"What the hell ?"

She had just landed, taking off her gear and jumping equipment, violently throwing it to the ground. It couldn't be happening, it wasn't real. She had been on board of Liberty One literally five minutes ago and now, it was gone. She was breathing sharply, feeling her heart clenching and beating too hard, hurting her.

"Did everyone egress ?"

The marine next to her negatively shook his head as an answer to captain Utt and she immediately felt nauseous, unable to hide her feelings and despair. "No….no…..no". She was pacing back and forth in the jungle they landed in, only thinking that her man was on board, and that the last thing she told him was "Hoo-rah". Sasha couldn't contain anything, almost shouting at Mike when she heard his voice through the radio, even knowing it wasn't his fault.

"…mostly likely they were K.I.A. Looks like Liberty One as been shot out of the sky. Pilots were on course. Jamming was set. We had no early warnings. Admiral Chandler was also on board ma'am." Utt said to DuFine.

Sasha felt miserable, running her hand all over her face, eyes closed, unable to keep a straight face like she had been taught to. It was Tom, it was different, she was weak when it was about him, even if she was trying her best to keep control over her feelings. Neither of Green, Wolf, Miller or Azima had never seen her looking like that. She didn't look like Sasha anymore, sadness and despair were writing on her face, she was trying so hard to fight against tears, because she had lost the love of her life. They were a discrete couple, only the ones who knew them well were able to notice it.

But they had to continue, mission hadn't changed, it was hard but they had to because that's what they had signed for, to fight for whatever could happens. Now, her life had lost every meaning.

And she had no ideas how to recover from it.

"I didn't jump out of a plane to get killed by friendly fires. You guys wanna lower your weapons ?"

When she heard this voice clear and loud, his voice, she almost had a heart attack, not believing it. What the hell. She didn't even hear herself yelling back at the door, too focused on whether or not she was hallucinating. "You're clear!" And then the door opened and she saw him, climbing the stairs separating them, very much alive, in real flesh, dirty and wounded but not dead.

"Package secure ?"

She didn't think about it twice, shoved her riffle behind her back, ran to him to grab his head and kiss him fiercely and hungrily. Both of Lima and Vulture teams were behind them, looking at this unusual scene, some of them shocked, the other relieved and happy, because they all knew how serious was the relation ship between their Admiral and Sasha. This kiss felt so relieving for them, he immediately answered back, his hand on her waist, in a bubble like if everything around them was on pause. When she finally broke it, he took some long seconds to look at her and mentally check for any wounds, and apart from a small one on her neck she looked fine. Only her could see the sweet and loving look he gave her, while she rubbed his cheek, doing the same, grateful for everything. He was there, he was alive, he wasn't leaving her behind.

She wasn't alone.

Sasha couldn't help it, and all she was trying to hold since their landing broke off and facing him, while the others weren't able to see, she allowed a tear to silently stream down her cheek. « I thought I've had just lost you... » It was a whisper, nothing louder, so only him could hear it. And he did, kissing her forehead and wiping the tears with his thumb, finally looking up and greeting the team who hadn't move. Sasha stayed put, like if her feet were glued to the ground, and almost jumped out - recovering fast - when she felt a hand on her arm. Turning her head she saw Azima next to her, a smile crossing her face.

"Always keep faith Sash. Captain Tom has a destiny, and dying in that plane wasn't part of it." she said quietly, locking a deep and sincere gaze on the naval officer.

She only nodded, because she knew Azima was right, but imagining Tom being gone was an insurmountable thought to have, she just couldn't picture this fresh start without him. Waiting fifteen years to be reunited and having to say good bye after a year of common life wasn't what she'd planned. They had finally started to build something together, his kids accepted her in their lives and she was very attached to them. They were like a little family, trying to have the most normal life even if sometimes it was complicated, but at least they weren't separated.

Back to the ship, Tom immediately got transferred to the infirmary, because of his wounds. She didn't notice it before but when he took off his gear in the helo bay, he weren't able to hide the wince from his face, due to the large cut over his stomach.

Not bothering to take a shower or change, she rushed to the medical bay to be with him, not even noticing she needed cares herself. She didn't mind, she just wanted to be by his side and make sure with her own eyes he was ok, that he wouldn't be taken away from her again.

"How do you feel ?" She asked the second they were alone, going closer to him, sitting on the edge of the bed where he was resting.

"Old." He mumbled, trying to stand up so he could at least rest his back against the bed headboard. But it only made him wince again, feeling more in pain than he would admit out loud.

"You should be resting, stop making unnecessary efforts, would you ?"

