Title: It's All Coming Back To Me (there's no pt2. nope. don't ask)
After: Then the Morning Comes
Author: Shana Nolan
Rating: AWME (angst with mushy ending)
Archive: incoming, Darry. grab your wellies, we're wading in romanticism here.
Disclaimers: Bite me, George.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"If she doesn't cut out that music, I'll kill her."

Emmy waved a hand away as Diebin groused about the choice of music leaking out of the office. Pressing her ear against the door, she sighed. "I thought you tolerated girl band music?"

There was a short nod as the other Ho straightened her catsuit. "Yes, but not when it's been playing for six hours-- a solid six hours."

She paused. Die had a point. There was a limit to everything... well, most things. "Okay," she drew a breath, "I'm going in."

"Good luck."

Smoothing her Chanel suit, feeling proper in it finally, Emmy knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Diebin poked a finger. "Remember, if the angst queen can get over it, so can she."

"Yeah."

Opening the door and stepping in, the strains of Melissa Etheridge suddenly that much louder, Emmy sighed. "Hey Shana."

The Student Affairs Director lifted her eyes from her desk. "Hey Emmy. Can I do something for you?"

"Get over it."

Pausing in her attempt to balance the budget, Shana paused. "Excuse me?"

"You've been doing the guilt thing for long enough."

"I'm not feeling guilty."

Emmy rolled her eyes. Yeah, like she couldn't recognise the symptoms of a lingering conscience. Between her and Diebin, who probably had her ear pressed to the door, she had angst and self-flagellation down to an art. "So explain to me why three months of paperwork is now completed with copies filed and signed documents ready to go to the appropriate people within a few days."

Shana shrugged and took the glasses off, rubbing her temples. "I couldn't sleep so I figured I get caught up."

"And the fact that your office is immaculately clean?"

There was a pause. "I've been manic?"

Hearing Diebin snort behind the door, Emmy crossed the office, shut off the CD player and snatched the pair of glasses, holding them up. "It's time to get over it."

"Uh, Emmy..."

"No," the Alpha Ho said, crossing her arms, "He's willing to forgive you, the Hos are getting over it, the Triumph arrived yesterday, as did the ale and the Nutella. No more repenting, time to get over it and back to normal, which is not to forget the most important thing--"

"Classes starting?"

If she had had a trout, Emmy would have used it at this moment. "No! The General. Nekkid. Writhing. Glistening. Moaning. All for you."

Outside the office, they both heard Diebin go "nnnnnggggghhhh."

"See? Diebin has her priorities straight. It's time to get yours that way."

Shana rolled her chair away from the desk. Sure, she wanted to, but there was this nagging voice in the back of her head that kept stopping her from making a move. "But..."

Throwing the glasses on the couch, Emmy walked around the desk, grabbed the back of the chair, spun it around and proceeded to roll it towards the only door of the office. "Nope, not listening. What I will do, however, is drag you to your room and get you out of that outfit. You look like a gypsy."

"Um."

The door swung open and Diebin walked in, crossing her arms. "Time for a shower, baby."

Shana blinked. There was no getting out of this. These two would hound her until she obliged them or escaped, and escape seemed pretty unlikely at this point. Going out the window would probably just get them to bring out a pair of handcuffs... and for once, in this case, that was not a tempting offer. Standing up and going for the glasses, she made a surrendering sound. "Fine."

Diebin leapt in front of her. "Nope, no way. No more frumpy glasses."

"But I can't see without them."

Grinning, Die gave the reluctant Ho a push towards the door. "Hon, if you could see what you've reduced yourself to, you wouldn't want your vision."

Emmy raised an eyebrow. It really wasn't that bad an ensemble, great for the Ren Faire circuit, but it was not daily wear for an ex-catwalker with a Haute Couture fetish. "She's right. It's not you."

Trusting her instincts, being led by the other two, Shana managed to make it out of her office before misjudging a corner and smashing into a wall.

"Ooow!!"

"Whoops, sorry."

~*~

Crow lifted the trapdoor to the basement. "All clear?"

Tom peered around. "Looks that way. No more killjoy."

"Yay, and now we can get on her computer."

The red Bot climbed out and hopped into the chair. "Yep, all I have to do is open the browser and we can pull that informa-- shit."

"Servo?"

"She's passworded it."

The gold Bot sighed. It would figure. After all that other cubicle worthy activity, passwording was just another level of the dark descent into secretarial hell. "Alright, we'll start trying words. How hard could she have made it?"

~*~

Diebin tossed a towel in just before she locked the door. "Shower! A very long, hot shower, and make sure you use that henna conditioner!"

"And shave!" Emmy added with a shout.

"And put in your contacts!"

"And do a face mask!"

"Give yourself a manicure and pedicure!"

"Brush your teeth!"

"Wax your eyebrows!"

Emmy paused. "Um, Die?"

The catsuit clad Ho shrugged. "She keeps those wax strips in there, I've seen them."

"Oh, well," grabbing one of the nearby chairs and jamming it under the door knob, Emmy pointed at the clock mounted above the fireplace. "Now, can we get this done in a few hours?"

