Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman Fan Fiction ❯ Love's Battlefield ❯ Crying in the Night, Loving Through the Day ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

LOVE'S BATTLEFIELD

(A follow up to "Twin Hearts" - Two months later)

Chapter 1 - Crying in the Night, Loving Through the Day

A "Battle of the Planets" Alternative Universe Fan Fiction.

WARNINGS: NC17 - For Male-Male Sex (Not graphic), References to past Rape (NCS) (Nothing Graphic, No descriptions, only referenced). Please do NOT read on if references to rape disturb you, or if you are a survivor of sexual abuse. You've been warned, so please don't flame me for it. Contains Slash, (or Yaoi, and Shononai), (i.e. Boy-Boy or Male-Male love and sex), so be warned. Again, do not read on if you do not like reading about male-male love and sex. Also Contains: Angst, drama, love, romance, swearing and is OOC, AU and NCC. (i.e. Out Of Character, Alternative Universe and Non Canon Characterisations, situations and events).

Disclaimer: The "Battle Of The Planets" characters do NOT belong to me, they belong solely to Sandy Frank and Tatsunoko Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. No money/profit is being made from this fiction. It is purely for entertainment purposes only.

MARK & JASON Alternating POV's

PART 1 - Mark's POV

It's been nearly four months since we rescued Jason from Spectra's latest trap.

He's back on the team now, much against my will. Not meaning I didn't want him to come back, of course I did, but not so soon, not when he's still recovering emotionally.

We fought. It was terrible, the worst fight we've had in months. We haven't fought like that since before we were a couple, and that's going back about ten months now, or so.

For me, the main concern was Jason freezing or having a flashback at the wrong time, and so putting himself in danger, or another team member, or even the whole team.

For Jason, the concern was that the longer he left it, the harder it would be to go back. He needed to go back, he needed to know that he still had what it took to be on G-Force. He needed to know the Spectran's weren't going to win over him, that they hadn't in fact broken him.

It degenerated into us yelling at each other, into Jason demanding to know who he was speaking to 'Mark' or 'the Commander,' cause he sure as hell couldn't tell any more.

We've tried to keep our private lives and our lives on the team as separate as humanly possible, but sometimes they've crossed over, like this time.

As Mark I worried about Jason putting himself in danger so relatively soon after being released from the hospital. Felt worried that when he came face to face with the Spectran's he'd be immobilised by that, and that he could get hurt, perhaps badly.

As the commander, my concern was in his fitness for duty, and for his ability to do the job required of him. As a commander I needed him to be 110% fit for anything. I couldn't have him zoning out, or collapsing emotionally during a mission, due to the threat that might be to his life and to the lives of any and every other team member.

It was damn hard to separate the two parts of me. Really it should have only been Mark's arguments I concentrated on, as we were home at the time, private and off duty. But, at the end of the day, we are one and the same person, so I guess it was inevitable the two would cross over each other.

He walked out on me.

Just walked straight out the door, almost in mid sentence, leaving me gasping and sagging weakly onto the couch, my trembling legs unable to hold me up.

Perhaps I should have gone after him, but I was furious at his stubbornness, angry that he couldn't see my reasoning, or that it was worry for him that primarily motivated me.

His car roared off into the night, while I just sat there, trembling all over, partly from anger, party from fear, partly from pain and hurt.

He has bad dreams.

Awful ones.

Ones, which leave him weak and defenceless, crying, at times even sobbing, in my arms.

We don't have sex anymore because it causes flashbacks of such violence, that he needs to be sedated simply in order to come out of them.

Not that I mind. About the sex I mean. I promised him months ago that I could wait, forever if need be, for him to feel ready for physical intimacy again.

Rape...

It conjures up horrifying images doesn't it?

Try to imagine someone like Jason being locked in a cell, and brutally and viscously beaten and raped over the course of nearly four days.

It makes you nauseous just to even think about it in passing, doesn't it?

Imagine trying to live with it, to cope with it, to come to terms with it in your life.

Now, imagine closing your eyes, and always seeing behind them what's happened and hearing the voices, the foul jibes and taunts that went along with it.

Imagine the never-ending nightmare that doesn't seem to go away, no matter how hard you work towards claiming victory over it.

Welcome to Jason's world.

Life is like that for him everyday. A constant battle to breathe let alone to live, and move on.

