Doctor Cole rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand as he walked tiredly out of the theatre where he had just performed a six hour operation on an emergency admission. From what he'd been told in an uncomfortably rushed handover the admission had been found on the roadside after either having been hit by a car or attacked beforehand where he had later collapsed in the place he had been found. Even after a thorough inspection during the operation he had been unable to ascertain which it had been but after previous circumstances over the last couple of weeks he chose to err on the side of caution and had gotten a nurse to contact the police to notify them of what he had found. They had made an arrangement to speak to the patient when he awoke after surgery and had also wanted to see Kit. It was possible that they would want to speak to Sportacus as well.

At a few points during the operation he had doubted that the patient would live but he hadn't let the doubt grow far enough in his mind to distract him from his main objective. To his opinion doubt was like a cancer, it was barely detectable and could spread quickly when not noticed. Even though some means could be taken to block its passage or slow its progress through the body it could never be fully removed. The best course of action was to realise its presence and prevent it from spreading through careful control before it could take a grip and devastate whatever it touched. There had been very few times in his career when he had failed to take such steps, only once had he fallen prey to complacency. It had been a mistake that had almost cost him his career and the life of a patient entrusted solely to his care.

The sound of someone whistling a tune coupled with rapid footsteps shook the doctor from his thoughts and he only had enough time to look up before a pair of lips latched themselves onto his own. Slightly startled by this unexpected advance on his person he pulled away but seeing that his assailant was none other than Michael he smiled and offered him a compensatory kiss for his reaction. Pulling away again he smiled briefly before taking a seat on a nearby chair, his leg was causing him great discomfort. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Michael seat himself beside him and groaned inwardly at what was coming, a lecture.

"I expected you home two hours ago," Michael began his words slow, "How long were you in there?" He continued nodding his head towards the door to the hospital's theatres.

Doctor Cole sighed, "Six hours."

"Six hours! What the hell are you playing at, Gerald? Wasn't there anyone else?"

"I'm the on-call. If the board would fix me in a place I'd stay there but until Rory comes back there's nothing I or they can do."

"Bull shit, laddy. I don't give a rat's arse if there's no Doctor Malone to help you out. There are enough doctors in this place to handle things like that. Don't they care about your leg being painful enough to keep you up most of the night?"

"They would if I'd told them."

Michael bristled at this, "What are you doing, man? You're seventy six years old not forty something! You need to take things easy, if you don't your leg will never heal. Six hours surgery and running this whole hospital yourself, disgraceful! If you don't tell them about your leg, laddy, I will and you know I won't choose my words as carefully as you."

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Michael."

"Aye, you might think that but you do need me to. You're too soft, Gerald, you always have been."

"Yes, well, I might be but that isn't the point. If you're finished admonishing me there are some things I need to do and then I'd like to go home."

"They'd better be quick things."

Doctor Cole sighed again, "They are. I just need to write some brief notes on Kit and Sportacus' paperwork-"

"Kit? Is he here too? What happened to him?"

"I'll let him tell you that. Come on."

Leaning most of his weight on his good leg, Doctor Cole stood up and waited for Michael to follow his example before walking down the corridor. He felt guilty for leaving his two favourite patients in the lurch like he had but he accepted that when he had no choice, he had no choice. Being that he was the on-call doctor until Doctor Malone returned to work he had to drop anything in the situation of an emergency arising as had happened before.

Everything was quiet and had been for some time when Sportacus finally mustered up enough courage to say something to his silent daughter. The words were on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't force them further. It felt as if whenever he spoke to her he hurt her in some way which made it difficult for him to push through with his intention, it frustrated him that he was restricted by a verbal inadequacy he'd never encountered before that night when he had let his deepest secret slip from his lips.

"Don't say anything," Robyn looked at Sportacus with an indefinable emotion in her eyes that made him weary, "Just hold me."

At first Robyn's words didn't penetrate the shield of weariness that Sportacus had erected should she launch another attack on him verbally accusing him of more lies and refusing to hear any further explanations or excuses he wished to offer but when the words sunk in and registered to his mind such relief filled him as he had never felt before. She had opened a door he had feared tightly locked but in his hopefulness he didn't forget that this wasn't a pardon for his crimes but a second chance by which he could redeem himself with time.

It was with burgeoning trepidation that he slowly edged towards her in fear that he had misheard her or that she would change her mind and push him away again. Not wanting to push her or himself too hard too soon he touched her cheek softly with his hand. This time she didn't pull away but he could still feel her tense slightly. A little weary but yet determined to get through the barrier stopping him from taking that step closer to repairing the damage he had done, he moved his other hand slowly around her waist. When she didn't resist to this touch either he moved his first hand round her shoulders and pulled her to him in an embrace that filled him with emotion.

Burying his face in her soft hair, he tightened his grip on her but not too much so not to hurt her. Slowly he lifted her off of her seat and turning a little sat down in it himself with her rested on his lap. Neither of them moved nor spoke for some time, they were too absorbed in their own thoughts and reflections to break what had been built between them.

Starting to feel uncomfortable, Robyn shifted herself slightly and looked at Sportacus. There was something different about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on and it frustrated her slightly. It was only when he kissed her forehead that she realised what she had missed and looked at him again. A slight smile curved the corners of her mouth as she studied him.

"What?" Sportacus asked feeling confused by this scrutiny.

"You look different, your moustache is gone. I've never seen you without it."

"Do you like how I look without it?"

Robyn thought for a few moments before scrunching up her nose and shaking her head. With a chuckle he bent over and kissed her. He was glad that things seemed to be working out between them at last.