TRIANGLES- Season 4, Episode 12
Prologue
It was 4am...and Michael was wide awake. Dreaming about Jaime was a luxury he'd scarcely allowed himself when she was single and unattached. Now that she was happy with Steve - and married - even his subconscious mind rebelled at the thought that he could possibly still be entertaining feelings for her. And yet there she'd been again, invading his sleep - flashing that smile. This dream had been especially vivid, probably due in part to Jaime being back in California...and due to see him for an exam in the morning. It hadn't been the sort of dream that a doctor who already struggled to maintain impartiality ought to (or even wanted to) have! When he and Jaime had been just about to reach the point of no return, Michael's subconscious mind had forced him awake and - knowing further sleep would be impossible - he was drinking coffee in his office at National Medical, attempting to put some distance between his desires and the light of day.
Less than an hour away, Steve and Jaime were awakened by desires too...but they intended to act on them. They had more than earned it! The Peacekeepers Conference had (finally!) gone off without a hitch. While no binding agreements had been reached, all sides were at least talking...bringing hope for an end to the Cold War. The OSI returned to business as usual and Steve and Jaime returned to Ojai to begin two weeks of vacation.
By Jaime's choice, they were spending the two weeks at home, just luxuriating in the joy of being together and (after everything they'd been through) alive. There had been no further squabbles about Chris Williams' guilt or innocence. Steve could see now that Jaime hadn't been defending him; she'd simply been demanding the entire truth. Training was being set aside for the next two weeks in the interest of (well-deserved) rest and revitalization. It had also become obvious from her handling of the hotel surveillance before the Conference that Jaime no longer needed it. What she didn't remember from her past training, she more than made up for with instincts that matched (and occasionally exceeded) Steve's.
Right now though, their instincts were leading them in a direction that had nothing to do with the OSI - and toward what they'd been longing for in the last few days: a blissful, intimate reunion of their souls and bodies.
In his office at National (in spite of his best efforts), Michael was still picturing the same sort of union...with a slight change in the participants, of course. He had exactly five more hours to force the unwelcome images from his mind.