732 Days: No Place Like Home

Disclaimer: I’m just borrowing these characters, they do not belong to me

His dreams always ended in the same way. They differed in content; sometimes Thea died before his eyes at the hands of Silas or in mid-air in an earth shaking explosion, other times she returned to him safe and sound ready to pick up where they left off. But the very end was always the same; something would rouse him from his sleep and he’d hope against hope when he opened his eyes she’d be snoring softly on the pillow next to him.

Of course she never was. He woke up alone and heartbroken every single time.

Until now.

Today, as Kenji’s mind drifts into consciousness the soft bursts of air tickling his bare chest confuse him for a moment. He moves his arm to brush away the source of the sensation only to catch his hand in tangles of what feels like fine strands of hair. His brain clicks on and the signals sent by his nervous system begin to filter through more rapidly. There is a gentle, vaguely familiar, pressure against his entire torso.

Someone is lying pressed against him.

Kenji’s eyelids shoot open. The room is dark, save for the soft glow of moonlight drifting through the large Clock Tower window, but he instantly recognizes the slumbering figure wrapped in his arms.

Thea.

Memories of the day before come flooding back to him, a tidal wave of relief engulfing him. After two long years, she is finally back. It hadn’t been some elaborate dream. She is really here, snuggled tight in his embrace. Kenji places a tentative kiss on the top of her head, still half expecting her to vanish into thin air.

Momentarily reassured of this new reality, Kenji lets his eyes flutter shut again, and feels himself slowly being lulled to sleep by the gentle rhythm of Thea’s chest rising and falling against him.

“NO KENJI!”

Her voice thrusts him back into full consciousness. She twitches violently, sending an elbow firmly into his stomach. But the pain of the blow is miniscule compared to the ache in his heart. He knows all too well the terror her subconscious is likely subjecting her to.

“Thea, wake up darling. It’s just a nightmare. I’m right here.”

She jerks awake abruptly in a cold sweat, the image of Talos lying lifeless in her arms still lingering in her mind as her eyes flicker open. Strong arms tighten around her back and Thea raises her chin to find familiar grey eyes gazing down at her with a tenderness that melts all tension in her body.

I’m back. I’m home and Kenji is alive.

A relieved smile tugs at her lips and she feels Kenji’s taught muscles relax, his arms loosening around her slightly. His expression brightens and while some affection remains, his tell-tale witty gleam quickly takes over residence in his eyes.

“Fighting bad guys in your dreams now I see,” Kenji jokes, a smirk playing on his lips.

Thea inhales sharply and her heart skips a beat. She’d almost forgotten what it looked like, that sly little smirk of his. Without hesitation, she pulls one arm free from its warm cocoon between their bodies and brushes her pointer finger over his rough lips, assuring herself the vision in front of her is real, that he is real.

Kenji keeps his face perfectly still as she slowly traces the curve of his mouth. When her finger reaches the center of his lips for the second time, he kisses it softly before nipping at it playfully.

Thea tries to giggle, but all that escapes from her desert-dry throat is a strangled squeak.

Kenji releases his hold on her to prop himself up slightly and reach across her. A sense of comfort washes through her as the vaguely familiar scent of Kenji’s body odor mixed with deodorant enters her nostrils; yet another sign she isn’t dreaming.

When he pulls back, Thea spots a small glass of water in his hand. She pulls herself up into a sitting position and takes the glass readily, the barely cool liquid soaking into every dry crevice of her mouth like rain into parched soil.

Kenji’s deep chuckle fills the otherwise quiet room as Thea hurriedly chugs the water. “Wow. Thirsty much, Dorothy?”

She attempts to shift the glass in order to make the eye-brow she’s cocking at him more visible and her hand wobbles, sending all remaining water cascading down onto her chest. A roughish, knowing grin stretches across her face, her golden eyebrows rising in amusement.

Her boyfriend has joined her in sitting upright across from her now; his tanned legs stretched in front of him parallel to hers. He stares unblinking at the target of the water splash, his saucer-sized pupils darker than normal and overflowing with hunger. By the dampness on her cleavage and the feel of fabric clinging to her chest, Thea can easily theorize what has Kenji transfixed.

Even in the dim lighting, the now soaked top of her dress has become sheer enough that the very thin and barely useful bra she’s wearing is quite noticeable, the fabric of which is now taught over her breasts. Thea reaches a foot out to brush against Kenji’s crotch ever so softly. Years worth of pent up desire floods to her stomach, ready to overflow at a moment’s notice, when her investigation reveals that her now hardened nipples are in good company.

