Title: Starting Forever

Ship: Maddy/Mark

Genre: Romance/Comfort

Word Count: 4478

Spoilers: the finale

Rated: R

Warning: Sexual Situations

Summary: Maddy and Mark's reunion before and after Jim walks in on them.

A/N: While I loved the M/M scene I feel that they totally missed out on a heartwarming reunion by going straight to the making out. Also I kinda hate that Reilly got a reaction to Wash and not Mark.

Thanks to crystalkei for she is awesome.

… … …

His lungs burn as he runs through the tree line, they've been out in this jungle for days with little sleep and little food, fighting both man and beast, exhaustion setting in for every one of his fellow soldiers days ago, but as Private Dunham finds him in his sector with a smirk not at all respectful of his higher rank telling him that there's a pretty girl back at camp looking for him, he forgets his tiredness or the insubordination of the rookie and sets off at a hard pace, his feet hitting the ground at speed that even amazes him.

He makes it back to camp out of breath, his hand reaching out to hold on to a tree for support as his eyes land on her, his heart pounding against his ribcage until he thinks it's going to rip out of his chest and he's sure it's not from the sprint he just finished. Her father told him she was okay but knowing that had done nothing to ease his worries, for days now he'd reminded himself that he was a soldier under orders, that fact stopped him from storming the gates the way he wanted and rip apart anyone that stood in his way of finding her.

She stands now no more than 15 feet away from him and he feels his legs could buckle as relief slams into him. Her hair is down in messy waves, not as polished as she typically wore it, more than likely from running her hands through it with worry. She has her back to him as she speaks to Reilly quietly, still he can see the way she fidgets, her head moving as she looks around, scanning the forest.

Reilly spots him first over her shoulder, a small quirk at her lips as their eyes meet and he nods gratefully knowing that she's the one who sent Dunham out to get him. He pushes off the tree and tries to stand up straight as his fellow corporal points him out to his girlfriend. He scans her quickly as she spins on her toes, looking for anything sign of the abuse he knows the Phoenix group has been inflicting on the people in the colony, grateful when he sees none.

Her eyes are wide as they find his, her mouth, the one that has kept him up many nights dreaming, parts as she goes to speak. He's moving again, jumping down the elevated terrain, reaching out for her when instead of words a crackled sob escapes her lips.

"Maddy," he says her name in reverence as he holds her against his armor, wishing he didn't have it on to feel her more closely. She doesn't say anything as she clings to him, her face pressed into his neck, he can feel the wetness of her tears against his skin, the shudder going through her body as she tries and fails to control her crying. Over her shoulder he sees Reilly give his girlfriend's back a sympathetic look before turning around, vaguely he hears her telling the rookie soldiers that are loitering to circulate, there's nothing for them to see. He's thankful, while he doesn't care that his comrades see the relief reuniting with his girlfriend has brought him, he knows she would hate to know people were watching as she broke down.

"Maddy," he repeats her name as her crying slows down to a sniffle, getting a hold of her chin he tips her head back until he can see her eyes. Still the beautiful brown he loves lit by her intelligence, his gut clenches as he finds that they have a ring of red around them, puffy from her tears.

"Oh Mark," she whispers, her voice hoarse as her bottom lip trembles. "I…"

He brushes his thumbs under her eyes trying to clean away the stains her tears left. "I know."

"Dad told me he saw you, but…" she breaths in, trying to steady herself before she continues. "Until I saw you for myself…"

"Are you okay?"he asks running his hands over her, he doesn't see any marks on her but he needs to be sure, the thought of someone harming her overwhelming him. "They didn't hurt you?"

"When they got to the gates, Josh and I took Zoe and hid like dad told us to," she answers. "And when mom got back she made sure we stayed inside as much as possible."

He lets out a breath of relief. "Good."

"What they did to Terra Nova, Mark, they've destroy our home," she gives him a brokenhearted look and he hates that he can't make it go away.

"Nothing we can't fix, Maddy," he tries. "We'll take it back and we'll fix it."

