The Awakening (closed for EroticLiteracy)

The cyborg Unit S-018 cocked her head slightly in response as she heard a noise coming from within the cell that she was guarding. Well...at least judging by the shape of the armor that she was wearing the unit appeared to be a she anyways. Covered entirely from head to toe in mechanical armor as she was, it was impossible for anyone other than those who had created her to know for sure exactly who or what she was inside. Even she herself had never seen what she looked like. She was only ever out of her armor for short periods of time for maintenance or repairs in a small room with no mirrors or reflective surfaces and with only the scientist who had created her and her commanding officer present. Not that she cared about her appearance or was curious to see what she looked like though. Any human emotions and memories that she might have of who she'd been before she'd been turned into a cyborg had been disabled by her creator. All that remained now was programming.

Turning around, she opened the cell door and walked inside. Upon entering she found the man that she had been ordered to guard chained up right where she had left him. Though now instead of passed out he was awake and on his feet. She cocked her head slightly to the side and examined him for a moment, noting how worn and beat up he looked from his most recent interrogation session. The man was a member of the Justice Force, an international team of superheroes who just so happened to be the sworn enemy of the villainous agency that had created her. The man had been interrogated frequently and brutally since his capture in an attempt to get him to reveal information to the agency on the Justice Force that could aid the agency in their attempts to defeat them, but so far no one had been able to break him.

"Why you insist on trying to protect your team I will never understand," she told him in a flat robotic tone, her true voice disguised by the suit she wore, "Surely you understand that if you just give them the information that they want then the torture will stop."

The man covered in heavy silver chains didn’t say anything. The large fluorescent lights bore down on him chasing every last bit of shadow away in the train cart/ prison. The man himself was on the floor his tall lean body battered from the torture he recently undertook. He costume was still on a simple top hat and flamboyant Victorian era clothing. His cane rested a few feet away its crow head starring at the woman impassively with ruby red eyes as she walked in.

“What was that?” He said laughing as he struggled to rise to his feet. He coughed and his throat convulsed gathering the blood in his mouth before spitting it out.
“Darling as much as I would love to tell your little friends the secrets of the Justice Force” He said standing and tucking his hands into his long overcoat.

“I’m afraid I have been out of the game for quite some time” He told her his eyes flickering to his cane “The Justice Force disbanded years ago. I was already out when they did. Your superiors are lying to you my dear. They want to torture me because of my particular skill set. They want to kill me because I could bring ruin to them all”

Unit S-O18 examined the man standing before her, noting the way he had struggled to rise to his feet and the blood that he had just spit out onto the floor. He didn't look capable of bringing ruin to anyone, let alone the incredibly large and powerful agency that had created her. Either the recent beating had caused damage to his reasoning capabilities or his 'skill set' as he had called it was very remarkable indeed.

"What 'skill set' would that be exactly?" she asked him.

She did not ask out of curiosity. She was incapable of feeling curious. She asked purely for practical reasons. If she was going to be guarding him she would be able to do a better job of it if she knew exactly what his superhero abilities were and could plan accordingly for them ahead of time. She thought of another potentially useful piece of information he could give her.

"And why did you leave the Justice Force before they'd disbanded?"

Her superiors were aware of the Justice Force having disbanded, but recently had reason to believe that they were reforming. She didn't have clearance to all of the details, but it was possible that this man could provide them some insight into the Justice Force and their workings in the past that could prove useful towards fighting against them now.

He chuckled his deep dark blue eyes watching her as she asked her questions. His pointed chin bobbed in the air moving up and down as his Adams apple bobbed. His long lean panther like body stretched jutting against his well-made and tailored clothes. His long black hair kissed the top of his eyebrows.

“Your awfully curious for a cyborg” He remarked his eyes flickering to his cane and the small shadow it made under the harsh light.

“If you’re so curious however…..”

