Alex pulled up to Barneys garage cursing him. He hadn't told her why he wanted her to come up here this morning. All he said was he wanted to show her something. Of course she was confused she didn't understand why it couldn't wait till later but he was insistent. She stepped out of her boring rental car and slammed the door shut. When she walked into the garage her jaw dropped when she saw it. Barney was talking to a older man and they were both standing next to a 1966 Mustang convertible it was cherry red with black racing stripes and black leather interior. They both looked up when they saw her walk up to them.

"I am going to assume from the look on your face you like it?" Barney asked.

Alex nodded her head as if to say yes while she walked around the car. The hood was up and she took a few moments to check out the engine it had a V8 engine like she expected.

Barney smiled. "Well Eddy here just brought her to me to have new tires put on. He happened to mention he was looking to sell."

Alex looked up eagerly. "Are you serious?"

"Yep." The other man spoke up. " Our mutual friend here told me you were in the market for a classic car."

Her face lit up and she grinned ear to ear. "Yes sir I am. This car is gorgeous I'm definitely interested."

A few hours later after a trip to the bank Alex had a new car and she couldn't wait to show it off. Luckily enough she got her chance when Barney got a call a call about a job. He called up the guys and told them to meet up at the shop in an hour. Alex decided to hang around instead of leaving and then having to come right back. She was feeling unusually nice though so she walked down the street to a little sandwich shop and picked up some subs for everyone even Gunnar. It had been a day since the incident and she was feeling less hostile towards him. In fact she was even feeling like she overreacted. The truth was she should have known not to expect any less of him. She doubted he was capable of anything more than a one night stand, not that she wanted a relationship with him of all people. She may have decided to settle down in one place but she was not a relationship type of person. It would be a lie to say she wasn't attracted to him and it would be an even bigger lie if she said she hadn't fantasized about him naked in her bed. Because she had, multiple times but she would not let her libido get her into trouble with a guy like him again.

The guys showed up one by one Gunnar being the last to walk through the door. Caesar was following her around practically begging her to let him drive her new car. She kept telling him no but he refused to accept any answer other than yes. She looked up when She saw Gunnar enter he was wearing a pair of shades and she had a sneaking suspicion she was the reason. He walked right past her only sparing her a glance, she couldn't see his eyes but she felt the weight of his glare nonetheless. Somehow he was making her feel guilty for her treatment of him. She sighed and followed behind him planning on apologizing.

Gunnar was in a foul mood today and he was certainly not ready to deal with Alex. That woman had his emotions even further out of whack than usual and that was saying a lot. He was practically the poster child for emotional instability. He had never really cared before but he knew he was bad at talking to women. Alex though, she was different she made him want to say the right thing. He wasn't sure who he was angrier with her or himself. She approached him from behind and called his name. He didn't answer only scowled more.

"Come on don't act like a child I'm trying to apologize." She said in hushed tones as she came to stand in front of him blocking his escape.

"Apologize for what." He responded the edge to his voice betraying his calm demeanor.

"Look I'm sorry I shouldn't have acted the way I did." When he didn't say anything she continued. " I have had my share of one night stands and I'm not ashamed. I wont deny that I'm attracted to you but to hear you say that it made me feel cheap. It made me feel like you thought I was just some bar whore."

Gunnar shook his head. " Why would I think that? Do you even hear yourself when you talk? You sound like an idiot sometimes."

Alex stood there shocked for a moment. Here she is opening up trying to talk things out with him and he calls her an idiot. "Excuse me!" She said a little too loudly drawing the attention of a few of the guys in the room.

"Of course I don't think you are a whore. Do you? Maybe that's the real problem here."

She thought about it maybe he was right. She had been struggling with her attraction to him, part of her felt it was wrong. Yet she couldn't control it and that made her angry, She had never had this problem before. She had never had such a physical reaction to anyone and she had to admit she felt like a slut when she should be focusing on serious stuff and instead was thinking of Gunnar kissing her.

Gunnar could see her fighting some kind of internal battle and decided to let her off the hook. "Look forget about it ok? It never happened."

Alex nodded and smiled slightly. It was easy to forget Gunnar was so intelligent when he could be so crude sometimes. There were times when he was so insightful it was almost scary. To have someone know your own mind better than yourself was unsettling.

"What are you two fighting about now?" Caesar said walking over to Alex and putting his arm around her shoulder. Not expecting an answer he continued talking. "You know the two of you are worse than an old married couple."

Alex rolled her eyes and shrugged off Caesars arm. When she walked away she could hear Caesar teasing Gunnar about his glasses accusing him of trying to look like James Dean. Eventually they all gathered in a sort of circle. Alex was sitting on toolbox across from Barney with the rest of the guys either sitting or leaning against something waiting for him to start.

