Save the Date! (16 page)

When Gemma reached Dixons arms, she had never felt safer in her entire life. It was Dixon's gun smoking due to the fact that he had shot his partner. Nothing registered to him yet, however. He kept his crisp, blue eyes on his fallen comrade, but when he felt Gemma run into his arms, he wrapped them tightly around her body. He could feel her shivering despite the warm weather, burying her upturned face into his chest, her tears dampening his shirt. It didn't matter though. Gemma was safe, and that was all that mattered.

When he realized his partner wouldn't be getting up any time soon, he slowly put his gun in his holster, and focused his attention on the woman in his arms. He never had to do something as shocking as that; shooting a close friend in order to save the woman he loved. Yes, he loved her. It was a feeling he had been familiar with for the past month probably, but he had never admitted it to himself until just now. His body suddenly released any and all
tension, and Dixon's grip on her tightened even more so, clinging Gemma to his body, thanking God nothing had happened to her.

"I am so sorry," he murmured into her hair. "I am so sorry."

"For what?" Gemma asked after she sniffed slightly, picking her head off of his chest in order to lock eyes with him. "You – you saved me. Why are you sorry?"

"You shouldn't have been with Harvey,"
Dixon explained. "I should have known that he was behind everything. I trusted him and it nearly cost you your life."

Before Gemma could reassure him even further, an ambulance came blaring up. The two broke apart when Gemma recognized her father's black sedan pull up behind the ambulance, and before she knew it, both her mother and her father came rushing out to her side. Gemma felt herself being pulled in one direction while
Dixon went to the other; he was checking on Harvey to check out the injuries and talk to the paramedics.

But there was so much she wanted to say to
Dixon.

"Oh darling," Carlene said, crushing her daughter with a hug Gemma hadn't realized her mother had been capable of.
"Oh sweetie. We were so worried.
So
worried. I'm sure we broke at least nineteen traffic laws just to get here. We are so lucky Dixon called when he did."

"
Black had everything figured out," Brent said, slightly surprised. When Gemma looked over at her father, she realized he was in some state of shock. It caught Gemma off-guard because no matter what the situation, Brent was always pulled together. "That man is a genius." He locked eyes with his daughter, and pride glinted deeply in his eyes. "And you, my button. You were amazing. You could be a field agent, you know."

"Don't
encourage
this, Brent," Carlene said sharply, before offering a smile at her daughter. "Although he is right. Tell us; how did you escape from everything?"

"I did what Dad told me," Gemma said, smiling at her father. "I got him to talk and I waited until an opportunity presented itself. I tried to get out of the car, but he had locked the doors. So I got him to crash the car and got out that way. Then I –"

"You what?" Carlene exclaimed. "You could have been killed!" She turned to her husband. "Brent, did you hear that? Your daughter could have been killed."

Brent reached out and squeezed Gemma's shoulder. "That's my girl," he said with a fond smile.

"I managed to find a guy with a cell phone and I called Dixon…" Gemma let her voice trail off as she turned to regard her former fiancé – were they even engaged anymore now that everything had been found out? His eyes looked enigmatic, but it was in the way that he regarded her that caused her heart to flutter. "And he saved me. I don't know where I would be if he didn't get here when he did because it wasn't long before Harvey found me."

Brent nodded. "I think I'll go have a talk with him," he said and gave his daughter another smile. "I am so glad that you're all right, honey, and I want you to know that I am so proud of you."

Gemma felt herself smile in return, and at that moment, she thanked God for her parents and for the fact that she was still alive and breathing. She knew how lucky she was to have survived her ordeal, and everything seemed to have worked out for the best. And lastly, she made sure that she thanked Him for Dixon, because without him… Well, she wouldn't be the person she was then at that moment, and she happened to like who she had become.

"So," Carlene
murmured, her voice softer now as her eyes followed Gemma's gaze. "I guess now you won't have to get married to him. We can call the whole thing off."

Gemma knew her mother thought that she
was simply trying to cheer her up, but upon hearing the words, Gemma's heart broke just a little. Where would they go now? Dixon would surely be pulled off the case; he wouldn't be her bodyguard anymore. They had no reason to see each other now. The pretending had come to an end.

Except it wasn't pretend anymore for Gemma.
If today, in that moment, would be the last time she saw Dixon, then she had to tell him how she felt about him. Of course she wouldn't do it in front of her parents; they were already on shaky ground as it was. But once an opportunity presented itself, she would take it.

That opportunity presented itself when Brent went over to talk to Carlene about everything that happened. She had to walk fast in order to keep up with a retreating
Dixon, but she managed to catch up to him with relative ease. Dixon seemed to anticipate her because instead of entering his car immediately, he turned around and rested his back on the driver's side door.

"Hey," Gemma said, furrowing her brow. She was confused. "Where are you going?" Was he even going to say goodbye…?

