Okay, Welcome to Chapter 11. I need to apologize for a few things first. I have a habit of forgetting to proof read these things, and the grammar that slips by even makes ME sad. So from the bottom of my heart, I apologize.
Secondly I'm sorry for the slowed updates. To my readers who have been with me for a while, you know know me as a pretty quick updater. I've been slowed down by school, work, and striking out with projects at FictionPress.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Dean laid flat on his back, flipping a small knife out of boredom. Gus went for supplies and Shawn had accompanied him for the buddy system.
His eyes began to flutter with sleep. Dean was on watch till they got back.
He heard the distinct sound of a foot kicking against door. "How much crap did you guys think we..." Dean was met by a hard fist when he opened up for who he thought was his friends.
He staggered back, holding his nose. He had time to react as Travis charged forward, Dean sidestepping him and dropping him on his back.
Travis swept the leg and brought Dean down with him, the two tangling up and rolling around like pissed off cats. Dean managed to get on top, striking Travis's face over and over.
Travis's senses were knocked back into him as he caught Dean's fist and pushed him back, both fighters rising to their feet.
Dean charged forward, shoulder lowered but got a knee to the stomach for his trouble. Dean caught Travis with a low blow, evening the playing field. Both men stood doubled over in pain.
Dean willed himself to reach the few feet and hit his opponent one more time, sending him to the floor. Travis reciprocated with a week shot to the knee, but it was enough.
"Shawn is so gonna finish your ass off when he gets here." Dean tried to stand and slowly got to his feet, hearing the engine of the returning Impala.
Travis, being closer to the door turned and ran as much as his battle beaten body would carry him after getting off the floor.
Dean stumbled to the door and held himself up on the frame. "What the Hell took you two!" Dean shouted, holding his side.
"What the Hell happened to you?" Gus asked, walking towards Dean. Shawn had seen Travis trying to escape and went after him.
"Who ever that guy was, I thought he was you two. I opened the door and he jumped my ass." Dean said disgruntled at the fact he wasn't prepared.
Shawn came back soon after, unsure of anything. "Dean, who was that guy?"
"I don't freaking know, alright?!" Dean snapped after just telling the story to Gus. "Who ever he is, he's good. He was ready, I wasn't and he went toe to toe with me."
"When was the last time that happened?" Gus asked shocked.
"Exactly. He's trained, not just some douche thug." Dean sat on the bed and rubbed his stubbled jaw.
"Well what do we do now?" Gus asked, not liking the idea of being picked off. He knew how to manipulate a situation, but he wasn't a fighter.
"Let's call Juliet. See if he left prints on anything." Dean suggested. They had tools worth thousands of dollars, but they didn't have the simplest crime kit.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Excuse me, Chief." Juliet bid as she answered the phone, making space incase it was a certain someone.
"Jules." Shawn said immediately, urgently.
"Shawn, is everything okay?" she asked, picking up the tone of his voice.
"Dean was attacked. We need you over here with your little crime kit or whatever."
"Any idea who did it? Is he okay?" It was her turn to be worried.
"If we knew who it was, he'd be freaking dead, Jules. They can rob all they want, but if they touch the Trio, they're getting a one way ticket to the vet."
Juliet wasn't used to Shawn sounding like this, but he was a bank robber after all. She had to remember who he was. She shook off Shawn's wordplay for youthanism and continued. "Shawn, hold tight. Do not leave that room. Please... don't do anything... drastic. Okay?"
"Yeah, whatever." Shawn seethed. Dean was damn near blood to Shawn, she could see why he was like that. She couldn't imagine what working with Dean right now would be like.
"Shawn, promise me. I don't want anything to happen to you." Juliet was half between scolding him and compassion for her secret sometimes-lover-in-the-night-time.
"Alright, I promise." She could hear the eye rolling in his voice.
"Okay, thank you." She smiled brightly and thankfully as if he could see it.
"Is everything okay, Agent O'Hara?" Swanson asked politely and a little sheepishly.
"Yes, of coarse." Juliet smiled sweetly. "Just some issues my colleagues are having. Can I see the tapes one more time?" she asked, referring to the security.
"Indeed." Swanson and Juliet returned to the surveillance.
It didn't take her long to catch a rough outline of their faces and the plate numbers. "Run the plates, get a sketch artist on that if you haven't already. I'll put a call into the North Dakota State Troopers for road blocks and a bear in the air."
"I know these guys were on your most wanted list from the research my head detective scraped up." Swanson said. "I didn't want to call you in, but my jurisdiction is rather small and I can't touch interstate." she admitted sadly.
Juliet smiled at her sweetly and shook Swanson's hand. "I was a Miami detective not long ago, Chief. I know how much jurisdiction can skew a case. Don't give all Feds a bad review."
"Not after this, Agent O'Hara. It's been a pleasure."
Juliet smiled to herself as she left the station triumphantly. "Suck it Lassiter." she whispered under her breath. "Suck your own training wheels!"
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Dean was pacing back and forth, dragging a hand down his face when Juliet came in. Shawn was on a bed flipping through the journal, seeing if he could find the guy.
"Dean, are you okay?" she asked, first things first.
"Just peachy." Dean said flatly. "That guy came for something. He didn't play around. I don't know what the Hell he was thinking, but it wasn't tea and crumpets."
"Did he try to take anything or did he seem like he was searching for something, information, an item maybe?" Juliet took a shot in the dark.
"I opened the door and he went right to business." Dean shook his head without a clue.
"I don't think he expected you to have that much fight." Gus inputted, having seen Dean throw down before.
