A/N: I've started Quidditch practice so I have even less time to write. Sorry to worry you all and leave you hanging. It's nothing to worry about though, because it's all in Gabriel's head pretty much. Also, tonight I thought, "There's no better time to write when I'm supposed to be studying for my test at 8am!" Judge me if you want, but procrastinating gives me life. SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THOSE AMAZING REVIEWERS (who I'm gonna list at the end because I have to reply to you all this time!)

Disclaimer: Do you think I could buy the rights to this if I wrote the story better than the writers? Probably not because I definitely can't. (I can always hope though, right?)

Chapter 24 – No Filter

Gabriel sighed deeply in his dream. It wasn't actually the first time this type of thing had happened.

When he'd first gotten the chip installed, Gabriel had hit his head against a wall and knocked a few "wires" loose. Something small in the chip had momentarily malfunctioned. After that, he'd had some strange and highly realistic dreams for a few days. Sometimes with the added rendering effects, he couldn't tell his dreams from real life. Everything seemed crystal clear and lucid and just how he remembered it. That is, until he touched something in the dream and it became pixilated.

Dream Riley was frowning at him now, mirroring his own emotions. Suddenly the scenery changed around them and they were surrounded by the wooden walls of the log cabin. Back to where he wanted to be.

Ivy trotted past him, form blurring when her illusion accidently brushed his legs.

"Cheer up, Gabriel," Riley said. "We're at the cabin. We can stay here for as long as we like." Her hand reached out to touch his. There was no warmth and coolness to the touch, but he took her fingers in his anyway. She smiled like he was the best thing she'd seen all day.

"None of this is real," he muttered, trying to convince himself to wake up. It felt virtually impossible to do anything when half of his brain was convinced that this dream was not a dream at all.

The fake Riley tugged him into the kitchen, leading him around until she stopped by the cabinets. He was fascinated with the way she propped herself up on top of the counter and tugged his hand (which was still entwined with his) until Gabriel's momentum pulled him into her personal space. He smiled despite the falsehood of everything.

When the alarms in his head went off to remind him yet again that this place was wrong, Riley lightly directed his chin up so that he was looking into her emerald eyes. It was as if she knew how deeply he could get lost in them, and his protests died in his mouth.

Which she was staring at, all while drawing her lower lip between her teeth.

This was going to be harder than he thought. She'd already leaned in to steal his breath, and he walked as close as he could possible get to her without running into the counter. If he came any closer, he'd practically be on the countertop with her. Her knees rested near both sides of his hips. Gabriel was inches from her, pausing to appreciate her nearness.

It was something he knew drove her wild. She could be so impatient sometimes, so eager though she tried so hard not to show it. Riley chuckled, the dark strands of hair that framed her face reaching to tickle his face.

Only, he couldn't really feel them. When his palm came to rest upon her thigh, tiny, bright pixels danced at the edge of his vision and he stepped away, surprised.

In the back of his head he heard the mysterious beeping noise that he'd heard earlier.

Gabriel frowned again and tried to gain back his perspective. He had to wake up. Why wasn't he leaving the render? Before, it'd taken him only a few seconds after he realized he was dreaming to wake up. This was going to take a bit more effort, it seemed.

Dream Riley was frowning again. "Gabriel. What's wrong?" Her hand stretched down to pull his belt loops closer to her again, but he took a few more steps back.

"This is fake," he grumbled. As much as he enjoyed his fantasies, he liked to be in control of whether or not he could wake up from them. The illusion batted her eyelashes prettily and made him even more frustrated with himself. She was just distracting him, so he simply said, "You're going to have to leave."

The disappointed vision of his partner was willed away at once and he was back in the imagined version of Dr. Cassidy's lab room. The faint beeping noise was slowly getting louder. The doctor was sitting down in front of his computers, frown on his chin. As soon as Gabriel cleared his throat, the doctor turned around, scowl blatant on his face.

"Doc?"

"Hello, Gabriel."

"What's up?" Gabriel shook his head to clear it. It was all too easy to keep pretending this was normal. Maybe he could ask this version of his doctor for help. It was always worth a shot. "I don't suppose you'd know how to leave a sleep-render?"

