by Timesprite
"This is almost as good as the stuff from the place in San Fran. Almost."
"Hrm. I guess we'll have to start checking out the local restaurants now," he replied. "Unless you intend to take up cooking."
"Me? Who the hell do I look like, Betty Crocker?" She took a bite of her egg roll. "You're better at shit like that anyway."
"Not by much."
"Hey, the stuff you make is edible. And it usually tastes like it's supposed to. If you leave the cooking to me, we're having microwave dinners every night, I swear." She reached across the table to swipe some of the sesame chicken off his plate.
"I suppose there's a reason your slot on kitchen detail was designated 'pizza night,'" He moved his plate out of range of her fork. "That's mine. You've got your own."
"But I don't want mine," she replied with a mock-pout. "It's much more satisfying to steal your food instead."
"You're perverse, you realize that?"
"Always," she grinned. "Why else would I do it?"
----
"What do you think?"
"It's a good color," he said, surveying their work. "You were right."
"Of course I was," she replied. "I'm always right. You'd think you'd have caught onto that by now."
"Are you ever serious?"
"Not if I can help it. Besides, you do that more than enough for the both of us," she said, giving him a lopsided smile. "Is everything okay? You've been kind of... quiet. It's not like you to put up with so much ribbing from me without some sort of come back."
"No..." he replied slowly, then shook his head. "A little preoccupied, I guess. Weird dreams this morning, like you said. I've been trying to sort it out."
"And...?"
He slid an arm around her waist. "Not sure. It was probably a one-time thing. Like you said, we've been stressed... are you...?"
"Okay?" She smiled wryly. "I'm dealing with it." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I won't lie to you, I'm not really feeling *fantastic,* but it's better when I'm occupied. And my arms ache from all this damned painting," she replied in a lighter tone. "But I'm sure that's just because I'm getting old and decrepit."
"You? Never," he chuckled.
"Did you *ever* think we'd manage to last this long?"
"Truthfully? Not in a million years. But I'm glad we did."
"Yeah, me too," she replied, and stifled a yawn. "See? Getting old. Suppose we should get cleaned up." She pulled away from him and started gathering up tools.
"Want me to make coffee?"
"If you want... though I think I'm probably just going to crash, myself. Long day."
"Then I guess I'll go make sure you have someplace *to* sleep. Unless you like sleeping on the hardwood floor."
"I don't know about you," she smirked, "but I think I've done enough 'roughing it' for this lifetime."
"And my back thanks you for that."
"Aw, you poor old thing. I'll have to remember to be more... gentle with you from now on."
"You never quit, do you?"
"Nope, and that's the way you like it."
----
Domino had fallen asleep the instant she'd curled up next to him on the mattress, and though he himself had lain awake for a while longer to watch her, all had remained quiet on her end of the link, which echoed a cool, soothing calm he hadn't felt from her in months. He'd slept soundly himself, without a single dream he could recall, and didn't wake until long after the sun had started to seep through the east-facing kitchen windows.
Now he was watching her face as she slept, seeing the tiny lines of age she pretended didn't bother her, and noting despite them how much she hadn't changed in all the years they'd been together. There were new scars, far too many for his peace of mind, new lines, but she was still Domino, and even if they had a million more mornings like this, he didn't think they'd ever be enough. She stirred, stretching languidly and opened her eyes.
"Hey."
"Morning. Sleep well?" She nodded. "Good."
"Hmm," she smiled warmly at him. "Can we just do this forever?" She curled up closer, pulling the blanket around her shoulders.
"I think we'll have to get up eventually," he replied. "As nice as the idea sounds."
She laughed, pressing a kiss just below his collarbone. He felt her smile against his skin. "Not this necessarily," she said, looking up to meet his eyes. Her gaze was clear for once, her demons, while not vanquished, were sleeping. "Just.... this. Living without the fear." She laid her head back against his chest. "Don't get me wrong, I like a good fight as much as the next action junkie, but I could really get to enjoying this sort of peace."
