* DISCLAIMER * This is a non-profit work of fan-fiction involving characters created and owned by Marvel Comics Group. This story contains EXPLICIT SEX. If you are offended by such things, please do not read this story. * WRITTEN BY * Samy Merchi * ARCHIVED AT * http://mash.yok.utu.fi/corona.html * STARRING * Roberto "SUNSPOT" Da Costa Theresa "SIRYN" Rourke Cassidy in ******************* * WHO'S THE BOSS? * ******************* * CO-STARRING * Samuel Zachery "CANNONBALL" Guthrie James "JIMMY" Proudstar Tabitha "MELTDOWN" Smith * ALSO STARRING * "DOMINO" Jesse "ANNOYING LITTLE PRICK" Aaronson * GUEST STARRING * Wade "DEADPOOL" Wilson * AND STARRING * Tzipporah as Danielle "MIRAGE" Moonstar * CONTINUITY * This story takes place: * after X-FORCE #86 * before X-FORCE #87 This story differs from canon as follows: * Dani and Roberto are a couple (see my story VALENTINE'S NIGHT for details) * Roberto and Tabitha's relationship in X-FORCE #75-86 has been reduced to them sleeping together once, thus cheating on Dani and Sam, respectively. * MATURE CONTENT * This story includes: EXPLICIT SEX (m/f masturbation consensual) * DEDICATED TO * Red Monster Here's lookin' at you, kid. Wouldn't have written this without you. *** ******************************* * CHAPTER ONE: Past Revisited * ******************************* *** "Like what y' see?" "I most definitely do", Roberto Da Costa answered as he watched the water pour over Theresa Rourke Cassidy, matting her long red hair against her head, onto her shoulders, and over her back, turning it a slightly darker shade than usual. Her average-sized breasts were firm and faintly upturned, two small but perked-up red nipples pointing outwards, screaming for attention. Between her legs, a similarly red tuft of pubic hair was also matted and darkened by the water flowing over the female figure, the sharp edges of the trimmed hair becoming very clearly visible. "Turnabout's fair play, they say", Theresa replied with a mischievous smile, and grabbed the towel around Roberto's waist, then with a swift motion yanked it off and threw it away somewhere onto the bathroom floor. She didn't know where it ended up, her eyes were on the delicious five-inch erection that emerged from under the towel, and the eager way in which it pointed away from his athletic, lean, chocolate-colored body, and towards her softer, paler figure. "And all is fair in love and war", Roberto commented as he stepped into the shower with Theresa, leaving the curtain open behind him as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his hot, hard body against hers underneath the cascade of warm water. She didn't waste time, and reciprocated his embrace. Slender arms coiled around his back, and crushed him tightly against her chest, even as his hands proceeded lower down, to hold her rear. She raised her legs up, to capture his waist, and felt his hardness against her suddenly throbbing sex. A soft wheeze escaped her lungs as he slammed her back against the wall of the shower, and pushed himself against her, trapping her between rock and a hard thing. She hissed, and pulled herself a bit higher on his body, so she could get his length to the right spot. With a moan, she roughly lowered herself onto him, feeling his thickness fill her and please her. "Oh...oh yes..." He grunted and started pushing against her. The water flowed over them, combining with the passionate exertion, to make them sweat as they coupled animalistically -- she squeezing him within her, he moving inside her, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... Their thoughts faded away into mindless pleasure consisting only of movement back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... *** ...back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... The fingers stroked furiously over the aching point, trying to unleash all the built-up need and frustration in an overwhelming explosion of orgasm. The body shuddered, again, again and again, as tremors of approaching climax wracked it mercilessly, waves of pleasure crashing all over it, caressing it, stroking it as if there was nothing in the world left but sex, and the overpowering need for it... A soft whimper erupted from the throat, but teeth bit down on the bottom lip to muffle the sound so anyone wouldn't hear it. If anyone found out about the masturbating, all of the hard-earned respect would go straight down the drain. So silence was of the essence, and it was maintained as the wild orgasm crashed thru body and mind, melding with the delicious fantasy stemming from that incident not so long ago, when he had walked in on her taking a shower... The orgasm passed. The body spasmed a few final times. The hips bucked, and then fell down onto the sweat-dampened