Encrypted Connection

Joey: Thirteen

With a groan, he turned away from the screens. He'd have to get some revenge on Sil for interrupting what was probably a very good show based on the great start. Besides, that show was meant for him, right?

It had to be. Blaise knew who was operating the cameras and he was obviously looking at it. Yet at first Joey looked behind himself to check if there was someone behind him Blaise was actually trying to seduce. After all, he had team members. And Joey was just Joey.

He was all sarcasm and easily bruising flesh and bones, his flirtatious skills were all talk (literally) and he couldn't remember anyone he ever was attracted to going all seductive on him. At least not like what he just witnessed.

The few sexual encounters he had were mostly accidental, short-lived and too intense too fast. Guys who actually saw him seemed to focus on his too sensitive side, a side he did try in vain to hide.

He wished he could stop caring. He wished he could be like Blaise's team members, badass people who could throw a punch, catch a bad guy, kick some ass and walk away. Joey? He was aware he'd tend to start feeling bad for the bad guy at some point. Unfortunately, bad guys could feel it. Sense it. Which was how he got in trouble so often.

Sil walked in and closed the door behind him. The little girl immediately tensed up and crawled under Joey's desk. Joey pushed his chair back to leave her some space as she didn't like proximity much.

He couldn't blame her for that.

"Remember to stay quiet", Sil told him. " You're supposed to be missing.".

Joey huffed and grabbed a bag of chips.

"I know, I know. I will stay in my room and pretend I don't exist, Harry Potter style. This way I can come up with ways to kill you.".

Sil chuckled and nodded toward the screens behind Joey. "You have a bad influence on him. One minute later and I would have been face to face with his johnson. Now even if I ship the two of you together, I don't really want to be involved in the foreplay.".

Joey shoved a few chips in his mouth and chewed on them loudly before holding the bag to the girl who cautiously helped herself with some chips as well. Sil arched a brow. "Aren't you supposed to try and give her healthy food?".

" Aren't you supposed to be working?", Joey retorted before reaching for a shark grabber. He used it to catch a piece of banana from a plate on the desk then held it to the girl.

"I am feeding her, see? Had to be creative. She isn't a fan of men, not surprising, and I'm not the nurturing type. And by that, I mean she might bite. I know she's traumatized but I like my fingers.".

He wasn't really concerned about being bitten. To be honest, that kid looked way too sweet compared to what she'd been through. But being still a little mad at Sil, Joey didn't intend on being nice just yet.

" So... did Serkov talk?", he then asked.

Sil sighed and shook his head. "Nothing useful. He will though. The judge will make sure of that. We're just taking a break.".

Joey scrunched his nose and thought about it. He had a very imagination so he had way too many ideas about how exactly they were trying to make Serkov talk. His eyes went back to the screens and he nervously tapped with his fingers on the desk.

Did Blaise...enjoy what he did? Was his arousal linked to the idea of Joey watching him or...

A firm hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped so bad he dropped the shark grabber.

" Sorry", Sil apologized while pulling away. "I know what you think. It's just a part of the job. No one's favorite. What you saw...that's how you get your humanity back. Thinking about things... or people you like. Feeling something good. He'd never hurt you, Jo. You know that. Don't let that crazy head of yours scare you away. I still want you to become a permanent part of this team.".