(Author's note: I'm so very sorry about the length of time between updates. I had a bit of a medical emergency that proved to be minor, but still caused some issues. For those who asked, I have indeed played Alien Hunters and it fits in very neatly with my plans for this story.)

March 1, 2035

18:50 Moscow Time Zone

Resistance Headquarters

It was stupid to get so flustered over the prospect of a date, Van thought to herself. She'd been on plenty of dates before. Of course, that was objectively twenty-five years ago now, though subjectively it was only five. Still. Plenty of dates, none of which had made her nervous in the past. So it shouldn't feel like she had butterflies the size of eagles flying about in her gut. What probably didn't help was postponing it, but there more important things such as seeing to her wounded and getting the refugees settled in other places.

Trying not to dwell on the past few days, Van stood in front of the mirror on the back of her bathroom door and glowered at herself for the nerves. She'd decided on this lovely red sundress with halter straps, a sweetheart neckline, and a lightly embroidered bodice that ended in a loose, floaty skirt that went to her ankles. Somehow she'd even managed to make a respectable bow out of the tie on the back that helped the bodice hug her torso. She hadn't expected the color to look good on her, but it did.

It probably helped that she no longer had that pasty appearance anymore. Amazing what regular exercise combined with alien technology could do. She wasn't a vain woman by nature, but she couldn't resist taking a moment to admire her appearance in the mirror.

She really did like how the color of the dress brought out the red highlights in her hair.

Then her nerves surged again.

Of course this date was not quite like previous ones. John actually mattered to her. A great deal more than she was ready to admit to anyone, even to herself. It wasn't even that they worked together. Considering what life was like now, that was kind of a moot point.

No, it was the fact that even though they had almost nothing in common, she felt a… click with him the way she'd never felt with anyone else.

Realizing the time, she hastily dabbed on a judicious amount of scented oil then slid on the flats she'd found that went with the dress. There was no way she was going to wear heels with the way the flooring was in the Avenger. That would be asking for a broken ankle at the very least.

She stepped out into the main room and surveyed it. The lighting was dimmed to inspire romance, but not so dim as to make the room seem like a cave. Since she didn't have the room for a decent sized table and chair set, and really trying to find one for two was greatly impractical, she'd done some rearranging. She'd managed to move one of the couches off to the side so that they could easily see the large monitor that was currently displaying a crackling fire in a fireplace.

The temperature of the room had already been adjusted to be a bit warmer. Hopefully it was a good

compromise between their comfort zones.

Placing one hand over her stomach, she irritably told herself to calm down, before turning on some quiet classical music to add to the ambiance. She was pleased with how it looked and hoped that John would see it the same way she did.

The door buzzer sounded.

Swallowing back her nausea, Van made sure it was John before opening the door with a nervous smile. "Good evening."

John's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly when he got a good look at her as he stepped in. He didn't say anything right away as he dropped the small bag he was carrying and the door whooshed shut behind him. His voice was thick as he said. "My god, Vanessa. You're gorgeous."

When he looked at her like that, she did feel that way. She smiled back at him. "And you look incredibly dashing."

And he did, since he he'd gone completely clean shaven and dressed in a buttoned, short sleeved white shirt tucked into belted khakis. Both the shirt and pants had the crisp lines of freshly pressed clothing. The shirt did a fine job of defining of what kind of shape he was in. She had a good idea, especially after him hauling her over his shoulder in that stasis suit.

But actually seeing the lean, hard physique was something else.

When Van stepped up to him, he pulled her tight against him and gave her a hot, hungry kiss which she eagerly returned. After the kiss ended she slowly trailed soft kisses from his lips to his jaw down to his neck. Whatever aftershave or cologne he used that blended enticingly with his natural scent to draw her in. While his hands slowly roamed down her back, she slid her hands down from his shoulders so she could work on opening the top button of his shirt.

John's breathing sharpened as she finally opened the button and let her kisses drift down to the now exposed skin where his neck and chest met. He had to clear his throat a few times before he could say anything "Maybe eat later?"

She smiled against his skin and began to work on the next button. "Yes."

Except her stomach had other ideas since it gurgled. Loudly. Then his responded even louder. She couldn't help laughing ruefully. "I guess it is dinner first after all."

There was a similar chuckle from John. "Guess our bodies know what they want first."

