Disclaimer: If I owned Max Steel, my pocket wouldn't be as shallow as I mentioned it is.
A/N: Okay, the rating has been upped. I really don't think it's bad enough for an R rating, but I wanted to be on the safe side. The dream scene isn't exactly lemon, but I still wouldn't recomend it for anyone who is too young or too immature to handle it. And right after that, there are some mentionings of the way nature works that I would recomend skipping if you are one of those people.
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Psycho pounded a table in frusteration. It splintered to pieces. That incompetant fool! The beginning of a fight with Steel had been heard through the transmitter just before contact was broken. There was no doubt that the agent they had ordered to follow Steel's cousin was in custody.
"Well, if you want something done," he growled, " you've got to do it yourself."
Josh stayed awake long after Mindy went to bed. That had been too close for his liking. This was the second attempt at kidnapping Mindy. It wouldn't be the last time they tried it either. He was sure of that. Josh considered it lucky that he had been able to save her both times. He couldn't be lucky all the time. He debated finding some excuse to send her out of Del Oro, but knew it was pointless. Mindy was not someone who could be made to do something she didn't want to do. Besides, if Dread thought it was worth it to kidnapp her, he would go across the country to do. And it would be a lot harder for Max Steel to protect her if she was 3,000 miles away.
Ironic. Her coming to Del Oro was what had started this whole mess. Now, the only way he could protect her was for her to stay.
(A/N: WARNING!!! This is that scene I mentioned. If you don't want to read it, or are too young or immature to be reading it, please skip the next few paragraphs.)
The inner thigh of her right leg brushed slowly up his outer thigh as he knelt over her. Even with two layers of clothing still between them, the action caused him to shudder. She ran a finger slowly down his chest. Such a simple action, that touch, but it caused his heart to thump at an unthinkable rate. He watched her bring her finger away from him and to her mouth, tasting him.
He let his eyes roam over the woman lying beneath him. She was still fully clothed. He, on the other hand, had discarded his shirt. Her dark hair contrasted with the pillow and sheets of his bed. Oh, but she was beautiful, staring up at him with heat and desire in her eyes.
Her hips tilted upward and met his. He groaned and returned the favor, grinding his own hips into hers. Her head fell back on the pillow and she moaned softly. One of her hands slowly travelled up his arm. Gently, she caressed his bicep. As she did this, she raised her head to lightly brush her lips against his, so lightly he could barely feel it. Her hand continued up, slid over his shoulder and came to a rest on the back of his neck. Slowly, she pulled him closer. Their cheeks brushed when she brought her lips close to his ear and whispered his name.
Berto bolted into a sitting position. His breathing was ragged. He could feel the dampness of sweat on his face and chest. It took him a second to realize what had happened. He had been dreaming.
He hesitated before lifting the sheets and looking down. At least the bed wasn't wet. However, the evidence of how much that dream had affected him was clearly visable. Had that dream gotten any further, he knew he would have found himself in an embarassing situation.
Dropping the sheet, he flopped back on the bed. It had been a while since he'd had a dream like that. And this one had been so vivid.
Berto's eyes wandered over the small room he occupied at N'Tek. He wasn't the only agent who resided in the building, but the others went out. They had lives. His gaze fell upon the necklace on the night stand. He'd never gotten the nerve to give it to Mindy tonight.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to push her out of his mind. Maybe Kat and Max were right. If only one day out had affected him like this, then maybe he *had* been cooped up too long.
"I got to get out more," he mumbled, shoving a hand through his hair.
What really bothered him wasn't the dream itself. He was a healthy young man, after all. They were normal. Embarassing, but normal. It was the woman *in* the dream that bothered him. It was insane. He barely knew her. And it would be suicide, pure and simple, should he ever allow Max to find out about it.
He rolled over and punched his pillow. His rational side told him he needed his sleep. Tomorrow, they still had to figure out what Dread was up to. But he was afraid he might dream again. Reluctantly, he closed his eyes and started to drift off, just praying Mindy wouldn't be there this time.
