Timeline: Immediately after "The Five"

"Monsters": It Takes One to Know One

It was late, but that seldom stopped Henry from hacking around the 'net. Only difference was that he was doing it in his bedroom instead of in his lab. Since his change, he felt like being alone most of the time anyway. Less chance that anyone would come to socialize here. He looked up at the sound of light knocking on the door, wondering what anyone could need from him at this hour.

More alarmed than curious, he popped a valium and went to answer the door.

"Ash?" he asked when he saw her standing there. "Hey, when did you get back? Welcome home." Then he noticed how red and puffy her eyes were. "Come in. What happened?"

He ushered her inside and closed the door behind them. Ashley immediately dropped onto his bed, shoulders slumped.

"Ash, what's going on?" he asked, crouching in front of her. "Did something happen?"

"Druitt."

"Did he do something to you?" Henry demanded, ready to hunt the man down and rip him to pieces. Granted, it would probably get him killed, but the bastard deserved it!

Not looking at him, she whispered, "He's my father."

Henry really did not think there were words for that. At least, nothing came to mind that wasn't an expletive.

Sighing, he climbed to his feet and went to the top of the bed, settling himself against the headboard and opening his arms.

"Come here."

Ashley hesitated for a moment, then slid into his arms and buried her face in his chest the way she had as a child.

"It's going to be okay," he promised, holding her tight.

Ashley's only answer to this was a small sigh. She just sat there for better than five minutes with her cheek against his chest. It would have been kind of a turn-on if she hadn't been so damned upset. As it was, it was more than a little heartbreaking.

When she tried to straighten, he made no effort to loosen his hold on her.

She froze. "Henry…"

"This doesn't make you weak, Ash, and it does not go beyond that door. You're safe here."

Her entire body started to shake, and tears spilled down her cheek.

"Shh, shh," he murmured, holding her close and rocking her.

Ashley let out a sob, clinging to his shirt with both hands.

"It's okay, you're okay," he soothed, rubbing her back. "Just let it out. You'll feel better."

"Damn it, Henry, I never cry!" she sobbed.

"Well, it's not exactly like you don't have a reason to. Let go, let it happen. Trust me, it helps."

She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I do have my own emo crap going on right now," he reminded her. "Not quite on par with yours, granted, but still… I, uh, I kind of transformed while you were away."

Wide eyes grew wider and she lifted her hand to his cheek. "Oh, Henry! Are you okay?"

"I don't know. Doesn't matter. This is about you."

"No reason it can't be about both of us. Our lives suck. We're both monsters."

"You are not a monster!"

"That's debatable. Look at my father. No wonder I get off on violence."

Okay, not really something he needed to know about his best friend, especially when that friend was a woman he was kind of crushing on…

"At least I'm in good company." She smiled sadly and leaned into his chest again.

After a moment, she patted his chest and straightened. He let her go this time, smiling and brushing a lock of hair out of her face.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks." She smiled. "I'll let you get back to your computer."

"You could stay."

Oh, dear God, had he just actually said that out loud?

Ashley was staring at him with a look of total shock. Not indignation, strangely enough, just shock.

"I'm just… not so sure you should be alone tonight is all," he explained. "I've known you a long time and, nothing personal, but you can be pretty volatile when bad news hits."

"Volatile? Gee, wonder which parent I inherited that from?" she muttered.

"Ash, I mean it. I don't want to leave you alone tonight. Look, I'll sleep on the floor, okay? Just stay here."

She shook her head. "I'm not kicking you out of your own bed. It's not like we've never shared before."

The difference being that, back then, Ashley had been adorable as opposed to hot and Henry had yet to sprout a libido. The fact that she still saw the situation in those terms was not the biggest ego-boost a guy could be given, but it was still good to know that she was that comfortable around him. Especially given the whole werewolf thing.

"If it isn't too uncomfortable for you, we could do that," he agreed.

"Okay, I can't believe I'm about to confess this and, if you tell anyone I said it, I'll beat you to within an inch of your life. But, sometimes it feels nice to just be held close all night long."

"Can't say I've had enough experience to know."

She frowned at him, tilting her head to one side. "Really?"

"Oh, come on, Ash. We live together. You can't have missed the fact that I don't have any kind of a social-life."

"I always just kind of figured you were, you know, discreet about it."

"Nope. Nothing to be discreet about."

He shrugged. It was normally a sensitive issue for him, given his age and his very real appreciation of the fairer sex, but with Ashley, he didn't mind discussing it that much. He just felt so safe with her.

"Nothing?" She raised an eyebrow, looking bemused. "As in nothing at all?"

