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This exercise was so incredibly stupid.
Yes, her and Marco had been having some -ugh how could she put it nicely … communication issues … in the field lately.
Marco didn’t always listen to her expertise as a specialist and she wasn’t too keen on the ways he wanted to use his magic, so they kept butting heads.
Which was weird in itself.
Usually they were so in sync with each other.
They had been paired for almost 4 years by this point and she couldn’t remember being this at odds with him since their first year.
He had been arrogant and she had been not impressed.
But they meshed well in training, which led to a tentative partnership, which then led to a friendship.
Now, they were one of the strongest fairy/specialist pairs in the realm, partly due to the strength of his magic and partly due to the skills she possessed as a specialist.
They complimented each other.
Until they didn’t.
Both had gotten an earful from Headmaster Silva about their “reckless” behavior and how they didn’t “appreciate the role each other played in the natural balance of their pairing”.
Behind Silva’s back, Noura rolled her eyes at the whole thing.
Silva might have a point about both of them acting like assholes on the last few missions, but nothing that should have sent them back to stupid training activities.
Yet here they were on what was supposed to be their day off waiting for whatever nonsense task Silva had for them.
“I’m not quite sure what’s gotten into two of my very best, but you both need to get it together if you’re going to continue working together.” Silva stated.
“You wouldn’t really take away our partnership because of some minor issues?” Marco was standing still with his arms crossed in front of him. He both looked and sounded defensive, and Noura had to agree with him. Separating them was not the answer.
But Noura was a soldier, so she would accept whatever her superior decided, whether she personally agreed with it or not. She ensured her face stayed neutral and her posture was the perfect stance, hands behind her trying not to give any of her thoughts away.
“Minor? You two almost got blown up because you were arguing!” Silva ran his fingers through his hair and Noura knew how frustrated he was.
She was frustrated too.
“Sir-” Noura wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but having these two argue with each other was not going to help anyone.
Marco’s headmaster had been Farah, and he hadn’t taken to Silva like he had with Dowling. It didn’t help that Silva was not a fairy, but the new fairy headmaster, Ben Harvey, had been coworkers with him during the Rosalind, blood witch fiasco. Marco missed his mentor and arguing with Silva was usually the way he expressed those frustrations. Noura was usually a better buffer, but she was in uniform and that meant she had to act a certain way.
“No.” Silva cut her off. “Like I said, I am not sure what has gotten into you two, but I do know that this isn’t working anymore.”
Noura knew why.
Marco knew why.
Hell, Silva probably knew why.
Why had she been so fucking stupid?
She had not meant to hook up with Marco - really she had put up a good fight for 4 long years. In that time, both of them had had a few partners. Sometimes even lasting months. They both had one night stands. Sometimes one of them would have a friend with benefits situation going on. Neither had seriously attempted anything with each other.
But there were also a handful of kisses sprinkled in those 4 years, strictly for comfort of course.
Not to mention the sleepovers, that were entirely platonic, or as platonic as can be when you wake up cuddling in minimal sleep clothes.
They had showered together a few times too. But that was only when one of them was too injured to wash up after a mission - well usually .
There had been the one time that both had been perfectly capable of showering by themselves, but Noura had just come back from the dead and Marco had just been returned by the blood witches and neither had wanted to let the other one out of their sight.
And really, how many women could say that they resisted Marco for that long?
None.
And now she couldn’t either.
She guessed it was inevitable, but she hadn’t been expecting the feelings that came with it.
Most of the time when a fairy/specialist pair hooked up it was a culmination of heightened emotions, near death experiences, and spending way too much time together.
A lot of her friends had been down that road before and had told her it was hot in the moment, but usually fizzled out afterwards because it had been the circumstances pushing them together, not actual feelings for each other.
So maybe Noura was lucky. It hadn’t fizzled out.
If anything it had gotten more intense. Personally, their bond was stronger than ever. But professionally they were floundering.
Silva wasn’t stupid. He could probably understand that something had changed between them and Noura didn’t necessarily want her boss’ opinion on her sex life, but she needed something to give.
They both had almost been blown up on the last mission, and while that type of stuff did happen, it didn’t happen to them.
“We’re going to go back to basics. First year exercise actually. Time for you two to switch places. Same rules apply, a report due on my desk in 24 hours.” Silva sent them both a smirk.
She had hated this exercise as a student and she knew she was going to hate it as an adult.
At the end of every student’s first year, they were paired with a specialist and the two were forced to swap for the day. Specialists took fairy classes and were put through mental tests meant to simulate magic use, while fairies were put through specialist training. The whole thing was supposed to show how both fairies and specialists had unique jobs and responsibilities. Usually, it just led to a lot of bitching from the first years.
Noura remembered that she had hated being stuck in the fairy classes, unable to use her body or her weapons. Marco had hated her training because he hadn’t bulked up yet.
Back then the exercise had worked, but would it now?
“Sir, respectfully, we don’t have classes or trainings that could simulate-”
“But you both have lives. Marco congrats, you are now Noura’s bodyguard. Noura, have fun being a good fairy that listens to the safety instructions of her specialist.”
