Victoria covered her mouth and nose, trying to keep out the smoke. It wasn't dragon smoke. It was the smell of burning fabric, supplies, and bodies. Her stomach churned and threatened to return her last meal. She ducked back into her small tent, trying to pack as many things into her charmed messenger bag that could fit. Not for the first time, she was grateful that this life forced her to live off of few things.

Securing the bag to her back she emerged from her tent. She ran straight into a solid body. Looking up quickly, she met Bronn's stone cold gaze. She saw his lips move, but she couldn't hear anything above the screaming from the camp and the flicker of flames. But her mind supplied her reaction. Fear. He smiled wickedly and raised his wand slowly. Part of her wanted to be lost in his embrace, surrounded in the love they once had. The other wanted to run screaming. But she simply stood frozen. She focused on his lips as he formed the words "Avada Kadavra". Piercing white light invaded her vision...

Tossing in turning in her bed, the sheets wrapped tightly around her. Strands of sweat soaked hair were plastered to her face, making her thin tank top and shorts stick to her. She only mumbled at first. Those mumbles gave way to shouts. "No!" Tears started pouring from the corners of her eyes.

"Alec..." she whispered, searchingly.

Alec smirked brightly as he apparated into the flat once more. He knew that Victoria was in the flat since winter break had occurred, and Tess had a late shift around this day which he knew perfectly well.

He was looking around wondering if that stupid pet that Tess had was there, but as no one was there, he began to climb upstairs. He had to admit that for a dingy flat it was rather nice looking. His musings immediately ended as he heard her scream.

He began to climb the stairs and pushed the door opened wondering if she would protest but as he heard her whisper his name, he felt a pang in his chest and walked in letting some light in.

"Victoria are you okay?" he asked.

Her dream changed. Her and Alec were back in the restaurant. She didn't see anyone else there, but the sounds of a crowded room filled her ears. He was pressed closely to her side, one hand on her cheek, caressing the line of her jaw. She wanted to melt into his electrifying blue eyes. His lips were moving, and her heart soared at unheard words. Just as she leaned in to brush her lips against his, he was pulled from her and out of the booth.

Bronn pushed him down onto his knees. She knew Alec was a formidable opponent, but he wasn't fighting. He smiled sadly at Victoria, raising his hands in surrender. A single tear ran down her cheek. "No." she whispered. Instead of a wand, Bronn pushed a handgun against the back of Alec's head. Just as Victoria reached out to stop him, Alec closed his eyes, still with that accepting smile, and Bronn fired. "Alec!" She screamed.

She thrashed around in the sheets, grinding her teeth, biting back another scream. Her tear soaked pillow did nothing to wake her from her nightmares.

Alec walked into the room tentatively not wanting to disturb her, but as she heard the sheets move and the noises emitting sounded like sobbing, he knew that he needed to stop this night terror.

Walking forward he sat down on the side of the bed and placed his hands on her shoulders lightly. He didn't want to scare her, but as he saw the tears trailing down her cheeks and her quiet sobbing he needed to wake her up immediately.

"Victoria" he said shaking her shoulders. "It's only a dream, wake up"

Victoria tasted salt. And copper. She'd bitten the inside of her cheek. Her eyes flew open, seeing Alec sitting there. Alive... She sat up quickly, using his arms on her shoulders to pull herself up and wrap tightly around him.

Letting out a quiet sob, she clenched her fist in the back of his shirt. He was alive, and solid, and here. Her foggy mind didn't question why he was there, or even where there was. She was just happy he wasn't dead.

Then it came back. Her dream. Seeing him die. Seeing him accept his death at Bronn's hands. Victoria felt like her blood had run cold. She pulled away from him, sitting back against the head board. Furrowing her brow, she looked at her knees, which she had curled up to her chest. "What...what are you doing here?"

As she pulled him towards her, Alec allowed her to, no questions asked. He rubbed her back and murmured sweet nothings in her ear trying to comfort her. He moved his hand up to her hair and ran his fingers through her tresses shushing her.

"It's alright, it was just a dream calm down" he murmured.

Her sobs weren't lessening, so he let her cry and her silent sobbing and shaking were making him worry. The way she clung to him made his chest hurt at the thought of a strong woman like her being so shaken up.

