As Time Goes By (takes place after the end of Salute)
*
December 26, 2015
"Would you hurry up?"
Harry sent a scowl over his shoulder, purposely slowing down as Piper tried to shove him into the lift of their hotel.
"Do I need to remind you that I'm carrying a cannister of VX in this case?" he asked as he carefully lifted the case in his hand, a leather briefcase on the exterior that was fortified with layers of titanium on the interior. "If I drop this and it cracks open, it'll paralyse all of us in seconds and we'll all die of asphyxiation."
Piper immediately retracted her hands, sending a sheepish smile in Harry's direction that he answered with a roll of his eyes. "Sorry," she murmured as she brushed off the back of his suit jacket where she'd creased it, following him as he stepped into the lift. "I forgot."
"You forgot?" Harry asked incredulously, quirking his brow at Piper as he leaned across to press the button for their floor, both hands grasping the handle of the case as the doors shut. "The most dangerous nerve agent in the world and you just forgot?" He snorted a laugh as he propped up against the back wall of the lift, shaking his head. "I'm bloody glad I'm the one that's carrying the case now that I know that."
"Oh shut it," Piper muttered. "I just have, um, something on my mind."
Harry's brow furrowed as he studied her, as if trying to read all her secrets on her face. She tilted her head up toward the numbers ascending above the door, counting down to their floor at the top and pointedly averting her gaze.
"What's going on?" Harry asked slowly. When she snapped her gaze over, he was watching her suspiciously.
"Nothing."
"Now I know something's going on. What is it?"
"Nothing, I swear."
"Piper —"
"Oh look, our floor." Piper slipped through the doors before they'd even opened all the way, ignoring the way Harry called after her and scooting as quickly down the hall as she could. For someone who had complained about being pushed earlier, Harry was sure moving quickly now because he caught up with her before she'd made it halfway to their room.
Stupid long legs.
"You're hiding something," Harry accused, the heat of his stare concentrated on the side of her face as she looked anywhere but him. He was too good at reading her and she'd spent too long trying to set up this surprise for him to ruin it because he was too fucking paranoid for his own good.
"I'm not hiding anything," Piper bit out as she patted down her pockets for the room key, jamming it hard into the lock. When it beeped red, she forced it back in, letting out an aggravated huff when it rejected her once again.
"You're jumpy," Harry pointed out as he snatched the card out of her hand, swatting away her attempts to grab it back. He flipped the card over so it went into the lock the proper way and then pushed the door open when the lock turned green. "And you're being skittish and defensive —"
"I'm not being defensive."
Harry gave her a pointed look as he backed into the room and Piper realized she'd just made his point for him. "I know you, Piper. I know when you're up to something," Harry reminded her, as if she needed reminding. It was nearly impossible to keep things from him because of how well he knew her so it was a miracle she'd kept the secret this long. She wasn't going to blow it and give it away now. She just needed him to stay distracted for — she checked her watch quickly — the next three and a half minutes.
"Could you just —" Harry stopped dead in the middle of the entranceway to their darkened hotel suite, refusing to budge. When she tried to move around him, he sidestepped so he was in her way. When this happened two more times, she had to stop herself from giving him a hard shove, keeping in mind that he was holding one of the most toxic chemicals in the world. "You are the most infuriating man on this entire planet!"
"But you love me," he said with a smirk. She scoffed, rolling her eyes, but couldn't help the little grin that tugged at her cheeks. As much as she wanted to hit him sometimes, she did love him, the wanker.
"Yes, I love you," she told him, delighting in the way his cheeks split into a wide grin. No matter how many times she'd said it before, he never seemed to get tired of hearing that. Sometimes he'd make her say it again, two or three or ten times in a row just to hear it, and she'd indulge him because it was an easy truth to share. "And because I love you, I've worked my arse off organizing a surprise for you as your Christmas present and if you don't move out of the bloody way you're going to ruin it."
Harry's eyebrows shot right up his forehead. "A surprise? For me?"
"Yes, for you," Piper said as she rolled her eyes, pushing past him now that he was distracted. He let her go, his light footsteps following behind her as she moved through the living room of their sweet toward the desk along the far wall. "Who else would it be for?"
"But you already got me a Christmas gift."
