Chapter 17
Weekend getaway
AO3 (Full list of tags/warnings. Please check them.) Masterlist 7k Words
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“What sort of problem?” Gaz asked instantly as he ducked down low in the boat, as Price continued to guide it toward the rendezvous spot with Ghost.
“Soap checked in. The neighbor is compromised, and he found someone surveying the house,” Kate answered as Ghost swore, his breathing heavy, clearly indicating he was hiking back to the car.
“What do you mean the neighbor is compromised?” Price asked as he eased up on the throttle, not wanting to reach the small dock before Ghost did.
“He didn’t give much detail, just that she’s feeding information to Makarov somehow,” Kate replied. “And before you lose your shit on me, I’ve already got things in the works to get them out.”
“Are they in direct danger now?” Price asked.
“No. We don’t know if it’s just a threat or an accidental slip up. She didn’t seem to know much. It was an offhand comment, but enough to set him digging into the camera feeds. Someone was at the house recently and looked right at the cameras, so they know about the security,” Kate continued to explain. “I’m taking precautions.”
“What was it that you found, Ghost?” Price asked.
“A picture of Johnny and Celeste leaving the house, sometime in the morning. I didn’t stare at it long, just enough to get the gist, and I tossed it away like it meant nothing in case anyone was watching,” Ghost answered as a car door slammed.
“We need to go back then,” Gaz finally chimed in as he pulled a laptop out from under the copilot seat on the boat and pulled up the tracker he had stuck to the boat.
“No,” both Ghost and Kate said at the same time, and for two different reasons.
“We finish the mission. We don’t know for sure what they know.” Kate answered.
“They have to know, they laid down some sort of clue for us to find, they have to know we are here,” Gaz argued as he looked at Price.
“It could be a bluff,” Kate replied, “wanting you to run back home. Or testing to see if you are even here. If we deviate for a hunch, it could blow everything. Including Soap and Celeste’s safety.”
Gaz looked at Price for final word, even if Kate was running this mission the final choice would come from Price. His face was hard to read in the shadows cast from the lights on the boat, but Gaz knew the answer before he opened his mouth.
“We stay, and we get it done,” he finally stated, eyes cutting to Gaz. “Soap can handle his own. We turn tail and run back, they know they’ve gotten to us.”
Three days, almost four, until they could go home. Until they could break the radio silence to check on Johnny and Celeste. It was going to be a slow, torturous process for all of them. Gaz knew, they all did, that if Soap broke the no contact rule he suspected something was off. Was worried for Celeste’s safety as well as their own. He wouldn’t risk compromising anything if he wasn’t sure the threat was real.
“In the car, I’ll be there shortly,” Ghost said into the long silence on the radio.
“Alex,” Kate called into the radio.
“All set,” Alex replied, the sound of water roaring in his earpiece. “We’re about to make contact. I’ll follow up when I can.”
“And now we wait,” Gaz mumbled as he stared at the tracker dot on the computer screen, which had come to a stop out of the bay and about two miles offshore.
“And now we wait,” Price agreed as he pulled up to the dock.
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Johnny hadn’t gone to bed that night. He had shooed Celeste up the stairs after she had nodded off twice on the couch. He had promised he’d be up in a bit, even though they both knew it was a lie, and she finally went. Once she was settled, he spent the rest of the evening surveying the area, over and over. Pacing from room to room, camera feed pulled up and set to high sensitivity so that if a bug got too close to the lens, it would trigger a notification. He had sent Kate a short message, enough information conveyed to let her know something was up and he was uncomfortable with the situation, but not too long to give anything away. She had replied with a simple “I’ll follow up” five minutes later.
At four, he slipped upstairs and gently pushed the door open to Celeste’s bedroom to check on her. He knew she hadn’t slept much, had heard the bed squeak as she tossed and turned, and heard her footsteps as she got up once. But at that moment, she was fast asleep. Curled tightly around her pillow and burrowed so deeply into the blankets that he could barely see her face. Samson was lying at the foot of the bed like a sentinel, eyeing Johnny as if daring him to disturb her, before he backed out of the room again.
