"Just working off a little extra energy," John defended himself with a grin as he headed toward the stairs.

"And a little leftover tension and anxiety," Guin added, smiling broadly as she wiped her damp hands on her wetter jeans.

"You ought to go upstairs and change before you catch a cold," Connor chided her gently.  "But first...there's something I keep forgetting."  Quickly stepping up to her, Connor tilted her chin up and kissed her lightly on the lips, leaving Guin trembling.  "Welcome home, sweetheart."  Guin smiled faintly, then gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading upstairs.

Connor stole into his office for a few minutes, then began constructing the evening meal from his groceries.  Shortly thereafter Guin was descending the stairs again.  Connor caught his breath as he looked up at her.  Guin's attire was simple: black leggings under a long denim shirt -- one of his shirts, Connor quickly noted.  But the top two buttons of the shirt were undone, and her long, wavy hair fell about her shoulders in a way that highlighted her smile and twinkling eyes.  Or maybe it's just that I haven't seen her look happy in weeks, he thought, smiling to himself as he shook his head.

"What's so funny?" Guin asked as she stepped up beside him.

"Nothing's funny."

"Then why are you smiling?" she accused teasingly.  "Or is it just because I'm stealing from your closet again?"

Connor shook his head.  "I'm smiling because you're here," he answered, turning toward her.  "And because you seem happy to be here."

"I am happy to be here."  Guin wrapped her arms around his torso.  "I'm glad to be home."

Connor hugged her with one arm as he stirred the sauce to go over the veal cutlets he had in the oven.  Turning down the gas under the burner, he took Guin's hand.  "C'mon," Connor said, pulling her toward the office, "I want to show you something."  Once inside, he gestured up to the wall.

"You put the dreamcatcher back," she breathed.  Guin glanced back at the desk.  "You put our picture back too," she added solemnly.

Connor turned a shade of red.  "I was sort of hoping you hadn't noticed the picture was gone."  He put his arm around her and gave her a gentle squeeze.  "We're kindred spirits, Guin.  We've got to stick together."

Guin gave a brief laugh.  "Sometimes I think we're more different than alike."

"We're more alike than you think."

Guin shrugged.  "Well, I know we like a lot of the same music, books, movies..."

"It runs deeper than that."  Connor expelled a long breath.  "We both have sensitivities that lead us to shut out the world because it's too painful to experience -- and so torturous that it often doesn't seem worthwhile to love."  Connor shook his head sadly.  "We rarely let anyone into our worlds.  And when we do let someone in, we work so hard to keep them safe that we don't always realize we're hurting them."

"Don't I know it."  Guin gave a deep, heartfelt sigh, and Connor stroked her hair.

"You gonna live?" he asked quietly as she laid her head against his shoulder.

Guin smiled faintly and nodded.  "I think so."

"But you're still fretting.  Stop it."

Guin raised an eyebrow at him as she lifted her head.  "Make me."

"I thought you'd never ask," Connor replied with a devilish laugh, tickling Guin until she shrieked.

"Stop!" she cried out through her giggles, trying to push him away.  Connor gave it a few seconds more, than plopped down in a chair and pulled her onto his lap.  Gradually Guin began to catch her breath as her laughter subsided.

"Much better," Connor announced.  "That's the sound I want to hear."

"I hate you," Guin replied, still struggling for breath.

"You do?"  The twinkle in Connor's eye told her that he didn't believe her.

Guin shook her head.  "No.  How could I hate someone so eager to make me laugh?"

Connor smiled.  "Let's go finish making dinner.  John and I rented a movie this morning, we can all have a nice quiet evening in front of the TV."

After a delicious but healthy dinner, spoiled only by the rich cheesecake Connor had picked up from Grady's Bakery, the threesome retired to the den with a pot of hot cocoa to watch "Men in Black."  Guin and Connor sat down immediately, but John remained standing, fidgeting in the doorway.  "You know," he said, "I don't think I really want to watch this tonight."

"What do you mean you don't want to?  You love this movie."  Connor furrowed his brow.

"I can see it some other time."  John gave a small wave as he quickly exited and ran upstairs.

Connor shook his head.  "I don't get it.  He was eager to watch this when we made the plans to do it this morning."

Guin elbowed him with a laugh.  "Don't you see what he's doing?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.  Connor shook his head.  "Your very bright child is leaving the two of us alone, silly."

Connor laughed and shook his head.  "Oh.  Yeah."  He pulled Guin to his side as he started the movie.  "I don't mind getting to spend some private time with you."

"We all should do something together soon, though," Guin fretted.  "He needs to know that I've missed him."