Mindy slowly opened her eyes. She rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. That sedative she had taken to go to sleep last night had done it's job. In fact, she was still drowsey. She hoped to not run into Josh until she had a chance to clean up a little. He loved to tease her about how she looked when she first woke up in the morning. She knew she was no beauty queen, but Josh had made it clear that in the morning she was just plain scary. In more ways than one if she was in a mood.
Lucky for her, she didn't see Josh until she went into the kitchen. Mumbling a greeting to him, she went straight for the coffee. Quickly, she downed half of the mug, hoping he wouldn't see that she was still tired even though she'd slept in. Then she moved to the fridge for some of the flavored creamer she had bought.
Mindy drinking black coffee. That was a new one to him. Not to mention that it was almost 10:00am. Usually, she was up by 9:00 at the latest. Either she was *really* tired from yesterday, or she wasn't telling him something. Well, at least he'd convinced the other agents to keep him updated by his bio-link instead of having to go to the meetings so he could keep a closer watch on her.
After she was sure her eyes were reasonably less bleary looking, she sat down at the table. The sedative was still affecting her, but not badly. At least she hadn't been plauged by nightmares last night, as she had since Max told her what was going on. She hadn't told Josh about them because she didn't want him to worry about her anymore than he already was. And she didn't feel good about it.
"You sleep okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. You?"
"Fine," he lied. "I was thinking, since it's Sunday, we could go see that new James Bond movie. I know you've been dying to see it."
"Sounds fun. Oh, wait. Laura and I were supposed to look at an apartment today."
Josh almost spit out his coffee. "Huh?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" she asked sheepishly.
"Apparently."
"Well," she began, "I need to find my own place so I don't have to live in the dorms, but can't afford it, right?" He nodded and she continued. "Laura had to enroll late because of that whole toxic waste thing and is lucky she even got accepted this late, so she can forget about a dorm, right? Well, I didn't want to get stuck with a roommate I don't know and she doesn't want to live with her parents all year. So we figured that we could solve both problems by sharing a place."
Josh stared at her. Oh, terrific, he thought. If I want to see one, I'm gonna have to see the other, too. Other than that, it was actually a fairly good idea. "What time are you going?"
"We're supposed to meet here at noon and then go."
He looked through the paper for a second. "There's a showing at 1:15. I could go with you and we could all go see the movie after."
She smiled a bit. "I know what this is about." At his quizzical look, she explained. "You don't want to let me out of your sight, because of the whole terrorist thing, but you know I don't want to be cooped up all the time. Thus, the movie. You also probably want to approve of where I want to live and, as an added bonus, you would get to spend some time with Laura. Correct me if I'm wrong."
Josh started to protest. That hadn't exactly been his intention. But, now that she mentioned it, it *was* a pretty good deal. He didn't bother to correct her guess after that.
"I will not have you simply barge into the house and kidnapp her," stated Dread. "To get her, you must first make sure Steel can't stop you." Psycho began to protest yet again. Dread cut him off. "No. We still have two days. You have enough time to come up with an effective plan and execute it. Only then, will you collect our insurance. Have I made myself clear?"
Grudgingly, Psycho nodded. A plan huh?
Mindy had called Laura and warned her that Josh would be accompanying them and asked if she wanted to see the movie with them. She had agreed to it.
Josh had gone through his closet several times, looking for something to wear. At about half past 11:00, Mindy had threatened to slap the crap out of him if he didn't calm down. She then proceeded to pick an outfit for him. He would have argued, but the look she gave him shut him up. Actually, what she picked wasn't bad. Instead of his usual jeans and t-shirt, she tossed him a pair of black trousers and a long-sleeve button up shirt. The shirt was loose and made of silk. She assured him that the dark green color would look good on him and shoved him into the bathroom to get ready.
As he showered and dressed, he wondered where he'd even gotten the shirt. He didn't remember buying it. After a while, he remembered that it had been a gift from Laura when they had graduated high school. Was that really only a few years ago? It seemed more like a lifetime.
