Of Smoke and Stardust [[COMPLETE]]]

CHAPTER 24-PARKER

Parker woke up slowly, leisurely. It was the first time in a long time that he felt at ease. His body felt warm and light, except his arm; his arm was heavy and stuck.

He glanced over, and Alya's sleeping face greeted him. Warmth twisted his insides as he watched her sleep, feeling contend with the memories from the night before. She looked adorable in his shirt, her hand splayed over his bare chest, their legs entwined. She looked so peaceful. He envied that she could sleep so soundly; so comfortably. That she could give herself to the darkness and not have it bite back with nightmares.

He stroke a callused knuckle over her cheek, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. It was slow, but he felt like he'd be able to stand against the darkness, with her by his side.

He gently skimmed his thumb over her bottom lip, careful not to wake her up. Her mouth parted as she stirred, her thick lashes fluttered open to reveal sleepy brown eyes.

"Morn'n, Lieutenant." He drawled as smoothly as he could, but his voice was rough with sleep, and it came out gruffer than he wanted.

A smile tugged at her lips. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his side. "Morn'n, Rebel." She rolled a shoulder and propped herself up on her elbows.

Her shirt hung off, showing off her collar bones and one sultry tan shoulder. It struck Parker for the millionth time how gorgeous she was. He must have won the universal luck lottery when she waltzed through those doors in the prison. Her hair tickled his cheek as she leaned over and pressed her lips to his temple, the bridge of his nose, trailed her lips further down, and then—finally—his lips.

It was over for him. He knew it with every fiber of his being. He knew it like he knew the Earth was round, the sky was blue, ice was cold; Parker was completely and unconditionally Alya's.

He smiled, and it felt so right—so real; not forced or fake or more like a grimace. "What did you think of me when you first saw me?"

Alya tilted her head to the side, her fingertip tracing a scar that ran down his collarbone. She had to have known how much it drove him crazy. "I thought you were an ass." She finally said, flashing her eyes up at him with a mischievous smile.

Parker grinned. "You were checking out my ass?"

"No!" She slapped his chest and shoved him so hard he almost fell off the bed.

Parker laughed and rolled over onto her. "I think you were checking out more than my ass." He snaked an arm around her lower back and puller her up into him.

She flung a leg around his hips and flipped them over, rolled off him and stood on the other side of the bed in one fluid motion. And damn if her legs weren't the longest, sexiest thing he'd ever laid eyes on. Long, lean, tan, and attached to the most graceful body he'd ever seen.

"If we don't meet Zion on time then your ass won't ever be sexy again." She raised a brow, hands on her hips.

He wanted to stay in that moment forever. Find a way to lock it up and be able to come back to it when he needed it most. Her bed rumpled hair, his shirt hanging in all the right places, her puffy red lips, and those eyes. Parker scanned it all into his memory as best he could. "Whose ass is more sexy? Mine or—"

"Parker!" She smacked his shoulder and he jumped up from the sting of it.

"Okay, okay." Parker rolled off the bed and caught his shirt that Alya had tossed at him. He couldn't keep the grin off his face as they changed into their uniforms.

Everyone was already there by the time Parker and Alya reached the bridge; Jorrit and Nyx turned from their station when he stepped in, with Alya by his side. Nyx's brows shot up, before she smirked and gave them a knowing look. The way he couldn't stop from grinning like a fool, anyone could have read what had happened.

Jorrit, ever oblivious, waved at Parker to join him at his work station. "Parker, I need you to scan you for the infiltration system."

"Do I need to take my clothes off?" He threw a conspiring look to Alya, who very professionally ignored it. He caught a twinge to her lips as she fought back a smirk though.

"Ah. N-no. That's okay." Jorrit fumbled with a metal box. "J-just need you to put you hand in here."

Nyx looked like she was ready to burst out laughing next to him, her silver eyes shining with amusement. She covered her mouth with a hand and spun in her chair to face the consol.

Parker walked over and peeked into the slit in the box. The bottom was glass, with a bunch of lights underneath it. "It's not going to burn my fingerprints off or anything, right?" He half joked as he placed his hand on the glass.

"I don't think so."

Before Parker could question him, a warm light flashed inside and then dissipated.

"Oh good. I wasn't sure if that would work properly. Next hand."

Parker raised a brow as he lifted his other hand. "I can't tell if you've grown a sense of humor or if you're actually serious."

The light flashed again, Jorrit looked up at him through his glasses. "Oh, I'm very serious. The HAWKS all have print and iris scans in the system that I can use. I had to put this together to get yours. We don't have scanners on the ship."

"Well, that's comforting." Parker withdrew his hand and rubbed them together. Was it him, or did his hands feel softer?

Jorrit fiddled with the box and flipped the glass slit up, and over so the contraption looked like clunky binoculars. "Eyes next." He held the box up for him.

Parker hesitated. "My eyes are very important to me, you know. I like seeing things."

"I completely understand." Jorrit pushed the box to Parker's face. "Keep your eyes open, try not to blink."

Parker didn't even dare to breathe as the light flashed and scanned over his eyes. Tears pooled up on his lower ducts and he fisted his hands in his pockets to keep himself from moving.

Finally, the light blinked off and Jorrit pulled the box away. He turned to the monitor behind him and punched in a few things. Up popped an image of Parker's eyes, his fingerprints to the right side. "Good, good. It worked perfectly."

"Goodie." Parker wiped the tears from his eyes, and tried to blink away the white spots that now assaulted his vision.

Zion turned from his conversation with Kaz and Alya and clapped his hands. "Okay everyone. We're all set to land. Jorrit found a way to get in, but our timing had to be perfect. There's a slim margin of a timeframe to get through and on the group before we're shot out of the sky." He took a moment to let the seriousness of their mission sink in. "Gear up and get to your stations. The mission starts now."

Parker followed Rowan and Alya into the storage room. Rowan set to work handing them their uniforms and equipment without a word. It occurred to Parker that he never really thought of Rowan as a soldier, but seeing him in his element made it clear that Rowan was disciplined when needed. Rowan handed Alya a set of guns and ammunition, then started dolling the same set to Parker.

Parker hesitated. "Do you really trust me with that?"

"It's not about trust. It's about you better have a good enough aim to watch my back." Rowan shoved the gun into Parker's hand.

Parker nodded and holstered the small firearm, then the ammo for it, and another, larger gun slung onto his back.

The bulletproof vest was cumbersome and restrictive, but Parker rather have it on than not have it at all. He just hoped he wouldn't have to move fast or fight hand to hand.

The three backtracked to the bridge and strapped into stations as Kaz navigated the ship through Jorrit's coordinates. Parker's heart beat under all his armor. This was it. He was going to get Jayden, or die trying. It was the point of no return.