XV
Saturday Afternoon, September 15, 2001
Jo had been pensively waiting in the office, looking out of the large window that overlooked southern Manhattan, the smoke still rising from the graveyard that used to be the towers. She was nervous as well, virtually the same thoughts running through her mind that were running through Blair's. Had she known that, she wouldn't have been surprised-they thought and communicated as if by telepathy, something to this day amazed their family and friends. She let her mind wander over the week that was coming to a close-a week that had changed everyone she knew, and everyone in the nation, she was sure.
She had seen things that week that she wouldn't wish her worst enemy to see: a plane crashing into an iconic skyscraper; people either falling, or in many cases, consciously jumping out of the inferno, choosing that form of death over being incinerated; watching both towers collapse; seeing pieces of human remains scattered through The Pile during the Search and Recovery effort that was just beginning.
Jo was certain there would be flashbacks and nightmares ahead. You just can't see the things I've seen and not have some fallout, she reasoned. I'm as tough as they come, but this? This was beyond what anyone could honestly process.
The door was well-lubricated at its hinges, but she caught the soft sound of the door opening. She turned around.
As the door closed, Blair immediately saw the brunette silhouetted against the window, and their eyes locked...
Blair's heart almost stopped. She had never seen a more beautiful sight in her life-her Jo, who had survived this nightmare. She remembered to breath, and her breathing was heavy, her eyes wide.
For her part, Jo didn't move for a moment, but then, without a word, she walked over toward Blair. Jo thought that her Princess looked as stunning as she had ever seen, even though she wasn't dress up or made up. But with the backdrop of what had transpired that week, and what her fate could have been, she had never seen a more incredible sight.
Jo stopped in front of Blair, Blair's chest still heaving with emotion, neither one of them had said a word. Then, without warning, Jo grabbed Blair and kissed her on the lips as hard as she ever had, Blair responding in kind, their arms wrapping tightly around each other, their lips and tongues desperately seeking solace after such a hopeless week. The tears erupted from both their eyes, but the kiss, which said so much to each of them without uttering a word, continued for long minutes.
When it finally broke, Blair spoke first.
"Oh, dear God, Joey", she said, a smile now forming through her tears, "I was so worried earlier this week that I had lost you."
Jo had to smirk at that. "Nah, Princess", she said, wiping the tears off her lover's cheeks, "it takes more than some terrorists to knock me out of the ballgame."
Blair laughed, a little too loud, she knew, but couldn't help it. "That's my barbarian." She became serious. "I love you, so damn much, Jo. I can't imagine what you've been through this week, honey."
Jo's composure almost broke. "God, Blair, I can't even describe the things I've seen this week." With those words, despite her best efforts, the dam burst, and she buried her face into Blair's shoulder. "I can't get any of it outta my mind, Princess."
"Just let it out for a few minutes, Joey. I'm not letting you go. We'll get through this together, love." Blair moved them to the ornate couch that helped to furnish the office, Jo needing a good ten minutes to subside the outburst of tears.
She looked up at Blair finally, tear stains reddening her cheeks. "I won't lie, Princess: I did think at one point I was gonna die, when the South Tower collapsed. And the only thing I could think of...the only thing that kept my legs running from it...was thinking of you, babe."
"I'm glad of that, Jo", Blair said with a loving smile. "I'm glad that I could help in some way. But you don't need to just think of me-I'm here, honey, to help you now."
"I know, Blair", she confirmed. "But I can tell you already I'm gonna need to talk to a shrink in the near future-I don't know a person in New York who won't need to talk to one." She forced out a smirk. "Those shrinks are gonna become filthy rich pretty soon." Despite the pain in both their eyes, they did manage a small laugh.
"Blair...about what happened before you..."
Blair stopped her, putting two fingers to Jo's lips. "Not now, baby. Not now. We'll have time for that later. Right now is a time to realize just how damn lucky you and I are to have each other." A thought occurred to her. "I just thought of the fact that, had they struck only a few days earlier, I and our team might have been on one of those planes?"
That had never occurred to Jo. It sent a cold ball of ice into her stomach, the woman involuntarily shuddering at that very thought. "Let's not even go there, babe. I have enough to think about right now."
They paused for a few moments, collecting themselves.
"You know what I want right now, Princess?" Blair shook her head. "I simply want to go home with you, and make love to you all night. I need to feel every part of you, heart and soul."