When Laura got there, Mindy let her in. "Josh is still in the bathroom," she explained. "And men say *we* take too long to get ready."
Five minutes later, Josh came downstairs. Laura turned, took one look at him and swallowed her heart, which had somehow made it's way into her throat. *Damn!* It should be a crime to look that good, she decided.
Josh looked Laura up and down. A black, ankle lenghth skirt with a slit that went up to her thigh and a hunter green tank top. He managed to close his mouth to keep the drool from flooding the carpet.
"Hey, you guys match!" pointed out Mindy. She was trying to keep her amusement in check. The looks on their faces were priceless.
Laura cleared her throat. "Ready?" she asked him.
He nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. When she turned toward the door, he caught a teasing glimpse of shapley leg. Today was going to be toture, he realized. And he had no one to blame for it but himself for insisting on going along. Once the girls were outside, he let out a deep sigh, grabbed his keys, and headed out after them.
He didn't see Laura's bike anywhere in the front. When he asked her about it, she replied, "I took a cab."
He should have figured as much. That skirt wasn't exactly the best thing to be riding a motorcycle in. He opened the car door for Laura and closed it behind her before going to the driver's side. Mindy supressed the giggle that was climbing up her throat at his actions before vaulting over the side and landing in the back seat. Who says chivalry is dead? she thought. It's not dead, it's just on the verge of extinction.
"Easy on the upholstery," warned Josh.
"You do it all the time," she retorted.
"It's my car."
The day passed uneventfully for the three friends. For Psycho, however, it was another story. He needed a plan and he needed it now. He formed plans and then rejected them as he realized their flaws. Briefly, he considered using an EMP to disable Steel and grab Mindy, but realized it would also shut his arm and face down. Maybe he could set up some kind of situation across town that Steel would have to help with and leave Mindy at the house. No, Steel would never leave her unprotected and would probably guess what they were up to. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed they couldn't go to Steel's cousin. She would have to come to them. Now, how to make that happen?
_______________________________________________________________________
I'll get the next part out as soon as I can, I promise. Thank you for reading!
Rhiannon Faylinn
A/N: Okay, the rating has been upped. I really don't think it's bad enough for an R rating, but I wanted to be on the safe side. The dream scene isn't exactly lemon, but I still wouldn't recomend it for anyone who is too young or too immature to handle it. And right after that, there are some mentionings of the way nature works that I would recomend skipping if you are one of those people.
_______________________________________________________________________
Psycho pounded a table in frusteration. It splintered to pieces. That incompetant fool! The beginning of a fight with Steel had been heard through the transmitter just before contact was broken. There was no doubt that the agent they had ordered to follow Steel's cousin was in custody.
"Well, if you want something done," he growled, " you've got to do it yourself."
Josh stayed awake long after Mindy went to bed. That had been too close for his liking. This was the second attempt at kidnapping Mindy. It wouldn't be the last time they tried it either. He was sure of that. Josh considered it lucky that he had been able to save her both times. He couldn't be lucky all the time. He debated finding some excuse to send her out of Del Oro, but knew it was pointless. Mindy was not someone who could be made to do something she didn't want to do. Besides, if Dread thought it was worth it to kidnapp her, he would go across the country to do. And it would be a lot harder for Max Steel to protect her if she was 3,000 miles away.
Ironic. Her coming to Del Oro was what had started this whole mess. Now, the only way he could protect her was for her to stay.
(A/N: WARNING!!! This is that scene I mentioned. If you don't want to read it, or are too young or immature to be reading it, please skip the next few paragraphs.)
The inner thigh of her right leg brushed slowly up his outer thigh as he knelt over her. Even with two layers of clothing still between them, the action caused him to shudder. She ran a finger slowly down his chest. Such a simple action, that touch, but it caused his heart to thump at an unthinkable rate. He watched her bring her finger away from him and to her mouth, tasting him.
He let his eyes roam over the woman lying beneath him. She was still fully clothed. He, on the other hand, had discarded his shirt. Her dark hair contrasted with the pillow and sheets of his bed. Oh, but she was beautiful, staring up at him with heat and desire in her eyes.
