When Lazara relayed L'talin's call to Fabrice, the pale healer immediately
hurried to his apartment.

She tapped nervously on the door.

"Who is it?" L'talin's voice asked, sharply.

"It's ... it's Fabrice," she replied.

"About time. Come in,"

Pushing the door open, she found L'talin sitting on the bed, clutching a
blood-stained rag to his head.

"Oh, you poor dear!" she cried, rushing over to the bed and taking the cloth
from him. "What happened?"

"Someone's idea of a practical joke," he muttered, darkly, as Fabrice
examined the wound.

"A joke?" Fabrice retorted. "Someone out there's got a sick mind. No, don't
talk," she said, "just relax and hold still while I clean this..."

L'talin visibly relaxed as Fabrice fetched water and clean cloths to clear
the wound, the tension flowing out of him as her healing energy flowed in.

"There. That's done," she said, wearily, a few minutes later, as she sat
down heavily on the bed beside her, bowing her head into her hands in a vain
attempt to stop its spinning. "There was a lot of blood, but the wound is
only superficial. Now, you were going to tell me who did this, and why..."

"Was I?" replied L'talin, casually.

"For goodness sake," replied Fabrice, anxiety rising up inside her as her
voice rose too. "You could have been killed! Someone out there wants to harm
you, and you don't even seem to care!"

"Oh, I care all right..." said L'talin, "and I know what I plan to do..."

"Are you going to report this?"

"No!" he snapped, catching Fabrice off guard as he grabbed her wrists and
forced her to look at him. "Don't you see? I have enemies all over this
warren? I can't trust *anyone*!"

"You... you can trust me," Fabrice said, quietly.

"Yes," said L'talin, turning away from her. "I can trust you. But
none-the-less, we're both in danger."

"Both of us?" said Fabrice.

"Yes! Use your brain, girl. You don't think they're going to leave *you*
alone now, do you?" L'talin said, cruelly.

"No," Fabrice shook her head. "So, what do we do?"

"*You* do nothing," he said. "Just keep your head down, keep quiet, and
don't even *think* of breathing a word of this to anyone. Do  you understand?" 

Standing up, he grabbed Fabrice by the shoulders and shook her roughly. "Do
you *understand*?" he repeated.

"Yes. Of course I do," Fabrice replied, tears welling up in her eyes. 

"I have my own plans," L'talin continued, releasing her and walking away, as
if he'd forgotten her existence. 

He remained silent for a few moments, his back to her.

"Just be ready to leave at short notice," he said, softly.

"Leave?" breated Fabrice, uncertain of whether she'd heard correctly. 

"Yes, leave," said L'talin, turning round. "It probably won't come to that,
but if I decide it's no longer safe to remain here, I'll want you to leave
with me,"

"Oh!" said Fabrice, her eyes lighting up.

L'talin shot her a scathing look and said nothing.

"I'll be ready. Just in case," Fabrice said, subdued now. 

"I ... I think it would be a good idea if I stayed here tonight," she continued.

"Why?"

"Because I could look after you..."

Fabrice knew she'd used the wrong words the moment they were out of her
mouth. L'talin looked set to snap something back, so Fabrice hurriedly
continued. This wasn't going the way she'd planned.  "I could ... help you
sleep," she suggested hopefully. "You've had a bad shock, and you won't be
in a fit state to deal with *anything* if you don't rest,"

L'talin nodded, thoughtfully.

"And, I could keep watch," she continued, gaining confidence as she felt his
attitude change. "I can easily catch up on my sleep tomorrow. Then nobody
could try anything like *this* again."

L'talin's eyes narrowed. She did have a point there.

"If you must," he said.

**************
[Later]

Fabrice tried to stay awake after L'talin had fallen asleep. It didn't seem
possible that she could be so tired.  Today she'd felt uncharacteristically
weary - especially since she couldn't put it down to working in the medical
centre. 

A chill of fear gripped her stomach. Could her healing abilities be fading?
No, anything but that, she thought, terrified that L'talin might abandon her
if that were the case. 

No, it's just stress, she told herself, reasonably. You've been through a
lot recently. Yes, that must be it.

Within minutes, Fabrice, too, was asleep.

**********
Respectfully submitted
Carina Norris
carina@norris25.freeserve.co.uk

for Fabrice