¤ ¤ ¤

They woke up, entangled with each other and the sheets.

King shifted so he could get a better look at Abby's face in the early morning light. It wasn't often that he could catch her in a vulnerable state like this. Only three times could you catch her: sleeping, reading to Zoe, and when she was thinking of her father. She got this delicate feel about her. Made you want to protect her. He closed his eyes, wincing as the sun hit them. God, he'd drunk too much last night. He glanced down at Abby again. Poor girl. She'd probably be worse off. He slid out of bed and padded down to the kitchen to grab her Tylenol and a water bottle. When he got back, she was sitting up, flipping through a book. He leaned against the doorjam and watched her. God, he loved watching her. Not in a creepy stalker kind of way… okay, so maybe he did… but she was just fucking gorgeous. When she fought, when she trained, when she slept, when she ate, when she breathed… just fucking gorgeous… "Hey."

She jumped then winced, clutching her head. "Fuck, King… don't do that… you're the only one that can do that…"

He grinned. "What? Sneak up on you? It's because of my ultra-sneaky sneak powers…" He moved towards her, putting his hands behind his back. "Pick a hand."

She put the book down, smiling, and stuck her hand out to his left arm. "That one."

He brought out an empty hand.

"Jerk." She pointed to the right one. "That one."

He brought out the pills and water and sat down next to her. "For the lady…"

She closed her eyes happily, taking a few pills and the water. "Thank you. God, this is why I don't drink…"

"See, I think your problem is that you just don't have enough practice. Maybe if you came out with me more…"

She shook her head. "Oh, no… forget it King. I am not going out ever again. This was one time too many."

He sighed dramatically. "That's okay… I guess I'll just have to teach Zoë in the fine arts of vodka shots…"

She hit him in the arm. "King! You will not!"

He put his arm around her, pulling her to him. "Fine. Fine."

They sat, half-awkward, half-comfortable, because neither knew where they actually stood on things.

"Abby-" he started quietly as she started to doze blissfully.

She jumped up, looking a bit flustered. Apparently she could take on a pack of vampires but was unable to have 'the chat' with a guy. "Well, I should go check on Zoë," she said abruptly, cutting him off. "Thanks for the aspirin and I'll see you later, okay?" She practically ran out the door. It wasn't until she got to Zoë's door that she felt her heartbeat slow. "Fuck me." God, she was even starting to sound like him… She peered in but Zoe wasn't in her room, which was weird because since Sommerfield, Dex and Hedges had gone on a mission, she'd either been in there or with Abby herself and King. She turned and started back towards the kitchen. "Zoë?"

¤ ¤ ¤

An hour later, she couldn't find the girl anywhere on the ship. Gritting her teeth, she started back to the bow, intent on searching the whole thing again. Even if she had to tear things apart, she'd find the kid. But, as she continued the search, her anger turned to worry and then to fear. She turned a corner and almost ran smack into King.

He almost walked right past her. She could see the hurt in his eyes. Then he noticed her own watery pair of greens and his protective instincts kicked in. "Hey, you okay?"

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak in case she burst into tears. "Zoë," she managed.

He caught hold of her arm, supporting her. "What's wrong? Is she okay? Where is she?"

"I dunno," she was on the verge now, very close to crying but tried to keep herself strong, at least to keep King from freaking out. "I can't find her. She's missing."

His jaw tightened and she knew that he was thinking the exact same thing as she was – kidnapped. "Well, have you searched the ship?"

"Yes. All of it! Twice!" She felt frantic, a foreign emotion for Abigail Whistler. She started shivering.

"Hey, hey, it's going to be okay… Zoë's going to be fine… C'mon, we'll look again."

They scoured the ship once more but couldn't find her anywhere, ending up in the kitchen, where she started pacing back and forth. He leaned back against the counter on the other side of the kitchen watching her.

"Look, there's no sign of a struggle so we can't be sure that she's been taken or… something…" he trailed off, feeling kind of useless.

"What else could happen?" she snapped. "She knows not to wander off! She knows not to go off with strangers! Where the fuck else would she be?" She glared at him, breathing heavily, as if she could blame him for it.

"How the fuck should I know?" he yelled back. "How is this my fault?"

"I'm not blaming you!" she yelled back, unconvincingly. "But if we hadn't been so reckless and hormonally driven then we wouldn't have been out for hours and we wouldn't have slept in and we would know what happened to her!"

He leaned across the table, growling at her dangerously, "Don't do that Abby. Don't you fucking dare do that. One night. One fucking night! And nothing happened! It's the exact same thing as if we'd been out hunting and slept in. You're only freaking out because you feel guilty because you almost actually enjoyed yourself!"

"Do not!"

"You're fucking scared." He moved around the table towards her.

"No," she said desperately, backing away so she could keep the table between them. "Stop fucking around, King. We have to find Zoë. This is ridiculous!"

He gripped the edge of the table, briefly thinking of flipping it but on second though, just shoved it aside, knocking the chairs over. He caught Abby around the waist as she lunged towards the door, and pulled her back.

She hit the edge of the table, knocking the breath momentarily from her lungs, and then King's lips were on hers. One hand was tangled in her hair, which had fallen out of its elastic, and his other moved around from its grasp on her hip to the small of her back, pulling her flush against him.

She gasped and her hands came up to tangle in his hair.

His hands came down to her hips and he lifted her onto the table. He fingered her shirt and when she didn't protest, pulled it over her head.

Her legs wrapped around him as she pulled him closer, relieving him of his own shirt.

"Abby? King? We've come home!" Caulder called from the deck.

They stopped, breathing heavily, foreheads pressed against each other's.

"And we bought ice cream!" Zoë shrieked happily.

Abby's eyes opened and met King's, which reflected her relief.

She pushed on his shoulders but he didn't budge.

"Fuck, Whistler…"

"King. Move, before we educate Zoë way too early about stuff her mom would kill me for teaching her…"

He paused for a moment, studying her face, her eyes, then let go and bent to retrieve her shirt. "If only to preserve your dignity…"

She heard their footsteps coming down the stairs and reached for her shirt.

King pulled it out of reach and as she reached for it, he kissed her again.

She responded then pulled away as they were coming down the hallway. "King," she said warningly.

He grinned. "Not like they haven't seen it before."

She kicked him in the shin. "Don't be an asshole…"

"Ow… tough love, Whistler, tough love…"He pulled his shirt on and moved to pick up the overturned chairs.

She got her shirt on and jumped off the table just as the kitchen door swung open.

"Abby!" Zoe cried joyfully. "You're awake! Caulder told me not to wake you up!"

Abby winced at the girl's pitch. "Yeah, I-"

"Morning Abigail…" Caulder placed a large Styrofoam cup of coffee in front of her. "You look a bit flushed. Maybe you should take the day off…"

She flushed, feeling her face redden even more. "I'm fine." She grabbed the coffee with a hurried thanks, rushed out of the room past a laughing King.

¤ ¤ ¤

Well, that's it… let me know what you think!