A Lesson in Lockpicking

Author: SilverFawkes
Pairing: Darien/OFC (Alyx Silver)
Rating: NC-17 (Sexual situations, language)
Disclaimer: The characters or basic story ideas of The Invisible Man are the property of others including, but not limited to Matt Greenberg, Studios USA, Stu Segall Productions and NBC Universal. Any additional characters or story ideas are mine. I make no money from this intellectual exercise.
Timeline: During 'Some Goodbyes Are Easier Than Others'
Comments: This is essentially the long versif a f a scene from "Some Good-byes..." I'll be the first to admit that this is not my forte, but the mood struck me so I decided to go for it. I do not write graphic sex so this is definitely more on the romantic side.
Created: 7-27-2001

A Lesson In Lockpicking


I had zero plans for the evening. It wasn't that unusual, but this night it bothered me for some reason. After eating dinner, I found myself with nothing to do and bored out of my mind. Since getting back from Florida, I had made a point of not going over to her place. No more surprise visits. I had taken up some hobbies, simply because I had no life outside of work these days, but I couldn't find enough energy to attack even one of them.

I was seriously considering going to sleep out of sheer boredom when someone knocked on my door. I groaned, figuring that it was either Hobbes, who still had this annoying habit of checking up on me, or the woman from down the hall who just wouldn't get the hint that I wasn't interested. Her latest tactic was to deliver food or coffee at odd hours of the night when it was obvious I was still awake at two in the morning.

So I have to admit I was feeling rather annoyed when I pulled the door open. Boy was I in for one hell of a surprise. Alyx stood in the doorway, looking rather shocked at my less than pleasant expression.

"Oh. Hey, Alyx. Sorry, I thought you were Hobbes checking up on me again." It was midnight; what the devil was she doing here? "What's up?"

"Can I come in?" She stood there looking up at me for a moment, and I wasn't sure what was going through her mind.

"Yeah, sure." I moved out of the way and she walked past me, placing a six-pack of Corona on the counter. I didn't know she even knew that I drank that. I'd never told her and she hadn't been over here more than a couple of times, usually just in passing. Picking me up or dropping me off for work, stuff like that. Making a surprise late night visit on me? That wasn't her style.

She looked over at me. "A bribe. It is late, after all."

"A bribe?" I raised my eyebrows at her. "Do I want to know?" I closed the door and walked over to the counter, then picked up one of the bottles and looked at it for a moment. Something was up with Alyx, but for the life of me I had no idea why she was here. She'd made her position clear ages ago, and no matter how many times I'd tried to change her mind, she had remained steadfast. I had to admit, since returning from Florida, she'd been different towards me, but I had stayed away this time. She needed to decide for herself. I had finally figured out that I couldn't make the decision for her, no matter how much I wanted to.

She shrugged. "I can't answer that, actually." She removed her jacket and tossed it over the back of one of the chairs. She was wearing a white tank top and a pair of broken-in jeans that sat low on her hips. I opened the beer and drank quickly. Damn, the woman dressed for comfort and still managed to drive me nuts.

She was giving me this odd look and began to chuckle lightly to herself. I had to wonder what was going on in her pretty little head this time. She walked over to me then and took the bottle from my hand. As I watched, she drank about half of the contents and then set it on the counter.

"Alyx...?" I couldn't believe she had possibly come over here for anything like that. Could she? I ran my hand along her cheek, caressing it. She closed her eyes and sighed, and I just stood there. In shock, I guess. We hadn't really talked much since getting back from Florida. She'd had to spend some time recovering; they'd done quite a number on her. Hell, I still wasn't 100 percent, either -- my shoulder was still a bit stiff -- but I forgot about all of it when she pulled my hand away from her face yet again. I could feel my heart sinking. Once again she was pushing me away. She looked me in the eyes and then kissed the palm of my hand. My heart skipped a beat. Several actually. I moved my hand and buried it in her hair, stepping closer to her. She didn't back off like she usually did, so I grasped her chin with my other hand and tipped her face up to look at me.

"Alyx are you sure?" I wanted to hit myself for asking.

"Do you really want me to talk?" she said with a smile.

I chuckled. "No, I guess not." Then I buried my hands in her hair and kissed her. Like I was going to be dumb enough to ask her again, to wait, to give her a chance to decide, yet again, that she didn't want to do this. Although I had to admit this was nice, hell, way beyond nice. This was a dream, a fantasy, and now suddenly a reality. I felt han hands move over me. One playing with my hair and the other lying gently over my heart, which I was trying to keep calm. Good lord, it was difficult. And this was just the beginning. I pulled back slightly and rested my forehead against hers trying to catch my breath.

