A/N: Thank you to my reviewers CharlotteAshmore, Erik'sTrueAngel, TheRYU, JosephineM, lathill, Twyla Mercedes and anakerie.

This is a little interlude I wanted to do before I write the second tumblr prompt – it's necessary for what's coming next.

"Okay, I'm done for today," sighed Belle, leaning back from the monitors and stretching. She looked over to where Eli was tapping out code. "You seen Rush? He left an hour ago, I assumed he was coming back."

Eli shrugged. "I'm just making the most of the relative calm," he said. "If you find him, try to distract him, would you? I need to get this program finished and I don't need him 'helping' me."

Belle chuckled. "Understood. See you later?"

"There's a shot glass in the bar with your name on it," he nodded, and she grinned, straightening her shoulders and leaving the room.

She tried his quarters first, finding them empty, and then the mess hall, though she wasn't in the least bit surprised when she didn't find him there. She even stuck her head around the door of her own quarters; he would occasionally surprise her by getting into her bed and waiting for her to turn up, but he was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, she tapped her fingers on her leg as she pondered his possible location. Nodding to herself, she set off back down the corridor.

Rush was standing on the observation deck when she found him, staring out at the stars streaming past them as Destiny cut through the heavens. Belle stepped up beside him, and he acknowledged her with a slight smile, but didn't speak. She leant on the rail beside him, letting the immensity of the cosmos fill her vision.

"E lucevan le stelle," she said softly, and he gave her a brief, curious look.

"You like opera," he observed.

"Does that surprise you?" she asked, with a smile. He eyed her calmly, his gaze searching, boring into her and making her shiver. His intense scrutiny lasted only a moment, and then he looked away to stare out at the stars once more.

"You constantly surprise me, Doctor French," he said quietly.

There was a moment of silence. The atmosphere in the room was heavy, and Belle prompted him again, trying to bring him back from wherever his mind was wandering.

"Do you like Tosca, then?" she asked, and he glanced at her.

"I do. But I think my favourite is La Bohème," he said, and Belle bit her lip.

"Oh! But it's so sad!"

Rush smiled, a brief twitch of his lips. "Indeed. But that's opera, isn't it?" he said dryly. "What is it they say? Opera in three lines: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl dies."

Belle watched him, his eyes far away, his expression closed off. He was being oddly distant with her, and she tried to lighten the mood.

"There's always Cosi Fan Tutte," she suggested, and he barked a laugh.

"Yes. There's always that."

They settled into silence once more, Belle watching the stream of light as Destiny sped past a thousand galaxies, past millions of stars, blooms of colour and bright trails in the blackness of space, swirls of heat and light and life in the midst of death and darkness. She heaved a deep breath.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she sighed. "No matter what happens to us, no matter what we find out there, this, right here, is a beautiful thing. And no one we know back home will ever see it."

He didn't respond, and she turned her head slightly.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, and Rush's mouth twisted.

"I made the mistake of working out what date it was," he said quietly. "Apparently today is the anniversary of Gloria's death."

"Oh." Belle wasn't sure what to say. "I'm so sorry."

He nodded curtly, looking weary. "I had no idea," he admitted. "I haven't…I haven't really been thinking of her all that much."

He looked pained, as though it were difficult to admit. As though he ought to feel guilty. Belle wanted to reach out to him, to take him in her arms and kiss him better, but she wasn't sure he'd welcome it. She tried words, instead.

"I know what it's like to lose someone close to you," she said gently. "I lost my mother, eight years ago."

His eyes flicked across to hers, then away again. "I'm sorry, Belle."

"That's okay," she shrugged. "It was no one's fault. Cancer."

He nodded slowly, and she recalled that his wife had also died of cancer.

"Did it get better?" he asked softly, and Belle pulled a face.

"No," she admitted. "It got easier. I don't think it ever gets better. You still have those random three a.m. thoughts; guilt over things you did, or didn't do. Why didn't you spot it earlier? Why didn't you suggest they get a second opinion? Why didn't you spend less time in class and more time with them?" She sighed, and Rush nodded, as if in understanding. Belle bit her lip.

"The first time I got through a day without thinking about Mum, I felt so guilty," she confessed. "Like I couldn't bear that my life was going on without her."

"Yes," he agreed quietly. "The first time – with you – when you kissed me. When we…" He waved his hand awkwardly. "I felt like a complete bastard. Almost as though I'd forgotten her."

Belle groaned, covering her face with her hands. "Oh, God, and I was such a bitch to you! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. It's not as though I didn't enjoy it." A brief, wry smile flitted across his face, and then he turned back to gaze out at the stars again. Belle sighed.

