A slightly different take on the reaction story coming from "Zugzwang"
Disclaimer:- It's not mine, Maeve would be alive if it was.
The whole team stays behind that night. No one goes home straight away. She stays to support her friend. She stays with him in the hospital while they stitch his arm. He refuses the pain killers and she tries to calm him after the nurses insistence on administering the narcotics was brutally shot down in a tirade of anger and hurt. She doesn't judge him, she just stands with him while he vents some of his anguish in her direction, and she allows him. She knows it is guilt, guilt over hiding their friends faked death and then accepting his grief as her own. She takes his anger and raised voices until their leader comes in. He calms down enough for the nurses to patch up the torn flesh on his arm. Their leader takes the injured man home, instructing the rest of the team to go home and rest.
She doesn't ask twice. She knows she shouldn't abandon her friend but she knows he is in the best company possible so she drives home to her husband and son. They are both asleep by this time, so she is quiet as she enters their home. She slips into her sons' room, places a gentle kiss on his forehead and slips out again before he stirs. She uses the light from the bathroom to change in their room before climbing into the bed next to him. He is flat out on his back so she curls up next to his side, clutching tightly at his shirt. She inhales his scent, taking comfort in his warmth and she feels safe in the reassurance of his presence. He shifts, stirs in his sleep, waking to her at his side. She explains everything to him, her friends love, her friends loss.
He kisses her.
"I'm not going anywhere".
She kisses him back; she doesn't have to tell him she loves him because he knows, he's always known. Their kisses deepen with a sense of urgency, she needs this and he happily obliges. They spend time reaffirming their love of each other through their bodies. They move together, whispering their names in a tangle of limbs. They fall asleep in each other's arms. For tonight she needed to be selfish, tonight she needed to forget that what happened to tonight can happen to anyone and she was lucky enough to be surrounded by the unconditional love of two wonderful people.
Tomorrow she would help her friend through everything, she would let him talk, she would let him cry, she would let him shout and swear. But tonight, she had to say what he never got the chance to.
"I love you".
Let me know what you think, it's not how I would normally write but I wanted to try something different with this one.
Tauri888
A/N Damn, I've just re read and there is a sentence that makes no sense near the end. This is what I get for writing late at night and without a beta. If anyone fancies reviewing and sticking in what they think it should say then go ahead and I will happily credit you!