A/N:We're jumping ahead with time a bit now. Submitting 2 chapters back to back. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 15

It was nearly a week later before both Holmes and Spencer were discharged. Holmes had all but leapt from his bed at the announcement of leaving, temporarily forgetting the immobility of his leg. Intense discomfort had ensued at this motion of enthusiasm, and extra pain medication had been necessary for the trip home.

Spencer had been discharged first, a couple of days before Holmes, which made him invariably grumpy. Since she had gotten home, however, she had made it a priority to help Hanna prepare for Holmes's temporary incapacitation. Though the break in his leg was not severe – merely a minor fracture – he would need to use crutches for a while until the pain dissipated and the break healed enough to walk on. Needless to say, he wasn't fond of this idea at all. He had tried to prove to the others that he could move on his own, only to topple over helplessly to the ground. Toby subsequently heard curse words that he didn't know Holmes even had in his vocabulary.

"All right, wait for me to help you out," Jared declared as he pulled into the driveway of their house. Holmes was looking fondly out the window – like a kid peeking into a candy store – as he waited for his dad and Toby to assist him out of the rental car. Toby knew that coming home was exciting for him. He had said over and over again how much he hated hospitals, and the crankiness that came with it made this sentiment quite clear.

Holmes was hobbling up the porch, Toby and Jared on either arm assisting him, when he asked the question that everybody had been hoping he wouldn't.

"Hey…so…what happened to my car?"

Toby and Jared winced at one another over Holmes's head. They had visited the crash site the day after the accident to assess the damage. Ultimately, the wreckage had to be trashed. There was no possibility of salvaging what was left.

"Um," Toby began uncertainly as he used one hand to open the front door, "it's uh…seen better days."

Holmes turned to him, an incredulous look on his face. Jared filled in the blanks bluntly.

"Son, the car is scrap metal."

"You're joking," Holmes breathed miserably. "I spent my entire enlistment bonus on that thing!"

"Cars can be replaced. People can't," his dad stated simply. "The most important thing is that you're okay."

"But I need a car!" Holmes whined. Toby had been mystified – and amused – at the regression of Holmes's maturity since his dad had arrived. There were moments that he acted like a little kid all over again. Toby supposed he, himself, might act the same way if he felt closer to his father. Unfortunately, they had never bonded enough to breed any sort of dependence.

"I'll help you finance a new one, boy," Holmes's dad said impatiently. "Now get in the house."

Holmes grumbled all the way up the threshold. Hanna and Spencer were waiting patiently inside, in front of a small banner strung up over the bar counter that said welcome home! in big, bright letters. The house had been cleaned up and furniture moved around to make it easier for Holmes to navigate on his crutches. The girls (mainly Spencer, most likely) had cooked Holmes his favorite meal of steak and mashed potatoes as a coming home gesture. If all of that didn't cheer him up, Toby wasn't sure what would.

"Welcome home!" Hanna chirped, leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek. Toby swore that even through Holmes's dark skin, he was blushing.

"You guys didn't have to do all of this," Holmes reasoned modestly, looking around the room with bated breath.

"You haven't even seen all of it yet," Spencer declared happily. Toby was thrilled to see her on her feet so fast and back to normal. The image of her in the hospital bed was quickly dissipating with her fast recovery.

"Yeah, come to the den!" Hanna agreed. Holmes was transitioning onto his crutches now, with help from his father. He had not had much practice with them yet, and was still working them quite clumsily.

They followed Spencer and Hanna down the hallway to the den, where they found the couch had been set up with pillows and blankets. It was certainly practical, for Holmes would not be able to easily travel up and down the stairs for a while. The girls had also moved the television from his bedroom into the den, so as to make him feel more at home sleeping in a room that was not his own.

"This is great, you guys," Holmes murmured. "Thanks."

Toby glanced at him. Holmes was never fond of being the center of attention, and his attitude now made that very clear. He was unsure of how to respond, and was looking undoubtedly embarrassed about all of the fuss that his friends had made in assisting with his recovery.

"All right," Toby interrupted purposefully, attempting to save him from his discomfort. "How about that dinner? It smells delicious." Holmes shot him a look of gratitude in response.

