Disclaimer: I do not own the Millennium Trilogy

Thank you all for the reviews, I think I will be finishing this story soon. Do not worry though I have about five more chapters written or outlined.

Please review! The more you review the faster I write…

Chapter 25

Mikael was tired, he had a rough week; he wanted to be home with his family. This was the first time he was without Lisbeth since she left him during the pregnancy. He was miserable; a waitress approached him,

"Sir, may I take your order?" she reminded him of Lisbeth, she had red hair and green eyes. He really missed Lisbeth, this girl was completely different; she asked again and Mikael ordered some lamb stew.

He ate his meal in silence, he was debating whether to call Lisbeth or not. He decided against it. Lisbeth needed to make up her mind; he would not influence her. Mikael tried to use this excuse but deep down he was afraid. He was sure Lisbeth loved him but they were so distanced now, Mikael feared going to an empty home.

Mikael opted to go to the bar, and have some drinks. He needed to relax; but he just couldn't stop wondering what would happen once he was back to Sweden. Mikael looked around and noticed a brunette smiling his way. He was on his second scotch when he felt someone touching his arm; it was the brunette.

"I see you are alone tonight" the woman gave a flirtatious smile. Mikael politely nodded.

"You are not English are you?"

"No, I'm Swedish, visiting on a business trip." Mikael was not in the mood to talk to this woman but she was pretty insistent

"Well, my name is Angela, I'm a corporate lawyer. So, are you married?"

Mikael laughed, and muttered, "Might as well be. I live with someone and have a son with her."

This Angela woman laughed and continued to talk about her life, she finally invited him to her room. She was staying at the hotel until her ex husband found a place to live.

"We could go to my room, have some fun and forget about our respective partners. Now, don't make that face. I know you are probably going through some crisis in you relationship. That is probably the only reason why you are here at the bar."

Mikael smirked, "you are absolutely right but I want her back and sleeping with you won't help me. I thank you for the offer but no thank you."

She stood and whispered, "313, just in case you change your mind."

Mikael stayed at the bar for another thirty minutes and then went to his room.

He opened his laptop and went through some family pictures, there was Lisbeth scowling at him for some reason. Aaron playing with his teddy and clapping at the Dora cartoon, he saw a picture of Nilla and Aaron goofing around. Aaron was pulling her hair and she was tickling him. Mikael went through the oldest ones and saw Lisbeth in her sundress while she was expecting Aaron. She looked so beautiful.

Mikael knew that no matter the outcome he would love Lisbeth, he would fight for her and Aaron. He was giving her a way out, Mikael wanted his Sally to be sure of his commitment and giving her space was the best strategy according to him. Lisbeth had to experience his absence in order to fully understand the depth of her feelings.

Mikael hoped she successfully worked her emotions out, he was about to call her and check up on her but he stopped himself again. He showered and fitfully slept. The rest of the trip went the same way; he was going through the motions of sealing the business deals with Millennium sponsors.

Lisbeth Salander decided to wait for Mikael to come home again. She knew where he was staying at London and his schedule, she had been half tempted to go there with Aaron but after analyzing the situation she discarded the idea. Aaron would fuss the entire way and it was best to have their conversation at home.

She managed to track down Mikael's flight. She calculated the time it would take him to get home. Mikael did not call them at all, and that had her a little worried, but her confidence was intact. She was going to keep Blomkvist no matter what. It was Thursday late evening and she was waiting for him to come home. By 10:00 PM she was afraid he decided to leave them and never come back but she quickly banished those thoughts and waited patiently for another hour when the door opened and there he was, sleep deprived and unshaved but still handsome. She launched herself at him and said, "I want to be with you."

He kissed her and let out a sigh of relief. If he was true to himself he was not giving up, but not having to fight her to be with her was great. He spoke, "Then this is the last time you keep things from me. Lisbeth Salander, no more secrets. You tell me whenever something bothers you or when you feel afraid."

"Mikael, I needed time to differentiate between the Mikael who beat Brown and my Mikael. This was all my fault." Lisbeth softly said.

"I am at fault too, I used work to distract me. I knew we should have talked about the Hedeby fight as soon as we came to Stockholm. I just ignored the situation and let myself believe that it would go away, and when you pulled away from me I just could not deal with it."

