Her scent alerted him of her presence before her voice did. A faint hint of peppermint filled the room just before she chirped. "Hey, B."
"I told you not to call me that." Birkhoff rolled his eyes as his bubbly partner dropped into the computer chair next to him. It hadn't taken him long to learn there was no arguing with Winifred McKellen. She was too…upbeat. At first it had bothered him, but over the course of a few weeks he had warmed to the woman. Slightly. She seemed to know it too, taking every opportunity to tease and flirt with the reclusive, somewhat rude, computer geek.
She nudged his leg lightly with the tip of her peep-toed heel. "Want me to go back to your first name?" He set his jaw, but relaxed a little as she beamed at him. "Come on, Birkhoff, play nice."
"Shouldn't you be working, McKellen?"
Tossing him a wink, Fred nodded. "Uh-huh. So, how 'bout it?"
"How 'bout what?" Birkhoff asked, pursing his lips.
The woman leaned over, giving him a generous view of her cleavage. "Just this once? We're all alone…no one would hear me."
"You are not calling me Seymour."
With a giggle, she relented, "Fine." But the smile didn't leave her brightly painted red lips. "How 'bout a kiss then?"
"Winifred." His frown lightened into a smirk as he blushed. "Get to work." The young man turned back to his computer, shaking his head.
She crossed her legs, flashing a hint of skin as her skirt was rather short. "God. Does it ever seem like we're just doing the same thing over and over to you?"
He shrugged, "It's not so bad."
"I didn't say it was bad, B, I said it was tedious." She straightened up and prepared to work.
"Don't call me-"
He flushed as her lips planted on his cheek.
Birkhoff's eyes darkened at her, "We're not supposed to-"
"Yeah, yeah, distance and sexual harassment, blah blah blah, I know, B." She smiled at him, rubbing the mark she had left with her thumb, "Had to shut ya up somehow, Seymour."
"Don't call me that!"
Giggling, the woman went back to the monitor as he continued to glare at her. "You really need to learn to have some fun, pussycat."
"And let's lay off the pet names while we're at it, okay?" Birkhoff said. Repressing a sigh, he went back to work. He'd heard all the warning about fraternization. He knew the risks involved and quite frankly, she wasn't worth it. Yeah, she was gorgeous, and …friendly, but she wasn't worth losing his head over. Hard as it was to resist those legs… Shaking his head, Birkhoff tore his appreciative gaze from them and set back to work.
For the next few hours, the only sound in the room besides the clacking of keys was the odd sigh.
Winifred leaned back in her seat, a tired hand rubbing her eyes. All the florescent lighting was really starting to get to her. Pushing back black bangs she sighed, "Goddamn."
"What's up?" Birkhoff glanced at her.
"I am so bored." She moaned, earning a chuckle. Ignoring this, she went on whining, "Can we go back to talking? Please? For the love of god."
"Fine." The man nodded, stilling tapping away at the keys in front of him.
"Awesome. So," Her full red lips twisted into a smirk, "What're you doing for your birthday?"
He rolled his eyes. "My birthday's not for another two months, Fred."
"So? Doesn't mean we can't discuss it." She smiled when the light reflected off his glasses. It was cute. "How old ya gonna be?"
"I'm not discussing this with you."
"Wow. That old, huh, B?"
Birkhoff turned to glare at her, but it softened at her expression. "Too old for you, maybe."
"Hey! I am a perfectly legal adult, I assure you." She brushed his bangs back from his face affectionately. "Besides, I like my men a little older and geekier."
"Geekier is not a word, McKellen."
"Yes it is. It's an adjective." His lips twitched and she beamed at him. "Was that a smile, B?"
"No."
"Liar!" She hopped from her chair to his, effectively straddling, and pinning, him.
The man blushed faintly as he instinctively caught her hips. "What the hell are you doing? Get off me!"
Winifred laughed at his distress, not really caring about his concerns at the moment. She did, however, lean back slightly when she realized she was about to suffocate him with her breasts.
