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An Unusual Proposal
By Racethewind10
Years later, Pete would still tease Helena for being such a guy about the proposal. It took her forever to work up the courage, and even then, it only happened because they all nearly died. Again.
Every time he does, however, Myka just smiles fondly and looks at her wife and Pete ends up rolling his eyes and leaving the room because he knows what comes next and he just can't watch those two make out without feeling like he really shouldn't be there.
Even Pete will admit though, when H.G. finally got around to asking, she did it properly.
The whole thing happened during a mission that went, well…badly. On the trail of an artifact made of pure gold, Pete and Myka were captured by some Russian mob guys who had a very significant interest in said artifact. Said mob guys then decided that the best way to get information about the artifact was the old fashioned way.
Pete still remembers the way his heart threatened to beat its way out of his chest when they'd tied him to a chair. A former Marine, he could control his reactions, his face revealing nothing. He would never show fear. That didn't mean he didn't feel the fear.
And then somehow Helena had shown up - she admitted later she'd put a tracking device in Myka's shoe - and taken on the bad guys.
It started fairly evenly since Helena had the Tesla, but one of the Russians was a hell of a shot and Pete remembered the sudden horror of seeing Helena go spinning backwards, blood blooming like a grotesque flower across her shoulder. Then an enraged scream cut across the room and Pete craned his head to see the shooter fall, grasping his own shoulder. The still-tied agent had almost laughed. H.G. had that damn Corsican vest again. And Pete had never been so glad.
The shock had given the artificer a moment of grace and she used it to stagger over to Pete and untie him. After that, things got a bit exciting for a few moments and the next thing Pete knew, he and H.G. were standing in the middle of a pile of unconscious Russian mob guys.
"Myka?" Helena's hoarse whisper brought the agent to his senses and he turned and ran to the room they'd held his partner in.
They found Myka pacing like an enraged tiger in a tiny room that had probably once been a walk-in fridge, ready to kill anything that came for her. Upon realizing it was H.G. and her partner, however, the agent let out a shaky laugh, grinning from ear to ear and shaking her head at Pete. He expected Helena to have some saucy little quip ready for the occasion. Instead, the author took a tentative step forward, gave a tiny sound of relief and collapsed. It was only Myka's quick reflexes that kept the wounded woman from hitting the floor in a heap.
As it was, Myka lowered Helena gently to her knees, hands searching restlessly as if she couldn't touch the other woman enough. "Damnit Helena what did you do to yourself?" Myka muttered, and Pete was only a little shocked to see her eyes shine with un-shed tears. He knew the two of them were crazy about each other, but it just seemed like they'd been stuck, afraid to really make it official. (Pete had actually considered just locking them in a room until they were ready to admit how much they meant to each other, but he also figured that plan would just end with a dismantled door and himself in very real danger of being skewered).
So he was very shocked when Helena reached up a trembling hand and cupped Myka's cheek. "I had to save you. I can't lose you, and I am so very tired of almost doing so," she whispered.
At this point, Pete was starting to feel like maybe he should be somewhere else, but H.G. was out of commission and Myka was clearly not paying attention to anyone but her and if those Russian guys woke up before Artie got back, they were all dead.
"Helena I…Damnit you nearly got yourself killed!" Myka voice actually broke and that was when Pete figured maybe, finally they might have come to their senses.
"It's just a scratch," the smaller woman's voice was too weak to really carry the joke, but Myka still gave a watery smile. "And I would do it again. In an instant." This time there was no humor, only a resolve as hard as purest steel.
"Helena I…"
Helena's uninjured hand fumbled in her pocket for a moment and then the kneeling woman pulled out a small black velvet box. Pete felt his eyes go wide.
"I will never stop protecting you darling…would you let me?"
Myka looked like she was torn between crying and smiling as with visible effort, Helena levered herself up so she knelt on one knee.
"Myka Bering, would you do me the honor of being my wife?" The artificer asked and shakily held out a ring even Pete had to admit was pretty damn gorgeous.
And then Myka really was crying and smiling and nodding yes at the same time and Pete wanted to jump in the air and should 'finally!' Survival instinct kicking in, however, he just bit his lip hard and kept his mouth shut, resolving to remember all this so he could give Claudia all the details or she'd kill him.
When Artie and Claudia came running around the corner a few minutes later, they found Myka and Helena kneeling together, wrapped in each other's arms and Pete practically dancing behind them.
Claudia got it in about two seconds. They had to explain things a bit to Artie.
Thankfully, the bullet wound in Helena's shoulder was a through and through, but she'd lost a lot of blood and at Artie's very vocal insistence, she and Myka had spent the first night of their engagement in the hospital: Helena because she needed minor surgery, Myka because she point-blank refused to leave her side.
Pete and Claudia snuck into the hospital early the next morning to spring Helena, knowing how much she hated the place. When they cracked the door, they found their friends asleep on Helena's bed. Myka had somehow managed to fit her lanky form onto the narrow space and was curled against Helena's uninjured side.
Claudia caught Pete's gaze, and the suspicious shine he saw in his young friend's gaze was totally understandable.
"We should just let them sleep," the redhead whispered, wiping her eyes quickly.
Pete just nodded, a grin stretching his lips. "Yeah," he agreed quietly. "We can just give them a hard time later."
Claudia's answering smile was wicked. "Oh yes we can."
And true to form, they did.
The End