"Sex doesn't count as a Christmas gift."
"It does when you're wearing those cute snowflake knickers with the bow on them." There was a wolfish smirk on Harry's face as he crowded her in against the desk, dipping to press a kiss to her jaw. "I had plenty of fun unwrapping you for Christmas."
"Oh, get off." Piper gave him a shove to increase the breathing room between them because if she let his lips anywhere near her, then they'd definitely miss the window for her surprise. She pointed toward the suitcases stacked against the wall, shaking her finger at them as she lifted her other hand to her forehead which suddenly felt flushed. That damn man could set her body on fire with just one touch. "Go put the case away. Or did you forget that you're carrying a container of VX?"
Harry grinned mischievously, shrugging a shoulder. Piper knew he hadn't forgotten at all — he was too good at his job to forget a key detail like his possession of the most dangerous toxin in the world — but he'd probably been willing to bang her against the desk holding that damn case in his hands the entire time. "If you say one thing about multitasking," she added warningly, "I will shoot you with your own gun."
"I'd like to see you try," he said challengingly, giving her a wink as he backed away from her slowly. She stuck out her tongue, ignoring his bright laugh as she spun away from him. Once she could hear him fiddling with the locks on the reinforced suitcases they'd brought along to transport the VX cannisters, she got to work.
She'd stashed her carry-on bag under the desk and she pulled a laptop from it then, placing it carefully on the desk and powering it on. It was an old clunker, something she'd bought for less than £100 on ebay, but she'd gotten Louis' help completely retrofitting the motherboard so it powered up quickly, the operating system Louis used on all his own devices appearing within seconds on the screen. Piper pulled a flash drive from her bag, sticking it into the usb port and opening it the second it appeared on the system. After that, it was just a matter of letting the code do its work.
She checked her watch again — only about a minute left to go. Hopefully, if everything had gone to plan, somewhere in Cheshire someone was sitting in front of a laptop identical to this one, counting down the clock with her. Everything was riding on whether the note she'd included in the box with the laptop had been convincing enough.
Piper jumped when she felt Harry's hands smooth over her shoulders, his chest pressing to her back as he leaned over her and watched the screen. "So what's this surprise then? I hope it's not another coding lesson because, petal, I know you mean well but you should just give up on me. I'm hopeless with computers."
"Yes, I know that," Piper said, waving Harry off when he muttered a quiet 'hey', "It's not a coding lesson. But listen," she said she spun in her seat so she was facing him. "I want you to know that I made this laptop myself. It's completely untraceable and I'm running a ghost program so that none of the data is being stored and I'm bouncing our signal off a cycle of different routers so this signal absolutely cannot be tracked —"
"Piper," Harry said carefully as he reached down to take her hands in his, "what's going on?"
"I just want you to know that there's no way that this can come back to you, okay? You don't have to worry about anything."
"You're starting to scare me, petal," Harry murmured, one of his hands pulling away so he could brush it gently across her cheek, threading it into her hair. She simply smiled, shaking her head.
"Don't be scared. I just want this to be a perfect surprise. I don't want you to be burdened by any concerns. Just —" Piper pushed up from her chair, popping onto her toes so she could press her lips to his gently. He kissed her back, his hand sliding down to curve around the nape of her neck as he drew her in closer. When she finally pulled back, she smiled gently, reaching up to tuck an errant curl behind his ear. "Just enjoy this, okay?"
Harry took in a slow breath, his eyes steady on hers. "Alright, I trust you," he said as he nodded. "And I'll do my best."
"I'm pretty sure you won't have to do your best. You're going to like this surprise." Piper took him by the shoulders, switching their places and then guiding him down into the chair she'd just vacated. "Just sit here and wait."
She spun his chair around for him, taking a quick look at her watch. They were seconds away and she held her breath, leaning over the back of Harry's chair and watching the screen with him. The seconds felt like hours ticking by as she kept her eyes trained on the empty screen, waiting, waiting...
With a small click, a box opened on the screen, pitch black against the blue background. Piper squeezed her eyes shut, desperately praying that all of the pieces had fallen where they needed too — the laptop had arrived where it needed to on time; her code was doing what she'd designed it to do, both on the laptop here in front of them in Sydney and the one halfway across the world in Cheshire; her note had been convincing enough to get a perfect stranger to go along with her harebrained scheme.
