AN: Post-2.22, Bobby Pin. This is also this universe's version of 2.03, Roulette Wheel + Wire, but it is very, very different. I know it's Viv and Alex's story, but just about everyone else appears and plays some kind of part in it too! Give it a chance?
HOTEL ROOM
BELGRADE
SERBIA
'…We're in with the Red Fist…' Rowena cleaned their weapons as Nick updated Thornton, May, Carter and Alex, who were patched in back at the Phoenix (they were undercover as a married pair of ex-Spec Ops mercenaries, and had just been conditionally hired by the Red Fist to help them carry out their latest terror attack – the Red Fist had appeared on their radar three weeks ago, when they'd started stealing diamonds, instead of their usual MO of blowing people up). '…and something's gonna go down in Azerbaijan. Something that'll let them pay us, apparently.'
Nick and Rowena had obviously demanded to be paid in diamonds.
In $80 million worth of diamonds.
(They were going to steal a WMD and take out a rival terrorist organization for the Red Fist; it was a big job.)
(Well, they weren't actually going to do that, but that's what they'd told them, anyway.)
SWANKY NIGHTCLUB
BAKU
AZERBAIJAN
May ducked into what had become her dressing room (she was undercover, and had been for the last two weeks, since Nick and Rowena had gotten that intel, as a singer in the favourite nightclub of a few of the Red Fist's members with a soft spot for bad boys and a whole series of slinky dresses, and she had finally gotten them some good intel), and after checking that she was alone and doing a sweep for bugs, she pulled out an encrypted burner phone.
'Karabakh Hotel and Casino. They've got diamonds in their vault. That's the target.'
NON-DESCRIPT HOTEL FULL OF EXPATS AND TOURISTS
DUBAI
'…Getting Carter into the Karabakh as a newly-hired tech expert's all well and good, but May, Nick and Rowena need to keep their covers, and this is not a job for just the two of us.' Alex finished solving his Rubik's cube as he spoke, brow furrowing. 'And what's my cover identity?'
Back at the Phoenix, Thornton inclined her head in acknowledgement and addressed the three-way split screen before her, one screen showing Nick and Rowena, one May, and one Carter and Alex.
'I'm borrowing someone from Matty. She'll rendezvous with you in Dubai tomorrow morning; Andi is forwarding your covers to you now, Alex. Carter, you start work at the Karabakh tomorrow…'
Thornton signed off, after walking with them on her tablet screen to the infirmary, as Jack and Mac had apparently just been extracted from Siberia, and despite that cold and almost uncaring exterior she presented to the world, they all knew that Thornton cared deeply about her agents.
Especially, they all knew, those particular agents.
(That also meant that they were treated to a moment of the Mac-and-Jack show, with a side of Doc.)
('…You really do have a frostbitten backside, Jack. How…Jack, did you spend a large amount of time sitting on the floor of your snow cave?' 'Uh…yeah?' 'I told him not to do that, Beth…' 'Hey, we did it last time, brother!' 'We were sitting on a tarp last time!')
After their boss had hung up, Nick half-smirked at Alex.
'So, Flyboy, who're you gonna be this time?'
Alex looked up from his tablet, also smirking.
'Luke Arrington, arms dealer with money to burn.' He paused for a moment, the smirk widening ever-so-slightly. 'And Agent Ho is Sophia Chen, who may or may not be the daughter of a notorious Triad boss…and is definitely Luke Arrington's girlfriend.'
PHOENIX JET
(UNDERCOVER AS LUKE ARRINGTON'S JET)
PRIVATE AIRPORT
BAKU
AZERBAIJAN
Alex grinned with a hint of a smirk at his temporary partner as she stepped out of the bathroom, a slinky, figure-hugging gold dress and matching high heels replacing the ripped jeans, tied-off flannel and awesome kicks that she'd shown up in, and wearing contacts instead of her tortoiseshell glasses.
Her killer eyeliner remained in place, however.
'You clean up nice, Viv.'
(She had firmly insisted that he call her that, instead of Agent Ho or Vivian.)
