Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hospital Two Weeks Later

It was hard without Seely up and about. She would be awake every now and then but not long enough for conversation right yet. I was taking to my new arms and legs and other things pretty well. Seely though was close to death when she was brought in. I would come in after training and just watch her sleep. Taylor and his squad were already out and doing what they do best. Besides they had other Ops to do. Seely was my partner and I was technically grounded until she was able to get up and around.

"Uuuggghhh" Seeley groaned.

"Hey there dork" I said leaning over and taking her hand. There was no more flesh there for either of us. Servos circuits and metal. No more warmth, no more blood there.

"Dork? You haven't called me that in, god years" she smiled looking at her other hand. She went from a smile to a frown in .5 seconds. "It was that bad?"

"Yeah. Taylor said you almost died. You would have if his little imaginary watch had been two clicks slower." I explained "And I've always called you dork"

Turning her head she looked at me and smiled again but that beautiful smile didn't quite reach those damned caramel eyes that kept me going over the past couple of weeks. "Did you really volunteer?" she asked looking at my hand that was holding hers.

"Sure did. You and I have been through a lot before this and well, why not? This will be our hell and back how about that?" I said giving her hand a squeeze. It will take awhile to get used there not being flesh in certain places but we could work around that.

"Hell and back?"

"Hell and back..."

"...Hendricks?"

"Yeah?"

"Kind of need my hand"

"Oh! Right, sorry" I said letting go and helping her to sit up.

"So did they give us any kind of instruction manual for these new bells and whistles?" she asked looking me up and down.

"Not really. Taylor said what you learned through your DNI should be good enough. Just have to finish a bit of training before we actually get to go back out into the field. Think you can stand?"

"I think I can" She said swinging her new legs over the edge and testing the floor with new feet. She took a deep breathe and began to stand. I got out of my chair and watched her to make sure her DNI actually made the connection through her new parts and got them working. "This is weird."

"C'mon think of it like one of your old movies where the hero gets a few new upgrades." I said catching her as she wobbled a bit.

"And you call me a dork" she laughed as I helped her over to the lutrine. "Be right back" she disappeared behind the door.

I took the opportunity to try out our new DNI comms that way I wouldn't have to yell through the door. "So you still up for those drinks I promised?"

"Really, Hendricks? I'm on the toilet" she chuckled.

"Just thought I'd ask" I said smiling leaning on the wall next to the door. "So, drinks on me still?"

"They pay you over time, cause you might not be able to handle me" she said. Toilet flushed sink ran, I could smell the soap. Clinical and sterile antibacterial. I sort of wondered if it was some kind of oil soap for all our new wires and gears.

"No but I have some extra cash I think we can make it work" I said as she opened the door and I stood in front of her. She was a little taller than when before this all happened. Her hair had gotten a little longer since she was down though still a little more than fuzz and I finally saw that glint in her eyes that got me hook line and sinker.

"If I'm cleared then we can go, but I also need my civis if that isn't too hard for you?" She said. Her voice did that thing that made me all tingly. That thing that was my down fall from the very beginning.

"I could always sneek the booze in here. That way you don't have to change right away" I said taking a small step closer to her.

"Sure you want to try sneaking about five bottles of booze past the nurse's station."

"Five? Is that really all you can handle?"

"You wanna find out?"

"Sure why not and maybe..."

"Eh-hem!" a nurse cleared their throat from behind us. Seely snorted and began to laugh as I cursed under my breathe.

"Goddamnit!" I hissed stepping to the side so Seely could walk back to her bed. We might have new legs but from what I saw from our charts it only went to about mid thigh. I still had the old parts down stairs and that nurse was not helping matters.

Seely barked out a laugh walking past me and sat on her bed as she talked with the nurse. I stood over to the side in a bit of snit. So close. So damned close. It was ten long minutes before the nurse decided to leave. She looked at me then looked back at Seely and gave her a wink. What the hell?! When the door was closed I finally walked over to Seely and sat next to her on the bed. "So still want those drinks?" Seely asked.

