A/N: And again, major thanks to all of you who reviewed! You make my day look brighter!
Let me think, is there anything you need to know about this chapter other than everything between (...) is Portuguese? ...No, I can't think of anything.
Enjoy!
Pereira Residence
Ribeira Grande, Santo Antão
Cape Verde Islands, Africa
0730 hours local
Harm tried to roll over, hearing the alarm going of in his head, but a weight on his chest prevented him from doing it. Opening his eyes, he realized that the alarm he was hearing was a bird. And the weight on his chest was Rome. She must've rolled over and sought his comfort. As she had done the previous three nights.
Four days. They had been here for four days. Rome and Izabel had become as close friends as the past four days had let them. It was a lot of fun to watch the young woman lighten up under Rome's influence. Harm still wasn't sure about Pereira himself though. All he had done the past four days was cleaning and repairing airplanes. Not that he didn't enjoy working on them, he did, but Armando had been away for the past three days and he couldn't get anything out of the other guys without pressing for more information. He had to be careful.
Rome seemed to snuggle closer in his embrace and sighed contently. For some reason she had been snuggling up to him in her sleep. He enjoyed having her in his arms. Just like old times. Don't get too used to it Rabb he reminded himself. This whole sharing-the-room-thing is only for the mission.
Rome started to wake up and blinked with her eyes. She smiled when she realized Harm was looking at her. 'Bon dia. Come você dormiu?' (Good morning. How did you sleep?)
'Melhore muito com você em meus braços'. (A lot better with you in my arms).
She blushed and rose. 'Well, better not get too used to it Pilot'. She reached for her watch and looked at the time. 'Let's get moving. Breakfast is in half an hour'.
Throwing the covers off, she got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. Harm sighed and leaned back in his pillow. He had to be more careful around her. He couldn't just go on and tell her everything he was feeling. Sighing, he got out of bed as well and followed her to the bathroom.
During breakfast, there was still no sign of Pereira. (Do you know when he is coming back?) Harm asked Izabel.
She shook her head. (I don't know. It might take another day or two. I wish I could help you Mr. Vermont).
For some reason he couldn't get into her head to call him Zach. Pretty much the same as with Bud and Harriet. They kept calling him 'sir'. Harm rolled his eyes at her. (I'm gonna give you another three days to start calling me Zach Izabel. If you don't start to call me by my first name after that…)
Rome swatted his arm. (Don't listen to him. Don't you have some work to do Pilot?) She started to push him out of the house. (We can handle the dishes without you this time. Go do whatever it is you're supposed to do).
The door closed behind him and Harm knew there was no way he was allowed to get back in until lunch and siesta. Sighing, he walked over to the other side of the property, where Pereira kept his planes. They were actually quite nice but Harm could only guess what they were used for.
(Good morning) he called once he'd arrived at the hangar.
The only two other guys who were working there now looked up to him and mumbled a responds. Harm had found out in the past four days that they would only give him one or two syllable answers. He could push them for an answer but that wouldn't really work either.
Taking a towel from the sink, he started to do what he had been doing for the past days. It was getting annoying. No matter how much he loved planes, he wanted to see some progress in the case. In other words, he wanted to see Armando.
(Vermont? Boss wants to see you).
Harm looked up, surprise spread across his face. (Who? Pereira?)
Milton nodded. (That's the boss isn't he?)
Tossing his towel over to a table, Harm followed the driver to another part of the property. So here was Pereira's office. It was bigger than the Admiral's office, but smaller than that of the SecNav. Armando was sitting in a big leather chair behind a desk, smoking a cigarette.
(You wanted to see me?) Harm knew he had to be looking dirty, his hands, jeans and shirt covered in dirt and grease.
Pereira nodded and tossed his cigarette in an ashtray. (What's the state of those aircrafts?)
Harm shrugged. (It'll take another couple of days before I've checked them all. The three I did seemed pretty okay) he answered.
Pereira pursed his lips. (How many of them can you fly?)
(One at the time). When Harm saw the expression on his face, he shook his head. (All of them as far as I can see. I learned to fly in one of similar to them).
Walking over the one window, Pereira clasped his hands behind his back. (I need you to fly to Porto next Sunday).
Harm nodded. (Just tell me what you need. I'm only the servant).
He received an 'And-don't-you-forget-it' look from both Milton and Pereira. (It's nothing big). Pereira spread a map out over the table and mentioned to Harm to come closer to it. (There's a small airstrip close to Porto. Here). He pointed on the map. (I need you to land there, deliver a small package to the owner of the strip and come back here).
(What am I delivering?) Harm wanted to know.
Pereira shook his head. (You don't need to know that. Like you said, you are just the servant).
He raised his hands in defeat. (Of course. Which plane would you like me to take?)
(I am confident you can figure that one out by yourself Senõr Vermont. You will leave early in the morning Sunday morning. Is that going to be a problem?)
The man was obviously daring him to say something about the time or the plan or whatever but Harm just shrugged. (No Senõr Pereira. No problem at all).
(Good). The older man folded the map. (You are briefed. You can go now).
