the five times that an accident caused undue pain and kisses and cuddling made the best medicine
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1.
"Which way?"
"Give me a second," Piper shouted back, short for breath. She was running faster than she was really capable of trying to keep up with Harry in front of her. At the same time, she was trying to get a GPS program started up on the shoddy tablet that the Spanish Secret Service had supplied them with at the start of the mission. It just kept spitting out command prompts in Spanish, a language she only had a small grasp on.
"We don't have a second!" Harry looked over his shoulder at her, his face drawn and stern.
"Keep your bloody pants on," Piper snapped. Shouting wasn't going to get them anywhere.
She banged on the screen of the tablet, willing it to come to life and she practically jumped for joy when it began to draw out a recognizable schematic map of the area. It registered her and Harry as static dots as it loaded, the signals of their earpieces being picked up by the satellite, and then showed the members of the Alvarez cartel that were coming from behind and from a street on the left. Piper scanned the map for a safe place to stop.
"Right, Two!" she called out when Harry was close to the intersection. He veered left a bit so he could make the sharp turn without slowing down. Just as he disappeared from sight, the navigation compass came up on the top of the map and Piper realized her mistake. It was showing the image upside down.
"No, no!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as she approached the intersection herself. "No, left. Two, go left!"
When she skidded to a stop in the intersection of the two small streets, she realized that her yelling had been for nothing. Harry was quite aware of the fact that he'd gone the wrong way, judging by the way he was bolting back toward the intersection, at least ten men gaining speed as they ran from the other direction. When he caught sight of her standing still in the intersection, he began waving his free hand frantically, shouting "Go, go, go!"
Piper's feet were stuck in place and she watched with wide eyes as the mob hurtled toward them. She caught sight of movement as one of them lifted a gun. "Two! Duck!"
Harry didn't hesitate a second and it was good that his instincts were so lined up with hers or else the two bullets that whizzed over his shoulder would have been planted right in his heart. He stumbled a bit as he struggled to gain his balance and then began waving frantically to Piper. "For Christ's sake, go!"
Piper took a half turn, her feet already following Harry's directions and by the time he was level with her, she was running at a good speed. Just not good enough for Harry who took her hand in his and yanked her along behind him. They ran as fast as their feet could carry them for a long time, neither of them worried about where they were going as much as just going.
Eventually, Piper tapped the tablet screen back to life, looking for somewhere they could wait out until their extraction team was in place. There was an abandoned warehouse two blocks ahead and she chose to go there, pointing it out to Harry. He easily hopped up onto the fence, scaling it with one arm since the other was busy holding the package they'd been sent to receive, and he dropped down on the other side lightly. Piper, on the other hand, nearly slipped down the chain-link twice and would have cracked her skull on the pavement if Harry hadn't jutted out a steadying hand.
They snuck into the warehouse carefully, keeping an eye out for anyone occupying the property. By the time they were tucked away in a corner of the wide open space, Piper had managed to catch her breath and she plopped onto the floor. Harry was murmuring low in his earpiece, telling the extraction team where they were now and if they could please hurry the fuck up. When he finally lowered himself down in front of her, he winced.
"What's wrong?" Piper asked immediately. Harry tried to shrug it off but she'd already rolled onto her knees and crawled over to him. She suspected she knew where the damage was. Sure enough, when she yanked back his leather jacket, he had an ugly red gash across his shoulder. "Fuck, the bullet skimmed you."
"I'm fine," Harry insisted like he always did, brushing it off like it was no big deal. It was a big deal though because this injury was Piper's fault.
"I'm sorry," she muttered as she reached forward to root around in Harry's jacket pocket. Her hand wrapped around his transmitter and she pulled it out, pulling out the knife attachment of his phone case. She sawed off a square from the bottom of her shirt and immediately placed it over the wound. Harry hissed, pressing his tongue to the back of his teeth until the sting wore off.
"This wasn't your fault," he told her. When she shook her head, disagreeing with him, he curled his fingers under her chin and yanked her head up so she was forced to look at him. "Listen to me. This wasn't your fault."
"It was my fault," she countered as she frowned, her eyes drifting back to his shoulder. She picked up the square of fabric and winced at the jagged cut the stretched across. "I sent you running right into a mob of people with guns. I should have paid better attention. I fucked up."
