When the Raven Comes

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow ended up passing out in the middle of his attempts to calm down. He had thought he had just closed his eyes to calm down, but when he was opening his eyes again, he noticed that Natalie was trying to rouse him. With a stretch above his head, he opened up his blue eyes again and looked to her with a smile. "Finally video game time?" he asked teasing her. However, as he stood up, his stomach started growling. "Right after food time."

He held his arm out to her for her to take before he walked her back out of the clinic. He gave a smile then lead her back to the motorcycle to hand her back the helmet that had been resting on the back of his bike. He straddled it and awaited her to join him on the back before kicking up his stand.

He drove her back to her apartment to post in the same spot it had been at before. When he dismounted, he brought the helmet and keys with him but was unable to keep his curiosity to himself anymore. "What was your friend upsetting you about earlier?" he asked curiously as they headed back up to her place. "You seemed rather flustered back in the hospital for reasons other than the lengthy form that needed to be filled out."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Natalie quickly glanced to Elijah and back to her front door while fiddling with the keys between her fingers. What the hell was she supposed to say that? Immediately her thoughts were reeling over one another without pause, 'Oh nothing love, my best friend just thinks everyone who isn't her is a gold digger. No worries though, that's only if you don't run for the hills first when you see what a ******** up I am.'

Her lips pressed together while she contemplated what to say. Opening her door, she held it aside before turning to him with a faint smile, "Annie just feels really left out easily." and said running a hand through her hair. "Hanging out with someone else for a change is new for her too."

Closing the door behind her, Natalie walked over to the wide windows and opened the blinds ever so slightly to let in some light but not so much that it would hinder their gameplay before making her way into the kitchen. She wanted to get as far from the subject as possible, but something told her the topic was coming up.

Opening her cabinet, she retrieved a cutting board and bowls, laying them out on the counter top to tie up her hair. She peered into the living room nervously as she searched for Elijah's form. "Did you get beef? I forgot to grab that. I have steak if that's the case." she asked fidgeting more with her mane.  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow awaited the door to be opened before he stepped through and picked up his backpack to bring into the kitchen. However, hearing the statement she gave, he smirked slightly and waited for her to pass before quietly tossing behind her, "Liar."

He passed her and put his things on the counter before opening it up. He began emptying out his bag onto the counter to reveal vegtables, shells, spices, and the meat he planned on using to cook. However Natalie soon appeared to be taking over the cooking department, something he was not going to allow. So, instead he grabbed her hands and turned her to walk her back out of the kitchen. "Shoo, out of the kitchen. I said I'm making food so I am and you're going to teach me how to play video games. So, I will be occupying the kitchen," he told her. The second she began to argue with him, he gently smacked her on the butt and pointed out of the kitchen. "Steriotypes are going to have to wait because I'm going to whip up a kick a** lunch."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Natalie turned on the tips of her toes, feeling her face light up with a dust of pink. She didn't expect him to do that. All the same she walked into the living room and started up her ps4 and threw in Arkham knight, wondering if maybe it was a bad idea to start him off on the their game of the series. Her lips donated across her face, deciding that there wasn't a whole lot he'd miss out--except for the Joker being a ghost...that was kinda important.

"Damn." she muttered wondering if it would really be taking away from the experience. Not that she thought about it, there were some pretty intense, and even scary things in the game if you went looking for it. Natalie shook the worries from her thoughts with a slight laugh. He really just wanted to play for the Nightwing challenges, which were a totally different part of the game. It was generally a good place to start and then they could do the Batmobile challenges, which could also be done without playing the main game. Natalie smiled brighter. It was a perfect plan.

"Alrite, it's ready when you are." she said plopping down on the couch. Grabbing the blanket folded up on the back of the couch, she wrapped herself up and watched him moving around the kitchen with a slight smile. It wasn't often someone cooked for her, especially someone so good looking, she thought with a purr. She leaned onto her wrist, smiling softly as she watched.


As the clouds began to roll in with light misting rain, he followed their movements with the flick of his lens just before relocating to another vantage point in a different nearby building. He knew that Snow had seen him earlier, but wondered if he was aware of who it was that has been keeping an eye on him and the girl. Certainly if he knew who it was that was snapping pictures of them he definitely wouldn't have returned to her apartment unless he had a deathwish.

As he traversed to the next building his phone began to vibrate, he pulled it out and looked to see that Regina was calling.

"What do you want to do?" He asked before she could speak.

