WHAT: Surprise homecoming for the girlfriend WHERE: “The Dining Hall” WHEN: A couple hours after this; Monday, February 12th, 2024 WARNINGS: Some vague nudity STATUS: Complete
Kate was in good spirits by the time she made her way out of the hangar. She’d had a good reunion with Daud. He’d never presented as the most emotional guy, but she knew by the little lecture he’d given her and the game of checkers that had followed that he’d been missing her, worried for her. For all of them, honestly. They didn’t know where the communication failure was, but it had left them all out of touch and spooked on both ends.
Falling out of contact also meant that before Daud’s confirmation, she’d had no idea what was on Violet’s schedule tonight – or what she’d been up to for the past three weeks, which felt wrong. There had rarely been a day since they’d first met where they hadn’t been in contact, and even when she was off on a mission, they were still able to talk in some form. Their communications history was chock full of texts, voicemails, video exchanges of all sorts. To have it so empty, because of circumstances out of their control, added a little extra heartache every day she was gone.
Now, she was home, and she was going to make a point of staying as long as she could. She could help out in other places; she was sure Daud wouldn’t protest her staying grounded for a while. She could offer him her help, work patrol shifts onboard, or chip in down at engineering with Prigany if they needed it. She was ready to sync back into regular life as best as she could. Making up for lost time with her girlfriend, especially, was at the top of her priority list.
She had long ago gotten over any perceived embarrassment from the ridiculous tasks they were given to get past the speakeasy’s secret door. She disarmed the glitter bomb with ease and made sure to squeeze her eyes shut before it went off to prevent digging at them for the rest of the night. It covered her uniform, but that was fine; she’d send it off to laundry in the morning, and enough of them came through here that she knew they wouldn’t think twice.
She waved at familiar faces and gave a few hugs as she slipped through the small, crowded space toward the front, where a small stage had been assembled for performances. She knew the performer was exactly who she’d been hoping even through the throngs, some of taller heads than hers, before she could even see her. She wedged herself through people to get closer, leaned against a wall just out of Violet’s current line of sight, watching and waiting.
Violet was not worried about Kate. She wasn’t, and she was more than prepared to lay into anyone who dared suggest that she was. She wasn’t. Kate was a big girl, and Kate could handle herself, and Violet had absolute faith in her ability to kick ass and arrive home soon.
And if she stared every night at her communicator, wishing that there was some way to get in contact with Kate, it was only because she missed the sound of her voice, and also very much missed phone sex, and it was not at all because she was hoping just to have some confirmation that everything was okay and going smoothly and when could she expect her home? She knew better than to have any expectations; scouting missions could last anywhere from a few days to a few months depending on what was found, and Violet would not set any expectations.
And so she’d picked up a few extra nights at the Dining Hall, if only to give her something to do and a way to work off some of that extra not-at-all-nervous energy she’d been accumulating.
She dropped her overcoat to the beat of the piano, and stepped, stepped – extra sway in the hips – and turned, picking up two of the large, feathered fans that had been resting behind her. She spent a couple of minutes hiding and revealing parts of her shimming, leotard-clad body, peeked coyly out from behind her fan and…
Screamed.
It wasn’t a scream of terror, or of pain, but of pure joy. The piano stumbled to a clumsy stop. Violet dropped her fans as if they were the most unimportant things in the world – frankly, they were – leapt off the stage, six-inch heels and all, and flung herself into Kate’s arms, immediately pulling her into a hard kiss.
She pulled away, but only so she could turn to the crowd. “Show’s over, you degenerates. My girlfriend’s back and we have a lot of lost time to make up.”
Violet had never bailed in the middle of a performance before – even when Kate had come back unexpectedly, Violet had stuck it out to final curtain before having her way with her. But, well, okay, maybe Violet had been a little worried. Just a little.
