Lot of Leaving Left To Do

by Ruby

'Grand Theft Auto. Grand Theft Auto. Where the heck is Grand Theft Auto?' JD's mind was working a mile a minute. He only had fifteen minutes left out of his lunch hour and he still needed to find the game, negotiate the busy Best Buy checkout and get back to work before one o'clock or Chris would kill him.

Oh... JD grinned. He probably wouldn't kill him. Well, not right there in the office, anyway. 'Bang! Could you get me some more coffee, Buck?'

Nah... Larabee was more subtle than that.

JD winced, picturing the opening scene from the movie Witness: the man in the bathroom washing his face, then the other man grabbing him from behind and wrapping a coat around his face, pulling him down to the floor, a switchblade at his throat, yelling that turned into wet gurgling, spraying blood, kicking legs and then...

JD sighed, thinking, not for the first time, that his imagination worked just way too hard. And... he should really stop watching movies at three a.m.

'Anyway.' JD shuddered. 'Find the game. Find the game. Ah... there it is.' He reached for it.

"JD?"

A melodic high-pitched voice had him spinning around.

"JD Dunne, right?"

She was a vision. Long blonde hair curling around delicate tan shoulders, big green eyes, a smile to kill for.

"Ah...wh...?" JD stammered.

Her smile widened. "I thought that was you. Do you remember me? Melissa York."

He stared at her.

"I was with Buck," she clarified.

"Oh." His shoulders slumped slightly. "Sure." He grinned. "I remember you." He'd met her under slightly awkward conditions, when he'd walked into the apartment to find she and Buck sprawled out on the couch, most of their clothes lying around haphazardly on the floor. "How have you been?" he asked while deciding that he'd just made a new definition for the word 'awkward'.

Her smile dimmed. "Oh." She shrugged. "Well..." she ducked her head and looked up at him from underneath thick eyelashes. "Have you talked to Buck lately?" She chuckled, "Well, I mean, of course you've talked to him..." She laughed self-depreciatingly. "I know you're roommates and all, but..."

He watched her, his mouth puckering up into a slight frown.

"How's he been doing?" she asked, licking her lips nervously.

"Good," JD answered, bracing for impact.

Swallowing, she looked down and then after a moment glanced back up at him. "Has Buck um... said anything about me? Mentioned my name?" She sighed, staring at JD. "You know, I haven't heard from him and..." She laughed, a little too high, and then ran a hand through her hair. "Listen to me. I sound like an idiot."

"There's nothing wrong with the way you sound." JD's smile didn't reach his eyes.

She sighed. "Will you... tell him that I said hi?"

"Sure." JD bobbed his head.

"Thanks, JD. You're so sweet." She pinched his cheek.

He winced and his smile dimmed a bit. "Yeah, sure."

She smiled warmly. "I'm glad I ran into you."

JD nodded. "Sure. Me too."

"See you around." She parted with a wave behind her.

He watched her go, the view entirely too easy to keep his eyes on. He sighed and shook his head, suddenly sad for some reason. He just wanted to get out of there. He took a last glance at the game he wanted to buy, and then, leaving it on the shelf, he turned and walked out the door.

+ + + + + + +

"You're late." Chris scolded when JD walked into the bullpen.

JD glanced up at him disinterested. "Yeah. Sorry." He sat down quietly.

Everyone stared at him.

He booted his computer up and then glanced over at Buck, who was watching him warily from across their desks.

"I ran into Melissa York," JD told him.

Buck widened his eyes as he smiled. "Shoo!! Melissa. Man, she was..." he blinked when JD growled at him.

"What's wrong, kid?" Buck asked, cocking his head in concern.

JD looked down. "Nothin', Buck," he said, staring at his desk.

Buck watched him silently and after a moment JD looked back up at him.

