They awoke the next day, wrapped around each other; Zack had the day off, so they could spend the day doing anything they wanted, just like a real couple.
"Morning, Baby" Howie leaned over to kiss Zack on the lips.
"It wasn't a dream" Zack said as he kissed back, he was so happy at the thought that the previous day wasn't a dream, and he could spend the whole day with Howie.
"No baby, it wasn't a dream" Howie kissed Zack again.
"Good, what did you want today?" Zack asked as the kisses continued.
"I
don't care, as long as I spend the entire day with you."
Howie
replied.
"Good
thing I have the day off" Zack hugged Howie; he hadn't
had the
chance yet to tell Howie that today was his day off.
"You have the day off?" Howie asked excitedly.
"Yes" Zack moaned as Howie hit a sensitive spot on his neck, causing the younger man to arch into Howie's mouth for more kisses.
Two hours later, they were relaxing in the afterglow of making love.
"So what shall we do now" Zack whispered not wanting to ruin the quiet, tender mood of the room.
"Nothing, just stay here all day" Howie matched his hushed tone.
"Sounds good" Zack snuggled into Howie's arms; how he had missed this.
He knew it was only one night that they were together in Iraq, but that night meant more to Zack than any other night had in years.
"Do you know when you come back?" Zack asked, he had wanted to tell Howie about his promised week off all night, but he had been so drained from telling his story about Kenny, that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
"I got a month left over there, then I have a week of debriefing, then I can come back. I'll put in for R&R for a month, and then figure out what to do after that." Howie replied, pulling Zack closer to himself
"Dr. Saroyan gave me the week off for when you come back" Zack announced excited, looking forward to that week off, just to spend with Howie, the man of his dreams.
"A week! A whole week just us!" Howie exclaimed as he rolled on top of Zack, pinning him to the bed, smiling down at the younger man.
"Yes, a week" Zack giggled as Howie kissed and nibbled his neck. 'That month and week can't end soon enough' Howie thought as he made his way down Zack's body, mapping every erogenous zone on the young man.
After another couple of hours, they lay in another afterglow of making love.
As they lay there, they spoke in hushed tones about what they would be doing for the rest of the day.
Soon the silence was broken by Zack's stomach growling loudly. "We should eat" he spoke, a blush rising on his cheeks. He tried to hide in Howie's side, but Howie wouldn't let him.
"Yes we should, but a shower first" Howie said as he traced a pattern in the drying on Zack's stomach.
"Oh yeah we should".
They made their way to the shower, still holding each other in some way, not wanting to break contact.
After their shower, which took longer than normal, they headed to the kitchen to get to something to eat. As they made their way through Zack's little apartment, they made a detour to the door to see if Hodgins had dropped off his mail, which he had.
As
Zack was leafing through it, he noticed a plain brown envelope with
just his name on it, no address, and no stamp. Ever the
scientist, he made his way to the draw where he kept his gloves.
Carefully opening the envelope, he discovered a white piece of
paper. Howie looked over his shoulder, reading the message
along with him; it caused their blood to run
cold and both men to
gasp in horror.
"DON'T GET TOO CONFORTABLE WITH THE WING
COMMANDER. HE WON'T BE AROUND
FOR LONG"