Before he could make his move however the train rocked and shook. Outside an alarm began to blare echoing off the snowy mountain they were currently circling. The train shook more and several lights began to fall and crash against the metal canister as the lights in the room began to go out the mans smile grew larger and larger.

“I think that’s my que dearie” He said tipping his hat at her as the shadows behind him seemed to twist and writhe. His cane was suddenly in his hands the crow heads mouth opened when it had been closed before. The shadows behind him pulsated and suddenly they flew out lashing at her and slamming the door open she came through.

“They didn’t tell you this but my name is Dr. Shadow” He said stepping out of his cage “And you in A LOT of trouble darling”

Unit S-018 had noticed the man's eyes flickering over to his cane. She knew it was possible that he might be trying to plan some kind of little scheme. Not that she ever thought that he would ever actually be able to get away with it of course. The cards were stacked against him, and no matter what his powers were the odds of him being able to escape were incredibly low. Still, it didn't mean that he would't try. Her muscles tensed in preparation for some kind of attack.

What she hadn't expected though was for the train to suddenly rock and shake beneath her feet, the alarm of some kind of attack blaring outside the cable car that held his cell. The train shook more, making the lights begin to crash and break above them and making her loose her footing slightly. It was at that moment that the shadows that had formed behind the man from the lights breaking began to move behind him and the cane that had been on the other side of the room was in his hand, giving her a clue as to the nature of his powers. Before she'd had time to even react however the shadows were suddenly lashing out at her, blasting her back through the closed door of his cell and making her land hard on the floor of the small hallway outside.

“They didn’t tell you this but my name is Dr. Shadow” He said stepping out of his cage “And you in A LOT of trouble darling”

The cyborg winced slightly as she quickly rose to her feet. She was incredibly strong due to her many enhancements, but parts of her were still in fact human and were therefor capable of registering pain. Regardless of this though she had been programmed to follow the commands of her superiors, and her current orders had been to guard the prisoner and not allow him to escape...at all costs.

"Trouble? I don't think so," she told him as a bright red light began to engulf and radiate around both of her hands, "There were things they didn't tell you about me as well, 'Dr. Shadow'."

Without warning she raised one of her hands in his direction, a blast of pure energy shooting out from her hand and firing in his direction.

He waved his cane drawing the shadows from the container. They formed a solid wall of blackness in front of him a shield that blocked the energy blast. The shield disappeared revealing his confused face as he looked at her with renewed interest.
“I know those blasts” He said his eyes narrowing as he took her in “There’s something off about you darling”

He waved his cane forming spear like shards of pure shadow. They shot out moving fast than light as they slammed into her metallic body. There was a crack as her head hit the metal floor of the container the shards keeping her in place as he quickly moved over to her.

He was halfway to her when the train began to shake harder. He turned his eyes widening as he saw a blue and white blur coming from the back of the train. There was a screeching sound as sparks flew from the train wheels and half of the train seemed to tip forward.

“He’s over doing it again” Doctor Shadow said moving over to the girl “It seems you and I need to take this conversation else where I would hate for my friends to attack you before I find out the truth”

He grabbed her yanking her off of the floor with surprising strength. He pulled the shadows to him once more wrapping them around his body and hers as the noises from the train faded away. They seemed to exist in a place devoid of light, a place of deep impenetrable darkness.”

“Do you recognize me?” He asked releasing her.

Unit S-018 cried out in pain as her body collided with the metal floor of the container, her head hitting first and taking the majority of the blow. There was an audible crack heard in the room as the back of her helmet broke, but that wasn't the only damage. On the inside of her visor in her helmet warnings suddenly appeared and flashed, informing her that there had been some kind of internal damage and instructing her to report to her commander for repairs IMMEDIATELY. Then suddenly just as quickly as they had appeared the orders were gone, fizzling out and disappearing from before her eyes as the connection was broken.

Her head swimming she struggled to get up, but the shards Doctor Shadow had shot out at her held her firmly in place as he began to move towards her. She felt the train shaking harder beneath her, turned as he did and saw the blurred figure rushing towards him. She knew it wasn't anyone from the agency she worked for. They were most definitely under attack.

