15. March 6th

MARCH 6TH

Waters

Things had settledinto a comfortable pattern with Waters and the actors. And on the surface, things with Kubrick were smooth, too. But there were signs that some slight tension was present and felt by everyone when the two of them were together. Conversations would stop momentarily when one walked into a room where the other one was. If they were talking to each other, no one else talked but suddenly made themselves very focused on whatever they were doing. And even between the two of them, there was a subtle sense of wariness. Not painful, but clearly present.

Today, the actors and Kubrick had been training since seven a.m. It was now 10 a.m., and the rain that had been threatening for days had begun. Normally, February was when the rainy weather socked in, but today, the radar showed that they were on the edge of a late storm, and it was likely to be miserable today and possibly tomorrow.

After thirty minutes, the rain had picked up to "vigorous" and the temperature "bracing," per Dawg. Lazarus, the grouch, but also the most focused one of the bunch, was grumbling something about "I'll show you vigorous," to which Dawg just laughed. Brick and Jumper were trying to outdo each other, pushing and shoving each other as they ran like two five-year-olds, and Enigma was keeping pace with Vixen. Kubrick was running by herself. Waters would speed up and slow down as needed, watching form primarily but also helping with the obstacles. Lately, no help was needed.

He was at the wall and turned to see the actors' placement. His gaze automatically sought out Kubrick. She was just behind the leaders, Dawg and Lazarus. When they had started the course, she had been in a black Adidas running jacket, leggings, and sneakers, her Dodgers cap pulled low over her eyes, and sunglasses on despite the overcast day. He noticed that somewhere along the line, the jacket and glasses had been dumped. Now she was left in her sports bra, and the ball cap was turned backward with all of her hair piled up inside of it. They had just crawled through the mud pit under the barbed wire, and she was covered in the muck, almost looking like it was a spa treatment.

Mud, wet running gear, backward hat. Good goddamn, she's gorgeous.

He had purposefully not paced with her despite how much he wanted to. He didn't trust himself. It was hard enough standing beside her most of the day, listening to her direction, watching her reenact things for the actors. Filming wasn't due to start for three weeks yet, but that didn't stop her from using moments of training to do more foundational work that would be reenacted on film. She was not one to waste a chance to set and practice things early. The worst moment for him had been yesterday when she was showing Vixen exactly how to get into the proper body position she should create for the kissing scene with Dawg that happened directly after a fight scene they had just been practicing.

He didn't know how he was going to be on set for the sex scene when that came up later in the filming process. If she was going to demonstrate any of that positioning, he'd lose his shit. Technically, there would be no reason for him to be there, but since she couldn't go anywhere without him still, he obviously would need to be present. It was his job.

Keep telling yourself that, buddy. And while you're at it, how many more places and ways can you think of to hide the bodies if those guys keep looking at her?

He knew his thoughts were irrational. They had to look at her when talking or listening to her. But he couldn't help thinking stupid shit.

But now, the rain had become nearly torrential even though there was no thunder and lightning. Vixen was flagging, and they were approaching the last obstacle before the final quarter mile of straight-out running.

Suddenly, Brick and Jumper poured on the speed, bypassing Lazarus and Dawg, and hit the base of the wall, but they didn't shoot to the top. He was about to yell at them for stopping but pulled himself back just in time. His jaw may have even dropped open. They turned to face each other and made a basket with their hands.

Within seconds, Lazarus and Dawg were on them using the guys' hand baskets as springboards to the top of the wall. When they had the top of the wall in hand, they pulled themselves the rest of the way and sat astride the wall. Kubrick had turned on her speed as Brick and Jumper had passed her, and she had it perfectly timed to be at the height of her stride, jumping to put one foot in the basket Jumper still held. He flew her to the top of the wall so she could grab on, where Lazarus and Dawg grabbed her forearms to pull her to the top.

Dawg then slid over the opposite side of the wall, and once fully extended, hanging by his fingertips, he dropped to the ground. Kubrick followed, but when she let go, she fell into the waiting arms of Dawg. In the meantime, Jumper formed a lunge position against the wall so that Brick could scurry over him. As the smaller, stockier man stepped on Jumper's shoulder, he was lifted like a circus acrobat, where Lazarus grabbed him by the forearms and hauled him to the top. Together, the two men sat astride the top, waiting to help the rest of their team.

When Enigma and Vixen arrived at the wall, Jumper formed the basket for Vixen's foot, and she was up where the two men at the top each grabbed a hand, working together to secure her to the top of the wall so that she could crawl over, then slide down into Dawg's waiting arms. When she hit the ground, Dawg grunted, "Go," and the two women took off.

