It felt like all I ever did was wait for something to happen. First, I had waited for news about the search for Lucius, and now I waited for news that he had finally woken up. My insomnia had refused to abate so finally I had allowed the stern healer to provide me a dose of sedative. I had barely strung five words together after the injection had been received before my exhaustion, combined with the drugs, pulled me into a doze.

There was no concept of time passing. One moment I was trying to resist the lure of the sedative and the next I was blinking into the darkness. The stifling heat and my dry mouth told me I was still in that horrid room, the one which felt like it was closing in around me. Smacking my lips together, I rolled over to the side and gave a yelp as I tumbled out of the cot. I hit the floor, pain reverberating up the length of my body from the jarring impact. Groaning loudly, I rolled over on to my back.

The fire in the corner was nothing but embers, glowing softly in the darkness of the room. Even though the heat was already unbearable, I needed Lucius to survive. With a grunt, I pushed up on to my knees and crawled towards the hearth.

Picking up one of the iron tools from the stand, I placed some of the dried wood into the fireplace and prodded at the embers. I had no clue what I was doing but I was rewarded when a flame flickered to life, gently eating at the fresh wood with greed.

Nodding, I replaced the tool and then turned towards the bed. Lucius remained lying in the middle of the bedspread, the duvet pulled up high over his chest. His dark hair was wet and plastered to his head but I couldn't figure out if that was from sweat or from the melting ice.

However his rest was no longer still or peaceful. He was tossing and turning, his head being thrown side to side while he kicked his feet this way and that. And every few seconds he whined from the back of his throat.

"Lucius, can you hear me love?" I questioned softly, perching carefully on the edge of the bed but keeping a safe distance from his flailing limbs.

There was no response. Instead, Lucius just seemed to fight harder against the invisible foe. His face was twisted up in distress and pained sounds wrenched from his lips. My heart ached. Even though something urged me not to do it, I stretched a hand and placed it against his cheek. Warmth greeted me instead of the painful chill. I idly noted that the frost had also vanished from his skin before a hand closed around my wrist like a vice.

My gaze snapped to the offending appendage. I blinked at it in confusion, sleep still addling my mind, and then suddenly I was being thrown through the air. A feral growl reverberated through the air behind me as I bounced across the bed and off of the other side. I had barely time to register the sensation of falling and then, with a thud, I hit the floor.

My hip hit first and a millisecond later my head bounced off of the hard stone, the vibrations radiating through my skull. My vision blurred. I blinked in an effort to clear it but suddenly I was pushed over on to my back. Hands wrapped around my throat as a presence loomed over me.

As my air supply cut off, panic instantly set in as I attempted to draw in my breath. I scratched and clawed at the throat, staring up into the face I knew so well. And yet I didn't know him either.

Lucius eyes were closed, his lips pulled back into a snarl and his hands closed tighter and tighter around my throat. He looked completely feral, lost in his nightmare so deeply I doubted he even knew what was real and what was not.

"Lucius," I gasped desperately, slapping as hands even as I attempted to bring my legs up between us. Sensing my movements, he gave another growl and shifted above me. And then I could not move, pinned in place by his larger and heavier body. "Please Lucius."

The edge of my vision started to blur as the hands got tighter still. I wondered briefly if I would die from this. I had been pulled back from death so many times but how immortal was I? Could I suffocate to death?

The door pushed open behind Lucius with a loud groan. Footsteps clicked across the floor as the healer entered the room, her head down as she focused upon the board in her hands. Lucius stilled above me, his teeth grinding together as his head slowly turned towards the demon woman. His stillness was more terrifying than the growling. It was like an animal waiting to pounce.

"Let's see if there has been any -. Oh." She cut off abruptly as she lifted her head from the paper and looked at the bed, only to find it empty.

Lucius growled, his eyes open now but completely unfocused. There was no hint of the man I loved within his face. Using his momentary distraction, I wriggled beneath him and managed to free one of my legs.

I wrenched it updated and tried to push the wall of muscle off of me but his grip on my neck was unrelenting. My lungs were burning and with each breath that I tried to take the harder it was to focus on my actions.

I turned my head to the side. "Help me." I attempted to say but the hands around my neck were too tight. The words did not make it past my lips.

I vaguely heard people shouting but my vision tunnelled. I looked up at Lucius and begged him with my eyes, begged him to see me. I begged him with my heart to wake up. My chest heaved and my limbs became limp as oxygen deprivation started to take effect. This was it. I couldn't hold on much longer.

