Stunned, Wilma fled to a small parapet on the roof of the Directorate building, her heart besieged by two violent emotions.

One was white-hot anger. She was irrationally angry with the Guardian for giving Buck the choice of returning to the 20th century, a dilemma that had forced her to face the way she felt about him. She was equally irrationally angry with Buck for having chosen someone else instead of her. But mostly she was furious with herself. How could she have been so blind? Why had it never occurred to her that Buck might come to love another? How could she have missed the signs? She was so naïve when it came to affairs of the heart…and the knowledge was bitter indeed.

She tried to nurse the anger as best she could, because it was infinitely preferable to the agonizing pain that was lancing through her. For the first time in her life she had finally come to experience true romantic love, and had it snatched away before she'd taken the opportunity to act.

Her one chance was gone, and she had no name for the empty place it left deep inside. Her heart ached unbearably; her breath in her chest was leaden, weighted down by the crushing realization of unbearable loss.

If this was love, she decided grimly, then she was better off without it.

Besides, she was happy, she told herself. Happy that Buck had found someone, happy that he wouldn't be alone, happy… She felt hot tears start to press themselves behind her eyelids, and willed herself to force them back.

Oh, this was intolerable. She was Colonel Wilma Deering, Commander of the Earth Defense Directorate. She clenched her fists, wanting to break something.

She heard footsteps approaching behind her. There was no need to guess who it was.

She said nothing, but gripped the parapet railing with both hands as though her life depended on it. She couldn't face him now. Perhaps if she ignored him he would go away and leave her be.

"Wilma."

No, of course he wouldn't. His voice was soft. She couldn't bear to look at him when he was so near and yet as unattainable as the galactic rim.

"I owe you an explanation," he said to her back. Standing close behind her he could see the tautness in her slim frame, the tension that vibrated through her like a humming power line.

She shook her head, looking out over the city. "No, you don't," she whispered, trying desperately to keep her voice steady. He was her friend, her best friend, but she had no hold on his heart. He didn't owe her anything.

"Yes, I do," he contradicted. He took her by the shoulders and gently turned her to face him. Her eyes flicked to his briefly and then down to the ground between them, but not before he saw the look of utter desolation and loss in their depths.

Buck set his jaw, hating that he had hurt her so, however inadvertently. His body filled with determination to set things right between them once and for all. "Listen to me," he said, his voice low but intent. "What you saw wasn't what you thought it was."

Wilma shook her head again, her eyes still firmly fixed on the ground. "Buck, you don't have to –"

"Hey," he interrupted. "Listen to me, will you?" He reached out and slipped the fingers of one hand under her chin, lifting her gaze to meet his. Unshed tears sparkled like diamonds in the corners of her eyes and her heartbroken yet deeply resigned expression pierced his heart. He cursed himself for not having said something when they'd parted earlier that morning. But she was such a beautiful woman, both inside and out, that he sometimes forgot how innocent she was in the ways of love.

"What you saw just now didn't mean anything. It was a farewell kiss. I've been dating Renee for a few months now. I asked her to come to my quarters this afternoon because there was something I needed to tell her – I needed to tell her that I wouldn't be seeing her any more."

Wilma held herself very still as Buck's fingers brushed her skin, as the tiny hairs on her arms rose in reaction to the warmth of his touch and sent chills up and down her spine. The attraction that she had always felt for him was now like a gravitational pull, a magnetism so strong that she had to consciously fight to keep from reaching out and burying herself in his arms. She barely registered his words as the intoxication of his nearness threatened to overwhelm her.

Buck stopped for a moment, hoping for a response, but when none came he began again in a low, intense voice. "I told her that I'd realized there was someone else in my life who had become very important to me, someone that…that I'd come to love."

He brushed the tips of his fingers against Wilma's cheek, tenderly tracing the line of her jaw. "That someone is you."

Her eyes snapped to his. What? Was he saying what she thought he was? She felt her heart stop, then begin to hammer painfully in her chest, an echoing roar in her ears. A moment passed before she could find her voice. "Are you – do you really mean that?"

