Woke Up One Morning... Part 7
Lady Une sighs deeply as she leans back into her leather seat. "I just want to tell the three of you, once again, what a superb job you all did today." Sitting between Heero and Wufei before her desk, I smirk a bit along with them.
It's been a hell of a day. So far, there are eight confirmed deaths from the blast today- five of them being members of the Assembly and three civilians who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time on the streets just outside. Over thirty have been injured, but even those that had been the more serious cases are certain to make a full recovery.
Really, it could have been worse. A hell of a lot worse.
There has not been a chance for any of us to change or even get out of our bullet-proof vests. And while I would have loved nothing more than for it to finally be over, as Preventer agents, we have to go through the song and dance of debriefing the scenario of the car bomb attack on the Assembly with our Commander-In-Chief before we can call it a night.
At this time, I'd just about kill to get out of this sweaty vest and into a shower.
Fortunately for us, Une is an understanding person and has kept this pretty short and sweet for us. Turning to focus on 'Ro and me, she grins, "And an added congratulations to you for apprehending our only hostile." We both nod our heads firmly.
A hand running through her bangs, she continued, "If there are any others involved in this attack, we'll be able to find out through interrogating him and searching through his personals now that we have a warrant to everything he owns."
Tilting her head, the Commander asks in genuine concern, "How are Quatre and Relena holding up after all of this?"
Wufei is the first to reply, "Oh, Quatre is holding up just fine. He's seen far worse than what happened today during the wars, so he's more pissed off, like the rest of us, than anything." He winces a bit, "Relena was a little more shaken up, but she'll be staying at Winner's for a few days to get her bearings before she has to return to her duties."
"Very good," Lady Une sighs in relief. Waving her hand in the air, she smiles, "I'll take care of the rest of the red tape from here. The three of you just go and try to enjoy the rest of your week on leave."
Heero and I are getting ready to speak up when our boss chuckles, "Don't worry. If there is crucial, breaking news around what happened today, I promise that you will be the first ones to know."
Satisfied with that, I nod firmly and smirk, "Thanks, Commander." At either side of me, 'Ro and 'Fei give their own 'thank you's' and we rise to our feet. Exchanging handshakes with Une, we turn and head out of the room.
When the office door closes behind us, I sigh quietly, "I'll never assume anything we're assigned to is going to be a cake walk ever again." 'Ro snorts with a nod and Wufei hums an affirmative as we head for the elevator down the hall.
* * * * * *
Relena is already locked away in her guest room for the night when we return to Quatre's estate. And at no surprise to me our freshly cleaned and changed hosts are in the living room waiting for us to return. Just by the way they're sitting up when we enter, I can tell they're looking for the chance to sit and talk about the day's events.
Waving my hand at them, I announce, "Before I do anything else, must shower." Quat and Tro just chuckle and allow me my leave without any argument. Relieved, I turn and the others follow my lead down the hallway.
Once we're finally sealed away in our shared room, Heero pulls me into a tight hug before the latch on the door clicks when I close it. Almost immediately, all of the tension and adrenaline that had kept me going is sapped out of me and I just hold him back for a while before either of us move.
Pulling back reluctantly, I slowly run a hand over the hole in my husband's shirt at his left shoulder. The vest underneath still has a dent from where there was once a bullet that needed to be removed. A couple of inches down and without the vest...
"I'm alright," Heero's voice reassures quietly as his own hand wraps around mine. I raise my head and catch his smile. "I never even felt it."
My eyes roll as I blow out a deep breath and shrug, "I know you're alright. It's just... I..." Hell, I don't really know what I'm trying to say and so I stop while lowering my head when my partner's free hand takes hold of my chin and raises it so he can lean in to kiss the daylights out of me.
No matter how many times we've kissed like this, my stomach still knots up. Gripping onto him, I try my damnedest to take over our little tongue wrestling. And I just about get the upper-hand when I have to pull away for air.
Panting along with me, Heero rests our foreheads and smirks, "You better get that shower. You reek."
I smack his ass and laugh, "You're no rose, yourself, pal!" He chuckles and returns a slap to my own ass before assisting me in removing my shirt and vest.
While returning the favor to remove his gear, a wicked thought comes to mind that has my heart racing. Undoing the last Velcro strap at his back, I clear my throat and suggest in little more than the whisper I can manage, "You know... we could save some time if we just get a shower together."
The way 'Ro's back suddenly straightens rigidly, I think I've made a mistake. Biting my lip, I throw in quickly with a forced laugh, "Or not! You don't have to-" I'm cut off when he turns to face me with a wide-eyed look that I can't read. I swallow roughly at the lump that catches in my throat.