sheets. Heavy breathing resumed, though it was kept as quiet as possible so as to not catch the attention of anyone passing by the room. "Mmmm..." the lips whispered softly as the body slowly relaxed, muscles limp and exhausted from the furious tensing and clenching the climax had induced. "That would be so..." *** "AWESOME!" "Of course it is...'awesome', as you so charmingly put it, Tabitha", Roberto commented, wrinkling his nose a bit disdainfully as he stepped out of his new car. "Not all of us relish the idea of using a twenty-year-old, beaten-up, dusty, scruffy, malfunctioning little piece of junk as our choice transportation." Danielle Moonstar leaned backwards against the wall of the warehouse where the mutant team X-Force currently lived. "I see you still haven't gotten over your obsession, 'Berto", she smiled with amusement as she looked over the bright red Ferrari Testarossa. "Been watching many Magnum reruns lately?" "Feh", Roberto shot a mock-annoyed glance at Dani. "I do not need to watch reruns to remember the greatest television show ever." "When is it on?" Tabitha asked. "9:30 pm every Tuesday night", Roberto replied. *** "Doesn't it hurt?" KLAKKT! "Ah've learned ta deal with it, Jim", Samuel Zachery Guthrie replied as he parried the bo staff with his own, going to a crouch and raising the staff horizontally above himself. "Fekt!" James Proudstar cursed as his overhead blow glanced off Sam's staff and left him off-balance and vulnerable to a counterattack. His muscles quickly tensed in anticipation of the coming blow. "Fekt??" Sam asked as he brought his staff around from the parry and sweeped low with it, intending to knock Jimmy's feet from underneath the Apache. "Fekt?? When did you turn into Shatterstar?" "I guess I picked up a couple of things from him", Jimmy answered as his legs thrust, sending him upwards in a leap. Not only did he go over Sam's staff, but also over Sam himself, landing in a crouch behind the Kentuckian before finishing his sentence with, "when we trained together." "*Now* you tell me", Sam hissed, just before feeling his opponent's staff smash right into his back, sending a spasm of pain thru him as he lost his balance and toppled forwards with an "UNGH!" "Well, would *you* reveal that you had the upper hand *before* starting the fight?" Jimmy asked as he brought his staff around and prepared to administer the coup d' grace to Sam. "As I recall, your keeping cards hidden was what got us victory when Exodus came calling..." "Good memory", Sam wheezed as he tried to recover from the blow that had laid him low, but knew he couldn't do it fast enough to dodge staff that was already whistling down thru the air towards him. "What --?" Jimmy blinked as his blow glanced off the blast field that suddenly appeared around Sam, a dull orange glow of biochemical energy which served as an impenetrable force field. "I thought we agreed no powers!" "Ah've decided you've been using yoah superfast reflexes", Sam simply replied, and kicked out with his left leg, using it to sweep Jimmy's legs from underneath the Apache while the surprise still had its maximum effect. "UNFF!" Jimmy coughed as he toppled backwards and crashed onto his back onto the floor, momentarily breathless and helpless from the impact. "*Now* you tell me", he said, and opened his eyes, only to see Sam's tall form towering beside him, and holding the tip of his staff against Jimmy's throat. "Like you said, Jimmy", Sam smiled, "mah keeping cards hidden is the key ta winning." He lowered his staff away from Jimmy's throat, and instead extended his hand down at the Apache, offering to help him up. "An' I'm pretty good at playin' cards -- just ask Gambit", he smiled playfully, recalling the time when he had beaten the Cajun thief in a game of poker. "I don't doubt that one bit, Sam", Jimmy answered as he took Sam's hand and pulled himself up. "You always were a player. Much more of a fighter and leader than I've ever been." "Don't sell yourself short, Jimmy", Sam answered, and picked the Apache's staff from the ground to join his own staff in his hand. Then, he put both staves away onto the rack on the wall of the training room. "You've always been the heart and soul of X-Force, from the beginning. The backbone's that's always been there. And don't think we don't appreciate it." "It's not that I think you don't appreciate it", Jimmy answered, and walked over to one of the closets in the large hall, and pulled out two towels. "But I really don't see myself as the heart and soul of the team, Sam." He tossed the other towel over to Guthrie, and then dried his own face off with the remaining one. "That's always been you. Or maybe Bobby, in a weird way." "We've both been away from the team for long