This takes place right after Demetri left the CBI offices, after Dem followed Cho and tried to talk to him in the interrogation room.
Part Five: Demetri Reflects
Part Six: Demetri Dreams
Part Seven: Cho Un-Duped
Demetri turned and walked out of the room feeling crushed. As he walked through the kitchen, he was vaguely aware of someone sitting at a table talking on a cell phone, but it wasn’t until that someone had addressed him with 'Good night Agent Noh. Didn’t know you were still here. Have a good night.' that Dem acknowledged the person with a wave, not even looking back to register who it was. He went out the exit door and straight to his car.
Dem didn’t even remember driving back to the apartment that the FBI had rented for him. Since it was unknown how long the agents would be staying ion Sacramento, the agency had rented an apartment for each of the agents assigned to work with the CBI. It was less expensive then paying for a hotel indefinitely. He tossed his keys on the table, not bothering to turn the lights on. For a few moments Dem stood there, staring at nothing, but seeing Cho standing before him, not looking him in the eye. Agent Noh closed his at the memory.
Well, what did you expect? Did you really think he’d be thrilled to see you? That he’d open his arms, embrace you, tell you how much he missed you, how he’s thought of you every single day since the last time he saw you?
Demetri rubbed his forehead.
No, of course not, that’s what you'd do, but it wasn’t him who showed up, out of the blue, back in your life after almost a twenty year absence.
Demetri ran his hands through his hair, then shook his head to clear it. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer, still not bothering to turn on the lights. He leaned against the counter as he twisted off the cap and tossed it, missing the garbage.
Screw it, I’ll pick it up later.
He took a long swig of the cold beverage.
Maybe I should have let him know I was coming. Maybe it would have made a difference.
Demetri took another long drink, this time finishing the bottle.
No, it wouldn’t have mattered. Too much time has passed. He had two years in juvie to figure out he hated me. Two years in juvie, because of me. Dammit! Maybe he already knows the truth?
Dem paced.
No, how could he? He's justheld on to his hatred all theseyears. Maybe if I had come to him sooner, tried to apologize, maybe he'd have listened. I guess he's over me, those feelings back then maybe just the result of a temporary infatuation. He was young, and it's not like I was a prize, hell I'm still not. I wasn't blessed with looks or a hiot body. What the hell did he ever see in me anyway?
Dem stopped pacing and leaned his butt against the kitchen counter.
And look at me know, pining over him still. Considering how he feels about me now, I should just let it all go. If only it were that easy. I've tried enough times over the years and never could get him out of my mind, or my heart. I guess that just makes me pathetic.
Demetri got angry and threw the bottle across the room. It smashed as it hit the wall, bits of glass flew everywhere. Dem ran his hand over his face and into his hair. He didn’t realize it, but that gesture was one he always made when stressed or upset. He sighed. Ignoring the mess, he went straight to his bedroom. He sat down on the bed and laid back, keeping his feet on the floor. He put his forearm over his eyes.
Almost twenty years and all my feelings, all this remorse, are just as strong now as on that day. Why didn’t I stop you? I tried. I told you to stay home. But you didn’t listen, you showed up anyway. You didn’t belong there – you weren'’t supposed to be there. If you had just stayed away like I had told you to, then none of it would have happened. I should have locked you in the basement, even bound and gagged you…anything to ensure that you wouldn’t get caught up in my mess. I should have known you wouldn’t listen to me, that was my mistake. But then there you were! What was I to do? I tried to send you back when you showed up, but stupid boy! - you wouldn’t leave me. Seriously, what the fuck was I suppossed to do? Dammit Kim! Why the hell didn’t you leave?!? I should have been harsher, should have taken a crack at you if that’s what it took to get you to leave, but then you…you…
Demetri closed his eyes tighter under his arm…
…the look in your eyes, the pleading in your voice… I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t make you go soon enough. You needed me, you wanted me. I didn’t have time to get you out of there. Dammit. I was about to get you out through the window, but then it was too late and all hell broke loose.
