Surprise! No long wait!

The next day, Maddox was released from protective custody. He was found to be not worth the effort to keep safe. Hawkeye found herself homeless as her apartment was sealed off for investigation and repairs. Hawkeye stood in the hall since she had been kicked out, wondering if she should wait for a moment alone with Roy and ask to stay with him or call up Rebecca to ask to stay with her. Staying with Roy was so much more appealing, but should she?

In time, people started clearing out and Hawkeye found herself approaching Roy. "Uh, sir, I don't have a place to stay as you know. Could I stay with you?" She asked quietly.

"You don't have to ask." Roy whispered back gently. "You have a spare key. You can visit or stay with me whenever you wish... or until your place is cleaned up."

"Thank you, sir. I'll get a few things and then we can go."

"Do you want to stay in my room? Or do you want your own?" Roy asked her after closing the door to his house behind them. He was quite certain she'd want to be with him under normal circumstances, but she had had a rough night and he understood if she needed some space. Hawkeye hesitated. She was going to say she wanted her own, but the words wouldn't leave her lips. No. She didn't want to be alone with her nightmares. She wanted someone there who understood them and who could comfort her.

"With you of course."

"All right. Do you need anything?" He asked as he opened his bedroom door for her. "Oh, also, stay away from under the bed."

"I don't need anything." She said as she walked in. Her sharp eyes took in her surroundings and a small smile escaped her lips when she spotted a picture of her by his bedside. "But, why would I go looking under the bed?"

"You might go looking there for extra space. I'm letting you know there is none." Roy said, following her in and then stepping between her and the picture, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh. I was just noticing your picture of me." She told him. Aware he was uncomfortable with her knowledge of it, she added, "Its sweet of you to have one there."

Sweet. How humiliating. He thought and turned around, taking the picture and tucking it away safely inside the drawer. "Yes, but I won't need it tonight. I've got the real deal to sleep next to."

Hawkeye set her bag down. "Is it okay if I unpack?"

"Go ahead. I have plenty of space around here, except-"

"Under the bed." She finished for him. "Got it."

As she set to unpacking, Roy let her be and left the room. He tried to find some way to busy himself, but ended up dozing on the couch.

Hawkeye was tempted to look under his bed. Not to put any of her things there, but just to see what the fuss was about. She respected Roy's wishes and his space though and didn't so much as take a peek. She didn't take very long and came out of the room to look for Roy. It was definitely a bit strange for her. She had never been inside Roy's house before. If there was anything that she had expected it to look like, the sheer emptiness of it certainly wasn't one of them. Hawkeye paused, a faint smile on her face when she saw Roy asleep on the couch. She remained quiet, watching him sleep as she got lost in her thoughts. I've never really watched him sleep before. Sure I've seen him asleep at work, but I always woke him up. I've never let him be and just watched him. He seems so... peaceful. She couldn't help wondering if she was getting a small glimpse into a life where they lived together without worry. Roy grumbled a bit in his sleep as if he were having some kind of dream, but then he woke. "Oh, hey Lieutenant." He said, sitting up and stretching.

Hawkeye came over and joined him on the couch, taking a seat by him. "Thank you again, sir, for letting me stay here with you."

"Its like I said before, you have a spare key, so..."

"I know. But I don't want to just come here unannounced and unexpected. I wanted your permission to be here."

"Lieutenant, you have my permission to be here unannounced and unexpected." Roy told her with a smirk. "That's why I gave you the spare key."

That night, Hawkeye slipped into bed with Roy. Despite the horrific end to her job as bodyguard to Maddox, she found herself able to relax with Roy so near. She didn't need to say anything to him. She knew he already understood. They understood each other so well after all. Just to have Roy with her was comfort enough. Beside her, Roy slipped an arm around her, but only after she had snuggled close so he knew it was okay. His bed felt so warm with her here. He closed his eyes, relaxing and enjoying the moment. His home truly felt like home now.

That's it. The end. There had been a little more to this story, I'll admit, but the ending had been just absolutely horrible that I cut it out completely. This ending feels so much more better.

Its sad that it has ended, I know. But if you kind of liked this story, I will be putting a couple of more short stories for royai up here on FanFiction. One of them is an old fic me and EW did and one is a recent fic I wrote up based on a dream I had. Do not expect that last one to be very good.

If you didn't like this story at all and hated it, then please do not read anymore of my stories and it would be wise if you didn't go to my co-author's (Eli White) FanFiction page.

Thanks for reading!