Sharing a room with Lionel Fusco wasn't one of John's favourite things to do.
They were friends, sure. But considering Lionel had been a pretty troublesome pre-teen, he was a surprising stickler for rules nowadays.
John blamed Joss's good influence.
It wasn't usually a big deal, but really, everyone knew that "lights out at 10" meant they needed to be quiet, not "be silent and go to sleep immediately." It wasn't that John wanted to stay up until midnight swapping secrets with the guy, he just wanted to read for a bit longer. But he knew that tired Lionel meant grumpy Lionel, so the lights had been switched off, leaving John to stare at the ceiling in the darkness, bored out of his mind.
That is, until a soft knock at their door had him sitting up in surprise. He turned to Lionel, who groaned at the noise. Realising his roommate was going to be of little use, John slid out of bed, walking gently to the door. He pressed his ear against it, and heard a familiar sigh before the knocking restarted.
"Who is it?" John whispered, just to make sure.
"It's me," he heard the unmistakeable voice of Joss Carter reply, "Now let me in before Finch hears!"
John opened the door to the girl, her flannel pyjama-clad outline barely visible in the darkness of the corridor. Reese was suddenly very aware that his own pyjamas consisted of shorts and a vest.
"Carter," Lionel hissed at her, "What are you doing here?" He squinted as he switched on the lamp by his bed, bathing the room in a weak light. Joss entered the room, moving to sit on the bed recently vacated by John, who hastily shut the door to prevent any of the teachers noticing their new roommate.
"Figured I'd come visit my two favourite guys," Joss replied, moving to lean against the head board of the bed as John stood awkwardly in the centre of the room, unsure of where to sit. Joss shook her head, motioning to the bed she was sitting on.
"Come on John, I don't bite. I'm not Root," she said, grinning at him. John perched himself on the edge of the bed politely, only moving to sit properly on it when Carter raised her eyebrows at him.
Lionel frowned. "Didn't Finch put her in a room on her own?" He asked.
Joss raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, because Root always does what Finch tells her to," she replied, rolling her eyes. John let out a huff of amusement, leaning against the wall as Joss stretched her pyjama-clad legs over his.
"Root decided to sneak into our room. Which I was fine with, until she started hitting on Shaw. I mean, hitting on Shaw more than usual. I figured that, ah, giving them some alone time might be a good idea."
John patted her knee, and Lionel made a noise which they assumed was meant to be sympathetic, but came out as more of a hum.
"You planning on crashing here tonight then?" John asked, trying to figure out the logistics of such an arrangement. Would Carter want his bed? Which he would give to her, of course, but did that mean he'd sleep on the floor? Maybe he could convince Lionel to give up his bed. The boy was easy to bribe, after all, and the floor really didn't look like an appealing prospect to John-
His plans to bribe Lionel were halted by Carter's murmur of agreement.
"Yeah, unless there's a way to find out if my room is no longer being used for Root and Shaw's personal time."
Reese's lips quirked upwards. "That's a challenge nobody would want to take," he said.
"Damn straight," Lionel mumbled in assent. Joss smiled.
"My thoughts exactly. Zoe and Kara weren't opening their door-"
"Probably asleep, like most normal members of society," Lionel said quietly. Joss shot a glare his way, silencing him immediately before continuing.
"Anyway, they weren't answering, so I figured I'd stay here. If it's okay with you boys, that is." The end of the sentence lingered, a question which wasn't quite a question. John and Lionel already knew how they would answer, though.
"Fine with me, just turn out the light and I'm happy with whatever," Lionel said. Joss smiled at him.
"Thanks Fusco, appreciate it. John?" She asked. The boy on the end of the bed nodded, grinning at her despite the looming notion of sleeping on the thinly-carpeted floor.
"Sure, Joss. We've got a spare blanket in the closet. If I can have one of the pillows, I'll crash on the floor." He smiled at her reassuringly, moving to lift her legs off his lap. Joss tensed them, however, pinning John underneath her.
"Come on John, really? The bed's a decent size, we can both fit," she said.
John's eyes widened slightly as he tried to keep his face neutral.
