It had been months since their last hiccup. They'd done a good job of keeping the situation under wraps. It was business as usual on the Waverider. Both Time Masters closely guarding their hearts, pretended they felt nothing.
Rip Hunter was standing under a ledge outside the Time Counsel Headquarters as rain beat down overhead. Miranda came up behind him and chuckled. "Forgot an umbrella, did you?" She opened up a large black umbrella. "You'd think as a time master you'd be better at predicting the weather." She extended her hand.
Rip smiled and hunched over to fit under Miranda's umbrella. He took hold of the handle so they could both fit. They linked arms as they walked out into the rain. The rain picked up suddenly, making the umbrella nearly useless. A gust of wind tossed the umbrella down the street. They chased after the runaway umbrella, yelling and slipping the whole time, until they caught it in a little empty alleyway. They stood there staring at one another, soaked and out of breath in an alley. Miranda bursted out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Rip's heart was beating away at an alarming rate at the sight of Miranda laughing in the rain. She linked her arm around his again and leaned on him as she tried to catch her breath from laughing.
A feeling came over Rip that he couldn't explain, he'd been hiding it for too many months now and could no longer contain it. He leaned in and kissed Miranda. She sunk into the kiss without a second thought. "I guess you're throwing your little lecture about self-control out the window?"
"Shut up." Rip pinned her against the brick wall and snogged her in an almost violently desperate manner.
"My place or yours?" Miranda replied when given a moment to breath.
"Mine's closer." Rip took her by the hand and began walking.
"Sir, yes, sir." Miranda saluted as he lead the way.
Captain Hunter's home was a bit like his office on the Waverider. There was lots of rich dark wooden furniture and miscellaneous trinkets from different points in history. Something about it didn't feel very home-like though, it seemed too clean. It was obvious that Rip spent more time on the Waverider than he did in his own flat. "You've got everything so meticulously organized, it'd be a shame to wrinkle that perfectly made bed of yours." Miranda teased as they got rid of their wet uniforms.
The rain was still beating hard against the window over an hour after they'd arrived at Rip's place. Now in drier clothes, Rip put the kettle on. Not having anything of her own, Miranda snagged one of Rip's shirts to wear. They sat on the living room couch, huddled close together. They had a fire going in the fireplace, it felt like a home now. Rip hadn't felt that before. Almost as if Miranda had had the same though, she asked, "Do you remember your family?"
"I'm not sure." Rip replied. "I don't remember having a father but sometimes I think I remember my mother. But the memories are so vague, I can't tell which are real and which are things I simply dreamt up."
"I'm sorry, Rip." Miranda put her hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright. Hard to miss something you never had." Rip continued to reminisce. "I remember I was about 5 when I was orphaned. I spent years in and out of foster care. I was 10 and living on the streets when the Time Masters found me. I'd been arrested for pickpocketing and they intervened. I was sent to the Time Master refuge after that. I'm forever grateful to the Time Masters. They gave me a purpose in life. I acted out a lot at first. I was an angry aimless kid before they took me in." Rip chuckled. "I'm sure you're having a hard time picturing me as a trouble maker."
"Not after tonight." Miranda nudged him playfully.
Rip blushed. "What about you then, do you have a family?"
Miranda's eyes grew despondent. "I was 16 when my parents died. As you obviously know, the Time Masters love picking up orphans, their perfect candidates for their cause. They saw my excellent marks in my school aptitude tests and found me intriguing. Don't mean to boast but I was sort of a child prodigy." She smiled for a moment but there was still a sense of sadness in her tone. "It's been years but it still hurts sometimes that they're gone."
"I used to wonder as a kid what it would have been like if I'd known my parents." Rip replied. "Probably good that I don't. I couldn't have been a time master otherwise with that sort of attachment."
"You know how I feel about that." Miranda rested her head on Rip's shoulder. "Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
Rip felt this pang in his chest, this knot in his stomach. He couldn't make heads or tails of it. "Miranda, I..." Rip turned to look Lieutenant Colburn in the eye. "I feel this inexplicable exhilaration when you're near. This abnormally giddy sense of excitement comes over me. Do you suppose that's what love feels like?"
Miranda suddenly realized that she had Rip figured out all wrong. He wasn't cold and calculating at all. He'd never felt love before. He'd been so alone all his life, he couldn't recognize what love was when he felt it in himself. "That's exactly what love feels like." Miranda leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek.
Rip took Miranda's hand in his "Do you ever feel that way too when you're with me?"
"Yes, I do." Miranda smiled. "I love you, Rip Hunter."
Rip laughed, tears suddenly in his eyes. "Oh, for God's sake. I'm crying. I'm happy crying." He fell back into the couch and covered his face in his hands. "Love is exhausting."
"I've tired you out, have I?" Miranda sat on his lap and gave him another kiss.
Rip wiped the last of his tears away and softly caressed Miranda's face. "Will you stay with me, just until morning?"
Miranda smiled "I'll stay for as long as you want me."