Sleep was never restful for Lee. It was really kind of hard for sleep to be a restful thing when one could not create their own energy. Waking up with less energy than one went to bed with because you hadn't been around anyone to siphon energy from, it was rather impossible for sleep to be restful. And yet, it was still an absolute necessity for Lee, a time her mind needed to reset just like every other person.

That night, however, was even worse than normal. Not only was Lee in a strange room, in a strange bed, not only did she have the thoughts and worries about Tarin running through her head, but less than half an hour later she was woken up by a screech.

Blinking sleepily, groggily, Lee looked around the darkened room without even sitting up; she was far too worn out to bother sitting up at that moment.

Then the exact words that had been yelled at her sank into Lee's tired mind, and she blinked, finally pushing herself up onto her elbows to look at the woman who was standing near the door, yelling at her.

"What?" Lee asked. She was still half asleep, shouldn't be up. Now that she had actually had the chance to really sleep, Lee knew that DocProf was right, that he had been right to kick her out of the infirmary so that she could sleep. Knew that she should still be asleep now.

"Your boyfriend's bed?" Lee asked, her voice still sounding confused and sleepy. Maybe if she started siphoning from this woman a bit more, she'd wake up enough to actually fight back if needed, or at least hopefully have her brain be able to figure out what was going on a bit quicker. "I'm just sleeping, or trying to...."

Leila rolled her eyes as the woman started to wake up. 'Come on, hurry up!' she thought, getting a bit annoyed by Sam's dogs whinning outside. She should really let them in poor dogs. Why did Sam leave them out there all by themselves anyway? Didn't he know they were just puppies? Leila didn't have time to act though, because the lady in Sam's bed had woken up, though she was still lying on her boyfriend's bed.

"Yes. My boyfriend's bed!" she said, back to her normal tone. The anger was still fully there however, and she couldn't control it. She started slowly advancing in on Lee. "Don't you have your own bed to sleep in?" she asked, "And...where's Sam anyway?!" she looked around, but there was no sign of him. The dogs continued whinning out, and Leila's head began pounding. With her enhanced hearing, she could litterally hear them twice as well as others could. She walked towards the window, opened it, and looked out. Right there, was a dome of ice, and the dogs were inside. Leila's eyebrow raised, as she focused on a fifth sound, someone knocking their head on the top.

'Nice hiding place, Sam!' she thought, trying to repress a laugh. She was angry, she had to tell herself. She couldn't laugh at Sam for hiding in a dome of ice. He sure knew he'd be in trouble, how could he have heard her come in so quickly though? That dome must of taken at least a minute to make. Leila climbed out of the room and then walked over to the dome, kmocking on it. Then she crossed her arms against her chest, her eyes a piercing glare.

The small whole Sam made earlier for the dogs to enter and leave was a goof idea on his part, he didn’t want them peeing in the small igloo he created. Lying on his back looking up at a red ceiling of ice Sam heard a knocking sound. Putting his free hand from his side to the top of the dome Sam pulled the ice down which quickly dissolved into the comforter. Causing it to melt and turn to a cold liquid. Looking up he spotted the folded arms and then the glare of his girlfriend, “Hey Lei,” Sam said still holding his head, which had blood dripping down his hand.

Trying to stand up at first was no easy task for the second Sam stood up he stumbled backwards and landed on the side of the dome which acted as a crutch till Sam could stand without falling over. “Can we take this inside?” Sam asked Leila as he picked up his shirt and tied it around his forehead to put pressure on the gash on his head and then froze the shirt over.

Stumbling over to Leila Sam hugged her and said, “I know this looks bad but come inside and I’ll explain it all inside.” He knew full well that the hug wouldn’t be a good one but he had a feeling that she would be less angry with him if she noticed the blood that was on his face and hand. The gash wasn’t bad but his head still throbbed from the hit he took.

Pushing the window open Sam let his four dogs in who met with Cammie and all ran to theirs spots at the foot of the bed from their Sam waited till Leila came back in his room before he said, “Lee this is my girlfriend Leila, Leila this is my friend Lee, she is crashing her for the night and if you look,” Sam pointed to the dome of ice, ”I was sleeping outside with the dogs.” Sam immediately felt sorry for lee for getting her in this situation after what happened to Tarin.

