Fic: Operation: Seduce Spinelli

[csi_sanders1129]

Title: Operation: Seduce Spinelli
Chapters: Challenge # 2
Author: csi_sanders1129
Genre: Drama. Angst.
Ratings: T
Word Count: ~2,750
Pairings/Characters: Jason Morgan, Damian Spinelli, Maxie Jones.
Synopsis: Jason has had enough of Maxie’s ridiculous plan and calls her on her insanity. She, in turn, has a new plan: “We’ll have tests. Keep score. Whoever wins, gets Spinelli.”
Comments: Started writing this a while ago. It’s almost finished, but not quite. Much thanks, as always, to suerum. Sorry this chapters is so short, next one is longer! Characters not mine. Enjoy! [Banner thanks to dreamsparkle3  :D]

Prologue | Challenge #1 |

 

The next text message came at close to five a.m. the following night. He growled into the interrupted silence of his room and contemplated simply tossing the device at the wall. Still though, how hard could this be?

'Round 1 may have gone to you, Round 2 will be mine. Call. – M.' It said. So he did.

"Can't you call at normal hours?" He pressed, not even getting out of bed this time. "Or is turning me into a sleep-deprived zombie part of your plan?"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. I can't call if Spinelli might be around you. Duh." He could practically hear her rolling her eyes at him. "So, I thought up the next challenge."

"I figured as much." Jason grumbled, an arm tossed over his eyes. "What insane plan do you have this time?"

"Dinner." She said simply, as if that would explain everything. "We each get a night. I get to go first, of course. Whichever one of us impresses him the most wins. No interruptions from the other player."

With a resigned sigh, he agreed to her conditions, though no promises could be made about the no interruption aspect with Franco still on the loose. "Deal."

"Glad we could reach an agreement."

***

"Where are we going, Maximista?" Spinelli asked, for what was not the first time. She'd dragged him out of the Penthouse, taken him to some extravagant store and had him dressed in rather pricey designer attire, she was also dressed more fittingly for a fashion runway than for the dinner she had proposed. They'd headed into New York City, somewhere on the Upper East Side, if he had his bearings correct. They stopped at a high class hotel, the kind of place that had to be booked months in advance – a restaurant was perched on the top floor.

"I pulled some strings with the magazine to get us in here tonight," She explained as she wound her arm around his.

"Ah, Ms. Jones," A man at the front desk greeted, offering a smile. "Good to see you could make it."

Maxie smiled back, and the man led them into the depths of the very crowded main room – something like 30 stories above the street. They were settled near a window, at a table for two. Wine was brought out just seconds later and Spinelli was feeling decidedly overwhelmed by the whole experience.

"Is…" Spinelli stammered, looking anywhere but out the window. "Is there an occasion for this extravagant adventure?" He asked, tugging at the sleeves of the designer grey pinstripe button down she'd chosen for him. The designer was no doubt affiliated with Crimson.

She grinned, adjusting her own attire – a backless black dress with a plunging neckline that suitably distracted him from his current distaste for heights. "No, not really. I just thought you might enjoy a night away from Port Charles."

He nodded, sipped at the wine they'd been given slowly. "Indeed. It is… most enjoyable."

The waiter arrived before Maxie could reply to his comment, and they'd ordered quickly after glancing at the menu.

"That can't be Maxie Jones." An unfamiliar voice said, just moments later. A well-dressed gentleman approached their table, about the same age as he and Maxie. He took Maxie's hand, kissed it, and grinned like a fool. Spinelli was ignored completely. "To what does this fine establishment owe the pleasure of your presence?"

"I'm here with my boyfriend." She answered, gesturing to Spinelli, but skipped the introduction part. "And you?"

"Oh, my parents dragged me out here to celebrate my graduation from Princeton." He said, as if that were an everyday occurrence. "No big deal."

But Maxie had been suitably hooked and spent several moments questioning the man about his accomplishments. She finished by promising him a spot in the next issue of Crimson, if he so desired it.

Spinelli watched the entire exchange sadly. Was this the sort of thing that led up to her interactions with Franco? He had to wonder. He had said he'd forgive her, and she had seemed to have dropped her ridiculous idea about cheating on her, but, still.

It was only when their food arrived that the man – still nameless to Spinelli – excused himself.

"Sorry about that. I'd been trying to get an appointment with him for weeks now, and to run into him here was just such a surprise…" She said, making yet more excuses for her actions.

He nodded, even though he was hurt. "Indeed, Maximista, I understand."

She smiled. "I'll make it up to you, Spinelli. What do you say we get a room downstairs once we're finished here?"

