The Perfect Weapon: Chapter 2014: Part 3 cont'd and Part 4

[camillecarelli]

Chapter 2014: part 3 concluded

Judy waited to move until Dave complied, enjoying the sight of the muscles in his biceps bunching with his movements. She turned and walked over to the light switch and turned it down, leaving the room bathed in a stripe of yellow light from the lone bulb in the bathroom. Enough to see, but not enough light to see clearly. Judy moved toward the light switch. "You'll have to wait and see. Or rather, wait and feel." She turned off the lights.

Judy crawled on top of the bed. She settled at Dave’s feet and ran her fingers around his ankles and held on tightly. “What do we have here? A prisoner?”

“Yes,” Dave whispered huskily. He bent his knees and pulled his legs up, wanting her to move up. When she shoved his legs back down, he grinned. So bossy. And at least she was touching him. But why were her hands so hot? Or was it him? “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“My name is Judith. Judith Barnett.” Judy stopped as she heard the huskiness in her voice, sounding much different than her normal speaking tones. Then again, she felt so different, so...excited. Yes, that was her heart beating out of her chest. She slid her hands up Dave’s legs, skimming over his damaged knee, before resting her hands on his thighs, feeling the pounding of his pulse there with just the lightest of touches. She had never known that holding the power in her hands - maybe she should just move her hands up a little more...But no, she could tell that Dave was holding his breath, no doubt waiting for her to do just that. Not yet. “I was...uh...spelunking.”

“Spelunking. Now, there’s a word you don’t hear every day,” Dave teased softly, realizing that taking control like this was new for her. Fine. He could be patient. For a while. Like say...thirty seconds. “My name is David Caro, in case that’s relevant. So, Judith Barnett, you deliberately insert yourself into the depths of the earth looking for uncertain treasures?” Like any good therapist. Because, oh yeah, the small and perhaps unconscious caress of her thumbs against the inside of his thighs was definitely therapeutic.

“Yes. Who knew that spelunking could bring such rewards?” Judy shoved Dave’s legs together and carefully straddled his thighs. My, he was hot, she thought, feeling the hair-roughened skin of his hard thighs brushing against the softer flesh of her own.

“Who knew?” Dave smiled up at her in the dimness, glad he could make out her features and glad that he could not see too clearly. Seeing too much of her soft curves would have put him over the edge as surely as an invitation to indulge his need to touch. Starting with those legs, framed by the silkiness of her robe, enclosing them both in its soft folds. When would she take that off? Now, would be good. As would be controlling himself. The need to feel skin to skin, flesh to flesh, so long denied was beginning to overwhelm him. He reached out with his hands, found the pillow, and squeezed it tightly.

“Do I know you, prisoner?” Judy asked, slowly settling her weight down on Dave’s legs, waiting for him to tell her if it was too much. When he shifted, raising his knees and nearly tumbling her on to his chest, she braced her hands on the bed. “I feel as though I know you.”

“That would be miraculous considering that you’re hardly feeling me at all,” Dave complained, clenching his hands into the pillow to keep them from pulling Judy down on top of him completely.

“Your sarcasm is surprising, given the fact that if you were nice to me, I might free you.” Judy ran her fingertips down the side of Dave’s torso, noting the layer of muscles over the ribs she could still count. She slid her hands back up, brushing her fingers across his nipples. At his indrawn breath, she laughed with the thrill of power at her fingertips. She did it again, stopping to pinch his nipples between her fingers, while warning, “Be nice.”

“Define nice,” Dave groaned, arching his back under her touch, trying to feel more, but damn it, she’d moved her hands. But...wait...who knew that his shoulders could be so sensitive and...

“Doing what I want when I want it.” Judy curled her fingers around his broad shoulders and bent slowly down. Slowly, damn it, when she wanted to just push herself back against his hardness and take him inside her. She could do it, she knew, feeling the heat of banked need pouring from him. She could do it, but...for now...

“Interesting definition...mumph...” Dave’s amused sarcasm changed to a moan as Judy suddenly swept down and kissed him lightly. Touching him only with the inside of her legs and her mouth, it was almost too much, he thought, then stopped thinking to feel as she brushed her lips back and forth against his.

Judy noted with rising excitement how his mouth opened under hers and followed her movements eagerly. He was doing what she wanted when she wanted it. Day-um! What else would he do? Everything, she hoped.

She experimented, pulling back and feeling his mouth lift, finding hers; then pressing harder and wanting to rub against him as he opened his mouth and allowed her tongue deeper into him She licked his lower lip and he pulled back and licked hers. She sat up, panting as his tongue slid across her collarbone, suckling her skin, trying to hold her. Her collarbone, who knew a glide of a slightly-rough tongue across her collarbone could feel like that? He opened his mouth and surprised her with a sharp little nip. She laughed and pretended to pull away, only to stop when his mouth began to move, so slowly that she count the heartbeats, to her neck. He stopped to nuzzle into her neck and she realized that he was breathing in her scent. She moaned at the intimacy of it and relaxed against him, needing to feel the hard length of his body against hers. She felt his breath pause and registered a second later that her robe had fallen loose during their kiss and one breast was bare and the hardened nipple was pressing into his chest. Warm, no, hot chest. Her nipple puckered even more tightly as it rubbed against the hard muscles beneath her. She began to move, rubbing her flesh against his, smiling down at him as his entire body went rigid from just that small point of connection. He was becoming overwhelmed - by her, she thought as her head swam from the intoxication of the idea and the need she felt in him.

