Chapter 26 - Bulletproof


Fifteen minutes later Cate returned to her office to find Jon reclining on her couch, his Blackberry in hand. “Hi,” she said. “Sorry to run out on you – Floyd needed to discuss a student.”

“Danny told me.” Jon smiled. “S’alright. I know you have other students besides me.”

Cate glanced up at the clock. “We’d better get moving if we’re gonna get our FATS session in this afternoon.” She realized Jon was the sole occupant of her couch – none of his bags were sharing the space. “Where’s your gear?” she asked.

“Locker room.” Jon replied. “I figured you were sick having my crap laying all around your office.” He grinned. “You’re a bit of a neat freak, aren’t you?”

“What gives you that idea?” Cate asked warily. She was a bit anal-retentive about organization, but she didn’t think it was that obvious…

“Not a speck of dust in the place, all the pictures on the wall are straight, books arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner, papers stacked neatly in the in-box…” Jon pointed around the room as he spoke. Pausing, he gave Cate a teasing smile. “Need I go on?”

“Nope.” Cate answered quickly. Okay, so he’s perceptive…. “Let’s go – my stuff’s in my locker too.” She moved to the door as Jon stood and tucked his Blackberry into its holster on his belt.

They walked in silence down the hall and into the locker room. Jon could tell Cate’s mind was elsewhere – probably on the student that was being disqualified from training. He didn’t press.

It was obvious after watching her interact with the “real” students these last few days that she really did care about them, even if she didn’t show it publicly. He could imagine it was disappointing for her when one failed.

They entered the locker room and pulled bags from their lockers. “Do you have your body armor with you?” Cate asked.

“Yeah.” Jon extracted the vest from the pile in his locker, his groin tightening slightly as his mind flashed back to the measurement session in the supply room. Easy there, Big Boy. Don’t make the same mistake you did yesterday.

“Have you tried it on yet?” Cate obviously remembered the encounter, as well. Her voice was quiet and restrained, but with a hint of huskiness.

Jon shook his head. “Should I do it now?”

“Yeah, so if it doesn’t fit I can run down the hall and get you another one.” Cate responded.

She jumped as Jon started to pull his dark blue t-shirt up to remove it. “WAIT! Uh…you wear it over your shirt….unless you want to get a pretty uncomfortable rash…” Cate trailed off, blushing slightly at the sight of those perfect, tanned abs. Hello again….

Jon gave Cate a sweet smile and lowered his shirt, covering his stomach. He picked up the vest and looked at it, then turned it around. He undid one of the Velcro straps on the side, then struggled to hang on to the vest as the heavy black Kevlar microfabric flopped over, twisting around. He looked so utterly confused that Cate giggled softly.

“Here.” She stepped forward and took the vest from Jon’s hands. She deftly undid the two tabs on each side, then held the vest up by the shoulder tabs. “See, the little dip goes in the front, for your throat.”

She showed Jon the front, then the back of the vest, then lifted it up to drop it over his head. Jon ducked forward to put his head through the opening, and Cate almost sighed as his silky hair brushed over her fingers. She settled the armor down onto Jon’s broad shoulders.

Cate showed Jon how to wrap the vest around his torso, front panel over back at the sides, then secured the side Velcro tabs so it fit him snugly. She smiled as he fidgeted, trying to shift the vest into a more comfortable position. “Feels weird, doesn’t it?” she asked.

“Yeah. This isn’t the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn,” he answered, frowning down at the black shell encasing his torso.

Cate couldn’t stop herself from giggling. She tried to cover it by clearing her throat, but her mischievous expression gave her away. Jon gave her a bemused look. “What’s so funny?”

“Well, it’s not like you’re a stranger to…um…restrictive clothing,” Cate teased, pictures flashing through her mind of the many, many pairs of skin-tight pants she had enjoyed seeing him wear over the years.

Jon grinned. “Oh yeah, go ahead. Make fun of the hard-workin’ Rock Star just tryin’ to give the ladies what they want!” he chided her playfully. “Somehow I doubt you have any complaints.” He arched his eyebrows at Cate.

“I’ll plead the Fifth on that, Your Honor.” Cate replied, her eyes still twinkling merrily.

“Uh huh…” Jon replied sardonically, giving her a suggestive wink.

He wiggled again and grimaced in discomfort. “Crap, how do women wear these things?” he muttered, pulling at the arm holes to shift the vest on his pecs.

Cate laughed openly at that. “Yeah, Buddy. You think you’re uncomfortable? Imagine how I feel! I gotta strap the girls down good and tight.” She grinned. “But, you get used to it. The custom fit helps, and they mold to your body shape after awhile.”

“Why so tight? Aren’t these straps adjustable for a reason?” Jon squirmed again, an annoyed expression crossing his face.

“Well, you want the vest to fit you snugly, with no gaps, because you don’t want to take the chance of a bullet finding one of those gaps,” Cate said, the playfulness in her voice now replaced by a matter-of-fact tone.

