#fogteeth | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

morphituu · 6 years ago

Text

Bell Peppers Ch. 17 (Final)

“Endlessly”

Archive of Our Own: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17

tumblr: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15- 16 - 17

She watched him over the tops of her glasses, unmoving, and staring critically at it placed on the countertop beside where she perched on the edge of his tub. Her eyes moved around, her ankles shifting over one another, but he still didn’t move, even when she cleared her throat.

“You haven’t blinked in like a minute,” she stated, and his eyes finally shot to her.

“It’s only been a minute?” he asked, shoulders slumping. She nodded, glancing down at her phones timer.

His hands pulled down his face with a low groan, sliding down the wall until he landed on the tile floor.

“Longest three minutes of your life, huh?” she simpered, seemingly unconcerned. He nodded, his head bouncing back against the wall. “It’s gonna be negative, don’t worry,”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, I just wanna know,”

“Minute and a half left,” she sighed, flipping her phone in her hands.

Nick looked over her, picturing a distended belly beneath her T-shirt and popped shorts, wondering how off balance she’d be what with her short stature. He rubbed his eyes with his palms, smothering the thought. Since that morning, he’d let his imagination get the better of him, all the way to the drug store to pick up the pregnancy test then all the way home, and now here, waiting endlessly for it to finish.

“Done,” she said, quickly grabbing for the test.

He rushed to her side clumsily, and they both stared down at the negative test.

“Told you,” she murmured, obviously deflated and handing it to him. He studied it closely, turning it this way and that, thinking maybe it could’ve been a trick of the light. “My only chance came and went,” she added, and he looked at her.

“You don’t know that,” he tried, tossing the used test in the trash.

“Feels like it,” she mumbled, but Nick caught her arm when she moved to walk out, and brought her into a tight hug, kissing her cheek in attempt at eradicating the visible frown on her face.

“It’ll happen, baby,” he assured, squeezing her until she returned the gesture.

“Kinda thought it would’ve been inevitable with how much we did it this week,” she said into his chest. “All that mess’a blood for nothing,”

He chuckled. “Still worth it,”

“Gonna start coming after me every time I’m on my period now?”

Impishly he nibbled her jaw. Another forceful kiss under the partly healed bruise on her face, and he let her go, smacking her ass before walking out. “Okay let’s eat now,”

Callie followed him out sluggishly, bumping into him when they wandered into the kitchen. With little energy, she went about throwing a breakfast together, often slumping against Nick when he stepped in to help. He’d chuckle and curl an arm around her neck, dragging her around as they shuffled between stovetop and fridge, and even took both their plates packed with chorizo con huevos and tortillas, his elbow still hooked around her neck as he pulled her over to his new table.

“When’s your job interview?” he asked, stuffing a hearty bite into his mouth.

“Tuesday,” she said around a mouthful of food, opening a cold can of soda. “I’m nervous as fuck,”

“You’re gonna own that shit. Do those big number equations in your head and I bet they’ll hire you on the spot,” he grinned.

“Computers do everything at banks now- they wouldn’t need my hidden talent,”

“But how often do they have a human computer that can double check their work?” he tried, bumping his knee against hers. She smiled, smacking his arm lightly.

“I need to go buy some cover-up. Can’t go in with a black eye,”

Nick nodded, sucking his teeth, and now expertly pinching a bite of the chorizo with his tortilla. She was perking up a bit now, like he knew she would when she found the Dr. Pepper he’d stashed for her in the fridge, but sensed unloading his next big surprise might send her reeling into panic.

“So you said earlier that Rosie canceled tomorrow?” Nick asked, and Callie rolled her eyes.

“I knew she wasn’t gonna go through with it- I’m getting my money back for those tickets,”

Nick swallowed his bite. “Keep the day open then,”

Her brow kicked up. “Why?”

“My parents wanna come over,”

Outwardly, she remained calm, but inside he knew she was frantic- like a person caught in a house on fire. She looked at her food, poking it absentmindedly with her tortilla. “So I need to buy cover-up today,”

“You don’t have to,” he told her. “They know what happened,”

“With me?”

“Everything. They’ve been asking how you’re doing-”

“Wait,” she interrupted. “Even the miscarriage?”

“I told them,” he stated, and she retracted, leaning back in her chair.

“You said you wouldn’t,”

“I couldn’t lie about it. Felt like it’d be a slap in the face to you- like it’d be disregarding something you battled through,” he explained.

She twisted her thumb in her other palm nervously. “How’d they take it?”

“They were pissed. They’ve been on my ass about dying without grandkids for years so when they heard it, they were about as angry as you. And they’re also very sorry,” he relayed, playing with her lithe fingers. “My mom asks about you a lot,”

Callie grinned. “Grandma by nature?”

He nodded. “Little ball of love like you,”

With a steadying breath and her shoulders rolling away some of the nervousness, she seemed to be capable of this next step in their relationship that admittedly should’ve happened months ago. She moved her hair from her cheeks, her fringe pinned back by her glasses still, and carefully poked her healing cheek.

“Doesn’t look too bad?” she asked, and he shook his head, flashing a goofy grin.

“You’re pretty no matter what,”

Another slap on his arm, and she spun her soda between her palms. “What’re they like?”

Nick leaned back in his chair now, exhaling as he chewed. “Mom comes off as mean at first, but she’s just a quiet observer, I think is the best way to put it. Really hard worker, never really takes days off. Can be super blunt, but crack her open and she’s really the best mom. Put up with all my shit and never complained,” he told her with a small smirk.

It warmed Callie’s heart to see him speak so affectionately of his mom; clearly he’d been raised right. “And your dad?”

He rolled his eyes. “Smart- like really smart, but never short for some kind of raunchy joke,” Nick explained. “But he’s a gentle giant. The kind of person who can walk up to anyone from any walk of life and start a conversation,”

“You sound more like your mom than your dad,” she simpered, and he nodded in agreeance.

“Got my mom’s height, too,” he grumbled.

“You’re still my big guy,” she toyed, reaching to playfully trace the shell of his ear. It twitched, his cheeks turning a darker shade as he gently slap her hand away. “So I suppose we should stop by the store when we’re out today,”

“Yeah, after we go to the station though,” he stuffed the last bite in his mouth. “Don’t know how long it’ll take,”

“How convincing did you sound when your captain called?”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that he has some suspicions about the whole thing. I genuinely forgot to act surprised when he called- in my head I was like ‘yeah I know he got the shit beat out of him,” Nick snickered, carrying their plates to the kitchen.

“Did they tell you where he is now?” She followed him in.

“Nah, we should get those details about that today,”

“But we won’t have to actually see him right?”

“No, not at all. They only want our statements,” he reassured, holding her face when she looked here and there nervously. “There’s no chance he could show up after those blows you landed,”

She snorted softly, her head dropped and walking into his chest for a hug. Nothing else besides the anxiousness he could smell coming out of her pores showed her apprehension, and it started to affect him. He knew they’d be in separate rooms for their questioning- how would she handle it without him?

“Should we go and get this over with then? Make it a date afterwards?” he asked against her hair, and kissed her lips when she looked up at him with a quick nod. “Noodles for lunch?”

“Oh fuck yeah.” She grinned, another kiss, and the two of them moved to his room.

It was decided that it was best for Callie to wear a long sleeve over her blood stained cast, despite their best efforts to wash it out with hydrogen peroxide. It bothered her some- every time she reached for something or twisted her arm, she had to pull it back down, and that in itself could raise suspicions.

But with them both bundled and clad in black to avoid any extra attention drawn to them, Callie held Nick’s hand in her lap nervously as he drove, often looking at her from behind his dark Clubmasters to find her knee bouncing or adjusting her glasses nervously, repeatedly cleaning the lenses. All the way to the station, and when they stood beside his truck after parking, he reassured she’d be okay and there was no part of Gerrald she’d have to face that day.

She clung to him in a fleeting hug before finally inhaling deeply and grabbing his hand tightly as he lead her to the front, her shield against the bad that inevitably awaited inside.

Her face remained angled down while her eyes did the back and forth, recognizing faces she’d seen sneer or glare before. But now people looked in confused awe, probably not having expected to see the Orc no one liked who was beaten within an inch of his life walking through the front lobby, a fiercer glare across his scarred features to ward anyone off.

It occurred to Callie that looking so weak and beaten beside him would only draw more assumptions, so she lifted her chin, her hand sliding up his arm to hold securely as they approached the front desk.

“Jakoby,” the woman in uniform acknowledged, her platinum blonde locks pulled back into a sleek bun.

“Here for Heig,” he only answered, hanging his sunglasses over his collar. I’m here to talk to no one but Heig, was what his tone really said though, and Callie squeezed his arm, enormously proud of her Orc.

The tall woman, McCann, only nodded absently as she moved away, leaving the couple at the counter to wait. A few more were still there, looking on how they figured was covertly, but Nick only flashed a passing glance with a cocked brow, unbothered as long as he didn’t hear them utter any foul words in regards to Callie.

“You alright?” she asked lowly, and he nodded, still doing once overs of the area.

“Forgot how welcoming this place is,” he mumbled, and she snickered.

“Jakoby,”

They both turned, and there was Heig, followed by investigators in bland suits, files and folders in hand. That was when Callie tensed beside him, and he rubbed her back, silently comforting her.

“Sir,”

“Gonzales here will accompany Miss Flores for her statement and I with you and Amar,” Heig instructed, stepping aside so the Hispanic detective with lines beside his eyes from smiling could greet her.

“Miss Flores, pleasure to meet you,” he introduced himself calmly, clasping his other hand over hers when he shook. Callie only nodded, and Nick kissed her head before she followed Gonzales to one of the private rooms, twisting her palm around her thumb nervously. Nick wanted to run after her, but knew she’d be okay. It would most likely end in an anxious night at home after their visit, but Callie was strong. She could handle this on her own, he told himself.

It all started from the beginning. Back to when Nick and Gerrald had any sort of contact, even passing comments when his attacker had first joined the force. There was no specific time they could pinpoint when the harassment turned from bothersome to hostile, but from the statement Callie gave them, he could’ve been planning this for years.

Judging by charges on Gerrald’s hidden credit cards from his wife, he’d been a frequenter of Two Hands and from Jakes willingness to provide details and documents, he’d booked private dances from Callie at least once a week when she was still a regular working there, which was 4 years ago. Booths were dark, and dancers kept their distance. All this time she’d performed for him, unknowing of the obsession he held for her. Years and years, building a covet unbeknownst to everyone; a dangerous, sick fascination verified by kept receipts upon receipts of his visits to her club. Who knows how many times he could’ve followed her home or lingered nearby, unnoticed.

The catalyst was Callie’s visit to the precinct that first time, and Nick could remember his face perfectly.

What he thought was a sour, defeated glare was actually, probably, one of glaring realization that by some astral and amazing coincidence, Nick had scored the girl he so desired. Gerrald couldn’t stand seeing his favorite dancer in the arms of the Orc he despised, and it sent him over.

Verified, and to Nick’s dismay, Gerrald had started to lash out at his wife and children. Screaming, breaking things, disappearing for days at a time and always with a chunk of their money withdrawn from the bank. Money that had been given to the Belye Volki in return for their muscle. The same muscle that had been used to attempt Nick’s murder. As long as money kept rolling in with the aid of his police connections, the rival Orcs gladly sent their biggest.

Gerrald only showed his face when his chance at getting his hands on Callie presented itself, resulting in her injuries and the death of their albeit very young fetus. But that brought a new edge to the charges they were pressing: manslaughter on top of attempted, and assault, not to mention breaking and entering and the class 2 felony he faced for stealing guns from the station.

By then, it had all come together. The long obsession, the careful planning, and the attacks. Hours later, and Callie and Nick had given every detail they could recall, but admittedly and horribly given their best shocked response when news ‘broke’ that Gerrald had been the victim of a grizzly attack, by unknown assailants, of course.

Heig, judging by the way he studied Nick and had questioned any involvement he might’ve had with Fogteeth, obviously had suspicions when the Orc denied having any knowledge of Gerrald’s deadly attack, but couldn’t withhold commenting on his delight knowing he got what was coming.

But it was all written, and recorded, and with a final signature, Nick rose to scope out Callie when he was told they’d be in shortly to discuss further details.

She was also finished by the time he found her, and she visibly relaxed when she turned to see him walking in, kissing her head and then forehead as he sat beside her. Any little boosts he could give, he would.

“If I’d known we were gonna be here for 2 hours I would’ve taken them up on that drink offer,”

“Don’t- the sodas here are like 2 years old,” he teased, eliciting a giggle from her. “You doing okay?” he asked.

“Um… yeah. I don’t know how to handle knowing he’s been around for so long and I didn’t know, but I’m generally okay. They didn’t tell me where he is now, though,”

“They will when they come back in,”

“Are they compiling evidence?” she asked.

“At the copying machine actually,”

“Wait what?”

The door opened behind him, and Heig along with the three dressed investigators came in, all either sitting or standing on the other side of the table and handing over their own packets.

“These are copies of your statements and the case number attached,” Heig explained, and Nick bumped her knee with his. “Jakoby you know what happens next,”

“Yes sir,” Nick nodded, thumbing through the pages.

“But you don’t,” he looked at Callie, lacing his fingers together before him. “Both of your statements with additional statements and evidence will be sent off to a prosecutor's office and once they review it, it’ll be determined whether or not there’s sufficient enough evidence to send off to a judge for an arrest warrant,”

“How long does that take?” Callie asked.

“About 3 days,” Nick answered, and she glanced at him before looking back at Heig.

“And Gerrald? Where is he?” she pressed, tensing.

“Hospital. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon,”

“Give me a number,” Callie demanded, and Heig sighed.

“I can’t release that information to you-”

“And what if he gets out and isn’t charged with anything?” she lashed out, panic rising in her blood.

“He will be,” Heig maintained, and Callie reclined some, having not realized she was on the verge of standing. “I can’t say how it’ll hold up in court or when that could happen, but this is more than enough,” he explained, and Nick was a bit surprised. From all people, his racist-ass Captain seemed more or less in Nick’s favor of the situation.

“So go home and wait for the call. And I expect to see your ass here on Tuesday without a doctors note.” Heig pointed at Nick, and he nodded, fighting back an aggravated sigh.

Nick stood before Callie did, grabbing the reports and ushering her out of the office, both eager to be done with this visit.

“I really thought he wasn’t gonna be an asshole this time,” Callie said through the corner of her mouth, and Nick snorted.

“Surprised he didn’t slap cuffs on me for being the victim,” Nick came back, Callie now snorting. “Lunch now?”

“Yes and then we can walk it off at the store.”

He was pulling his sunglasses from his shirt when his line of vision met another Orc, clad in the infamous 79 and standing with a couple others at the front, speaking with one of the receptionists. Ernie- he’d been on Nick and Callie’s patrol team quite a few times. A quiet Orc, never one to really tag along in the jokes they’d made when Nick was in the thick of his heat.

It was natural now to raise his arm and bump his forearm with other Fogteeth, nodding at one another before they went back to their business.

The sparse cops around the lobby watched, confused, their eyes lingering as Nick walked with Callie under his arm. It would’ve come out eventually, but until they had any hard evidence, no one could persecute Nick for being Fogteeth.

↠

Her hands skipped over the clearance items, snatching a bottle of bouillon. They shuffled mostly, already exhausted from navigating a supercenter earlier that day and stuffed from pho, and often either of them would stop and stand with a hard exhale, and arms hung, ready to sit down and succumb to the food coma.

“What if he wanders out and attacks us in a delusional state?” Callie asked, waiting beside Nick at the meat deli with a basket hung on her arm. “I’ve heard that when people aren’t completely conscious that they’re stronger,”

“He looked like hamburger when we left,” Nick intoned, critically eyeing the choices before him before pointing to a pile of thick steaks, asking for 2 pounds. She hmph-d, chewing her inner lip.

“What if there’s still other Orcs he hired?” she whispered, and he dropped the bag of meat into the basket.

“They won’t do anything without pay,” Nick pulled her along, tossing in spices she didn’t recognize and a few packs of spiral noodles, trading the heavying basket for a long baguette. “Volki aren’t the most efficient but they’re never ones to make themselves known. They know they’re compromised and if anything, Gerrald will be their target for the exposure, not us,”

She pursed her lips, following sluggishly until he had his arm around her waist, tugging her along.

“Three days,” she scoffed.

“And then it’s gonna be off to a judge, and everyday that passes we’re safer, so calm down, okay? Nothing else can happen,” he implored, bumping her chin with his knuckles.

“Am I annoying you?”

“No but you’re tormenting yourself. We did everything we can and that fucker very well might never walk again. You saw how crooked his legs are, and baby,” he pulled her a little closer. “His jaw was barely hanging on when you were done with him,”

She fought the little smirk, hitting his firm chest. “I wasn’t exactly done with him,”

He cackled and kissed her cheek, keeping her in his hold as they wound up and down the isles of the supermarket, grabbing items for the dinner the following day and snacks. It was nice to return to some kind of normality, but a heavy thought saddled Callie’s mind despite the wide smile splayed across her face when they’d whisper jokes or pick at one another.

Nick would return to work, healed, and Callie would return home. If anything, they’d still spend most of their time together, but why did it feel like she would never see him again? Had she grown so comfortable at his house, in his company all day and night? How lonely would her bed feel without him there? Even when she was sleeping on his couch, he was so close. Could she ask to spend the night as often- was he looking forward to having his own space back?

She shook the intrusive thoughts. All that would change is returning to everyday life, hopefully with a new job under her belt.

“What exactly are you making for tomorrow?” she asked, peering into the basket after he grabbed two thick stalks of leeks.

“S’like a creamy, meaty pasta dish. Orc staple,” he grinned.

“How come you’ve never made it for me? Huh?” she poked her elbow into his side.

“Cause you don’t like these,” he retorted, grabbing a few fat cap mushrooms. She rambled out disgusted, blubbering mumbles as her hands drew in, veering a few steps away as he tried to hand them to her playfully. He went about picking the more favorable ones as she wandered on, her hands ghosting over veggies.

When her touch slid across firm peppers, she grinned, turning to find him pulling a bag from the spinner.

“You know, I’m still waiting on my truck load of bell peppers,” she pressed, dropping one of each into the bag.

He frowned with his brows kicked up. “Stop by Costco and fill the bed up,” he said smartly, earning a light smack on his arm. “Need more time,”

“More than a year?” she asked, and he blinked.

“It’s been almost a year already?”

“10 months in a couple weeks,”

He followed as she moved backwards, flicking her head to toss aside her fringe that was in need of a trim. He couldn’t see her eyes as well anymore. But watching her move away brought him back to a humid night in the dead middle of summer, and her once long hair whipping around her freckled cheeks as the waves crashed below them at the Santa Monica pier, the glimmer in her brilliant eyes lighting up the night.

“Good thing I have you before I turn my back on the world,”

Callie closed the gap between them, and he had her sides just as she’d stretched to kiss him. “Always.” she devoted softly, kissing him again.

10 months from then to now, and nothing in his unwavering intensity for her had lessened or changed, and through it all, she’d remained at his side, even when the world had seemed to tear them apart.

Nick was gazing at her, he knew it, but he couldn’t help the incredible blessing he felt washing over him. How had he been so lucky to land Callie?

“Couple more months and I can ask you to move in,” he said softly.

Her heart thundered, and she suppressed a wide, relieved smile. “I still have 8 months left on my lease,”

“I’ll ask again in 8 months then,” he caught up to her, holding her tight to his side. “Until then I’ll fill our garden with bell peppers,”

“A lifetime's worth,” she grinned, and met him halfway for a kiss.

“Only if you stick around that long,” he kissed quickly against her temple.

“My god just propose already,” she toyed dramatically, and he tugged on a lock of her hair to silence her, but only evoked a string of giggles. “Okay let’s go home, I want out of this bra,” she grunted, wiggling her arms against her chest. “Bandage is itchy as hell.”

They didn’t leave without a six-pack of Modelo’s; it was Callie’s turn to choose the ale, but only smirked when Nick groaned. They ambled through the long check-out lines they never could seem to avoid, bumping each other back and forth lazily with the basket in Nick’s grasp. The cashier looked at Callie sympathetically when she moved her glasses down to count her change and hand it to him, but Nick just scoffed. No longer did the need to prove himself alarm in his heart. He was done trying to be friends with a world no one wanted him a part of.

But accepting that was easier. Why did he need the thrill of a nod from a stranger instead of a glare if he had Callie, and Ward, even a few friends by his side? Could passing hello’s from strangers like he wasn’t branded a freak ever match up to what he had in front of him?

He watched Callie, chatting idly with an older woman bagging her items beside her, a small smile curling her full lips.

Nearly 10 months of bliss, and fighting, and misery and blood… but such a deep, and endless love.

Next 100 years would be easy.

Right?

↠

“I’m so full,” Nick exclaimed, his head craned back as he waddled from the kitchen with Callie behind him, at last pulling the loose shirt off her body to give the sore bite under her breast some time to breathe.

“Not in the mood for desert?” she said against his skin, her arms thrown around his waist. He chuckled as they made it to his bed before he spun and threw her against the mattress, crawling after her.

Callie pulled him down with a smile, peppering his face with sweet kisses as he grunted and shifted over her before finally flopping on his side.

“Too full,” he groaned, but caressed her thigh when she rolled, holding her cinched waist.

“Why did you let me eat so much?” she groused, and he snorted.

“I can’t be held responsible for that,”

“Cause you were stuffing your face too,” she giggled, shrieking when he dug his fingers into her ribs. He let up quickly knowing if he watched her uncovered boobs jiggle around too much he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from finding his way in. “You bastard,” she said sleepily, and sighed when he massaged her hip, moving down her thigh and back up.

The bruises on her stomach were finally improving, but that meant darkening before they’d eventually fade. He traced the edges of them around her belly button, catching the length of her scar on his journey, and folding his hand to trace circles with his knuckles against the spot a bump would’ve started to show if she’d still been pregnant.

Nick pulled his hand back.

To anyone else, there was so much wrong with her. Cuts, bruises, a cast- yet she seemed so unfazed by it all. It seemed to only hold her thoughts hostage when she’d catch sight of her flat stomach in the mirror, or when she was washing her face, her touch lingering over the gash on her lip or temple. Not to mention the considerable worsening of her vision; she could hardly text now without her arms outstretched.

The soft graze of fingertips against her chin cracked her eyes, and she gave him a lopsided grin with her face pressed into the sheet, her brows twitching in discomfort when the gash on her lip stung. He traced her bruised jaw, endearment stirring the warmth in his heart when she held his knuckles against her lips, kissing softly.

Callie pulled his hand under her chin, the fingers of her casted hand lacing awkwardly with his as she scooted closer across the mattress.

Their foreheads touched, and his hand slid across her cheek to push her hair away.

She held his hands there, sighing in content when his thumbs caressed under her eyes, featherlight over the blemish.

“This is nice,” she whispered, the two lost amongst the blankets scattered about their bodies.

“Mhm,” he hummed. His heart fluttered, watching her blink into focus on him, pulling his thumb to kiss his palm. “You’re so beautiful,”

“Your face looks better than mine,” she rasped, burying her face farther into his hand.

He shook his head, wiggling so they were up against one another. “You’re always so beautiful,”

“Shut uuup,” she whined, hiding her face.

“Nah lemme look at you,”

“That’s not creepy at all,” she rolled onto her other side, but he scooted over, pulling her back against his chest and smooching her shoulder.

“I’m imagining what our kids would look like,”

She paused, and for a split second he thought he’d over-stepped, but she shimmied onto her back, looking up at him. “I think about it all the time,”

“Yeah?” he asked, resting on his elbow. She nodded.

“I wonder who’s nose it would’ve had, or if it would’ve looked more human than Orc, but I’m pretty sure it would’ve had your eyes,” she explained. “And your ears… probably your nose too- I think they would’ve looked nothing like me, honestly,”

“A boy would’ve looked like you,”

“That means you’d make pretty girls,” she mumbled, and then her brows curved up. “Oh my god can you imagine having little daughters chasing after you? Calling you daddy?”

“Okay stop,” he whined, dropping his face against her chest. Now she pulled him in tightly, caressing the back of his head as he embraced her. He stared down at the fresh bite, tempted to pull his touch over it but knew it must’ve been tender as hell.

“Nick, what if I can’t ever give you a baby?” she asked suddenly.

“Don’t go there,”

“I’m serious-”

“Don’t,” he leaned over her, clapping a hand over her mouth, her brows furrowing slightly. “Don’t do that to yourself. It’ll happen but even if it never does that doesn’t mean I’d be less inclined to follow you wherever you go the rest of my life,”

She mumbled something unintelligible, but still he nodded, removing his hand. “Yes, we can adopt 10 pitbulls if it doesn’t work out,” he assured, and despite a gloss filming over her eyes, she grinned, holding his face.

“You’re so perfect,”

“Oh stop,” he kissed her, moaning when she curled around his neck. “Wait,”

She waited, one of her thighs already having slid between his.

He thought over his words before speaking. “I don’t want to actively… try, until we know he’s behind bars,”

“Oh- duh, Jesus I thought you were gonna drop a bomb in my lap,” she exhaled, moving her hair from her face.

Another kiss, and he was sitting up on his knees, parting her legs until he found his place between them. She turned boneless in his hold, her body arching deliciously as he pulled from underneath her, bringing her chest carefully against his open mouth.

“Isn’t this actively trying?” she breathed, rubbing his shoulders as he swirled his tongue around a standing nipple.

“Think of it as not not trying,” he said quickly, rocking forward to catch her lips in another lock. “Is that okay?”

She nodded eagerly, yanking him over her, her hips raising to meet his in a firm rut. He chuffed against her jaw, giving into a few leisure thrusts with her body raised like that. “It’s gonna happen, Cal,” he paused, holding her jaw gently. “I’m gonna give you a kid one day.”

“I’m holding you to it.” she grinned, and exclaimed when he rolled, admiring her body as she moved above him.

She’d gone back and forth between the kitchen and table at least 5 times since he’d been standing there for no more than 3 minutes, and he suspected it’d keep happening until he resorted tying her to a chair.

Callie was at the table, poking the tableware into neater arrangements, glancing nervously at him and flashing her best ‘don’t-worry-I-won’t-have-panic-attack-in-front-of-your-parents-but-I’ll-have-five-beforehand’ smile. And here she came, back into the kitchen to peer over his arm and down at the simmering pan.

“I keep stopping myself from telling you it looks done cause I have no idea how to cook this,” she rattled, leaning her butt against the countertop to steal some sips from his beer, most likely. Hers had been thrown back hours ago, when she was only a fraction of the nerves she was now.

“Give it about 10 more minutes,” he nodded, setting the spoon beside the pan. “But you need to calm down. They’re gonna think you’re high on something with how fast you’re moving,”

“Pfft I wish I was high at this point,” she groaned, pushing her hands back through her hair. “I don’t even know why I’m so nervous, it’s not like I’m guilty of something,”

“Yeah they’d smell that,” he joked, and she looked at him, horror paling her face.

“Oh my god they’re gonna smell that we fucked last night!” She cried, holding her own cheeks. “They’re gonna know I was upside down!”

He shrugged indifferently, weighing his hands. “You were more folded than anything-“

“They’re gonna think I’m a skank for having sex after just losing a baby,” she complained into her palms, and Nick chuffed.

“See now you’re just making bad assumptions,”

Callie looked up at him, and frowned, dropping her gaze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,”

“It’s fine. But you seriously need to calm down. I can’t keep giving you beer,” he grinned, opening his arms for a tight hug. Callie rushed into him fast enough that he almost lost balance, but with a good squeeze, she was already calming and reaching under his hold to pick up the spoon and stir the creamy food.

A round of solid knocks on his door had her spinning in his arms, and he squeezed her shoulders with a kiss to her cheek. “It’s gonna be okay.”

She followed slowly as he walked to the front door, opening it calmly after shooting her an encouraging, goofy grin.

“Hey Ma,” he said happily.

“Yah, ‘hey Ma’ like you invite us over enough to act all non-chalan,” she stepped inside, the colorful head wrap fanning around her shoulders like silky hair pairing beautifully with the burgundy sweater she wore. Her accent was definite and Callie was surprised she was donning a Russian one at that. She smacked his shoulder when he opened his arms to hug her, so he pouted, his ears twitching, but nevertheless she hugged her son securely. “How’re you feeling, ukmall?”

“It’s nonchalant- I’m better. Hi dad,” Nick unwound from his concerned mother to quickly hug his dad, who from a fleeting, previous glance before, was much taller than Nick. Callie stiffened when his head turned right towards her, looking at her through glasses similar to Nick’s Clubmasters.

No wonder he liked those so much…

“Hello there,” he also had an accent, but not nearly as thick as his mothers. He moved past Nick whose mouth opened to protest, but it was too late. “I’m Oleg, I’m assuming you’re Callie,” Oleg grabbed her hand to shake gently, clasping his other over their connected palms, and she had to remind herself to shake back as she literally looked up at him.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you-,”

“Come, come meet Nick’s mother,” he gently pulled her along with a wide hand on her back. Nick shrugged as she passed, a playful frown on his face.

“This is Dinara-”

“I can introduce my’own, Oleg,” Dinara snapped, but he only smiled sheepishly, his impressive tusks flashing. Her bright golden eyes softened when flickering back to Callie, and she took Callie’s hand from her husbands, simply cradling it. “I’m glad to finally meet you, Calista,”

“I’m so happy to meet you too,” Callie replied sweetly, observing the sudden shift from ferocity to reserved concern.

“After months and months apparently,” Dinara turned on her son, motioning her hand in anger in his direction.

“Ma come on,” Nick groaned, head cocking and eyes rolling. Oleg snickered, and Nick elbowed him, sparking a playful glare-off between them.

“Think she was gonna eat her alive like the other ones, ah?” his dad teased, and Callie’s brow cocked.

“Other… ones?” she asked hesitantly.

“You make me sound like a monster,” Dinara hissed.

“He said it!” Nick defended.

“It’s okay, human doesn’t taste that good,” Oleg said lowly as he passed, but winced and exclaimed when Dinara smacked the back of his head. “Hispanic might not be as bland though-”

“DAD,” Nick hollered, stepping towards Callie who was biting back a wide smile with her fingertips against her lips as she watched his parents move into his house, and how Dinara chewed him out quietly in Orkish, but he was only a tower of laughter as he lovingly held his wife's shoulders.

“That’s them,” Nick muttered.

“I expected different from what you told me.” she grinned.

“I told you exactly what to expect.” he shrugged, motioning to follow him into the kitchen.

“You’re lucky he’s calm now. When he was a child? Couldn’t keep him still. He’d climb trees and run into traffic,” Dinara recounted, her hands animated and motioning as she recounted old stories of Nick’s younger days.

“And he would fight other kids! He was a little animal,” Oleg said around a mouthful of food.

“Okay you said I was 4 when that happened,” Nick tried defending himself, his knife pointed at Oleg.

“4, 16- what’s the difference?” his dad grinned. “Couldn’t handle another demon like him. One and done,”

Callie chuckled. “Where’d all that feistiness go?” she asked, pushing him a little.

“Left it behind in my twenties,” Nick mumbled, chuffing when Callie rubbed his arm.

“Ai, mi viejo,” she cooed, but he pushed her back, scooping his food into a bite.

“What’s that?” Dinara asked.

“My old man,” Callie answered, earning a flat glare from Nick and a booming laugh from Oleg.

“What’re you laughing at, you fossil?” Dinara defended him, and Oleg’s face scowled some.

“I’m still in good shape for 77- Callie would agree,” he retorted, puffing his chest and squaring his shoulders.

“Really? 77?” Callie asked, eyes wide in amazement. His parents both nodded, Oleg sitting up proudly.

“Wanna know something interesting though?” Oleg asked, and Nick raised his fork the same time Dinara flicked his hand.

“Oleg-”

“Orcs perform 20 years younger in bed. He should still be going like he’s in his twenties, ah? Smell it in here like the 70’s,” Oleg harassed mercilessly, smiling, warding off Dinara’s attacks as he tormented his son who had his face buried in his palms. Callie followed suit, hiding, but giggling madly. She knew they’d know how active their sex life was, but didn’t expect to be called out so harshly.

“Can we be done with the embarrassing stories?” Nick whined, finally uncovering his flushed face and throwing back the rest of his beer.

“Ahh, you have no humor, boy,” Oleg groused, evoking an argument between the two that Dinara wanted nothing to do with, so she turned to Callie.

“Callie,” she said, and Cal looked at her, lowering her drink. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m- I’m good,” she grinned.

“I mean how are you feeling?” she asked again, and for the first time that night, she could feel her looking at the bruises coating her features instead of Callie as a whole, and assumed she was asking generally about her condition.

“Um…” Callie pondered, swirling the drink in her glass. “I go back and forth,” she started, and Nick had stopped bickering with his father to look at her, listening quietly. “Some days I feel okay and others I feel like I did something wrong, and that guilt won’t lessen,”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Nick said quietly, and she shrugged indifferently.

“Can’t help how I feel,”

“It’s not strange,” Dinara commented, her chin rested atop her knuckles, her small shoulders drawn in. “A piece of you was taken away,”

Nick ran his hand down the back of her hair when Callie looked down, leaning over to kiss her cheek without waver.

“Ahh, you must see the squishy side of our son quite often,” Oleg cooed, and Nick’s head snapped in his direction to glower.

“Squishy?” Callie repeated, relieved the subject was shifting. But with a final glance in Dinara’s direction, her warm eyes said everything she might’ve wanted to say before her husband interrupted. Only compassion and understanding came from that look and small nod, and Callie wondered what she had ever been worried about in the first place.

“He’s such a grump- never showed any kind of affection for his other girlfriends. He’d sit there like a plank, wouldn’t even hold their hands or smile,”

“Those little witches didn’t even bother chewing with their mouths closed,” Dinara added in quickly.

“How many did you bring to meet?” Callie asked, eyeing Nick suspiciously.

“Okay first of all-” Nick started.

“Ffffour…?” Oleg counted, thinking back critically.

“Shut up. None of them lasted more than a month,”

“Hama was the worst. Her tusks were nearly black and she drew on crooked eyebrows,” Dinara shuddered, and Nick was hiding his face again as Callie leaned in, completely enthralled.

“There was Glasha,” Oleg held up two fingers now.

“Kept calling him Opal,” Dinara exclaimed, jabbing her thumb in Oleg’s direction.

“Shel,”

“Shel was mean,” Nick said, despite hiding. “She ghosted me after I told her I wanted to be a cop,”

“Well I can’t blame her entirely for that one,” Dinara mumbled, and Nick’s arms raised in defeat, leaning back in his chair.

“Here we go again…”

“Why do you want to stand up for a people who look at you like you’re infected?” his mother questioned, inclining over the edge of the table.

“None of the reasons you think I wanted to,” Nick snapped, crossing his arms.

“What about you, Calista? You mind if he’s the Orc cop?”

Callie faltered a bit, but looking at Nick’s downcast eyes and stiff shoulders stirred the protectiveness in her heart, even if it was his own mother berating him.

“I don’t mind, actually. I never saw Nick as just an Orc, or just a cop, or the Orc cop. He’s always just been Nick to me,” she explained, nervously reaching for his hand under the table. “I worry about him all the time, but I think Nick will bring change with him where he goes. I think it’s only a matter of time before people gain courage like him and start pursuing dreams that are usually unreachable,”

Callie’s cheeks heated when it remained silent, but Nick had pulled her hand into his lap and squeezed, silently thanking her.

“You look like the bad guy now,” Oleg whispered loudly to Dinara, and she smacked his hand again as he chuckled.

“I suppose I do,” Dinara sighed, holding her own cheek. “I worry for you, ukmall. What if something happens to you when you have children?”

“Then I’m really not gonna let anything happen,” Nick replied coolly. “Especially not to any of my kids,”

“Planning a family already?” Oleg asked, taking another massive bite of the food.

Callie and Nick looked at one another. Callie smirked, almost unnoticeable, and he did too.

“I want all boys. Bunch’a little Nick’s running around,” she simpered, and Nick kissed her hand, rolling his eyes when Oleg whined ‘Awww’.

“You wouldn’t be bothered having Orc children?” Dinara asked, and when Callie’s eyes flashed to hers, she couldn’t restrain some of her annoyance. Ultimately, she understood his mother's hesitance to let anyone near her son who’d received bitter lashings most of his life, but also wished she understood that Callie felt the same way. She didn’t want anyone near Nick who could harm him, and her heart had decided long ago that there would be no other she wanted raising her children then him, assuming she could eventually bare life.

“Halflings deal with twice the normal hate than Orcs,” Dinara added.

“Mom,” Nick said firmly, but his mother was resolute.

“You wouldn’t be bothered having hafling grandchildren?” Callie bit back hotly, but Nick saw her knee bouncing. That was a wide leap to make.

Dinara nodded, the corner of her mouth finally kicking up a bit. “Good girl. Teeavh ukavayun barun,”

Callie’s brows flickered in confusion, but Nick and Oleg’s satisfied nods silenced her. Something was transpiring here, and she didn’t want to ruin it.

“Expect your kids to be tiny assholes like this one, though.” Oleg interjected, and Dinara and Nick both rolled their eyes while Callie laughed.

The conversation winded back to lighter topics as the long dinner dragged on, but after standing her ground, Dinara didn’t blister Callie with questions most likely meant to shake her foundation; to make her prove exactly where she stood beside Nick. Children didn’t come up again, but Oleg made it a point to draw out Nick’s embarrassment at any chance he could snatch, always resulting in Dinara stepping in to fend off the teasing as Nick hid away, sometimes leaning against Callie while she hid her laughter behind a napkin.

It jumped here and there, ranging from examining some of Callie’s tattoos and Dinara telling how she’d always wanted a few all the way to how Oleg had been a chiropractor before teaching at the university. “I used to smoke joints before I cracked them.” he teased, and even Nick almost shot drink from his nose when he heard that one.

Somehow they made their way to the backyard, and with sweaters wrapped tightly around their frames, the women sat at the table with mugs of tea as Nick and Oleg wandered around his garden. His dad always had something to point at and correct, which always stirred more arguing, but Dinara rolled her golden eyes and waved them away.

“Those two never end,” she groaned, sipping her tea, and looking over to Callie as she grinned at her lover. “Calista,”

“Callie, please,” she corrected.

Dinara nodded. “I’m sorry for picking at you. I could see fire spitting from Nick’s eyes everytime I asked a question,” his mother explained, looking back to her men.

“I think I’d be the same,” Callie assured.

Dinara sighed, her head tilting. “I worry about him greatly, yet somehow after years of hate and bitter humans he’s remained my sweet boy. I’ve so longed for him to find someone so he’s not lonely,” she went on softly. “I’d always tell him- just show them how kind you are, my love, and he’d say Ma, I have! Humans hate what they fear,”

“It’s true,”

“You didn’t though. You befriended my son who’s usually a wall,”

Callie giggled. “It was the other way around, actually. I don’t usually like talking to people but he was just too damn cute in that uniform,” she admitted, and Dinara laughed.

“You better not be telling her more stories,” Nick grumbled as they walked up to them, placing their own mugs on the table before flopping back into their chairs.

“You two should join the ballet with that kind of choreography,” Callie piped, and Dinara laughed again, earning sour stares from Nick and Oleg.

“You will have to rub my back tonight, I’ve eaten too much,” Oleg groaned, and Nick looked at Callie with a pout, nodding in agreeance with his father, but his silent plea was shot down with a hard shake of her head, but winked before he looked from her.

“I suppose we should go then,” Dinara declared with a sigh, looking at Nick. “I have to take care of that,” she mumbled, eyeing his father; Nick snorted.

“You act like you don’t have any use of me when just last night you were begging-”

“Oleg.” Dinara snapped, and Callie was struggling not to choke on her tea, but Nick was covering his ears, yelling at his father to shut up. Oleg didn’t seem to understand why so much trouble had suddenly befallen him, with his palms raised and the mischevioused of smiles across his face.

Dinara hugged Callie this time, her thin arms strong around Callie’s shoulders. “Make him call us.” Dinara whispered, and with a light chuckle and nod, Dinara stepped back, holding Callie’s face a chaste moment before hugging Nick.

“Take it easy on her.” Oleg winked, flinching when his wife flicked his cheek.

She thought it precious when she watched his parents walking down the path, Oleg’s elbow hooked around Dinara’s neck and her arm around his waist, chatting silently as they left.

Nick stretched fiercely as she locked the door behind them, immediately maneuvering her bra around to relieve some of the pressure on the bite.

“So?” he asked, his arms dropping.

“Your dad is fucking hilarious,” she smiled, and he rolled his eyes, pulling his hands down his face as he turned away.

“He’s a handful,”

“Nah it’s funny,” she insisted, walking into the kitchen as Nick collected the plates across the table. Before anything however, Callie pulled her bra from underneath her shirt, exhaling in great relief when the bite no longer itched manically.

“Your mom totally has that mama bear thing,” Callie mentioned. “I’ve never met a mom so protective of her baby boy,” she cracked, and he blew a raspberry as he walked back to stack the dishes beside the sink.

“She likes you- she wouldn’t have been mean if she didn’t,” he explained, and her brow cocked. “Glasha, one of the exes? When I brought her around, my mom was silent the entire time and let her go on and on, all disrespectful, and when I apologized to her she said- ‘it’s okay ukmall, she won’t be around very long anyways,’”

Callie made an ‘O’ face, giggling the more she imagined how Nick must’ve looked when his mother dropped that bomb.

“I’m glad then. I really like your mom,” she nodded. “What does ukmall mean?”

“Tiny,” he intoned, his mouth in a straight line.

“Oh! That’s like what Rosie call’s Joaquin! She calls him ‘nano’ cause he’s small,”

“I’m only small compared to some,” he guarded.

Compared to her, Nick was a thick man, given just enough height to still intimidate humans, but to other Orcs, he was rather small. It got Callie thinking, and wondering what genes would carry on to their kids, but she shook her head stiffly.

Stop getting ahead of yourself.

“So what’s next? Cousins?” she asked, rinsing the plates as Nick nibbled on the last piece of toasted bread.

“I suppose. Next family reunion. You’ll need to make a list to remember all of them and my aunties and uncles,” he chewed. “Most of the from my dads side,’

“They like him too?” she grinned, and he nodded, his eyes rolling back in exhaustion.

“All a bunch of animals,”

“So that’s where you got it from in your younger days?”

“Probably,” he threw back the last of another beer, groaning when he leaned against the counter.

There was a pause, and then she was suddenly stepping towards him to kiss his cheek, then a sweet one on his lips as he looked at her curiously.

“What’s that for?”

“I was thinking about what your mom said,” she explained, continuing with the dishes. “That when you brought your other girlfriends around you didn’t show affection, or much of anything. It made me feel like you’re really in for this,”

“I wouldn’t’ve asked you to meet my parents if I wasn’t,”

“Well what about the others? Sounded like you introduced them pretty quickly,” she eyed him.

“That was different. I was lonely,” he intoned, his arms crossing defensively.

“Didn’t have any friends back then?”

“Well sure, but not that kind of lonely,” he mumbled, searching for the right words.

“Touch starved?” she asked, and he nodded. “I get that. Before I met you I hadn’t been with anyone for like a year and some change,”

He grinned. “Found each other at the right time,”

“Wish it would’ve been sooner,” she simpered, leaning against him when he pressed to her side, his hand against the back of her neck so he could place a few kisses on her temple.

“We have time to make up for it,” he said contently.

“Long time.” she grinned, craning her head back to kiss him.

“Endlessly.”

He’d just walked into the bathroom with her favorite mug in hand, filled to the brim with hot tea as she was pulling the curler through the last lock of hair. She quickly ran her fingers through it, reaching for the hairspray to coat her head. He coughed, leaning back from the small plume of chemicals.

She fluffed the ends around her shoulders, looking back at him in the mirror.

“Why aren’t you dressed?” she asked.

“My uniform is in my locker,” he chimed, and she sighed, looking back at her reflection. “You look so pretty,”

She shrugged, pulling on the thin collared blouse before she did the black collared jacket, rolling the sleeves up to the white dress shirt beneath accented it nicely. “If I get hired there it’s gonna be expensive keeping up with the dress code,”

“Gonna miss wearing jeans and sandals?” he grinned.

“So much. At least I’ll be in air conditioning.” She smoothed her hands down her hips, over the fitted pencil skirt that brought the entire outfit together. Callie turned this way and that, constantly tugging on ends of the clothing and fixing her neat fringe, all the while Nick watched her with a grin in his pullover and sweats.

He steadied her as she slipped on her heels, even raising her hand to spin her slowly before him, holding her own face when pink dusted her cheeks. A final spin before the mirror and a flick of her head to move her hair from her eyes, and she exhaled, satisfied with her interview outfit.

“You look nervous,”

“I am for you,” she mumbled, digging in her makeup bag to pull out the deep shade of red lipstick she often wore. “Are you sure you’re okay to go back?”

“I’m okay baby. I don’t hurt anymore. Plus, I don’t think Heig would let me waltz in with anymore doctors excuses,”

“Fuckin’ dick,” she said, smoothing her lips together after applying the lipstick.

He nodded, sipping the tea he’d originally made for her. “I guess you’re heading home today after the interview?”

At first she didn’t look up when she shrugged, but eventually she turned to face him, her heels clopping against the tile. “I guess?”

He ran his tongue over his clipped tusks. “It’s gonna be weird not having you around all the time,”

“Will you still come over? Probably tonight when I inevitably get too lonely?” she asked quietly, peaking at him from behind her bangs.

“I was gonna come over anyways. It’s gonna be too empty here,” he grinned, and held her jaw delicately to kiss her a few times as she approached him. “Ready to go?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” she grumbled, reaching to grab her bags, but he scooped them up first.

“No glasses… no, I think I’ll wear them,” she put them back on, patting her thighs a couple times. “I still can’t see,” she sighed, defeated, but couldn’t rub her eyes.

“Keep them on if they help,” he decided for her, his wrist rested over the steering wheel. A curt nod, and she fixed her tresses again before turning to him. Her big eyes were a deep, warm ocean of worry, and it in turn made him frown.

“Baby,” he whined.

“Text me? When you can and be safe?” she croaked, clutching his hand tightly. He pulled her over the center console, kissing the worry from her stressed frame. He held her tightly against his chest for a little bit, mindful of her neat hair and smartly pressed outfit, willing her anxiety to reel back enough just for today.

“I’ll be in touch, okay? Go in there with a clear head,” he kissed her again. “And I’ll be over tonight with pizza and drinks to celebrate,”

She nodded, blinking the moisture from her eyes before grabbing his face to kiss him again, lingering, committing this to memory when her heart demanded it. The rampaging fear he wouldn’t return to her at days end was suffocating her, but she wouldn’t say it out loud. She wouldn’t acknowledge her demons.

“I love you Callie.” he told her, his forehead against hers.

“I love you so much.” she sighed, her thumbs tracing his cheeks before she finally let him go.

She left her bags behind since she was going to see him again later, but had her purse tight at her side, her hands fiddling before her as she walked up the curb. Callie faced him as the engine turned over, flashing a nervous smile before walking into the bank.

He knew she’d do good. He knew from the very depths of his heart that she could nail this, and that going back to work would bring her back into routine and take up her time so her thoughts didn’t have space to drag her down. Even if it meant seeing her less, this was good for her.

He drove to the station in silence, the radio a soft lull, and the seat beside him empty.

That was going to take some adjusting to.

The precinct was as unwelcoming as ever, and he parked in the back lot like always, grabbing his warbag before walking to the entrance. Nick went generally unnoticed as he wound his way through the halls, only meeting a few unsavory glances from fellow officers that obviously would’ve preferred him not returning. Nick dished out his coldest glares, his chin lifted proudly as he made his way to the lockers.

Fuck who ever doesn’t like you.

The target poster with his name written crudely across the top had been taken down, and when he wrapped around the isle of lockers to find his, Ward was already changing.

“My man!” Daryl said cheerily, the men clasping fists and hugging quickly. “All healed up?”

“Pretty much. Little help from Callie last night.” Nick said quieter as he opened his locker. The photobooth strip was still there; he’d never taken it down, and now fixed it beside the small mirror.

“Good t’have you back.” Ward clapped against his shoulder.

No one bothered him or made snide remarks as he changed, but he knew it was only a matter of time before someone said something. The uniform was a tad bit loose; he needed to bulk back up after six weeks of laying around. The vest was pulled over his chest, his badge pinned over that, but now his cleaned Clubmasters hung off his collar, his watch finding its place around his wrist since Callie had taken it to be repaired.

All in all, he felt good. There was a sense of accomplishment coming back here. The world had tried bringing him down again, but he’d fought his way back to the surface.

“Let’s bounce, Fogteeth.” Ward cracked, but Nick only rolled his eyes when a few heads turned.

There was no warm welcome from his captain in the briefing room, but Nick preferred it that way. Standing alone didn’t bother him the same any longer. He counted the people by his side, and that was all he needed. They sat slacked in their seats as morning briefings were announced, and they rose when their routes were given, and with idle chatting they made their way to the kit room, grabbing their shotguns before making their way out of the building.

Nick’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he opened it to find a message from Callie.

2 things: 1- i forgot to pay my rent 4 days ago and now i owe an extra $450. 2- ya girl got the job

He snickered. Might as well renege on the lease. I knew you’d score that job, i’m proud of you baby

“Callie got a job,” Nick announced, slipping his phone back into his pocket as they approached the cruiser.

“That’s what’s up. Don’t you two go actin’ a fool again,” Ward quipped, both of them taking their sides in the car with Nick behind the wheel as usual.

“Nah, I’ve been thinking of asking her to move in,” Nick exhaled, reacquainting with all the controls and adjusting his seat.

“Already?” Ward asked, leaning against the door comfortably.

Nick put his Clubmasters on, nodding after he questioned himself.

Fuck yeah already.

To be continued . . .

There it is, the ending to Bell Peppers! To everyone who has come along on this journey with me and stuck around for ride; to the likes, kudos, comments and feedback on the story and art, thank you so much from the deepest corners of my heart! You all kept me inspired to keep writing and keep uploading! I would also like to take a moment to thank @rfitzhugh74 for beta-reading this monster!! I was incredibly nervous to hand over my writing, and she’s been an absolute blessing and so patient with me, so thank you love!!! 💛

Milagro is already in the works, so keep a lookout for Nick and Callie's return!

Translations: Ukmall - "small"

75 notes · View notes

morphituu · 6 years ago

Text

Bell Peppers Ch. 16

“Summit”

Archive of Our Own: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16

tumblr: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16

The tea would do well to keep his hands warm once he was outside, as well as wake him up a bit more.

The nightmares had come back full force- shaking him awake, jostling a sore Callie every night since she’d been in hospital, and he always felt so fucking stupid for being the one who needed consoling when she was the one bleeding their baby out and in need of rest. She never complained or silenced him. There was only the calming touch she’s always offered and words that stilled his uproarious sorrowings.

You need to get your shit together, he’d scold himself, but it was impossible to stop the recurring recollections of seeing Callie, beaten and bloody, her stomach swollen in late pregnancy and blood staining her inner thighs at the center of his home. Sometimes it was a swaddled mess of blood and small body parts, laid about the spot Nick was attacked in his backyard, but he could still hear loud cries of an infant carrying around the sky. He wouldn’t tell her, and he hoped she just assumed he was having relapses of his own nightmares that first plagued him.

Nick shuddered, but rolled his shoulder to shake off that unease. He’d face that hurdle later, when he was faced with it again.

The cold blast of rainy air from outside helped clear him up, but it only caused more discomfort as he found Matuk at a concrete bench at the far end of the loading zone.

He bumped his shoulder, shoving a cup under his nose when he turned.

“Callie insisted,” Nick said, and sat beside the younger Orc who still cradled his injured arm close to his chest and brandished the deep gashes across his face dealt from iron fists.

