who_is_she | (no subject)

Roddie brightens when he hears Tony's voice, and swivels around quickly in his chair before standing up and crossing the room, hobbling a little as he walks over to pull Tony inside the room. He sticks his head out and looks both ways to ensure the coast is clear before hitting a button to close the door behind him, at which point he scratches the back of his neck and grins somewhat bashfully.

"Hey," he says, rocking back and forth slightly on his heels, "Yeah, I think I got something, actually, a couple hours ago someone put out a call asking for some help cleaning up on a nearby planet, some kind of alien natural disaster is happening? I dunno, but they're asking for help moving refugees out of the storm and stuff. Pretty routine. I don't think it'll be too dangerous or anything, I don't think anyone's died."

Roddie grabs his tablet off his bed and shows Tony the job and pay synopsis, very carefully not scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the page long enough to give Tony a good look at the end of the message. It's nice, he thinks, being able to stand this close to Tony without hiding anything. Well, he was hiding a few things in this specific case, but his feelings aren't one of them anymore, and he puts an arm around Tony's middle as they look at the datapad together.

"See?" he says, closing the tab and grinning over at him, "Nothing to it."

Tony's just reaching for the tablet to take a closer look at the job when Roddie closes the information, and he's about to voice a protest but when he looks up Roddie is too close and grinning at him and his heart kind of melts and he forgets xhwhat he ;;;;;;;,,,,,lo6666m6mu940....................

Tony's just reaching for the tablet to take a closer look at the job when Roddie closes the information, and he's about to voice a protest but when he looks up Roddie is too close and grinning at him and his heart kind of melts and he forgets what he was about to say.

"Yeah, all right," he says, returning Roddie's smile and leaning into him, "Sounds great." He turns towards Roddie, his arm coming up around Roddie's shoulders, just because he can.

"So, just the two of us are going?" he asks, still smiling almost goofily and feigning innocence about his question.

"Yeah, just us," Roddie says, smiling wider at the tone in Tony's voice, "I, uh, told the others we could pull it off alone, and I set them up in a hotel. I thought it could be...you know, nice, we could get a hotel together while we're there, too, just us. Nothing fancy, I guess, but it'll be...nice, I think."

He hopes his plans for the next week or so wouldn't be spoiled when Tony found out the full story about this job. The romantic weekend he'd been thinking about spending with him might be a little bit soiled if he ended up getting as mad as Roddie was worried he might, and none of the excuses or explanations he came up with to defend himself sounded good enough in his head. Chewing his lip, he tries to put the thought out of his mind for now, and he leans up to peck Tony uncertainly on the lips and give him a crooked smile.

"...You sounded pretty hopeful about that," he says, smirking a little, "Us being...alone, I mean."

Tony nods, scooting in a little closer and reaching up to put both of his arms around Roddie's shoulders.

"Yeah, well..." he starts, getting distracted for a moment looking at Roddie's mouth, "We have to keep pretending we're not, y'know... Together. So it'll be nice to not have to worry about that. At least, while we're alone together." He bites his lip, flushing a little at his own words, and then leaning in to kiss Roddie more deeply, pulling back to finish his thought.

"I mean, we'll still have to be professional while we're working, but nobody will know if we share a hotel room," he says, his smile turning sly as he kissed the corner of Roddie's mouth again.

"Yeah," Roddie sighs in agreement, leaning into Tony's arms and returning his kiss with a few more, "It'll be nice, just...you and me."

--

Shortly after they dock at the closest space station they can find to the disaster, Roddie rents a hover vehicle for himself and Tony, and they drive into the quarantined area. When they start getting close, Roddie spots a pair of aliens wearing oxygen masks standing in the middle of the road, motioning for them to stop.

"Hey, so," he says casually, as he starts to bring the car to a stop, "You know how I said this was a storm? Well, it actually isn't so much of a storm as it is a weird case of plant an insect wildlife being driven into an aggressive frenzy where plants are emitting weird toxins and bugs are biting people. But I did bring us energy shields and gas masks, so we're good. Also, the guy who contacted me thinks there's a guy who's controlling all these bees or whatever and shit. Hey, officer!"

He grins out the window at the alien who's come up beside them, and gives a friendly wave.

"I.D.?" the alien asks gruffly, and Roddie points at Tony.

"He's got it," he says, still grinning, "He's a federal earth agent. For the government. On earth."

Tony gapes at Roddie, his mouth hanging open for a long minute before he realizes he's supposed to pay attention to the alien officer. His expression hardens into a frown as he digs through his pockets for his ID and then hands it over to the alien, who squints at it and the both of them before allowing them to pass.

