"Oh come on," Shalimar coaxed, laughter filling her voice as she circled further around the couch as Brennan tried to get closer to her.  "You have to admit, it was a little bit funny."

Brennan bit his lip to keep from laughing.  "I thought the funny part was you sitting up in surprise."

"How'd you know?" Shalimar asked, hoping he wouldn't notice her inching further away.  "And stay away from me Brennan Mulwray," she pointed as he stalked closer.

"I saw that huge smile when you didn't think I was looking," Brennan couldn't help but chuckle.  They had circled the couch during the entire conversation and now Brennan was through.  He rushed at Shalimar, but she dashed around a corner chair to avoid him.  Brennan stood in front of it, eyes telling Shalimar he was up to the challenge. 

"You're not going to get away," he said when she glanced towards the hallway.  "I won't let you."

Her eyes sparked.  "It was only payback for the days you bossed me around," she admonished.  "In fact, I'm still angry about that, don't speak to me."  She fought to hide her grin. 

"It's not talking I want to do," Brennan countered, making his move while Shalimar was gauging the distance to the hallway.  One moment she was standing alone and then the next, he'd captured her wrist with his good hand.

"Let go of me, Brennan," she commanded. 

He ignored her, scooping her into his arms and returning back to the couch.  His arms around her, her hands against his chest, Shalimar looked up at him, smiling.  He smiled back, eyes alight with love.  Mesmerized by his gaze, she slowly leaned towards him, hovering inches from his lips.

"Am I forgiven?" she whispered softly, teasing him with her nearness.

"No," he whispered back, grinning, "You owe me now." 

"Really?" she arched a brow.  "And how do you want to be repaid?"

"What do you think," Brennan rasped, even as he closed the distance between them, capturing her lips in a breathless kiss. 

Jesse sighed as he banged the keyboard in frustration.  They had searched the entire building and the surrounding forest, but had found nothing significant.  Dominique, if she was even ever there, had disappeared without a trace, leaving only dead men and women in her wake. 

Lexa turned towards him, "Sorry Jesse," she shook her head.  "There's still nothing from my contacts."

He rapped his fingers against the console, "We'll probably never know what their true intentions were, let alone where they went," he said in resignation. 

"At least we put a stop to the disappearances," she consoled.

"And the testing," Jesse muttered, "at least for now." 

Lexa pushed herself to her feet and started to walk out of the lab, Jesse's voice stopping her.

"Lexa, can I ask you something?"

She turned back towards him, "Yeah?"

"Why did you let Shalimar think something happened between you and Brennan?"

She dropped her eyes to the floor, hand rubbing her temples as she searched for words.  "I had only been here a few days, but could already see the connection between them," she sighed.  "I was just trying to get a rise out of her, I honestly never thought she would truly believe me," she defended herself. 

Jesse pressed his lips together.  "You may have fooled them for a while, but they're together now."

"So it's all ok then," she shrugged dismissively.

You caused them a lot of pain," he reproached her, "Don't ever let it happen again."

Their eyes met and held across the room for long moments in silent discussion.  Jesse searched her, and finding what he was looking for, nodded his head in acknowledgment.  She smiled tentatively in apology before again turning back and leaving the room.  His eyes followed her.

Brennan reached out both arms and wrapped them around Shalimar as he came up from behind her, his casted finger sticking out at an odd angle.  Shalimar entwined her fingers into his good hand as he rested it against her stomach. 

"You know, Shal," he murmured as he placed a gentle kiss on her neck, "You still owe me big time."

Shalimar raised her brows in question.  "How do you figure that?"

"Let's see, where to begin," Brennan teased.  "Oh yes," he continued, "First there was the matter of you attempting to beat me up."

Shalimar sheepishly shrugged as he placed another kiss on the other side of her neck. 

"And then we can't forget the silent treatment that went on for days," he added.

She squeezed his fingers in silent apology. 

"Then for a while you refused to call me anything but Peter," he rolled his eyes, "even in private."

She bit her lip, smirking.  "I wanted to call you a different name, I was just being polite."

"And of course, the unforgettable food fight that you started."

She grinned at the memory of that one.  "But you wear milk so well," she teased back.

Brennan grunted as he moved further down her neck with a trail of tiny kisses. 

"You also ran out on me at one point in time," Brennan reminded. 

Her fingers convulsively clenched his tighter.

"And then of course you dragged me all over that wretched park."

"I kissed you, didn't I," she countered in defense. 

"True," Brennan nodded as he rested his chin on top of her head.  They were silent for a moment, reminiscing until Brennan again spoke up.

"There was also that soup you made me eat when I was sick." 

Shalimar couldn't help but giggle at that one. 

"But my personal favorite," Brennan again continued, "Was the way you looked with poison ivy all around your mouth."  He pulled back slightly to continue his exploration of her neck.  "Now that was wonderfully ironic, not to mention those swollen lips drove me wild with desire."

Shalimar lightly jammed her elbow into his stomach.  "Behave," she admonished.

Brennan fell silent for a moment, "And then when you disappeared, and I thought you had died—"

"No, Brennan," Shalimar interrupted him.  "Right now, let's do as the Martin's asked, and only focus on the good things that came from this situation."

"Us," Brennan tenderly smiled, tracing light patterns along her neck and shoulders with his finger.

"Despite it all, they were so happy for us," Shalimar whispered, gripping his hand tightly to her body.  "They couldn't believe we weren't really newlyweds," she had to chuckle.

After a pause, Brennan cleared his throat and continued his litany.  "Of course the latest thing is you trying to trick me into waiting on you hand and foot," he reminded her.

"You did the same to me," Shalimar shrugged, refusing to show remorse for the last one, instead lifting her hair to allow him better access to her neck. 

Brennan growled as her long, creamy neck was exposed before his eyes.  He lightly blew on her hairline, following immediately with hungry kisses. 

Shalimar's stomach dropped when he suddenly reached a sensitive spot on her neck.  She bit back a moan even as her knees buckled slightly beneath her.  The man could do amazing things with his mouth. 

After a long moment, Brennan pulled away and circled around her, planting a quick final kiss on her lips and then pulling her forward. 

"All in all, I think you'd have to agree that you still owe me," he gleefully summed up as they turned a corner towards the lab. 

"Uh, I don't know about that," Shalimar mused as she came to a sudden stop, pointing in disbelief at the hallway wall she had just repainted a few months ago.  "I finally know what you did to your hand," she arched a brow at him as he raised his hands in an innocent, questioning gesture.  Six large holes decorated the wall.

A few hours later found Brennan sweating as he struggled to properly spackle and sand down the last hole in the wall.  He stood back, nodding in satisfaction.

"Not bad for working with one hand," Brennan admired his work. 

A groan and a shuffle to his right caught his attention.

"You got the paint?" he called to Shalimar without looking back.

"Oh yeah, I got it," Shalimar called to him.

A second later, Brennan felt a big splat hit the back of his head.  His hand slowly rose to his hair and came away drenched in white paint.  There was a silent pause and then Shalimar giggled.  Brennan slowly turned to face her, brows raised.  Shalimar grinned in victory, raising her paint brush in silent challenge.  With a laugh and a roar, Brennan raced towards her. 

Sanctuary's halls rang with squeals, giggles, and splats for several minutes.  An indignant "Oh" was followed by an amused "Come here."  Clothes rustled as arms wrapped around each other, and the giggles were replaced with the distinct sound of meeting lips.  Contented sighs quietly echoed in the air, and the silence that followed was happy.  In the midst of it all, they had come full circle, creating their own house of dreams.

"We two—how long we were fool'd!…We have circled and circled till we have arrived home again—we two have..." --Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass