LEO
===============
03/05/2003
Alto, New Mexico
Silverwing Base
================

'Good morning Nov :]
I've let you sleep late since
tomorrow is the mission and because
I know you haven't been
sleeping well.
I'll take care of training the rookies
this morning :]
-Leo'

I place the note on her bed-stand, treading lightly across the floor of her cabin and opening the door as quietly as I can.

She'll probably be pissed at me for letting her sleep in, start her usual yapping about her 'tasks', but I don't care. Tomorrow is going to be a hell of a long, intense day.

She practically sent me to sleep last night but I know for a fact she was still awake at midnight. I kept hearing her scuffle back and forth to the washroom through all hours.

It's starting to get really damn hot here in New Mexico. Everyone is frolicking around base in shorts, vests.

I swiftly pace towards the food hall, craving whatever the first thing is that comes into my line of vision. I sense somebody moving in my direction, halting at my side.

I inhale a sharp breath as I turn around to face Dylan.

"What do you want?" I narrow my eyes.

"Listen Hendrix. I know that we got off on the 'darn wrong foot a few years ago, because I was pissin' 'bout with that rookie. I know tomorrow is a damn big day, so I just wanted to clear the air and apologise,"

His hand extends out in my direction as he sighs, furrowing his thick black eyebrows.

Dylan Holmes? Fucking apologising?

I don't really know how to respond to this, so I do the morally correct thing. I briefly take his hand to shake, squeezing his knuckles in warning before releasing my grip.

"Fine. Although, if you do anything that fucks this up tomorrow, I won't let it go lightly,"

"Point taken," he mumbles as I resume my walk towards the hall.

I must have arrived at the damn peak time. Practically everybody is in here, all chattering amongst themselves.

My eyes land on the three rookies, sat on the end of one of the benches and deep in conversation. Two of them; one of the brothers and Avery, are punching each other in the arms. The other brother is simply shaking his head at them.

I stride over, all of them instantly stopping what they're doing as I make my presence known.

"Officer Hendrix," they speak in unison.

"Just Leo is fine. Look, I'll be training you this morning," I turn to the brothers, "I haven't caught your names."

"Noah Wolfe," the boy sitting next to Avery announces with a gleaming grin, "that's Joseph," he points to his twin.

I glance back and forth between them. They're pretty damn identical, it'll be difficult to tell them apart.

"Is there any way to tell who's who?" I chuckle.

"Well, Noah is a massive prick. That's one way," Avery chimes in, earning a glare from him.

"Noah has a scar above his eyebrow, I don't." Joseph informs me, gesturing to his brothers face.

I follow his hand, noticing the scar just slitting into the side of his left eyebrow. It must have been pretty damn deep.

As intrigued as I am to know where it came from, I'm not going to ask for now.

"Right, got it. Noah has a scar. Well, we'll start at 10, the same time as you'd planned with Nova," I instruct, they all nod as I turn my back to walk away.

Banksy waves me over to join him and Marcus, who must have arrived overnight.

"Banksy, Marcus," I acknowledge, swiping up a packet of oatmeal and filling it with hot water.

"Alright, Hendrix! We were just talking about tomorrow," Banksy speaks in his usual, cheerful voice as I perch on their bench.

"How're you feeling about it Marcus? Using the chopper as a diversion?" I glance at him, spooning some oats into my mouth.

"Absolutely fine. Flying is second nature to me," he grins.

It's true, I swear this man could fly a goddamn washing machine if he tried. I've never witnessed him struggle to touch down, even in some of the most claustrophobic spaces.

Not to mention his driving skills. I think I'm a good driver, although compared to Marcus I'm completely mediocre.

"I remember when I was younger, my Mom wanted me to take flying lessons. Didn't get very far," Banksy snorts.

"My Mom wanted me to take ballet lessons, pirouetted my way into a cockpit," Marcus chuckles.

"You've saved our asses so many times, Marcus. You've got to be the best damn pilot in Fleetwood," I pat his shoulder.

"Don't speak too soon. Tell me that once tomorrow is over," he snickers.

"Did Vincent give you the formation?" I turn to Banksy who hums.

"He also said not to kill anyone who isn't Nicholas unless absolutely necessary," he adds.

"I mean, yeah. We aren't looking for a bloodbath unless they retaliate. Who knows, hopefully Nicholas has made a few enemies in that group," I grin.

They continue talking as I eat the rest of my oatmeal, humming and nodding occasionally to whatever they say.

I'm so relieved I've been put on the top floors with Nova. I've got much a better chance of protecting her if we're next to each other.

I haven't been this protective over anybody since Jaques. I lost him, there's not a chance I'm losing Nov.

—

I have no idea how the fuck she deals with these two.

"That's what, two out of three?" Avery grins at the twin with the scar, pinning him to the floor with her forearm.

She doesn't look as though she could hold the amount of strength she clearly has.

"I'm going easy on you Ave," he spits, rolling her over and driving her into the floor by her shoulders.

"And this is you going 'rough' on me?" She bites down a smirk, "I expected better."

They're a little too familiar. A little too similar to how Nova and I used to be.

Everything seems to be a competition between them, always trying to one up each other.

"Alright, Avery gets a point. Joe, you're against her now," I scratch my chin as he and Avery swap places.

I've been teaching them restraint techniques, since I don't really know where Nov got up to with them. They seemed pretty damn happy when I told them.

I watch carefully as Avery spins, hooking Joe by the arms from behind and driving her knee into his lower back. He falls to the floor, she rolls him onto his front and presses herself against him.

She's good, really good for her age. She carried that out swiftly and efficiently, without a moments hesitation. Joe barely even got a chance to retaliate.

I'm starting to feel as though Joe maybe wasn't cut out for this. I have absolutely no idea how he got recruited, potentially had an advantage since Noah got in.

"Great work again, Avery," I applaud, patting her shoulder as she joins my side.

"How come Shields isn't training us today?" Noah asks, stretching his arms above his head.

"She's just busy with preparations for tomorrow," I lie, "going to be a long day."

"Do you get nervous?" Avery asks, bending down to adjust the lace of her boot.

"Not particularly anymore. After a while I feel as though you become desensitised,"

It's not a complete lie. The only nerves I have revolve around Nova, making sure Nicholas is killed.

"Shields has mentioned about your time in the Philippines. She said somebody from the group got taken hostage," Noah grimaces.

"You're looking at him," I snicker, all of their faces drop as they whizz their gaze towards me.

"Shit, really?"

"Jesus, that must have been horrible,"

"It was the most eventful month-and-a-something of my life," I admit with a sigh.

-
"I'm going to die," she whispers, a few tears slipping from her eyes as she leans her head backwards.

There's blood absolutely everywhere.

"No you're not. You're not fucking dying on me now Nova, not after everything we've been though, okay?!" I yell, pushing with every last bit of my strength on the puncture wound.
-

I shake my head, wiping the image out of my mind as I glance at the time.

"Alright, that's enough for now. Go and get some lunch or something, we'll start again later." I clear my throat as they nod, watching me as I leave the training area.

I just want to see her.

My hand wraps around the door handle, pushing it open and stepping into her cabin. She's sitting on her bed, loading up her vest in preparation for tomorrow.

"You should've woken me up," she shakes her head with a small grin as I lock the door.

"I could've bet my goddamn life that you'd say that," I snicker, pacing towards her and tackling her backwards onto the mattress.

Her hands meet around my back, pulling me into a deeper embrace. "How are you feeling?" She asks softly, smoothing her hand down my spine.

"I'm alright. More importantly, how are you feeling?" I pull away slightly to look her in the eyes.

"I'm actually okay. I feel as though I'm prepared," she takes in a sharp breath, diverting her gaze for a second before pulling it back towards me.

"That's good, love," I whisper, she crinkles her eyebrows and smirks.

"Love?" She chuckles, I shrug and look away.

I actually don't even know where the damn fuck that came from. I think it's something Dad used to say to Mom.

"Alright, I'll call you bitch instead then," I beam sarcastically, earning the usual arm slap.

She opens her mouth until I crash my lips against hers, halting whatever was coming next. Her's reciprocate and dance with mine immediately, rolling so that she's on top of me.

-
18+
-

My arms coil around her lower back, grinding her against my crotch as she straddles. The friction must do something to her as a small noise escapes her lips.

Time to make her feel good.

I sit up, my chest meeting her's as I slowly reach for the hem of her vest. My fingers tease the fabric before gradually sliding it over her head.

My mouth latches onto her neck, suckling gently beneath her ear and only parting when she pulls my own shirt off.

I push forward so she falls onto her back, beginning to kiss down her throat whilst unbuttoning her shorts.

The clasps come loose, I lean back to tug them down her hips; down the smooth, golden skin of her legs.

There's now only one thing blocking me from the area I want to bury my face. A pair of thin, red panties.

"Did you pick these on purpose?" I chuckle. Most of the time, she's usually just wearing plain black ones.

"Maybe," she bites her lip.

Jesus.

I feel the familiar tightening in my crotch. All she has to do is bite that damn lip and I'm hard.

"Well they're cute, but they're in my way," I lower myself, unhooking her bra and pulling it from her arms as I shift down her body.

I hook one of my fingers underneath her panties, peeling them aside and breathing against her. She shudders, back already arching as her nails feel for my hair.

My teeth meet the insides of her thighs, nipping gently and suckling love bites into her soft skin.

I press one hand on her lower abdomen as I lean in towards her; giving a single, gentle flit of my tongue over her clit.

She jolts slightly before groaning in frustration, probably pissed that I didn't continue.

"Why'd you stop when you'd barely even started?" She huffs, staring at the ceiling.

It's a challenge to bite down a laugh. It's so damn amusing when she gets all impatient.

"Because-" I sigh, crawling back up her body as I raise my hand to her face. My thumb creeps into her mouth, index finger gripping under her chin as I roughly direct her gaze towards my own.

"-you weren't watching me."

I kiss my way back down her perfect form; trailing my thumb from her mouth and gliding it down her chin, down her throat and sternum before brushing around one of her nipples.

Now she keeps her eyes on mine as I finally get back to the place I want to be, small noises escaping her lips in bated breaths. With my free hand, I once again peel her panties aside.

Only this time, I deliver a long glide right up between her folds.

She immediately whimpers, back arching as she fights to keep eye contact. Her emeralds meet my gaze as I roll my tongue in small, gentle strokes over her sweet spot.

"Oh fuck, Leo-" she heaves my name out with a hitched breath and it's music to my ears.

"You taste so damn good, Nov," I hum against her core, her body shuddering in response to the vibration.

I glide the point of my tongue up and down; smooth it in quick, light circles around her swollen clit.

My hand trails down from her breast, down her abs as I replace my tongue with my thumb. I circle her slowly, moving my tongue lower before slipping it inside of her.

"God, I love you-" She moans with a needy whine, grinding herself against my face as I slide my tongue in and out; simultaneously stimulating the epicentre of her nerves.

It's so unusual. We keep saying it, when we technically aren't together.

I can't even reply since my tongue is buried deep inside of her.

And I doubt my tongue is going to be the only thing buried deep inside of her.

I glide my mouth back up towards her sweet spot; moving my thumb away as I purse my lips around her clit, sucking it into my mouth.

Her back is arched so intensely it could snap in two. Her eyes meet mine as frequently as possible before they roll back into her head.

Knowing I'm making her feel this damn good is such a reward.

Her thighs start shaking violently around my face, telling me she's close. I swiftly glide my middle and ring fingers into her core, curling them up to help her get there.

She's moaning out my name, desperately raking her nails through my scalp as I pulse her bundle of nerves with my lips, continuously slipping my fingers in and out.

"Leo, I'm so fucking clo-"

Her words are cracked by a cry as her legs clench around my head, twitching aggressively as she rides out her orgasm.

I only stop as her breaths even out, giving her a final kiss in the area before leaning against one of her thighs. Once she's caught most of her breath, she sits up.

"Fuck me." She demands.

A grin immediately plays on my lips as she rips down my flyer, yanking down my pants.

"You say it as though I didn't already have that planned."

-
18+ end
-

We lay on her bed, barely catching a full inhale after that.

She rolls over, checking the time on her clock.

It was a great way to take our minds off of tomorrow, but it doesn't change tomorrow.

This time tomorrow, Nicholas will hopefully be in the grave. All of this will be over. She can finally live in peace.

I smooth my hands across the small of her back as she turns to face me.

"Time to train the rookies," she yawns, sliding off of the bed and almost falling over as her feet touch the ground.

"That'll never get old," I snort, earning a glare from her as she stumbles towards the washroom.

"I don't mind training the rookies again," I shout after her.

"It's alright, I should do it. Thank you for training them earlier though!" She calls from her side of the door, emerging a few seconds later.

"They remind me of us, don't you think?" I chuckle as she begins to get dressed.

"Who?"

"Avery and Noah,"

"I was thinking the same thing a few days ago," she smirks, pulling a cami over her head.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," I snicker, shaking my head.

She paces over and places a gentle kiss to my forehead.

"It's both. I'll see you later, love," she grins, spinning on her heels to leave the cabin.

I start to get myself dressed. I'm going to study the floor plan for the eighth damn time, check that I've got a perfect map in my head of exactly where we need to go.

Checking the coast is clear, I follow out after her a few minutes later and pace towards Vincent's office. I give a short knock on the door, answered by a grunt which signals I can enter.

"Ah, Hendrix. You alright?" He glances up from the floor plan, seems he was having a similar idea to me.

"I was actually just going to come and borrow that," I chuckle, striding over and falling into a seat beside his desk.

He tilts the paper slightly, allowing me a better view. There's lots of notes, arrows he must have drawn.

"I've mainly been focusing on the ground floor, feel free to share the sheet," he coughs slightly, popping a humbug into his mouth.

I cast my eyes across the now familiar structure, trailing my gaze to the East side. The doors leading in from the perron are marked by two small, perpendicular lines.

From there, there's a long corridor with rooms sprouting off either side. I worked out there's 8 rooms total down the main corridor.

On a right turn, there's another smaller corridor; 6 rooms in total.

There's also a cleaners room and a staff washroom. All hotel rooms also have their own personal washrooms.

We have fourteen hotel rooms, a cleaning quarter and a washroom. That's just on the top floor.

The rest of the units are going to push up if Nicholas is not found, aim to trap him until he can't escape from the top floor.

"I hope Shields gets the kill," Vincent remarks after swallowing the remains of his humbug.

"Me too, she deserves to get it," I agree, turning to face him before continuing.

"If God forbid something were to happen to me and her, I beg that you prioritise her life over mine," I sigh, Vincent raises his eyebrows with a small laugh.

"What is it?" I tilt my head.

"I'm not laughing at that, Hendrix. It's just, she was in here a few hours ago begging for your life to be prioritised over her own," he grins, "is there something you want to tell me?"

She was asking the same goddamn thing?

"No, nothing," I swiftly shake my head, he furrows his eyebrows.

"I may seem old Hendrix, but I'm not completely blind. Look, let's just hope it doesn't come to that, 'ay?" He sighs, tilting his one-eyed gaze back towards the sheet.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but I've always wondered about the eyepatch," I speak hesitantly. He raises his head and plucks on the string holding it around his face.

"Took a bloody knife to the eye when I was a similar age to yourself. It's all stitched up, just thought the patch seemed more apt with my career," he chuckles.

"Jesus, a knife to the eye? That's horrendous," I shudder at the thought.

"Would rather it be my eye than my throat or chest! I may be a half-blind buggar, but I'm alive," he roars, popping another humbug into his mouth.

"I think it's great that you're coming on this mission," I grin.

He leans back in his chair, studying me carefully.

"You've grown a lot in the past year, Hendrix. I didn't used to be very fond of you, I must admit. However, now I see that you're a remarkable young man," he smiles.

I think that's the nicest thing Vincent, or any Commander, has ever said to me.

"I really appreciate that, Sir," I nod, letting my gaze fall back to the floor-plan.

We study in silence, only broken up by the faint sound of the radio humming at the side of his office.

The track fades into 'With Or Without You' by U2. A song that reminds me of when I was younger. It would frequently play on the radio in our kitchen, Mom would always be shouting at me and Jaques for playing soccer between the sofa's.

