The May Queen's Slumber

 

Eddie stared at her, trying not to look disbelieving.

 

“Could you repeat that?”

 

Iris gave him a feeble smile. “You’ve been the best, Detective Thawne. Taking a lot of my dad’s shifts so he could be there for Barry, and everything else…I was hoping to thank you over coffee?”

 

It was just a thank you. Yes, a thank you. It wasn’t like she was asking him out on a date or anything…right?

 

Oh God, what if it was? He couldn’t just say no –Joe was his new partner and was having a hard time, and so was she –

 

He could just go and pretend it wasn’t a date. And then on it, he could thank her for the coffee and that she really didn’t need to thank him, and then let her down gently. Yes, that was what he’ll do. He’d feel like a heel to both her and Joe if he acted like an asshole when things were going all shitty on them. He also just knew that it would upset Barry if he were to somehow upset and offend Iris. Which was the crux of the problem.

 

He’d wanted to go out with Barry. And two months and a week into her coma, and Eddie’s feelings still hadn’t changed on that matter.

 

Still, he’d hesitatingly agreed. Which led to him wearing some casual clothes and sitting across from Iris at a table in Jitters. She was dressed nicely and he admitted Iris fit the bill for the girls he usually dated, and was much more his type. But despite all that, his interest remained with the girl that was currently being cared for now in STAR Labs.

 

“Thanks for coming, Detective Thawne,” she smiled at him.

 

He gave a small grin. “Of course. And please, just Eddie. You’re Joe’s daughter, and as his partner, I’m sure we’ll see each other a lot. It’ll probably get old calling me Detective Thawne all the time.”

 

Iris waved him off, still smiling. “Probably, so Eddie it is. How’s living and working in Central City? I think Dad and…” her smile faltered a little, “Barry mentioned you used to be in Keystone?”

 

Eddie ignored her slip. “Yeah, I was. Central City’s about the same, and is close enough to Keystone that the changes aren’t too big. I’ve finally settled in with the guys at the station, so I’m not just the ‘new guy’ anymore.”

 

Iris nodded understandingly, and soon enough they began to talk in earnest and get along quite well.

 

“So…how’d you meet Barry?” Iris asked as she took a sip of her drink, since their orders had finally come.

 

Eddie smiled brightly, remembering. “Oh, it was such a horrible meeting.”

 

She raised an eyebrow at him, and he sheepishly elaborated.

 

“The guys tend to talk about her a lot at the station, and since my first day there, I’d already heard a lot about Barry that day alone. I was curious and wanted to meet her, but somehow I just hadn’t been able to. Not until she came back from…a trip somewhere? I don’t know where or what for, but I just know she’d gone missing from Central for about two weeks with a small note to Joe and Captain Singh about where and why she was gone.”

 

Iris chuckled. “She may be my sister in all but blood, but she does have her quirks.”

 

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Anyway, she was finally back and in the station, and since I didn’t know what she looked like…when I saw a pretty girl heading towards the stairs for the upper levels, I went to go stop her. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that was Barry and I think I pissed her off and made her whole ‘baby face’ problem at work worse.”

 

“She definitely can’t stand the baby face thing,” Iris laughed. Then a look came over her face and she was watching Eddie carefully. “So you think Barry’s pretty, huh?”

 

Eddie froze. Was this a trick question? Was he supposed to admit he did? Was he supposed to compliment Iris too? Why was she asking? Was she offended somehow? Her face said the comment bothered her. Oh damn, maybe she really was interested in him.

 

He swallowed nervously. “She is,” he decided to be honest. “But you are too. I’m guessing Joe probably has a hard time keeping all the boys away from the two of you,” but he also decided to go the joking route was the safe thing to do.

 

Iris’ face suddenly shuttered, and she took a long gulp from her drink. Eddie’s nerves were suddenly lit on fire and he felt like he’d stepped into a minefield.

 

“She can be such a dork too, right?” Iris smiled, but there was something off.

 

“She can,” Eddie said slowly. “But it’s funny and cute. Whenever I come to bring her drink and blueberry treat, she always makes me laugh.”

 

“You laugh at her?” Iris asked in amusement. Still, something about it felt weird to Eddie.

 

“Well, I think she’s funny,” Eddie said uncomfortably. “Her reactions and her rants, and when she rambles…it’s cute.”

