by O E Tearmann
"No, just a hard trip. Got it done though," Kevin muttered, sentences choppy as he sat, closing fevered eyes. "Just tired. And Suzanna's here too. I don't need that. Going to raise Cain. Tell me she's leaving soon."
Aidan's hand massaged his back. "She's helping to get the new plates up and working. Sorry, Kev. She's going to be here at least until Monday. But, I'll do my best to keep her away from you, if that's what you need."
"Uh-huh. Otherwise fur flies," Kevin mumbled. He heard the distant, sing-song quality of exhaustion in his words. "She hates me," he added by way of explanation. "For years. Never did get past that."
"I'm sure you'll explain that better to me after you've slept some," Aidan whispered softly. He kissed Kevin's forehead. "Lie down and go to sleep. I'll be right here."
"Mmhmm." Kevin murmured, his body sliding limply into Aidan's lap. "M'kay…"
"Not what I meant," Aidan chuckled, though he didn't move. His touch lulled Kevin, finally, into sleep.
It was light when Kevin woke again. Vials glimmered fuzzily on the dresser in his weak eyesight, catching the sun through the tiny slit window. Beside him, Aidan was just beginning to wake.
"How long was I out?" Kevin asked, stretching, though he made no move to push away the blankets.
"Solid day. Twenty-four hours," Aidan mumbled groggily.
"Damn," Kevin sat up, glancing around. "Where's my glasses? I need to get to-"
"On the dresser," Aidan muttered and rolled over, pulling the blankets tighter around them. "And you don't need to get to anything. You're on recuperative leave and it's Saturday. Everything's set. Janice and her help are down to detail work. You're good, Kev."
His blonde hair tickled Kevin's chin as Aidan laid his head in the crook of Kevin's shoulder, chuckling.
"More than good. Hell, you realize you got every base in the area spares and repairs? You know how good you guys made us look?"
"Glad to hear it," Kevin murmured, allowing his fingers to twine themselves in Aidan's hair. "But are you sure we shouldn't get up and-"
Aidan leaned up and kissed him, slow and deep. "You're staying in this bed. End of discussion."
"Yes, sir." Kevin agreed dazedly, a smile on his lips.
Aidan snorted and smacked his shoulder gently. "Brat."
"You were aware of that initially, don't act surprised now," Kevin retorted sleepily, eyelids too heavy to keep open.
"Stay with me?"
"Yeah," Aidan agreed, his arms gently enfolding.
The next time Kevin woke, the sun was slanting and he was thirsty.
"Did I sleep all day?"
"Yeah. It's around 3. Dinner's coming up soon," Aidan agreed softly. Kevin nodded.
"You need anything?" Aidan's voice was soft.
"Water." Kevin ruffled his red hair as he stretched. "Pass me my glasses?"
Aidan's fingers slid them into his hand.
"You should really think about getting the eyes fixed."
"Personally I appreciate the reminder that I'm not someone else's design fresh off the assembly line." Kevin replied, slipping them on. "Besides, they're part of my charm." Wincing at the stiffness in his body, he stumbled out of bed. He glanced down at his rumpled Grid clothes with a frown.
"Well these are for the wash."
He pumped the foot pedal for the tap at Aidan's sanitation station and used his hands to suck down a few handfuls of water.
"Yesterday, you said there was a problem with the specialist?" Aidan asked behind him.
Kevin studied himself in the mirror. He did look dreadful. It'd take some time before the bags under his eyes faded. "Suzanna? I'll say. Someone at Sector must still be in a snit with us if they sent Suzanna when we asked for aid."
"Are you going to tell me why you think she hates you so much?"
"She used to live on this base, back when I joined up. We were both sixteen and angry," Kevin called back over the sound of the water. "Anyway, she took a dislike to me. I'm erudite; she's uneducated. I once had a good Grid Standing; she's a born Duster. That was enough for her. Oh, and I was a little too loquacious for her tastes, and she a little too prone towards spiteful keyhole peeping and tale-telling for mine. Taylor disciplined her eventually and she requested a base transfer. Good riddance to bad rubbish as the saying goes."
