Author's note: Basically I wanted to write a scenario where Rachel reciprocated Tex's feelings and this is the result. His leaving scene (and kiss!) was lovely yet heart-breaking and I want Tex to come back in Season 2 asap!
Dedicated to the lovely texnolan, who puts up with my rambling and shares my great love for the shows wonderful Nevadan ;)
Let me know what you think :)
It takes her all of four seconds to break out of her shock induced state and go after him.
"Tex!" She calls, watching as he starts to disappear down the corridor. He turns then, a puzzled look on his face.
"Everything all right?" he asks, his drawl thick as he looks at her, confusion in his eyes.
"No!" she blurts out quickly as she almost slides to a halt in front of him, hands still clutching her work in a death grip. "Everything is not all right Tex! What on Earth was that?"
"Oh honey, if you don't know what that was then you really have been spending too much of your life in a lab."
She swats him then, lightly across the chest, a wave of anger rushing through her at the fact that he isn't taking this seriously; like his actions from moments ago are some kind of joke. He feigns injury, clutches at his chest in mock indignation then flashes a wide grin at her as she frowns at his antics. Her expression doesn't change and he quickly puts his hands up to her in surrender.
"You can't just kiss me like that and then leave," she sighs, exasperated.
"Look, Doc…" he pauses, as if looking for the words to say. His face is suddenly somber, as if realizing that this is important. Clearly she's surprised him by following him as he made his dramatic exit. "Rachel," he starts again, her name rolling off his tongue like it's new and unfamiliar; she figures it probably is. "I ain't saying your attention now isn't appreciated, but you really are the Queen of mixed signals here. Did you want me to kiss you or not?"
"Not a goodbye kiss!" Rachel says, her voice getting louder as she pulls him, none too gently, across to the far side of the corridor.
"Sorry, what?"
Rachel sighs again and looks up at him, eyes wide and accusing, as if she's speaking to a small child. "You can't just call someone special, kiss them like that and then disappear never to be seen again Tex! You honestly didn't think to mention this," she waves vaguely in his general direction, feeling flustered and frustrated all at once, "at some point before now?"
She gets a great sense of satisfaction watching a multitude of expressions cross over his face; clearly he's confused by her question.
He takes a moment to reflect on her words then suddenly it's his turn to sigh in exasperation. He shifts his rifle carefully to the side, then places his hands slowly on his hips and just gazes at her, head tilted slightly to the side. He looks like he's studying her, trying to gauge her reaction to the conversation at hand.
"You're tellin' me you haven't been picking up any of the signals I've been sending out since Gitmo? Really?" Tex looks at her incredulously, as if wary that she's playing some kind of trick on him. She wonders if he expects the crew to jump out of the store room and shout April Fools…
"In case you haven't noticed, Tex," she sighs wearily, "I've had rather a lot on my plate since you joined the crew - I haven't had the time to analyze every interaction that we've ever had!" She looks up at him then, a slight frown on her face. "I thought you were just being a good friend!"
"I was," he supplies with a faint, reassuring smile, "I was your friend, trust me. Doesn't mean I didn't want more though," he finishes. Rachel notices that his hands are now flitting between resting on the butt of his gun and settling on his hips; if she didn't know him better she'd say he was nervous.
"You could have told me you felt something more than friendship," she utters quietly, ducking her head and looking at the floor. "I'm clearly not overly familiar with signals…" she eventually supplies, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
He doesn't say anything in reply, his usual wit having escaped him apparently. Rachel suddenly feels a gloved finger rest gently under her chin, and he carefully tilts her head up and forces her to look at him. She rolls her eyes as he chuckles quietly, a smile still plastered on his face.
"Yeah I noticed that…"
They are silent for a few seconds, Tex's finger still lingering on her chin, his thumb brushing lightly against the edge of her lips. Her hands are still wrapped around her work, and she thinks her knuckles might be white from the tight grip she has. It's not awkward though, she realizes; it's just… nice, peaceful.
"Hold on," he suddenly mutters, a frown gracing his features. He sounds confused again. His fingers leave her skin and she immediately misses their touch. "I basically told you how I felt only a week ago; I said you made me want to love again - do you not remember that? I thought that was a pretty clear indicator of how I felt..."