times", Sam answered as he caught the towel and wiped his face dry as well, then flipped the towel onto his shoulder. "You've always been here." "Doesn't matter", Jimmy answered and turned around, heading for the door to the showers. "You and Bobby've been around since the New Mutants begun. That's still a hell of a lot more time than I've been here." "Well, it's not the length that counts, it's how you use it", Sam grinned as he followed Jimmy into the showers. "So what're you planning?" "I wish I knew", Jimmy answered as he tossed his towel down onto a bench and then pulled off his sweaty shirt. "I just feel like -- like, you know, I'm on the team because there's nothing else I know. Not because I *want* to be here." "Ah see", Sam nodded and started stripping himself off as well. "Ah guess that might be a mite like what Ah felt like on the X-Men. All mah life, I've figured that's where Ah wanted ta go, but once I got there -- well, once Ah got there, it wasn't so special. And I just kinda hung on with them, until Ah realized mah place wasn't with 'em, it was with mah family -- you guys." He paused as he started pulling off his pants, stripping himself down to his white cotton briefs. "Maybe -- if'n ya don't feel at home here, maybe your place's somewhere else, Jim?" "I dunno, Guthrie", Jimmy mused. "I don't *have* anywhere else. You had something to return *to* -- I don't. I think it'd be more running away *from*, than going back *to*, if I left." "Running away from Terry?" Sam asked as he slipped his briefs off, and headed towards the showers. Jimmy sighed and looked down for a moment, then shrugged as he finished stripping off as well, and headed after Sam to the showers. "I suppose." "Speaking o' Terry", Sam frowned, and turned his shower on, flinching slightly as the cold water started pouring over him before starting to adjust the temperature upwards gradually, "what's with this Risque gal? What's her story?" "Saved me from Selene", Jimmy answered a bit tensely, "took me to Florida with her, we had some fun, she betrayed me. Sold me off to some guy named Sledge. I think she was in debt to him over something, and he wanted me to do a job for him...fetch the Vanisher out of some pocket dimension." He shrugged, and turned his shower on, standing beside the water fall while he waited for it to get warm, before stepping underneath it. "I don't want anything to do with Gloria anymore." "But you were happy with her?" Sam asked as he let his neck go limp, his head dangling forwards lazily as the shower caressed his exercise-tensed body. "Well, until she sold me off, yeah", Jimmy frowned a bit angrily. "Jimmy", Sam said calmly. "Sometimes we do things we regret. Even the best of us make mistakes. If she's all ya got outside X-Force, maybe you oughta give her a second chance?" "Would you give Tabitha a second chance?" Sam froze in place, and winced mentally. He stayed quiet for a long time, and then said, "Ah guess Ah see your point." "Which brings us back to what we were talking about during the exercise", Jimmy said quietly, as he took a bottle of shampoo and started rubbing the liquid into his hair. "How can you manage seeing Tabitha together with Bobby? I don't think I could handle seeing Terry with another guy..." "No use cryin' over spilled milk, Jimmy", Sam said as he rolled his head around from side to side slowly. "Ah messed things up, an' Ah've gotta face the consequences. If Ah'd been more attentive to her, we might still be together. It ain't her fault, or Bobby's." "I wish I could have an attitude like that", Jimmy mused. "If I saw Terry with another guy, I'd just end up thinking over and over again, what's that guy have that I didn't? Why did he succeed and I didn't? And I suppose I'd get bitter that she'd choose him and not me. If that ever happened, I couldn't stick around to watch it." Sam nodded silently, and started lathering up his blond hair with shampoo as well after he felt his neck muscles were at least somewhat relaxed and less achy. "What coupla guys we are, huh? The two girls in the world that we love, and they don't want us." "Life sucks, Sam. I learned that when my brother joined the X-Men, and got killed. And when I quit the Hellions, and went back home to Camp Verde, to see everybody dead. And when I joined X-Force, and found out all my old classmates had been killed by that bastard Fitzroy." James Proudstar sighed and shook his head as he started to rinse his hair. "I've been hurt so much already...I just want to settle down and be happy for a change." "Ah've noticed you don't use the 'Warpath' name anymore", Sam pointed out questioningly. "I don't hold a grudge against Xavier anymore for John's death", Jimmy answered. "And I've found out Stryfe was responsible for