Crisis

“Man, today is just beautiful!” Jon exclaimed with a wide smile as he walked through the traffic of the sidewalks with a slight bounce in his stride.  He let the nippy wind tousle his chestnut tresses as he crossed the frenzied road, politely walking ahead of the crowd around him.  

Turning to the right, his ecstatic smile brightened into a beaming flash of teeth as he pinpointed his destination.  He stepped towards the apartment building that was smack-dab in the middle of the sidewalk, whistling a jazzy tune, when his pocket started playing “Hot-Blooded”.

With raised eyebrows, Jon promptly stopped and fished around for the insistent object within his pocket.  He whisked his cell phone out and flipped it open with gloved fingers, pressing the phone to his right ear.

“Yea-lo?”

“Hey.”

Jon smiled as he recognized the voice of the caller.

“Hey Mercutio!  What’s up?”

Jon was actually very glad that Mercutio was on the line; seeing as his room-mate had to pretty much leap out of bed and hit the ground running to a crime scene in Olympia at two-thirty that morning.  

“Well, I’m at Olympia Headquarters, trying to get a break on this new case…”

Jon frowned.

“Mercutio, man, I don’t wanna be all mom-like with ya, dude; but you’ve been up since two-thirty, and it’s now….” Jon rolled back his coat sleeve to glance at his wristwatch.  “Four thirty p.m. Not to mention that I dragged you to the opening of “The Haze Club.” You’re running on an hour of sleep, man.  I don’t wanna see ya collapse from exhaustion.”

Mercutio’s voice chuckled into Jon’s ear and Jon plugged his other ear with his finger, trying to hear what his friend had to say.

“Jon, I understand your concern, but I’m all right.  In fact, I’ll be back at our flat soon.  It’s just that this case is very complicated and Willow and I are both having difficulties trying to make sense of the evidence.”

Jon nodded in understanding.  His mouth tightened into a line as he mentally debated if he should believe his friend’s promise or not.

“But I’m ringing you because I need you to do me a favor before you go out with Ashleigh tonight.”

Jon’s jaw dropped in absolute surprise.

“DUDE! HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!”

“Ashleigh called Willow while she and I were grabbing a bite to eat before we went back to Olympia’s Headquarters.”

“Oh…”

“Anyway, I need you to do the dishes from the lunch that we had with the team yesterday.  I wanted to do them; but I got called out here… And if you or I don’t clean them soon, we’re going to have bugs.  Would you be kind enough to do them please?”

Jon rolled his eyes and then smirked.

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Thank you, Jon. See you later, all right?”

“Yeah, dude, seriously. You need to take Willow on a date soon…”

“Jon, two words.”

“What’s that?”

“Shut up.”

Jon smiled as he started walking through the thick blanket of ivory into the garage of the apartment complex that he and his best friend shared.

“See ya, dude.”

He flipped the phone shut, shook his head, and then trudged his way to the elevators.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unlocking the door, Jon stepped into the dark apartment.  Fumbling for the light switch, he cursed under his breath as he knocked over a chair.  

After finally finding the switch and positioning the fallen chair, he shrugged off his soaked coat and scarf and tossed them on the back of the black couch.  Shedding his gloves and throwing them on the dining table, he walked into his bedroom.

Pressing the flashing button on his answering machine, he wandered over to the closet and fingered aimlessly through the hangers.  His head slightly jerked up as he heard a very familiar feminine voice speak.

“Hi, Jon.  It’s Ashleigh.  Ya kno’ our date tonight?  Ah’m so sorry.  Ah kno’ we were lookin’ forward ta’ spendin’ a night out on the town…  But mah LOVELY sister showed up on mah doorstep an’ dropped off her four kids.  She won’t be back fer the kids ‘til tomorrow afternoon.  So, unless ya wanna have a date with four stinkin’ kids, Ah think we should meet up sometime else, like tomorrow night, or Sunday night?  Ah’m so sorry!  Please call meh back when ya git this message, ya hear, Jon?  Don’t leave meh hangin’.  Ah wanna hear yar voice soon!  Bye.”