***

"Where were you?" Jason demanded, when the blonde answered the phone late the next morning. He'd waited up all night for Spinelli's return, but he'd never shown. It wasn't until nearly nine that he had, looking thoroughly exhausted. Jason had easily guessed what had occurred. He'd gotten a quick summary concerning dinner, as well. "The agreement was dinner, not dinner and a hotel."

"Ah, but all I said was dinner, I made no rules about what happened afterward."

He rolled his eyes, listened closely for the sounds that told him Spinelli was still safely out of hearing range and in the shower. "You did say no alcohol, under some sort of delusion that I would stoop to getting Spinelli drunk and jump him or something." He couldn't believe that he was actually taking this seriously. "You broke the rules."

"It was a fancy restaurant, Jason, what were we supposed to drink? Orange soda?" She snapped back at him. She had forgotten about that when they'd arrived.

"You broke the rule." He said again. "Either you lose points or we get alcohol tonight, too."

He could hear her scoffing in incredulity at being called out on it. "Fine. Drink all you want."

"Glad we could reach an agreement." He said, echoing the words she'd used against him when this stage of the insanity had begun.

***

Spinelli was passed out in his room – yet another downside of Maxie's add on to the plan – and Jason felt bad about waking him up, but he had to verify that Spinelli would even be interested in his half of the plan.

"Hey, Spin," He said, leaning casually against the doorframe.

Slowly, the younger blinked himself back to consciousness. "Mm, Stone Cold?" He asked, hands moving to rub sleepily at his eyes. "Is there more trouble with Franco?" If so, he would have expected a much hastier awakening, but he certainly wasn't going to complain.

Jason shook his head. "No." He sighed. "I was just wondering – As kind of a thank you for helping me out with all this Franco stuff – especially now that Sam's gone and disappeared – I thought you might want to stay in tonight. I'll cook or something."

Spinelli frowned in something like confusion. In all the years he'd stayed at Casa de Stone Cold, Jason had never made him such an offer. He certainly wasn't going to turn it down, and he didn't have any other plans anyway. "Most assuredly."

"Go back to sleep, I'll wake you up when it's ready." He said, ducking out of the room before Spinelli could agree or disagree.

Luckily, since he'd had all day yesterday to prepare for this, he already had all the stuff he'd need to cook, so he didn't have to go out. He set to work in the kitchen, glad that he'd opted for some simple Italian food as opposed to the extravagantly named Moroccan cuisine Spinelli had had last night.

It took him little more than an hour to finish cooking and the sparse set up. It wasn't like he was going to deck out the penthouse in rose petals or anything – that would only serve to confuse Spinelli beyond all get out – but he tidied up and tossed a simple tablecloth over the table, adding only the required utensils, napkins and such. He grabbed an orange soda – foregoing the now allowed alcohol for Spinelli - and a beer for himself from the fridge, set them down as well.

Fetching Spinelli proved to be an easy enough task, too. He'd either stayed awake or woken up since earlier. Clad in jeans and a simple t-shirt, he looked infinitely more comfortable than he had in the designer things he'd come home in.

"Food's ready." He said simply, and followed Spinelli back downstairs and into the kitchen.

Spinelli froze in surprise at the simple display. And the rather appealing scents emitting from the room. "This is quite the impressive set-up." After last night's overwhelming experience, this was a nice change. Simple and not over the top. He claimed the seat marked by orange soda just as Jason set simple salads down on the table.

Jason took his own seat and they began their nice meal in silence.

For a while at least. "So, the place you and Maxie went to last night? It was nice?"

Spinelli nodded. "Indeed, it was… very extravagant. And also very high up. Not exactly the Ace of Cyberspace's preference, but Maximista seemed to enjoy it."

"And did you?" He pressed. It figured that Maxie would try for something over the top. She hadn't factored in Spinelli terribly well. Big crowds, big place, lots of people Spinelli didn't fit in with.

He seemed to consider that question for a moment as he finished off the last of his salad. "… Not, not particularly, I would be compelled to say. Especially with the Unidentified One's presence there, as well."

"The Unidentified One?" Jason inquired, getting up to switch out the empty salad plates for fresh ones and a large bowl filled with spaghetti and meatballs, a plate of garlic bread fresh from the oven came out as well.

Spinelli shrugged, but looked further impressed by the food. "Some sort of New York high roller approached our table, he seemed to know Maximista and they spoke for a while. I was not introduced to the stranger, but Maxie said she'd been trying and failing to make an appointment to meet with him on behalf of Crimson."

Jason glared into his meal. Chances were, she'd chosen the place because the guy would be there and taking Spinelli along just met the requirements of the test. She'd probably – he certainly wouldn't have been surprised – had it planned that way all along. At least he'd done that part right. His cell phone had been turned off as soon as he got the okay from Spinelli, and he'd left orders with Max and Milo that he was only to be disturbed in the event of some sort of dire emergency. "Hey, you've got my undivided attention." He assured the younger.

