The next morning no one rushed to wake up early after the late evening they had playing poker in the kitchen. Juliet was up first and lightly padded toward the bathroom. A few minutes later while she was brushing her teeth, she heard a light knock and opened the door to find a grinning James in his boxers and t-shirt.
"Mornin'," he said in his charming southern drawl, eyeing her none too discretely.
All the events of last evening came flooding back and she blushed seeing him now by the light of day.
"Morning," she replied with a knowing smile.
"Mind if I join you?"
He didn't wait for an answer, but pushed past her and started brushing his teeth next to her. They stood there hip to hip, making eye contact in the mirror awkwardly for far too long. When they finished, he couldn't resist pulling her into a brief kiss and then quickly released her.
"I sorta gotta pee."
She held out a hand gesturing for him to go on about his business as she exited the bathroom. She ran straight into Jin who was now also trying to use the communal bathroom.
"You'll have to wait on James."
"Oh…okay," Jin agreed, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
She had a moment of panic, but remembered they typically walked all over each other any other morning so there was nothing for him to be suspicious about. James quickly exited the bathroom, now joining Juilet and Jin in the small hall.
"Morning Hoss., " James greeted Jin, making eyes at Juilet while he did it.
Jin nodded and took over the bathroom, leaving them alone in the hall once more. Juliet rolled her eyes at James as he waggled his dimples at her in a suggestive manner.
"He's right there."
"I don't care."
James pushed her up against the wall and kissed her hard. She couldn't resist and wrapped a leg around him. When they heard the toilet flush she tried to stop him from kissing her, but he just smiled mischievously as he placed more kisses down her jaw and neck. When they heard the sink turn off they both jumped back as the door flew open and Jin exited toward the living area. He turned back for a moment, curious as to why they were still standing in the hall. He shrugged and kept moving.
Just as they were both about to grab each other again, Miles' door flew open and he walked between them. He looked confused for a moment.
"We waiting on the bathroom?"
Juliet shook her head. "Nope, all yours."
"Good."
While Miles was still within ear shot, James being more than obvious decided to question Juliet.
"So about that date?"
Miles froze in his footsteps and turned to see a very red Juilet with her mouth hanging open.
"What date?" Miles demanded.
James grinned at her not answering Miles.
"You finally asked her? About damn time! DUDE! Jin, get this, these two are going on a date!"
Miles was now shouting as Jin came and joined him. Juliet peered past a smirking James to look at the two smiling men who were now ogling them from the end of the hall. It was Juliet's turn to smile. She tipped her head to the side as though she just won a match of whatever game this was they were playing.
"Where exactly are you taking me on this date?"
She eyed him with a quirked eyebrow, daring him to embarrass her any more than he already had.
"How are you at ping pong?"
"Ping pong! Ekkk! " Miles protested.
He pushed Jin back into the living room as he continued, "these two are a lost cause."
Left alone in the hall once more, Juliet pulled him to her by his shirt and her mouth was on his.
"I'm not bad," she answered with a daring glint in her eye.
He looked at her suggestively, " I bet you're not."
She pulled back again to clarify, "To be clear, I'm not having sex with you on the rec room ping pong table."
He chuckled into her mouth, grabbing her ass.
"Who said anything about sex," he said innocently.
"So just ping pong then," she said, feigning innocence herself now as she ran her hands down his sides.
"Yes ping pong, tonight. I'll pick you up."
"We live in the same house."
"Yes, but I'll pick you up here," he joked with a twinkle in his eye.
"Alright then."
"Course now that you mention it, sex might not be a bad idea."
"Who knows. You might get lucky," she teased back.
He grabbed her again; the two made out like teenagers a bit longer before she finally pushed him away. "We should probably go."
She collected herself and walked down the hall. He stood there and watched her go. It was going to be a long day, he thought.
If he only knew just how long and unpleasant the day would turn out to be. He walked to join them all in the kitchen when there was a slight knock on the door. He stepped out to answer it, while still talking to them.
"Save me some eggs!"
As he opened the door he was none too happy to see Phil's weasel-like face staring back at him.
"What can I do for ya Phil?"
"I'm going to need you to come with me back to the office Jim."
James looked around for signs of an emergency and detecting none, asked "Can't it wait? We're about to have breakfast."
"No it can't wait! I need you to come with me now!"
James didn't think his distaste for Phil could get any stronger, but he was wrong. "Fine. Let me put on some damn clothes first." He stepped back into the house, shutting the door in Phil's face.
The other three watched as he stormed into his room to change. When he came back he found Phil had let himself into the house and was now eyeing his friends with disgust. The three still sat silent in the kitchen, looking to Phil and him for some sort of answer. Juliet caught his eye and he sent her another silent apology. Apparently he was becoming really good at them. He huffed out a sigh of annoyance before offering, "I'll be back soon. Just gonna go with ol' Phil here to the office for a little bit. You better save me some food!"