Viv simply looked him over, taking in his smart black suit with dark shirt and tie, an eyebrow raised in a way that was oddly reminiscent of Alex's boss for some reason, and then gave a smile that was a bit like a smirk.
'You'll pass. Just.'
KARABAKH HOTEL AND CASINO
BAKU
AZERBAIJAN
Viv opened the door, clothed in a red silk robe, greeting the summoned maintenance man.
'Oh, thank God…umm…my boyfriend and I both thought that the other person brought the…um…oh, this is just embarrassing, uh…let me show you.'
Continuing to act flustered and embarrassed, she led the man into the bedroom of their suite, and gestured to the bed, to which an apparently-naked Alex was cuffed.
He waved as best as he could and gave a sheepish smirk.
'Hey, you any good at picking locks?'
As the maintenance man unpicked the cuffs, Viv lifted the man's key card, and then stepped towards the bathroom.
'I'll just get you some painkillers for your cramp, honey!'
Quickly, she cloned the key card, while Alex bought her some time by dramatically pretending that his cramp had gotten much, much worse.
As soon as she was done cloning the card, with a tab of paracetamol in hand, she stepped back into the bedroom and replaced the maintenance man's key card, before he could even notice it was gone.
Viv passed Alex the painkillers, as he made a show of rubbing his wrists, then Viv escorted the maintenance man, still none the wiser, out to the door, tipping him generously.
Then, she made her way back into the bedroom and shot Alex a thumbs-up.
He jumped out of the bed (he was wearing pants) and grabbed his shirt, which had been flung over a nearby chair, putting it back on with a grin.
'Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that worked.'
Viv raised an eyebrow at him, a teasing note in her voice.
'Are you dissing my pick-pocketing skills? Or my key-card-cloning skills?'
Alex raised his hands with a smile.
'Of course not!' His expression became more serious. 'I thought he might make a run for it…'
'I think this sort of thing happens quite often here.'
Both of them made a face.
'I could have gone without knowing that.'
Viv shot him a very dry look.
'Well, if I have to live with that knowledge, you do too.'
Carter, deep in the offices of the hotel and casino, keeping his head down and pretending to be just another office drone, received a text message from May's burner phone, written in a code that he'd long learned by heart.
Double-cross. Buying WMD straight from seller w/ diamonds at Karabakh.
Internally, he swore.
Externally, he worked for another three minutes, then headed off to the bathroom.
They were going to need to change their plan.
The original plan had been to let Red Fist steal the diamonds, and then take them down at the sale of the diamonds to Nick and Rowena.
With the WMD in play…well, Carter thought that the new plan would have to be 'never mind the diamonds, take out the WMD sellers'.
In their hotel room on the 58th floor, Nick and Rowena prepared two sets of rappelling equipment, very grateful that their covers allowed them to have such things secreted away.
(They would not have enjoyed tying together bedsheets or something to try and get down to the 50th floor, where in a suite handily directly below theirs by 8 floors, the WMD sale was going to go down, once the diamonds were stolen, which was what Carter said was going down right that instant.)
As they set up by the windows and Nick raised his gun to smash one, he smirked at his partner-in-both-senses.
'Remind you of Osaka?'
Rowena simply elegantly arched an eyebrow at him.
'Let's hope that this does not go down like Osaka.'
'Alex, Viv, there's a guard outside the door. You're gonna need a distraction.'
Taking out one guard wouldn't be a problem for them, but with the 8 hostiles inside the room, with a WMD that they could presumably activate at any time, they couldn't let him alert his buddies inside.
Alex gave a rather wry smirk.
'Well, PDA makes people very uncomfortable…'
Viv preceded Alex out of the elevator, her fingers in his belt loops, one of his hands on her hip and the other cupping the back of her head, the two of them kissing as if their lives depended on it (which they kind of did).
She pulled him along the corridor, and when they'd gotten right next to the guard and the target room, he pushed her up against the wall, halfway between the target room's door and the next one, the two of them seemingly utterly oblivious to the guard, who, as predicted, looked away, uncomfortable.