He knew his speech tended to become professorial when he found something distasteful, and he could hear it happening now. But bloody Suzanna did get under his skin. She'd always been looking for reasons to attack him. He knew he hadn't helped by sniping at her.
In the mirror, Kevin watched Aidan sigh and drop back into the pillows.
"All I can do is try to keep her at arm's length, Kev. I'm sorry, but she's a great engineer and Janice needed her. She's going home Monday."
"Oh, I've got no problems with her," Kevin shrugged. "I'd as soon ignore her. I just wish she'd do the same."
He splashed his face before turning, shaking his head to complete the waking process. Dusty afternoon light caught in Aidan's hair, making it glow.
Kevin couldn't resist. Walking back across the room, he slid back into bed. Aidan smiled, wrapping arms around him.
"You scared the shit out of me when you came in."
"You can't write me up for it," Kevin retorted with a soft brush of lips across Aidan's. "That was a perfectly legitimate emergency situation to use StayWake in."
"This time," Aidan pointed out quietly.
"This time," Kevin ceded, kissing him again.
"Feel like helping me out of these clothes?"
They wrapped around one another sweet and slow in the golden light. Kevin let Aidan's fingers work the stress out of his body and his mind.
"Liked that thing you did the other night," Aidan whispered against his skin. "We don't have chocolate, but you want me to do that for you?"
Kevin grinned. "Oh, most definitely."
With Aidan's mouth around him, Aidan's fingers inside him, he spiraled up into bliss. He cried out in joy as a supernova went off in his head and another exploded between his legs. It was perfection.
"TOUCHDOWN!"
Kevin's moment of nirvana shattered as Aidan shot off him with a yelp. He sighed, feeling his cheeks burning, tipped his head back and raised his voice. "I hate each and every one of you individually and despise you en masse, you vulgar plebeian second-graders!"
"Love you, too, baby!" Sarah's voice laughed, barely muffled by the wall.
Janice's guffaw rang through the space where one wall didn't quite meet the ceiling. "'Bout time, I been waitin' for you two to get it on for motherfuckin' months! Congrats, Aidan!"
"Touchdown!" Lazarus's voice whooped.
"What the hell is going on?" Aidan whispered, his face close enough that Kevin could see the panic in his eyes.
He smiled wryly. "Welcome to a Touchdown Party. When people get bored around here, they take bets on who newcomers are going to pair off with and how long it'll take. When they hear the new couple… er, together, they call everyone in the betting pool into the room next door and wait for the 'touchdown.' Then they do that," he finished, jerking his head in the direction of the wall.
Aidan stared at him for a long, long moment. Then he groaned, dropping his head against Kevin's collarbone. "Oh, fuck."
Kevin smiled in chagrin, stroking Aidan's hair gently. "I did tell you we wouldn't keep us a secret for long, Aidan. This was rather inevitable."
"Yeah, but- Fucking hell. This is just… Oh, fuck," Aidan groaned, sounding utterly mortified.
Kevin wrapped his arms tight around Aidan, chuckling. "This has happened to me three times. They don't mean anything by it. Trust me, I should know," he added, omitting the fact that he'd taken a swing at Lazarus and Yvonne both the first time they'd pulled this on him. After all, they'd all been kids at the time.
"You guys done or you gonna throw the ball again?" Janice shou
ted through the wall, and Kevin could hear the leer in her voice.
"Bugger off or I'm requisitioning your bras a cup size too small for the rest of your life, you filthy old voyeur!" Kevin yelled back, half laughing. That only got him another teasing cheer from the next room.
In his arms, Aidan tensed, his breathing too fast. Recognizing the warning, Kevin leaned close, tipping Aidan's chin up with two fingers and holding Aidan's eyes. "Aidan. I mean it. Nobody cares. They're cheering because they're teasing us, yes. But they're cheering. To put it bluntly, they've wanted me to find a good boyfriend for quite some time. Please, try not to worry?"
Slowly, Aidan's body relaxed. "You sure?"
Kevin nodded. "Trust me, I'm sure."
Aidan managed a tiny smile. "You think I can write them up for being asshats?"
Kevin burst out laughing. Shaking his head, he rolled out of bed. "Where's your razor?"
