What now! Three updates today. Booya! I'm amazing. I'll try and crank out a few more chapters to The Losers this week for you all. Peace and Love!

Murphy's Law

~Coffins Anyone?~

I take a deep breath, pulling in the scent of clean linen and wood as I try to take my mind off of where I was. I quickly fix the ear bud in my left ear and then the ear piece in my right. My hands lay over my stomach, on top of the iPod Jensen had given me at the start of today. My fingers tapped rhythmically to the beat of Black Betty by ZZ Top as it softly rang through the ear bud. I tried desperately to stop thinking about where I now laid since I would have a panic attack if I thought about it any more.

This morning Cougar had woken Jensen and I up at the butt crack of dawn. Then we had all met up at Pooch's auto shop to go over the plan once more. Roque asked Clay again if we could really trust this woman, Aisha, or if the fact that she had a pair of breasts and an attitude was getting the better of him. Then we headed out to the address Aisha had written on the back of the little card Clay had.

The destination was a warehouse in Santa Cruz, a good three hours from the town we had been in. We had all gone inside where we were greeted with the sight of six coffins laid out neatly in two rows. At first I thought we had been dragged into some crappy version of the Twilight Zone, but soon I realized that it was no joke.

I had completely freaked out when I put together the plan Aisha had. Aisha told us we had to get into the coffins and stay there till we got to the Nogales at the US/Mexican border. Now, I'm a little claustrophobic and being locked inside a coffin for several hours was not ideal to me.

I give a small laugh at the memory of me realizing what the coffins were for. I had acted like an idiot, but I had good cause.

"That's it." I suddenly speak up and shake my head rapidly. The others look over at me with confused and also amused looks, "I'm done. Over. End of story."

"You can't be serious." Clay looks back at me and gives a small laugh. I knew he genuinely found the idea of me being able to jump off cliffs and take being shot at, but not being able to stand being in a coffin for a couple of hours funny. I just didn't care if he meant to be a pain in my ass or not, though I'm pretty sure he was trying. I glare back at him and then shake my head again, pointing at the coffins.

"Not fucking happening!" I shout and then look over at Aisha with the same glare I had given Clay. It was her twisted idea after all. I point a finger at her and shake my head, "First a cemetery and now coffins! You're fucking insane lady!"

Aisha gives a small shrug as if she accepted it and then looks over at Clay. I look around at the guys and then storm over to the warehouse doors. Clay's laughter follows me the entire way. I stand outside the door, off to the side, and look out at the other warehouses spread around. I bend one of my legs and place my foot on the wall behind me, leaning back.

There was no way I was getting into a coffin. Not gonna happen. Wouldn't that like jinx us or something? Like walking under a ladder or crossing paths with a black cat?

"You alright?" Jensen pops his head out from the warehouse and looks over at me as his glasses slowly begin to shade. I sigh and slowly shake my head, not in reply to his answer, but just in general.

"This feels like the goddamn Twilight Zone." I mumble and shake my head again. I lean my head back against the wall and look over at Jensen, who had walked out from the door, "Clay can really pick 'em."

"He picked you, didn't he?" Jensen laughs and shoves his hands into his jacket pockets, looking down at his feet. I laugh along with him and nod my head. I close my eyes and turn my face to the sky. I listen to Jensen as he walks closer to me and leans against he wall beside me.

"I'm a little claustrophobic." I admit softly and open my eyes. I roll my head on the wall and look up at him, "And coffins don't exactly scream joy for me these days."

"And they did at some point...?" Jensen asks slowly as his eyebrows knit together. He lifts a clenched hand and pretends to knock on my forehead, "Are we sure you're alright up there?"

"Shut up." I laugh and swat his hand away, "You're turning into Clay."

"Maybe, but I'm much cuter and more cuddly." Jensen replies and leans back against the wall again, hands in his pockets once more. I laugh and nod my head in agreement.

"Very true." I smile a moment longer and then let it go, knowing that there was no way I was getting out of riding in a coffin, "I suppose I have to face the music."