After what they judged was a sufficiently long period of time to gross out the guard, the two of them pulled away from each other a little, and for a moment, stared into each other's eyes, breathing a little too hard for it just to be adrenaline and breathlessness from not stopping to breathe enough, due to selling their act.
With her in heels, they were eye-to-eye.
(Viv had always thought that she, like her aunt, was more stone and ice than anything near warm, but right now, she felt like fire.)
(It was a strange sensation, one that she didn't think she'd ever really felt before.)
(Viv was not scared of many things. There were very, very few things that could shake her.)
(She felt shaken now. A little scared of the fire.)
(Alex had kissed plenty of women. Including quite a lot of women on the job.)
(But this was new, in a way that he couldn't quite pin down.)
(New in some way that made him feel way out of his depth, something very, very unusual for him.)
Then, with just a couple of little head gestures, the two of them moved in sync, the guard in front of the door going down before he could even react.
As she crouched down to grab the guard's guns (luckily, he had two, plus a knife), Alex smirked and spoke before he could think, a distinct undercurrent of flirt in his tone.
(That was very inappropriate. She was his partner for his mission. He knew that, somewhere in his mind, and would realize it later, but he was still affected by what had occurred earlier.)
'Was it just me, or did the Earth just move?'
Those last hints of something smouldering in Viv's eyes disappeared, something cool and hard shuttering over them instead, and she simply tossed him one of the guard's guns and his key card, and then sheathed the knife in one of her specially-made garters and took up the other gun herself. She pressed an ear to the door, effectively ignoring him.
Alex followed suit, not really having any other choice.
(Besides, they did have a job to do. That had to come first.)
When they heard the sound of glass shattering (Nick and Rowena), Alex shoved the key card into the lock and they burst into the room.
PHOENIX JET
SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
ON-ROUTE TO LA
Carter, perched on the arm of May's seat, grinned at Nick, Rowena, Alex and Viv.
'So, we stopped the sale of a small nuclear bomb, and the bomb, the sellers, the Red Fist and the diamonds are all in the hands of the proper authorities. Can I get a round of applause for us?'
Carter started clapping very enthusiastically.
Nick, Alex and May joined in, in order of enthusiasm. Rowena and Viv exchanged a glance, a lot passing between them with just slight quirks of their eyebrows (a question – are they always like this? Exasperated affection – yes, they are always like this; you get used to it).
Then, after the applause had finished, Carter turned to Viv, grin still in place, with a hint of a smirk.
'So, we gonna be seeing more of you in future, Viv?'
That cool, shuttered look returned to her eyes, and she shrugged nonchalantly.
To them, spies and secret agents that they were, it looked like deliberate nonchalance.
'If a mission calls for it.'
MATTY'S TEAM'S HEADQUARTERS
SOMEWHERE IN LA
When Viv went to grab a cup of coffee, Lil and Sam just happened to be there, sipping at their own coffee.
It was Viv's fellow analyst who spoke, something a little teasing in her voice that made Viv sigh internally.
(Viv was glad that Lil was no longer intimidated by just about everyone, but still…she could do without the teasing.)
(Especially as she was still trying to deal with what had happened at the Karabakh herself, still trying to process it.)
'So, how was your mission with Alex?' Lil's mouth seemed to run away from her a bit, because she continued. 'Did you get to ogle him in his suit? He looks really good in a suit.' Sam raised an eyebrow at the analyst, and Viv did the same, trying to seem as unaffected and nonchalant and normal as possible, and doing very well. Lil shrugged in response, a little sheepishly, but she was grinning all the same. 'What? Analysts have slow and boring days too! And we work with an improbable number of hot guys!'
Viv just shrugged.
'He fills it out well, but I've seen better.'
Lil was fooled by her nonchalance and Viv braced herself mentally for Lil asking her all about the better she'd seen next time they had a slow day (a traitorous voice in her head pointed out that while she might have seen better, better had never made her feel that fire…Viv made it shut up before it could continue), but Sam definitely didn't buy the act. (She was Samantha Cage, master interrogator and profiler, after all.)
Still, Sam did Viv a solid and pulled the topic away from Alex Lucas and his really well-fitting suit and that smirk and his ridiculous Rubik's cube.
