A/N: This story will have two chapters; the second chapter is already written and will be posted within the next week or two. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters/world of Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits.

"I didn't realize there was an approval process for my dates."

Zoey had found Will in a conference room, working on something or other on his tablet. A map of Tabula Rasa was projected on the walls, with landmarks circled and labelled in red and a few other things marked in different colors. Zoey wasn't quite sure she even wanted to know what the map was for, but she figured it would probably turn up at some opportune moment in the future.

Will, however, had abandoned whatever he was doing with the map once she'd come in to tell him, just as an FYI, that she'd be out tonight on a date.

Will said, "There's a process for everything." He tapped several things quickly on his tablet. Zoey had no doubt that somehow in the last minute he'd managed to find out more about her date than even Zoey knew.

Zoey sighed. "We're just going to dinner. Can you save the background check for if I, I don't know, marry him?"

"Not really. It doesn't take a wedding to pull a gun."

"Oh my god, he's not here to kill me. He went to my high school-"

"I know."

Zoey glared at him. "-and called me up since he's moving to Tabula Rasa."

"A wise move if you're planning to kill a wealthy heiress that crushed on you in high school."

"How the hell did you know that?"

"More people knew than you thought. Did you know he shoplifted chewing gum from a convenience store two years ago?"

"Ooooh, sounds so dangerous. Can you not? He's not suspected of murder, so he's already got most of the people in this house beat."

"No one in this house has a criminal record."

"Yeah, cuz you pay off the police." Zoey took a deep breath and tried to wrangle down her annoyance at Will. If she stood here arguing with him over all the reasons Will should theoretically be in prison, she wouldn't be ready in time for Mike's arrival. "I'm going to go get dressed for my date, you have fun down here doing your psycho-paranoid background check." She turned and went to leave the conference room.

"You said it's at seven tonight?"

"Yup." Zoey's hand was on the doorknob.

Will said, "I'm afraid you'll have to postpone it then. I can get the others to join me, but I don't think I'll be able to sift through all his Blink highlights in that time."

Her jaw nearly dropped. Zoey spun around. "You're joking."

"No, I'd like to ensure he has no homicidal tendencies before you meet with him." Will held her eyes, looking completely serious.

Zoey crossed her arms. "I was informing you that I was gonna be out tonight as a courtesy, not as a request for permission."

Will said, "That's all right, you don't need my permission. I'll call in some of the private security force, I think six should be enough for the night."

Zoey said, "I'm not taking six armed guards on a date. Can't I just take Wu?"

"Sure, once I've finished the background check. Tomorrow at seven should work fine." Will returned to his tablet, tapping something else.

"I hate you."

Will's eyes flickered up towards her, then returned to his screen. "I know. But unless it's in a secure location, I don't want you meeting with an unknown person without sufficient protection."

Zoey thought for a moment. The last thing she wanted was for Mike to think she was a weirdo with six guards following her around all the time. Granted, he already knew she was rich and important.

Then his last sentence sunk in, and Zoey smiled. "What about here? I could have Carlton make us dinner, and it's a secure location, right?"

Will looked up from his tablet, brow furrowed. "I don't know, Zoey… this is a secure location, but he could take us by surprise, or be exposed to sensitive materials."

Zoey rolled her eyes. "You can have your armed security force in the next room, if that makes you happy. And I'll keep him away from all the super secret stuff."

Will leaned back in his chair and took a long sip of his drink, like that was going to help him assess the danger of the situation. "I suppose," he said after a few moments, "that would be sufficient."

"Great." Thank god, her date was saved. Zoey turned towards the door, and paused. "Though do me a favor, okay, and try not to interrupt with anything showing how crazy my life is?"

Will said, "Sure," and Zoey skipped out the door to call Mike and tell him the change of plans.

Tonight would be great.

The armed guards were in the room adjoining the dining room, and Carlton had set the table glamorously. The red table cloth matched the deep red walls and mahogany floor, and gold highlights on the silverware glinted in tandem with the real gold accents on the ceiling. Zoey spun around in the evening dress she'd chosen for the occasion. It was one of Tre's, navy blue with a plunging neckline. It hugged all the right places, sticking to her body like another (more flattering) skin down to her knees, and then flaring out in a gorgeous circle of rich fabric. She also loved this dress because Will hated it- he always objected to her wearing it to important events and stared at her disapprovingly the whole night if she wore it anyway.

