Disclaimer: I did it! I invented them! Chris Carter has me locked up in his basement to keep from telling the truth but I created them! My mind has left me with no forwarding address.
Category: DR Friendship/UST
Spoilers: The Weather Channel - oh, wait, they are never right!
Rating: PG - heck G even.
Author: Traci - I'd be honored. Just please email me and let me know where.
Summary: It's been one of those rainy... months!
Rain, Rain… Don't Go Away
John Doggett sighed as he looked out his window. "Look, Monica."
His partner walked up to him, trying to see what he wanted her to. "I don't see anything John," the tall brunette said.
"The animals. They're lining up two by two." He grinned when she looked at him and rolled her eyes.
"I can't believe I got up to look." She turned and went back to the couch where they had piled the files from the office.
"Maybe this is an X-File, Mon. Maybe somehow the universe played a trick on us and moved the Northeast to where Seattle is." He returned to the couch. "It certainly would explain the never-ending months of rain ya know."
"Well, we'll just run that by Kersh Monday morning," she told him with a smile.
"Rainy Saturdays are not meant to be spent doing work either, Mon. So why are we doing this?"
"Because we are behind on our reports and unless you want Kersh breathing down our necks I suggest you get working."
He sighed and picked up a file.
Two hours later Monica looked up from the report she was filling out. "What's that?"
"Rain," John stated without looking up.
She got up and went to the window. "Geez! Kids are swimming in the street."
"Ha, ha. I already pulled that trick."
She turned to him. "No, really John, the kids are swimming in the street. It's that flooded out there."
Sighing, he got up and stood beside her. Outside the neighborhood kids really were swimming in what was once the middle of his street. The next moment they saw another kid row by in a small kayak. "Wanna tell Kersh we quit and move somewhere where they don't get rain?"
Monica laughed. "I'm beginning to think maybe you were right about the ark. It might be the only way I'm getting home."
"Uh, Mon, I don't think you're getting home tonight and they are calling for this rain to last the whole weekend at least."
"Great."
He grinned. "I have On Demand cable."
She turned to him and laughed. "You're still trying to forget about those reports aren't you?"
He nodded.
She shook her head. "I thought you were the one that was so work-oriented."
"Yeah, well, blame it on the rain turning my brain to mush." He went over to the coffee table and started gathering the files. "These aren't going anywhere so let's just forget about them for the rest of the day." Looking at her, he added, "Alright, at least for a few hours."
"You win." She went to rummage through his kitchen since it was obvious delivery was out of the question.
"Find anything?" he yelled from the living room.
"Yeah," she chuckled. "That you truly are a bachelor."
He came into the kitchen and smiled. "I take it that means no?"
Leaning against the counter, she nodded. "Maybe we could borrow that kid's kayak and go to the store."
"Truth be know, today was supposed to be my shopping day and if someone hadn't insisted on coming over here at nine this morning I might have actually had food."
"Oh no, you are not blaming this one on me, mister!" She playfully tossed a towel his way.
"I guess you are going to have to explain to Kersh how we couldn't finish the reports due to lack of nutrition."
"John Jay Doggett, you are not blaming your lack of food on me!"
He laughed. "Actually I have another fridge in the basement. There's food in there." He was still laughing at her expression when he left the room.
She ran after him. "John! That was just mean!"
"Oh crap!" came the exclamation from the basement.
She was on the second to last step when she asked, "What's wrong? No food?" With the last step she figured what was wrong. Her shoes were soaked.
"Nope, flooded basement," he told her, returning to the stairs. "Looks like the movie is going to have to wait. There's an emergency switch at the top of the steps, can you turn it off please?"
She ran up and did so then returned to the basement.
"If we want food, we're going to have to transport the stuff in this fridge upstairs quickly." With the electricity to the basement now cut off to prevent electrocution with the water, they were now without air conditioning as well. Though raining, the heat and humidity didn't let anyone forget it was still almost summer.
They had all the food carried up in three trips each.
"Do you have a wet-vac?" Monica asked, looking around.
"Yeah, in the corner. But um, Mon, how do you suggest we plug it in?"
"Oh. What about an extension cord?"
