Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I stood at the mini bar, staring out of the window over the city. The faint lights reflected on the glass, providing a cool glow over the drink I was making. My usual: a dry shaken martini garnished with exactly three olives was the perfect combination to help me forget about the horrors going on behind me. As I sipped my drink I turned around to Julian already looking at me. He stuck his hand out and I sat my glass down to take it. He pulled me in and spun me around happily. His hand pulled my waist against his as we looked out at the skyline “My dear, in a few days we will be on top of a brand new world. With the Ares program we will never have to worry about anything ever again.” Even as he placed a kiss on my temple, I felt a sense of dread growing deep within me. He let me go and I grabbed my drink, taking a big sip. I felt the vodka mix with my nerves, quietly flushing them out. I walked over to Julian’s desk and sat in his lap, staring down at the computer embedded in the table. There was a list of code flashing on the screen that I had trouble understanding. Despite all my years interning with tech companies, I hadn’t become fluent in coding. Julian watched me closely, his fingers hovering uncertainly over the illuminated keyboard. He typed something in and the screen faded to black, leaving my own reflection staring back at me. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and smiled warmly when our eyes met. “You trust me, right?” he whispered, searching my face for an answer. I hesitated, “I trust you, I just don’t trust technology. You know that. What if this stuff doesn’t go how you planned it? What then?” He mulled over my response before glancing over to his guards and back to me. “I want to show you something.” he excitedly said as he hopped up and pulled me down the hallway. He dragged me into the elevator and all the way downstairs. I put on a pair of sunglasses he handed me and joined him in front of a bunch of machinery. He pointed to one of the workers and lasers started to shoot at one spot, making something I couldn’t see. Julian put his arms around me, pulling my back against his chest and resting his chin on my shoulder. His arms crossed mine and held my hands. The lasers stopped and I cocked my head skeptically. He left a peck on the top of my shoulder as he let go of me. He flung his glasses to the side and held his arms out, presenting whatever was in front of us. Julian took my hand, pulled me forward, and took my glasses off. He threw them to an unsuspecting worker and waited for my reaction. The black mass in front of us dissolved, leaving a man in black and red glowing armor standing in front of me. My breath caught as the armored man’s visor flickered to reveal a man with long hair and piercing eyes. He stared at me before speaking, “Cecilia Dillinger, wife of Julian Dillinger and top shareholder of Dillinger Systems. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Startled, I instinctively grabbed Julian's arm, who turned to the man. “Lia my dear, this is Ares.” I turned to him in awe, suddenly feeling less nervous. I extended my hand and he placed his over mine. I looked into his eyes, really seeing what was in front of me. “Remarkable.” I whispered under my breath. Ares pulled his hand away from mine, which was still tightly holding his. A blush crept onto my cheeks as I lowered my hand and started to step in a circle around him, examining every inch of his existence. I turned to Julian, “What’s the catch?” His proud expression faltered for a second before returning with a fake veil of confidence, “What’s the catch? There is none! A fully replaceable soldier Lia. This is going to make us billions.” I hesitated, scanning Julian's face for any hint of anxiety. He embraced me tightly and whispered, “Ares will change the world.” He let go, but held my arms, speaking softly, “And you and I will be at the forefront of the biggest military advancement the world has ever seen.” But before I could respond, Ares stepped forward, his eyes locked on mine with unreadable intent. I took an apprehensive step back but held my ground. Ares raised a hand and fixed a strand of hair on my head. His hand dropped down and Julian seemed displeased with Ares’ sudden movement. Ares stepped back, “Apologies Mrs. Dillinger, you had dust in your hair and you are allergic to dust mites. Wouldn’t want you to have a reaction.” I smoothed my hair down and laughed awkwardly, “Thank you Ares.” Julian gave Ares a sharp look, his jaw tightening slightly. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me away from Ares. I waved, earning a small wave back. As Julian led me down the hall, I tried to keep up with him. Finally, I yanked my arm out of his grip and smoothed my dress, “I can walk for myself you know?” Julian halted abruptly, giving me an apologetic nod. “I’m sorry, I just, you know I don’t like anyone else talking to you.” His words lingered between us, heavy with possessiveness, as footsteps echoed suddenly behind us. I turned and saw his mother walking quickly towards us. “Cecilia! What a pleasure.” She gave me a warm hug and intertwined our arms, “Come dear, we must have dinner to catch up. Julian very rarely lets us have a good meal together.” She steered me toward the dining room, her grip surprisingly strong as Julian sulked behind us. She shoved me into a chair and sat across from me. With a quick nod to the chef, he ran over, taking our orders and disappearing just as fast as he had appeared. I was given another martini that I downed. While I was drinking, Julian’s mother kept here eyes on me like a hawk. She studied my movements carefully with a sharp expression. I sat the now empty glass down and smiled at her. We ate dinner together and held light conversation over some chicken and rice. Halfway through the meal, Julian had to leave for work. He placed a kiss on the top of my head and hugged me with one arm, the other already sending work emails. As soon as Julian disappeared, his mother’s demeanor shifted, eyes