As soon as Roddie starts driving again Tony turns to give him a flat, annoyed look.

"So, what, you planned to string me along with promises of easy, simple jobs and then spring the truth on me at the last minute? The truth being that this is another one of your weird bottom-of-the-barrel quote-unquote supernatural jobs?" he says, his tone scathing and his expression angry. Really, he didn't mind Roddie's fondness for taking the most ridiculous jobs he could find, but he'd been thinking they could wrap up this job easily and spend most of the weekend in their hotel room. These types of jobs were always lengthy and demanding, however, and always managed to try Tony's patience.

"Baby, baby, no, come on, hear me out," Roddie pleads, gesturing placatingly as he pulls the car over to the side of the road, "Look, this kind of thing isn't unheard of in nature, some wild animals have been known to communicate with and influence species outside their own in ways our science has yet to understand, some people attribute it to the secretion of pheromones, and even suggest that humans may also unconsciously send these types of signals to other animals as well as each other, but even after years of research we haven't been able to find any hard evidence that these signals are chemical, and not supernatural in nature. Aren't you even a little bit interested in finding out the truth?"

He reaches over, giving Tony a pitiful look as he squeezes his hand before closing his mask around his face and reaching into the back seat to drop one into Tony's lap.

"Come on, we'll still have a nice time," he says, his voice altered by the breathing filter, and he starts driving again as soon as Tony has his mask on, "We're going back to the hotel together every day, and it's well outside the danger zone."

Tony sighs and rolls his eyes, his ire slipping away a little from Roddie's gentle touch and tone, despite his attempts to hold onto his anger. He straps on the gas mask without saying anything or acknowledging Roddie's presence, trying desperately to summon some kind of cutting remark instead of melting into Roddie's big, brown eyes, like usual.

He keeps quiet as they drive, keeping his silence even as they park and get out, walking towards an alien who excitedly runs up to them.

"You must be Captain Juarez!" he says, shaking Roddie's hand vigorously, "And Agent Miller! I'm so glad you're here, I was worried you might not get through. It's lovely to meet you both." Tony's hand is shaken as well, and he gives the alien a dubious look before turning the same look over at Roddie, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

Roddie tries to shake the gloominess at being ignored by Tony out of his expression when he meets their client, and rubs his hands together before shoving them in his pockets once they've shaken hands.

"Hey, hey," he says, putting on a charming smile as best as he could, despite the fact that the man couldn't even see his face under his oxygen mask, "Yeah, we got in just fine, no trouble, really."

He scratches the back of his head, then elbows Tony, lightly.

"My partner's not real happy to be here, you'll have to forgive him," he says apologetically, with guilt plain in his voice, "He doesn't quite know what to think about your, uh...paranormal theories, I think. That's probably partly my fault. Or all my fault, I don't think I explained it very well."

The alien looks at Tony, surprise in his expression, and Tony rolls his eyes again, pasting on a fake smile.

"It's all right," he says, reaching over to pat Roddie's shoulder, "Tell us what's going on here." The alien looks between them for a beat, then shakes their head and launches into an explanation.

He claims that the strange phenomena is a result of one man, who's been charging people for his apparent ability to "control the plants". The officer thinks the man is causing the phenomena just to capitalize off of being able to fix it.

As he explains Tony's eyebrow slowly raises, and he turns to give Roddie a pointed look and cross his arms over his chest.

Roddie hangs his head a little as he feels Tony glaring at him, and he rubs the back of his neck again. Tony seemed much more upset than he'd counted on him being, and was likely going to get madder as the job progressed.

"Right, so," he says, rubbing his hands together again nervously, "I know you wanted me to pilot ships of refugees out of the area, but you also...asked for us 'cause we're working with a federal agent, since he's a human from Earth, I know, so...you...should discuss the, uh...arrest stuff...with my boy here."

He cringes a little even as he says it, knowing this was the worst part of the secret to spring on Tony, and he can't even give him a pleading look with the metal mask obscuring his face.

Tony's expression remains flat as Roddie drops his last surprise, just sighing and turning his attention pointedly towards the officer.

He accompanies the officer to his station, jotting down notes about the case as he went. He questions a local expert on the weather phenomena, a guy who is unabashedly excited about the study of weather patterns, and Tony jots down some more notes before gratefully leaving. He calls Roddie on the way back to the hotel Roddie had reserved, still mildly annoyed.

"Hey, I've got a couple people we'll need to question, where are you now?" he says without preamble when Roddie answers the phone.

Roddie had spent the day going back and forth carting people out of the hazard areas in a moderately sized ship they had provided for him, and was scouring an apartment building which was flooded with thick poisonous fog, a building which he'd already checked twice for any more civillian stragglers, when he gets Tony's call.