He hadn't expected this. He and Joss were close, yes, but sharing a bed? They'd done it when they were younger, but John was aware that he wasn't six anymore – and, more importantly, neither was Joss.
It was a bad idea. John was pretty sure sharing a bed with his long-term crush would involve him getting exactly no sleep. He should sleep on the floor.
But the bed was so much more comfortable, and Joss wouldn't suggest it if she didn't mean it...
"Seriously, we both know a night on the floor won't do your shoulder any good, old man," Joss teased. "Wait, tell me you aren't scared of getting cooties or something."
John could only pretend to glare at her for three seconds before he poked her leg affectionately.
"Who are you calling old man? You're two months older than me," he smirked. His grin turned into a grimace as Joss kicked him on the thigh.
"Yeah, well some of us wear our age better than others, don't we?" she said.
"... You realise we're only eighteen, right Carter?"
"Exactly. So sharing a bed shouldn't be a big deal." She smiled as John raised his hands in mock-surrender.
"Wow Carter, way to be forward. I swear, if I have to go crash in Finch's room because you two get a bit too comfortable with each other..." Lionel's sentence trailed off, unable to think of a decent threat. "Well, I won't be happy." He finished, the threat anticlimactic. John raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well, we'll bear that in mind then, Lionel. Wouldn't want to make you unhappy," John replied.
"Fusco is always unhappy," Joss remarked, earning her a frown from the curly-haired boy in the bed opposite.
"Only when I'm around you people."
"Thanks," John said drily.
"You're welcome. Now can I get some shut eye, please?"
John and Joss exchanged a look.
"I'm okay with it if you are," John said cautiously. Joss smiled at him.
"It's fine. C'mon, better turn out the light before Fusco starts whining. Oh, wait," she grinned, glancing over at Lionel, who responded with a raised middle finger in Joss's general direction as he pulled the covers over himself.
Joss nodded her head at the space next to her on the bed, moving her feet from John's lap so he could move. He shifted so he was sitting next to her, wondering if it would just be easier to move onto the floor at a later point, when they heard shuffling outside the door. Joss, who had started to slouch against the headboard, straightened up; everyone's eyes shot to the door, and John's legs swung off the bed so he was in front of Joss.
The movement outside stilled, and the room's inhabitants heard a click within the door. It swung open, Root and Shaw's silhouettes revealed by the wavering light from the lamp.
The couple looked into the room and, appraising everyone's state of consciousness, slid into it, shutting the door quietly behind them.
"Hi boys," Root said with a grin, wiggling her fingers at the occupants of the room. "And Joss." She added, noticing the girl behind John. Shaw rolled her eyes at her taller counterpart, nodding in acknowledgement at the duo on the bed.
"Oh give me a break," Lionel groaned from under the covers as Root perched next to him on the bed. She began to poke him, smiling innocently as he emerged from his cocoon to glare at her. "Doesn't anyone want me to get some sleep tonight?"
"Come on Lionel, the party's only just starting!" Root grinned. Lionel let out a "hurrumph" of dissatisfaction, and rolled onto his side.
"Go on the trip, they said. It'll be fun, they said," Lionel mumbled to the wall, pulling the sheets over his head. Root sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she rolled her eyes.
"Some people are just no fun," Root said, tilting her head as she smirked at Joss and John, both of whom looked pretty concerned at the couple who had just picked the lock on the door with worrying ease.
"Hey Carter. Sorry for, you know, kicking you out of the room earlier." Shaw said, sliding onto the floor next to John's bed.
"That's alright," Joss replied. "I've gotta ask though, why are you breaking into John and Fusco's room?"
"Good question, Joss," John said warily, looking between Root and Shaw as Carter moved out from behind him, sitting crossed-legged next to him. He could feel her stifle a yawn, and his whole body tensed as she rested her head on his shoulder, leaning into him.
Root's smile somehow became even wider, head resting on her hands and she leant her elbows on her thighs.
"You guys are up for a little adventure, right?" she asked, her voice laced with innocence.
John looked at her blankly.
