Author's Notes: I swear at some point I'm going to start posting original dialogue. I just like to lay the groundwork for it with some character development already provided by the show.
-J
Coffee With Cream
Chapter 2
"Ok kids I've got some zombie virus. Makes you real calm, real fast. Don't ask me what's in it." Charlie declares as she enters the room.
"Hey listen, I'm already calm." Mike insists.
And it was true. In fact Mike couldn't remember a time when he felt this calm. He had kicked ass today. The meeting with Bello could not have gone better. Ok, maybe it could have had a few less guns pointed at Mike, but he had nailed it. After the terror and the adrenaline had faded away, Mike realized, at this very moment, life was good.
Briggs was starting to trust him, and now he was stretched out on the couch relaxing with his new friends, who felt more like family. Except, perhaps, for the pretty blonde seated next to him. He definitely didn't want her as a sister. She was sitting next to him on the couch chatting away, and seemed to move closer with every drink. If they kept drinking at this pace, she'd be in his lap by the end of the night.
"Man you just had a gun to your head ok? Don't take away our excuse to drink the zombie." Johnny says, grabbing a drink.
"Yeah. Don't be selfish." Paige scolds him, giving him a playful shove.
"Jakes, come here sunshine." Johnny calls over, and Mike laughs.
"Don't call me sunshine." Jakes growls, but comes over to join the group of drunkards regardless.
"Yo to livin' lyin' and lovin'." Johnny leads the toast and the whole group cheers.
"Living." Mike concurs, clinking glasses with Paige. He repeats the other two words silently in his head, because currently "Living" is the only one he can admit to aloud.
The guilt of spying on Briggs is definitely starting to affect him but for now he brushes it off. He's not going to worry about the lying right now, and as for the loving- well he's not going to worry about that either. What happens will happen. He sneaks a glance over at Paige, who is throwing her head back downing her shot. With a little luck, it might happen tonight.
"Oh, we should call this crap amnesia, I forgot it tastes like that." Paige winces, placing the glass back down and making a disgusted face.
"Yo that shit is foul." Jakes concurs.
"That is really truly foul." Mike examines his glass. He actually kind of liked it, but he was not going to be the odd man out and admit that.
"Come on one more round." Charlie insists, getting the shots lined up. Mike eyes the shots warily.
"What? You scared?" Paige teases, mocking his hesitance to go another round so soon.
"Who me? No. I mean, I'm scared for you. You sure you can keep up?" He grins, raising an eyebrow at her and leaning in on the couch.
"Newbie please. I will still be going long after you've passed out tonight on your ridiculous FBI manual. Nobody knows how to party like the DEA!" Paige boasts, throwing her chest out in a mock challenge at Mike and earning hoots of agreement from her fellow DEA agents.
"Ok, line them up and let's see. I just took on the biggest crime lord in town. I think I can handle you. I'm feeling pretty good tonight." Mike accepted her challenge with a grin. "Let's go Charlie! Rack them up!"
Two more rounds in and Mike is already slouching back in his seat. Paige looks like she could operate heavy machinery while reciting the alphabet backwards in chinese. How she was holding such a large amount of alcohol in such a tiny body was beyond Mike's comprehension. She must be cheating, but his mind was too foggy to figure out how. Charlie's phone rang.
"Really? Another booty call?"
"Not even close. A CI." Charlie dismisses Johnny's question looking at her phone with a concerned expression on her face.
"Coitus interrupted." Paige mumbles. Mike tries not to think about who Paige might have been having coitus with when her CI's called. "It's Whistler! He's a pain in the ass."
"No, he's not. He's just a little needy." Charlie is such a mother defending her CI's like that. Mike is surprised she doesn't have baby ducks trailing behind her. Which is a weird thought. Maybe that zombie drink was stronger than he realized.
"Whistler?" Mike asks, trying to focus on the conversation at hand. He hated being the new guy, he felt like he was always needing everything clarified.
"Yeah, he's a meth head. Used to wheeze a lot. He works for me now. Alright guys, I gotta skip this little party."
Charlie is awesome fun and always has his back, but Mike is a little relieved she's exiting early. Mike loves her dearly but Charlie is a total cock block. He knows it's unintentional. She's so focused on trying to make Mike feel like part of the group that she gets super cuddly and won't leave his side. Maybe with her leaving early he can find a way to get some time alone with Paige tonight.
The whole group tries to talk Charlie into staying, but Mike just waves goodbye. He's on a winning streak and wants a chance to talk to Paige while his confidence is still high and his inhibitions are low. Now, he just needs to find a way to get rid of Johnny and Jakes before she drinks him unconscious.
"I gotta make this call!" Charlie yells scurrying away, nearly running into Briggs as she exits the room.
"Whoa! Hey Zombies!" Damn. Make that Johnny, Jakes, Briggs and Lauren he needed to lose.
"Yo Briggs! I need you at the bar man. I'm looking to get into trouble, dude." Perhaps Johnny would do him the favor of taking the guys out to the bar leaving him here with Paige alone.
"Nope you're not." Briggs shuts down Johnny quickly. He was obviously not here to party.
"I am!" Johnny insists. "Come on dude, I need backup let's go!"
"Nope I need all my FBI guys, we've got action tomorrow bro."
Mike knew his lucky streak had to end eventually. He supposed now was a better time than in front of an armed gangster.
"Just FBI?" Jakes asks hopefully. Lucky Bastard.
"Yeah. You and Paige have at it. Represent. Huh?" Briggs gives Jakes his blessing.
"Know what? I'm good. I'm gonna watch the town. Again. Paige you in?"
Paige doesn't need to be asked twice. She jumps up, collects the shot glasses and remaining zombie virus giddily, like a squirrel stocking up for winter, and prances out the door without a glance back.
And just like that sex was off the table for Mike tonight. Time to focus on work.
