Near You Always (David/Liz, R)
Posted for the numb3rswriteoff Round 22, Prompt: Philosophy (Team Schmoop)
Title: Near You Always
Pairing/Characters: David/Liz, mention of Don/Liz and Don/Robin (past tense)
Rating: R (adult situations)
Word Count: 1544
Summary: Never date a co-worker.
Spoilers: 3.07 - Blackout, 5.14 - Sneakerhead, 6.16 - Cause and Effect.
Notes/Warnings: A big thank you to my first readers, melissima and t_vo0810, for talking me off a ledge when I was stressing about my first writeoff entry. Another big thank you to rodlox and munchkinofdoom for making sure I followed the rules. And lastly, a HUGE thank you to julietm who gave me the idea for this fic, helped me with the title, and then... damned if she didn’t beta for me too. You... are awesome, babe. ♥
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, regrettably - it's not mine.
This fic was written for the Angst vs Schmoop Challenge at numb3rswriteoff. After you’ve read the fic, please rate it by voting in the poll located here. (Your vote will be anonymous.) Rate the fic on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being the best) using the following criteria: how well the fic fit the prompt, how schmoopy the fic was, and how well you enjoyed the fic. When you’re done, please check out and rate the other challenge fic at numb3rswriteoff. Thank you!
Never date a co-worker. That was the personal philosophy Liz adapted after her train wreck of a so-called relationship with Don. After all, wisdom stemmed from experience and wasn’t wisdom the root of all philosophy?
She’d been young then - a new agent in a new town. Don was a familiar face from her past, an instructor she remembered from Quantico. But he was also a superior officer, a colleague and she should have known better than to bring the relationship home from work. In retrospect, she allowed herself to fall for him not exclusively out of mutual attraction. Oh, Don was handsome and alluring to be sure but when Liz really thought about that time in her life, she knew the attraction stemmed from his familiarity in a strange place and from her hero-worship of him from Quantico.
The reason he’d fallen for her? She was available. She had to leave the team to gain that perspective on the relationship. She’d fallen for him for all the wrong reasons and she’d been his rebound from a previous relationship - the first one he really tried to make work. Unfortunately, it took two and Robin hadn’t wanted to be one of them. So, there was Liz.
That had been a difficult pill to swallow, but she’d learned from it. In the time since then, she’d grown... both as a woman and as an agent.
Never date a co-worker. So what the hell was she doing lying next to Special Agent David Sinclair? Maybe a better question was how had she been laying next to him almost every night for more than a year, to the point she had trouble sleeping without him beside her?
Tracing the lines of his bare chest with fingertips not intent on waking him, she tried to remember the exact moment she’d given in after he asked her out for the fifth time. Or was it the sixth? She honestly didn’t know. All she knew, watching him sleep next to her, was he’d never given her a reason to regret her decision to say yes.
Never date a co-worker unless his name was David Sinclair, she thought with a smile as her fingers grazed a scar on his right shoulder. He’d taken a bullet there during a shoot-out with a Russian crime syndicate before she joined the team. There was a similar scar on his left arm where he’d been shot during a car chase. She danced her fingers over his skin until she touched the scene of the crime, as though making sure it were still there. There was only one other blemish on his otherwise perfect skin and that was from a knife wound he’d received during his time in Tel Aviv. She’d memorized every dip and curve and every story the lines of his body told. In learning him and knowing him, she’d tossed her entire way of thinking out the proverbial window. With David, she wasn’t just dating a co-worker. She was in love with one.
And wasn’t that the real reason she was laying awake tonight?
She loved him, was in love with him... and he was transferring to DC.
The words echoed in her mind and forced her to close her eyes as she swallowed down the lump clenching her throat. She didn’t want to think of David, warm now beneath her touch, three-thousand miles away.
