A Fresh Start [Lucien]

[Mercedes Rowe]

It was a new start for them both. Mercedes was as apprehensive about the change as Lucien was or close to it. They had settled in New Orleans after the team broke up. She worked for a friend of his in a doctor's office and he did construction. It was a quiet change of pace. She liked the idea of him having a job that didn't jeopardize his life. Yet, here they were again, taking on the responsibilities they once had to help the team out.

As of right now she had the place to herself. There were boxes still littered about the place that needed to get unpacked. That's what she was doing right now. Currently, she was in their bedroom unpacking a bunch of clothes boxes.

At least she had a job back on the team. She didn't need to go out hunting for a new one that was for sure. It had been a stressful drive to Hollywood when they came to meet them. She had been worried about losing her current job just to see what they wanted them for, but it all worked out in the end.

In all honesty, she didn't mind where they stayed at. She could make any place her home as long as Lucien was in it. Her eyes sparkled and her lips lifted as she thought about what a wonderful year they had had together. It was a wonderful feeling -- to be loved like that by someone.

Her thoughts wandered as she thought about Lucien. She smiled and glanced towards the clock on the nightstand next to their bed. She was expecting him home soon. He had ran out to do some sort of errands. She quietly wondered if it was a bad thing or a good thing that she didn't even like it when he was gone for more than an hour.

She missed him already.

With a soft sigh and a heavy weight on her heart, she opened a drawer on her dresser and began to pull some of her clothing from the box to put it all away. They were lucky enough to get a moving company at a decent price. They packed up their whole house and moved it out there for them.

This place was nice. She liked it. It wasn't what you'd call a large home. It had a basement and four bedrooms with two baths, but they didn't need more room than that. It was just the two of them.

[Lt. Lucien Calugarul]

Wiping his brow with a rag, Lucien straightened from the armchair he’d been working on. His back creaked and groaned in a way that made him sigh, and without looking over at the younger men filing out of the workshop, he stretched and breathed in relief at the answering crack.

Ah, how much time had passed since he’d known the need to be limber and steady, he thought with a small smile. Carefully, he packed up his carpenter’s tools and tucked them away in the satchel at his side. And who would have thought that the builders knowledge he’d gained back in Romania would actually be useful? Ever since the Shadow Team had disbanded and the United States government decided his military status null and void, he’d taken to civilian life with startling ease.

For him, being one who’d been forced to grow up in the middle of war and face horrors no young man should see, he’d thought assimilation would be difficult. He’d expected itching fingers, paranoia, the constant worrying over the woman he’d found himself falling in love with…but none of that came. Yes, he worried about his angel whenever he wasn’t around to keep her safe, but the rest? The rest had, so far, never come.

It was almost like he’d been waiting for this exact moment in time, he thought. As if his restless, tormented soul had been waiting for the balm that was home. Home. Du, even now, he felt at awe with the thought of it. He hadn’t had a home since he’d been forced to leave the smoldering skeleton of his village in Romania, and he hadn’t expected to find another.

But then came his angel, his Mercy, who showed him that his scarred heart could once again love. And God, did he love her so.

It didn’t take long to return home with his ‘errands’ done. Kicking off his shoes at the door, he breathed in the new, almost hopeful scent of the ranch and a wide smile pulled at his lips. Placing the small grocery bags in the kitchen, he padded toward the sounds of unpacking, his eyes softening when he caught sight of his woman in the middle of the bedroom.

”I have a present for you, angel,” He said, by way of greeting. Once inside the room, he set down the main reason he’d left after lunch to finish up his errands. A intricately carved rocking chair stood proudly at his feet; high backed and dark, to match the wood walls around them. A forest image adorned the back, showing a wolf howling happily over a moonlit lake.

[Mercedes Rowe]

Before Lucien even came through the door Mercy had already heard him pull into the drive. It came with being a werewolf. She had supernatural senses and strength. Even as he came to the door she could already smell him. Her lips had already lifted into a serene smile, happy to have him home with her. She hoped they didn’t grow tired of one another like she saw so many other couples do.

She had a box torn open and was kneeling on the floor, digging through it when she heard the creek of Lucien’s shoes as he moved in through the house. Tilting her head up, she looked towards the bedroom door and smiled. “Hey, babe,” she greeted him before he even got into the room.

Her brow furrowed as he greeted her and mentioned a gift. “What for?” She asked and thought over the dates. Did she miss their anniversary? No, that had already passed.

