"Scud, I asked you a question." Blade stood on the far side of the work area, just outside of the pool of light cast from the bare blub that glowed overhead. He pointed at gloved finger at the woman still sitting on the bench top. "You mind telling me what's going on here?"
Scud regretfully unwound himself from the babe on the table, silently cursing the Dark Knight's ability to move like a ninja through the shadows. He'd been so close with Carol. He'd seen the look in her eye, felt her breath on his lips. She wanted him just as bad as he wanted her. Whatever the hell was happening between them wasn't the result of one too many beers or the adrenaline brought on from fleeing the club. This shit was real.
All fucking night since he'd laid eyes on the babe in the red dress Scud's mission had been to get up close and personal with her. He'd been within inches of sealing the deal and fate had intervened in the form of a 6'2" stuff of legend. Why couldn't they catch a break? First a phone call, then the club crumbling down around them and now Blade the Motherfucking Mood Killer. It was like some higher power was making it their personal mission to use every weapon in their arsenal to stop Scud from getting anywhere in the vicinity of lucky.
He knew he'd never survive it, but Scud really wanted to kick Blade's ass for interrupting him and Carol. B wasn't blind. He would have known exactly what he was walking in on, and the sneaky bastard still rolled in anyway. Rules of the bro-code clearly dictated you don't interrupt a buddy when he's working his magic on a honey. The man was gifted at both killing suckheads and killing the mood apparently. A situation like this was exactly why the Dark Knight never acted as Scud's wingman. Of course, Blade never went out socially so there was no opportunity for him to be anyone's wingman; it was all work and no play on that front. The man had a way of scaring the shit out of everyone he came in contact with, living or dead.
Why the fuck did Blade have to side up right then? Why couldn't he have magically appeared when Scud hauled ass through the docking bay door earlier? The screeching of the tires against the concrete floor had made enough noise to wake the dead for Christ's sake but it hadn't brought Blade down to check out what was going on.
The silent man remained just on the boundary of the pool of light, watching the couple with a smirk plastered over his face.
Yeah, Blade knew exactly what was going on between C and Scud.
"Look B…this isn't what it looks like," Scud started, angling himself away from the babe in the red dress. If he was going to talk being pressed tightly up against Carol wasn't going to help him form coherent sentences. He needed as much blood as possible swirling around his brain right now and not pooling south of the border like it had been doing every time the Amazon's kickass body was wound around his own.
His idea about moving away from the curvaceous distraction wasn't going to fly with the babe involved though. Even though Scud gently tried to untangle his body from her grasp Carol refused to relinquish her hold of his shoulder. The grasp the chick had was so tight that in twenty four hours Scud was certain he'd had four thin finger-length bruises spaning his skin. He was all down for Carol putting her own person brand on him, but he'd go for a hickey over first-degree assault any day of the week.
"Looks to me like you were too cheap to pay for a hotel," Blade drawled, his sarcastic remark bouncing around the room.
"Hey!" Carol's pissed off voice rang out close to Scud's ear. He winced at the volume this girl could produce from those lungs of hers. The already tight clasp she had on his shoulder amped up past eleven as she directed her outrage to the other man in the room. "We were not screwing here!"
Scud couldn't help but smirk at the babe's comment. Blade may have been the ultimate cock block but he did one thing right; the man brought out the fiery Amazon side of Carol that drove Scud wild. The babe in the red dress had pretty much shot down the possibility of any between-the-sheets mambo action occurring later on, but man, she was sexy when she was pissed.
"Didn't look like that from where I was standing," Blade countered, taking a step forward and into the light finally. "Scud, you and I need to have a discussion about bring your dates back to a secure location."
"I am not his date!"
"That hurts," Scud mumbled under his breath. He held his hand over his heart and cast his best exaggerated injured expression towards at the babe in the red dress. Carol didn't look the least bit sorry for correcting Blade's assumption and as much as he wanted to be hurt by her words he really wasn't. The power of the Amazon's quick wit was fast becoming like crack to a junkie for him.
Fuck, he really was some kind of creepy freak when it came to this chick.
She held her head high and her mouth set firm as he worked the hurt puppy look. He had to hand it to her; she was not willing to let him think he had the upper hand here. Pity those ocean eyes he was in constant trouble of drowning in betrayed the babe's true feelings on the matter. She was trying to give off a badass I-will-not-take-your-shit attitude but the twinkle of amusement brewing behind those baby blues gave her game away. Carol may have argued her affiliation with Scud but she wasn't as offended by the assumption as she claimed to be.
