The Perfect Weapon Ending 2 part 1 Section 7
"Okay," Jack nodded as he thought of a doubleplay. Deciding they needed some lightness -- or at least he did, he had forgotten how to just have this kind of fun he knew. And if he were wise, he needed to keep the conversation away from that manual. He shrugged. "So you did like Bullwinkle. But if you're Natasha, then I guess Sloane would be Boris. Which makes sense, he's about a foot shorter than you. And not half as intelligent."
She bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Turn around," she said finally, shoving at his shoulder in lieu of smacking him in the head.
He did so, looking at her over his shoulder, deciding to just say what he was thinking. "Are you planning on stabbing me in the back? Because -- "
"Been there, done that?" She asked, cautiously trying some humor of her own on for size.
He paused and then smiled. She sighed, knowing she was seeing yet another leap of faith in the simple upward lift of his lips that required tremendous courage. She held her breath, then exhaled as he said lightly, forcing it, she knew, "So, I'm safe? You're trying to break a pattern?"
She kissed him quickly, rewarding him for trying so hard, seeing the warmth once again build in his eyes. This...she could give him too, respite from the coldness. Then pulling back, she shook her finger at him. "You're safe until I really figure out what that manual is about. So, let's see, the games we have going right now are," she said, picking up the soap and beginning to wash his back. Sighing at the feel of the muscles under her hands, "I need to figure out what your perfect weapon was, what the manual was, because I know you're not telling me the whole truth -- your speciality after all."
"No, that would be misdirection," he quipped, turning to look at her over his shoulder.
"Ah, true. So, let's return to your valiant, but nonetheless doomed attempt to avoid the manual discussion. Who would be Dudley Do-right? Not Sark."
"Different movie. No, I guess Vaughn is Dudley and Sydney would be Nell." He grinned, seeing new field call names in their future. Ha, Vaughn would get so aggravated. Then it was definitely a good choice.
"And who's the horse?" Irina asked, deciding not to open the Sydney-Vaughn box. Somehow, she knew, she was going to need a great deal of help with that legacy of Pandora or, rather, her past.
"That would be Weiss." What was that horse's name, he wondered, enjoying the feel of her hands on his skin, moving more and more slowly, pressing more and more firmly.
"No, you're wrong." Irina looked at the flesh before her and shook her head. She was right to wait, but...this was hard, very hard. Maybe she needed to check how hard it was, she thought, skimming her fingers to Jack's hip.
"Wrong?" Jack asked, looking down at her hands sneaking over his hip. Just keep going, he thought.
She blinked, she had gotten distracted. Squeezing his hip, she slid it back again. He sighed unhappily. She smiled and reminded him, "The horse. It's Kendall."
"No, you're wrong. He's the horse's ass."
She burst out laughing and rested her head on his back. "You and he don't get along very well, do you?"
"As you know," Jack shrugged, concentrating more on the feel of her hands as they began to slide over his buttocks. "He reminds me too much of that jerk of a supervisor I had, although Kendall's far more intelligent...."
"You really should find a way to do an end-run on him..." She trailed off as she felt the tiniest twitch in his muscles and stopped her hands in, she thought as she looked down, a very nice place. She'd just keep them there for a while. But maybe move them again.
He cleared his throat, "Honey.. Are you there? You were saying?"
She grimaced at the note of amusement in his voice and shook her self, stopped her hands. "Oh. Jack... What did you do?"
"I'll tell you if you keep moving your hands like you were before."
"Not a problem," Irina agreed, lightly biting the skin over his left shoulder blade as her hands slid downward again. "Well?"
"A doubleplay, of---"
"Of course," Irina nodded.
"When you left us again, Kendall would be called on the carpet for approving an op that allowed one of the CIA's most wanted international criminals to go free, in the company of yet another of the Agency's most wanted criminals. Looks quite bad for his record, doesn't it?"
"Quite," she agreed, shaking her head. "And since you're second in command and since you---"
"I'm quite good at predicting what you'll do and how to... Honey!" he exclaimed in shock as she simultaneously bit his arm and slid her wet, soap hands around over his hips to circle him, feeling him harden even more at her touch.
