| Details for Time to Go Home |
| Summary: | Niamh wants to go home, but Gideon isn't so sure. |
| Date: | December 8, 1937 |
| Location: | — |
| Related: | Closer to Freedom |
| Characters |
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Niamh's been buzzing around the flat almost all day; cleaning, straightening, and packing. Sorting, at the very least. Bread is in the oven, warming and making the place smell absolutely, well.. like it had after a half-a-day with the Irish lass in residence. From 'safe house' to very well almost a 'home'. Books are on the coffee table, closed and piled, and laundry is set and folded on the bed in the bedroom. Seems she's taking her brother's advice; keep busy. Don't think. And when she keeps busy and doesn't think? People gain weight, and surroundings are white-glove clean!
Gideon's tap, tap-tap announces his presence before he slips into the flat after another day of scouring for some new lead on Niamh's attacker. Each day without progress only brings more frustration, and the sensation that his suspect is slipping further and further away from his grasp. "Niamh? I'm back, love."
The sound of the gentle rap before the door opens brings Niamh's attention around, her eyes bright, her smile warm. "Welcome back," she begins as a sing-song.. and she begins to cross the room with a bounce in her step. She stops to help him out of his jacket, taking the fedora to place it on her head, "I've got some good news," comes in a happy lilt, "An'.. ye might just actually like it."
The sight of her in the fedora brings a grin to Adamantus' face. "That looks good on you. So what's this news?" His coat dispensed with, he curls an arm around her waist to lead her back to the living room, following the scent of bread.
"Well," Niamh lets the word draw out and is led back to the couch in the sitting room. She waits for a long moment for him to sit down, and she'll take her spot on his lap, not giving up the fedora. "Keen was here," and she nods her head as a hand gestures in the air, "Yes, I know.. he almost always is, when you're not.. but, he helped me a lot.. a whole lot.. an' it was like.." Exhaling, she smiles, her expression lightening even more, "I'm not afraid t'go back to the shop, an' I think I might be able to remember. Now, he told me not to do it here.. not right now, but home?" Before he can put a word in, she puts a finger up, "He suggested askin' mum out from Cornwall, but I told him no.. that I'd be fine."
Gideon opens his mouth to put that word in, but lets her silence him for a moment. He sighs, worry crinkling his brow. "Niamh, I dinnae mean to frighten you, but you know he's still out there, and if he has any reason to think that his Memory Charm dinnae work, he'll be back to finish it, or do something even more drastic." His arms wrap protectively around her. "Please…just give me a little more time."
Niamh leans forward to kiss that spot right between his eyes where the lines of worry show deepest. It's a lingering touch before she leans back, and shakes her head. "If I remember, it'll give ye more to work with, aye?" Her head dips, and her expression is.. understanding, but there's a touch of Irish stubbornness that hides behind her eyes. "An' I have that charm on me.. the one ye put on. An'," she continues like a bulldozer, wanting to get everything out, "if I know what's comin' at me, I'll be able to set him up?" Bait. "Adamantus, I need t'feel.. useful."
The worry doesn't fade with the kiss. If anything her insistence only deepens the crevice. "I know, love. But the fact is we dinnae know what's comin'. The Tracking Charm will tell us you're in danger, but it will nae stop it, and it takes precious seconds to locate you. If this man is desperate enough, and if he has any brains at all, he will nae come near you again. But that does'n mean he cannae act from afar."
"Adamantus," there's the beginning of a plead; she'd worked it all out, and in her mind, he'd gone along with it, almost even declaring it a good idea! "I'll almost ne'er be alone. There's Lindy, Sloan, you.. Keen.. an' I'm sure if I ask, a couple more." Like Elijah. "I need t'open the shop again, an' if I'm there, I'll remember what happened." Niamh raises a hand to stroke his cheek, her thumb trailing those worry lines. "An' even if he acts from afar, ye will find if he has allies or nae.. more than ye would know if I stayed here."
Gideon sighs, lowering his eyes. He never wanted to fully expose her to the underworld, in all its ugliness. But whether he likes it or not, she's been dragged into it. "You dinnae understand what these sort of people are capable of. What if this man is like Piero Montague? What if he, himself, is just a pawn of some other? There is a reason I've spent six years trying to connect the fire to Montague. These people are careful, and deadly. If this secret is so valuable that he'd charm away your memory to protect it, he might do much worse. Even if he did give us more information…the cost…" He set his jaw, shaking his head, his voice firm save for the fearful waver in it. "I will nae lose you, Niamh."
