Aftershock

Disclaimer - None of the characters, etc. belong to me. they are all Tammy's.

Joren watched the Lump walking ahead of him, helping search for survivors and bodies. So far, they had found neither and Joren was getting bored. Slowly reaching out to her, he pulled her into an alcove. "We've already searched here Joren," she whispered calmly, "and it's dark." Smiling to himself, he brushed his lips against hers. "Oh," was all Kel could say in reply. She seemed to straighten in the dark. "This isn't the time or place for this. Not that I want to do this anyway," she added hastily. Joren almost burst out laughing at this. Instead, he touched his lips to hers once more then led her back to the main tunnel.

Unfortunately, Neal had noticed their brief departure. "Where did you two go?"'

"I thought I had seen somebody so I asked Kel to help me check," Joren lied smoothly.

"Kel?" Obviously Neal didn't believe his version of events.

"What? Oh yes," Kel replied, coming out of a daze.

Neal eyed her suspiciously. "Are you all right, Kel? You're acting strangely."

"Of course! I'm fine," Kel replied a little too quickly. Joren looked at Neal pointedly.

Neal snorted, clearly not believing Kel, but letting the subject go as his expression changed to one of concentration. "I think I hear something," he told the other two.

The three of them continued to search, Neal guiding, Kel following, and Joren behind them both. Going into a small tunnel, Neal exclaimed, "I found some people." Kel and Joren hurried over to look. Joren put his hand over one man's chest. He was alive. Cold, but alive. Peering at the man, he gently shook him, rousing him. Joren helped the man stand and saw Neal and Kel do the same to others. There were eleven people in all and as Neal led them out of the alcove, one woman began to scream. Crying hysterically, she clutched Neal's tunic and told him her child was still there.

"M'lord, I'm sorry. Her child got buried in the rocks. We don't even know if he's alive." The young man who had spoken pulled the woman off Neal and held her.

"Do you know where the child is buried?" Joren mentally groaned. It figured that the Lump would want to go looking for the child.

"Near the entrance, m'lord." Joren smiled as he realized that Kel had been mistaken for a boy.

"Thankyou." Kel acted as if she hadn't heard the man's blunder. "Go on ahead Neal. I'll get the child and catch up."

"I'll go with you," Joren interjected. Helping the Lump in this might further his cause. "You shouldn't go alone."

"Fine," Neal agreed, "we'll wait in the main tunnel."

And so Joren and Kel went back into the alcove to find the baby. "We need light," Joren muttered halfheartedly, feeling tired.

"They need Neal more, because he has the maps to the tunnels."

"I know, I know. Just hurry up. You had to be a bleeding heart didn't you?" He had meant the words seriously, but his voice held a teasing edge to it.

"You could help," Kel suggested, lightly teasing.

"I am." Was Kel being nice to him? Joren smiled. Things were even better than he had thought. Seeing a pile of what appeared to be small boulders rather than rocks, he grabbed Kel's wrist. "There," he said simply.

Kel went over to move the large stones that had fallen against the wall of the tunnel. Joren helped her, clearing the area quickly. Reaching into a small hole in the wall, Kel retrieved a tiny child. "He's dead," Kel whispered.

"Did you find the child yet?" Joren heard Neal call.

"Yes. It's dead," Joren replied and turned around to find Kel deeper in the alcove. "Kel, what are you doing?"

"I just saw the blanket and thought…" Kel's voice broke off as the ground beneath them trembled. The commoners had started to scream. Kel pulled Joren to the side as the wall from which they'd retrieved the baby fell in, bringing down the roof of the tunnel as well. Knocked down by the tremor, Joren rose again, pulling Kel up with him.

"Kel!" Joren heard Neal's scream.

"I'm fine," Kel called back, "but we're trapped. Lead the others out."

"And what about us?" Joren whispered.

"He'll come back for us," Kel said confidently.

"Fine. I'll be back soon and I'll see if I can bring some help." Joren heard Neal move along the tunnel with the commoners. He groaned. Now he was trapped in a tunnel, alone, with the Lump. He decided he had better make the best of a bad situation.

Kel heard Joren groan and sighed. This was going to be a long day. Or was it night? It seemed like they had searched the tunnels for hours. Seeing the trapdoor that was the entrance to the tunnel, she turned to Joren. "There's a trapdoor there. Help me up." Joren didn't argue. Kel climbed up on his shoulders as she pushed the trapdoor. It wouldn't open. "Something must have fallen on it," Kel remarked as she was lowered to the ground. Joren sighed and held her arm. "Is it day still?" she asked, feeling tired.

"I don't know. There isn't much light and I can hear crickets."

"Maybe we should rest then, if it's late." Kel moved towards the dead child and wrapped him in the blanket she had found before. She then set the child in a corner and sat in another.

Joren came and sat next to her. "Are you alright?" He sounded concerned.

"I'm fine." Unconsciously, Kel shifted a little closer to him. A draught of wind blew through the alcove and Kel shivered. Wordlessly, Joren put his arm around her and drew her to him. Confused, Kel looked at him. Why was he being nice to her? Was it because he meant to be her friend or was he playing a trick on her? Kel shivered again. Surely it hadn't been this cold before?

"It must be late, if it is getting cold." Joren whispered in her ear. Kel nodded as Joren pulled her closer and kissed her. She kissed him back, having decided she quite liked his kisses and was grateful for the warmth that flooded her.

Finally Joren pulled away. "We had better go to sleep." Kel nodded and shifted so she was lying on the cold dirt. Joren moved so he was lying down beside her, facing her. "Good night"

"Good night," Kel replied, hiding her confusion. She settled and tried to sleep.

In her dream, Kel was still lying in the tunnels feeling cold. Joren had her hands in his, rubbing them and kissing them, trying to warm them. Kel smiled; the feeling was pleasant. She brushed her foot against his warm leg and he stiffened. Kel frowned as Joren groaned and rose, muttering about how she could be so cold. Joren sat at her feet and began rubbing them, trying to warm them. This is a very strange dream, Kel thought to herself sleepily, but her feet were feeling warmer. Much warmer.

Noticing Kel's dreamy smile as he moved to go back to sleep, Joren murmured in her ear. "Feeling better?"

"Yes." Joren smiled at her and kissed her. Kel kissed him back eagerly, it wasn't the first time she had dreamed of his kisses. Although, none had been quite so vivid as this. She shifted and Joren pulled her closer to him, moving his hand up her tunic. As his hand touched her bare stomach, she gasped, breaking the kiss.

Joren moved, rolling them so that Kel was on her back and Joren was on top of her. His other hand brushed her cheek. "I won't do anything you don't want to. But it's a good way to stay warm." He bent his head down and kissed her. Kel wondered again at how strange this dream was. Joren offering sex? While she didn't think it was a good idea to go along with Joren's suggestion, even in a dream, he was being quite considerate and she did want him. Besides, she thought to herself as she undid the ties to Joren's tunic, it's just a dream.

A/N - Thank you all for reviewing and special thanks to Rosie eisoR and Tuathail for betaing this. I am also considering getting another beta too, seeing as i seem to gettinga bit short soon, so please send me an email to if you want to beta for me.

Please review, I like to read your comments.