Demetri turned on his side and grabbed a pillow, he hung on to it and continuously relived that fateful day in his mind, over and over again, till the exhaustion beat out the guilt and he fell asleep. But, even in his sleep, he could find no relief as the whole incident played out in his dreams.
“Come on Dem, you can’t go alone. Let me come with you. I can help, I can watch your back.” Cho said.
“Kim.” Demetri said calmly, as he slipped on his jacket, “I’m going alone.”
“But why? I’ve got nothing to do anyway. I want to go with you.” Cho said.
“You’ve got plenty to do.”
“I don’t!” Cho said.
Demetri stepped over to Cho and put a hand on each of his shoulders. He kept his eyes firmly planted on the other boy’s.
“Yes, you do. You have a paper to write for history and an English test to study for.”
“Oh who cares about that…” Cho shook his head and started to protest, till Demetri’s hand went to his chin and directed Cho’s eyes back to his.
“I care about that! Didn’t we say we were going to try harder? Get our lives straightened out, take the high road and get away from all the commotion. I’ve been taken in by the cops five times now, I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to talk my way out of it and not end up in a cell. I’ve been doubly lucky to have kept you from getting hauled in with me! Your parents would freak out if you got dragged down to the station.” Dem said.
“I don’t care! Let them freak out. You got out of it every time – so will I!” the boy said.
“Kim, listen to me!” Demetri said, as he shook Cho a bit, trying to get him to take this all seriously, “My luck's gonna run out one of these times. I’m not a kid, I won’t be going to juvie at this point, I’ll be going to jail. Sooner or later, if I don’t get myself out of this way of life, I’m gonna be put away for God only knows how long. And if that happens, then what? Who’s gonna save your sorry ass the next time some punk with a grudge comes gunning for you?”
“Dem, you aren’t gonna go to jail.” Cho said.
Nope, I’m not Dem thought, then looked at his watch. Shit I’m gonna be late, I need to get out of here.
“And neither are you! That’s why you’re gonna stay here, get your paper done, and study for your test. I have to go. I’ll be back in a few hours tops, then we can hang out all night, you said your parents are gone for the whole weekend right?”
“Yeah, they won’t be back till Sunday night. You want to stay over?” Cho asked.
“You have to ask?” Dem answered, with a salacious smile, which Cho felt travel straight down to his groin.
They didn’t have sexual encounters very often, it wasn’t the primary aspect of their relationship, and usually there was alcohol involved, that was what lowered their inhibitions enough to let them act on their urges. But ninety percent of the time they kept those feelings deeply buried. For one thing, they often weren’t alone, so the opportunity wasn’t there, and for another, getting caught being “faggots” was not an option – not in the crowd they ran with, or with the families they had. Though they had never spoken of their feelings for each other, it was silently understood between the two of them, that they were more then friends.
Cho knew tonight they’d be alone, with no chance of anyone c'atching them' IF they indulged their physical desires; and if Demetri’s smile was any indication, then they would definitely be indulging. His heart began to beat a bit faster and his thoughts rushed ahead to later that night, as he saw, in his mind’s eye, Demetri’s mouth coming closer to his. That vision was interrupted by Demetri’s voice.
“I’ll see you in a few hours. STAY HERE! I’ll be fine.” Dem said. He looked Cho in the eye, and Cho stared back, a meaningful moment passing between them, then Dem turned and walked out.
Cho waited till he heard the door close then headed out behind Dem.
“Yep, you’ll be fine, because I’ll be there watching your back.” Cho said, as he walked out.
The dream shifted.
Demetri was now in a huge, but dark, house with five other guys. When asked where Cho was, Dem lied and told them he got picked up a couple hours ago for some minor thing, but that he might show later if the cops let him go in time. Only small flashlights lit their way, they only turned them on if they absolutely had to. They pretty well had the layout memorized from casing the place for the past four weeks. The men were criminals involved in heavy duty drug trafficking and robbery. Tonight they were doing both, and Demetri was in on it with them. Faking that he was scouting the rooms for valuables, Demetri went off on his own through the house, to the room he needed to be in. He found a place near a window to stay, and be out of the way, while still being able to rummage through a dresser that was there. He was slightly nervous, but ready. This had to be done – there was no other way.
