Holiday Heroes Alliance, Part Two

FBI Criminal Investigation Specialist Christina Bryson's hangover was nearly gone.

She remembered this happening before. A long time before.

Sex had magically made hangovers dissipate way back--

She shook her head.

OW! Well the hangover isn't totally gone. Fair enough since I didn't actually have sex.

She shook her head again. Thinking about sex was a) very unlike her, b) totally inappropriate given the situation, and c) UNRELATED.

Or is it?

There she went again. Nick was kidnapped. She had watched the footage dozens of times now, frame by frame, looking for clues as to who had taken him. She had to save him. She might not be a Holiday Hero, but she was FBI and she could handle it.

At least, that's what she had told Hubert when they had said goodbyes-for-now earlier. She had had to say goodbye-for-now to him because he was distracting and quickly eliminating her hangover. With his eyes.

How can something as innocent as Holiday Heroes be so woefully inappropriate? she thought as she drew connecting arrows super high-tech spy wipe board:
-Nick's last day in the office
-Hits on his credit card from the weekend: auto shop, feed store, Toys R Us
-Four kidnappers
-Doorman fell asleep

Then, with her purple marker she worked on the Hero list:
Hubert = sex (#keepsafedistance)
Nick = time

She stopped again, lost in thought. Learning mind-blowing things about someone you thought you really knew really hurts the thinking part of your head. You have to reprocess all your memories in light of the new information.

Christina recalled the one fight. They had seriously argued and it was awkward and personal. They were stinging, so he said he was going to take a week and work a special case. It has been the worst week of her life because it never ended. She spent hour and after hour at her desk wanting to talk to him, but trying to give him his space. Now she realized he had done that on purpose.

There were other memories too. Like that look they shared. The sun rose and set and their eyes were locked.

She sighed. He was her best friend. She had to find him. But she was going to need to get Mother Nature in on the picture. She could not handle Hubert in a one-on-one scenario.