The Long Road (away from) Home (Open)

[Ginfizz]

A wry half-grin quirked Maggie's mouth. "Maybe I'm a cheap kind of girl," she pointed out with a halfhearted shrug, but she didn't let go of his hand as they made their way to checkout. At that time of day, it was easy to get through, and in no time, they were outside, heading toward the truck. "Not sure how much research on me you had to do for your job, but it was Nathan's team of handlers who put the highlights and airbrush to me when we first took our dating public," she explained.

Nathan had been sweet, maybe a little shy, and had assured her he'd liked her just the way she was... but if people found out that she came from a dirt-farm in the middle of nowhere, they'd make it difficult for her, and he didn't want that. So she'd willingly let him overhaul her appearance and other aspects of her without question until much later. By then, it'd just been too late- for a lot of things.

"It happened so fast, I didn't even have time to think about it, I just had to go with it. Kind of like now," she added, the hint of woried lament tinging her voice. "I didn't know if I was doing the right thing then or now, but it seemed like the right idea to go with it at the time. Now, I know a little better, but it doesn't stop life from happening, does it?" she looked up at him, ignoring the bite of plastic bag handles in her fingers. She'd need a drink, good or bad, after the day she'd had.

 

[Khadaji2002]

"No, life keeps coming at us, ready or not. But somehow I doubt you've ever been a cheap woman. And where I live and work it doesn't matter where you come from. Results are the coin of the realm, not looks and behavior." He glanced down and realized they were still holding hands. He reluctantly let her hand go to get into the passenger side. Once they were on the road again he gave her directions to a motel out toward nowhere they could stay. Once there he went inside and got a room for two (though it only had one king-size bed in it). He came back out and gave her a room key once they'd moved his truck.

He took both bags inside, and set the rolled up sleeping bag near the door. He held the door for her as she brought her things inside. "Tell you what. There's a Walmart on this end of town. I can get hair dye and scissors there. You can come if you want. I'll bring them back here and we can dye our hair and if you don't mind trimming mine, that would help some. We'll need to bag out the trash so the maid doesn't see the dye kits, but that's not a problem. One more night after this and I'll call my computer guru Mouse. He'll let us know how close the hunters look to be. Oh, and we can get some supper and real sippin' whiskey while we're out."

He makes sure the guns are tucked away under the bed, his duffel parked along side the footboard. He looks at her, then offers his hand. "You want to come with, or stay?"

 

[Ginfizz]

Glancing around the room, Maggie weighed her options. A little 'alone-time' would have otherwise been nice, but given the circumstances, divide and conquer would be a prime opportunity. That, and the idea of food and drink she didn't have to eat cross-legged on the giant bed was appealing.


Looking in the mirror, she thought back to what he'd said earlier. Bryan was wrong- she'd been the cheapest of women to fall for Nathan. Classic idiot-girl-syndrome. "He's nice to me, so that means he likes me and won't ever change for the worse."

Was she about to fall for that again?

"Let me change a little, and I'll come with? I feel grubby," she grimaced, not wanting to hold them up, but not wanting to be seen around in the same outfit posted on the web earlier. She'd reached for his hand, gave it a quick squeeze, and then released it before he could veto her changing.

She spritzed herself down with some honeysuckle spray to take off the smell of diner from earlier, pulled on a tank-top with some little rhinestoney design on the top in case real food meant something a little nicer than Cracker Barrel, and she re-brushed her hair out, knotting it low between her shoulder-blades this time.


Emerging, she reached for his hand, having only given it an encouraging squeeze before skittering away to prep before. "Okay. Good food and booze after we get you squared away," she nodded.

