Chapter 7: Dreaming wide awake

Hunnigan grunted quietly as the pain from the wound on her side spread across her ribs and lower back. But it was a good pain. It meant this was real.

Helena was still asleep, her limbs sprawled on the bed in an X-shape, her mouth slightly open and her hand resting on Hunnigan's shoulder as she still held onto the other woman. Hunnigan got up slowly, reluctantly leaving the warm comfort of the bed and Helena's presence.

She headed downstairs and went to grab her phone from the coffee table in the living room. Still no service.

Well, it's not like I have anyone to call, now do I? she thought and put the phone away, proceeding to move across the room and into the kitchen. She loaded the coffee maker and switched it on. Just like any other morning. Except when she glanced outside and past her backyard today, she saw soldiers and teams from the CDC in their brightly colored hazmat suits, gathering up corpses of those unfortunate infected who'd been roaming the streets until recently.

Based on past experience, the clean up wouldn't take long and within a few weeks, everyone will have forgotten this ever happened. Maybe it'll be covered up, passed off as something more believable and supposedly harmless like a nuclear meltdown which would explain the chaos and certain areas being cordoned off. And in a few days the headlines would go from "Zombies!" to "Celebrity X exposed, check out the sideboob", and it would be officially over. People would argue about it online, some laugh it off as a ridiculous conspiracy theory, some continue to speak the truth even at the risk of being labeled paranoid, but it won't make a difference. It was like Leon once told her; in the end, nothing's really changed, has it?

The coffee maker gurgled as the last drops of water passed through and dripped into the filter. Hunnigan grabbed a mug and filled it with the bitter liquid before adding a splash of cold water to cool it.

"And eventually, the same shit'll happen again. Somewhere, sometime. I guarantee it," Hunnigan mumbled into the mug as she brought it to her lips and took a careful sip, "As far as I'm concerned, I guess the only question is what will I be doing when it happens."

"What a stupid thing to say, other Hunnigan, I'll be doing my job," she then mumbled, sighing and rolling her eyes at herself when she realized she'd once again slipped into answering her own questions out loud. She swiveled around sharply and frowned when there was a knock on the door.

"Good morning, sugar-pie-honey-bun," Leon greeted her with a velvety voice Hunnigan assumed was meant to be seductive.

"Agent Kennedy, what can I do for you?" she asked, ignoring his playful flirt, letting him get away with calling her by yet another ridiculous term of endearment... this time.
"How formal. Do I smell coffee and pancakes?" he inquired instead of answering her question.

"Coffee yes, negative on the pancakes."
"Could I be smelling pancakes?" he asked, raising his eyebrows innocently as she moved aside and silently invited him in.

"You could not."

"I don't think I've ever been in your house before. It's very nice," Leon chatted as he stepped inside and looked around, "I never realized you make this good money," he then teased and Hunnigan chuckled.

"I don't, this is courtesy of an ex-husband who sheepishly agreed to move out and to pay a ridiculous alimony."
"Oh, he must've been really naughty."

"Well, if you're stupid enough to think you can get away with cheating on a woman with access to NSA-grade spy equipment, you deserve to lose the house in the divorce," Hunnigan smirked and Leon chuckled.

"Fair enough," he agreed. Hunnigan gestured toward the kitchen with her arm and Leon followed her.
"So, what brings you here?" Hunnigan asked again and handed him a mug of coffee.

"No particular reason, I just wanted to check up on you, see how you're doing," he answered and took a sip from the mug.
"Well, aren't I a popular gal these days."

"What do you mean? Are you saying I have competition?" Leon asked dramatically.
"Oh, it's no competition, Leon, I got you beat before you even entered the ring," Helena commented smugly from the bottom of the stairs. Leon inhaled his coffee and after surviving his coughing fit, he patted his chest and cleared his throat.

"Hunny-Bunny, you didn't! I'm heartbroken, truly," he exaggerated.
"Hunny-Bunny?" Helena doubled over in laughter.

"Are you two done?" Hunnigan sighed in exasperation, "Firstly, I told you never to call me that again and secondly, nothing like what you're implying has happened."
"Well, now I'm heartbroken, you could've faked it," Helena pouted as she went to grab herself a mug of coffee as well.