The five of them settled down at the dining room table to eat. What should have been a pleasant meal was quickly becoming unbearable. Holmes was inexplicably snapping at people and grumbling under his breath at various irritations. He was growing more and more annoyed at everybody's incessant need to help him. Hanna was cutting up his steak into small pieces and Spencer was prancing into the kitchen to refill his glass of milk when he had a miniature meltdown.

"I have perfectly good use of my hands, Hanna," he snapped. "And Spencer, if you feed me any more milk, I'm going to get lactose poisoning. Everybody needs to stop worrying. I'm fine. I can do these things myself."

A brief, uncomfortable silence followed. Toby dropped his fork with a noisy clatter that seemed to echo throughout the tension-filled room.

"Don't be rude, Derek," Jared replied peevishly. "Your friends are trying to help you."

"I got that," Holmes stated irritably. "But I'm not helpless." With that, he pushed himself back from the table and was attempting to use his crutches to stand. Everybody else was practically holding their breath as they watched him struggle, continuously collapsing back into his chair. His face was set with determination and frustration as he refused to give up.

"Son…" Jared began slowly, standing and steadying the crutches for Holmes. Toby expected him to dismiss him, but he accepted the help begrudgingly. The moment he had found his stability, he was using the crutches to hobble down the hallway to the den, kicking the door shut behind him.

They sat for a moment, silent. Hanna had begun to tear up, and was suddenly busying herself with ripping pieces of her napkin into small shreds.

Toby pushed his chair back. "I'll go talk to him."

The others nodded somberly, and Toby found himself selfishly grateful to leave the table, himself. The atmosphere was far too depressing for him right now. Having everybody home and safe and healthy was supposed to be a joyous occasion.

He stomped into the den, slamming the door shut. Holmes had managed to steer himself to the couch, and was buried piteously under the blanket. Toby irritably tore it off of his head.

"What the hell is your problem?" he demanded.

"Go away," Holmes muttered, pulling the pillow over his face.

"No." Toby sat down on the armchair beside the couch, seething. "I know you don't like being taken care of. I know it makes you insane. You're used to taking care of everybody else. And that's fine. Your pride is something that you can't control. But for god's sake, man…lighten up on everyone else. They're trying to help. And you're being a dickhead."

Holmes's retort was muffled beneath his pillow. Toby reached over to tear it away from his face, too.

"I get it, okay?" Holmes declared impatiently, not meeting his eyes. "I just can't deal with it right now."

"And the way you treated Hanna…" Toby continued, ignoring Holmes's previous statement.

"I know," Holmes insisted. "I know what you're going to say. I just got her to give me a chance, and now I'm sabotaging it. I know."

"Actually, I was just going to say that you hurt her feelings," Toby stated succinctly. "But now that you mention it – that's a damn good point."

Holmes sighed heavily, reaching out for his pillow. Toby returned it to him with a warning glare that forbade him from using it as a shield anymore. Holmes propped it under his neck.

"I just need to rest, man," he said at last. He sounded emotionally exhausted. "I couldn't sleep in that god-forsaken hospital..."

"Fine," Toby agreed half-heartedly, standing and heading for the door. "But if you know what's good for you, you should probably apologize to Hanna."

"Yeah," Holmes replied distantly. "Can you tell her I want to see her?"

"Sure." Toby's hand began to turn the knob.

"Hey…dude…"

Toby turned to him expectantly. Holmes was re-adjusting his blanket, concentrating on the task at hand.

"I know you guys mean well," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I was a douche."

"We all have our moments," Toby reasoned with a small smile. "Don't sweat it. I'll kick your ass when you can walk properly."

"Fuck off," Holmes chuckled.

They shared a brief moment of mutually exhausted laughter.

"I'll go get Hanna," Toby stated as he shut the door behind him. He wandered back into the kitchen to see that Spencer had cleaned up the plates from dinner. Hanna was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels on the television. Jared was pulling on his coat, and as Toby entered the room, he addressed him.

"I need to take off. Is Derek calmed down?"