She hated being a damsel in distress.
Thinking they were dismissed, both started to turn.
“Oh and one more thing. Marco, no magic. Noura, no weapons.”
“You have got to be kidding-”
“Oh come on-”
Neither liked those conditions.
“Act like first years and you’ll get treated like first years.” Silva shrugged but looked way too pleased with himself when he walked away from them.
“Well this fucking sucks.” Marco huffed.
“Hmmm.” Noura pinched her between her eyebrows, already sensing she was going to get a headache from this whole thing.
“So Nour, what’s our agenda for the day?” Marco turned to look directly at her.
“I have to visit the archives for some research I was doing for an old captain of mine.”
“On our day off? Nerd.” Marco teased her.
“And what exactly was your plan for today?”
“I was hoping I could persuade you to stay in bed all day.” Now he was smirking and took a step closer to her.
“And how were you intending to do that?” She didn’t allow herself to reach out to him even though she really wanted to. She was in her specialist uniform, and she had some boundaries.
“I have my ways.” He stepped even closer. His hands went to her hips, before finding her utility belt. He traced the fabric from one of her hips, across her back, and then back to the front until he clicked the little button that unhooked it.
He easily caught it, before dropping down on one knee and going for her thigh holster. He carefully undid it, caressing her leg as he did.
Then he tapped her one leg, signaling her to put her leg up, which she did while rolling her eyes. He then removed the knife that had been tucked into her boot.
Marco gently put her foot down before rising to his full height again. He clicked her utility belt back together before looping it over his head and one arm so it fell diagonally across his chest. Then he tucked her knife into his boot. The thigh holster must have thrown him for a loop because it was fitted to Noura and not him.
“I’ll get my hip holster when you’re changing.”
“Changing?” She scoffed.
“You heard the man Noura, no weapons. I might know about these, but Solaria knows what other ones you’ve got hidden in there.”
He did have a point. She did have a few more things tucked into secret pockets. She sent him an unimpressed look.
“I’m here to protect you now.” He smiled at her.
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about.” She retorted.
“Let’s go, Noura.” Marco used his empty hand to gently turn her, then the slight pressure at her back forced her to start walking.
They had driven her together, so when they got to her car she turned to make her way to the driver’s side, but Marco steered her to the passenger side.
“Nope, I’m the bodyguard which means, I’m driving.” Opened the door for her and raised his eyebrow.
“Fine, but scratch my baby and I’ll actually hurt you.” She knew she had to play by the stupid rules Silva had set.
Marco closed her door and made his way over to the other side and got in. They drove back to her apartment in relative silence.
Walking up the stairs, Marco was behind her until they got to the door.
“I’m just gonna do a quick sweep-” Marco let himself into her apartment and quickly shut the door in her face.
Now that was rude.
She clenched her jaw.
It was going to be a long 24 hours.
30 seconds later he opened the door and motioned her in.
Now it was her turn to look unimpressed. A sweep never took 30 seconds if you were doing it correctly. Making her way to her bedroom she started getting undressed.
She didn’t even need to see him to know what he was doing.
“Is watching your charge undressing proper body guard etiquette?” She had just taken off her shirt and bra, intending to change into a work out top, but she sent a raised eyebrow over her naked shoulder. Noticing that he had set her thigh holster on the bed, and he had his hip holster already situated.
“Just being thorough, ma’am.” He tipped an imaginary cowboy hat at her.
“Thorough my ass.” But she continued to change until she had on her leggings.
“ My ass.” Marco echoed.
“Excuse me?” She asked sharply. This overprotective bullshit was already getting on her last nerve.
“You ready to head to the archives?”
Mentally she gave herself a pep talk.
She could do this.
It was just one afternoon. She grabbed her backpack with a notebook and laptop, and slapped the fakest smile she could on her face.
The trip to the archives was fine, even if she was itching to drive her car. Marco was typically her passenger princess and she wasn’t sure she really loved being his.
As soon as they parked he insisted she stay in the car giving him time to “scan the area”.
Gods, she wanted to hit him.
It was the fucking Solarian archives, not some dangerous location they were infiltrating.
When he proceeded to “sweep” every room they entered, she was about ready to tell him they were leaving.
How fucking annoying was it to have someone telling her what was and wasn’t safe?
Once she made it to the floor she wanted, she asked for help from a worker, checking out a few maps and old blueprints. She picked a table and decided to get to work.
Marco must have gotten bored in his post because he offered several times to help her.
Each time she replied a cool no. She knew what she was looking for and didn’t feel like explaining to him what she was doing. He also wasn’t the best at reading blueprints and he would bitch about his eyes hurting him after 20 minutes of reading.
After 2 hours in the archive, and 12 times turning down Marco’s help, Noura could feel the annoyance coming off of him. Glancing up at his annoyed expression made her downright giddy.
That’s what he gets for trying to boss her around.
Finishing up her email to her captain, she closed her laptop and started putting away her supplies.