Dave gripped the pillow and squinted in the dim light, looking down, trying to see the source of his torment. A woman’s breast. God. The weight, the soft weight in his hands...No, thank god he wasn’t supposed to touch or he’d probably hurt her by pressing too hard in this whirlwind of need that was swarming his good intentions. And thank god he couldn’t see her breast clearly, that he couldn’t see the curving flesh, the...was that a pink nipple...that he couldn’t see the little goosebumps on her skin, the tiny little bumps that were merely the warm up to the main attraction, the nipple. The nipple, meant for suckling. The feel of it in his mouth...He pursed his lips, imagining and shifted under Judy, stopping abruptly when he felt his hardness press up against the silkiness of the robe across her hips.

“Lick it.” Judy’s voice cut through Dave’s thoughts like a whip. Her voice was hoarse and tight with excitement and then damn it, she undulated back, rubbing against him and he almost lost it. Then almost lost it again when she rubbed her nipple against his chest and collarbone. “Did you hear me, Caro? Lick it.”

“Lick what?” Dave asked, almost afraid to hope. It had been so long and she couldn’t really just - But she could, if she were Bossy Judy.

“This.” Judy bent forward and brushed her right nipple against Dave’s mouth, meaning to tease him, then let out a soft cry as he gave it a quick lick before shocking her by sucking it deeply into his mouth. The hunger in his mouth sent a flush over and through her, starting from her nipple and sending flashes of heat to her pelvis, then down her legs until her toes curled from the pure pleasure of it, before the heat flashed up her back and into her scalp and her entire body tingled and then burned from...She gasped as he bit down lightly, then resumed sucking her hard.

Yes, yes, yes...Dave chanted to himself silently before pure sensation took over. The smoothness of her skin against his roughness, the softness of her flesh, the texture of her nipple in his mouth, the tightness of that point his tongue was laving over and over...He could do this forever, he thought. Or he could if it hadn’t been so long and she wasn’t so hot and needy herself and...her nails were digging into his shoulders, the insignificant pain telling him how excited she was. It was almost too much and he pulled back to gasp for breath, glad that his touching was limited by-

“I didn’t tell you to stop, Caro.” Judy slapped her hands on Dave’s upraised biceps and pushed him back into the bed. “In fact, you’re no where near done.”

“You gotta be...” Dave lifted his hips, pressing his hardness against her backside. “Kidding. I’m almost done. Give me your arm or even better your elbow, because otherwise, I’m really almost done...”

“No, you’re not. You haven’t licked the other one.” Judy bent over once again and placed her left nipple against his lips, pressing hard as Dave’s mouth immediately opened and resumed sucking her. She smiled down at him, wondering if he could feel the pounding of her pulse. God, he’d been right. This power he was giving her to fulfill a fantasy and to feel and direct his need was the most exciting...She groaned and arched her back and his teeth scraped against her sensitized flesh. “You’ll do this until I tell you to stop.”

“But...” Dave muttered against her breast, kissing the top of it, then licking around the nipple.

“Do it.” Judy shifted until her nipple slid back into his mouth. She slid her hands around his shoulders and held on bending further over, forcing his head back into the pillow. Her movements caused his hardness to inadvertently slide across the curves of her buttocks in a rapid glide that stopped against the dampness between her legs.

“Damn it!” Dave cried out, shifting back desperately, panting as he sought for control. The rough sound of his breathing filled the room and suddenly he noticed how dark it was.

Judy lifted herself so that they were no longer touching. Too much, too soon. He was breathing too hard, she realized instantly. She swallowed the sound of his frustration and fear in her mouth as once again she kissed him, hard this time, taking control until she felt him surrender to the need by lifting his head and pressing his mouth against hers, aggressively sliding his tongue against her lips, and exploring her mouth in demanding, possessive sweeps that, this time, left her breathless. She lifted her mouth and tilted her head back, then moaned as Dave’s lips traveled over her chin and licked the underside of it, slowly, as if he were memorizing it before beginning to move down her neck.

Dave closed his eyes, no longer afraid of the darkness, even glad of it, not wanting the overstimulation even the sight of her partially-clothed body in dim lighting provided. God, he thought, as he rubbed his cheek against her nipple, how he wanted...He whispered to himself, “Some day, some day soon, I’d like to take the time to lavish attention on each and every inch of your skin and lick it, kiss it, suck it, smooth it with my hands until I’ve memorized it, inhale the scent of you until I can’t breathe without it. I’d like to spend an hour on the inside of your elbow and...” Dave turned his head and found her arm, edging aside her robe until it hung from her forearms, trapping her. He moved his mouth down to that spot and began licking it slowly, wondering if he’d ever felt this aroused, if anything had ever felt as erotic as this tiny little curve and angle of elbow - of elbow of all things! - when he felt the sudden tension in Judy’s body tauten her body before she seemed to melt on top of him.

Judy moaned and then moaned again as his words seemed to penetrate her body and give her as much pleasure as his hands, still entangled in the pillow, might have. She stared down at his head as he kissed her elbow again. Not enough, not enough, she knew. “Now...” She whispered, pushing his head toward her body.

“Yes.” Dave turned his head and licked the underside of her breast, tasting the curve before flicking the nipple, then taking it once again into his mouth. He suckled on it until he could feel the heat between them manifest itself in the slick dampness of her smooth skin sliding against his and the unmistakable scent of a woman. That was a movie, but who cared, he had a real woman, a lovely warm woman on top of him. No movie could compete with this reality, nor could any fantasy. He inhaled sharply, then moved his mouth over the inner curve of her breast, before sliding between her breasts, lapping at the skin of her torso, edging downward, silently urging her to move up. Unconsciously Judy moved forward, then up as his tongue went down and circled her navel. Tilting his head, he gently bit the skin of her belly, then laved it with his tongue, teasing the edge of her navel. She felt the slight scratch of the shadow of his beard which somehow seemed to only add to the edginess she felt as...or was that his hunger as he turned his head and licked the crease of her thigh. What was he waiting for? She asked, then knew. She was Bossy Judy, so it was her... But...Did she dare? Judy bit her lip.

