Author's Note: This one is obviously a short chapter, but fluffy, and with an important ending. Sorry not sorry for the cliffhanger. ;D
One Week Later…
"We're gonna be late for work if we don't get up," Jane murmured sleepily.
Kurt pressed his face against the back of her neck and fought off a wave of drowsiness. "Five more minutes."
"That's what you said fifteen minutes ago," Jane pointed out, her voice amused. "Come on, Deputy Director Weller, we need to get going. You should be setting a good example for your agents."
She began to rise up on one elbow in preparation to get up, but Kurt rolled her over to face him instead, unable to keep himself from smiling at the relaxed, contented expression on her face. "Give me a kiss good morning, and I promise I'll let you get up."
"Just a kiss," Jane told him, and slid her hand to the side of his neck as she obliged him.
One sweet, lingering kiss was all he meant to give her, but it was difficult to release her from his arms, and the perfect moment stretched out. He was still too tired to move things beyond kisses; Jane's most recent nightmare had led to them sitting on the couch, drinking hot chocolate at three in the morning. For the first time, she'd opened up about some of her experiences at the black site—which, until last night, she'd refused to discuss with him.
It had been heart-wrenching to listen to her recount those three months—the pain and desperation, the grief and loneliness, and the one tiny strand of hope she'd clung to as she'd crafted her makeshift mace. Jane hadn't cried—whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, he wasn't sure—but Kurt had found himself brushing away furious, agonised tears at what she'd had to endure.
If he ran into Keaton again anytime soon, he'd probably need his entire team to restrain him from killing the bastard.
But despite the horrific nature of the details Jane had shared with him, by the end of the conversation, their connection seemed to have strengthened still further. They'd fallen asleep holding each other, and this morning he didn't want to let her go. If they could just sleep for a few more hours...
Jane turned her head to free her lips from his, laughing softly. "I'm serious, Kurt. I know we closed the latest case yesterday, but we can't just stumble in late." More seriously, she added, "For one thing, I don't want to push our relationship in Patterson's face right now. She's having a hard enough time as it is."
Kurt sighed, knowing she was right. It had been just over a week since they'd transferred Borden to a Zero Division cell, and several times he'd found Patterson standing outside the door, a conflicted expression on her face.
"I can't help feeling a little guilty," he said. "Patterson's obviously struggling with the whole Borden thing. Nas gets more stressed out every day we don't make progress with Sandstorm. Reade's clearly going through some stuff that he won't open up about, and Zapata's leapt into it with him. And we still have no clue about the whole 'phase two' thing."
Jane nodded ruefully.
"But at the same time…" Kurt smiled a little. "At the end of every day, I get to come home with you and close the door to the apartment, and shut out the world for a little while. And until we have to go out there and face it again, things just feel…"
"Perfect," Jane finished for him, nodding. "I know. So many things are wrong, but things with you are just right."
He kissed her one more time, a little overwhelmed that she was on his exact wavelength about their situation. Then, before he could give in to the urge to call Nas and tell her he and Jane were both too sick to make it in to the office today, he eased out of Jane's embrace and sat up. "Okay. Let's get going."
On the drive from Brooklyn to Manhattan, as they idled in rush hour traffic, Kurt took Jane's hand. "Let's go on a date this weekend. Somewhere fancy."
Jane smiled, warmth spreading through her chest. "I didn't think 'fancy' was your style."
He shrugged. "It's not, not really. But every now and then, I like to step out of my comfort zone. And there's something scandalous about us living together, sharing a bed, without having ever gone on a single date."
"Do our undercover missions count?" she teased, a little surprised at how lovestruck he seemed today.
"Not really—but that's why I decided on a fancy date. We could get dressed up. You could wear one of those dresses that covers everything, but still makes me forget how to speak…"
Remembering how he'd looked at her when he'd first seen her in formalwear, just before they'd gone to take down Rich Dotcom in the Hamptons, Jane felt heat rise to her face. His obvious appreciation had sparked a chain reaction that had led to her kissing him, outside his apartment building, a couple of days later.
Kurt gave her a mischievous glance. "We could eat some good food, drink overpriced wine, pretend that we're focusing on what's going on, instead of dreaming up all the things we're gonna do to each other when we get home…"
A thrill of anticipation tingled through her skin as he raised her hand to his lips. "I was gonna suggest something less fancy, but now you're starting to change my mind."
Kurt grinned and released her hand as the traffic started sluggishly moving forward again. "I'll take a look at our options, see if I can find somewhere classy. All you have to worry about is finding a dress."
Her mind already turning over possibilities, Jane glanced at the clock on the car's dashboard. "And making it to work on time."
"We should have stayed in bed a while longer. That way, we could have had some fun while they pulled the cars involved in the collision off the road, and we still could have honestly blamed traffic for being late."
Jane snorted. "You think Nas will actually believe we did leave the apartment on time?"
"Nas can think what she wants." He leaned forward slightly, trying to gauge the state of the traffic ahead of them. "As long as we manage to get somewhere near the NYO before your lunch meeting with Roman, we'll be fine."
"Advance warning: you're not gonna like this."
Jane watched her brother cue up a video on his cell phone, reminded of the first time Oscar had approached her. Her ex-fiancé had shown her a video that had shattered her whole perception of who she was—a video of herself, telling her she'd chosen to have her memory wiped and the tattoos added to her skin. You did this to yourself.
Nothing Roman was about to make her watch could shock her, after that revelation. Right?
Roman handed over the phone, a video of Shepherd's face ready for playback. After a swift, wary glance up into his face, Jane pressed her thumb to the touchscreen.
"Remi," Shepherd said, addressing the camera as though Jane was actually sitting opposite her. "I already know you're going to be opposed to this decision, which is why I'm giving you my orders by way of a video and leaving you to stew for a few hours, before the inevitable argument."
Through her trepidation, Jane studied Shepherd's expression. It couldn't have been clearer: This is not negotiable.
"The plan has changed. I'm pulling Jane Doe out of the FBI, at least until after phase two is complete. Remi, you're coming home."