Chapter 19 The Moments in Between

Next morning Michelle was pleasantly surprised to wake up in Brook's arms, her back against his chest, his lips pressed against her hair. This is easy to get used to, she thought. She stroked his hand which lay against her stomach.

"Awake already?" he asked.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I was awake."

"Do you want to get up?" she asked. He silently kissed her cheek from behind.

"Nope." He said, sounding smug. A loud knock on the door startled them.

"If you guys don't come down in five there won't be any breakfast for you!" Paige yelled through the door. Brook groaned.

"I have to find a more private place for us." Michelle felt her heart leap at the mention of 'us'.

"I don't know, last night was pretty private to me." she teased.

"Please. I had to control myself so you wouldn't scream and alert everyone to the fact that you were with me." Michelle turned around to face him.

"Then why did you sneak me to your bedroom?" she asked with a mock frown.

"I didn't sneak you in. I brought you in. And there was no better place for you to sleep. There are only enough rooms here for each of us and Paige is not the sharing kind."

"Leslie might have shared her room with me," Michelle said tracing circles on his t-shirt. He caught her hand and stopped her.

"You're distracting me. And sure Leslie might have shared her room with you – but then I wouldn't have had you all to myself." Michelle blushed and turned away remembering his kisses.

"So that's why you made me eat the Oreos – to keep me awake. I should be careful around you. Come on, I don't want Paige to carry out her threat. Let's go get breakfast." Michelle said, kicking back the covers. Brook pouted but followed her out of bed.

"Well, look at you two. You guys look like you haven't slept a wink." Jett teased as Brook and Michelle came to the kitchen.

"Not really. Actually, I overslept. I kind of missed out on sleep yesterday." Michelle said, unsuspecting that Jett was teasing her.

"Are sure you didn't miss any sleep last night?" Paige asked with raised eyebrows.

"Knock it off you two," Brook said with a glare. Reece looked up from his PSP like he hadn't been paying attention.

"Huh? What?" he asked.

"Nothing Reece, go back to your game," Leslie said. Payton came out of his room looking sour.

"Morning P! Join the party. Want some coffee?" Jett asked. Payton ignored them and made his own coffee before sitting at the end of the table.

"We got toast and scrambled eggs, so if anybody's craving meat they're gonna have to wait till lunch," Leslie said.

"Oh, that's right. I had the cold cuts bags from our groceries when we went to the base. I hope it doesn't spoil." Michelle said remembering the meats she had stocked in the fridge back at the base.

"That's what you're worried about?" Paige asked.

"Hey, it's a legit thing to worry about," Jett said. "What if you were craving ham when we got here – ouch!" Paige punched his arm and cut him off.

"Behave you two. We can't play around any longer. We barely escaped the Inferno Ghosts and the chief's been missing for two days. We have to do something." Leslie said.

"She's right. First, we have to figure out where he went." Brook said.

"Well, that's easy. There are only thirteen places across the state he might have gone to." Paige said sarcastically.

"Or he might be in a place he might not want to be," Payton said.

"He hasn't been captured by the Ghosts!" Brook shouted. Michelle held his wrist.

"Brook calm down." She whispered. He sighed and lowered his voice.

"Sorry. Look, we have to find him. find out what happened to him." he said.

"We could split up and go check out all our bases, or call up our contacts, or check the news," Jett suggested.

"The news?" Michelle asked.

"If he's been captured or sighted or – anything, it'll be on the news," Reece said, wary of Brook's expression.

"Guys, I'm sure he's alive somewhere. We just have to find him. I propose we go along with Jett's suggestions. We check up the bases and call up everyone we know to see if they've seen him." Leslie said.

"Great. So we just split up and let any Ghosts in Vegas pick us off one by one." Payton said in a harsh voice.

"It's a lot harder for them to get us in the middle of the city," Brook said.

"Okay so we have a plan, let's see some action," Reece said. Everyone stood up.

"Right, we divide and conquer," Jett said.

"We can go in pairs." Payton gave them orders. "Reece, Jett, you two take the west bases. Paige and I will take the north. Leslie –"

"South. I got them." She said.

"And Brook and Michelle take the eastside." Jett finished.

"Wait, Michelle's in this?" Payton asked, looking at her. "She doesn't have a car."

