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Doc quietly opened his eyes the next morning. A light rain could be heard on the roof as he looked over and saw Ashlea fast asleep cuddled up close to him. Looking under the blankets, they were still naked. He lightly smiled. She was happy and so was he for the first time in a long time and he had no regrets but for now, he could no longer sleep. After kissing her head, he quietly got up, put on his sweats and robe and headed down stairs.
Setting up the coffee pot, he put on some rain gear, grabbed his fly rod and went to the dock. The light rain made an ideal time for the first part of the morning for fish to bite. "Let's see who's awake," as he snapped his rod back and forth several times before setting the fly on the water. Before long, his first catch, a small trout. Smiling as he pulled the hook out he spoke to it, "You need to grow some more" and threw it back.
He again threw the fly out and this time caught a big one. It fought hard as it bent his pole over but in the end, he won the battle. He placed it in a bucket where it sat silently as Doc continued to fish.
Inside the coffee brewed and Ashlea slept. As Doc fished, it reminded him of his youth, of when him and his father would fish. His father was all he had growing up after the death of his mother. At one point while he fished, he muttered, "Dad, you wouldn't believe this crazy universe if I told you of it. Miss you. Take care of Mom." Yes, the sensitive side of Doc revealed itself.
Ashlea lent against the frame of the door for a moment, watching him fish. She was dressed in a grey v neck shirt and jeans, holding two cups of coffee. She eventually walked across to where he stood. After placing the drinks down, she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Good morning"
She nodded in the direction of the drink she had made for him, "Hopefully it's alright." She hid a yawn as she ran her hands through her hair and stretched. "Sleep well?" She asked as she looked out over the water.
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He warmly smiled as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Luckily nothing took his line when he stopped reeling it in. The steam flowing off of the coffees, he walked over to her as she stretched and placed his hands around her at the small of her back and gave her a good morning kiss.
"Never better," he answered as he admired her standing before him. He then took her hand and together they stood looking over water drinking coffee. Thoughts went through is mind of the night before and the day to come. Of the day to come was some uncertainty depending what the morning coference call with Foster Base would yield. His thoughts thought were mostly of the night before.
Their relationship had now changed. Keeping it professional was now difficult as they had slept together the night before. They would still have to work as representatives of their respective groups but he found himself loving her.
Doc regretted little in his life and he didn't regret the night before, not even a little. They loved well and slept well.
As they looked over the water, he spoke. "Last night....I just want you to know that I have nothing to apologize for. I haven't felt that wanted in a very long time." He then stood behind her, a hand over her stomach as they looked out and drank, the fingers of his hand gently kneading her stomach. "I.....I love you, Ashlea," softly escaped his mouth.
She too was thinking of the night before, despite things moving fast, she was more then comfortable with it all. She wasn't entirely sure whether he was planning on being around for the long run or not, but she could see herself having a future with him. She ever so slightly nodded as she decided she would leave the Rogues if it came to it, despite what the rest would thing.... Moka wouldn't be happy, loosing the second in command wasn't a great thing in the world of the Rogues. She soon realized Moka's happiness wasn't as important to her as her own.
She placed her free hand over his, smiling at what he was saying. "I love you too, John" She took a sip of her coffee, unable to remember the last time she was this happy. "I don't want to go back to Padua..." She spoke quietly before sipping her coffee. She didn't finish saying what was on her mind, instead just looking out over the water, enjoying his company.
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They finished their coffee as they overlooked the water and the rising sun of the morning. The only drawback to this was it meant a walk to the shuttle for the morning meeting with the Foster repair staff. Putting his cup down, he took her arm and with a gentle tug and a smile began the slow walk to the shuttle. Her last statement about Padua was on his mind.
As they walked, he held her arm tightly to keep her close as he spoke. "Don't leave the people you represent. They have given you opportunity." He snickered a bit, "I don't blame you for not wanting to go back to Padua with the radiation around it." He kept his soft smile as they continued, "Foster base. I proposed to do work on station in the quiet depths of the station while the Rogues run the rest of it. I will propose this to Moka and right now, I have already given him....given you something, a crew to restore it to it's fully operational condition and even make it better. I also don't think he'll have issue with the idea of a biodome to make it self sustaining.
They found themselves before the shuttle where he turned to her, facing her, his hands on her sides and looking upon her, "Its a good opportunity for us....for the PLR...for my work and you would be the PLR liaison. That way we could be together too or......"
He stopped, realizing what he might say next could be well, too forward.
She walked with him, knowing all too well that this would mean they would hear about Foster. The thought of leaving wasn't something she liked. She shook her head at his mention of the radiation, that wasn't the reason, but it was better then outright admitting she just wanted to stay with him. "Moka won't have a problem with you using the base.... I will be telling him it is a good idea, he trusts me to make the right call...."
She had assumed she would be the PLR liaison, after all, Moka had sent her out here to begin with to take care of business. "Or....?" She asked looking up at him, wanting him to finish what he was about to say.
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His hands gripped her sides tight. He wanted to finish what he was going to say but it was too soon. She deserved a proposal from the heart, not one of heated desire. "Time, John, time," he said to himself in his breath. He looked over her again and just gave a light smile.
"There is no or, Dahlin'" he assured her, "I sometimes speak before I think."
He moved one hand from her to take a remote from his pocket to power up the shuttle, returning the hand to her side as systems powered, "After I chat with Mr. Sloan on Foster, I can channel things if you need to comm anyone."
With a smile and a quick kiss, he turned to open the door to his shuttle. He was again talking to himself. To most it would be hilarious as he was scolding himself as if his mother was present. A lot of it was quick and muttered as he flicked switches and pushed buttons on the com which also interfered as did the powering up of systems. Spotty words could be made out but no sense could be made of them. It was almost as if he was trying to not get Ashlea's hopes up or get her upset, starting to speak in Latin, "Et tamen non habere circulum, John Henry!"
He then shook his head at himself, laughing at himself as he began searching for signals.
She nods, his mutters and scolding himself didn't necessarily put her mind at ease despite him trying to reassure her. She didn't comment on that, instead following him into the ship, taking a seat waiting for him to find the signal. Her silence was the only thing that gave away that she was unsettled, lost in thought.
Eventually she shook her head "No, I don't believe I will need to talk to anyone. I'm quite happy to wait until I'm back. Nothing much will have changed there, maybe a few lost or killed.... But such is the life of a Rogue." She fell silent again. She brushed loose strands of hair away from her face and waited for him to find the means to contact Foster.
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The signal was weak so he continued trying to tune things in. Still, he was cursing at himself under his breath. Latin was his personal favorite language to speak but when he was frustrated, Spanish tended to slip. He remembered times past listening to people of Hispanic origin when they were upset start babbling. He got a chuckle out of it and for him, it was easy.
"Es una buena cosa que usted llevó a cabo detrás, Henrio de Juan. Proponer a una muchacha esto pronto, especialmente sin un anillo, es tan ..... incorrecto," is what came out of his mouth.
Finally, he started to settle a bit as he got a clear channel to Foster. "There we go," he said, "Let's see who's around."
She watched him trying to find a signal. She had faith that he would find one eventually.
Recognizing the language she had been made to learn growing up, she frowned slightly. Unable to catch enough of what he said to make sense of it, she dropped her gaze for a moment before looking back at him, playing with her hair. "No sabia que hablabas espanol...." she spoke, just loud enough for him to catch what she said "Outcasts. It makes sense" She fell silent with a slight shrug, annoyed she hadn't been able to pick up more of what he said. She sighed and shook her head, returning her focus to the comm device.
"You found them?" As he settled, she smiled. "Hopefully they have some good news"