With that thought, Zoey flounced into the kitchen, where Carlton was buzzing around finishing up dinner, with chicken in the oven and soup simmering on the stove. Will sat at the counter with a glass of scotch and his ever-present tablet and phone.

Zoey asked, "You got everything set to settle your paranoia?"

Will said, "Well enough."

"Good, so you can stay hidden away from us while I have my date. Though it might be nicer here than a restaurant, actually. I got to tell Carlton exactly what to put on the menu." Which had been especially great after Mike had told her he had a deadly sesame allergy. Now that could make for an awful date at a restaurant. Here, she had no fears that Carlton would mess something up.

"I'm glad you're satisfied." Will took a sip of scotch and looked at his phone.

Zoey said, "No, you're not." He'd probably prefer she stay and do work with him and the other Suits. "I'm wearing the dress you hate." She twirled around, and giggled at the feeling of the fabric around her ankles.

Will raised an eyebrow, his eyes flickering up and down her figure. "That's the dress I hate?"

Zoey nodded. "You always glare at me whenever I'm wearing it."

Will seemed to swallow whatever insult was undoubtedly rising to his lips, and looked back down at his phone. "It's fine. Enjoy your date."

Zoey rolled her eyes. Sometimes she thought she should add, 'talk to Zoey like a person every once in awhile' to Will's job description, but she figured he would use that time to lecture her. Their instances of real conversation had become more frequent anyway, just not when Will was working.

She swept back into the entrance room, and sat down to wait for Mike's arrival.

When Mike arrived, only fifteen minutes late, Zoey still thought it was going to be a great evening. She'd barely dared to hope he'd wear an actual suit and tie, but he had. It wasn't tailored, of course, so it didn't fit as well as Will's did, but he still looked absolutely amazing. He still had that sharp jawline she'd been so enamored with in high school, and pale blue eyes and blond hair that seemed like copies of the models Zoey admired in ads on the Tabula Rasa skyline. It looked like he'd kept up his physique since high school too; she couldn't completely see his abs through his shirt, but he sure wasn't flabby.

Mike's eyes lit up when he saw her. "You look beautiful," he said, and Zoey could have fainted. So many times in high school, she'd dreamed of him saying stuff like that to her. So many times. Sure, riches couldn't buy love, but they sure made it easier to get the attention of super hot guys.

They sat in the parlor for the first twenty minutes, with a plate of fine cheeses that Carlton had prepared. Mike was pretty boring, but he laughed at all of Zoey's jokes and she did her best to believe that it really was because he thought she was funny.

When Carlton announced dinner was ready, Zoey decided it was time to ensure those abs really were there, and gracefully tripped onto Mike, steadying herself with a hand on his stomach when he caught her. Yep, great abs. She was grateful now that the Casa had some lovely beds they could retire to after dinner.

As they commenced the salad course, Mike told her all about coaching kids in football. "The kids are great, really great," he said. "But it just gets a little old after a while. Oh, but there was this one time…" and he began a long story about a boy who had broken his thumb in a car accident, gotten cancer, and messed up a throw… or something. Maybe there was more than one story and she'd missed the transition. Zoey attempted to seem interested, but her mind kept straying to the plans she and Will had been making yesterday for the new tech company in California.

Carlton brought the soup out, and took away their salads. Mike took a sip of soup. "This is great," he said. "So yeah, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do here yet. I wanted to try something new. Don't suppose you have any job openings?" He winked.

Zoey tried to smile. Sure, she'd known he was here because she was rich, but she'd like to think he'd wait till the second date to make that much clear.

But she didn't have to answer, because then she heard gunshots. Mike's eyes widened. "What-"

The side door slammed open, and the armed guards filed into the room, guns out. Piatek, who Zoey remembered Kowalski describing as "really quite the killer, but weirdly polite- I think you'd get along" when suggesting him to Will, seemed to be in charge. He aimed at Mike.

"No!" Zoey yelled. "He doesn't even have a gun."

"Do you know the source of the shots, Ms. Ashe?"

"No, no, but it's not him, I'm sure everything's fine. Here, I'll call Will." She took out her phone and called him. The phone rang out, and Zoey tried again. It rang out. Crap, where was Will and why wouldn't he answer his phone?

Her mind immediately supplied all the reasons Will wouldn't answer his phone, including having forgotten to charge it (unlikely given how much he relied on it) and being brutally torn in half by a superhuman monster (more likely, but wouldn't they come for her first?).

