"I'd like to remind you that I always thought this was a bad idea" Cameron stressed, as he and Kirsten walked through the loud and obnoxious club, glued together as they were undercover. Kirsten rolled her eyes.
"Duly noted" she said "again."
It wasn't the first time he had mentioned his doubts about the whole undercover idea. In the past three weeks, three seperate couples were burned in their homes with seemingly no connections to each other except the three common factors: the males were a geekier type, all really smart, the women were tall, skinny and blonde and they all had gone to the same club that Kirsten and Cameron were finding seats at now.
It was more of a hipster club, so even though it was loud and it had a dance floor, there was a coffee bar alongside the actual bar and there was sofas running the length of the walls, with tables situated infront of them.
Kirsten had stitched into the memories of the latest female victim, Hilary Daniels, and saw her being hit on the night of her death by some man. He was large and burly and kept saying that she was too good for her boyfriend who was sitting at the table while she grabbed them their next round of drinks. When Hilary told him no, he stormed off, muttering that the nerds don't deserve the hot ones, and that if he couldnt have her, then why should the nerd be allowed. As he said that he was playing with his zippo, and Kirsten told them all that she knew who did it and she was going undercover. When she bounced out of the stitch Cameron was already hovering over her, giving her a hard stare.
"You're not going under alone." He growled, crossing his arms in a pissed off manner. She pulled herself out of the tank, gave him a look that said 'duh' and replied simply:
"Obviously, the guy only seems to go after women with nerdy boyfriends. You're going to come with me." Camille barked out a ridiculously loud laugh and snorted before looking towards Cameron, who had a bewildered, and slightly offended look on his face.
Which is what led them to here.
"And just so you know Stretch, I'm not that big of a geek." He told her with conviction. Kirsten couldn't hold back the spurt of laughter that she let out and she leaned on his shoulder, making it look like they were together.
"Cameron" she choked out through her laughing fit.
"You have a TARDIS figurine on the nightstand and your toothbrush is the sonic screwdriver." Cameron furrowed his brows, before leaning over to her and whispering into her ear.
"I do not have a Sonic toothbrush." He grumbled, kissing her ear as to play it up.
He felt his stomach flop at the close contact with the blonde but put it off. He knew exactly how he felt for Kirsten, he had fallen for her, hard, just after the first stitch when she had kissed him. And he knew that when he acted over protective of her, everyone but her saw the reason for it. But actually having this close of proximity to her for this investigation was almost too much. Yet that didn't stop him from trying his best to convincingly sell the part. Kirsten turned her face towards him and mumbled as her lips were just hovering inches away from his.
"I'm trying to sell that your a nerd, girlfriend" she said before going and kissing him fully on the lips. Cameron concieded with full enthusiathum. When she pulled away a minute later she gave him a sweet smile, one that he knew was partially forced as if it were under normal circumstances she wouldn't have smiled.
Well, if it were normal circunstances they wouldn't have even kissed.
"I'm going to grab us drinks" she said before sauntering off like Camille had taught her earlier. Camille had lent Kirsten her cutest (and shortest) pair of white shorts, a black lace crop top and a black pair of heels that allowed her to be the same height as Cameron.
Cameron watched as a large man began following Kirsten and he clenched his knuckles against the table, turning them white. He saw her turn around and she gave the man a small smile and he had to stop himself from going over to her before she signalled. Cameron couldn't hear what he was saying but he could hear her through their coms.
"I'm Kirsten."
"Actually, I'm not alone, my boyfriend is here with me."
"Yeah, the one in the Star Wars t-shirt and the plaid button-up." He watched as she kept the conversation light, but saw that guy wouldn't stop.
"Excuse me?" She asked, her voice full of astonished disgust, and he didn't care that she hadn't signaled him yet, nor that they weren't an actual couple, he had had enough. Cameron stood, throwing down money for the waitress before stalking over to Kirsten.
"Hey princess you okay?" He asked worried, and angry, and he gave the man, who was around six inches taller than him and atleast sixty pounds heavier, a furious look. She turned to him, a relieved smile plastered on her face, but an annoyed look in her eyes. A look that if you didn't know her, you wouldn't have recognized it.
"Actually, can we go?" She asked him, her voice portraying fear and annoyance, again all as an act. Well at least the fear was an act.
"Of course." He put his arm around her and lead her to the front door, looking back to glare at the man, who himself, had an irritated look, like a child whose favourite toy had been stolen. Once they had reached Cameron's convertible and were safely inside and on the road, she turned to him.
"What the hell was that?" She asked him, still feeling the residual fear and anger (and something else that she didn't know how to define) that was due to the effects from her last stitch.
