No promises
"Would you give up your freedom for me?", she asked over coffee.
Will slowly poured himself a second cup.
It was nearly noon, they were just finishing breakfast. She had finally come home last night, after a painfully long mission. He'd returned late from his guard shift, finding her curled up at his side of the bed, her raven hair spilled like a wave of black velvet across his pillow. He had slept well for the first time in six weeks.
He would give up everything for her.
Was this a concrete request? Someone coming to arrest her?
Will took a careful sip of the scolding-hot brew.
He knew that Jade's mother had taken the fall for her father, many years ago. Deep down, he'd always known he'd do the same for her.
And yet, he was tempted to set provisions. If that means that you'll stay free. If it keeps you out of trouble.
"Stay safe", he told her every time she left.
"No promises" was her only reply.
If you loved Cheshire, you had to love her unconditionally.
He sat his cup down again.
"Yeah."
"Would you give up your name for me?"
That one was easier. Will Harper had never truly been his name, he'd only inherited it from Roy, usurped it from his genetic template. He'd also worked undercover countless times, taking all kind of aliases, before his own security firm finally took off. He didn't need to be called Will…
Although he had always been Red Arrow.
"Which one?", he asked back, reaching for the last piece of toast.
"Your last name."
His hand froze mid air, as understanding finally dawned.
She simply looked at him with her incredibly dark eyes, a hint of a smile tucking at those delicious lips of hers.
"Hell, yes!"
He jumped up and kissed her until she grinned like a true Cheshire cat.
Will himself had proposed twice, over the years. First when he got his little security firm registered, again when she took that first government contract, enlisting her special skills as a spy. Back then, she had only laughed, and told him to stop being sappy. "Maybe some other time."
"Why now?"
Will Nguyen. A total misfit. He loved it already.
Where should they go to get hitched? It was a short drive to the border...
Jade snuggled closer into his embrace, entwining her fingers with his. Slowly, she guided his hands across her swaying hips and past the rim of her skin-tight shirt, until they came to rest on the exposed flat of her belly.
"My parents never shared the same surname", she whispered into his ear.
Will's breath caught in his throat. "You mean… We're gonna… For real?"
"It's nine weeks along now", she nodded, her voice suddenly hoarse.
He kissed her even more fervently than before, his mind already racing.
"Have you seen a doctor? Shit, we'll have to find a midwife, right? And I'll have to move the combat gear out of the spare room, and get baby-proof locks for – is there a single piece of furniture where we haven't stashed weapons? And we need to buy – no, actually, I want to build the crib, how hard can it be? I think my dad – I mean, Roy's dad – build one with wood from the reserve…"
He trailed off when he noticed the tears in her eyes.
"You okay?"
She shook her head. "I'm not going to be a good mom, Will. I'm not ready to stay home. I can't promise…"
"Course not", he cut her off. "I'm the one who's staying, obviously. I can manage the firm from home, I just have to delegate my shifts to the others. I'll keep our kid safe while you're on missions, and we'll both be here every time you come back, and some day he might want to want to get out there with you... Or she... You think we're gonna have a little girl?"
She buried her face against his shoulder, her voice muffled not only from the cloth. "You're going to be a good dad, Will."
"Are you kidding? Me? I'll teach our kid to climb buildings rather than trees, and to hunt bunnies instead of petting them, and scare his or her kindergarden teacher half to death, and we're both gonna get into trouble for sneaking into Lego world at night…"
When she finally met his searching eyes, hers were shining more brightly than ever.
"You're going to be an awesome dad", his fiancée corrected.
Author's note: This one-shot is a small spin-off from my YL Season 1 novel "Strong as stone". It was originally posted there as a bonus chapter, but I decided to rather publish it separately here. If you are interested in my version of Will's, Roy's and Jade's backstories, you might want to start with "Strong as stone" around Chapter 38: Alternate Agendas. Don't miss out on a desperate non-assassination attempt, the fall of Cadmus, Thanksgiving with Jade and the archers' version of Christmas dinner!
Reviews would be cherished dearly. Please just drop me a line!