Thanks to everyone who read. As always, reviews are appreciated.

Quiet curses penetrated Jamie's consciousness, and he blinked and reached up to rub his eyes. It was easy enough to place where he was, stretched out on Alex's couch. He'd been hungry enough after their 24-hour Christmas shift to go through a couple cartons of Chinese takeout, but Alex had picked one of the history DVDs to watch with it, and Jamie hadn't bothered to try keeping his eyes open after the food was gone. History put him to sleep even when he didn't have a couch to lie on.

Cursing wasn't really a thing that happened at Alex's house, though, and he sat up cautiously. "Alex?"

There was a sigh. "Sorry, Jaim, I didn't mean to wake you. It's late, why don't you get to bed? You'll be more comfortable there."

Jamie yawned and shrugged, although it wasn't like Alex could see him in the dark room. There was nothing but more darkness outside the window, and the television was off, but he'd slept on the couch more than once and was perfectly comfortable on it, too. Especially since Alex usually put a blanket over him if he didn't already have one. Still, since he was awake, he pushed the blanket away and got to his feet.

He'd only gone a few steps in the direction of his room before he heard a quiet gasp behind him, and he turned back quickly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just moving a little slow."

He didn't sound very fine, and Jamie reached for the light switch by the table. "Lights," he warned a second before he hit them, and then he sucked in his breath and hurried back to Alex's side. Alex didn't just sound bad, he looked bad, hunched over with one hand braced against the wall.

"I'm fine," he repeated. "It happens if I fall asleep in the chair for more than a few minutes. I know better, but unlike someone else in the room I do enjoy documentaries and I thought I could make it to the end."

Alex was a total dork sometimes, but saying anything along those lines was likely to get Jamie a look, and Jamie didn't think Alex could even turn his head right now without ending up in more pain. "Can I help?" he asked uncertainly. This looked way worse than anything he'd seen at the station, the closest had probably been how Alex had been moving the night that he'd brought Jamie back here, but even then Alex had been more mobile.

Alex hesitated and then nodded slightly. "In the medicine cabinet in my bathroom, bottom shelf, small bottle on the far left. Be careful, I think I got the top put back on correctly last time, but I don't pull it out very often."

Jamie nodded. And hurried. He was pretty sure that the wall was mostly what was keeping Alex upright. Fortunately there were only three bottles on that shelf, and the one that fit Alex's description was the only prescription one among the lot. The top was on, albeit a little crooked, and he took it back to Alex.

"Thanks." Alex grimaced as he opened it up with one hand and shook a pill out.

"Do you want some water?"

"I'm all right. Plenty of practice." He looked unhappily at the pill for a minute before dry swallowing it and tucking the bottle into his pocket.

"I...can I help?" Jamie asked again as Alex braced himself, clearly intending to continue down the hall. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to offer an arm, or if he was even allowed to offer, or what should happen now. Jamie didn't really like adults touching him, and Alex never made him unless it was something like with the inhaler, but offering help was different somehow.

Alex sighed and then nodded and reached out an arm, and Jamie ducked under it.

"What happened to your back, anyway?" Jamie asked as they started to move forward slowly.

"An ugly incident in the emergency room about ten years ago. The police brought in a couple men who'd been fighting, and as I was starting to stitch one of them up they decided to pick things up again. The officers weren't expecting that—I wasn't expecting that—and I got caught in the middle." He sighed. "They weren't targeting me or anything, but I was lighter than any of them by a fair amount, and I'm no kind of fighter. By the time the police got them broken up again I'd taken a couple pretty bad hits, including one that damn near broke my spine across the edge of one of the treatment beds. As it was they had to fuse several vertebrae and, well, you can see the results." He started to shrug and then stopped, breath hissing through his teeth.

"That sucks," Jamie said. 'Alex' and 'fight' did not go together.

"No argument here," Alex agreed. "And I hate using that kind of painkiller, but if I don't I won't be moving again for a few days. As it is you might be on your own for breakfast tomorrow."

Jamie still thought that it was kind of weird that Alex always ate with him when they were both around and even cooked sometimes. He was used to scrounging at best, not having someone give him the last of the bacon or sausage or whatever. Cereal or leftovers on his own was officially not a big deal. Alex being hurt was kind of more of one, though. "You don't have to go anywhere, right? I mean, you can stay in bed until you feel better?"

"No, I don't have anywhere to be for a few days. It'll pass by then." They made it into and across Alex's room, but as he was twisting to sit down on his bed he stumbled and his hand tightened sharply on Jamie's shoulder.

This time Jamie was the one who sucked in his breath. Alex wasn't a big man, but he had a pretty good grip.

Alex released him immediately. "Shit. I'm sorry, kiddo. Are you okay?"

Jamie shrugged and tried to keep his shoulder under Alex's hand until he was safely seated. "I'm fine. It's not...it's different when it's an accident and not somebody trying to hurt."

"What?"

Jamie's head dropped at Alex's tone stepped away quickly. He was apparently a lot tired-er than he'd realized because there was no way he should ever have said something like that out loud.

"Jamie, look at me. Now."

Alex had never sounded like that before, and Jamie moved back a little more before lifting his head.

"Accidents do happen, and when they do you deserve an apology the same as everyone else, but no adult—well, no one, but especially no adult—has any business trying to hurt you. You know that, right?"

Jamie shrugged and looked away. What grown-ups were supposed to do and what they did do were rarely the same thing in his experience.

There was silence for a moment, and when Alex spoke again his voice was very even. "New rule. If someone hurts you, or tries to hurt you, or anything like that, you tell me. I don't care if you're living here or not; you tell. Is that understood?"

He shrugged again. It wasn't like it was Alex's problem when he pissed off the fosters of the week. He was still amazed that Alex hadn't kicked him out yet.

"Jamie that wasn't a suggestion, and I expect an answer when I ask you a question. Am I understood?"

Alex shouldn't be able to sound that strict when he couldn't even stand up, but a quick glance told Jamie that he wasn't joking and he wasn't going to let Jamie off, either.

"'nderstood," Jamie said quietly.

"Good. Thank you for your help, and I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay? Sometime."

"'Goodnight," Jamie said, turning and heading towards his room. "I—you want me to hit the lights?"

"Please."

Jamie plunged Alex's room and then the living room back into darkness before escaping to his own room. Alex's spare room. Definitely Alex's spare room. With the holidays passing Sonja would be finding him a new placement soon, and it would be stupid of him not to be ready for that.