A/N: I just wanted to apologize for being so far behind on replying to reviews! I've got a long weekend coming up, so hopefully I can catch up soon. =)
This chapter's more on the fluffy, fun side. ;) Enjoy!
Chapter Ten: Lou Enjoys the View
Instead of going to the movies, drinking, having sex, or even relaxing at home like normal people her age would probably do on a Friday night, Keira was standing on a sink in the bathroom of a four-star hotel slash casino and pulling listening devices out of her bra.
"You put those things in your bra?" Spike asked, his eyes bulging as she unearthed several hundred dollars' worth of state-of-the-art, impossibly tiny microphones from the depths of her cleavage.
"Well, it's not like I had any other place to put them," Keira pointed out, gesturing down at the dress she was wearing. She was pretty sure that, if someone had attempted to stitch pockets onto it, the flimsy fabric would fall apart.
"Spike, Keira, no time for chatter. You have about three minutes until those guys come your way," Greg warned through the earpieces (also impossibly tiny) they were each wearing.
"Those guys" were a blackjack dealer and a representative of a local crime organization who, as an anonymous informant had revealed, were planning on exchanging a considerable sum of money in the employees-only bathroom. ("Because it's the only place in the casino that doesn't have a security camera," Parker had explained when Keira remarked on the oddity of the location.) The financial crimes division of the Toronto police had been looking for a link between the casino and the crime organization, so the SRU had been tasked with proving it and making the necessary arrests.
Spike was busy setting up the video surveillance equipment. "I love these things," he said gleefully, activating one of the devices and placing it on the ceiling. It was so small that, if you happened to glance up and squint really hard, you might think that there was a speck on the tiling. "Boss, is it working?"
"Yes, we can see you," Greg confirmed, referring to himself, Lou, and Will. The three of them had set up a command post in the apartment building next door, where they had an excellent view of the entrance to the casino. "Keira, how's the audio coming?"
"I've got the first one," Keira reported, planting it behind a light over the mirror. "How does it sound?"
"Great, keep it going."
"Guys, they've left the casino," Jules's voice told Keira and Spike. She and Sam were posing as a couple out on the town, which had amused Keira to no end when they got the assignments. Sometimes, she wondered if Parker knew about the relationship—but, if he did, he seemed to be keeping mum about it. "They're not walking fast, but I'd give you maybe two minutes."
"Almost done," Spike promised, fumbling with the microscopic switch on the second camera. "Just—oh, shit."
The camera had slipped out of his grasp, falling somewhere onto the tiled floor with hardly a sound.
"That didn't sound too good, Spike," Parker said sharply. "What's going on?"
Spike had dropped to the ground and was searching frantically for the piece. "I dropped the camera," he replied anxiously, running his fingers across the tiles.
"Well, hurry up and find it," Greg ordered him, his voice taut.
"You guys needed to be out of there about now," Lou said grimly.
Finally locating the missing camera, Spike clambered up onto the sink and installed it on the opposite side of the ceiling as its partner. At the same time, Keira finished activating the last of her listening devices.
"They just turned down into the hallway," Will announced worriedly. "You're not going to be able to leave in time, they'll see you."
"Damn it," Spike muttered. "Want to pretend we're doing a drug deal?" he asked Keira, jumping off of the sink. "I don't think they're going to believe us if we say we're lost."
"I've got a better idea," Keira said, her heart hammering rapidly inside her chest. She didn't know if it would work, and she'd never live it down if it did, but there was no way she and Spike would pass for druggies. Sliding down so that she was sitting on the sink, her legs dangling over the edge, she instructed Spike, "Get over here."
Spike obeyed her, looking confused. Keira sighed, grabbed him by the lapels of his suit, and pulled him in towards her.
"What the—" Spike began, almost losing his balance.
"Play along," Keira muttered in his ear, a second before she pressed her lips against his.
"Oh, shit," she heard Lou murmur.
Spike had frozen at first, but almost immediately he caught on—and started kissing her back in earnest. Keira reached down and yanked her dress up indecently high, at the same time drawing Spike in closer. He helpfully mussed up her hair, trying to make it look as if they were a horny couple on the verge of hooking up in the middle of the employee bathroom.
"Jesus Christ," Will said faintly.
A rush of adrenaline shot through Keira at the sound of Will's voice. A part of her she didn't want to examine too closely was secretly thrilled at the idea of making him jealous, and she couldn't resist leaning more into the kiss. Spike was all too happy to cooperate, running his hands up and down her back and even going so far as to start tugging at the neckline of her dress.
"Normally I'm not into voyeurism, but this is strangely entertaining," Lou remarked.