"Darien, I..."

Oh no. I wasn't going to let her talk herself out of this, not this time. I'd waited too damn long to get her alone and willing and I wasn't going to let her get away again. I placed a finger against her lips. "No. No more talking."

She closed her eyes and kissed my finger tips, biting them gently. I guess she wasn't planning on running tonight. Opening her eyes, she stood up straight and bit me gently on the throat. I sucked in a breath. Crap. Control. I had to maintain control, but it was damn hard when she was, ah god, doing that. I put my hands on her shoulders and moved her away slightly. I closed my eyes trying to calm myself. I had no idea it was going to be this hard.

I didn't want this to go like the last time, like with Allianora. That had been sheer foolishness, combined with a desperate need that, at the time, she had been the only one to fill. I was feeling trapped at the Agency, even after my act of rebellion, and she supposedly felt just as trapped by Chrysalis. For that night, that moment, we were able to find a bit of release from the lives we lived. It didn't matter who or what we were, just that, for a moment, we needed and wanted something we were usually denied.

Wish it had been that simple. Of course I ended up being used, yet again. Yeah, you could argue I used her as well, and I guess I did, but she shouldn't have had to pay with her life. There were days I felt any relationship I had was doomed to one failure or another. I didn't want that to happen again.

I opened my eyes to gaze at Alyx. She had this sad, almost fearful, look on her face, obviously misinterpreting why I had moved her away, why I had held still for so long. For an instant, I was tempted, can't deny that, to push her away, tell her to get out, go home...but only for an instant. I trailed my fingers down her arm and took her hand. Pulling her with me, I backed across the room and towards the bed. "C'mere you."

I didn't want to rush through the motions this time. Didn't want to watch her through Quicksilvered eyes, to be unable to really feel her because of the Quicksilver between us. I was jealous for an instant, knowing she wouldn’t have the same difficulty, but only for an instant. Then I simply wanted to lose myself to her.

She didn't resist, got this smug little smile on her face as I pulled her in close again. I took it as slow as I could, but it was difficult. I wanted to simply tumble her onto the bed, strip her bare, and take her until she cried out in pleasure. But I had to go slow, this time anyway, for myself as much as for her. My heart rate wasn't cooperating though.

When she kissed slidslid her tongue inside my mouth to find mine, teasing me with quick flicks of her tongue, I groaned. She seemed to find this amusing and changed her target to my ear. I could feel her hands working on the buttons of my shirt, sliding across my stomach once she had them all undone. There was a tingle, like a mild electric shock and she pulled her hands away with a jerk. When she brought them back it was onto the cloth of my shirt and not my skin, which I found odd, but couldn't really say anything about. The fahat hat she was here was taking up the majority of my attention.

I decided to find out how she'd react to similar treatment. I moved my hands down to her hips and slid my left hand under her shirt, moving upwards to trace lightly across her rib cage. She froze in place, hardly breathing it seemed, just waiting. I kissed her on the temple and slid my hand further upward, caressing her breast, her nipple hardening under my palm, and causing her to moan softly.

My control slipped.

"Aw, crap," I muttered as the Quicksilver flowed involuntarily across my body. I tried to pull away but she stopped me, not letting what must have been a very cold hand move away from her. "Alyx..."

She shook her head. And then she Quicksilvered herself and went from black and white to this glowing pale blue outline to my sight. "There, now we're even." She was laughing softly. "What's the problem?"

How the hell was I supposed to answer that? She was the problem, and she would continue to be as long as she stood there refusing to let me move my hand. "Sorry," I mumbled, trying to convince the damn gland to stop doing what it does. The stupid thing wasn't listening.

She gave me a gentle push and I found myself sitting on the bed, watching her. "Don't be. It's a compliment." She leaned in, resting her head against mine. "Think about something else," she whispered releasing my hand. She slid my shirt off and stood back holding it. After a moment, the Quicksilver hardened on it and she gave it a quick shake, scattering the flakes about the room like snow under the lights at night. Seconds later, she did the same to herself.

I was still unable to regain control, but the more I tried the more difficult it became. Maybe I should just give up trying to remain visible. It wasn't going to get any easier. "Like what? I kinda have one thing on my mind right now, and it's causing the problem."

She laughed. "Try thinking about picking locks."

I shook my head. "Are you crazy?"

"Probably. Just try it. Think about each step in detail." She had moved closer, almost but not quite touching.

