TOMMY - ONE MONTH LATER

I am so SICK of this! Delivering a parting kick to the downed figure before me, I hiss, "You are officially cut off. Lord Zedd will hear about this when I return and you'll be lucky if he doesn't come back here himself to hang you with your own organs!"

Listening carefully for another attack, I head back to my ship. Once I'm on my way home, I turn my attention to my own injuries. Zedd's not going to be happy that we've lost another contact to the Alliance. Although personally I think that if they've turned that easily, we don't need them anyway. This particular one was iffy at best, so I'm almost glad that they've finally chosen a side.

Looking in the mirror, I can't help but shake my head. Zedd's going to be so pissed when he sees the long cut down my side. Of course, if it hadn't been eight on one, it probably wouldn't have happened. Sighing in frustration, I get myself bandaged as well as I can. I had plans for my husband tonight and I'll be damned if I let this get in the way.

I get home as fast as I can. Fortunately, I keep extra sets of clothes on board so that the kids (and Zedd) don't have to deal with the depth of my injuries the instant I walk in the door. I have no doubt that Zedd does the same based on the damaged and stained clothes I find in the bottom of the hamper. I stuff my damaged clothes into my duffel and try to relax for the rest of the trip to let my powers do what they can.

Once home, I head in the back door and am greeted by the smell of coffee and dinner. I hate that my children are having to grow up so fast, but I'm grateful that they're taking it all in stride - mostly. I finally broke down and taught the kids how to properly load the dishwasher and gave up on teaching Zedd. I decided it was better to just have him put them in the sink and load them later as I really don't want to have to replace the dishwasher again due to bits of glass and plates tearing up the works.

I hear Zedd's sigh behind me. "I can feel your frustration, Thomas. How bad this time?"

"Lost another one."

"Good riddance. He wasn't all that useful when he was loyal."

He wraps his arms around my shoulders and squeezes lightly. I'm grateful he didn't go around my waist as he often does. I turn in his arms and slide my arms around him. Pouting playfully, I say, "You just gave me all the troublesome ones."

"Not all of them, love. I admit that I gave you a good many that I was having trouble tolerating - which I told you - to see if it was just my lack of patience or not."

"I know and in hindsight I wish we'd just fired many of them then."

"All you ever had to do was say the word, Thomas, and I would have."

"How long until dinner?"

"I think Mara Jane said about an hour. Why?"

I smile at him. "I was thinking we could have a little fun before dinner."

"I suppose that depends on how badly you're hurt."

"Not so badly that I couldn't handle an appetizer." I slide one hand between us and stroke him lightly. "What do you think?"

His breath catches and my smile turns into a grin. "I think we could - if I can too."

"If there's time" I agree. Quickly, we head up to the bedroom and lock the door. The kids know that they are never to just walk into our room, but we don't take any chances. I get my mate out of his clothes and on the bed. I smile at his already rigid flesh. We've been together more than twenty years and are still as attracted to each other as we ever were. I drag my tongue slowly over his length, relishing the moan this earns me.

"Thomas, please." I continue to work him over, taking a good bit of time and enjoying every minute. I wait until he can no longer form coherent statements before I take him in, but even then I keep it light and teasing for a while. Abruptly, I take him deep, holding his hips to keep him still. It doesn't take long after that for him to reach his peak, crying out into the pillow that he's holding tightly to his face.

Once I release him, I press a kiss to his hip. "Almost time for dinner, mate."

"But-"

"I said if there was time" I remind him, laughter in my voice.

"You did that on purpose" he accuses lightly. "Now yours has to be quick."

"Or you can wait until later" I offer. "If you're that determined to have a slow one yourself."

"Or maybe both" he growls at me. It's not long before he has my pants unfastened and out of his way. He quickly takes me in and I can feel my arousal rising swiftly.

"Oh god Zedd. Faster, please." He complies and a couple minutes later I'm muffling myself as my body tightens before giving up all it can. I grit my teeth as the motion reopens the cut on my side. Thankful I'm already bandaged, I struggle to catch my breath.

"What happened, Thomas? How did I hurt you?"

"No, Zedd, you didn't. I just bothered a sore spot, mate. I'm all right. I promise."

Not looking real convinced, he still lets it go - for now. We both redress and straighten our clothes before heading downstairs. The kids are both down in the kitchen and greet me with hugs. I barely manage to avoid hissing in discomfort at the pressure against my side. We sit down to dinner and the kids tell me about their days. I know I still need to deal with their bags and whatnot, but it'll keep a little longer.

We're nearly through when Mara Jane says softly, "Um, Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"You're bleeding." Hell.

