Alek anxiously ran his fingers through his hair for what was probably the millionth time. By now, it was sticking up wildly in just about every direction, as if he had been stuck by a miniature Tesla cannon. His foot tapped on the cold floor repeatedly, his whole leg burning from the constant movement.

Beside him, Bovril made a soft noise and the young Prince glanced down at it. The loris seemed to understand that something wasn't right, or at least it acted that way. It had been drifting in and out of sleep for a while now, and when it was awake it would simply stare, wide-eyed, at the wall and make the occasional noise.

This is all my fault, he thought miserably, clenching his fists, and feeling his nails dig into his flesh. Alek took a deep, shuddering breath and stood, feeling slightly unsteady on his feet. After a moment, he scooped up the loris and placed it on his shoulder.

He had been sitting hunched over for a few hours, desperately awaiting an answer from the doctors. Anything really, just some kind of news. Alek wandered aimlessly down the hallway, relishing in the feeling of finally stretching.

The long corridor was devoid of life, and seemed rather eerie. The pale beige walls stared blankly back at him, like they were daring him to make any sort of noise. Bovril murmured something in his ear and he scratched it's head.

"She'll be fine," Alek said softly. "She has to be."

Once Alek had wandered around the entire first floor of the hospital, he returned to his position in the lobby, but not before he went to the restroom to wash his face. He was surprised at the hollow reflection that frowned back at him.

"Sleep," said the loris.

Alek simply shook his head and leaned back against the wall, rubbing his burning eyes. It was simply too much. Deryn was fighting for her life, and the young Prince couldn't do anything to help her. She had to pull through. Alek wouldn't let her do anything less.

A hand rested gently against his shoulder, causing him to jump. A young doctor, with dark brown hair and light blue eyes, leaped back a bit, just as startled as Alek. The doctor cleared his throat. "Aleksander?" He tried, unsure of what to call the former heir to Austria-Hungary.

Alek's eyes lit up with hope. He shot to his feet. "How is she?"

"Well, the worst seems to be over, at least for now. She is relatively stable now, but we will have to wait a few days before we will know whether or not she stands a good chance of a full recovery."

Alek gulped, then shook his head. Of course she would pull through. "Can I see her?"

The doctor nodded. "Room 103." Alek attempted to side step the doctor, but the young man held out his hand, and Alek stopped. "Just one thing you should know."

"What is that?"

The doctor sighed heavily and dropped his hand. "Miss Sharp has sustained heavy injuries to her brain. It should not affect simple things like moving. However..." He paused a moment and looked away. "She has most likely suffered severe memory loss and will not remember you. Or much else, for that matter."

Alek stood, frozen, the words barely registering to him. His mind felt like it had stopped, all his thoughts grinding to a halt. Deryn... memory loss... forgotten him.

"I'm sorry," The doctor said before he walked away, leaving Alek alone to deal with the full gravity of what he had been told. The ground threatened to slip out from under him and he leaned heavily against the wall to steady himself.

It took a moment, but his brain slowly started up again, all of his thoughts mixing together at a hundred miles an hour. His legs moved of their own accord, and it was all he could do not to sprint down the hall.

Room 103. Alek stopped outside of the door, taking a deep breath to calm himself. If Deryn was awake, he couldn't come in a complete wreck. Then he turned the doorknob slowly and entered the room.

There she was, looking pale and pained, lying on a small white bed. Next to her were a group of medical instruments that looked awfully complicated. A small tube was in her nose, and it in turn was connected to something that looked like some fabricated animal's lungs.

The doctor never said she couldn't breath without help, Alek thought. He carefully made his way over, pulling up a chair beside the bed. His fingers brushed away some of her hair from her forehead. It had grown longer, reaching down past her ears.

Alek expected her eyes to flutter open, and for her to mutter something about scrambling her attic. As he took a seat, he found himself missing her familiar Scottish lilt already. He gently took one of her hands in his, surprised by how cold it was.

Bovril attempted to crawl down his arm, but Alek held the loris back. Near silence soon engulfed them, the only sound was Deryn's artificial breathing, an unearthly sound that rasped and spluttered.

Alek dozed off for a while, but snapped awake when he felt Bovril's grip tighten on his shoulder. Deryn's fingers closed around the back of his hand and her eyes flicker just below her eyelids. Her face scrunched and a moment later Alek found himself staring into the beautiful blue eyes he loved.

His breath caught as he awaited her response. He hoped she wouldn't be overwhelmed by this stranger being in such close proximity to her, and relief flooded through him as she said, "Barking spiders, do you go skulking about every sick girl's room?"

Alek chuckled slightly. She hadn't appeared alarmed, so he took that as a good sign. "Only the special ones," He murmured.

Deryn raised her free hand to her carefully bandaged head, wincing slightly at the effort. "I don't suppose you know why I'm here, Mr..." She trailed off and frowned at him uncertainly.

Alek swallowed hard, his throat closing. His heart dropped into his stomach. She didn't remember him at all. She didn't remember anything, or at least not how she wound up here in the first place. "You cracked open your head." He said quietly.

Deryn blinked at him. "That explains the ache, I guess."

Alek smiled slightly, "I'm Aleksander, by the way." He said. "Prince Aleksander Ferdinand, to be correct. Though that isn't my last name."

Deryn whistled. "A prince coming to visit a commoner like me. Do I know you from somewhere?"

Alek cringed. She didn't even remember that Austria-Hungary didn't exist, or that there was even a war to contend with. "Yeah, you do- did, I suppose."

"Oh," was all she said. The room grew silent once more as Deryn dealt with her new situation. Alek could see various emotion playing across her face. He could have sworn he saw a flash of fear somewhere in the mix, and couldn't blame her. A stranger in her bed, telling her he knew her when she didn't even remember anything herself.

"Can you... remember anything," Alek asked.

Deryn raised an eyebrow, her eyes focusing on his face. He could tell she was concentrating hard. "I remember that I'm a Darwinist." She answered. "And that we fabricate beasties. There are also Clankers too, who build giant, metallic walkers."

Alek felt a flicker of hope rising in him. At least she remembered this much. Maybe she knew about the Leviathan. "What about yourself," he pressed. "You haven't introduced yourself."

"Oh, right," Deryn saluted reflexively with her free hand and Alek wondered if she even realized what she was doing. "I'm..."

Alek's heart stopped and for a moment he forgot how to breath. This couldn't be happening. She didn't even know her own name? "It's Deryn," he said numbly. "You're former Midshipman- or rather woman, Deryn Sharp."

X X X

Author's Note: This thing has been skulking about my files for a while now, I've simply haven't done anything with it. It's not too bad, so I decided to put it on here. For now, it looks like it'll be a three-shot, and I want (or rather hope) that I can get the other two parts up fairly quickly.