i love you from here

CHAPTER NINE

"Are you leaving?" Charlie asks. Jake is pulling on his boots. He grunts in confirmation. His eyes stay down, on his feet. Never breaking concentration, no matter what he's doing.

"Where's my gear?" he asks gruffly.

"Laundry hamper in the bathroom."

Jake walks back to the bathroom. Charlie can't help but glance at his bare back- he's the definition of ripped. He literally looks like one of those Greek statues carved out of marble. The front side of his torso is equally impressive, what with his abs and arms and all that. But she's not attracted to him. It's just interesting. It looks like he's missing his left shoulder blade, though. Or maybe it's just hidden by the metal connected to his arm.

What even is the point of shoulder blades?

Charlie reaches across the counter top for an apple while she ponders shoulder blades. She picks up a few apples before deciding on one. You don't need to see the color to tell if it's ripe. Charlie figured that out a long time ago. Apples that are ready to eat feel different from ones that aren't. They smell different, too. If they're not ready, they don't have much smell. Ripe apples smell like- well, apples.

Do apple orchards smell like apples? Charlie wonders. The apples would probably all have to be ripe at the same time for the smell to be noticeable. That would be a nice smell.

Getting distracted and running from one thought to another like this isn't uncommon for Charlie. But is it really being distracted when there's nothing else to do? What is she supposed to be doing right now, studying? While an assassin determined to make her HYDRA's bed-and-breakfast is gearing up in her apartment?

Highly unlikely.

"Where are my weapons?" Jake asks. His gear is slung over his shoulder. Charlie takes another bite of her apple. She's not going to give him his weapons until he's walking out the door. Jake scowls at her. "Where are they?" he demands.

"Get completely ready to go and I'll give 'em to you," Charlie tells him. He looks almost worried. Another bite of the apple is gone now.

"You think I'm going to kill you." His voice is more stable than it was earlier- he's recovering insanely fast. Either that, or he's faking it very well.

Jake's heart rate is going up. Charlie doesn't believe him. She thinks he's lying. He wouldn't lie. And if the whole she's-an-asset thing works out, she'll be his superior, which means that she has the right to recommend punishment. Lying only gets him punished.

Charlie tries to hold Jake's gaze, but he looks down the moment their eyes meet. "You could say that." Jake dumps his gear on the counter top and sorts through it. He pulls on his undershirt. It makes Charlie uncomfortable that he's getting dressed in front of her, even though she's the one who stripped him down in the first place.

At least he was unconscious then.

So you're more uncomfortable stripping down an unconscious man than watching him get dressed.

Charlie cringes and takes a bite of her apple. Jake is struggling to reach behind him to tighten the buckles on the back of his vest. Whoever designed the vest didn't want Jake to be protected unless they cleared it first and gave him help. Charlie's phone suddenly starts ringing. Jake flinches like he just got shot at.

"Hello?" Charlie answers.

Jake watches Charlie. If she says something about him, she's dead.

"Oh! Yeah, I'll come pick her up in half an hour or so. Thank you so much!" Charlie exclaims. She's smiling. Looks relieved.