Knowing that the other two heard, I answer gently. "It's not bad, Mara Jane. It's a shallow cut and the powers haven't healed it fully yet."

"Well then either the bandages have shifted or you've bled through them." Double hell.

Calmly, I wipe my mouth and push my chair back. "I'll take care of it and be right back. You guys go ahead and finish eating."

Once in my bathroom, I look at my shirt. Yeah, that's a lot of blood. Quickly, I strip the shirt off and start it soaking in the sink with a bit of bleach. I remove the bandages and clean the area so I can start over. "I thought you said it wasn't bad, Thomas." Fuck me.

"It's not, kalleimat."

"I'm not stupid, Thomas. It goes the entire length of your torso." He is not happy.

"But it's shallow. It's the paper cut from hell, that's all."

I can practically hear him grinding his teeth. "Either way, it's in a bad place for you to attend to yourself. Let me help you."

Knowing that letting him would be quicker than arguing, but still not wanting him to get a good look, I keep working as I protest. "I can manage."

"Perhaps, but it will be faster if I help you. Do you need any painkillers?"

"No and if you drop them in my coffee again, you will be sleeping alone for a month" I warn him as he starts rebandaging my wound. "It's really not that bad, mate, and I didn't want it to interfere with my plans for you later tonight."

Tightly, he responds, "Well you might have to revise them a bit."

"Already did, but I don't want to have to cancel them."

"We'll see." He finishes up and I take his hands.

"Mate, I know you're upset, but it's not that bad."

He shakes his head slowly. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

"Like a certain former evil lord I know."

Sighing and grumbling, he rubs his eyes in a sign I know to mean he's nearly reached the end of his patience. "Tell me you at least removed limbs, or I tell you now, I will."

"I broke a few bones, some of them might have punctured organs. However given that there were eight of them, I can't promise I did permanent damage to all involved."

"That will be rectified."

"I warned him of as much." I snatch up a fresh shirt and pull it on as I head back to my dinner. I can hear Zedd muttering behind me, but pay it little mind. Reluctantly, I realize that I might have to revise my plans even further with as easily as the wound reopened. Let's see - if I - no. Well what if - no, that won't work either. Maybe - no. Damn it all! I cannot come up with a way to do this that doesn't threaten to reopen the damn cut!

I push the problem aside for now and hope that in a few hours I'll have healed enough to remove that from the equation.

Both kids looking up as we return, Mara Jane unsurprisingly speaks first. "So, I don't mean to be nosy or anything and I'm perfectly fine with pretending like there isn't some problem that you two haven't been dealing with over the past year or so while going on these 'business trips', but just out of curiosity, have you both almost fixed said problem or are you going to continue coming to the dinner table with your insides on the outside, because if that's the case maybe we should warn Megan and her mom and brother for when they come with us on vacation and end up seeing you both beaten and bloody on a weekly basis."

"Not that there is a problem" Zedd begins, earning a barely contained eye roll from our daughter. "However if there was, which there isn't, it should be done with by the time we leave for Eltar this summer. At least for the most part."

"Besides, I'm hardly beaten and bloody." At her sharp look, which nearly matches the one my husband gave me upstairs, I relent slightly. "I'm not beaten."

"Uh huh. Okay, fine, there's no problem, you didn't just bleed through your bandages and shirt, I'm just a normal teenage girl, Jacob can't speak to animals, and Papa isn't a former lord of evil." Getting up and clearing her place, she kisses my cheek before washing off her plate and loading it into the dishwasher. "I have some homework to finish up, but I'll be back down to clean the dishes as soon as I'm finished."

"Mara Jane-"

"I only have one more paper to finish" she states firmly. "I will have it done in under an hour and then I will come clean up the dishes and kitchen, Daddy. At least let me do that much especially given the fact you just got back home and your powers haven't healed you yet."

"Sounds good, princess" Zedd agrees. Well on the plus side that might at least give me a chance to heal a bit faster.

"Good then."

Watching her head out to go work on her homework, I turn to Zedd with a sigh. "So, she took charge around here when exactly?"

"Probably about the same time I came back with three broken ribs and you with a cracked collar bone" he states calmly before refilling his cup of coffee. "It'll be fine, love. We've almost gotten through all of our less than desirable contacts, we'll be going on vacation soon, you'll be busy carrying our next little sarcastic bundle of joy, and the kids can go back to being kids, and I, well I'll still be my amazing self, but that's just a given."

I can't help but shake my head at his usual lack of modesty. I finish my meal and put my dishes in the dishwasher before returning for Zedd's and Jacob's. "Daddy" my son pipes up "Sissy said that she'd take care of it."