Nodding, Harm turned around and left the office. He had wanted action right? Wasn't that what he just got?
Pereira Residence
Ribeira Grande, Santo Antão
Cape Verde Islands, Africa
2336 hours local
'So he's finally getting into the action huh?' Rome hung her sun dress over a chair.
They were getting ready for bed and Harm had just told her what Pereira had told him to do this morning. 'Part of him is anyway. It doesn't mean that he trusts me though'. Harm pulled his shirt over his head and dunked it into the laundry basket nearby the closet.
Rome shook her head. 'You're gonna keep that up aren't you?'
All he did was flash her his Flyboy-grin. 'Anyway, that means that I need to get up early next Sunday. That a problem for you?'
Rome followed him to the bathroom to brush her teeth. 'Not that I can tell now. Which plane are you taking?'
'Not sure yet. I have two other planes to check out and as long I haven't done that, I won't know for sure'.
Twenty minutes later, they were lying under the sheets, side by side. It didn't really feel awkward anymore. 'So, now you know what my day looked like, how was yours?'
She turned the page of her magazine and shrugged. 'As uneventful as ever. Izabel needs a lot of rest being eight months pregnant of course. Suzette doesn't want to let me near the kitchen to help her cook, so I decided to ask Izabel where the nursery was. Turns out, they don't have one'.
Now there was a surprise. 'They don't have a nursery?'
'Nope. Not really a custom here. So, today I finally had something great to do. I'm going to give Izabel a nursery. That is killing two flies with the same rock. She gets her nursery and I get to know her'.
Harm had to admit that it was smart. 'Sounds good to me honey'.
Right. When had he started to call her by terms of endearment again? And why was he doing it in the private of their room again? Rome just smiled. It was nice to hear it coming from him.
'They got enough room for a nursery' Harm said.
'Other than some people I know, they do' Rome answered.
Harm started to get annoyed with her comments. Comments that he could take two ways. She was either talking about them or she wasn't. He was tired of it. Rolling on to his side, he propped his head up his hand. 'Tell me something Rome. Why did you come to me?'
Rome frowned. 'What? What do you mean, "why did you come to me?" Wasn't that obvious?'
'No actually, it's not. A week ago I had a pretty good idea, or so I thought, but you've been giving me mixed signals ever since we got here. What exactly is it that you want me to do here? 'Cause every time I even make a hint as to protect you, you turn away, claiming that you can handle it. I need to know the truth'.
His voice was calm. Calmer than Rome remembered. And that was the whole point. He was disappointed ánd amazingly angry with her. She bit her lip. Yeah, why had she come to him? Why of all the people she knew, to him?
'Harm, I can't…' There was no way she could tell him everything that had happened to her during the time she'd broken up with him until she came back.
'Don't give me that Rome. Of all the things you say, don't give me that'. He got up and walked over to the balcony. Great, now he was furious.
She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them to her. Hot tears stung in her eyes. She hated playing games with him. Gathering the courage to say something, she looked up to him. He was the first one to speak though.
'What happened to the Rome I fell in love with? What happened to the girl that "ate life with a big spoon"? Where did the person go that asked me, "Whose problem is that? Theirs or ours?" when I said something about our age difference? Where is that person that wrapped my family around her finger within half an hour? Where is that young woman that trusted me with everything?'
The tears were streaming down her face now. He was right. What had ever happened to that person? 'Let me know when you find her, 'cause the little girl who's sitting here is only scared' Rome whispered. 'She stopped eating life with a big spoon a long time ago'.
Harm turned around. 'Why are you pulling that façade around me Rome? What have I ever done to deserve that?'
'Nothing'. Sighing, she wiped some tears of her cheek. 'But I've hurt you when I broke things off between us and a lot of things happened before I came crawling back…'
He walked back to the bed. 'Do you really think that I would've let you back into my life if I hadn't seen that you had been through a lot? You might be able to read me but I'm able to read you too. You don't have to prove anything to me you know'.
Rome stayed silent for a long time, softly sniffing, not daring to look up to him. Those ocean-colored eyes went right through her soul. His hands cupped her face and he searched for her eyes. 'What are you so afraid of Rome?'
'If I let you in again… I won't be able to let go again Harm. You've kicked your way into my heart pretty fast and I did everything that I could to stop it, but you'd taken up most of the space in here before I even realized it. Letting you in again would mean it's forever and I… I just don't know what you… If it would mean anything to you'.
Her words made him happy and sad at the same time. There was more to it than that. 'That's not all there is to it Borboleta. What happened in that two and a half years when we weren't talking to each other?'
He had called her by her nickname. That had been a long time. Despite everything else, Rome had to smile. 'What ever happened to Lagarta?'
'You transformed from a caterpillar into a butterfly a long time ago Rome' Harm gently said. 'But don't avoid the question. What happened in those two years?'
Harm wasn't gonna give it a rest until he knew what had been going in her life until then and Rome knew that. She sat up and took a deep breath. 'All right. Here goes…'
Yes, yes, you don't want me to stop here, you want to know what is going on with Rome. Well, you're just gonna have to wait for that. Let me know what you think though...