"Hey," he says, ignoring the fact that Tony had skipped the greeting and trying not to sound too eager, "I'm just getting the last of the people out of this area and over to the med tents, I think everybody's out, I just -- oh, shit, hold up, I'll call you back. Actually, meet you back at the station."

He hangs up, dropping his phone into his pocket, and listens carefully. He'd been sure he'd heard wailing and coughing. Just when he starts to think he must have imagined it, he hears it again, and he follows it to its source, a slightly open apartment door. He peeks inside, not seeing anything at first, but something in the corner of his eye catches his attention, a huddled shape in the corner of the room. He steps forward, and sure enough, the huddled shape shrinks back slightly, and after fanning some of the fog away he's able to see that the shape is a human child.

"Oh, hey, hey!" Roddie says gently, immediately kneeling down next to the kid, who couldn't have been more than three, and raising his hands, "It's all right, buddy, I'm not gonna hurt you. What's your name?"

"Maritza," the little girl whimpers and coughs after a moment of hesitation, and pulls her face out of where it was hidden in her knees, "My mom went to the store, but she didn't come back."

"Hey, Maritza, it's okay," Roddie says, gently touching her shoulders, before pulling a breathing mask similar to his out of his pocket and affixing it to her jaw, "Your mom's all right, everyone who was here is out of here I think and they're all all right except you. We just gotta get you out of here and we'll find her, okay?" He smiles gently, and tucks her hair back behind her ears before hitting the button on the side to close the mask over her face.

"Just breathe, okay? This stuff can make you dizzy, I'm surprised you're still awake. Most of the grown ups passed out. Can you walk?" he asks, and when she shakes her head no, he lifts her up easily in his arms and carries her out of the building and back to his ship, setting her in the front seat next to the pilot's chair. He instructs her to wait for him, and when he's given the building one more sweep he returns and drives the ship back to the station, and the medical tents where he's left the other refugees, chatting to Maritza on the way back and getting several weak, tired giggles out of her even through her tears. When they arrive, he hops out and rushes over to her side again, lifting her easily and holding her in his arms while he grabs his phone with his other, dialing Tony one handed.

"We're gonna look for your mom, okay Maritza?" Roddie says, letting the exhausted child rest her head on his shoulder, "I just gotta call my buddy real quick, he's gonna help us out."

As soon as he hears Tony pick up the phone, he starts in, not wasting any time.

"Tony, hey, I'm here, I got a sick kid here who got separated from her mom," he says, rocking her gently, "I'm by the tents."

Tony frowns at the phone after Roddie hangs up, trying to ignore the thread of worry about Roddie running off into danger, turning around from where he'd been heading to the hotel to go back to the station.

When Roddie calls again Tony has a cutting remark ready about certain people making other people worry about them, but he forgets about it as soon as Roddie speaks.

"All right, I've got a list of missing people here, give me a description of the girl," he says, jotting down what Roddie describes and then shuffling through the most recently submitted missing persons. He finds the report describing the girl Roddie had found, and then finds the girl's mother waiting tearfully in the waiting room. He leads her out to the tents, and she breaks into a run as soon as she sees Roddie and her daughter.

"Oh, Maritza!" she cries, running up to Roddie and taking the girl from his arms, who instantly clings to her mother and starts to cry, "Oh, I'm so glad you're all right! Thank you, thank you, um..." she trails off, staring at Roddie intently, and Tony's eyebrows go up again as he feels like he's suddenly become invisible.

"Oh, uh, Roderigo," Roddie says, nodding and folding his hands as he fights off a smile at seeing the two reunited, "Roddie. Just Roddie. I'm glad I could help, ma'am, you've got a very brave daughter." He gives Maritza a little grin and a wink as he pats her back again, before putting his hands back into his pocket.

"She does need a doctor, though," he says, clearing his throat, "We can take her to one of the tents, you're welcome to come, obviously. You look like you're doing a lot better than you were when I picked you up earlier, too, by the way."

The woman nods vigorously, following Roddie to the medical tent, her eyes glued on him the whole way.

"I'm Sophia," she says, after handing her daughter off to a medic to look her over, hovering nearby but still lingering near Roddie, "I can't thank you enough, you saved my daughter's life!" She's practically gushing, and Tony rolls his eyes as he stands behind them.

"If there's anything I can do for you, anything at all, just let me know, please?" she says, smiling sweetly at Roddie, and internally Tony can't help but wonder what about Roddie is so innately irresistible.

