Chapter Text
"So you've been wanting to do this ever since we moved in here?"
Kristen hummed as he circled his arms around her waist underwater, "I've been wanting to do this ever since I saw the picture of this place." She corrected him playfully. "What were you holding when you came in?"
"Hmm? Oh." He brought the box up to hand over to Kristen. "I just wanted to give you something to remember this time by."
Kristen sighed as she rolled over in bed and drew the covers up over her head, memories of that night were on constant repeat in her mind. However, as wonderful as that night was, she sometimes now wished that it had never happened. Because now she didn't have to just fantasize what being with Jubal would be like, she knew. She knew the sounds he made as he moved over her, she knew what his face looked like when she was riding him, just like she now knew that no one else would ever be enough for her.
With a huff of annoyance, she flung the sheet away and wondered if it was too early to get up just yet. Judging from the sounds coming from outside her door and the tiny slivers of light peeking through the heavy curtains in the room, it was already morning. She wondered if the sounds she heard was her sister getting ready for work, or if it was her fiancé, Ben.
Almost right on cue, there was a thud as something fell to the floor, followed by an accented voice swearing softly. Kristen smiled; it was Ben then. Throwing off her covers, she slid out of bed. Where Ben was, her sister wouldn't be too far behind, and hopefully she was feeling charitable enough to make breakfast.
Walking out into the still dark living room, she found Ben hunched over an arm of the couch, shoving random papers into a satchel with only the light from
Kristen took pity on him and flipped on the hallway light, "That'll be a lot easier if you can actually see what you're putting in there, no?" She bit back a smile as his head shot up in surprise at the sudden illumination of the room.
"Oh, right. Yes, that does help immensely." He cleared his throat, "I didn't wake you, did I? I was trying to be stealthy, although I'm afraid I'm not quite as adept at it as Mercutio."
Kristen snorted, "No one is as stealthy as Mercutio." She dropped down into the recliner that flanked the couch, "Did you know he stole a helicopter once?"
There was a play of emotions across Ben's face, "I am aware of that, yes" Ben said dryly, "especially since it was my uncle's helicopter."
"Yikes."
"Yes."
Kristen shifted in her seat, "I'm sorry for just dropping in on you guys, I just needed to get away for a bit."
Ben shook his head, "Don't be silly, we love having you here! Ros was just saying that it had been awhile since we've seen you." He grinned, "Of course, now we all know why." Kristen fought to not roll her eyes.
Even though Kristen had pretty much just dropped in on the couple with no warning, Benvolio had listened in fascination as she spoke about her undercover operation and the ups and downs that had occurred along the way, calling her a certified FBI badass. Rosaline was naturally more concerned with her brush with death, her sisters "we're talking about that in more detail later" face was unmistakable.
It had only taken one yawn for her sister to immediately hustle her into their guest room with a stern order to not step foot outside the room for at least the next 10 hours. Kristen would have normally put up some semblance of a fight, but in the moment, it felt too good to be coddled by her big sister.
"I thought I told you to get some sleep?" Rosaline appeared as if summoned by thinking of her. "Did Ben wake you up?" She turned to playfully scowl at him, "I told you to be quiet."
"I was quiet!" He defended himself, "It's not my fault that someone decided to pile all my books on the very edge of the table."
Rosaline did a little shoulder move that Kristen knew from years of experience meant she would rather ignore the comment than admit to her part in what happened. Benvolio smirked as if he knew he'd won, and with a wave to Kristen and a kiss for Rosaline, he left for work.
"When do you have to leave?" Kristen asked.
Rosaline headed towards the kitchen, "I'm taking today off." She said absently rooting around in the refrigerator.
"What? You never take a day off!" Kristen hopped up from the couch to join her in the kitchen.
"I do when my baby sister comes knocking on my door after months of only five minute phone calls and tells me that she almost died!" Rosaline forcibly cracked a few eggs into a bowl, "Now, said baby sister is going to have breakfast with her older and wiser sister, and tell her everything that she left out earlier."
Kristen resigned herself to being cross examined, "Can I at least request waffles instead of pancakes?"
"So, explain this to me again, he gave you jewelry and offered to move to a lesser job or whatever in order to be with you, and YOU JUST LEFT?"
Kristen shifted, adjusting her towel as she wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead. "Okay, when you put it like that-"
"It doesn't matter how I put it, that's one of the most romantic things I've ever heard!" Even though Kristen couldn't see her cousin, she could clearly picture the love-stricken look on her face.
