| Subject: This I Offer 19/20 |
Author:
Athena4
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Date Posted: 09:31:18 05/23/02 Thu
In reply to:
Athena4
's message, "This I Offer" on 14:58:36 03/03/02 Sun
She awoke in the early hours of morning, the dim light of approaching dawn shining through the window. Paul was asleep by her side, his body spooned against hers, his arms clasped around her in a loose embrace. In his arms the previous night, she’d felt sheltered from the world, but as the sun rose, the world returned to focus.
Sometime during the night, he had covered them with a blanket, and Madeline burrowed beneath it now, turning her body so that she faced him. He moaned and shifted, and she froze, willing him back to sleep. Finally, he sighed and settled back against the pillows, turning over to face the wall.
Sliding out from under the blanket, she tucked it in around him, leaving the bed and retrieving her robe from the bathroom door. The chill of the evening hung in the air, and she shivered as she put it on, tying the belt tightly around her waist.
Walking around to the other side of the bed, she sat on its edge, leaning forward to touch Paul’s cheek with her fingertips. He slept so peacefully that watching him, she could almost believe they could stay like this forever.
Sighing, she dropped her hand, straightening the cover across his shoulders. They couldn’t even stay this way for twenty-four hours. In less than that, she’d be boarding a transport to the Soviet Union, to take her new position at Substation Five. There was no assurance that she’d be recalled, no guarantee that she’d even survive long enough for Adrian to consider it.
Paul moaned in his sleep, struggling beneath the blanket, his head tossing from side to side as he fought whatever demon was confronting him. “It’s all right,” Madeline whispered softly, stroking his forehead and pulling the blanket back over him. “Everything is fine.”
His struggling ceased, and he settled once more, one last shuddering breath the only evidence that he’d been disturbed at all.
Maybe it was better to end it now, rather than drawing out the day in a haze of painful emotion.
After all they’d been through to reach this point, how could she face him to say goodbye?
Rising, she crossed to the other side of the room, removing a suitcase from the closet. She would take what she needed from here, then return to her quarters at Section to await her transport. It was simpler this way. A clean cut.
Taking what she needed from her drawers, she packed quickly, pausing only long enough to dress. When she was prepared to leave, she settled back on the edge of the bed beside Paul, reaching out once more to stroke his face. “Someday I hope you’ll forgive me,” she said softly. Tears welled up in her eyes as she leaned over to kiss him, her mind spinning with all the words she wished she could say. Somehow, only three seemed appropriate. “I love you,” she whispered, a single tear running down her cheek.
She brushed it away as she rose from the bed, tracing the outline of his lips with her moist finger. “Goodbye.”
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