This is a bit of a Drabble I had after watching this show what I'm sure is the thousandth time. I may or may not leave this as a simple one-shot. I'm sure ideas will come later, but we'll see.
I don't own Tom Jackman, nor do I own his counterpart, 'Billy' Hyde.
Shoulder length, dark hair stuck out from under a ball cap, while sunglasses settled on a straight, slender nose bridge. Each breath taken in was cool due to the mint gum she chewed as the bored woman stared out at the other side of the street, her slender frame tucked into an alley to remain mostly hidden, and yet be able to see what she was after.
Her target seemed to be a simple man who was currently rushing from a building. Curly brown hair, probably in his early forties or a little older. It was hard to tell at this distance. Pale lips pushed out a bubble from the green gum and let it crack apart before licking the cool treat back into her mouth. Gum was a cover for her smoke breath, and it also kept her distracted from her cigarettes she wanted to light up.
So this was Tom Jackman. The part time computer technician, part time retail worker, and full time hacker had gathered bits and pieces from a friend of her ex-girlfriend's. Complicated as it sounded, the acquaintance and her lover—or at least the lover, in this case—had been hired to follow this man a while back. Hired by his wife after he'd left her and their twins alone six months ago, now they were closing up shop because someone paid them a boat load of cash just to leave him alone. The investigator never found a trace of an affair, but she'd found out some interesting things while following the man, and it just sounded weird.
Downright sketchy, in fact.
The raven haired thirty year old could hear the conversation still in the back of her head. Two men who looked identical, save for minor changes in appearance, were one person. The Jekyll and Hyde theory of Miranda Callendar was almost laughable, considering the private detective didn't have a shred of proof other than her word, her lover Min's word, and pictures of two men that looked to be twins in both face and clothes. No video. Nothing at all.
So, as curiosity killed the cat, the proud hacker put herself to work. It was amusing still to this day, how a few books brought her passion to learn everything she could about computers and how to work codes and viruses into a system, not to mention infiltrate private financial information, personal records… It helped here and there when she was a younger reporter in her twenties…until of course she was found out and fired. So, her work went elsewhere to those willing to pay under the table for a little dirt. There were those who were, and those who weren't; it didn't matter either way, considering she had the other two part-time jobs. She was still getting food on the table, this line of work was just a guilty pleasure. There was a thrill to looking into the private life of others, digging through their closets. How much dirt could she find? How many skeletons?
Tom had some interesting bits here and there, for sure. A private place he was staying at; she'd found that out well enough. The place in particular seemed interesting, considering its set up and surveillance. Then there was the woman he hired, Katherine. Dark eyes squinted as sunglasses were pulled back to see better through the lens that zoomed in on Tom as he leaned back against a brick wall. Cli-click!
At first, Jessica Berkley assumed it to be an affair. Why else would a man buy a place away from home, if not to keep the 'other woman' away from the Missus? After all, Claire Jackman was a hell of a woman to trifle with. However, after talking to her personally (under the guise of continuing the investigation of course), as well as getting what she could from Miranda prior to their shutting down of the office just two days ago, it seemed that he wasn't the type to have an affair, let alone look at another woman.
So why did you hire a Psychiatric nurse…? Mocha brown hues narrowed further as she watched through the lens. Tom was struggling, at first reaching for his phone, and then re-pocketing it so he could quickly yank a ring from his left hand to pocket as well. His wedding ring.
So it was an affair then! She nearly grinned in triumph, ready to snap photo after photo as he bowed his head. Any moment now and there would be some woman slip by him. Katherine maybe, or perhaps someone else?
She put the camera down though when she didn't see anyone around him. Her vision shifted from looking at the camera, to blinking into focus in her eyes themselves for the distance just as he lifted his head.
The face was far from pained or panicked, and she nearly jumped at those dark eyes that seemed to be staring directly at her. Speaking of dark colors, wasn't his hair brown? Why did it look black now? Did he pull his hair back to show off his hairline, or was it just…different? The sign he was standing beside…wasn't that higher up than it was now or had he been slouching? The camera was brought up once more, zooming in on his face with that lens as hair rose on the back of her neck. Something in that look he had seemed off, and it drew her to scoot a step back, further into the alley she was tucked into.
As she moved, she watched his eyes, the dark hues that dipped and were—he was watching her! The grin that slowly formed said it all and she couldn't help but tuck back out of sight as quick as possible. Shit. How could he see her from this far away? Cool sweat graced her palms as chills tickled along her back, her tongue started to toy with her gum while she dared to peek around once more.
Her eyes found an empty wall where Jackman once stood and she found her shoulders tensing immediately. "Shit," she muttered, pocketing the camera quickly as she inched down into the alley, back still against the wall…until she turned to see her quarry right in front of her. A shriek and gasp left on instinct, but it only seemed to make the man before her smile even more.
"Hello," he purred, hands on either side of her now, blocking her escape as he leaned on the wall. "Could've asked me if you wanted my picture, darlin'."
"Get the hell away from me," Her voice was surprisingly strong despite the quiver down her spine. The camera was replaced with a Taser, finger on the button just as one of those larger hands closed on her wrist. A grunt left her as he squeezed her wrist, keeping it pinned to the wall.