"People died, Mark," she whispers, her eyes filled with tears again. "Lt. Washington…"

"What about Wash?," he asks, dread filling him as another tear runs down her face, closing his eyes as she shakes her head sadly at him.

She doesn't need to answer for him understand her meaning, sorrow filling him for his CO, the Commander was their leader, but the Lieutenant was the one they all interacted with, their trainer. From basic training and onward she was the one they all answered to, the one they admired, feared and respected.

"We needed a diversion to get out," Maddy tells him a sad smile gracing her face. "She provided one."

"That sounds like her," Mark answers, clearing his throat when his voice comes out rough, his admiration for his fallen CO growing along with his gratitude, he had the woman he loved in his arms because of her sacrifice. "She kicked ass?"

Maddy lets out a watery laugh. "Of course."

He nods with emotion. "Good."

He pulls Maddy close again, taking as much comfort as she offered. He closes his eyes as she presses a small kiss against his neck and then another, he pulls back enough to find her lips with his own, his hands clenching her hair when she nips at his bottom lip, granting her access he moans into her mouth at the taste of her, it's been only days since he told her he loved her and kissed her good bye, but it feels like an eternity has passed. His hands are holding her by the waist, holding her to him when he hears someone clear their throat behind him.

"Sir?"

He sighs against her mouth, letting his forehead rest against hers for a moment before turning to the Private who interrupted them. He wonders about the expression on his face when the boy gives him a nervous look. "What?"

"Private Dunham on the line says he spotted something."

He rolls his eyes because Dunham is always spotting something that usually turns out to be nothing, still it wasn't something he can ignore. Turning back to Maddy, he smoothes a hand over her hair, her flushed face and dazed expression easing some of the tension he's carrying. In the hell they are all going through, he needs to hang on to this, the feelings that Maddy evoked, the way having her close caused him to react with excitement and love. Every soldier has a reason to fight, she was his. "You should go get settled in; I'll be back in a little while, okay?"

She gives him a small smile and nods as he takes a step back and turns away, the Private following him as they make their way back up the path he first came through.

It's nightfall by the time he makes it back to camp, Dunham's something turned out to actually be something, a pack of carnos wandering too close and as a result he and the others had worked hard getting rid of them and putting down more sonic mines in case they got too close again. Covered in dirt, he made quick use of the pond near by they'd been using as a shower.

He spots Maddy with her mother moving medical supplies, walking towards them he runs his hand over his wet hair, slightly amused that even in the circumstance they're in he still worries about the impression he makes on her parents.

"Dr. Shannon," he greets, moving quickly to relieve her from a heavy box she's trying to pick up.

"Mark," her mother says kindly, pointing out where he can put the box down. "It's good to see you're okay."

"You too, ma'am," he answers. "Glad you're all here."

"Hi," he turns to Maddy smiling at her.

"Hi, everything go okay?" Maddy asks as she moves to him, her hand touching a scratch on his arm.

"Nothing we couldn't handle," he reassures reaching out to smooth the worry line on her forehead, his palm cradling her face.

"Maddy is done helping me," her mother proclaims as she looks at them with a soft expression.

"Mom," Maddy starts.

"No, we're done, I'm going to go and tend to your father's wounds," Elisabeth answers, gathering supplies, before turning away she flashes them a grin. "So he'll be too busy to go and interrupt private moments."

Mark grins even as his face turns red, getting her meaning. "Your dad might want to shoot me half the time but at least I seem to have your mom on my side."

Maddy shakes her head letting out a small chuckle. "She finds you charming."

"Hmm," he hums reaching out for her, kissing the corner of her mouth, before moving to her mouth fully.

Maddy sighs into his mouth, pulling back enough to speak. "I want to be alone with you, Mark."

He swallows hard at her words, the urgency he hears in them also reflecting in her eyes. Taking her hand he intertwines their fingers, leading her away from camp to a dense part of forest, he doesn't come to a full stop before she's grabbing a fist full of his olive colored shirt, pulling him towards her as she leans against a tree trunk. She's on her toes as she reaches up to kiss him urgently. Pulling her flush against him he returns her intensity, lips slated over each other, hands touching every available piece of skin, his body already reacting to her innocent touches.

