Author's Note: Goodbyes always suck, as Kurt and Jane find out in this chapter. And this time, there really will only be one more chapter after this! And no, I'm not going to go into huge detail about Roman's undercover mission. If anyone else wants to write it, they're more than welcome to, though. :)
"You're gonna miss your flight if you don't get out of bed soon." Jane didn't unwind her arms from around Kurt's neck, and he didn't move from where he'd collapsed on top of her, exhausted but satisfied.
"I know." He nuzzled her neck, making her smile.
"I'd tell you to call in sick and stay with me for another week, but Sandstorm…"
She'd been pretty sure that would get him moving, and it did. Kurt gave her a soft, affectionate kiss before getting out of bed and heading for the shower, leaving her smiling sadly up at the ceiling.
The time had flown by way too fast—not that there had been much of it to begin with—and now they were facing a separation of weeks, maybe months. Jane wouldn't be able to sell to Roman straight off—not while he was still wanted by the FBI, NSA, CIA and probably a few other agencies. She'd need to find an artist or two to temporarily manage things until Roman was in a position to buy—artists who were business-savvy enough not to destroy the studio's fragile profit margin in the meantime. It would take a few weeks to figure out the legal side of things, interview and hire the new managers, and make arrangements to ship her stuff to New York.
Kurt had persuaded her to move in with him straight off, arguing that they'd spent practically every day together for two years, and that they would likely spend all of their free time together anyway, so living in different apartments would just be wasting time and money. If any other man had said it, Jane would have turned him down flat, but Kurt… She'd always felt like there was some kind of deeper connection between them, though at first she'd written it off as a weird kind of imprinting on the first person to show her affection. She'd agreed to move into his apartment, rationalising that she could always find a place of her own later, if she decided she needed space.
Once she actually did move up to New York again, she'd then have to go through Special Agent training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, which would take at least a couple of months if she fast-tracked, and five months if they made her do the whole thing. Sure, she could drive home on weekends, or he could visit her—four and a half hours in a car wasn't that bad—but she knew she'd miss Kurt intensely while she was apart from him.
She tried not to dwell on the time she'd be spending without him, after it had taken so long for them to finally get together. What mattered was that she was beginning to take steps towards the life and career she really wanted, and she and Kurt would be together, even if they had to spend some time apart.
She threw on some clothes and made some coffee while Kurt showered and dressed, but it wasn't easy to think positively when Kurt began to pack up the few belongings he'd brought with him. Jane couldn't go with him to the airport—she had a booking with a new client that she couldn't really afford to cancel—and he'd be leaving within a few minutes.
"Hey." Kurt pulled her up from her seat on the couch, into his arms. "I'll call you when I get home, okay? It's not gonna be like before, when we didn't talk at all."
"I know." Jane pressed her lips against his neck and tried to memorise everything about his presence, so she could recall it later, when she missed him.
They held each other for long moments, until a text message made Kurt pull back. "Probably the cab driver telling me they're outside." He checked his phone and sighed. "Yeah."
"Talk to you in a few hours." Jane kissed him, lingering for longer than she meant to. He cradled her face in both hands as he kissed her back, their embrace full of tenderness and longing.
"I love you so much, Jane." Kurt rested his forehead against hers for a moment before giving her a final, quick kiss.
"I love you too." She stroked her thumb across his stubbled jaw, then stepped back, trying to make it easier on them both. "Go on. Have a good flight."
He nodded and opened the apartment door. "Bye."
Jane raised her hand in a silent wave, striving for a genuine smile but knowing she came up a little short. Kurt hesitated for a moment longer, then shut the door as he left, seeming to take all of the air out of the room with him.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Jane flopped back down on the couch and finished her coffee, trying to readjust to the apartment without Kurt in it. You were perfectly fine without him for five years. You can last a few more weeks.
Kurt wearily shrugged out of his jacket, poured himself a drink, then headed to the couch. It was almost ten-thirty, though his watch still showed the time in Los Angeles, three hours earlier. He adjusted it back to the local time before calling Jane.
"Hey," she answered, after a couple of rings.
Kurt smiled and closed his eyes at the sound of her voice. "Hey, yourself."
"How was the flight? Did you just get home?"
They talked for a while, Kurt relating the story of the foul-mouthed toddler a few rows in front of him on the plane, the kid's wholly unconcerned parents, and the indignant old lady who'd taken it upon herself to try to teach them how to raise a child. Jane's laughter relaxed him, and he looked around the apartment, trying to imagine what might be different when she moved in, as she told him about her newly eighteen-year-old client's decision to have her boyfriend's name tattooed in giant letters across the small of her back.
"I guess you couldn't talk her into getting it done smaller, or not at all?" Kurt asked, amused.
"He was standing right there. I couldn't exactly ask her how she'd feel about having his name on her if they broke up. And I don't exactly have room to criticise other people's bad tattoo decisions. I had my memory erased right after getting your name tattooed on me."
Kurt grinned. "Maybe she'll come in next month to have it covered up."
