Ą Chapter 39 Ą

"Glad you made it back," he said with a grin to Sloan and Tom.

Sloan settled into her seat in front of a trussed up young man that had a mental feel much like Darcy. He eyed her warily over his gag.

"I'm not back yet, Ed," Sloan said quietly and opened her left hand to reveal one more hypodermic.

"What is it?" Marianna asked, looking over the back of her seat at Sloan.

"Anti-serum," Sloan answered.

"But you feel like you've already changed," Marianna said. "Can this change you back?"

"Darcy said it could," Sloan answered, looking from the hypodermic in her hand back to Tom's face. "They gave me a cocktail of neurotransmitters and hormones that stimulate Dominant brain chemistry. That's why I feel like a Dominant. The first shot prepares the way for the DNA change. Makes it less abrupt, I guess."

"Acclimatizes the nervous system," Ed commented, glancing back in the rearview mirror.

Sloan nodded and then went on. "But the virus with the messenger RNA will take days to have an effect. The anti-serum is supposed to stop it before it gets too far."

"Aaron," Tom turned to the young man laying tied up in the back of the van and released his gag. "What do you know about this anti-serum? Will it work?"

"Why don't you try it and see?" Aaron set his jaw.

"I'm asking you," Tom said quietly, but Sloan could feel him projecting a threat behind his words that would have made her cower in her seat had it been aimed at her.

Aaron looked uncomfortable for a moment and then said, "It works. There's a fever, then a long sleep, then they wake up."

Tom just continued to look at Aaron. The young man began to sweat.

"It works!" he gasped finally. "I swear!"

Tom turned back to Sloan and said softly, "Take it."

Sloan looked into Tom's eyes and allowed herself to get lost in the feel of him. She knew with deepest certainty that he had never meant to hurt her or deceive her. She felt his commitment and strength, and knew that he would do whatever he felt he had to in order to keep her safe.

"How can I give this up? How can I give up knowing you?" she said and blinked back tears.

"You don't have to give it up," he said softly and took her face in his hands. "Just remember it. It won't ever change."

Sloan rubbed her cheek against his left hand and then reached up, pulled his hand down and placed the hypodermic in it. She leaned back her head, exposing her neck for the injection. She felt Tom lean forward and kiss her on that spot right over her pulse. Then he pulled back. She felt a slight prick, and that was the last thing she remembered for quite a while.
Ą Chapter 40 Ą

Tom sat in a chair by the bed counting Sloan's breaths and thinking about how many times she had sat here and kept a vigil over him. He understood better now how uncertainty could eat away at one's peace of mind and he realized just how strong she was.

She needed all that strength now.

He ignored the low beeps of the monitors and closed his eyes to the tubes trailing from her arms. He reached out to her mind, like reaching down a deep dark well. Don't leave me, Sloan. Come back. There was a faint response and then nothing.

He waited.

Ed and Walter walked in from the kitchen.

"Any change?" Ed asked.

"She's there," Tom answered. "She's just not ready to come out yet."

Walter frowned and looked at Tom over his glasses. "It's been almost two weeks, Tom. Perhaps-"

"No." Tom cut him off. "No hospitals. There's nothing they could do for her that we can't do here."

"Tom's right, Walter," Ed agreed. "The fever's broken, she's sleeping, her reflexes are good. We just have to wait for her to wake up."

Tom looked at Ed gratefully. He knew Walter meant well, but the thought of Sloan in a government hospital or research center brought up too many memories.

"How did the talks go today?" Tom asked, changing the subject.

Walter gave him another look over his glasses to show that he knew exactly what Tom was doing, but then allowed himself to be turned to this new topic of conversation.

"Very well, actually," Walter said. "It would go faster if Mark and Tom were attending, but even so, Tom's return from Lewis' camp and the information about the coup have gone a long way to building up trust between the co-existence faction and the US government. The announcement that Maxwell was still alive and the assassination plot uncovered in time hasn't hurt, either."

"That's great, Walter!" Ed said with a smile.

Tom hid his amusement. He had an idea that Ed's interest in coexistence had gotten rather personal lately. He sensed someone approaching the apartment. He brushed their minds to assess their intent and said, "Grace and Ray are here." Just then the bell rang.

Ed and Walter went to answer the door. Tom stayed with Sloan. He felt all the concern for her that flowed from her friends. So many people cared for her; he wished she could sense it.

He took her hand in his and waited. After a while the others left, each saying good-bye. Ed was the last to leave.

He came and stood next to the bed. "Maybe I should stay."

Tom looked up and smiled slightly. "Go. Sloan would want you to."

"Yeah. OK." Ed nodded, then held up his cell phone. "Any change: call me. I'll come right back."

Tom nodded. "I will."

Ed did a last check on the IV and the monitors before turning to leave.

"Say hello to Marianna," Tom said. "And tell her to observe alcohol protocols carefully. Office parties can be treacherous."

Ed chuckled. "Hey, she's safe with me."

Tom gave him a real grin and said, "Yeah, but if she drinks too much, you might not be safe from her."

Ed laughed and blushed, then headed out. At the door he turned and called out, "Have a good Christmas Eve, Tom."

"You, too, Ed," Tom answered. He heard the door shut, and then there was just him and Sloan.
Ą Chapter 41 Ą

Evergreen.

Evergreen and freshly baked cookies. Those were the smells of Christmas.

It took Sloan a second to realize that she was awake and smelling those things. Her limbs were heavy and her head felt thick. The tip of her nose was cold and her back stiff. She had absolutely no desire to open her eyes. Then she heard a creak beside her bed and Tom's voice whispering her name.

