Disclaimer: Being Human belongs to the great (Lord) Toby Whithouse

So I decided (against my better judgement) that this fic which has been rattling around in my head since the week the show finished, should finally be written. Mostly because I have a terrible memory, and there were only so many notes I could write before I just wanted to get it all out into proper chapters. This means that I am now technically writing three fanfics at the same time. Which even I have to admit is a tad excessive, but bah!

Anyway, my (possibly terrible) decisions aside, I very much hope you enjoy reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it and having it in my head-space. As usual, please review if you feel so compelled, it is nice to know that people are reading what you write - as long as they like it obviously...

Enjoy! x

"I told him he should have put us together, that it was incomplete without you two." "And here we are." "Here you are."

Chapter 1: Living The Dream

One week, two days, three hours, forty-five minutes and approximately thirty seconds. That was how long she had been away. It had been a very long five-hundred years, but Hal was sure time had never passed this slowly before.

"Hal? Hal! You alright mate?"

The ex-vampire looked up at Tom confusedly, snapping out of his gloomy daydream. His friend frowned down at him concernedly, placing a cup of tea on the breakfast table infront of him.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." He took a sip of the tea and stood, tipping the half eaten remnants of his toast into the bin. Washing the plate up straight away out of habit, he mentally berated himself for acting like a love sick teenager, especially since he and Alex weren't even together.

"She'll be home soon Hal. You've just got to be patient." Tom smiled amusedly as Hal slipped off his marigolds and came to sit back at the table, picking his tea up to drink again.

"I know. I wasn't thinking about her anyway, I was thinking about the hotel." He lied. Tom snorted, knowing full well that Alex's absence was precisely what he had been thinking about, just as it had been since the moment he had driven away from the house in Scotland the previous week.

Explaining to her family where she had been for the past four and a half months had been difficult to say the least. They had come up with a cover story rather than tell the truth. Alex had insisted that her Dad and brothers needn't know the horrors of the supernatural world, especially as they didn't belong to it any more. So instead, she had told them a little white lie. Or ten.

One week, two days, four hours, fifty minutes and approximately twenty seconds earlier...

"Dad, no!"

"I said, who are you and what have you been doing to my daughter?!"

Hal clawed uselessly at Brendan's hands around his neck, momentarily dazed after having been slammed up against the wall of the house. He thought vaguely that it would have been nice for her to at least warn him of her father's considerable build, not least that he seemed to have quite a temper. If he had known, he would have insisted that Tom come with them to Scotland, rather than staying at home. Of course, Hal couldn't exactly blame Brendan for being a tad vexed at the situation.

"Dad! For fucks sake, it wasn't him alright. Let him go! Dad please!" she pulled on Brendan's arm, and the large man turned his head to look down at her bewilderedly. Hal slumped against the wall coughing and gasping for air as Brendan let go of him. The large man's hand shook as he reached to cup her face, tears suddenly streaming from his eyes.

"Alex. My Alex."

"Dad." Alex cried, throwing her arms around her father's neck. He held her tightly, smoothing her hair, sobbing.

Hal looked away awkwardly, not wanting to intrude on the very personal moment, noticing the three boys at the front door for the first time. He pursed his lips in a small, reassuring smile.

"Where have you been? What happened? And who is this muppet? If I find out he's anything to do with this Alex I'll wring his neck, no matter who he bloody is." Brendan said through gritted teeth after he and Alex had broken apart, stepping towards Hal again threateningly.

"No, Dad honestly, it's not like that. This is Hal. He's my friend." Alex insisted, grabbing her father's arm again and steering him away. Hal let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding and followed them tentatively towards the house, unsure of whether to go inside or not. He hovered by the front door while she settled her family in the living room, appearing again a few minutes later.

"Please don't leave me to explain on my own." She pleaded, watery eyes staring up at him. He forgot his anxiety instantly.

"Of course I won't." he answered, his fear of her father nothing compared to his concern for her.

"I'm bound to forget something." She whispered to him as she took his hand and led him inside.

"You'll do fine, just remember what we practiced in the car on the way here." He reassured her.

Half an hour later, her father sat in stunned silence while Alex and Hal waited for his reaction, wondering if he would take the bait or not.

"So... you two were taken into protective custody?"

"Yea." Alex confirmed shakily.

"Because you saw a murder?"

Alex nodded.

"And the gang who did it were put away after you gave evidence against them?"

"That's right." Hal acknowledged.

"It's a bit...quick, isn't it? Don't these things take time? To go through court, forensics, post mortems?"

"You don't believe us?" Alex asked worriedly. Brendan mistook her concern for hurt feelings and came to sit beside her, taking her into his arms again. He eyed Hal with suspicion still, over her shoulder.

