Beca woke first, stretching pleasantly sore muscles like a cat before she realized just exactly where she was and who was sleeping next to her.

Chloe Beale. Beca still couldn't quite believe it.

The redheaded, incredibly sexy menace rolled over and snuggled close to her with an adorable little squeak that made the veteran grin like it was going out of style. Then the incredibly sexy and now very much awake woman was feeling Beca up under the covers.

"It's early," Chloe said sleepily as her fingertips brushed over a convenient nipple. "Don't go anywhere yet."

Technically, since it took her a little longer than Chloe to get ready… prosthetic leg organization in mind… it wasn't really THAT early. But the sexy smirk on the executive's face was enough to keep Beca right where she was. Besides, the redhead's body sliding onto her was a welcome distraction, not to mention the adoring blue eyes gazing at her.

Beca was just done for, and she had to admit it.

"Alright," she murmured and wrapped her arms around her lover, holding her close. "I guess you can't fire me for being late if you're the cause of said tardiness."

She felt Chloe chuckle against her. "Well… That means we need to talk about the office."

"Yeah," the brunette replied. "No office canoodling."

"Right," Chloe agreed. "I don't feel like we need to hide the fact that we're friends but… we should be discreet otherwise."

"Yeah, I know you have a reputation to uphold and dating me might not be good for…"

But then Chloe was sitting up looking at her with slightly frustrated eyes. "Stop."

Beca blinked and then frowned. "What did I…"

"This isn't about me." Chloe leaned back against the headboard, running her hands through her hair. "If it was safe, I'd tell the entire world that we're dating."

The veteran blinked again and swallowed hard. "But…"

Chloe's tone gentled. "This is about your career, Honey. It's no secret that I'm gay and I don't want ANYONE, Beale employee or not, to assume that you slept your way into your job."

The silence stretched between them and Beca's chest began to ache. "Right," she whispered, closing her eyes, and concentrating on her breathing. The sounds in the room started to fade away and she was suddenly catapulted back in time.

"Corporal Mitchell!"

The marine's back stiffened. "Yes, Sir!"

"Front and Center!"

Mitchell came to attention in front of her commanding officer. "Sir!"

"A little birdie told me that you're frigid, Mitchell."

Dark blue eyes narrowed a little as the marine kept her body still. "Maybe little birdies should mind their own business, Sir."

The man laughed and shook his head. "You're a prickly bitch, Corporal."

"No, Sir. I'm a marine and I deserve the same respect as all the other marines here."

His eyes narrowed then, and he shook his head. "Respect is earned, Mitchell. If you're not a frigid bitch, does that make you a rug muncher?"

"Again, Sir, enquiring minds should mind their own business."

Her commanding office bristled. "Well, if you won't tell us… we'll have to see for ourselves. On your knees!" He started to open his pants and Beca was suddenly very, very afraid.

"Wh-what?"

"I SAID ON YOUR KNEES!" The man grinned darkly. "If you ain't a rug muncher, then let's see what you can do with that pretty mouth of yours other than back talking your commanding officer! Or would you prefer a dishonorable discharge for homosexual fraternization? It's up to you if want to keep your job or not... oh... and ever get a promotion!"

Corporal Mitchell swallowed hard, hatred coursing through her… and then got on her knees…

"Beca… Baby… its ok, look at me… just breathe with me, ok?" Beca was hyperventilating and her vision was darkening. "Hey, Beca… I've got you… just, please, Baby, breathe with me…" Chloe held her and rocked her. "Oh God, what do I do?" she whispered.

"Chlo…" the brunette managed to get out. "Sorry…" Then she passed out.

Xx

"How long was I out?" Beca asked groggily as she came to with Chloe spooned against her back, holding her tightly.

"Just a few minutes," Chloe replied, voice tight. "Is… is this… um…"

"My PTSD in all its fucked-up glory. You're finally getting to see the real me, Chloe. Better run while you still can." Beca's tone was bitter and sarcastic, but the arms around her just held her tighter.

"I'm not going anywhere without you, Baby."

"Yeah, right," the veteran muttered. "People leaving me is normal, Chloe. So better get on with it so I can just add another notch to my bedpost and move on."

Beca immediately regretted the words and the gasped breath Chloe sucked in, made her close her eyes in self-loathing.

"Don't," the redhead said so softly, the brunette almost missed it. "Don't… please… don't be like HER."

