"Veronica?" Billy's voice was low, deep, and just loud enough to hear over the road noise. I settled into the passenger seat, buckled in carefully, the food we didn't eat tucked between us, but at the sound of my name on his lips, I turned to see him staring out the windshield as he drove us back to my house. "You had me thinking that this was going to be an uncomfortable dinner," I smiled, knowing that I'd given him a gift of sorts by making it quick. "Instead, here we are with a bag of food and heading out before we could finish our drinks."

I bit my lip, trying to keep from giggling. "Is that a complaint, or-" he swerved the car off a side road, overgrown a bit and definitely not close to my house. "Billy?"

"Can't wait," and then my seat belt was unfastening, the bag of food on the floor where my feet had been, and somehow I was under him on the bench seat of the car. His lips crashed down on mine and it was like we were truly starving, for one another. Forcing his jacket off his shoulders as he was untying the fabric belt around my waist, and then his hands were on the hem of my skirt, pulling it higher on my hips while I was unbuttoning his jeans.

"Thank God you have this car," I muttered into his mouth as he was yanking at my panties, truly thankful that his car had a front bench seat. "Just rip them," I bit out, needing him NOW, sighing in happiness when the sound of the flimsy barrier being dealt with hit my ears. Using my feet, shocking both of us, I was forcing his pants down, and I felt his fingers and hands helping. His need for me, to be inside of me, was as heavy as my need for him to be buried deep within me.

Pants down, boxers following, we finally met, skin to skin and I bit his shoulder to keep from screaming. "We're all alone, Ronnie," he growled, slamming into me, reminding me that we didn't have to be quiet. "Let go."

And we did, both of us. All the pent up want and need. All the frustration that came with dealing with my parents, with the fear that our meetings with the supes weren't going to run smoothly, with the angst that kept creeping in as we fought against it came to a head and I found myself thankful for so damn much. The car's seat, which wasn't simply wide enough for us to couple easily, but also easy to adjust our positions, from me underneath and at Billy's mercy, to straddling him and having my own control take over, I would never stop thanking the manufacturer for creating such a miracle of a car. I was grateful for the deserted spot that Billy found, where we could truly let go without waiting to get to my house, because we would have combusted from the delay. And for Billy Butcher, a man that would forever surprise me and who I hoped I would be able to keep satisfied, content, and filled with love for me.

If I had the gift of foresight, I would have taken even longer to appreciate the moment. To tuck away the memory in technicolor detail, safe and private would have been a priority. Hindsight, I found, wouldn't help what was coming. Nor would it make things easier to deal with or less of a clusterfuck of irritation. I'd have to, once the pieces fell into place or disarray depending on how you looked at it, take things as they came. I just really fucking wished that they came less fast and furious. And maybe with less fucking annoyances.

We managed to make it to my house eventually. We had dinner and fell into bed, our bodies like magnets fitted together perfectly. The next morning dawned as mornings were prone to do, and we fell into our routine without fanfare.

Maeve's visit wasn't as tense as A-Train's. She listened. She gave us what we asked and she assured us that she'd stay in touch should the need arise. I hadn't expected ripples with her, and I got none.

Another day closed, another report created and shared, then home for more rounds of happy distraction before we woke up and started again.

I almost forgot who was scheduled for that day, when I woke up to Billy's mouth teasing the skin of my shoulder. I nearly let it slip away, like the sheets covering our bodies, when his hips cradled between my thighs. It was close to being relegated to the deep recesses of my mind as he slid into me, as our movements matched one another's, and it definitely wasn't at the forefront of my mind as my body rushed past the point of control and pulled Billy's along with me.

Showering let the day's schedule come creeping to the surface and had me studying Billy's exuberant mood with a more suspicious view. Starlight was due midmorning and would definitely be accompanied by Hughie if for no other reason than moral support. Had Soldier Boy actually confirmed his own appointment?

"Billy?" I was drying off, watching him dress in the mirror. "Did the supe you went over my head to get Joseph to bring in today confirm?"

His smirk told me more than his fucking words. Damn it. "Course he did," he was buttoning up his shirt and I could swear he was about to start whistling he was so fucking full of it. "Had Joe make sure Soldier Twat and Hughie's supe are lined up nice and efficient."

"Efficient?" I snorted, dry enough to start dressing. "I'm guessing you mean efficiently embarrassing or tense for Hughie."

"Don't you think that he should see what's lurking in her past?" The raised eyebrow, the tone of complete innocence had me chuckling. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't give him a leg up?"

I shook my head, but kept dressing. If wreaking havoc on poor Hughie made Billy happy, then why not allow him a tiny shred of it? What was the worst that could happen, right?

"Hughie," Starlight's voice was pleading, yet her eyes were glaring at Billy's grinning face. "He and I-" Soldier Boy, looking oddly smug and arrogant where he sat on Starlight's other side, had me shaking my head again. "We're the past, and you and I are-"

"The future," I offered, please God let this fucking day end. "Clearly, Hughie, she and you are together now, while mister-" I let whatever I'd hoped to follow the word drop. "They had their moment in the sun, and now they're-"

"Done," Billy's voice was shaking with held in laughter, and I knew he was giving me a look of disbelief that I was so completely wrecked by the disaster that sat before us that I was fucking rhyming. Jesus. "What Ronnie is saying is that, well, it don't matter now." His gaze landed on Hughie who was looking quite green at the moment. "You and your girl, that's cemented, right?"

Hughie's eyes met Billy's and he swallowed hard enough for everyone in the office to hear it. "Yeah, that's right." Shutting his eyes to fortify himself, he nodded as though agreeing to some internal dialogue only he could hear. "Let's get on with what you guys brought them in for."

Soldier Boy, as it was, answered my questions easily and as far as I could tell honestly. He accepted my card, and as though he couldn't read a room at all, offered to give Starlight a call when he got settled in. Shit. He left, and now there were just the four of us. Stalemate.

"Now, Starlight-" I started, hoping to get the meeting over and done with so I could mentally unwind. Of course, that wouldn't happen.

"How could you?" She sounded so hurt that I felt secondhand guilt for Billy's mischievousness. "Why would you do that? Parade him in here like-"

"Like a side by side with Hughie?" Billy's head tilted even as I pondered smacking mine against the surface of my desk. "Because, princess, he should know that you've swam in the supe waters. And I bet you didn't have to reign in your powers while you were deep diving, did ya?" Shit, fuck, hell. Not only did he have to keep poking the bear about her past with the less than cleverly named supe, but he had to toss in a few reminders of The Deep? Kill me now, please.

Eventually, after voices raised past the levels I would ever deem fit for a work environment, after Starlight and Billy tossed down every damn gauntlet that could be thrown, and after both Hughie and I gave up entirely and let them go, we got back to business. A whole day spent in couples therapy with two people who weren't a fucking couple. Fun stuff, people, fun stuff.

By the end, Starlight begrudgingly took my card, Hughie barely spoke to Billy, but it was done. Our last meeting of the best known supes in the city, except one. And he reminded me as we packed up at the end of the day.

"Gonna have to bring him in too, love." His hand was on my lower back, leading me to my truck. "Otherwise it looks like we're playing favorites."
Sighing I nodded. "Yeah, I know." He joined me in the truck, not arguing over who would drive and we started home. "I'm not looking forward to another sit down with his pompous ass."

"Yeah, but at least I'll be there this time," not necessarily a selling point, I thought, but felt a slight comfort in knowing he'd be with me. "Cause there's no way you meet him alone again."