 

And Iris’ eyes narrowed at him and suddenly it all clicked together for Eddie. Iris wasn’t interested in him or was feeling jealous. This was an interrogation.

 

“You should’ve been a cop,” Eddie eyed her guardedly.

 

She smirked slightly. “Ah, well, I wanted to be, but Dad and I had a huge blow up over it, and I ended up going into journalism, at Barry’s suggestion. So caught on, hm?”

 

“Why the questioning though?” Eddie frowned.

 

Iris sat back in her seat. “Barry doesn’t get a whole lot of guys becoming interested in her. Beyond the guys at the station being overprotective idiots, she doesn’t really let herself open up too much. There’s also that there’s always been a history of guys seeing the two of us, and usually going after me, especially after they see Barry’s quirky personality,” she grimaced at this. “The thing is, Barry’s usually the strong one. The one that keeps it in, pulls herself together, and moves on and not let things bother her. When Dad and I have problems, she’s the one who takes care of us and makes sure we get through them. We get emotional, she’s there.

 

“But oppositely, when she has problems, she keeps it in and doesn’t want to bother us with them. She gets it in her head that she doesn’t want to be a burden, especially after us taking her in and doing everything for her. But I know that since she bottles it in, everything lingers and festers, and she’s a lot more vulnerable than one would think. I may be more outgoing with my emotions, cry more easily when the occasion comes, but with her help and because I can let things out, I can move on more easily. For Barry, she holds it all in and it just keeps hurting her.”

 

Iris shrugged, giving a sad smile. “I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t a jerk and that you were really serious about her. Or at least not just interested, but serious enough to be in there for the long haul, even if it means waiting out her coma…however long that is. Though I wouldn’t blame you, if that is the reason you might want to back off. I just…I just want to make sure Barry’s not going to get hurt. She’s gotten hurt enough.”

 

After her speech, Eddie was floored. But he understood and knew that Barry was really important to the other.

 

“I know and I appreciate you looking out for her,” Eddie told her sincerely. “I’m honestly interested in your sister. For the short amount of time we’ve known each other, we’ve gotten to become good friends and really close already. It might be asking a bit much, but I feel like I don’t and can’t see anyone else like that, even if her coma lasts for so long.”

 

They traded understanding looks at that and the mood suddenly lightened.

 

“To be fair, I really did want to thank you over coffee.”

 

Eddie chuckled at that.

 

~*~*~

 

Harrison had to thank Cisco (sarcastically of course) for the repeated play of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face. But as soon as they’d left, since he’d given them the rest of the day off, he’d turned it off and looked to play something else, eyes skimming for something he could stand to play. His lips quirked in a half grin as he found the selection of Beatles music in their system, and thanked (sincerely) Ronnie’s collection. I Am the Walrus began to play and he gave a long look at Barry’s comatose body.

 

“You always did like them,” he muttered.

 

“You know you like them! They’re classic, Eobard. Admit it! The 25th century sucked.”

 

He grabbed the hot and newly made blueberry pie and cut a slice, taking his plate and sitting on the foot of her bed.

 

“You always did like blueberries too,” he snorted, leaning closer and holding the plate closer to her face, wondering if the smell of the slice of pie could reach her in her dreams. He could certainly smell it.

 

The scent of blueberries always coated the air whenever she was around him. It wasn’t a bad smell. It was sweet without being too sweet. Even as she quirked that stupid grin at him, he couldn’t help grinning back.

 

“Need a charge, Eobard?” she held up her hand.

 

His hand twitched, before he was lifting it up slowly and placing it against hers. The initial shock was always an exhilarated feeling, and the process euphoric.

 

Harrison had started eating his slice of pie without realizing it, memories from the past –future really –invading his thoughts, now more than ever since Barry’s presence was now ever present.

 

“I’m starting to remember my original timeline too,” he began conversationally, as if she was listening and awake to hear him. “I remember how much I worshipped you then. So much so that I did everything I could until I could travel back in time to meet you. Things went horribly wrong then. Somehow or other, I ended up hating you. The next two timelines I ended up tormenting you. But the third is murky…the others not yet existent in my head.”

 

He placed his finished plate to the side and leaned on his elbows as he watched her face.

