The silver-haired man made his way back to his office, only wanting to rest before trying to think clearly again. He sighed as he saw the dark-blond woman waiting for him at the door. Lina looked at him with an odd half-smile on her face.

"Culgan? Are you all right?"

He sighed again and shook his head. "Do I look all right to you? Why are you asking, anyway?"

"Well, I heard something disturbing; you were late for court. Now, something must be wrong, because otherwise the end of the world is near."

"You make it sound like it's very unusual that people are late for court."

Lina smiled. "It's not that unusual. But you being late for anything is unusual. So how about you sit down and tell me what happened."

The ice-blue-eyed man smiled coldly and handed over the ticket the policeman had given him. "This happened. Satisfied?"

"No, because this means that the world really is coming to an end. Reckless endangerment? You? You're the most careful driver I know, and..." She shook her head. "Culgan, what happened? You look like you've seen a ghost."

He threw the briefcase to the floor next to his desk and sat down on the couch. "That's quite close, actually."

"What is it?" Lina sat next to him and took his hand, now apparently worried. For once, his calm appearance deceived him. He closed his eyes, trying to keep his thoughts together.

"I... All right, I'll start from the beginning. I left earlier, on my way to the courthouse. Then, at the streetlights... Gods, you should've seen him. The red hair, his face, every little detail..."

"Who? Seen who?"

Culgan rubbed his temples, giving his secretary a short glance. "Seed. I saw him crossing the street almost in front of me... I got out of my car, called his name, but I couldn't find him anymore. Then the policeman came and gave me that. I'm insane, Lina. That's the only explanation. Too much work or something..."

The woman patted his shoulder gently. "It's okay. But are you sure it was him? I mean, it sounds quite weird, since he doesn't actually exist."

"I thought so too! But I saw him. I've seen enough redheads in my life to know that it was him! It was Seed... so close... And I lost him..."

"Calm down. Maybe it was him, but... Culgan, how about you take a few days off? I mean..."

He sighed. "Maybe I should. I messed up in the court because of this. Or, I'm not sure... It could've been worse. My mind was so lost that I wasn't listening to what the other side was talking about, until they produced some documents that weren't on the evidence list. I had enough sanity left to object and then ask for a postponement. At least the judge agreed, so I have until next week. Mind checking the documents for me? I don't think I can concentrate right now."

"I will. And at least you have until next week; you'll feel better then. But you should..."

The silver-haired man shook his head. "No. I can't stop working; that's what keeps me sane. But... Do you think I should go see a psychologist? Maybe I could get some explanation to the dreams."

Lina smiled, petting his arm. "Maybe you should. I mean, I did tell you that you should tell someone about those dreams, someone who might actually know something..."

"You're right. Get me a time to see a psychologist, then. But, someone outside the house. I know the firm has one that a few of the people here go to, but I want to keep low profile."

"All right," she told him. "As for that, I think I know someone... My friend's brother was depressed last year, and he went to see a psychologist a few times. I'll call him and ask."

He finally relaxed a bit, and looked at his secretary, smiling calmly. "Sounds good enough. Thank you, Lina."

"No problem. You just stop worrying, and don't work too hard. Could be that you're stressed..."

"I don't suffer from stress."

The woman smiled. "First time for everything. I'll go call my friend and try to contact his brother, and get you that appointment. You just rest for a while before getting back to work."

His answer was a grateful smile as he leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Culgan Black?"

He opened his eyes, realizing that he had dozed off. He blinked a few times, smiling at the faint image of his dream. He didn't remember what he had dreamt about, but he remembered Seed being there.

Then he realized someone had called his name, and turned to look at the door. Standing at the doorstep was a tall woman with blond hair. She was a couple of years older than he was, and was wearing a very expensive looking, well-fitting suit. He recognized her quickly enough - Marie Daviaux, daughter of the original Daviaux who had founded the firm a half a century ago. She was the firm's current vice-president, second in command after her father.

