AN: Ok sorry for that little delay, we were both cursing our mother over this challenge and then I got sucked on to Facebook instead of writing, but have no fear, I am here! *clears throat* We… we are here! So now a night at Sanctuary! Should be fun! So sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own Fie and Roman owns Grace and DarA!

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/

Dara smiled as Otto wrapped his arm around her. When he was around nothing could touch her, or so it seemed. He was extremely protective of her, so much so that some days he was almost as bad with her as her dad was with her mom. That brought her thoughts to a whole new thought process.

Surely Otto didn't… no he couldn't. He wouldn't with Savitar as her father. Just like she wouldn't even think about how safe Otto made her feel. She was more powerful than he was, but when he was around she knew she was safe. He would die before he would let something happen to her, unfortunately her mind and heart wanted to know if it was because it was his job or if she meant something to him.

She shook her head. If she meant anything to him, it would most likely be a brother and sister relationship. Although none of the bearswains acted that way with Aimee. Fang did, but he was her husband. She was so confused.

"You alright?" Otto asked for the second time that night.

She smiled up at him and he could feel his breathing hitch. Dear Zeus she was beautiful. He cared for her more than he should, but he couldn't act on those feelings. For one Acheron and Savitar would skin him alive. For another, he wasn't sure she felt the same way for him and he wouldn't dare ruin their friendship over that.

If Remi could suck it up and be a big bear, Otto could be a big Squire/nanny and live with it. How he wished he didn't have to though. Remi's FU attitude suddenly made tons of sense to Otto. Now if only he could keep that attitude from taking over, he'd be golden.

He looked at Dara's innocent face and knew that no matter what happened in the future, he would always love her. He wanted her to be safe and happy and he was more than willing to give up his life to make sure of it.

"I'm fine, just wondering if Tabby will be there. She said she would drag Fie with her." Dara said as she cast Dev a smile.

"Where's Sam, bear?" Otto asked.

Dev wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Hopefully sprawled across my bed, naked."

Otto and Dara rolled their eyes. Dara left the men to talk as she entered the bar. Otto wasn't all that worried. The bears and wolves would protect her with their lives, or Savitar would take them.

"No she went out patrolling tonight for a little bit. She's no farther out than I can hear, so she can yell if she needs me. I won't endanger her or our cub."

Sam was just a few months pregnant, courtesy of Savitar.

"Good. Call me if you need backup and since I see Fie, I'm sure Kyl is around here somewhere too."

Dev gave Otto a funny look. "Is something going on between those two?"

Otto made a noise of annoyance in the back of his throat. "Gods no, but they both feel the attraction. Now if they stopped yelling at each other for more than three minutes, they'd probably be using their beds a lot more. Both are stubborn though and won't admit it."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Dev said giving Otto a knowing look.

Otto peered over his sunglasses. "What does that mean, bear?"

Dev shrugged. "Just that two others, one being a Squire, also seem to have their heads stuck in their asses, but who am I to judge? I had to walk through hell to finally admit I loved Sam."

Otto gave him the finger as he walked inside. He stopped as he saw the women laughing, his facial features softening as he took in her relaxed pose.

"You know, maybe you should stop being the egotistical ass and take her out for a proper date." Kyl said as he walked up to Otto.

Otto glared at him. "And why don't you and Fie do it a few times and get over yourselves. I'm sure Valerius would like you to deflower his daughter."

Kyl moved to smack him, but a hand reached out and caught it.

"You know, you should leave the man alone. Lack of sex does that to a person." Fang said with a laugh.

Otto glowered at him. "Fuck off, wolf."

"Well you see I can't do that now can I? Limani states come in peace or leave in pieces," Fang screwed up his face in concentration, "well no actually Dev states that, but I like it. Just don't tell him I said that."

Kyl laughed and pulled his hand back. "Touché, wolf."

"Now now, leave poor Otto alone. He's had a rough time since he was placed with me," Valerius said from behind Otto.

The squire curled his lip. "Yeah, you can still bite me, Roman. I just don't completely hate you anymore."

"I'd think the only person you would want to bite you would be your lovely Dara. As much as Tabby likes to poke fun at me, I can still see the things that are in front of me. Can't say that about my brothers, but-"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Kyrian asked as he joined the little party. Otto sighed, well at least they had stopped picking on him. "I can see how much your daughter and Kyl love each other and only put up a front to keep from screwing each other in front of everyone. And I can see how much Otto and Dara love each other. All I've got to say is good luck getting past the big men."

Otto grunted. Yeah, if Sav and Ash even had an inkling of his feelings he would be dead, toast, finito, perfectus.

"Thank you all so much for your votes of confidence, really. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go outside and bang my head against the brick until the images of Dara are gone. If she asks, I had to take a piss."

With that Otto left the club. Val sighed.

"I'll go talk to him," he said.

The others nodded and watched the Roman go off. Kyl cleared his throat.