"I need her dead. Yesterday." the woman sneered. "If Snow is compromised, I need it taken care of before any plans can be made."

"You get him out of range, I can take care of the rest."

"You can do as you please. Just kill the little b***h." the woman's cold voice flared. He grinned slightly. He might have liked her afterall.

"You said you needed it to look like a suicide. I can't make it look like a suicide if his body is strewn about the place."

"Call me when you're done."

"See you soon, boss."


Regina turned on her perfectly pointed toes and walked right back through the French doors leading inside. The drawing room smelled of dust and rain with the faint hint of a cologne she had smelled a thousand times before. Strangely, she caught the smell before she actually caught sight of her son. Startled, she tensed.

"What are you doing in here?" Mason said standing in a static pose. The tall male ran his fingers through his brown hair, sweeping it to the side of his grey eyes before adding, "Kevin is asking for you."

Regina's thoughts tumbled over one another, she knew how her son felt for his stepsister, even if the thought repulsed her. There was no way she could tell him how she was going to secure their family for the rest of their lives. She had to protect him, even if it meant hurting him a little bit.

"I was just trying to get ahold of Natalie." she answered placing her hands on her hips matter of factly. "I was trying to see if she was ready for you to come pick her up tomorrow."

Mason's face twitched, "You mean the day after tomorrow."

Regina faked a confused look. "You mean she didn't tell you? Ugh...that girl sometimes, I swear." she waved her hand in the air dismissively. "She told me that she called you last night and you both agreed to come pick her up a day early since she had so much time off from her little job."

Mason clicked his tongue, shaking his head. That sounded like her. "Alright, I'll start heading out now, I guess." he said with a sigh.

Regina nodded, satisfied with how well she pulled that off. It was better if she never told him, his reaction will be more real that way. He'll find her body and then call the police, no one will be the wiser.  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow started browning up the ground beef in the pan. As he worked, he added spices and worked on cutting up onions, tomatoes, and letuce for their brunch. Rarely did he ever look up until he was called out which he only gave a bit of a smile before he burried himself back in cooking. "Give me five and I'll have the meat cooked up as long as you don't want me making both the ground meat and steak," he told her as he turned to drain the fat out of the food he was making. After he finished up by throwing the tortillas into the microwave to warm up then finally put everything on the counter to let it be grabbed as needed. Soon he finished up making the meat and pulled out the box of homemade cookies to put on the counter among the taco toppings.

"I thought about brining wine or something, but I didn't want to flaunt a drink too expensive or cheep. Plus, I just am not savvy enough to know what kind of wine would go best with chocolate chip cookies and tacos anyways," he explained as he looekd for plates to set out for them. When she came to him, he handed her one before getting to work on making two for himself on his plate. With it made, he stood at the counter and got to work hungrily on the food he had made up. Though he had eaten breakfast, a day of making sure he wasn't stalked and threatened, made him feel like he was starved.

"So what are you starting me on as far as Batman goes?" he asked once he swallowed down the first taco then went onto the next, almost in the same breath.  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

"I had to think about it for a sec." Natalie answered between bites. He did a fantastic job on the seasoning, she almost couldn't believe it. Trying not to get distracted by the world's best tacos, she darted her green eyes back to him with a wide smile. "I think I'll just start you off with the NightWing story arc, its really short, but the drama going on with B-man right now takes a while to explain. I forgot that this is the third game and won't make a whole ton of sense to you. It'll just be 'Ugh I'm Batman and I'm sadder than usual,' with a huge spoiler in the very beginning. So, we're not doing the story arc today till you've had a thorough 'Batucation'."

She smiled briefly before her smile turned into a furious blush when she realized she was probably sounding like a giant nerd. Her face seemed to deepen in color as she chuckled softly and bit into her second taco. "These are awesome, by the way. Way better than the food truck on commerce."  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow listened with great intrigue as to why that they weren't playing with the main arc to start off with. He was more than happy to be Nightwing - and only Nightwing - he was just confused as to why it was going that way right off the bat. With some of the explination though, he nodded in agreement again. He smiled in enjoyment of her nerding out in front of him mostly though. He adored how passionate she was towards the subject and it made him feel even more comfortable around her. It was all a privlage he hardly ever was able to experiance anymore.

