Disclaimer: I don't own Warrior *shock horror!*

Chapter 17

February 19th

Tommy woke up in the dark. He was warm, almost too hot, he was instantly aware of the woman sprawled across his chest, her soft skin under his hands. Perfect, he thought, stroking his way down her spine. Katrina shifted gently against him and Tommy felt his blood flow south.

He checked his watch. Shit, he groaned, it was already five thirty, time to go. He mulled over his options; eight-mile run in the freezing cold or… Katrina shifted her body over his again, one of her legs wrapping around his hips, bringing their bodies closer together…

Tommy sighed, sitting up and groping for the bedside light. He scooped his boxers off the ground and slipped them on before looking around for his jeans. Putting them on he stood up. He turned around; she's cute when she's asleep he thought with a smile. He hitched the blankets higher around Katrina's shoulders, not wanting her to get cold. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head still not wanting to leave. She stirred slightly but didn't open her eyes.

Although Tommy wouldn't think of it until later, this was only the second time in his life that he'd slept through the night with a woman. Usually after the passion wore off Tommy was straight out the door, he didn't waste time feeling like a jerk. This time though, Tommy found a pen in the desk draw and a post-it. His lips pulled into a grimace as he tried to think of the right thing to say. He hesitated before starting to scribble.

Hey K,

Last night was great,

Great didn't really seem like the right word to use but he'd written it now.

I've gone on a run, see you soon.

Tommy

He put down the pen. Katrina knew he wasn't exactly good with words, but it was the thought that counted right?

March 4th

"I'm thinkin' of getting' a new tattoo" said Tommy to Katrina as they lay in her bed watching the sun come up on a Sunday morning.

"You are? What of?" she asked, stretching sleepily before snuggling deeper into his side.

Your name right over my heart Tommy thought. "I dunno." He replied.

"Not a clue?" she pressed.

"A lot's happened since I last got ink…" Katrina's fingers brushed his collarbone where Manny's dog tag numbers were etched, raising goose bumps on his flesh. "Maybe it's time to, I dunno, write it down."

"On your skin?"

"Yeah…"

Katrina nodded, fingers still tracing the outline of his collarbone, "where would you put it?" she asked.

"Probably down the side." Said Tommy, indicating his ribs.

"All the way down?"

Tommy shrugged, wrapping his arms around her more tightly. It was still early spring and Katrina refused to put on the heat in her apartment, Tommy could have sworn it was colder inside than out.

He was distracted by Katrina's hands dipping under the covers and sliding down his abs making the muscles jump and tense. He felt most of his blood surge downwards turning any further thoughts to white noise.

"I think it's a great idea." He felt her whisper against his neck.

The last two weeks had been some of the happiest in Tommy's memory, determined to do things by the book Tommy took her out on a second date. Two dates turned into three and before a week had passed they were spending almost every night in bed together. It was getting harder and harder to leave her for work at the crack of dawn, usually they stayed at her place and Katrina had taken to cooking him breakfast in the mornings. Breakfast always seemed to turn into something more and Katrina's couch now had a permanent dent to the cushions.

As it was still early and a Sunday neither of them had to get up and Tommy was treated to the sight of Katrina fast asleep. Her hair fanned out on the pillow like a halo. The neck of his Tap-out T-shirt that she was wearing had slipped down over her shoulder, Tommy brushed the exposed skin with the tips of his fingers, not able to resist but trying not to wake her. Tommy had learned over the past two weeks that she was almost as light a sleeper as he was and predictably her eyes fluttered open at his touch, she smiled.

"Hey." She whispered, "What time is it?"

Tommy checked the cellphone he'd left by the bed, "six thirty."

Katrina sat up, running her hands through her hair. "Time to get up."

"Seriously? On a Sunday?" Tommy could feel the heat already leaving her side of the bed.

"Gotta go to mass." She replied, voice muffled from the huge sweater she was pulling over her head, a jumper that Tommy recognized to be his own. "Do you want to come?" she asked. Tommy sat up and pulled on his boxers to stall having to give an answer. Thankfully Katrina's phone rang just as he was trying to think of a polite way of saying no.

"Sorry" Katrina mouthed, the person on the other end of the line hadn't given her time to get a word in yet. Judging from the fact that Tommy could make out a voice, the person seemed to be shouting. Katrina wandered downstairs, still listening patiently while Tommy looked about for the rest of his clothes, he sighed, she was wearing his t-shirt and his sweater. Well I'll just have to go and get them… he thought to himself, following Katrina down the stairs.

Tommy padded downstairs, sneaking up on Katrina from the back. He pressed a kiss to her neck, just above the collarbone and slipped his hands under her sweater. She squeaked with surprised, jumping like a scaled cat.