"I missed you so much," she whispers between kisses, her lips parted as she breaths as hard as him.

"Me, too," he kisses her again, his tongue tracing the seam of her lips, smiling when she moans softly, her small hands holding on to his biceps, nails slightly digging into his skin when his body rubs against hers.

A roar in the distance breaks their moment and he turns his head calculating how far the animal is from them.

"Carnotaur."

He turns back to her reaching out he plays with the ends of her hair, pushing it away from her face. "It's okay, perimeter's mined, besides you can tell from the call it's just a juvenile."

She scoffs and he grins amused as she gets her 'homework' face on.

"Yeah, actually they may be smaller but juveniles are even more vicious, kinda like hormonal teenagers with claws," she rambles and he shakes his head a small chuckle leaving his lips before he leans in cutting her off, pleased when she returns the kiss once again with enthusiasm. His hand at her neck starts to trail down when he hears movement behind her, pulling back his eyes widen when something far scarier than a carno appears behind the bushes.

"Whoa,"

"Dad," she answers running a hand over her hair as he pulls away nervously.

"Don't mind me," Jim Shannon says uncomfortably as his eyes shift from Maddy to him. "I was just passing through."

He wants to say something, maybe apologize to the man, but he flounders knowing anything he says will make the situation even more awkward, a hasty retreat the better option as much as he hates to admit it. "I have sentry duty," he gets out, cringing inwardly, it sounds like a lie even to his own ears, he takes another step, hearing Maddy as he leaves blurt out she's leaving too as she passes her father in a hurry.

He takes the long way around back to camp, his eyes finding hers as she sits on a log with Zoe, he gives her a small grin when she rolls her eyes at him, the campfire allowing him to see her cheeks are still flushed. He walks towards her, bending down he kisses her forehead as she tips her head back to look up at him, smiling over at her little sister he slips a piece of paper into her hand, giving her a look before walking away again.

Much later in the night, the forest is still and quiet except for the water running in the stream a few feet in front of him, he lays back on his sleeping bag, his eyes to the night sky like every other night, his mind on Maddy. Unlike nights before instead of worrying over her safety he wonders and hopes she'll show up. The rustling in the distance alerts him of movement, holding his weapon at his side he waits to see if he needs to raise it, smiling as she appears in the clearing, a smile on her own face.

"Sorry I'm late," she says quietly as she walks over to him, lying down next to him.

He shakes his head in response, letting go of his gun, he pulls her into his arms, her head resting on his chest, an arm around his waist. They don't speak, as they look up together at the blanket of stars covering the sky, each brighter than the next. He pulls her closer, pressing a kiss into her hair as she sighs, her hold on him tightening as she presses her face into his chest, turning more to her side when she looks up at him. He can feel the heat of her gaze as she studies every one of his features, his fingers trialing down her arms as she pulls herself up to lay more on top of him, her face inches from his.

"I love you," she whispers, he feels the words against his mouth as she speaks, his heartbeat roaring in his ears at her declaration. When he had first told her he loved her he'd worried that she wouldn't return the sentiment, he's been sure about his feelings since the very beginning, feeling sometimes like he's loved her since he first laid eyes on her, but wondering if she felt the same in such a short time of knowing him. Hearing her say it then and now, fills him with a happiness he was sure he'd never felt before.

"I love you, Maddy," he returns, his heart giving a hard thump in his chest at the bright smile she gives him. He closes his eyes as she leans in and kisses him so softly it's more like the whisper of a touch. His hands losing themselves in the waves of her hair, he deepens the kiss, pleased when she lets out a sound of approval, pushing herself to rest fully on him, he groans at her movement , her body flushed on top of his, meeting at every point.

"Maddy," he bites out when she shifts, brushing against a part of him that is quickly getting excited at the possibilities of where they can take this. Up to now, their moments alone have been innocent, his control over his desire for her brought on by her over protective father and his own fear of pushing too far, too soon and losing her. He wants her, he's young and she's gorgeous, he's wanted her since the first time he first saw her, her slim figure, pouty mouth and expressive eyes haunting his nights until he'd have to give into using his hand or spend a restless night. But more than wanting her physically he's known from the very beginning that he wants a lifetime with her, that more than anything else tempering his desire.

