Author's Note: Sidebar, does anyone else have an impending fear they're going to try to make Paige and Jakes a couple this season? I'm going to be so annoyed if that happens.


"What took you so long?" Paige asks, when Mike finally sneaks through her door.

She had started to worry she'd been abandoned for the night. Which would have seriously hurt her pride. Especially after Mike's reaction to the fantasy she had described on the car ride back from the hospital. If he'd been driving, he would have driven off the road. Luckily he was in the backseat with her, and Paige had gotten to watch his jaw drop and his eyes widen in the reflection of the rearview mirror as she whispered the dirty plan in his ear.

"Change of plans." Mike grumbles, making sure to lock the door behind him.

"Where's the nurses outfit?" She asks. He better not be telling her it was off. She'd been fantasizing about this all day. She could barely keep her hands off of him.

"Briggs came in after me. Said he needed it." Mike admits, still grumpy from losing the battle of wits with his mentor earlier.

"Briggs?! Dammit Charlie!" Paige swears when she realizes that Charlie apparently had the same idea as Paige earlier that day. "Why did you let Briggs take it? You were there first."

"Well yeah, but he came in and I didn't know what to do! He asked me why I needed it." Mike explains, setting down the bag he now brought for overnight visits. He always brought a change of clothes and some work with him, because he was a boyscout. He said he wanted to be prepared if anyone caught them.

"Did you tell him about us?" Paige asks nervously.

How long could Mike and her keep this act up? When they first started this, it looked like he'd be leaving within a week or two. She figured they could keep it a secret for that long, but now two weeks have passed, and there's not an end in sight yet. She didn't want to come out about their arrangement if he was just going to leave immediately after.

"No, but I'm pretty sure he knew." Mike runs a nervous hand through his hair.

"What did you say? Did you cover?"

"I said I was hiring a stripper for Johnny as a get well present!" Mike exclaims running a hand down his face, as he recalls the embarrassing scene with his mentor.

How did Briggs make everything look cooler than him? Even getting caught searching for sex aids for to fulfill his girlfriend's fantasy. Mike had turned red, and Briggs had confidently just informed Mike that he was going to get laid.

"Shouldn't the stripper bring her own outfit?" Paige asks, with a grin.

"Look I was thinking by the seat of my pants. Ok? Dammit. Now I have to get Johnny a stripper!"

Mike groans as he realizes he will have to see this lie through. How much do strippers cost? Where would he even find one? Usually the person he would go to for these sorts of things, was Johnny himself.

"So why didn't you get the outfit then?" Paige asks, crossing her arms and pouting.

She had been working on her dirty nurse puns all day long. She had planned this out. She'd developed a character with a history and everything. She was going to be Nurse Randi. She'd even practiced a sexy accent that was a mix between Marilyn Monroe and Kathleen Turner. The fact that all this preparation was going to waste was not making her happy. She briefly considered busting down Brigg's door and demanding Charlie wait her turn.

"Because Briggs said him getting laid trumped me." Mike says, obviously upset he had disappointed her.

"But you were getting laid!" Paige reminds him.

"Did you want me to tell him that?!" Mike demands in frustration, crossing his arms and staring down hard at the beautiful woman on the bed. His voice is a bit too loud, and he wonders why he's yelling at her all of a sudden. They had both agreed to keep this a secret, it wasn't her fault. He waits impatiently for her response.

When she finally shakes her head 'no' he's surprised that he's strangely disappointed. He didn't realize how much he wanted her to want him to tell people about them. He's in deeper than he thought.

He doesn't know what Paige wants from this relationship. The sneaking around and secret hook ups are fun, but the at the same time, the secrets also are one more thing for him to worry about. He envies the freedom of Charlie and Briggs to be open with their relationship.

If he had just been able to tell Briggs about him and Paige's relationship, then right now he could be having sex with Nurse Randi (she'd teased him with the name in advance, and he approved) and not thinking about how he'd have to buy Johnny a stripper.

Still, he can't deny the look of her pouting silently on the bed is strangely endearing. Calming himself down, he walks over to sit next to her on the bed.

"I'm sorry…" Mike whispers, kissing her shoulder, and running his fingers down her arm. With a laugh he admits, "I just really wanted to get you that damn costume. I've been thinking about you in it all day."

"Oh yeah?" She asks, turning in towards him, her mood seeming to lift a little.

"Yes, very distracting…" He murmurs, leaning in to kiss her. "I was filling out some pretty important paperwork at the time. There's a chance I may have ordered Johnny to go looking for the Solano's in China rather than Mexico."

