I just discovered the 4400 because I LOVE Jeffrey Combs, especially the episodes with him and costar Summer Glau (who plays my OC in "Weyoun and Mia: His Enemy's Daughter", who is the love interest of one of Combs' best characters from Star Trek: Deep Space 9) as Dr. Kevin Burkhoff and Tess Doerner. They were an incredibly cute couple, and it's heartbreaking that the series was cancelled after only four seasons - and most of all, only one fic of them here, but some of my friends and myself believed it was because of the age difference between Kevin and Tess. In my opinion, age is just a number, and the chemistry is number one above. This is my first fic of these two, fluffy and romantic without issues.
Other fics I have done of Jeff Combs' characters include Herbert West (Re-Animator), the previously mentioned Weyoun from Star Trek: DS9, and some of his television guest star roles. After someone reviewing "His Enemy's Daughter" said I should do Kevin and Tess, I thought why not. :D I never thought I actually would.
Disclaimer: Nothing of 4400 or this couple belongs to me other than certain events in this fic.
He had tried to stay away from her, but she only followed him out of her own innocence and devotion; he'd have thought it was just gratitude for him helping her and taking care of her, but it was more than that when she told it to him a year ago.
"You're not worthless," she'd told him heatedly after they were alone, after she said those three words which made a difference, words he did not remember anyone ever telling him in a long time. Not even his wife from a previous life. "And you're not leaving me again; I'm not leaving you either. You're not holding me back. You've been so good to me you don't deserve to push me away."
At first it had been just an infatuation because she was just a young woman - a young woman originally from the fifties, and he was long before her time - who needed some care, had been taken from her family at a young age only to wake up in and lived in a psychiatric hospital for some time...and that was the beginning of the crossing of their paths. But he hadn't been able to speak to her because of her mind manipulation of himself and the others around them for her creation which ended up freeing him and the others from her hold; he barely remembered much other than wanting to talk to this girl who was all he had, whose mind control was much stronger than his regeneration. It was said that the mind was even more powerful than the body, but not one was without the other.
Just like neither Kevin Burkhoff or Tess Doerner were without the other.
They had been through so much together, over the last few years with the various dire circumstances with the promicin to everyone who hunted them, tried to separate them, but in the end, they were still together and now sharing a quiet little home in the country. Tess thought it was a charming fairytale, but Kevin never labeled it anything other than a test of how far it would go for them. But in the end, he was happy, and Tess happy made it even more.
"Kevin, are you coming up yet? I made a nice dinner!"
"I'll be upstairs soon!" he yelled back. This was the third day in a row, and he'd spent every minute coming home in the basement, not that it was a surprise, but what he was just finishing up was more than the promicin or anything else.
Tess' bright laugh could be heard, making him laugh to himself. "Might as well make me the little housewife who will wrap it up for you and leave it on the stove for you! I won't wait up, Kevin, any longer!"
Kevin would not leave the basement until he was finished with the last settings. Not even a jeweler today could make something as extraordinary as this, which he would show her in a matter of time that her heart was everything to hold in his hand. Just as when they looked into each other's eyes and held nothing back.
Pink diamonds were rare as blue, although blue wasn't easy to come by. The reason Kevin knew pink was perfect was because it was soft, feminine and innocent as his beloved Tess was. The stone was shaped like a heart, clean and pure as the sky, and it was surrounded with dazzling whites, which was a girl's best friend. Just pure and honest. He closed his eyes as well as his fingers around it, this making of his own that he wanted to ask Tess tonight - but at the same time, he was a little afraid.
What if she said no? She was still young, carefree, and free-spirited. Being the doctor he was, Kevin wasn't sure if a baby anytime soon would be good either, if she didn't want to. But he wasn't getting any younger now, and he still didn't want to force her or for either of them to have any doubts.
But Tess was always so happy and smiling, filling his days with so much light when he came home at the end of the day, cooking dinner with the skills her mother taught her, and then a cozy time on the couch or in the bed - nothing inappropriate, but sometimes Kevin felt his body stir with heat as hers snuggled against his, except he couldn't just ask her if she wanted to...
"Kevin!"
