Author: Sandra Pascoe

Rating: FRT(for slight violence!)

Disclaimer: The characters the bots are based upon do not belong to me etc.

Note: This is set a little while after Jadedragon’s wonderful "Search for the Rogue Henry-bots" fic. I think you can read this without having read that fic but there will be bits you don't understand (it also helps if you have read "Magic, Machinery and Mayhem")

Dedication: This fic is for Jade, Cat and Jac – for "being there" over the last couple of weeks. And also to Jade for being such a sterling beta on this one!

It had been a rough few weeks – searching for the rogue Henry and Norman bots had taken it out of all of us. I couldn’t fault the bots – each and every one of them had worked like Trojans to track down the rogue bots but now tempers were starting to get frayed. A little contretemps between Ripper and Training had rapidly escalated, causing the two of them to square up to each other – it was only Peter’s swift intervention that stopped them from trying to tear each other apart. Oliver decided that we all needed to take our minds off things and suggested a night out at the Tweedy Club. It had been a while since we’d been there so I agreed with alacrity. I had some work to finish in the lab but figured I had plenty of time to get ready. I had just completed some updates on the experimental Gold Blend Bot when I noticed some papers on the other side of the lab. Henry and Norman’s specs, I remembered. I had studied Henry’s quite closely…but Tweedy had a real problem with the Norman bot so, mainly out of deference to him, I hadn’t really looked at Norman’s specs. The temptation was too much…I was alone in the lab…it couldn’t hurt, could it? It had to happen though – I was studying the chip set-up when a hand gently touched my shoulder. I whirled around, papers in hand, to see Tweedy gazing at me impassively.

"Have you found what you were looking for?" He asked and I sighed.

"I wasn’t actually looking for anything," I said softly. "I was just…curious."

"Curious?"

"Look," I reached out, gently grasping his hand, "I have no intention of creating a Norman-bot. I made you a promise, remember? But, you’ve got to admit, it is quite fascinating…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you know – how much of the character’s personality has been transferred into the bot, what changes has she made to Norman’s viewpoint and outlook, what about his background and then there’s the whole aspect of the bot. We know he’s a later model than Henry…he’s more advanced…but how different is he really?"

Tweedy started to chuckle. He drew me close, hugging me and kissing my forehead.

"You are incorrigible," he grinned.

"If you are uncomfortable with this," I said seriously, "then take the specs…shred them or burn them…whatever you want."

"You mean that?"

"Of course," I replied as I drew back. "It’s your call."

Tweedy looked at the papers I was holding out and then back at me. I felt a brief tinge of regret as he took the papers from me and then gathered together the rest of the specs that were on the worktop. I gave a little mental shrug and then turned back to GBB. It didn’t really matter after all – I couldn’t even explain my fascination for Norman to myself let alone anyone else and I definitely had no intention of upsetting any of my other guys. The specs were suddenly placed on the desk beside me. I frowned and turned to Tweedy.

"What’s this all about?"

"Study them if you like," smiled Tweedy. I grinned up at him, kissing him lightly.

"Thank you," my hand reached out for them when Tweedy pointed towards the clock.

"Hadn’t you better be getting ready?"

"Oh hell!" I cursed and then looked Tweedy up and down. "You’d better get ready as well."

"I’m not going," he said calmly. I was shocked – I’d never actually been to the club without Tweedy before. Oh hell, I thought, he’s upset about this whole Norman thing.

"Look, if it’s about Norman…" I started but Tweedy held up a hand.

"Peter is snowed under with adoptions. He’s had to neglect them somewhat due to recent events and he thinks tonight would be ideal to catch up. I’m going to help him. Between the two of us we should manage to bring the whole adoption list up to date."

"I see," I replied. I was a bit downcast at not having him with me but it would give me time to pamper my other guys somewhat.

"Go and have fun," said Tweedy softly, "and I have a little something planned for when you get back…and, no, I’m not telling you what it is."

"Hey! Did I say anything?"

"You didn’t need to," he smiled. I smirked at him and turned to leave when Peter came hurrying down the stairs.

"We may have a problem," he said succinctly. "I’ve been going through Medelle’s records and, quite frankly, they don’t add up."

"What do you mean?"

"I think there’s at least one Henry and one Norman bot unaccounted for. We should put out an alert to the group."