Dixon avoided looking into Gemma's eyes. What he was going to say required concentration and determination, and he would have none of those if he looked into her eyes. He would be swept away, in all honesty, and he couldn't have that no matter how much he wanted it. "The job is done," Dixon said, trying to maintain his usual crisp, cold voice, but it came out softer than he originally intended. "I can go now."

Gemma felt her stomach churn, as though somebody had just hit her and the wind had been knocked out of her. She opened her mouth to say something, but she had to shut it because she knew that if she spoke, her voice would come out shaky. Instead, she glanced upwards, hoping the tears that had accumulated in her eyes wouldn't fall, and she pressed her lips into a thin line.

After a quick moment, Gemma felt sure enough to speak. "So… so I'm just a job to you?" she asked, and though it wasn't shaky, it was soft and slightly hitched.

"We,"
Dixon said before cutting himself off and then clenching his jaw. He thought that this was going to be easier than he originally thought. In fact, when he first got assigned this job, he couldn't wait to tell Gemma goodbye. But now… Now it was the last thing he wanted to do, but he knew that he had to. "We can't be together."

Gemma sighed through her nose, another way to control herself in some way. "Is that what you believe?" she asked him, trying to read his eyes, but that shield that had been with him when they first met
was back up, surrounding his midnight blue eyes. "Or is that what your job says you should believe."

"Don't."
Dixon's command was soft but firm. His eyes were closed and once again, his jaw was locked. He knew that if she kept pushing him, his resolve might falter, but he had to do this. He needed some space to evaluate his feelings, and if he still felt the same way after a portion of time, who knew? But as of right now, he thought they both needed to calm down from what just happened. "Please. Just don't."

"Don't what?" Gemma asked through gritted teeth
. Her anger flashed in her brown eyes and it took everything inside of her to refrain from going over to him and shaking him. He didn't even seem to be affected by this! "Don't tell you that I love you? Because I do. I know it sounds crazy, but I love you. And I know, whether you want to admit it or not, that you love me too."

Dixon
opened his eyes so they rested within hers, and for a moment, Gemma thought he was going to tell her something, that she was right and it had been foolish for him to deny that. Instead, he said in a voice just above a whisper, "I have to go."

And with that, Gemma watched as
Dixon got into his car and drove away, knowing she could do absolutely nothing to stop him.

It didn't take long before Gemma threw her full focus into school instead of thinking about
Dixon and what could have happened between them. It was much easier to pretend nothing had happened and that way, she wouldn't feel the excruciating pain she would have felt if she let her thoughts linger on the CIA agent. If Brent and Carlene noticed the difference in their daughter, they didn't mention it. They figured that if it was anything was serious, Gemma would come to them, but for right now, she just needed some space. It was Gillian that tried to cheer Gemma up when Gemma explained that she and Dixon broke up by taking her to the latest Dana Carvey movie, taking her to a nightclub, or simply spending the night with her. Without Gillian, Gemma was sure she would have crumbled, but Gillian was her rock and helped Gemma get strong.

By the time winter break rolled around, snow was starting to lightly fall. Gemma had passed all of her classes with A's, maintaining her 4.0 and making her parents proud. For the last couple of days, she would sit around the house and make up her Christmas list which included a lot of movies and a lot of CDs. She had celebrated her twenty-first birthday last month, and everything she didn't get then she transferred over to her Christmas list.

She wasn't sure if she was over Dixon yet. Occasionally she would think of him since her days were free and she had nothing to focus on. Her heart clenched as his face would enter his mind. Would she get ever get over him? Gemma was sure that as everyone always said, time would heal everything, but she had a feeling that she would always love him. He was her first love, and those were the ones that were just a little bit special than everybody else.

Gemma wouldn't deny that she would try to overhear conversations about
Dixon if she heard her father speaking about him. Brent didn't quite understand the correlation between Gemma's new interest in his job and Dixon, but Carlene saw it from the first time Gemma asked her father how work was over dinner once.

One December day, Carlene pulled her daughter aside in order to speak privately with her. "How are you doing, honey?" she had asked softly as her eyes scanned her daughter's face, hoping for some kind of sign there.

"I'm fine Mom," Gemma murmured. "Actually, I'm kind of happy school's over and done with, so…"

"I know, and you know your father and I are very proud of you," Carlene said. She stopped abruptly, unsure of how to proceed with what she wanted to say next. She reached out and placed what she hoped would be a reassuring hand on Gemma's shoulder. "Just in case you wanted to know,
Dixon quit the CIA."

Gemma felt herself frown at the news. Originally, she wanted to say that she didn't care what he did with his life, but she couldn't get the words out of her mouth no matter how hard she tried. Instead, she swallowed the building lump in her throat.
"Oh?" she asked, hoping her voice didn't sound too interested in what her mother had said. "Did he say why?"