"I would hope me hand cooking you food would be better than something mass produced," he pointed out with a soft smile on his face. He put his plate in the sink and got out a few glasses to fill with milk for the cookies once she was done. He took a deep drink before pointing at her like he figured something out. "Considering it's Batman and him being 'sadder than usual' means he failed to do something. His normal thing is not killing anyone or trying to save everyone's lives - something that brought issues between he and Jason Todd - I would asume that someone died in the last game. Since no one ever brings up Jason Todd, he probably isn't dead. It isn't d**k since he's still alive. They couldn't kill Alfred because he would be murderous, not sad...

"Did one of the villians die? I'm putting my money on Catwoman or Joker based on the importance they hold in the comics and their consistancy of showing up in other media," he guessed grabbing a cookie to dunk in the milk. "I'm betting on Joker since this is the video game series."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Natalie nearly dropped her jaw in absolute awe. "Holy s**t." she said with a heavy laugh falling from her mouth. "How the hell do you just GUESS one of the biggest twist since Darth Vader? Just...how?"

Standing to her feet, Natalie shook her head before picking up her milk and the box of cookies as she motioned for the living room. "First air hockey, now this." she chuckled under her breath. At least with Annie it was fun because she had no clue and figured it out over time, but nothing ever got passed Elijah. "Alright Mr. Detective, since you already figured it out, we might as well to it then. I'll explain as we go." she said stuffing the rest of a cookie in her mouth.

The afternoon rolled into night and Natalie couldn't recall ever having this much fun playing video games with anyone. She did her best to give him the abridged version of the Joker's antics up to this point in the story while creating a save file for Elijah so he could play the tutorial. Everything seemed to come naturally when she spoke and Elijah was simply wonderful to be around, for those few hours, Natalie was comfortable and genuinely happy just sitting there with him. When she finally checked the time, her lips parted with a soft curse.

"You have a trip in the morning, don't you? Its 8:30." she said almost apologetically. Rubbing the back of her neck, Natalie laughed, slightly embarrassed. "I totally forgot to pack for my trip. Mason is going to throw a b***h fit if I don't start on it soon."

Natalie ran her fingers through her hair, feeling the bun on top of her head as she met Elijah's soft blue eyes. She smiled as she stood on the tips of her toes and pecked the corner of his mouth gently, "Today was fun. Thank you Elijah. " she said sweetly.

-----*-----

The man couldn't help but to laugh as he observed the two occasionally over the next few hours. He couldn't believe that was the same man he met in Israel, let alone a trained killer. It took a special kind of crazy to become someone you were not at the drop of a hat, he thought. Unless, it was the girl making him soft and acting that way.

Guess he would soon find out.

He sent a message to Regina, signaling her to make the call, and she would in a heartbeat, hopefully, it would startle him enough to take off for her location as soon as possible. He did contemplate though what he would do once Snow was far enough for the butcher to do his work. More than anything, he wanted to make him hurt. As much as possible.

I thought passed into his head that he would immediately save for later, for now, he sat back, content with the look on his face when his employer would call.  

[Unbreakable Justice]

"Because as nerdy as you like to think you are, I trumph it," he replied with a smile. He cleaned up the mess from the kitchen and shortly after joined her in the livingroom on the couch with her. He got comfortable and dunked one of his cookies in the milk while he got comfortable with his food. However as she kept going, he smiled at the nickname past his food and shook his head. "I'm not a detective, just a quick learner," he brushed off.

When given the chance, he picked up the controller and got to work on taking out the latest instalment in the Batman Arkham series. At first he wasn't doing very well as video games weren't his forte, but once he figured out where the buttons were without looking, it became rather easy for him. He was very into the game, but still broke attention to talk with Natalie as he went. Time was irrelevant to him as he worked with her, entirely forgetting about prior engagements, and just enjoyed occasionally flirting.

In the middle of a mission though, it was brought to his attention the actual time. He paused it and pulled out his phone to check the time and confirm it was getting quite lately actually and he needed to head out. However, the reasoning was not to get a book published, but to set up to shield Natalie when she got off the plane.

"As much as I would like to shrug it off, I do need good sleep in order to drive to and from the plane so I ought to. Plus, yeah, you should make sure that Mason doesn't get too pissy," he smiled as he started packing up in grabbing his backpack and leaving the food there for her to eat as she wanted. Just as he was about to leave though, he recieved a kiss on the corner of his mouth making him smirk. In repsonse he leaned down a little and put his lips to hers as he rested his hand softly on her cheek.

"Travel safe."