"Eventually I started telling myself that Mum would want me to go on," she said. "I know how much she loved me, she wouldn't want me to sit inside and have no life. She wanted me to go to college and get my dream job, and she'd be so pleased if she could see me now." She smiled at him. "She'd be so proud that I was out here, that I was seeing all this." She opened her arms, embracing the heavens as the ship sped along. The corner of his mouth twitched

"I wish I could have told her what it's like," she said softly. "How incredible it is out here. How lonely, and difficult, and terrifying it is. And how wonderful."

He turned to face her then, reaching up to brush her cheek. To her surprise he gently cupped her face with his hands and kissed her slowly on the mouth, his lips soft and yielding. Belle was rather taken-aback by the tenderness of the kiss, and when he pulled away she simply stood there, wide-eyed and a little breathless. Rush took a step towards the door, and held out his hand without a word. Belle took it, sliding her palm across his and feeling him grip her. He turned from her, and she let him lead her out of the room and along the corridor to his quarters. Belle watched him from the corner of her eye as they walked, noticing the way the light glinted on his hair, the play of shadows in his eyes and cheekbones. He looked tired; she had not seen him sleep in over nineteen hours, and she wished she could persuade him to rest more.

She opened her mouth to ask him something, to break the heavy atmosphere between them, to fill the silence, but closed it again, biting her lip. There seemed to be something unspoken there, something telling her that he needed her to be still, to leave the empty air uncluttered by their words, by defensiveness and mixed messages, by their own insecurities. Their footsteps echoed strangely in the corridors, and Belle could feel something rising up within her, something that made her stomach clench and her breath quicken, almost like nervousness. A strange aura flowed around him, a kind of electrical charge; it was as though she could see sparks dancing between them. She felt the familiar feeling of desire deep in her belly, and concentrated on the feel of his hand, cool within hers, his fingers gripping her gently.

Once at his quarters, Rush let them inside and immediately kicked off his shoes and peeled off his shirt before taking her in his arms. Belle let her hands slide up his naked back, and she looked up at him, somewhat confused by his intense mood.

"Rush…" she began, but he cut her off with a finger to her lips, before bending his head to kiss her. His lips pushed hers apart, and Belle let out a hum of enjoyment as his tongue entered her, softly stroking. His hands lifted, fingers pushing through her hair, and Belle pressed herself against him with a tiny moan, feeling the hardness of his body against hers. The tip of his tongue caressed her, stroking along her teeth and the roof of her mouth, sliding across her own tongue. Belle ached for him to undress her, and wriggled slightly in his arms, letting her hands slide down to unbuckle his belt. He allowed her to unfasten his pants and push them off, and slid his hands up inside her vest, gently squeezing her. Belle gasped into his mouth as he pushed the vest up, lifting her arms to allow him to pull it over her head. She immediately reached behind to unhook her bra, and let it fall away, her pale breasts gleaming in the warm light of the room.

His hand cupped her, his thumb stroking over her nipple, and he gently kissed along her jaw and down her neck, making Belle bite her lip to keep from moaning. His tongue flickered out, ghosting over her pulse point, and her fingers clutched at his shoulders at the sensation. Rush slid his hands down to her sweats, pushing them over her hips, and Belle toed off her sneakers, thankful she hadn't been wearing the army-issue boots she sometimes used. She pressed herself against him, both of them clad only in their underwear, and she could feel the rigid line of him against her stomach, the hard heat of him. She felt a fierce tug of desire in her lower belly, and she slid her hands up over his shoulders to cup his face, kissing him softly.

He moved her gently towards his bed, laying her down and lying beside her, his hand stroking down over the curve of her hip. His thumb tucked into the waistband of her panties, slowly sliding them down. Belle lifted her knees so that he could take them off, and pushed at his own underwear, dragging it down until he took it off himself. She ran her eyes over him as he turned back to her, focusing on his wiry arms and thin chest with their small, compact muscles, formed from nervous energy and adrenalin, from sleepless nights and pent-up irritation. Fine dark hairs spread across his thighs and forearms, shining in the light, and she ran a fingertip up his thigh and into the thicker hair at the top, gently tracing the soft sac of skin between his legs, cupping his balls with her fingers and making him clench his jaw. She traced the line of his cock, where it lay against the flat of his stomach, thick and dark next to the paler skin of his belly. His skin was soft and smooth atop the hard core, and she wrapped her hand around him, squeezing him and making him catch his breath.

Rush reached up, stroking her hair back, and kissed her, his tongue parting her lips and making her let out a tiny moan. His hand moved down her body, gently stroking her breast before dipping into the hollow of her waist and sliding around to cup her rear. She slid her own hand around his waist, pulling him closer, and his fingers danced back across her hip, inching their way down between her legs as he rolled her onto her back. He lay on his side, his body against hers, his tongue gently teasing her as his fingers stroked her.