Culgan got up from the couch and straightened his coat a little. "Yes. A pleasure to see you, Ms. Daviaux."

Or not, he thought. He was feeling somewhat nervous all of the sudden. Being a valuable member of the firm, he met the executive staff at least once a month, but this was unusual. So, she already heard about my not so successful case today... Now what?

"Please. We should know each other well enough so that you should be able to call me just Marie, Culgan."

He managed to smile calmly, and nodded. "All right, Marie. So, why the unexpected pleasure? I take it that you heard about my court session earlier today."

The woman smiled. "I did. And you handled it quite well. They can't just go and bring in new evidence without letting us study it first. That's foul play, but they'd better remember that we know the rules of that game too."

"Indeed we do. I'll study the evidence before the case continues next week, and if there's anything that doesn't fit, I will find it."

"I trust that you will, Culgan. But that's not why I'm here. I was around in this floor, about to stop by someone's office to talk about a case when I happened to hear your secretary calling a psychologist. Apparently she didn't feel like lying to me, as she told the truth. Now. Are you stressed or something? You've worked hard, and haven't had many days off during the past few years."

The silver-haired man blinked, and then took a deep breath. "No, I haven't needed days off. And I'm fine, Marie. I just want to see a psychologist to take care of a small personal problem, something that has nothing to do with my work."

Ms. Daviaux shook her head. "Culgan, we need you. You're the best court strategy planner the firm has ever had. There's no way that we're going to let you deal with your problems alone. If you don't want to talk to the firm psychologist, then at least tell yours to send the bill to the firm. Really, that's the least we can do. Well, this isn't free, of course... You'll have to take care of that personal problem of yours. Understood?"

He relaxed, and smiled to the woman. "Yes ma'am. I'll do that."

Marie smiled back. "Good. Now, take the rest of the day off. Go home and try to rest. I'm sure you'll do fine with the case next week."

The silver-haired man thanked her again, then took his briefcase and walked out of his office. He stopped to give Lina some short instructions on his way out, and then headed home.

At 8 PM, someone rang the doorbell. Culgan was sitting comfortably on the couch, drinking wine and studying the new evidence for the case. So far, there was nothing he should worry about.

He got up to open the door, but the person on the door had already used a key. "Culgan? Are you home?"

"Yes. I was just about to open the door, too." He smiled to the dark-haired woman who had entered the apartment. It was Sara, his sister.

"Well, Culgan... I was a bit worried..."

He smiled, feeling slightly amused. "Worried? That I had killed myself or something? Or gotten drunk? I wouldn't do something like that. You've been talking to Lina, haven't you? And let me guess, she told you everything."

Sara smiled back, folding her arms. "Good guess. And so you expect me to act like I'm not worried? You say that you saw him and I'm not supposed to worry?"

Culgan sighed and sat back on the couch. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm going to see a psychologist. You should be pleased - you told me to go see one when I was only 14. And then, 5 years ago..."

The woman sat beside him and wrapped her arms around him. "Yes, I did. And you did see a shrink, but you didn't talk about the dreams, did you? So..."

"No, I didn't. I agree that the dreams maybe were related to that incident, but..." He trailed off, closing his eyes.

Sara hugged him gently. "It's okay... You'll be fine."

"What if the man I saw really was Seed?"

"Then I'm sure you'll see him again sometime. But you need to stop thinking about it too much. You could get obsessed with something like that, and that's not good."

Culgan smiled. "Obsessed? Me? Don't worry. I'm never obsessed. Only devoted."

His sister laughed. "I know. But don't worry about it too much. If it really was Seed, you will find him later. Because if he really is somewhere, he will find you, someday."

"Thank you. It's really nice when someone actually believes you, and doesn't think you're crazy because of some dreams..."

"Come on, Culgan. No one thinks you're insane. So what if mom and dad don't want to talk about it."