“Wow. Thirsty much, Tin Man?”

Kenji suppresses a shudder at her caress, his heart pounding in his ears. Thea nibbles at her lip, the same ardent desire pulsing through his veins mirrored in her expression. But when a sharp spark of wit flashes in her blue-green eyes and her tongue delivers a clever quip, he swears time stops.

The too familiar furnishings of the Clock Tower fade from view, the ever-constant ticking of a clock ceases in his ears, and the surprisingly fresh scent of city air wafting in through an open window dissipates instantaneously. All he can see is her, her vibrant smirk and freely flowing golden hair, her relatively unblemished skin and luscious curves. Her laugh sings a soothing melody to his soul. And the smell of her, the mix of familiar sweetness and unknown muskiness swallows him up.

All he senses is her. All he wants, all he needs, is her.

She’s lost in her own world, her eyes engraving every last inch of his physique into her mind, when rough lips crash against her own. Thea yields easily to Kenji’s touch, falling back onto the couch with a flop. The long forgotten glass is tossed aside effortlessly, only making its existence known for a split second when it shatters loudly on the concrete floor.

Thea’s arms instinctively wrap around Kenji’s neck, pulling him closer, willing his mouth to devour her whole. She nips at his lower lip, eliciting a deep groan from him that makes the desire in her stomach boil rapidly, and slips her tongue inside when his mouth parts slightly. Kenji lies perched over her prone figure, one hand purposefully keeping his torso fractions of an inch from hers, the other ghosting back and forth over a known sensitive spot behind her ear.

She moans in disappointment when he suddenly breaks the kiss, but the unparalleled hunger painted on his features and the love swimming in his gaze halts her next inhale in its tracks. His eyes bore into hers with intensity unlike any she’s experienced before, and she feels them rummaging through her mind, searching for the answer to a question his lips have yet to form.

Her hands respond, moving down his back to tease at the waistband of his shorts.

“No. I need to taste you first,” He growls into her ear before making quick work of her dress and bra.

A low sigh rumbles in his throat as Kenji’s eyes feast over Thea’s mostly naked body. He places a deep, passionate kiss to her lips before his mouth spreads fire down her jaw, to her neck and clavicle, then continuing lower.

“Kenji!” She gasps with a shudder when he takes one nipple in his mouth, sucking hard and quick before moving to the other.

Her fingers tangle in his dark hair, relishing in the familiar softness of it. Kenji’s lips persist on their journey southward, branding her stomach and abdomen with his burning desire for her. In between shocks of pleasure jolting through her, a thought plays on repeat in Thea’s mind.

He’s here. He’s real. He’s mine.

Kenji feels her legs tremble when he parts them with one hand, the other swiftly pulling off her damp panties.

“Mmm, wet for me already,” he murmurs into the crook of her hip. “Can’t say I blame you.”

His hands move up to grab her waist and his tongue teases her folds. Then, he plunges it inside her, licking and lapping at her fervently and she arches her hips up to meet him. She tastes heavenly on his lips, a decadent dessert he’s waited so long for he now wants to consume her in one bite.

The yearning in his groin grows nearly overwhelming when her abdominal muscles tense and release under his hands, and muted whimpers break the relative silence in the room. Mild prickles of pain shoot through his scalp as Thea’s grip on his hair tightens.  Despite their time apart, the knowledge of her body, of the signs it gives him, comes rushing back to him. She’s nearly there, nearly ready to explode from ecstasy.

And so is he.

A voice in the back of his mind tells him to stop, to move up and enter her now, allowing them both to release the years of need pent up inside them. But, ever stubborn, he pushes the thought aside, determined to make her finish first, to feel her come apart around his fingers and mouth first. He’s not entirely certain why it’s so important to him, why he needs to fulfill her desires before his own. There will be other times for that, for taking it slower… won’t there?

Or maybe all they have is now.

His tongue stills for a moment and Thea whines, causing a cocky smirk to play upon Kenji’s lips. He replaces his mouth with his fingers, slipping two inside her quickly to continue the rhythm he’d started before, and raises his head.

A blaze of passion soars in his heart when he sees the portrait of beauty displayed before him.

Thea’s chin is tipped up toward the sky, the hair pooling around her head nearly forming a halo. Her breasts are two perfect mountains on a landscape of gently rolling muscles.

She’s here. She’s real. She’s mine.

