The worst of his injuries could not wait any longer.

She glanced from where they were crouched on the floor, up to the sofa beyond them, and a weary sigh of resignation left her lips. Somehow, she was going to have to get him off the floor, back onto the sofa where he would be far warmer and more comfortable. Besides, she was fairly certain that her goal of making him feel secure and safe in her home would be more easily accomplished if he was not on his knees at her feet.

But how was she going to get him there?

The vampire's legs were still useless, crushed and bruised, and she knew he would not be able to help her in the task at all...not that he would be all that heavy. She had easily carried him into the house the day before, and he had only had a couple of mugs of blood since then. She knew that she was physically able to lift him onto the sofa.

The question was, was he emotionally able to let her?

***************************************

"You...you can't stay here..."

His heart sank at the words, though the vampire was unsurprised. He felt a deep tremor of fear and despair beginning in his stomach, and he suddenly was not sure he could hold himself up any longer, feeling weak and shaky at the very thought of being made to leave this warm, safe place.

Please...please don't send me back...don't make me go...please...

Of course...he had known from the start that he would not be allowed to stay.

"The floor's gotta be really uncomfortable, and...and c-cold. I n-need to move you to the sofa, Sweetie..."

He frowned, confused by her words, unable to make sense of them through his rising panic. He couldn't stay; she had already said so. But then...why was she concerned with moving him to the...sofa? He shook his head slightly, tensing as he felt her hand gently brush his arm.

Please...don't...don't take me back...

"Shhh, it's okay," she soothed him, and he swallowed convulsively, wincing at the pain to which he was almost accustomed at this point, waiting with bated breath for her next words. "I'm not gonna hurt you. It's all right. You'll j-just be...so much more comfortable on the sofa."

His frown deepened, but a tiny seed of hope took root in his heart as he began to understand what she was telling him. Even so, his heart sank, because he knew that he could not do what she was asking. He could barely drag his damaged body a few feet across the floor, let alone lift himself onto an elevated surface.

"I'm just gonna...I'm gonna need to...to pick you up, Honey..." Tara whispered, her voice soft and sympathetic. "I'm gonna need to lift you onto the couch. Is th-that...is that okay?"

He froze, unintentionally drawing back, frightened by the thought of allowing her to move him. He was beginning to feel safe here, in this spot where he had spent the last...however long he had been here. Time had ceased to matter to him a long time ago, in his dark, oppressive world. But nothing bad had happened here...not yet, anyway. He didn't want to move...let alone to be moved by someone else, even Tara, who thus far had been so very gentle and patient with him.

Of course, it had to be possible to eventually reach the point where that kindness and patience would run out.

When he felt her hand on his arm, he tensed, but dared not pull away.

Gotta do as she says...gotta let her do what she wants...can't...can't fight...

"It's okay," she assured him softly. "It's not far...just a few feet, Sweetheart. Just...it's just right here."

As she spoke, he felt her hand trail down his arm to his, and gently tug his hand toward the area directly in front of him. He fought his natural impulse to pull away in fear, forcing himself to move forward with her, to allow her to dictate his motions, though he had no idea what she intended.

In a few moments, however, his fingertips encountered fabric, slightly rough but yielding under his touch. Tara gently guided his hand down, leading him to stroke slowly over the surface.

"See?" she said quietly, calmly, and he found that the increasingly familiar cadence to her voice was soothing to him. "It's right here...not far. Is it okay if I...h-help you up here?" He felt her raise his hand and set it upon a surface a couple of feet above where he sat on the floor. "It's just this high. Okay?"

Hesitantly, he nodded.

After all...it wasn't as if he actually had an option.

She was being gentle and patient with him, and even the illusion of choice was more than he had experienced in longer than he could remember. Still, he knew that if he resisted her, if he dared to choose to reject her suggestion, things could swiftly turn violent and ugly, and he would certainly be punished for his defiance.

"Good," Tara murmured her approval, and he felt a guarded sense of relief at the pleased sound of her voice. "Okay...we're gonna take this slow, all right? I'm gonna do my best not to hurt you..."

He jumped slightly when he felt weight, pressure, across his shoulders and back, but did not pull away, focusing on the soothing sound of her voice as she reassured him.

"It's just the blanket...just gonna wrap it around you to protect your back when I lay you down, okay?" she explained. "The couch is sorta...rough. I don't want it to hurt you...okay?"

