I tugged the zipper of my jumpsuit into place and waited, listening awkwardly. I could hear the rustle of fabric against skin and the gentle snick of the zip.

“Ready?” I asked as the noise stopped.

“Ready,” he replied.

I turned to see him ruffling his still-damp hair. An uncontrollable grin grew on my face as I watched him.

“What?” he asked, smiling too.

I shook my head and looked down as he stepped closer.

“Nothing,” I said, biting my lip.

He was so close to me that I could feel his breath on my face.

“What is it?”

Realisation washed through me. I didn’t have to suppress it anymore. I could just say what I was thinking.

“You just look really good and I’m so glad we decided to do this.”

The words rushed out and I could feel my cheeks heating up.

“I feel the exact same way,” he said, leaning in to gently press his lips to mine.

I sighed into the kiss as my hands gripped the front of his jumpsuit. His hands gently wrapped around me, holding my body against his, not letting go even after I pulled away.

“I can’t believe that after all this time, we’re finally together. I can’t believe you’re…” I trailed off, biting my lip again.

“I’m yours?” he finished for me.

I nodded and peeked at him from under my lashes, not sure how he’d react.

His eyes sparkled as he let out a chuckle.

“Aries, I’ve always been yours.”

I pulled him closer, trying to push all of my feelings for him into a kiss.

“Oi! Open up!” Gem called, knocking loudly on the door.

I sighed, finally breaking the kiss.

“We should go. Good call on locking the door,” I said, stepping back reluctantly.

A quizzical expression came over his face.

“I didn’t.”

I shook my head. Gem. She was good.

“Ready?” I asked, approaching the door.

“Wait a second,” Cas said from behind me, lacing his fingers through mine and pulling me back towards him.

His lips found mine and he kissed me, slowly. Leisurely. Not pulling away until my head had begun to spin.

“Shall we?” he asked, a lopsided grin on his reddened lips.

I raised my hand and tapped on the door to unlock it, the other hand still clasped in his.

The door raised slowly revealing an impatient looking Gem. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet with an expectant smile on her lips.

“How was everyone’s morning?” she asked, stepping back so that we could start down the hallway towards the elevator.

My eyes met hers and I grinned. A flash of realisation went through her.

“It was good,” was all I said but the thrilled expression on her face told me she got the message.

Her eyes widened noticeably and she craned her head around me to stare at our interlaced hands before coming to a stop.

“Everything okay?” Cory asked her, looking at her worriedly.

Her gaze was still fixed on our hands.

“Oh, my Gods!” she spluttered.

Cas laughed awkwardly and brought one hand up to rub the back of his neck.

“Is it official?” she demanded.

I glanced at Cas’ face before looking back to Cory and Gem.

“Yeah…” I said not even bothering to hide my happiness.

“Oh, my Gods!” Gem shouted, diving at me immediately.

Her arms wrapped around my neck and she squeezed me tightly.

“Oh, hey! Congratulations you two!” Cory cried.

“Thanks, man,” Cas said.

“Fucking finally!” Gem squealed, releasing me to pull Cas in for a hug too. “I am so happy for you both!”

I grinned goofily.

“After the meeting, you have to tell us everything!” Gem demanded.

I laughed.

“Okay, okay! We should get going though,” I said, glancing at the time on the screen in the hall.

We were running late but we were later than I liked.

“Okay, fine!” Gem said, taking off down the hall again. “Oh, I can’t believe you finally got together!”

I laughed and glanced sideways at Cas.

“I know, I’m pretty happy about it too,” I said with a grin.

He returned the smile as we stopped outside the lift.

I met Gem’s eyes in the reflection of the doors. Her face was pinched and unshed tears glistened in her eyes.

“You okay?” I asked quietly, nudging her gently with my hip.

She nodded, biting her lip and looking down as a couple of tears fell.

“What’s up?” I asked, feeling my eyebrows furrow as worry rose in me.

She shook her head more vehemently.

“Nothing. I’m really happy for you both. It’s just…” she trailed off, refusing to look at me.

I scanned Gem’s face, trying to work out what she was thinking. She’d seemed genuinely happy about us before. I had no clue what had changed.

Fear spiked in me. This is what Taury had said. Nothing bad had happened between Cas and me but it was already causing problems within the crew.

“I just wish Peggy was here too,” she whispered finally.

Guilt and shame rose within me, clawing away my happiness. I didn’t deserve to be here, happy, whilst Peggy was suffering.

“I know. We’ll get her back,” I promised quietly.

Gem nodded.

“We will.”

She swiped the tears from her face and glanced at the screen above the doors. The lift was still several floors below us and rising slowly. It seemed to be stopping on every single floor.

“She’ll be so happy that you guys are together when we get her back,” Gem said with a smile.

I forced myself to return it but guilt swirled in my stomach, making me nauseous.