narrowing as she leaned in closer. “He didn’t tell you about the downside to Ares did he?” I shook my head, “Of course not. I can tell he isn’t being honest but I don’t know why.” She sighed, “Who knows why my son does what he does, but I’ll tell you. Anything from the grid can only survive 29 minutes in our world before going through de-resolution.” I nodded along, absently swirling the last of my third martini. “There has to be some kind of code that will stop that from happening, right?” She nodded slowly, “And he will stop at nothing to get it.” “Be careful, Cecilia,” she whispered urgently, fingers tightening around the napkin in her lap. I stood up, thanking the chef, and leaving Julian’s mom. I went upstairs to Julian’s office with hesitant steps. When I opened the large glass door, he was sitting at his desk, aggressively typing at his keyboard. I walked over to the mini bar and started to make myself another martini. I turned to Julian who was anxiously running his hand through his hair and over his face. I smiled softly, “Want one?” I said, showing him the shaker bottle. He nodded and I turned back to the bar cart, making him his usual. I walked over to his desk and handed him his drink, pulling another office chair up in front of him. He sighed, “I need to find that permanence code.” He took a large sip of his drink and leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose, “But I don’t know how to do that yet.” I stood up and started rubbing his shoulders, feeling him melt in my grip. His hand grasped my forearm tightly as he looked up at me. I smiled softly and spun his chair to face me, sitting down in his lap. “You’re a very smart man Mr. Dillinger. I’m sure you will figure something out and you know…” I trailed off as he started to kiss my neck. I giggled and pushed him away lightly. “Come on, I’m trying to talk to you.” I grabbed his jaw and turned his face to look at me. He looked at me with his very familiar puppy dog eyes and I folded. I sighed softly and placed a small kiss on his lips. He tried to continue kissing my neck as I rolled my eyes. He held my hips in place and murmured against my neck “Come on, I’ve had a bad day at work.” I looked down at him and shook my head, “I try to be encouraging.” He continued to kiss my collarbone, leaving small bites across my neck, “Mhm you are very encouraging Mrs. Dillinger.” His hand slipped underneath my silk dress and snapped my stockings against my thigh. He chuckled and whispered against my ear, “Very very encouraging.” I scoffed and let out a dry laugh, “You know, I’m just going to have to start coming in her naked when I try to cheer you up. I’m sure it’ll have the same effect.” He looked up at me with glee in his eyes, “Please do, we’ll be able to skip you pretending like this isn’t what you want.” I rolled my eyes and he picked me up, placing me on his desk. He trapped me between his arms as he stood in between my legs. He leaned forward almost an inch away from my face and whispered, “I mean, you’re the one who’s running around in skimpy little nightgowns getting tipsy all the time. Right my dear?” A blush formed on my cheeks that Julian quickly exploited by pressing his lips against mine. Our kiss was interrupted by a knock at the door. He turned with a deadly look in his eyes as a guard entered. “What?” he snapped, his tone quickly changing. The guard stammered, “Uh, sorry sir, we were just checking the rooms and making sure we were good to shut the building down for the night.” His brows furrowed and he shot a glare at the guard, “Yes, this room is clear, you can get off of this floor and shut down the building.” The guard nodded and quickly hurried out. Julian’s focus turned back to me and he put his hand out, helping me hop off of his desk. He typed in a password and the screen turned off. The lights dimmed around us and he grabbed our glasses. He handed me mine and opened the door for me. We walked down the hallway to our bedroom where Julian insisted he helped me get ready for bed. I sat at my vanity and began to take off my jewelry, leaving only a small diamond J necklace that Julian got me for Christmas the first year we were married. Julian got down on the ground to unbuckle my heels and I sighed, “You’re ridiculous.” He looked up, offended. “Sorry I’m obsessed with my wife and want to worship the ground you walk on,” he protested. I rolled my eyes and stood up to get my pajamas on. He helped take off my sweater, silk slip dress, and tights before helping me into my silk pajama set. When he was done buttoning the shirt, he picked me up and walked me into our room. He tossed me onto the bed and told me to wait while he got ready for bed. When he came back, he was in just his boxers. He slid onto the bed next to me, eyes darkening with mischief as he leaned over, feathering his hand down my arm. Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me on top of him. I yelped when I landed on top of him and grabbed the headboard to steady myself. A low laugh rumbled in his chest as he wrapped his legs tightly around mine, pinning me in place with gentle strength. I squirmed but my efforts were all in vain as he flipped over, pinning my hands above my head with one hand. Then he whispered, “Promise me you’ll always stay with me.” My brows lightly pressed together at his odd question, but his tone and expression told me he was being dead serious. He loosened his grip enough for me to slide my hands out and sit up. He held my face and said it a little louder. “Promise me you’ll always stay with me.” I nodded, half smiling. I shoved him onto his back where he landed with a soft thud. I climbed on top of him and held his jaw with my hand. “Julian Dillinger I, Cecilia Dillinger, will stay with you for the rest of my life no matter what happens.” A grin broke across his face as he spoke, “You know, I really like it when you grab my jaw like this.” I nodded mischievously, “Oh yeah? I think I can tell.” He put his arms around me and rolled us again so that he was on top of me. We did not end up sleeping much that night.