He turned form her with that playful smirk and headed down the stairs as he shouldered his bag. However, as he went, he felt his phone start to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket to put it up to his ear after answering. "This is Snow."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Natalie felt her face light up with heat before his lips ever even touched hers. She smiled, taking his hand into hers with a slight nod. She definitely didn't want to him to leave now. Her lips bundled into a button over her jaw as she watched him leave, promising to see him when she got back and that they'd play more games then. Once he was gone, she put away her game and stretched softly, making her way into her bedroom she really needed to pack really quick, but every time she thought about it she wanted to do something else, like sleep or go run 10 miles, or eat pushpins.

She muttered under her breath, retrieving her suitcase from the closet along with some sweaters hanging up nearby.


He watched from around the corner, careful not to make the rickety fire escape creak and give him away. Snapping a photo of the two, he thought for a moment Snow might have actually shown some genuine emotion. As he left, the butcher knelt down and opened up his messenger bag. Putting on a pair of gloves, he retrieved a small pouch and uncovered what was inside. At first glance someone might assume that it was insulin for a diabetic patient, it was even in an insulin bottle, but that was far from what it was.

In his line of work, he liked to have a little variety in how he did things. Sometimes he was allowed to make a mess, other times, such as this, he needed to be untraceable. No signs of a break in, struggle, or of someone trying to cover their tracks. After adjusting the dosage of the paralytic liquid, he put on his shoe covers and quietly opened the window he had used several times already without detection.

He followed the wall silently, listening for any sounds of Natalie walking about when he stopped at the corner around her room. The girl was humming softly, folding her clothes and tucking them into the case. He noted that he would have to put that all away when he was done. Hopefully he would have enough time before Snow returned in the whirlwind he knew he would be once he got the message.

Thinking of that brought a small, satisfied smile to his face as he walked into the room putting a hand over her lips, he aimed for her arm where she had blood drawn and shot quickly into her skin. He could almost feel her running cold with fear but she hardly struggled. She thrashed, but looked down at her arm, clasping to it desperately as she tried to pull away. He hushed her, wrapping his other arm around her as her wildly pacing heart worked the venom through her veins. When she went numb and limp, he laid her on the bed and observed her like a silk veil laid across the bed.

He snapped one more photo and compressed a file to be sent to Snow's phone, excitement and thrill raging through his thoughts like a meticulous maniac.

So pretty... was the name of the folder. He sent it with a slight grin, knowing his count down started now before it loaded and went through.

He saw her eyes grow heavy with every blink but still lively and darting across his face. She was panicking but completely unable to move. He ran through what she might have been thinking, what was happening? What would she do? But it all had a simple answer.

He laid her in the tub as gently as he could, careful to not hit her head in any way easily deemed suspicious. Reaching over for the stopper he plugged up the tub and began to run warm water. The dull sound of what would have been a cry escaped Natalie, catching his attention with a small smile. He hushed her again and shook his head before reaching for a razor blade. He would have to do it across and not down, to make it look like she tried one attempt before the other. Taking her hand into his, he guided her fingers over the handle and swiped her opposite hand simply imagining her screams as he did so.

The water was splashing against her ears and the panic in her eyes grew were accompanied by tears bursting from the corners as her lips faintly pressed shut. Her curls rose in the waves framing her face perfectly like outlining a porcelain doll with warm autumn colors. He could see her heartbeat in her throat like an animal trying to flee its cage. He studied her quietly for a moment, wondering if this would be the perfect shot...

'Snow." Regina said warmly. "Is this a bad time? I had some things to run by you before you finished your work."

The woman paced the room, running up and down a list of things to ask, she was nervous, unsure if she would give her partner enough time. She was excited, thrilled even, it was almost over.

"I ever tell you why I needed this done, Snow?" she said almost calmly. "My ties with Natalie's family go back almost before she was born. I knew her mother before she up and vanished and my ex husband and her father were like brothers. They worked together closely before Kevin's company became a global empire. But you see, all they're success is because of me and my husband. Sure we got some recognition, but then Natalie took everything from me. She got my husband killed out on the lake some years ago. My son and I lost everything. Now I want my debt filled."

"This is a lot discuss over the phone really, maybe, you would like to come out to the lake house? I think it's high time that we meet in person and I'm certain you'd love the view."  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow stopped his decent down the stairs as he heard someone talking to him, someone he didn't recognize at first. Listening to her though, shortly after, he grew concerned about who it was calling as they called him by Snow repeatedly and mentioned Natalie. After hearing her name though, it only took seconds for him to put it together. Seconds later he received a text message filled with photos of him and Natalie together then finally Natalie paralyzed with fear in her eyes. He didn't think as pocketed his phone and raced back up the stairs, taking several at a time. Reaching the top he moved to open the door only to find it locked. "Natalie!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he pound on the door. However, realizing that it was locked, he backed up and drove his through the door to bust it off it's hinges.