“What do you want me to do, Judith?” Dave asked, his voice so deep that it seemed to meld into the darkness on the edges of the room. “Tell me so that I can be nice and say yes.”

“Lick me...” Judy said softly, then hearing Dave’s hiss of indrawn breath, she repeated more firmly, “Lick me and kiss me. Now.”

“Yessss...” Dave whispered before his lips touched her skin. As his lips met her wet warmth, he groaned, the vibrations taking a grip inside her until the reverberations from within began to make her tremble all over. He felt her shaking or...was it his? In the darkness, he could not tell, could only feel

Judy slid her hands into his hair, holding on tightly, then began to caress his scalp. He paused, moaned, rubbed his head into her hands, then bent his head forward once again. It took Judy a moment to realize that he was following her cue, the movements of his tongue and lips timed to match the movements of her hands. Good god, he was allowing her to direct this too? Oh my...and she moaned, then he moaned and she knew he had felt rush of wet heat between her legs. She might be embarrassed, she thought, if she thought about it, but slowly increasing the pace of her stroking fingers in his hair and feeling how he responded to her direction, she was far past thinking.

Lost in the feelings spinning through his body, the scent of her arousal, the texture of her skin, the wetness of her meeting his tongue, the smoothness of her thighs against his shoulders, Dave focused on the urgency in the fingers massaging his scalp, yet another sensation testing his control, until he finally heard the gasp he’d been waiting for. Her fingers stopped stroking suddenly and held on tightly, pressing him into her, and he obliged, moving ever closer with his mouth, until he heard what she was feeling.

“Day-um!” Judy cried out softly as pinpricks of light exploded in the darkened room.

“You have been nice, prisoner. Very nice...” Judy noted after she caught her breath. She slid her hands down Dave’s shoulders and bent arms to clamp her fingers around Dave’s wrists and pulled his hands out from under the pillow.

“More than nice. And just think, given what I was able to do with my mouth alone...” Dave flexed his hands, wondering where Judy would put them. He had a few ideas.

Judy put his hands on her thighs. “Yes, just think what you can do with your hands as well.” She smiled as he slid his hands slowly up her still-shaky thighs, pushing her legs further apart.

“I’m not thinking, I’m feeling and...tasting...” Dave whispered as he gave one last, long kiss to her pulsing warmth, then opened his mouth, unable to resist one little suckling that grew into something more than little.

“Was that in your fantasy?” Judy gasped as Dave’s mouth stopped sucking at her and she slid back down his body, resting her weight on top of him. She sighed and kissed his neck, then his chest as his hands slid around her waist and down to her hips.

Skimming his fingers along the tops of her thighs, pushing them further apart, Dave stared at the soft glimmer of her body revealed and concealed with the purple robe still covering much of her before moving his hands inward. “Honestly, no. The fantasy was all about me and my needs. Reality is about us. Which is infinitely better. And tastier.” Dave grinned and licked his lips.

Judy groaned with embarrassment that changed to need as Dave’s fingers slid inside her without warning while his thumb pressed into her, surprising her by immediately reigniting need. She closed her eyes and melted against him, feeling a flush of heat start where his thumb touched her and rolling over her in a frantic rush. Opening her mouth, she searched blindly in the darkness for his mouth, hungrily finding his lips to be as greedy as hers as their mouths slanted against each other, searching.

“Good, you’re hot.” Dave cupped her breasts in his hands, flicking his nails against her hardened tips as if he knew, Judy thought, that every time he did that it sent a corresponding flash to flesh she’d thought was sated. “So hot, aren’t you? This is making you want to come again, isn’t it?”

“What...” Judy squeaked, trying to pull her robe around herself, to be stopped by Dave’s firm hands. He pulled her hands free and she braced herself on the bed, leaning over him once again.

“Accept that fact. And accept this...” Dave reached up and began slowly licking her tight nipple. When she began pushing her nipple deeper into his mouth and her arms began to tremble, he gave her nipple one last suck and lifted his mouth, smiling at her soft protest. “You’re ready and I want you, I owe you, so--”

“For what? We’re...even.” Judy’s voice broke mid-sentence as Dave’s fingers began stroking a sensitive spot before sliding out and onto her hips and she forgot her intention to tease him.

“Oh no, we’re not. Because I’m going to come any second and I want you with me this time.”

“Oh! You want me with you?” Judy grinned, then sat up straight, reached down with her hand to grasp Dave’s hardness firmly.

“No...Ahh...Yesss!” Dave groaned and thrust into Judy’s hand. “Hurry...”

Ignoring his loud groan and hoping that Sark had not heard that...Hell, the people living in the street below had probably heard it, she knew and just ignored it as she lowered herself quickly and took him inside her. "Was that quick enough?" she asked in that prim voice that she already knew he liked and began to move her hips in a swift rotating motion. "Or do you need it faster?"

“Damn!” Dave yelled as he arched up into her soft tight heat. He slid his hands around her curves of her buttocks and pressed her down on him, shoving the robe away, cursing slightly when it didn’t come off. Fine, he’d deal with it, just... “Don’t move...just don’t...”