My eyes rolled upwards just as Lucius's heavy weight was forcibly removed. His nails scratched several layers of skin off as they left me but then his hands were gone. I sucked in a desperate breath of air, rolling over on to my side and coughed until my eyes started streaming. I could still feel the hands around my throat, choking me. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in.

I coughed and spluttered again. A whimper escaped my lips at as the pain in my neck.

Hands touched my arms from behind me and I screamed, screamed even through it felt like glass in my throat, while my hands flailed out in panic.

"It's me Savannah. You're okay." The healer murmured soothingly, holding her palms up to show she was no longer touching me. "We've got him restrained."

I peered past the woman and sure enough, on the far side of the room, Castiel had Lucius pinned against the wall. One hand was pressing his face into the black crystal walls while the other bound Lucius's hands in a firm grip. Castiel was talking rapidly but the eyes I loved so much were angry, lost in their own little world.

"What's wrong with him?" I croaked, tears filling my eyes as I watched the two men struggle against one another. Lines of strain formed on Castiel's face as he attempted to keep the volatile man contained. "He won't wake up."

The young demon healer quickly left my side, crossing the room in precise strides, no sense of panic about her. She picked up her medical bag from where she had dropped it on to the floor, and thrust her hand deep inside. Her feet never stopped moving and soon she was beside the battling pair. She pulled out a small vial, removed the stopper and then held it up in front of Lucius's face directly under his nose.

He continued to thrash and shout. The healer clucked her tongue. After a moment she looked back at me and then, before I could even figure out what she was going to do, her hand was flying through the air. The slap echoed around the room.

I held my breath, waiting for the explosion that was bound to happen, but Lucius' fell silent. My lungs ached in protest so I focused on taking big gasping breaths of air. After a pause, Lucius' body slumped into the wall, his fight leaving him in an instant, while his eyes blinked rapidly.

Then after what felt like an eternity, his head turned slowly. His blue eyes blinked uncertainly as they surveyed the room in confusion.

"What going on?" He muttered, staring over his shoulder at Castiel who was still pinning him to the wall. "What are you doing? I thought I was -."

"Is that you, Lucius? Are you with us?" Cass asked, his eyes scanning over Lucius's face as he searched for any signs of the crazed man who had been there moments before.

"Yes, it's me. What are all of you playing at?" Lucius asked, turning his head to look at me. He blinked and then squinted. "Savannah. Are you alright? What happened to your neck?"

I looked away, unwilling to answer his question. How did I tell him that he turned psycho and tried to kill me in his sleep? I couldn't.

"It's nothing Lucius." I croaked, my voice struggling over the words.

"No more talking Ms Holmes. You might do more damage." The healer ordered, nodding her head at Castiel before walking back towards me.

She held out her hands and when I placed mine in her grasp, she tugged me up on to my feet with ease. I staggered and tightened my grip around her hands, dizziness overwhelming me as I fought to remain upright.

"Come on, let me examine you and then we can get back to dealing with his Lordship." The woman stated soothingly, leading me over to the giant bed and pushing on my shoulders so that I would sit down.

"No, check him first." I protested in a low and gravelly voice.

"I'm next to you so I am going to look at you first. No more arguing." The young woman ordered so I pressed my lips together. She really needed to work on her bedside manner.

Her hands stretched out and gently probed my neck. I tensed as her finger tips touched my skin and I tried not to flinch away from her touch. It was instinctual. After being choked only moments before, the thought of being touched by anyone was terrifying.

"You're going to have a lot of bruising here and it will probably take a few days before your voice is back to normal." The red eyes woman stated clinically after her cursory examination. "If you rest your voice for a week, I shouldn't see there being any permanent damage and I will be able to give you some concoctions for the pain."

Reaching out, even though my hands trembled at the thought of making skin to skin contact, I squeezed her hand in gratitude.

The young woman nodded her head, but ever the professional, she spun on her heels. "Now let's look at you." She approached the two men and when neither moved, she folded her arms over her chest. "Castiel, you need to let him go or I will not be able to do a proper examination."

Castiel stared at her face and then with a sigh, he released his hold on Lucius and backed away. I noted that the entire time he kept his body angled just so that if Lucius tried to strike out at the healer, he would have to go through the fallen angel first.

"I can't examine him while you are in the way and the longer you delay me, the longer it will take for me to finish my work for the day. You are not the only patients I have after all." She ordered, placing one hand on Castiel's shoulder and gently pushing him to the side.

