Kayla turned off the light in Stephanie's room and quietly pulled the door until it was almost closed. She was thankful that Steve had come home just in time to exhaust Stephanie with a bout of wrestling on the living room floor. She was not sure who had enjoyed the time more. She could see how much it meant to Steve to put his worries aside for a little while, and Stephanie's peals of laughter had made it clear how much she loved playing with her papa.

Walking into the living room, Kayla saw Steve sitting on the couch. His head was resting against the back and his eye was closed. She could see the weariness on his face and wondered if he was actually sleeping.

Suddenly, his eye opened and he sat up. He caught Kayla's eyes. "What are you doing standing over there, Sweetness?"

"Just watching you," Kayla said honestly. "I thought maybe you had fallen asleep."

"Not quite." Steve smiled. "But our daughter did a good job of wearing me out."

"Well, maybe we should turn in early then," Kayla suggested. "It would probably do us both some good."

Kayla saw Steve stiffen slightly. "No," he said, looking away from her. "I'm fine."

Kayla stared at Steve for a moment then walked over to the couch. Taking a seat beside him, she absently took his hand. She sat there silently as she contemplated the best way to approach what she knew would be a difficult subject. Finally she decided she just had to try and be honest.

"I don't think you're fine, Steve," she said softly. "I think you're exhausted, because you haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time. And I think you don't want to go to bed, because you're worried about having another nightmare tonight."

Steve shifted uncomfortably, but remained silent. That silence told Kayla she was right, so she decided to forge ahead. "Before I left for the capitol, your nightmares weren't that bad anymore. But, ever since I've been back, they've been worse again."

Steve looked at her curiously. "Are you trying to say you're responsible for my nightmares? Because that's definitely not true."

Kayla smiled slightly. "No, I don't think it's me. At least I hope it's not." She took a deep breath. "I think something happened while I was gone, and it's re-triggered those nightmares. And I think whatever happened is also why you started having these moments of feeling like the house isn't safe."

She watched carefully for Steve's reaction. She knew this was a sensitive subject for him and he had never been very comfortable talking to her about it. It had taken her a long time to understand that his hesitancy was largely about not wanting her to see him as weak or damaged. But the previous night, he had opened up about his fear and had allowed her to comfort him. She held her breath, hoping he would do the same thing tonight.

After a few moments, Steve finally spoke. "What makes you think that, Sweetness?"

Kayla let out the breath she had been holding. Just the fact that he was engaging her was a good sign. "I've been doing some reading on PTSD. It's not all that unusual for something to happen and cause things to get worse, even after they seemed to be under control."

Steve shrugged slightly. "I guess that makes sense, but I don't remember anything happening that would have triggered all of this."

Kayla thought back to what Steve had told her about his little adventure at Lawrence's house. He had not seem upset or traumatized by any of it. But she also remembered something Shane had said when she had visited his cell the day before. He had mentioned Steve losing it at Alamain's. Steve had never mentioned anything about that. All he had said was that, after they took him from the house, they had given him some drug to knock him out. Kayla had a feeling there was a missing piece to the puzzle in there somewhere.

"Maybe there's a reason you don't remember," she said, almost to herself. "You told me that they gave you something that knocked you out, and the next thing you remembered was waking up at ISA headquarters."

"Yeah," Steve replied. "One minute I was in the ambulance trying to get back to the house; the next minute I was waking up with Shane and some other ISA agent in my face."

"Do you remember them giving you anything?" Kayla asked. "If it happened that quickly, it would have had to have been a shot or maybe some kind of spray."

Steve sat silently for a moment and Kayla could see he was trying to remember. Eventually, he shook his head. "No, I don't remember."

"Can you tell me exactly what happened in that ambulance?" Kayla looked closely at Steve. "I just have a feeling it might be the key to what is happening now."

Steve stood up and paced slowly around the living room. "Like I said before, they gave me something that paralyzed me when they pulled me out of the wine cellar and put me into the ambulance. Once I was inside, they gave me something else that reversed the paralysis." He stopped pacing and Kayla could see him unconsciously flexing his hands and wrists.

"Steve," she called to him softly. When he turned and looked at her, she glanced down at his hands. His eye followed hers and he stared at his hands for a long moment. Then she saw him take several deep breaths and the flexing gradually stopped.

"What happened in the ambulance?" Kayla asked again, more certain than ever that this was important.

Steve closed his eye and spoke slowly, as if he was relaying each moment as he remembered it. "When I could move again, I shoved a guy out of my way and headed for the door. Another agent blocked the door and shoved me back. I went towards the door again when somebody grabbed me from behind. I turned and-" Steve stopped.

"What happened?" Kayla asked, keeping her voice clear and calm.

