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Kate sat in bed, her hand resting on the warm slumbering body next to her, their breathing calm and steady, face relaxed as they slept in a way that made her heart clench with equal parts of love and envy.
She’d never craved the limelight. Her work had always been done in the shadows. Shrouded in a veil of secrecy and mystery. She’d saved the planet from the brink of disaster too many times to count, seen and done things no one outside of the organisation would ever know about. Kept secrets that would tear governments and countries apart, harboured technology that would do the same should its presence ever be known.
And yet now, here it was - UNIT standing centre stage, Kate at the helm and with the eyes of the world upon them. Political and public alike, all waiting for a chance, a crack, something they could use to pounce and turn the slightest possibility into political or financial gain. The tightrope she walked was impossibly thin, the pressure, the potential fallout if any of this went sideways would be catastrophic. And UNIT, Kate would be right in the epicentre. She felt the weight of expectation and scrutiny on her shoulders from all sides, even within UNIT itself, the message the same even if their objectives were not - don’t mess this up.
She looked down at the figure sleeping next to her. The one person always by her side, who somehow managed to ease the burden she carried, see past the duty and command that wrapped around her, stifling her. Someone who knew when the strings were pulled too tight, when she needed come up for air, who was able to see the woman who was trying her best, who gave everything she had but sometimes needed the small moments of comfort and affection to ground her, remind her what she fought for.
He was her solace and her Achilles heel rolled up in one.
They wanted a chance to discredit her. Her record was almost spotless, her career exemplary. But this would be the ultimate disgrace, what better way to bring her down than exposing her relations with another officer. Her second in command.
Think Tank had already tried to bring her down, claim UNIT was corrupt, a waste of money thrown at a legacy she’d built on lies and fabrication. She’d weathered that storm - just. But now another was brewing, deeper and far more personal. The public wouldn’t be so forgiving twice. Her personal life had already been under the microscope once and the sharks were circling in anticipation, ready to take her down once the first blood had been drawn.
She wouldn’t survive another scandal. It didn’t matter the first had been unfounded her reputation had taken a hit, rumours and speculation were more than enough to bring someone down in these times. She’d be given a healthy pension and swiftly marched out the back door, payment for services to her country, the world.
Giving him up was the only option if she was to continue at UNIT, fighting to shape the world into a better place, entrusted to continue to build on legacy of her father. She would have to put a stop to this relationship, before it came out - as they truth always did. They’d been lucky so far, it wouldn’t last, not with the world watching, waiting.
But to give up the one thing that kept her grounded, human, through the destruction and political madness she witnessed all too often. She wasn’t sure she’d survive without him either, figuratively or literally.
She’d finally had a taste of true and unconditional love, but to continue it was going to take everything she had ever worked for. To give up now, after all the sacrifices she had made to get here, what would that do to everything she had built so far? Her father, his legacy at UNIT meant everything to her but now so did the man sleeping next to her.
There was no way to extricate herself from this situation without casualties. The longer she sat contemplating, wallowing in her thoughts, the higher the chances were of the entire thing imploding around her, taking any choice away and ruining everything and the lives of those around her in one fell swoop.
She was terrified of making the wrong choice and yet inaction was even worse.
Duty or love, it was impossible to have both.
Kate’s phone buzzed next to her with a message. Checking the news report on the laptop she swore softly to herself. Pulling her hand carefully away from the body on the bed she climbed out as quietly as possible. She bit the inside of her cheek, the physical pain helping to steel herself for what she knew was coming, what had to be done.
Duty. It always came down to duty.