Octagon Project 1: Melody Halloway

~-23-~

*FOUR WEEKS LATER*

"It hurts me just by looking at you. " Mel commented as she watched Zack plop onto the couch heavily and place his crutches against the arm rest.

"Good to know you can still hurt." Zack shot back as he took the beer that Roy offered him with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm just surprised as you are. " Vanessa stated as she raided the fridge and settled with a bottle of water as she plopped onto the loveseat next to Justin who wrapped an arm around her. Zack glanced at them, then at Mel, and down at the ground. Since being here, Vanessa had gotten into much better shape and started developing an attitude of her own as she got used to the killing lifestyle. She adapted pretty quickly with everything that's gone on the past month and a half.

"Unless you want me to kick your ass in another match of Taekwondo, you can shut your mouth." Mel said, pointing a finger at Vanessa who just rolled her eyes and punched Justin for taking her bottle as she was about to take a sip. Roy spoke quietly in Zack's ear before patting his housemate's shoulder a few times.

"Mel," Zack said, jerking his head in the direction of the hallway. Mel furrowed her brow at Roy who only shrugged and turned his back to her. Sighing, she got up and helped Zack stand, draping one of his arms over her shoulder, she helped him walk as he led them into the weight room where he leaned against the wall near the punching bags. Mel stood there with her hands on her hips, eyeing him.

"What was that little exchange between you and Roy?" She asked.

"If you knew, would you promise not to try and kill me?" Zack questioned in reply. Mel rose an eyebrow.

"Depends on what it is." She answered. Zack pursed his lips on deciding whether or not it was going to be a good idea and Mel sighed. "Okay, yeah, I promise not to try and kill you."

"Thank you." Zack gave a sigh of relief before taking in a deep breath and pulling his shirt over his head, turning his back to Mel who's mouth gaped open. Down the center of his spine, a blue ink tribal tattoo mirrored her and Roy's with the tattoo from the Agency barely visible under his hair on the back of his neck. Scars crossed his back with a recent one going horizontally just above his tailbone. Zack froze as Mel's cold figures ran along the tattoo down his spine.

"You saw mine and you didn't say anything." She said, her voice quiet and emotionless. Part of Zack was screaming that she was actually going to pull out her knife and kill him and he had to shake his head to clear the thoughts.

"I encouraged you to show Roy, Roy encouraged me to show you. " Zack said quietly, his voice suddenly unfamiliar to himself. He began to pull his shirt back on when the feeling of Mel's fingers tracing a scar that ran down the side of his left ribs stopped him. She was surprised at how muscular Zack really was when he pulled off being so small so well. But even with his perfectly defined abs, the scars on his torso were still just as noticeable. As Mel's hand dropped to her side again, Zack finished pulling his shirt back on and nearly fell over when Mel was right in his face with her eyebrows creased.

"Ow." He grunted as Mel landed a light punch to his chest.

"That's for not saying anything this whole year." She told him, then grabbed the neck of his shirt and pressed her lips strongly against his. "And that was for telling me now." She finished, pulling away. Zack's mouth hung slightly open in astonishment as his eyes searched Mel's features to find a ghost of a smile. "Roy already told me everything else." She said. Zack's mind spun and his lips still buzzed with the feeling of Mel's on his as she led him back out to the living room with everyone else. She shot Roy a look who just waved his arms about as if asking "what?!" and then tried to with hold his laughter as he saw the look on Zack's face. Priceless.

"Still sneaking into my room in the middle of the night?" Mel asked as she watched his figure shut the door quietly behind him. He turned and gave her a wry smile.

"I was hoping I could surprise you." He told her honestly, his voice groggy and deep.

"And how do you think that would have worked out for you?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest as he grabbed her hips and pulled her as close as her extended elbows would allow him to.

"The same way it has every other time. With you under me." He replied with a mischievous grin. Mel rolled her eyes at that. "I do however have a question for you."

"And what might that be?" She asked, stretching her chin just the slightest up towards him but kept her distance as a tease. Something she's enjoyed doing to him.

"I've heard quite a few Zack and Melody rumors going around the house. Care to ease my mind and give me some clarification?" He asked her. Mel's jaw ticked thoughtfully and she looked off to the side, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as his eyes searched her face for answers in the dark of the room that surrounded them.

"I think," Mel began as she draped her arms casually around his neck, "That you already know the answer to that question." She said, closing the distance between them as she pressed her lips strongly against his. He couldn't help but respond. She was a drug. Better than any post-surgery meds he had ever taken. Only with her, he was addicted.

"Zack," Mel whispered as she turned around to face him. They had pulled her covers and pillows onto the ground since there was more space, but now, she wouldn't have minded the bed as she lay curled up next to him, drawing little patterns on the part of his bare chest that wasn't under the covers.

"Hmmm." He hummed in response, slowly opening his eyes as Mel was momentarily quiet, picking her words carefully before she said them.

"What would happen if something went wrong?" She asked slowly, looking up at him from her hand on his chest. Zack furrowed his eyebrows from the  curiosity that spiked from where this question came from. Mel never thought about those sorts of things. She just lived life in the moment.

"Nothing will go wrong." He assured her, surprising himself with the determination that hit his voice as he spoke. Mel looked back down at her hand that traced the shadows of scars on his chest.

"I mean what if. Like, what if I died tomorrow?" Zack furrowed his eyebrows deeper and his face grew more grave. It wasn't like her to be asking these questions. Zack placed a hand over hers on his chest where she could feel the steady strong beating of his heart and her cheeks flushed.

"I wouldn't let that happen." He said sternly. Mel looked up into his eyes for a brief moment with an expression that let Zack know that she wanted him to answer the question before she looked back down at their hands, their fingers partially entwined. Zack took a deep breath. "Well, as usual, the agency would find a new recruit to take your place. You know that. But, I don't think that I or anyone else here would recover that easily if you were gone. Hell, I probably wouldn't make it a single day..." He answered her. Mel searched his eyes for any sign of a lie, but found none.

"I think you could recover." Mel said slowly. "You're strong, and the Division needs you now that you're back on your feet." Zack lifted her hand and kissed it gently.

"Let's hope I won't have to find out." He whispered. "And can we change the subject? I don't like thinking about losing you." He then asked. Mel propped herself up on an elbow and leaned over him, giving him a kiss. "This works." Zack mumbled under her lips which brought a small smile to Mel's face as she gave him a deeper kiss. A kiss for him to remember.

I'm sorry... She thought in the privacy of her mind. She had spent a full month working this plan out, it wouldn't work to back out on it now. Which deepened the aching pain she felt in her chest as Zack's hand brushed her frizzy brown hair that hid their faces like curtains behind her ears and caressed her cheeks as he kissed her passionately back as though he couldn't bare the thought of never kissing her again. I'm so sorry Zack...

"I love you Melody Hope Halloway." Zack whispered as he broke their kiss and rested his forehead on hers. Mel was silent for a long moment as she pushed back the lump in her throat.

"I love you too Zachary Levi McHall." Mel replied, her voice barely a whisper.