FF: Bionic Woman, Ruth/Jamie, Living the Dream part 2
+ * + Ruth + * +
The summer is passing lazily.
I have grown to like this life. Quiet and comfortable without that constant edge of danger that my profession keeps me alert with. Jamie and me have made friends and gained a social foothold in the community, even though we still maintain as much distance as we can.
With varying levels of success.
At the moment, I'm happily ensconced in my favorite corner of the covered porch where I can enjoy the heat of the sunshine without scorching my fair skin. I get enough of that at the yard, thank you very much. I'm half-heartedly catching up with intel from Burkett on the laptop and nursing a mildly spiked lemonade. We've missed two smuggling shipments already and the failure irks me. The first was simply not having a clue of where to look, but the second might be attributed to our comfort levels. Jonas didn't flat out say it during our last conference call, but the rebuke was hidden in his tone.
Our time here will draw to a close sooner than either of us wants.
+ * + Jamie + * +
Ruth looks pensive and lost in thought. Damn, this is obviously a bad day for me to invite Beth and Chuck over to use the pool. My coworkers at the bakery are good people and I like the utter normalcy of their company. The most threatening thing about them is Chuck's harmless crush on me.
"Hey," I greet my lover softly and she forces a smile for my sake. "Sorry about the company. I should have called ahead. How's the Charger coming along?"
"Good to have you home. I see that their begging finally made you cave in," Ruth teases dryly and I'm glad to see that her smirk is laced with authentic mirth. "The Charger is giving me fits, the nasty rust trap."
The old '64 Charger has been giving my lover hell for a week now and it's annoying her almost as much as the missed shipment of smuggled micro-electronics. Luckily for me, she's still a sucker for my sweetest kisses and I lose myself in her mouth for long moments.
+ * + Ruth + * +
Once again, Jamie has made me feel better with her unrelenting adoration. The sting of failure falls away as I drink in her sweet, deep kisses. Some perverse part of me knows that her pals are watching and it gives me an odd thrill. Particularly the stupidly jealous part of me that acknowledges that boy's crush.
"Join us?" Jamie asks gently and I shake my head regretfully.
"Homework," is my simple reply and I see that she understands the significant look accompanying the word.
"Ah," she nods sagely and kisses my nose before straightening up. "Well, don't get too caught up. I have plans for you later."
The cheeky thing makes me chuckle as she sashays away.
+ * + Jamie + * +
We're cleaning up from dinner, finally alone after a long afternoon with company. "I talked with Becca today."
"How's she doing?"
"Still keeping Sarah in line from the sounds of it. Jonas must be impressed because if I read her veiled hints correctly, she's been allowed access to Will's research."
The startled look from Ruth is not at all feigned. The tidbit of news, passed on in my sister's calmest voice, shocked me too. But she's really smart and quite brilliant with computers. Good on Jonas for recognizing that.
"Hmmm," Ruth muses wordlessly and I have to smile.
"We'll have to go visit soon. I miss them."
Immediately, the dishes are forgotten as she wraps me in a strong hug. "Me too, Jamie. Me too."
+ * + Ruth + * +
It happens suddenly, almost accidentally. Weeks of lousy sleep as we carefully comb the nocturnal quiet of our sleepy burg lead to scant clues. But it's the foolishness of youth that finally cracks it. Turns out young Chris at the garage is one of the couriers.
Figures this has been happening under my nose.
Once I know to watch the boy, it's easy to trace the progression of personnel that are moving the contraband. Then, there are a few quiet phone calls and some discreet raids that destroy the network nearly back to its origins. The head of the snake will be a different mission than ours. In fact, Jamie and I spend the night at home as though nothing at all were untoward. There's tension between us at being left out and neither of us sleeps well.
But Jamie won't allow me to pull away, holding me close in the bed while we both stew in silence.
+ * + Jamie + * +
It's a tense morning, but we still exchange sweet kisses in the black early-morning. Honestly, it could go further, Ruth's hands growing heavier on my back and head, her kisses more demanding. "I have to go," I murmur against her mouth, hating to leave after our stressful night and several weeks of crappy sleep that has made us tense and irritable.