She waited, her hands tightening on Harry's shoulders until...
"Mum?"
Piper opened her eyes just in time to catch a gorgeous smile and dimples identical to Harry's before Anne's hand was over her mouth, her eyes full of tears. Squeezing her hands against Harry's shoulders, Piper finally let out the breath she'd been holding in. It had worked — this whole crazy scheme of hers. Instead of tossing out the junky laptop Piper had sent, Anne had trusted Piper's handwritten note and had followed the instructions, plugging that flash drive in at exactly the right time. And all the trouble felt worth it when Piper saw the sheer joy in Anne's eyes.
"Harry," Anne garbled out between her fingers, dropping her hand from over her mouth to clutch at her heart. "Harry, my baby boy."
"Mum," Harry said again, his own voice sounding a bit wobbly as he leaned in a bit closer. "Hi. I — I can't believe it."
Anne was leaning her head in her hands and judging by the way her shoulders shook, she was crying. She sniffled hard as she looked up, reaching up to dab at her wet eyes with the back of her hand, her eyes trained on the ceiling as she tried to collect herself. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a mess like this," she insisted as she took some deep breaths. "I've just — oh, my darling, I've missed you. I've missed seeing you and —"
She pressed her lips tight, fanning herself as she tried to stop from crying again, another wave of tears pooling in her eyes. "I know, Mum," Harry said, chuckling quietly. "Me too."
"Are you doing alright?" Anne asked, her voice hitching as she fought back more tears. Despite her unsteady breaths, she was beaming widely, smiling so hard that it looked like it hurt. When Piper leaned forward a bit and glanced sideways at Harry, she saw an identical grin on his face, one that warmed her heart. She'd seen Harry happy before, but not quite like this.
"I'm good, Mum."
"You sure? Taking care of yourself? You look good — different," Anne added pointedly, eyeing Harry through the screen. "Your hair's gotten quite long, hasn't it?"
"A bit," Harry agreed with a laugh, reaching up to shake the front a bit and then push it back out of the way, his fingers catching in the curls that fell past his shoulders now. "You don't like it?"
"No, I do," Anne said hurriedly though she frowned a bit, her brow furrowing as her scrutinizing gaze roved over him. "But, uh, do they let you have your hair like that? Where you, um — where you work?" She waggled her brows pointedly as she skirted around the words MI6, and Piper had to hide her face in Harry's shoulder to muffle her laugh. Anne was nothing like she'd imagined and somehow exactly how she imagined at the same time. Exceeding expectations, in every way possible.
"They let me do what I want, Mum," Harry said slowly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "It's one of the perks of the job."
"Don't get cheeky, mister," Anne warned and Piper had to fight especially hard to keep from laughing at the irritated huff that slipped out of Harry. Anne's eyes darted briefly to Piper but they were back on Harry within seconds — this was the first time she'd laid eyes on her son in over five years; Piper was barely even a blip on Anne's peripheral. And that was okay. Piper knew what it was like to go years without seeing a loved one and she also knew that she'd give anything in the world to see her dad again. She wouldn't let anything distract her if she got the chance either.
"Missed this cheek, have you?" Harry said with a grin, crossing his arms and leaning them on the desk so he was close to the laptop, his face filling up most of the frame. Anne just clucked her tongue, a sweet smile on her face and pure love in her eyes as she watched her son.
"I get enough of it from your sister as it is. I'm used to it — oh! Oh! Gemma's here. Gemma!"
"Gem's there too?" Harry asked, brightening up even more, though that hardly seem possibly with how happy he already was.
"It's Christmas dinner so she's here with the kids —" Anne was already up from her seat and out of the frame, though her voice could be heard clearly as she shouted excitedly. "Gemma! Get up here right now! You need to see this."
"Christmas dinner," Harry muttered to himself before tilting his head up, finally tearing his gaze away from the screen for the first time since he'd seen his mum appear on it. When his eyes met Piper's, they were clear and bright, a sign that he'd been on the verge of tears himself. His grin was infectious, and Piper found herself smiling along, squeezing Harry's hand when he reached over to grasp hers. "You planned this, didn't you?" he asked. "You knew it would be Christmas dinner and that my family would be together."
