When Tomas was finally settled and seemingly close to sleep, Marcus went to take a shower of his own, happy to be able to wash off the sweat and grime of the last few days. His mind kept replaying the conversation with Tomas and he wondered if the younger man would even remember any of it when he woke up. With a sigh, Marcus thought it didn't matter. He would just have to make sure Tomas accepted his return and started trusting him enough to admit weakness or doubt. They had to learn how to work together in a new, different dynamic, for the sake of survival if nothing else. Otherwise there was a high risk that they would drive each other mad long before the demons managed to get their hands on them.

Marcus stepped out of the bathroom and noted that Tomas hadn't moved since he'd fallen onto the bed, still lying on his side, only in his jogging pants, shirtless. With a sigh, he walked up to his partner, checking if he was even breathing.

"You asleep?" Marcus asked quietly, running a hand over the feverish forehead. A bleary pair of eyes opened to a slit.

"Hm?"

"Just checking if I can cook some eggs on you or if I need to use the stove," Marcus said jokingly. He got a grumble in reply and Tomas turned so he was now lying on his back, grimacing at the light coming from the bedside lamp.

"We are out of eggs," he muttered and threw a hand over his eyes. Marcus rolled his eyes and headed back to the bathroom. When he returned, he was holding a damp towel. He pulled Tomas' arm off his face, ignoring the grumble and instead put the cold towel on his forehead, which also partially blocked out the light. There was a thankful sigh, then a muttered 'gracias'.

"De nada, hermano," Marcus replied then made his way towards the other bed and lay down. The bedside lamp was turned off and Marcus let out a sigh of pure relief as he could finally stretch out on the soft bed, allowing his weary body some rest. As it was bound to happen when one was so tired however, Marcus' mind took a while to turn off and relax. He tossed and turned on the bed, too tired to fall into deep sleep. Almost an hour later, he was finally on the verge of sleep. He was just a breath away from sweet nothingness, when his senses caught some movement. Marcus tried to ignore it and he was quite successful, until he felt a rush of cold air on his face and his eyelids were flooded with light. Scrunching up his face and groaning, feeling as if someone just hit him with a hammer, Marcus blinked open an eye, only to see the familiar figure walking out of the room.

"Tomas?" Marcus asked, confused. He heard a startled yelp of a woman and he was out of the bed so quickly his head spun. He rushed out the door, frowning at the weird sight of a shirtless Tomas wandering down the hall, while a young woman was standing flush to the wall, looking startled.

"You alright, dear?" Marcus asked automatically and the woman nodded, pulling out a key to another room, brandishing it in the air like a weapon. Marcus raised his arms in a sign that he posed no threat. "Hey, we mean no harm. My friend here is just not feeling well..." and he moved past her, glad that Tomas was walking slowly.

"I just... got startled," the woman said, now looking embarrassed. Marcus nodded at her and when she put the key into the door next to theirs, he thought there was no more need for pleasantries and jogged the few meters to catch up with Tomas.

"Hey, mate, where you going?" he carefully put his hand on Tomas' shoulder, grimacing at the heat, but thankful that Tomas didn't react with violence. Instead, he blinked, eyes hazy and unfocused, but still brown instead of the milky white.

Marcus stood before him, effectively blocking his way and so Tomas stopped too.

"Tomas? What are you doing?" Marcus asked again.

"Demasiado calor... necesito aire," Tomas muttered and tried to push past Marcus, towards the door leading to the lobby.

"Hey, I know you are hot, but you can't just go traipsing around half naked. You're scaring the other guests," Marcus tried to keep his tone light and gently steered Tomas back towards their room, but Tomas frowned and stood stock still.

"Demasiado calor..." he repeated and Marcus found that when Tomas didn't want to move, he couldn't budge him. Marcus sighed, running a tired hand over his face, glad that at least the woman had vanished behind the door. He just hoped she wasn't calling the guy at the desk, or worse, the cops.

"Come on, Tomas. There's a cold glass of water with your name on it. Aren't you thirsty?"

Tomas frowned, his tongue subconsciously licking at too dry lips.

"Agua?"

"Si, vaso de agua fría," Marcus agreed eagerly. "Come on, mate. You'll feel better after you drink something, yeah?"

Tomas muttered something unintelligible, his eyes closing as he swayed. Marcus cursed and grabbed him around the waist, heaving one arm over his shoulder.

"Okay, you're done in," Marcus said and half led, half dragged Tomas back to their room. By the time they reached Tomas' bed, he was almost out cold again and Marcus was cursing, feeling his own back protest at the weight on his shoulders. He not so gently deposited Tomas on his bed and stretched with a groan.

He wondered if Tomas kept up his record of being out cold while he was with Mouse and if so, how did she manage to lug him around. Probably just threw cold water on his face. Snorting, Marcus went to grab the promised glass of water... not really that cold because there was no fridge in this room, but for someone with a fever it might feel frigid enough. He stood over the slumped form on the bed and for a moment really considered just pouring the water on Tomas, he needed to get cooled down anyway. But then there was the nagging voice inside his head, telling him to not be an ass and it strangely sounded a lot like Tomas. With a sigh, and knowing he needed some sleep of his own if he now had Tomas' voice in his head sounding like his conscience, Marcus gently shook Tomas' shoulder to try and wake him up. Or at least get him semi-awake enough to drink the damn water and swallow some aspirin. The fever needed to go, if not for Tomas' sake then for Marcus' own sanity. He managed to coax Tomas into a half sitting position and pushed the pills against his lips.

