This is just a small brainchild I had while rereading the series this week. It came out of nowhere, but I've always liked this pairing, so I was sad to find no Rex/Jonathan stories out there. I can't be the only one, can I?

This story was spawned by the part in book one where Jessica kisses Jonathan in the blue hour and he says he's never kissed anyone at midnight before.

Just know that I am ot saying I don't like Jess/Jonathan. I just like Rex/Jonathan better. Also, please keep in mind that Jonathan doesn't know why Rex is afraid of spiders. Thank you.

Paring: Rex/Jonathan
Rating: T
Disclaimer: If I owned Midnighters, Rex and Jonathan would be together. Are they? No.

Okay, so he'd lied to Jessica.

But it wasn't really a big lie and it didn't really matter all that much in their relationship, so it wouldn't hurt her if she never found out. But it might make her uncomfortable if she did.

The truth was, he had kissed someone in the midnight hour before.

And it was no one you would ever have suspected. It wasn't Dess, though she wasn't half-bad looking, it wasn't Melissa the creepy chick, and it sure as hell hadn't been one of the stiffs.

No, he had kissed Rex.

Funny thing actually. He wouldn't actually call it kissing, really, more like trying to kill someone with your mouth. They had been arguing before it happened.

They had been arguing after it happened for a completely different reason.

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It had been a long secret hour. Both of them were tired and frustrated. Rex had dragged him out into the badlands to check the lore site instead of just letting him fly like he wanted to. And then, when Rex hadn't found anything, it had turned out to be a big waste of time anyway.

God give him patience.

"Look Martinez," Rex snapped, "I'm sorry for wasting your valuable time. I already said so! So will you just be quiet already?!" Jonathan grit his teeth.

"This is what I hate about you, Greene. You always have to be so on top of things, so in control. If you would just let go for once in your miserable, pathetic life you might be happy for a change!"

Rex let out a noise that was very close to a snarl.

"I'm plenty happy, Jonathan. Thank you." His words were quiet and venomous. Every fiber of Jonathan's mind was screaming at him, 'You don't want to make this a screaming match because that will get you nowhere. Just breathe and shut up.' But no, he couldn't be smart, could he?

"You know what you are? You're an asshole!"

"Oh, I'm an asshole? How do you figure? It seems to be reversed from where I'm standing!"

Their voices continued to grow in volume.

Rex knew he shouldn't be fighting with Jonathan. It didn't do any good to be fighting with your teammates. But dear God in Heaven this boy was annoying!

"Hah!" Jonathan exclaimed. "Well at least I'm not afraid of tiny little spiders!"

Rex paled.

"You know what?" Jonathan continued, unabated. "I bet I could catch some right now! I'll bet there are plenty down there in that hole. Or down in the snake pit. We're not so far away that we couldn't turn back, you know."

When Rex didn't say anything, he went on.

"I wonder how it would feel to have them crawling all over your body—"

"Shut up."

"—with their tiny legs scurrying everywhere. And all of those—"

"Shut up."

"—beady little eyes staring at you. I wonder how it would feel to have them sink their fangs—"

"Shut up!" Rex roared. He spun on his heel and shoved Jonathan in the chest, hard enough to make him stumble back a few steps.

One look at Rex's face told Jonathan he'd pushed him too far.

Rex's face had the sickly white pallor of terror and his eyes were bright with fear. A glance down revealed that his hands were shaking.

"Rex—"

"Just shut up, Martinez. Close your mouth and don't say another word until you're far out of my sight."

Jonathan closed his mouth for a second, bouncing into the air a few feet. The blue glow of midnight surrounded him and made him want to just jump up and leave Rex here (they were far too angry to fly together), but the end of the secret hour was coming and he didn't want to get caught mid-air.

Then he was irrationally angry.

Rex didn't have a right to be ordering him around! Just because Rex hadn't found anything at the lore site didn't mean he had to take his frustrations out on him! He seethed.

"You're a right bastard, you know?" he spit out. Rex took a deep breath and let out a sigh of barely concealed rage. That just made Jonathan even angrier.

"Didn't I tell you not to talk?"

"Well who died and made you king? I don't have to take all your 'Seer knows best' crap."

Rex looked like he was going to say something.