JD shook his head. He lowered his voice and said, "Buck, you give up women most of us would die to have. And you do it with a smile and not even a backward glance. I know you like to make it clear that you're not in it for the long haul, but do you ever stop to think about the women?" His voice rose an octave, "The hearts you might be breaking?"

Buck forced a smile onto his now scowling face. "Well, that's me, kid. A heartbreaker." He snorted out a mean laugh.

"Yeah," JD sneered at him. "Glad you think it's funny. You know, you're gonna get old, Buck, and you're gonna be alone. And that's fine, your decision." He shrugged. "Just..." he swallowed hard, "just seems sad is all."

"Well, I'm sorry that my life is depressin' you, boy." Buck raised an eyebrow and snarled. "Guess maybe you should try livin' it from this side, though." He laughed loudly as he looked around at his teammates. "Not much sadness there." He held his hands up. "No sir'ee. No sadness at all." He slapped his hands down on his desk as he turned back to pin JD with a stare.

JD rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Buck."

"Yeah, whatever, kid."

The two best friends stared at each other for a long, tense moment.

Finally, JD swiped a hand in front of him. "Your life, Buck. Live it how you want."

"I will, kid," Buck told him, his voice gruff.

"Yeah, I'm sure." JD shrugged.

The room was silent.

Shaking his head, JD stared down at his computer screen.

Buck watched him, frowning. He sighed. "Come on kid," he leaned forward, his voice low, "my love life can't have gotten you this frazzled."

JD looked up at him, and then around at the others. No one else was looking at him. He returned his attention to Buck. Shrugging, he sighed. "Just don't know how you do it, is all. I can't even get one girl to go out with me." He snorted self-depreciatingly. "And you've got them lined up, ready to go out again if given half a chance, even after you've dumped 'em."

Buck smiled sadly. "You've got Casey."

JD huffed out a sharp breath. "Casey and I aren't dating anymore. It just... didn't work." He shook his head, glancing up at Buck. "And women. They treat me like I'm eleven. Pat me on my head. 'Oh, look, how cute.' But they don't really see me, you know?" He swallowed hard, sighing. "Never mind."

"Yeah, I see, kid," Buck said gently.

"Damn it," JD scooted back from his desk. "This is all just stupid, unimportant stuff. I've..." he looked around, "got to go... get some files from the basement. I'll be back later." He scooted around his desk, not making eye contact with Buck or anyone else in the room as he walked away.

Buck frowned as he watched his best friend leave. "Damn," he sighed and then glanced around at the others. "What?" he asked after seeing their accusing looks.

Josiah shook his head.

"It's not my fault!" Buck threw his hands up.

"Buck, just go talk to him," Nathan gave him a hard look.

"But..." Buck looked away. "How in the hell would I know what to say to 'im?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Ezra said sardonically.

Glancing over at Vin, Buck shrugged and then asked, "You got something to say, too?"

Shaking his head, Vin grinned. "Nah, not really," he paused. "Just that you better not screw it up."

"Oh great. Thanks," Buck huffed out. He glanced at Chris' closed door and then back. "Fine. I'll go and talk to him. Probably never find him, though. You know haw the basement is..." he stalled. They all stared at him. "Anyway... " he sighed as he stood and slowly walked from the room.

+ + + + + + +

It wasn't as hard for Buck to find JD as he thought it would be. On a hunch, he opened the stairwell door and started down. He found his roommate one floor down, sitting two steps up from the landing.

"Hey, kid," Buck spoke softly as he walked down to meet his friend. He winced when JD looked over his shoulder at him. JD's eyes were bloodshot, his face was pale with red slashes of color across his cheeks. "Shit, kid, you getting sick?"

JD looked away quickly. "No," he answered harshly.

"Hmm," Buck sat down on the same step as JD, but not close.

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Buck finally cleared his throat. "So, JD, what in the hell was that all about back there?"

"Nothing," JD shook his head, still not looking at him.

"Didn't seem like nothing to me," Buck scolded.