He nodded tremulously, a ragged gasp escaping his throat as he struggled to rein in his rising apprehension. He froze, his entire body tensing as he felt her arms under his back and thighs, lifting him off the floor, and the utter lack of control brought on a fresh surge of panic. His broken legs shifted slightly as she moved him, sending sharp sparks of pain through them, but he did his best to keep still, to surrender, as she carefully carried him the few short steps to the sofa.

After a few tense moments, he felt the yielding surface of the sofa beneath him, the soft blanket between the raw wounds on his back and the rough upholstery. He kept still and allowed Tara to manipulate his body as she maneuvered him into a sitting position, his back against the corner of the sofa, his useless legs resting sideways across the cushions.

"It's all right," Tara soothed him, leaning his side against the back of the sofa. "Just relax, Sweetie...it's okay. See? You're fine. We're just gonna get you taken care of. All these injuries...we've gotta get you cleaned up. Now, you just rest here for a minute, and I'll be right back. I've gotta go in the kitchen for a second..."

Tara kept talking as she walked away, and the vampire focused on her gentle voice as she moved into the next room, allowing the soft, rhythmic sound to ground him, to help to keep his fears at bay. Still, he felt a sense of relief when he heard her return to the living room, making her way cautiously toward him, her steps a bit slower than they had been when she left.

And then...he caught a familiar scent, heard a familiar soft sound...and renewed panic seized him.

No...oh God, please, *please* no...

*********************************

Tara froze a few feet in front of the sofa, her eyes going wide with alarm as the vampire cringed back against the couch, shaking his head pleadingly, his hands fisting in the blanket behind him as he pushed himself back against it, despite the agony she knew the action had to cause his damaged back and legs. As she closed the distance between them and carefully set the basin of fresh, steaming water on the floor beside it, Tara sat down on the couch beside him, dismayed when he jerked away from her, shaking his head emphatically and trembling at her approach.

"Hey," she murmured soothingly, "it's okay...it's just me. What's the matter? I'm not gonna hurt you, honey, you know that. It's all right..."

As she spoke, she reached out cautiously to touch his hand...and he flinched, jerking his hand away from her touch.

Tara's heart lurched in her chest, as she realized that this was far more serious than she had thought. He had barely dared to pull away from her at all thus far, and most times she had been able to calm him by taking his hand. Bewildered, she glanced around the room, wondering at what was different, what might have happened to cause this sudden panic.

She studied him again, frowning with concern, as he twisted sideways on the sofa, lowering his body as far as possible in what appeared to be an attempt to crawl away from her...which of course was useless, considering his shattered legs. His breathing was ragged and shallow and panicked, and he shook his head rapidly in a desperate, pleading gesture as he tried to put as much distance as possible between himself and Tara.

Or perhaps...between himself and the basin of warm water at her feet.

"Is it...is it this?" she asked thoughtfully, almost as much to herself as to the vampire, as she reached down and took a warm, wet cloth from the basin, wringing it out carefully.

At the sound of the water splashing back into the basin, he flinched back against the couch again with a soft whimper, barely a breath actually...but enough to confirm her suspicions.

"Hey," she whispered. "It's okay. It's just water, Sweetie. I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise. It's just water; it doesn't hurt..."

Still, he cringed away from her, his every trembling muscle taut with fearful tension, shaking his head and gasping for breath as shudders wracked his body. Tara hesitated, uncertain how to advance from that point, not wanting to do anything to further frighten him, yet aware that she had to somehow make him understand that the simple water in the basin was not going to hurt him.

And my life is officially weird beyond belief.

Tara sighed as she ran the wet cloth over her fingertips, then slowly, cautiously reached her hand toward his, clenched and trembling around a crumpled bit of blanket. As soon as her damp fingers touched the back of his hand, he flinched violently with a startled gasp of terror, but she firmly caught his hand, holding onto it tightly enough to keep him from pulling it away, while still gently enough to keep from hurting him.

"Shhh," she soothed him. "See? It's okay...doesn't hurt. Just water...okay?"

The vampire shook under her touch, his hand barely daring to pull away from hers, as if he was torn between his terror of the water, and his desperate need to submit to her, to be obedient, for fear of punishment. Then, gradually, he became still, his entire body tense, as if poised on the edge of a flight which would have been impossible for him.