It was worth a try anyway. I was going to have hard time explaining my 'unauthorized use' of the gland to the Keep as it was. Bureaucrats. Never mind Bobby, who would flip out if he knew what it was Alyx and I were attempting to do. That was not a topic I wanted to think about right now. I took a deep breath and thought back. I'd picked some annoying locks in my time.

"Close your eyes," she suggested.

How'd she know they were open? But I complied, picturing the lock in my mind and then running through the process step by step. The feel of the picks in my hands. The delicate touch required to feel what the tumblers within were doing. The slightest movement being translated back through the metal picks to my fingers, where I had to interpret the meaning and decide what to do next.

"Touch me, Dare." She was right next to me and I could feel her breath on my ear, brushing through my hair.

She took my hand and placed it on her side, and that's when I realized I could feel her. Her warmth, her skin. I opened my eyes to see her. See her in full living, breathing, color. The Quicksilver had fallen away and I hadn't even realized it.

She had removed her shirt while I was thinking of other things and I almost lost control again. She was even more beautiful than I thought, damn near perfect as far as I was concerned. "You...you're..."

"Cold," she filled in for me. "But I think you can fix that."

I was pretty sure I could too. I pulled her closer to me and kissed her throat, causing her to gasp in reaction. Her hands came down on my shoulders, and once again I felt that tingle of energy at the contact. But this time, I also got emotions. Hers.

She jerked her hands away again. "Damn."

I didn't let her move away. "Problem?" I moved my mouth lower and slid my tongue around her navel. She shuddered as I slipped it in.

"Let's just say you're not the only one with control issues," she muttered.

"Hmmm," I commented intelligently, as I went to work on removing her jeans. My lips were brushing gently across one of her breasts causing her to groan. "I don't seeing you dealing with 'involuntary invisibility’."

That earned me a small laugh. "That would be far easier to deal with." Her fingers were playing with my hair. Who knew that just hands running through my hair could make my heart jump so high? It had never happened before.

I had the jeans unbuttoned and felt her shift as she kicked her her shoes. She leaned over a bit and rubbed her face into my hair with a sigh. I slid her jeans down her hips revealing the purple scrap of cloth beneath and I had to swallow. Did she have any idea what this would do to me? I hooked one edge with a finger and tugged on it. "What is this?"

"Silk," she answered.

I had figured out that much on my own. "Please tell me this isn't what you normally have under your clothes?" I thought she’d been kidding when she’d teased Hobbes about wearing g-strings.

"Uh, huh. I like them," she said as sucked gently on my earlobe.

So, at work she'd have these under her clothes. Every day. "Ah, d... damn." I took a deep breath and returned to the lock-picking, my head leaning against her stomach. I had to run through the routine twice on two different locks, but when I looked up at her I knew that I hadn't done the disappearing act on her.

"Imagery a bit too vivid, huh?" She was smiling at me.

I watched her eyes as I slid her jeans past her hips until they fell to the floor with a soft thud. She pulled her feet loose and kicked them aside. And only then did I look to see what was revealed. Silk and lace, covering only what was absolutely necessary. I had to take a moment to make sure I stayed in control.

Her hands came down to hover over my shoulders. I wanted her to touch me. To feel her hands glide softly across my skin, to make me shiver and squirm with her touch, but it was like she was afraid to. So instead of revealing what was barely hidden beneath that scrap of silk, I took one of her hands and moved it to rest on my chest. She resisted for a moment, then closed her eyes and swallowed. There was that tingle and then I heard music.

"What?" I didn't recognized the song, but that didn't really matter.

"Crap," she muttered and the sound faded. In its place I felt mild irritation wash over me, and that's when I realized what was going on.

"Control issues, huh?" I tried to keep it light and she responded to it that way.

"Yes. I still haven't quite mastered that control in certain situations. You'll feel everything I am as long as I'm tong yng you." Her other hand had moved to join the first. "And I'll pick up everything you're feeling."

Her hands moved lower and she leaned down to kiss me. She was right -- I could feel her enjoyment, her pleasure, her need radiating from her. It was a new experience, and it gave me some small idea of what she lived with every day. Most of the time she avoided touching other people, especially strangers. On more than one occasion she had gotten more than she bargained for from a casual touch, and it made her wary. Hell, I knew she knew things about me that I had never directly told her and I hate to admit it did sometimes bother me. But not now. Now, I was more than willing to experience whatever she was willing to share with me, and if I gave up a bit more than perhaps I should about what I was thinking or feeling, so be it.

I leaned back onto the bed, bringing her along to lie atop me. My hands drifted down to rest on her hips, caressing the flesh that was bared to my touch and, for some unmeasured length of time, I lost myself to the sensations, both hers and mine. I could feel what she wanted, what she was longing for, so I rolled so that she lay beneath me.