"He knows," Connor said quietly.  "He missed you too."

Sliding up against the corner of the sofa, Connor pulled Guin over to lie against him.

"Connor?" Guin said as the movie began.

"Hmm?"

"Ya think maybe Immortals are an alien race, like in this movie?"

Connor snorted a laugh.  "You really are tired, aren't you?  Your imagination is working overtime now."  He gently wrapped his arms around her, subconsciously toying with her sleeves.  Guin crossed her wrists and entwined all of her fingers with his.

"This feels good," she said quietly, closing her eyes and exhaling a sigh.

"Yes, it does," he breathed in her ear.  "It certainly does."

Guin woke abruptly from an uneasy dream, only to find herself alone on the sofa, the television off.  "Connor?" she called out uncertainly.  There was no answer.  She stood up, stretching her stiff joints before glancing in the kitchen and Connor's office.  There was no trace of him.  Guin wandered upstairs, panic beginning to course through her.  He wouldn't change his mind about wanting me back...would he?  She could hear music lightly thumping from behind John's door.  Reaching the master bedroom, Guin tried to turn the handle, but the door was locked.  She knocked hesitantly.  "Connor?"  She heard a shuffling, then the sound of the lock being turned.  Connor's eyes were twinkling as he popped his head out the door.

"Give me a couple more minutes, all right?"  He winked at her, then shut the door again.  Guin breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall to wait.

"C'mon, Connor, when do I get to come in?" she called after the minutes began to stretch out.

"Now," he replied, opening the door and offering her his arm, which she took.  Connor led Guin into the room.  A bowl of strawberries was nestled in a blanket in the center of the comforter draped over the bed, and a bottle of champagne was chilling in an ice bucket on Connor's bedside table.  Stopping a few feet from the bed, Connor gently lifted Guin up and set her on the mattress.  Guin giggled, rolling onto her side and propping up her head to watch him open the champagne bottle and pour two flutes full.  Handing her one, Connor eased himself onto the bed and, propping himself on one elbow, picked a single strawberry from the bowl and proffered it to her.  Guin smiled.

"I remember this game," she said quietly, sinking her teeth into the fruit and pulling it from his fingers.  A second strawberry was dangled in front of her face, and she took it as well.  Connor picked up a third, but instead of offering it to her, he put the tip of the strawberry between his teeth and leaned toward her.  Guin pulled her head away, and Connor backed off, taking the strawberry into his mouth and chewing it thoughtfully as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry," he said, swallowing.  "I'm pushing too hard."

Guin shook her head vehemently.  "Not really.  I just wasn't expecting your face in mine that suddenly, sweetheart."  She drew Connor's face to hers and gave him a delicate kiss.

"I've missed you, Guin," he said quietly.  Connor's eyes met Guin's, the melancholy and loneliness of the past few weeks blatantly revealed in his gaze.

"I've missed you too, Connor," she replied, gently stroking his cheek.

"Rachel was right, I never should have let you go that easily."

"Well, Claire was right -- I never should have left.  And I should have let you tell me what you could or could not handle, rather than making the decision for you."  Guin sighed, tears forming in her eyes.

"We've both made that mistake -- I've tried to save you from my problems before, only to end in near-disaster.  It's about time I got it shoved back in my face."  Connor touched her cheek, stroking away the tears that were beginning to fall.  "I promise, I won't do that again.  I'll let you decide what you can handle."

"I promise too," Guin choked through her tears. "I'm so sorry I hurt you, Connor."

Connor moved the bowl of strawberries and the champagne flutes to the nightstand and gently took Guin into his arms, cradling her against his shoulder as he pulled her to him.  "I can't believe I almost let this destroy us," she whispered, curling into his embrace.

"I can't believe I almost let you," he replied quietly.  "The best thing that's happened to me in a long time, and I let you walk out of my life."

Guin looked up at him.  "Am I really the best thing that's happened to you lately?"

Connor nodded solemnly.  "Absolutely."

"Then you need some better stuff in your life!" she said with a brief laugh, wiping the remaining tears from her face.

"I don't need anything better than you."  Connor kissed her deeply.

"We stopped communicating again, didn't we?"  Guin gazed into his face.  "We screwed ourselves over.  Again."

Connor nodded.  "And as usual, we're both guilty.  So don't take this all onto your own shoulders."

A knock came at the door.  "Come in," Connor called out.

The door opened cautiously, and John stuck his head in the minimal opening.  "I just wanted to say goodnight," he said sheepishly.

Connor smiled and waved him in.  John hesitantly walked toward them, but when Guin opened her arms, he eagerly accepted her embrace.  "I've missed you, kiddo," she whispered to him.

