The Fallout

The next night, Deanna waited in the clearing for Mike. It was midnight, well past night curfew, which was twilight for leaving the cities. Within the city, the curfew was ten o'clock sharp, and no one was supposed to leave their houses until dawn the next morning. Which meant, Mike and Deanna would have four hours to themselves.

Mike arrived just moments after Deanna, a bag slung over his shoulder. He wore a pair of black skinny jeans with a gray tank top, and a black hoodie that Mike had left unzipped. In the bag, he had food and drinks for himself and Deanna. They'd decided to do a midnight picnic.

Deanna smiled when she saw Mike, bouncing off of her rock and running towards him. Mike dropped the backpack, and held his arms open for Deanna, who threw herself into him. Deanna hugged Mike tightly, her arms wrapped around his neck; he squeezed her back, one of his hands was on Deanna's lower back, the other squeezing her hip gently.

"I missed you," Mike mumbled, kissing Deanna's neck softly. "I know I just saw you yesterday, but I missed you." Deanna giggled, turning her head and kissing Mike softly on the lips.

They kissed again, and then Deanna let go of Mike's neck, dropping back to the ground. She was so much shorter than him, and always had to stretch to hug him, even when Mike bent down to wrap his arms around her. Deanna grabbed Mike's hand, lacing their fingers together, and lead him to the rock where she'd been sitting.

On the rock, she'd laid out a large blanket to cover the cool stone, and there was a picnic basket sitting in the center surrounded by candles. "D, did you set all this up for our picnic?"

Deanna giggled, and brushed a kiss across Mike's lips. "Of course I did. What's a romantic midnight picnic in the middle of a war zone without candles?" she teased, and Mike wrapped his arms around Deanna's waist, pulling her to his chest.

"I love you, baby," Mike whispered, kissing Deanna sweetly. "Come on, let's eat." Mike laced his fingers through Deanna's and pulled her to the rock, sitting down and dropping the backpack beside the basket, before pulling Deanna down into his lap.

Deanna wriggled around in Mike's arms, turning around to face him as Mike lay back on the rock, tightening his arms around Deanna's waist. "I love you, Mikey," Deanna whispered, kissing his lips gently. "Nothing's going to keep us apart. Not even the end of the world."

Mike lifted his head, kissing Deanna fiercely. "War's coming, baby," Mike told her, his voice low as he lifted his head to kiss her again, the food laying forgotten beside them. "What the fuck are we going to do? They're going to drag me out there no matter what, and I can't fight, not knowing if I'm killing your friends or even your family."

Deanna sighed, turning to hide her face in Mike's neck. "Mike, I'm not going to fight. They want me to... But, I can't. I can't come face to face with you out there, because I wouldn't be able to hurt you, and that's what they'd expect," she whispered, and Mike sighed, turning his head to kiss Deanna's forehead softly.

"I love you, Deanna," Mike whispered, squeezing her tightly. She turned in his arms, so that her back was pressed to his chest, and the two of them looked up at the stars. Deanna covered Mike's tattooed hands with her own delicate palms, and Mike laced his fingers through hers.

The happy couple sat like that for a long time, just enjoying each others company and watching the stars. Finally, Deanna rolled out of Mike's arms, and sat up.

"We're going to have to go soon," she whispered, leaning down again and kissing Mike's cheek. Mike groaned, and pulled Deanna back into his arms, kissing her forehead softly.

Mike sighed. "I know," he mumbled, running his fingers through her hair. "Meet me again, in two nights?"

Deanna nodded, and stood up, offering her hands to Mike and pulling him to his feet. Standing on her toes, Deanna wrapped her arms around Mike's neck, and kissed him softly. "I love you, Mikey," she whispered, and kissed him again.

Mike smiled against Deanna's lips, and whispered that he loved her, too. Their picnic had been forgotten, and Deanna moved to pick up all the things laid out. Mike helped her, since he hadn't taken anything out of his canvas backpack.

Soon enough, they parted ways, with a final kiss. "I'll see you in two days," Deanna told Mike, who grinned.

"Same time, same bat channel."

Mike kissed Deanna again, and then took off at a light jog into the woods, heading back towards his city, and Deanna did the same, going the opposite direction.

Little did either of them know, they had been followed to the clearing. Deanna was only just out of range of the clearing when a heavy weight tackled her from behind, and Deanna was immediately trying to fight off her attacker, landing a solid punch on the person's jaw.

"Fucking hell, stop, Deanna!" hissed a familiar voice, and Deanna relaxed when she realized it was Austin. But, a moment later, she tensed up again. Was he going to report her to their leaders? Austin was loyal, but Deanna was beginning to wonder if he was more loyal to the cause or his friends.

Mike was still jogging, but stopped dead when he heard a twig snap behind him. He began to turn to face the sound, but someone grabbed his arm before he could fully turn.

Mike shot his hand out, and his palm connected solidly with the person's chest. They let out a grunt, and Mike grabbed the hand still on his arm, twisting the wrist and shoving the person towards a tree, where he pinned them in a matter of seconds, his forearm to the guy's throat.

"Who the fuck are you?" growled Mike, putting heavy pressure on the person's throat.

The person grunted. "Get the fuck off, Micheal," a familiar voice snarled right back. Jaime. "I'm here to help you, you fucking moron."

Mike let go of Jaime's throat, and backed away slightly. "What the hell, Hime?" he snapped, and Jaime rolled his eyes.

"It's like I said. I'm here to fucking help. Not gonna rat about your little girlfriend."

Now, Mike and Deanna were faced with an impossible choice: Trust their best friends not to rat on them, or risk each other's lives?