"Is it always like this for you?" I asked against her throat. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted it. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

"No." Her voice was hushed, breathless. "Only with you."

Only with me. I brushed mps aps across hers and felt her heart jump beneath my hand, lying in the valley between her breasts. With light stokes, I teased her mouth with my tongue until she lay moaning beneath me. Eventually I had to give in to her need as well as my own and the teasing stopped, becoming far more serious, deeper, sensual. She had one hand buried in my hair and the other sliding up and down my back in seemingly random patterns.

I moved my hand lower pausing atop the scar low on her right side. She'd taken a bullet on her first mission with me and Hobbes and this was the reminder. I traced the faint outline. A near perfect circle about the size of a quarter. I knew she had one on her back to match. I moved then sliding my tongue down her throat which she bared for me. I kept going following the line between her breasts and down her abdomen. I circled her navel for a long moment and then raised myself up to kiss the scar. She'd nearly died keeping me from going off the deep end when she'd gotten it and I couldn't remember if I had ever thanked her.

"Ah, gods." she muttered and I chuckled.

Moving my hand lower I hooked that piece of silk and with her help, removed it, baring the last of her secrets to my eyes. "So you really are a redhead?"

"Wha... What?" she spluttered at me. "You've got to be kidding me."

Then I really looked at her. Gods the woman just kept piling up the surprises. She shaved hers not not bare, but a pattern. Perfect chevrons. I slid my hand through the neatly trimmed hair and then lower wondering how she managed to do this and then stopped myself because of the imagery that popped up in my mind. My fingers brushed across her making her gasp and arch up towards my hand. I shifted, wanting to watch her.

My fingers moved lower and to find her so wet, so ready that I found myself mentally working on locks even as I slid a finger inside of her. I wanted to taste her but didn't think I'd be able to maintain control long enough to do so. And she was so warm that I really didn't want to spoil it by cooling her off unexpectedly. I flicked my tongue across her lips as I began to move my hand. Slowly sliding in and out. Slow circles within. I moved my thumb and applied pressure to her clit feeling it harden and making her gasp and arch again.

She was nearly there and it wasn't just experience telling me this. The hand that still lay on my back was feeding me everything she was feeling and it was coming damn close to driving me over the edge with her. Her other hand was busy destroying the comforter we lay upon, a handful grasped in her tightly closed fist. Not that I minded. She could shred the darn thing for all I cared. Watching her here, in my bed, moaning because of what I was doing to her, it was like touching a piece of heaven and it had been a very long time since I had ever considered myself even vaguely worthy of that lofty place.

I added a second finger and she opened her eyes to look at me for an instant before losing herself to the pleasure I was doing my best to give to her.

"Alyx," I whispered in her ear, "come for me."

"Gods Dare, you want me to lose it completely?" she gasped out.

"Yes," I answered, and as I watched she did. Her entire body seemed to hum as she came. It was more than just what one would normally expect. The hand on my back moved away suddenly and her other punched down into the mattress. My CD player kicked on, pouring the music I'd been listening to earlier into the room. Then the lamp across the room came on with a flash as the bulb exploded in a shower of sparks. Loose items around the room began to vibrate and rattle where they sat and then stopped as she relaxed beneath me. Only the music continued.

"Control issues, huh?"

She actually managed a panting laugh. "I warned you."

I brought my hand to my mouth and licked my fingers as she watched trying to catch her breath. Slightly sweet I noted, with a hint of the Quicksilver that floods her system. Interesting, although I suppose I should have expected it. I imagine something similar happens to me.

She ran her hand through my hair. "Sorry about the lamp."

"It was worth it." I kissed her lightly. Her hands came back up to embrace me for a few minutes then slid down my back, her nails digging in gently, to tug on my slacks.

"Do we still need these?" she asked, shifting beneath me.

One of her hands moved around to the front and pressed against me causing me to groan. It had been a long, long time since I wanted someone this badly. A long time since needing someone, a particular someone. I knew I had wanted her for... ever it seemed, but it wasn’t until now that I realized I needed her as well.

I fell back to lie looking up at her as she followed me. She had this slightly amused look on her face. Almost as if she was surprised at what she had found. She deftly undid my pants and slid her hand inside to run her fingers lightly across my erection. "Damn it, Alyx. Are you trying to torture me?" I let my need seep into my voice and thrust against her hand.

"Torture?" she asked as if not truly believing my words.
es, es, sweet torture," I asserted, bringing up my hands to bury them in her hair again. "You've been torturing me for months."

"Not tonight." She closed her eyes for a minute leaning into my hands. "Tomorrow? I can make no promises."