Kenji’s tongue flits over her clit once, twice, then a third and she comes undone with a loud cry of his name on her lips. The orgasm overtakes her, wild convulsions of pleasure shaking her and the couches the two of them lie atop. He laughs at first, proud of his ability to have such an intense affect on her. Then reality clicks in and he feels his legs swiftly spreading apart against his own volition.

Shit.

The thought comes a split second before they hit the floor with a tremendous thud reverberating off the walls as the cozy make-shift bed Kenji had fashioned for them splits in two.

Kenji’s knees sting from the harsh contact with the concrete and a twinge of pain shoots through one shoulder blade. The desire which was only a few thrusts away from boiling over mere moments before is cooling rapidly now and he curses himself internally for such poor planning on his part.

“Heh. Heh. Heh… AHAHAHA”

Kenji lifts his head, which had become one with Thea’s stomach during the fall, as boisterous laugher spills from Thea’s lips. The tantalizing melody blankets his entire being with delight. He’d almost forgotten how beautiful her laugh is, how her entire face glows with joy and her shoulders quiver during a particularly intense fit.

“Nice going, Bronze Boy,” she manages to spit out between guffaws.

“Me? I’m not the one who just vibrated us out of the bed.” He pushes up to hover over her again and places a teasing kiss on the bridge of her nose.

“No, but you did cause the body-shaking orgasm that started it all.” Her laughter slows, a tantalizing yet ravenous gleam overtaking her eyes, and the fire in his belly ignites once more.

“Oh darling, that’s only the beginning.” His voice is husky as it wafts into Thea’s ears, his warm breath tickling her forehead.

A witty reply on the edge of her lips is smothered by a zealous kiss. Kenji’s tongue forcefully pushes through the wall of lips on its way to dance with hers. His eyes, alight with insatiable longing, remain locked on hers, awakening the flame in her core for a second time as the kiss continues to deepen.

Their hips rock together, one of her thighs shifting between his legs and brushing against his hard length. She feels the rumble of a groan in his chest when she lets her hands wander to his waist and pull down his shorts, stroking the very tips of her fingers down his cock.

A strong hand wraps around hers, pulling her arm off to the side.

Thea’s already shortened breath catches in her throat, when he finally enters her, stretching her as he fills her completely.

Her legs wrap around him tightly, pulling him in closer, deeper. They move together, their pace hurried and impassioned, gazes still locked on each other. She climbs higher and higher, pleasure filling every nook and cranny of her body and soul. Kenji nibbles on her top lip hard, nearly drawing blood, as he delivers one hard final thrust and stars explode behind her eyes.

Thea tenses around him as wave after wave of pleasure overtake her and she feels Kenji spill himself inside her a moment later with a guttural groan. He collapses against her briefly before rolling carefully off to the side, his back pressed against the bottom of one couch, and gathering her into his arms. Thea buries her face in Kenji’s firm, sweat covered chest and closes her eyes, satisfied exhaustion pulling her into unconsciousness.

Soft fibers brush against Thea’s legs causing her to stir, but it’s the sudden sensation of something landing and settling on her thigh that startles her awake. She bolts upright, sending what appears to be a moderately sized black puffball darting from its perch on her legs with an angry yowl.

“I see you’ve met Nat,” Kenji chuckles behind her, capturing her around the midsection with his arms and pulling her back down into him, the cheeky grin on his face warming her more than the blanket he pulls across them.

It takes her a minute to remember why that name sounds familiar.

Nat, short for Natasha, the cat Poppy found and subsequently talked Dax into letting her keep in their lair here. She’s about to tease Kenji for naming the cat after a member of the Avengers when realization sparks in her brain.

Kenji doesn’t know she knows about the cat or anything else that happened while she was away. She read the letters he’d written for her in a different timeline. Here, now, as far as anyone else knows, she had only returned to Earth for the first time today.

Eventually she’ll have to tell them all what happened, starting with Kenji, she surmises, and her stomach twists itself into anxious knots at the thought.

God, how is she going to manage that? There isn’t exactly an instructional guide floating around for how to tell someone they died in an alternate universe, but with the help of their other-dimensional girlfriend and a time-rewinding crystal, that universe and timeline now ceases to exist. She doesn’t doubt he’ll believe her; with everything that has happened to them she isn’t sure there’s anything she can tell him he won’t believe.

No, she has to tell him the truth at some point, but today, right now, is not the time. Now, she only wants to soak up his existence in the warm rays of early morning sunlight streaming through the windows.

