Tyra stifled a yawn behind her hand and got to her feet. Not even coffee was staving off exhaustion anymore, but she was determined to stay awake until Dante woke up. He’d want to know his condition, and she was the best one to answer any questions. At least, that was her official reason. Unofficially, she knew she wouldn’t sleep until she’d heard the familiar rumble of his voice. It wasn’t the first time she had to treat someone she knew, but it hadn’t made it any easier to see him lying on the operating table, bloody and still.

His medical file told the story of a man who had suffered more than his share of painful injuries. Some of them were related to his days as a fighter, most of them had been incurred after he joined the IAF. He’d been shot, battered, stabbed, and even blown up—more than once. Dax had given her access to more than just Dante’s medical data, though. There were incident reports, statements, and even a list of commendations. She’d read through them while she waited for him to wake. In almost every case, he put himself in harm’s way to protect someone else – the same way he’d told her to take cover before taking on her attackers single-handedly the first time they met. He might be overbearing and arrogant, but there was no denying how attractive his protective streak was… even if it might get him killed one day.

Today would not be that day, though. He was going to make a full recovery thanks to the care his teammates had given him in transit back to the ship. He was already stable by the time he arrived in the med-bay, and it had taken less than two hours to repair the worst of his injuries. What he needed now was time to heal, and she’d made some preparations to ensure that was exactly what he got - whether he wanted it or not.

She’d been monitoring his vitals from a workstation in the corner of the med-bay. He was resting comfortably, thanks to the pain-blockers coursing through his system. The anesthetic was already out of his system, and from what she was seeing he should be waking up soon. She rose from her chair and stretched, triggering a series of cracks and pops in her joints. “I’m getting too old for all-nighters,” she muttered softly before walking the now-familiar route around the med-bay. She’d walked this path often in the last few hours. The movement helped keep her awake and allowed her to check in on both occupants of the room, Dante, and Nico.

Magi had brought the boy to see Dante once he was out of surgery, but all attempts to get him to go to bed had failed. Every time he was removed, Nico snuck out and returned to the med-bay, sitting outside the door in silent vigil. After the third escape, Tyra had suggested he stay with her. She’d tucked him into the bed right next to Dante. The boy had settled down after that and fallen asleep about an hour ago.

He must have lost his parents suddenly, too. Now, he was afraid of losing Dante the same way. However this mission ended, she was more determined than ever to make sure Nico never returned to Bellex 3.

She stopped beside Nico’s bed, drew the blanket up over his shoulders, and stroked his hair.

“Something wrong with the kid?” Dante’s question came out as a cracked whisper, but it was still enough to startle her.

She turned to smile down at her patient, who was already looking better thanks to the heavy doses of healing accelerant she’d pumped into his system. “Nico’s fine. He was worried and kept sneaking out of bed to check on you, so I let him sleep here.”

“He was worried about me?” Dante looked over at Nico with surprise. “He’s a good kid. I’m sorry I scared him.”

“You scared us all.”

He was quiet for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry about that, too. I’ve been screwing up a lot lately.”

“Thanks to your friends, you’re going to be around to make up for it. How are you feeling? You ready to drink a little water?”

“I probably feel better than I look, and yeah, I’d love some water. How are Blink and Sabre? Any injuries? Did they catch anyone headed out of the building?”

“Your teammates are fine. Not a scratch on either of them. I don’t know much about what happened, but I do know they didn’t bring back any prisoners.” Tyra pressed a switch, and a robotic arm moved a glass of water to the side of his head, tipping it so the straw reached his mouth.

Dante took several sips before saying anything else. “No prisoners? Damn. They must have got away.” He tried to sit up. “Why can’t I move?”

“Because there’s a restraining field set up around your bed. And before you ask, no, I’m not releasing you until I decide you’re ready.”

“Let me up, Shortcake. I have work to do.”

For once, his nickname didn’t annoy her. She was too happy to have him back to care what he called her. “Not happening, Muscles. The only thing you’re going to do for the next twenty-four hours is lie still and let yourself heal. You had a lot of holes in your body for someone who promised to be safe.”

The field was set up to allow him some movement, and it was enough for him to reach out and take her hand. “You told me to be safe, but I never told you I would be. Doing my job means taking risks.”

“I’m starting to figure that out.” She squeezed his hand, enjoying the chance to touch him this way. “So, I guess that means I’m going to have to get used to worrying about you.”

His eyes lit up, and his fingers tightened around hers. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. But don’t let it go to your head.” One thing had become clear to her as she’d waited for the team to reach Dante – despite his decision to keep his distance, she cared about him. It wasn’t logical, rational, or likely wise, but that didn’t make it any less true.

He tried to rise again, growling in frustration as the field stopped him from rising more than a few inches. “Turn this off, and I’ll show you how happy I am to know you’re going to keep being worried about me.”