“Why not?” Judy asked, teasingly, as she shifted slightly back and forth. She laughed when his fingers tightened on the tops of her thighs. Had she ever felt so wanted and therefore so powerful in her life? Had she ever made a man so excited with just the slightest of movements? Had she ever felt so excited? No, no, no. All because of his saying, yes, yes, yes. “Why shouldn’t I move? Tell me,” Judy demanded, sliding her hands around his shoulders, then down to his arms, to curl around his tight biceps.

“I’m going to...” Dave gritted his teeth and forced his hands to loosen their hold on Judy’s skin, not wanting to leave a mark on her pale flesh. Pale, warm, womanly flesh, more revealed than concealed by that spill of purple silk that looked almost black in the near-darkness that allowed Judy to reveal more of her desires and needs than she probably knew and allowed him more control than he’d expected.

“You mean if I do this...” Judy squeezed her thighs together and tightened her muscles.

“Damn...” Dave groaned, his head falling back onto the pillow. He closed his eyes, knowing that even the dusky image of her over him would be too much for him right now.

Judy watched Dave’s neck move as he swallowed hard, his damp skin glinting softly in the dim light. Unable to resist, she bent her neck and gave a long lick from the base of his throat to his chin, tasting the saltiness of exertion as he held back. She bit his chin, heard his slight gasp and started to smile triumphantly when suddenly Dave’s hand slid up her spine to the back of her head and pushed her down for a hard needy kiss of sliding tongue and nipping teeth that left her breathless and wanting. Wanting more than she’d ever wanted from any other man. She hadn’t even known she could want this much, she decided as she moved on him, unable to stop herself. “More...” she whispered through tingling lips before Dave’s mouth opened on hers and his tongue began to imitate the movements of his lower body.

“Yes. More. Like this?” Dave asked, tightening his buttocks and forcing his hardness to even greater rigidity inside Judy’s body, exerting all of the self-control he’d gained after two decades of incarceration to a purpose other than mere survival. He groaned as he felt her hunger meet his, felt her open to him, felt her trusting him, as she seemed to become fluid above him, her mouth softening against his as her lips trembled and she whispered the little nothings that meant everything. Yes, he thought. Yes, to a celebration of survival and life, as he felt that connection essential to life truly lived arc between Judy and him as more than their fleshed touched.

His hunger made her gasp and then the rigid hardness of him made her groan. The hand on the back of her head sifted through her hair relaxing her, distracting her further until she realized that his right hand slid toward their joining. “Hurry up!” she ordered, grabbing his hand and shoving it toward her waiting flesh.

“Good god. My pleasure, woman!” Dave groaned and laughed simultaneously. Even as her body quickened under his hand and around his body, sending him racing to the end, he felt as if it were just the beginning of a new joy he would find with her.

Judy leaned over Dave, then stopped and swore in frustration as her robe slid down her arms again, hampering her. With a growl of annoyance, she stripped it from her body, dropping it onto the bed somewhere, before bending down over Dave, rocking back on him as he thrust up into her. She froze as he grew harder, then harder still inside her, wanting to feel, just as she’d told him to feel. “Dave...” she moaned as his fingers moved as expertly as his mouth had earlier, knowing, learning just how to touch and that heated shaft inside her, touching her...She moved again, moving on him, moving with him, wanting, needing to hear him cry out as their senses rushed toward each other. “Dave, c’mon. Come for me. Now. Say yes.”

“Judy...” Dave groaned loudly, feeling his entire body tighten. He knew by the sudden rush of liquid heat that she was responding to his need in the age old celebration of life and connection and pushed up inside her, pressing his fingers against her, needing her with him. He moaned, unable to stop the inevitable flight of his body... “Yes!” he cried out loudly as he finally felt her begin to clench around him, taking him inside her in the perfect tightness of a woman’s body, just as her own soft cries echoed in his head until they mixed with his in a joyful explosion of all their senses.

“That spelunking was...” Judy sighed and snuggled into Dave’s arms as they awoke some time later, the sun still hidden.

“Pretty damn good, wasn’t it?” Dave asked smugly, grinning widely. “Ouch!” he cried out when she pinched the back of his arm.

“Shut up, you jerk.” Judy rubbed her face into Dave’s shoulder to hide her smile. He could be boyishly transparent and deeply complex within five minutes. She had a feeling that he was never going to bore her. Then he shifted his leg and pressed against her and she froze as she realized that he was not limp, he was... “You’re kidding. I didn’t see a prescription for Viagra in your medical file,” she teased, realizing that an unnatural abstinence period like Dave’s would lead to...well, she pressed against him...this. She wiggled against him. It was like having the resilience of a young man with the wisdom and experience of an older man. With smile lines. Perfect.

Dave laughed softly as his hands caressed the round curves of her buttocks. A woman with flesh on her bones. He sighed happily and moved his hands up to her breasts, shoving aside the robe to cup and mold them with his fingers. “Jude, it’s...Can I be honest with you?”

“Always. Believe me, that’s a priority for me,” Judy said firmly.

Dave nodded briskly. “Okay. It’s been more than a decade since I’ve engaged in the boredom of sex without meaning in that gulag with women supplied to me, whores for Mother Russia. And twenty years since I’ve made love with a woman I cared for. So I have... You know, when you said to wait and feel? I could go on feeling you all night and it wouldn’t be enough to sate my hunger for a woman who matters, whose touch makes me feel so much more than a temporary release.” Dave took a breath, then expelled it, deciding to wait for her response. He relaxed when she lifted her face and gently kissed his lips, then slid her mouth back and forth, her lips clinging more with each passing touch. Dave licked her lower lip and whispered in broken eagerness, “Judy... you were, are...so-“

“What...What am I ...” Judy asked, pulling her mouth away.

