igotacrossbow | open post

Jake is slow to wake. She always is, being such a night owl, but this morning is worse. First, she's been fighting against insomnia for days, and it's all caught up to her. Second, she's so goddamn comfortable curled up around Cougar the way she is, her fingers tangled in the hem of his shirt and one leg curled possessively around his thigh.

Grumbling as she drifts to the surface, she presses her face more firmly into his chest, aware of a wet spot beneath her cheek.

"I drooled on you," she mumbles, lifting her head a little and blinking fuzzily at him. "Sorry."

He's going to be aching with it in a little bit, which is a bad thing for him. He doesn't need to ruin things between them when they haven't even started. Controlling his breathing with deep, slow breaths, he tries not to let himself push up into that heat. "It's no problem," he promises softly, staring down at that little spot.

He feels awful, now, but it's a rested kind of awful. Once he showers and eats, he thinks he will feel like the new man that he is. "Martinez," is what he says softly, having thought about it all night. "My mother's maiden name." He nods, as if to say that they'll use that.

Jake wants to stay curled up with him all morning. The room is dim and warm, the poor A/C unit doing its best to keep up with the demand they put on it but just not quite managing it, and Cougar smells comforting. Like sweat, and leather, and gun oil. "Mm, okay."

She rolls off him, flopping onto her back and stretching slowly, pointing her toes and reaching high up above her head, the hem of his stolen shirt riding up her belly as she makes baby dinosaur noises under her breath. When she's satisfied, she slumps back and turns her head to look at him. "Alright, lemme get you out of these, then," she says, reaching out to pat him on the chest before pushing herself up so she can go hunt for the knife she needs to set him loose.

She's not oblivious to his current predicament, she has eyes, not to mention she'd just been curled up with her knee pressed between his legs, but she's also been living with four men for over five years, so a little morning wood is not something she's oblivious to. She doesn't read into it any more than that.

A few quick slices of her knife, and Cougar's free to lower his arms. "Alright, Señor Martinez, you owe me breakfast and a new pair of sunglasses, so hop to it." Her voice gentling, she reaches out and picks up his hand, rubbing her fingers carefully against his wrist where the skin is a little red. "You okay?"

He does ache. His wrists are red and he doesn't know how much they will swell and ache later, but for right now, he's glad that he hasn't hurt her more during the night. They've slept in the same vicinity before, but never like this. It's left him feeling like it's a habit he could get in the habit of. He could get used to waking up with her curves and warm body pressed to his.

"Fine," he assures her with a rub of his wrists. He strips off his shirt and leaves it in a ball on the floor, the pants following next as he heads to the shower to blast hot water over his aching muscles, wincing when the sluice of hot water stings his wrists. He wanders out with the towel slung around his waist, the glint of a golden ring odd on his finger.

"Breakfast?" he suggests.

She's gone back to bed in the time he used to take his shower, curled up on Cougar's half of the bed with her knees tucked up to her chest and her arms wrapped around Cougar's pillow. She's not actually sleeping, but her eyes are mostly closed, and she just hums when Cougar comes out of the bathroom looking like a Mexican Mr. Darcy.

"Mm, yes please. Enchiladas." She has no idea if enchiladas are available at this hour of the morning, but she doesn't really care. Honestly, anything will be fine. "And coffee. And sunglasses."

Cougar rifles through his bag and finds a pair of jeans that he slides into after turning his back to Jake, not bothering with underwear. He tugs on a sleeveless t-shirt with frayed edges and dons his hat above curling wet hair, nodding for her to join him. His wrists will look red and raw, but her eye looks blue and Cougar still feels awful for it.

"Come," he says, wrapping his arm around her waist when they arrive at the door, so that when they go out into the world, they're presenting their lie. He yanks his hat off his head and sets it atop her hair. "Until the sunglasses," he says.

She whines when he seems to expect her to come with him, pouting. "You want me to get up? Noooo."

But there's no denying Cougar when he's set his mind to something, so she eventually tumbles out of bed, grabbing one of the sundresses he bought for her and swapping the t-shirt out for it. She doesn't bother with a bra. Her hair has dried in a crazy, frizzy mess, but Cougar's hat is a welcome addition which might help tame it, and she pauses when he drops it on her head to smile at him. "If I'd have known all it took to get you to give me your hat willingly was getting hit in the face, I'd have done it ages ago."

He makes sure to turn away politely when she's changing, not wanting her to think he's staring (even though he absolutely has stared in the past just like she's seen him naked). He tugs the brim of the hat even lower so Jensen can't see past it, giving her a glare that says if she makes another joke, he's leaving her here and not even buying her the nice breakfast food.

