Dark Night of the Soul
A/N I do not own Salvation but I'm really loving it and hope it renews. My muse made me write this after the last episode.
Grace sat back shocked by the turn of events with the President and Vice President. Whatever was going on was more far reaching than she had originally thought. Dark forces were at play. Her first instinct was to call Darius but after considering for a moment she put the phone back down. She had left him with Teresa aka Tess the woman he loved who was now available. They were likely locked in each other's arms by now. Her second instinct was to call Harris but again she stopped herself. She didn't really trust him anymore especially not after the dream she had had that morning.
She sighed and sat back, heart racing feeling helpless. She jumped, startled when her phone rang. She hoped it was Zoe, her daughter. "Hello!"
"Grace, its Darius," he spoke so softly she barely heard him, inexplicably her heart clenched.
"Darius. You evidently watched the news."
"I, I need to see you." He sounded a little breathless...
"Can it wait till morning? I'm rather tired." After having seen him with Teresa it had hurt even though, aside from a few kisses in Moscow, there was nothing really there.
At first there was silence than a whispered plea. "Please, Grace."
Those two words and the desperation in his tone did her in. Obvliously Teresa had left and after losing his company to his uncle he was devastated. "Okay why don't you come here."
"Thank you Grace." He hung up.
She took a deep breath trying to sort her feelings.
It didn't take long till the doorbell went off. Despite the grim situation there was something about Darius Tanz that brought joy to her heart.
She smiled slightly. "Come in."
"I know it's late and it's been a long day. I have to tell you something and it's bad."
"I already know about the President."
"No it's not that but I'm sure it's connected. The gravity tracker has been tampered with. It's much faster than it should be and it's programmed to collide with the asteroid once again on the trajectory of wiping out most of the north eastern hemisphere, our enemy. We suspect that gravity tracker that Harris and Claire supplied was tampered with to change course. "
She had led him over to the sofa. He swallowed heavily and sat down. She felt nauseous over the news. A third of the world's population would die.
Darius dropped his head in his hands "because of my rocket."
She grabbed his hand. "You can't blame yourself because of someone else's doings. You had pure intentions."
His breathing escalated and he trembled slightly, "And now I will be responsible for wiping out a 1/3 of the world."
She put her arms around him holding him tightly. "You are not reasonable. The monsters that knowingly tampered with it are."
His arms came around her tightly he concentrated on his breathing, it was the second time that day panic had taken over. His heart slowed down and he stopped shaking. "I don't have my company anymore."
"You are Darius Tanz you can do anything. I have complete faith in you." She whispered softly in his ear.
He gave a harsh laugh. "I fear it is blind faith." 'He pulled back to look in her eyes. "Why did you leave earlier?" His eyes reflected a shimmer of hurt.
"Teresa, the love of your life is single now; you can be happy and live the life you secretly wanted. I wanted to give you two some privacy."
He shook his head. "I don't know anymore, things have changed, we've grown up."
"Don't you think you owe it to yourselves to make sure?" It hurt her to say it but they were both in a similar situation. She hadn't completely given up on Harris yet either.
"What about …?" his voice trailed off as he asked regarding her solemnly with those dark eyes.
"Us?" She finished the sentence. "There will always be Moscow and who knows. Given the current state of affairs perhaps now isn't the best time to explore any other options."
He bit his lower lip causing the flutter in Grace's stomach to activate again. "Grace, you must know I am drawn to you."
She sighed. She hadn't expected him to be quite so honest. She nodded and smiled. "There is something there on my side as well."
He looked deeply into her eyes. It was a silent plea to not be alone. So much had happened to him that day he for once didn't want to be alone.
"Have you eaten?" she asked quickly wanting to lighten the intensity.
"No, I couldn't eat after everything that occurred today." He looked exhausted quite unlike his usually endless energy self.
"I haven't eaten either. How about I just make a quick omelette." She suggested watching him carefully.
"You are very kind." He nodded smiling softly.
"I have a feeling you could use some kindness today." She squeezed his shoulder as she got up and headed to the kitchen.
He got up and followed her. "At least let me provide some assistance."
"Okay then, could you turn the patio light on and pick some of the cherry tomatoes and some parsley? I'll add them to the omelette."
"I think I can handle that." He grinned and headed out.
