Something had happened, something horrible. Hamish knew it when he saw the claw marks on his pillow and caught the scent of blood. He couldn't find any on his bed but he knew Vera had been there one moment and then ran off the next. It had caused him to make his way to her house as quickly as possible. Since her car was in the driveway Hamish figured she had to be home. Hamish ran up the steps and reached out to knock but it was pointless. He could see through her door and from what he saw made him concerned. There was his Belgrave shirt on the floor and even from here he could smell the blood in it, Vera's blood.

Pulling out his keys he unlocked her door with the spare key she had given him and ran inside almost forgetting to shut the door behind him. Once he got into the kitchen he noticed the bloody cloth on the counter and heard shuffling upstairs. "Vera." Hamish crossed the living room quickly and went up the staircase to her bathroom where he saw Vera sitting on the edge of her tub, the water running red from a cloth she was squeezing out. "Oh my god." She flinched hearing his voice. "Vera." He stepped forward seeing her hair covering her neck and shoulder but it didn't matter if she covered it up. The smell of blood was so strong, so intoxicating. Hamish was afraid to admit he even liked the smell of it.

Reaching out his hand to her Vera tried to stop him, grabbing his hand before he could move back her hair. "Vera please." She let go of him allowing him to brush her hair back and see the long claw marks across her skin. "I did this to you?"

"I didn't want you to know Hamish. It wasn't your fault."

"Can't you just heal it Vera?'

"No." She took the damp cloth and placed it over the wound wincing in pain. "Werewolf wounds don't heal as easily as others. It takes a while to regenerate even with magic."

Grabbing the cloth from her Hamish started cleaning up her wound. "Let me help you, I caused this, the least I can do is help you." Hamish winced in pain for her but he was happy he hadn't ripped through her throat. Any deeper and Vera might have bled to death in his bed. "Vera, if anything happened to you I don't know what I'd do. I can't imagine a world without you, you're my…."

Vera raised her hand and looked at him. "Hamish don't, just don't." He looked confused and worried, every time he tried to express how important she was she would push him back. "You're starting to sound like Mr. Morton. He kept Alyssa from killing me because he said he couldn't live in a world without her in it."

"I'm not surprised Jack said that about Alyssa."

She turned to face him putting a hand over the claw marks. "And Mr. Morton took the Vade Macum and Alyssa."

"And you didn't stop him Vera even though you could have." He leaned closer to her resting a hand on her other shoulder. "That says something about you Vera."

"I'm careless." Hamish put down the rag and placed a hand over the scratches.

"Sanetur." Hamish chanted seeing a bright light run over Vera's wounds and seal them shut. "Or maybe you just trust Jack will do the right thing and so would I in his situation."

Vera put her hand over where her scratches were and looked back at Hamish. "Werewolf injuries can't be healed that easily."

"Perhaps they can be if the healing is done by a werewolf." He kissed her on the shoulder where his scratches had once been. "Seems I turn out to be the solution to many of your problems."

"And the cause of them, like my vault, like my losing my powers, almost losing my position, my life, the b…" Vera stopped herself. "Well maybe at first but…" Vera turned around on the edge of the tub and pulled her hair back over her shoulder. "You complicate my life Hamish, you make it messy and more challenging than I normally will tolerate. You're constantly taking me out of my comfort and you ruin everything. You're also perfect, too perfect and I hate it. " She crossed her arms over her chest. "But, I am absolutely terrified of losing you." She couldn't look him in the eye as she reached over to fix a hand towel.

"Vera, are you choking?" He asked seeing her facial expression and her lack of breathing.

"No Hamish, I'm…" She stopped again trying to speak to him but without looking him in the eye.

"Suffering from a stroke?"

"No Hamish what I am trying to say is." she looked up at him, those pretty blue eyes, his stupid quaffed hair, his cheeky little smirk. She hated him so much deep down in a strange way because he was obnoxious and annoying and sweet and charming. "I love you."

"Vera, I…"

Vera raised a finger up to stop him. "Don't make this weird."

"I love you too Vera." He was so proud of her, Vera wasn't really someone who talked about her feelings and it was a little sweet how she had struggled through just telling him that she loved him. It was easier for Hamish, maybe not at first because he hadn't thought it was anything beyond a physical attraction. Perhaps at first, after all Vera was absolutely gorgeous. There were plenty of acolytes who had a crush on the Grand Magus. Sometimes Hamish had worried all he ever was to her had been a pretty face and a distraction but he'd begun to suspect she had real feelings for him the day she'd grabbed his hand in the reliquary.

"Are you crying?" He looked at Vera watching her brush a hand over her eyes before he could notice.

"No." She sniffed and sat up straight again. "Maybe, I really can't help it." She smiled despite tears rolling down her face. Along with everything else about being pregnant it felt like she was stuck on constant water works. Even just sitting alone made her tear up because she'd think of something random and then just cry. It would be great when that could be done with this. Hamish wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer to him. Closing her eyes she rested her head against his chest. Hamish was so comfortable, she would be perfectly content curled up in his arms.