 

“Days like today, memories like those…they make it hard to remember I hate you,” but his voice, for once, held not even a hint of that hate.

 

He sighed and trekked to his chair, sitting on it and went to the video feed, fixing it so that none of his walking about would be on film. Then he lay back and closed his eyes. If he fell asleep to the rhythmic sounds of her even breaths, then it was no one’s business but his own.

 

He tutted. “I think Batman’s gotten sloppy.”

 

She snorted. “Don’t let him hear you say that.”

 

Eobard lazily leaned back against a wall and smirked in self-satisfaction. “Why? The Big Bad Bat gonna get me?”

 

“I think he’ll bury you alive,” Barry said wryly.

 

“If he can catch me.”

 

“He’ll just find out where you’ll be next and spring a trap. Don’t get cocky!”

 

Eobard couldn’t help the cocky grin at that. “So I can count on my hero to save me then?”

 

“Ugh, I’m going to drop you into the ocean.”

 

“I can walk on water.”

 

“Don’t expect me to call you Jesus,” she rolled her eyes. “Now shut up and let’s get back to the others.”

 

He suddenly had the strange urge to grab her, so he did. Grabbing her from behind and catching her by surprise, he smirked against her neck.

 

“Give me a whisper and give me a sigh. Give me a kiss before you tell me goodbye,” he crooned mockingly as he swayed with her, before dodging a smack to his head.

 

She snickered as she gave him a look.

 

“Your singing Guns N’ Roses is saying something, Eobard. Something wrong?”

 

“…No. At least I don’t think so. Just have a feeling,” he shrugged.

 

“Good or bad?” she asked curiously.

 

“Good,” he decided after a while. “I’m going to go with good.”

 

Barry gave him a genuine smile and the two of them sped back.

 

24 hours later, Eobard watched from the Watchtower as President Luthor put a bullet into Barry Allen at point-blank range.

 

Harrison woke up groggily, glancing at the time. It was evening now, and he should get around to eating dinner. He did something about that, switched her IV bag, and then –of all things –made a cup of hot chocolate.

 

He was feeling nostalgic.

 

“Can you smell this as well?” he held the cup closer to her face for a moment. “Besides blueberries, you always did have an incredible weakness for chocolate. I know I contemplated, semi-jokingly, trying to defeat you with an abundance of chocolate.”

 

He held his cup in a toast to her.

 

“Don’t you cry tonight,” he took one sip and set the cup by her, the song he remembered before her death in that timeline recycling in his head. “There’s a heaven above you, baby.”

 

Harrison ran a hand through his hair, making it wilder than it already was.

 

“You’ve corrupted me with everything about you,” he said, his voice a blend of tiredness and bitterness. As usual, there was no answer.

 

He glanced at her irritably, before sneering at himself. The monitor skipped a beat and he looked hurriedly at her, feeling his own heart skip. But she didn’t wake and he hated himself for his reaction.

 

Harrison bent over her and kissed her head, lips lingering and eyes closing as he tried to grasp onto lingering images from another time.

 

“Don’t you ever cry,” he muttered, and he wished everything he liked and was, wasn’t an extension of her –music and food included.

 

Everything that made up him revolved around her.

 

Harrison wondered if he wasn’t an addict when it came to her.

 

~*~*~

 

The next day came quickly and Harrison was back to work in his wheelchair. Caitlin and Cisco, those loyal two, were back in the lab with him and steadily working on finding the metahumans that were running around after the particle accelerator explosion.

 

He saw Caitlin switch up Barry’s IV bag, and idly twirled a pen between his fingers. Just then, from outside, there was a buzz and he looked to see who it was.

 

“Hello? I’m here to visit Barry?”

 

He almost let his lips curl into a sneer. Eddie Thawne…his ancestor. He hadn’t seen him visit Barry since she’d been moved to STAR Labs from the hospital.

 

“I’ll let him in, Dr. Wells,” Cisco said, and he reluctantly nodded.

 

Harrison watched as Eddie was led into the room, where his ancestor’s eyes zeroed in on Barry. He kept observing subtly, letting Caitlin and Cisco continue their work quietly. He tensed as he saw Eddie hesitantly reach out and grab Barry’s hand.

 

“Hey,” he heard the man whisper. “Sorry I haven’t been around. You were moved here and I wasn’t sure if I should come. Iris told me I could, so I decided that it was probably alright then.”