"You didn't, okay?" Harry insisted, his hand shifting to cup her cheek gently.
When we're under pressure like that, you just have to do the best you can with what you have. It's not your fault the equipment wasn't working. And anyway, we're both fine. Alive and well."
Piper knew that arguing the point with Harry would just make him angry. Deep down, she still had a lingering feeling of guilt but the rational part of her brain was reminding her that Harry had a point and she couldn't be blamed for having to rely on faulty equipment. She decided to focus instead on making sure Harry was alright.
"How does it feel?" she asked as she pulled the fabric back once more. It had stopped bleeding but it still looked painful.
"I'll live," he told her with a cheeky little smile. She rolled her eyes but found herself smiling along too. When Harry patted the ground beside him with his good hand, she did as he'd asked and shifted to sit beside him. He pulled her close immediately, his arm curving over her shoulders, and she knew she was forgiven.
"I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better," she muttered. She felt Harry chuckle, his chest rumbling warmly with the sound, and then he was shifting against her so they were face to face.
"I think I have an idea," he muttered before leaning in to steal a kiss.
2.
The best thing about Harry's job throughout the years was the bond he'd formed with his team members. He knew he could count on any one of the lads if he needed them and he'd come to see Eleanor almost like a sister.
The problem was that it went both ways so when one of them asked Harry for a favour, he felt obliged to give in. Which was why he was wasting away the first Saturday he'd had off in weeks down in the firing range in the basement of HQ, testing some new gun that had been shipped in from Germany. Liam was away on assignment so he'd begged Harry to do the proper tests for him so that the report could be filed on time. Harry had been reluctant but he agreed in the end because Liam had helped him out of tough spots plenty of times.
Unfortunately, Piper had been lying beside him in bed when he took the call and she made inferences about the conversation. She then proceeded to invite herself along so instead of Harry getting this done as fast as he could, he had to watch Piper lose her mind over her exciting new toy.
"I like this one," she said as she hefted up the shotgun, the largest of the three guns that had been shipped to them. She handled it easily, cracking open the barrel to examine it and then snapping it shut with a flick of wrist. "I'm going to have fun with this."
Sometimes it unsettled Harry seeing how easily she handled a weapon. He remembered the early days in her self-defence training when she hadn't been able to throw a decent punch. Now she could pick off a target from five hundred metres with an arm behind her back. He couldn't believe sometimes how far she had come.
"Just stay focused," he said with a sigh as he loaded his own pistol. He had to raise his voice because Piper had already slipped in earplugs to protect against the sound of the shots in the small room. Their firing range at HQ was much smaller than the one at Vauxhall so precautions were absolutely necessary. "Let's just get this over with and then we can go to that film."
Piper had been on his case about seeing some film that was new out in the theatres, something about factions and dauntless something or other. He hadn't been able to keep up because she'd been too excited and when she got worked up, she tended to rush her words together.
"Got it boss," Piper said, giving Harry a mocking salute before she got into position at the end of the track. She lifted the shotgun, testing it for weight and balance as she got into a proper position.
He was meant to be loading blanks into his own gun but he found his eyes drifting up every so often to watch Piper. Was it weird that he thought she was hot holding a shotgun? There was just something about her confident grip on something so powerful that made his mind stutter to a stop. He tried to distract himself, sliding the magazine into place but he was easily distracted by her.
The gun was much louder than he'd thought it would be when Piper eventually fired the two shots loaded in the weapon. The crack echoed through the room and for the first time since Harry had finished basic training, he was startled by the sound of it. Piper let out an excited "whoa baby!" at the exact same second that he instinctively tightened his finger on the trigger, firing his own weapon.
At her.
He'd bloody shot his own girlfriend.
She yelped when the blank hit her, right in the fleshy part of her left bum cheek, and jumped. The shotgun dropped down to the ground uselessly as Piper slapped her hands over her bum protectively. She rounded on him, her eyes narrowing behind the safety glasses. "What the fuck, Harry!"
He was so stunned that he'd done it in the first place that all he could say was, "Oops."
"Oops? Oops? You just shot me in the bloody arse, Harry. I deserve more than oops!"