Her hips tilted upward and met his. He groaned and returned the favor, grinding his own hips into hers. Her head fell back on the pillow and she moaned softly. One of her hands slowly travelled up his arm. Gently, she caressed his bicep. As she did this, she raised her head to lightly brush her lips against his, so lightly he could barely feel it. Her hand continued up, slid over his shoulder and came to a rest on the back of his neck. Slowly, she pulled him closer. Their cheeks brushed when she brought her lips close to his ear and whispered his name.
Berto bolted into a sitting position. His breathing was ragged. He could feel the dampness of sweat on his face and chest. It took him a second to realize what had happened. He had been dreaming.
He hesitated before lifting the sheets and looking down. At least the bed wasn't wet. However, the evidence of how much that dream had affected him was clearly visable. Had that dream gotten any further, he knew he would have found himself in an embarassing situation.
Dropping the sheet, he flopped back on the bed. It had been a while since he'd had a dream like that. And this one had been so vivid.
Berto's eyes wandered over the small room he occupied at N'Tek. He wasn't the only agent who resided in the building, but the others went out. They had lives. His gaze fell upon the necklace on the night stand. He'd never gotten the nerve to give it to Mindy tonight.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to push her out of his mind. Maybe Kat and Max were right. If only one day out had affected him like this, then maybe he *had* been cooped up too long.
"I got to get out more," he mumbled, shoving a hand through his hair.
What really bothered him wasn't the dream itself. He was a healthy young man, after all. They were normal. Embarassing, but normal. It was the woman *in* the dream that bothered him. It was insane. He barely knew her. And it would be suicide, pure and simple, should he ever allow Max to find out about it.
He rolled over and punched his pillow. His rational side told him he needed his sleep. Tomorrow, they still had to figure out what Dread was up to. But he was afraid he might dream again. Reluctantly, he closed his eyes and started to drift off, just praying Mindy wouldn't be there this time.
Mindy slowly opened her eyes. She rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. That sedative she had taken to go to sleep last night had done it's job. In fact, she was still drowsey. She hoped to not run into Josh until she had a chance to clean up a little. He loved to tease her about how she looked when she first woke up in the morning. She knew she was no beauty queen, but Josh had made it clear that in the morning she was just plain scary. In more ways than one if she was in a mood.
Lucky for her, she didn't see Josh until she went into the kitchen. Mumbling a greeting to him, she went straight for the coffee. Quickly, she downed half of the mug, hoping he wouldn't see that she was still tired even though she'd slept in. Then she moved to the fridge for some of the flavored creamer she had bought.
Mindy drinking black coffee. That was a new one to him. Not to mention that it was almost 10:00am. Usually, she was up by 9:00 at the latest. Either she was *really* tired from yesterday, or she wasn't telling him something. Well, at least he'd convinced the other agents to keep him updated by his bio-link instead of having to go to the meetings so he could keep a closer watch on her.
After she was sure her eyes were reasonably less bleary looking, she sat down at the table. The sedative was still affecting her, but not badly. At least she hadn't been plauged by nightmares last night, as she had since Max told her what was going on. She hadn't told Josh about them because she didn't want him to worry about her anymore than he already was. And she didn't feel good about it.
"You sleep okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. You?"
"Fine," he lied. "I was thinking, since it's Sunday, we could go see that new James Bond movie. I know you've been dying to see it."
"Sounds fun. Oh, wait. Laura and I were supposed to look at an apartment today."
Josh almost spit out his coffee. "Huh?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" she asked sheepishly.
"Apparently."
"Well," she began, "I need to find my own place so I don't have to live in the dorms, but can't afford it, right?" He nodded and she continued. "Laura had to enroll late because of that whole toxic waste thing and is lucky she even got accepted this late, so she can forget about a dorm, right? Well, I didn't want to get stuck with a roommate I don't know and she doesn't want to live with her parents all year. So we figured that we could solve both problems by sharing a place."