the Camp Verde massacre, and well -- he's dead. And we killed Fitzroy back at your place in Kentucky, when the Younghunt was on, as far as I know." He shrugged, and reached for the soap after his hair was thoroughly rinsed. "There's nothing to be on the warpath against anymore, Sam." "Well, except the general anti-mutant sentiment", Sam answered. "But Ah dunno if you've ever gone for that particular battle." "I'm not a politician, Sam. I'm no good with words", Jimmy replied. "If I was, I'd be with Terry." "You hope." "Well, yeah. I hope." Jimmy sighed and shook his head. "No use hoping. I just wish --" He paused, and frowned a bit, then shook his head again and said, "Nevermind." "What?" Sam asked as he got a bar of soap and started lathering his hands up as his eyes lingered confusedly on the form of James Proudstar. James sighed, and bit his bottom lip. Then, he lightly hit his fist against the wall of the shower room. "Well, this is going to make me sound like a jerk -- but I wish we could've made love. Even if it'd have been just once. I just -- I would've wanted something to remember her by." He snorted faintly. "I guess this is the male sex-centered mindset speaking." Sam blushed slightly. "So you -- Ah mean, you two -- you never actually --?" "Nope", Jimmy answered, and ran the soap under his arms, then down his sides to his hips. "Not even close." "Oh", Sam said quietly, and turned away from Jimmy to hide the slight arousal he was starting to get from the thought of Theresa in conjunction with sex. He tried turning his thoughts away from Theresa, and asked, "Have you and Dani been talking much lately? I remember you and her used to have something going back in the old days..." "Maybe something small, but it never amounted to anything", Jimmy sighed again. "Seems like every time I get to like someone, I don't have the guts to say or do anything about it because I'm scared they don't feel the same way, and they'll run away. Not that I've really liked that many people, in that way... I used to like Dani, but I don't know anymore... And then there's Terry... And Gloria. And I think that's about it." He smiled faintly. "At least there was one good thing about Gloria", he said bitterly. "She was great in bed." The smile quickly faded, and he murmured quietly, "Not that I have much to compare her to..." "Well, Ah don't have that much experience mahself", Sam smiled sadly. "Ah used ta have the biggest crush on Amara -- never thought Ah'd get over her givin' me the cold shoulder until Ah met Lila, an' she swept me off mah feet. And after her -- well, there was Tab. And that's it for me." "Did you sleep with both Lila and Tabitha?" Jimmy asked curiously, quirking an eyebrow as he started soaping up his crotch, a slight swelling beginning within him. "Yeah", Sam blushed. "Lila's the one Ah lost mah virginity to. She was a dang sex maniac. Taught me pretty much all Ah know", he answered. "Not that Tabs fell much short'a Lila..." "Yeah, I know what you mean", Jimmy said, and started getting a hint of a smile back to his lips. "Gloria was like that, too... We spent a couple of weeks almost entirely in bed." He turned around to show his back to Sam, and the huge bird tattoo covering almost the entire back. "That's when I got this. I don't know if I should regret it or not." Sam glanced over his shoulder, and then blinked at the sight, turning fully around to see it properly. "Wow", he commented, and then said, "Paige's always been teasin' me about wanting to get a tattoo. Ah guess now that she's got her huskin' powers, Ah might actually let 'er do it." He smiled, and said, "Ah can tell 'er to get rid of it whenever Ah want." "Handy power to have", Jimmy said, and glanced down a bit, at Sam's full eight-inch erection. "No wonder you hooked those two", he chuckled faintly. "I can't imagine why they'd have wanted to leave you though..." Sam blushed crimson, and turned around again to hide the evidence of his arousal, kicking himself mentally over having even gotten onto this topic. "Size ain't everything, Jimmy -- 's what Lila used to always tell me back when we were together..." "I suppose that's true", Jimmy nodded. "I mean, Bobby doesn't have a particularly big one, and he seems to do well enough..." "Well, he's the *only* one of us who does, period", Sam replied. "Sometimes when he and Tabs can't keep quiet at night, Ah'm about ready ta walk in and clobber them for flaunting it and not keeping it down." Jimmy chuckled slightly at the mental image. "They'd probably invite you to join them", he joked. "Not funny, Jim", Sam said with a faint glare in the direction of the Apache, and then sighed with a shake of his head. "Sorry. Ah guess they're still a sore spot with me." "That's understandable", Jimmy