Piatek commanded, "Units 1 and 2, spread out, search the house," and six guards hurtled towards the door of the dining room, leaving at least ten with them.

More shots rang out, and Zoey cringed. "Sounds like they're below us."

Piatek nodded solemnly. "You should stay here until we have an all-clear."

"I'm really sorry about this," Zoey said to Mike. "I swear, this doesn't normally happen- well, not with any regularity at least."

Mike's face was red and sweating. He wiggled a finger underneath his collar, loosening it. "You had guards in the other room?"

"The chairmen of my company are paranoid."

"The chairmen…?" Mike stared at her, then shook his head. "Sorry, I just don't feel very well."

Zoey said, "Don't worry, it'll all be okay. Everyone's ready for shit like this to happen." The lights went out, and suddenly they were solely lit by candlelight and the lights on the rifles. "Crap. Really, whatever this is, we've had worse."

Mike did not look any less worried.

Zoey tried to call Will again. This time, the voice on the other end told her the person she was trying to call was busy. So at least he probably wasn't dead, or someone else had his phone. She called Echo. No answer. Andre. No answer. Budd. No answer.

This wasn't looking good.

She heard the guards' radios start growling something, and she leaned towards them, trying to hear. Piatek shook his head. "Everything's fine," he said. "Just some testing downstairs gone wrong. Mr. Blackwater is on his way upstairs to explain the situation." The lights flooded on, and all the guards switched their rifle lights off. Piatek led the guards back into the side door, and closed it firmly behind him.

Mike looked even worse than before, if that was even possible. His breathing was faster and shallower, like he was having trouble getting enough air in, and he looked vaguely confused... that part was understandable at least.

Zoey said, "I'm really sorry about this. I don't know what they were thinking, doing… whatever they were doing down there."

"It's…" Mike gasped, "...fine. I… understand…"

"I know this place can be a bit weird, but this is abnormally weird. Really. But everything in Tabula Rasa is pretty weird compared to home. You'll see."

Mike gazed at her and scratched at his arms.

Zoey frowned. "Are you alright? Everything's fine, seriously. I dunno what those morons were doing, but they'll come explain in a minute."

Mike kept gasping for air, his face a deep red. Zoey started to reach for her phone. Maybe she should call the medical staff. Mike's condition was seeming less and less like a response to a stressful situation.

But then Will stepped into the room, and goddamnit, Mike would be fine. Will was the one who'd better have a good explanation, for his own good.

Zoey said, "What the hell was that?"

Will gave Mike a strange look, then turned to Zoey. "Sorry about that. We decided to test a couple new weapons, but they were louder than anticipated, and required us to leave our phones in another room to prevent radio interference with the weapons."

"And why did you do that now?"

Will said, "Well, normally we have to worry that you'll get yourself into some sort of trouble and need to call us. You were to be amused for some time, so it seemed ideal."

"After all your security concerns, you remove yourself from availability?" Zoey stood up, glaring at him. "What good is it being here if you couldn't even help if I had an emergency?"

"You did have eighteen armed guards in the room next to you. I think your date is about to pass out."

Zoey spun around. "What...?"

Mike collapsed out of his chair. Zoey ran to him. "What- wait- Will, what do we do?"

"I'm calling the medical staff. They'll be here in less than five minutes." Will knelt beside her, set his phone on the ground, and pulled a small little yellow box from his coat pocket. One of the nurses popped up holographically on his phone. "Someone's going into anaphylactic shock in the red dining room," Will said, and uncapped the yellow box to show two scary looking prongs. He jabbed it into Mike's leg. "I just administered epinephrine."

"We'll be there in two minutes," the nurse said. Her hologram vanished.

Zoey gaped at him as they waited for the medical staff. "You had epin-something-or-other in your pocket?"

"I like to be prepared for likely emergencies."

"How is this likely?"

Will stared at the body in silence, and Zoey was left to gape at her date's unconscious body while wondering how on earth she'd managed to make a date go this badly.

The next day, Carlton attempted to resign. "I don't know how sesame got into the soup," he cried. Zoey tried to convince him to stay, and that she was sure that it wasn't his fault. In the end, Will pulled out Carlton's contract and reminded him that his contractual time wasn't up. Then he pulled Carlton into another room to talk to him alone, and Carlton kept giving Will angry looks for the rest of the day.

