Author's Notes: Because I've been so bad about updating this past week, here's a second chapter for today. A little lightheartedness was needed after all the recent angst.

Thanks: Thanks to "youswear" dot com! A fun site that this Chapter allowed me to find. It provided me with endless amusement and several creative new come backs.

Skinny Double Dirty Chai

Chapter 12

"Mmmm... Oh my god. This fish taco is amazing..." Paige moans, closing her eyes to savor the delicious creation. It has been too long since she's been to Hector's. She should make this taco stand her new home while she's taking a hiatus from Graceland.

Johnny snorts in response.

"What?" Paige asks with her mouth full. The food was so good, that up until that moment, she had forgotten Johnny was even there.

"It's nothing it's just..." Johnny raises his taco to his lips and tongues it suggestively.

"You're such a pervert." Paige laughs, shoving Johnny playfully.

"Taco slut."

"Food voyeur."

"Tortilla Tortillera" Johnny retorts in Spanish.*

"Oh are we doing this bilingually now? Because Eðer oraya gelirsem seni sikerim!" Paige challenges.**

"What is that? Arabic?" Johnny pauses the duel of words.

"Turkish." Paige laughs, going back to her taco.

"Yo. Thanks, for meeting me for lunch." Johnny says, taking a seat on a sidewalk ledge.

"Thanks for paying." Paige grins back, sitting beside him.

"Yeah, well it seemed like the only way I'd get a chance to see you. You've been a ghost these last few days. What's up?" Johnny asks.

"I'm working on a case." Paige says, focusing on her food instead of him. It wasn't entirely a lie. She was working on a couple cases, but that really had nothing to do with her recent scarcity around Graceland.

"Which one? Isn't Bobby Moy locked up?" Johnny asks.

"New one." Paige says noncommittally.

"Really? Who are the players? Maybe FBI has something, and I can help out. Get you back home. The dude-girl ratio is getting dangerous. If we lose Charlie, it's gonna turn into a complete sausagefest." He looks at her seriously, like he's divulging a secret. "You gotta come back. The house is starting to smell rank."

"Gee, you make it sound so appealing. Ripe locker rooms. My favorite smell." Paige says sarcastically.

"I'm concerned! There's something funky going on."

"Ew. Spray some Fabreeze."

"No, not just that. Though Jakes's room. Seriously." Johnny gives her a disgusted look. "No, but other stuff. Everyone's acting so weird recently."

"Weird how?" Paige asks, taking a sip of her drink.

"I don't know... Just like everyone seems to have these things they're not saying." Johnny says.

Paige makes a face, thinking of the other night with Mike. Some things are better left unsaid.

"Hey, you would tell me if something were up right?" Johnny asks suddenly turning to her.

"Yeah, of course. Nothing's up. Why?" Paige forces a smile. She is not going to make this Mike thing a bigger deal by talking about it with other people. It will all blow over soon if she just ignores it.

"Oh nothing, it's just like I feel out of the loop recently with stuff." Johnny says, throwing a french fry at a seagull. "But you trust me right? I mean, you know I goof around a lot but if something were really wrong, you know I'm there for you?"

"Of course Johnny. Nothing's wrong. I just gotta get some things under control on my cases before I can come back to the house. What's bringing all this on? What's happening at the house?"

"Yeah. No, Jakes said something the other day. Got in my head."

"Oh, ignore Jakes he's a grumpy old grizzly bear."

"Yeah, and he's worse with you not around. You're like the only person in the house the man can stand."

"Well you can't hold yourself to my standard of awesomeness. That's just not fair to you." Paige grins.

"No seriously! How did you get him to like you?"

"I don't know. You'll figure it out. You always do. How did you get me to like you?"

"I buy you food." Johnny says simply. "Is that it? Did you give Jakes your taco?"

"Ew. None, of your business and clearly no."

"I meant the literal food type. Though if the other way worked, let me know, because I'm getting pretty desperate."

"When have you ever known me to share food?"

"Good point." Johnny conceded. "You know I think he might even be starting to like Levi more than me..."

