"Criss," he heard her shout

"Zinerva! Where are you?"

"I'm in here! Criss, help!"

He ran from room to room, the hallway was dark around him asides from a few flickering lights above him, his heart was racing and his wide with fear. "Zinerva!" His shout echoed out as he busted into another room but it too was empty.

"Criss," her own answered.

With as much strength as he could muster he kicked the door in he heard her in only to his horror to see her tide to a chair and the sound of a gun shout ran out.

"NO!" He heard himself shout out as he suddenly sat up in his bed to find it was all a dream. No, not a dream that was a nightmare and he hoped it wouldn't be real like many of his nightmares have been before.

It took a lot to scare Criss mainly in his line of work but that nightmare really did scare him, it felt so real to him his foot even hurt from when he kicked the door in. A low sigh escaped him as he lay back down on his bed staring up at the ceiling, doing his best to push the nightmare to the back of his mind as he closed his eyes again. It plagued him though, no matter how hard he tried the images of that nightmare was in his mind and they wouldn't leave. It finally got the better of him and he got up, he was just in a pair of shorts as he walked out of his room to hers just down the hall. He just needed to know if she was okay.

Right as Criss was about to knock on her door it suddenly came open to her standing there, staring at him with wide eyes. She quickly hugged him burying her face in his chest, her body was shaking and it was clear she had been crying before he got there. "I saw you die…I thought it was real…" she told him as she held her.

"I saw the same but it was you…Zin we had the same dream."

She clung to him, "It was a dream…only a dream…I don't want to loose you, Criss."

Criss nodded and rested his head against hers; he was just so glad that she was okay. His arms remained locked around her allowing her to calm down. "Can…I stay with you Criss? I don't want to be left alone." She said to him.

He looked down at her, swallowing hard but he couldn't say no to her mainly if that nightmare came back for them they would just end up here again. "Sure you can stay with me," he said, she got her blanket and card key and went with him to him to his room. The dream really bothered her and Criss allowed her to share his bed with him so she didn't have to be alone.

Three days ago they only shared dinner and now Criss was feeling very protective of her as they lay down within the black and red sheets of the bed. It took all his control not to pull her to him, he wanted to hold her protect her from the nightmares and his control lost. Criss slowly put his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him so her back was to his chest, just holding her. She smiled and turned to face him then, snuggling a bit into his chest calming down now.

He smiled just holding her to him, this was allowed, right? Friends were allowed to snuggle, they were friends but Criss couldn't help but feel something else. Was it really just friends he wanted to stay with her or did he want something more, to be something more with her. Hazel eyes suddenly met blue eyes, they stared at each other before he became bold and softly kissed her and she kissed him back. Criss was enough of a gentleman that he would never push her if she didn't want it, he would never do that to her.

She never pushed him away as they kissed, her fingers tangled into his hair as their tongues fought for dominance. When they finally pulled away to breathe their eyes met again, Criss lightly smoothed her hair back and his grip tightened on her a bit in a protective way. Zinerva smiled and nuzzled into his neck, her arms around him as she started to doze off.

"Zin, I need to ask you something." Criss spoke softly to her.

"Hmm, and what might that be?"

"Would…you like to be my girlfriend, officially?"

She looked up then, "Hell yes!"

He chuckled and kissed her softly; she snuggled into him and sighed happily. Sleep finally came to them, they never left each others arms and they were never bothered by the nightmares. Zin woke up the next morning in Criss' bed alone but a tray of food was left for her and a note. Criss had made her French toast with warm syrup and a bowl of berries on the side. She smiled and ate the food, picking up the note to read it.

'Zin,

I miss you already but at 11:30 my brother J.D. will pick you up, he knows where to go. By the time you read this I'll be with my trainer then off to lunch with you, enjoy breakfast and I'll see you at lunch. Nothing fancy, I'd just suggest wearing jeans.

-Criss'

Zinerva smiled as she read it and finished breakfast she even cleaned everything up and cleaned a few things around Criss' room to kill time before she went back to her room. She checked the weather first to see a hot day ahead so she picked out her torn blue jeans, a blue tank top to match with her white bandanna and her sunglasses. She braided her hair even into one long braid; it was easier to take care of if she was active.

At 11:30 on the dot there was a knock on her door, she smiled and answered it to see Criss' brother J.D. waiting there, they looked so much alike. "Ready to go," he asked and she nodded to her him, grabbing her phone and key card before closing the door behind her.

"I'm J.D. by the way, Criss' older brother." He said, shaking her hair.

"I'm Zinerva; it's nice to meet you."

"Same, Criss is waiting so we better go before he calls me and says don't steal my girl."

She giggled a bit at that and followed J.D outside of the hotel and hoped into a deep blue jeep and he drove them out of Vegas. Her sunglasses were like goggles so they slide on her head when they hit bumps in the road and the braid was working for keeping her hair out of her face as well as the bandanna.

"So when you see Criss, he's not very good with horses so try not to startle him." J.D told her as they drove up a private road.

"Horses," she asked making sure she heard him right, she had been on horses before at her uncles ranch in Montana but that was years ago now.

J.D smiled and came to a stop in front of a mansion and a very nice one at that, it was over the top in size or anything fancy like she had seen with most celebrities. They got out and he lead her out back where Criss was with two big Frisian horses, she knew those kind of horses were rare from all the books she had read. Zin suddenly found herself beside Criss and alone with him, J.D was no where to be found like he had never been there in the first place.

"Hello Zinerva," Criss said as he ran his hand over one of the horses' neck.

"Hello Criss and what are the names of these two beauties?" She asked.