“God, don’t stop! I know, I know...” Dave took a calming breath as he felt her heart beating too rapidly against his own chest, the rapid pulse of fear. “That you’re not the type of woman who just engages in this kind of behavior with someone she doesn’t know that well-“

“How about with anyone, ever!” Judy told him, then felt herself blush. Which was ridiculous, she told herself. This man was Dave, who in such a short time had become a solid presence in her life. He had been through so much, seen so much, survived so much. Nothing could shock him, nothing would ever cause him to want to reduce her freedom to try anything to serve his own ego. Finally, this man was someone that Jack Bristow trusted implicitly, with the lives of those he loved, which told her everything she needed to know. That and his smile lines.

Dave ran his fingertip down her cheek. Warm. Of course. “Maybe...you feel what I do. That we do know each other even if it hasn’t been so very long...”

Judy peered at Dave in the shadowed light, lightly touched the smile lines at the corner of his mouth, and relaxed against his long warmth. “Is that the truth or is that your penis talking?”

Dave burst out laughing and tightened his arm around Judy. “How about...both?”

Judy laughed as well. “Points for honesty. And I suppose it would be exceedingly cruel of me to stop now.” And she didn’t really want to stop. This game - but was it a game? - it felt so real and right...

“Exceedingly! And being cruel to a former POW who has suffered so sorely is surely against some code somewhere.” Somewhere, like...her legs, he loved the feel the skin of her thighs, so soft and--

“But surely, making this poor, former POW feel sore... Tsk, tsk.” Judy clucked her tongue, while running her hand slowly across Dave’s broad chest, enjoying the firm warmth of it against her palm.

“I’m going to be sore?” Dave asked in anticipation.

Judy laughed again at the hopeful note in Dave’s voice. “Any muscle if not used regularly and then subject to exertion stands the risk of becoming sore upon sudden usage. And you, twenty years? Now I see....” Judy let out a long sigh.“That explains it.”

“What?” Dave asked eagerly, enjoying the snotty tone to her voice. He wasn’t sure which version he liked better - the prissy voice or the snotty one, but he’d be happy to listen to her for a long time trying to make a decision.

“Why you were so hard inside me. I wonder if you’ll be that hard the next time.” Judy slid her hand down his back and squeezed his buttocks.

Dave groaned as her words heated his skin until he felt as though he had a fever. “Geez! You’re killing me. I knew it. I knew it from the moment I saw you throwing your shoes in a fit that underneath that cool blonde facade there was...” He stopped as he felt her face heat against his chest. He smiled gently at her, running his hands through her hair. “Judy?”

“I have never...” Judy began. “I bet that’s hard to believe.”

“No, it’s not. I could tell by the surprise in your eyes that you’d never pushed yourself like that.”

“I must seem very provincial to you-“

“Provincial? Sophistication in bed often means merely that one has seen and done too much. The senses become jaded and..” Dave trailed off. Had he been in danger of that before his unfortunate incarceration? Is that one reason why Jack had been so adamant about rejecting any and all in and out missions when he’d decided on Laura? “Well, mine are no more sophisticated and jaded than yours, in case you didn’t notice before.”

“Before? When, exactly? Tell me!” Judy urged, leaning up on one elbow, running her hand down Dave’s hard chest to his abdomen.

“Okay, Bossy Judy.” Dave turned into her touch, closing his eyes to focus on the feel of her fingers against his skin. How long had it been since someone had touched him like that, in casual intimacy? No wonder he was getting hard again.

“Dave?” Judy pinched Dave’s nipple. “Answer me. When were your tastes unsophisticated?”
Dave smiled as she soothed his nipple with a gentle touch. She had regained her equilibrium and was ready for more. More, she’d told him earlier. Yes. “Right after you turned out the lights and came over to the bed.”

“What? I touched your ankle.”

“Yeah. All you had to do before was touch my ankle and I’m leaking-“

“Good god!” Judy cried out.

Thud

Judy and Dave looked at each other and smothered their laughter at the thump from Sark’s side of the wall. “I may die,” Judy whispered into Dave’s neck.

“Well, let me help you on your way to that little death...” Dave whispered back, rolling on top of her. Perhaps if he tired her out, she would forget to be embarrassed in the morning.

Knock
Knock

Weiss sleepily opened the door to his tiny bedroom. “Wha-Sark?”

Sark pushed his way inside, carrying a blanket and a pillow. “Excuse the untimely interruption-“

“Untimely? It’s three freaking o’clock in the morning and we’re in the air at sunrise tomor...today. What the hell is your problem? Did a witty bitty spider scare you?”

“Shut the hell up,” Sark said in his New Jersey accent. “You’re annoying the crap out of me and I’m in no mood. No mood, do you hear me?”

Weiss began to laugh. “Basic American is better for getting your point across, I take it?”

“So Irina always said,” Sark noted absently, his voice returning to normal as he scanned the room. “Only one bed.”

“Yeah and it’s mine.”

Sark shrugged and flung his blanket down on the floor. “As I deduced. Age before beauty and whatnot.”

“What rot, you mean.” Weiss sighed and closed the door. “Why are you here, really? It can’t be because you’re lonesome for my form.”

“Hardly. But since Dr. Barnett has decided that right here, right now in the room next to mine is the very best time and place to give Dave a...personal therapy session...”

“Huh? He has his own therapist and...Oh!” Weiss made another deduction from the smarmy expression on Sark’s face. He threw himself onto the bed while Sark resignedly lay down on his blanket. “Tell all.”