"Didn't predict that, now did you?" He gulped and shook his head. She smiled and continued, "I do think I like this surprising you..." She purred against his shoulder as her hands slid up and down. "I did that at the beginning, didn't I?" she remembered suddenly, wondering why she had forgotten. Rubbing her body up against his back, she reminisced, "That was a good game."
"Speaking of a good game, if you don't stop..." he groaned. He swallowed hard as her hands played havoc with his control. "The game will be... up and over soon."
"Would that be so bad? I'd....like to do that for you. If ... you want," she offered hesitantly, her hands slowly and grasping him more firmly.
He groaned, stilled, then turned slowly to face her. Lifting her chin in his hand, he bent down and took her mouth in a gentle slow kiss.
"Is that a yes or a no?" she asked, sighing as she reluctantly moved his mouth away from his.
"That's a not yet." She nodded and smiled at him. He kept his hand on her face and rubbed her cheekbone with his thumb, knowing she was searching his eyes for doubt. But he had none, not about this. She was right. She needed time and so did he. He had vowed not to make love again until it was making love and this quick release was not even close to what he wanted. His body however.... He gave her another quick kiss, then laughing said, "I think, right now, however, I need a little...help." He turned to face the shower, turned the taps to cold and stood under the stinging needles of water for a long moment. She reached out and grabbed towels from the rack outside the curtain and stood there waiting and enjoying the view.
"Sweetie," she said absently, her eyes scanning up and down the back side of him, "As nice as this view is... I don't want you to catch a cold."
He closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the fact that she had called him 'sweetie' aloud, something she had never allowed herself to do when she was Laura. Who, he wondered, would she end up being? Well, whatever she was, it would not be boring, he knew and said a silent note of gratitude. Then he looked over his shoulder and grinned as he watched her eyes devour him. "What did I say that day? Take a picture, it lasts longer." He snapped off the shower and held his hand out for a towel. Taking it from her, he buried his face in it and rubbed it over his hair.
Her head snapped up. "That's right, you said we had a camera! Where is it, anyway?"
"A camera? There is a camera in my pants pocket. They're in the other room," he offered, as he moved the towel down to his chest and looked up at her slowly.
The look on his face made her ask, "Jack... What did you do?"
"I just told you where a camera is located." He grinned suddenly.
Her eyes narrowed. That was an evil grin. She needed to concentrate on that and not the sight of that fluffy, white, very... lucky towel as it went over his body, drying him off. Which was, she sighed, such a shame. Reluctantly looking back up at his face, she said, "Well? What is this business about a camera? Tell me." She picked up another towel and began to briskly dry herself off. She had a feeling she wanted to be out of the slippery shower before she learned this piece of information.
"Well, I was just being... obliging. Helpful. Let's see. Compensating. You were upset about the loss of the photographs from your portfolio, weren't you?"
"Jack, what did you do?" She said with exaggerated patience, betrayed by the snap of the shower curtain as she thrust it aside with a sharp movement, the metal rings screeching against the rod.
"Be careful with that rod. I can assure you that they don't like such rough handling-- Ow!" he exclaimed laughing, as she snapped her towel at him.
In a huff, she got out of the shower and began to dry herself off briskly. "You think you're such a smartass, don't you?"
"You tell me. You spent enough time looking at my ass this morning." He smirked as he also got out of the shower.
"I'd like to knock you on your ass!" She exclaimed, throwing the towel aside. Then she groaned as she turned and saw herself in the mirror. "I do look like a prune. A prune with messy hair."
"Since when did you get vain? I think you look beautiful," Jack said softly.
She began to smile, then poked her finger at him. "You're trying to distract me."
"Not really. I do think you look beautiful. Because..." he paused and looked down, then back up. "Because I can see the beginnings of happiness in your eyes."
"Ooh," she said softly, turning her poke at his shoulder into a caress. She was always a sucker for that look. Which...he probably knew! "Jack...."
"You can see for yourself. Look in the mirror," Jack said, suppressing a grin, as he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face the mirror head on.
"And now what?"
