Disclaimer: JE owns the characters. Just incase any of you live under rocks, the song is Closer, by Nine Inch Nails.

It's eight in the morning and I'm already huffing my way to my cubicle. Rodriguez is now number one on my shit list. He just bumped Joyce to number two and the Dick to number three. Imagine! He told me that his searches took priority over everyone else. Yeah right! With that type of attitude, he'll be lucky if I do them at all.

Hmmmmm. PMS?

I froze just outside my cubicle. There was a piece of paper stuck to the monitor of my computer. I took one step back and quickly surveyed the opening to my cubicle. Four weeks ago, Lester booby trapped my cubicle. He left a note like the note on my monitor now. I was so distracted by the note, that I missed the trip wire and ended up having red, green, and orange dye packets explode at me from every direction. Mr. Alexander is still trying to get all of the dye out of my highlights. He wouldn't be all that impressed if I showed up with more dye in my hair.

I felt certain that it was safe to at least stand in the entrance to my cubicle. I scanned every inch of my little office. Nothing looked out of the ordinary other then the note.

"Babe."

I jumped at the sound of Ranger's voice. He tilted his head back and let out a bark of laughter when I pointed at the note.

"It's not funny. Do you remember what happened the last time I entered my cubicle and there was a note on my monitor?" I hissed.

"Yes. I made Lester pay for all of the damages."

"I'm being cautious."

"That note, that has you so freaked out, is from Ella. I saw her put it there."

"You're positive?" I asked as I eyed my cubicle.

"Yes."

I waved Ranger off as I walked into my cubicle and toed my chair back. One can never be too careful. Lord only knows what could have happened before Ella left. I pulled the note of the monitor as I powered up my computer.

Stephanie,

I heard that you were doing really well. I'm so proud of you for taking charge of your life. I'm going to leave a little present for you in the fridge when I bring down lunch. Have a wonderful day!

Enjoy!

Ella

I was starting to love Ella more then I loved my own mother. That's not a good sign. I shook my head to dislodge the thought and stared at the large stack of searches that had grown in my 'in' box over night. I sorted them all out into piles by the person that requested the search. Then, I put Rodriguez's on the very bottom and placed everyone else's on top of his. Pay backs are a bitch. He'll be lucky to get anything from me for a week.

I put in my ear buds from my ipod as I grabbed my first search. I do all of Tank's searches first. He found the secret way to get my attention. All of his search request folders have a little post-it note on top. Every post-it has a little drawing on it. Sometimes it's a goofy face; other times it's a bunny or flowers. I secretly horde all of them in a little space in the back of the bottom drawer of my desk. The really cute ones, I tack up on my cork board and refuse to divulge the creator. Tank would probably kill me if I ever told anyone.

I was brought out of my search zone when I was hit in the head with a paper ball. This was how the Merry Men communicated with me. It's my fault. I started it by throwing messages to Binkie. He's the closest person to me, therefore he was an easy target. Ram is the furthest away and I think that I get more from him then anyone else. He should have been a quarterback. I retrieved the ball off of the floor and unraveled it.

Lunch time.

I quickly looked down at my watch. Noon! Cake! I shot out of my chair and sprinted across the office to the break room. I heard Ram ask where the fire was when I ran past him. I skidded to a halt in front of the fridge and flung open the door. I instantly fell to my knees.

There… on the top shelf… was one… empty plate… with chocolate cake… crumbs on it. I reached out my shaky hand and grabbed the piece of paper off of the plate. I took a deep breath and turned the paper over.

Come and get a breath of fresh air.

I jumped up and ran past Lester. I sprinted across the office and hit the door to the stairwell. I ran up all six flights of stairs to the roof door. I flew out the door and stumbled onto the roof. I quickly scanned the roof top. I saw a paper taped to an air conditioner unit on the other side of the building. I ran to the unit and skidded across the gravel to a stop on my knees. I snatched the paper off of the unit and flipped it over.

You're wasting time in a place where time stands still.

I jumped back up to my feet and started running back to the door that led to the stairs. I crumbled the paper up and threw it over my shoulder as I opened the door and started running back down the stairs. I took them two at a time as I went down the same six flights that I had just ran up.

I busted out of the stairwell and ran past Ranger. I glared at him over my shoulder for a brief second when I heard him chuckle. I ran into the control room and froze in the door way as I quickly looked around the room. I spotted the note taped to a monitor that was broken. I ran to the monitor and ripped the paper off. I saw a smear of chocolate icing on the bottom of the paper. I ignored the message and sat on the desk as I licked the paper. I moaned as my eyes rolled back in my head. I heard Tank softly chuckle next to me so I flipped him the bird without opening my eyes as I continued to lick the paper. I let out a sigh and opened my eyes to read the note.

Sweat for me, Hot stuff!

"Fuck!" I shouted right before I stood up and ran out of the control room.

I ran all the way to the gym. I was pissed as hell that he was toying with me, but I couldn't help the smile that was plastered to my face. I was stunned when I was enveloped in blackness when I ran into the gym. I stopped in my tracks and waited for my heart rate and breathing to calm down. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he was here. I could feel his presence. I was startled when the stereo, across the room, started playing music. It was just low enough that I could hear it, but not loud enough to drowned out everything. He was trying to confuse all of my senses. I focused on the music as I kept my breathing slow.

You let me violate you.

You let me desecrate you.

You let me penetrate you.

You let me complicate you.

Help me. I broke apart my insides.

Help me. I've got no soul to sell.

Help me. The only thing that works for me.

Help me get away form myself.

I wanna fuck you like an animal.

I wanna feel you from the inside.

I wanna fuck you like an animal.

My whole existence is flawed.

You get me closer to God.

That's when I smelled the cake. He was very close to me. In fact, he was right behind me. I could feel his body heat. The music, the smell of the cake, the blackness, and the feel of his body heat lit me on fire. I couldn't figure out if I was more desperate for him, or the cake. Frustration started to build and the cake was winning.

"I want my cake," I hissed.

His arm came around my waist and brought my back into his chest. I brought my hands around and grabbed the sides of his pants. I felt him grow hard as he started kissing my neck. I tightened my grip on his pants and pulled him closer as I slowly swayed my hips side to side along with the music.

"I'm a dead man," he whispered in my ear.

My heart skipped a beat when I heard the plate hit the floor. Both of his hands were instantly busy attacking my body. He was everywhere at once. I released his pants and turned around in his arms. His lips were on mine in a second. I ran my hands up his chest on their way to his thick hair. I was caught off guard by a band that was in his hair. I kissed him for everything that I was worth as I traced my fingers along the band.

New night vision goggles?

I got him lowered to the floor. He wasn't thinking as clearly as I was. As soon as I had him down, I ripped the goggles off and rolled out of his reach. I pulled them on and tightened the straps as I looked around the room. Awesome goggles! Light weight. Flexible. Very thin. I was able to quickly locate the cake, still on the plate. It was my lucky day. I scooped up the plate as I scrambled to get out of his reach as he started to crawl around on the floor. I ran over to the treadmills and watched as he gave up when he ran into a wall head first.

"Oh. My. God." I said around a mouthful of cake.

"Stephanie."

"This is so good," I said as I stuffed more into my mouth. "Did you have a chance to try a bite?"

"No."

"That's too bad, Cal," I said with a laugh as I took another bite while I watched my boyfriend flip me the bird.