"I've missed you too, Guin.  It's good to have you home."

Connor quietly wrapped his arms around them both, resting his cheek against the top of Guin's head.  After a moment, John backed out of the group huddle, self-consciously wiping his cheeks.  "Good night," he said quickly, backing out the door and closing it behind him.

Connor looked down at Guin, who was still staring toward the door.  "You've got family here who love you," he reminded her quietly.  "You can always turn to us.  No matter how bad you might think your problems are, or how you think they might affect us."

Guin nodded, tears coming to her eyes again.  "I know that -- at least I do now.  I just wish I'd seen it before.  What the hell was I thinking?  I left the only source of comfort I had..."  Guin swallowed hard, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Don't."  Connor pulled her to him tightly, running his hand along her back.  "Stop punishing yourself.  It's over now.  You're home, and we're together.  Everything's back to how it's supposed to be."  He settled his cheek against her temple.  "I love you, Guin."

"I love you too."  Guin tilted her head up, and Connor kissed her tenderly.  She looked deep into his eyes and smiled.  "Connor?"

"Hmm?"

"Make love to me."  Connor's expression reflected his concern, but she shook her head.  "I really want this.  It's been too long.  And the last time...well, you know."  She smiled wanly.  "It wasn't exactly a bonding moment.  So don't deny me this."

Connor kissed her forehead, then laid her back against the pillows.  The delicate kisses he offered her were hungry, but undemanding.  Guin closed her eyes and savored the sensation, smiling as Connor's hand gently caressed her body and began to slowly undo the buttons on her blouse one by one.  Re-opening her eyes, Guin looked deeply into his, and reached up to touch his cheek.  "You were afraid, weren't you?"  Connor turned his eyes away, but nodded.  "Look at me," she demanded gently.  Connor reluctantly complied.  "You thought you were going to be alone again, and you were going to shut all those feelings out of your life, become less than human."  Connor closed his eyes.  "I'm right, aren't I?" Guin pressed.

Nodding again as he opened his eyes, Connor sighed as he curled up against her side and laid his head on her shoulder, toying with the buttons on her shirt.  "That's how I cope."

Guin shook her head sadly.  "And I've just been doing the same ol' greedy thing today.  Here you've been comforting me all day, and I sucked it all in without once bothering to think you might need some comfort from me."

"Your presence is comforting," Connor replied quietly.

"And my absence was devastating," Guin added for him.  Connor shrugged, but Guin could see the faint shimmering of tears on his face.  When she reached over to wipe the tears away, Connor pushed her hand back and wiped them away himself.  "Don't hide your pain from me," Guin pleaded gently.  "You don't always have to be the strong one, you know."

Connor shrugged.  "I don't want you to feel guilty."

Guin snorted.  "I'm going to feel guilty whether I see you cry or not.  And I'd rather know how you feel, sweetheart."  She pressed her lips to his forehead.  "I'm not used to having someone who has as much at risk as I do.  It can really hurt to love, can't it?"

"Yeah."  Connor averted his eyes again.  "Especially when you know you'll outlive them."

Guin shook her head.  "But it hurts to be alone, too, doesn't it?  We both know that.  I can't count the nights in my life that I've wept from the pain of feeling all alone, and it's so constant.  There's no reprieve.  At least when you let yourself love, you've got some happy moments too, to help alleviate whatever sadness you may encounter.  You don't get that with loneliness."

"No, you don't," Connor agreed solemnly.

Guin gazed at him tenderly.  "You really thought this was all about your being Immortal?"  She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You brought it up a lot," he replied with a shrug.  "I thought that meant it was getting to you."

Guin twitched her lips.  "I think I brought it up because it was an easy target, you know?  It's become so much a part of our daily lives that I didn't think twice about using it as an excuse to be angry, any more than I might have picked on your money or your taste in clothes or your gorgeous eyes that change color as swiftly as the stormy sea."  Guin smiled as he blushed.  "I didn't mean to hurt you with it," she continued quietly.  "I was just lashing out at the closest thing -- and, much to my chagrin, that was you and your Immortality."

"I thought that maybe after the incident in New York with Mason, you'd...you know..."

"Had enough of Immortal stuff?" Guin filled in for him.

Connor nodded.  "We don't talk about it, but I know it wasn't easy for you to deal with.  I thought that was the last straw -- or at least leading up to it."

"But I told you, Connor...I told you that it was okay..."  Guin shook her head in disbelief, and Connor turned his eyes away.  She stroked his cheek gently.  "And you didn't believe me.  Because of the dreams, huh?"  He nodded.  "Well, in spite of the dreams, I came to terms with it okay.  Now you...you were the one that had a hard time dealing with it.  You've acted guilt-ridden ever since then."

