Lena yawned once more as she stared out of the window in the living room. She worried her bottom lip and furrowed her brow, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.
"Hunny, she'll be here," Emily reassured, noting the concern as she walked into the room. Lena looked up as she sat down next to her.
"How can you know? After what they have already done to her, how do we know they haven't noticed? There's nothing stopping them from taking any risks, or for going to any lengths to make her what they want her to be. They've already done that, so it's not like we don't know what they are capable of," she sighed deeply, resting her forehead atop her knees, "I'm just so worried for her. She's just been through so much…"
"I know, hun. I worry about her too, but one of us has to be somewhat positive. We'd never get anything done otherwise. C'mon, it's late, let's head to bed. She is probably just taking extra care tonight and she knows where to find us," Emily reasoned. She rubbed circles on her back then stood up, offering her hand. Lena sighed again and took it, letting Emily pull her up and said, "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm knackered."
Even with her worry, Lena was out like a light almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and Emily wasn't too far behind.
In the wee hours of the night, a silent shadow passed over rooftops, scaled walls and soared through the air. It was all so easy, as easy as breathing… and killing. She shuddered at the last thought when she landed on another roof. Not slowing her movements, she ran and shot out her grappling hook even as she jumped from the roof, as graceful as a cat, into nothingness. There wasn't even a thought of it missing and as it got a hold of the side of a building, she adjusted her body to keep the momentum going.
She will never tire of the feeling of relief whenever she sees a certain apartment come into view, but this time a sudden, heavy feeling pressed down on her chest, closed her throat and rendered her vision blurry. Luckily, she had taken this route many times and arrived at the window of the apartment without any trouble, but this new sensation wasn't going away. She doesn't have any recollection of feeling this way before, this was totally new. Not knowing what to do, which is a more familiar feeling as of late, she opened up the window and climbed inside.
"Amelie… is that you?" Lena asked sleepily. There was a short silence and then a heart-wrenching sob as Amelie sank to the ground, unable to form words or even process what she was feeling. Lena was straight out of bed and on the floor, Emily rousing and not too far behind her.
"Hey luv, it's going to be okay. What's up?" Lena asked while hugging Amelie where she sat hunched on the floor with her face in her hands. She just shook her head, still intermittently taking gasping breaths as she sobbed, not able to clear the lump in her throat to be able to form any coherent sounds. "Don't worry, we've got you. Here, take my hand and come to bed with us." Both Emily and Lena held out their hands and took Amelie's, slowly bringing her up from the floor. Lena let go to pull back the bed cover and Emily guided her to sit on the edge and sat next to her, putting her head on her shoulder while she rubbed soothing circles on her back and softly stroking her arm. Lena bent down to remove Amelie's knee-high boots and her holster at her thigh. Once she was done, she took a similar position to Emily on the opposite side, caressing her arms and rubbing her back while Emily slowly slid her bodysuit back and over her shoulders, down to her waist, leaving kisses as she went. Amelie was a little quieter now, however, the gentle treatment churned that feeling and brought more tears to her eyes. Once she was fully ready for bed the ladies ushered her into the middle, then they slid in on either side of her and wrapped her up in their arms and legs.
"It's okay, Amelie. You're safe," Lena reassured while kissing her on the head.
"You're home. Nothing's coming after you. You can relax," Emily followed on, kissing her collar bones and caressing her back again. Amelie's breath hitched, then she took a steadying breath and hugged her girlfriends close.
"You two are too good to me. I… I don't know this feeling I am having," she managed to get out.
"It's okay, take your time. You don't have to explain to us if you don't want to," Emily comforted, but Amelie shook her head.
"No, I want to tell you about it. Nothing happened back at… at Talon, nor on the mission. It was something that came over me while I was on my way here," she stopped, searching for the right words to help her girlfriends understand. "At first it was… Thankful? No, glad? No. That's not right either… Re… Relief? Yes, that was it. I felt relieved and happy and then suddenly my throat felt like it was going to close up and I had tears, but I don't think I was sad. Then when I finally climbed in the window… I don't know, all my strength seemed to leave me and all those feelings got bigger and came out." She had her eyes closed, tears welling back up and the same feeling she was describing. Emily and Lena looked at each other with tears in their eyes too. They understood what she was meaning. Reteaching her emotions and the words that are associated with them had been hard, but it was a learning curve as they learned more about the real Amelie and the way she thought even though it was a little skewed due to her mistreatment at the hands of Talon. Lena pressed more kisses over her head and then on her face and then hugged her closer, "Oh luv, we are so proud of you for trying to explain that to us. We totally understand what you are feeling and it isn't an easy feeling to explain. This feeling is something that you get when you come home. It's a safe feeling, knowing that you can be who you are and not be judged for it. Knowing that you have Emily and me here who will love you no matter what."
"Exactly, I couldn't have explained it better, hun. It seems that it's so intense because you have so much going on outside of us. We are the only place you can be yourself. Out there, there is fear and constant danger. So it makes sense. Don't worry, Amelie. In here, you are safe. We love you and we will always welcome you. You have our apartment, you have our bed and more importantly, you have our hearts," Emily added, holding Amelie closer as she began to cry again, "Get some rest now. We love you. You are safe. You are home."