"I'm just so used to doing it myself, I didn't think about it" I admit.

Zedd shakes his head at me, mildly amused. "She's going to think you don't trust her to do it right, love. Maybe you should just go watch some TV or something to keep yourself occupied."

Sighing again, I head into the living room and turn on the TV. Flipping through the channels, I don't really find much that I'm interested in. Finally, I give up and toss the remote on the table. I grab the book I was reading, intent on getting back to it. I hear Zedd come in a bit later. "What are you watching, love?"

I glance up. "Nothing. That's just where I left it when I couldn't find anything I was interested in. Change it if you want to."

He surfs for a bit until he finds something that interests him. Once he settles in, I shift into my customary position curled into his side as I continue reading. One corner of my mind wanders on its own to thoughts of what I can - hopefully - do with my husband later. Sometimes it still amazes me that I ended up with him - never having had an interest in males before - and sometimes it just seems right. After all, this wouldn't be quite as special if I'd always been attracted to males. Inwardly shaking my head, I turn my attention back to my book.

I drop my hand on his thigh as I read, absentmindedly rubbing my fingertips in small circles. After a while, Zedd takes my hand, lacing his fingers with mine. I press a quick kiss to the back of his hand and give it a light squeeze. Zedd shifts abruptly just before I hear my daughter speak. "Daddy, the kitchen is done."

Reluctantly, I pull my attention from my book and to my child. "Thank you, sweetheart." Checking the clock, I realize it's later than I thought. "Make sure you get all your nightly stuff done for tomorrow, okay? I'll check everything in a minute."

She nods and heads out. I mark my page, set my book aside and head into the kitchen. I sort through their bags and have them ready for the morning in no time. Just as I'm finishing up, I hear Zedd's phone ring. Mentally crossing my fingers that it's nothing serious, I head into the living room. I step into the room in time to hear Zedd say, "Well then, why didn't you call Thomas?" He listens for a minute, brow furrowed and then sighs. "Are you serious? No, of course I will. No, I won't promise that. Because that's the price. Do you want to pay it or not? Fine, I'll be there as soon as I can. Tell them to have your things ready."

He hangs up and stands, shaking his head. I can't help but ask, "What is it, Zedd?"

"I'll explain when I get home. I should only be gone an hour or so."

Puzzled by his lack of explanation, I nod. "Okay. Behave and I'll see you when you get home. Don't forget - I have plans for you."

He nods and heads for the door, muttering something under his breath about how this had better not screw that up or 'he'll' be sorry. Shaking my head as the door shuts behind him, I head upstairs to check on the kids.

It's more than two hours later and the kids are in bed when Zedd finally comes home - and he is not happy. He comes in the kitchen and I hand him a fresh cup of coffee. "Need some time?"

"Yes. No. I don't know." He takes a drink and looks at me rather seriously. "Look, Thomas. There's something you need to know, but I'll let you decide when you want to hear it. Now or in the morning?"

Not liking the sound of this, I take a breath and brace myself. "Are either of us going to sleep well if it waits?"

"I doubt it."

"Might as well deal with it now then."

"Sit." Now I'm even more concerned and sit down quickly, even as my imagination conjures up all kinds of things and puts my stomach in knots. "There's no good way to say this, Thomas. Where I went tonight - you aren't going to be happy about."

I can barely breathe. "You're scaring me, Zedd. Just spit it out."

Reluctantly, he says, "I went to bail Jimmy out of jail."

Okay, I can deal with this. He's not leaving me for someone else. He's not dying. He's not going back to the Alliance. He's not killed anybody - I don't think. "I don't even know where to start with my questions for that. However I'm going to tell you now that of all the things you had me thinking and fretting over that is thankfully very low on my list of upsetting news."

Frowning and seeming to finally be able to focus a bit more on how worked up he'd gotten me, he instantly shakes his head and begins to apologize. "Shit, I didn't realize how what I was saying sounded to you. Especially with all we have going on right now."

"Got to admit you had me near panicking."

"Sorry."

"So what happened?"

"Apparently, he was out with that girl that he took to prom. You know, the one that Mara Jane tried to warn him about? They had been at the mall and she was stealing and got caught. He was arrested as an accomplice."

"And why did he call you to bail him out?"

Zedd shrugs. "He said that I was his best bet for getting home alive."

Seriously? Well, it's probably true, but still. I think back to the phone call he took before he left. "So what did Jimmy want you to promise that you refused?"

"Not to tell you or Mara Jane."

Somehow, I'm not surprised. Quite frankly, I'm rather surprised that my phone hasn't- The thought interrupted by Jason's ringtone, I exhale heavily. "This'll be fun." I answer, "Hello Jason."