"Natalie!" he called again as he sprint through the place. After hearing the bathtub running though, he sprinted for it only to be greeted by a razor blade flying through the doorway, cutting into his nose but he recoiled fast enough to save himself any further damage. He hit his head back against the wall from how hard he recoiled, but it didn't slow him as he noticed the man standing before him. "You ********... You survived," he snarled, his attention fully on the man he remembered vividly slicing his throat after being stabbed several times. Now he was there to kill Natalie.

His eyes slipped past the man just long enough to see the tub filling and reddening from the blood she was loosing. For a moment he stared at her then decided he had to make his move and it was going to hurt.

Snow lunged forward just as the Butcher slashed through the air, contacting him across the chest with the razor, but his leather coat was enough of a shield to spare his skin from being damaged. He twisted on the ground and smashed his feet into the back of his knees dropping him. In the same motion he was back up onto his feet and had his arms around Natalie and lifted her from the cold doom she was facing.

However, as he rose onto his feet, the razor bit through his jeans and thigh muscles alike dropping him to one knee for a second as he howled. He forced himself back up and kicked his boot straight into his jaw before dropping his whole weight into his heel onto his sternum. Snow held Natalie close as he ran and closed the bathroom door behind him. His feet pounded into her carpet back towards the splintered door then down the stairs.

The second he could, he stopped and pulled off his leather coat to tear up the black t-shirt he had been wearing. Promptly he wrapped the shredded pieces around her wrists then cloaked her in his coat to keep her warm to help soften the blow of the blood loss he was sure she was facing. "Guess this party is going back to my place, huh?" he teased as he moved to stand up again only to find the Butcher on top of him again.

Within a quick motion Butcher proved himself quick enough to catch back up despite having his legs kicked out from under him. That razor blade came after Snow's face again to be smacked aside by his quick reflexes. It was the fist that made contact though was to the side of his ear, knocking free the earpiece, hurting his ear through the piercing sound of it being ripped free.

"
"The great Snow needs a hearing aid, seriously?"

"Don't need it to kill you, b***h," he spat back as cupped his other fist with one and drove them both up into his chin, splitting it and knocking him back into the wall. With a second chance, he had Natalie in his arms again and sprinting back down the stairs.

By the time he reached the bottom, there was enough distance to get the two of them situated on the bike though it took skill. He put the helmet over her head and picked her up so her legs were around his waist even when he sat down. With one hand he held her body against his and the other tore off down the street to get as far away from Butcher as possible and keep Natalie safe. However, it the man knew where she lived, it was quite possible he knew where Snow was too.

Regina had to die.

Recklessly Snow drove up the parking garage to park his bike once more. This time when he dismounted he was in far less of a hurry as he carried the woman's life he saved, but he was feeling it far more. His leg was throbbing with every footstep as if it had been set ablaze while there was a constant pain in his nonworking ear. All and all, it had him feeling sicker than a dog. At least this time he hardly had the distance to stumble before they reached his stocked, reinforced suite penthouse on the top floor of the joining building.

Once he got past the fingerprint lock, he wiped it clean and stepped inside to show off the very, very expensive housing that was well kept - something that Snow was ruining from the blood that had begun to mark where he stepped. That was the least of his problems then as he was concerned about Natalie surviving her ordeal.

For now the best he could do was let her lay down in his bed while he got the medical kit to get himself fixed up and the girl who he was quite responsible for. First he unwrapped her wrists from his makeshift bandages to actually treat and then wrap her wounds in a proper gauze. "You've gotta survive this... I'm not forgiving myself ever if you don't," he whispered to himself as he felt her face to make sure no fever broke from the blood loss. "Don't tell my broken soul couldn't make up to at least save an angel."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Natalie cringed with every inhale, wanting so desperately to scream at the top of her lungs as the freezing water started to wash over her eyes and chin. She kept asking why this was happening, over and over she asked. But soon after asking became begging and her mind confirmed this was her fate, Natalie surrendered. Inside it felt like she would have been crying and thrashing, but even as badly as she wanted that, she could barely flex her fingers. Her wrist was burning against the constrictive cold now closing in around her nose. Her heart rammed against every wall in her chest, begging for mercy, pleading that she didn't have to relive drowning again in slow motion, it was all she could hear now. Just her heart achingly throb in her throat, almost clogging her airway as she inhaled deeply.