"Yeah," I replied. "I don’t think they are capable of much but we may as well be prepared."

An hour later and Wiz was ready to teleport me to the club – the others had already left and would meet me there. I kissed Peter and Tweedy goodbye and wished them luck. Peter grinned and then turned his attention to the pile of adoption papers in front of him. Tweedy smiled at me.

"Don’t let James annoy the Trivia bot too much."

"Awww don’t spoil his fun," I giggled as I snuggled into Wiz.

"Ready," Wiz raised an eyebrow and I nodded. Seconds later, I was surrounded by the familiar green glow and I gripped Wiz tighter. It always takes a few seconds to adapt to the sudden change of surroundings and by the time I had finished blinking Wiz had already moved off and was chatting to a group of other bots. Feeling a bit bereft, I glanced around, trying to spot my bots in the crowd. That’s one thing that actually surprised me – each owner can identify their own bots quite easily…even in an identical group of them. It didn’t take me long to spot mine: Tuxy was helping out behind the bar; Singing and Tranny were huddled in a corner, obviously working out some entertainment…whilst the rest of my bots were chatting with their contemporaries…well, except one. James suddenly came skidding up to me, his face lit up with an expression of pure joy.

"Nummy’s put in a jukebox," he said excitedly. "Come on…pick a tune and let’s dance."

James guided me across the room, practically bouncing with impatience when I stopped to chat to Jade, Cat, Jac and Lesley. Well…not that Lesley contributed much to the conversation – she was snuggled up to her Peter with a look of utter contentment on her face. I couldn’t help grinning. Peter noticed and smiled at me, wrapping a protective arm around Lesley as she happily snuggled closer.

"No Tweedy?" Asked Jade, looking around and I shrugged.

"He’s helping Peter catch up on adoptions," I replied.

"You’ve not been here without him before," frowned Jac and I smiled.

"Yeah," I said softly, looking up at James, "but I think I’m in good hands."

James smiled back and then raised his eyebrows. I grinned and figured I’d better go with him before he imploded with impatience. We made our excuses and James grabbed my hand, practically dragging me across to the jukebox.

"Well?" His eyes gleamed as he scanned through the play list. "What do you fancy?"

"Something slow," I said softly. James glanced briefly at me and then stepped aside.

"You choose," he said and I frowned at the list of songs. Nothing seemed suitable but then, I saw it, the song that meant so much to me in so many different ways. With a grin I punched in the numbers and, as the notes of the piano started echoing around the room, James took my hand and led me to the dance floor.

"I thought that ‘Even Now’ was your favourite Barry Manilow song," he said softly as he drew me close. I snuggled into him, feeling his arms wrap around me as we moved slowly, simply rocking together more than actually dancing.

"I like this one as well," I said, "the lyrics sum up how I felt for a long time."

"All the time I thought…there’s only me…crazy in a way…that no-one else could be," quoted James softly. He paused and then continued, "I would have given everything I owned, if someone would have said: you’re not alone."

James continued to hum along to the music as we rocked together and I loved the rumbling of his chest as he held me close. I had lost myself in both the music and James when suddenly the feeling hit me…something was wrong…something wasn’t right. I pulled back slightly and looked up at James.

"James," I whispered, "I’ve…got a bad feeling. Something’s not right."

"What?"

"I don’t know," I frowned, trying to put into words what I felt. "It just feels as though there’s something wrong."

"Is it Tweedy?" He asked, concerned and my frown deepened.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well," James smiled slightly. "You and he are rather close…you sort of know one another’s moods and stuff."

"And it doesn’t bother you? You know, the fact that I’m…close to Tweedy."

"No," he shrugged. "We all know how much you care about us...and we all want to see you happy."

It all sounded so simple but I thought I could explore that later. First things first.

"I’m sorry, James," I said, "I’ve got to make sure he’s okay."

James reached into his jacket pocket and dug out his mobile phone. There was no reply from the house and my agitation grew. James pulled me close, hugging me tightly before releasing me.

"Stay here," he said softly. "I’ll go and get Wiz and he can teleport you back."

James dashed away and within minutes I found myself surrounded by all my bots – all of them were insisting that they return to the house as well. I was trying to formulate a plan in my mind when Oliver pushed himself forward. He carried a laptop computer. At my questioning glance, he shrugged.