Kate sent a message back at six with an encrypted document, password protected with a verbal password they had all agreed to years ago. Johnny read it over once, twice, shut his eyes, and recited it back to himself, and when he knew he had it memorized, he deleted it and any trace of it. They had a plan, but they needed to pull it off as naturally as possible. Not only for their safety, and the team’s, but also to not tip anyone off that they had any idea something was up. If Mrs. Nettles was an unknowing spy, they didn’t want to lose that link yet. She could be valuable for laying down a false trail or for getting more information. They also didn’t want anyone to preemptively strike if they felt the secret was out.
“Did you sleep at all?” Celeste asked as she wandered down the stairs at seven, still rubbing her eyes and blinking the sleep out of them.
“If I said yes, would you believe me?” Johnny asked as he held up a cup of coffee for her. He had heard her puttering around upstairs and set a fresh pot to start.
“No,” Celeste answered as she took it from him and sat down on the sofa.
She had expected to see papers everywhere, computer pulled up with documents, maybe even Johnny on the phone. But everything seemed ordinary. His laptop was propped open, and the camera feed was on, but that was it.
“Well then, don’t make me lie to you,” Johnny said with a small smile. “I know you were hoping for a relaxing day off,” he started as he watched her sip her drink, “but we’re heading out.”
“Out?” Celeste asked, raising an eyebrow. Wasn’t leaving the house a bad idea? At least at home, they had cameras and could see anything coming. “Where?”
“Quick trip,” Johnny answered. “You being off today works right into the plan,” he stated before he explained everything.
“He’s going to hate me,” Celeste sighed as she stared at Samson hours later. His eyes were glazed over, and his head wobbled as he lay in the carrier.
“He won’t hate you,” Johnny replied as he picked up the cat carrier and set it gently in the oversized duffel. “When Simon gets back in a few days he won’t even remember. Guys going to have a nice long nap on the road. He’s cute when he’s tired.”
“You say that now,” Celeste answered as she took in his scratched up arms. “I heard the names you called him, some of them were very inventive.”
It had been a fight to get the pills down Samson’s throat. She hadn’t taken him to the vet in over a year, but the little monster must have remembered the sound of the pill bottle, because he took off when she dug them out. They had to chase him around the house, and when Johnny finally got hold of him, wrapped in a towel, he still clawed his way through as Celeste wrangled a pill in him. He was too smart to try to hide it in a treat, so forcing it was the only way. And there was no way they could just take him in the carrier in the car without it. He’d scream and panic even worse.
Grabbing up her overnight bag, which was considerably heavier than any overnight bag should be, Celeste hooked her purse over her shoulder and followed Johnny out. The goal was to look calm and collected. Like this had been a planned trip the whole time, and they were only going to be gone overnight. Which was why they had to hide Samson. No one would take a cat that hated traveling so much on an overnight stay.
Johnny set the cat down in the backseat of Celeste’s car and flipped the top of the duffle back open to see two very angry, droopy eyes staring back at him. Maybe he would hate them for a bit.
“So where are you whisking me away to?” Celeste asked, trying to sound excited and curious as she stood at the passenger door looking at Johnny with a grin. They had no idea whether someone was watching or listening at that moment, so they would have to play it off.
“I told you it was a surprise,” Johnny answered as he opened the driver’s door and sank into the seat. “We’ll be late if we don’t get a move on.”
Taking a seat on the passenger side, Celeste fidgeted a bit as Johnny backed them out of the drive and headed down the street. She hated to leave her house, even if it was irrational. Nothing was going to happen to it, and if it did, it wasn’t as if there was anything in there that couldn’t be replaced. Even in her haste to pack, she had thought to grab the small urn and tuck it in the duffel that currently held Samson. Johnny hadn’t said a word, he just nodded as she glanced at him. She hadn’t left the house overnight since she had moved in. It had been an odd feeling, but she didn’t linger on it long. There were too many other things to worry about, and she could unpack that later.