"Mikael, I am not afraid of you. I was scared that you would leave us; you are not here anymore. I felt like you were back with Erika waiting for an opportunity to leave us. I am sorry." Lisbeth was saying in between kisses.

"I stayed with you because I could not ever leave you. Even when we are like this and we pull away from each other I still need you." He kissed her lips and she responded. "I want you to know that I love you and I am glad this is over. No more silences and distances."

Lisbeth nodded and kissed him again. They moved to the bedroom and lay down. Lisbeth slept on top of him.

Mikael woke up to Lisbeth kissing his chest and stroking his cock. He ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her up for a kiss. Mikael took over; he nuzzled her neck and her breasts. He missed this, the way she arched her hips to meet his thrusts. He loved how she bit his neck and ran her fingernails through his back.

Lisbeth moaned when he rolled her nipples and sucked them. He looked up at her face and kissed her hard while thrusting deeply. Lisbeth came and tightened around him. That did it for him; he came with a moan and spilled into his Sally.

"Why wouldn't you come to bed these past weeks?" Lisbeth asked, he sadly looked at her and said. "I thought you didn't want me to be with you."

"I was waiting for you to come to me." He cuddled her, and thought about their life since the Hedeby holiday. He was also responsible for their crisis, he had been passive and let their insecurities take over.

"I am glad I got jealous over Erika; if not I have a feeling you would have not talked." She was in a very good mood. Lisbeth hoped they could repair the damage they had done to their partnership.

"I think we should leave Aaron with Annika and go out today." Mikael said while running her fingers along her hipbones.

Lisbeth nodded; they had a busy morning. Mikael took the day off; he lazed around in bed with Lisbeth until the baby woke up. At which time he demanded both his parents' attention.

"Daddy, daddy. Ook bu, bu," he pointed to the laptop. They were watching Dora for the fiftieth time. He did not understand why his son loved that cartoon so much.

Mikael felt a little guilty, usually his son clung to his mother but today he only had eyes for his daddy.

Aaron basically ignored Lisbeth; he wanted daddy to bathe him and feed him. Lisbeth looked at Mikael pointedly. Their son was truly missing Mikael and now that he had his undivided attention the little boy was not letting go.

Mikael decided to drop off Aaron at Annika's; they would pick him up tomorrow morning.

"He is sleeping, do not wake him up. He will sleep through the night so he won't give you any trouble." Mikael said to Enrico as he climbed the stairs to the guestroom. Mikael saw Annika as he walked down. His sister was blunt and asked if Lisbeth and him were separating.

"No, we are not. We went though a rough time and we are trying to overcome the crisis." Annika was glad to hear that. She noticed her brother was looking haggard and Erika confessed her worries about Mikael's relationship to Lisbeth.

The Gianninis said their goodbyes and Mikael left for the apartment.

He found Lisbeth asleep, he cuddled her and she woke up. He squeezed her and she gave a satisfied sigh. "I love how you smell," he said. They did not go out that night instead they talked and caught up. He told her about Millennium and she talked about Aaron and her work for Armansky.

Lisbeth told him about her reaction to the Hedeby fight and how she put up walls around her but ultimately she was able to differentiate between the real Mikael and the one who could be violent.

Lisbeth told him that by the time she understood her fears were unfounded he was already sleeping on the couch or at Millennium.

Mikael stated again that he was waiting for her to take the initiative; therefore an idiot. "I will never avoid our conflicts again. I think we are better off talking and fighting each other rather than ignoring things and building distance between us."

He traced the tattoo on her leg and kissed her shoulder. They undressed and Mikael cuddled her from the back and lifted her leg so that he was positioned. He played with her breasts and clit until Lisbeth cried out his name. He fucked her slowly, he breathed her name and came. He could see that she was close so he muttered all the things he wanted to do to her. He went into great detail about one fantasy; he wanted to take her from the back while she was playing with her pussy. He kept rubbing the hard nub and Sally came with a groan. "We are having sex every night from now on." Lisbeth mumbled as she felt Mikael hug her and cup her breasts again. Mikael merely laughed into her hair.

The next day the couple woke up late; they had a busy night. Mikael took a shower and then went to pick up Aaron from Annika's. He found his son crawling and trying to stand up with the help of a chair. He saw his son stand up for about a minute before he fell to his bottom.