"Okay, I'm finished. Now can you stop yelling for me?" he asked her as soon as he was upstairs, and the smell of Italian was in the air. "Am I forgiven for the long wait?" he teased when he looked at her and laughed when she flounced over in her fitted blue dress, accentuating soft curves and setting off soft chocolate curls. She was everything his first wife wasn't.
"This is the third day that I had to do this," she stated as she led him over to the table. "You have a reason for that? Like..what's kept you so busy?"
Kevin was unconsciously aware that he opened his hand, and the feel of the ring left his hand and was about to hit the floor when Tess spotted it right away and swiped down to catch it with the speed of a whirling engine. When she opened her hand again, she gasped. "Kevin, is this for me? This is what you've been working on all this time?"
He nodded. "Because I have something I wanted to ask you for awhile, and I'm not very good at it, not since the last time I..."
"Yes, yes, yes, I will!" She shrieked and jumped onto him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, kissing him and laughing. He was speechless, and all he could do was return the embrace and laugh with her. That went easier than he thought, and he had no more doubts about their future together.
~o~
Eight months later, under a clear blue sky and surrounded with a forest, witnessed by twenty people and keeping it intimate, this was everything she wanted: standing beneath an altar of white pillars draped with sheer pink gossamer as well as pink and white flowers with ferns, the aisle lined with rich green ferns and the white aisle runner laid with pink rose petals.
She felt like the child in a candy store she used to be, like the teenager who fantasized her fairytale wedding with Bobby - but that was a long time past, and she was getting married to a real man who had been there for her. Who had believed he was holding her back when he wasn't. Who thought she deserved someone closer to her age. Who was just being silly about this nonsense - until she opened her mouth and let the words "I love you" slip past her lips before they kissed his.
Tess giggled when he slipped that beautiful pink diamond ring on her finger; it was more than she could have asked for, and it meant more that he'd made it himself. Now she stood in front of him in a white dress, timeless and romantic, baring her shoulders and just a little chest, fitting to her body and flaring out, patterned with bold lace down the front and along the hem; the tulle parts were glittering softly. Her hair was pulled up and held behind her head, set with fern, a white gardenia and baby's breath. Little golden orbs shimmered in her ears, and around her neck was a glass red heart veined with gold, suspended from a double-chain above her heart...
...the heart that beat forever as it waited. Just like her.
The white flowers were thrown at them traditionally as they sealed their final union with a kiss. It was magical, fantasy and real at the same time. Now she was ready to go home with her new husband for what she and her mother had talked about when she was just reaching that maturity stage in her life...and now she felt a little nervous. But it was just because it would be her first time.
She was still laughing when he carried her back to the house. "Kevin, will you take me to the bedroom?" she asked him. He looked a little confused before he took the meaning and did just that, but as soon as he set her down, he looked at her with concern in his gentle eyes.
"Tess, are you sure?"
She nodded, chewing her lower lip. "I am. I'm ready, Kevin."
"This will hurt," he warned her as he was unbuttoning his shirt; he didn't even wear a tie to the wedding.
"I talked about it with my mother when I was little," Tess told him as she sat down at the little dresser, undoing her hair by herself and taking the flowers and pins out, letting the curls fall down her back. "But it won't last, will it?" She turned around and looked at him questioningly. He was nodding, but he still didn't look certain.
"It won't. But I won't like hurting you, Tess."
"I trust you, Kevin."
She'd finished taking her jewelry off and stood just as he was halfway undressed, wearing only his pants, giggling at the sight of his slightly strong body, his chest covered with a soft plain of dark hair, a darker trail below his navel disappearing down the waist of his trousers. "Will you undo me?" She turned around for him to undo the laces of her corset. She felt herself getting tighter and hotter the longer they delayed this, but then she remembered her mother telling her that rushing meant never enjoying the moment, so she took a few deep breaths to calm herself.
Tess jumped slightly when his fingers brushed against her exposed back. The jolts felt good, without a smarter word to call it. Her stomach tingled as did the lower part of herself. Holding the abdominal part of her dress to her chest, she turned around to face Kevin and let it fall then, leaving herself in her soft pink underwear which she removed herself, unashamed to show herself to him for the first time. "Do you like it?" she asked him, seeing his eyes darken, a side she'd never seen before, mixed with tenderness and love.