"Mmmm… Johnny would like China…" She mumbles absentmindedly as Mike kisses up and down her neck.

"I'm sorry I let you down with the nurse outfit. I'm sorry I yelled." Mike says softly, resting his forehead against hers, he asks shyly, "Can I stay anyways?"

"I'm sorry too. I know you did the best you could. I guess we can just have normal sex... If we have to." Paige sighs.

"Gee thanks." Mike rolls his eyes as he pulls away from her to stand up.

"I was just looking forward all day to giving you a sponge bath." Paige sits up on her knees on the bed, wrapping her arms around Mike's neck and kissing him on the lips softly. When she pulls away he stares at her with adoring eyes.

"I was going to ask where it hurt. Offer to kiss it and make it all better…" She continues, using just a touch of the accent she'd worked so hard on. She kisses him down his neck and he groans as her lips suck on the spot below his ear.

"Maybe give you a prostate exam." She slaps his ass playfully, and laughs when he jumps.

"I'm starting to think it's a good thing I let Briggs keep the nurses outfit." He teases as he pulls away and walks back across the room towards his bag.

"Come back! You'll like it! I promise!" Paige giggles, reaching out for him. "Just turn and cough."

"You're going to have to get a lot more booze in me before I let you try that, Arkin." Mike says, avoiding her reach. Paige smirks, surprised he might be willing to try something like that at all. She wonders if there's anything he wouldn't let her do to him.

"Ok, so no nursing tonight, but…" He reaches down into his bag and pulls out some outfits. "I brought some other options. What do you think? Nun, Stewardess, Maid or Cheerleader?"

"What's the difference between the Stewardess and the Maid?"

"One has a feather duster." Mike says, pulling the prop out of his bag.

"You found all these costumes in the prop room?" Paige asks, skeptically. Walking over to examine the choices Mike holds in his arms, she looks over them critically.

"Yes. I don't want to think about what cases these were worn on." Mike admits as he holds them up for Paige's inspection.

"Aren't you catholic?" She asks, surprised by the nun choice. The habit Mike chose looks real, not sexual at all, unlike the other obviously slutty costumes.

"Technically." Mike says, already feeling aroused at the anticipation of what the night may hold ahead for them and which costume Paige might choose.

"And this would do it for you?" She asks, looking critically at the habit and cross. "You didn't get spanked with a ruler in church as a child or anything right?"

"Not yet, but I'd let you try if you want... Any of these costume doing it for you?" Mike asks, wanting to get past the wardrobe issues and progress to the next part of their evening.

"I don't know… Maybe we should just skip it." Paige sighs.

"You sure? You really were into the nurse idea." Mike asks, hoping she doesn't mean skip the whole night all together.

"Ok, this is going to sound really dumb, but I'm just not sure I can switch character's that quickly to make it worth it." Paige says, feeling bad for saying it, because she knows Mike tried to fix it for her. Unfortunately she is still disappointed she won't get to listen to his heart race through a stethoscope. On another night, one of those costumes might be fun, but she had her heart set on nurse Randi and the idea of changing gears so quickly to a nun or cheerleader just makes her want to pout.

"Yep. I thought you might say that." Mike says with a sigh, setting the costume choices aside. "Which is why..." He ruffles in his bag and comes out with a new handful of props "I thought maybe you'd prefer me to get in character. Which would you prefer? Airforce Mike or..."

"You're the best!" Paige squeals before he can finish presenting her options. She throws her arms around his neck and kisses him passionately, suddenly very excited for the evening again. She loves the fact that Mike knows her so well, and is willing to put up with her craziness. Grabbing the cowboy hat from his hand, she places it on his head. With a sexy wink, she purrs, "Take me for a ride cowboy."


"Did you get it?" Charlie asks enthusiastically.

"Yeah, Mike fought me for it though. They still don't think anyone knows about them." Briggs rolls his eyes.

If those two thought they were fooling anyone, they were worse secret agents than he thought possible. Even walking by Paige's door just now, he could see shadows moving together against the fogged glass door. He was fairly certain one of them was wearing a hat. The animals couldn't even wait to get to the bed.

"Forget them. I have plans for you tonight…" Charlie says with a grin, lounging seductively on the bed, "Now, tell me, is that a tongue depressor in your pocket or are you just happy to see me, Nurse Briggs?"

"Ok, but next time…" Briggs sighs as he drops his robe to the floor, "you're wearing the outfit."