Chapter 23 #2
The medics finally released them two hours after the platform was secured.
Reece had two cracked ribs, a mild concussion, various contusions, and lacerations that the Mercy team medic catalogued with professional detachment. Nothing serious. Nothing that wouldn't heal.
Maggie had been checked over, too. Her bandaged hands had been unwrapped, cleaned, and inspected. Her vitals were taken. She was cleared. Physically fine. Emotionally exhausted but holding together.
They left medical together, walking through corridors that were quieter now.
Most of the platform personnel were being processed and evacuated.
Only essential staff would remain. Guardian operators were now taking on security with those who Dex vouched for and were on patrol.
Interview teams would be working around the clock.
The platform was in the process of shifting from chaos to controlled operation.
"Your quarters or mine?" Maggie asked as they reached Level Seven.
"Yours is closer," Reece said.
They walked to her room. Not the safe room where she'd hidden, where Pike had nearly reached her.
Maggie unlocked her door and stepped inside. Reece followed and closed the door behind them.
Maggie sat on the edge of the bed and exhaled slowly as Reece stayed near the door. Watching her. Trying to read what she was thinking.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine." She looked up at him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
Silence settled between them. Not comfortable. Weighted with things unsaid.
Reece moved to the small chair near the window and sat down carefully as his ribs protested, but he kept his expression neutral.
"You're hurt worse than you're letting on," Maggie observed.
"I'm fine," he repeated.
She lifted an eyebrow. "Liar."
He almost smiled. "Maybe a little."
More silence.
Then Maggie spoke quietly. "You beat him pretty badly."
There it was. The thing Reece had been dreading since the moment it happened.
"Yeah," he said. "I did."
"Your dad said he has a broken orbital bone, cracked ribs, a broken nose, and a dislocated shoulder."
"I know." He remembered every punch.
Maggie looked at her hands. The bandages wrapped around her palms. "I've never seen you like that before … that violent. I mean, you were controlled but not controlled. And wow, that doesn’t even make sense, does it?"
Reece's chest tightened. "I understood you. And I'm sorry you had to see it."
Her head snapped up. "Sorry? Why?"
"Yeah, about that …" He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped. Trying to find the right words. "I didn't want you to be afraid. Of me, I mean. Of what I'm capable of when someone threatens what I care about."
Maggie stood and crossed the room, stopping directly in front of him.
"Reece King," she said firmly. "I thought I told you in that hallway this morning. I am not afraid of you."
"You should be. After what you saw—"
"I saw you protect me," Maggie interrupted. "I saw you take down the man who tried to have me killed. The one responsible for luring me to that maintenance bay. The one who paid the man to push me over the edge. Pike was coming to finish what he’d started."
"That's not—"
"I could never be afraid of you," she said, and her voice softened as she continued, "Never. Do you understand that?"
Reece looked up at her. At the certainty in her eyes and the absence of fear, revulsion, or doubt.
"I need you to understand," she continued.
"What I felt watching you fight Pike wasn't fear.
It was relief. It was gratitude. It was knowing that you would do whatever it took to keep me safe.
And yes, it was a little bit terrifying.
But not because of you. Because of what could have happened if you hadn't been there. "
His throat tightened.
"You're not a monster," Maggie said quietly. "You're a protector. There's a difference."
She leaned down and kissed him softly and carefully. Her bandaged hands came up to cup his face gently.
Reece kissed her back. Deeper. What he felt was relief and something that felt like coming home.
Then they both pulled back at the same time.
"Ow," Maggie said, looking at her hands.
"Ow," Reece agreed, pressing a hand to his ribs.
They stared at each other.
Then they both started laughing.
It hurt. Every laugh sent pain through Reece's cracked ribs. But he couldn't stop. And Maggie was laughing, too, wincing and holding her hands carefully but laughing.
The tension broke. Shattered, leaving them both grinning like idiots.
"This is ridiculous," Maggie managed.
"Yeah," Reece agreed.
"We're both a mess."
"Pretty much."
She sat down beside him on the bed, which was next to his chair. Close enough that their shoulders touched.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked.
Reece looked at her. At the woman who'd seen him at his most violent and hadn't flinched. Who'd called him a protector. Who'd kissed him despite the pain.
"We do what we want. Just … slowly," he said. His voice dropped lower. Rougher. "Gently."
Understanding flickered in her eyes. Heat chasing away the exhaustion that had been there all day.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
She turned toward him, and he followed suit to face her, wincing slightly as he did so.
They came together carefully. Mindful of injuries and pain and the fact that they were both bruised and battered.
But together.
Always together.
Reece kissed her slowly, taking his time. His hands found her waist, pulling her closer. She shifted, straddling him carefully, her weight settled on his thighs instead of his injured ribs.
"Tell me if I hurt you," she whispered against his mouth.
"You won't."
Her hands went to his shirt. Unbuttoning slowly. Pushing it off his shoulders with care around the bandages wrapping his ribs.
His hands found the hem of her shirt, and he lifted it carefully. Over her head and gone.
Then it was skin against skin. Warmth and need and the absolute certainty that this was right. They moved slowly. Gently. Taking time despite the urgency building between them.
And when they finally came together, when Maggie's breath caught and Reece's hands tightened on her hips, when everything else fell away except the two of them—
It was perfect.
Worth every bruise. Every injury. Every moment of pain that had led them here.
Because here, with her, he finally knew what he’d been searching for and couldn’t find.