Demetri could hear his co-conspirators as they bragged about finding this and that, could hear that a few more men had arrived. These were the guys who were coming to buy the drugs.
Come on, come on! Demetri thought, then heard a sound at the window.
Thank God. It’s almost over.
Demetri stayed still listening, and again, he heard a sound by the window. It was as if someone was jimmying the lock.
What the hell are they doing? What are they thinking?!? Break through the goddamn front door or throw a fucking flash bomb THROUGH the windows, but why the hell are you jimmying it open? Idiots!
Demetri began to feel anxious. He thought about it – something was wrong. Was he in the wrong room? No! He had gone over this with them several times, he was in the right place. What if this was a rival drug gang sneaking in to take them all out?
Shit! That's a possibility. Now what do I do? I 've got no way to defend myself against these guys.
Demetri decided the first thing he needed to do was get the hell out of this room! He didn’t want to be the first guy taken out. Hell, he didn’t want to be taken out at all. When he heard the lock on the window click, he knew he had merely seconds to get out of there before whoever was outside crawled through. He looked around quickly, to see if there was anything he could hit the person with as they came through, but all that he could see in the darkness was the shape of a table lamp, and that might not be enough for him to clock the guy with. He crouched real low and, as quietly as he could, he started to make his way out of the room just as the window opened. Right when he reached the door he heard the voice. HIS voice, Dem's heart almost stopped.
“Demetri.” Cho whispered, as he crawled in through the window, “Demetri, are you still in here?”
Demetri quickly looked out the door, and up and down the hallway, to make sure none of the others were around. He rushed over to Cho, tried shoving him back out the window, but Cho was already too far inside.
“What the hell are you doing here? You gotta leave. Now! RIGHT NOW!” Dem was trying to keep his voice as quiet as he could.
“No way! I’m not leaving. I saw the guys you came in here with. Are you out of your mind?! They ain’t gonna watch your back if something happens, and right now they’re doing crystal meth and shooting heroin down there. Dem…you aren’t…” Cho quickly grabbed Demetri’s arm and pushed his sleeve up to look for needle marks. None were there.
Demetri was internally beginning to freak out. He grabbed Cho by the front of his shirt forcefully and moved him backwards, toward the window.
“I'll explain later, but you need to go.” Dem said. He tried pushing Cho through the window, but Cho was having none of it.
“Is it the other arm?” Cho grabbed for Demetri‘s other arm and pushed his sleeve up looking, again, for needle marks.
“Kim goddammit, I’m not a drug addict! Now get the fuck out of here!” Dem’s voice was low, but serious. He kept trying to push Cho out through the window, but Cho was pushing back.
“I’m not leaving you! These guys don’t play around! You’re gonna get yourself killed!”
Demetri took a breath, he realized he needed a different approach. He could just punch Kim out and toss him outside, but instead he held on to Cho’s shirt and shook him hard.
“LISTEN TO ME! I will explain all of this later, but PLEASE Kim. I’m begging you to trust me, and go NOW. Go, and run like hell away from this house. You have to trust me.” There was desperation in Dem’s voice, and the look in his eyes was one Cho had never seen before, one he mistook for fear or paranoia. Paranoia! The thought creeped in that maybe it wasn’t heroin Dem had taken – maybe it was meth!
Cho shoved Demetri off him so hard that Demetri went flying backwards, hitting a small table knocking it over and sending a flower vase crashing to the floor.
"What the hell's the matter with you!" Dem whispered harshly.
“Did you take a hit of meth?” Cho said. “Is that why you’re acting so…I don’t know…paranoid about me being here?”
“What? No!” Demetri said, as he started to get up. He heard one of the others coming to investigate the noise and looked at Cho with intense eyes, “Agree with any fucking thing I say, you got that?”