'We also work with an improbable number of hot girls.' Sam gave a bit of a wry smirk. 'Equal opportunity sexual harassment, right?'
GAMES ROOM
NICK AND ROWENA'S RESIDENCE
LA
In the games room of Nick and Rowena's spacious house, where the Edwards team typically hung out to decompress after missions, or doing their free time, Alex took a healthy swig of beer as all eyes turned to him, all with very similar, probing, worried sort of looks in them.
'I hate you guys.'
There was no heat in it.
(He really meant the opposite.)
Nick gave a snort.
'Hate you too, Flyboy.'
There was no heat in that either.
(He meant the opposite too.)
Alex sighed, then spoke, putting down his beer to play with his Rubik's cube instead.
'She's…attractive.'
(That was an understatement, and that wasn't all of it.)
(He knew that.)
(They all knew that.)
Rowena, Nick, Carter and May all looked at him for another moment, before, mercifully, sensing that he didn't want to talk about this in this way, not now, they changed tack, Nick drinking some of his own beer and shaking his head.
'Flyboy, you really keep picking the wrong women, don't you? First there was that drug lord's daughter-'
'-I had no idea who her dad was!'
'-then Doc, and now our boss's niece.'
That actually shocked Alex enough that his hands, which had been turning his Rubik's cube, stopped entirely.
(To be fair, Carter and May looked just as surprised.)
'Viv is Thornton's niece?'
Nick and Rowena both nodded, the latter inclining her head elegantly, a little bit of wry in her expression, the former giving a bit of a smirk and pointing at the blonde.
'Yeah, Flyboy. Our scary boss's niece.'
After a moment, Alex shrugged (he could see the resemblance now, now that he knew), and gave a smirk that he didn't really feel, part of his brain still preoccupied going over everything that had happened, everything he'd felt, in that casino in Azerbaijan.
'Well, I've always been a bit of a bad boy.' Then, he paused for a moment, finishing solving his Rubik's cube before he continued. 'Can you guys keep what happened in Azerbaijan quiet, please?' He paused again, swallowing before continuing. 'I…I screwed up and I need to apologize.'
He lifted a shoulder, the implication that of course, Viv would not appreciate word of exactly what had happened in that casino getting around, very clear.
His teammates, of course, nodded, because they were more than a team, they were family, and family always had each other's backs.
(Good teams did too. That's why they were family.)
Nick raised his beer to Alex in some kind of silent toast, while May grabbed the bag of chips resting on the table that they usually used to play poker and opened them, then passed the bag to Carter, who passed it to Alex. Rowena regarded him in her quiet, probing way for a moment, then gave a little nod, something in her eyes that told Alex she'd be keeping a careful eye out for him, which he very much appreciated.
Carter reached over and patted his shoulder.
'What happens in Azerbaijan stays in Azerbaijan, man.'
GAMES ROOM
NICK AND ROWENA'S RESIDENCE
(ROWENA'S [REDACTED] BIRTHDAY PARTY)
Alex carefully studied the pool table and the arrangement and orientation of the balls before him, before making a carefully considered shot and, of course, sinking the desired ball.
His opponent Riley (he and Mac had already had yet another rematch earlier, and quite a bit of money had changed hands) pursed her lips, considering her own shot, and Alex took the opportunity to look around the room.
May and Carter were manning the built-in bar and (to use a phrase that Mac had used earlier to describe them that Alex was pretty sure the younger man had picked up from his grandfather) making eyes at each other. Sarah and Charlie were sitting at the bar and exchanging knowing looks.
Bozer, Lil, Rowena and Patricia were seated on an assortment of stools, watching the pool game. Bozer and Lil appeared to be working on another betting pool, if the latter's frantic texting and the former's whispering meant anything, while the two older women were chatting quietly over their glasses of wine.
Matty, Nick, Sam, Jack and Mac were playing a game of poker in the corner, Sam being greatly amused by people trying to bluff her (she was winning, though Mac was a close second, with Matty in third and Jack dead last), and Jack loudly protesting the presence of his partner's Lady Luck, Beth, who was perched on the arm of the armchair that Mac was sitting in ('You don't even believe in luck, brother, and she can count cards and calculate odds almost as well as you can, that's cheating!').
