"Where did you disappear to last night?" Raven asked the following morning as Andrea stumbled into the kitchen, her hair disheveled and sleepwear worn with wrinkles. She walked drearily over to the espresso machine and pressed the number seven button, watching through sleepy eyes as it started making her latte. "I could have sworn I'd heard you wandering the hall at one point." Rave continued, watching her friend with suspicious eyes.

"Yeah, I forgot my key and had to go back and get it..." Andrea mumbled, trying desperately to ignore the heated memories from the previous night.

"Mmhmm." Raven smiled, lowering her eyes into her coffee. Andrea turned towards her friend slowly, her eyes glaring.

"What?"

"Noooothing." she singsonged, blinking her blue eyes innocently, a lipstick smile spreading over her face. Suddenly realization dawned on Andrea's face. She let out a gasp and almost dropped her coffee, one hand flying to cover her mouth in shock. "Oh my GOD!" she yelled, while Raven's face dropped form a smile to a startled expression. "What?"

"It was you! You changed yourself into Erik last night! Oh my GOD, RAVEN!"

"What are you talking about, I was in my room all night!" Raven replied, clearly looking bewildered. Andrea froze.

"Oh." she said curtly, turning back to her coffee to hide her blushing face. "Oops."

"Oops? You accuse me of God knows what and all you have to say is oops?"

Andrea winced. "Yes?"

"Okay, now you have to tell me." Raven said briskly, crossing her legs at the table, clearly waiting for an explanation. She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow in an expression that practically screamed 'details!'.

"I may or may not have hooked up with Alex again last night..." she mumbled, scratching the back of her leg with her other foot, her eyes not meeting Raven's. She heard her friend let out a laugh.

"I knew it!" she trilled, leaning back in the chair and crossing her hands behind her head. "Knew it! You two are seriously going to have to do some adult talking sooner or later or else all this making out is going to get real old real fast."

"Tell me about it." Andrea groaned. "I keep wanting to talk, but every time we..."

"Hook up?"

"Can we please not call it that?"

"Tis what it's called and I shant say it any other way." Raven said smugly, crossing her arms over her chest. Andrea let out a huff and blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"Fine. Well whenever we 'hook up'," She glared at Raven. "...we always end up getting interrupted."

"Wait a minute." Raven said, sitting up in her chair. "You thought... oh my God did Erik walk in on you guys?"

Andrea felt her face heat up and knew she was blushing scarlet. Raven let out a cackle and quickly fell into hysterics.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Andrea whisper-shrieked, rushing over to her and whacking her arm repeatedly while Raven continued to howl with laughter. "It's not funny, it was awful! You have no idea how embarress-"

"Good morning ladies."

Andrea froze mid-hit and stared at who had just entered the kitchen while Raven continued to giggle. Sean, Hank and Alex had just walked through the door fully dressed, as opposed to Andrea and Raven who were still in their pyjamas.

Andrea couldn't help herself- she glanced up at Alex and immediately he caught her eye. "Cute shorts." he grinned, observing the boy shorts she so often wore to bed. "Thanks." she mumbled, trying to hide her blush as Sean whirled around from the fridge.

"You ladies ready for another day of adventure?" he asked, taking a bite out of an apple, this time spraying Hank with the juice just as he had Raven a few days before.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked, obviously intrigued.

"He means, Charles decided to give us a day off." Alex said, glancing around at his friends, his gaze finally landing on Andrea. "Figured we'd deserved it after this week."

Andrea stared back until Raven let out an excited squeal from beside her.

"This is fantastic! I've been dying to get out of this fortress." she beamed, getting up from the table.

"Yeah, it should be fun." Sean said, although there sounded like there was a "but" in there somewhere. "Except... we don't really have anywhere else to go. It's not like we know this place very well."

