You guys and your smoke signals - everyone who reviews and messages me - you are all literally the best.

"Cole!" Nyko's voice called from behind me. I didn't stop though, he could follow if he wanted or he could stay and wait. It didn't matter, the only thing I was concerned about was making it to the bridge. I had grabbed a medical bag, pausing only long enough to get it secured across my shoulder, and as I ran I made a mental checklist of herbs and tools I knew I had and what I may need when I got there. I had no idea how bad the damage would be, how many people would be hurt. I had no idea where the others had even gotten a bomb in the first place.

Damnit, I thought angrily, I should have grabbed one of those Earth forsaken horses. I was moving to slow. I urged my legs to pump faster. The smell of gunpowder and smoke was my first indication that I was getting close. The yelling and groaning was the second. I moved through the groups of warriors quickly, most seemed unharmed so I didn't stop. I had to get closer to the source, that's where the real damage would be. That's where Jaxon would be.

"Step of," I growled, urging the warriors to move to make a clearer path. They were in the way. As I moved through the trees I only slowed once the ground became scorched, black covering all the green that was once there. The bridge that was now just a 100 feet ahead of me was blown apart. Cement, foliage, and dead bodies now scattered the area. My lungs felt like I had inhaled the fire itself, throbbing painfully, but as I looked on I felt as though my heart had stopped. What had they done.

"FISA!" a voice screamed from ahead of me, breaking me out of my daze. Turning to the warrior who called out I started moving forward. Nyko falling into place next to me, his breathing also labored.

As soon as we were within five feet, the warrior started rambling about the attack. It wasn't cohesive, there were parts of the story missing and he looked around wildly as he spoke, but taking in his ashed clothes and dilated pupils I didn't press for more. He was shell shocked, an illness I had only read about in old books. No one had ever set off a bomb on a space station - they would have to be insane.

Even on Earth it was insane.

"Enough," Nyko commanded, his tone gentle but firm. "Where are the other injured?"

Without a word the warrior held his arm and shakily pointed further down the river bank. With a quick nod we were on the move again. I scanned the warriors we passed, taking notes of their injuries and secretly hoping I wouldn't recognize any of their faces. When we got to the road leading to the bridge we found the worst of the injured congregated, well, the worst of the injured who could still move. The smell of burnt flesh made me cringe, we would have to work fast before they risked infection. I stuttered in my step. I wanted to keep looking, find Jaxon and the rest of the clan who I had seen off just hours ago but the cries and moans of the people around me made me falter.

"Take this," Nyko said, handing me a medical bag he must have grabbed along the way as well. "Treat who you can, but don't waste supplies."

I nodded solemnly. We had talked at length about this before, about our limited supplies and how I couldn't try to save everyone. 'There will be casualties in this war,' he had told me, 'save those who will be able to fight another day. Let those who can't, die well.'

"Get started," he said, motioning to a group huddled on the ground beneath a tree. "I'll find the others."

I couldn't afford to overthink this right now, so I grabbed the extra bag and made my way towards the singed trees. Glancing the group over I had two of the others with minimal injuries help me move the others.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and finished tying the knot around the wounded man's arm. Another one down, I thought to myself as I rocked back on my heels to stand up. As the hours passed I moved through the groups treating who I could and relieving those whose lives I couldn't spare. There were more than I cared to count.

Gathering what was left of my dwindling supplies I went to move to the next group before I was intercepted. "Come, Nyko needs you."

His tone was urgent so I stepped into a slow trot beside him as he lead the way. We moved further into the ashes, the world around us black. Even when the man stopped I kept moving forward, the sight of familiar faces chasing away the ache of my body.

"Jaxon!" I cried, not stopping until I collided with his body. I couldn't care less if anyone else saw, or if I was following proper clan 'etiquette.' Screw that I thought, he was alive and that was all that mattered at this very moment.

His arms wrapped around me tightly, though even in my excitement I didn't miss the pained grunt he let out. I leaned back slightly to assess, but found myself being ripped away forcibly instead.

"Did you know!?" Anya screamed, her face bloody but not masking the fury in her expression. The leader screamed again, pushing me against a tree while pulling a dagger from her belt. Before I could even react the brown haired woman was shoved away from me, Jaxon with his own weapon in hand now in front me growling at her.