Viv seemed to be watching the poker game, completely engrossed, but Alex knew better.
She was watching him, just like he'd been watching her, trying to get a chance to speak to her all night, to apologize, but she'd managed to evade him at every turn.
And he still wasn't sure what he'd actually say.
(This woman really did make him feel out of his depth.)
(He wasn't Mac. He was actually pretty suave. This wasn't normal for him.)
(There was just something about her, he supposed.)
He wound up leaving a note, slipping it into her handbag.
He had no idea if she'd read it, or what she'd done with it after (burned it, maybe), but he felt a little better for at least having tried.
BORROWED PHOENIX JET
SOMEWHERE OVER TENNESSEE
ON-ROUTE TO LA
Why Matty thought it'd be a good idea to send just the two of them on a mission to Nashville, when Viv had staunchly refused to speak to him beyond expected greetings and work-related conversations since that mission to Azerbaijan, Alex had no idea.
Well, he did have an idea.
They had precisely the right skill sets (ability to fly a plane, right age and undercover skills to pull off being a young couple on their honeymoon, hacking skills and combat skills) for this mission, and of course, they'd pulled it off, but he'd thought that the whole I think she kind of hates me thing would have been more of an issue.
(It wasn't.)
(They were good enough professionals – especially Viv – to not let it get in the way of the mission. And they worked surprisingly well together. Very well together.)
(At least there'd been no kissing this time.)
(If it was anything like last time…Alex was not completely sure they'd manage to avoid another escalation.)
(Or a resolution, a voice in his head said, the same voice that agreed with what Carter said when he was convinced that Alex wasn't listening – that voice that agreed that maybe the problem was mostly just some good old-fashioned UST.)
(Alex pushed that thought away firmly.)
Instead, he simply held out the can of soda he'd picked up from the little galley area of the jet to the woman staring into the distance.
Viv looked up at him, then at the soda, eyeing them both a little suspiciously for a moment, before she seemed to take it for what he'd intended it to be (a peace offering, a comfort, given what had gone down during their mission), and took it with a nod of thanks.
She popped open the can and took a sip, and a little hesitantly, Alex slipped into the seat beside her.
'Do you want to talk about it?'
She's had no choice but to shoot the Organization-affiliated drug kingpin they'd been after through the eyes to save his life and most likely hers as well.
Viv lifted a shoulder and took another sip of her soda.
'That wasn't my first time.'
He looked over at her for a moment, something very understanding in his eyes, even as he shrugged.
'It's not something you ever get used to, as far as I know.'
Another sip of soda, but her voice was less guarded, more open, when she spoke again.
'I hope not.'
Alex nodded in understanding, in agreement, and then held out his Rubik's cube to her, with another shrug.
'Keeping your hands busy helps.'
Viv raised an eyebrow, but reached out and took it anyway. Then, she looked up at him, and there was something a little softer and thankful in her eyes.
Then, she sipped her soda again, put it down, and turned her attention to the Rubik's cube.
But she didn't elegantly arch an eyebrow at him as if asking why are you still sitting next to me?, implying that he should go away, so Alex counted that as a win.
MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE
LA
The next time they saw each other again was at Mac and Bozer's, at a games night involving some of the younger members of Matty's team and the Phoenix (namely the two hosts, Riley, Beth, Alex, Sam, Viv and Lil – Carter and May had been invited, but had turned down the invitations, saying they had other plans – Alex was quite sure he'd soon stop feeling like beating his head against the wall; he was pretty sure they were finally getting their act together).
Alex walked out through the open door onto the deck, where Sam and Viv were chatting, as Riley and Lil played Mario Kart inside, Bozer cheering his girlfriend on from the couch, and Mac and Beth commandeered the kitchen to make liquid nitrogen ice-cream.
'Evening, ladies.' He smiled at the two of them, then turned to Viv and gestured inside, at the TV screen displaying Rainbow Road. 'Do you want to race? I think I owe you a rematch, after Nashville.'