"I know," she whispers back, but I can hear the tremor of vulnerability beneath the strength and it jerks my heartstrings. "Be safe."
"I will, I promise. You be safe too."
"I will."
In the doorway, I pause to look back where my lover, my partner, my handler lies tangled in the sheets, watching me with shadowed eyes.
"I love you."
The words are out before I can censor them as I have for months and I still retreat like a coward to the false part of my life in this place.
+ * + Ruth + * +
Stunned by Jamie's whispered endearment, heard so clearly by the bionic ear in my skull, I lie in the darkness and stare at the ceiling. My emotions are a roller-coaster that leaves me faintly nauseous. Curling up tightly on my side, I wonder if I should have gone after her, even as the sounds of her cute little Saturn have long since faded.
Tangled with all of my Jamie emotions is the conflict of this damn case.
When the alarm jerks me awake several hours later, I'm shocked that I slept at all, much less so soundly. In the light of dawn, I examine my feelings with more honesty than expected and realize something obvious and life-changing.
Despite a life of solitude, despite the boundaries of our professional lives and all the dangers therein, despite it all…
I love her too.
+ * + Jamie + * +
I've been an automaton all damn morning. Stupid with lack of sleep and completely distracted, almost distraught, at my confession to Ruth, I'm running with an autopilot that I don't really have the skills for.
Eventually that leads me to a disaster that is a messy collision with Chuck that breaks every dish we're carrying in spectacular fashion. Both of us stammering apologies in the sudden quiet, we kneel to clean up and I'm shocked by familiar and completely unexpected hands reaching to help.
"Ruth?" I question softly, caught up in the look in her eye. Something burns there, a freed wildfire that I've never witnessed before. Hooking a hand around my neck, Ruth drags me close for a toe-curling kiss, right there in front of the late breakfast crowd.
"I love you too," she whispers softly, her voice hoarse with emotion.
The day is suddenly perfect.
+ * + Ruth + * +
Shaken by my weird morning, I attack the Charger with ruthless determination. I'm terrified and exhilarated by my confession of adoration. Shaken by Chris's disappearance in the hands of the FBI, the garage has been quiet and my solitude out back unbroken.
Well, for a couple of hours anyway.
Mike looks sober and exhausted as he appears beside me, habitually wiping at the grease that is as much a part of him as his skin. "Knew that boy would get himself into trouble," he says quietly and we eye each other for a long moment. There are no more words, but a silent wealth of understanding that I find strangely reassuring. "Hope things get back to normal around here now. Nobody ought to be here that doesn't want to be here. Community's important, you know?"
As he walks back towards the garage without a backwards glance, I find myself murmuring softly, "I know."
+ * + Jamie + * +
I haven't figured out what it is about Ruth the mechanic that turns me into such a slut for her. The messy state she gets into? The happiness in her eyes that comes from refurbishing these old cars she loves? Perhaps it's the concentration and dedication to something so safe and ordinary? Or the way she struts around like some cinema bad boy, sweaty and laden down with grease and tools.
Whatever the reasons, I really, really like her like this.
Mike pauses where he's walking back across the yard in the back, his gaze heavy across the cluttered space. The guy is way more observant than any hick mechanic has any right to be. I feel Ruth's stare on me as well, but hold Mike's eyes, only a glitter beneath the brim of his cap. Then he nods decisively and continues on his way. Somehow, I feel as though I've been given some sort of approval and it makes me smile faintly.
+ * + Ruth + * +
With a faint, knowing smile, that beautiful young woman struts over to me. Even now, I'm blown away that she's mine. Once more I'm a jittery mess over the exchange of adoration from this morning, not at all helped when Jamie curls her hands into the short hairs at the back of my head and kisses me senseless.
There are moments in a person's life that remain forever imprinted on our souls. Good or bad, they stay with us in vivid detail for all our lives. The first night Jamie came to me is one of those memories. This soul kiss is on the list now too.
In time, I come back to myself, released from the loving, sensual place that my lover has led me to, blinking in startled pleasure. "Wow," I whisper hoarsely, unsurprised to hear my voice actually crack. Gentle fingers stroke my face, Jamie still smiling luminously, while the bionic hand continues to caress the short hairs at the base of my skull.