"She'll ride with Brook; we can't very well leave her here alone. So break it up!" Jett said with a clap.

"We meet back here before night okay?" Leslie said.

"Ooh, looks like Payton's gonna have to drive the Viper. The old Venom is back in Reno." Jett said with a goofy grin. Payton grabbed his neck and noogied his hair.

"Can you still talk like this?" he asked, pretending to suffocate him.

"I yield, I yield!" Jett gasped. Payton let him go.

"So glad you're going in a different direction," Jett muttered. They all went to the garage. Brook stayed back to wash the dishes from breakfast.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Michelle asked.

"Right after this. I hate dirty dishes lying in the sink all day." He said.

"Aww, that's cute. Let me help." She said. Brook remained silent as they washed the dishes. Michelle nudged him lightly on the shoulder.

"Huh?" he looked preoccupied.

"You look like you're far away. What's on your mind?" She said.

"I was thinking about the chief."

"I know you're worried but – do you think he'd want you to be worried about him if he saw you?"

"Well no. But wouldn't you worry about your family if you hadn't heard from them in two days?" Michelle studied his face for a second.

"Move over. I'll have these dishes done in two minutes. You go start the car. I'll be there as soon as I'm done." Michelle said optimistically. Brook understood what she was trying to do.

"Thanks, Michelle." He said hugging her from behind.

Two minutes later, Brook and Michelle were riding out on the hot summer roads of Vegas, the sunlight blinding in front of them. Michelle put on the sunglasses Brook had given her.

"I feel like a celebrity cruising in an expensive car," she said with a laugh.

"You sure look it," Brook said, glancing sideways at her. she was gazing out the window with an awestruck look on her face.

"Wow, Vegas is a lot more glamorous during the day." She said watching all the buildings.

"You sound like you've never seen a metropolitan city," Brook said.

"I kind of haven't. I've lived in the suburbs all my life. It isn't the most exciting place to be. It wasn't until college that I decided to finally get out and explore."

"Road trip?"

"Yeah. Of course, it didn't go the way I expected." She said with a shy glance at him.

"You got tangled with a bunch of criminals," Brook said, avoiding her eyes. She shook her head.

"No, I met a gorgeous guy who I fell in love with and went on crazy daring adventures with his crew. And I finally learned why they say summer vacation is the most exciting time in life." Brook grinned.

"Gorgeous, huh?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Too much of an understatement? Maybe 'hot' would've fit better." Brook actually felt his face heat and trailed a finger down her arm.

"You're making me blush Michelle."

"Hmm, I didn't know I had that power." They both laughed. Despite the circumstances, the freedom of the drive, the thrill of a new city, and the fact that she was with Brook was inebriating. She wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could.

"Okay, first stop is Decker Autoshop. We have half a dozen places to check up and four of them are pretty far away. How about we check up two places before lunch and the rest after?" Brook suggested.

"Whatever works for you. I'm just glad to be out in the open with you."

"Really? Are you sure you never had a boyfriend before? 'Cause you're pretty good at turning a guy on." Brook stated. Michelle laughed.

"Pretty sure." She answered.

After returning from two auto shops without info on Soriano, they stopped at a food truck for empanadas as milkshakes. They sat down at an outdoor picnic table to eat. Michelle took off her jacket since it was hot. Brook whistled on seeing her bare shoulders since she wore a sleeveless yellow halter blouse. She wished she had worn a skirt – skinny jeans weren't the best option for summer.

"What? I was feeling hot!" Michelle said.

"You are hot," Brook whispered in her ear. She pushed him playfully.

"Flatterer." She said.

"I say it like I see it," he said, copying her and taking off his jacket. He wore a fitting grey tee that defined the rippling muscles of his chest and bared his arms. Michelle forgot to chew the empanada in her mouth when she saw him. Every line and curve of his muscles mesmerized her. She wondered how he could have so much muscle and still look so - huggable. Brook caught her gawking at him and grinned.

"Like what you see?" he asked. She blushed and ducked her head.

"Hey, I don't mind the staring." He said suavely. Michelle focused on eating her empanada. Brook in a skin-tight tee was too distracting.

After lunch, they drove through the east side of the city checking the rest of the hideouts where Soriano might have been. None of them had heard from Soriano. Michelle was surprised to see how many people Soriano had recruited into his crew. A lot of people seemed to have a vendetta against the Ghosts.