Her eyes went wide as she heard the wheels screeching and half of the train began to tip forward. She felt her heartbeat quickening in her chest. Was this...fear that she was feeling now?

She heard Doctor Shadow's words as he moved to her, but not making any sense of them, when suddenly he was yanking her up off of the floor and holding her in place as the shadows that he had been manipulating and using to fight against her with before wrapped around them both. She watched in amazement as they were completely engulfed in shadow, all sound and light from the train car fading away until they were in what appeared to be some place entirely new all together. She looked around her, trying to take it in, but her eyes only finding darkness.

“Do you recognize me?” He asked releasing her.

Her head whipped back towards him suddenly at the sound of his voice, confused by his question and also by the fact that he had released her. Wasn't he worried she would try to attack him again? She backed away from him, eyeing him with skepticism. What game was he trying to play? Of course she recognized him. She'd been his guard hadn't she?

But yet... there was something about him now that seemed...familiar.

She suddenly went very still. Behind her helmet her gaze narrowed at him as she took him in with fresh eyes, noting carefully the lines of his physique and the way he held himself...the shape of his mouth...and then finally those dark blue eyes peering out from her from beneath the fringe of his long black hair.

Her eyes went wide in revelation.

"You-...," she began before suddenly stopping, the sound of her own voice having caught her off guard and startled her.

With her helmet being damaged, the voice changing technology within it was now disabled. Instead of the flat robotic tone that she was used to the voice that she'd heard had been completely human. Feminine and soft, and with a faint accent. She started again.

"Your hair...it used to be shorter," she told him finally, her heart pounding within her chest.

Reaching up she pressed the release button for her helmet, sliding it off of her head and revealing a gorgeous Slavic beauty with almond shaped light blue eyes rimmed by long full lashes, full pouty lips with a defined cupid's bow, and long blonde hair that was currently tied up in a crown braid upon her head so as to make it fit under the helmet she'd been wearing.

"How do I know you?" she breathed in disbelief as she stared at him, unconsciously taking a step towards him as the helmet fell from her hand and down onto the darkness beneath them.

They seemed to stand in the air floating in a world of pure darkness. This was the space between spaces, the place that was in every dark corner or damp cellar. The shadows were everywhere could be everywhere that he wished them to be. For now however he stood there his mouth agape as he watched her take off her helmet.

His eyes widened in shock at her face. The face he knew better than his own. The memories flashed between his eyes memories of their time in the Justice Force. He imagined them in bed looking out across the snowy landscape of Moscow as they joined together once more….

But she was dead! Had died during his final mission with the Justice Force. If he closed his eyes he could still remember digging through the rubble and trying to find her. He remembered sending the shadows out to search for her and the pain when they came up with nothing.

But… she was here in front of him looking impossibly beautiful. His hands reached out inches from touching her face before he paused. Her words reached him cutting through the shock of her sudden appearance.

“You don’t know me?” He asked his voice shocked “It’s me darling Johnathan! What did they do to you??!”

He waved his hands and the shadows receded giving way to a dark room. Outside snow fell and a city could be seen in the distance that looked strangely familiar”

“Do you remember this city we called home?” He asked pointing at the window with his cane “Do you remember anything?”

The cyborg froze as the man reached out to touch her face, uncertain with how to respond as foreign and strange feelings swirled and battled for dominance within her. When he paused just inches away she felt torn, half of her feeling relieved and the other half heartbroken that he had stopped. Who was this man, and why did his presence impact her in such a way?

“You don’t know me?” He asked his voice shocked “It’s me darling Johnathan! What did they do to you??!”

Johnathan. She felt her heart flutter with delight at the sound of the name, and yet she still could not place it or him. Before she had time to say anything in response to his shocked words she watched as he waved his hands and the shadows around them suddenly shifted and their location seemed to change once more to a dark room overlooking a snowy skyline.

