Tim rested his head against Dante's cool chest and relaxed, sighing out his day. At first it had seemed strange not to hear a heartbeat from his partner but now there was a sense of timelessness about it. Dante was immortal. Buildings may crumble and fall but Dante wasn't shackled to mortal decay the way the rest of the world was. It comforted Tim to know that whatever happened Dante would always be there for him, looking out for him.

Tim closed his eyes and listened to Dante's rich distinctive voice weaving around his bare body in the velvet darkness as he told him (as requested) about the upheaval of the events surrounding the Boston Tea Party. The creak of the ships in the docks, the running feet, the scandalised gossip on the street.

It was better than a movie, better than any book. The two lay together in Timothy's vast bed at Dante's house. Tim had drawn the thick drapes around the bed and it felt like they were the only two people left in the world. There was no distant wail of sirens to interrupt them or people laughing in the street. There was only the touch of silk sheets on bare skin and the soft pulse of one heartbeat.

Dante gently ran his hand up and down Tim's back as he spoke feeling the interplay of muscle move responsively under his touch. It was so soothing and Tim blinked not wanting to fall asleep and miss the end of the story. Listening to Dante's tales had become one of Tim's favourite activities as his endless curiosity demanded to know more.

Dante might have developed a fascination for human toys and gadgets, (not to mention the home shopping network) but Tim couldn't get enough of learning about the world as it was. The real history of the world not as it was in books but from someone who was actually there and knew the truth. Someone who had smelt the ink drying on the trade agreements with the New World, heard the vicious screams of the common people around the guillotine and watched the last slave ship sail up the Thames.

And so on some evenings Dante had become his own personal Scheherazade and just like in the Tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights Tim would lie back on his vast pillowed and draped bed and Dante could tell him of the world and his adventures.

Who needed cable when you had that?

Dante peeked down to see if his Companion had fallen asleep yet. He couldn't see if Timothy's big eyes were still open and watching or closed softly in repose. He was so beautiful when he was asleep, especially when his hair was all tousled.

"And so the Dragon waved goodbye to the Companion and flew off to live in the basement of the Hoover building. A select few people were chosen to protect its existence from the general public and they were known as NCIS…"

Tim poked Dante hard in the ribs and Dante smirked. Ok so he was still awake.

"I may be human but I'm not stupid. I don't really think that happened Dante. I'm pretty sure Fornell would notice if there was a dragon in his basement"

Tim's voice was both slightly sleepy and sarcastic at the same time and Dante clutched his beloved Companion to his chest tightly unwilling to let him go. Sometimes it frightened him how much he cared for him. He dropped a kiss onto his hair.

Timothy snuggled further into Dante arms and tried to smoother a yawn. Sometimes it was difficult after a long day at work to stay awake even though he wanted too. Dante had the luxury of being able to rest all day.

"Why don't you tell me a story this time Companion? Tell me something about your own past."

Tim snorted "Well I don't really think the time I fell over and cut my knee when playing Jedi Knights with Brian Jackson really competes with being on the docks when the survivors of the Titanic were brought in."

Dante smiled "Still I would like to know. You would have been a beautiful child Timothy. I wish I had known you were coming into my life and I would have watched over you. The games you played, the trouble I'm sure you would have got up to. I would like to know what your life was like as a child. My own human childhood was rather short and ….harsh. As soon as I was strong enough I was sold into the army. Although I proved to be luckier than some. I was trained well and I proved to have an aptitude for it. I made many friends and I was being promoted through the ranks and might have even had a career when I……."

"Wait…sold like a slave?" Tim was horrified and he sat up looking at Dante.

Dante paused considering his words carefully.

"No it was more like an apprenticship. It was the way things were done in those days. I was scrawny and barely thirteen when I taken from my family and sent to the training camps. The Roman Empire was a mighty machine for a reason. They survived off the strength of her armies. And they were the best trained, best equipped and well disciplined force of the time."

Dante smiled and tried to re direct the conversation unwilling to spoil the evening with the truth of the beatings and humiliation he received from those who thought themselves his superior. There was part of him that would never forget what that felt like and he had no desire to subject others to it.

