Hi! Special thanks to all of you who take the time to rewiev - you guys always make my day.

Please note: Never ever take a slice of bread to your laptop when you have honey on it - took me quite a while cleaning keybord, when it slipped out of my hand - honey-side down of cause...

To all of you: Have fun reading. I hope you'll like it.

20 Working on recovery

Eric

Dauntless youngest leader tried to concentrate on his paperwork, but the lack of sleep made it hard on him. With a sigh he once again got up to pure himself another cup of coffee. The combination was not a good one he could tell, it made him all jittery. Perhaps it would help if he eat something too. Coffee and sandwich in hand Eric returned to face his work. Or - perhaps he should quickly check on Teddy and Mia, before he continued? It turned out Teddy was currently napping, which was good because he had been already awake earlier. So Eric padded to his bedroom to look after Mia. Carefully opening the door he saw her snuggling deep into the pillow sound asleep. Good. Back to work then. This turned into some kind of routine throughout the morning: Working on his files and checking on Teddy and Mia. He knew Mia didn't really needed checking but he did it anyway. While Mia was fast asleep, Teddy woke up a few times during midmorning and even ate a little bit which Eric took as a good sign. Setting the plate aside he smoothed the hair out of his sons face and tucked him in. Teddy yawned sleepily, clutching his teddy before jamming the stuff animal suddenly into Eric's face.

"You kiss him better. He is sick too."

Caught by surprise, Eric went completely still. He wanted what? Kissing a stuff animal was ridiculous. Okay Teddy was very little but this? Was he serious? Beholding his son the young father looked into a pair of trusting and expectant eyes. He felt ridicules doing it, but he could tell Teddy was dead serious so he gave his bear a quick kiss – at least nobody was there to make fun of him. When Teddy rewarded him with a beaming smile Eric felt a little ashamed. Teddy then carefully placed his teddy next to him before he begged:

"Read me a story?"

"Okay." Eric easily agreed. At least this was something he felt comfortable with and more so, loved to do. After getting the book and he began to read, only Teddy was asleep before he even finished the first paragraph. Reassured by the ongoing recovery but tired Eric returned to his files. When he had finally been able to finish a most annoying one, it was time to wake Mia. Her shift would start in one hour. Eric had toyed with the idea of calling her in sick but then dismissed it, unsure what her reaction to it would be.

When he opened the bedroom door he found Mia fast asleep and tangled up in the sheets. He sat down on the bedside. She looked so peaceful, that he really hated to wake her up. All he could do though, was doing it gently.

"Mia" He said her name softly. She stirred only a little bit so he repeated calling her name. After the third time she seemed to awaken finally, but much to his surprise Mia moved around until her head was buried in his lab but made no move otherwise. She sighed contentedly. Was she still asleep or was she aware of her actions? As much as he liked her snuggling up to him trustfully, he wasn't sure that she was aware of her actions, which meant that this probably meant less to her then to him. Still, maybe…?

"Mia?" He asked her, his insecurity too obvious in his voice for his liking.

Eric could feel the moment she became aware because she stiffened before suddenly shot up rambling:

"Oh God! I'm sorry. I didn't… I …honestly…sorry…"

Eric felt a turmoil of emotions. He had actually enjoyed her trustfully snuggling up but apparently she was embarrassed which made him feel vulnerable since he didn't know if she was embarrassed it had be him she snuggled up to or embarrassed because she simply was insecure herself of such an intimate gesture. Hoping it was the last, Eric tried to reassure her, keeping his voice soft when he stumbled a little with his words:

"It's alright. I…I wanted to wake you. Your shift will start soon."

"What? Did you led me sleep all day?" Mia exclaimed starring at him.

"You needed it."

"I feel like I deserted you, Eric. I'm so sorry. I really wanted to be there for you." She looked so upset with herself, at which he had to smile and he also felt warmed by her outburst that she had wanted to be there for him. Nobody had ever said these words to him. With his few friends, though they were great friends, it was always more about dong then speaking about it. He realized that this was something he wanted from a girlfriend and which he would want to offer to her as well.