"Was it smart to send the Roman after the Italian?"

Fang shook his head.

"Probably not."

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/

Otto brushed past Dev, who was talking to Sam. He walked across the street, his hand pulling at his hair. What was wrong with him?

"You know-"

"Leave me alone Penicula," Otto snarled.

Val raised his hands in surrender. "I don't want to hurt you or piss you off more. I thought we had come to an understanding, more so if you look at it this way," Otto gave him a weird look. "We both fell in love with someone we couldn't have."

Otto scoffed. "Yes, but as you can plainly see by Fie and that band on your finger, you got yours."

Valerius shrugged. "Doesn't mean I didn't have to fight. And Kyrian and I aren't the best of friends, but we tolerate each other for the women we love. Dev had to fight for Sam. Aimee went to hell and back for Fang, literally. Ash and Sav? Don't even get me started on those two. We all had obstacles and granted yours are a wee bit bigger, you will overcome it like we all did. But that's only if you truly love her."

Otto nodded. "I do, Val, I truly do."

Valerius nodded. "Then convince Ash and Sav you do. At one point in time Talon and I tried to give up Sunshine and Tabby, but I know had she not been so damned stubborn and stayed with me, I don't know if I could have survived. The question is, Otto, if it would save her life, would you easily part from her?"

Otto stepped forward and pulled his fist back letting it fly into Val's face.

The Roman merely locked his jaw while he watched Otto walk back to the club. "Do something about it Otto, before she finds someone else!"

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Dara tipped her head back to look at Otto as he stood behind her chair. "You okay? You seem annoyed."

Otto nodded. "I was talking with Valerius."

Dara gave her own nod. That would do it. While Dara begged Otto to play nice with Valerius, it didn't always go well.

"Everyone still breathing?" Dara asked.

Otto laughed. "Yes, he's still breathing."

Dara smirked. "How'd you know who I meant?"

Otto smiled. "Well, there were only two of us involved and I'm right here."

Dara laughed. "Good point." she pulled on Otto's arm. "Sit, you're hovering."

"Hovering's what I'm paid to do, Dara." Otto said.

"Not tonight," Dara said. She pulled out the pout she got from her mother. "Come on, please."

Otto moved to Dara's side and pulled her up then took her seat before pulling her back down on his lap.

"There," he said, looping his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder. "happy?"

Dara shook her head with a smile. "Happy." she caught sight of Otto's hand, which was starting to bruise from hitting Valerius. "So he's breathing, is anything broken?"

Otto cringed. "I was hoping you wouldn't see that."

Dara turned on Otto's lap so she could see his face. "Why did you hit him?"

Otto needed to figure out how to answer that without revealing his feelings. "He just said something I'm not sure I agree with."

Dara cocked a brow. "Dad does that all the time and you don't hit him."

Otto laughed. "That's because your dad can kill me without even thinking."

"Not true." Dara said. "He does have to think." she smirked. "For at least a second."

Otto rolled his eyes. "That's very helpful, Dara. Thanks."

Dara kissed him on the cheek. "You're welcome."

Nickelback's 'Never Gonna Be Alone' started playing and Otto's face softened as Dara's face lit up. It was her all time favorite song and thankfully the Sanctuary played it almost every time they were there.

Otto gently nudged Dara off his lap before leading her out onto the dance floor. Pulling her close, he wrapped his arms around her waist while she slid hers around his neck and rested her head on his chest. True it was closer then normal best friends danced but they were different.

Tipping his head down, Otto started softly singing the lyrics into Dara's ear. It was their tradition and he'd be damned if he was gonna break it just because of a talk with Valerius.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Kyrian stood with Valerius, Dev and Fang as they watched Otto and Dara dance.

"He'll do anything he can to protect her." Valerius said. "But he's terrified to admit his feeling."

Kyrian snorted. "Yeah, cause we have no idea how that feels."

Dev rolled his eyes. "So are we going to wait until something happens to her for him to grow a pair or what?"

"Otto's too much like Val," Fang said.

Valerius frowned. "You're gonna have to explain that a bit more, wolf."

Fang smirked. "Dense. Very, very dense." he dropped the smirk. "But I don't think he's keep his feelings hidden much longer. Something's coming."

Dev nodded. "I've been feeling it too."

Kyrian tapped the table. "Nice to know us ex-hunters aren't the only ones."

"What do you think it is?" Fang asked.

"Nick." Valerius said. "Only thing it could be. He's been quiet for far too long."

"What do we do?" Dev asked.

"Hold on to our asses." Kyrian said. "That's all we can do."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Begin Transmission

So, there we have it. The boys know something's coming. Okay, so they know Nick is coming. Just what is our friendly ex-squire going to do? (He ain't so friendly now...unfortunately)That's a very good question. You'll have to wait and find out. (*laughs* We will too!) And Fang's right, Otto won't be hiding his feelings much longer (FINALLY!). Let us know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading.

End Transmission