"Not so sure now. Were you cleared?"

"You can spring me out bright and early tomorrow." She said

"That's great because you have training and therapy." I said trying not to sound too hurt about how I just missed out on a big opportunity.

"You'll be fine" she said leaning over and giving me a small kiss on the cheek. "Now go get some sleep. Got a long day tomorrow"

I froze and blinked a few times and looked at her. She smiled and moved under her blankets. "...uh..." I swear my face had turned at least four shades of red.

"Good night Jacob" She said turning over.

"G-good night Seely" I said standing to leave the room. I checked our DNIs she was already out like a light by the time I reached the door. I looked back at her sleeping there. It wasn't like old times. No, we won't be able to get those times back. We would have to make new times. I smiled and closed the door and made my way to the room they had set up for me. I was on cloud nine all the way. As long as we stayed partnered I didn't mind; to hell and back with that woman and all would be fine with the world.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

“Alright who's up for a jailbreak?” I said walking into Seely’s hospital room trying to look normal in my normal clothes. I stopped just inside the door when I saw her. She had just been standing at the window. Up and dressed in the new civis I managed to get while she had been out. My heart dropped a little when she didn't register I was in the room. So I opened our DNI com. “Hey? You still with me” barely a whisper outside but I knew she heard that one as she turned her head slightly.

She smiled before looking back out the window. “Still with you Hendricks” she said crossing her arms over her chest.

I put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed. This really was going to take some getting used to. “I found a place that still serves actual bacon” I said with a smile hoping to get her out of what I knew were bad thoughts. “From real pigs, from a real farm. Good ol fashioned meat!” I put on my best twang. She laughed. It was a start.

“Ok you convinced me. Let's get out of this place” she smiled and grabbed her bag.

“Hey” I grabbed her arm; more metal.

“What?”

“It's just...I dunno Seely. I'm here if you need to talk it out. We are partners, friends after all, I just…” I couldn't finish my thought. Part of me was hoping last night wasn't just a dream. That even though it was a tiny kiss on the cheek that I wasn't dreaming.

“You with me Buck?”

“...geeeeeekk”

“Are you with me, Buck” she tried again doing her best not to bust out laughing.

“Don't make me do it” I said. Another one of her old movie marathons. One that I sat through dazed because she had been so excited when she found them. She tilted her head and gave me a pout. This woman really will be the end of me, I swear she will be. “Sigh....til the end of the line Cap.”

“Good now let's go get some bacon. From real pigs, from a real farm. Good ol fashioned meat” she grinned walking ahead of me. The walk would take getting used to also but damned if I didn't still enjoy her walking away.

Chapter Text

Safe House/Apartment

“Jacob? Hey! You there with the face!” Seely poked at my head breaking me from my blank staring at the wall.

“What, what?!” I said focusing on her. We had been training and she had been going through therapy for the past month or two. Non stop from start to finish. Taylor was pushing us along at a moderately fast pace so it was odd to have a breathing moment.

“Wake up!”

“You wake up!”

“That's the best you got?” She put her hands on hips and looked down at me. I looked up at her, she must have just gotten out of the shower.

“What do you mean that's the best I got?” I asked scrunching up my face.

“Really?”

“Yeah really.”

“Are you going to come with me to my last therapy session?” She asked tilting her head to the side.

The lines of that sentence went directly south of the belted border before I caught on to what she said. Last session? Is it really that far ahead? Or is she just that good at hiding it? “Yeah I'm going to come with you” again thought process went south. I'm such an idiot.

“Then get dressed. Don't just sit there in your boxers metal man” she said. Possibly noticing the my boner but choosing not to acknowledge it due to the 10 shades of red what skin I had left  turned.

“Dressed. Right.” I stood and made my way to the bathroom.

“Might want to take care of that third leg while you're at it” she laughed from the other side of the door.