He wakes up every morning and has to tell himself that there really is a reason to get up today, to put one foot in front of the other, to try to live, a little, at least.

To Jason's credit, he has put a superhuman amount of effort into bouncing back from his horror ordeal in Spectran hands.

He threw himself into physiotherapy to repair his broken legs, broken arm and collarbone, jaw, ribs, fractured skull, pelvis, soft tissue injuries, abrasions and internal injuries. From there he threw himself back into training, putting far more effort into it than the physiotherapists recommended.

He heals super fast anyway, physically at least. Up to six to eight times faster than the average human being. Thanks to being of mixed genetics, as well as to his Cerebonic implants, not to forget the easy access to re-gen treatments and so on.

He also threw himself into therapy, one on one and group sessions with other rape victims. They do him an enormous amount of good, and have been invaluable in helping him to cope with life, and getting on with things better.

During the day he copes okay, or seems to on the surface, it's at night when the fears and nightmares creep in, or rush in like a tidal wave, depending on the night.

We still sleep together of course, in a plutonic sense. That has and never will change, us sharing a bed, I mean.

Sometimes, when he begins to dream, he whimpers, waking me instantly. I know they can't be stopped. I've tried waking him, unsuccessfully. All I can do is hold him, rock him, sing to him, do whatever comes into my head at the time to soothe the fear, the terror, the agony and the grief away from him. And... I cry with him... For him... My heart shattering again and again at what he's been forced to live with, at the horror they've made of his life...

That's why I didn't want him back on the team just yet. I wanted to keep him safe, here with me, where I know he's not in danger of dying, or worse, at Spectran hands.

During the day I love him as much as I can, give him everything I have to give.

When I'm home from missions we spend a great deal of time together. Flying, walking, driving, going on trips and holidays, or just being companionable at home, cuddling on the couch.

You know, I couldn't love him any more if I tried. He means the entire universe to me.

Guess in the end, after Jason had been gone awhile and my anger had cooled down, that's what made me think really hard about my priorities, where I was coming from, and what he felt and needed, rather than what Mark, or the Commander, felt and needed.

If I truly loved Jason the way I Believed I did, wouldn't I at least try to see it from his perspective, try at least to understand where he was coming from in all this? Yes! The short answer to that was, yes.

So I whiled away the hours until his return thinking things through from every conceivable angle. Did a great deal of soul searching, came up with a number of revelations about myself, and about my feelings for Jason.

When he came back in, somewhere in the early hours of the morning, I was waiting for him, sitting on the couch, in the dark, watching him walk through the door, a distracted expression on his beloved face, throwing his driving gloves down on the table, frowning.

He came through to the lounge area and automatically turned on the light, starting a little when he saw me sitting there watching him.

"Mark?" Was all he said, sounding surprised and wary, very hesitant and wary.

"I've been thinking Jason." I began, without preamble, staying seated. He looked at me with a fixed, uncertain expression.

"I've been thinking that I'm not being very fair to you. Thinking that I'm being selfish and way, way over protective of you."

With a sigh I stood then, and went over to him, taking one of his hands in mine, caressing it between both my own.

"It's just that I love you so much, Jase. The thought of loosing you, or, or, something else, on one of the missions, is driving me crazy with worry, overriding my ability to be objective about the question of you returning to the team so soon. Or what feels so soon."

Moving his hand up to my face I kissed the palm and put it against my cheek.

"But... But you're not a child Jason, who I can wrap up in cotton wool and protect somehow from the big bad world out there. You deserve the right to move on, as soon as you possibly can. So, um, I'm going to approve your return to the team." His fingers tightened around my cheek, cupping it, his eyes flashing.

"On a few conditions..."

He froze again.

"That you have a psyche evaluation, a totally independent objective one, assessing your readiness for this sort of active duty, and that you self monitor your condition and tell me honestly from day to day, mission to mission, your ability to do the job on that day. There will be no reflection on your record if you are having a bad day and need time out. We just need to know that you will not put the team in danger by going out unfit on any given day. I'll keep the reserve, Luke, on standby to take your place at the drop of a hat. In fact, I'm thinking of making him a more or less permanent sixth member of the team..."

So far he'd not said anything, simply stared into my eyes with that fixed expression, his brows drawn together in their customary frown.

Now I stopped and searched his eyes... "Is this enough of a compromise for you Jason?"