He shook his head. "Too much water for it anyway. I'm just going to have to wait till it stops."
"Which is going to be in three days," she reminded him.
"What do you want me to do?" he snapped.
She stepped up one step.
"I'm sorry. I'm just sick of all the rain and now this."
"You could always invite those kids in and turn it into a swimming pool," she said smiling.
He shook his head. "Only you." Looking around, he said, "If I could at least find out where it's coming in from maybe I could keep it from getting worse."
Monica jumped into the half foot of water like a kid. "Then let's look. I'll take this half, you take that half."
A few minutes later she called out to him. "I think I found it but I don't think it's fixable at the moment."
He came over and she pointed behind some shelves. Poking his head in, he groaned. "Wonderful." Behind one of the posts was a small waterfall from a rather large crack in the cement.
They spent the next two hours working on a quick fix for the wall. With lots of towels, some quick-dry cement and, of course, lots of duct tape it seemed to work. The water was no longer pouring in but there was still a small trickle.
"Guess that will have to do," John said turning to Monica. "Thanks a lot for your help. I really am sorry I yelled at your earlier."
She smiled at him. "Don't give it a second thought. Now, what do you say we get out of these wet clothes, get something to eat, and watch a movie or something."
"What? No reports?" he teased.
"If you don't watch it I'll make you do all the reports while I watch TV."
He followed her up the stairs where she stopped. "Uh, John..."
"Yes, I have clothes you can change into," he grinned.
While Monica was getting a shower, John went downstairs to begin dinner. He couldn't stop smiling at the thought that he was rained in with Monica.
"What are you so happy about?"
He jumped, startled at her voice. He took in a sharp breath when he saw her standing there. His shirt wasn't overly large on her but she was practically swimming in his sweatpants. Little droplets of water were leaving their mark on the gray t-shirt as they fell from her hair.
"What?"
"Nothing, you scared me that's all."
"Ah." She walked over to the oven where he was standing, and looked in. "Looks great." She then turned to face him. "So, I asked you a question."
"It was nothing. Just smiling at how easy it was to get you to forget the reports." He hoped he told that lie well enough.
"That's why we still have tomorrow."
He rolled his eyes and checked on the chicken.
They flipped on the Weather Channel while they ate but, upon hearing that Saturday in the DC area was going to be sunny and dry, Monica had to physically remove the remote from John's hands as he prepared to through it through the screen. Instead she put on Spongebob Squarepants.
He groaned in displeasure but given the alternative, said nothing.
They cleaned up after dinner and sat together on his couch.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Swim in the basement? Kayak in the street?"
She nudged him with her elbow. "It's just not as much fun when it's not snow." She picked up the TV Guide. Seeing nothing on, she asked, "So what's on On Demand?"
He shrugged and turned the TV back on. They flipped through the various movies. Nothing jumped out at them.
"We could always..."
"Don't you dare say it, Mon."
"They need to get done and the sooner we get them done the sooner we can have our weekends back."
"Fine."
She grinned smugly.
"But we get these done tonight so we don't have to do anything at all tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me," she agreed.
It took them five hours, but by two in the morning all the reports were done and typed up.
"Now was that so hard?" she yawned.
"No, not at all. You just owe me a bottle of aspirin." His eyes sparkled.
"Last time I checked you were my partner so this was just as much your work as it was mine," she shot back good-humouredly. "I'm going to bed."
"I'm right behind you." He turned out the lights and followed her upstairs. "Wake you at six?"
"PM sure."
He smiled. "'Night, Mon."
"Goodnight."
The rain pounded all night which, while it lulled Monica to sleep managed to keep John wide awake with worry about the basement.
Monica opened her eyes and stretched. Glancing over at the clock she smiled. For the first time in months she had been able to sleep in past seven. The fact that it was nearly ten did not bother her in the least. She lay back and listened to the pounding of the rain on the roof for a few moments before getting up and getting dressed in the t-shirt and sweatpants she left at his house for just such emergencies.
Yawning, she ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to smooth it slightly as she walked down the stairs. "John?"