Demetri got to his feet just as one of the guys got to the doorway. He had a gun in his hand and it was pointed in the room. Even in the dark Demetri could see that the guy’s pupils were dilated. Great...just fucking great!
“What the fuck's going on in here?” the man said, then noticed the window was open and that Cho was in the room too.
“You made it. The bastards let you go huh? Well good – start loading up. And here, keep this on you, if anything happens to it, you’ll be answering to me! That’s a fortune there, and I’ll know if any’s missing!” he said as he slipped the cocaine in Cho’s jacket pocket.
He looked at Demetri.
“What the hell's the matter with you making all that noise? You trying to draw attention or what? I oughta cap your ass!” he aimed the gun Demetri’s way.
Demetri saw Cho start to move, he shot him a warning look to keep him in place, and to keep him quiet. Cho took the hint and stayed still though his heart was pounding.
“Sorry man,” Dem said. “My flashlight went out, I didn’t the see the thing and tripped over it.”
Demetri’s hand was in his pocket, along with the flashlight. He was twisting the bottom of the flashlight off and popping one of the batteries out, as he spoke, then twisted it back on. He couldn’t let all the batteries fall out or the difference in the weight of the flashlight would be too noticeable.
The man eyed Demetri suspiciously. Demetri saw paranoia lurking in his eyes, saw he was very fidgety. Demetri kept his face straight and showed no fear.
“Impossible. I just put fresh batteries in every God damn one of them before we got here. What kind of game are you playin’?” he said, as he stepped into Dem’s personal space.
“Dude, no game. The flashlight went out. That’s it. It’s the meth man…it’s making you a little paranoid. Come on, ain’t no need for trouble here. There’s too much at stake. I found some really valuable shit over here.” Dem said, as he started to step. The man grabbed him by the back of the collar and pulled him back in place. He pointed the gun at Demetri’s head. Again Dem saw Cho start to move; he subtly put his hand up to stop him.
“Show me.” The man said.
“What?” Dem asked.
“The flashlight. Show me the fucking flashlight. And if it works I’ll know you’re up to something and I’m gonna kill you if you are.” theman said.
Demetri maintained the appearance of being calm, even with the gun being held to his head, by a man who was whacked out on meth at the moment.
“Oh, yeah, sure. No problem. I’m taking it out of my pocket now.” Dem said, as he slowly removed the flashlight from his jacket pocket. “Here.”
The man took it and flipped the switch to the on position. Nothing happened. He flipped it on and off a few times, always getting the same result. Demetri discreetly took the battery that he had removed and slid it into the front of his pants pushing it down far enough that it wouldn’t pop up and out. Thankfully it was a triple A, so it was easy to hide.
“Well I’ll be damned. It don’t work. I know I just put fresh batteries in here.” He sais, as he scratched his head with the gun, then stuck it in his pocket.
“Sorry man, guess you’re right – the meth’s making me paranoid. No hard feelings, you’re alright!” he gave Demetri a light slap on the back. “Finish in here and move to master bedroom, then come back to the living room, we've got a nice syringe with your name in it as a reward. I’ll even save some for the kid there, you two can share a needle.” he said, and gestured to Cho. Then he turned and walked out.
Dem and Cho were silent, waiting till the guy was far enough away. When Demetri heard him laughing in the distance with two of the others, he knew they were safe to speak. He turned on Cho and came at him grabbing him hard.
“Are you trying to get me killed?!” Dem said in a harsh whisper.
“Of course not!” Cho answered.
“Then prove it! Leave!” Dem said.
“And how are you gonna explain me being gone exactly? He saw me here! If I’m gone, AND with the coke he just gave me to hold, they’re gonna think I bailed on them, and come after me.” Cho said.
“No, they aren’t going to come after you. I promise! Give me the coke!” Dem said, while holding out his hand. He knew it would not be good if Kim got caught with that. “What the hell do I have to do to get you to leave?”
Cho pushed Demetri’s hand away.
“There’s nothing you can do. I’m staying. That’s it! Now quit trying to force me out and let’s get this done. I’ll take the master bedroom – where is it?” Cho asked, and started to head toward the door.
