Season 1, Episode 8:
FANthrax
Part 4 of 10
It
was late when they decided to give up their speculation for the night and turn
in. Brian left immediately, heading to
his own room next door. Red stayed
longer, but eventually retired to her room on the other side of Nick’s. A door separated them, and Nick eyed it
briefly as it closed behind her, picturing himself slipping through it to go to
her in the night. He hadn’t had Red in
his bed in some time, what with him always being gone on missions and with
Diamond when he was actually back at headquarters.
Julilly,
who had also lingered, drifted towards the other door as Red left through the
adjoining one. But when Red was gone,
the door shut tight behind her, Julilly turned from the doorway and said, “You
got a minute, Carter?”
“Sure?” He walked toward her, and she stepped back
into the room. The moment he was within
her reach, her arms shot out, and in a flash, she grabbed both of his
shoulders, whipped him around, and thrust him up against the inside of his
door, effectively slamming it shut.
Oh god, she’s a double agent! was his first thought, as he stared down at
her, wide-eyed and horrified at her strength.
He felt the butt of the gun holstered at her hip pressing against his
thigh as she pinned him to the door with her body, legs spread apart, palms
splayed against the door on either side of his face. He shuddered, though he tried not to flinch,
keeping his expression stiff and controlled.
He was completely unarmed and found himself wishing he’d tried harder in
Grasshopper's martial arts training.
Hand-to-hand combat wasn’t his forte, especially with a chick.
“I
want you to know,” said Julilly, cocking one eyebrow, “that I have a policy
against screwing around on the job. By
that, I mean you keep your hands off me, I keep my hands off you, and we
respect each other’s space. When I’m on
a case with someone, we are colleagues, partners in the business sense, and
nothing more. You got that?”
Caught
off-guard, Nick nodded. Understanding
was starting to sink in. She wasn’t an
imposter; at least he didn’t think she was.
She was one of those feminists about to give him a sexual harassment
lecture. He fought the urge to roll his
eyes. “Look,” he started, “I’m sorry if
I made you feel uncomfortable. I was
just playing, trying to get to know you, but I’ll back off, I promise. Just don’t-”
Don’t tell K, was what he was
about to say; the last thing he needed was another mandatory sexual harassment
in-service.
But
Julilly interrupted. “Hold on there,
Nicky Boy; I wasn’t done. Hear me
out: I said I don’t like to screw around
while I’m on the job. Off the job,
though?” Now she arched both brows, and
for the first time, a seductive smile crept over her lips.
She’s not a dyke? thought Nick, reading her
expression. His heart lifted. “You don’t mind a little screwing around?” he
finished for her hopefully.
She
grinned full out and returned the wink he’d offered her hours before. “Not one bit.”
She
pressed herself against him then, her hipbones colliding with his.
“Not
one…”
Taking
both his hands, she wound his arms around her, till his hands met at the small
of her arched back, holding her against him.
“…
little…”
She
raised her chin, bringing her face closer to his. He could feel his body start to react.
“…
bit.”
As
the word popped from her lips, he lowered his head and brought his mouth
crashing down onto hers.
± ± ±
The evening had been an eventful one for Nick
Carter and the new Jewel that had entered his life.
He smirked as he leaned against the doorway of
his hotel room the next morning, his eyes retracing all the curves his hands
had explored the night before. Julilly
grinned as she leaned in, and he tasted the sweetness of her lips once
more. He felt about ready for another
round, but it was morning, and they had to go back to their day jobs, much to
Nick's annoyance. She had hastily
dressed, but he, after a fun shower with the sexy Canadian, was still wearing
nothing but a towel, securely wrapped around his waist.
"You know..." he said, once the two
finally pulled apart, "you can always come back up, for extra research...
or something." He smirked.
She chuckled as she ran a hand through her
still-wet, tousled hair. "Oh, I bet
I can, Carter, and I think I'll take you up on that offer later." With another short peck placed upon his cheek,
the CSIS agent made her way down the hallway of the hotel. His eyes traced her every step, before the
sound of the door from the room next to his caught his attention. A giggle caused his gaze to shift to the other
jewel that accompanied him this mission. Red eyed him, her eyes shifting to a lower
destination.
"Hiding a gun under that towel, or are you
just happy to see me?"
Nick cocked a brow at her. "Now you know that's all me, Jewel. Did you forget? I could remind you." He smiled that charming grin that he knew Red
Jewel loved, despite how big of a womanizer she thought he was.
"I don't know, Nick; perhaps Julilly wore
you out," she teased.
"Hey now, I'm always ready for a go with you,
Jewel."
It was then that the door on the other side of
Nick burst open forcefully. A pair of
hands gripped a gun expertly, and out stepped Brian, wearing nothing but a set
of boxers that were covered with dancing penguins. Again, Jewel was giggling and staring, not at
Nick this time, but at the well-defined chest belonging to the southern CIA
agent.
