"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
― Oscar Wilde
– M A K A Y L A –
I watched Alex lower her rifle and snarl at the smoking crater Artella had disappeared into across the hall with whatever security detail the Deathless had assigned him. The dark shape was armed to high hell and a chrome mask obscured any ID to us. But that wasn't good enough for her.
Alex pulled up her comm as she spun and assessed the additional threats pouring in from every inner Sector at a rapid pace. She knew the Deathless wouldn't be far behind.
"I need Falcon jet support in Sector 5. Emitting our location–we'll be in a civilian craft." She spoke quickly into her comm as she shouldered her rifle and glanced briefly at me.
I pretended that it had no effect. That my heart didn't spike and the distance between us hadn't been felt in every inch of me. I aimed my rifle through the smashed floor to ceiling glass instead and scanned for more Imperials.
But we were soon moving too. The sirens were nearing and the whirl of air assets was closing. Octavius and Lee took coordinated positions at each side of the fusion craft as Scorpion held the door open to me and nodded her head curtly towards it. I lowered my rifle and jumped inside. The others followed closely.
We were airborne and slipping into escaping traffic by the time Imperial crafts rushed in expecting trademark Division agents and Falcon jets. They would be disappointed.
Alex's rifle was still glowing when she discarded it to the floor and set her hooded head back against the chair. Her legs were sprawled wide and the set of her jaw told me she was infuriated. He was there. Right within range. Range Alex didn't miss from. Yet she did today. Was the anger for her failure or her deliberate failure..?
I kept silent for the duration of the flight back to... our base of operations.
It had felt like an eternity away from those familiar, secure walls. Lee questioned Octavius in a hushed tone about weapons and armour the Division's inner circle used. He would likely chase these upgrades with eager intent.
But my interest lay on the woman that didn't open her golden eyes for the rest of the journey. One that still had the very edge of cord exposed under her armour around her neck. A necklace that held a ring of sapphire. My ring. I pulled my own from neck and pinched it between my fingers and enjoyed the way it warmed to me instantly.
Lee quickly glanced at the rare metal before casting his eyes back to the conversation.
It only held meaning to us.
I tucked it back under my armour as I felt the craft descend to the rooftop hatch of the vast building. Scorpion finally opened her eyes and they landed on me. She watched me for a moment without any hint of emotion. Before her comm glowed and she typed quickly onto her wrist.
The craft landed into the fray of engineers and maintenance staff rushing between attack crafts and other supply vehicles.
Lee rushed to get the door open and Scorpion went through it without delay. Octavius arched an eyebrow at me and I sighed, going after her. Her strides were quick and her crimson cloak billowed behind as agents dropped fists to chests and melted away from her.
She didn't ask me to follow. Yet I was compelled to all the same.
A blade was already spinning between her fingers as she waited on the threshold of the lift. As soon as I was through the doors she mashed a button with her knuckle. The numbers flashed quickly above us. The blade continued to move deftly between her gloved fingers. I held the breath in my throat. The air seemed charged. Or maybe it was the adrenaline racing through me more than it had during the attack on Sector 5.
Normally this was the part where one of us had some colourful remark. An edge of sarcasm or humour to diffuse everything–
The lift pinged and her hallway opened before us. She scanned her wrist against the door to her quarters and left it open as she disappeared within. I stared from my relative safety of the lift. When the doors began to close, I flinched out of it and was trapped before the opening of her familiar yet alien space.
The lights were a dim glow and much of the room was kept dark. I trailed my hand over the smooth wooden table that was now behind the L-shaped sofa. It wasn't the only new addition. The old clock she had her eye on before now stood proudly near a tall book shelf.
I walked to it in awe and appreciated the fine craftsmanship that went into the wooden box. It made a faint tick every second. I smiled at the clock face of ivory and the dark hands that moved on gears instead of anything analogue.
"It helps me sleep." A smooth, low voice came from behind.
I continued watching the hands twitch closer to the minute.
"I've never seen a non-analogue clock." I admitted, watching its slow progress towards twelve like it would stop at any moment. It felt like time was holding its breath between us. It normally rushed at a rapid, unstoppable pace. But now... for once everything slowed.
"It's a shame I couldn't show you everything I collected in my old keep." She murmured, moving towards her bed.
I turned and watched Alex–instead of the ruler of the Underworld–in a soft pair of sweats and a black t-shirt that hugged the curve of her muscles far too well. Any sign of the weapons and armour had vanished. She dumped herself on top of her sheets without any ceremony.
