The next thirty minutes went by in a blur, Esme was moving on autopilot. She felt the disruptor turn off but she couldn't make sense of what thoughts were hers and which were Vanessa's thoughts. It hadn't felt like this since they had first installed the link. At the beginning neither of them knew how to control what thoughts were transmitted and which stayed in their minds. Both of them had been an open book to the other. That was how their romantic relationship started. Shortly after surgery they both had been going through testing to make sure the implant hadn't effected their motor skills, they had been in an exam room performing random exercises. The doctors had them both stripped down to shorts and tank tops. Vanessa had been doing squats while Esme was waiting her turn, she found herself watching other woman and admiring her backside. A few random thoughts must have gotten across the link as Vanessa stumbled in the squat she was doing and fell to the ground blushing. Esme could feel the embarrassment across the bond and didn't know if it was her own or Vanessa's. Thinking back it probably had been both of theirs. There had been several other similar exchanges before they both admitted how they felt about each other.
It had been a whirlwind after that, everything was amazing. They were part of a ground breaking new project and had a blooming romance. Then everything changed. The mission Vanessa had been sent on had ruined everything. Esme had always respected the company, everything she ever had was because of them but at this moment she hated them. Hated them for what they did to Vanessa, what they made her do.
Esme heard Doctor Bakshi suggest they take a few hours and sort things out. She had nodded and stood walking from the lab to the elevator, Vanessa with her. Instead of hitting the button to their floor Esme hit the roof button. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she recalled Doctor Bakshi say something about the weather being nice and that the view from the roof was lovely. There was a roof top garden there that Esme liked to sit in and read. The doors chimed open and she stepped outside looking around the view was indeed lovely but none of that mattered. Her thoughts were a mess and really she didn't know where hers ended and Vanesse'a started. What was memory, fear or current throughts. She let Vanessa go first and stood their almost long enough for the doors to shut. At the least moment she jumped out and wrapped her arms around Vanessa, burying her face into her back as she cried. “I'm sorry.” Esme said, aloud not trusting the stability of the link right now. “I'm sorry they made you do that. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you and I am sorry for being such a jerk.”
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