Dont Be a Hero

Preparations

   Jackson walked into the huge ballroom-turned-obstacle course/ training grounds. He looked around. It was impressive. He could hear a feminine voice coming from around a large divider. He quietly walked over and moved so that he could see what was going on. His eyes landed on Natasha's lithe form in a body suit doing back flips from one end of that half of the room to the other. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun at the nape of her slender neck. She was glistening with sweat and her face was flushed. The most shocking thing was her lack of make-up.

Jackson watched quietly as she landed perfectly and then made off across the room again. He was hidden in the shadows enough to give him cover without appearing to be purposely hiding. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against a pillar to watch. There was a small smirk teasing at the corners of his mouth.

"She's gorgeous when she's not being a bitch, isn't she?" He jumped at the sound of Vivian's voice next to him. He stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"She's alright. If you like that type." He shrugged and started to turn away, but stopped when Natasha landed again and looked at him.

"Well! Hello Detective," she purred at him, grabbing a towel and dabbing her face and chest. "Spying on me?"

Jackson handed her a water bottle that was sitting on a stool near him. "Not exactly. I didn't want to interrupt your training."

"Right. What are you doing in here, then?"

"Actually, I was looking for the kitchen. I wanted to take some breakfast up to Macy." He turned toward Vivian with an eyebrow raised. "Would you mind pointing me in the right direction?"

"Actually, if you head right through that doorway back there..." She pointed past Natasha to a door on the other side. "...you can get to it by following the long hallway around. It's the back entrance to the kitchen. The employees used to use that one to serve dinners when people had banquets."

Jackson nodded and thanked her. He sauntered past Natasha and she bit her lip as she looked up at him. He barely acknowledged her and kept walking.

.............

When Jackson was gone Natasha turned to Vivian. "That man is gorgeous," she said, licking her bottom lip.

"He's spoken for. Didn't you get the idea yesterday when Detective Grey all but bit your pretty head off?" Vivian stood there with her hands clasped behind her back. She didn't like the gleam she saw in the tall brunette's deep eyes. Natasha wasn't the type to accept no for an answer when she decided she wanted something.

"That little bimbo doesn't frighten me in the least." Natasha took a long drink from the bottle of water and then looked at Vivian with a little wiggle of her brows. "I think he liked what he saw a moment ago, don't you?"

"Who wouldn't, Natasha? You're an amazingly beautiful woman." Vivian shrugged her shoulders. "However, looks aren't going to get you very far with a man like Jackson Wolfe. He seems to be more of a 'character' guy and like Macy said..." She looked Natasha up and down. "You are strongly lacking in character. The kind he most likely prefers, anyways."

Natasha just tossed her head and turned away. "We shall see, shan't we?"

"Don't mess around, Tasha!" Vivian warned. "You have more important things to concentrate on, anyways!"

"You have important things you want me to concentrate on," Natasha called over her shoulder. "Whether or not they are important to me... is a different story."

Vivian shook her head and followed.

......... 

Macy was showered and dressed when Jackson came strolling back in with breakfast. She smiled and sat down at the small breakfast table by the window. "Wow, thank you, sweetie! You were gone a long time. Did you get lost?"