I heard her without understanding what she meant. And tonight I didn't care. She was here and I wanted her. "I'll deal with tomorrow when it comes." She looked like she wanted to say something else, but instead nodded and buried her face against my throat. Her hand trailed up my stomach to my ribs making me shift as the sensation was on that uncomfortable borderline between feeling good and tickling. For an instant she pushed it across, but followed it with the sensation of her mouth on my nipple, biting it gently. My grip on her hair tightened momentarily. Lifting her head away as I forced my self to maintain control. When I relaxed my grip she moved her mouth lower her momentary urge to tickle me was gone. Her mind had moved in other directions.

Getting on her knees she tugged at my slacks and the briefs beneath pulling them off me with minimal assistance from myself. Once they had been discarded, she continued her explorations with her tongue and mouth. When she ran her tongue up my erection I knew this wasn't going to work, that I would not be able to maintain control. I could feel that cold trickle of Quicksilver across my neck and shoulders even as her hand wrapped around me and her mouth closed over me. Enclosing me in her moist warmth. I groaned, trying to keep the Quicksilver from spreading further across my torso. It had been too damn long, and I had never before bothered to worry about controlling my heart rate during a situation where control was most definitely not the goal.

"Alyx, stop. Please."

She lifted her head, running her tongue across her lips, to look at me. "Locks, my dear. Practice your locks." She was sounding more than a little breathless herself. "And I'll practice my scales." she muttered mostly to herself.

So I did. The more complex the better and after a few minutes I was no longer fighting with myself, the Quicksilver having stopped before making any part of me disappear, anwas was back to enjoying the moment. Alyx had straddled me while I fought with myself, her hands resting on my ribcage and I could feel the energy humming through her hands. Her feelings, her desires as she lowered herself down onto me. I thrust upward wanting to meet her halfway. Wanting to bury myself in her. I groaned and she moaned arching back for a moment before leaning forward to kiss me her hair falling about us like a rosy curtain.

“Ah, Dare...” she voiced aloud as my hands moved to capture her breasts. Teasing them with gentle pinches that I could not help but feel her enjoyment of.

I let her control the motion for a while as the need within me slowly built. In the background the music finally stopped leaving the only sounds in the room us. She lifted her head, baring her throat to me. I bit her gently and she jumped in response. I could feel her heart pounding in her throat, tasted the slightly salty sweat, the faint hint of Quicksilver, and, underneath it all, the sweet taste of her.

I rolled then and she squealed in surprise, which faded into a groan as I took control of the movement and thrust iher.her. Her hips lifted to meet mine, matching my every movement. Slower, dragging it out, faster, bringing us closer to the release we both sought, both yearned for.

I hit that point of no return. That point every guy reaches, when the option to stop, to slow down, to do anything but drive towards the goal, is passed. My movements sped up and with them my heart rate. Now was the time when control gets forgotten, when that bit of madness allowed to every male becomes the focus of their existence.

I growled out something. Her name perhaps and she groaned in response her own climax taking her wherever it is she goes when it comes. I lost myself to mine. And somehow I didn't find myself with Quicksilver flowing across me, found myself only losing control of my emotions. I collapsed upon her panting knowing that I'd lost myself to her, and not just for the night. I had discovered that I was just as addicted to this woman beneath me as I was to the counteragent. This night was going to be the first of many if I had any say in the matter.

Later, after our breathing had returned to something close to normal, I shifted off her wanting to just look a her for a few minutes. Running my hand lazily across her stomach I could feel the muscles contract in reaction. She chose to be a smartass.

"Well you're still with us I see." Her hand came up to mangle my hair worse than it already was.

I snagged her hand and kissed it. She blinked lazily up at me. "Yup. Still here." I lay back and she moved to lay her head on my chest listening to my heart as it began to slow its rhythm. Before she could fall asleep I got us rearranged and under the covers knowing that although we felt warm enough now we wouldn't later. She curled back up against me with a sigh of pure contentment; her fingers tapping out a complicated pattern along my ribs.

"Sleep you. I'll still be here in the morning."

Her hand stilled its random motions and I wondered why my statement caused her sudden reaction.

"I hope so," she said quietly; her hand beginning to move again.

Within minutes she was well on her way to a deep sleep, but I was still awake, not quite ready for my journey to the land of Nod. I ran my hands through her hair wondering what had changed her mind. What had brought her here tonight. What kept her from running away again. I chuckled. Picking locks. Only she could have thought of that. I yawned then, sleep finally taking notice of me. The morning, I decided. I'd ask her in the morning.


Finis