 

[Khadaji2002]

Nick shook his head and changed his shirt as well. "I'm getting senile in my old age. Of course we don't want to be parading around in the same outfits." He grabbed a long-sleeved blue T-shirt out of his bag and pulled it on, combed his hair and was ready almost as she was. His surprise at her offered hand was only in the slightly raised eyebrows. He took her hand and walked with her out to the truck. He watched her out of the corner of his eye and realized he'd like to make the pretense their reality. She was wryly funny, and smart, and beautiful. The mental and emotional scars she'd collected over the years were similar to his, only she'd hadn't found a drill instructor to knock the petty crap off those scars and allow them to heal closed. She bounced back from surprises well. Heck, she could probably keep up with him without his help on this run.

All that flashed through his mind on the way to the truck. "I'll drive this time." He opened the passenger door for her, then allowed her to close it as he went around to the driver's side. A trip to Walmart garnered a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt (he found her advice on the colors spot-on), some 'grey-removal' hair dye, and a pair of hair scissors. Then he took her out to the local steakhouse for a meal, making small talk over dinner and watching more alertly for anyone spending time watching them. A final stop at a liquor store garnered a pint of Macallen 15 Year Old Oak. Then he drove back to the motel. As they walked inside he offered his hand to her. "I have a feeling we're both going to want a drink before you show me what you've got."

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[Ginfizz]

At first, her confidence wavered, and she almost withdrew her proffered hand- had she crossed that line? She didn't have time to rescind the invitation in embarrassment, for Bryan finally closed his hand around hers, and she felt relief at not being left hanging, as she had with affectionate gestures before. It was quite effective in shutting her down and closing her off from being a warmer person, for emotional safety's sake.

The knot that'd sat between her shoulders and pulled her spine too straight all day long relaxed while she talked, or selected pin-stripes or dark solids for him, or consulted with his skin-tone and eyes to see what color best worked on his hair. It was gone by the time they finished their meal and Bryan had learned a bit more about his mark- grew up in a small-town, did the typical fly-be-free screw-up all repressed children made, got from the frying pan to the fire, and threw away a lot of good opportunities because she was trying to get back around to doing the right thing with the right guy... who turned out to be wrong.

Taking a slow breath, Maggie nodded. "If it weren't so damn expensive, I'd have asked 'where's yours?'" and held up the small brown bag holding the pint of good scotch.

They didn't have a lot of cargo, but it did take up a corner of the foot of the bed as they talked and she began to stow things in her duffel bag for the event of a quick getaway. She reached into her purse and fished out a small jump-drive, then dug deeper, around several bundles of things, and extracted a manila envelope. "He kept notes on his test subjects," she said quietly, the knot having returned as she put the drive on the folder, sliding them toward Bryan as she continued to work.

"The summary: He was testing designer drugs on high-dollar call-girls, and creating a portfolio of their reactions to them for any of his overseas investors," she explained tightly, her hands busy working, sorting, straightening, organizing... if they stopped, she had to, and then she'd have to confront the horrors of stoned women laughing hysterically as they were brutally forced into acts only obese neckbeards depicted with ripped-off DeviantArt hentai in their little 'interactive fiction' games online. Her mouth went dry, and she wondered where that scotch had gotten off to as her hands began to sweat and shake.

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[Khadaji2002]

Nick enjoyed the evening out so much he regretted the return of tension as Maggie started sharing her background. The early stuff was easy enough for her, and Nick thought her story all too common. If parents could only teach their children what the world was really like, the good and the bad, most kids would get it and be ready for flight. Maggie's folks obviously weren't of that school and had set her up to fail. You couldn't even say that meeting Nathan was a mistake for her. How could she have known? What tools had she been given to avoid someone smooth and gentle as he had appeared to her?

Nick took the manila folder and jump drive. He fired up his computer, shuffling through the contents of the manila folder as it warmed up. He then plugged the drive into the USB slot, scanned it with two different anti-virus programs, then opened the contents. Without looking directly at her (peripheral vision was a vital skill to hone in his line of work after all) he passed her the pint bottle. It was about half-gone already and he'd taken only a sip or two. Her reaction to him looking at this information suggested she was involved directly somehow.

