Adoration

At night, Commander Up was allowed to shower Taz with affection. It was a silent agreement they'd had ever since they fought their way out of her quinceañera with nothing but cake knives and a punch bowl. That night, then-Lieutenant Up sat at the end of her bed, holding her hand until she fell asleep. Every night they were together – every night, now that they were on an assignment together – he would come into her room, just as she was falling asleep, and hold her hand. Sometimes he would kiss her forehead before he left. Sometimes, Taz locked her door. Coming back to Earth from Bug Planet, Taz finally unlocked her door. She had been angry at him for so long, that was why she took an assignment while he was getting over his injury. No matter how mad at him she was, she still flew back to be a part of this mission.

There was a scowl on her face when he walked in. He sat just above her knees, and she looked away when he gently picked up her hand. It had been so long since that quinceañera. Her hair was long back then, and it tumbled around her angry face and over her ripped, bloody dress that made her look soft when he first saw her. The robots had strung her up a tree like a piñata. The first thing she did when he got her down was grab a cake knife and a table leg as weapons. The punch bowl became her helmet soon afterwards. Taz was feisty in a fight, but she was always small, and once she got to the G.L.E.E. Academy, she was always young. She had bullies, and back before Up was famous, he fought them with her. Never hard enough to keep them away forever because how else was she going to learn to fight? But hard enough because he couldn't stand to see that small, thin frown with downcast eyes.

He picked up her hand and kissed her palm. With a sleepy, nasal sigh, she scooted back towards the wall. It was an invitation to lie down next to her. He didn't want to lie next to her – well, actually, he did, which was exactly why he shouldn't. But Taz wanted him to, and what if she needed it after witnessing his near-death? He laid himself down on top of the covers, and Taz huddled around him, her tired face still set in a scowl.

"Damn you and your big damn heart," she whispered into his chest.

He ruffled her mohawk and bent down to kiss her atop her head. The first time he did that was after she graduated from the Academy. He hadn't congratulated her with more than a handshake and a punch on the arm, but when he visited her that night, he'd kissed her on the forehead. She didn't cry back then, but she did now.

"Don't you dare leave me, pendejo!" she sobbed. "Don't you dare die on me!"

"Taz, I'm still here," Up assures her in his gruff voice.

"Idiota! You're all I have left!" She clasped her hands around his neck and gave him a fierce look.

"That's not true, Taz. You have friends now: Bug, an' February an' Specs an' Krayonder..."

"It's not the same. Maybe everything we've been through doesn't mean anything to you, but it means the world to me, Up." There it was, the stubborn set of her chin, the one he adored so much. The one that told everybody just how honest or determined she was.

"You mean the world to me, Taz." Normally, Taz would shake his words off and make fun of him. Now was different. Now, she buried her head in his chest again and sobbed. He rubbed her back. "I'm here, Taz, and I'm never going away."

"You're not supposed to let me down, oyes?" Watching her cry wasn't a pretty sight. She actually wiped her eyes (and nose) on his uniform shirt. "Don't... don't go tonight, okay? Just stay here. Conmigo."

"Of course, Taz."