In the meantime, Enigma had backed up for a running start, and with Jumper's help, he flew up to the top and over. Jumper backed up, then took a running leap for Lazarus' and Brick's forearms. Once atop the wall, all three men slid down the opposite side, and no sooner did their feet touch the ground, they were all off and running.

They never said a word during the process other than Dawg's order to the women. No instructions. No encouragement. They had used situational awareness and worked together as if they'd choreographed the maneuver and practiced it a million times.

Well, fuck me running.

Waters took off after them, not sure he'd actually seen what he'd just seen. He couldn't help but be impressed. They were looking like a team and a damn competent one at that. He knew they were miserable, frozen, and tired. But not a single one of them asked about quitting, even as a joke. They were all in, just like Kubrick had said they would be.

Then he saw Vixen stumble, and it looked like she turned her ankle. Kubrick didn't miss a beat. She helped Vixen up, put an arm around the injured girl's waist, and kept her moving.

My golden girl. Never leaves anyone behind.

And there was the tension. He was starting to think of her as all sorts of things with "my" in front of them. He couldn't help it. The attraction was too strong. He liked her. He damn sure wanted her. But pursuing anything would likely cause one or both of them to be hurt when he left, and he didn't want it to be her. So, he did his best to ignore what his body wanted.

He began to increase his own speed, but the guys had already seen what had happened and pushed their limits to get to the women. Enigma got there first and swept Vixen off her feet, passing her onto him piggyback style to get to the finish line. The rest of the team formed a circle of protection around them.

Well, double fuck me running.

He caughtup to the group at the lean-to that sat at the start/finish line of the obstacle course. Enigma had Vixen on the bench, shoe and sock off, examining her already swelling ankle. "Way to go, woman. You know there are easier ways to get us out of running in the rain, Vix," Dawg teased.

"Shove off, Dawg. I didn't do it on purpose."

"All right, ladies, break it up," Waters barked. "Chafes me to say it, but this rain is getting too heavy. Head inside today. Make sure to stretch out. Take a long, hot shower. Get some rest."

What are you doing? There's other training you all could do.

Enigma stood and presented his back to Vixen. "C'mon, Flash. Let's go get that ankle looked at."

He began to walk off, happening to catch Waters' eye. Waters gave him a miniscule nod; Enigma's chin lift was just as small, and then he took off with Vixen at a jog.

"Dammit, I'd have carried her," Dawg grumbled. "He's so getting laid this afternoon."

Jumper smacked the back of his head. "Aww, it's okay Dawg. You're getting laid, too. Just by your right hand."

"Maybe it'll be a ménage," Brick piped in. "I hear Dawg is ambidextrous."

Dawg clenched his jaw and then grumbled. "You're just jealous I get some variety to my strokin'." The guys continued to jab at each other as they took off for the house. Lazarus and Waters stood watching the three goofballs as Brick smacked Dawg's ass, stole Jumper's hat, and tore off down the trail.

Lazarus grinned and shook his head. He looked at Waters. "I'm guessing she didn't tell you that you'd be babysitting late-twenties grown men going on five?"

"Nope. That wasn't quite how the job was described," he admitted.

Lazarus' eyes wandered over to Kubrick, who was collecting her jacket and glasses, and Waters' molars began grinding. He could see the heat in Lazarus' eyes.

"You know," Lazarus began quietly, his eyes drifting back to the three amigos who were now just specks in the distance, "she's special. I envy you."

Waters went still.

"Kubrick," Lazarus continued as if they both didn't know whom he was talking about. "She's special."

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I knew it. They have a thing.

Lazarus carried on. "I thought about approaching her once, but I took a film project and was gone for four months. When I came back, she was on location for two months, and our schedules just never seemed to match up after that. The next time I see her is in February for this shoot, but… her heart is already engaged elsewhere. I thought maybe she'd met someone in Egypt, but it turns out the guy was much closer to home."

Brain whirling on which guy Kubrick seemed to be focusing on more than the others, he forced that to the back and let his mouth ask the more pressing question. "Kubrick was in Egypt? When?"

Lazarus thought back. "Middle of November, she went to Europe, so maybe in the middle of December? Something like that. I know she met with a director friend to research and scout somewhere on another possible project. That was just before Thanksgiving, and she came home by New Year's." He glanced behind him. "Anyway… don't screw up like I did." And with that, Lazarus flipped up the hood of his short-sleeved running shirt and took off in the rain for the house.