The drive was mostly quiet, music playing to cover the silence. Johnny was worried about the car being bugged, so any conversation they had was neutral. Celeste had leaned back a few times to check Samson, but he had fallen asleep a while ago. After an hour, Johnny reached over and gently put his hand on her thigh when he caught her bouncing her leg. A soft reassurance, and she clasped her hand over his, squeezing a bit as they continued on.
“Are you going to tell me now?” Celeste asked curiously as they exited the motorway and drove down a small road that led to a picturesque hamlet. Complete with a herd of sheep on a hill and a dog chasing after them.
“I booked us a small bed and breakfast,” Johnny explained as he peered at the GPS, careful to not turn down one of the one way streets on the way to the parking area. “After we check in, we’re headed to dinner at an old castle. No electricity, so it’s all candlelight.”
“Oh,” Celeste felt her cheeks grow a bit hot. “You went through a lot of trouble for just one day.”
“I have you all to myself for the night,” he grinned, “I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.”
If it weren’t for the situation, Celeste would have let her toes curl at that thought, though she’d be lying if her stomach didn’t do a small flip. How she wished this were a different situation. That Johnny had whisked her away for a romantic night that culminated in a quaint room in a small cottage where they would have to be careful to be quiet.
Following Johnny’s lead to the place, which was just up the road from the open air parking, she waited by the door as he checked them in. He paid with a card so it would be tracked, before following the hostess up to their room. It was cute and definitely very old. Each step there was a squeak or groan from the wood as they walked across it. They would have had been excruciatingly quiet if they had been staying there, though that would have been half the fun.
“What next?” Celeste asked as she sat on the bed, checking on Samson, who had popped his eyes open at the change but didn’t move to try to get out.
“Once night falls, we head out through the back garden,” Johnny explained as he opened one of the large windows, big enough for both of them to just step through. Which had obviously been thought out. “The second car isn’t far from here.”
“Right,” she answered, shaking her foot as she crossed it over the other.
When they had stopped at a station for food and to refill the car, Johnny had subtly punctured one of her tires. It was shallow enough to make it to the hamlet, but it would go flat overnight. Which would be the perfect excuse for why the car didn’t move and why she would have to call into work to extend her trip until there was a fix. No tow out in this remote area that could get to them that quickly.
“After you text your boss about needing a few extra days,” Johnny started, but Celeste finished.
“Phone off.”
Johnny could feel the nervous energy wafting off her, the way she jittered, avoided eye contact, and let out small huffs of air.
“Hey,” he said soothingly as he walked over and took a seat next to her. “We’re almost there. We get to London and into the place Kate booked for us, and we are good.”
“I know,” Celeste sighed as she looked up at Johnny. “I just,” she shrugged, “it’s a lot. I never thought I would be in a situation like this. Not that I ever thought anything like this was even possible outside of the movies.”
“Unfortunately, this is my job,” Johnny answered, “but fortunately for you, I am very good at my job.”
“Yeah?” Celeste asked with a very small smile. “I mean, you did have a very good cover story. You found this place, figured out false dinner plans, and everything in just a few short hours.”
“It did help that I had already looked into doing this a few weeks ago,” Johnny replied. “As a proper date,” he added as Celeste’s shy smile grew a bit bigger.
“That is very presumptuous,” Celeste teased, “first date and we are sharing a bed?”
“This is far from our first date,” Johnny replied with an eyebrow raise. “As Simon puts it, we’ve been courting you for months.”
“Courting? Look, I know I’m older than you, but I’m not that damn old,” Celeste laughed as she nudged him.
“His words, not mine,” Johnny answered before he leaned down to give her a soft, lingering kiss.
