He slipped into the room, the door closing shut softly behind him. Down the hall, the muted sound of his junior field officer could be heard. Now that he was back, there really was no reason for him to stay but Harry was hard pressed to turn the man out into the chilly March rain. Not after all he had done for them. And it wasn't as though Danny didn't know about Ruth and him.

Turning his attention to the room and the figure in the bed, he smiled. It'd been three long weeks since he'd last been in the same room as her. Three weeks of torture. He count not remember a time when he'd missed someone as greatly as he missed her. Certainly never during his first marriage. Long weeks and months away from his spouse had been welcomed with an unhealthy level of joy. But then, he had never felt for Jane what he felt for Ruth.

The overwhelming need to just be with her. To share an evening together with a book or movie filled him with content. With something he'd never felt before with anyone he'd been with. But it still managed to fill him with a need for more. A need to posses her in a way that no one had and no one else ever would. The simple act of her sighing and turning a page in a book was enough to arouse him to new heights.

But it was more than that. More than the act of sex. He wanted; needed; to protect her. Keep her safe from the evils and darkness that filled the world. He'd already failed once. She'd been hurt. Not only by himself but others as well. No more. By no means could he claim to be a white knight. His past was to tarnished to even contemplate taking that title. But she was his heart and he'd do everything to keep her safe.

More than that he wanted to bring her joy. Make her smile. Spent their time together away from the Grid finding a life he'd never lived. One he never had dreamed of living. Before her. He'd screwed up. Thrown away a chance at a life with a wife and children. Now his children went out of their way to avoid him, his ex-wife cursed his name should it be mentioned. But things would be different with Ruth. She was not Jane. And he was not the Harry he had been all those years ago.

He didn't know why he was thinking this now. Perhaps it had been the three weeks apart. Time for her to realize that her life could be significantly better without him in it. He hadn't expected her to find someone else in that time nor even fall out of love with him. But he had been afraid. Afraid that she'd leave. But she hadn't.

Instead she was propped up against their headboard - asleep. Box of tissues on her side of the bed, crumpled ones scattered across the comforter while a well read copy of 'Wuthering Heights' rested open against her chest. Adam had warned him she'd come down with Wes' cold within the last day and had become more miserable as the day had gone on. Hair pulled back in a loose pony tail, nose red and mouth open as she slept, he didn't think she could look any more beautiful. Which just went to show how much he loved her.

Unbuttoning his shirt, he dropped it to the floor before kicking off his pants. Making his way across the room, his smile grew at the sight of her in one of his t-shirts. There was nothing he liked more than the sight of his woman in their bed wearing his shirt. Well, except maybe her naked in their bed wearing nothing but him. But not tonight. As much as he wanted to bury himself in her soft body and warm heat, he couldn't do that to her. She was sick. Sex was not what she needed; tender love and sleep was.

Reaching down, he carefully lifted the book from its resting place and moved it to his night stand. Lifting the duvet, he slipped between the sheets, wrapping himself around her. Sighing at the feeling of holding her in his arms for the first time in weeks, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips against her cheek. Feeling her shift in his arms, he smiled as she curled herself closer; burying her face in the skin of his neck. Tangling their legs together, he slowly worked his way down from a half sitting position onto his back; pulling her with him until she was resting completely on his chest.

Ruth started to stir, her hair brushing against the skin of his chest. Holding her closer, he whispered softly.

"Go back to sleep - I've got you."

AN: Thank you all for your reviews on the last chapter! They make me smile. I have to say I'm not happy with this chapter at all; Harry is not the easiest for me to write; but I wanted to set up the last bit of March which will bring a reunion when both are awake.