Connor nodded in agreement, eyes still averted.  "That's because it was my fault."

"Honey, I was the one who stormed out of the apartment, remember?  Anyone could have grabbed me, I was stupid to leave by myself."

Connor sighed.  "But you refused to talk about it afterward.  And there were the dreams.  And then you stopped talking about having children, and stopped talking about getting married..."

"Oh, Connor," she said with a shake of her head, "just because I stopped talking about marriage and children doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about them.  I was just too stressed out to be discussing it...I still loved you enough to consider those things.  Why didn't you say something if it bothered you so?  I would have talked it out with you."

"I did bring it up," he said, bitterness edging his voice.  "Several times.  But you were always too tired to talk about it."

Guin blushed.  "That's right, I did say that, didn't I?"  She toyed with his hair.  "I never meant for you to think I didn't want these things anymore.  I wish you'd pushed me harder to really talk about it."

Connor shrugged.  "I didn't think you'd want to talk about it.  You didn't seem to want to talk about anything.  And keeping Mason in mind...I just thought it was better to let it drop."

Guin gently brushed his hair back away from his face.  "Connor, sweetheart, I survived the incident in New York.  And I'm letting it go.  Do whatever you have to do to let it go too."  She lightly kissed his lips.  "I'm okay with your Immortality, and I'm okay with you.  Don't ever forget that.  I mean it with all my heart."

"You said a long time ago you were 'waiting for the other shoe to drop,' for you to find out I was less than perfect."  Connor frowned.  "I think it's dropped quite a few times since we met."

Guin shook her head.  "It doesn't matter.  What matters is that it hasn't scared me away. Your intensity can be terrifying, but at its root is the passion that draws me to you.  And you are good and kind far more often than you are mean-spirited.  You can hide behind your facade all you want -- now that I'm finally learning to see past it.  You can't hide yourself from me, or from yourself anymore.  But there's nothing there that will drive me away.  Besides, I told you a long time ago that I don't scare that easy."

Connor touched her face, finally looking into her eyes again.  "You're very brave."

Guin shook her head again.  "I'm terrified of everything, really.  But some things are worth facing -- especially if it gives me someone to link to, emotionally."  She smiled at him. "You feel so incredibly deeply, and you're finally starting to show it again.  And I want to be there for you, Connor, every moment that I can be, pain or happiness, joy or sorrow.  You might be Immortal, but that doesn't mean you don't need somebody."

Connor sighed.  "You've made me feel things that I haven't felt in a long time."  He smiled, embarrassed.  "Sometimes I'm not quite sure what to do with my feelings.  So I bury them or push them away."

"Let yourself love, let yourself hurt," she replied sagely.  "Don't hold it back."  A tear tracked down Connor's cheek, and Guin wiped it away as her lips quirked into a smile.  "Make wild mad passionate love to me, Connor.  Don't hold back, not anywhere."  Connor smiled at her silently for a few moments, then went about following her orders.

Connor's mind slowly surfaced to consciousness as the sunlight radiated down on him from the window.  He kept his eyes closed, trying to recall what day it was.  It had been so long since he'd slept soundly that he'd lost track with this one good night of sleep.  Hell, I'm not even sure which bedroom I'm in, he nearly laughed at himself.  Wait a minute, he thought anxiously, that wasn't a dream, was it?  Guin coming back to stay...that couldn't have all been in my imagination.  Could it?  Connor frowned and squeezed his eyes tightly shut.  Well if it was, I know what it was telling me.  I'll ask her to stay -- before we fight, this time.  Connor slid his hand across the bed, fearing that all he'd find was the edge.  Instead, the blade of his hand gently bumped into soft, warm skin.  Connor laid his hand along Guin's back for a long moment, then smiled and opened his eyes.

"Mmm," Guin moaned as she stretched, "needing a touch?"  She rolled over to smile at him.

"Just making sure you're real," he replied quietly, his eyes searching her face.

"I'm real."  Guin's smile broadened.  "Just tired.  I think you wore me out last night."

"You asked for it," Connor said with a grin, stretching back against his pillow.

Guin's smile faded.  "You've gotten used to sleeping without me."  Connor furrowed his brow at her.  "You rolled away from me in your sleep."

Connor frowned, obviously in inner debate.  Finally he spoke.  "I've hardly been sleeping in this room at all, Guin," he said quietly.

Guin raised an eyebrow in surprise.  "Really?"

He nodded.  "Not since you left."