Her own bed? That would have made things so much easier, wouldn't it? Maybe she'd still be sleeping now instead of having been rudely awakened by an apparent jealous girlfriend. Would that have made her feel better in the morning? No, probably not, but at least Lee wouldn't be feeling like this now.

"No, not here," Lee replied, though she might have been a little slow. "He's outside..." Lee continued, trailing off because the woman was already moving toward the window Sam had gone through earlier that night.

She was tired, wanted to just lay back down and pass out again, but figured that wouldn't help things. Or, at the very least, if she did that, she wouldn't be sleeping for long. Sighing and rolling her eyes, Lee pushed herself out of bed and went to the bathroom again, grabbing her clothing on the way. It might not be the most comfortable thing to spend the night in, but at least it was her clothing, which was probably preferable considering what her sleepy mind had heard so far.

At least it didn't take her long to change. Lee was already coming out of the bathroom, fully clothed in her skirt and blouse once more, by the time that the woman and Sam were 'entering' the room once more.

And the woman was being introduced to her as Leila, Sam's girlfriend. Sam was being very careful to point out the exact details of the sleeping arrangements that night, Lee's mind was at least partially elsewhere. She didn't want to be in the middle of a lover's quarrel, especially not when Tarin was in a coma downstairs.

"Nice to meet you, and sorry about all this 'trouble'," Lee said, her voice still sounding rather tired and sleepy. Were her eyes still drooping slightly, or was it just that the room was dark? "I'll just go find a chair or couch or something to sleep on," Lee continued, turning to look at Sam for a moment. "I'll ask DocProf tomorrow to tell me how to find that room you mentioned." Stifling a yawn, Lee turned, planning on leaving the room, stooping to grab her shoes in her hands on the way.

One week ago, Leila would of laughed if somebody would of mentioned that she could ever be this angry with Sam Johnson. Tonight, she would very well laugh if someone told her she'd ever be her normal self around him again. Yes, that was exactly how angry she was with him right now. How could he do this to her? How could he bring a white haired woman to the Ball on Valentine's day instead of his girlfriend? How could he tell her to sleep in her own bed tonight because he had work, while all along he just wanted to sleep with an other woman?

This was beyond anger. She could barely control the WereDolphin inside of her, just dying to come out and rip the Ice Man's neck. She knew though, that afterwards, she'd be devestated by it, so she pushed the thought aside. Sam really didn't seem like if he'd done anything wrong. He looked so oblivious right now! Leila nearly laughed at him, but didn't. She couldn't even respond to his 'Hey Lei' either. Why was he so casual when he knew she was angry?

Leila took a step forward, taking a deep breath. Her glare was deadly, and she finally realized something. Was he drunk? He seemed so out of balance, falling backwards, nearly unable to get up. And why the hell did he hide in such a ridiculous place? The sober Sam would of stayed in the room, confronted her as soon as she'd walked in. He must surely be drunk. This reassured Leila slightly, but she still couldn't piece together why he had told her not to come and sleep over tonight.

Had he planned to get drunk and bring home some woman? Leila stayed in the same position as he came stumbling towards her, his blue eyes looking very tired, but not drunk. She did not move an inch as he hugged her, simply waiting. That was when she noticed the blood. A whole lot of it. "Holy shit Sam!" Leila hissed, as he let go of her. “I know this looks bad but come inside and I’ll explain it all inside.”

"No, that's not what I mean--" but he had already started walking away from her, towards the room. He wasn't drunk, but was he really all there? Was it because of his injury? Had he really not slept with this woman after all? Had the woman injured him? Her anger wasn't as deadly anymore, but she still couldn't put the pieces together.

At least she wasn't as angry with Sam as she was with the unknown woman in her boyfriend's bed, wearing her boyfriend's shirt. The shirt! She entered the room, her hands on her hips. "Hello," Leila said, her voice sounding dark. Not usually the tone she'd take around Sam. This was more of her Order tone. The one she used when on Missions, or talking about how stupid the X-Men and the Humans were. It felt oddly out of place to use that tone here.