"Really? What's Mike doing?" Paige asked, trying to sound nonchalant. He brought up Mike, not her.

"I don't know! That's the maddening part. I mean I saved the dude's life with a bucket in that barn! You think that would count for something! Oh my god, that's it... Do you think I need to make Jakes a friendship bracelet?"

"If you do, I want to be there to witness you trying to put it on him." Paige said, intrigued by the potential for hilarity, but disappointed that the conversation seemed to be leaving Mike without satisfying her curiosity. "What about the other guys? How's Charlie doing after the whole heroin thing. Are you watching her?"

"She's good. Hasn't seemed to have a problem with the heroin, but she's getting a little crazy about this Odin thing. She seems to think Briggs's has something to do with it. I don't know, everything's so whacked recently. Something's not right."

"Is everyone acting weird? Or is it just Charlie and Jakes?" Paige asks, once again trying to sound discreet. Talk about Mike you blabber mouth!

"Well, you know, Charlie's got a point. Briggs has been really strange recently, but I just can't believe he'd get involved with a guy like Odin y'know?"

"Yeah. That does sound crazy. You sure Charlie's clean?"

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on, but I'm pretty sure it's not that." Johnny shakes his head, deciding to change the subject. "So when you coming back to the house?"

"In a couple days. I'm just waiting for a few things to blow over." Paige answers as honestly as she can.

"Well let me know if there's anything I can do to speed things along. Everyone's so wrapped up in the Bello case, it would be good to have an outside player, you know?"

"Yeah, thanks Johnny. I'm sure I'll be back soon. I just need to figure a few things out first. Get a little space from Graceland." Paige says, staring out towards the ocean.

"Ok, that there!"

"What?"

"Something's wrong. That's not like you. You never want space from Graceland. When you have problems, that's the first place you want to be to recharge, and I've asked around. Chad, the bartender at the Drop, says he hasn't seen you recently, at all. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Paige sputters defensively. "This case is just really taking a lot of my time."

"You got a new secret boyfriend or something? It's not that Vance guy is it?"

"Who?" Paige runs through her mind the number of Vance's she knows, trying to figure out what Johnny's talking about.

"I don't know. Mike was ranting the other day about you dating some guy named Vance. According to Mike, he's really wrong for you. I don't know what exactly happen, but Mike bitched about it for weeks. We went to a shooting range, and he even named his target Vance. I have never seen a dummy take so many hits to the groin in my life!"

"Oh, like he should talk! How many times a week does he nearly blow his cover because he can't let go of that Abby girl!" Paige rants. She's now fighting with Mike even when he isn't present.

"Hey, dude, chill. You know I got your back on this, but maybe you should cut the boy some slack. He's new to all this. Besides he's not like you and me. For some reason, I don't understand, he wants to be tied down. I mean, I'm with you. Best to keep things simple. Relationships get too messy, but he's gotta find that out the hard way. Let's just hope no one gets killed in the process." Johnny says. Johnny is always such a peacemaker, how he ever became FBI is beyond her.

Johnny's phone beeps, interrupting any reply Paige might have.

"Speak of the devil. That's a text from Mike. We're supposed to meet at the Drop. You want to come?" Johnny asks.

"No, I think I'm good." Paige says, trying to calm herself down after hearing Mike was gossiping about her to the house.

If she saw Mike like this, she'd probably start a bar brawl. Plus, if Mike was meeting Johnny at the Drop, that means she can sneak home to Graceland and switch out her clothes rather than having to go shopping for clean underwear. It will buy her a few more days away.

"Suit yourself, but whatever's going on, fix it so you can come home. Graceland needs you." Johnny says, pulling her into a hug and planting a friendly kiss on her forehead. "And don't worry about the Mike thing. I promise I'll do my best to try to get him to go home with a waitress tonight."

Somehow, this does not make Paige feel better.

* Tortillera - spanish for lesbian

** "Eðer oraya gelirsem seni sikerim" Turkish for "If I go there, I'll fuck you."