He read and watched young girls, high-priced hookers all by the looks, being drugged. Their reactions varied from nearly comatose to wild laughter. Some of the drugs made them violent and those videos where cut short, the paper file saying merely "Experiment unsuccessful". Nick wondered how long those girls had lived. They might have been the luckier ones. Anger built slowly in his stomach like a coal fire kindled with paper. Very slowly at first it built. By the time he was half-way through the material he looked up, face and hands clenched in helpless rage.

"I can't watch any more at the moment. I'll tear out a wall, I swear to God I will." His voice was tight with his effort to rein himself back in. "God, Maggie. To think I almost sent you back into that...that viper's nest." He stood up and paced around the room, taking the bottle from her for a mouthful of good, relaxing whisky. He handed it back to her and strode to the window, looking out through the crack in the curtain without touching the fabric. The whisky rolled over his tongue as he held it in his mouth. Focused on the blended tastes of malt, peat, smoke and oak. Slowed his breathing down. Calmed his anger, banked it for the day action was useful. Rolled his neck and shoulders as the muscles slowly loosened. Once he was calm again he turned to her.

"I'm not angry at you, Maggie. You need to know that before I ask the one question I have. Given what you've shown me...God, Nick and his associates are deviants." He paused. "How were you involved? What could Nathan show the world about you?"

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[Ginfizz]

Warily, Maggie kept an eye on Bryan as his agitation increased. Some men brooded in icy silence, others railed and punched. One never knew how someone would react to certain things. Maggie'd been sick when she realized what had happened to Janie, Madison, Resa, and other friends before she'd found out the truth and promptly stopped having friends around. She hadn't known the specifics, only that they weren't "right", and they had an odd reluctance to be around Nathan, even if nobody would say anything. Vaguely then, Maggie had recalled her girl-friends from grade school, and how nobody wanted a sleepover, even after her dad had thrown that one birthday party for her.

"I wasn't involved with the later- with those women," she explained, reaching for the remainder of the pint and putting a sizable dent in it. They'd both been working on it, but it was dwindling much more quickly now, and Maggie's cheeks bore the warm tinge of liquor, her eyes were glassy and bright. "My friends and I- we'd have parties, or we'd attend his associates' events, and I started noticing that one or two would disappear through the evening. We didn't think anything of it- people pair up and go off, you know," she shrugged, finally finding nothing else with which to busy herself, so she sat down on the bed, pint in hand.

"Some of us know ourselves well enough to know that we're not black-out drunks. When I drink, I get-" she hesitated, glancing at the bottle, and shook her head. "Well, I don't forget where I am or what I do. Neither did some of my friends, but they were coming to in peoples' apartments, or by the tracks, or here and there like they'd been abducted by aliens. They always changed after that, as if they realized something bad had happened- and to me, knowing something terrible has happened to me and I don't know what it was is worse than if I can remember someone doing something." She shrugged and took another drink.

"They wanted to design the perfect party-drug, so that they could have the time of their lives and their victims wouldn't remember and come back for more willingly and oblivious."

Quite brilliant, actually, though in a twisted sort of way. The government had been doing things like that for years with their "program participants". Well, at least, if you read Ludlum.

"If I'd known that my friends were getting lured off and abused and humiliated, I'd never have spoken to them, but even THEY didn't know. I was going to an old friend with the data as soon as the heat died down- he's got ins with the legal system- we go way back, but he'd have been a risk if I'd gone to him right off. Meanwhile, more women are being used up," her voice was dry.

"Let's get you colored, then I'll do me," she said brusquely, standing up and reaching for the bag of things to walk over to the bathroom's wide, long counter.

The pint... was empty.
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[Khadaji2002]

Nick focused on her words. Treated them like a briefing when one of the rag- one of the targets on their list had popped up and killed people. That always made him mad enough to hit something, but his training leashed that anger. Focused it like a laser. He'd become a scout, then a sniper based on that focus. His innate ability to read people actually helped with the latter. When you were trying to shoot someone from a kilometer away you had to know what the target might do next. If you were seeing red you'd never get into position, let alone make the shot. So now too he focused. And breathed.