They were all lounging in the sauna room after meeting up for an impromptu spa day. Besides Kristen and her sister, their cousin Juliet was also in attendance, along with family friend Isabella, who both jumped at the chance to spend time with the Chazal sisters. Kristen abruptly realized that it had been a while since she had hung out with this particular group. Growing up, Rosaline and Juliet had been her constant companions, and as such, there were rarely any secrets kept between them.
Not to say that there hadn't been any secrets, Juliet's clandestine romance with the son of her father's nemesis had exploded in a ordeal that had left both families shaken (and almost bereft of their children). Rosaline, ever the peacemaker, had stepped up to try and do damage control, only to find herself in a whirlwind romance of her own. By the time the dust had settled, though neither families were pleased, both sides had now settled in a mutual (if begrudging) accord.
"Romance aside" predictably, her sister spoke up, "Kristen needs to think about her job and the ramifications of getting involved with someone that she works with." Rosaline face was stern.
"Actually her boss, it sounds like?" The softly accented question came from the left and one tier above. Kristen knew Isabella wasn't judging her, rather her lawyer brain wanting to make sure that she had all the facts straight.
Isabella Prince was a relatively new addition to their little group. She was the sister of someone that Rosaline dated before getting swept off her feet by Benvolio. Even though her relationship with Escalus had crashed and burned, Isabella had already become a trusted friend, and they were loathed to give her up. She and Rosaline were the perfect counteracts to Juliet's (and sometimes) Kristen's impulsiveness.
"Right." Kristen nodded. "Theoretically, I could be switched to be under another ASAC on another shift, but I like the shift I'm on. I like my team, we all have a great groove going, and who am I to mess that up just because-"
"You fell in love!" Juliet exclaimed dramatically into the damp air.
"Okay, but is that enough?" Kristen asked, frustrated. "I mean, Ros is right, I need to think of my career here. Historically, whenever there's a workplace relationship, the female half is the one that bears the brunt of the gossip and speculation."
"Do you think you'll get a lot of that at your workplace?" Isabella leaned forward, her demeanor easily slipping into the cut throat lawyer that she was.
Kristen gave a short laugh, "Honestly? Probably not. Now that I'm really thinking about it, we've been kinda headed here all along. Nobody even bats an eye anymore when they see us huddled together. It's not our coworkers that I'm necessarily worried about, it's higher management." She shrugged, "But if I accept the transfer to Dallas, I won't have to worry about any of that. So why is it so hard to just go?"
"Because you don't really want to leave." Isabella lifted a shoulder, and for a second Kristen was inexplicably jealous at how elegant she made the gesture look. "Ultimately, it is your decision, but I personally think you should at least speak to him before making your choice."
Rosaline nodded her head, "That's the one thing that I think we all can agree on, you need to sit down with him and really talk about what you want to do. I'll back you in whatever you want to do, you know that, but I think if you just leave you'll always wonder what might have been."
"He could be your one true love." Juliet breathed out into the damp air. "Just like me and Romeo." She lifted her head once more, "Or like Rosaline and Benvolio!"
Kristen met her sister's gaze and both women shared a smile, she knew her cousin was a hopeless romantic at heart. But her situation with Jubal was nothing like theirs, Jubal wasn't a sworn enemy of her family, and Kristen had never been forbidden to be with him (like Juliet had been). There were issues to work out, definitely, but could it really be as simple as one of them just transferring to another office?
"Ugh", Kristen reclined on the wooden bench letting the heavy scented air settle over her "I don't want to think about this anymore." She nudged Juliet with a foot, "How are things going with the wedding prep?"
Juliet sat up and clapped excitedly, "You guys, I've found the perfect bridesmaid dresses! You're all good with wearing pink, right? "
Three simultaneous groans sounded in the steam room.
"Uh Kris?' Rosaline sounded confused, "Were you expecting a visitor?"
"No, why?" Kristen turned from where she was in deep conversation with Mercutio to see her sister holding out her phone. Taking it from her hands Kristen watched the video feed for a few seconds before reacting, "OH MY GOD!"
"What?" Juliet clambered over to practically sit in Kristen's lap, "Who's car is-Oh my God, is that him?"
"Him who?" Mercutio looked around questioningly.
"He's here?" Even the normally unflappable Isabella was leaning over to get a glimpse. "How did he know you'd be here?"
"He who?" Romeo asked, coming around to stand right behind Kristen and peer over her shoulder at the phone still clutched in her hands.
The girls ignored him, "I may have mentioned that I was going to take some time off to visit my sister," Kristen kept her eyes glued to the screen. There, on the security footage from her sister's front door was Jubal. He was holding a gift bag and what looked like a folder from work.