Still not an invitation.
So I decided to do my own thing just as she had. I hit the clasps of the Vanguard and pulled it off my torso, letting it drop. Then I ripped the combat skin and cargoes off me before going for her walk-in wardrobe. I grabbed a different pair of her sweats and threw an oversized t-shirt over me.
When I reemerged, I walked past her bed. And dumped myself right across the large sofa. It sank around me softer than any bed had a right to be. I heard her movement in her bed but she didn't comment. I stared at the clock in the darkness. Apparently time was still moving. We were both alive. Proximo was maybe alive–
"Makayla."
I froze. The soft way she used my name made me want to run from the room or into her–I couldn't decide yet.
"–Get off the damn sofa and come here."
I smiled at the ceiling before rolling onto the balls of my feet and looking over at the crime lord. Her hair was down in dark waves for once and her molten eyes were watching me. She propped herself back on her elbows and scanned her clothes on me.
"I've got to admit that sofa is better than most of the beds I've slept on this week." I murmured, approaching her slowly.
"Mine has felt cold." She answered simply.
"And restless..." I sighed in agreement, arriving at the other side and lying back carefully. She stayed on her back before drawing up her wrist holo and killing the lights before pulling it off her wrist all together and tossing it into the darkness.
I chuckled quietly and rolled onto to my side to watch the side of her face. She let me scan all the familiar details of her before she swallowed and spoke.
"To answer your message–" She said low, "I missed you too."
A smile touched the corner of my mouth. Did her voice just crack? I finally reached across the space between us and pulled the cord out around her neck. She watched my fingers tug out my sliver ring and slip it lightly onto my smallest finger. I turned it in the dark room and let the sapphire catch the faintest of light.
I felt a long breath leave her before the warmth of her hand surrounded mine and closed it.
"Can we agree that we function better together?" She sighed. "–Even if you want to be mad or distant can you do it in this bed, Xavier?"
This drew a grin from me.
"Yes, Alex." I fought the laugh and slowly pulled myself closer to her until I was inches from feeling her warmth. The pull she had was relentless. But this time she turned to me and dragged me sharply the rest of the way into her body before burying her face into my neck. My surprise was as short lived as the distance between us. Because the wholeness I felt at the action eclipsed everything else.
Her arms circled my back and my own secured her head closer to me if that were possible. Her perfect and familiar scent rushed back to me along with every other memory of her closeness. It evaporated the tension and unfamiliarity between us.
Suddenly it felt like we had never been apart.
I threaded my fingers through her hair and breathed her in. Her arms tightened around me and I felt our heat combine.
"You still love me, huh?" I mumbled into her hair.
"Not even remotely." She answered into my skin. I smirked darkly in return.
"I knew it. I'll have that ring back–"
"Over my hard to kill body, you will." She drawled.
I pulled back to look at her but she was not even close to moving from her place against my neck. So I ran my nails along her head and released a longer breath from her.
"I needed time." I finally said, feeling her body tense against mine, "–but I love you as foolishly and hopelessly as I did before, Alex. I don't think anything can change that anymore." She relaxed into my hold again.
"So, it could change once before?" She teased.
"You did spill an outrageous amount of champagne on my dress once before."
"Yet you were still dressed better than the room." She answered easily.
"Rooms don't really dress themselves–"
"You're meant to be the mature one."
"You rub off on me." I stated.
Without warning she rose from my neck, took the side of my face in her hand and kissed me. I barely had a moment to respond when she drew back and held my jaw.
"I love you right back, Xavier. Let's try to hold onto that." She said seriously, before kissing me more deeply. I was more than ready to return it now. Her lips hadn't shaped mine in what felt like eternity when it was less than a week. Her body hadn't shaped itself around mine in forever and now we matched each others warmth and felt every inch of our tangled legs and arms.
It was these moments that I needed her clock to lie to me. To tell me that hand was still stuck never quite reaching twelve. That the world could just hold its breath that much longer so we had no past or future to worry about. I had Alex and she had me in her arms. The only future that held any desire was the promise around her neck. But that was a future to be fought for. To be survived and gifted if we were just so lucky to escape this city and all of the power games that came with it. But there was unfinished business before our promised future.
For now, in the circle of her arms. In the warmth of her lips and the scent of the woman I loved filling me up–it could wait a minute longer.