For the second time since they'd blazed into the warehouse Scud was convinced that Carol felt more for him than what she outwardly let on. His eyes stayed locked with hers and he felt the temperature in the open room heat up again, just like when they'd been locked together on the dance floor at Pandemonium.
If she was still talking to him come sun up Scud prayed the feisty Amazon would let him take her out on a real date. He probably wouldn't' take her to the movies though. As interesting as making out in a blackened theatre sounded he didn't think she'd go for watching anything action related, not considering action film explosion ending they'd already lived through barely an hour ago.
A loud cough coming from his right stole Scud's attention from Carol's mesmerising eyes. The person trying to get his attention was nowhere near as fine at the view currently in his sights, but there was no use trying to fight it. If Blade wanted answers the man would not move an inch from that spot until he got them. Scud sighed before breaking the invisible bond hovering between them and turning his attention back to the Dark Knight.
"Chill B. Like I said, this isn't what it looks like." He jerked his head towards the woman on the table. "I met Carol at Pandemonium. The shit really hit the fan there man. After you called the place started falling down around us. Managed to get us out of there before any suckheads got too close."
"That doesn't explain why you brought a civilian here. You thinking with your dick instead of your head jeopardized the entire operation."
Scud shook his head, sending a cloud of drywall dust showering down around his shoulders. "It's not like man. Carol was knocked out when the club blew. Spent the ride here trying to wake her back up. Couldn't take her to a hospital, not with suckheads on my tail." He shrugged his shoulders before speaking again. "I couldn't just leave here there man, not with the leaches about to rain down. She wouldn't have lasted five minutes."
Blade took another step forward and inclined his head towards the babe in the red dress, locking her with his scrutinizing gaze. "The girl was unconscious?"
"The girl has a name if you bothered to ask," Carol snapped. "What is it with you two and not using names anyway?" she muttered under her breath.
The vampire hunter stood silently for a moment, his Ray-Ban shaded gaze shifting back and forth between the couple. Under Blade's intense stare Scud felt like he was seventeen again when he'd rolled up to Sally Smith's door to take her to Homecoming. Her dad had been a big hunting enthusiast and had enjoyed watching the boy dating his daughter squirm as he told the kid exactly what he'd do to him if he so much as laid a finger on little Miss Smith. The words gutting and castration had been thrown heavily into the mix, along with the phrase they'll never find the body.
It went without saying that Sally got delivered right back to her door at ten on the dot, not a hair out of place and her virtue still intact.
The way the Dark Knight was sizing him up made Scud feel like he was back in Mr Smith's living room surrounded with mounted game heads on the walls and rifles hanging above the fireplace. That dude had been scary but Blade was worse. Much, much worse.
Carol straightened next to him, setting her shoulders and levelling her sights right at the Dark Knight. She folded her arms across her chest, finally releasing the death grip she'd had on Scud's shoulder. "Well? Are you going to tell me who the Hell you are or should I just call you Asshole instead?"
The air in the warehouse bristled with tension. Carol and Blade watched each other, neither willing to crack and answer before the other. Scud was stuck right in the middle of a warzone and he'd been thrown in head-first without a weapon to offer any protection. He'd hadn't been working for B that long, but one thing he'd learnt fast was that no-one insulted the man and lived to tell the tale. He'd watch the dude end vamps for calling him Daywalker behind his back. What the fuck would he do to a girl who just called him Asshole straight to his face?
Scud had been wrong in his earlier assumption. Blade was scary but Carol holding her own like that, not backing down…she was terrifying. She was a Goddess and a force of nature all rolled into one.
This chick was not one to scare easily. If she had of been standing on the ground Scud was certain her hip would have popped out in that sassy way like he'd witnessed earlier in the evening. The memory of her standing before him like that at the club had Scud's fingers itching to connect with that hip. Self-control was not high on the list of his virtues, but Scud managed to rein his impulses in enough to stop his fingers from drifting over to touch her. He needed to focus on the problem at hand and not think about how Carol's hip would feel under his palm.
The problem now was that besides an unknown number of vampires who were gunning for his blood there was also the issue of Carol apparently managing to piss off Blade with one little insult.
As sexy as it was to watch her work the magic of her anger it wasn't worth rubbing Blade the wrong way. They all needed to lay low for a while until the heat from the club explosion died down. Scud was certain his mad driving skills had shaken any tail trying to follow him home but you could never be too careful. Vampires had people everywhere now. There was every chance one of the heavy hitters already had eyes on the warehouse and was just biding their time until they forged an attack on Blade's operation.