Now though, as her hands touch him, her body against his, her mouth warm and sweet open to him, that control was quickly crumbling.

"Maddy, we should stop before we can't," he pants out, his eyes shut tight and his jaw clenching when she moves down, her perfect set of white teeth sinking into the skin at his collarbone, her tongue smoothing out the sting from her love bite. "You're killing me here."

"I don't want to stop," she answers, her face red but resolved.

He whispers her name helplessly at her answer, groaning when she shifts her hips pressing herself where he's hard.

"I don't want to stop," she repeats taking his face in her hands. "I have spent over a week without you, worrying that something could happen to you out here, that something could happen to me there and that one of us or both could die without ever being this close to each other, I promised myself that if I got to see you again, I wouldn't waste it."

"Kiss you before we die?" he asks remembering their night in a tree covered in smelly mud not too long ago.

She grins with a nod, a pretty blush on her face. "Except this time it's make love before we die."

He stares at her in amazement, amused and pleased by her boldness, letting out a chuckle as she rolls onto her back pulling him with her.

"I want this, Mark," she says seriously as they settle. "More than anything I want to be with you."

"I want forever, Maddy," he confesses his body primed but his head worried of moving too fast.

She gives him another brilliant smile, her hand touching his cheek tenderly. "So let's start forever tonight."

He kisses the inside of her palm not surprised when she uses her logic on him. "I love you," he whispers again as he leans down kissing her softly before trailing his lips down her neck grinning when her breath catches as she repeats his words. His lips leave a wet line over her collarbone and the scope of her breasts looking up to see her reaction as he opens the first button of her shirt and then another and another until it lays open before him.

Taking a deep breath he's mesmerized by her skin, her breasts covered by a simple cotton bra doesn't take away from her beauty if anything it accents it, she doesn't need much to take his breath away. Her flat belly moves with every shaky breath she takes, he can see the self-consciousness in her eyes and he hopes as he leans down and kisses her tenderly she realizes she has nothing to worry about. It seems to work as she turns the kiss, her hands reach out for his own shirt pushing it over his head with his help. He bites down on his lip as she reaches out, her touch feather-light as she runs hands over his chest trailing down until she reaches his belt.

"I don't have anything," he whispers as she undoes the loops of his belt.

"I thought soldiers were ready for anything," she teases dragging the zipper down slowly, her knuckles brushing against him.

"Not the kind of action we usually prepare for," he gets out through his teeth as she cups him.

"Hmm," she hums her eyes flashing up at him, darker than usual when he bucks into her hand. "It's okay, when we started dating my mom made sure I'd be prepare just in case."

He raises an eyebrow, watching as she blushes.

"She gave me a shot to prevent pregnancy, it lasts for months," Maddy answers his silent question and shrugs. "She said we we're teenagers, you're handsome and things happen."

"So now not only will I fear your dad, I won't be able to look your mother in the face," he trolls, his lips quirking as she laughs, the sound trailing off as his own hands start working on her pants, he doesn't waste time at pulling them and her underwear in one go.

"You really are perfect," he murmurs as takes her in completely bare to him for the first time, he ignores the protest on her lips, silencing it as he kneels between her legs helping her part them, he lifts one of her slender legs and kisses her ankle softly, moving up over her calve, reaching her knee, his tongue leaving a wet trail, all the while his eyes on hers as he learns the taste and feel of her skin. Her breath is coming out in broken puffs of air as he reaches her core, up close he takes in her heady scent.

"You sure?" he asks once more, moving forward when she gives him a jerky nod. She cries out as his tongue touches her and he has to close his eyes as his body coils further, she tastes better than anything he's ever tried. His hands at her thighs, he opens her further his head lost between them as he feasts on her. Licking at her slit, he teases her opening with his tongue pressing in when she bucks against his mouth, her hands fisting the sleeping bag underneath them.

