"So what exactly is going on here?" Adam asked, his eyes twinkling in amused exasperation as he took in Ellis and Ash, and all the alcohol that they had spread out on the kitchen counter.
"We're mixing drinks." Ellis answered giving him a look which seemed to say, do-you-even-have-to-ask.
"Is there any special occasion?" He murmured into her ear, as he hugged her gently. He had gone off to finish a few things when he had dropped her off at Ash's place. He had not expected to find them both back at the house when he got here.
"Do we need a special occasion?" Ellis asked with a smile as she kissed the corner of his mouth. Adam smiled slightly and stepped away.
Ash had been carefully looking at the bottles and not at them.
"So is the point the taste, or to get hammered?" Adam asked.
"Hammered." Ellis answered.
"How about we just go with Tequila then?" Adam asked and Ash laughed.
"I've been saying that to her from the get go, but somehow she thinks that just because she is a good cook, she needs to mix drinks all the time too." Ash said grinning at Ellis.
She smacked his arm.
"Tequila does not taste good. And we're drinking with video games." She pointed out.
"Do a few shots right off the bat and you won't be able to taste anything." Ash pointed out.
"Humm."
"How about you make a few drinks and take them with you? Keep drinking those and doing shots, by the time the that's done, you shouldn't be able to taste anything." Adam said reasonably.
Ellis sighed. "You're ganging up on me."
"You like tequila, woman." Ash pointed out haughtily.
"I suppose." Ellis drawled, before she started mixing her own drink. The men, acting like men, just grabbed beers.
She finished her drink in the next hour and by then she liked the taste of tequila. Three hours later, she had lost count of the shots they had done, but she did know that she had done more than Adam and Ash, and neither was too happy about it, especially since they were far more drunk.
And of course because she was owning them in video games.
"DRINK!" Ellis crowed.
"Yeah yeah." Ash growled but he did gulp down his beer.
Adam chuckled.
"You're losing too!" Ash snapped.
"So? She can beat me anytime she wants." Adam grinned.
"This is so damned unfair." Ash flopped back on the couch in mock despair.
Ellis leaned over Adam and patted his knee. "It's okay. He's always this annoying."
Adam laughed, and wrapped his arm around her to cuddle her close to him. They kept drinking and playing till four in the morning, until neither of the three could even see straight. Still, Ellis was better off then the two, and she would not let them forget it.
Once Ellis was done gloating, they all looked hopelessly at the stairs that led to the bedrooms.
"We woona make it." Ash slurred.
"Sofa bed!" Adam exclaimed even as he got to his feet swaying dangerously.
"We could do that." Ellis nodded, trying to look sage.
They managed to get the bed set up, and as the most stable on her feet, Ellis got the duty to get the blankets and the pillows. She somehow managed without falling. Then She slipped into the sofa bed, cuddled under the blankets and dropped off to sleep right away.
...
Adam opened the door for Vince.
"We have a problem." Vince said without preamble.
"Come in." Adam said stepping aside. Vince walked in, straight to the living room, and a sight he would never have expected.
The living room sofa had been pulled out to make a bed, and in the center of it, under the covers, was a lump that could only be Ellis. Curled up next to her was Ash, though she had stolen most of the blankets from him. Adam breezed past Vince, and went straight into the kitchen. He was hungover but he'd be damned if he acted like it.
After staring for another moment, Vince decided to follow.
"Do I even wanna know what happened here?" Vince asked.
"Tequila." Adam muttered as he splashed his face with water at the sink.
Vince let out a low chuckle. "You drank them both under the table?"
"She drank us both under the table. Damn woman has too high an alcohol tolerance. God knows where it all goes in that tiny body." Adam grumbled.
"No kidding." Ash muttered as he joined them. He too went and splashed his face first before he chugged water. He was also hungover, but again he would never show it.
"I swear Vince, she should have been a pirate or something." Ash said running his hand through his wet hair.
"She's also the one still out cold." Vince pointed out, but both men shook their heads.
"She's just sleeping." Adam said with a sigh.
"And if she had not stolen all the blankets, I would be too." Ash muttered.
"So what problem is making you ruin my sleep? You're lucky your call did not wake up these two." Adam asked, turning to Vince.
"Oh yeah! Chan called this morning from South America. He says that the man he was looking for has moved from there, and he is following him." Vince explained. In his surprise at seeing last night's sleeping arrangements, he had actually forgotten why he was here.
"Okay, what's the problem?" Ash asked.
"He's moved here." Vince said quietly, his voice grave.
Adam swore.
"Yeah that sums it up. Chan says he has a few leads, and he will be able to find this man, but we need to be careful. I take it one of you gave him a history lesson before he left?" Vince asked.
