Scud had no idea how long they stood in that doorway, his arms curled tightly around Carol's waist and his lips glued to hers. Time seemed to simultaneously stand still and race past at warp speed whenever he was with the curly-haired Amazon.

No wonder it had felt like forever since he'd seen her last.

His heart pounded heavily against his chest, threatening to pull an Elmer Fudd and beat straight through his ribcage at any second. Being reunited with C after a week of laying low was making him feel like he was the bumbling hunter that had finally gotten hold of the dame he'd been chasing all across the forest, but instead of Bugs in drag he'd managed to land the hottie perfection of Jessica Rabbit.

Hell, Carol had the smoking curves and sassy attitude of Roger's wife. She even had a clingy red dress to complete the look…

Scud mentally slapped himself, banishing the image of a Warner-Bros Carol from his mind. Fuck, barely a week of not seeing this girl and he was turning her into a cartoon pinup! He had some serious issues.

Time continued to elude him as he tightened the grip he had on the babe's waist but there was one thing he was acutely aware of the moment it happened; a pair of Carol-sized hands slowly sliding up his chest and wrapping securely around his shoulders like a creeping vine, anchoring him in place and forbidding his release. She didn't need to worry about him trying to break free from her hold though. This was one trap Scud was not planning on escaping from. There was no fucking way he was going anywhere anytime soon unless she was leading the way.

He sent a silent prayer skywards, thankful that the babe with the crazy corkscrews wasn't too pissed with him turning up way ahead of schedule. Judging by the welcome she was laying on him then and there in the middle of the hallway she wasn't the type to hold a grudge.

The way her tongue was tangled perfectly with his was proof she'd missed him as much as he'd missed her.

That was his girl; she gave as well as she got. This last week had been the longest of his life, keeping his distance from her. His girl. The thought alone made him feel ten foot tall and invincible. A superhero among mere mortals. He smiled into the kiss, drawing the babe closer still into his embrace. She melted into him until Scud didn't know where the babe stopped and he began…not that he was complaining; the babe could strangle him with her iron grip any day of the week. He'd die a happy man so long as this curly-haired hottie was the one doing the killing.

This past week he hadn't been able to breathe properly without knowing she was okay. Every breath he'd drawn had felt like he was sucking lead into his lungs until he thought he'd suffocate from lack of oxygen. Now that he was back with Carol the weight threatening to crush his chest had lifted and he could finally function normally. Now that he was here with her, the world was back the way it should be.

How the hell he ever managed to juggle the complicated pattern of rhythmically exhaling and inhaling before he met the babe in his arms was one of the mysteries of the universe.

This was it; it had to be love. Not like anything else he'd ever felt before; this was the real deal, screaming from the highest rooftop, life-changing love. No other girl had ever gotten under his skin like she had. He was just lucky she was willing to give a guy like him the time of day, much less let him paw at her in public like what he was doing right there in her apartment doorway. He wanted her mind, her smiles and sassiness, her body…definitely her body. Scud let his hand drift down from her waist and down into her back pocket until the sweet swell of her behind was filling his open palm.

He'd been waiting to get his hands on that ass since he'd first seen her dancing in the club.

Oh yeah, the killer figure she was rocking should have come with its own 'Warning: Dangerous Curves Ahead' sign for public safety. If he took the corner too fast he was in serious danger of flying off the edge and crashing over the side rail.

What a way to go…

He had just survived the longed week of his life, having to stay the hell away from the babe in his arms. Now he was finally back with her and he was not willing to share their time together with anyone else in the known universe, especially any nosey neighbours hanging around the hallway.

Scud tightened his arm around her waist and lifted, pulling the girl off the ground in one swift move and pressing her firmly against his chest. The Scudster was nothing if not smooth with the ladies. Slowly he walked the both of them through her doorway and into the apartment, careful not to drop his precious cargo as he maneuverer the terrain of her living room using only his memory of the floor plan from his visit last Saturday.

He was a man on a mission and his hands were literally full with babe-licious goodness but Scud still took a moment to pause once he was past the threshold and kick the door shut, locking the rest of the world and any curious onlookers safely on the other side of the solid timber.

The rest of the world was a distraction he didn't need right now. All he needed to concentrate on was the babe that hadn't removed his hand from her ass yet.

The girl pressed against his chest wiggled, making Scud acutely aware of just how tightly their bodies were pressed together. He knew he could go on forever with her like this but there was oh so much more he wanted to do than just make out with the girl of his dreams. He untangled his mouth from hers, earning him an unhappy grunt from the babe at the separation. Not one to let a lady go unpleased, Scud manoeuvred his lips down her throat, gently nipping at her skin as he went.

"Miss me?" he whispered when he reached her ear, confident in what the answer would be, "because I missed you, Babe."

The girl shuddered as his breath hit her skin. She ran her nails up through his hair, scratching at his scalp as she went. "You know that's not my name," she growled, the reprimand coming out with all the bite of Simba before he had a growth spurt and became King of the Pride Lands.