“Thanks,” Matuk mumbled, sipping nervously. He was bundled deeply in layers; Nick could only imagine what it was like dealing with shitty weather and recovering, but the kid was so silent; it never seemed to faze him.

“You come out here to ask about them?”

Nick shook his head. “I already talked to Morn,”

Matuk sipped his hot tea. “Callie make you?”

Nick nodded, sighing. “She asks about you a lot- wishes you’d come up and visit,”

The teen looked down at the drink in his hands, his thumbs flicking the lid noisily.

“She’s not mad,” Nick sighed.

He shrugged. “I let them get to her,”

“You were ambushed,”

“You telling me as a fact or to make yourself feel better?”

“Both, but I know it’s true,” Nick stated, looking at him, though he refused to look back. Nick looked up at the rain falling in sheets from the overhang, clapping loudly against the road and on tops of cars that were parked. “I heard it from the other ones that you managed to fight off 3 of those Volkis,”

“I still-”

“3,” Nick interrupted. “I’ve dealt with them before, at work. There must be something about those Russian bred Orcs cause it took me and 2 other officers to just get cuffs on one, but you took down 3, avall,”

Matuk lifted his head some, but still not towards Nick. “I’m sorry about your little one,”

They both looked in opposite directions nervously, more hardship on Nick’s part, but still gave the young one a nod in acknowledgement before standing and stretching. That was enough of the cold night for now.

“Callie says you should go home and rest. She already told like four others to take up your shift,”

Matuk scoffed, quietly. “Ordering people around?”

Nick nodded, grinning. “Says you should go spend time with Larek.”

Matuk’s ears flickered, and withheld spinning in Nick’s direction as he walked away, hiding the growing smirk on his face. Nervously, the younger Orc scanned his surroundings clandestinely. No one near by this time, so he let go of the breath he’d held. He pulled his phone out, finally finishing the message he’d been writing to Lala before Nick interrupted.

It was the same routine everyday: find one of the higher ups, ask for updates, do a once over of the area himself. There were double the Orcs now- all blended into the day to day bustle of a hospital, but all equally ready to throw down at a moments notice. Most were at the entrances, but a few were scattered up the halls to Callie’s room, always nodding at him as he passed.

But everyday passed that Gerrald was still at large was another day they struggled with paranoia.

Callie would tense worse than Nick every time someone knocked at the door and would sometimes thrash when a nurse came to check on her at night.

The panic attacks were worsening- it took hours to calm her sometimes, but he refused to let them sedate her and put her into a trance like state. He’d hold her for days if it meant she could come out of it clear minded, without having to worry about the after effects of drugs. Most of the time though, she managed. The bruises were at their worst, as were the gashes along her temple, cheeks and lip, but she still cracked smiles here and there, the occasional little joke. But he could see that depression lurking below the surface.

Some instances he’d catch her laying her hands flat over her stomach, staring off, picturing what could’ve been. He didn’t interrupt her, but always had his arms open and ready for her.

He couldn’t go back up to her room without another rice krispie treat- she was a sucker for them and always cheered up a bit with a little extra something sweet.

Nick stopped trying to look at the ‘Congratulations’ balloons and newborn teddy bears lining the check-out counter some time ago. There’d be no getting over it unless he faced it, and accepted it.

“We can always try again,” she mumbled softly, plucking at the zipper to his hoodie and her cheek mashed against his chest. He rocked sideways to better look at her, pulling hair from her cheeks when their eyes met.

“You’d wanna?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Eventually,”

Fingertips traced her tender face, sighing when he moved to rest his head against hers.

“Do you?” she asked, her nose flattened against his cheek when she craned her head back, but blew a raspberry when he only nodded. The look she gave him was all knowing, and there was a brief battle of furrowed brows until he buckled.

“I don’t want you to feel rushed or anything like that,”

“I don’t,” she fired back, kissing his cheek. “I want all boys,”

His head snapped in her direction. “Boys? Plural?”

She nodded. “I want a big family now that I know it can happen. Bunch’a little Nick’s running around.”

He couldn’t suppress the chuckle and wide smile imagining such a life of chaos and excitement. To see a little mutt of them sat on Callie’s hip, maybe a couple others running around the house, all brandishing unique features…

Nick hid his face, whimpering when she stroked the back of his head, stilling the commotion in his heart.

He placed the small congratulatory present back, confident that one day they’d get there, but for now okay coming to terms with everything else. The constant reminder of their situation did more and more to convince him that having a baby would’ve been the wrong time, too. Who knows how long this would drag on for.

With a few more treats snagged off the rows under the register, he was back en route to the elevators, nodding at every Orc before he finally made it to her room.

A soft rap of his knuckles against the door signaled he was coming in, but he didn’t expect Diego and Luciana to be by Callie’s side, laughing as she did.

“Hey baby,” Callie grinned, a small flash of a worried frown making him swallow a chuckle before he leaned over to kiss her cheek and place the rice krispie in her waiting palms.

Luciana always had warm hugs to offer, and would hold his face as she insisted he tell her why they didn’t see him enough. He’d hunch over, trying to remain serious despite his cheeks being squished.

“Sir,” Nick intoned, shaking Diego’s hand, but relaxing when he smiled kindly at him.

“How’s Matuk?” Callie asked, slowly leaning her elbows against her thighs when he sat beside her on the bed.

“Cold and grumpy,”

Her giggle was uplifting, her hand smacking the top of his a pleasant peak into more playful sides that had recently lain dormant. “You’d be grumpy too if you were stuck out all day in the cold,” she murmured, her cheek reddening when he kissed her fingers.

“Like you were never split,” Luciana cracked, causing Nick to hide his face against the back of her hand.

“You go back to work soon?” Diego asked, situating in his chair.

“Couple weeks,” Nick sighed. “I should take off more time-“

“No,” Callie shook her head.

“You need-“

“A couple weeks. I didn’t have my face kicked in like you,” she battled, making a face when he did.

“Mija you can always come stay with us,” her mother reminded, her dad nodding.

“I don’t need a nurse, I’m fine,”

“There’s nothing wrong with extra help,” Diego tried, but Callie shook her hands.

“I’m fine- I can walk and bathe myself and everything, I’m fine. I don’t need assistance for this,” she argued, notedly pointing to the cast on her arm.

Her parents stared at her, but she knew they were critically examining the bruises and cuts, probably weighing how affected by a brain bleed she could be having and not telling them. Her eyes narrowed, leaning back against the raised bed.

“No,”

“Calista-“

“I don’t need help,”

“It doesn’t hurt-“

“I’m staying with Nick I’m fine,”

“Maybe you should hear them out,” Nick mumbled, wincing when she pinched the back of his hand. Her glare of desperation silenced him, and he dropped his gaze. But they could both feel her parents looking at them curiously, probably wondering why she was being so adamant about taking care of herself when she’d never been one to deny a helping hand.

Nick looked at her again, and could see her building the courage in herself, taking a steadying breath before turning back.

“Ma I’m okay. I don’t have any internal injuries or anything. It was only this and a miscarriage,” she croaked, clearing her throat.

It took a moment for it to register, but Callie’s shoulders drew in when the shock flickered across their faces, their postures leaning in.

“Perdiste a tu bebe? Cuando? Cuando tiempo tenias?” Luciana dripped, her hands hovering over the bedding.

Callie’s eyes were already glossy, but she blinked rapidly and looked up to prevent the downpour. “I was only a couple weeks,”

Nick couldn’t look up. He couldn’t face them. He knew they must’ve known it happened while they were split; what would they think of him? Would they accuse him of taking advantage of her? Ask if he covered it up with a staged attack? Would they believe him if he said he could barely stand the thought of being so close to his own child and not knowing it?

There was a long, drawn silence. Her parents looking at one another, leveling with their own second-hand despair, and Callie stiffly holding her father's hand.

It was obvious they didn’t know what to say, or how to react. No one had expected this, especially from Callie. It had been long assumed she would never have any chance of having children, let alone conceiving, so was it better to offer words in hope of it happening again sometime in the future, or apologies that affirmed she could never be a mother?

“I’m sorry-for both of you,” Diego replied throatily, looking at Nick when he turned enough. “I have nothing to offer… my own daughter, I’m sorry I don’t have better words, but I’m sorry, mija,” he uttered, her small hand between his rough, old palms.

“Maybe another time.” Luciana tried, grinning sadly when Nick nodded and looked up at Callie, her eyes brightening again. The red around her iris was vibrant, and shining, the bruise about her soft cheeks deep. There was no looking at her without taking on a swell of emotions, but he’d smile everytime she did. He kissed her hand again, answering the question in her searching eyes:

Yes, of course we’ll try again.

With soft words of comfort and another tight embrace from her mother, the sour topic passed after questions were answered, hopefully not to be brought up again anytime soon. They still insisted she stay with them for the remainder of her recovery, but there’d be no telling them that living at their house meant endangering them. They didn’t notice the Orcs placed about the hospital, or how jumpy Nick was. Leaving them out of the loop was for their own good, even if it made Callie’s foot twitch at an accelerated rate when they left.

He distracted her with walks around the room, and even grabbing her hands to take the lead in a pitiful attempt at slow dancing, but it made her beam from ear to ear as he spun her slowly and did his best interpretation of something along the lines of a mambo. Her toes were crushed in the process, but she’d laugh and go along with it, eventually pressing her face into his chest when her giggles were uncontrollable.

Lunch was sitting in the cafeteria under a tall window that displayed the heavy rain cascading down the glass, and the two chatted quietly and ate, Nick soon enough moving his chair right beside hers so she could lean against him comfortably and continue to people watch.

They wandered back to her room when her vitals were demanded, but would again wander back out through the hospital, sometimes stopping to talk to the Orcs they’d come to know since her brief stay there. She wished Matuk would come in and say hello, but Nick told her of the guilt he obviously felt for her condition.

“If he doesn’t come in soon I’m gonna drag him inside.” she’d said, but yawned as they shuffled through the cafeteria line again for a quick dinner. Anything to avoid the hospital food that was delivered to her room.

↠

“You’re gonna chew through your lip, baby,” Nick mumbled, and she side-glared at him, switching to nibbling on her nails instead. He rolled his eyes. “They’re gonna be fine,”

“What if someone follows them home?” she asked, watching him move around the room.

“They wouldn’t know it was your parents,”

“What if someone was watching them?” she pressed.

“There’s 2 Orcs every five steps-”

“But you don’t know who else is watching while they’re watching,”

“I mean at this point, I think it would’ve been obvious if we saw any shifty dudes or rival Orcs around here,” he pointed out. “I did tell you to wait till we were home,”

“If I would’ve told them not to come it would’ve been more suspicious,” she groaned, slowly spinning on her bottom to lower her legs over the edge of the mattress.

“Could’ve said you wanted to sleep,” Nick mumbled, holding her hands as she stood slowly. She wrapped the extra length of the IV around her wrist, pulling the pump along as she scuffled to the bathroom.

“That’s a lame excuse,” she called out.

Nick kicked his shoes off, mimicking her silently. “Relieved you got it over with though?”

The toilet flushed, and she was shuffling back out, her sweats hung low on her hips and the tank-top twisted around her stomach. “Could’ve done without telling anyone, honestly,”

“Really?”

“Yeah-” she crawled back into bed, grunting and wiggling until there was room for him to slide in after he flipped off the lights and plugged the IV back into the wall. “Rosie knows, that’s enough,”

He slid his arm under her head, her knee pushing between his thighs and sighing in content when she snuggled against his chest, his warmth soaking through her clothes. His robust arms that shielded her from the outside were an immediate comfort. The stark reality they faced didn’t seem so daunting when she could curl against her rock like this, and know he was there to hide behind in tougher moments.

“You won’t tell your parents, huh?” she asked against his chest, and he shrugged.

“They haven’t even met you,”

She looked up at him, her hair feathering around her cheeks. “Wouldn’t they smell it?”

He craned his neck to sniff thoughtfully along her jaw and neck, his nose against her collar making her giggle. “It’s not on you anymore,”

A small, low hmph was all she emitted, her line of sight bouncing around. “Guess we don’t have to worry about that anymore,”

Nick was at a loss for words, so he kissed her chin sweetly instead so she’d curl back against him. She hummed softly when he rubbed her back, her small form melted against his. She toyed with the hem of his hoodie that had hiked up his side a bit, her nails occasionally scraping the skin on his hip, sending goosebumps firing up his sides.

The shift of her head moving woke him a little after he’d started to drift, and the delicate press of her lips under his chin opened his eyes.

His heavy hand moved up her arm as hers slid under his shirt, dragging up his stomach.

Nick chuffed low, conflicted when she kissed his jaw after he angled it up, but her knee sliding up his hip and her body wiggling closer brought him out of the dreamy state her hands and kisses were holding him in.

“Baby,” he groaned, his efforts useless to stop her from sitting up and sliding over his hips in one smooth motion, pushing back on his chest. “Callie c’mon,”

“Hm?” She was moving his head aside with hers, kissing his jaw, dragging her mouth around and massaging his broad chest as she better situated against his pelvis. Holding her form was automatic, as was moaning when she started to gyrate; slow, long grinds over the growing bulge under her pussy, her breathing accelerating as he fell further into her trap.

“Hey-” but she was kissing him, holding his face so he couldn’t pull away.

It was radiating off of her in potent waves, turning his blood to a rolling boil as he inhaled rapidly, letting it sink into his senses. When she was in this state, he wished she wasn’t straddling him so he could run and sit in the cold night, and let reality sink back in.

The desire burned in her viciously. It was expected, but it was like chewing glass when he’d have to deny her, the same thing day after day. They had been advised of the hormone drop and its effects after the first time her impulses had suddenly increased tenfold, but it didn’t make dealing with it any easier.

“You can always try again, but I advise waiting until after your next period to give your body some time to recuperate.” her doctor said, intentionally eyeing Nick who in turn looked at him questioningly.

Boy was he wrong about who would make the first move.

“Touch me,” she breathed, arching her back encouragingly when his hands slid upwards.

“We can’t,” he growled, but still exhaled hard, and slid his palms flat up across her ribs to cup her swollen breasts when she rocked harder over him. She moaned deliciously, clinging to him desperately as he pebbled and rolled her erect nipples between his fingers.

He was breathing heavily, his face mashed against her when he held her ass, admiring the way she rolled above him. His composure was faltering- he was losing his ability to say no the longer he breathed her in and touched her hot skin. He was careful to avoid the bruises along her body and the sore cut on her lip, always holding her jaw in lieu of her cheeks.

His head snapped up when she tugged down on his sweats, finding his dick severely rigid, and dripping with precum.

“Callie,” he whined, holding her hands when she started pulling his dick straight up, squeezing up his shaft. “Callie-” he gasped, but his hips were raising, and stiffening. It was near impossible to resist her touch, and the way she whispered sweet nothings to him that all muddled together in a soft song he couldn’t help but follow blindly.

“You can’t,” he tried again, clenching his fists against his forehead when she shimmied out of her own pants.

Small flickers of nightmares flashed before his eyes- images of her beneath Gerrald, screaming for help- he dropped his head back. No, no, no.

“Callie- Cal stop, you can’t, you have to rest, your body isn’t ready,” he rushed, but guiltily lifted his hips so she could tug his pants down further. Everything on her was alluring; her wet lips, her breasts hanging from her lifted shirt. Looking at her sex was enough- he wanted to ravish her, love her, put another baby in her.

His jaw clenched when the overwhelming flush coated him, his eyes growing heavier; it was almost like spiking a fever.

“I need this,” she breathed, leaning closer to him. “I need you, I can’t take it,” she whined, kissing him softly, her cunt brushing his shaft. She’d always say that, but until this night, he was able to stop her and take the silence she’d blanket him with after being denied, but it was obvious she’d reached her breaking point.

He growled deeply, his fingers lacing with hers when she balanced over him, watching her expertly move to his tip with a dip of her hips and position it just inside her entrance.

“We have to be careful-” she started to slide down. “They said you have to wait-”

“We’re not trying to make another baby right now,” she cooed, kissing his cheek when he looked away to breath, graciously accepting his entire length. “They didn’t say we couldn’t have sex. I need you, amore, I’m losing my mind,” she moaned, kissing his jaw again as she started rolling in long sweeps over him, her slick core sucking him in again and again.

“Fuck, Callie,” he sighed, his eyes closed and mouth agape, lazy hands sliding up her thighs as she fucked him.

“I can’t take it anymore,” she cried, gasping when his thumbs rubbed circles near her groin, his hands barely held against her hips that he loved watching roll back and forth. “I need you,” she again said, looking down between them. “I need you so badly,”

He was motioning to protest again, but she held steadfast, quickening her pace despite her stomach clenching uncomfortably. She couldn’t stand the desire anymore. It consumed her finer than cold water, and overwhelmed her thoughts, distracting her all day. It reminded her of the stunning absence in her body, and how she’d yearned for Nick’s touch- to be reminded of something familiar, and comforting.

“Please-” a desperate kiss, “Please, just this once and I won’t ask again-”

“Shh,” he hushed, her desperation evident, and it broke his heart.

Carefully he rose, his arm around her and slowly flipping them so she was pressed into the crisp bedding and he between her thighs, his mouth meeting hers in a loving lock as he pushed back in. She moaned, her face contorted in pleasure, holding around his shoulders tightly as he loved her.