To this, Raven let out a snort. "Speak for yourselves." she snorted, tossing her hair back over one shoulder. "I've been in this state practically my whole life. If anyone knows how to have a good time here, it's me. I am going to make sure you all have one hell of a time." she smiled deviously. "Now come on, it's a about an hour's drive to NYC and the day isn't going any slower!"

Moments later Raven flung open her bedroom door and promptly disappeared into the walk-in closet, Andrea waiting close behind.

"Raven, can't I just wear my normal clothes?" Andrea asked timidly from behind her friend, who seemed to be throwing garments left and right. "Absolutely not!" Raven called from deep inside the room. "This is 1962 darling, and we are going to New York City! I won't have you looking drab!"

Andrea rolled her eyes and plopped down on the bed, not having any clue to what Raven would pull out for her to try on. "I think we should dress to match, don't you? It would be adorable!" Raven suggested to Andrea's horror.

"What, like the same everything?"

As she asked the question, Raven emerged from the clothes cave with armfuls of dresses, pants and tops slung over her shoulders. On her head she wore an identical replica of what looked like one of Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hats. "We haven't got much time." she beamed, blowing a wave of hair out of her face. "So I suggest you get changed fast. I'll heat up the curling iron."

Andrea didn't like to admit it, but this was all a first for her. Back in LA she'd never been able to afford anything remotely fashionable, and here was Raven; stylish and savvy, laying out outfits for Andrea in all different shades of pastel. "Try this." Raven said, flinging a salad green miniskirt her way along with a hideously ruffled floral top. Andrea only had to make one face for Raven to know it wasn't for her.

"You're right, too hippy." Raven clucked, snatching the outfit back. "How about you get started on your hair while I find something more feminine."

Andrea glanced over to the vanity where there seemed to be dozens upon dozens of drawers, all containing pounds of makeup she had no clue how to put on. Her eyes fell upon the curling iron and she swallowed. She's most likely maim herself before doing any attractive work with it. Instantly from behind her she heard Raven stop ruffling through clothes. She forced herself to meet her friend's eyes, attempting to hide her clueless nerves. Raven it turned out, could see right through her.

"Oh honey." she smiled, getting up and walking over to her friend. "Sit down. I'll take care of everything." She gave Andrea a devilish smile that for a moment had her worried that maybe she's have been better off with a good maiming after all.

Half an hour later, Andrea stood in front of Raven's floor length mirror, remotely speechless at the transformation her friend had performed. Most of the time had been spent on Andrea's hair, which now resembled a magazine-perfect curled coiffure, complete with the bump of volume at the back. Raven had dressed her in a powder blue, sleeveless PVC dress along with white go-go boots and her own white pillbox hat to top it all off. As for makeup, Raven had spared no expense with the eyeliner and fake lashes, even topping it off with the latest shade of Shadow Creme's sky blueeyeshadow.

"And like I said before..." announced Raven from the back, coming to stand beside her friend in a identical outfit except in cotton candy pink. "...dressed to match."

Just as she concluded her phrase, there was a beeping from the speaker in the wall to their right, and a voice came on over the intercom.

"Hey Raven, I though you said we were in a hurry! We're all ready to go!" came Sean's whiny voice from the other end.

"We'll be down in a second, Cassidy. True beauty takes patience." she quipped back through the speaker, muting it so she wouldn't be able to hear his sarcastic remark. "Ready to show your boyfriend what he's missing out on?" she asked Andrea, smiling shyly. She felt her cheeks burn red. "He's not my boyfriend." she mumbled, following a laughing Raven out of her bedroom and in the direction of the foyer. Once they approached the staircase to the entrance hall, Andrea stopped at the top and couldn't help but smile. There in the foyer, unknown to their observers, stood Hank, Sean and Alex. They were better dressed then Andrea had ever seen in her life. They all wore casual suits; Hank's brown, Sean's black and Alex's dark grey. Sean and Alex had loosened their ties and were fiddling with something Hank had just shown them, full engaged in the toy. Raven raised a penciled eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip, clearing her throat loudly to get their attention. The boys jumped and whirled to the source of the sound, suddenly stopping in their actions to stare, open mouthed, at the two girls before them.