That knocked some sense into him and he tossed the gun on the table, hurrying over to Piper. His hands hovered over her, looking for a safe place to land and eventually finding their home on her shoulders. "Petal, I am so sorry. I don't know what happened."
"A little trigger happy, maybe?" Piper snapped at him before letting out a long sigh. "It's alright. It was an accident." She gave him a suspicious look. "It was an accident, right?"
"Of course it was," Harry breathed out, pulling her into his arms because he wasn't sure what else to do. He dropped a tender kiss onto her forehead and heard her sigh softly. He let out his own long relieved breath because he knew that sigh — that was her I forgive you sigh which was just what he'd been hoping to hear. "Come on, turn around. Let me see the damage."
She pushed back on his chest, giving him a smack to the shoulder. "Nice try, mister."
He couldn't help himself, his face splitting into a grin as he laughed. She tried to look angry but he could see her cheeks turning up at the edges of her lips. "Fine then, let's go upstairs and get you some ice."
She waddled over to the stairs, wincing when she put her weight on her injured left side. As she took the steps slowly, Harry followed behind her, his hand resting gently on her sore bum when her steps wavered. "If you're good, I'll even kiss it better."
"Harry!"
3.
"You're a fucking idiot!"
"Hey," Louis protested, hands on his hips. "Watch your language."
"What are you, my mother?"
"Okay, that's enough." Zayn was sitting on the far couch, going over case files that him and Harry had been reviewing. They were up for some sort of review in front of the JIC and they'd been prepping all weekend. Zayn looked frazzled which was unusual for him, and he was switching his displeased frown between the two of them. "If you two can't solve this on your own like adults, then go get someone as a tiebreaker."
Louis and Piper both eyed each other angrily and, at the same time, hollered, "Harry!"
"What?" he called from the kitchen. There was a moment's pause and then Louis and Piper were both scrambling for the door, trying to get to Harry first. Louis shoved Piper from behind, making her stumble, so she jabbed her foot out to kick him. She heard Zayn say something that sounded like "infants" from behind her.
"Harry," she called out loudly as she ran for the kitchen. "Tell Louis that I get to watch the Chelsea game!"
"The United game is on," Louis yelled louder as he shoved Piper. She shoved back. "You'd rather watch the United game, wouldn't you Harry?"
"He would not rather watch the United game," Piper said through gritted teeth as she kicked Louis hard in the shin. He hopped in place, yelping in pain. "He'd rather make his girlfriend happy," she said loudly so she was sure Harry could hear through the kitchen door, "by letting her watching the Chelsea-Arsenal derby."
"What're you two —"
Piper pushed through the kitchen door firmly, jumping when it hit something in close proximity and bounced back. Judging by the fact that Harry had stopped talking, she had the sinking suspicion that he had been the obstacle on the other side. With a frenzied gasp, she pulled the door open. Sure enough, Harry was plopped on his bum, looking dazed and holding his head.
"Oh, Harry, baby, I'm so sorry," Piper mumbled hurriedly as she dropped to her knees in front of him. He looked up slowly and Piper, in no way trained as a medical practitioner, could tell that she'd done some serious damage. Even if he didn't have a concussion, she'd managed to daze him. She got a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, a blend of shame and guilt.
"What happened?" Harry asked slowly, his words sounding unsure and overly pronounced. Piper shuffled closer and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, tugging at it gently until he pulled his hand back enough that she could see.
He had a cut on his forehead that was bleeding quite a bit and it was instinct for Piper to lift up the end of her shirt and pull it right off, balling it up until it was adding pressure to his wound. It wasn't until she caught sight of the blue that she realized she'd just used her Chelsea jersey to mop up Harry's head. The things she did for love.
"I'm so sorry, Harry," Piper said again. Harry had been staring at her bare shoulder but his eyes drifted up sluggishly when she said his name. He blinked a couple of times and she could see the glassiness of his eyes beginning to fade. She sighed with relief, leaning over so she could press a kiss to his lips delicately. "I didn't know you were behind the door or I wouldn't have stormed in."
"That's okay," he said slowly but without hesitation. He rarely hesitated to forgive her and it was one of the things about their relationship that Piper treasured. Harry trusted her infinitely and he knew that she'd never hurt him intentionally. She felt the same way. "My head hurts," he added.