Sam, Jules, Ed, and Wordy—the last of which were detailing the parking lot—simultaneously spluttered variants of "What the hell is going on in there?"
Before anyone had time to explain, however, the door flung open and the two men from the casino walked in.
Keira, who had been murmuring something along the lines of "Yes, baby, yes," abruptly opened her eyes. "Oh my God!" she gasped, pretending to be embarrassed. It wasn't hard to produce a red flush on her cheeks: both of the men, one of which could have been her grandfather, were staring at her with thinly-veiled lust. "Dom, honey—"
Spike stopped nuzzling her neck and glanced up. "Oh!" he exclaimed, feigning a flustered expression. "Uh, sorry, guys, we were just—" He licked his lips, which were now covered with Keira's "Very Cherry" lipstick.
The grey-haired blackjack dealer gave Keira a very thorough once-over. "There's a pretty one," he leered, causing all the hair on her body to stand on end.
Keira had to restrain herself from punching his lecherous face. Instead, she slithered down the sink and made a show of rearranging her dress.
"Uh, we should, uh, probably go," Spike muttered, taking Keira by the hand. "Come on, baby, let's find somewhere else…"
"Next time, get a room," the other man said, rolling his eyes as he waved them out.
Keira and Spike nodded obediently, then left the bathroom as quickly as they could without arousing suspicion.
"Dom?" Spike asked when they were halfway down the hall.
"Yeah, you know, from The Fast and the Furious?" Keira replied, referring to the action movie she and Spike had watched in his basement about a week ago. Vin Diesel's character had been the first name to pop into her mind.
"Oh," Spike said, smirking at the memory of that particular evening. A second later, he added with an even bigger grin, "By the way, you're a pretty good kisser."
Keira's jaw dropped at his boldness: the rest of the team could still hear them perfectly, thanks to their earpieces.
"I'm just saying," Spike told her, looking as if he could barely hold in his laughter.
"Oh, go fuck yourself," Keira said, only half seriously.
When Keira entered the briefing room at headquarters later that evening, she was greeted by a storm of catcalls and applause from her teammates.
"Nice work today, Keira," Greg said, grinning. He looked as if he had half a mind to restore order, but couldn't bring himself to take the situation more seriously.
"Oh, God," Keira muttered, contemplating turning right around and walking out. She didn't know if she could handle this, especially the unreadable expression on Will's face.
"You've got some serious balls," Lou complimented her just then, visibly impressed. "Spike, man, the look on your face was priceless."
Spike, who appeared to be just as embarrassed as Keira—serves him right, she thought, for that comment about me being a good kisser—elbowed his friend.
"Your technique could use a little work," Jules teased him, winking at Keira. "You were kind of devouring her face there for a moment."
"You saw the video?" Keira asked, alarmed, as Spike began defending his kissing technique ("You wouldn't have had much game if you'd been surprise-kissed!").
"A couple of times by now," Jules said, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "So, was Spike any good?"
"He was decent," Keira reported with a grin, unable to resist glancing at Will as she spoke. Outwardly, he looked somewhat bored by the proceedings—he was fiddling with his pen and glancing anywhere but at her. But she could tell, by the bone-white hue of his fingers around the pen and the way his jaw was clenched, just how unamused he really was.
"Decent?" Spike echoed indignantly, drawing her attention away from Will. "That was a totally hot kiss. We should have gotten some kind of award for that."
Click click click click click, went Will's pen.
"In your dreams, buddy," Lou scoffed, looking disdainfully at Spike.
"All right, can we get down to business here?" Ed asked, impatiently raising his eyebrows. "Or do we need to talk about this some more?"
Is there nothing I can do to get so much as a smile out of him? Keira wondered in exasperation. It was clear from his tone of voice that the team leader was annoyed by the distraction—maybe even annoyed with her, if he thought she had broken some sort of professional code.
"I will say, though," Ed continued as she found a seat and the others obligingly straightened in their chairs: "that was some good thinking on your part, Keira. Unorthodox, but good."
Keira nearly fell out of her seat in shock: had Ed Lane really just said something nice to her? Had he really just implied that she had done something right on the job? Instinctively, she turned to Will, ready to share an amazed look with him—but Will never met her eyes.
"Thank you, sir," she said quietly, not knowing how else to respond.
"Well, we arrested the subjects," Wordy began, signaling the start of the debriefing, "so mission accomplished…"
As Keira was heading out into the parking lot later that night, she received a text from Spike.
Not gonna lie, I'm really turned on right now. Wanna continue at my place?
Keira grinned and sent him a response that contained exactly three letters.