“Do you remember this city we called home?” He asked pointing at the window with his cane “Do you remember anything?”

We? Did he mean to say that they had lived here together then?

She gazed at him in confusion, her eyes following his cane as he gestured at the window and looking out at the city in the distance. It did seem strangely familiar somehow...

"Moscow," she said, suddenly remembering the name of it, "But...how could I know that? My commanders have never sent me on a mission here before."

When she said Moscow a ghost of a smile crossed his features. He moved over to her resisting the urge to touch her as he struggled to accept what was happening. His light of his life was here once more back from the dead sans memories. He felt relief burst in his chest as well as his heart lifting a bit more at the thought of having her back. Even without her memories surely should would remember him?

“I don’t know how to explain all of it” He said chuckling softly as he answered her question “I… we all thought you were dead!”

He moved away from her opening a dusty closet and digging through its contents. He came out moments later with a simple picture frame showing both of them in costume along with several other costumed heroes.

“You probably have heard of her” He said pointing at her “This was you… we were together back in the day we fought crime together and joined the Justice Force. You died though in the final battle that broke up the team. They must have hidden you away turned you into whatever you are now”

She examined closely the framed picture Johnathan showed her of him standing with other members of the Justice Force, all in their various costumes. Her eyes focused in on the woman in the picture that he had pointed to, the one that he said was her.

She was standing right beside him with long blonde locks and dressed in a metallic leotard like costume that clung tightly to her lithe and feminine figure. Her face was alight with a bright and beaming smile, her body leaning slightly into his and his arm draped casually around her waist as they both posed for the camera.

She didn't recognize herself though. It was like looking at a picture of a stranger.

"Yes, they had mentioned that one of the Justice Force had been killed in the final battle," she confirmed with a nod, "They said her name was Aurora."

Her eyes went wide then in shock as she suddenly noticed her reflection in the glass frame of the picture that he held, seeing her own face for the first time. She brought the fingertips of her gloved hand to her cheek in disbelief...it was indeed the same exact face as the woman in the picture!

They must have hidden you away turned you into whatever you are now

Her thoughts drifted back to his words as her gaze focused back on the woman in the picture. Not some other woman, but herself as she had been. She hadn't ever looked in a mirror, but she knew from her glances down at body whenever out of her suit over the past five years that other than her face the rest of her had been changed a great deal.

"What I am now..." she began, her eyes moving up to meet his and growing glossy with unshed tears as she began to understand what exactly had been done to her.

"...is very different."

She reached down and unfastened the metal piece of her armor that covered her forearm, letting it fall to the floor. Slowly, she reached up again and peeled away the glove as well, revealing the metal infused machine enhanced hand beneath and showing it to him.

He watched her as she caught sight of her reflection in the glass of the picture frame. Worry gripped his heart as she started to recognize herself. Could they have did something to prevent her from gaining her memories? Was she going to go into attack mode or something?

They spared before back in their days on the Justice Force but he didn’t want to fight her. Not when it was clear she was so lost. His worry and fear for her was as plain as day on his face. After a few minutes of quite reflection she spoke her eyes wet with unshed tears that further broke his heart. Oh how he wanted to reach out to her! Gather her into his arms and tell her it was all going to be okay. His hands twitched but he didn’t move unsure of himself and the scenario as she began to speak about the changes done to her.

He did his best not to look horrified when she revealed what was underneath her suit. He reached out and took her hand bringing it up to look at the circuitry of her hand. There must have been so little left he thought to himself noting that it was more machine than organic. The blast must have been too much.

“It’s okay” He told her “We are going to figure this out… together”

He gripped her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. He didn’t know how to help her but he would do everything in his power to. Not just for her but for their relationship.

“Why don’t you take off the suit” He said to her “There is clothing of yours in the closet that should still fit you”

He gave her another small smile and stepped out of their bedroom. He let her have some space as he made them something to eat. While he did he worked the problem in his head trying to find some kind of solution or way he could help her.

