A/N: I am a huge fan of Tom and Rachel, and even though there aren't a lot of stories about them I decided to publish mine. If you hate them, don't read. If you decide to read, I have to warn you that I'm Polish and my English is not perfect, however I try my best.
For the first time since the death of his wife four years ago, Thomas Grace couldn't answer the question, how did it happen. He completely fell in love with Rachel Gibson, even though she was the last person, who could catch his eye – shy, tender, further, that she was blonde-haired with light-coloured eyes and freckles all over her face. However he didn't even know when she had come through all of the walls he had built around himself, and found a place in his heart. When only he wasn't thinking about the mission, he was currently going or being at, or about a revenge on Korman he had been planning, then he was thinking about her.
He couldn't believe that she had just helped him to kill a man, who murdered his wife. It was a fact, that Korman didn't deserve to live, but if anyone ever got to know what they have done, then to call the situation they would be in 'big troubles', would be a very big understatement. But yet, she didn't hesitate to help him, and in this he tried to see his chance, that he may mean more to her, too.
Despite the initial dislike of her, he got her friendship without bigger troubles; they were both new agents among a very well coordinated team, and they were understanding each other's awkward situations very well, when the rest talked about something they had no idea about. However he didn't fight for her to see him as a person she could be with. He didn't let a thought, that they may be something more than just friends, come to his mind; he still loved and thought about Amanda, although she died four years earlier. He couldn't let her go until now, when he had finally avenged her, and something in him has changed.
He stood up from the couch, put on his shoes and jacket, and left his flat. He couldn't sit there idly; he used to almost not spending a while there. He also wasn't tired, so he couldn't just go to sleep. He went out for a walk and during the whole time he was walking he thought about everything, what happened since he had joined the APO, that is from the moment that his life had been turned upside down. When he had decided to do it, he had no idea that he will be able to do something, what he tried to do for years and couldn't – that he will find a person, who had killed Amanda and ask why she had to die. Now, that he knew that he had been the target, he felt a sense of guilt.
He didn't know how he got to the building, where Rachel lived. He went inside and knocked to her door though he knew, that it is quite late. Before he could think about going out she opened, and let him in. After the short talk he wasn't sure if he has ever met somebody, who would understand him so perfectly as Rachel. He has always had a problem with showing and talking about his feelings, and with her he didn't have to say a lot, and she still knew what tormented him.
She shocked him more, than he expected, when she said, that he was a good man. Though everything in him was shouting, that he shouldn't, he couldn't stop himself and kissed her. He had no doubts that it confused her, and he felt scared to even think about what will her reaction be, when he'll withdraw mystified. However, for the next time that evening did she something, he would never say she will, and kissed him back.
She wasn't sure why she did that. Her sense told her, that for Tom this kiss didn't mean anything, and she herself wasn't anybody more to him than just a person from APO, who tagged along to him. Tom was a loner, and she could see it very often, when apart from missions, he practically didn't talk to anybody. It made her feel guilty that she clung to him, and sometimes even felt like she was making him spend time with her. In those moments she always told herself, that he may not mind, because he never told her to go, and he even talked to her, joked with her, and helped her with teaching what he could, and what would help her to become a good agent. She knew, that she shouldn't, but she was slowly falling in love with him.
A kiss was very tender and careful, because they were both afraid of reaction of the other. When he didn't notice any protest from Rachel, he placed his hand at the back of her head, and deepened the kiss as he moved closer to her. Without a moment of hesitation she parted her lips, when he touched them with a tip of his tongue, asking for permission to enter. He heard a silent, soft moan escape her lips, when their tongues met.
This one sound made him go completely mad, and he had very big difficulties not to hungrily throw himself at her. It was a long period of time, since he desired somebody so much; of course, there were a lot of women in his life, especially on undercover CIA missions, but he had never felt something what could be compared to what he felt in this moment. His hand slowly moved down, touching her neck and back, causing a pleasant shiver go through her body. Eventually he put his arm around her waist, and not wanting to be too pushy, he carefully pulled her toward himself. Her arms immediately went around his torso, and his hand found a place, where her hair was stapled and slid the hair band off, letting her hair fall loose over her shoulders. She looked at him confused, when they had to end the kiss because of a lack of the air.
