"You're sure that's everything?" Hannah asked, poking around through Jake's suitcase. Extra pens had been jammed into every available space along with two notebooks and his laptop. How he had room for clothes she'd never know.
Jake pulled her hand away and kissed it. "If you keep that up you'll unfold everything and I'll have to pack all over again," he warned her. It was bad enough he'd had to drag his entire suitcase back to her apartment to grab his laptop and toothbrush. He didn't even have plans to use the laptop but nothing would be more suspicious than if he want to work on an article without it.
"I would never do something so dastardly to keep you around longer," she claimed. A sly smile creeped over her face. "I'd hide your shirts so you had to either stay or walk around shirtless."
"My stars," he gasped and covered his chest. "You'd put me in such a position? A kind gentleman like me?" He lifted her up and shook his head. "A lady would never."
Hannah rolled her eyes and hit him in the back of the knee with her foot so they fell onto the bed. "Who ever said I was a lady?" It took a few minutes for the laughter to subside. She kissed his cheek and rolled off him so he could get up. "How long are you going to be gone?"
"Just four days, babe. Not even a full week for you to cause trouble," Jake told her. "I'll call you every day and send plenty of pictures." Seeing her curled up in a ball on the bed tugged at him. It was taking everything in him not to kick the suitcase to the floor and curl up with her. Some reality show would be on just about then. He loved to see how intently she watched the definitely scripted interactions.
The week they'd spent mostly cooped up in her apartment had been the longest time they'd gone uninterrupted by work. Natalie had been unbelievably lenient about letting him work from home. She'd been particularly thrilled to give the paper a rest from his constant anger towards supers. Apparently people did enjoy seeing something happy from time to time.
Even the hospital had somehow found a way to go on without their most essential nurse. With the way Hannah always insisted she needed to be there, Jake had assumed the very walls depended on her to stay up. Not only had they been able to function without her, they'd encouraged her to take more time to herself.
"But who's going to open the jelly for me?" Hannah kissed his cheek and sighed. "I need my jelly."
"I knew you only kept me around for my spectacular muscles," Jake teased. He pulled himself to his feet with some effort. The suitcase closed with a heavy thunk and he zipped it closed. "I should go, I can't miss my train." He stumbled a little when Hannah jumped onto his back.
"New plan, take me with you," she said. "I can be your personal assistant." She hung on tight, impressed he didn't stagger as he carried both her and his luggage into the living room.
"What about your job?" Jake dropped his things by the door and wiggled his shoulders until she got down. He pulled his coat on and turned to stop her from pulling hers on. The last thing she needed was to catch a cold after getting over the flu.
"I'll just quit," she decided. "It's not like they need me anyway." Something about not being needed to save lives in any capacity made her feel less than competent.
Jake laughed and kissed her forehead. "You don't know how to quit. Now go get yourself back to bed. Claudia will be over soon, right?" Someone cleared their throat behind him and Jake turned to face the dower tattoo artist in question. A pair of thick sunglasses were perched on her head and a large tote hung from her left shoulder.
"I have arrived to watch the invalid," she teased.
Hannah huffed but she couldn't fool either of them into thinking she was anything less than thrilled to spend the four days with Claudia. They'd met not long after Jake and Hannah had first met. Her and Jake were never on the same level of friendship that she and Hannah were but he was willing to travel across the city on her request. If anything, she'd become like a younger sister. With both of them being only children the situation still unsettled them from time to time.
"Now play nice, listen to the babysitter," Jake joked. He felt Claudia's hand on his shoulder as she squeezed by. "Kiss me before I go. I can't leave until you do."
"Then I'll never kiss you and you'll never leave," Hannah countered. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and turned her head to the side.
Jake shook his head slowly and used a finger to tilt her head up. "How long can you hold out?" he whispered. "I've seen you go a few days, a week after a truly nasty fight, but how long can you really hold back?" Even in the hall the temperature had begun to dip and he could feel it. His nose was cold against her neck.
"I am very strong," Hannah insisted. Chills raced down her neck and back from his gentle movement along her neck. Her voice trembled as she repeated herself.