"Oh."  Guin curled up against him, and Connor stroked her back.  Closing her eyes, Guin took a deep breath of his warm male scent, then let it out with a sigh.  "We still have a lot to talk out, don't we?"

"Mmm hmm.  But we're off to a good start."  Connor ran his fingers through her hair.

"Yeah, I guess we are.  We both know mistakes were made, we're willing to talk about them, and we know we really do love each other."  She looked up at him.  "Right?"  Connor nodded.  Guin picked up his hand and entwined her fingers in his.  "I'm still afraid," she admitted quietly.

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid that I screwed things up so bad that we'll never get back to where we were."  Guin sighed.

"We won't ever get back to where we were -- that's the past," Connor responded firmly.  "It's gone, no matter what's happened between us since.  We can only go forward."

"That's not what I mean..."

"I know what you mean, let me finish," he reprimanded her.  Guin fell silent.  "We were beginning to take each other for granted."  Connor paused in thought, and Guin waited patiently for him to continue.  "This separation has brought us both to realize the extent to which we depend on each other."

"You mean you think we're too dependent."  Guin's face soured.

Connor shook his head.  "No...what I'm thinking is..."  He frowned, then sighed.

"What, Connor?" Guin said finally, her impatience settling in.

"I ne....." Connor's voice trailed off quickly to a mutter.  Guin gave him a reproachful look, and he cleared his throat.  "I really do need you, Guin."

Guin coughed out a brief laugh.  "You don't need anybody, Connor.  I've seen it, you can take care of yourself just fine..."

Connor shook his head.  "I knew you wouldn't understand."

Guin laid her head back down against his shoulder and blew out a long breath through her nose.  "I guess I'm just not bright enough to get it," she replied tartly.

Connor rolled his eyes.  "No, you're just too single-minded to let yourself see things through anyone else's eyes," he accused.  Guin frowned deeply.  "Now I've done it," Connor said, tapping her backside.  "Right?  I've pissed you off.  Even though you managed to insult yourself more than I did."  Guin closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around him more tightly, and Connor kissed her forehead.  "Do you want to know what I was going to say?" he asked, a gentleness in his voice.  She nodded guiltily, and Connor took a deep breath to brace for this uncomfortable disclosure.  "I need your patience, Guin -- sometimes I don't think anyone else would put up with me.  I need your sympathy and motherliness when I'm weary after a battle.  I need your deep-rooted feelings when I think I've lost my own."  He gently pulled her closer.  "Most of all, I need your trustworthiness and compassion.  You've so readily accepted my Immortality that I'd almost forgotten what it's like not to have someone around who understands.  I've gotten used to your understanding -- and I'd rather not have to get un-used to it.  Not for the next few decades, anyway."  Guin looked up at Connor in amazement, and he smiled faintly at her.  "I guess I've known these things for a long time, but I never would have consciously thought about them or admitted to them.  Until now."

Guin shifted uncomfortably.  "So why are you saying all these things now?  Don't get me wrong -- I like hearing them -- but I'm not used to hearing so much from your heart all at once."

Connor smiled.  "Does it scare you?"

"Not scare, exactly."  Guin shook her head.  "It's just a little...disconcerting."

"I just want to give you as many reasons as I can not to leave again.  Especially since my silence helped drive you away."  Connor shook his head and closed his eyes.  "When you left, the pain was horrible," he confessed.  "I felt like my soul had been ripped out.  Everything reminded me of you."

Guin swallowed hard.  "I'm sorry, Connor."

Connor sighed, but smiled.  "I'm not fishing for an apology, Guin.  I'm just trying to tell you...how I feel."

"You don't have to tell me," she replied.  "I know you love me."

"But you don't know the why, Guin.  Maybe if I'd told you the why before, you wouldn't have left."  Connor smoothed the hair back from her face, then laid his hand along her jawline and absent-mindedly stroked her cheek with his thumb.  "A year ago, I didn't even know you, and now I can't live without you."

Guin shrugged.  "There are other people you've felt that way about."

Connor furrowed his brow, concerned over her nonchalance, but he nodded.  "And I was with them until they died."  He paused.  "Or left.  First Alex, then you.  I almost lost faith in finding someone for the long term."  Connor gazed down at Guin's drawn face, her eyes closed.  He could feel the tightness along her jaw.

"I'm sorry I disappointed you, Connor," she said guiltily.

"Guin, I told you I don't want an apology."  Connor turned her chin upward, and she opened her eyes.  "I'm not laying blame.  I'm trying -- in my own awkward way -- to tell you how much you mean to me."  Guin sighed and turned her eyes away.  "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Beat yourself up with my words.  That's not what they're there for."  She began to protest, but he put his finger to her lips.  Connor shifted to come face-to-face with her.  "Your leaving forced me to see just how much I need you."

