Title: Highway of Heroes – Part 2
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Code Black, this is for entertainment only.
Pairing: Ethan/Rox
Summary: This is a short fluff story I started to write after Hell's Heart, I wasn't going to finish it until I watched the last two episodes. I love this show and really did enjoy finial; however, the timeline was all a little off for me, overall, I am so happy that Ethan and Rox got a happy ending.
Part two
I took up my vocation
I was called by my nation
Without hesitation
My answer I gave
Now I am not wondering
The things that I might have been
I'm no consolation
To the forgotten brave
X~X~X~X~X~X
Ethan pulled the bike to a stop, the sole outside light cast shadows across the blue-green exterior of the house. It looked so normal from the outside, no one would ever know the hell that played out inside, in his mind. The struggle to change anything for fear of losing what was left of his brother. He'd lied to Rox when he told her that if you have nothing, they can't take it away from you. He wasn't sure what would happen if they took the house. He wasn't sure he'd cope.
"Ready," he reached out to take her hand as they walked up the steps that lead to the kitchen entrance. Ethan had never been this comfortable with anyone before, she knew what he was going to do before he did, they didn't need to talk, they could just be with each other. Most importantly for him, he could relax.
Ethan held the door for her and watched as she took the small step into the house, he reached around the frame and flicked on the light, suddenly pulling them out of the dark. "You know the kitchen." Was all he could think to say as he took the helmet for her and placed it with his on the bench. He didn't feel relaxed right now, in fact, he couldn't remember ever feeling this nervous. He'd been scared before, he knew that feeling, and how to deal with it, but nervous, this kind of nervous was very different.
"So," Rox said as leaned against the bench.
"Yeah," Ethan started to laugh, "this is silly," he took a step toward her, reaching out as he did. "Can I take your coat?"
"Sure," Rox started to unzip the front of her coat, her eyes never breaking contact with his.
"Here," Ethan stepped closer, placing his hands over hers. "Let me," with that he pushed her jacket open placing his hands on her hips as he did. The rushed intake of air made him smile, using his right hand, he guided her closer to him, Rox's breathing was just louder than the thumping in his chest.
When she pulls back from him he gently starts to let his left hand make it way up her side, he wanted nothing more than to pull her shirt off and really feel the warmth of her skin, he'd imagined how soft it must be, how it would be like silk under his fingers. Instead, he let his hand linger a moment at the curve of her breast before wrapping his hand around the back of her neck. Leaning in, he let his lips brush her ear, "Are you warm enough?"
"Ethan ..."
"Yeah," he didn't pull away from her, instead he let his hot breath tickle her ear, one hand was stroking her neck, holding her head in place, the other focused on exploring the bottom hem of her shirt. "Rox, tell me what you want?" He let his left-hand trial back down her arm to find her hand gripping tightly onto the Kitchen bench. Tonight had escalated quickly, maybe too quickly for her. "Do you want me to stop?"
"No,"
He barely heard her get the word out, her voice shaky and almost unsure. "How about we take this slowly?" With that, he placed a soft kiss on her ear and used his left hand to take hers and pull Rox away from the bench. "Would you like a beer?"
Reluctantly he let go of her hip and reached for the fridge door, pulling out two bottles Ethan held out a bottle for her to take. "This is the kitchen," He hoped to relax the mood, and it seemed to work as she finally let her fingers wrap around his. "In here the formal dining, as you can see we need to do some work before the dinner party and the living area." He pointed with the tip of his bottle.
"You need a couch." Rox smiled as she looked at Ethan.
"Maybe, I'm kind of use to it ..." He placed beer onto the mental above the fire, taking hers and placing it next to his, "It seems to fit with everything else in my life."
"What's that."
"Empty." Ethan made sure his eyes didn't leave her as he spoke, for some reason he wanted her to know he meant it.
"You could fix that ... like the house, you just have to start."
"This is." Ethan stopped talking and shifted his focus to the large bay window on the other side of the room.
"What? ... This is what?"
Rox pushed for him to answer, she never let him off, she always pushed. He knew that's why he'd fallen so quickly for her. "This is ... all I have of Robert, his journal and this house as he left it." Ethan nods towards the flag, "its all I've added."
"Ethan"
"I like that, the way you say my name." Now he found himself staring out the bay window just to avoid making eye contact. "If I change it Rox, I'll lose the last of him. The last of my family ... I made an agreement with my Dad that once it was fixed, we'd sell the house. He wants to move on, to act like Robert wasn't here, but I can't do that." This time he didn't even try to hide the cracking in his voice, he just kept talking knowing that if he stopped, he might not be able to continue. "I can't just let him go, act like he was never here."
"I have a sister, Connie, she is a few years older, and we would get into all kinds of trouble. I don't even know why we did some of the things we did. To get attention mostly I think, it was the only time my Dad noticed we were around .. one day Connie went too far, she had a boyfriend, and they robbed a liquor store ... he shot the clerk. Connie didn't come home and Jae had enough, she took me in. She didn't put up with all my backchat. She wouldn't let me fail, she said she'd let Connie down, and she should have got us sooner."
"Where are your parents?" Ethan realised as he asked that he had always guessed they just lived somewhere else, that Jae was her only local family.
"Where they always are, busy worrying about how they can score." Rox placed a hand on his cheek and turned him to focus on her. "That's not my point. Family, Ethan, is what you make of it. It is what you put effort into, it is loving someone no matter what. It's not a house, it's memories of all the things you do together. I visit Connie every week, I never let her forget that I'm here for her. It was everything you did when Robert was alive that matters."
"But I wasn't here for him."
"You are now."
Ethan covered her hand and pulled it away from his face, softly kissing her palm before releasing her hand and taking the few steps to the bay window. "It's not when he needed me."
"What did he want to do?"
Ethan felt Rox behind him, her hand brush the small of his back. "I think that's the problem. Apart from the window, I don't know what he wanted to do."
"It is breathtaking."
"I stand here some nights and I can see him on a bench under the window writing. I think that's why he liked the house, it's up high, and he could see the city at night."
"I can see that."
"Rox," Ethan turned to focus only on her, he raised his hands up lightly brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. "You're the most amazing person I've ever met."
"Ethan," her voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.
"You're smart, strong and beautiful and for some reason, you're willing to put up with my crap." with a sly smile he started to remove the tie holding back her hair. "I can't stop thinking about you, as soon as you leave I can't wait for you to come back."
"Ethan ... what do you want?"
"I don't want to be scared anymore."
X~X~X~X~X~X