Sam then explained how Lee had been sleeping here for the night, but not with him. He'd been clearly sleeping outdoors. "Okay, so why is she sleepiung here?" Leila asked Sam, as if Lee wasn't even in the room. She advanced on him, half of her wanting to examine his injury closer, and the other half wanting to read his face, find out if he was really telling the truth or not.

It wasn't like she didn't trust him or anything... Just that... well, their relationship seemed to be falling apart lately, and maybe he'd realized it too? They'd been spending days and nights together still, but it wasn't as hot or as passionate as a few weeks ago. Leila felt her eyes getting wet at the thought of slowly losing her Sam. Juswt now, she knew she couldn't do that, even with all the thoughts she had these past days, she didn't mean that! She was still head over heels for this man.

Frowning at the situation and how bad it looked the shirt around his head continued to reduce the swelling that was his forehead. Sam looked over to Lee and noticed that she was ready to go, he couldn’t blame her but he didn’t want her to leave she had an elephant of a problem to deal with and he wanted to make it that much easier for her. Picking up the Keys Sam was going to give to Lee earlier so she could get to her room he called out, “Lee, room 201 head to the stairs and right before you go down turn right, everything should be set up…” he walked over to her handed her the keys and said, “I’ll check up on you in the morning, sorry about this, have a good rest.”

Turning around Sam walked back to Leila to explain the situation not sure if Lee stuck around for this Sam said, “The reason she was staying here is because Tarin her husband went into a coma and DocProf is taking care of him as we speak. “Me and Lee go back a bit,” not mentioning that they went on a date or two Sam continued, “me and he been friends for a while, and I was trying to comfort her, it got late and I suggested she slept in my bed.” Sam then nodded over to the window where the ice igloo could be seen, “Me and the pack slept out their till you came in yelling,” Sam grinned slightly despite the situation and pointed to his head which was covered by the rolled up shirt, “And that’s how I did this.”

“That’s the only reason she is here,” Sam said with a smile then frowned when he noticed her eye were welling up, “Your not crying are you?” asked Sam as he had no idea why she was crying in a time like this when she was so mad one second and now this.

Leila was still very upset, or at least that's what Lee got from her tone of voice.

And then Sam was talking, to her rather than to Leila, giving her directions toward the room he said he'd set aside for her in the first place. Lee concentrated, taking the key as Sam held it out; she was tired, her brain not fully working any more. She could only hope she'd be able to find this room 201. It didn't sound too hard, but if she managed to make a wrong turn somewhere, well Lee was not awake enough to go wandering around forever. At least she could always fall back on her plan to pass out on a chair or couch somewhere.

"Thanks Sam," Lee said softly, then turned and padded barefoot out of the room and into the hallway as she heard Sam starting to talk again, this time to Leila. Then the door closed and the voices were cut off.

Slowly Lee walked along, her shoes in one hand, the key in the other, glancing around sleepily as she went, looking for the stars, or for room 201.

And there it was, Lee saw. Stopping, Lee fumbled with the key, finally managing to get the door open. Finally, she made it into the room, closing and locking the door behind her as she fumbled for the light switch. Then Lee went about setting the alarm clock on the night table, an absolute necessity when Tarin was not there to wake her up.

Lee didn't even bother going to turn the light off. Instead, since the door was locked, Lee slipped her shirt and skirt off, then slipped under the covers, and was asleep mere seconds after her head hit the pillow.

Tarin hadn't known if he could be separated from his body, it was an unbelievably weird thing to even think about. Walking out of a room where his body was going to remain. The thought terrified Tarin for a moment and he paused at the threshold, glancing back over his shoulder at his still form listening to the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Lee was walking away though, and Tarin had a choice to make. It turned out it wasn't really a choice at all, though, and then he was following her.

He was still following Lee a few minutes later when she walked into the room that Sam called home. Tarin gritted his teeth and watched as his wife took the only real comfort that had been offered to her since she'd found him to be in his current condition. The tension left Tarin's body as he really thought about it. He'd probably owe Sam a begrudging thank you for this later. But good god, the dogs were a little much. Dogs and a cat. But then they were hugging. Hugging a lot. Tarin reconsidered his decision to thank Sam later.

