Hey all! Had to watch the movie again this morning, I just can't get enough of these two. Thanks to everyone following this! Read, review and enjoy!
As the afternoon passed quickly into evening, Aaron and Marta sat next to each other eating fish stew (which, privately Aaron hated but he was appreciative of the hospitality the family showed them.) The fisherman's sons were a lively pair, working hard under their father's stern eyes and joking back and forth as they jostled each other amicably. He thought back to his own lonely childhood; his mother working double shifts and drinking herself to sleep, sparing little attention for the son she never wanted, and later the state home when the woman who bore him finally gave up and abandoned him soon after he entered grade school. He remembered that feeling, walking home and arriving at an empty house, fixing a bowl of cereal for himself and sitting in the darkened living room until he fell asleep. It was a week before his teachers realized that little Kenneth's situation had taken a turn, that the slow, quiet boy was wearing the same clothes day after day and stealing food from the lunch room. He hadn't quite understood why the police were taking him to the state home for boys, why his teacher was so sad. His mother always came back eventually.
A movement at his side broke him from his reverie. Marta was staring at him, her forehead wrinkled in a frown. Abruptly he realized she had been talking to him and he racked his brain trying to recall what it was.
"Aaron? Are you alright?" She leaned forward, eyes searching his face. Worried, she was worried that he was slipping again.
"What? Yeah. Sorry. I was thinking. It's nothing. What were you saying?" He reached over and brushed the back of her hand with his fingertips, resting his hand atop hers.
Her eyes flickered from his hand to his face and she relaxed a bit. "The boys. Can you understand them? I heard you answering them earlier. I know you speak Russian...at least you can count."
He grinned at her, at how he used to show off during his exams, flexing and trying his best to impress the pretty doctor. "I'm not fluent, but I do speak enough Tagalog to get along. I'd be careful here though; you'd be surprised how many Filipinos speak English, though they might not let you know it right away. It's a beautiful country, it's a shame you only really saw the poor side of the city."
She smiled, leaning into his shoulder. "I've been here before, you know. Manilla. I never really saw much outside the lab, though. I never saw much of anywhere outside whichever lab I was visiting. I always thought I was fairly well traveled, but taking shuttles from the airport to the office and back doesn't really count now that I think about it." She sighed, staring out over the water and his fingers tightened reflexively over her hand. "We can't stay here, can we?"
He frowned slightly. "Manilla? No. I mean there are plenty of islands around here; we could hole up for a little while and regroup, maybe. The city itself is too dangerous, who knows if they already sent another one of those agents after us? They obviously know by now where we stayed, and that their guy is dead. Well done on that, by the way, that was quick thinking."
Now it was Marta's turn to frown. "I panicked; I didn't know what else to do. You were losing so much blood, and he was just there, he wouldn't stop…he was going to kill us. They're never going to stop, are they?"
Aaron turned, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her until they were face to face. Her breath tickled his lips and her large brown eyes were glistening with unshed tears. He wanted so badly to kiss her, to comfort her, to lie to her and convince her it would all be fine, to take her back to their cabin and make her forget all about Outcome, killer agents and anything else that put that fear into her beautiful eyes. His hand slid up her arm, grazing her collarbone and settled on her throat, thumb stroking her chin. "I'm sorry, Marta. I don't know what I can do to make this better. Unless something changes, something big, we're going to have to run and keep on running. I wish I could fix this for you, let you go home to your life, but right now all I can do is try to keep us alive."
Marta closed her eyes, leaning into his hand. His thumb brushed her lower lip and she leaned towards him, parting her lips slightly."I don't want that life anymore," she breathed, her hands gliding down his sides and resting on his hips. "We'll figure this out, I know we will. There has to be a way. Right now, all I want…all I need is you." His eyes flicked back and forth between her lips and her heavy-lidded eyes, he could feel her pulse racing beneath his fingertips. Some small part of his hyperactive mind was spinning away, calculating exit points, watching for signs of movement around him. The majority, though, was unwavering and intent on the thought of pulling this woman close, dragging her into bed and never letting her go.
Releasing her briefly, he dropped his hands to her waist and pulled her forward, tugging her onto his lap. She complied easily, shifting around and avoiding the wound on his thigh until her legs were wrapped around him, crossing her ankles behind his back as his lips claimed hers. His tongue probed once, twice at her lower lip and she parted for him, tilting her head to the side to deepen the kiss. He held her tightly, her breasts pressing hard against his bare chest and he was suddenly very conscious of the fact that she was wearing one of his shirts, and that he very much wanted to take it back. She moaned softly into his mouth as his hands slipped lower, sneaking under the hem and sliding to a stop just under her ribs as he slowly broke their kiss, resting his forehead against hers. Both of them breathed hard for a moment, and eventually she met his intense gaze with a smile as he released her, tugging her shirt, his shirt, back into place. "We should probably take this inside," he drawled, flashing a quick grin as she immediately stepped back and pulled him to his feet.
Marta's hands were trembling slightly as she stood. The heady intoxication of Aaron's presence and the taste of him on her lips made her mind swim. After the breakneck speed of the last few days, she had been afraid that her growing infatuation with the man who had saved her life in more ways than one was purely adrenaline getting the best of her, but now she was convinced that it was more. Could be more. God, did she want it to be more.
She had been terrified when he burst into her life at her now destroyed home, but who wouldn't be? She hadn't even recognized him as she pointed her empty revolver and squeezed the trigger over and over, but slowly the panic left her mind and his eyes brought her back to herself, to the numerous examinations and checkups, to his flirtation and her avoidance, and her world tilted on its axis. Outcome Five.
He had been shocked and angry when he learned that she didn't even know his name, and she had been ashamed at just how far she had strayed from the compassion that once led her to the medical field. Treating him in Manilla at that awful excuse for a hotel, holding him while he begged her to leave him behind, and trying to ease his pain and discomfort as he sweated out the fever made her wonder if perhaps she had wandered too far from her path as a doctor, if the rush of discovery in the lab was a false idol of sorts and she should have channeled her considerable knowledge towards actually helping people rather than helping the suits create a better killer. But then I wouldn't have met him, and he would never have become Aaron Cross. He would have lived and died as Kenneth Kitsom, and none of this would be happening. No, that's not true. There would have been someone else, there is always someone else who can do the work, swallow their morals and turn a blind eye to what they were really doing to these "participants". She wasn't sure she believed in fate, in a higher power, but if there was a reason behind all of this, she was grateful that it led her to this dangerous, amazing man.
He winced slightly as he rose from his place on the floor and she frowned, remembering the fresh wound on his thigh. "Aaron…" she began, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and started walking her back to their cabin below decks.
"It's fine. More than fine, don't worry about me." He grinned at her, that boyish smile that made her heart skip.
"It really isn't. I need to check those bandages, I don't even know if I got everything out of there! What if it gets infected, this isn't exactly a sterile environment." She bit at her lip again, her mind racing, as he steered her down the steps and into their room. Once inside he closed the door and had her up against it before she knew it, her arms gripping his shoulders tight.
"You think too much, Doc. Maybe I should help you with that." Her reply was lost as he leaned in for another kiss.