Zoey apologized profusely to Mike, who got out of the hospital by morning (after he'd been stabilized, they transferred him from the medical staff at Casa De Zoey to an actual hospital staff). He told her not to worry about it, with a soft little smile, and Zoey tried to explain more about the gunshots. He got a weird look on his face and said he understood that her life was strange, and told her he'd be in touch in that way people say it when they have no intention of getting in touch.

Zoey didn't blame him.

When she arrived home from meeting with Mike, she found Will in a conference room doing something on his tablet. The same map of Tabula Rasa was projected on the walls, just this time with different markings surrounding the landmarks.

She sat down in her favorite chair in this room, a red one that squished down when she sat on it and had big armrests that made her feel like a queen. "I don't think you'll have to finish that background check," she said.

Will didn't look up. "He didn't want a second date?"

"I think the combo of nearly dying and strange gunshots freaked him out."

"I'm sorry to hear that." The map on the walls zoomed in to the area around the headquarters of the Co-Op, and Will gazed at it thoughtfully for a moment. He zoomed back out and noted something on his tablet.

"You're so not sorry." Zoey sighed. "I know, I probably shouldn't try to date normal people. Weirdos it is for me. I'll stick to people who are used to hearing gunshots and nearly dying."

She saw a ghost of a smile on Will's face as he noted something else on his tablet, but he said nothing. He looked a little too pleased, Zoey thought. They sat in silence for a few moments while thoughts slowly turned over in her head.

Zoey asked, "What were you doing in the kitchen last night? Right before Mike arrived?"

Will squinted at something on his screen. "Drinking and working."

"Yeah, your two addictions. But why in the kitchen?"

"Quicker for refills. I figured Carlton would be busy setting up for your date."

Zoey drummed her fingers on the table. "Sooo you were in the kitchen to drink more, and then went straight downstairs to fire unknown weapons."

"Typical night."

Zoey couldn't help but laugh. If only that wasn't so true, her life would be simpler. "So, how do you think sesame seeds got into the soup?"

"I believe Carlton."

"Duh, he'd never forget what he put in a recipe. But how'd they get there then?"

Will shrugged. "Accidents happen."

Zoey paused for a moment. Her next sentence needed to sound as casual as possible, even if there was nothing casual about it. "When you got someone to kill Jezza, it looked like suicide." She watched Will carefully.

He didn't take his eyes off his screen, continuing to scroll down whatever he was reading while he spoke with her. "Correct."

Zoey said, "Seems weirdly similar. My mom's old boyfriend is murdered in prison, looks like a suicide. My date nearly dies of anaphylactic shock, looks like an accident."

Will gave her an annoyed look. "Are you implying that I purposefully poisoned your date?"

"Tell me you didn't. Promise me you didn't cause this, and I'll believe you."

"I didn't poison the food." Will's eyes returned to his tablet, a bit too fast.

Zoey scooted her chair towards him. God, she loved that this chair rolled around too. Maybe she should have it moved to the Mold Room instead of this random-ass conference room. "Nuh-uh, that wasn't the question." She waved her fingers in front of his face until Will's annoyed look returned to her. "Repeat after me: 'I promise that I did not purposefully cause Zoey's date to go into anaphylactic shock.'"

His face froze, and suddenly it didn't look so annoyed anymore. No, now his eyes had slid away from her face, his brow creased in thought unwarranted by a request to repeat a single sentence. Silence stretched between them.

"WHAT THE HELL, WILL?"

His voice was smaller than she'd ever heard it. "I had epinephrine on hand."

"Yeah, while you were out of phone contact downstairs shooting at things! Why would you do that? Why? And don't you dare lie to me right now, I will fire your ass."

Will said nothing.

Zoey groaned. "Damn it, Will, I think I deserve an explanation. Please tell me it's something good. Did you find out he killed someone? Did he accept a contract on my life?"

Will said, "No. Nothing so well justified." He stood.

Zoey shook her head. "No, no, you are not leaving this room until you give me a decent explanation for this."

She grabbed at his arm, but Will took a step back from her. "I decline to answer."

"Well, I decline your declination to answer. So there. Answer or you're fired." Zoey grinned triumphantly. As pissed as she was at Will, this was still kind of fun. She should probably be more pissed, actually. He had tried to kill her date, nevermind that she hadn't expected more than a couple sexy nights with Mike.

"You've fired me before. I'm sure I'll reclaim my position soon enough."