“We are going to figure this out… together”

She felt a sense of relief fill her at his words that she could not explain. When she felt him grip her hand and squeeze it softly she felt a breath slowly release from her lungs that she had not even realized she'd been holding in, the tension in her body that had been present as he'd examined her hand easing slightly.

"Thank you," she told him softly before nodding her head slightly in agreement at his suggestion of her changing out of the suit.

She watched him exit the room and then made her way over to the closet that he had retrieved the picture from before. She found the clothes that he had mentioned waiting for her inside, realizing that she'd been right in her assumptions before that the two of them had been living together in this place before the final battle where he had thought her killed. She thought back to what year she had been told the final battle of the Justice Force had occurred and quickly did the math in her head. Five years. For five years he had thought her dead...and yet he still had so many things that seemed to have belonged to her.

She looked down at the bottom of the closet and noticed an opened storage box that seemed to be where he had gotten the picture of them from. Curious, she peered inside of it to look at some of the other contents and found a small jewelry box, a half used bottle of perfume, and a few more various pictures and mementos from their life together. One of them in particular caught her eye. It was a pamphlet for a memorial service for a woman named Katya Budanova, but the face of the woman in the picture on the cover of the pamphlet was the same face as the woman in the other picture he had shown her...her face. Aurora must have been her superhero alias she realized as she set the pamphlet back in the box where she had found it and began to look through the clothing to find something to wear.

For some reason she was reluctant when it came to the idea of letting him see too much of her modified body just yet, so she decided on a fitted light grey turtleneck sweater dress with long sleeves that looked like it would be about mid-thigh length on her and a pair of black knit leggings to wear under it. Reaching up, she undid the braid upon her head and shook loose her long golden waves so that they fell around her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. Then taking off the remainder of the suit that she had been wearing, she set it inside of the closet and put on the new clothes instead before walking out of the bedroom to join him in the other room.

She found him in the kitchen, appearing to be fixing a meal of some kind.

"Thank you...that does feel much better," she told him, feeling awkward about the situation but doing her best to manage a bit of a smile for him.

"I couldn't help but noticed that you still have quite a few things that I'm assuming belonged to me," she explained, "We lived here together then before I...before the final battle? For how long?"

He didn’t realize until he was halfway through cooking that he was making her favorite. The recipe he made so many times he could now do it without thinking. When he did realize it he laughed and shook his head feeling for the first time an almost euphoric sensation in his gut. She was back! Maybe not whole but he got what many other men didn’t.

He got a second chance.

He allowed himself to be happy a large smile filling his handsome face as he finished the last of the food. He was spooning them each a plate when she came out wearing clothing that was so familiar to him. Johnathan had to restrain himself as he took her in resisting the urge to jump up and down and shout as he realized his love was back.

She asked him about their living together and he awkwardly cleared his throat. Did he tell her they were in a relationship? If so what was the best way to explain?
“Maybe you should sit down and get some food” He said handing her a plate “We uh… we lived here for two years. We were barely in the place between Moscow and the Justice Force. Still it was our starter apartment. The plan was to move somewhere bigger with uh… more space once things settled down”

Katya looked skeptically at the plate of food that Johnathan had handed her. Food was kind of the last thing on her mind at the moment. With all of the modifications that had been done to her body she wasn’t even sure how much of a necessity food was for her anymore…but it did smell good, REALLY good actually, and familiar. She got the impression that he had made this dish for them before.

She took the plate and fork that he’d handed her and went and sat down at the small dining table located nearby as she listened to his response to her questions as she began to eat. In truth she hadn't been surprised to find that they had been in a relationship together. She’d already figured that was the case, and not just because they’d shared an apartment together. She could see it in the way that he’d been looking at her since she’d taken off her helmet, feel it in the way that her heart reacted to him in response. They’d been more than just teammates or roommates. They’d been in love.

