AU: Oakville, Texas. The morning after.

[ikissdhimbck]

**NOTE: This is part of a plot arc that was meant to occur in Milliways over the Spring/Summer of 2011 in Bar Time. It has since become an AU, and should be treated as a standalone plot not associated with any game, and not fitting into Kate's continuity.**



Kate doesn't sleep well. Once she gets to her room and undresses (for the last time tonight), slips on her chemise, and slides into bed (alone), she finds she can't stop playing their conversation out again and again. As she stares at the ceiling in her darkened room, driving their words so deep into her memory it'll be a while yet before she can erase them, she finds herself growing more and more agitated.

Stupid man.

Stupid drink.


Stupid her.


She wakes up later than she normally does. The light outside her window is already starting to yellow, hinting closer to seven o'clock than to six. She rises and gets dressed, mind still cranking, making sure she looks a smidgen more 'respectable' than when they first rode in. More womanly. More businesslike. And by the time she's finished she has a rehearsed speech all set in her mind. This constant arguing is pointless, and she won't do it anymore.

She steps out into the hall, catching sight of her wearied boots on worn and shabby carpeting. The rug was likely quite fine in its day, but like the knotted old wood it's trying to hide it's grown bedraggled and thin. She contemplates knocking on his door and quickly dismisses the idea. Her day doesn't hinge on whether or not Gene Hunt is happy with her.

She makes her way down to the dining room where the senorita from yesterday is cleaning shot glasses and tumblers, asks for a hot breakfast, and sits herself down at a table.

"Has my associate been down this mornin'?"

"No, ma'am. Only you."

Kate nods.

And waits.



By noon Gene still hasn't come down. She wonders if this is ordinary for him, but she's run out of reasons to linger in the bar without looking like a fool. She leaves a few coins for the barmaid, and debates whether she should go on and head out and just hope he gets the idea whenever he comes to. No. Things are mendable, ignorable, and shouldn't be left to fester simply because of their pride.

She scales the stairs and stops in front of his door, takes a breath, and resists rolling her eyes. She reminds herself that this is the last time this is going to happen. By god, this is the last time. And she knocks.

There's no answer.


She knocks again.


Perhaps he slipped out early, and no one noticed he left? She figures he wouldn't bother to tell her, especially if he's upset about last night. He could've just decided to take a look around town, or — 

Her heart sinks.


Or he could've gone back to The Bar.


She opens his door — it's unlocked, just like he said it would be — and takes a look inside.

"Gene?"

He's definitely not here. Perhaps it should be comforting to note that his bags are still in the room. It doesn't look like he bothered to pack or clean up. But he's gone, along with his coat, which leaves only two equally unhappy possibilities. He's gone back to Milliways, left, had enough of her and this; or he's out, and likely been out all night. All night with...


She rubs at her forehead. Sighs heavily. Sits on the edge of his bed and just... just sits.

Her rehearsed apology and the amendment she planned to offer suddenly feel utterly childish. She feels utterly childish, for so whole-heartedly believing she was going to set things right. For actually believing, after so many failed attempts to overcome her doubts, her worries, this  —  this curse she can't ignore despite how fervently people tell her to, that she could get it together long enough not to mess another good thing up.

She considers feeling angry. For the briefest second, she does. But then all she feels is disappointed. It was never going to be part of the deal to let him in enough for her to get hurt. She wasn't going to care when everything went to hell. And eventually it would, she knew that, and that was okay. It is okay. This all blew up in their faces, just like it was always going to. And she's still okay with it. It's fine.


Just don't mind the gnawing ache in the pit of her stomach.

Comments

[ikissdhimbck]

"An' what about you?"

Her thumb brushes over his cheek.

"I can't imagine they're happy with you now. Who's gonna be watchin' your back?"

It's almost a rhetorical question. Kate will, obviously.

Every step of the way.

[the_gene_genie]

'Big enough an' ugly enough t'take care of meself.'

He still doesn't pull away from her touch. He's quite enjoying it, as it goes.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Three men against a big, ugly galoot still ain't fair."

There's no malice in her voice, no reason to think she in any way means to insult him.

"It'll be four, now. If not more."

She frowns, resisting the sudden urge to sink into his lap and embrace him. Her voice drops an octave.

"I can be pretty ugly when I need t'be, y'know."

[the_gene_genie]

'I doubt that.'

She's not ugly no matter how much he looks at her, or how often she pisses him off.

(Yeah, he knows she doesn't mean it that way, but that's what he's thinking anyway.)



'I'd do the same thing again.'

Doesn't matter how many of them there are.

[ikissdhimbck]

She furrows her brow.






"I know."

She closes her eyes and lets out a long breath, straightening.

"Wish y'wouldn't. But I know."

[the_gene_genie]

He hasn't touched her through all of this, sitting easily and letting her get in his space. But he does now; his hands come up and rest lightly on her hips and a gentle tug encourages her to come down onto his lap.

'Wishin' don't get you anythin'.'

[ikissdhimbck]

A faint line forms between her brows when he reaches up and tugs her to him. But she comes, slowly, straddling his lap easily.

"Don't I know it."

His words are true in more ways than one. Her hands rest lightly on his shoulders.

"You don't have t'protect me, Gene," she says quietly. "You don't have to."

[the_gene_genie]

'I know,' he says, leaning forward to press his lips to her neck.

He will anyway, and he knows she knows it.

[ikissdhimbck]

She shivers and cants her head to the side, moving a hand up into his hair. Her fingers gently card through the damp locks.

"Aren't you upset with me?"