said, and turned his shower off after rinsing all the soap off himself. "Like I said earlier, I'm still pretty sore about Terry myself." "We'd better just drop the topic", Sam nodded, and started rinsing himself off. "So, what do you think of Jesse?" "I'm not sure yet", Jimmy answered as he walked off to the bench and grabbed his towel, starting to dry himself off. "That boy feels like he's hiding more secrets than almost anyone I've ever met. And he knows more about us than I feel comfortable with. And it's like he's trying to push all our buttons somehow." "Yeah, 's what I'd thought, too", Sam said as he turned his shower off, and walked over to his bench, sitting down with a thoughtful expression. "I'd better have a word with Dani and Dom about him." "Sure you want to talk to Dom about him?" Sam quirked an eyebrow at Jimmy's words. "What do you mean?" "Well, just that -- well, I don't know. He seems to be hanging around Domino an awful lot. And Domino doesn't seem to mind." James Proudstar shrugged faintly. "Just an odd feeling at the back of my neck. Nevermind." A concerned frown rose slowly onto Sam's face, but he then discarded it. "Ah'll think about it." He finished drying himself off, and started getting dressed again. "In the meantime -- how about that codename?" he asked. "Locus said you'd one day take on the name Pridewalker." "I wouldn't take *anything* Locus says at face value", Jimmy said with a wrinkle of his nose as he pulled his pants on. "It might've all been a trick. If it wasn't, and she *has* seen the future -- well, she might've changed it by telling me. And if she was lying -- I'm definitely not picking that name. I'll pick my names myself, rather than rely on a two-bit MLFer." "Thought about going back to Thunderbird?" Sam asked as he pulled his shirt on. "I've thought about it", Jimmy nodded. "But it feels like a step back, to being a kid, rather than going ahead. On the other hand", he shrugged, "it might be who I am." Sam nodded and walked over to a mirror, starting to comb his moist hair. "Well, as long as it ain't 'Deadpool', Ah won't have a problem..." Jimmy groaned softly. "Don't even remind me of that lunatic." He took a deep breath, and said, "Actually, I've been considering 'Mustang'." "You're gonna name yourself after a car?" Sam quirked an eyebrow. "Not just a car, Sam", Jimmy said. "But what it stands for. The wild expanse of America, and a stallion riding free, fast as the wind..." "Ah suppose it does have a kinda glamor at that", Sam shrugged, and put his comb away. "Like Ah said, your call, Jim." James nodded slowly, and then headed out of the shower room, exiting into the training hall. Sam almost bumped into Jimmy's back as he realized the Apache had stopped almost dead in his tracks after going thru the door. "Hello, Theresa." *** SCREEEEECH Danielle Moonstar watched calmly as the bright red sportscar curved onto the street, slammed down its brakes and skidded the rear around with the screeching complaint of strained rubber. The car slid into place perfectly onto its parking spot beside the warehouse where the mutant teens of X-Force currently lived. KRSH Almost perfectly. "Ah, droga!" Roberto Da Costa muttered as he looked to the side mirror and saw the left-hand rear corner of the Ferrari in way too close proximity with a lamppost. He wrinkled his nose and his lips drew into a slight pout. "Nice going, Evil Kneivel", Tabitha Smith commented sarcastically from the passenger's seat. "I guess I should be thankful you didn't get either of us killed..." "Evil Kneivel drove a motorcycle", Roberto grunted as he swung open his door and stepped out of the car, heading over to the back of the car to check the damage. "So?" Tabitha shrugged as she exited the vehicle as well and walked over to the back of the car to join Roberto. "A trick driver's a trick driver. And face it, you're definitely not one", she grinned. "Harumph", Roberto just muttered and ran his fingers over the dented metal and the shattered tail light. "Stupid car doesn't *handle* right..." "Oh, right", Danielle smiled as she walked over to the pair, and rested her chin on Roberto's shoulder playfully. "Far be it from *you* to actually have a *shortcoming*..." "Bobby?" Tabitha mock-gasped in horror at the tall Cheyenne woman, her eyes widening in an exaggerated expression. "A *shortcoming*? Oh *please*, Dani, *say* it ain't *so*!" Roberto grumbled and shot a glare at the two women, then started to walk away towards the entrance to the warehouse, a storm cloud saying "I hate you two" almost visible over his head. The two women managed to hold a quivering smile until he had entered the building, and then collapsed into uncontrolled laughter, Dani leaning against the lamppost and Tabitha