Angel and Dazzler Alone at Last Chapter 9
She needed to calm her nerves and Warren needed to think. Pouring in a measure of heavenly scented bath foam, she wondered if this belonged to Candy or to Warren. Alison never dreamed Warren would actually fall in love, ever. And he not only loved someone, he loved her deeply and lost her, his parents, his wings, everything.
Twisting the knobs off, Alison disrobed and carefully eased her toes into the water, testing. Certain it wouldn't scald her, she stepped in and listened to the soft sound of the bubbles popping around her as she stared up at the giant skylight overhead. The liar. He said there were no windows to this bathroom. But his lies were better than the truths she'd had from the lips of her other lovers. If it ended tonight, she wouldn't regret it. She wouldn't. She just had to keep saying it and maybe she would believe it.
A little heaving shudder ran through her as she fought back tears. It wouldn't be okay. She knew what she left behind all those years ago and she couldn't go back to being empty again. Warren had his demons, and they weren't small ones. But just a short time with him made her feel more alive than a thousand days alone.
She headed off the tears by grabbing a loofah from the basket at the tub's edge and scrubbing at her skin. She dunked her head under the water and came up sputtering. With her eyes wet, it was hard to tell if she was clear of the bubbles enough to open them or breath safely. Slicking the water away from her face with her hands, she searched around for a shampoo and snagged a clear green bottle tagged as shampoo of some kind. She rubbed it in, focusing on the feeling of it in her hands and played with spiking her hair with it for a bit. When she rinsed it out, the true scent of it hit her. It smelled like Warren. And now she did cry.
She cried for herself and the years wasted wandering, fearing to reach for her dreams. She cried for Warren, the shining golden boy of the Institute who lost so much that he felt lost to himself. And she cried for the injustice of it all, the mindless hatred in the world that left them broken and afraid. Warren carried a lot of scars. He killed a man. And she could see it in the pain lines etched into his face. But she knew he wouldn't turn that fury on her. He longed for redemption. She couldn't be that for him. He had to find a way to forgive himself. But she could lift him up out of the gutter. She'd spent enough time there to know how to help him rise up when he needed it.
Alison tried so hard to keep her sobs quiet, using the loofah to hide the sound, that she nearly missed the sound of glass on glass. She paused, slowing her hiccupping breath to listen. The noise repeated just before she decided she imagined it. Alison couldn't make sense of it, but realized that Warren probably would check on her soon.
Taking the loofah in hand once more, she lathered it up and gave her body another once over. Just as she thought she should consider getting out, a knock came from the closed door and she heard it open. Glancing over she saw Warren filling the doorway, his dark eyes cast in shadow, with something in his hands.
Alison froze in place, wondering what Warren planned to do. He held a plate in his hands with something bright red on it. As he came closer to sit on the steps to the tub, she finally realized what they were-strawberries.
His suave confidence left his features. The fruit on the plate lay there artlessly; a leaf had even fallen into the cup of chocolate sauce in the center. It wasn't the creation of a cook or even a man out to impress a woman. It was raw, basic, and humble. The heart of a man stripped away of all pretense, offering himself on a platter. It spoke of honesty when words failed.
His hand shook a little as he took the first one and dipped it into the chocolate and held it out to her. His sapphire eyes were sharply defined, proof that he had been crying as well. She opened her mouth and accepted his offering. The chocolate tasted like the ice cream sundaes of her childhood. No fondue or special chocolatier creation here, just a simple taste of sweetness, heartfelt.
"I'm not a perfect man, Ali. And I'm definitely no angel. But if you would have me, then I am yours."
Alison's hand reached for him of its own accord. "Warren, won't it bother you that my codename is the same as what your uncle called himself?"
"No," he replied, "I never think of him when I see you. Besides he called himself 'The Dazzler' not 'Dazzler'. I have never and will never think of him in the same breath as you."
"I still think I should change my codename as well," Dazzler went on, staring down at the water as her hand rested on the lip of the tub, just shy of his chest.
Warren's voice softened and he spoke barely above a whisper, "If that is what you want, Ali. But don't do it for me. Only do it for you if you want to."
"I have to leave, you know." There, she said it. Her fingers pinched the cold marble.
"Of course you do. I just wish you had told me sooner. Does this mean you want to break things off?" She could tell he had trouble forcing out the last words.
"No. But you have a business to run here, and I have to go on this tour. It's really important to me. But I didn't know if you would…wait for me." She glanced up at him at last and started at his sudden laughter.
"Alison, I've got branches all over the world. And I have computers and phones, not to mention staff, to help me manage things from wherever I may be. I'm not chained here. I can come and see you even while you tour. If you don't mind, that is," his words were amused but wistful at the end.
Surprised, she fumbled for words of her own, "N-no, I don't mind, Warren. I just…I've never had anyone really follow me on the tour before. I don't expect you to be there all the time. But when it ends, I can stay and settle down for a little while."
"Oh, so that's what your pal Glen was going on about. You were worried about me waiting for you to get through the tour to come back to me."
"You heard that?" she asked surprised.
Warren looked a little sheepish, "Yeah, I did. Sorry. I just didn't know if you were planning to run off with him instead of me."
Finally Alison laughed as well. "Oh Warren, he's a good man, but he isn't you. All I really want is you."
Warren smiled, a tenderness that made him look so beautiful to her as he said, "I can be there for you every weekend, and if you need me, ever, all you have to do is call, I will come for you. If you want me, then, Ali, I want you too. Let's try to make this work. But can you acknowledge having a mutant boyfriend in public? I can't hide what I am, but I promise that I will always be there to save you. Ali, will you be mine?"
Taking his hand in hers she simply answered, "Yes." And they kissed, the strawberries forgotten as the crescent moon and stars shined down upon the dawn of their new relationship. Angel and Dazzler, together at last.
The end.
Author's end note: I hope you've enjoyed this tale and highly encourage you to revisit it through Warren's eyes. While Alison is out with Stacy, Warren tries to catch a criminal. An when Alison is practicing with her band, he's talking to the police. And the shower scene is a VERY different experience from Warren's point-of-view! Do feel free to leave feedback as this was a writing experiment to help me learn to be able to get the romance genre down. Your comments and thoughts help. :)
