Chapter Text
Kate had been recovering at home for about a week. The sling could be left off and her bruises looked a lot better to the point of there just being a faint hint of a bruise on her jaw. Mentally she felt a lot better now that she didn’t look as injured as she was but physically, she was still having a hard time with her ribs and head. She knew it would take time but she was tired of the pain that radiated through her body when she moved too much or too quickly and the extremely painful headaches she got because of her head injury, resulting in her sleeping much more than usual. The blonde greatly missed being able to surf and just empty her head out in the water but she knew it would be at least 4 more weeks before she could even start up being that active again. For now she would have to be happy with her daily little walk to the corner of her block and back so she wouldn’t go crazy in the confines of her apartment. When the elevator doors opened to her floor, she was surprised to see Lucy standing at her door.
“Lucy, hi. What are you doing here?” the blonde smiled, surprise clear in her voice.
“Hi.” Lucy waved awkwardly, mentally slapping herself for being so awkward. “I- uh… I called a few times but you didn’t answer and then I got worried so I wanted to check if you were okay. Obviously you’re okay, so I should get going.” Lucy rambled and awkwardly pointed her thumb towards the elevator Kate just stepped out of.
Kate felt her heart swell at hearing that Lucy was worried about her and cared enough to come check on her. “Thanks for coming to check on me.” she said earnestly. “You don’t have to immediately go, you know? Unless you have somewhere to be.” the blonde quickly added, avoiding eye contact when she said that last part.
“No, I don’t have anywhere to be.” Lucy said.
“Would you like to come in?” Kate asked, taking her key out.
“Uh, sure.” Lucy smiled softly. The tiny brunette followed Kate into her apartment and took off her shoes, putting them right next to Kate’s in the spot that used to be hers when she spent her evenings and some nights there. While it was a little awkward to be back there, she found that she didn’t dread being there like how she did the from the moment Cara opened the door. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Kate looking at her from around the corner of the kitchen area. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I asked if you wanted something to drink.” Kate said gently, not wanting to do anything that would have Lucy running away from her again.
“Um, yeah. Water’s fine.” Lucy told her as she walked towards the kitchen island. She watched Kate as she grabbed a mason jar and filled it with water before setting it down in front of her. “How are you feeling?” the tiny brunette asked.
“Like I’m going crazy in here.” Kate laughed. “I actually just came back from my walk when I ran into you.”
“Hmm, yeah, it’s hard for you to just stay put and not do anything. Like when you were obviously not feeling well but you waived it off and kept working and it became so bad that I practically had to drag you away from base.” the brunette smiled at the memory. She quickly shook herself out of it. “But it’s good that you’re at least getting your walk in. In all seriousness though, how are you feeling? How are your injuries?”
“I’m getting there, you know?” Kate shrugged. “My bruises are almost gone, my shoulder doesn’t hurt that much anymore and the sling got to go so that’s good.”
“And the rest…” Lucy inquired.
“The ribs still bother me quite a lot.” Kate admitted, not looking Lucy in the eyes. “But that’s to be expected.
“Do you ice them enough?” Lucy asked, taking a sip of her water.
“I do.” the blonde nodded, smiling at the memory of Lucy telling her to put the ice on her jaw as she sat in the back of the ambulance at Jones’ house.
“And your head. How’s that been?” the tiny brunette asked, concerned.
“It’s better. I still get pretty bad headaches and sleep more than usual but it’s starting to get better.” Kate explains.
“I’m sorry about the headaches.” Lucy said as she took a step closer to Kate, resting her hand closer to the blonde’s on the kitchen island. That didn’t go unnoticed by Kate.
“Lucy, I-“ Kate started, looking up from their hands that were almost touching to Lucy’s eyes. “I’m so sorry that I hurt you.”
‘Oh, we’re really doing this.’ Lucy thought to herself as she realized they were going to talk about them. “You already apologized, Kate. I forgive you.” Lucy said gently as she moved her hand so their fingertips were touching. At this moment she decided to finally just hear Kate out. She came so close to losing the blonde and, truth be told, she misses the blonde so damn much. It was time she would finally listen to what the blonde had to say.
Kate looked down to their hands and to Lucy’s eyes again. “I know. I just feel like I can’t apologize enough for the hurt I’ve caused you.” she said, tears forming in her eyes. “I know it’s not easy to believe but I need you to know that you were never my side-piece. God, you could and should never be a side-piece.” Kate told her and she reached up to swipe away a few tears that escaped. “Cara and I- Well, there never really was a Cara and I. At least not in my eyes and I thought the feeling was pretty clear. I met her when I got back from the conference here and we hooked up a few times after a hard day at work. She started getting clingy and very possessive and I didn’t want that. Truth is, I was so hung up on the most beautiful woman I had ever seen here in Hawai’i that just nobody would ever compare.” Kate blushed. “When I got the position here at Pearl, I jumped at the chance because I just wasn’t happy with my life in D.C. anymore. Looking back at it, I’m not even sure if I ever was happy with it.” Kate said and took in a deep breath. She winced as she breathed in too deeply for her ribs to handle.
“Come on, let’s sit down.” Lucy said as she gently put her hand on Kate’s back and led her over to the couch. Once Lucy had gotten their mason jars with water and sat down herself, Kate took in another breath before she continued.
“Those two nights and three days with you, that’s what made me happy. It sounds ridiculous but in that short amount of time, you made me the happiest woman. Not just for the sex, but just you. You made me happy and I wanted that again. When I got here I was hopeful I’d run into you again at some point but then it turned out that we would be working together and that was just not ideal.” the blonde breathed.
