Work Text:
The two of them lay in bed, Basira's hair like a half-halo around her head, Daisy cuddled up as close as they could get without crawling inside her.
'Basira?'
'Hm?'
'You awake?'
'Yeah, what's up?'
'Can't sleep. Tell me a story?'
'What about?'
'Anything.'
Basira thought for a moment before continuing.
'Once, there was a young girl. They weren't loud, but they weren't exactly quiet, either. She liked to climb radio towers, and go for walks, and spit in the face of people she didn't agree with. Everyone called them unruly, but they didn't understand. Why follow a rule if it doesn't make sense?'
Basira's sweet voice wrapped around them both like honey.
'This girl didn't act like she was supposed to. They got dirt on their face, and wrestled with their best friend, and didn't care much for books or dresses like the other girls. Her parents hated that, and she never fully forgave them for how they treated her, even after they died.
Being called unruly and wild their entire childhood, they decided to turn things around and become a police officer, eventually moving up to the rank of detective.'
At this, Daisy tensed slightly.
'Not about me, Basira, please.'
'Just trust me, okay?'
'M'kay, I trust you.'
'This girl, she made mistakes. The chase was addictive. They knew this, but kept pushing, kept hunting. I'm doing good, she told herself, even though deep, deep down she knew that some of these people weren't deserving of what she did to them.
Then they met someone else, someone who was smitten with them from the first 'Hello'.'
Daisy laughed slightly, but didn't say anything.
'What? It's true!'
'Sure it is. Go on, I don't want you to stop.'
'This other person, she was also a police officer. She had had a bit of a rough life; she was an orphan, and had jumped from foster family to foster family with her sister, until her sister died in a drunk driving accident when she was 17 and this person was 26. She blamed herself for it, and never let go.
She understood why the girl did what they did. Those people were criminals, like the man who had hit and killed her sister. Even if they didn't deserve exactly what the girl served them, the girl was making the world a better place. Rose coloured glasses can be blinding, sometimes.
This person noticed the way the girl turned away when she took off her hijab in the change room. Eventually the girl told her it was because they were a lesbian, and didn't want this person to feel violated. That moment was when this person knew that it was more than a crush, that she really was in love with the girl.
They talked more and more outside of work, and this led to a date. They went to a coffee shop not far from the police station on a mutual day off. They talked for hours, until the coffee shop closed. The tube lines had also closed by then, as it was late, so they walked back to the girl's flat because it was closest.'
'Basira, you don't have to tell this part…'
'Stop interrupting my story,' she chided.
Daisy just grumbled.
'Anyways, they both went back to the girl's flat. It was dark, and the person was nervous, but the girl knew their way around. The person felt safe as long as they were with the girl, even if the girl was significantly below average height.'
'Oh shut up.'
'I told you to stop interrupting!'
'I'll interrupt as much as I like,' Daisy said, with no fight in their voice.
Basira continued. 'They reached the building, and took the lift up to the girl's flat. They held hands the whole way up, all the way to the door. After they'd stepped through the doorway and the girl turned from closing the door, the person kissed them. Deeply, passionately, desperately. She'd never loved someone like this before. This was a special sort of love.
They went to the bedroom, and did some things that will stay between them, that need not be voiced aloud. Though the person can attest that those things were certainly more than enjoyable.'
'Oh shut up.'
'What, you don't want me to continue the story?'
'I never said that.'
Basira was going to retort that actually you did, but thought better of it when Daisy turned around and pressed their face into her chest, wrapping their arms around her waist.
'The two had a very private love. It was never discussed, nor was it shown through more than a simple I've got your back, or another night like that first one, or the way they tended to each other's injuries after a chase.
It was them against the world, together. They fought, and killed, and hunted, and deep, deep down they knew it was wrong, but that didn't matter. They were making the world a better place, together. Some of the people they hunted did deserve it, but the majority…
It didn't matter to either of them. Over time, the definition of the word 'partner' to the girl morphed from meaning 'assigned to work with me' to 'friend' to 'lover', and it wasn't questioned, or dwelled upon, or thought about at length. they were partners, even after the person quit. They were partners, even after the girl quit as well. They were partners, and that was it. They had each other's backs, and it was as simple as that.
It wasn't until… It wasn't until the girl was locked somewhere dark, and dirty, and crushing, that the 'I have your back's were replaced with 'I love you's. That was when the girl knew for sure that the word partner meant lover. That was when they both stopped killing for good. The chase was over, and they could both finally rest. The hunt was not yet done, and it was hard to resist, but the girl was strong. The girl is strong. You're so, so strong, Daisy. I love you.'
An unintelligible reply came from the woman currently curled into Basira, but she knew what they meant to say.
She didn't bother asking if Daisy had liked the story, they were asleep, and that was enough.
It was like this, clinging to Daisy like the world depended on it, listening to her soft snores, that Basira fell asleep. For the first time in a long time, the pair slept without worry or nightmare to plague their mind. They had each other, they were partners. That was enough.