I'm so glad you guys like this story so much! I really want to thank Duddley111, romanma32, Judeh05, Tayna50801 and Tommy4eva. You guys are awesome! I really hope you like this chapter, Colin and Kwest make more of an apperance. ;o)


Chapter 2

Black Mamba

Jude narrowly slipped past E.J.'s incessant questions that followed the Colin interrogation while Tommy narrowly slipped past her gaze. As she scrambled to leave while E.J. was on the phone, Jude stopped lightly as a few well-gelled spikes of hair peeked sneakily past the edge of the desk. Her steps hastened as she leaned to investigate where the well-coifed hair led. But she merely toppled over as E.J. shouted for her to go before she made Jude decide on centerpieces.

She looked within Studio B as Colin flashed her a small grin while Kwest talked on. She let a small wave flutter between them as he sent her a wink before she left. Her steps slowed measurably as the doors became more visible and a heaving sigh escaped the pits of her stomach and traveled out her lips.

She decided that Tommy Quincy was tiring. Her thoughts and her heart seemed to jog on an endless loop that encircled memories of every sweep gesture that flew across her skin and any moment the two ever spent together. With each trying lap around the course a smile flashed in the distance as a soft hand caressed. She pulled herself from the molded slump of her hunched shoulders and pushed the sole of her shoe off the wall, propelling her the last two steps to the door.

The moment the sound of her footsteps quieted and the ringing of her paces dissipated from inside the office, Tommy peeked up again, brushing off the slightly painful bend in his back and wiping his clammy hands on the butt of his jeans. He fumed silently at E.J. as he leaned forward to watch her walk away. Her saunter was gone, her chin no longer jutting out against the world. She had lost the swagger and confidence he had stored in her. She seemed tired and acted as though the game had played her and she was finished fighting back. He almost felt bad coming back so unexpectedly, without word but presuming she would want him back. Assuming that she would love him back without questions. Almost, but not really.

Without turning to the young woman, dressed in all black and chatting away on the phone, he inhaled an indignant breath of irate hostility that pounded through his veins, shooting spurts of venom at E.J. and wherever this Colin was. "You broke her Tommy. Don't expect her to come back to willingly." Tommy spun his head, wondering when E.J.'s voice had deepened and when she had learned to think of things beyond the diamond encrusted surface. His lips were poised to sound his questions when the voice rang out again. "It's me you idiot." Came a sarcastic and dry pronouncement.

He turned his head towards the direction of E.J. extended finger as his vision collided with an old friend's. "Hey man." Tommy said jovially, his anger temporarily forgotten, and marched towards Kwest hurriedly. It had been a year and Tommy had nearly forgotten that he hadn't only left Jude behind. He had left an entire life in his bitter dust. He really had come back to reclaim what was his, Jude and everything that came along with her. Except SME, he could live without them.

If surveillance had actually been a sport, Sadie would have another medal for her complied collection. She had watched Tommy waltzed in this morning, looking for Darius while he scanned each studio for someone else. Someone else that Sadie didn't want to believe was actually her sister. Part of Sadie was convinced that he hadn't missed her sister and that his eyes weren't really seeking her sister. Another part knew better. The other part wasn't so naïve but was jaded to all things Tommy Quincy.

Every part of her held its breath when Jude had plodded to E.J.'s office while Tommy scampered under the desk at E.J.'s forceful persuasion and mighty hand. She made a note to ask Darius if the G-Major staff had taken a self-defense course once in the past. She knew Georgia had a mean right-hook and Darius could kick someone's ass with his belt. She chuckled to herself sardonically as she watched Tommy fumble under the desk while Jude eyed E.J. suspiciously.

She caught Colin slipping away as Jude left, stealing a few moments with a cigarette and his thoughts outside. As her head turned back to her co-worker's spaciously commodious office, with her peripheral vision, she saw snow tinkling to the ground outside the window as a contended shudder passed through her system. Out of the blazingly scorch of summer, the knocking winds of autumn and the tumulus rains of sprig, she love the peaceful serenity of winter's immaculate snow.

She had watched the first interaction between the two best friends, seeing Kwest eye Tommy with suspicion, his eyes roving as if to make sure it was really him. She watched Tommy twitch and fumble his fingers clumsily under the sharp surveillance. Sadie watched as the barrier was nimbly broken by a single brotherly hug as the two snuck off past her desk. Eyeballing the computer and her phone simultaneously, she gave less than a moment of thought and sneakily followed them outside to the alley.

The alley that everyone knew was infamous with Tommy and Jude. They alley that could only be entered through an enormously metal door, that creaked and whined as she pushed her weight against it. The alley that was slick with pelting and already melted snow, catching her foot and stealing her balance. The alley that was surrounded by whether-worn railings, that kept her upright and planted on the soles of her new boots. The alley that had been foreign to Sadie before that afternoon.

She watched frozenly as Tommy's shit hit Colin's fan on the snowy winter day. She crept quietly and craned her neck as far as she could throw it, catching bits of seemingly hollow threats and snatches of brazen jabs.

"Oh so the infamous Quincy has made his return. How does it feel to be fall back into an old rhythm without a throne to catch your ass?" Colin called meanly at the discovery of the man who had shared a light. "There's someone to catch me, and I think her name is your ex-girlfriend." He spat back as he shoved both of Colin's shoulders with pointed fingers, sending the other back a few feet in the piling snow. "Jude is not going to be the one to catch you. She doesn't feel the need to uh, how do you say it? …Hold onto the past like an aging washout. If you know what I mean." He spat back dryly, pilfering a long drag from his lit cigarette.

Tommy laughed a short and dryly cut laugh before framing his face in a still moment of pent up rage. He cocked his head to one side before lunging at Colin, smashing the lit and smoldering ashes against the other's lips. A strangled cry emitted from the compacted unit of flying fist and sailing curses as Kwest immediately pounced. "I don't think you've got a place here anymore, Little Tommy." Came Colin's combative battle cry as his slung his fist square into Tommy's jaw. "It's Little Tommy Q." Tommy shouted before returning the favor and letting his clenched knuckles bruise Colin's cheek, narrowly missing Kwest.

"Oh shit." Sadie whispered to herself, as she stood unmoving and not knowing what to do.


uh-oh, I couldn't resist, I love guys fighting over a girl. It's the best kind of fight. This is the last of the pre-written chapters, but I promise to get my ass into gear and write some more! I think you are all feeling the need to review, am I right? Teehee, I'm sad.

:o) Rachel