by Ashley West
He spent a good amount of time away from the ship over those days, and when he got back the second time, Combo told him that Kirsten had gone back home.
"Is that the best idea?" Kratos asked.
Combo didn't even look up. "There was no reason to keep her here," he said. "She is in no danger now, and she has healed as much as she will with my help. The rest she must do on her own."
"But..."
"Do not underestimate her, Kratos."
And he bristled because he had never been the one underestimating her. He was just worried. She had been snatched right out from under their noses, and what was stopping it from happening again. Well, granted, there were much fewer Grey out there now. They were having a harder and harder time finding them when they searched, and it wasn't just because they were hiding. The Kilan had well and truly triumphed over The Grey in this battle, and he felt the usual pride in his company for what they had all accomplished.
With fewer and fewer things to kill, he was left feeling restless. Milara would spar with him, and Sanaal sometimes could be persuaded, but other than that, there wasn't much to do.
"Go talk to her, you idiot," Milara always said when he moped around the ship, but it wasn't that easy. He kept thinking of how she'd kissed him the day he'd seen her in the infirmary, an odd parallel of their first kiss ever, and how it had felt like an ending.
Neither of them had said so much in words, but he knew that he was leaving, and she knew that he was leaving, and he knew that she knew.
It would be soon, too. With nothing much to do, there was no reason for them to hang around for much longer. There would be other jobs in other places, and they had to go find them. They had to move on.
What remained to be seen was if there was any reason to hope that they could try to keep things going between them. Distance could be a scary thing sometimes, making it harder to communicate and nearly impossible to see each other regularly. Was it worth it?
Honestly, Kratos didn't know how he felt about it, and he hadn't asked Kirstie. ...Which was probably why everyone kept calling him an idiot.
They were leaving soon, in a few days, maybe, and nothing really felt resolved.
"I have somewhere to be," Combo said on the evening of their last night on Earth. "Go make yourself useful somewhere."
"Any suggestions?" Kratos asked.
Combo's flat look was answer enough, and Kratos huffed and left the ship.
He hadn't made the conscious decision to head in that direction, but his feet carried him towards Kirstie's building anyway, and he saw her standing outside with her brother and her roommate, a smile on her face as she listened to something her brother was saying.
Keith's eyes kept darting around, as if he was looking for something that might leap out of the shadows, and Kratos understood why. It was brave of both of them to be standing out there as night prepared to fall.
The roommate, whose name Keith could never remember, looked up and saw him first. She smiled and nudged Kirstie before grabbing Keith's arm and tugging him back inside.
Kirstie looked at him and then at the ground, fidgeting a little as he approached.
"Hey," he said, walking right up to her. She looked lovely, as per the usual. Her hair pulled back into a ponytail that spilled mostly down her back, her eyes warm. The evening light made her more beautiful, and Kratos gave into the temptation to reach up and touch her face gently.
She leaned into it for just a moment and then leaned back. "What's up?"
It was carefully neutral, and Kratos sighed. "Can we talk?"
There. That was the adult, non-idiot, thing to do, right? To talk this out? He realized that he didn't want to leave here without knowing where they stood. If she didn't want to be with him anymore, that was fine. That was fair. But they needed to talk about it.
She looked up at him, searching his face for something, and whatever she found there made her nod. "Sure. Anise will be downstairs with Keith fiddling, probably. Come on up."
They walked in silence up to her apartment. The last time he'd been in there, they'd been having sex, and he remembered it well. Remembered the way she'd looked stepping into the room all damp and warm after her shower, and how he'd kissed her.
Because he couldn't help himself, he leaned in and kissed her right there.
It still tasted like goodbye, and he made a frustrated noise.
"What is it?" Kirstie asked, looking wary.
Kratos laughed shortly. "I don't know."
"That's not helpful."
"Yeah, tell me about it. I just...I don't know what we're doing anymore."
"Meaning you knew what we were doing to start with?" Kirsten asked, folding her arms. "Because that's news to me."
"This was easier when we had more time." That was the long and short of it. When the job had still been looming in front of them, and the end was a hazy shape on the horizon, they didn't have to worry about the rest of it. It had been enough that she wanted him and he wanted her and that they were good together. But now everything was different.
Kirsten looked away from him. "We knew it would come to this eventually."
"Yeah. We did."
"So...is that it, then? You leave, and we're done?"
Her voice was soft, but he could hear the edge of sadness in it. She'd miss him. He'd miss her.
"Is that what you want?" Kratos stepped closer to her, one large hand cupping her face, his thumb stroking along the edge of her cheekbone.
"No," she whispered back.
"What do you want, then?" It wasn't fair, probably, to have her doing all the talking here, but he needed to know.
"You," Kirstie said simply. "Just you. I told you that."
And he could live with that. He dipped his head and kissed her again, no hesitation in it. He pressed his mouth to hers with all the passion he felt for her, kissing her almost hard enough to bruise.
She moaned into it, her hands sliding up his chest. When she murmured his name into the kiss, he took her to the bedroom.