She moans his name when his finger takes over and his mouth moving over her clit, he lets out a sound of his own as her body pulses tightly around his finger, wanting nothing more than to cover her with his body and sink into her. He holds off, thrusting his finger in and out of her getting her used to the feeling. She's wet under the manipulation of his hand, lost in sensation. He can feel her body getting ready and as he looks up at her he's breathless at the picture she presents, eyes closed, lips parted, her body flushed with arousal from head to toe. Giving her clit one more flick matching the movement of his hand he watches as she unravels. He keeps caressing her as she rides out her orgasm, laying a soft kiss on the inside of her thigh as she slowly starts to come down.

Making a hasty removal of his pants he's over her when she finally opens her eyes, they shine bright as she looks up at him. Leaning on one arm, he brushes her hair away from her eyes, his fingertips drawing over her cheekbone down to the dimple that peaks as she smiles at him.

"You okay?"

"Hmm," she purrs, the sound going straight to his groin. "Never better."

"Good," he answer huskily, reaching down he takes a hold of himself, running his length over her slit, closing his eyes as he's covered with her wetness. Nudging at her opening he presses in just an inch, pausing as she gasps, her hands taking a hold of his biceps. "This is going to hurt at first, just stay with me, okay?"

She nods as she bites her lips, shifting her hips. He holds on to them to stop her, he's on a hair trigger as is.

"Easy," he whispers as she lets out a huff, sinking in another inch and then another, the tightness he had felt on his finger is nothing compared to the tightness he feels now, her walls fitting him like a glove.

"Mark, please," she begs as she tries to move again.

He groans, his head falling to her shoulder as he pulls back and pushes back in, sinking into her in one go. He freezes as he hears her breath catch, multiplying in his head as she throbs around him, waiting for her to relax.

He's at 8 x 14 = 112 when she lets out a soft breath against his ear, her hands running down his spine. He shifts, pulling out a bit, the sound she lets out this time is throaty and not lined with pain. He pulls back further before pushing back in.

"Oh, god," she gasps as he sets a pace, raising her legs, she wraps them high around his waist and it's his turn to call out to the deity as the action opens her to him even more allowing him to sinking in her fully. He crushes his mouth against her, his tongue plunging into her mouth, his hands cupping her bottom angling her hips as he thrust harder. Maddy gives as good as she gets, her hips meeting his every single time, her hand raking over his scalp as she moves down the column of his neck, sucking at the skin.

He grunts as her muscles hold him in a vice grip, it's all too much, the feel of her, her heat and tightness burning him up.

"Mark," she breaths out as they move faster and harder. "I need-"

He already knows, he can feel how close she is, her movements getting as desperate as his, reaching between them he finds her clit once more, his thumb circling it. It has the desired effect; she tilts her head back as her body bows under his, the veins on her throat visible as she lets go with a shout. Hiking her legs a little higher he plunges in her a few more times, his own orgasm fast approaching, he sinks to the hilt once more as he spills inside her, his face against her throat as he groans out once more, his arms hugging her close as his body gives a final shudder.

They stay still as they let their heartbeats and breathing regulate, he's coming back down to earth when he hears her let out a laugh.

Pulling back he finds her smiling widely, her eyes dancing with joy.

"What?" he asks grinning, her smile contagious.

"Everything I've read about sex completely under sold that," she answers happily.

"Oh?" he chuckles as she nods eagerly, rolling over he settles on his back, pulling her to him.

"We're doing this as often as we can," she answers as she presses a kiss over his heart, her hand resting on his stomach.

His body reacts to her comment as he laughs harder. "You're just using me for my body."

She looks up at him with a teasing heated look that has him half hard again. "It's a good body."

He grins into the kiss she gives him as she straddles on his lap, closing his eyes as she starts to kiss her way down his body.

Tomorrow they'd have to fight again, defend their people and their home, tomorrow they'd have to deal with the loss they've already suffered and with any more that might be coming their way, but tonight was theirs, they were starting their forever tonight and that was more than enough to face tomorrow.

a/n: for now this is going down as complete, but as I re-read it ideas started popping up so there's a chance this will become a multi-chaptered story.