"Top drawer by the sink," Aidan sighed.
"Lovely," Kevin replied over his shoulder. "Once we're tidied, dinner. I'm starving."
Event File 39
File Tag: Security Breach
Timestamp: 18:30-10-19-2155
Aidan walked just behind Kevin, trying to get his breathing back under control. Touchdown party. He knew these guys were crazy, but seriously. A touchdown party.
On the other hand, his boyfriend was walking ahead with something that looked an awful lot like a swagger. Was Kevin actually proud that they'd got caught together? Kevin, who was still fighting Cavanaugh training that made him trip over words for anything remotely related to sex and obsess over how much he hated the slang people used for their partners? Kevin who blushed when somebody winked and made a suggestion?
If Kevin was okay with this mess, maybe it really was all right.
Kevin shot him a quick grin and dropped back to take his hand before they stepped into the canteen.
"Once more into the breach then?"
Aidan studied his face. Then he forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah. Guess so."
The cheer that went up when they stepped inside was ridiculous. Topher was the first out of his chair and giving Kevin a hug, Tommy right behind him. Aidan stepped to one side to let them have their fun. He caught his munitions officer, his munitions specialist and his requisitions specialist grinning from ear to ear. Lazarus waggled his eyebrows.
Aidan smirked, feeling the tightness in his gut relax. It looked like half the crew was cheering because of the stunt Kevin had pulled off with the photoelectric shipment, which explained the level of noise. The ones who were cheering for the other 'achievement' were being quiet about it, though they did make faces and a couple gestures, grinning like idiots.
Glancing up from her dinner, Liza caught her commander's eye and rolled her own, giving him a smile. "No worries, Commander. We're all good again. I checked."
"I hope so," Aidan agreed with a smirk. "'Cause, if I thought a couple people were taking time off a job that needed doing to make my life hell, I'd have to write somebody up."
"Don't you look at me, boy," Janice retorted with a grin. "I did my thing. I'm havin' some fun. You had yours already," she finished with a smirk that was probably illegal.
At the end of the table, Suzanna glanced up. "The project's done sir," she added, but the tone of her voice turned the title into something close to an insult.
That tone made the hair on the back of Aidan's neck prickle. Kevin hadn't been kidding. This woman was looking for a fight. But, if she decided to have a problem with him, he did out-rank her. If she pushed it, he'd pull her aside and say something. For now, he held her eyes and nodded.
"And we appreciated your help."
Suzanna gave him a glare that was very nearly insubordination in itself, but she said nothing.
"If this's a party what're we doin' sittin' in here?" Janice demanded a few moments later. "C'mon. Everybody grab plates an' hit the rec room. I'll get the booze." Grinning, she glanced back down the table. "That work for you, Aidan?"
Aidan grinned. "Yeah, that sounds good. Heroes get to choose the vids, so that's you and Tweak, Kev."
Kevin glanced at Tweak, who blinked. "Imma h-hero?"
"I suppose I'll share the laurels after the hacking work you did this week," Kevin agreed. "But, if you choose a torture porn vid, I reserve my right to retract that offer."
Tweak glanced at him, her brow wrinkled. "The fuck you s-saying?"
Kevin rolled his eyes as Aidan watched, his face alight with amusement. "Never you mind. Come on."
Janice broke out rum. Dozer pulled out Potion and happily passed it around. "Get it down. It's good for you. Brew this myself."
"Out of what, machine oil?" Blake asked with a raised brow.
The mechanic snorted good-naturedly. "Bite me, Blake, you chickenshit."
"Hey, somebody turn on the news. I got a drinking game!" Damian called. "Buzzwords!"
A cheer went up.
"Terrorist, it's a shot!" Lazarus threw out.
"Two sips for 'anarchist elements' and one for 'anti-establishment', Sarah added judiciously.
Kevin winced. "Someone's getting alcohol poisoning then."
"Guys, don't get that drunk," Liza added, half laughing and half horrified. She glanced at Aidan in his corner of the couch. "Back me up here?"
"Please, don't kill yourselves," Aidan agreed with a laugh. "I need you all alive and not too drunk to deal with attacks."