After a heat beat of silence, Hank was the first to break it.

"Wow." he breathed, a goofy smile sliding onto his face. Raven broke into a grin and started her descent down the stairs, the heels of her boots clicking on each step of the marble. Andrea felt the corner of her mouth twitch up at Raven's confident expression, but then she noticed Alex's. He was still staring at her like before. Wide eyed, like he was in awe. She felt the blush creep up her neck as Sean walked over to his friend and tapped him under the chin, forcing him to close his gaping mouth. Alex blushed, and made his way towards the staircase as Andrea descended. As she reached the bottom step, he offered his hand. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she took it, leaning on him for balance in the thick heeled boots she still hadn't gotten used to.

"You look..." Alex couldn't seem to be able to finish his sentence, he was still staring.

"Like a blueberry?" she smiled, attempting humor but unfortunately she felt her nerves shine through. She'd never felt so naked as she did like this. She was usually one to dress down, blend into the crowd. Now that she stood out like this, she felt as if everyone could see right through her.

"I believe the words Alex is looking for are smoking hot." Sean said, stepping in. He slid his arm through Andrea's left one, hooking it around the crook. On his other arm was Raven, who was also linked to Sean. Andrea looped her arm through Alex's to complete the chain just as she heard footsteps on the stairs. The teens turned round to see Charles and Erik watching them from the stairs. Andrea couldn't help avoiding Erik's eyes and quickly noticed Alex doing the same. Erik on the other hand, seemed to be watching them like a hawk.

"Don't be too late." Charles smiled from his spot on the stairs. "Noon tomorrow at the latest."

"You're too easy on us Charles." Raven beamed from her spot in the line. "You assume we'll even return at all." she winked, and with a final wave the group exited the building, still arm in arm as they made their way towards the cars that were waiting to take them into the city.

"They grow up so fast." Erik said sarcastically as he took in the rarely quiet building.

"Next thing you know they'll be starting families and saving the world." Charles chucked, watching Erik as he flick his fingers to lock the metal bolt on the door.

The first thing Andrea affiliated with New York City was how different it was from LA. First of all, where LA seemed to stretch on for miles, New York was the complete opposite with it's skyward buildings and tall towers. It had a more upright, studious feeling to it them LA did. Instead of the bright, bold colours of LA, Andrea noticed more and more dark suits and buissness attire. City of work, city of leisure. She thought, comparing the two. After an hour of driving, the big city sights was an amazing sight to see.

"Where to first?" Sean asked from his seat in the car where he was loosening his tie for the millionth time.

"I thought we'd grab lunch, then go for a walk in Central Park." Raven beamed. "Get the full NYC experience, if you know what I mean." she said, winking at Andrea, unaware that the joke flew well over her head.

The group exited their car at 62 Thomas street, in front of gorgeous stone arches over crystal windows. Andrea blinked in the afternoon light until her eyes fell upon the red and black sign hanging elegantly in front of one of the arches. Oriental symbols framed the sign as Sean read out the english title beside her.

"Megu?" he asked, casting a weary glance at Raven. "You're not going to poison us with puffer fish are you?"

"Oh relax Cassidy. It won't hurt you to try a little variety." Raven said, rolling her eyes dramatically as the friends entered the Japanese restaurant. Andrea was completely taken aback at the modern feel of the place. There was red and black everywhere. Oriental decor draped all the black glass table tops while exotically dressed women waltzed from table to table, serving everything from regular sushi to the chef's signature Botan Ebi. An ancient oriental man showed them to their table, a private booth, towards the back of the room where they all fit in together snugly. Andrea had never in her life been in a place so striking. The old man left them with their menus and they all took time discussing the different dishes, none of which Andrea had ever really heard of.