As the sobs now lessened he felt her pull back and let a tentative smile and began to explain why he was there.

"It's been two weeks...the case just ended." he explained sighing. "I left Dorian at St. Mungo's, it was a tough one...but I needed to see you. Are you okay?"

Victoria ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek, checking that she hadn't bit too deeply. She chanced a look up at Alec. His usually crisp suit looked disheveled. She wasn't sure if it was like that before she'd clung to him, or if it was just because of her. Once she looked at him, she couldn't stop.

It'd been two weeks. Two weeks with not a word. Tess hadn't heard anything, though Victoria hadn't ventured to ask after a few days. She didn't want to sound desperate, especially when Tess was treating her like she was made of porcelain. It had only gotten worse once she'd come back during the break. Tess seemed to stay home as much as possible, so that Victoria wouldn't feel lonely. Though they never really talked about why she might feel lonely.

The case... She'd known that was why him and Dorian had left that night, and part of her had tried to hold on to that thought. She'd done well for the first week, but then the nightmares had begun. Some of them were memories. Some were fabrications. Those were the worst. She'd seen Alec die so many times by now. She swallowed slowly, trying to keep her sobs down.

"I..." She cleared her throat when her voice sounded unstable, and looked down at her hands. "Yes...I'm okay." She closed her eyes, only to open them quickly, not wanting to see his sad smile from her nightmare.

He kissed her forehead and held her close. He needed a bath, and a change of clothing, but he didn't care. Once he had dropped off Dorian and asked if he wanted him to stay (only to be pushed out by Dorian himself) he had dragged himself right to Victoria.

He'd be lying if he said he thought about her ALL the time, but she was always there in one way or another, especially during lunch. He wasn't able to contact her because of the fact that it was dangerous. He didn't want to release any information.

"Right" he said whispering.

He didn't believe her, but he simply pulled her close and waited for her to talk.

Victoria let Alec hold her. She wasn't going to stop him, though part of her wanted to. She just breathed him in. He smelled like dust, and sweat, and something that was just him. She let out a shuttering breathe.

"You were gone for so long..." She felt new tears stinging at her eyes. Over the past week she had bounced from wanting him back with her, to fearing if he ever came back. She'd never found out what had happened to Bronn after the attack. And now, thoughts of him returning plagued her waking hours as well.

She pulled back in his arms, looking him in the eyes. Searching. "I've seen you die so many times." She knew she shouldn't tell him. She hadn't told Tess, for fear of her checking her in at St. Mungo's.

At the crack in her voice he squeezed her tight and sighed. He knew that this was going to be hard, but he hoped she'd understand the responsibility that came with his job.

"We were ambushed...it wasn't pretty, they were connected with the Dark Ones group and well...I couldn't just contact you. I was undercover" he mumbled.

His whole explanation died at his lips as he heard her last comment. Obviously she had had night terrors for a while, and it involved him.

"How long have you had them?" he asked.

Victoria scolded herself inwardly. She'd had that conversation in her head many times. "I know." She really did. Being an Auror was a dangerous job. It meant doing what you had to for the job. It meant going away for unknown amounts of time, with no contact.

But it was a different thing to 'know', another to experience. She hadn't realized, with the short amount of time they'd been...what they were, that it would affect her so much. She looked into his eyes, relaxing in the warmth she felt in him being here. It wasn't until she was afraid she'd never see him again that she realized how fast she'd fallen.

A part of her was scared though. Scared of getting too close, of getting hurt. Or getting him hurt. She swallowed. "About a week, now. I was fine at first," she didn't want him to think she was being clingy, "but they just kept getting worse."

Alec was relieved she wasn't mad. While he hadn't been in serious relationships (he avoided them like the plague) he did have to deal with women who complained about his disappearances. And while in the past it meant that he was entertained by another, around half of the times it was his job. If he was ever close to being married, it was to his job. And he always put it first, so when she tried to understand, he was glad it wasn't going to be a fight.

He rubbed her back absentmindedly wondering when she was going to talk, but as she admitted that it was a week, and that it was getting worse he wondered if it was partially his fault.

"What are they about?" he asked.

Victoria pulled away slowly, not wanting to hurt him. But the fear from her dreams was bubbling to the surface, threatening to overwhelm her. Yes, Alec could be hard headed, and annoyingly stubborn, but he could be wonderfully sweet at times. And she couldn't bare seeing him hurt, or worse.