"I don't know what to tell you guys. All I can do is black light the place for prints." Juliet shrugged. "Carlton will be back soon and we'll see what he says."
"Where's Lassiter?" Gus seemed surprised that he'd leave Juliet alone.
"He went back to Portland for something." Juliet refused to say what.
"He went to Portland by himself?" Dean asked eyes raised. "Someone's gunning for us, someone we know nothing about, and he chooses to break off?"
"We can't be sure this guy knows Lassie is with us. If he's good, he thinks Lassie is a dog and everything will be okay." Shawn thought, giving up on the Robbers' Bible.
"I still don't like it. He found us here, so I don't like the idea of Lassiter out there in a motel, hotel, or whatever by himself." Dean put his foot down.
"Well what are we supposed to tell him?" Juliet questioned, losing patience but somewhat seeing his point. "He can't just leave this thing behind." Juliet stressed.
Shawn and Gus turned to each other with devilish faces, Dean and Juliet completely out of the loop. It didn't take Dean long to get the suggested eyebrow raise from Shawn.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Portland, Oregon
"Agent Lassiter?" Annabelle was surprised to see him at her door. Why did he know where she... oh yeah, FBI.
"I hate to disturb you at this hour" Carlton began.
"It's 10:00 on a Friday. This is prime time." Annabelle corrected with a cute smirk.
"Regardless." Carlton continued. "I'm about to ask a lot of you, I'll tell you that know. With your permission I would deeply appreciate the use of your couch for one night. My team is being hunted by a man who we believe to be a trained professional,means us harm, and we know nothing else about him. They heavily insisted I come here for the night instead of shacking up alone in the open. I understand this is possibly dangerous for you"
"Of coarse." Annabelle cut him off with a straight face, stepping aside for him.
"I understand. Thank you for you're... wait, what?" Carlton asked dumbfounded.
"Of coarse you can crash on my couch, Carlton. I owe you a favor for that bank case. Besides, who would I be to turn out a friend?" Annabelle smiled warmly at Carlton as she closed the door and set the small army of locks and various gadgets acquired from being a large part of H and H.
"That's quite the impressive system you have there, Annabelle." Carlton counted all the locks and various tech boxes along the walls.
"Our president Mr. Hartfield, he allows me to test new prototypes and I get to keep the ones that work for free." She explained to her guest as she walked into the kitchen.
"It doesn't appear that you won't be endangered by my presence tonight." Carlton stated, ogling the system that was half of the large condominium.
"Are you kidding? I'm doubly safe now." Anna winked and smiled at him, Carlton becoming uneasy from so much friendly lady attention.
Carlton sat awkwardly, not feeling at home on this uber comfy sofa. He played with his hands while listening to Annabelle tinkering in the kitchen.
It wasn't long before she came back with a mug in each hand, passing one to Carlton. "Thank you." His voice came out professional and cordial.
"Tell me Carlton, do the work boots ever come off?" Anna was sitting on a large recliner, her delicate feet crossed under her Indian style.
"What do you mean?" Carlton's brow furrowed.
"Are you always so... serious? Can you ever put the job aside, even off duty?" she asked curiously.
"This is relaxed." For the first time his cup met his lips, and the hot frothy substance touched his tongue. "Sweet American freedom, what is this?" Carlton exclaimed and questioned at the same time.
Anna laughed loudly at the surprised but pleasured look on her somewhat older friend's face. "It's my own creation. A homemade mocha I came up with a while ago. Why spend so much on coffee shop drinks when I came make them myself, right?" She took a deep sip of her own.
"I can't see money being an issue for someone of your skill level." Carlton complimented her rather earnestly.
"Money isn't an issue, really. I live comfortably, but not overly so by my salary standards. The excess I'm sure I don't need, goes on a check to the Jimmy Stewart Foundation." She sipped again, and pondered why Carlton's small talk even came off as an interrogation.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Okay guys, good night." Juliet picked up her purse and walked to the door.
"Jules, stay the night, okay?" Shawn asked hopefully. "We told Lassie not to stay by himself and he caved. He's not even in the same state."
Juliet looked to the other two members of the notorious Trio. Gus nodded his head in agreement, and Dean just smiled wide and double thumbed up for only her to see. "Alright, fine." Juliet rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in disbelief.
"Gus, come out to the car with me. We'll keep an eye on the door from the outside. See if little Skippy comes back." Dean punched Gus's arm and pointed to the door, smiling at Shawn and Juliet. "You two... just act natural and follow instincts on this one, 'kay?" Dean winked and clicked his tongue, closing the door behind him.
The two stood there looking anywhere but at each other. "So..." Shawn trailed off awkwardly.
"How about that uh, that one sports team?" Juliet offered lamely.
"Oh forget it." Shawn rolled his eyes and rushed forward, taking Juliet off her feet and pushing her into the wall.
Their faces met in an open mouthed kiss, tongues meeting. They separated for air, and she couldn't believe the look in Shawn's eye. Oh man was she in trouble. The hot kisses he poured down her neck at the moment helped solidify that, and melt her at the same time.
Shawn's hands moved from her back to her bottom before removing her from the wall and walking the short distance to the bed, throwing her down onto the soft pillow top.
Shawn watched her a moment, the way her body laid flat on the bed and her hair spread out over the pillow. One skinny jean clad leg folded over the other, Jules' hand under her head as she waited for him patiently, drinking him in as well.
He exhaled deeply before tugging his shirt off and jumping Juliet O'Hara for all both of them were worth.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
I need to be careful or I'll have to bump up the rating...
So as far as plot goes, we're beginning to thicken nicely. Lassie is getting a little closer to being human...