Title: What Should We Do Now
Author: Carol
Pairing: Kelly/Scotty
Rating: slash; PG
Status: complete
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters: no infringement intended
Notes: This is a WHN after the episode, The Tiger. It is my first attempt at writing for this fandom.
** denotes thoughts
WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW
By Carol
Alexander Scott sat in a chair watching his best friend, Kelly Robinson sleep. **Well, old friend, what's going to happen now? Are there going to be any pieces of our partnership to pick up this time?**
Scott looked at the face of the man that he had grown to love. The face, even in sleep, showed the deep exhaustion and pain that Robinson had suffered during and after the last mission.
So many missions had ended much the same as this one had - Kelly injured and traumatized by the events which had taken place. In the past, however, Robinson had always turned to his partner for the strength to go on. Not that Robinson did not draw on his own great well of personal strength, but Scotty had always been his anchor. This time, however, Robnson had been rescued by Sam McLean, the woman that Kelly had loved for years.
It was true that Scotty was in the chopper that provided covering fire for the escape and had even been injured, but it was Sam and her father who had gotten the wounded Kelly out of the enemy camp and kept him alive until they had arrived at the pick-up point.
Gradually Kelly started to stir on the bed. Knowing his partner so well, Scotty figured that he had a few more minutes to contemplate the future. ** Is Kelly going to tell me that he has decided to go with Sam and her father? Is this the end of our partnership?**
Scott had told himself over and over that he had never expected their partnership to survive as along as it had. In fact, both men knew from the start that if a bullet did not catch one or the other of them then surely time would do so.
Who would want to see an old tennis player and his trainer on the tennis circuit? Their covers could not be maintained forever and then what would happen?
Suddenly, Scott noticed a pair of warm, brown eyes staring at him. Robinson gave him that boy-lke shy smile that he retained for Scotty and whispered, "Am I alive?"
Scott smiled back, the doubts fleeing for the moment. "Well, I had my doubts 12 hours ago, but I think you'll live."
"12 hours ago?"
"Yeah, I knew you were tired when we got out of that hospital, but I didn't know how much."
"How's your leg?"
"Oh, it hurts, but not as much as my behind from sitting so much."
Kelly laughed briefly. "Well, what are we going to do now?"
Scott's heart sank at the words. **Heavens, he's going to tell me right now that he's leaving to go with Sam.. Let's see if I can distract him?**
"Well, what would you like to do? Take a shower; eat lunch; or sleep some more?"
"I didn't mean that, Scotty." Robinson gave him a strange look, but carried on. "I thought we might talk, but you're right; I'm so tired I think I catch 40 more winks."
For the next two hours Alexander Scott sat almost motionless in his chair watching the body that he loved to watch. He constantly wondered to himself how a man in his mid-30's could still look like such a youngster. His lithe body didn't show the signs of wear and tear that would be expected. Only when Kelly removed his outer clothes could one see the damage done to the body during a lifetime of missions.
Not one of those scars, or wounds made a difference to Scotty. He loved every single inch of that body; loved the man even more and had done so since meeting him in the training sessions they had had when they were rookie agents. **Oh Kelly, is this it? I've known for a long time that the day would come when you would meet the woman who would persuade you to leave me. Has the time come?**
Suddenly, Robinson groaned and began to thrash on the bed. His body began to tremble and he called out, "Sam!"
Scott rushed over to the bed, but was reluctant to encounter the thrashing body which was a lethal weapon in this state. The continued agony of his friend persuaded Scott to take the chance. Grabbing the flailing arms, Scott drew the man to him and held him tightly.
"Kelly Robinson, Kel . . .hey, it's Scotty. It's okay. It's just a nightmare. Wake up."
The words seemed to calm Robinson and after a few minutes, Scott realized that Robinson was awake, but had chosen to stay nestled in the arms of his friend.
Although his words were slurred, Robinson seemed to understand what he was saying. "Ah, Scotty, I'm sorry. I thought I had lost someone and . . ."
"I kind of thought that. You yelled out Sam's name."
"I did? I was so confused in the dream. I knew my watch was telling the bombers to come in as scheduled, but the harder I tried to get Sam out of there the further behind we were. Then . . .then it wasn't Sam at all . . . .it was . . . . you."
"Me? Boy, you were mixed up. Not to worry though. Everything worked out all right. A few more weeks and you'll be right as rain and then you can . . . .well you can do whatever you want."
**Scott knew that the Doctor said that Kelly needed to rest for another week, but selfishly he hoped if he made it a few weeks, he could keep this beloved man with him a bit longer.**
Kelly straightened up and shook himself. "Thanks, partner for waking me up. Are you okay? You look kind of strange?"
"Strange, me? Naa! Just my leg hurting a bit. Are you hungry?"
Although he didn't sound enthusiastic, Robinson responded, "Sure, but not too much. I think I'll get a shower while we wait."
A half hour later, the food arrived, but still Kelly had not left the bathroom. Knocking on the door, Scott said gently, "Hey, Kel, the food's here."
Getting no reponse, Scott opened the door and saw his friend sitting in the tub under the brisk flow of water. Fortunately, the hot water had long ended and had turned almost cold.
Scott's blood ran cold at the scene, but he was determined to remain calm. "Kelly? You're wasting water. Let me help you out."
Kelly Robinson said nothing, but did permit his friend to help him out of the shower stall and dry him off. Scott barely noticed the beautiful body covered with scars, but he could not miss the deep despair in the brown eyes.