“I think not.”

“C’mon-“

“No.” Sark rolled onto his back and crossed his hands across his abdomen. “I’m saving myself for Sydney.”

“You’re what? Oh, wait, I get it. You’ll tell Syd that you have some private confidence for her, which will make Vaughn insane and..” Weiss nodded. “You know, I don’t think that’s necessary-“

“As if I care about the imperatives of necessity? I merely intend to have some amusement at Vaughn’s expense. He takes himself far too seriously.”

“Tell me about it, man. Those forehead wrinkles of his-“

“His face is going to-“

“Freeze that way?” Weiss looked down at Sark and they both grinned.

“I...think I remember my mother saying that,” Sark said softly.

“Every mother said that,” Weiss agreed quietly. He stared at Sark and then rolled over to turn out the light. Lying there, he thought about the long plane ride to Pakistan and Sark’s circling of Dave and Judy as they’d talked, seemingly endlessly for hours. Whenever Sark would come close, Dave would draw him into the conversation. Sark had pretended at first to be grudgingly involved, but as the hours had worn on, he had allowed his eager need to be with the man who treated him as a son to show when no one mocked him for it or even commented on it. But still...” You know, Sark, I have a question.”

“You should have many questions given the depths of your apparent ignorance.”

“Shaddup. I’m wondering. I know we’ve got a tracker in your shoulder and all that, but still - no attempt to escape?”

Sark shrugged and folded his hands behind his head. “Dave and Jack and quite possibly Sydney would hunt me down and-“

“That wouldn’t stop you from making the attempt, not if you were desperate.” Of course, Sark just might be desperate to stay with the only version of family he had left to him. Dave.

“Possibly. But there is the problem of disarming the tracker. Not being enamored of defibrillating myself-“

“Give me a break. That’s not it.”

“Why, Erica, are we exchanging confidences in the dark? What’s next, painting our toenails?”

“That’s too much information about your private girlie fetishes, Juli...” Weiss drawled. “But in the spirit of team building, I’ll ask. Do you prefer hot pink or purple?”

Sark choked, then began to laugh. “I’ll give you this. Tomorrow ask Dave how he feels about the color purple. And I don’t mean the film.”

Chapter 2014: Part 4

“So, Dave...” Weiss drawled the next morning as Dave stifled a yawn. “Sark tells me I need to ask you how you feel about the color purple. Not the movie, but-“

“The color of the bruise I’m going to give that boy when-“ Dave glared at Sark, who was looking unconcerned. “Get over here.”

“I think I’ll bow out now...” Weiss exited with a look in Sark’s direction. Good. Pretty boy was in trouble. This mission was really becoming a lot of fun. And they hadn't even killed Sloane yet. Good times.

Dave looked over at Sark. “If you know what’s wise for you,” he hissed. “You’ll wipe that smirk off of your face before Judy gets here or I’ll do it for you.”

“Who, me?” Sark blinked, opening his eyes wide. “What smirk?”

“Don’t give me that innocent baby-face crap, Juli. I know all of your tricks.”

“Hmm. Well. I wish I knew all of yours, given what I heard- Okay!“ Sark rubbed his arm, where Dave had grabbed it. Who knew the old man was that strong again? Or that quick; he should have remembered Gregor's fate. “Sorry.”

“You should be.” Dave crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. Based on past experience, that tactic should work. He waited.

Sark touched Dave’s arm. “I’m serious. I apologize. I...might have known that you wouldn’t care to-“

“I didn’t have a chance to impart this bit of wisdom to you, I admit. So I’ll do it now. Kissing and telling is the sign of an immature asshole.”

Sark nodded. “Bragging is never an attractive quality.”

“Exactly.” Dave patted Sark on the back. “And Judy would be especially...aggravated to discover-“

“And you don’t want her aggravated and...self-conscious.”

“Yes. However...” Dave grimaced as Weiss came up bearing his cane. He sighed and took it. After waiting for Weiss to return to the vehicle, he added to Sark, “Speaking in general terms...” Dave poked the tip of his cane into the dry earth with each word, sending up little puffs of dust.

“Yes?” Sark asked.

“A piece of advice. Man to man.”

“Yes?”

“If a woman wants you to do something, then....?”

“Do it?”

“Very good. Even if it involves, well, whatever.” Dave grinned, as he remembered Judy’s complaint about her ex-husband and whipped cream when they’d been exchanging soft confidences this morning. He looked at Sark’s amused face appraisingly. The boy needed a woman who would take charge, if not in bed, everywhere else. He flourished within firm boundaries and floundered without them. Too bad Arezou was lost to the flux of refugees. He had always thought she would make a perfect companion for Juli. A born leader, deeply curious, thoughtful, and thanks to Yasmina, with a strong sense of right and wrong and perhaps most important of all, compassionate; Arezou would have helped Juli achieve his potential.

“Whipped cream. Check.” Sark smiled, then looked down at Dave's suspicious glance. Oops. He'd 'forgotten' that he'd overheard the whipped cream conversation. But actually, he didn't understand and from the recesses of his memory, he knew he could ask Dave about anything he didn't understand. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“As long as you don’t ask me to betray the confidences or trust of another.”

Sark opened his mouth and then snapped it closed. He touched his temple. “A life lesson from Uncle Dave?”

“You might say. So, ask.”

“I...heard you two laughing last night. And...I...don’t...”

“Yes.” Dave looked at Sark appraisingly. What an interesting unspoken question from a young man in a life transition, just as surely as he'd just changed from smirking knowledge to uncertainty. What had Juli learned of sex and love in his life? Too much of the former and not enough of the latter. And through his formative years he had never seen a loving relationship. A disadvantage. Not insurmountable, but still. “Laughter can be just as intimate, if not more so, than the sexual act. Or it is, for me. You may not find it so.”

