Chapter Text
Rick Flag was a disciplined man. He spent his life earning praise for his dedication to his assignments, astonishingly quick thinking and vast firearms knowledge. Even so, there was one thing none of his expertise could have seen coming, prevented or warded off.
Her.
Vexing, short-tempered, unpredictable her.
Flag shouldn’t have felt whatever the hell it was he felt every single damn time he looked at her and he knew it. First off, she was a criminal. Secondly, she acted first and thought later. Thirdly, she had an infuriating problem with authority. On paper, she was his own personal nightmare, but when he’d look across a room to where she was taking cover from a hail of bullets- she’d smile and, fuck, he’d smile back.
If anything could describe their dynamic, it was that. Task Force X was an ever-moving and changing part of their lives with little time for anything but the work they did, training for the work they did and paperwork. A metric shit ton of paperwork. Despite that, amongst the chaos, there were these little stolen moments he’d have with her. Smiles, winks, playful flirtations and shy silence that made him want to pull her close and consume her like she was fucking oxygen.
Navigating their relationship, or uh, whatever it was… it was one of the hardest things Rick had ever done in his life. Wanting for someone you could barely get more than 15 minutes alone with was frustrating, but since the team escaped Waller’s grasp… he’d learned there were worse things.
Things like wanting for someone you lived with. Someone youspent nearly all your time with. Someone blinking at you from across the kitchen island.
“Uh, Flag. HellloOOOooo?”
“Huh,” he popped out of his own head and took a sip of his coffee to distract himself from her stare, “Sorry, what was that?”
Rolling her eyes, Shae reached over the island he was sitting at and playfully bopping him on his nose, “You. Me. Dubois. Cleo. Drinks tonight.”
“I appreciate the simplification,” he spoke sarcastically, his drawl taking shape. He shooed her hand away, “Sounds good to me- get to some real drinkin’.”
“You know,” she grabbed his empty coffee mug and placed it in the sink, “I keep hearing about how much of a good southern boy you are, mind that you’re the only person who has ever said that, and I have to call that a lie.”
“What? Why? Ladies love my ole’ southern charm.”
“Drinking, smoking and cussing doesn’t sound like it’s in the description of a charming southern gentleman- it sounds like a gas station attendant.”
She seemed exceptionally proud of her jab at him and he grinned, leaning back and stretching just enough for his shirt to lift and expose the lines of his hips to her, “Darlin’, this gas station attendant could knock your damn socks off.”
Rick almost burst out laughing when Le flushed immediately, and how quickly she busied herself, “Whatever, Flag. $40 on Pump 2.”
———
Shae came out of her room in a huff, closing the door harder than usual. Rick turned his head from his seat on the couch to see what the fuss was about, “What’s got you in a tizzy now, woman?”
She cut her eyes at him, though there was a glint of humour in them. Little annoyed Shae more than toxic masculinity and, naturally, Rick pulled out a one-liner here and there just to irritate her. He’d never been the type to poke fun at a girl to tell em' he liked them- but with Shae, a lot of his confident “nevers” were being put to the test.
“I wanted to dress nice and I was excited until, “ She motioned over her outfit- an army green cropped hoodie with black leggings and a pair of runners, “I forgot I don’t have most of my shit.”
Rick wanted to tell her she looked gorgeous, no, that she looked perfect. He wanted to show her just how good he thought she looked in the form of his hands slipping over the curves of her body, maybe even murmur it against her skin as he kissed her anywhere he could. He wanted to tell her he was a second away from getting up and pushing her up against the wall, but instead he took a second to catch his breath, “You look great. We’re not having drinks with the queen.”
“No, we’re having drinks with Dubois and he’s always all dapper and cool,” Shae mock pouted while she meandered backwards towards the front door, “I wanna be cool, too.”
Catching up with the petite brunette, Rick snagged her colour block windbreaker and held it up for her to slip her arms into it. She was smiling. He thought he might have even seen a hint of pink on her cheek and his heart jumped into his throat.
“Why thank you, alleged handsome southern gentleman.”
“Ma’am.”
Shae giggled and pulled open the front door, “Imagine how many free drinks I’d get if I was dressed better than someone who definitely runs as a form of commute.”
A snicker burst from Flag, shaking his head. Shae was ridiculous and a little quirky, but Rick loved that about her.
No, wait-
Like.
What he liked about her.
“I don’t think you’ll have much to worry about regarding that.”
They’d crossed the threshold and Rick busied himself with locking the door, avoiding a lingering look Le was giving him. When he finally met her eyes again, she patted his bicep, “I know. Because you’re paying, Flag.”
Rick grumbled as they made their way to the elevator, “Christ.”