Jon’s shoulders sagged with disappointment as he heard the answering machine click off.  
He shrugged, closed the closet door and ambled to his chest drawer.  He tugged the drawer open and frisked out his grey sweatpants and a warm brown turtleneck.  With his clothes in hand, he ambled to the bathroom with the idea of a warm shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He stepped into the living room with a satisfied smile plastered on his dashing face as he automatically snuggled against the temperate cloth of his sweater.  He felt so much better now that his frame wasn’t chilled to the bone.  He snorted to himself as he thought of Mercutio and the snowy weather that plagued the large city of Seattle.  

Saying that Mercutio liked the winter snow was a major understatement; Mercutio ADORED the icy slush that tumbled from the sky.  

Jon remembered walking up to Mercutio a couple of weeks ago, when the first flurries of white flakes started to fall.

~~~~~~
“Eck… Great, it’s snowing.” Jon grumbled out to the general crowd as he peered out the window of the break room with half-lidded eyes of chocolate.  

“Oh come on, Jon, babe.” Ella Picard chirped out with her emerald eyes aglow with perkiness.  She walked over to the large table where her co-worker rested his head on his arms with a stormy expression chiseled onto his face.  She nestled a mug filled nearly to the brim with blackness in front of his arms, waiting for him to acknowledge the bitter scent swirling from the cup.  “Snow isn’t that bad.”

Jon grunted as his hands curled around the mug in front of him and his head rising to gift the black-haired woman with a grateful yet steely gaze.  He stole a lengthy sip from the dark scarlet mug, his eyes shuttering as the bitter drops of addicting caffeine pleasurably cascaded down his parched throat. He opened his eyes again and looked at his friend.

“Let me guess,” Ella smiled over the rim of her drink before swallowing once.  She set it down in front of her. “You’re not a morning person either?”

“What was your first clue?” Jon sarcastically flashed his teeth before stealing another taste of his coffee.

She giggled before looking out the glass at the whitening scenery again.  Jon raised an eyebrow at her as a dreamy smile fluttered onto her pale face.

“Okay, Ms. Sunshine. Spill.” Jon leered and leaned forward.

“… Huh?” Ella jumped and looked back at her fellow brunette through startled gems of emerald. “Spill what?” She stuttered out nervously.

“Come on, your secret’s safe with me.” Jon offered.  “You look like you had some fantasies that MUST involve snow!”

“Jonathan!” The British woman exclaimed with a flustered smile.  “You make it sound as if I have a secret sexual fantasy involving snow!”

“Well, I don’t see you denying it, Ms. Picard!”

“I am denying it, Jonathan Kane!” She corrected him.  “I just have a lot of good memories that involves snow from my childhood.”

Jon looked intrigued.

“Ella, are you talking about when you and Mercutio were growing up?” Jon asked quietly with respect.  

“Yes, Mercutio and I may have had loads of bad times when we were younger, but…” She paused, her eyes growing distant again.

“But?” Jon pressed gently.

“But, Mercutio loved winter.” She finished in a soft tone. “He loved snow.”

Jon looked shocked.  His best friend, the hero of Seattle, his boss, loved snow?  He couldn’t fathom the man who seemed so strong and heroic loving something so… fluffy, to say the least.

“Whenever it snowed back in London, Mercutio was always outside.  When I would go outside to play with him in the snow, he always was so playful.  He was so carefree.  And every time it would start snowing, he would always ask me to dance with him…”

Jon couldn’t help but smile at Ella, who seemed so happy at the memories.

“But,” Ella interrupted the moment, a concerned scowl marring her face.  “When Artemis… died…” She swallowed with the mournful grief of an aunt of a soul that was erased far too early in life. “He lost that… love…” She sighed out.

Jon placed his hand upon her shaking fingers, comfortingly reassuring her that she had someone who cared.  

Ella smiled thinly at him.  

A moment of silence passed before Ella stood excitedly, her eyes glowing with eagerness.  She moved to Jon’s side and tugged gently but persistently at his sweater.

“Come on Jon!” She said as she grabbed his scarf from a nearby chair and wrapped it loosely around his neck.

“What?”

“Come and play with me in the snow! PLEASE?” She pouted and batted her eyelashes at him.  

“Why do I want to do that?” Jon asked but still stood to grab his jacket.

“Because it’s fun!” Ella exclaimed, rushing to get her coat and gloves. “Don’t tell me you’ve become a stiff! We can get everyone outside!”

Jon shook his head but smiled.

“Okay!” He shrugged on his coat and laughed at her energy.

“Yay!”

The next thing he knew, he was outside in the snow, ducking a snowball that Kyle had flung at his head.  It hit Liem in the face instead.  

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Ella shouted, annoyed, as she peeked out from her makeshift wall. “Kyle!”

Kyle was smiling.  He held a snowball in his hand as his eyes sought out his next victim.  He found Willow trying to convince Nicole Kingfisher to join in on the war of snowballs.  With a devilish smile, he dipped his arm back, preparing to fire.  

Suddenly, a large sheet of snow crashed into him from above.  Jon, Andy, Liem, and Ella’s eyes widened at the falling clump of snow.  Then everyone’s gazes peered up at the white branches of the tree above Kyle.

Jon couldn’t believe what he saw.

Mercutio was crouching on the thick branch, his right hand grabbing another branch for balance and his left arm leaning casually on his bent legs.  He had a grin of a roguish youth that was glued onto his face, as emerald eyes revealed no fatigued or haunted memories within their depths, but a playful luster.

Jon was stunned by how much younger Mercutio looked.  Then he looked over at Ella, who had joyous tears peeking from her eyes as she beamed at her older brother. Was this the younger Mercutio that Ella was telling him about?

The blonde gracefully performed a flip that would make an acrobat envious and smoothly landed onto the ground.  He smiled enchantingly at Ella and then turned to look at a babbling Kyle Benjamins, who was spitting snow out of his mouth and looking very angered.  Mercutio crouched and leered at the Arabic man, who glared at him.

“Now, now, Mr. Benjamins; It’s rather rude of a man to throw something at a lady; especially when she is off guard.”  Mercutio chastised gently then rose again.

Jon laughed as Mercutio strode over to his side and patted the man on the back, pointedly staring at his sister.

“Well, what are we waiting for?  The losing team buys lunch!” Mercutio playfully challenged.  Everyone cheered and promptly resumed the war.