"So I've noticed." Spinelli answered, offering a smile.

The rest of the meal continued on with companionable conversation – no mentions of the business, or of Franco, or of Maxie. Eventually, Jason cleared the dishes away and set them aside to deal with later.

"Does this inherently delicious meal come complete with dessert?" Spinelli asked, as Jason went for the freezer.

"Ice cream okay?" He said, pulling out the seldom purchased foodstuffs, followed by whipped cream from the refrigerator and an absurdly ridiculous array of rainbow sprinkles purchased more for their entertainment value than anything else.

"Those are some tremendously colorful toppings you have there, Stone Cold." Spinelli laughed as he grabbed a couple of bowls from the cabinet.

Jason smirked. "I thought you might like them." He said, already armed with the ice cream scooper. Once their sundaes were completed, Jason offered something else surprising. "We can go watch a movie, if you want."

Spinelli had protested the ancient state of the television in the living room – the only one in the penthouse – for quite a while before Jason had given in. Finally, he'd agreed, and they'd gone out and found some LED contraption that Spinelli had claimed had had good reviews. Spinelli had directed the installation of the wall-mounted thing and Jason had been the muscle behind the effort. As of yet, Jason hadn't actually used the thing. Now was as good a time as any, he supposed.

The younger eagerly agreed to the suggestion, and the two headed out to the living room. Jason left the working of the television and the DVD player, as well as the movie selection, up to Spinelli.

He ended up picking an older movie, from a few years back – not that Jason would know, given his general avoidance of television and film – but Spinelli claimed to favor the movie and was interested in sharing it with his Stone Cold mentor. 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', it was called. And once the opening sequence began, Spinelli settled down on the couch with his ice cream and Jason.

It turned out to be a private detective mystery kind of movie – which is definitely something Spinelli would like, but Maxie probably wouldn't have enjoyed it. Spinelli was thrilled to find that Jason actually seemed to like it, laughing at some of the jokes and banter between the two main characters.

By the time the movie reached its conclusion, Spinelli seemed happier than he had in months. Jason, likewise, had quite enjoyed their time spent together – could definitely get used to it, life without Maxie stealing him away whenever she felt like it.

"This was really quite the entertaining evening, Stone Cold." Spinelli grinned at him.

Jason nodded his agreement. "It was. We'll have to do it again sometime." He promised, mostly to himself – because he'd have to win for that to happen.

The smile on Spinelli's face – yet another thing Jason could get used to seeing – widened at the prospect. "Indeed, that would be most appealing." He motioned toward the stairs. "I think I'm going to turn in, for tonight. I'll take care of the dishes in the morning, if that's okay?"

"Don't worry about them." He assured the younger, already gathering their discarded ice cream bowls. "I've got it, go on."

Spinelli disappeared upstairs without further protest.

Jason headed into the kitchen to deal with the dishes from their shared meal. But, not for the first time since he'd first said it to Maxie, his mind wandered to what it would be like to get Spinelli into bed with him. Ever since the words had left his lips he'd caught himself thinking about it. Of course, now that he and Maxie had started World War Spinelli, she had backed off on the whole cheating thing, which meant that he wouldn't be getting Spinelli to agree to that anytime soon. Not as long as they were together, anyway.

Winning this ridiculous game was becoming a riskier and riskier challenge, the stakes were huge. There was no option but to win.

***

Spinelli was out doing Jackal PI stuff (as McCall was no longer a part of it) when Maxie showed up the next day.

"So," She started, flouncing into the Penthouse like she owned the place. "How much alcohol did you give him?" Spinelli had stopped by her place on his way into the office this morning, and that had been enough to convince her that he'd been drunk out of his skull or something the night before because he'd been in way too good a mood for any other explanation.

"None?" He countered. "He had orange soda, I had beer."

Maxie snorted. "Where'd you take him? Jake's?"

Jason shook his head. "No, I cooked. We stayed in and watched a movie."

She paused, seemed surprised by what his plan had been. "But I said you had to take him out to dinner."

"No, you didn't. You said that we each got a night and whichever one of us impressed him the most would win. You went with over the top stuff and then ignored him half the night."

The blonde frowned. "He told you about that, huh?" Less than pleased, he could tell. "How do we decide who wins this one? I mean, obviously, I think I should. I went for the most expensive place in the state. And you… you went to the grocery store."

"I did what he wanted, though. Not something that would result in a chance encounter with some guy you were trying to contact for Crimson. I know that was no coincidence."

"Maybe you're right on that, maybe you aren't." Maxie huffed at being caught in her own web. "Fine. We tie on this one."

Jason nodded. "Fine."