Fearless Leader (Juxtapose City) (6 page)

"You only try to break the sound barrier when you're upset over something," the other man continued, unfazed by the warning. "Is it the new guys joining today?" In a quieter voice he added, "Is it Starr?"

"I said leave it alone," Black snapped, his hard-fought equilibrium starting to waver.

"Oh, no you don't," Jake shot back, standing up. "I can see those wheels turning, telling you to push me away. Not gonna happen, Black. I'm on your side, remember? I'm not trying to weaken you I'm trying to help you. You keep it all bottled up like you do and you're gonna explode one of these days. JC2's leader can't afford that risk."

Black stormed up to the other man and though Jake was taller and currently stood on a step above him Black's glare was no less powerful for the height disadvantage. "Don't you dare threaten me with losing the team!" he snarled. "Just because you and I fuck once in a while doesn't give you any rights to me, Jake."

Hurt made the other man twist his lips. "That's right; I'm just a convenient lay. I don't own any part of you, do I?"

You're all mine.

The voice from Black's nightmare drifted on the cool morning air, sending chills over his skin. He took a breath and unclenched his fists, forcing his body to unwind from the tight spool Jake had wrapped it around.

"This isn't something I want to talk about," he muttered, his tone forestalling more conversation.

He waited for the man to step away but Jake wouldn't budge, daring Black to push him out of the way. Black looked up into the other man's golden eyes.
Fight me
, Jake's eyes demanded. But Black knew better than that. He deflated the situation by sliding sideways to slip around Jake. As he let himself into the building he heard his older teammate sigh in defeat.

He left the door open for Jake even though the man didn't live there. JC2's housing consisted of two main buildings shaped into a U around a central courtyard. A narrow catwalk ran over the courtyard, connecting the largest bedrooms of each building. Black lived in one of those bedrooms in the first building the guys had nicknamed the Clubhouse. Jake, Bee, and Haney lived in the second building -- the Dugout -- and it was Jake's bedroom at which the catwalk ended. Across town, JC1 lived in identically planned housing.

Jake followed Black into the kitchen. Black noted that Jake seemed uneasy at how quiet the Clubhouse was now that Lucas and Max were gone. He sincerely hoped the older man wouldn't comment on it.

"When I provoke you you're supposed to take it out on me, you know. That's the healthy thing to do."

Black opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a bottle of clean water. "Jake--"

The other man raised his hands. "I know, I know. Shut the hell up. You're doing a kick ass job of leading us and all I seem to want to do is rattle you to prove that you're human. What's the point, huh?"

Black knew but he wasn't about to voice it. Jake was growing too attached. He took a healthy swallow of water, studying the light-haired man as he did so. When he lowered the bottle again he met Jake's eyes. "I think you and I should take a break." He didn't temper it with 'for a while', or 'for the time being'. He didn't pull punches that way.

Jake dropped his eyes to the countertop, shaking his head slowly as a bitter smile curved his lips. "Yeah, fuck you too, Black. Alright, you want a break from me? You got it. After all, you've got Dickerson's toy coming in today. I'm old news."

Black stared back. "Don't ever say that again."

Jake looked up at him and this time his smile was almost sad. "You know what the funny thing is? I know why you're doing this and it has nothing to do with me
or
Starr, does it? It's all those fucked up notions you have about responsibility and duty and all that shit. I've got news for you: Max and Lucas aren't dead because of you. If something happens to me or any of the other guys in the future I doubt it will be because of you either. We can take care of ourselves.
I
can take care of myself."

Black's eyes didn't waver. "I trust you to do your job. I just don't want you to forget that that's why you and I are here. We're not here for each other; we're here for the job."

"So it's wrong that I care if you get hurt," Jake returned evenly. "You're saying it's not part of my job to care whether or not I think you're pushing yourself too hard even if it might endanger the team."

Black didn't blink. "Your job is to put your life in my hands. My job is to see that I don't lose it. If you question my ability to lead this team you know you are always welcome to inform Captain Dickerson of your opinion."

Jake smiled bitterly. "And get myself canned or demoted to street duty? No thanks."

Black didn't bother refuting the assumption. It was probably true.

Their eyes met in the ensuing silence. Jake eventually sighed in capitulation. "Stressed or not you can still handle JC2 better than anyone I know. I don't want you to lose it. That wasn't my point in coming over here." He moved to the front door and paused with it open. "You take care of all of us," Jake said quietly, "when are you going to let any of us take care of you?"

Black tried to think of things he could say to make Jake understand that such concerns weren't needed or deserved. He tried to think of ways of explaining the unexplainable. The front door shut before he could come up with a single thing. He looked down at his hand and studied its fine tremor. He could never reveal those secrets to anyone. Not in a million years.

"Please, God, tell me it's Haney who made breakfast."

Bee raised his butter knife threateningly. "I can kill you with this in three seconds." He dipped the weapon into the communal butter dish. "But for now I need it to eat with. And for your information these
are
Haney's pancakes, but only because I was late getting ready."

"Well, thank God for alarm clocks that don't work," Jake breathed, dropping into one of the kitchen chairs and grabbing his silverware. "No offense, Bee, but your flapjacks pull the fillings from my teeth."

"Screw you, I love 'em."

"Yeah, but you love mine better, don'cha, big guy?" Haney teased, one green eye winking at the large man. He speared a couple of pancakes and tossed them onto his own plate. "Fastest way to your heart, Bee. I learned that a long time ago."

Bee colored slightly, his eyes dancing nervously to Jake. Jake rolled his eyes. As if he didn't know that the two men fooled around. "Please," was all he said, throwing a disgusted look at the big man. "Give me a little credit for not being a complete idiot, would you?"

