Disclaimer: I do not own MIB: The Animated Series or any of the show's characters. I do own the characters not seen on the show (for example Agents Chase & Di). I ask you not to plagiarize or sue me because, it's rude and I will not be happy. Duh! I also own the little song that's sung (I was bored so I made one up).
A/N: This is my Valentine's Day gift to all the MIB fanfic readers and my fellow fanfic authors. I especially want to dedicate this fic to Chanda, my good pal who's been wanting to see this pairing for a long time.
From Heartache to Heartthrob
Written By: Amanda/Artiste/Agent Di
It was here, the dreaded day of sweet smelling flowers and sparkling jewelry. Valentine's Day, 24 (or in this case 37) hours of I love you's and forget me not's.
Agent Chase was sweating up a storm as he stood outside his partner's door rehearsing what he wanted to ask her. Finally he sighed and knocked on the metallic surface, hoping he'd chosen the perfect words.
Di was lounging on the sofa flipping through a copy of Dracula. She grumbled upon hearing the rapping on her door and pulled herself to her feet. "Of all days for Zed to draft me for filling duty he had to pick today, the sappiest, mushiest, grossest, STUPIDEST day of the whole freakin' pointless year."
With ears as big as Chase's it was hard not to overhear Di's complaints as the door was unlocked. 'Great, she's gonna love what I have to say' he moaned inwardly as he clutched the bouquet of crimson roses.
Opening the door Di was taken aback to find her partner standing there wearing a dark brown sports jacket and black denim jeans. "V dress you today?" she teased.
"No," Chase blushed, wishing he'd pulled on his human mask.
Di noticed the flowers, "What are these?"
"These are for you," Chase took the opening and held them out as his green complexion changed to match the deep red hue of the blossoms.
"You part chameleon Chase?" Di joked accepting the gift. It was no big deal. Chase was always flirting with her. Never mind that today was---'Uh-oh'---Valentine's Day!!!
"Um Di," Chase started off with a gulp, "I was wondering, s-since we don't really have any assignments today…w-would you like to um maybe go out for-"
"Are you asking me on a date?!" Di blurted out suddenly staring at her bold partner in disbelief.
"Uh…yeah?" Chase winced as Di drew in a long breath to make her response.
She was going to say no, she SHOULD'VE said no, but instead---she said, "Ok."
"Ok?" he did a double take.
"Ok." Di repeated not believing herself.
"OK." Chase perked up extending her his arm. Di took his arm then stuck her finger in his face.
"But don't try anything Valentino or you'll be spending tonight in a body cast!"
"Point taken." Chase agreed.
They started off down the hall when Di stopped suddenly and looked down at the purple sweater and worn out jeans that she had on. "Ugh, hold on hot shot I've gotta go change."
Darting into the room Di dug through her closet for something that screamed 'date'. She didn't own many finer outfits mainly because she detested formal wear. Then she spotted a dress that V had insisted she accept as a birthday present, figures she'd make a friend in the costume and wardrobe department of MIB.
Chase whistled a few notes as he rocked back and forth on the heels of his shoes out in the hall, finally the door slid open and Di stepped out in an evening gown fit for a Startoosian Queen. "Wow…Di, you look gorgeous."
"Fine flirt, whatever," Di's face reddened, "just don't laugh. Now let's get out of here before someone like Jay strolls down the hall and sees me in this getup!"
******
Agent Di was a little surprised by the location Chase had selected for their first date. 'First date,' she groaned to herself, 'how did I ever let this lovesick alien talk me into going out with him in the first place?' It had never been her intention to date Chase. On the contrary, Di was the type of independent girl that could make it just fine in a harsh world all on her own. When things got tough Di was at her best, when times were easy she let life blow her in the right direction. There was no point in love because it slowed things down, complicated everything, and could ultimately break--no--SHATTER your heart.
'Not that I think Chase is the kind of guy…ur…Jee'Dangian who'd do something like that,' she corrected herself, 'it's just that he's…well…too keen on commitment, he wants a forever kind of thing. And he's determined to make it a forever thing with me. UGH! Why do men have to ruin everything? Why couldn't we just be partners and that's it? Why did he have to show up at my door looking like a lovestruck little puppy holding a bouquet and begging me to throw him a bone?!'
Chase looked across the table on the seaside restaurant's large outside patio area and noticed that his date (man that felt great for him to think of her as) was looking a tad bit annoyed and even sort of mad at him.
Afraid the date might suddenly go sour he decided he'd better act fast and save any hopes that might still exist of he and Di enjoying a romantic candlelit evening. "Um, the music sure is nice. I mean, that human can really play the uh…PIANO. Wanna dance?"