"Ok guys I got a call about a job, I'm not sure about it though. I have worked with the guy in the past and I don't trust him. The money is good though so I have decided to at least check it out. Lee and I are going to head out tomorrow afternoon. I am not going to go into detail right now all I will say is the job is in Somalia." The team all sat in silence none of them liked it Somalia was a literal war zone, and there were many extremist groups there that would love to get their hands on a group of American citizens. They trusted barney to make the right call though. Once they were done Lee approached Alex. "I have a favor to ask you."

"Oh really what's that?" She asked genuinely curious what he could want.

"It would make my life a lot easier if you would take Lacy out for a girls day or something while I'm gone. You know keep her off my back so I can actually focus on my job." He asked.

"Come on Lee why don't you just tell her you dropped your phone over the Atlantic." Alex countered.

"I don't want to lie to her. She doesn't have many friends it would be nice if you would just hangout with her and keep her busy some while I am gone." He replied staring straight into her eyes knowing she couldn't say no.

"You suck you know that?"

His smile shone like a thousand watt bulb. Man he could be charming when he wanted. "Thanks doll" He said patting her shoulder as he walked past her to find Barney.

Alex headed out after she agreed to be at the hanger in the morning to help with preparations. She had plans to meet Meredith and she was already late, it wasn't often that woman had a break from her kids. Their father was a deadbeat alcoholic and even if he wanted in his kids life she wouldn't allow it. Fortunately their fathers mother was only to happy to take them every other weekend, she herself had been a single parent and knew how hard it could be. Meri wasn't the type to go out to bars or clubs she was pretty introverted. Alex had managed to twist her arm though and get her to agree to meet at the Old point bar. When she got home she rushed up the stairs and changed quickly into a pair of faded jeans a loose white crop top and a black leather jacket. Then she stepped into a pair of simple black boots. She decided to ride with the top down since it was so nice out that night. When she pulled up she wasn't surprised to find Meri waiting outside for her. Her friend wasn't so good with crowds and Alex had made it her mission to break her out of her shell tonight. Meredith had always been a little shy she was worse now and Alex was willing to bet it was her ex husbands fault. Meredith hadn't told her the whole story but she knew that he had liked to drink and was very controlling. The man had never hit her fortunately but he liked to yell and break things. When they were married she couldn't even get a phone call without him interrogating her. Alex smiled at her friend and waved as she turned off her car.

"Hey! I am so glad you made it tonight!" Alex said enthusiastically.

"Yeah me too its been awhile since I have gone out like this." Meri replied while picking at her dress nervously. She was wearing a black dress with little red flowers all over It and black strappy heels. Her hair was curled and she was wearing matte red lipstick. Alex thought she looked like a pinup model but she kept that to herself knowing it would only make her friend self conscious. Meredith never gave herself enough credit in the looks department.

"You ready to go in?" Alex asked.

"Sure"

They walked in and sat at the bar Alex ordered a whiskey sour and Meredith ordered a beer, a blue moon to be exact. After her second beer Meredith had definitely loosened up some she even agreed to dance with a man when the Georgia satellites came on the jukebox. Alex looked up from her drink to see a very tall blonde man walk in followed by Caesar, Toll road and Yang. She shook her head so much for a girls night. When her eyes met Gunnar's she smiled then turned away to find Meredith in the crowd on the dance floor. She was still dancing with the redneck guy, she was laughing too which made Alex happy.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going out with your friend?" Yang asked her when the group reached her.

"I am." Alex said pointing to Meredith who was walking across the floor to them the song having gone off. Toll Road's gaze locked on Meredith and Alex thought maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have them crash girls night. Both Road and Meredith were pretty shy maybe having them a little intoxicated might help things along. Meredith smiled sweetly at Toll road as she sat down at the bar again.

Gunnar watched Alex play her little matchmaking game with Road and her redhead friend. The only ones unaware of her plan seemed to be the couple. He hoped it worked Road was too uptight for his own good it might help for him to get laid. He looked at Alex and couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked in that moment she was laughing at something Caesar had said, her eyes were shining and her cheeks were slightly flushed. He loved seeing her happy like this for some reason he didn't fully understand he hated seeing he sad. He would rather have her screaming and throwing things at him than see her with that lost fragile look he caught a glimpse of when they got back from Brazil. He suddenly had the urge to hold her close to him and then Lynard Skynard I need you came on and he seized the opportunity. With out saying a word he pulled her off her stool and dragged her out on to the floor. She looked at him strangely but didn't say a word. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close. Alex smiled up at him. "You are full of surprises you know that?"

Gunnar smirked at her and began to sing along to the song in a comical way making Alex laugh.

Yang watched the pair and shook his head. These two were exhausting to watch so much back and forth. He wondered how long it would take them to come to terms with what they were feeling. With both of them being so stubborn it was likely to be awhile. He also wondered what Barney would think of the two as a couple. Yang turned his attention and saw how flustered Road was getting trying to make conversation with Meredith. It was sad to think his teammates who were grown men had such trouble expressing there feelings.