"What?" Jensen asks and looks down at me. I shake my head and give another smile. He hadn't gotten my joke and that was fine. He too was a blond after all.

"Nothing. Let's go back inside." I push myself off from the wall and move passed him.

"Hey wait." Jensen grabs my hand, making me stop abruptly. I look back at him and then at the hold he had on my hand. I feel my heart speed up at the gentle touch as Jensen looks down at our hands and then quickly lets go as if he had offended me, "Sorry."

"It's fine. What did you want?" I ask, closing my eyes a moment. I take a slow breath and open my eyes again. Jensen pulls out a black iPod Classic from his jacket pocket. Wrapped around the iPod was a set of ear bud headphones. He reaches into his other jacket pocket and pulls out an ear piece, handing it and everything else to me.

"This is why I came out in the first place." He gives a small smile and shoves his hands back into his pockets again, a nervous habit I had become aware to the last several days, "The iPod is so you can listen to music...obviously that's what it's for...um...the ear piece is so we can talk during the ride. I mean if you want to. You don't have to. You'll probably just want to just listen to music, but if you wanted to we could talk. I don't know if there's anything on the iPod you'll like, but it's got the Stones, some Chicago, The Rasmus, a couple of others..."

I look over the iPod and try to hold my smile back. If I let it go it would be more like a wide spread grin. Jensen was so nervous and flustered that it was just too cute for me not to want to grin, but if I did then he would be more nervous. A lot of guys I met weren't like him. They were like Clay and Roque and they never acted so sweetly.

"Thank you Jensen." I give a small laugh and bite my bottom lip. It felt like I was back in high school and the boy I liked had just acknowledged my presence for the first time, "Let's go back inside."

I give him another smile and then lick my lips, trying not to grin or laugh. I walk through the doors of the warehouse with Jensen at my heels.

"Rose?" I snap back to reality at the call from the ear piece in my right ear. I blink a few times and sort of look around the dark coffin I laid in, searching for the source of the voice. I shake my head a little and close my eyes again, scolding myself for being so stupid.

"What was that Jensen?" I reply and then sigh softly, ZZ Top having been replaced by CCR.

"What are you listening to?" He asks again. I listen to the song for a moment and then give a small laugh.

"Bad Moon Rising." I reply and then give another small laugh.

I see the bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes of lightnin'. I see bad times today.

"Don't go around tonight. Well, it's bound to take your life. There's a bad moon on the rise." I sing along softly. I hear Jensen sigh heavily and dramatically.

"Wow, this week's full of bad omens." He gives a small shaky laugh and then quiets. I roll my eyes beneath their lids and decide to change the song.

"How about Jungle Love?" I ask as I flip through his list of songs.

"Better." He laughs. I take the unused ear bud and set it on the pillow by my right ear so he could hear the song through the ear piece.

I met you on somebody's island. You thought you had known me before.

"So..." Jensen starts up after a moment. I could tell that he was bored and of course at the moment I was the only one he could talk to beside himself.

"So." I repeat with a knowing smile.

"You come here often?" I laugh aloud at the stupid rhetorical question and shake my head. I lick my lips and rearrange myself, bumping my elbows on the sides of the coffin.

"Do you?" I ask back.

"I asked you first."