Wasn’t that why she was still in LA? She’d been offered a promotion a year ago, complete with a transfer to Denver. She’d been at the airport when she realized what she was giving up by leaving. Here in LA she had a great job and a team she trusted. But above all that, even though they’d only been dating a month or two at the time, she had David. She had someone she was crazy about, someone who loved her enough he hadn’t even tried to stop her from going. He wanted her to stay but he hadn’t said as much until she was safely wrapped in his arms after making the decision on her own. He loved her enough that he didn’t want to be the reason she turned down career advancement; he loved her and wouldn’t ask her to stay if the job was what she really wanted. Unselfishly, he’d only asked that she do what made her happy.
Now here she was on the other side of the equation. He was transferring to DC and she couldn’t ask him to stay. Then again, she didn’t have to... because he’d asked her to come with him instead.
Liz turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. He’d asked her to go with him and in that oh-so-David way, he’d made sure she knew he wanted her with him but he’d still not get in the way of her career. If she wanted to stay in LA, he’d come back from DC when he could. They would make it work.
She probably would’ve believed him if she could have imagined something as simple as being able to sleep without him beside her.
He made a promise to her - he was hers and he would always be. And then he’d asked her a question... one she’d been thinking about since dinner. He said there was no pressure. She had time to think about it. All he wanted was for her to know where he stood, to know how much she meant to him. He wasn’t going anywhere without her knowing how he felt. Not this time.
She turned again to look at him sleeping next to her, his bulk taking up the greatest expanse of his bed and leaving just enough room for her tiny frame to wiggle against him. She mused that was why they almost always stayed at his place even though she had a bigger bed. He liked that she didn’t have anywhere else to be but close to him while they slept and that was just fine by her.
Watching him, knowing the kindness and curiosity in his dark brown eyes even in sleep, she let herself dream of a future with him. And when she really looked at him, she realized a certain truth. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d thought about her future and he wasn’t in it. In every scenario she imagined, David was there... and he would always be there no matter where life took her.
If that meant DC, then DC it was.
Yes. She was going to say yes...
Unable to keep her thoughts to herself any longer, she urged him awake. She nudged him again and shook her head when he didn’t move, biting back a laugh. She knew it took more than prodding to wake the sleeping giant even as her hand slipped slowly from his chest, slinking down his abdomen and threatening to dip lower under the sheet at his waist. Her thumb caressed the delicious V of his torso as she moved her lips to gently nip at his ear. She sighed with satisfaction when she finally felt him stirring. David wasn’t like any man she’d ever met with one exception: sound a bull horn in his ear and he wouldn’t wake up, but tempt him with sex and he’d be right there.
She savored the hum of his approval before she pulled her lips away to watch him open his eyes. It took him several moments to focus his gaze on her and when he did, he smiled.
"Everything ok, Lizzy?" he asked, his voice gravelly with sleep as his body involuntarily stretched underneath her touch.
She nodded and her smile widened. "I was just thinking about that question you asked me."
At her words, she felt his intake of breath beneath her fingers before he turned to let her know she had his undivided attention. "And?"
"And... I’m going to marry you David Sinclair."
She didn’t have time to do more than laugh before David moved his body to cover hers. She was sure he’d be kissing her breathless in a flash but instead he hesitated, looking down at her. She knew him well enough to know he was searching her eyes - needing confirmation that he heard her correctly and that he was what she wanted.
"Yes," she breathed in answer to his inquiring gaze. Yes, to DC. Yes, to marriage. Yes, to David... always. That was her answer and she knew he’d never make her regret it. His lips were on hers then, stopping any other thought from entering her mind as she kissed him back with all the love and excitement she felt for the future ahead of her.
When he pulled away, letting them both up for air, she slid her hands over the ripples in his back and kept smiling up at him. "Don’t I at least get a ring?" she teased.
"Yeah... something like that," he grinned, his lips already leaving a heated trail down her neck before skimming gently over her exposed collar bones.
She closed her eyes to cherish his touch and then she sighed, content in her decision. Never date a co-worker unless his name was David Sinclair and he was the only man you’d love forever. She could live with that.