"What about this, Andy." Raven suggested from beside her, leaning over to show her her menu. "Diamond tuna rolls. They have Akami, Chu Toro and Oh Toro."

"Um..." Andrea started, her eyes wandering over the menu. She tried to find a description of what the dish was exactly, but all her eyes seemed to land on were the prices. She was trying her hardest not to bolt out of the restaurant right then.

Just as she was getting to the prices for sushi platters, she felt something nudge her foot under the table. Once, then twice. Trying to be discreet, she glanced around at her friends to see who was the culprit, but everyone was fully interested in their menu. She felt another nudge with the foot and this time the person hooked her ankle in theirs. Letting a warning tone emit from her throat, she felt around the ankle with her foot, feeling the fabric of a pant leg. Suddenly from across the table she saw Alex's bright blue eyes glance up to meet hers. He was holding back a smile. Quirking her eyebrow smugly, she nudged back once. His eyes glanced back down to his menu and she saw him subconsciously bite his lip, which immediately sent chills through her. She truly wanted him, so bad, especially after last night when he gave her a taste of what he could do. She felt a flash of heat shoot through her lower abdomen and crossed her legs hastily to distract herself from what she was feeling. Sneaking another quick glance up at him, she saw him watching her again and immediately noticed the lust in his eyes, which did nothing but drive her even crazier. A thought occurred to her then. If he could drive her so wild with just one look, she had to wonder exactly what she was able to do to him. Tilting her head down slightly, she glanced up at him through the thick fake eyelashes Raven had applied with so much effort, being sure to bat them a few times. His expression was priceless. His smile was still there, but his mouth rested slightly open, so she knew she had him riveted. Taking extra care, she slowly reached forward and took a long drink from her water, sucking on the straw while still not breaking eye contact. To finish it off, she glanced casually off to the side and bit down on her own lip just as he had, making sure to get the message across. I want you.

From the opposite end of the table, she heard him exhale loudly. It had worked.

Then suddenly from beside her she heard Raven clear her throat loudly. Immediately Andrea felt herself blush as she turned round to see Raven's shaming expression. She had been watching the whole time.

And yet as if to save the moment, just as Raven opened her mouth, one of the waitresses arrived to serve the appetizers. In the jumble of moving around places, Raven leaned in towards her friend to mutter in her ear. "I know you're into him but you might want to take it down a notch, tiger. You were practically fucking him with your eyes. I think even Hank was getting flustered."

Blushing heavily, Andrea glanced over at Hank who sure enough, was avoiding her eyes as obviously as if she were Medusa. Which of course made the whole meal all the more uncomfortable.

Against Andrea's expectations, she had to finally admit that the meal was delicious. She'd never experienced so many different flavors from one culture all together, and felt that if it weren't for the extravagant prices (which Raven payed for with Charles's credit card), she would be eating there every week.

"Ready for our next destination?" Raven asked, just as the group slid out of their booth, stomachs full while popping free mints in their mouths to get rid of the fishy aftertaste.

"I just need to use the ladies." Andrea put in hastily. She had a feeling all the eyeliner Raven had applied was smudged and had half a mind to just go in and take it all off. She pushed open the red door to the woman's washroom and walked over to the mirror, leaning in to observe her eyes. Just as she'd guested, the charcoal black was smudged in the corner. She reached a finger up and tried to rub it off her skin, but the colour wouldn't budge.

"It comes off better with water."

Andrea jumped at the sound of a voice. She looked up in the mirror to see the reflection of an unfamiliar woman standing behind her, leaning against the counter casually. She was blond with piercing blue eyes, not unlike Alex's, except there was something colder in them that Andrea couldn't put her finger on. The woman was dressed exquisitely in knee high white go-go boots, identical to Andrea's except hers looked much more expensive, along with a white mini skirt and white halter top that revealed way too much of her cleavage in Andrea's opinion.