"Sorry, Babe," he chuckled, unable to pass on the opportunity staring him in the face.

The nails she'd had imbedded in his hair swiftly retracted, leaving Scud mourning their loss more than he ever thought possible. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to bait the babe so early on in the day? One this he didn't want was to screw things up with her before they even got started.

Scud was pulling back to catch her eye again when the sharp pain of a hand connecting with the base of his skull interrupted his progression.

"What the Hell!" he yelped, rubbing the dull ache radiating from the freshly delivered blow.

Yeah, it definitely hadn't been one of his smartest moves, trying to coax the Amazon out to play this early on in the game. The highly-probable concussion he now had was testament to that boneheaded move. Judging from the level of throbbing agony he wasn't in fact as thick-headed as his high school English teacher had once claimed. His hand brushed over the area she'd clipped and he winced at the stabbing sensation that overtook his skull. "Thought you'd be happy to see me? What's with the tough love, Ba-?"

The question died on his lips when he caught the scathing look the feisty Amazon was levelling his way. Slowly he lowered the fiery honey back down until her Converse connected with the carpeting. He angled his body away from hers but refused to untangle the arm he had still banded around her waist. After a week of being without her Scud would be damned if he was letting her go just because she smacked the shit out of him, concussion or not.

The babe pointed a solitary finger in his face, commanding his attention with that gesture alone. "That's for making me worry about you all week." Carol glared at him, making Scud feel like he was a kid getting scalded for dragging mud through a freshly-mopped house. Fire flashed behind her eyes as she stared him down. "I didn't know if you were even alive!"

More words flowed from Carol's mouth but Scud didn't hear any of them. All he could focus on was the way her lips moved as she continued to berate him. He watched as the babe got steadily more worked up the longer she spoke, until finally she was frantically waving one arm in the air, emphasising her point. Carol was on a roll and he wasn't stupid enough to interrupt a master at work.

Fuck, she was amazing. She'd been worried about him, just like he had her. This was the girl he'd been pinning for like a love-sick puppy. This was the girl he was head over heels for.

Scud couldn't stop himself from smirking at the sound of the furious woman unleashing a tirade of insults his way. This is what he'd been missing all week long; her sass, her attitude and the take no shit mentality she was rocking. She was the reason he couldn't concentrate on anything for longer than two seconds. She was the reason he was too distracted to catch a buzz any time he'd sparked a joint. Now that he was back with her it felt like the universe was finally at peace once more.

He didn't doubt her bark, but what he really craved was her bite. How messed up was it that the longer she stood there, handing him his own ass the more turned on he got? When it came to this girl, up was down and left was right.

He wouldn't want it any other way. Her standing there waving a finger in his face while she told him off for making her worry really got his motor running.This was Carol and she was firing on all cylinders.

He couldn't wait for her to take him out for a spin later. The memories he'd relied on that past week to get him over the difficult hump of Blade's gag order had nothing on the real-life fox chewing him out now.

God, he'd missed her.

The finger she'd jabbed in his face lowered until she was poking him square in the chest. The feel of her sharp nail scratching through his t-shirt should have been painful but it wasn't. If anything, it was even more of a turn-on. He was just getting used to the tiny stabbing at his chest when it abruptly ceased and her rant died mid-sentence. Scud tore his attention away from the babe's now frozen mouth to see that she was staring at the centre of his chest. Her previous worked-up expression softened as she placed her hand on his stomach, stroking her thumb lightly back and forth over the same spot.

"You kept it?" she asked softly. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as the babe gazed with something akin to wonder at his torso, right where her fingers were resting.

What the hell was she talking about? Scud racked his brain, searching for an explanation to Carol's sudden personality flip. The babe's ability to go from zero to sixty was something that he loved but at that moment he couldn't think what on Earth she was talking about.

The longer he thought about it, Scud realized what was wrong with this picture; he couldn't feel the fingertips brushing against his chest. Her touch was something he could never fail to notice. He knew her hand was there but there was something standing between them, besides his BPRD shirt. He dropped his gaze down, trying to find exactly what had stopped the yelling woman mid-sentence. The tiny fingers clutching at his tee were pushing against something small, solid and thick that was located in the centre of his chest. The faint outline of a very distinct shape strained against his shirt the longer Carol pawed at it, making Scud aware of exactly what had captured the babe's undivided attention.

The silver cross she had given him for protection…that was what was standing between them. The discovery of that pendant still around his neck had rendered the feisty Amazon speechless.

"I never took it off." He pressed his palm over her hand, threading their fingers firmly together.

The truth was he hadn't removed the chunky silver piece since Carol had given it to him. He'd showered with it, slept with it, even found himself toying with it whenever his thoughts trailed back to the girl from Pandemonium. He kept it under his shirt, next to his heart all week long.

It was the only thing he had of her, aside from a phone number. He had no intention of ever removing it.

"Sorry for the radio silence. Believe me, I wanted to call." He stroked his thumb across the back of her hand, savouring the feel of having her close once more. "I've been a basket case all week, thinking about you. Let me make it up to you," he cooed, dipping his forehead until it connected with hers. The moment their heads touched it felt like he'd come home. "I wanna take you out tonight. Just you and me. No vamps. No explosions. Just a normal, vanilla date. What do you say?"

