Work Text:
Pairing: Riggs/Cahill (Lethal Weapon TV series)
Setting: post-canon AU
It wasn’t much of a Christmas by herself, but Maureen Cahill was getting used to it. She had a nicely decorated tree, with a few gifts under it that had come to her in the mail, some cards on the mantle, a fire in the fireplace. It really wasn’t so bad, except she did kind of wish for a little company.
It seemed almost miraculous that, directly following that thought, there was a knock on the door. Putting down her wine and unfolding herself from the armchair, she went to see who was calling on her. It was disappointing to find nobody there, but then something down by the step caught her eye. She crouched down to better see the large empty container, tied with a red ribbon. A planter, similar to one she had several years ago, until it got broken by... “Riggs?”
It seemed so stupid to be looking for him. It was more than two years since the shooting. He was dead and gone, she knew that, except there was this spark of hope always in her heart whenever she recalled all the near-death experiences, all the close calls he had got out of just in the nick. Still, she gasped with shock as she rose to her feet and saw him step out from the shadows.
“Oh my God. You... you’re really here?”
“Hey, doc. It’s been a while.”
She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t breathe, it was a miracle she could make her legs work, but suddenly, she was in motion, throwing herself off the porch and into his arms. He held her so close, so tight, his face buried in her hair and hers in his chest.
They might have been standing there for a half-hour and Maureen wasn’t sure she would have noticed or cared. It was only when he mentioned she was shaking that she realised she was cold at all. Even then, she had a feeling her shivering had more to do with him than the weather.
“How?” she asked then, pulling back to look up into his face.
“Long story,” he told her, shaking his head, as he moved her hair back from her face and gifted her with a wide smile. “Most important thing is that now I’m back, and of all the people I thought I might miss when I was gone, you know, it’s weird, but it ended up just being you that was on my mind.”
“I missed you too,” she admitted, not seeing any reason why she shouldn’t be truthful anymore. “God, you have no idea how much. When I thought you were gone, really gone...” she trailed off, the pain of being told of his death hitting her all over again.
She cried, and he held her close once more, walking her back into the house, keeping her in his arms as they shared the armchair she had been sitting in alone a while before, in front of her roaring fire, by the light of it and the twinkle lights on the tree.
“I’m sorry, doc,” he told her, when she was finally done crying, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “If I had any idea I’d be hurting you that much...”
“How could you know?” she said, sniffling as she looked up at him. “I never told you. I couldn’t. You were my patient.”
“I was,” he agreed, nodding his head, speaking more softly than she had ever heard him speak before, “but that was a long time ago. I mean, things are different now, right? We got nothing keeping us from bein’ real honest about... everything.”
“Everything,” she agreed, meeting his eyes. “You are going to tell me everything?”
“I promise, doc,” he swore to her.
It was all she needed to hear, before she reached up and kissed him, her very own Christmas miracle and the best gift she ever got in her whole life.