"I wish I could move like you can, Wolfie, buddy but it seems that I'm stuck over here," Mike commented out loud, smiling in the slightest.
It was clear that the wolf was much more agile and nimble than we were especially compared to Mike. I was thinner, smaller, and faster than Mike, mostly because of my gender but also because I had been trained to be quick, agile, intelligent, mindful of my surroundings, etc. All that was just part of becoming a great detective, like my father before me.
Sebastian Castellanos was one of the greatest detectives to have been born, and he was my father, my ultimate savior, my mentor, and the teacher of everything I know. He taught me to be vigilant and to fight when it was necessary. He also taught me that having a heart and crying was an okay thing to do when a situation truly hurt my heart. I lived by his codes, and I was still alive and living relatively comfortably because of them.
"I could probably follow him easier than you can," I said catching Mike's attention, "but I don't wanna leave you behind," I turned to him, "I won't leave you behind," I smiled at him, "that's a promise," and I meant it.
He merely smiled back at me, and it seemed as if he was resisting the urge to come over and kiss me; I could see his lips twitching as he smiled back at me, "thanks, Vee," he thanked me and I waved it off, it was my duty to protect my friends, and Mike was one of them.
"You are one of my friends," I said eyeing him, "it's my duty to protect my friends," I paused a moment, "no matter how much they irritate me," I was talking about Emily and Jessica, and he knew it.
"Well, I mean it, thank you," he said, "you truly are a really good friend," and I felt like I deserved more from him but I didn't push.
We had stopped moving to speak to each other, and we were still standing there, just staring at each other. It was almost awkward because we both wanted to kiss each other, or at the very least embrace each other tightly but he was dating Jess and I was technically dating Josh. It wouldn't be proper to do so while we were attached to other people at the hip but by God, we fucking wanted to, it was so hard to stay away.
"Shall we continue or-" I cut myself off, unable to even suggest such wrong things, even when my heart was begging for it.
Mike seemed to be mesmerized by my words and the way I smiled at him that he had forgotten what the hell we were doing out here again, "wha-" he smacked his forehead, "oh, right," he felt very awkward, I could tell, but he also felt love, very much, for me, "s-s-sorry," he stumbled over an apology, which he didn't need to, "we should keep going," he struggled to make himself turn away from me and it just made me feel bad for being a good friend.
With that we moved into the only room-like area we could see, I was still standing near the open gate we had just passed through. Mike moved toward the wall where there was a lever sticking out of the metal. He turned to look at me and I shrugged, it couldn't hurt to try it.
"Well, here goes nothing," he said, pulling down on the lever with his right hand.
The door behind me started to slide closed. I jumped forward, turning around to face the moving door, "okay, then," I let out the breath I was holding, turning to face Mike, "you laugh at me, I will lock you up at the police station when we get back and irritate you with Disney movies," I pointed at him to emphasize my point.
Mike could barely contain his laughter at the words I chose for what I would do to him if he laughed at me getting startled by a moving door. He held his arms up, hands up, palms facing me, "I ain't laughin' at you," he said stifling laughs at the Disney movie comment.
"I mean it," I laughed with him, "I will make you watch all of the Disney Princess movies," I tried to seem ominous but failed.
"Okay, okay," he said gesturing toward the now open door behind him, "shall we continue?"
"Let's," I said simply.
It had only opened to a small gap, just barely wide enough for Mike to get through, he had to hand me the shotgun so he could squeeze through albeit, he had to push it open a bit more so he didn't get stuck. I smiled and silently giggled to myself while imagining lavishing his chest with kisses.
"Vanessa!" He had been calling my name but I hadn't heard him until just then.
"Hm, wha-" I perked when I heard him say my birth name firmly.
He gestured toward the shotgun I was cradling in my arms against my chest, "you wanna give me the baby, or do you wanna swaddle it to death?" He laughed at me as I realized what I was doing to the shotgun.
"Oh, right, sorry," I scoffed at myself, feeling a bit stupid for thinking of what I was thinking while subconsciously cradling a damn shotgun, what would my father say when I told about this? If I ever told him about this.... I handed Mike the weapon.
"You're so adorable," he shook his head, turning away to figure out which way we should go as I slid through the gap with no issues.
"Shut up, Mike," I rolled my eyes at him, "so," I started a new subject, "which way do we go?"
There was a single bark and Wolfie showed back up. I was glad to see him. "Hey, boy, we missed you," I knelt to his level as he came over to me, licking my face and making me giggle, "okay, I get it, you missed me too," I said wiping his slobber from my face as I stood up.
"That is the most adorable thing I have seen in your presence since I met you," he admitted, grinning at me.
I blushed, "oh, stop," I told him.
Wolfie whined, and I swore I could hear his thoughts, 'you should marry him,' was what I heard but I was surprised to hear anything.
"What?" I questioned.
"I said that's the most adorable thing I have seen in your presence since I met you," Mike repeated confused.
I looked at him, shaking my head, "I was talking to-" I cut myself off and looked at Wolfie, who was wagging his tail at me and panting happily.
'You heard me,' I heard the voice again.
I was taken aback, this had never happened before and I was very startled by it. I didn't say a word, I just moved away toward the staircase that led down, I quickly started down them. "Well," I called when I didn't hear Mike's boots or Wolfie's paws, "are you two gonna protect me or am I gonna have to save you two when you get caught?" I was telling them to follow me basically but I was being sarcastic about it.
Finally, I heard Mike's boots and Wolfie's paws following me, then I saw Wolfie streak past me, and then I felt a hand grasp mine. I could scarcely breathe! I pulled my hand away and continued at a quickened pace, following Wolfie, leaving Mike to wonder what was so wrong with him holding my hand; he had already made his decision....