This idea of Butch/Cass and the breeding center "secret" sprung to me today. It gets a tad mature towards the end, no ACTUAL sex but I'm gonna rate it M just in case. My Butch isn't usually this aloof but this is based of their debut eppie, back when he was slightly more reserved. :P Enjoy!

Cassidy slowly strode past the cage-lined wall in front of her, lavender eyes peering with greed and content at each of the miserable creatures cruelly trapped behind thick, metal bars. Some of them were whimpering, others asleep. How pleasing it was, knowing that by the end of the week, these Pokemon would be shipped off to Giovanni in return for a hefty pay check.

After studying the poor helpless things, the blonde's gaze swept to her green-haired partner. He was stood on the opposite side of the room, not doing much else aside from flicking through a newspaper. He didn't say much. Ever. Although the they'd been partners in crime for almost a full year now, these awkward silent moments still seemed to pop up daily. It was his fault. He wasn't exactly gifted in the arts of conversation.

"Butch," Cassidy snapped, waiting for his eyes to peek over the top of the paper. "Get out there and see if there's any customers."

Butch froze up, then tugged uncomfortably at the collar of his sweater. "Uh...c-can't you do it?"

"No. I've been working my ass off all day while you stand back and do practically nothing. We made a deal- I'd be the spokeswoman, but you'd still get over your pathetic fear and help out with the customers," the blonde reprimanded, hand one slightly jutted out hip, eyebrows raised impatiently. "They're just kids. You can handle it...tough guy." Her last two words dripped with obvious sarcasm and scorn.

Butch pondered the idea for a moment. Perhaps it was best to do as she said. He knew from bitter experience that if he ididn't/i, he'd pay the price of constant emotional abuse and name-calling. But his eyes drifted back to the newspaper in his hands as soon as the thought of rambunctious mobs of waiting customers sprung to mind. Those were far, far worse than a sulky Cassidy. "Nah, I insist. You do it."

"I wasn't giving you a choice," Cassidy hissed. "It's about time you shifted your lazy backside and did something productive here. This center was your idea, for the most part, so technically I shouldn't be doing all the work. Whatever happened to team effort?"

"I'm being productive back here. Someone needs to keep an eye on these Pokemon," Butch pointed out feebly, face remaining hidden behind the pages of his newspaper. "Besides, I'm Demophobic. Can't deal with the crowds."

"That's nothing but a lame excuse," the blonde snapped, but, with a drawn out sigh, she chose to say no more at the matter. He was a little anxious around large groups of people, and he certainly couldn'ttalk to them due to his insecurities about his voice. Granted, those insecurities were warranted- he sounded like a sick toad thanks to his excessive smoking. With that in mind...perhaps it wasn't fair to force him out there when she herself had ounces of confidence to assist her.

"At least go and make me a coffee," she ordered.

Butch rolled his eyes, folding the paper up and resting it on the conveyor belt he was stood next to.

"Decaf, no sugar. Right?" he checked, cocking his eyebrows at her as he breezed over to the rooms exit.

"You know me well," she replied. He cracked a smile and left the room.

The second the door was closed, Cassidy heaved a sigh, fishing out her compact mirror and lip gloss from her lab coat pocket. She flipped the little rounded mirror open and ran the tube of red gloss over her lips, smacking them together, then applying a little more.

She wished she could talk to him.

Sometimes, the duo were completely comfortable in each other's company; like when they were in their dorm room at Headquarters, or out for lunch. But then, there were those other times. Times when the atmosphere between them was painfully awkward and neither had a word to say to the other. This tended to happen when they were together for long periods of time with absolutely nothing to distract them- which appeared to be the case right now. It was well after eight PM. There probably wouldn't be any more customers until the next day.

