Han felt someone hovering over him, and then a cool sensation on his head. He jumped up, alarmed. It was a huge mistake. His whole body protested, especially his head, which began to pound anew.

"Hey, hey," Orion said, putting his hands up. "Careful. Just relax. I'm trying to take care of your cut there."

"Sorry," Han rasped. "I guess I'm still a little jumpy. I should have noticed your scent." He lay back so that Orion could continue his work. Only then did Han notice that the rest of Third Company was also in the living room. Liam was standing by the window, Lani by the entrance to the foyer, and Rand at the stairs. They were guarding the room, he realized.

"What're you all doing here?"

"Well, you didn't say who or what did this to you so I thought it'd be best to bring reinforcements," Orion said. "Just in case they were still around."

"Oh. That was probably good thinking."

"How are you feeling?" Rand asked from the foot of the stairs, her voice filled with concern.

"Like hell."

"I'm doing what I can for you," Orion said. "You'll be fine. No broken bones or anything."

"Do you remember what happened?" Liam asked, taking a break from his vigil of the window to look over at Han.

Unfortunately for him, Han remembered it vividly. He took a moment to think about what he should say. The truth wasn't an option. At least not yet. It would complicate things with Sidney too much. There'd be too many questions. The fact that he hadn't told the whole truth would come out, and then he'd be in a world of trouble. "It's all a bit of a blur," Han said. "I don't really remember."

"Did you see who or what it was?" Rand asked.

"I think, maybe, it was that same guy that hit me with the brick at the school," Han said.

"That's twice he's attacked you unprovoked," Orion said. "I thought you said he seemed like one of the good guys."

"He did. He helped me with the witches. I'm sure of it."

"He got in somehow," Liam said, his voice grave. "He must have followed you. The anti-tracking spells don't work on him."

"Like Los Malos," Rand said.

Orion shook his head, his forehead furrowed with heavy lines of worry. "You'll come to stay with us," he said.

"I'll be okay," Han said. "I fought him off and told him we were on the same side. He seemed to understand. He left of his own accord."

"I thought you said it was all a blur?" Rand asked, raising an eyebrow.

Oops. Stupid mistake. Han blamed whoever seemed to be hammering a nail into his head. "It's coming back to me now."

"If you don't want to come to the mansion, then you have to have someone here with you for the night until we can get protection spells up," Orion said. "Which you should have done as soon as you moved in." Orion gave Han a pointed look.

"Sorry. You're right."

"I'll stay," Rand volunteered. Han thought it was a little suspicious for her to be so eager, but he was in no position to argue.

"Alright, I've done all I can," Orion said, packing up his first aid kit and closing it. "You'll be fine. Just try to rest up for a few days, okay?"

Han gave a nod. Lani, Liam, and Orion all said their goodbyes and wished him well. They left, leaving only Rand and him behind. Rand came and sat down on the chair near the couch. "You're lying," she stated simply.

"About what?"

"I know whatever happened tonight has something to do with Sidney. Tell me what really happened."

"I did. It's the truth."

"Then there's more to the story that you're not saying."

Han just stared at her, his lips sealed.

"Look, Han, you need to talk to someone about this. I can't help you if I don't know what you're going through and if you're in danger, then it's a problem for all of us, too, okay? Plus, it's not good for you to hold it in like this. So if you won't talk to me, you should at least talk to someone."

Han gave a sigh, resting his head back against the couch pillow and closing his eyes. He was so tired, and everything hurt. "I don't want to talk to about it."

"Don't you think that's a little hypocritical? I mean, you get mad at me for keeping things from you and then you turn around and do the exact same thing."

"It's not the same."

"It's exactly the same."

Han raised his head and looked over at her. "No, it's not," he insisted, growing more irritated by the second. The last thing he needed was Rand prying into all of this. The pieces were still too up in the air. He hadn't figured out his angle yet.

"Why not?"

"Because this isn't about me!" Han yelled, losing his temper. "It's about her!"

Rand looked closely at him for several seconds. "You really care about her," she said slowly, as if the truth was just revealing itself to her with those words. "You love her."

Han couldn't deny it, not to Rand. Sometimes he really hated that she knew him so well. "I'm just trying to keep her safe."

"At the expense of yourself?"

Yes. Han knew he couldn't say that to Rand, but it's what he felt. Even though the mission wasn't his idea, and had Han not done it someone else would have, he still felt like it was his fault. It was because of him that Sidney's whole life could potentially be turned upside down.

"I'm worried about you," Rand said, moving to take a seat next to him on the couch. "You haven't been yourself lately. And all this worrying and sacrificing yourself is only going to lead to more trouble for everyone. So please, just think about what you're doing. If you're not going to accept help from everyone else, then you need to figure out what to do on your own, and soon."

"I'm doing the best I can," Han said, his low voice betraying just how tired he was, not just physically, but in every other way as well.

Rand put a hand on his shoulder, her eyes full of kindness. "I know you are. I'm just worried about you. We all are."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine." Han closed his eyes again, too exhausted to keep them open any longer.