As he stood outside in the cooler night air listening to the crickets chirp he picked the tomatoes. He remembered the wrenching panic he had felt when his uncle stole his company from him. It had driven him to the floor trying desperately to catch his breath and ease the panic that overwhelmed him. It reminded him of when he was little, when his father came home drunk and beat his mother and when he tried to stop him he was thrown against the wall so hard his ribs cracked. That helpless panic, that loss of control, had hit him again today. His uncle has taken him out of that environment and this time he had recreated it. His heart started racing again. He looked up at the sky, the stars and the moon. Soon a 1/3rd of the world would no longer be able to see them. Suddenly feeling dizzy he sank to his knees trying to focus on taking deep breaths. He wasn't a helpless child anymore and he never wanted to be like his uncle again. He was better than that. He closed his eyes and focused on Grace and the omelette she was making.
After a few minutes Grace wondered what was keeping Darius. Puzzled she looked out the door. With alarm she saw him on his knees and quickly yanked the door open.
"Darius, are you alright?"
He grinned at her sheepishly. "Sorry, just needed to catch my breath. I should have eaten today – it's just a dizzy spell. I'm rather embarrassed you saw it."
She sank down onto the ground beside him rubbing his arm. He smiled at her softly seeing the fear in her eyes. "Sorry Grace didn't mean to alarm you. I'm all right just tired."
She helped him to his feet and put an arm around his waist.
He whispered into her hair. "I won't keel over, I promise.'
"You better not, at least not until you've tasted my omelette. I'm not the world's best cook."
He laughed and opened his hand showing her the tomatoes and parsley.
After getting him to sit at the kitchen table she finished the omelettes and put a plate in front of him with a glass of milk.
He grinned devilishly. "Do I get cookies with my milk?"
"Maybe if you're a good boy and eat your entire omelette," she teased.
"Challenge accepted."
While they ate Grace got him to fill her in on what happened with his company.
"I know he is family but your uncle sounds like borderline SOB."
Darius choked back a laugh. "You're not wrong. Aside from my mother the rest of my family isn't worth being associated with."
"I'm sorry. You need to know I'm here for you. Whatever happens between me and Harris or you and Tess I think we sort of bonded and for however long this earth exists I'm here if you ever want to talk or have a bad omelette."
"You do yourself a disservice, Grace. The omelette is delicious and just what I needed." He closed his eyes for a moment then looked into hers. "And thank you I hope you know that goes both ways. I am honoured to have you as a friend."
She nodded then told him about Zoe.
"She'll come around - she loves you. Looks like we've both had a less then stellar day."
"What are we going to do about it."
"Honestly I don't know."
"I think getting some needed sleep will help maybe things will look better in the morning." Grace suggested.
He reluctantly got up not wanting to leave. "Thank you Grace, I needed this. Someone to talk to and something to eat."
She frowned and shook her head. "You aren't leaving - you are exhausted. You can stay here… to sleep."
He looked at her wide-eyed. "Like we did in Moscow? In each other's arms?"
She remembered despite the drug induced haze how safe she had felt in his arms when they fell asleep entwined on the sofa. She cleared her throat. "Maybe just for tonight when we could both use a little safety and comfort."
"I promise I'll behave …unless you give word that you don't want me too." His dark eyes sparkled and a little grin played on his mouth.
She smirked at him. "Fine."
"So just to be clear – kissing is off the table?"
Her heart started racing. "Mmmm I thought you were oh so tired."
He stepped closer. "We could put it to the test?"
She shrugged. "We'll see if you can handle it."
His lips were on hers softly then more urgently like he wanted to lose himself in her.
She entwined her hands in his dark wavy hair wanting to work all the anxiety of the day out through him. After a few moments she pulled back breathlessly. "Okay, I think we'd better stop now," Grace gasped after a few minutes. He had said in Moscow he was a romantic man but she knew he was also a passionate one and tonight he was full of fire. She just wasn't quite ready to jump into the flames yet.
He nodded looking flushed. "Are you sure you want me to stay?"
"Yes."
She washed up to find him sprawled on her bed fast asleep. He had stripped down to his boxers. She smiled and carefully, as to not awake him, crawled into bed cuddling up to him as best she could. His arm came around her; she felt his breath on her hair.
"Sweet dreams, Grace." He whispered sleepily. Her heart made a jump of alarm remembering the dream she had just that morning. She took a deep breath. "You too, Darius."
"Grace?" he mumbled.
"What Darius?"
"You never gave me that cookie."
She giggled and softly kissed his lips.
"Mmm that was sweet."
"Sleep now." She whispered.
His breathing evened out as he fell asleep his hand clasped with hers.