Josh stared at her. Oh, terrific, he thought. If I want to see one, I'm gonna have to see the other, too. Other than that, it was actually a fairly good idea. "What time are you going?"
"We're supposed to meet here at noon and then go."
He looked through the paper for a second. "There's a showing at 1:15. I could go with you and we could all go see the movie after."
She smiled a bit. "I know what this is about." At his quizzical look, she explained. "You don't want to let me out of your sight, because of the whole terrorist thing, but you know I don't want to be cooped up all the time. Thus, the movie. You also probably want to approve of where I want to live and, as an added bonus, you would get to spend some time with Laura. Correct me if I'm wrong."
Josh started to protest. That hadn't exactly been his intention. But, now that she mentioned it, it *was* a pretty good deal. He didn't bother to correct her guess after that.
"I will not have you simply barge into the house and kidnapp her," stated Dread. "To get her, you must first make sure Steel can't stop you." Psycho began to protest yet again. Dread cut him off. "No. We still have two days. You have enough time to come up with an effective plan and execute it. Only then, will you collect our insurance. Have I made myself clear?"
Grudgingly, Psycho nodded. A plan huh?
Mindy had called Laura and warned her that Josh would be accompanying them and asked if she wanted to see the movie with them. She had agreed to it.
Josh had gone through his closet several times, looking for something to wear. At about half past 11:00, Mindy had threatened to slap the crap out of him if he didn't calm down. She then proceeded to pick an outfit for him. He would have argued, but the look she gave him shut him up. Actually, what she picked wasn't bad. Instead of his usual jeans and t-shirt, she tossed him a pair of black trousers and a long-sleeve button up shirt. The shirt was loose and made of silk. She assured him that the dark green color would look good on him and shoved him into the bathroom to get ready.
As he showered and dressed, he wondered where he'd even gotten the shirt. He didn't remember buying it. After a while, he remembered that it had been a gift from Laura when they had graduated high school. Was that really only a few years ago? It seemed more like a lifetime.
When Laura got there, Mindy let her in. "Josh is still in the bathroom," she explained. "And men say *we* take too long to get ready."
Five minutes later, Josh came downstairs. Laura turned, took one look at him and swallowed her heart, which had somehow made it's way into her throat. *Damn!* It should be a crime to look that good, she decided.
Josh looked Laura up and down. A black, ankle lenghth skirt with a slit that went up to her thigh and a hunter green tank top. He managed to close his mouth to keep the drool from flooding the carpet.
"Hey, you guys match!" pointed out Mindy. She was trying to keep her amusement in check. The looks on their faces were priceless.
Laura cleared her throat. "Ready?" she asked him.
He nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. When she turned toward the door, he caught a teasing glimpse of shapley leg. Today was going to be toture, he realized. And he had no one to blame for it but himself for insisting on going along. Once the girls were outside, he let out a deep sigh, grabbed his keys, and headed out after them.
He didn't see Laura's bike anywhere in the front. When he asked her about it, she replied, "I took a cab."
He should have figured as much. That skirt wasn't exactly the best thing to be riding a motorcycle in. He opened the car door for Laura and closed it behind her before going to the driver's side. Mindy supressed the giggle that was climbing up her throat at his actions before vaulting over the side and landing in the back seat. Who says chivalry is dead? she thought. It's not dead, it's just on the verge of extinction.
"Easy on the upholstery," warned Josh.
"You do it all the time," she retorted.
"It's my car."
The day passed uneventfully for the three friends. For Psycho, however, it was another story. He needed a plan and he needed it now. He formed plans and then rejected them as he realized their flaws. Briefly, he considered using an EMP to disable Steel and grab Mindy, but realized it would also shut his arm and face down. Maybe he could set up some kind of situation across town that Steel would have to help with and leave Mindy at the house. No, Steel would never leave her unprotected and would probably guess what they were up to. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed they couldn't go to Steel's cousin. She would have to come to them. Now, how to make that happen?
_______________________________________________________________________
I'll get the next part out as soon as I can, I promise. Thank you for reading!
Rhiannon Faylinn