Page 19 of Jacqueline's Quest

Chapter 3

Murray stared at the screen of his laptop while gulping down massive amounts of the hot, sweet coffee Jaqueline made. He couldn't allow his emotions or personal connections to cloud his judgment or his ability to do the job, especially when he studied the photos Asher and Hank sent him. The majority of them were repeated, some were new. But, what struck him as odd were the ones where nothing moved. The vehicles stayed in the same places. The absence of people on the street. What did or what had Raul done to keep his end of the block quiet?

He'd noticed it earlier before he and Jaqueline left to pick up Thomas and AJ. He'd wanted to talk about it on the drive, however, one look at AJ and Thomas told Murray it was best to wait until both of them were settled in. The turmoil each of them were going through, he and Jaqueline had already experienced. They were at the beginning of the journey while Jaqueline and Murray, hopefully, were at the end of theirs. If Thomas and AJ didn't keep their minds focused on the mission, they could fall into the void of depression and rage—a place he knew all too well. Had it not been for Asher, Murray shuddered to think of where he'd be today.

As it was, he hoped to have some information for the duo by the time they joined Murray and Jaqueline. Until then, he did the work. Stayed focused. Since Jaqueline was outside working the ranch, something he’d been doing for the last couple of weeks, and he assumed Thomas was sleeping, leaving the house quiet. AJ, if the pop of the water heater coming on was any indication, had finished her shower.

Meeting her face to face not only exposed her vulnerability but just how young she'd been. It shocked Murray. He didn't understand why she wasn't used for different missions or how she got hooked up with Tex. Yet, he'd also seen her abilities, so it did make sense. He also knew to keep his opinions to himself and to trust Asher. His commander never steered them wrong, he wouldn’t this time either.

He also noticed something else. The sexual tension between Thomas and AJ was off the fucking charts. He wondered if that tension had something to do with the awkwardness between the two of them. Had something happened before Scotty had been taken? It would make sense if it did. However, it bothered him. Murray acknowledged it had to do with AJ’s age and the fact she reminded him of Hannah. Maybe not in looks, but in the sassy attitude he’d caught a glimpse of when she’d made some off-handed quip before retreating to the bathroom.

Anyway, the concept of mingling within the team was fairly new. Of course, Asher had been the first one to publicly blow the hell out of the rules when he got with Doc Rae. Then there was Noah and Mateo, which no one knew they’d been married let alone in a relationship. Hell, there was even the asshole O’Malley—who’d been suspended from what Murray understood—who’d snuck his ex-wife, Ginger, into the base to get his dick wet. Plus, he knew at some point, while on the mission, he’d be getting balls deep in Jaqueline.

Murray grunted. Now wasn't the time to think about sex, though the mission might call for it. In the situation they'd all been thrust into, he'd willingly throw out his moral compass to get the results. It disturbed him to even allow those thoughts to creep in, but Hannah was his sister and he'd do whatever it took to ensure her safety and getting her back where she belongs—home with him.

A creek and a pop at the stairs drew his attention to the open door above him. “Is it alright if I come down?” AJ bit her bottom lip as she sat on the lip of the stairs.

Murray pushed back from his makeshift desk. AJ stood then, her feet encased in a pair camo Chuck Taylors. She wore a pair of faded skinny jeans, ripped in strategic places across her knees and thighs. The T-shirt she wore had a smile tugging at his lips. Superheroes. Marvel, specifically. Her hair was wet, and her face was devoid of any kind of makeup, exposing the smattering of freckles along the top of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Damn it, why did she have to be so adorable standing there, looking as though she’d been about to ask him for permission to go out on a date?

“Yeah.” He motioned for her to join him. “All are welcome here.”

Once she stood beside him, he inspected her faded blue shirt. He snorted at the shield colored in red, white, and blue, with the words “civil war,” beneath it. “Is there a problem with my shirt?” She picked at it, glancing down. “Something on it?”

“Nope.” He pointed to the logo. “Just wondering if you’re a Cap or Iron Man fan.”

AJ snorted. “Well, first and foremost, I’m an MCU fan. If I had to pick and be a fan of any one person, it’s Black Widow all day, every day and twice on Sunday.”

“Let me guess, you always wanted to kick everyone’s ass like she does?”

AJ rolled her eyes and gnashed her teeth. “Please. Black Widow is a human—”

Murray raised his finger. "How can Natasha be a human when Cap and Logan saved her from the Nazis in 1941?"

“Uh...” She appeared taken aback.

“Uncanny X-Men Volume 1 #268.”

“Okay, well, even though she didn’t have super strength, like Steve, or the ability to shrink like Scott Lang, she’d been trained in the Red Room, could keep up her enhanced counterparts, and she never doubted herself or her ability. That alone makes me a die-hard fan.”

He nudged her. “Did you cry when she died?”

“Like a fucking baby.” She shrugged. “It made sense though. Clint had—has a family—her family. She saw the despair in her best friend and what the loss of his family caused him. I have to believe she also realized if he continued on the path he’d been on, he’d turn bad. She, like Tony, made the ultimate sacrifice.”

He stared at her for a moment, filled with amazement and fondness. It was refreshing as hell to hear someone speak so eloquently about sacrifice. It also meant, in his estimations, she understood what it meant to go on these types of missions, so it also scared the shit out of him. She could become their wild card. He had to wonder, what would she forfeit to protect her family, i.e. Scotty and, perhaps, Thomas.

“What about you?” She sat in the empty chair across from where he stood.

He smiled. “Like you, I’m an MCU fan, but if I had to choose, it’d be Tony all the way.”

She nodded. “Makes sense. All the guys at base speak about your skills with a computer. You’re some sort of God to them.”

He snorted in disbelief. More like his team, especially Callahan, razzed the hell out of him because he was more comfortable behind his computer than in the field. Didn’t mean he couldn’t hold his own on a mission, he could. He dealt better with the machines, manipulating their codes, until he bent the computer to his will, taking the information needed without being detected. He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t acknowledge the rush he got from it as well. Of course, he also realized it had a lot to do with control issues, and he was okay with that.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

AJ rolled her eyes. "You haven't been on the receiving end of, "well Murray would've done it this way or that way." Or "Murray gave us this information too."

“Neither you nor Scotty, are me.”

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