An (Mis)Understanding Touch

Trying to recover from the slight humiliation of confusing his fantasy with reality, Spinelli headed for the comfort of his laptop with Maxie trailing hotly on his heels. He flipped it open and tried his hardest to ignore The Wounded Blond One's presence as she hovered above his shoulder, but she was never one to be ignored.

"Wow! Logan's medical records! I can't believe you hacked into the hospital's computer!" Maxie exclaimed in a whisper-shout.

"Federal offense, Blond One. If you announce it a little louder perhaps the authorities will hear you," Spinelli said, clapping his hands anxiously and looking around them.

"No one heard me. What's your problem?" Maxie asked, picking up on the fact that he had been more impatient with her than unusual.

Spinelli wanted to tell her that the problem, in fact, was her. The problem was the Conniving Kiss she had planted upon his unsuspecting lips. The problem was how she leaned so close, and had no respect for his bubble. The problem was her invading his reality, fantasy, and dreams.

"You know, it's just... Look, when The Jackal is in the zone, working on a case... with my new PI license-"

"This isn't an official case, and you're not even a real PI yet," Maxie interrupted his feeble attempts to perhaps impress her with his knowledge of all things PI.

"We're on a search for the killer of your wise and compassionate sister, who secretly and inexplicably had f-fe-feelings for me. Why I could've inspired such devotion may forever remain beyond my comprehension, but-"

"Is it so hard for you to believe that someone could love you?" Maxie question somewhat bluntly. His heart picked up pace at her words, despite the bored tone they were spoken in. Spinelli fought the emotions warring inside of him before he trusted himself to speak once more.

"Look, I-I-I agreed to help you find the person who took her from us. And the thought that she suffered at the hands of the Crabby Commando of all people is-"

"I get it," Maxie said as she placed her hand upon his shoulder. She patted him much like the night that he had first hugged her, as if she was almost unsure of her actions. Spinelli couldn't help it when a shiver ran down his spine and his shoulder went towards his ears, as if he touch was too much to handle, which for The Jackal was pretty factual. Clearing his throat, he shook himself back to the task at hand, trying to ignore the tingling where she had touched him.

"Uhm. Okay! So you thought the killer had a, you thought the killer had a distinctively sweet smell?" Spinelli questioned, too aware of the rising and dropping pitch of his voice.

After a brief conversation on the drug and Dr. Devlin's description, Spinelli went to work briefly. Suddenly Maxie was leaning over him, and when Spinelli inhaled he got a heady dose of her scent. He could feel where every part of her body was touching his and suddenly this was too much.

Jumping up out of his chair, almost knocking Maxie backwards, he couldn't help the strangled noises that crawled up from his throat. He was panicked and it completely, and totally showed.

"I can't do this! I-I c-can't do this anymore," Spinelli said. "Reminder: personal bubble." Spinelli gestured wildly with his hands indicating the walls of the bubble which she kept breaking into.

"What?!" Maxie exclaimed in a mixture of anger, confusion and maybe even hurt.

"My- You – Invading my personal bubble. I can't concentrate!" Spinelli bunched his fist by his eye feeling like he'd love to smack himself in his head. Can't concentrate? Understatement of the year.

"You hacked into the safe at the MetroCourt when you were surrounded by armed mercenaries who were shooting at people and threatening to blow the place up, and you're telling me I'm breaking your concentration just by standing next to you?" Maxie asked getting in his face. "I know what's going on here."

Spinelli's heart was going to beat out of his chest. Oh God, oh God... she knew. He was dead. She knew that he harbored a ridiculous, hopeless crush on her.

"You do?" Spinelli managed to choke out.

"Yeah. Well, it's pretty obvious. You're not doing a very good job at hiding it."

"No. The Jackal – look, The Jackal is not like other men. Uh, a-a pronounced lack of socialization at an early age left me with erratic and unconventional personal interaction. Okay? Whatever you think you may have gleaned from my -"

"I think you pretty much hate my guts," Maxie said and Spinelli's stomach flipped unpleasantly.

"Oh," he managed. The Jackal couldn't believe The Wounded Blond One would think that true.

"And I think you resent the hell out of the fact that I forced you into helping me by threatening violence. But you know what, Spinelli?" She asked without giving him a chance to form a one word answer. "I don't really give a damn because this is my sister we're talking about. And I don't care how I make you feel, or how uncomfortable you are around me. You're stuck with me. Because until I'm positive we've found the real killer, I'm going to be the first person you see in the morning and the last person you see at night before you go to sleep. And if you can't deal with that? Tough."

It was an amazing speech really. It didn't have any of the stuttering or wild gesticulations that Spinelli's had possessed. And if he had been listening he's sure he would've been stunned at her determination and fierceness. But if he were to be honest he was still stuck on the fact that she thought he hated her, and how it somehow made him feel as though she had hurt his feelings.

And suddenly that touch that she gave him to provide solace from the rain abandoned him, and he was left once again to face the storm alone.