Work Text:
There are scattered files and case notes littering the ground of your shared office; polaroids and pencils filling in the remaining gaps of carpet still visible, as you tiptoe around anything that seems even remotely important to the current case, but also around the second person in the room quietly doing the same.
The air is filled with mothballs and the weight of unspoken words.
Today feels different.
Exhaustion hangs heavily on Lee's shoulders, made obvious by the occasional massage to her neck, your eyes darting quickly away from her delicate fingers circling over the smallest area of bare skin from the collar of her dark blouse.
She is a little shorter than you are, slimmer and more delicate. Her hair is tied up neatly, but light brown strands tickle her face as she leans further over the notes, trying to distract herself with the work in front of her.
There are shadows behind Lee's eyes, lurking with a constant reminder of everything she'd been through, like dark, terrible footsteps crunching in the snow.
You have seen this plenty of times before, the way Harker sometimes stares blankly at the corkboard, lost in all the thoughts she cannot bring herself to share. It was impossible not to let Dale Kobble creep into your mind. You hoped desperately that his grotesque, ghostly face in the newspapers and on the television would soon be replaced with another, tamer Oregon celebrity.
You feel the urge to reach out to her.
"Hey," you say softly, breaking the silence settling like the dust around you both. Harker rises from her current kneeling position over an open binder.
You step closer, possessed. Her sad, brown eyes awkwardly dashing to yours for a moment, and your heart is in your throat.
"You okay?"
Harker forces a small smile, an automatic response she'd grown accustomed to giving by now. You see right through it, the slight quiver in Lee's lip betraying the emotionless mask.
"I'm fine," she replies, her voice so low it might as well have been a whisper. Her eyes don't come back to yours, they stayed firmly on the paperwork on the ground, but you can see they are glassy and unfocused.
One more step, and she cannot ignore your presence anymore.
"I don't think you are," you whisper back.
Lee finally finds your face again, looking up at you with confusion and concern in her eyes, partially hidden by her wispy bangs, as she keeps her head angled slightly towards the floor.
She could tell you didn't fully understand, but more importantly, you seemed willing to try.
Overcome with brief confidence, you extend your arm to her, hand gently cupping your co-worker's cheek, thumb tracing a line along her jaw. You notice how soft her skin is, and how she's so cold but doesn't allow herself to shake.
You momentarily worry it's too much, when slowly, as if testing the waters, Harker leans into your caress, feeling more vulnerable than she'd ever shown anyone.
It was a gamble, but one she found herself willing to take.
"Can I...?" you hesitate, voice still low, as if afraid of breaking the delicate moment between you both.
Lee nods, her heart beating faster, a flicker of hope igniting within her chest.
You lean in, lips brushing against Lee's softly at first, a gentle exploration. The kiss is tentative and sweet, the ghost of the dreaded dollmaker fading fast in that suspended moment of time.
Harker tastes sweet, with a lingering, passive heat from her most recently smoked cigarette.
She melts into the warmth of the kiss, the tenderness wrapping around her like one of her mother's crocheted blankets from when she was a child.
That was before evil had infected her home.
Lee gasps, and you move your lips together; an unspoken promise that you would be there with her to face that darkness together when she was ready.
The kiss deepens, filled with that same heat and acceptance. She hums contently as she tastes you.
When you finally pull back, you are both breathless and flushed with vulnerability. Lee's eyes are blown wide with a mix of gratitude and desire, whilst you focus on composing yourself from the adrenaline collecting in your blood.
You rest your forehead gently against hers, the two of you almost giggling from the high caused by each other's touch.
Harker wraps her arms loosely around your shoulders, and despite the torment that the pale devil had put her through, for the first time in a long time, she feels like she doesn't have to suffer alone.