Demetri grabbed him. “You aren’t taking anything! You're leaving, and you're leaving right now, or I’m gonna knock you on your ass, do you hear me? Now give me the goddamn coke! And I’m not asking you to leave - I’m fucking telling you! And don’t touch a thing on your way out!” Dem said harshly.
Cho stood his ground, he looked at Demetri defiantly, then pulled free from Dem’s grip and grabbed some rings from an open jewelry box stuffing them in his pocket before turning back to face Demetri.
“I'm NOT leaving. I'm staying with you – I'm the ONLY one here who's loyal to you. If I leave you here, and something happens to you because I wasn’t there to watch your back, I’d never forgive myself. You can threaten me all you want, and you can try to knock me on my ass, but how are you going to explain all THAT noise to the crew in the other room, because believe me when I say this, I'll fight you back.” Cho said, the seriousness clear in his eyes.
Demetri was, for the first time in his life, at a total loss as of what to do. He could see, by the look in Kim’s eyes, that he was serious. He also knew Kim was right, there’d be no way for him to explain to the others why he was trying to force Kim out of the house. He was debating telling Kim the truth – it might be the only way – but what if he was overheard? It’d be a death sentence for sure. He was about to risk it, to tell Cho, when the boy began to speak very quietly.
“Demetri. I know you’re mad at me right now. And you can take it out on me later – I don’t care. But I’m not leaving. I won’t ever leave you, especially if there's some threat. The thought of something happening to you…I just ….please let me help you loot this place so we can get out of here. With two of us we can work twice as fast.” Kim said.
Demetri closed his eyes. All kinds of thoughts were running through his head. How was he going to get Cho to leave? What was supposed to be a simple, straightforward event had become a complicated nightmare. Demetri opened his eyes and looked at Cho.
“If I mean anything to you at all, you will turn around, climb back out that window and run home. I swear I'll be there in an hour or so. Please Kim, do this for me. I’m begging you.” Dem pleaded.
The look in Demetri’s eyes was scaring Cho a bit. He listened carefully for a second, to be sure nobody was coming their way, then put his hand on the side of Demetri’s face. This was the time for a moment of truth, and he hoped he was about to make Demetri understand why he was refusing to leave.
“Dem you mean EVERYTHING to me, that’s exactly why I won't leave.” Cho said, he paused a moment to gather up the nerve to continue, Demetri’s eyes were locked on his. Cho continued quietly, “I love you.”
Demetri closed his eyes. He couldn’t believe Kim had said that again. The first time Kim said it, Dem assumed it was just something the boy had said after an 'encounter' they'd just had. He wished they were back in Kim’s room right now, felt his throat get tight. Demetri knew himself, knew how he felt, he’d known for a long time already, but had never said the words. Now Kim had said them again. Kim was braver than he was. He felt Cho’s thumb stoke his cheek, opened his eyes to see Cho looking at him, their faces just inches apart. Dem’s chest got tight, it matched the feeling in his throat. Demetri placed his hand on Cho’s face, the love between them would have been obvious to even the most clueless of people.
“Demetri, please, I need to be with you. I need you as much as I need air. Please don’t send me away. I love you, can’t leave you here.” Cho begged.
This was a plea from a teenage boy, currently being overwhelmed and driven by his emotions, and Demetri recognized it as such. To turn him away would hurt Cho badly which was, as always, the very last thing Demetri wanted to do. Demetri’s eyes got softer, and he ran his free hand through his own hair.
“I care about you too Kim. Don’t ever doubt that.” Dem said softly.
Without even realizing what they were doing, they closed the inches between them and touched their lips together. Both men let out a soft sigh, and opened their mouth to the other. Their tongues touched, gently probing. For a moment, both forgot where they were, nothing existed but this. Their mouths stayed joined for a long minute, before they pulled away from each other for air. Cho’s eyes were filled with longing and love.
“I want you.” he said quietly to Demetri.
But Demetri knew he still needed to get Cho out of here. He didn’t have time to answer Cho, he instead was thinking.
