A/N: a quick one-shot because the story wouldn't leave me be, but I promise the last couple chapter of Missing in Action soon.
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Trouble Kelp opened the door to Holly's apartment. He had always had a key, though he never used it and wasn't clear on why exactly he had it. He only knew that he had it and, if he wanted to keep his sanity, he needed to be here.
Holly had made no contact to anyone in Haven in a week, and had officially been declared missing. Since then he had begun his slow descent to insanity. He had started seeing her face everywhere, couldn't concentrate on anything, and occasionally would hear her voice.
Trouble knew exactly what would have happened if Holly had been home. She would have turned toward him with a smile, "Come on in, Troub," she would say, and for once he wouldn't glare at her use of that particular nickname.
He knew she was missing, but when he was greeted by silence he was slightly surprised. He refused to flip on the lights. If he couldn't see every corner of the room, he might be able to convince himself that she was here somewhere.
As he stood here in Holly's apartment he could no longer avoid the truth. For the past…It had to have been years if not a decade or two that he was not in love with Holly Short. As he thought about it he came to realize that he knew exactly when he had started trying to convince himself of that fact. It had been 24 years ago. She had just lost a Sprite in Hamburg, Germany, and he had been called in to help her out. The incident had almost gotten her, the newest addition to the Recon team, fired and him suspended.
Trouble started laughing; he wasn't sure why. He figured it was just another sign of his insanity. He spun around the room once and asked, to Holly, even though he knew she couldn't answer, "Why'd you leave me?" He knew the answer, the future of their civilization. That was he excuse every time 'the future of our civilization depends on it'.
He had known for many days he was going insane, but he knew he officially was when he heard Holly's voice, clear as if she were standing right next to him. "Why do you care?" she asked.
Certifiably insane in his mind, Trouble tried to form a reply that wouldn't admit everything, "Because…" he couldn't come up with anything, so he figured he'd tell the truth, "Because I love you!" he slid down the wall and sat there, eyes closed, for a few minutes.
It would have gone on longer, but his phone rang. He composed himself quickly as he grabbed his phone. "Kelp," he answered it, his voice able to convince whoever was on the other end that nothing was wrong.