"Ready?" he asks, checking that he has his fake ring on.

She huffs when he glares at her, rolling her eyes. "Spoilsport," she mutters under her breath, but her touch is gentle as she slides her fingers against his palm and takes his hand in hers. She's going to need his help getting through the hotel with his hat pulled down that low, but she trusts Cougar with her life, and this is no different than knowing he's up high watching her through his scope.

He cocks his brow upwards because yes, he is a spoilsport. If he happens to want Jake to go through life without being hurt, then he'll accept all of the blame and happily. "Here," he says, nudging her towards the little shop he'd bought the things in last night. "Pick sunglasses. I pay," he promises, kissing her temple as he lets go of her hand to mill through the store.

Playing up the hungover angle as she follows Cougar through the hotel, Jake allows herself to cling to his hand, letting herself be towed through the lobby and out into the street. The shop is close by, only a couple hundred yards, and the change in light from the street to the interior has her blinking owlishly, pushing the brim of his hat up so she can see.

She's not expecting the kiss he gives her, and it honestly leaves her a little flustered.

The display isn't huge or anything, but there's enough choice that she spends a few minutes trying on glasses and squinting at herself in the tiny mirror attached to the top of the turny thing. Eventually, she settles on a pair and goes to hunt him down, finding him idly leafing through some magazines.

"These ones," she declares, holding them out so he can see and sliding her arm through his so she can rest her chin on his shoulder and look at what he's got in his hands.

He gives a 'hmm' and lifts them up as if he wants to inspect them. He nudges them towards her and helps her into them as he loads up a few magazines and snacks in case they don't want to leave the room, paying as he absently holds down a conversation with the cashier about the weather. He also gets a recommendation for brunch, in a little bar near here.

"Found you breakfast," is all he says, keeping his hand at the small of her back.

The sundress he bought her is a halter, floral thing, light and breezy with a very deep back, which means the guiding hand he places on her spine to help her cross the street is spread directly on her skin. It's too warm to shiver, but she wants to. Instead, she plucks Cougar's hat off her head and drops it back on his, adjusting the brim with a conspiratorial smile.

"Let's sit outside," she gushes, when they get to the bar and one of the waiters starts to try and get them to sit down. It'll let her keep her glasses on, and Cougar can hide under his hat like he likes.

Cougar gives a sound of agreement, allowing the waiter to sit them out on the patio. He thinks it will be better than trying to squint in the darkness, but it won't have the privacy to talk about anything. Here, they will have to play at their cover, so he offers Jake a warm smile, easing the chair back for her so she can sit, stroking fingers through her hair, and then helping drape her napkin into her lap before he sits down himself.

"You're beautiful," he praises, where the waiter can hear them, but he means it with all his heart.

She knows, having gone out with Cougar many times, that he can be almost painfully charming in that chivalrous Disney Prince kind of way, but it's one thing to see him do it to someone else and something totally different to have it directed straight at her.

She doesn't have to force the blush that stains her cheeks when he calls her beautiful, and she ducks her head a little to let her hair swing forward and shield her face from the knowing smile of their waiter.

"Carlito, stop," she complains, but it's obvious by her tone she means the complete opposite. "You're ridiculous."

Even though he'd been the one to suggest the name, he's powerless to stop the overwhelming rush that assaults him, struck by the way his cheeks pinken up a little at that name in her voice. He's not ready for that, but it's the best thing he's ever heard. "E verdad," he says, soft and for no one's benefit but theirs.

"Enchiladas," he orders for her, ordering oatmeal and eggs for himself.

She's too busy blushing to order for herself, but thankfully Cougar has that well in hand. The waiter is just about to leave them to it when she remembers, and reaches out to stop him before he can walk away.

"Oh, and coffee, por favor," she adds, smiling winsomely at him, distracted by the sparkle of the ring on her finger.

She knows it's not actually a diamond, just as she knows it's not real, but it's easy for a moment to pretend that she wasn't the one who put it on her own hand and that it wasn't Clay who provided them for them. Jackie is an easier performance than Jake had ever been expecting. It helps that Cougar actually treats her like a girl when she's like this, pulling out chairs and holding doors for her. She's so used to being one of the guys that sometimes she thinks they forget she's a chick.

The look Cougar is giving her right now clearly says he hasn't forgotten. It's just for their cover, but she can't help the way it makes her feel warm and tingly inside.