Once he saw the two staring at him and no danger
in sight, The Rok breathed easier. He
lowered his gun, reached behind the doorframe and set it on the nightstand just
inside his room. Nick, however,
immediately burst into a set of uncontrollable giggles, the moment he caught
sight of the penguin boxers. Not to
mention, on Brian's feet were fuzzy penguin slippers to match.
"What's so funny, Carter?"
"Nice boxers, Country Boy; I'm sure you'll
scare all the bad guys away for us with those dancing penguin undies and fuzzy
slippers."
Brian's eyes narrowed, his cheeks darkening slightly
with color when he remembered just what he was wearing... or not wearing, to be
more precise. "They were a gift
from Opal. And what's with the towel,
Carter? You mock me, but there ain't a
soul who'll wanna see what ya have under there, no matter how much ya wanna
show it off."
"Oh, you know you wanna see it. You want my body... but you know what?" He began to dance in his doorway, popping his
booty to the beat in his head. "I don't think you're ready for this
jelly... I don't think you're ready for
this jelly... I don't think you're ready
for this... My body's too bootylicious
for ya, hick!" He kept dancing,
backing his way towards Brian just to pop his towel covered behind almost in
the other man's face.
"Hick! Oh, you're one to talk about stupid hicks and
all that. Penguin boxers and all, I'm
still able to drive on the right side of the road. And then not wonder, 'Hey, why is that car
trying to meet me?' like some simpleton." Brian's accent thickened as his agitation
rose.
"Oh, and you're so much smarter than me,
ain't that right, you incest-lovin' Southern boy?"
Red blinked, watching the rising tensions rapidly
growing between the two men. "Guys-"
"No, Red, let me handle this 'Good ol'
fashioned country boy.' He claims to be so smart, but he can't see the
government is fucking him through the rear, and won't till it costs him." He glared at the shorter man. "Now, why don't we settle this man to
man?"
"Oh, and you call me backwards – yeah, ’cause
me punching you out is gonna help find out whatever it is spreading the disease
around here."
"I'm not talking about beating your
ass," Nick replied shortly. No
matter how tempting that is, K would kill my ass. Especially after that power outage I caused
last week...
"Then what are you babbling about? Do you even know, Nick? Or do I need to help you spell it out again?"
"This." Within seconds, Nick had Brian in a firm
headlock, enjoying holding the other man's head within inches of his armpit. Damn,
I just showered. Oh well.
The door to Nick's room slammed shut, but was
noticed by no one.
Brian resisted, struggled, and finally managed to
grab Nick's side and actually lifted the other man. He slammed him down hard on the carpeted
floor and smirked as he maneuvered his
way out of Nick's grip. There was a
reason they called him The Rok.
Red watched as the two continued to fiercely
wrestle. Then she did what any young,
healthy female of the straight sexual orientation would do when faced with two
attractive and well-built men, wrestling half-naked in front of her: she took out her phone and took pictures.
"Give it up, Shrimp!"
"Not on your life. You starting to tire, Poster Boy?"
"Hell no! I can-" Suddenly, Nick stopped talking. The two men ceased the wrestling. Brian stared at Nick for a moment. In seconds, Red was also staring at Nick. Nick looked down and blanched. In the tussle, the towel had fallen from his
waist, and he was suddenly naked.
Brian snapped back to reality first and had an
evil thought, followed by a sinister grin. He snatched the towel and ran into his own
room, cackling as he did.
Red started giggling. She couldn't stop laughing. She snapped pictures repeatedly, as Nick
turned red and immediately covered himself. "Hey, you wanna do that, we can do it in
your room," Nick said, leaning against the wall, one hand covering his
more private area, in case someone happened to appear in the hall.
"Maybe later... We need to get ready to meet Julilly
downstairs, remember?"
"Oh right." Damn! He watched her turn and go into her room,
still giggling as she went, and within minutes, music could be heard coming
from her room. Nick turned to go into
his room and grabbed the door handle…
He shook his head. Oh, hell no…
He tried the door knob again. "SHITBALLS!" He felt around for his room key, until he
smacked himself in the head for being so stupid. Of course he didn't have his key tucked away;
he was naked! He knew where the key was;
it was on the dresser, next to the door.
The door that was locked.
Nick still made sure to check the floor around
the door, just in case. Maybe, by some
miracle, he’d dropped the key by the door, or the key had fallen off. But of course, he saw nothing but hotel
carpeting.
He looked around furtively. At least the halls were still empty. But he needed to get out of view, and fast.
First, he tried Red's door. "Jewel?! Come on, open up!"