Finding a warm robe, Scott dressed the almost dazed man and led him into the bedroom. Pulling back the covers, he tucked the slender body in the bed and sat down beside his friend.
Gently taking hold of Robinson's hand, Scott noticed how cold it was. Touching the right cheek, Scott realized how cold his friend's entire body really was. Removing most of his clothes except for t-shirt and boxers, Scotty climbed in behind his friend and propped the trembling body against his warmth.
Within a short while the trembling stopped and his friend seemed to be asleep. The two remained this way for quite awhile. The emotional ecstasy of holding this man in his arms knew no bounds for Scotty. He would have gladly let this moment go on forever, but he also knew that this was selfish. Kelly was emotionally upset. If what Kelly needed was Sam, then it was up to Alexander Scott to see that his friend got what he needed.
The hotel room began to turn dark with an approaching storm. The skies had already been lit up with streaks of lightning for the past several minutes. Suddenly, a clap of thunder shattered the silence. Scott could feel his friend's body react.
"It's all right, Kelly. It's just a storm. Lay back down, you're safe."
Kelly laid back on his friend's chest, seemingly not even noticing the intimacy of the position. "Scotty, what are we going to do now?"
Scott stayed silent for a minute, but then responded, "Well, you and I are going to have some R and R on the government's payroll and then I guess. . . .well, I don't know. I guess I'll go back to Washngton unless I get other orders."
Kelly remained quiet for several minutes then commented with seeming irrelevancy. "You're lucky, you know. You could go see your mom and family. That's a nice word, family."
**Is that what Kelly wants? To have a family with Sam? I have lost him.**
"Yeah, family is nice and I do miss my mom, but I like being with you. You know you're part of my family, too."
"I know you say that, and I thank you for including me, but I haven't had any real family but my aunt and uncle and I haven't seen them in a long time."
"Kelly, what is it? You can tell me anything. You know that."
"I . . . I was just wondering what we were going to do in a few years. You know . . . when I'm too old to play competitive tennis. What are we going to do then? With all your education, you could get a job at any university, but me . . . "
"Hey, Kelly Robinson, that's still a long way off. Maybe you could stay with the company or maybe you could get . . .married or . . .both, who knows?"
"Get married? I . . .who would I marry? I couldn't stay with the company and be married. I wouldm't do that to any woman. Besides there's no woman who could replace . . . . ."
"Well, you got plenty of time to make plans. Who knows after Sam and her father get settled, maybe you'll change your mind." **Heavens, if you only knew what it cost me to say that to you.**
"Sam? I doubt if I ever see her again. I thought I was in love with her once, but seeing her this time kind of woke me up to what is important. I guess that's why I'm thinking about the future."
"What do you mean, Kelly?"
Kelly carefully turned around and looked into his partner's eyes. Cupping his hands around the face of his friend, he asked, "What would I do without you?"
"What do you mean? I'm here."
"Alexander Scott. You have a whole future ahead of you. You can become a respected professor. You can go back to Philadelphia and be with your family. You can marry one of those ladies that your mother is always telling you about, and you can do all those things without .. . .me."
Suddenly light dawned. "Is that what this is all about? I thought you were were going to tel me that you were going to leave the company and go with Sam to start a new life."
Robinson dropped his hands to his lap and stared at his friend. "Me leave you, are you nuts? I . . . .I . . . wouldn't do that."
"Why not?"
Kelly lowered his head to his chest and only vaguely shook his head in reponse. Scott gently raised his friend's chin so that the two men were looking directly into each other's eyes. Leanng forward slightly, Scott brushed his lips across his friend's lips and asked, "Why not? Please tell me."
Licking his lips briefly as if to taste his friend's kiss, Robinson whispered, "Because I need you with me."
"Thank you, my friend. I need to be with you, too. I know this was a rough mission for you, and I thought you were going to tell me that you wanted to do something different."
"Well, now that you mention it, I would like to do something different."
Scott froze. Had he misread Kelly's words? Was the brief kiss all that he would ever get from this man?
Suddenly his entire body was entwined with Kelly Robinson. Kelly grabbed his friend in a tight embrace and began kissing and licking his face and neck. For the next several minutes, nuzzling, caressing, laving, and kissing were the only actions that took place. Finally, the two men broke apart.
Grinning his wonderful smile, Kelly Robinson exclaimed, "Now, that's what I call doing something different! You know partner. I figure we've got maybe five more years in the field. I think that we could certainly learn to do a lot of different things in that time period, don't you?"
"I agree totally. Kelly Robinson, do you mind if I tell you that I love you?"
Robinson sat stunned for a second then grinned again. "No, partner. I don't mind at all, and if you don't mind this wil be the first of maybe 20,000 times you will hear the same thing from me. I love you very much, Alexander Scott."
Scotty leaned forward and gave his partner and quick kiss which rapidly turned into a tongue duel. After several minutes of give and take, the two laid down on the bed completely intertwined. "Mr. Scott, what would you say to some Greco-Roman wrestling?"
"Greco-Roman . . . isn't that where they wrestle in the buff? I thought they couldn't touch each other below the waistline though?"
"Ever the scholar, Mr. Scot. Well, how about we bend the rules, among other things, for this event?"
"Very well, Mr. Robinson. I declare this to be the opening event in the Scott-Robinson Games with the winner taking the best 475 out of 700 falls."
The two men kissed and the games began.
________
THE END