Tru Calling: Over the Edge
Incessant buzzing rouses Jack Harper from slumber as he glances at his lit up cell phone through half-lidded sleepy eyes.
He swipes at it, nearly knocking it over, but managing to catch it with one hand.
"Yeah?" he answers drowsily, scrubbing his other hand over his unshaven face.
"You will be at the city morgue this afternoon, correct?" a stern voice intones on the other end of the line.
"Good morning to you, too, Richard," Jack quips, mostly as a futile attempt to ease the tension between the charged pair. "You know, phone calls at seven o'clock in the morning are highly sought after these days."
"Jack…" Impatience laces Richard's unyielding tone. "It's a simple question with only one answer."
Strain pulls at the muscles of Jack's neck. He's really not ready for this. But what choice does he have?
"Yes," he finally replies. "I have a 2 pm interview at the city morgue with Davis. Anything else?"
"I expect a full report from you tonight. This is about you and my extremely strong-willed daughter, Jack. I trust that you will not disappoint me."
Richard hangs up before Jack has a chance to respond.
Frustrated, Jack slams the phone down on his nightstand. Movement rustles the rumpled bed sheets as a warm hand reaches towards Jack's shoulder, moving slowly down his chest. The pressure of warm lips gently caresses his bare back and shoulder as a seductive voice whispers huskily against the shell of his ear.
"You woke me up," the voice tells him, teasing and tempting as her black hair tickles his ear and the side of his neck. "But there is something you can do to make it up to me."
"Is there?"
Jack rolls over, meeting the dark and inviting eyes of the woman lying gloriously naked beside him, tangled up in his sheets.
"Of course," she teases again, pressing further as she leaves a trail of kisses along his stomach and moves down, one hand reaching the desired spot before her mouth does.
"Carrie," he warns, his voice a dangerous whisper. "Carrie, don't."
The woman in question, Carrie Allen, looks up and gazes into the hollow depths of Jack's crystalline blue eyes, searching for answers behind this man of intriguing mystery.
She laughs derisively. "And to think you were so eager for a blow job last night."
"That was last night," he defends. "Today is another day."
"Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it."
Jack chuckles almost mechanically. "I did. But I have work to do today and you'll be a distraction sooner rather than later."
Carrie inches her way up, closer to Jack's face. "You're kicking me out, aren't you?"
Unable to handle the way Carrie's rich black hair teases his skin mercilessly, Jack pulls her to him, kissing her with authoritative force and undiluted passion.
Challenging her.
When they eventually break the kiss, he responds, "Something like that. Don't want people getting suspicious."
"People. People meaning Richard. That was him on the phone, wasn't it?"
"So what if it was?"
Carrie smiles. "That daughter of his must be quite a force if he entrusts you to do this. What was her name again?"
"Tru."
"Tru…" she considers the name, feeling the vibration of the word between her teeth. "Interesting."
In a deft, quick motion, Carrie grabs Jack's cell phone from his nightstand, flips it open and clicks a few buttons.
"Hey!"
"This is her, isn't it?" Carrie asks, holding up a text message from Richard with Tru's picture attached.
"Give that back!"
She yanks it out of Jack's reach, eyes gleaming with mischievous delight.
"She's pretty," Carrie continues calmly, hoping to taunt him in a subtle, psychological manner. "Beautiful even."
"Carrie. I mean it," Jack demands, reaching for his phone. "What happens between me and this… Tru is none of your fucking business. Do you understand me?"
"Richard seems to think so. We're all on the same side, Jack."
"But I can handle this," he argues. "I have to. I don't have a choice."
"You were dealt a cruel hand of Fate. Of Death."
He sighs deeply. "Yeah…"
They study each other intensely for a moment, silence enveloping them.
Sleeping with Carrie is a simple release, he convinces himself. Loving her would be far too complicated. She's obstinate and condescending. A manipulative minx with dark eyes and a sensual smile that's sent him over the edge far more times than he'd care to admit.
After another moment, she moves away, sitting precariously at the end of the bed and getting dressed.
When she's done, she walks to Jack's bedroom door, unable to look back until his voice stops her.
"So that's it?"
"Only until next time," she replies. "I'll see you later, Jack."
Her tone is sharp, clipped with a sense of finality.
When he hears his front door close, he lies back for another moment and tries to focus on the task that lies ahead of him.
He clicks on Richard's text message again as the picture of Tru Davies, his opposite, illuminates the screen.
Fascinated, he stares at the picture for a moment too long, inhaling deeply.
Placing his phone on the nightstand once more, he stumbles out of bed and heads for the shower, ready to face the day and the new set of challenges laid out before him.
Fin.
Author's Note: This fic idea came from a conversation between me and my friend Liz (AmethystB) on Facebook when she mentioned she thought Jack and Carrie may have had a sexual past. This is my take on it and I'd love to see hers! *hint, hint*