It sounded like things between them had been more serious than she’d realized though. Two years was a while to have been living together, and they likely would have been a couple for a while before deciding to take that kind of relationship step together. It was his awkward comment about their plans to move somewhere with more space that really caught her off guard however, causing her to pause in her eating and look around the apartment once more. It was on the smaller size yes, but it still seemed like enough space for the two of them. There was only one reason she could think of for a young couple to want more space than what was necessary for just the two of them, and that was if they didn’t want it to be just the two of them any longer.

“To start a family,” she commented aloud, a blush forming in her cheeks at the realization.

She wondered if they had been engaged as well but was too embarrassed to ask. The pamphlet for her memorial service that she’d found in the closet had not indicated that she’d been married. She was silent for a moment, her eyes on her plate as she nervously pushed her food around with her fork for a bit before setting it down.

“I’m sorry. I know this must be very hard for you,” she said, lifting her gaze to look at him again, “We have all of this history together that you remember and I don’t. I want to remember, I just…”

She shook her head slightly in frustration.

“I can feel them there but it’s like something is keeping the memories from me, holding them back just out of my reach. I don’t understand it.”

When she said the words family he swallowed hard. He took a look at the half-packed boxes he never bothered to touch. He wondered if he should show her the nursery options they picked out during the move. He ultimately decided against it thinking it would overwhelm her.

“Yes” He replied his voice shaking with emotion “we were preparing for that. The idea was that we would be getting out of the super hero game. We both had a passion for it but it wasn’t what we were going to do with the rest of our lives.”
He let her eat and mule over what he said. He took the time to watch her appraising her. He wanted so badly to reach out for her. He could take her in his arms and hold her once more but it didn’t feel right not with her in such a state. She spoke of her memories and how they were blocked and he finally reached out to hold her hand.

“The Justice Force will help us” Johnathan insisted his eyes flashing “I think only they can figure out just what the syndicate has done. I will make the arrangements for now we will surround you with as much familiar things as possible and go from there”

He held her hand for a few more moments before finally releasing it. He went back to eating watching her out of the corner of his eyes with open love and adoration.

Katya felt a blush enter her cheeks as Jonathan reached out and took her hand in his, but she did not pull away. Her mind may have not been able to remember him well, but it seemed as if her body might. Just as before when he had given her hand a squeeze in the bedroom, she felt a strange yet familiar comfort wash through her at the feel of his hand holding hers.

She listened to his words about the Justice Force being able to help and how he thought it was best to surround her with familiar things in the meantime. She nodded her head in agreement, figuring it made sense. Hopefully something would be able to jog her memory.

When he released her hand she found herself almost wanting to reach out and take it back. Instead she rested hers down in her lap under the table, clenching and unclenching it a couple of times to resist the urge while her free hand picked up her fork again and she resumed eating. She did not miss the way he watched her however, the look in his eyes filling her with warmth and making her heartbeat quicken in response.

Feeling awkward, she struggled to find something to say to fill the silence with.

"The Justice Force...that must have been them coming to save you back on the train when it started to shake and you escaped, right?" she asked between bites, "Do you need to go and let them know that you're alright?"

Johnathan chuckled at her words before speaking.

“You do not remember but there is a protocol for something like this” Johnathan said “The syndicate is everywhere and has many many pockets. There reach is deep and so are there ears. The Justice force attacked to free me long enough so I could escape. They will have no doubt scattered by now and went back into hiding. After a week I will contact them by the usual means and figure out what the next step of our plan is”

He would also tell them about her and see what they wanted to do. His allies would no doubt want to see her and get a look at her. They were all friends before all part of one big happy family. His hands clenched in anger more vengeful now that he knew just what was taken from him. The urge to make them pay was driving him forward burning inside of him like a well stoked fire.

He rose grabbing up his plates and moving into the kitchen. The plates hit the counter with a bit more force than was needed and he winced. He hung his head breathing in deeply and trying to calm himself. It would do no good for his beloved to see him like this.