It was past six when they got back to the headquarters. The others weren't back yet so they were alone. Brook felt dejected that they hadn't found out anything about Soriano. Michelle noticed the slump of his shoulders as he walked to the couch and rested her hands on them.

"Hey," she said. "Don't give up. Maybe the others found out something about him."

"Yeah..." he sat down on the couch pulling Michelle with him. He leaned on her shoulder and twiddled with her fingers. Michelle sensed that he wanted comfort and shifted his head to a more comfortable position.

"Mmm... thanks." He said, closing his eyes. She twirled her fingers through his hair hoping to soothe him. He smiled.

"That feels incredible," he said, enjoying the sensation. With her other hand, she stroked his face, her fingers delicately tracing around his features. He groaned.

"Michelle, you're killing me here," he said.

"Want me to stop?"

"Absolutely not." He said smiling. Michelle continued to trace lines on his face.

"Soriano is like a second dad to me," he said with his eyes still closed. Michelle listened, knowing he wanted to talk.

"After – dad passed, Soriano was the only man around in my life. He taught me everything he knew about cars. Everything my dad taught him." he paused.

"He taught me to be tough, to take care of myself... how to survive in an unjust world." Michelle's heart hurt to think how much injustice Brook must have gone through to need to survive like that.

"I can't lose him, Michelle." He said, his voice cracking. Michelle bent down and kissed his forehead.

"I know. I pray he's alright too." Brook got up.

"Wait here, I want to show you something." He said. He went upstairs and returned a minute later carrying a small metal box. He opened it and took out two photos.

"That's my mom and dad and Soriano before the crew got put together. It was a few months before I was born." He said, showing her a picture. Michelle saw a pretty woman in her early pregnancy with her arm around a young man looking very like Brook but with paler hair. Soriano looked much younger and carefree than he did now, his buzz haircut reminiscent of his police days.

"And that's after I was born," Brook said, showing her the other photo. Brook's parents stood together holding a baby. Michelle smiled.

"You look exactly like your dad. And so cute as a baby." She said smiling.

"Dad always said I look like my mom. but I think he knew I took after him. Especially since he was a racer."

"Killer good looks, killer reflexes while driving... you definitely take after your dad." She said.

"They would've liked you, you know. If they were alive, I would have brought you home to them, introduced you as my first girlfriend..." Brook's eyes saddened. Michelle cupped his face.

"I would've liked them too. And meeting you is like meeting them." She said. Brook took her hand from his face and kissed her palm.

"I don't know how I ended up such a lucky guy, Michelle. What I did to deserve you..."

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Michelle said. Brook put away the photos and shut the box.

"Since we're the first ones back and have the place to ourselves, why don't we make the most of it?" he asked huskily. Michelle giggled.

"Okay. What do you want to do? Watch TV and make out?"

"You read my mind." He said sitting straighter and pulling her closer by the waist and pressing his lips between hers.

An hour later Paige returned reporting nothing from her end. She stopped with a look of disbelief on seeing Brook and Michelle snuggled together on the couch.

"Ugh, not again. You two should get a room. Whatever mushy stuff you lovebirds were doing – stop." She said in disgust. Brook rolled his eyes at her.

"We were watching TV." He said.

"Oh yeah? Did Michelle's hair get like that from watching TV?" Michelle put her hands on her hair and realized it was terribly mused. Brook had really gotten his fingers tangled through them earlier. She quickly combed through it.

"Didn't think so. So whatcha watchin'?" Paige asked, coming and sitting next to Michelle.

"A rom-com," Michelle replied.

"Ugh, so boring. Sappy romance? Blegh. I know something way better." She changed the channel to an action movie.

"Paige, that's not Michelle's style," Brook said.

"Take it or leave it," she said carelessly.

"Brook, it's fine. I don't mind." Michelle said. The door opened and Payton and Reece came in.

"Hey, you guys are back," Reece said on seeing them.

"Where's Jett?" Brook asked.

"He went to pick up, and I quote, 'much-needed ham'," Reece said.

"Leslie's not back either," Paige said.

"So did you guys find out –" Brook began to ask but they shook their heads.

"No news of Soriano anywhere bro," Jett said.

"Someone asking for me?" A voice came through the front door.