Orange Blossoms

Naked Sleep, pt 1

They’d put him through the wringer.

Throughout his career so far, Rey could count on one hand how many times his boss had chewed his ass out. This interrogation was one of them and it wasn’t something he ever wanted to repeat. He’d sooner stick his hand in fire before having to go through it again.

They made him go through it again and again and threw question after question at him, sometimes repeating several important ones to try and trip him up. But his story never changed and all the details remained true. Finally they’d called it to a close and he thought he’d be able to leave but he was very much wrong.

Suit, as Oranges liked to call him, had waltzed into the room and proceeded to lecture him about following protocol and how the whole thing could’ve been handled differently. Rey sat there and took it, not even flinching when he finally realized Suit was more upset about the possibility of losing Oranges as an asset than all the property and personnel damage that had occured.

In fact, if Rey didn’t know better, he’d think Suit had a hard on for his girl.

But he’d shaken that idea off when the man settled down and asked how he was doing. Quite frankly, Rey told him he’d be a hell of a lot better if he got a few hours of sleep, preferably next to a very irresistible CI that he was being sequestered with for the next three months. That part going unsaid. His boss had simply smiled, chuckled, and nodded like he understood completely.

However, Rey didn’t want him to understand. Hell, he didn’t always understand it. Letting the people he worked with know exactly how much she meant to him was…not something he wanted. Maybe it was the part of him that wanted to keep it private. He didn’t need everyone knowing his business. The important people knew what was going on between them and that was enough.

As soon as the process was over with, Rey was out of there in less than thirty minutes, his escort being beefed up with a following SUV. They weren’t taking any chances this time. Oranges and Vincent were the FBI’s premiere catches and his boss would be damned if that fragile truce was put in jeopardy because they hadn’t been smart enough to ramp up security on the one person the pair trusted. Suit was fairly certain if Rey wasn’t involved, then Oranges wouldn’t cooperate and if she didn’t cooperate then they could be damn sure Vincent wouldn’t either. Suit apparently wanted her cooperation more than anything else right now so he was willing to indulge and provide the protection needed.

As for Vincent, keeping and maintaining his trust would be as simple as making sure Oranges was happy and taken care of. Getting him to trust Rey in the first place had been hard and throughout the duration of the case, Rey would question whether or not the gangster really did trust him. Everything worked out in the end, however. Trust was earned and kept. If Rey had anything to say about it, it would stay that way.

By the time they got to the designated safe house, it was the early hours of the morning and Rey was beat. But a strange shot of adrenaline spiked through his blood as they pulled up in front of house. He knew for a fact that she was up there, whether or not she’d done what he said was another matter. Oranges could be difficult if she wanted to, depending on what mood she was in.

The safe house was a series of apartments overtop of a business, all of which used to be owned by a head mobster back in the fifties until everything was raided and seized by the FBI. They hadn’t chosen something that was out in the middle of nowhere like so many people would assume but nestled in amongst locally owned businesses located downtown of a small city. They were able to blend in better, somewhere no one would notice newcomers or say anything about their sudden disappearance. The guardians of the safe house managed the downstairs grocery store/café and occupied one of the four apartments.