Title: The Other Woman

Author: ScullyAsTrinity AKA Barenaked Bostonian

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Uh... just a programmer... so I got nothin.

Summary: It's all well and good until another woman enters the picture. Just Reloaded spoilers. I think we all know the 'Other' woman I'm talking about.

Thanks to Katherine and Lauren for the beta-buddying.

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That woman could have ripped my face off in three seconds flat and torn my lifeless body to infinitely small pieces. I was certain that the woman could snap my neck, while at the same time taking my feet out from under me causing my body to fly through the air and land in the tacky 'waterfall.' It wasn't even worth wondering if this woman wanted to do all of these things to me; I knew she did and this gave me a small morsel of power to manipulate.

Even when the two were not looking at each other, I could feel the electric current that ran between them. The unseen bond was somehow visible to me and I found it amazing that they could be so far apart and yet constantly in each others' minds.

My husband might be a brilliant programmer but I am a 'feeler', which gives me far too much power over him. That's what attracted him to me, my mystery. The fact that I knew things about him that he himself did not know.

She could see the passion in the man's eyes and the turmoil in the woman's eyes. The man chose to recognize his problem, the woman did not. Affixing a detached facade to her pale complexion, the woman sat in silence next to the man. I was strangely compelled to test their bond, to see just how much they meant to the other. As usual, I worked my feminine wiles on all three of them, knowing that in order to get what I wanted I would have to give them something that they wanted. It was a necessary trade really, seeing as how my husband had become far too tiresome and predictable for my tastes.

Once they had left the table, I followed them. Walking purposefully, I escorted them to the restroom. The men's restroom. Sometimes it's surprising where people can feel uncomfortable, as I expected the woman to. She, however, did not. She felt just the same as she had sitting in front of me moments before. That was fine, I had other ways of making her feel uncomfortable.

I was moving in on her territory, I threatened her dominance. I could sense this at the table, when she had caught me staring just a moment too long at the man. Our eyes met and I vowed a silent challenge. I was unsure if she had accepted or not, but I was sure that if I devised a challenge she would not make a moment's hesitation before accepting... silently.

In the restroom, the lights were dim, making it all too difficult to reapply my gloss. It was difficult to see in the mirror as well and I was met with shadowy resistance when trying to make out his figure in the background.

Yes, yes, the keymaster. I personally don't care about him, and never have. He is a pawn of my husband's that I have nothing to do with. We each have our own business and keep our contacts to ourselves. We are two different entities with two different purposes. My purpose was clear to me now, as I moved into dangerous territory. Splendid.

I admit now, the entire ruse was just a vain attempt to get back at my husband for being such a brainless excuse for a human male. I had begun to realize that males in general were brainless, but was not so sure about... this one. Naturally I could not pass up the opportunity to see what a real man felt like, to feel what a real woman felt when she was kissed by the man she loved. All I wanted was a sample really.

I sneered when the woman placed the cold steel in front of me. An unstoppable force meeting another unstoppable force, I briefly wondered what would happen when the two of us made physical contact.

Naturally I could not pass up the opportunity to one-up the woman, who I could feel was entirely too optimistic about the man's answer to my question. I felt surprise when he agreed.

When his lips touched mine I was graced with a short spark, but it died out when I felt that there was no intent behind his actions. As if he could trick me. Me, who had fooled countless men into doing countless things for my benefit. Terrible.

The woman's heart fluttered, but the man was agreeing again. He took off the glasses that were hiding his eyes from my gaze. When I saw them I almost gasped. Such intent. Such passion and... love. What was love? Had I felt love like that before? Perhaps, perhaps much longer ago than I remembered.

His lips. THey had touched me so softly and yet with more pressure than I had ever experienced and was blown back into the annals of my memory, trying to pinpoint the sensations that were running through my body. I felt his lust, his love, his passion. The emotions playing within her battled against his within me. I felt hate and jealousy. Yes, this was the kiss of a man who loved and was loved just as much in return.

He left me and I felt empty. More hollow than I had felt when I arrived. Exceptional, how she must feel being with him. Loving him. How alone she must feel without him, how desolate the desperation must be. I held back a sneer this time, knowing something else. Knowing the inevitable.

"I envy you, but such a thing was not meant to last."

I was met with cold steel again, but this time the steel was hidden behind a pair of sleek sunglasses. I was certain she could have broken my neck... but she didn't.