“Why? Because of individual variations or because all of my laughter has been at someone else’s expense until now and I’d have to learn how to have genuinely-shared laughter?”

Dave felt his eyebrows rise up toward his hair. He patted Sark on the back approvingly once again. The kid was so very quick. “Very good call. I hope you'll find that intimacy doesn't come from inserting a tab into a slot but from sharing yourself, which...would be a new idea for you," Dave knew, given who Juli's 'girlfriend' had been. That Allison had been a bad seed from the moment he had met her, the worst possible leader for a follower like Juli. "You were put into a hypercompetitive situation at the time when you were reaching puberty. In competition with and for girls. You had no more emotional intimacy with them than with anyone else. There was no place for that. Vulnerability was dangerous.”

“Yes, but...” Sark stopped. All of what Dave said was true. He supposed. “I...I’ve had some moments with Sydney. And Weiss. I think.”

“I think you have. Good practice.” Dave caught sight of Judy as she emerged from the transport vehicle. It must have grown hot enough in there to overcome her fear of embarrassment. Or she had gotten sick of beer nuts. What was the point of transporting beer nuts into a country without beer, he'd asked Zamir. Well, it was Weiss' problem to get them to the other vehicle. He shrugged, turned toward her, smiling warmly. When she hesitated, he began to walk to meet her, holding his cane.

Judy walked up to the men, unable to resist Dave’s welcoming smile. Dave took her hand and tucked it inside his arm and patted it. She could do this, she told herself looking down at the hand with four fingers to remind herself to have courage. Sark could not have heard too much last night. And they were all adults. They were all adults. “True. Emotional connections require practice,” she said in a professional tone. That would work. Act...professional. And ignore the slight upturn of Dave’s lips at the sound of that tone. The man knew too much.

“Is that so?” Sark noted the slight tinge of pink in Judy’s pale cheeks as well as the protective glance Dave threw at her, then in his direction. Sark nodded ever so slightly at Dave. He would not embarrass Dr. Barnett. Dave would kill him if he did, anyway. And he so wanted to see how this game would end. All of the games. “I suppose practice is essential in any enterprise,” Sark said blandly, seeing Judy’s shoulders relax. “I wish I’d had an opportunity to get to the target range and practice my marksmanship.”

“It shouldn’t be necessary,” Dave said absently, scanning the horizon as they waited for the helicopter. Sark did the same and they both froze as a tiny, almost imperceptible flash of light from a hill caught their eyes. They turned slightly. “Ah...binoculars. Act natural.”

“The trap is open,” Sark whispered, looking down briefly at Dave’s unnecessary cane. “Is that cane equipped? I should have a gun-“

Dave felt Judy tense next to him and stroked her hand gently. “It’s unnecessary, Juli. We’ll lure him in and then...”

Sark nodded his head in the direction of the movement. “It’s always best to be prepared - and.... I can’t believe I said that.”

“You do sound remarkably like-“ Weiss began, walking up to the group to distribute water bottles, before he would leave for his meet with Vaughn. Turbans, again. Jack was sooooo funny.

“The human shar-pei?” Sark nodded and smiled slightly at Weiss’ bark of laughter. “However, one never knows when a good clear hit will prove exceedingly useful.”

Dave looked appraisingly at Sark. His words were true. Failing to take advantage of every opportunity was a fool’s mistake and he was never going to play the fool for Arvin again. “As I recall from your file, you are an expert marksman.”

Sark brightened at Dave’s interest. If he could be the marksman, then perhaps he wouldn’t have to wear a burka this time. “Shooting was one of my strengths, yes.”

“Dead shot?” Dave pressed and nodded toward the sky as the helicopter hovered into view. “Tell the truth.”

“Dead shot. If that’s what you require. Or a simple wounding to allow time for--”

“Torture?” Dave smiled grimly as the copter set down and he tapped the cane into the dust again. “Everyone has their weaknesses. Even Arvin.”

“Sydney...” Arvin fought to keep the triumph from his voice. “You must know how saddened I am to learn of Jack’s return to his weakened state. I...” He sighed regretfully. “I suppose the second death of his beloved wife was just too much.”

“Screw that crap. How did you get this number?” Sydney snapped, making a thumbs-up gesture.

“I have my ways. You know that.” As he knew that Dave and his crew were on their way to help Jack. His team had lost track of them once the helicopter had veered into a mountainous region, but there was always another way. And he’d make sure of it with a personal visit to his contact, now that he was in the country.

“Yeah. Ways that benefit you and your agenda.”

“What should be of interest to you, Sydney, is the ways I can be of benefit to you and Jack.”

“Hmm. Let’s review. Would that way be like the time you left my father to be interrogated and possibly killed after you left SD-6--“

“After setting a game plan in motion that guaranteed that the Agency would storm the offices that very day? Jack’s handled far worse than my replacement at SD-6-“

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Sydney agreed in a tight voice. “Such as the failure to obtain proper therapy after his breakdown the last time. I still wonder how that happened. As should you, given the fact that you were his supervisor and best friend-“

“I can help him now, Sydney. He’s my oldest friend, you must know how much I’d want to help him. And the Agency? They’ve never helped him. Never. And now? Allowing Irina Derevko free rein resulting in her death and the loss of her valuable intel, to say nothing of proving his fallibility and weaknesses? They’ll jail him and leave him there to rot before they give him the help he needs,” Arvin said firmly, knowing from her conversation with Vaughn that he was voicing Sydney’s fears. “You know that as well as I do. Don’t you, Sydney? You do know that he needs private help. And surely Dave’s abilities must be dubious at this time, recovering as he is from his foolishness.” Arvin rubbed his chin, gratified at the report that Dave appeared to still require a cane. He’d be easily removed from action.