+ * + Jamie + * +
It's sweet to see Ruth pleasantly bamboozled like this, all her rigid self-control stripped away to reveal the loving and warm woman beneath.
"I just wanted to do that," I grin, rubbing our noses together. Soon, we'll need to have a serious discussion about our feelings, but now is not the time. For the now, I'll just have us bask in this. Then I realize that her hands have slid over the small of my back, the left sagging dangerously low on my ass. Squealing with outrage, I leap away, growling, "dammit! You and your grease monkey paws!"
After a startled moment, Ruth chuckles before dissolving into gales of laughter.
+ * + Ruth + * +
In an adorably feminine huff over the small grease stains I accidentally put on her uniform, Jamie flounces off with a teasing smile that eliminates any chance that I might have taken her seriously. Tonight will be a hell of an experience, I bet! Some part of me acknowledges that she goes into the main garage instead of the side gate where she's snuck in and out before.
I don't think anything of it, too high on emotion to care.
Perhaps it's my mood, but the work goes quickly and easily this day, the normally stubborn Charger giving me a much-needed break. The body is nearly fully repaired, the rust painstakingly ground away, her engine is out and deep in the process of rehab and the extensive rewiring is showing real progress.
At five o clock, I return to my GTO and head for home. I'll miss this place and all that's happened here. Waving to my friendly neighbors going about their normal business, watching out for kids and dogs as I drive, I examine my feelings of approaching loss.
My re-acquaintance with love has made me contemplative.
+ * + Jamie + * +
There's always been a bit of a charge in hearing the garage door rumble open, alerting me to Ruth's coming home. Excusing myself, I head for the door leading to the garage, beating her to it, leaning my weight up against the hard surface, preventing her entrance.
"Hey," she smiles, the expression reaching deep into those pale, pale eyes. Silenced by the depth of my adoration for her, I wrap her in a strong hug, breathing in the scents of her, wallowing in her touch. "Missed you."
"Oh Ruth," I breathe into the sweaty blonde hair, "me too."
I really shouldn't under these circumstances, but I can't resist, nuzzling at the trailing edges of her ragged mane, following the scent of her hard work where it lingers on her skin. Ruth thinks I'm weird, I know, but I really like the lingering scent and taste of her healthy sweat where she misses it cleaning up.
+ * + Ruth + * +
Well, seems I'm not even going to get into the house before we get started tonight! Fine by me. It takes some sweet making out against the door to pick up on Jamie's stress and I immediately slow. Leaning back, our bodies still intertwined, I hold the restless blue eyes.
"What is it, Love?"
The endearment gets a flicker of surprise and the sweetest shy smile, her hug just strong enough to make me nervous. Face pressed to my throat, she breathes deeply for a long moment before dropping the bombshell.
"Jonas is here."
Somehow, I'm not surprised. After all, I should have known that our real lives would now catch up with us. I'm also not at all taken aback by how reluctant I feel to walk through that door.
+ * + Jamie + * +
Both of linger in silence for far longer than we should, mentally preparing to face Jonas together. This is going to be harder than I thought.
A long, slow breath and a subtle shift in Ruth's body is proof that it's time. But she gently grabs my chin as I lean away, holding my eyes. The doctor mask is back, but I am more gratified than I can verbalize to see the warmth of my lover peeking out of the calm hazel eyes. "You and me, together," she murmurs softly, caressing my lower lip with her thumb and I settle.
"Together," I echo just as quietly, drawing strength from her, from us.
The work body language and their ultra-calm tones aren't quite so jarring now. Ruth takes a few minutes to wash up as is her custom after a day in the yard. That gunk she gets covered in doesn't come off easily.
+ * + Ruth + * +
It's not cowardice exactly that sends me off to the kitchen to keep one of my rituals in this house. The murmur of voices carries faintly over the rush of hot water as the little stiff brush scrubs away the grease and crap that lingers in the wrinkles of my hands and beneath my wrecked nails. The narrow band of hard keratin grown beyond my flesh is ragged and needs trimming. So I slip off to the bedroom for clippers and an emery board before taking a deep breath and returning to the boss.