Now thanks to Carol the possibility of them both hiding out the sanctuary the warehouse offered may have been shot to shit. B knew Scud was on his side…that protection didn't automatically extend to any guests the younger man brought over. Shit, he'd never had guests to speak of before. This was the first time he'd ever rolled up with a plus one to Blade's hideout. Scud had no idea how this was going to go down.
The vampire killer was the strong silent type sure, but the way he was standing there just watching the two of them made Scud nervous. Last thing they needed was for B to toss her out on her ass into the night. Blade was right; Scud had risked exposing the entire Black Op's thing they had going on in his panic to get Carol the hell out of Dodge. The suckheads could be outside waiting to get the jump on them.
Blade was still silent, watching them both. Scud needed to defuse the situation before this blew up in his face.
"C," Scud turned to face the babe in the red dress again, catching her hand and threading his fingers with hers, "this is B." He nodded towards the hunter clad in the long black coat. "Bona-fide vampire hunter extraordinaire, all-around good guy and the man who signs my pay checks."
Carol eyed the hunter warily. "This is the guy you work for?"
Scud nodded, squeezing her hand reassuringly as she took a moment to process this latest development.
"And you hunt vampires?" The disbelief was heavy in her voice.
"Seems like she knows enough about the operation considering you just met her at that club tonight," drawled Blade from his vantage point nearby.
The babe's eyes travelled around the room, ignoring Blade's comment while she zeroed in on the scattered tech thrown haphazardly around the room. "B?" she asked again, arching her eyebrow at the man in question. "Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" The teasing smile graced her lips again, tugging the corners of her mouth up and brightening her whole face.
Just like that the Amazon was back to being a sweet princess.
Blood was caked in a long drip down one side of her head. Her hair was a wild mess that looked like she'd licked a finger and stuck it in a power socket and her outfit was still covered in a fine layer of Pandemonium drywall but she was still the hottest babe Scud had ever laid eyes on. This chick was going to be the death of him without a doubt. And now she'd just likened Blade to a blonde chick that had a taste for getting down with monsters. If he'd been kicking back with a buzz and a doughnut Scud would have found the scene hilarious but sadly he was sans both.
What he wouldn't do for a Krispy Kreme and a little weed right now.
"Nice girlfriend you got there Scud," Blade drawled finally, the tension in the room lifting with those words. "The name's Blade. Scud's the only one dumb enough to call me B." He turned his attention away from Carol and back to the younger man. "Were you both injured?"
The younger man shook his head. The movement send tiny stabs of fire up his neck and Scud winced at the pain. Seemed like he'd sustained whiplash during the fall at the club. He wasn't concerned with himself though. The only neck injury he'd entertained receiving that night had nothing to do with falling down amongst a sea of panicked people and everything with having Carol's thighs being wrapped too tightly around his head.
"I got knocked over when shit started falling down. Hit my head but I'm cool. C got it worse than me."
"So that's what you were doing when I walked in…checking her for a concussion?" Blade asked, the hint of humour evident in his voice.
"Something like that," Scud conceded, feeling his cheeks redden with what was sure to be the mother of all blushes covering his face.
A brief smile cracked the Dark Knight's stoic façade before he reined it in and assumed his standard poker face. "So the intell was genuine?" Blade asked, returning to the business at hand.
"Dead on the money about Pandemonium man. Whoever wanted to party blew that fucker sky high trying to get in tonight." Scud took a deep breath, thinking about how close he'd come that night to meeting his maker. The situation at the club had been a little too close for comfort. So far in his work with the B-man Scud had been lucky; no-one had ever linked the two together. Now his carefree days of flying under the radar were over.
It was definitely time to invest in some stronger quality weed to help dull the blinding light of reality shining in his face. If suckheads knew who he was that meant they could find him anywhere, anytime. The current strain he smoked was fine for chilling with some 'toons, but if vampires knew who he was and where he hung his hat, he seriously needed to buy something stronger to mellow out with.
Leaches had a lot of pull in this town and lots of friends in high places. There were so many familiars running around that they should have their own damn union already. Anyone Scud came in contact with could be in danger. Carol could be in danger.
He'd never forgive himself if anything happened to the babe in the red dress. He squeezed her hand, reassuring himself she was alive and there with him. The tiny fingers wrapped around his palm returned the pressure. That small exchange told Scud everything he needed to know. She was here with him. She was alive. He would do everything in his power to protect her from whatever or whoever went bump in the night.
More weed would be really good right about now though.
"Were you followed?" Blade asked, directing his question at the younger man.