When he entered the room and set down a rocking chair, she was completely shocked. It took her a moment before she stood up and moved towards the chair. “Lucien…” She could barely find the words to describe how she felt right now. “This is…beautiful!”

Her hands slid over the intricately carved wood, stopping over the wolf howling over a moonlit lake. Tears started to fall down her cheeks. It was the most beautiful thing ever given to her.

She brought her hands to her cheeks to wipe the tears away. “I don’t know why I cry so easily anymore.”

Turning towards him, she moved to kiss him adoringly, pouring all the love she had for him into that single kiss. “I love you so much,” she said as she pulled away. “Thank you for the beautiful chair. I’m going to use it all the time.”

She stepped to his side and put an arm behind his back as she leaned into him. “Now all we need to complete this all is a baby.” It was the only thing she felt was missing in their life – a child. Then they would have a family of their own. Frankly, she didn’t bring it up often though. She was more afraid of bringing a child into their world then Lucien or so she thought. It didn't mean she didn't want one though.

[Lt. Lucien Calugarul]

When Lucien first saw the tears on her cheeks, he started to panic. Du, had he chosen the wrong design? Did rocking chairs bring back painful memories for her? Had he done something wrong? For the moments before she started talking, he realized how out of his comfort zone he was; how long it had been since he’d tried to please another person, let alone a woman. While he’d cared for his wife, he’d never really loved her with the passion that he’d felt for Mercy; their marriage had been agreed upon by their families. In truth, he really had no idea what he was doing, and the constant fear of disappointing her warred with the fear of losing her.

Gah, if he kept this up any longer, he’d give himself an ulcer and die young. He really needed to find a happy place.

Relief shot through him when he realized the tears were from happiness, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He tasted salt and sweetness in her kiss and couldn’t help but smile against her lips. She was everything to him; his savior, his angel of mercy. For her, he would do anything, be anyone.

In her arms, he could finally live.

“Is because you are a good woman,” He said, by way of reply to her comment about crying so easily. He uncurled one arm to gently wipe away her tears.

Warmth filled him as she said those precious words, and he bent his head down to kiss her lightly. Did she know what she did to him, whenever she said that? Did she realize how much he’d come to need her, to depend on her being close to him?

All of the years he’d spent alone were a distant dream and he couldn’t help but thank whatever higher power had sent him into that graveyard that one, fateful night.

“I love you too, dragul meu.” When she mentioned children, his grip on her tightened slightly. Images of a little girl with eyes like his woman’s flashed through his mind, and he couldn’t help but bend his head down to nuzzle the soft curve of her neck. They’d never really talked about children; he’d never really been open to the idea. He was still getting used to their living together; the fact that she was real and there wasn’t about to be some kind of catastrophe pulling them apart.

Pulling back, he looked down at her, his face unreadable. “Is that what you want?” He asked her, hand sliding up to cup her cheek in his palm. “You want a child? With me?”

[Mercedes Rowe]

It wasn't really because Mercedes was a good woman that she was crying. It was because Lucien always knew how to make her feel so loved, so right or that's what she assumed was the reason. She never felt like the monster that she sometimes felt like she was. She'd gotten better being with him. Each day she thought less about what she was and more about being happy, which she was…ever since Lucien stepped into her life.

As he wiped away her tears she looked up at him and smiled. "No…it's because you're such a good man."

She kissed him back and felt a pang in her chest. It was all the love she felt for him. She didn't think she could ever go on without him in her life.

Her arms slid around his neck, hugging him tightly as he confessed his love. Her eyes closed with a small sigh. This was everything and more, and she had wondered what it would be like if they were a family. She was certain life would be complete then.

When he pulled back from their embrace, she looked up at him. Her hazel eyes searched his face, looking for an answer in it. She didn't know if he wanted a child or if he would do it just to make her happy. "I'd love a child with you, Lucien, but would you want that?" She asked him then looked down. "Because…well…never mind. We can just forget about that," she slid her hands over his chest briefly.

If he didn't want a child she would never force that on him. She wasn't that type of person. It would just be something she always wondered about, but she would always be happy with Lucien at her side. This was, after all, what it was all about…being happy and in love, and she had both of those things. He showed her all the love in the world, which made her the happiest woman in the world.

Stepping out of his embrace, she moved back to the chair, letting her hands slide gently over the perfect feel of the wood. She could tell he'd spent many, many hours on this. "Sometimes you take my breath away," she found herself saying quietly.