"Thanks." she said evenly, turning on the tap to wet her finger and proceeded to wipe it across the smudge. It came off instantly.

"Shadow Creme doesn't make it's products like they used to." the woman mused, tucking a wave of hair behind her ear and walking over to the sink to observe her own makeup. "That's a cute dress, by the way."

"Thanks." Andrea said again. Then, feeling as if she should add something she blurted out, "Your top's nice."

"You think so?" the woman asked, stepping back to admire herself. "A friend gave it to me. He likes to see me show skin." she added, winking.

"Seems... nice." Andrea said awkwardly. "Well, um, I should probably go. Nice chatting with you."

She turned hastily away and headed quickly towards the door. Just as she was about to open it though, she could have sworn she'd heard the woman behind her speak. "I'll be seeing you soon." But when Andrea turned around, she was gone.

She exited the powder room and stood for a moment in the empty waiting room outside. There were beads hanging across the entrance way and a bonsai tree on the dark wooden table in front of a long mirror. The lunch crowd had passed and left the restaurant nearly abandoned. She was relieved for the time alone to catch her thoughts. She hadn't been outside the manor grounds since that flight from L.A. It was a relief to get some fresh air, move around a little. Even though she wasn't exactly comfortable in her current get up, she had to admit she looked nice. Raven had done a good job.

She was about to turn to go when she remembered her purse back on the counter in the bathroom. She quickly went back in, grabbed her purse and took a look around. The woman in white who had been there only moments earlier still was nowhere to be found. Cautiously, Andrea made her way back out of the room, casting an extra glance over her shoulder just as the door closed.

"Hey."

She jumped at the voice and whirled around to face the speaker. Immediately upon recognition, her heart stuttered and her body tingled all over. Alex was standing in the entrance way to the waiting room, his tie loosened around his collar and his sleeves rolled up high enough that she could see the lean muscles in his forearms. His hair had grown out slightly since they'd first met, and now stuck out at odd angles making him appear all the more rugged. As their eyes met, he gave her a slow grin and she felt her heart start beating twice as fast as he took a step towards her. "Raven was wondering what was taking so long, so she sent me in here to check on you."

"Oh." was all she could manage to say. She stood across from him now and could see the light in his eyes grow darker, swallowed by his dilated pupils. Say something else! Anything! her head screamed. "That was nice of her." she said finally, and then mentally kicked herself for how stupid she sounded. Although from the look of things, Alex hadn't seemed to notice, let alone mind. How was she supposed to get out any sort of intelligent sounding sentence with him standing so close to her. She could practically smell the cedar on his skin and the mint on his tongue. He was so close, that all she wanted to be able to do was reach out and touch him...

"Andrea." he said, his voice so full of lust and desire that she found herself closing the gap between them without being conscious of it. He seemed to have been going for the same thing, because they met each other half way. Their lips crushed together in a fusion of eagerness, her hands flying to his chest, his wrapping around her waist, pressing her closer. All the tension that had been bottled up between them in those hours apart spilled out and was expressed in their eager kisses. All the words not spoken were told through small sighs and caresses, awkwardness abandoned. She cupped his face in her hands, kissing him deeper, his tongue probing at her lips which opened graciously. She ran her hands through his hair, feeling every strand lightened by hours in the sun, dazzlingly soft against her fingers. He moaned into her mouth, his hand sliding up the side of her, tracing the curves of her body and memorizing them.