Scud shook his head again. More Pandemonium particles went streaming down through the air. "Nah man. Between shit falling from the ceiling and dust settling, visibility was nil on the street. The fuzz was crawling all over the joint. I doubled back and changed course a few times. We should be company free tonight."
The hunter stepped forward once more, his heavy boots crunching on the assortment of broken glass and smashed technology littering the ground. He came to a stop next to the couple and removed his shades, letting his unobstructed eyes scan over Carol in a clinical manner. It only took Blade a moment to examine the woman before he stepped back out of her space.
"You'd both better stay here 'til sunrise. There's no way of knowing who's got your scent now." Blade put the shades back on before turning his head away from Carol and back over to Scud. "Keep an eye on her vitals during the night. Anything spikes you holler."
The warehouse wasn't five star but the vampire detection sensors were off the chain, thanks to Scud's genius configuration of the system. He could get some shut eye knowing that Carol would be safe for the night. The beat-up couch stashed in the far corner was perfect for catching a few z's on, and if angled correctly, it was the perfect size for two consenting adults to fit together on…
Taking one fleeting look at the woman perched beside him Scud knew there wasn't a chance of anything like that happening anytime soon. The babe in the red dress was in serious need of a nap. Her shoulders were slumped over and her entire demeanour screamed she was done with this shit.
Meeting a stud, having a building collapse around you and finding out vampires weren't just the stuff of legend was a lot for anyone to process in one night.
Carol sighed heavily; another sign she needed rest. When she spoke her voice edged on whining. "You're telling me I'm stuck here 'til morning?" The babe rested her chin on Scud's shoulder and fixed her doe eyes up at him imploringly.
"Morning." The one word from Blade left no room for argument. "Vampires and sunlight don't mix. Come sun-up you'll be safe to leave."
"Fine," Carol sulked, blowing a stray corkscrew away from her face. "But I've got to call my friends. If I don't come home tonight they'll call the cops. And I really don't think you want the police sniffing around your little vampire hunting operation, do you?"
'Man, she's got balls,' Scud thought with a smirk.
Blade wordlessly handed the Amazon a cell phone. "Make it quick," he ordered. The warrior motioned for Scud to follow him further back into the warehouse.
Without thinking about it Scud turned and planted a kiss on her forehead. Finally he got to lay his lips on her but a peck was not what he had in mind. He pulled back and caught her eye before untangling himself completely. Out of the babe's grasp was the last place he wanted to be but she deserved some privacy to make that call. He watched her fingers fly over the keypad before he followed Blade into the shadows trying to devour the room.
"Can she be trusted?" B asked when they were out of earshot.
Scud cast a glance across at the babe with the phone now glued to her ear. She was speaking animatedly and her free hand was flying about her head as she emphasised whatever she was saying. All of a sudden her hand fell limp and a sweet smile appeared on her face.
"I know what you're thinking man-" Scud started, his attention fixed solely on that mop of brunette curls yards away.
"Enlighten me."
Scud sighed, letting his gaze linger on the gorgeous girl perched under the solitary bulb in the middle of the warehouse floor. She looked like an angel surrounded by white light. "You're thinking that anyone could be working for the dark side…that she," he pointed across the room, "could be some player's familiar. But you gotta trust me B, whatever went down at the club tonight had nothing to do with that girl. She's innocent."
"Innocent or not I can't run the risk of her revealing our location to anyone. You keep an eye on her tonight."
Scud snapped his heels together and saluted the Dark Knight. "You're the boss, B."
The other man snorted, obviously amused with the turn of phrase. "Remember that next time before you bring a date back here."
A/N: Thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoyed the interaction between everyone. I wanted Carol to be the firecracker take-no-prisoners type we know and love, but still with the wit we know she's capable of. And of course Scud's pretty much only got one thing on his mind when C's about.
Sorry (again) that's it's taken me so long to update. I know where I want to go but I haven't been hearing Scud's voice in my head for a while now, then two days ago BOOM! The doughnut munching adorable asshole was back with a vengeance and wanting to get down to business with the babe in the red dress. Once I finish up my other WIP (Caryl Down Under) I should be able to update Pandemonium more frequently. If you are looking for smut by all means check out the Aussie themed offering mentioned above. It's not as bad as it sounds, I swear. There's no shrimp being thrown on the barbie or anything like that. It's just set in Oz and comments on some of the cultural differences (for those of you who don't know I'm from the land down under).
One last thing before anyone pulls me up on it. I realize Wesley Snipes is all punch delivered in a 5"9 package, but for the purposes of this story that height just didn't sound intimidating enough, so I gave him a few extra inches (and in all honesty, who doesn't want a few extra inches).
Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed the Scudster ;)