"Tommy don't sneak up on me like that!" she gasped, leaning against him.

"Sorry." He replied, gripping her waist more tightly, pulling her close. Katrina sighed, melting into him slightly. This was how it always seemed to be with them in the mornings, Frank was starting to notice how many times Tommy had turned up to work late.

Whoever was on the other end of the phone started shouting again, this time much louder. Katrina frowned, holding the phone slightly away from her ear.

…calmez-vous si vous plait maman! Mon dieu, c'est pas seriouse!.. From the language Tommy realized Katrina must be talking to her mother; suddenly having his hands up her top seemed really inappropriate.

…maman c'est vulgaire! ne me demandez pas ça!... Tommy tactfully stepped slightly away as the family argument stepped up a notch.

…Ne demandez pas si je suis vierge! Je te hais!...

Not giving the other woman time to respond, Katrina shut the phone with a snap. "putain!" she spat with surprising viciousness. Then she sighed, "Sorry about that."

"S'oaky, was that your mom?"

Katrina nodded, biting her lip. "I don't like fighting with her but sometimes…"

"Families fight- I get it. Never heard you speak French before…" He tried to reassure her but Katrina just shrugged.

"Well you just heard about every French swearword in the book." She replied bitterly.

"What were you fighting about?" Tommy put his arms around her waist again, resuming their earlier position.

"You." She replied miserably. "My mom just realized that we sleep together and now she's convinced that I'll go to hell."

"Go to hell?" he asked, "d'you really believe in all that?"

Katrina paused, "I try not to think about it… I used to, was terrified of hell when I was younger… but now, I don't know." Katrina's eyes flickered to his for a moment, before fixing on the floor.

"Do you think what we're doing is wrong?" Tommy asked, waiting apprehensively for an answer.

"I know it is. I know I shouldn't, but I like you too much to stop. I just can't think of being with you as really being a sin…" There was a smile in her voice now. "Although what we did last night was pretty sinful."

Tommy kissed her then, holding her close. Knowing that Katrina felt guilty about what they did together roused some strange emotion in him. Was it jealousy? Was it possessiveness? He didn't know, what he did know was that it hurt, deeply, knowing that he might loose her like this. Words not being Tommy's strong point he knew that he could never hope to put into words how he was feeling, what he did with his body would have to be enough.

Half an hour later Tommy wandered downstairs to his own flat; the place was getting a bit neglected, glasses piling up in the sink and the sheets needed changing. He supposed that his military past still required him to keep a certain standard of neatness around him at all times. He liked things to be orderly and clean, in fact the more complicated his life got the more he tended to focus on that.

A psychiatrist would likely tell him he had a problem, needed to loosen up but he was set in his ways now. Anyway, cleaning things up was a good outlet for his energy, it would help him work off some of the emotion of the morning in a productive way. Tommy thought that should be good enough for any psychiatrist and set to rolling up the sleeves of his reclaimed sweater and starting to wash up.

The elastic of the sleeves bit slightly into his forearms, he was finally putting on some real muscle, filling out as he had been before Sparta. He'd got his appetite back, training with Frank was intense, almost more so than training with Pop. They had different styles but after loosing to his brother Tommy felt ready to switch things up a little in the cage. The training he was doing now was as much mental as physical, the Frank was tough, but nothing compared to Pop's levels of slave driving. The trainer's real magic lay in how he taught his fighters to think in the cage rather than just rely on instinct as Tommy had for so long, he was getting the hang of it slowly, sparring with men of Jay's size had certainly put his own strength into perspective and forced him to work harder on his technique. His body was definitely changing though and he had a feeling that he was going to come back even stronger than ever.

The phone rang- the landline call meaning it could only be Brendan on the other end as only he had that number. Tommy quickly dried his hands before picking up.

"Bren?" he asked.

"Tommy? Good, I thought you might be out- you never pick up these days."

Tommy smiled, he was never home these days. "Sorry about that, why'd you call?"

"Other than just wanting to talk?" Tommy could hear Bren laughing to himself, "Tess wants to invite you to dinner, says the girls are missing you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think she's worried about you not having a home cooked meal in too long." Tommy smiled again, it turned out that Katrina was an excellent cook so Tess needn't be worried.

"That'd be great." He paused, inspiration striking, "D'you know what?"

"What?"

"I want you to meet someone."

"Someone? Who?"

"Umm…" tommy swallowed thickly, "A girl- we're dating… or something."

"oh… a girl… well congratulations little brother!"

Tommy snorted, "stop it Bren, we're not gettin' married or anytin' just casual y'know?"

"But you're showing her off to all of us? Sounds pretty casual." Tommy barked a laugh at his brother's sarcasm.