[the_gene_genie]

'Furious,' he mutters, his mouth moving up to her jaw, and then along towards her ear, trailing soft, open-mouthed kisses in its wake.

'Can' you tell?'

[ikissdhimbck]

Her mouth twitches, and she lets out a puff of soundless laughter. Tension leaks from her shoulders.

"I'm honestly quakin'."

She nuzzles his jaw, her thumb sliding up from his shoulder to stroke his throat. Her skin is simultaneously burning and shivering in the wake of his attentions.

"Never been so scared."

[the_gene_genie]

'Really?'

He pulls back a little to see her face. He has no idea whether she's joking or not, but that doesn't stop him starting to undo the little buttons on the front of her blouse.

He wasn't intending this to happen. All last night, in the bar, he was telling himself that it wasn't worth it. But now, it's all he wants.

[ikissdhimbck]

She pulls back when he does, her expression neutral.

And then she grins.

She doesn't give any more answer than that. She had been teasing him, and it shows in her face. But this morning she'd been sure he'd had enough of her, and that was unsettling.

She doesn't stop him from working open her blouse, but she does touch his face to make sure she has his attention, and gently wraps her other hand around his wrist.

"You left on purpose, didn't you?"

[the_gene_genie]

'Yeah.'

He says it without hesitation, but as soon as the last button's done he's pushing it off her shoulders, her hand on his wrist or not.

It has to be said, it had never once occurred to him that Bar wouldn't let him back out to here again. If it had, he wouldn't have gone.

[ikissdhimbck]

She continues looking at him without saying anything in response, shifting her body to help him ease the fabric off. She carefully slips her hands out of the cuffs, a smattering of yellow ovals on one of her wrists that won't be bruises until morning.

She doesn't question him any further. For one, she's tired of the constant back and forth verbal matches that come from trying to reason out where his head is. For another, she can see that he didn't leave to leave for good. He meant to come back, he cared enough about what happened while she was on her own to do something about it — admittedly, something stupid, but the thought was there all the same — and now this. She thinks finally she's figured something out about him, so there's no need for pointless grilling.

She tilts her head, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and starts on the buttons to his shirt.

"I didn't think you was comin' back."

[the_gene_genie]

'Oh.'

He lips at her throat, hands covering her breasts over her underwear, squeezing lightly.

'Well, I did.'

Simple as that, to him. He could've stayed away, he didn't, and now they're here and doing this. Nothing else really matters to him, or if it does, it can wait until later. After, hopefully.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Yeah. You did."

She still has her speech memorized, rehearsed, and running through her head. Everything she was going to say, before she opened his door and found him gone. But those words seem to say it all.

Anything else can wait until after.

She gets as far as his waistcoat with the buttons and has to stop, running her hands over his undershirt while she gives him better access to her throat. She arches into his hands — he's getting a definite reaction out of her — but, at the same time, quiet, breathless laughter starts to spill from her mouth.

[the_gene_genie]

'...I s'pose I should jus' be grateful you're laughin' now, an' not when I've got me kecks off.'

Though, to be perfectly frank, that doesn't tend to happen. But there's always a first time, and she would be the exception to the rule.

His fingers tug at her chemise, encouraging her to take it off for him. His mouth never moves to kiss along her collarbone, pressing his teeth lightly to the bone which is all too obvious.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Y'feel like a porcupine."

He's leaving a light little rash along her skin, everywhere his mouth goes. Not that Kate minds it much, it's just that it tickles now and again. She bends down to drag her teeth across his grizzled jaw.

"We might should move t'your room. Y'think?"

[the_gene_genie]

He nearly asks why. For a split second, a flash of annoyance is there but even he's not sure why. And he couldn't give a damn, really. Here, across the corridor, in the stables, on the bar. Doesn't care.

'C'mon then.'

He taps her lightly on the arse, pulling back and rubbing his other hand across his jaw.

'I can shave if you want. If you can wait that long.'

He'd rather not but heigh ho, sacrifices must be made.

[ikissdhimbck]

"I kinda like it, actually."

His tone seems to have changed, but she's halfway afraid to ask. Gene's obviously the sort who'll say something when he feels like it, and not say something when he doesn't. Asking just gets her in trouble.

She sets one foot down and then the other, easing herself off his lap and looking at him all the same. Her hands curl around his collar and gently tug, as if she could pull him out of his seat on her own strength.

[the_gene_genie]

'You'll like it even better where it's gonna end up.'

She doesn't have to pull him up. He rises easily at the first tug, and for a second he looks like he's going to pull her in for a kiss. But he stops and pulls his key from his pocket instead.

'You go first. It won' look weird, you comin' out of your own room.'

Just in case there's anyone out there.

[ikissdhimbck]

It does look like he's planning on kissing her for a moment, and she even starts to lean in. She pulls herself back abruptly and stares at the key, before reaching out and taking it.

"Right."

She stands there for a beat longer.

He hasn't kissed her since last night.

"I'll get you mine an' ... an' you can lock up when y'leave," she murmurs, gathering her blouse up off the floor and turning to her dresser.

[the_gene_genie]

He chuckles quietly and runs his hands down her shoulders to her waist, standing behind her, pressed up her back.

'I'm not plannin' on stayin' in here more than abou' three seconds, luv. You make it soun' like there has t'be an hour between us.'

[ikissdhimbck]

That does make her smile.

"No, jus' that y'need t'lock up when you leave," she murmurs, tilting her head back against his breast so she can see his face.

She slips her key into one of the hands at her waist, and then gives them both a squeeze.