So. This idea came to me last night at around... oh, midnight or so. So, obviously, I had to write it before I forgot it. :D So, before you all yell at me for getting the scene wrong, I know I did. I was writing entirely from memory, and with my mother deleting this episode from the DVR and YouTube's lack of videos containing this entire scene, what little I could work with was in my head. So there's my little debrief on that. Other than that, this is nothing but an incredibly short piece of Hal/Karen fluff, and if Stephen Spielberg is reading this, Karen had better be back next season, because we haven't even gotten a kiss on screen from these two and we have to leave it to imaginations like mine to fill in the cracks! (Darn it, Tom, why did you have to open the door? *shakes fist*)
Ahem.
Falling Skies isn't mine. If it was, Hal would have swooped in for a daring Karen rescue already. :)
Karen Nadler opened the door in front of her, smiling as is squeaked on its hinges to reveal a small, daintily decorated room. She glanced around as she dropped her things on the small quilted bed. "Wonder who she was," she said, pushing stray blonde hair out of ocean blue eyes as she turned to look at the handsome young man who had followed her. "The girl that lived here," she supplied, on the off chance that he didn't know what she was talking about. She assumed that the clarification wasn't necessary, though; he probably understood what she was talking about. He understood her more than anyone else she'd ever known.
He smiled at her, a crooked grin that melted her heart. She turned to look out the window to hide the oncoming blush. Hal Mason was cocky enough; she didn't need to encourage him.
Hal picked up a model horse sitting on a shelf, turning it over in his hands inquisitively before his dark eyes caught a glimpse of a very familiar set of books. He set the horse down and instead reached for a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. "She liked Harry Potter," he said. Karen smiled at the sound of amusement in his voice. "My dad used to read these to me." He laughed at the memory. "I always fell asleep. He read 'em all to Ben."
"That's Ben," she said quietly a smile playing on her lips. "Maybe Lourdes can read them to you," Karen said sarcastically, turning to give him a meaningful look in the eye.
"Come on, she's just being nice," Hal assured her, placing the book back on the shelf.
"She's just trying to get into your pants," she replied bluntly, smiling at him. "Can't say I blame her," she thought to herself as she strained to keep her eyes from roaming over his body.
"Karen!" he exclaimed, but she cut off whatever weak comeback he had planned to say.
"Don't give me that," she told him, pulling her boyfriend forward by the front of his jacket before wrapping her arms around his neck. Her fingers threaded through his soft dark hair, and she felt electricity shoot through her body as his hands found her waist, of more specifically, the visible skin of her waist via a small tear in her shirt. She ignored the urge to kiss him right then and there, continuing with, "I'm sure you've had plenty of experience with the female admirers back in school."
"I played lacrosse," he reminded her with a smile. "The football players got the groupies." Noticing that Karen was still unconvinced, he dropped his forehead to hers. "Hey," he said softly, "you know there's no competition, right?" She nodded slowly, then tilted her head upwards. Hal leaned in, bringing their lips merely and inch apart when the door slammed open rather unceremoniously. Hal and Karen split apart quicker than the blink of an eye, and Karen blushed at Tom's shocked face.
"Whoa, um, get a room," Tom mumbled, embarrassed.
"We got one," Hal told his father, throwing his hands up in irritation. "Care to knock?"
Tom rapped his knuckles against the now-open door, much to his son's annoyance. Karen couldn't help but smile at both Masons. "Just coming in to tell you that we're going back to that armory. Tonight."
Hal's eyes went wide. "But we're going to look for Ben!" he protested.
"That armory's just bait for us, it's picked clean!" Karen added.
Tom shrugged. "Captain's orders. Look, we'll look for Ben tomorrow, okay?" Hal said nothing, glaring at the floor in frustration.
"Well, when you go to look for him, I'm coming with you," Karen said confidently. She would do anything for the Masons; they were the only family she had left now, and she loved each and every one of them with every fiber of her being.
"Me too!" echoed several others. Tom looked around.
"Huh, thin walls," he said. "They must be able to hear whatever goes on in here." He pointed at the young couple, giving Hal a meaningful look in the eye before shutting the door. Karen blushed. She knew that Tom liked her well enough. In fact, he treated her like the daughter he'd never had. But ever since he had caught the two in the middle of some heated kissing with Hal's hands halfway up her shirt, Tom had become wary of leaving the two alone for long periods of time. She had the feeling that it was Tom's way of protecting her from Hal, but she wished that his trust had never been stretched so thin.
However, right now she could care less about Tom's opinion when Hal was more important. She glanced at the boy, who was now sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. Karen sighed, sitting next to him and rubbing his back. "We'll find him."
Hal nodded. "Yeah. It's just... I don't know... hard." He took her hand, running a calloused thumb over the smooth skin of her palm. "Sometimes he's the reason I'm fighting, you know?"
"Sometimes?" Karen repeated, confused.
"Well, yeah. Sometimes it's Matt, or Dad, or to avenge Mom... Most of the time it's..." Hal trailed off, chuckling to himself quietly. "Nevermind."
"No, what were you gonna say?" Karen asked, scooting closer to him with a smile.
He laughed, shaking his head. "Nah, it's kinda cheesy, you don't wanna hear this."
"Please?" she asked, using her best puppy dog voice. He glanced at her skeptically, and she kissed his cheek gently in persuasion. "What happened to trusting me with everything?"
He sighed. "You're lucky I can't say no to you. Don't laugh." He sighed, piercing her heart with his dark eyes. "Promise?"
"Pinkie swear," she said with a smile, locking her smallest finger with his.
"Most of the time," he told her, "I'm fighting for you."
Karen sat there, speechless. She could have sworn her heart skipped a beat when the words left his lips.
Hal smiled sheepishly, chuckling nervously. "See? I told you I-" he was cut off as Karen leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. She closed her eyes in bliss as he kissed back. The feeling of being hopelessly, deeply, completely in love with someone was new to her, but Hal's confirmation that he felt the same way lifted some of the doubts she'd been having about it.
"I love you," she whispered as they broke apart.
"I love you, too, he said with a grin. "Why are you whispering?"
"Dude, you really are cheesy," Jimmy's voice came from the next room. Dai chuckled deeply from the hallway.
Karen raised her eyebrows to make a point. "That's why."
Hal laughed quietly to himself. "Let them hear," he said, pulling Karen down on top of him and bringing their lips together again. She made no effort to protest.
"Get a room," Jimmy whined.
Hal and Karen looked at each other, laughing as they said in unison, "We got one!" She kissed him hard on the lips once again, running her hands through his soft dark hair. For once, there were no skitters, no world on the brink of destruction, no war. There was only Hal, and the feeling of his strong arms around her, and his lips on hers.
"Hands where they belong, Hal!" Tom called.
She laughed against his lips as Hal dragged his hands back up to her hair. If this was what she had to fight for, then the war was worth it.
So worth it.