Breaking Bones

Chapter 20: A Risky Mission

"Leonard? Leonard!" Anatalia raced into the med bay like a mad woman as she scanned the room for her fiancé. The thought of either of them dying while still upset with one another nearly brought Talia to tears. Besides, if she was going to die, she wanted to be in the arms of the man she loved. 

"Christine! Have you seen Leonard?" 

"He's in his office. He asked not to be disturbed." Completely ignoring the last part of Nurse Chapel's statement, Talia raced over to Leonard's office, punching in the code to open the doors without even bothering to knock first. As the doors opened, Talia ran into another figure standing on just the other side of the doors. Leonard. The couple stared at one another for a quick moment before Leonard pulled Tali into the office and placed a searing kiss to her lips. The grip that Leonard had on Talia's hips was certainly enough to leave bruises, but Talia couldn't care less. All she needed was to feel his lips interlocking with hers exactly as they were right now. Talia took the time to memorize as much of her fiancé as possible. The feeling of his hair at the nape of his neck, the firmness of his arms under the soft material of his medical shirt, the veins in his hands, the stubble on his cheeks and just under his chin. She wanted to be able to feel these things in her mind for the rest of her life, even if that would only be the next few minutes. Hesitantly, they both pulled away, yet remained tightly within one another's embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Len. I shouldn't have pulled rank on you. We promised we never would, and I broke that promise, and I know you would never do that to me--" 

"It's okay, darlin. That's not really what I was upset about anyways." 

"Oh. What was it then?" 

"I just don't like when you feel like you can't tell me things. It makes me feel like you don't trust me." 

"No. No, Leo, that's not it at all. Len, I just know how worried you get about me, and I didn't want you to be worried. I needed you to be focused on your work, not me." 

"Tali, you're crazy if you think I'm ever not thinking or worrying about you when we are apart. Working or otherwise. You're my wife, I'm always going to worry about you. Just like I know you worry about me." Despite the severity of their current circumstances, Talia let a small smirk grow on her face. 

"What?" 

"You called me your wife." Finally, Leonard also let a smile grow on his face for what felt like the first time all day. Gently, he placed a soft kiss to Talia's lips before pulling away and brushing some hair out of her face. 

"Yeah, well, I guess I wanted to say it at least once. And I had a feeling it would sound better than fiancée. It does."

"Yeah, it does. I love you, Leo." 

"I love you too. Question though. Don't you think we should be dead by now though?" 

"My thoughts exactly. We should head back up to the bridge." Talia quickly pulled away to exit the office only to be pulled back by Leonard. 

"Wait, wait, wait." 

"What?" Leave it to Leonard to have Talia smiling from ear to ear when they could both die at any moment. 

"I need you to do something for me really quick." 

"Okay, what?" 

"Call me your husband." Anatalia couldn't help the warm feeling that bubbled up in her chest at Leonard's request. She loved the little moments like these where he really let his guard down and wasn't afraid to be sweet and corny around her. It really spoke to how much he'd grown in their relationship since the beginning. Gripping Leonard's face in her hands, Tali pulled him into a passionate kiss that had Leonard pulling their bodies together once again, leaving no space between them. Slowly, Talia pulled herself away enough to look into Leonard's eyes as she spoke.