Chapter Text

I woke up to Julian sleeping on my chest. His hair was a mess, curling over his eyes and sticking up at random angles. I brushed it off of his face and smiled softly. The sun was streaming in through our windows, illuminating him in a warm glow. His tattoos were visible, a rare occurrence nowadays. I traced down the tattoos, remembering when we got them together. They were geometric lines that went up and down our bodies. We had gotten a person who specialized in cyber-vigilism to tattoo us. We were matching, but not really, it was just patterns that complimented each other just as our personalities did. To go along with that, we got stars on our chests. They represented how we could love each other no matter the distance and that we’d always be there for each other, even if we weren’t physically present. Julian groaned and buried his face into my stomach. I laughed and he looked up at me, squinting in the sunlight, “I don’t want to get up.” He rolled off and climbed up, lying face down on the pillow next to me. I reached over, tugging the blanket up around his shoulders, shielding him from the cold. He grabbed the blanket and pulled me under, wrapping his arms and legs around me. I giggled as he started to place kisses all over my face. I held his face and tried to memorize every detail I could. His hand caressed my cheek, resting behind my neck before pulling me closer to him. He softly kissed me and I groaned as he laid more on top of me. He smiled against my lips and started rubbing circles on my waist with his thumb. I sighed and flopped back onto the bed, “We need to get up.” I grabbed my phone and tried checking the time but Julian grabbed it and tossed it behind him. It landed on the floor, shattering, and I rolled my eyes. He started kissing my neck and I laughed, “I got that phone two weeks ago Julian.” He looked up at me with his big puppy dog eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, “Get a new one.” He crawled down lower and started kissing my chest and ribs. I rolled my eyes, “They’re expensive.” He scoffed and left a kiss where my pants met my hips, “You think money is an issue when it comes to you, that’s funny.” He climbed on top of me, spreading my legs so he could lean over me. He whispered “I would buy a million phones if it meant five more minutes with you.” He leaned on his elbow next to me and pulled my waist against his. “Please Cecilia, just look at what you do to me, and then try to leave me.” I looked him up and down. Sure enough, he looked like a dog in heat. I ran my hand through his hair and tilted his head up to look at me, “Julian. We have to get up.” He groaned and started kissing my neck, “Please-“ kiss “just-“ kiss “a few more minutes?” He looked up at me with pleading eyes. I couldn’t resist and rolled my eyes, “Alright but just a few more minutes.” He smiled up at me and slammed his lips into mine. Within seconds, I was being pinned down, and kisses were being placed all over my face. I dissolved into a giggles, trying desperately to escape his grip. This only made him more motivated to hold me down and continue his loving attack. He only stopped when there was a knock at the door. He rolled his eyes and leaned in, whispering “Let’s just ignore them. Go do something. Spend the day together.” I held his face with one hand and sighed, “We have work to do my love.” Another knock set him off. He stood up abruptly and grabbed his robe. He answered the door with an angry demeanor. There was some whispering and then a door closing. He dropped his robe and climbed back into bed with me. I rolled over to him, lying on his arm, and cuddling into his chest. He put his arms around me and his chin on my head. He squeezed me tightly before looking down at me. I looked up at him and his lips pressed into a small smile. He brushed my hair out of my face and whispered, “I’m serious. I’m the CEO of the company, I can be MIA for one day. Let’s go out and have a date, like old times.” I considered it for a moment, but couldn’t come up with an argument. Plus, it had been a while since we went on a date, let alone spent the day together without work in the way. He had built our home in Dillinger tower so he could be as close to me as possible during the workday and I had enjoyed being in his office and bringing him dinner on late nights, but we hadn’t been on a proper date in months. I finally caved and gave him a kiss, “Okay, let’s do it.” His smile turned into a full grin and he stood up, pulling me out of bed too. We put our matching Dillinger Systems robes on and made our way to the closet.

