So I'm re-uploading this chapter because I realized that I did not post the correct one. I had posted an earlier version of this chapter of which I had later changed. This is the Changed version. the major change is the story that Becca tells. and some wording is changed. I'm working on the next chapter, the team heads to Anori and the action starts.

so it is obvious I do not own anything but the characters that are made up.


Just as the morning light peeked through the jungle, the boat's horn blasted through the morning air, signaling that they had reached Manaus.

The noise of the busy dock woke the boat's passengers. As the boat sailed closer to the dock, the girls disappeared below deck to freshen up while the men did so outside.

The girls were changing into loose clothing, best for the humid air outside. They changed into bright loose and flowing silk blouses, either shorts or capris and a pair of sturdy shoes.

"So, is your friend going to pick us up?" Sheva asked.

"Yeah, she should have a jeep ready to pick us up from the docks." Victoria said as she put her hair up into a simple loosely braided bun. "I just have to text her to let her know when we are ready."

"Good," Jill said in between brushing her teeth. "Once we get settled, General Warren wants us to call and check in for more intel."

"Any chance of stopping somewhere for breakfast first though?" Sheva asked as she finished putting her stuff away.

"Yeah, I'm sure Becca knows a local place we can eat at." Victoria told Sheva, stuffing her dirty clothes in her bag before zipping it closed. "alright, I'm ready, you guys?"

"Yeah lets head up top and see if the guys have everything packed up as well." Jill said. "Victoria, why don't you go ahead and give your friend a call and see where she is at." Victoria nodded and pulled out her cell phone and call Becca.

"Hey hon, you here?" Becca picked up

"Yeah we are on dock 3, you nearby"

"Yep, head to the entrance of the dock and I'm at the O Café Chapéu Roxo, you remember where that is. Papi is so excited to see you. Anyway I'm outside the café sitting in front of the window. My wrangler is parked outside just wave to me and I'll unlock it."

"Alright, Chicka, see you soon…oh and order some coffee and tea for me, please and thank you." Victoria hung up and walked back out on deck. The group collected their things and headed off the boat.

"So where is your friend?" Carlos asked slowing down to walk with Victoria.

"She sitting in a café just outside the pier." Once, they reached the entrance Victoria stopped and looked at the colorful signs that advertised food, clothes, and other tourist type things. Finally she spotted a giant purple hat that belonged to the Café Chapéu Roxo. "There is the café she is at. She said she is sitting in the window waiting for us. Her wrangler is out front."

"What does she look like?" Carlos asked as he scanned the café's front.

"She's about five four, short black hair, mocha skin, and brown eyes." Victoria said as she scanned as well, until she spotted her friend and started to wave to her. The pretty young woman smiled and waved back. She then lifted her keys and unlocked a black and purple jeep wrangler that was parked in front of her. Victoria smiled and turned to the others. "Come on, she has breakfast for us once we load everything. Papi, makes the best bread around." The group walked down to the wrangler and started to load up their stuff; then headed to the café. "Becca!" Victoria exclaimed once she was close enough to engulf her friend in a hug.

"Hey, it's good to see you again chicka." Becca hugged her friend back; she looked over Victoria's shoulder at the group behind her and noticed someone who caught her eye. She then leaned into her friend's ear and whisper. "Is that the very sexy Native American Latino who would defiantly put my panties in a twist?" Victoria laughed and nodded her head as she pulled away to make introductions.

"Guys this is Rebecca Tresmont." Victoria said, as Becca waved and smiled at them. "Becca, this is Leon, Chris, Carlos, Sheva, Jill, and Blackburn." Becca shook each person's hand and greeted each one.

"Please call me Becca, It's great to meet all of you, and I hope you have a pleasant stay and Manus." Becca smiled.

"Well, Papi is coming with some coffee and water and some tea for you Tori." Becca said as she sat back down and everyone else took their seat. "So how long are you going to be here for Tori?"

"Only a couple days." Victoria told her as she picked up the menu and peered through it. "Then I need to find Rejinaldo to take us into the Rainforest."

"Secret mission?" Becca asked.

"Yup." Victoria said absentmindedly as she decided her order.

"Can't tell anyone about it?"

"Nope." Becca could tell that her friend wasn't paying too much attention to what she was asking. Victoria loved good food, and Papi was known for his. So logically Becca could guess that Victoria was deciding between one of the delicious meals that Papi made from scratch. With a smile Becca asked her next question.