Carlene watched her daughter shortly before shaking her head. "He did not," she replied.

Again, Gemma felt her heart break just a little more. No doubt Dixon quit in order to go back to the local FBI and Atlanta and that girlfriend that he got so defensive about that one time she took him to
Johnny Rocket's
. They were more compatible anyways, weren't they? That woman and Dixon. Well, she was glad. If he was happy about than fine, so was she. At least this ended any fantasy she might have had regarding him coming back to her with some romantic plot where seal their love with a kiss and…

Gemma, no doubt, had been watching too many movies.

It was a few days before Christmas, and Gemma's parents were getting ready for a Christmas party a colleague of Brent's was throwing. Normally, Gemma would accompany her parents to these shindigs, amusing herself by listening to conversations she no doubt wasn't supposed to hear, but this year, she didn't seem to be in a celebratory mood, and her parents didn't force her to fake it, something she was grateful for. So once Brent and Carlene had left, Gemma flipped through the television unsuccessfully. Since it was Christmas time, every single Christmas special known to man was playing, and oddly enough, Gemma was sure she had seen every one.

Instead, Gemma decided to listen to Christmas songs. Maybe that would cheer her up. Since the weather had gotten quite cold, Gemma was in heavy pajama pants, a tight, long sleeved shirt, and a mismatched pair of socks that happened to be red and green. As Madonna's version of "Santa Baby" filled the speakers, she felt her feet start to move in a rhythm, brought on by their own accord. Before she knew it, she was singing along with the words, dancing to the music, and smiling. No matter how she was feeling, dancing always seemed to cheer her up.

What Gemma didn't know was that there was somebody watching her, an amused smile eclipsing his chiseled face. Ah, how some things changed while others stayed the same.

It wasn't until Gemma turned did she catch sight him, and without comprehending how or why, her eyes locked into those familiar blue orbs. Instantly she froze, and her heart skipped a beat, unsure of how to proceed. She didn't say anything, but then again, she didn't have to. Her eyes asked the question her lips refused to speak.

"Will you teach me this dance?" he asked, perking his brow as he looked at her. He was wearing a long sleeved dark blue shirt that went with his eyes and a beige pair of pants. His hands were hanging loosely from the pockets, and on his feet were brown loafers. He looked exceedingly handsome.

"What are you doing here?" Gemma finally managed to say, looking at him and wondering if he really was in front of her or if this was merely a dream, something her mind had conjured in order to make her feel better. "What do you want?"

Dixon took a step forward, making sure to keep his eyes resting in hers. "You," he said in a voice just above a whisper. "Just you." He paused a moment before continuing. "I thought that if I let you go, it would be better for both of us. But I was wrong. I couldn't concentrate at work, and eventually, I left the CIA and decided to give the national FBI a try. I knew that if I was going to be with you, I didn't want to placed in an awkward position – dating my boss's daughter and what not…" He took another step forward as he let his voice trail off until they were only centimeters apart. "Gemma, you have stripped me of my armor and what I have left is you."

Gemma felt her heart beat erratically due to the elation she was currently feeling, but she wasn't quite ready to let him off the hook. "How do you know I don't have a boyfriend?" she asked, perking her brow slightly.

Dixon's eyes narrowed a fraction upon hearing the question, and the look on his face went dry. "Don't think I won't fight for you," he told her seriously. "However, you must give me some credit. I still have connections with the CIA and I've been watching you. Therefore, I know you have no boyfriend."

"A picnic."
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, but since she had said it, she further explained. "That's what I want. I want a picnic in the snow to make up for everything."

Dixon
's lips twitched up at the simplicity of her request. He nodded his head once. "Done," he said softly, and cocked his head to the side, his eyes dropping down to look at her lips for a long moment. "May I kiss you now?" he asked her – or rather her lips.

Gemma pushed her lips together and glanced upwards at her ceiling. "I suppose," she agreed after pretending to think about it.

Dixon didn't waste any time. He took his hands from his pockets and wrapped them around Gemma's waist, resting them on the small of her back. He leaned his head down and softly pressed his lips on hers. Gemma felt her eyes flutter slightly before closing, and she felt her arms reach up and lock behind Dixon's neck, pulling him even closer to her than he already was.

When they broke apart,
Dixon rested his forehead against Gemma's, not quite ready to part with her yet.

"But no marriage," Gemma added quickly, looking up at him. "Not for a long time. Not yet."

Dixon smiled a smile that he saw reflected on Gemma's face, and he took the opportunity to kiss it, wanting to claim it as his own. "You were right, you know," he whispered, his lips caressing her ear. "I loved you then and I love you now."

"I know," she told him in return, the soft smile still on her face. "And that makes me excessively happy."

Christmas list be damned. Gemma had everything she wanted in her arms, and Dixon felt exactly the same way.