The babe bit her lip and the action almost drove Scud insane. Man, he was jonesing to be the one sinking his teeth into that lip. Maybe if the date went smooth enough he might get the chance to do just that later before the night was over.

"I didn't think you were the kind of guy that did vanilla." The babe tore her gaze away from the ridges of the pendant and looked back up at him. Her eyes were sparkling with mischief and that lip was still getting gnawed on like there was no tomorrow.

Scud wiggled his eyebrows, happy to see the teasing vixen was back with full force. "I'm all thirty-one flavours for you, C."

It was true. If she wanted plain and boring he'd be a total candyass. If she wanted an action hero he could fit that bill too. Anything she wanted, he was willing to be, just for the chance to stay close by her side.

The smoking Bettie snorted at his joke and playfully swatted the back of his head, right on the spot she'd delivered the first blow. The hit bounced off his hair, barely registering any pain this time. "Creep," she sneered, sending a thousand-watt smile his direction as she did so.

"At you service," he replied with a bow of his head. "So, Gorgeous…you ready to hit the road?"

Carol plucked his hand out of her back pocket before twisting out of his hold and stepping further into the room, standing just out of his grasp. His arms felt cold without the babe's body snuggled inside but at the same time this new distance allowed him the chance to scope out just how good her legs looked in those Daisy Dukes.

He thought the red dress had been a gift from God but he'd been wrong. Those shorts were now his new favourite piece of clothing. Ever.

"Ready to go?" she mocked, crossing her arms over her chest. The Amazon was making a surprise re-appearance. "You're kidding, right? I'm not just going to drop everything in my life because you decided to turn up early. I haven't even had a shower!

The mental image of Carol standing under a haze of steam as she soaped up her lush curves flittered before his mind's eye, threatening to distract him from the impending argument. He'd been so hell-bent on seeing C again that he hadn't even jumped in the shower before he peeled out of the warehouse. Maybe they could save the planet and share a shower before they hit the town? As appealing as the thought of cutting down on the water bill sounded he didn't want her to change out of the sexy shorts she was wearing now. His plans for the evening didn't require formal attire. Denim cut-offs would fit in just fine for where they were headed.

"You want to get ready, I'll wait as long as you want. You order, I obey." Scud cocked his head to the side, letting his gaze wander slowly up her body. Wet or dry, she was a sight to behold. "If you want my opinion though you look good. In fact, I'm really feeling those shorts right now." He had been feeling the back pocket of those shorts just thirty seconds ago. "You want the truth?" Scud locked eyes with her as he surged forward, threading a finger through her belt loop and drawing the babe back against his chest. "I'm digging the whole outfit," he said, his voice dipping lower than he thought humanly possible.

She could be wearing a mascot's costume for all he cared. The curly haired chick was a total fox.

Carol shuddered but threated her fingers back into this hair, tugging gently on the strands. "I guess I could go out like this. So, where are you taking me anyway?" she asked, fisting her other hand in his shirt. "It better be somewhere good for you to be here this early."

God, it was hot when she man-handled him like that. A little forceful persuasion was something he could definitely get used to.

"Like I said before, Babe," he drawled, enjoying the flicker of annoyance that flashed across her face. "I couldn't wait."

"You know what, Babe?" Carol said, playfully pushing him back onto the nearby couch. "I'll keep the clothes, but I'm definitely taking a shower before we go." She leant down and placed a peck on his lips. "Wait a little longer, it won't kill you."

With that the Amazon giggled, turned on her heel and headed straight for the bathroom. He watched as she disappeared through the doorway, grinning with satisfaction like she'd just pulled the biggest magic trick in the entire world. Now he was left sitting in the middle of her living room, his heart still threatening to beat right out of his chest and wondering how he was ever going to keep up with a girl like C.

He couldn't wait to find out.

A/N: Thank you for reading. I know it's been a very long time between drinks here (let's face it, if you're following any of my WIP's you know it's been awhile since there's been an update for anything). Months ago I asked for people's ideas as to where Scud could take Carol for their first date (he'd still taking her out somewhere, don't worry) but even that hasn't helped me turn out anything near enough decent to upload. To put in a comical Austin Powers voice "I've lost my writing mojo."For months now I've been struggling to get something…anything down. I feel like this runs deeper than writer's block. This is more like I've completely forgotten how I ever wrote anything in the first place. I know where each story is going but I most days I can't even work up the energy to type my name, let alone put words in characters mouths. Real life has gotten in the way of creativity and, in all honesty, the life has been sucked out of me in response. Scud has suffered because of this, so I hope you all stick with me while I sort through this extremely bumpy section of road.

And now, after that rambling rant that had nothing to do with where Scud and Carol are at now I want to thank you for taking the time to read this little chapter. I never thought this fic would go on this long. It's been a year since I first started it. Glad you're all still hanging in there with me.