“I know that. And I also know this. You never do anything that does not benefit you directly. So don’t hand me a line of bullshit that helping my father is reward enough. What do you really want?”

“That’s what you think of me?” What did Sydney think of him and how could he use it, Arvin wondered, thinking rapidly.

“Does it matter what I think of you except in the context of your need to convince me of your sincerity?”

Arvin nodded. She was good. He'd been so correct to recruit her. “You’ve grown so cynical and jaded. You used to be such a sweet child-“

“Life happens, Arvin. Cut to the chase.”

Arvin sighed. “Jack was right, it appears, in his reluctance to involve you in the workings of SD-6; it seems to have changed you.”

“Yeah, it’s made me deeply suspicious of people who pretend to care about me and my family, but would undercut us in a second when it suits their purposes.”

“And yet...” Arvin whispered. “You had seemingly no problem accepting Irina back into the fold. A fatal error, wasn’t that? Where were your suspicions then?”

Sydney hissed in a breath. “If you believe that insulting my choices will gain you what you desire, then you’ve sorely misunderstood this game.”

“Game? Is that what this is?” Arvin parried, while trying to devise his best negotiating ploy.

“Isn’t it always? Isn’t negotiation always a game?” Sydney sighed. “However, I’m bored with it. I don’t have my father’s endless capacity to engage in chess. Never have, never will. And keeping me on the line will not serve any purpose you have in trying to locate my signal. As you may remember, Marshall is capable of-“

“As I remember. How is Marshall?”

“Sane. Unlike you, if you think exchanging pleasantries will be to your benefit. Tell me what you want in exchange for your help.”

“I want what you have.”

“And that would be? Let me guess." Sydney paused for effect, then whispered almost soundlessly, "Emily.”

Arvin felt sweat break out over his entire body. He leaned forward in his seat, as if he could reach her faster. “You...do have her,” Arvin demanded, his voice loud even to his ears.

“I am cognizant of her whereabouts.” Sydney looked up at her parents, who nodded approvingly as she stayed with the script.

Arvin glanced down at the voice pattern monitor. It appeared she was telling the truth. If so... “I see. How is she?”

Sydney sighed regretfully. “Emily...She said once, that sometimes a flower does not transplant well.”

Arvin drew in a startled breath. “I heard her say that. Irina allowed me to listen in on a few of her conversations with Emily.”

“I see,” Sydney said stiffly. “As part of her extraction efforts, I presume.”

“To be honest, yes. And also to be honest, I can be trusted since this time you hold all the cards, don’t you? You have what I want most.”

“So I do. I’ll....” Sydney sighed again. “Excuse me. I'm tired. I’ll give you this. I’ll see what Dave can do and if he’s ineffective I’ll...consider your offer. Consider it, only. I make no more promises. And if I find you within rifle range without my consent, I won’t hesitate to give the order to shoot.”

“So ruthless,” Arvin said approvingly. Foolish child to think she could best him. He’d find a way in. There was always a way in. Even Jack, especially Jack, would agree to the truth of that statement.

“I am my mother’s daughter,” Sydney said in sad tones and hung up. She turned and curtsied toward her parents as they clapped approvingly.

Arvin stared at the mute phone and dialed another number. “What else do you have? Anything unusual in the area?”

“Nothing. Nothing,” Arvin’s contact said quickly, wishing to limit his contact with the man. Dealing with the infidels was bad enough, but this man made him feel especially dirty.

“Nothing? Then tell me everything. It’s not every day that a helicopter picks up four Americans and...” Arvin frowned. Where was Vaughn? He must have evaded the net with greater skill than he’d given him credit for; perhaps there was something to Sydney’s admiration of the boy. “Someone must have noticed something.”

“I tell you, I have questioned all in the area. I even questioned the drivers of transport vehicles-“

“What kind of transport vehicle?” Arvin asked quickly. Transport vehicles were a regular mode of infiltrating an area. That and a pretty woman; but that technique did not work in the land of the burka.

“Oil. Snacks. Grain. Textil-“

“A snack food truck?” Arvin stopped pacing abruptly. Wait. Didn’t Zamir’s family own a snack foods business? He remembered that vaguely. Zamir...Sydney had met Zamir. Zamir was in the area. She might have been trying to call him for help. And what better way to infiltrate an area than using something as innocuous as popcorn? “Keep an eye on that truck. I’ll be in the area and ready to take over following it as soon as possible.”

“It’s kinda like Hansel and Gretl,” Weiss commented, peering out the slits of the van’s back window.

Vaughn laughed. “Yes. And will Arvin follow the crumbs only to get fed to the witch’s oven? Wait, let me answer. I doubt Irina’s kitchen oven is that big.” He chuckled.

“Oooh, what a laugh riot of a joke.” Weiss slanted Vaughn a look as he readjusted his turban. Damn turban.
Vaughn shrugged and patted his beard into place. Dr. Barnett and Dave had both suggested he try humor to deal with his anxiety and anger. And...actually, it seemed to work. “I’m trying to get the anger and fear out of my system.”

“Perhaps you need a high colonic.” Weiss grabbed a bag of snacks and threw it at Vaughn. “Here’s a big bag of popcorn, maybe that’ll serve the same purpose.”

TBC at Chapter 2015: Part 1