And Let Us Love by ceitie (Comfort Challenge)
Title: And Let Us Love
Author: ceitie
Pairing: Mehra/Porter
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Whispers 5x07
Word Count: 1,383
Summary: “So. You all done flirting with Doctor Xerox?”
A/N: The title of the story comes from the first line of Catullus's Poem 5.
And Let Us Love
They were out of the caves and half-way back to the gate, trudging through the bleak greyness of the pre-dawn forest, when Alison remembered Vega.
Fuck. She stumbled as her already shaky legs went boneless, but Dusty caught her by the wrist and yanked her upright before she hit the ground.
“You okay?” Dusty asked, dropping Alison’s wrist and rolling her eyes at Dr. Beckett, who was looking back at them worriedly.
“No - yes, I’m not hurt but - Dusty, Jesus, what about Vega? Her body, I mean -” Alison stopped and gulped back the tears that were edging into her throat. She couldn’t believe that this was only occurring to her now, and she tried to push down the wash of sour guilt that flooded her stomach. If she was honest with herself, she had barely spared a thought for Captain Vega once she had grasped the terrifying reality of their situation in the monster-filled village.
Some small, nasty part of her mind muttered, well, you’ve only known her for five months and better her than you and you didn’t even like her that much anyway, and Alison stared at her mud-spattered boots and blinked hard.
“Hey, hey,” Dusty said quietly. “I know, okay? I know, it fucking sucks.” She nudged Alison’s shoulder and they started walking again, side by side, although Alison kept her head down. She waited until she was pretty sure Dusty wasn’t looking before wiping her jacket sleeve across her eyes. She had worked so damn hard to avoid being the weak link on her team, and she refused to start crying like an idiot when they were still out in the field and needed to keep sharp.
“It always sucks, losing teammates,” Dusty said, and her voice was so hoarse that Alison looked up at her in surprise. Dusty was wearing her default “crappy mission” face: hard and a little pissed-off, eyes endlessly scanning their surroundings, but there was something about the set of her mouth that made her look younger than usual.
Before Alison could think of anything even vaguely helpful to say, Dusty cleared her throat and rolled her shoulders, as though shrugging off something heavy. “Anyway,” she said gruffly, “we can’t worry about retrieving the Captain right now. It would take us forever to find - to find the body in this forest. Me and the Major will come back later with a puddlejumper and track her chip.”
“But the trees...” Alison began.
Dusty snorted. “We’ll blow up the trees if we have to.”
“Probably even if you don’t have to,” Alison said, more out of habit than any real attempt at humour, but Dusty gave her a small, weary smile.
“Wow, it’s almost like you know me or something.”
Alison smiled back gratefully, and stepped close enough to let her fingers brush against Dusty’s arm as they walked.
*
After the infirmary visit and the debriefing, Alison collapsed onto her bed and slept for a solid nine hours. She chalked up her nightmare-free sleep to the overwhelming post-adrenaline exhaustion. She was dead certain that her next few nights wouldn’t be nearly so peaceful.
Later that evening, she found herself in front of Dusty’s door, shifting nervously. The few times that they had had sex had been fun and mostly spontaneous; Alison showing up now was neither, and she wasn’t sure how Dusty would react.
The door finally slid open, and Dusty barked, “What?” before she saw Alison and some of the snarliness dropped off her face. She was wearing sweatpants and a sports bra and her hair was loose, and Alison had to cough a bit before she could speak.
“How are you?”
Dusty pushed her hair back carelessly, revealing a spreading red bruise on her jaw, and shrugged. “Bushed. And I stink.”
When Alison raised her eyebrows, Dusty elaborated, “Major Teldy just kicked the shit out of me in the gym.”
“I see,” Alison said, although she really didn’t.
“It made her feel better,” Dusty said, shrugging again.
Alison waved away Teldy and Dusty’s obvious insanity, and said firmly, “I’m coming with you tomorrow, to get her body.”
“You don’t have to,” Dusty said after a moment, her voice very neutral.
“No, I do,” Alison said. She hadn’t liked Alicia Vega much, that was true; the woman had been so cold and humourless at times that it had grated on her nerves, but Vega had worked to keep Alison safe for five months. Vega had watched her back diligently, and rescued her from giant lizards on MX3-387, and had had a bizarre soft spot for any movie that starred Will Smith. And now Major Teldy had to write a letter to Vega’s mother and father and two sisters, not telling them how their daughter had been killed fighting monsters somewhere very far from home.
So this? Alison had to do this. “I’m part of the team. I’m coming with you.”
Dusty bit her lip, and then nodded, and Alison felt the tension drain out of her shoulders.
Giving her a slightly shaky grin, Dusty leaned against the doorway and changed the subject. “So. You all done flirting with Doctor Xerox?”
Alison planted a hand on her hip. “I was not flirting.”
Dusty laughed in her face, and turned to wave her into the room. “Yeah, and all those plants in the south-west greenhouse are just for whatchacallit, medicinal use.”
