Chapter Five:

I woke three times during that night. The first time I caught Jim looking at my things. Before I could scold him the throes of sleep took me once more. The second time I watched Jim daydream out of the corner of my eye before falling asleep again. The third and final time I found Jim asleep, his arms forming a pillow as he leaned against the edge of my bed.

I was unable to hold back a smile as I spotted the cutest expression on his face. He looks like a little kid when he's asleep. I tousle his soft brown hair but when I threw a blanket over him he wakes up.

"Mom?" he says sleepily.

'I think you got me confused with someone else kid.'

"Kalena?" I cringe but reply with a simple 'That's my name.'

His eyes suddenly get bright and full of alertness as he says, "TheCaptainsaysyou'renotallowed tocomeoutuntilyou've hadenoughsleep."

I smile and think of how much Amelia must be worried. 'Trust me, as stiff as I feel I have no intention of leaving this room.' He lets out a breath of relief when he confirms I'd stay without any resistance. That doesn't mean I'm not going to use him, at least while he's here.

'You see that bottle on the desk? Grab it and open it for me.'

While he was doing that I pulled off my long sleeve shirt and adjusted the tank top I had on underneath it.

When Jim handed me the bottle he spotted my shirt on the bed and started blushing until he saw I had a tank top on. I raised an eyebrow at him while I dry-swallowed two pills. As my muscles relaxed I stretched; from what I could feel it will take me longer this time around to recover. I don't get full body paralysis too often, so it hurts quite severely when I do. I could see that Jim was eyeing the bottle of pills, trying to figure out the reason for me having them.

I sighed, internally debating whether or not to spill my secret to him. On the positive side it would bring him closer to me and benefit in the fact I could control him more easily. And it would help to have someone besides the Captain and Arrow know about my condition.

For now, the pros outweighed the cons in my mind because the only negative to him knowing is that it says I need help. This almost looks like I'll become... codependent.

I look at Jim and ask, 'How much do you know?'

"Absolutely nothing."

I smile. 'Perfect.'

I explain to him everything he needs to know about my condition. From what narcolepsy actually is to how often the disorder occurs. I even go as far to go into detail about the cataplexy, the state of my muscle tone, and what the pills did for me. By the end of it I think he understood and was able to piece together how my illness and past actions all came together to form a general sense of how I operate.

He seemed a little disappointed to find out I didn't have a super amazing plus side to my weakness that gave me special abilities.

'I am the person you see before you now because I worked extremely hard and succeeded. I trained with every fiber of my being and this is the end result. There is no magic potion or a magnificent genetic disorder that will automatically make someone hero-like. Unlike you or even Amelia, I have to focus two sometimes three times as hard to move something as simple as my finger.' To prove my point I flex my fingers, the struggle was faint, but if one looked close enough one could see that it truly was a conflict.

'Now then,' I lean close to the curious boy and took pleasure from the slight blush that rose on his tanned skin. 'Since you know my secret you must promise not tell anyone. Not even your...' I searched for a word less offensive than "idiotic", "absent-minded", and "blabbering" among others too crude for speech. I finally settle on "simple", a lovely word with the right amount of hidden meaning that didn't really imply anything mean. 'Not a word even to your simple doctor friend. Not a creature aboard this ship save for the Captain, Mr. Arrow, and now yourself are to know. Savvy?'

He nodded an overexcited yes that didn't really guarantee he wouldn't tell. Not on purpose, but probably in the near future where he is this excited, perhaps more, will he spill my secret. It's not that it would endanger my health really but more like a severe blow to my pride. I worked to get where I am and having a bunch of smelly ingrates knowing my weaknesses would totally destroy all of it. My mind wandered along this saddened train of thought until I found my senses numbing gently. It was then I realized I was falling asleep.

I could barely feel Jim's hands against my skin as he helped me obtain a more comfortable sleeping position. Barely awake, my eyelids closed and my breathing slowed as I attempted my first test if control over Jim. 'Stay.' My voice was light but firm as I commanded him.

I don't know for sure if he did as I told him, but I felt the strangest sensation, it was like someone was holding my hand.

Jim POV:

I stayed as long as I possibly could, holding her hand and rejoicing in the fact that she asked me, ME! to stay with her while she slept. After a while I could hear Silver calling me to work, his voice becoming louder as he came closer to my location, rising with annoyance when I hadn't responded. I looked at Kalena's face; it seems the only time she ever looks her age is in her sleep.

I allowed my lips to brush her hand before I ran unwillingly to another day's work. I could've sworn I heard her sigh.