Disclaimer: I do not own Alphas or any of the characters, and this piece of fanfiction is for the sole purpose of entertainment.

Pairing: Tommy/Nina
Genre: romance, angst
Rating: PG-13
Words: 798

A/N: Nina is one of my favorite characters, and I just couldn't help but explore what she was going through when she left the team.

Just for a Moment

"Tell me I'm beautiful."

The man in front of her is tall and handsome; aristocratic nose, piercing eyes. He's dressed in nothing but designer brands, from his suit down to the polished, platinum cuff links glinting in the morning sunlight. He stares at her with a blank expression for a fraction of a moment, eyes glazed over, before he smiles and reaches out with both hands, cupping her head gently and stroking her hair.

"You're… beautiful," he murmurs in insincere awe. His voice is husky, but all Nina can hear is a teenage boy's barking laugh.

o o o

They were crouched on branches in the tree, gangly legs dangling haphazardly over the side without a care. The beer she had pushed the convenience store clerk to give to her was still cold in her hand, condensation beading down the glass and pooling on the flap between her thumb and forefinger. She was getting used to the taste now, but not to the dizziness, so she clutched possessively to the tree trunk with her other arm.

Tommy had no such cares and sat straddling the bough facing her with nothing but a hand casually placed on her knee to keep him from plummeting below. He still wore his leather jacket, even though it was warm enough out for her to be in nothing but overall shorts and a tee shirt. When she pointed that out, he just winked at her and said he doesn't let weather get in the way of his coolness. She rolled her eyes at him then, but she secretly agreed that the jacket did make him look so very cool. It was worn in and surprisingly soft to the touch, the few cracks in the hide evidence of the owner's fondess for the garment. She liked to hug Tommy, not only to feel his arms around her, but to slide her hands along the soft leather over his back.

The late afternoon sun crawled lazily across the street, lending a touch of fire to the asphalt and casting shadows on the side of the houses. It filtered through the leaves of the tree they were hanging from, the light shining directly on her face and making her squint in pain. She tilted slightly to the side so that the sun was hidden behind a denser collection of leaves, but she was a little tipsy and suddenly she felt like she was falling, so she yelped as she clutched tightly to the tree trunk for balance. In the process, she had sloshed her beer on herself and flailed her legs, kicking a smaller bough below and sending a mini flurry of green downward to the grass.

Tommy was laughing at her, his wild, untamed laughter shaking the leaves as much as her unintentional kick. Once she recovered her bearings, she turned to glare at him, mindful of the angle of the sun.

"Shut up!" she snapped, taking a retaliatory swig of her beer, as if that would somehow show him. Of course, that only made Tommy laugh harder until her cheeks felt hot with shame and not just the alcohol.

"You know what, Nina?" Tommy had finally stopped laughing, his hand now on the branch between his legs. The sun was shining behind him, casting his face in shadow, and he was looking a lot older than his age and impossibly attractive.

"What?" she snapped, eyes squinting a little as the sun managed to shine directly on her face again.

"You're beautiful."

The words struck her dumb and she almost dropped her beer as she stared back at Tommy. He was grinning toothily at her, his bottle already empty and the smell of wheat and hops on his breath. Her heart was racing wildly in her chest, and she felt her cheeks burning even hotter than before, spreading all the way out to her ears and down the sides of her neck. She didn't realize her mouth had dropped open in surprise until Tommy leaned forward and gripped her by the shoulders, holding her solidly in place despite how woozy she felt. She realized the beer bottle had dropped from her numb fingers, heard the glass shatter on the ground below, and suddenly Tommy was kissing her so nothing else mattered.

o o o

Closing her eyes briefly, she pushes the memories back into their box, shutting the lid with a vicious snap. When she opens them again, the ghostly leather jacket has been replaced by the sharp, dark grey Versace suit. The muscles in her jaw are tight and her tongue thick and heavy in her mouth, but she forces herself to speak, to order the attractive man before her to make her forget, to whisk her back to the present—if even just for a moment.

"Now kiss me."