Title: "I'm Here"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: PG-13
Summary: He'll always be here for her, even if she doesn't truly want him.
Warnings: Het
Word Count: 625
Date Written: 14 August, 2011
Challenge: For the 10iloveyou LJ comm
Disclaimer: Jimmy "Warpath" Proudstar, Teresa "Siryn" "Terry" Cassidy, all other characters mentioned within, and the X-Men are ﾩ & TM Marvel comics and Disney, neither of which are the author, and are used without permission. The quote comes from the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is Spike's saying, and the show and Spike belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and any other respective owners, also not the author. Everything else is ﾩ & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
He wished this moment could last forever, but Jimmy knew it never would. He traced his loving fingers through his beloved's long, fiery red hair and listened to the soft rise and fall of her breath. Her cheek rested against his muscular chest, and he wondered idly if she'd listened at all to his heartbeat before falling asleep. Her cheeks were still rosy, as they always were when she drank, and he'd almost come to look forward to seeing those tell-tale inflammations that meant he'd get to hold her again before the night was out.
There was nothing he wanted more in the whole, wide world than to hold her close to him and love her forever, but deep down, even now, he knew that would never happened. Though he loved and wanted her forever, Teresa wanted him only as long as she needed him and would have been just as happy to have that blasted Deadpool filling his boots now as she was to have him comforting her.
He'd lost count years ago of the fights they'd had over her drinking, and though she had at times promised to give it up, Jimmy knew she never would just as she'd never really want him. He didn't understand how such a beautiful and strong woman could be such easy prey to alcohol, but there was a small part deep down inside of him that was glad she was. After all, he'd never get to hold her otherwise.
As it was, he had always been and would always be there for her whenever she fell to its trickery. He was there to hold her and pull her hair away to safety when she vomited. He was there to carry her home when she could no longer walk on her own power. He was there to hold her as she wept and there for her to beat against when she wailed with anguish. He was there for her because he loved her, but it didn't matter to Terry why he was there, just that he was.
Jimmy smiled sadly as a quote from a TV show drifted through his head. He was love's bitch, but he was proud and strong enough to admit it without regret. His only regrets were that Teresa would never return his love or want him for anything more than a friend unless she was drunk. He brushed her sweaty hair away from her forehead and pressed a gentle kiss to the spot of flesh he revealed.
She stirred in her sleep, and his heart caught as she murmured his name. "Jimmy . . . " Dare he think she was dreaming of him? Yet then Teresa leaned forward and had barely managed to push her head over the edge of her bed when she vomited again.
Jimmy grimaced inside but forced a smile nonetheless as he resumed stroking her hair. "It's okay, Terry. I'm here." {And I always will be,} he added silently.
Though they both knew he was love's bitch, he wouldn't bring that up to her now lest it cause her to argue with him again and pull away. Instead he'd simply and quietly be here for her while she let him, go away when she shoved him away, and come back, time and again for however long she let him, when she needed him again. He only wished that she could need him forever, but the proud Apache hung his head, hiding the tears of his heart with an expert's steely gaze, for that would never happen.
She trembled in his arms, and he stroked her hair with one hand and smoothed her back with his other. "I'm here," he repeated, and they both knew he always would be.
The End