~~~~~

Jon laughed to himself as he finished the memory.  He glanced out the window, watching the snow flurries.  He wondered if Mercutio was dancing in the snow with Willow.  

He laughed again.  Mercutio was too much of a gentleman to do someone as childish and random as dancing in the snow with Willow.

Jon suddenly moaned.  

“The stupid dishes!” He crowed out as he slowly leapt from the couch he lounged around and sulked his way to the kitchen.

He fumbled for the light switch and flicked it upsides.  The lights flickered on as his legs bumped against something.  

“Ah!” He suddenly fell forward as he tripped over the object.

An insulted meow echoed in his ears as he pulled his face off the cold tiles of the kitchen.  He looked over his shoulder to see a pair of golden eyes.  

“Damn it, Aemilia! Did you have to be in my way?” He grunted out at the cat, who replied to his question with a pointed stare that screamed “yes” at him.  He rose to his feet and cursed under his breath.  He turned to glare at the black ragamuffin again, and rolled his eyes as she stuck her nose in the air and walked away from him as if he had offended her dignity.

“Damn cat!” He muttered.  He closed his eyes and rested his elbows against the stainless steel counter, his fingers brushing his damp tresses.  “No, don’t kill the cat. Mercutio will kill you if you kill the cat…” He whispered to himself and then opened his eyes again. He looked to his left and bit back another groan as he viewed the cluttered sink.

“Why didn’t Mercutio, the OCD guy, do these dishes?” He bitterly mumbled as he positioned himself in front of the sink. He pulled out the dirty dish that was touching the nozzle of the faucet.