He sighed. "I know. And I understand them... They didn't take my being what I am too well, either, so..."

Sara patted his hand. "You could still call mom sometimes. She would like to talk to you. Well, anyway. Got any coffee? I need a break..."

The silver-haired man chuckled softly. "Are the kids being a pain again?"

"Very. I so wish they'd inherited something from my side of the family. Like your calmness or something, but no. Got to love them, but I need a break sometimes."

"You're always welcome here. I'm not home most of the time, but you have the key..."

The woman gave him a meaningful look. "You know, you are their uncle. How about you look after them once in a while?"

"All right, I'll take them riding one of these days. Satisfied? I need to finish a few cases first, so I'll be less busy with work."

"That's what you always say... But I'll make sure you keep that promise this time," Sara said. She then went to the kitchen and made coffee and sandwiches.

They talked for a few hours before her husband called, complaining that he couldn't make the kids go to bed. She laughed, but said goodnight and left. Culgan got himself another glass of wine and returned to work.

Lina would've told me to go to bed... But, it's only past 10 PM.

He shrugged, picked up his reading glasses and concentrated on the papers. He didn't feel sleepy yet, and he usually worked late anyway. Besides, he'd have to try getting back to his normal schedule again - that being, not going to work before 7 AM.

Since when did I have such a schedule? Admit it, Culgan. You work too much, and that's why you don't have a life. That also makes you to...

He stopped reading and just stared at the papers for a while.

No. If you start believing that you were seeing things, then that's what you were seeing. Something that your tired mind made up. But no. It was Seed, and you know it.

He shook his head, and then continued reading again. He didn't want himself to believe that he had been seeing things, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to believe that it had been Seed - because if it had been Seed... He had lost him.

It was well over midnight when he put the papers down. He still wasn't tired, but was suddenly feeling a little nervous. He walked to the window and opened it, stopping to look at the lake for a while. He didn't usually have time to watch the landscape, and when he did stop to look, it felt like he hadn't seen it for a long time.

This is my window... It's quite funny that I never look out.

He stared at the dark lake for a while, smiling a bit as the moon shed its light on the water.

But you don't look out, Culgan, because you once watched the lake with Seed...

Suddenly, he felt more nervous, and had to stop to take a few deep breaths. He walked back to the couch and picked up the wineglass from the table, only to notice that his hands were shaking.

What... is wrong with me?

He put the glass down and stood still for a few seconds, then decided that it was better to go to bed. He still wasn't feeling tired, even after getting up so early in the morning, but the distressing feeling was getting stronger. He glanced at his bedroom door, then took a step in its direction.

And then he fell to the floor, unconscious before hitting the carpet.

When he came to, nothing had changed. A slight breeze was blowing in from the open window, making the curtains flutter a bit. He sat up, blinking a few times. The VCR's clock showed him that it was past 1 AM. He stayed still for a while, rubbing the small bruise he'd gotten when he fell.

That was... unexpected. I don't recall being sick for ages, so this was something else. No, I've also eaten enough today. It has to be... what happened today. My mind can't take it, it seems.

He got up and sat on the couch for a while. Then he put away the papers he had been reading earlier and went to turn off the lights before heading to his bedroom.

His bed was ready, waiting for him. He undressed and slipped between the sheets naked, without bothering to get his pajamas on. He turned off the lamp on his nightstand and stared at the ceiling for while.

Guess Ms. Daviaux was right - I need to do something about this. If it's becoming a problem... an obsession... Then it's only a good thing I'm going to see that psychologist tomorrow. He sighed and closed his eyes.

But I still wouldn't mind if you were in my dreams, my love...

He grinned to himself, thinking. Glad that I had the fencing lesson. Got out of the apartment just after Cynthia got there. She can have Jay all for herself tonight... Heh. Poor Jay...

He reached the building and went to change into his uniform. Frank was there already, and said that he was glad to see that Seed wasn't dead after last night. The redhead laughed, took his things and went to his post in the entrance hall.