He listened, and focused, and the anger went cold. Not gone. Oh, no it was still here. Now it was harnessed. He would use it, and not allow it to use him. He saw her flushed cheeks, heard in her voice how much of the pint she'd had. He guessed she'd be an easy mark right now...but that wasn't his style. She was still caught up in helping her friends get used, and then used up. The hurt in her eyes was like a small window onto the flames of hell. He wanted to help her put those fires out, not add to them.

He stood up just after she did, watching her walk the few steps to the counter. Her body swayed- He stopped. Walked over to the chair in the corner and pulled it over to the counter. Sat back in it and leaned his head over the sink. Watched her get everything ready, the nearness of her causing his jeans to tighten. It was always the clothes that changed, right? Never the body....

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[Ginfizz]

After the... debriefing... neither said much during the process of dyeing. Maggie's hands worked quickly, keeping the murky chemical where it belonged instead of sloshing here or there. The newer home-stuff was a lot easier to use than times gone by, so it wasn't long before she'd rinsed him, trimmed him, and then put the scissors down, reaching for a small cylinder of styling paste, then offered it to him to hold.

"I don't know how metro you are- my guess is naught- but this will keep your hair in character. Take this much," she worried three fingers across the smooth, white surface, rubbed her hands together, and then proceeded to run her fingers through his damp, trimmed hair. "Run it through your towel-blotted-off hair, and then comb it however. Yes, it makes you look a little preppier, but they're expecting a guy who can skin bears with his teeth, not a CPA."

When she was finished, she reached for the accumulated detritus and swiped it all into a wal-mart bag to take out later. "And now, it's my turn."

Had he been turned on? Her eyes had roamed him casually while they started, but she couldn't be sure without lingering at one spot or another, something she wouldn't do, even if drunk- but whether or not her brain responded, her body did. It wasn't full-blown, but it was a small flicker of interested curiosity she pushed aside while working. Maybe it'd just been a long damn time for him, and anything with a pulse looked good. She'd been there, then promptly regretted the 'taking the edge off' action of...

"You might want to have your people search for a Kurt Warner," she remembered suddenly. "About six-two, dark-blond hair, tattoo of some Chinese symbol low on his hip, below his navel. It probably isn't his real name- or hair color, either," Maggie added wryly. How she knew that was obvious, so she didn't elaborate. In retrospect, it was all too convenient for him to have been at the time and place he had been to wind up where he had with her that one few hours on a rainy evening. Ugh, she grimaced. Now she *really* wanted that shower.

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[Khadaji2002]

Her hands manipulated his hair one way and another. Nick was surprised she could function this well with as much Scotch as she'd downed. He wanted to touch her as she moved but held himself back. Did her eyes linger on his chest? His face? Hard to tell even with the alcohol. Some spark seemed to touch him, though. Probably his imagination. You saw what you wanted to see, that was all.

When she gave instructions on hair care he'd smiled. She couldn't know he'd posed as a gay businessman to get close to one of his targets. That job hadn't been easy, but he'd learned how to care for some of the more complicated hairstyles. This one was straightforward enough, but he'd need to remember each day.

He'd almost made a joke about the quarterback when she given the name, but the context wasn't right. He decided to take another tack. "Mouse can look up that info and see if anyone pops out. You said you had a legal contact? When I get a phone to call Mouse you should call him if you trust him. Let him know you're moving around but might have a case for him."

Nick stood up and let her take the spot over the sink to do her hair. He went over the area searching for stray hairs and dye spots. He cleaned as she worked on her hair. Was she interested? Her body language was mixed in favor of closed off. He'd mentioned his attraction and she'd shied away. He decided to put it on the table clear and open. As she rinsed her hair he positioned himself behind her so she could see all of him when she turned around. His pants were tight from watching her bend and move, dyeing her hair. He wanted her to see the effect she had on him.