"I…um…commandeered this from another James," he muttered. "I can check the security settings from here. We can also access the lab cameras…make sure it’s all secure."

"Great idea, Ollie," I said. "How long will it take?"

"Couple of minutes," he replied, moving across to a table.

"Right," I turned to look at the rest of the guys. "This could be nothing…so no point worrying yet and no point worrying anyone else," I said pointedly as Cat and Jade came over. They had seen us huddled together and were obviously concerned.

"Hopefully, it’s nothing," I shrugged.

"Aha!" Exclaimed Oliver suddenly. "We’re in."

We all crowded round the laptop screen and I breathed a sigh of relief as the laboratory popped up on screen.

"Lab is secure," muttered Oliver. He punched a couple of buttons and then frowned at the now blank screen. "None of the other house cameras are working…security systems are down…"

"Okay," I was now starting to get angry as well as concerned. "Oliver, you’re with me …Wiz you’re coming as well. Teleport us somewhere inside the house…somewhere insignificant."

"I’m coming as well," said Jade, "and so is Morphy."

"As am I," piped up a familiar voice. Grayvorn pushed himself forward. "If the beloved is intent upon walking into danger then I will be at her side."

I sighed, realising that things were rapidly being taken out of my hands. I glanced around at Cat – I didn’t really need to say anything. She was already organising a couple of teams to teleport outside the house. From what I could gather, there would be one team at the front and one at the back. They would both make their way inside and count on the element of surprise. I had to smile slightly as I saw the teams. Donna and Begiled were with an assorted group of Trainings, Olivers, Peters and Rippers – I briefly wondered who would be protecting whom in that group. Both Donna and Begiled are fiercely protective of their bots and I pitied anyone who stood in their way. The other group was a much more mixed bag – all the bots were represented here - the odd Reeve Maupassant and Lord Sutton were in the process of being switched back to Grayvorn mode; the James’ were practically bouncing with excitement and the Trannys? Well, they were doing what they do best: comparing shades of nail polish. Jac, Cat, Lesley and Ashley were huddled together in that group, muttering softly. I turned to my James, who was standing quietly beside me.

"James," I said, "there’s something I need you to do."

His face fell a bit – I think he expected to come with us.

"What?"

"I want you to monitor the house," I indicated the laptop. "Not just the cameras. Can you set up that thing to monitor all activity? Anything moves near the house, any transmissions, I want everything monitored."

"How do I contact you?"

"You don’t," I replied. "We haven’t got the time to sort that out."

Nummy cleared her throat. I hadn’t even realised that she had arrived and I felt a surge of relief.

"Nummy, can you organise a couple of roving groups? James will monitor things from here and if there’s any trouble he can tell you where to go."

"No worries," she smiled and hurried off. I turned back to James and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Use your judgement, James," I said softly. "It’s your decision. You’re in control here."

A tap on the shoulder interrupted us and I turned, acknowledging Jade before turning back to James. He hugged and kissed me before sitting down and tapping away on the keyboard. I took a deep breath and joined the others as we prepared to teleport. Bots encircled Jade and I, flanking us protectively and Grayvorn was practically growling at anyone who dared come near us. Jade and I exchanged glances as we teleported into the house. I barely had time to realise that Wiz had teleported us into his room when all the bots collapsed, thudding noisily to the floor.

"What the hell?" Exclaimed Jade and I quickly knelt beside Grayvorn.

"Jade," I hissed. "It looks like some kind of dampening field has been activated…it’s neutralised them."

"Are they going to be alright?" She asked as she stood as if on guard, scanning the room.

"Yeah, I think so. We just have to find a way of turning it off or disrupting it."