"Going to have hot wild monkey sex?"

"Yu-Wait…WHAT!" Victoria yelled. The rest of the group laughed at the two friends banter, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. Victoria glared at her friend and pouted. "You did that on purpose."

"Totally, so did you decide which of the delicious dishes you are getting?"

"I was thinking of getting some Pastel de Banana and some Rabanada as well…Oh and some Acai Na Tigela Com Granola, hm" Victoria said as she finished scanning the menu.

"I think everyone will like that?" Becca asked.

"What are you talking about that's all for me." Victoria said and let the silence sink in, as everyone looked in amazement, before busting out laughing. "God, the look on your face. I'm hungry but not that hungry. No, it is for everyone."

"Victoria, is that you?" an older male asked, his Portuguese was thick and gruff, matching his physical appearance.

"Si, Papi. It is wonderful to see you. My friends and I are starving, can you bring out your best pastels, oh and some Rabanada and Acai na Tigela Com Granola?" Victoria stood up and hugged the older man.

"Of course, little one. Anything for you after you stopped those awful men from robbing my café. It will be out soon." The older man left and went back inside

"What did you guys say? Leon asked.

"Oh, I just told him it is wonderful to see him again and ordered our foods. He is a good friend and I always come here when I visit Becca. He makes the best food." Victoria told him.

"What kind of food?" Chris asked.

"Oh I got pastels, which are pastries filled with different things; Rabanada, think of it like Brazilian French Toast; and Acai na tigela com Granola, the acai fruit is made into a smoothie and other fruit and granola is added to it." Victoria explained, "It's all really good." The waiter came around with the coffee, tea, and waters for everyone. Small talk resumed, the group talked about the local environment, what was to be expected in the Amazon and other pertinent information about the area. Victoria kept tuning out of the conversation, her eyes training on the news stand in front of the next building.

"What is it Victoria?" Leon asked when she did not respond to his question about her previous visits to the country.

"Guy next to the news stand, long dark hair, mocha skin, grey suit, pink shirt, tattoo of a snake or dragon that is on his neck." Victoria took a sip of her tea, and then continued on. "I first noticed him when we reached Brazil, then in each place we have stopped. Each time he has been close enough to see us, possibly hear us, depending on his equipment –if he has any, but far enough away that a normal person would not detect him."

"So you caught onto him as well." Chris said. "I already checked him out after the second time we saw him, he is only a government official, paid to follow groups of Americans who enter the country under suspicious reasons."

"You already saw him?!" Victoria asked surprised. "And didn't say anything about it?"

"We all noticed." Leon said. "But, we waited until you did and said something." Victoria glared, at the group then stood up angrily.

"You did what?!" she growled out. "How dare you withhold information? Now, how I can trust you to tell me pertinent information?"

"You can trust us." Sheva tried to reason with the angry woman.

"No, I can't."

"Oh, is the Princess having a royal fit because she was left in the dark, Boo Fucking hoo." Blackburn sneered.

"Shut it, Fuck-face!"Victoria turned and stormed off down the street. Leon growled and glared at Blackburn; then stood to go after her, but Rebecca stopped him.

"Give her some time to cool off; she can be quick to anger, but quick to calm down, if given the proper space." Rebecca bid him to sit and enjoy the rest of his coffee. Soon the food came out and the group enjoyed the local food in silence.

Victoria ran down the street, dodging people and local vendors, hopping fences, and leaping over stairs. She could feel the anger pounding in her chest as her feet pounded the ground. She leaped towards the closest building and started to climb up it, and from there to the next tallest, until she reached the tallest building in the area. There she sat on the ledge with a huff and took deep breaths.

"Have you calmed down, Fofinho? A female voice asked behind her. Victoria turned to see Rebecca standing behind her. The brunette gave a huff and crossed her arms. "I'll take that as a no." Rebecca moved to sit next to Victoria on the ledge and leaned her head on Victoria's shoulder. "They didn't mean any harm; they just wanted to test your abilities, when there was no danger." Victoria grumbled her answer to Rebecca's observation. "What was that?"

"I don't care if there was no danger; there is no reason to keep me in the dark. It could have been potentially dangerous."

"Victoria, Chris already said they check him out and there was no danger to be had, and they need to see if you were Oblivious Olivia and would just pass the guy off at some strange coincidence." Rebecca said trying to get through to her stubborn friend.