"True and it would be a shame to let dinner get cold after all the work Cookie put into it."

He froze in the process of getting his bag, slowly straightened up to stare at her.

"I asked for dinner to be set aside for us tonight because we had some sensitive matters to discuss in private, nothing new. It may have only been a month for me, but we've had private conferences, even over dinner more than once."

Shaking his head slightly, he leaned over to grab his bag and straightened up to peer over the back of the couch to look at the covered dishes on the table. "Looks like she had other ideas."

"Yeah. I promise I haven't said anything, but what showed up wasn't just servings of the general mess."

"Van," he said with a smile. "We haven't exactly been as discrete as we probably should've been and given the events of the last three days, it's not likely we'd be working on something sensitive."

She snorted as she went around the couch. "I'm pretty sure we've had private discussions after other missions."

There was an eloquent silence behind her before John set his bag off to the side where it would be out of the way. He strolled around the couch, accepted the empty plate she handed him and started looking under the covers. He shook his head, but there was a faint hint of another smile. "Yep, Cookie knew something was up. Looks like she made some of my favorites as finger food. Suspect the rest is yours."

That hadn't escaped her notice when she set up the table. Hoping that this didn't put a damper on things, she said, "I guess I wasn't as subtle as I thought I was when I set this up."

"Angel, you're subtle when you need to be." He shrugged with one shoulder. "Sides, I probably didn't help showing up dressed like this and carrying a bag."

Van stopped filling her plate and couldn't hide the dismay that suddenly welled up in her as she straightened up. "Oh no. They still put a guard out there tonight? I thought I said everyone was to get a break."

Amusement lit up his face. "Your orders were that over the next two days everyone was to get at least one of the two as a break. Even if Kelly is on the injured list, she's more than capable of working out a schedule to fit your orders."

Her own sense of humor for the ridiculous came bubbling up and she finished selecting her food with a smile. Sitting down on the couch, she asked, "So who was it out there and do you think they won whatever betting pool they had on us?"

While her troops might not have the benefits of the kind of training that used to be available to the original lot, they were very perceptive. She had a feeling Kelly and Harkes at least had twigged to what was going on.

John grinned as he settled next to her. "Worley, he seemed pretty deflated, so I'd say he lost."

She grinned back, then ate in silence for a time. It felt strange, yet right, to be sitting so companionably next to him. They'd eaten a lot of meals in the past, but before the fall of the old HQ it had been as the leaders of XCOM. Since her retrieval, there'd been a few times it was as friends. Eating dinner with him as potential lover made things different.

"So, did you want to do anything with our date night?" He asked curiously.

"I was hoping to get to know each other better." She wrinkled her nose at the look he gave her. "Not just physically."

The look turned puzzled. "Thought we knew each other pretty well by now?"

"We do to a degree, but I want to know the little details about John Bradford, not Central Officer Bradford. I also suspect that you probably know more about me than I do about you."

He thought that over. "You're probably right. So what did you want to know?"

"Let's start with something easy," she smiled at his suspicious look. "I mean it. Why did you join the military?"

John blinked at her. Van gave him a sunny smile in return which caused him to chuckle. "Didn't expect that easy. Anyway. Military service runs in both sides of my family. Probably have at least one member in each branch. Tried the college thing." He did a dismissive roll of a shoulder. At a little more. "Folks wanted me to do something other than being a grunt, but it just didn't work. So I went for the branch that had the fewest members." Now he gave her a sly smile. "Couldn't see myself as a seadog."

She nodded, to be honest she couldn't really see him as a sailor either.

He took a bite of food and after chewing, asked, "There is one thing that I've always wondered about."

"Only one thing?" Van asked amusedly with an arch of a brow.

"There is more, but one thing in particular I've always wanted to ask about. Just where did you learn your leadership skills? You showed good solid ones at Foresight from the beginning, so that wasn't it."

That didn't surprise her, most people discounted where she learned a lot of valuable skills. "I guess you didn't take a look at my hobbies."

He shook his head in confusion. "Your love of sci-fi was one of the reasons you were offered your initial position besides your education, but," he stopped before he dug himself into a hole.

Since this was supposed to be a date, she let him off the hook with a smile. "It was from playing World of Warcraft. I started it day of release, found myself in a raid progression guild which led to me ending up as one of the raid leaders. There's nothing quite like leading a forty man raid where the other thirty nine people are all firmly convinced they can lead the raid better than you."