Especially because of her. She gently spread her open hand against his, reveling in the warmth there. His hands weren't overfly large, like the men she was used to at the camp. She liked them though. "I'm used to memories coming back. I've had those for months. But now they...they've changed." She bit her bottom lip, not sure if she should tell him. She didn't want to worry him.

"I see Bronn now. First he was coming after me. That was bad...but then, he started hurting you." She could feel the tears coming back, flooding her eyesight.

Alec knew that she was still dealing with the betrayal that she had cast upon her. Bronn, that bastard had hurt her and caused some sort of trauma, clear from her shaking and tears streaming down her face. He wiped her cheeks then rubbed his thumb against her cheek trying to comfort her.

At the mention of him being hurt, he straightened up a bit and looked at her trying to say the right thing. He was crap at saying the right thing, but he was trying. He pulled her closer and squeezed her tight not wanting her to push him away. He didn't know that Bronn would still get in their way.

"It was just a dream" he murmured against her hair hoping to comfort her.

Victoria couldn't help leaning into Alec's hand on her cheek. She brushed her lips against his palm, trying to smile a little. It was hard though. Her nerves felt raw after a week of these memories and nightmares. And it wasn't like she was talking about it. Yes, she had Tess, but she didn't want to burden her with all of this. Especially since they were just left over feelings and confusion.

She could feel him tense before being pulled into him. Trying to lose herself in his heartbeat, she let out a shaky breath. "I know. I'm sorry." That was an extremely loaded apology. She wanted to forget. To move past it. But it was getting harder.

Softly moving her nose against his jaw, she tried to lighten the mood. "So did you do what you went to do? Or catch who you were after, or whatever?" Victoria knew that he couldn't tell her much. But she was hoping to at least know if he'd been successful.

Alec really felt for her; usually he would avoid a crying woman at all cost but she looked so broken. It was really hard for him to see this. Even when she attempted to smile, it seemed broken, and he knew that he needed to fix that. He wasn't exactly used to fixing broken smiles, more like causing them, but he knew that this wasn't normal for her to be crying over a dream.

"Don't apologize" he whispered to her. "It's not your fault"

He leaned down and kissed her forehead thanking Merlin for her being able to talk more clearly. He let her lean back as she was seeking comfort, and was glad for it; he missed her touches.

"I did...we were after wizards working on muggle trafficking." he said generally. "we were ambushed and Dorian got hit with a curse. He told me to get back to you."

He knew she was changing the topic, but he'd wait for her to calm down to keep the conversation over her night terrors going later on.

Now that she was calming down, Victoria felt drained. Crying always took a lot out of her. And the adrenaline rush from the nightmare wasn't helping either. Deciding to get a little more comfortable, she propped up her pillows against the wall that her small bed was pressed up against. She leaned against them and gave Alec's hand a little tug, hoping he'd join her. She figured it was a safe enough way for them to get comfortable without being too comfortable.

Pulling her legs up to her chest, she smiled at Alec genuinely. As much as she hated the time apart, hearing just a little of what he was working on reminded her how important his work was. "Hopefully he's okay. I need to thank him for sending you back to me." A part of her knew she should worry about Dorian too, but he wasn't Alec.

She really didn't want to sound like that kind of a girl, but she couldn't help but ask. "So in the midst of all that excitement, did you think of me at all?" It wasn't something she normally asked, but she was feeling very insecure. About herself, and about them.

Seeing her smile, Alec couldn't help but smile back at her. Despite the fact that her eyes were glittering because of her tears, her smile was genuine and that was all he asked for. As she tugged him to lay beside her, he kicked his shoes off and removed his dirty cloak before following her lead. He didn't want to dirty her bed with soot and dirt and blood that wasn't his.

"He was forced to go to St. Mungos...hopefully he won't make someone cry" he said smiling. "Don't thank him, he might be thanked by karma by getting himself a student nurse or something"

He raised his hands and placed them behind his head to relax. He knew Dorian would be alright, he was a fighter, and he was perfectly functional as he was dropped off.

"I did" he replied to his question. "When it was quiet...but I couldn't contact you, I'm sorry."