"A sleep-render?" Cassidy asked, confused. "Never heard of such a thing. You must still be confused from that bump on the head," he chuckled almost humorlessly. It was if the characters in his dream kept reflecting his own mood when he got frustrated.

Gabriel frustrated because of the lack of help as well as because his own hallucination was lying to him.

"This is obviously my own imagination. Can't you give me any of my own ideas?" Gabriel pleaded with himself. Dream manipulation wasn't something he was aware he could control, but he had to try it. After all, he'd been able to send the vision of Riley away.

"I'm sure you'll figure out something, m' boy. I'm sorry, but can't think of anything you don't already know from the chip." The doctor shrugged and turned around annoyingly with a smirk on his face. Was that a reflection of himself? Gabriel wondered briefly. Did he really grin that stupidly?

Now he knew why Riley was always glaring at him.

Anything I don't already know? He replayed the fake doctor's words over in his head again. What did that even mean?

Gabriel decided on the one thing that he did know was true – sticking around in dreamland wasn't going to help him. He ran a hand through his own hair and prepared for the inevitably headache that was to come.

He was going to wake himself up.

Riley stretched out against soft cotton sheets and yawned tiredly.

She had to admit that painkillers gave her a restful sleep. Well, that and the fact that Gabriel's tempurpedic mattress was the comfiest thing she'd ever slept on.

However, despite the fact that she was amazingly comfy, her bones and muscles were still a bit stiff from lying in the bed for so long. Riley moved her head from side to side on the pillow she was lying on, rolling her neck until she heard a soft pop on each side.

She yawned once more and sat up to look about the empty bedroom. Both Ivy and Nelson were gone, and she thought the apartment seemed perfectly quiet. Riley pushed the hair out of her face and noticed the note on the nightstand. She held it up and read it.

Sorry about before, Riley. I trust you to take your own pills. I have Ivy with me since she needed to take a walk, so call me if you wake up before I get back. – Nelson

She found a soft smile on her face when she saw the pills nearby a glass of water. She promised herself she would take them, but first heard her stomach growl loudly.

She needed food.

Riley still had no idea what day or time it was, or how long it had actually been since she'd eaten properly. She sure hoped Gabriel's kitchen was stocked up. Just the suggestion of a warm meal prompted her to push herself out of bed.

At first, she wobbled unsteadily on weak muscles. Using the wall for support, she hobbled out to the kitchen and found that her legs had finally become more enthusiastic once she saw the note on the fridge from Jameson, telling her that there were warm pancakes and sausage to be heated up inside. Her stomach pleaded with her to hurry and heat up the dish up in the microwave.

Sometimes, Riley believed she had the best friends in the world.

Half an hour later, Riley had finally finished the small plate of breakfast. She was sitting on Gabriel's couch, curled up in a blanket, head lying back as she relished in the satisfied feeling of having food in her stomach.

It had been hard at first to eat – harder than she would have thought given her ravenous appetite. Having gone without good food for so long was hard on her shrunken stomach and she'd had to eat very slowly so that it wouldn't revolt.

Swallowing it all with some orange juice made her feel better, though. Once digested, she was nearly whole again.

Now, she decided, something had to be done about her lack of showering. Riley knew Nelson would be worried if she tried to go over to her own apartment without his knowledge, so she thought she could stand to use Gabriel's shower.

She got off the couch and poked her head through his bedroom again, locating the bathroom. To her surprise, it was a larger one. She was even more shocked to see that Gabriel actually kept it neat and tidy. Riley always assumed he would be the type to never clean up unless he knew company was coming, but then she reminded herself that their shared bathroom in the cabin was never too unkempt, either. She smiled to herself and grabbed a fluffy red towel from the bathroom closet, walking towards the wide shower curtain. Riley's mouth hung open when she pushed it aside.

The tub was enormous. It had little jets on all sides and multiple showerheads on top. Thank god the government paid them well enough so that Gabriel could afford a luxury bath.

Poor Gabriel, she thought. He was in the hospital with Dr. Cassidy somewhere, his head getting poked around in. It was hard not to worry about him, and she at least hadn't had too many nightmares about him when she'd been unconscious. She tried once more to put the thoughts of him out of her mind.

The dark-haired agent nodded her head resolutely. She was definitely going to distract herself and take advantage of this bathroom and pour herself a nice warm bath.

