So it's only been like 5 years...I'm sorry! MANY thanks to those of you who have stuck with me for so long. This is just a little taste of what's to come. ;) Unbetaed so all mistakes are mine alone. Review if you feel moved to! I adore reading them!

It had to be somewhere near three in the morning. They had eaten in silence, Olivia occasionally casting her dirtiest looks in her alternate's direction. Liv, for the most part, ignored it. Still, it was starting to get to her. No one could hold onto the past quite like Olivia. But she was going to have to knock it off or get left behind.

Now, with nothing but the crackle of the fire, the silence was pressing in. Olivia was pretending to sleep on the sofa, Liv on a quilt on the floor – staring at the ceiling and thinking herself into a frenzy.

"You know, I'd think you'd be a little more grateful."

Olivia snapped her eyes open, felt fire run through her veins. "Grateful?! To you? You stole my life."

"You just can't let anything go, can you? I did what I had to do to save my world. You would have done the exact same thing and you know it."

Olivia opened her mouth to retort, but thought better of it. She would have done the same thing. Maybe not in the same way, but you do what you have to when the stakes are that high.

She paused. "I suppose I would," she said, almost under her breath. "Look, I'm – I'm sorry, okay? I'm not good at the vulnerable thing. I don't like situations that are beyond my control. Like…this."

Liv sat up. "To be honest, I was surprised you let go as much as you did. Part of me thought you'd die before letting me help you."

Olivia let a small smile grace her lips. "The thought had crossed my mind."

Liv laughed and scooted closer to the couch. She reached up to stroke Olivia's hair but stopped, fingers not an inch from the blonde's locks, and pulled her hand away.

"I…did you mean what you said? That it's always been me?"

Olivia looked down, seemingly ashamed of showing this soft side of her character, and nodded slightly.

"I just…I don't know what this is. This…us. How I feel about you. It's…weird. And I don't use that word lightly."

They both smiled. Few people in either of their universes truly understood the depth of that word better than the two of them.

"This," Liv started as she allowed her hand to move back to Olivia's hair, "it hurts no one. There's nothing wrong with giving in to those feelings, to that lighter side of you. It's one of the many things that makes you beautiful."

Olivia finally let herself look into the piercing green of her alternate's eyes. They were so beautiful with little flecks of gold, almost sparkling. But it was the genuineness she saw there that was truly stunning. Maybe this didn't have to be as complicated as she was trying to make herself believe.

Olivia reached out and let her thumb run across Liv's bottom lip, her tongue involuntarily sliding across her own. She wanted to know what those lips tasted like, how it felt to have them hot on her skin.

Liv snaked her tongue out and sucked the thumb into her mouth, never taking her eyes off Olivia's. When she gently bit down, Olivia felt heat rush to her core. She threaded her fingers through Liv's hair and pulled her forward, crushing their lips together. Liv climbed up on the couch, her lips never leaving the delicious new place they had found, and laid on top of Olivia, arms braced on either side of her chest so as not to touch her wound.

Olivia parted her lips, dying to feel more of Liv, who was more than happy to comply. As she slid her tongue into Olivia's mouth she rolled her hips forward, causing Olivia to gasp.

Liv immediately pulled back. "Shit! I'm so sorry! I was trying not to hurt you."

Olivia smiled. "Liv, it wasn't that kind of gasp."

"Oh! Then…shall I continue?" she asked, the most sultry of smiles on her lips.

"You better."

Liv brought her lips back down to Olivia's, grazing her tongue with her own. Olivia slid one hand behind her neck, using the other to rake her nails across her lower back. Liv pulled herself away from Olivia's mouth, kissing down to her pulse point and biting. Olivia arched up into her, trying to pull her impossibly closer.

Liv reached down to undo the buttons on Olivia's blood stained shirt, fumbling with just one available hand.

"Um, I think you could use some help," Olivia laughed.

Liv smiled as she lifted her head up and leaned into Olivia's forehead.

"Give me a break. I'm trying to get you naked while also trying not to crush you."

"I'm not complaining. I just thought I'd speed up the process."

Liv chuckled. "Then by all means, darling."

Olivia looked right into Liv's eyes as she slowly unbuttoned her shirt. After the third button Liv moved down to kiss the flesh that was so tempting her, dipping her tongue into that precious little naval. She traced gentle fingers around the still garish looking wound and twinge of sadness gripped her heart. Olivia felt it.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just...sorry."

"For what?"

"This," Liv said, indicating the wound. "I should've been there. If I'd just been there..."

"Now stop it. You didn't shoot me. I know there have been times you've wanted to..."

Liv couldn't help but smile. There definitely were. She went from hating this woman to loving even just the thought of her. "How could I have been so blind?"

"It wasn't just you. I guess that old saying is true. Sometimes we really don't know what we have until we lose it. Or, almost lose it, in this case."

"Believe me. I won't be making that mistake again." A smirk betrayed the renewed lust in her eyes. "You know, I feel like I was in the middle of something..."

"Hmm. Were you? I'm having trouble remembering..." Olivia teased.

"Oh, you are, are you? Let me see what I can do about that."

Liv leaned up and placed a far too gentle kiss on Olivia's lips before she blazed a trail of open mouthed kisses to her ear.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted this," she breathed huskily.

As she sucked an ear lobe into her mouth, Liv snaked a hand down to Olivia's breast and kneaded it expertly. Olivia bit her lip and shut her eyes, stars exploding behind them.

"Oh God," she hissed.

"Save your breath honey. You're gonna be screaming his name by the time I'm done with you."