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The path to the bedroom is familiar, but even more so under the power of passion and driven need. It is late and Monica is in bed, tired after the day's events of being in space and meeting aliens, but Maria feels wide awake with the knowledge that Carol is home and safe.Yet she knows Carol won't stay. Things are different now — but she'd not think about that tonight.It happens as soon as Carol steps out of the bathroom, finally out of her suit and in some of Maria's comfy clothes, eyes burning. Maria had been lost in thought out in the hallway, ready to let Carol borrow her bed and she to sleep on the couch, whatever Carol would feel comfortable with. But the fierceness of her eyes startles Maria, more so because of how familiar the look is than how different. “Where's your head at?” She asks instinctively.Carol says, into the tense silence, “I remember everything,” and then they are kissing, Maria leaning against the hallway wall and meeting Carol's fire with her own.Hands are suddenly in her hair, tugging lightly, which always made Maria groan, even more so now that they are still buzzing with lingering energy. Maria pulls Carol's shirt up and grips soft hips, heated and coiled.And as one they fumble along the hallway to the bedroom while pulling off their shirts, careful not to stumble and wake up Monica but still only breaking the kiss when necessary, breathless giggles shared between mouths as this brings back memories of this same routine, happening often all those years ago.Maria can see Carol quickly take in the room as they enter, re-aligning herself to what used to be familiar. It hasn't changed much, and Carol looks right at home when she lands on the bed under Maria. Her big brown eyes flutter close when Maria's hands skitter over her ribcage in soft touches and their hips nudge together, seeking, wanting. “I dreamt about your touches all the time,” Carol admits in a whisper, eyes open again and with so much intensity they nearly sear Maria's gaze. “I just didn't remember who they belonged to.”“Now you do,” Maria responds softly, mesmerized by the woman beneath her once more, continuing to touch her because she can't really believe she's here again. Carol arches prettily when Maria brings her hand lower, pressing overtop of her borrowed shorts. The open window brings the sound of crickets, which adds to the sweet sound of Carol nearly whimpering.“Someone's needy,” Maria says as she kisses along Carol's jawline and slips her hand under her shorts and underwear.“Well it's been — fuck that's good — six years. Don't tell me you're not a bit desperate too?” she grins, the one Maria knows means trouble. In a practiced motion she turns them over and pins Maria under her, before swiftly pulling down her Maria's bottoms. Her mouth is on her before she can even process what is happening, licking and sucking and nipping with so much fervor it's overwhelming.She's suddenly hit with a wave of feeling, fleeting and warm and racing through her head as pleasure nearly overrides it. All the hard days of being a single mother and a woman pilot, of losing Carol and only holding on to Monica's childhood hopes of her ever returning, are burning behind her eyes until all she knows is the woman who is now between her legs and is safe and home. When her orgasm hits, it is so unexpected and full of emotion that she is trembling uncontrollably afterwards. But Carol is there, soothing her with her soft mouth and warm hands and sweet words.Maria lifts a shaky hand to caress Carol's cheek, who looks at her like she's the most beautiful being in the universe, even though she's seen so much more of it than Maria ever will or will ever understand. “I love you,” she whispers, and she thought it would be harder to say, but the fact she's said it every day since Carol left, whispering it out into the universe and hoping that somewhere out there Carol would know that she was saying it, made it all the more easier to say now. “And I know you're still getting used to the idea of being back here, so I completely understand if this is too much—”“Of course I still love you, Maria,” Carol says, like Maria has just said something very ridiculous. “And I never stopped loving you, even if I didn't know who you were all the time. But now I do remember and you'll always be with me.” She lets her hand wander to Maria's chest and rests it over her heartbeat. This feels too much like a goodbye to Maria, and her heart squeezes tightly under Carol's touch, thrumming faster.“Enough talk,” she says instead, grinning. “I seem to recall you need taken care of.”Carol is suddenly the one lying under Maria on the bed, head thrown back as Maria slips off the rest of her clothes and kisses down her body. When fingers tease between her legs, Maria marvels at the way this warrior can be reduced to sighs and flushed cheeks so easily, as if nothing has really changed since they were reckless and felt the world could never stop them.Carol has power crackling at her fingertips and running through her veins, yet she still trembles and falls apart under Maria's touch.When fingers enter Carol, whose core feels like she is laced with heat and dancing flames, she has to quickly clap a hand over her mouth lest she get too loud for these late hours. Maria settles into a rhythm from memory, driving Carol to what she needs and with complete control. Carol wildly clutches the sheets, then Maria's arm, then laces her hand through Maria's hand that isn't inside her.“Say my name,” she says, frantically, urgently. “My real name.” And Maria does, chanting Carol Carol Carol like a prayer, until Carol goes taut and she gasps and Maria tells her how pretty she is almost desperately.They lie in comfortable silence after a while, taking in the heady scent of the nighttime air and the contentment of each other's slowing heartbeats.“I can't stay, Maria.” Carol says eventually, quietly, regretfully, like she doesn't want to say it at all. But Maria's accepted this fate, they both have.She breathes in, and out.“I know.”