Chapter Thirty-Six: Repair

Willis reacted a lot quicker than I would have thought possible at seeing Ethan again for the first time in nearly fifteen years. He swept past me in seconds and slammed Ethan into the wall of the corridor, both his fists balled up on the jacket of the ONI operative's fatigues.

It took me a moment to even take in what I was seeing. As soon as I did, I shouted, "Willis, what are you doing?"

He didn't seem to hear me, though; he only shoved Ethan harder.

"Stay away from my wife, do you understand?" my husband growled, looking my ex in the eyes. "You've done more than enough to her already."

Ethan met his gaze head-on, the smirk never leaving his face.

"William Hawk. It's been a while, huh?"

"Don't play games, Ethan. I mean it. I beat your ass once and I'm not afraid to do it again."

Ethan snorted. "Always the knight, am I right? So what happens now that she doesn't need one anymore? Is she free to choose herself?"

I saw the fire blaze hotter in Willis's eyes. "She chose me, a long damn time ago. Back off."

"Oh for God's sake," I said, finally getting between them. "This is ridiculous. No one, I repeat, no one, should by vying for my damn attention. That's been over for years. Ethan, I have a husband. That is it. Done. Willis, let him go. There's nothing for you two to fight over. And I think we have much bigger fish to fry right now."

Willis didn't seem willing to let it lie, though. "Natalie, how can you even - he beat you."

"Yes, he did. He paid for it. I've moved on, you've moved on, and so has he. What's the point in doing this all over again now? The past is over."

"So just like that? You don't care anymore?"

I snorted. "Believe me, I care, and I won't ever forget. It's just not something I want to keep dragging along behind me. I shed that part of myself many years ago, and I'm happy with that decision."

"But you'll talk to him and work with him, with no problems?"

"As long as those are my orders, yes. I can look out for myself." And he's not entirely what he used to be, I thought.

Apparently my ex didn't know when the hell to shut up. His expression still hadn't changed. "You should listen to your wife, Hawk. She has a lot more sense than you."

That was Willis's final straw. He drew back to punch Ethan in the face, but I quickly intervened and yelled out, "Stop!"

My husband gave Ethan one last piercing glare, still gripping the front of his uniform, suddenly looking uncertain. In the meantime, I heaved a deep sigh of relief that no physical fight was going to take place over some male stupidity.

Before things could escalate again, I said, "Willis, leave."

He was so startled he let go of Ethan. "What?"

"You heard me. Go. I'm going to be taking off in a few hours to go planetside, and this is not how I want to be spending my time."

Willis scoffed. "Oh, but you'll spend it with him? Fine."

"Willis, that's not - ! Jesus."

He didn't remain to hear my reply. He'd already stormed off down the hallway.

When I turned to face Ethan again, he was looking as smug as ever.

"You know, unlike me and you, I don't think he's really changed that much." He pushed off the wall and came a few steps closer. "Thanks for defending me, Cooper."

My voice took on a menacing tone then. I was pissed. "Ethan, if you fuck with my marriage, I swear to God I'll come after you myself. Do you understand?"

I didn't wait to hear whatever clever response he had waiting. Like Willis, I just left.

Before I could go try to patch things up with my husband, I needed a time-out myself. I was about to embark on another tough mission after a huge failure on my part, and I wasn't so sure I was mentally prepared for it, although I knew I needed to be. Getting to see Willis today had also been bittersweet, because we were reunited, yet soon to be split up once more.

And now Ethan fucking Ackerson had come and thrown himself in the middle of it all. Likely just for sport.

I released a long sigh and sat inside the break room Willis and I had been in earlier for a while and just thought. It seemed the very moment something good finally happened, something wrong would immediately roll around and mess it up. I still had my kids to think about, too, and I worried for their safety. Very soon, it was going to be up to me to make sure the combined Promethean/Storm threat never hit them.

Somehow, close to an hour passed. At the very least I needed a shower and a quick rest before I gathered up the troops pre-op, so I finally pushed myself up from the table and left.

I went up to Willis's quarters and entered the room quietly, in case he was asleep. He'd certainly looked tired enough all day. Much to my surprise, though - or maybe not, given the circumstances - he was lying down on the bunk, arms folded behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.

For a moment I wasn't quite sure whether I should try to approach him or lie beside him, so I went for stepping closer but remained on my feet.

"Will, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know. For the mess. I know me working together with Ethan isn't ideal for either of us, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it."

My husband scoffed again. "You could have gone through the proper channels, Cooper, and let the brass know about your history. You two shouldn't even be in the same room together, let alone - "

I made my way over to the side of the bed and kissed him. I didn't know how else to make him see with only words. Then I pulled back a bit and cupped his smooth cheek. "I love you, Will. I love you and only you, and that's how it's always been. I think deep down you know that."

"Then why do you let him get away with his crap?"

"Do you really want to know?" I asked him. I released a sigh. "Because I want to show him that I'm not afraid anymore, and that he didn't win. I won't run from him. And I know it's hard to believe, but he has changed, Willis. Even if only a little. For him, it's been a pretty decent improvement. I want this to be behind us."

Willis didn't say anything right away, and I took that as a cue to give him his space back. Finally he answered me with a question disguised as statement.

"You never told me what happened on Requiem."

"Nothing," I replied.

He seemed to hesitate before his next inquiry. "Did you want it to?"

"No," I said in a sigh. "I missed you and that's what I told him. That we were solid and not to expect that to change."

There was long beat of silence, then, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"You said nothing happened, and that you didn't want anything to happen. I believe you." He finally sat up a little and looked over at me. "I told you, Natalie. I trust you."

I wasn't sure why but I suddenly had a creeping grin forming on my face. "Does that mean we can get some sleep now before I have to leave?"

Slowly, my husband smiled back. "I don't know about sleep, but you can definitely get over here."