"It's alright Mia. Like I said you needed it. By the way Teddy slept too most of the time. How about you shower and I make you something to eat before you head to work?"

"Sounds good."

"Good." Eric was looking forward to have her over a little bit longer. But when Mia reappeared she looked a little flushed and much to Eric's astonishment wouldn't quite met his eyes. She then said:

"You didn't have to."

Not knowing what she was referring to he lifted one eyebrow quizzically. He got it though, when Mia gestured down her body to her clothes now turning crimson. Oh. Her clothes. Had he made a mistake in washing them for her? He hadn't giving it any thought, despite that she would need clean clothes to wear.

"I'm sorry Mia. It's just…you needed them…"

"It was a nice thing to do Eric. It's… I'm not used to it. People handling my dirty… well, you… but thank you."

"I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable, Mia. I promise I didn't look, I just put them in the machine."

"Okay."

"Good. Now sit down and eat, Mia." Being an Amity transfer and giving their reputation he never would have guessed she would be shy about it. But she was. Thinking about it, he liked it.

.

.

Though Teddy was already doing much better he was still exhausted, but he had spent the afternoon out of bed before Eric had send him to bed at his usual hour. Their afternoon together had been without major obstacles. Sure Teddy had been bored and wanted to be entertained, but nothing he couldn't handle. The sun had settled a long time ago and the living room was dark save for the electrical light of the lamp above the table and the bluish flicker of the screen of his laptop. When he finally finished his paperwork a look at his wristwatch confirmed what Eric knew all along: it was nearly midnight. All he wanted was to drag his tired body to bed for a good night's sleep. Getting up Eric heard a gentle knock on the door. Apparently duty never ended. The young leader sighed as he made his way over. He got a pleasant surprise though: Mia had come back to him after finishing her shift. As tired as he was Eric liked too much having her over to send her away, which was why she was now sitting next to him on the sofa, fudging slightly, which Eric found odd. Before he could inquire about it, Mia addressed him:

"I never meant to keep it from you, Eric."

"Keeping what from me?" Eric frowned. He didn't like the idea of Mia hiding anything from him. She did not fear him like so many others, or did she? A moment ago he would have answered no, she didn't but he realized that her word made him doubt it.

"Working at sick bay."

Oh. Relief flooded through him. That. He hadn't though he'd been that obvious the other day. Not knowing how to respond Eric said nothing. After a while he felt Mia intertwining her fingers with his. Though still feeling a little unsure he didn't oppose on the handholding. He had to admit that he liked it. Then Mia looked at him, searching his eyes. He didn't know what she saw in them, when she squeezed his hand saying:

"I didn't know myself then, when you invited me over that is and … it's just there were always other things we talked about…look, it takes time to get to know each other. And I would love to share more with you. "

For quite some time Eric thought about her words in silence. Okay it had fucking hurt thinking she didn't care enough to tell him but now she had basically told him she wanted to give them a try. It was kind of mind-blowing that he was now certain they were on the same page. He couldn't tell her that now so he simply nodded: "Okay."

Looking at her hand in his, he then prompted her: "So tell me."

Mia beamed at him and started to tell him, how she ended up being a shop assistant and why she had wanted to transfer to sick bay for some time now.

"….you see, I think I can do so much more for the kids working there." She ended.

"You want to protect." Eric concluded and squeezed her hand smiling: "You're a true Dauntless."

Eric was glad Mia had shared her thoughts with him but he was too tired to uphold a conversation any longer. So he simply sat with her, relishing her presence. He felt himself contentedly relaxing further when her hand found its way into his hair, stroking his neck and playing softly with the long strains from the top. He never registered falling asleep on Mia or her smiling down at him while she eased him down, bedding his head in her lab still stroking his hair.