"Or," Zoey said, "Rather than firing you, I'll make you Casa De Zoey's trash collector for a week. You'll have to clear out all the trash in the Casa. Including and especially anywhere where Andre has sex with my mom, so you have to handle his used condoms."

Will opened his mouth, a peculiar expression on his face, then closed it. He kept staring away at the wall, as if the map of Tabula Rasa would tell him how to negotiate out of this conversation.

Zoey said, "Of course, you could just sit your butt down and tell me what possessed you to try to kill my date."

Will said, "If I was trying to kill him, I would have succeeded, not administered the necessary dose of epinephrine to save his life."

"So you were trying to… what? Just tell me, I'm only going to get more creative the longer you put it off."

Will took a deep breath and sat back down in his chair, staring at his tablet. His hands squeezed his knees tightly. "Ruin your date. I wanted to ensure he didn't return to your company in the near future."

That explained the shooting downstairs. And… now that she thought about it, it explained his resistance to her having the date anywhere other than Casa De Zoey. "Because… why?"

"Personal reasons."

"What the- you're way past the point of 'personal reasons', Will Blackwater, you better start fessing up."

Will said through gritted teeth, "Let me decline to answer, Zoey."

"Nope. You must have had twisted rationale for this. Is there a nasty demon inside you we need to exorcise?"

"What? No. But it's-" Will seemed to swallow more words. "I'd rather keep my dignity."

"Was it to hide a murder or a betrayal of Livingston Enterprises?"

"No."

"Then it can't be that bad. You're not leaving this room until you tell me, you know. You owe me that, at least, for the horrid night that was my date."

"Please, Zoey."

"Fess up."

Will sighed and covered his face in his hands. Zoey felt the anticipation build inside her. It was coming. She was about to learn whatever had caused Will Blackwater to decide that ruining her date by shooting things underneath them and slipping an allergen in the soup was a good idea.

Will said, "Somehow, I seem to have developed some sort of… feelings for you."

Her stomach dropped. He couldn't mean… no, he'd just said 'feelings.' Of course Will had feelings about her, they'd worked together for a while now. Zoey said, "What, like annoyance? I'm pretty sure that's been developed since the first time your little hologram appeared on my phone."

Will said, "No. Other feelings. Though you are annoying." He was still talking through his hands with his eyes covered.

He couldn't mean that he liked her, right? They spent half their time working together at each other's throats, and she'd spoiled his plans countless times. He couldn't mean romantic feelings, and if she asked, he'd probably just laugh at the idea. "So… what feelings?"

"Don't make me say it, Zoey."

"You're gonna have to say it."

"Zoey."

"Nope, vocalize your feelings, Will."

Will sounded as if he was in agony. "I've begun to… like you… in a romantic sense."

Zoey's eyes widened.

Will continued, "I find you attractive and enjoy your company, so I've read that this development is… natural. It will run its course and fade. If, in the meantime, you would like to reassign me to endeavors that do not directly involve you, that is more than acceptable to me. Even preferable, perhaps."

Zoey didn't say anything. Since when had Will, of all people, been at all interested in her? She'd thought that he was disgusted by her, if he noticed her as a female sexual being at all. This didn't fit. This didn't fit with anything that had been going on in her life for the past couple months.

Will's head raised, and she felt him looking at her. She kept staring at the wall.

Will said, "You can also fire me, if reassignment is insufficient."

That jolted Zoey out of her thoughts. "No, no, I'm not firing you. Do you- um- do you want to be reassigned? I don't care, I'm fine with whatever, but like you said preferable, so- but I don't really know what to assign-"

Will said, "You're rambling. I can assign myself to tasks that don't involve you. You'll just interact with the others a bit more than usual."

"Right." Zoey took a deep breath. "You don't have to, though, if you don't want-"

Will said, "No, I'd like some distance."

"Okay. We should talk about-"

"We don't need to discuss this ever again." Will stood up and grabbed his tablet from the table. The wall map vanished, and Will tightened the knot of his tie. "When I start working with you again, you'll know everything's back to normal. Unless there's a disaster, of course."

Zoey said, "Okay," and thought about what else to say. Surely there was more, something else she should ask or tell him so he knew that it was okay, she didn't hate him or anything…

Will walked out the door and pulled it closed behind him without another word Zoey was left alone in the conference room, wondering why her whole body felt frozen in uncertain agony.

A/N: Please review and let me know what you thought!