Van took a sip of her iced tea while he mulled that over. "So dealing with soldiers is easy. They'll follow orders as long as they're reasonably intelligent. And getting a squad of four to eight moving? Cake, because due to inclination and training they're willing to work together to achieve their objectives. Trying to get 40 gamers going in the same direction is worse than herding the same number of cats."

Then she turned serious. "Don't worry, I've never once considered my time with XCOM as any kind of game."

He glared at her. "Christ, Vanessa. That's what you think went through my head just now?"

"Maybe? The look on your face just now…"

John shook his head. "Actually, was thinking over what kind of nightmare that must have been to organize."

"At first it was so bad it was funny. Then as time went on we started to work together better. At first I thought it taught me the patience I needed to teach History 101 to the idiot freshmen when I hit graduate school."

"But you learned more than that. Bet you were one of the leaders of your guild in general too."

She gave him a sideways glance. "Maaaaybe."

He laughed and she grinned in return. "Since we're on the subject of hobbies, what are yours?"

"Nothing quite as dramatic as yours, but I do enjoy card games of all types, reading westerns, the odd bad action flick."

"If you don't mind some oldies to you, I have a good number of movies on my recovered drive. Maybe we can have a movie night some time."

"Unless you have something planned for your rest day tomorrow, maybe we can make it a movie day." He peered at her suspiciously. "You were going to follow your own orders and take a break tomorrow, right? I know you were busy all day today."

As much as her conscience would allow her, but even her conscience agreed that a day spent with her boyfriend sounded much more interesting. He shook his head at the undoubtedly guilty look on her face. Before he could say anything, she said, "I would like to spend the day with you, it doesn't have to be movies."

Her nerves returned, prompting her to add. "That is, if you're sure you want to spend the day."

John collected her empty plate, added it to his, and then placed them on the table among the debris of their meal. He moved in to run a hand along her face, she closed her eyes to lean into his touch and felt the briefest brush of his lips against hers. "Of course I want to spend the day with you, angel. I should be the one asking if you really want to spend this time with an old man."

Van reopened her eyes to glare at him. "Stop that about being old. I don't have a problem with your age, but if you have a problem with it, or anything else, tell me now before we go too far for regrets."

"Nothing like that. Just worried that you feet pressured."

This time she leaned in to kiss him, but a little firmer than his. She murmured against his mouth. "Does this feel like I'm being pressured?"

His breathing grew slightly ragged. "No."

She moved back a little so she could look him in his eyes. "I don't want you to feel pressured, considering how you felt for me all these years. What our positions are like in XCOM."

"No pressure from you or our positions. Pressure from myself, yes. Won't deny wanted this for a long time."

"Good." Now she let the smile form. "When I first met you, I found you very attractive, but knew the fraternization would cause issues. So I figured once things were resolved, I might talk you into vacationing at a tropical resort to recover. Well, things didn't turn out quite like I expected, but I figure tonight and tomorrow, maybe we can have a little of that time."

John got back to his feet and held out a hand to her. "In that case, would you like to dance?"

"I'll warn you I have two left feet when it comes to anything like that," she replied with a smile even as she accepted the hand up.

Leading her over to the empty area her rearrangements had left, he said dubiously. "Uh huh. I've heard about your stunts in unarmed training."

She laughed. "As if that's any kind of proof of grace. I generally just bull my way through."

"Mm," was the noncommittal reply as he placed her left hand on his shoulder before taking her right hand in his left. Then he placed his right hand on her back before sliding it down just above her rear. With deft touches he guided her through a slow waltz.

There really was something to dancing with a partner who knew what he was doing. Van found herself intensely aware of not just her body, but his as well, particularly with the placement of his hand that was pleasantly warm through her dress. Since it seemed like she wasn't going to step on his feet, she let herself relax and enjoy.

"Good," he murmured. "Like that, angel. Just move with me."

"You left this out of your list of hobbies." She tried to keep her tone light since she never expected this out of him.

He chuckled quietly, pulling her just a little closer. "Not exactly a hobby. Dancing was something dad suggest I learn when I was in my teens."

"Make it easier to pick up the girls?" She asked laughingly.

"Something like that." A hint of mischief filled his eyes. "Let's try a faster dance than this."

"Hope you're not overestimating your ability to teach and my ability to move that well."