"Yes, SIR, roger that, SIR!" Lazarus added, standing to attention and throwing a textbook salute.
Yvonne reached over and poked him in the back of the knee with one foot, making him lose his balance to general cheering. And the drinking game was on, with whoops and cheers for reports of 'terrorist elements stealing supplies from an important new subdivision in the Copperhead Complex.'
"We got 'em on the run! All because of this guy!" Sarah chirped, her birdlike arm slapping Kevin on the back as he poured himself another shot.
Kevin cocked a brow, smirking. "Sarah, next time you're picking on the guys for watching sports and hollering, remember how you act about the news. And, aside from that, a few paltry requisitions aren't a patch on picking up the supplies and putting this old wreck of a base back together, so it's me tipping the hat to you," he finished both his shot and his statement with an elegant half bow before he dropped back into his seat.
Aidan smiled as he watched Kevin move, feeling the warmth of the room seeping into him. They had water. They had power. Kevin was home. Everything would be alright tonight.
Kevin glanced up, caught Aidan's eye, and smiled. Gold poured into Aidan's belly.
Across the room, there was a low growl and a scuffle. Suzanna pushed her way between the people lounging across the floor until she stood blocking Kevin's sight of the screen.
"So now the little Corpy's a hero all over again? Aw, sweet. I get my ass busted working on this shitbin you call a power system, come all the way back to this base, and it's the corp kid who's the hero. Always the corp kid. Gets all the credit, gets all the slack, sucks up and sucks off anybody to get what he wants. You've done it since we was kids and you haven't changed, you little pissant."
Aidan's gut went from gold to lead. The room went quiet.
Kevin glanced up, blinking laconically. "I'm sorry if I bothered you. I'll keep it down."
Suzanna bent so that they were nose to nose. "Don't you try that 'let's play nice' bullshit on me. I'm sick of you weaseling your way in and out of every damn place. I seen good men die on missions. Real men, not a little faggot like you, and you still come back alive all the time. And why? Because you suck up and suck off all the right people and get all the easy work, and then you go around looking like a goddamn hero. What'd you do, pay somebody off with your Corp money? Or did you just let somebody screw your ass? Everybody knows that's how you get your way in this compound, and now you're boy-toy for the new
commander. Nice work." Grinning the smile of a feral dog, she turned on Aidan.
"Don't suppose your little fuck toy told you why he's got such a nice spot? Logistics? Don't suppose you checked what you fuck? Well, let me tell you. This little bastard's a Cavanaugh Corporation CEO's kid, Corporation born and bred. I finally got the skills to get into the records. I wasn't letting him get away with this oh-I-just-fake-this-accent-cause-I-like-old-movies bullshit anymore. Daddy was some kinda CEO. Mommy was a corporate VP. Baby is a little pissant. Citizen Excellent Standing, all the way. You been sucking the Corp's dick, Commander. How you like that?"
On the couch, Kevin's face blanched to the color of bone. He looked as if someone had just shot him.
Aidan looked up at Suzanna, feeling something cold and hard rise in him. He knew her smile. He knew the look of somebody breaking something just to see if they could. And he was so fucking sick of seeing people like her grin like that.
Carefully, he stood and put a hand on the woman's shoulder, slowly and firmly pushing her back from his boyfriend.
"I think you need to leave this room, Suzanna. I appreciate your help with the power system, and you will be compensated. But right now, walk away."
The dark woman snorted derisively. "Only came out to help this piss poor compound. I'm calling transport and going home. Sick of this bullshit anyway."
She was gone in a rattle of boots.
The room was silent, the news turned off. In his seat, Kevin stared at nothing, his body stiff as marble.
"Well," Sarah muttered. "She's still a bitch."
"Yeah," Aidan agreed, staring down at Kevin. Then he drew a breath and forced his head up. He had a duty to everybody in this room. He had to do it.
"Who turned off the show? We've got every right to celebrate."
The crew murmured and glanced at each other, but Dilly reached over and cautiously flicked the screen back on. Its noise filled the room. Tweak pulled out her tab and put on something loud and full of music.
Aidan sat next to his boyfriend.