Slowly, a small smile creeps on my husband's lips and he gives me one of his soft kisses. He's still grinning when he steps back and tells me, "I might be open to something like that another time, but the others will be suspicious if we both finish up at the same time. You just use the shower in this bathroom and I'll make sure I'm seen using another shower down the hall."
Always the strategist. Always thinking of every angle.
Words cannot express how relieved I am that Heero was not put off by my suggestion in any way. Last thing I ever want to do is push him too far beyond his boundaries when he's not ready. Grinning, I kiss him quickly and nod, "Good thinking. I'll be my usual long self, so don't wait up for me."
Offering a wink before he steps away, my partner pulls his vest off and moves for our luggage. There's a slight discoloration in his left shoulder from the bullet impact that I have to keep from staring at.
By the time I realize what my partner is up to, he's already removed our wedding bands from their hiding place. Lightly tossing mine to me for an easy catch on my part, he slips his back on and covers it with a fresh band-aid. As he looks up to meet my eyes, he says softly, "It felt... strange without it on all day."
How many damned times is this guy going to be able to make my heart skip?
I know my grin must make me look like a fool right now as I put my own ring on and nod, "Yea. Same for me." Accepting the band-aid he is holding out to me, I conceal the band and take up my shower items.
Then, with one last wink and his own stuff in hand, Heero steps out and closes the door behind him. Shaking my head, I snap out of my school-girl swooning and move for the adjoining bathroom.
It's going to have to be a cold one considering the imagery I gave myself with my offer.
* * * * * *
Seated at the dining room table along with my 'brothers' about an hour later, I'm a much happier camper now that I'm clean and set in my clean sleep gear. Over tea and some light snacks, we're up into the wee hours of the morning discussing the attack against the Assembly.
Of course, we know that there are more involved than the guard that we had taken into custody and the lucky bastard that drew the short straw to be part of the bomb itself. Whatever the interrogators will be able to get out of our captor is going to open doors to other threats against the peace that will have to be removed.
Just when it seemed all would be quiet for a while thanks to the capture of Rosmond, the whole cycle is starting all over again. Whatever good we accomplish in getting these bastards, there will always be more waiting for their chance to stir some shit up.
It's the very reason I hadn't jumped at the opportunity to join the Preventers until Heero asked if I would work with him. To be honest, as selfish as it sounds, I wish that we could just hang it up after everything we've done. Haven't we made enough sacrifices to not have to keep sticking our necks out?
Wufei is finally coming around to that; hence his announced plans to retire from field work when he and Sal have their baby. Besides the fact that he'll be a family man, I can just tell that all of this is wearing on him, too. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if this was really something he wanted to do the rest of his life, he wouldn't let anything stop him.
My eyes are finally starting to droop a bit when I feel Heero's leg nudge mind under the table. "Come on, Duo," he snickers. "Let's get to bed before I have to carry you."
As I get to my feet, I smirk and mutter, "Yes, mother."
Waving to the others, I follow after my husband. Our walk back to our room is quiet, but our shoulders brush the whole way as a constant, calming reminder of his presence. When we're sealed off from the rest of the world, I shed my night shirt and all but collapse into our bed with a contented sigh as my eyes drift closed.
The light is turned off and I can feel the addition of Heero's weight push down on the other side of the bed while he crawls over to me. Without opening my eye, I feel for him and shift until I'm curled up and around his bare chest. He lies on his back as my head rest on his shoulder.
I practically purr as a hand runs through my bangs and a kiss is placed on the top of my head. Sleep just about has me when 'Ro's breath catches in his throat in a way that I know he's about to say something. Then, in a voice so quiet that I almost miss it, he says, "I'm tired."
The way he said that, I know he was not just referring to a simple 'tired' from lack of sleep. I'm awake in an instant and I sit up a bit to meet his eyes in the dim light to let him know that I'm here for him.
Biting his lip, Heero reaches up and brushes my bangs back a few times as he asks me quietly, "My entire existence was built around training for war; to accomplish whatever mission was thrown at me without fail. My whole life was centered around my having that sense of purpose in accomplishing something that would bring about the better for others."
Slowly lowering his hand from my face, he frowns in confusion and... almost fear as he says, "And I'm actually tired of it all now. I'm tired of the missions and of having to stick my neck out constantly. Even a couple of years ago, I never would have thought that I would get to this point. I always just saw myself as the 'Perfect Soldier' the same way everyone did."
He pauses a bit and corrects himself with a smirked, "Well... everyone but you."
I chuckle a bit at that, but make my appreciation of that acknowledgment known by kissing his lips softly. When I pull back, those blue eyes are boring into me and I can tell that there is more my husband needs to get out.
This is such a rare, opening moment from him that I'm actually holding my breath like I'm afraid to miss a single word. I try to edge him on a bit with a small nod. Tilting his head, 'Ro finally asks what is clearly bothering him, "Why did you really join the Preventers? Of all of us, you seemed the most ready to let this world go."