When she'd finished rinsing, wrapping her hair into a towel and looking up into the mirror, he met her eyes. He made a point of looking along her body to her bottom pointed out at him, then back to her face.

"An attractive sight, Maggie." He smiled wryly. "Very, very attractive. If I can do anything to- for you, let me know."

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[Ginfizz]

Lifting an eyebrow, she briefly wanted to interject 'not that one' in regards to Warner, though "her" Kurt had indeed changed his name from something less Eastern-Block. Also, she'd met Rams/Giants/Cardinals Warner once at a fundraiser. She'd found his build impressive, but his personality and character even moreso, especially after learning what he and his wife took on together in their public personal lives.

Her dye-job took a bit longer for the color to develop, and it was also demi-permanent, so it'd fade over washings. She took more care in getting it right so it didn't look quite SO bottle, at least not at a simple glance.

It was still damp and turbaned, but she wasn't studying that in the mirror so much as the unreadably curious expression on Bryan's face- then it registered what was on his mind.

"You'd know- you've had a chance to look it over for a few months now," she retorted, turning around to face him as she pushed herself up onto the counter to sit. Speculatively, she let down her hair and blotted at it with the towel, then began to finger-comb it as she added, "I'm sure there's plenty you could do 'for' me... but I don't know how good an idea that is in the current situation." She meant the on-the-run business, of course, but she added deadpan "I'd mess my hair up," in a starlet-ditz voice, a hint of jest lightening her eyes from emerald to peridot.

Of course she was interested. His was a body type she'd grown up appreciating: Strong, hardworking, solid, instead of airbrushed and bowflexed. She'd only gotten used to that kind of body around the time of Nathan, and although originally, Nathan was an interesting lover, she wasn't as interesting as he'd have liked for her to be, and it further irritated him that she was the kind of person who stuck to her guns and stayed behind the lines she'd drawn on certain things.

That wasn't to say those lines didn't shift to accommodate different personalities and people, however. She just didn't think that being a fugee with a hired gun would complicate things any less. Unless it was no-strings. She'd played that game before, in college, when she was a lot less cautious, and wondered if it had changed any for thirtysomethings.

The liquor had loosened her up quite a lot, so that she wasn't so awkward and stiff in her carriage, and her voice didn't have the wary edge that seemed to mete and censor everything. She still didn't slur, though the mellow Missouri came out to contrast that trained, poised North Midwestern they poured onto anyone with a future in front of a lens. She wouldn't just melt all over Bryan's lap- that would take at least another quarter of a pint- but it did make her question why she was denying herself something she wanted as a sane adult capable of handling the fallout.

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[Khadaji2002]

Her fiesty response brought a smile to his face along with a wave of desire. Her sitting on the counter facing him, toweling off her hair, easy of manner and speech. This wasn't the cringing woman of a few hours ago. This was the steel still tempered and strong. The surface most people saw was just that. The surface with its scars and weaknesses. He was seeing the real her, the person she saw in the mirror when she was brave enough to really look.

"Not sure it's a good idea? What better way for our body language to say 'we're a couple than to be one? And then we won't have to dance around the subject. If we like what happens, fine. If not, we get you to a place you can build your case against Nathan and I keep the bad guys off your back."

He stepped up to her, just barely away from actually touching her legs with his belly. He put his hands on the counter just to each side of her legs. He slowly leaned in, lips pursed but eyes open. He leaned all the way to her face wondering if she'd slap him or kiss him. Or both. The thought made him growl with antiipation.

 

[Ginfizz]

What happened next surprised at the very least Maggie herself. A brief, soft chuckle escaped her as she pushed her hair over her shoulder and leaned even closer, so that their noses brushed. "Would you have just as much fun if you thought you'd talked your way into my pants, or should I bust your bubble and tell you I want to test drive you, too?" Okay, the argument he made was terribly spy-movie cliche... but cliches worked for a reason.

The words were playful, but the kiss she dropped on the corner of his mouth was soft, tentative and curious- and it had to stop there, or the warmth for which the liquor served only as a match to darting flickers of heat might flare too wildly and burn one or both of them.