Title: Near You Always
Pairing/Characters: David/Liz, mention of Don/Liz and Don/Robin (past tense)
Rating: R (adult situations)
Word Count: 1544
Summary: Never date a co-worker.
Spoilers: 3.07 - Blackout, 5.14 - Sneakerhead, 6.16 - Cause and Effect.
Notes/Warnings: A big thank you to my first readers, melissima and t_vo0810, for talking me off a ledge when I was stressing about my first writeoff entry. Another big thank you to rodlox and munchkinofdoom for making sure I followed the rules. And lastly, a HUGE thank you to julietm who gave me the idea for this fic, helped me with the title, and then... damned if she didn’t beta for me too. You... are awesome, babe. ♥
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, regrettably - it's not mine.
This fic was written for the Angst vs Schmoop Challenge at numb3rswriteoff. After you’ve read the fic, please rate it by voting in the poll located here. (Your vote will be anonymous.) Rate the fic on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being the best) using the following criteria: how well the fic fit the prompt, how schmoopy the fic was, and how well you enjoyed the fic. When you’re done, please check out and rate the other challenge fic at numb3rswriteoff. Thank you!
Never date a co-worker. That was the personal philosophy Liz adapted after her train wreck of a so-called relationship with Don. After all, wisdom stemmed from experience and wasn’t wisdom the root of all philosophy?
She’d been young then - a new agent in a new town. Don was a familiar face from her past, an instructor she remembered from Quantico. But he was also a superior officer, a colleague and she should have known better than to bring the relationship home from work. In retrospect, she allowed herself to fall for him not exclusively out of mutual attraction. Oh, Don was handsome and alluring to be sure but when Liz really thought about that time in her life, she knew the attraction stemmed from his familiarity in a strange place and from her hero-worship of him from Quantico.
The reason he’d fallen for her? She was available. She had to leave the team to gain that perspective on the relationship. She’d fallen for him for all the wrong reasons and she’d been his rebound from a previous relationship - the first one he really tried to make work. Unfortunately, it took two and Robin hadn’t wanted to be one of them. So, there was Liz.
That had been a difficult pill to swallow, but she’d learned from it. In the time since then, she’d grown... both as a woman and as an agent.
Never date a co-worker. So what the hell was she doing lying next to Special Agent David Sinclair? Maybe a better question was how had she been laying next to him almost every night for more than a year, to the point she had trouble sleeping without him beside her?
Tracing the lines of his bare chest with fingertips not intent on waking him, she tried to remember the exact moment she’d given in after he asked her out for the fifth time. Or was it the sixth? She honestly didn’t know. All she knew, watching him sleep next to her, was he’d never given her a reason to regret her decision to say yes.
Never date a co-worker unless his name was David Sinclair, she thought with a smile as her fingers grazed a scar on his right shoulder. He’d taken a bullet there during a shoot-out with a Russian crime syndicate before she joined the team. There was a similar scar on his left arm where he’d been shot during a car chase. She danced her fingers over his skin until she touched the scene of the crime, as though making sure it were still there. There was only one other blemish on his otherwise perfect skin and that was from a knife wound he’d received during his time in Tel Aviv. She’d memorized every dip and curve and every story the lines of his body told. In learning him and knowing him, she’d tossed her entire way of thinking out the proverbial window. With David, she wasn’t just dating a co-worker. She was in love with one.
And wasn’t that the real reason she was laying awake tonight?
She loved him, was in love with him... and he was transferring to DC.
The words echoed in her mind and forced her to close her eyes as she swallowed down the lump clenching her throat. She didn’t want to think of David, warm now beneath her touch, three-thousand miles away.