I was hoping that was what had happened to Tweedy and Peter – I couldn’t bear the thought of them being more severely damaged. The sound of footsteps on the stairs made me curse. I had spent too long examining Grayvorn. I glanced around Wiz’s room, quickly grabbing Jade’s arm and moving across to the connecting door. I quietly opened it and we crept into Tranny’s room…lots of lovely wardrobe space in here. As we cowered in one of Tranny’s many wardrobes I realised that I had to get to the lab…warn the others about this dampening field which would cripple the bots. I also desperately wanted to find Tweedy…but we couldn’t risk being found yet. I held my breath as the door to Tranny’s room slowly opened and I stifled a gasp as I recognised the face that quickly scanned the room before leaving and closing the door behind him. Henry…I thought…Peter was right…so would that mean a Norman bot would be here somewhere as well? I did, however, feel a bit more cheerful. After all, Henry wasn’t a protector…it should be fairly easy to overcome him. It didn’t really make sense however that one Henry bot and one Norm-bot could overcome the security systems like this…neutralising the other bots as well. They had to have help and that’s what was worrying me. We left the wardrobe and I sat on Tranny’s bed, trying to decide what to do next. Jade pulled out her mobile phone and tried ringing the Tweedy Club, but to no avail. It appeared that whatever had neutralised the bots was also blocking her phone.

"What now?" Jade asked as she raised an eyebrow. "I got Peter’s security alert about the two rogue bots…but there’s more going on here, isn’t there?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I can’t see how a Henry and a Norman could have overcome security like this…they had to have had help."

"Right," there was a brief pause as Jade considered this and then she sighed. "So, now what do we do?"

"We’re going to have to get to the lab," I replied, standing up. "It uses an independent power source – which is probably why the cameras are still working. We can warn James at the Club from there…and all my equipment is in there."

"Can you disrupt this dampening field from there?"

"I hope so. It’s possible the field doesn’t work in the lab – Peter’s done a great job of shielding it…and Wiz lent a hand there as well as I recall.

"If the lab is shielded then Wiz could teleport a few bots in...it wouldn't affect them in there."

"It's shielded from teleportation as well," I sighed. "After those Wizards were compromised last time, Peter insisted that no-one be able to simply teleport in. I must say I agree with that decision...even though it's a real pain now."

Having agreed a plan of action, we crept from Tranny’s room and quietly made our way downstairs. It was quiet…too quiet. There was no sign of either Henry or Norman. As we entered the lounge, I saw Peter slumped over his desk. Hurrying forward, I was relieved to find that the dampening field was to blame for his condition and nothing more serious. What did concern me however was that there was no sign of Tweedy. Jade tapped my arm and indicated one of the doors.

"They’re out there," she whispered. "There’s a Henry and a Norman in the corridor outside your lab."

"Bugger," I swore. "Figures that they would want to get in there…I wonder what they are actually after?"

"You," came a familiar voice and we swung around to see both Henry and Norman standing in the doorway, smiling at us. Norman was casually holding a gun…not pointing it at us but making damn sure we knew it was there. Norman walked towards us and then indicated the door.

"Please," he said. "There’s someone who wishes to talk to you."

Norman being polite…well, that was a sure sign of trouble, a sign that he was definitely not to be pushed. We did as we were told and walked into the corridor. I was utterly shocked to see the lab door open – I never thought they’d get in. We were escorted down the stairs and into the lab. It all seemed undisturbed…but I instantly recognised the bot that lay slumped against the far wall.

"Tweedy!" I exclaimed and took a step forward. Norman cleared his throat behind me and I stopped. A figure stepped from the shadows and I got yet another shock – by this time, I didn’t know how many more my heart could take. Jade’s sharp intake of breath cleared my head slightly.

"Angel," I said, "but I thought Ripper…"

"Oh he did," the Angel-bot remarked calmly. "He and his friends left me in pieces."

I frowned and Angel raised an eyebrow.

"Come on," he said, "you can work it out…or shall I spell it out?"

"Please do," I replied, stalling for time and hoping that James was getting all this on the cameras. Angel walked slowly across to Tweedy and I tensed. Angel looked up with a smile.

"Haven’t you ever wondered how Medelle learned how to construct bots?" He continued in an even tone. "After the party, after your Ripper and the others almost destroyed me, she found me...rebuilt me…it took her a long time but she did it. I stayed with her for a while but when she started building the Henry’s and Norman’s she had no more use for me. I left – taking these two with me. A little bit of reprogramming was all that was needed. After you all raided Medelle’s lab, I set these two to watch you."

"Why?"

"I need some equipment…there wasn’t much left at Medelle’s. I adapted her neutralising device so that it would be more precise…and to affect only those bots with a particular electronic signature – bots built by you, in other words."

"But Sandra built you," said Jade, "why aren't you affected?"

"She may have built the original but I have since been...improved upon by Medelle. My signature is different from his." He indicated Tweedy with a wave of his hand.