"So tell me about your childhood"

Tim frowned as he could sense Dante's unwillingness to examine that part of his life further. Tim concentrated. It wasn't that Dante was lying to him about it just that there were parts of his early life that were painful and he had no wish to remember.

Tim settled back down against his chest again. Well he couldn't blame him. There were aspects of his own past he would prefer to leave forgotten. Kate's death for example.

"Well I suppose I had a normal sort of childhood. I was a big brother to Sarah, still am when she lets me. I had friends but was pretty quiet at school. Some teasing but nothing out of the ordinary. It was hard at times when I was accelerated through my classes as I was always so much younger and smaller than everybody else. I was so glad when I finally got a bit taller. I was a bit awkward around girls. They always seemed to laughing about something I had no idea about. Bit of a mystery really.

But essentially I grew up with the idea that eventually I would find someone I cared for, get married and have a couple of kids. We would have Christmas's and birthday parties and bad school recitals. The white picket fence house, bikes in the garage, shoes on the stairs, Grandma's spice cookies in the kitchen and boxes of baby albums in the attic…."

Tim trailed off surprised at himself as he realised what he was revealing.

"You would like to be a Father and have children of your own."

Dante's voice was simple and quiet. He wasn't accusing simply making a statement.

Tim ducked his head as he felt tears prickling at his eyes. He had never actually told anyone that before. Not outright. It had always been simply something that would hopefully happen one day.

Tim concentrated and opened himself up to Dante.

But please understand I would not trade the chance of a child for the certainty of the loss of you. I have made my decision and I am happy with it. It was one of the reasons I tried to leave you. I knew that I could never introduce a child into the world we have together. But now I am at peace as long as I have you.

Dante smiled down at his Companion as he felt Timothy's love and affection flow through their bond. What had he done to deserve one such as this to care for him? It wasn't as if he had been particularly 'good'. In fact there had been many years when he had been very, very bad as he responded to only his blood lust and anger.

Dante looked up at ceiling, not able to look at Timothy shining eyes.

'I understand Dear one. There was a time when I ……….had a child."

Tim blinked in surprise. This wasn't something he had expected. Dante had a child?

Dante paused as he felt the shock register in his Companions body and he rushed to explain as he realised how it could be interpreted.

"It wasn't a human child. I realise now that I was lonely. I thought perhaps if I had someone with me of my own kind then we could spend eternity together. I thought on it a long time before I made my decision. Even then I waited as I did not want to simply take someone who had a life of their own."

Dante dared a look at Tim whose face was rather blank as he tried to absorb what Dante was saying and he decided that he should continue.

"One night I was in London and I was in a rather bleak area that I frequented on occasion and I stumbled upon her. Her name was Jane, she used to be a serving wench in one of the rougher taverns in the area. She had been beaten and raped and I watched as her blood poured out into the dirty gutter. She recognised me and she reached out her hand and asked me to help her.

I could feel her heart failing and I knew that I could not save her. She was a sweet girl with a mild temper who was orphaned and sent to the work house as a child. I knew no one would mourn her death or even notice she was missing. It seemed to be perfect. And so I changed her to become my childe"

Tim noticed that Dante's voice had become bitter with regret

"How did you change her? And what happened? Where is she now?"

Dante held up his hand to halt the questions then he took a deep shuddering breath and Tim fell silent.

"I cut open my wrist and let the blood flow into her mouth. Then I carried her away to somewhere safe while the…..transition happened. I listened to her endless screaming in pain as she died, as her heart stopped and everything mortal about her was stripped away. She cursed her God for abandoning her and cursed every moment she ever drew breath.

Finally when she was silent I took her and showed her how to feed. She was so hungry and wild at first it was like having a young child. I had to teach her the rules, and how to stay safe and remain undetected. How to clean up after herself and where she could sleep. I had to show her the limits of her powers and explain why I could do things she couldn't. I was so happy at first. I thought that this was the start of a new life for me, that perhaps I too could have a family."

"What went wrong?" Tim asked quietly.