banging her fist against the back of the Ferrari. *** "H'lo, Jimmy", Theresa Rourke Cassidy grunted without looking over towards the two men emerging from the shower room. Her attention was on the 100 pounds of steel she was holding up as she lay on her back on the bench. Gradually, she brought the bar downwards, making sure to hold it all the way and not let her muscles buckle and let it fall. KLANGG Steel met steel, as the bar descended onto its support-rest-thingee, and Theresa let her muscles relax for a moment, her grip on the bar loosening, and then ending completely as her exhausted arms fell limp beside her. "Um, I need ta head off t'... Ah've got something to do", Sam Guthrie said and started to head towards the door out of the gym hall. "See you later, guys..." James Proudstar quirked an eyebrow at Sam, and then glanced briefly to Theresa. "Yeah, me too", he said. "Take care, Terry. Be careful, don't hurt yourself..." He turned his back on her and followed Sam towards the exit. Theresa's eyes narrowed at the two men, but she didn't say anything as they opened the door out of the gym. "Oof", Sam uttered as he bumped straight into Roberto Da Costa in the doorway. "Hi Bobby -- sorry", he said, stepping thru the doorway to make way for the Brazilian to enter the gym. "No problem", Roberto replied with a slightly stormy expression and followed up with a "Hi, Sam", and a quick nod to his best friend. He then turned his eyes onto Jimmy. "Proudstar", he said neutrally, and gracefully slipped past both of them into the gym. "Hey Bobby", Jimmy replied more amicably than the black man, and then with a brief wave of his hand, exited the gym, closing the door behind him. Roberto Da Costa's angry eyes found the sweaty body of Theresa Rourke Cassidy, and slowly traveled up to meet her narrowed eyes. *** "He isn't too fond of me, is he?" "Not too, nope", Sam Guthrie answered as the two men headed towards the kitchen areas of the warehouse. "Ah think he never did. Dunno why. Bobby gets that way with some people." He shrugged and glanced to James Proudstar. "Sorry about that. He's mah best friend, but he really can be a stubborn ass sometimes." "It's okay", Jimmy answered as they entered the kitchen areas and he headed over to the fridge, opening it and taking out a pitcher of orange juice. "It's not like I'm trying to win over his heart or anything -- speaking of which, you don't really have anywhere to get to, do you?" Sam shook his head and took a bag of sliced bread out of a cupboard. "Nope", he answered. "Just thought Ah'd give you and Terry an opening if y'all wanted ta talk." He opened the bag and took out some bread slices. "Don't look like you wanted to." "The *last* thing I need these days is to talk to her", Jimmy replied and took two glasses out of another cupboard and poured them full of the orange juice. "I'm trying to get my heart to *forget* her, and seeing her wherever I turn isn't exactly helping. I guess that's part of why I want to run away. If I stay here, it's just tearing the wound open again and again, and never letting it heal." "Ah understand", Sam nodded and pulled out a sharp knife, starting to slice up some cheese, sausage and tomatos to put between the bread slices. "Ah don't feel the same way, but Ah understand. T' tell ya the truth, Ah've been thinkin' o' takin' Tabitha back..." "At least she *wants* you back", Jimmy commented as he quickly gulped down his glass of juice, and then re-filled it. "I'm just going to be hurt if I stick around. You at least have a chance of getting together with Boomer." He shrugged slightly. "I think you should. Everyone can see you two love each other." "Well, Ah *do* love her, but..." Sam frowned and finished slicing stuff up, and started to lay them between the bread slices, accompanied with big bushes of salad. "She *cheated* on me, Jim. How'm Ah gonna know she won't do it again?" "You don't", Jimmy answered as he grabbed one sandwich as Sam finished it. "But let me ask you one question -- isn't she worth the risk?" He peered at the sandwich in his hand thoughtfully a moment, and then quirked an eyebrow, asking, "No butter?" Sam smiled faintly, and shook his head. "Sorry. Ah don't use butter, didn't think to put some in for you..." He opened the fridge and pulled out a container of butter. "Here ya go, have a ball." He then resumed making the next sandwich with a thoughtful expression. "As for Tabitha..." *** "You really love him, don't you?" "God, yeah, Dani", Tabitha Smith answered as she opened the door and entered a small Turkish restaurant, closely followed by Danielle Moonstar. "I'm dying without him", she said with a pained expression as she glanced around the mostly empty estabilishment and nodded questioningly towards a remote