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So I bumped the rating up for this chapter. I'm not sure it was entirely warranted, but I'd rather err on the side of caution and round up. This is the closest I've ever come to writing something like this so please don't set your expectations too high.
Also, I have a lot of headcanon for the food in Cole's time and how Cassie prepared for Cole's return, clearly.
Cassie had always been good with puzzles. They were a natural part of her job as a virologist. She was given symptoms, patient histories, and case studies as pieces. She sorted them around in lists and charts until she figured out how exactly a virus took ahold of a person's immune system. Once she understood that vaccines, treatments, and prevention protocols could be developed.
It was hard to turn that kind of hardwiring off in her brain. Cole's arrival scattered all the pieces of Cassie's carefully ordered world. In reaction she decided to prepare herself for Cole's return in two years. She began by studying time travel and understanding how it worked.
(Unfortunately, time travel had not been invented yet so there was no Time Travelling for Dummies she could just pick up from the library.)
There were tons of movies and books that hypothesized how time travel could work. To dip her toes in the water Cassie started with things she had already seen. The Back to the Future trilogy was something she had watched many times before. There were very few things she felt like she needed to take notes on though.
Two things occurred to as she finished her marathon. The first was that she was glad Cole did not reveal that he was her kid or something. It was hard enough to wrap her head around all of these things without adding in a future baby asking for help. Her other revelation was much more helpful: she was going about this all wrong. There were tons of theories about time travel, but she was not the one travelling. It was not as imperative for her to understand that aspect of things. It was not her specialty.
(Damn it, Jim. She was a doctor, not a physicist.)
Cassie shifted her focus to reading more about plagues. She was already an expert in the field, even if it seemed like lifetimes since the last lecture she had delivered. She found journal articles from peer-reviewed journals and first-hand accounts from doctors during ancient plagues. In between these things she watched things like The Walking Dead to get a handle on how society might react to an outbreak. Cole had not mentioned zombies, but the show dealt with human threats as often as undead ones.
(And if there were zombies in the future, then maybe it was better that Cassie died early on.)
By the time Cole met up with her at that hotel, Cassie had stacks and stacks of little notebooks. They were filled with notes and observations she had gleaned from all of her research. She bought two new journals as soon as Cole left her the second time. The first was where she kept the tiny crumbs of information she had collected about the future. It was a mishmash of strange things. Most of it was about food because Cole loved to talk about that.
There were no burgers when Cole lived. They had no Chinese takeout. The food must be bland and entirely devoid of texture. Cole seemed to take a lot of pleasure from the smell, taste, and feel of what he ate. Given Cole's reaction to steak, it appeared that they charred all meat to prevent disease. His was well done, yet he stilled raved about how easy it was to chew. Wild fruits like strawberries and blueberries were still around though they were a rare treat not a staple.
The most surprising discovery for Cassie was that Cole had never had a beer. Liquor was easy to make and wine got better with age. All of the beer had been raided or gone skunky by the time Cole was a teenager.
Of all the notebooks Cassie had her newest one, the list of things she wanted to introduce Cole to, was the longest. It was hard to wrap her head around the fact that Cole was from the future. Some days it seemed more like he travelled from the past. His life seemed so primitive except for the time machine and bioengineering his body thing. They were so focused on surviving that any semblance of culture had fallen to the wayside.
(Seriously, he lived outside of Philly and had never had a soft pretzel nor watched an Eagles game.)
Cassie knew it was stupid to put so much effort into making Cole feel at home. If they succeeded, then he would wink out of existence, or at least that version of Cole would. The new one would never have to grow up during the plague. He would never know what all he had gone through with Cassie.
His imminent departure did not matter. Cassie liked making him dinner. It had been so long since she had enjoyed cooking. She had been on her own for two years. Some days it seemed like too much of an effort to make most things for one person. A single dish of lasagna could feed Cassie for days. She loved cooking for people and watching them enjoy her food. One night a week she made it a point to cook something complex for Aaron. It was something she also did with her former roommates.
