[Fic] Show Off (Ninerlina)

[autisticblueteam]

Title: Show Off
Author: autisticblueteam
Characters & Pairings: Agent Carolina/Four Seven Niner
Rating: T
Warnings: N/A

Summary: Carolina can be a little bit of a show-off, when you let her and Niner is a bit of an enabler.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a bit of an adrenaline junkie?”

Carolina dismounted the ceiling with a distinct thunk and stuck the landing—Niner was surprised she didn’t do the whole arms up thing, y’know, seeing as the woman moved like a trained gymnast. Hell, she could have been a trained gymnast, for all she knew. These Freelancers came in all shapes and sizes and Carolina made up at least half of those shapes and sizes all on her own.

The amount of talents that woman had—quite frankly it was ridiculous. Someone had too much time on their hands as a kid.

Carolina pulled off her helmet and shook out her hair, tufts sticking up out of a waterfall of red that had come loose from her ponytail. The helmet hair really added a note of exhilaration to the whole look as she grinned through to the cockpit, eyes bright and alive. “What would ever give anyone that idea?”

“You can’t see it, cause I’m wearing this helmet, but I’m rolling my eyes at you right now, Lina. Rolling my eyes.”

“Shouldn’t your eyes be on the sky?” Carolina teased dryly, combing wayward strands from her face.

“Shouldn’t my eyes be on the— seriously? The nerve of you people, do I look like an amateur?” Shaking her head she turned back to the front of the ship, her controls steady as ever as they made their getaway. She couldn’t quite keep the grin out of her voice, though; she knew that when Carolina laughed, coming up to the cockpit ready to claim her well-earned spot behind her. “Eyes on the sky. Honestly! You ever hear me telling you how to do your job?”

Carolina raised a brow. “You mean like you were whilst we cleared the LZ for you last week?” 

“…touché. Alright, alright, I’ll give you that one.”

“We on target for the rendezvous?” Carolina pulled up the flight data on her co-pilot screen and commenced the upload of the intel she’d retrieved from the compound.

“Of course we are. When am I ever late, huh?” Niner said, course plotted for the rendezvous and flying full speed to reach it. They’d get there with time to spare. “Now, back to the adrenaline junkie thing.”

“You’re hardly one to talk,” Carolina said, note of amusement in her voice and the lopsided smirk on her lips. “You enjoy what I do.”

“Now what context are you saying that in, because I might have to turn off the radios.”

“Both,” she chuckled, “but specifically my ‘adrenaline junkie’ stunts. You can’t honestly tell me you didn’t enjoy pulling off that roll to catch me?”

There was another thunk, Carolina hopping down from her seat as the upload ran its course. Stood, instead, behind Niner, hands on the back of her chair and her torso in the perfect place for Niner to drop her head back against. Just a little.

“Now I’m not saying that,” Niner said, bonking her armour with the back of her helmet, “I’m just saying you’re a bit of a mad woman for even attempting a completely unnecessary leap off the top of a transmission tower, just so you could do a flip of you own and land mag-locked to the ceiling of my bird.”

“I pulled it off, didn’t I?”

“You sure did. But only because yours truly is an amazing pilot who managed to catch you, otherwise you’d be a teal splat on the ground and let me tell you, babe, that’s not an attractive look.” Then, with a thoughtful shrug and a sideways nod, “Though I suppose if anyone could pull it off, it’d be you.”

Carolina chuckled. “You know I honestly can’t tell if I should be taking that as a compliment or not.”

“Eh, not my best. I’ll think up something better before I see you again later.”

“I’m seeing you later, am I?” An armoured arm looped around Niner’s shoulders and Carolina’s chin rested on the top of her head. Luckily for them both, she was more than used to the kinds of distractions Carolina brought to the cockpit—some much more… riveting, and difficult to ignore.

“Well clearly I need to get my time in whilst I can, before your show-offy habits are the death of you.”

“You know, this is all very rich coming from the woman who pulls stunts on the way back from missions, whether I ask you to or not,” Carolina said, tapping the top of her helmet. Niner could practically feel the buzz that still ran through her, just with her stood so close to her. Her energetic tip-toe bouncing certainly helped, though; never could stop herself stimming after a stunt like that. Kind of adorable, not that that was something you’d necessarily say to her face.

“Never said I wasn’t a hypocrite. Now c’mon, we’re nearly at the rendezvous. Come back to the hangar at like, nine?” the bobbing chin against her head was probably a nod, “nine, and we’ll finish discussing how much of a show-off you are.”

“Oh I’ll show you how much of a show-off I can be,” Carolina said, with a kiss to the top of Niner’s helmet and a smirk in her voice. Niner took a hand of the controls long enough to give her hand a squeeze and to make a mock shooing gesture over her shoulder.

“That’s it, back to the co-pilot seat, go on. You can seduce me all you want later.”

“That a promise?”

“Lina, you’re killing me here.”

The arm around her shoulders slithered away, though not without another kiss pressed to the top of her helmet. Resuming her position in the co-pilot’s seat, Carolina re-did her ponytail and slipped her helmet back on. The data had finished uploading, so she disconnected the drive; they’d want it anyway, just in case.

“Mother of Invention, we’re inbound,” Niner said, as the shadow of the ship loomed on their horizon. Glancing back over her shoulder, she confirmed, “Nine?”

“Nine.” Carolina tilted her helmet in that way that she’d come to recognise as her smirk. “I’m holding you to that promise.”

“Technically I never agreed it was a promise.”

“When have you cared about technicalities?”

“Touché.”

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