“I’m fine” He called out keeping his eyes closed “I just need a moment. I wasn’t expecting this… I am angry for what was taken from us”

Katya nodded her head in understanding as Jonathan explained the Justice Force's protocol that they would be following, trying not to show her worry when he mentioned that he would be waiting a week to contact them. It wasn't very long in the broad scheme of things she knew, but still...an entire week of living with a man that she had no memory of but who undoubtedly had so many detailed and intimate memories of her. Would she be able to manage it?... Would he?

He rose from the table then and took his plates into the kitchen. Having finished eating she rose from her seat to do the same when she suddenly heard the clang of his plates hitting the counter, causing her to jump slightly and jerk her head in his direction just in time to see him wince and hang his head.

“I’m fine” He called out keeping his eyes closed “I just need a moment. I wasn’t expecting this… I am angry for what was taken from us”

He wasn't fine, she could tell. None of this was fine. What had been done to her, to them, had been terrible and he only knew the half of it. She may not be able to remember anything from before she was changed, but she remembered the last five years with perfect clarity. If he only knew the types of things they'd ordered her to do, the people she'd... No. She wasn't going to think about that right now. If she did she'd lose it, and right now he needed her.

She could tell that he was hurting and her heart ached for him, wanting to comfort him in some way. She wished she could tell him that everything was going to be fine, that they would get back what had been taken from them. That they would make the Syndicate pay for what they had done...but she didn't know if that was true. She looked down at the hand she had revealed to him earlier and the machine work that would now forever be a part of it.

Some things once done could not be undone.

It was then that she remembered his words to her before, “We are going to figure this out… together”

She could think of no words to comfort him, so she did the only thing that she could think of... Quietly moving into the kitchen to join him, she walked up behind him where he stood by the counter and gently wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug.

He felt so lost.

Even though she was here now he still felt sad. The joy of having her back of her evne being alive was tempered by the fact that she didn’t remember them. The memories were either gone or hidden and even though he was determined to get them back it still hurt to be so close to her but be so far at the same time. He was doing his best to keep it under control for her but now that he was alone in the kitchen his hands couldn’t stop shaking.

The memories of their life together bubbled back to the surface of his mind. They met through super hero work stumbling upon one another in patrol. There’s was a burning desire type of start as each of them was clearly attracted to the other. First it was just sex hot passionate sex that both of them couldn’t seem to get enough of. It surprised both of them by becoming something more. Soon enough they couldn’t get enough of each other couldn’t stop being with each other. They moved in right away and eagerly talked about such things like marriage and having children. There nights were spent on patrol and the morning in bed loving each other.

He jumped slightly when he felt her hands wrap around him. Oh how he remembered that touch! Heat blossomed in his chest as he bit his lip and gave a soft groan. His hands came up running over her own hands before he turned and moved in.

He kissed her deeply and with all the love he could muster. Was it the right thing to do? Who knows? But he knew he needed to convey to her the depths of his love. His hands snaked around her and pulled her in kissing her as his tongue claimed her mouth.

Katya had truly just meant for her actions to be a means to provide Jonathan some sympathy and comfort and had not thought ahead to what kind of reaction he might have in response to her touch, but when she heard his soft groan she froze.

She knew that sound.

When he turned within her arms and she saw him leaning in she found herself unable to pull away, his lips meeting hers and claiming them in a deep and loving kiss as her eyes drifted shut. Instantly her head was swimming. The feel of his lips against hers, his hands moving around her and pulling her closer, even the scent of him that reached her now that he was so close...it was all so hauntingly familiar.

As she felt his tongue slip into her mouth and claim it a surprised but pleasure filled mewl emitted from the back of her throat, her body instinctively moving closer to his. Her hand trembling, she hesitantly reached up to gently cup the side of his face as she began to return the kiss.

They kissed their bodies pressed together and that old electricity came back. For the first time since her presumed death he felt alive and hungry. His hands wrapped around her body and he pulled her as tight as close as he could to her. The fact that she was now at least partly mechanical didn’t seem to bother him one bit as he continued to kiss her.