The question was a bit unexpected and as Di's eyes traveled up to meet his gaze she found herself nodding slowly as he came around to her side of the table and offered her his hand. She was pulled out of her slouching position and out onto the patio's wooden dance floor.
The pianist played on and a woman took the stage to sing, no doubt the song would be one of love. Another perk to Valentine's Day, the mushiness never ends…
When we first met I made a bet with my heart
I said here's a man who want get anywhere from the start.
And I vowed that I'd never grow close and yet
I find that's a promise I'd too soon forget.
Oh you're the one that captured my love
You, the mysterious angel from above.
Yes Heaven sent you to steal me away
Heaven sent you to make me pay.
For shunning love for all these years
Now I find myself in tears.
And it's all because
I met a guy like you…
The royal blue gown wrapped tightly around Di's slim figure twirled about her ankles and around her shins each time she was spun around by the disguised Romeo that had whisked her away that February night.
"Wow, you're not such a bad dancer, partner," she remarked as he drew her close once more.
"Thanks," he grinned, she was so captivating. That beautiful pale skin shone like porcelain in the moonlight. The stars in the sky were at a loss to compete with the ones shimmering in her eyes. And to think that he'd been so timid to ask her out, too shy to do so sooner for fear of rejection by the goddess he'd found on Earth when he hadn't been in search of love at all.
"There sure are a lot of couples here tonight," Di noticed looking around at the other dancers. "I know it's Valentine's Day and all but I figured they'd all be crowding in the fancy restaurants uptown."
"Is that where you'd rather have gone?" Chase asked in dismay, oh great, he'd managed to screw up on their first date.
Di shook her head, "No, this is nice. I'm not big on socializing or crowds. I like it here. Just not big on all the mush either. I mean, look at them all."
Chase did so as he continued to sweep Di across the dance floor. One couple was dancing with touching noses, another was locked in a passionate kiss, two more on the far side were leaning into each other with their hands traveling their mates' backs. "They look happy." he stated, "Really close."
"Yeah…" Di muttered, "but that's not for everyone."
"What do ya mean?"
'Now I have to explain to this alien the follies of love?' Di mentally chuckled, 'Guess it's time someone bothered too…'
"Okay Casanova here it is, relationships lead to marriage, marriage leads to babies, babies lead to visits from overbearing mother-in-laws, family gatherings, and zero personal time. There's no benefit to it!" Di informed the alien and went on despite his look of extreme puzzlement. "Sure it starts out great with the cards, the candy, the flowers, the poems, and dates. But later there's arguing, heartache, expenses that never cease, and with the divorce rate skyrocketing I just don't see the point. There's no real love in love anymore. People don't fall in love and stay in love. They just…tire of it."
"I'd never tire of you." he said softly.
Letting out a small sigh she stepped back and faced her partner, "I know you don't THINK you'd tire of me, but you would. You'll see someday, love just gets in the way. It's not a fairytale, it's a temporary fantasy. A sweet dream and dreams end. Nothing lasts, there's no forever, and life isn't always the way you'd pictured it being shared with someone else."
"You have a very pessimistic outlook on romance don't you?" he observed.
"I've seen it too many times in this city." she confirmed, "Young love turns old and passionate flames burn out. That's reality. It ain't pretty but it's true."
"So you think no one should fall in love? It's pointless to open your heart to people?"
"I-I didn't say that," Di thought a moment, "People nowadays just can't tell an infatuation from the real thing. Sheesh Chase you've got those bug eyes and elf ears, don't tell me you haven't noticed!"
"All I've noticed is a lot of people like you afraid to be loved for fear that they won't know how to handle it. You figure you're safer alone and not dealing with possible heartbreak so you never risk it and find out you're wrong." Chase held Di's wrists as he spoke, he didn't want her running out on him. They'd come so close to upgrading their status from friendship to couple so many times before only to have Di back out. "Di I-"
"Don't say it Chase, please don't say it." she begged helplessly, "You're not going to like what you hear back. I promise you that. Just save yourself the humiliation and let's head back to headquarters alright?"
Pausing Chase studied his partner's pleading eyes. "So that's it then? You'll never change your mind? Never let me in?"
"I'm sorry." Di's gaze dropped to the ground, "We're just not looking for the same thing."
"Right." reluctantly he turned and pushed his way through the crowd, throwing some money on the table he made his way out to the LTD and slammed the driver's door shut.
Di was left standing in the middle of the dance floor without a partner, a small pain lingering deep within her chest that she couldn't quite explain, didn't want to think about.
Slowly she followed the path her partner had taken out towards the parking lot. He wouldn't leave without her, they were partners after all, and part of a super secret organization. He was obligated to wait for her. And that only made things harder.
And when I turned you away you left me in pain
Standing alone, so defenseless and vain.
I'd begged my mind to take over and reason to come
But you've entered my life despite all that I've done.
