Because Hood wasn't happy about being the butt of the joke in the last two chapters - this time he gets to play with Rachel a little. You'd think he'd have had enough fun in RiS, but I guess not....
Dedication: Errrr...... I dunno, does anyone actually want this one??
FLYING HIGH
"Go ahead and ask, Rachel," Hood muttered out of nowhere, making her jump.
Tearing her gaze away from the airplanes milling outside the terminal window, Rachel shot a wide-eyed glance at the scientist sitting next to her. He hadn't lifted his gaze from the case file sprawled across his lap, but the smirk playing across his mouth said he knew exactly what she'd been thinking.
On the other side of Hood, Felix leaned forward enough to shoot her a questioning glance.
Catching his eyes, Rachel gave the younger agent a tiny smile. "Turns out our good Doctor Hood is a charter member of the Mile-High Club."
Felix's eyebrows nearly bounced off his forehead. "Wow. Our Doc? Really?"
"I don't know why you people are always so shocked every time I imply that I had a sex life," Hood grumbled, his eyes still on the case file, a faint touch of color appearing along his cheekbones. "I'm a scientist, not a monk."
"Yeah, but you're so... self-contained. Usually," Felix amended hastily when the doctor shot him a narrow glance from under his eyebrows. "The Mile-High Club just seems a little out of character for you."
"I said I was a member. I never said it was my idea," Hood countered, flipping a couple of pages. "My wife was rather... adventurous."
Rather abruptly, he straightened in his seat and fixed Rachel with his most unwavering gaze. "Actually, she was very much like you, Rachel. Tough, independent, bullheaded... and just a little bit... wild under that calm, professional exterior."
A faintly musing expression took over his face as he continued to study her, watching her face heat.
"Is it something you would ever consider doing, Rachel?" he asked, his voice dropping down to a spine-shivering register. "In the middle of a long flight, just grabbing a man by the wrist, dragging him into an airplane bathroom and having your... wicked way with him?"
Crimson-faced, Rachel could only stare at him, speechless with astonishment.
'Boarding call for flight one-ninety-five to Washington, D.C.,' the intercom squalled, making Rachel jump again. Half-falling out of her seat, she snatched up her bags and one of Hood's by mistake, and all but bolted for the boarding gate, trusting Hood and Felix to follow her.
They did, of course, but it couldn't have been her imagination, feeling Hood's breath on her neck the whole way down the hallway tunnel to the plane.
When they finally reached their row - tucked at the back of coach, as always - Rachel dropped into the window seat and very determinedly stared back at the terminal, fighting to get her blush under control and mentally cursing the cramped seats as Hood settled next to her.
The brush of his sleeve was the only warning she got before the length of his arm settled next to hers, his body heat radiating through the thin materials of their shirts and into her skin.
Rachel hung her head slightly and stifled a sigh. Given the circumstances, it looked like she would be blushing for the entire three-hour flight.
~ END