 

He saw Eddie shift and grab something from a bag, and he saw it was a book. Eddie opened it from the beginning.

 

“I thought it would be nice if I read your book to you, although I hope you don’t mind if I start from the beginning, even though I saw you’d bookmarked it at a place. I haven’t read it before, so now’s as good a time as any, right?”

 

And as Eddie began to quietly read The Hobbit to her, Harrison found himself burning in rage.

 

What the hell did he know about her? He didn’t know Barry Allen the way Harrison did.

 

“Dr. Wells, are you alright?” he heard Caitlin ask him.

 

He blinked and offered her a soft smile. “I’m fine, Caitlin, thank you.”

 

He then noticed the grip on his pen looked rigid, and unknown to most, was about to break it in half. He forced his fingers to relax and he gently put the pen down in front of him. He glanced at his ancestor balefully.

 

It was going to be a long morning.

 

~*~*~

 

“It’s the big day, eh?” Officer Calum Wiere greeted Eddie.

 

He smiled at him in confusion. “Big day?”

 

Wiere gave him a disbelieving look. “Really? And you’re supposed to be smitten with the girl.”

 

“What?”

 

But Officer Anderson answered him.

 

“Come on, Thawne! It’s your sweetheart’s birthday,” Anderson teased him. “Barry turns twenty four today.”

 

Realization hit him, though he was still slightly confused. “Twenty four? I thought she was twenty four?”

 

“Nah, she’s just been telling everyone that since her birthday had been coming up anyway. Doyle! That makes it four years since she first was hired, huh?”

 

“Baby face at twenty, baby face at twenty four,” Doyle chortled.

 

“She was hired at twenty?” Eddie asked the guys in surprise.

 

Officer Gibbons entered the conversation. “Yeah. Joe was all proud about it too. Graduated high school at sixteen, spent the next four years getting her masters in two science fields, and I think she minored in criminal justice. After that, she graduated at twenty and Singh hired her here. Been working with us ever since.”

 

“I got the fireworks!” one of the CSI yelled as he ran passed, holding said fireworks.

 

“Fireworks?” Eddie said in alarm.

 

“They do know the party is going to be here indoors?” Anderson asked incredulously.

 

“I don’t think they care,” Wiere said dryly.

 

“We got a new hire,” one of the other officers said as he walked passed. “CSI department.”

 

Eddie shifted unhappily, but understood. With Barry gone, the CSI department had really gotten their hands full with things and needed an addition to help lessen the load.

 

“You guys know about this? Or who the new hire is?” Eddie asked.

 

“Nah, first time I’ve heard about it,” Doyle admitted.

 

Gibbons shrugged. “I don’t know who he is, but I think his name is…Malcolm? Malcolm something?”

 

Eddie furrowed his eyebrows, getting a bad feeling and thinking that name sounded familiar.

 

~*~*~

 

Singh eyed the new hire. Neatly combed brown hair, ordinary brown eyes, a clean cut look…this new guy seemed like he was a perfect hire. But there seemed something off about him and something off about his smile. He made Singh uneasy somehow.

 

“So…Malcolm…”

 

The brunet smiled widely. “Malcolm, sir. Malcolm…Thorn.”

 

“Well, Thorn. Welcome to the CCPD. Right now, after the incapacitation of the main forensic scientist, the CSI department’s been having trouble with the workload getting heavy. You’ll be working with the others and helping out where you’re needed.”

 

“Are you talking about Barry Allen? I heard about her from some of the others. Isn’t she just an assistant though?” Singh could feel the man’s smile be off. He just knew it.

 

“Yeah, but she’s damn good at her job and a title’s just a title around here,” Singh frowned at the other.

 

“Yes, of course. I understand, sir. When do I start?”

 

“If you can, start today,” Singh told him. “Just a head’s up that the station is celebrating Allen’s birthday, even if she is in the coma. She’s practically family, so everyone’s been working on this for a while.”

 

“Understood, Captain Singh. Shall I head up and meet the others now?” Thorn still had that strange smile.

 

Singh hid his twitch. “Good idea. You go on and do that, get settled in quickly. Report to Gordon –he’s the Head of the CSI department.”