Wasn’t that why she was still in LA? She’d been offered a promotion a year ago, complete with a transfer to Denver. She’d been at the airport when she realized what she was giving up by leaving. Here in LA she had a great job and a team she trusted. But above all that, even though they’d only been dating a month or two at the time, she had David. She had someone she was crazy about, someone who loved her enough he hadn’t even tried to stop her from going. He wanted her to stay but he hadn’t said as much until she was safely wrapped in his arms after making the decision on her own. He loved her enough that he didn’t want to be the reason she turned down career advancement; he loved her and wouldn’t ask her to stay if the job was what she really wanted. Unselfishly, he’d only asked that she do what made her happy.
Now here she was on the other side of the equation. He was transferring to DC and she couldn’t ask him to stay. Then again, she didn’t have to... because he’d asked her to come with him instead.
Liz turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. He’d asked her to go with him and in that oh-so-David way, he’d made sure she knew he wanted her with him but he’d still not get in the way of her career. If she wanted to stay in LA, he’d come back from DC when he could. They would make it work.
She probably would’ve believed him if she could have imagined something as simple as being able to sleep without him beside her.
He made a promise to her - he was hers and he would always be. And then he’d asked her a question... one she’d been thinking about since dinner. He said there was no pressure. She had time to think about it. All he wanted was for her to know where he stood, to know how much she meant to him. He wasn’t going anywhere without her knowing how he felt. Not this time.
She turned again to look at him sleeping next to her, his bulk taking up the greatest expanse of his bed and leaving just enough room for her tiny frame to wiggle against him. She mused that was why they almost always stayed at his place even though she had a bigger bed. He liked that she didn’t have anywhere else to be but close to him while they slept and that was just fine by her.
Watching him, knowing the kindness and curiosity in his dark brown eyes even in sleep, she let herself dream of a future with him. And when she really looked at him, she realized a certain truth. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d thought about her future and he wasn’t in it. In every scenario she imagined, David was there... and he would always be there no matter where life took her.
If that meant DC, then DC it was.
Yes. She was going to say yes...
Unable to keep her thoughts to herself any longer, she urged him awake. She nudged him again and shook her head when he didn’t move, biting back a laugh. She knew it took more than prodding to wake the sleeping giant even as her hand slipped slowly from his chest, slinking down his abdomen and threatening to dip lower under the sheet at his waist. Her thumb caressed the delicious V of his torso as she moved her lips to gently nip at his ear. She sighed with satisfaction when she finally felt him stirring. David wasn’t like any man she’d ever met with one exception: sound a bull horn in his ear and he wouldn’t wake up, but tempt him with sex and he’d be right there.
She savored the hum of his approval before she pulled her lips away to watch him open his eyes. It took him several moments to focus his gaze on her and when he did, he smiled.
"Everything ok, Lizzy?" he asked, his voice gravelly with sleep as his body involuntarily stretched underneath her touch.
She nodded and her smile widened. "I was just thinking about that question you asked me."
At her words, she felt his intake of breath beneath her fingers before he turned to let her know she had his undivided attention. "And?"
"And... I’m going to marry you David Sinclair."
She didn’t have time to do more than laugh before David moved his body to cover hers. She was sure he’d be kissing her breathless in a flash but instead he hesitated, looking down at her. She knew him well enough to know he was searching her eyes - needing confirmation that he heard her correctly and that he was what she wanted.
"Yes," she breathed in answer to his inquiring gaze. Yes, to DC. Yes, to marriage. Yes, to David... always. That was her answer and she knew he’d never make her regret it. His lips were on hers then, stopping any other thought from entering her mind as she kissed him back with all the love and excitement she felt for the future ahead of her.
When he pulled away, letting them both up for air, she slid her hands over the ripples in his back and kept smiling up at him. "Don’t I at least get a ring?" she teased.
"Yeah... something like that," he grinned, his lips already leaving a heated trail down her neck before skimming gently over her exposed collar bones.
She closed her eyes to cherish his touch and then she sighed, content in her decision. Never date a co-worker unless his name was David Sinclair and he was the only man you’d love forever. She could live with that.