Acting on Instinct

Mission Breakdown - Part 2

Dianne felt unsettled. She briefly assessed her surroundings, trying to pinpoint what it was that wasn't allowing her to fall back asleep at 4am. She was warm, but not too warm. Wearing one of Joe's t-shirts, head resting on a fluffy pillow, and body enveloped in a soft duvet cover - all fabrics smelling faintly of Joe's aftershave - a scent she had loved since the first day she'd met him.

The curtains were drawn shut, still dark as night. It was quiet - oddly enough, since the flat was in Central London, and there were usually occasional street sounds. But this morning, it was silent - with the exception of the soft exhales next to her.

Dianne's attention turned toward Joe - his one arm extended over his head, the other resting on his heart, clutching the cover nearly up to his chin. He was adorable when he slept. In fact, Dianne had found herself gazing at him before he woke up nearly every morning they'd spent together - taking in the relaxed expression, slight pout of his lips, and steady, even breathing. The complete opposite of how he had been when she'd cradled him close on the sofa just hours before.

She suddenly realized why she couldn't go back to sleep.

With a sigh, she shifted onto her side, scooting a bit closer to him, wanting to provide him comfort even though he was fast asleep. It was strange, she thought to herself, how much empathy she had begun to feel since she'd met Joe. With Carl, she hadn't spent enough time with him in the last few years to even know what he was feeling - let alone join in on those feelings. But with Joe...with Joe, she felt everything. Every ounce of happiness, pain and every emotion in between. Maybe just as deeply as he did.

When he had broken down, panicking past the point of self control, she had felt as if she was being stabbed repeatedly in the stomach. When he had cried into her chest, she had felt that familiar burning in her throat, and a few tears had escaped her own eyes, luckily drying before Joe had gained his wits and actually looked at her.

It was a connection she had never actually shared with anyone before, beyond her own family. When she told Joe he had scared her, it was partially because of his panic attack - but also partially because the extent to which her feelings had grown were terrifying beyond belief. She saw him as much more than a colleague or a friend or even a casual relationship, and she thought that maybe - just maybe - he felt the same way.

Yet it all seemed a bit too soon. Too early to broach that subject with the man who had seemed so broken the night before. So, she decided, she would just continue to hold him close in the meantime, and tell him everything was going to be alright.

Although, she suddenly thought to herself with a sad sigh, it wasn't going to be alright. At least not right away. If Leo had been talking to Graham Sugg, they had a lot more to discover and a lot more pain to go through before they could be alright.

Graham.

Dianne had been wracking her brain since recording Leo's conversation for an explanation. Was Leo extorting him? Was Graham willingly involved in one of Leo's schemes, but was now trying to back out of it? Why had Leo been so angry? And what meeting was Graham trying to get out of?

As the questions swirled through her head like a song stuck on repeat, she let out a deep sigh. it wasn't making sense, and it probably wouldn't until they gathered more information. But she wasn't sure how she would be able to concentrate on the secret mission when her strong feelings of "like" toward Joe were tipping over into the uncharted territory she never thought she'd ever feel again...let alone this quickly...

"If you keep frowning, your mouth is going to get stuck like that," Joe's low, sleepy voice mumbled, breaking her out of her trance. Blushing, she shot her eyes up to meet his, that were blinking open slowly.