“I wasn’t flirting,” Alison insisted, walking into Dusty’s quarters and sitting on the bed, dropping her bag on the floor. “I was being friendly! He’s got most of the medical department so freaked out that they either follow him around with big eyes like he’s the Second Coming, or they refuse to say two words to him.”
“But he doesn’t freak you out?” Dusty asked curiously.
“No. I never met the -” Alison paused.
“The real Beckett?”
“The other Carson,” she finished with a glare, “so I don’t really see him as a replacement, or someone who’s come back from the dead. He’s just - he seems like a really nice man.”
Dusty moved closer to the bed, bumping her legs against Alison’s knees. “I can be nice.”
Alison flushed, but couldn’t stop herself from snorting in disbelief.
“C’mon, sometimes I can be nice,” Dusty said, flopping down next to Alison on the bed, and nudged Alison’s thigh with one sock-covered foot.
“I know,” Alison said, with a ridiculously fond smile. She was such a sap. Tapping Dusty on the knee, she said, “Hey, I brought something for you.”
“Really?” Dusty sat up, propping herself up on her arms.
“Yep.” Alison reached into her bag and pulled out the DVD, flourishing it in front of Dusty’s face. “Ta-dah!”
Dusty lit up, snatching at the DVD with one hand while trying to keep her balance with the other. “The Dark Knight, sweet! I didn’t think that we’d gotten any copies yet!”
Alison relinquished her hold on the DVD, grinning at Dusty’s evident delight. “Well, I was saving it for your birthday, actually. But - I thought, you know, why wait.”
Some of the joy faded from Dusty’s eyes, and Alison said quickly, “Not that - I don’t mean I think that anything’s going to happen, just that it’s only two weeks away and yesterday was -”
Yesterday Vega died, and I almost died, and you almost died, and I wanted to give you something to be happy about tonight.
Alison didn’t say it, but apparently she didn’t have to, because Dusty was sweeping her into a tight hug. She buried her face in Dusty’s neck, breathed in the smell of sweat and soap and the weird lime-smelling shampoo that Dusty used, and just clung for a while.
Eventually, Dusty took a deep breath and loosened her hold, so Alison sat back. Before she could go too far, Dusty leaned forward and kissed her, hard, soft lips sliding against hers, and Alison moaned and kissed back. She pressed her tongue into Dusty’s mouth, kissed her fierce and sloppy and with all the desperation that was still thrumming in her bones from yesterday. When she pulled back, they were both panting.
“Um,” Alison said, already reaching to unhook Dusty’s sports bra, “it’s okay if we postpone the movie, right?”
“I think I can stand to wait,” Dusty said, and kissed her again.
~/~
Author: ceitie
Pairing: Mehra/Porter
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Whispers 5x07
Word Count: 1,383
Summary: “So. You all done flirting with Doctor Xerox?”
A/N: The title of the story comes from the first line of Catullus's Poem 5.
And Let Us Love
They were out of the caves and half-way back to the gate, trudging through the bleak greyness of the pre-dawn forest, when Alison remembered Vega.
Fuck. She stumbled as her already shaky legs went boneless, but Dusty caught her by the wrist and yanked her upright before she hit the ground.
“You okay?” Dusty asked, dropping Alison’s wrist and rolling her eyes at Dr. Beckett, who was looking back at them worriedly.
“No - yes, I’m not hurt but - Dusty, Jesus, what about Vega? Her body, I mean -” Alison stopped and gulped back the tears that were edging into her throat. She couldn’t believe that this was only occurring to her now, and she tried to push down the wash of sour guilt that flooded her stomach. If she was honest with herself, she had barely spared a thought for Captain Vega once she had grasped the terrifying reality of their situation in the monster-filled village.
Some small, nasty part of her mind muttered, well, you’ve only known her for five months and better her than you and you didn’t even like her that much anyway, and Alison stared at her mud-spattered boots and blinked hard.
“Hey, hey,” Dusty said quietly. “I know, okay? I know, it fucking sucks.” She nudged Alison’s shoulder and they started walking again, side by side, although Alison kept her head down. She waited until she was pretty sure Dusty wasn’t looking before wiping her jacket sleeve across her eyes. She had worked so damn hard to avoid being the weak link on her team, and she refused to start crying like an idiot when they were still out in the field and needed to keep sharp.
“It always sucks, losing teammates,” Dusty said, and her voice was so hoarse that Alison looked up at her in surprise. Dusty was wearing her default “crappy mission” face: hard and a little pissed-off, eyes endlessly scanning their surroundings, but there was something about the set of her mouth that made her look younger than usual.
Before Alison could think of anything even vaguely helpful to say, Dusty cleared her throat and rolled her shoulders, as though shrugging off something heavy. “Anyway,” she said gruffly, “we can’t worry about retrieving the Captain right now. It would take us forever to find - to find the body in this forest. Me and the Major will come back later with a puddlejumper and track her chip.”
“But the trees...” Alison began.
Dusty snorted. “We’ll blow up the trees if we have to.”
“Probably even if you don’t have to,” Alison said, more out of habit than any real attempt at humour, but Dusty gave her a small, weary smile.
