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Joe arrived at their rendezvous point and immediately sought out Nicky. A leaden ball of worry formed in his gut when he didn’t immediately see his love. Andy and Nile were arguing quietly over who should go in first, and it didn’t matter because Nicky wasn’t there yet — and there he was, and the only show of relief that Joe allowed himself was to meet Nicky’s eyes and nod. They were both all right.
Despite what Nile no doubt thought, it wasn’t always death and resurrection when they were on a mission. Joe knew that. But still, whenever Nicky was out of his sight he worried. He knew that Nicky worried over him, too.
A low whistle got his attention. Andy and Nile had finished their “discussion” and apparently Nile won this time. She was going in first. Frankly, Joe was surprised that Andy had allowed Nile to win the argument. Andy was being coddled, and she knew it. He traded a glance with Nicky. He was sure now that Andy was training Nile to be their leader. Nicky nodded back; he knew what that meant, too. Andy thought she might not be around too much longer.
Maybe it was time to bring Booker back into the fold.
He hated the idea. Book had betrayed them — even worse, his betrayal had sent them into the hands of those who caused Nicky so much pain. Joe had suffered at those hands as just as much, but his rage that his beloved Nicolo had had to endure that pain burned with the fury of the sun. He would never forgive Booker. He might be willing to work with Book again, but forgive? Never.
He moved to follow Nile into the building their target was hiding in. Nicky and Andy moved toward the side entrance. They’d meet again inside, when they had located their target.
It was a simple matter of taking down a few guards to get to their target. The guards were arrogant children, who thought they had mastered their toys. Still, this group had been reasonably competent. Joe had caught a few bullets, but nothing that had caused too much damage.
He stood guard in the safe room at the center of the building while Nile interrogated their target. She was too soft, still. She hadn’t learned that sometimes you need to be hard. Joe had long since pushed down feelings of guilt at killing mortals. If they came after him or his family? They deserved what they got. They knew the risks they took entering into their line of work.
Motion out of the corner of his eye had him spinning and aiming — at Andy. Where was Nicky? He smiled slightly when his beloved came into sight, just behind their leader. He met Nicky’s eyes, and saw that his beloved was all right. A brief scowl told him that Nicky had noted the bullet holes. They were sure to have a discussion about them that evening, when they were safe. He nodded, understanding, and then Nicky and Andy were past him and into the safe room with Nile and their target. Joe took up watch again. Just because they thought they had gotten all the guards didn’t mean that there weren’t more.
Back at their safe house, after the mission was over and their target was dead, Joe allowed Nicky to take his hand and pull him upstairs. He knew they were headed for the larger bathroom, the one with the tub that could almost be a pool. Plentiful water, hot and clean, was a luxury they both appreciated about this time.
They left Andy and Nile in the living room. Andy rolled her eyes as they left the room, and then went back to unpacking their weapons bag. Tacit permission to play hooky on post-operation clean up. Nile smiled broadly at them — she thought they were adorable. Well, fine. Nicky was adorable.
Nicky’s arms embraced him as they went upstairs, warm lips nuzzling at his ear. Joe chuckled. Two could play at that game. He stopped at the top of the stairs and turned in Nicky’s arms, using their momentum to drive them both against the wall. He sought Nicky’s lips with his own, and Nicky’s appreciative groan made his knees go weak. He worked at the buttons of Nicky’s jacket. Maybe they should skip their bath…
But Joe was frustrated by one of the buttons that was being stubborn, and Nicky took advantage of his distraction to free his mouth.
"Yusuf, habibi, mi amor, I would love to have sex with you right now, but wouldn’t you prefer to be clean? Hmmm?” Nicky stroked Joe’s shoulder, where one of the bullets had gone through. “Besides, I want to see all of you.”
In the face of Nicky calling him "my love," what could he do but give in? He would give Nicky everything if he could. Joe made the effort to reign in his desire, undiminished after a thousand years with his beloved, and heaved a put-upon sigh. He ignored Nicky’s laugh. “If we must…”
Besides, he wanted to make sure that Nicky had emerged from their mission unscathed, too. It didn't matter that they were both immortal and neither would scar from any wounds. Love wasn’t logical.
Nicky smiled gently at him and took his hand once more, tangling their fingers together, and led him down the hallway to the bath.