Victoria huffed and turned toward her friend with a glare, "Look, I'm going to head to the beach and cool off. Don't follow me." Victoria stormed off.

"Fine. Look, be back before morning." Rebecca sighed. "And, I'll look after your team." She said to the air. "Oh no, it's no trouble, just a couple hot guys, some gorgeous girls and one annoying Fuck…" she grumbled as she headed back to the café where she left the group.

"Where is she?" Leon asked Rebecca when she reached the café.

"Going to cool off, she'll be back by morning at the very latest." She told them. She was glad that the food arrived while she was gone; she was getting hungry after dealing with her overreacting friend.

"And here I thought princesses turn into pumpkins after midnight." Blackburn sniggered, but was ignored in order to preserve peace.

"Why is she unreasonable about something trivial?" Carlos asked. Rebecca turned to him, feeling a sense of déjà vu. Like she has seen his face before, but she quickly shook off the feeling and frowned at him.

"Because when she was on a mission last year her team was ambushed on the way to the extraction point, the mission had gone without a hitch until then. They were to go in to the Middle East and do recon for a ranger platoon that was to go in after they were extracted; they got the intel and sent it to command before heading out. She had warned her men that if they see anything or anyone suspicious let her know and they will alter their extraction point as they were not in friendly territory. One of her men, a young private, saw a young boy standing in the shadows watching them, and as soon as the kid realized he was spotted ran off. The private was the only one to see the kid, and did not think that a young boy would be a danger to their group and didn't let anyone else know."

Becca sighed and took a sip of her coffee before continuing with the story. "What the private didn't know and realize that the kid was a look out and as soon as they hit a choke point they were ambushed. Luckily soldiers were only wounded and none were killed in the attack, as the ranger platoon showed up when Victoria's team was taking too long and gunfire was heard. They had managed to kill a good portion of the enemy before the enemy retreated. Going through the bodies they found the body of a young boy, the same one the private saw. The private spoke to Victoria and told her he saw the boy before they were ambushed and didn't think the boy was a danger to them. Well the least I can say is the private got his ass handed to him on a silver platter by Victoria and the ranger platoon leader as well."

"There are too many stories like that. Too many of our soldiers are hurt, killed, or messed up in the head because of stories like that." Leon said. "I do understand where she is coming from, but I hope she understands where we are coming from."

"She will, if not I'll knock some sense into her. As I said earlier she can be quick to piss off but quick to calm down."

"Well if story time is over, I'm going to head over to the closest watering hole and find myself a sweet local chicka and spend my night in a tropical paradise." Blackburn stood and walked off into the city, Becca glared at his back muttering about 'obnoxious sons of cocksucking whores.'

"Well, I can see why it bothered her a lot, it will not happen again. Anyway, let's hope everyone is back by morning. Let's get going to Ms. Tresmont's home, get situated, and call up General Warren and see what are next steps are." Chris said.

"Of course, just let me get the check and then we will skedaddle." Becca said catching the waiter's eye and motioning for the check. The waiter nodded and soon Papi came out with a large grin on his face.

"Rebecca, you and your friends are ready to leave?"

"We are, can we get the check?"

"Sure, Sure, It is on the house."

"Papi, you don't have to." Becca smiled at the older man.

"Of course I do, I told you before any meal you and Victoria enjoy here is on the house. Speaking of the devil, where is she?"

"Off blowing some steam at the beach."

"Alright, now off with you, have a good day and please come again" Papi hugged Becca and walked back into the Café.

"Well, we are set, let's get going." Becca stood up and everyone followed suit and she led the way to her jeep. They all piled in and she started the jeep and headed to her place.

Victoria could feel herself calm down a little as she ran towards the local beach, one that no tourist know about, as it was so off the beaten path and one must know the area to get to it. Reaching the beach she saw many locals dancing to a live band, swimming in the blue water, and paddling on surf boards. Smiling she took in the festive atmosphere and the wonderful barbeque smell in the air.

"Victoria!" A man's voice yelled to her. She turned and saw a older man waving his paddle from atop a surf board, it was Rejinaldo. Victoria smiled and waved back to the man and ran to the shore line as he paddled back in. "Victoria, how have you been, I swear you get prettier every time I see you." Rejinaldo said as he reached the beach.

"Rejnaldo, you flirt." Victoria blushed and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek.