Guin shook her head.  "But I hurt you..."

"But I love you," he protested back.  "Or don't you want to be in this for the long run?"

Tears began to stream down Guin's face.  "I do, but..."

"Then stop standing in your own Goddamned way."  Connor pushed his face in hers,  nose-to-nose, giving her his infamous stare.  "I mean it.  That's exactly what you're doing.  That's what this whole thing has been about, you isolating yourself, not letting anyone in."  Connor stopped and pulled his head back as he heard the echoes of Guin's own speeches in his words.  Guin read his thoughts in his expression, and laughed through her tears.

"Sounds familiar," she sniffled.  "I certainly am a hypocrite, aren't I?"

"You just don't listen to yourself enough."  Connor shook his head.  "No, you don't listen enough when it's good advice you're giving.  The criticism, that you hear way too much.  To the point where you feel unworthy of anything."  Connor stroked her cheek.  "You really don't see it, do you?"

"See what?"  Guin furrowed her brow.

"How strong you are."

"Ha!"  Guin shook her head.  "I don't know what you see.  Obviously not the little crying, whiny self-centered bitch that I am..."

Connor put his hand over her mouth and shook his head.  "I will not let you talk about yourself that way.  That does not describe the person who patiently lets me isolate myself from them so I can focus, who helps me into bed when I'm in the aftershock of a Quickening and too tired to think..."

"The person who cares only about herself, leaving John to fend for himself while she selfishly sobs uncontrollably after you leave for a fight..."

"The person who unselfishly stays, even though it kills her inside to know that every time I walk out the door, I might not come back."  Connor looked at her seriously.

"But it is selfish that I stay.  I stay because I love you and I need you, in spite of the difficulties.  These past few weeks have proven it."  Guin swallowed past the lump in her throat.  "But I don't know why you want me back."

"For the same reasons you stay."  Connor pulled her into his embrace, fighting a few of his own tears.  "I swore I'd never let myself fall in love again.  But I love you, and I need you.  I just wish you'd understand that."

Guin bit her lip, reluctantly nodding.  "I saw Ceirdwyn before she left," Guin said quietly.  "She suggested counseling for me for these dreams, with a friend of hers who deals with Immortal issues.  In fact, I've got an appointment for next Saturday.  Anyway, these counselors also do couples counseling, and Ceirdwyn suggested that for us."

Connor raised an eyebrow dubiously.  "You really think we need professional help?"

"I dunno."  Guin frowned.  "I think it could be helpful.  Give us a direction for our talking, now that we're talking again."

Connor nodded thoughtfully.  "I'll think about it," he promised.

They lay quietly together for a few moments, absorbing the growing warmth from the sunny window.  Guin smiled, then blushed.  "I'm so glad to be home, Connor."

"You don't know how glad I am that you're home, love."  He hugged her tightly.  "I wasn't sure I'd ever sleep in this bed again.  It was too empty without you."  Connor nuzzled her ear.  "I missed the sweet smell of your hair, the feel of your arms around me, the warmth of your skin..."  He pressed his body into hers and kissed her tenderly.  "Other things..." he added with a grin, giving a low, devilish laugh.

Guin laughed back and offered him a deep kiss.  "Well, we'll just have to make up for lost time, won't we?"

The few birds clinging to the branches of the trees chirped gaily on this bright Saturday, their song intermingling with the faint sound of running water and the slush of hooves in the shallow, wet snow that had fallen overnight.  After riding up the hillside, the three riders approached a straightaway, the last part of the path before the walking grove.

Connor halted his mount and adjusted his feet in the stirrups.  "Race ya to the spruce," he dared his companions.

Guin cocked an eyebrow at him.  "You're on."  John nodded his agreement as well.

"Ready...set...go!"  The three egged their horses down the path, yelping and shouting as they sped along.  With a last burst of speed, Guin pulled her mount to the fore, narrowly beating the other two riders to the first line of spruce trees that marked the grove's entrance.  She slowed her horse to a walk, circling the area several times to let the animal cool down from the run.  The others followed suit.  Dismounting, the three secured their reins to a stout tree at the edge of the grove.

"Good race," Connor congratulated Guin, smiling at her glow.  He was about to offer her his arm to take, but thought better of it and put his arm around her instead.  Guin wrapped an arm around him and leaned her head against his shoulder as they began their walk, pulling John to her other side and putting her arm around his shoulders.  It had been a week since she had moved back into the house, and although most of her things were re-settled into place, Guin herself was still having a hard time adjusting.  Her deep sense of guilt still haunted her; many nights she had woken up shaking, and Connor encouraged her to cling to him while he calmed her back to sleep.