“Wow, it’s almost like you know me or something.”
Alison smiled back gratefully, and stepped close enough to let her fingers brush against Dusty’s arm as they walked.
*
After the infirmary visit and the debriefing, Alison collapsed onto her bed and slept for a solid nine hours. She chalked up her nightmare-free sleep to the overwhelming post-adrenaline exhaustion. She was dead certain that her next few nights wouldn’t be nearly so peaceful.
Later that evening, she found herself in front of Dusty’s door, shifting nervously. The few times that they had had sex had been fun and mostly spontaneous; Alison showing up now was neither, and she wasn’t sure how Dusty would react.
The door finally slid open, and Dusty barked, “What?” before she saw Alison and some of the snarliness dropped off her face. She was wearing sweatpants and a sports bra and her hair was loose, and Alison had to cough a bit before she could speak.
“How are you?”
Dusty pushed her hair back carelessly, revealing a spreading red bruise on her jaw, and shrugged. “Bushed. And I stink.”
When Alison raised her eyebrows, Dusty elaborated, “Major Teldy just kicked the shit out of me in the gym.”
“I see,” Alison said, although she really didn’t.
“It made her feel better,” Dusty said, shrugging again.
Alison waved away Teldy and Dusty’s obvious insanity, and said firmly, “I’m coming with you tomorrow, to get her body.”
“You don’t have to,” Dusty said after a moment, her voice very neutral.
“No, I do,” Alison said. She hadn’t liked Alicia Vega much, that was true; the woman had been so cold and humourless at times that it had grated on her nerves, but Vega had worked to keep Alison safe for five months. Vega had watched her back diligently, and rescued her from giant lizards on MX3-387, and had had a bizarre soft spot for any movie that starred Will Smith. And now Major Teldy had to write a letter to Vega’s mother and father and two sisters, not telling them how their daughter had been killed fighting monsters somewhere very far from home.
So this? Alison had to do this. “I’m part of the team. I’m coming with you.”
Dusty bit her lip, and then nodded, and Alison felt the tension drain out of her shoulders.
Giving her a slightly shaky grin, Dusty leaned against the doorway and changed the subject. “So. You all done flirting with Doctor Xerox?”
Alison planted a hand on her hip. “I was not flirting.”
Dusty laughed in her face, and turned to wave her into the room. “Yeah, and all those plants in the south-west greenhouse are just for whatchacallit, medicinal use.”
“I wasn’t flirting,” Alison insisted, walking into Dusty’s quarters and sitting on the bed, dropping her bag on the floor. “I was being friendly! He’s got most of the medical department so freaked out that they either follow him around with big eyes like he’s the Second Coming, or they refuse to say two words to him.”
“But he doesn’t freak you out?” Dusty asked curiously.
“No. I never met the -” Alison paused.
“The real Beckett?”
“The other Carson,” she finished with a glare, “so I don’t really see him as a replacement, or someone who’s come back from the dead. He’s just - he seems like a really nice man.”
Dusty moved closer to the bed, bumping her legs against Alison’s knees. “I can be nice.”
Alison flushed, but couldn’t stop herself from snorting in disbelief.
“C’mon, sometimes I can be nice,” Dusty said, flopping down next to Alison on the bed, and nudged Alison’s thigh with one sock-covered foot.
“I know,” Alison said, with a ridiculously fond smile. She was such a sap. Tapping Dusty on the knee, she said, “Hey, I brought something for you.”
“Really?” Dusty sat up, propping herself up on her arms.
“Yep.” Alison reached into her bag and pulled out the DVD, flourishing it in front of Dusty’s face. “Ta-dah!”
Dusty lit up, snatching at the DVD with one hand while trying to keep her balance with the other. “The Dark Knight, sweet! I didn’t think that we’d gotten any copies yet!”
Alison relinquished her hold on the DVD, grinning at Dusty’s evident delight. “Well, I was saving it for your birthday, actually. But - I thought, you know, why wait.”
Some of the joy faded from Dusty’s eyes, and Alison said quickly, “Not that - I don’t mean I think that anything’s going to happen, just that it’s only two weeks away and yesterday was -”
Yesterday Vega died, and I almost died, and you almost died, and I wanted to give you something to be happy about tonight.
Alison didn’t say it, but apparently she didn’t have to, because Dusty was sweeping her into a tight hug. She buried her face in Dusty’s neck, breathed in the smell of sweat and soap and the weird lime-smelling shampoo that Dusty used, and just clung for a while.
Eventually, Dusty took a deep breath and loosened her hold, so Alison sat back. Before she could go too far, Dusty leaned forward and kissed her, hard, soft lips sliding against hers, and Alison moaned and kissed back. She pressed her tongue into Dusty’s mouth, kissed her fierce and sloppy and with all the desperation that was still thrumming in her bones from yesterday. When she pulled back, they were both panting.
“Um,” Alison said, already reaching to unhook Dusty’s sports bra, “it’s okay if we postpone the movie, right?”
“I think I can stand to wait,” Dusty said, and kissed her again.
~/~