Diebin chewed on her lip. The flat was incredibly clean, but had that institutional feel to it despite the antiques and castle style decor. "Maybe. This won't be easy."

"Well, it's either that or listen to Alanis Morrisette 24/7."

Running for the bay window, grabbing the stick and pulling the heavy velvet drapes to reveal floor to ceiling plate glass windows, now only covered by the thin sheer drapes, Diebin pointed a finger at the Alpha Ho. "I'll grab the incense and CDs, you get the goodies and light the fireplace. We only have a few hours!"

~*~

"Crow?"

"Yes, Servo?"

"What the french word for orgasm?"

"Uuuum..."

~*~

His fingers steepled, sitting at his desk, the General was brooding. This whole process of getting over things was taking longer than he had wanted it to, and despite the fact that he understood what it was like to come to grips with something that was one's own fault, it still bothered him that it was took everyone else so damn long to realise it.

Emmy was happy again, why should Shana be so different? On the scale of level headedness, the auburn haired Ho was the cooler of the pair, or so he thought. In his brief talk with her, he had thought he had made some progress and mended some of the pain that had been caused, but if that were true, why was she still hiding herself in her office? Was there something he had missed? Something that she had buried deep enough that he hadn't caught it and now she was feeding off of it like some hibernating creature?

Damn complexities. At first look he knew that this one was one of those people that wore her mask especially well. It was something he recognised because he did it himself, and therein lay the problem. He had to break down the walls of self-protection without losing her trust, knowing that it was often just as hard for him to do the same.

But, in her case, it was time to break the mask. Hitting the comm, he waited for the other end to pick up in the Student Affairs office.

"Hello, Ed Wood's house of rejected movie scripts."

What were the Bots doing there? They were supposedly exiled to the basement. "I'm looking for Shana."

There was a scuffle as Crow pushed the other Bot from the comm. "Emmy and Diebin kidnapped her, dragged her to her rooms."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, couple hours ago."

Licking his lips, he nodded his head slowly. This was convenient. If Emmy and Diebin had trapped her in her rooms, they surely were willing to help his cause. "Thank you."

"Hey, before you go, do you know the Armenian word for orgasm?"

~*~

"Is that it?"

Wiping her hands on the edge of a rag, Emmy nodded. "Yup, all done here. Let's start up the music and let her out."

Diebin, squinting at the rather complex remote control, hit play, the strains of a soft spanish guitar floating out of the hidden speakers. "I'll go grab the General."

Crossing the room, the Alpha Ho watched Diebin skip towards the main door and open it, pulling the chair out from underneath the bathroom doorknob. Opening it and peering in, she couldn't see any sign of Shana. "Hullo?"

"Over here, Emmy. Organising the nail polish by hue."

Emmy sighed. If the had acted any later they would have caught her sorting the pantry by food group. "Come on out. We can watch a movie or something."

A gasp from the hallway caught Emmy's attention. "Actually, hold on a second." Slamming the door shut and locking it again, she crossed over to peer over Diebin's shoulder...

Only to latch eyes on the General.

"Uh..."

"I was hoping to talk to her."

Catching her thoughts just before they strayed straight into the gutter, Emmy latched a hand on his black clad arm. "Come on, I think we can arrange that."

Diebin blinked. "Oh, yeah. Follow Emmy."

Being dragged into a now dimly lit flat, the fireplace crackling and glowing with a steadily burning fire, the General glanced at the tray of food and drink set on the coffee table and the candles surrounding it. "Did I miss a meeting?"

Diebin grinned. "Nope."

Finding himself dragged around the side to sit on the couch, Emmy patted his leg. "Stay here."

The General quirked an eyebrow. It wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but this was something of a start.

And then, with a fit of well-informed giggles, the two Hos darted out the door, but not before opening the bathroom door with a quick fling of a wrist.

The next sound he heard was a hesitant "Hello? Diebin? Emmy?"

Caught between the urge to rush up and embrace the wayward Ho and standing back to let her come around and discover him, the General forced himself to sit and listen. It wouldn't take long for her to discover what they had been roped into, and if she tried to leave, he would stop her.

Padding out, her hair dried and contacts in, slightly startled as she realised that only candles and the fireplace illuminated the room, Shana froze. "Oh, they'll pay for this."

"I'm sure they will."

Her eyes widened and she nearly darted back into the bathroom. It was -his- voice. In her room.

"Don't hide from me."

She didn't want to. The flutter in her stomach told her that at first sight of him she would lose her resolve, and whatever was holding it. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to at least acknowledge him.

And then the CD switched tracks over to one of her favourite and notably sensual tracks.

Bolt. For the bathroom. Now. There was safety in the shower stall.

Sensing the change in the air, Obi-Wan stood, turning to face her, catching the look in her eyes. "I won't leave until we've come to a resolution."

Shana's lip quivered, and she bit it. She hated herself like this, and she damn well didn't want him to see her this way.

He crossed the room, stepping beyond the tables and couch, making it clear that his destination was the piece of floor in front of her. "Can you explain to me why you've gone into hiding behind books and locked doors?"

She was trapped. Nowhere to run and he knew it. "It's how I deal with things like this."