"Thank you ma'am, Sophia," Roddie says, grinning somewhat bashfully as he helps her set Maritza on one of the medical tables. He shakes her hand as soon as she's set the child down, holding one of her hands in both of his own for a moment before releasing it.

"And likewise for you, if you need anything from me I've got an address where you can leave messages for me while I'm on the station. Let me know how Maritza's doing, yeah?" He winks at Maritza again, patting her once more on the shoulder.

"You did really good today, kiddo," he says, "You feel better now, yeah?" Maritza nods, and Roddie turns his grin back to Sophia, cracking his knuckles idly.

"I'll see you two around I hope, my partner and I are about to head out," he says, clicking his tongue as he gestures out the door, "Tony, can you help the doctors pull up Maritza's medical records while I run to the bathroom? They've been having some trouble navigating the human medical files and stuff, yadda yadda, doctor stuff, I don't really get it, you got this, I'll meet you outside."

He claps Tony on the shoulders once before stepping out the door, rushing down the hall to take the bathroom break he'd been delaying all day.

Tony watches Roddie go, shaking his head a little and turning back, realizing he wasn't alone in staring after Roddie. Sophia was looking in his direction as well, and when she spots Tony looking at her she flushes and smiles.

"So, have you two been partners for long?" she asks, and Tony grits his teeth but keeps his expression and tone polite.

"Almost a year," he says, shrugging, and Sophia nods eagerly.

"Oh, you must know each other pretty well, then," she says, her smile turning sly, "Do you know if he's seeing anyone?" Tony groans internally, and gives her a flat look.

"No, I don't know," he says, pointedly changing the subject to the medical records and avoiding talking about Roddie for the rest of the few minutes he had to spend alone with her.

Roddie returns quickly, smiling as he claps Tony on the back again and fights the urge to be more touchy-feely than that, and not only because they were keeping their relationship a secret. He knows Tony is upset with him, and he doesn't want to push it.

"Hey," he says, giving Sophia a bright smile and taking his hands off Tony's shoulder, "We're heading out. I'll catch you ladies later, okay?"

He waves to a drowsy Maritza and to Sophia, who, much to his chagrin, he notices seems to be swooning. They head out to the car in silence, Roddie keeping in step beside Tony while still maintaining an appropriate distance, and only once they're in the vehicle with the engine running does he clear his throat to speak.

"I thought we could go out for dinner," he suggests, casually, adjusting his mirrors and avoiding Tony's eyes.

"Oh, really?" Tony says, a little surprised that Roddie wanted to go out rather than their usual hotel room service pizza, possibly eaten naked, "Um, sure," he says, nodding, a little puzzled, and then starts to smile.

"Are you sure you don't want to go have dinner with Sophia?" he says, his tone dripping with sarcasm but a soft smile on his lips to indicate he was joking.

"No!" Roddie says immediately, choking a little in surprise and frowning over at Tony for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road, "No, come on, man, don't be like that."

He slumps a little in his chair as he punches in the address of a spot in a nearby town that served human food into his GPS. He knew Tony was upset with him about the job, and it seemed like he had compounded on it somehow by being overly friendly with Sophia. He hadn't meant to, but he guessed, looking back on their interaction, that his mannerisms could have been read as flirtatious.

It doesn't take long for them to reach the diner, and when they do Roddie hops out and runs around to open Tony's door for him, the look on his face guilty and apologetic.

"Wasn't today at least...kind of interesting?" he asks, sheepishly, "I mean, it wasn't totally horrible for you, was it?"

Tony's eyebrows go up when Roddie opens the door for him, frowning a little at the obvious guilt on Roddie's face, wondering if his teasing hadn't been obviously teasing.

"It was fine, Roddie," he says, touching his shoulder, "I was kidding, I'm fine." He kisses Roddie's cheek briefly and then leads them into the restaurant, sitting across from Roddie and ordering a glass of wine for himself.

Roddie feels a little relief at the kiss, and guesses that maybe Tony wasn't as upset with him as he'd guessed he would be. When the waitress comes to take their drink order, he smiles, reaching across the table tentatively to hold Tony's hand.

"Hey, yeah, can I get a margarita and an orange soda?" he asks, "Also, uh, it's kind of my birthday today, do you do anything for that like, free cake or something?"

Tony's eyebrows go up again, the shrieky little rule-follower inside of him is scandalized at Roddie lying to a waitress to get a free piece of cake, but he manages to stifle it, at least until after the waitress cheerily wishes him a happy birthday and leaves. Tony leans in close, lowering his voice so he won't be overheard.

"Lying about your birthday just for free cake? I could buy you a piece of cake if you're that strapped, you know," he says quietly, raising an eyebrow at Roddie and trying not to sound too scolding or scandalized.