(Aaron was not nearly as helpful with kitchen prep as Eva and Maureen were. Those girls could chop a mean onion.)
Cassie missed more than just cooking during those lonely two years though. She missed having people around. It was hard going through life without anyone to talk with. She had no family, no friends, no boyfriend. Going out seemed to make her feel even lonelier. Finding people to socialize with would just make more problems. She would not be able to explain Cole and the ripple effect his appearance had had on her life.
Things got a lot better for Cassie once she started working again. She started to bond with her coworkers. In between pipetting slides Ana liked to tell crazy stories about her next door neighbors. Margot swapped recipes with Cassie. Javier was quiet, but friendly. Having people to talk to made Cassie feel so much more normal than she had since Haiti. Cole was no longer the only thing holding her together.
The past few days had been awful though. Stores had started putting up Christmas decorations, which just served as a reminder of how alone Cassie was. There was construction that made traffic an absolute nightmare. The weather was slushy and dismal. Javier, along with a quarter of the staff, was out with the flu. Margot had been transferred to a different group to help with their workload. Ana had been reprimanded for talking too much so she was silent as a grave.
(Cassie should've known the week was shot to hell when her favorite bra broke, causing the underwire to dig into her all day Monday.)
It was only Wednesday, and Cassie was absolutely exhausted. She had a date with her bathtub, a glass of wine, and the bag of fresh macaroons Margot had stress-baked. Work was starting to make her feel more desolate than she had in months.
Then Cole showed up at the door.
Cassie's bath had long since gone tepid. At that point she was just trying to put off how cold the rest of her apartment was. Then she stupidly had to put on that blue bathrobe of hers. It was hideously utilitarian, and Cole had seen her in it. Cassie looked like a drowned kitten nestled in that much fabric.
(Not that she cared what Cole thought of her, of course.)
Then they had a nice dinner and talked. It was so normal, so soothing for Cassie. She wanted to keep spinning the night out. His company had been very welcome. Who knew when they would see each other again?
Then the kissing started. When she first touched him, Cassie had thought Cole did not want her to hug him. He seemed so shocked by what was going on. It had embarrassed Cassie at first. She had crossed this line that Cole was not okay with. Then he had responded.
(In all sorts of places, in all kinds of ways.)
Having sex with Cole was something that Cassie had been thinking about a lot lately. He was so intense and focused. It made Cassie wonder what it would be like to be the one holding all of his attention. That kind of single-mindedness and intensity in the bedroom would lead to multiple orgasms and probably the best sex of her life.
Cole's absolute focus had worked against Cassie the second she set that timer though. He was completely dialed in to the string board. He pored over each document carefully. His eyes never lifted from the papers. With each minute that passed, Cassie was less sure that she had kissed Cole. He seemed so unruffled by it.
It annoyed Cassie that he was able to work so diligently. The more she told herself to stop thinking about kissing Cole, the more she thought about it. He was making her feel desperate and silly. She was the one who suggested that they get to work. If anything Cole should've been the one to feel this off balance.
(At what point could she admit defeat and ask him to make out with her again? Three minutes seemed too short, but she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.)
Cole rifled through some more of the papers on the desk. He paused to read the entirety of one. Cassie tried not to let her impatience show. It was an uphill battle though. As soon as she stopped tapping her toes, her fingers started to drum against her crossed arms.
"So you think one of these three places is the Night Room?" Cole asked without raising his eyes.
"Yes. It shouldn't take too long to check them out. They're within an hour or so of here." Cassie paused. "Give me a minute to message my boss and coworkers, let them know I can't go in tomorrow."
Cassie typed out a quick text to her boss saying that she had a fever and would probably call out in the morning. She also sent one to Ana and Margot, lying that she had succumb to the office bug. When she looked up Cole was staring at her in that intense way of his. It was cut with something softer though.
"There's nothing to do until tomorrow," Cole stated with a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
(Cassie's heart absolutely did not flutter at that. Her tricuspid valve just got confused and thought it was a butterfly valve for a moment. That's all.)