Talking, as it turned out, had never been one of his strong points. Putting words together was easy when you knew what outcome you wanted, but when it was time for sincerity and being honest, he had no idea what he was meant to do. His words tripped over each other, stumbling as they rushed out of his mouth.
So they didn't talk.
Instead they held each other. Kirsten climbed into his lap and she kissed him, her lips warm as they made their way from his neck to his mouth. She breathed his name into it, she told him he made her feel good, she pressed against him.
And he returned the favor, holding her like she was something precious to be kept and protected. Which was how he felt about her. Hopefully that came through.
When she started pulling at his clothes, he let her, and then removed hers as well. She was still just as lovely as she'd been the first time he'd seen her undressed, and he took his time, running his hands over every inch of her like he wanted to memorize the feeling of her skin under his palms. And maybe he did.
Kirstie arched for him when he started trailing kisses down her body, and he savored that, too. Every little facial expression she made, every little noise. He didn't want to forget them if this was going to be the last time.
Eventually, she surprised him, tugging at his hair so he'd lift his head and then smiling at him.
"Turn over," she said, voice low, and he arched an eyebrow and then complied with her wishes, moving so he was sprawled out on his back for her.
She wasted no time copying his movements from just minutes before, kissing her way down the muscled planes of his chest and stomach until she got to his cock, hard for her.
Her fingers felt good, as always, around his length, but then she lowered her head and took him into her mouth, making him moan in surprise. Her mouth was hot and wet, and her tongue laved at the underside of him as she worked.
And, stars, it was a glorious sight. Her lips around him, pink and perfect, inch after inch of his
cock disappearing into that gorgeous mouth. "Kirstie," he moaned, freeing her hair from the ponytail and letting the dark curls spill around her shoulders and frame her face.
She was beautiful and tempting, and he fought the urge to thrust up into her mouth from how good it felt.
When she hummed slightly, he closed his eyes and let her get on with it.
Soon enough, though, the shock of cooler air on his wet flesh made him look at her, and she'd pulled off his cock, lips wet and red from what she'd just been doing. "I want..." she started, trailing off as she looked at his cock and then at his face.
"Whatever you want," Kratos said in a rush. He meant it, too. There honestly wasn't anything he could think of that she could ask for in this moment that he'd deny her.
Her answering smile was brilliant, and in a matter of seconds, she was throwing her leg over him and straddling him.
His hands came up to hold onto her hips, to keep her steady, automatically, and she flashed him a grateful smile. One of her hands grabbed his cock again, keeping it steady as she sank down onto it.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Kirstie's eyes were closed in bliss, and her toes were already curling. Kratos lifted his head so he could see where they were joined together, and a pulse of white hot sensation went through him. There was nothing like being buried in that tight heat between her legs, and while he was definitely usually the one in control of any sex he had, he had to admit that Kirsten looked amazingly sexy on top of him like this.
It was such a good way to say goodbye, and he was pleased that there was much less finality in it this time. When he kissed her, when she worked her hips and eventually went tight around him, finding her pleasure like that, it felt like possibility instead of an end. As easy as it would have been for them to just decide that they'd had a good time and it was time to call it quits now, Kratos didn't want that. He wanted to see where this could go, and he tried to make that clear in every thrust of his hips, every touch of his hands, and every press of his lips.
This was his last night on Earth, and there was no other way he would have wanted to spend it.
Kratos stretched his arms overhead, looking up at the sky one last time. It was a bright, sunny day, and the season the humans called summer was winding to a close. Already the days were starting to get shorter and the air was getting cooler. Seasons were changing, and it was time for them to move on.
There had been no sign of Grey activity for a couple of weeks following the final showdown between them and The Kilan, and Combo had word of another job they could take not far out of Earth's solar system.
That was mercenary life, really, Kratos mused. Always on the move. Always looking for the next opportunity. If you stayed still for too long, you were likely to starve to death. His whole life he'd been on the go, hopping from one place to the next, and now... Well, now, he was going to leave, just like he always did, but it wasn't with the same happiness that usually came with leaving a place. It was hard to see it as anything other than moving on. Job completed, time to go. End of story. That was how it had always been with him.
There had never been a time when he'd been sad to leave people behind.
The underlings packed up the ship with the supplies the humans had been able to spare. There was enough food to get them to the next supply planet, and they were grateful for that.
Off in the distance, Combo was in hushed conversation with Keith. Prickly as the human could be, it was clear that he had a healthy respect for Combo, and Kratos knew that they would be keeping in touch. Combo loved when people were impressed with him.
Several of the other humans were helping the underlings load things up, passing on their thanks again and again. It was odd. Thanks were never enough for a long job, and this had been a long one, but they were taking it all the same. Of course, the government compensation for Combo's brilliance had definitely gone a long way towards covering their payment, but Kratos found himself oddly disappointed, which was stupid. He'd never intended to take Kirsten with him when he left, but he had to admit that there was a part of him that had hoped she might have offered.
But the offer hadn't come, and he hadn't mentioned it. Kirstie belonged here, as sure as he belonged with The Kilan. Asking her to give up her life wouldn't have been fair, and he wasn't going to be that person. The one who expected their...whatever it was Kirstie was to him, to make all the sacrifices while not making any themselves.