“That depends can you give me a hand? ” I said before I could stop. My mouth was working faster than my brain. This was it. This was the moment I would be shot for that one slick remark. Mom always said my mouth would be the death of me.

What I was expecting was the muzzle of a gun to peak through the door. What I wasn't expecting was an actual metal hand being held through the door by another hand. There was googly eyes on the index and middle fingers as Seely gave it a wiggle to have it wave at me.

Woman detached her arm at the elbow and put googly eyes on the damn thing. I couldn't even process this. It was like my DNI didn't want to compute this...whatever she was doing. So I stood there arms crossed trying to make some sense out of this. Too much blood had already gone south.  “...what the fuck??” Was all I could get out.

“You asked if I could give you a hand...well here it is” she said giving her arm another wiggle. The googly eyes were very off putting.

“That's not exactly what I had meant” I said taking the arm that was still attached and pulling her in close. Somehow her damned detached one found its way between us. “Please put your arm back on or so help me god”

“Why?”

“Because you morbid thing its preventing me from doing...things”

“Oh yeah? What kind of things?” I heard her click her arm back into place. It was now or never time Hendricks. Sink or swim.

“Like this” I said closing the gap between us. Cherries, mangos and chocolate. Her mid morning snack. I never thought I'd love such a combination as much as I do now. She had that stupid buzzing lip balm on also. I could feel it as it transferred to me. I tried the stuff once didn't like it but now I could keep an extra stick in my pocket just for her.  

She sure did like some weird stuff. I would deal with the weird if I got this every day for the rest of our lives. At least I knew somethings were still flesh and blood. From her hips to that toned ass of hers. Thank god I could still feel that and not all metal. Our cybernetics amplified the sensations on both ends as I made my way from her mouth down her jaw to the crook of her neck. “...Jacob…” She little more than whispered. I clamped down and sucked. To hell if anyone noticed. We were both still us, still human and still had needs.

“Hmmmm” I didn't really want to let go.

“Jacob” she smacked me.

“Ow! What the hell?!” I looked at her. Her neck was already bruising hopefully the cybernetics wouldn't heal it right away.

“Therapy.” She said giving me one more shot of that drug that she was before dashing out of the bathroom.

“Right.” I couldn't help but smile. Her last therapy and then we'd be able to finally go out on Ops again. I splashed my face with cold water, got dressed and met her at the door. I had read somewhere that you work better with people you care about. Maybe John saw that, who knows. Maybe that's why he hadn't tried to talk me out of this. I guess I'd have to thank him eventually for this.

“Ready for this?” She asked pulling on her coat.

“More than anything” I said kissing the side of her head heading out the door with her. We got this.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in Siberia. Two and a half years before the fall.

“Damn its cold” Seely hissed behind me in the powder.

“Freezing your ass off back there?” I called back.

“I hardly have an ass thanks to you!”

She was still sore about Beirut. Fair enough. I smiled at the thought of what happened. It was an accident but still had to add more cybernetics. I said I was sorry. “Still like it though” the snow was blinding and we were halfway done with our Op when the snow storm hit.

Given our cybernetics gave us an edge and guarded from most of the cold. Still didn't do much for what skin we had left. “Yeah ok” she managed to cough out when we reached the top of the drift.

“Don't worry I can still warm you up afterwards” I said taking cover.

“Keep telling yourself that and you'll never get to second base” she said lifting up her goggles.

Two and a half years we've been non stop. Just like the training and the therapy. One after the other. Not much breathing room. And MREs for fucking days at a time. Sometimes months at a time. God those things were nasty. Always hated them. “Waiting on you” I said. Seely popped the first shot taking point. Laying down cover fire we were able to finish the Op without much of a hiccup. Always room for error. I heard the shot. Saw Seely’s face go from good job to holy shit in two seconds flat.

She was on it though. Downing the stay NRC with a shot to the grey matter. My right hip was doing about as good as that downed NRC. “Hendricks?!”

