Groaning silently, Rooks stretched his aching back. What a nice reminder of how much he hated mission reports with glaring red letters "FAILURE" on them. Firstly, such a word shouldn't have belonged into the vocabulary of Blackwatch. Secondly, he was more than fed up with thick-skulled foolhardy rookies messing up missions which had been planned to be god-damn bulletproof - sadly that required that everyone did their roles according to the said plan.
Yet, those damn idiots seemed to think they were some kind of demigods just because they got accepted into Blackwatch. Sooner or later someone just had to pull off some kind of a heroic stunt and of course it fell on Rooks' hands to clean up the damn mess they left after. He had already lost count of how many promising soldiers they had lost- well, honestly he couldn't even bring himself to care anymore. If those brats had a dead wish, they were free to run after it. He wasn't a damn babysitter.
Another disapproving groan passed his lips when he glanced at the clock. It was already well into the little hours. Not that sleep-deprivation was a new thing in his line of job, but when the reason was like the current, the frustration was unavoidable.
Just when Rooks was slamming the report files into his drawers, he heard the door open. Despite the frustration boiling inside of him, he washed the cranky look off his face in the time it took to turn around to see who had entered the room. A man of his rank wasn't supposed to let his work get to him.
However, he couldn't help his stoic expression loosening up a bit when the face he saw belonged to his trusted aide, Lieutenant Riley.
"What is it, Lieutenant? Something to report?" Rooks let out a faint sigh and turned back to sorting out rest of the files. The last thing he wanted to see was yet another failure report, but he couldn't come up with any other reason for his aide to disturb him at such an hour. At least he sure as hell wasn't expecting a lighthearted, almost indifferent "nothing important" for an answer. Yet, it was exactly what Riley gave to him.
While it was no secret that Riley was quite infamous of his cocky attitude against superiors - well, against everyone - it rarely caused problems between them. Some of Rooks' high-ranked colleagues had even wondered what kind of magic he had used to turn such a problem case of a soldier into a trustworthy and effective aide.
The answer was simple at the core: Rooks had known Riley longer than the others, long enough to call the younger officer his friend, more or less at least. Besides sharing mutual respect, they knew the main quirks of each other and also knew how to work around them. A good example was a discreet deal they had made when they began working as a pair: Rooks knew that Riley hold deep hatred towards being bossed around, so the colonel simply didn't expect the lieutenant to mindlessly bounce after orders and in return Riley kept his rebellious tendencies mostly bottled up.
Mostly, for they still locked horns every now and then. One could say Riley had some kind of a built in meter for obedience and when it reached the red area, the lieutenant surely let it show. It was somewhat understandable, but sadly Riley also had the talent of choosing potentially the worst times to let his nature get to him.
Judging by the dismissive snort the lieutenant made, he had managed to do it once again.
"I'm in no mood for games, Lieutenant," Rooks growled as a warning, slamming the desk drawers shut. "State your business or get the fuck out."
"And what if I don't want to, sir?" the lieutenant shot back, adding the saluting title to the end with cutting sarcasm.
Rooks let out a dry, clearly faked laugh as he turned back to Riley - and was admittedly slightly startled when the lieutenant was already standing almost right behind him, just a few feet away. An amused sneer visited Riley's lips, while Rooks' expression just darkened. He didn't have the patience for plays like this, not that night.
"A few extra shifts may change your mind," Rooks stated boldly, shooting a glare at the slightly shorter man. While he didn't really excpect the lieutenant to be threatened by a mild punishment, he surely did hope it'd be enough to put the argument on ice till the next morning or so. After he'd get some sleep to smother the frustration smoldering in him, he'd be ready to bicker with Riley as long as it was needed to get the lieutenant's head cleared once again.
Unfortunately Riley didn't back down an inch, just glared back at the colonel just as sharply. Sure, Riley respected - hell, admired - Rooks as the effective and talented leader he could be. Besides having the priced ability to not shun ruthless, even immoral methods to ensure that a mission was a success, Rooks also had the skill to keep himself level-headed in any situation - some Blackwatch officers tended to get a bit too excited in their jobs, which usually resulted in failures. That never happened with Rooks. When the overall formidable figure was added to the list, it pictured a leader Riley couldn't help but admire.
Nonetheless, that was only at work; in private things were very different.
"Drop that fucking 'mighty colonel' act already," Riley snapped at Rooks, taking a step closer. "I see through it."
Riley knew Rooks too well to see him just as the respected colonel most of other Blackwatch members saw him. While he acknowledged the difference in their ranks, it wasn't a blinding wall between them. They had known each other long enough for that wall to crumble down - and Riley knew that Rooks had a softer side, something that such a high-ranked Blackwatch soldier shouldn't have. The colonel just kept the two sides so professionally apart nobody could've guessed it.
