminded me what it was to love again," he said through choked words.
"John," she said as she smiled and knew the man standing before her had finally broken through the last barrier that had kept him from living before.
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"We should probably get back to your hotel room," laughed Natalie as they sat on the dark beach and listened to the surf crash onto the beach—the white foam being the only thing they could see.
They'd walked along the boardwalk for most of the afternoon and into the evening—buying a couple of cheese steaks and beer and finding a quiet spot on the beach to enjoy dinner together.
"If you want to we can," he said as he put his arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck.
"Officer McBain—are you getting fresh with me?" she laughed as she leaned her head back.
"Want me to?" he said with a smirk and covered her mouth with his.
She replied to the kiss with the same depth and when she came up for air she turned around and looked at him—the lights of the boardwalk behind him were shading his face, but she could tell her was smiling, "I've never seen this side of you John. Boyish—almost fun."
He shrugged. "Well, you've never seen me when I was in love—and would admit it," he added.
"Say it again," she whispered.
"I love you, Natalie."
"I love you too," she smiled as she pushed him down into the sand. "This is what I love—just me and you and there's no more secrets between the two of us."
"Yeah," he smiled as he pushed her hair back but it came back, covering her face and blocking out the lights and noises from around them. As he pulled her into a kiss he pushed back the one secret he still did hold—he wouldn't let it ruin this time, these memories of them together.
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"I'm sorry it's late—I had other clients this afternoon and couldn't get here earlier," said Evangeline as she sat down on the opposite side of the table and looked at the man across from her. He seemed cold and distant—and yet she wondered if her prediction was correct—if he was the man that everyone believed for dead.
"It's fine—not like I have any place to be," he shrugged—his eyes looking straight at her but no expression on his face. "Why did you want to come see me anyways?"
"John was trying to contact you—do you know why?"
He said nothing but his eyes began to burn with what seemed like anger, "I don't know why that jerk would want to contact me."
"Jerk? What did he do?"
"It's what he didn't do--," he stopped before he said anything else.
"What didn't he do?"
"Why do you care?" he asked in a raised voice.
"I want to help you."
"Who said I want help? Who said I'm not fine being in here while McBain let's my—."
"Your what? Your wife? You really are Cristian Vega—aren't you," she said in shock.
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She was in the well again and it was dark and moonless so she couldn't see anything above her. Suddenly she felt something being thrown on her—as she reached for it she realized it was dirt and then another shovel full got flung on her. "Stop!" she yelled but the unknown person kept throwing more in her—despite her pleas.
Then she was able to see something large creating a shadow on the top and a mountain of dirt was thrown on top of her. She fought hard to breathe in air and not dirt—this wasn't going to be the end. This wasn't how she was going to die.
Suddenly Natalie jumped up in the bed and was again greeted by darkness. Where was she? Was she at Llanfair? She felt movement on the other side of the bed and then the table light clicking on and realized where she was—she was in AC with John.
They'd come back and made love—then she'd fallen asleep before he turned off the light. She hadn't been able to tell him about the dreams before—about how she'd had her bathroom light on every night since she returned home.
"Hey—what's wrong?" asked John as he took her carefully in his arms and held her.
"I—I just had a bad dream," she shook him away, not looking him in the eye.
"That was more than a bad dream—you don't cry at bad dreams," he said as he wiped her tears. "Tell me Natalie—you can tell me anything."
"I've been having them since I came back. Sometimes the walls of the well begin to close in on me—or water, but I can't swim. It's silly," she said, shaking her head.
"It's not silly," he gulped. "You just went through a huge ordeal," he sighed. "You're going to get through this—and I'll be here for you forever—I'm never leaving your side, ok? You're safe with me," he said as he pushed her hair out of her face.
She shook her head quickly, "You don't know that. I'm a sitting duck when it comes to Serial killers and maniacs."
He shrugged, "Well, they'll have to get through me from now on. Now lay back down—you need rest." He had her lay down with her head nuzzled into his arm and just held her. He felt bad for what she'd been through—for what he'd let her go through—Flynn. Haver. Hayes. He gave a sigh and wondered—what would be the next thing they'd have to fight. Right now she was getting over her worst nightmare. But he was worried his might come sooner than he wanted—losing her would definitely be the worst thing possible.