"Oh lookie here, a little kitten with claws." Dark brows rose as he beamed, cocking his head. "Love a feisty one once in a while, but that's not going to do you much good right now." The smile fell just a fraction as he leaned into her. "..Let go of it."
Jessica's heart hammered wildly in her chest as she struggled against that grip, watching as he drew further from his previous amused status. How was he able to hold her so easily!? This wasn't anything how Jackman was described. She growled as her struggles slowly subsided, breathing out a huff as one by one, her fingers released the Taser.
A grin slid over his face as he leaned in, nearly nose to nose. "Good girl," he whispered. "Now," black eyes studied over her face. "Why were you taking pictures, little kitten?"
"I wasn't."
"Ah-ah. Not a smart idea to lie," he'd released one wrist as he chided, hand dropping down the wall only to lift it back up with the small square of her camera in his palm. Wide-eyed, Jessica reached into her back pocket to find the device gone; however, before she could do a thing he was already turning it on and looking through the photographs she'd already taken.
"Now, let's see what we have here—Ooh is that Daddy?" He turned away so he could look at the image on the little screen, making the woman frown as she watched him giggle at the picture. "Daddy looks so old,"
"..Daddy?" Given what she knew from Miranda and what little she'd gathered from following him most of the day, this wasn't Tom Jackman, which explained the psychiatric nurse. Pieces to the puzzle were clicking together as her knees were bending. If she could get the Taser while he was distracted. Hell, she didn't mind if he took the camera. She'd cleared out all that was on it anyway just for this little project.
The head of dark curls whipped around, and those dark eyes settled on her again, and she hissed out when he bent forward and scooped up the weapon just as she launched for it. His fingers were faster though, and she cursed, scrambling back up while he looked the little Taser over.
"Now," wielding both the camera and the Taser, he watched as she pressed against the wall once more. "Why were you taking pictures?" The question held that musical purr, though with enough of a dark note to make her shiver.
"Call it my curiosity," she finally managed, her eyes switching focus from his face to the Taser and back.
"Curiosity kills little kittens like you," he countered, turning his attention to the taser with furrowed brows. A little hum, pleasant almost, sounded as he slid the switch to turn it on. The press of that button soon followed and the crackle of electricity between the two metal pegs made his prey jump.
"Ooh Noice!" he grinned, one quick stride brought him back into her personal space and had her cringing all in one. "Fully charged." He wriggled the Taser while peering back to the camera again. "..Next question. Why're you curious enough about Daddy to take pictures of him?" She opened her mouth just as he pointed the Taser. "Oh- don't lie this time. I'll know if you do."
"Who said I was curious about him?" Jessica managed to swallow the lump in her throat while she struggled to even her breathing. "Who're you anyhow?"
"Now, now… I'm askin' the questions here," He waved the Taser almost like one would wag a finger. "You're the one takin' pictures and tryin' to hide in the dark…Not smart, by the way. Not when you're up against a lion." He leaned forward, letting his nose brush the tip of her own pixie nose. "Not when that gum you're chewin' can be smelled a mile away." Dark hues flicked up through even darker lashes as he arched a brow. "No sense in hidin' your breath that way anyhow. Not when that smoke is all over your clothes…" he trailed as his eyes dipped lower, head tilting as he traveled to her neck without touching. Cool air tickled her skin as he took another breath, "And in your hair..."
The warmth from his words earned a cold chill down her back. Goosebumps pebbled along her skin and were accompanied by a hitched breath as the tip of his nose just barely slid below her jaw.
"It's even on your skin," he murmured, another one of those deep, quiet breaths now pulled a chill to her neck and she could nearly hear the grin as he let out a little purring groan.
Why her heartbeat skipped, she couldn't answer. She also refused to answer the mental question to why her face was so hot and her legs turned to jelly. He had her Taser, he had her pinned to a wall, and here she was shivering while he practically nuzzled into her neck. His breath tickled on those goosebumps, she could practically feel his lips parting and for some damned reason it caused her breath to draw in half- ragged.
And then she was freezing all over the moment he pulled away, standing at his full height that seemed to tower over her now, mostly due to her slouch against the brick. Those lidded eyes took in her own as she tried to take deep breaths that didn't tremble.
He looked as if he were about to say something when the sounds of Sirens on the street next to them drew both of their attention. An ambulance blazed by, followed by two police cars that made her cringe at their shrill cries. She didn't catch the click of her camera, but she certainly noticed the lack of a body when she regained her focus. Pushing from the wall, she looked down at the ground, finding both the camera and the taser at her feet. A cautious look around had Jessica stooping down to pick the items up, pausing when she looked at the screen of her camera.
The picture on the screen was of her, turned to look at the street clearly. Usually pale cheeks had a decent amount of color attached to them, her eyes didn't even seem focused. She frowned, turning it off to shove the metal square and her taser into pockets, pulling out a zippo lighter and her pack of cigarettes. Gum was spat out and with trembling fingers, she brought one of those sticks to her lips and lit the end, hoping that the smoke filling her lungs would calm her breath while she looked around wildly, half expecting him to pop up behind her, but he never did.
Jekyll and Hyde indeed.