Niamh understands, she does.. and her expression is soft, her tones echoing. Her hand strokes his face now, and there's a hint of a smile that appears. "I always thought I'd get into trouble for something Keen's done.. or Sloan.. an' now that I'm seein' ye, well.. ye. I ne'er, in a million years, thought I'd find my way in just.. for bein' me." But, she's going into this with her eyes open, and she says as much. "I know the risk, Adamantus.. I do." Her smile doesn't waver, however, and she reaches now for his hand. "An' if it looks too bad, I'll leave.. we'll leave it all behind. Go t'Scotland, Ireland.. somewhere. America.. you an' me."
Gideon blinks, stunned into silence for a moment. "Leave?" The thought of just putting it all behind him has never been a consideration. "Niamh…I cannae leave. Not while Montague is still out there." He lifts her hand to his heart. "I love you. But I love Lyla as well, and she deserves justice. That is nae somethin' I can abandon."
"Aye, I know ye do.. an' so I get to worry about them takin' ye from afar," Niamh points out gently. "She does deserve justice, an' rest. An' I want all I can against the man who did that t'me in my own home, in my own shop." She leans in to kiss his lips softly, a light touch that promises so much more than what it is. "Please? Take me home?"
Gideon's eyes close at the kiss, and his shoulders slump in resignation. "You are nae my prisoner," he says softly, hand stroking her hair. "I cannae command you to stay. You must decide for yourself…and I'll abide by your wishes."
"My gaoler," she whispers, and she teases, her eyes bright. "I know," Niamh acknowledges, "an'.. I swear to ye. If there is anything that puts you off an' ye don't like it, I'll go back into hidin', an' nae ask about home until all is done." She leans for another kiss, her own eyes closing in the embrace, "I love ye, Adamantus," and it's something that she never gets tired of saying, and her hand rises from his chest, his heart, to wrap about the back of his head, her fingers playing in the short hair there. "But I need t'know, an' I think Keen's unlocked that door for me."
Part of him wished she would turn around and decide to stay safely in her ivory tower. But he knew better. "You mustn't ever be alone. I'll be with you as much as possible, and if Eddie or Sloan cannae be about when I'm away, I'll have a Constable assigned to you." He cups her face in one hard, calloused hand. "Swear to me that you'll take no unnecessary risks. We do this carefully."
Niamh nods quickly at the question, her eyes searching his own. "Aye. No unnecessary risks. An' I swear that ye will know all even as I do." She offers a tentative smile, and brings her hand back around to cup his jaw, her thumb stroking his cheek. "Keen said that he'll be at Mungo's, an' if nae there, with me.. unless ye are." She takes a deep breath, "Would ye do me a favour then? Tell me how ye want me," and here, her eyes gleam with the entendre. "When ye would like me to.. check in, an' how.." Her voice lowers, and her eyes take that almost impish gleam to them. Her hand doesn't stop on his cheek, however, and she leans in to kiss him again. "So we can coordinate."
Worried or not, the innuendo in her words elicits a flash of desire in his eyes, and he cannot help a little grin. "Ah…heh. I'll have the Tracker and a map with me always. Other than that, if it suits you, I'll be staying with you full time for now." Not that he spends more than a night or two a week at his own home anymore. "And I'll check in during the day as well. If you go anywhere, you'll have an escort with you…not that I'd mind an owl, though I will seldom be at the office."
"Movin' in? Completely?" Niamh looks.. pleased, and she wiggles a little on his lap. Her eyes are bright, and she grins, "It suits me just fine, t'have ye around all the time." Lowering her head, she presses a kiss to his lips, her eyes closed in the enjoyment, "Aye.. the tracker.. an' checking in with me durin' the day. An', an owl.." Her eyes reopen, and her brows rise, "Will ye be my escort to your pub still? On Friday nights, mind.."
Gideon chuckles, nodding. "Movin' in…for now. Friday nights at the pub and everything." He lets out a long, withering sigh. "I'm goin' to protect you, Nymph. I swear, I'll die before I let anythin' happen to you." He pulls her close, pressing his cheek to her bosom in a tight embrace.
"Oh.." and she looks a little disappointed with the 'for now' bit added, but her smile doesn't falter for long. "An' I know, Adamantus.. ye won't let a thing harm me, an' I know it." Niamh kisses the top of his head as he presses his cheek to her chest, her arms wrapping about him; she's sure he can hear the patter of her heart when he's near her. "Ye are my light in the darkness.. an' I won't move forward unless ye are with me.. by my side."