He reaches out to tangle his fingers with hers over the table as he flips up his own coffee mug to get some delivered for himself, too. Rubbing his thumb back and forth, he knows that he wants to prolong this as much as he can. "When do we tell the others? Our plan?" he says, because if they're going to meet in public, they're going to need to be on board.

"Your glasses, they look nice," he praises, a little awkwardly.

"ASAP, don't you think?" is her reply to his question, though she's too busy watching his hand holding hers to look up to see his face. Those long, brown fingers have literally held her life in them more times than she can really count, both from high up and from much closer to home, slippery with her blood as he's patched her up until they could manage to get her to a medevac.

He's always touched her gently, she realizes. Even when he's had to pin her down so he could bandage her wounds, his hands haven't hurt her. That means something. She's just trying to process what.

"Thank you." She places her chin on the palm of her free hand, her elbow propped up on the table, and smiles at him. "They were a gift."

He can only imagine the comments that they'll have to deal with. He knows that Clay will give him a look that understands far more than he lets on. He knows Roque will probably not approve. And he thinks (and hopes) that Pooch will be somewhat on their side. Pooch, of course, knows about Cougar's feelings when Jake is concerned thanks to a bad reaction to sodium pentothal on a mission that Jake had been back at HQ for. He thinks that all of that is worth it to keep touching and holding onto Jake's hand like this.

"Someone must really like you," is his teasing reply, about her glasses. "They suit you."

"I just need a new battery and a SIM card and we'll be good to go." There's a tiny, traitorous, part of her that almost doesn't want to contact Clay and the others. Yes, of course she wants to go home. Yes, she misses her sister and her niece. Yes, she wants to see them again.

But she's scared, and tired, and honestly, she just wants to hole up somewhere to recuperate. Preferably with Cougar beside her, a comforting presence that she knows she relies on too much, but can't make herself stop.

He treats her so well. She thinks she can be allowed to want that to continue, even if it is a lie.

"Gosh, I hope so." She bites her lip against a laugh and slides her hand out from under her chin so she can waggle her fingers at him, flashing the ring she's wearing. "He gave me this, too."

Edited 2016-07-19 17:21 (UTC)

That swooping feeling in his gut tells Cougar that he's in trouble.

He knows how to read his body and his reactions. He knows when she laughs at him like that, smiles at him like that, bites her lip like that...it all spells trouble for him. He breathes out and wonders if it would have been safer if they had split up, too. Not safer for them as teammates, but safer for their friendship. He knows this can all go badly and it's only been a day.

What happens if they're stuck here for two or three days? Two or three weeks? Months. Without a mission to focus on and something to occupy his time, he can't imagine that he'll be able to compartmentalize his feelings away so easily. Something might happen. "Next, we buy a phone," he says, staring at his place setting. "Call Clay. Tell him."

The change in his demeanor is as sudden as it is startling, and Jake can't help her surprised blink. A quick glance around reveals the fact that there's nobody around them any more, so she figures he's dropping the act now that there isn't anyone to fool.

Jake tries to keep the disappointment sinking in her gut from showing too obviously on her face.

"Yeah," she agrees, sliding her hand out from under his and folding them in her lap instead. She can twist her fingers nervously in her napkin this way without it showing. "I still have my netbook, I can try to get online and see what the fuck is going on. See if the connection's strong enough that I can take a look at our records." She knows what they're going to say, but that doesn't mean she won't want to hack into the military database to find out.

"Make sure you don't get caught," is what he says, voice riddled with worry. The last thing he needs is to set all this up only for it to come back and bite them when someone comes to hurt her and he has to kill them. He lets his gaze fall to her fingers and even though he knows they don't have to put on the act, he wants to.

No, not the act. He just wants to comfort her. He slides his fingers along the table, sneaking under the napkin. From there, he gently rubs his thumb against the pads of her fingers, trying to be hopeful when he knows he's just facing a stretch of nightmares and nothing better than that. It's why he feels weak enough to lean his chair around to hers, sharing space where they can also speak more quietly. "Are you okay?"

She frowns at him, affronted. As if she'd ever get caught, please.

Cougar reaches out to take her hand again, rubbing his thumb over her fingertips with the kind of gentleness that most people wouldn't expect from a man whose whole career consists of shooting people from far away and getting the fuck out of there before anyone knows where he is.

"No," she whispers, miserable. He scoots his chair closer, leaning into her, and she doesn't stop herself from leaning into him in turn, pressing her shoulder to his and sighing. "I'm not okay. I'm so far from okay I don't even know what okay is any more." She sighs, slumping in her chair so she can rest her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment, glad for the sunglasses that hide her eyes from the outside world. "But none of us are okay, are we? I can't let myself wallow."

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