amagicbeyond

Kind of cheating, because I already had this one written, I’ve just tweaked it a bit. As you can see, I’m not a flowers and down-on-one-knee kind of girl. Lots of ficlets to come, and I’m still waiting on some prompts, so if you earned one in the “Guess LtD Up’s Age” contest, send them my way!

Hope you enjoy!

One thing Up knew for sure, becoming a Rear Admiral hadn’t made Li any less of a bitch. Unfortunately, it did make her his commanding officer.

He stood outside his own ready room, which Li had commandeered for the duration of her visit on Starship 15A2, wondering what to do. He had no doubt she would make good on her threats. But she had no proof her claims were true.

Did she?

The rumours about he and Taz had been circulating the League since Up had first pulled her down from that tree in Mexico. The other Rangers were always giving them sly looks any time he called the Lieutenant to his ready room for a meeting.

And there was that time he almost hadn’t returned from a dangerous mission and she’d forgotten herself - and kissed him in front of everyone. Not that he’d minded.

Yes, the Rear Admiral could probably find plenty of damning evidence against them.

He had to talk to Taz.

She was in the gym, of course, but she wasn’t the only one. Krayonder and February were there too, her filing her nails and nattering on about the latest trends in eyelashes while Krayonder huffed along on the treadmill. Taz was bench-pressing weights, breathing heavily, sweat on her forehead, her neck. He waved at the other Rangers and cross the room to bend over her, taking the weights gently from her grip and placing them carefully back on the bar.

“Que pasa?” she said, a little irritably, looking up at him. Taz didn’t like to be interrupted while she was working out. He’d learned that a long time ago.

He spoke as quietly as he could. “Taz, we’re gonna have to - lay low, for awhile.”

She frowned, but he could see that she knew what he meant. “Why?”

“It’s Li – she knows, Taz. She’s just threatened to have you reassigned.”

“Que?” Taz said, a little too loudly, and then covered her mouth and whispered, “That puta – of course she would. Why the hell should it matter to her if we’re-”

“Because it’s against G.L.E.E. regulations, you know it is,” he said, leaning on the bar.

“Then how come no one has a problem with Tootsie and MegaGirl?”

“That’s different - neither is the other’s commanding officer,” said Up. “And besides, they’re married.”

“So Li wouldn’t be able to do anything about it if we were married?”

He blinked, and she grew still, perhaps realizing the implications of what she’d just said. He stared at her. She was beautiful even upside-down, shining from her workout, still catching her breath, strength and determination pouring out of every inch of her.

He loved her. And he was sick of hiding it.

“Do you…” he hesitated. “Do you want to marry me?”

She looked up at him. “Do you want to marry me?”

A pause.

“Yes,” they both said, at the same time.

Sudden, unexpected happiness bubbled up inside him, and they both laughed. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but he could feel the eyes of the other Rangers on them, and restrained himself. “I don’t think we’re doing this right,” he said.

She shrugged, but she was beaming up at him. “When have we ever done anything right?”

He couldn’t help but grin back. He knew there’d be no hiding these smiles.