"I changed my mind..." he murmured into her mouth between kisses. "...I hate this dress." She felt herself grin against his lips as he nipped at her mouth once again, pleading for more. Feeling bold, she took a step forwards and pressed him to the wall, running her hand up his muscled chest until her fingers came to wrap around his tie. She tugged and felt his face come even closer to hers, a low growl of desire emitting from his throat. "I like the tie." she whispered huskily. "But the rest of the suit can go..." As if to make her point, she lowered her hand to his pants and rested it lightly on the ever growing bulge in the middle. The sound he made next was almost primal as he slid one hand up into her hair, cradling the back of her head while his kisses traveled hungrily from her mouth to her neck and then her collar bone. To add even more expression to what he was feeling, he took a step away from the wall and spun them around so that now it was her back pressed against the red wallpaper. She let out a long sigh of desire as he kissed her, every nerve in her body seemingly on fire. Suddenly from outside the room, there was a knock on the wall. Andrea froze where she was, Alex pausing while his lips hovered just above her neck, their bodies still pressed together.

"Miss Raven would like to know when you are finished." came the voice of one of the exotic waitresses, followed by the clicking of her heels as she turned and walked away. Once she was sure she was gone, Andrea brought her eyes up to Alex's once again. They simply stood there for a moment, soaking each other in, breathing in their scents and tastes.

"We should go." Andrea finally said, softly. She couldn't bring herself to look away.

"Look, Andrea. About last night-"

"You don't have to say anything." she interrupted. He raised an eyebrow in question. "It was nice." she blurted out, and then felt herself blush. If he was trying to apologize for some reason, she didn't want to make him feel as if she had been unwilling. "I mean, obviously it was more then nice. It was fantastic, but-"

"That's not what I meant." he said, grinning at her obvious embarrassment. She swallowed, not quite sure what to expect from him next. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Last night was... amazing. I've never felt a connection like that before, and that wasn't the only time. It was amazing that night on the roof and in the bunker, even though Charles was technically watching through the cameras..."

Andrea let slip a smile.

"...and right now. What just happened. This, Andrea. This is amazing. Except we've never really talked about it and I..." He trailed off, seeming embarrassed and hesitant to continue. He was being so open, so honest, that Andrea couldn't help but feel attachment she'd never felt before for anyone. On a whim, she lent in and kissed him softly, pulling away just to see his surprised expression. He let out the rest of his sentence in a rush, seeming to have found his voice.

"I don't want to be 'that guy'". I don't want to be the person who hooks up with you and then leaves. Believe me, I've been him before and it gets really old, fast. I don't just want to be some guy in your life. I want to give what we have a shot."

When he stopped talking, he stared at her waiting for an answer. Andrea stood speechless. He, Alex, was someone who a year ago she would never have imagined having these feeling for. He was beautiful and brave and sometimes even moody, but he was perfect to her. He'd saved her life. He cared about her. And she cared about him too.

She turned away to glance towards the door frame, listening for the footsteps of people in the hall outside. Then without a second thought, turned back to him and took his hand.

"Then let's go." she said smiling, squeezing him hand and watching his face light up as the two of them walked into the hallway. They didn't say anything as they turned the corner, hand in hand, but in the last few seconds before they headed into the entrance room to meet their friends, Andrea couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere, someone was watching her.

So I actually remembered for once that this fic takes place in the 60s :P I did a bunch of research into 1960's women's fashions and came up with Andrea and Raven's outfits through it. Shadow Creme was even a legit 60s makeup company, and MEGU is also a real japanese restaurant in New York. Every bit of food they discuss is even on the MEGU lunch menu :) So like I said, lots of research in this one.

SOMETHING IMPORTANT is that I've actually got two fics going on right now, this one and a HP one. Since I've been getting a lot of recent inspiration and feedback from the HP one, I will be taking a brief hiatus from Tempest to try and finish up the first fanfic. Once I'm done, I'll try not to start anything until I've finished Tempest. I wanna thank you guys so much for your favs and alerts as well as your reviews which I LOVE reading. I leave you now with a question: I've been thinking into possibly writing a sex scene or two later on in this fic. But since I've never done it before, it might be a bit... shaky? Ahaha I'm not sure, but god knows I've read enough of them ;) Do you think I should give it a try or back off for awhile?

I'll hopefully be writing Andrea and Alex again soon! Thanks again for all you amazing support!

xx

-Cal