Kate barely had a minute to laugh at that scream – nothing distressing, nothing frightened, just excitement, like a squeal enhanced. Her reflexes were quick enough to wrap tight around Violet’s waist as she jumped on her, and she let herself thoroughly enjoy that kiss. It had been way too long since she’d gotten to kiss Violet, and if it weren’t for the swathes of people around them, she wouldn’t have hesitated to pull off what little clothing Violet wore right then and there.
But people did exist, and the reaction was palpable: some cheers, some groans, some cat calls, even some scattered applause. Most notable was a dramatic groan and a familiar voice calling out, “Way to ruin the show, Bishop!” to which Kate responded, “Guess your hand’ll have to entertain you tonight, Morris!”
That elicited a peal of collective laughter, and the crowd settled as the next act hurried to the stage to take Violet’s place. The show would go on without her, at least for tonight, and Kate wasn’t the least bit regretful for pulling her away.
Pull her away she did, too, back into the extra closet used as the backstage area for Violet to change. It wasn’t spacious, only room enough for three to sit shoulder to shoulder if they tried, and Kate stayed reluctantly back against the door to block anyone from coming in while Violet changed. She couldn’t very well walk the halls in this particular costume.
“Sorry not sorry to ruin the show,” she admitted with a breathless grin. “But God, I missed you, baby.”
Violet managed to keep a rein on her self-control long enough to remove the bobby pins and feathers from her hair before she threw herself at Kate again. She’d gone weeks without knowing her touch, and now she felt like she’d go mad if she had to wait another minute.
“I am not sorry at all about ending the show prematurely,” Violet said, once she pulled away for some air. “I am going to drink up all the Kate time I possibly can while you’re here. Do you know if you have another assignment lined up?”
Violet hoped not. It didn’t seem fair that they kept sending people out. She supposed she understood it, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
Kate didn’t rush to let Violet out of her arms that second time. She raised her hands to comb through her freshly freed blonde hair and kissed along her jawline even after their mouths parted. She had been gone longer than this before and yet, she had never missed Violet more. It was the loss of communication, of being able to reach out and check on her whenever she needed to see her face or hear her voice, that did it. Communications blips had happened on missions before, but it was never like this – never from V.A.L.L.O.’s end and not the ship on its journey.
“Nope, no assignments lined up,” she reported. “Pretty sure Daud’s doing us all a favor and grounding me for a while. I’m gonna occupy myself here and annoy the hell out of you every second in between. I…” She took a beat, met Violet’s eyes, and sighed softly. “I shouldn’t have run away, anyway.”
It was what she’d been doing, she could recognize that now that she’d gotten through the worst of the emotion and could think about her actions more objectively. Natasha had disappeared, and some part of her had broken. She hadn’t lived a day in this place without her sister since her first week here, and to lose her now, when she’d been so sure they would have the rest of their lives here together, it was this unimaginable pain. All she’d wanted to do was get away from it, despite the people she loved doing their best to console her.
“I’m sorry for that,” she murmured, stroking down Violet’s back. “Think you can forgive me?”
Violet beamed when Kate said that there were no assignments lined up any time soon, but her smile softened as she continued. She kissed the tip of her nose.
“You have nothing to be forgiven for,” Violet said. “I’m hardly the right person to chastise you for running away, and it wasn’t as though you were running from me.” At least, she hoped Kate hadn’t been running from her. She’d have to upend her entire view of their relationship if that were the case. She stroked Kate’s hair, letting her hand come to a rest on her cheek. “Sometimes we just need distance from a situation, that’s all. Did you find it?”
Of course Kate wasn’t running from Violet, and the look she gave her should say as much. Violet was her family, just as much as Daud or Natasha. She loved her, and being away from her was never the goal. If anything, she had been the one between the two of them to make it clear what she wanted from pretty early on, and she’d just had to wait for Violet to come around. They had a good thing going now, and she would never jeopardize that.
“I think so,” was the answer she gave to that question, raising one of her hands to cover Violet’s against her cheek. She was soaking up every little touch, eyes never leaving her girlfriend’s face. No photo would ever do justice to seeing her in person. “I still miss her so much, but I know she wouldn’t want me to let it consume me. She’d want me to be happy.”
