Pathline by Kaede Lazares Page A

it.  And he probably doesn't like me because he's so protective of you and he doesn't think I'm good enough . " 
    Rune was ab out to speak but he stopped her.
    " I t's okay; I would be the same way in his position.  Although I do think he's a bit of an idiot for letting you walk away, but hey, I wouldn't have gotten you otherwise." 
    Rune gave him a sad smile.   "I'm sorry about the outburst yesterday, I didn't mean for it to be like that, but I just don't fit here anymore Marcus." 
    He looked into her eyes. " Y ou've been pulling away from the agency for a few weeks now; I've felt it but didn't want to say anything.  You did catch me off guard with the abruptness though." 
    She gave a small laugh. " N ot really my style huh?" 
    He shook his head smiling. " N o, not really.  I was thinking, you know that the Appreciation D ay award comes with a nice monetary reward, well how about we use that to buy a house?  Somewhere out in the country ?" 
    S he sat up again, looking at him. " A house in the county ?" 
    He laughed at her reaction . " Y es.  W hen this assignment is over you can use your new free time to pick something out." 
    She looked at him skeptically . " Y ou aren't quitting, how could we live in the country?  You need to live close enough to answer agency calls." 
    Marcus pulled her to him. " T hen we can live outside of the city in a private estate, driving distance from the agency.  Besides, I've already won the A ppreciation A ward, you can only win that once.  Several D efenders have retired after winning the award, go on to live lives of endorsement deals and consulting.  I'm sure Serk would love to have me out of the way so that he can take the spotlight." 
    Rune shook h er head at him. " B eing linked to me would put a damper on your endorsement deals, and anyway you love your work here, you can't retire yet." 
    He chucked into her hair . " M aybe not yet , but we'll see what happens over the next year." 
    She shook her head in amazement again, resting her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat.  " Private estate , you're insane." 
    He laughed again; she coul d hear the echoing in his chest. " J ust thought I'd throw it out there, you can pick whatever you'd like, although you should see some of the houses retired award D efenders live in." 
    Rune s norted. " W ell the only retired D efender I personally know lives in a small apartment above a seedy bar . " She laughed. "I think he'd like you . " 

8. Undeniable
    The next morning after they had gotten ready Rune went over to Rook's room and knocked.  He opened the door and let her in.  She noticed that he'd charged all the electronics in the room so that nothing was working. 
    "Paranoid much?" she said , as she walked in. 
    He raised his eyebrows at her . "I'll restart them once I've gon e, there's no permanent damage; I know what I'm doing." 
    She chuckled and shook her head . " Y es, you do.  About that, how are you planning on handling today's traini ng session?" 
    He gave her a crooked smile. "I'm just as i nterested in seeing what these top level supers have in them as they probably are about me.  I'll let them lead, see where they take me."  He winked at her .
    Rune eyed him hesitantly.  "Did you get a sat-com last night?  And if so, is it active?" 
    He laughed . " Y es I got one, kept it on, in the bathroom." 
    She laughed . " O kay, I'm not going to address that. W e should be heading out; Malik is meeting us in the elevator lobby . "   While they were in the elevator Rune turned to look at him .  " L ast night I told Malik how we met . " 
    Rook faced her, eyebrows raised. " W ow.  This relationship really must be serious" he said. 
    "It is" she replied , as the doors opened and they stepped out. 
    Malik and Suri were waiting in the lobby area, both with two cups of coffee in hands.  Rune smiled at Suri when she saw her, and broke stride with Rook.  Malik handed her a cup of coffee and they both