Taking me by surprise, he drew me into his arms and kissed me fiercely, taking my breath away with it.

When we came up for air, me panting for breath, he wrapped his arms around me, and nestled his head in the junction between my neck and shoulder.

"Yeah, it'll do for now..." He whispered, a little huskily, his breath tickling my neck.

"God, Jase... I'm so sorry, I can be such a prick at times!" My voice broke, and this time it was my turn to bury my head in his shoulder, my tears falling on to his shirt, hugging him close to me, the fear of loosing him after he'd walked out the door hours earlier catching up to me, sending me weak in the knees all over again.

Then he was kissing me again, on my cheeks, kissing away the tears, kissing me on my mouth, possessing me completely, as only he has ever been able to do.

Somehow we made it into the bedroom. I didn't argue, didn't say anything, simply let him take complete control of the situation, letting him decide how far it all went.

We were naked on the bed before he seemed to realise just how far we'd gone.

"Look at us?" He smiled down in my face, then chuckled, cupping my face in his hands.

"Yeah, look at that..." I breathed, kissing him again, duelling with our tongues.

He wouldn't let me go all the way with him; he wasn't ready for that yet. Kissing, massaging, licking, caressing, but absolutely no penetration, was our rule of intimacy these days. That didn't mean he couldn't penetrate me, if he wanted to, he simply hadn't since the last disastrous time, when he'd ended up in the bathroom afterwards with a razorblade against his wrist, thanks to an horrific flashback brought on partly by the sex and stress. He'd aborted the attempt that time, thank God, but we'd not tried since then...

His hand moved down my body to caress my aching shaft. With a groan I arched up under him, wanting him to take this all the way tonight.

"Jason!" I managed to gasp. "Stop for a second."

"Why?" He grinned down at me mischievously, giving me an erotic squeeze.

"Oh God..." I moaned, panting for breath... "Damnit Jase, be serious for a second..."

He moved his hand, forcing me to suppress a groan of loss. "Alright, what is it?"

His look of mock seriousness, nearly had me choking, but I forced it down.

"Are you sure about this Jase? Really, really sure?" I asked him, stroking his cheek with my fingers.

His eyes lost their mischief, clouding over, his expression turned uncertain.

"No. No I'm not sure at all Mark. But I need to try, I have to try, I want you so fucking bad it hurts, and if I'm to have a normal semblance of life, I want this to be part of it too."

He caressed my cheek. "I'm so fucking scared Mark, scared I can never find normalcy again. Getting back on the team, making love to you, those are normal things, things I need, in order to know that I'm coming back from the horror, that I'm surviving, moving on, creating a new chapter out of the madness that's been my life these past months."

His voice caught, and my hand came to rest on his shoulder, rubbing it gently.

"I love you Jase, more than anything in this universe. You know I would wait for you forever."

His thumb lightly traced the outline of my lips, making them tingle, his eyes softening with unspoken emotions.

"I know Mark... I know..."

Then he was kissing me again, tenderly, passionately.

We loved each other into the night, exploring each other's bodies, as if for the first time.

When his orgasm came, it was inside of me, as he kissed me deeply, giving me his all, stroking me and massaging me until my own orgasm rocked me past screaming point.

Afterwards we lay curled in each other's arms, spent, exhausted, sleepily happy.

There were no nightmares that night, only dreams of a better tomorrow, day after day...

God, but I love him, so damn much!

PART 2 - Jason's POV

He's lying here in my arms asleep, a small contented smile on his face. He knows how much I love him, even through I don't always say the words, can't always say the words.

We've made love.

That's not easy for me since the rapes.

Lovemaking can send me into a crushing flashback, which scares us both silly. The several times we've tried it has ended the same way each time.

One of those flashbacks drove me to the brink of suicide, but my love for Mark pulled me safely back from the precipice. I've never tried that again, haven't really wanted to.

But not tonight! There's no flashback this night. Tonight I feel, I dunno, contented.

I kiss him on the jaw, and he only murmurs and snuggles in closer. He must feel safe; he'd only do that if he felt safe.

God, but I love him...

Our fight earlier tonight... It's the worst we've had for a year at least.

He pissed me off big time. He can be a self-righteous son of a freaking bitch when he wants to be, or when he's on his high and mighty high horse.

We argued about me returning to the team.

Couldn't he see how much I needed to do that? Couldn't he see that I was dying inside from all the inactivity, from having far too much fucking time on my hands to think?

