Inspiration: i5. photo bucket albums / y151 / el_saz /Tandem % 20felix / 496 .jpg

MxM, during Seed

He must have searched the whole ship before he'd finally found her. After they'd picked up the kid and his new mobile suit (where he'd found a thing like that was anyone's guess) she'd given the order to head for Orb before leaving the bridge. And that had been the last anyone had seen of her. The crew hadn't questioned her orders or her disappearance, going about their duties in subdued silence as they had ever since the ship had left Alaska but he'd been worried. It wasn't like her. So although he really should have stayed on the bridge to keep an eye on things, he'd gone to find her.

She was at the observation window watching the last of the icebergs drift past, slender frame lit only by reflected moonlight, and as he watched she reached out to trace a pattern on the cold glass. She looked small, and lost, and as fragile as he'd ever seen her and he almost said something but in the next instant she glanced up and noticed him, and the moment was gone.

"Commander? Is everything all right?" She tried to put that edge in her voice, to use the same tone as she did on the bridge but it wasn't very convincing, and given the way the corners of her mouth quirked in a tiny smile, she knew it.

"As alright as it can be."

"Things will be better once we get to Orb." She lifted her chin determinedly but he'd been able to hear the I hope that she'd left unsaid. "We can get refuelled and repaired, and then.."

"And then?"

"And then.. I'll figure something out."

"You don't have to.."

"I do though, don't I?" Another smile, this one a little rueful. "This was my decision."

Mwu shook his head. "I told you, don't try shouldering all that by yourself. It's too much."

"There isn't anyone else."

"Sure there is. There's me." At her frown he gave a smile of his own. "I was the one who told you about Cyclops. That was what made you decide to leave. All this is as much my responsibility as it is yours. No, it is," he chided when she opened her mouth to protest, "and you know it. Let me help."

"You'd do that?"

"I always have, haven't I?"

It was a bit too much. Since leaving the bridge she'd been alone with her own thoughts and worries, the weight of her promise to Admiral Halberton and the decision to run like a physical pain in her chest. For almost the first time in her life she'd had no idea what to do next. Would Orb take them? And if not, where could they go? Would they even make it?

Then, like always, he'd been there with advice and a shoulder to lean on, an offer to help when she'd needed it most, and the reassurance it - he - provided was so great it brought a lump to her throat. Taking a deep breath Murrue peeked up at him with an attempt at a smile.

"Thank you." For this, and for coming back.

He smiled back, the expression as gentle as she'd ever seen from him. No words, but that look was enough, as was the way he fished a (rather grubby) cloth from his pocket and dabbed away tears she hadn't even noticed were falling.

And then he hugged her.

The embrace was so unexpected and sudden she stood there frozen for a full ten seconds before returning it rather hesitantly. He chuckled softly, the laughter felt rather than heard, and brushed a hand over her hair.

"It's okay now," he offered quietly. "No need to worry."

No need to worry. Not true, she knew, yet somehow he made her believe it. He was there, right beside her like always, and he understood. And curling a hand in his jacket she let herself cry. Tears of sadness, of anger, of relief and gratitude and through them all he held her close, murmuring comforting words. She could cry, he said, and it'd be all right. And she knew that it would be. Not just because they were headed to safety, but because he was there with her.

She wasn't alone.

(hurray for weirdness xD

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