As soon as Henry awoke he heard a heartbeat and got up to find where it was coming from

As soon as Henry woke he heard a heartbeat and got up to find where it was coming from. Following the sound, he found Vicki sitting outside his door. She looked like she was staring off into space and she did not see him as he crouched down in front of her.

"I guess I should give you a key if your new hobby is going to be camping out in front of my door."

"Huh? What? Oh." Vicki said confused for a minute and she shook her head for a moment as if she was trying to shake away the afterthoughts of a dream.

"Come on." Henry chuckled as he stood and held out his hand for her.

She took it and stood, then followed him into his condo.

"What are you doing here? Did you have another dream?" He asked as he shut the door behind him.

She didn't answer for a minute as she walked over to the leather couch and sat down. He followed and sat down beside her. Finally after a minute that seemed to stretch on forever she took a deep breath and started.

"This one was different. It felt different. They still died, but they were old and they just died."

"Vicki, what aren't you telling me about these dreams?"

"What makes you think I'm not telling you something?"

"Victoria, you don't think that after a year of working together, that I don't know when you are hiding something."

"Maybe I'm not."

"Maybe you are." He said grinning.

"Am not." She replied mock stubbornness.

"Victoria…"

"Henry"

Knowing the playful banter must end; Henry took a good look at Vicki. She looked tired and he knew she was hiding something but decided to let it go…for now. He reached over and put his arm around her drawing her closer to his body. She leaned into him and laid her head on his shoulder. As he held her, one hand was idly playing with her hair, and he noticed her heartbeat slow and begin to steady.

He started thinking about the dreams she had been having and wondered if there was anything supernatural about them. She'd been having them for almost a month now and he was really starting to worry about the lack of restful sleep she was getting. Surely if they have lasted this long, they can't be normal dreams. There's also the fact that when the people in her dreams die, she feels it too. Henry began to feel guilty for letting this go this far.

He looked at her and smiled as he listened to the steady beat that indicated she was asleep. He carefully maneuvered his body so he could gather her in his arms and carry her to the bedroom without waking her. He hesitated for just a moment as he went to lay her down, saying a silent prayer that maybe someday soon he'd be laying her down under different circumstances. He laid her down then bent over to whisper softly in her ear.

"Sweet dreams princess."

He then gently kissed her cheek and as he walked away to go find a blanket to cover her, he heard her sleepy voice.

"Henry…"

He slowly turned and walked over to her. Looking down he saw her looking back at him with heavy eyes.

"Stay with me. Please."

He nodded and reached down, pulling the comforter out from under her. She smiled as she watched him remove his shirt. He heard her heartbeat speed up as he crawled in next to her and pulled the blanket up to cover them. He was tempted to take advantage of the situation as he began to smell her arousal, but in the end his conscience got the better of him. He was used to being someone who either took what he wanted or it was given freely, but did not want to do that to her. He didn't want to risk ruining what they were building, he wasn't quite sure where they were or in what direction they were headed. He put his arm around her and she curled her body into his, one arm draped across his chest and her hand moved up to tangle in his hair as she drifted back to sleep. He heard her sigh in her sleep and knew he had made the right decision…for now. He realized only time will tell if this new closeness will continue to bring them closer or if this is as good as it gets.

End Notes:

Alright, you have a choice here, do you want Vicki to get a goodnight's sleep and Henry find out what Vicki is hiding about the dreams another time, or do you want him to find out now? Give me a decision and I will have a new chapter up tomorrow. I really don't care one way or the other, neither will affect the outcome. One choice will include some "playtime" while the other will not and I'm not telling which is which.

In upcoming chapters there will be a few more cases as well as the conclusion to the Gracie Brooks case.

I promise if you stay will me there will be some surprises as well as a hopefully neat story about what soul mates are.

As always, reviews good or bad are appreciated.