Buck nodded, watching as Wilma's eyes widened, and then to his amazement, began to fill with tears. She reached forward and pulled him into a fierce, almost desperate, embrace, holding on to him as though he might disappear into thin air at any minute. Which was understandable, he reflected, given the events of the past 24 hours. The prospect of his leaving last night had frightened her – much more than he realized. He folded his arms around her and pressed her hard against him in silent reassurance.

After an endless moment Wilma took a deep breath and leaned back to look up at him. Buck loosened his grip but didn't release his hold on her waist. Her face was tracked with tears, tears that she showed to no one else in the world – only him. It touched him to his soul that this strong, commanding woman would choose to reveal her innermost vulnerabilities to him, and him alone. He brought one hand up to her cheek and with the pad of his thumb began to gently wipe away the moisture.

She stared into his eyes, saying nothing for a moment as she fought for control. Her voice when it came was tentative, slow and hesitant in its uncertainty, yet at the same time warm and passionate with truth. "Buck – I don't know what to do, or say. I've…I've never felt this way about anyone before. But what you've just told me – I…I feel the same. I think I have for a long time, only I didn't realize it until these past few days. I wanted to tell you before, last night, but I couldn't. It wouldn't have been right. When I saw you and…just now – I thought I'd lost my chance."

Buck smiled softly as the tenderness he felt for her redoubled at her words. How like her to refrain from using her feelings to manipulate him. He'd come so close to accepting the Guardian's offer and returning to the 20th century, but it was the thought of being with Wilma – of making a future with her, together – that had sealed his decision to stay. And now he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had made the right choice.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips gently, lovingly, to her brow. Then he grinned impishly and kissed her on the nose, eliciting a smile and a startled laugh. There. That was more like it, he thought, admiring her radiance that was like sunlight bursting through a bank of clouds.

He reached up and brushed one hand over the sweep of shining auburn hair at her ear. She was so beautiful that she took his breath away. "I love you," he repeated. "I want to share my life with you. And to share whatever part of your life you might want me to."

His tone was quiet and almost seductive, making her knees go weak. And suddenly her heart was filled with a feeling of incredulous wonder, and with such joy that for a giddy moment she thought that if she was to leap now from where they stood on the roof of the Directorate building that she could very probably fly. The absurdity of the thought and the great fountain of happiness she felt welling in her heart made her throw back her head and laugh in delight.

Buck grinned in response, his delight a mirror of her own. He reached out to draw her slim body tight against him and pressed his lips to hers.

Her lips parted beneath his in surprised pleasure. He lifted his hand again to her hair, stroking his fingers gingerly through the silken strands as his mouth teased hers. It was a sweet, innocent kiss, a brief, tender first contact and yet a promise of so much more.

He was rock-solid beside her as they pulled apart, Wilma trembling slightly, pressing her hands into the small of his back to steady herself.

She felt a warm rush of blood to her head, to her hands – and elsewhere. A thrill of want and…desire…pulsed through her and she reached up with both hands to draw his head back down to hers. This time she initiated the kiss, feeling awkward and uncertain but at the same time determined not to let her inexperience hold her back. Tangling her fingers in his hair she closed her eyes and let the feel of him, the taste of him, wash over her like starlight on the clearest night.

A service bot droned past overhead. Buck cast one eye to the skies around them. Regretfully he broke the sweet contact with Wilma and murmured, "Maybe we ought to go somewhere a little more private, before we're picked up by every surveillance bot in the Directorate."

"I don't care," Wilma replied distractedly, her attention focused on Buck's lips hovering just out of reach. She leaned forward for another kiss.

Buck drew back in surprise at her uncharacteristic comment. "Who are you," he asked, mock-severely, "and what have you done with Wilma Deering?"

Wilma just laughed gaily. "All right. Let's go to my quarters." She slid her arm through his and tugged him back inside.

-----

TBC