She sang beneath him, thanking him in repeated kisses and soft whispers, her breaths coming in long puffs. Everything about her was alive, and vulnerable, and he felt twisted and fucking disgusting for enjoying this so much, but he couldn’t stand how sad she’d become when he’d deny her the love she so fiercely needed.

“What if someone comes in?” he puffed, looking at the door as his hips kept steady rhythm. She shook her head lazily, her hands sliding to hold his face.

“I’m getting close,”

He watched her limp body start to tense, her bruised face start to tighten. “Callie-”

“Don’t cum inside,” she breathed, starting to curl inwards. “Harder, baby,”

He covered her mouth when she cried out, struggling to fight off his own end he felt fast approaching. Nick dropped closer when her nails dug into his arms, and he smothered her carefully, slowing to deep, deliberate thrusts when she sobbed and clenched beneath him, her body a frenzy of pent up sensations and emotions finally flooding over her.

Put another baby in her- fuck her until she’s carrying your baby again.

What the fuck?

She held his face as he quietly approached his release, confessing his undying love to her before pulling out and burying his face against her shoulder to hide his confusion at his own thoughts, his load dripping across her bare stomach in spasmodic bursts. He grunted until he was spent, hovering over her, and looking up to kiss her cheek. If he hadn’t emptied across her stomach, he would’ve collapsed, lulled completely by her touch across his face and the soft thank yous she kissed into his lips.

But she looked so relaxed again. Her hand movements held no remnants of tension, her face no longer holding the strain of built stress.

“You look better,” he whispered, sliding his palm clumsily across her forehead to move her hair. She chuckled; so beautiful.

“I feel better,” she breathed.

At last he sat up, her knees over his thighs as he reached for a sheet they could discard.

What was once serene was now guilt as he watched her wipe away his mess from her bruised belly, rolling the sheet before tossing it near the biohazard bin.

The silence was nothing awkward of the sort as he helped her slip her panties back on when her casted arm started to ache, but he was sure she knew something troubled him by the way he remained perched at the end of her bed, looking over her partially bared form.

Callie bent her arms behind her head, tapping the side of her foot against his thigh so he’d look at her.

“Did I pressure you?” she croaked, but he shook his head insistently.

“No, baby, I’m just- I don’t know,” he exhaled, moving onto his knuckles to lay beside her.

At first, they laid shoulder to shoulder, his hand pulled back over her stomach as she smoothed her palm against his, but eventually she inclined to sit on an elbow over him.

“You can go home if you need to rest,”

“No, hell no- I’m fine,” he insisted. But something felt… off. A held suspense was lurking in his bones, something warm like a fever that he couldn’t quite shake.

“No pain?”

He shook his head. “Little bit here and there in the ribs, but I’m nearly back to normal,” he assured, twisting his index finger in her short curls. They looked at one another past the dark of the room, her eyes struggling to read him.

“Talk to me,” she said softly.

Nick thought, and tried to form what he felt, but conjuring the right words only made him feel like he would say something stupid. The longer he stared into that bloodshot eye and canvassed the bruising that only deepened by day made the unrest worse. He couldn’t sort his own shit- what the fuck was going on with his head?

“I’m just sorry,”

Her brows furrowed, her head cocking.

“I should never have left that day- I should’ve taken you with me,”

“You didn’t know it would happen,” she told him.

“But I knew something could happen,”

“Something happened to you, too, and a lot worse. I’m not the only victim here,” she said sternly, her voice above a whisper.

Nick swallowed. “We weren’t the only ones,”

Callie sighed, laying her cheek on his chest.

You did it- you said something stupid, you fucking-

“Do you think it would’ve been a girl or boy?” She asked, and although his mind was plagued with conflict, the what-if was as brilliant as the rain after a week of drought. “What if it would’ve been twins?” He snorted, covering his face. “Could you imagine?”

“I mean, a pair now means we wouldn’t have to try for another,” he reasoned.

“I want a big family,” she whispered, looking back at him again. He grinned, but it was momentary. What had once been hope was suddenly realization dawning on her. This happened often; they’d become carried away, speaking of preferences and names, and forget that not only did she just have a miscarriage, but that conceiving was still near impossible. They’d had unprotected sex for close to 9 months, and just now did this happen. Who says they’d be so lucky again?

The tears pooled in her eyes, and he held her cheeks, her brows starting to pull together.

“Baby,” he intoned, his thumb swiping away the quick tears slipping down her cheeks.

“He took my baby away,” she wept, pressing her face into his palm, and more tears spilled over despite her eyes pinching shut. “That was my only chance.”

She was cradled in his arms in a flash, just as hoarse sobs rocked her delicate form, her face buried under his chin.

He had to refrain from squeezing her when anger broke through the film of empathy in his heart. The ferocity coming off of him must’ve been palpable, for she hushed him gently despite still crying, bringing a hand to her lips for soft kisses, and even softer words of comfort.

God- why did he suck at this so much? Why couldn’t he offer the same comfort she did? All he could do was hold her, and rock her, and promise things would get better, but those promises were empty as long as he was running wild.

His strong arms tightened, and she became part of him, slowly calming under his touch until sleep pulled over her like a blanket.

Nick was left awake, alone with his thoughts, and the madness that encouraged him to swing and scream, and tear all of LA apart until he found the fucker who had infested their lives. He had only been back to his house once for their clothes, but seeing the destroyed door and turned furniture, and the spot she’d been assaulted…

Callie grunted and wiggled, and he lessened the strong hold he hadn’t realized he’d surrounded her with.

A few deep breaths, and forcing the stiffness in his neck and shoulders to relax helped pull him from that dark frame of mind, but even if he managed to sleep, he expected the nightmares to jostle him soon enough.

His eyes trained to the door, watching the occasional set of feet move by. Nurses working the night shift, sometimes a patient scuffling along, surely an Orc that was probably restless.

It was safest here, but all he wanted was for them to be home. He wanted to be in familiar walls, where he knew the exits and entrances and knew where he could get to his gun.

With a final wiggle deeper into the sterile bedding, he closed his eyes, hopeful that her presence would be enough to keep his own rampant thoughts at bay.

“Ow.” Callie winced, shuddering when the catheter slipped from her hand and the last of the tape pulled from her skin.

“All done.” the nurse chimed, properly disposing of the used items after taping the gauze over the small puncture wound. Callie shook her hand, pleased to have her hand back and not hook the taped IV on everything. There’d be a bruise on the back of her hand soon enough.

“Just yank it out next time,” Nick grumbled from behind her, his arms crossed and knee bouncing erratically.

Callie turned and glared, her brows arching in question. He motioned impatiently to the woman still picking up her station, but Callie waved him off, rolling her eyes.

“Have you gotten your discharge paperwork yet?” the nurse asked.

“No, I’m still waiting,”

“Well you can start packing up now so when they bring it in your can take off, hun.” she smiled kindly, avoiding any eye contact with Nick before leaving. Callie spun, and Nick’s knee stilled.

“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?” she hissed.

“She didn’t know what the fuck she was doing!” He exclaimed, standing to look over the aggravated skin of her hand. “Got another thing to worry about now,”

“Some people are better at it then others,” she reasoned, pulling her hand back and looking up at him, a little more light in her eyes than before.

He shrugged, still a little annoyed. “Ready to go home?”

“Hell yeah,” she exhaled, standing to dig through her bag to change. “I’m so over hospital food,”

“And nurses coming in every 10 minutes,” he grumbled, almost impatiently.

“Eager for some alone time again?” Callie intoned, peaking over her shoulder. There was something feral about the way Nick looked at her; like he was famished, and she was his main course. He looked like he wanted to eat her alive, or maybe judging by the way he scented her when her excitement grew and his own reaction became evident under his sweats, a different kind of eating…

“Nick-”

Soft knocks at the door, and Nick rushed to the bathroom, closing it quietly behind himself as he heard the door open.

“Oh hey,” Callie chimed, relieved when Rosie and Santiago walked in with reserved smiles. Her mouth had opened to question their strange behavior when Patricia walked in after them, side stepping awkwardly like a mannequin being placed in a room.

Callie retracted, her mouth tightening into a straight line.

“Oh, hey,” she said quieter, stepping back to where she had started.

The discomfort was evident on Rosie and Santi’s face as they struggled to situate themselves amongst the sparse furniture, Trish following suit, but perched on the edge of the bedside table.

“How’s it going?” Santi cut through the cold glares. “Where’s your boy?”

“Bathroom. I’m doing fine, getting ready to go home,” Callie answered, returning to looking for clothes.

“Did you decide to stay at-” Patricia tried asking.

“No, I’m going home,” Callie snapped, and Nick came out, a little awkwardly at that.

“Hey guys,” he said to them all, even Trish, but couldn’t withhold narrowing his eyes at her. He thought he’d be able to keep better restraint over his expressions when he saw her- that was one of the things they trained for to be a cop, but the gravity of her words, and Callie’s condition only made him livid.

“Goin’ back to work soon, homie?” Rosie asked, lifting some of the stress.

“Couple weeks,”

“Don’t even look like you were ever roughed up,” Santi commented, nodding as Nick did.

“Yeah, just a few scars left behind,” Nick mumbled, rubbing the top of his head. Callie patted his side and gave him a sly wink, in turn struggling to do much with her casted hand starting to ache considerably.

“C’mere, gimmee that,” Rosie stood quickly to help fold her clothes.

“Can I help-” Patricia spoke up too.

“No,” Callie snapped, cringing past discomfort if it meant keeping her sister away. Nick thought it better to make himself busy elsewhere. Rosie’s surprised brows almost made him chuckle, though.

A stiff silence filled the small room, and Nick could clearly read all over Santi how desperately he wanted to melt into the wall and leave the conflict of his sisters.

Patricia was fidgeting, much like Callie did; bouncing knee, biting lip, but her hands slid around each other nervously.

“I’m sorry, Cal,” Patricia exhaled.

“Fuck you,” Callie cracked, throwing her shirt down. Rosie’s hands retracted, and she stood awkwardly at the opposite side of the bed, her hands on her hips and shaking her head almost unnoticeably at Nick who worded ‘should we stop them’?

“I know what I said-”

“Save it- just fucking save it cause your apologies don’t mean shit, Trish. You have this wonderful fuckin’ habit of lashing out at people because they don’t do what you’d do and then you think a few sorry’s and a girls day can fix everything when it doesn’t, so don’t bother with the excuses,”

“I’m not making excuses-” Trish pleaded.

“Bullshit, you’re gonna cry about how stressed you are and how you only want what’s best for us-”

“That’s not what I was gonna say!” she implored.

“Or you’re gonna go on about ‘being able to see things from an outsider's perspective’,” Callie scoffed, moving towards the end table beside Nick. “Should’ve known you’d come after me. You did it to Rosie when Daryl came around so I should’ve known you’d find something to rage over when mom and dad liked Nick,” Callie went on, her demeanor otherwise calm compared to a flushed Trish.

“I just didn’t want you to end up a single mother like me-”

“I didn’t! It’s gone. I fuckin’ lost it, but even then, there was nothing pointing to me ending up like you just cause you got a weird feeling! From this point on, I don’t wanna fucking hear anything from you, even if I ever get pregnant again cause I’m so fucking over your shit, so fuck off!”

Santiago and Patricia both held the same expressions; complete disbelief, but Trish had stepped forward, her eyes wide with sympathy.

“You were pregnant?” she rasped.

Callie rolled her eyes. “Just caught that, huh?”

“Oh my god- Calista-”

“No, no no stop, just- just fucking leave, please? I wanna go home, so just fucking… leave me alone,” she pleaded, holding the heel of her palm against her forehead. Her bottom lip was trembling; Nick instinctively stepped into her space, his hand smoothing the back of her head.

“We’re leaving,” Rosie sighed, walking around the bed to hug her younger sister and hold her flushed cheeks. “Be safe, and rest okay?” she asked, Callie’s eyes filling with tears as her sister kissed her cheek and patted Nick’s arm before moving away.

“Let’s go.” Rosie told Trish, waiting for her to stiffly step away, yet giving Callie one final, pleading glance, but only received unbridled fury. “Let’s go.” Rosie said again. Finally, the eldest left with a last ditch effort of a glance at Nick, but he was unmoving in every sense. Santi stood from his chair, but reached to shake Nick’s hand, his palm placed over them thoughtfully.

“Better luck next time.” he mumbled, leaning to give Callie a chaste hug before following his sisters out, surely to be caught in the middle of more arguing on that car ride home.

“Calm down,” Nick hushed gently, kissing her cheek with his arms wound around her waist, bearing her weight she suddenly felt too weak to keep upright. With a turn, she was pressed against him, her face between her shoulder and his broad chest, sniffling, but already calming the longer she stood with him shielding her.

“That sucked,” she blubbered, and groaned when he rubbed her back. “This sucks,”

“It does,” he agreed, sadly, resting his lips against her hair. “Let’s go home where it doesn’t suck, though.”

Callie nodded and unwound from him reluctantly just as a discharge nurse came in to hand over the last of her paperwork and at home instructions, along with her next appointment reminder.

Nick layered her thoroughly; if there was one thing he learned about recovering from a beating, it was that the cold made it hurt more. He even pulled his beanie down over her head, grinning at the way her short curls twisted out from under it.

She held steady to his arm in lieu of sitting in a wheelchair, but it felt good to wobble farther than the length of her own room.

“Are these all Fogteeth?” she whispered, and he nodded.

“Been here since you got here,” he murmured, putting her on his other side as a few followed them onto the elevators alongside other staff of the hospital. The more that piled in, the more agitated Nick became. He could hear them scenting the air, detailing how available Callie was even if she’d just miscarried. Even if that was a norm in Orc culture, he didn’t like it. If she were with any other, they would’ve tried for another baby already; no wasting time in Orc households.

He moved his arm around her waist when one stepped behind them; one that was particularly bigger than Nick, with tusks that curled impressively, and he was most likely canvassing her from behind.

Since they’d woke that morning, Nick had had trouble restraining himself. Soon she’d start her period- he could smell it, which meant soon she’d be fertile again. The most alluring scent to anything non-human, including him. A deep, quaking yearn in his gut fought to stick another baby in her, but that also meant others were going to be feeling the same urge.

Like this one behind them that just took half a step closer.

The snarl from behind Nick’s bared teeth was immediate and involuntary, and startled the nurses greatly more than it simply confused Callie.

The Orc stepped back, glowering back at Nick. For a solid minute he thought fists would start swinging, with every second passed they fought with their eyes, but Nick’s seniority must’ve been enough to back him off.

“What’s wrong?” Callie whispered, patting his chest. He only chuffed, holding tighter around her waist as they waited their turn to exit the elevator after the humans rushed off, questioning under their breath to one another.

Nick pulled her out carefully, a departing glare to all of them. He was grateful for the rush of cold air when the sliding doors opening to the rainy weather outside, cooling the overwhelming heat he felt coming off him like steam.

What the fuck, he thought to himself, letting out a deep breath.

“Nick,” Callie called to him, and he looked down, finding her perplexed.

“What?”

“I’ve been saying your name for like a minute,” she told him, observing the confused state of his expression. “Lost up there?”

“I guess,” he exhaled. They made it to Matuk, who was again sitting at the bench beside the pick-up zone, looking up at Callie with bright eyes as she made it over to him. He rose in time for her hug, carefully squeezing her. Nick withheld another growl, opting to turn away.

The fuck is your problem?!

“How’re you feeling?” Matuk asked. “We both have fucked up arms,”

“I’m good, just tired a lot,” she grinned, stepping back to bump against Nick’s side, but he still didn’t turn around. “Did you manage to go home?”

“Here and there, but I’m okay,”

“You shouldn’t be out here looking like that,”

Matuk shrugged, awkwardly because of his sling. “Lala brings me food and company sometimes,”

Callie smiled, but winced when her split lip stung. “Ouch,”

Nick spun, looking down at her lip that had started to bleed again slightly.

“Shouldn’t be getting her worked up,” Nick snapped, and Callie looked at him with arched brows, holding a tissue against her mouth.

But upon looking back at Matuk, he was only suppressing a grin, his eyes squinted in humor as he looked elsewhere. “Yeah, sorry,”

“C’mon, truck isn’t parked that far,” Nick motioned.

“Yeah sure… see you soon?” she asked the younger Orc, who nodded and sat back down.

“Good luck recovering.” he said loud enough just for her to catch, and she shot him a questioning look over Nick’s arm around her shoulders.

It started to occur to Callie that everyone had been acting differently that morning and Nick was the one who seemed the most off. His hold around her was more protective than loving, his body stiff and composure alert. Worry started to seep into her bones; was he returning to old habits?

An arm looped around his waist did some to lessen the grip about her, and he seemed to calm the closer they came to his truck, but she could still sense something was wrong in his head. Probably due to their overall predicament, so she shoved it aside. She couldn’t blame him for being on higher alert.

“We’re going back to your place, right?”

Nick shrugged. “I dunno,” he effortlessly scooped her up bridal style to place her in the passenger seat, even when she protested. “Maybe it’d be better to stay at your place,”

“You think?” she asked, watching him move around the back of the truck. Nervously, she fidgeted, her line of sight jumping until he was sitting beside her and grunting. “Your ribs hurt?”

“Barely, more uncomfortable than anything,” he turned the engine over. “So how about it? Mine or yours?”

She pursed her lips. “More people around my place might make is less likely for them to come around again,”

“Closer to the hospital, too. You have an appointment coming up.”

She nodded. “Need to get our stuff though.”