"You should get some rest. I'll go get you a blanket."

"Thanks." Han was asleep before Rand came back into the room.

***

When Han woke up, he was in his bed. He sat up cautiously, waiting for the pain to kick in. It started in his head and worked its way down, but it wasn't as bad as the night before.

"Oh, you're up," Rand said as she came into the room, carrying a tray. "Just in time. I made you some soup."

"I'm not sick...." His voice was sounding better.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I know that, but it's all you had. You really need to go grocery shopping. You feeling any better?" She set the tray on his lap and took a seat next to him on the bed.

"Yeah, a bit." Han nodded over to the window, which was now fixed. "That was fast."

"Yep. They came in, fixed it all up, and put up the spells, all within an hour. That's Collective efficiency for you."

"How'd I get here?" Han said, motioning to the bed.

"I carried you up."

"Oh. Well, thanks. I forgot how freakishly strong you can be sometimes."

She shrugged. "Wolf."

Han blew on his soup a bit before starting to eat it. Rand kept him company while he ate, chatting about meaningless things. Han knew what it was she really wanted to talk about, but she was nice enough not to bring it up again. Afterwards, he tried to rest a bit more.

Just as he was starting to drift off to sleep, the doorbell rang. Han opened his eyes and listened as Rand walked through the apartment to the front door. Han heard the door open, and then Sidney's voice. "Hey, um, is Han here?"

There was a pause before Rand answered. She was probably wondering whether or not she should tell Sidney the truth. "Um, yeah. He's upstairs. I'll go let him know you're here."

A minute later, Rand was entering his room. "Should I let her up?" she whispered to him.

Han sat up and gave a nod. "Yeah. I'll think of something to explain all this."

"Okay. Um... I'll just step out for a bit. You can call me when she leaves and I'll come back." She turned to go, but then looked back at him one more time. "Call me when she's gone. I'm serious, Han. You'd better do it."

"I will, I will. Geez, Mom." Han chose not to point out that the protective spells were up, so she didn't need to stick around anymore.

Rand rolled her eyes and left the room. Han heard her talking to Sidney and then the front door closed. Then Sidney come up the stairs. "Hey," she said with a smile, appearing in his doorframe. Her face fell when she realized the condition he was in. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I was mugged." It hadn't taken him long to come up with the lie. It was the most obvious one. "Three guys jumped me last night while I was charging my car in a parking lot."

"Oh my gosh!" Sidney gasped. She ran over to the bed and sat next to him. She gingerly touched the bruise on his eye. Then her hand trailed down to the line on his neck. "I can't believe it. Why didn't you call me?"

"It was late, I didn't want to wake you. Plus, I was fine. I fought them off. Rand's at school to become a nurse, so I called her and she took care of me. I'll be fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I feel a lot better than I look, I'm sure." That wasn't necessarily true. All she could see were the bruises on his eye and neck. Those themselves didn't hurt so badly, it was everything else that she couldn't see that hurt the most.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Positive. Just a little beat up."

"I was worried when you missed school."

"Sorry. I was a little out of it. I've been sleeping most of the day."

"It's okay. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Han shook his head slowly. "No. I'm good for now. I just want to rest, really."

"Yeah, you should rest. I should go."

Sidney moved to get off the bed, but Han grabbed her arm and stopped her. "No! Stay with me. Please."

Sidney smiled at him. "Sure."

They both lay down and got comfortable, facing each other. Han realized he didn't want to close his eyes and rest anymore. He'd rather watch Sidney.

"I was starting to think you were invincible," Sidney said quietly. "Guess I should have known better. You did get your nose cracked in gym that one time."

"I did that on purpose so you would take pity on me and agree to go to the party."

"Oh, shut up. No, you didn't."

Han smiled at her. Sidney lifted her head and leaned in to kiss him. She had meant it to be quick, but Han wrapped an arm around her and pulled her body closer to him while deepening the kiss. His hand slid up her back. She didn't object to his touch. Rather, she pushed herself closer and wrapped an arm around his neck.

Just when Han was thinking that he wouldn't mind getting a little carried away at that moment, Sidney applied enough pressure to make his body flinch in pain. She felt it and quickly pulled away. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

Han tried not to wince, but couldn't help it. His body had been protesting the activity for some time; he had just been trying to ignore it. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Sorry."

"It's not your fault." Han moved in to kiss her again, not wanting to let the desire go, but she pulled away from him.

"No way. You're hurt. You need your rest. Come on, turn around."

"What?"

"Turn the other way." Sidney gave his shoulder a gentle push to prod him.

With a sigh, Han reluctantly rolled over onto his other side and settled in. A second later, Sidney wrapped an arm around him and lay at his back. Han could feel her forehead resting against his neck.

"I always wondered what it was like to be the big spoon," Sidney said with a laugh. Han couldn't help but laugh as well. After that, it wasn't long before he was asleep to the rhythmic sound of Sidney's heartbeat, just behind him.