Chapter Text
Gaby bit her lip hard.
After Solo told her about how angry and protective Illya had gotten, she thought maybe he was going to sit down and talk to her.
The past couple of days she had been waiting for him to actually open up and talk about what Solo had said. They needed to discuss what their partner had insinuated about them. Someone outside of the two of them thought they had chemistry, thought they were harboring feelings for each other.
From past experience, she had learned that that kind of shit needed to be out in the open.
Unfortunately, Illya was just about as open as the borders of East and West Berlin.
But which one of them had ended their last conversation in a childish huff?
Groaning to herself, Gaby sat up and slid out of the bed before making her way into the main room and plopping down next to Illya.
He started and whipped his head around to stare at her. “What are you-“
“We need to talk.”
His mouth hung open for a moment. She watched as the color drained from his face. He was completely at a loss for words.
Taking a deep breath, she began. “You know what Napoleon said to me. About us. I need to know the truth. Is it just an act? For the mission.”
A range of emotions stormed through his eyes. The most striking was vulnerability.
When he finally did speak, his voice was little more than a whisper. “Gaby…”
She waited for more, keeping her mouth shut as she eyed him expectantly.
He looked at her with wide eyes, weighing his words carefully. “I…care about you, Gaby.”
He was tiptoeing around it, but the softness in his eyes and the emotion in his words told her exactly what she needed to know. “I care about you, too,” she whispered, shifting up onto her knees.
They sat in silence, unspoken words swimming around them.
She decided if she didn’t go for it then, take what she wanted, she would never get it.
“Kiss me, Illya.”
He looked like he’d been slapped.
“No interruptions this time. Really kiss me. Please.”
She wasn’t sure he was breathing.
With a barely visible nod, he leaned in, as slow as ever. She closed her eyes as the musky scent of him engulfed her.
Their lips met, just barely. His breath shook against her skin as he used all of his self-control to hold back.
“You won’t break me, Illya. Let go,” she whispered against his lips. Smoothing her hands up his chest and neck, she laced her fingers on the nape of his neck and pulled him in, leading him to deepen the kiss.
His broad hands slid around her sides, following her lead by pulling her closer.
Gaining confidence, they both relaxed, giving into the kiss entirely.
Months of tension shattered around them.
**
Solo knocked on the door for the second time and waited.
Still no response.
Rolling his eyes, he used his key to open the door to Illya and Gaby’s suite.
Raising a brow at the half-finished game of chess in the main room, he wandered to the bedroom.
Illya curled around Gaby, his beefy arm blocking her bare chest from Solo’s view as they slept, tangled in the sheets of the bed.
Nodding smugly to himself, Solo walked out of the room.
The mission could wait.