Piper smiled gently because that's all she could do to keep from letting the incredible guilt well up any further. He'd already forgiven her — there was no point dwelling over something that was, for all intents and purposes, already done. "I'll get you some ice." She lifted his hand to replace hers, keeping the jersey held tightly to his forehead. "Keep that there and I'll be right back."
The air from the freezer was cool on her bare stomach but she ignored it, reaching for the ice tray instead. She shook a couple of cubes into a dishtowel and brought that over to Harry, replacing her stained shirt with the ice. Harry smiled widely at her, his lips tugging sideways slowly until those dimples she loved pressed into his cheek. "Thanks petal."
"Don't thank me for knocking you senseless." She rolled her eyes and took him by the elbow. "Now, let's get you up off the floor. Steady now."
It was slow going because Harry was still sort of out of his wits. Piper took his weight a couple of times but she hardly cared. It was her ploughing into the door that had caused him to be so shaky on his feet so she could handle being his support a little bit. It helped that Harry kept giving her these wide grins that left her breathless. Concussed Harry was very affectionate, it seemed.
She helped Harry into the living room and sat him down on the couch carefully, telling Louis to fuck off when he tried to make jokes about her being shirtless. When she knew he was settled, she ran off to find a shirt and then to call Niall to come over and look Harry over. Make sure she hadn't done any permanent damage.
Which was a serious concern when she came downstairs and found the Chelsea game playing on the telly, Louis pouting petulantly in the corner. She climbed onto the couch beside Harry, rubbing his shoulder gently when he looked up startled, ice still pressed to his forehead. "You alright, baby?"
Harry hummed his agreement. "Why?"
"You're watching Chelsea. I would think after what I did, you'd be siding with Louis about the United game."
Harry smiled sweetly, leaning his head down so it rested on her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around him, cuddling him close the way he always did with her. "You just ruined your jersey trying to protect my sore head," he said softly as he looked up at her, his green eyes peeking out from behind his long eyelashes. "I think you earned your Chelsea game."
4.
Piper was eager to become a certified field agent. It was why she took on whatever jobs she was offered to count toward her training and why she was always the first one to volunteer to go on missions, no matter how subordinate her job was. It was even better when she got to do field missions with One Direction because it usually meant she worked with Harry and she loved working with Harry. There was something energizing about working alongside one of the best agents in the business. Especially when she happened to be running behind him and had a chance to look at his perfect bum.
It was situations like this, though, that sort of turned her off the idea.
"Just hold on, Piper."
"What the fuck do you think I'm doing?"
She tightened her fingers around the ledge she was hanging off of, trying to ignore the fact that her fingers were getting slippery with sweat and her hold was going to give out soon, judging by the way her arms were quaking. She looked up at the building that towered above her, offering no way of climbing up, and then down at the ground that was too far away. Her gaze shot to Harry, standing a bit away from her and surveying the street they were in for some sort of clue.
"Are you just going to stand around?"
Harry wisely chose not to answer her snappish question because he knew she was only being difficult because she was scared out of her mind. There was an instant replay of her death running over and over in her head because the second her fingers slipped, she was going to be a pancake on the pavement underneath her. If not, she was getting at least a dozen broken bones.
"I think I have an idea," Harry called up to her, jogging to the end of the block. She watched him go with wide eyes, her eyes welling with involuntary tears.
"Harry. Harry! Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"Calm down, petal. Don't get worked up or you'll make it worse," he told her as he reappeared around the corner, pushing what looked like a big wooden crate. It was his height, maybe taller. Where the hell he'd picked that up, she had no idea.
"Don't tell me to calm down! I'd like to see you hanging off a building, about to fall to your death."
"You're not going to die, Piper," he said with a resigned sigh as he shoved his shoulder against the crate, pushing until it was right under where she was hanging against the wall. It shortened the distance of her fall by over 6 feet and the drop down to it didn't look too bad, maybe the same distance or even less.
"Are you expecting me to drop onto that?"
"Yeah," Harry said, grinning proudly as he put his hands on his hips, catching his breath. "You should land alright from that height and even if you don't, I'll catch you if you tumble."
"Harry, that thing looks like it'll fall apart if you blow on it."
He rolled his eyes at her "dramatics" and she wished she was on the ground so she could give him a good smack. "Trust me, it's solid. I'd know — I had to push it all the way over here."