Bee's blush faded and he grinned around a mouthful of pancake. "Wish I could but it's kind of hard what with you actually
being
an idiot and all."

Haney passed the syrup to Jake. "So where's Black? He wanted a meeting, right?"

Jake scowled, his humor fading. "Probably still trying to get the pole out of his ass," he muttered into his plate.

"I'm right here."

Jake didn't bother to look guilty. He didn't care. His knew his eyes glowed with childish petulance as he looked up at their leader but he couldn't help himself. Black left him feeling nervous and unsure of himself without even trying.

Because Black tries so damn hard to be perfect and you know you don't give a rat's ass about such things.

"I actually managed to keep three pancakes out of Bee's mouth," Haney said with an earnest grin. The youngest-looking member of JC2 handed their leader a full plate. Haney looked like a kid and they always teased him as though he were one but Jake doubted that the other guys even remembered that the youngest member of their group was in fact Black. Wasn't he something crazy like twenty-three? No wonder everyone hated him down at police headquarters. Black had managed to snag a job other officers had been working years to get.

None of Jake's admiration showed on his face however as he regarded the other man. He was still pissed at Black for dumping him.

"Last night we met the replacements for Max and Lucas," Black said quietly, leaving his silverware on the table and sitting there with his hands resting carefully on the table top. "They're joining us this afternoon."

Haney and Bee exchanged glances. "So soon?" Haney breathed, a touch of betrayal in his voice. "It hasn't even been a week."

"The undesirables of Juxtapose City don't care about providing us with mourning time," Black told him but his voice was shaded with understanding. "I'm sorry, Haney, but JC2 needs to be a full team as quickly as possible."

"You're right, I know." Haney screwed up his face, his pale blond hairline coming down to meet his brows. "Just seems so cold, you know? We haven't even had the service for the guys and already we're deciding who fills their beds."

"Speaking of which," Jake said, carefully cutting into his pancakes, "where are the new guys going? Max and Lucas were both in The Clubhouse. I vote for a change in room assignments."

"Room assignments remain the same," Black said, not looking at Jake. "I see no reason for them to change and every reason why I need to keep the new members with me."

"Sure you do," Jake mumbled, hating that he sounded like a jilted lover.

Bee threw a curious look at him. "So, uh, who're the new guys? Anyone we know?"

Black nodded. "I've uploaded their files to your Personal Retrieval Units. Bee, you may be familiar with Wolf Sola? I think you worked with him once when you were in the Department."

Bee gave a theatrical shudder. "Aw, hell, Black. That guy--"

"-- is an ass," Jake finished for him. "I'm taking bets on how long it is before he tries to play King of the Mountain with you, Black."

Black frowned at him, the idea of anyone challenging his authority apparently not even a consideration to him. "Sola is a good agent and knows his place. He has never been accused of insubordination and I don't expect it now."

"Yeah, but this time JC2 is at stake," Haney threw in, looking worriedly at Black. "You know how many guys want your job, Black."

"It won't happen."

Jake snorted, saying nothing.

"Who's the other newbie?" Bee asked, soaking up the last of the syrup on his plate with a wedge of toast. "Someone else I know?"

Black almost smiled then. "I doubt it. His name is Calyx Starr."

"He's an empath," Jake cut in, smirking.

Bee stopped chewing.

Haney screwed up his face again. "An empath? As in--"

"Psypath," Jake said, enjoying this more than he'd expected to. He could feel Black glaring at him but he didn't give a shit. "As in fucked in the head and hooked on Bliss." He kicked back his chair to balance on its hind legs. "You shoulda see him last night all strung out and dressed like some street whore. Dickerson--"

"Shut. Your. Mouth."

Jake let his chair fall forward with a dull thunk, his grin fading beneath the look Black leveled at him. Bee and Haney sat frozen.

"Starr is an official member of JC2. If I hear you slandering him again you're facing disciplinary action." Black's steel voice cut through the silence of the kitchen. "If you have a problem with the new members, Sergeant Cole, deal with it. If you can't I'll recommend your transfer to another unit."

Sergeant Cole.
Jake mentally shivered. Black was definitely pissed to be addressing him so formally. And he'd never before threatened Jake with transfer. Never.

"It won't happen again, sir," he said somberly.

Black's eyes shuttered, flashing with something that could have been frustration. Jake instantly regretted his big mouth. Black had told him last night how difficult this was. Now here Jake was being a jerk about it.

"Starr and Sola
will
be contributing members of this team," Black told them as he stood up, his plate untouched. "I expect you all to assist them in integrating. If you can’t do that send your transfer requests to my PRU."

The three men watched in silence as Black left the building to return to the Clubhouse. After a moment, a piece of toast struck Jake between the eyes.

"Hey!"

"You sure as hell know how to piss him off!" Haney snapped at him. "What's your problem, anyway?"

Jake shoved his plate away angrily. "You have no idea. Both of these new guys are nothing but trouble. Black's already had a run-in with the freak and Sola is just a loose cannon waiting to explode somewhere. We gotta watch out for each other on this, guys."

"Jake, are you a deliberate dumb-fuck or just an accidental one?" Bee sighed. "Didn't you hear our fearless leader? Integration, Jake. That means working together. Us three and the new guys."

"You don't understand," Jake mumbled, running a hand through his hair in agitation.
Something bad is going down and even Black knows it.
But he couldn't articulate why he felt this way so he sat at their breakfast table and fumed. "Just keep an eye on Black, okay?"

"Thought that was your job," Haney said cautiously.

Jake gave him a bitter smile. "Not anymore, kid. Not anymore."