Soulmates

Fenris & Fiona / Part Ten

Fenris sat at the end of her bed. His calm nature was highly contagious. Fiona felt more at ease now then she had for years, maybe even ever. She moved closer and swung her arms around his neck, kissing the back of his head. He smelled fantastic. She hadn't noticed before, or maybe she had and it was precisely the reason why the smell made her feel lightheaded.

'What are you?' she asked. He turned around to face her. He looked soft, just as much at ease as her.

'I never would have killed you, you know.' He said in that deep, rustic voice that she grew just as comfortable with as the smell that lingered around him.

'But you could have,' She tilted her head to observe the scar on his face. She wondered how he got it and when would be appropriate to ask. 'I'm still really angry.' She stated a second later.

'So am I.' Fiona frowned.

'Why?'

'Your father is not a nice man,' he said absentmindedly. 'If it wasn't for him...' he trailed off.

'What did he do?' She noticed the clenched fists that rested on his lap and the tension in his jaw but what hit her most was the sparkle in his left eye betraying a fresh tear.

'I have been hunting people for him for years,'

'Taylor.' Fiona whispered.

'He was investigating your father but he told me he was a danger to the family. I was supposed to...' he didn't need to say it for Fiona to understand what he was supposed to do. 'And you... not kill, just retrieve. But when I failed with Taylor,'

'He hurt your mother.' Fiona could fill in the gap. She knew her father wasn't a good man. She had always known that, just like she knew that when Fenris talked about retrieving, he didn't mean her. What her father meant was retrieve the objects his beloved daughter stole because a man already under investigation couldn't risk any more attention from law enforcement. Fiona felt a burning rage erupt deep within her but it wasn't because her parents didn't love her, she had gotten used to that. She was furious because of him. Did her father stoop so low as to kill an elderly woman? Fiona had seen Fenris' mom with her own eyes, the woman was ancient.

'I'll help you,' Fiona said, taking his hands into hers. 'I'll help you bring him down. I'll help you exact revenge. I'll help with whatever you plan on doing.' Fenris smiled and shook his head.

'He's still your father.'

'He's nothing.' Fiona smiled back.

First thing that needed to happen was for them to track down Taylor, who with Fiona's help wasn't that hard to find. All it took was a carefully placed add in the local paper and a little bit of patience. After they all sat down a plan was formed. It took a month to set it all up and another week to wrap it up. In those five weeks Fiona spend almost every waking moment with Fenris. All that time spend together felt oddly familiar. It was nice being on the same side.

Fiona left her shabby apartment and spend her days with him in that little house. He liked eighties music and was an excellent cook. Fiona loved to watch him work. Even when it was four past midnight and he was sitting behind the tiny desk in the living room corner, grunting in discomfort, rubbing his eyes. But all good things – or in this case, exiting things – come to an end.

As the day grew closer and everything unfolded exactly as planned, Fiona felt a knot form in her stomach and she wondered if he felt it too. So Fenris had been working with her father, he oversaw a great deal of his affairs and was most likely to go into hiding soon after this all concluded. Fiona would face jail time for all the thieving she'd been doing. Was this how it ended?

***

Fenris held her close. His body pressed all the way against hers. She closed her eyes and soaked it all up. This moment. The way he smelled. The way his body felt like a weighted blanket around her. The feeling of belonging, of home. A man she had met a year ago and spend so much time dodging, fighting, teasing and resenting had now turned into the closest thing to family she had in a lifetime.

'Where will you go?' she breathed into his chest.

'I don't know.' Fenris squeezed harder.

In the far distance they still heard the sirens and at the corner of the street stood Taylor with an agent in deep conversation. The agent kept the two of them in his line of vision at all times.

'I could go with you.' She looked up at him.

'Are you sure that is what you want?' The idea grew inside her head. She knew what it meant. She knew what the alternative was and she knew when she looked at him that there was only one right thing to do. So she nodded and lifted herself to her toes, placing both hands on his cheeks and pressing her lips hard against his. Then without letting go completely, with their lips still touching he mouthed three words to her that she would never grow tired of hearing.

Fiona and Fenris glanced over at Taylor who knew what needed to be done and in the chaos of his distraction the two slipped away. Never to be seen again though sometimes there would go around stories of a couple matching their description. A lifetime on the run turned to a lifetime of adventure and a lifetime of love.

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