He opened his mouth to protest but quickly clamped it shut. I raised a shaky hand and tucked a strand of sweaty hair behind my ear as I watched him move to the side and allow the healer to pass. She started muttering to Lucius, speaking so quietly I could not make out her words. It didn't matter because the entire time that the healer was with him, I could feel those familiar blue eyes boring into the side of my face.

My heart squeezed painfully. I wanted nothing more than to walk over there and to reassure him but I needed a moment, to collect myself and push away the lingering terror which was still flowing through my veins. I knew he had not meant to hurt me but it would take a while for my body to realise that the threat was gone.

"Hold out your arms for me." the healer ordered loudly, moving her head into Lucius' line of vision to obtain his attention. When he simply dodged to the side so that he could smile at me, I lifted a hand and gave him a shaky smile in return.

Sighing loudly, the healer reached down and snatched up Lucius' hands, turning them from side to side so that she could examine them. From where I sat I could see the blood which smeared across his skin. I looked down at my own hands and winced at the split and cracked nails. One of them had even torn off. Strange, I hadn't even felt it.

"What did I do?" Lucius asked, his voice carrying across the room. I glanced up and watched as he looked to his bloodied hands before peering in my direction. Horror – pure horror was the only way to describe that expression. "What have I done to you, Savannah? I am so sorry. So sorry."

And then, a tear formed at the corner of his eye and dripped down his cheek. And then another tear formed as he slid down the wall, huddling in on himself as tried to hide from us. As soon as he caught sight of his bloodied arms though, he turned his head away and gave a great sob.

That sound buried deep like a sword had buried deep within my heart. Before I knew what was happening, I was up off of the bed and crossing the room to Lucius. I placed a hand to each of his cheeks and slowly turned his head towards me. He fought against my grip, shame clouding his features as he refused to meet my gaze.

"Lucius, look at me please." I whispered, my voice cracking over my words. "It is not your fault. You were lost in a nightmare and you didn't know what you were doing. Please just look at me."

With reluctance, his head slowly turned and I offered a shaky smile. I could see it in his eyes, the self-disgust at what he had done. If he had been conscious and acted in hatred it would have been another matter, or if he had even done it on purpose for any reason whatsoever, it would have been well earned. But he wasn't hadn't done that. He didn't deserve to punish himself for something beyond his control.

"Everything is going to be okay. You're home safe. You do not need to worry anymore." I whispered, stroking his stubble covered cheeks with my thumbs. "You were just having a bad dream."

Leaning forwards, I pressed my lips to his. The instant our lips touched I felt tears form in my own eyes. They were from relief and joy that he was home and he was alive but I also felt sorrow at the pain he was feeling. His lips trembled beneath mine but Lucius resisted the kiss, refusing to participate as he released a wounded moan.

I pulled away and stroked his face, meeting his sad gaze. "It's okay. I'm glad you've come back to me. I love you Lucius." I murmured.

"I love you too, Savannah." He declared, his eyes showing the truth of his words.

Lucius was the one to initiate the kiss. He leant forwards and pressed his lips to mine. There was nothing sweet or gentle about it. His hands threaded through my hair as he pulled me to him, his lips laying claim to mine in a hungry and desperate act of possession. And I gave back just as fiercely, our lips moving against one another in perfect synchronisation. My lips felt bruised but I did not want to stop.

We broke for breath and I muttered against his lips over and over again, placing little kisses on and around Lucius's face between the words, determined to show him I cared the only way I knew how. "I love you. I missed you. I love you so much. I forgive you."

I was vaguely aware of footsteps hurrying out of the room and the door slamming closed but I only had eyes for Lucius. He turned the tables, his lips brushing over my lips, my cheeks, my forehead, and then they were kissing my neck. His lips soothed away the sting in the cuts, replacing the bad memories with good with each touch.

And then all I was aware of was Lucius. His scent, his touch, and the feel of his lips on my forehead as he held me close. And that's all we did. The pair of us sat there on the hard stone floor in the sweltering hot room, holding one another and reassuring each other that we were both safe and we were both alive.

We had survived.

A/N: I feel absolutely terrible about putting Lucius and Savannah through this. I didn't plan for it to be quite so violent - it just escalated. Lucius unfortunately will be going through a few things in this book but I promise to put in some nice Savannah/Lucius moments. Thank you for sticking with me.