He immediately dropped the dish and he screamed loudly, his eyes glued on the inwards of the metal sink.  He never heard the smashing of the green plate, just heard his heart beating deafeningly in his ears.  

His breath hitched in his throat as he looked with horror at what was in the sink.  He forced himself to breath again as he spun away from the sink, resting his hands stiffly on the counter in front of him as an attempt to calm himself.

“Calm down, Kane,” he growled out to himself, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face.  “It’s just a spider.” He attempted to assure himself.

Jon crept back to the sink and crouched, cautiously peering over the edge of the sink.  His breath froze inside his throat again and his dark eyes widened with horror.

“Get a hold of yourself, Kane.” He muttered to himself again, watching every movement of the creature in the sink as it walked on the dishes with needle-like legs.  “It’s JUST a spider.” He growled out.  The spider moved again and he fumbled back on shaky legs, fearful of it jumping onto his face.

His heartbeat was frantic and his mind glided into overdrive.  It was just a spider…

He peeked back into the sink, where it stared back at him.  He stumbled back again, breathing short shallow gasps.

It was the size of a small rat…

“Kane, it’s just a damn spider…” he gulped.  “A BIG, FUZZY spider with BIG FANGS!” He yelped out as his legs led him back to look into the sink. His eyes stared at it, his body taut and unmoving as the spider glided back and forth across the dishes.  Then he watched it move towards him.

“Oh fuck, it’s gonna get outta the sink!” He shouted with panic and he backtracked to the counters behind him. He waited a few eternal seconds with no results before he mustered up his manly courage to look back into the sink.  He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he watched the sink fail to scale the walls of steel.

He relaxed a bit.  If it couldn’t get out of the sink, then he was safe for the moment.

He numbly sat at the kitchen table, laying out his battle plans.  Aemilia sauntered back into the kitchen and leapt onto the other side of the table, sitting and looking at her master’s friend.

He looked at the feline then smiled.

“Hey, Aemilia! Wanna tasty snack?” He cheerfully said to the cat, pointing to the sink.  “There’s a nice, juicy spider in the sink! Won’t ya be a doll an’ eat it?”  

Jon then decided that the cat was laughing at him. His shoulders slumped as she never moved from her perch.

“Damn it.”

The cat meowed haughtily at him.

“Okay,” He started.  He locked eyes with the cat. “Plan A: I could pull out my gun an’ shoot it!”

Aemilia looked at him with a skeptical glint of her golden eyes, and Jon thought he saw her raise an eyebrow at him.  

“You’re right. The neighbors would not be happy. An’ I don’t think Mercutio would be happy to have bullet holes in his kitchen… But that’s a last resort.”  He slumped back in his chair, scowling.

“Plan B,” Jon leant forward again after a minute, his eyes locked on the cat. “I could get Ashleigh over her an’ kill it for me!”

Aemilia looked at him.  Jon decided that she was laughing at him.

“Okay, maybe it’s not a good thing to get my girlfriend here an’ kill a spider for me…”
Jon reconsidered.

Aemilia licked her paw as he thought of another game plan.

“I know! I’ll just leave it here for Mercutio to deal with!”

Aemilia growled softly as her tailed swished from side to side.

“You’re right.  It wouldn’t be fair to Mercutio an’ plus, I would have to explain why I didn’t get rid of the spider…” Jon sighed.

Jon then stood.

“Okay, tried an’ true methods for killin’ a spider…”  Jon began as he rushed out of the kitchen, with Aemilia trailing after him.

After a few moments, the two appeared back into the kitchen.  Jon was holding a large can of Ella’s spare hairspray.

“Hairspray!” He finished with a triumphant voice as he swaggered over to the sink.  

The spider was missing.  He frowned as he checked the surroundings near the sink, but discovered no spider.  Carefully, he tugged the cuff of his sweater over his hand and picked up the plate and set it on the counter nearby.  No spider.