I know it was wrong now and I knew it at the time too but that was part of the reason I gave in. Discussing that plan with Aquila made me painfully aware of how little time we may have together and this time, I refused to do nothing about it.

I should have told Cas about the plan from the beginning and let him make a better decision about it but I was selfish. I am selfish. I just wanted to be with him. Even if the plan went horribly and I ended up dead, or worse captured by the Council at least I had some time with Cas. At least I know what it’s like to truly love someone and have them love me back.

Icy fear spread down my back as a second realisation hit me. I’d fucked things up. I had damned myself by deciding to date Cas. If Harvey somehow had eyes on Freo, which he very well might, and he found out we were together, he’d fight even harder to get me. It would make him want to capture me even more, just to torture Cas.

But then, a small voice at the back of my mind whispered, he’ll be even more likely to take the offer.

The lift dinged breaking me from my ruminations and the doors opened revealing an older couple.

“Oh my! Captain Aries,” the man breathed reverently.

I tried to hide my wince.

“Hi…” I said uncomfortably.

“It is an honour to run into you!” he cried, grabbing my free hand and bowing excitedly.

“Thanks…”

I stepped into the lift, trying to ignore his adoring gaze.

“Crew seven six one,” he gasped, finally looking beyond me to the others.

“Hello,” Cas said awkwardly, raising a hand in a wave.

The man’s face was vacant for a moment as he stared at us in utter shock.

“We need to leave,” he hissed to his companion who was also staring at us, before turning back to me. “Please allow us to give you the lift, you deserve privacy.”

They started towards the doors before I could speak but I tried anyway.

“You don’t need to leave. There’s more than enough space,” I said, stepping closer to Cas to show how much room there still was.

“Not at all, Captain!” he cried breathily, bowing deeply. “We would be honoured! We don’t deserve to be breathing the same air as you!”

“Oh…” I said, not managing to hide my discomfort that time. “It’s really not a big deal.”

He bowed again, gazing loving at me.

“It’s the least we can do! Thank you for everything you’ve done! Thank you!” he called as the doors shut.

The lift started moving and I let a sigh slip out of my lips.

“Well… that was weirder than the last time someone recognised us,” Gem said finally.

“At least no one proposed this time,” Cas muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and squeezing my hand.

“Thank the Gods for that,” I grumbled, adrenaline thumping through me.

Cas reached out and swiped the chip in his hand over the panel on the wall causing a small green light to come on, indicating that the rest of the journey was locked and the lift wouldn’t stop for anyone else unless it was an emergency or they had higher clearance than us. It was a strange but necessary measure Fornax insisted that all fighters had, in case we needed to get to the Garage urgently for a mission, and I was endlessly grateful for it.

“At least we’ll be able to get straight down there without having to see anyone else,” he said with a shrug.

“Yeah,” I said, breathing deeply to slow my heart again.

We stood in silence as the lift moved smoothly before stepping out into the usual corridor. We speed up as we spotted people in matching jumpsuits walked ahead of us towards the war rooms, wanting to be able to slip into the Command Centre with them. The room was just as frantic as the night before and Orion still sat in his usual cubicle but now he was surrounded by cups. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes were glassy as he looked up and saluted with only half his normal enthusiasm.

I returned it awkwardly before turning towards the reinforced door where Menzel and Trolis were already standing. They nodded to us in greeting before turning back toward the door. The cameras scanned us quickly before the door swung slowly open.

My eyes immediately scanned the room, taking in the hushed conversation between Chal, Andy and Elliot. Andy looked around as the door opened, his gaze dropping to my hands which was still clutching Cas’. My heart thumped as he smiled softly and said something. Elliot and Chal’s heads snapped around to stare at us too, increasing the anxiety flooding my system.

I was frozen just inside the doors, panicking despite the warm smile on Andy’s face, as he walked over to us.

“Aries, Cas. You both look well,” he said with a smile.

I licked my lips and swallowed nervously but I couldn’t speak. I was terrified by the idea of disappointing him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I owe Chal my last bag of Boiu Craem cookies,” he said before inclining his head and strolled from the room.

I looked at Cas and saw a similar look of confusion before glancing back towards Chal and Elliot. They were still watching. A smug look played on Chal’s face.

“Did they… bet on our relationship?” he asked, his jaw slack.

“They did,” Gem said over her shoulder with a grin as she walked towards our seats.

I scrambled to catch up with her.

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s not been going that long I don’t think.”

“That seems highly unprofessional,” Cas muttered as we sat down.

“Congratulations, you two,” Chal said, his eyes twinkling.

“You bet on whether Cas and I would start dating?” I demanded.

Chal’s grin stretched even further.

“We did. There’s very little entertainment on this ship.”

“And Andy bet that we wouldn’t get together?” I asked, my heart sinking slightly.

“No, no. Andy just thought it would take longer. No one bet against your relationship, it was clear you’d start dating sooner or later,” Chal said with a shrug.