With that, he left them all still trying to figure out what just happened. Once at the office he followed Phil into a small room where Horace and another officer were waiting.
"Have a seat Jim."
"What's going on Horace?"
"Well, it seems we have a bit of a problem."
"The hostiles again?"
"You could say that," Phil said under his breath.
"It's come to my attention that you were seen meeting with a hostile on our territory. And I need to know why."
James quickly processed the new information. Clearly they either found security footage or the two people he told said something. And since neither Juliet or Miles would snitch, he decided somehow they came across the footage. There was no sense to lie.
"I did talk to a hostile. It ain't what you think though."
"I told you he was going to lie Horace!," Phil shot out.
Horace ignored him and continued, "Be careful James. What you tell us could very well determine your fate."
"My fate? What you gonna shoot me? I got a perfectly good explanation. And it ain't that I'm consorting with the enemy."
"Then tell us what you were doing out there Jim, cause I've seen the tape and it sure doesn't look like you were shooting at them either."
"Well it wasn't a meeting as you put it. He came out of the jungle during one of my searches and tried to make me a deal. I told him no and to get lost. That's it."
"What kind of a deal?"
"I imagine the same kind they tried to make with old Ralph. They wanted the code to the tempest. I don't know what y'all are doing up there with those chemicals, but the Hostiles sure seem set on getting in there."
James decided his best tactic was honesty since he really didn't have anything to hide. If these idiots were too stupid to realize he was trying to keep them safe then there's not much else he could do. He just hoped it wouldn't take too long for Horace to come to his senses. Then again his poor judgement was clearly going strong since he was listening to Phil (who James now imagined reaching across the desk to pommel).
"If that's the case Jim, then why didn't you come tell me after it happened?"
He didn't really know why he hadn't just told Horace. Maybe it was because he didn't want to spend another month stuck in the jungle. He'd mostly been thinking about Juliet, not Horace.
"I thought I had it under control."
"Yes, but if you're telling me the truth there was no reason not to tell me."
"Well the deal he was trying to make…I figured it was best if no one else heard about it. They might be tempted to actually betray us and make the same deal."
He made sure to emphasize the "us" in his argument, but he wasn't sure if Horace was buying it.
"And why did you have Miles stealing security footage?"
"What now? I ain't got Miles stealing nothing!," he balked.
"Phil found the tape at Miles desk. He says you've had Miles checking tapes for the last few weeks."
"Yeah, so you could cover up your little secret meeting," Phil added.
James was getting fed up with this. "I ain't covering up shit. I asked Miles to check the footage to look out for any more activity. I wanted to make sure they didn't show again."
"What exactly was the deal?"
"They just said they'd make me wealthy if I'd get them the code….said I could be gone on the sub before anyone found out."
"Why didn't you take the deal Jim," Horace asked thoughtfully.
"Cause that didn't interest me. Look Horace, I think you know me by now. I'm not working with the damn hostiles. I don't know what kind of nonsense old Phil is feeding you, but the only thing I've done since I took this job is try and protect everyone here."
Horace looked at him like he believed him, but then his expression fell.
"I want to believe you Jim. I really do. Unfortunately your word isn't enough."
"Then ask Miles! I'm telling you this is all just a big misunderstanding!"
"Oh we will. We'll be questioning all your friends, but for right now you'll have to wait in custody."
"Wait for what?," he demanded.
"Wait until we have proof."
He wasn't sure how they were going to prove anything. There was no audio on the tapes. They'd only ever be able to speculate about whatever they saw on the footage. And since he wasn't actually doing anything wrong they'd have nothing to find.
"Fine. Can I at least get some damn breakfast."
"Sure Jim. If you cooperate I'll get Phil to bring you some breakfast."
Phil looked on with a smug expression like someone who was about to win a fixed game.
"Fine," James agreed, not really having a choice.
"Great. Come this way then Jim. And like I said, once we have proof of this 'misunderstanding' as you put it, this will all be over."
He followed them down to the small cell room and begrudgingly entered the cell. Phil shut him in with a pleased look on his face. James watched as the two men left the room and sat down on the bench. Well this day was sure as hell not going to plan. And now the idea of his friends all being dragged in here at the mercy (or lack thereof) of Phil pissed him off even more. After a long wait one of the officers came in and set down a food tray in the cell. He was pretty sure it was lunch time now.
"I'm sorry about all this Jim. They told me to bring you this. I'm sure it'll all be straightened out soon."
"Thanks man."
Before the officer left the room, James called out to him.
"Hey, can you do me a favor and tell Juliet what's going on."
"Oh, I think they're gonna be bringing her over here so she probably already knows."
"Alright," he scowled.
He took the lid off the tray and was glad it actually looked appetizing. He ate, eagerly waiting and hoping this would all be cleared up in a few minutes. He realized too late that he was getting unusually tired and that perhaps they had drugged him. Before he could do anything with that information he was out cold.