He cut it off after one though. They had a tight schedule to stick to, and as he glanced down at his watch, then at the sky outside, they had about ten minutes. He moved about the room to make it look lived in. Tussling up the sheets, tossing pillows here and there. He pulled towels off the rack and wet them a bit, as if they had showered, and splashed some water on the counter and mirror.
“Sent,” Celeste said quietly as she powered off her phone and looked out the window over the last bits of the view before twilight gave way and swallowed the area in complete darkness. There weren’t any streetlamps, and they would be walking through the woods to their next location. She hoped her ankles would hold out.
“Alright,” Johnny breathed out as he turned off his phone after emailing the front desk that they would be checking out early in the morning, so they could clean the room whenever they wanted. “About a quarter mile walk,” he said, and he saw Celeste’s eyes open a bit at that. He hadn’t told her exactly how far it was, so she didn’t have time to worry about it. “We’ll slip just into the tree line so it won’t be so bad.”
“You say that now,” Celeste mumbled as he went out the window first and held his hands out for the bags, before grabbing her hands to help her out. “I’m not trained in stealth or…hiking,” she stated as she paused on the little back garden stones as Johnny lowered the window back down. “You’ll be sick of me before long. I don’t do bugs.”
“You’ll be fine, just stay close to me,” Johnny said as he scanned the area, reaching a hand behind him for her to grab and follow along.
They barely made it a few paces into the tree line when an outside light flicked on behind them. Celeste froze, but Johnny moved quick. He pulled her back, pressing her lightly against a tree to pin her between it and him. He didn’t say a word, just shifted slightly as he reached for a gun in his waistband, one she hadn’t even noticed, as he stared at the intrusion.
The back door opened, and a man stepped out, the sound of music filling the air for a moment before it quieted again as he shut it behind him. He stepped off to the side and lit a cigarette, the flare of the lighter illuminating his face for a second before he took a long inhale. His eyes roved around the garden, not scanning, just looking, but when his gaze paused, Celeste felt Johnny tense. He wasn’t looking right at them, but it was close enough. He didn’t linger long before he dug his phone out of his pocket and entertained himself with something there.
They stayed still, barely breathing, as the man slowly puffed on his smoke, and when the door opened again, his attention turned to the person calling to him. He flicked the cigarette away and followed them inside. Celeste thanked everything that was out there to possibly thank for keeping Samson quiet. The pills would start wearing off soon, and while they could have easily played off a couple sneaking off for a romp if they were seen, a cat would complicate things.
Johnny stayed still for a few more beats, making sure that no one was coming back out, before he flicked the safety back on his gun and put it away.
“Still with me?” He asked as he turned around to see Celeste’s face, drained of color, eyes wide.
“Y-yeah,” she muttered, her throat had gone dry.
“Good, let’s keep moving. The faster we get to the car, the better,” he stated as he scooped up his bag and took Samson from her, still keeping a hand free for her to hold.
The trek wasn’t as bad as Celeste thought it would be, mostly brambles around their feet. They only had to pause once as a car came around the bend, but otherwise it was smooth. They came out at a small motorway service station, full of lorries stopping for the night, and a few tourists going in to get a snack or use the facilities.
“There it is,” Johnny said as he nodded to a car parked inconspicuously between a family van and the sidewalk.
They walked casually up to the car, and Johnny slipped his hand into the wheel well for the key before unlocking it and loading the back seat. Celeste was careful to keep quiet. The van next to them had two people sleeping in it. Johnny didn’t take his eyes off the van as he got into the seat, and before Celeste could even get her belt on, he was pulling out of the spot.
The motorway was basically empty for their drive to London, and Johnny pushed the speed limit as they went. He was still tense, even if he gave Celeste an easy smile as they talked to fill the quiet. She knew he wouldn't be calm until they were at the secondary hotel, and he wouldn’t fully relax until the rest of the guys were there. Samson started yowling about forty minutes left in the trip, and Celeste did her best to keep him calm in the car as Johnny went inside to check them in and get their passkey. They were using false names, and the room had already been paid for, so no need to give a card.