Kevin nodded, then reached down and undid his pants, grasping the waist of them and his underwear, standing there naked as she was. She supposed she should feel embarrassed as she looked him over - but Kevin was so handsome. And him adverting his eyes away from her was adorable! "Kevin, I love you." She moved against him to rub herself gently in order to create some comfort with the friction, wrapping her arms around him and running her hands over his bare back, stopping above his backside since men were sensitive to that. After some time, Kevin finally let that cute shyness fall and wrap his arms around her, his face burying itself into her hair like it had that day in the diner of her "sweet sixteen", holding her and promising he would always protect her. He smelled her mesmerizing scent of roses and spices, sighing softly until he let her go because of the evidence of his love pressing against her. This was also Tess' first time seeing a hard-on; she tried not to laugh because it was rude to laugh at this.
"Kevin...can we..." Her voice sounded small and childlike again to her own ears. "I mean, the bed...?"
"Of course." He pulled back and smiled at her, leading her over to the bed and drawing the covers down, laying her down first and looking her over as he joined her on top. He studied her soft, unblemished skin, her small but curvaceous breasts, her flat stomach, and finally...she couldn't think about that part other than how hot and itching she felt. Impatient. Kevin noticed this and chuckled, leaning down to kiss her again, his tongue trying to slip into her mouth; at first, she wasn't sure why, until she got the message that it was an additional foreplay, so she opened her mouth and let him inside to meet with hers. Now she moaned and brought her hands up to grasp his shoulders. He stopped kissing her and moved down to the tops of her breasts and then the sensitive tips, sensitive being the keyword. Tess gasped at his teeth and lips finally allowing a slightly more possessive side to take over and ravish her with his mouth. She cried out now, wanting more and more until she felt neglected below her waist. But Kevin was already aware and ceased his mouth work, shifting himself between her legs and finding the entrance of her slicked sex, his manhood breaking through and tearing the little thin flesh that made her scream louder than she ever heard herself scream.
It didn't last, and Kevin didn't stop when she begged him to keep it going. Watching his body move in slow motions, his hips another story as they gyrated against hers. She was - had been - a virgin, but he was her first, and that made tonight even more special. Kevin might not be, but he was as pure and innocent as she was, so that counted for something. The bliss between their bodies was everything she wanted it to be, no details spared. "Tess." Her name was a soft growl on his lips that it scratched her ear nerves and traveled throughout the rest of her system, going straight to where he was loving her with all he could give.
When they reached their peak, the climax was hotter than it was, his seed warming her to a boiling point that she wanted more, but then it was over when his body, covered with sweat like hers, rolled off of her after some long time to catch their breaths. Kevin inhaled sharply and let it out, laying on his back and taking her into his arms, Tess spooning up against him for the rest of their wedding night, happy that she would be spending the rest of her life with him.
~o~
Four months passed by, and being married was better than he hoped for. Nothing major arose, except Tess started taking on responsibilities as a new housewife. She was chipper than ever - until one day it changed. For better and for worse at the same time.
Tess' moods had begun to shift to moody and snippy, which irritated and confused him at the same time, until the surprise was that she was two months late. Being a doctor, Kevin knew what this meant, and then she began to get sick in the morning - and finally a private test between them proved it. It was the most wonderful news in the world.
She was pregnant with their first child.
I would most definitely appreciate reviews as this couple needs more attention and appraisal. Jeffrey Combs fans: please don't be afraid to say anything, guest or otherwise, but no flames, please.
The ring and its story were based off a real one from Stauer, its name being Pure Heart, which eventually became the title of this oneshot. As for Tess' wedding earrings and necklace, the same goes for them as they are the "heart that waited 724 years".
I apologize if the lovemaking between Kevin and Tess was a bit uncomfortable to some, but look at it as between two people who are devoted to each other. :)
The only other Kevin/Tess story I read which I mentioned earlier was "Safety is a Wireless Brain" by Pisces. Another fic I read on Archive of Our Own had a mention of his former wife before her, which is called "Third Date" by fangirlSevera.