My eyes meet the time: 4:30pm.

I didn't even realise how much time has passed.

"I think I'm going to get some food, Sir," I clear my throat, pushing up from the chair.

"See you later, son," he hums as I exit the office.

There's something in the air. It feels charged, tense. The thought of tomorrow is hanging over all of our heads, time marching us closer to the finale of Nicholas Shields.

I spot Tara, who is having her hair braided by Yazmina; the pilot from the Eagles.

"How're you both feeling?" I ask, heading in their direction.

"Shush, don't distract her Leo. She's concentrating," Tara warns with a grin, earning a chuckle from Yazmina.

I raise my hands in defence, "my bad. Just wanted to check in,"

"Well, I'm alright. Like I said yesterday, I'm pretty out of touch with the main action. How's Novie?" She tilts her head, pulling Yazmina's hands with her.

"Not sure, she seemed okay earlier. I'm going to go and find her now. Come by her cabin when you're done, I'm sure we'll eat in there again," I smile with a nod, spinning on my heels.

Just on time, I notice her leaving the training hall with the rookies; who all look fucking exhausted. I snicker as she paces to meet me halfway across the courtyard.

"I think they're about to keel over," she snorts, gesturing to the trudging trio.

"You're meant to be training them, not finishing them off," I chuckle, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"We need to try and get an early night tonight. Big day tomorrow," she takes in a sharp breath.

"Yeah, we should try and sleep at around eight. Depart at seven, so that means we'll be up at about five-thirty. Nine and a half hours sleep," I calculate in my head, she hums along.

"Jesus, I really hope I can actually get to sleep," she groans, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I'll stay awake until you have," I smile. She gazes up at me with her pretty eyes.

"You really have always had a soft side to you, haven't you?" She teases, giving me a nudge.

"Only for you," I smirk, gesturing for her to walk alongside me towards the food hall.

—

"We've got this," Tara says for the eightieth time since we sat in Nova's cabin.

Her theory is, if we say it enough times, then we're 'speaking it into the universe' and it will happen.

"I fucking hope we have, the bastard needs to be put down for good," Nova groans as I fiddle with her hair.

"I did a good job," I remark abruptly.

"Of what?" Tara chuckles. I pull a part of Nova's hair to the side, showing my attempt of a braid.

"What the fuck is this?" Nova snorts, looking at her hair.

"A braid,"

"Leo, it looks more like she's been dragged through a bush," Tara erupts into laughter as Nova spins to face me.

"You're so cute," she grins.

"Don't call me cute," I grumble, diverting my gaze.

"Just did," she briefly presses her lips to my cheek, and I can't bite down my smile.

As though it's a natural reaction, we all glance at the clock in unison. A lighthearted moment can be ruined in an instant, that instant being the second we cast our eyes across the time.

7:30pm

"I should probably get back to my cabin, try and settle," Tara sighs, pushing up to her feet and pacing to give us both a hug.

"I'll see you both in the morning, yeah?" She tries to force a beam, but it's definitely futile.

"Yeah, rest up Tarantino," Nova waves as she leaves the cabin.

We fall into silence.

Nova gets up to brush her teeth, I follow suit. We both splash our faces with ice water before crawling back into bed, turning out the light.

I gently rake my hand through her hair, keeping her tight against me.

"I'm so lucky to have you, Leo," she whispers against my chest, snuggling closer.

"I know you are," I chuckle lightly, feeling the usual gentle slap from her on my back.

"No, but really. I am. I don't know what I'd do without you," she sighs.

"Believe me, it's mutual. We don't have to worry about that, Nov. You won't be without me," I press my lips to her forehead.

"I'm just so fucking in love with you. Why'd you make me fall this hard, Hendrix?" She snickers.

"I could ask you the exact same question," I grin against her head, "try and get some sleep, Nov."

She hums. I continue swirling patterns into her hair, anything that'll help her relax.

And to my complete surprise, it actually works. After a little while, I feel her body grow heavier at my side as she falls asleep. Her steady breathing turns into soft, shallow snores.

I close my own eyes, inhaling and exhaling to pull myself towards slumber.