"I told him." Ash said quietly.
"That was good, or he might not have warned us. Anyways, what do you want to do Adam?" Vince asked.
"Just keep our eyes open. I'll stay with Ellis, and if I can't, Ash does. That cool?" he turned to Ash who nodded.
"Give Chan any backup he wants." Adam added to Vince and he nodded.
"I'm going to see if I can find anything that might help him." Vince said and left.
"Do we tell her?" Ash asked.
Adam was silent for so long, Ash thought he would not answer, but then he shook his head. Ash nodded.
"C'mon. Might as well get back in bed, and pretend we never got up. I wonder if I can steal some blankets back from her." Ash said, heading back to the living room.
Adam followed. They both slipped in, on either side of her. While Ash tried to get some blankets back from her, Adam just pulled her out from the blankets a bit and into his arms, holding her close. Ellis loosened her grip on the covers and grabbed his shirt instead, and then settled against him with a contented sigh.
Ash finally managed to pull some of the covers and settled against her back. He glanced at her in amusement.
"So that's why she was hogging all the blankets." He murmured.
"She's quite used to sleeping like this." Adam's smile was indulgent as he stroked Ellis's hair.
Ash looked at his friend and sighed. "There's something I should tell you."
"I already know. You forget, I have known you since you were a 15 year old brat." Adam answered.
Ash raised his eyebrows. "Don't ever tell her."
"She's only known the you of after. She can't see the difference, and she will never know that she is the reason for the change." Adam answered, his hand still stroking Ellis's hair.
Ash fell back on the pillows, staring at the ceiling. His side was brushing Ellis's back, but he did not care. What he felt for Ellis was not physical, not really. Not to mention he would never be able to mistake a touch by her for something else, since he knew her too well. He would always know that she only touched him as a friend, or rather as one of her most trusted friends. What surprised him though was, that Adam did not care either.
"Why are you not getting mad?" he finally asked, turning his head to look at Adam.
"You won't ever try to come between her and I." Adam said quietly. It was a statement of fact.
Ash shrugged. "You make her happy."
"If anything happens to me, I know she'll be protected. Why in hell would I get mad at you?" Adam asked with a smirk.
Ash stared at him, before he let out a low chuckle. "You selfish bastard." It was so Adam, and yet Ash knew that had he been in Adam's place he would have probably done the same thing. They were best friends, like brothers, and too alike. This would not come between them, and a weight he had not known was there, suddenly eased from Ash's heart.
Adam settled in closer to Ellis, resting his own head on her pillow, his lips brushing her forehead. He might not get mad, but he was not above staking his claim. Ash could deal with that.
"I'm sorry you fell in love with her Ash because I will die before I give her up, and you will never kill me." Adam said seriously, meeting his eyes.
Ash smiled, and it was honest. "I'd rather you live with her. I'm sure I'll fall out of love eventually. Can't be that hard." He turned his head away then, and Adam pretended he had not seen the heartbreak in his eyes, pretended that the last sentence had not been a lie.
...
"Adam! Ash! Damnit! Move!" Ellis snapped as she tried to shove them and get out of the sofa bed. She was not hungover. She never got hangovers, and she was the reason both men refused to acknowledge their own pounding headaches and sudden aversion to light and noise.
Adam had both his arms around her waist, and his legs were tangled with hers. Ash was sleeping at her back, and though he was lying on his stomach, he too had an arm flung over her, although his was over the blankets, while Adam was under the blankets. She was completely trapped.
She pushed at Adam's chest and he blinked awake, then gave her a lazy smile, right before he kissed her. In spite of herself, Ellis found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him closer. When he finally moved away so she could breathe, he was grinning.
"Good Morning."
Ellis laughed at him, before reaching up and lightly kissing his cheek.
"Good morning." She said, then pushed lightly on his shoulder, and he easily rolled away. Ellis slipped out of bed. It was only when she was out that she realized that Ash was awake and also grinning at her.
"No morning kiss for me?" he asked with a pout.
Ellis rolled her eyes.
Adam grabbed the blankets and yanked on them so suddenly that Ash tumbled off the sofa bed. Ellis was still laughing five minutes later, with Ash looking supremely disgusted with her.
"It's a good thing I have a lot of confidence. You would have destroyed a lesser man by now." He told her sternly. That just sent her into another fit of giggles. Adam smirked, while Ash shook his head sadly.
"I'm going for a shower, and to a real bed." He told her, but he did ruffle her hair on his way past.
Adam picked up a still laughing Ellis, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and rested her head trustingly on his shoulder.
"Can we get a shower and go to a real bed too?" she asked him innocently.
