***Author's Note: This was one of my earliest stories and lacks a bit of the polish of my later works...but holds a special place in my hearts for all of its flaws.***
Jim Raynor sat in the captain's cabin of the Hyperion, pouring over a star map as a cup of coffee steamed into the air beside him.
Many thoughts filled the man of Koprulu Sector's hero, or villain, depending on who you asked. At the forefront was the plight of his crew, and the political situations he had become embroiled in. Still vivid were regrets over Tychus Findlay, the friend that he had been forced to kill.
He had done it for a reason though. That same reason was lounging languidly on the bed behind him, having just completed a workout and spending a small quiet moment with the man she loved. Fate and circumstance would allow them this small respite, at least.
Sarah Kerrigan still retained a great deal of her martial instincts; even her time as the Zerg Queen of Blades had not dulled them. She was lying on the bed reading a datapad in her form-fitting Ghost suit that made Raynor's heart skip a beat. Lights blinked up and down her curves, the swell of breasts, the form of thigh. Her exercise had given her a glow that enhanced an already substantial natural beauty, but even at the sight, he still had some deepset reservations.
Even now, deinfested by the Xel'Naga artifact, she was different from the woman Raynor had first seen on Antiga Prime and fallen in love with. Gone was the playfulness of youth, and in its place was a burning sense of vengeance that worried Raynor more than anyone could know.
Despite that, she was still the woman he loved, for good or ill. Raynor did not give his heart easily, and was loyal to a fault. He had sacrificed much for it, Tychus being only the latest part. The loss of Fenix, his truest friend among the Protoss, and the countless other lives Kerrigan had taken as the Queen of Blades had angered him into a vow of promised vengeance.
He had broken that oath and made his peace with it, but he could not completely forget. The woman stretched out on the bed was a new person. Not the Sarah Kerrigan he had first met, nor the villainous Queen of Blades. Something different than both, and yet enough to capture his heart.
Kerrigan hit a button on her datapad, then set it down, moving to the doorway behind Raynor. He felt the air displace as her proximity opened the door to the cold, metallic corridors of the Behemoth-class Battlecruiser. He thought he felt something else too, but shrugged it off as Sarah put her arms around him from behind. "What are you looking at, Jim?"
"Star maps. Thinking of our next move. Mengsk is still out there, and he has to be stopped."
Her eyes tightened at the mention of the man who had betrayed her. "Time enough for that soon. And he'll be more than stopped, mark my words. But you seem to have forgotten something."
"What's that, darlin'," Raynor said, sighing contentedly as Sarah began to massage his shoulders.
"It's August 20th. Your birthday."
Raynor chucked. "I hadn't remembered. Too many other things to do. More important things."
Sarah pulled his head to the side, away from the map, and kissed him. It was a long and deep kiss, and by the end they were both slightly breathless. "I don't agree at all. I think we should celebrate."
Jim gave her a wry grin. "Like we celebrated when I first brought you back here?"
He still remembered that wonderful night of passion. So did Sarah. Both had been separated for so long, the two lost loves finally reunited. To meet again after such uncertainty, to still be so devoted to each other after all that time. Kerrigan remembered the amazing feel of Jim's penis inside her, her body rocking up and down on his length as she looked deeply into his eyes. Jim had cried out her name and began shoot his load deep into her welcoming pussy. Kerrigan had desiringly moved up and down Raynor's spurting dick, looking down at her own cunt milking his pulsating cock for every drop he had.
"Better I think."
"Hard to imagine. You felt amazing that day."
"Well...this will be a little different. You see, Jim, you have been an amazing man to me. And the opportunity has come to reward you."
Jim looked at her questioningly. "How so?"
Sarah shifted her eyes to the bedside. Jim looked over at the same location and saw a faint shimmer in the air. A shimmer he had seen before, of a personal cloak.
"Who are you?" Jim said to the intruder, breaking Sarah's hold on him and looking at the blurry shape. "Sarah, who is..."
There came a shimmer. Not the red of the Spectre cloak he had seen on Tosh, but the blue of Terran ghost equipment. Another Ghost? Jim wondered to himself, as a lithe female form materialized before him. For once, she was without her rifle and goggles as Jim had seen her before, but he recognized her instantly. The cold green eyes, the blonde hair. "Nova!" He grabbed for his pistol.
"No Jim!" Kerrigan's hand knocked his own away from his draw as Nova stood there, unmoving. There was something different about her, Raynor judged. Her eyes were not as cold as he remembered, nor was she...as driven, business-like as he had recalled. And she was also weaponless, most importantly. Sarah spoke up quickly again. "I brought her here-"
"What?!" Raynor was confused as he looked back to Sarah. "Are you crazy? She's a Dominion Assassin who I royally pissed off only a couple months ago."
"Choosing Tosh was the right decision," November Terra spoke as her first words. "You know how Ghosts are, Jim. I didn't really have a choice in the matter."
"Yeah, I know your heads are hardwired." Jim knew all about the Ghosts and their training from personal experience. "Sarah, we can't trust..."
"Once, yes. But you see..." Nova looked to Kerrigan.
"Nova came after me after Char," Sarah said. Her eyes flicked over to Nova. "We fought, but I won. She kept trying to kill me till the end, but I felt for her. I...know what it's like to do horrible things...when you're not yourself."
"I'm not sure what I did," Sarah looked back at Jim. "Somehow, I managed to break through her memory wipe. It was risky. I didn't know what I was doing, or the new extent of my powers...but it was the only thing I could do...to stop her without killing her."
Jim looked at Nova uncertainly. "I still can't trust you, Nova. Mengsk's best assassin...?"
"You can now, Jim. Let me prove it to you." Nova moved forward. "I always thought you were dashingly handsome you know. The brave renegade of the sector."
She reached out a hand to Jim and stroked one of his arms, lightly, teasingly, promisingly. Jim knew Nova was trouble, but the element of danger, Kerrigan's earlier form, and the memory of their first return coupling had inflamed his desires. Jim looked at Kerrigan, and saw something new in her eyes. Not the vengeance-filled green that had worried him so much, but the playfulness that reminded him of their first meeting.
"Time for your best birthday ever," Sarah Kerrigan said, putting her arms around him to kiss him once more.