Ja'far sat at his desk, studiously working on the companies calculations and profit margins. He just put the finishing touches on his most recent document, when it was removed from his desk. He looked up and saw Sinbad's glittering eyes scanning over the report. Ja'far had been so absorbed in his work that he hadn't even heard Sinbad enter.

"Nice work Ja'far but honestly its late and the rest of the calculations can wait. Go to bed." Sinbad said, his brilliant smile turned full force on Ja'far.

"Thank you Sin for the concern, but I can do a few more tonight." Ja'far said with a small smile that concealed his true feelings. He didn't want to go to bed. Every night he pushed himself to stay up as late as possible to avoid his nightmares. The longer he stayed up, the less likely the occurrence.

Sinbad sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine then as your King I order you to relax and go to bed."

Ja'far frowned at Sinbad's good intention, but bowed his head anyway, walking off to his room.

It was the hours before predawn when Sinbad started making his way back to his room. He had been out enjoying a night of revelry and drinking with Drakon, where they eventually passed out on the barrels they were draining. Sinbad heard a faint sound and stopped in the middle of the hallway to listen. He almost passed it off as his imagination, until he heard it again. It kind of sounded like a muffled scream? He looked around and realized with a start that he was outside of Ja'far's room. Sinbad crept closer and pressed his ear up against the door. Ja'far was definitely screaming and whimpering. Sinbad threw open the door expecting to see danger, but only seeing a slumbering Ja'far tossing and turning in his sleep. Sinbad glanced over at one of his oldest friends concerned. He had never heard Ja'far make that kind of sound in his life. He walked over to Ja'far's bed to see his General's handsome face scrunched up in terror. His body was extremely tense and folded in upon itself to make him as small as possible.

"No, please no...no, no, no..." Ja'far moaned and pleaded quietly in his sleep. Sinbad lay a comforting hand on Ja'far's shoulder and called out to him in a quiet voice, hoping not to frighten Ja'far further. Ja'far's eyes screwed up tighter, then snapped open in a flash of green. In a flash, he was out of bed and in a defensive crouch in nothing but his underclothes, one blade already out. Sinbad looked over at his frightened general, never have seen Ja'far in such a state of panic or in a state of such undress. Sinbad noticed for the first time the silvery scars littering Ja'far's pale body. The largest of them being thick angry scars on each of his legs. They had small dots at even intervals on the sides of them, so someone must have stitched up the wounds. Had Sinbad really never noticed before? Was he just that unobservant of those around him? Or had Ja'far worked very hard to conceal these from his comrades. Ja'far finally blinked a few times and regained his surroundings.

"Sin...what are you doing here?" Ja'far asked his face relaxing into a quizzical look.

"I heard you screaming and came in to wake you up." Sinbad replied in a level voice.

Ja'far flushed a deep pink and forcibly relaxed his body. "I'm very sorry to have disturbed you." Ja'far apologized in a somber tone.

"Are you alright Ja'far?" Sinbad asked, his golden eyes full of concern and latched onto Ja'far's green orbs.

"I am quite fine now. Thank you for the concern, please go back to bed." Ja'far said fairly convincingly, but Sinbad knew better.

"Ja'far if you need to talk, please talk to me." Sinbad said sincerely.

Ja'far looked away from the concern in Sinbad's golden eyes feeling his resolve breaking down. He glanced at the floor, then finally realized he was only in his underclothes. His scars in full view to Sinbad after he had taken such pains to keep them hidden. He threw on a robe quickly, covering the blemishes tightly. He glanced back up at Sinbad, afraid that pity had overtaken his concern, but only saw a wish for understanding on Sinbad's handsome features.

Ja'far heaved a long sigh, "Please sit down, I will make us some tea."

Sinbad sat on the edge of Ja'far's bed and waited for the tea to brew. Once it was finished he graciously accepted a cup and settled in. Ja'far sat opposite him, his back ram rod straight, never taking his green eyes off of his cup of tea.

"I'm not sure where to even begin..." Ja'far said with a small shake of his head.

"What was the nightmare about?" Sinbad prompted quietly, trying to give Ja'far a place to start.

"Ah, well when I was in Sham Lash their goal was to make me the ultimate killer. To rob me of any and all kindness or love left in my heart. Their first step was forcing me to kill both my parents. Next they beat me to the breaking point, keeping my spirit's down. Lastly a group of men came and they...they robbed me of my innocence, I suppose." Ja'far stuttered squeezing his eyes shut. Sinbad sat digesting the words, unsure of their meaning. As he contemplated it, understanding finally dawned on him. They raped Ja'far and at such a young age too. It was awful to think that Ja'far had been suffering with this horrible burden for so long and Sinbad had never even knew.

"Ja'far I am so sorry." Sinbad said sincerely.

"Thank you. Well I had tried to fight back which is how I got those scars on my legs, I know you saw them. They cut the tendon so I couldn't do anything more. After that I killed with abandon. Almost as if I held every one of my victims personally responsible for the horror's of Sham Lash. With an attitude like that it was quite easy for me to ascend the ranks and become the chief. But that's when I met you." Ja'far's expression changed to that of a sad smile as he continued, "You showed me that I had other options. Though I am unsure if I am ever going to be able to overcome my past."

Sinbad moved closer to Ja'far and grabbed his small pale hand. "Listen to me, you are so much more that your past or your scars. You once told me that if I ever slipped into despair again that you would kill me. Well that means you can't either, to keep an eye on me. I am sorry that you had to suffer alone for so long Ja'far. That I hadn't noticed your suffering before." Sinbad said sincerely.

"Thank you Sin. You have done so much for me, you don't need to apologize I had deliberately concealed my failings because I didn't wish to cause you more stress."

"Ja'far you are a gift. You will never cause me too much stress, alright?" Sinbad said with a smile. "How about I lay here with you, like we did when we were younger? If you have another nightmare I will be here to chase them away."

Ja'far gave a small nod. He never had nightmare's when Sinbad was laying next to him. Ja'far cleaned up the tea cups and extinguished the lights climbing into bed next to Sinbad.

"Sin?" Ja'far mumbled quietly.

"Yes?" Sinbad answered.

"Um...I love you." Ja'far blurted out. He always had, ever since Sinbad saved him from his own hate.

"I love you too Ja'far." Sinbad said with a grin. He reached out and pulled his general against his muscular chest, loving the feeling of Ja'far's small body against his.

"You do?" Ja'far asked uncertainly.

"Promise." Sinbad said, kissing Ja'far's white hair affectionately.