He repeated his inspection until he lifted the pot that inhabited at the bottom of the sink.  He dropped the pot on the floor as he found the spider where the pot was.  He tore off the lid of the hairspray and manically sprayed the chemicals at the spider.  

Aemilia leapt onto the counter, watching Jon.  Jon smiled at the cat.

“Hair spray. It makes spiders sticky and unable to move. It works with small ones!” He pressed harder of the nozzle of the can, spraying more mist at the spider. “I just have to use more for this one!”  

Aemilia looked at him skeptically again. Jon just stuck his tongue out at the black cat.

He continued spraying from a safe distance, and watched as the spider scrambled to escape the offending mist. It almost succeeded in escaping the sink and onto the counters, which resulted with Jon hysterically dropping the can of chemicals and sprinting into the living room.  Aemilia jumped onto the windowsill of the kitchen and watched the brunette hug himself with fear.

“Don’t give me that look, cat.” Jon growled as Aemilia meowed at him from her place.  He tromped back into the kitchen and viewed inside the sink, he winced and shrunk back.

“Well, that… just pissed it off.” Jon stated the obvious and Aemilia meowed her agreement.

“Wait a minute, the fuckin’ monster’s IN the sink!” Jon exclaimed. Aemilia looked at him with a quizzical expression.  She meowed at him again, watching through golden eyes as he grabbed a spatula from the drawers and flicking up the faucet handle.  Water spewed out from the faucet and Aemilia hissed at the water and swiped a paw at Jon.

“Cat, I’m not giving ya a bath! So, chill!”

Aemilia just hissed at him.

He watched the water fill up the sink, then realized he made a big error.  He batted the handle down, turning off the water, and then backed away slowly.

“Okkkkkkaaaayyyy, I did not know spiders could swim!” Jon groaned and used the spatula to pull the sink plug out, draining the pool of water that the spider had been treading.  The cat and the brunette watched the spider land at the bottom of the sink again.

“Grrreeeaaatttt… Now, it’s wet, sticky, and pissed off.” Jon stated and Aemilia meowed at him with an exasperated look on her face.  “My gun’s looking better an’ better…” He muttered.

Aemilia turned her head to the storage closet on the other side of the kitchen.  Jon looked with the ragamuffin and smiled.

“One more thing left to try!” He exclaimed as he stalked over to the closet and disappeared into it.  After a few minutes of crashing sounds, muffled swears, and things being moved, Jon emerged with an aged vacuum cleaner at his side.

“God, please let this damn thing work!” He pleaded as he plugged it into the power outlet. Then he flicked the switch of the contraption on.  

Aemilia hissed at the loud sucking sounds and immediately scampered from the room.  Jon just crept to the sink with the nozzle of the canister vacuum in his hand, an insane smile on his face.  

“Now you’re in for it, bastard.” He told the spider. After turning the machine off, he attached the extension parts of the nozzle and within a few moments, he could now stand a good four feet away from the sink with the vacuum.  He couldn’t see where the spider was in the sink from where he stood, but he placed the end of the nozzle into the sink, then flicked the switch of the machine on again.

In a flash, he heard a dull thump as the spider was sucked into the tube.  He panicked as he heard a tapping sound and before the clump of the spider rushed through the tube in his hands, he threw it to the floor and scrambled out of the room.

He let the vacuum run and suck air for about twenty minutes before he could muster up the courage to step back into the kitchen, just to reassure himself that the spider didn’t get stuck in the tube.  

After unplugging it, he quickly kicked the vacuum out on the porch of the apartment and locked the glass door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Mercutio and Willow entered the darkened apartment with identical smiles and bright eyes.

“Mercutio, thank you so much for letting me stay here until the blizzard’s over.” Willow softly murmured as she looked up at him.

Mercutio was in the process of taking her coat off her shoulders when she thanked him and he smiled.  He hung her coat on the back of the door and then captured her faces between his gloved hands.  He brushed his nose against hers.

“Willow- you are always welcome here.  All you have to do is just say the words.”  Mercutio whispered as she smiled.