I’ll tell him we’ll leave together. I’ll let him get out the window first, then close it and lock it so he can’t get back in.
He began to back Cho toward the window intending to do just that, but as he was about to say the words, chaos erupted. A flash bomb came flying through the window and though Demetri grabbed Cho and tried to get him out of harm’s way, it was too late. They were blinded and disoriented by the flash, the sound of men yelling filled the air. Demetri was pushed to the ground roughly, he turned his head and saw, as well as heard, Kim get the wind knocked out of him as he too, was pushed too roughly to the ground.
“Hey! Take it easy on him, he’s a minor!” Demetri yelled, then felt a smack to his head, as the cop handling him told him to shut up. He felt a knee in his back and his arms being jerked behind him to be cuffed.
He saw the other cop twisting Cho’s arms at an unnatural angle, heard Cho yelp in pain as the cop jerked his body up to feel him for weapons. Demetri cringed when he heard the cop say: “well, well what do we have here?” and pulled a gun off of Cho, as well as the jewelry Cho had taken, and the cocaine that had been shoved in his pocket by the other guy. Demetri saw the fear in Cho’s eyes, he wanted to make it go away.
“That’s mine! All that stuff is mine! I just gave it to him to hold, right before you guys busted in. It’s my gun. I stole the rings. I had intent to sell the coke. It’s all on me.” Dem lied.
‘The cop dug his knee deeper in Dem’s back, “I said, shut up.”
“Fuck you! I’m confessing! Did you all hear that? I confess to it all. He’s innocent.” Demetri said, and was struck in the head again by the cop.
“Stop it!” Cho suddenly said. “None of this is yours – you don’t have to cover for me.”
“Kim, shut up!” Demetri shot him a warning look, but it didn’t work.
“No, YOU shut up! If you’re going away for this, so am I!” Cho said, and at that the cop pulled him up and dragged him out of the house.
“No! Wait! You got it wrong! He didn’t do anything!” Demetri yelled, then took a sharp kick to the ribs, which made him lose his breath.
“You either shut up, or I shut you up.” the cop said, as he pulled Demetri to his feet and dragged him off as well.
They were put in separate cars. Demetri felt sick.
How did this all go so wrong?
Dem knew he’d be fine, but Kim…this was a class four felony times three! He was close enough to eighteen that it could go either way – juvie or prison.
No, this ain’t gonna happen! I’ll talk to someone. I’ll get him out of this. I can’t let this happen. Oh Kim…I’m…
Demetri turned is head as the car started pulling away. Cho was in the car next to him, their eyes met. Cho looked scared.
“I’m sorry” Demetri mouthed the words to Cho, then he was out of view.
Demetri was mumbling in his sleep, his body was thrashing a bit, sweat had made his shirt wet.
“No! Wait! You got it wrong! He didn’t do anything! HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” he mumbled in his sleep. The last sentence came out a yell, Demetri sat up fast, his eyes shot open. His heart was racing and he felt he was all wet. He put his hand on his shirt and pulled it away from his skin in an attempt to cool down. He rubbed his face with his hands.
“I’m sorry Kim.” he said, to the empty room, then sat there in silence for the rest of the night.
After dinner, Jane took Cho to the living room. They sat down on the couch together, close,but not too close. Jane made sure to bring a second bottle of wine along. Cho seemed more relaxed now, than when he had gotten there, but no relaxed enough for Jane to easily manipulate him - yet! Jane uncorked the wine and refilled Cho's, glass despite Cho's protests.
"Aw c'mon Cho! It's not like we need to be anywhere, and it's still early. We've got the whole night." Jane said persuasively, while reaching out and running his hand slowly down Cho's arm. He smiled and looked at him seductively. The combo again!
"Fine. But we're not drinking the whole bottle." Cho said.
It had been a bit tricky to make Jane think he'd drank his wine with dinner, he had to move quickly and quietly, each time the opportunity arose, to pour it down the sink. Jane kept refilling it, of course, as Cho knew he would. Kim would take sips making it look good, but while Jane thought he had had three glasses, Cho actually only had a grand total of about a half of a glass. Things would now become more difficult though, there was no sink in the living room.
