Meadows of Heaven (23/23)
Epilogue
Jensen scratched idly at his chest as the door to his temporary quarters on the Desert Moon slid shut behind him. He took a moment to enjoy the luxury of having his own room, tiny as it might be. These new ships were built with more comfort in mind than your average warship, they had to be to go this far out on the edge of known space. Although soon enough they'd be back in UP space long enough for Jensen to make the transfer to Kane's trade cruiser, and then into Confed territory.
He sat cross-legged on his bunk, plugging in the numbers for an Earth connection on the terminal. Jensen pulled at his shirt to keep it from rubbing against the nipple rings that were part of this mission's tracer. They'd also tattooed him in two places, worried about the very dangerous nature of this assignment. The more security he'd had in place, the better. One of the tattoos curled around his side, a stylized knot of lines and curves. The second ran up his thigh to curve around his hip. He wondered what Jeff would think of them, imagined Jeff running his hands and lips over the dark ink.
"Jensen?" The connection to Earth snapped into place and Jared's face appeared on the screen.
"Hey little bro." Jensen smiled, glad to talk to Jared.
"I don't suppose you commed me to tell me you're coming home?" Jared looked so hopeful that Jensen hated to burst his bubble.
"No. I had a week's downtime on the ship, but I'll be heading back into the field soon." Jensen had to find his focus, remember he was damn good at his job. He had bundled up his memories of Harmony and Jeff, tucking them into a corner of his mind, hiding them away for the time being. Nothing could interrupt him getting into the proper character. Calling Jared, the last thing he did before leaving on any mission, only helped create the facade.
"You look awfully happy to be heading back to work," Jared said, peering at him. The reception had improved greatly, though they were still stuck in 2D at the moment.
Jensen could feel the blush creeping up. "It's not the mission I'm happy about." He wondered if he should tell Jared at first, but they'd shared everything in their lives, having no other family. Jensen couldn't hide this. "I met someone," he said finally.
Jared blinked. "Who knows about the Corps stuff?"
Jared would worry about that, if Jensen's significant other knew and didn't care about the Sex Corps. "Yes," Jensen said, biting his lip. "I think, I think this might be it for me, bro."
A smile curved its way across Jared's face. "Good," he said. "You deserve it."
"Still have to get through this mission first." Jensen sighed. "I can't tell you much . . ."
"You never can."
"It's going to be a long one, Jared." Jensen fiddled with the sleeves of his uniform, restraining himself from scratching yet again. Oddly enough, the piercings would be easier to deal with once he got naked on the job. "Maybe a year or more. Deep cover. You know what to do, keep contacting Ferris."
"I know," Jared said. "Doesn't mean I like it."
No, neither did Jensen. "Tell me about the wedding plans," he said instead, wanting Jared to chat and be his happy self. There would be plenty of time to worry about the mission afterward.
After closing the connection an hour later, Jensen's comm beeped. He pulled up his list of messages and grinned. Jeff had kept his promise, hadn't let a day go by without sending Jensen some sort of communication.
Maybe, just maybe, things would work out after all. Jensen had something more to look forward to after the mission. He had someone else waiting for him to come home. Jared would have Adrianne; Jensen would have Jeff. Jensen took a deep breath, centering himself. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he'd be back to Jeff.
Time to go to work.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Epilogue
***
Thank you
Writing this story has been a long wonderful journey and of course, it wasn't completed in a vacuum. I have so many people to thank and influences to acknowledge that I'd just better get started:
First, I want to give a huge thank you to my alpha, beta and artist, lapillus. The idea for this 'verse started out as a birthday gift for her and it turned out to be the gift that kept on giving. She's been with me through every step of the way, including when I thought I'd never finish. And the art she's made is absolutely amazing. I was lucky enough to see it from start to finish and each piece is amazing.
I'd like to thank my other beta readers - twocats and gaiaeagle for making sure it made sense without reading the rest of the 'verse and kris4n6 for doublechecking those pesky typos. With over 100,000 words, I was sure to miss a few.
I also want to thank the bigbang mods, for doing the hard work of running this challenge every year. Thank you guys!
Finally, I wanted to give the biggest thank you of all to all the Sex Corps fans. You guys are always so patient for the next story. Your insightful comments always make me think, which helps me improve my writing. I keep writing because of your enthusiasm and loyalty. Here, have some t-shirts.
I need to acknowledge my sources and influences for this fic. I'm sure some of you noticed the nods to Star Trek, Stargate, and Star Wars throughout.
I need to give a shoutout to every single Star Wars: TPM writer who's ever written the planet BDSM trope. TPM was my first fandom, and the lovely abundance of BDSM TPM fic had an effect on my formative fannish years:)
Also, I wanted to give a nod to the various sci-fi authors/influences:
Diane Duane (yes, there is a plot point in this story used in her novel Doctor's Orders, which I highly recommend), Lois McMaster Bujold (the Vorkosigan books), Sandra McDonald (for writing military sci fic that was new and fresh and inspiring me to play with that trope on my own.)
Lastly, I wanted to list some of the books I used as resources on BDSM:
Erotic Slavehood by Christina Abernathy (Greenery Press)
SM101: A Realistic Introduction by Jay Wiseman (Greenery Press)
Erotic Bondage Handbook by Jay Wiseman (Greenery Press)
Ok, I think I managed to thank everyone, except my husband and dog, so, this one is for you guys:) Thanks for giving me the time to write!
Thank all of you for reading!