Sudden realization hit Beca so hard that it almost gave her a concussion and she immediately squirmed around in Chloe's arm so she could face her. "I'm so sorry," she said, taking the redhead's face between her hands. "Chloe, I'm… I'm so sorry, Baby. I didn't mean that, I swear." Tears rolled down the older woman's face and Beca wiped them away with her thumbs. "I'm an asshole, Chlo. I just… when I feel embarrassed or vulnerable, I lash out. I've… It's… Fuck, I'm just so sorry."

Chloe nodded but her eyes were harder than Beca had ever seen them before. "I get it... but I won't tolerate ANY form of aggression or abuse towards me, no matter how much I lo…" She stopped and swallowed. "I just won't, Beca."

"And you're totally right," Beca replied, tone even but eyes filled with sadness and fear. "And I… I get it if you want me to leave."

Light blue eyes gazed at her and the executive didn't say anything for a long moment. Then her face gentled and she nodded. "Ok," she said. "And no, I don't want you to go anywhere, Becs." She paused then. "But I'd like to know what triggered this episode so I can understand what happened."

Beca was about to decline the request when something inside her stopped her. A voice in her mind… or maybe her heart… told her it was time to talk to Chloe; to really open up to her. Because she wanted this to work with her beautiful lover and she knew she had to be completely honest.

So… she was.

Xx

Sitting at her desk, Chloe tapped the top of her pen on her desktop. She was thinking about Beca opening up to her about the rapes her commanding officer had forced on her, how she'd felt alone and powerless; how her friends hadn't helped her, even when she was on her knees being forced to give him a blowjob the night the abuse had started.

Chloe suddenly felt nauseated, and she barely made it into her bathroom before she was throwing up in the toilet. Then she sat on the floor for a while, trying to stop her head from spinning.

"Chlo… do you need me to get you some anti-nausea meds?" Joan was hovering just inside the door.

"No, thanks, Joan. I think I'll be ok but… um… can you ask Beca Mitchell to come in please?"

Her assistant's tone was warm. "Of course. I'll ask her right away."

Chloe went to brush her teeth, then retook her seat on the floor and only a few moments later, Beca appeared in the doorway. She sighed as she closed the door, then sat down next to her lover, back pressed against the shower cubicle. "This is my fault," she said quietly. She looked down, lacing her fingers together. "First, I hurt you and then I dropped a pretty huge bomb on you." She chuckled mirthlessly. "Are you sure you still want to be with me, Chlo, now that you've had some time to digest everything?"

Chloe scooted over and leaned against her lover. "You know, the single annoying thing about you is that you seem to want me to get rid of you all the time."

"Oh, so you're saying I'm NOT perfect now. The bubble has been burst." But there was a smile on Beca's lips, and she rested her head against Chloe's as their fingers laced together.

"No one's perfect," the redhead chuckled. "Look, Becs, we had our first fight. Had to happen sometime, right?"

Dark blue eyes gazed at her. "You didn't do anything wrong, and I don't want you to think you did, understand?" she said firmly. "My baggage is not your fault, Chlo, nor your responsibility."

"I care about you," the executive replied. "I care about what you want and need. I care about your feelings, and I worry about you feeling alone and holding back from me when I'm right here to support you."

"But it's a lot for you to deal with," Beca said. "I have a lot of shit in my head. Therapy at the VA helped for a while but... I haven't gone in a long time."

"Maybe you should go back," the redhead replied. "Either to the VA or privately. Your benefits here will cover a private therapist. You'd just have to manage a co-pay."

"I want to do it for both of us," Beca replied. "Because I care about your feelings and wants and needs too, Baby."

Just then there was a knock at the door and Joan slowly eased it open to find Chloe on her feet, inspecting the shower, while Beca was still struggling to get up. "Sorry... um... Chloe, you have a meeting in ten."

"I'll be right there," Chloe nodded. "Do me a favor and grab me some painkillers please? I have a headache coming on."

"I'll get them," Beca said, finally on her feet. She frowned then. "I need to get this prosthetic checked," she muttered. "The knee is too stiff." Then headed out into Chloe's office.

Joan just looked at her boss for a long moment, then reached out to squeeze her hand. "You two look good together," she said softly. Then she ambled out of the bathroom in the same direction Beca had gone with a wink over her shoulder.

Chloe's mouth dropped open. "But..." But she knew she could trust her assistant, so she just chuckled and went back to her desk.