"Oh yes, you're having such a difficult time, aren't you?" Harry just gave her a look, seemingly unimpressed, and she sighed. "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked more seriously, clearing her throat when her voice cracked and gave away her apprehension. Harry's whole demeanour softened, his arms dropping to his sides.
"I promise, petal. Just, when you're ready, drop down."
She took a couple of deep breaths because willing letting go of a ledge and dropping was a lot harder than most people thought. It was like free-fall until the moment your feet hit the ground and she'd never been very keen on that feeling. She hated the flip in her stomach and the crunch in her chest, how she lost feeling in her arms and legs, and her head got all fuzzy. It was probably why she hated flying — fear of the free-fall.
Her fingers began to slip and she knew it was now or never so she let go. She shut her eyes tight as she dropped because she knew she'd get all faint if she left them open. She didn't crack them open until her feet landed on the wooden crate, a sharp pain snapping up her shins. She could feel her balance slipping beneath her but it wasn't because of the impact — the bloody crate snapped under her weight and she found herself collapsing through it. She landed inside with a thump.
"Christ, petal, are you alright?" Harry's head appeared in the hole in the top she'd just fallen through, his face full of guilt.
"I told you it was suspect!" she yelled at him, wagging her finger disapprovingly. "You promised."
"I know," he said with a grimace. "I'm sorry. I thought it was strong enough." He reached his arms into the crate, reaching for her at the bottom. "I'll help you out."
It wasn't easy getting out her out of there but Harry managed it, doing most of the working and pulling her up and out until she was sitting on the edge of the crate. The frame was the sturdy part, easily holding her weight, but the part that counted turned out to be shoddy. Stupid fucking box.
Harry had asked if she'd been hurt anywhere and she stuck out her ankle which had been throbbing since she landed. He rotated it gently, checking for a fracture and was pleased to report it was just sprained badly, nothing a little bed rest won't fix.
"I'm interpreting that to mean that I'll be getting breakfast in bed until it heals," Piper said, fixing Harry with a challenging stare in case he decided to renege. He just laughed, an easy sort of chuckle that instantly made her feel better, warming her up from head to toe.
"Whatever you need," he said, three words he'd come to regret if Piper had her way. He scanned her quickly and then asked, "any more injuries?"
She stuck her thumb out where a ragged chunk of wood was jutting into her skin. "I have a splinter."
Harry pouted, mimicking her own face, and she gave his thigh a warning nudge with her foot. He wisely focused on the injury, taking a closer look and, without warning, plucking the splinter out.
"Ouch!"
"Would you like me to kiss it better?" he asked with a sly smirk.
"You shit," she snapped at him and then let her own smile slide into place. "And yes."
And like a proper Prince Charming, he placed a delicate and lingering kiss on her thumb. And then he reached up and kissed her mouth too and that was even nicer.
He might not be properly trained but there was no doubt in Piper's mind that no one could beat Harry's bedside manner.
5
"I feel like this is a bad idea."
Harry leaned against the driver's door of the Range Rover, peeking his head in the open window. He was wearing one of those fond smiles he got sometimes, the ones that completely short-circuited her brain. Plus, his hair was pulled back in one of those buns that drove her crazy and made his jawline absolutely irresistible and it was taking everything in her not to jump out the window and explore every inch of the jawline with her lips.
"You'll do fine, petal," he said supportively, reaching to pat her shoulder and then leaning back away from the window. "You haven't driven since I taught you and you won't be comfortable driving until you feel confident in your abilities. That requires you to practice."
Piper chewed on her lip, resting her hands on the steering wheel gently, sliding them back and forth and then stopping them at nine and three. She glanced over at Harry warily. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," he chuckled, giving her a little wink. "You're going to be great."
Before she could come up with another excuse about why this was a terrible idea, Harry disappeared from view, heading behind the SUV to open the garage door. She took a moment to try and get in the right head space for this, practicing some deep breathing. She didn't want to admit it to Harry but she was a nervous wreck.
True, he did teach her to drive, dedicating a couple of hours too. And true, she'd gotten the hang of it then, becoming confident behind the wheel of Harry's expensive sports car. But that had been months ago and the Range Rover was much larger and heavier. More lethal. That thought alone made her stomach twist uncomfortably.