Ignoring the knowing gaze, I get down to business. To my surprise, Jamie silently takes the little grooming tools and my left hand to bend intently to that task. I can feel the tremors in her hand, cradling mine, and give her fingers a faint squeeze. It's an odd intimacy, this act with an audience, as the couple times she's groomed my nails has been a precursor to some wild sex.
Jonas' faint smirk of amusement tells me that my expression isn't as deadpan as I'd have liked.
+ * + Jamie + * +
Having something useful to do while my superiors talk is calming to my nerves. My ears can follow the conversation separately from this task. Ruth has elegant hands and I can feel the changes wrought to them over all these weeks of hard labor. Snip the ragged edges of the nail off, rasp the emery board to smooth the shape perfectly, use the blunt tip to clear away any debris that might linger in the little crevice between her nail and fingertip.
Some time passes this way.
I finish before they do, politely excusing myself to go make dinner. It's not as though I need to be in the room to follow the conversation after all…
When I hand Jonas a plate of garlic chicken pasta, his look of surprise goes to great lengths to ease my shock at being dragged out of this life that I have grown to enjoy.
+ * + Ruth + * +
He was strangely… gentle for lack of a better word. Even as we talked business, the three of us shared a meal and an odd intimacy. It was refreshing and fleeting.
We have two weeks here. An 'emergency' for our alternative selves will come up and we will go in a rush of activity, leaving this house and this life behind. The delay is to distance us from the arrests and alleviate any suspicions.
The working vacation will be over soon.
Jamie and I are curled up on the couch in quiet contemplation. We're in the same position as we have been since Jonas left when Jamie plopped down sideways beside me and leaned her torso into mine. I cradle her close, my nose in the dark hair and her hands on my arm.
+ * + Jamie + * +
Suddenly, the inactivity is too much. We'll both think ourselves into not sleeping tonight if we don't find some outlet. In a flurry of activity, I lightly slap Ruth's arm and jump to my feet.
"Let's go jogging."
We enjoy the dry summer air and soak up the calming vibes of this slice of normal life. Slowly, Ruth's stress bleeds away into the exercise and we make it all the way to the park before it grows fully dark. There is a pee wee baseball game going on and we lean on the short fence and cheer the small kids on for a few minutes before heading back.
At the halfway mark, Ruth falls back and I stop, turning to give her my attention. Her loving grin reassures me that the grounding normalcy of this after the shock of our real lives being thrust on us has worked.
We walk the rest of the way, hand in hand.
+ * + Ruth + * +
It's late on Friday and I'm both anxious and reluctant to leave the yard. On Tuesday, the 'emergency' phone call will come and we will be gone in a rush of activity. But I have left my mark here and that makes me feel good.
Four of the six old cars are gone, fixed and off to paint and back to their owners or into proper storage. The Charger is nearly finished and I feel a thrill of pride every time I look at the beast. The Corvette will be close enough to complete that the boys can do it themselves.
How I will miss this.
Sighing, I carefully put everything away as is my custom. The outside yard is drastically different than when I arrived. It's organized and there are canopies protecting the primary work and storage areas. Frankly, I got tired of sunburns.
The shop is eerily quiet when I go in to wash up, but I don't really think about it. After all it's a Friday evening.
"Wash up good," Jamie voice is totally unexpected and I whirl, actually dropping the soap in shock.
+ * + Jamie + * +
Oh yeah, the hassle of this is paying off nicely. Honestly, I don't know that I've ever seen this particular look of shock on Ruth's face. I've draped myself in the doorway of the washroom and my outfit is completely out of place here. I worked hard on this outfit and debated for weeks exactly what it would entail. Thankfully, a giggling Beth helped out, including an all day shopping excursion just Wednesday that pulled it all together.
"You like?" I ask unnecessarily and Ruth blinks back to attention. Preening, I pirouette and soak up the carnal look in my lover's eyes. "Wash up," I remind her and step into the room while she absently does so. "I brought your nail brush and that soap from home."
"You did," she murmurs blankly and now I feel positively smug. As hoped, I have reduced my lover to stupidity with the seduction headed her way.