"Yeah," Toby replied. Hanna looked up briefly at his response.

"Good," Jared muttered. "Then I can go say 'bye' to him without getting my head ripped off."

Toby chuckled a little, taking a seat beside Hanna as Jared trekked down the hallway. He could feel her eyes burning into the side of his head.

"Is he okay?" she asked meekly.

Toby nodded. "He'll be fine. He wants to talk to you though."

She winced. Toby had the feeling that she wasn't sure she particularly wanted to talk to him right now. He didn't necessarily blame her.

"He's just really tired," Toby reasoned in Holmes's defense. "He's crabby."

Hanna scoffed, rolling her eyes. Well, yeah. The crabby part was probably obvious to everyone at this point.

Jared was returning from the den now, looking considerably more cheered. He said his goodbyes to Toby, Spencer, and Hanna, and was out the door. Hanna hesitantly wandered in the direction he had come from, steeling herself for Holmes's potential hostility. Despite Toby's reassurance, she was evidently still worried.

Spencer finished loading the dishwasher and curled up at Toby's side, resting her head in the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on her opposite hip.

"I don't blame him," she reflected distantly. "The more I get to know him, the more I realize how alike we are."

Toby laughed softly. He had begun to realize this a long time ago.

"I don't like when people wait on me hand and foot, either," she continued. "It's maddening."

"Sometimes you have to accept help without reading too much into it, though," Toby rationalized quietly. "People wouldn't help you unless they wanted to do it."

"Hmm," Spencer murmured into his neck. The sound was so neutral that Toby wasn't sure whether it was a response of agreement or dissent. When she began planting tiny kisses into the curve of his shoulder, however, he found that he suddenly didn't really care which it was.

"What are you doing?" he asked suggestively. He could feel her smile against his skin. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"Nothing," she replied innocently. She tugged away the collar of his shirt gently so as to trail her lips to his collarbone. He felt his heart rate pick up involuntarily.

"Spencer," he breathed with mock warning. In retaliation, she grabbed his free hand and pressed it against her breast, continuing the neck-kissing all the while. He caressed her chest softly, re-angling his head so that he could meet her lips. They hadn't been able to do anything like this since the accident. And even though Toby was a patient man, his uncontrollable arousal told him how much he had missed the feeling of her skin against his. Her tongue roved his mouth as she pressed his hand against her more firmly.

Her other hand was immediately at his waistline, fumbling with the button of his jeans. She was pulling them down to his ankles before he had even realized what she was doing. He pulled back, suddenly aware of the fact that he was very publically in his boxers with a very obvious erection.

"What, here?" he demanded worriedly. The look of mischievousness on Spencer's face answered his question as she swung one leg around his hip, straddling him. She immediately began grinding against him, which all but sent him into a frenzy.

"Spencer…Hanna and Holmes…"

"The possibility of getting caught makes it exciting," she whispered as she nibbled his ear. Her desire was so powerful that he could have lost it, here and now.

"Not for me," he laughed, pushing her gently away from his neck. If she kept at it, he wouldn't be able to turn back. "I don't want anybody to see us like this."

She looked slightly hurt at this, but he had stood up with her legs around his hips before she could begin to protest. He was quickly maneuvering the two of them up the stairs, which proved to be even more difficult with his pants around his ankles. At some point between the landing and the second floor, he kicked them off anyway. Who cares? he figured. Finding his pants was better than finding the two of them going at it on the couch. And that had damn near almost happened.

He tossed her onto his bed, climbing immediately on top of her. She giggled involuntarily as he began to plant butterfly kisses below her ear lobe. She always said that she loved when he did it, but she couldn't help but find it insanely ticklish.

"We should have done it downstairs," she breathed, still stuck on her previous idea. Toby would have to think quickly to make it up to her. He was pulling off her shirt, using his lips to explore the newly-exposed skin. Spencer shuddered into him, her hands buried in his hair.

"See? It's just as fun up here," Toby replied as he began to shimmy her leggings down to her ankles. She gladly used her feet to push them off of each ankle.

"Fine," she agreed half-heartedly. "Now take your clothes off."

Toby chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."