"Has it been a good week?" Connor asked her, his tone serious.

Guin shrugged.  "I guess so."

"You guess so?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Much better than the several weeks before it," she replied.  "But the night shakes are making me lose valuable sleep."

"I know."  Connor pulled her closer as they walked.  "They'll get better, I promise."

"I know they will."  Guin sighed.  "I love you, Connor."

"I love you too."  Connor kissed her temple.  "I just wish it would help you shake your fears.  It bothers me that you dream of me changing my mind about you."

Guin frowned.  "It's because I'm still blowing my stack at you."

"Not as much," he countered gently.

"Not as much, but still enough," she replied.  "More than I should be, and enough to give you all the ammunition you'd need to hate me."

Connor shook his head.  "You're still winding down from the stress of your job.  I know that.  And I know you're working on it.  I just with there was some solid way for me to show you that it's all right."

"You're doing all you can to help me," she reassured him.  "The rest is up to me.  Just you being there is important to me."

"What did Dr. Whyte have to say this morning?" he prodded.

Guin shrugged.  "She was glad to finally get to meet me.  And seemed encouraged to hear that my Mason nightmares were fading, as were my work ones.  We talked about the new ones -- she thinks those will go away too as long as I keep working at them the way I did the other ones.  And as long as you and I keep the lines of communication open."

"We've done pretty well this week," Connor remarked.

Guin nodded.  "Yeah, we have."  They had walked on another few minutes in silence when Connor wordlessly signaled them to stop.  Guin looked up at him questioningly, and he gestured to a dark stand of trees to their right.  Guin and John both gave quiet gasps as they finally saw it: a large stag, his rack of antlers heavy and proud, was partially camouflaged among the array of branches and trunks.  While the two mortals stared in awe, Connor began breathing meditatively, closing his eyes as he reached out with his senses.  Guin looked up at him in puzzlement as his arm relaxed on her shoulders and his lax hand brushed against John's neck.  Connor's whole focus was aimed somewhere beyond her understanding; all Guin knew was that it had something to do with this creature.  Connor's breathing slowed as he connected with the stag, his heart echoing the pattern of the animal's.

Guin and John exchanged glances, then turned their amazed gazes on Connor.  They could both feel the stag's heartbeat and energy through Connor's touch.  The stag was now eyeing them all, his gaze interested but lacking fear or hostility.  Guin could almost feel Connor give the beast a mental pat, and the animal turned back into the forest and disappeared.  Connor opened his eyes, and laughed at the stares from his companions.

"Connor," Guin whispered in awe.  "Oh, Connor..."

Connor shrugged.  "So I have a few special talents.  You can thank Ramirez for teaching me that one."

"Thank you, Ramirez," Guin exhaled, still lost in shock and awe.  "Thank you, Connor, for sharing that."

"I didn't know you'd be able to feel that," he admitted.  "But I'm glad you could."

Having recovered from the shock, John ran ahead of them a bit as they continued their walk.  Suddenly a snowball flew out of nowhere, hitting Connor squarely in the chest.  John's laughter echoed through the grove.

"All right, hotshot," Connor growled playfully, picking up a handful of snow and molding it.  "Come out where I can see you."  Another soggy wad smacked Connor's arm before John revealed himself.  Connor chased after him, first pelting John with the snowball, then tackling him.  Amidst much joyful shouting, the two wrestled on the ground, kicking up snow flurries around them.

Guin laughed until tears were streaming down her face.  "Boys will be boys!" she called out tauntingly.  The pair stopped wrestling, then stood and began to converge on her.  "Oh no...no!" she squealed as John ran after her and tackled her.  Connor took over from there, tickling her as she squirmed in the snow.  Her giggles echoed in the tree-enclosed space.  Finally Connor stopped, his face hovering above hers.  Guin reached up to brush some of the melting snow from his hair.

"The snow gives you salt-and-pepper hair," she said gently, her eyes still sparkling with her spent laughter.  "Makes you look a little older."

Connor smiled sadly.  "While you were gone, I...I had a talking session at God -- more like a shouting session, actually.  But I promised Him that if He brought you back to me, I'd find a way to grow old with you.  And that I'd do whatever it took to keep you happy."  Connor smirked as he sat down next to Guin.  "I asked Heather to watch over you too...I was visiting her grave then."

Guin quickly pushed herself into a sitting position.  "Connor, what did Heather look like?"

Connor furrowed his brow.  "Why?"