Can't screw up what doesn't happen.

As he walked over to her, Kubrick spoke up from behind the bench. "We're stuck for the time being. If the rain stops, we can start back up, but the radar shows it getting worse."

She was tapping on her smartwatch, looking at the forecast, totally unaware he was studying her. Her skin was flushed from the exercise and pebbled from the cold, but her breathing had finally normalized. Most of the mud had come off her skin in the rain, but her clothes were caked with it. Strands of her hair escaped from under her mud-stained hat.

She looked fucking amazing.

He unzipped his windbreaker, removed it, put it over her shoulders, encouraged her arms into it, then zipped her up tight. He smoothed it down her form, noticing that it fell long past her ass, just like one of her signature blouses.

Thank Christ, because I knew her ass would be wicked in those leggings, and it sure as hell is.

Her face was scrunched up in confusion at his actions.

"Your jacket is soaked, and you're freezing," he explained.

"What about you? Won't you be cold?"

He just looked at her with his eyebrow arched.

"Right," she whispered.

After a minute or so, he cleared his throat. "You all did well. Great, truth be told. Some strong teamwork. They're starting to develop what you wanted."

She beamed. "Yeah, they are. Thank you for that. It's all your doing. They respect you."

He shrugged. "They do it for you because they like you. Me? I'm mean to them. If I'm soft on them, they won't push themselves. I doubt it's respect."

"Yes, you're tough on them. When they're in a group, you're downright scary when you push them. But when you work with them one-on-one, you're different. More encouraging. They respond to that. And while Vixen's still a bit afraid of you, the attraction is starting to overrun that. Enigma's not going to like the competition. Pretty soon you can probably expect her to be looking for even more excuses to get close to you," she teased.

Well, she was trying to tease him. He could tell her comments were tasting a bit sour in her mouth. Could that someone Lazarus mentioned be him? He knew he was attracted to her, and he knew she wasn't disinterested in him based on prior conversations. There'd been this weird feeling between them since the tattoo discussion, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

Oh, you know exactly what to do with it, dipshit.

He could have just ignored her words, but something inside couldn't let it slide. "She's a nice girl but… not really my type," he admitted. He stepped into her personal space, pulling the collar of his windbreaker out from where it was stuck inside of itself, then unnecessarily smoothed it over her shoulders. "She's certainly attractive, and she's not as spoiled as I thought she would be, but she's much too docile, as well." He gently took Kubrick's chin in hand and used his thumb to swipe a trace of mud off. He heard his voice drop to almost a whisper. "I'm much more attracted to fearless women who want to be equals with their partner."

Now you've done it. You know what happens when you touch her.

"I see." He could tell she didn't, though.

The rain pinged off the metal roof of the lean-to. She was staring at him with no expression, but he couldn't help feeling that something had just changed forever. Again, they stood quietly watching each other. Finally, Kubrick said, "I'm gonna tell everyone to take the rest of the day off."

Think of something quick, idiot. You're going to lose this… whatever it is… with her.

He told himself he needed to find a way to keep her with him the rest of the day. The operator in him was justifying that he could use the time to work the conversation into her trip to Egypt. He had a sneaking suspicion Ka-Bar's favor might have to do with that time period. The country was officially coming up way too often in their digging.

However, the man in him figured maybe he could dig a little and sound her out about Lazarus. Was she interested in the man? This second-guessing wasn't his way. Normally, he'd bulldoze his way through for the information. But the two seemed to be nice and easy together, and he did feel like he couldn't compete with a Hollywood icon. After all, if it wasn't Lazarus, could she really be into him? Or was it one of the others?

The thought caused his gut to roll. It sucked. He liked Lazarus and the guys. He wanted them to be shallow pricks so he could hate them. Unfortunately, no such luck. It sucked wanting to put the hurt on someone you liked only because he kept touching the woman you wanted to claim but couldn't. Or shouldn't. Or didn't.

"I'm going to go dry off and then work in the War Room. You, um, wanna get a head start on the rest of the week with me?" she asked.

Bad idea. Don't do it. Too much time that close to her is a terrible idea. The War Room is too sequestered. Too cozy. It won't end well.

He swallowed hard. "Sure."

The operator in him puffed up with satisfaction. Problem solved. She made it easy for him to question her without even knowing it. Now, he could distract himself from the magnetic pull he felt to her by doing his job.

Yeah… lying to himself was becoming a terrible habit.