The Showdown #3
“Damn it… ok, fine. I couldn’t stop thinking of you… during, after, before, on ops, when I was on fire in the fucking tunnel. You were always in my fucking head… I mean, I broke it off, it wasn’t fair to her. She knew…”
“She knew what exactly, Mr. Petras?”
“Fuck… she knew about how I felt about you. I guess I fucking talk in my sleep. There.”
She pursed her lips and nodded while looking away. Then, her head snapped back and she met his eyes. “And how do you feel about me?”
Simo’s head leaned back and he stared hard at the ceiling. “I don’t think…”
“Stop thinking.”
“Jessie, you know how I feel. It’s not right to just say it. Bad timing?”
She pointed her finger at him. “You really should say what you mean, Simo.”
“This is not fair…”
She cut him short. “In what way is it not fair?”
“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”
“You know… if you came clean in the beginning, we wouldn’t be here in this shit.”
“You mean in Athens?”
“I mean any time before today.”
“Ah. Yes.”
“What are you expecting by coming here?”
“Pardon?”
“What are you expecting after your apologies?”
“Well… to get thrown out when you were done yelling.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Victor texted me you wanted to back me up on my op.”
“I do.”
She shook her head in confusion. “Why are you acting all… like you have some shrink yakking in your ear. Wait, do you have an earpiece?” She reached over, grabbed his chin, and moved his head back and forth, checking his ears.
“Obviously, no.” He suddenly wished she didn’t pull her hand away. He drifted off for a moment, relishing the touch of her fingers on him.
“Well, answer already!”
“Oh! I was wrong. I don’t know how to be… only thing I can really do is to listen to you. I… don’t think I ever let myself listen to you.”
“Wow, that’s some introspection going on there.”
“I… thought I lost you. I mean, I thought you died. I… I felt crushed. Losing Marina was nothing compared to when I thought you died.”
“Bet you were pissed at me!” She let out a chuckle.
“No. Relieved. Booker ripped into me. He loved twisting his knife.” Simo let out a dry laugh.
“I bet.”
Simo pointed at the oxygen tank. “What’s up with that?”
“Oxygen therapy obviously.”
“You planning on dragging that along on your op?”
“Hey. We are not done here yet. I’m not discussing my op with you. But no, I wasn’t.”
“Understood.”
Jessie’s eyebrow rose. “I mean… aren’t you pissed at me one bit? Just a little?” She held up her thumb and forefinger.
“No. This is my doing. I had one hell of a wakeup call. I had to call Xander before I left…”
She let out a snort. “I should have died sooner.” She gave him a wicked smile, her eyes on fire.
“Can we not talk about you dying, please?”
She began nodding. “Fine.” She watched him and purposely kept quiet as he watched her. Then, his eyes drifted around as the silence loomed around them.
“If I sit here and stare at you, I’ll get in trouble. If I look around, then I seem timid. If I look at my phone or my hands, I look uninterested. Jessie, what am I supposed to do here? I do that same silence thing…”
“Ok, what do you want to do?”
“I… hadn’t thought that far. I expected things thrown and being kicked out.”
“I’m not Marina. I read her file, by the way.”
“Oh?”
“Do you know the CIA had listed her as operationally dangerous… to you?”
“I can see why they thought that.” He pointed at her chest. “How’s your wound?”
“That segue is not going to work.”
He smiled. “Can I clean up now?”
“That one will work. I’ll watch from the couch. I need to exchange tanks anyway.”
Simo quickly had the leftovers put away as Jessie was swapping tanks. He came over and stood behind the lounge chair, watching. “Can I help?”
“You are being so fucking weird.” She mumbled, shook her head, and got her mask over her mouth and breathed in the oxygen. “Who else is all in on your ‘Operation Jessie’?” She pointed to the seat and he sat down.
“My mother. And Eleni, of course.”
“Your mother? Do tell.”
“Ah… she told me to keep my mouth shut and listen to you. Xander said to give you all the time you need, and that I was stupid for not seeing it sooner, and he hopes things work out. He and Halo send their love.”
“Really?”
“Yes, they are both worried. Halo offered to fund this… well, you named it, so, yeah, operation Jessie.”
“Come on…”
“No lie. I… we all love you, Jessie.” Simo suddenly realized what he almost said and felt his face get hot.
She watched him for a long moment. “What did Eleni say?”
“Ah… well? She wished you well.”
She saw him turning redder and pushed. “What exactly did she say?”
“Jessie…”
“Exactly,” she demanded.
“Well… we should repeat Athens and don’t let you fucking leave this time.”
She cocked her head at him, watching him. “Is that what you want?”
He turned red, really red.
“It’s a simple question…”
“That’s loaded like a .50 cal armor-piercing round, Jessie!”
“How so?” She hid her smile.
“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t again. I don’t want to get kicked out.”
“So, you want to stay?”
“Yes.”
“In my bed?”
“Yes.”
“Was that so hard?”
“Yes.”