"I hadn't signalled you yet!" Cameron looked over at her momentarily as they sat at the stoplight, he had already noticed the tail they had, a few cars behind them, obviously Stretch had yet to see the truck.
"I didn't like the way he was looking at you. And we did our jobs fine, look." He pointed out the 2003 Dodge Ram that was a few cars behind them. He pressed the gas as she looked in the side view mirror behind them. Fisher had set up a house for them to sit and wait at, as Cameron's apartment would end up threatening more than just the two of them, and Kirsten wasn't willing to put her house at risk of a fire-loving lunatic.
They pulled into the driveway of the small one-bedroom rancher that was set on a half-acre of land, just enough room that in case he did ignite the house that no other houses would be endangered. Cameron ignored the truck that had parked on the opposite side of the road and instead moved towards the passenger side of the car, opening Kirsten's door and helping her out. She gave him a raised eyebrow but decided to just let it go.
"You know, we'll be fine. Nothing is going to happen" She told him once they were inside. He had turned on Netflix and started to watch Bates Motel (the only thing that she was willing to watch on his list). The two of them just sat around, Cameron fidgeting the whole time, for an hour before they heard something outside.
Cameron ran to the window and watched in helpless horror as the man, Jackson Slimman (Kirsten had mentioned his name when she called Fisher and Maggie to let them know what was going on) began pouring lighter fluid and gasoline in a neat, unbroken border all around the house, and Kirsten went to call Fisher. Even though she wasn't usually afraid, that she never usually felt fear, it was all she could feel in the present moment.
"Cameron, what are we going to do? He is outside lighting the house on fire."
"Hey, like you said, we'll be fine" Cameron told her after she called Fisher. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly to him. Her heart clenched and she could only guess what she felt.
Okay so maybe fear wasnt the only emotion she was currently feeling, but it definetly it was the most prominent.
"But we have to figure out a way out of here." He soothed, running over towards the linen closet to get towels and soaking them in the bathtub before handing them to Kirsten for her to frame the house in the wet towels. They could smell the burning before they had finished and Cameron practically pulled her into the middle of the bedroom, which was at the back of the house as she was still trying to frame the house.
"We won't be able to get out until they get here, he's barricaded any of the exits and the windows are all already engulfed" Cameron told her, and she panicked, rushing to the window, trying to break through it but getting burned in the process.
"Shit!" She cried out pulling her hand back quickly to her chest. Cameron rushed over to her, a wet towel in his hand as he proceeded to wrap up hers.
"Kirsten, princess just calm down. Fisher will be here soon and they'll find us. They know we are here." He told her pulling her onto the bed and holding her, for both of their sakes.
"We'll just have to wait, they'll be here soon." It had taken barely ten minutes for the outside of the house and the livingroom to be completely engulfed and the fire was at the closed door of the bedroom. The wet towels weren't helping anything and Cameron was beginning to worry, evidently so was Kirsten.
"Tell me about the scar." She said bluntly and Cameron pulled back from the posistion that they had been sitting in since they had gotten onto the bed. He just stared at her.
"Please, I need something to distract me, I'm still feeling the effects from the stitch and I'm scared and I need something to distract me." She pleaded with him and he gave in, if this was them dying, he didn't want to die with secrets, atleast none to her.
"When I was eighteen I was in a car accident with my buddies. We were on our way home from a party during the summer, and I was driving, as the only sober one. A semi driver had taken a turn to hard and didn't see us and he t-boned us. Thank god we had been driving my dad's truck, because I was the worse off out of the three of us. I broke four ribs, fractured three and one punctured a lung and knicked an artery near my heart. I had to get an emergency heart transplant, which is why I have the scar." He told her and she nodded, curling up into his side, partially hiding her face in his chest. He held her tightly and his heart broke, this was it for them. He couldnt do the one thing he was supposed to do for her. He loved her, and knowing that it wouldn't work as a relationship, he conveived his love for her in the only way he could. He protected her. But he failed this time, and both of them were going to die because of it. A single tear made its way down his face and he coughed. The smoke in the room becoming thick and black.
"Tell me something else?" She asked him sleepily and he nodded, worried that her voice was sounding tired. He knew the only other secret he had from her, and he squeezed his eyes tight, water leaking from them because of the smoke. Opening them again he spoke.
"I love you." He said. "I mean if we weren't going to die I wouldn't have but since y'know... I love you." His confession was met with silence. And he pulled her back gently with all the strength he could muster to find that she was passed out.