Belle gasped as he slid one finger in between her folds, spreading her silky juices, and he let out a deep sigh of satisfaction. Her fingers tightened on his back as he slowly slipped a finger inside her, the pad of his thumb rubbing circles on her clit. She buried her head in between his neck and shoulder, her pelvis rocking against his hand to increase the pressure, and he kissed her cheek and down her neck as he worked. He was teasing her towards orgasm, his thumb and fingers moving in a slow rhythm, and Belle reached up to kiss him, moaning quietly into his mouth as he rubbed at her. He broke the kiss, trailing his mouth down her neck and chest to fasten his lips around her nipple.

Belle could feel herself nearing her peak, her body stiffening and tensing as he suckled at her, his tongue swirling around her. He slipped another finger into her, stretching her, pushing deeper inside her, and she clung to him, her breath heaving, her lips parted. She came with a gasp, pushing her face into his hair as he raised his head, a blush rising up from her chest to warm her cheeks. Rush withdrew his fingers from her as she twitched in his arms, and moved on top of her, lying between her thighs, her body limp and boneless.

She could feel him against her, hot and rigid, could sense his need to be inside her. His breath was a little ragged, his eyes dark, and he kissed her neck as she lifted her hips slightly, her soft flesh closing around the head of his cock. Rush groaned quietly, pushing himself up on his elbows, and he pressed his forehead to hers, looking deep into her eyes before kissing her. His fingers moved up her body to cup her cheeks, the stickiness of her own fluids coating them. She could smell her arousal on him, mixed with his own warm, musky scent, which made her desire him all the more. She wrapped her legs around him, digging her heels into his rear, and Rush pushed into her with a deep groan, making her body curve up into him, her head dropping back. His hands moved down to her hips, curling around them, pulling himself deeper when she lifted her knees, and she let out a moan of pleasure as she took him all the way inside.

He bent to kiss the hollow of her clavicle, licking up the long line of her pale throat to her mouth, and Belle made a tiny noise of satisfaction as his lips found hers. His fingers threaded through her hair, holding her in place as he kissed her, and she pressed her breasts against his chest, her fingers gently scoring his shoulders. He began to move, slowly, gently, his actions quite different to their usual rough, frenzied fucking. She could feel every bit of him, the calmness of his movements meaning that he could pull out almost all the way and slowly slide back inside her. The sensation was incredible; he was pressing against her just right, the scent and the heat of his body making her head spin. She could feel how wet she was, the result of her earlier orgasm and the sensations he was creating. He felt so good, hard and thick within her, the tight muscles of his arms and chest surrounding her, pushing her down into the bed.

She ran her smooth thighs up and down his sides, folding her legs around him, pulling him closer, and he kissed her, his hair hanging in her face, his stubble scraping along her cheeks. Belle licked along his jawline, the tip of her tongue tracing the inner slopes of his lips before he slipped his tongue into her mouth with a soft grunt from deep in his chest that made her belly clench. Rush continued to move inside her, his thrusts gentle, slow, sheathing himself fully within her before pulling out again. Belle could feel herself building to another climax, and her hands tightened on his shoulders. He kissed her gently, his hands stroking her hair back from her face, his expression full of tender concentration, and she lifted her hips to meet him, feeling him quicken slightly. He slipped his arms beneath her, one around her back, the other hand cradling her head, pulling her close against him.

Belle tucked her head in beside his as he quieted his movements, rocking gently against her, slowly building the pressure, his breath cool on her ear. She could feel it coming. She slid her own arms around him, holding him tight, and threw her head back as stars burst behind her eyes, constellations whirling through her vision as she came with a long, moaning cry. She heard him gasp and felt him shudder as he followed her, felt him pulse inside her, his grip tightening momentarily as he pressed his face into the hollow between her neck and shoulder. He continued to make tiny, thrusting movements, emptying himself into her, and she felt a wave of heat pass from his body into hers, burning through her as he held her close.

Belle was unable to speak, her breath hitching in her throat as her vision returned. He was taking deep, shaking lungfuls of air, and she held him tight, her fingers stroking his back. Shivers were still running pleasantly over her body, but she felt something more than the after-effects of orgasm. There was a closeness there, a tenderness that she had sometimes felt, that she had occasionally sensed from him, but that neither of them had acknowledged. Slowly, he loosened his grip on her and pushed himself up on his elbows. He was gazing down at her as though he wasn't sure she was real, and his look of affectionate disbelief, combined with her blissful state, made tears prick the back of Belle's eyes. She blinked rapidly to clear them, and his lips twitched in a half-smile. His hands cupped her cheeks, thumbs stroking over her smooth skin, and he bent to press a kiss to her brow. Belle swallowed.

"Nicholas," she faltered. "I…"

His kiss cut her off, soft lips drinking her words, and she melted into him. Eventually he pulled back, drawing a finger across her cheek, and nodded once.

"Yes," he said quietly.