Todd was the first one to wake up this time. He knew something had woken him up but he couldn't figure out what it was at first. Then he heard it, a small pained whimper coming from Dirk. His face was contorted into fear and pain as his head jerked slightly from side to side. Wanting to save him from whatever nightmare he was stuck in, Todd tried to wake him up by calling his name but it only seemed to make it worse. That was why Todd reached out and softly cupped Dirk's cheek as he called for him to wake up from his nightmare.

It was with a sudden jerk that Dirk shot up gasping, "Todd."

Sitting up with him Todd started rubbing soothing circles on Dirk's back as he tried to reassure him, "It's okay, Dirk. Whatever it was, it was just a nightmare, it's okay. Everything's okay."

Gathering himself with a deep breath, Dirk started to nod. Rubbing a hand over his face he let the breath out in a shaky gust. Todd frowned as he tried to get Dirk to look at him, finally having to resort to a hand under his chin, pulling until they could just make each other out in the darkness. Todd reached over to turn on the bed side lamp before locking eyes with him again and asking, "What's wrong, Dirk? What did you have a nightmare about?"

It was a long moment until Dirk let out a great sigh before closing his eyes and answering, "I had a dream I couldn't help you. That you were drowning on dry land and no matter what I did I couldn't stop it." He let out another shaky breath before opening his eyes and saying, "I had a dream that you died, Todd. Right in front of me while I was helpless to do anything, and Amanda was on the phone screaming at me for not saving you, saying she'd never forgive me, and Farah was saying she would have been able to do something, and the stupid adorable kitten shark was looking at me with judgment in its eyes." A sob escaped him as he brought a hand to his mouth and whispered, "You died in my arms."

As the tears started to win out on Dirk's face, Todd pulled him into a tight hug. Rubbing his back he told Dirk in a soothing voice, "It was just a dream. I'm right here with you, alive and well. You did save me, Dirk." Pulling his head into his shoulder he started whispering soothing things into Dirk's ear as he laid them both back. He put him in the position he had been in himself as he tried to sooth the other man back into sleep. It didn't take long for him to succeed though he knew he wouldn't be falling back to sleep himself. Instead he enjoyed the feeling of Dirk in his arms as he played guard over the other man's sleep.

The next time Dirk woke up it was to the quiet voices of his two favorite people as they chatted quietly. Amanda noticed he was awake first as she looked down at him and asked, "And how did Mr. Sleepyhead sleep?"

Dirk felt more then saw Todd look down at him as he answered with an elegant grumble before burying his face further into Todd's chest, earning a chuckle from the other man that he could hear rumble under his ear. Amanda snorted as she said, "Really, that well, huh?"

Sighing, Dirk made himself sit up. Todd was leaning partially back against the head bored, not the most comfortable looking position, and Amanda was sitting beside them with her legs crossed. She had a muffin in her hand that her and Todd where nibbling on, taking small chunk's at a time. Amanda was looking at him with light in her eyes he didn't quite understand, but when he locked eyes with Todd the odd look she was giving him was pushed from his mind. Todd had a broad smile on his face as he looked at him, the same light shining in his eyes as well. The two siblings seemed to share a look before Todd was saying, "Hey, Amanda, why don't you go tell the others Dirk is awake so they can start making breakfast."

She only smiled brightly before she got to her feet and all but skipped from the room. When she was gone, closing the door behind her, Todd turned back to observe, "So, you sleep pretty heavy, huh?"

Dirk frowned slightly as he told him, "Not usually, no. I'm typically a pretty light sleeper actually."

Not missing a beat, Todd simply responded, saying, "Well, Amanda's been in here the last hour and a half, and we've been talking the whole time." Dirk only nodded in slight understanding, mostly still confused, though he was used to that, he was almost always confused at least a little bit. Acting like Dirk had actually contributed to the conversation, Todd went on. "We actually had a really good talk. Largely we talked about the disease but she also helped me clear up some other things that have been weighing pretty heavy on my mind lately." Again, Dirk wasn't clear on what he should say, so he said nothing, continuing to look at Todd with confusion.