JD shrugged one shoulder. "It's nothing, Buck. Sorry for being such an asshole."

"Hell, kid, you couldn't be an asshole."

"Hah!" JD glanced over at him, grinning slightly.

"Okay, so..." Buck scooted a little closer, "you saw this girl today that I used to date... and it sent you for a tailspin?" he hedged.

JD shook his head and looked down. "It wasn't that, really. I mean, it was... but..." His shoulders slumping, he pursed his lips and stared straight ahead.

Buck punched him on the shoulder. "Come on, kid, spit it out."

"Dammit, Buck." JD glared over at him. "You have no idea what you've got."

"And what's that, kid?" Buck gave him a goofy grin.

"Christ!" JD looked away. "I'm not going to tell you!" he squawked.

Buck laughed. "JD, just because I date a lot of women, it doesn't mean anything. You..." he shook his head. "Hell, I don't know, kid. You're gonna get there. I mean... you know... " he bobbed his eyebrows, "you're ugly and all..." He grinned wryly when JD flashed a smirk at him. "But... well, you'll get there."

"I'm twenty three, Buck. I'm..." he half shrugged. "I should be there already. But, women... they just don't see it. I'm like a little brother or something. They don't take me seriously. Or... they're just nice to me to try to get to you. I..." he huffed out, "hate that."

"Shit, kid, I don't' know what to say," Buck paused. "I'm sorry you and Casey aren't seeing each other. I really thought... anyway..."

JD swallowed hard.

"Why didn't you tell me, JD?" Buck asked softly.

Sniffing, JD bobbed a shoulder. "Just... didn't want to have to tell you what a loser I am."

Buck punched him on the shoulder for real this time.

"Owww!"

"Yeah, well, you'll get worse than that if I hear you calling yourself a loser again. Just 'cause you and Casey aren't dating don't mean a thing. JD... as soon as you stop wanting to meet a girl... it'll just happen. I don't' know how to explain it. It's like a 'Blue Clear Sky' sort of thing. You'll be going along, thinkin... 'Hey, my life's pretty darn good as it is' and then BAM! you'll meet her."

JD looked over at him beseechingly.

"But... until then," Buck continued, "just date, get out, have fun. There's lots of women out there, JD. Just be your charming self and they'll love you."

JD stared at him.

"Of course," Buck bobbed his eyebrows again. "You are still ugly."

Barking out a laugh, JD shook his head, smirking. "Well, I don't know how you ever get anyone to date you as bad as you smell," he told his roommate.

Buck laughed. "That's animal magnetism, boy, don't you knock it."

"Maggotism? Ewwww!" JD jumped up from where he was sitting, trying to avoid getting punched again.

"Come on," Buck threw his arm around JD's shoulders, leading him back up the stairs. "Let's get back to work." He shook his head at JD. "Late for lunch... and then this." He sighed morosely. "I don't know what Chris is going to say." His eyes twinkled.

JD smiled cheekily. "He'll say I need therapy 'cause I live with you."

"Yeah," Buck widened his eyes and nodded, "there is that." And he pushed JD away from him, chuckling when the younger man stumbled up the next step.

Laughing the two agents made their way up stairs.

Before he opened the stairwell door, JD paused and looked over at Buck. "So... um, Melissa York..." He shrugged. "She's real nice. And I think she really likes you."

Buck smiled wistfully. "I know, kid," he said softly. "That's why I can't date her."

"What?" JD wrinkled his brow. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Well," Buck shrugged, "like the song says, 'I got a lot of leaving left to do.' And Melissa York..." he smiled sadly and shook his head. "Well, she definitely deserves better than that."

Blinking a few times, JD stared at his best friend.

"Come on, kid." Buck threw the door open with forced cheerfulness. "Lets get back to work before Chris sends Tanner out to find us."

"Yeah," JD nodded sagely, "and that could get ugly."

"And we all know I do hate ugly." Buck beamed at him.

The End