So I completely forgot to tell all you lovely readers that I posted Tags to To Warm a Bowl of Love, it is the M-rated scene between Maddy and Mark, so be warned. Also I won't be able to post tomorrow, I'm sorry. Please review and tell me what you think, and I had so much trouble writing this chapter, so I hope you like it. Enjoy.
Maddy and Mark laid down in bed, their minds a whirl wind of activity. Neither Wash nor the General had shown up that day and they haven't been able to get in contact. She waited in the kitchen till late into the night, but he took her hand and led her back to their room.
"Something probably held them up," He was partly trying to assure himself as he spoke, but he also wanted his wife near him where she was safe. Nodding she stood next to the mattress and started pulling her clothes off, knowing full well he was watching.
Her figure took over his thoughts and he stood behind her, touching her with his finger tips. His roughness against her softness was a steep contrast, but not a bad one. She let her head loll back as he sipped at her neck and shoulder.
"Are you ready for bed," He asked softly, and she smiled, turning around to start pulling at his shirt. He leaned down and kissed her, hands running over her bare upper body, well almost bare. "Lets just get you out of those pants and we can get int-"
"Maddy!" Zoe cried, making them scramble apart. Maddy grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head quickly, looking at the doorway where the little girl cried.
Zoe was sobbing and it hurt Mark so bad to see her so upset, "What's wron-" Mark took a step and he saw what was upsetting her so bad.
Maddy felt her blood freeze. Pressed against Zoe's temple was the black barrel of a gun. "Tsk, tsk, you angered some very powerful people. And now I need to take your wife and kid." The robotic voice that was an artificial octave lower than the perpetrator's real voice, and it sent chills down Maddy's spine.
She took small steps forward, past her husband, to stand feet away from Zoe, who hid behind her. The man shifted to stand close to Maddy, grabbed her arm with his free hand and pointing the gun at Mark, "Sorry, but I can't have you following me." He pulled the trigger and a blast came from the gun.
Maddy screamed when Mark's body hit the wall, and tried to pull away from her captor. He pointed the gun at her and took Zoe's hand, "Now there is a rover outside, I want you to get in"
She moved faster than most people would think, and her elbow connected with the small space in the middle of the man in black's chest. He dropped the gun and Zoe's hand to clutch where she had hit. Maddy dragged Zoe away, after kicking the gun down the hall.
She ran back to the communications room to get to Mark, but she didn't see him. The moment the man in black entered the room, Maddy turned around and Mark's fist came into contact with the intruders face.
The smaller man stumbled back as Mark advanced on him, hunched over, and breathing hard.
Mark was immensely proud of his wife, he didn't know she could even do that, but he didn't want to waste time praising her. Mark kicked his legs out from under him and dragged him back with his hand firmly around one ankle.
Once he had the upper hand, Mark didn't hold back. He blocked, kicked and punched the man. He felt nothing but hatred for him, but the man in black's quick fighting style reminded him of someone.
When the man pulled out a smaller gun, he didn't have time to aim, just fired. A child's scream rang out, but Mark had the man's hands in his and twisted hard, he heard the snapping of the bones in both forearms arms.
Before much more screaming could come from the man, Mark grabbed his throat and squeezed. Hard. Slowly he felt the man's blood pressure fall. And soon he was limp.
Holding it for a moment longer he checked for pulse and was satisfied that he was dead.
Turning, he focused his attention on his wife and Zoe, who clutched her older sister. Mark saw the fright in his family, "Are you alright?"
She nodded her head, both girls shaking visibly. She swallowed hard and with a trembling voice asked the same question to him and he showed them the damage. He winced as he lifted up his shirt, and Maddy gasped at the dark red splotches all over his torso.
"I'll get ice." She looked at the door way and took a breath keeping her eyes on the floor as she walked around the body and to the kitchen. Maddy strode to the kitchen, and opened the fridge. She started trying to pull a large piece from the freezer, her entire focus now on her quest for ice.
When the large piece stayed stubbornly unmoving, she yanked hard, before a large hand covered her and pulled her back from the cold door. She pressed back into him, and he hugged her tight, even though his chest throbbed.
She cried, her entire body shaking as his forearms tightened over her stomach. They sank to the floor, and all he could do was hold her as she sobbed from the fear of the earlier situation, her face twisted as she wept. When the tears finally stopped she felt shaky and breathless, and Mark only kept whispering assurances and rocking her.
Zoe walked in, hugging her teddy bear and sitting with them, wiggling her way into their embrace. Maddy and Mark sat straighter as she laid across them. Maddy felt her heart beat calm before she felt something very different.
Bile rose in her throat and she slid from them, running, she reached the bathroom in seconds.
She stumbled to the toilet and choked up her most recent meal, before she felt a warm hand on her back, rubbing circles. Mark and Zoe sat on the floor as she leaned into him, Zoe laying her head on Maddy's lap.
.
.
.
Maddy woke up, she laid in one of the bunks, her sister's arms tightly around her. But no Mark.
She wiggled out, and replaced her missing body with her teddy bear. Kissing Zoe's forehead she tip toed to the communications room.
Mrs. Reynolds stepped into the room, but didn't have to say anything as he stood up, holding the dead man's black mask.
She stepped forward, keeping her eyes on Mark, she didn't want to see a dead body now. Taking his hand, she silently walked him out of the room, and to the bunk area.
As they crawled in bed, it just took its toll on him. Maddy was laying on the far side, where the side met the wall, Zoe was between them, and Mark was next to her, at the outer side.
They stared into each other's eyes for a while, as Zoe slept peacefully between them. His eyes were watery before she reached her hand out and stroke his rough chin, letting the stubble scratch her soft palm.
"It's Ken." His voice cracked when he finally managed to speak, and she felt her heart numb. She hated to hear her family members sad, Mark included. "The man in black is-was Ken Foster."
Maddy fully understood now, and was shocked. They were all friends, and yet that man tried to hurt her sister and her, and kill her husband. She slid out of bed and pulled Mark with her. They stood next to the bunk as Mark buried his face in her neck. Hot, wet tears slide against the skin of her neck as rubbed his big shoulders and up and down his spine.
"How will I tell Anne?" He choked out, his voice shaking, and with words she almost missed, he whispered, "I'm just as bad as those Nazis."
She pulled back and cupped his chin to look at her, "Don't you ever say that to me Mark Reynolds. You are nothing like them."
"I just killed my best friend." He shuddered and she began rubbed her hands over him again.
"No you were protecting your family. Those Nazis sought to torture innocent people, but you protect the innocent." She swallowed the lump in her throat. It upset her to see him in so much pain. "When I told you about the scars, you were so angry that someone even thought to hurt me. And I could see that you would never let anyone hurt me again." She stood on her tip toes and kissed him hard. "And damn it Mark, I love you, and you protected me. Especially Zoe-"
"You and she could have been killed."
"And, you saved us." She turned back to the bed and patted his side of the mattress. Climbing across her sister, Zoe mumbled something and turned over, resting her head against Maddy's breast.
Mark laid down and held both his wife's hands, kissing her one more time. "Night Maddy. Night Zoe," and kissed the little girl's forehead. "I love you Maddy. I love you, Zoe."
"Night Mark. Night Zoe." Maddy mimicked her husband and got a nod from her sister. "I love you both."
The night was slow, and neither Maddy nor Mark slept. Just assure one another. Protect each other from their inner demons.
Maybe tomorrow would be better.