It was almost midnight. Seed glanced at the monitors; there was nothing out of the ordinary. He switched the monitor to show him the security control room, and grinned to himself when he saw that Frank had taken out a pack of cards and was playing Solitaire.

He picked up the graphic novel he had been reading. It was a war comic, a story about some battle. It seemed to be based on history, but Seed didn't know much about that - he had mostly slept through History classes in school.

The hero of the comic was a sword-wielding, battle-worn warrior named Riou. He was the leader of the State army, and the leader of the Highland army was a skilled warlord called Jowy. Seed made a face; somehow, he just knew those two were portrayed the wrong way.

Ha. Riou was just a kid who was trying to lead an army...

He read more of it, somewhat ignoring his job. At one point, he noticed that the light on the green button was on, but before he had the chance to start wondering where Frank was, the older guard had returned to his seat and turned the light off.

The redhead shrugged and lost himself into the comic book again. There was a war going on, and the book ended with a glorious duel between Riou and Jowy just outside L'Renouille. In the end, the State leader won the battle, and took the other warrior's life, regretting that he had to kill a former friend.

I didn't know those two got to fight. I thought King Jowy escaped...

Not giving it a second thought, he switched to another comic book. It was a story of a wandering swordsman in some faraway land filled with monsters and mystical creatures. The story was pretty interesting, but Seed tried not to get too drawn into it. He looked at the monitors; there was no change at all.

Ten minutes later the doorbell rang. Seed put down the comic book and glanced at the computer screen. The person outside had used his ID card, and the computer identified him, so the red-haired man pushed a button to open the doors.

A brown-haired man who was wearing glasses entered when the glass doors opened. He had a red shirt with black dragons on it, and he was carrying a couple of books and a pile of CDs. Seed's eyes followed him until he stopped by the guard's desk.

"Midnight, Mr. Radford," the young man greeted with a smile.

Seed smiled back. "Good midnight to you too... Huh? How did you know my name?"

"Oh, easily. I didn't see you here last week, so I assumed that you're new. I checked the personnel database last night for the name. Anyway, I'm Dave. Nice to meet you."

"Ah." The redhead shook hands with the boy. "You're the computer guy, right? You always work at this hour..."

"Yup. I got afternoon classes at the University, so I work at night. And besides, it's easiest to update and configure the servers when all the lawyers and secretaries are not using them."

Seed grinned. "Right."

"Well, better go install this stuff now... Have a nice shift." The other man gave him a huge smile and headed towards the elevator.

Seed nodded and smiled. Then he turned to look at the monitors, switching channels so he got a look at all floors in the building; still nothing.

He leaned back in his chair, his thoughts wandering. He watched the empty street behind the glass doors, thinking that it might be nice to take a walk outside sometime. Maybe later on a break...

For some reason, he felt very tired. He just couldn't keep his eyes open. He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and blinked a couple of times. But the moment he closed his eyes for longer than just a second, he drifted off to sleep.

Pain woke him up from unconsciousness. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't. He had no sense of time or place, and he could barely remember what had happened. He couldn't see or hear anything. Finally, he forced his eyes half open, and saw a crumbled corridor through a red mist that covered both his eyes. He was lying somewhere near the wall; his sword was on the floor in the middle of the corridor, next to Culgan's.

Culgan!

The thought hit his muddled mind, and he tried to see the man somewhere. Nowhere. Tears filled his eyes, and he tried to move, to get up... Just to notice that his body wasn't responding. Every time he tried to move, the pain forced him to give up trying.

Then he could hear something. Silent words. It was Culgan's voice; then he realized that he was lying in the older man's arms, head against his shoulder. He tried to look at the silver-haired man, but his eyes refused to turn. So, he shut them and listened, suddenly feeling peaceful and safe.

"...Always so reckless... the wonderful... disguise... But I still know... that you love me..."