It's been four months since they rescued me from that Spectran hellhole. Six weeks since my final release from the ISO, back into Mark's care and to my own devices, with a daily 'out-patients' schedule in my hands.

Spending quality time with him has been fun, being alone while he's off on missions with the team, hellish.

The inactivity is driving me insane. I need to know that I can 'live' again. Truly live again, rather than feel as if I'm trapped forever in a shadow world of half a life.

He stirs and moves in my arms, so I lean in and kiss him gently on his forehead and he settles again, his lips still smiling.

I don't like fighting with him. It knots my stomach and makes my intestines growl.

Tonight, I just had to stop it. Stop it before either one of us really lost control and said or did something we could end up regretting for a long time, if not forever.

So I turned and walked out the door, both of us mid sentence, stalked to my car, jumped in and roared away, as far, far away as freaking possible for one night.

Driving soothes me, it always has. I love driving, it's my other passion, it used to be my greatest passion before Mark became so damn vitally important in my day-to-day life.

As mile after mile passed under my wheels, the tension eased from my shoulders, the anger and pain drained away, and I began to think about things more clearly, tried to think of things from his perspective, succeeded in coming to a few reluctant decisions.

If he needed me to take more time I would. For once it seemed I needed to put him first.

Fuck, but I didn't want to take more time. I needed to get back to the team, but if that was what he needed, then maybe we could compromise somehow, someway. I didn't want to loose him over this; his love in my life has been all that's kept me alive all these months.

Something felt like it was dying inside of me, so I pulled off the road into a small rest break clearing, bring the car to a stop, turning the engine off.

This was the dilemma for me, right here: If I accepted Mark's terms for now, and take a longer break from the team, in order to hang on to him, it might destroy us anyway, in the end, cause I don't know how long I could keep myself from resenting him for the choice.

There in, as they say, lay the dilemma.

Oh Jesus... I rested my head on my hands on the steering wheel, my stomach tying itself up into uncomfortable knots.

The fight hadn't just sprung up tonight, we'd been arguing on and off for a few weeks now. Nothing dramatic, more like discussions, at first, anyway. They've been becoming more and more heated though, over the past few days, until tonight when the storm blew up to cyclonic proportions.

It didn't help, of course, that I'd been speaking to the Chief without also discussing things with Mark, nor that the Chief and Mark were on opposite sides of the fence on this one.

But, as Mark so delightfully pointed out to me, at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, 'he' Mark, commands the team, and 'he' Mark gets to choose who serves on the team and who doesn't.

The Chief can suggest, but not force Mark to make the choice for me to return, even to 'light' on the field duties.

But for me, getting stuck on the fricking Phoenix babysitting the ladybird, is better than stuck at home, while they wing off to go knows where doing heck knows what, while I stay back home and twiddle my thumbs and worry about them all making it back alive.

Have I said yet how freaking damn self-righteous he can be at times?

Yeah... Well... It bears saying again...

Damnit!

Groan... But, God I love him... Need him... All that jazz... I'll do what it takes...

Surely he can't want me to wait around for too long, he didn't seem to indicate it was forever he was implying, just that he felt now was too soon...

But then... When will be soon enough? Next week? Next month? Next year? When?

Oh God, this is pointless... There's only ever been once choice really, ultimately...

Starting the engine on the car, I turned the wheel and came home.

The house was in darkness as I drove up to it. Indicating Mark was either out flying, as flying for him is like driving for me, or asleep in bed already, considering the hour.

For a little while I sat there watching the house, my stomach churning.

What if Mark offered me an ultimatum, him or the team?

There could only be one choice in that case, only ever one choice...

The one that could tear us apart, someday...

Sighing in resignation, I pulled myself out of the car, pushing the door shut behind me.

He'd left the door open for me, no need to use my keys. Pushing it open I paused inside the moonlit filled kitchen and tossed my driving gloves on the table, feeling weary and drained.

Moving into the lounge room, for some reason I turned on the light, and drew in a startled breath.

Mark was sitting on the couch watching me.

"Mark?" I said involuntarily, surprised and feeling suddenly hesitant, wary of what was to come.

He looked for all the world as if he'd been doing some heavy duty thinking for hours.

Hair dishevelled, dark circles under his eyes, skin more pale than it usually is...