"I just want to know.  Please."

Puzzled by the pleading look on Guin's face, Connor thought a moment before beginning his description.  "She had blonde hair that fell about her shoulders in waves.  A bit shorter than me.  Strong, inside and out.  Eyes that could be beautiful one minute, then shoot daggers the next."  Connor gave a brief laugh.  "Is that enough?"

Guin nodded, lost in thought while Connor and John looked at her expectantly.  Finally Guin spoke.  "When did you ask her to watch over me?"

"Two weeks ago," Connor replied, still confused by Guin's sudden curiosity.  "The Saturday before you moved back in."

"The Saturday before I came out to stay with John?" Guin clarified, nodding toward the boy who was quietly listening to their conversation.  Connor nodded, and Guin smiled faintly.  "That's when my bad dreams really began to fade, only to be replaced by calming dreams of...a field of heather."

Connor laughed.  "Sounds like coincidence to me."

Guin shook her head.  "Let me finish.  The night I came to stay with John, I had a different dream...a woman appeared in the field with me, and she told me to go back to you because you needed me.  She spoke with a Scottish brogue and looked like what you just described."  Guin looked up at him, but Connor averted his eyes.

"Anything's possible," he admitted.  "If it's true she was looking after you, then I'm glad.  She seems to like protecting those around me," Connor added, nodding toward his son.

John blushed.  "She used to appear in my dreams when I was little.  Especially when Dad was gone."

"Which was too often," Connor confessed.  "Heather always wanted children, I suppose it satisfies her soul to look after mine.  So now she's looking after you too."

"She wasn't looking after me, Connor," Guin corrected with a shake of her head.  "She was looking after you.  I don't think she cared so much that I was hurting, though the heather field dreams did help.  She was terribly concerned that you were going to go hide inside yourself again, though."  Guin laughed.  "My problems weren't worth it for her to actually show up in my dreams, but she showed up in a hurry when it came to protecting you."

Connor smiled faintly.  "I pick strong women," he told her with a wink.

"I wish I felt strong," Guin replied.  "That night I came out to be with John really frightened me.  John said you weren't in a good frame of mind, and I just kept hoping you'd make it home."  Guin blushed.  "I wish I'd stayed to take care of you.  The Quickening obviously didn't cause you too much damage physically, but you looked awfully weary."

John quirked a brow at his father.  "You haven't told her, Dad?"

Guin stared at him blankly.  "Told me what?"

Connor turned a shade of red.  "There was no Quickening."

"No?" Guin knitted her eyebrows.

"No."  Connor took a deep breath as he shook his head.  "When Brenda died, I took it upon myself to rid the world of some of the bad Immortals wreaking havoc on the mortal world -- trying to somehow make this a better place for my son, or so I excused it."  John bowed his head as Connor frowned.  "I think it was really just an excuse to work off some of my anger."  Guin reached over and squeezed Connor's hand as she waited for him to continue.  "Back then, I killed the wife of the man who challenged me a few weeks ago.  He didn't believe it when I told him she was dealing drugs, he was so bent on getting his revenge."

"But he only came after you now?" Guin asked.  "Why after so long?"

"Took him this long to find out who killed her."  Connor shook his head.  "I've spent years trying to forget that period of my life.  Even if I got a few of the 'bad guys,' it was a mistake to do what I did."

"What made you realize it was wrong?" Guin squeezed his hand again reassuringly.

"When I killed someone who really was innocent, and his wife came after me."

"Oh."  Guin's eyes opened wide.

"That's why I wanted to run this time, Guin," Connor admitted quietly.  "I didn't want to face that part of my past again."

"So why was there no Quickening?"

"He let me go."  Connor twitched his lips.  "You've heard the phrase 'it's a small world.'  The woman who came after me years ago for killing her husband...who I talked out of killing me at the time...is now this man's wife.  She knew that his former wife really had been a drug dealer, and she convinced him not to seek vengeance."

"Thank God for her," Guin remarked.  Connor nodded solemnly.  "And now we can go to Marrakesh next week because we want to -- not because of such worrying reasons."  Guin tweaked John's nose.  "Lucky that my vacation coincides with your school break."  Guin grinned.  "Well, now that my butt's soaked from the melted snow beneath me, shall we go back to the house and pack for our flight tomorrow?"

Connor laughed.  "Let's."  He stood and helped Guin up, adding, "it'll be good for all of us to get away for a little while."

Guin nodded.  "Different surroundings and a chance to spend some time together will really help us in starting over.  Like in kids' games, when you get to have a 'do over' -- making up for a stupid mistake.  Those weeks apart are definitely a mistake I want to make up for."