Maggie wasn't going to hold it in front of him like a carrot before a pony, but she'd wondered from jump how charitable he'd have been if her body had forty pounds tacked onto it, and if she looked forty-five at her thirty-two years of age, instead of late twenties. He hadn't used her situation as a bargaining chip though, and there was no harm in making a better use of their time together besides driving, glancing around, and stilted conversations.

The second time her mouth brushed his, it stayed there, however, and her eyes closed tightly. She'd been out of the sleep-with-someone game for a little while, and although biology dictated everything was in the same place and it happened the same way, part of her would always worry that something was wrong, just for a split second before that heady rush of warm euphoria at touching a man overtook her, tugging at those unseen binds and restrictions she put upon herself to stay safe.

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[Khadaji2002]

Nick grinned like a little boy getting a present. "I'm happier knowing it's not my slick wily ways." He paused as her first kiss landed so softly, as if she still weren't sure about this idea. His eyes and face are serious as he says, "I told you I'm not going to take anything you're not willing to give. I'm just going to keep testing what you're willing about."

Her second kiss, so much more serious and eager, had his arms wrapped around her and his mouth pressed against hers before he realized he'd moved. He stepped into the space between her legs, letting the counter take some of his weight. His arms circled her back and gently held her close as he kissed back. Gentle yet eager. Polite yet testing. His body responded to her readiness with a rush of hormones. He kept the leash on, though. Tonight, she set the pace. If there were other nights, that would change.

He opened his lips against hers, kissing her more firmly, more intensely. His hands slowly caressed down from her kidneys, to her waist, down along the curve of her buttocks. They kneaded her flesh slowly...gently...but always a little lower, always sliding her just that little bit closer to lower body contact.

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[Ginfizz]

A faint little rumble of approval stayed in Maggie's throat, though her mouth was exploring Bryan's with gentle curiosity, the growing eagerness held in check for the moment. "I don't know how far I'm willing to go," she breathed when she needed some air, resting her forehead against his for a moment, acutely aware of the warm palms working down her back to the bare stretch of skin after the hem of her shirt, just above her jeans. "I sure thought I did, before I started kissing you," she snorted softly, then abandon thinking for a little while.

Her fingers were first twined together behind his neck, but as her mouth opened beneath his, they roved up into his newly-trimmed, darker hair and pulled him against her, only clothes between them as he moved between her legs, closer and closer still. For a long while, she could only kiss him, draw off of him some of the thick crush of heat and hormones clouding the air, their senses. It wasn't entirely fair to blame the alcohol, for if it'd been Mac's fault, they'd have already been tangled up on the bed. She'd been curious about what he tasted like, felt like under her fingertips for a while, but she hadn't thought she'd get the chance to find out, especially considering the circumstances. She'd always stuck to her guns, but she was quickly realizing- or rationalizing?- that rules were for people who couldn't handle themselves or others. He was handling her quite well at the moment... so that cancelled that out, right?

"Tonight we go slow and see where it ends up. Next time, you get to drive," she breathed, her mouth on his pulse-point, her breath tickling his ear and the wet, warm skin her tongue had just sampled. It was an echo of his earlier thoughts, but at least the universe knew they were on the same page. What it chose to do with them, who knew, however.

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[Khadaji2002]

Nick growled into her throat, having moved to kissing her jugular when she started on his neck. He slid his hands down to cup her cheeks through her jeans, finally closing the faint gap that remained between their lower bodies. His aching member pressed against her, grinding lightly against her through two layers of denim as he slowly traced her neck in warm, wet kisses.

"You'd better get in the driver's seat then, Maggie. Tell me what you want, or I just might start trying boundries again." She can feel his lips curve in a smile as his kisses wind down to the hollow in the base of her throat. His hands lift her up off the counter and slowly work her against him, grinding very slowly but more and more firmly.

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[Khadaji2002]

<moved to another venue due to technical issues>