The tide is coming in, and the shadow of the cliff has been slowly retreating from Syd's sleeping form. Simon hasn't wanted to rest. He could use years more of that and a thousand year of this...waves, rocks, a sun rising and her cradled lightly in his arms and pulling in close for warmth. He knew giving in wasn't going to cure him. Being with Syd was only going to make everything he was feeling for her more intense and complicated.

Simon was good at reading his partners, and there were answers he was finally able to extract from Sydney. Some women that had terrific minds turned into sex kittens when they had a chance to relax. Syd wasn't, and that had surprised him. She was still all brains, even in bed. She used that mind to create an intense and extremely focused sensuality and targeted physical awareness. Of course he wasn't her type. Whether she knew it or not, she needed someone with just as much mental stamina as physical endurance. Her memory was almost a guarantee she'd be able to read a man's body like one of her books; lingering over the good parts while skimming through any set up, and God help you if you were boring. It was probably the reason she wasn't all that experienced (at least not recently), but frankly, most men were not going to be able to handle her.

He kept pushing the "what now?" question out of his mind. By this point, most women wanted him to shower and then lock the door behind him as he left. He was a few hours into this reverie when his watch made up his mind for him, specifically, the alert that Swarm is in the Galleria...again When do Nazi bees ever die?

He takes enough time to float slowly up the side of the cliff to Syd's room to settle her into bed. He smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead goodbye before taking off to be a big damn hero.