Uh… Hey all. I live, and so does Cross Out. And, man, I just want to say, being an adult sucks sometimes. Lol. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, short though it may be.

Special thanks to stateofliving for giving me the idea for part of this chapter, however long ago.

19

Neal let himself into Alex's house using the key she had given him last month. He had been given a standing invitation to come in whenever he wanted, much like Tom had, and he knew it was a big show of trust for the young spy. One that he didn't intend to abuse.

"Alex?" he called, mildly concerned over how quiet it was in the house.

"Kitchen!" drifted down the hall.

"Where's Jack?" Neal asked, hanging up his jacket. That was the only reason he could think of for it to be so calm. Even if the American wasn't the one cooking, she still had the television or radio on, either telling off the actors or singing along.

"Cooking lessons. With the same guy as the last four times no less," was the response. He could hear Alex pulling down dishes and smelled something good.

"What are you making?"

Alex turned and smiled at him. "It can be either spaghetti or lasagna. I use the same sauce for both."

He nodded. "Lasagna takes longer, right?" At her responding nod, he shrugged. "Make that." He just smiled innocently at the odd look she shot him and shrugged again. "I had a late lunch."

She gazed at him for a few seconds longer then shrugged herself and shook her head. "Fine, but you can help."

He just smiled. Helping make dinner was a small price to pay in exchange for a longer make-out session, assuming he could convince her in the first place.

As they were quite involved in their current activity, neither one heard the front door open or someone move toward the living room.

The "What the hell are you doing?!" certainly got their attention though, snapping two pairs of wide eyes toward the doorway Ben was stood in.

Alex bit her lip, just imagining how things looked from his end. Considering how Neal looked, she was willing to bet that her hair was just as mussed, her face as flushed, and her lips nicely plump from the kisses. It didn't help that they were both out of breath and she was laying on the couch, a shirtless Neal spread over her, their legs tangled together, with one of his hands on her belly, pushing her shirt up, while his other was sliding up her thigh.

Neal blinked a few times, trying to reengage his brain, before pulling his hands away and easing off of Alex. He really didn't want to think about the lecture his friend was going to give him this time, nevermind that they weren't that far off in age and had known each other for years. Of course, that's probably why he would lecture - Ben knew all the crap Neal had gotten up to as a teenager, mostly because he was right there next to him.

Alex sat up herself, straightening her shirt and suddenly very glad that she hadn't worn a skirt today. As she watched Ben get over his shock and draw himself up to start yelling, something nagged at her. Her jaw dropped when she realized what it was.

"No!" she snapped, cutting off the older brunet. Both men blinked and looked at her. "Don't you dare! You've got no room to talk!" She hurled one of the couch pillows at Ben, hitting him in the face since he was too startled to dodge. That did knock him out of his stupor so he was able to duck back into the hallway to avoid the second.

Neal stared at his girlfriend, wondering what the hell was going on and why she had gone temporarily insane. Well, beyond what was normal anyway. "Uh...?"

Alex looked at him, half horrified, half something he wasn't quite sure on. "Cooking lessons my ass!" She got to her feet and stormed to the doorway where Ben was making a cautious reappearance. Just in time to get walloped by the pillow in the teenager's hand. "You're dating Jack?! Why the hell didn't either of you say something?!" she shouted indignantly. She hit him again.

Neal trailed after her, entirely uncertain on whether or not he should try to stop her or just stand back and watch and try to figure out what was happening.

"Alex. What are you–" Ben cut himself off to catch the pillow swinging at his head again. After a short struggle, he was able to yank it from her. Upon seeing the glare on her face though, he decided against tossing it aside and instead held it in front of himself as if it would protect him from her.

"Don't you dare lecture either of us about this," Alex hissed, prodding his chest with her finger. Well, she would have if the pillow wasn't in the way. And the entire scene looked ridiculous with a fully trained soldier/spy cowering away from an angry blonde girl, using a ruffled neon green pillow as a shield, with a second soldier, half-dressed and confused, looking on.

Seeing Ben open his mouth to talk, Alex cut him off. "We've been dating for over a year. You've been on a handful of dates with Jack and you're already sleeping with her. You have no room to talk. And I swear, if you say anything to James or David, I'll be telling all four of them things you really don't want them to hear. Am I understood?"