corner booth. Dani nodded in agreement and the pair headed over to the booth, took off their jackets and tossed them over the backs of their seats. "I'm sorry", she said quietly, and then glanced towards the cash register where a Turkish man -- who, despite not being black, somehow reminded her of Roberto's father -- was waiting for them to come over and order. "You know what you wanna get?" "I guess", Tabitha nodded and started heading over to the counter, glancing up to the board above the man for the selection and quickly picked something. "A marmara and a large Coke, please", she told the man and dug up some cash from her pocket, handing it over to the man. "Strong or mild sauce?" the man asked in an accented voice which made Tabitha blink once before her brain wrapped around the sentence and managed to filter out the accent. "Um...mild, thanks", she answered, and then stepped aside to let Dani order, while she occupied herself with grabbing a fork, a knife and some paper from the table next to her. "I'll have a Pizza Tropicana, thanks, and some milk", Dani told the man and dug up her wallet. "And plenty of oregano, please", she smiled as she handed over the cash, then stuffed the wallet back into the back pocket of her jeans. "All right. Will be ready in fifteen minutes", the man nodded and turned around, heading off the cash register and into the kitchen area behind him, starting to get busy. Dani grabbed a fork, a knife and some paper as well, and then headed back to their table with Tabitha. "I'm sorry about Sam -- but he'll take you back, I *promise*. He's too soft to stay angry forever. Just give him a while to get over it..." "Thanks", Tabitha said quietly as she sat into her chair and stared quietly down at the table for a moment. "You're being too nice to me, you know. It *was* your boyfriend I scr...uh, slept with..." Dani smiled, a hint of sadness passing over her eyes briefly. "You can say 'screwed' to me. I'm not sixty years old", she made a half-hearted joke in an attempt to lift the mood slightly. "And..." A frown broke thru onto her face for a moment, forcing her to swallow a bit. "Well, let's just say that if we have to routinely put our lives in each others' hands, there's no room for grudges, Tabitha..." "I wish Sam felt that way", Tabitha said quietly, and drummed the table nervously with her fingers. Then, the fingers paused, and she looked hesitantly into Dani's eyes. "I really didn't mean to screw him...honest. It just...happened... I'm really sorry..." "It's okay", Dani said with a sad smile. "It's okay... I've put this behind me, and...well..." She forced a grin. "Let's just drop the topic, okay? I don't want to remember any of it... 'Berto cheated on me once, it happened, there's nothing I can do about it except try to forget it..." "I swear it won't happen ever again..." Tabitha offered. "It'd better not", Dani said sharply. *** Theresa Rourke Cassidy watched Roberto Da Costa's bare torso glisten with sweat all over, and the slacks covering him from waist-down starting to stick to his skin from the perspiration. She watched those gorgeous muscles, tense and flowing underneath the chocolate skin, the image of perfection, a sight that could make statues envious. It mesmerized her. "...four hundred ninety eight...nnngg...four hundred ninety nine...nnn-nnff...FIVE hundred!" he said triumphantly, and then with a "Gnahh!" sound lowered the metal bar onto its support structure. KLANNG "Not bad", Theresa said with a voice that was slightly breathless, even though she hadn't done anything but watch him the past few minutes. She couldn't restrain her tongue from flicking out and licking her lips very briefly. "'Not bad'?" Roberto asked with a disdainful voice, his exhausted eyes opening to look at Theresa standing at the head of the bench. "Half an hour ago, you were straining to get a *tenth* of five hundred with a *third* of this weight..." "Tha' was me", Theresa replied off-handedly. "You're you. I don't work out near as much as y' do." "Hnh", Roberto snorted, and sat up on the bench, bending forward to touch his forehead to his knees, letting out a relieved "Ahh" at the feeling of a vertebrae pop in his back. He slipped off the bench and stood straight, extending his aching arms above his head and stretching them out before lowering them to his sides. "So what *will* I have to do to impress you?" Theresa quickly bit back a "Just stand there" comment, and looked into the Brazilian's eyes thoughtfully. "When I was stayin' on Muir Isle, me da took me on a run 'round the island early every mornin'." She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. "Beat me at runnin', an' I'll be impressed." A very mischievous smirk slowly crept onto Roberto's face. "Deal."