“Fuck that hurts!”

“Yeah. My bad, shouldn't have let my guard down.” She said kneeling next to me. I guess this was payback for the ass incident.

“You're gonna to have to carry me oh knight in heavy bionics.” I grimaced through the pain. The receptors were already working to try and stop what they could and start stitching bone back together.

“Crawl back to the safe house.” As cold as the snow storm that raged outside. Seely stood securing her man-o-war in her arms instead of me.

“Such a bitch you know that?” I said reaching for her.

“That's why we're still alive” she grabbed my hand and hauled me up. Letting me put most of my weight on her we started the hike back through the snow to the safe house.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

“How's the hip old man?” Seely asked sitting on the side of my bed.

“Should be ready for the next Op within the next day or so.” I said feeling confident.

“Good.” She said taking my hand. All the metal was still really weird. But it still felt like a regular hand. The one thing I was glad for mods. I watched her examine my hand next to hers. Things had been hot and heavy two and a half years ago but now; now we barely had anytime. I found myself on more than one occasion curled up next to her in her bunk. Whether it was in the mobile command or at a safe house in some country.

“Find anything interesting in there champ?” I asked laying my hand open so she could run her fingers over it. Metal and wires and yet it still felt like skin.

“Sometimes I can still imagine having skin, blood and bone there. Then I see the wires, the metal, the cybernetic bio-metrics and gears and servos.” She was drifting again.

“Seely.”

“”Why did you volunteer?”

“I told you…”

“Jacob”

“Back in Ethiopia. I was too slow. I couldn’t grab you in time. And for a good five minutes I thought you were dead. I thought I had let you die alone being beaten by bots.” I took a deep breath and fiddled with a string on my blanket. “I wasn't about to let you go through something like that alone again. This time I'd be right there. You never let me down or left my side in the time we served before Ethiopia, I wasn't about to leave you and let you down again.”

“...”

“So I may have felt a bit guilty. But after the surgery it was like a whole new world opened up.” I continued “We had our own private DNI channel no one could hack not even Taylor and his group. And we'd be the best two.person cyber black ops team out there”

“To hell and back?”

“Exactly”

“We're all we got then”

“Again you are correct. Besides I'd rather go down in battle with you than someone else. Trust me.” I said taking her hand this time. “You and I still got a long way to go before we reach the end of the line”

“That's good to know and to hear hahaha. Guess its a bad time to say that we have some leave time before the next Op” she said putting her feet up on the bed as she lounged back near my feet.

“When was this decided?”

“Got the call before I came in here” her smile was sly.

I poured my soul and we were getting some down time anyway? “So I did all that confessing and we were free for the next few days?!” I was incredulous if that could even be used here. “Yeah I think its a bad time to mention it”

“Well old man they just wanted to make sure your hip healed and were good for the next Op.” She said poking my head with her foot.

“Stop calling me old man”

“You're older than me”

“Oh jeez call the cops I'm what five years older. Gonna rob the cradle.” Sarcasm always a good defense mechanism. “I'll make sure to tell them you showed me your ankles too while we're at it”

“Wait. What do my ankles have anything to do with this?” she laughed. I explained back in the day way before either of our times.

It felt like we had talked for only a few minutes when we both started to rub our eyes. Seely looked at the time and it was almost sunrise again. She got up to go to her bunk but I grabbed her wrist instead. I looked at her hoping my eyes could relay to I wanted her to stay “I'll just make my way over otherwise.” I said.

I could tell she was thinking about it. She took a deep breath and gave in. I smiled moving over as much as the tiny bunk would let me. Even though our parts were streamlined some of them still felt bulky. Even so she fit perfectly curled up at my side. I could smell grease and gun metal under the light smell of her soap. It was the small liberties I guess.