The pair pulled off their soaked clothes and Mercutio tried the light switch.  He frowned as he flicked the switch up and down.

“Well…” Mercutio looked at Willow, who was giggling.  “No power.” He stated and she smiled.

“Got candles?”  She asked and he nodded.  

He moved to the cabinet near the door and opened it, taking out a small group of unscented candles.  Willow found a matchbox and started lighting the candles.

The two looked at each other again after the candles were alit, emerald eyes gazing into hazel eyes.  Willow smiled at him and he returned the expression.

“Mercutio…” She brushed a hair through his wavy blonde hair.  “You got snow in your hair.”

He smiled back at her.

“Willow,” he softly murmured to her, his arms wrapping her into his embrace. “You must be frozen!”

Willow nuzzled into his chest, returning his hug.

“No, I’m never cold when I have you!” She joked and Mercutio laughed then gave her a candle.

“Jon and I have separate bathrooms and bedrooms.  My bedroom is the last door on the right, and the bathroom is in there as well. Go ahead and use my shower.  You can borrow my clothes to sleep in, all right?” Mercutio instructed gently.

“Yes Lieutenant!” She exclaimed and saluted him once, before her expression grew soft.  “But, I thought we were going to talk about everything…”

“And we will.” Mercutio interrupted gracefully.  “I never break a promise.  We will, but first, you need to get warm or you’ll catch your death!” He finished.

She smiled and then disappeared into the hallway, finding his bedroom and silently closing the door.

Mercutio placed some candles in various places of the large apartment, illuminating the rooms with a dull glow.  

He stepped into the living room and was startled by what he saw.  

Jon was curled into a ball on the couch, appearing restlessly asleep.  Mercutio investigated the kitchen, where dirty dishes were everywhere and pieces of green ceramics littered the tiled floor.  He stepped back into the living room and saw what appeared to be his old vacuum cleaner out on the porch.  Puzzled, Mercutio moved to where Jon was and kneeled.

“Jon.” Mercutio softly whispered, his hand gently patting Jon’s cheek.  

Jon’s eyes flew open and the brunette’s hands grabbed the first hard object that they could find, which was a small lamp, and threw it at the shadowed figure.  

Mercutio ducked the flying object and pinned the frantic man’s shoulders down with his hands.  Mercutio applied his weight and strength to keep his friend from attacking him.

“JON! IT’S MERCUTIO!!!” Mercutio shouted.  

Jon grew limp as he recognized his friend’s British voice and panted heavily.  Mercutio let go of his shoulders, and Jon rushed to his feet, brushing himself off with panic.

“Jon, what’s the matter?” Mercutio stood and looked the man in the eye.

“Spider!” Jon gasped out, running his hands through his hair.

“You were kipping. It was just a dream…” Mercutio tried to calm his best friend down with a gentle voice.

Jon took in a breath to calm himself.

“Wasn’t a dream.” He stuttered out. “I found a big, fucking monster in the sick when I tried to do the dishes.  It’s in the vacuum outside.” Jon explained with short gasps.  Mercutio placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder, trying to gauge the lucidness in his friend’s eyes.

“How big?” The blonde asked with a hue of skepticism.  

“Really. Big.” Jon empathized.

Mercutio recognized a person with a phobia when he saw one.  He squeezed his friend’s shoulder once.

“It’s all right. I’ll take care of it.”

“Mercutio, just throw the whole damn thing out!” Jon shouted as Mercutio opened the door and fiddled with the vacuum.

“If it was still working, then we’re keeping it.  I’m just throwing the bag out.”  Mercutio rationalized and threw the bag into the trash bin on the porch.  He didn’t want to frighten Jon anymore than he was already, so he just let the machinery outside to deal with at a later time.

“Thanks.” An embarrassed Jon mumbled out as Mercutio moved back inside, closing the door behind him.

“It’s not a problem…” Mercutio reassured as Jon shakily started his trek to his bedroom.  Mercutio smiled at Jon’s back.

“I assume this means I can add “official spider killer” to my resume?”  Mercutio inquired with moderate amusement.