Moira and (groggy) Nathan

[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

Nathan wakes up for the first time and luckily, Moira's there for it. He's really still too much out of it and after a few minutes falls right back asleep.




He knew she was there before he opened his eyes, and then managed a
slight, groggy smile up at the red-haired blur leaning over him.
"Don't kill me," Nathan murmured, his voice cracking enough to tell
him he must have been out cold for quite a while. "Too cute to die..."

"Mmm...well, I suppose ye 'ave a point there. I'll send th' killer
squirrels back, then." Leaning over, Moira clicked the penlight on to
check the reaction of his eyes to the light. Semi-normal, that was a
relief. "'ow do ye feel, love?" she asked, waiting for him to wake up
enough to figure out that she was actually _there_ and not some
bizarre brain exploded dream.

Nathan squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. His vision
didn't clear up, and the less said about the way his head felt, the
better. "Like I sprained my brain. Did, didn't I?"

"All thin's considered, I'd say aye. Ye 'ad th' link pretty well
shielded but even then, I got 'it wit' some backlash when everythin'
went down." It had been a damned good thing David and all were still
there, she'd been walking down the stairs when it had hit her.
Thankfully David had managed to catch her before anything happened.

"Didn't expect that..." he murmured, fumbling for her hand. She took
his, squeezing tightly, and he tried to smile. "You're okay? What
about the others... the kids?" Tim?

"They're fine. All o' them, Nathan, ye got them all."
Pressing her lips against the back of his hand, she smiled. "Ye did
it, ye all did it."

Not quite all, part of Nathan wanted to insist... but there was
so much to glad about, even so. Wasn't Jack always telling him to stop
dwelling on the negative? "Can't believe we did..." he murmured, not
really knowing what he was saying. "Hardly seems real..."

"I know but it'll sink in once yer brain stops tryin' ta curl up on
itself," she assured him, reaching down to kiss his cheek. "Ye won."

"We did. Those kids did, most of all..." His eyes stung suddenly and
he closed them, drawing in a shaky breath. "It feels... really good,
Moira."

"Ye all did so verra well. So proud o' ye." And she was. Moira knew
how hard it was for him to keep doing this. After all Mistra had done
to him, to the ones he loved and cared about, she could understand
why. But it was time to start dealing with those particular demons or
they would run his life forever. And victories like this helped more
than anything else could.

Nathan took a deep breath and then let it out again. "I'm so glad
you're here..." And he was. Waking up to her standing beside his bed
meant that everything was all right.

"So am I, love. I'm glad Scott sent for me, I would 'ave 'ated meself
for missin' bein' 'ere for ye, after all ye went through."

His eyes were drifting shut again, but he held on, stubbornly.
"Everyone's okay? Or being looked after...?"

"Aye, we're takin' care o' th' ones tha' are nay in tip top shape.
Haroun was whinin' about gatorade flavors, if ye must know, an'
managed ta get all o' us ta scold 'im."

"Haroun, complaining? What next..." Nathan said sleepily. His eyelids
were so heavy that he couldn't seem to open them. But he could still
feel her there, even with his powers so raw. That was all that really
mattered.

Gently tracing his jaw with her fingers, she smiled. "Ye can sleep,
love, I'll be 'ere when ye wake up. Nay goin' back for a wee while at
least. David's keepin' an eye on th' castle for me. If'n I dinnae
know any better, I'd swear they're eyein' th' place ta move in."

There was something very amusing he could have said about that. But by
then he was already drifting off again, and it had escaped him.