Jim:

"For a pessimist, I'm pretty optimistic"

When the storm passed, it dragged in the heat. Temperatures pushed into the triple digits, even once the sun had set for the night. And the summer breeze that meandered its way through my office window was too sticky to be of any comfort. The warmth fogged my brain, and while I still had a pile of memos and motions to wade through, I couldn't force myself to think any longer. So I stuffed what I could into my briefcase, and prepared to swing home. A brief hope of picking up some Chinese for dinner was crossing my mind, when I caught sight of the light still burning in Cabot's office.

She lay facedown on her desk, and for a brief millisecond, my breath caught in my throat; just until she shifted in her sleep.

Not hurt, I thought as the relief poured through me. Simply completely exhausted. I glanced at my watch and realized it was already after one am.

"Al…" I murmured softly.

She stirred slowly, glancing around the room trying to get her bearings.

"Damn. Just … just dropped out for a minute. Thanks for waking me."

"It's late Al, go home."

She yawned greatly. "I've got another hour in me."

"You don't, no. You've gone pale, which was always a sign you've hit the wall."

"It's not your place to tell me when to stop working. Watch it, Jim."

I took a step closer to her, the heat and anger fired in my eyes. "No, Alex. Don't tell me to 'watch it' or remind me that you're my boss and that I've overstepped my bounds. You sit there, passed out; looking like the weight of the world has fallen onto your shoulders. I'm supposed to come in here, wake you up, and then watch you put yourself through the ringer again? No, I think not."

"So leave." She responded with a shrug. "Nobody asked you to play daddy and check up on me."

"Christ, Al. You are so goddamn stupid." I whispered, yanked her out of her chair and crashed our mouths together. I eased down, and found with my mouth, the spot just under her jaw line I'd remembered I liked best. My fingers skimmed over her breasts, her sides, and around her back to dance along her spine.

The thrill rushed through both of us. And she knew what I was trying to do – trying to wash away the shadows of her day. Help her forget.

"Cut that out." She muttered, but angled her head so my lips could trail up. "Actually maybe... just a minute more."

I smiled. "That's pushing even my speed and agility. But, we'll start with a minute." I caught her earlobe between my teeth. "And see how it goes."

I could tell her brain was starting to fog up, her body starting to rev.

"God, I'd forgotten how good you are at this." Her breath caught. And I smirked at her puzzlement at how quickly I'd gotten her shirt off. "This … we can't do this on my desk…"

"Bet we could…" I challenged with a laugh as my mouth found hers again, sank in.

"Your minute has to be up…" she whimpered, but couldn't seem to resist nibbling at my throat.

I feigned a glance at my watch, and nodded my head. "Hmm. So it is. Sleep well then Al." I took two steps toward the door before she managed to catch up, and spin me around.

"Don't you dare."

I grinned. "Well then, since it seems that we're going over our minute, let's see if we can make time stop."

She hooked her arms and legs around me, used the momentum to push us back towards her desk, and roll on top of me. Papers scattered everywhere, flying towards the ground, and we couldn't have cared less.

"Fast." She warned breathlessly.

"I can live with that."

She tore open my shirt, ran her hands in one hard sweep over my chest, then lowered to scrape her teeth over flesh.

I flipped her, dragged at her skirt and she dragged at my trousers. My heart hammered under her restless mouth, her muscles tensed under my impatient hands.

We tugged, pulled, yanked and ripped so that she was naked and laughing when she rolled again to straddle me. Laughter became a purr of pleasure, as she took me inside her.

She clenched around me, drove me mad with need. Her face was so alive, alive with purpose and pleasure, as I hadn't seen it in ages.

The air thickened, my vision dimmed, my voice was raw. "Go over, let go."

She cried out as we plunged together, as I dived with her.

***

I drew her down, drew her in, as we drifted back.

"Sex is funny." She murmured.

"I'm still laughing."

"No, I mean it's strange. How sometimes, afterwards you feel like you could sleep for days, and other times, you want to run a marathon."

"As it seems your opting for the latter, I'll be pleased for the moment. It'll make life my life much easier."

"Why's that?"

"Well, I really didn't want to carry you all the way home."

She shook her head. "No. Revved. Gotta work."

"You just don't want to go home. There's a difference."

"I hardly think…"

"It's no matter anyway, because if you think I'd let you crawl back into bed with White, you're insane. The only home you're going to tonight is mine."

"It's not that simple Jim. Chris … he… I can't do this. If it'll shut you up, I'll sleep. But I'm doing it here."

I shrugged. "Alright. Then I suppose I'm sleeping here too."

"You're a pain in the ass. You know that, right?"

"It's my ultimate mission in life. Remind me to tell you about it, after we've gotten some sleep."

Alex sighed audibly. "And you win again. Let's just go to your apartment."

I hooked an arm around her waist, and pressed my lips to her forehead. "I always win Al. Sooner or later. But I think we'll have to call this one a draw. At least for the moment. We get clean clothes and a hot shower out of the deal. And maybe morning sex."

"Can't go wrong with that one, now can we?" she whispered, as she began to redress, her eyes twinkling with some of the light they'd been missing.

"Don't think we can." I muttered and followed her lead, pulling what was left of my clothing back onto my body. "I'll grab a cab." I started towards the door.

"Jim?"

I turned back, our eyes met. "Yeah."

"Thanks. Just… thanks."

I said nothing more, only turned away, a smile etched onto my face.