Stone Hearts & Hand Grenades
-DC- Set after '1.04 Eastern Exposure'. She was like a ray of sunshine in his horrid storm of a bad mood.
Disclaimer: The plot's mine, just borrowing the rest.
A/N:- The hotel I refer to the InterContinental wasn't actually owned by the InterContinental group in the 60s but since the Pan Am founder also founded the InterContinental brand, I thought it would be a nice bit of anachronism. Plus, it has the view across Victoria Harbour that I imagine Dean and Colette looking at.
You were like the crash of thunder
Echoed through my darkest nights
You awaken all my senses made me feel alive
Even if we try to fight it, we know that the sparks will fly
Cause in the end, we're just two people destined to collide …
Leona Lewis – Stone Hearts & Hand Grenades
It was late by the time the convoy of taxis dropped them off at the InterContinental Hong Kong but jetlag combined with the adrenaline pumping landing had left everyone wide awake and the girls had all dropped their bags in the lobby and headed straight to the lounge.
Dean lingered outside for a bit. The rain had turned to drizzle and he let the warm humidity wash over him, breathing in the air tinged with smells of incense and dried seafood. His face stung more than he would ever admit to anyone and it was only fuelling the resentment he felt towards someone he had considered a friend. It was bad enough that Ted had no qualms in telling him that he didn't deserve to be Captain but even worse that he had chosen that very moment mid-landing when he had the lives of a hundred of people in his hands to question his authority. He began to regret being the better man and walking away – perhaps he would be feeling a lot better if he had thrown a punch too.
It wasn't long before he realised the humidity was doing nothing to calm him down and he headed inside. Despite the hour, the hotel lounge was buzzing full of Gweilos. Maggie and Laura were busy flirting simultaneously with a couple of American businessmen and a trio of English naval officers based in Hong Kong while Ted sat by himself at the bar nursing a drink. Over in the far corner he saw Kate talking to Colette, no doubt about her sister, but as she caught sight of him, the pretty redhead finished her conversation off, muttered something about heading up to bed, leaving the seat next to Colette free.
"What a day!" He said with a sigh dropping into the vacated seat. Colette turned towards him and smiled and just like that suddenly the stifling anger and wounded pride lifted from his shoulders.
Her smile faltered, replaced with a look of concern. "What happened to your face?" she asked, reaching out and turning his head towards her to get a better look. "It looks nasty."
He felt a rush of warmth envelope him at her touch. "It's nothing," he said hurriedly but he threw a glance instinctively in Ted's direction and as he met her gaze again, he knew that she had read between the lines. "Just a misunderstanding."
"Uhuh." She waved to a waiter and muttered a few words to him and in a few minutes he came back with some ice wrapped in a cloth and a couple of drinks. "Here, this is to help the swelling," she said handing him the ice. "And this is to help everything else," she said setting the glass of whisky down on the table.
"You read my mind," he said gratefully, taking a sip of his drink and then wincing slightly as he held the ice pack to his face. "I feel like I've hardly seen you on this trip. How are you finding Asia?" Truth be told he had missed having her around on this tour, probably more than he should have. She was like a ray of sunshine in his horrid storm of a bad mood.
"I hate the humidity," she said making a face before reaching up and taking the pins out of her hair and pulling her blue regulation hat off. He watched as her hair bounced lightly almost down to her shoulders before curling up around her ears. He couldn't help noticing how ridiculously beautiful she looked even after a seven hour flight.
"I think that alone would stop me from living here permanently," she continued, "even in spite of the pretty views," she said looking out of the window.
It had stopped raining now and from where they were sitting they were treated to a splendid view of Victoria Harbour. It was almost midnight but an endless parade of fishing boats and junks sailed by and the moving lanterns on the boats meant it was almost like looking at a very large, very wide Christmas tree.
"I think I could live here," Dean said.
"Really?"
He nodded. "It's an incredible place – a fusion of England and China and I've never known a place change so much even in a space of a couple of months." He pointed across the harbour to the dark mass where there were only a few building lights. "Mark my word, one day there will be a whole series of skyscrapers there taller that the Empire State building. Can you believe that barely 100 years ago it was just a rock in the middle of the South China sea and now it's the centre of the Asian world. You've got to hand it to the Brits."
"Wow, I never knew you were so passionate about Hong Kong," Colette responded playfully.
He took the ice away from his face and looked at her. "My first ever international flight as a trainee pilot was to Hong Kong and my training captain insisted that that flight was just as good as any other to tackle the landing. You should have seen me - I was petrified and that was in good weather. The way you have to fly over the mountains, wait until you come to the checkerboard and then do the sharp turn at less than five hundred feet, flying so close to the apartment blocks, you can see the people inside, the crosswinds so strong that you can barely keep the plane steady …." The mention of the descent into Kai Tak made him think of his fight with Ted again and he grew quiet.