"See?" Tara encouraged him. "Just water. See? It's not gonna hurt you. I just wanna get you cleaned up, Sweetie. Take care of all these injuries. All right? Here...look..."

As she spoke, she gently turned his hand palm upward, grimacing as he simply submitted to her actions, though his upper body tensed and he visibly steeled himself for pain, his frantic breathing ceasing in fearful anticipation. Tara gently placed the warm wet cloth in his palm, and he jerked in a momentary, instinctive reaction to the unfamiliar sensation. But then, his brow creased in confusion, and his fingers flexed slightly around the moist fabric, as if trying to understand what it was he was feeling.

"I'm just gonna use this...and some warm water...and wash the...the b-blood and dirt away. Okay?" Tara explained. "Is that all right? I'm not trying to hurt you...okay?"

He was still and silent for a long moment, considering. Then, finally, to her immense relief, he responded with the very faintest nod of assent, a thin, shallow breath rattling through his damaged throat as his shoulders sagged just slightly with relief. He was still trembling, still clearly apprehensive as to her intentions, but he was no longer cringing away from her, no longer appeared to be on the edge of hurling himself off the couch just to escape the water on her hand.

Tara was utterly bewildered, trying to think of why something as simple as plain warm water would have such a devastating effect on the terrified vampire. He had obviously been through untold torments, but she could not fathom would could have been done to him to make him so frightened of something so basic and simple.

"Okay," Tara confirmed softly as she took the cloth from his hand with gentle caution, warming it in the basin as she tried to think where to begin.

*********************************

The vampire steeled himself as Tara gently lifted his hands in hers, not sure what to expect from her at this point as she carefully helped him to sit back up again. He was still uneasy with the familiar scent of water in his nostrils, and the vivid memories of the last time he had smelled that scent racing through his mind.

But...she had promised not to...maybe...maybe...

He allowed her to guide one of his hands gently forward, but flinched when he felt it encounter a soft, warm, and unfamiliar surface.

"It's all right." Tara's voice eased his fears as she explained, "I've just...put your hand on my leg...okay? See, I'm going to start working on your injuries, and...and it might hurt a little, but...but it has to be done, so y-you can get better...okay?"

He nodded, mentally preparing himself for the pain.

Really, he was unsurprised.

"But...if it's too much for you," Tara continued softly. "If you...if you ever want me to stop...just...just squeeze my leg, okay? To...to let me know...and I'll stop. I promise. I mean...we have to do it eventually, but...but we can take a rest if you need to. Do you...do you understand?"

He really, really didn't.

Was it possible that she was actually concerned with what he wanted...whether or not he wanted her to go on, or felt pain? She was the one in control here; if she wanted to clean him up, for whatever reason, that was up to her...wasn't it? What say did he have in the matter?

And yet...it seemed that she was willing to give him some measure of control over what she did to him.

It scarcely seemed possible.

He swallowed hard, his throat dry and aching as he heard the soft, splashing sound of the water in the basin, and knew that she had picked up the cloth again. Although he already knew, the water had not hurt him, he struggled to fight back his instinctive panic at the sound. His mind raced with various conflicting thoughts, questions, uncertainties.

It's okay...she said she'd stop...it's all right...doesn't wanna hurt me...but...but *will* she stop? Please...please don't...

Almost before he knew he was going to, he tightened his hand on her leg, just slightly, barely daring...but Tara froze. Panic seized him, and he flinched, pulling his hand back, expecting a blow for daring to disobey her instructions, to squeeze her leg when she hadn't even touched him yet. But all Tara did was to gently take his hand and place it back on her leg, her voice gentle and reassuring.

"It's all right...that's good. That's exactly the way I mean. Good. If it starts to hurt too much...if you get tired...do just like you just did...okay?"

He could hardly believe the way she was talking to him, with kindness and sympathy, as if she wanted to make him feel safe and comfortable with what she was doing. He was not accustomed to having his feelings, his opinions, taken into consideration at all, let alone emphasized in such a way.

"Okay...this is gonna be kind of hard, Sweetie...but it has to be done...and I'll stop the second you want me to. Okay? Are you...r-ready to start?"

Reassured by her patient manner, the vampire hesitated just a moment before he nodded uncertainly, and waited for Tara to begin.