He felt the pull of sleep as he finished his Scotch, and finished his conversation with Jane with a quiet, "I miss you."
"I miss you, too. But it's worth it."
"Hmm?" He couldn't quite follow her train of thought—probably because he was sorely lacking sleep.
"I mean… If you hadn't come down here, it'd just be another Monday night. But you did. I'm so glad you did, Kurt." The emotion in her voice made his heart skip, and he ached to put his arms around her and hold on tight.
They said goodnight with soft, heartfelt declarations of love, and Kurt hung up with a smile on his face, despite how much he already missed having her close by.
Tomorrow he'd plunge back into work, loop in the San Diego field office on Sandstorm, and try to get the DA to see things his way when it came to Roman. God, he hoped he could come through for Jane when it came to Roman's deal. He still remembered the pure, astonished joy on her face when he'd managed to get Roman's psychiatrist to agree to let him out of his cell and into house arrest. It was one of his favourite memories of Jane. Anything he could do to make her that happy again would be worth it.
Patterson had wasted no time sending the news about Kurt and Jane through the FBI and former-FBI grapevine. Kurt had gotten a text of congratulations from Reade on Sunday night, another from Zapata, and had assumed that apart from a couple of agents and possibly the lab techs, no one else at work would particularly care about his relationship status.
As it turned out, he was wrong.
Whispers and giggles met his ears as he walked through SIOC, and more eyes seemed to be on him than on anything else. Reaching his office door, he turned and addressed the room at large. "Is there something you guys want to say to me?"
Brianna, his administrative assistant, approached with a huge smile. "Deputy Director, we heard you finally got together with Jane Doe and we're all just thrilled for you, that's all!"
Cheers and applause spread throughout the room as Kurt looked around, realising that around eighty percent of the staff working here had been part of CIRG since the days of Jane's original case. He couldn't help but smile, even as he wished he could sink into the floor at the unexpected celebration.
"Thank you, everyone. I appreciate that you care so much about my relationship status. Let's never make such a big deal out of it again. Get back to work."
A ripple of laughter greeted his words as agents and support staff alike focused on their monitors and paperwork again.
Imagining how embarrassed Jane would have been if she'd still worked here, Kurt shut himself in his office, shaking his head. While he waited for his computer to boot up, he sent a quick text to Patterson. Is there anyone here you DIDN'T tell about me and Jane?
Nah, I think I pretty much got everyone, came her response, complete with an emoji sticking its tongue out.
"No kidding," he murmured to himself, as he logged onto his computer.
Three weeks later
Jane leaned against the wall in the alley, unsure if Roman would actually show up to their meeting. What if he'd had second thoughts?
"Hey."
Jane spun to find her brother approaching from the opposite direction than she'd expected. "There you are. Everything okay?"
"Just took a little longer to shake a tail than I thought." Roman shrugged, seeming unperturbed. "What's the news?"
Jane pulled out the paper on which she'd noted down everything he'd need, and held it out. "Your handler at the San Diego field office. She's not the team leader, but Kurt went through Quantico with her. He knows he can trust her. Her boss is apparently a decent guy too, but we figured you'd be more comfortable with someone Kurt can actually vouch for."
Roman nodded, taking the paper and reading the name there. "Special Agent Zoë Delarosa."
"That number's a burner she'll use just to deal with you. Give her a call; she'll meet you in person and you should be able to plan from there. The information you give her will come back to Kurt and he'll show it to me, just in case anything triggers a memory for me. It's a long shot, but you never know."
Roman nodded. "I don't have anything more to go on than I told you last week, but if I have the FBI's blessing I can start working my way in towards the inner circle, figure out some more details."
Jane tried not to flinch, remembering her own catastrophic undercover mission with Sandstorm. "Please be careful, Roman. They'll know you were in FBI custody for a couple of months. That'll make them suspicious."
"They also know Shepherd busted me out and that I went to DC with her. Plus, I didn't spell anyone's name wrong when I spray-painted it on a truck, so..."
Jane rolled her eyes. "God, that was a stupid mistake. But how was I supposed to know? It's not like anyone called him 'Markos spelled with a K'."
Roman grinned. "Anyway, it was trying to send Patterson the chip code that got you busted, not the spelling. I'll be careful, I promise. How much longer are you in LA?"
"Just over a week. I hand the studio over to the new guys on Saturday, and hopefully they'll keep it afloat until I can sell it to you. If not, you're gonna have to start from scratch."
"If it works out, great. If not…maybe I'll come and start up a studio in New York." Roman shrugged. "Anyway, this is the last time I'll see you before you move. I'm heading up to San Diego tomorrow and depending on how things go, I could be undercover by the end of the week."
"Good luck." Jane hugged him tightly. "Stay safe. If I need to contact you, I'll send a message through Agent Delarosa."
"I'll do the same. Hope your move goes well. Say hi to Weller for me." Roman gave her a quick, ironic salute and turned to leave.
"Bye, Roman." Jane watched him go, hoping desperately that it wouldn't be the last time she'd see her brother alive.