↠

“Nick, I don’t need to be carried,” she giggled, patting his chest when he lifted her from the car again.

“Can’t be too careful,” he sighed as he set her down, offering an elbow again as they walked to his front door. The locks had been replaced, but the door still needed repainting, and he felt her resist at his side when he unlocked the door.

Nick could tell that Ward had tried spraying air freshener or lighting candles to cover the smell, but blood stained carpet like it did senses, which was why there was new rolls beside the moved furniture. An attempt had been made to lift the dark stains, but even if they’d pulled up some, the scent would remain. His table was gone and sat outside in shattered pieces, and destroyed picture frames were set upon the bar to his kitchen.

As Callie walked through the living room slowly, she tried to avoid looking down the hallway, but her bruised eyes lingered, and her body started to unsteady. She was standing right beside one of the stains, but Nick didn’t know if she noticed, her hands too busy cracking her knuckles to do anything else but stand and panic.

“Go sit down, I’ll get our stuff,” he kissed into her hair, turning her towards the couch. It was languid, but she nodded, blinking her life back into perspective before shuffling towards the sofa.

He threw it all into bags, worried more about keeping her longer than necessary. It occurred to him that he might never be able to bring her into his home again, and the thought troubled him, but if he could be at her home and make sure she recovered without any additional trauma, he wouldn’t complain.

Fuck, he’d sell his house if it came to that.

The bedroom was walked through once more, grabbing another sweater to stuff into the bag before moving to the bathroom and tossing more essentials in. He was just about to make it down the hallway when he stopped short, and returned to his room.

He pulled his Glock and badge from the bedside table, and reached high into the closet for the extra clip, but kept the gun in his waistband. Nick was honorable through and through, but at this point, if he saw so much as a glimpse of Gerrald, he wouldn’t resist shooting.

“All set, let’s go-”

She was hunched over, her arms beneath her chest and heaving into her palms, her shoulders shaking.

The bags were dropped and she was cradled against him faster than the snap of a whip. It was difficult to unwind her, but he managed to loosen her enough so he could hold her face, and keep enough eye contact to ask her to mimic his breathing and slowly, slowly bring her down from the panic she was being thrown from.

“Breathe with me, baby,” he said softly, moving her hair from her damp face. “We’ll go home and change so you can rest, and we’ll worry about everything else tomorrow, okay? Let’s get going so you can get comfortable,”

“I wanna stay,” she spoke huskily, her eyes cracking open. Even redder than before, now.

“We shouldn’t, you said so yourself,”

Her face soured, and he held her cheek. “I’m scared,” she hiccuped. He sighed and pulled her into an embrace, smoothing the back of her head as she wept quietly against him. “It feels safer here,”

“You’re safe wherever I’m with you,” he declared. “Even at your place,”

“Even here then, too,” she countered, a smallest of a grin making him chuckle.

Nick was still resistant, evident by the sideways purse of his lips. “Please?” she asked. “If it happens again, I’ll go home and not complain,”

“That’s not bothering me-”

“I think it was just the initial shock-”

“Calista,” he stopped her, holding her head. “Stop. Don’t drag yourself like that,” he told her sternly, ready to squash anymore of it. “We can stay, but the minute you can’t function, we’re leaving,”

“Thank you,” she exhaled, her eyes falling shut in relief before giving him a quick peck.

He wiped her cheeks before he gave her another sweet kiss, followed by a small hum from her. Callie still sniffled, but her hands found their way over his, holding him there as she leaned in for another.

Kissing Nick was like Dilaudid lulling you into calmness; his caresses had a way of keeping her suspended in a dream like state where only he existed and her issues didn’t rain so dominantly over her life. So, of course, she followed his mouth when he leaned back, her hands sliding from his and up his chest, fingers curling into his hoodie.

“Not again,” he groaned, powerless when her hot tongue slid into his mouth, eliciting a low groan.

“I know I said I wouldn’t ask again,” she paused to brush her lips against his, “But it’s a good distraction,”

He traced his sharp teeth across her jaw, biting gently down the length of her neck as her head fell back into the crook of his elbow. “You shouldn’t anymore,” he groused, grasping her thigh forcefully.

“You want to,” she moaned, her thighs parting and his hand dragging to her lower stomach. “I know you do,”

“Of course I do,” he whined, slipping under her layers to hold her waist, her hot skin provoking the fire he felt consuming his rational thoughts. “Of course I fucking do,” he growled, pulling her flush against him, his hand sliding under the bra strap across her back.

Callie moaned, and he lost most of his control.

Like she was weightless, he pushed her aside, onto the cushions of the couch, looming over her.

“Open up, baby,” he breathed, leaning into her welcoming hands and his hips rutting tight against her once her thighs had parted. He kissed her without reservation, conscious enough to remember the tender state of her face and body as he ravished her and started to strip piece by piece off of her.

He worshipped every part that was uncovered, starting with kisses along the inside of her knees once he’d peeled her tights off and ending with loving licks across her bare breasts, trembling with gasps as he fondled her delicately.

Nick groaned when he licked down her stomach. “I can smell how wet you are,” he whined, puffing against her skin.

Fuck her until she screams-

“I want you inside me,” she breathed, her hips raising just as he skipped back up her body, his eyes pinched shut and face pressed against her neck.

What the fuck is wrong with me-

Bite her- mark her, make her yours forever.

He chuffed, continually, as she slipped her hands under the waistband of his sweats, pulling long strokes down his hard member that swelled painfully.

“Put it in me,” she begged, her neck craned to catch his mouth as he hovered over her.

“Fuck, Callie,” he exhaled hard, his hips pumping into her hold.

He was taking long inhales of her arousal, his eyes flickering between her working hands and naked sex under him, so close, yet so far.

Slide in.

Heat enveloped him, and he felt light-headed. He moved her hands above her head, pinning them down by her elbows as his hips dipped and he pushed his way inside her, relishing in the way she sobbed beneath him in thanks.

Nick’s eyes fell closed, and he let himself become immersed in her sweet, soaked center, stroking every inch of him, enveloping him entirely.

Fuck her. Until, she, screams.

The sudden change in speed made her gasp, her eyes flying to his, but she didn’t ask him to stop. Her face tightened, but her knees instinctively rose closer to her chest, her mouth hung in breathless moans.

He kept hold of her arms as he lowered onto his elbows, his cheek pushing hers aside to bite harder than normal under her jaw.

She cried out, but ended with a snarl of her own, her legs locking against his lower back.

“Nick- oh my fucking god, I can’t-” she tried forming, but let herself fall apart, mumbling incoherently.

“You feel so fucking good,” he hissed, his face against her cheek, his voice wavering in time with his rapid thrusts. “You’re so fucking good,”

Make this pussy yours forever. Taste her blood and stick another baby in her-

What the fuck!?

Nick reared up, yanking her hips up to slap against his, his head leaned back and eyes closed.

If he kept breathing in her skin, he would bite her. Something inside him was stretching across his limbs, heating his belly with an unmatched desire he’d never experienced before. Everything about him was on fire- his skin, his thoughts, but the overwhelming need to sink his teeth into her skin and taste her blood scared him.

She’s your mate- she’s your woman. Mark her, keep her.

“Oh fuck,” he snarled, landing back on his hands, her touch winding up his rigid arms and to his shoulders.

“I’m close- I’m so close,” she panted, and sang when he shoved his hands under her knees and pushed them to her chest, firing into her.

Fill her up. Make her known to be yours- nobody else's. Fuck her and fill her with a baby so no one can touch her.

“There there there- fuck fuck fuck!” she hollered, her face pressed into her own arm beside her head, gripping his couch as her orgasm cascaded over her, pushing her spine into a stiff arch and her eyes back into her head.

Her walls pulsated around him and Nick bit into his own cheek when his head landed in the crook of her neck, pulling from her in time to explode across her slick sex. He growled lowly as his tip pushed between her coated lips, mixing their juices and stroking her sensitive clit.

The taste of his own blood brought him back eventually, and he looked up at her, his brows furrowing as hers did.

“Nick- oh my god, are you okay?” she asked, blood pooling from his parted lips as he struggled to catch his breath. “Holy shit,”

Bloody saliva dripped onto her chest as he leaned back, but she sat up, her hands following his face.

“What happened?” she asked, struggling to sit up, her body weakened by such a climax.

“Bit myself,” he slurred, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He could feel the deep bite with his tongue, and couldn’t fathom how she would’ve reacted if he’d bit into her like that. “Got too excited, I guess,”

“I’ll get you some tissue,”

“No, go clean up- you’re covered in my blood and…” he chuckled, turning her by the hips away from him. His semen was already leaking down the inside of her thighs, not to mention the heavy droplets of blood trailing down her chest.

“Are you sure?” she asked, backing up slowly.

He nodded, putting on his best smile with blood smeared across his face.

It wasn’t until he heard his bathroom door shut did he bury his face in his palms, taking deep breaths. Fifteen seconds since they’d fucked and he was already getting hard again just from seeing her coated in his blood and semen. Even his own blood? It appeared to be the next best thing to knocking her up, it seemed.

You need to get your shit together, Nick.

He swallowed more blood, standing to walk to his kitchen to clean himself.

His mouth was really gushing, even after he swished water in his mouth and spat a few times. The deep bite stung something awful when he stuck a finger between his jaws, and he groaned, half relieved that he hadn’t sunk his fangs into Callie, but also bummed that this would most likely cause him quite some trouble in the coming days.

“How’re you doing?” Callie asked, emerging from her room with one of his sleeveless shirts over her frame. Toned legs were still bare, and when she turned, he could see the side of her breasts.

She looks naked without your mark.

Before he let his raging thoughts dictate his actions again, he splashed cold water over his face, leaning onto his elbows over the sink. It stopped that same rush of warmth from firing over his skin, but his head still felt lighter, yet focused entirely on Callie as she walked towards him. He didn’t lift his face from behind his fists until she was beside him with a hand on his back, and even then, he wasn’t sure he could control himself.

“Bite bugging you?” she asked with utter concern in her voice, but he chose to nod.

“Hurts,” he cleared his throat, cupping water into his mouth again and spitting.

“What got you so worked up?”

Nick shrugged, lowering his gaze as his head dropped down against the knuckles of his thumbs. His line of sight followed the sculptured curve of her legs upwards from her feet, landing on her flat stomach she’d tied the shirt snugger around with a hair tie.

“You’re starting your period soon,” he half lied, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

“Mm,” she nodded, patting his back again and turning away in time to skip out on the hard-on he was building again. “Maybe we should hold off for a while before you bite your tongue off.”

He chuffed, licking his lips with bloodied tongue as she went about gathering their clothes.

More water over his face when she bent over.

“Yeah, maybe.”

If he tried hard enough, he could solely concentrate on her face while she spoke, and force himself to look elsewhere when his eyes lead his mind on a journey down her body.

But everyday she grew closer to her period, the more delicious she smelled.

If he had to get up and walk out into the cold night to stop from bending her before him, he’d take deep inhales against her stomach or thighs, holding his breath until that smack of frigid air knocked it from him. By then, the rampaging yearn to fuck her was chased away, ready to lie in wait for it’s next opportunity to pounce.

It didn’t help that she loved to sleep in nothing but underwear and that she seldom wore bras, even in public, or that she was always throwing suggestive glances his way.

It also didn’t help having Orcs around them 24/7.

He couldn’t tell her that when one of the males from the Fogteeth were being nicer than usual, it was because they were analyzing her. That when they suddenly stood taller, it was because they were waiting for her to choose the biggest bull.

There was Nick- big, broad, but smaller compared to other Orcs, and without tusks to show proudly.

But there was her undying loyalty, and the way she held his arm confidently in public and moved his arms around her ribs when they stood chest to back while waiting in line somewhere. There was also the way she whispered to him, asking him to put his hands on her with an impish grin. It was how her body reacted to the slightest brush of his fingers across the back of her neck, or a quick kiss to her jaw.

Yet where there was desire, now came an unquenchable appetite. He could roar with how impulsive it made him, but there was a greater need to silence it.

Callie still had a recovery ahead of her, and no matter how badly his body fought to impregnate her again, he wouldn’t burden her with such a thing so soon.

So he stared at the setting sun with stinging eyes while they stood on the pier, drawing his mind from it’s newest corner, even with his arms around her.

He still kissed her knuckles when they sat in the waiting room of her follow-up appointment, but clenched the arm rest with his other hand, his fingertips aching incredibly.

And while they sat across his couch, watching Netflix with her legs in his lap and her arms crossed behind her head, he’d let himself gaze upon her nipples showing through the camisole she wore, but would bite into his healing mouth when his fingers would start to drum against her knee in anticipation.

The three days that passed felt like weeks. Nearly every minute of everyday had been tactful.

Not to throw her beneath him and make sure no one laid with her again, or holler at other Orcs there when they stood just a few feet too close. They started groaning and rolling their eyes every time Nick came from his house to ask for updates, yet some would… snicker.

Especially when Callie made a move bolder than normal around them and they saw how much he struggled to keep his composure.

It pissed him off. More so that they clearly saw him battling himself and thought it humorous.

If he could find the quick moment alone with them, he’d hiss in Orkish under his breath, silencing them only temporarily. But how long was temporary? How long before he had control of his mind back from this unknown force?

“You should just come with me,” he grumbled, pulling his shirt down over his nearly healed body.

“I’ve had my share of hospitals for at least another year, thank you,” she grinned, leaning against the doorway to his room with a mug of Orkish tea curled against her chest.

“What if-”

“You said so yourself,” she said from behind the lip of the cup, earning a worried glance. “There’s more Orcs around now,”

“What if he brings more people with him the second time around?”

“Baby,” she sighed, and he looked at her once he’d finished pulling on his Nike’s. “You’ll be back in 30 minutes,”

“So come with me if it’s so quick!” he begged, holding her sides and pulling her closer.

“I’m tired though,” she groaned, leaning against him with her mug off to the side. She placed a soft peck on his jaw and another on his lips when he looked down at her. “I’m gonna nap while you’re gone,”

He only whined lowly, his arms around her tight as his reluctance grew, but his mouth wandered down her neck. Her legs already felt weak, and she blindly stuck her arm out to find the edge of his dresser, suspecting that the mug actually hung precariously off it’s ledge when she placed it there.

“Are you actually gonna fuck me this time?” she breathed, holding his face to kiss him forcefully.

“Can’t,” he paused to taste her tongue. “Have to go,”

That was a lie. He could’ve thrown her back and fucked her until she went blind, but he didn’t trust himself to be careful with her when he was already shaking with restraint.

“Nick, come on,” she moaned, her arms snaking around his neck, pulling herself up to attempt wrapping her legs around him.

Before either of them looked at his ringing phone, they both knew it was Ward; it was always Ward.

“Gotta go,” he kissed against her mouth, carefully unwinding from her hold to leave her disheveled and irritated.

“Nick Aleksei Jakoby!” she snapped, following him out, but he only pecked her cheek again at the door and walked out. If he’d faced her, and the way her shirt was hiked up her front with her hair in her face, he would’ve collapsed and given in. It had to be like this- he had to sort his shit first.

His knee always acted up when he walked this briskly, but he was purposely rushing to avoid the Fogteeth around too. He could already hear their laughter.

“What’s good, Jakoby?” Ward asked, waiting patiently in his sedan.

“Same old,” Nick grunted, sitting in the cramped passenger seat.

“No cane today?”

Nick side-eyed him. “Haven’t needed it in weeks,”

“Don’t look so old anymore,” Ward grinned, pulling onto the street.

“Can’t say the same about you.” The Orc shifted, hesitant to look at his partner again, but couldn’t help but chuckle at the way Daryl glared at him.

“Someone’s gonna take another swing at you if you keep it up.” Ward teased.

It took a great deal of coordination, but Callie finally managed to make it out onto the porch with two mugs in hand, scanning the multitude of cars parked on the street until she found the fire engine red Ranger with the California lift at the farthest end.

A female Orc peaked over at her and Callie raised her mug, shuffling over to the small patio set to sit before the same graceful, tall, lean woman joined Callie, pushing her sunglasses up over her head wrap.

“How you doin’, lambchop?” Morn asked, leaning over for a quick half-peck on Callie’s cheek before grabbing the extra mug with an appreciative smile.

“Sore, restless,” Callie sighed, also putting her feet up when Morn did, her burgundy Doc Martins thunking loudly against the wooden railing. “Aren’t you cold in that fishnet?”

Morn looked down at her legs, shrugging in her denim vest covered in patches. “Warm blooded,”

“Hm,” Callie nodded, sipping her tea. “Any updates?”

“I wish. Those bastards fell off the face of the Earth,” Morn mumbled, her chin rested in her palm as her brilliant eyes watched Callie sigh and shift. “Haven’t seen you outside in a while,”

“Nick’s paranoid. Going out made him too nervous,”

“Even out front?”

Callie nodded.

“How’d you manage to get him to leave without you?” she laughed, her long tusks adding ferocity to her fanged smile.

“Tried to jump his bones,” she murmured into her cup, still a little deflated from it. “I don’t think he likes looking at my face like this…”

“That’s not it, babycakes,” Morn giggled, settling deeper into her chair.

“What?”

Morn looked at Callie, and sat forward with a grunt. “Has he been really fidgety lately?”

Callie blinked, and nodded.

“Moody?”

She nodded again.

Her dark, patterned hand rested over Callie’s and her leg started to bounce nervously.

Is he gonna break up with me again?

“He’s in heat,”

Her mouth opened, but then closed. “Heat… what?”

