Another « missing scene » to the last episode. Sort of. Well. My shipper heart is beating, what can you do? Thanks to Cami for beta services!
Late Night Reunion
He wasn't exactly expecting the knocks on the door but they were a nice distraction from his relentless staring at the ceiling. There was nothing else for him to do now but lie on his bed and stare at the grey surfaces, no distraction to be found in checking patrol schedules or lingering in the war room hoping Abby would show up and they could talk late into the night.
Being fired from the guards was a blow. He felt a pent-up energy he couldn't quite… spend. So he bolted out of bed, not bothering to slip anything more appropriate than the threadbare sweatpants and frayed tee-shirt he usually wore to sleep on, almost hoping it would be someone telling him Pike had changed his mind or that his expertise was required somewhere for the little unofficial rebellion that was slowly growing within Arkadia.
However when he opened the door, he realized he had always known it would be Abby.
She was ready for bed too, he couldn't help but notice, and he wondered if she had been suffering from the same insomnia he was. She was wearing loose grey shorts that almost reached her knees and a blue flannel shirt that was too big for her, her hair was passed over her shoulder in a loose braid, she was barefoot, and her gaze was inquisitive. There was nothing remotely sexy in her outfit and yet it was the word that came into his mind, he couldn't help but… stare.
"I come bearing gifts." she joked, lifting two glasses and a bottle of moonshine.
He stepped aside to let her in and closed the door behind her, not without popping his head in the corridor to check if it was empty. He didn't know why, it was a reflex, as if anyone had any say over who he received in the middle of the night.
"Can't sleep?" he asked, watching her tour the small room, making the space… hers. She hadn't been there often. Once or twice. He had been to her room more often when he needed the Chancellor as a matter of emergency, but they tended to keep their late reunion – or any reunion for that matter – to the war room, not because it was impersonal but because it was theirs – not hers or his but theirs.
"No." she hummed. "I can't stop thinking. And I'm forbidden from visiting my patients so…"
There was bitterness and anger in her voice. He knew without having to ask that she had tried to defy Pike's orders and to push her way to the Grounders' cell – that was Abby in a nutshell. He also knew any pleas on his part to be careful would have gone unheard.
"Have you tried listening to one of Thelonious' preaching session?" he snorted. "Almost put me to sleep."
She flashed him a smile but it was more worried than amused. "We should help him but I don't know how. He is so much troubled… The hallucinations, his behavior… It is possible the hypoxia had lasting consequences on his brain."
He shrugged. "He doesn't seem unhappy. His City of Light… It gives him comfort. Leave him be for now."
She hummed her agreement and eventually stopped roaming the room to take a seat on his unmade bed. There was a table with two perfectly good chairs less than a feet from her but she chose the bed and Marcus didn't know what it meant. He watched her pour them two glasses before placing the bottle down on the floor.
He took the glass she handed him but he didn't sip from it as eagerly as she did with hers.
"Is it thinking about Jaha that's keeping you up?" he asked.
The smile that stretched her lips was teasing this time and the way she leaned back on her free hand a little was nothing but inviting.
"Not Jaha, no…" she replied in a tone that was clearly meant to be seductive and that shot to his groin like nothing else could ever have. He wondered what his name would sound like whispered in that tone and he took a hurried sip of moonshine because the room suddenly felt too warm.
He cleared his throat, forced himself to remain calm and in control. "How many glasses did you have before coming here?"
"A couple." she admitted, straightening a little. Her voice became strong and confident again, no more seductive but authoritative. "I'm not drunk, Marcus. Like I said… I couldn't stop thinking."
He dragged a chair from the table, turned it around and straddled it, using the back to prop his elbows. She watched him with obvious amusement – because he didn't dare sit next to her on the bed or because it was a cheap attempt at hiding the growing bulge in his pants from view, that was anyone's guess – but it soon faded and she took another sip of her liquor.
"What about?" he prompted although he had a good idea.
"About the army of Grounders that will probably swoop on us soon and kill us all to the last?" she offered, sounding a little lost. "We killed their wounded, they won't take any prisoner."
"Clarke is working on that." he reminded her.
"Lexa doesn't always listen to Clarke." she argued. "And you told me yourself Lexa couldn't afford to look less than strong to keep her leadership. Blood must have blood, that's their way. Tell me you don't think there is a chance they will march on us and destroy Arkadia."
"We have guns." he said slowly. "And they don't. It will make them hesitate."
"How long?" she retorted. "How long until we are all dead?"
"Abby…" he frowned. "Have faith in your daughter."
"Maybe she had a point." she whispered, downing the rest of her glass.