Cassie licked her lips and pressed them together. "Nope. You seem to be all up to date."
Cole made his way around the desk like a shot. His hands, insistent yet oh so gentle, tucked themselves around her neck. She tilted her chin so her mouth would meet his with little trouble.
Their last kiss had been languid and soft. Cassie had steered them toward taking their time to explore each other's mouths. This time Cassie let Cole set their pace. He seemed set on devouring her before he could disappear again. Each time Cassie moaned it spurred him on, pressing harder.
(It had become hard to breathe, but Cassie would be damned if she ended things right then. It felt like she might die if they continued, but she definitely would if he stopped.)
At some point his hands had moved to her lower back. They rested on the strip of bare skin between her pants and shirt. Cassie's hands were tangled in the front of Cole's shirt, pulling him further into her. She needed more though. Before she could overthink things she pushed the hem of Cole's shirt up. He quickly caught on and ripped the offending garment up and over his head. Cassie made short work of her own shirt. Cole looked at her in a daze until she tossed her shirt at his chest.
"Bedroom?" Cassie asked breathlessly.
She barely finished the word before Cole grabbed her hand, tugging her toward the stairs. They raced up them, moving equally as quickly. Cassie threw open her door and kissed Cole, pulling him toward the bed. She lay down on the bed, waiting for him. Cole's fingertips trailed across her body leaving goosebumps in their wake. They moved over her bra, under the edge of her pants. They flirted with the lace of her panties.
(She was about five seconds from shoving his hand down her underwear if he didn't hurry the hell up.)
Cole continued to tease Cassie, trailing a line of kisses from her neck down toward her hip. She was enjoying the foreplay, but was really looking forward to the main event. It had been a very long time since she'd slept with someone. A stray thought klaxoned through Cassie's mind, putting a damper on the whole thing.
"Cole, stop. We can't have sex."
Cole stood up like he'd been burned by her words. His chest rose and fell quickly. The resignation and mortification on his face pained Cassie. He thought she was rejecting him, that it had been only a matter of time until she did.
"I'll go to my room," he mumbled.
"Wait, no don't - I just - " Cassie forced herself to look at Cole's face. "I don't have any condoms and I won't have sex without one."
Cole looked thoughtful for a moment. "Whatever makes you comfortable."
(Cassie could've kissed him for that. She got the feeling he had no idea what a condom was, but that it was important to her and that was enough. No questions asked, no attempt to change her mind.)
"We can still do other things tonight. I'd still like to continue, just no actual sex."
Cole inched closer so his hands rested on Cassie's shoulders. "And by sex you mean…"
"Penis into vagina," Cassie said quickly. She figured the more clinical she sounded, the less chance there was for a misunderstanding. "You can still um use your hands and mouth though."
(It was irritating how embarrassed she was. Cassie had given sex talks to patients so many times without stumbling over words like this. Hell, she'd had the 'safe sex' talk with other partners, and it wasn't anywhere close to this awkward. She was a grown woman and needed to act like one.)
Cole nodded. "Okay."
He was hesitant at first, as though ready for Cassie to stop him again. As soon as they were both naked though, Cole returned to his previous level of enthusiasm. A litany of four-letter words fell from Cassie's lips as Cole touched her, tasted her. Some were sweet like 'want' or 'need.' Some were filthy and in reaction to some particularly clever move of Cole's. Some were just gasps of his name.
None were the word she felt bone deep, but couldn't say just yet.
(She did get to hear it though when Cole drifted off to sleep, sated and worn out. He probably wouldn't remember saying it in the morning, but Cassie would.)
This is the end of this particular fic, but I've started a couple of other things I'm working on for Cassie and Cole. I hope you all liked this story. I'm exceedingly nervous about how the mature portions are received.
I did borrow Cassie's roommates' names from Center Stage. I couldn't resist sneaking them in. I also couldn't bring myself to delete the awkwardly shoehorned in Star Trek reference.