Now that was a spin I hadn't been expecting. Caught off-guard for a moment, I smile and shrug, "You asked. Simple as that."
Blinking his widening eyes, Heero's jaw opens and closes a couple of times before he sputters, "Y-you willingly came back into this just because I asked?" Guilt was starting to cross his features when his initial surprise faded.
"Oh no, you don't," I'm quick to throw in before he goes thinking things that he doesn't need to. My sudden outburst makes his eyes widen once again as I sit up even more.
Keeping my voice firm, I state clearly, "It was still my choice, so don't start feeling responsible for my signing with the Preventers. Of course I wasn't about to let you down, but that was still my call. And I did also have that sense of some responsibility to make sure the peace we fought for had a good chance. Your needing a partner was all that I needed to make the official commitment."
Relief floods over my husband's face as he sighs quietly. "Truth be told," he begins, "...I really couldn't see myself being partnered with anyone else. Even with Wufei as a possible counterpart, there was no one else amongst the other pilots I trusted more than you."
He pauses to chew on the inside of his cheek before admitting in a whisper, "There is still no one else that I trust more than you."
My damn heart feels like it's going to pound out of my chest hearing that. It's one thing to pretty much have an idea that he felt that way, but it's a complete other to actually have him say it to me.
Brokenly, I reply in kind, "Same to you, husband-mine." Satisfied that he's no longer about to take any blame for my actions, I lower myself back down to curl up against him once again.
Wrapping his arms around me, there's a content sign from Heero. I'm on the edge of falling asleep when his voice questions quietly by my ear, "What do you say to the idea of resigning when our leave is over?"
Stunned by that, I sit almost completely upright to stare wide-eyed at him. Did I actually hear him right? "You're serious?" I hear myself ask.
'Ro shrugs and grins up at me, "I'm ready to let someone else take care of protecting the peace to actually be able to enjoy it for a change. We can head to L2 together just like we've always had in mind to be more active in changing things there."
Before he can say anything else, I just launch myself on top him to kiss the hell out of him. Pouring every ounce of appreciation that I have in me, I pin him down to the bed and explore his mouth. A deep moan rumbles from his chest and the kiss is returned with just as much excitement on his part.
Finally coming up from air, I hover over him to get a good look into his eyes as I ask, "Are you sure about this? I don't want you to have any regrets about this."
Shaking his head, 'Ro grins, "No regrets. I never planned on giving a long-term commitment to the Preventers, so it was only a matter of time before I was ready to put it behind me." Lightly tracing his fingers along my jaw, he says, "Besides, I think I have something more important to focus on now."
It's all that I can do to keep from pouncing him when I hear that. Just by the way his eye color shifts as he watches me, I think he can tell the restraint that I am going through and he caresses my lower back. I can't hold back the shiver as the shock waves roll through my entire body at his touch.
After a long silence, Heero licks his lips and takes a deep breath. "I was thinking about your earlier offer," he tells me in a thicker voice than usual. Another round of shocks go through me and I can only get out a hummed affirmative. Again, my heart starts hammering in my chest in anticipation.
His smile growing a bit, he sighs, "These last few weeks, I've had to use an incredible amount of restraint around you." His chest shakes a bit as he chuckles, "In case you haven't notices, my showers have been taking a lot longer than usual lately because of it."
My eyes widen with a startled gasp. You know, I had noticed that about his showers, but I had no idea that he might have been... "Y-you mean you're...," I can't even get it out of me lest that image get in my head.
The amusement returns in my husband's eyes as he snickers, "I do know how to take care of some... tension, you know? I am still a young, hormone-raged man." Raking his eyes over me, he comments in that raspy voice, "And you're not exactly hard to look at."
Damn. I can feel sweat beading on the back of my neck as my breath quickens. Any more of this and I just might explode.
A sobering look traces over Heero's face as he rubs my back. "While it may be very clichEof me to say," he begins, "I want our first time to be perfect. That's why I've been holding off on that aspect of our relationship."
Blinking in surprise, I let all of those words sink in. Heero actually cares enough about me... about us that he wants our consummation to be special. Much as I would love to have been intimate with him by now, I have to admit that I want the same thing.
Jesus... Just when I swear the guy can't be any more perfect...
"Thank you," I smile sincerely. "I... That means a lot to me, 'Ro." He just grins back and leans up to kiss me before gently pulling me back down and into his arms.
Fatigue is setting in quickly again as I rest my head back on his shoulder. "Just promise to not take too long," I request quietly, eyes drifting closed. "Otherwise, between the two of us, we'll be running out of hot water all the time in our house."
His soft chuckle is the last sound I hear before the world drifts away.
TBC...
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