In a way, it had disappointed Riley when he had found out Colonel Rooks wasn't as perfect as most thought he was. For a while, he had even looked down on Rooks for it - those hadn't been too rosy times. However, in time Riley had came to admit that Rooks still did his work professionally like the elite soldier he was supposed to be. Therefore the lieutenant had accepted the colonel's little 'flaw'.
Nonetheless, Riley couldn't just forget it - and outside the working hours, it had became pretty much impossible to see Rooks as the ultimate, unquestionable superior he was at work. So, whenever Rooks acted like one when they were in private, it truly brushed Riley the wrong way.
Riley grabbed Rooks by his collar and pulled him down the few centimeters their heights differed with one, harsh tug.
"You're not the boss of me, Douglas" Riley snarled, his voice edging towards threatening as he drilled his glare in the other man's eyes. "Not here, not now."
"Back the fuck off," Rooks growled back with a grave, low tone he usually had in his arsenal when some of his men had totally fucked up. For most, it was an alarming sign that it was time to start planning for a fastest escape route - yet turned out to be rather ineffective towards Riley, who didn't even blink his eyes, save from loosening the grasp from the colonel's collar.
"Clint-," Rooks grabbed Riley's wrist to pry the hand off, but the moment he touched it the lieutenant snapped into action and threw the colonel forcefully against the closest wall. Rooks groaned from the impact, admittedly taken aback by the fact the little quarrel seemed to be escalating quickly into a fistfight - it wouldn't be their first one ever, but surely the first in a small eternity.
That minor shock wasn't anything compared to what followed next. Instead of a set of knuckles connecting with Rooks' face, Riley attacked him with a kiss so fierce it could've just as well been an assault. The lieutenant was strong and dominating, completely nailing the colonel in his place.
For a moment, Rooks' mind went completely blank - and then hit the massive shock, making him shove the lieutenant away.
"Jesus fuck!" he cursed, trying to get his mind back on track. "What the-"
Riley interrupted him by pushing him back against the wall, leaning in so close their lips almost touched again.
"Switch off for a fucking moment," the lieutenant hissed, pinning the colonel firmly in place from his shoulders. Rooks barely heard the words, his mind mostly focused in getting the Riley off him for a second time, which turned to be surprisingly challenging. The lieutenant had clearly built up more muscles since the last time they had wrestled.
Annoyed, Riley nudged the colonel against the wall and growled louder: "Be at fucking ease!"
Rooks wasn't sure why the stark command felt like electricity shooting through his whole body, but it did make him seize his struggling. Panting lightly, he glanced at the lieutenant.
A satisfied crook made its way on Riley's lips when he noticed Rooks' reaction, excitement sprawling out inside of him. Many knew that the lieutenant hated being bossed around but none really knew why: he thirsted for that very same power, to be the one giving all those orders, having absolute command over others. Being Rooks' - a colonel's - right hand man kept Riley quite pleased, but never completely smothered the lingering, gnawing temptation for even more. This was his chance to get that fill he had desired for so long.
"Lay back, let me take control," Riley breathed huskily into Rooks' ear, his grin slowly turning into a more predatory one. "You need a break, don't you?"
An odd set of shivers ran down Rooks' back, making him tense up. He wasn't sure what to make out of the current situation, the earlier attack and Riley's words. Yes, he could use a break, who couldn't these days, but he was one of those who couldn't afford one. He had always been a career driven and ambitious man, who wanted to do his job not just properly, but as perfectly as possible, no matter what it took. Nothing less would've gotten him into the position he was in, a colonel in Blackwatch. Breaks simply didn't belong in his work.
Rooks swallowed dryly when he felt Riley's lips pressing slowly against his neck. Riley could tell how tense Rooks was from the way the colonel's neck muscles twitched when the lieutenant ran his tongue over the skin before lightly sucking it. Though the idea was cruelly tempting, Riley wouldn't force himself on Rooks. The lieutenant might've had a bit of a temper, but he wasn't a complete bonehead. If he let his urges get better of him now, it'd be one major fuck up - and an irrevocable kind at that. He'd just have to hope he had read Rooks right and played his hand well.
Sharp and fast thinking had always been one of Rooks' advantages, but now his mind felt agonizingly jammed. No matter how he tried, he couldn't pull his focus completely off the sensations on his neck and he still hadn't processed Riley's words through. Could he deny that the stress and his men fucking up missions wore on him from time to time? He was supposed to work like a machine and he wanted to work like one, but the current night, the files in his desk already proved it wasn't just a question of strong will.
While Rooks did manage to keep his 'family man' side from affecting his job, it seemed that doing the same vice versa wasn't that easy. He was tired. Riley was sharp, he had to give the lieutenant that. Rooks had thought he had never let any weariness show - well, partly he hadn't even admitted it to himself. However, now that he gave it a thought, a small break sounded alluringly welcoming. How relieving it would be to forget the responsibility over moronic subordinates and their failuer even for a moment.
He could trust Riley to keep it just between them.
Before Rooks even noticed it, he had let Riley back on his lips and rested against the wall, allowing the lieutenant take the lead - which Riley did eagerly.