That was the worst part, knowing that he should have been the one to hold his wife. At least it was the worst part until Lee asked Sam for some of his clothes to sleep in. The shirt she chose was almost indecent and again Tarin thought of what they'd probably have been doing if he hadn't ended up tied to a gravestone. A look at the clock next to the bed told Tarin that it was Valentine's day. Lee settled in and went to sleep and Tarin leaned on a wall, watching her.

It was still all so surreal, Tarin didn't feel tired, he didn't feel anything. Anything besides longing to crawl into that bed with Lee. All physical sensation was numbed, all he could think of was staying close to the one person who had always mattered. So there he stayed, hoping that at least if Lee got some rest, she'd be able to think...to realize that he wasn't in a normal coma.

Time had passed and Tarin hadn't even noticed it until a nearly unearthly screech pierced that dark quiet that had eveloped the room only moments before. Leave it to Sam to have some chick waiting in the wings.

Tarin was pissed. A glance at the clock told him that it had only been a half hour since she'd laid down...now she was going to have to deal with a lovers spat right over her head? He moved forward, "Hey! Knock it off! She's been through a lot!" he said, slightly shocked to hear his own voice in the middle of the turmoil. Too bad they all acted like he wasn't really there. They couldn't hear him...he couldn't touch them...touch her. This was getting worse by the second and Tarin lost himself for a moment in the crushing despair that had been threatening all night.

Then...Lee was leaving the room...a key clutched in her hand. Moving down the hall and Tarin was with her. He didn't know what else to do. Lee made it into her room, 201, and Tarin followed her in. He didn't walk through the door, that would be simply too weird...and he didn't know if he could.

There he stood. Lee was alone now and she went through the motions. Motions similar to the motions she went through when they were at home. Together. They were together now, she just didn't know it.

Tarin almost averted his eyes as Lee started to remove her clothes from the day. Almost. It was the same sadistic pleasure that had made him watch her put her boots on early in their relationship that kept him watching tonight. He couldn't touch her, couldn't even hold her, so he just watched.

Lee climbed into the bed, the alarm was set and Tarin almost winced as he thought of how tired she would be the next morning. Tarin knew he couldn't do anything about it though, he couldn't reach out and touch her. So he just found his way to a chair to the side of the bed, sinking down into it and leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. He couldn't hold her, or touch her, or even tell her that everything was going to be okay. So he'd just watch. Watch over her and do what he could to make sure everything would be okay. Even if he didn't know if that was something he could do.

Leila wasn't feeling that angry anymore. The way Lee acted, Leila was very certain that nothing had happened, and since Sam had said so, that only confirmed it. Why should she not trust her own boyfriend? Well, the reason why the tiniest part of her didn't want to trust him, was because he shouldn't trust her... As crazy as it seemed, he did trust her and look what she was doing:

Killing people as an Order member! So if she was to trust him, maybe he was doing as terrible things? Back to Lee though, she looked as if she could barely even stay on her two feet. Leila listened carefully as Sam started giving the tired woman directions to her room, and when he turned back to Leila, she couldn't help but hug him, hug him tightly. She wouldn't of ever let go of him, but there was still things he needed to explain.

Automatically, Leila felt a shot of guilt wash over her body. A coma? Well then, this wasn't really something you could lie about. Lee had really looked upset there, now that Leila's mind worked correctly. Tarin, her husband, oh man, poor Lee. Leila tried to remember the room Sam had mentioned earlier, 211? no wait, 102? Leila wasn't sure, but one way, she would have to apologize to Lee. "Look I believe you." she said with a sigh.

Leila hated the change in her mood. "No." she answered, blinking away the tears in her eyes. She moved in closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry." she whispered, hoping this would make up for the stuff that had happened tonight. She kissed him lightly, and then started pushing him backwards towards the bed. "There's still a few hours before sun up." she said flirtingly, almost forgetting that he was injured.

"Oh, how badly are you hurt?" she asked, moving her hands from him neck to his forehead, unwrapping the T-shirt. Ah, it wasn't... that bad. Leila winced slightly.

(OOC: Continued in Not Quite Myself )