 

Thorn nodded and stood up, and Singh dismissed him. Honestly, he had a bad feeling about the guy, but they really needed someone to help out with the CSI department and Thorn had good credentials. Not as good as Barry’s, but much better than the other prospects and was good enough.

 

Still, he wished Barry would wake the hell up already.

 

~*~*~

 

Eddie was helping around, walking through the station, when he caught sight of someone very familiar and he felt uneasiness grip him.

 

“Mal, that you?” he rushed over.

 

His brother gave him a sneering smile. “Eddie, you’re here. What a coincidence. I thought you worked in Keystone.”

 

“I got transferred,” Eddie told him, feeling upset. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still –”

 

“Grandmother passed away,” Malcolm murmured. “I decided to move to Central City and I heard there was an opening here.”

 

“Wait, you’re the new hire?” Eddie exclaimed, though he tried to keep quiet.

 

Malcolm rolled his eyes. “Yes, dear brother.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me? Call me or something? Even if you still thought I was in Keystone, I still would have been close enough. You could have at least called.”

 

Malcolm scowled. “You’re not my keeper. And stop it with that ‘kicked puppy’ look. You look stupid.”

 

Eddie felt hurt, but didn’t say anything. His younger brother always hated him getting all worked up over him anyway.

 

“And call me Thorn,” Malcolm continued. “I don’t know you and I don’t want to be related to you. As far as I’m concerned, everyone knows me as Malcolm Thorn here. Not Malcolm Thawne,” he spat out like it was a curse word.

 

Eddie pressed his lips into a thin line. “Fine,” he gritted out.

 

“So we have an understanding?” Malcolm drawled.

 

“Whatever,” Eddie scoffed. “If you want to be like this, fine. Act like you don’t know me, or like we aren’t even related.”

 

Malcolm sneered. “Trust me. We so aren’t.”

 

His brother turned on his heel and strode away, and Eddie felt like making him come back and demanding why he was acting like this. Malcolm had never particularly liked him, but he’d always been a quiet and unsociable type. Their parents hadn’t been a help either, especially considering their con artists lifestyle, before they’d been put away…

 

But now he was peeling away purposely, like ripping off the scab on a wound slowly and painfully.

 

No, he’d never really liked Eddie, but now it seemed like he hated him.

 

~*~*~

 

The day and night was a moderate workday. It wasn’t full of action for the CCPD, but it wasn’t completely slow either. There was problems to fix through the day, but mainly things were pretty steady for them all. Pizza was brought in, in honor of Barry, and everyone got full off of it in their respective breaks. When it neared nighttime, the cake was brought out and even those in the jail cells got to have a piece. Anderson was filming the entire thing, planning on getting Barry to see it when she woke up (‘cause she will), and the whole lot of them calling on Joe’s cell. When they were answered and made sure Joe (with Iris) was at STAR Labs and next to Barry, the entire station began to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ in the hopes it would reach her in her coma.

 

Malcolm, hidden away from the group, slipped away and up the stairs unnoticeably. He made his way to the area that had been dubbed Barry Allen’s, and was agreed would stay hers.

 

Quietly, he walked into the large space and looked around, observing every little facet and hint that could make up Barry’s character. He saw her desk and walked over. There, in plain view, was a photo of Barry Allen, with Iris and Joe West.

 

He held up the glass of apple cider to her picture, smiling widely.

 

“Happy May 13th, Ms. Allen. A very happy birthday to us both.”

 

He downed the drink quickly, and put down the glass with a distinct clink! on her desk. Then he sat himself onto the desk and looked up at the sky view.

 

He held out his hand, flicked his fingers, and blue flames appeared. He clenched his hand into a fist and doused them just as easily.

 

“You’ve been a busy little bee, Berenice. I hope you’ll spare some time for me when you wake up.”

 

Miles away, Harrison felt very unhappy and uneasy all of a sudden. He stopped his contented listening of the voices coming through Joe’s phone, joined by Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris’ singing, and instead frowned to himself as he looked disturbingly thoughtful at the floor.

 

He quickly plastered a smile on his face when attention was directed towards him, and he clapped quietly with everyone and accepted his plate of cake. He flipped his fork once, still thinking. He ate his cake politely, was glad when everyone left, and declined any offers of a ride back to his home.

 

Instead, as soon as everyone left, he stood up from his wheelchair and quickly walked over to Barry, eyebrows furrowing.