"Is she coming?"
Kratos turned his head to see Milara looking at him strangely. He figured there was no use in trying to hide anything from her. She always figured out how he felt. "Why would she?" he asked.
"To say goodbye, obviously."
From her tone, Kratos could tell she didn't mean just for Kirstie to say goodbye to him. He laughed and slung an arm over her shoulder. "You're going to miss her, aren't you? I knew she'd grown on you."
Milara rolled her eyes. "Not like she grew on you. Is she coming or not?"
"Yes, Mil. She's coming."
At least, he hoped she was. They had said all they needed to say to each other the night before. Their last night together, wrapped up in her bed back in her apartment. Only time could tell what would happen between them now, but he had...cautiously high hopes about it. It was better than dwelling on what could go wrong, anyway.
The sound of laughter made him look up, and there was Kirstie, standing next to Combo and Keith. She'd shown up at some point when he had been zoned out, clearly, and now she was looking up at Combo with tears in her eyes.
Combo had his hands on her shoulders, and he was leaning down, speaking softly to her. When he withdrew, he pressed something into her hands.
Kratos moved closer, trying to see what it was or hear what they were saying, but by the time he got close, they had finished and were all looking at him.
Keith strode up. He inhaled deeply and then held out his hand. "I want to say thank you," he said. "For everything you and your group did for us. For my sister, for our lives. All of it. I'm glad you came and that we worked with you. And I'm sorry I doubted you. And that we couldn't come up with the money."
Shaking hands was a human thing, but Kratos did it anyway. "It's fine," he said. "We got paid in the end, and I'm glad we came, too. I'm glad you're all alright. Look after yourself."
Keith nodded and then stepped back, pushing Kirstie forward. It was sort of odd, seeing her again in the daylight after the night they'd had. They'd lain awake for a long time, whispering to each other, finally saying the things that needed to be said. Now they just had to say goodbye for real and hope for the best.
"So," she said, rocking back on her heels.
"So," Kratos echoed. "What did Combo give you?"
She held up a comm device and smiled. "A way to keep in touch. He figured that would make things easier. Hard to write letters to space, after all."
Kratos grinned. "That Combo. Always thinking. You'll call, then?"
"Of course. I want to hear about your jobs and everything. Make sure you're doing alright. See your face and all that."
"Excellent."
They stood there smiling at each other for a bit, and then Milara came over. She rolled her eyes at the sight of them and then held her hand out to Kirstie. "Good luck," she said. "You ever have any other work for us, just give us a call."
"Will do. Thanks for everything, Milara." Kirstie startled Milara by bypassing the handshake and giving her a hug.
She hugged her and Combo both before they got on the ship to leave, and even shook hands with Sanaal. The humans grouped together a ways away from the ship to watch them leave, waving their hands and hats and jackets as Combo fired up the ship for take off.
"Another job well done, I guess," Sanaal muttered under his breath as the ship began to rise.
"Yes," Combo replied, still pleased with himself for how much finagling he'd done with the government. Making people realize how important he was had always been one of his favorite hobbies. "Better than exp
ected."
Kratos hadn't looked away from the cluster of waving humans.
"Onto the next one, then," Milara said, stepping up beside him. "Always someone out there causing trouble."
He blew Kirsten a kiss and then they were too high to see much other than sky. "Yeah," he agreed. "That's where we come in." Being a mercenary was still what he wanted to do with his life, still the most fulfilling thing for him, but it was nice to know that out here on this blue and green planet, there was someone who wanted him, and somewhere he could return.
Chapter Nineteen: A Place to Come Back To
Rebuilding was never easy, but it was necessary. As much as people would have liked to lick their wounds and mourn their losses, life went on. Things has to be cleaned up and put back together or torn down and redone. People had to reach out and find their families, their friends. See what was left of the world for them to reclaim as their own.
It took months for all of the creatures to be rounded up and killed, and no one was taking any chances this time. With the Alva, they'd just assumed that things would go back to normal on their own, and of course they hadn't. This time, they weren't making the same mistake.
When Combo created the weapon to defeat The Grey, he sold it to the government for more money even than they'd wanted in the first place. After a second invasion, no one wanted to see this happen again.
The scientists of Earth didn't yet have the tech to stand up to all the threats that waited just outside their orbit, but Combo was just vain enough to let himself be talked into helping on commission. It wasn't the worst set up, actually.
Keith kept in contact with Combo, working as an agent of The Kilan on Earth, and Kirstie didn't think she'd ever seen him happier. It meant he got to play with alien technologies all the time and work with the most brilliant person he'd ever met to make things better. Basically he was living his dream.
Kirsten was happy for him.
With The Kilan gone and her freedom assured, Kirstie had thrown herself into helping the survivors of the attacks. It was important to her that people who felt like they had no place would have someone to help them. If there was a fundraiser or a drive or a movement to get people into new homes or reunited with their families, then Kirsten was probably at the head of it.