"You look lovely with your hair in a pony tail, but I like it much more this way." He smiled, when he saw her flushed cheeks redden even more, and she looked down.
They didn't withdraw from each other too much; he still had her in his arms and felt how she played with his hair. He couldn't believe how excited he felt, just kissing and holding her. All the time he couldn't stop thinking to not do something wrong and scare her. He looked at her for a while and admired her straight, blonde hair, falling over her shoulders in a little mess; her blue-gray eyes, where he could see sparkles in them, which he had never seen before; her flushed cheeks, and her still slightly parted lips. From the moment he had met her, he noticed that she was very pretty, but she seemed to be even more beautiful for him now. He even loved light freckles all over her face, even though he has never had a thing for freckles.
When she looked into his eyes, he noticed that she wants him as much as he her. He kissed her again, in a while moving from her lips to kiss her jaw line, to her ear, and then down, to her neck. He heard and felt her fast, irregular breathing, and very silent moans which were driving him even more crazy. His hands went under her blouse, and he touched her more forwardly, moving his hands over her back, her flat stomach, from time to time 'accidentally' touching her breasts, causing her to moan. Eventually he captured the end of her blouse and after she lifted her arms into the air, he took it over her head and let it fall on the floor. He didn't wait to do the same with a light pink top she had under it, leaving her only in her bra. Her hands slowly moved under his jacked, and moving down his arms let it slide down to the floor.
He started to kiss her neck again, while her fingers were working to unbutton his shirt, and then she did the same she had done with the jacket. Only when he looked at the floor he realized, that they were slowly moving, as she was pulling him toward almost closed doors, and their clothes were creating a path. He slowly moved down from her neck, and started to place kisses over her collarbone, while his hands reached to unclip her bra. When it fell to the floor he took her breasts in his hands, and squeezed them very gently. The next moan escaped her lips, before her back touched the door and pushed it open.
They went into her quite small bedroom, and he leaned to kiss her breast. He placed kisses all over the first one, his tongue drawing circles around the nipple, while his hand played with the second. Then he did the same with the other one.
After a while he laid her down on the bed, and started to move down with the kisses, until he reached her stomach and abdomen; at the same time he slid her pants down her legs, along with her panties. He had to do the same with his too tight trousers, and laid down between her legs. As his hand touched her, he could feel how wet she already was; he massaged her for a while, and then started to kiss, lick and suck her gently, listening to her soft moans. He didn't stop until she arched on the bed, and a long, low moan came out of her lips. Then he moved up, and started to place kisses around her face, waiting for her to calm down.
"That was amazing..." she whispered, when she finally opened her eyes, and he smiled "But I still want to feel you inside of me..."
She took his boxers off, and he moved, so he laid on top of her and kissed her. They were kissing a long while, until she felt his tip carefully pushing into her entrance and bit her lip. She looked into his eyes and he couldn't resist it any longer; he slid into her, and when she adjusted to him, started to move.
Their lovemaking was slow and passionate; Rachel put her legs around him, as her hands were moving over his back and arms, while he was kissing her whole face and neck. She was moaning softly, what was turning him on even more, if it was possible.
"Tom..." He felt her hands squeeze his shoulders, as the next, low moan escaped her lips, when she climaxed.
As he felt her tighten around him, he knew that he won't last long. He groaned as he came inside her; after a while he fell on the bed next to her, panting.
When he calmed down he rolled over, so he was lying on his back. He looked at her, lying next to him and pulled her toward him. She put her arm across his chest and laid her head in the crook between his arm and chest. He kissed the top of her head, and then buried his nose in her hair; he could smell the scent of lavender, which he always smelled when she was around and absolutely loved. He didn't even know when he fell asleep.