“You boy is hot to trot, but now ten times stronger and fueled by instinct,” Morn sat back again, flicking her sunglasses down as she kept vigilant surveillance over the house.

“Male Orcs go into heat?” Callie exclaimed. “He’s never done this before,”

“Probably never been around so many other big bros like this. It’s probably happened when he was younger, just different severities since you were… pregnant, and all…”

Callie pursed her lips, piecing it all together. “So he wants to fuck?”

Morn nodded.

“Then why doesn’t he?! He’s been avoiding me like i have the plague!”

“Cause you’re human, lambchop, he doesn’t wanna break you,” she snorted. “You haven’t been fucked until you fuck an Orc in heat- look,” she finished, quickly placing her mug down to move the back of her headwrap aside and shimmy her vest down her shoulders enough to display the deep bite marks covering the back of her neck. But it wasn’t just there- it was the scars covering her arms and shoulder blades, and some even on her throat.

“Oh my God-”

“Before you start,” Morn started, hushing a distraught Callie. “It was my husband. It wasn’t out of anger or anything, just exactly what munguz is going through,”

“So… they- they bite instead of fuck?” Callie stuttered, and Morn laughed out loud.

“It’s part of it, after they’ve kept you on the brink of stroking out during sex,” she chuckled, sipping more of her tea.

“That intense?”

She nodded. “That good. It’s worth it, but expect blood. There’s always blood,”

“And biting?” Callie asked, rubbing the fading one under her jaw.

“That’s a nibble compared to what he can do,”

Was it strange that excitement stirred in Callie’s belly, and she bounced her heel thinking of the kinds of things Nick was capable of in such a state?

“You naughty bitch,” Morn grinned, winking and flicking her nose in acknowledgement when Callie looked at her, her cheeks turning a few shades redder. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,”

“It’s kind of tempting,” Callie admitted, squeezing her thighs together when her legs crossed. “How bad does it hurt?”

She shrugged. “Their teeth are so sharp that you don’t feel it till their spit makes it sting, but Nick’s tusks are blunt so it might hurt more,”

“And the bite? Does it mean anything?”

“You're his. No other Orc will ever lay with you as long as you have a bite, but I can’t say the same about you humans the way you pass each other around…” she mumbled, winking again. Callie halfheartedly smacked her arm. “I’ll tell the others not to interrupt if we hear screams later tonight,”

“What if he’s ripping my throat out?”

“You’ll enjoy it even then, trust me.”

Callie kneaded her lower lip, avoiding the scabbed cut, and staring forward. What started as worry now ended in determination, and the smallest hint of hesitation. To think that Nick, who was already surprisingly talented in bed after a lonely life, had the potential to be even greater was almost daunting, but it was alluring.

She’d promised she wouldn’t beg him for sex until her next period… but she’d already broken that promise.

One more time wouldn’t hurt, right?

“You should head back inside,” Morn finished the last of her cup. “We’re gonna switch shifts here in a couple minutes,”

Callie rose, gathering both mugs again. Morn was mindful of her bruised cheek when she pressed her own against Callie’s during a quick hug, but stopped to hold her shoulders.

“Am I gonna find you dead in the morning?”

Callie snorted. “I’m tougher than I look, y’know.”

With another pat to her face, the goddess like Orc skipped down the steps, seemingly weightless despite the heavy boots upon her feet and denim vest, her wallet chain bouncing against her thigh as she strolled across the yard.

Callie struggled again to open the door with her casted hand, but successfully made it to his sink without a broken mug.

She padded across the carpet to the bathroom, and looked at herself in the wide mirror, moving her fringe back to properly inspect the status of her healing face. She groaned, reaching to pull her T-shirt up, but wincing again at the sight of her bruised stomach and sides. Softly, she slid her palm across her flat belly, down below her belly button where if she were still pregnant, a swell would start to soon form.

The shirt was dropped. It was still too much to take on in random bursts like that.

But a deep breath and her shoulders squared kicked her back up to where she’d been before: tempted as all hell to see Nick’s monstrous side.

“Gotta love distractions.”

↠

She kicked the blanket off her legs when she heard his familiar footfalls approaching the front door and she settled in time for him to walk in, double checking everything was locked before relaxing his posture.

“Hey baby,” he exhaled, leaning over the back of the couch to give her a quick kiss. She saw his eyes land on her legs; already working.

“Everything go okay?” she asked, pulling her knees up when he circled the sofa.

“Cleared to go back to work next week,” he told her, kicking his shoes off and pulling his hoodie off to leave him in his sweats and muscle shirt.

“Feel good enough to go?” she asked, withholding a grin when he pulled her legs into his lap and unconsciously started rubbing them.

“Dunno. I’ve come to like being a couch potato,” he frowned, squeezing her thigh before drumming his fingers against her elastic skin.

“Has he been fidgety lately?”

She smirked. “A shut in is more like it,”

“Not my fault we’ve had a psycho after us,”

“Hey I never said it was mensito,” she scowled, her knee tilting to hit his chest.

“I know- sorry,” he mumbled, patting her inner thigh.

“Moody?”

“S’okay,” she whispered, ever so slightly opening her knees and adjusting her hips. Nick’s eyes flickered over and then met hers.

A thick roll of goosebumps carried down her arms and legs when she caught his eyes dilating this time, his nostrils flaring as he scented her. The hand that was so gentle on her leg before was tightening, but Callie was the one to hook her knee over his so the blanket slid off, revealing the pair of royal blue panties he had bought for her long ago. He suspected that’s all she was wearing beneath the baggy sweatshirt, and his head fell back against the cushion, his eyes still locked with hers.

There was no escaping it this time, and that thought alone didn’t scare him anymore.

Fuck her senseless.

Nick swallowed. I want to.

“Tócame,” she breathed, her knee sliding up beside his pec. “Tócame todo,”

It looked like for a moment he would resist by the way his hands retracted, but Callie wouldn’t give up so easily.

For a short while, she could forget they were under constant surveillance or that there was a fucking lunatic out for their blood- that both of their faces had been beaten in. She wanted to return to familiarity and that meant being with Nick in a way she’d been with no other.

Fuck anyone who would try to disrupt that.

Callie could be incredibly nimble, proven by the way she was sudden sat in his lap, wiggling her hips so there was no space left between them.

He grunted when she tested the swollen member beneath her barely clothed pussy, wide hands holding her cinched waist as she held his face delicately.

“I know what’s been wrong with you,” she breathed, angling his face up when he watched his hands circling the crease where her thighs met her hips. “I can fix it,”

“Nothin’s wrong,” he growled, graciously accepting her kisses, a deep rumble resounding in his chest.

“You say that like you haven’t been avoiding fucking me,” she said outright, and his eyes faltered.

“I haven’t-”

“You have,” she said against his jaw, blunt teeth scraping down his neck. He let out a high-pitched whine as he curled a hand behind her neck to pull her hair aside, placing wet kisses along her pulse.

“We have to wait till-”

“You’re in heat,” she said, looking straight at him. “I’m starting my period soon and that’s why you’re acting skittish. That’s why you bit yourself,”

It took mere seconds for Nick to put everything together, and it was obvious. He’d gone through it in his 20’s- how could he fucking forget what it was like? Probably cause he’d never knocked anyone up before…

“So let me help,” she moaned into his ear, pulling her pussy slowly over his aching dick, her hips settling into a steady, gyrating motion that made his eyes pinch shut. Thick fingers dug into the silky smooth skin of her hips, and he looked down to marvel at the sight.

“We can’t,” he said lowly, his last shred of decency hanging on.

Slide in.

“What do you wanna do though?” she asked, her mouth against his cheek as he tried looking away. “Tell me what you want,”

Say it, you fucking coward- she wants to hear you fucking say it.

He grabbed her jaw carefully, his thumb pulling down her bottom lip.

“I wanna fuck you until you see double,”

She pulled her shirt off over her head, throwing it aside as his hands dragged up her slim sides, his thumbs pebbling her standing nipples while his palms pushed her tits together. “Keep moving,” he slurred against her chest. She held the back of his neck, whimpering when he bit down on the top of her breast harder than usual, but kissing the reddening flesh afterwards, his hands having dragged down her ribs roughly to pull her ass back and forth over his throbbing cock.

It wasn’t long before he yanked her upwards by the shoulders high enough to tug her panties roughly down her thighs, nipping at her collarbones as she clumsily kicked them off her feet. But before she could sit, his hand cupped her damp sex, a finger pressing between her lips to find her slick clit.

Callie moaned, her forehead against his as he dipped his middle fingers into her center the same time his tongue slid into her mouth.

He knew to stroke upwards in a come-hither fashion, and knew she would tremble and sing above him, but he didn’t expect her to grind against his palm, his digits sliding in and out of her heat.

“Fuck you’re perfect,” he gasped, watching with intensity as his girl danced above him, evoking the mightiest burn in his belly yet.

Say she’s yours-

His fingers left her and he made quick work of pushing his sweats down his narrow hips, using his thumb to push his dick down to align with her entrance.

Make her scream it- make her scream your name-

Four loud knocks on his door stopped them both and his head spun just as she had started to slide down him. But she was frozen now, her arms covering her chest and her eyes wide in panic.

“Nick-”

He hushed her, moving her aside and pulling his hoodie down over her body before urging her to stay put. She questioned what he was doing when he reached under the couch, but instead held a hand over her mouth when he pulled his Glock out, cocking it before holding it steadily between his palms as he moved to the door.

He crept up on the peephole, hesitantly looking through, but then exhaled angrily and unlocked the door with ferocity before swinging it open.

“Munguz,” Dorghu nodded, looking at Callie when she stumbled to Nick’s side, but still kept behind his arm. A slight waft of the air let him in on everything he needed to know, as well as the Orc behind him. “Didn’t mean to interrupt,”

Callie flushed, but Nick glared.

“What do you want?” Nick snapped, more vehemently than meant.

“Not to shoot you again,” he joked with a straight face, and Callie’s eyes narrowed, her head cocking.

“Excuse me?” she cracks.

“Don’t freak her out,” Nick grumbled in Orkish and Dorghu scoffed.

“Anything we talk about from here on out will likely do so,”

“Then don’t make remarks like that-”

“Hey hey, English,” she demanded, the back of her hand hitting Nick’s chest.

One of the Orcs chuffed quietly, and Nick’s chin raised, a louder one coming from him. Dorghu blocked their line of sight from one another.

“We have business to attend,”

“Like?” Nick asked impatiently.

“We found Gerrald,”

That halted Nick’s attitude and stopped Callie’s heart. She grabbed his arm for balance and he sidestepped, almost asking him to repeat what he’d said.

“Where was he?” Callie asked, clearing her throat when her voice betrayed her.

“Two Hands,”

Callie shuddered, holding her arms. “Creepy fucker,”

“Where’s he now?” Nick asked.

“At our warehouse, and I’m letting you decide what happens to him,” Dorghu answered, and Nick exhaled, leaning against the doorway. Callie eyed him.

“I’m a cop,”

“You’re also Fogteeth now. It didn’t stop him, so why should it stop you?” the scarred Orc asked, and Nick’s head retracted some, sighing heavily as his arms crossed, the gun still clenched in his fist.

“Hello I’m still here, what’s going on?” Callie asked, but Nick’s eyes were trained on Dorghu, flipping his words over and over in his thoughts. For weeks he’d fantasized of curb stomping Gerrald, so why was he so apprehensive now? After he’d tried taking Callie? What could he have done to her if no one had intervened.

His index finger tapped against the gun a few times before saying, “You’re staying here,”

“What-” Callie tried to ask, but Nick was already moving towards his room. “Where exactly are you running off to?”

“I’ll be back soon,” Nick said, already changing into jeans when she had followed him.

“I’m not staying here,” she argued, brows arched in determination.

“You can’t go with me.”

“Do you really think for one second I’d let you leave alone with the dude who shot you!?” she hissed, and he looked at her pleadingly, wishing for just this one time she wouldn’t fight him. He knew what would happen if she confronted him despite the anger he knew she held. Her panic would get the better of her.

“There’s a lot more to that,” he chose to say, pulling his muscle shirt off.

“Nick,” she ground out, on his heels as he walked to his closet. “Nick!”

“NO!” he snapped, spinning to face her. The bitterness was clear in her big eyes, but he held steadfast, fighting to keep this riled mask on. It worked; she stomped away from him and out of the room, and he heard the bathroom door slam. His hands dragged down his face, and after a moment of collecting himself, he yanked a jacket from a hanger and slipped his boots on.

He approached the bathroom door, knocking gently. “Cal?” No answer.

“I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Still no answer. He exhaled, unwillingly walking down his hall and to Dorghu who was still waiting at the door with a cigarette perched next to a tusk.

They lead him to the sleek, black Cadillac still running on the street, and Nick couldn’t help but wonder if this was all an elaborate scheme just to get rid of him. But he was already opening the back door, and was met with Callie’s gaze sitting across the seat, her arms crossed and still in his pull-over.

His jaw dropped. “How-”

“She’s sneaky,” Dorghu commented, setting himself in the passenger seat. Nick growled lowly and climbed in, slamming the door beside him.

“Why couldn’t you just stay home?” he snapped.

“Look what happened last time I wasn’t with you when I should’ve been.” she snapped back, her red eye and battered face rekindling a great guilt in his heart. Nick’s mouth closed and he leaned away from her against the door. That stung something fierce.

For once it was his knee bouncing instead of hers, and he was silently surprised at her level of tranquility as they drove deeper and deeper into Orkish neighborhoods, but she still peered out the dark windows curiously, her mouth sometimes dropped open when they passed a soaring church or an outlet still bustling with Orcs.

She leaned tentatively over by his window, but would retract when he looked at her.

Humans seldom wandered into Orkish barrios like this. It wasn’t even because they thought Orc’s were violent from birth- it was the humans own assumptions. Rumors often spread of the occasional attack, but Orc’s suffering under the hands of police brutality and discrimination were never heard of. But in neighborhoods like this, where even the police seemed to avoid, violence rarely broke out. Their way of life was undisturbed and they liked it like that.

It worried Nick bringing Callie in; he didn’t know how they’d react to her even if she was a sweetheart through and through, but the farther they moved from the busy streets, the more he calmed.

The lights became dimmer and sparser, and soon they were winding through empty streets lined with dark buildings and Callie’s curiosity had gone. She nervously glanced out of the window every now and then, her hands fidgeting in her lap.

Nick sighed and tugged on her shoulder, lifting his arm when she looked at him.

She slid over under his arm, immediately calming pressed against his side. He looked her over, his brows furrowing.

“You’re wearing pants, right?” he questioned under his breath, noting her bare legs, but she lifted his sweater enough to show her shorts beneath.

He nodded, looking back out the window as the car pulled before a wide warehouse sat at the edge of a loading dock beside the bay. “Sneaky thing.” he mumbled.

Nick held his hand out for her as they stepped from the SUV and didn’t let go as Dorghu and the nameless Orc beside him lead them to the warehouse, a cigarette still between his fingers, while he kept his eyes trained on the multiple Orcs standing beside the entrance, some brandishing the 79 jerseys while others wore the leather vests signifying their higher status.

He nodded when others acknowledged him, but started to feel annoyance prick at his skin when some looked Callie up and down, her being oblivious to it all.

The heavy door leading into the warehouse was opened and Dorghu motioned for the couple to follow.

Nick pulled her past the two standing at either side of the door, but still caught when a younger one, who hadn’t earned his number, leaned in towards Callie and scented her boldly, his teeth bared proudly when she flinched and looked at him.

The noise Nick made could’ve been a snarl, but it was booming, more like a roar as he forced his way between them and stood toe to toe with the young one, snarling back just as loudly.

“Evgeni,” Dorghu barked, his thunderous voice making Callie flinch again. Her hand was still clenched in Nick’s, watching him rip loud growls out like he was a lion. Nick chuffed once more loudly as the younger Orc lowered his head, stepping away when Dorghu approached him menacingly.

Callie watched with wide eyes from behind Nick’s shoulder as Dorghu followed his movements silently before pointing in her direction.

“Do it again,” Dorghu ordered, and Evgeni looked at him, confusion lining his face.

“I said scent her again!” Dorghu yelled, and Evgeni stuttered some before slowly moving to Callie, leaning in to scent her quietly this time as she leaned into Nick who in turn was growling loudly, his lips pulled back over his sharp teeth. This time he backed up quickly, his eyes still downcast.

“What did you smell?” Dorghu asked, but Evgeni only shrugged, swaying a bit. “What did you smell?” Dorghu hollered, and Callie flinched again, muttering ‘Jesus christ’ under her breath with a hand over her chest.

“Munguz,” he answered sheepishly.

Dorghu stepped beside him and they could see the distress on Evgeni’s face.

“And what does that mean?” the leader asked, and Evgeni’s angry, golden eyes flashed at Callie quickly before looking away.

“They’re mated-”

“You don’t ever advance on another Orcs pair. In the laws that stand highest in our clans, you are never to advance on another- Orcs- pair!” he yelled, his mouth close to his ear. “Even the roundtooth. You will learn before you ever wear our cuts.” Dorghu ended in a snarl, walking back to the open door and leaving the youngin distraught and embarrassed.

Nick pulled Callie along with a final chuff and they were lead into a massive structure full of storage units on either side, all marked in Orkish with various guards set about them.

They walked to the end, and before Dorghu turned to speak to three Orcs standing beside a half-open pull down door, Nick could smell blood. His nose scrunched and Callie’s attention was brought back before them when the loud metal door was pushed up.

