"You have to be careful.", tired, you turned round in bed, deep circles under your eyes showing on your face.

The last few days your body had turned against you. Or it was your mind that was slowly disintegrating. You were beginning to lose yourself.

Lost in thought, Kurt sat on the couch opposite the bed and looked at some reports about what Songbird had told him. He had set Yuri to check the information. So far, everything she had told you was true.

And your suspicions only hardened. Songbird would try to use Cyosure for herself.

Something twitched in his neck. Immediately you pressed your hand to the pain, the beat of your hand overlapping. You could have sworn you felt the killswitch stir.

"No!", you gasped.

Kurt looked up at you. His white eyes travelled over your naked body. During the night you had felt the warmth of his chest, felt how he refused to let you go so that you could flee through the night again.

He had become more determined in the last few days, rarely taking his eyes off you. And sometimes, when he was there to watch over you, you allowed yourself a few hours of sleep.

"We'll get the spaceship out of the sky with an air defence missile.", taking a deep breath, he let himself fall back and leaned both arms on the back of the couch.

"So Mi will use the crash to escape.", you yawned.

The world blurred before your heavy eyes.

"We'll capture her."

"And Myers?"

He hesitated, thinking.

"She was with the marines.", the reluctance clearly audible in his voice. "She will survive the crash."

Your lips parted to release a long breath.

"Good...", fingers clawing at the sheet, fabric ripping.

It was all so well planned, so perfectly secured and double checked. Not a single reason this was going to go wrong occurred to you.

And yet. Doubt choked your throat. You sluggishly sat up, the strands of your (H/C) hair dishevelled.

"I'll... see if I can prepare the relic.", you mumbled and slipped out of bed, naked and with no clothes nearby.

Kurt watched you walk towards the lift door, lost in thought. Then he intercepted you quickly before you could escape. His arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you towards him. Out of reflex, you put your hands on his strong chest.

"Kurt...", your tongue was heavy with fatigue.

"You should sleep now.", with gentle pressure he led you back to the bed.

"I can't... I have to..."

"No. Sleep."

The way he spoke to you reminded you of his time as a colonel. You had to smile.

"Is that a request?", you asked teasingly over your shoulder.

Your eyes met. Iron in his decision, he shook his head.

"That's an order."

A shiver crawled down your spine. No one had ever ordered you to do anything. Not the former president, not Myers and certainly not anyone who didn't have a higher rank than you.

No, that wasn't quite right. Kurt was neither above you nor below you. He was your equal. Something no one had ever managed before.

Maybe that's why you were so worried. You were afraid that he had adopted your views along with your equality. He could replace you if he wanted to, because everything was replaceable.

"(Y/N).", he gently caressed your cheek, the synthetic skin of his hand felt so real. "Have you ever thought about the fact that I don't want to replace you?"

The question struck you like a bolt of lightning, dug into your flesh like a knife and turned the blade around once. All you could reply with was a snort.

"Why would you do that?", you asked, trying to escape the truth once again.

The beat of your heart ached in your chest. He kissed you, gently. Lovingly.

"You know.", he breathed against your lips.

You trembled.

"Why me, Kurt?", you asked, kissing him again and again.

"You know.", he repeated.

His hands travelled to your hips, pulling you closer to him until you could feel the rhythm of his heart in your chest. You had to laugh again. It was a little desperate.

"Are you telling me that the leader of Dogtown, the great Colonel Kurt Hansen, is in love?", you asked.

He kissed you again. Or you kissed him. It was hard to tell who longed for the other more.

"Aren't you?", he asked, his voice rough.

The truth was burning on your tongue. But you were afraid of making yourself vulnerable.

And yet. Whether you said it out loud or not didn't matter. In the end, the result would be the same.

"You bastard!", you breathed and kissed him so hard that it took your breath away.

Your claws dug into his neck, making blood flow and Kurt flinch. You didn't want to hurt him. But it felt like your claws in his flesh were all that could keep him from ever leaving again.

You wanted to be with him. Forever.

"I will remove this killswitch for you, no matter the cost.", he calmly placed his forehead against yours, his eyes locked tightly with yours. "And then we'll pay NUSA back"

"This country will burn soon if you don't get your wits back, Colonel.", you gasped.

He laughed, throaty and so full of himself. How charming that sound was.

"So?", he shrugged. "We'll watch everything from up here, watch the dogs jump down each other's throats."

"Together?", how you hated the hope in your voice.

"Of course."

He kissed you again. This time he used the weakness in your legs to push you gently but firmly onto the bed.

"And now sleep.", he put the blanket over your shoulders before kissing you again. "I'll take care of everything."

But before he could leave, you reached for his dog tags. Obediently, he sat back down on the edge of the bed. You looked at him insistently.

"Myers must not die before Songbird has decoded Cynosure.", you said. "Otherwise this will be a fucking war."

A shadow passed over the white of Kurt's eyes as he leant down to you and smiled.

"We've won a war before.", he murmured. "And if we could have it all, why not?"

Your breath hitched.

"Because you're enough for me.", and that was the whole truth.