+ * + Ruth + * +
I have been rendered idiotic by this sweet woman. Wrapped in a silky blouse, flowing skirt and delicate high heels, she looks like a high-powered executive or the like. The makeup is impeccable and her legs have that unmistakable look of expensive hose.
Good god… what am I in for?
"There's a change of clothes for you," Jamie instructs calmly before grinning wickedly. "Don't clean up too much. You know I like you sweaty and a little dirty."
And then sashays out of the room.
Shaken, I ruthlessly scrub my hands until they are squeaky clean and step into the deeper recesses of the washroom to see what else she's planned. Something is definitely up, because this is by far the cleanest this room has been since I've arrived. There are good reasons I do the bulk of my cleaning up back at the house. Stripping down, I mop off in the sink a bit and go for the neatly folded pile of clothing Jamie left for me. Which is basically the clean version of exactly what I was just wearing…
And I start to figure out where this is going.
+ * + Jamie + * +
Helping Mike to set this up has provided me with the answer to not one, but potentially two of my personal fantasies. All is ready for my lover and me; now I just need her out here.
Ruffled and coarse in the working clothes that she has worn this entire time undercover, I allow myself for the first time to really give in to the thrill it gives me to see her like this. Tousled, messy blonde hair, the ribbed tank top, the blue coveralls with the top half knotted around her slim waist, the heavy, filthy engineer's boots…
"Mike helped me set this up," I explain quietly, resisting the urge to jump on her right here. Then I flick the switch next to my hand and light floods the main work area of the garage. Ruth's eyes round once more as I gesture grandly to the elaborate setup. "I know that there's no way to fulfill that car fantasy of yours, but this is the next best thing."
+ * + Ruth + * +
After all of these years, I had thought my shock value as being fairly low. Then again, I had never planned on Jamie Sommers.
My GTO, my pride and joy, is on the chassis dynamometer, strapped securely in place, the front wheels heavily blocked. I get it now. This is my fantasy of fucking her senseless in my lap while the engine roars. Just the idea gets me hot and bothered. And the outfit makes sense now, because I realize how hot and bothered my mechanic self gets Jamie.
Well then!
Jamie doesn't object when I stride over to grab in a hug and kiss her silly, messing up her carefully applied makeup. "Take you for a ride?" I can't help but leer and she laughs.
+ * + Jamie + * +
This is working out perfectly, Ruth's enthusiasm bubbling over as even this watered-down version of her fantasy starts to play out. Smacking the lights back out again, I playfully shove her at the GTO and head over to the passenger side. Light bleeds in from the office areas, casting the shop into mysterious dimness and adding to the mood.
There's a lull once the doors slam shut and I touch Ruth's arm. "The exhausted is being vented through a hose outdoors, the doors are locked and the car is strapped down tight. Start her up."
Blowing out a nervous breath, the sound stuttering as I press close to nuzzle her ear, Ruth reaches down and cranks the key, bringing the big muscle car to life. The roar echoes through the confined space, shuddering through the frame like a racehorse straining to be released.
Her hair is soft and warm when I tease my fingers into the strands, tracing my other hand up her knee and thigh. "You're safe up to two hundred miles per hour and the tank is full. Show me what this baby can do."
The transmission clunks as Ruth shifts the car into drive and the engine revs up just like our libidos.
+ * + Ruth + * +
After the first few nerve-wracking seconds of stepping on the accelerator, I feel no unusual sensations in the car. The wheels are spinning against the big metal rollers of the dynamometer as they're supposed to. Now, I can get into the fantasy a bit better with the car in drive and some gas making it rumble enticingly. A car in neutral and a car in drive are very different animals, no matter how much gas you give it.
Eyes slit in pleasure at Jamie's attention, I start to get lost in the scene she's prepared. The darkness surrounds us completely and automatically flicking on the headlights reveals a great black tarp strung up in front of the car. Perfect. Dark backwoods road, my lover beside me, amorous and wanting…
"Jamie," I groan and she sidles closer with a breathless chuckle.
"I need you, baby," she growls, shifting to reach down and grab the lever that makes my seat slide back. My hands eagerly help her straddle my body, my foot pressing more heavily on the accelerator, the GTO snarling in response. Reality and fantasy start to blur as we kiss and the car howls and strains at her tethers.