"It's not that sweetheart. It's just a lot to take in, that's all."

"I know Dad. I'm sorry."

"Oh darling. I'm just happy to have you home. This is a miracle."

Hal left them to it soon after, feeling it was best that he give them space to deal with the shock as a family. Alex escorted him to the car to say goodbye.

"Thanks for everything." She said with a small smile.

"Please, if it wasn't for me you never would have had to leave them in the first place." He scuffed his shoe on the ground uncomfortably.

"But then I never would have met you." Her smile grew to brighten her face, and Hal was lost in her eyes again, smiling back instinctively. "I mean that we wouldn't have been able to save the world obviously."

"Oh, yea, of course. I knew that was what you meant..." she chuckled and cut off his attempt at covering up his disappointment by pressing her lips to his a chaste kiss.

"Bye Hal." She grinned, making her way back up the garden path towards the house, leaving him stunned and alone by the side of the car. He drove away feeling as though he was leaving a piece of himself behind.

One week, two days, three hours, twenty-nine minutes and approximately ten seconds later...

"I'm a bit nervous about going back to work if I'm honest." Tom admitted, trying to take Hal's mind off of their absent house-mate for a while.

"Rook's department dealt with the bodies and the mess inside. The owners have called in all of the staff who weren't at work on the night that he started the suicides, and who weren't too traumatised to come back to work. I doubt we'll have any guests staying for a while, but getting things back to normal there is better than sitting here thinking too much. Besides, it doesn't matter what's happened to us, we still have bills to pay." Hal explained as he finished his tea.

"I know. I just mean... it'll be strange won't it. Us knowing what really happened."

"Yes. Yes it will."

The day was harder and more emotional than Hal had anticipated. He was still acting manager, and it had been his job to assemble the rag-tag band of leftover staff and deal with the fallout. Those who had turned up had been understandably devastated, having all lost colleagues and friends.

It was odd, but even after a whole week of being human, Hal was surprised to find how much he cared. Even in his good cycles, he had been detached, holding himself at arms length to all but his closest friends, trying not to become emotionally attached to humans. Now there was no distinction to be made, he was one of them, and he felt the tragedy sharply.

It made it worse that Tom was upset. He had bonded with the other staff without question, enjoying the comradery that had come with the job. Hal forgot his stoical list of jobs almost immediately. The day was spent in mourning, lighting candles for the dead and speaking to their still stunned families who filtered in periodically for their lost loved one's belongings.

Hal sent everyone home early, sensing the collective need for breathing space and the comfort of more familiar surroundings. Needing some form of closure himself, his last act before locking the doors that afternoon was to go upstairs to the room that had been Hatch's and lock it, leaving a note pinned to the door declaring that it was to be left vacant indefinitely.

When they got home, Tom decided he wanted to go running in the woods on his own, leaving Hal at a loss as to what to do. He no longer needed his routines to keep him safe, his compulsions leaving him like a long-held stale breath as soon as he became human. It had been a blessed relief, but had left him with time to kill, especially once Alex had gone just a few days after the change. Tom seemed to be adapting well, but he had wanted to be alone more than usual. Hal supposed that after almost twenty-one years of living with the wolf inside him, it was strangely refreshing to feel truly.

Once she had stopped eating, finally bloated and contented, Alex had relished going outside and being seen. She had certainly commanded attention with her questionable wardrobe made up of odds and ends of his and Tom's clothes, but she hadn't minded at all. They had gone to the pub the second night, all three of them feeling the need to do something normal and human. They had laughed, played pool and drunk far too much, and Alex had ended up dancing on a table, much to Tom's amusement, and his cheerful embarrassment.

He sighed, catching himself thinking about her again. Sitting on her usual stool at the bar, he opened the book he had left there the previous night and began reading. Tom had returned after a few hours, and they ate in relative silence, neither of them really in the mood for chatter. He had gone straight up to his room leaving Hal along again, and not long after, with the emotional exhaustion of the day taking its toll, the ex-vampire found himself nodding off. He leant his head on the bar for a moment, just to rest his eyes.

Five hours later he awoke with a start, the only light in the room cast by the tepid orange street lights filtering through the blinds, and a strange scratching noise outside. Coming to, he rose from the stool and stretched, making his way to the window to investigate the noise. He heard her before he saw her.

"Shit! Where's the bloody spare key?" Alex cursed in hushed tones, his face lighting up in a smile. He practically ran to the door, stopping himself at the threshold to pull himself together, wanting to at least appear cool and calm, even if his heart was racing.

When he finally opened the door, she was scrabbling about in one of the hanging baskets, still looking for the spare key that she knew was hidden somewhere. She hadn't exactly needed a key before.