"Please, do not start teasing me…"

"No, Henry. I think it's sweet that you're waiting for the right woman."

Already found her, actually. Just too gutless to let her know. He smiled down at her.

"You ready for bed, or did you want to stay up for awhile longer?"

"No, bed's fine," she answered, pulling off her shirt.

She was wearing a sports-bra but, still, wow… He cleared his throat a little nervously. She frowned with confusion for a moment, then her eyes widened and she clutched the t-shirt to her chest.

"Sorry, Henry. Guess I wasn't thinking. I always sleep in sweat pants and a sports bra. You know, in case I get dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to defend the Sanctuary from invaders. Not fun to do with everything hanging out. I'll… put this back on."

Henry took a few moments to recover from the mental image of Ashley fighting with 'everything hanging out'.

"Yeah," he whispered, nodding. "That's probably a good idea."

For any number of reasons.

"I'm sorry." She shook her head, coloring slightly as she pulled the shirt back on.

"No problem. It's good to know you feel that comfortable around me. I think."

She gave him a winning smile. Very winning.

"So, uh…"

He went and turned off his computer monitor, then returned to the bed, careful to stick to his side. Ashley promptly tore down that boundary by snuggling up against him.

"Thanks, Henry."

"Hey, no problem." He did his best to suppress what was probably a dumb-ass grin as he reached to turn the light off. "Wake me up if you need to talk or anything."

"You're the best." She shifted enough to kiss his cheek, then snuggled down against his chest again.

He smiled to himself. "Night, Ash."

To his surprise, Ashley fell asleep quite quickly. Either not as bothered as she had seemed, or truly comforted by his presence. He liked to think it was the later, but either one was fine by him. Just so long as she wasn't suffering. He kissed the top of her head, then squirmed enough to find a comfortable position that still involved cradling an Ashley against your chest.

Smiling to himself, he let sleep claim him, reveling in the chance to hold his best friend close and tight and…

"Love you, Ash," he whispered as sleep finally claimed him.

It must have been a dream when he heard a whispered, "Love you, too, Hen."

0101010

Henry woke first, and instantly froze. Ashley was still sound asleep, resting comfortably in his arms, snuggled into his chest. He smiled and relaxed, enjoying the proximity. And, to be entirely honest, it wasn't all about comforting Ashley. Even if that was a very nice bonus.

Ashley awoke a little more slowly, yawning and stretching and looking around.

"What the hell?"

She tensed in his arms and he immediately let go.

"Easy, Ash! It's only me. Remember, you slept here last night?"

She took a moment to orient herself, then relaxed. "Sorry. Is this… awkward?"

"Only if we let it be."

"Then we won't." Smiling brightly, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Henry. I kind of think I needed that."

"Glad to help. Would talking help more?"

"I don't really know. Think we could stay like this for a minute?"

"Sure. It's early. No one else will be up for hours."

"Good." Ashley tightened her hold on his shirt and buried her face more thoroughly in his chest.

"Want to talk about it?" he offered again.

"No. Just want to feel normal for a second."

"Normal can be slightly overrated," he noted, but he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

She looked up, startled, for a moment, then once more rested her head against his chest.

"This is nice."

"Yes," he agreed.

"Should that worry us?"

"No," he lied. "It's kind of normal to like being close to friends."

"How would you know? You don't have friends."

"Well, you're my friend and I like being close to you. Don't see how that could be a bad thing." A little frightening, but never bad. "Besides, it's not like you have that many friends yourself, aside from the occasional arms dealer. Don't know that either of us is in a position to say what is and isn't normal."

"No, guess not." She lay still for a few moments, then looked up at him again. "Henry?"

"Yeah, Ash?"

"Is this going to be a one-time thing?"

Ooh, very good question. He swallowed hard.

"I think that kind of depends on you. I wouldn't say no to a repeat. Last night was the best I've slept in years."

She smiled playfully. "Then I think I'll be dropping by more often."

He smiled because her smile was just that infectious. "Better be careful. People might start getting ideas."

"Like I've ever cared about what people think."

"Uh, yeah, speaking of what people think. Would you mind, you know, not telling anyone else what I told you last night?"

"The virgin thing?"

"Uh, yeah. That one."

He felt his cheeks color and could not quite manage eye-contact. She was just so… Crap, there just weren't words for what she was.

"I won't tell if you don't tell."

"Thanks." He hesitated as her words sank in. "Tell what?"

Her smile turned wry. "Come on. You really think my lifestyle's conducive to having a social life? Dating?" She made a face. "Not so much, Henry."