Cassidy thought. They had such an odd relationship. She couldn't work out what it was...tension? It was as if they weren't close enough, but they knew everything about each other- every little habit, every mannerism, every pet peeve. Hell, she knew what colour underwear he wore. She knew his past, his favourite food, all his fears. She'd seen him in all sorts of emotional states, and vice versa. Yet, there was something...something missing between them. She wished there could be a little more to it than this. Just a little.

She twitched involuntarily when she heard the door open, then her partner amble back into the room holding her mug of coffee. "Thanks."

"Caffeinated, extra sugar," he joked, heading back to his spot and picking up the newspaper.

"Right," an unconvinced Cassidy scoffed as she took a sip of the warm beverage. "I doubt you'd have the nerve to disobey my exact orders."

"You know me well," he mimicked, glancing over the paper at her and chuckling.

She smirked. This was what she liked about him. He could be such fun sometimes. "So, what's that you're reading?" she questioned with as much interest as she could feign, hoping to strike an interesting, meaningful conversation with him before they closed up for the night.

"A newspaper."

"You don't say." With a roll of her eyes, she strutted over to him, snatching the newspaper from his grasp. "Let's see..." Her violet eyes scanned the black print, the light draining from them slowly. "God, you have dull interests."

"Matter of opinion," the green-haired man replied, gently snatching the paper back from her. "Heh, s'more interesting than those gossip mags ya have littered 'round our room back at HQ."

"No way," she retorted with humour, crossing her arms over her chest proudly and lifting her chin. "I'd take an article on a celebrity break up over boring politics any day of the week."

"Mmmhmm..."

She frowned when he didn't even look over the paper at her. Yes, it was definitely his fault they weren't closer. Here she was, putting effort in, and what did she get in response? 'Mmmhmm.' She sniffed, lifting her disgruntled gaze to the round clock mounted on the wall. "It's almost nine. We should probably start closing up."

Butch sighed resignedly as he gave the clock a glimpse, folding his paper. "Ah, guess we should. I'm gonna go out back for a smoke first though. Gimme five minutes," he grunted, rummaging through the inner pocket of his lab coat for his lighter and cigarettes,

Cassidy watched him. When he set off for the door, she smirked and stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "No you don't," she said, deftly grabbing the pack from him and holding it high above her head, although it was still well within the taller man's reach.

"...Oh?"

"Yeah. Come and get 'em, tough guy," she taunted, taking a few slick steps back and sticking her pointy pink tongue out at him. She didn't know what she was doing... playing, trying to get him to let loose a little, for once. "Come on!"

He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to make of her sudden playful behaviour. "Hah...why?"

She rolled her eyes, shoulders slumping for a moment. "Because I say so. Come on, you want these disgusting things, froggo?" she asked innocently, shaking the pack at him and backing up a little further, lips curving into a smirk. "Come get them."

Butch's angular brown eyes narrowed a little as he peered at her, slight amusement evident in his expression. He gave a quick shrug. "Fine." He smirked, stepping closer to her and making a feeble snatch for the pack.

She scoffed. "You can do better than that! Try harder."

He rolled his eyes at her and took another step closer as she took another backwards, then held his hand out awkwardly. "Cut it out."

"I'm not going to give them to you, chimney-breath!" she laughed.

"Cass, we really oughta close up."

"All the more reason to get these from me," the blonde shot back, clamping her teeth down on her bottom lip in a way that she hoped looked sexy. God, he was dense. He couldn't see flirting if it hit him in the face. "You know ya want them."

Butch blinked. What was she doing? Whatever it was, it was making his heart swell a little. He didn't know of it was nerves or...or something else. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. He smirked. It was kind of endearing. "Heh, if you say so," he said with a grin. When she giggled and backed away a few more inches, he came in closer and his hands moved up to enclose both of her slim wrists, firmly, but gently. "Gotcha."

Her teeth bit into her bottom lip further as their eyes met. They were so close. They'd never been this close before, his body was practically pressed up against hers, and she could smell his cologne, and the cigarette smoke on his breath. "...Y-you'll have to wrestle me if you want your smokes back," she said, heart pounding. She tore her eyes away from his to look at the inactive conveyor belt and backed up again. He gave her gentle push down onto it until she was sitting.