“You wrap front over back so if you get hit in the front with a bullet and it changes direction, it follows the vest around the side and away from your body. If you wrapped back over front, a bullet could funnel right inside your vest and bounce around and shred your back. And even if you wear it right there’s always the chance your vest may not protect you.”

Jon saw a flash of something like remorse in Cate’s azure eyes. Jesus, she would know. “I see,” he answered quietly. May as well fess up now. “Danny told me about your…injury,” he admitted. “That must have been scary.”

Cate shrugged. “It was what it was. We all know what can happen out there. We accept the risk when we accept the badge.” She paused for a moment, her eyes meeting his. “I don’t regret what happened to me. It put me on another path in life. Everything happens for a reason.”

Jon nodded. Christ, she seems so calm about life and death. He remembered what Danny had said, about Cate not wanting anyone but trusted friends to see her “girly” side. So why does she get so worked up about someone seeing her as human? “Yes, it certainly does,” he agreed softly, returning her gaze.

Cate was quiet for another moment then smiled gently, clearly putting the memory aside. She gestured at Jon’s body armor. “That looks good.” You can take it off until we get to the FATS room. Unless you want to be all sweaty and uncomfortable before we even get there.” Like when I measured you for it. The hint of tease was back in her voice.

Jon undid the side tabs and pulled the vest over his head. At Cate’s direction, he slid his magazine pouches, cuffs, and holster onto his belt, taking a few minutes to position them correctly between the belt loops. He saw Cate surreptitiously check out his ass and smirked to himself, but didn’t say anything.

Cate was already wearing her gear on her belt, so she just grabbed her body armor bag from her locker as they readied to leave. “One more stop,” she said as they exited the locker room.

Cate led Jon to a small room next to the break room and punched a code into the cipher lock on the door. Jon saw it was nothing more than a large closet with what looked like a wall of lockers and a big, funny-shaped red barrel. He watched as Cate dropped her bag on the floor, pulled her Glock from its holster, and pointed its muzzle into the barrel.

She deftly unloaded and cleared the gun, then turned and caught Jon’s puzzled look. “Clearing barrel,” she explained. “Where we’re going, I don’t need my weapon.” She opened one of the small lockers and put the gun and clips of ammo inside, then closed the door and spun the dial. Picking up her vest, she stepped back out the door and closed it, ensuring it was locked.

“The little details of the job you never even think about.” Jon mused as they moved through the back door, out into the sunshine, and started walking toward a cluster of buildings adjacent to Range 7. He shook his head wonderingly to himself, falling into step beside Cate.

She saw his reaction and smiled. “Yeah, there are a lot of boring, mundane parts of our job. It’s not all kicking in doors and chasing Bad Guys.” Cate gave Jon a quizzical look. “I’m sure there are parts of your job that are less than exciting, too. It can’t be glamorous and amazing 24/7, can it?”

“Oh, absolutely! It’s always fabulous and awesome!” Jon answered sarcastically. “Especially all the PR crap. But that’s part of the biz. I would be perfectly happy to just write songs and sing them for people, but there’s a whole lot more that goes with it, at least if you wanna make a living at it.”

“And be the best at it.” Cate replied, giving him a sideways glance. Jon saw her blush slightly. Ah, and there’s The Fan….

“Well, not everyone would agree, but Thanks.” Jon turned on the “Hey Baby” smile, just for her.

He was rewarded with a deeper flush and a tiny, self-conscious little squeak from Cate. Teasing her more, Jon pursed his lips into his famous pout, his eyes twinkling roguishly.

“Alright, you…I thought you promised me this morning that you were gonna behave yourself?” Cate asked accusingly, smiling broadly despite herself.

“Oh yeah…I mean ‘Yes Ma’am’.” Jon responded contritely. Then he pouted at her again, just to see her squirm.

“Damnit, Jon!” Cate exclaimed. “You better cut that shit out when we get to the training room!” She couldn’t stop smiling, though she was serious… she didn’t want a repeat of yesterday. She looked away from him, toward their destination.

Jon chuckled. “I promise, I will.” He leaned in toward Cate as they walked. “Don’t want you to have to lay on top of me again, like last night.” He couldn’t resist the tease. “Not that I really minded…it’s fine with me if you wanna be on top,” he said conspiratorily.

Cate blushed again as her heart skipped a beat. Damnit all to Hell…stop putting those images in my brain!!!

Cate didn’t answer, keeping her eyes focused forward as they approached the building. Damned if she was gonna let herself get sucked into another battle of wills with Jon.

He noticed her jaw tighten as she bit back her response and he grinned, also turning his gaze forward.

4 comments:

  1. Oh, come on! How should I survive the weekend with those pics in my head? lol

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  2. I will not survive the weekend Catte, unless you post the "dream date"!!!!! MERCY PLEASE!!!!!

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. But Bay, it's only Thursday! There's a whole lot goin' on before Saturday! (If Cate doesn't blow it...) ;)

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