Title: What Would Happen
Author: Gypsy
Comments: Sure. Flames and Kisses are welcome all the same.
gypsybaby1@attbi.com
Spoilers: None.
Archive: Please ask first.
Rating: PG to PG-13 depending on chapter
Disclaimers: The characters involved the property of NBC Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended. Original characters, however, are the property of the author. So this means you can't sue me!! Unless you want my car payment, collection of river rocks, unique goblets and my clones... who only mind me... some of the time…
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Frank stared mutely into the dancing flames of the fireplace. The steady rain pattering against his windows brought a chill to the apartment. Even though it was early spring, it was still cold out. Add to that the damp in the air, and it provided Frank with a physical chill he couldn't get rid of no matter how warmly he dressed or how close to a heater he stood.
To make matters worse, it was that time of year again. He shook his head and reached for the glass on the old trunk in front of him. It was an old leather steamer trunk that he used as a coffee table - a gift from his paternal grandfather. Being the right height to rest his feet on or a glass of wine when the whim moved him, Frank just couldn't bear to part with it. He studied the reflection of the firelight in the deep burgundy depths of the liquid held inside the Grand Cru glass. That time of year again. He hated the month of March.
Tingles of acidity, berries, clove, pepper and a hint of vanilla teased his mouth as he took a slight drink of the blackberry wine. The warmth of the alcohol working it's way into his bloodstream spread down his neck and across his shoulders, but it brought him no real warmth. Deep brown eyes stared into the fire and unwillingly thought back just two years… Over and over he kept asking himself 'what if?' What if he'd been just that little bit faster… just that little bit smarter… what if he'd succeeded.
'No one can control what happens to us Agent Donovan.'
"I understand that Paul." Frank turned to Director Bloom and shook his head. "But this time I could have. I should have known this was going to happen. I should have been there."
Frank shook his head again, trying to clear the cobwebs of memories away that had haunted him for the last few years. Without fail every March since it happened, the mists of memory had come back to haunt him. Every night in the month of March, up until that fateful anniversary, he prayed as he lay awake in his bed that the memories would leave him alone for just one night.
'What would happen if we kissed'
Frank sat up, his body tensing and stiffening at the memory. He didn't want them, didn't want to remember his failure…
'Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay?'
--
It was the spring of 1998 and a monsoon had laid siege to Washington. Just when everyone thought the storms had abated and moved further inland, more rain came and poured down on the Capitol. Everyone was beginning to think that another flood of biblical proportions was coming. On a more personal front, Frank had been dating a woman off an on when his work allowed him to but he wasn't serious about her. Deep down he figured she knew that little fact. It became painfully clear that she didn't on the night he met her...
Amy, the woman he'd been seeing, had called him and asked him to meet her at a local jazz bar for a drink. He'd needed a break and agreed to meet her there. It wasn't raining when he'd left the house, but it was by the time he found the bar. He gave the keys over to the valet and made his way past the doorman into the smoky main room. What was it about bars and smoke? He found Amy easily and settled down at the table. As usual they passed the time with idle chitchat and a few drinks. The house band played throughout the night, nothing too impressive. He stood and was about to say goodnight when the room went dark and the club emcee came onstage.
"Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen!" He smiled and waited for the polite applause to die down.
Frank sat back down as Amy grinned from ear to ear. "Ohhhh yes yes yes! She's here tonight!"
"Who?"
"Fiona!" she squealed - as if that answered his question. Frank stared at her blankly then turned his attention to the emcee.
"We have a rare treat for you all tonight. By popular demand, we asked and asked and asked for this lovely lady to come back... and she has decided to grace us with a one-night performance! Please help me in welcoming the lovely, the only, The Chanteuse - FIONA!"
Raucous applause filled the room, many people gave a standing ovation as the emcee left the stage. The spotlight faded and a soft guitar filled the room. The spotlight was softer when it reappeared and highlighted the woman standing on stage. She had her eyes closed and all that could be seen was her head, neck and shoulders. She had thick straight black hair, parted on the side and slicked back so it hung over her shoulders. Her lips were full and soft, her lipstick shimmering as she breathed.
"Electricity, eye to eye
Hey don't I know you
I can't speak
Stripped my senses
On the spot
I've never been defenseless
I can't even make sense of this
You speak and I don't hear a word"
Frank was enthralled. Her voice was mellow with a touch of rasp to it that felt like nails dragging sensually down his spine. The spotlight widened to the entire stage. Fiona was dressed in a simple black ankle-length dress that was slit up to her hips on both sides. The spaghetti straps flowed over creamy pale shoulders and her arms were encased in opera length black gloves. A sheer scarf wrapped around her throat and hung down her back. When she finally opened her eyes, the most intriguing pair of light amber brown eyes captivated all the men in the room.
"What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay?
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust
Spontaneously combust"
As she spoke of tongues and lust, Frank's mind turned away from the bar and to the vivid images of he and the lovely Fiona in bed together. Their bodies hot and sweaty, writhing together. Her soft raspy voice crying out in pleasure or purring in his ear as he lowered his mouth down on her core, his tongue flicking feather light over her tenderness as she squirmed underneath him..
"The room is spinning out of control
Act like you didn't notice
Brushed my hand"
His mind ran away again when her voice rose again. In his mind, his hands roamed over her neck and shoulders. Her eyes were closed and her face was tilted up to him as his lips closed over hers, his hand covering her throat tenderly. His hands slid down over her shoulders as they kissed and he grasped her by the hips.
"Forbidden fruit
Ring on my finger
You're such a moral, moral man
You throw it away, no question
Will I pretend I'm innocent"
He lifted her up onto his lap and lay back settling her over his hips. His hands found her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples as she smiled down at him. Coughing slightly, Frank shook his head and reached for his glass of water with a shakey hand. He was vaguely aware of Amy watching him closely.
"What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust
Spontaneously combust"
"Frank? Frank!" Amy patted his arm. "Are you alright Frank? Your cheeks are flushed..."
"Uh huh... yeah..." came the rather inarticulate answer as Frank kept watching Fiona sing. His imagination was still running rampant with erotic fantasies about what he could be doing with and to the sultry singer.
"I struggle with myself again
Quickly the walls are crumbling
Don't know if I can turn away"
Frank was struggling with himself as she sang. He was in a physically embarrassing predicament and his date was getting more and more irate by the second.
"Frank Donovan! What is wrong with you?!" Amy hissed.
He could see that she realized that Frank was off in 'Frank-World' with Fiona. Suddenly he felt very embarrassed for her. He was supposed to be her date. In the back of his mind, he kept replaying their earlier conversation. She'd asked him there to talk about getting more serious in their relationship... Something about Amy couldn't let him get any closer. It was a gut feeling that made him hold her at arm's length. Perhaps it was just her clingy nature that put him off.
"What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay?
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust
Spontaneously combust"
Applause erupted as Fiona finished singing. Out of the corner of his eye, Frank watched as Amy huffed and stomped out of the bar.
Frank sighed softly as he looked into the glass of wine. The lights reflected erratically, sending sparkles of burgundy across the nearly black surface of the liquid. Echoing in his mind he heard Fiona's sultry gasps as she called his name.
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