They agreed that Brendan would pick them up a five; it was a long drive out to Monroeville and even longer if you had to take the bus. Tommy vowed in return that he would sort out getting a car in the near future and get the broken down "piece of trash" he'd driven to Brendan's house in off his brother's lawn.

The car had broken down immediately after he turned off the engine, Brendan's house was the first stop he'd made after leaving Camp George, driving through the night and all day to cross the country back to his only family.

Tommy couldn't actually remember much about the trip- too strung out on the pain meds and anxiety pills that the military doctors made him take. The whole memory was blurred and jittery as though filmed on a shaky hand-camera. It was sort of a relief when the ache in his shoulder came back, meaning that the drugs were wearing off. Unfortunately as his body cleared its self of the narcotics, the fog of pain, both physical and mental almost sent him right off the road. It was a miracle he didn't crash really- maybe he should've taken Katrina up on her offer of going to church.

The image of her sprinting out the door stuck in his mind as he dried the last of the dishes in the sink. St. Paul's cathedral in down town Pittsburgh was apparently a very "big deal" as far as churches went so Katrina was obliged to dress up a little. Tommy had time to drink two whole cups of coffee as she dashed around the apartment frantically pulling out clothes and doing up her hair. He had never seen her in anything so nice- a pretty blue dress and heels that made her higher than his shoulder for the first time. He liked the heels- it made it easier to bend down and kiss her. Although it was nice to see his girl all dressed up, in a way it made her guilt about their relationship hurt all the more. The church was never something that particularly called to him, especially after the death of his mother Tommy had felt abandoned with God. Angry with him for letting his mother die in agony and for turning him into an orphan at the age of seventeen.

His mother's faith had scared him near the end, the gleam in her eyes as she told him about heaven. It wasn't healthy he decided, especially Katrina's fear of hell, she'd told him she didn't really believe in that anymore but he'd seen the dread in her eyes. He'd have to talk to her about that.

Tommy spent the rest of the day exercising. He went on a long run using the route he used to go on with Pop who'd drive alongside him hollering encouragement. It really wasn't the same without the old man there but he made it around just the same, all ten miles of it. After that it was weights at Frank's gym- the place was open on Sundays really just for the professionals and to give Frank a chance to keep up with the paperwork.

Tommy had a quick shower before changing into a fresh pair of sweats and a vest. The place was mostly empty- even the pro fighters had to go home sometime, even if just to keep their wives and girlfriends happy. Tommy wondered what it would be like between him and Katrina when he got back into the cage again, if even lasted that long. When they were together Tommy never thought about the possibility that things wouldn't work out in the long run. When he was with her he never had any doubts, in fact he rarely worried about anything when she was around it was like being invincible. It was a different story though when they were apart though. Tommy couldn't stop himself from thinking of all the ways that things could go wrong, all the ways he might drive her away; his PTSD, the nightmares, his crazy pre-fight training schedule, and his nasty temper which she'd already had to deal with. He was completely out of his depth with this, fucking inexperienced.

"Tommy?"

He whipped around at the sound of someone calling his name. It was Frank, come out of his office and grinning like a cat with the cream.

"What's up with you?" asked Tommy, turning to face him fully.

"Good news." Smiled Frank, "I got you a fight- here in Pittsburgh in three weeks."

"Who against?" asked Tommy, the news not really sinking in.

"Forrest Griffin, the brawler from Georgia." Frank was evidently very pleased with himself.

Tommy felt a smile break out over his face, "Thanks man, really means a lot y'know. Three weeks y'say?"

"Three weeks my man." Answered Frank, slapping Tommy on the back, "you'll be ready."

"I sure will." With a final nod, Tommy strode purposefully to the weights. Forrest Griffin wouldn't know what'd hit him.

A/N

well this was a long time coming- I hope you guys haven't completely given up on me! I'm not really sure about the faith aspect of this chapter you'll have to tell me where you guys stand on that but given the direction I'm thinking of going with this story I think a little background on Katrina's family and beliefs is necessary. (idk?) I'm not entirely sure about the characterization with this chapter- I know that usually if Tommy is upset about something then that generally comes out as anger but I don't really see them having a fight about their issues just yet… Also a note about the French, I didn't translate it basically because this chapter is from Tommy's point of view and he doesn't understand a word it. When its Katrina's view then I'll translate and all will become clear!

Heads up- if anyone has ideas for scenes you would like to see between the lovebirds, now is the time to make your requests- I'm in serious need of inspiration for the coming chapters before the sh*t hits the fan!

Thanks again for everyone who's stuck with this story and put it on favorite or story alert and an extra-special thank you for all you beautiful reviewers, I really couldn't write this without your help and support! xxxx