While Leon appreciated the sight of her dressed in nothing but her boyshorts and a T-shirt that was a bit too tight around the chest (and was that nipple piercing he spied poking through the fabric?), he was more fascinated by the way Helena moved around the kitchen and Hunnigan like it was the most natural thing in the world. Fascinated and then amused. He knew people liked to think he was oblivious, and maybe he was when it came to having to deal with his own emotions regarding the women in his life, but watching these two circle each other completely unaware of the chemistry between them made him wonder who really was the oblivious one here. Or perhaps it was just a matter of being too close to it, not being able to see it yourself when it involved you.

"So, seriously, no breakfast? What are we, animals?" Leon sighed ruefully.
"I worry that if I feed you once, you'll keep coming back like a stray, I don't need that," Hunnigan taunted and Helena chuckled. She put her coffee down and went to grab her backpack.

"Well, we do have some delicious, delicious oatmeal we could share," she said, dug out a pouch and shook it.
"Beggars can't be choosers," Leon said, having to accept there would be no pancakes.

Once their less than fancy breakfast was cooked and served, they sat at the kitchen table, like it was just another day, like nothing unusual went on in the world. Leon took a moment to just watch the two women and smile as he listened to their light banter, appreciating the simple pleasure of having a chance to do something like this even under these circumstances.

"Ah, now all that I'd need is a smoke," Helena said, leaning back and resting her hand on her stomach when she was done eating.
"That shit'll kill you," Leon smirked.

"Considering all the things in the world trying to kill me on a regular basis, I'll take my chances with cigarettes," Helena rolled her eyes at him. Hunnigan got up and went to dig through the bowl on the small side table by the door. It was where the always emptied her pockets when she came home, she was fairly certain she'd done so out of habit when she'd gotten back this time too.

"Here," she said after finding the pack of cigarettes.
"Ooh, and it's my brand too!" Helena said happily as she accepted the Marlboros from the older woman.

"Hunny-Bunny, I thought you quit!" Leon scolded.
"I did, and actually that's your pack, Helena. I may have kind of broken into your locker and stolen that, but if it's any consolation, I only smoked one of them," Hunnigan confessed.

"You broke into my locker?"
"I broke into everyone's locker. Well, no actual breaking was necessary, I made a bump key..." Hunnigan trailed off, aware of the confused looks she was getting from the agents.

"You know how to..?" they both began asking in unison.
"To quote you, Helena, I have many skills," Hunnigan quipped.

"It seems to be healing nicely," Helena said as she studied the wound in Hunnigan's side before proceeding to cover it with a fresh bandage.
"Good. The surgeon who checked me out at the triage said you did an excellent job stitching me up," Hunnigan smiled and pulled her shirt back down once Helena was done replacing the bandage.

"Any word from your family?" the younger woman then asked and Hunnigan shook her head.
"No, but I'm not expecting to hear from them to be honest."

"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I've had time to get used to the idea," Hunnigan said.

"Still, it's a... terrible thing to have to get used to."
"What about you, what are you gonna do now?" Hunnigan asked and took a seat on the couch. Helena shrugged. She honestly had no idea.

"Go home and wait for things to get back to normal I guess. Although, now that I mention it, I'm not sure home is where it used to be," she said, realizing her apartment was probably trashed provided the building was still standing even.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here if you want to. I could use the company to be honest."
"I appreciate it," Helena smiled. They sat in silence for a long moment. Helena looked around the living room, trying to find something to talk about before the silence would grow too awkward.

"So, you... like metal. That's somewhat surprising," she commented as she glanced at the cabinet full of CDs and DVDs.
"How come?" Hunnigan inquired.

"Well, it's really a judging a book by its cover-thing. When I think of metal music, I imagine the general fans of that genre are long-haired bearded men, not women in tidy suits and glasses."
"So what am I supposed to listen to, Miley Cyrus?" Hunnigan asked.

"'Wrecking ball' is actually a good song," Helena commented and Hunnigan burst out laughing.
"I can't promise I won't tease you over that statement in the future," she chuckled and shoved Helena's shoulder playfully.

"Just be gentle and I can live with it," the younger woman smiled. She then got up and went to the cabinet to check out Hunnigan's movie collection.

"Oh, it's been forever since I saw this, can we watch this?" she inquired then and pulled out a copy of As good as it gets. Hunnigan merely nodded with a smile and Helena went to put the disc in before returning to the couch.