"Is this someone we need to scare away?" Mercutio asked before getting a glimpse of the screen, "Oh hey, isn't that the guy you were on the yacht with?"
Juliet's eyes widened even more, "You went sailing together?"
Rosaline smacked Mercutio on the arm, "You knew about him and didn't tell me?"
"Was I supposed to?"
Kristen answered Juliet's question, "It was for work, Jules."
"Yeah, nice work if you can get it." Mercutio said with a sly wink. Which led to Rosaline hitting him again before berating him on keeping secrets from her when it involved her sister.
"Is it just the camera or does he look real old?" Romeo craned his head to get a better look.
"He's not old!" Kristen denied, "He's older, there's a difference."
"Yeah" Juliet piped up, "He's mature." Romeo rolled his eyes.
"A very nice looking mature." Isabella took a sip of her cocktail before noticing all the looks aimed her way, "What? I'm gay not blind, he's a handsome man."
"I'd have to agree." Mercutio threw in his opinion. "Your sister has very good taste in men, Ros." He waggled his eyebrows at Kristen, who simply flipped him off.
The sound of the doorbell echoed through the air cutting off whatever Mercutio would have said in response.
"Is anyone going to get that?" Romeo asked, looking around at the group that was now frozen in place.
"I think Kristen should answer it." Juliet bounced in her seat.
"It's not my house" Kristen stalled. All eyes swung to Rosaline, who held her hands out, "Well, he's not here to see me!"
Mercutio stood up, "I'll go-"
"NO!" The group chorused.
The doorbell chimed again and they were saved from any more indecision when, from inside the house Benvolio's voice rang out, "No really, it's fine, I'll get it. Even though I was busy making the salad."
"Ben!" Rosaline ran after him.
The group crowded around the phone once more as Ben opened the door and cheerfully greeted Jubal. "I can't hear anything" Romeo complained, "turn it up."
"SHH!"
They all watched as Jubal presumably introduced himself to Kristen's future brother in law. The two men shook hands and Benvolio waved a hand over his shoulder, possibly saying that Kristen was somewhere inside. Rosaline soon skidded into view, stopping just short of barreling into Ben. Even through the camera feed Kristen could tell that Rosaline was sizing up Jubal. Her arms were crossed and she was standing in a way as if to physically block him from entering the house.
Kristen focused most of her attention on Jubal, on the surface he looked fine, but with how close they'd gotten over the course of their undercover operation, she could tell even through the video he was stressed. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and even though she couldn't hear him, she knew his voice would have that strained tone to it that he only got when he was truly tired.
It struck her like a bolt of lightning that their separation was hitting him just as hard as it hit her. After spending the last few months nestled in each other's pockets, being apart felt like missing a limb.
"I wonder what's in the bag?" Mercutio mused out loud.
Juliet let out a gasp, "Omigod! What if it's a ring?" She could barely contain herself.
"Nah, he's too smart for that." Isabella spoke up confidently.
Kristen gave her a side eye, "You don't even know him!"
"No, but from what you've told me about him, he doesn't seem like the type to spring a surprise engagement on you just to get you to stay. He wants you enough to make an effort, but he's not going to pressure you." She explained patiently.
"But there's really only one way to find out, love." Mercutio tilted his head towards the house.
He was right, Kristen thought to herself, she could stay hidden in the back (she knew Rosaline would cover for her) or she could go face the man that she was pretty sure she was halfway in love with and find out for herself why he was there.
Kristen tried to ignore the whoops and hollers of the peanut gallery as she left her seat and entered the house. She loved her friends, but sometimes they were just a bit too much. She sent up a quick prayer of thanks that her dark complexion hid the blush that she could feel burning across her face.
"...if that's okay?" Kristen caught the tail end of Jubal's question as she walked up to the door,
"Well, I don't know-oh hello..." Benvolio trailed off as he saw her approach.
"Hey Ben," Kristen shot him a smile, "I think Mercutio is breaking into your stash, so you may want to go-" No sooner had the words left her mouth than Ben swung around on his heel, "Stay the hell away from my whiskey, you prat!"
"Oh god, now I'm gonna have to play keep away with the both of them." Rosaline groaned before turning to follow Ben inside, but not before subtly checking to make sure that Kristen was fine. Seeing no distress on her sister's face, Rosaline marched off to handle the commotion that was taking place in the kitchen. "I swear, if either of you break any of my plates again, I'm throwing you out!"
When Kristen turned to face Jubal, his eyes were already on her, "Hey you." He was smiling, but she could see that it wasn't his normal 'happy to see you' smile. He was definitely a little sleep deprived, and it showed in the tiredness around his eyes. Kristen opened her mouth to say hello, but what came out instead was-
"I miss you."