Within an hour, I was curling my hair while Julian was planning our date. He joined me in the closet and took the curling iron from me. He started doing the back pieces gently, “So I planned for today. Made a couple calls. First we’re gonna go to the mall and get you whatever you want and then we’ll head over to mini golf, and then I got us reservations at that nice steakhouse you love.” I turned around so quickly he almost burnt me with the curling iron, “Babe those reservations take months to get, how’d you do that?” He smiled knowingly, “I know a few people and saying that the reservation is for the Dillingers can get you a reservation anywhere.” He placed a kiss on my cheek and motioned for me to turn back around so he could finish my hair. I admired his movements in the mirror: slow and delicate, like my hair was the finest silk that was made to be cherished. We locked eyes and he smiled softly, “Oh and I ordered you a new dress, it’ll be here soon.” I smiled, feeling a warmth growing in my chest.

The dress he bought me was a perfect fit. A long sleeved Valentino that reached my knees. It was a burgundy color with lillys trailing down one side. It was a wrap dress that was made out of a soft flowing material. I put it on and paired it with burgundy kitten heels. When I stepped out, Julian’s eyes sparkled when he looked at me. He walked towards me with careful steps before grabbing my hips, picking me up, and spinning me around. He started kissing me gently as to not mess up my makeup. After noticing I didn’t have lipstick on, our lips collided. He kissed me passionately, knowing he wouldn’t mess up any of my makeup. I broke our kiss by leaning back and putting a hand on his chest. “We need to go,” I said sternly. He sighed and dropped his head into the crook of my neck, “But we could stay here all day.” I ran my fingers through his hair and stopped at the base of his neck, “But you planned such a nice day for us, I want to do that.” He looked at me and nodded before giving me one more kiss.

The day went on as perfect as it was planned to be. I had about twenty bags worth of designer clothes and a million pictures were taken of us at mini golf. As we sat down for dinner, I felt my hunger catching up to me. We sat down at the restaurant where we were quickly given glasses of wine and menus. When the waiter returned, we ordered, and were left with a basket of bread and each other. I picked at a piece of bread while Julian admired me. He held out his hand and I took it. He leaned in a bit, lowering his voice, “I love you very much Mrs. Dillinger.” I smiled, returning the sentiment. His thumb rubbed across my hand softly as I watched the gears turning in his head. He finally spoke with caution, “I’m trying to figure out how to get the permanence code. I want to give you the life I always promised you.” I looked up at him with furrowed brows, “Julian, you’ve given me everything I could ever ask for. I live in a tower with my last name on it, I can buy bags upon bags of designer clothing, I can have a reservation at any restaurant I want at any time, and I have you. What more do I need?” He sighed, letting go of my hand. “This would take care of us for the rest of our lives Lia,” he ran a hand through his hair “I mean, we’d be set. We could retire.” I gave him a solemn smile, “All I need is to be with you for the rest of my life. I’d give all of this up in a heartbeat if it meant we’d be together forever.” Tears welled in his eyes but he blinked them away. “I want to give you the life you deserve,” he whispered. This had been a reoccurring problem with us. Our lives were perfect, but he never understood that I was perfectly content just being his wife. I took his hand again and squeezed it, “I already have everything I want and it’s right in front of me.” He frowned but nodded, only slightly relieved. Our waiter brought our food and we started eating in comfortable silence. I stopped just before I put another piece in my mouth, an idea popping into my head, “What if Eve Kim already has the permanence code. If you can get it from her we already have the marketing for it. Encom is technically behind us because we’ve already met with the generals and they’re sold on the idea. We’d get the code from her and then finalize the deal. Anything she would do would just seem like she’s copying us.” His eyes lit up and he smiled, “Cecilia Dillinger, you’re a genius. Come on.” He got up and grabbed my hand, yanking me out of my seat, and rushing me out of the restaurant. He shoved some money into our waitress’s hand before getting our keys from the valet.