"It's here. There's a crack in the wall behind the drain pipe." He smiled amusedly as she jumped, gesturing towards the wall to his right.

"Jesus Hal! And here was me thinking your ninja skills were part of being a vampire."

"You came back." He stated happily.

"Well obviously." She grinned, picking up the bright yellow duffle bag at her feet and dragging a large, wheeled suitcase behind her. Hal stepped forward to take the case, ever the gentleman.

"And you're staying?" he asked uncertainly as they made their way inside.

"No, I just don't travel light. This should tide me over until the weekend then I'm going back." She grinned, shaking her head at the look of distress that passed briefly across his features before he realised she was joking.

"Very funny. Why didn't you tell us you were coming? I would have driven up to get you."

"I was going to, but it was nice to just sit on a train and be normal. It's still a bit of a novelty to be able to be seen by people. Slightly less of a novelty after eight bloody hours and two changes, one of which was in Birmingham. I mean, Birmingham Hal, Birmingham. But it was still nice."

"Well, it's great to have you back." He smiled politely, trying and failing not to blush as he said it. "Tea?" he asked quickly, turning away to beat a hasty retreat towards the kitchen before she even answered.

"I'd love one thanks. But..." Alex grabbed his hand before he could move too far away, pulling him back towards her. "We really need to have that talk."

"What, that talk? Now?"

"I've had a lot of time to think while I've been away."

"Yes. Me too."

"And what do you think?"

"This isn't really about me Alex, it depends on what you want." He answered, looking at the carpet shyly.

"So I take it that means you're onboard? With us I mean. The offer of "me, there's me" is still on the table?"

"Yes. Emphatically so." He swallowed nervously, meeting her eyes again.

"Good." She tugged him the rest of the way, pulling him up against her and kissing him before he had a chance to register what was happening. Once he'd got over his initial shock, he let go of his anxieties and gave in to kissing her back, all of the pent up attraction and sexual tension finally free. She placed both of his hands on her waist, moving her own hands up swiftly to run them through his hair. The kiss progressed quickly, tongues tangling together in a sudden rush of palpable need.

"So we're together? Officially?" he asked breathlessly, lips still grazing hers with soft kisses.

"Yup." She sucked on his bottom lip, smirking as she felt him shudder slightly.

"As in, an item?"

"Yup. I'd go so far as to say we're courting." She smiled mockingly against his lips.

He broke the kiss, smiling too widely to carry on, resting their foreheads together and nuzzling his nose against hers.

They spent the rest of the night curled up on the sofa together, watching trashy films, drinking copious amounts of tea and catching up on the past week's events. Eventually, in the early hours of the morning, she fell asleep in his arms, exhausted after her long journey home. He watched her sleep, still in awe that she had come back to him, that she had chosen him at all after all that had happened between them. Everything was perfect now.

Too perfect.

In the back of his mind, something niggled. The days had been sunny, beautiful, cloudless. Every day for the whole two weeks. That was rare for Wales, even in the summer, and yet no one spoke about it. Everything was warm, and fuzzy, and... dreamlike. The doubt wouldn't leave him, no matter how hard he tried to forget and be happy.

He had said it himself. He had told Hatch to put them together, and he was starting to believe that that was exactly what the devil had done.

Far away, in a quiet corner of purgatory, a door creaked open. The corridor flooded briefly with bright, white light, before returning to dim, industrial gloom as the door closed. The ghost that had passed through it walked along the passage with trepidation, nervous at being outside again, not meant to be here at all. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and she had never been one to follow the rules.

Eventually, after many twists and turns, she reached a heavy wooden door, twice the size of any of the others she had seen. She took a deep breath which she didn't really need, calming herself before pushing the iron-bound door wide open.

"Order! Order!" A booming voice called from inside, gavel banging uselessly in an attempt to silence the multitude of voices inside the sprawling courtroom. Ghosts swarmed everywhere, crowding around television sets in the public gallery, waving up at the judge furiously, trying to get his attention. Others milled about not seeming to know what to do.

She strode through them all, climbing the steps to the witness box and clearing her throat loudly. When that didn't work, she waved a hand politely, trying to get the judge's attention.

"Your honour? Your... your Honour? Oh... Piss sticks. Oi!" she shouted, waving both arms above her head. Abruptly, the room became quiet, every set of eyes in the place looking at her, and she felt suddenly awkward, smiling apologetically. "Sorry."

"And who might you be?" the judge thundered, frowning at her accusingly. She took another breath before answering, drawing herself up to her full height.

"My name is Annie Sawyer. I saved the human world once before and I'd like to try again please... your Honour."

So, any thoughts? Thanks again for reading, I hope it was alright! Chapter 2 to follow soon...