"You don't know best," Jonathan continued. "You're just as lost as the rest of us. The fact that you can read the lore means nothing. It's not always going to be there, as you so helpfully proved tonight, so that means you're no better than the rest of us!"

Jonathan froze.

He had just hit something true. It rang clearly in his head.

"And what makes you so great, Flyboy?" Rex hissed, but it was lost on Jonathan.

"Without the lore, you're no good to anyone. You're useless." He had started out quietly, and then grew louder. "You have no purpose other than the lore, do you?"

Rex's jaw was set in a hard line. He counted silently to himself.

"Well, who's going to find you clean steel, genius? If you're in such a hurry to dump me, find your own."

"Well, at least I can do something useful!" Jonathan shot back, but it was weak. Lame. Rex smirked.

"Yeah, you're useful. But only for an hour. I'm good for whenever, and so are Dess and Melissa. Sounds like you're the useless one."

That smirk pissed Jonathan off.

And for God's sake, did Rex have to look so damn attractive while he was smirking like that?

Jonathan paused for a moment. Where had that come from? He didn't have time to think about it because suddenly he was kissing Rex.

And Rex was kissing back.

It was hot and passionate, a battle for dominance that went on until they were both out of air and gasping. But as soon as they had adequate oxygen, they were at it again.

It was teeth and tongues and hands and lips. It was anger and venom and rage, but it didn't matter. It was the consequence of their actions. Neither stopped to think.

When they pulled away for air again, Jonathan realized that they were floating. It was just a few feet off the ground, but it could hurt if you landed wrong. Jonathan was used to landing, but Rex wasn't.

Jonathan protectively pulled Rex a little closer.

And then they were kissing again. It wasn't as angry as the other two, but it was equally full of passion. Jonathan felt the ground beneath his feet as the small amount of midnight gravity pulled him and his—enemy? rival? lover?—back down to Earth.

Their mouths worked gently against each other.

Somewhere along the line, Rex's arms had looped around his neck and his hands had placed themselves on Rex's waist. The kiss was slowly becoming something…soft, and nice.

His eyes closed as he jumped up a few inches. He breathed through his nose so he wouldn't have to let go of Rex. He didn't want to.

And that thought surprised him. When had he started to feel things for the Seer? He certainly had never noticed before. But maybe it had always been there. He remembered Dess saying once that they fought like an old married couple.

Maybe she'd been right.

Rex's arms tightened around Jonathan's neck, pulling his black-clad body closer to the acrobat's. Their tongues danced together in a rhythmic pattern as they all but melted into one person.

Real time hit them like a slap in the face.

As soon as midnight faded and they were standing solidly on the ground, they released each other as if burned. They glared at each other with intense hatred and barely disguised disgust.

"What the hell was that for!?" Rex finally exploded. "You fucking kissed me!"

"Well I didn't feel you pull away!" Jonathan shot back.

"You were holding me too tightly," Rex spat, but his words rang out hollow and false. They couldn't look at each other.

When their eyes met, a wordless promise of silence passed between them.

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So, in the end, Jonathan had left the group, claiming to be sick and tired of Rex's god complex. Rex had indignantly spluttered that he didn't have a god complex. Jonathan was just an asshole. And they disguised their lust and need with anger and indifference.

He let out a snort of laughter.

He buried his fingers in the hair at the base of his lover's neck as he gently bit down on the place where his shoulder met his neck.

Rex let out a hiss of pleasure.

"Ah…no." He gently pushed Jonathan's head aside. "Not right now. I'm working." Jonathan rolled his eyes.

"You work to much."

"Yeah, fine. You don't do anything. I need to keep the scale level." Jonathan laughed at that, but didn't say anything, preferring instead to pull Rex back to lean against him.

Now and again he did feel bad for lying to Jessica. This was bigger than he'd admitted at first, and it sure as hell was going to affect their relationship. It would screw them over completely.

But he loved both of them.

He pondered that for a moment. That was true, wasn't it? He loved Jessica because she was perfect and they fit together so nicely. He'd die if he had to let her go. He loved Rex because they didn't get along at all. The conflict kept him on his toes, always ready for whatever Rex could bring. He sighed. Sooner or later he'd have to choose between them.

But for now, what Jessica didn't know couldn't hurt her.

See? That can't have been too bad. Please review!