"I've been thinking Jason." He spoke suddenly, after a short pause, without getting up.

He gave nothing away in the tone of his voice, or the expression on his face; stunned I simply stared at him uncertainly, waiting for him to continue.

After another slight pause he went on: "I've been thinking that I'm not being very fair to you. Thinking that I'm being selfish and way, way over protective of you."

Well, knock me over with a feather and tickle me silly.

I raised an incredulous eyebrow.

With a sigh he stood and came over to me and took one of my hands in both his, caressing it gently, sending interesting little tingles up my arm and down my spine.

He smiled at me wistfully. "It's just that I love you so much, Jase. The thought of loosing you, or, or, something else, on one of the missions, is driving me crazy with worry, overriding my ability to be objective about the question of you returning to the team so soon. Or what feels so soon."

In a surprise move, he moved my hand up to his face and kissed the palm, then laid it against his cheek. He had no idea how much in danger I was of my knees giving out on me, or how close I was to telling him I'd do whatever he wanted, just to stay with him.

Then his next words stunned me into frozen immobility...

"But... But you're not a child Jason, who I can wrap up in cotton wool and protect somehow from the big bad world out there. You deserve the right to move on, as soon as you possibly can. So, um, I'm going to approve your return to the team."

Oh my God! Had he just said...?

My fingers tightened involuntarily around his cheek, cupping it gently, as I felt a bright light of hope flare warmly in my chest.

Until the next words...

"On a few conditions..."

The hope died as suddenly as it had sprung up and I felt myself freezing in shock, bordering on disappointment. There always had to be a freaking condition...

I swallowed the hurt, and forced myself to listen wordlessly to what he had to say.

He went on almost immediately, barely seeming to notice my frozen attention: "That you have a psyche evaluation, a totally independent objective one, assessing your readiness for this sort of active duty, and that you self monitor your condition and tell me honestly from day to day, mission to mission, your ability to do the job on that day. There will be no reflection on your record if you are having a bad day and need time out. We just need to know that you will not put the team in danger by going out unfit on any given day. I'll keep the reserve, Luke, on standby to take your place at the drop of a hat. In fact, I'm thinking of making him a more or less permanent sixth member of the team..."

Stunned barely begins to describe how his words left me. This was far more than I'd hoped for, far more than the expected demand to choose between work and home. This was... Fuck... This was freaking amazing...

He was anxiously searching my eyes now, as if searching for my reactions.

"Is this enough of a compromise for you Jason?"

Is this enough? What a question!

Moving faster than he could possibly realise what was happening, I pulled him into my arms and kissed him crushingly, taking his breath away, and mine with it. I kissed him until he was practically hyperventilating, before allowing him the chance to breathe again.

When we resurfaced, simply so that he could catch his breath, I wrapped my arms around him, and rested my forehead in the junction between his neck and shoulder, and breathed in his scent. God, he always smelled so good, I loved that damn cologne he wore.

Finding my voice, I whispered a little hoarsely into his neck: "Yeah, it'll do for now..."

Then he was apologising. Jeeze, Mark will own a guilt trip for just about anything!

"God, Jase... I'm so sorry, I can be such a prick at times!" His voice choked off and he held me a little more tightly, shaking, resting his own head on my shoulder, dampening my shirt with his tears. I could feel his fear radiating through him, fear he'd gone too far this time, fear of loosing me, fear he'd hurt me, fear he'd lost me earlier when I'd left him in mid sentence, so much damn fear, it was crushing, nearly physically hurting me.

He was leaning against me so heavily, I was practically supporting him, but that was okay by me, really...

Not wanting him to cry, or feel so much pain and fear, I began kissing him again.

Shifting him a little, and lifting his head up with a finger under his chin, I started by kissing the tears away from his cheeks. He's so emotional, expressive, unafraid to express his feelings. So unlike me. I kissed away the tears, then possessed his mouth, ruthlessly kissing him until he was once again gasping for air, loving every second of it.

How we ever made it to the bedroom beats the hell outa me, but we did.

There was an urgent need in me to make love to him, one I hadn't had for weeks on end now. I wanted him, I needed him, I longed for him so damn badly, it was time to try to achieve that again.

He came quietly, no argument, letting me strip his clothing away and manoeuvre him onto the bed.

God he is so beautiful. Glorious, really.

