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Tom walks into the front room, excited to see his boyfriend after he’d been gone on a mission for a week. It’s 10 pm, and by a rough estimate Alex had given him, the MI6 debrief should have ended about 20 minutes ago. With time for Alex to get home, he should be home in the next few minutes.
Tom takes up residence on the couch, mindlessly scrolling on his phone while waiting for the tell-tale sound of the gate opening to tell him Alex is back.
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About 30 minutes have passed, and still no Alex.
Maybe Tom should call him?
Tom leaves a light-hearted message, but there’s a very obvious undertone of concern.
Hopefully, Alex will be home soon.
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It’s been 2 hours now. Where could Alex be?
Tom has been crying for a while now; afraid something has happened. Who knows what that Jones woman could be grilling out of him right now? Or recovering off of his dead body? Fuck, Tom is losing it with fear. Time continues to pass as Tom shakes and quietly sobs by the door, eyes drooping with exhaustion.
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Tom blinks, waking up from his crying-induced nap.
He rubs his sore eyes, looking around the dark, upsettingly Alex-less room.
He gazes down at his phone, 2:53 am.
Alex was supposed to be home almost 5 hours ago.
He was supposed to be coming home from a laid-back mission, something about surveillance in Germany. It should have been done in a week, Alex returned in the same state he left in.
But Alex hadn’t come home, and if he’s not home from just a simple mission, then maybe he’s not okay, maybe he needs help, maybe he’s—
There’s a sound from outside.
It doesn’t sound inhuman.
Could it be Alex?
Tom rushes over to the window, pushing apart blinds to peek through.
A tired looking, somewhat bruised Alex is fumbling the gate lock, standing unevenly.
Tom’s eyes enlarge comically, and he rushes out the door to help his beat-up boyfriend.
He quickly unlatches the gate, pulling one of Alex’s arms towards him so he can pat him down and assess injuries. “Alex! Alex! Alex, stop, I’ll get the gate, we’ve gotta get you inside! Oh god, you look awful! I thought it was just a simple mission, so I tried not to worry, but it was 5 fucking hours and—” Tom rushes, stumbling over a few words before he is pulled into a bruising kiss.
Alex kisses him hard, pulling him in tight with one bruised arm holding his face, the other cradling his neck.
Tom melts into his hold, kissing Alex lovingly. Then he remembers the situation and breaks away with a grimace.
“Alex! We need to get inside! You’re hurt, and—” Tom gets cut off again by Alex pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.
“Tom, please. I’m okay, I’m stable. Calm down, and we can walk inside and rebandage some of the worst bruises. But really, you should see the other guys.” Alex adds a wink to the end.
Tom flushes and looks away. “Shut up, let’s just… go inside.” Tom takes Alex’s hand gingerly and leads him through the front door, through the house and into the bathroom.
Tom pushes Alex down onto the toilet while he kneels and holds his arm, looking for blood.
“Tom, really-”
“Shut it, Alex! You kept reassuring me ‘it’s just surveillance, Tom! Don’t worry, Tom! I’ll come back just peachy!’”
Alex’s arms are bruised, with mottled purple, green and yellow taking forming the shapes of hands, striking another chord of worry in Tom (how long have they been there?). However, they’re in no need of a bandage, so Tom just half-carries Alex to the kitchen for ice and tea.
Setting Alex down on a barstool, Tom rifles through both the fridge and freezer for an ice pack. “Alex, where do you usually keep the ice packs? I can’t find any of them.”
“They should be in the ice box.”
Tom makes a victorious sound when he finds one, kicking the freezer door shut with his foot, then waltzing over to Alex to wrap the ice pack around his worse leg, the one he was limping on.
“Thanks. You’re such a good nurse.” Alex says it playfully, but Tom can recognise real gratitude when he hears it.
Placing a kiss on the ice pack wrap, Tom stands and places another kiss on Alex’s lips. “No worries. Maybe I should just be your 24/7 care unit, god knows you need it.”
Alex snickers while Tom turns around and turns on the kettle.
Tom knows how to make Alex’s perfect cup of tea. English breakfast, dash of milk, 1 sugar, stirred together with the love of the best boyfriend in the world. Tom makes himself a twin cup, gently passing Alex’s over to him, leaning over the kitchen counter.
Alex unconsciously blows on his cup of tea before taking a sip.
Tom mirrors him.
“Tom—”
“Alex—”
They stare at each other for a second before Tom concedes, gesturing for Alex to finish.
“Tom, I know you’re a bit upset, and pretty worried about what happened to me. I did tell you that it would be just surveillance. And it was, really, but the guys we were monitoring found out, and they weren’t too pleased. Yeah, they found us, yeah, they beat us up, but I am okay. And they’re done for. They’re in custody and they won’t get out. And plus—”, Alex smiles down at his tea, “—you’re taking amazing care of me too.” Alex flicks his eyes up to Tom, full of affection.
Tom smiles warily back, before starting, “Alex, I love you more than I think you could even imagine. I know you can’t control what happens on your missions, but the thought that you might not be okay, that you might not come home—”, Tom stops himself and takes a shaky breath, “It makes me sick. I could easily get myself to throw up just at the thought of it. I just… need you to know that I love you, would die without you, and I’m just so relieved you’re okay. Even if I seemed a bit worked up, or whatever.”
Tom walks around the kitchen island to stand in front of Alex. He places his hands on Alex’s hips, stroking his skin exposed by his shirt riding up warmly.
Alex tugs him down for a sweet, tender kiss, Tom meeting him halfway.
Their noses bump as they both try and tilt their heads, smiling into the kiss when they do.
They stay like that for a while, kissing slowly and languidly, pressing soft love and I’m so glad you’re okay into each other’s mouths.
“C’mon,” Tom says as he gently pulls away. He takes Alex’s hand, pulling him towards their bedroom, supporting him with an arm under his shoulder. He strips Alex of his jacket, shirt and pants before lying him on the bed with the utmost care. Tom pulls the covers back and throws an arm over him, sighing and pulling him in closer with closed eyes.
Alex just smiles, because his boyfriend loves him so much.
“Hey, Alex, you know I’m not really upset, right? At least not with you. It’s bloody ‘6’s fault for putting you there to begin with.” Tom mumbles out.
“Yeah, Tom, I know. I love you.”
Tom cracks open an eye and smiles sleepily.
“I love you too.”