“Not a chance. You’re staying put. You had a pneumothorax and it’s going to take some time to heal.”

“I had a what? Use smaller words, please. I’m the cannon fodder, remember?”

Her brow furrowed. “You’re a lot more than that. And a pneumothorax is a punctured lung.”

“I did? Must have done that when I broke the chair, or maybe when I charged the guy holding my blaster.”

“You did what?” She stared at him in amazement. “Was that necessary?”

“Well, yeah. If he was going to shoot anyone with my own damned weapon, it was going to be me, not my teammates.”

“You’re insane.”

“Maybe. But I also know that I couldn’t live with myself if my mistake cost one of my friends their life.”

As much as she wanted to, Tyra couldn’t argue with his logic. “Speaking of your friends. I should let them know you’re awake. They’ll be happy to hear it, and I know the commander wants a brief summary of what happened to you tonight.” She held up a warning finger. “A brief one, you hear me? The pain-blockers are keeping you comfortable, but you went through some serious trauma tonight. You need to rest.”

“I hear you.” He grinned, though she could already see he was starting to tire. “I like it when you try to boss me around.”

“While you were gone, I got promoted to full team status. You know what that means?”

He shook his head, still grinning.

“I did some reading on IAF rules while I was waiting for you to wake up. It turns out that when it comes to the health of this team, I have complete autonomy. Not only do I outrank you, Sergeant, I outrank everyone on this ship.”

Dante’s eyes narrowed, his expression as mutinous as Nico’s when someone tried to suggest he’d eaten enough burgers for one day. “I don’t think Rossi is going to be on board with your interpretation of the rules.”

She made an airy, dismissive wave with her hand. “Oh, I already discussed it with him. He’s in agreement.”

“Fraxx. I was gone one day, and you’re already conspiring with my commander?”

“You were gone longer than that, Dante. We might have been on the same ship, but you left me alone long before you headed back to the surface.”

“I know. That’s one of the things I need to make up for once I’m out of this bed. I’m not good at multitasking. I try to focus on one thing at a time, and I thought the mission had to be my focus.” He gave her a wry, but tired, smile. “Right before I blacked out, it occurred to me that I might have my priorities wrong.”

“Next time you need a little clarity, how about skipping the part where you nearly lose your life?” She stroked her fingers over his cheek, being careful to avoid his injuries.

“Deal.” He turned his head, pressing his cheek against her fingers. “Next time, I’ll come to you first.”

“You’d better. Patching up your owies is getting to be a habit.” She let her hand linger for a few more seconds, but she could see Dante was starting to fade, and he still needed to talk to Dax before he could rest again. Eventually, she moved her hand from his face and eased her fingers out of his grip. “I should let the commander know you’re awake.”

“Yeah. I need to tell him what happened, and who we need to look out for.” His eyes suddenly opened wide. “Hey, how’s the analysis of the cobalt sample coming? You have it, right?”

“What sample?”

Dante tried to sit up again, but this time he remembered the restraints and stopped himself. “Dammit. I need to talk to Rossi, now. They were going to inject me with cobalt, but I knocked it out of the guy’s hand. If it wasn’t bagged as evidence, then it’s still down there!”

She put a hand on his good shoulder. “I’m sure they brought anything they thought might be relevant. You relax and try not to get yourself too worked up. Your system doesn’t need more stress.”

“Dante?” a sleepy voice interrupted before she could say anything else. “Dante! You’re awake.”

Nico bounded out of bed and was at Dante’s side in seconds. “You okay? Doc Li says you was shot.”

“I was, but Dr. Li fixed me up. I’m going to be fine, kid.”

Nico looked up at her as if seeking confirmation. “Really?”

She nodded. “Really, truly. He’s going to be in the med-bay for a day or two, but that’s all. He’ll be back in the cockpit, ready to give you flying lessons, in no time.”

“I get to fly the ship?” Nico’s eyes lit up like stars.

“Maybe. But there’s a rule that you have to get a solid eight hours of sleep a night to be a pilot.” Dante raised his dark brows. “I heard you’ve been sneaking out of bed to check on me. You keep doing that, I can’t let you sit in the pilot’s seat.”

Nico nodded hard. “I’ll sleep now. Promise.”

“That’s good. Do you think you could stay with Dante for a few minutes while I contact the commander and tell him Dante’s awake?” Tyra asked.

“I can do that. Did I really know ‘bout you before Fido did?” Nico asked, clearly thrilled at the idea.

“You did.” She left the boy beside Dante’s bed and called Commander Rossi to give him the news. While she spoke, she watched Dante and Nico. He might be one of the most dangerous men she’d ever met, but he had a soft heart hidden under all those muscles. For the next while, the two of them would be spending a lot of time together. She intended to use that time to get to know Dante Strak, the man, before he turned back into Sgt. Strak, the stubborn soldier.