"Of course not," I breathed, my voice just slightly louder than a whisper. My eyes swept the carnage and devastation in front of me, "of course I didn't."

"Liar!" she screamed, moving to take another step towards me before Nyko's voice broke us apart.

"Enough!" he yelled, breaking his typically quiet and stern pattern. "Penn is dying, find someone else to blame later, I need Cole now!"

The mention of Penn's name nearly made me drop to my knees. Ignoring the seething warriors ahead of me, I moved between them beelining straight towards Nyko and the body he was looming over. I winced as I finally saw what had Nyko so concerned. There wasn't a spot of skin that wasn't coated with blood, sharp shrapnel was collected in a pile near Nyko's knee though bits and pieces still scattered Penn's chest and arms. It was an unpleasant deja vu.

"Do you have more of your burn cream?" he asked, going back to work. I set my bags down and searched through the contents quickly.

"Some," I told him, shifting through the vials. The supplies I had come down with from the Arc were low, but I had used them sparingly opting to use the clan's traditional herbs and ointments for nothing life threatening. Looking over Penn I was ready to use every last bit of everything I had. I found the white tube and handed it to the healer.

He wasted no time opening and applying the ointment, and I opted to start sterilizing and bandaging some of his other wounds. As we worked Penn's breathing started to quicken even though he had been unconscious since I had arrived. This wasn't going well, and as Nyko cursed under his breath the moment only got worse. Penn started seizing, his chest muscles spasming causing him to arch and jerk in different directions violently. Nyko cursed a little louder this time.

Nyko was yelling to Penn, trying to pull him out of it as if he could talk someone out of a heart attack. I barely comprehended what he was saying, thinking only about the medical protocols I learned back in space. He was in shock, he had lost too much blood and now his heart was stopping - Penn was dying. I reached for the bags behind me, searching frantically for the small metal kit I knew I had stored away cursing myself for not being better organized. Turning back around I found Nyko quiet, sitting back on heels with his head down. Penn had stopped moving, had stopped breathing.

"Take this!" I yelled, shoving the container to Nyko who barely managed to get a hold of it in my haste. "Take the syringe and fill it up with liquid in the vial, just like I showed you before."

"Cole, it's too late," he breathed back, making no effort to follow through on what I asked.

"This is your fault, all their lives lost today are on you," Anya screamed from somewhere behind me. I had forgotten she was even still present I had become so absorbed with the task at hand.

"Do it now Nyko," I growled ignoring her. I didn't have time for this, Penn didn't have time for this. Satisfied that I saw Nyko at least making an effort to open the container I rearranged Penn so I could lean over him, placing my hands over each other on the center of his chest and compressing his chest cavity. Going through the counts in my head, I stopped only to give mouth to mouth and check his breathing.

"Hurry Nyko," I urged, moving back to compressions again. Noticing that he was moving closer with the syringe I nodded with my head. "Into the top of his thigh, deep in the muscle. Give him all of it."

I stopped my compressions, checking for any sounds. I could feel the air I was pressing forcefully out of his lungs, but his heart wasn't restarting. He needed a jump start and I hoped the vial of Epinephrine would work. It had to work.

Nyko wasted no effort jamming the needle into Penn's leg, causing my own legs to clench in sympathy. Once he injected the entire vial I returned to my ministrations. A few seconds later we were rewarded with a pained wheeze and a groan.

"What?" Nyko questioned, shock evident across his face. Leaning back on my heels for a moment I saw that at some point we had gained an audience and they all shared the same disbelief. Apparently CPR wasn't a thing on Earth I thought to myself, making a mental note to explain it to Nyko and the other healers later.

"How did you do that?" Anya asked quietly, her anger fading. "You brought him back from the dead."

"Why does everything hurt?" Penn's voice rasped, drawing my attention back to him. I could explain modern medicine later. Meeting Penn's hazel eyes I bit back a laugh, admittedly slightly delirious from exhaustion and the adrenaline.

"Not even alive again for thirty second and you're already complaining," I joked softly.

"Again?" he asked, groaning when he tried to move. Nyko stilled him but helped him get comfortable, well as much as he could be propped against the seared ground.

"Later," I told him with a smirk. "But just for the record, you try and die again on me I'm only going to bring you back just so I can kill you myself."