There was just enough flirt in his voice (there was so little of it, part of her wondered if he was even aware of it at all – he wasn't stupid, and he wasn't inconsiderate either, she knew that – he'd made sure that word of what had happened in Azerbaijan hadn't gotten out, and he'd looked out for her after Nashville) to set something off in Viv.
A spark of that fire again, and also that accompanying feeling of being a little shaken, a little scared. Nervous, maybe.
She wanted him to go away.
She didn't want him to go away.
She wanted to kick his ass in Mario Kart. And drag him to the arcade and kick his ass even more in DDR and then go grab burgers.
Like a date.
She also really wanted to kiss him again, like in the Karabakh.
(Except for real this time, and without having to stop to prevent a small nuclear bomb from being sold and/or being set off.)
Viv was lost. Confused.
She needed time, needed space.
But she didn't want to ask for it.
(She didn't want to be that open, that vulnerable. Didn't want to acknowledge how big, how different this felt.)
(Being closed-off and keeping your walls up ran in the family.)
(Even if Viv was trying to walk a different path.)
So, instead, she grabbed Sam's collar and kissed her.
(She wasn't thinking. Not at all.)
A moment later, senses returning, Viv let go of Sam.
Alex had stepped away, and his back was to them now, but when he reached the door, he turned back for a second, just a second, and locked eyes with her, and she got the sense that maybe, just maybe, he sort of understood what she wanted, even if she hadn't said it.
(There really was something about this guy.)
Sam, to her credit, seemed rather unfazed by what had just happened, though she looked Viv square in the eye, blue eyes piercing and all-knowing like they so often were.
'You're not trying to get him to give up by convincing him we're dating …and he wouldn't buy it anyway.' She paused. 'You know that. So why'd you do that?'
Viv drained the rest of her drink.
'I…I don't know.' Her voice was soft and more open, since she was talking to the woman who'd become, over the last few months, her best friend. (They were quite alike, both having plenty of sass, both being badass-yet-analytical, and a little closed-off, preferring to keep their cards close to their chests.) 'I'm so sorry, Sam, I shouldn't have-'
'It's alright.' A wry smirk crossed the blonde's face for a moment. 'Not the first time I've kissed a friend to get a man to leave us alone.' Her expression got a little more wry. 'Though, next time, a little more warning would be appreciated.'
Viv nodded and gave a wan smile, locking eyes with Sam for a moment to communicate her thanks, then she spoke again, looking down, her voice soft and confessional.
'He gets under my skin. Disturbs my equilibrium.'
Viv had dated a fair few men, but she'd always felt in control, even if she hadn't been the one to make the first move (usually she was, but if she hadn't, she'd always seen it coming), but there was something about Alex Lucas that made her feel…not out-of-control, per se, but like she was on a rollercoaster (ultimately knowing that she wasn't in danger, even if her lizard brain couldn't appreciate that, with the swoops and the upside-down loops and sudden drops, and knowing that she could get off if she wanted to…but not really wanting to).
Sam studied her for a moment.
'In a good way or a bad way?'
There was silence for a moment.
'I don't know.'
Sam was a master interrogator. A master of psychology, in a very applied sense.
Sometimes, she knew things that even the person thinking them or feeling them didn't know.
She was quite sure that it was in the good way, even if Viv wasn't quite aware of it (or, more likely, wasn't willing to admit it, not even to herself, not yet).
Still, the other woman was the closest thing that Sam had to a best friend, and best friends were always there for each other, so…
'Want another drink?'
AN: There's going to be a sequel to this…it may or may not involve bad guys and truth serum and a daring rescue conducted with a masterstroke by Mac.
This chapter (and Alex and Viv's relationship) is somewhat inspired by NCIS's Tiva and the classic episode Under Covers.
As always – drop me a line if you've got a request! (The next chapter was written for two requests!)
Next chapter: Guardian Angels, for didthatreallyhappen and a Guest. When Mac blows his cover to save a life on a mission, he winds up captured and poisoned to boot. Luckily for him, Jack and the team come to his rescue, and he has an excellent doctor…who is also an excellent girlfriend.