A player hater to flip with, yeah
Gon' head and fill it, yeah
I be slanging wood, yeah
Out the hood, yeah
Let it be understood, yeah
It's all good, yeah
He blinked, as he could hear the music blaring on
the other side of the door. He banged on
the door harder, hoping no one else could hear it but Red Jewel. He gave a silent plea for help from the Lord
above in his desperate situation.
You looks good, won't you back that ass up?
You's a fine motherfucker, won't you back that
ass up?
You got to steal, big ass, yeah
Make me laugh, yeah
Sometimes, he felt fate was against him. He ceased hitting on her door. She wasn't going to hear him, and he knew it. But that left only one other option, and it
was the last thing he wanted to do.
He had to ask Brian for help.
Each of the four steps he had to take to Brian's
room felt heavier than the last. At
last, he stood before Brian’s door, starting to get a chill. He banged quickly on the door. Any more noise, and soon, he'd get others to
come out into the hall, and they would all see him in his grand, large, naked
glory.
"Who is it?" he heard the familiar, southern
twang call out mockingly.
"Come on, Brian, it's Nick; open the damn
door!"
"Why?"
"’Cause I'm fucking naked, and I need my
damn towel so I can go downstairs and get another fucking key, asshole! That's why! I ain't in the mood to be showing Big Nicky
off to all the lucky ladies in the hotel! Now open up!"
"No."
Nick saw red. "What do you mean, NO?! You can't leave me out here locked out and
fucking naked! Are you insane, or is it
just inbreeding?!"
"Heh, betcha wish you had penguin boxers now,
huh Carter?"
He heard mocking laughter from the other side of
the door, and then footsteps fading away. Nick banged on the door again and again. "Brian! Brian!" He sighed and finally stopped. Brian was just ignoring him now and enjoying
his agony.
"Shitballs. Uber-fucking-shitballs." Nick glanced around desperately, before
finally grabbing a potted plant that sat beside Red Jewel's door. With his back against the wall, he quickly
slinked his way down the hall toward the elevator.
Maybe by some miracle, he could get to the lobby
for his key before anyone saw him.
± ± ±
Meanwhile,
down in the lobby, Julilly was on the phone with her supervisor, being briefed
on a recent development in the investigation.
Suddenly, her conversation was interrupted by a loud crash on the other
side of the lobby, followed by a scream from a familiar voice.
“GODDAMN
SHITBALLS!” Nick exclaimed, as his arms finally gave way, and he dropped the
potted plant he’d been covering himself with.
He quickly searched for anything nearby he could use to cover himself up
with, and hastily grabbed a tourist brochure from a nearby table, unfolded it,
and used his left hand to keep it in place over his lower half. He then backed himself as close to the wall
as he could get and inched his way over to the check-in desk.
“Hello,”
Nick said in a quiet, calm tone, hoping it would be enough to get everyone in
the lobby to stop staring at him, “My name is Pat McRotch, and I seem to have
found myself locked out of my hotel room.
Can I get a new key? I’m in
3017.”
“Certainly,
Mr. McRotch,” the young female behind the counter said, obviously trying to
stifle her laughter. “You wouldn’t
happen to have any ID on you, would you?
To make sure you’re the person the room is registered to.”
“Do I
look like I have any ID on me?!” Nick
exclaimed.
“I’ll
vouch for him,” Julilly said, flashing her badge to the clerk. “He is who he says he is.”
“Thanks,”
Nick said, as the clerk began to type feverishly for a few moments before
rummaging through a nearby drawer. She
pulled out a plastic card and swiped it through the machine while Nick stood
anxiously.
“No
problem,” Julilly replied. “But I meant
what I said about screwing around on the job.”
“I
got you loud and clear,” Nick replied, looking over his shoulder every five
seconds to see what the clerk was doing that it was taking her so long to give
him his damn room key. Julilly got
closer to him, and he hoped that he didn’t end up poking a hole through the
thin paper he was holding; after all, it was all he had to shield himself from
a crowded hotel lobby full of people.
“And
I don’t know what it’s like down in
“Here’s
your new key, sir.” The clerk smiled.
“Thank
you!” Nick exclaimed, before turning back to Julilly. “I hope I’ll see you when I get back down
here – in clothes, I promise.”
“Well,
hopefully, we’ll both be in clothes
the next time you walk into this lobby.”
Julilly laughed. “Every time you walk into this lobby,
actually. But since I just got a phone
call from my supervisor about one of the victims, I think I’ll just come up
with you so I can fill you all in.”
“Sure…”
Nick trailed off, still silently praying that he didn’t poke a hole in the
brochure, especially now that he would be stuck in an elevator with her and she
was obviously amused by his attraction to her.
“What’s the victim’s name?”
“Sophie
Richards,” she replied, as they stepped into the elevator, and the door slowly
closed in front of them.
± ± ±