"I'm sure you are, miss-can't-open-the-jelly-jar." His breath was warm against her skin, chasing away the slight cold he'd left there. Loose strands of hair lifted away from her neck when he laughed. "The car is probably waiting downstairs, Hannah, kiss me. Please?" He was almost begging now. He let her turn his head and kissed her breathless.
Cold air from the hall wrapped itself around each of them individually when they pulled away. Hannah started to reach for him but let her hand fall back to her side. "I'll see you when you get back. Stay safe."
Jake gave her a final wave and lifted his suitcase to hurry down the hall. He looked back at the window from outside, knowing she'd be watching. Hannah kept watching until the car was gone from sight. Eventually, Claudia had to pull her away and back to the couch.
"You're not going to spend the whole time moping like a puppy, are you?" Claudia asked tiredly.
Hannah rolled her eyes and stretched out across the couch. "If you don't want to watch me pout you can head out. I had plans anyway," she muttered.
"I thought we were going to relax and try not to think about the never ending dread that hangs at the end of all things," Claudia started to whine and pulled a box of cookies from her bag, "What plans could you possibly have anyway?"
"Miya and I are going to check out some of those places Harbinger and Criss Cross hit over the last week," she answered. While she'd been on bed rest, the small-time robberies normally dealt with by trainees and the police had increased dramatically. Nothing huge had been taken, sometimes it looked like the entire focus was on destruction rather than gain.
Normally it wouldn't have gone on as long as it had but the combination of the small disturbances and random sightings of more violent villains set Hannah's nerves on high alert. Hijack had been suspiciously absent as well. She always suspected him to be planning something when there hadn't been news of him in a day. After five she'd tried to call for all hands on deck and had gone ignored. Now, nearly a week and a half after their confrontation behind the museum she was sure he was preparing to take out the entire city.
This was the first time she'd been able to plan time to investigate now that Jake was occupied. As much as she'd loved having his undivided attention, the restrictions made it hard to check in with The Aerie in any form. She'd only managed to contact Miya when Jake had been in the bathroom just before he'd told her about his trip. The coincidence was like a sign from the universe and she'd taken it immediately.
"Those two," Claudia scoffed. She'd been doing her best to keep people in line but taking Silver Shield's place had been far out of her comfort zone. Playing second fiddle from the shadows was her happy place.
"It's suspicious, right?" Hannah asked her. She left the door to her bedroom open a crack so she could still hear her. Jeans had never felt so restrictive after a week in sweatpants and pajamas. For a second she considered canceling everything to climb back into bed, When was the last time she'd felt so rested? Maybe Solar could knock her down every few months for the vacation.
Hannah was tying her hair up into a loose bun when she stepped back into the living room. "Take my phone. I'll try not to be gone too long but if Jake calls I'm sleeping. He won't bug you too much if you tell him that."
"The web of lies takes on another knot," Claudia muttered. Both her phone and Hannah's sat on the couch next to her and a black and white movie was already playing on the screen.
The words slid off Hannah without any impact for the most part. Lies were just part of the super job and maybe one day she'd be able to explain it all to Jake. The daydream she so often went to on long patrols threatened to stop her in her tracks on the way to the door. Hannah managed to stop before she got to the stage with kids, Jake's hazel eyes paired with a messy mop of red hair on a two foot running whirlwind.
"It's not like I could tell him anything. One wrong word and they'd have to wipe his memory. I'd rather risk pissing him off from a lie than risk something going wrong with the wipe and losing him entirely," Hannah pointed out. It was a standing rule among every hero, large or small, that should they leak their identities a formal investigation would take place and anyone considered a risk would have the information forcibly removed from their minds.
A reporter was practically top risk.
Hannah gave Claudia a general idea of where she'd be and pulled on a heavy sweater. She found Miya waiting for her downstairs, her long trench coat swaying gently around her ankles. Of all the stereotypes to be found in a private detective, the trench coat was the most visibly appealing. It translated well to her super attire as Moon Fox as well.
"There you are, I was starting to worry you'd caught a case of flakes along with your flu," Miya chuckled.
"Nah, I just had to get the new watchdog on board with my plans," Hannah explained. "I was thinking we could start with the museum again. I know you didn't find much but maybe seeing it again will bring something back for me that you can check out."
"Sounds like a plan," Miya agreed.