“I miss her too,” Violet said. She knew she didn’t miss Natasha as much as Kate did, but she’d grown attached to the sister of the woman she loved, and when she’d seen her on the list of disappearances, it had felt like a punch to the gut. “She would want you to be happy though. How about you help me out of this leotard, and we’ll see if I can’t help that process along a little.”
Kate’s responding smile was a little sad but appreciative. “She loved you,” she murmured. Violet had been a part of their lives for nearly as long as they’d been here, and despite their occasional little dramas, Natasha had always loved how happy Violet made Kate. She wasn’t someone who warmed to people easily, but over time, she had warmed to Violet and welcomed her into their little family.
“For the record,” she continued, slipping her hands to the straps of her girlfriend’s leotard at her shoulders, “you make me happy. That’s never stopped being true. Never will. I want you to know that.”
Violet’s smile was sad when she said, “I loved her, too.” She slipped her arms out from the straps, and swatted, playfully, at Kate’s shoulder. “But oh my lord, Kate Bishop, you are the biggest sap on this ship.” She wrapped her arms around Kate’s waist, pulling her in close. “But for the record, you make me happy too. I love you. I’m glad you came back to me.”
Kate grinned. “Always gonna,” she said firmly, slipping two fingers under each of those straps to pull them down and fully bare Violet’s shoulders. “Not sure I deserve the title of biggest sap on this ship, though. I heard some little stories from Dad that lead me to believe that title might belong to you.”
“Oh that dirty traitor,” Violet gasped. “We’ll see if I sneak him any extra drinks the next time he shows his face here.” She shimmed the rest out of her leotard and then with a dramatic sniff, turned away from Kate, though she couldn’t resist shooting her a smile over her shoulder before she made her way to her clothes and started to get changed into them, slipping her wooden rings onto her fingers as she went. She could no longer use them for her magic – hadn’t been able to for three years now, though she still missed how easy it had been to style her hair back when she could still use magic – but she still wore them most of the time.
“You be nice to him,” Kate told her, stepping up behind Violet to press up against her back. She should be good and let her get dressed so they could get a move on, but it had been weeks. Her patience in keeping her hands to herself was seriously lacking right now. “He told me you beat him in a checkers match the other day.”
Violet was not going to complain. She laid her hands over top of Kate’s, and leaned back into her. She’d been touch starved since Kate had left, and she was more than happy to lap up all that physical affection now. She wondered what she’d do if Kate ever disappeared. It didn’t bear thinking about.
“You’re right. His mind must be slipping; I positively trounced him.” Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but she smiled anyway. “I’ll be nice to the old man-slash-void god.” She nuzzled Kate’s cheek affectionately. “I suppose the cat’s out of the bag now, so there’s no shame in saying that I’m sure he’s glad that you’re back, if only because it means I won’t be pestering him several times a day now wondering if he had any news. I hate that we couldn’t communicate. It drove me mad not knowing if you were okay.”
Kate pressed a few kisses across Violet’s jaw, happily staying close to her. She would linger a little bit longer, fingers skimming over the skin of Violet’s stomach. She’d gotten touch-starved herself; her crewmates would only allow so many hugs, and Carol had shooed her away more times than she could count when she got too clingy.
“I know, babe. I hated it, too.” She was so used to being in constant communication – not just with Violet but with home. In some ways, the distance had helped push her forward and yank her out of a grief she couldn’t shake. But being completely cut off hadn’t been her idea of a good time either. “Now I’m home, and I’m gonna let you get dressed, so I can strip you back down and ravish you ASAP.”
“And that’s how you know it’s love,” Violet said, sighing dreamily. “Even after all this time apart, we’re still on exactly the same wavelength.” She kissed Kate on the cheek before gently extricating herself from her arms to finish dressing. She took her hand to lead her to the door. “I am looking forward very much to my ravishing, Miss Bishop.”