Xx

Beca was sitting at her desk, listening to music as she started a new section in her recommendation document for Jesse and Chloe. It hadn't been easy getting started. She'd spent the last few weeks going through every one of Beale's business plans and operating procedures with a fine-toothed comb, and she felt like she really had a grasp of the processes now. She'd even been working a little at home, side by side with her lover as they sat in front of the TV with the sound low.

She was getting a lot done, even interrupted by the make out sessions where Chloe would suddenly steal Beca's MacBook out of her lap and replace it with her own body, or Beca would suddenly pounce playfully on Chloe and drag her up to dance together. It always ended in sex. On the couch, on the floor... on the island. And it was always epic. Beca had never been happier in her life.

"Hey!" The brunette jumped as her boss startled her out of her reverie. "You ok?"

Beca laughed as she looked up at Jesse. "You caught me. I was thinking about something."

The man grinned knowingly. "Judging by the look on your face, it was something great."

"Yeah." The veteran nodded and then cleared her throat. "Something I can help with?"

"Actually, there is..." Jesse replied. "So... um... I wondered... um... "

"Spit it out," Beca teased.

"Joan."

Dark eyebrows lifted. "Better," she deadpanned. "But I'm going to need more to go on."

"Do you think I should ask her out?" Jesse asked, voice low as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Uhhhh..." Beca frowned a little. "I'm not sure. I don't know if she's seeing someone or not."

"She isn't," her boss replied. "She broke up with her boyfriend three months ago. I've been giving her some time and space but... I like her and..." He trailed off and sighed. "Will she laugh at me? I've gotta be like fifteen years younger than she is."

The veteran leaned back in her chair and folded her arms as she thought about that. "Well," she said. "Firstly, it's probably Chloe you should be asking about this, since she knows Joan a lot better than I do..." She shrugged then. "But... what's the worst thing that can happen? She says no, you go on the way you've always gone. She doesn't report to you, and I don't remember reading anything in the handbook about not dating co-workers so... I say go for it."

"Really?" Jesse asked cautiously.

"Sure," Beca nodded.

Jesse smiled and he was about to leave when he paused and smiled. "So... I know this is none of my business but... you and Chloe, right?"

The veteran blinked. "I'm not sure what you're referring to," she said slowly. "I live in her apartment and we're friends."

Her boss chuckled softly. "Beca, you and Chloe have matching hickeys on opposite sides of your neck. Unless you were both attacked by a vampire..."

Beca lifted an eyebrow. "We were both attacked by vampires," she confirmed.

Jesse lifted his hands and nodded. "Ok... well, fair enough." He left for his own office then, and the brunette pulled out her phone.

You really need to stop giving me neck hickeys! Jesse knows.

A moment later, her phone dinged.

LOL! I have no intention of stopping. I'll talk to Jesse though."

Cool.

Want to go out tonight? I feel like sushi.

You look like it too.

Ha Ha. So corny, Becs.

Beca grinned and went back to her document, reading back over the last couple of paragraphs before beginning to type again.

Xx

The sushi night out had expanded into a girl's night. Beca, Chloe, Aubrey and Stacy were sitting together in a booth at a favorite sushi place.

"So," Chloe began. "I thought it was time that my best friends officially meet my girlfriend."

Aubrey smiled as she reached across the table to touch Beca's wrist. "It really is so nice to finally meet you, Beca."

"Yeah," Stacy added. "Chloe talks about you all the time. It's nice to put a face with a name."

"For me too," the veteran replied. She wanted to be honest with Chloe's best friends "And it's probably my fault that we haven't met sooner. I'm... um... I'm nervous around new people. I ha-have PTSD, you see and..."

Chloe's hand rested on her thigh under the table and caressed soothingly.

"Hey," Aubrey interrupted gently. "You don't need to explain anything to us. Stacy and I can see how happy Chloe is with you. That's all we need to know until you're ready to share more with us."

Beca blew out a long breath. "Thanks... I appreciate that. And I'm incredibly happy with her too. She's changed my life totally over the last few months and she's just amazing." She turned her head to meet her girlfriend's eyes, her own misty with tears. "Ugh... Dude... I promised myself I wouldn't cry." She laughed awkwardly as the redhead cleared a tear from under her eye with her thumb.

"It's ok, Becs," Chloe smiled. "Aubrey and Stacy have been married for years. They get it."