Gabriel closed his eyes in concentration.

Whenever he told himself to do so in a dream, it usually worked. He'd tried pinching himself, conjuring up a pixelated bucket of water to pour on himself, and opening and closing his eyes. He'd spent a long time trying the last option and was getting more and more worried by the minute. What if he never woke up?

No, he told himself. Stop thinking like that. You'll only panic. Take a deep breath.

He took steady breaths and tensed all his muscles. Thirty seconds passed and he released the tension, exhaling.

The beeping that kept annoyingly reappearing out of nowhere had returned.

Another deep breath. In and out.

The beeping got louder.

He only ever seemed to hear that sound when he gave up his concentration.

Almost like he was thinking too much.

Gabriel's eyes opened in realization as the beeping faded. Whenever he concentrated too hard, he only felt more awake in the dream land. Perhaps if he relaxed enough and felt like he was going to fall asleep…

It was very confusing to him. Trying to fall asleep while he was already asleep? Gabriel sighed and sat down. It was the only thing he hadn't tried.

He also had a theory that the beeping might have been a link to the real world, maybe a sign that he was waking up because he could hear what was going on out there. He just had to try and see if his plan worked.

Gabriel willed away the surrounding illusion of Cyber Command headquarters and made everything disappear. He tried to think of a place that made him feel relaxed, safe.

Suddenly he was surrounded by trees, the open sky, and the bright sun.

Instantly he knew he was at the cabin again.

Gabriel looked around to see Riley at his side again, this time no longer intent on distracting him. She was sitting with her knees to her chest, laying her head against Gabriel's shoulder as they sat by the campfire. She had on a red, flannel, plaid top that contrasted sharply with the spring-green trees behind her. Gabriel thought it looked rather like she stood out beautifully from the rest of the amazing scenery. It reminded him of the morning she'd introduced campfire-roasted bagels to him, and he'd felt like he'd lost his breath just looking at her.

He thought Riley might say something, but her eyes were closed and she looked sound asleep. His heart felt heavy when her eyelashes flitted while dreaming, her chest rising and falling steadily. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and keep her warm and safe.

Without warning, the scenery had changed to nightfall in the exact same spot they were in, fire suddenly brighter. A blanket had come from out of nowhere as well, wrapped around them both. Gabriel still couldn't feel heat from her or the fire, but he supposed it was the best his mind could do.

They were leaning against logs that were propped upright, so Gabriel leaned back and rested his head on top of Riley's. This was a fine place to fall asleep, he caught himself thinking. Couldn't have chosen a better spot.

Gabriel succumbed to the will to close his eyes and join his partner. His muscles relaxed again.

He could hear the faint beeping again, and Gabriel smiled.

"Riley!"

"Nelson!"

The two agents were facing each other- astonishment on his face, confusion on hers.

"What did I do?" Riley asked calmly, amused smile on her face. She'd begrudgingly gotten out of her long, hot bath and gotten dressed in some clothes that were still in her emergency backpack. It was a feeling like no other to finally be clean again, and Riley reveled in it. She'd just got done and left the bathroom when Nelson had walked in with Ivy, apparently upset with her.

"What didn't you do is more like it," he said, on the verge exasperated with her. He took a deep breath and unhooked Ivy from her leash. When he faced Riley again, he'd calmed his facial expression and waited.

"Oh," she said after thinking a minute, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry I forgot to call you. My brain's not very on top of things this morning."

"Well, it doesn't really matter anymore, I guess," Nelson sighed, but then his smile came back just as quickly. "How are you feeling? Did you take your meds?"

"I'm alright. And no, I haven't taken the meds yet," Riley told him. When he frowned, she explained, "I haven't had a good meal in well over 48 hours, or even a shower. Priority, Nelson."

"Alright. You're excused just this once," he admonished with the wag of his finger in his face. She glared at him for patronizing her. He backed off, but retorted, "Hey, I'm a concerned friend. I can worry about you if I want to."

At the end of his sentence, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Riley was beginning to see the action as a nervous tic.