“This is home for a few days,” Johnny said as he entered the eight digit passcode to the pad and opened the door.
It was massive.
Kate had booked them the suite on the top floor of a large, well known hotel. It was easier to blend in with a mix of people going in and out in a populated area, and the top floor offered the most safety. No one would need to go up there except the staff, and there was no way to reach the top floor without a special key card. How Kate had the connections to pull that off Celeste would never know but it was stunning and despite the mess her life had been the past few days she couldn’t help but smile and explore each room.
“Samson is under the bed,” Johnny said as he walked out to the kitchen area where Celeste was inspecting the cabinets.
“This is like a small fortress,” Celeste stated as she closed the kitchen cabinets she had opened. They were stocked with snack food, alcohol, and a few other essentials. The center counter had a big binder that was the room service menu, with no prices attached. Was this how rich people lived? The suite itself was probably bigger than her whole cabin.
“Kate doesn’t skimp,” Johnny replied as he walked into the living room area, pulled the top off the coffee table, and found a stash of weapons. “She, ah, apparently knows the owner and they owe her a lot of favors.”
“I’m not going to ask,” Celeste said as she dug out a bottle of wine and worked on opening it. She needed a drink to take the edge off, then sleep.
“I never do,” Johnny replied with a grin.
Where Celeste had done a sweep of the place just to look it over, Johnny did it as a safety check. The windows didn’t open this high up, but he checked all the rooms, swept under the furniture, checked closets, and did a weapons inventory. They were stocked enough for him to take out the whole hotel on his own if he needed.
He pulled a brand new laptop out of the box and set it up in the office area, sending Kate a quick message all was good. They couldn’t check the house cameras in case the IPs were being tracked, but there was nothing they could do this far away anyway. They would do a security check the moment they got home and review all footage. Kate replied with a simple 'okay'. No updates, no hint how things were going in France. He knew why, but it was killing him not to know what was happening. If they were compromised at home, he could only imagine what the enemy might know. If they were being lured.
Only three more days.
Celeste retreated to the bedroom after drinking almost half a bottle of wine on her own, Johnny had refused it. He knew if he drank, he would fall asleep, and he couldn’t afford to. He stayed up in the living room the whole night, the dim light of the television keeping him company as he kept up a continuous rotation. Kate had assured him the place was secure, she had used it herself in the past when she had to lay low. But both of them were soldiers, and while the place was the epitome of luxury, there would be no rest for them while they were there.
The next day dragged. Celeste hadn’t expected it to after everything that had happened, she had thought she would have crashed and slept until at least noon. But sleep had come in short stretches, and she found herself sitting up and staring at the door, at the light that filtered underneath, to listen to what Johnny was up to. He was quiet, her only indication that he even came to the door to check on her was the shadow of his feet.
When she dragged herself out of bed, she found Johnny in the office working. On what she wasn’t sure, but he was hunched over the laptop with Samson sleeping in his lap. Apparently, he had forgiven him but had not yet graced Celeste with his presence.
“Been up all night again?” She asked.
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to,” Johnny replied with a tired smile.
With a small sigh, Celeste turned toward the kitchen. There was an old pot of coffee still set to warm that she dumped out before making a fresh brew. She saw wrappers from snack bars in the trash can and an empty energy drink can. That was not enough to go on, they needed to eat real food. And he needed to lie down, even for just a few hours.
“No coffee for me?” Johnny asked as Celeste walked back over to him, setting her mug down on the desk.
“No, because you’re going to eat something,” she gave him a look when he went to talk before continuing, “something real besides snack bars and energy drinks. I am going to order breakfast while you shower, then you’re going to take a nice long nap.”
“This is nothing,” Johnny waved his hand. “I’ve stayed up longer on much less, while being shot at.”
“Well, good news is no one is shooting at us,” Celeste replied as her hand gently grabbed the laptop and slowly began to lower it. “You are going to make yourself sick, and I am not dealing with a cranky Scot.”