Beca looked back at Chloe's friends to find them nodding, fingers laced together on the tabletop. "So," Stacy said then, trying to break the heightened emotion. "How about an appetizer?"

"You choose, Babe," Beca said as Chloe offered her the menu to look at. "You know what I like."

"Oh, she does... does she?" Stacy teased, waggling her eyebrows. "Care to share?"

Beca's face blanched and Aubrey softly elbowed her wife. "Leave the poor woman alone. Are you trying to traumatize her even more?"

Chloe's arm slid across Beca's shoulders, and she leaned in to kiss her temple, whispering quickly. "They love to tease," she said. "Give them as good as they give you."

Beca ginned at her and nodded. "Oh yeah, Chloe knows exactly what I like. There's this thing she does with her tongue that..."

"BECA!" Aubrey exclaimed in horror, clapping her hands over her ears. Everyone at the table burst into laughter then, only winding down as their waitress came to take their order.

The meal was excellent, and as their dessert was being prepared, Aubrey asked Beca for a story from when she was deployed. Chloe was about to interject on her girlfriend's behalf when the veteran nodded.

"Yeah so..." Beca lifted her hands as if to shape the scene. "It was just after dawn, and it was still pretty cold. My team and I had just left base, and we were driving through the desert on a routine patrol of the nearby villages. The medics in my unit would spend time in each village, treating anyone who needed help and because of that, we'd established a good relationship with the Afghanis local to us. There was this sixteen-year-old girl in one of the villages. Her name was Aabharana and every time we came to her village, she gave me a little sweet treat because I'd stopped to help her grandfather one day." Beca's eyes were far away as she recalled the memory. "Her English was about as good as my Dari, and we used to spend time teaching each other new words. One day we were sitting on a step outside a store when she reached toward my rifle." She looked back at her friends. "I mean... she was just being curious but... we're trained to not let anyone take our weapons so on reflex I jerked it away and got up. She lifted her hands a looked at me with such sadness, it almost made me cry." Beca looked down and took a breath. "She said 'I'm sorry you must live with afraid, your always life.'"

Chloe gasped softly and then swallowed. "Oh Becs."

"And she was right," Beca went on. "From the moment I was first deployed until probably only a few weeks ago, I've been afraid." She smiled then and looked down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down. You guys are just easy to talk to."

Stacy reached across the table to squeeze her hand. "Thank you for sharing with us, Beca. I know it's not easy to talk about this stuff."

Chloe wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and hugged her gently. "You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good, thanks," the veteran replied. "I'm having a really good night."

"Me too," Chloe grinned. She looked around the table then, realizing they had empty glasses. "If everyone's finished, how about a nightcap at our apartment?"

Beca looked down, a little ball of warmth spreading in her chest. She still marveled at how much Chloe had given her and to call her apartment ours just made her feel so cherished.

Aubrey looked at her watch. "God, I'd love to, but we have to get home and let our babysitter go. It's later than I realized."

"Next time though," Stacy grinned. "I still have to hear about that thing Chloe does with her tongue."

They gathered their things and headed outside. "It was really nice to meet you guys," Beca said. "Thanks for welcoming into the group."

"It was really lovely to meet you," Aubrey replied. "And we'll see you very soon."

They shared hugs and, as the Posens were walking away, Aubrey gave Chloe a thumbs up and big smile while Beca was distracted by a homeless man sitting on the street.

The veteran went to stand next to him, smiling as she bent to greet him. "Hey, Smiley, I didn't know you worked this area."

"Rich folks, Mitchy," the man replied, wiping his nose on his sleeve and chucking a thumb toward the sushi restaurant. "Rich folks."

"I hear ya," Beca smiled. "Here." She palmed a twenty into the man's hand. "Get something to eat, ok?"

Smiley looked at the folded bill and his face lit up. "Get me some M'cDonald's," he said. "Thanks, Mitchy."

"Be well, Corporal," Beca replied, squeezing his shoulder.

Then she straightened and joined her girlfriend who was watching from a few feet away, taking her hand and bringing it to her lips to kiss it. Then she looked into her eyes. "I love you, Chloe," she said simply.

The redhead's eyes widened, and a little gasp escaped her. Then she beamed a huge smile and grasped Beca's face between her hands to lean in and kiss her. "Really?"

"Really," the veteran replied.

Then Chloe was peppering her face with little feather-light kisses. "I love you too, Becs."