I felt her breathing slow down as she drifted to sleep. I could feel her heartbeat slow down. I wanted these moments to last forever if they could. Moments we could just be ourselves even if we had a few new parts. Moments of quiet. Instead it was stolen seconds between ops. Nights sleep walking and curling myself next to her. Battlefield flirting and innuendos galore since that first day.

I kissed the top of her head. Running my fingers through her short spiky hair. “‘Til the end of the line”

Chapter Text

One year before the fall.

“No hitchhikers” Seely hissed at something behind me.

“This is a rainforest we're gonna have hitchhikers no matter what.” I said swatting at some bugs.

“Ok. Then I get to name him Ka.” She said. I stopped, put on my best what the hell face and turned to her. She was holding a snake. Not a small cute noodle. No this was at least five feet long danger noodle and it looked at me. Stuck its weird forked tongue out at me. I knew it was tasting the air. What I didn't enderstand was how she was able to hold the damn thing and it be totally ok.

"How...???" was all I could get out.

"Mom always said I had an affinity for animals" Seely smiled. "Wanna pet him?" she extended her hand that held the snake's upper body and head.

"This is one of those times that I really don't know how to process" I said shifting my weight to my left side looking at Seely and her new friend. She smiled bringing the snake back to her then putting it down. I watched it slither away. Something about that just gave me goosebumps. It was odd I could even still get those. "Please tell me you didn't tell it to slither back to the safe house?"

"What if I did?"

"Then I'm leaving you"

"You wouldn't"

"A dog or a cat. Something that can take care of itself and not eat us whole in our sleep" I said.

"How about a fish?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Cause you'd go fish out a phirranha."

"I would not" she protested.

"You so would" I said turning to walk on ahead. We needed to finish this Op.

"A shark maybe" I heard her grumble.

"What was that?" I asked over our DNI

"Nothing."

"Thats what I thought"

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

"Ok so jungle warfare. Not ideal location for any Op." i had found a slug inside my calf.

"Thats probaly why they chose that location. Hoping we wouldn't be able to find them" Seely said pulling out some random stick from her chest guard.

"Maybe."

"Good news you two!" Kane came over our coms.

"What is it Kane?" Seely asked popping off the buckles to said chest guard.

"We have 24hrs before next Op. I'll go on ahead and meet you to there. You two take a nap" she said. Thank goodness she was never in the same safe house. I didn't think I could have handled it. Seely and Kane took to being the best of friends. All the girly things that I guess I couldn't talk about.

"Oh yeah a nap" I whispered. Seely smiled and gave out a small chuckle.

"Thanks Kane. See you there"

"24hrs, huh?" I leaned back in my seat in the center of the safe house. "I think I can think of somethings we can do in that 24hrs"

"Really? Cause We both stink."

"Nothing a shower can't help."

"With regulation soap"

"What happened to that nice soap you had?" i asked sitting up then

"Ran out months ago" Seely said walking by in her skivis

"Think we have time to run to the store?" I asked following. I traced odd scars and bits of cybernetics along her back.

"Doutb it" she said steeping into the tiny shower that we had. "Not if you actually want that nap"

"What if I changed my mind about that nap?" I said shucking any and all clothing. Good thing about all the new parts was that they didn't short out while trying to clean up.

"That depends if you can fit your fat ass in here" Seely said holding up her sport top and under shorts and tossing them over the short divder wall. She surely was a minx. I took the invitation and fit myself right in for some shenanigans.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

"We're going to have to take another shower" I said sleepily running my fingers along her back where there was still skin to feel.

"Might have to take a bath then" Seely said her fingers skimming along my neck line. I liked it when she did that. Made us both still feel human I guess.

"I don't mind" I said kissing the top of her head. Like always our bunks were tiny. Like always before one of us would find our way to each others bunk to sleep. Most of the time we just needed a warm body, other times we did exactly what we needed to get through the short moments of peace we had between Ops.

"What about that nap?" she asked running her fingers through my hair making her fingers buzz just a little against my scalp.