The only response that got was a quiet laugh as he went to the secondary display to change the music to something a little livelier. Suddenly she was very glad for the flats, trying any of this in heels would have been incredibly bad and she didn't want to find out how quickly a broken ankle would heal. Her nerves jangled for a moment, but there was a pleasant buzz there too.

When he turned back to her with that heat in his eyes and answering heat shot through her system as she smilingly walked over to meet him halfway. This time he held her closer, maybe a little closer than the dance called for, but she certainly wasn't going to complain. Confident that he at least knew what he was doing, she reveled in feeling that rangy, muscled body against hers.

Until he sent her spinning with the skirt of her dress flying around her.

She found herself laughing as he reeled her in so that her back was against his chest, his hand holding hers so that her arm crossed her chest and his free hand around her waist. He brushed his lips along her neck causing her breath to catch in her throat as a pleasant flutter started low in her stomach. He rumbled. "Gonna have to teach you the tango sometime."

"Whoa, don't get ahead of yourself there." Though the prospect wasn't as scary as it would have been a few minutes ago.

He didn't say anything, but spun her out again. This time she was ready for it and went along with movement, deliberately swirling the dress to flash him a hint of her legs.

Pleasure mixed with heat lit up his expression. "Oh yes. Definitely need to teach you the tango."

This time she didn't argue. In fact, she was a little curious to see if she could learn. Then a thought struck her. "How's your leg holding up?"

"Just fine. Can dance all night with you, Van."

A double entendre was the last thing she expected out of John of all people. The man was normally bluntly straightforward. As if he could sense her thoughts he gave her a small pleased grin.

"I stepped into that one, didn't I?"

"Maybe a little bit."

They shared a quiet laugh and continued dancing together for a time, moving closer and closer together. Until by mutual, silent, consent they stopped moving.

John kept his hand at her back, but freed his other hand to lightly skim the backs of his fingers along her cheek, down her neck and along her shoulder, pausing at the strap of her dress. Smiling, Van breathed. "Yes."

He kissed her slowly as he slid the strap down, then let her go enough for her to pull her arm out all the way, his eyes widening a little at the bare flesh that was revealed. Taking advantage of his surprise, she started to finish unbuttoning his shirt.

"So what happens if the tie back here gets undone?" He asked as he caressed up her back to the tie.

Her smile turned vulpine. "Why don't you untie it to find out?"

"Don't think I'm quite ready for that." Instead he nuzzled into the crook of her neck and shoulder. She tilted her head to the side to give him better access. Her breath and heartbeat starting to speed up as he leisurely kissed his way down to, then along her chest just above her breasts and back up to the other side of her neck.

He lifted his head up and smiled at her. Caressing her face again, he asked with mock innocence. "Feeling a bit warm, angel?"

"Maybe a little bit." She was quite pleased that her hands were steady as she undid the last of the buttons on his shirt and slipped her hands inside to stroke up from his stomach to his chest, enjoying the way his muscles quivered under her touch.

With a quick shrug, he discarded the shirt and she stepped back a bit to enjoy the view. Even though his skin was riddled with scars, and his chest hair was more salt and pepper than brown, he was as in good physical shape as she thought. Certainly much better than any other man she'd been involved with.

John Bradford looked like the lifelong soldier she knew him to be and had a hard time believing that he had a drinking problem. Every drunk she'd known in the past didn't have that kind of muscle definition.

He raised his eyebrows. "See something you like?"

"Oh, yes," she replied as moved back in and went to kiss him, sliding her hands around him and up his back.

He whispered her name like a prayer as she continued to kiss down his throat to his chest. She paused for a moment, with her face buried against his chest to learn about his body the way she hadn't wanted to with anyone else before him. She drew in the scent of him, the taste of his skin against her lips, the feel of his heart pounding in his chest under the slightly scratchy yet ticklish feeling caused by the hair on top. Then she resumed going down along the "treasure trail" of hair that flowed down his chest to his abdomen.

"Vanessa." The strangled sound of his voice made her look up in concern from where she was starting to unbuckle the belt holding his pants in place. "Not…yet.' He coughed a little. "Not sure if I'll be good for more than one go."

That was the last reaction she'd anticipated and was at a loss for what to do next. John reached down to pull her up against him and kiss her thoroughly. He smiled at her breathlessness. "Let's see what happens when that tie gets undone."

She hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed.

There was a tug at her back, then she felt the dress loosen. He made a thoughtful sound before gently tugging on the remaining shoulder strap. She let it slip down her arm and with it the dress down her body, leaving her only in her strapless bra and panties after she carefully slipped her feet out of her shoes.

He stepped back a bit to take her in. The look of admiration made her flush from head to toe. "My god, Van, you're beautiful."

"Thank you." She delicately stepped away from the dress to the man who was still gazing reverently at her, including her face, not just her body. He wrapped his arms around her and she felt a sharp poke in her stomach causing her to yelp and step back. Rubbing the fading welt she said at his confusion, "Your belt buckle bites."

"Damn. Sorry about that, angel." He undid his belt and started to pull it out of the belt loops, paused, unbuttoned his pants, let them drop, then kicked off his shoes and socks, leaving only his briefs on. There was very little left to the imagination and she couldn't help her own admiring look.

They were going to have a little chat about the recently healed, shiny pink scar in his right leg at some point. She knew what a newly healed bullet wound looked like and there was only one mission he'd been on in the last month or so.

Unwilling to put a damper on the evening, Van shoved the thought away and moved up to him. This time there wasn't anything to get in the way of their bodies molding together as hands and mouths explored one another. God, he felt so good, she thought.

John slid his hands up her back to the hooks of her bra as she nuzzling his neck again and managed to unhook it without too much effort. It required no effort on her part to let it fall away before pressing back up against him. Her nipples had already been hard from arousal and now they both ached and felt relief from rubbing against him.

So when he slid his hands down to her butt and gently squeezed she wasn't surprised. She didn't expect him to say. "Might want to hold on, angel."

All she could get out was a squeak of surprise when he scooped her up. In the effort to keep them from unbalancing, she followed his direction by wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. His eyes were bright with amusement and he adjusted his hands so that he was supporting her by her thighs.

It didn't take long for him to walk over to the bed, even holding onto Van, but he was chuckling quietly by the time he laid her down. "Didn't expect that?"

"Not at all."

"Good." He leaned over to kiss her while he cupped one breast and slowly rubbed the nipple, the other hand to brace him. For a time her higher mental functions blurred from the pleasure his touch brought her.

"John," she whispered once he lifted his mouth from hers, her body becoming one ache of need. "Please don't tease."

He slowly circled around the bed to climb on the bed next to her. "Not teasing, sweetheart. Explain later. Just…enjoy."

At her confused nod, he stroked a hand along her face, over her throat, along her chest between her breasts, over her stomach to the edge of her panties. She nodded at his questioning look. He hooked two fingers under the band and pulled down as she arched up her hips to help with the removal.

After he tossed the garment to the side, he surveyed her from head to toe and back. There was a slight tremor in his hand as he reached out to touch her again and she barely heard him say. "So beautiful."

She felt oddly vulnerable laid out like she was before him.

He skimmed over her stomach down to curls of hair between her legs then slid two fingers inside her folds and his thumb on her nub. Before she completely lost her mind, she fisted her hands in the covers rather than risk hurting him with her recently developed strength. It didn't take long for him to get her to come, between wanting him from the moment he walked through the door and quite frankly it being some time since she'd had sex.

While she tried to catch her breath and get her brain working again, John sprawled out next to her, slowly stroking her side. "Good?"

She nodded, not quite ready to speak and a little surprised to realize that she was still ready for more. A lot more.

"Let's see what that enhanced endurance of yours can handle," he said with a grin.

Van blinked and finally managed to speak. "John, this doesn't seem fair to you."

He looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You're doing all the work."

He laughed. "Ah, angel. This is far from work."

By the time he let her remove his briefs to show just how ready he was for her, he'd shown her just what kind of endurance she had.

When he finally slid into her, he felt fantastic. "Yessss."

He grinned and began with slow, lazy thrusts that quickly turned hard and fast. This time she felt like she was falling off the edge of the world when her orgasm rolled over her and John's cry as he came seemed to be a long distance away.

Instead of collapsing on her, or to the side, he somehow managed to find the will to slowly lower himself down. He carefully balanced himself so that he was resting on her without feeling she was being crushed and rested his head between her breasts with a contented sigh.

With a contented sigh of her own, she ran her fingers through his sweat soaked hair and wrapped a leg around his and drifted off.