"As much as I love hanging out in my partner's apartment," Riley paused, looking around the room in emphasis. She continued, "I'd like to at least be awake enough to go over to my own apartment and just hang out at home." She glanced around the apartment, having become almost used to it in the few hours that she'd spent awake in it. She would especially miss the mattress in the other room, but knew it'd be weird as hell if Gabriel ever came back to find her comatose in it.

Her mind went off track for a minute at the thought of Gabriel's face if he did ever find her in his bed, and a shiver raced down her spine as she shook the devious thought out of her head.

Riley cleared her throat. "I'll, uh, just take an Advil or two in the meantime. Really, Nelson – my muscles are feeling stiffer from activity than they are bruised and sore from the whole camping fiasco." She frowned when Nelson snickered. "What?"

"I just find it kind of funny that your idea of a "fiasco" is getting chased by murderous armsmen through the woods and then getting tortured in a wood cabin," he said. The snickering died down when he saw her unamused face, so he added quickly, "Funny in a weird, horrible way, I mean. Not funny-hilarious. Just plain bad, like…Okay. I'm going to stop now."

Nelson's ears burned bright red and he turned to walk behind the couch. To his relief, his cellphone that was nearby the door started going off, so he was saved from making the awkward conversation worse.

Riley watched as he picked up the phone and answered to his father, speaking in hushed tones. Nelson was very animated while on the phone call, and when Riley was sure his eyebrows couldn't make their way any higher up on his forehead, he held up a finger to her and escaped out into the building's hallway to talk.

The living room was now silent, save for the sound of Ivy's feet clacking against the floor of the kitchen. Riley went back into Gabriel's bedroom once more and gathered her belongings – a hairbrush in the bathroom and the dirty clothes she'd worn earlier in a separate plastic bag that was to fit inside her go-pack.

That was everything.

It was kind of disappointing that she didn't have a good enough excuse to stay longer in his apartment. She wanted to stay for no reason at all, other than it was almost as good as just hanging around her partner. Strangely enough, it was still strange being on her own without Gabriel at her side. Even before the cabin trip, she'd seen him early nearly every day and checked in with him at night. Now, it felt like a few days had passed since she'd even heard his voice or glimpsed a peek at him. Riley thought the feeling would go away after a while.

They didn't.

"Riley!" She heard in the other room. She instinctively reached for the gun that was not in her pocket and raced into the other room.

There was no immediate danger. Nelson was standing in the wide-open doorway as if he'd burst through dramatically. He was also holding up his phone, pointing at it with a relieved smile on his face.

"Gabriel's waking up!" he told her, waiting for her reaction. "Dad said he did something with the chip and now Gabriel's showing good signs."

"Really?" Riley breathed. Finally, some good news about him. She tried hard to distract herself, to not worry about how he must have been holding up. It'd been eating away at her, not being able to know if he was going to be okay. Riley let the realization sink in, trying not to let the eagerness creep into her voice when she asked, "Can I see him?"

"What? No. I'm going to go see him, but you can't come," Nelson told her impatiently. There went his glasses being pushed up on his nose again.

"Give me one good reason not to come," she asked and came to stand in front of him. Without her shoes on, she came nowhere near close to towering over him, but hoped she kept up an intimidating face.

"No," Nelson pouted.

He was so close to breaking, she could tell. Riley switched to a different tactic, using sympathy rather than coercion. Riley opened her eyes wider too make her eyes water a bit, hoping the act wouldn't be too overdone. She reached down deep and let her feelings show a bit more truthfully. The fright and tiredness and overall frustration she'd felt was poured into her current expression, and Riley could see Nelson's soften in return.

"Please," she begged him, voice cracking unexpectedly. "Nelson, Gabriel is my partner. I just need to know he's okay."

Nelson wavered. His voice came out sort of like a whine, almost like he was fighting himself. "You're supposed to be in bed, resting."

"I'll be fine. We can make a quick trip, can't we?" Riley pleaded.

With a resigned sigh, Nelson gave a quick nod, making an effort to convince himself it would be alright. "If Lillian sees you, she'll take it out on me. She's the one who gave the order to take turns watching over you,"

"Okay," she nodded. Lillian had ordered her to be watched? Riley would've smiled a bit wider if she wasn't still confused about the secret surveillance cameras their boss had set up in the cabin. Why would her boss be acting so sweetly after the way she'd treated them?