"Resting doesn't seem to be my thing." he chuckled, slowly rubbing her cheek, looking deeply and lovingly at her, sharing all his feelings through his regard, unable to hide how much in love he was with this woman. "I'm fine, stop worrying babe, would you ?" He knew her too well, knowing she had been deadly worried, knowing she had freaked out so much, and knowing she had felt miserable. Because that's exactly how he would've felt if the situation had been reversed. She poorly smiled, looking down, then up to his face. "Not worrying doesn't seem to be my thing…."

"Using my line against me Mrs Cooper ?" he laughed, immediately stopping when he felt his stomach clench. God damn it he thought, even laughing was painful. She didn't answer but slowly kissed him, because this time they had more time, and they were all alone.

"I really didn't want to lose you today." she whispered against his lip, eyes closed, a hand resting at the back of his head. "I love you so much…"

Cradling her as much as he could, he kissed again, again and again. "I love you too." breaking the kiss when he ran out of air. "But you know what I would love even more right now ?" She shook her head, looking at him curiously.

"A shower."

"A shower sounds good. But nice and steady sailor." she smiled, standing up.

She didn't know how they managed to make it safely to his cabin, but after ten minutes they were finally in. They had to walk very slowly, Tom taking support on Sasha who'd tried her best because he was way heavier than her. She closed the door behind them and was about to help him take off his clothes when she noticed he apparently didn't need any help, which made her chuckle a bit. Sasha quickly stripped out hers own, and followed him in the small shower, her naked body as close as possible to his.

"Sasha…." he groaned when the warm water started to flow above them. She felt his arms grabbing her waist and tried carefully not to hurt his wound, all covered with waterproof bandages. She suddenly felt his hardness against her butt, trying to turn in his arms to look at him but he tightened his grip around her.

"Tom…." she whispered, in a tortured and desperate moan, knowing they couldn't because it was too risky, she didn't want to tear off the stitches and send him back to the infirmary for longer this time. "We should stop before we can't…"

"And why not…." he muttered, trying to control himself, torn apart between taking her right now in this position, or only showering, like the initial plan was. Fuck his wound, he'd go for a little pain definitely worth it, rather than nothing. Without waiting, and knowing she wanted this too - only resisting because she didn't want him to be in pain - he plunged his cock inside of her, groaning at the feeling of completely filling her, letting her few second to adjust to his presence and then starting to slowly move, gently.

She leaned her hands against the wall in front of her, gasping, eyes closed, the water still dripping all over them, making the moment even hotter. His thrusts were gentle and deep, making her moan. She felt his hands running over her stomach and up to her breast, until he cupped one of them, playing with her nipples until they both got hard, his strokes getting faster and deeper. She wanted to cry out his name, feeling the oblivion growing inside of her body. Tom had his face buried in the crook of her shoulder, bitting his lower lip, groaning more and more.

"God Sash….. you feel so good." he gasped, fighting against his own release because he wanted the moment to last as much as possible. But it was that good he knew he was about to lose that battle and come within a minute. "Oh...babe…." his voice was panting, and when he felt Sasha's walls clenching around him, he knew he had to let it go. She cried out, shattering against him and second later he was seeing stars, spilling himself inside of her while screaming her name. The pleasure he felt was as strong as the throbbing pain burning his stomach, knowing his body would give him hell during days for what they had just done but he didn't care. He slowly slipped out of her, allowing her to turn over into his arms.

"This…was…stupid… I hope you know it." she whispered, still breathless, trying to look mad at him, but only making him smile because he knew she had enjoyed it as much as him.

"Is that what you think ? I made love to you, and you call it stupid huh…." he muttered in a raspy voice, try to calm his heart pace, gently kissing her, his tongue searching for hers.

"But this was amazing too…." she agreed against his lips, her hands on his waist. "I hope you enjoyed it sailor, because from now on, no more sex for you until you're fully healed. Understood ? "

He frowned his eyebrows, looking at her kinda confused and shocked. "If I recall, every time you got hurt, I never said no for a ride ?"

She laughed, getting on her tiptoes so they could be at the same level and pressed her forehead against his. "Never got hit as bad as you, and I've never fallen from a plane on fire. Plus, I'm not as old as you, my recovery facilities are higher than yours…." she smirked, slapping his butt and grabbing his shower gel.

"How I'm old huh." he tried to look offended, tickling her to the exact same spots he remembered she was sensitive. "You'll see how quick I'll recover…."

"Is that a threat Admiral ?" she teased him, laughing and carefully rubbing his skin with the loofa sponge, loving this kind of moment with him because they were so rare. "Because if it is, I'm not really afraid…"

"Never been." he chuckled, remembering when she was his student, when she had never looked down and always had confronted him, claiming she was right even when she purposely disobeyed to him or his orders. Even when she was in detention and had to stand under the rain, crawl in the mud for hours, or do the dirtiest tasks, she had never got afraid. That's why he got interested in her, because she was different from the others, she was unique, she always had this special sparkle dancing into her eyes and he loved it.

Always did.