Colette seemed to sense this but she deliberately avoided pushing him to talk about it. "My first international flight was to Paris. I had horrible balance back then and I think I must have spilled about half a dozen drinks over myself and the passengers."
"Good thing I've stopped drinking coffee on the flight deck then," Dean chuckled, grateful for the distraction.
Colette hit him playfully on the arm. "Hey, you know, I'm not so green any more. Now when I drop drinks over people, it's usually on purpose."
Dean raised his eyebrows. "Isn't that Maggie's way of dealing with problem passengers or is she more into stabbing people with forks now?"
Colette laughed. "You heard about that then?"
Suddenly peals of laughter erupted from the other side of the room. Maggie was laughing outrageously at something one of the naval officers had to say. "Looks like they're having fun," Dean commented.
"Maggie is trying to get Laura to expand her horizons. I don't think Kate is too happy about that. Nor is Ted for that matter."
True enough, the first officer looked like he was trying to drown himself in the bottle of whisky sitting half empty next to his glass. "You think he's got a shot with Laura?"
Colette shrugged. "I think he's got a shot but whether it's a good idea or not …"
"You mean because they work together?" he questioned, looking at her closely, trying to gauge her reaction.
She held his gaze, a small smile playing on her lips. "Crossing that line is a big deal don't you think?"
"I don't know, I think there's something to be said about being with someone who understands the job." And he knew Colette understood the job better than anyone. The highs, the lows, the freedom, the needing to escape. "Just because it didn't work out for me the first time, doesn't mean I wouldn't try again."
She looked at him curiously, as if a curtain had just been lifted. "I get it now. You're an optimist."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
She laughed. "No, it's just so rare nowadays. It's refreshing. You'll have to let me know your secret."
Dean raised his half empty glass. "Whisky and good company."
She smiled again and suddenly he wasn't thinking about Bridget or his fight with Ted, he was thinking about the smart, beautiful woman sitting in front of him. "What are you doing tomorrow morning before our flight back home?"
"Maggie said she was going to take us all up The Peak."
"How about you let me show you the real Hong Kong and take you to Dim Sum first. I know this place the other side of Kowloon where all the locals go. Dozens of ladies go round the room with trolleys each laden with different types of dumplings and a hundred different types of tea."
She hesitated and picked at the hem of her skirt, and for a minute he thought she was going to tell him that she didn't think it was a good idea. "I don't know, what with the jetlag and the hundreds of hours of flight time you logged this week, are you even going to be get out of bed in time?"
He smiled in relief. "For Dim Sum in the greatest city in the world, of course."
His enthusiasm must have been catching. "You know Captain, with the way you've talked it up, this Dim Sum has a lot to live up to."
Dean grinned. "Meet you in the lobby at 10.30?"
"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow," she said with a smile, standing up. Even though it was late, a part of him wanted to tell her to stay and have another drink. He felt like he could sit there with her the whole night. Instead he reached out and touched her hand gently.
"Thank you Colette."
She looked at him questioningly. "For what?"
"Just for being there, being you."
She smiled, self-consciously. "You're welcome." And there was a moment where she held his gaze and her hand felt warm under his and if it had been any other girl in any other situation ….
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Maggie appeared holding a Martini glass and looking at them keenly. "That was quite a landing, Captain!"
At the interruption Colette quickly pulled her hand out of his, gave a few hurried "goodnights" and then left.
Dean watched her go, missing her already, barely aware that Maggie had taken her seat.
"She's a nice, lovely, sensitive person."
"What?"
"Colette – she's a nice, lovely, sensitive person."
Dean frowned, wondering where this was going. "Yeah, I know."
"Good, so it'll make sense to you when I tell you that you have to walk away from this thing you've got going with her."
"What thing? We were just talking-"
"Please Dean, don't play dumb. You like her and not in the way you like me or Laura or Kate."
His jaw tightened. "Well, with the way this conversation's going, I'm not too sure I like you at all any more."
"I can live with that," Maggie responded unperturbed.
Dean downed the rest of his drink. Although she meant well, if there was one thing Maggie loved doing it was interfering. Normally he would find it funny and charming but he didn't really need her tainting the one good moment of his day. "Look, there is nothing going on between me and Colette. We're friends, we talk, that's all. And besides, I think Colette can look after herself."
"Yes, but apparently you inexplicably have a way of making people fall for you without even trying and she's been through enough. You're looking for someone to help you get over Bridget and I'm telling you now that Colette's not that person so walk away," Maggie said firmly.
Before he could respond, Maggie had stood up again, squeezed him friendlily on the shoulder and rejoined Laura, leaving him wondering whether he should be insulted or angry or both.
He ordered another drink and stared out into the night. As annoyed as he was by her interference, he knew deep down that Maggie was right. Even the mention of Bridget's name still stung and Colette deserved much more than that but he also knew that spending as much time as he did with her and liking her as much as he did, walking away wasn't an option.