Unmasking Him

Nightmares

"Hey, hey, hey. Baby, what's wrong?"
The woman shudders from the dream- startlingly vivid. Of fighting, and faces, and the icy clench of betrayal in her chest already fading in consciousness. And yet, she couldn't stop crying. Shoulders shaking, uncontrollable sobbing.
The man gathered her close, tucking the woman's head to his chest and making soft soothing sounds. "Bad dream, huh? It's alright. Nothing will touch you while I have you."
He strokes her hair, and looks down at the sobbing woman in his arms. In the few months he had know her, he had grown to be fiercely protective of her. Unreasonably so. He put it down to the fact that his power emanated so strongly through her, she was his release.
She whimpers in to his chest as she slowly calms, the warmth flowing off of him having a calming effect on her. He did it purposefully when she was around, doing so to make her feel safe and protected, and knowing she had been so on edge in recent weeks.
She refused to talk to him, tell him what troubles her mind, but he knew it was only getting worse. She had started having nightmares, and would wake up crying and sometimes screaming in the middle of the night. Yet, she refused to tell him what the dreams that troubled her so much were about. Even knowing that if he knew, he could help.
He had come to accept that all he could do was hold her and reassure her, coaxing her back to sleep, and repeating the process when the next nightmare of the night would inevitably come upon her.
Suddenly, a serious of impatient, urgent knocks sound at the bedroom door. He looks from the door to the woman in his arms, now sleeping peacefully for the time being. He groans internally as he drags himself away from her and goes to the door. He opens it wide enough to put his body in the opening and sees his intelligence supervisor, Mark, standing there with a worried look on his face.
He sighs and asks tiredly, "What is it? Why, at this time of the night, do you feel the need to see me?"
There's a noticeable bob of the short man's Adam's apple and he replies softly, "It's important. This can not wait until morning. It's about file T. We found something you have to see now. It's not good."
This suddenly brings the first man to a rigid and fully awake position, his spine stiffening as he takes this in. He glances over his shoulder once at his bed and the sleeping woman it contains, and slips out the door, pulling it shut behind him with a soft click. He runs a hand through his messy hair and says, "Bring everything to the study. I'll meet you there, Mark."
The short, sandy haired man responds in kind by giving a short, sharp nod and replying, "Yes sir, Mr. Black."
With that, he turns and hurried away to retrieve his files. Luca Black turns the opposite direction and heads to his study that sits just three doors down and on the opposite wall. He enters and goes to his desk, when there he flips on his desk lamp and slouches in to his chair, exhaustion weighing heavily on his body. Just as he is about to drift to sleep once again, Mark enters carrying a stack of files at least six inches thick. He gingerly sets them in front of his boss and pulls a light blue file from the stack, placing it directly in front the tired man in front of him. He refuses to make eye contact.
"She's not who we thought she was. She didn't just happen to stumble upon us and get accidentally caught up in this. She was sent here... to take you down." With his final words he opens the file and reveals a picture of Taylor King, the woman lying in his bed, in a cop uniform.
The realization is a sobering and awakening one, he sits up straight and leans back in his chair as he stares in horror at the file before him. She was building a case on him. She was going to betray him. He picks up the file and chunks it past Mark's head and it smacks the wall across the room with a solid thud before papers flutter everywhere about the area around it. He places his head in his hands and says in anguish, "I'll deal with this. Just have the cell ready by tomorrow."
Mark nods and quickly leaves as a hand is waved at him to leave. Luca looks at his hands, thinking of everything that has happened between him and the woman he has fallen so madly and deeply in love with. Tears slowly fall from his eyes, trickling down his face in silence and steady streams, anguish and heartache taking over his entire being at knowing his lovers planned betrayal of him.
As his tears finally subside, leaving behind a full ache in his chest, there's a quiet rap on the door frame. His head snaps up and he sees her. She is wearing one of his white button up shirts and her long legs are distracting. Her dark hair flows in smooth waves down her back as she leans lazily against the door frame.
"Why are you working so late? What is so important that you had to leave me alone in bed?" She questions as she glides forward, coming closer to him.
As she gets closer she sees the anguish and sadness on his face and immediately she reflects his pain, hurting to see him hurting. She reaches his side and places a loving hand on his cheek, which he turns his face in to. She places herself in his lap and quietly questions, "What's wrong, my love? What happened?"
He shakes his head and lets his eyes slip closed as he savors her touch. Just as he is about to pull away, though, a warmth begins to encase him, emanating from the woman in his lap, and a gentle calm settles over him. He sucks in a gasp of air and his eyes flutter open.
"H-how are you doing that," hw questions then, "I didn't know you could do that."
She looks in to his chocolate brown eyes and replies, "I don't know how I'm doing it, but it just hurts, to see you hurt. The only thing I want is to be able to help you, and I guess this is how I am doing that. I love you."
At her admission he looks away from her, leaning away from her touch as much as possible without pushing her away or out of his lap. He looks up at her and says quietly, "I know you're here to make a case against me, detective."