Cho had made sure he appeared to be affected by the wine. He thought of it as going undercover, playing the role of a relaxed, very slightly inebriated man, while all the time his sharp mind was on high alert. He knew Jane was up to something, but what? The good news was, that because he was so focused on what Jane was up to, he was able to put thoughts of Demetri aside. Cho sat in his usual place on the couch which, lucky for him, happened to have a large potted plant within arms reach.
That'll do. Cho thought. When any opportunity arose, Cho would very smoothly pour small amounts of wine into the plant dirt. Jane was none the wiser. Cho knew that the advantage, when dealing with a man like Jane, was letting him think he was getting away with something. Not that Cho always beat Jane at his own game, he didn't, obviously Jane had duped him into showing up here tonight, with dinner nonetheless, but Cho beat him more times then Jane realized, and tonight would be one of those times.
Jane engaged Cho in conversation as he plied him with the alcohol; telling witty stories, making clever jokes, then finally turning on the charm. Cho was ready for it.
"You know," Jane started, "you're a good looking man Kimball Cho."
"Some would say. Others wouldn't." Cho replied.
"You're smart, brave, strong, responsible. Too responsible." Jane continued with the ego stroking.
"What's your point?" Cho asked.
"Well, all that responsible-ness....it begins to take a toll." Jane said, gesturing with one.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I don't want to see you so tense." Jane said.
"I'm not tense." Cho said.
"Well, maybe not now, I'm sure the wine helped." Jane said, and topped Cho's glass off, "But, you often get tense, don't you?"
"No."
"Oh come on. Sure you do. How can you not? Such a dangerous job you have and all. At least you got Rigsby to watch your back, hey?" Jane said.
Cho furrowed his brow. This is about Rigsby?
"I have the whole team." Cho said.
"True," Jane said, then decided to start his probinmg, "Have you ever not had the team? Or a team?"
"What do you mean? We go in pairs, you know that." Cho said, his mind trying to put togehter what this was really about.
Jane stood up and turned around so that he could reach the dimmer switch on the lamp. With Jane's attention diverted, Cho quickly poured almost all his wine into the plant, then put the glass to his lips, making it look like he was drinking, by the time Jane turned and sat back down. Jane smiled when he saw Cho finishing off the glass. By his calculations, Cho should be fairly pliable by now. He sat down, this time closer to Cho, and picked up the conversation where it had left off, while grabbing the wine bottle and emptying it into Cho's glass.
"Well, what I mean is, have you ever been given an assignment that takes you away from your usual team?" Jane asked.
"Sure. It happens." Cho said.
"And when it happens, are you paired with someone else?" Jane asked.
"Usually. Sometimes you're paired with a few others. It just depends." Where is he going with this?
"Have you ever been paired with someone you really don't like? Or maybe you liked him well enough at first, maybe you even became friends, but then somewhere along the way he maybe did something to really set you off and..." Jane was cut off before he finished.
"He? Who are we talking about, Jane?" Cho asked.
"Ah nobody specific. Just generally speaking. I'm merely wondering about it. Must be difficult to have to work with someone you don't like. So has it ever happened to you?" Jane asked.
"Yeah, sure, but you're not there to make friends, you're there to do a job. You get it done and go home. End of story." Cho said.
Jane leaned so that his arm was touching Cho's. Nothing unusual, often times their bodies touched when they sat together, and often they became affectionate this way, while watching tv together - though no tv was on currently - so Jane didn't think Cho would suspect anything. Especially not with his guard down, due to the wine.
Cho took a genuine sip of his wine, then leaned forward and set his glass down on the coffee table. When he leaned back, he put his arm along the back of the couch so that it was behind Jane. He felt Jane lean into him more, settling in. Cho felt a warmth spread through him; Jane made him feel needed. Still, he knew Jane was up to something and wasn't going to let these feelings of affection make him forget that.
~end