Rejinaldo was in his late thirties and was a free spirit, similar to Cliff Robertson who played the Big Kahuna in Gidget. He is also one of the best guides for the Amazon, because he has lived in and around the Amazon his whole life. He knows the ins and outs of the forest like the jaguar that roam his house. Victoria had met him on her first trip to Brazil to explore the Amazon for spring break during her sophomore year of college. The original guide she and a group of friends had hired; proceeded to get them lost on the first day. And, it was for about a day they wandered the Amazon before Rejinaldo found them and helped the girls back to safety. He then reprimanded their guide for getting 'five beautiful ladies' lost in the Amazon. Rejinaldo also suggested that until he knew what he was doing, he should not be advertising himself as an Amazon guide. Rejinaldo stressed that many people could die because of the idiotic actions of an imbecile. Subsequently, Victoria fired their original guide right then and there and hired Rejinaldo for the rest of the trip. She was glad to say they had an amazing time after that, and since then, Victoria recommends Rejinaldo to those who want to see a unique view of the Amazon. Looking back now, she never would have thought that the fun and flirty guide would be someone she would gladly call a friend now.

"Does the beautiful lady require my services?" Rejinaldo asked bringing Victoria back out of her thoughts. She shook her head and smiled at his boyish smile and charm.

"Yes, I do, but, not until later this week. I need to cool off right now."

"Come, tell Rejinaldo all your troubles, then you can dance the night away." Rejinaldo picked up his surf board and walked with Victoria up further onto the beach where he had a chair and towels. They sat down and Victoria began to explain everything, but omitting details that did not need to be shared. She talked about her about her team and new mission. She explained that her new team members didn't tell her that they had spotted someone tailing them –while she had spotted the same individual she did not care for pertinent information being held back. She also told him how she became angry and left. Rejinaldo listened quietly to his young friend as she ranted; he did not interrupt her once. He let Victoria talk her frustration out and waited until she was silent.

"So?" Victoria asked after she finished her explanation.

"Well, what they did was wrong…" Rejinaldo started.

"I kn…" She started.

"But, what they did was right too. You should see it from their point of view. All they have is praise from your general; they need to see for themselves how good you are in a safe way. Do you understand what I am saying? And you are not in the right either; you didn't bring forth your observations to them as well." Victoria looked away from him, not wanting to admit that he may be right. As a team leader, she would want to know her team's abilities and where she needs to compensate for them, and she could have mentioned the man sooner and possibly avoided blowing up over nothing.

"I guess," She said after much thought. "Why are you always right?"

"It is because I am older and wiser than you, little one." He then stood up and held a hand out to her. "Now let's give our worries to the Lady Amazonia, and dance the night away." Victoria smiled and took his hand. He led her to an extra board and paddle; she took off her blouse, shorts and shoes; leaving her in a black and gold bikini top and matching bottoms. Rejinaldo commented nicely on her tattoo, as she had it done in the time between the last time they saw each other and now.

They grabbed their boards and headed out to the river. They relaxed on the river with other locals until the sun set, laughing and catching up with past acquaintances. Once the sun started to set, the party really started. Everyone started to head back to shore and up to the Tiki-bar that rested higher on the beach.

The music was lively and everyone was dancing, it put a smile on Victoria's face as she stepped onto the dance floor and started to move to the beat. She was engulfed in the crowd. Soon enough, she was joined by a handsome young man who started dancing with her. Victoria flirted with him as he started a lively Latin dance and was soon joined by other couples. Rejinaldo watched Victoria leave her worries for tomorrow and dance like it isn't coming. He found a seat at the bar and ordered himself a light beer and simultaneously turned away a few interested women. While any other time he would accept one of the beautiful ladies' offers, he wanted to relax and enjoy his time with his old friend.

After the first few dances, Victoria found her way back to him at the bar, smiled at him in greeting before ordering some flavored non-alcoholic drink that was becoming popular with the minors at the bar.

"Not drinking?" he asked her.

"No, I'm not in the mood to be intoxicated tonight; and I don't want to return with alcohol on my breath. Becca would give me hell and it would look bad with the team." Victoria told him, a few seconds a tall skinny glass of pink and yellow liquid with a slice of lemon appeared in front of her. She downed the drink in one swig and set it back on the table, "hmm, tastes…interesting, but good." She commented and then waved to Rejinaldo as she disappeared back onto the dance floor. Soon enough another pretty lady invited him to dance and he relented and let her lead the way to the dance floor. The night wore on; Rejinaldo had two more beers before he was done for the night, and sat off to the side of the dance floor. Victoria had left the dance floor at least two more times to get the flavored drink from the bar, it wasn't until after her second trip that Rejinaldo started to notice that she was letting her dance partners be more liberal with their hands and her dance moves were becoming more and more obscene. He cursed as he realized she was under the influence of something and weaved his way to her to pull her off the dance floor.