"Sloan?"

For him she would open her eyes.

She was mildly surprised to find herself in her own bed. She blinked and Tom was there: leaning over her, a look of concern on his face. She smiled up at him, thinking that things could never get too bad as long as she could wake up to those eyes. She reached for him and found -

Nothing.

"Oh!" She bit her lip and blinked back tears.

"What is it? Are you in pain?" Tom asked and placed his hand on her forehead.

"I feel like my brain is wrapped in cotton wool, that's all," Sloan answered. "I can't feel you anymore."

"You're still recovering from the fever the anti-serum induced," Tom told her as he gently stroked her hair. "You'll feel more normal in a day or so."

"But normal is Human normal. I still won't be able to feel you." She fought to keep the tears out of her voice.

"I'm sorry, Sloan. But you have to believe me when I tell you that you the consequences of going through with the change would never have been worth the gains."

"I know," Sloan answered. "Darcy told me that most of the Humans Lynch changed are sterile."

Tom nodded. "There are other things. You felt a little of it. Most Changelings don't adjust to the mental pressures they're exposed to. They don't shield well and they become dependent on stronger individuals to protect them. That's the reason the Council turned away from his project - they felt he was turning out inferior examples of the species."

"Everything was a threat," Sloan remembered. "And I felt so angry. Then Lynch walked in and I just crumbled. Until I felt you." She smiled at him, remembering the incredible strength and devotion that she had sensed in him.

Tom shook his head. "I still can't believe you did what you did. I know Lynch didn't believe it. I've never heard of a Changeling being able to hide their intent like that."

"I don't know if I could have done it as a real Changeling," Sloan said. " I was still basically Human. I just hid my Human intent under the Dominant feelings he was playing on."

They were quiet for a moment, and Sloan didn't need Dominant senses to know that they were both playing that scene over in their heads one more time. She reached for Tom's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Enough of that." She smiled. "Why am I here at home? And who's been baking cookies?"

"Ed's been treating you here. We didn't want to risk a public hospital," Tom said. He hesitated before continuing with a frown. "Walter wanted to take you to a government facility. It probably would have been OK, but Ed and I agreed that here was better. I should call him and tell him you've woken up."

"Tell me about the cookies at first. And why do I smell pine?" Sloan asked.

Tom grinned then. "Grace delivered the cookies just a little while ago. They're still warm. The rest is a little something that Ed and I cooked up for you. Let me take care of all the IVs and other hookups then I can show you."

"When did you learn how to do this?" she asked as she watched him gently remove the various lengths of tubing that she had been connected to for the last several days. He was quick and efficient. She didn't even have time to be embarrassed by the process.

"Ed told me that I could take them off as soon as you woke up and then he showed me how." Tom explained as he worked, then grinned and asked, "Who do you think has been taking care of you while you've been unconscious?"

With that he stood and gently lifted her under the shoulders and knees, cradling her in his arms, and walked into the main room of the apartment. Sloan found herself a little dizzy and shut her eyes until Tom set her down in the big chair in the living room.

"What do you think?" he asked.

She opened her eyes and gasped. There was a large and beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the nook where the breakfast table had been. Across the mantelpiece was holly and above that a large wreath.

And on a small table that had been placed in front of her window was her father's Menorah with candles.

Sloan was stunned. Tom was crouched next to the chair and watching her face intently

"I asked Ed. He said you always decorated for Christmas. So we decided to get the place ready for you." Tom explained, looking a bit concerned at her reaction. "We found most of the decorations in your storage area in the basement. I found the Menorah there, too. I thought, after what you said, you might want to have it out. It's all right, isn't it?"

"Oh, Tom - It's wonderful! I - I don't know what to say!" She drew him up to sit beside her in the chair and hugged him tightly.

"Careful!" he said, laughing. "Don't crush this!"

From his pants pocket he drew out a small red and green foil covered box.

"What is it?" Sloan asked.

"Merry Christmas."

She took it in her hands and looked from Tom to the box and back again. "Can I open it now?"

"Of course." He smiled and stroked the back of his hand down the side of her face. "It's Christmas day, and that's for you."

My god, she thought. I was sick that long? But it didn't matter at the moment. She looked down at the little box and opened it. Inside was an even smaller black velvet box. She glanced up at Tom, but he simply smiled. She slowly opened the box.

"Oh, Tom!" She ran her fingertip over the large Solitaire diamond pendent necklace that lay nestled in the tiny box.

"I bought it in the airport when I was returning here," Tom explained. "A woman chatting to me while we were waiting in line suggested that I should get you something."

"Get me something?" Sloan asked.

"Get my... girlfriend... something," Tom answered, looking away as if he were suddenly shy.

"Oh," was all Sloan could think of to say for a moment, then, "It's beautiful. I love it." She reached out and stroked his face with her hand as he had done to her just minutes before. "I love you."

Tom frowned with uncertainty and opened his mouth to speak, but Sloan put a finger to his lips and said, "Shhh. I know. I remember."

She curled up in his arms and tucked her head under his chin. He held her tightly and they stayed that way for a moment. Then Sloan said in a teasing voice, "So you guys thought of everything else. Is there any mistletoe around here?"

"Do we need any?" Tom asked and gave Sloan that half-smile that she had missed so much.

"Well when you put it that way - " Sloan said and sat up to get a better angle. "No." And she leaned in, meeting Tom half way for the start of a kiss that lasted until Ed came by much later with the eggnog.

End