"I think that's a brilliant idea, Joey", Blair said with a smile, Jo rolling her eyes at the use of one of Blair's favorite cliche. Blair became serious. "Whatever I need to do to take all that pain and hurt I see in your eyes, I will do. Anything. But yes, right now, let's go home?"
They both stood up and headed toward the door, both glancing back at the smoke that could be seen through the window, then departing without another glance.
An hour later, after talking to David Warner for a short time, they were home, Blair looking around the well-appointed Condo as if she had never seen it before.
"God, it's so good to be back here, Joey", Blair breathed. "I don't ever want to drive again, after that trip with Jim and Karen."
Jo laughed. "Were they the reason you don't wanna drive, Blondie?"
Blair rolled her eyes. "No. I'm so grateful they were there. We've were already friends to some degree, but we really bonded during that trip-we kept each other's spirits up. We're gonna have to take them out for a special dinner one night."
Jo nodded. "At least one, maybe more. I didn't get the chance to thank them for gettin' you home, Princess. I need to do that."
At that moment, again as if by unspoken agreement, the mood changed in the room, both of them turning toward each other, putting their arms around the other.
"Joey, one thing I haven't said yet is how proud I am of you. You're one of the heroes who helped get the city through the week."
Jo shook her head. "Nah, I ain't the hero. It's those like Nathan, who gave up their lives to help save others. I wouldn't have hesitated to do it either, Blondie", she said with stark honesty. "It's part of our job. But I'm glad that I'm here."
"So am I, Jo", Blair said in almost a whisper. "I love you, Joanna Polniaczek. You're my life. I couldn't bear being with out you."
"Ditto, Princess", the brunette responded, kissing Blair on the forehead. "Without you, life ain't worth the effort."
"Show me that, Joey", Blair said, her eyes starting to smolder. "Show me?"
Jo held Blair's hand as they walked into the bedroom, the brunette turning to the blonde. "Uh, I gotta go to the bathroom, before...well...you know."
Blair laughed delightedly. "Uh, yes, Joey, I know, you goof."
Jo rolled her eyes and went into their large bathroom.
A few minutes later she re-entered the bedroom. Blair had lowered the level of the lights to only about twenty percent...
Blair was standing completely naked at the end of the bed, her brown eyes smoldering at her lover. Jo couldn't speak, but approached the woman.
"God, Princess", Jo breathed, her voice shaky and excited. "I know I've seen ya naked a hundred times...at least", she grinned, "but tonight? I've never seen you look more magnificent, babe. You are breathtaking."
"And I'm all yours, Joey", Blair said lustily. "Now, undress and come to me on the bed."
Jo did as asked, and moments later, she was laying next to the love of her life, Jo rolling Blair on her back, a deep, sensuous kiss ensuing, lasting for what seemed an eternity. When it broke, they were both breathing heavily.
"After everything I've seen and been through this week, Princess", Jo said tenderly, caressing Blair's cheek, "this is almost gonna be like our first time. Our first time in a new reality."
Blair leaned up and kissed her hard. "I was so afraid in those first hours I was going to lose you, love. I was a wreck. And the other day? When I heard your voice on that phone? My heart started again. If you had..."
"Shhh, baby", Jo whispered, putting a finger to her lovers lips. "I didn't. I'm here. Nothing coulda kept me from being with you again. There's nothing else in the world I need but you." Jo kissed her deeply, running a hand down Blair's side, brushing the side of her breast, sending shivers through the blonde. "Now let me show you how much I need you."
For the rest of the night, the two women, still numbed by the events of the last two weeks, found their hearts and their souls again, with the use of their fingers, their lips, and their tongues. One moment, it would be tender and slow; the next it would be almost desperate and frantic.
Hours later, the crescendo came when Jo, straddling Blair from above, opened her lovers legs, pressing their centers together, the two women starting slowly, then building up to a maddening pace, until Jo climaxed in a way she had never experienced for, the waves of desire rolling through her body, making her cry out loudly, as if she was exorcising the demons from the last week, and everything she had seen, felt, and heard, then collapsing on Blair, who was trembling in the aftershocks of her own climax.
Without leaving the bed after they had finished, the both drifted off to sleep, tangled up together, the world, finally, at some semblance of normalcy.