He leaned in and grabbed her wrist before she could get a grip on the bottle. She was scared and getting drunk wouldn't help her dealing with that – or maybe it would but it was a dangerous path to take. He slowly joined her on the bed, placing his own glass down but not letting go of her arm.
"Yes, maybe she did." he agreed. "Maybe you should have left with her. I should have told you to leave with her…"
He couldn't deny the risk of the Grounders' army attacking Arkadia was high and he couldn't deny she would probably have been safer with Clarke and Octavia – and, at least, those two were out and safe, he would be grateful for small mercies.
"Don't be stupid." she scoffed. "I couldn't. My place is here."
"I don't really care where your place is." he confessed. "I just care that you're safe."
"I'm safe with you." she offered so quickly and so quietly he knew she meant it. "And to be honest, there is nowhere else I would rather be. We said we would do this together."
"That was before…" he sighed, letting go of her arm to brush her braid from where it was hanging loose at her back over her shoulder. He liked her hair like that.
"There is really no point in doing this together if you expect me to run away and hide every time it gets difficult." she stated. "We work through the problems together. That's how it works."
"We're not Chancellors anymore." he reminded her, using the plural without even realizing it. It was what it had been anyway. A partnership. She had been the one to wear the pin but they had been taking the decisions together.
"I'm not talking about that." she countered, searching his eyes.
"Ah." was all he found to say.
She shifted awkwardly on the bed and her eyes suddenly darted away from his, she licked her lips and then cleared her throat, a slow flush making its way from her neck to her cheeks. "Maybe I had too much to drink. I don't know what I'm saying… I should…"
Maybe answering ah to a woman hinting that she wanted more than a professional relationship wasn't the smoothest move, he realized. Yet again, Marcus had never been particularly… smooth.
"You came here with a plan, didn't you?" he asked, and he winced at himself because it wasn't any smoother.
She stopped trying to flee but her shoulders slouched a little and she kept her eyes on her bare feet. "A Grounder army could come down on us any second and kill us all. It seems stupid to… let things go to waste or wait for a perfect time that will never come. So I thought… I thought I would see if… You felt the same way." She rolled her eyes and looked at him with a small amused smile on her face. "Why do I feel like a kid again? This used to be easy."
"For you maybe." he snorted.
"Well, let me get a piece of paper, I will ask if you like me and you can check the proper box." she chuckled. "It will be less ridiculous than this."
"You know I don't just like you." he retorted. "Aim higher."
Her mouth twitched and she leaned in. He met her halfway as was now the norm in their relationship, their lips brushed together, creating a friction that seemed to resonate in his whole body. He was almost aggressive when he crashed his mouth against hers but it was alright because she was demanding and soon the kiss turned hungry and messy. They ended up lying on the bed with her on her back and him half over her and he wasn't sure how. He registered the sound of glass when she accidentally knocked the bottle with her foot but he didn't care because his hands were under her shirt.
Every time he had let himself picturing them having sex, it had been slow and sweet. He was stupid. Nothing between them could have been slow and sweet – not the first time at least. It was explosive and so good his muscles were screaming in agony by the time they ended up panting, snuggled close together.
He ran his fingers through her hair, finishing to untangle the braid that had come loose at some point. Her own fingers were drawing silly patterns on his chest – or retracing scars, he wasn't sure.
"I could get used to this." he confessed. He was sleepy now, a natural consequence of what they had just done, but his brain still refused to shut up.
"Let's hope the Grounders don't choose to attack now." she joked, pressing a kiss against his shoulder. "Awkward."
"Yeah." he chuckled, briefly imagining the look Indra would have given them. Or Lexa for that matter. And where Lexa was, Clarke was never too far behind so… It was probably best to rail his mind in because he never wanted to deal with her daughter busting them in bed. "You should try to sleep now. Who knows what new impending disaster our dear Chancellor will invent tomorrow…" Or their old one for that matter. He was all for leaving Jaha alone as long as he wasn't a problem but there was something… odd going on with his friend.
"I'll have nightmares." she sighed, shifting a little so she could find a comfortable position to sleep against him. That was new – good but new – and it required… adjusting. When was the last time she had shared her bed with someone? When Jake was still alive? When had he? He couldn't remember. Callie, probably. So long ago it felt like another lifetime.
"No, you won't." he promised even though he had no real control over that.
"I don't know…" she teased, in an obvious attempt at lightening the mood. "Have you seen Clarke's hair? That's enough to give me nightmares."
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
He hoped there would be many nights like this one to come.
He hoped Pike wouldn't destroy everything.
He hoped Arkadia would endure.