rockinfaerie - thanks for the kind words, it means a lot that you took the time to review my work

I know that this is a slow-paced piece but I wanted it to be about the growing relationship between Jim and Selena, rather than just a sex fic. Though thats not to say there won't be sex . . . ;-)

'Morning sleepyhead.'

Selena sat upright in alarm. She looked down at the man laid beside her, his large blue eyes staring up at her, a small smile on his lips.

She opened her mouth but no words came out. With a trembling hand she reached out and cupped his face in her palm. Real.

The heart-wrenching sob she had been suppressing for so long suddenly erupted from her, and her hand pulled back instinctively to cover her face.

The smile disappeared from his lips.

'Hey . . . Lena.' Jim reached up to take her hand in his and with his other he gently pulled her head down to him.

She sank back down onto the bed, head on his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

'I thought . . . I thought I'd lost you.' She stammered through the tears. 'Again. You said it was ok . . . but then . . .'

He made calming noises and ran his fingers through her soft hair as her sobbing slowly began to subside.

'It's ok. It's all ok now. Don't cry. I'm not gonna leave you.'

She lifted her head to look at him. 'Promise.'

He cupped her face in his palm and gently wiped a tear-stained cheek with his thumb. He smiled softly. 'You're not gonna get rid of me that easily.'

Selena returned the small smile and lay her head back down on his chest, relishing the rhythm of the rise and fall of his breathing and the soothing caresses of his fingers in her hair. She gave in completely to the exhausted relief that was sweeping through her entire body and all the horrors and traumas of the past weeks slowly evaporated from her mind. Her entire being seemed to focus on his warm body beneath her and she felt whole.

Jim felt her breathing deepen as she drifted back into sleep. He wrapped his arms around her gently as his thoughts wandered to all they'd been through together in the past few days. She'd saved his life. Twice, no three times. He wasn't sure. He'd lost count of how often they'd been fighting for their lives together in the short time they'd known each other. She'd been the one to tell him the horrific truth when he'd woken to find himself in a strange and frightening world. She'd been there when he'd found his parents. And he'd been there when she found hope. When she fell apart. When the soldiers . . . A nauseous sensation immediately filled his stomach and rose to his throat, burning the back of his mouth. He forced his thoughts to leave that place and focussed his mind on how good it felt to have Selena's weight on his chest, her slender body pressed up against his own. He felt himself drift away and hoped he'd join her in her dreams.

Jim could hear Selena calling him but he couldn't see her. He tried to move but immediately fell to the floor in agony. Her shouts became desperate. He pulled himself to his knees, pain soaring through his body. He heard crying, and deep, mocking laughter. Oh God, Selena no . . .

Jim awoke, startled. His eyes darted around the room until his memory returned to him. This time, instead of awaking to find Selena curled up against him, he found himself alone in the small room, and with a dull ache in his stomach. He moved to sit up and a sharp pain coursed through him. He groaned and fell back down on to the pillow, head in his hands.

'Jim?'

Uncovering his eyes, he looked over to find a teenage girl watching him apprehensively from the doorway.

'Hey you.' He said, smiling warmly.

'Are you ok?'

'Yeah. Just hurts a bit is all.' He took in her anxious gaze. 'I'll be fine. Honest.'

Hannah walked over to sit beside him on the bed.

'You had us really scared,' she said quietly, avoiding his eyes.

Jim took her small hand in his and squeezed it gently. 'Sorry.'

She looked down at him and shyly returned his teasing smile.

Jim dragged his legs of off the bed and slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position. He clenched his teeth in an attempt to fight the urge to cry out at the throbbing in his gut, but couldn't prevent a small groan escaping his lips. He looked down at Hannah who was watching him silently.

'How are you?'

She paused thoughtfully before meeting his gaze and speaking softly but firmly. 'I'm ok.'

He smiled gently.

'Where's Selena?'

'She gone to the shop.'

The normality of this sentence struck Jim, and he suddenly realised that he had no idea where this little room he kept waking to find himself in actually was.

'Where are we?'

Hannah realised what she'd said and smiled apologetically.

'We're in a small village. But there's nobody here. I meant Selena's gone to raid the store across the street. Then we're going.'

'Going where?'

Hannah paused and then shrugged.

'I figured we'd find some cottage or something in the middle of nowhere, somewhere we're safe.'

Jim looked up to see Selena stood leant against the doorframe looking slightly embarrassed.

'Unless you have a better idea of course.'

'Sounds like a good plan to me. And if we're in the middle of nowhere we can find someway to be spotted, from the air like.'

It was Selena's turn to look confused.

'From the air?'

'Yeah, you know, if another plane goes by.'

Selena and Hannah both looked at him. 'What plane?' They asked together.

'Ah . . . well . . .'