"Victoria, what are you doing" he asked as soon as he reached her, Victoria gave him a silly smile and started to lean too far to the side before she caught herself and straightened out.

Giggling she answered him "Dancing, what does it look like." She lost her balance again and almost fell into Rejinaldo. Rejinaldo forced her to look him in the eye and noticed her pupils were wide and not reacting as fast as normal. "You're drunk!" He yelled at her.

"No I'm not, I only had that yummy drink from the bar. It was yummy too." She told him with a slight slur, her bottom lip jutted out at the accusation. He sighed and pulled her to the bar, to talk to the bartender.

"Ricky, what did you give Victoria? She is drunk." Rejinaldo asked the Bartender.

"I didn't give her anything, I just replaced Alberto." The young bartender told him. Alberto was a new hire, and many suspect he has been making stronger drinks for women in order to get them drunk faster.

"Where is he?" Rejinaldo growled out, the younger bartender pointed out Alberto on the dance floor. Rejinaldo spotted him quickly, dancing with an obviously intoxicated woman. "Watch her." Rejinaldo order the bartender as he sat Victoria down on a stool, he then made his way to confront the other man.

Victoria was sitting for a few minutes before the alcohol started to hit her. "Whoa" She could feel the world tip and her cheek were warm. She looked at the bartender and giggled at him, "Hey cutie, what's shaken?" Victoria shifted to look at the young bartender, with the way she was sitting; her cleavage was in full view. Ricky looked down and then back up, he audibly gulped as he tried to look away from the intoxicated woman. "Don't be shy, I know you looked, and it's okay to look. I've got breast, and they are pretty awesome, very useful too."

"No, Miss. Victoria, I promised I would watch you." Ricky stuttered and a blush appeared on his tan cheeks.

"The watch me do this." Victoria rose up and grabbed the front of Ricky's shirt. She pulled him towards her and looked at him in the eyes. Just as he thought she was going to lay one on him, she turned her head and kissed his cheek, then sat back in her chair giggling. "You are too adorable, hehe" Ricky, with red cheeks, gave a nervous laugh as he poured a glass of water for the inebriated woman. "Thank you" she giggled and downed the water. She then pulled the glass from her lips frowning. "Hey, this is just water, not the yummy drink."

"You've had enough, Senhorita. Rejinaldo will not be happy if he found out I gave you any more alcohol."

"He's not my father you know."

"Yes, but he is also someone I wouldn't cross. So, for the safety of my own ass, I am giving you water."

"Spoil sport." She pouted and sipped the next glass of water he gave her.

Rejinaldo stormed towards the crowded dance floor where Alberto danced without care. Amazingly the crowd noticed the angry Brazilian and parted like the Red Sea. "Alberto!" he yelled as he threw a right hook at the man, catching him in the jaw. Alberto, knocked to the ground, was stunned; Rejinaldo was respected among the locals as a fun-loving, peaceful guide. No one has ever seen him raise a hand to anybody. "What did you give her?"

"Who?!" The frightened bartender asked.

"Victoria, she is the one with the curly brown hair and green eyes." Rejinaldo growled out menacingly.

"Oh, Green Eyes?" Alberto laughed nervously, he did not like the look in Rejinaldo's eyes as they glared forebodingly at him. "I just put some Água Suja in her drinks."

"How much in each drink? And you better not lie to me boy."

"Half the cup." Every one gasped, that much in one drink was enough to get someone drunk; Água Suja is similar to Bacardi 151 in strength but has almost no taste.

Rejinaldo growled and raised his fist again as if to punch the other man, but stopped himself and just stared for a second debating if he should or should not give the idiot what he deserved. A second later he told the scared idiot "If I ever catch you drugging or doing anything to a woman so she does not want, I swear the jungles will not be enough to hide you from me." With those parting words the usually playful Rejinaldo stalked back to Victoria, she needed to sleep off the alcohol.