Rachel woke up some time later, when she heard knocking. She slowly freed herself of Tom's arms, careful not to wake him. When she has done it, she looked at him and smiled; he looked very peaceful when he was sleeping, and also much younger when all of the muscles of his face were relaxed. She couldn't resist kissing his forehead and then headed to the living room, picking her clothes up from floor and putting them on as she moved. When she reached the doors she realized, that the knocking didn't come from the front door, only from the bathroom.
She thought, that she had to forget to close the window there and now, as it opened and closed because of a wind, it had to make a knocking sound as it touched the frame. She opened the door and gasped; in front of her stood nobody other but Julian Sark with a smirk on his face. Before she even thought about turning around and shouting, he caught her put a piece of material at her face. She looked at the open door to the bedroom and she could see Tom's sleeping form in the bed, before she lost consciousness.
Tom was waken in the morning by the sound of Rachel's phone. At the beginning he was completely confused; he had no idea where he was, but then he remembered everything what had happened on the previous evening. He smiled widely and turned to the side, where he expected to see sleeping Rachel, but when he opened his eyes he noticed, that she was gone. He sat up and looked around; he noticed that Rachel's clothes were missing from the floor. He stood up, starting to become worried as he realized that Rachel didn't come to answer her phone. As she did before, he went to the living room, collecting and putting on his clothes, and looked around the flat. He didn't find her anywhere.
He jumped at the sound of his own phone and took it out of the pocked. He felt something else inside, and he took the phone to the other hand, and took the thing out.
"Tom, where are you?" he heard Dixon's voice, when he only answered his phone.
"At Rachel's." he answered, and then bit his tongue. It wasn't a good idea to just say it like that, but he didn't think about it as he was walking around and checking every room again.
"Then tell her to answer her phone, because we're getting worried."
"I can't, she's not here." He said, as he stood next to the window and looked down at his hand, where was lying Rachel's hair band.
"Then what are you doing there?" He could hear a big confusion in Dixon voice and hesitated, as he didn't know what to actually say.
"I promised that I'll give her a ride, because something's wrong with her car..." he said finally and shook his head, as he noticed how not convincing he sounded. For his luck, Dixon didn't push him anymore.
"Okay, come here. She had to be kidnapped, just like Marshall, and you will be more help here than there."
Tom hanged up the phone and put it in the pocked of his jacket. He looked at the hair band again, and he couldn't understand how she could be kidnapped if her flat wasn't that big and he was sleeping in the next room. He was always waking up at every little sound; always, beside that night. He sighed and left the flat.
The only thing they focused on that day was to find Marshall and Rachel. They were doing everything they were able to, they even called Marshall's wife to come and Tom wasn't surprised that she knew everyone from the team apart from him and Rachel. He was watching her carefully and wondering, how can she stand with him. He couldn't say that he didn't like Marshall, but his way of being annoyed him very often.
"They are probably wondering how can Rachel stand my company." He thought, and smiled slightly. Actually, he didn't really know how she did it himself, but he was happy that she did. He didn't mind the rest avoiding him as long as she was with him.
Finally, they were able to locate the place they were kept at. They went there and Tom and Sydney went into the building using one entrance, while Dixon and Vaughn went to the other one. They were running in the empty corridors, until they heard noises and sounds of shots. They immediately went there and noticed that it came from the collateral corridor. Sydney was the first one who looked into it, and he followed. He could hear her shout "Get down!" before she fired her gun for a few times.
When a silence fell, he looked down. He noticed Marshall stand up quickly and throw himself at Sydney, thanking her all over again. He also noticed Rachel slowly raising herself up, leaned down and caught her hand, helping her to stand up. She smiled at the sight of him and he started to wonder how can she look so beautiful even after being kept in such a place for few hours.
"Are you alright?" He finally asked, looking at her carefully, especially at red circles on her temples.
"Yeah..." she said, and smiled reassuringly when she noticed his worried look. He nodded his head, put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, and she withdrew slightly, looking at him confused "I should have..."