 

“You need to wake up, Barry. Something…something in the air tells me you need to wake up, and wake up now.”

 

Home. Home was his priority, wasn’t it?

 

Then why was he getting the sense that he needed to keep her safe at all costs? A part of him wanted to say that it was only because he needed her alive to help him home, but…

 

He remembered Luthor. He remembered the military ganging up on the Flash. He remembered the public execution. And he remembered the Justice Lords.

 

He remembered her dying.

 

“You aren’t allowed to die again,” Harrison hissed at her. “Not by anyone’s hands. Not unless it’s me!”

 

“Need a charge, Eobard?”

 

“No, I don’t need a charge!” he roared. “I need you!”

 

He recoiled, the statement hitting him like a ton of bricks. His jaw clenched and he backed away from the comatose girl, before walking briskly out of there and towards his secret room. Inside, he swallowed heavily as he activated Gideon.

 

Seeing the familiar newspaper article didn’t bring him the relief he wanted.

 

~*~*~

 

When the months flew by, they just seemed to fly. Malcolm worked with the others and did his job well, but there was always something about him that made others uneasy and he just seemed off-putting. Iris became closer friends with Eddie, but the blond knew there was still some sort of odd block coming from her.

 

Joe and he worked as partners and seemed to get along fine. Sometimes Eddie would go up and keep Barry’s lab company, eventually finding her hidden graph relating everything about her mother’s murder.

 

In Starling, Oliver was in the middle of something as always, and the friction between he and Felicity was hurtling towards all-time highs and lows, while they both remembered and worried over a certain comatose brunette in the back of their minds.

 

All the while, STAR Labs meticulously kept watch over Barry Allen, waiting for her to wake up.

 

It was all Caitlin Snow had nowadays, and what she focused on. She didn’t want to remember Ronnie or the life she’d lost all in a single night. Cisco Ramon’s own life was tied up there, and he continuously searched up Barry’s Facebook page, stumbling on little facts and quirks about her that made him grin or even outright laugh.

 

And then one day, nine months later…Barry did wake up.

 

She heard Lady Gaga. There were voices around her too. The familiar smells of blueberry and hot chocolate wafted through her nostrils, and she could feel her breath hitch. There was a beep. The voices stopped talking.

 

Then her eyes fluttered open and she heard a gasp, before there were two unfamiliar people rushing to be in her face.

 

“–Hi, I’m Cisco! You must be Barry –”

 

“I’m Dr. Snow, and I would appreciate if you went and peed into this –”

 

“I heard you loved Poker Face, so I tried playing it all the time –”

 

“Don’t stress yourself, and don’t move too quickly! You just woke up from a nine month coma!”

 

Nine months? Coma? What? What were they talking about? Where was she? What had happened? She was so confused…

 

“Cisco! Caitlin! I think the two of you need to back up and give Miss Allen her space,” she heard a commanding voice say.

 

Suddenly, to her surprise and confusion, Dr. Harrison Wells appeared in front of her, wearing a soft smile and sitting in a wheelchair.

 

“Miss Allen, welcome back to the world of the living. There have been a great deal of things that happened while you slept, but you have been greatly missed by many people.”

 

Barry stared at him, before her eyes rolled in her head and she fainted dead away.

 

The three around her exchanged looks.

 

“Well…that was anticlimactic,” Cisco broke the silence.

 

“We need to run some tests, see if she’s okay,” Caitlin muttered.

 

Harrison coughed, gaining their undivided attention. “It’s obvious that we overwhelmed her. It must’ve been a shock to wake up all of a sudden, especially to strangers and an unfamiliar place. Her thoughts must’ve been jumbled as well. Cisco, call her family –let them know she’s awoken, but to keep on with their day. She’s currently resting. Caitlin, we’ll get to those tests. She just needs her rest and to readjust to her current situation. We just need to take things slowly, let her acclimate. Else we’ll put her further into shock.”

 

Caitlin reluctantly nodded and Cisco went to do as he was asked. Harrison took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked at Barry then, and gave a wry grin.

 

“Nothing’s ever boring when you’re around, is it, Barry?” he said under his breath, unheard of by anyone else.

 

Still, she was awake now. That meant things could progress faster and time would be on his side.