"Say cheese." Ah, life was good, he thought with a happy sigh. Until she killed him, anyway.
"What? What do you mean?" Irina asked suspiciously, then stopped as he bent over to pick up his pack.
"Once again, give me a minute and you can take a picture," he suggested. Fighting not to laugh, she reached over and slapped his butt. "I liked what you were doing in the shower better."
"Jack...My patience is running low."
"I'm terrified," he said as rummaging around inside the pack, he seemed to debate for a second, then pulled out the screwdriver.
She looked around, what could he possibly have used a screwdriver on in here... She looked around, examining and rejecting possibilities until she noticed the screws in the mirror. She glared at him. "Why do I have a truly bad feeling about this?"
"Because you know me?" Jack asked as he applied the tool to the small screws in two corners of the mirror. Automatically she moved to hold up the mirror. He offered, "We make a good team. We should work together more often. As you'll remember, I asked you that long ago--"
"Of course, we'll work together," she said absently, watching him work. "The only question is which of us gets to kill Sloane."
"I'll flip you for it."
"A coin or hand to hand?"
"Judging by the way your jaw is clenched right now, I have a feeling I'd end up flat on my back, which in general, is a position I appreciate...Do you remember," he asked, dropping his voice and slowing the movements of his hand. She licked her lips as she watched him make slow circles and then raised her eyes as she realized he was still talking. "... how you asked me that first time if it was alright if you were on top and I told you that I liked that position because I could see you and feel you and..."
"I remember..." She sighed, deflected. Then seeing the satisfaction in his eyes, she straightened her spine and ground her teeth. How did he do that, so well? Distract her? Damn it! This notion of waiting seemed to be bothering her more than him. She needed to get back in the game. "None of that, Jack Bristow!"
"It was fun while it lasted," he sighed. "But we are going to work together, no question?"
"Don't be such an idiot--"
"I liked it better when you called me sweetie."
"When did I... Oh! I did that a few minutes ago."
"And when you thought I was asleep, from time to time. When you were Laura."
"You... knew that?"
"How lightly do I sleep?"
She groaned. Then frowned. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Damn, I screwed this in too tightly," Jack muttered. "No comments necessary about a tight screw, okay?"
She fought to keep from laughing. "Shut up."
"Why, so you won't laugh?"
"Shut up and apply your considerable talents to loosening that screw."
"You want it loose? Maybe you need a drink or two or twelve?"
"I need to hit you over the head with the next damn bottle of alcohol we share!"
"I'd let you pour it on me this time," he offered, looking at her sideways.
"Are you...flirting with me, Jack Bristow?"
"Of course. Isn't that the best game? With you, anyway?"
She smiled. "But what game was it in which you never mentioned that you heard me call you sweetie, but never when you were awake?"
"I...guess I thought you had your own reasons for it and I didn't want to invade your privacy. But..." He shook his head. "Personally and... I suppose professionally, since they were intertwined, I should not have done that. I should have questioned you."
"Maybe..we gave each other too much privacy?" She asked after a moment of thought. "And you hated being analyzed, you always said. But maybe...."
"Maybe. But," he sighed. "We don't have time for a therapy session now. We need to get this damn mirror down and plan a course of action."
"Yes. We're hampered now, however, by the fact that I have a little feeling that I may be killing you in the near future."
"Here--" he handed her the screwdriver and nodded in the direction of the screws in her corner.
"I don't think it's a good idea for me to have a screwdriver in my hands at the moment," she admitted.
"Like your bare hands aren't dangerous enough?" Jack muttered and thrust the tool at her.
"I... don't know you like this..." She said, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes, as she unscrewed her side. "This was a strategy of some kind. But I don't know...."
"Yes. One of my just in cases."
"Just in cases?" She dropped the screws and tool on the counter. "The mirror's free."
"There is no substitute for exhaustive background preparation," Jack said absently as he held up the mirror's weight and gestured behind it. Climbing on top of the counter, she looked behind the mirror and gasped.
"You are so dead. So dead." She grabbed the tiny camera and shook it at him.