"As soon as we get back, and we will get back soon, you are taking that Vicodin and conking out for at least another day. I'm pretty sure you weren't supposed to even be up around and walking," Nelson babbled, interrupting her thoughts.

"I'm feeling fine. Quit worrying," she told him. Riley offered a smile without any hint of sarcasm. "I promise I'll take it later."

"You better," Nelson grouched on his way out the door. "If you don't, you can be sure I'm going to sneak a crushed up pill into your food."

Riley burst through the doors of the Cyber Command hallway, preparing herself to go to the room at the end of the corridor. There lay Gabriel, she was told.

The whole ride over, she'd been a nervous wreck. She was so anxious that she'd kept tapping her leg up and down in the passenger seat, a steady knocking from the tip of her shoe. Nelson had been going on about what had happened when they'd left, how much the office had missed Riley and Gabriel. The problem was, Riley only head snips of the conversation because she was too preoccupied.

Nelson hadn't liked it when she ignored him after a while. He'd asked her a fake question that had nothing to do with the conversation to see if she was listening, and she'd found herself unintentionally agreeing to the opinion that the Lord of the Rings movie needed more stormtroopers and muggles.

She hadn't even known what half of that meant.

Nevertheless, she apologized and learned that Agent Tetazoo had been circulating the office more often as of late, giving orders to the agents as though he were their new boss. Even Lillian had seemed annoyed. Riley shook her head – those higher-ups were always trying to execute orders and stick their heads where they didn't belong. Riley at least felt bad that Nelson and Jameson had to deal with it.

When Nelson pulled up to the building Gabriel was in, he agreed to let Riley search for her partner on her own while Nelson parked.

Currently, she was right outside the doors to his room. Through the glass, she could see Dr. Cassidy standing over Gabriel, shining a light in the agent's pupils. It seemed her partner was in and out of consciousness, and at the moment, his eyes didn't appear to be opening on their own.

She didn't hear Nelson step up behind her until he cleared his throat, nearly making her jump where she stood.

So she was a little on edge.

Riley, once alone with her thoughts, had started worrying that messing with the chip again might backfire. He'd lost his memory once, what was to say it wouldn't happen again? Or worse, affect some other part of him that changed his personality. She didn't think she'd survive the wait any longer, so she opened the door to the room with Nelson behind her.

Almost immediately upon entering, Gabriel's eyes shot open and he blinked them rapidly against the bright lights in the room. He coughed twice, a sore-sounding cough that one got when they hadn't used their voice in a few days.

Cassidy tended to him and Riley sat back as if in a trance; she honestly thought she might get a chance to ask his doctor how Gabriel was doing before all of the excitement happened. He was still disoriented, she could tell, but he was focusing on Cassidy's face and reporting back on how he felt and what he thought was happening.

A concussion test, Riley realized.

Nelson pulled her to the side for a moment while Cassidy conversed with Gabriel further. "What happened to you two up at the cabin, anyway? You never told me in the car."

Riley shook her head at him, clearly confused.

"When you left, you were at each other's throats all the time. You both look scared to see each other now," he added. Nelson's gaze went past her head and she followed his line of sight to Gabriel, who was staring intently at her.

"Riley?" Came his gruff voice. Cassidy had to physically draw back Gabriel's jaw in order for him to pay attention once again.

Riley didn't smile, only looked at him with a heavy heart. His hair was all mussed and slick with sweat and he had dirt on the edges of his face where his nurses hadn't it off. The stubble was dense on Gabriel's chin and could almost be a beard, considering he hadn't shaved it in so long. His eyes were tired but alert at the same time, and a gaunt look was on his face that told him he hadn't eaten in a long time.

The hospital gown was soaked with sweat as well, and Riley made a mental note to get him a shower. She knew how better it made her feel, so she thought it might help him.

"Nothing happened, Nelson," she said, not turning back to him, just leaning over her shoulder. She'd forgotten that they'd have to hide what had happened. It filled her with despair to think that they might not even be as close as they were before. What if his feelings had changed now that they were home? Hadn't she told him they were supposed to?

She moved away from Nelson before she could ask him anything else and arrived at Gabriel's bedside. Cassidy turned for only a second and then Gabriel's full attention was focused on her. He grabbed her hand, eyes searching hers.