Part of the reason she hadn't learned to drive earlier was that it was something she'd planned to do with her dad and there'd been too many memories surrounding it until Harry came along, replacing them with new memories. But another reason was that she wasn't comfortable with the idea of having what was essentially a weapon of mass destruction under her control. She could kill someone with this car. Obviously she'd never do it on purpose but who ever did? It was accidents that killed people. She lived in perpetual fear of causing one of those accidents.
Her hands were sweaty so she wiped them on her jeans to try and dry them off. She didn't think having slippery hands would be any help in this case.
Harry was right. This was about practice. So maybe she just needed to go through the motions before Harry got in the car and then she'd feel less nervous.
With that in mind, she turned the key in the ignition and brought the SUV to life, the vehicle purring around her. She did up her seatbelt, adjusted her mirrors, checked all the settings on the dashboard. Reaching a hand over, she slid the gear shift through the automatic settings, from park to drive and back again. Shaking out her shoulders, she placed both hands on the wheel and looked straight ahead.
"Alright, Piper, you know this," she said to herself, giving herself the pep talk she needed to do this. "Once the car is in gear, it's a light tap on the acceleration. Nothing too serious, just a gentle nudge."
She put her toe on the acceleration pedal, giving it a light press. She expected the engine to rev a bit in response but the car to stay stationary in park. She hadn't realized that on her last trip through the gear shift, she hadn't made it to park, instead setting the gear shift on reverse. The SUV accelerated into reverse before she'd even realized. Before she had a chance to slam on the breaks, she hit something with a thump.
Looking hurriedly in the rear view mirror, she saw an open garage door but no Harry. It added up quickly in her head.
She'd just hit her boyfriend with a bloody car.
She shifted into park with a shaky hand and left the keys in the ignition. The door fought her and she scrambled for the handle before finally getting it open. When she did, she leapt out of the car and sprinted around to the back. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand when she saw Harry sprawled on his back on the cement ground, his arms and legs spread out around him. He didn't look like he was bleeding but his eyes were shut and her brain immediately jumped to the worst case scenario. She'd just murdered the best agent that the UK had with his own fucking car.
"Harry!" She stumbled down to her knees, straddling over his hips and hovering over him. One of her hands landed on his shoulder, the other cupped his cheek. "Harry, don't be dead, okay? I can't have your death on my conscience. It'll eat me alive. I'll never forgive myself and I'll die a lonely spinster with only a dog to keep her company and I'll be excommunicated for killing the best spy in the country —"
"Piper, do me a favour and shut up."
She let out a strangled laugh, in complete disbelief, and then ran her hand up and over his head. "You're alive!"
"Of course I'm alive," Harry grumbled, cracking his eyes open. "I'm just trying to process the fact that you hit me with the bloody car."
"Oh god, I was so worried," Piper sighed with relief, smiling so wide it hurt her cheeks. She cupped both his cheeks with her hands, tilting his head so she could see his eyes properly. His bright, green, alive eyes. "Don't ever scare me like that again."
"You're the one that hit me!"
"I'm sorry," she said hurriedly. "I'm so sorry. I was just trying to do what you said and practice and I thought I was in park but I ended up in reverse somehow and I swear to God that I didn't think that car was going to move and then I heard the thump and I thought you were dead and I just can't imagine life without you Harry and —"
Harry snaked his hand up and slapped it over her mouth, cutting off the rest of the ramble that had been building up. "Petal, I appreciate the sentiment but I have a terrible migraine and I can't do this right now."
"Did you hit your head?" Piper asked worriedly, letting one of her hands slide back to feel the back of his head gently, looking for any wounds. "I'm so sorry."
"I know you are, petal, and I forgive you." Harry's cheek quirked sideways into the best smile he could give her considering the situation. "I know you'd never do anything on purpose to —"
She cut him off by pressing her lips firmly to his, stealing his breath as she kissed him hard. With a lot of tongue. And one of her hands might have drifted down to run teasingly over his chest before splaying over where she knew the butterfly was. She pulled back with a gasp when Harry's hands curved over her bum, pulling her hips down against his.
"If I get this reaction," he said with a cheeky smirk, "maybe I should let you hit me with my car more often."