He smirked and nodded, Nyko just shook his head at me. While we had narrowly avoided losing one of our friends, he wasn't out of the woods yet. And looking around at the burnt trees and other injured warriors who now surrounded us - I realized that we weren't either. This was just the start of the war.

"You know Penn didn't complain as much when I was healing him," I teased, pulling the thread through the last portion of Jaxon's chest wound.

"He had an advantage," Jaxon replied, his hands squeezing my hips where they were now resting. "He was unconscious for most of it."

I let out a short laugh but continued my stitching. Today had been a whirlwind. Even after finishing with Penn and stabilizing him to be moved, there were just more warriors to treat, though most were not wounded as badly. Anya and her council had disappeared for most of the day afterwards, and the what was left of the sun hours was spent getting everyone back to camp and the warriors regrouped. There had been talk of news from the 'commander' but I hadn't even had time to stop and ask who they were referring too. Now though, the sky was dark. We were back at camp and with Jaxon seated in front of me I was officially with my last 'patient' of the day.

"Well I think that looks pretty good, if I do say so myself," I told him, appreciating my even row. I impressed myself, I could barely walk straight at this point, but I had been determined to treat Jaxon myself - it would be a cold day on Earth when I let another healer help him before I did.

"It may scar," I warned, knowing that he wouldn't be overly concerned with it either way. I was right when he just shrugged slightly.

"Let it," he told me, letting me turn slightly to set my tools down but never releasing his hold on my waist. "Scars…"

"Show how strong you are, tell your story, make you beautiful," I interrupted, teasing him. "I'm aware."

"I was going to say that they reminded me that I have someone now to come back to," he said, pulling me closer against him with a smirk. "Someone who takes care of me."

I shifted slightly, getting comfortable. He was still sitting on the makeshift cot in his tent with me standing between his legs, his arms wrapped around me tightly now as I rested my own on his shoulders playing with the strands of his hair.

"Always," I told him seriously, meeting his stormy gray eyes. He smiled softly and leaned up to kiss me and I wasted no time in meeting him. He pulled back a few seconds later and as I caught my breath I let out a yawn. The day was suddenly catching up with me and I was wracked with exhaustion. Jaxon pushed me back slightly, only having me step far enough away from the cot that he could stand comfortably as well.

"Today was a trial, you need to rest," he told me, and I nodded in agreement getting sleepier by the minute. I moved to go towards the exit but only took a step before Jaxon pulled me back towards him. Slipping his hands onto my shoulders slowly he pulled off my dirty, blood stained coat that identified me as a healer, tossing it onto a nearby makeshift table. He gently turned me and pushed gently until our positions had reversed, with me sitting before him on the cot.

"Jaxon?" I questioned, not understanding. He had told me to go rest, but now was having me stay.

"Stay here tonight," he replied, more telling than asking. I just stared at him as he knelt before me, untieing my boots. I had never even been allowed in the same section as the council members tents before, being able to come here to treat him was a big enough deal and now he wanted me to stay?

"But I thought….?" I couldn't properly formulate my sentence as he ran his hands up my leg slowly but firmly until he reached the bag I had clasped around my waist and upper thigh. There were reasons that I couldn't stay, but I for the life of me couldn't think of a single one at the moment.

"You have proven yourself the clan, they have no reason to doubt you," he explained. "Word has already spread about you bringing Penn back from the dead."

"It's not as amazing as you think really," I responded shyly, still only thinking of the trail of fire his hands left as they roughly pulled at the belt strap from around my hips before tossing my kit aside as well.

"Despite what you think, you've secured your spot here. There's no longer any threat in you being targeted. You have always been part of our tribe, but you are now a part of the clan as a whole now," he explained, moving away from me. I almost let out a groan at the sudden loss of contact but was quickly placated when I realized he was only moving away to remove the remainder of his outerwear, boots and weapons. That was a good enough distraction.

"And there will be no misconception on who you belong with from here on out," he continued. I realized that he was referencing himself - that I belonged with him - not just regarding my loyalty to the clan and I smiled. Cool, calm, badass and always a little overprotective - my heart jumped at the thought. Earth was hell, but he made it worth it.

"Kinda just sounds like you're worried I'll make new friends," I quipped, not being able to restrain myself from teasing him. Well there goes the moment I thought, leaning back on my hands to watch his reaction. "New male friends."

