Kess had much less trouble getting out of bed the next morning, but her brain was still begging her for caffeine. After the usual routine of showering and dressing, she made a beeline for the cafeteria while thinking, I might as well live there.

She decided her usual medium coffee wasn't going to cut it, and got herself a large with a good helping of cream and sugar. As she was standing in line to pay, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Sam standing very close, looking down at her, "Nice of you to get me a coffee. I see you remembered how I take it."

Mr. Sunshine himself. Kess snorted and turned away. "In your dreams, buddy. I missed my coffee yesterday and I'm just making up for it."

"Huh. And here I thought you felt bad for kicking a poor old man in the head."

Kess looked up at his face and couldn't help but notice that she really had done a number on him. His left temple had a nasty purple bruise.

She instantly felt a pang of remorse. "Oooh, Sam…." She began, but her mind interrupted her. He volunteered, remember? He's just trying to lay on a guilt trip.

"…coffee won't make a bruise go away," She finished, trying to sound uninterested. She turned back again.

"Buy me dinner?"

"Heh. No."

"At least kiss it better," he said in her ear.

"See 'In Your Dreams', Vol.2." she handed her money to the cashier, and went to sit down. Sam followed her and slid into the seat beside her.

"Don't flatter yourself, baby. That suggestion was a joke."

"Even if it wasn't, you couldn't pay me enough to kiss you," she retaliated.

"You did yesterday," he reminded her.

"You kissed Me. And it did nothing for me. In fact, I felt ill afterwards."

"Like I said, don't flatter yourself. I only did it to throw you off track."

"I know that. And it didn't work."

"Then I'll just have to come up with something that does."

Ooo, that fucker. Well, I've been pretty polite so far. Maybe I can shock him with a little vulgarity. "Eat me," Kess sneered. She took a long draw of her coffee

Sam leaned in close to her and purred, "Honey, I would love to eat you out…"

Kess choked on her coffee, spraying some onto the table and drawing stares from some of the other people in the cafeteria. She coughed, staring at Sam in shock. He said that like Barry fucking White.

"…in your dreams." He finished condescendingly. He then stood up and went over to get his own coffee. Kess coughed some more until she managed to get the drops of coffee out of her lungs, glowering at Sam all the while. After he'd paid, he looked over at her and raised his cup to her, then turned away and walked out.

Kess gritted her teeth and wiped up the mess she'd made on the table with some napkins. No matter what I do, he keeps trying to make a fool of me. He'd better leave this bullshit behind when we're on the mission. If he's a jerk to me in the field, I'll pull out. He can damn well do it by himself. She sat there sullenly for a while, sipping her coffee. When she was finished, she decided to go to the workshop and make some final adjustments to the SC-20K to make sure the suppressor was a perfect fit.

A couple hours and some tweaking later, she was confident that it was ready to go. She grabbed the dust brush and began to sweep the scraps off the table. Her shoulder began to throb again. I'd almost forgotten about that. I must have pulled it a good one. She stopped and stretched it, rotating it around for a moment, but it did no good. She turned around let out a little shriek to find Sam standing right there.

"Hi," he said. He didn't have that expression that said he was looking for trouble, but Kess still warily kept her guard up. "Hi," she responded, once she'd caught her breath. She felt herself blush a little, feeling a bit embarrassed about their exchange earlier. She finished sweeping the scraps off the table, then put the tools she was using back in their box. She picked it up and reached up to shove the box back onto the high shelf it came from, and winced as a sharp pain arced through her shoulder.

"You alright?" Sam asked, actually sounding concerned.

"Yeah…I just wrenched my shoulder during training yesterday," Kess stated, rotating her arm. "It's nothing." She reached back up and pushed the box onto the shelf, this time ignoring the sharp pain in her shoulder.

Sam was silent for a moment, then said, "Can I help?"

"You can leave me alone," Kess muttered.

Sam laughed. God, but he's infuriating! I'd like to slap him. Kess thought, gritting her teeth. "Look," she said curtly, "It's just a sore shoulder. I'm perfectly capable of putting a box on a shelf, thank you."

Still grinning, Sam said, "What I meant was, can I have a look at your shoulder?"

Kess eyed him suspiciously.

Sam frowned at her. "I just want to feel the muscle and see if you might have torn a ligament. I've had enough injuries myself that I could probably tell if it's bad or not."

"Ohh, alright, fine." Kess groused. Her shoulder was actually quite painful, and although she just wanted Sam to go away, she was secretly hopeful that he might be able to help.

Sam came around behind her and laid his hands on her shoulder, gently pressing against the muscle with his fingertips. Kess was rather surprised that his hands were warm. I figured they'd be cold and stony, like his personality, she thought. Then she nearly went through the roof as Sam's fingers dug into one spot and she felt a sharp stab of pain jolt down her arm.

"Oww! What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at Sam.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Well, it just feels like a pulled muscle to me. I can feel a big knot in here where it's all cramped up."

"Good to know, thanks." Kess said, and pulled away from him.

"Don't you want me to see if I can work it out for you?" Sam asked.

"No, I'm fine." Kess said, and began to put some screws that were strewn across the table back in their box.

"Hey, I'm offering to help here, unless you want that cramp to keep you awake all night," Sam said gruffly.

Kess sighed. I guess he IS trying to be nice, she thought. "Okay, do what you want to do, then." She said, letting her voice soften.

Sam approached her again and once more laid his hands on her shoulder. He began to massage the muscle firmly but gently. Kess allowed herself to relax.

"Sm'good," Sam mumbled.

"What?" Kess asked.

"I said, 'you smell good.' Like…flowers or…something." Sam explained awkwardly.

"Uh…thanks," Kess said warily. Huh?

After working on her shoulder for a few more minutes in silence, Sam stepped back. "Try lifting your arm now," he suggested.

Kess repeated the movement she'd done with the box. "Hey, that did help…" she admitted. "It's still a little sore, but not like it was…thanks." She said, giving him a genuine smile.

Sam didn't smile back, he just gave her a little nod and left without saying a word.

Kess stood there for a moment staring at the door, then shook her head and went back to work cleaning up the screws. What is UP with him?


Chapter 8 coming soon!