Upon receiving no response, she walked into the kitchen. Smiling at the stack of pancakes being kept warm under the heat lamp, she called out to him once again.
"Down here," he shouted from the basement.
She walked down and gasped.
"Hope you brought your bathing suit," he grinned while standing in over a foot of water.
"John."
"Nothing I can do about it now. Why don't you go eat and I'll call a friend of mine at the fire company. Maybe they can get out here and pump it out."
"What can I do to help?" she asked.
"Eat."
"I can do that later." Taking another step down she was met by John face to face as he walked up.
"Really, Mon. There's nothing you can do." He turned her around and nudged her back up to the kitchen. "Are pancakes okay?"
"I've been craving them for days so yes, they are fine with me right now." She grabbed the plate and sat down. "Did you eat yet?"
He nodded while picking up the phone. "So you can finish them if you want."
An hour later a fire truck pulled into John's driveway and two volunteers got to work pumping the water out of John's basement.
John introduced Monica to his friend, Keith, who flirted non-stop with her for the next two hours.
When they left, John slammed the front door loudly.
Monica grinned.
"I'm sorry, Mon. He's not usually like that."
Taking a step towards him, she said, "You seem a little… jealous."
"You just think you know everything, don't you, Agent Reyes?" he teased.
She laughed and took yet another step towards him. "Am I wrong?"
Shaking his head, he chuckled and took her hand. "Come on, let's go see what the damage is."
"Not quite the distraction from paperwork I had hoped for," John mumbled as they stood at the bottom of the basement stairs.
Monica bit her tongue to keep from commenting. She enjoyed flirting with him and enjoyed it even more when he flirted back but as she glanced around the flood soaked room, she decided not it just wasn't the time. "I'll call Kersh, tell him what happened and the we are both taking the day off to clean up," she offered.
He smirked at her.
"What?"
"Imagine the rumors that one would start. No, I'll just deal with it next weekend." He stepped over to a bookcase. "Think you could help me get the books that aren't wet upstairs though?"
Taking a stack of books from him, she went back up the stairs and thus began the rest of their day.
It was nearing ten at night when they finally sat for a few minutes.
Monica rested her head back against the couch and stretched her arms out.
"Thanks, Mon. I owe you one."
"You owe me so much more than one," she muttered while cracking her neck.
John reached around her and turned her back towards him. "Here, let me." Slowly he began massaging her neck and shoulders, lightly at first before applying more pressure to work out the knots. He opened his mouth to say something but no sound emerged. His heart rate quickened when she leaned ever so slightly into his touch.
Trying to control her breathing, Monica sighed deeply. His intentions of relieving some of her muscle aches had been innocent enough but somehow – somehow the moment his hands had come in contact with her skin that all changed. She closed her eyes and swallowed a moan that threatened to surface. Her heart skipped when she felt his warm breath against her ear.
"Monica, do you want me to stop before… before I can't?" he whispered.
Sighing, she whispered back, "No but we probably should." She turned her head and found herself within centimeters of his face. Her eyes locked into his. A small sad smile crossed her lips. "I don't know if either one of us are ready for that big of a change yet," she admitted.
John's hand rested idly on her shoulders. "You're probably right," he told her. "But so you know, I do want this." He paused. "But I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to wait around for me to figure things out."
Her smile changed into one of warmth and she brought a hand up, resting it on his cheek. "John, I want this too. I've waited this long; waiting a little longer isn't going to kill me." With great reservation, she slowly got up from the couch. "I should… get going."
He got up and walked her to the door where she stopped and turned to face him.
"Are we good?" he asked, unsure he wanted the answer.
Monica smiled again and stepped closer to him, quickly pressing her lips against his for the briefest of seconds before she lost her nerve. "We're good, John." Meeting his eyes for a moment, she then walked out the door and to her car.
John stood in the doorway watching her, waving as she backed out of the driveway. He knew he had nothing to be afraid of where Monica was concerned. She would never hurt him. Somehow he had known she had been waiting for him to come around but… He sighed and closed the door. But he wanted to be able to give her all of himself, not just the bits and pieces that he was not afraid to give yet as long as his son's killer was still out there he just was not sure he could do that.
The End