Session 5

2 hours from Mars

The clock was ticking, and in a matter of hours, Spike would be down on one of Mars' busiest cities playing bait. The plan was to seduce Mack, take the chip out of her locket while she was distracted, and bring it back to the ship.

Quinn still remembered exactly how her former best friend would spend her nights alone after work. Mack wasn't a sociable woman, but she tended to frequent live music clubs in the area, more specifically, jazz clubs. Lucky for Spike, he fit right into the jazz club demographic. Now all he had to do was dress the part, and lucky for him, Quinn new exactly what to make him wear.

"Have either of you seen Spike?" Quinn asked Faye and Jet who were watching a movie in the living room.

"Not since we teased the life out of him," Jet replied. That was the last time she saw him; maybe they had taken the bullying a little bit too far.

"Any idea where he might be?" Quinn inquired, but they both shook their heads and continued to watch the movie.

Quinn found it odd that neither of them seemed to know where he was considering the relationships they all had with one another. She figured if anyone knew where he was, it would have had be one of them. She sighed, and walked away defeated. She'd have to find him on her own.

As she made her way throughout the ship, Quinn recalled the brief time she spent with Spike last night. For a moment she thought the memory might have only been a dream, but as she rounded the corner that led to the window filled corridor, she saw him practicing some sort of sparring routine on his own. Again, he was shirtless, and Quinn couldn't help but feel like she was intruding.

"Hey," Quinn called out to him as she tread down the long, empty hallway.

"I need to get you all suited up," she added as she approached, but Spike seemed fixated within his practice. Quinn stopped once she reached him. She folded her arms across her chest while Spike gave her a side eyed glance. He sighed before stretching, and untensing his body.

"Suited up?" He inquired, and Quinn nodded.

"I want this to work out, and if you want to successfully win her over you need to play the part correctly," Quinn declared, but Spike seemed dreadfully uninterested.

"I think I can dress myself," he jested, but Quinn was quick to rebut.

"Clearly not," she huffed as she gestured towards his bare torso. Spike let out short, exasperated laugh.

"If you insist," his voice trailed off as he pushed past her.

"Where are you going?" Quinn questioned as she followed him down the hallway.

"My room," he replied, and for some reason Quinn began to feel a warmth grow within her face.

"You coming?" Spike added as he turned around. Quinn blushed and began to follow behind him. For some reason the invitation made her heart race. She didn't quite know why, but whatever the reason was, she didn't mind the warmth that it brought. In fact, she really enjoyed it and she hoped to feel it more with him.

...

The walk to his room wasn't far, and Quinn discovered that it was in a hallway she had explored last night. Maybe that's why he was awake, she probably disturbed him in his sleep somehow. Spike pulled open the large, metal door to his room and stepped inside. Quinn followed closely behind him.

The room was on the side of small, but it seemed to contain everything a typical bedroom would have. Aside from the bed being unmade, the room itself was thoroughly clean and everything seemed to be well put together. Quinn closed the door behind her as Spike walked over towards a small, sliding door. He pulled it open to reveal a tiny closet jam packed with clothing.

"Wow," Quinn smiled as she observed the modest closet space.

"Pick something out, I'm taking a shower," Spike announced, and within seconds he had left Quinn alone in his room.

Once the metal door slammed loudly behind her, she began digging through his closet. He had quite a lot to pick through, and she wondered why out of everything he had to wear he gravitated towards his blue suit. To be fair, it looked good on him, but still, out of everything he owned there were plenty of better options.

Quinn didn't need to dig around for very long. She knew Mack's taste in men was similar to hers, so finding something she liked was not hard to do. Quinn grabbed a white button down, a leather jacket, black jeans, and belt. It was simple, but classy. She laid the outfit across his bed before taking a seat.

In her spare time, she began to examine his room. The room itself was rather simple. He had a bed, a closet, a small desk, a wardrobe, and a nightstand. All of which seemed to be made of steel. He had a small TV mounted above his desk, and on his nightstand he had a lamp, a pair of wireless headphones and a small touch screen tablet.

His desk was empty expect for a jar of pens, a notepad, and what looked to be a small box of stationary items. His room lacked any sort of colour, but one item did stand out. Mixed in with the pens on his desk was a small, pink, paper pinwheel. It looked like something a child would have made and Quinn wondered why he had such a thing. He had a few things taped up on the walls as well. A star chart, a map of mars, and a poster for some band Quinn had never heard of before.

His room seemed to fit the personality Quinn had assumed for him. Bland, basic, lack luster. But despite all that, Quinn knew there was more to his room than what he was displaying. He had a dresser with nothing on it, but it had plenty of drawers. His nightstand, desk, and area beneath his bed had plenty of storage room as well. It almost seemed like he was hiding something even in his own personal space (one that she assumed not many people saw). He was a private person, even in private which Quinn thought was rather strange.

As she leaned back on his bed, she felt something crunch beneath his pillow. It sounded like paper being scrunched, and Quinn worried she might have broken something. Initially she ignored it, but her curiosity ended up getting the better of her. She had to know what was under there even if it meant she was invading his personal space. She listened for a moment just incase she heard Spike walking back.