Ben blinked then nodded furiously, somewhat afraid to speak and make things worse for himself. Especially since he could easily imagine a variety of things that he wouldn't want his friends, much less Jack, to know that Alex either already knew or could find out with little effort.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to Jack about what she isn't going to be sharing with me anymore." Without bothering to wait for a response, Alex pushed past Ben and stalked down the hall.

"What just happened?" Neal asked, eyes wide.

Ben looked at him, eyes even wider if possible and shrugged. It was about then that he realized what the pillow he was holding looked like and he tossed it on the couch with a grimace. He watched Neal glance around the room for a few seconds before pointing. "Shirt's under the couch."

Neal blinked then nodded. "Thanks." He snagged the hem and yanked it over his head before flopping onto the couch.

They just kind of stared at each other for a couple of minutes before Neal finally ventured to speak. "Uh... Should we start warning each other when we're over and letting the ladies know so we can avoid a repeat of this?"

Ben sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face before grabbing the two pillows that had become ballistic weapons and walking over to sit next to Neal. "Might be a good idea." He leaned back then looked at his friend. "You know, I thought Jack's temper could be pretty bad, but I don't envy you Alex's."

Neal shrugged, still a little shell-shocked. "That's the first time I've ever seen it. But then, we saw what happened at that one facility."

Ben nodded in agreement. "Wait. What do you think Alex meant when she said about stuff Jack isn't going to be sharing anymore?"

"...I'm not sure I want to know. With them? It could be anything." Neal shuddered slightly. "I can't understand normal women. Why would I expect to understand these two?"

Ben nodded again. That was true. And it also meant that he was quite content staying in here with Neal and turning on the TV as a distraction.

The silence didn't last long before Neal broke it again. "So, uh, you and Jack, huh? How did that happen?"

He got a sigh as an initial response before Ben turned his head a little to address Neal better. "We got to talking one of the nights that Alex decided she was going to go out to wander, before you guys got back together. One thing lead to another, alcohol ended up involved, and I woke up in Jack's bed." He shrugged then as if to say 'and now here we are'.

Both men glanced up at the ceiling when they heard an indignant shout from Alex, not that they could make out what she had said. After a long beat of silence, they looked at each other again.

"So, mister cooking instructor," Neal started, a smirk coming to his lips, "Alex started making lasagna. I have no idea how to cook that, so do you know how to check it to make sure it's not going to burn or anything else?"

Ben scowled at the mocking title then rolled his eyes and stood. "Lucky for you, I do. But you can get off your ass and come help me deal with it, and tell me what's been done so far."

When the girls came down a while later, Alex was looking as calm as ever while Jack followed, looking mildly shell shocked. If the guys had to guess, it looked like Jack hadn't been on the receiving end of one of Alex's semi-scolding rants the way that they had been.

"Everything okay?" Neal asked, a wary tone in his voice as he glanced between the two of them.

Alex nodded, going over to his side to slide under his arm and wrap her arms around his waist. "It's fine. Jack now knows what constitutes TMI and how not to share it," she answered, expression twisting a little bit.

"Do I want to know?" Ben asked. He looked at Jack in worry, wondering what had been shared.

Alex looked at him and made a face that, if she or Tom were asked, would be described simply as 'yuck'. "Let's just say that I know more about your physical prowess than either of us want me to."

The horrified expression that crossed Ben's face was almost as good as Jack's scandalized shout of, "Alex!" And while she couldn't see Neal's expression, she could imagine it from the way his hand slackened and slipped off her shoulder a bit.

Alex held Ben's gaze, eyes serious, for a bit longer before she cracked and her lips started to twitch. She started to laugh, turning to press her face against Neal's chest to muffle herself. And her laughter set off Jack, which just served to confuse both men more.

"I feel like I'm missing something," Neal said.

"For once, I'm almost as confused as you are," Ben responded. He flashed a smirk at Neal's scowl. "But I'm pretty sure we just got pranked." He looked at Jack. "Please tell me that you didn't actually..."

Jack lightly backhanded Ben's shoulder. "No, I haven't," she said, not able to suppress the smile on her face long enough to glower at him. "But it's nice to know it's on the table if I need to. We can compare the two of you if we need to."

The oven's timer went off, cutting off further comments as Alex composed herself again and shooed them out. "Go set the table or something, just get out of the way," was all she would say when asked if she wanted help. She just wanted to enjoy dinner together then cuddle up with Neal and see how the rest of the night went, just hopefully without almost getting carried away again.