Paige sighs as she finally turns off the hot water and steps out of the shower. She had a solid run this afternoon after she got out of work and now she's feeling clean and recharged. She starts to mentally plan the rest of her evening as she wraps her towel around her and uses another to dry her hair. First thing is, she needs food. She knows she has nothing in the fridge downstairs, so unless she wants to eat stale cereal for dinner, she'll need to go out or order in. She wonders if anyone would go with her.
Seeing the light on in Mike's room, her stomach twists. She knows who she wants to accompany her to dinner. Her and Mike are doing better these days. They're not anywhere near as close as they used to be before Sylmar, but they're better. They can be in the same room together. They are working well in the field together. Sometimes they even manage to make the other smile, though always in a group of people. Never alone together.
Yesterday she thought she might have caught him staring at her the way he used to. The moment was over so quickly, she wasn't sure it happened. It was during a meeting on Jakes' possible whereabouts. She had looked up and caught him staring at her with what looked like longing, and her stomach had filled with butterflies in response. He had definitely been staring.
That settled it. She would ask Mike to dinner. As friends of course. They could handle a friendly dinner with only the two of them. It wasn't a date. It didn't need to be strange. It would be nice. It had been so long since they had talked about anything real. Since they'd laughed together. Since they'd been alone together.
"Hey Levi, I'm hungry. Want to go grab Thai food with me tonight?" Paige asks, popping her head into the room, hoping she sounded casual and not too eager.
"Can't. I have plans." Mike says, not even looking over his shoulder at her, as he fixes the collar of his shirt.
Paige looks him up and down. He's freshly showered himself, and dressed up in dark pants and a blue button up shirt. Paige always loved that color on him. It made his eyes look even more intense.
"You look nice." Paige teases, leaning in the doorway, "Hot date?"
"Yeah. Briggs is setting me up. We're doubling tonight." Mike responds, still not paying her as much attention as she'd like, instead he fusses with his hair.
"Wait really?" Paige asks, so taken off guard by this new information, that she crosses the invisible boundary into Mike's room.
Her and Mike are doing better, but they're not anywhere near the point they once were when they just walked into each other's rooms. She didn't know he was dating again. She'd heard a rumor he'd slept with a junkie while he was in his oxy stage, but otherwise she didn't know either of them had moved on after the disaster that was the two of them together. Sure, it had been long enough that she shouldn't be surprised, but somehow, this seems unexpected. She wraps her towel tighter around her body.
"It's for the Mantona op. I'm trying to get under with the boss's daughter. Brigg's says she has a thing for clean cut blondes." Mike glances in the mirror at her briefly, like he's judging her reaction. She gets self conscious wondering if he caught the way her shoulders relaxed a little at finding out this was a work related event and not a real date. Still that alone brings up a whole new set of questions. Honeypot operations were her specialty, not Mike's.
"You're running a honeypot? Really? You sure you're up for that?" Paige asks.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike looks over his shoulder, pausing as he picks up his tie off his desk.
"Nothing. Never mind." Paige blushes, realizing her question sounds rude and not wanting to explain her surprise.
"Don't 'nothing' me. You do these stings all the time." Mike turns around to face her, the tie hanging open over his shoulders. "How is it different when I go under? Because I'm a man?"
"No! It's just… It just doesn't seem like your thing." Paige walks forward to start tying his tie, just to give herself something to do with her hands and somewhere to look other than his blue eyes which are staring into hers questioningly.
"I may not have your skills of seduction, but I do ok." Mike smirks down at her, and Paige rolls her eyes. She's obviously not saying he's not attractive enough to get a girl. He knows he's good looking, and he knows Paige thinks so. In fact in another life, she might have even thought he was flirting with her just now.
"It's not that, it's just-" Paige bites her lip and concentrates on the tie, not knowing how to phrase her hesitance without it becoming a thing.
"What then?" Mike asks, his hands clearly itching to run through his hair the way he did when he was frustrated with her, but unwilling to mess up his well gelled locks.
"Well, it's just you haven't exactly been able to sell it in the past." Paige lets the words tumble out one after another. She tightens the tie to a knot quickly and steps back out of his personal space.
Mike stares at her for a moment as he takes in her words. Comprehension dawns over his face as he realizes what she's thinking.
"You mean Jessica." He finally says the words out loud that they have never talked about after the night she went missing.
"Yeah." Paige says, brushing her hands on her thighs and taking another step back.
"That was different." Mike takes a step forward, mirroring hers.
"Yeah, right." Paige scoffs sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She really doesn't want to be having this conversation. The memory of finding out he was sleeping with his boss leaves a sick taste in her mouth. She reaches out for the shiny silver tie clip on his dresser. Trying to change the subject before things get too serious, she straightens his tie and clips it in place, "Here, you're going to need this if you're going to pull off 'rich playboy'."
"It was different." Mike insists again, taking her hand to stop her from fussing with the tie clip, not letting her change this subject until she admitted he was right.
"Why? Because you'd already slept with her?" Paige scoffs, pulling her hand out from under his.
As soon as she hears the words fall from her mouth, she knows she's starting a fight that should have expired a year ago. Why on earth would they have this fight now? It didn't matter anymore. They haven't dated, or whatever it was they were doing, in over a year. There had been one night she woke up to him asleep against her door in the hallway, but she was fairly certain that was just guilt from him abandoning her when she was with Toros. They'd never talked about it, and they'd certainly never talked about any of their drama that occurred before that.
"Because I was in love with you." Mike cuts through all the bullshit to stare her down, not allowing her to brush this off. "I couldn't do it, because all I could think about was you."
"You didn't sleep with her?" Paige looks up at him in shock, the hope in her voice sounding foreign.
"Not after you and I were together." Mike says, looking at her like he's trying to read her every emotion, like he's confused as to why she seems surprised by this information. "I told you it was over. I told you I couldn't. Did you not believe me?"
"No, you said you went to bed with her." Paige argues, because she vividly remembers that conversation. She made me a drink. She kissed me. I kissed her back. We got into bed.
"I tried. I tried for you. I couldn't. It all felt wrong, and then she knew." Mike says sadly, his eyes locked with hers.
"She knew what?" Paige asks, unable to tear her eyes away from Mike's
"She knew I was in love with you. She could see it. Everyone could. Everyone except you." Mike shrugs modestly. Like it's not a big deal what he's saying. It's just a sad truth he'd learned to accept. Like this wasn't completely new information he was dropping in her lap a year after the fact.
"Mike-" Paige begins to step towards him but she's not sure what she's going to say.
"Don't worry, I'll get the job done this time." Mike cuts her off, stepping around her and heading out the door. "Thanks for the help. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Mike!" Paige calls after him, and he pauses warily before turning around.
She stares at him. She assumed words would come, they always do, but she's just staring at him and he's not saying anything. She finally forces a shaky smile and just says "Be safe tonight."
"She's a 98 pound ballerina at a nice restaurant. Short of choking on filet mignon, I think I'll be safe." Mike laughs dryly. "Enjoy your Thai food."
Paige is left standing alone in Mike's bedroom, her appetite completely gone.