"Oh that feels good...we can always skip the bath for the time being" I said pulling her close though I knew she could reach the rest of my scalp no problem, it just felt nice to have her that close. "Don't stop"

"Gonna start purring?"

"Maybe" I growled out "One way to find out" I rolled over enough to get her in a kiss that I was determind to not let end for anything. But we were still human and humans need to breathe, so I only pushed our limits for a few minutes longer before stopping for air. I checked the chronometer, we really needed to wash up again and be on our way to the next Op before our LNO decided to sent some type of cavarly to collect us for over sleeping.

"Ready for that bath and nap?" Seely asked from under me.

"Yeah might as well" I got myself off of her and we both made our way the the bathroom and got into the tub. I chanced a look at the shower head. There's $20 to put on the expense report later. I chuckled looking at it. We were terrible.

"I don't think two of us can fit in here Jacob" Seely said extending her legs and crossing them over one of the edges of the tub.

"We can both fit, move over" I said stepping in. Water was going everywhere but I'd be damned if I let her have what was left of the hot water.

Before long it was all over, too soon for my tastes. 24hrs was never enough down time. Now it was time to get ready for another Op. Time to get ready for living off of MREs for the next few months. We were up, dressed and armed all before it was actually time to get our asses out there into the fighting. She had my back and I had hers. That was all that mattered when we got out into the field.

Time to go to work.

Chapter Text

One month before Singapore

We hobbled into the safe house once the Op was done. I had blown a gasket, if that can even be done with the new cybernetics that had come our way. Seely had somehow managed to cut a tendon in her left arm and caught a bullet to the thigh. "That could have gone better" Kane said over the coms. She sure did like to stay on the outskirts. She had only been a part of our team for a short time on and off. Always a mood killer. Guess she got that from Taylor.

"It was my fault Kane. We all have bad days" Seely said as I lowered her to the ragged thing that passed for a couch in the safe house.

"I know. Trust me I know. Anyway you two have earned some down time. Use it wisely. WA will get in contact when there's another Op that needs you two." Kane finished before cutting her coms with us.

"Not sure I like CIA being in our ears all the time." I said sitting down next to her.

"We'll be fine" Seely said pulling the bullet out of her thigh. "Besides we have time to actually heal this time."

"Lemme get the tool box why don't ya" I said standing up again and walking over to the armory. "So control huh?"

"Yeah, you have chaos. Thought I'd do the opposite. Ya know to balance things out and all" she explained trying to reconnect the tendon in her arm.

"Let me help, stop it" I said sitting next to her and securing the loose tendon. "Damn lefties."

"Damn righties" she smiled. I leaned in after making sure the tendon was in right and gave her a light kiss along her jawline. "You're being awfully affectionate"

"Who knows how long the WA is going to let us breathe this time. Might as well make the most of it right?" I said setting the tool box to the side. I began to pull her to me so we were both lying down before I remembered I had blown the damned gasket in my knee. "Mother of fuck!" We sat back up and it was her turn to reach for the tool box. For all these upgrades we still felt pain no matter how minor.

"You need to be a little more careful dodging shrapnel." She said giving me a quick kiss then taking a look at my knee.

"How bad is it doc? Do I get any extracurriculars when you're done?" I asked when she pulled out a piece of rock from my joint. She managed to reconnect any loose wires and put the tool box back.

"Maybe after we've both had some time to take a nap?" she suggested taking my hand and pulling me to my feet.

"How about we actually find a nice hotel, with some nice warm food, actual food, wine and lots of it, hot water and a tub and shower that can fit both of us?" I asked holding her as close as I could and swaying to an imaginary song.

"What's left from our WA expenses?"

"Not much but I think they'll allow it since we do such a bang up job." I said

"What is not much ?" she asked stopping the swaying and locking her joints so I couldn't move her.

"Not much?" I shrugged.

"We're on MREs for the foreseeable future aren't we?" she asked finally letting me sway her again.