"What do you want?" I tried to keep his attention away from Tweedy...I was starting to get a really bad feeling about why Tweedy was here in the lab.

"Oh I'm just going to take a few of your bots," Angel indicated the experimental models in the lab. "I need a few power sources...and spare parts, of course."

"That's it?"

"No...there is one other thing," he practically smirked. "Don't you want to know why your tweedy book guy is here?"

"I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Payback," he said succinctly. "It was all because of him that I was almost destroyed. I thought I would return the favour...and, of course, it's no secret that he's your favourite. This should be quite interesting."

"What are you going to do to him?" I took another step forward, only to find my arm grabbed by Norman.

"I'm going to wake him up," replied Angel, an innocent look on his face. "After that, the fun starts. I thought I'd remove his power source...and sundry other items, of course."

For a moment, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing…he couldn’t mean that, surely? One look at his face, however, confirmed my worst fears. The pain would be intense…I didn’t know if Tweedy would be able to withstand it…it could blow his circuits, fuse his memory chips…there would be nothing left…my Tweedy would be gone. I tried to break free but Norman merely increased his grip, chuckling slightly.

"Don’t," Angel’s voice penetrated my anger and I stopped struggling when I saw him crouching at Tweedy’s side…a scalpel against his throat. Norman let go of my arm and moved to stand in front of us as Henry and Angel lifted Tweedy onto the table in the middle of the room. They strapped him down securely and then Angel stepped back, nodding slightly.

"Wake him up," he said softly. Henry stood threateningly beside us as Norman reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a rather familiar device. He adjusted a couple of settings and returned it to his jacket. I glanced across at Tweedy, just as his eyes snapped open. Confusion clouded his features and he struggled against the restraints.

"Now, now," said Angel, stepping close to Tweedy, "you don’t want to do that."

Norman stepped closer to me, grabbing my arm once more and Tweedy sagged back, his eyes never leaving mine. Come on, James, I thought, do something. I was aware of Henry grabbing Jade and hauling her backwards, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Tweedy. Angel quickly unbuttoned Tweedy’s waistcoat and shirt, pushing them aside. With a smile, he tapped the scalpel on Tweedy’s bare chest…almost as though he was deciding what to do first. Angel glanced towards me and grinned...then with one quick movement he sliced open Tweedy’s chest. My yells mixed with Tweedy’s sudden scream and I turned on Norman in anger, hitting and kicking him as hard as I could. Norman weathered all this with that slightly manic smile on his face. A sudden crash from upstairs stopped everyone in their tracks. I glanced across at Jade and she grinned as she heard the cacophony of voices upstairs. Angel spun around, scalpel still in hand.

"Henry!" He yelled. "Close the door!"

Henry let go of Jade and raced up the stairs.

"Now!" Jade shouted and hurled herself at Norman. They both went crashing to the ground and I took off at a run, throwing myself at Angel. We fell to the floor, the scalpel skittering out of Angel’s hand. I got to my feet and kicked him again and again…I was determined that he stay down until help arrived. A thudding distracted me for a brief time and I glanced across to see Henry falling headlong down the stairs…quickly followed by more Tweedies than I thought possible. Within seconds the three bots were restrained and I quickly went across to Tweedy who was still groaning on the table. He looked up at me with pain-filled eyes as I reached over and initiated his sleep cycle, sending him into unconsciousness. A cursory examination revealed that the damage, whilst extensive, wasn’t fatal. One of his primary systems had been compromised but at least it was repairable.

"What about our bots?" Asked Cat, practically hissing at the now prone Angel-bot.

Jade frowned as she fiddled with the neutralising device she’d taken from Norman. Nummy casually reached across and took it from her. Before Jade could protest, Nummy flung it at the far wall where it shattered into pieces. For a time there was silence…then we were aware of movement upstairs. With my heart in my mouth I turned to gaze at the stairs…willing a bot...any bot…to put in an appearance. Peter suddenly came stalking downstairs and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"What’s going on?" He asked bemused. He was answered by a dozen or so voices and merely looked even more confused as the explanations got increasingly convoluted. Suddenly, a parade of bots made their way downstairs and the room was filled with Tweedies and bots hugging happily. James pushed his way through the crowd towards me, concern in his eyes as he gazed at Tweedy.