“Finally.” He exhaled.
For that comment alone she was going to take her sweet time putting all her materials away.
Did she purposely walk through more floors just to piss him off? Yes .
Did she take a detour away from the car to take a walk in the gardens attached to the property? Yes .
Was his annoyance palpable? Also yes .
And again, it brought a little happiness to her that he was getting annoyed at having to play the specialist part. She always was the one that had to deal with his annoying tasks or recently, since they started seeing each other, there were times where he went rogue because he thought his plan was better than what she had thought of.
“So, how’s it feel to have to adapt to my will?” She asked teasingly.
“Nour, I’ve pretty much always been adapting to your will.” He replied easily.
“Not the past couple missions.” She pointed out. She had the odd urge to reach out and touch his arm to see if he was tense due to her bringing up their problems. She wasn’t the one that usually initiated physical contact so it was odd to have that as a fleeting thought while waiting for his answer. Meanwhile Marco was very touchy with her.
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. You’ve never gone rogue on me before or hid a plan from me! But, lately - you have. You shut me out.” She started fiddling with the straps of her backpack.
“I-I didn’t - don’t - mean to… I just - it’s different now, you know?” Marco looked ahead as they continued their stroll through the gardens.
“Because of us?” She hoped he didn’t want to stop seeing each other.
“So you’re acknowledging an us ?” He smirked.
“There’s always been an us.”
“But it’s different now.” Marco pointed out, and stopped. She turned to look at him. “Isn’t it?” He pressed.
“Not for me.” Noura answer.
“Fucking hell Noura! How is it not different for you? I’m more aware of you then I have ever been and before -this- I don’t think I ever realized the amount of danger you’re always in!”
“Me? You are the one who has been disregarding protocols recently!”
“To try and keep YOU safe!” Marco looked actually upset about what had just left his mouth.
“Marco -” She started.
“No, I - Noura you have always been my best friend, someone I can count on. But I never thought we would actually get here. I hoped that maybe someday this could happen, but I figured no matter - what we would go through life together. Lately, when we’re on a mission, all I can think about is I can’t lose you - not when I finally have you.”
“Marco…” She sighed.
“I’m not trying to be difficult.”
“I know, but what do you think I’ve been doing since the beginning? Keeping you safe. Obviously, I don’t want anything to happen to either of us. But when you make those decisions to keep me safe, without telling me your plan, you’re putting both of us in even more danger.” This time she did reach out and place her hand on his arm. She started rubbing her thumb up and down, trying to comfort him in his love language.
“I’m sorry… I’ll try to be better. I don’t want to not be partners anymore.” He settled his one hand on her waist.
“And, just because I know you’ll be dissecting this conversation for the rest of the afternoon, it isn’t different for me because I’ve always been aware of you. I’ve always tried to keep you safe. I’ve always … loved you. That’s never been hard for me.” Looking down, she bit her lip realizing what she said. She hadn’t meant to tell Marco that.
“You love me huh?” His other hand settled on her waist. She glanced up to see him smiling.
“Uh huh.” She replied, and he kissed her forehead.
“You ready to head home?”
She nodded.
Making their way back to the car, he was still acting as her specialist but he had relaxed a fraction from this morning. She threaded her fingers with his, something she normally wouldn’t do, but she was the fairy right now so she got what she wanted.
Driving home, she looked over at him and poked his bicep.
“Can we stop for coffee?”
“You hate having coffee this late in the day.” Which was true, but she was tired and emotionally exhausted, so she deserved some coffee.
“I’m begging, I would give you my first born to stop and get me some coffee and a brownie before we have to write this dumb report for Silva. Pleaseee Marco, don’t make me do this uncaffeinated.” She knew she was laying it on thick, but she could feel herself start to get hangry.
“It’s already mine.” His lips twitched, but he put on his blinker and turned into the coffee shop down the road.
“Excuse me?” She turned to him. But he waited until he parked, before turning to her.
“Your first born. It’s already mine, Noura, whether I get you this coffee or not…and your second and third, if you want those too.” He had leaned across the center console and grabbed her chin, searching her eyes.
She felt herself blush. He had never said that before.
“Marco-” She started but he leaned in and kissed her.
“You ready to get coffee?” he asked softly.
“How am I - you just said - Marco.” Her brain was all fuzzy.
“As if you didn’t realize I’d be the father of your kids one day. I’ve known that for at least two years.”
“We only started seeing each other 5 months ago!”
“And like I said, we were always going to go through life together.” He turned and started to open up his door, “Oh, and Noura. In case that wasn’t clear, I love you too.”
Professor Silva,
Attached you will find our official report. We wanted to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to communicate effectively about the issues that were plaguing our partnership. You might not want to hear this, but we learned a lot about partnership from you and Headmistress Dowling. We understand the importance of our friendship and the boundaries we might have to put in place to continue to be successful.
-Marco and Noura
P.s. Marco doesn’t know I am writing this, but thanks for being a mentor to me all this time. It is humbling to remember that sometimes we have to go back to basics in order to grow