"I hate to say it but yeah. WA might red flag us if we decide to go a little higher than buying mods and fab kits." I said moving her arms to around my neck.

"As if they haven't already by making us eat MREs." she said with a sigh.

"How much money do you owe Diaz and Maretti?" I asked looking down at her.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You know what I mean"

"I do not" she continued to play coy.  

“Secilia Ann McCoy.” I couldn't help but say her full name with a chuckle.

“They actually owe me three hundred” she grinned. "Each"

“What have I told you about gambling? Especially with Taylor’s group”

“Didn't I just say they owed me money?”

“Yes, but still doesn't mean you'll get it.” I told her.

“You want steak or not?” She asked shoving me away so she could change into something halfway normal.

“Yeah I want steak but life's short let's have dessert first.” I said following after her to the tiny room that was supposed to be hers.  

I stopped short of her at her console. Guess I was right about her not getting her money. She shot me a glare sensing my I told you so coming. I put my hands up and moved cautiously to her and put them around her waist. “Something about Taylor finding out and took the money as hush money” she snarled. There wasn't any heat to it; I knew John and that was how he was if he was in a good mood.

“Can I still say it?” I said resting my chin on her shoulder looking at the message Maretti sent her. They had gotten caught. Not the first time and certainly not the last but they were still caught.

“Don't”

“Please?”

“Jacob”

“C’mon”

“Ugh fine!”

“I told you so” I said with devilish intent. Which earned me an elbow to the gut “Ooff! You said I could say it!”

“Doesn't always mean that you should” she turned out of my hold and walked out to the tiniest kitchen I had ever seen. Even shitty hotels had better kitchenettes.

“Noted.” I grunted making my way to the couch again. I could have sworn something had died in this place before it was a shitty safe house on the edge of a war torn country.

“Does the tv work?” Seely asked rummaging for god knew what.

I tried to turn on the old box. Surprisingly enough it actually did work. One station in a foreign language but it was something. “Yeah it works. What may I ask are you doing?” I sat up to look. When I didn't see her or hear any more rummaging I got worried. She was always making noise. Unless the meds she was on stopped working and she fell into a depressed state. “Seels?” I got up and walked over to see her sitting on the floor examining some burned through candles.

“I'm fine. Just can't find any decent candles.” she said and threw one against the cabinet. Glass went everywhere. I sat next to her and put my arm around her shoulders. We were two pieces of broken. What exactly I couldn't say. We were just broken.

Seely still had flashes from time to time and even though I got over my guilt I still feel it deep down. We had found each other though. All jagged edges and frayed lines. We discovered more and more with each passing year we ran Ops and were just...together. I would do my best to follow her anywhere. Even try to places that I probably knew I wouldn't be able to to but still. We'd been in this long enough, we could outlast the long haul if we had too. “What do you say we just down an MRE and hit the hay?” I suggested pulling over into my lap.

“Without salt?”

“I think this is hardly about the salt or the money.” I said holding her tightly “We both have some extra cash stowed away. Tomorrow we dress as normally as possible and go into town.”

“And do what? Don't we have to wait for WA and our next instructions?” She asked as I began to rock us back and forth.

“That's why we have Kane isn't it? Besides I'm sure with what we have we can get a decent hotel, some junk food from their vending machine, some rot gut from a local liquor store, and take a nice hot shower and sleep in decent sized bed” I said nuzzling at her neck. She squirmed as I planted light kisses along her neckline. “And we can also maybe if you're a good girl have some decent hotel sex”

“Decent hotel sex?”

“Cause you know it would be in a decent hotel. Not exactly shitty but not exactly up in a lavish penthouse suit.” I said with a shrug. She snorted out a laugh before it got her into full on giggle fit. I loved when she laughed. But I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud. Not yet anyway. Even after five plus years.