"I live in hope," he shrugged and propped the mirror back up. "But let's not shatter this mirror, okay?"
"I'll tell you what I'm going to shatter!" she exclaimed as she took his hand and jumped down from the counter.
"Well, let's look at the photographs first." There were lots of pictures, he would imagine, of her naked. Somehow he didn't think he was going to be allowed to keep them. But he still wanted that one of her with the chain. Somehow he didn't think that was going to happen this morning, not with that look of fury on her face. Picking up the screwdriver and the screws, he began to screw the mirror back in. "Hey, maybe there is one you'll like---"
"I doubt it!" But nonetheless, she turned the camera and pressing a button, began to review the images stored in the tiny digital camera. "Jack...I'm naked!"
"A shocking turn of events," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Oh, calm down, I'd have cropped them to preserve your modesty." Then he stopped screwing the screw back into the mirror. Modesty. The word whore getting through to her in a way nothing else had. The fact that his little voice had told him it was important to tell her that he would not let go of her. What was it that Dave had said in his files.... Didn't have time right now, he knew as he finished the job and put down the tool.
"You better have!"
Turning to her, he took her in his arms. Holding her tightly against him, he nudged her angry face upward to face his. "Look at me. See me," he ordered.
She looked into those eyes, so warm, so concerned. Knowing that there was love there and that his love was trustworthy, she felt one hard knot inside her relax. "I see you."
"Good. Then you know better than to think that... no matter how mad I would have been at you right now if you made a different choice... After what I passed through tonight, I would not forget ever again that you did love me and I did love you at one time. That our relationship then..." he gestured toward the camera and then her. "And you, for what you once meant to me, deserve respect. If I could give you no more than that, I could give you respect. That is the honest, if... unpalatable truth."
"Thank you," she said softly, closing her eyes and resting her head on his broad shoulder. If she had made the wrong decision, had picked up the Rambaldi document or had not had the courage to review that memory of Dave's inexorable, relentless, pushy, annoying....life-saving, love-saving intervention...If she had done that, right now she might have no more than respect. Not the slow dawn of happiness in his eyes, the warmth of his touch as he cupped her shoulders in his hands, bent down and kissed her eyes. If she had not had the courage to ask, 'What if?'
"You can just delete those images, you know," he suggested softly. "That's the great advantage or... disadvantage of digital. No negatives, no permanent record. Just hit the delete button. Go ahead."
She opened her eyes and nodded. He was right, after all, these digital images were easy to destroy, like disposable detritus of the past. If only her other mistakes could be so easily deleted, she thought as she pressed the delete button time after time. She stopped as she came to an image showing Jack putting the necklace around her neck. From the look on her face one might have thought it was a noose. "I... forgot I had it on..." she said slowly, reaching a hand up to touch the necklace with three diamonds around her neck.
"I'm sorry that hurt you," Jack said softly, reaching out to take the camera from her hand and laying it down on the counter. Tipping her chin up, he slid his hand around to cup her cheek. "But..."
"But... I, in that moment, I hadn't made the leap necessary to.. deserve anything more."
He took a deep breath. Time to face another movement in this symphony. Which would no doubt be accompanied by the crash of a cavalcade of timpani drums. "Honey, I need to tell you---"
"I know, you destroyed the chain, didn't you?" She asked sadly, accepting it as a consequence. And perhaps it didn't matter that much, anymore.
"No," he admitted, wondering if there was a way to finesse this. He thought quickly and rejected every option. She was going to kill him, he knew it. He might as well face it. He began to reach down for his pack and stopped when she stopped him.
"No?" She sighed happily and wrapped her arms around him. She smiled, feeling his surprise in the momentary stillness of his body before he tucked her under his chin. Thank god for a tall man, she thought, rubbing her leg against his. "That's... good. I'm glad. Someday, I'd like to have it back."
"Someday?" he asked incredulously as he pushed back to look into her face. "Just someday? Before you were acting like--"
"Before, I had to have that chain, thought I needed it because..." She looked up and met his eyes, allowed him to see the regret in hers as she saw the concern, the anxiety, the curiosity in his. "Do you know?"