"Caliber and Alex, I'm still new with them so bare with me."

She noticed that Caliber was actually more muscular and taller than Alex by nearly six inches which was tall for a horse. She smiled and stroked Caliber's neck and the horse lightly nudged her with his nose. "So what's the plan?" She asked as Criss helped her onto the saddle since she was short.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

With some difficult Criss managed to get on his horse, kicking Alex lightly the horse knew where to go clearly as it turned and headed off. Zinerva followed along side, she want to show off or anything since she knew how to ride horses since she was little, it was just something she loved. She couldn't help but chuckle at the nervous look that was on Criss' face though. "Horses can sense fear Criss, you're doing fine so relax." She said, keeping her voice calm so the horses didn't spook.

"That's easier said than done, I don't do very well with any animal that's bigger than me."

"Taking that into consideration Criss, you're doing very well on a horse, most first timers would've either fallen off or the horse would've bolted with them."

"Thanks Zin, we're not far now."

Zin smiled as the horses continued on at a slow trot before they came to a shaded area, either the meadow was purposely made this way or it was well protected from the sun and the heat of the day in its place on the hillside. This time though, Zin had to help Criss off the horse, she wasn't as tall as him so it was a bit more difficult. They both ended up falling into the grass laughing as the horses started to graze leaving them to their own world.

Zin stole a kiss then with a giggle before they got up and Criss took her to a blanket where he had a rather nice lunch out for them, he certainly knew how to make a girl smile. He was right about it not being fancy; he had out fried chicken, fresh strawberries, two containers of containing salads and small containers of dressing for them. "Oh and our drinks milady," Criss said as he turned away from her moving his hands a moment before he turned back holding a case of Coca Cola, he just made them appear from no where. There were three of the glass bottles for each of them and she smiled at that as they sat down on the blanket.

"For not being fancy this is actually really nice Criss," she said as they ate their salads first.

"It's nice to get away from all the high class in the city once in a while and I like to stay out of the spot light when I'm with you, I don't want you to get dragged into all of that until you feel ready for it." He said to her, drinking some of the pop.

"You're so sweet," she said.

He smiled, "Only for you."

He stole a kiss from her then and relaxed back on one elbow able to eat some of the fried chicken now. She relaxed as well just enjoying lunch with him, it was nice to be out of the city but just being with him made it even better. Zin rested her back against a tree now, Criss had his head on her lap and they were sharing strawberries now.

"I never noticed how beautiful your eyes are, Zin."

She blushed a little, "Thank you, I like your eyes they're browner with flakes of green, not like any eyes I've seen before."

"No one has ever told me that before."

"It's true though."

Criss smiled and picked up another strawberry, the last one and let her have half and he ate the last half as she ran her fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp. He leaned into her touch smiling before they had to get up, the sun had finally moved to be over them and it was getting to hot to stay out there. But Criss was curious as he cleaned up everything in a bag and strapped it to his horses' saddle and they headed back towards his home.

"What's with that look?" She caught him.

"What look?" He chuckled.

"The look of an animal up to no good, I'd know that look anywhere."

"I'm curious; you seem to know horses well."

"I used to always ride horses with my uncle Aaron all the time when I was little, it was my mom's way of trying to get me out of magic and keep me out of it."

He looked down a moment, "Can you show me how well you can ride a horse?"

"I thought you'd never ask." She smiled at him.

Criss smiled as he watched her, this was her second best skill having been in magic longer she could actually combined the two but she didn't have the right set up for the magic part. Zinerva was a bit rusty but was flawless none the less as she made Caliber dance sideways then in a circle before trotting in a perfect circle around Criss. The horse had no training but she was surprised at how well he was doing and Criss was in complete amazement as she stood up on the saddle, Caliber galloping around proudly. Zin finally dropped back to the saddle and came back up beside Criss; her look alone said how that was?

"That's all I can remember at the moment," she said.

"That was fucking fantastic Zin, you can do all that and I can't even get on a damn saddle to save my life." Criss said to her.

She giggled, "It takes a lot of practice to that trust me, I didn't learn it over night I will admit I've had my fair share of falls and being stepped on when I was little."

"I would think so but I need to know, how you feel about starting work tomorrow. After seeing that I may have to include horses in my next show," Criss said.

"Nervous," she admitted.

Both got off the horses in the stables and Zin started to take the saddle off Caliber when she felt Criss' arms go around her waist. She smiled and felt her nerves calm again, only he could do that to her. "You'll be fantastic Zin, rehearsals are every Monday though Thursday and besides you are an amazing illusionist and everyone will love you." The calm in his voice just put her at ease and she sighed a bit.

"I trust you Criss, what will the show be like two illusionists, I wonder?"

"That's the surprise; I'm still planning it all out to make it work."

She smiled and he softly kissed her temple before they unsaddled the horses and Zin started to brush the two horses down. Criss watched her as he put the saddles away, letting his mind wander as the sun came into the stables just right. It illuminated her slightly tanned skin and the highlights in her hair as her lightly stroked the horses' neck, humming softly to her self.

As his thoughts wandered images began to flash in his mind, he couldn't tell if he was just fooling himself or if these were of his future. He could see her standing among several horses of different sizes and colors, her long hair flowing freely about her body like gently waves. As it became more detailed he could see more of her and he suddenly was snapped out of his thoughts with the final image burning into his mind. The last thing he saw was her, standing proudly and beautifully as the sun light seemed to give her a soft glow but all he could think of was how her belly had a gentle swell to it. That was his future with her, or he hoped it was his future and if it was it held children he just wondered what else it may hold for them.