----
"Nate, what are you doing?"
"They're watching."
"What?"
"They're out there. I just know it."
"Who's 'they,' Nathan?" She gave him a worried glance and pondered going for her gun.
"Them." He pointed over at the fence bordering the back yard.
"The fence? Are you feeling okay?" She reached forward to put a hand on his forehead. She'd noticed he had a nasty habit of hallucinating rather spectacularly when he was ill. Maybe it was a telepath thing.
"No, them!" He ducked away from her hand and pointed again. This time she spotted two sets of curious eyes peeking from above the fence.
"Nate, they're kids."
"But they're just watching."
"Kids do things like that. They're probably curious. This place has been empty for a while, remember?" She looked back at him as the children ducked behind the fence again. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?"
"It looks like you're filling up water balloons."
"Observant as ever."
"Where did you get water balloons?"
"Dollar store."
"You went to the dollar store?"
"Supreme duress."
"Great. You get to talk to the rabid parents. I have nothing to do with this..."
"We'll see who's smug after this..."
"Lord, help me. I'm living with a giant ten-year-old..."
----
"But I beat Apocalypse!"
"I know, dear," Domino replied, trying hard not to laugh as she handed Nathan a towel. He was sitting on the front steps, utterly drenched, a profoundly wretched look on his face.
"I saved the whole flonqing world!"
"I know. It's really okay..." She snickered and sat down next to him.
"But they're twelve!" He said morosely. "And how did they get a bucket full of water balloons anyway?"
"..."
"Dom..."
"...luck?" She replied sheepishly.
"You were with them weren't you?"
"... No."
"Are you lying?"
"... No."
"Were you lying then?"
"... Yes."
"You helped them beat me?"
"Someone needed to take you down a notch," she replied. "You always managed to beat X-Force at this game. I decided someone needed to put you in your place."
"But did you have to give them cookies afterward?"
"Well, nailing you with balloons is hard work..."
"You didn't give me any cookies," he pouted.
"That's because you already have the hyperactive constitution of a three-year-old. You don't need sugar."
"And they do?"
"Consider it my contribution to the corruption of minors. C'mon, you big baby. I'll make you a pot of coffee."
----
"Nate, have you seen the folder with all the manuals for the appliances and shit went? I can't find it."
"I think I moved it in with the communications stuff. Want me to look?"
"No, I'm sure I can find it--"
"Dom?"
"Nathan... what the hell is this?"
He cursed under his breath and walked back to the spare bedroom. "Dom..."
She was standing by the filling cabinet, flipping through a stack of papers. "What the fuck is this? Checking up on me?"
"Well, you certainly weren't being very forthcoming, were you? I wanted to help you Dom, and how the hell was I supposed to do that when you wouldn't tell me what was going on?" He sighed. "You shouldn't have run that mission."
She dropped the pages back into the cabinet and slammed the drawer shut, glaring at him. "How was it any of your damned business? I did what I had to Nate. There wasn't a choice. How the hell could I have walked away from that?"
"You could have found someone else to help Wisdom. Damnit, you could have called me! Or G.W. It could have been taken care of, without you putting yourself in that kind of position. Oath, whatever possessed you to go and do a thing like that?"
"It was none of your business, Nathan. None. I thought you trusted me. I thought you respected my privacy. And instead you go behind my back?"
"What was I supposed to do, exactly? Wait around and watch this tear you to pieces? Turn my head the other way as you slowly fell apart?" He put his hands on her shoulders. "I care too much to do that. Did you want me to not care?"
"I wanted you to leave well enough alone. I handled it just fine. Wisdom and I shut those bastards down for good. They'll never be able to make anyone else suffer like I did as a kid, okay? It was worth it, for that, if nothing else. The things I chose to do are my decisions to make, damnit. And I don't appreciate you keeping tabs on that. It had nothing to do with you." She jerked out of his grasp. "You should have left it the fuck alone."
"Where are you going?" He followed her out into the kitchen.