"You hide yourself."

His voice was filling her ears to the point that she could barely hear the music. It was threatening to overwhelm her. "I don't seek help very well."

"As I've noticed."

Standing in front of her, the smell of patchouli bath oils on her skin, Obi-Wan reached out a hand, closing the now small distance between their bodies. "All you ever had to do was ask. You can talk to me, you know."

Finding her eyes unable to break from his penetrating gaze, Shana nodded. "I know."

"So stop hiding from me. I won't hurt you and I've already forgiven you."

His palm grazed gently over her cheek, and she shuddered. For so little time away from his touch, it was as if she hadn't seen him in years.

"Come on, they left some food. You need to eat." Pointing at the couch, he kept his voice soft, trying to avoid the bossy tone of concern that was behind the words.

"Here, you're not allergic to these."

Accepting the sliced peach, Shana sat down slowly on her couch, adjusting the black shift so it wouldn't bunch up underneath her. "How did you know?"

"About your allergy? There's lots of things I know about you... however, there are some things I don't. Want to share?"

Enjoying the sweetness of the fruit, the flavour awakening her tongue for the first time since the margaritas, she shrugged. "Not exactly a sordid past, but you're free to ask about anything."

"Why the walls? You've buried some things really deep inside you."

She winced. Deep, but not deep enough. "No. Not now. I have to stay cynical about something."

"No," reaching out once more to touch her face, he reigned in the sigh, "you don't."

Finding herself giving in, his physical presence acting as a hammer to her glass-like reservations, she swallowed, leaned in to his touch and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

This was going to be harder than he thought. "Don't be."

She could feel him pulling her into his hold, his hand having fallen past her shoulder to around her back. "What do I have to do to get everything back to normal?"

Drawing the lithe frame against his, her mass of hair brushing over his leg, he smiled to himself. "Be yourself."

"A homicidal wack?"

Finding that she had finally yielded over her intention of keeping a distance between them, he hooked a finger under her chin, leveling her face with his own. "A harsh exaggeration, but yes. I like you that way. There's something sobering about a woman who's willing to castrate you one moment and massage your back the next."

There was something in his voice. A tone or musical quality, and whatever it was, she was falling into it. The heat from his body was warming her skin and her cheeks had flushed at the touch of his hand. She could smell him now, the faint air of damp cedar infiltrating her nostrils over the smoke of burning incense. In any other case she'd be crawling on top of him, but right now, all she wanted to do was stay motionless and listen to that voice drive the demons of insecurity from her realm.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Mm-hmm."

His voice was velvet. Pure, silken velvet. "Then say something."

"I could really use some caffeine."

Obi-Wan chuckled and nuzzled his forehead against hers, hearing her gasp as flesh touched flesh. Using it as further motivation, he used his hand still poised under her chin to draw up her face, holding her there for just a moment before descending wordlessly to kiss her slightly pursed lips.

Forgetting to breathe, the raw tenderness driving her mind to the brink of sensory overload, Shana closed her eyes, letting him part her lips with a gentle nudge, tasting her mouth. She couldn't move, she couldn't make a sound, but by Gods her nerves were singing with feeling, feeling that was telling her to forget all her worries and live in the moment.

And then the music changed again, a soulful strumming of an acoustic guitar teasing the entrance of a gentle, rhythmic beat.

Slipping a hand around her waist, feeling the easy give as he brought her frame to his, the General cradled her into his lap, hearing her whimper, and when she inhaled sharply, he broke away, easing a lock of hair from her face. "Now, do you really want me to leave?"

It was like asking a cardiologist if they could just throw out the bad heart and not bother to put another in. Swallowing, emotions skewing her normal sense of all things sexual, she dared to meet his eyes, searching the green and blue for some shade of doubt. Upon finding none, she licked her lips, tasting some of his saliva. "Don't go."

"If you're not comfortable with this..."

The music rose to a swell of guitar as she slowly raised a hand and dared to touch his chest, feeling for the steady pulse of his heart. "Please stay."

Easing her off his lap, standing up to partially block her view of the fireplace, he caught the look of potential hurt in her eyes. Bending down, he set his hands at her waist and picked her up, raising her high enough so that her feet didn't touch the ground, sliding her down his frame to gently level his face with hers again. Setting a hand at her waist, the other cradling her head behind the double pierced ear, he lavished a tender kiss on her lips. His hips slowly finding the rhythm of the music drifting in the air, he moved slowly, a smile crossing his face as he felt her body give in, the sway of her spine smooth under his touch.

Leaning her head against his shoulder, enjoying the press of his neck against her cheek, Shana sighed. Her feet weren't moving from their place, but she could feel the edge of her thigh laying comfortably against his, his arms wrapped around her in a warm and welcoming embrace, one that spoke of the trust she had felt she had violated with her acts.

"Ssssh, none of that," he whispered, sliding his slightly rough cheek against her cheek bone, alighting feathery kisses over her face before finally meeting her lips. "Just live... in the moment... with me..."

Closing her eyes, giving in to the moist caress of his mouth, her last regret slipped away with the exhalation of a fluttery breath.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*