His eyes brightened, "I miss you too."
Juliet's high pitched squeal sounded through the house, snapping Kristen and Jubal out of their "private" moment, and reminding her that the group could see (and most likely hear) everything that they were about to say. "You know what? Let's go talk in your car." Kristen grabbed his hand without thinking, and pulled him towards his vehicle all the while ignoring the boos and jeers coming from inside. "Bunch of nosy asses." She muttered under her breath.
Once enclosed in the relative safety of his car Kristen spoke again, "I wasn't lying, I do miss you. It's weird to go from seeing each other every day to-"
"Not seeing each other at all?" Jubal finished her sentence with a huff, "yeah, it's gonna take some getting used to." He looked directly at her, "Especially if you take that transfer to Dallas."
"I know I should have said something, but you…..I..." Kristen tried to tamp down on the panic rising inside.
"You got spooked?" Jubal asked tentatively.
"Jubal, you were talking about seriously derailing your career, just for us to be together!" Kristen threw up her hands, "What if you did that and we don't last? Then you'd blame me for-"
"Not a damn thing." Jubal cut her off. "Look, one of the things that is hammered to us in A.A is to take accountability for our actions. This isn't something that I thought up on a whim, I've been thinking about this for awhile. I am fully aware of my actions, and I wouldn't do it unless I thought we had a fighting chance."
"You think we have a chance?" Kristen's voice was hushed.
Jubal reached over to slip his hand around hers, "I think we have a lot of things to talk about, and there are some hard choices that will need to be made, but yes." He brought their linked hands up his mouth and pressed a lingering kiss to the back of her hand. "I think we do, we just have to work for it."
Kristen was silent for a moment before blurting out "I haven't accepted the transfer!" As his eyebrows shot up, she clarified, "I haven't given them a firm yes yet, they agreed to wait until I come back to work after this time off."
Jubal was smiling, really smiling at her, dimples and all as he handed her the folder he was carrying earlier. "That's good to know, because I have a few things I want you to look over." Kristen pulled away to open the folder, she rifled through a few pages before looking back at Jubal, "what did you do?"
He chuckled as he held up his hands, "I didn't have to do anything. You know nothing can stay a secret for long with our admin office. Once word got out that you had requested a transfer to a different field office….well Isobel was inundated with offers for you in other departments here."
"Anti-terror and cyber crimes both have openings?" Kristen looked up in awe.
"Along with white collar, and a few other divisions. Kris, you don't have to go to Dallas, you can stay here and basically have your pick of places." Jubal stroked her cheek, "I would love it if we could continue to work together, but I think at this point, we both know that's not going to happen."
Her good mood dimmed a bit and she leaned into the hand that was now cupping her neck with his thumb stroking the underside of her chin, "I wish that was still an option, I love working with you, we make a good team."
"Yeah we do." Jubal agreed softly. "I think we'd be a good team in other ways too." He applied a little pressure to her neck and Kristen was helpless to resist as she leaned forward into his space.
However, instead of immediately molding her lips to his, she ducked her head and buried her face into the spot where his shoulder met his neck and inhaled. To Kristen, Jubal always somehow smelled like fall. Woodsy with just a bit of spice (that could have been all the spice tea he was so fond of) a combination that Kristen had gravitated to in her early days at the JOC.
Jubal took advantage of her closeness to drop a kiss on the side of her head, "I brought you something." He mumbled against her skin. Kristen pulled away to see him present her with the gift bag that she'd forgotten "Jubal-"
"Or rather I'm just returning something that you left behind." He handed her the bag and watched as Kristen reached in to pull out the same velvet box that she'd left on the kitchen table of their rented undercover house. "This is yours, I bought this for you." He opened the box and withdrew the bracelet, fastening it over her wrist with a kiss to the soft skin on the inside of her wrist. "No matter what you decide, I got this for you, and I want you to keep it."
"Thank you." Kristen whispered, fingers idly playing with the bracelet, "Can I think about it?" She looked up to meet his searching eyes, "I don't want to give you false hope, but there's a lot in here that I need to look over." She motioned to the folder still sitting in her lap.
Jubal instantly agreed, "Of course." He shifted to open the folder and rifle through it, "One more thing, though."
"If you're offering more bribes, this bracelet is more than enough." Kristen joked.
"I'd give you the whole collection if you wanted." Jubal said absently. He was so focused on looking through the papers that he missed the absolutely smitten look that Kristen shot his way.