"Annika, did you see that, he is standing on his own!" Mikael was excited to see his son achieve that milestone. Unfortunately it wasn't the first time Aaron did it.

"That old thing. He's been doing that for about two weeks now. Lisbeth told me about it when I visited last week." Annika commented. She was worried about her brother. Even though he reassured her that Lisbeth and him were ok Annika was still uneasy.

Mikael looked and felt guilty, "Annika, Lisbeth and I are fine. We finally talked and are on the same page. We love each other very much, we just needed to articulate it better."

He went back home and spent the afternoon asking questions about Aaron's progress. Lisbeth gladly told him everything. Yes, it was true Aaron stood by himself now and was trying to walk with the help of adults. No, he still liked 'Eddie' and the Elvis' songs. Mikael was satisfied with his knowledge of his son after two hours. Aaron was busy playing with Mikael's cellphone and made some calls. Mikael apologized to the recipients and the family ate dinner.

He sang Aaron to sleep and then snuggled with Sally. He was definitely not going away again. His time in London had been torture; Mikael missed his son and his Sally so much. Just knowing that they were near him made him breath better.

The next couple of months continued in this pattern. Mikael and Lisbeth trying to mend their relationship. They talked and shared things. Well Lisbeth talked more; she was able to talk more about Camilla and her time in foster care. As it happened the sisters never really got along, but still Lisbeth felt like it was her job to protect Camilla when they were kids. After they started school however it was pretty clear that Camilla needed no protection. Lisbeth never felt the need to approach Camilla, she was happy not knowing where her sociopath of a sister was.

Lisbeth also talked about Agneta; Lisbeth loved her mother but now that she was also a mother; she could not understand how Agneta never sought any help for her children or herself.

"Mikael, I understand her fear of losing us. I really do but I just can't believe she would not have escaped with us."

"Have you talked to Agatha about this?" Mikael asked. Lisbeth nodded.

"Agatha says that it is not uncommon for battered women to have feelings of worthlessness and guilt. Agatha said that they believe they deserve the aggression. She told me that the abuse becomes normal and that most of them expect their partners to be abusive."

Lisbeth took a deep breath and said something that she never thought she would say. "I am not a victim Mikael, but I felt like that when I expected you to become a monster. I sometimes feel worthless like I don't deserve you."

Mikael kissed her and simply said, "I love you and you are not worthless. You are beautiful, smart, resourceful, strong and above all very sexy." He waggled his eyebrows and grabbed her ass.

Lisbeth laughed, another woman would find the sexy comment to be out of place. But that was what she needed. Lisbeth needed him to reassure her that he found her attractive and that he loved her.

Some nights it was hard for her to open up and say things. She would be angry and lash out. Once they were in the park and Aaron was already running, he was one year and a half. Lisbeth loved her mother, when she was alive she visited her and took acre of her but sometimes Lisbeth felt this anger toward the late Agneta, "We never got to play or enjoy anything. Camilla seemed to be happy but she cried at night and I could never sleep or do things like other children. Because of her, if she had escaped I could have had a dad and something more normal."

Mikael hugged her and said, "Remember the books Agatha gave you. Remember the part about how victims of abuse do not even think about escaping. They don't believe it is an option. Your mother was probably isolated, she had two young kids and in her case there was no escape option. The Section would have found her, she knew too much about Zalachenko." Lisbeth nodded and washed the hands of a dirty Aaron who was trying to eat leaves. Lisbeth was getting better; her time with Agatha and the fact that she was willing to talk to Mikael was paying off. Mikael felt more connected to her and could understand her better.

Aaron was growing up to be a handful but his Lisbeth never lost her patience. She was very kind and loving to their son who could definitely be a terror sometimes.

Aaron was a charmer and was used to getting his way with strangers. He would pout or make eyes at people and they would please him. Even his father was an occasional victim but not Lisbeth. She was very firm and expected Aaron to behave when she told him to.

"Mommy, I wan pay" Lisbeth understood that her son wanted her to play with him. He was sitting on the floor and playing with toy trucks. She humored him and made car noises.

Mikael came in and heard Aaron running to him, "daddy, daddy comes pay with us."

Mikael laughed and joined his family on the playground. He softly kissed Lisbeth and joined her with the motor noises.

[I do not see them getting married, but what do you guys think?]