Victoria laughed at the idea of Dorian having to put up with a scared little student. Though she knew they were all there to pursue their dreams, just as Tess did. She wondered how her night was going. Looking over at the clock by her bed, she thought she should have been home by now. Though she was happy for the time alone with Alec. While Tess was acting more...well, less UNsupportive.

As they got comfortable, she laced her fingers through his, simply wanting contact. She could feel the electricity run through her veins at the thought of him thinking about her. It turned into a numbing chill when he brought up again how he couldn't contact her. "It's okay." She hated how her feelings were so up and down right now.

She turned her head, letting it rest on the pillow and let her eyes close, happy to relax without the fear of nightmares. "Thank you. For coming back." They hadn't really established anything solid before he'd left, and now that he was back, she felt even more unsure of what he wanted out of...them. But she figured she could at least be happy that he was here, now.

Alec squeezed her hand and leaned down to kiss her forehead. It was nice and quiet and he wondered if Tess was going to pop up and ruin it all. He sighed at the thought, but relaxed against her hoping to take advantage at the time they had. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that his confession had made her happy, he figured it'd work well if he kept going.

"You know, I thought about you briefly the first week, but when we weren't coming back that week, and were ambushed the second, when my mind wasn't racing or scheming, you were definitely there."

Her thank you surprised him more than anything. He didn't really understand it, had he done something special? He didn't think so.

"You're welcome?" he replied. "Did you think of me?"

Victoria scrunched her nose at his confused expression. "I guess that was stupid." She laid her head back to look at the ceiling. "I just...I still don't know what you really want here." She knew her bluntness got to some people, but she didn't want to beat around the bush with Alec. "I know you're your own person, and I like that. I don't mean to change you. So, I guess, I'm just happy for whatever time we have together."

None of it was a lie. She wanted to be honest with him, but still wanted to protect herself. She'd went blindly into love before, and didn't want to do it again.

When he asked her if she thought of him, it was hard to answer. She didn't want to scare him away, but she didn't want to give him a reason to give up. Looking him in the eyes, she smiled softly, "Every day."

Alec was surprised at the blunt comment. He was surprised at how hard it was. Was it so hard to just move on and not put a title? He figured it was unrealistic, and the fact that she said it almost heartlessly made him frown. 'I don't know what you really want here' was repeated over and over in his head.

"I want you" he said simply. "I'm trying you know...rather than go to my flat I came here to see you. I think about you, I even introduced you to my best mate."

He wondered if it was even an appropriate time to say this but it just felt right when she said that she thought about him all the time.

"I hate asking this...it's never not awkward but...would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Ugh he felt like he was seventeen, he was expecting his voice to crack at how awkward this was.

Victoria regretting her bluntness, seeing his reaction. She felt terrible as it seemed like he was trying to reassure her with things she already knew. Turning onto her side to face him, she tried to stop him with a finger to his lips. "I know. I know you are."

She froze when he asked her. It felt like the world was focusing into just the two of them, numbing her. He looked awkward and maybe a little nervous. It mirrored her own feelings. Part of her was terrified to jump into something more solid. The other part was thrilled that he felt the same way she did.

Deciding to be the brave one, she leaned into him, threading her hand lightly through the hair at the nape of his neck. Closing the space between them she whispered, "Yes," before ghosting her lips over his.

Alec felt like she was taking forever to ask. Bloody hell he was the one who had blurted it without realizing the consequences. He felt too old to have a girlfriend, that being 24, girlfriend seemed childish because she was a grown woman and he himself knew what he wanted himself.

But as she said yes, he leaned down and kissed her, allowing himself to take advantage of the kiss and satisfy the need he had dealt with for two weeks. Pulling away after a bit he smiled.

"I hate the term though...just know that but the meaning behind it stays the same." he said kissing her forehead. "I'll be by your side though."

Victoria smiled brightly, laughing at Alec's comment. Ever the suave bachelor. Not anymore. If it was anyone else, his kisses to her forehead may be felt as childish or condescending. But they just made her feel protected.

She breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing how much the question of where this relationship was going was weighing on her. She reached down, playing with the silky material of his tie. "Well, I won't call you that, then."

She couldn't help the smile playing at her lips, when she tried to be serious. "So long as you're mine." He was never going to act like a kept man, and that's what she loved about him. She didn't mind that he would always be a flirt, as long as he was her flirt.