He stared at her. Was she actually trying to tell him that she had never… It just didn't seem possible that someone that amazing could still be… On the other hand, she had a point about what living and working at the Sanctuary did to one's romantic prospects. Besides, she did have a habit of holding herself apart. To a lesser extent, so did he. You didn't want someone to get hurt because they were close to you. He was curious, but not about to press the issue.

"Your private life is nobody's business unless you decide to make it their business."

"Thanks, Henry."

"Hey, my pleasure."

They lay there in silence for a couple of minutes before it occurred to Henry that Ashley was, effectively, putting her life in his hands. He could wolf out at any moment and here she was lying in repose with him, without so much as her favorite sidearm.

He felt irrationally angry and struggled to suppress it. But he could not ignore the thoughts that led to that anger in the first place.

"Ash, I don't think this is such a good idea," he managed, voice shaking.

She looked up at him with a slightly hurt expression. "Because of the awkwardness factor?"

"Because of the 'I could turn into a monster any second' factor! It's dangerous!"

"No," Ashley shook her head and reached up to touch his cheek lightly. Not exactly a caress, but not far off, either. "I'm safe with you. Always have been, always will be."

He closed his eyes as the tender touch rocked him right down to the soul, but could not entirely suppress his dread.

"That presupposes an awful lot."

"Not really. You're not a monster. You just need new meds or something. Mom will figure this out."

Her faith was touching, but also kind of terrifying. He would die if anything happened to Ashley. To be the one responsible for that? His hands tightened spasmodically around her.

She looked up at him, smiling. "It's going to be okay, Henry. I promise."

He smiled, too, blinking hard. "I wish I could believe you."

"Have faith," she suggested. "I do. My present feelings for her aside, Mom's smart. She will figure this out. She'll find a way." She patted his chest and straightened. "It's getting late. We should get moving."

She sounded reluctant to go and that was plain gratifying. But, given his concern about wolfing out on her, more cuddling was probably unwise.

He smiled and climbed out of bed, offering her his hand as she rose. Ashley smiled right back, giving his hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go.

"Breakfast?" she offered.

"Sounds good," he agreed. "I am starving."

"Hungry like the wolf, Henry?"

He groaned. "That was terrible."

"I thought it was fitting." She shrugged. "Like the lyrics: I feel your heart, you're just a moment behind."

His jaw dropped. When he had ratcheted it shut again, he cleared his throat. "So… breakfast?"

Her smile faded slightly, but she nodded. "Sounds good. Let's go. Uh, thanks for last night."

"That's what friends are for," he answered, slinging a friendly arm around her shoulder. When he recovered from the fact that she didn't deck him for it, he started walking.

Ashley leaned into him a little as they walked. "New day, new possibilities."

"That's profound, coming from you."

"I have my moments. They just happen to be few and far between." She shrugged and playfully nudged him with her hip.

He stumbled and told himself it was because Ashley was strong, not because of any physical reaction to bumping hips with Ashley.

"Easy there," she laughed, reaching out to help steady him. "Skittish much?"

"Sorry, you just caught me off-guard."

She grinned. "Got to keep you on your toes somehow."

"Go beat up on someone your own size. I'm sure there are a couple of munchkins down in the Shoe who might be up for it."

"Hey!" She punched him on the arm. "Did we not establish that you're no longer allowed to call me things like munchkin and squirt when I was still a teenager? As I recall, it involved a fairly thorough beating."

"Actually, it was a wrestling-match and the pleasure was all mine."

"Freak," she muttered.

"Takes one to know one."

"Point." She shrugged.

"Still friends?"

"Always."

He smiled. "Good. Come on, let's go get some breakfast. If you promise to be a good girl, I'll even make you blueberry pancakes."

"So, all I had to do was sleep with you and now you're willing to make breakfast for me?"

He grinned. "Membership has its perks, Ash."

Which was when they rounded the corner and found themselves face to face with an understandably shocked-looking Will. Henry winced, but it could have been worse. It could have been Magnus.

"It's… not what you think?" Ashley tried, but the blush on her face did very little to make them seem innocent.

"Hey." Will smiled and held up both hands in a pacifying gesture. "What goes on between two consenting adults is no business of mine." Still smiling and holding up his hands, he backed away.

"So not good," Henry muttered.

"Yeah, that's putting it lightly. How long you figure it'll be until my mom comes to have a little conversation with us?"

"Don't know. Will's a pretty decent guy. He might not say anything."

"You could be right. So, pancakes were promised."

"And pancakes you shall have." He took a step backwards and bowed low, gesturing for her to precede him. "After you, Ash."

Grinning, Ashley led the way into the kitchen. Henry took a moment to admire the view before following.

End