“…and then Hazel and Poppy rode off into the sunset on their rainbow unicorns and Dax was eaten by a Yeti.”

Thea blinks rapidly, looking up at Kenji, her mind finally registering that he’s speaking to her. “What?”

“Ah, welcome back!” he says with excessive enthusiasm. “I was telling you the story of how we acquired Nat the cat when your eyes glazed over. I’m not boring you am I?” His brow rises in question, a teasing sparkle in his eyes.

“No of course not, sorry,” she responds briskly, still trying to shove aside the heavy thoughts lingering in her mind.

“Hey, what is it? What’s wrong?” Kenji’s face softens, his words dripping with worry, and Thea registers the bleakness in her tone just now.

“Nothing, really,” she insists, summoning her mouth to curve upward into a half smile. “I was just lost in thought for a minute, thinking of you actually, and how much I missed that.” She waggles her eyebrows suggestively, hoping he’ll catch her meaning.

“Damn, did I miss that too, Thea. So much.” The grin growing on his lips stalls briefly and a tinge of pink starts to spread across his cheeks. “I missed you. I missed you and… and I love you.”

“I know,” she answers too quickly.

Shit. Shit. Fuck. He doesn’t know I know. Now I have to tell him I’ve read the letters and…

“Wow, a Star Wars reference when I’m pouring my heart out to you? How much of a dork are you?” Kenji laughs.

Thea’s pounding heart quiets in her ears. He didn’t question her answer. She doesn’t need to panic.

Good thing I fell in love with a geeky goofball.

“I mean, I love you too.” She brushes a kiss along his clavicle. “And that’s a pretty strong accusation coming from someone with Iron Man boxers.”

“Those were a gift from… wait, back up what did you say?”

“I said I love you too, Kenji.”

Relief washes over his features before he grasps her face, tilting her chin to place a deep, but unmistakably tender kiss on her lips.

“Say it again?”

“I love you, Kenji Katsaros.” She laughs and pecks him on the cheek.

“Again?”

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” she says, placing a soft kiss on his forehead, the bridge of his nose, and lastly his lips. “Satisfied now?”

“Hmmm. Not yet. One more time?”

“How about I show you instead?” Thea purrs into his ear before peppering his neck with feather-light kisses and she feels Kenji hardening against her thigh. “Oh, you like the sound of that too, hmmm.”

Her mouth has journeyed halfway down his sternum when the sound of voices and approaching footsteps causes her to still.

“Crap. Our friends. I forgot…” Kenji manages to squeak out before the door flies open.

“My eyes!”

“Oh. My. God. You’re awake!”

“Seriously, Katsaros? On the couches, with my blanket? Now we have to burn them all.”

Thea hurriedly pulls the blanket around her and sits up to meet the gazes of her chattering friends, embarrassment burning her face and neck.

“Sorry I didn’t call. We got a little… busy,” Kenji quips, lazily standing then making his way to the corner of the floor where his shorts lie crumpled in a heap. His signature smirk and teasing gleam takes up residence on his face one more.

“Well… I guess we know her stamina wasn’t affected by the dimensional jump.”

“You’re ok! I’m so glad you’re ok! Oh my gosh, tell me everything that happened!”

“You might want to go wash the shame off of yourselves. Both of your mothers are on their way here. And Grayson.”

A broad smile settles on Thea’s features as she watches and listens to her friends blathering on between themselves.

She has so much information to share with them, so much for them to catch her up on. The next several weeks or even months won’t be easy, she knows. She has no illusions as to what difficulties may lay ahead for them all. But that’s not important now. Now she just wants to focus on being here, with them in this moment, in her home.

Because despite all the heartache and chaos that the battle with Silas and her trip to the Prism World has caused, one good thing has come out of it all.

She’d been questioning everything in the weeks leading up to the battle, who and what she was, where she came from, where she belonged. But her unexpected travels had given her answers to all of those questions, including the one she should have never wondered about at all. Her home, her true home, is here on Earth with Rochelle, her friends, and Kenji, and now she understands that without a shadow of a doubt.

Thea watches in fascinated amusement as Kenji catches Eva off-guard with a surprise Bronze-Hand high five, only to have his arm caught in a time-slowing bubble during its transformation back into human form. His still bronzed, and very heavy hand, ever so slowly drags the rest of him sideways much to his annoyance.

Yes, this crazy and dangerous planet, with the odd and wonderful people in front of her, is her home and there’s no place else she’d rather be.

-The End