“Fine,” Johnny replied. He knew she was right. He was running on fumes, and he would need to be at full capacity. Midafternoon, there wasn’t much going on, and it had been quiet all night. “But you tell them to leave the food at the door, and I will get it.”
“Deal,” Celeste said as she snapped the computer shut. “Go,” she ushered him as Samson hopped from his lap, completely ignoring Celeste as he walked out of the room.
Johnny had slept for almost six hours, completely knocked out from the moment his head hit the pillow. He had told Celeste to wake him after four, but earlier if something happened. She hadn’t listened, and everything had stayed quiet all day. The staff came to take away their trays and to drop more towels outside the door, but she hadn’t opened the door to get them. She had listened to his instructions in that regard, at least, so he couldn’t be too mad at her.
That night had passed a little easier. They had eaten dinner together and even curled up on the couch to watch a movie. Johnny had remained distracted throughout the movie, eyes always scanning and ears listening for anything abnormal. He had dragged the laptop out of the office and set it on the coffee table in case Kate reached out, but it remained quiet.
Celeste had tried to tempt him to come to bed with her, sliding her hands up under his shirt as she straddled his lap on the couch. It almost worked, she thought she had him when his fingertips danced along her back and found she wasn’t wearing a bra, but he sighed and lay his head back on the couch. He couldn’t afford the distraction, no matter how much he wanted to explore every inch of Celeste. He knew it would be a tension relief for both of them, and he wanted it, but not yet. Not until the safety net of the other guys was there, and he didn’t want the first time he got her into bed to be a rushed, preoccupied affair.
The next day was much of the same. They ate breakfast together, Johnny settled in for a midmorning nap, and that evening they kept themselves busy. Celeste had found some cards buried in a closet and they passed the time with a few rounds of gin, poker, and even go fish. Samson had finally forgiven Celeste and joined her when she headed for bed, so she at least wasn’t alone.
The morning that the guys were set to arrive, Johnny was more on edge than ever. He was nervous about fallout, about a call from Kate that something went wrong, that they would be delayed. That the mission went sideways and someone was hurt. He could barely sit still as Celeste tried to ply him with anything and everything she could think of. But he couldn’t settle. He knew his nervous energy was making her nervous because by late afternoon, they were both restless. Celeste had tried to sit down and read a book, but gave it up after re-reading the same chapter twice. The television was useless, and she just flipped channels, unable to focus on anything.
“What time are they supposed to arrive?” Celeste asked as she sat at the kitchen bar, playing a game of solitaire.
“Not sure,” Johnny said as he leaned around her to make a match and turn over another card. She had been missing most of the moves, too busy being worried. “Just sometime tonight is all I know. They didn’t give a time.”
“Should we order extra food?” She asked as her eyes caught sight of the binder. They had been eating like kings. The food was all freshly prepared and delicious, she could only imagine what the other three had been living on.
“We can, “Johnny said a bit hesitantly, which made Celeste look at him. “They are going to want to debrief the second they get in. Food isn’t going to be on their mind,” he started to explain, trying to figure out the best way to tell her that it wasn’t going to be Kyle, John, and Simon walking in that door. It would be Gaz, Price, and Ghost until they had time to decompress.
“Well, they can just heat it up when they are ready,” she suggested as she pulled the menu over, abandoning her game to let Johnny finish it as she wrote down things to get before she called the front desk.
Johnny didn’t argue. He let her order enough food to feed a small army and helped her plate it out and store it to warm up when they were ready.
Another two hours passed, and Celeste slipped out to bathe. The tub was big enough to fit Simon three times over, and she was not about to pass up the chance to relax in it. She couldn’t take the nervous energy anymore. Even though Johnny tried to hide it, she could feel it wafting off him. So, taking a large glass of wine, she headed to the bath and found something on the television to watch as she tried to while away the time.