Victoria was curious as to where Rejinaldo had gotten to and started to look around to find him. Victoria caught sight of him just in time to see him punch the guy who gave her, her drinks. He then made his way back to her and helped her up. She stumbled into his arms before he righted her. "Okay, so I may be a little tipsy..."

"Of course you are. He gave you three glasses of Água Suja." Rejinaldo told her as he led her from the bar area to the streets of Manaus and hailed a taxi. Victoria stumbled into him again, giggling at nothing in particular.

"What is Água Suja?" She asked, laughing some more.

"A very potent alcohol; one that should have put you on your ass after the first drink. And when was the last time you ate?" He managed to maneuver the tipsy girl into the car and get in himself. "Now, are you staying at Becca's?"

"This morning." She hiccupped and giggled "and yes I'm staying at Becca's." He looked at his watched and noticed it was two in the morning. So, she had three strong alcoholic drinks on an empty stomach, it's a wonder how she is on her feet. She then curled into his side and wrapped her arms around him. "I don't remember drinking any alcohol."

"That is because, it doesn't taste much like alcohol, and the flavored drink covered it up. It is generally a one and done, but thanks to your tolerance it took three drinks to get you tipsy."

"I blame college." She mumbled as she nuzzled into his shoulder. He gave the address to the driver and they were on their way. In the twenty minutes that it took to get to Becca's house Victoria had already had taken off her blouse, claiming to be too hot, and her shorts were already undone. Rejinaldo sighed in relief once the taxi stopped in front of the large home that belonged to Becca. He managed to wrangle her out of the cab without losing too many clothes, and pay the driver at the same time. He let go of her for one second and she face planted in the drive way.

"Ow" She mumbled and rubbed her sore nose, Rejinaldo went to help her up but she stopped him telling him she had it all under control. She proceeded to try and stand up several times before he got tired of watching her make a complete fool of herself and picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "Hey!" she yelled indignantly. "Put me down!" she yelled loudly, loud enough to wake the house's occupants. Lights were turned on inside the house as he approached the door with Victoria, who was making quite the ruckus, over his shoulder.

"Rejinaldo, what the hell is going on?" Becca growled out, her hair was a mess and her black robe was falling off one shoulder.

"She is drunk." He told her simply, and set the unsteady Victoria on her feet just as everyone else came outside, looking like they were just woken up by the loud drunk. Becca sighed when she saw her friend state of dress and was thankful she was at least in a bathing suit.

"I am not drunk, I am merely…tipsy." Victoria giggles, and started to lean too far and almost fell, again, but Rejinaldo had caught her before she actually fell.

"Dear sweet baby jesus, how much did she drink?" Becca asked.

"On purpose, none; but she was given agua suja without knowing it." Rejinaldo explained. The look on Becca's face said it all. The rest of the team wanted to know what the two were talking about, as they didn't understand Portuguese; although Carlos understood Spanish had some sort of idea what they were saying, but wasn't sure.

"English please." Leon ordered. He could smell the faint traces of alcohol on Victoria and from her actions and state of dress could obviously decipher that she was intoxicated.

"Leon!" Victoria exclaimed when she saw the tall man; she pushed from Rejinaldo, and proceeded to trip over air, almost reacquainting herself with the ground if it weren't for Leon's lightning quick reflexes catching her. He pulled her into his arms, to keep her on her feet and keep her still, because she clearly couldn't stay upright on her own.

"Stay." He ordered she pouted and then let out a small 'woof' in protest. "Good girl."

"Sorry." Rejinaldo said with a heavily accented voice. "I am Rejinaldo, I am to be your guide into the Amazon."

"And why is she drunk?" Chris asked as he looked over Victoria whose world was spinning, she defiantly knew she was drunk now. Victoria was thankful for who ever had caught her. Victoria could feel her body heating up, and becoming tight. She started to wiggle in the arms of whoever was holding her, only to be held tighter.

"Because of that damn new bartender at the Cove." Rejinaldo growled out, unhappy that it happened under his watch.

"Wait, are you talking about Alberto?" Becca asked.

"You have heard about him?" Rejinaldo inquired.

"Yeah, He's tried to take advantage of a lot of girls while working the Cove; no one has any solid proof though." Becca said glancing at her friend who was squirming in Leon's arms. "And it doesn't help that it's Agua Suja, Dirty water."

"What is Agua Suja?" Jill asked.

"It's a potent alcohol that has been developed here that is very strong, but doesn't taste like alcohol at all. You can drink it and not even know it was liquor." Becca explained.