"Aha!" He produced a black envelope that had been tucked away behind the papers. "This is for you, I was told to make sure you got it." He handed over the envelope that had her full name embossed in gold on the front in fancy calligraphy. It was the nicest invitation that she'd ever held in her hands and for a second she didn't want to break the seal and ruin the intactness of the envelope, however her curiosity was piqued.
"Oh wow." The inside of the envelope was gold as well, the pattern of roses pressed into the paper. The invitation itself black with gold lettering from Don inviting her to help celebrate Katya's birthday. "Did you tell him about the op?" Kristen asked Jubal, unable to take her eyes off the invite.
"I did." Jubal admitted, "but only him and Katya know, no one else."
"And he still wants to invite me?" Kristen asked incredulously.
"Did you not hear me?" Jubal teased, "I was explicitly told to make sure you got your invitation." He slid his hand around hers and brought it up for a soft kiss, "Don likes you, and more importantly, Katya likes you and they both want you to be there." He squeezed her hand once before letting go, "Just think about it?"
"I will." On impulse, she leaned over and kissed him, intending for it to be a quick peck. Jubal however, had other ideas. His hand shot out to wrap around the back of her neck to keep her anchored against him, as he tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Kristen willingly fell into it and him, clutching onto his arm like a lifeline.
She's not sure how long they stayed in his vehicle trading kisses back and forth and reveling in the feeling of finally being back in each other's arms, when they were interrupted by Mercutio tapping on the passenger side window. "Hey kids." He drawled out with a shit eating grin, "whatcha doin in there?" he leaned against the door,
Kristen groaned, "Oh my God, I swear I'm surrounded by idiots." She pulled away from Jubal to roll down the window, "what could you possibly want right now?"
"So sorry to intrude," Mercutio purred as he leaned inside the now open window, "but Ben's talking about firing up the grill, and we have a spirited debate going on about just how many burgers we'll need. I say we don't need extra, but the others seem to think that you're going to be rejoining us. I believe otherwise, seeing as this handsome distraction has commanded your attention, hello again by the way." Mercutio batted his eyes in Jubal's direction. "We met a few weeks ago-"
"On the pier" Jubal finished, "I remember" he nodded in recognition, "Mercutio, right?"
"Good memory" The other man raised an eyebrow, "and you're Jubal Valentine. I've met your mother a few times over the year at various events, she's a lively one."
"You have no idea." Jubal mumbled under his breath before turning back to Kristen, "I should get going anyway, I have to be back in time for Abigail's soccer game." He leaned in to brush one last kiss over her waiting mouth, "think about what I said, remember you have options."
Kristen tucked the envelope back into the folder and tossed it over to a surprised Mercutio. Her hands now free, she reached over to envelope Jubal in one last hug as she whispered in his ear, "I promise I'll think about it, and I'll let you know."
"That's all I ask." Jubal brushed a final kiss over her forehead. Kristen reluctantly pulled away and exited the vehicle. With one last wave and a honk, he drove off and Kristen was left standing next to a bemused Mercutio.
"I'm guessing I can hold off on buying that cowboy hat."
Kristen looped her arm through his and shot him a disbelieving look as they made their way back inside the house, "You're seriously telling me that you don't already have one?"
Mercutio waggled his eyebrows, "I might have been gifted a few over the years. But we're not talking about me, what are you going to do?" They entered the house and Kristen detoured to her room to place the folder on the bed, she would look through it all in more detail later. Jubal had just given her a whole slew of new options to consider, while the clock was still ticking on the offer from the Dallas field office.
Hearing the shrieks of laughter coming from out back, Kristen forcibly pushed those thoughts away and headed out to rejoin everyone. She watched from the patio door as Mercutio gestured wildly as he spoke to Isabella, probably telling a wild tale from one of his adventures. Romeo and Juliet were locked away in their own world, as they often were whenever they were in the same vicinity. Her sister and Ben were both standing by the grill talking softly. Kristen couldn't help but wondering how Jubal would fit in with this group. Would he feel out of place due to his age? Or-Kristen looked at the various bottles of alcohol strewn about-was she willing to be with someone who would have to forever be on guard and alert around any drinking?
"You're thinking too much" her sister was suddenly standing right in front of her "take one day to relax, we can figure it out tomorrow." Rosaline handed Kristen a glass of what looked like sangria. They both sat at the patio table drinking their drinks in comfortable silence before Rosaline gently nudged Kristen's foot with hers, "For what it's worth, he seems nice. Ben thinks so too."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah" her sister played with the stem of her wine bottle, "we'd have to have him over again obviously to properly grill him." Rosaline added, "but he lit up when he saw you, and you did the same. If he makes you that happy, then...why not try?"
Kristen sat back in her chair, why not indeed?