"I suspected," Piper said with a shrug. "I figured it would be my best chance of getting everyone together for you."
"Petal —" Harry swallowed hard, his smile faltering a bit as he fought back happy tears before returning to full strength so those dimples she loved pressed into his cheeks. Piper simply leaned forward, placing a delicate kiss on his right cheek.
"You're welcome," she murmured, knowing what he was trying to say and saving him the struggle of trying to get it out when he was feeling so overcome. Harry nodded distractedly before sweeping his hand around her neck and pulling her down so he could kiss her hard, his soft lips firm against hers. She smiled into the kiss, her hand coming up to cup his face as she surged forward into the kiss.
"Tone it down, baby bro. There's kids in the room."
The two of them split apart in an instant, Piper straightening up immediately, though Harry's hand tight around hers kept her from stepping away. Three new faces were on the screen — one was clearly Gemma, Harry's sister. Piper had seen pictures before but they struggled to capture the incredible likeness between the Styles siblings. Piper could see so much of Harry in his sister, in her cheeky smirk and her bright intelligent eyes. Even the way Gemma was holding her youngest in her arms so protectively held the same sort of air as Harry's posture when he was holding onto the people he cared about.
Gemma's mischievous gaze was turned on Piper, studying her carefully in the same way Harry always did when he was trying to get a read on someone. Harry, on the other hand, only had eyes for the two boys, the younger sitting on Gemma's lap and the older on Anne's. "Hi Freddie," he said to the older, waving gently before looking to the younger. "Hi Max. D'you remember me?"
Max shook his head, watching Harry warily through the screen but Freddie seemed a bit more keen, nodding his head furiously. "I remember!"
"No you don't," Gemma said, reaching over to ruffle her older son's hair. "You were only a baby when Uncle Harry moved away, you couldn't possibly remember." Gemma smiled warmly at her son, but it shifted into an unimpressed look as she quirked a brow at Harry. "And what about me, H? Don't I get a hello?"
"Hi Gem," Harry greeted, drawing out the 'hi' indulgently. Gemma rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Doing alright?"
"Doing great actually. D'you have some time to catch up?" Her eyes darted over to where Piper was standing behind Harry's shoulder. Piper could tell that it wasn't because Gemma was wary of talking in front of Piper. Judging by the slightly apologetic air to Gemma's expression, she was worried she was holding Harry up from plans with Piper. So Piper leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on Harry's cheek and muttered, "take your time."
Harry glanced back over his shoulder, a bright gleam in his eyes. "You sure?"
"You've got five years to catch up on," Piper said, crooking her thumb over her shoulder. "I'll go check in with work while you're at it, alright?"
Harry gripped her hand in his gently as he smiled up at her. "Thanks petal."
He gave her a lingering look, one filled with the true weight of his gratitude. Piper felt a warmth spread right through her chest and she leaned over to peck one last kiss to Harry's forehead before releasing his hand, leaving him to reconnect with his family. Crossing the suite, she pushed open the door to the bedroom. Just before she shut the door behind her, she heard Harry's voice take on a tone she'd never heard, one full of affection and endearment, as he exclaimed, "You lost two teeth? Let me see!"
With the door closed, she leaned back against it, closing her eyes as a fond smile slipped across her face. She'd never heard Harry like that. Sure, she'd heard his voice full of love and affection when he spoke with her, but never quite like the affection that was infused in his voice as he spoke to his nephews. She imagined it was what he would sound like when he spoke to his children — their children — and it brought a giddy feeling to her stomach that could only be butterflies.
Someday. That was the promise they always made to each other — someday. Someday there would be marriage, and kids, and family. And Harry had always promised that someday she would meet his family. And she'd given him that someday today.
It was the greatest feeling in the world. Seeing the unbridled joy in Harry's expression was the very best Christmas present that she could have asked for.
And while she could have stayed leaning against the door, memories of the light in his eyes filling her mind, she had work to get done. She tried to stay focused as she straightened up and crossed the bedroom, plucking her personal laptop off the side table and sinking onto the bed. Within minutes she was video conferencing with Louis and Eleanor, describing the details of the mission and reporting on its success.