Though, when it was clear Todd actually expected a response this time he grasped for the closest thought to say, finally asking, "What was weighing on your mind aside from the disease?"

He must have guessed right because Todd's smile grew impossibly bigger on his face before simply answering, "You."

Dirk felt his chest contract at all the possible implications that the one word had before fearfully gasping out, "What about me?"

Todd leaned closer toward him, leaving only a foot between them before saying, "Mainly this." Before Dirk could ask what 'this' was he was utterly shocked to find the space between them now gone as Todd gently pressed his lips against his own. It took Dirk a second to catch up with what was happening but when he did he returned the kiss in kind. He was the one to deepen the kiss as he pushed closer toward Todd, eliminating all the space between then. Todd had his hands in Dirk's hair as he licked the taller man's bottom lip asking for entry, which he was more than willing to give. As the kiss became impossibly deeper Dirk couldn't resist letting his hands run along the bare skin under Todd's shirt.

They would have probably kept at it all day if they weren't interrupted by a knock at the door. This time Amanda said with amusement clear in her voice, "I'm not even going to bother to ask if I'm interrupting. I just want to let you two know breakfast is ready and getting cold." She giggled as she threw in, "It's up to you how cold you want it to be when you eat it."

Not able to keep the smile from his voice, Todd yelled back, "Haha, Amanda, very funny. We'll be out in a minute."

He could barely hear Amanda's response of, "Oh ya, sure you will."

Turning his megawatt smile on Dirk, who had an identical smile on his own face, if not a little more goofy, he asked, "Breakfast?"

Letting out a dramatic sigh as he flopped back onto his pillow, Dirk sighed, "If we must."

Todd only laughed at his antics as he sprung out of the bed, looking at Dirk expectantly. Not wanting to disappoint, Dirk flung himself to his feet as well, only tripping once as he made his way to Todd's side. Both trying to dampen their smiles, they made their way out to the others.

Farah was the first to speak as she laughed and said, "It's about time." She raised an eyebrow as she added, "I mean, I had assumed the first time I saw you two together you were already a couple."

Vogel seemed confused as he asked, "They weren't a couple before?" That earned more laughter from the two women as he looked at Dirk, then Todd and asked, "No seriously, you two haven't been together this whole time? After your apartment, the energy we got from him, we had assumed you two were, you know, a thing." He made a vague hand gesture that really meant nothing, but the general meaning was clear enough.

Dirk was blushing brightly as he said, "What?! No, of course not, we had only met the day before that." As an afterthought he puffed out a few gusts of air in fake disbelief, before adding, "And I don't know what you are talking about. Feelings? What feelings? You're crazy! That would have been far too early to have feelings." There were four looks of amused, exasperated disbelief aimed at him by the time he stopped talking.

Amanda took slight pity on him as she hummed, "Mmm, hmm. Sure Dirk, whatever you say. Though he said energy, you're the one who brought up feelings." She let him stew for a few moments before adding with a soft smile, "But just so you know, I'm happy for you both. You truly do deserve each other."

He couldn't have stopped the smile that spread across his face even if he had wanted to at Amanda's words. He quickly closed the space between them as he pulled her into a tight, if slightly awkward, hug. She let out a gasp of air as she hugged him back.

After that he took his spot next to Todd at the table. They had a lovely breakfast, even if it centered largely on teasing Dirk and Todd. When the food was gone and the dished where dealt with they went back into serious mode as they started planning again, Farah moaning about how now Todd would be another vote on Dirk and Vogel's side, until he proved her wrong by siding with her, to a degree. In the end the two siblings convinced the others to meet half way and by the time dinner came back around they had a plan of action in place.

As Dirk took in the sight of all his knew friends he could feel that something had changed and it was for the better. Together, they could do anything. Together, they would save the others.