"People like it because they can add it to anything without altering the taste. But the issue comes when it is slipped to people. And that is what the Cove has been having problems with. Victoria here was given three drinks of this stuff, without her knowledge." Rejinaldo told them causing everyone to frown.

Victoria was getting frustrated. She could hear everyone talking, but it was like she was underwater. It started to hurt, focusing on so many things at once, and concentrated on the soothing and delicious smell that was enveloping her. She tried to wiggle her way free again, but was constricted yet again. Aggravated, she bit the person holding her.

"Damnit!" Leon cursed when he felt Victoria's teeth bite into his shoulder. He pulled her away from him, she let go immediately and stared up into his eyes. Her eyes were unfocused and dilated.

"Oh, hi Leon." She giggled. Then leaned in towards him again, wrapping her arms around his waist. "mmm, you smell good." She nuzzled her face into his chest. A faint red stained Leon's cheeks, he was quite thankful that everyone was preoccupied with the situation to pay any to his reaction to the beautiful young woman currently trying to burrow her way into his arms. Becca looked over at the pair, seeing the predicament Leon was in and decided to save the poor man from her intoxicated friend.

"Victoria, honey, let's get you up to bed." Becca moved toward her friend, but Victoria clutched tighter onto Leon, burrowing herself further into him telling Becca 'no'. Leon realized that Victoria wasn't letting go anytime soon, realized that he was going to be the one to put her to bed.

"I'll get her to bed." Leon said.

"Are you sure?" Becca asked unsure if he knew what he was signing himself up for. "She can be a handful."

"She can't be that bad." Leon said as he lifted the intoxicated girl into his arms. "Which room is hers?"

"The one in between yours and mine." Leon nodded and made his way upstairs. Victoria's head started to spin again when he started moving; she wriggled in his arms telling him to put her down. Leon

"I'm not going to put you down; you can't even walk two feet without falling over." Victoria glared at him and pouted.

"Don't be such a jackass, my head is spinning, my body feels like it's on fire and I need a good fuck." Leon almost missed a step on the staircase with the last statement. "What, I can't say that?" Victoria frowned. "Fuck, screw, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am?"

"No" Leon coughed. He managed to make it to her room without missing another step, and opened her door.

"I have not had sex in almost two years, and you think a girl with these knockers it'd be easy finding a guy to fuck. But, no. they all want to get to know me first, and have a good relationship first." Victoria huffed, "It's either that or they're too damn scared of The General… Anyway, while that's all good and dandy, it does not solve my dry spell." Leon brought her to the bed and went to put her down, but the sudden change in altitude startled her. It caused her to grip tighter onto Leon, making him fall onto the bed on top of her. "Whoa, you're sexy, but I'm way to drunk."

"What…I…no…you..." Leon stuttered. Victoria started laughing.

"I love your face, you are way too easy to rile."

She was staring at Leon as he leaned over her prone form, she trailed off. After, what seemed like an hour, Leon asked, "What is it? Something on my face?" Victoria gave him a mischievous smile, and pushed herself towards him. Looking him dead in the eyes she told him, "you know what I think; I think that we would have really great sex."

"Uhh.."

"Oh ignore me I'm drunk remember." Victoria proceed to cuddle underneath the blankets and pillows.

"Well, it's time for you to go to bed. And sleep this off, because we have a busy day tomorrow." Leon got up from the bed and was about to leave but Victoria stopped him with a hand on his wrist.

"Can you stay, at least till I fall asleep? The nightmares aren't so bad when someone is with me." Leon looked at her watering eyes and nodded. He pulled up a chair and sat beside her bed. She smiled and turned onto her stomach and started to relax. Leon saw the beautifully elaborate tattoo on her back, it fascinated him. He started to trace the outline of the phoenix and he could hear Victoria almost purring under his touch.

"Tell me about this tattoo." He said softly.

"I got it after a bad mission…" she whispered starting to fade into sleep. "Lost some good men…still have…nightmares" She fell asleep. Leon stayed, looking at the woman who has been through so much, yet still had so much life. He had a lot of respect for this young woman. Finally after a half hour, he left her to her dreams, hoping they remain peaceful. For times of peace will be few and far between in the upcoming months. He closed her door and made his way back to his own, only a room away.


So, a little teasing and flirting between the two, but will it go anywhere yet. please let me know what you are thinking about this story, I love to hear from reviews.

Crimson