Images flashed in front of her of murky emerald depths that dragged her down and how her heart sounded the same way then. Her limbs aching from fighting, her anxiety tightening its grip on her lungs like a timebomb. She couldn't hold on much longer now and her mind was struggling to hold a thought.

The last bubble of air in Natalie escaped in a pained burst just as a pair of hands dove inside and ripped her into the surface. Gasping and hacking the combination of air and water, Natalie's voice broke for just a second before the rapid, heavy, and painful breathing pulled her into silence away from what was happening around her.

Natalie couldn't tell which had stricken her first when she stirred, whether it was the intense cold, or unbearable pain as her muscles all simultaneously locked at once. It was like every inch of her lit up with life all at once. She balled up, coiling into herself as she rolled onto her side and finally cried out in a sharp, painful voice launching from her raw throat. Tears immediately followed and flowed freely. Never had she been filled with relief and terror at once, but she felt far from safe. Even wrapped in sheets, it wasn't enough to warm her though she felt like most of the shaking was from the overwhelming anxiety and panic she felt that was not sated by being channeled through just her voice. Natalie inhaled a broken sob, unsure if her knees could be tucked further into her chest, but it eased the pain tremendously. So she lied there and did so, casting away any thought as to how she got there or why this happened. She just knew it's where she was now and the rest was left to the raw and painful reactions that built up inside her.  

[Unbreakable Justice]

While Natalie slept, her rescuer got to work on his own wounds though he was still very distracted by making sure that every time she seemed to start to wake, he was right there. After a few hours, she hadn't truly woken yet and Snow dozed off from the massive migraine that he was facing. Even if he hadn't thought he had done that much, running with an entire second body weight on him was enough to make his already sore muscles give out.

A small whimper caught his attention and was enough to rouse him. Snow picked his heavy head off the side of his bed and saw the bundle of blankets shift to the side and begin to quiver violently. He wasn't sure if she had actually waken this time, but he still slowly stood on his undamaged leg to lean over the bed and maybe reach her. "You're okay Natalie, you're okay," he told her as he shifted to sit on the bed to reach for her. Just before he did, he pulled his hands back as he was unsure she actually wanted someone making contact with her after the chaos she had just been subjected to. He remained by her side with vigilance though as he awaited her reaction. "You're safe here. No one is coming for you."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

She wasn't certain how long the after effects of the injection lasted, though it felt like several eternities. The pain rolling up and down her body felt like everything was tensing up and shattering under her skin over and over again, making it hard for her to take in anything else going on around her. When one of her sobs managed to ease the pace of her heart long enough, she could register the familiar smell of the sheets around her and the sound of the soft voice next to her. Natalie opened her eyes in little slits, slowly seeing what was before her eyes as she scanned over Snow on the edge of the bed. Her heart shook in place as she inhaled.

"Elijah."

Sitting up she thoughtlessly draped her arms around his waist, ignoring the ache of doing so. She had never been so relieved. Her mind went back to when he sought comfort in her in this way, now she was buried in his chest, sobbing uncontrollabley as clashing emotions fell over her. She was terrified to say the least, but overwhelmingly glad he was here.  

[Unbreakable Justice]

The relief that overfilled Snow when she reacted was nearly drowning him. he had been so wooried that she had mentally snapped completely from her trauma, but her reacting meant she wasn't entirely gone. That didn't mean she was out of the woods yet though. Regardless of what she needed from him, he agreed to it in saving her life and taking him home. It was a responsiblity he was more than willing to take up.

His strong arms wrapped around her tightly as she cried into his barechest. He reached behind her to pull up a quilt to keep her wrapped up in it before returning to hold her. "I'm here for you, angel... I'm here," he whispered to her as he rocked her gently in his arms. Snow's finger tips dragged up and down her back in attempts to sooth her while he hummed a soft ballad from The Hobbit to help sooth her. He didn't have the singing voice to be a popstar that the girls would fawn over, but his tone was warm, deep, and hearty.

After he had fiished his song, he looked down at her to see if she was still doing okay or if she wanted anything. He wasn't a profeessional at comforting anyone, but he had experianced it enough to know how to return the favor. "Can I get you anything or help you out at all? I can make you a late night - or early morning - snack or meal... I could also see if I could go get you some clothes that is a little more than your base layer. I can just stay here for you though if you need me to," he offered her as he continued to stroke her back with his finger tips.