Their arrival was without much warning or fuss. A simple message on the laptop that said five minutes was all Johnny received. He looked at the bedroom where Celeste was in the bath and decided to just leave her there for now. He had no idea what the guys were going to be like walking in, and he needed to know if he needed to prepare her or not. Instead, he looked out the windows, carefully only opening a small gap to see if he could see their car or any indication of them. There was nothing. He had no idea where they were coming from, if they were walking or taking a taxi. But exactly five minutes later, there was a sharp knock on the door.
To be safe, Johnny slipped the safety off his gun and chambered a shot as he walked to the door. He didn’t give any indication that he was there. Just stood quietly as he heard someone enter the passcode into the keypad. When the lock clicked open, he raised his gun to firing level, stepping off to the side to get a perfect headshot for whoever walked in the door first. It would be a split second decision and he let out a breath, finger on the trigger as Price cleared the doorway first, his own gun out and aimed right at Johnny in the same manner.
They stared at one another for a second before lowering and holstering their weapons. There were no apologies, it wasn’t needed as it was standard procedure. Ghost walked in behind Price, his skull mask gone but still a black balaclava over his face. Gaz brought up the rear, his back to the door as he watched the hallway, before backing into the room and putting away his own weapon.
“Where is she?” Ghost asked, his voice was the harsh Lieutenant, not the gruff Simon.
“In the bath,” Johnny answered. “She is fine. Place has been quiet, nothing suspicious. We haven’t left the room since we arrived. No direct interaction with staff.”
“Where can we talk?” Price asked as he unloaded his kit onto the kitchen counter, scattering the remnants of the card game.
“There’s an office over here,” Johnny pointed. “I am going to let her know you are here, and I will meet you.”
Celeste had heard them arrive, had heard the voices, and fought the urge to get out of the bath and race to them. Johnny had told her they would be debriefing first, and he would come get her when they were ready. He didn’t outright tell her she couldn’t join them, but she could tell by his tone that some of the things they would be discussing would be top secret, something she couldn’t know.
“Celeste?” Johnny called outside the bathroom door. “They’re here. They are all fine. We will be in the office to talk with Kate. I’ll let you know when it’s all clear.”
“Okay,” Celeste barely breathed out, her voice shaky with relief to hear they were all okay. They were okay, they were safe, and they were there.
The office door had barely closed behind Johnny when Kate called over the laptop.
Price hit the accept button as he stood near the desk, one hand braced on it as he spoke, and he and Kate walked through the operation. Ghost was off to the side, arms crossed tight across his chest as his gaze darted between Price, Johnny, and the door. He was still scanning, still in fight mode, though his eyes had focused a bit more and didn’t look as far away as Johnny leaned next to him on the wall.
Kyle tried to lock in. He was near the door, hands braced on the back of a chair, nodding when he needed and filling in his pieces of the operation. Kate was giving the information they had gleaned from the operation, thanks to Alex’s undercover help, but none of it was sticking. Not really. His mind was elsewhere. Johnny had said Celeste was fine, that she was in the bath, and she was fine. But Kyle needed to see her.
Price was talking again, about timelines and what they’d be walking into next. Kyle tried to force himself to focus, to listen. He lasted maybe another thirty seconds before he stood up, fast enough that three sets of eyes landed on him.
“I’ll be back,” he said quickly, feeling himself puff up and brace for an argument.
Price’s jaw ticked once as he looked at him, as if weighing whether or not to chew him out for interrupting, but he didn’t say a word. Ghost barely moved as he looked at him, but Johnny gave him a small nod. That was all he needed. He knew Johnny would fill him in on anything. And before someone could change their mind, he turned and was out the door.
Celeste had extracted herself from the bath after another ten minutes, wrapping herself in one of the overlarge robes as she wandered into the bedroom. She wasn’t sure how long she was supposed to sit in there just waiting. How long did a debrief take? Was it going to be all night? An hour? She huffed as she contemplated just walking out to the living area and start heating up the food when there was a knock at the door.