"Is he…" he stopped. I smiled at him.

"I think he’ll be okay," I replied as I hugged him tightly. "Thank you, James. I take it this was your idea?"

"Yes," he pulled back, smiling proudly. "It seemed the only way."

Peter came over and, obviously having heard part of the conversation, he held his hand out to James.

"Well done," he said and James puffed up with pride. They shook hands as I tried to hide a smile. Honestly, I thought, one more compliment and James is going to simply explode with pride. I turned my attention back to Tweedy, gently trailing a hand along his now open chest.

"I’ll clear the room so you can work on him," whispered Peter and I nodded. James turned to leave but I grabbed his arm.

"Not so fast," I said with a smile. "I need an extra pair of hands and you've been nominated."

Well, what can I say? Peter tried, bless him. Nobody would leave...they all insisted on staying and I had to agree before Peter completely lost his temper. Wherever you looked, the lab was full of Tweedies and bots...some sitting, some standing. The stairs were packed ... there would have been severe problems if we had to leave in a hurry. The rogue bots and the Angel-bot were restrained and under a guard consisting of Donna, Begiled, Cat and Lesley. Lesley looked as though she were practising her glares on them, Cat was alternately hissing and spitting whilst Donna and Begiled were taking great delight in baiting the three helpless prisoners. I turned my attention back to Tweedy and set to work. It took quite a while - I had to replace a number of circuits and James was a darling, bless him. He scurried here and there, collecting everything I needed, pushing Tweedies and bots aside quite rudely in some cases, but finally I was finished. I glanced down at Tweedy once more...he had a red line running down his chest - a battle scar he would carry because I couldn't remove it. I exchanged glances with James and then leaned over, stopping Tweedy's sleep cycle. He opened his eyes and looked up at me. He frowned and then raised his head slightly, looking at his chest.

"It's okay," I said quickly. "It's all over."

He sat up gingerly...poor dear would be sore for days and then he smiled at me.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly and I started to giggle.

"Am I alright?" I repeated, shaking my head. "You are unbelievable."

With James' help, Tweedy got down off the table and then, as though realising for the first time that he was bare-chested, he blushed furiously. Well, it started with one giggle from Ashadmirr who couldn't contain herself any longer but seconds later the whole room was laughing. Tweedy merely stood there, a bemused expression on his face and I hugged him carefully, sighing with relief as his arms went around me, holding me close.

"Um...I hate to interrupt," called Jade, "but what are we gonna do with these three?"

I smiled as a thought occurred to me.

"I suppose we could always divide them amongst a few Lord Suttons...give Vaughan some meat puppets to play with."

Jade raised an eyebrow at me and I sighed. "Okay, okay," I replied. "The Henry and Norman are merely ordinary bots...we can destroy them the same way as the others. Angel, however, seems to have some interesting programming..." I trailed off as I felt Tweedy tense. No, I thought, no more mistakes. Sort out the problem here and now. I glanced around, spotting my Wizard in the crowd. "Wiz...take care of these three, will you?"

Donna, Begiled, Cat and Lesley quickly stepped away from the rogue bots and Wiz then threw his fireball, leaving a pile of smouldering metal behind. I turned to Tweedy.

"Right," I said, "you are going to bed."

It took almost three hours to finally clear the house of Tweedies and their bots...each of them insisting on checking on Tweedy personally before they left. As for my bots, well, Peter, Oliver and Wiz were working on repairing the lab; James and Tuxy had crashed out in the living room; Grayvorn was stalking around the perimeter (I think he secretly wanted someone to attempt to break in as he never got to use his sword earlier); Singing and Tranny had gone to the Tweedy Club to celebrate and managed to drag Training along with them and Ripper had hauled up a crate of beer and was happily working his way through it. He had stopped earlier to grin at Tweedy and comment "neat battle scar, mate." I finally managed to get Tweedy to his room and he lay gingerly on the bed, wincing slightly. I said goodnight and turned to leave when he called me back. I raised an eyebrow and he smiled slightly, patting the bed. I sighed and he gave me that puppy look I could never resist so I gently lay down beside him. He pulled me close and I rested my head on his shoulder. I heard his sleep cycle cut in and that soft hum was the last thing I heard as I drifted off to sleep.