He tried to take a deep breath, but his chest hurt. It hurt so badly that he wished he would die, but death just refused to take him. So instead, he just breathed carefully, listening as the other man spoke.

"Beyond eternity... We will be... together... Nothing can... set us apart..."

He wanted to call the other man's name, but could not speak. Tears burned in his eyes, but would not fall. He rested his aching head on the soft fabric of Culgan's uniform. Whatever the older man was saying to him had a calming effect. Slowly, the words took the pain away, comforting him and making him relax.

"Beyond... life..." Culgan coughed. The silver-haired man was losing his voice, but he could still hear the words clearly.

"I'm yours... forever...You... are my soul... and... my heart."

He whispered his lover's name without a sound, and somehow knew that Culgan had heard him. He couldn't feel pain anymore. All he could feel was the warmth that filled him. Love. He rested in his lover's arms, and nothing in the world mattered... just Culgan. At that moment, they were one.

And then there was darkness.

"Seed! Dammit, wake up!"

The redhead forced his eyes open. His head ached badly. It took him some time before he realized that he was lying on the floor next to his chair. Frank was kneeling beside him, a worried look on his face.

"Thank gods... I thought you were..."

"What...happened?" Seed asked slowly, trying to clear his head. The darkness in his mind made him dizzy and nauseous.

The older guard shook his head. "You were out cold for... I don't know how long! It's past 1 AM now. About half an hour ago, I checked the entrance hall from the monitors. I didn't see you, but I thought you had taken a break and forgotten to notify me... But some time passed, and you didn't return. I tried to call, but you didn't answer the phone. Finally, about ten minutes ago I had no choice but to give an alarm and get up here."

"Mmh." The wine-brown-eyed man took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes for a while, hoping that the headache would ease. It didn't.

Frank sighed before continuing. "Well, then I came here. It wasn't too hard to find you, after all. You were lying just out of the camera range... Are you all right? What happened to you?"

"I... wish I knew." Seed opened his eyes and looked at the other man. "I... I guess I just dozed off. Probably fell back and hit my head on something. Gods, it hurts... my head..."

The other man shook his head. "Dozed off... You stayed up too long yesterday. I told you that if Marco doesn't show up sometime after 7 AM, you should just tell the other guards to take over and go home. But no, you just had to stay here till half past nine. Now look what happened."

The redhead listened to the lecture while trying to focus his thoughts. "Yeah yeah... So, you were right. I should've..."

"Damn right."

Seed was about to say something, but didn't have time. There was a sound from the door, and then a couple of guards entered the hall. Frank got up. "Night, Peter and Draco. False alarm; nothing to worry about."

The first guard smiled. "So, Frank, what is it then?"

"That." Frank nodded to Seed's direction. The red-haired man sat up slowly, trying to ignore the colorful twirls in his eyes.

"Seems that my partner knocked himself unconscious. I'm gonna send him home... Can either of you stay here?"

The second guard nodded. "No problem. Hmm. Is that the new guy?"

The oldest of the guards smiled. "Yep. Seed is also just as stupid as you used to be, Draco. Stayed here till over nine yesterday morning while Marco had to stay in the hospital with his wife. Well, that's what happens when you don't sleep enough."

Draco grinned innocently, then turned a bit serious. "Everything all right with Marco's wife?"

"Yeah," Seed muttered. "Marco came to work, and told me..."

The one called Peter knelt in front of the redhead and examined him. "Good to hear that. Anyway, I think you're right, Frank. Better take him home; he has hit his head and looks a bit dazed. Well, I'll take him. He's in no condition to drive, or anything like that."

"Good. Drag him over to the car, I'll get his things. Draco, get to work, will you?"

Seed barely had a chance to realize what was happening. He was half carried to a car, and a few minutes later Frank dumped on him his civilian clothes and other stuff he had had with him. Frank also mumbled something about how he shouldn't worry about a thing; the group of guards who worked in the law firm took care of each other. Seed had already more than proved to be one of them, and so on.