Riley felt a spark shoot from his fingers and flinched back, dropping the hand. He must still have been confused, but it was no excuse when their coworkers were in the room.

Riley's resolve almost wavered, however, when he saw the puppy-dog look in Gabriel's eyes at her action. He searched for her hand again, not getting the message, so she gave it to him while her cheeks turned pink.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice small. Riley wanted to have a normal tone, but the way he kept looking at her was seriously affecting her ability to breathe.

"Never better," he said in a gravelly voice and grinned up at her stupidly. His fingers squeezed hers and he kept staring at her like they were the only ones in the room.

She cleared her throat when she came to understand that Gabriel was confused because the painkillers in his system were still making him a little loopy, like a teenager who'd just gotten their wisdom teeth out and couldn't handle the anesthetic. Riley would've laughed if she didn't feel so bad for him.

"Have any good dreams?" Nelson asked, coming up beside her. He said nothing about their conjoined hands.

"Oh definitely," Gabriel chuckled, making himself cough. He turned his attention to his partner. "I want to thank you, Riley. You helped me wake up. I just had to relax," he explained, slurring his words with a saucy smirk.

Nelson furrowed his brow, unsure of what Gabriel was insinuating. Dr. Cassidy turned around, eyebrows raised and amused smirk on his face. They both suspected that Gabriel was just playing with Riley, making her annoyed. It was always funny when they got back to fighting.

Riley, on the other hand, had stepped away from the bed, fighting the urge to flee the room. She was sure her face was burning a deeper red but her scowl did nothing to lessen it. Surely he wasn't going to give away anything alluding to the fact that they'd kissed and…well, more-than-kissed. Her heart sped up and she would've done anything to get him to shut up, but given the fact that he was tied to a hospital bed and there were witnesses, she knew she couldn't do much.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Nelson prompted him. The man was smiling at the fact that Gabriel had no idea the weight of what he was saying, nor could he really control his filter.

Stop talking now, she telepathically urged him. STOP TALKING NOW. Do not answer any of their questions.

"Gabriel," asked, unsure of where he was going and terrified of what he might say.

"It's not like that," Gabriel scoffed. For a moment, Riley could breathe again. Then, she saw that he hadn't finished talking.

She bit her lip hard to keep from shouting at him to stop. Her heart plummeted.

"I just meant that in my dream we slept together again," Gabriel said, as if it didn't mean anything.

All three people standing around his bed dropped their jaws.

"AGAIN?"

A/N: These are the beautiful reviewers who I don't know what I would do without: amy. .9 (who always points out great things to me), Leylith (who gives me such good feedback), sunshineforever (Shoot. I think I changed Ivy from a yellow Lab to a Golden Retriever. Let's just say you should google Labrador retriever puppy because I'm gonna go with the explanation that she's a mix. Really sorry about that huge mistake. I'll try and fix it.), clay cowan (gracias port us pensamientos!), Guest 1 (Oh thank you, love!), Kathleen Murphy (thanks! And sorry I never write your full username in reviews. I've become terribly lazy it seems.), Guest 2 (Dude that is the coolest! And I'm sorry you had to wait so long for an update this time.), byLunaA (Not to worry, my friend. Good things are to come.), katesannesheppard (But of COURSE! Don't you know me? Sorry love, I hope this chapter makes up for it :D), kwisteria (Your reviews make me so happy! Thank you for being so sweet on every update!), Midgardian Avenger (I miss feels majorly too, so I gotta bring them back and make this story more exciting again!), KVD (Well then I TOTALLY love you and your feedback!), TearsInTheDust (Me too and I'm sorry they've been so late! College sucks. Also thank you for following our Twitter accounts! We try to be cute.), nrdhrd3 (Thank you for appreciating my disclaimer! Also, I have to know – is your username a Chuck reference?), Sini (I'm glad you had a blast! Aww you give me warm fuzzy feelings!), Angel Blue (Yeah To be honest I'm not sure where it was headed either. Darn writer's block.) Sephiria Arks (Thank you! Honestly you did a great job at reminding me that I have to update. Feel free to push me more often cause I love it!) Scalet22 (Sorry it's taking me three days to write this!) and chymom (Loved your review!).

Sorry this was long! Hope you enjoyed the update, friends!