Adam raised his eyebrows, his eyes dancing mischievously.
"How can I say no to such a generous offer?" he murmured in her ear and then kissed it, his voice promising that there would be no sleep.
...
"Adam?" Ellis asked, as she flipped pancakes.
"Yeah?" he answered looking up from where he and Ash were eating at the table.
"What are you two keeping from me?" Ellis asked pleasantly.
Ash's eyes widened, but Adam merely raised an eyebrow.
"What would make you think that?" he asked deadpan.
Ellis smiled dangerously as she placed the last batch of pancakes on a plate and brought them to the table, and sat down with them. She calmly placed some on her plate, and ladled them with a generous amount of syrup.
"Don't lie." She said taking her first bite.
Adam sighed, while Ash was staring at her like she had grown a second head.
"Chan went after that terrorist as an apology to you." Adam said and she looked up, waiting for him to tell her the rest.
"He found out that that man is no longer in South America, but he has managed to come back here. Chan is following him, but meanwhile we are extra worried about your safety." Adam said calmly.
Ellis's hand shook slightly, but she made herself steady it, and go on eating her breakfast as if nothing was wrong.
Adam watched her carefully, before continuing. "I will be with you at all times, and if not, then Ash will be there. Before we would have lied, but now you know the reason."
"Okay." Ellis answered.
Ash stared at them both.
"You know Ellis, somedays I think you are this fragile thing that will break at the very thought of a breeze." Ash said, and she looked up at him with wide surprised eyes. "Then you do things like taking this news with an 'okay' and I realize that you just look fragile." Ash finished and she gave him a warm smile.
"So we are training today as well." Ash's tone was suddenly cheerful and Ellis's smile vanished.
"Jerk." She muttered stabbing her food with the fork.
...
Two Weeks Later:
"It feels like you have taken over my life." Ellis said to Adam from her seat on the front porch steps as he mowed the lawn. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a faded green shirt. His hair was sticking up in all directions since he kept running his hands through it while he was covered in pieces of grass. Ellis had laughed at him while he tried to mow the lawn 'properly'.
"Have I now?" he asked curiously.
"Yep. I used to go to my office at least twice a week, now I hardly manage to do it once every two weeks. Although I am doing all my work on time, so that's good." Ellis told him, but there was no accusation in her words. It was a simple statement of fact.
"You will probably be able to go more often once all the worry about your security dies down." Adam pointed out.
"I know. I am not sure I'd want to." Ellis told him.
"And why is that?" Adam asked.
"Because I like being around you. You're an acquired taste, but now that I have acquired it, I can't get enough of you." Ellis teased.
Adam chuckled. "Brat."
Ellis rolled her eyes. She could not argue since today she was dressed the part in pink capris, and a bright blue T-shirt with a bright pink sea shell on the front.
"Hey, Ellis." Adam said as he dropped down on the steps next to her. He was done mowing the lawn for today; and if only half was done then he could not care less.
"Humm?" she murmured, cocking her head to the side to look at him.
"When do you want to get married?" Adam asked.
Ellis blinked slowly.
Adam smirked.
"We are engaged, you know." He pointed out mildly, taking her hand in his so that the diamond solitaire in her engagement ring flashed in the fading sunlight.
Ellis stared at him for a long moment before she suddenly had tears in her eyes. Adam stared, all his amusement deserting him.
"What's wrong , baby?" he asked, his arm going around her.
Ellis slipped closer, tucking her head into the hollow of his shoulder.
"It just took me by surprise. You really want me for always." Ellis whispered.
"There's always divorce." Adam teased, and she smacked his leg.
He chuckled and just tightened his arm around her.
"Soon?" Ellis asked softly.
"Whenever you want. However you want." Adam answered kissing her temple.
"How about on the day of our one year anniversary? It's a few months away and will give us enough time to make all the arrangements." Ellis asked.
"Counting from the day I moved in as your neighbour. I like." Adam said with a serious look. Ellis smiled.
"Yeah, I like too." She murmured, feeling like everything was finally going right in her world.
...
"Tell me you have something Vince." Ash said, coming into the command center.
"Nothing Man. James is deep undercover so he is out of contact, and I can't get anything on this man." Vince said, sounding as frustrated as Ash felt.
"Damn. I want this done and over with." Ash ran his hand through his hair.
They both jumped when the phone rang.
"Duane." Vince answered the phone.
"I've found him. He's in the city. I'll try and get close to him. I have activated my locater. Track me, but do not make any move at all, until I tell you to. He must not suspect that you know he's coming. Got it?" James snapped.
"Yes." Vince replied.
The line went dead.