When he felt he was losing control he gasped moving his lips off of her. He starred at her his eyes burning with love and that old desire that was as primeval as time itself. He cleared his throat after several minutes and turned reluctantly making some space between them.

“I bet your tired” He said his voice husky “How about you take the bed and I will ride the couch”

He moved into the bedroom grabbing some blankets and lining and turning to the large plush king bed. He hadn’t slept it in some time and so he put fresh sheets and dusted it off. Once he was sure his burning lust was contained he grabbed some blankets and pillows for himself.

“Beds all made” He said the lust gone from his voice but still burning in his eyes.

Katya could feel a heat growing within her as she and Jonathan kissed, a delicious fire that fanned and grew until it felt like her whole body was being consumed by it. It was a new sensation to her and yet incredibly familiar at the same time. She didn't want it to stop...but then suddenly it did.

He gasped and pulled his lips away from her, her own chest rising and falling heavily as she struggled to regain her breath as he watched her. The look in his eyes as he stared down at her made her think that he might bend down and resume kissing her again, but instead he pulled away.

“I bet your tired” He said his voice husky “How about you take the bed and I will ride the couch”

Before she could manage a reply he was gone, heading into the bedroom while she remained in the kitchen trying to collect her thoughts about what exactly had just happened between them. The way her body had responded to his, she just couldn't explain it. She went into the living room and sat on the couch, feeling more in control of herself by the time he returned. Though she felt her heartbeat pick up slightly again at the look in his eyes.

"Right...thank you," she began as she rose from the couch, uncertain how to act around him now or what she should say, "Well, I guess I'll head on in then...Goodnight Jonathan."

She reluctantly turned and made her way to the bedroom, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her.

“Good night…”

With that the door closed leaving him alone since he found out the truth. He starred at it for several seconds hard and long enough that he could start seeing the grooves buried into the wood. His hand reached up several times as if he was going to open it before ultimately deciding not to. With a sigh he finally moved away deciding to leave her alone. He moved to the couch arranging the bed before laying down on it.

He didn’t sleep instead starring up at the ceiling. The whirlwind of thoughts in his head refusing to calm down. The events of the day ran fresh through his mind repeating themselves on a loop. He replayed the revelation that it was her a thousand times each time finding a new detail that spoke of the old woman he loved.

He finally got up pushing the blankets off of himself. He pulled off his shirt revealing his pale muscular upper torso. He moved to the door and went to open it deciding that he would talk to her and see what was going on. Before he could however the door opened leaving him standing there with a dumb look on his face.

Katya stood before him, her blue eyes widened with fear and a light sheen of sweat showing upon her brow. She was still wearing the black cotton leggings from before, but the dress that she'd been wearing before had been replaced by one of his old t-shirts that she'd found in the closet when she'd re-entered the bedroom and headed to bed, the looser fit causing the collar to slip down and leave one of her shoulders bare. She jumped slightly in surprise, not having expected to find him waiting just on the other side of the door.

"Sorry to bother you," she began, a soft tremor evident in her voice, "I feel like such a child for even coming to get you, but I was sleeping and I- I had a nightmare."

She shook her head.

"No. Not a nightmare. I...I think it was a memory," she explained as she looked up at him.

"There was some kind of battle going on...I- I was in the air fighting against someone when suddenly there was this huge blast! I tried to shield myself from it with my powers, but I wasn't quick enough and... Jonathan there was- there was so much pain!"

Her eyes squeezed shut and her body began to shake slightly along with her voice now at the memory of parts of her body being ripped and burned away by the blast. She clenched her arms around herself as if trying to stop the shaking as tears began to well out from behind her closed eyelids.

"Then I was falling, and..."

She trailed off unable to continue. The last thing she remembered was hearing the sickening crack of her own bones breaking as she'd landed before she'd been jerked awake, bolting straight up in the bed covered in a cold sweat and, once remembering where she was, immediately heading for the door to find him.