Silence.

She moved her hand across the bed and reached underneath his pillow. She felt something sleek rub against her fingers. It felt like a magazine. She grabbed the object from underneath the pillow before taking a look at what it was.

Her heart shot up into her chest as her cheeks flushed red. She didn't quite know what she was expecting, but this was the last thing she figured she'd see. It wasn't an unusual thing to have especially since he was a standard guy, and as she flipped through the pages of the magazine she couldn't help but think about what he was using it for. Of course the answer was obvious, but Quinn wanted to pretend like she didn't know so she could continue making up fantasies in her mind.

"Wow," she mumbled to herself as she flipped through the pages. This was certainly a site to see, and for some reason Quinn couldn't take her eyes off the pages. Maybe this was why he up so late last night... Maybe he was keeping himself busy...

Suddenly the door began to open. Quinn panicked as she stuffed the magazine back under the pillow. Hopefully he wouldn't notice that it had been touched.

Although, Quinn wondered what he would feel if he did find out. Would he be mad? Annoyed? Or maybe even turned on considering Quinn spent some time flipping through the pages herself.

When Spike entered the room he was shirtless with a towel draped over his shoulders.

"I've got it all ready for you here," Quinn smiled awkwardly as she avoided staring too long at his bare torso.

"Thanks," Spike replied as Quinn left the room. While she waited for him to get dressed, her mind began to wander to places she wished it wouldn't. She had just clearly seen something she shouldn't have, and it opened her mind to a thousand different fantasies. She could not stop herself from thinking about what happened behind his door at night... when he was truly alone... she bit her tongue as she rolled her eyes.

"Shut the fuck up," Quinn mumbled softly to herself before Spike came out fully dressed.

"I guess this works," he shrugged as he closed his bedroom door behind him.

"It looks great!" Quinn smiled genuinely while Spike fiddled with his collar.

"Wait one sec," Quinn stated as she moved her hands towards his chest.

"Unbutton a couple of these," she suggested and she opened up the front of his shirt.

"I don't know if I trust your judgement," Spike raised an eyebrow as he adjusted his leather jacket.

"It's not like anyone else here knows what Mack likes," Quinn shrugged and Spike half smiled in agreement. Once she was finished styling him she wondered what more she could add.

"Do you have any cologne?" Quinn asked. Spike nodded before disappearing back into his room.

Clearly he was storing his stuff elsewhere because Quinn saw no signs of any such things by just taking a look around. When he came back out, Quinn gave him a thumbs up before taking him to the living room. Faye had fallen asleep next to Jet on the couch and when the two of them walked in, Jet was quick to turn his head.

"Looks like someone's dressed to impress," Jet smiled as he nudged Faye awake.

"W-what?" Faye grunted as she rubbed her eyes.

"Oh hey," she smiled when she saw Spike. His hands were dug deep in his pockets while Quinn stood proudly beside him. She almost felt like an artist presenting her work.

"The baits looking real fresh," Faye gave Spike a wink. He rolled his eyes at her before taking a seat on the armchair.

"So we're going to set you up with a body cam and an earpiece," Quinn announced as she gestured for Jet to pass over the tablet.

"I'll feed you any information you need while I watch through the camera," Quinn explained before handing Spike a wireless earbud. The earbud itself was designed to be discreet, but his hair did a good enough job at hiding it anyways. There was no way Mack was going to be able to notice it.

"Is the body cam necessary?" Spike asked as Quinn began clipping it onto one of his shirt buttons. She fiddled with it for awhile. Who would have thought a micro camera the size of a pencil tip would be so hard to work with!

"I need to have some eyes on what you're up to," Quinn told as Jet made his way back to the controls. They would be docked and ready to go within the next hour.

"Relay the plan again," Spike pressed as he fiddled with his shirt collar once again.

"Meet Mack at the jazz club downtown, do what you have to do to at least get close to her, pop the microchip out of the locket and get away discreetly," Quinn explained and Spike nodded.

"Why can't I just take the necklace?" Spike asked, and Quinn shook her head.

"She hasn't taken that thing off since we graduated university," she griped as she took a knee next to Spike.

"It's crucial that you don't draw any attention to yourself," Quinn informed. She heard Faye snicker in the distance.

"That's gonna be hard," she mocked from the couch.

"You're one to talk," he shot back while Quinn awkwardly fiddled with his shirt button.

"Let's just hope Mack's not another Andy," Faye giggled as she got up from her seat.

"Faye-," Spike began to pull away but Quinn pulled him back.

"Sit still, God you're like an impatient toddler," she teased playfully as she tugged on the shirt button one last time. Spike smiled, and when Quinn had finished attaching the tech, she looked upwards, and for a moment their eyes locked together. It was weird looking at him from this perspective, and honestly she wished she could see him like this more often. He seemed to enjoy her kneeling in front of him. Maybe he enjoyed it too much because before he pulled away, Quinn swore she saw him blush.