A Night In
Posted on Wed Jun 30th, 2021 @ 8:03am by Level 1 Dominic Pierce
Mission:
The Factions
Location: Anacostia, Washington DC
Timeline: Present
Agent Jessica Mayhew thanked her Uber driver and headed up into her Anacostia brownstone apartment building. The neighborhood here was quiet, and it wasn’t far from SHIELD’s Washington headquarters across the Anacostia River from the Navy Yards. The building was three stories, with two apartments on each floor, north and south. Jessica’s apartment was on the first floor, three steps down, so it was semi-underground, which kept it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Her mail had piled up in her absence, so Jessica cleaned out her box and fumbled with her keys to get her door open. She spent enough time shuttling between Washington and the helicarrier to justify having her own apartment, and it was nice to have a place that felt like home. She was greeted by an insistent meowing as a grey tabby looked up indignantly from his perch on a cat post.
“Hey, Fitz. Did you miss me, buddy?” Jessica asked, giving the cat scratches. That seemed to earn some forgiveness, and then jumped down to twine about her legs, rubbing and marking her. Besides, Jessica noted, the food bowl was empty. Jessica dropped her bag on the couch and flipped through her mail. “Bill, bill, sweepstakes, bill…” She tossed it aside and filled the food and water for Fitz, then turned up the air conditioning. Washington was hot this time of year.
Going to her bedroom, Jessica took off her suit and hung it up to drop at the cleaners. She had several rather identical ones in her closet. She grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom, and soon she was luxuriating in the hot water. She wrapped her blonde hair in a towel to dry and dressed in comfortable flannel pajama shorts and a loose tank top. She had no plans to do anything but binge Netflix and cuddle with Fitz tonight. Jessica surveyed her meager refrigerator offerings. She should have gotten takeaway on the way home. So she grabbed up her phone and ordered a pizza and popped open a cold beer as she flopped down on the couch.
The Queen’s Gambit was just starting when Jessica’s work phone rang. She frowned. What did Pierce want now? She leaned over go grab it.
“Boss?” Jessica asked.
“Cancel your weekend plans,” Dominic Pierce said. “I want you in Chicago.”
“Me?”
“Yes. We tracked down where Carl Denti’s family ended up after his arrest, out in the suburbs. I figured you can kill two birds with one stone and pick up Orlando Gonzalez’s body as well as interview the Dentis. I’ll have someone pick you up in the morning for the first flight out of Dulles.”
Jessica blinked. That was efficient of Pierce. She was usually the ones to make those arrangements. “Yes, sir,” she said.
“And Mayhew?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Sorry to ruin your weekend.”
“No problem, sir. I haven’t been home since--”
“Yeah,” Pierce said. “Since the incident.”
Jessica swallowed and nodded. “It will be good to see my parents again.”
“Right. Keep me informed.” And Pierce hung up.
Jessica stared at her phone. Well, so much for a relaxing weekend before she returned to the helicarrier. Jessica hauled herself up and went to pack her bags. It didn’t take long. As an agent, she had to keep a quick go bag for just such work trips.
When she was packed, Jessica left her apartment and padded barefoot to knock at the door across the hall. “Evening, Mrs. Jackson. Sorry to bother you, but--” Jessica said, and then realized she wasn’t talking to the kind little old lady that lived across the hall. She blinked as she stared into the blue, blue eyes of a handsome young blonde man her age. She must have interrupted his workout or something, because he was only wearing athletic shorts and had the physique of Captain America. Jessica felt her mouth go a bit dry.
“You aren’t Mrs. Jackson…” Jessica managed. She cursed herself. Just her luck! Her job kept her busy, but she realized now that she hadn’t even attempted to get a date since...the incident.
The young man flashed Jessica a handsome smile. “Mrs. Jackson is my Gran,” he explained. “She won a cruise trip to the Mediterranean, so I’m house sitting until she gets back.”
“Oh. Uh, wow,” Jessica said, now feeling awkward standing there with her wet hair and lounging clothes. “It’s just, um, I’m going out of town last minute, and Mrs. Jackson usually watches my cat Fitz for me.” God, how does someone get that muscled?
There was that perfect smile again. “That doesn’t sound too hard. I think I could manage that.”
“Uh…”
“I’m James, by the way.” He offered his hand.
“Jessica,” she said automatically, taking the hand. It was just rough enough to indicate some manual labor. “The, uh, key is under the mat.” She bent over and lifted the mat to show him. Was he checking her out as she did? She flushed. “Let me write you down the instructions,” she said, quickly disappearing into her apartment.
“Pull it together, Jess!” she scolded herself, digging out a pen and some paper. “He’s just a guy. Sure, possibly the hottest guy you’ve ever seen, but you don’t have time for anything, and he’ll only be here a couple weeks.”
She finished off the note and went back out into the hall. James had pulled on a t-shirt that stretched tightly over his muscled physique and was leaning against the wall with his phone.
“Here you go,” Jessica said.
“Thanks,” James said. “Can I get your number?” He held up his phone.
Jessica flushed. Stop it! It’s just about your cat, not you! she told herself, taking the phone and adding her name and number.
“You can call me if there’s an emergency,” she said.
“What if there isn’t?” James asked.
Jessica blinked, trying to process the question. “Isn’t...an emergency?”
“Yeah. Like, to hang out. I’m new in town, so knowing a local would be nice.”
Jessica bit her lower lip. “Um, sure,” she said. She had to get out of here before she lost it and went to nibble along his happy trail to see just what was under those shorts. She turned abruptly back to her apartment, but stopped at the door and looked back at James.
“Um, I ordered a pizza expecting to eat the leftovers tomorrow, but...I won’t be here, so...you want pizza?” she asked. “I’ve got beer. And if you like baseball, the Nationals are playing. We could watch that.”
James grinned. “You had me at pizza,” he said, following her.
It wasn’t long after the pizza was finished and they both had a couple beers before Jessica had her tongue in his mouth. What the hell? Why couldn’t she live a little, like other women her age? She had a hot guy on her couch. What was wrong with a little Netflix and chill? His hands roamed her body, and she let out a soft moan as he caressed her breast, then stopped.
NO! Don’t stop! her hormones screamed.
“What’s this?” James asked. His thumb lightly caressed her skin as he slid the edge of her tank top down to reveal a puckered scar over her heart.
“Oh,” Jessica said. She’d hoped he wouldn’t notice that little flaw. “I, uh, got shot two years ago,” she told him.
“Shot!”
“Hazard of the job,” she said with embarrassment. “I’m a cop -- federal agent, really.” It was close enough to the truth. And it hadn’t been a bullet, but a metal spike shot out of the body of a mutant her team had been trying to apprehend. He was a member of the Brotherhood, a mutant terrorist network of independent cells. “They said I was dead when they got me to the hospital. Managed to get me back.
“Sounds dangerous,” James said, meeting her eyes. “Intense.” His hand slid into her tank top. She bit her lip as her nipple tightened at his touch.
“Only on Tuesdays,” she said breathily. And then she was peeling off his t-shirt and pushing him down onto the couch, lowering her mouth to his navel. She wanted to see just what treasure was at the end of that happy trail.
FIN
Agent Jessica Mayhew
SHIELD agent
NPC Dominic Pierce
James Jackson
Hot neighbor.