"I mean, it, Winifred, off." He was glaring at her again. She didn't particularly care for that, and with a steady hand she slipped his glasses off. "Winifred." Birkhoff repeated sternly. "I am technically your boss you know."
"Oooh... Kinky." She cooed at him, "You know…"
"Here we go," he murmured, leaning back at she put his glasses on. He was trying not to look at her but he saw the light glimmer off the rims as she rose them to her face. She followed him back, smirking as his hands slid down her hips to her thighs.
"If you don't like me, why not have me removed?" Her head tilted causing her dark hair to brush against his face.
Birkhoff stayed quiet. He'd been waiting for this question. In all honesty he was still unsure how to tell her. "You know what they do to people who are dismissed, right?"
She nodded.
"There is no other part of Division you could work for. If I had you removed, you'd be…well," He bit his lip as she finished for him.
"Killed?"
"Yeah."
Fred smirked at him as she pulled his glasses off. "Good to know you don't want me dead, B. Regardless of how annoying I am."
He shrugged, "You're not that bad, I guess."
"Holy shit!" She cackled, "Coming from you, God Complex, that was almost a compliment!"
Birkhoff felt his lips twitch again as she slid his glasses on up face. "You think you're so cute, don't you?"
"Oh, darlin', I'm way past cute." She pushed the glasses up his nose, "I'm freakin' adorable."
Pursing his lips, he eased her off his lap. "Yeah, yeah."
She stayed leaning over him though. "Thank you."
Dark brown eyes glanced up at her. Her soft features were surprisingly sober, and he nodded.
-The Next Day-
It was her first day off since she'd been brought on, and Fred was looking to wander aimlessly. She'd never really seen much of Division outside the tech room. She was far from impressed. After being dazzled by a room full of high tech computers, the white walls left her rather underwhelmed.
But walking in on a cat fight changed all that.
Winifred quirked a brow as she sauntered up to a small make shift boxing ring. She found a small circle of people who were watching two women go at it like they'd just found out they were both tappin' the same ass. Fred's eyes dropped to the closer woman's legs and she nudged the beauty next to her. "Ten bucks says she'll lose 'er legs."
"What?" The tall brunette blinked at her, "What're you talking about, Michelle-"
"Is about to collapse. Her trainer should pull her." Fred brushed some of her black bangs from her eyes.
As if on cue, the blonde's knees gave way and she stumbled back into the crowd. Most of them parted, but Fred caught her with firm hands.
"No more," The girl moaned.
"No whining, come on." Winifred grabbed her hands and started hopping up and down. "Jump."
"What? No, it's over." The girl panted, but the stubborn woman wasn't about to listen to that.
Ignoring her, she slipped her hands from her hands to her forearms and began doing it quicker. "I said jump, you want your legs back don't you?"
Hesitantly, the blonde joined in, and after about a minute she was fine. Winifred gave her a stern whap on the ass and sent her back into the ring.
"How'd you do that?"
Winifred glanced at the woman to her left curiously, "I used to box. Her legs weren't getting enough circulation."
"I'm Nikita." The woman smirked, offering her hand, "You new around here?"
"Fred, and kind of. So…" She turned her blue eyes back to the ring, "Is this like, the exercise room or something?"
"Training room." The Asian beauty corrected. "Just how new are you?"
She shrugged in response, "New enough, I guess. You guys are recruits?"
Nikita nodded, smirking. "Yeah. You wanna grab some lunch?"
They pair left without noticing a set of interested grey eyes on them. Percy smirked as his prized pupil escorted the tech newb out of the room. Turning on his heel, he made his way to confront his head computer geek.
Birkhoff quirked a brow at Percy, but didn't stand. Snidely, he asked, "Something I can do for you, sir?"
"Just checking in," He motioned for the other men to leave. They did so soundlessly, without questioning his motives. The odd man shot Birkhoff a sympathetic glance, but most went on their way without acknowledging his presence.
Pushing his glasses up his nose, he pursed his lips as his superior spoke.
"How's your newbie fitting in?"
"Fine," Birkhoff said stiffly. He didn't like where this was going. "Why?"
