Fic: Chase the Morning {20/37}
Chapter Four: Resolution
Date: February 12, 6 A.I. [2006]
Location: Atlantis Base, Colorado
Jess walked into her engineering lab to find it empty save for Radek, who was sitting patiently on a rolling stool for her. He got to his feet when she entered, moving slow so he wouldn’t startle her. ‘Can we talk?’ he asked, wringing his hands nervously in front of him. ‘Please?’
Jess paused where she stood, regarding him for a moment, and then nodded, stepping further into the room after closing the door. ‘I was wondering when you’d come and find me.’ She said softly. ‘You’ve been avoiding me since you got out of the infirmary. Where on earth have you been sleeping?’
Radek rubbed at the back of his neck. ‘Uh, mostly on a cot in my lab or in one of the spare rooms.’ He said sheepishly. ‘I wasn’t too sure how you’d take me sleeping in our room right after, well…’ he trailed off, giving a hopeless sort of shrug.
Jess smiled wryly, setting the folders she had been carrying down on a nearby table. ‘Yeah, that was probably a good idea.’ She said softly. ‘Anora and I were kind of shaky there for the first few days, but when Carson told us what happened and why you attacked us, it got better. We still have nightmares sometimes, though.’
Radek wasn’t sure what to say. Just saying “I’m sorry” seemed too trite, while “I don’t actually remember attacking you. Oops?” was stupid, and likely to be received very poorly indeed. He ran a hand through his hair, wishing like hell that the attack had never happened in the first place. Jess and Anora probably wished for the same thing, especially since they’d been the ones hurt the most by it.
‘I…’ he sighed, leaning back against the table behind him. ‘God. I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry, that’s for sure, but there’s so much more. You have every right not to want to see me again, ever, and I respect that. I know it’s selfish to expect you and Anora to stay, especially after what happened, but then again, I’m a somewhat selfish man. You two are among some of the best things that have happened to me, I won’t lie. I don’t want to lose you, but if you’d rather go, I won’t stop you.’ Radek took his glasses off and sighed once more, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Jess was quiet, and Radek could only assume that she was speaking with Anora. He settled his glasses back on his face, blinking gently to refocus his eyes.
It was a few tense minutes later that Jess spoke, choosing her words carefully. ‘Radek, I won’t lie to you,’ she began. ‘It’s going to be hard, even though we know that it wasn’t really your fault that you attacked us. There’re going to be some issues that we’re going to have to work out, but I think that, over time, we can get back to where we were, and perhaps far better. It’s not going to be an instant thing, but both Anora and I agree that as long as we- meaning you as well- work on this together, we should be okay. For starters, we’d like you to at least consider moving back into our quarters.’ She smiled wryly, a small laugh escaping her. ‘Anora says that she misses the feel of your body lying against ours at night, not to mention the warmth, among other things, and quite frankly, I do too. We’ve gotten far too used to waking up to you being close by to let you go that easily. So, what do you say? Will you come back and help us work through this, or would you rather sleep another night on that cot in your lab?’
Radek chuckled softly. ‘God, we’re a messed up group of people, aren’t we?’ he muttered, shaking his head. Jess nodded.
‘Yeah, we are, but look at the world we live in.’ she said. ‘At least we haven’t gone insane.’
‘That we can tell, anyways.’ Radek pointed out.
‘True.’
What Jess had said was right; it would take a long time for them to figure out just how to interact with one another again. Radek knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, but he was willing to fight for what he wanted, and for those he loved. It was the least he could do.
End Part Four
End Book One