Smiling down at him, I cupped his face in my hands. "Look at us?" I chuckled, feeling amazed wonder inside of me that I'd managed to come this far, after so long.

"Yeah, look at that..." He breathed, pulling me down to him for another kissing, sliding his tongue in, over and around mine, caressing.

Mark knows, however, how far I am capable of going with this, and not to cross the line.


Kissing, massaging, licking, caressing all over was okay, but he knew not to try penetration of any form, not even with his fingers, not unless he wanted me screaming in terror on the bed, rather than in ecstacy. Of course, that didn't mean I couldn't penetrate him, if I wanted to, I simply hadn't since the last disastrous time, when I'd ended up in the bathroom afterwards with a razorblade against my wrist, due to an horrific flashback.

I'd managed to stop myself suiciding that time, and we'd not tried sex again since then.

Until tonight...

Moving my hand to his cock, I caressed it, enjoying how hard he already was.

He groaned and arched into my hand, rubbing himself against it erotically.

Then... "Jason!" He gasped, breathless. "Stop for a second."

What the hell did he want now, of all times?

"Why?" I grinned down at him, mischievously giving him another gentle squeeze and rub.

"Oh God..." He moaned, panting for breath... "Damnit Jase, be serious for a second..."

Frowning I moved my hand, amused by his suppressed groan as I did so.

"Alright, what is it?" I asked, adding a little mock impatience into my voice, frowning down at him in a serious, but non-serious manner, keeping the mood light.

He nearly laughed, but turned it into a peculiar little choke instead.

Taking a steadying breath, he gazed up at me earnestly.

"Are you sure about this Jase? Really, really sure?" He asked me, stroking my cheek with his fingers, ensuring that the little electrical impulses the movement sent down to my groin insisted I continue where we'd left off really, really soon.

But then I really thought about his words, and some of the excitement drained away, and the fear spiked up inside of me.

Frowning in earnest, I studied him silently for a bit.

Then tried to explain to him: "No. No I'm not sure at all Mark. But I need to try, I have to try, I want you so fucking bad it hurts, and if I'm to have a normal semblance of life, I want this to be part of it too."

I gently caressed his cheek. God, he's so beautiful, I could get lost in those large gorgeous blue eyes.

"I'm so fucking scared Mark, scared I can never find normalcy again. Getting back on the team, making love to you, those are normal things, things I need, in order to know that I'm coming back from the horror, that I'm surviving, moving on, creating a new chapter out of the madness that's been my life these past months."

I felt the pain and fear rising inside of me, and the tears beginning to tingle behind my eyes. My voice caught on the last words, and he rested his hand on my shoulder, massaging it gently, while he looked up at me with loving concern and understanding.

"I love you Jase, more than anything in this universe. You know I would wait for you forever." He murmured, sincerity in every octave, shining deep within his beautiful sky blue eyes.

I traced around his lips with my thumb, loosing myself for a moment in the beauty of his shining eyes, love for him filling every ounce of my being.

"I know Mark... I know..." I whispered, loving him deeply.

Bending in, I kissed him again, tenderly, with passion and anticipation.

To my relief, and joy, I was able to love both him and his body through the night, our explorations unclouded by my flashbacks or deep-seated fears this time.

When my orgasm came, it was inside my love, as I kissed him deeply, giving him my all, stroking him and massaging him until his own orgasm sent him screaming straight to heaven and back.

Then, we curled up in each other's arms and slept, the dreamless sleep of the truly contented.

Now, here I am, the first awake, watching him sleep, enjoying the slight smile on his lips, which I've put there. Loving the feeling of love and contentment I can sense radiating from him. Basking in his warmth of spirit, which I'm so damn lucky to have in my life.

It had to have cost him a lot emotionally to meet me part way tonight. It's not something Mark is used to doing; the meeting partway, that is. But, tonight he did it, and he was right to do it, as he's only strengthened now, what he have, what I hope we'll always have.

Our love and trust in each other.

Leaning in, I kissed him gently on the temple, liking the way his lips twitch at the action.

I'll make it work.

He's given me a chance now, one I didn't have before.

And damn, but I'll make it work!

Goodnight my love, I breathed softly in his ear, and pulling him in close to me, allowed myself to drift off to sleep with a contented sigh.

No bad dreams tonight.

Only love.

Lots of it!

The End. (Of Chapter One)

Coming Soon... Chapter Two - "The Nightmares That Haunt Us"