"That's it," he let out a sigh of relief when Tomas at least seemed to grasp the concept of taking the meds. The glass of water was gulped down much more eagerly and Marcus fetched another one. Tomas' skin was dry, which didn't bode well for the fever and Marcus found himself sitting down on the edge of the bed, putting another cold compress over Tomas' brow, while the young man kept muttering under his breath. At one point, Marcus caught the word abuela and grimaced, hoping that Tomas wasn't caught in some nightmare.

Running his hand through Tomas' hair in a soothing manner, Marcus hoped this illness was indeed just a result of too much stress, not enough sleep, and being non-stop on the road. Exhaustion he could deal with. Anything more serious would require a hospital visit, which would just put them in more danger. They couldn't really afford that, not after what happened to Bennett and what went down in Chicago. So, Marcus patiently changed the compress on Tomas' head and slid down to the floor, resting his back against the wall, sitting right next to Tomas' bed, while keeping a hand on a much too warm arm. The contact at least seemed to relax Tomas as his mumbling became less pronounced. When it seemed Tomas had fallen back into deep sleep, Marcus yawned and looked at the clock. It read 3 am.

"Great. Half the night is gone," he muttered and stood, cursing when he felt the pins and needles in his leg which had fallen asleep. Half hopping, half limping, Marcus headed towards his bed, when he had a change of mind. He grabbed one of the two chairs their motel room was equipped with, and which was now serving as a stool for their clothes, and dragged it towards the door. Just in case Tomas got a great idea of trying to leave the room again. Once Marcus was sure his trap was in the right place, he lay back down in his bed and turned off the bedside lamp.

This time he at least got an hour of good sleep, though that was little consolation when he was startled from his slumber by the sound of a crash and a groan. Jumping out of the bed, his heart beating wildly in his chest, Marcus fumbled for the light switch then squinted when the bedside lamp lit up the room. Blinking, Marcus took a step forward, then paused and let out a disgruntled sigh. It seemed like his safety measure actually worked.

The chair lay on the ground, Marcus' clothes strewn across the floor, his shirt lying haphazardly on a knee of one Tomas Ortega. Who was blinking stupidly, rubbing at his other knee which he probably ended up banging into said chair. Despite the fact, he didn't look much more lucid than Marcus felt.

"Oh Tomas," Marcus groaned and rubbed at his eyes, willing away the dark spots on the corner of his vision and the lurking headache. His body didn't handle well such awakening, especially not after a prolonged exorcism. "What were you even trying to do?" Marcus asked, and was actually startled when Tomas answered.

"Is there a fire?" Tomas asked and looked up from to floor, confused and a bit scared. Marcus shook his head and squatted down next to him, removing his shirt from Tomas' knee and standing the chair back up.

"No, Tomas. There is no fire. It was just a bad dream," Marcus explained, his patience being replaced by weariness.

"I saw flames," Tomas argued, shaking his head. Marcus saw the brown eyes open wide and lose focus just as Tomas become restless, trying to get off the floor.

'Necesito salir,' Tomas mumbled.

"Hey, hey. It wasn't real, Tomas. Look around... there are no flames, no fire. See? Just a boring motel room." Marcus made a sweeping motion with his arm, then tried cupping Tomas' face when it didn't seem to work. He brushed the hair off of Tomas' sweaty forehead, feeling that at least the fever seemed to be a bit down. Tomas leaned into the touch with a sigh.

"Lo siento, Marcus..." he muttered and when he looked up, Marcus could see some sense returning into his eyes. "Everything's mixed up," Tomas reached up, pointing towards his head.

"That's okay. You're exhausted and ill... all you need is some sleep. Let's get you back to bed, shall we?" Marcus moved to stand, but Tomas suddenly scrambled back and started shaking.

"Tomas?"

"I'm not ill, I swear... Don't send me away, I-I won't do it again, I promise," Tomas repeated, over and over again and Marcus felt like he was missing some key information.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Marcus snapped then berated himself when Tomas jerked at the tone and backed into a corner. Damn, it was like talking to a skittish animal, but one that could actually do some damage if it wanted. So, Marcus raised his hands placatingly and softened his tone.

"It's okay, Tomas. I believe you. No one is sending you anywhere, I promise."

Tomas frowned, giving Marcus an assessing look.

"You... believe me?" he asked, slightly disbelieving, and Marcus barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I do. But... I had a long day, and I really want to get some sleep. So... come on. Let's just go to bed?"

"You look tired," Tomas agreed readily. Marcus snorted and offered him a hand.

"Trust me, I feel tired." Marcus steered him back towards his bed in the corner of the room... then paused in thought, even as Tomas settled down, his face hitting the pillow hard. Marcus could hear some muttered words and, while he wanted to lie down, really needed to at this point, he had a nagging feeling that Tomas would be up again soon. And while staying awake was bad, being pulled from sleep was even worse. There was a fleeting thought of tying Tomas to the bed, but even Marcus sleep deprived mind couldn't justify such action. If anything, being tied down would just increase a chance of a violent nightmare. Tomas grumbled and turned his face on the pillow, restless. Marcus instinctively ran a hand over the back of his neck. Tomas let out a sigh and relaxed. When Marcus turned to leave, Tomas grew restless again. Marcus raised an eyebrow in thought.

"Okay, time for a bit of reorganizing I think," he said as an idea hit him. Maybe there was a way they both could get some good quality sleep, without the risk of Tomas wandering off and causing some mayhem.