Oh you're the one that captured my love
You, the mysterious angel from above.
Yes Heaven sent you to steal me away
Heaven sent you to make me pay.
For shunning love for all these years
Now I find myself in tears.
And it's all because
I met a guy like you…
******
The ride back to the living quarters was silent, clouds appeared overhead from out of nowhere and before long rain started to splatter against the windshield.
Streetlights routinely lit the interior of the vehicle and during one brief period of light Di glanced over at Chase and thought she saw a tiny trickle of water running down the cheek of his human disguise.
'Oh great, now I feel horrible.' she thought as she quickly focused her eyes back on the city outside, 'Hey, I had to tell him right? It would've been cruel to string him along or something. Yeah…it may hurt now but he'll get over it. And soon he'll be good ol' reckless Chase again.'
Still…Di couldn't get the image of that tear out of her mind. She started to speak to him at least twelve times before the LTD pulled into the garage but each time nothing came out. Finally, they'd arrived and conversation was out of the question.
The last drawn out awkward moment of the evening would be sharing an elevator up to their rooms. The doors closed shut and Chase pressed the number on the keypad to the side. Di stood with her back pressed up against the far corner of the elevator. She did her best not to make eye contact with her partner. As usual, she couldn't wait for Valentine's Day to be over.
Suddenly the elevator began to shake and both agents fell onto the floor as the lights flickered.
"W-what happened?" Di stammered as the elevator abruptly came to a halt.
Chase got up and checked the control panel, on the screen above the buttons a bright red message was flashing, 'Elevator status: Temporarily Out of Order For assistance press Yellow B7 and wait for maintenance.'
"Well?" Di urged.
"Alright," Chase grumbled and followed the instructions. "Hello? Is anyone out there?"
"Agent E here, maintenance, what's the problem?" a male's voice asked from the voice box.
"We're stuck in this stupid elevator on the east side of the living quarters that's the problem!" Di shouted.
"No need to panic," E assured them, "I'll have a crew down there to fix the problem ASAP. We'll have you out of there in no time."
"Why didn't I just take the stairs?" Di whined to herself, "You can never trust technology!!"
"E said he'd have us out of here soon, stop worrying." Chase informed her curtly and plopped down below the control panel.
Picking up on the harsh tone of his voice Di turned to address him, "Aw you aren't still sore at me for telling you there wasn't ever going to be anything between us are you? What a lunatic! Chase it's not like I said I didn't want to be friends or partners with you, I'm just not looking for a boyfriend!"
"Maybe we shouldn't be partners." he muttered sulking.
"Well fine then!" Di snapped, "If you're going to be such a baby about it maybe we shouldn't!"
"Fine."
"FINE!"
"FINE!!"
Di gritted her teeth and turned to face the wall, "I'll make a note to tell Zed that first thing tomorrow morning. And to give you back those corny roses!"
"You can keep the roses for all I care!" Chase yelled.
"NO WAY, THEY'RE YOUR STUPID FLOWERS AND YOU'RE TAKING THEM BACK TO YOUR STUPID LIVING QUARTERS!"
"FINE!"
"AND WHILE YOU'RE AT IT…" Di was winning in the argument so she saw no point in ending it now, "WHY DON'T YOU JUST HOP ON THE NEXT TRANSPORT AND TAKE THEM BACK TO YOUR STUPID PLANET?!?"
"FI-…." Chase trailed off and stared at his partner, or ex-partner, or whatever she was for the moment, "You want me to quit?"
A twinge of guilt hit Di as she curled her knees up under her chin, "No…well…let's just drop it okay? I got caught up in the heat of things and…let's just drop it."
"I can't believe this." Chase said aloud to himself, "You NEVER wanted me here did you? You never wanted me to be your partner?? It was all just an act wasn't it? WASN'T IT?!?"
"Chase you're being crazy!" Di scolded easing as far away as the four small elevator walls would allow. "Just stop it!"
"All those cases we worked together. All those times we put our necks on the line for each other…" he continued, "All of it…was a lie!"
"That's enough Chase!" Di was starting to feel uneasy, when the heck was E and that crew of his going to fix the elevator anyway?!
"ADMIT IT DI! I'M JUST SOME OVERSTRUNG ALIEN GOOFBALL THAT YOU GOT STUCK WITH BECAUSE YOU WERE A NEWBIE!" Chase couldn't believe the pain in his heart, oh he wasn't going to let her off easy now. Not now that he knew how she really felt about him…or thought he knew.
