| "Lip Service" | ||
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She could still taste his lips on hers. She could still feel them, soft, gentle, pressing against hers like a summer breeze blowing off the ocean. "I can see why you like him." It was weird because it felt so...new...yet so familiar. His lips were so familiar to her that no matter how long they had not been in contact, she still knew them. As she knew her own body, her own lips. She glanced up from cleaning her weapon at Joshua. "What?" "I can see," he said softly, "why you like him." She didn't say anything, only continued to clean the weapon resting on the bench between her straddled legs. She hadn't gotten too much sleep. Her thoughts were filled with Kihn, his escape or whatever he called it, his getting out. And Jaime. Of course he was in her thoughts. So without much sleep she had showered and chugged a large mug of coffee and came to the locker rooms. "Long hair, great build, big blue eyes, kind of like," he paused for a moment, "kind of like me." "He's nothing like you," she said absently pondering the comment. And they were nothing alike, Joshua and Jaime. Yeah, there may have been physical similarities but the lines of resemblance stopped there. They were nothing alike these two. Where Joshua was all intensity and fire and burn, Jaime was deep, and caring, and gentle. "Nothing, huh?" he said straddling the bench in front of her. She looked up to him. "Nothing," she said again. Not ten minutes ago she had stood in front of one of the mirrors, alone in the locker room. The others were still resting, or maybe they were up, she didn't really know. But they weren't there when she turned on the hot water and let the steam cloud up the mirror. They weren't there when she listened again to Kihn's message on her cell phone or when she wrote the number in the buildup of condensation to capture the picture in her memory. They weren't there when she erased the evidence from her cell phone then wiped the mirror clean. "Hmph," he snorted. "Seems like a nice enough fellow. Hadn't met him before you guys came back." "Yeah, he's nice," she said squinting her eyes down the barrel of her weapon. "What? You didn't think he would be?" "No. I heard he was a good guy. I just didn't think you'd fall for that type." "That type?" she looked up to him again. "Yeah, that type, all whimsical and romantic." "He's not whimsical," she snorted in disgust. Whimsical? That would not be the word she would use to describe Jaime. But then, Joshua hadn't been there when Jaime snapped the neck of a young Red Cell operative. "Is he romantic though?" Joshua asked with a grin on his face. "I know how much you love the romance." Paige rolled her eyes. "No, not romantic either." "So, then, by definition, he is like me," Joshua said proudly. "No," she said shaking her head. "So you deny that he doesn't do it for you? That he doesn't make you catch your breath," he slid closer to her, his eyes once again alive and glowing with that eerie passion, "doesn't make you tingle inside? Huh?" He tilted his head, "like I do?" "What do you want?" Because that's what it was, wasn't it? Joshua always wanting and demanding something from her? "I want you to tell me how he makes you feel." She pondered the question for a moment. "He doesn't," she dropped her gaze back to her weapon, "make me feel." "But I do? Right? I make you feel" She looked back up to him with a small guarded smile, "sure, Joshua, you make me feel." "Somehow," he said shaking his head, "somehow, I don't believe you." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Love doesn't mean shit, in this world. You taught me that. You showed me that. So what's with this...fascination with Jaime and myself all of a sudden?" Joshua shrugged, "I dunno. Just had to make sure." "Had to make sure," she scoffed. "Or maybe you're feeling a little jealous?" she arched an eyebrow at him. "I'm not jealous. I know what we have. I know..." "Know what? That you hang the moon for me? Is that what you need to know? What you need to hear?" She studied him thoughtfully. "Who's really insecure here?" He smiled a small crooked smile, "insecure, that's cute." Then the locker room door slammed open and Jordan appeared. "You know, a couple hours sleep does a body good." "And here I thought that was milk," Paige quipped. Jordan pointed at her, "that's