His eyes jumped to mine, clearly not as amused as I was. Throwing his jacket to the side he stalked towards me, shirtless and all lean defined muscle that was taunting me all the way into the rise of his black pants resting on his hips.

"You have enough 'male' friends," he replied, taking his time closing in on me. "You're mine and I'll kill anyone who tries to change that."

He bent down and wrapped one of his arms around my back, pulling me up quickly to my feet and flush against him. His other arm snaked around my shoulder so he could bury his hand into my hair, pulling back gently so that I was looking up at him.

"You sure do offer to kill a lot of people for me," I teased with a smirk, attracted by his dominance but not intimidated. He just leaned down and kissed me roughly, passion pouring through our battle for dominance. He tightened his grip in my hair before pulling away, keeping me from following.

"You are mine," he growled. "And I would give you this world if you wanted it."

"I don't want this world," I told him seriously. "I just want you."

He leaned down and kissed me again, his teeth nipping at my lip to gain entrance. He moved to trail soft kisses down the scar over my face, along my jaw and stopping to bite gently on a spot on my neck that had made me outwardly gasp.

" I am already yours ai tombom," he rasped into my ear, sending a shiver down my body. His lips dropped back to that spot on my neck, causing me to inhale sharply. But as I went to release that breath I let out a yawn instead.

Jaxon stopped and pulled back slightly, and I dropped my head in embarrassment. Great. Way to have my own body betray me. All I wanted was to have his hands, and mouth, back on me and I had to go and yawn in the middle of it. Excellent timing. Sheepishly looking up I just saw Jaxon looking down at me in amusement.

"I'm thinking out loud again aren't I?" I mumbled, already knowing the answer. Of all the stupid habits, mine has to be rambling my innermost thoughts out loud for the world to hear. I was going to have to work on that.

"I like knowing what's going on in that head of yours," Jaxon answered, making me realize I was still vocalizing my thoughts. I just groaned and hung my head against his chest too tired, embarrassed and now frustrated to deal with anything rationally. His hands unclasping my jeans only added to my confusion.

"Uhm, what?" I asked lamely as he quickly pulled my jeans down my legs, helping me step out of them while I was still staring at him incredulously. I was standing in front of him in just my t-shirt and underwear, which as far as boy shorts go weren't terribly revealing but also weren't terribly sexy either.

"Lay down and rest, I forgot how tired you must be," he said, looking up to me from a bended knee. Maybe this is all a dream I thought to myself, delirium from sleep deprivation had finally set it.

"Rest Cole," he repeated, firmer this time and standing to press me back onto the bed. Finally concluding that this wasn't a dream - and that if it was I should just go with it - I scooted back onto the cot backing up until my back hit a firm wall that the tent was placed by. I pulled my legs up and finally laid down, sighing as my head met the pillow.

"I'm really not that tired," I argued as I was yawning. So much for that being convincing. Jaxon finished turning the lamps off in the tent and moved to lay on the cot next to me. He pulled me over to him so that my head rested on his chest and shoulder while his arm wrapped securely around me.

I absently traced the stitches I had just finished lightly before leaning up to kiss the spot beside it on his chest gently. His hold on me tightened as he pulled me impossibly closer.

"Sleep now ai tombom." he said softly as I nuzzled back into a comfortable position. As I felt myself drifting I made a mental note to ask him about that phrase in the morning. But until then, I would sleep soundly absolutely content and at peace. For now I could pretend there was no war.

Please, please, please continue to review and send me smoke signals. It continues to inspire and motivate me.

I've been debating on what direction I want to take this story, and how closely I want to follow the show. Some of you really like that I follow the timeline, others don't. So keep sending me your suggestions - I really do consider everything! For now though, I am going to use the general show story line as a rough outline, though our beloved characters aren't always going to be involved in every aspect. But that may change. They may ride off into the radiated sunset or die in a massive explosion in the next chapter- who knows? *evil laugh*

But seriously, this story still has a lot of room for growth so thank you for returning to me, reviewing and sticking in there!

Also, no translation for the Trigedasleng I used this time - ya'll are going to be on the same page as Cole with not having the meaning quite yet. *more evil laughter*

- Sova