Without preamble, he says, "Remind me why I can't kill him?"

My eyes flicker to Zedd even as I have to control the growl that's building. "Kill who?"

"My son, for one."

Not sure which part of that to address first, finally I respond as calmly as I can. "Because he's just like you, Jase. He wants to believe the best of everyone and, believe me, this has kicked the crap out of his world view."

"Yeah, but-"

"Bro, think of it this way - what if Emily had pulled you into her world instead of you pulling her into yours? And then the guys she was hanging out with at the time got worse and you got caught up in it?" Silence. "You know that he'd never do anything like that - you and Hayley have raised him too well. Besides, you aren't as mad at him as you are at her for doing this to him."

"You just aren't going to let me be mad, are you?"

"Oh I absolutely am but I'm going to make sure that you're mad at the one who deserves it. Jase, he's a good kid and his record will speak for itself - as will hers."

"I just- I thought I taught him better than that."

"Some lessons have to be learned the hard way. It sucks, I know, but he's going to need your support, bro, not your condemnation."

"Yeah. Do me a favor and yell at Zedd for me, will you?"

Already knowing what the issue is, I sigh. "Yeah, but I'd rather not. After all, he's come such a long way."

"I know, but-"

"Yeah. Look, my advice is for all of you to go to bed and deal with it in the morning when things are calmer." I wrap up my call and hang up. Wearily, I look at my rather anxious looking husband. "I'm supposed to yell at you."

"So I gathered, but why?"

"Because - technically - instead of 'rescuing' Jimmy, you really should have encouraged him to call his parents."

He frowns. "But-"

"Suppose Mara Jane found herself in a similar situation. Would you be happy if she called Jason instead of us?"

Confidently, he says, "She wouldn't. She knows that it'd only make us madder..." His voice trails off as he puts together what he just said with the events of the evening. "She might. If for no other reason than to have a cushion between our anger and her until we calmed down a bit."

"Just like Jimmy" I agree. I stand up. "Look, point made. Let's go to bed."

Once more looking concerned, Zedd stands as well. "How is your injury, love?"

I shift slightly, testingly. "I guess we'll see when we get upstairs, won't we?"

It's not long before we're in our bedroom. "Let's have a look at that cut first, shall we?"

I can't help but grit my teeth, knowing that if it's still bad enough, he's going to put me off on mating. "Zedd-"

"Thomas" he answers evenly.

With a sigh, I pull my shirt off, noting that there's no noticable discomfort. Gently, he helps me remove the bandages. Looking it over as carefully as I can, I see that, while not fully healed, it has sealed so that there's no danger of tearing it open again. "Satisfied?"

"Well, I won't be fully satisfied until I do some damage to them of my own, but I think you can give me some satisfaction in the meantime." He kisses me hard, his hunger seeming to match my own.

Quickly, we undress and are back in each others arms. Just before we climb on the bed, I hurry over and lock the door. I definitely don't want to be interrupted. I can't help the wicked grin as I realize that I can probably return to my original plans for my husband. Before he can protest it, I'm inside him. Grin growing as he moans loudly, I shift my position slightly and bend to take him in my mouth. "Oh hells Thomas yes."

Going mostly with oral stimulation, I do include the occasional thrust, rapidly bringing him to the edge. One more well placed thrust and he's over that edge. Gently, I clean him up and allow him some recovery time before I start working him up again. "Thomas, you haven't- ooh- haven't-"

"I know. Soon lover." Once I have him ready again, I pull out, grinning at his sound of dismay. I work my way up his body, making sure to hit all his hot spots along the way. Once he is well and truly lost in sensation, I straddle him and take him in, groaning deeply myself. Instantly, his hands are on my hips. I begin to move again, words swiftly becoming lost as my own pleasure climbs. Rational thought - and my plans - leave me entirely when he starts thrusting up to meet me. I struggle to hang on, wanting the wonderful sensations to last.

All too soon, I lose the rhythm I'd set but fortunately, Zedd hasn't. Shifting slightly and tightening his grip on my hips, he thrusts up into me forcefully, powerfully. I rake my nails lightly over his chest, making him gasp in return. "Come on, Thomas" he growls at me. "You know you want to. Come on. Together."

Half a dozen more strokes and I feel him start to swell in me, triggering my own race for the finish line. I hear him cry out seconds before me. I collapse on his chest as we both try desperately to recover. I want nothing more right now than to fall asleep where I am, but we both need to get cleaned up, night clothes on and door unlocked in case the children should need us. In a few minutes.