"I was foolish. I didn't understand what happens….. When I said everything mortal about her was stripped away I meant it. As a human she was sweet and gentle but as a vampire she was different. She was vicious and delighted in her strength. I should have realised. For so many years she was too little or weak to fight back those that hurt her. She had no choice but to cope however she could.

As a vampire she could tear their flesh from their limbs. It was the Jane I knew but she was twisted around into something else. I hoped that as the initial blood lust receded she would listen to me. She started to kill not just to feed her hunger but to inflict pain and death on those weaker than herself for fun. Even then I didn't want that. I couldn't share in that.

I tried to show her that it didn't need to be that way but she couldn't understand me. We would argue and rage at each other for days. Still I loved her….I created her and I knew that there must be something of the human Jane still left inside her. Eventually we parted ways and I have never seen her again."

"How long were you together?"

Dante smiled "It will seem a long time for you but it passed quickly for us. She would often disappear for years at a time before returning to see if I had changed my opinions. Jane was my childe for 120 years and when she finally left cursing my name I swore I would never create another Vampire again. I do not know if she still lives. I do not think so. She was too full of her own power and rage to be cautious. The last thing I heard of her was that she was in Europe heading towards Venice."

Tim lay still in Dante's arms trying to absorb another being a part of Dante's life. One hundred and twenty years? What was he compared to that? A fleeting second in time. He suddenly felt insignificant and was swamped with sadness.

Dante held his Companion tightly in his arms and opened himself to his thoughts trying to show him just how much he meant to him.

Know that I love you more then anyone Timothy. More than my own existence. You are my perfect Companion and will want for no other. I had to wait long lonely endless lifetimes until you were ready for me. Every second with you is precious to me in a way that you may not understand.

But know this. Even though it is in my power I will NEVER turn you into a vampire. I could not stand by and watch all that I love torn asunder and ruined. You would not be the Companion that I love. I do not know what you might be only that you wouldn't be Timothy any longer. Even if you wanted it, eventually you would curse my name and I would rather die than hear that coming from your lips.

The two of them held each other in the darkness, clinging to each other lost in their own thoughts. There was a sense of the inevitable, of death approaching on the horizon. An Immortal and a mortal bound together for a single short lifetime.

Dante kissed Timothy's silky hair again and wiped away his silent tears.

"Do not cry Little One. You are young and we have many years together before you should be crying tears for us."

Tim nodded his head against Dante's chest not wanting to look at him. Death was coming for him and there was nothing he could do about it. His emotions felt raw and scattered and he didn't know if he was going to laugh or cry.

All he had was right now, each minute was precious and he finally understood Dante's excitement over his watch. It was something he had always understood before, that life was short. Being a Federal Agent there was always a risk that something might happen, simply living an ordinary life might mean he could get hit by a bus. But here and now in Dante's arms he felt overwhelmed with a sense of loss. Only now did he understand how wonderful living truly could be and to contemplate it ending seemed inconceivable.

The minutes stretched out into a silence as each of them drew comfort from the touch of the other.

"What did Jane look like?" Tim finally asked his curiosity getting the best of him.

Dante opened up his mind again to show his Companion Jane as he had last seen her.

"She had beautiful red hair and green eyes ……"

*****************************************************************

Abby entered her lab and felt her heart stop. There on her bench were her roses but this time Lyrics fragrant white roses were joined by her own perfect black roses in a magnificent display. The lab was filled with the scent of gunpowder and masculine spices as the unique blooms mingled together.

Finally they would meet. Abby rushed to read the small white card pierced and hanging from the silver wire that bound the roses together.

Friday

Abby couldn't keep the smile off her face. Finally she would meet him in person. Abby felt a thrill of both fear and desire surge through her. What if he didn't really want her once he had seen her in person? What if she did something to scare him away? Would he want to bite her and claim her straight away? Would it hurt or would it be pleasant the way it seemed to be between Dante and McGee?

Her heart started to pound as she considered what she was actually contemplating. Binding herself to an Immortal. Was she mad?

Abby closed her eyes and she could feel Lyrics sweet whispered kisses against her heated skin. No it was going to be perfect.

Now if she could just find a way to make sure McGee and Dante stayed away from her for the night.