Work Text:
Joe threw himself down in one of the big armchairs with a bag of dates. Nile, who was sitting on the sofa looked over the Ipad at Joe before returning to reading.
Joe: "Reading anything interesting?"
Nile: "Just a bit of world history. I need to catch up on, well, everything since I joined you, so I know a bit more about your history."
Joe: "Or you could just ask. If you got any questions. History isn't often depicted correctly in those history books."
Joe ate a couple of more dates, while Nile continued reading for a bit longer.
Nile: "Ok, tell me about a historical summer you have experienced."
Joe thought for a moment.
Joe: "Do you know of The Summer Of Love?"
Nile: "San Francisco, 1967. You were there?"
Joe nodded before he ate the last date.
Joe: "Yes with Nicky. After a mission in Mexico, we needed some downtime so we decided to go North in an old Buick, that we borrowed from a Mexican gangster."
Nile knew about that rule Andy had. Bad people shouldn't have nice things so it was ok to borrow the things for as long as you wanted. A rule Joe and Nicky followed.
Joe: "When we reached San Francisco, we decided to stay there for a time. As we were wandering around the city trying to find a place to stay, we ended up in the Haight-Ashbury district. The epicentre of The Summer Of Love. Something we never will regret."
Nile: "How come?"
Joe smiled to himself as he allowed himself to remember the summer.
Joe: "Because it was the first time where we truly were accepted as a couple and didn't have to fear for our lives. You need to remember, Nile, that for most of our long life being gay was a death sentence in itself, and yes, we have been sentenced to death for loving each other a couple of times. But that summer, no one cared about the two men kissing each other in public, holding hands while walking down the streets, or if we slept together. All people cared about was love and our love was accepted for what it was. And we fell in love again and our love grew in a new way. We even ended up getting married by this hippie named Moon Lover, who was high on something but he was a priest. He didn't care who he married, the only condition he had was that people had to love each other."
Nile: "That sounds like an amazing summer. And I'm glad you got a chance to celebrate your love for once without any fear."
Joe: "It was an amazing summer and it lived up to its name The Summer Of Love. We also tried out roller skates for the first time and it became a lifelong love affair. We still got the roller skates we bought back then."
Nile: "Give me time and I will be just as good as you're."
Joe: "It's good with goals in life. It gives you something to strive after."
Nile threw a pillow after Joe. The last time she went roller skating with Joe and Nicky, she couldn't stand up at all on the roller skates, while Joe and Nicky just skated around like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Nile: "Do you have any photos from The Summer Of Love?"
Joe: "Not in this safe house, but I will show you once we get to Valletta."
Joe kept his promise to Nile. As soon as they reached Valletta, Joe went to the bank to get his safe deposit box. When Joe came back to the safe house, they sat down on the floor to look at the photos.
Joe: "Please don't laugh at us, but we let our hair grow that summer. When Andy saw us again, she couldn't stop laughing."
Joe handed Nile a photo. It showed Joe sitting in the grass with Nicky's head resting on Joe's thigh. They both got long hair and they both were wearing tank tops and short shorts. There were other people around them but they didn't care about the couple in the grass.
Nile: "Interesting choice of clothes but I understand better now with that people accepted you both for what you are. Normal people who are in love. Even though you drive me mad at times with all your kissing."
Joe: "You sound more and more like Andy."
Joe looked at another photo.
Joe: "Our wedding photo and the priest."
Joe handed Nile another photo. It showed an elderly man with a long grey beard and a ponytail only wearing shorts. The priest had one hand placed on Joe's head and the other hand on Nicky's head. Both Joe and Nicky were wearing white, but Nicky was wearing a long skirt, a tank top, and a flower wreath in his braided hair while Joe was wearing a tunic and long pants. Nile could tell that Joe and Nicky were so happy and in love.
Nicky with a yawn: "What are you doing?"
Nicky sat down next to Joe and placed his head on Joe's shoulder. Joe placed a kiss on Nicky's forehead.
Joe: "Just telling Nile about The Summer Of Love. And our wedding."
Nile: "It looked like a beautiful day."
Nicky: "It was and so was that summer. We never forgot the priest, who married us."
Joe: "A couple of years later, we found out that the priest ended up in jail for what he did in 1967. When he got out of jail in 1973, we made sure that he didn't miss anything in the last years of his life. We bought him and his wife a house in Hawaii. We made it look like they won in some lottery. Just as we did with the widow last week."
Nile: "I think it's a good thing you're doing. Taking care of those who need it the most."
Joe: "Someone has to do it."
Joe looked at Nicky who had fallen asleep again.
Joe: "Poor thing. Still suffering from jetlag. Let me get him to bed and then I return."
Nile nodded as Joe stood up. Joe picked Nicky up with ease and Nicky snuggled into Joe's shoulder with a smile. Nile knew it would take some time before Joe would return because the door closed somewhere in the safe house. For the next many hours, Nile looked at all the photos from The Summer Of Love. Joe had told Nile they bought a camera and had so much fun taking pictures of themselves. Nile was truly grateful that Joe hadn't chosen not to show her the photos of them naked. Instead, there were photos of them just being silly idiots in love, roller skating, and listing to music. It was clear to Nile, that to Joe and Nicky, it truly was The Summer Of Love.