Fareeha sighed and burrowed herself deeper into the covers, deeper into the warm body lying next to her. It was one of those rare days, when they were both able, and willing, to sleep in.

Despite the comfortable warmth, the quiet and peace of the room, sleep wouldn't come to her again. Instead she was stuck in this groggy state between sleep and wakefulness, this twilight zone of barely-there thoughts – ethereal constructs that swirled just out of reach of her mind, dissipating into nothing as soon as she tried to focus on them.

So instead of thinking, she observed. Watched how Angela's chest slowly rose and fell beneath her head. Felt the warm, pale skin on her abdomen as her hand trailed lazy circles over it. It really was something, that hand of hers. If it weren't for the thin gap on her wrist, it would look completely natural. And it felt so real, too. It had taken barely any time before she had gotten used to it, to the way sensations were transmitted just a little differently to the nerves in her wrist, up her arm, into her brain.

And it was in no small part due to the person right next to her, blissfully asleep. Angela would never admit it to anyone, probably even herself, but any impartial outsider could see it clearly: her research in nanite technology had been the greatest leap forward in the field of medicine since the discovery of antibiotics.

And yet she was just another human being, she'd said so herself many a time. A woman with hopes and dreams, fears and regrets, and like all humans are so wont to do she often ignored the former and focused only on the latter. Right now, in the abandon of peaceful sleep, her face relaxed from the almost constant worried frown, she looked so beautiful it nearly took Fareeha's breath away. She still sometimes found herself not quite believing how incredibly lucky she had gotten. It was in quiet moments like these that she found her heart swelling, overflowing with fondness and appreciation and love; and not even that small, irrational part of her brain that always told her the other shoe was bound to drop sooner or later could ruin it.

She moved her hand to Angela's face, slowly tracing her fingers down a soft cheek, over her pliant lips, across her gentle brow, like she got to touch her for the first time. And always, always she marveled at how young she looked, like someone barely over twenty and not going towards forty. A side effect of the nanites, no doubt, but she'd be the last person to complain. Except when she compared it to herself, maybe. Just the other day she had noticed the faintest, barely-there hint of crow's feet in the corners of her eyes.

All of those musings flew out the window when Angela stirred, mumbling incoherently before slowly cracking her eyes open.

"Guete Morge, Bärli." she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to the hand still hovering over her face. And that simple gesture made Fareeha melt all over again. Even barely conscious Angela knew exactly what to do to make her feel better, feel loved, feel whole. She didn't care that the hand she'd kissed was metal and silicon instead of flesh and bone. It was part of Fareeha, like her legs, like her other hand, like that gentle, loving heart beating in her chest. Like Angela was a part of Fareeha now, a part that was inextricably woven into her life.

"Sabah al-khayr, malak." Fareeha replied, pressing herself impossible closer, leaving feather-light kisses all over her exposed neck.

"Stop that, 'Reeha, that tickles!" Angela giggled, half-heartedly trying to shove her girlfriend away. Fareeha's hand went to her waist, trailing soft circles around her hip bone while intensifying her kisses. It wasn't long before Angela tilted her head, allowing Fareeha better access, and a soft moan escaped her. That's when she chose to strike, launching a devastating tickle-attack upon an unsuspecting civilian population.

Angela snorted in the split-second it took her to recover from the tactile whiplash, and then erupted into shrieks and laughter and tried her best to turtle up, to deny her girlfriend any access to her sensitive spots. It was a losing battle.

Fareeha relented after a minute or two, and only after a very convincing 'stop or I'll pee myself!'. They ended up lying on their sides, facing each other, while Angela still fought off the occasional residual giggle, her face adorably flushed.

"I love you, ya amar." Fareeha whispered, gazing into those impossibly deep blue eyes. Angela merely brought their mouths together in response, pulling her into a deep and loving kiss.

"I love you too." she said after they broke apart, trying and failing to hide the grin that took over her face. "Though I think I'll love you even more after we've both brushed our teeth."

Fareeha laughed and lightly swatted her shoulder, and then proceeded to throw her arm around Angela's waist.

"Five more minutes, habibti." she whined, doing her best toddler impression complete with facial expressions, and Angela had no choice but to relent. They settled against each other, duvet pulled up to their shoulders.

"I wish we could stay like this forever." Fareeha mumbled after a few minutes, getting lost in the warm and secure embrace of her lover.

"Me too." Angela replied with a small chuckle, but her tone became oddly serious when she continued: "But that's just the problem with now, isn't it? Because no matter how much we want it to, it doesn't last forever."

Fareeha pouted, unseen with her face nestled against Angela's, chest, but she was sure her girlfriend knew her well enough by now to not have to see it. "Stop ruining my daydreams with your silly logic and reason thingamabobs."

Angela chuckled again, and merely responded by wrapping her arms even tighter around Fareeha after pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

Their peace was not to last, though. As if she'd jinxed it, both their communicators sounded off with klaxon alarms, the signal for all agents to assemble in the situation room as soon as possible.

Fareeha groaned at the same time as Angela sighed, and they both shared one last moment before dragging themselves out of bed and silencing their alarms.

"Guess oral hygiene has to wait, huh?" Fareeha teased while she hastily got dressed, which elicited a tutting reprimand from Angela.

"And here I was, about to offer you a breath mint. Them's the breaks, I suppose."

She sauntered past Fareeha, demonstratively sticking out her tongue with a mint on it, before joining the trickle of agents in the hallway, leaving a flustered Fareeha to finish tying up her boots.

morning breath, the arch nemesis of every romantic 'waking up scene' I've ever tried to write ._.

anyway, next chapter will deal with this mysterious 'all hands on deck'-alarm. by my current reckoning we've got about three chapters of this story left. You're gonna hate me, love me again, and then...well, that would be telling :P

song of the day is release by rosetta, namesake and provider of philosophical musings for the chapter

that's all
cheers :)