"You were delusional and running a 104 fever Tex; would then have really been the right time to discuss any potential feelings we might share?" She suddenly covers her mouth with one hand as if she's confessed some kind of state secret to the man in front of her.
He moves closer then, picking up on her words. There's amusement in his eyes and a wicked smile on his lips.
"Shared feelings huh?"
She doesn't reply straight away, suddenly sensing that he's somehow got the upper hand in this.
He moves closer still, inches away from her now, and he places his gloved hands on the wall beside her, palms flat against the brick by the sides of her head. Rachel drops the files she holds out of instinct, the noise deafening in the quiet of the corridor. Tex doesn't break the eye contact as he ignores the sound of papers drifting to the floor and instead looks down at her, eyebrow raised under the peak of his cap.
"What kind of feelings, Doctor Scott?" His voice is low in her ear, and Rachel thinks that he's never sounded more dangerous. A shiver runs down her spine as he takes another small step closer. The mere presence of him is suddenly overpowering like a drug.
"Tex," she breathes, unable to form anything other than his name. He's toying with her, she's knows it; is probably delighting in it in fact.
He chuckles and leans down towards her, giving her plenty of time to duck out of the way. Rachel finds she doesn't want to, that she has no intention of moving from this spot, from him. Her hands reach for his jacket, pulling him flush against her as his lips eventually touch hers. She's sandwiched between the wall and Tex and right now she really doesn't want to be anywhere else.
His beard tickles, but it's not unpleasant, and the brush of his lips against her just feels right. She moves her hands suddenly and grabs the back of his head, fingers reaching into his hair and resting against the edge of his ever present cap. She tugs slightly to pull him closer and sighs breathlessly as he deepens the kiss. It's different from the one they shared before; this isn't a goodbye by any stretch of the imagination. Instead this is… this is the beginning of something. They probably shouldn't be doing this here, in the middle of a corridor in an unfamiliar building where anyone can spot them, but right now Rachel finds herself unable to care.
Tex's hands move from the wall to her hips, his fingers digging into the fabric of her trousers. The touch steadies her somehow, as if she's on the edge of drifting away. She moans then, subconsciously; remembers precisely where they are. Rachel thinks that if they stay there any longer she's going to find out if either of them has an exhibitionist streak.
They break away slowly, both of them slightly out of breath.
"Seeing as you're struggling with signals," he says after a couple of moments, eyes shining with amusement, "if that kiss wasn't enough of a hint, I'm just gonna come out and say that I really like you Doc. Now, I don't know if you're ready or available for dates, but I'd be much obliged if you let me know when you are ok? I'm happy to wait I guess but…"
"You are... utterly ridiculous Tex," she sighs, leaning her head on his shoulder, a chuckle escaping from her lips.
"Hey, I'm just covering all the bases here. I don't want to suffer with mixed signals again…"
She lifts her head then and raises an eyebrow at him in question.
"Well, it seems to me that we could have been doing this," he gestures between them with his hands, "for at least a couple weeks now if you hadn't been so oblivious to my advances…"
"Me!" Rachel says indignantly, leaning back against the wall and staring at him, "you can't blame this all on me Tex; you were the one who didn't say anything!" She suddenly breaks out into a smile again before impulsively reaching up and pulling him down to kiss him again; the embrace short but satisfying. She knows she's surprised him because he looks shocked when he draws back. Rachel smiles then and leans forward, resting her head on his shoulder once more. His hands are still resting on her hips, now hidden by her lab coat and his thumbs are now sweeping lightly across the waistband of her trousers.
"You can't go," she mutters suddenly against his shoulder, hands wrapped around him. She feels him tense slightly, as if he wasn't expecting her to call him out on his previous decision. "I need you here. Please."
"Noted," he replies softly, and he moves to brush his lips gently across her own again. "C'mon, let's go grab a drink. I wanna talk a bit before you decide to leave me for the toaster again…"
She's not entirely sure what he's talking about, but there are definitely things they need to discuss so she takes his arm and lets him escort her to the canteen. She's not sure what she's letting herself in for, getting involved with Tex, but at the moment she doesn't really care; she's happy and that's what counts.