“Ok horn dog. I think I saw a decent sounding MRE we can share in the supply pack.” She said managing to turn stradling my hips “And maybe if you're a good boy we can fool around for a while afterwards”

“You promise? No foolin’?” I asked eagerly bouncing slightly.

“How about a little incentive” she smiled wickedly before slotting my mouth to hers. It was wicked in every sense of the word. Slow and sweet with a deep hunger behind it. When she pulled back she bit my lip before giving me another quick kiss and standing up. “You coming?”

“Yeah. You just got to give me a minute” I said finding it hard to move or even think.

“I'll be in the ready room” she smiled turning to walk away. She had a slight sway to those bionic hips.

“Jesus hot sauce christmas cake” I said falling back sprawled out on the gross ass floor.  I laid there for a few more minutes then quickly got to my feet and hurried to the ready room where half an MRE was waiting for me along with a saucy minx and a bottle of leftover rot gut from the other day.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

“Hey, hey” I said before we got too into our foolishness.

“What?” Seely asked. She was ready to go and so was I but I had wanted to try something.

“I want to try something.”

“Like what exactly?”

“Our DNIs”

“You mean make each other brain dead?” She asked sitting back.

“No ding dong. We won't fry each others brains. Not if we do it right” I said holding her shoulders.

“Do you know something I don't?”

“Maybe. Maybe I know a trick that Hall doesn't” I said. “We don't need to extract any info so it's not going to be so intense.”

“Really? You sure about this?”

“I wouldn't be suggesting it if I thought we would fry our brains” I reassured her “So ready?”

“I guess...you sure this won't mess with our brains?” She asked again.

“I'm sure” I said taking her head in my hands. She did the same. “Ok. On three. One. Two. Three.”

It felt weird. A lot of things did with DNIs and cybernetics. There was a crackle and a sharp but quick pain. We put our foreheads together as our DNIs connected. We weren't extracting info. No need to go too far. It felt like our senses were being opened up to each other. We stood at the edge of each other's minds. The city where I grew up. The countryside where she had grown up and felt safe. I liked hers betters. Rolling fields and bunches of trees along a winding river versus buildings and the screech of sirens and cars. “This…”

“Is weird? Yeah I know heh heh” I said meeting her in the middle. “Didn't know you grew up in the country”

“Yeah it was quiet” she said

“Ok so no data diving and we should be fine” I took her in my arms and brought her in close.

“No data diving.”

“Just extra sensory perception? Is that what its called?” I asked trying to keep my wandering thoughts to myself and focused on Seely in front of me.

“Don't know but we can't hold this for long” she said. She was right, like most times.

“I know. Just wanted to connect us in a new way” I said “Try that heightened senses crap that Diaz mentioned”

“You actually listened to him?”

“Somewhat. All I know is this is going to feel amazing.”

“It already does” she said.

I smiled and told gave her the ok for us to disconnect. Back in the real world and not the one of our minds we were back in the shitty safe house on the crappy bed tangled in each others arms. I could still feel her in the back of my mind. Like a soft touch of skin on skin. A hushed whisper in the dark recesses there. I know she could still feel part of me in hers with the way she tilted her head to try to listen to something. “Until the end of the line and then beyond into hell and back” I said kissing her into what could barely pass for pillows.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

     After that night we decided to just spring for the hotel. We had enough of the safe house. Besides if we were needed Kane would be sure to butt in as usual. And sure enough, a few weeks after Seely and I had gotten into a good rhythm Kane got a hold of us. We were on the next plane out to a safe house somewhere outside of Singapore itself.

Safe House near Quarantine Zone

“Hey Hendricks, where are we again?” Seely asked getting up from her nap. We had to take what we could get.

“Somewhere near Singapore.” I said turning off the battle emersion sim.

“How long have we been at this again” she asked draping herself over my shoulders.

“Five years give or take” I said turning my head to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. This was going to be a hell of a ride I could feel it. Seely could feel it too. It was just something in the air.

“You still with me?” She asked

“Always”