"Somebody grabbed my wrist." Steve looked down at his hands again. "That's the last thing I remember."

"You said Kim thought that your wrist might be some kind of trigger for your flashbacks." Kayla got up and walked over to Steve. "I think that's what happened. That agent grabbed you and you had a flashback. That's why you don't remember."

Steve nodded, but stepped away from Kayla. She followed and put her hand on Steve's shoulder. "You don't have to walk away from me, Steve. I'm not afraid of you."

"Maybe you should be, baby." He looked down at her. "I think the same thing happened at the Cheating Heart."

"What do you mean?" Kayla asked. She recalled him mentioning some kind of brawl he and Bo had gotten into, but she had been more concerned with the fight that he had with Shane.

"When Bo and I went to the Heart that next night," Steve said, again talking slowly. "We were talking and some guy challenged me to a game of pool. I went to the table, but I . . . I . . . I couldn't play. My heart started racing and the table went blurry. It was the strangest thing I'd ever felt."

Kayla frowned. That sounded like a panic attack. Didn't Kim say something in England about Steve possibly having trouble doing things he used to do? She decided not to try to explain it right now. She was more interested in how Steve reacted after that. After a long pause, she said, "So what happened?"

"Well I definitely couldn't play pool like that." Steve paced a little more. "I tried to walk away, but the guy kept jawing at me. I told him to back off and turned away again." He closed his eye, again taking several deep breaths before continuing, "Then he grabbed my wrist. The next thing I knew I was outside with Bo and Jimmy holding me down." He looked over at Kayla. "Bo said I went nuts and did some damage to the guy." He looked down at his hands again and gave a humorless chuckle. "I guess Shane and Abe are right. I am crazy."

"Don't," Kayla said, walking quickly to Steve. "You've got PTSD caused by going through months of torture. It's not your fault and you're not crazy."

"Come on, Kayla," Steve said sharply. "I apparently lose it if somebody grabs my wrist, and I can beat somebody up without even remembering it. How is that not crazy?"

"Having flashbacks doesn't mean you are crazy, Steve. It's just something you are going to have to work through and learn to control." Kayla took his hand again. "You were doing that when you were working with Kim. It's just going to take a little more time."

"And a new counselor," Steve added. "I don't think Kim's going to be interested in helping me anymore."

Kayla did not respond, but she suspected Steve was right. Then she remembered something else. "Maybe that's not such a bad thing," she said.

Steve looked at her curiously. "I know you weren't happy that I was talking to Kim, but I thought you got past that."

"I did," Kayla said quickly. "That's not what I meant." Looking down at Steve's hand resting in hers, she slowly moved her fingers up until they brushed against the faded, but still visible, scars. She felt Steve flinch slightly, but he did not pull away.

"What are you thinking, Kayla?" he asked, watching her fingers caress his wrist.

"I was thinking of something Kim mentioned in England. She said there's some new therapy for PTSD. It sounded kind of weird - something to do with eye movements and memory that helps people with traumatic memories." Kayla shrugged. "I don't really understand it, but Kim said it seemed to be promising."

"And you think I should check into it?" Steve sounded skeptical.

"I don't know," Kayla said honestly. "I just want you to be okay. If this new therapy can help, then maybe it's worth checking into."

Steve was silent for a moment. Then he looked at Kayla and said softly, "I know I don't want to feel like this anymore. I know I don't want to spend my life always being scared of what I might do. And I know that I can't fix this on my own."

Kayla smiled at Steve, feeling tears spring to her eyes. She ran her free hand down his face and looked him deeply in the eye. "I hope you also know that I have never been more proud of you than I am right now. I know that this is hard for you, but I also know that you can do it. You're the strongest person I know."

"I don't know about that, baby," Steve responded. "I don't feel very strong right now. But I know with you by my side, I'm a lot stronger than I could ever be alone."

"That's because we are both stronger together than we are apart." Kayla leaned up and kissed Steve softly. "It's always been that way."

Steve wrapped his arms around Kayla pulling her close. She rested her head on his chest, listening to the strong, steady heartbeat.

After a moment, she felt his hands brush her hair and then run down her arms. She shivered slightly at his touch and pulled her head back to look at him. Kayla stared again into Steve's eye, seeing the love and desire shining within it. Steve ran his hand down her cheek and then leaned down and kissed her deeply.

Kayla returned the kiss, pouring all of the love she felt for him into it. She clutched at Steve's hair as his lips traveled across her jaw and down to the spot on her neck that he knew so well.

She moaned softly as his hand found her breast through her blouse. Her body trembled and he lifted her effortlessly. In his arms, Kayla looked into his eye once more. Then they kissed again, and did not break apart until well after they had reached the bedroom.