“But it wasn’t against the rules.” Lucy said.
“I know.” Kate conceded. “Technically it wasn’t against the rules but it would’ve been a conflict of interest. I wanted to be with you, I really did but I just couldn’t. If my superiors found out that there was something going on between us, I would’ve been put on a plane back to D.C. within the day.”
“They would do that?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah, they would. And then there’s the image it would put on you. I wanted to be with you so much but I couldn’t do that to you.” Kate told her, fresh tears in her eyes. “So, I tried to keep you at a distance but ultimately, I couldn’t anymore. You were so patient with me as I slowly got more into our relationship and I felt myself falling even more for you. It was at that time that I was offered the promotion with the D.I.A. but I couldn’t take it.”
“Why not?” Lucy asked.
“A lot has changed for me in the time that I’ve been here and just like in D.C., I just wasn’t happy with the D.I.A. anymore. Thanks to you and a few other things, this place started to feel like home. I hadn’t felt that sense of belonging ever since Noah died.” Kate said and Lucy reached up to wipe away the blonde’s tears. “I didn’t want to give that up, didn’t want to give you up, so I took the position my old mentor offered me at the FBI Honolulu field office. That morning when we sat on the balcony, drinking coffee and you watched me read the newspaper… that’s when I wanted to tell you but you got called in to work and then later when you came by to talk about your undercover mission, Cara ruined everything. I made her leave and went to your office but by the time I got there, you were in trouble and I was so scared. I was so scared of losing you. Tennant probably figured out there was something between us when I just wouldn’t leave and did all I could to help get you back safely. And I just didn’t care in that moment. Because the truth is, Lucy… I love you. I love you so much and I don’t want to lose you.”
Lucy didn’t know what to say and was now also crying. Her heart ached at all the emotion she heard in Kate’s voice. She cupped Kate’s face and captured her lips with her own in a soft kiss. “I love you too.” she breathed when they came apart.
“You do?” Kate asked, tears in her eyes.
“I do.” Lucy nodded. “I love you so much, Kate.” she captured the blonde’s lips in another sweet kiss. They pulled apart as Kate winced. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Kate panted.
“I’m sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused you.” Lucy said sincerely. “I was hurt but it wasn’t fair to you for me to keep hurting you like that.”
“So where do we go from here?” Kate asked after a beat.
“We both need to work on communicating.” Lucy started, intertwining their fingers. “But I’d like to give us another shot, if that’s what you also want.” she looked up at Kate with a hopeful look on her face.
“I would like that very much.” Kate beamed.
“Yeah?” Lucy asked, teary-eyed.
“Yeah.” Kate confirmed and Lucy captured her lips in a passionate kiss. The kiss quickly deepened and Kate hissed at the pain in her ribs.
“Sorry.” Lucy panted as she sat back a little, not letting go of Kate’s hand.
“Don’t be.” Kate smiled, panting. “This is so worth it.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Lucy shook her head. They sat in silence for a few moments, just taking each other in. “I- uh… I should get going.”
“Or… you could stay for dinner? I could order some takeout.” Kate carefully said, not wanting their moment to end.
“Are you sure?” Lucy asked.
“I’m sure.” Kate nodded.
“Okay then. I’ll stay for dinner.” Lucy smiled.
Kate ordered them takeout from their favorite Italian restaurant and they ate together on the balcony, watching the sunset and each other, just like old times. She couldn’t believe her luck.
Lucy cleaned everything up after dinner and they settled on the couch to watch The Spy Who Dumped Me. She sat so that Kate could settle into her and sit comfortably with her ribs and ran her fingers through Kate’s hair as the movie went on. Not even halfway through the movie, she noticed that Kate had fallen asleep, a content look on her face. She kissed the blonde’s temple and gently woke her up.
“Is something wrong?” Kate croaked.
“No. In fact, everything is perfect.” Lucy smiled. “You fell asleep and I think it’s time for you to get more comfortable in bed.”
“But you’re comfortable too.” Kate said, snuggling more into the tiny agent as best as she could.
Lucy smiled sweetly at the sleepy blonde. “That’s very sweet, baby. But you’re only gonna be in more pain if you sleep on this couch.”
“Will you stay? Please.” Kate sleepily asked. “I promise no funny business.” she quickly added.
“I-“ Lucy started, thinking she should probably go home but the thought of her having Kate back in her arms and the sight of injured and sleepy Kate quickly won her over. “Sure, I’ll stay. But seriously, no funny business. Do you have meds you have to take still?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah, they’re on my nightstand.” the blonde yawned.
“Okay, then let’s go to bed.” Lucy said as she turned off the TV and checked if everything was locked before walking towards Kate and holding her hand out for the blonde to get up.
Together they made their way to the bedroom, where Kate got out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts for Lucy to sleep in. After each had used the bathroom, Lucy made sure Kate took her meds and that their phones were plugged in before she joined the blonde in bed. Kate immediately snuggled closer to Lucy.
“Thank you for coming to check on me and giving me another chance.” the blonde said sincerely, sleep starting to take over. “I love you, Lucy.”
“Thank you for not giving up on me. I love you, Kate. Sweet dreams.” Lucy said as she kissed Kate’s temple. It wouldn’t always be easy but she knew one thing for sure: she finally had her home in her arms again and together they could do anything. With that in mind, she held Kate a little tighter and let sleep take her over.