"Now all that's missing is popcorn and milk duds," Hunnigan said.
"Yeah, and if we also had pajamas we could call this a slumber party."
"We could still build a fortress out of the couch cushions."
"A great idea," Helena chuckled, but instead of beginning any kind of construction, she simply leaned back on the couch. She was about to cross her leg over the other when a blunt pain impacted with her calf and tightened the muscles.

"Ow, God damn it, not again!" she grunted and stood up, taking limping steps to shake away the pain.
"What's wrong?" Hunnigan frowned.
"Cramps. I guess my legs didn't appreciate trekking across the country," Helena shrugged. She walked around the room a couple of more times before finally returning to her spot on the couch after the spasm passed and all that was left was a dull ache in her calf.

"Gimme, I'll fix it," Hunnigan said and made the "come hither"-gesture with her index finger as she stood up.
"Where do you want me exactly?" Helena quirked an eyebrow.
"Just take off your pants and lie down on your belly."

"Hey now, you gotta at least buy me a drink before I let you touch me inappropriately," Helena taunted and Hunnigan rolled her eyes.
"It's not gonna be inappropriate, you perv."
"Aw," Helena let out a disappointed mewl and chuckled before doing as she was told.

"Are you secretly a physical therapist too?" Helena then inquired as she settled down on the couch and Hunnigan pulled up the ottoman from under the coffee table and sat down on it.
"No," Hunnigan chuckled, "I just like to know how things work so... I figure it out. Human body just happens to be one of those things," she answered.

"So whatever you wanna learn, you just go ahead and teach it to yourself?" Helena frowned and sucked in a hissing breath when Hunnigan's hands slid over the sore muscles, up the length of Helena's calf, all the way along the hamstrings.

"Pretty much. It won't get me a job since I have the skill but no papers from a university to prove it, but luckily I already have a job," Hunnigan explained as she bent Helena's leg a little, pressing her palm over the ball of her foot and stretching the back of the calf.

"With your skills, you could just hack into a fancy university's database and give yourself a doctorate in like... religious studies. Y'know, just for laughs," Helena mumbled into the cushions and Hunnigan chuckled.
"Why didn't I ever even think of doing that?" she wondered, slowly bringing Helena's foot back down and continuing to run her hands over the back of the younger woman's leg, gently kneading the muscles.

"Let me know if I'm using too much pressure," she then said.
"It's fine, it kinda hurts, but it's a good hurt," Helena answered.

She didn't think she'd ever received a massage before, aside from occasionally asking Deborah to squeeze her shoulders a few times just to get the blood flowing (to which the younger sister had reluctantly agreed to but had never really done properly) anyway. She was beginning to appreciate the appeal.

"Mm, don't let me fall asleep," Helena muttered, already sounding very sleepy.
"Well, the movie ain't going anywhere, you can fall asleep if you want to and watch it later."

"I don't want to," Helena argued weakly like a sleepy toddler fighting over naptime. She nodded off for a moment before snapping back awake and moving to sit back up slowly.

"Okay, you gotta stop, I'm really falling asleep... and getting kinda turned on."
"Hm..."

"Oh, God, I didn't mean to say that last part out loud," Helena groaned, embarrassed and Hunnigan chuckled.
"I'll take it as a compliment."

"Well, this is terribly awkward."
"It's okay, really. Don't worry about it," Hunnigan dismissed with a smile and moved to sit back on the couch.

"Thanks."
"Considering you did all that walking just to keep company to my sorry ass, I think I owe ya," Hunnigan shrugged.

"Forget that embarrassing comment I just made and we can call it even," Helena suggested and Hunnigan laughed a little.
"So, what really did possess you to walk all that way?" she inquired then and Helena let out an exasperated sigh.

"This again?"
"No, not 'again', just... asking without any suspicion. Why'd you come back for me? It doesn't make any sense."

"The things people like me who are prone to emotional extremes do rarely make sense," Helena smirked.
"I really am glad you did come, despite the way I initially reacted... for which I apologize."

"...I'd always come back for you," Helena said seriously and paused to swallow hard when Hunnigan leaned closer to her. She inhaled sharply when she felt the other woman's breath brush against her lips before she closed the small space between the two of them and pressed a soft kiss onto Helena's lips. The younger woman closed her eyes and melted into it, almost forgetting to breathe as she savored the softness of Hunnigan's lips against her own. It was the sweetest kiss she'd ever received.