Her eyes darted to the clock. She had hoped for a short debrief, but twenty minutes hardly seemed like enough time for Johnny to even cover what they had gone through.
“Celeste,” came a voice that wasn’t Johnny, like she had expected.
“Kyle?” Celeste asked as she rose from the bed.
“Can I come in?” He asked.
She hesitated for a moment, looking down at the robe before the door. The robe completely covered her, more than her own sleep clothes, even though this felt ten times more intimate.
She didn’t care.
“Yes,” she barely breathed as she rose up from where she was sitting.
Kyle opened the door and slipped into the bedroom, quietly shutting it behind him. Celeste was barely an inch from the bed, as if she had just stood up, hair still soaked from her bath and wrapped in a pristine white robe. She looked nervous, but the smile she gave him wiped away all the fear he had over the past few days. He knew Johnny said she was okay, but he needed to see it for himself. See her for himself. It had been too long, their goodbye too short.
“I thought you needed to meet,” Celeste started as Kyle crossed the room to her. He was taller than her, but in his boots, he towered over her. Her head barely reached his chest line.
“I needed to see you first,” Kyle breathed as his hands cupped her face, tilting her head up to look at him. His eyes searched hers, took in that she really was okay, that she was here with him. “They can wait a moment.”
Celeste didn’t say anything, she didn’t need to. Her hands came up to rest lightly on his shirt, fingers curling into the fabric as she held him back. They just looked at one another for a beat before Kyle closed the small distance between them and kissed her.
It wasn’t rushed, not desperate despite how he had been feeling moments before. When Celeste sighed against his lips, his grip on her face softened as one hand slid down to her jaw, leaning into the kiss. And for a few seconds, nothing else existed. No mission, no fear, no unknowns. Just the two of them pressed tightly together, holding onto one another and doing something he should have done weeks ago.
When they pulled apart, it was only slightly, just enough to breathe. Celeste had thought it would be odd to kiss Kyle, not for the fact that she didn’t want to. But because just a few nights before, she had been pressed against Johnny, full of need and desire. Had tried to drag him to bed with her because she wanted him. But she also wanted Kyle. And while she thought the feelings would be conflicting, they weren’t. They fit together like a puzzle piece, as if they were meant to go together just in a different way. Where Johnny was flirty fun, Kyle was a soft, grounding presence.
“I should have done that before I left,” Kyle said softly as his thumb traced along her cheek.
“Yes, you should have,” Celeste agreed with a soft smile, which made Kyle let out a huff of a laugh.
They stood in silence for a few seconds, just looking at one another. Kyle looked exhausted, she could see the bags under his eyes, the worry lines deep between his brows. Even just his gaze looked half haunted in only the way sleep deprivation could do.
“Was everything okay?” Celeste asked him after a moment.
“We were fine,” Kyle assured her, “I was more worried about you. I didn’t like not knowing.”
“Me either,” Celeste answered as she unfisted her fingers and smoothed them over his chest to work out the wrinkles in the fabric.
Another pause settled between them, but it felt less heavy than the first.
Kyle glanced at her hair that hung in damp waves around her face, down to the robe that cut a deep V down her chest, before going back to her face.
“I’m sorry for this mess, for making you wait,” he said, voice low.
“You can make it up to me later,” she replied with a smile.
Kyle lifted a brow slightly at that, something warmer flickering through the exhaustion in his face.
“Can I now?” He asked quietly, a hint of a tease in his voice.
“I think they’re going to be wondering where you went,” Celeste answered as his hands found the ties of her robe and tugged them to bring her flush against him.
“Let them,” Kyle said as he nudged her face with his before he found her lips again.
“I’ll be here when you’re done,” Celeste said a bit breathlessly a few moments later as Kyle nipped at her lower lip.
“Promise?” He asked as he rested his forehead against hers, just breathing her in.
“Promise,” Celeste replied.
======================
Little bit of fluff, little bit of action. And Celeste and Kyle finally get their moment 💙💙