"It's not your fault." She interrupted, and cupped his face with both of her hands, making him look into her eyes "You couldn't do anything... Understood?"
At the same time the rest went away, heading towards the exit, and talking to each other. When they realized, that Tom and Rachel are not following them they looked back. All four of them were a bit shocked, when they noticed they small interaction, but all except of Vaughn couldn't say that they didn't expect it.
"Tom, Rachel!" shouted Dixon, and they had big problems not to smile when they caught up with the group – mystified, and with red faces.
When only they got to know about a bomb planted in the underground to ruin APO Headquarters, they all started to make task which they were assigned. Rachel was helping with evacuation, while Tom and Dixon went to see if they are able to make the bomb harmless. They quickly noticed that it wasn't possible to completely prevent it from exploding, but they could slow the clockwork a bit to give the rest more time.
Tom stayed inside, and Dixon went out, because he knew that Tom won't need him anymore, and he may be helpful outside. Grace watched the timer carefully, because he didn't want to miss a moment when it will reach one minute – the moment when he was to get out. As he listened to what the rest was saying, he doubted that the evacuation will be complete then; he was afraid that some of the people will stay in. He could stay longer, but then he could be the one, who will not make it.
He was thinking about it for a while. He didn't have a lot; he almost didn't have any family, and he didn't have a contact for a long time with those, who he had; he could prove, that he's not an egoist and sacrifice himself to help others live; he could also be reunited with Amanda. Surprisingly, the thought about her completely wasn't convincing; he felt a twinge in his heart when the image of smiling Rachel came to his mind. He knew, that if he stays, he'll hurt Rachel as badly as possible. Could he do it to her, if not a day ago he came to her and showed her his feelings, which she seemed to give him back so completely?
At the same time Rachel was outside, and after the evacuation was complete she headed in the direction of the entrance to underground, out of which Tom should go out any minute. She looked at the clock knowing, that he should get out as soon as possible if he didn't want to be crushed by the tunnel's ruins. The time was passing by, and she still didn't see him. Eventually she heard Marshall's voice that Tom wants to talk to her and pushed the button on the microphone.
"Where are you, Tom, get out of there!" she said before he was able to say anything to her.
"I'm trying." He said and by the way he did it she could guess that he's running "However I'm not sure if I have enough time…"
"What are you talking about? You were supposed to leave when the timer will reach one minute!"
"But the people weren't out yet, so I stayed a bit longer." He didn't want her to know that a bit meant a little over twenty seconds and now he had to really rush to the exit to reach it in time. "Listen.. If I won't get out in time… I want you to know that you are a wonderful person… And if I ever had a chance I would want to try to, you know… Make the thing between us work… Because I think I love you…"
Rachel could feel tears come to her eyes and stream down her face, but before she was able to respond she felt the ground shake under her feet as the explosion came, and the shock wave laid her low.
When she stood up, all around her was the dust and people were running, and looking around. Most of them had no idea what has happened, because they didn't tell them the reason of evacuation to not lose time.
"T-Tom?" she said to the microphone, with a hope in her shaking voice, praying that he had left the tunnel in the last moment.
"Just turn around." she heard and immediately did it as she realized that the voice was coming from behind her.
She saw Tom, standing in front of her, completely covered in dust. She felt even more tears stream down her face and smiled widely. She threw herself at him, crying with relief that he was fine. He held her in his arms until she calmed down, took a step back and cupped his face.
"You are such an idiot Tom, to risk so much…" she said, and something between sigh and snort came out of his lips, but he still looked at her with a smile. "Did you mean what you said before the explosion..?" she asked, looking him in the eyes, while her thumbs were caressing his cheeks.
"Yeah…" he said, and she could see honesty in his eyes, what made her smile even wider.
"That's good, because I think I love you too…" she moved her face towards his and kissed him.
In this moment Tom completely forgot about everything around them; he kissed her back and didn't worry that somebody can see them. The only thing that mattered was that she has given him a chance, and he intended not to waste it.