"No, Kirsten. Princess you have to stay awake. Sweetheart, I love you stay awake." He pleaded weakly, the rest of his energy leaving his body as his eyes became heavy and he drifted into the awaiting darkness.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Cameron woke up to the rythmic, yet annoying, sound of a heart monitor. He groaned as he tried to open his eyes only to have to squeeze them shut again at the brightness of the light.
"Cameron?" He heard Linus's voice call. Cameron geoaned again and forced his eyes open. His best friend sat beside him, a worried yet relieved expression on his face.
"Where's Kirsten?" He automatically asked, in pain but his gut was twisted with worry for Kirsten.
"Cam-" Linus began but got cut off.
"Linus where is she?" He yelled and Linus looked down.
"She's pretty bad Cam, she has extensive smoke inhalation and the burn on her hand. For some reason her lung collapsed but we don't know anymore than that because you're her next of kin. We saw her briefly after she got out of surgery but visiting hours are over so only you can go in."
"How long have I've been out?"
"Almost a day" he murmured, looking down at his hands, Cameron's mouth hung open.
"Linus, get me a nurse." He breathed out, and Linus worriedly clicked on the medical alert button. The nurse had barely entered the room when Cameron spoke.
"I'm fine just tell me where Kirsten is, I'm her next of kin, I need to see her." He begged and the nurse gave him a sympathetic look.
"I'll check you over and if you are okay, I'll take you to see your girlfriend." The nurse said and Linus gave them a quizzical look.
"Actually they aren't-." Linuse began to correct the nurse but Cameron waved him off and told the nurse thank you.
It took only a few minutes for him to be cleared and before he knew it one of the nurses was leading him down the hall to where she rested. He opened her door slowly, and froze in the frame when he saw her. She looked relatively peaceful asleep, her face relaxed as her body healed. His heart clenched at her vunerability as it was his job to keep her alive and healthy and safe. He failed to do the one thing he promised himself he would do. The only thing he could do to show how he felt and he couldn't do it. Slowly he made his way to the side of her bed, pulling up a chair and sitting next to her. He picked up her unwrapped hand and held it between his own two, kissing it.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty." He murmured.
"You going to wake up anytime soon? Or will I have to go all Prince Charming on you?" He didn't get a response. Cameron sighed against her hand and squeezed his eyes tightly.
"You know, I've been through this once already with Marta, and I can't, no Kirsten, I won't do it again. I need you to wake up Stretch. You know what I went through the first time and I didn't even love her, so what do you think it's doing to me now." He sighed removing his hands from hers and putting his face in them. A nurse walked in and gave him a sad look.
"She'll be okay. She went into surgery right away when you guys got here, and she flatlined twice in the ER, but they got her back. Her doctor thinks that she is still here because she has something to live for." Cameron swallowed hard, his eyes beginning to sting at the realization that he almost lost her.
"Thanks" he said hoarsely, giving the older lady a small smile.
"If you are that thing that she is living for then she shpuld be just fine. What you two have son, its rare nowadays. Don't loose it." She left him pondering what she said. Cameron looked back to Kirsten and leaned over her, closing his eyes and leaning down to gently kiss her soft lips. He kept them there for a moment before pulling back and letting his head rest against the side of her bed.
"You know, I'm not Snow White, right?" His head snapped up at the feminine voice. He laughed at her attempt at a joke before picking up her hands again.
"Hey Princess." He whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
"So we gotta kick the bucket on the habit of you passing out against me."
"Are you crying?" She asked astonished and was even more shocked when he nodded his head yes.
"You died, Kirsten, twice. I almost lost you twice. I did lose you twice." He told her, rubbing soft circles against her skin.
"So you meant it then? What you said?" She asked and he knew exactly what she was referring too.
"You heard it then?"
"It's the last thing I remember." She replied softly. Her voice vunerable, almost child-like.
"It's true though. I do love you." He brushed away a stray hair that was resting against her forehead when he said it, moving himself from the seat over to her mattress.
"I know. And I mean, remember? Tis better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all?" She quoted his words from several months before back to him and the corners of his mouth drew up in a small quirky smile, dropping just as quickly.
"Not yet though, its still to soon to loose you. And I get that we aren't going to be anything more than friends. But I thought we were going to die, and I didn't want to die with any secrets-"
Kirsten pulled him too her, and shut him up by kissing him. It took him a moment to respond, but he responded with everything he had. Telling her non-verbally how he felt.
"I think I might love you too, girlfriend" she whispered against him before scooting over and making room for him on the bed. He crawled up beside her and she closed her eyes. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her tight against him, kissing her forehead before they both fell asleep.
It was how the nurses, and Camille and Linus, found them in the morning.
FIN.