"Oh, you know how the rumor mill goes." Percy smirked, enjoying the younger man's discomfort. "She's not distracting any one, is she?"
"Not really. She's a little chatty, but okay, I guess. Why the sudden interest?" He spun in his chair to look at him. His dark eyes glinted at him suspiciously behind his glasses.
Percy shrugged, "I've seen her interacting with some of the recruits…" His smirk widened as Birkhoff paled slightly, "she seemed to fit in with them. Perhaps she could serve the Division in more…hands on ways."
"She'd never go for that, she loves it here."
"Is that right? Then why is she having lunch with Nikita and not one of your glossy eyed computer experts?"
Quiet, Birkhoff looked back at his computer. There was no fighting it. If Percy wanted her, he'd get her. One way or another. "I got work to do." The younger man said smoothly, and went back to the task he had been working on before his boss entered the room.
Percy stared at him a moment before shaking his head and leaving. If Birkhoff had asked, he may have considered letting her stay in the tech department. Ultimately he would've forced the girl's hand into choosing his way, but perhaps he would've allowed her a few more weeks in the young man's life.
-The Next Day-
Fred blinked at him. "What, why?"
Birkhoff shrugged.
"Uh-uh! That's not an answer! You had me-" She faltered when a few passersby shot them curious looks, and quickly pulled him into a supply closet, "Transferred! Why? I mean, I know I crossed a few lines, but-"
"It wasn't my decision." He admitted lowly, not looking at her. "Percy wants you. So now you're his."
"Can't you talk to him? I can't kill people, B." Her hands caught his and held them tightly. "Please, just-please, B."
He swallowed and shook his head. "I can't."
Winifred's bottom lip quivered a moment and she turned her face from him in shame. Dropping his hands, she let out a sigh. "Fuck it."
Before he could totally register what was happening, her arms were around his neck. Unexpectedly pulled into a tight embrace, Birkhoff didn't respond a moment. The woman didn't seem to notice, or mind rather, as she held him. Her shoulders shook as she began to cry.
"Come on, Fred, don't do that," He pulled her closer as the sobs got a bit more violent. "You'll be fine, I mean, it can't be that bad." Winifred shook her head as he kissed her brow. Brushing her hair back, he pulled away. He cupped her face with firm hands, forcing her to look at him. "You're gonna be fine. Okay, just- just try and stay positive."
She scoffed, but a chuckle soon followed. "You're really bad at this."
"Yeah, I know." Birkhoff sighed. Running a hand threw his hair, he bit his lip.
"Maybe it won't be so bad…" Winifred tried, but even to her own ears her voice seemed less sure than normal. "I mean, it's not like we'll never see each other."
"Yeah." He nodded, "I mean, we'll see each other all the time."
The door of the supply closet suddenly popped open, causing the two of them to flinch away from the bright light.
"Well," A cold feminine tone cut through the air. "What do we have here?" Her cool eyes went from the woman to the man before they rose to meet Birkhoff's, "Fraternizing, are we?"
"He was just giving me one last thrill before I'm thrown to the dogs." Winifred sassed, putting her hand on Birkhoff's. When she realized the woman's gaze was suddenly on her, she lightened up a tad, "We were just saying goodbye."
"Goodbye?" she echoed with a fine brow raised. "Are you going somewhere?"
"With you, I suspect." Fred offered her a tight smile, before giving Birkhoff a kiss on the cheek, "See ya 'round, Seymour."
He nodded, never taking his eyes off Amanda. "See ya."
The redhead smiled coldly at him before ushering the young woman out of the closet. With one last glance over her shoulder, Winifred followed her out. Birkhoff gave her a strained smile as the door closed, leaving him in the dark.
Author's Note: Seymour was what they called Birkhoff on the Canadian series, and I told it would be fun to throw it in. Because honestly, who wouldn't be ashamed of that name? You know how tempted I was to make a Suddenly Seymour joke? Really, really tempted. There's a second part to this, that I will only post if this gets any recognition. As well as an up coming series on Birkhoff after Vindicated is done. Also, please tell me if anyone was OOC.