The guard who was driving the car chatted about some random things while driving to where Seed lived. Frank had given him the address, which was a good thing since at the moment the redhead was a bit too tired to even remember where his apartment was.

"Here we are." Peter stopped the car and turned to look at the other man. "You've been working hard last four nights, eh? You shouldn't take the job too seriously. It's just boring most of the time."

Four nights... Seed gathered his thoughts. Ah, that means I don't have to go to work next evening. If I remember my working schedule right, that is... Have to check.

He opened his eyes and realized that he was home. The car had stopped in front of the door of the three-story house. "Uh, thanks for the ride, and the advice. I'll try to take it easy from now on."

"Good." The other man smiled. "Go get some rest now."

Seed nodded. His head still hurt like hell, but he decided to ignore it. He took his things, opened the door and stumbled out and towards the front door of the house. Peter waited until he was inside before driving away.

He leaned on the wall for some time, then walked slowly up the stairs and to the door of the apartment he shared with Jay. It took him almost a minute to find his key, even though the key was exactly where he had put it - in the pocket of his pants. He closed his eyes for a while, wishing the headache would stop.

Got to take a painkiller, I think...

He opened the door, stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He took a step towards his bedroom... and stopped.

The lights weren't on, but the moonlight lit the room. Seed blinked when he noticed that there were two other people in the room. Jay and Cynthia were on the couch, and neither of them had clothes on. They were making love, Cynthia on Jay's lap... And they didn't seem to notice that the redhead had come in.

Seed stared at them for a couple of seconds, then blurted out the first words that came into his mind.

"Oh, shit."

Cynthia turned to look at him, stared back for a few seconds, and then grinned. "My my. Seedling! You look handsome in that guard uniform..."

The very second Jay realized that his roommate was home, he sat up, grabbed the blanket that was lying on the floor and wrapped it around himself and his girlfriend. "Seed! You're home? But, at this hour... Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

The wine-red-eyed man blinked, trying to get a grip on himself. "Yeah... I... Uh, hit my head and my partner sent me home..."

"Poor Seedling. Go to bed, we'll bring you some tea in a minute." Cynthia squirmed a little, then sat on the couch next to the blonde.

"...Yes, ma'am." Seed turned quickly and escaped into his bedroom. He undressed slowly, not even bothering to try to clear his thoughts anymore, and got into bed.

A couple of minutes passed, then Jay - dressed in a bathrobe - brought him a cup of tea and a painkiller. Seed mumbled something that resembled "thank you" and drank half of the tea without tasting it. The older man gave him a worried look before leaving.

Seed took the painkiller and drank the rest of the tea, then sighed and lay down. His head still hurt, and he felt tired.

Darn, better call that cursed shrink tomorrow. She'll be delighted to hear about what happened to me at work... But... I guess I got to tell someone about that dream.

He rolled over, stared at the window until his eyes wouldn't stay open, and fell asleep soon after.

He lay comfortably in the silver-haired man's arms, head on the other man's bare chest. He listened to the other's peaceful breathing for a while, then raised his head. "Culgie...?"

"Yes, my darling?" Culgan replied, smiling.

"I hate you. I feel so darn weak when I'm lying here..."

The older man chuckled. "Oh, can't say that I would feel the same. You see, I love you."

"Aw..." He lay down again, smile on his face. He closed his eyes as Culgan wrapped his arms around him, and listened to the ice-blue-eyed man's heart beating.

"I give up," he finally whispered. "You know I love you too. Now since you already made me feel ridiculously loved, feel free to continue with that nonsense."

Culgan laughed, shaking his head. "That's something I don't hear from you everyday. Well, let's see, my little kitten... My only true love, the one I live for..."

He sat up grinning, grabbed a pillow and whacked the older man with it, giggling hysterically.