"Depends what kind of adventure," he said, caution evident his voice. With Root, you never knew exactly what was going to happen, but it usually ended up with the five of them being given detention by Finch.
"Well, I thought we could do something exciting," Root said, eyes wide with enthusiasm.
"Yeah, this hostel is full of exciting things. Good call, Root," Shaw said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Root extended her leg so she could jab Shaw's shoulder; her foot was swatted away by Shaw, who glared at her and slid closer to Joss.
"Anyway," Root continued, "I was going to go back to my room, but then I thought that it would be fun to go look at the stars for a while," Root said, blinking at the trio in front of her. To a stranger, she would look like the picture of innocence.
Everyone in the room, however, knew better.
"And why, exactly, do you want to do this?" John asked.
Root tilted her head, letting her hair spill over her shoulder as she leaned towards him.
"Fun, of course!"
Shaw snorted from the floor, and looked up sceptically at her girlfriend.
"Yeah, right. She wants to see if she can disable the hostel's security alarms, and to know if she has, she needs us to be her guinea pigs," Shaw stated, eyes flicking between the couple on the bed and Root.
Root sighed, pouting at the girl on the floor.
"How did you know?" she asked.
Shaw raised an eyebrow.
"You were checking out all of the security cameras and dark spots when we arrived. Besides, you tried to do it last time we went on a school trip. It wasn't exactly hard to figure out." She replied.
Joss turned to look at Root, concern written all over her face.
"Should we be concerned that you want to disable the security of the place we're staying at?" Joss asked. Root shook her head at her, laughing softly.
"Not at all. I just want to see if I can," she said. "Let's call it... an experiment."
"Let's call it concerning," Lionel muttered, earning him a stern prod from Root.
"Ow!"
"Don't be rude, Lionel," she chastised him. "So, are you game for sneaking past the security?"
Joss and John caught each other's eye, matching looks of mischief on their faces.
"Sounds like it could be fun," John said. "That is, as long as Finch doesn't catch us."
Shaw rolled her eyes. "Give that man a glass of sencha green tea before bed and he's out for the night. We'll be fine," she said.
"...Shaw?"
"Yes, Carter?"
"How do you know that?"
Shaw glanced at the girl on the bed. "I have my ways."
"Well, that's creepy," John commented. If looks could kill, the glare Shaw directed at John would have meant a fast, but probably painful, death.
"So, you're in?" Root asked. Joss's shoulders heaved as she let out a sigh, shaking her head slightly.
"You guys are gonna get me in so much trouble one day. But what the hell, why not?"she said.
John nodded. "Count me in. Someone's gotta make sure you girls don't knock someone out."
Root pursed her lips in a pout. "Really, John, would we do that?"
He arched an eyebrow at her. "Yes."
Shaw nodded her head sideways as she smiled slightly at Joss. "He's got a point."
Root jabbed at the curled-up figure that was Lionel.
"Lionel, you in?" she asked playfully.
Lionel grunted.
"No. I don't care what you lunatics get up to, just let me sleep. And if you get caught, let Glasses know that I wasn't involved," Lionel grumbled at the quartet.
Root pushed herself off his bed, resting her hands on her hips.
"Right then. Come on ladies and gentleman, let's get going!" Root sashayed to the door, swinging her hips as she moved, which John was certain was for Shaw's benefit.
Root opened the door slightly, glancing into the hallway to check it was clear. She slipped out of the small opening. Shaw shrugged and followed her, whispering "better get moving, kids," to John and Joss.
"I'll take the rear," John said, motioning to the door. "After you."
"Well, aren't you a gentleman," Joss grinned. "Night, Fusco!" she called softly as she left the room. The top of Lionel's head peeked out from the covers as his hand groped around for the lamp.
"Night, Carter. Don't make a noise when you come back in, Reese."
"I'll be quiet as a mouse, Lionel." Reese said, shutting the door behind him with a gentle click.
Lionel sighed in relief as he switched off the lamp, relishing the silence of the room.
That is, until an alarm went off throughout the hotel because of a security breach.
Sometimes, Lionel really hated his friends.