+ * + Jamie + * +
It's better than I thought I would be, the pulse of the engine in the frame of the car, translated up to our twined bodies. Ruth growls at me, urgent now, as though we really are in danger in this 'moving' vehicle and that sensation is making her a little crazy.
Delighted, I happily do my damnest to encourage her in this headspace, grinding down into her lap and whimpering needily. Her hands and kisses are rough and demanding, tugging at my clothes and I wiggle around to let her yank at my skirt, thankful I thought to have Mike disengage the horn. Yes, the steering wheel digs into my kidneys and back and ass, but I couldn't give a shit less.
There's nothing under the skirt but garters, which pleases Ruth, the familiar sexy sounds rising in her throat. When she fumbles at the buttons to my shirt, I growl at her to just tear the damn thing off. It's a randy, wild fuck, bruising me up and making me scream for it before I can worm a shaking hand down her front of Ruth's coveralls to return the favor.
+ * + Ruth + * +
The fantasy is dizzying, my brain plugged into the scene completely, the climax racing across my nerves fast and hard. Writhing like a cat in heat, Jamie brings me home and my foot slips off of the accelerator.
The reduction of the sound and vibration is a harsh drop, mitigated by the hot, shadowed gaze of my lover.
"Care to reacquaint us with the backseat good lookin'?" she purrs and I have to chuckle in breathless delight. So begins a giggling wrestling match to get Jamie extricated from the steering wheel and I duck away as she clambers over the front bench. So I kill the engine and follow, sinking into the haven of her body, both of us cradled by the big back seat.
"That was wonderful," I hum into her naked chest, feeling the bunched-up material of my tank top crushed between us.
+ * + Jamie + * +
Ruth has always had a good sex drive and tonight I have really uncorked her. It takes only a bit of coaxing to get her straddled high on my ribs so I can wrestle the disheveled coveralls low on her hips. Then I can watch her face as I worm both hands deep into the scorching space between us, the yellowed eyes drifting almost closed as I fondle her.
She is so open, so accessible, so relaxed. The hassle of setting this up has been worth it as I knew it would be. Huffing with the pressure of her need, Ruth is beautiful as she hunches up, manages to press her open mouth to my forehead.
"Love you," I murmur, disengaging my right hand and stroking the lines of her body in encouragement. "You are so sexy."
The soft encouragement and my touch will get her there in time. Until then, I'm happy with the ride!
+ * + Ruth + * +
Friday night; an uncomfortable but wonderful night cumulated with Jamie testing one of the lifts with her enhanced strength while I fucked her to screaming. I'll pick the car up tomorrow after Mike reconnects the horn. Saturday; spent in bed and poking through our things to establish whether or not we'll keep anything. Today; reacquainting ourselves with our neighbors, friends and the surrounds we've both grown to love. In the red sunset, we stroll leisurely and take it all in.
"This has been great," I comment softly and Jamie gives my hand a squeeze, humming wordlessly in agreement.
"I wanted normalcy," she pipes up thoughtfully as we pause to admire one of the views, turning her expressive eyes to me. "I wanted it because I missed it." There is a gravity to this young woman now and I am grateful to have been a part of it. "Now, this all seems like a long vacation. Honestly, as long as I'm with you, I couldn't care less where I am."
And I am moved beyond words by her once again.
+ * + Jamie + * +
The 'emergency phone call' plan goes into effect Monday night, leaving Ruth and I to make our harried calls to coworkers and friends. By afternoon, we've hurriedly packed what we're taking and left the rest for professional packers. On a very public plane to San Francisco, I rest with my head on my lover's shoulder, silently watching as she types on her laptop and settles the Burkett mantle about herself once again.
The carefully stylized hair and chunky silver jewelry are a strangely welcome sight, as is the gentle smile she graces me with periodically. No matter the props, we are still together in all senses of the word. I'm ecstatic to be going home to Becca and find out what the hell I've missed in the last nearly two months, as well as checking on Sarah.
Life will move on, but giving Ruth's knee a squeeze and sharing a smile with her, we'll always have Raleigh.
THE END?
Thank you for encouraging these two, they have been a delight!