“Go ahead.” Dorghu told him, stepping aside.

Nick hesitated and looked down at Callie, who was equally apprehensive. He let her hand go, squeezing the back of her neck affectionately before stepping before the opening of the unit.

He hung from chains clipped to the ceiling, his wrists forced above his head as he hung lifelessly above a growing pool of blood. The various used weapons around Gerrald told the story before Nick stepped close enough to see part of his beaten face and ruined clothing and resisted flinching when he found enough strength to look up at him with a heavy head, his one open eye landing on Nick.

“Still alive y’pig face’fuck?” he slurred, bloody saliva dripping from his split lips.

Nick was unmoving, his body tensed and eyes wide at he stared down at him.

Gerrald smiled, many of his teeth gone and gums ripped. “What? S’prised I’still look better th’n all of youse? All you blue skinned fucks?” he asked vehemently, groaning when his body jostled and wiggled against the taut chains.

Nick still stood, staring, and the longer he did, the more agitated Gerrald became. He tried standing, but his left leg bent unnaturally at his shin, causing a yelp of pain. He strained against the chains digging into his wrists, his broken body contorting and twisting.

“Make a move! Do it, you pathetic piece of shit!” Gerrald yelled, blood spitting before Nick. His fingers started to crack at his sides, his ire growing.

“Scared aren’t’chu? No matter what happens, ’I’ll be th’one to walk away,” Gerrald chuckled, his wide grin making Nick’s stomach roil. “You’re nothin’ but a stupid an’mal,” he went on, watching Nick move calmly away to grab a wooden bat at his side, and study its weight in his hands.

“You can’t do it,” he sneered, bloodily. “You couldn’ even sto’me from getting to Valeria-”

The bat was yanked from his hands, and before he finished turning, Callie had it swung back over her shoulder and whacking it into Gerrald’s ribs, a sickening, crunching cough exhaling from his body.

She did it again, the wooden bat smacking into his ribs, hips, knee caps- she hit him with every fiber of strength in her body, her wrist screaming in pain, but it all muted.

“Fuck you-” she uttered and swung again. Gerrald wheezed, his eyes wide in horror, his body twitching to move away. “That’s not-” another crunching swing, “My-” one to his side, “Fucking-” a weaker one; she was starting to tire and pant, “NAME!”

The bat snapped with another swing into his knee and she threw it aside, resorting to grabbing his hair and throwing her fisted hand into his pulp like face.

“You disgusting piece of shit-” she ground out, her cast bloodying as she slugged into him.

“Callie!” Nick finally moved to her, his arms throwing around her waist when he couldn’t grab hold of her lightning strikes. He lifted her away, having to spin to yank her hold from his scalp.

“I’ll fucking kill you! I’ll fucking rip you apart!” she sobbed, fighting Nick’s hold as he carried her away.

“Callie calm down-” he tried saying, but she was wild with rage, even throwing her elbows back at him as he struggled to silence her.

“Give her to me!” Matuk stepped forward, carefully snatching her arms so Nick could place her on her feet. She still protested, but calmed considerably when Nick was no longer around her. He watched her move away, tears staining her cheeks and steps uneasy.

He was speechless and unable to even move as he watched her, waiting for her to spring into action again, but when she followed Matuk down the hall, the tension in his frame lessened and he looked to the Orcs who were also watching her, their expressions all perplexed.

“Is he alive?” one asked, and Nick and Dorghu turned.

Gerrald was either beaten into a coma or dead judging by the way he hung lifelessly, the broken bat beside him.

“Strong girl,” Dorghu mumbled, and Nick looked down. Had she been hurting so badly?

“What now?” Nick asked.

“You don’t want a swing at him?”

He shook his head. “She did more than I ever could,” Nick sighed, rubbing the heel of his palm against his forehead.

“I’m still leaving it to you to decide what we do with him,” Dorghu stated, crossing his arms. “Drop him off on the side of the road? Drop him in the bay with cinder blocks around his ankles? Torture him with rabid Brezziks?”

“No,” Nick stopped. “Turn him in,”

Dorghu dropped his chin, looking at the roundtooth in an arrogating manner.

“He has a wife and children who deserve to know what a fucking monster he is,” Nick explained, and Dorghu shook his head.

“You can drop the cop motif when you’re here,”

“It’s not that. He took my family away but I won’t cripple his. I’m not like him,” Nick rumbled, looking at him with finality.

Dorghu was reluctant, but with a hard exhale and the lighting of another smoke, he nodded, both of them looking at Gerrald who sometimes twitched.

“I’d like to go home now.” Nick said, turning to find Callie.

Down the hall and around a corner he found her, squatting against a wall with her face hidden in her arms, her casted, bloody, and probably sore arm hung over her knee. Matuk was beside her, his lumbering form crouched down beside her and trying to offer comfort, but she didn’t move until Nick called her name.

Her head shot up, her red eyes finding his before she stood and walked into him.

He held her tight against his chest, hushing her string of blubbering apologies muffled into his shirt.

There was no need for fear, or unease, or tears anymore. The pain they’d carry about their lost family would follow them indefinitely, but the constant state of looking over their shoulders and their held-captive lives was gone. It washed over Nick the longer he held her, his fingers twisting in her hair as she latched onto him tightly.

It was finally over.

She remained under his arm again during the car ride, but this time with her arms around his waist, her face buried in his chest. With every mile put behind them, it was a great relief to know there would be no more attacks, and that they knew where he was and would be staying for now.

They made it to Nick’s house and as she walked to the front door, Nick thanked them, calmly, bumping forearms and agreeing that when they needed his cop connections, he’d do so willingly. It was the least he could do for payback.

The street cleared of SUV’s and Orcs, leaving them in solitude for the first time in nearly six weeks. It felt a little odd- the sudden lack of protection left him worried, but he was also confident that if anyone dared come after them again, he’d rightfully shoot them down.

With a final overlook of his street, he followed Callie inside.

He double checked his dead bolt, and took his gun from his kitchen with him into his room where he found he sitting at the foot of his bed, looking down at her cast.

The gun was returned to the bedside table, and he sat next to her, her form swaying.

“Hurts?” he asked, and she nodded, her thumb running over the stained blood.

“Gonna have a hard time explaining what this was from,” she mumbled. He craned his neck to look it over.

“Say you whacked an asshole in the face for harassing you,”

She scoffed. “Isn’t that what happened though?”

They looked at one another and his shoulders dropped when she pulled his hand into her lap, her small hands trying to envelope his.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly.

He paused, but then nodded. “Kind of messing me up a little, actually,”

“Why?”

“I thought I’d be guilt ridden and all frantic by the time we got home, but I’m surprisingly okay with how it ended up,” he explained, his mouth in a straight line.

“I’m sorry I stole your moment,” she said through the corner of her mouth. “I just got so fucking mad,”

“You needed that,” he told her, leaning to kiss her shoulder. “More than I did,”

She turned, her cheek bumping his forehead. His chin lifted to kiss her cheek.

“I’m still sorry,”

“Don’t be. Neither of us should be,” he declared with a loose nod, his ears twitching when she looked at him. “I just want us to get on with our lives,”

She grinned. “It feels like years since this shit started,”

He chuckled. “Tell me about it,”

His fingers plucked at the hem of his pullover he still wore, her jean shorts barely peaking from underneath. “If you keep wearing stuff like this around other Orcs I don’t know if I can fight bigger ones off,”

She giggled, a wide smile stretching across her face. “I know someone who could take care of that problem,” she lured, looking up at him past thick lashes. “But he’s being kind of a prude,”

His hairless brows pulled together, his lip pouting. “Did you forget that big ass Fogteeth came to the door?”

She giggled again, leaning to kiss him. His big hand came to hold her jaw, his eyes fluttering shut as he kissed her sweetly, the rampaging hunger from earlier starting to show it’s face again.

“Is this inappropriate?” he asked innocently, turning to crawl after her when she slid back towards the center of the bed.

“Extremely,” she kissed against him, pushing his jacket down his shoulders as he flung his arms to get it off. Next was his shirt that was yanked off by her and tossed aside and a chaste kiss before he pushed the oversized sweater off, leaving her in nothing but shorts.

He laid over her, bare stomach to bare stomach, her thin, toned arms around his neck and moving smoothly as he revered in her kisses.

When he took hold of the hair on the back of her head and yanked back to gain access to her neck, she gasped, but smiled, her skin erupting with pleasant shivers.

He sucked harshly at her pulse, a low purr resounding in his short breaths over her skin.

He released her when he moved lower, wet smooches down between her breasts and around her ribs, gently moving over the bruises littering her body. He pulled the shorts down quicker than she could lift her ass and she whimpered when he shoved his hands under her knees, pushing them to her chest so he could run his tongue flat up her wet cunt.

Long, drawn breaths were all she could muster at first, but moaned and held his forearms when he sucked her clit gently, pinning her legs forcefully when she wiggled beneath him.

“Nick-” she gasped, breathlessly, her hands falling against the sheets and gripping.

He finally released her legs and they fell over his shoulders, her hips rocking smoothly beneath his lovely assault. He touched her stomach and thighs, up along her ribs and over her round breasts.

“Nick,” she called to him, but he didn’t leave. She huffed. “Nick get up,”

A low growl came from him and moved over her as she arched high.

Her mind cleared enough to reach down and tug on his ears, eliciting a sharp hiss from him. He was above her in a flash, pinning her hands down beside her while he loomed over her.

“You’re being gentle,” she breathed.

“I’m not,”

“You are, stop it,” she ordered, and his eyes darkened.

She wants it, so do it. Fuck her.

Callie was flipped suddenly and he pulled up on her hips with her chest still against the bed. Thrill flushed her body, and she reared back, her bare ass pressing against his busy hands as he rushed to undo his jeans and push them down.

His rigid dick slapped down against her cheek, and he took the moment to gaze down at his size compared to her, and the way she moved her knees farther apart.

A shaking breath left his lungs.

Fill her up.

Callie moaned harshly when he shoved his way in, pressing tight against her cervix. She bowed when he pulled out and slammed in again, jolts of bliss shooting to every end of her body.

He groused loudly above her, pushing her cheeks up and apart to watch where he stretched her. His eyes heavied with every long thrust into her wet, tight core, an impatience growing in his stomach.

He grabbed hold of her arms below her shoulders and pulled back, leaving her hung in his grasp as he rapid fired into her.

Callie yelled and cried and smiled, her hair in her face and bouncing as he fucked her with abandon, grunting himself with every hard impact.

She exhaled his name and suddenly her arms were free and his hand was around her neck, pulling her up against his chest. He angled her jaw as he breathed heavily against her there, slowing to long strokes, his other hand canvasing her smooth form.

“I can feel you so deep,” she moaned, reaching up for him. “You’re in my stomach,”

He groaned, his hand resting over her lower belly, imagining touching her where no one else could or would. His grip tightened around her neck and she whimpered, her hands flying to his arm when he rammed into her again.

“You’re gonna stick another baby in me,” she gasped, and he whined, his grip again tightening.

Do it- fucking do it. Make her yours.

Callie was loosening in his hold and he pushed her forward, falling on his fists over her. The lack of oxygen made her hypersensitive, despite her vision doubling, she turned her head from the mattress, ready to sit up.

“Get on top,” he demanded, flopping down next to her and scooting back so he rested against the headboard. She was sluggish, but crawled over him, using his hands to stabilize herself. With a strong shudder, she slid back down him, meeting his darkened eyes.

“Ride it,” he said through clenched teeth, earning a languid nod from her. With hands against the headboard, she rode him leisurely, rocking and sliding, up and down, her neck craning back as he massaged along her body. He moaned and chuffed loudly watching his glazed dick become part of her, sitting forward to hold her tight against his chest.

Callie snapped her hips fervently, finding the position where he rubbed deliciously inside of her.

She cried out, doing it again and again, falling into a steady rhythm that made her eyes roll back.

Nick ravished her breasts, pulling her nipples between his teeth and licking her exposed flesh.

He stared down at the smooth, honey skin along the underside of her breast and he kissed there, listening to her climb higher towards her release.

He touched everywhere, admiring her perfect skin.

Her unmarked skin.

Nick kissed her chest, a hand sliding up to hold her hair again. She cried out, riding him harder.

“You’re mine,” he growled.

“I’m yours, baby,” she sighed, her hands falling to his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin. “I’m so fucking yours,”

“This pussy,” he slurred, glancing down at her sex. “Everything- say it again,”

“I’m yours, I’m yours,” she sobbed, sweat lining her body. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum,” she whimpered.

Callie shrieked when he bit down, his teeth breaking through the skin of her under boob and his arms wrapping around hers when she tried to move him.

Her blood could’ve been the elixir of the gods; his mind muddled and he lapped at her for a moment, taking in the exquisite flavor.

“Nick!” she yelled, finally getting him to let go.

He looked up at her and she didn’t recognize who she saw. Blood coated his mouth and lips and she could feel it dripping down her body, her breast starting to sting insanely.

There’s always blood.

He shoved her back, licking his lips and following her sprawled body, kissing roughly up her chest, leaving bloody marks up her neck and jaw. He settled between her thighs, and Callie moaned angrily when he found his way in, fucking her like an animal.

“Nick-” she ground out, dragging her nails heatedly down his back, evoking a loud snarl from him.

He held the sides of her neck as he fucked her, her feet hooked against his lower back as her climax came barreling towards her.

“Cum in me,” she gasped, holding his bloody face. “Put another baby in me, amore,” she moaned, her eyes pinching shut.

Nick watched her unfold beneath him, her hands flying to grip his rutting hips. She screamed and arched and became lifeless under him, her hold on reality fading as he dragged her orgasm out as long as possible.

When she was spent and barely able to hang onto his shoulders, he sat upright to bring her hips up.

Watching her breasts shake and his defined mark bleed while she looked up at him with hazy eyes brought him to his release, deep inside her pussy, exploding against her womb. He’d surely leave a bruise on her hips and his load seeped from her when he finished, pulling from her slowly to watch where-

Nick stammered, looking at her barely conscious face.

“Cal,”

“Huh?” she cracked, still working on evening her breath.

“You’re bleeding,” he said tensely, sitting back on his heels when she opened her eyes and forced herself up on her elbows, looking down at the blood covering both of them.

“Oh fuck,” she sighed, flopping back down. “You knocked something loose,”

“I DID?”

She giggled, shaking her head and hissing when her arms moved around her chest but aggravated the bite. “It’s my period, mensito,”

The haze was clearing in his head and the actions he’d made were weighing on him. He overlooked her brutalized body and guilt started to swarm him. The red marks from his murderous grip on her neck and hips, the blood, the way she ragdolled as she rolled over and tried to stand.

“Oh my god,” she blurted, rushing with shaking knees to the bathroom when juices started running down her legs.

“I’m sorry,” he muffled into his hands, completely and utterly ashamed.

He hesitated when she grunted, her eyes pinched shut and arms crossed behind her head as he carefully taped the gauze around the raw, red bite, trying to avoid taping her nipple.

“Doing okay?” he asked, his finger following the medical tape to make sure it was snug on her skin. She nodded, cracking an eye open to look at his work.

He moved so she could look in the mirror, turning this way and that to observe the makeshift band aid.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, almost too ashamed to look at her.

“I told you to stop being gentle,” she shrugged, pulling a camisole down her body carefully. “I’m sorry I started on you,”

“About that,” he started, leaning against the sink. “Can’t you get… pregnant? Doing it that close?”

She nodded, her lips quirking to the side. “I doubt it’ll happen though,”

His brows raised. “Did you not see the load I left in you?”

She snickered, stepped forward to wrap her arms around his lean waist. “Tryin’ to stick another one in me?” she asked close to his jaw when he leaned closer, and he groaned, pressing his face against her neck.

“Don’t start,” he whined, holding her firmly against him.

“Did you lose your mind when I said that?” she smiled, and he nodded, his blood pumping. “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

He nodded again and sighed, reaching between them to move his hardening dick up.

“How long are you in heat for?”

“If you keep egging me on the way you do, it’ll never end,”

“Oo lucky me,” she simpered, finally getting him to look at her. But he paused, holding her face in his big hands, his thumbs stroking under her eyes. In a couple weeks time, the bruises would be gone, and there would be nothing left of their attacker except nightmares that would surely last. Everything awful that could’ve torn them apart only brought them back together again and Nick found himself overwhelmed and awestruck.

“Why’d you stick around? After everything?” he asked, his voice wavering. “Anyone else would’ve left,”

“What kind of question is that?” she asked, holding his wrists.

“I’m serious,”

Callie held his face now, leaning on her tiptoes. “Cause I’ve never cared what anyone has thought of us. I don’t care what anyone says or tries. As soon as I saw you, I knew I couldn’t let you get away, Nick. If there was anything ever besides you, it would be a lonely life. I don’t want a future without you.”

His exhale was trembly, so he hid his inevitable emotional outburst in an embrace, burying his face against her neck as she secured herself tightly around him.

It was true- there was no future without Callie, not even if he found something remotely close to this with anyone else. He knew it in his bones, confidently and entirely. He would love her until his time was up and beyond.

“You still have to meet my parents.” he mumbled, and she giggled, patting his back.

THEY GOT THE BASTARD AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

Only one chapter left before there's a break between part 1 and 2!! Thank you EVERYONE so far for sticking along, and I'll see you for the final chapter soon!! ;)

48 notes · View notes