good, but not so. They've been lying to you about that." Paige nodded her head and grinned as she looked to Joshua. "I hear they've been lying a lot." Then she winked at Joshua. "Baz left already, so we're going out in 30 minutes," Jordan said to her. "He left already?" Paige asked. "Ya," she said pulling black mission clothes out of her locker. "He didn't even say goodbye," Paige scowled. "You know him. Love 'em and leave 'em," she answered grinning. "That would be Baz," Paige grinned. "Yep, um, shower?" she said looking to Joshua. Joshua took the hint and stood up, "I'm leaving," he said with a smile. "I'll meet you in the ready room," Paige said following Joshua's lead. Jordan nodded her head, "Simon's coming with us." "Alright, and Saf?" "She should be coming soon," Jordan said, "she was a little sleepy, took some coaxing to get her up." Paige laughed, "she's not a night person." "Who is?" Jordan shrugged and made her way to the showers. "C'mon," Paige said leading Joshua out into the weapons room. "So, what exactly are you guys doing tonight?" he asked. "Baz got a meet, working it between an undercover NYPD fellow and a weapons dealer, though there's some drugs involved. We're doing a shadow since it's the first time all three of them are meeting." Joshua nodded, "these things are always sketchy." Paige picked through some more weapons checking their functionality. "Piece of cake. I'm sure it will be all good." "So, I'll see you when you get back?" "I dunno," Paige said looking up to him, "will you?" "Well, I haven't seen you in awhile, I was hoping I could follow you home, make sure you get home safely and all that." Paige smiled, "and they say chivalry is dead." "You shouldn't listen to what they say," Joshua said stepping closer to her. "Just listen to what I say, ok?" He brushed her hair off her shoulder and cupped her jaw in his hands (always these hands). "Sure," she said quietly. Then he leaned in covering her mouth with a kiss. "I'll see you later." And it wasn't a request, it was a statement of fact. "Yeah," she said evenly. And she was disappointed the taste of Jaime's lips was replaced with his. It wasn't fair to have something so exquisite replaced with Joshua's taste. Not that it was a bad taste for most certainly it wasn't, but it wasn't Jaime's. And the jury was still out on Jaime's place in the scheme of things. Joshua left and she made her way to the ready room sifting through various weapons and toys until Simon came in. "Easy deal tonight," Simon said picking up some equipment. "We'll just hang and wait for his meet to be over. DOD is letting us in on some satellites and we've got surveillance in the back of the bar from a security camera." "Ok," Paige said evenly, "and this kind of talk is what? Supposed to turn me on?" Simon flushed, "no...just telling you...how it is," he stammered. "You're lucky you're so cute," she ruffled his hair watching his face turn beat red, "or I'd have to kill you." "You're not really nice, sometimes," he said evenly. "I don't have to be nice," she grinned at him. "Yeah, whatever," he said. Safara came in yawning followed by Jordan. "We ready here?" Saf asked. "Yeah," Simon said, "just got to get the van all straightened out." "Did you ever find those transmitter things I took off the guy in Russia?" Jordan asked. Paige stiffened at the comment but luckily all attention was on Simon. "No," Simon said disappointed, "we must have lost them in the transfer to the plane." "That sucks," Jordan said, "they were pretty neat." "Yeah, well, I thought we had everything," Simon said. "Alright, let's go and get this done with. I've got lead tonight," Safara said stifling another yawn. "Sure we're not keeping you up?" Paige quipped happily. "Uh, no," Saf said shooting her a look, "but we will be stopping for some coffee." "Of course, have coffee will travel, right?" Paige asked. "Yes, and we'll have to talk about this perkiness you got going on," Safara said. "I'm sure," Paige said grinning. "C'mon, let's get this over with so I can go back to sleep." "Ah, and it's so refreshing to have a grumpy team lead," Jordan giggled. "And just for that," Safara said turning to her, "you'll be driving." Jordan just grinned and the Alpha team made their way towards the garage and the large navy blue van that would be their transport... Return |
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