You probably wouldn't remember. I probably couldn't forget. Jungle love in the surf in the pouring rain. Everything's better when wet. "So true." I sigh softly with a smile at all the memories I had of being wet and having fun. "How so?" I laugh at the honest curiosity in Jensen's voice. "Have you ever taken a walk in the pouring rain? Or just kissed someone in it?" I ask and open my eyes to stare at the white cloth draped over dark wood above me, "There's just something magical about being out in the rain." "You've actually kissed someone in the pouring rain?" Jensen gives a snort of a laugh. Something in his voice didn't sound right. "Jealous Jake?" I ask playfully. Jungle Love ends and moves on to Down Under by Men At Work. I listen to Jensen as he scoffs. "No. It sounds kind of cliché is all." He replies testily. I roll my eyes and smile. "Have you ever kissed anyone in the rain?" I ask and close my eyes to try and picture a rainfall. My question is returned with dead silence, confirming what I had thought, "You've never kissed anyone in the rain." "No...no I haven't." He replies after another moment. I try and stifle the laugh building up in my throat. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. The air fell silent between us, apart from the music, and I was slowly becoming more aware that I was in a confined little wooden box. "You have a girl waiting for you in the States Jensen?" I ask shakily as my hands began to sweat. My heart starts to speed up in reply to the panic attack that was starting. "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?" He asks cockily and I can only picture the smirk he has on his face. I laugh in reply to his question. "Touché, but no. It's sheer panic." I take deep breath to calm myself and then clear my voice, "I'm going to kill Aisha for this." "Max, Clay, and now Aisha? Why are all the girls I met so bad ass?" I laugh at his comment and lick my lips. My smile falters and slowly I feel my mind drift off to another subject. "I never used to be." I admit softly and open my eyes to stare at the white cloth, "You know, I never wanted to be in the army." "What did you want to do?" Jensen asks, his voice seeming taken aback. "Don't laugh okay?" I ask, already regretting what I was about to tell him. I had never told anyone except Clay; not my parents, Liam, no one. "I'm sorry. I just can't promise that." Jensen answers playfully and I give a small smile. I take a deep breath to prepare myself for what I was about to tell him. "I wanted...to open my own bakery." I scrunch my face up as I awaited Jensen's laughter. A moment goes by and all there is is dead air and music. "I could see that." Jensen replies after another moment. I open my eyes again and narrow them with a smile. "Really?" I ask in surprise. "No not really." Jensen replies through a sigh. I could tell he was trying to hold back a laugh, "I can't picture you being patient enough to bake anything." "I'm patient enough to handle you, aren't I?" I retort and lace my hands over the iPod. "This is true." Jensen admits softly. I close my eyes for the last time, intent on trying to fall asleep, "A few more hours and Max is as good as gone. Then life can return to normal and you can go off and play with cookie cutters." The air falls silent between us again. The song on the iPod changes again, turning into Cats in the Cradle. My mind begins to reel on the thought of getting Max and actually being able to do what I wanted to once this was all over. "Jensen?" I ask softly after a moment. "Yeah?" He asks back. "What do you think'll happen after we get Max?" I ask as I start to chew on the inside of my bottom lip, feeling awkward. "Well, we all have things to go back to; people to go back to." Jensen replies as if it was the simplest thing in the world, but he had missed my meaning all together. "So, you think everyone will go their own way." I think aloud as I quieted the music. "Well...yeah." Jensen replies with a small laugh, "Pooch has a wife and will soon be a dad so he'll go and be with them. I have my sister and niece. Cougar probably has some girl waiting for him and the same with Roque. Clay has the army to get back to and you have your bakery to open up." His answer confirmed my thoughts. I hadn't had a second to think about what would happen after we got Max, but now...now I wasn't so sure if I wanted him dead. If we got him everyone would go their own way. I would be...I'd be alone all over again. "Rose?" Jensen asks softly through the ear piece. "Yeah Jensen?" I reply, not wanting to talk anymore. I had really gotten to like these guys and they too would soon be gone. "Do you still live in New York?" "Yeah. Why?" I ask and close my eyes. "Because I'm gonna have to taste test everything you make before you try and sell it. Can't have you poisoning innocent people." Jensen gives a laugh and I can't help but laugh along with him. "I won't poison them. I'll just poison you." I laugh again. "See? There you go again with the hostility. I really need to find a nice, down to earth girl that doesn't want to kill everyone." I give a loud laugh and turn on my side the best I could within the coffin. "Wake me when we get there." I yawn and curl myself into a small ball, my knees pushing against the side of the wall to the coffin. "Sir, yes sir." "Shut up Jensen." I reply as I let out another yawn, feeling myself drift away.