Every so often during the debrief, they would be interrupted by a loud burst of laughter from the other room and Piper couldn't help the warm flutter in her chest each time. Knowing Harry was out there having a wonderful time with the family he hadn't seen in years was an incredible feeling and it must have shown on her face because once Eleanor stepped away to file reports with the JIC, Louis leaned in closer and lowered his voice.
"I take it the plan worked?"
"Perfectly," Piper told him, her eyes flitting up to the door when more laughter echoed through it. "I don't think I've ever seen him so happy."
"I don't know," Louis mused as he shrugged his shoulders, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I've seen some of the looks he gives you when you're not looking, and I'm sure those are hard to beat."
Honestly, sometimes Piper wasn't sure whether she wanted to hit Louis or hug him. "You're a shit," she told him as she pressed her fingers to her eyes, willing herself not to get teary. This day was emotional enough as it was without her blubbering over something Louis said to tease her.
"I've just complimented you and told you something romantic about your boyfriend, and you're calling me a shit? I believe the word you're looking for was godsend."
"Not bloody likely —"
"Piper?"
She looked up hurriedly when she heard Harry's voice from the other room. Without even a passing glance at Louis, she tossed her laptop to the side of the bed and pushed herself off.
"Not even gonna say goodbye then?" Louis' tinny voice echoed through her laptop speakers but she was already across the room, twisting the knob on the door. She opened it slowly, peeking her head out carefully just in case she'd imagined Harry calling her. But sure enough, he was turned in his chair so he was facing the door to the bedroom. When he saw her head poking out, he waved her over enthusiastically, that gorgeous grin of his still plastered to his face.
"Come here, petal," he encouraged when Piper took a couple of unsure steps out of the bedroom. "I want you to meet my family properly."
When Piper was close enough, Harry took her hand in his, using it to pull her down to sit on his lap. His arms wrapped around her middle as she adjusted her position on his thighs, smiling timidly at his family on the screen, which had grown to include a man who had to be Gemma's husband. Harry reintroduced everyone by name, giving Piper a chance to say hi to each of them (and to blush a bit when Freddie informed her that she was 'very pretty and your hair looks like fire'. Harry had snorted a laugh into her shoulder at her blushing over a compliment from a five year old, which earned him an elbow to the ribs, which earned Piper an approving nod from Gemma).
After every person on the screen had been named, Harry tightened his arms around Piper's middle and looked up at her with a proud smile. "And this," he told his family, "is my girlfriend, Piper."
"It's so nice to meet you Piper," Anne said with a fond gleam in her eyes as she looked down at her son's arms wrapped firmly around Piper in an unbreakable hold. "And thank you so much for coordinating all of this. I can't begin to tell you how much it means."
Piper shrugged, her eyes darting to the table as she blushed sheepishly. "Oh, it was nothing."
"It was everything."
Anne's voice was choked up and when Piper glanced up, she could see that Harry's mum was near tears once again. She was looking at Harry with the sort of bittersweet expression that only a mum could manage — joy at being able to see her son after so long but sadness knowing that this would be the last time for a long time that this would happen. Clearly, Harry could sense the same thing because his hold around Piper became impossibly tight, as if he was clinging onto the one thing that he knew he could keep. Piper wrapped her hands around his forearms, squeezing tight. Reminding him that she was there, and that she always would be.
It was Gemma that broke the heavy silence, clearing her throat pointedly, but instead of watching Harry, her attention was on Piper. Once again, she had that pensive air in her expression and Piper swallowed hard, wondering what Gemma was about to say.
She was surprised when the other woman smiled wide until her cheeks dimpled in a way that was so incredibly familiar to Piper. "Watch over my baby brother for me, would you? And for god's sake, keep him out of trouble."
Piper tilted her head back to look at Harry, trying to fight the laugh that wanted to burst out of her chest. Harry was smiling that fond smile of his when she met his gaze and she knew he was thinking the same thing.
The two of them together were trouble. That was what they did, it was who they were. There was no way that Piper could keep him out of trouble, in the same way that Harry couldn't keep her out of trouble either.
But through it all, they protected each other. She'd saved his life just as many times as he'd saved hers. Until the day she died, she would be watching over him.
So it was with no doubt in her mind that she told Gemma, "That's a promise I'd be happy to keep."