"Okay. Now?"

She rolled her eyes back. Idiot. "Oh, Butch," she hissed, grasping her dumbfounded partner by the front of his lab-coat and yanking him right down so their faces were almost touching. "Take a hint."

He gulped, eyes wide. Hint? Did that mean...? Of course it did. It was obvious.

He grabbed her by the cheeks and crashed his lips into her glossy ones, kissing her long and deep. He felt her hands urgently scrabble to the buttons of his lab-coat. His own hands moved to hers, started to undo them, and both white coats were soon crumpled on the tiled floor beside each other.

Cassidy moved up, allowing more space for her blushing partner. She lifted the hem of her purple sweater and pulled it off over her head, dishevelling her golden hair and exposing a rather impressive chest. She grabbed his wrists now, placing his hands on her breasts and allowing them to caress them while she lifted her chin up and kissed him. Hard. Snaked her hands in his hair and pulled his mouth into hers

"-Cass," he gasped, managing to escape for a moment, no matter how much he wanted her- and boy, he did. "We hafta close up-"

"Who cares?" she moaned softly, manicured fingers raking down his muscled chest until they reached the buckle of his belt.

"I need a ciga-"

"Oh, shut up!" the blonde hissed, one hand sliding down the bulging front of his pants and grabbing his member tightly. She began to move her hand up and down his shaft, feeling his hot breath tickling her face as he exhaled sharply.

"You like that, don't you?" she whispered in his ear, moving her hand a little faster. "You like me."

He didn't say a single word, just nodded frantically, his hand clenched in her hair. She smirked and kept at it, figuring out just the right pace he liked.

Suddenly, behind Butch's heavy breathing, the blonde heard the faint cracking of a door. Her head jerked to the right, eyes popping when she found a young boy standing in the doorway. She gasped, hand freezing. Butch made a protesting groan as he grabbed her hand and started to move it himself , until she gave him a vicious kick in the leg.

He winced and glanced at the door to see what the problem was. The problem was a little boy standing there looking terrified.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, kid?" the red-faced man spat, huffing furiously as his shaky hands hoisted his pants up and fiddled with the buckle of his belt. Cassidy's eyes were darting around the floor in search of her sweater, one arm covering her chest. Heart pounding.

"I- I wanted to know if the center w-was still...open..." the boy stuttered, his saucer eyes fixed on the topless blonde. "I'm s-sorry, I- I just- wanted to leave my Pokemon here and nobody was at the front desk and-"

"Get out of here and wait through the front, I'll see to you in a moment!" Cassidy snapped, giving him a brief shooing motion with the hand that wasn't covering her DD's.

The bewildered little boy nodded and hurried off, leaving the pair in silence.

Butch coughed, casting his eyes down and spotting Cassidy's missing sweater crumpled by his feet. He bent down to pick it up and then shyly, reluctantly passed it to her. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," she said, snatching it. She didn't quite manage to meet his eyes, and turned her back to him when she pulled the sweater back on, tugging the fitted hem down over her frame. It took a few seconds, but she hesitantly looked over her shoulder at him only to find he was already staring at her. Both their eyes were a little shiny, both pairs of cheeks pink.

"I-I'll be right back," Cassidy said in a quiet voice. She didn't stop for a reply, just made her way out of there as nonchalantly as possible and closing the door behind her. She leant up against it, just to compose herself, eyes staring up at the ceiling,

What...just happened? They'd gone from an awkward silence, to goofing around, to a brief make-out session, to a hand job. Her mind replayed the kiss. Passionate, loving. Butch meant it. He must have done, she felt the emotion. She supposed she'd find out his motives when they went back to their hotel tonight.

Perhaps this was just a one night fling. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the start of something special.