"Out," she snapped, and grabbed the Harley's keys off the table.
"Don't--"
"Just... shut up, okay Nate? You've done quite enough for one day." She strode out the kitchen door, screen slamming shut behind her.
----
She didn't return until well after nightfall, storming into the house and slamming her keys down on the table before continuing on her way toward the back of the house. He could hear her yelling at someone over the phone--probably G.W. he thought with a wince--a few minutes later. More doors slammed, then everything went quiet.
After a half an hour, he got up and headed towards the bedroom. The link was humming darkly on Dom's end, though not quite as hostile as it had been earlier. The bedroom itself was empty, the door to the bathroom closed. He knocked twice without reply.
"Dom, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Are you going to come out?"
"No."
He sighed. "All right. I'm going to go sleep on the couch then. I'll see you in the morning." There was the sound of splashing water and he paused, then the lock clicked and the door opened a crack.
"You don't have to do that."
He sighed and leaned against the wall. "You were right. I had no business doing what I did. I need to trust you."
She opened the door the rest of the way and walked over to the dresser, pulling out a tank top and a pair of shorts. "I don't want to argue about it tonight, okay?" She replied tiredly. "Let's just go to bed."
----
The field in which he stood was damp, covered in dead, yellowed grass, beaten flat by winter. A river ran swiftly at the edge of a long slope, a brackish color in the waning light as storm clouds gathered ominously overhead. He found himself scanning the periphery, waiting for her to appear. "You don't belong here, I told you that."
She emerged from the tree line, slipping into view with a liquid grace. He winced, taking in her appearance. Her uniform was in shreds, the skin beneath abraded, bleeding. Her face bore bruises and cuts, eyes hollow as her voice. A gun flashed dangerously in her hand. "Back off, Nate. This is none of your business."
"Normally, I might agree. But it's becoming apparent that you're not in the best control here, Dom."
"Well, excuse me! Some of us haven't had grand epiphanies, Summers. Some of us are still dealing with the same old shit without the benefit of your life-altering revelations. It's all well and good for you to tell me I should be all Zen about this shit--excuse me, Askani. What is being what is and all, but you're forgetting a major detail. You aren't me."
"And I should watch you suffer instead? I can't sit on the other side of the glass and watch you destroy yourself Dom. Don't ask me to do that. I can't--" He took a few steps forward. "Tell me what they did to you, Dom."
"I said back off!" The gun was pointed at him now, unwavering. "I'll deal with it. Just get away from me!" The look in her eyes should have been a warning.
"Damnit, Dom. Don't do this. I know you don't want me to leave you--" He reached forward.
The force of the shot spun him half around and he staggered to keep his footing. Blood was pouring from the wound in his right shoulder before the pain could even register through the shock. The echo of the gunshot was still reverberating in the distance as the last light slipped from the skies.
"I told you to let me go."
The last sight he saw as the world went black was her wide frightened eyes.
----
He was sitting upright before his eyes even opened, breathing heavily. His shoulder was throbbing painfully, skin covered in a cold sweat. He took a few slow breaths to try and calm the rapid thumping of his heart. beside him, Domino stirred, sitting up and looking at him sleepily. "Nathan? Hey," she touched his shoulder lightly and he flinched involuntarily, causing her to pull away slightly. "Are you okay?"
"I--" He ran a hand over his face forcing images to the back of his mind, then looked over at her. She was frowning slightly, eyes concerned.
"Nightmare?"
"Yeah," he replied slowly. "Must have been."
"Guess I'm not the only one," she replied wryly and reached over and brushed the hair from his eyes. He started slightly, and she sighed. "Must have been a bad one, huh?"
"Don't really remember," he lied.
She nodded. "Okay. Why don't we lay down again, all right?" She wrapped her arms around him as best she could and lowered them down to the bed again.
"Dom?"
"Yeah, Nate?"
"You... want me here, right?"
"Of course I do," she replied. "Is something the matter? Nate?"
"No," he replied. "I'm okay."