"SO WHAT IF I WAS JUST SOME NEWBIE IN OFF THE STREETS HUH?!" Di lost it and flew into the alien's face. "IT'S NOT LIKE I KNEW OF ANYONE ELSE THAT I WANTED TO BE PARTNERED WITH! AND I NEVER ONCE THOUGHT LESS OF YOU BECAUSE YOU WERE AN ALIEN OR BECAUSE YOU WERE A BIT RECKLESS OR…"
Chase watched horrified as the object of his affection suddenly burst into tears, sobbing wildly and burying her face in her hands.
"Hey, whoa, don't cry." his voice softened instantly and his rage was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Taking the little red headed human into his arms he started rocking her gently, allowing her flowing tears to dampen his jacket and soak the cotton shirt underneath. "Di, I'm so sorry…I-I didn't mean to make you cry."
Opening her eyes she blinked until the water failed to blur her vision. Then she realized where she was. Her position with Chase. Wrapped securely in his arms she felt safe and snuggled against his shirt with the flaps of his jacket laying over her shoulders she couldn't imagine a place in the entire universe that she'd rather be in at that moment. Wiping the tears off her face she gradually eased back onto the backs of her legs and locked eyes with the alien that had been spellbound by her for so long.
"No Chase," she sniffed a little as she spoke, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so harsh back at the restaurant. I know you like me and all and that you went to a lot of trouble to plan out a nice date for us. And look where we are now," she laughed bitterly gesturing around the broken elevator, "and all thanks to me. I'm the one who should be apologizing. Because of me you're spending Valentine's Day in a malfunctioning elevator."
Smiling weakly Chase brought a hand up and smoothed away a few loose strands of hair that were held to Di's face by her half dried tears. "At least I'm stuck here with you and not alone in some apartment on a noisy Jee'Dangian side street."
Di smiled a little too, "Yeah, most of my Valentine's Days have been spent in front of the television or behind the cover of a book. I don't think a guy's had a serious crush on me since the fifth grade."
"I'll never understand how so many human males could be such poor judges of such a lovely human female's beauty." Chase whispered in amazement as he continued to fiddle with her hair.
A startling pang hit somewhere in the deepest regions of Di's heart as she gazed at the loving expression on Chase's face. Gasping a moment she reached for her chest and tried to force down a lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.
"Di? Are you alright??" Chase inquired stooping down to eye level.
A smirk formed on her previously bewildered face as her eyes met Chase's, "Nothing to worry about partner, just got shot by an arrow. Looks like Cupid's finally caught up with me."
Chase furrowed his brow, puzzled by his partner's abrupt odd behavior, "Who's Cupi-"
The question was never completed…Di sprang forth and knocked the alien back onto the elevator's floor. Sealing his lips and closing the lines of verbal communication. They wouldn't need words to express this sensation…
******
Up on the floor that the agents had been trying to get to before the elevator had malfunctioned Agent E and his crew had finally managed to get the darn thing working again.
"Alright H, throw the switch and let's bring it up here!" E called into his communicator over the humming from an alien power tool one of his men was using to finish refastening a breaker panel.
"Got it." H answered from the communicator's screen. "Alright boys, 3...2...1..."
Ding!
The elevator doors opened up with E and his crew gathered around the entrance. "Sorry about the inconvenience you two, ya know how unreliable these things can be. Maybe next time you should take the stair-"
A total of five jaws hung open as the crew and E peered inside and found Di and R lying up against the wall of the elevator. Both had disheveled clothing, surprised expressions, and---Chase wasn't wearing his human mask.
Wiping the edges of his mouth he eased himself up onto his elbows, Di slid a ways back off his lap. "Um…thanks boys. That'll be all." he then proceeded to reach up and press the ground floor button.
The doors slid shut again leaving E and the other maintenance workers slack jawed before the entrance.
"Um…let's NOT put that in the report okay guys?" E murmured.
Four heads nodded in speechless agreement.
******
The elevator sank back down towards the basement/garage level of the building and Di slid forward and laid her head against her partner's chest. "Wow…what a ride."
"Yeah," Chase panted, as the elevator dinged a sly grin spread across his face, "You up for another?"
"Chase…"
"Sorry, I forgot, you're not into that mushy stuff." he apologized.
Placing a finger on his lips Di lifted her head and pressed her nose against his, "What I said was love complicates things…I never said true love wasn't worth it."
Cocking an eyebrow Chase watched as Di leaned over and pressed the button which would take them all the way to the roof, she then went on to press every single button on the panel. Catching on to what she was up to Chase pressed his back up against the wall again and cupped Di's chin in his hand.
"I love you so much Di. I always will." he whispered as he eased his partner forward for another tantalizing kiss.
"I love you too Green Boy." Di snickered, "Happy Valentine's Day…Valentine."
________________________________________________________________________
*Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you enjoyed my short little Valentine's Day fic. I know Chanda did…^_~ If you liked the fic just send me some reviews. Maybe it'll inspire me to write another one next year.*