The Keg Incident
By CubKitPup
(This takes place before the Glass Knife case so Rebecca and Jack are not together as anything more than partnered agents.)
"Who would have thought a retrieval mission from a college campus could be so difficult?" Rebecca wondered out loud as she wandered down one of the many aisles of the Warehouse with Jack at her side.
"Well," Jack said through his teeth as he struggled to carry the artifact alone. "You can't blame those boys for not wanting to give it up. Why would they want to part with a Prohibition, ever-refilling keg of beer that turns the drinker into an accomplished jazz singer?"
He suddenly stopped, the container slipping to the ground and Rebecca could hear the addictive liquid it held sloshing inside. She turned towards Jack, bent over the container as he caught his breath. "G-give me a minute."
She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, if only to stop herself from hurrying over to Jack and holding him until he was steady on his feet again. Instead of giving into the strange desires that had passed through her since they had been joined as partners, Rebecca contented herself with asking as dispassionately as possible, "Do you need any help with that, Jack?"
"Oh no," he said as he lifted the keg once again. "No, no, not at all. Wouldn't want you to break one of those pretty little nails of yours before our report was typed up." He started off down the aisle without her. Rebecca followed him, her high heels clicking on the Warehouse floor as she wondered what she ever did to get partnered with such a jerk.
They finally reached the cleared off shelf space where the Prohibition-era keg would spend the rest of its life. As Rebecca stood back, still refraining from laying her hands on the keg just to spite Jack, her partner stood on a foot stool, trying to negotiate the artifact onto its high shelf. Unfortunately, with the tall barrel obstructing his view, Jack couldn't see the edge of the shelf and started to place it on top of Benjamin Franklin's kite (which summoned storm clouds to it when it was flown).
"Jack, stop!" Rebecca shouted and Jack froze under her command, though he swayed under the weight of the artifact.
"Your vibes sure don't make you any less of a lumbering ox," She muttered as she hurried up beside him to help guide the keg from below. As Rebecca laid her hands on the artifact, her right hand accidentally fell on top of Jack's left hand. For a moment, they both held completely still, their neutralizer gloved skin suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that they were touching, and not in the normal, acceptable 'save your partner's life' kind of way either. This was just a little different from any other moment that had come before. Not bad, not bad in the least; just different.
Rebecca finally forced her mind away from these nagging thoughts and brought Jack back around by calling his name. When his attention was back on her, she got the keg moving again, directing Jack to move it back towards himself, away from the kite, and slide it onto the shelf. The moment it was secure in its place, both agents let go of the keg and released each other in the process. Rebecca quickly put her back to him, making a show of brushing imaginary dust off of herself and removing her gloves, while Jack placed the keg's label on the shelf.
"I'm sorry about that, Jack," Rebecca said, though she wasn't entirely sure what she was apologizing for. Perhaps it was because she had enjoyed that brief moment far more than she should have.
Behind her, Jack was stepping down from the stool, unconsciously rubbing his hands together once he pulled off his gloves. "It's okay, Rebecca."
A long moment of silence passed between them, marred only by the familiar creaks that came from the old Warehouse. Rebecca wondered if she should say something, do something. But then Jack's hand was suddenly in hers again as he tugged her down the aisle. "Come on," he said as she stared at him. "We have a mountain of paper work to fill out and then Charlie wants us to get right to work on that new Glass Girl case."
Unable (and unwilling) to offer any resistance, Rebecca allowed Jack to pull her toward the Warehouse office. She could only stare at their joined hands, feeling happier than she had in many long months by that single touch. No snide comment from Jack; just a reassuring 'let's do it' smile that came from over his shoulder. Just his hand in hers, as if it had always been that way.
As if it would always be that way.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
There's not enough Rebecca/Jack love out there in the world. So this is to bring it some much needed attention. This was inspired by a prompt on the Warehouse 13 LiveJournal group Comment-Fic Party that I stared. The prompt was Rebecca/Jack hunting a Prohibition-era artifact.
This was a lot of fun to write and may have jump-started another one-shot for these two. Stay tuned!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warehouse 13. Damn!